A Little on the Tacky Side

Hello Mr. Winter! Thank you from coming to snow on my Monday!

You shouldn’t have!

REALLY!

So I know it has been awhile since my last post. I am blaming it on the fact that my computer at work hates me and will not work with my camera. So I must do my entire picture uploading at home. I can’t write a blog without pretty pictures, everyone loves a little eye candy!

Nothing is new with me. I still have a job, I am still living in WV, and I am still tacky! I was talking with a co-worker the other day and she did not seem to think I was that tacky, well after a short 15 minute conversation she quickly changed her mind. I am the queen of all things tacky and wacky! Bow down before me.

For those of you who do not believe me I will give you 10 illustrations of said tackiness.

1. I read celebrity gossip. Yep, every morning right after I read my emails I tune in to MSN Entertainment news, because I find CNN entertainment news so inadequate. I read gossip blogs, and pretend to not enjoy E! True Hollywood Stories. Truth be told, I LOVE THS. Perez Hilton is so creepy and yet I read his blog. It is like crack. If I go all weekend without getting my news then come Monday morning I am jonesing for a hit.

2. I am Crafty. I am not an artist with tons of creativity. I just like making shit! I like making things that no one else has or will steal. I am also way too cool to follow the patterns that come with my crafts. My reasoning is that if everyone follows the pattern then all of our stuff will look alike! I like to make scarves because on cold days like today they come in handy and they are conversation starters with strangers.

3. Following in my craftiness I also make my own laundry soap, fabric softener, and cleaning supplies. Not because I care for the environment, or because I can’t afford to buy the real deal. But because I want to. Really people! Who buys nice clothes then washes them in their home-made concoction! Woot! Woot! That would be Jaye!

4. I think that all parties should have karaoke and that DDR (Dance Dance Revelation) should be an Olympic sport. I only have three or five songs that I will sing for karaoke and they are all from the 80’s. Why? Because you don’t have to sing good, you only need to sing LOUD! Which I can do. And DDR?....... well I totally suck at it, but I intend to get better with lots of hard work and practice. Who needs grad school when have these things!

5. I *heart* StarTrek!!! I have the entire series of Star Trek Voyager. That may not sound to hard core, but lets take a looksie at the market value of this little gem. That will be $850 please. Yep, I love watching Captain Janeway navigate her way through the Borg territory. In fact, I would LOVE to go to a Star Trek convention. That would so awesome and I would take TONS of pictures and write one really long blog with all the pictures. You guys would love it! We should do it some time.

6. I dress my dogs up. Yes, I am one of those people! I will set behind a sewing machine for three days and make the perfect cow-girl outfit for my weenier dog to wear for Halloween. AND then I take pictures for all of you guys!

7. I have never met a purse I did not like. The same goes for shoes. I like school bus yellow patent leather heels, cheap knock-off green Converse, zebra prints, and gold slippers. I love red purses. I have pretty much bought every single one that I have come across. I feel like I am at the pound, I want to give all those purses a good home. Vins understands this, he knows that it is very rare that I will come home from a shopping trip without a new purse. Case in point, this weekend Jessie, her sister Meagan, and I went to The Strip in Pittsburgh to shop and I found this super cool vintage purse for $15. It goes well with my collection.

8. My fridge. It is covered with the ugliest magnets that I can find from places I have been. People who come to my house take notice, because it is that noticeable.

9. I love religious figures. No! Nothing like the Pieta by Michelangelo (not hating!). I am thinking more like Jesus action figures, grow your own Buddha, and Muhammad bobble head. Yes, things that are 100% offensive, yet I yearn to buy them. They are so funny. I really like the funny Jesus posters as I am sure you guys can probably tell from my earlier postings. I also like wash your sins away soaps, and other items like this. The problem is some people are so touchy, I am afraid that I will be beat to death by their Bible if I was to display items like that.

10. And last but not least: it is a tie. I love Dolly Parton and Madonna lots. They are my favorites. And if that is not the tackiest thing ever than I do not know what is.

*** sorry I can't get all my pics to load***

About time!!

Thank you Jesus for FINALLY bringing election day to us.

