OakMonster’s Den

Good ol’ laughter.  It was unfamiliar.

I drove in to work this morning. Conveniently, an impromptu happy hour formed around Erin.

You see, Erin helped Dave with this big ol’ project. So he wanted to pay her back in alcohol for her good work. We jumped on that bandwagon and ended up at the Spring Street Smoke House. There we met up with Erin’s roommate and his friend…who are probably going to be reading this later on. So, hi guys!

We were bitching about work. We were talking about cats. We were talking about crazy friends. And the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. We were talking about grease on your hands. Taking naps. Telling embarrassing stories about each other. And many other inappropriatenesses.  Over a face full of pulled pork sandwich and with a pint of Angel City Abbey ale, I realized, “Oh my god. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Seriously. I laughed my ass off. I had really good food. I enjoyed my company thoroughly. The only downside is that I AM the driver. Haha.

Afterward, I went to drop off Erin at her place and got to meet her and her roommate’s cats Munkin and Werm. And a yard that Athena would’ve been happy in if they didn’t have issues with neighborhood dog.

Dammit. I miss that cat.

Overall, it’s been a great evening…made me forget today at the office. Even if it was a blur of a day, it was still a hell of a day.

Live to fight another day tomorrow. To all, a good night.

Athena has stirred up a lot of emotions for a lot of folks.

The neighbor downstairs apparently gathered a petition to send to the landlady to get Athena back after hearing that she was released to CSULB campus. She said she has almost 80 people on the petition. (But, shouldn’t the petition came from the people who actually live in the complex?)

Another lady who spotted Athena’s listing on Craiglist warned me about a local guy who’d go around “adopting” cats to torture them. Then she continued to help Athena find a home. If I can go get Athena from the campus, the lady and her friend would keep her overnight and take her to a shelter they volunteer at.

Pat O. at the office believes that if Athena loves us enough, and the campus is about 3 miles away, this weekend we might just see her on our doorstep. If that is the case, we can actually get her to a proper shelter.

I have been doing mad research to see campus policy on stray cats. I found an article a few years back that looks promising.

Trappings of the campus cats are conducted weekly during the spring and summer months, and monthly during the fall and winter months.

Trapped cats are taken to a licensed veterinarian, who provides a general physical examination, performs spaying/neutering and provides all vaccines and deworming.

Cats who are gentle (and were previous house or dorm pets) are kept and adopted out…

This article may be old, but that there makes me feel a LOT better about her situation. I am hoping to confirm this fact with someone at CSULB though.

*

With all of the madness going on, I still have time to enjoy myself a bit.

I baked like a mad pastry chef on Monday night to prepare for yesterday’s potluck. The theme was “Spring Buzz” with tinge of leftover Cinco de Mayo as the featured entree I had catered are fajitas. Nonetheless, I stuck with the theme and made lemon cupcakes with blackberry bumble bees on top. See?

And last night, Brandon took me to sushi and sake. Well, he had teriyaki chicken and green tea. *I* had the sushi and sake.

A big. Honking. Glass. Of REALLY good cold sake. (Mu is the brand. Thanks Brenda for introducing me to that.) That was soooo needed!

Nice and buzzed, we then went to browse video games, then booze at BevMo, and then we topped off the evening with frozen yogurt and 2 more hours of television.

I may not have a community cat to play with, but through Athena, Brandon and I seem to have found each other again.

I think I am now qualified as the High Priestess of the Cult of Fresh & Easy.

I just put the Fresh & Easy blog on my Google Reader.

ETA: I started a new blog - Temple of Fresh & Easy.  Join me in my obsession, won’t you?

Seriously.

Friday was a combination of hard work and fun. Nhien and I managed not to hurt ourselves while moving all sorts of boxes of our printed matter around the office and worked up a pretty good appetite. We grabbed Celeste and Pat and headed to Sushi Go 55 and the rest is over there.

