buddhists do celebrate christmas as in I’m still receiving gifts if you’re giving them

This has been a pretty calm and uneventful holiday season for the Lala household. Most of this tranquility can be attributed to the fact that I completed all of my shopping before Thanksgiving and Tim and I aren’t exchanging gifts due to the new cars, puppy, and trip to Europe that we shared in this year. Not having to argue with Tim about how he doesn’t need anything when I’m asking what he wants is a trend I’m enjoying and may consider next year.

As you can tell I’ve been a little absent from this here blog recently. I alway come up with great ideas for posts at the most inopportune times – as I’m laying my head on the pillow to go to sleep, as I’m cooking, as I’m driving – only to create the post in my head, knowing how awesome it is, and then never actually sitting down to write it or take out my phone and put it into my WordPress app. Excuses, excuses I know.

Anyway, here is a little holiday cheer from me to you dear readers (all 43 of you). I really appreciate you visiting my little corner. I hope to write more prolifically in 2010.

 

unexpected perspective on things I thought I knew but never thought about that way

Yesterday I brought a Chocolate Bourbon Bundt Cake to work. It was a pretty big hit and it sufficiently inflated my ego to a manageable but not obnoxious level.

This morning while depositing my lunch in the work fridge a co-worker that wasn’t at work to partake in my Bundt Cake of Awesome said she heard it was really good. Instead of saying thanks (like normal people do) she unknowingly gave me the go ahead to share my self-deprecating story about how I’m more of a cook than a baker. Being a really good cook - I think baking is hard, kind of like chemistry and I’m trying to become more comfortable with paying attention when I’m baking. So thanks for the compliment, sorry you didn’t get a chance to taste. I’ll be bringing more offerings soon.

Her response was – baking is easy. You have to be able to read and follow directions. Cooking is creative. Knowing what flavors go with what and how to add or restrain spices and ingredients is much harder than paying attention to what step you are on in a recipe.

Hmm. I never thought about it that way. Thanks co-worker for making me feel a little stupid and a lot superior to people who claim they can’t cook but can bake up a storm.

Now I have to find a recipe to one-up the chocolate cake. Any suggestions?

 

having a trophy husband is harder than being a landman

Last night Tim and I ventured to the Oklahoma City Landman Assoc. holiday party. It was pretty much exactly what I expected – a bunch of men I recognized but didn’t know standing around with the co-workers they see everyday with their wife/fiancee’/girlfriend standing a step behind clutching her redwine staring around at all the other women.

I, as usual, was the odd one out. You know because my junk is in my shirt right under my nametag and I’m the only one there from my company.

I’ve posted before of my intense hatred for networking events but holiday parties are a whole different story. Just like every other event – I act enthusiastic about attending and minutes before it starts I’m vacillating whether or not to go and when I do decide to go my low expectations are sometimes met and most times set too high.

So after Tim and I flew through the buffet, sat and ate at a table of unfriendlys and posted up by the entrance with our second round of free YellowTail Cab-Merlot we started really checking out the crowd. The women in the room fell into three categories 1)age appropriately paired with the man she seemed attached to, 2) young landmen like myself, or 3)obvious trophy wives. Tim got a kick out of the trophys. Especially the trophys that maybe needed a bit of silver polish because you can only fit so much size 10 in a size 6. Tim then proclaimed that he is a trophy husband. Technically that is not a correct use of the term but I let him go with it because I knew it made him feel pretty.

For the rest of the evening Tim acted out his trophy husband role with vigor and vip. Demanding things, dictating how many episodes of Lost we watched, hogging the Snuggie, making me stay up past my bed time. Those trophy spouses are sneaky – looking all hot then being so high maintenance. Geez. I work hard all day to bring home the bacon and all he does is look pretty.

Double standards are best served with whipped cream and alcohol.

 

comment, blogstalking, and disclose are all verbs

This month for self challenge I will comment at least once on all the blogs I read. I read a lot of blogs. Not counting PerezHilton I have 59 subscriptions on Google Reader and at least 10 more that I visit at least weekly in a blog folder in my favorites. SO…this month I will comment disclose my blogstalking. I have been reading some of these blogs for years and have never commented. I really want to do this because I would like to develop my bloggie community a bit more. Because really it is all about me right?

 I feel like I know these people who’s blogs I’ve been stalking around on but they probably don’t know me. Or the Lala’s Lashes me at least. So I’ll be verbing it up over here in Lashland spreading some holiday spirit.

Yesterday I made myself known to Nicole at More is Better - she is the new intern extraordinaire for TheBloggess and next to the mighty Bloggess one of the few funny ladies who regularly puts me too close to peeing in my pants with laughter on a regular basis.

That’s one down and 68 to go. Who will you comment on this month?

 

my happy place wears a viking hat

I’ve been pretty stressed at work lately and have noticed a trend in my stress management. Suppressing my impulse to crouch under my desk and whimper or go to the mall on my lunch break I find myself singing. More specifically opera arias in my office at an audible volume.

I should be working on the FIFTH draft of a Joint Exploration Agreement for a deal that should have been done two weeks ago – but instead I’m loudly humming Ach ich fuhls and visualizing the scene in my head. When I really space out into an aria like yesterday when I was doing an impromptu performance of Chi il bel sogno I even had my arms waiving with the ups and downs of the notes.

I know I’m not crazy and that this is creative and healthy way to deal with stress. But my co-workers may think I’m strangling a cat in my office. Or if they happen to glance down at one of my many office supplied notebooks full of German or Italian text as I distract myself writing out words of an aria they might think I’m having some kind of Beautiful Mind moment.

