I have a horrible, huge, nasty headache. The day has gone fast until now. I was in meetings with a very attractive young man (we don't get a lot of those around here - our floor is 90% women) and he took us all out to lunch at McCormick and Schmidt's, where I had blackened fish tacos. Mmmm. Then we got "chocolate bags" for dessert. It's actually a bag made out of Belgian chocolate, filled with white chocolate mousse, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and whipped cream. We got four to split between 13 people. Heaven. Absolute heaven. The waitress (dressed all in chef's whites) said they sold 240 of those on Valentine's Day.
We talked to and from lunch, which was really great. So nice to be outside and it wasn't far at all. I might start taking walks during lunch when it gets a little warmer.
Then I went to an online meeting about this company that tracks e-newsletters. It was so interesting. The guy who started the company just started subscribing to e-mails in September and he tracks where they're from, how he got on the list, the advertisers, the agencies, everything. And to think he probably started it all on an Excel spreadsheet.
But my head hurts and there's an hour and a half of work left. I have phone calls to make, but Friday afternoons are always bad for that.
I'm having a frustrating day.
I went to the personal trainer last night. He's really nice and kind of a goober, which I can identify with. We laughed a lot and he kept trying to get me to eat cookies (for real). Unfortunately, contrary to what I previously thought, I am in "poor" health according to my BMI or whatever and the fitness test (which he said he didn't make hard enough for me). So we made a goal. Goals are good. I didn't really have one before. I felt good while I was there, but when I came home I just hated myself. How did I get to be like this?
Actually, I've always been like this, except for my summer at camp. Maybe if I stay in the 100 degree sun all day with 60 screaming kids I'll like the way I look again.
Anyway.
I watched
Two Weeks Notice. LOVED it. I actually laughed out loud, especially when someone asked Hugh Grant if they could get him anything and he said, "Yes, actually, a Milk Dud would be quite nice." I made some of that New Orleans rice for dinner with shrimp and good lord was it hot. But really good.
This morning, I made a smoothie with frozen strawberries, milk and a little bit of sugar. And then I dumped the entire thing on the counter. All of it. But don't think for a minute that I didn't drink it. Because I did and it was good. And now I know how to not take apart my blender.
It took me 20 minutes to drive a half mile this morning. Swear. I don't think I really noticed because I was listening to my favorite radio station and the DJs were getting drunk at a Kegs and Eggs with the Get Up Kids. It was entertaining, to say the least.
I'm glad it's Friday. I have four old kitchen chairs I need to get rid of, but I don't really think they'll fit into my car. I have a bunch of little things to do at work today, but I'm going to be in meetings nearly the entire day.
Luckily, Justin moves here today. I hope it's a good weekend. I hope I get to sleep a lot and finally get my house picked up. I hope that little brown bird with the red chest is in the birdfeeder when I get home. I love that bird.
Let's play a fun game. I got an e-mail from the lovely Beth O'Connell of Mary Englebreit fame along the general lines of "You know you graduated from Mizzou when..." and then had all the stuff that's special about Mizzou.
But I wasn't in sorority and definitely not in a fraternity. I was, if I recall, in the FARCternity.
So let's make a list called "You know you lived in FARC when..." Add yours to the comments.
You know you lived in FARC when...
1. The first person you see (and smell) in the morning is a man named Big Jim
2. The third floor residents sleep with both boys AND girls
3. The phrase "Johnny's coming," can clear a hall (and shut the door to 113 McDavid)
4. The atheltic teams are named "The Mother FARCers."
5. Frankie D shows up without a shirt. For the second time in a week.
I just have to remind the world that I LOVE NETFLIX AND IT LOVES ME. On deck:
Two Weeks Notice,
Bend it Like Beckham and disc 3 of
Sex and the City season 3 (for some reason, I saw disc two, in like, August or something). Next week (also known as "in the hole"):
Y Tu Mama Tambien,
Pieces of April and
Blast!.
We're going to Jimmy John's today! I might make Jimmy a valentine - I love him THAT much. Now I must finish a Power Point. I'm glad they made me do it in college, but I'm not glad I have to do it. Did anyone use that Apple program in 8th grade computer class like I did? It was like Power Point, but inherently cooler. You had to link the pages and stuff but could make Choose Your Own Adventure stories. I made one about a butler using Clip Art. His name was Chives. Where's the program now? It was kind of like designing a web page only not.
My right foot is asleep.
Another day in front of the computer. It's no wonder I don't use the one I have at home - I'm at this one for at least 7.5 hours a day.
