Day 39 – still have not bought any new food.  I was so upset on Friday I just wanted to go home and sleep.  Which I did.  I slept for a while so I guess I needed it.  Still eating the food in my kitchen…still have some to go, but it’s mostly staples where I could buy food now.  My freezer is empty except for some frozen fruit so my smoothies, need milk or yogurt to mix in.  Will get that soon. 

Here’s what I think about my Blackhole of time…I got up late on Saturday, around 10am.  I remember getting up, watching some cooking shows, eating.  Then not much.  I had a headache from hell and couldn’t get rid of it.  I remember watching a movie, I think, not even sure what it was.  I then was asleep around 4pm.  I must have been tired and needed, or I was just subconsciously burying my bad mood from Friday.

So, I think I got up around 10pm or so.  Watched some TV and then I could not sleep for a while and finally went to bed around 4am.  What did I do?  I think I read some and watched some TV.  Other than that, I slept through my alarm and missed breakfast.  And then it snowed. All day on Sunday, not too hard, but enough.  So, after that, I can’t remember much.  Where did the time go?  Oh, I was asleep.  I wonder if when I slept I dreamt about doing things.  Then when I get up since it’s in my subconscious, I wonder if I actually did it.

I got up on Sunday around 10am-ish.  Ate something and then I can’t remember what I did.  I think I slept some more because I could not seem to sleep later.  I also kept getting up all night long.  So, I am sure it did not help me sleeping.  Not that I like Mondays anyway.

Then the traffic.  I did wake up earlier than usual because of the snow.  The roads were not so bad, but I was almost there when all traffic stopped.  I could not tell what was wrong, but…I called in and ended up turning around after waiting around 20 minutes.  It’s a good thing since I had to use the restroom.  Stopped by the gas station before heading back down.

Anyways, I found out that there was an accident, assuming at least one car was involved, the other could a car, truck, ice or animal, will see if I could find out.  Anyways, one of the guys were sitting there for an 1 1/2 hours before moving.  He was in front of me somewhere, so he go it pretty late, and I worked from home.  It’s nice to have VPN.

Well, the day moved pretty fast and it was snowing all day.  Did not go out for food, so tomorrow will be Day 40.  Wow!  Well, maybe, still not sure if I want to go to the store and buy stuff.  Will think more on it.

I think that’s it for today…it’s Monday, you all know how I feel about Mondays.  Later.

I don’t know what it was about today, but it just sucked.  Nothing seem to go right, and everything irked me.  I am trying to stay relaxed and calm and not so stressed.  If you can believe it, I was actually not so stressed a couple of days last week.   I still have so much work on my desk, but things were just moving along as best it could.

But today…things are just bothering me and I am not so sure why.  Yes, it can be me still not sleeping right.  I don’t necessarily wake up tired.  It’s more like not wanting to open my eyes, even though my brain has been zipping around for the last hour in bed.  At least I think I am awake for about an hour before I actually get up.  I still believe that when I think about going to work early, but never do.  {sigh}

So, right now, I’ll say I’m stressed and moody.  Although, I think I am moody all the time, okay, maybe not ALL the time.  There were some points that I am numb.  And there are times that I am just too sensitive to criticism.  Not sure where all that stems from.  I guess I can do the normally thing and blame my parents.  Or any one else for that matter, because it’s all about me.

Maybe those books Beth bought me will help.  I’ll think about reading them tonight.  Although, I am not too sure that reading about depression while depressed is a sound idea.  But then reading about depression while happy, might get you depressed, and that’s not good either.  So, when is a good time?  Hmmm…might have to think about that one.

Just what I needed, a call from the boss.  Not always a good thing.  Oh well, once I shake off the bad stuff, gotta figure things out to satisfy him.  I have to believe all this will be worth it some day.  I’ll be buying a Powerball ticket this weekend.

Okay, Day 35 of my Food Moratorium…still has some stuff left, but I think I will be heading to the grocery store tomorrow.  I figure I will only buy enough for about a week.  Then go back, I did not in the UK, I can do it here.

