iLuv my Harris Teeter!

Yes I know...I'm a dork! iLuv it and wouldn't have it any other way! so Nyaaah! :-P

Anyways....Giant has had my business for a loooong time because the bakery at Safeway and Shoppers suck...they just plain suck! So recently my Giant decided, HEY! Lets get rid of these unbleached breads and bring in Nature's Own bleached crap. This did not go well with Dirty. Dirty is a carb whore who loves bread like black folk love chicken! I can't get enuf of that shit!!! So...I started shopping at Harris Teeter and not only do they have my breads, but they HAVE A LARGER selection of unbleached baked goods then what giant had (ok, now moving into the rating section)

HARRIS TEETER (review):

The store was very clean. When you walk inside there is a cookie basket that you can give your kid. That's nice. When I was in the store I was approached three times and asked if I needed assistance. That was nice too. The prices on a few of their products are some what higher than Giant and others compare (see comparison below). The service that I received and selection that they have make up the difference....I think! So the picture above show's me smiling my ass off. I was fucking JUMPING in the GaWd DayUM store!!!! I haven't seen MY splenda Peter Pan Peanut butter in YEARS! I shot the pic to my mom and got a txt back from here saying: Unbelievable!

She was always looking for that peanut butter when I was in Kuwait and still to this day! I found it!!! OMG!!! I FUCKIN FOUND IT! LOL! In my life I have small victories, these are the things that make me jump and smile! Simple pleasures! iLuv 'em!

Ok so Harris Teeter was not gonna get a rant outta me w/o me goin to my unfaithful Giant.

GIANT (Review)

No assistance what's so ever! This is VERY shocking because if you go to the Bailey's Crossroad Giant they like moved the whole fuckin store around! So it would've been nice to have help but no worries, we move on. The store was pretty clean considering the construction they were still undergoing. The service in Giant does not compare to that of Harris Teeter. Pricing:

Milk (1GAL, Organic, 1%) - Giant only has Whole/FF: $5.79 / HT: $5.99 (NO SALE)

Nature's Own Whole Wheat - Giant: $2.69 / HT: $2.99 (NO SALE)

Simply JiF - Giant: $2.99 / HT: $3.39 (NO SALE)

Polaner Fruit Jams (Med Jar) - Giant: $2.50 / HT: $1.99 (HT ON SALE, Reg $2.39)

St Dalfor Jam - Giant: $5.29 / HT: $4.99 (NO SALE)

Deer Park Water (24Bottles)- Giant: $4.44 / HT: $7.49 (Buy 1 Get 1 Free) (BOTH ON SALE)

Deli Cooked Ham (12oz) - Giant: $4.99 / HT: $3.50 (HT ON SALE, $4.49)

8 Piece Roasted Chicken - Giant: $7.49 / HT: $4.99 (HT ON SALE, $6.99)

Baguette - Giant: $2.99 / HT: $2.99 (NO SALE)

Bananas - Giant: 59c lb / HT: 65c lb (NO SALE)

Raspberries (box) - Giant: $2.99 / HT: 1.50 (HT ON SALE, $3.99)

Hillshire Farms Deli Wraps - Giant: $4.49 / HT: $3.99 (Buy 1 Get 1 Free)

Apples (3lb Bag, Red Delicious) - Giant: $4.99 / HT: $4.99 (NO SALE)

Giant: $59.96 / HT: $49.09

I know that the sales prices make the differences however the only things not on my list were the bananas, apples, raspberries and South Beach wraps (which Giant doesn't carry). I've got way too much time on my hands to be comparing places but I do this for you people! LOL!! I'm only kidding myself! iLuv it! Harris Teeter gets a 7.5/10, Giant gets a 5.5/10

Harris Teeter has a store jam that states "ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS". Since when is corn syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) a natural ingredient??? Am I missing something or is their an HFCS plant we've developed? Ok...that is why they scored below an 8, but the service you get from Harris Teeter makes up the difference is some of their erroneous label and high price items PLUS the variety and deals you get on throughout the store puts this store at #1 in my book. From the moment you walk in (Small/Large carts/Baskets), grab your kid a cookie, walk on non-sticky clean floors greeted by the reps who work their to the cash register with their pleasant smile and customer service you get a Grade A experience.

