A day (or two or three) in the life of...

Kids think they can get anything they want just by crying... Lil Noah wanted Tia Clussy's camera... bad. At first he just kept on clapping after I'd take a picture of him and we were having a great ol time until he decided he then wanted to take pictures. uh, no... This is my camera. My new camera, no means no . No.... [crying commences] Uh oh... nooooooo!!! I thought it was crocodile tears till I saw that one tear in the picture... Then I gave him my camera. But I took it back when he fell asleep. Guess I showed him . [voice trailing] Yo quiero...

Sooooo, I left work in my super mood, headed towards Tyson's to have dinner w/my Mom at PF Chang's (excelllent food... Mmm Mmm good!) and feeling good, singing along in my jeep (you see where this is going, don't you?) and traffic is hellacious. I'm taking back roads to get to where I need to get but it's just not moving, I'm at this light that's only letting like 3 cars through at a time before turning yellow and red again quickly and I'm behind about 10 cars at the light and hear this 'ding ding ding' which prompts me to look at my dashboard and suddenly I see that my jeep's overheating and not just overheating but at max temperature. Ooops! My heart starts racing because there's no where I can go, I'm surrounded by cars and in this eternal light, all I'm left to do is just turn the car off there on the road, then turn it back on to inch forward when a couple more cars are let through the light. I immediately call Danny and tel...

I'm having a ridiculously good night and someone's about to jump out of my closet and say "JUST KIDDING SUCKAH, You just got Punked! " any minute now. First of all, I'm just in a good mood, there's peace across the board on all my relationships/friendships, I don't think i'm on one person's S'list at all, not that I deserve to be but still, it's nice when I know that all's well on all fronts, you know? I'm in touch w/everyone who I care about, I'm not ducking any phone calls. Just, all's well. Ok, so 2nd of all the guy from Quicken Loans called me today and is getting the ball rolling on my new interest only loan for the refi. Said if I were trying to keep the house for another 5 or so years, this would not be a good loan for me but because this is just a loan I'm getting to hold on to the house for another year tops (till I'm able to sell it once I move out West and not lose money on it) it's perfect and cuts m...

In my dream last night I was apparently swimming around the shore lines of the Philippines (I knew for a fact in my dream that it was the Phlippines and I honed in on the visual of my dream from above the Island like a Google Maps zooming in) but on a raft and it was weird though because it was like Venice in that you could swim right up to buildings (some really beautiful and gothic looking buildings/churches but there were quite a few people on rafts who weren't allowed to get on the land (some were refugees trying to gain entrance on the island, others were tourists or just chillin', dunno). I was on a really weak kinda raft and saw whales (well, the SeaWorld killer whales) swimming underneath me and I was sooo scared and screamed when they'd look like they were coming up closer to the surface of the water towards me but everyone else was calm and doing their thing on their makeshift rafts. Everytime I thought I was drifting in closer to the land, a strong current wou...

Just 2 songs that struck chords w/me today: Toni Braxtong - Just be a man about it (I won't go into which lines got me because I shouldn't air out dirty laundry on here but suffice it to say some lines hit a bit too close to home, no, not the opening lines said by the man...) The Cure - Plainsong (this song breaks my heart everytime I hear it yet I put it on repeat when I come across it periodically) No, really, I got my own closure over some things but it's not to say that songs don't still trigger a lil memory here and there. When you're going through heartache, falling in love or feeling it intensly, you start feeling like some songs just speak to you. Been there on different levels and have felt all of them but especially after a breakup, I've nodded my head feverishly at the lyrics of a song and thought 'Yeah, they know exactly what I'm going through, lemme sing along as if I was a big winded R&B singer and show 'em all... I don't ha...

