I love Macro Monday! I never should have let all those Monday’s slip by with no shots. SHAME ON ME.

I got these little lipglosses at a Hallmark store when I was there picking up a Mother’s Day present for my mom. I had completely forgotten I had them till I started to clean off my desk today and there they were!

I was excited all over again. They are so cute and the sunday glosses have little chains on them perfect to attach to your keys. The cupcakes will look really cute on my desk at work and home.

Movement.

(Join in the One Word Blog Day revolution!)

Reese started a cool meme called Macro Monday. I love love love macro photography and will take any chance I can get to put that 100mm lens onto my camera. I figured since I took this shot this weekend of Peanut I’d use him for my first submission.

This little guy is a constant ball of loving energy. He is so sweet and loves to play and cuddle and sleep under your covers. Amber and Lupe kept threatening to send him home with me and seriously, if Ben would not have COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT, I’d have totally stolen him and brought him with me. Although Amber and Lupe act tough, I know they’d be lost without him around because you can’t spend more than 2 minutes with this dog without completely falling him love with him.

I am really bad about meme-ing. I hardly ever do them when I’ve been tagged because I can never just give a one word answer, everything requires explanation! And the pressure of having to write is something that seriously feels suffocating to me sometimes. This one has been cool though because it’s only four and the DVR and food questions have been fun to read.

So I catually DID IT! YAY!

Amanda tagged me with this meme…

The meme consists of four questions requiring four answers, and then the tagging of four people.

4 Jobs I’ve Had in My Life:
- Gift wrapper at Sneads! Man, Stephaine and I could even make wrapping boxes in a small cramped room fun.
- Carmel corn bagger/sales associate (HA!) at the great Kern County Fair.
- Computer Sales rep at Best Buy. Please buy the warranty. Please.
- Professional blogger. I think since I’m making money off this site and others now, I can add that to my job list!
4 Shows I DVR
- Big Brother 9
- Lost
- House
- Family Guy

4 Places I’ve Been
(It was hard to pick only FOUR because I was lucky enough to have a Grandma growing up that took us all over the country, literally, when we were growing up. So I picked some of my favorite places.)
- Fombell, PA. I lived there in second grade with my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Larry and cousin Stefanie. Some of my best childhood memories were there. It was like my second home and I miss it dearly sometimes.
- Maui <3
- Washington DC. TWICE! And I can't wait to go back again and getting to take Cassidy with us.
- Mackinac Island, Michigan. I absolutely plan on going back there and staying at the Grand Hotel. It’s on my bucket list.

4 Favorite Foods
- Garlic Chicken Calzone DELUXE from Frugatti’s in Bakersfield
- Any souffle from Bella Vista in the Bay Area
- Clam chowder in a bread bowl from Spash Cafe in Pismo
- Mom: home made fettucini alfredo, Dad: rosemary (fresh of his plant) potatoes and turkey noodle soup (he makes the noodles too).

4 People I Tag
You, you, you and YOU! And Jenn MUST DO IT!! Like, every blogger IN THE WORLD has been tagged with this in the last week. If you aren’t one of them, TAG! You’re it!

*Title Quote: Elaine Liner: We Got Naked, Now What, SXSW 2006

Jenn tagged me! And normally, I don’t do the meme thing because I sit down and am FORCED to think of six things and, HI! Have you ever met me in real life? I have the attention span of a gnat. With ADHD. After a Starbucks Double Shot. Or five.

But I’m going to do it anyway because I love The Jenn*.

The Rules are:
Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Share 6 non-important things/quirks about your kid
Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs
Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
Let the fun begin!

1) I’m stealing Jenn’s first because it’s true for Cassidy too. She loves veggies! And broccoli is her favorite! She’s actually asked, all on her own, to substitute fries for broccoli at restaurants. And every time I blurt out ‘IT WAS HER IDEA’ to the waitress because I don’t want people to think I’m some nazi parent that forces her kid to eat veggies. You know, like, RESPONSIBLE and stuff! *shudder*

2) Cassidy has a crazy imagination. You can hand her a gum wrapper and she’ll adopt it, build it a house, name it and have it’s entire life story planned out before the gum loses flavor.

