Tales from La La Land

Another disclaimer in a blog. I heart my boyfriend. Aside from the whole World of Warcraft (which apparently the followers simply call WoW), he is very attentive, willing to help in any way and genuinely wants to help around the house.

I was in the middle of making dinner tonight and realized I forgot to get two ingredients. Laef was more than willing to go to the store to pick up the forgotten items. Which on one hand makes me extremely happy and on the other hand makes me nervous.

It must be a guy thing, but pretty much everytime he goes to the store for something he comes back with something completely different than what was needed. Hence, I have learned my lesson and began writing down very specific details. Sometimes I even describe the shape of a bottle. Tonight I went to a new extreme. I drew a picture of what green onions look like. I also needed one 7 oz. can of diced green chiles. I told Laef to get two cans figuring we’d use the other down the road.

So, he went to the store with a piece of paper that had green onions drawn on it and the words: two 7 oz cans of green chiles.

Green onions: check. Diced green chiles: two 4 oz cans.

Why? What could I have done. No matter, the two cans totaled 8 oz so it was pretty much not a big deal. But, I find it so funny.

I should also mention he came back with these:

So who really cares about the green chiles anyway.

As I mentioned before, my job at Fox was temp. so I’ve been looking for jobs for about a month. I had my third and final interview at www.leaderenterprises.com yesterday and today was offered the job.

It’s been a long year since leaving Oregon, particularly professionally. UC Davis was not the right fit, nor was that stint at the Hyatt. Fox was cool and I met some really fun people, but booking travel and answering phones is hardly what I went to college for.

So, it is with great excitement that I get to venture back into an industry that I have missed. I feel really lucky to have a job in sports. I think those of us that do work in sports can agree that it never feels like working in the real world. You meet really cool people, travel to exciting events and generally work in a wonderful atmosphere.

It sounds like I’ll be traveling here and there, but not every weekend like with softball. And, to think, I’m working sports, but the job is M-F. I absolutely can not stress how wonderful it has been to have weekends off. And, the weekends that I will be traveling will be to major sporting events or charity events that the company does to generate PR for it’s many clients.

It’s going to be a new learning experience as they have found a way to merge sports companies with companies like General Mills. I’m excited (and curious) to see how they marry the two.

Here’s to starting ’08 with a great new job. Late.

I apologize in advance if this blog offends anyone. I’m not going to give details of my sex life, but it will touch on the subject of birth control. If you have the maturity of a seven-year old and that bothers you, stop reading.

So, my job at Fox is considered a temp job. I’m subbing for someone who had a baby. Originially, she had no plans to return to Fox and I would be full time starting in January. Once I was off the temp status, I would also get benefits. In December she let me know that she had changed her mind and that she’d be coming back to work in February. No worries, it’s her job and I probably need to do something more with myself than what I’m doing here anyway.

However, my birth-control pill subscription ran out in January. Although this might come as a surprise to some of you (Heather), Laef and I do more than just play Scrabble and watch dude flicks.

I tell Laef the situation and he says,”Well, I guess your going to have to go to Planned Parenthood.”

Now, I’ve just seen Juno. And, I really don’t want to go and get the blank stare from the front-desk girl who might say, “Welcome to Planned Parenthood. Where we plan your parenthood.”

I reply to Laef: “Well, I guess you’re going to have to buy some condoms.”

We both know that doesn’t sound all that fun.

I make Laef go with me and we go Wednesday morning. It’s relatively quick and painless and when I leave they hand me a brown bag as well as a one-year perscription. The bag has like 100 condoms in it, but they are not the kind that make a guys junk smell like blueberry pie.

Later that night, Laef sees the prescription on the table and yells, “Why did they give you a prescription for the morning-after pill?!”

Confused, I look at it and sure enough, the white sheet has two prescriptions on it. One for the pills and one for “Plan B” – the morning after pill. Apparently they dole that shit out like it’s M&Ms.