Ok, so I got my first non-compliment on my hair today. I walked into the kitchen to get a cup of water and one of the contractors who's working w/our company is in there and he tilts his head to the side and is just observing me getting my water. I'm thinking "he's done too much coding today and is zoning, I'll just ignore and all's well...". Nope, I start walking away and hear him softly say "you changed". I stop in my tracks and turn around and say "yes, I did". Mind you, he's got a thick accent so he kinda talks broken English. He tilts his head again and says "why?". "um, because I wanted a change and thought, 'why not?' and went ahead and did". He's got this big awkward smile on, tilts his head to the other side and says "I liked before". I nod. "Oh, well, um, thank you and sorry to disappoint.". He's still got this vacant smile on and says "um, before, bette...

Ok, I have no place to say but it seems like all bloggers are already on vacation. Is everyone that blogs really a government employee? I gots nothing showing on my Bloglines for the most part ('cept for Gibson, way to set an example... Oh, and Harms, you're not too much of a slacker either but you've been a busy bee, right?) and it's making me feel like maybe I shouldn't be at work either. Maybe we should all checkout and come back after New Years? It'd be ideal, except I don't work for the government and do have to worry that if there's no work, then there's no pay. No pay = Sad/hungry/cold Clussy. Wanted a change, so I cut the head hairs. I actually walked into Hair Cuttery (I know, I'm brave... or poor, whichever you want to go with), pointed to my hair and said "cut please. make it fun. not scurred to lose some length.". At that point, the overzealous Vietnamese lady went to town. I was good w/it at first but then she kept ...

Yay, these GORGEOUS faces are back together. I wanted to write in my diary from the back of his motorcycle but I understand we're too far apart, he's Mexican and well, me not liking Mexican food would be a huge obstacle for us and he's just not that into me (details, details...) so, I've come to terms w/the fact that Gael Garcia Bernal is not meant to be my soulmate. But, apparently him and Natalie Portman are an item again and what a hot ass couple they make! The babies would unfortunately be ugly though. I mean, you mix 2 stellar gene pools like that and the baby's destined to have extra limbs and contorted features. As Tim would say, Make it work!

I just read the sad news... Is there any hope for us at all? I mean, they just had their second baby and we all just knew they were going to make it. The picture perfect couple w/class, grace and talent. This can't be the end. A publicity stunt for KFed's new record maybe?

Cuz toosie roll wrappers are all I see... on my desk? I'm a tootsie roll fiend but I won't go buy my own bag, no, that means I purposely set out to eat it all. See the logic? I like someone else's tootsie rolls because they're much more delicious. My boss keeps bags and containers of candies and pretzels and other snacks in his office and it keeps me going back to get more snacks and pretend I have something pressing to talk about. I walk towards him purposefully then make a sharp right turn to the candy jar and quickly sort through them to pick out all the tootsie rolls I can find and that will fit in my hand and I turn to him, thank him, he shakes his head, I giggle and scurry back to my desk. Ouch. Now my tummy hurts. I have seriously eaten 23 tootsie rolls today (I counted). I've never eaten this many before in my life. Not in one day at least. Suddenly I got a flashback to that old song 69 boyz song: "cotton candy, sweet to go, lemme see that tootsie ...

I swear I do. I don't think of myself as so jaded that I can't accept another person into my heart and hope for the best, right? I really want to believe that two people can fall in love, commit to eachother and really work on it consistently in order to keep that love alive and well and remember on a regular basis everything that made them fall in love to begin with. I mean, most relationships have their flaws and that's cool but if you promise forever to eachother, shouldn't you at least really give it all you've got? I look at older married couples as my love heros and examples of two people who really meant it when they made their promises to eachother. This couple seemed like such a happy couple, didn't they? But, then again, in that whole glitzy Hollywood lifestyle, making it as long as they did is comparable to about a 30 year 'un-Hollywood' marriage. There's so many elements to each person's own personal idea of a great relationshi...

