Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Monday, August 29, 2005

Faaaaat caaaaat

You won't have Deborah to kick around anymore...well, not until September 10th anyway.

Just a heads up that I'll be on vacation as of Thursday. That's right, the afore-mentioned trip to Montana (also known as DediFest 2005 the Sequel) is fast approaching. Immediately upon my return home form Big Sky Country, I'll be leaving for Baltimore to attend the ASBDC conference with Rhonda (We're gonna get crabs in Baltimore! Ha, that kills me.). So blogging, while still theoretically possible, will be rare if existent for the next two weeks.

Except, of course, for MoBlog. All hope is not lost.

Friday, August 26, 2005

I've been feeling a bit crochety lately...

Check me OUT! Miriam and I have been taking a crochet class at Imagiknit for the past 2 Wednesdays. That's right--who's your granny?



See, it's a granny square. And If I make enough of 'em, I'll have an afghan! Or, apparently, a belt, or a bag, or a bikini (shudder). I'm aiming for afghan. Here's a close up of the purple, pink, and neon orange beauty that is my first completed granny square:



Added bonus: there's this awesome lady in my class who makes smelly soap and lotions (yes, you can buy them from her!), and she also makes knitting bags out of vintage fabric. These she does not sell on her website yet, but I lucked out by snagging this beautiful yellow one from her at class this week:



Soon, it will be literally filled to the brim with granny squares. You'll see.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Does Apple have a catnip-scented iPod yet?

Over the weekend I rediscovered a beach that I used to go to in college. I didn't actually go to the beach, but I found the street that leads to the beach, and that's what had been evading me for so long. It's this beach with wonderful pebbles and shells, and great driftwood for fetching (for Nanna, not me). Plus, it's right next to some sort of marine preserve place that has these beautiful, foggy groves of coastal trees. Maybe juniper? I don't know what kind, but I'll find out. They're absolutely gorgeous. I haven't been there in 9 years or so, but now that I found the street I'll be stopping by real soon.

After all, I've got more free time on my hands than I'm used to. My best friend and cohort for just about everything won't be around for a while, so I'll be picture-taking, artsy-craftsy project finishing, and generally doing things with yarn more than usual. And that makes Milhouse happy!

Speaking of Milhouse, did I ever post the picture from when Milhouse wanted to be a male model? If so, I apologize, because here it is again:



Poor kid. Apple never even returned his calls.

Friday, August 19, 2005

I Like My Meat Like My Men: Grilled and on a Sword.

In honor of APV's birthday last night, a bunch of us went out for Brazilian BBQ. Have you even had Brazilian BBQ? No? Well let me tell you, there's nothing like having a guy with a sword full of meat come up to you every three and a half minutes to offer you food. Nothing. In fact, for my next birthday, I would like everyone to pitch in and hire a guy to following me around all day with a sword full of grilled meats.

You think I'm joking?

To celebrate the birthday factor, a pasty guy in a blue oxford shirt came out from the back of the restaurant and blew a horn (looked to me like an elaborate shofar):



It's common knowledge that Adam blows. So it was no surprise when he persuaded Mr. Pasty Hornblower to fork over the horn.



What was surprising, however, was just how much Kevin Punzalanski loves cake!



Who knew! Not me. I do know how to shop for birthday gifts though. Check this bad boy out.

I'll end this with my first Photo Friday entry in a while: One.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Happy Bloggiversary!

A great big cheer for one whole year! My oh my, how the time does fly. It seems like just yesterday I posted my first blog entry. That was a whole entire year ago! Pretty soon my blog will be eating solid foods and asking to borrow the car keys.



I love my blog.

Here's a look at some of the highlights of Deborah's Den--Year One:

Ozzy's Root Canal

The Election (AKA That of Which We Shall Not Speak)

Michael Fau Loved Hats

Remembering Those Good 'Ol Days

The Mickey Rooney Rock

That One Time I Got A Bunch Of Page Views

The Rear-End Chronicles

The Infamous Chocolate & Cheese Post

How Do I Love My Blog? Let Me Count The Ways.

