PCE - Post Christmas Exhaustion

I'm beat! Although I had Christmas Day off, I worked Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. And of course, we all know that Christmas Day is NEVER completely relaxing. I spent the blessed day of Christ's birth wrapping last minute gifts, helping in the kitchen, and constantly stuffing my face. I think it's the constantly stuffing my face all day part that has me feeling sluggish and a big puddle of goo. I really need to get off my ass and start running again. If I gain any more weight I think I'll hit that "point of no return". Add that to the resolutions for 2009!!! I feel just like that cutie puppie in the picture...haha!

Regardless, the holidays were good to me. I got great gifts from Boyfriend's family - I think I chose all of them, but I'm not complaining. I have yet to find out what my family has gotten me, but I'll know by Wednesday! Boyfriend and I are excited about heading back to Houston for New Year's Eve. I miss having my family close by, and we miss Pharmacist, Firefighter, Grove, Noodle, and the rest of the gang. Hopefully, I will have a chance to blog again before I leave, but if not... Happy New Year's!!!

Merry Christmas to All...

Merry Christmas from Rice Spice, Boyfriend, and Otis!

Yea, we know... he's too friggin' adorable for his own good!

AND he lets me dress him in all sorts of humiliating outfits :)

Shitter's Full

Boyfriend is heading to his parents' place tonight to start his Christmas holiday early. They live about an hour north of us. Seeing as I have to work on Christmas Eve until about 3pm, Otis and I won't be joining him until I get off work tomorrow. Boyfriend wanted to leave the boy with me to keep me company, but I just think he wants to get a good night's sleep without me or a snoring dog in the bed with him...lol. So the little one and I have a date with leftovers, a glass of wine (for me...not the dog), wrapping gifts, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation playing in the background.

At some point, I may even try to find some time to research online what's going on in Houston for New Year's Eve - put a few emails out and message a few people on MySpace. Boyfriend, Otis, and I are boarding a plane bound for H-Town on Wednesday in time to drop off the doggie and ring in the New Year with friends. Why is it that even though I've moved to Tampa, I still feel the need to plan something in a totally different state? Maybe I should leave it all up to the people there, but you know I'm too much of a control freak to not have some influence on the evening's plans. Anyone hear of exciting New Year's events in the city of Big Oil? If so, pass that along...

All I Want For Christmas Is To Not Have To Budget...

However, our economy has forced us to do so :( Boyfriend and I aren't exactly in the poor house nor our we "The Joneses" every one is trying to live up to. Regardless, 2008 has proven to be an expensive year. We moved states (although Boyfriend's move was taken care of by his new company, mine was not as I stayed in Houston about two months longer), we bought a townhouse, and our cost of living went up to live in the state of Florida. Our biggest hit by far was the townhouse. Buying a home in a secured yacht club community by the water was a pretty penny. And, everyone knows there are ALWAYS additional expenses when you move. For instance, our corner unit computer desk didn't fit properly against the flat wall that we had to put the computer desk in the new house - so there went an additional $265 at Target for a new desk that matched and fit against the wall. The entertainment center we had didn't fit in the recessed entertainment knook in the living room - $400 on a new solid wood dark brown-finished entertainment center that can hold a 50 inch plasma screen tv. Custom-made drapes for the large sliding glass door to the balcony at the third-floor master bedroom because not one store carried drapes tall enough, 2 sets of drapes for the two sliding glass doors on the second floor that leads to the main balcony, plantation shutters for the rest of the windows in the house. I could go on...

So 2009 will be a "skinny" year for Rice Spice, Boyfriend, and Otis. We spent over an hour on setting up our 2009 budget on the MSN Money program last night. Boyfriend is an absolute bean counter when it comes to his personal finances. Always planning for the future. Always staring at his projected budget scale on his MSN Money chart. I pay my bills and the rest just kind of goes where it goes. Can you tell that opposites attract? Hehehe.

He has finally convinced me to sit down and do a budget with him to track our 2009 expenses as a couple. Even after 4 years together, knowing we're going to grow old together, and that what's mine is his and what's his is mine, it's still weird to formally put some big graph chart together to document our finances. I guess it's just that I find it funny that being single for so many years and independently doing these things myself has made it weird to "officially" do these things with another person. It's like learning to share you crayons at school all over again....lol. I don't mind though. I wouldn't share my crayons with anyone else... Hmmm.... is there an innuendo in that statement?

