Month: June 2004

In love again with RS

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Wow, I think I’m actually becoming impressed with The Cure’s latest album. This is a new feeling for me! I’ve heard about four songs from it thus far, but one is growing on me (the obligatory pop song, The End Of The World) and two are just awesome: Lost and The Promise. I’ve been listening to the latter on repeat half the afternoon the past few days.

I am dying to get my hands on the new album that I pre-ordered. I’m so excited because their last album, Bloodflowers, just kinda fell flat. And the album previous to that one, Wild Mood Swings, had just too many odd songs. I feel like this new album is going back to The Cure roots, and it fills me with so much excitement that I no longer mind the $133+ I spent on concert tickets.

And to add to all the excitement, Paul found out about this cool song, Da Hype, that was done by this artist called Junior Jack with Robert Smith on vocals. Thirty seconds (the length of the sound clip) was all it took for me to track it down on a German cd site and order it.

Long live the greatest band ever! :)

The Ring

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My engagement ring Here’s a photo of my engagement ring. We bought it on Thursday, and picked it up last night after it was resized. We looked at all the major jewelry stores in the local mall, including Zales, and decided on Rodgers & Hollands for two main reasons – #1 Their diamonds looked the best and #2 They had the best warranty and trade-in value.

It’s amazing what you learn about diamonds in the short time you’re looking at rings. I never realized there were all these grades to describe the color of the diamond and whatnot. I guess that’s because until now, I didn’t give a crap.

I’m happy with what I got, which interestingly enough, looks better than the more expensive, higher-quality diamond we saw at Zales which also cost almost twice what my ring did. According to our salesperson, that’s because the cut of the diamond is more important than the grade. Had I not seen it with my own two eyes, I would have been skeptical, but it must be true. My diamond is a near-colorless, whereas the diamond I saw at Zales was colorless, yet it looked cloudy. And the near-colorless at Zales had a yellow tint to it, whereas mine does not. And boy does it sparkle! This photo doesn’t do it justice. I took so many photos, but it’s just not the same as in person. :p

Anyway, here’s the details in case anyone is curious (along with a few of my own comments):

Shape/Cut: Round Brilliant Cut
Interestingly enough, I had thought I wanted the princess (ie square) cut, but after seeing it, I preferred the round shape.

Weight: 0.38 Carat
I looked at diamonds in sizes ranging from 0.25 carat to half a carat, and this size just seemed perfect to me. Believe it or not, but the ½ carat just looked too big to me. I guess I’m strange for not wanting the biggest diamond we could afford, huh? ;)

Color: Near Colorless(I)
Looks colorless to me, honestly.

Band: 14KT White Gold
I debated whether to get platinum, but didn’t want the added cost. I can easily upgrade to the platinum at any time, so to me it’s not a big deal.

Now I just have to get used to wearing a ring all the time. I am so not a jewelry person!

Head in hands

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We just can’t catch a break with this whole neighbor situation. Our old neighbors moved out last weekend. Seeing as how we’ve seen apartments in this building sit empty for two weeks or more before they were even worked on, we were thrilled to think we’d have peace and quiet for a few weeks. Obviously, someone up there does not like us.

Management started working on the apartment immediately. Thursday we were woken up by them putting new carpeting in. And yesterday, our new neighbors moved in. They loudly moved their stuff around until 1 am, and woke me up at around 7 am this morning moving stuff around. Nice.

And despite what I asked of management, no one re-tightened the floorboards when the carpeting was removed, even though it was a perfect opportunity, so we have more creaking floorboards.

It just never ends, does it? Why I ever thought living on the first floor was a good idea, I’ll never know. We are never going to get peace here. And maybe I expect too much, but I find it extremely rude to be doing loud banging before 9 am on a weekend. But apparently that’s just me, because everyone else around here doesn’t give a shit that other people live in this building too.

Now if only Joe’s ex-wife could make up her mind on where she plans on living with the kids, we could start looking for an appropriate home. We can’t even start looking when we don’t know how large of a space we’re going to need. I’m tired of living my life around her and everyone else. I’m ready to strangle someone. People better stay out of my way today, because I’m ready to explode!

Sick fishie

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I’m so frustrated … mostly with myself because I’m the reason my Betta is currently sick. :p

See, I was lax in changing his water and he got that nasty popeye. His eye swelled up good, even though I added some medication to his water.

So I went to the pet store and bought some Tetracycline, but that didn’t work either. It’s been three weeks now and his eye has only gotten larger.

The only other medication I even know of is not carried by any of the major retailers like Petco, PetSmart, Walmart, etc. I found one place online who carried it, and placed an order on the 6th. I emailed them the other day to get a status update, and they informed me the manufacturer no longer makes the medication.

So now what do I do? His eye is huge and nothing is working. I’m sure he’s very uncomfortable, if not in pain. I should have never taken him out of the 2 gallon tank with the filter; the water was always very clean in there. I put him back in there yesterday, but that isn’t going to solve the issue. My poor Betta. :(

A different kind of pasta

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I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but would like to. If you happen to try it, let me know what you think.

Taco-Pasta Salad

Servings: 2
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 portions rotini pasta (about 4 oz uncooked)
2 portions lean ground beef (about 1/2 lb)
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp taco seasoning mix
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp salsa
2 Tbsp fat-free sour cream
2 Tbsp reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
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