And I'm sort of torn about eating or not. I had a small breakfast ... I typically just have a breakfast bar or something ... but I haven't had lunch yet.
I am no longer on an official diet but I do try and watch what I eat and I have been working out several times a week and trying to walk more. So far its working. I'm down another two pounds in the last couple of weeks and I haven't gained any back since I started losing. So thats good.
So the thing is, tonight, I am going out with my friend and her boyfriend to the Mexican restaurant that we love. Its really hard for me to say no to any food and drink at this place because its just so awesome. I mean, there is going to be greasy tortillas, cheese, beans, rice, etc. etc. consumed tonight along with probably a couple of pitchers or margaritas. So you see the predicament. And I hate people who are on a diet and say, OK, I'm just going to have a salad before I go out and then order healthy stuff off of the menu. Yeah, I could or should do that, but this place is not worth it! I rarely get to this place so when I go, I want to make the most of it. Food aside, I'll probably consume more calories in booze anyway!
So I want lunch to be very small or even non-existant today so try and compensate a bit. Well, I don't think I'm going to make non-existant cause as I said, I'm starving. I'm sitting here looking at another breakfast bar and considering it. Or maybe I should go get a fat free latte at Starbucks or something. Hmmm... decisions, decisions.
I need to eat *something* though or I'll be immediately trashed on the first margarita. These things are STRONG!! I don't need an empty stomach to add to that.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
This song is seriously growing on me...
(although I hate the cheesy video!)
What Hurts The Most
by: Rascal Flatts
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don’t bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out
I’m not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I’m ok
But that’s not what gets me
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin’ to do
It’s hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I’m doin’ It
It’s hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I’m alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin’ with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
What hurts the most was being
so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
Not seeing that loving you
That’s what I was trying to do
What Hurts The Most
by: Rascal Flatts
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don’t bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out
I’m not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I’m ok
But that’s not what gets me
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin’ to do
It’s hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I’m doin’ It
It’s hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I’m alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin’ with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
What hurts the most was being
so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
Not seeing that loving you
That’s what I was trying to do
Zzzzzzzzzzzz.........
I'm so bored I'd almost chat with anyone right now!
I'm bailing in a half hour!!!!!!
Yawwwwwn....
I'm bailing in a half hour!!!!!!
Yawwwwwn....
Email "ha-ha" of the day...
One morning while making breakfast, a man walked up to his wife, pinched her on the butt and said, "If you firmed up, we could get rid of your control top pantyhose". While this was on the edge of intolerable, she kept silent.
The next morning, the man woke his wife with a pinch on each of her breasts and said, "You know, if you firmed these up, we could get rid of your bra."
This was beyond a silent response, so she rolled over and grabbed him by his "dangler." With a death grip in place, she said "You know, if you firmed this up, we could get rid of the gardener, the postman, the pool man, and your brother."
The next morning, the man woke his wife with a pinch on each of her breasts and said, "You know, if you firmed these up, we could get rid of your bra."
This was beyond a silent response, so she rolled over and grabbed him by his "dangler." With a death grip in place, she said "You know, if you firmed this up, we could get rid of the gardener, the postman, the pool man, and your brother."
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
News of the weird in Melissa's world!
OK... so I'm going to a wedding! Weddings are fun, interesting, etc. This one should be especially interesting. The bride and groom are getting married on a plane and then sky diving out of the plane after the ceremony. Ummm... yeah! OK, so they're both avid sky divers. So, no, I won't actually be witnessing this marriage as my feet will be firmly on the ground. Should make for some good pictures though.
Took the 9:07 AM train in this morning from the burbs and it was loaded with Cubs fans headed to today's game. Now, this may not be all that interesting to hear about except for the fact that they were all already pretty much loaded - 9:07 in the AM!! And since alcohol is allowed to be consumed on the Metra, some of them had cases of beer with them just sitting there drinking. Why is this supposed to be fun?
I actually went to a Cubs game Monday night which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I have taken some heat for it from some of my White Sox friends. Why is that? I go to Cubs games every year and I KNOW some of these people do too. But whatever... Anyway, got to sit on one of the Wrigley rooftops across the street from the park to watch the game. I had never done that before and it was cool and totally worth it. Plus, the night was free so I drank all kinds of free beer - good stuff too ... Heineken and Amstel Light - and ate free food! Can you really beat that? I say no!!