3) She is hungry ALL. THE. TIME. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, she’s down to eat. My mom swears I was the same way at this age and now I understand all the “hollow leg” jokes because WHERE IS ALL THAT FOOD GOING?! She’s still under on the weight charts but over on the height charts for the kids her age. From what I understand of the family history, the leg fills to capacity at around 18 and the food starts to fill in the ass region… and never stops.

4) She LOVES the Food Network and to cook. I really need to start cooking at home more to encourage this passion. Actually, that’s a really good idea because if she really likes it and gets good at it she can cook us dinner every night! Yeah, definitely on to something there.

5) She snores and talks in her sleep. The talking in her sleep thing can get rather entertaining.

6) She is really compassionate. Most kids complain when they have to go though toys or cloths to give them away and she will fill up garbage bags full of stuff to give. She will give a kid all her money without a second thought and she wants to be friends with EVERYBODY. The whole friend today, not tomorrow 4th grade girl drama is tough on her because she has a really big heart that gets bruised easily. I can’t count the number of times she’s said, “I don’t understand why we can’t ALL be friends.” She’s had two groups turn on her at once because she refused to pick sides in some petty fight. Right now it’s not a big deal because at this age they seem to forget the petty fights in a day or two but I’m worried about what will happen in high school when the petty fights are lead but catty, vindictive, hormone driven Mean Girls.

*I linked you TWICE! SEO optimization FTW! I’m totally whoring out the page rank right now. Anybody else need a link?!

Jenn posted this meme the other day and I sat down and wrote out half of it and got sidetracked and didn’t finish till today.

1. Do you try to look hot when you go to the grocery store just in case someone recognizes you from your blog?
Hell no. I try to look as ridiculous as necessary so the majority of the people don’t want to bother me. Sometimes I just write “CRAZY!!” on my forehead to get the point across better. The two exclamation points are necessary for that. I think that anybody who’s read my blog would understand my secret code and understand that they are exempt from the “bothering”.

2. Are the photos you post Photoshopped or otherwise altered?
Most of them. I add a black and white border to pretty much every picture I take. Also, on a lot of them I duplicate layers and change the top layer property to make the colors pop. I also take all my shots in RAW form now so if I really want to manipulate something I start out by playing with hue/saturation before it even gets touched as a JPEG.

3. Do you like it when creeps or dorks email you?
I enjoy email of all kind. Especially from creeps because then I forward them to my friends and we have a good laugh.

4. Do you lie in your blog?
Please reread #1. I prefer to use “embellish a LOT” to “lie”.

5. Are you passive-aggressive in your blog?
Wow, #1 really answers a lot of these questions for me!

6. Do you ever threaten to quit writing so people will tell you not to stop?
Seriously? I have people telling me all the time to WRITE MORE ALREADY so not a problem. But I wouldn’t anyway.

7. Are you in therapy? If not, should you be? If so, is it helping?
Not anymore. But I have been and yes, it helped. Imagine #1 if I hadn’t!

8. Do you delete mean comments? Do you fake nice ones?
In over 4 years I’ve deleted ONE comment but for the most part, I don’t like to censor people. And no, I don’t fake comments. I’d have a lot more comments if I did!

9. Have you ever rubbed one out while reading a blog? How about after?
Who in the hell writes these things?!

10. If your readers knew you in person, would they like you more or like you less?
I’d like to think more but The Blond might prove otherwise.

11. Do you have a job?
Fo’ sho’, yo.

12. If someone offered you a decent salary to blog full-time without restrictions, would you do it?
I really don’t know. I’d love to be paid for writing because I actually enjoy writing much more than I ever talk about it here but I don’t think there is anybody out there that would actually PAY to read the insanity.

13. Which blogger do you want to meet in real life?
All of them! Seriously, I’m fascinated by people and how different upbringings, locations, opinions, etc all vary.