Anyways…I think that’s about it.  What a day…time to lose myself in a little Bejeweled Blitz, I’ll see if I can knock K off the top.

Hey All, wow, what a day this has been.  If only some peeps would be patient as I figure out what’s going on.  A lot of you probably have no idea what’s I’m talking about, but let’s just say some people on property needs to calm down and not to jump to conclusions and yell at my auditors.  ARGH!!  If he only waited…then everything would have been fine.  Need to shake it off…shaking it off…see me shaking it off?

So, what else is new?  Let’s see taxes are due soon, and I got this 1099-R, what’s this you say?  I asked the same thing.  I called and found out that I put too much money in my 401K plan, who knew??  Anyways, the company sent a check out for the left over. But where did they send the check to? The corporate office…what????  And when? March 2009..wholly cow, that was a while ago…but hmmm…extra money, here’s my computer money then.  Anyways, need to track down that check.

What else??? Cuz Fest update, thanks all who read the report, took me a while to put it together.  I was kind of tired afterwards, or I would have added graphs and put it on a Powerpoint presentation.   hee hee hee  Not sure if this will happen. The Chairperson made no decision.

Still need to figure out and choose a computer.  And an e-book reader, a bookshelf, doctors and a couple of other things on my list. And of course, there’s work.  I am still behind on my projects, but am on top of the audits.  I may be able to make my Q4 goals…but then again, I’ll just keep plugging along.

Okay, do you know how much I hate being behind slow drivers going home?!?!?  {sigh} I mean it would not be so bad if the cars were going 40 mph (the speed limit) but going only 30?  OMG!!  I could walk faster…okay, that’s a big lie, Kelsey could run faster and beat me down the hill!  That could be an interesting race.

I think that’s about it.  I totally forgot about Super Bowl Sunday.  Not sure if I will watch it, not really interested. 

Okay, now my moratorium of food buying…I was looking at my receipts and the last time I bought food was December 31, 2009, so that means it has been 34 days since I bought groceries.  I am almost there, saved some money let me tell you.  Things I figure would be “staple” items where I will not eat all of them before my next food run.  Let’s see, pasta, rice, Spam, albacore, pasta sauce, canned items like soup.

So, with that said, I think I will be food shopping on Friday, figure that I rather shop Friday night than Saturday since Saturday may be too busy.  I guess depends if I wake up early enough…who knows.  I do need to clean my place up, still need to decide about the housekeeping.

Anyways, I think that’s about it.  Later.

Can you believe it’s the end of January?  Just 30 days ago I was thinking wow, it’s a new year.  Now, one month down, 11 more to go.  Maybe if I think of it that way, it’s a long way to the end of the year.  A couple of weeks ago, I was in a meeting and was talking to my boss and I mentioned a couple of things like, it’s January, I need to finish whatever, and then it’s February to finish the other, then it’s April and the conference and end of year (fiscal), and then comes the new schedule, I have another deadline to get through, and then June will be around and the team meeting, then we start all over for SOX, and then this and that. 

My boss said it was depressing.  In 5 minutes, I had half the year already scheduled and what to do, and there was no vacation time in it!  Oh, well.  One thing at a time, and one project at a time, and one audit at a time.  Then we’ll get through the rest of the year.  By this time next year, I hope no one has moved on and everything will have a chance to settle in the department and my peeps in LA will no longer need the constant hand holding. If not, then I will need to start interviewing again.  Cross your fingers.

Any-who…no real update on Cuz Fest.  I handed in my report on the status, and only the Chair commented.  No one else.  Not even sure if any one else read it.  After I took the time, oh well.  Not sure if Cuz Fest will happen.  I did propose a West Coast/East Coast Cuz Fest.  Those living west of the MS will do something and the others will do something.  One thing, I figure is that the West Coast will actually get together and do something.  Either I will go to Vegas, or those in Vegas will come over to see the new place.  As for the East Coast, they all just need to get together.  It’s not like any one of them has to travel since they are all in NYC.