We came back just in time for me to throw the office birthday party. With yummy stuff from Delilah Bakery, everyone had a happy afternoon, all hopped up on sugar! I mean, all 6′ 5″ of Canadian Greg scooted over to us on this thing that another coworker used during his recovery from a knee surgery.

Saturday was spectacular! My Adobe Acrobat class is still going at the pace of molasses, but at least there was something new to be learned. However, while I waited for the instructor to explain to the old lady in the front why she had restart her machine or something else, I managed to join the cult of Twitter, did the food blog entry, AND played a few games of Bejeweled on my iGoogle.

Hey, at least I managed my time well. If I’m going to get stuck there, not learning anything while the old folks catch up, I might as well do something productive, right?

Later on that afternoon, we FINALLY got to take Olaina to Las Brisas in Redondo Beach. Back in their high school days, Brandon and Justin would ditch school and drive around for adventures Brandon’s Jeep. It was destiny when the Jeep ran out of gas a few pushes away from Las Brisas. The boys have been eating here whenever they are in the area ever since.

Justin and Olaina were up in the area to hunt for their new place to live. And they found one today in Redondo Beach. Signed, sealed, and delivered! Woohoo!

And for dinner, I made a spectacular dinner without actually having to leave the house for the store: bacon-wrapped cod with caper-shallot sauce with a side of peas and carrots. Oh yes, I am good.

And on Sunday, she rests.

Like, until 10 a.m.

And then it was on like Donkey Kong for the rest of the afternoon, starting with a trip to Fry’s and a pit stop at Fresh & Easy. Then I helped Brandon patched my windshield seals back onto the car. Folks who replaced my windshield in September did a horrific job. A few months after the replacement, the seals around it started to separate. Finally this past week, the one around the top actually popped off in parts. I would be driving down the freeway with this thing flapping about, banging on my roof. The lack of seal also brought on a nasty howling/whistling, depending on literally which way the wind blows. If the homemade cure doesn’t hold, Brandon’s going to take the car back to the folks by his work.

Then again, with the gas price the way it is, he is going to start driving my car to work anyway. Sheesh! $35 for 8 gallon? I damn near cried at the pump! But I digress.

I then started the laundry, including my bedroom curtains which had been pinning them double thickness…which I intended to wash then sew together after dinner…which I pulled out of the dryer and found a tag that said “Dry Clean Only”…and which are now slightly less green and when folded in half and sewn aren’t exactly the same length.

I am an everyday fuckin’ Martha Stewart, I tell ya!

At some point while waiting for the laundry, Brandon went to take a nap. Athena followed me up hung out in our apartment for a good half hour, a new record for her. I couldn’t do anything around the house while she visit because a) sudden movement still scares her and, b) I don’t trust her alone in a room just yet. After all she IS an outdoor cat that wondered in off the street. Who knew what kind of bad habit she had picked up.

But the half hour crawling around the floor after Athena (because getting up suddenly would freak her out a little bit), following this purring, paw-pawing, cute-as-hell black fluff ball of a cat was well worth it.

Pretty much just about anything “busy” I did this weekend is well worth it.

On my bus last night, one of the ladies asked the other, “Have you been to the Fresh & Easy market?”

“Oh my god, YES!” I chirped in. “I LOVE the place!”

The lady looked at me, stunned for a second. “Oh, I was going to say the opposite.”

Apparently, that might just be the opinion of most Americans of the brand new “neighborhood markets”, a creation of Tesco. The LA Times reported a few days ago claiming that the sales at F&E were 70% off mark.

Folks don’t want to change their shopping habits. The lady on the bus claimed that F&E has “nothing”. The store was too bare, she said. She wanted more variety and stuff. She hated the self check-0ut. And, she didn’t say it outright, but she wanted the groceries bagged.

I am one of the small number of people who is madly in love with the place because it is the exact opposite of what that lady wants in a store.