14. Which bloggers have you made out with?
BEN!!

15. Do you usually act like you have more money or less money than you really have?
I don’t think I go either way. We live comfortably but everybody has their money issues and we are certainly not immune to that.

16. Does your family read your blog?
Yes. My dad reads and comments. My mom reads although I’m not sure how much because she pretty much refuses to acknowledge its existence and curls up into a fetal position and shakes whenever I mention it. Cousins read and comment. I know that more people have the address but have never let on that they are reading and if they ARE the should COMMENT.

17. How old is your blog?
The blog dates back to, gosh, you expect me to actually remember that… I’ll just go with a long time. I’ve had personal domains since 2003 and anything before that is certainly forgettable so I’ll just stick to that.

18. Do you get more than 1000 page views per day? Do you care?
Let me go check!

So according to AwStats my page views jump to over 1000 on the days that I actually post, but the rest of the time it hovers around 750-1000. I really think that page views are a silly way to judge a blogs relevance though unless you are using them for paid blogging. Quality over quantity and all that jazz..

19. Do you have another secret blog in which you write about being , slutty, or a liar?
If you consider this another secret blog then, yes! Yes I do!

20. Have you ever given another blogger money for his/her writing?
Nope.

21. Do you report the money you earn from your blog on your taxes?
On my other blogs that are specifically to make money, yes.

22. Is blogging narcissistic?
I think it’s probably one of the highest forms of narcissism second only to taking a lot of pictures of yourself. But I think unless you let your ego get the better of you, there’s really nothing wrong with being a bit narcissistic.

23. Do you feel guilty when you don’t post for a long time?
I do actually. But not because I think the readers want it. I feel guilty because that means I haven’t taken the time to sit down and hammer things out.

24. Do you like John Mayer?
As long as he leaves me alone in the grocery store, we’re cool.

25. Do you have enemies?
Enemies? I don’t think so. ‘Enemy’ is a strong word. I certainly have people I’d like to backhand sometimes but the one thing I’ve learned well from Ben is not to hold on to those feelings. Life is too short to walk around hating people.

26. Are you lonely?
No. I have a lot of people to love.

27. Why bother?
Because never trying seems like a silly alternative.

It’s been far too long since I’ve done a meme. I never do the actual Friday Five on the week it comes out it seems, I look through them and pick one that I feel like answering.

In this one, I firmly secure my geek title. You know, in case you all forgot.

1. What is your favorite board game?
For a big group (SEE: drunk people) I like Taboo. It can be really funny what people will blurt out while drunk. TeeHee My family used to play this game a lot (only, not drunk) and we used to laugh so hard I’d be sore the next day.

For the three of us, Monopoly. Although, Cassidy pretty much kicks my ass at every board game we play (excpet Operation :D) so I stopped playing games with her after she completely ANNIALATED me at the Game of Life. Three times.

I’m a sore loser. Especially when it’s to a (then) 7 year old.

2. What is your favorite card game?
Uno. HA! I’m so lame. After that Jin then Poker.

3. Do you like to play games on the computer or on a gaming system?
PC > Console

*ducks*

4. If so, what is your favorite game to play?
I supposed I should say World of Warcraft since I’ve been pretty much filling every second of free time with it for the last two weeks (Cassidy has been out of town, I’m bored!)… BUT! I’m a big Old School FPS geek. I love me some UnrealTouornament, Quake, Splinter Cell, Tribes, etc.

5. Do you like to play games with people or to play them alone?
I like both but I hate having to depend on random people to play. That’s a big problem when trying to play something like Tribes where you HAVE to team up. I don’t so much mind in Counter Strike becuase you usually LAN or end up teaming up with people you know which isn’t so bad. We used to LAN Counter Strike in the same house but teams would be in seperate rooms so you couldn’t hear stratagy talk. God, I was a geek.