Things I could do to cheer me up:
1. Take a bath
2. Drink hot chocolate
3. Talk to Abby
4. Bake cookies
5. Clean the house
6. Finish the laundry
Things I will probably do:
1. Go to sleep as soon as I get home from the gym
Speaking of the gym, I have a session with a personal trainer tonight. I'm not looking forward to it. He asked me what my goals were and I told him "To not look like this." Not exactly specific, but exactly what I'm looking for. It's going to be embarrassing - there's going to be measurements and weighing and that encompasses all of the things in life I'm insecure about (in addition to being a 12-foot tall Wookie).
Even though I'm not knitting, I really want to buy some yarn.
I'm probably going to offend your or make you laugh really hard.
I was thinking a lot about
The Passion of the Christ yesterday on my way home from work because people on the radio kept yelling about it (and continued this morning and will probably continue for many days to come). And everyone's all up in arms about people blaming the Jews.
I do not have anything against Jewish people, okay? Not a thing. Love those dredels, love the bagels, love everything about them. I am jealous of the holidays and the sense of tradition and family that comes along with that label. Having no concrete religion myself, I can't judge. But I've known a lot (read: two) of Jewish people who are just really horrible. Not because they are Jewish, but because they are bitchy as hell. Case in point: my arch nemesis, SZ. She had this habit of accusing people that they didn't believe in the Holocaust, for no apparent reason. A dialogue:
(On the way to journalism camp before my senior year in high school)
Sarah: I don't know why people get so upset about differences in religion. Want some chips?
SZ: Are you saying you don't believe in the Holocaust? How can you say that?
Sarah: No, I'm saying some people get worked up.
SZ: Jewish people? Is that what you're saying? You know, it's because of people like you that the Holocaust doesn't get the respect it deserves.
And on and on until Sarah told SZ to shut the hell up and give back the chips.
And then, AND THEN, I went to college, rid of SZ forever. Two years later, one of my residents (who dates boys, makes out with them in the hall and then dumps them a few months later when she suddenly realizes they're not Jewish) comes up to me and says, "I was at [college name] over the weekend. I went to this Jewish fraternity party and met a girl from Bettendorf, SZ."
Me: "Lucky you."
Resident: "She really hates you."
Me: "And I really hate the way she moves her hair into place ONE STRAND AT A TIME!" Well, no, I probably said something along the lines of, "She can't hate me more than I hate her."
Did we need to tell me that she hated me? I was well aware. Well aware. I can still feel her pointy little eyes sending hate stares to me this day.
Anyway. I'm not going to see that movie. And I don't blame the Jews. I blame SZ because she made me to go to her bat mitzvah and bring her a stupid present and nobody gave me any gifts when I became a woman. Except I did see the Beach Boys the same day I got my period for the first time. Perhaps that's gift enough.
Thanks for listening.
Sit on it
I'm looking for new kitchen chairs. Mine have been around since well before I was born and I'm afraid someone's going to fall through.
I'm sad Sara got kicked off. I think I would have booted Joanna simply for falling on her ass. She reminds me of Elyse, but not nearly as smart/sarcastic. I want Shandi to win but I want her to stop fighting with her boyfriend, because that is so something I would do and totally embarrassing.
So slow. I know there's a lot to do, but I can't do it until somebody tells me what it is.
I think knitting and I are on a break. I'm just not into it. I'm not into much of anything. Not in a depressed-I-hate-everything-especially-my-boyfriend-and-my-job-and-why-can't-I-sleep-all-day sort of way. I do, in fact, love my boyfriend madly and don't really mind working. It's more of a God-I-love-this-couch-and-blanket-and-big-TV sort of thing, the kind of happiness and feeling of contentment when I can just
be. I haven't played the Sims in more than two weeks. My level of happiness is inversely proportional to the amount of hours I spend playing The Sims. (The Sims do not cause the unhappiness, but rather keep me from noticing it.)
So tonight I'm going to go to the gym (Tuesday and Saturday are weight lifting days, Sunday and Thursday are Move Your Sorry - But Quite Nice - Ass Days), make a really yummy pizza featuring pesto, onions and mushrooms, take a delicious bath with lots of bubbles and watch ANTM and Queer Eye in a horizontal position. Then I will snuggle into my big big bed with the six stuffed animals (Lola, Max, Lucy, Truman, Bunny and, of course, Mortimer) and we will dream of coulds and sun and boyfriends who smell like really good laundry detergent.
No, not the epic novelist
I sometimes find it hard to believe that the lovely, darling boy who used to call his Grandmother from the Maneater office and was absolutely charming as he said the raunchiest things I've ever heard actually made it. But then you read his
writing and it's not hard to believe at all. It's everything you always expected.
