okay. no more attention getting ploys...no more mind games...
it's time. time to let the membership lapse.

I just don't have the time, nor the inclination to come on over and post. my membership ends on July 15th. after that, I can be found at live journal, home for me now for over five years... my journal there is: graciebaby_ note the underscore... or at my space. "grace" is the profile, but since there are hundreds of "grace" 's, search via my email.. graaciebaby at yahoo dot com.

it's been a slice folks...but the time has come to move on.

We got back from Laughlin on Sunday night...

We ride our motorcycles, travel to runs you know......embrace, the "lifestyle" (*cough cough*)

On MANY occasions...Tuesday night for instance...people will smile at me and say... "hey...you're a biker huh?"

"um..yeah, no, I mean...huh?, I guess...depends on YOUR definition of a biker"
is my usual pat answer...

because, everyones definition ofa biker is different noh?

am I hardcore, ride only two wheels and sleep with a bedroll kind of biker?

no.

I like to bring my trailer with me...bikes loaded inside becasue hey! I'm a girl with BAGGAGE! (figuratively and literally) I like to bring my bed with me...and NOT rolled up on my handlebars...

I like to cook my own food, preferably...fresh veggies and nice cuts of meat (yep, carnivore...sorry my veggie freinds)
I like to shower in my trailers shower, sit on my comfy lawn chairs and play my own CD's.

Am I a "Yuppie biker"? hmmn... perhaps. but I think I'm just a skoshe more biker than yuppie... wait... even "yuppie" is passe' now ain't it? okay..posuer? weekend warrior? gasp...wannabe?

for instance: I ride my bike to work...when I can, most, if not all of my boots, the left ones anyhow...are marred on top...evidence of shifting gears regularly...

My jeans are worn in the telltale areas...from sitting in the saddle. I have an assortment of leather jackets, widbreakers and gloves...for the variety of weather one may encounter while riding in the hills for hours... I have a couple of pair chaps...yeah yada yada yeah.

While in Laughlin...my bike bag had a pin on it. the pin a gift from a friend. the pin says: "i do very bad things"

a nice looking couple noted the pin and asked me what I did that was bad. I paused, unable to think of anything specific...

the man replies: "you didn't buy yourself that pin did you?" I smile...like the poser I was feeling like and said "nope! twas a gift"

The woman smiles at me, noting the top I was wearing; a olive green fishnet, long sleeved shell over a black, tiny triangle top and says: (in an effort, I think to help me save face) "well, wearing that shirt might be considerd bad...naughty"

I winked...smiled and said..."yep! plus, they won't let me wear it to the PTA meetings anymore"

Today...one week later...I can poke some more fun at myself for being a "wannabe biker", a posuer, a weekend warrior of sorts...

Sunday morning...my 7 year old will don her chaps (itty bitty chaps) and her pink leather jacket. I will gear up, the mister will as well...

we're gonna jump on our hogs! (whoa...roaaar!) lower the sunglasses...ooooh coool... and take a ride to the Orange County fairgrounds...

We're going to the "home and garden show"!

I'm SO hardcore!

plbbbbt!

We got back from Laughlin on Sunday night...

We ride our motorcycles, travel to runs you know......embrace, the "lifestyle" (*cough cough*)

On MANY occasions...Tuesday night for instance...people will smile at me and say... "hey...you're a biker huh?"

"um..yeah, no, I mean...huh?, I guess...depends on YOUR definition of a biker"
is my usual pat answer...

because, everyones definition ofa biker is different noh?

am I hardcore, ride only two wheels and sleep with a bedroll kind of biker?

no.

I like to bring my trailer with me...bikes loaded inside becasue hey! I'm a girl with BAGGAGE! (figuratively and literally) I like to bring my bed with me...and NOT rolled up on my handlebars...

I like to cook my own food, preferably...fresh veggies and nice cuts of meat (yep, carnivore...sorry my veggie freinds)
I like to shower in my trailers shower, sit on my comfy lawn chairs and play my own CD's.