I don’t want that much variety because I don’t want to spend an hour in there wading through stuff I don’t need. I’m not stuck on brand to begin with. The less variety, the better.

And when I say the less variety here, it means the less of typical COMMERCIAL variety, but not in the range of products.

For example, last night I picked up a Greek style yogurt, a Swiss style yogurt, and a Goat Milk yogurt on the shelves among a wide variety of F&E brand yogurts. You just won’t find your regular Yoplait in the place. There may not be a fridge full of competing Tillamook and Land O Lake cheeses but there’s a wedge of Cotswold and other delicious cheeses you won’t find in there. And dear god, the meaty and delicious British cut bacon!!! But I digress.

The place is clean and streamlined. No giant display around the corner. No coupons needed. No member cards needed.

The best part? You check out your own grocery. Oh my god! No more wasting time waiting for somebody to bag your stuff while trying awkwardly to be friendly with the cashier. Absolutely no line to fuss with.

It was easy to get in and out of Fresh & Easy and THAT is exactly what I want. Sure, I would spend about the same amount of time going to my local Vons around the corner as driving a mile over to the closest F&E. But I spend a LOT less time in F&E than in a Vons.

Everything you usually come in for–produce, meat, dairy, and booze–are located in the first few rows, not buried in the back of the store like most grocery chains. If you want to stay and browse, go right ahead and saunter through the back parts of the store. Otherwise, you’re in and you’re out.

The quality of the meat from this place is definitely better than my local Vons. The chicken breasts were definitely fresher. The beef? Rival what I can get fresh at Ploughboy in Fountain Valley.

And the price? People assume that because it’s a British chain, or a brand new small fry that it’s going to cost more than the bigger chain. WRONG. The prices are very competitive. They even have a special sign to tell you when certain products are cheaper than anybody around.

Let me just say that Brandon has NEVER ask to go to the grocery store before. Last night, he actually wants to detour from our dinner run to go there. After all, he says they have the BEST pre-cut pineapples outside of Hawaii. He also loves the self check-out.

So while I let this older lady dissing the joint. I can see the younger generations flocking to this place. It’s perfect to pop in on the run.

If you like to spend time in the grocery store and getting your human interaction fix from your cashier, stay clear.

If you value your time and your money; if you’re an adventurous consumer; and if you HATE everything the normal grocery store stands for, you’ll love Fresh & Easy.

Find one near you.

Note: Yes. I’m supporting my local favorite store for the most selfish reason. I love the goddamn store! And if they go under, I have to go back to Vons again. And I DON’T WANT TO!!!

I’m sure Morpheus is waiting outside the door with the blue pill and red pill right now.

I can’t possibly living in a real world right now.

I finished the 2-day cram CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) course at 5:15 p.m. today. I walked away from Justin & Olaina’s kitchen table to join them in his office in a semi-daze. Lines of codes floating in my head. We were deciding where to go for dinner. Justin said we could look at the menus on his computer.

Olaina and I congregated in front of the lap top. The font was so small, both of us leaned in and squinted. We laughed. Both of us have been staring at the computer screens all day. She’s been working on the pictures of the Match day, and I on the class.

“All I see right now are just flashes of lights,” she said.

“All I see are lines and lines of codes,” I said. “You know how the numbers stream through the screen in The Matrix? That’s how I feel right now.”

Life has been quite surreal these past few days, actually. Neo might as well unplug me any second now.

Taking the train down to San Diego by myself after an early start of the Early Meeting was an experience on its own.

Justin & Olaina’s excitement and anticipation for Match Day was highly contagious all on its own but I felt additionally honored to get to be with them on their other special day.

Getting a chance to just hang out with Olaina on her home turf for a change was also cool as hell.

And finally, after a few years of trying to make sense of CSS on my own, I finally learned how to actually use the damn thing.

It is also surreal that I am here without Brandon.