I was a kitchen demon last night. I made French bread, some horrendous, horrid cookies that made my oven smoke/steam up the entire apartment for hours, and cut up all the vegetables in the house in preparation for the rest of the week's meals. I was going to make pizza dough, but I had already washed the KitchenAid bowl about five times and the bad cookies (made with only two tablespoons of flour) broke my spirit. So I'll just make it when I get home, pick up the 20 magazines on my coffee table while it rises, and have some kick-ass pizza.
I've been watching the RR/RW Inferno (or, according to Darrell, Infwerno), and I'm wholey unimpressed. I hate Coral with a burning passion only matched by my hatred for The Gap. I really hate having to go through two challenges before someone is voted off. I'm about to vote all of them off, especially Julie. The only one I would keep is Timmy. I would marry Timmy, even if he is 35.
I'm glad it's ANTM night. If Camille doesn't get voted off, I'm going to put my foot through the TV.
So frustrated that if I don't calm down soon I'm going to eat all 10 Crunchy Snickers bars in the vending machine.
You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!
What kind of knitting needles are you? brought to you by Quizilla
Why do people assume I know things? Why do other people assume I can find them out before 5:00? Why do people assume I have nothing else to do? Why do I only have to Smirnoff's in my fridge? It's going to take a lot more than that for me to forget today.
The Bs were here and gone. My mom is indeed in worse shape than I imagined, which really isn't all that bad at all. Penny jumped on my head. She also rolled in poop (not her own) and ate a bar of soap. It was a big weekend for Penny.
So I spent yesterday, after they left, sleeping and making a mess. I also went to the gym, had some birthday cake ice cream (best ice cream ever) and went to the grocery store. I spent a lot of money online and felt pretty damn good about it and watched five episodes of "Sex and the City" Season 3.
I watched
thirteen before my parents got into town Friday night. Seventh graders having sexed, getting pierced and tatooed, selling drugs, cutting themselves, jumping on the hot 18 year-old next door - intense. We went to the mall the next day and I saw those girls and realized that they do, indeed, exist. And it freaked the hell right out of me. It was a good movie in a horrifying, "thank-goodness-I'm-not-13" kind of way.
Today started really well, but somehow my enthusiasm has waned. I'm tired, I don't feel well and I don't want to go home and vaccuum. My right wrist is killing me, which is not good news on the knitting front. Too much calculator this morning, I think, and I still have quite a bit to go. If anyone had told me a year ago I'd be working with numbers eight hours a day, I would have smacked them in the face. But I like it. I guess I like figuring out what the numbers mean.
For the record, Coca-Cola makes me sick. As in, physically ill. I've had it the past two days and I've felt like crap the past two days. Not my friend.
How did I get lost on the way to work this morning? I drove the same way I've driven since October. How? How did I do that? It must be something like the way I got stuck in three - three! - parking lots last night.
I hope I don't have to drive a lot this weekend.
I bought Quicken last night to help me keep track of my finances. It's great. I downloaded my bank statements and was able to categorize all of my expenditures. And just so you know, I've only spent $35 on yarn since January 1. So leave me alone about it. It's a great program, though - I can keep track of my many bank accounts and create budgets and even print out checks if I want. Yay for Quicken and yay for the old man at Office Depot who was so nice that I decided to buy something from his store.
I also purchased an answering machine last night, a working one this time, so please feel free to call.
My first Netflix movies came yesterday. I already love Netflix. Best thing ever. I watched "How to Deal" starring Mandy Moore. I love Mandy but she needs to not be in movies. Luckily, I also love Alison Janey, and she should be in every movie. There was a lot of good use of good music, though - Liz Phair, The Flaming Lips and some others. There was also good use of dead boyfriends and pregnant high schoolers. I was very glad Mandy didn't die - I couldn't handle that again.
Tonight I will watch season 3 of "Sex and the City" and this weekend, "thirteen." God bless you, Netflix.
Peepto comes tonight! I can't wait to sleep with her in The Nest. I love that dog.
It's been brought to my attention that I'm pushy. I retorted with, "Why are you such a jackass?", later realizing that makes me both pushy
and a bitch. I just want to help. I want to make things easy. I'm sorry, Pookie. For real? For real.
I'm glad Catie got voted off last night. I kind of want to go to the chat on the UPN website at 1:30 today just to tell her how much I hate her. I hate her ugly crying face and I hate her nasty short blond hair and she just sucks in general. SUCKS. I also hate Camille. She'll be voted off next week. Trust me. But WHY does Tyra have a single coming out? WHY? That's a no good idea if I ever heard one.
Meeting time. Whee!