Am I a "Yuppie biker"? hmmn... perhaps. but I think I'm just a skoshe more biker than yuppie... wait... even "yuppie" is passe' now ain't it? okay..posuer? weekend warrior? gasp...wannabe?

for instance: I ride my bike to work...when I can, most, if not all of my boots, the left ones anyhow...are marred on top...evidence of shifting gears regularly...

My jeans are worn in the telltale areas...from sitting in the saddle. I have an assortment of leather jackets, widbreakers and gloves...for the variety of weather one may encounter while riding in the hills for hours... I have a couple of pair chaps...yeah yada yada yeah.

While in Laughlin...my bike bag had a pin on it. the pin a gift from a friend. the pin says: "i do very bad things"

a nice looking couple noted the pin and asked me what I did that was bad. I paused, unable to think of anything specific...

the man replies: "you didn't buy yourself that pin did you?" I smile...like the poser I was feeling like and said "nope! twas a gift"

The woman smiles at me, noting the top I was wearing; a olive green fishnet, long sleeved shell over a black, tiny triangle top and says: (in an effort, I think to help me save face) "well, wearing that shirt might be considerd bad...naughty"

I winked...smiled and said..."yep! plus, they won't let me wear it to the PTA meetings anymore"

Today...one week later...I can poke some more fun at myself for being a "wannabe biker", a posuer, a weekend warrior of sorts...

Sunday morning...my 7 year old will don her chaps (itty bitty chaps) and her pink leather jacket. I will gear up, the mister will as well...

we're gonna jump on our hogs! (whoa...roaaar!) lower the sunglasses...ooooh coool... and take a ride to the Orange County fairgrounds...

We're going to the "home and garden show"!

I'm SO hardcore!

plbbbbt!

laughlin river run is coming up....

bikes are cleaned, mechanically sound...

trailer getting cleaned on Friday...packed at assorted intervals between work shifts...

insides all aflutter with excitemnet...

so much so I'm hyper-focused and wanting sex...

getting the feeling it's gonna be a great trip....camping with six other couples at the riverside resort...

okay okay...I'm an attention whore.

I keep wavering to and fro...I just always feel like I'm not able to give the appropriate time due, in order to CONNECT with people.

I've been a member since...what? 2003? 2004? and I've made some really cool connections...but I never quite feel like I'm getting into a groove here.

I feel like a wallflower voyuer...peeking in, commenting here and there...but never getting to dance.

It's kind of my own fault...I come, I go...I commnet in a frenzy...then..nada.

All of you who commented...thanks...thank you for indulging my whims....enduring my threats...(ya leave...threaten me with a good time!)

Heres to round three....

so. I'm thinking of letting my membership here expire...

as much as I adore the rain...I'm really hoping the sky clears early...

I have to work at noon until 5...I would REALLY like to get a ride in early, topped off with a nice breaky and then ride to work.

99 is at my parents because my brothers kids are there...apparently, she entertains them making it easier for my mom...

so yeah...I've had a pretty much child free weekend...

'cept, I didn't get to really enjoy the quiet as I was at work all day..

which reminds me...I'm growing weary of working all these weekends. As summer approaches, I'm going to be longing for Sunday rides...weekend roadtrips and weekends on the water sitting in the boat sipping cocktails....

Couple that with the drama I've spared you all from...

Dress code.

I've been "talked to" about my attire no less than 12 times in the 5 months I've been employed there.

it's a WAREHOUSE folks...they have shifted from "no jeans" to NO DENIM for my department...gone are my days of wearing long denim skirts and boots. fine. I can deal...I've got my black dickies...

HOWEVER! they have taken particular issue with my choice of tops. I've been reduced to wearing oxfords. yes...POLO style shirts.

WHY? well, because they seem to be the ONLY shirt, with a collar and sleeves that properly cover my boobs.

My cleavage has been discussed ad infinitum. I FINALLY got the final word on the status of the assorted blouses, tops and cotton shirts...if you can see the LINE, that subtle shadow that is created by the curve of boobs...I'm not allowed to wear it.