Anyway, our initial budget was just not going to have us saving much at all by the end of 2009. Since Otis adds to the expenses this upcoming year, we have to find something else to cut back on in equivalent to what we think all his food, vet visits (planned or unplanned), toys, etc would cost. That's definitely NOT coming out of my manicure and pedicure fund....lol. So we decided that we still need to trim more fat all the way around. We're shaving off more from the dining out and entertainment budget to keep our vacation budget - prioritize - but we've still got some tweaking to do before we feel it's a reasonable budget.

All the staring at numbers reminds me how much I hate math. Did I ever tell you my theory about Asian? There are two types of Asians in the world. Those who do math and science and those who do hair and nails. I am neither... BUT I do have fantastic hair and well-manicured nails :)

Ok, it's time for me to tuck the dog into bed so that he can nap away while I get ready for work. Have a great weekend!!

Ready for a Holiday

After only working at my office for approximately two months, I already feel like a vacation is long overdue. Sad... I know. Working with a bunch of females who whine about petty shit gets old. What's worse is that I have to manage them. Do you remember when you were young and could always get a "do-over" when you played with your friends? Would it be too much to ask for "do-over" through hiring process of the minions at my company? The two major bosses did all the hiring at the time I was brought on. If only I had a say in it seeing that I would be the one working directly with them. Only 1 out of the 4 does their job well and doesn't annoy me - 25% isn't a bad percentage if we were talking a big office. There are 4 people though... come on! Oh, well...

My goal is to diversify the office when we hire more people. My prime target is older men - maybe they can bring some seriousness to the mix that these young female minions are lacking. Or maybe they can bring some old man creepiness so that the girls will at least stop chit chatting constantly because their a bit freaked out. Not serial killer creepy or anything like that, but just enough weirdness that he makes people clam up. Is that bad that I want to use a bit of psychology to get these girls to stop yapping like they're in high school and to focus on their work?

Anyway, I better get off this computer. I have 30 minutes to get ready before I have to head off to work.

Have a great day!!!

Shopping Madness

I really do hate to shop. Seriously. I know it sounds insane. Boyfriends still can't grasp the concept that I hate hitting the malls and that I'm not a big fan of chocolate. He claims I'm missing a few inherent female genes. I've just never been a shopper.

With that aside, we took a trip to the big mall out in Tampa called International Plaza. It was crazy packed with Christmas shoppers. We decided that it was time for us to get some gifts knocked out. This is the first Christmas that I wasn't already done with my shopping by Thanksgiving. I blame it on the move. I believe we've pretty much gotten everything we need for his family. So that is done. We've kind of hit a bit of luck with my family. There is an upside about not seeing the Spices until New Year's - shopping AFTER Christmas and getting everything on massive sales. What's the point of buyiong gifts full priced if I'm not going to see them until 2009 anyway, right?

I'm not really sure what to get Boyfriend. We decide that there will be no big gifts this year since we spent quite a bit of money on Otis Monkey. We decided to just put a bow on Otis' head and stick him under the tree - I'm sure the dog will not be very fond of it though. However, I do plan on getting him something small. Nothing extraordinary. Something I guy would want that is relatively inexpensive and a "fun gift". I already got him something small and useful - a Remington Haircut Kit. I found it on sale for $15, so I couldn't resist - that's less than half it's price. It always gets me Boyfriend gets a trim every two weeks when I can clean up the easy stuff around his neck if we just had the right tools. Now we will. So that is his version of "socks and underwear" this year. Now I need a little "toy" to appease the fun side. Any ideas???

All I can say is that the experience shopping this weekend has simply reinforced that I'm still not particularly fond of crowded malls, crying babies, and horrible drivers in packed parking lots. Hehehe - I kind of sound like a Scrooge...hehe. Really, I'm not a Scorroge. I love the holidays just not the malls... Are you all finished with your holiday shopping?

Conversations between me and one of my sales team

Rice Spice: I used to work for Shell Oil before I worked at my last job.

Minion: Wow, I used to work for a gas station, too! I sold car wax.

