I Gotta Pickle Hay Hay Hay Hay

So the birthday weekend recap is going to have to wait. It is taking crazy, calm down, effort for me to sit and write this now. I will say that the bday loot was so awesome that part of the craziness is me trying to get all my new clothes and shoes organized. Yep, my parents are enablers of my clothes and shoe hoarding and always give me great stuff that I depend on for my birthday and Christmas. The Dingo can deal with the clothes but there was an eye roll or two over the shoes. He doesn't accept that if we have to buy another house just for my shoes then that is just what is going to have to happen.

Oh! and quick note regarding clothes. One of my gifts was a gift certificate to Crazy Beautiful, one of my favorite boutiques in Memphis. It is in the U of M area (off Walker, next to Garibaldis) and the selection and pricing is to die for. I went in there Friday with my gift card and everything was 40% off. Are you kidding me?! I went nuts.

However, our subject for the evening is pickles. Yeah, I'm about to write a blog post on pickles. Get ready.

I'm an odd snacker. I have a habit of forgetting to eat full meals throughout the day and am starving when I get home, before I cook dinner. The things I buy to fend off hunger for a bit is always totally random...and often pickled. One of my favorites is spicy pickled okra. I have been getting burnt out on them though so at the store last night I decided to buy Best Choice's new "zesty pickles." Dude. Someone needs to write Best Choice's marketing department and inform them that "zesty" and "grenade launcher" are not synonyms.

Don't get me wrong, I love spicy food and these pickles are awesome, but I was not expecting what I bit into. The basic initial reaction is to run circles through my kitchen screaming "my face is going to melt off" while continuing to eat because...well...it was a melt your face off good pickle. I continue to regularly hover over my sink sniffling over the jar (you want to share now don't you?). I definitely recommend them. (And if you have had Wickles Pickles, they got nothing on these. They are great right? But not grenade launching good.)

So, yeah, pickles. On another note, and Kat this is for you :), the iPhone 4 I got for my birthday is soooo cool. The screen is brighter, it works super fast, battery life is holding in there and the camera (both video and picture) is brilliant. I will upload some video as soon as I get a chance. Maybe you'll get to meet the Dingo or maybe doggy Arleen. Stay tuned. Also, the Dingo is able to use my 3G so everything worked out for everyone.

I'm off to eat a pickle. Later taters!

Dingo-less

The Dingo is out of town on a business trip. Of course I miss his company but I also miss his decisiveness. I can't make a decision to save my life so dinner was an issue. I challenged myself to go get something I don't eat often, I eneded up at Wendy's. Fail. But I don't know what to do with my appetite when it doesn't have to compromise with someone else's. Oh well. Maybe I'll think of something tomorrow night. (Note: I have nothing against Wendy's but I'm not a fast food fan and Wendy's is about the only place I eat. Definitely not me branching out.)

As is tradition, when the Dingo goes away on business I catch up on my girly movies that he would rather stab himself in the eye than watch. We have Netflix but I get frustrated trying to watch the movies we currently have in time to send them back and receive the ones I want in the exact one or two nights that he is out of town. So tonight I decided to try using the Redbox outside of Walgreens. And, dude, I'm totally digging it. I haven't actually tried to watch the two movies I got yet so I can't attest to the quality but it was so easy to use and it was $2.19 for two movies (coincidentally the exact cost of my Wendy's dinner). Also, I wanted to see Remember Me, which was released today and I didn't get any "very long wait" messages. It just popped right out. I'll never abandon Netflix but I'm really liking this other option for when I have a sudden chance to watch something that would make the Dingo bleed from the ears.

So my movie choices? Like I said, I got Remember Me. I have absolutely no idea what it is about but watch Robert Pattinson for two hours? Done. That was the only movie I originally intended on renting since my mom is loaning me Young Victoria tomorrow. But, I was kind of having fun playing with the rental machine (aside from the fact that the touch screen was blazing hot) so I also rented Leap Year. It looks cute and I am hoping it will balance out what I believe is going to be a sad movie in Remember Me.