So, I went to a cousin's wedding this past weekend. I had planned on going shopping to find a properly fitting dress (no_thing in my closet is fitting me right now as I have the opposite problem that I used to have w/fitting in clothes) so that I could look fabulous and feel all kinds of confident and stuff... I lured in a +1 , put on my dancing shoes and off we went... Wedding was ok but it was a Catholic ceremony which lasted... wait for it... an hour and a half. Oof. "Please rise for a reading... please sit now... please stand for.... Please be seated...Rise for a rendition of Ave Maria... ". So, at the very least, I got a squat comparable workout and my glutes were in fine form by Sunday morning. Once we got to the reception, I made a beeline for the open bar. Someone offered to take my coat, which I took her up and but my feet didn't stop moving in making my way to the bar while she was slipping my coat off. After that long ceremony, this chicky was parched....

Back when I was even more poor than I am today, Mikey, Claudio and I used to indulge in sushi dinners at least once if not twice a week and when we did, we really had the good stuff. We took turns paying (it feels more loving and ritualistic when you're not sitting there dividing the bill up and crunching numbers right there at the table and instead just inviting eachother to these indulgences) and had the best time everytime we went. I miss having regular sushi partners. I mean, Jems and I go every so often when I convince him that we can pretend that we're not broke but that's really not very often at all anymore. I miss it! I crave raw salmon, just slabs of it, dipped in a soy sauce and wasabi combination and washed down w/hot sake. Mmmmm. Damn, my cravings. It's Isabella, she wants the sushi, not me. So you see, I need to feed the baby. She likes sake too? Either Mikey needs to come back to DC area (I'm not letting down on this one, Blondie) or I need to st...

"Showers washing all my cares away..." Word. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday sucked. Today, not so sucky. I'm loving the rain, feeling pretty settled in a couple senses though still hanging on my last hopes for refi to successfully happen in next couple weeks (after having hopes dashed multiple times and then raised again, this time it's do or die so we'll see) but this time I'm feeling confident that it actually will happen. Too much bad has happened for that one final piece not to fall in place for me. So, I woke up and just layed in bed this morning and wanted so badly to just stay home. I wanted to throw some nice bath salts in the jacuzzi, crank up the jets and sip champagne as the rain hit against the window above the tub... but reality kicked in and in order for the refi to go through, I need to actually prove I have employment and well, staying home today might have hindered that so up and out I went. Today is the kind of day, though,...

We'll never know... It is a mystery. Or not... Confirmed, I am a goofball (it was in question before) . Put me in a hotel room in Venice, give me some fine Chianti, surround me with all my newly purchased carnivale masks and put a camera in my hand and well... the result... [shaking head] Because I can (and often do) laugh at myself, I give you permission to as well. Venetian carnivale masks are the new lip gloss. Flirty, fun, you can match 'em w/each outfit and makes you look years younger! Can't wait to wear my cat one out. MeOW. Maybe I'll pair it w/my onesie PJ's tonight and go trick or treating. Oh wait, no, it's supposed to rain still, isn't it?

First of all, w/out going into details here, I have good reason to feel a bit on edge lately in regards to trust. Not anything for blog sharing but enough to shake up my weekend nice and good. So I had this dream last night that I was being betrayed but I didn't know by whom but I was apparently keeping my closest family and friends at my side 24/7 in hopes of keeping my inner circle air tight. It was weird, we were all sleeping in this huge bed, together all the time and I'm feeling safe but then I find out that one of my cousins was sending Lucifer emails about my whereabouts and fund situations in the middle of the night from my laptop while I was sleeping (In actuality, I don't particularly trust this cousin that intensly so it's not so far fetched) . In this dream, I guess I had looked in my 'sent' folder and saw the emails in all their gritty details and I called my cousin out on it. At first he just denied it and looked at me with a blank expression a...

I tried putting on a different pair of earrings to replace the nekked appearance on my lobes yesterday but it was not cute. I had these garnet studs that were heart shaped (they were a Valentines present from he who we shall not speak his name... what can I do? All of my jewelry, save for one pair of earrings are from him) and they just looked all wrong everytime I caught a glimpse of my reflection. Well, I was strongly considering (almost pretty sure actually) the option Busted offered up of the jeweler up there in NJ that carries loose stones and would very cheaply put it in a new setting to match my other earbling. Cut to this morning. I was going into the Jeep to grab a deposit slip from yesterday (because it's not showing up today and I have till midnight to make this blasted mortgage payment so something's gotta give here folks) and what was sparkling from the crevice of the driver's seat (heh...) but the lost diamond earring. This is the most persistent diamond e...