EASY you say? um, not so easy...I am a bit of a curvy girl. It is harder than one would think to find shirts I'm WILLING to wear, that have sleeves, collars and a neckline that will properly, by THEIR standards...cover my boobs.

They're Double D's for crissakes...blouses just pull open...turtlenecks? hell no?! it's too bloody hot! then theres that little detail...high necked tops make me look like freaking "nonecknanette"

gah.

I'm boring myself just writing it out...

enough!

have a good week folks...

out of the blue I ended up with a weekend off.

I was supposed to be scheduled for a training class that takes 40 hours to attend. they had to get prior approval from me becuase of my part time status.

then they canceled.

but i had already made plans, so they had to keep me off the schedule.

We had planned on going dirtbike riding off the 15 at either Dale Evans Parkway or Hodge road...but the storm coming in was threatening to drop snow as low as 2000 ft. and temps were supposed to be around 26 degrees. *I* was looking forward to it because I love the rain and snow...dark clouds? I'm all over it and giddy with anticipation..

BUT... everyone we had planned on going with backed out.
(ya gotta be tough to live in the west)

All was not lost though...we had another entire grooup of friends going to Glamis. Which meant leaving the bikes home and bringing the buggy and the cart... I haven't ridden a quad in so long I'm afraid I wouldn't know how.

We left Friday...we were met with SNOW FLURRIES! (yaay, but shocking) when we stopped at Cabazon (just north of Palm Springs) and dark clouds with visible snow on the San Jacintos. we arrived in GLamis to fierce winds blowing sand up over the dunes like snow over a cornice in Mammoth.

I love wind...just not wind with SAND in it..So we hung out in one of the groups massive motorhomes and drank....and drank....and drank.

Then came the rain...and more wind. (still YAAY)

That first night, after we unloaded the buggy and cart...we discovered that while the engine would START...it was essentially FRIED... a few weeks back a friend of ours took it and got it stuck, then LOST in a dune and had to go and recover it around 3 am.

no toys operating? not so Yaay.

So here we are...in the desert... no bikes, no buggy, rain, wind and sand.

I'm not complaining so much as I'm reviewing the events and moments of my weekend. It seems that EVERY time I get a weekend off... it's a bust.

My next scheduled weekend off will be the week of the Laughlin River run. I'm REALLY hoping that turns out to be a good time.

Really. This just bugs.

And it just makes me shake my head.

wow... no wonder there are so many people that hate contractors...

Today at work...a customer came in and looked at KICHEN faucets...

I asked if he had questions... nope! just an OPINION from a girl he sought.

He wondered if I thought the kitchen faucet he was looking at would look good on the roman tub he was buying.

a kitchen faucet....on a roman tub

I looked at him...paused and told him it would not work...not enough water flows though and it would take an HOUR to fill the tub which would end up cold by the time it was full..

the contractor then told me he planned to remove the aerator.

COME ON!

I cannot beleive this guy passed his test...no way...

so so many reasons why this is WRONG.

kitchen faucet on roman tub:

not within code parameters
gpm (gal per min)on kitchen....2.5
gpm on tub filler ....3-6

and um...lets not EVEN get into how stoopid it would look.

gah!! people are just DUMB.

can you die from a cold while suffering PMS?

Cause I came home from work today... which almost NEVER happens when I'm REALLY sick, as opposed to faking it to go somewhere...

I always figure if I'm THERE...stick it out and save the sick time for a special event.

I'm tough, I'm a hardy girl...

but DAMN. the first day of a cold, while feeling the effects of PMS has made me throw in the towel..(rag?) and just come the hell home. The store manager looked at me with aprehension when I stuck my head in his office and said: don't make me stay...I WILL if you NEED me, but please don't make me stay..."

I think he sensed the desperation in my voice

A dose of Nyquil, a Dr. bronners eucalyptus soak in the tub and a cup of vanilla caramel tea while watching a movie in front of a fire with the man and 99 is HIGH on my list of "next to do's"

nighty nighty pally's...