LAE: November 2008

Lazy Lizard

I was able to leave work at 2 PM on Wed so I did not hit much traffic driving out to Ocotillo. It was rainy and foggy in the mountain area but once you got through it was beautiful weather out in the desert.

WED night we decided to walk to the Lazy Lizard, my Aunt was working there that night. Even my granparents walked over with us, but they only stayed about 30 minutes which was long enough for my Da-da to kick our butts in a game of darts. After about an hour, we were the only ones in the place - but what do expect in a town of about 500 people only. We closed the place and I drank all of thier Rasberry Smirnoff's (this bar can only sell beer/wine). Here are some pics from the night. I will fill in more about the weekend (like my damn ticket) later. I just got home and I need to get some laundry and stuff done before I start my week at 5 AM.

getting ready to walk to the bar.

Uncle - brother - cousin

dada playing darts

I just won a game of darts and did not realize that someone had my camera (obviously).

Walking back to the house!

Happy Turkey day!

2 comments Posted by Loretta at 7:17 AM

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
AS soon as I can leave work this afternoon I will be driving out to the dry dusty flat area in Imperial Valley known as Ocotillo. My parents decided that this is where they want to retire someday. It is literly in the middle of no where. The closest town is about 25 miles east and that is El Centro so it is not really much of a town. Ocotillo does not have a gas station or grocery store but it does have The Lazy Lizard which is a small bar with 2 dart machines and a pool table - so what does that tell you about the area. Actually it is not that bad but you have to like the dry desert. My parents bought a house there about 4 years ago and they go down there practicly every weekend. This will be the 2nd year that we have had Thanksgiving there. My grandparents from my moms side will be there, adn some aunts uncle and cousins from my dads family. Plus several of my parents friends either have a place or will camp out there. It will be nice to be out of town for a few days. I will also be able to ride my quad which will be nice, it has been awhile since I have been riding. Ok, well the sooner I get some work done the sooner I can get on the road. It is not a bad drive but I do have to go through a mountain grade and it has been raining here all night so it is probably raining in the mountains as well.
I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

MOVIE/MIDNIGHT

3 comments Posted by Loretta at 11:46 AM

MOVIE:

Twilight: It was great, I loved it. It was 2 hours and 15 minutes exactly, with the first 15 minutes of it being movie previews. The movie actually could have been longer. They left out a lot of parts, but it is a long book so I guess they had to cut some of it out. I had heard that the director does really good films for teenagers and she did a great job. It does follow under the young adult category - it made me want to go back to high school :) I was just amazed the whole time that I actualy got to see these characters that have been in my imagination for so long.

Mandi: you will love the moment when Edward first appears on screen.

MIDNIGHT:

Not the smartest thing I have ever done on a work night but you only live once right :)

I got to the Theater at 9Pm and picked up my ticket. Then met a bunch of co-workers at Hooley's pub which is right next door. I did not partake in any alcohol - that would have put me to sleep for sure. There ended up being 11 of us and at 10 PM we decided to go get in line in the theater. To our amazment they had already let some theaters in, there were four theaters showing Twilight that night. We opted to go in the last theater, even though it was not their biggest screen. We got awesome seats and ours was not sold out like the first 3 were. BUT now we had to wait 2 HOURS for it to start. that was hard. We played cards, we gossiped, we people watched, and we got up and walked around the lobby. At about 11:45 PM it was starting to hit me, all I wanted to do was close my eyes. It was very loud in the theater, a TON of teenage girls who scream (not sing) when a song came on. But once the movie started in was dead quite until you saw Edward then everyone sighed. Everyone laughed, cheered, sighed, clapped at the same moments. Seeing everyone have the same reacation as you made it more enjoyable.

So i got home at about 2:30 AM - tossed and turned in bed, I saw the clock at 4:30 AM and then BAMM my alarm went off at 5:15 AM( I pushed it back from 5AM). I was at work by 6:30 AM. I tried to eat lunch at 11:30 AM but Soup Plantation just was not cutting it for some reason. I got real cranky and tired around 1 PM. Left work at 3:30 PM, tried to fall asleep on the couch but it was a Friday and neighbors were loud, the phone was ringing and I was starving. I made egg and potato burritos, then took a hot bath, maybe too hot, I was extra tired when I got out of there - Crawled in bed and watched Grey's on the DVR then was asleep before 9 PM.

SO I will probably think twice about seeing a movie at Midnight on a work night. But in this case it was worth it!

(PART OF MY FAVORITE SCENE)

Getting to know you.....

1 comments Posted by Loretta at 12:26 PM

Christmas version of getting to know you better email that I decided to use as a post instead.

Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both
Real tree or Artificial? Niether, it is a ceramic tree that my grandma made about 20+ years ago.
When do you put up the tree? whenever I drag it down from the top of my closet.
When do you take the tree down? After new years.
Do you like eggnog? Oh I absolutly LOVE IT! look foward to it. I have already gone through 3 cartons.
Favorite gift received as a child? IDK, umm Cabbage Patch doll, yes that is itm her name was Angelique.
Hardest person to buy for? BFF Sarah
Easiest person to buy for? Dad - get him any DVD and he is happy.
Do you have a nativity scene? That will be a no, but my mom used to put one out when we were kids if that counts.
Mail or email Christmas cards? Myspace message - I know, I always think I am going to do cards and it never happens.
Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Probably an article of clothing that my mom thought I would like.
Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story
When do you start shopping for Christmas? Days after Christmas, all year long.
Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? That may or may not have happened in the past.
Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? variety of christmas cookies.
Lights on the tree? Yes there are lights on my ceramic tree.
Favorite Christmas Song? Jingle Bells
Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Desert
Can you name all of Santas Reindeer? ummmm....On Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen of the best of all Rudolph. Ok so i cant! =)
Angel on the tree top or a star? There is a star on my tree that is permanetly there.
Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? Growing up it was both, now we do it a few days early so we do not have to drag the stuff out to the sand dunes.
Most annoying thing about this time of year? rude shoppers and rude drivers.
Favorite ornament theme or color? I like snowmen as a theme.
Favorite ornament? Homemade ones
What do you want for Christmas this year? My 2 front teeth, um actually I do not know. Good health and peace for all!

Call me crazy.........

4 comments Posted by Loretta at 8:18 AM

I just purchased a ticket off of Fandango for my first midnight showing of a movie. There are a few of us at work that are obsessed with the Twilight series and the movie comes out this Friday. We were all going to try and leave early friday to go see the movie but some one came up with the idea to see it at midnight as soon as it is released. I was not going to go, because I have to work the next morning, but what the hell, this should be fun. When I went to buy my ticket right now one of the showings is already sold out for midnight - crazy -

Oh, and I cannot come in late on Friday morning because there is a 7:30 AM meeting that I am responsible for setting up so I should probably be here at 6:30AM. I will have to let you all know how the movie was, hopefully it will live up to the hype. Ok, back to work - time cards are due.

Day off

3 comments Posted by Loretta at 1:27 PM

*VETERANS' DAY* which means no work and also take to remember our Vet's
and current military personnel.
*Slept till 7:30 AM which is great because I get up at 5 AM M-F.
*Drove to Carlsbad Premium Outlet Mall. Got there 10 minutes before they opened.
No wonder there was parking.
*Was hoping to finish Christmas shopping, only bought a gift for my mom, was
disapointed by the "sales".
*Stopped at Target for new Taylor Swift CD for 9$, walked out of there spending a
lot more than that.
*Went home, made lunch, leftover chicken alfredo. Watched Life on Mars on DVR.
*Uploaded new CD to itunes. Currently listening to CD and so far my favorite song
is Love Story. Probably because it has been played on the radio over and over.
*Need to do laundry (UGH, not my favorite thing to do).
*Going to meet a few people at Edwards Cinema to see Secret life of Bee's at 3:10
so that means I need to get serious and at least go do one load of laundry.
**Did I mention that I love paid holidays :)

Work on Halloween and weekend update

3 comments Posted by Loretta at 5:17 PM

(FOR SOME REASON THIS PIC IS IN 2 PLACES - WHATEVER, I GIVE UP)

Friday:

We normally have a costume contest and pizza at work on Halloween, typically it is for an hour (normal lunch break). First place is $100, 2nd is $75, and 3rd is $50. The days before Halloween were a little unstable at work. On Wednesday there were 10 office people that were let go. 4 from our Vegas office and 6 from the SD offices. Needless to say the tension was thick and the mood very somber, and there were a few tears as well. I am happy to say that I am safe. I was promoted almost exactly a year ago and I have been told that it is going well, plus there are only 3 of us in my department now and 1 of the 3 is in the field full time so I know they cannot get rid of my position.

Our CEO sent out an email letting us know that these cutbacks were necesary for the company during these hard economic times. to try and lift spirits they extended our halloween contest and lunch to include alcohol, beer wine and Captain Morgan (yay). During the party it was announced that we were free to leave for home early (I wish they would have said that before I had a few captains.....) I had to stay an hour later than most so that I could drive home :)I have a few pictures of our contest and of some of the offices that were decorated. I was a dud, I did not dress up and all I really put in my office were some spider webs...

That night I passed out candy till about 8 PM, then walked around the block with my neighbor and her kids then headed over to a friends party.

Saturday:

I did not make it to Mad's soccer game, 9 AM was just to damn early after drinking the night before. I went to her game last week so hopefully she did not miss me.

I did make it to Target to look for some after halloween sales. Then I ran into Mervyns when I saw that they are closing all of their stores - I am so bummed, that was one of my first credit cards. then I went to the mall to meet some friends for lunch at Oscar's then of course I did some shopping. For some reason I cannot remeber what else happened on Sat. Oh well.

Sunday:

The main thing I did was to go and see The Changeling. It was such a good movie. Not an entertaining movie, if that makes sense. It was a dark drama , based on a true story about a missing child in Los Angeles in 1928. Wow, it was good, sad and a history lesson all in 2.5 hours. I do recommend it, but it is not one that I would purchase and watch over again.