Farewell...Auf Wiedersehen

Well the only thing I'm going to Blog about is my trip to North Carolina. My uncle, Richard Peper died a few weeks ago. The man was a great inspiration to those who knew him. We had his memorial this Sunday. It was beautiful. I broke down twice with his death. The first time is when I had heard of the news and heard my grandmother cry. The second time was at the service. My uncle loved to tell jokes (the same old ones, but it would put a smile on your face), was not shy to interact with people, sing songs from the beatles and build stuff with his hands.

The rabbi lead the service off explaining who Rick was, the number of years he was with the temple and the joy he had brought to the lives of others. The cantor followed after the Rabbi and said he had a song he would like to sing that he was sure Rick would love. He sang The Beatles - Yesterday (and included some french with it). OMG, I heard that and pictured it coming out of Rick's mouth. I tried to hold it in but of course sittin next to my mom and grandmother hearing them baul just had me goin.

Afterwards we heard from my Aunt, my uncle, my mother, myself (UgH!), friends of his and then my aunt's brother. It was beautiful. The jokes that we had to re-hear again (which I'm sure he enjoyed) followed by the rabbi giving the last prayer.

That was the service...beautiful! The night before we met the family at Gloria's place. The whole family was there. I feel retarded...they had my uncle's photos spread out on a table and a box. I looked at all the photos and smiled. People were teary eyed but ok, that cool..grieving. So when we leave the house my mom said she got to talk to Rick and I was like, yeaaah! Where did they put him??? He was in the box by the photos. Shit I didn't know! I didn't pay the box any attention. Oh well, I told my sis if they stick me in a box I want it to be a motion deteced/voice activated with a lithium battery sayin "Hello" or singing that annoying song "Don't worry, be happy"...what can I say? I want cheap laughs even afterwards!!! lol!

All the cousins went downstairs to have a couple drinks...burn a fag or two. So my cousin (Rick's son) does a toast to his dad. He starts off with "My dad was an asshole..." and before he can say the next word my sis is like "No he wasn't! He was not an asshole". Talk about awkward cuz HELLO u dad wasn't, but yes please continue with ur toast. Did I mention we had 14 year olds drinkin with us?!? Oh yea, im not gonna get into that but we have 14 y/o friends and we're 23..24? Ok, whatever lets just get through this shit! lol!

Food: Ok, so i'm not a picky eater. I'll eat just about anything fried, smoothered in potatos or just plain left out of the fridge for two days chicken. Ummmm yeah, southern thing where you leave your chicken out and not necessarily covered....WHO THE FUCK MADE THAT RULE UP???? Ok so fried chicken was out, what else do we got. We have a cole slaw mixed with chopped ramen noodles (no not the choy noodles, RAMEN noodles), fresh fruits mixed with canned fruits (HFCS!), mashed potatos, potato salad, cookies, fudge (mmmm too cookies n fudge), rolls (bleached)....right! Dinner was smashin! I had a wing (out of starvation), sum fruit (avoidin that syrup) and then we got on the road, hit up a harris teeter got a veggie plate, some fruits and then went to FIVE GUYS! (ummm fuck yea I want a double! lol)

The brunch the next day was great but I bought cherrios in milk JUST IN CASE. The drive was great, we had the speeding gawds look over us on the drive there but on the way back...lol!
Those fuckin cobalts came out of no where! Can we not just speed responsibly??? GIMME EUROPE AGAIN! Ok, hope everyone else's weekend was good.

FYI - TOWN for Obama was slackin! Old doods, no one was on the bottom floor...no one! Good, I was tired anyways...gave my $20 for Obama (even tho I'm a Hillary fan *ALL THE WAY*) and went home. ~

Lipozene

Ok I'll start off with saying "I'm not fat". My family thinks I'm obsessed with food and it nutrients, but I actually enjoy knowing what I put in my body. This is a HOOOOLE nutha blog, lemme get back to the subject at hand. Lipozene. So If I did get to change one more thing about my body it would be the love handles. They aren't bad, but they annoy the hell outta me. I'm bustin my ass to try n get this "V" body type and always feel like a "W" so of course all the true advertisements come on after 2am....remember the abs belt? It sent electronic pulses to your body. Hurt like hell, but fuck the pain! Gimme my GAWD DAYUM ABS! Ok, so I did get that when it was the fad but now the latest thing oooooh and ahhhhh is Lipozene.