I mean, I’ve gone home for over a week before, but it didn’t feel quite the same. Perhaps because I know I was really far away and that I can’t really quite call him up like I can from San Diego. Knowing he was so close by and yet I can’t be with him is very weird. It makes my stomach lurch a bit and my heart sink a little.

I just hope that he misses me as much as I do him.

Adding to it all, it’s Friday night and we’re sitting her watching March madness, sipping the champagne I brought down to celebrate Justin’s big day. All of this after a nice huge dinner of yummy food at Ritual. Oh my god, the Shrimp Scampi!!!!  (I’ll blog about that over at the food blog later.)

And just last night, we were sipping expensive cocktails at an ultra chic lounge called Jade with Justin’s classmates. Actually, Olaina and I and another lady were huddling together and people watched. Before that, we were enjoying dinner and booze over at the Whiskey Girl.

Yet, another two moments of this trip that poignantly reminded me of Brandon’s absence.

I am so confused.

I am having such a good time out here alone. Yet I wish Brandon was here with me too.

We just can’t have it all, can we?

But YOU can have it all, my dearest readers. Tomorrow, I’ll post all of the hilarious snippets of conversions we’ve been having these past few days. I’m sure Olaina is getting tired of me calling “dibs” a few times a day. LOL.

Today is the day I clean my den. Not because I want to, because you know I never REALLY want to, but I have to. My appointment with the tax lady is Thursday.

Today is the day I am done with Amoxicillin that has zapped the life out of me for the past week and a half.

Today is the day I get my life back.

While Olaina continues to struggle with her clinical depression, I felt like I shared her pain for the past week. That feeling that you don’t want to leave the bed or do anything at all. The antibiotics may be curing the sinus infection, but at the same time poisoning my life. I mean, I didn’t have energy to move about or do anything. I didn’t even have the energy to purposely be lazy. I trudged in to the office and made the best of each day, looking forward mostly to the naps I get on the commute in and out of town. My stomach was upset most of the time that I don’t want to eat; or if the mood strikes and I actually eat something, I would end up miserable afterward.

I’m off of it today. And I felt AWESOME.

It’s also a lingering effect of having spent yesterday in San Diego with Olaina and Justin. That tax appointment, it was actually for tomorrow. Brandon originally suggested that maybe we shouldn’t go to San Diego so I could get the paperworks done. Instead, I postponed the tax appointment.

Tax paperwork or hanging out with two coolest people on the planet? Gee. Tough choice.

And it was 100% worth it.

Brandon and I headed down earlier than usual so we could catch Jumper. We were hopeful that we wouldn’t have to evacuate the theater again. The Movie God couldn’t possibly be that cruel. But then again, after the movie was over, although entertaining, I kind of wish I didn’t have to pay that much to see it in theater. Excellent idea for the movie and well-executed for the most part, but they didn’t get to flush out the story. And Rachel Bilson is definitely more annoying on big screen. LOL.

But then again, the company was worth every penny.

Before the show, we had a superbly divine lunch at Urban Solace. Justin and Olaina manage to find all of these awesome places to eat. Urban Solace looked like it was going to be a snooty joint, but it wasn’t. The menu was simple home cooked foods with enough flares that it is extraordinary but not overly gourmet. Olaina wrote about our experience there but here’s my official thoughts.

And yep, after the movie, we went to the bar. My first beer in weeks! I was so happy. And I was lapsing my antibiotics a bit so I didn’t have the usual nausea. I thought the Guinness would’ve finished me, but it didn’t. Hooray for everyone!

On our way back in the car, Brandon pointed out an SUV with a white fluffy dog sticking his upper half of the body out the back window. We started to talk about dogs. And I started to bark at the truck pulling up next to us at the stop light.

Then Olaina started barking too.

Then I said, “Two bishes in dah back, yo!”

We all lost it.

We went back to Justin and Olaina’s place for a bit longer. Olaina wrote about that too.

(I know, I know. We’re overlapping left and right over here. We were having too much fun we forgot to call dibs on who gets to blog about what. Haha.)

