Vacation: 24 hours and locked out.

24 hours at the rental house:

We cooked some fajitas for dinner. We washed dishes. Put some cookies in the oven. We poured some wine, sat on the nice screened in patio and then got locked out of our house.

I hopped the fence. Got some scratches on my thigh. I walked to our neighbors house (on one side) and no one was home. So then, I walked to the Chu’s convenience store/Chevron gas station and made a call to the rental company…their “non-emergency” number said they would respond in 20 mins.

I saw the other neighbors (on the other side) come home and told them the situation. Nice guy, Sam, and his wife came over. Sam hopped the fence and picked our porch door lock. And now we are back inside, have some seriously burned cookies and will be leaving our beach house doors open for the rest of our stay on Tybee Island, GA.

PS - We plan to leave a bottle of wine and some cookies on our neighbors’ doorstep tomorrow. We are forever indebted to them.

Some updates.

• I’m the September employee of the month at work! I got a sweet gift card (that I plan to buy new blinds for my house with) and a pass to park in the executive parking lot.
• Football is back. And I hope I kick some serious booty in the fantasy football league I am in. I can’t wait to watch the Cowboys play on Sunday.
• I’ve been stressed, tired and anxious. But that is all over now. All I want to do is sleep. It would be awesome to sleep in tomorrow. I am trying to do that with some wine and Tylenol PM.
• I am finally going on my trip to Savannah/Tybee Island, GA on Monday. I am so ready for a whole week off!

That’s all folks.

An update to make up for my lack of updates.

So I have been MIA over the last few weeks. Here’s what’s been going on:

• - Work is good! Busy, but good. Things have been a little challenging with some projects I have been working on. My boss left about 3 weeks ago. But, I feel like I have learned and have grown so much in just the few months I have been at my new agency. 
• - I am still going strong with the gym. It’s been about a month since I joined and I have been going 3-5 times a week. Maybe I am just on a gym high or something, but it’s sort of addicting. And it helps that there is a super cute guy there every day during the week between the 6:15 and 6:45pm timeframe that I consider my motivation. Oh, did that make me sound like a stalker? Well, I don’t even know his name and have never talked to him, but I like to consider him my gym boyfriend. Ha. Now I just sound like a crazy, desperate woman.
• - I’ve also been doing well with my diet. Weekends are tough, but I’m sticking to it as best I can.
• - Remember my online dating fiascoes last summer? Well, I ran into two guys I went out with (only once) that I met online at the same bar, two weeks in a row. I didn’t talk to them, but one had a serious beer belly, which he didn’t have last summer, and I think the other was with his boyfriend. Those were some real winners.
• - It’s hot. So hot, I haven’t been to the pool in a few weeks. So hot, I dread getting out of my car if I have to leave during the day for a meeting or run errands on the weekend because all it takes is walking from the car to the entrance of the store to start sweating. Or maybe less than that.

And that’s it. Life as usual.

Saturday ramblings.

• - My 60-day trial of Microsoft Office just expired. Since all of my work and job search-related documents are in Word, I was basically forced to download the full version. It actually wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be, but every pricey purchase hurts just a little bit since I don’t have a job right now. *Update: Thanks to my friend John, who suggested I use Google Docs, I just “returned” my download of Microsoft Office. I downloaded the full version though, so we’ll see how this works. I assume they will send me some kind of email that will disable the full version from my computer once they process my request.
• - I think my crazy neighbor sold her place! The realtors lock box that was on the door for the last few months is gone and I saw two new cars parked outside the other day. One was a lady in a suit, who looked like a realtor, and the other was a couple. I’d be OK with a nice couple moving in next door…I just hope they are normal and don’t freak out over little things like garden hoses…
• - Speaking of garden hoses, I think I’ll make a trip to Home Depot today to pick up another bag of mulch and some more plants for my patio and some ant killer. Because I hate ants. Oh, the joys of being a homeowner.
• - I did pretty well working out this week. One day walking around my neighborhood, two days on the Katy Trail. I had every intention going to yoga this week too, but it’s so nice outside, I am just not into sweating my butt off inside a yoga studio. I feel guilty too, since I paid $30 for a Groupon for unlimited classes for a month and have been once in two weeks. If I can go one or two more times, I will have actually gotten my money’s worth. I think that is a good goal.
• - I’m flipping through cookbooks today trying to decide what to make this week. No more baking! My friend Ashley gave me some Oreo truffles (to die for) and chocolate chip cookies last night, so I am sticking to cooking real meals this week. I don’t need any more sweets!

Observations of a jobless (late) 20-something woman.