Let's start with the good. My favorite pirate has a
blog. Great story about said pirate: Once, while walking along the banks of the Mississippi about this time of year - Winter Musical time, probably
Annie Get Your Gun - she stepped on a corn cob and yelled, "OHMYGOD it's a BIIIIRRRRD!"
The not so good. Justin and I had a rough weekend. I will never ever ever look at eight apartments in two days ever again. EVER. I will especially never spend all of Valentine's Day driving around Kansas City, including the lovely Troost area and other parts of Missouri I will never be able to find again. But he found an apartment at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, a really nice one for not a lot of money, and it's close to my apartment (which was actually quite surprising). I must add that it was also not on our list to visit - we just drove past and decided to go in.
I also had to watch
Swimming Pool, which was the most confusing movie ever, even if I didn't sleep through half of it. What the hell happened? If you can tell me why the girl at the end was different than the girl during the rest of the movie, I will give you $5.00.
But Friday was great. We went to a terrible dinner at the Elephant Bar - don't ever go there - came home and played with Roo, who is enamored with Justin (who isn't?) and then went to Boozefish with the girls. Connie was such a doll and brought us flowers and Sara's cat, Bill Murray, tried to eat them.
A yarn tragedy occurred Saturday morning. I saw
this yarn online at work and I thought I might like to have it, mostly because it was super chunky and I love anything chunky and also because it was on sale for $3.99 when it's usually $15.95. That's a 75% discount, people. I could make a really inexpensive sweater out of that. I thought I remembered how I linked to the page. Two hours on the computer later, I still couldn't find it. I gave up. So I come into work today, hoping there's still some left (I bookmarked the page, of course) and there's not. The yarn of the week is pretty cool, but I would probably need a lot more than I should spend. KNITPICKS, Kristin, KNITPICKS. If you ever forget the name of the site again, I will kill you. I am still very angry.
I miss Abby, Kate, Maria, Clark, Dave, Big Mar and Chuck B. and most of all, my Peep. I will hopefully get to see her this weekend. I could use some good sleep in The Nest with my Peep.
I got paid today! Not only did I get paid, but I got paid for freelancing time AND salary, since freelancing comes after the time you actually work and salary comes during the time you actually work and it's very exciting.
Boyfriend is coming today. Yay, Boyfriend! And he'll be back in like, a week or so! And I'm going to have hot chocolate soon!
Other good things:
I had sushi for dinner last night. I've never had sushi before. It was good and I met some really nice/funny people at dinner. I feel very metropolitan.
Roo doesn't seem so scared of me anymore. Still scared, but not petrified.
I talked to Abby last night. Contrary to popular belief, she's not dead behind the Panera counter.
I'm wearing pink.
I took a bath last night.
I bought two issues of Interweave Knits (WHY does Borders still have the fall issue on display when the Spring issue is currently out? Why? It's okay because I was able to buy three issues all in one week and it's published only four times a year. But still.) and some purple Persian wool at the bargain price of $6.50. I couldn't help myself. I was able to resist the Noro in color 95, but only because I was wearing a sweater made out of Noro 56. But I truly love Noro. I truly love Trendsetter's Gypsy, too. I truly, truly love The Studio.
Chrissy did not die in a snowstorm and made it to Fargo. Thanks for worrying me, Mom.
My mother was given doctor's orders to drink some really good alcohol.
Not so good things:
My mom's hearing in her right ear is probably permanently gone.
I was able to take a good look at little Roo's back and he has horrible, deep tooth marks and scabs from the Killer Mouse. It looks really painful.
I need to buy supplies for Valentine's storytime tomorrow. Can three year-olds handle glue sticks or should I just go with red paper and marker?
TRU LUVs
I love a lot of things. Let's name them. We already had the boys I loved (which did not count the boys I named my "boyfriends." I had this habit - and still do - of going up to people and saying, "You're my boyfriend now." I once had the entire freshman trumpet section as my boyfriend and I'm currently dating Paul the Borders Barrista. He's not quite sure what to make of this.) so now it's everthing else.
Village Inn
Parentheses
Golden Retrievers
Yarn
*NSYNC
The 80s
Jem (including all of her posse - Kimber, Shana, Jerica - who is actually Jem - Synergy, Roxy, Stormer, Rio and the Australian girl)
Rainbow Brite Sprites
America's Next Top Model
Whole pickles
Toasted Ravioli
Target shoes
Holiday themed socks
Dog socks
Dog shows (DOG SHOW!)
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Creme brulee
Starbuck's Vanilla Creme (I had it for the first time last night - it's like drinking a vanilla shake)
Parents
Peepto
Pirates
Chapstick
Baths
Big beds
Boys in love
Kara Moran: JC Chasez is in town tonight at IncrediBowl. Want me to go and tell him to lose the mullet?