On our drive back, Brandon and I both agreed that we are going to accomplish our goal for the weekend today. We started off a little late, but we did get to the mall for food (so I could decipher what was in the chicken and wild rice chowder at Paradise Cafe) and shopping. We also did get to the grocery store to stock up. I watched Alton Brown and Jamie Oliver and got inspired all over the place so dinner for the next few days would be blog worthy, I hope.

Brandon is putting new speakers in my car right now. And as soon as I finished up this entry, I am going to at least get my office sorted out so I can start in on tax paperwork.

It’s amazing how a neglected office of 2-ish weeks can turn into a total nightmare. An avalanche of paperwork threatened to flow off my desk, so I just put the damn tray on the floor. Now my chair is rolling over the overflow. Brilliant plan, Oaks.

Oh, and have I mentioned before that my office is essentially the pit of death, where all the clutter in the apartment goes to die? Oh yes. Any clutter left in the living room that I never got to, either Brandon or myself would just haphazardly toss into my office to get sorted out. And the past few weeks of me being out of commission, the office resembles a New Orleans household without the water damage.

But at least I have the energy to attack it.

I’ve never been so happy to do a chore.

ETA: After all that big talk about getting to my paperwork, I only cleared a bit of a path into the mess. I ended up doing laundry, making dinner, and doing dishes instead before I got sucked into CSI marathon on Spikes with episodes I haven’t seen before. But hey, at least I can walk through the room now and I am all caught up with unanswered emails. Slow progress is still progress!

In that order for the evening.

First, food.

Valentine’s Day voluntary potluck tradition at the office continues under my watch. I haven’t heard much discussion of who is bringing what this year, which usually mean that table in our tiny break room is going to be PACKED with stuff. It always happens that way.

All I know is Celeste is bringing a chocolate cream pie. And I just put my champagne brie fondue in the fridge.

I stopped at home to hunt down a fondue recipe before I went grocery shopping. Brandon, recovering from a mini strep throat (poor baby), on day 3 of his vacation week (bastard), went with me to the store.

Shopping hungry was never a good idea in the first place. But shopping hungry after not having really eaten anything much for 2 days was a really, REALLY bad idea.

“Let’s just get a rotisserie chicken” turned out to be a basket full of ingredients for 3 dinners–Von’s fantastic stompin’ steakhouse chilli in sourdough bowl, homemade Chef’s salad, and cheese quesadillas.

I made the quesadillas…which we effectively dunked into a little bowl of chilli. The Chef will have to make her salad another day.

Now, wine.

Only one cup of champagne–well, it’s the cheap spumante, but whatever–is used in the recipe for the aforementioned fondue. The rest of it has to go somewhere, right?

I WISH I could make it all go somewhere. But I can only handle a glass this night.

After the kind of day I had, this little glass is perfect to cap the day off. Crazy, crazy, crazy, I tell you! Well, our big summit is only around the corner. What else are a couple of marketing girls to do!

My boss lady is getting sicker by the second and that stubborn crazy lady won’t take the day off. I swear to god instead of a Valentine, I’m going to get her some chicken soup tomorrow.

You know, nothing says BFF like donning a biohazard mask to deliver fresh chicken noodle soup to her desk. [ETA: She’s out of the count today. Good for her. And for us!]

And finally, friends.

I have made a few new ones recently from all sorts of different places. First up is Lori, the travel specialist and sister-in-law to my friend Emily. Lori arranged our trip, got us a great deal, and it was so painless. I promise to plug her shamelessly here. So, if y’all want to travel in grand style or on a budget, give Lori a call. Okay?

Then at Emily’s wedding, we sat with Brenda who is currently traveling through California. A former teacher and a current traveling writer and consultant, she reminds me a lot of Olaina. She has a blog and a writing center. So check both out.

