Sigh.

It's hard not to cheer for The Saints this season, but last night was a different story.  In most cases, I do cheer for The Saints and want them to make it to the Super Bowl but they played The Patriots so there wasn't any question of who I would be cheering for.  I didn't think it would be an easy game, but I was hoping for something better than what I sat through and watched. The Patriots basically had their asses handed to them and were left totally exposed. No defense on the passing game. Well, if we're being honest, no defense period. Bad decisions. 2 INTS for Brady- he was even pulled out of the game during the last quarter. I can't even use Brady's hotness to cheer me up. On the other hand, Drew Brees had an insane game. Ironically, the only other quarterback to put up numbers like Brees did last night is Tom Brady. Perhaps, the torch has been passed. Losing is not a good feeling, but just have to deal with it at this point...still Infinity% behind Tom Brady. 

There's always next week...Squish the Fish!

Team Edward

There's not much I want to say after that picture...it kinda says everything for me...almost.  I don't want to sound like an insane teeny bopper. I'm going to save myself the embarrassment. 

Sadly, I'll be working tomorrow and won't be able to catch New Moon on its opening night. At least Rob Pattinson & Cast will be on Jimmy Kimmel, so I can watch that to hold me over until I can get to the movies this weekend. 

Hopefully, I'll muster enough strength to drag Albert with me Saturday night. I'm thinking I can persuade Albert with a yummy dinner and impair his judgment with some alcohol. Then, trick him into watching New Moon. YAY!  I know deep down he wants to see it, if anything, to root for Team Jacob right next to me (ick!).

My Little Beast

To:cjbesttitan09@gmail.com
From: OCWordSlinger
RE: Heeellllooo Mr. Johnson!
Dear Chris Johnson- Where the hell did you come from?! How the hell did I get you on my fantasy team?! I didn't even know your first name was Chris until a couple weeks ago, but you are doing FANTASTIC this season...which helps me a lot in one of my leagues! You have almost 200 more rushing yards than Adrian Peterson this season, that's just incredible :) I now refer to you as, "My Little Beast". Anyways, just wanted to say hi and keep up the good work! Thanks for helping me kick some ass in Fantasy!! - Michelle

P.S. The Titans kinda suck...why don't you come over to the 49ers? They're still building and could always use another GREAT Running Back. If you do come to the SF, can you bring a sexy quarterback with you? 49ers+YOU+Sexy Quarterback = Winning Season fer sure!

And...just because I may not have another reason to email him this season AND it's an excuse to put up a pic of Kim Kardashian....

To:kksman@gmail.com
From: OCWordslinger
RE: You have a hot girlfriend!
Dear Reggie Bush- As much as I want to praise your football skills, I think we both know that you're not doing as awesome as everyone expected. BUT, you had a breakout game last weekend so maybe it's a sign of things to come! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have won by 4 points in one of my leagues! So thanks for that. I'm pulling for you and hope that you reach your potential in a season or two. If you ever feel down and out on yourself, don't. On the bright side, you're playing for a team that's currently undefeated and...at least you're not Matt Leinart. - Michelle

P.S. You have a hot girlfriend and I like you more because of her. Being Kim's boyfriend is a major plus on its own. Please let her know that I'm a big fan of hers and that I said hi. BTW, I saw the Kardashian Wedding Special...good luck trying to beat the ring that Lamar gave Khloe!


For those of you who don't follow football, Chris Johnson is #28 in the top picture (the guy chasing after him looks so sad :\) and Reggie Bush, the guy (duh!) in the second picture, is a Running Back who plays for the New Orleans Saints.

Ouch.

