Overheard at the Taco Bell

Darrell and I decided to go to Taco Bell for dinner tonight (surprise, surprise).

When we arrived at the drive-thru, there were something crazy, like four cars in front of us, and the line was.not.moving.

We decided to dine in.  For two reasons: A-It would be a little more romantical; and 2-It had the possibility of being faster.

We park and walk in.  Good news for us...only one person in line in front of us.  This should be easy.

No.Such.Luck.

The lady in front of us has a huge paper bag--you know, the kind with handles that so many of the mall shops give out when you buy thirteen items.

She is ranting and raving that she went through the drive-thru and lo and behold, the Taco Bell employees got her order wrong.  Again.

Now, at this point, I wanted to speak up and give her an "Aye" or "Amen, sister!" since just about every time we go through the Taco Bell drive-thru, we are shorted some item.

But, as I listened closer, she was going off about how she asked for extra sauce packets and she only got 5.

Oh the horror!  The outrage!

Yes.  She went through the drive-thru, drove all the way home, sat down to eat (apparently after throwing away the bag her food came in), discovered she didn't have an excessive amount of hot sauce, found a bag from a recent-ish shopping trip, climbed in her car, drove BACK to the Taco Bell, got out of the car, and asked for a manager, all so she could complain she didn't have enough hot sauce.

REALLY?

Like you don't have a drawer full of it from any of your previous trips through the drive-thru?

I don't know about you, but I always end up with WAY more sauce than is needed.

So the kind Taco Bell manager explains that if she wants an enormous amount of hot sauce, she needs to ask for more.

To which crazy sauce lady replies, "Just last week we went to McDonald's and got the 50 pack of Chicken McNuggets [which, BTW--I didn't know adults ate those!] and they would only give us 4 packs of sauce."  Apparently someone needs a sauce intervention.

The TB manager then apologizes profusely and re-makes her entire order (drink included) and gives her a bag with no-lie 75 sauce packets.

Crazy sauce lady then tells TB manager that she doesn't need that many.  She only needs enough for her food that night.

Well, all I'm saying is that maybe if you kept a little extra around the house, you wouldn't have to make a scene at the Taco Bell about not having enough sauce.

Winner, winner! Chicken dinner!

I'm one of those goof balls who is following a million blogs.  Most of which are far superior to my little blog.  Some are even written by professional bloggers. 

I have this routine every night where I sit down, log into Google Reader (which has saved my HOURS!), and peruse the blogs that I follow.

Some are blogs I love, some are blogs I like a lot, others are blogs I only tolerate because every once in awhile they have something of interest to me, and then there are the ones that are train wrecks--I honestly am repulsed, but can't stop looking.

Well.  One of the things I almost always do is enter giveaways.  As most of you already know, I'm sorta a sucker for anything free.  I think I would take a free ten pounds if someone offered it to me.  Come to think of it, I may have already taken a few people up on that offer.

Anywho!  I have been the lucky winner of two prizes:
A yard of beautiful fabric from Aunt Spicy (I still have to make something fun with it).
And a cute handkerchief from a long-lost friend Trevlyn.

Well, I got an email today that I won a giveaway from Gabrielle at Design Mom.  It's my biggest yet.  (Besides the multiple ten pound prizes).  I won $50 of merchandise from Cardstore.

I'm so excited. 

I feel like I won both showcases on The Price is Right.

Want to know a secret?

I really enjoy being creative.  I don't always succeed, or at least not exactly the way I planned.  But most of the time, I enjoy the process.  I'm not necessarily the person who can take four pieces of apparent junk and turn it into a masterpiece.   Or even the person who can create something from nothing.  But I can copy what someone else has done.

Now here is my problem.  Every night, around 11:15, I start itching to create.

I HAVE to do something NOW.  But, since it's super late, and I should be sleeping, and Darrell is already asleep, and I don't know exactly what I want to do, and even if I knew I probably wouldn't have the supplies, I don't do anything.  Which causes me hours of anxiety. 

Which is one of the reasons for my insomnia.

Once I start thinking about creating, I can't stop. 

So, does anyone have an idea for a quick, quiet, and quite fulfilling project I can do tonight? 

I want to get to sleep before 3.

Dear hundred degree plus days,

Hi.  How are you?  I haven't seen or really heard from you in about six months.  I hope you have enjoyed your vacation.

I know you are due back soon, but really, when your friend ninety-six visited on Sunday, I was reminded that you are here for such a long time. 

You see, although you come to visit every year in the mid-Spring, I never have quite prepared sufficiently for your return.

