Mr. Snowman!

Ah, know what just tumbled into town? That would be the Tumbleweed Snowman!!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in good ol' Albuquerque! The next thing we need up is the Christmas Tree on Lovelace. That goes up the first week in December, I believe. Oh, if any of you are curious as to the origins of Mr. Tumbleweed Snowman, I suggest you pick up a copy of Albuquerque the Magazine and read all about him.

I've gotta say, I love my job.

I woke up yesterday with a feeling that I was about to come down with something, so I instinctively took some Umcka - this crazy medicine my mom found and downed some Emergen-C. Later that night I got the sore throat and a stuffy nose. I went to bed early and woke up with a very scratchy voice. Yuck. I've so far managed to set up two more interviews for December, conducted one interview with an amazing woman (read about her in March 2008) and I'm about to be on my way to meet with the executive chef of Marcello's Chophouse. *deep breath* Then I'm going home and resting.

Tomorrow's going to be a HUGE day. It's the 'Best of the City Party' at Santa Ana. Basically TONS of the winners in our latest Best of the City issue are going to be there with there sampling the 'best' (insert name of category here). It's bound to be a great time. Problem is, I have to be out at Santa Ana Casino at 8am. I know, crazy. So I'm gonna try to get as much rest as possible today so I can be ready to have fun tomorrow.

DAMN. The Emergen-C and Umcka I just took has given me a crazy bout of energy. My hands are even shaking. Yikes.

Ok...off to go meet another awesome person in the Duke City!

@ the Sunport

I'm inside the airport on the eve of Thanksgiving and I must say, this is the emptiest I've ever seen it. No lie. Not only that, but I think I made it through security faster than I ever have before. Everyone here (workers) have been really...cheerful so far. I'm impressed. Nobody is rushed or hurried, security was even smiling. Maybe more people just need to get to the airport long before their flight takes off.

I did anticipate a chaotic mess so I planned accordingly. I wore slip on shoes and removed my belt and jacket BEFORE I went through security. I also made sure I had my laptop out of its case and had my little quart size plastic bag out as well.

So what type of people are flying this evening? We've got an emo-looking 13 year old who's walking a tiny 'purse' dog (weird). A college girl in front of me who's definitely been backpacking in Europe before (so says the fabric flags flown onto her bag), a college kid who may be flying for the first time on his own because he keeps checking out his boarding pass, a couple in their mid-50s, another college girl who looks a little pissed off because she's here too early and several businessmen (although I don't know who'd be doing 'business' now). There are about 20 others I didn't mention, but they don't really stand out.

The downside to traveling alone, I've decided, is that there's nobody to watch your bags if you need a potty break or need to buy a bottle of water. With that said, I have to give up my perfect seat and hope nobody steals it while I'm standing in line to buy a $5 bottle of water.

...off I go... (T-minus 1 hour 15 minutes till my plane leaves)

Gobble Gobble

Happy early Thanksgiving!

I'm about to embark on a trip during the busiest travel day of the year. Yup, I'm hopping a flight to Atlanta to see my boyfriend for Thanksgiving. I don't think I've ever actually gone anywhere for a holiday before. Two Thanksgivings ago I spent a miserable night alone in my flat in England. I ate a TV turkey meal while I watched Alias and dreamed of pumpkin torte. That was depressing, to say the least. There's something about this holiday in America that makes people (or maybe just me) happy. It signifies a time when you can be with your loved ones, not to mention you get to eat delicious food!

Today I have a flight leaving 'Burque at 7:45pm, so I'm gonna get to the airport around 5:30pm, hopefully that'll give me enough time. I think I've managed to pack everything I'd need as an emergency in my little carry on, just in case my luggage doesn't make it when I do. I have all my little liquid bottles in a tiny zip-lock bag, and I'm purposefully wearing a new pair of shoes so I can just slip them off during security. Hopefully it'll be a breeze. The only thing I'm somewhat concerned with is the weather in Denver. I'm flying from here to Denver and then Denver to Atlanta and it's snowing in the Mile High City right now. Yikes. I do have a three hour layover there though, so hopefully my flight won't be delayed.

SO EXCITED!!!

Gmail, oh Gmail...

Dear Gmail,

Gmail, I love you. I really truly do. You don't let me down by saying I've gone over my file size limit (hotmail), or sign me out every time I leave the site (yahoo). I'm not bombarded by junk emails or ads and your Google Notifier keeps me alerted when I have a new message. You let me 'chat' with other emailers and let me search using even the silliest key word I can remember from an email. Your calendar function keeps my life in line and your threads let me keep track of who's emailed what.

But Gmail, there's one little aspect where you keep letting me down day after day. You see, you're in desperate need of folders. Folders for me to label and put those particular emails tucked away. Folders that I can open and see messages pertaining to that specific subject. You have a handy "label" function, but that's just not good enough for me. You also let me "star" important emails, but again, I need more.

I know this 'folder' idea is very 19th century for you, but some of us still appreciate old school organization techniques. All I ask is that you please consider this.

Thanks,
Jess aka Loyal Gmail User

Hold Your Reindeers

For the next week I'm boycotting Magic 99.5 FM. It seems as though they're confused and think Christmas came a little bit early this year. I turned on the radio this morning and heard "Deck the Halls" *GASP* It's not even Thanksgiving yet! Everyone knows you can't start celebrating Christmas till after you've stuffed yourself with turkey and pumpkin pie. I don't know what they're thinking, but they aren't thinking clearly.

...I just wonder what Delilah will play tonight.

Pumpkin Torte aka The Best Stuff on Earth

Ah. Pumpkin Torte. I can't express my love for this dessert. Eating this means it's finally time for the holidays and time to get nice and cozy. The perfect amount of cinnamon, pumpkin, whipped cream and the crunchy crust is so perfectly proportioned that it kicks a pumpkin pies butt!