The world according to Planned Parenthood:
Plan A: Use the pills/condoms
Plan B: “Take care of it.”
Plan C: Play Scrabble.

I told you about my really exciting Friday night, right? Live Free or Die Hard? Bourne Utlimatum? Actually both really good movies, by the way.

Saturday the Morris-Ross house was even more exciting. After we came home from Juno, we sat down for a game of Scrabble. Now, when Laef and I play Scrabble, it’s a major clusterfuck. I have a problem finishing things and Laef as a huge problem with working under time constraints. So, most of the time we spend so may hours waiting for Laef to make a three-letter word that I eventually get bored and quit early.

Lately we’ve made the rule beforehand that we’re going to play with the timer. And with the dictionary. Leaf has a habit of making words up, convincing me that they are athletic training related and thus discouraging me from challenging.

Laef does not do well with the timer. I majored in journalism, love writing, can see words in the tiles quickly and hardly ever utilize the entire time allotment. He commented after our last game, “Hmmm…all of the five and six letter words are yours. All of the three-letter words are mine.”

Which isn’t totally true. Laef is smart and has had a 4.2 GPA since kindergarten. But, like I said, he does not, under any circumstances, like to be rushed. I’m 33. I am hoping to have my first child by 40. We’ll see.

Anyway, on Saturday we hit a milestone and finished a game without fighting or dying of boredom! Yay us.

I’m thinking we might need to get out and about this weekend. Give the blog some good stories or something.

Although I’m not running for president, that will be my slogan in the upcoming year.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever had true resolutions. Those who know me well, know that I am terrible at finishing things I start. Check that, I can definitely finish a bottle of wine or a No. 1 from Taco Bell.

But, seriously, if I had to pinpoint one defining characteristic in myself it’s that I start a lot of things really gung-ho and almost never finish them. This trait can be related to many things ranging from painting to reading a book to dating to sticking to a career to writing in my journals.

For example, many years ago, I got all inspired to paint. So, I went to the UO bookstore and bought all kinds of oil paints, a canvas and some brushes. I went home determined to paint. Well, about half way through, I had had my fix. The canvas was half white and half…um, artistic? That painting sat that way…forever.

I have about 10 journals. All of them are half full. I become unmotivated by the cover or by the particular train of thought that a certain journal leads me and go to the bookstore and pick out a really inspiring green velvet journal and words flow. For about six months.

I’ve lived in really great places, had really great jobs and wonderful relationships, yet, I find myself in new situations at every turn.

The key in 2008, however, is embracing who I am and remaining gung ho about leaping into things whole-heartedly. I’ll never be a different person, and I don’t want to be.

But, I want to follow through because a lot of what I start is really amazing and actually a good idea. So, I did come up with some resolutions and they’re all based on things that I’ve wanted to be better about for at least 10 years. They revolve around conversations I’ve had with myself for many years so I figure now is the time to put forth the effort.

Some of these are going to seem extremely basic and your typical resolution, but they are important to me for my own reasons.

1. Be positive, worry less. I’ll be turning 34 this year and I really don’t want to worry about why certain people are douche bags or why they say (or do) certain things. I will admit to being one of those people that worries about too many details, most of which are not important. For example: Why was I number 2 on your myspace and now I’m No. 10. Who gives a fuck? And, don’t act like you haven’t done it either. I also can’t worry about the decisions other people make and if they bother me…I have my life and my own decisions to (not) worry about. Basically, if you don’t like me, go fuck yourself. I don’t care anymore.

2. Minimize. The pertains to everything from my friends to my house to my thoughts. I will now focus on quality of things, friendships, etc., as opposed to quantity. And, some people just aren’t making the cut in 2008. If you make me feel worse when I get off the phone, I’m probably crossing you off the list. Lucky for the Ducks they showed up in the Sun Bowl or they’d be crossed off because I can guarantee you that would have made me feel poopy.