In games like WOW, I just wait for Ben to outlevel me by enough that if I need help, he can come in and wipe out all the baddies while I run around and collect money and loot. It MAY seem like I’m using him but this is a guy I used to follow around in City of Heroes JUST to heal. Not many people have their own personal healer. So I think it balances out somehow.

So Mandi tagged me for 6 Things About Myself That are Weird. I like to read back through these and follow links and read answers. It seems like everybody is struggling to come up with six things. I bet you I could list 40. For me it’s not so much coming up with them, but coming up with the ones I can write about then face the people who read this that I hang out with in real life without feeling like a complete ass. Which I guess shouldn’t really be as big an issue as I think it is because I have no problem making myself out to be an ass all on my own without the blog. heh

1) I don’t like pizza. It’s been pointed out to me on several occasions that everybody in the UNIVERSE, except me, likes pizza. I attribute this to eating it far too much when I was younger (18-20ish) and at LAN parties all the time and that was our primary source of food. I’m okay if we get the garlic chicken pizza from Papa Murphy’s. Other than that, yech.

2) I yell at people in the car a lot. It’s not that I think they can HEAR me or that I think it will solve the problem, but it’s stress relief. I’ve been trying to convince Ben for over two years to let me get a blow horn on my car so people can hear me but he says I’ll “abuse it”.

3) I hang my clothes in color order. I hate to do laundry but I’ll never let Ben wash or put away my clothes because if a red shirt got put into the blue shirt section for some reason, my entire world might implode and I’d spontaneously combust into white hot flames of death. I’m the same way with my pots and pans. And the tupperware. And the pantry items. You’d think that my house would be very clean because of these little idiosyncrasies. But you’d be very wrong.

4) I don’t like to be lightly touched. I mean, I don’t mind if you have your entire hand on me. Or your legs are laying over mine or if Ben rubs my back… but if we are sitting on a couch and your arm is lightly touching mine, or our legs are barely making contact, or in a very crowded room and people kinda brush past you lightly… I start to get annoyed. Like, I actually find it ANNOYING!?

5) Mandy tagged me like, four months ago and I’m JUST NOW getting around to posting it. So I guess #5 is: I like to procrastinate.

6) I still lay in bed sometimes at night and “dream” that I’m some top secret government agent. Like, so top secret even the GOVERNMENT doesn’t know I work for them. Like Jack Bauer! Only more pink-ish and slightly less accident prone…

I thought this was a cute meme and since I said that Julie and Kristen would be the most likely to reply I figured I better let them know the need to so I’m posting it here too.

1. First name? Anna
2. Were you named after anyone? Not that I know of
3. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? A ring w/matching earrings Ben gave me for Valentines Day two years ago.
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey
5. When did you last cry? Yesterday watching the Brady Wedding on TV. Totally embarrassing!!
6. Kids? One, Princess Cassidy.
7. If you were another person would you be friends with you? Yeah!
8. Do you keep a journal? http://www.aflux.net
9. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Of course not (<- Get it!?!)
10. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes, they are huge. Every new doctor I go to reminds me of how gigantic they are. And I’m KEEPING THEM!
11. Would you bungee jump? For sure.
12. What is you favorite cereal? Captain Crunch w/crunch berries.
13. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Nope.
14. Do you think you are strong? Sometimes.
15. What is your favorite ice cream? Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fugde Brownie.
16. What is the first thing you notice about people? Smile
17. Red or Pink? Pink
18. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? Right now? Weakness when it comes to saying NO to good food (See: food that contains wheat).
19. Who do you miss the most? Cassidy. But she comes home this weekend.
20. Do you want everyone to send this back? YES
21. What color pants and shoes are you wearing now? Brown cords, black flip flops. Totally don’t match.
22. The last thing you ate? A big plate of watermelon and cantaloupe.
23. What are you listening to right now? NPR on WNYC
24. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Slate Blue
25. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Ben
26. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes, she’s a Lotus Sisterâ„¢!!!
27. Favorite Drink? Ice cold Diet Pepsi
28. Favorite Food? Indian
29. Favorite sport to watch? Anything from the summer Olympics.
30. Eye color? Hazel.=
31. Scary movie or happy endings? Happy Ending
32. Last movie you watched? Iron Eagle’s. hahaha Corny
33. What color shirt are you wearing? white
34. Summer or winter? Summer
35. Hugs or kisses? hugger
36. Favorite dessert? Creme Brulee!!
37. Most likely to respond? Julie, Kristen
38. Least likely to respond? ? Not sure?
39. What book are you reading? Body for Life/vegetarian cookbooks to find things I can eat AND enjoy.
40. What’s on your mouse pad? A picture of my collogues!
41. What did you watch last on TV? A TiVo’s episode of Big Brother All Stars.
42. Favorite sound? Cassidy laughing.
43. The furthest you have been from home? Canada
44. Do you have a special talent? I can take any sewing pattern you put in front of me and SCREW IT UP.
45. When were you born? 09/10/78
46 Where were you born? Armpit of Hell, CA.