This one goes out to the one I love.
It looks like Boyfriend is a permanent situation. (And by "permanent situation" I do not mean we are getting married. Oh no. I mean he might be taking a job near me. That's all. No weddings. No babies.) Scary? Kind of. Awesome? Definitely. Moving on with my life and being a real person with a real live boyfriend nearby? Scaaa-ary.
So let's remember all of those other boys I once loved. A pre-Valentine's Day tribute, if you will. (And if they Google themselves, at least they'll find
something.)
7th grade - 12th grade: Josh McCaughey. I loved him. Luuurved him, if you're Bridget Jones. He taught me how to do algebra equations with two variables and I found that...endearing? Sexy? He had beautiful brown eyes and blond hair and I loved him. I also burned a picture of him my sophomore year at the International Thespian Festival. Please note I stole that picture from the yearbook office and I didn't actually speak to him between 8th grade and 12th grade.
8th grade - 9th grade: Rian Waterman. He had the SAILabration at his house and I was crying because I was sad middle school was over (DEAR GOD what was wrong with me?) and he HELD MY HAND. It was all over school the next day because he had a girlfriend (who was, admittedly, pretty awesome). Freshman year he sat behind me in honors biology and was dating a different girl, but we'd talk on the phone at night. He wore flannel shirts and listened to that song about runaway trains (Justin Marciniak, if you use precious commenting space to tell me the name and song of that band, I will hurt you). He told me that he'd date me when he was done dating her. I told him no.
9th grade: Disney Dave. A senior. Only wore clothing sporting Disney characters. His father is still stalking me to this day. We were kind of "together" even though we never kissed. But wait - that's because he was kissing his (ex)girlfriend! I hated his Tigger shirt. Then he dated Barbara.
10th grade: Ross Rafferty (who I hear is pretty sick and I hope he gets better soon - he's a really good guy). Ross was a senior trumpet player, I was a drum major. His flute-playing freshman sister hooked us up for Homecoming. I was a jackass and got scared and didn't go on another date with him after that even though I really liked him. Then he dated Barbara, the same Barbara Disney Dave dated. I don't care if she's French - I don't like her.
10th grade: Nick Tofannelli and Chris Bollig, together and separately. I can't remember which I liked first - Chris, I think. I remember liking Nick during the spring play. We spent every evening together and they ate a lot of barbecued beef and Crispitos. We almost went to a cock fight in southern Illinois, but my mom wouldn't let me cross state lines with them. Nick and I eventually went to my senior prom together.
11th grade: Paul, my First Real Boyfriend. I met him at the Thespian Festival the previous summer. I should have known something was wrong since he was wearing a mask when we first met. He liked me so much it was scary. And he cried a lot. But he lived in his parents' basement, which had it's own entrance, living room, kitchen and recording studio. He sang "Roxanne" a whole lot. I cheated on him the next year at the Thespian Festival with a freshman from California named Jason who wore suspenders (we kissed underneath a tree - it was a horrible kiss, and trust me, I've had quite a few of those). We got home and he told me it was okay because when we're at home, he knows I'm still his. Right.
All through high school: Mike Flynn. But we also hated each other, so we decided to be very good friends. I think. Let's just not talk about it. But he was one of the funniest people I've ever known and I miss him a lot. It should be noted that there's a man named Barney living in his well (seriously, there's a well at his parents' house). Abby and I used to feed him.
12th grade: Justin Anderson. Purely because he was on the swim team and looked really good in a speedo. Really good. I spent first semester trying to get a good view of him during statistics and taking pictures of him at swim meets for the newspaper, which never actually made it in to the newspaper because he was just too hot standing in no clothes on that little diving board and I got distracted.
12th grade: Brian Scott. Second Boyfriend. He had amazing arms. That's the first thing I think of. He played paintball and had freckles and wore Gay Blue Shoes. He always smelled really good and wore tie-dyed t-shirts and a backwards visor. Now that I think of it, I can't figure out why he was attracted to me. I don't think my parents liked him much. He once carved a penis out of foam. It was a summer thing. We broke up a few months after I started college. I hear he's playing for a professional paintball team.
Freshman year of college: Pauly-Paul. But who didn't love Paul? I stopped loving him when he told me I was "desperate" and "a dumbass," which, coincidentally, was the first time I'd heard the word dumbass used in about three years. Now I use it every day. But you have to admit, he's very snuggly.
Freshman year of college: Adam Evans. Probably the most embarrassing time of my life. Adam, I'm still really sorry for being such a dumbass.