The Patriots lost by 1 point to the Colts last night. The last 2 minutes were pretty painful to watch. Should the Pats have punted at fouth-and-two? Conventional wisdom says yes, but I would have taken the gamble too. The way I see it, there is less than 2 minutes on the clock and you're only a couple yards away from a first down. Risky, sure. But, if you have Tom Brady and are confident enough in your O-line, why not go for it? No guts, no glory. Well, according to everyone in the football world this morning, it was a bad gamble/call. Of course everyone's going to say that because they lost. It would be a different story had the plan worked like it was supposed to. It was just a risk that didn't work in our favor. Not much we can do about it now. At least the loss was to Peyton Manning, who is a funny guy and a great quarterback, so I don't mind when teams lose to him...but it's the Pats and Tom freakin' Brady! Brady is SO much hotter! If only wins were based on hottness in your uniform ((sigh)). 

The Pats go against the Jets next weekend...I'm hoping they pull out the win here cuz they have the Saints after that (eeks!) and need the momentum. Plus we lost to the Jets earlier in the season, so it would be nice to pay them back ;)

Julius Who??

I should be focused on other things right now. I should be writing something more important than this blog. It seems like there are hundreds of things more important for me to do than write this post. But, you know the feeling where there's just too much going on and it's hard to even sort out your thoughts? Or something has happened that's too sad for words and you try to find other things to distract you so that you don't have to feel that pain? Well that's sort of where I'm at right now. Don't worry...you'll hear all about it in an upcoming blog. For now though, to keep my sanity in tact, I'm going to keep distracting myself.

The following fan email is to Julius Jones (#22 in the picture). If not for him (and Maurice Jones-Drew failing to be the beast he usually is on the field), I would not have tied with Reggie in Fantasy this week. I know it's not a win, but I'll take a tie for sure because I'm really sucking in that league and there's money involved. Holla Julius Jones!

To: jjones22@gmail.com
From: OCWordslinger
Re: Saving My Ass in Fantasy


Dear Julius Jones- I'm not really a fan of the Seahawks, nor did I really know who you were prior to setting my rosters on Friday afternoon, but I just wanted to say thanks for being awesome on Sunday! You scored more points for me than LT and helped me tie with the #2 team in one of my leagues!  I'm not sure I'm going to play you after this (since I have Marshawn Lynch), but you really came through when I needed it and I just wanted to say thanks! I hope you have a great rest of the season (but not better than the Patriots or 49ers). - Michelle