I am still on my moratorium on food buying. However, I did buy today some lunch meat to take to work.  Since we are in temporary housing (or our refugee camp hee hee hee) we are far from a watering source.  Although, HR said we can share their watering hole.  Also, food source is a 5-7 minute walk.  I figure I can just as easily bring sandwiches in and get something done.  At least we are not in a trailer. 

I think that’s about it.  I’ll write about me lost in the black hole of time next time.  I swear I don’t know where the time goes on Saturdays.  Stay tuned.

Hi-dee Ho neighbor, nothing much going on.  The Gaming meeting yesterday was interesting, some new rules coming out which will be okay, don’t necessarily agree with all, but then it’s not my casino.  I will however, talk to management to see what they plan to do, then maybe I would suggest something.  We have a ways to go before these changes are in effect.

Anyways, enough about work.  I am getting a little bored with FB.  That being said, I wonder if I am using it right.  My farm will not load up, I’m making money hand over fist in the Mafia (I know I am not playing that game right), and Bejeweled Blitz is on the blink when they tried to upload the new and improved version. Now I can’t remember the game K told me about.  Oh well…I’ve chatted with a few and a couple has ignored me, so I am not worried.  I chat with those who want to.

{sigh} It’s been a while since my self-imposed, neurotic, moratorium on food buying.  I am not eating as much since I am not so interested in what I got around the house.  Not that it’s food I hate, I mean what would be the point of buying it in the first place.  I think I just don’t crave it anymore,  or that I wonder that’s why I had a lot to begin with because I was craving different things.

Also, I really don’t like to necessarily eat the same thing for an entire day.  I mean I don’t mind so much if it’s everyday, but not every meal.  And I think that’s hurting me a little.  For instance, I know I have pasta and red sauce and meat sauce, etc.  So, I was planning on making some spaghetti tonight.  What’s in the EDR?  Spaghetti and meatballs.  So, if I have that for lunch, I don’t want to have it for dinner.  Get it?

So, now I need to re-think what I have in the fridge/cupboard and come up with something else…hmmm, I can have Spam and pasta.  That’s pretty good.  I know, some of you are cringing.  Ohhh..I need to use up the tomatoes I have, I think I will fry up the bacon and have myself a BLT, without the L since I don’t have any.  Bake up the French loaf I have…hmm, I think that sounds much better.

K gave me a heads up, but Apple has released it’s iPad, it’s Apple’s version of the e-reader (Kindle and Sony are top brands right now).  I read a few articles and it’s much bigger than the others.  I think it’s more like a smaller Netbook.  It’s supposedly be able to replace a few gadget things, but it’s not all hooked up right.  At least according to the article I am reading.  And not sure how to compare to the e-readers since it does much more.   Will just have to wait and see.

I am still agonizing, no more like procrastinating on my computer decisions.  I will need to really look at my finances, since I received my first property tax statement.  Oh boy.  Also, my car insurance is coming up.  Will need to consider what I can afford. 

Hey – my new vacuum should be coming today.  I have not unpacked my Fry Daddy yet.  I need to buy a bookshelf to put all my cookbooks on and then I will have room for it on the kitchen counter, next to my canisters, rice cooker, crock pot, toaster over, and my magic bullet.  Woo-hoo, my kitchen set up is coming along.

Okay, that’s enough for today, I’m getting hungry and that bacon is calling my name.

Okay, I know, I know, this topic is old and worn, but can you believe it’s the end of January already?  Where has the time gone?  Well, I figure it’s this black hole of the space/time continium, you know, the same place where the lost sock goes.  But I tell you, if you were me, there is no lost because of my OCD remember?  Those of you who make fun of me about pinning my socks together for the wash…ha!

Anyways, nothing much going on.  I feel a great burden is now off my shoulders as our fiscal Q3 has ended. There was a lot to do, but made it through all the deadlines.  Can’t say much about my bonus goals, oh well.  Next quarter, will be better, hopefully. 

Sandi sent me a king cake. Thanks Sandi.  Those who don’t know king cake is a Mardi Gras tradition and I even got a flyer talking about it.  Don’t remember all of it, but the king cake undecorated, so I have the berry flavored cake, and the decorations were separate, so I can decorate as I please.  I’m going to take it over to Sarah’s on Sunday and let the boys have at it.  Then we’ll eat it.  Hmmm, can’t wait.

