I am not gone, my friends

Yes, I may be employed but I have not left the blogsphere.

Visit me at http://bbchubbsisback.blogspot.com/.

As Bob Ross would say, "Let's put a little happy cloud over here." And that happy cloud is my current blog.

Day 134 - DIY Hits Again, Chickpeas Threaten to Revolt

Three hours, a half bag of dried garbanzo beans, two gutted lemons and one exhausted food processor has netted me a delightfully gloppy and slightly dry hummus.

The argument for DIY is that you save money. Hmmmm ....

$10 for ingredients
$8 for a cheap food processor*

I could have gotten a couple of buckets of prefab hummus at HEB for $18.

Damn. Damn. Damn.
 
* I have a shocking lack of kitchen appliances. No microwave. No blender. In fact, my one-shot pod coffee maker abdicated its throne by throwing out its closing mechanism/arm yesterday.

Day 125 - The Evalution of the Mind through the Viewing of Cinematic Offerings

I rented Nine.

I'm watching Aliens instead.



Analyze away.

Day 122 - If I Had a Hammer

Do not make things hard when they can be simple.

BEHOLD! The beauty of double stick tape. Up yours, screws! I need not hardware!

Day 121 - People. I See People.

I talk to people all day long.

I e-mail, Tweet, phone, text, IM, Facebook and (my new talent) mind read.

So while I'm far from a self-imposed Antarctica-style isolation, at times I have to admit that my operate-from-homebase style leaves me a little deficient in vitamin face-to-face. Hence (man, I have been waiting for an opportunity to use "hence" for a looooooonnnnnnggg time now), when I am in group meetings (as in today's Austin American Marketing Association luncheon), I tend to act a little like an over-caffeinated Richard Simmons.

In a three-second span:

"What'syournameareyouexcitedtobehereI'mexcitedtobehereohthere'sRobindoyouknowher?Whatdidyou say?Oh!That'sshiny!"

Something to work on, for sure.

The real news: I got to dress up in big-girl clothes today (as opposed to clothes with elastic bands that double for work out duds or pjs) AND I still fit into them. GOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!

Day 119 - Pros and Cons

The good news: I've picked up some contracting work.
The bad news: It's 10 pm and I'm just now closing up some loose ends.

The good news: Paycheck.
The bad news: I'm sorta getting addicted to work again. And enjoying it.
The good news (reminder): Money, money, money, money. Moooonney. (Guess what song that is from. It'll take you two seconds.) 

The good news: I'm expanding my work experience.
The bad news: Working again, eh? How does that go now? Wait, wait - don't tell me. I'll figure it out.

The good news: I'm working from home.
The bad news: Showers are optional and I've been known to abuse this.

The good news: I'm on the agency side, which means I am learning a lot.
The bad news: I'm on the agency side, which means I now know that I was kind of a jerk to agencies I worked with in the past.

Belated apologies.

Day 118 - 37 Years and Counting

Birthday partial disclosure (courtesy of ol' Southern lady customs. It's true - they are harder to kill than tree roaches):

• Yes, it's my birthday. I'm one year older than I was last year.
  
• I'm only as old as I feel.
• A lady doesn't tell. 

Well folks, I'm not a lady (but I'm all woman.) Today I turned 37. And PS: It feels fabulous to break out of the age closet.

Somehow, along the way of life, it became bad taste to ask someone their age. And even worse taste to answer truthfully. People (oh, let's be honest, mostly women) were told to shut it, stay sly and avoid - at all costs - the age question. (Enter the coy dragon. Bruce Lee ain't got nothing on this.)

So why all the hubbub? Why the silent treatment? Why is there the distinct refusal to proudly fly your age flag?

Aside from vanity (hello Hollywood and 99% of the population - me included), the only answer I have is the fact that this notion of hiding is so ingrained that sometimes folks aren't sure how to react when you just tell them the truth. 

For example:

• Conversation 1:
• Colleague: How old are you today?
• Me: What? [In my defense, old habits are hard to shake.]
• Colleague: How old are you?
• Me: 37.
• Colleague: 37? Wow - I'm going to be 37 this year. [Then later:] I have one kid. We're working on another before my lady parts dry up.

• Conversation 2:
• Setting: Conference call, three people - one looking for personalized information to write down as part of a presentation.
• Person 1: Happy birthday, Melanie. How old are you today?
• Me: 37
• Person 2: Let's do degrees instead.
• Me: 37
• Person 2: Yes, 37 degrees.

I'm 37. And I'm ok with it. Here's a clip that celebrates the number 37. Be warned, if you aren't a Kevin Smith fan (and hence have an idea of what this clip is), you might be offended. Perhaps you should just Google it.

Video clip.