I'm off to watch my movies and sit really really still because it is REALLY REALLY hot. Suggestions are welcomed for my dinner tomorrow night. I'm thinking Pei Wei but I'm not set on it yet.

Happy Day Dad!

About to walk out the door for Father's Day dinner. Not carrying with me the best gift ever but damn that man is hard to buy for! The sis and I came up with the best we could, WE are going to pay for dinner. It is unfair that he has been buying himself dinner on fathers' day and his birthday for so many years. He is a great dad and in many ways one of my best friends, I'm fortunate to have that with both my parents. It sounds silly but because we are so so so much alike, he is one of the few people that "gets me." A lot of my quirks and habits are exact replicas of his own. So I find a friend in the other person that dislikes being hugged often and is so annoyed with the question "what's been going on?". The list of OCD things I have in common with that man is to long to list. The Dingo has seen many of them. I'm very much like my mother also. I am the polly-anna that she has given me but I'm also the bear that he has. I treasure both of those traits.


So happy day Dad! And I'm still sorry for the year I attempted to call you Papa and made you feel, as you said, like a character in Fivel The Mouse. Love!

Hello Again, Hello

Man, where have the past few days (week?) gone? Every time I have sat down, or thought about sitting down at the computer, to write a post something gets in the way. However, I can't really remember what all those separate somethings were. I know that there has yet to be a Saturday recap but I was busy having fun. I'll definitely get to that one soon. This coming Saturday I am going to my first dress fitting. I'm excited to get that rolling.

The Dingo parents are in town today. They are coming to the house for dinner tonight. I found this out at 5:30 and they will be here at 7. So I rushed home and straightened up the house and cleaned the kitchen. I'm currently sitting here still in my clothes from work. Usually I change right when I get home but I wanted to squeeze in some time to say hello on this space. Hey! I wouldn't label the house "clean." But I'm not the fiance terrified of the Dingo's mom judging my house upkeep. Her house is always perfectly clean but I have faith that she understands. She will probably be too distracted my the overwhelming smell of bleach to notice (long story).

Anywho, I just realized that I don't have anything to eat for lunch tomorrow so I am going to have to run up the street to the store and pick something up. I don't think they will miss me for that 10 minutes. No clue what I am going to buy for lunch. No time to make a sandwich. Maybe some noodles.

So before I say this I will remind you that I do not have children and will not in the near future. A baby bump is definitely not in the wedding diet. However, I ran across this website that I am dieing over. The little baby mary jane socks on www.trumpette.com have me obsessed. I want to order like 50 sets for every friend I know who may have a baby anytime in the future. I also have two male co-workers that have babies and I was sure to inform them about this place. The black sneaker socks are so cute for baby boy D. And I may or may not have told my boss that if he didn't want to order everything on the site he may not have a soul (I have GOT to learn to watch my mouth.)

Ok, family Dingo will be here in four minutes. Time to toss on a little makeup and get ready. Note: I'm not stressing about dinner because momma Dingo brings it with her when they come and just cooks here. Can't complain about that right?

Saturday Fun Episode to come soon. Hopefully before another one is behind me.

Stop Being a Pest!

The Dingo and I were hanging out with a friend recently when I confessed that I have finally started a blog. He asked what I write about. Before I could answer the Dingo stated, "Me! She writes about me and any stupid thing that I do!" I had to admit, I do hear the Dingo say something or do something funny and immediately think blog post. So, as a gift to the Dingo and in honor of it being super hot, I will give you a The Dingo is a Genius story.

We own an old home, I think it was built in 1949. The air unit isn't very new either. After we moved in and it started to warm up outside we discovered the AC didn't work so well...or at all at times. Blessed with a home warranty (if you buy a house make sure you get one in the deal!) we were able to have several visits from HVAC people until we figured out what was going on. Well, whenever a service guy was here the Dingo would hover over his shoulder as he worked. At some point I told him to he was being "that guy" and stop being such a pest, let the dude do his job. A few months later, right at the moment the home warranty expired, I came home to a burning up house.

