Brain Bites

It's like a tasting menu, I guess -- nothing here makes up a full meal, but there's little "bites" of lots of stuff.

Top Chef on BravoTV -- I'm addicted. I knew there was lots of drama behind the scenes in most high-end kitchens (which is precisely why I won't watch Hell's Kitchen with that drama chef, Whatshisname). Anyhow, I called it for Season Two, but I'm very interested in Season Three which is still running. I honestly don't know who I'd vote for, but I know that Hung would not be in my top two. He may be the most technically adept, classically-trained chef, but I have issues with his lack of teamwork, poor safety record in the kitchen, and quite frankly, his sheer arrogance. I simply don't believe he has the cattle to go with that hat of his. It's peculiar to me that he doesn't seem to have learned anything from the Seasons 1 & 2 egotists, Stephen & Marcel.

Kitties !
Jinx is still doing well, although she's lost a pound between last year and this one. The vet said that her bloodwork is perfect, so I think she's basically in the catbird seat (no pun intended) right now. It just means that she gets to eat more and that she has no guilt about it. =P
S'prise is also doing very well. He's gotten WAY bigger -- it's almost scary how much he's grown in the three months that we've had him. He still has his "mohawk" and his little blackspot nose. He's gotten MUCH better about not biting quite so hard and is mellowing out (finally) where we can actually play with him a little without having to head back to the blood bank for additional transfusions !
Wet cat food is gross. That is all.

Dogs !
Bix & Baxter are still alive. Nobody faint, please -- I think it's as much of a shock to them as it is to the rest of us. They have taken to sleeping on the couch during the day, which is fine as it allows me to work at the house and not worry about them quite as much. They're ancient, but still movin' & groovin'. Okay, maybe not "groovin'", but I don't know the dog equivalent of "shuffling around trying to remember where I left my brain".

Backyard !
I haven't had any time in the last couple of weeks to do the rest of the blackberry remediation, so the backyard is still in a state of. . . well. . . "flux". I actually froze some berries from the canes, tho. I also bought three sets of raspberries that I hope to plant this weekend. We'll see. When I get them in the ground, I hope to have some more pics to post, along with berries next year. Yum ! (I hope that the coulis next year will be a great deal less expensive because of this foresight. . .)

One more task that will be getting done is cleaning the gutters. I know that this is the sexiest task that most of you can actually imagine yourself doing, but it's just something that we have to do soon. Why, you say ? Is it because our gutters are not draining water into the system correctly ? Nope. Is it because it's one of those "every six months" tasks that need to happen ? Nope. Does it have something to do with the FLORA GROWING IN THE STUFF STUCK IN THE GUTTERS ? Mebbe.

Work !
I am never, ever getting sick again. That is all.
This week has been very busy trying to climb the mountain of work to be processed since I had to take Friday off last week. Stupid weather change caused me to get sick, run fever, cough -- all that fun stuff. I'm much better now -- no worries -- just have to run around and clean the house since Robert's buddy Kevin will be here in a couple of weeks for a visit.

Burn Notice!
I am sad that I have to wait until next summer to see the next season of this series. I think this has been one of the smartest, tightest, sharpest shows to come up lately. I'd like to compare it to Psych, but I just can't. Psych has its own charming goofiness that I love, but it's in a whole different place than Burn Notice. Jeffrey Donovan is so good as the "hero" that you almost forget about him being the astronaut in Monk and the jerk in Hitch.

Last Quarter this Year !
Halloween !
Can't wait ! I'm not sure if I can salvage the "bacon & egg" suit from last year -- and NO, I do not EVER plan to post pics of this. It's one of those "you just had to be there" moments -- or if I am going to come up with something else. I've had a lightbulb in my mind for a couple of weeks -- just not sure how to pull that one off yet.

November !
Hoping that our planned Tucson trip goes well. We're getting to go down for a good friend's wedding and I think we're going to visit with Robert's family while we're down there as we won't have enough time this year to also do Thanksgiving a couple weeks later.

December !
[[ flatline sound ]] -- I just can't quite think this far ahead right now. Got too much on my plate right now as it is. =D Okay, I'm lying, but only a little. I have been doing a little Christmas shopping and trying to get stuff ready to wrap and send when it gets to be time.

Current stuff !
What I've been doing -- I reworked all the cra. . . jun. . . err stuff on my desk after I finished work. I've managed to cull a bunch of stuff out and shred it (I can hear Kate screaming for joy now), which has actually reduced a lot of my stress. I guess my chi was all blocked with all this random. . . schmutz everywhere. It does tend to aggravate me, tho, when I need one thing from the office supply store that they don't sell the way I need it packaged. I just can't understand why stores don't sell exactly what I want when I want it. Stupid folders. =P

Oh, and for those who care, no phone call from Britney's peeps yet. I continue to hold out hope that Little Miss Meltdown will clue in and contact me so that I can start the "tough lov. . . lik. . . um. . . just toughness."

I fixed the comment thing, btw -- all of you (all three) that want to post anonymous comments can do so now.

Thoughts ?