Here is what happens:

• After you pack things up here, the cooler air comes to visit.  I'm able to go outside and spend some quality and quantity time out with nature.  I even can wear my long sleeves without breaking a sweat.  This is autumn in the desert.
• And then along comes winter.  And although some may say that winter never really lives here, it does come for visits.  And it even is cold sometimes.  And because we have grown so accustomed to your visits, we have a difficult time enjoying and tolerating winter.  Jack Frost really is not the most welcome guy in town, except for a few days around Christmas.  After Christmas, we are ready to wear our sweaters only as decoration and run the A/C in the car, rather than the heater.  People from the North come to visit since it reminds them of their summer and they run around in shorts.  We look at them as if they are crazy, since it is cold. 
• Around mid-January, rainy season starts.  We have cold and wet days, that chill us to the bone.  We love to make soups and warm breads on these days and cuddle up by our TV.  These are the days that we think of you longingly.  It's so cold in the buildings at work, the store, the movie theaters, and pretty much everywhere else.  It's the one time in the year that going out to the car doesn't warm you up.  Some people even wear coats.  But since it only lasts a few days and provides us with much of the rain we need, we only gripe a little.
• In late February, the warmer days appear, ushering in Spring.  Flowers begin to bloom.  Trees regain their leaves.  It really is a beautiful time.  However, the pollen permeates the air.  It blankets the out-of-doors and everything in it with a fine yellow dust.  Eyes run.  Noses sneeze.  People both love and hate this time.  It is too beautiful outside to stay indoors, but too allergy-rific to stay outdoors.  
• Then, sometime in April, you start to test us.  You send friends--like ninety-six-- to see how well your return will be received.  Is it too early?  Do we want you as a visitor for a day or two or are we ready to have you move in for the longer haul?

Once you return, I do love you so.  You demand that the pollen go on hiatus.  You really get things warmed up here.  Some days, when it's really cold in my office, I look forward to sitting in my car, with no A/C, just feeling your warmth emanate to my soul.

I especially love seeing the heat waves and mirages you create on the hot asphalt.  And it's fun to walk from the cold buildings to the warm car and sink into the asphalt.

Really.

I'm not joking.

And then you heat up the pools just enough that it takes the sting away.  And I go for a dip in the water, just to cool off.  Yeah...those are good times.

So, and I don't mean to be rude, but if you would like to, you can stay on vacation a while longer.

I am quite enjoying this run of the eighties.  And I promise, if you postpone your return, our reunion will be even more joyful than you can imagine.

Warmly,
Stephanie

Guess the name of this post...it's also a David Bowie song

So...I decided to be a more consistent blogger.  And I'm not sure it was so much a conscious decision as much as it was the natural progression of actually thinking of things to write and doing it.

But, I sort of got on a little bit of a roll.

I was posting every couple of days, some posts that were actually pretty good, if I say so myself.  (Which I obviously did).

I even had a few moments where I cracked myself up.  (Ok.  Not so unusual or difficult for me).

But then, suddenly, without much notice (which is a definition of "suddenly"), I got what people "in the business" call "Writer's Block."  (Visualize me using those silly, little in-the-air finger quotes while reading that last sentence.  I'll wait while you re-read it).

It was horrible.  I couldn't think of anything (a) witty; (b) clever; (c) informative; (d) interesting; or (e) write-able.

I was constantly trying to think of something.anything to write.

Oh look!  Glee is on!  Surely there is something Glee-ish to write about.  But no.  Although I loved it, there wasn't anything to say about it that wasn't said somewhere else.

Oooh!  I went to book club.  We talked and gabbed about all sorts of things.  Unfortunately, nothing that I could or, better yet, SHOULD write about.  I can't even write about the book, since I didn't read it.  Shameful, I know!  It's on my ever-growing to-do list.  That I don't even keep.

I survived the Easter Day earthquake.  Survived being a little bit of literary license.  It wasn't much of an earthquake here in Arizona.  Small enough that there isn't much to post on the blog.  I posted on facebook.  In fact, I may have broken the news to the world about the earthquake.  But still, not enough fodder for the blog.

And so, as you can so easily read for yourself, my life got so boring and mundane that I couldn't even make fun of myself.

I was feeling the pressure.  One could even say I was "Under Pressure."

But, I'm hoping I got a little of my "mo-jo" back.  Or maybe it was my "groove."

Whatever it was, I hope it's back for good.



PS--If you guessed the name of this post, pat yourself on the back.  I would send you a little gift, but I fear by the time I got around to sending it, you will have moved.  Thrice.

Things I can't touch

I know it sound crazy, but there are specific things out there in the world that I cannot touch.  If I do, I  have to immediately wash my hands.  But even then, sometimes no amount of washing will help. 

Galvanized steel.  For some reason, I hate the way it feels.  It gives me the willies.  Just thinking about it makes me hurt.

Bugs, reptiles, birds, and rodents.  When I was younger (like a week ago even), I couldn't even touch photos of these creatures.  In books.  Or even drawings.

Items in the garage that have dust on them.  One day, while living with my parents, my dad asked me to help him move their pop-up trailer.  It was in the garage and had dust all over it.  I really wasn't much help and nearly dropped the trailer.  I guess that's what happens when you will only touch a hundred-plus pound object with your fingertips. 

Coins or keys (for very long).  For some reason, when I touch coins or keys for longer than just a few seconds, I can taste them.  I am afraid I may have actual taste buds on my fingers.  If I experience the contact metal taste, it won't go away for hours.

I'm starting to freak myself out.

I think I need to take a shower. 

I found a new hobby....

Help me now!

Editor comments:  I made this myself.  If you go to youtube, you can make your own, too.