I made it on my own for the first time a couple days ago - woohoo!!! I'm gonna make it again for Chris's work on Friday and then for Kenny when I see him for Thanksgiving. I'm going to be a Pumpkin Torte baking fool!

MMmmmmm. If any of you haven't tried this yet, you're missing out. And if you have tried it you're a very special person!

not my cup o' tea

I went to Satellite this morning to get my regular London Fog with English Breakfast and Sugar Free Vanilla. I should've known from the minute I walked in the door that they'd get it wrong. My usual morning crew wasn't there. They actually haven't been there for awhile (sad times) but the people this morning have probably never made a cup of tea in their lives. I said what I wanted and the guy just stared at me. Then he punched it into his computer. I also noticed that he put in SKIM milk. I did not ask for skim milk. I realize that by asking for sugar-free I'm asking to save a few calories, but drink just taste better with whole milk and I'm not willing to skimp on that. I should've said something, but I didn't. Now I regret it. It doesn't taste right. Something's just kinda...off. I'm pretty sure it's vanilla, but I don't know. :( I get so sad when my tea isn't my tea. When I buy it - maybe once a week - it's like a special treat to myself. I'm just sad it's not how it should be.

Ok. Enough whining. Sorry. Maybe next week my people will be back and will get it right.

All clean

I guess I liked about me not having IBS - I do, according to my doctor at least. My colonoscopy came out clean. Clean bill of health. She was checking to see if I had two different diseases and I don't - which is good. So now I have to be like an old lady and take a fiber pill everyday and another pill twice a day. Hopefully it'll make me feel better all the time.

I went into the colonoscopy feeling very, very anxious. I found out that I would, in fact, be awake during the procedure. I was not OK with this. But, after they stuck an IV in me, whatever I wanted was out of the question. I went into the procedure and they kept pumping me with medicine. Enough so that I remember staring at the clock and the TV screen, but not being able to really move or talk. It was weird. Kinda like having WAY too much to drink, but I couldn't just pass out. I wanted to sleep, but I still had that anxious feeling and was forcing myself to stay awake. If my doctor was going to see or find anything I wanted to hear it. They kept wanting me to move to one side or the other and I physically couldn't do it, they had to move me. I felt it cramp a little, but for the most part I was just ridiculously sleepy and lethargic. That's pretty much it. Nothing really came of it except for a prescription and a few days of realizing I could never, ever be anorexic.

In other news, I'm watching Alias DVDs right now and all I want to do is be Sydney Bristow. Seriously. How cool would it be to BE a character? It'd be seriously cool.

Why anorexia isn't for me

I've been taking laxatives for the past couple days. Not because I'm trying to fit into a prom dress, but because in about two hours I'm having a colonoscopy. Yup. 23 years old and I'm having a colonoscopy. I've been having tummy problems (and by 'tummy problems' I mean it's a little lower than there and the doctor kinda ruled out IBS) and maybe this'll shine some light onto the problem. I've already had a lactose test awhile ago that came out negative. I think the step after this colonoscopy would be a food allergy test, which is supposed to be expensive and the results would mean i'd have to eliminate certain foods. I'll go there if I have to.

The process of leading up to this has been a pain in the butt (pun intended). Starting on Sunday I had to cut out ALL fruits, vegetables and anything with seeds in it. Do you know what that means? That basically means, egg, meat, fish, cheese and bread. Granted that's not THAT bad, but you can't dress it up any. Anyway, it's just sucked. All i want is a salad. Mmmm. Ok, so then yesterday I had to only drink liquids. I'm hungry. I would have gone for a piece of crust last night, or piece of popcorn or goldfish, or lettuce. Anything basically.

Eh. Anyway. In just a little bit I'll go to the hospital and they'll do their thing and then I'll get to have food again and go my merry way. In a way I kinda hope they find something just so that I can know what's been bothering me the last couple years.

Well...time for me to go do my thing! Wish me luck :)

Quack Quack

I just read something that has deterred me from ever eating Foie gras or pate again.

"In modern foie gras production, force feeding takes place 12−18 days before slaughter. The duck or goose is typically fed a controlled amount of corn mash through a tube inserted in the animal's esophagus. Due to this force feeding procedure, and the possible health consequences of an enlarged liver, animal rights and welfare organizations and activists regard foie gras production methods as cruel to animals. Foie gras producers maintain that force feeding ducks and geese is not uncomfortable for the animals nor is it hazardous to their health. Scientific evidence regarding the animal welfare aspects of foie gras production is limited[4] and inconclusive.[5] A number of countries and other jurisdictions have laws against force feeding or the sale of foie gras due to how it is produced."

HOW TERRIBLE. I feel awful for eating it. YUCK.

The Day After Halloween

These are my thoughts from the day after Halloween:

1. Fall has finally arrived in the form of wind and very cold conditions.
2. Walking around outside for candy in conditions mentioned above is silly.
3. Waling around door-to-door for candy anyway is a silly idea.
4. I don't really like candy, so this holiday has always been silly to me.
5. Halloween is silly. And scary. Scilly.
6. Carving pumpkins and getting all the guts, goo and seeds out from inside is fun.
7. Pumpkin seeds are delicious. When cooked right. (I forgive you, mom, for the first batch.)
8. I made a fun pumpkin and will put pictures up sometime before next year.
9. My Nanny (great-grandma on my mom's side) died a year ago yesterday.
10. Last night was actually a little bit spooky with how windy it was and with all the leaves blowing around.
11. I don't like spooky.
12. Halloween means it's time for Carmel Apple Ciders from Starbuck.
13. MMMmmmm....