I was totally pissed thinking great, this is going to cost us. However, the Dingo came home, grabbed that electric screw-driver thingy and went out to the unit (oh, and it was raining). A few minutes later the Dingo came back inside and said he knew what to do, that he had watched the technician do it. He ran to Lowes and $3 for a piece of sand paper later we had cold air. I had to apologize for every time I had called him a pest and promise to never do it again. He has also fixed the dish washer, wired the water source to the ice maker and installed a surround sound, including running the wires down from the attic. He is pretty handy and quick to learn if he doesn't already know. This is why I keep him around ;) I do have to mention that I once fixed the toilet with a piece of hot pink curling ribbon. And then I have to mention that he had to re-fix it a couple of months later.

Now, I must say that when I write the official name of an establishment in my posts it is by no means in hopes that I get something free, and I never have. But Train HVAC, I would totally take a free new package unit! (Sorry, those things are pricey, had to give it a shot.)

So there, the Dingo is a hero. I said it. Other than that, it has been a crazy bananas week at work. I'm decidedly the least athletic person ever and this week of every year is always physically challenging. It would take way to long to explain how a copy writer could be physically challenged at work so I will just let that prove the bad shape that I am in. For the most part tomorrow is the home stretch. This Friday afternoon will be the best one of the year as this is annually the hardest week of the year. I will not only be finished with my work week, I will get to take a deep breath and yell DONE! Can't wait. Let's just hope my brain doesn't ooze out of my ears before that.

Dingo and Doodle Saturday Fun: Episode 7

Ok, so I am going to jump on the day's bandwagon and blog about the same thing every other person is blogging/twittering/updating about, the iPhone 4. It has way cool stuff on it. And I am still on the 3G, not the 3Gs, so I am kind of leaning towards NEEDDING it. It also comes out on my birthday. That means it's fate right? Right?! So, now I am trying to decide if I ask for it for my birthday instead of the necklace of about the same cost that I have been asking for. Or, just wait for the Dingo to want to play with one so badly he breaks down and buys it for me. I totally get the issues people have with AT&T. However, the exclusivity of iPhone and AT&T works to my benefit. The Dingo has a work phone that is not an AT&T phone and doesn't have a data plan. We can't justify paying another phone bill just so he can play with a phone. So, he has to use mine. I think it's time to start really talking up this new phone to see if I can get him to buy me one. The video stuff is just way too much to resist.

Now that I have made your eyes bleed with the 8,00000000th time you have read about the iPhone today we will move on to the weekend recap. Friday we stayed home. Nothing interesting. Saturday we ran some errands including swinging by a friend's house in the Cooper Young area. Since the Dingo and I hadn't eaten yet, the three of us ended up down the street at Celtic Crossing. Since said friend is nicknamed the human garbage disposal, he ate also. (We are great meal companions, I never finish my food and he eats EVERYTHING.) It was Oysterfest at Celtic which was confusing to me. First, you aren't supposed to eat raw oysters in months that don't have an R in the spelling. Second, have you read the news lately? Gas flavored seafood is not currently on my to do list. The waitress promised us they were from the Texas coast (we got there too late and they were out of the ones shipped in from Ireland) but we chose to refrain anyway. The Dingo still got fish and chips, I stuck with turkey, which was a little disappointed in comparison to their usually awesome food. But the menu was mostly seafood due to the festival so my choices were limited. It was fun seeing MJ for the first time in a long time. Hopefully we will get to see him more often again since his schedule has recently opened up.

Yesterday I literally pestered the Dingo until he agreed to go to the grocery store with me to decide what we wanted to eat. I spotted raw peanuts and decided to try boiling peanuts. Now, this is not something I have every done or seen done. In fact, I had never eaten them before hitching my wagon to a Mississippi boy. So mostly the situation was me buying peanuts and telling the Dingo to figure out what to do with them. Well, he over did the hot seasoning called Slap Your Momma and OMG it was like mouth death in a fiery explosion. Oh, and the house while that stuff boiled was so hazy with hot seasoning both of our eyes were burning. We probably won't be attempting that again, at least not indoors. Either way, between all the time and tears the peanuts caused, we never grilled the dinner we bought. So we are doing that tonight. Yay for not having to do much!

