Deuces

2 oranges for breakfast today.  One for me, One for my dad. I LOVE oranges!!  And when I was young my dad would buy a bag of oranges for us 2, and we would sit in front of the t.v. and devour that bag.  I once cleaned out 11 orange peels in one go.  Ohhhhhhhhhhh, how I love oranges. And on the whole planet the best ones are the ones from the guys on the street.  Those huge, juicy navel oranges that you just can't find anywhere else.  Or maybe it is just me.  Maybe those are the same oranges at Ralph's, but... to me, esos naranjas grandotes son los mejores.  When I eat oranges now, I try to have 2 at a time.  One for me, and one for my dad.

The difference between men and women is why we bother going to the gym.  Women go to the gym to lose or maintain weight.  (And those few naturally waif brats who need muscle definition, this blog is not for you...) And ladies, don't even start to say it's to "get more energy" or feel "healthier".  Stop lying.  You and I both want to look like Anna Kournikova and could care less if it gave us more "energy".  So zip it. Men.  You funny, funny creatures.  You go to the gym to lose weight, too, but you also desire a body like Brad Pitt's in "Troy".  Beeeeeeee honest.  You sat next to someone while watching that movie and immediately felt less adequate.  It's okay. Most of us ladies don't need a partner with Achillean abs.  Seriously. But ever since my husband and I started working out a bit more than usual (now that we're 30, we need it), our conversations have started to shift. Women train to slim down, men train f...

How is this possible? I am not weepy over my job loss any longer.  And if I'm honest, this whole unemployment thing isn't so bad. But like I always say "ask me in a week". I have been clearing out closets.  I have been pretending to be a pit bull chasing my cats around the house.  I have spent time in the yard pruning my trees (quite the crop top, poor things...) and I have enjoyed sit down meals with my number one Sancho. I have sat through movies without checking my email for pressing work needs.  I glowed when my first unemployment check came.  And a month ago when I pictured filing for unemployment, I felt humiliated.  But my mom said "you've earned it", and after 14 years of paying into the system- I knew she was right.  And on the other hand, I have enjoyed interviewing.  I have enjoyed bragging about myself, whereas in the past I wouldn't have done that.  Humility is everything.... except in an interview, as it turns out....

I love weddings.  Everyone is so elated.  Everyone looks so nice.  The women are dressed up and their hair coifed just so.  The men look so dapper in their suits. I love weddings and seeing couples' exchanging their vows.  I used to find weddings nauseating.  When the ceremony would start, I thought I would die with boredom.  But not now. Now I stare at the lovely couple and wish them a wonderful life together. I hope they will support each other and be best friends.  I hope the groom will sometimes engage in tacky gossip with his wife, just because it makes her feel good, and the bride will go into Home Depot with him from time to time even if it kills her just a little. I love weddings and ohhhhhhhhhhh how I love wedding cake.  I really love wedding cake.  No- really. I don't indulge in a huge piece, but I always want to just eat it all.   Yum. I love wedding food.  At weddings you find that people are...

Because Maria said I needed to blog about this....  here we go. The call was for my husband, but my comadre answered.  This is always a great surprise for me.  I call Lloyd at work to get an answer to something :"did the cat get his medicine? Did you take out the trash?" and we don't chatter on and on about much else.   When my bff, his co-worker, answers, I get to catch up on gossip and the goings-on of life. She asked how it was going in my quest for a new job and I told her how flustering it was to be looking for a job on the dinosaur.  The dinosaur is my desktop computer. My company from which I am now departed supplied us with laptops.  A shiny machine that glowed in the backdrop of an episode of "The Bachelor".  Most of my best work was done on my leather couch, curled up with "So You Think You Can Dance" and other favorite tivo'd shows playing in the background.   The internet connection was hot fast.  My cute, ...

Do I believe in soul-mates? I'm not so sure.  But for the first time in my life, I am wondering. It's because I believe in work.  I believe in time, effort, communication and, when those things aren't cutting it, a good warm hug.  A tender squeeze that says "we'll get through this, because I would rather get through this with you than anyone else in the world." I love you because I'm not sure love is supposed to be easy, but, quite frankly, loving you is easy.  I love you because, even at my worst, you make me feel my best.  On a night when I am curled up in p-jams and it's a 'fat day' with an incoming pimple and my darkest, nastiest roots showing you say "you're so pretty babe."  And when I am in my Sunday morning mood, that dreadful mood you put up with, you quietly digress to another room for a full 30 minutes while I enjoy my Sunday morning ritual of reading internet tabloids while you make me breakfast and ...

The hubs and I sat in the car yesterday when I reminded him: "Don't forget we're going roller skating on Saturday and then a birthday party at night." Hubs: "What birthday party?" Cams: "For Denise's cousin.  Well, he's not really her cousin, but they lived across the street from one another when we were kids and they always said they were cousins.  Y'know how when you're little and you tell people someone's your cousin even though they aren't?" Hubs: "No." Cams: (Pause, Stare, Waiting for him to recall doing that.... Nuttin'.)  "You never said someone was your brother?  Or your sister? Or someone in your family and they weren't??" Hubs:  "No." Cams: (Shocked she coud marry someone so incredibly, boringly honest)  "Well, maybe it's an American thing.... or a SoCal thing.... but that's what we used to say about our friends when we were kids." And we did , didn'...

One thing you quickly discover after losing a job is how boring it is to not spend. Not that I used my youth spending too frivolously.  But, like anyone who is given the impression they shouldn't do something, it makes them want to all the more.  Like a child.  Like a rebel.  Yup. But life is good, indeed.  San Diego with girlfriends last weekend, Las Vegas this weekend.   I won't complain.  I won't complain.  Breathe in.  Breathe out. And people instinctively ask, "how's the job search going?" And the answer is: "It's going." But today was an interesting day in the job search, and I discovered some really awesome careers that exist out there.  Granted, I am not qualified for 95% of them, but they still sounded pretty dang awesome. In fairness, job searching is half the battle.  What is sort of disconcerting about searching for a J.O.B. is that you discover there's a whole lot of sh*t you aren't good at or aren'...

My husband used to do something that took me a while to wrap my head around.  I didn't know how to appraoch the situation for some time, and finally we sat down and had the discussion about his piling- and ever since things have been significantly better. Tonight I sat with my husband watching a confusing episode of LOST.  My mind was wandering and I asked him pointedly "how long do you think you can put up with me not having a job?" His immediate response: "as long as it takes." Clearly, the question confused him.  But I definitely feel like I'm on loser status.  I wake up at 10:00.  I stare at the wall and wonder what to do with the day.  Yes, true- I manage to get stuff done.  I am aggresively seeking employment, but I don't feel like I am contributing to society- or my household. And my husband reminded me that for quite some time he didn't have a job and it was me that supported him.  Those first months when he immigrated from the U...