And finally... This morning I got off the train and walked outside and a tourist came up to talk to me. Actually ... he was a fairly good looking guy with a cool accent. Can't really place where he might have been from though - definitely Mediterranean of some kind. But anyway... he asks me where the "old city" of Chicago is and I think about it for a second and I'm like ... "What?"... So I just sort of pointed to the Loop cause... "Old city?" Then I think about it for another second and I'm like ... "Oh, do you mean 'Old Towne'"? "Old Towne" is a part of the city but I don't really consider it the "old city" of Chicago. He said, yes, maybe that was what he was asking and I said... well, take such and such El north and that I wasn't sure what stop it was but to ask at the El and he said OK and I walked on. So I started thinking about it more here this morning and you know what? There is no freaking "old city" of Chicago. The whole damn thing pretty much burned down in 1870-something so that pretty much eliminated anything super "old" around here. Hope that guy knows what he thinks he's looking for cause otherwise, I don't think he's going to find it!
Took the 9:07 AM train in this morning from the burbs and it was loaded with Cubs fans headed to today's game. Now, this may not be all that interesting to hear about except for the fact that they were all already pretty much loaded - 9:07 in the AM!! And since alcohol is allowed to be consumed on the Metra, some of them had cases of beer with them just sitting there drinking. Why is this supposed to be fun?
I actually went to a Cubs game Monday night which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I have taken some heat for it from some of my White Sox friends. Why is that? I go to Cubs games every year and I KNOW some of these people do too. But whatever... Anyway, got to sit on one of the Wrigley rooftops across the street from the park to watch the game. I had never done that before and it was cool and totally worth it. Plus, the night was free so I drank all kinds of free beer - good stuff too ... Heineken and Amstel Light - and ate free food! Can you really beat that? I say no!!
And finally... This morning I got off the train and walked outside and a tourist came up to talk to me. Actually ... he was a fairly good looking guy with a cool accent. Can't really place where he might have been from though - definitely Mediterranean of some kind. But anyway... he asks me where the "old city" of Chicago is and I think about it for a second and I'm like ... "What?"... So I just sort of pointed to the Loop cause... "Old city?" Then I think about it for another second and I'm like ... "Oh, do you mean 'Old Towne'"? "Old Towne" is a part of the city but I don't really consider it the "old city" of Chicago. He said, yes, maybe that was what he was asking and I said... well, take such and such El north and that I wasn't sure what stop it was but to ask at the El and he said OK and I walked on. So I started thinking about it more here this morning and you know what? There is no freaking "old city" of Chicago. The whole damn thing pretty much burned down in 1870-something so that pretty much eliminated anything super "old" around here. Hope that guy knows what he thinks he's looking for cause otherwise, I don't think he's going to find it!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
The latest...
So my sister and her boyfriend are *sort of* back together. Hmmm... She said they got together last night and that both of them were miserable and didn't really want to break up. So she says they have some things they need to figure out. So... I don't know. She said that she thinks he's freaking out about the future and that he feels like he needs to know what he wants now and she says she doesn't feel that way. What? Since when is she so laid back about that stuff? OK... well, maybe she is and I just don't know that about her. I'm not anything like that. I want to know all about the future ASAP! Know what I mean? The only relationships I have ever been that casual in are relationships that were just for fun or didn't include any deep feelings. But anyway, if she does feel that way about it... more power to her. I suspect thats the attitude the dating person is supposed to have but do they ever really have it? In the past she has told me about some of their little issues and I was sort of assuming that some of the current problems may have had something to do with that. Perhaps not, but if they do and she's using all of this as an excuse? I just don't know.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Family drama
My sister and her boyfriend (yes, the one who took her to Spain) have broken up! I don't know the full story yet. She emailed me and said she was too upset to talk about it so... I don't know what happened.
Friday, April 21, 2006
OK...
So yesterday... Yeah, yesterday started with a really really bad morning. Remember how I said I thought the cat was getting better? Well, she seemed to be and then took a turn for the worse. And I was like freaking out. I mean... I was sort of wondering if she might still be with us when I got home from work. It was not a good morning. So.... sort of started the night before in that I found blood in the tub and yesterday morning found blood outside the litter box where I guess she had "missed". So these are not good signs to me. This coupled with the night before last her roaming around the apartment and seemingly trying to "hide". Not a good thing when an animal is sick cause you know how some animals can get with all of that. So she was like doing that - hiding behind the TV, hiding in this table. She never does that. She has also started digging thru the bathroom trash like a dog would or something. All of this super weird behavior. She just seemed so out of it too when I left yesterday. I don't know if you can tell if an animal has a fever by feeling their ears or not but hers were burning up. So I was like sick to death even going to work. Came home, she seemed a bit better. Took her to the vet and NOW he finally says its a urinary tract infection. This is what I always thought it was but he didn't think so - as she wasn't running a fever. A little mad that it takes blood in her pee and a second trip to the vet and me scared to death before he figures out what I always thought I knew. Might not sounds so serious but if they aren't treated, they can die from this. So she got two more shots and more pills and now is supposed to be on them for the next three weeks which is going to be serious fun. Hope this makes a difference! Other than cleaning her litter box, he didn't offer any other suggestions. Went to Target and found some better cat food which will hopefully help address her issues and we shall see what happens I guess. I get too attached... I was just a mess about it yesterday.