Birthdays: Enjoy As Directed

This is a little late, but my boss is on vacation this week and I got caught up in doing non-work related things at work (e.g. checking Facebook, cringing over Fantasy Football results, chatting, etc.). I was going to write this long blog about how much I do not like celebrating my birthday and why, but it was getting pathetic and I sounded like a whiny, pessimistic little kid. Instead, I wanted to write this particular blog as a small token of thanks for those who thought it was important for me to celebrate my birthday, even when I did not.
The following is what I learned during the week of my 28th birthday. They're not ranked in any particular order and serve more as a reminder for me not to be such a curmudgeon about becoming a year older - hopefully this will come in handy and I can get my attitude in check for next year. 
* Don't resist presents from your mom- there's no point. Ever since I moved out for college, my mom has made it a point to have flowers delivered to me. Every year I tell her to save her money because flowers will die and every year I get a beautiful vase full of flowers. This year I tried especially hard to stop her from sending flowers so that she can use the money toward necessities. I thought I had finally reasoned with her and won the argument. Instead, my mom decided to have flowers sent to me during an event for work. Only your mom can make your day, guilt you into feeling bad about telling her to save her money, and remind you that no one knows you better than she does all in one simple gesture.  
* Cake and ice cream always brightens everyone's mood, so have some! Our office is really short-staffed right now and we're helping each other get things done. One particular task included picking up 60 vans last week. There are only 8 of us in the office so you can imagine how many trips we've had to take to get these vans and how stress levels were bound to soar. I was no different, in fact I was getting ready to write up one of my newer colleagues for being an idiot, but I decided to go to my desk and take a breather. As I walked over to my area, I saw that my boss had decorated my desk with a banner and balloons, which no other boss in our office has done. After that, she called me into the kitchen and all my coworkers were there waiting with cake, ice cream, poppers, and party blowers. What a difference that made in my mood! What a difference it made in everyone's mood. The rest of the afternoon was still spent picking up vans, but we were so sugared up that we were actually enjoying each other's company. The idiot coworker was saved by cake and ice cream...for now. 
* Do something for you. With so many important people in your life, it's inevitable for your plans to be compromised. You want things to go one way, someone wants something else, you figure out a happy medium. However, since it is YOUR birthday, you deserve something all for yourself. For me, it was keeping my Twilight addiction at full force. I decided to bring my copy of "New Moon" with me everywhere I went and squeeze in some reading wherever I could. Sounds simple enough, but I was in Las Vegas...who the hell reads in Vegas?! Apparently, I do. On top of that, my friends agreed to take pictures of me with every person that was dressed up as Edward Cullen.  Something as little as reading a favorite book or indulging in a guilty pleasure was what I was all I wanted it and I gave it to myself :) 
* Savor the quiet moments. One of my most favorite memories about this birthday will be when Victor, April, Phil, Albert, and I all ended up in the same bed on Saturday morning. We weren't doing anything in particular except laying there, hungover, and talking about what had happened the night before (as is usually the case after a drunken night in Vegas). In that moment, I felt that I had everything I needed in life and I couldn't ask for anything more than what I already had. Then Albert says, "I like that my I'm in between two sets of boobs right now." (he was lying between me and April).  That made me smile even more. 
* Being original can be sexier than being sexy. In recent years, I usually picked up a packaged costume from any of the Halloween shops that popped up. I've been a sexy devil, a sexy taxi driver, a sexy lion tamer...you get the idea. I wanted to do something different this year, something a little more creative. Albert and I decided to put together our own costumes instead of buying packaged ones. He was set on being Alan from The Hangover and I had my heart set on being Lady Gaga. Luckily most of our friends decided to do characters too: Phil = Miles from the Dharma Initiative, April = Dora the Explorer, Victor = 80's PE Teacher, Jello = guy from Jabbawockeez. I might be a little biased, but we all pulled off our looks really well. Albert was seriously the best Alan that I saw all night. And, even though I was walking around in my underwear, I felt confident and silly (in a good way), which always translates into sexy. No more packaged costumes from now on. 
*It's a Celebration- don't spend it in line! Vegas in Halloween attracts A LOT of people, which means there are going to be loooong lines to get in any of the clubs. Unfortuately, I'm not famous and I'm not filthy rich so I have no way of getting into clubs without waiting in line for hours and shelling out some cash. We were in line for Tao, but when we saw it was going to be a bust, we looked elswhere for fun. We ended up at Carnival Court near Harrah's, got in after waiting around 20 minutes, paid $10 and made a night out of it! Sometimes it's good to get down with your ghetto self and opt out of the fancier, more expensive option. 
* Try something new. This year I wanted to go to Hofbrauhaus. It was the first time I've ever had Bavarian food and drank (what seemed like) a gallon of beer. It was good times and worth going back, especailly since Phil didn't get to do the stein holding contest. Is it better than Tokyo Delves...not really, but I love me some Japanese food so I'm probably not being fair :P 
* When you want to have a good time, surround yourself with happy people. It's pretty self-explanatory, but I learned this one the hard way and figure I should write it down as a reminder to myself. 
* Let your loved ones love you and don't forget to say thank you. I used to think birthdays are about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to celebrate. If it were up to me, I would run and hide and wait until November 1st was here. That way of thinking, as it turns out, is pretty selfish. People in our lives see birthdays as a time of celebrating you and showing they care. Friends and family get to show me some love and I get to be gracious and thank them. Everyone wins. I need to grow up and stop being selfish about it. 
* Albert won't let you down. There's a story here, but it's more for me and Albert to remember. Chalk it up to it being a couple thing. Just know that Albert has to deal with my craziness as my birthday nears and when he says he won't let me down, he won't let me down. That's more important to me than infinity birthday presents. I love him more than Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Justin Timberlake, and Edward Cullen/Rob Pattinson put together.