I must admit although I might not be getting my work done as efficiently as my employer might like I’m memorizing my music for my next recital really fast! See there is always an upside. And you know what, that Agreement won’t be done till this fit lady sings!

 

Marlowe Monday

Did you say something?  No? OK.

I’ll be over here playing with my big dog. Or maybe…

I’ll drag my monkey onto your lap and look at you with my old western style moostach… Hey whats that?!..

 

 Are you looking at my butt?! I’m trying to investigate something and you are looking at my butt? How rude.

Oh its just your sock. I’m going to take a nap now. Please stop photographing me.

 

Gluten-Free Gourmet Turkey Day

This year my sisters and I took on all of the cooking and baking for Turkey Day. Elise and I planned the menu, took many shopping trips, made emergency substitutions, and with the help of our expert sous-chef Monica pulled it off beautifully. Us Germinario ladies don’t do anything half assed – here was the menu for 7:

Hors d’oeuvres: Cheddar cubes, veggies and Hummus, Goat cheese, sun-dried tomato, and Pesto torta with garlic bagel chips and gluten-free rice crackers for me

Dinner: Mixed herb salad with pears, blue cheese, and spiced nuts
15 lb Turkey cooked in a Renolds Wrap Turkey Bag (genius!), butter, s&p, paprika, onions, carrots, celery
Creamy Dreamy Mashed Potatoes
Sweet potatoes with praline topping- OMG these were so good! I wanted to fill up a bathtub with them, lay it them, then eat my way out,  mmmmmm…tmi? sorry.
green bean bundles
cranberry sauce
gluten-free cornbread stuffing

dessert: Pumpkin Pie – one regular crust one gluten-free crust with bourbon whipped cream
Oat-crusted Pecan Pie

It was all sooooo delish and I’m so proud that we pulled it off.

I started to write a list of things I’m thankful for but of course I’m thankful for my family and friends, my health, and my job. I’m specifically thankful for my parents instilling in me and my sisters a love of cooking and entertaining. My dad just walked around yesterday with such a look of pride on his face at our joint efforts in the kitchen. Watching my parents enjoy the meal that me and my sisters poured our hearts into was so satisfying. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day! Gobble Gobble!

 

pants intervention

Ladies we need to have a talk…

I know leggings are really cool right now and being “in style” is all that matters in the whole world but…

Leggings are not pants.

You literally look like you walked out of the house and forgot your skirt or shorts or pants. Just because you are wearing a shirt that wants so desperately to be a dress does not mean leggings are ok. If when walking in public people have to pause and ponder whether you are wearing a shirt or dress it is too short and you should be wearing pants - not leggings – pants. Lindsey Lohan isn’t cool any more and people shouldn’t be supporting her or mimicking her by sporting leggings as pants. All the money people are spending purchasing her overpriced leggings should just be donated to a fund for her to get her shit together. But that is another post all together.

This issue is one of my biggest fashion pet peeves and goes right along with people not dressing for thier body. I don’t care how skinny or fit your legs are NO ONE is flattered by leggings. Come on people.

Yesterday while waiting in the salon to get my eyebrows waxed a “healthy” looking twenty something girl walked in with Ronald McDonald red leggings on, a black t-shirt and moccasin boots. I could see the polka dots on her underwear through her leggings. 4real.

Leggings are for - winterizing a cute dress, little girls under the age of 12, and babies.

Leggings are not for - pants, men, any material that does not grow out of the ground (leather, latex, etc).

Thank you and have a nice day.

 

 

blog therapy

Maybe next time I’ll have an anonymous blog so I can post my true feelings about life, family, sex, poop, and politics without feeling judged or judged.

Yes I would post about all of those things, not necessarily in that order.

*****************

Speaking of life, family, sex, poop, and politics I’m pretty sure this is the normal gammet of topics covered any time a group of my girlfriends and I gather. I’m not even joking. Even when it isn’t a group and I’m having a one-on-one convo with a female friend we are no doubt talking about one of these hot topics. I would say that family and poop are the most commonly discussed topics. Even after nearly 7 years of knowing me Tim can’t get over how much I talk about poop. Everyone poops and I like to – get over it.

Speaking of anonymity I don’t know if it would be all it seems to be cracked up to be. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about all the judge judys out there or the fact that my parents read this. Hi Dad and Mom! I guess it is a matter of exposure. If I were to be more true to self topic oriented on here I’m going to have to de-friend a lot of people on facebook and twitter. Or then again maybe once they read some of my new material they will de-friend me so it doesn’t appear that they are friends with someone who reallythroughly enjoys talking about poop – but then they will still have my page bookmarked or in their google reader because they secretly like to talk about poop too. Or no one will really care and I’m just paranoid.

I’m glad we had this talk.

 

Marlowe Monday – Week 18 – what?!

Hello again. Back by popular demand – Marlowe Monday week 21ish, what ever she’s 5 months old now and we’re moving on to chapters because it is easier to keep up with.

Marlowe is a dog now. She has a dog face.

She used to look like this:

 

now she looks like this:

dog face. (please disregard my wierd looking boob)

But the older she gets the more fun she becomes. Her little personality is HUGE and hilarious. She is really well-behaved for a 5 month old puppy. She responds to many commands, finally stopped biting, and will go scratch at the door when she needs to go out. No accidents since we returned from Europe!

My favorite thing lately has been watching Tim fall in love with this dog. He lurvs her!! Like 5 year old child with a pile of new toys on Christmas morning lurvs her. They will play and sit on the couch together and he is almost more excited to see her in the mornings and after work than she is sometimes. He misses her when we go out of town or when she has overnight play dates. So cute!

I hope he feels the same way about our children one day.