So, speaking of self improvments, on a surface note, I'm trying to change up my hair style a bit because I'm over mine. You have to understand though, that I never do anything that drastic w/my hair. I usually leave it at lengths varying from past my chin to past my boobs and some layers cut in there. I've had some bangs for the past year and a half (almost 2 years now) and I'm over them in a big way. Now that it's windy, it's hard to keep my hair from looking a mess when my bangs are flying around and not laying swept to the side as I put them in the mornings. I just want to be able to really wash and go again and not worry about them if I don't have the time. I've gone back to dying my hair jet black again because a)summer's over b) I can't afford the salon visits anymore and c)I was missing the dark black. Now I just need to succeed in growing these bangs out w/out looking like a shaggy mess for next couple months and then decide on a st...

I haven't felt so blog chatty lately because my usual idle thoughts that bring me giggles and leave me pondering random pop culture factoids in between working and watching TV have been replaced by more active thoughts regarding what I need to do to put myself in the right direction and this surge of motivation that's been kicked into me. It started before my trip to Italy. I found myself embarrassed and tired of saying "oh, I'd like to do .... and I need to work on .... topping my list of things to strive for is .... I'll start next week ..." and one or two people who would hold me to what I say (actually, Gibson's the best at calling me out on that kinda stuff and I mean that in a good way, even though I may initially snap back defensively when being called out) would be met w/evasive responses that made it clear that I was getting nowhere with myself in general and don't appreciate being reminded of it. This sounds like a self help book prologu...

So, tonight was my little Noah's (you see, all babies who endear me are to be referenced as mine) b'day party at Chuck E Cheese. Mostly, the location for the party was for the benefit of the Daddy(Froggy). He was all kinds of siced and lit up as soon as he walked into the place. The B'day boy on the other hand could have taken it or left it but had fun all the same and we I (a.k.a. paparazzi Clussy) took pictures to document it all (thanks for lending me the camera to replace the heartbreak of my broken one, Gibson! I will name you in my will, good man) and uploaded them to dotphoto tonight. My little chubby replica of my brother just left me drowning in my drool tonight. Angel. ((sigh)) He totally crushed me at air hockey. I'm sure my temporary concussion didn't hurt his chances though. He's not one to play by the rules. No, no. He draws his own line to walk along and works it till there are no men (or women) left standing. He decided to forgo the p...

Dancing With The Stars... entertaining. Yes. Harry Hamlin is endearing, Shannah Moakler (sp?) is trying but her head band thingy is trying the patience of my detailed eyes, Vivica, uh, sure, Jerry, uh, no, everyone else, sure, whatever. Mario Lopez? Ohhhh yeah. Deformed dimples or not, me likey. Rawr! Bring it Maaaaarrrrrrriooooo! Bald and made up convict looking "Whoaa" Joey Lawrence? Um... I want to make fun of him but... Mmmm... Whoa. But, damn, that hat he started off with was wrong. Uh oh, look at him channelling Sammy Davis Jr. too. I think I'm crushing on Joey. Holy Smokes! He just scored higher than anyone else so far. Kick ass Joey! Tame the popping veins on that pretty head of yours though, Shnookums. "Word!" Sara Evans is cute when made up and in costume but she bored me. Apparently the judges agreed. I absolutely A-dore me some Emmitt. He's got such umph and spirit when he dances. He makes me smile. Cutey Patootie! W/his big 'o...

