The Lumberjack's Resume

I know, it's been far too long since I last posted. I've busied myself studying the methods of The Pioneer Woman, Nobel Pig and Bakerella, and found myself swept away with no time to blog!

But, it's time to put myself back out there again.

The Lumberjack lost his job yesterday. The company is in shambles and will likely be run into the ground by the current vice president.

Needless to say, my hard-working, very ethical and honest husband needs a job. He has a degree in business administration and about 3 years of experience in the fields of marketing, sales, and business. Here is his resume. Please pass it along to everyone and anyone who might be able to find this capable man a job! Thank you!

**The Lumberjack found a job within 3 days, so I have removed his resume.**

Spring Cleaning

I hate waking up when it's dark out, because of Daylight Savings. This morning, the moon was still up when I was. That is not OK.

However, I adore getting home when it's light out. I turn up the radio and drive home with the windows down, and I love every minute.

The lengthened day makes me realize how much time I have. So I decided to being spring cleaning.

Last night, I attempted to tackle the pantry AND kitchen. After a nearly-full bottle of red wine vinegar dropped and shattered all over my floor, and I realized that tackling both was unlikely. I settled for the pantry, which now looks beautiful and professionally organized. Luckily, I had the Lumberjack to help with the kitchen, so I only have a little left to do today. I will also be tackling our linen closet tonight.

Tomorrow, the plan is to sort through our closets and get ride of anything we don't use, as well as organize. We also need to go through our bills, receipts, etc. and clean under the bed. Friday, I will attempt to part with dozens of beloved and rarely-used beauty items, such as lotions, bath soaps, etc. when I clean out our bathroom. Saturday, I plan to clean out the closet on our patio and wipe down our patio furniture. All this is leading up to the finale, which I can't do until the rest is clean: have the carpets cleaned and reseal the granite in the kitchen.

This is serious business, folks.

Firsts: About Me

1. Who was your FIRST prom date? David Q, the first "boyfriend" I had in high school. We were just friends by our junior prom, three years later. Of course, it was easy to be friends when the extent of our dating meant we talked on the phone often and went bowling together, with friends, once. I wore a white princess dress. Looking back, it was awefully wedding-ish. In a bad way.
2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? I've got to say, now that I've found true love, I don't know that I had a love before Joe. Not really, at least. But, assuming what I had as a teenager was love, no, I don't talk to him, not do I care to.
3. What was your 1st alcoholic drink? It would have to be horrible Mexican vodka mixed with juice. I hated vodka for years after that. Legally, it was some kind of martini at PB Bar & Grill. Now, I prefer vodka. Good vodka.
4. What was your FIRST job? I worked as an assistant at Dr. Nakamura's orthodontic office through High School. It kept me out of trouble, for the most part.
5. What was your FIRST car? A 2003 Honda Civic, 4-doors and white, which I still have.
6. Who was the FIRST person in your text inbox today? Carlos, from work, checking on my lunch plans.
7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? My wonderful husband, Joe
8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? I think her name was Mrs. Woodrell. I have a vague memory of her. I do remember, however, that our classroom was beneath the stairs in the building and we had a hard time distinguising between an earthquake and a herd of 8th graders assending the staircase.
9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? I think I went to New York and Washington, D.C., when I was 6 months old. First aiprline ride that I remember would be to Washington, D.C., to visit family.
10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? Caitlin R. We are facebook friends and talk every once in awhile. She's getting married soon and I am very excited for her!
11. Where was your FIRST sleep over? Probably with Caitlin, or with girl scouts.
12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Joe
13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? My own, I guess. But I will be a matron of honor in Lisa's in July!
14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Pulled Dutch onto the bed to snuggle with me
15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? HelloGoodbye, I think
16. FIRST tattoo? It's a kanji symbol for "Forever" near my hip. It was a purity symbol to myself.
18. First foreign country you've been to? Mexico, if that counts. If not, England.
19. FIRST movie you remember seeing? Pocahontas
20. When was your FIRST detention? In high school, for a very short skirt.
22. Who was your FIRST roommate? Anne, she was a bit crazy and dropped out after a few weeks, not before multiple pregnancy scares, abusing drugs, getting her tongue pierced and having an occasional breakdown.
23. If you had one wish, what would it be? That my marriage remains happy, healthy and strong, and that we one day have a family together where I get to be a stay-at-home mom.
24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance? I'd take cooking classes, or maybe go to law school.