Are They Not Dogs?

Honestly, I love this blog. I love that my colleagues, friends, family, and complete strangers stop by every so often to see what's going on...and like a gruesome car crash, they can't turn away. I love that my pets have become celebrities in my own little world. It's a place where the things I find funny or interesting are the chosen topics of conversation (or rambling monologue). I don't mean to sound purely egotistical, but what is a blog (at least this type of blog) if not an extension of the blogger's ego? And hey, my ego's a pretty nice place to hang out every so often. Sometimes, there's donuts.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Although I openly admit that I can still only knit a straight, plain, single-colored scarf, I am now more inspired than ever to get off my kiester and learn how to read a dang pattern:



(Thanks, weasel, for linking to You Knit What???

Tonight I'll be going in the right direction but on the wrong track as I start a mini, three-week crochet class with Mir. Can one crochet poultry-themed headwear? I sure hope so!

If anyone out there is as obsessed with Paige Michalchuk as I've become lately, you'll enjoy this quiz: How Paige Are You? She totally goes there. Me? Apparently, I'm the Anti-Paige. Not a bad thing, although I wouldn't mind having a little more of the Paige Michalchuk ruthlessness. Ruthless like a fox.

Paige won't be there (boo), but Marco and Hazel will be appearing at Stonestown Shopping Center in SF this Saturday as part of the Degrassi Mall Tour. I'll be there--come on, it's a mall tour. And for the record, I realize that Marco and Hazel won't actually be there, the actors who play Marco and Hazel will be there. Jeez, I don't live in a complete fantasy world. Sheesh.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

A big, hot, steaming cup of Perry Como

Till the wells run dry and each mountain disappears
I'll be there for you to care for you through laughter and through tears
So take my heart in sweet surrender and tenderly say that I'm
The one you love and live for till the end of time

I swear to you, if coffee could sing, this is what it would have sung to me this morning. It was one of those mornings where I resembled Hans Moleman a little more than I would care to admit--all squnity-eyed and puckered, but minus the football.

Terror struck when I went into the kitchen at the office to pour that first, dark, kick-you-right-in-the-behind-cup and the coffee pot was (sob) broken. I let out a mournful "Nooooooo!" and collapsed, trembling on the kitchen floor. After about 5 minutes of knee-licking by my trusty knee-licker, Nanna, I regained my composure, stood up, and noticed that the coffee pot had merely become unplugged when I fiddled with the toaster oven while toasting my bagel. I plugged the coffee pot back in, and enjoyed a cup of fresh, hot coffee five minutes later.

I can be such a drama queen.

Monday, August 15, 2005

If I Were A Richman

We had a lovely weekend in Minneapolis. Better than lovely: 52+ hours filled with good friends, BBQ, The Mall of America, salt water taffy, Balderdash (I won twice!), and the cutest little baby girl I ever did see.



Honestly, she's the sweetest little morsel this side of the Mississippi. Or that side (there were a number of trips over the river and back). I am so in love! And it looks like I'm not the only one.



It's great--she's already 4 months old and still has that new baby smell.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

More Gopher, Please

We're off to Minneapolis tomorrow to visit the lovely and talented IJR family, complete with the new addition: a squiggly, giggly, 4 month old baby girl. And from what I can tell, the weather seems to be slightly different than it was the last time I visited. And thank goodness for that. It's the perfect weather for watching babies do baby things and spending many hours at the Mall of America.

Mmmmmmmm......Mall of America.....

KDEB Request line

This one's for beeb, representin' the east side of Burlingame.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

I have arrived. Or, at least my cats have. Or, at least their poop has.

That's right, last night I joined the ranks of lazy Americans who surpassed their previous levels of laziness by purchasing the Littermaid self-cleaning litterbox. No, it's simply too much work for me to scoop, bag and toss the traditional variety of clumping cat litter. I need a machine specifically designed to scoop my cats' business for me.