3. Live in the now. Not in the past. 2007 was a weird year because I moved from Oregon. And, I spent a lot of months questioning the decision, struggling to move forward, unsure of who I was withougt everything Eugene. Now that new year has begun, I feel like the Oregon saga is behind me. Obviously, I still have my peeps, but it’s time to think about now. And that pertains to a lot of things. Today is today. Yesterday is already gone so if Laef peed on the toliet seat or left 92 dishes in the sink, it’s pretty much a moot point to think about it today. Besides, have you seen Manhattan Beach? I love, love, love where we live. It’s small and quaint, so I don’t feel overwhelmed, the weather is amazing, the neighbor cat pees on my doorstep without fail, I run along the beach. I doubt we’ll be buying a house here, but for this block of my life, I am seriously living the high life.

4 and 5 go hand in hand. Exercise, eat well, drink less alchohol. I have gained 12 pounds since moving to LA. Some will say that’s a good thing because I had twiggy legs or whatever. I’m fine with 12 pounds if they weren’t 12 pounds of wine, sour cream and cheese. I was on a really great exercise routine in Oregon and felt the best I ever have. I’ve been bitching to myself everyday for six months about toning up, so I’m committed to it again. And, that means not drinking wine during the week. I usually have a glass while I’m making dinner, a glass with dinner and maybe another. Depends. But, that doesn’t help the calorie count. I’ve been monitoring my calories and it takes me 50 minutes on the treadmill to burn 420 calories. That is a LONG effing time to be on a treadmill. Yet, it takes me about 10 seconds to down a late-night hot pocket. Now that I realize how long it takes to burn it off, I’m much more cautious about what I eat and drink. I miss my wine, but it makes the weekends so exciting! I had two whole glasses Saturday night!! Then felt guilty and swam for 40 minutes on Sunday.

What are your resolutions?

Laef and I had an exciting Friday. Exciting if you’re a guy. He went to Blockbuster. He came back with: Live Free or Die Hard and Bourne Ultimatum.

So, I gave him an ultimatum on Saturday: We need to see Juno or you’ll be banned from War of Warcraft. Sidenote: I mentioned in an earlier post that Laef was playing War of Warcraft. At that time, he was on a 10-day free trial period. No worries.

However, on Thursday I stayed home from work. At around 2 p.m. there was a random knock on the door. I snuck to the door, light on my feet so as not to alert some random that I might actually be home. Through the Christmas wreath (yes, it’s still on the door), I spy a brown UPS hat. I think, ‘Yay! UPS! A gift, a package, something cool!’

Hot UPS guy in brown shorts: “Morris?”
Me: “Who? Oh, yeah, Morris.”

I open the box and to my complete horror, it’s the War of Warcraft DVD or game or whatever the forever version is. It’s no longer a 1o-day trial. Laef owns this shit now.

I digress.

On Saturday, Laef and I went to see Juno. If you have not seen this movie, go immediately. It’s smart, sassy, witty, funny, sad, uplifting and intelligent all wrapped into one. I had the same feeling I had when I left Garden State. I know some people get bored with these kinds of movies because — as in Garden State — it’s not so much of things happening and going on as it a tale of growth, angst and resolution.

But, I think with Juno the personality of the characters will carry you through. From the main character — a 16-year old pregnant girl (Juno) dealing with abandonment issues — to the couple she has enlisted to adopt her unborn child, every person is somehow deeply layered and serves a very meaningful purpose to the movie. In fact, we really only touch base with seven people and each of them provides some sort of insight that progresses the movie. And they are all so completely different.

I don’t want to give away the movie or say too much, but it’s worth seeing. Twice. Even if you can’t relate to angst or teenage pregnancy can you not laugh at a father who says: “Isn’t that what you kids call girls like that? Tore up from the floor up?”

But, my favorite line has to be when Juno realizes there may be issues with the adoptive parents, “No. I don’t want it to be all broken like everything else.”

It’s 2008. It sucks that more things are broken than not, but at least everyone’s in the same boat and they can make funny movies about it.