Butterflies and rocks

I was never very good at dating. I loved the butterflies, the excitement that getting ready for a first date brought, giggled phone calls, the first kiss, and all the accompanied a brief relationship. But I was never good at it.

Before my husband, my longest relationship was 3 months. I used to joke that 3 months was the limit because it would take me 1 and 1/2 months to figure out I didn't like the guy after the excitement went away, and 1 and 1/2 months to end it. But, that really does sum up 90% of the relationships I had before I met my husband.

Part of the problem is, I've always been to nice. I get that from my mother. I'm nice to everyone. And chatty, and genuinely interested, which many men take as flirty. And then, when I'd realized they thought I was flirty, I didn't want to lead them on, so I'd go on a date with them. And then I didn't want to be mean, so it turned into multiple dates.

Most of the time, I tried to convince myself that (a) he was a nice guy and that made up for the fact that I didn't find him attractive or (b) he was cute and that made up for him being a jerk. Before I knew it, I'd turn into the girlfriend of a guy I never liked or was attracted to initially. Thus, the revolving cycle.

There were a few guys I dated an genuinely liked. Very few, but a few.

Now, I realize how insecure of me that was. Instead of hurting some one's feelings, I'd make believe a relationship and attraction that didn't exist. I was a silly teenage girl.

Luckily, I'm not anymore.

I'm also a much better fiancee and now wife than I was at being a girlfriend.

I still love the butterflies and the excitement, but I love the comfort and stability more. I love knowing that I don't have to wear 6-inch heels and pretend I like motocross or rice rockets or emo music to get a boy to like me. Instead, I get to dress up and be real with my husband. I get to stay in my pajamas until noon and have breakfast in bed. I get to fall asleep next to my best friend each night and wake up to his sweet face each morning.

To me, being married is much more fun than dating. Maybe it's because I'm a newlywed and have only been married a year (in May), but I don't see what all the fuss against marriage is really about. It has been the most wonderful thing in my life and I adore being married.

And I think my husband would agree, I'm a pretty good wife. ;)

Watchmen

Let me preview this by saying, I wasn't particularly thrilled about spending 3 hours in a movie theater. I don't make it to movies often. In fact, the last movie I saw was Quantum of Solace. That being said, I went into Watchmen with an open mind. I've liked most of the other "superhero" movies and had hope for this one.

But I was wrong.

The movie starts out with the death of the Comedian. Not too brutal, but they're just warming up. Within a few minutes, it is revealed that the Comedian is a superhero. A good one. Immediately, I was torn from rooting for anyone, knowing that the good guys are probably doomed to die a much more tragic death than the Comedian. The movie continued with all sorts of brutalities: a man's arms are sawed off, dogs fight over the leg of a child after her murderer is done with her, heads are blown off, people are exploded, and those are just the few that I remember. On a basic level, it showed the depravity of the human condition. But, after about an hour, it was gore for gore's sake. And then, there was another hour and 45 minutes of it.

My other complaint was that, unlike Ironman or The Dark Knight, you really have no idea who the good guys and bad guys are. I mean, you think you know who the good guys are, but rooting for them means their ultimate demise. The bad guy remains a mystery until 15 minutes before the end of the movie, when they try to tie all of the confusing plot together to make sense in one fell swoop. It didn't work.

I left the theater wanting the 3 hours of my life back. I didn't learn anything, and I didn't enjoy it. Yes, the special effects were excellent, but they didn't make up for 3 hours of a gruesome and confusing plot.

