Week in review - the good, the bad, and pretty pictures.

How was your week? All I can say is I'm soooo glad it's going to be a 3-day weekend...

• Monday: Two co-workers got into a dispute in a very public part of the office. One pounded a fist on a desk and yelled "I'm going to tell the boss." Apparently I am now working in kindergarten.
• Tuesday: My office re-organization has intensified the usual office power wars, and we are all feeling rather like collateral damage.  Went home and watched my current fave tv show "Justified". Wondered if I should be concerned about my current fondness for watching people get shot?
• Wednesday: Worked hard to meet deadlines that won't matter anyway. You all know how that goes... Noticed that the cuticle on the middle finger of my right hand looked ragged.
  
  
  
  Caused by picking at my cuticles from stress? or from giving co-workers the finger from behind my cubicle wall? Rummaged around in my bags of soap from the Oregon Soap Shoppe and found cuticle balm with lemon and myrhh. mmmmm...nice and soothing...
  
  
  
• Thursday: Spent all day on my feet running around helping co-workers fix their computer problems. Came home and picked bouquets of peonies. Spent a half hour on my feet catching all the bugs that poured out of the peonies onto the dining table.
  
  
  
• Friday: I know we're all saying "Thank Gah It's Friday"!

Wheelworthy Wednesday Shoppe

Oh, I know I've posted about this before, but I just enjoy my soaps from the Oregon Soap Shoppe so much and isn't it more fun to blog about things you love?

Last month we made a trip to Oregon, IL, to stock up on our favorite - actually one & only - bar soaps. Sure we could order online, but it's so much fun to visit with proprietors Lynnel and Michael, and it smells so *heavenly* inside the shop. I took some pictures, but Lynnel has a new web site up and a video that gives you a much better picture of her charming shop.

Lynnel loves creating new soaps. Her web site can hardly keep up with her busy hands, so check with her if you are interested in a certain scent. I already see some new soaps on her web site that weren't there when we visited. I love the soaps and lip balms with honey...and the chocolate soaps are yummy. Meester picked out a Wisteria scented soap that smelled so beautiful when it warmed under our hot shower. These are a few of the soaps that I picked up on this trip.

No, I didn't actually buy a whole crate of lavender soaps. This was in the shop and just beckoned me to take a picture...wish you could smell this lavender instead of looking. Just breathing the fresh, clean, calming scent of the shop is so relaxing.....

Good times lottery game

image courtesy of ialottery.com



Here’s a rollicking, riotous game to fill a long afternoon when you and your significant other are trapped inside because the weather is (insert sucky Midwest weather description) outside. The Meester and I play this game whenever the Powerball lottery jackpot has reached sufficient proportions to induce us to buy a few tickets. The goal of the game is ostensibly to share *a romantic dream* that you could achieve as a couple if only you had sufficient funds.

To start the game…one significant other looks up from tv or computer screen and nonchalantly remarks “What would you do if *we* won the lottery tonight? What would *we* do with all that money?”

The other significant other is required to respond “I’d give a bunch (quantifying the amount of money is optional) to (insert name of most problematic family member)."

Discuss said family member between players. Opposing significant other brings up as many past issues with family member as possible. Bonus points if you can name the exact date of a specific incident proving unworthiness of receiving money.

Significant other originating the game now gets a turn discussing what family members to give lottery money.

Merriment ensues as game progresses and significant others shout out popular game catch-phrases like “Let’s talk about your kids…” or “Your sister is crazier than my sister!” or “Are you insane?!”

Lightning round – each significant other takes a turn naming a family member, friend, or co-worker who should get a share of lottery money – opposing significant other rapidly fires a response listing one good reason why said person does not ever deserve any lottery money and what disaster will ensue if said person is given a share of lottery money.

Game ends when both players lose their voices, are exhausted, or stop speaking to each other and leave room in a huff. Game can be played endlessly since you never actually win the lottery.....good times.....

Breaking up is hard to do

"Wherever you are, it's your friends who make your world." ~ William James.

If you've ever worked in a office...or anywhere...you know how a special work BFF can help you make it through each day. Someone with the same sense of humor...someone who snickers or rolls eyeballs at exactly the same time as you when a co-worker does something dumb. Someone who's listening to the same music at work as you. Someone who watches the same TV shows as you; so you can fritter away office time by discussing the latest episodes together. Someone who recognizes the similarities to "Dilbert" and "The Office" and "Office Space" in your workplace the same as you. Someone who send you an instant message at exactly the same time you are sending one to him/her...with exactly the same thoughts...