Freshman year of college: David Alexander. AGAIN, who didn't love him? Who doesn't still love him? I don't know a single person who wouldn't marry Dave Alexander. Reasons to love Dave: he once wore all the clothes in the lost and found, he can jump higher than a golden retriever and he gives really good hugs.
Freshman year of college - present: Justin Marciniak. Third and Last and Only Boyfriend. I decided I liked him because he wore orange shoes and our names sounded good together (Kristin Marciniak sounds much better than Kristin Nagel/Kristin Jennings/Kristin Healy, etc.). He was also, like, the hottest guy who had ever talked to me and I got nervous every time I talked to him. Luckily, he lived with a furry little man who always served as conversation fodder. Everyone told me he was bad news and that he would only break my heart. He did, many times. I'm sure he will in the future. But he's my butthead of a valentine and my non-pirate best friend. And I luuuurve him.
Josh won! Yaaaay Josh! I love him. He weights 155 lbs. That's twice the weight of Penny (whose birthday is tomorrow - yaaaaay Penny!). I totally knew he would win.
I am also forecasting that Mercedes will win ANTM because she's so damn cute. I think it'll be down to her, Sara and Shandi. And Yoanna. If Camille doesn't get kicked off next week, I'm going to call Janice Dickenson.
Dear Friends,
I hope that if you have, or will someday have, a significant other, they will not torture you as much as
mine does. I want to kick him and kiss him, beat him senseless and hug him into oblivion all at the same time. Boyfriend, you better look out.
A crisis was averted. I'm supposed to go to a Mary Kay pampering night (which I've done before and love), but I was afraid I was going to miss ANTM, and Shandi supposedly, according to commercials and Janice Dickenson's too-tight face, admits to using drugs. (I bet she's probably joking or said she used to do drugs or is on allergy medication, but whatever.) AND I was going to miss the end of the Westminster Dog Show (DOG SHOW!). I'm rooting for Josh, the Newfoundland. I didn't know what time the skin care extraveganza was starting or where it was, so I called my Mary Kay contact and it turns out it's been moved to 6:00! Meaning plenty of time for TV, but also meaning that I will probably not go to the gym today. I'm seriously going to workout hell. I have lost the drive. But I SWEAR I will go Thursday. Maybe I'll walk/do yoga tomorrow? But the bed is just too wonderful to ignore.
Now I must meet with a guy from Yahoo!. Not a yahoo, but from Yahoo!.
Weekends are always too short. The Holovaty's were great hosts Friday night, serving us yummy turkey and a new favorite game, Pit. I said goodbye to
Arthur on Saturday night as he heads for LA pastures and watched the Grammys with Kella last night. My favorite part of the whole weekend was the 15+ hours of sleep between 11 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, complete with a lunch of eggs and honey biscuits.
The mouse (who I generally refer to as "Mousie" instead of any real name) and I are trying to get along. He's very scared of me. I think he's about six weeks old, and mice aren't adults until they're 12 weeks old, so we have ways to go. I did, however, discover that he really likes Cheerios (or, in this case, honey nut Toastie O's - don't tell him his mom buys generic), which could be a bonding point between the two of us. I watched him play for about an hour last night and it was just so...nice.
Other than that, my weekend was pretty quiet. I bought Mary-Kate and Ashley makeup at Wal-Mart (half the price of Revlon) and cleaned the house. If weekends were a day longer, I'd be a lot happier.
I'm hoping I get some work to do this millenium.
Everyone is antsy today. People are biting each other in the office next to me. Others are planning weddings (three bands! Three!) and watching soap operas. Fridays - why even bother?
Me and the little mouse played last night. We're getting to be buddies, although he still enjoys peeing on me. He's just a baby, I think, so I'm not too worried. He's so soft. I got him some bedding which looks like cotton candy and he made a very cozy little bed. He sleeps in the middle of it and must close up all the entrance holes to it before he settles in for a nap. I can just see the cotton going up and down, up and down with the breath of a little mouse. I love that little guy. I kind of miss Ralph, though. He was so cute and managed to keep me entertained for three days straight. He was a wily little mouse. Maybe I'll go by the store this weekend to say hello. I will not repurchase him, however, because he's a killer.
Penny is very glad that my mom's home. I miss my Peep. I could have used her 70-lb body on my lap last night while I froze during television time.
I started my knee socks. I'm doing a knee sock knit-along, and I would put the cute button here, but a) I can't figure out how and b) that would be a lot of work. They're from the Stitch and Bitch book. I'm using lime green, hot pink, turquoise and a bright sherbet orange. They're made out of baby wool, so they're not really super hot, but they'll be very soft. AND machine-washable.