So does it work? Does dirty give it two thumbs up? Well its hard to say. I took it for a month to see if it actually got rid of body fat and monitored myself daily with the Taylor Body Fat scale. No results. For me it's a two fingers down review. I think I may move to Hydroxycut and see if that'll help me get cut. I know I can't target weight loss (unless I go to bangkok! w00t w00t!) so I'll hafta work from the head down on these sides.

If you are heavier and use Lipozene, please comment and let me know your results. Only order the 30day trial period. You'll either see results or not...don't milk a dead cow! lol (I have no fuckin idea what that means! lol!)

~ cheers

Friday & Saturday

right so my job fucked my paycheck up this payperiod and made me do something I hadn't done since before Kuwait. GO into the savings account ~:-o
So thurs night I wasn't feelin like goin out n socializing. I just wanted to go home...have a beer and get some sleep. I think thats what happened thurs night, so lets go with that ^_^

Friday was fun...I met up with my buddy Christina...both of us bitched about our salaries and felt that shopping for clothes was the right answer. SOMEONE has to cause the financial crunch & stimulate the economy in America so we put on our brave faces and whipped out our Visa/MC.

Fuck a whole afternoon of shopping and I got me a nice shirt to wear that night. Christina went all out! She got herself a lil freak'um dress, new shoes...jewelry. She did it right....made me feel like a lil bitch! So that night we went out with my aunt & cousin to TOWN. Didn't see everyone there, but for the most part it was good times and sum good lookin guys.

Woke up Saturday and Christina felt that I had had the wii fit long enough to fuckin open and enjoy it....AND OMG! THat thing is sooooooo much fun! iLuv it! The scale is like 40 pounds off, so you feel good about urself ^_^
and the games\exercises are the shit! w00t w00t!....after that I went to spgfd to work on gettin this virus off my computer (which finally came off today!...trojan & worm! fun fun fun!). Got home round 9/10ish....Christian was doin a family bbq thing and invited me. That was a lot of fun. It reminded me of when I was young how the latino music was playing...the adults were drinkin, laughin...kids runnin around and ladies just gossipin. Felt like Cali for a minute...and Christian was soo cute, my spanish is like nil and one of his cousin's was like shit talkin me and he stuck he chest out n said "if u say somethin else to him i'm gonna punch you".....Awwwwww! lol! I thought that was cute! So this weekend was cool...I gotta prep up for next weekend.

Next weekend I'll be in NC for my uncle's memorial. My mom/pops are leavin friday night and my sis is leaving saturday night. Ok my thoughts on memorials/funerals. I don't take them seriously. I don't. Let's celebrate the life that was lived, drink and laugh about the good times. I think the day of death...even week was/is enough mourning. So I'd rather have fun @ Town on Friday night and go in Saturday to listen to all the crying. UNfortunately I think that would be SELFISH of me, so I'm just gonna hafta leave on Friday...suck it up and come Sunday night do shots of Patron. Yea...so this week at work can sorta kinda drag out....i don't mind!

Who wants cake? iLuv cake!

Today my best friend's daughter turned the big 1-0! So we all made plans to celebrate at the Olive Garden. Bad uncle Mike didn't get Hannah a present but the ringin of the phone opened that window of opportunity. Mummy didn't get a cake. SCORE!!! Uncle Mike-E gets the cake! w00t w00t! So I remember eatin sum good cupcake at Rob's bday party and lucky me live right next to cakelove.


Ok, so if ur a health nut and love readin the nutrition facts at ur restaurant/delicatessen, watch out for these sugar/butter whores! The minute I asked about ingredients they smiled and pointed their finger to the sign on the left. OMG! R u fuckin kidding me?!? How many kids & adults are obese in America that you guys got a sign of a thin family just leapin for joy....nice message! Now on the plus side (like ur jeans/dress size after indulging in said cake) the cake rocks! I had a small slice of Cynthia Sins.