So, I am also dragging my ass about selecting a computer.  Yep, still trying to decide, {sigh} this weekend for sure, unless I find something better to do.  I mean not a big bonus for Q3, but at least I got one.  But also, I got in the mail, my property tax.  Knew that one was coming.  So, I need to see what’s up with the finances.

Going to my first Division of Gaming Industry Meeting on Table Games tomorrow.  I’m pretty excited, I mean I’ve never been to one, so it’ll exciting to see what going on.  For all I know I’ll be bored to death, but the upshot is that it’s in Lakewood, so I’ll be off the hill around 12pm and will be home early.  Woo-hoo…get to see the sun shine.  Although, I heard we may get some snow.  Not a lot, or so the weather people say. We’ll see.

Other than that, I am into my 3 1/2-4 th week of my self-imposed, neurotic, moratorium on food buying.  It’s still going pretty well.  I still have lots of rice and pasta in the cupboards.  I still have a lot of snacky foods from way back when.  I still have protein in the fridge and shelves.  I mean I still have 6 cans of Spam. 6 cans of albacore, 1 lb of bacon, 1 package of salami, 2 lbs of shrimp, and some bologna.  I also have some waffles, and frozen dinners.  I hope to eat almost everything by Chinese New Year.  That way I can get me some dim sum.  Mmmm Mmm good.

Well, I think that’s about it for now. Later.

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m sure all of you are wondering why I am up so early.  Better yet, I’ve asked myself, why I am up and at work?  ARGH!  Not that you could tell what time it, but let me tell you, it’s about 9:30am MST and I’ve been here for a couple of hours.  {sigh} 

I was at the Toyota dealership yesterday afternoon getting my car serviced and I was perusing their magazine selection, thinking I am going to see the normal sports, cars and popular magazines sitting on the tables.  When something caught my eye…Asian Avenue Magazine.  Seemed to draw my attention.  Besides the obvious title, but the magazine was geared toward the Asian (chinese, japanese, korean, etc) community in Denver.  Asian community in Denver, you ask?  Who knew?  All I knew of was the Chinatown on Federal and Alameda.  And that took me years to find!

Okay, so I am somewhat introverted and happen to like my own company.  But you know me, love the Chinese food and always have cravings of dim sum, bagels and pizza from NY.  Anyways, I was looking through the magazine, and what always gets me are the ads for the restaurants…WOW…did not know any of them.  Of course, they all stated they were the best {fill in the blank} in town.  What threw me for a loop was that there were more one than one place serving dim sum and NOT at Fed and Alameda.

Okay, so I was really curious and taking a break from work, I started looking into where these restaurants were.  Also there is a huge Asian supermarket.  One is a few blocks away from the Fed/Ala, so maybe I’ll go there and check things out.  Also, there’s up one up at 120th and something (closer to Sarah’s).  I noted that because if I am up there every Sunday, I could possible stop by there on my way home.  And to find some dim sum place closer to them, maybe they will eat with me.

So, I was looking at all these reviews and such and I started to wonder why they are so diverse.  Shouldn’t you either like it or not?  The food is either good or bad, right?  I am not too sure.  There were the extremes that everything was bad, to the other side where everything was great and authentic.  I guess I will have to check it out myself in that regards.  Of course, I started thinking about dim sum, and can’t remember when the last time I had a har gow.  Hmmm, just thinking about it, is making me hungry.

So, here I am sitting at work, miles and miles away from the dim sum places.  But wait…I am on my self-imposed neurotic, OCD kick, where I am not going to buy any more food or go to any restaurants until I eat up my stuff.  Hopefully, I can do this in time for Chinese New Year…gotta have dim sum by then.   Ohhh, {could you hear me moaning?}  just thinking about it is giving me hunger pains.  Okay, I am going to get through this.