I'm trying to find a large quantity of inexpensive yet soft yarn to make a two-person sized blanket for my big couch. I only have one-person sized blankets in the living room, and I'm not taking the Gay Pride Blanket off my bed. I don't think I would be able to sleep without it at least near me, if not on me. I found some good stuff on a discount site and it would be about $20 for 10 skeins (an incredible deal), but they require at least a $30 order. Maybe I can find something else I like, but the site just sells those Hobby Lobby yarns, not the good stuff I've gotten used to. And there's really nothing else I'm dying to make, since I have these socks, a pair of Regia socks, some cotton yarn to experiment with and the gorgeous Candy sweater to work on. So I don't know.
Tragedy struck one of my Sim famlies last night. Lizzie Dorfmann, daughter of Alex and Jemina, sister of the newly-born Josie, came down with some horrible coughing disease and died. The grim reaper came and Jemina made a plea for her daughter's life, but the Reaper was like, F-that. So she died and there's a gravestone outside and the whole family cries, like, all the time. So I sold the gravestone. Enough crying. And their new daughter, Josie, looks like neither one of the parents and is kind of butt-ugly. And the mail person is a girl! And they don't have a milkman!
Nobody is at work/working because of all the snow. It's a slow day.
My mom is finally home from the hospital. Not because she is better or "cured," but because she told them she was leaving and they were like, "All right." I do not take an responsibility for her actions. But she said she was really bored there.
Here's what I have to say about the whole Super Bowl debacle. Get the hell over it. Everybody has breasts. Janet's are particularly nicer than others. But seriously, they show butts on NYPD Blue and all sorts of body parts on Today. If you're that offended by bodies, then maybe you should not have one. I don't think either of them intended to show the actual breast (don't give me that crap about the piercing - I bet if you checked the other one, she'd have on there, too). But they did. Now what are you going to do about it? Take it away.
And another note about Janet Jackson - she's not as wholesome as people seem to think. She has simulated S&M-themed sex onstage with fans during her concerts- trust me, I saw it. Her last album was full of a lot of moaning and orgasmic noises. Actually, her last THREE albums were. The last album resembling anything wholesome was Rhythm Nation, and that was all, "I hate you, divided, racist America." You didn't expect for something like this to happen? I mean, really.
But I watched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which was much more entertaining. I always feel bad for Ted when the guys screw up the food, especially the guy trying to make a mint julep for his equally-idiotic/annoying girlfriend. I think they should have stuck with the frozen White Castle hamburgers from the marine's freezer.
Good day at work. Great day, even. We went to California Pizza Kitchen to celebrate Nancy's and my first day. A good time was had by all. Good food, too. I had a grilled garlic shrimp pizza. Yuuummm.
A lot has being going on the past few days. Chronological order:
Monday:
Bought two mice, Ralph and Roo/Peanut
Ralph tried to kill Roo several times. Roo's back and ear were all cut up and bleeding.
Ralph got a timeout.
Ralph tried to kill Roo again.
Ralph got moved to a shoe box so I could return him to the next day on the basis that he is a killer.
Tuesday:
I find out at 6:30 a.m. that my mom is in the hospital. She's dizzy and has an earache.
I learn about my health plan and other benefits at work.
I come home to discover Ralph has escaped the shoebox. He chewed a hole in the top.
Ralph is going to hell.
I find him 10 minutes after I start looking for him. He's hiding next to my Nintendo games and yarn. That's where I'd hide, too.
Unfortunately, Ralph can jump higher than a kangaroo. I lose him.
Chrissy comes over to help me.
We get takeout and give up looking to watch ANTM.
We collectively hate Catie, yet she doesn't get voted off.
I set some traps (humane ones, okay?) for Ralph.
I get into bed at 10:15.
The smoke alarm decides it needs new batteries.
I get into the car and go to the gas station a few blocks away.
Back in bed by 10:30, but really tired and pissed off.
Wednesday
Woke up at 4:45 a.m. to go to the bathroom or something.
Decide to check mouse traps.
No Ralph.
Look under couches and behind stuff. Open pantry.
There's Ralph! He's on the bottom shelf, having a snack.
We talk for a bit. I tell him he has to come out. He doesn't like that idea.
I end up taking everything, including the shelving unit, out of the pantry.
Ralph is behind the water heater (it's more of a large closet than pantry, but I adapted it).
I catch him with a towel at 5:40.
He gets put into Roxy's old tank with some bedding and food. I tape down the lid, then put the tank into a garbage can, and then cover the garbage can with a wire cooling rack. I'm not taking any chances.
At 9 a.m. sharp, Ralph is back at PetSmart. They put him in "isolation." I felt kind of bad, then remembered he was a killer.