For several years, I've been lucky to have a work best friend sitting in the cubicle right in front of me. We've helped each other make it through some boring, bad, crazy, and even good days. And we've probably shared a million instant messages with each other...thank Gah for the invention of computers and instant messaging applications...it makes it so much easier to say wicked things about your co-workers without them hearing.

So our office has gone through a reorganization...and my BFF - H - was moved to the other side of our building. To add insult to injury, it was my job to move all his computer equipment to his new area. I think the two of us went through every stage of grief this week.

H was the first person I saw every morning in the office...I'll miss that.....

Is this Heaven?

No, but the Texas Hill Country when the bluebonnets and spring wildflowers are in bloom is probably as close to Heaven as you'll come. We had dreamed of seeing the famous Hill Country bluebonnets in the spring. It was cloudy with a hint of rain the day we set out to hunt for bluebonnets, but as we approached the Willow City Loop the clouds broke up and the sun appeared - a heavenly miracle!

My pictures don't capture the full beauty of the Willow City Loop. There was not only the profusion of wildflowers, but an absence of speeding traffic and city noise, and a purity of the air at the peak of the Loop. Don't we all need a peaceful beauty break like this more often?

Next stop was Austin

Austin is for hipsters. You know there's gotta be a unique vibe to a city whose unofficial slogan is "Keep Austin Weird". Austin is home to big music (SXSW and ACL), big tech AMD, Dell, Freescale, etc), and big Orange.

Daughter Mona Lisa and her husband da Vinci totally lurv living there...as much for the big attractions as for the small, charming, down-home attractions. We had a delightful long lunch at Walton's Fancy and Staple, owned by Sandra Bullock. Didn't see Sandra...I think she's kinda busy with other stuff right now...

Went to dinner at the real original Salt Lick Bar-B-Que in Driftwood. We bought their barbeque sauce to take home, but you can't match the taste that comes from cooking on their open barbeque pit.

 Did you know that there are oil-producing olive groves in Texas? We visited an original Texas olive farm,  Bella Vista Ranch, in Wimberley. It was pouring rain - again, so we didn't get to tour the olive groves, but we found the most kick-ass olive oil and Fig & Vanilla balsamic vinegar.

Their balsamic vinegars are imported from Italy, and they are thick enough to hold up to juicy tomatoes and cling to soft wedges of brie. Seriously the best balsamic vinegars I've ever bought.

And we walked in the sun - finally - to Whole Earth Provision Company (love that store), where I bought a cloche hat to shade my eyes from the sun.

I finally do my Dallas post

I so meant to blog and Twitter all the time we were traveling in Texas, just like Bossy on her (No) Book Tour. I was actually traveling just a couple days behind Bossy as she went through Dallas and Austin, and I wish I had been able to meet up with her and be part of her posse of thousands. My blog posse in Texas consists mostly of Krissa, and we sadly were not able to work out a get-together, although we did talk on the phone, which we hadn't done before, so Yay! for that. And I'm still haven't figured out what app to use to post Twitter pics, so if anyone has advice on that, I could sure use it...cause I am feeling really lame and anticlimactic even bothering to mention my trip now.

But I will anyway, since I finally finished washing the ton of dirty laundry from the trip, and I can't think of anything else to whine blog about at the moment.

Dallas was a weather FAIL. It rained a lot, but Sugar Mommy, Sugar Daddy, and granddog Sugar showed us a good time anyway. We helped Sugar Mommy and Daddy buy these pots at the biggest garden center I've ever seen. (and there were about a million pots so it took forever to decide)

We ate the best cheese fries we've ever had at Snuffer's.

I bought lots of different Mariage Frères French teas at The Cultured Cup. I am drinking a cup of "Mètis, Thè Rouge" right now:  black currant, lavender, rose hips, & hibiscus, with South African rooibos. Also loving "Provence Vert":  red & black berries, lavender, and rose petals, with green tea. Of course, I bought a big bag of the loose black tea - with Bourbon vanilla! - "Vanille des Iles". Yes, I am fancy like that...

We went to the most charming little garden shop Downing Hill. I bought a lavender fig candle; it smells so divine I wish I had bought a dozen. ...and I wish I had a million dollars so I could buy a dozen of all the cool stuff I saw in Dallas.....