The Enhanced Vocabulary

Here are 6 words I love. I use them but they aren't in the dictionary and I actually made up a couple of them. I guess we all use made up words in some form...what made up words do you use?

Mancation - an adventurous vacation for just the guys, not to be confused with the gay resorts or gay cruises.

Manscrunchie - the "scrunchie" men use to pull back their long hair.

Celebutard - a celebrity with no real talent. For example, Paris Hilton or Jennifer Lopez.

Beaver Poison - a word my friends and I use to describe a man with a sexually transmitted disease.

B-Odorant - when a stinky person puts on layers of cologne and/or Right Guard instead of showering.

Salsa Pants - this word is only used when describing Mario Lopez or Mario Lopez wanna-bes.

The Superbowl for Girls

Ok, so I have to admit I'm a sucker for Black Friday. For those of you who are not female or gay, Black Friday is the shopping frenzy that occurs on the day after Thanksgiving. Companies can get their finances out of the "red" and into the "black" in just that one day if the sales are good enough. It's competitive shopping at its best - it's like the Superbowl for girls!

I usually get anxious for the newspaper on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving day. Those sales flyers are like playbooks for me! What I usually do is map out the locations of the stores in the order of the best sales. Then I get up at the crack of dawn and hit the shopping full on.

I'm not one of those people who will camp out in front of the store in the cold. I try to get plenty of rest and fluids before the occasion. Then once I'm in the store, I beeline to the stuff I want and then beeline to the register. Truth be told, you'll wait FOREVER at the register but at least it's warm in the store and not freezing outside in a tent with no bathrooms. If you're fierce and quick, you'll get all the stuff you wanted with plenty of time for a victory brunch at La Madeleine.

Unfortunately, sometimes the things you really want are not on sale. You're pretty much at their mercy when it comes to specific items at bargain prices. Here are the weirdo things I wanted that we couldn't find on sale anywhere:

• Noise cancelling headphones
• Sterling Silver ring with a yellow topaz stone
• Electric warming throw blanket
• A large jar candle in Gardenia
• Cozy house socks

But I did find some other good bargains...even after Black Friday. All in all, I think I scored well in this year's Girl Superbowl. Let me know how you did!

The Pizza Challenge

Are you a deep dish or a thin slice? I asked a lot of people that before I went to NYC. It turns out that most of the people I know are thin slicers...and I'm a thin slicer as well. But the whole deep dish thing was intriguing to me so I decided to do a little taste test of my own.

The last time I flew to NYC with M, we had a looonnggg layover in Chicago. We had plenty of time to hop on a subway train, get into the downtown area, have some deep dish pizza and get back to the airport for our flight to NYC. Oh, and many thanks to the city of Chicago for understanding the true importance of having a train stop IN the airport. Genius.

Anyway, we decided to eat at Lou Malnati's in Chicago for the deep dish and Grimaldi's in Brooklyn for the thin slice. We broke down the categories with a possiblity of 20 points for the best score in each category. It was close and the service is what made a huge difference. Here's how they rated:

Deep Dish - Lou Malnati's in Chicago

1. Ambiance/Atmosphere 18
2. Service 7
3. Food 19
4. Price 20
   TOTAL - 64 out of 80

Thin Slice - Grimaldi's in Brooklyn

1. Ambiance/Atmosphere 20
2. Service 19
3. Food 20
4. Price 20
   TOTAL - 79 out of 80

The winner was GRIMALDI'S!!! Sorry to those of you who love deep dish pizza, it just doesn't compare with the gooey, flavorful goodness coming out of Brooklyn!

Timing Is Everything

Ok, so most of you know that I have some pretty crappy timing. It's safe to say that if my life would run 3 minutes late or 3 minutes early, I might be ruling my own country or working alongside Oprah by now. Believe me, I could tell you some stories about my terrible timing - some real doozies.

But on Saturday night I had good timing. Great timing. Allow me to explain... My day started at 6:00 a.m. and I didn't get home til around 10:00 p.m. and I was exhausted! I didn't want to go out so instead I decided to check on my TiVo and see what he'd been up to on Saturday. After about an hour, I was all caught up with TiVo and I switced over to live TV. My TV happened to be on HBO and I tuned in at the last 31 minutes of a movie called Roll Bounce. You know, it's that roller skating movie that's set in the 70s starring Nick Cannon and Bow Wow. Don't act like you don't know - we both know you have heard of that flick.