Every week I think, "This week has got to be better than the last. Nothing can be as bad as last week." And then I am systematically proved wrong day after day. But I have a feeling that things are looking up. I'll sleep a little better tonight knowing that it won't be too long until I won't have to sleep alone anymore (even if it's just for two days next week).
Dear God,
I know we don't talk much, usually just inside my head or when I'm in the car. I don't go to church, I'm not so sure about the Bible, and I still don't believe in dinosaurs. But God, I believe in you. So let my mom be okay, okay? Thanks.
It's been a slow day. I keep replaying that kiss with Justin Timberlake over and over and over in my head. We danced first. Danced like we never danced before. And I remember being really close to his lips and staring at them. In my dream, they were a lot nicer than they are in real life (trust me on this one - I've spent a lot of "up close and personal" minutes with several posters/publications), so I think they actually belonged to my real Justin (who does, in fact, have better lips than anyone I know, except for myself. My mom's Mary Kay lady even told me I have perfect lips. They are quite stunning.).
The yarn diet is over. Since I don't believe in diets in general, I figured that a yarn diet was a stupid idea. And I finally got paid today. And
Knitability had sock yarn for $5, so I ordered the last two skeins. I'm going to make
arm warmers.
create your own visited states map
or
write about it on the open travel guide
You can thank a lost Greyhound bus driver for Mississippi and Alabama and a woman who refused to get off the airplane for Colorado. My favorite out of all of them? Utah. Glorious Utah. I'm coming, Park City. I get vacation in six months.
I would like to publicly thank Justin Timberlake for making out with me in my dream this morning. It was fabulous, and I hope we do it again sometime.
Be careful what you wish for
This has been one crazy-ass weekend.
Friday:
Came home from work. Sims. Strange dinner involving a "hamburger salad." Passed out at 7:30.
Saturday:
Woke up at 5:30. Went through old letters and attempted to clean. Gym, storytime, pet store (almost bought a mouse named Ralph, as in Ralph S. Mouse), got in a fight with a lady at JoAnn's, big nap.
Here's where it gets interesting. Elizabeth, Connie and I went to XO to go dancing. If you're not from the area, XO is this huge techno dance club that's a little on the sketchy side. Sara was supposed to come, but was sick. We had a drink for her. ANYWAY, nobody was at XO. We got there at 10 - at 11:30, still no one. Seriously. Like five people. So we went to the Lava Room for a few drinks. It's a really cool bar - lava lamps and candles everywhere.
That's when we meet David, Scott and Steve, whose average age was about 44. David's an assistant principal, Scott likes Nascar and was really really drunk, and they were celebrating Steve's birthday. Steve was the drunkest person I have ever seen. We talked with them for a couple of hours. We were invited to Nascar many times and I was repeatedly told to break up with Justin. We were then invited to "Steve's mansion just two blocks away" to play pool.
Right.
We finally had enough and decided to go around 1:30. They asked us to hug Steve because it was his birthday. We did. Then they wanted to take our picture with him. This is when Steve, who had spoken no more than 10 words to any of us the entire night, requested a group kiss. We all screamed "NO!" and jumped up to leave.
And that's when Nascar-lovin' Scott tried to kiss me. He was "helping" me with my coat, and I'm facing the bartender, mouthing, "Help me," to no avail. He then tried to turn me around and said "Hey, your boyfriend is in Chicago," and made his move. I ducked and screamed, "I'm not kissing ANYONE!" and we ran out of the bar.
I think it was one of the most fun nights I've had in awhile. I laughed so much. David was really interesting and told great stories about the kids at his school. He was a good guy. And they told us that we were fun and funny and we agreed that we're pretty great.
But the next time someone says they want to meet older men, let's not go
that old. Or that drunk. I could go for one or the other, but not both together. But it really was a great night.
So I came home, showered the nasty off of myself and had some tater-tots and was in bed at 3 a.m.
Sunday:
Woke up at 9:00. Peanuts and chocolate for breakfast. Went to the gym. Sims. Huge, hurting nap. Laundry, cleaning, finished my felted bag which matches my sweater. It turned out really well - it's currently drying over a box to make the bottom flat so it can stand up on its own. I made a pretty good dinner - chicken cooked with green peppers, mushrooms and garlic, mixed with spiniach fettucini. Not too shabby. I'm going to have the leftover chicken in a fajita-like thing tomorrow night.
Oh, and I've watched approximately six hours of Queer Eye today. I love that Carson. That's the only television show that makes me laugh out loud. I especially love it when Carson asks about couture. And when he told the crew member, "Hugs, not drugs."