Another Kind of Victory

I lost in both of my Fantasy Leagues this week.  The Steelers were less than stellar in their win over the Vikings (although I'm really glad they beat the Vikings because I am WAY OVER Brett Farve) and I played Antonio Gates over Vernon Davis, which left a lot of points on the table. Anyways, since my teams lost I don't feel like doing a fan email, but I will say that Wes Welker continues to impress me every week. Obviously Tom Brady is the star of that team, but Welker is just SO solid and gives 100% in every game. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the game either (local channels weren't showing it), so I don't have specifics on why Welker was so awesome this week and I basically owe him an email. Wes Welker, if by some off chance you're reading this, Tom Brady is lucky to have you on his team.

Now, on to the victory I DID have this weekend! When my mom and brother moved out of the condo in May, I remember looking at the place and seeing all the changes I wanted to make. I started watching HGTV and reading up on interior decorating to get some ideas. Sadly, all the changes I want to make cost a pretty penny so it's not happening as fast as I would want it to. I decided to tackle what I could...starting with the downstairs bathroom. All it needed was a new toilet seat cover. You're thinking, "Piece of cake!", right? I thought that too until I actually started the process and found out the bolts of the old toilet seat were SERIOUSLY RUSTED onto the toilet. Below are pictures of the nastiness:

The toilet seat and I have been battling each other ever since. The first day, I spent a good portion of the afternoon wrestling with the nuts and bolts. I ended up stripping the bolts of its grooves. I was in tears when my boyfriend came over. He gave it a try, but they wouldn't budge. I closed the door to that bathroom and basically took an out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude toward it. In the back of my mind I knew I would have to face the toilet again, especially if I wanted people to come over. I went to Lowe's and asked how I can fix this problem. The guy I talked to suggested spraying WD-40 onto the nuts and bolts, but if that didn't work I would have to saw them off.  The WD-40 didn't work and I swear the toilet seat was actually laughing at me for being so frustrated with it. I shut the door and decided to get a hacksaw or blow it up with dynamite.

Once I got a hacksaw, I watched youtube videos and tutorials on homedepot.com on how to use a hacksaw. I was a little bit nervous because I know I'm not the most coordinated person, so there was a chance I would end up slicing off my fingers. One night last week, I made myself dinner and started to watch my usual line up of shows, when I had the sudden urge to release some frustration. I decided to channel my energy into something and it was time for a rematch with the toilet.

I probably spent a good hour sawing off the screws. The first one came off without a hitch and I was ecstatic! I was actually jumping around the house celebrating! The second one was not so easy. As it turned out, the nut was even more rusted to the bolt than the bolt was to the toilet. Unlike the first one, I would have to saw all the way through the washer under the bolt. Just in case, you have no idea about the parts I'm talking about, here's a picture:

The only difference is that the washer on my toilet was directly under the mounting bolt, instead of under where the nut is. Once I sawed through the washer and took it off, the bolt fell through the hole and I had conquered the rusted toilet seat!! Below are pictures of the "slayed dragon":

The WIN over the toilet seat couldn't have come at a better time. For some reason, I took the toilet seat to resemble all the problems that have been coming at me lately and if I was able to solve that problem, I will be able to face the challenges that lie ahead of me. All it took was a plan, patience, friends...and LOTS of antibacterial soap.

Special thanks to Albert for taking pictures of the nastiness and to Nolan for helping me get a hacksaw SO QUICKLY (you probably didn't realize it at the time, but your neighborly gesture helped me solve something that I had been struggling with for a LONG, LONG time). HOLLA!

In Brady I Trust

I've been part of a couple Fantasy Football (FF) leagues in recent years and relied only on ONE player to help me win these games. That player is Tom Brady, of course. As my appreciation for football grows with each season (thanks in great part to my fantastic boyfriend), I learn more about FF and am really getting into it!

For those of you who play FF you know there are weeks where your players just tear it up on Sunday (or Monday) and win you a TON of points, thereby helping lay a beat down on your opponent or giving you the edge in a close matchp :) For those of you who don't play fantasy, simply put, if your players are having a good game, so are you.

