Dining out

For quite awhile now, my mom, my fella and I have been dining out every other Friday. Mom said we should try all the places there are to eat, in and around our hometown. So, we take turns picking where we're going to go. We've covered a lot of restaurants in the last couple years. Some of them we would definitely go back to. Others...YUCK! For instance, Indian food is the worst. Seriously!!! And it's not because it's spicy, but the texture and the seasoning is just gross! That's our yuck standard now. Since then, nothing has been as bad as that. We also tried Thai food. It didn't suck. I might even go back there and try something else besides Pad Thai. It was my pick last time and I chose a Jamaican place. I had curry goat. First, I wouldn't eat Jamaican food again. Mom had jerk pork and said it wasn't bad. My guy's favorite thing was the jerk sauce. Second, the goat was actually pretty good. Super tender. But the spiciness ruined it for me. I'm not a fan of spicy food and this was pretty hot, to me. 

And speaking of my guy, it's his turn next. I'm pretty sure he's going for Mudbugs Cafe - the local Cajun place. I wish he would pick some place normal this time and save Mudbugs for next time. I'm tired of not so great stuff.

I'm not a picky eater either. I'm willing to try almost anything. I liked Kizuki Ramen and Koto Japanese Steakhouse. I like all the Mexican joints and all the Italian joints. I don't think we have a dedicated German place though. I'll have to look. And I like Greek food but my fella says, ewwwww. There are quite a few places we won't try though. Not because they don't sound good but who wants to spend a $100 on dinner? Not me for sure! (anniversary excluded)

It's a lovely little tradition though and we're all enjoying it. 

sneaky, tsk, tsk

I went shopping a few weeks ago for some super cute little baby girl clothes! It was pretty fun. I can't wait to do the same for super cute little baby boy clothes!

Anyway, they gave me a coupon when I checked out. Woohoo! FIFTY dollars off! that's pretty awesome...until I looked at it.

It excludes almost everything! Sneaky. That's not cool. Sure, they have really great sales anyway, but still. 

It's kind of like Kohls cash. It's a nice perk but the window you have to use it, is so small! I bet I end up throwing away more than 1/2 of them. Sneaky.

thief!!

Yeah, that's me. Not only can't I resist buying pens, of all kinds, I can't resist swiping them either!!

I walk almost everyday at lunch. When the weather is bad - too cold, rainy, too humid - I walk indoors. This past year, I've taken to walking around the convention center. It's a big place. I have to walk through The Marriott to get there. They have a lot of banquets/meetings/seminars at The Marriott. Whenever they have tables set up outside of the rooms, I always look to see if they have pens :-) 

Once, Linkedin had a big day meeting at the Marriott. Linkedin gives away Ink Joy pens!!!! In different colors! No one was attending their tables when I walked buy. You know the lil devil on my shoulder was screaming, "take a few:" I think my lil angel gave me the thumbs up too! 
Some businesses have really great pens. Some of them come with highlighters on the opposite ends. It's a 2 fer! It's awesome. OK, so I don't usually take them home. I have a pen cup on my desk. And because everybody seems to think it's ok to take a pen out of MY pen cup if they need one, I put all the swiped pens in it. It's a nice arrangement. But if it's a fat pen, it goes in my desk drawer. Fat pens are my favorite for work.

 I don't use a stylus, but if I did, this pen comes with one built in. That's pretty cool.

Yeah it's the little things.

Memories

Do you have favorite childhood memories? Maybe you're like my guy, and you don't have any childhood memories. That would stink. I think I have plenty. Isn't that nice!?

I remember going to see Dr. Doolittle, the musical, with my mom. It was a birthday thing. I don't remember which birthday but I'll guess it was around 8 or 9. I remember the theater being BIG, with balconies! It was pretty cool. And it was just my mom and me. It felt special for some reason.

And my most favorite "amusement" park was the Japanese Deer Park. Nobody remembers that place.

I remember sucking the nectar out of the honeysuckles growing on the back fence, at our house in Hawthorne. And Pete the little Dutch rabbit and Jimmy, my best friend from the across the street. Oh, and my favorite teacher - Sister Catherine Elizabeth, 3rd grade! She was the best!!

In 1971, my mom took me to see Bobby Sherman. My very first concert! (we all know I was hooked after that!) It always makes me smile when I think about that. I remember that she curled my hair and I got a new flowery dress to wear. How awesome is that!?!?

A couple years later, my Aunt bought me a winter coat when we were in Chicago. I loved that coat! It was a red/rust colored crushed corduroy, down to my knees, with fake white fur trim and gold buckles. Kind of like this!!

And whenever we traveled, we always stopped at Stuckey's. Do you remember those? They had the best souvenirs! I always wanted some kind of furry thing, like a raccoon's tail or a rabbit hide. And CANDY!!!

Yep, I'm pretty lucky. I have a lot of nice memories.

Stop calling me!!!!

Have you ever signed up on "do not call" registries? You know, the place where you enter your name and phone number to keep telemarketers from calling you?

If you haven't, don't bother. It doesn't do any good.

If you have, get over it. It doesn't do any good. I was going to. But then I read the part that said, Who is allowed to call me. Here's the answer to that FAQ:

Calls related to an existing debt or contract
Calls made by volunteers or employees of charities and newspapers
Calls made by licensed real estate and insurance agents
Surveys and political calls.

Well hell, that covers just about everybody that I wouldn't want to talk too!!!

dumb