Anyway, my first instinct was to change the channel. But then I realized I was tuning in right at the grand finale. The big climax. The finals of the roller skating championship! It was awesome! There were several teams competing in the finals and I got to see all of their routines set to disco tunes. I know you think I'm crazy, but if you get the chance, watch the last 31 minutes of that movie. It's flippin' awesome...complete with groovy disco beats, old school roller skates and a bonafide SKATE OFF!

Whew, hope I didn't give too much away!

Random Thoughts

So, some stuff has recently been floating through my life. I haven't had a chance to post because I've been lazy. But here I am... posting, finally.

First of all, I'm way behind on my phone call returns. People that called me 2 weeks ago are just now getting a call back from me. I had a super busy couple of weeks and phone calls were the first sacrifice. So if I haven't called you back please don't think I'm being a bad friend - I'm spending all my free time on this posting.

If you know me then you know why I sometimes go to Corpus Christi. Lately, I have been paying very close attention to the Whataburger situation in Plano and CC. A compare/contrast, if you will. Here's what I know... The Plano phone book lists 4 Whataburger Restaurants. Sometimes I drive by the one close to my house and it's really busy at lunchtime - but not any other time. I discovered that Whataburger was founded in CC in 1950. The CC phone book lists 33 Whataburgers! As you drive around town, you'll spot one everywhere you go and they are always packed. In fact, the few McDonald's restaurants they do have are usually very empty. So, is it fair to say that Corpus is the Burger-Bizarro of Plano?

Oh, one last thing. I have totally gotten addicted to my new bike! That thing rocks. It's named Bonnie Blue and it's a sweet, sweet ride. I found a bike trail by my house and it's about a ten mile route. But I hope to take Bonnie Blue to Austin soon. That way if I see Lance Armstrong while I'm riding around, I can run right into him. I hate that dude.

Well, I better go. I have phone calls to return and a Whataburger to scope out. Take care friends!

August Got Good

Dudes...I totally ragged on August in my last blogpost. That was mean. Sorry, August. But in all fairness, I had been really ticked and with good reason. And things are better now...much better. Where to start???

• August brought back my friends, the Kedroski's. Minnesota has officially lost its most beautiful family and they are moving back to Texas where they belong! I am thrilled that they are just a 3 hour drive away now. That's flippin' sweet!
  
• August brought me news of an upcoming wedding. My oldest brother is marrying his girlfriend next year. She has 2 daughters from a previous marriage so that means I'm getting 2 more nieces! Cool, huh?
  
• Oh, and August delivered my sweet friend, Evelina, to Austin as well. She starts at UT this week. I met her when she was just 16 and I've watched her grow into such a beautiful woman. I can't wait to see what else life brings her.
  
• In case you didn't already know, August proved I have the most perfect boyfriend on the planet. He's not only the sweet guy who drove 3 hours to visit me in Austin, he's also the considerate guy who helped my friend Evelina get settled into her new apartment in Austin. And he's also the thoughtful guy who bought me a new bike!

Oh, August, thanks for reminding me that the heat is only temporary but the love is deep, wide and flowing.

Evelina and me at her new place!


My sweet man and my sweet ride!

Oh August, How You Anger Me

August is not off to a good start. We are only 8 days into this month and I'm already eager to toss it aside. I am convinced that these 100 degree days are getting the best of me. I could tell you many, many stories about the nasty heat. But instead, here are just 2 examples of how August is going for me. And oddly, both examples involve my nose.

• I was at work and stepped into the elevator after a women stepped out. Evidently, she bathed in tacky perfume so that it would "linger." But all it really did was "stink." It was so bad that my nose actually burned once the elevator doors closed. On my way up to the 3rd floor, the elevator stopped to pick up somebody on the 2nd floor. When that person got in, all he could smell was that tacky perfume. He thought it was me and he actually scooted over to the other side of the elevator. How humiliating... and it wasn't even my perfume!
  
• I had to spend the last few days out at schools since our new year just started. And, of course, I came home with a nasty cold. I took some Zycam and hoped that it would keep the cold from setting in. I use the Zycam nose gel. You squirt the gel in your nose but it is designed to stay in the lower part of your nostrils...it's not like a nose spray that gets snorted up. But I accidentally snorted a little of it while trying to swat a mosquito. This led to a long, painful night. My sinuses were in so much pain. It felt as if someone had poured acid in my nose. I felt like Helen Hunt in that after-school special she did about drugs... remember the one where she jumped out of a second story window? That's exactly what I felt like doing. Now I know why Helen jumped. It was so awful.

I promise to post something good soon... that is, if August decides to stop being so bossy and give a little happiness.