Anyways, when certain players have an INSANE game, I always wish I could find some way to thank them...you know, give 'em an electronic pat on the back or, "Hey, good job!" or, "Dude...thanks so much for helping me win this week in Fantasy!" Well, since there isn't really a way to shoot a quick email to players that they'll actually receive, I figured I can take care of that on this blog! I usually post these "fantasy" emails on the Smack Talk portion of the page, so I've written to Antonio Gates prior to having this blog. But now that I have the blog, I'll be putting the emails here. So the "first" email goes to.......who else......Mr. Brady.

To: TomBrady@gmail.com

Fr: OCWordslinger

Subject: The Awesomeness that is Tom Brady

Dear Tom Brady- I think you're awesome. I've been a fan of yours since 2007 which, as you know, was a record-breaking year for you in many ways. Yes, I teared up when the Pats lost the Super Bowl to the Giants that year. And, the season-ending injury in 2008 was a heartbreaker. I was a bit nervous as the 2009 season started, but had faith that you would get back into the groove of things and it looks like you have! I just wanted to say congratulations on a fantastic game yesterday and thanks for helping me get the lead in my matchups this week (I still have to wait and see how Antonio Gates does against Brandon Marshall before I can celebrate). Have a great week...BEAT TAMPA BAY! -Michelle

P.S. I think you are insanely hot and my boyfriend has approved you being on "The List" of people it would be okay to...well, you know. The chances of this actually happening are absolutely zip, nada, zero (especially since you're married to one of the hottest women EVER). But if you're ever in Orange County and some speechless female fan is able to utter a request for a picture together...try not to say no because that might be me. Thanks!

Cooking Adventures

I recently started living on my own for the first time in my life. Among other things, I've learned that it is difficult to cook for just one person. I don't put much effort into the meals I have by myself. In fact, thanks to the new health/fitness program my boyfriend introduced me to, many of my solo meals during the week are one of the following: a) grilled chicken with veggies or pasta or rice and 2) eggs, tomatoes, and rice. It's simple and healthy. If I'm late getting home or I feel like changing things up, I'll have El Pollo Loco or Flame Broiler. However, given my current budget constraints, I can't indulge in the fast healthy food too much.


Luckily, my boyfriend spends weekends at my place. 


When he's there I feel motivated to cook something nice, but we'll also cook things together which is even better! He and I have been pretty spoiled by our parents who are all wonderful cooks. So now, in our late-twenties, we're just starting to learn the basics and have decided to go with pasta dishes for now. How bad can you mess up a pasta dish, right?? Below are our first two meals that we made together


Chicken Parmesan

and Lasagna Roll-Ups

Both turned out pretty good, but I really like the Lasagna Roll-Ups A LOT! In fact, we brought some to his family the same night and they actually liked it :) While I love this dish a lot and crave it all the time, it takes about an hour to prep and another 30 minutes to bake. No wonder lasagna always takes so long at restaurants!


If you're interested in the recipes for either, email me!

For The Love of Scrabble!

Playing Scrabble all day is tiring...let's start a blog! This was supposed to be a blog about all the things that I am doing to live a "greener" life. However, I've been trying all sorts of things to change my lifestyle that I decided to do away with that blog and start anew. I think opening the blog to broader experiences will allow me to have more things to want to blog about. So far, I have stories about using public transportation in Orange County, trying out new recipes, being part of the "working poor," and just stuff I've been up to that people might be interested in. I've inherited a condo (no one died, my mom and younger brother just moved on to a bigger and better house), so you can expect to see entries about my ventures in home improvement and decor in the future.

As for the whole "Word Slinger", "Love of Scrabble" thing...well, I play A LOT of Scrabble...A LOT (even at work...shhh!). It's become so bad, that I've stayed late at work just to finish a game (I'm salaried, so it's not like it matters- well, other than the whole corporate time robbing problem) and I randomly calculate how much words are worth when I'm out and about. That's pretty bad. So yes, I consider myself some what of a "Word Slinger" and now that I have this blog I can sling words on the scrabble board on on this blog...HOLLA!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Stay tuned!