By the way, I am grateful I found the dim sum places, and I am thankful my friends showed me Anthony’s Pizza (authentic NY pizza, and I should know).  All I need to do is find the best darn bagel in town.  Although Einstein and Breugger are not that bad.  Very passible.  I wonder if there’s a really authentic NY deli out there.  And when I mean authentic, I’m talking about homemade roast beef and not the process stuff, and knishes.  I miss a good knishe and soft pretzels.  I miss soft vendor cart pretzel.  Hmmm…making myself hungry and they don’t put out food in the EDR (Employee Dining Room for those who don’t work at the Isle) for another 1/2 hour or so.

Now I wonder if the weekend food is better than the weekday food in the EDR.  Hopefully, they’ll have a good soup.  I always like a good soup.  Anyways, gotta get back to work, figure I should make the drive up here worth it.

And yes, I will stick to my plan, but definitely will chat with Sarah about it.  I think one of the restaurants are doing the Dragon Dance and perhaps the kids will like it.  Chinese New Year on a Sunday, boy it’s going to be crowded.  Speaking of all this food, I am beginning to crave sushi now.  Haven’t had sushi in a long time.  Gotta get something Chinese in me soon before I become too white.  Ha ha ha…no offensive to my white friends.  I feel myself becoming paler as I type.

So, let me preface this story with…it sounds okay and logical in my head, and it makes sense to me…

So, recently (in the past couple of weeks or so) I was looking around my kitchen/cupboards to see what I can eat.  I was actually thinking about calling for takeout from that Chinese place down the street.  When a thought occurred to me.  Huh, I have way too much food in the house for one person.

I had a few tupperwares of left overs and stuff.  I had a freezer full of food, cupboards had some stuff and another area had some dry goods.  Then it hit me…I really have way too much food.  And I am spending way too much money on food that I might have to throw away because I did not eat it soon enough.  My broccoli was sad and I had to throw away a loaf of bread. Bread doesn’t come cheap anymore.

So, my neurotic and OCD mind decided that I will eat everything in my house before I even think of buying anything new from the store.  Perhaps with the exception being bread…then I was thinking no, nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I have bread, I have Pillsbury dough stuff, and I have some frozen English muffins, so I have enough starch.  I have loads of pasta, sauce, Spam, potatoes, soup, popcorn, stuff in my freezer.  Like I said I have way too much stuff.

My campaign has gone on for a couple of weeks now.  I have not stopped at the market for over 2 weeks.  I will not even buy any kind of drinks.  I have a kettle, tea bags, and water, what else would I need?  I have enough flour, sugar, sweets, crackers and such left over from the holidays.  I have way too much food and need to consume it before it goes bad.  Not that Spam goes bad, or the canned stuff.  I have veggies – frozen, fresh and canned, so I’ve eaten the fresh stuff first.

I have frozen meat, fish and 5 lbs of rice.  I have pretzels, chocolate chips, cookies, M&Ms, candy bars, Italian ice, waffles, soup base…did I mention I have a lot of pasta?  I think I have at least 8 boxes of pasta.  They were on sale, how could I resist $1.69 Barilla pasta that is going for $0.99?  Then I bought Hunt’s sauce (32 oz cans) for $1.  Since I bought the pasta, figured I needed sauce.  That’s how I get into trouble and where I am now.

So, this is about 2 weeks, give or take a couple of days.  See!  Two weeks and no shopping and I still have loads of food!  Tonight I think I am having rice w/Chinese sausage and steamed tilapia with soy sauce.  I may fry an egg with the rice.  Yes, an egg, you may think it’s weird, maybe it’s a Chinese thing…certainly not a white thing.  As a kid, I remember my mom breaking a raw egg into the rice and mixing a little soy sauce.  Sometimes I use teriyaki to mix it up a bit.  I know?!?  What was she trying to do? Kill us?  It’s not bad, pretty tasty. 

Okay, you white people, you think that’s disgusting? What about you and raw cookie dough?  That has raw eggs, I know I made them and the white people on the ranch (I was the only non-white person there so, I know I can write that!) ate it!  I would put it in the fridge and some of it would be gone.  And I know I did not eat it.