• - I produce a lot of garbage. It’s amazing how much trash can accumulate when you are home every day. I never realized how much I throw away since I probably threw 3/4 of my garbage in the trash cans and recycling bins at work. I also don’t recycle at home since my condo complex does not collect recycling bins. I should probably start recycling and finding somewhere to bring my recycled items
• - Toilet paper runs out quickly. Random, and probably too much info to share, but it’s true. 
• - I am a creature of habit. I tend to wake up early, realize I don’t have to go anywhere, roll over and go back to sleep until about 8:30am every day. Then I watch the last 30 minutes of Good Morning America, flip back and forth between the Today Show and Rachel Ray, switch to Kathie Lee and Hoda (I know, I know), then Nate Berkus and finally Real Housewives of NJ. I am usually multitasking in the morning - searching for jobs, sending in applications, reading my Twitter feed, maybe doing a load of laundry and watching TV.
• - It is very easy to lose motivation to do the things I love to do even though I have lots of time to do them. I could easily go to yoga every day, at any time. I could also be painting or doing things around my house that I have been meaning to do for months and never had the time to do. But it’s easy to lose motivation when you have no obligations. I feel sort of lazy.
• - Searching for a job is…exhausting. It hasn’t been that long for me, but I am mentally exhausted. I never thought it would take so long (even though it has really only been three weeks, plus one day). Although, I do have huge sense of accomplishment and confidence in my job search. I have had three interviews, networked with so many people, have some good leads and made some great connections. I know something is going to happen soon.

Random Friday night thoughts.

• Michelob Ultra is terrible. While it may be low in calories, it tastes like ass…or maybe pee.
• I hate the Texas heat in the summer, but I will take the heat over this humid grossness and buckets of rain.
• I am hoping my trip to NYC next week is the last trip I have to take for a few months. While I love NYC and don’t really mind the travel, this is my third trip up there in a month and my fifth trip up there in two months.
• I hope I can sleep past 7am tomorrow morning. If it is raining tomorrow, I might just spend the entire day in bed.

Entirely TMI.

This is probably way too much information to share, but I found it rather funny.

While at the “lady doctor,” my doctor decided talking about the fried food at the Texas State Fair was a good conversation to have while she was doing her business.

I love the fair, but I am not sure I have the excitement for corny dogs and other deep fried goodness as I did before.

Leftover chicken broth or spaghetti sauce?

Since my grandma and I both live alone, she taught me a great trick.

Pour the liquid into an ice cube tray and then freeze. Pop out the cubes and put them in a freezer bag. Two cubes is about a 1/4 cup. Whenever you need some chicken broth or some spaghetti sauce, you have exactly the amount you need.

Here are some other useful ways to utilize your ice cube trays.

Honest Scrap Award.

My co-worker/friend/fellow blogger, Brittany, posted this earlier this week and I just happened to come across it. I never do these things, but it’s a Friday night and I staying in because I am completely wiped out from this week, so I am giving it a whirl.

The rules are:
1. List 10 honest things about yourself that your blogging friends do not know about you.
2. Give the award away to five bloggers.
3. Let them know they’ve received the award.

My list:

1. I am an only child and have a very small family. I don’t think I could ever live too far away from my parents. They moved to Corinth in 2005 and it was more than a coincidence when the agency I work for opened an office in Dallas less than a year later.

2. I tell people I am Italian, which is true, but I am also 1/4 Mexican (on my mom’s side).

3. I am a HUGE bargain hunter. I hate paying full price for things and will drive all over town to find a good deal.

4. I can’t handle hard alcohol. The thought of drinking vodka makes me want to puke.

5. I love to cook, but I hate cooking for myself. When I do cook, I always make enough so that I have leftovers. I buy things I can freeze and put them in individual packages so I can take one out at a time.

6. Most people think I am hardass, tough girl since I am from NJ. I may put that act on when I need to, but I am huge softie. I cry at the drop of a hat, even when I watch Grey’s Anatomy.

7. I love kids. I worked at two different daycare centers for a total of five years when I was in high school and college. I can’t wait to have kids. I want two, but my mom wants me to have 10.

8. If I didn’t work in PR, I would like to be the editor at a magazine (I want to be the girl who writes for the men’s magazine) or a teacher,preferrably pre-school or kindergarten.

9. I want a tattoo of a cherry blossom branch with my initials integrated somewhere in it. The house I grew up in had a cherry blossom tree in the front yard. Whenever I think of that house, the first image I think of is that tree. That will always be home.

10. As soon as I buy my first place, I am going to start a blog about being a first time homeowner and all of the issues that go along with it.

(I am not sure I know five people who would do this, so if you feel like it, be my guest!)

Bar golf.

A fun, challenging, often vomit-inducing college sport. The rules are simple. Players travel to 18 bars (the front and back 9 may be played on separate nights), and an hour (or half-hour if you want to make it intense) is allotted for each bar. Teams of 1 lady and 1 gentlemen are set up and score cards are distributed. Par is set ahead of time for each bar and you must drink to reduce strokes. Different drinks can be valued differently (i.e., a beer= -1 stroke, singles= -2, doubles= -3, long islands= -4, etc). Puking yields a +5 penalty. Golf attire is mandatory.

via Urban Dictionary

Try playing bar golf (with some rule variations from the above) at 15 minute intervals with 5 minutes to walk to each bar in 100 degree weather. That was my Saturday night. Enough said.