We, the people of America, come this Thanksgiving, are going to be thankful that the election is over, and the news can return to normal. We will get on CNN every morning for the really important things in our lives, like the latest information on Madonna and Guy Richie's divorce. We will once again be thankful that we can watch Dr. 90210 without interruption from campaign callers in North Carolina. We will once again be able to work in peace at the office without our co-workers trying to get us to drink the kool-aid of conservatism or touch the kryptonite of liberalism.

Things will go back to normal! We can say the words change and hope again without fear of starting the longest debate in history of who does a better Sarah Palin: Tina Fey or Sarah Palin herself. I only said "I hope, I can change my phone number!" I did not realize that statement that was so laden with election buzz words, it would spark such a discussion at work.

We here, in a "battle ground" state, are war-weary of the election. Our psyche has been messed with so much that we are eyeing our friends and neighbors as potential enemy combatants. We are forced to change all of our habits to avoid the bombardment of election 08. Some of us have taken to stop answering the phone, looking at the mail, and only watching pre-recorded shows on TV. I wonder if I will every recover from this.

I did BTW go and vote this morning. And yes there was a line, I waited about 30 minutes. I do have a question, is it bad of me to wait in line, and then only vote for President? I did not vote for any one else like Governor or senator because I know nothing about it. Because I refuse to look at the mail or watch commercials on TV. I did not educate myself because I, like all of you, am so electioned out. So I only voted for the president. and left for work. I am so giddy knowing that things can return to normal!!!!

"Normalcy is something we all hate to love." - quote by Jaye!

Happy belated Halloween!!! I hope that you guys like my costume, I was the most random dressed person out there. Basically, I looked in my closet found clothing items that were fairly loaded and totally did not match. I really liked my outfit, and lots of people were impressed by it.

I love Halloween. It is a holiday for fun. There are no expectations from others, if you are not feeling like Halloween it is not forced upon you by others. And if Halloween is your thing and you want to celebrate then that makes it all the more fun.

At work we had our Halloween Party on Thursday, since most people "work from home" on Fridays. Note: I am not most people, I must work from the office on Fridays. Jessie and I made some cookies, and they turned out so cute. One of these days I will make a blog-tutorial for you guys so you can make them also. They are really simple to make and people just love the way they look.

Sorry that it has taken me a few days to post, I have been waiting to use Vins' laptop to get the pictures off since I worked my magic on my work computer. Hopefully in the next few weeks that issue will be taken care of. It really sucks at work to have a computer that does not work properly.

So for the actual night of Halloween Vins and I went over to Chris and Jessie's house for dinner and a movie. We had French Onion Soup and Salad, then we watched Final Destination, which btw, for those of you who do not know me, I DO NOT WATCH SCARY MOVIES!!!! at all. Nope, it is not my thing, but I did make an exception for the one night a year.

There are certain movies that must be watched at certain times of the year. For example Halloween movie list as follows!

• Young Frankenstein
• Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride
• Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
• The Addams Family Values
• The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
• Beetlejuice
• Poltergeist
  

Notice that yes they are all children's movies, except for the last one, which BTW I watched when I was in fact a young child. And because of this one movie, I can not watch scary movies to this day. I was traumatized.

So in conclusion, I have to say THANK GOD that the election is on THIS Tuesday. I can make for TWO more measly days, because Jesus as my witness I am so over the campaign-calling to my house. I am no longer living in Raleigh, NC, so could the campaign callers please realize that my area code is in fact no longer 919, so when you are dialing my number that now starts with 304 please do not tell me to go to the Leesville Elementary to vote since it is a good 9 hour drive away.

I personally feel that since my name is on a no-call list, I should not receive ANY calls. I am beyond pissed about being harassed incessantly about my vote. My one puny vote. I think that we as voters should call upon our lawmakers to make it illegal to harass the voters in the way we have been in this election. It comes from both sides.

If the combo of red and blue is purple, what is the total opposite?

Working with Jaye

I feel soooooo official at work now. The other day the VP of our division noticed that I did not have a name plate on my desk and told me that I needed to get one. So yesterday it came in the mail, and now I have it sitting in front of my computer. Check it out! I think that this proves that it does not take much the keep me happy at work. Apparently I am easily bought with a cheap plastic name plate. Still, I am happy to have one.

Check out the picture below! That is my car on the right. I came to work, parked the car, and then 20 minutes later my boss came and she always parks REALLY close to me. That would be her car on the left. I took a picture to show people the difficulty that I have getting back in my car at lunch. I have proof!