Anyways…this weekend, I will try to consume my food, and into week 3 I go without purchasing any new food.  Think about it.  And check out your kitchen to see long you can last without buying any new groceries and not eating out.  Let me know how long it takes  you to break down and buy something.  In theory, everything you have in your house you should like to eat, since you bought it in the first place.

Oh, wait…I did buy some juice.  Going over to Sarah’s for breakfast, all she has is the diet stuff…last time my stomach revolted on me for drinking it.  So, I may get some fruit juice, actually V-8 Splash or Fusion, really good for you.  No soda or anything.   Maybe I’ll cheat and stop by Starbucks for the chai drink?  No, be strong, buy nothing.  Best way would probably be not to take any money with me.  But then I would freak out because I would wonder if I don’t then what if…

Will be strong, mind over matter…don’t buy anything, don’t buy anything…

Hi-dee-ho neighbor…it’s Thursday…what happens on Thursdays?  Nothing much, but thinking that tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend.  Woo-hoo!

Just trying to get things done and seeing if I should come in over the weekend and see if I can get some work done to get my bonus.  Oh well, it may as well be my own fault…maybe I should have come in 2 weekends ago or work on my PTOs?  Who knows, but I am getting closer, okay not sooo close, but better than last week, to getting myself current and working smart and not harder.

What else is new?  Really nothing much.  How about this…I can’t believe my most productive day this week was Monday.  I mean, how many times have I said that I hated Mondays?  Mondays are just place holders for the rest of the week.  Okay, sorry for those who like Mondays.  I  may hate Tuesdays if we get rid of Mondays, because then Tuesday will be the  beginning of the week.  ARGH!!

Well, still got a couple of things on my list to do.  Yes, I still have to choose a computer.  Why won’t someone tell me what to buy?  Oh the humanity!  Okay, not sure what that exactly means, but it hit my head.  I really need to do a pro and con listing on it.  Maybe tonight.

I can’t believe Ginger gets over $200k on Bejeweled Blitz every week!! Holy cow, she must have fast fingers and a faster mind.  At least I am showing something respectable in the hi 100k’s.  Let’s see what else….

Been gathering more friends on FB, some college buds are coming out of the wood works.  I still don’t know if I should be trying to chat with them.  Should I be the one to initiate the chatting?  Then what?  Am I suppose to chat with them all the time?  What’s my obligation?  If I don’t chat, will I be de-friended?  Should I de-friend?  Who makes the first move?  OMG – no wonder I don’t mind being alone.

Anyways…stay tuned tomorrow or Monday or whenever you have a chance to read my next blog entry, and I’ll chat about my latest neurotic OCD decision about the food in my house.

So, I was watching this show called Rich Bride Poor Bride, where this couple who is getting married gets this wedding planner and they tell him/her what they want in a wedding and then gives him/her a budget.  You don’t know the budget, and the couple continues on planning their wedding.  There’s drama drama drama.  I watch it to see what goes on.  So, this goes on and at the end of the show, you see if the couple went over or under budget. 

A couple of days ago, I was watching and this couple, oh boy.  I swear that this guy was gay.  I mean he gave all indications, except his fiancee was a woman.   The groom’s voice, the way he dressed, the drama he made.  Even throughout the show the announcer was what?  Kept saying that this was the bride’s day, but the groom wanted to do everything and all his way.  He wanted to set the wedding in the middle of a horse paddock where there would be tents and such with horses in the background.  He said he wanted the Hampton feel and snobbery that goes with it.

Holy cow. And the way he spoke to his fiancee, I mean I am totally surprised that she is willing to stay with him.  His voice was kind of high, and he was wearing the 2 polo shirt look.  Is that not gay or what? 

SIDE NOTE: I was in St. Louis  once and I was in the elevator at the hotel and this guy gets on.  He was wearing the 2 polo shirt with both collars up.  The shirts were white and pink.  Later that day I saw K&J for lunch and J said that the guy was gay.  No question.

Can you believe that? Not that I know a lot about fashion, but 2 polo shirts?  oh well

 Correction to my last post:  Cousin Dan and Family gift was for Christmas and a Home Warming Gift (hint hint)

Now back to our sponsors…

I think that’s it for tonight.  Later.