Worth every penny. EVERY PENNY.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

(Like) New Computer

I've spent the past few days reformatting my C drive and generally making my computer run faster. And then I had to re-install all of my software programs. The I had to reinstall my wireless connection thingie that I accidentally uninstalled. Hmmm. So you see, it's really not my fault that I haven't blogged yet this week.

Saturday night I went to see Wicked with Rhonda and crew. Best. Musical. Ever. I'm pretty sure that the theater critic from the San Jose Mercury News, and theater critics in general, are either on sensory-blocking drugs or just plain mean. The review in today's paper was horrible, off the mark completely, and just plain wrong. I was angry for many minutes after reading it. Besides, I think I have a girl-crush on Elpheba. How dare that theater critic refer to her as a "giggly teenage girl"!? Ridiculous.

Got a new camera, so once I'm not too busy to shoot fun, action-filled panoramic 4-frames-in-2-seconds pictures, I will shoot them indeed and post them here. Stay tuned!

Friday, August 05, 2005

Just dog

No more Frankendog! Nanna's staples came out today:



The good Dr. Roosein was very impressed with Nanna's cowering abilities. We all were.

Going to the vet reminds me of the "Fortunately/Unfortunately" books we used to read in grade school. "Unfortunately, Nanna had to go to the vet. Fortunately, the vet is across the street from the best sandwiches in the world and Miriam's office." Hugs were exchanged. Turkey sandwiches were consumed.



That is one happy dog in the sun!

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Another reason to be happy

Today a woman has come to our office to bathe our dogs.

To bathe our dogs.

Mobile dog grooming is a beautiful thing. I mean, really beautiful.

I used to wash my dogs, no problem. We'd hop into the tub together and there would be special smelly doggie shampoo and special doggie bath towels. And one hell of a messy bathroom when all was said and done, but well worth it when you share your bed with 2 60+ pound dogs.

Then I lived in an apartment with poor drainage (and a fairly water bill-conscious landlord) where dog washing in the tub was a no-no. So I got used to paying someone to wash the beasts for me. It's a real luxury, to be sure, but nothing says "clean" like dogs who smell like strippers.

But it's impossible to get them done on weekdays, and with limited weekend hours I found the time between baths growing longer and longer...and longer. So when Rhonda mentioned that her groomer now has a mobile unit, The Soggy Doggy, we simply had to try it out. Besides, Nanna had begun to smell not unlike an old shoe.

Now there are some super clean dogs in this office. And clean dogs are frisky dogs!



Just look at them run around the office in frantic, expanding circles. Can you smell the clean? OK, granted, it still smells kind of like wet dog, which is the opposite smell of clean. But the promise of clean-smelling dogs has it's own aroma.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

A typical morning at The Planning Shop

(editor's note: Due to the size of the file, it was taking forever load my blog. Now you can just click here to see what I'm talking about.)

And thank goodness for that!

Monday, August 01, 2005

You win some, you lose some

It's definitely a day of mixed emotions. First off, it's a Monday, traditional day of dread and ugh for school children and worker bees alike. For those of use who tend to lean toward the blind optimism side of the scale, the dread gets mixed with a generous helping of "Hooray! It's a brand new week and anything is possible!" which leads to a general attitude of confusion-induced crankiness.

Second, it's Rhonda and Arthur's birthdays, so there is joyous celebration and cake! Two of the things that make me happy. And a third thing that makes me happy: Vietnamese food, including crab and avocado summer rolls. And thanks to Mireille's recent trip to Toronto, these birthdays also mean maple-cream filled chocolates shaped like maple leaves (or leafs, if you dig the hockey).



It is also Alex's first day at the office, our new friend and colleague, and new friends and colleagues are always worth celebrating.

The mixed part of the emotions comes from learning that an old friend of mine passed away over the weekend. I don't want to dwell on the sadness, but I do want to say that he was very nice to my dog, very nice to my friend, and was a very nice person with a nice family; inviting, welcoming, and with large hearts.