All that to say, I will not be renting this movie.

Score: D+

Puppy-safe Treats

I tried to find recommendations of treats to leave with Dutch while I'm away at work, and I really couldn't find anything. I thought I'd start my own list of things that I've found to be safe to leave with a puppy while I'm at work. On a normal day, I leave Dutch with:

1. One or two Nylabones. He doesn't love these, but I keep hoping on day he'll realize how neat they are.
2. A bully stick. Unlike rawhide, puppies can't really break of big chunks of a bully stick and choke. It's kind of smelly, but apparently tastes good as Dutch can't get enough.
3. A kong with a cashew in the small end (aromatic to make the dog want it more), a few bits of carrots, some peanut butter, and some puppy chow, all topped off with peanut butter. Frozen is best!
4. A hollowed out bone (like the one seen here: http://www.petco.com/product/6543/Redbarn-White-Bones.aspx) with peanut butter smeared on the inside, plus carrots and dog food.
5. A bone or two with peanut butter flavored stuffing (like seen here: http://www.petco.com/product/6066/Redbarn-Meat-Filled-Bones.aspx). Once the stuffing is gone, I normally use Natural Balance Lamb Roll (found here: http://www.petco.com/product/7133/Natural-Balance-Dog-Food-Rolls-Lamb-Formula.aspx) to restuff it. Also, I freeze this as it takes him longer to eat and is good on puppy teeth.
6. A rope for chewing, like this one: http://www.petco.com/product/100479/Booda-Fresh-N-Floss-Wintermint-2-Knot-Bone.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch. I'm not sure if he likes it that much, but it's one more thing to chew and play with.

All of these things I have personally found OK to leave with Dutch. However, make sure you supervise your dog and decide for yourself.

Dutch: The Introduction

Mr. and Mrs. Lumberjack are pleased to announce the addition of Little Dutch to their family!

On October 11, 2008 (my husband--the Lumberjack's--23rd birthday), we decided to go look at Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies. At the time, there were three litters available: one litter of four 10-week-old tri-color boys, one litter of seven 5-day-old puppies, and one litter of eight 1-day-old puppies. At the time, we weren't sure we were ready for the commitement of a furkid. But, 4 weeks later, we returned to look again.

On our second visit, the two youngest litters were now 4-ish weeks old. They were cute and soft and starting to get their little personalities. The Lumberjack picked out two boys he liked from the first litter. I, of course, liked the other two better. Since we couldn't decide, we went to look at the last litter after deciding the tri-boys, who were older, were not for us.

I saw this cute little ball of fur with perfect markings and picked him up. When I handed him to the Lumberjack , he fell right asleep in his arms. That's when we knew, he was the one.

We went and visited him at 5-weeks-old, and he kept getting cuter and cuter! Waiting for him to come home was very hard. There was one period where we didn't see him for 3 weeks and I missed him so much. Once we decided on him, we couldn't wait to bring him home to us.

Dutch came home to us on December 18, 2008. He was 9 weeks, 6 days old. We had already paid to have him crate-trained at the breeder's home (Lisa and Patrick Bigelbach), and he fell asleep in the car on the way to his new home. At the vet that day, he weighed in at 7.2 pounds.

Over the past few weeks, the Lumberjack and I have dealt with typical puppy issues: biting, potty training, barking, being destructive, not listening, running away, etc. But, he is getting better and adjusting well to life at the center of our family.

At the end of January, the Lumberjack , Dutch and I went to Puppy Kindergarten for the first time. Being the smart boy that he is, Dutch already knew most of the commands (sit, come, stay, down, etc.). We've been working on "Place" and "Watch me," so it was good. After his mini-lesson, he got to play with all the other puppies (about 14) and socialize with the adults and kids that brought them. It was great to see him playing and having such a good time. It was even better that he was exhausted the rest of the day and the Lumberjack and I had some time to spend with friends.

