So I finally

took down my Christmas tree. Yeah, I know it's February! Sshhh!!

It looks so sad in here now. No pretty tree and twinkling lights.

So starting tomorrow I hafta start job hunting again, although I am going to try to salvage the job offer that fell through. Maybe I'll spell out the gory details later but for now just know that it had something to do with my bad back and bum knee...and it's a DESK job, for gawd's sake! That just doesn't sound right, does it?

Well, for now I am going to finish watching "Sixteen Candles" (can you believe I've never seen it??!!)

RANT FORTHCOMING

"When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window."

Yeah, RIGHT. The joke's on me. I guess when he closes a door, he DOES open a window, then....he slams it shut on your fingers.

At least that's what happened to me. Ok, at least that's what I FEEL happened to me (I don't mean to be disrepectful-but geez, can't I get a break???)

I may not be thinking rationally right now...but my new job fell through. I guess I should think "it wasn't meant to be" but at this moment I am too upset and angry.

I was SUPPOSED to work for a department of the hospital here in Tahoe-a decent paying job with tons of room and opportunity for growth, but noooooo. That apparently was too.much.to.ASK. There aren't many decent jobs up here. Now I might have to get a job at one of the hotels or casinos with crappy hours and even crappier pay, with people puffing smoke in my face. I moved here from LA almost 3 years ago. I was making about $42,000.00/yr down there, and up here I can't even get to $22,000.00/yr. How freaking humiliating is that!

I just don't know what I have done in my life to deserve the shit that gets piled on me sometimes. I had to start working full-time at 18, never got to go to college...but I've almost always had decent jobs...until now.

Yeah yeah yeah-I'm grateful I wasn't born in Iraq, I have family and friends, I have a great fiance, a cat who I adore and who adores me, a roof over my head, a paid off car, I'm fat but basically healthy other than a very bad back and knee, I'm pretty (and vain, I know, so bite me!)...but...still...you know? I seriously need a winning lotto ticket. Hope I can remember to buy one tomorrow.

So we went to dinner...

at Rojo's, a local barbecue/pasta/karaoke place. All the locals here rave about it (and so do tourists-probably because they're all caught up in "oooh it's Tahoe, it MUST be good!"). It's been around in Tahoe forever, something like 50 (?) yrs. Anyway....I have to say, it's highly overrated. These people need to get out more!

It was okay, and the barbecue beef sandwiches we both had were good. The beef was very tender and the french roll it was served on was nice and soft. It's just that the place had such a build-up from everyone who recommended it that the reality was kind of a let-down. It's kind of a dive (ok, it's REALLY a dive!) and could really use a make-over...make that an EXTREME make-over! Oh well, it was a pleasant dinner, even if it was freezing because they sat us near a window.

It was good to get home tonight, because it was 25 degrees out there, bbrrrrrr!

I have SO much I need to do around here in the next few days and I am so unorganized. Anyone else have this problem? We live in a studio apartment and it is so stuffed with...stuff! It's really sad, because most of my stuff is still in storage in L.A. I have this vision of getting this place all nice and organized, but I am just not gifted in the organizational/domestic arts, and I would be too embarrassed to have anyone come help me. Oh well, at least it's clean, it's just cluttered.

Off to bed now!

Ice...

Is NOT nice! I have been outside for the last 1 1/2 hrs. CHOPPING ICE, so that I could have a non-slippery path from my front door to the car without falling on the ice rink out there and busting my ass or knee. I didn't get it all, but I did clear out a great deal of it. Of course after you chop the hell out of it, you have to get rid of it, which means you gotta shovel but not put it where it's going to be in the way of another car or apartment. In this case it meant chopping it, flinging it onto our "porch" (if you can call it that) and then shoveling it onto a pile of snow about 6 ft. high in the side yard. Now I'm too freakin' tired to go and do the laundry, which was the main reason I needed to clear that path so that I could carry the clothes and stuff back and forth without slipping. I have GOT to get out of here!

Me and the man are supposed to go out to celebrate Valentine's Day tonight, since we have bowling tomorrow. I'm not sure where we're going, but I feel like having a steak, YUMMM. With the way I'm feeling after all that ice chopping though, dinner is about the only kind of celebrating I think I'll be doing tonight. Dayum!

I'm glad the little beagle won the Westminster dog show. Sooooooo cute!

Helloooooo, is anybody out there?

I didn't do much of anything yesterday except put away groceries from Sunday. I have a really bad lower back which was in more pain than usual so I just took it easy.

Hopefully I start my new job in 2 weeks. Too bad that I have all this time off but no money to hop on Southwest and fly down to OC to visit my BFF. Dangit!

I think I'll make some cookies tomorrow. That should make it all better, right? Right!
Ok, so I know cookies won't REALLY make it better *sigh* but I might make 'em anyway.

Easy like Sunday morning...

Today we're off to go "down the hill" (meaning down to Carson City) to make our Costco and WalMart runs. The Wal Marts here are SUPER Wal Marts, which mean they have grocery stores, not just a small grocery section. Their prices are usually fantastical, and I get to browse around all the other sections of the store first. :) Of course Costco is always fun too, but damn, we never seem to get out of there for under $100.00. Boooo! :(

Yay, I get to eat at Panda Express today, which may not seem like a big deal (and yes I am quite aware it's not authentic Chinese food, but there's not even a decent fast food Chinese place here-a couple of grocery stores have Chinese food, but it.is.GROSS.) but there is no Panda up here (Lake Tahoe) and not even any good real Chinese restaurants. We suffer from a deplorable lack of good chain restaurants, regular restaurants, and fast food. Waaaah! There are a lot of restaurants here, but not very much variety. You'd think, with being a tourist town, there would be much more to choose from, but noooooo! Not even El Pollo Loco, Yoshinoya, Del Taco, Jack in the Box, TGI Friday's, Red Robin, or just about anything else you can think of. Not even any one of a kind, hole in the wall Mexican, Chinese or Italian places-well, maybe they exist, but they're well-hidden, for sure. Gotta go to Carson City or Reno for those.



We have to go to PetCo, too, to return a big azz bag of cat litter. It's called "Yesterday's News" and is made of tiny rolled-up newspaper pellets (!) and it was supposed to be better for my cat, as regular litter seems to get stuck in her paws, but it's kinda gross and it stinks, because it doesn't clump and it's hard to clean out, so we're back to regular clumping litter and I just have to clean her paws every day with a soft brush. I like going to PetCo on Sundays because it's cat adoption day and I get to visit the little angels, but it makes me kinda sad because I can't adopt one. My cat is an ONLY cat, and just hates other animals, except when she watches them on TV. No, she really turns into a little violent demon around other cats and dogs-it's horrible. It's hard to understand, because she is so loving with me and the future hubs, and she loves humans...but animals are another story for her! We get raccoons here on our patio frequently, and they come right up to the window and she tries to "box" with them! You can almost hear them laughing at her.

Almost forgot...

Happy birthday to my little bro, Danny! I know you won't see this, but I'm thinking of you and hope you had a great day and that everything works out for you in Santa Barbara ! Love you!