Wow, I get a handle on my finances for a weekend and all hell breaks loose. Shopping happened. Two days in a row. I'll only go into details regarding one of the impulse sprees. So, yesterday, I went to Bebe to visit my dress and saw that it was on sale. Not only was it on sale but a gang load of other dresses were half off too so I was busy in the dressing room throwing rags around, contemplating and looking at my account balance to see what damage I could do. I ended up being reasonable and not getting the dress I coveted so passionately because, well, it's more for a warm daytime look and that isn't my priority right now (as warm days are pretty much last 2 seasons). Night time is the right time... So, the winner was: Trust me, it looks better on than in the picture (oh, and I don't like the big chunky belt, I opted for a thinner, pretty one because I don't care how trendy it is, I'm not down w/bringing back the 80's). So, yeah, I treated myself to so...

Damn, wassup w/the brothas and the sistas getting the shaft (in the challenge which they lost fair and square but I still felt like throwing out a 'wtf?') ? Is this going to be the trend of pitting races against each other till the end of the Survivor season comes? And the men on the African American team just stepped up to make the decision (of which member of an opposing team gets ousted to another island) and the ladies stayed in background w/no say? Come on now... Either way, looks like Sekou's dominating nature got him the boot. I mean, I'm sure he had some serious strength's and it's going to hurt them to have one less man on their team though he has his flaws so I'm hoping (for their sake) they made the right decision. The Latinos/Hispanic were a fun group. And, uh, how 'bout that JP guy? (Ozzy ain't too shabby himself but I draw the line at pudgy Billy) Oof, makes being stranded look almost desirable, doesn't it? I'm waiting for mor...

So, with all the errands I have to run for my trip in a few days, I can't do bbq on Saturday (as previously promised) but I am considering throwing some chorizos and chicken on the grill on Sunday afternoon (3ish) if anyone else is game for a simple, no -fuss cook out. I'm not sending out emails or calling or anything. I figure, if you wanna come throw something on the grill and hang out for a bit, awesome, if not, no big deal. I'm trying to stay away from formally organized gatherings because I go into uber-hyped hostess mode and I don't end up enjoying myself at all. Bottom line: I'm throwing stuff on grill on Sunday. Most of you know where I live, if you're down, come hither. If not, uh, I will eat for you too then. Love, Clussy

Why? I mean, yeah Erica /Erika sucked but come on Jury, Boogie? STFU. I don't think my emotions can stand another season of Big Brother. I can't take it. I get too emotional and way too pissed off at the players. And now... well, now I'm all lusting after Dr. Delicious! why? He's even in my top 8 in MySpace. Yes, I just admitted I have a MySpace account. Sue me! Crucify me. Oh_well. I had a dream where Will was my... boyfriend. Ugh, call it too much reality television and call it a day already. Jems, you realize I blame this on you, right? I should be busy watching History channel or like, Discovery channel or some smart shit like that but no.... I'm swayed to watch this brain melting stuff. (I'm so impressionable) Why can't I go back to reading in my spare time (shut up) or doing something else productive w/my time? My brain is melting into slop. Oatmeal will be the contents of my head sooner than later. At least I'll worry less and have dumb fou...

Just last night, I wanted to post about how happy I was in life. How, damn, no matter what life has thrown at me, I was still standing and smiling (denial is also bliss) and all was looking like it'd be ok. I thought, 'do I have a right to be this happy in life?'. Answer: No Today I woke up late. I looked at my clock as it pierced the time (10:15) into my skull so unforgivably and jumped in the shower (not before hitting my cranium a couple times in sad attempts of diving into shower while half asleep), still with a sense of panic and my head telling me "stoopid, stoopid, stoopid, this is what you get for... loving slumber so..." and my body telling me 'we need to sleep for the rest of our dying days, just accept it'. In my haste to gather my senses, all my head would scream back at me was insults. This carried onto my drive to work, my first status call of the day, my call w/a client who's New Jersey accent rakes my senses in every way possible a...