And finally, a brand new friend made contact over email a few days ago. He shared his thoughts on my Mother’s Day piece I wrote for Thai-Blogs. As it turns out, not only he is a Thai living in the U.S., but he has just started a blog on his life and food, his career and passion. He said that it’s destiny that bring people together. Sure enough, it is.

After all, his Thai nickname is House.

Yes. I am serious.

ETA: Stumbled upon the blog of the photographer who did our Big Gala for the past few years, Vernon.  I figured I’d add him here too.

Because Olaina loves me, last night she called me while in the major chain grocery store just to let me know that 6-pack of Guinness are on sale.

Because somehow I have become a wayward future alcoholic, my thought on the Guinness news was that I didn’t have any space in my fridge so perhaps I should start making room by drinking some beer in there.

Because I actually still love my liver and sanity, I did not follow through with that thought. After all, there is still 1/3 jar of Mai Tai chilling in the fridge. (Anyone wants to come over and help me with that?)

Because my bus buddy picked me up to carpool to town this morning, I did not get my routine morning nap so I was a bit cranky at work.

Because I was more antisocial than usual, I actually scared people off enough that I stayed the course and got 90% of my shit together. Thank god for that!

Because I didn’t want to cook tonight…originally anyway…I baked some chicken breast last night along side my lasagna to make Chicken Salad Contessa (a Waldorf chicken salad, more or less) for dinner today with the intention to take that to work for lunch for a few more days after that.

Because I was shopping hungry, while I was in the grocery store this evening to pick up the jar of mayonnaise to make said salad and other items, I was hit by the incredible urge to make a pot roast and so I bought all the ingredients.

Because for some odd reasons, I thought pot roast is made with pork and not beef, I bought a cut of pork loin roast instead of, say, a rump roast.

Because there is no such thing as a pork pot roast cooked in a crock pot to be found anywhere, I had a hard time finding the recipe of the pot roast I have envisioned–the tender slow cooked meat with veggies and gravy–not to mention one that Brandon can just plunk everything into the crock pot tomorrow morning unsupervised.

Because Brandon works 4-10 schedule and Tuesday is also a holiday for him, he takes 3 days of vacation time and get a week off. Hence, he is put in charge of the crock pot dinner tomorrow.

Because I couldn’t find said easy pork loin roast recipe until I settled for this recipe meant for a beef roast, I was in the kitchen browning the roast, chopping up veggies, and deglazing the pan at 9:15 p.m.

Because I didn’t want to do any more dishes after my pre-cook dinner productions, I drank the last of my leftover wine straight from the bottle. (Well, there was barely about a glass left in that bottle after I used a cup of it to deglaze the pot roast.)

And finally, because my husband loves me, he’s going to come in to curl up with me until I fall asleep so that this crazy Monday can be over.

Then I can start anew tomorrow, hoping for an easier day.

P.S. Because it’s unfair for a 21-year-old to have a cancer scare, please send your good mojo to Bua, my twin sister from another life. She will be in surgery around 4 p.m. ICT (Bangkok Time)–that’s 2 hours from now.

This is the first night this week that I have stayed up past 9:30 p.m. by the way.   Been going to be that early and yet still couldn’t drag myself out of bed in the morning.

But then again, I have found myself waking up in the middle of the night:

a) going to the bathroom…as a backlash of my attempt to drink more water
b) grinding my teeth
c) imaging that someone else was in the bedroom, possibly as a result of…
d) dreaming way the fuck too much

And no, working out and trying to get healthy (i.e. drinking more water, eating less junk and more fruit) doesn’t seem to actually do anything.  Maybe I’m detoxing.  Or something.

But I am looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning and to receiving the rest of my shopping spree in the mail.

I FINALLY bought my Christmas presents, Carole King and Elton John songbooks, and then I splurged on Once soundtrack CD and this t-shirt.  And finally, because I found an outstanding online deal, I finally made my dream purchase.

…plus the ice cream maker attachment

*Squeal*