I think that my blogging at work killed my computer! But, i am not confessing anything to anyone. But this morning I plugged my card reader into my computer to upload the above pictures and my mouse and keyboard stopped working. I then restarted the computer but to no avail; they were still broken. Then, when Mr. IT Guy asked me what I was doing when it broke, I FLAT OUT LIED! I said I went to the bathroom, came back and the mouse would not work. I don't think he believed me. But I got this old school keyboard and mouse that I have to use until I get a different computer. Evidently I simultaneously broke all USB ports this morning. Yeah, I showed my computer who was the boss.

But I really hate my new mouse and keyboard. It is an old school mouse with the little ball in it, and the scroll button does not work. The keyboard feels to big for my hands and it is really dirty! I think someone went dumpster diving and found this POS. I think this may be my punishment for lying to Mr. IT Guy.

The last Pic is of Jessie's scarf, that is well on its way to being finished, which is a good thing since it is snowing outside. Technically it is only raining mixed with snow flurries, but it is close enough for me!

Washing Away the Negativeness

Less than two weeks to go!!!!! Yep, people, after months of the 24/7 coverage of the most historic presidential election ever, we will finally have a winner. FINALLY!!!! I am, and I am sure a lot of people are with me on this, SSSSSSSOOOOOOOO ready for it to be OVER! I remember when I was living in NC and Hilary Clinton decided to run for president; it was really big news. So big that it was the only thing on the news for weeks.

That was two years ago.

That has also been part of the reason that my blogging has been slightly sporadic lately. The amount of negativity associated with the elections and the absurd amount of media coverage it receives is very depressing.

I am a news junkie. I spend a good 2 to 3 hours a day reading the news websites. It starts with CNN. I read the top stories of the hour. Then I read all the US news and the regional news. Next I move to the entertainment section because I am trashy like that. Next, MSN news for election coverage, entertainment (shame), US stories, world stories, finance, crime, and my favorite: weird news. Then I make my way to Google news skipping over the stories I have already read. And finally I read BBC and Reuters. THEN after reading all this I listen to NPR News in the mornings and at 5:00 pm on my drive home. On top of all this I will visit these sites several times a day to see if anything new happened in the last hour or so.

Well, all this wealth of information in the last few weeks has been overwhelmingly negative. Our financial market is burning down before our eyes, the presidential elections are so depressing, and combined with my normal moodiness it has left me very asocial these last weeks. And I am trying very hard not to be political in my blogging because I personally am very tired of reading other people's opinions and don't expect anyone to want to read mine.

but ENOUGH about the doom and gloom of Jaye! We are now going to talk about much more interesting things........like........LAUNDRY SOAP!!!!!

Yeah! I know this is so much more riveting than my secret love affair with Associated Press. As many of you already know I am nerdy to the core, and I make my own laundry soap, and on top of all that I make my own fabric softener, which by the way works GREAT!!!!! and I love it. I use tons of it and Vincent no longer complains about me just pouring all of our money down the drain. So I'm very happy with the fabric softener. LOVE IT!

Well, I have decided to give you my recipe for Laundry Soap. Now, making the soap is quite easy and it is very cheap. I can't remember how cheap but trust me I am saving money by making my own soap. I will let you know that I do not put any perfumes in the soap so it smells like nothing. At first I was really caught off guard by the lack of scent, but now I like it. In fact, a few weeks ago I borrowed a shirt from a friend and I found the shirt so perfumy from the laundry soap that I couldn't breathe. But if you like the scented kind of soap, you can add in scents; they are sold at craft stores. You can used lavender, lemon or whatever you like.

One more thing, this is a liquid recipe.





Supplies:

1 Large pan (holds 6 cups of water easily)

1 Big pot or bucket (I use my canning pot)

1 Whisk

1 bar of Zote Soap (this is a bar laundry bar soap sold at Big Lots and Mexican stores $0.99)

3/4 cup of Washing Soda ( NOT baking soda I bought mine a Kroger for $2.50)



3/4 cup of Borax



Water

• Put the bar of Zote soap in the food processor and chop it into tiny pieces



• Pour 6 cups of water in a large pot and stir in the Soap pieces that you chopped up in the food processor. Stir until all the soap is dissolved
  
  
  


• While the soap is dissolving, set a huge pot or bucket in the floor near the sink and measure out 1.5 gallons of cold water in a large container.
  