"Cynthia's Sin - Sugar coated peanuts roasted until they're extra-crunchy are drizzled with caramel then smushed into pillows of peanut butter spiked buttercream—all between three layers of chocolate cake and under a thick coat of rich chocolate ganache. It's like a candy hurricane ripped through the bakery and left a present behind."

Ok, so who gained weigh just from readin that??? The price of a 6" cake and two vegan cupcakes came to $50. Let me repeat that as it bears repeating...a 6" cake and two cupcakes cost $50! I didn't catch the price when the lady rung me up, so I just whipped out the Visa and signed the receipt wide-eyed thinkin, well if they don't fuck us on the calories...LOL!

In conclusion if you're going after quality and can't seem to put on weight then this would be a "two thumbs" up in Dirty's book. However if ur prone to pickup fat from just dust then pocket the cash. The cakelove gets "two fingers" down. Go to whole foods and find sum cookies there. I will bake me a splenda chocolate cake or splenda oatmeal raisin cookies one day. I first have to learn how to use the stove. Just typin that out gives me a tingling down my spine!! =P

7am....too early ta light a fag?

first off, "GOOD MORNING WORLD!"
...that felt good!

It's real nice outside this am...I left the windows/balcony door open last night. It wasn't so much about conservation, my vent and wall that where the A/C unit is at is pretty damp. I have no idea why, I just know I got a new respect for property managers and tenants.
I try so hard not to bug Jen (my landlord) about stuff because I have tenants in TX and LOVE not hearing from them ^_^
...But I let her know about this....hopefully it's just a one time thing and i'll just hafta paint over it when I leave next February.

So....where am I gonna go? Its def not too early to think about! I'm looking at properties. Not feeling the condo thing (because stoopid co-owners like hikin the GAWD DAYUM condo fees!)...13% increase meeting happening this Saturday. Boooooo! Dirty gives them two fingers DOWN! Well my friend LuLu has left or excuse me is leaving Kuwait so that isn't as big of an interest as it could've been. Brussels will ALWAYS be on my mind...$$$ in DC wouldn't be bad. iLuv that I got my best friends here (Luv yah Chris n Tiff), my family and a friend.

Ok, so I'm going to blog about this one last time and then from here on out I will reference Marlon as "him". I haven't heard from him in past couple weeks. And it took putting the advice my friends were giving and turning it into energy. One special person that I met (thanks Babe) through my friend pushed me to where I needed to go. I'm not going to share the chat we had, but it was enough to lift my spirits and bulldoze the brick wall I had built myself. Letting go is hard...it's like giving up on someone. And if you see goodness in that person you don't want to let go. But if that person brings you disappointment and frustration...why put yourself through it?
Love is a two-way street...One person will always feel stronger about the other person. And if you can balance that off to a 40/60...60/40 ur gonna have a healthy relationship.

I've got a lot of things spinnin in my mind that I've went over...and I'm not gonna blog about it (not out of shame) just cause they're private and will stay in my head. Ok, enuf of this....

ISN'T IT FUCKING GORGEOUS OUTSIDE?!? =)
~XOXOX~ mikey

RE:POST ~*Poetic*~

It really hurt that you never called
And I think of you all the time
It hurt so much that I'm feelin poetic
And thinkin of ways to rhyme

I wrote you a message, sent you a text
No response was your reply
After day 3 the answer was clear
...'He's just another guy'

Letdowns will happen and baby I know that
So here is now where I start
Dust off my shoulders and move on to the next guy
someone who won't crush my heart

The emptiness that clouds my heart is opague and rather foggy
But the cloud has this bright streak..we'll call it my silver lining
The silver lining is what i learned from this cloud I built myself
I will always keep my guard up whenever dating, dancing, or dining

The past guys I've linked up with
I've treated pretty shallow
I blocked them off from my true self
so they can't make my heart feel hollow

The feeling is not satisfying to let people go
Your eyes tear and throat balls up to where you can't even speak
But then I look in the mirror, toughen myself up..Y?
Because I don't ever wanna to feel weak

Now my heart feels better
Probably because I wrote this poem
Letting go of someone special
Is like watching your child leave his home

And although I end this poem
I end it feeling somewhat incomplete
I lift my head up and dust my shoulders off
...for the feeling is not defeat!