As for today the Dingo was home sick. Neither of us have been feeling well but I don't know of many people that are feeling great this time of year. I couldn't afford to stay home due to a huge project do this week so last night I took a toxic amount of antibiotics and suffered through a soar throat all day. Plans for tomorrow are the same.

Well, the Dingo just pulled dinner off the grill. I refuse to share what we are eating for the sake of not showing you how often we eat the same thing over and over.

The Dingo is Crowding My Space

I've mentioned before that, when on the computer, I sit at my kitchen bar. This is not a large bar by any means and I sit outside the kitchen facing in on a stool. Well, today we got my mom's old iMac since she got a new one. The word OLD is key in this. It's running a super old operating system and the hardware won't support the super cheap Snow Leopard upgrade. We have to use just plain leopard. Anyway, the Mac desktop is now position on the kitchen bar and I am sitting next to it on the PC. And the Dingo is on the stool next to me messing with the Mac. This is extremely close quarters. Not because I dislike being next to the Dingo while I'm working but because I get a constant barrage of "Doodle! Look!" "Doodle, why won't this image move here?" When my back is to him he is less likely to distract me and I am more likely to ignore his distractions. I guess we are both the eternal bad kids in class. Except, while I am the talker, the Dingo is the kid throwing spit balls. This desktop may kill us both.

But I am SOOOO excited to get a "new" Mac. I've always had Macs. Even as a kid I had an Apple in dos. Ole Miss suggests all journalism students use Macs and that is what we have in the computer labs, so that is what I learned design on. I have cherished my nine year old iBook, refusing to let her die even if she is dingy and old and so slow. This has resulted in me stumbling around my work PC. I often have to ask MC what the heck is that program and how do I use it. (I learned what One Note is about a year ago.) I accidentally lied on my job resume at The Company years ago by saying that I can use Photoshop and Illustrator. Oops, not so much. I only learned key commands on a Mac and they definitely ain't the same on a PC. (Wow, do I sound geeked out yet? MJ I think you accomplished your mission to turn me.) So, now I'm waiting to hear back from MJ! if he can help me find a Leopard disc. Ok, I'll stop now since I know, and hope, very few of my techy work friends read this blog.

I'm not in the mood to be productive tonight so I am forcing the Dingo to eat delivery pizza. He isn't a fan of delivery pizza but since he basically orders dinner, which I cook, every night I put my foot down. I need dough, cheese and garlic butter dipping sauce. He is settling for the wings they offer. Fine with me.

The weekend holds very few plans. We, at some point, need to go to Macy's to register for the fancy stuff but I'm not really feeling it this weekend. I think we may check out Au Fond. And I may try a new lamb chop recipe I found, so be prepared for LAMB HEAD! I think this time I will inform the butcher that I do not need to see the entire animal before freak out ensues.

To finish; random Doodle/Dingo convo;

Doodle: Is it called a weed eater or a weededer?
Dingo: (mumbled) Weedeeter
Doodle: Like weed eater? Like it eats weeds or weededer?
Dingo: WEED-EATER, why are you writing about weed eaters?
Doodle: I'm not. I just got distracted and realized I've never known what it was called.
Dingo: (rolls his eyes) Will you please pour me a drink?

Dingo; The Crazy Person Edition

I think I have mentioned that I go to the grocery store just about every night before I cook dinner. So we rarely eat before about 7:30. Tonight I asked the Dingo what he wanted to eat and he said leftovers. However, he then proceeded to lose his mind. He asked do I want Central BBQ? Nope, kind of burnt out on BBQ right now. Mexican? No, I'm just going to heat up something we have here. What else is there? Dude! I thought you wanted leftovers! To which he replied, "I don't think I have ever been this hungry in my life!" So, now we know that mild hunger makes the Dingo descend into crazy person mode. If we ever go missing search! And search fast. I'm pretty sure the Dingo would eat me for dinner after a mere three hours of tummy grumbling. Just sayin'.