• Once the soap is totally dissolved, pour in 3/4 cup of washing powder and 3/4 cup of borax. Stir until dissolved. (If you want any scents add them at this time)

• While the borax and washing powder are dissolving, turn on the faucet and get four cups of hot water, pour the hot water in the bucket near the sink.

• Once all the borax and washing powder is dissolved, carefully pour it into the bucket with the hot water, and then add the 1.5 gallons of cold water and stir for a few minutes.

• After a few hours the mix will gel.

After the soap has cooled off a bit, I like to pour my laundry soap in my old Tide bottles because I like the spout that makes it easy to dispense. Before every use I just shake the bottle a few times and we are good to go. Also, since I know that I will be making more as I need it, I chop up 2 or 3 bars of Zote soap up at a time and store them until I make more soap; this really cuts down the amount of mess and the time to make the soap the next time around.

I for one love making my own soap. First, it is really cheap. I think that it is less than 2 dollars for the batch which makes well over 2 gallons of laundry soap. I also think that it is healthier than some of the other soaps on the market - not that I am an environmentalist!!!! And last I am crafty and this kind of thing is right down my alley!

BRRRRR!?!?!?!

So guess what you Internet loving people? Last night while working on a "TOP SECRET" knitting project and watching TV, (Look at me multi-task!) the weather man said a nasty four letter word that started with "S". No, not that word, he said SNOW!!!!!

WHAT?!?!?! Are you kidding me? I am not ready for the snow, I am still enjoying my fall weather. This morning I was late for work because I had to scrape the frost off the car. AARGGGGGG!!!!

I miss the summer.

But in other weather related news, we are coming to an end of the beautiful peeping season. The drive I take home from work since we have moved locations is unbelievably beautiful. It is so relaxing and calming, and last weekend Vincent and I attempted to go and peep at Cooper's Rock State Park. But there were so many people also looking at the leaves that is was not very enjoyable. It was really hot, and me thinking that it was Autumn, wore a long sleeved shirt.

I know that it has been a really long time since I have written a proper post, but I have been SO busy at work. I know!!!!! I normally don't have anything to do, but these last few weeks have been so crazy. And everyone at work has been really stressed and all around unhappy about the move. So now we are in a new building, and the A/C has finally been repaired. Along with the leak in the roof, the sink that won't drain, the drain that leaks, the Internet, our email system, and our keys also open the building, FINALLY. We also have fax machines and the kitchen all set up. Now the phone system refuses to work I am giving up and don't even get me started on our mail situation.

I am trying to think of all the things that have went down since my last update on life.

1. Chris and Jessie came over and we carved pumpkins. They were so cute but we carved them WAY too early in the season because Jessie has already trashed hers and ours are going to be trashed this Wednesday night.



2. Some punk ass kids stole our WVU flag from our house!!! You would think that I would be all torn about this, but no, I am okay with it. That will be one less thing I will need to pack up and move this spring.



3. Vincent did a 180 degree turn in the car and decided that we must purchase new tires for the Saturn IMMEDIATELY!!!!



4. I have started my Christmas shopping!!!



5. I am still not finished with the scarf I am knitting for Jessie, BUT I am making tons of progress.



6. We totally rearranged our house in preparation of winter.

Uhm... yes that is Vincent showing us how to be safe when trying to make the Dining room lights work. just have your wife drag the SUPER HEAVY shelfs to the center of the room and somehow with crazy super woman strength lift it up on the rug. Then place and stool on top. Next stack a very classy milk crate with a bunt pan to hold the broken light fixture. Talk about safety first!!!!

Well, that is about all I have done in the last few weeks. I am sure that I could have made some really interesting posts about those events, but oh well, maybe next time.

PS can any one guess what or who Vincent carved in his pumpkin.

Can someone please....

....explain how this song is making chart history?!?!?! I is a horrible song. AND it is totally stuck in my head!



Sorry, I have been MIA the last few weeks. Work has been CRAZY!!!! We moved buildings, and I didn't have the Internet for a few days, and then I was getting everything settled in. So hopefully in the next few days I will able to bore you guys with my randomness of a blog more often.