Sometimes, I just wish all could just rewind to the simpler days when sibling interactions were as easy as wrestling over remote controls, fighting over winning the affections of our parents and giggling over tipsy family members saying such innappropriate things over Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Those where the days. Simpler times, smaller problems and such blissful naivety. Don't judge the picture. I was too tan (this was taken this past June), my skin was taking a serious toll and maybe the makeup was off but I love that Frog was smiling genuinely and for that evening, any family drama was pushed aside and we were a couple of pre-teen kids, picking on eachother and laughing at the inappropriate things said by our much too vocal and maybe potty mouthed family (ok, just my Tio Carlos who's mouth measures up to the likes of, oh, Andrew Dice Clay) over my birthday dinner. I sometimes (like tonight?) yearn for the pre-teen years again. I Miss the drama-less fun of it ...

I mean, who would think that there'd be another Claudia out there w/an alias of 'Clussy'? Obviously not me. Apparently I thought I was quite special. Heck, I have to explain repeatedly why a misspelling at an early age would lead my near and dear Loveys to spell my nickname of 'Cloosy' (is that how it'd phonetically be spelled?) as Clussy. People get a look on their face, scrunch up their noses a bit and say Cluss-ie? No, not like fussy, but like Lucy or goosey. Clussy goosey, ((in my best Ricky Ricardo Cuban accented voice)) OH CLUSSY I'm HHHhhhome! Right. Point is, why must she impersonate me? I'm not one to judge but... this woman is out there claiming to be me. She needs to be stopped. I mean, what if she's out there robbing convenience stores, stealing women's husband's from under their noses or doing the white man dance to salsa at the club, as her understandably embarrassed friends chant out "Go Clussy! Go Clussy! Go Cluss...

As you may or may not remember, I faux adopted a pet bird last month. I named him/her Tweety. Lexi was fascinated by this new feathered friend. I was more, er, startled. I checked back (in utility closet where Tweety set up camp) a few days later (ok, I didn't check back myself, I had a friend do it for me because I'm a wuss and imagined a flock of birds flying out at me and pecking Old Lady Torres to death, only to be eaten by her cats... Yes I talk about myself in 3rd person sometimes, makes Claud giggle... /End ADHD rant) and there was no sign of Tweety. I assumed Tweety got annoyed that I didn't feed him/her and just flew off from where he/she flew in from. Cut to last night... Yet another creepy fly infestation goes down at Casa de Clussy. I'm swatting for dear life and looking around at the random flies which have taken over my house, in horror. What could this be? ((head scratch)) Hmm, what's that funny smell in basement? ((shrug)) Guess I'll ligh...

The following are excerpts from the give blood website I was checking out today (in hopes of getting info to give blood at lunch) " Donating Blood ONLINE APPOINTMENT Schedule an appointment to donate whole blood. - Why the need to specify whole blood? No half blood, no partial blood. Noted. Do not donate if any of the following apply to you: SEXUAL HISTORY * You have engaged in sex for money or drugs since 1977. - Hmmm, good thing I held off on the Bordello idea... QUESTIONS ABOUT ELIGIBILITY You may need to wait before donating blood if you have any of these conditions: CONDITION Alcohol Consumption No wait unless intoxicated - HA! I love that they felt the need to mention this. Don't come to give blood while drunk. Noted. DONATION PROCESS * Prospective donors first complete a health history questionnaire and screening interview. * The next step involves a brief physical examination of blood pressure, pulse, temperature and a test for anemia. * If the prescribed medical r...

Now, this one, I've actually tried on and loved it on (though I tried on burgundy/cream polka dot one). I think, now that autumn's here, brown/cream would be more apropos for the season, no? Since this one is more affordable, this may be a more realistic one to dream of. the dress was flattering, cute, different than my average dress and I loved the sheen to it. I will dream of it some more and consider possibility of getting it. If I keep eating this Costco pre-cooked frozen chicken breasts for lunch w/water (saves me on eating out which adds up) and keep my at home dinners very modest as well, this could be my next splurge. We'll see... I don't mean to be so materialistic in my posts lately but it's easier to talk about this kinda stuff than to delve into the other fun factors of my life at this point.