I was updating our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond last night. When we went into the store there were some things that the Dingo and I decided didn't need to be decided on together. I use all the kitchen stuff, not him, so it was up to me to decide. I registered for a butcher block but the wood in those absorbs the oils from the foods you chop. So, I wanted some of those thin acrylic boards to put on top of it, inspired by Guy's Big Bite (yeah, I guess it's more of a love/love relationship I have with him). While online shopping for said acrylic boards I came upon and Elvis cutting board. The Dingo told me not to register for it but the more I think about it the more I think I need to own it. Maybe even just for a day or two before I return it. But I think I may love it. How does every Memphian not get an Elvis cutting board with their driver's license? I think I should write the mayor about this one.

Holiday Fun

The long weekend was nice. The big news is, I found a wedding dress! And the bridesmaid dresses. I feel really good about having this step behind me and, needless to say, I love the dress. I also love the bridesmaid dresses. I plan on having a second white dress in case I want to go out after the reception. One of my best friends told me that she really regretted that she was unable to spend more time with all the people that were there for her wedding. And since almost our entire wedding party is from out of town I want to have the option of spending the most time possible with them all if I'm not totally worn out. That being said, I actually like the bridesmaid dresses so much I may order one in white. We will see. I have plenty of time to think about that.

That was Saturday. On Sunday my sister had a party at my parents' house (they have an awesome pool) so we went there. We didn't know a lot of people so the Dingo and I ended up sitting at the top of the deck (next to the beer bucket) with my dad. It was really fun and nice spending time with my dad for the first time in a while. I still claim that my family likes the Dingo more than me. I think my dad is just thrilled with a little testosterone around for once. I only took my cover up off once and that was to see if the rust spot in the pool was a pipe hitting the surface or not. What can I say? The man raised me, and he and my mother spoiled me. He says go step on that spot and I go. I've gotta earn that jewelry right?

Monday was just me and the Dingo. We grilled ribs...again. This time I was more hands off. Mine were tough the last time and I didn't want to take blame this time. They were pretty good. I went to bed super early because my allergies were bothering me and I had to go to work today. I say that because the Dingo didn't work today. Lucky! Instead he was calling me at work at 10 am asking if I would like Monopoly for the Wii. He is always trying to get me to play that thing and I always go back to wanting to play bowling. Why mess with a good thing?

So tonight we grilled steaks...again. By we, I mean the Dingo. It was his idea and I didn't argue. We are also watching America's Got Talent. Never seen it before. It's seeming like a freak fest so far. But with the holiday this week I think this is our best bet. Oh good grief! Some dude just jammed a coil through his nose. It may not be the best bet after all. Nick Cannon is shockingly funny though.

The Dingo is currently sitting in the backyard talking to our neighbor. It's awesome to have cool neighbors, two brothers around our age. They are super nice guys and great new friends. I guess I will wonder around until they are done chatting. Tomorrow is back to the normal grind. Both of us at work and doggy Arleen at her granny's. Oh! Speaking of Granny. She was supposed to get a new Mac today because her's "hasn't been working." I have every intention of taking the old one and getting one of my tech-savvy friends to get it working again. Yay! This means I may be a Mac again soon. The transition to a PC has taken a toll on me even though it's a great computer and I thank the dad Dingo for giving it to me.

And to finish off your Tuesday post holiday, here is a loving conversation held by the Dingo and I this evening;

(The DVR popped up the screen asking if we want to keep watching the channel we are on and cancel one of the following; Myth Busters or Glee.)

Doodle: Dude! If you cancel Glee I will cancel your face!
Dingo: You get psycho over the weirdest things. Isn't the season over anyway?
Doodle: Cancel it and see what happens.

I'm a sweety aint I?