DIRECTIONS..New ones..I like these!

Here’s what you do, don’t spoil the fun….Hit reply,(or any other smart way you know of on computer) delete my answers and type in your own answers. Then send it to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the one who sent it to you, so we can learn a lot of little known facts about those you know, (like what color shirt you are wearing right now!)

I got 46 out of 50 before I had to cheat. Two were very regional. If you are on the West Coast with me you probably won’t get it. Anyway, it was fun. And I realized what a good job advertisements do with burning an image into our brains. There will be a few, I’m sure, where you go ‘I KNOW THAT! DAMMIT!! WHAT IS IT!?!?’

Lets see how you all do: Logo Quiz (requires excel)

For the answers CTRL+A or highlight from here: 1) Little Debbie, 2) Six Flags, 3) Cingular, 4) Good Year, 5) Chef Boyardee, 6) Amnesty International, 7) Earthlink, 8 ) WNBA, 9) Chiquita, 10) Castle Dental, 11) Fiesta, 12) Radio Shack, 13) Tommy Hilfiger, 14) Chase, 15) March of Dimes, 16) Infiniti, 17) Prudential, 18) Pet Smart, 19) Blue Bell, 20) Scholastic, 21) Napster, 22) Quiznos, 23) Lowes, 24) Chuys, 25) WB, 26) Cold Stone, 27) Charmin, 28) Black Cat Fireworks, 29) TGI Fridays, 30) Time Warner Cable, 31) Harley Davidson, 32) T-mobile, 33) Kellogg’s cornflakes, 34) Wilson, 35) Hundai, 36) HNL, 37) Chick-Fil-A, 38) Turner Classic Movies, 39) Sesame Street, 40) US Marine Corps, 41) ADDIDAS, 42) Black and Decker, 43) GEICO, 44) Starbucks, 45) Subaru, 46) John Deere, 47) Starkist, 48) TIVO, 49) Fruit of the Loom, 50) Sherwin Williams.

The ones I didn’t get right away: 6, 10, 11, 38

I should apologize for my total lack of blogging lately but I’m not going to because I’m not an “I’m sorry” kind of person. I’m more of a “meh” kinda girl. So, meh.

We are all well. Hans is tEh cute. KC is starting to warm up to him. She still hisses and acts all Queen Of The House-ish but it’s more playful now. She and Hans hunt each other. It’s funny. Especially when one is hunting and doesn’t realize the other one was already on the trail and they suddenly realize that OMG THAT CAT IS TRYING TO KILL ME. Funny in a shake the pictures off the walls kinda way.

Hope you all had a good 4th. Ours was very laid back. Had a few friends over, watched Germany get beat, watched a movie, ate lots of yummy food. Later that night we watched some fireworks for a few minutes from out bedroom window upstairs then realized that the show on about fireworks all over the work was much prettier, being in uberhighdef and all.

The rest of the weekend looks promising. But first I have to get rid of this headache. I think I’ll go try and hunt up some chocolate and do just that.