Rice Spice: Hmmm....yeah.

*****************************************

RS: We had a few coronas before the game.

Minion 2: Do you know why you put limes in coronas?

RS: Because that's the right way to drink them.

Minion 2: My friend told me that because in Mexico the workers pee in the beer, so the lime helps kill the germs.

RS: So you think a squeeze of lime will kill the toxins in urine? Interesting.

(Apparently, common sense comes at a premium with this one)

A New Beginning...

I know that many of you have thought that blogging and I had parted ways. For a while, I thought I'd never get back into the swing of things. However, I am slowly getting my bearings and think it's time to get back to some of what I consider normalcy. I miss writing, venting, and having a chronicle of my life.

The move to Florida had pretty much put my life into a tailspin. It's a complete culture shock out here. The whole stereotype about old people moving slowly, yada, yada, yada... It's not just the old people! No one seems to feel like they need to be anywhere at any time. They just mill about, creep on the roadways, and walk slower than my osteoperosis-ridden grandmother... and these are people in their early 20's!! WTF?!?! Boyfriend and I attribute it to the "beach bum mentality." Makes sense that a place known for beaches would draw people with laid-back lifestyles unlike Houston who tends to draw doctors, engineers, and career-driven individuals since it is the mecca of the energy and medical industries. Huge difference, huh?

Have I become such a city dweller yuppie that I'm now that high-maintenance bitch that goes to smaller cities and wonders how people function??? I always knew Houston was a big city, but when people think Tampa is so big and feel swallowed up by its fast pace, I feel like chucking them out of a window. Sadly, my office is only one-story, so they would just hit the pavement on the other side of the pane...so the effect wouldn't have much gusto as I would like to imagine it. To give you an idea, Houston was last said to have about 2.2 million people while Tampa has approximately less than 400, 000. Not that everyone and everything has been awful, but life in Tampa is definitely...different.

Regardless, I work for a company that I really like. Ok... let me rephrase that. I really like where it's going. Just to give you insight, it is a travel company very similar to Expedia, Travelocity, and Hotels.com that is based out of Europe. They've been successful on that side of the pond since 2002 and have decided to open a US office in Tampa. Right now I am still learning the company and all its procedures...which keep changing constantly because we continually have to rewrite the policies to fit the US Market instead of a European one. It's a pain to not be working at a company that's already well-establish like my former companies, but this one definitely has a lot of growth potential once they get everything in order.

Currently, we have an ongoing battle with a useless Marketing Company that we've hired. We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing and have not really seen any sales increase from our target market - we're focusing on the Tampa/Orlando market first with some feelers in the northeast before we start approaching markets across the nation. We're looking at hiring a new marketing company based out of New York who happens to have a great resume having worked with the likes of Fuji, Apple, and other large recognizable clients. Cross your fingers!!

A few things have happened since I've lasted talked to most of you. When I moved here, the Tampa baseball team (Tampa Rays) went to the World Series. Boyfriend and I spent my first month here going to playoff games and the WS. Fun times even though the Rays didn't win it all. We've also been going to virtually all the Univeristy of Florida football games seeing as Boyfriend is a die-hard alumni fan. Now that the team is headed for the championship game in Miami, we're working on securing tickets for that, too. I've been quite the supportive sports fan for Boyfriend. He got lucky that he landed a girl who actually likes this stuff...haha!

And most importantly, we've added a new addition to our household. As some of you recall, all my friends were having baby fever and got puppies or cats. I was having puppy fever and thought I may have to get a fish. Luckily, we finally got the "baby" I've been wanting for quite sometime. His name is Otis (as I had already chosen the name as some of you readers may recall) and he's a damn good-looking Boston Terrier. Partial? Of course. We got him when he was about 10 weeks old and he is now about 15 weeks. He's quite the character. He has about 30 minutes of devil dog high-energy craziness and then 4 hours of nap time. Boyfriend an I have become one of those couples that are all about their dog...lol. But seriously, how can you not want to just love on this puppy face!

So that is it for now. Wow, this is a long-ass post! I plan to update this blog as much as I can. I haven't had much time to reformat a new look to it, so I'm using one of blogger's basic templates. Nice, but...eh. I'll find time work on it eventually.