The up-side to work bridal luncheons

Posted on 31 October 2008 by sarahthe

Yesterday we had a bridal luncheon here at work. One of the employee’s daughters is getting married, and we are one party-loving crew ’round here. In keeping with long standing bridal tradition, we had a salad luncheon. A salad luncheon is a luncheon wherein you are only allowed to bring things that end with the word “salad.”

I was asking Chris, our student worker who is from Guatemala, what kind of foods they typically ate at showers in Guatemala. After claiming not to know, he finally shrugged and said that whatever it was, it would all be ‘bocitas’ or, as we would call it, finger food. Translated literally, ‘bocitas’ means ‘little mouths.’ ‘Little mouths,’ is WAY the heck cooler than ‘finger food.’ I realize that it can be argued that ‘bocitas’ would be more closely translated as ‘bite-size,’ and I would listen to that argument. And then I would say that you would never ask someone to bring ‘bite-size’ food to a party, you would say ‘finger food’ and that’s why I’m correct.

Anyway, through out the course of my education, there have been a few words in Spanish stuck with me, more/less replacing their English counterparts. One example would be ‘Salsa Inglesa,’ which, in English, is the impossible to pronounce ‘Worcestershire Sauce.’ I can effectively say “Salsa Inglesa” and fully explain what it is in the amount of time it takes me to bumble through the word ‘worchestershier.’ Who can say that? Really?! That and ‘rural’ should both be stricken from the English language. All that being said, I’m totally replacing ‘bite-size/finger food’ with ‘bocitas.’

So there you go. That’s today’s most exciting thing so far. Bocitas is the new bite-size, and wedding showers for people you don’t know are still awkward.

Also, we’re moving today. CRAZY.

Overheard at my house

Posted on 17 October 2008 by sarahthe

(From the ‘sarahwho?’ page on my website:

“Here are things I like that drive him [Zack] bonkers: Mates of State, rice & beans, icanhascheezburger.com, how I tend to drop letters out of words when I speak, and Pride and Prejudice.”

I admit, I say a lot of words strangely. I don’t do it because I have a weird accent, or because I was raised as a non-native speaker. I’m from Texas, and English is my native language. It’s more a product of my nurture, really, my family tends to hang onto inside jokes longer than most. Over 10 years ago, we had a friend who heard Coyotes howling and said, “There’s wolf-es in the faux-west!” Obviously meaning wolves and forest, the boy (who was maybe 5 at the time?) said it exactly that way: wolf-es and faux-west. Needless to say, the family and I still often tell each other about the wolfes and the fauxwest. This tendency to say words in correctly is maybe childish, but a lot of fun, and it always gets giggles from SisterKaty, and isn’t that what really matters in life?

That being said, here’s a conversation that happened today between Zack and me. He’s obviously gotten used to the way that I speak.)

me: Have you checked to see if we can have Fios at the new house?
him: No, but I think so. There’s a chimney.
me: (silent, wondering what the crap kind of correlation there is between chimneys and high speed internet…)
him: If we do have fires there, they’ll have to be really small, though. Cause that fireplace is really teeny.

Sick.

Posted on 13 October 2008 by sarahthe

My allergy pills have either decided that I’m a helpless case and sounded a retreat, or I am sick. One or the other. Possibly both. Either way, this sinus headache did NOT clear its timing with my school schedule before it decided to wage war on my temples. Misery. Also, everything else hurts, too.

Boring Post About Moving

Posted on 9 October 2008 by sarahthe

I have officially started the Great House Hunt of 2009. Zack and I are free from the lease in this house starting at the end of this month. Our lease shouldn’t end until the end of November, but the leasing company entered it into their systems incorrectly. I’ve informed them of the error several times, but every time they say, “Oh, you can move out any time you want. Just let us know.” It’s a very un-leasing agent type of a thing to say, but Oh well, especially if it works out in our favor.

We have, after some serious thought, decided to rent again instead of buying. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a financial guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I did happen to marry one. On purpose. Zack and I ran numbers for about 2 weeks, looked at the houses that were available vs. money in the bank vs. budget stuff for next year after we’re a one income family. We decided to rent again mostly because we’re so unsure of what our 3, 5, and 10 year plans are. We dream big, and not all of our dreams are in Texas. Living in this house while the sellers tried desperately to sell it for over a year with no success has made an indelible impression upon us. Not only do we not want to get caught up in the current state of the market, (which is dismal, at best) but who wants to be responsible for all the home repairs, all the plumbing breaks, all the air conditioner shorts when they are on one (fairly small) income? And mostly, who wants to be stuck living somewhere they don’t want to be, just because they are locked into a house that won’t sell? Not me, either. There are at least 3 ladies in my office who want to move desperately right now, but can’t because their houses won’t sell. Yeech. There’s something really nice about just saying, “We’re not going to renew our lease. See you later.”

All that being said, house hunting, even with the ease of modern internet, is super annoying. Having Scout and Cruz don’t ease the situation, either. To find a house that is fit for living, in a good neighborhood, the right size, moderately efficient, the right price and pet friendly requires a magician’s touch. We’re going to see 2 houses tomorrow, and I’m waiting for a call about a third house. Wish us luck, 1 out of 3 would be nice.

Off to do some Chemistry homework. Lawdie, I’m boring today. Bye.

a conversation about what is and isn’t weird

Posted on 1 October 2008 by sarahthe

I’m back from vacation. My, O my, it feels good to be home.

Nevermind the fun that I had while I was gone, or the sadness the I’m experiencing as a result of seeing my very sick Great Aunt, I have a very serious question that I need to ask you.

The night before I left for vacation, I stayed at my mom and dad’s house. We were leaving from Love at 06:30 hours, and I didn’t want to have to drive all the way over (nevermind park at the airport for the whole vacation). Because my parents don’t have a guest room (instead they have a sewing factory) and because they have a moderately awkward-to-sleep-on couch, and because Boo has a queen sized bed, I slept in his bed with him.

Sleeping in a queen sized bed with your brother under weird sleep-need circumstances is not weird.

Then I called Zack, and I mentioned that Boo talks in his sleep. How did I know that, he wondered? Did Boo fall asleep on the couch or something? I said no, that I had slept in Boo’s bed, as opposed to sleeping on the couch. Totally normal.

Then Zack said, “that’s weird.”

“No it’s not,” I said. “You would totally share a bed with Jared or Matt in a hotel room or something.”

“Yeah,” he replied, “but Matt and Jared are boys, and so am I.”

“AS IF THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE?” I calmly thought. Or said? Not entirely sure. The point here, my friends, is that I truly believe that (as a rare, rare once in a lifetime event,) Zack is wrong.

After taking a short, admittedly informal poll at work, I have only been reassured in my thinking. Sure, all my co-workers informed me, it was totally normal for their kids of both genders, young and old, to share beds with one another. I am drooling at the idea of PERHAPS having a handle on something that is normal (as the queen of weird) that Zack, prince of the socially acceptable, thinks is totally bizarre.

So, sock it to me. Is it weird to sleep in the same bed as your opposite sexed brother or sister? Is it totally average and everyone does it? Bring it on. I can handle the truth. I’m quite used to being incorrect.