Since then, Dutch attended 5 more puppy kindergarten classes and graduated last Monday. He was very proud and has grown into a sweet little boy in the 11+ weeks we've had him. He now knows sit, stay, wait, come, down, watch me, leave it, drop it, go to your place, go outside, go potty, and off. He's grown a lot since we got him, and is now 22 pounds! He loves his "Daddy," the Lumberjack, all of his "Aunties" and "Uncles," his bully sticks, and his Kong Wubba. He has also proved to us how he is not a "typical" corgi as he loves snuggling and being a lap dog, and really doesn't bark much at all. What a sweet and smart boy he is! We have loved having him in our family and are looking forward to many years with him!

The Pioneer Woman: Favorite Burgers

As much as I am a Californian at heart, there's something I love about the country. "Country" to me, in California, is the suburbs. I don't mind driving 10 minutes to the supermarket, and I hope one day I will have to. I am not a city girl at all. And, because of that, I love following the Pioneer Woman's blog. Ree Drummond, who lives in Oklahoma with her husband and four kids on a cattle farm, has the most wonderful blog. She focuses on "Confessions," or life around the farm, "Cooking," which features the most wonderful homemade recipes, "Photography," "PW Home and Garden," and "Homeschooling."

While I love all of her posts, the foodie in me adores her cooking section. For the last month, I've been hankering for a cast iron skillet, just so I can make some of the recipes she does. On Sunday, I broke down about bought myself a 12-inch pre-seasoned cast iron skillet from Lodge Logic, which Ree recommends. I've used it twice now: once to make the most fabulous grilled cheese (melty on the inside and crunchy crisp on the outside, mmmm...), and once to make Ree's favorite burgers, which I highly recommend making at your soonest opportunity. You can get the recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/my-most-favorite-burger-ever-for-now/
I highly recommend making these burgers. Tonight. Seriously.
I'm not a big blue cheese fan, but I tried it as the recipe calls for. Oh man, these burgers are heavenly and quite possibly the best burgers I've ever eaten. Ever in my life.

The spiciness of the Tabasco in the meat, combined with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the tangy saltiness of the blue cheese nearly made me cry when I was eating it. The combination is seriously an explosion of beautiful flavors. My husband, who always loves my cooking so is semi-biased but wouldn't lie, literally couldn't speak. When he did, he said, "Wow, you're awesome." And later, "This burger made me fall in love with you all over again."

So, thanks, Ree. I'll be making these again very soon!

Grease

The Lumberjack and I went to GREASE last night at the San Diego Civic Theater. The performance was wonderful. It was the touring production, and the acting and singing were excellent. Taylor Hicks debuted as Teen Angel, and he did a fabulous job. His voice is very good and I was impressed by his acting, not to mention his oh-so glittery suit.

I was slightly disappointed by the story itself, though that has nothing to do with the quality or performance by the actors. As one who grew up watching the movie, the Broadway production of Grease varied a bit. Granted, it is difficult to recreate a car race scene onstage, but that concept was entirely removed from the musical. Instead, Sandy realizes, during a party where she is essentially the outcast as Danny doesn't show up, that she must change to be with him. There is no big race scene at all, just a final dance in the dinner of "You're the one that I want" followed by a reprise of "We go together."

I also felt that Sandy's character was a bit left out in the first act. In the movie, you can see and feel how Sandy and Danny long to be with each other, despite the initial social challenges. The movie takes time to develop both characters separately. In the musical, Sandy's role was scarce in the first act, which I felt limited the amount of excitement created when they do eventually get together. In the scenes she did participate in, she was almost so good, too good, that she seemed unlikeable. I know this is no fault of the actress herself. She did a fabulous job and really embodied Sandy as well as anyone following in Olivia Newton-John's shoes could. However, I felt the script to be lacking when it came to getting the audience to sympathize and understand the complexity of the Sandy-Danny relationship. I would have liked to see more of Sandy so that the audience was really rooting for the love-filled ending.

Overall, the production was good. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't know that I'd see it again.

Score: B