Then there were some other little things going on in my mind yesterday which weren't making me feel any better. I won't get into all of that but suffice it to say that maybe I am the one who needs the Valium - LOL!
Today is going much much better - I think.
I don't know what it is with me lately but I just have this general feeling of paranoia or whatever. Perhaps its just stress? I don't know, cause it ain't that time of the month or anything. I just feel insecure. I need to chill out or something, do something special and just get my head screwed back on straight.
Then there were some other little things going on in my mind yesterday which weren't making me feel any better. I won't get into all of that but suffice it to say that maybe I am the one who needs the Valium - LOL!
Today is going much much better - I think.
I don't know what it is with me lately but I just have this general feeling of paranoia or whatever. Perhaps its just stress? I don't know, cause it ain't that time of the month or anything. I just feel insecure. I need to chill out or something, do something special and just get my head screwed back on straight.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Suicide morning in Chicago...
An email just received from my friend:
My office is located at Randolph & Wacker. A guy jumped from the bridge into the water over here by us (across the street). From our office, we can see the fire department and a boat in the water with divers looking for the body.
My office is located at Randolph & Wacker. A guy jumped from the bridge into the water over here by us (across the street). From our office, we can see the fire department and a boat in the water with divers looking for the body.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Funny Quote of the Day
"Never wear anything that panics the cat."
- P. J. O'Rourke
Speaking of cats... I think... I think... I hope... that the cat is finally getting better! She coughed up something totally without description ... so I won't even try ... and since then... I don't know... things in her "bathroom" seem a little more normal.
We'll see how it goes. I'm still really worried about her.
- P. J. O'Rourke
Speaking of cats... I think... I think... I hope... that the cat is finally getting better! She coughed up something totally without description ... so I won't even try ... and since then... I don't know... things in her "bathroom" seem a little more normal.
We'll see how it goes. I'm still really worried about her.
Glutton
Sometimes I just think I'm a "glutton for punishment". Why oh why do I do this to myself? Siiiiggghhh....
Blah...
Whatever...
I HAVE SO MUCH STUFF TO DO AT HOME AND NO INTEREST IN DOING IT!!!!!
I can't stand it ... I mean, really. I have like a STACK of laundry that needs to be done ASAP, grocery shopping which needs to be completed, workouts I need to be doing in the PM. I can't get over how much stuff I have to do and I just keep putting it OFF! I have no idea why I am such a procrastinator!!!!!!
Have I mentioned in this blog yet that my mom is retiring this year? I can't think if I have or not. Anyway, she is and is super excited! She has been a preschool teacher for 31 years so you can imagine! We're in the process of planning something special for her but what would be a good retirement gift? Any ideas?
Blah...
Whatever...
I HAVE SO MUCH STUFF TO DO AT HOME AND NO INTEREST IN DOING IT!!!!!
I can't stand it ... I mean, really. I have like a STACK of laundry that needs to be done ASAP, grocery shopping which needs to be completed, workouts I need to be doing in the PM. I can't get over how much stuff I have to do and I just keep putting it OFF! I have no idea why I am such a procrastinator!!!!!!
Have I mentioned in this blog yet that my mom is retiring this year? I can't think if I have or not. Anyway, she is and is super excited! She has been a preschool teacher for 31 years so you can imagine! We're in the process of planning something special for her but what would be a good retirement gift? Any ideas?
A great weekend!! : )
Hey all, I'm back! Took Friday off and drove down to my parents' place for Easter weekend. It was a lovely wonderful weekend and I was very happy to be there. The weather was nice too so that made it even better. Its just nice to get away every once in a while but that is a pretty long drive when you are by yourself.
So anyway, Friday out to dinner and just visited with my parents and grandparents. Saturday was a lazy day and my dad made his famous pizza for dinner and oh yeah... big Saturday breakfast too - my dad is sort of known for those. Ummm... Sunday was church and a nice Easter dinner before heading back. All of this about food, right?
Anyway, it was great! The drive back wasn't too great as the weather decided to have a meltdown. Stormed part of the way back including even a tornado WARNING in the county I was driving thru. I sort of freaked my mom out about that by telling her "Well, I looked around and I didn't see it so I just decided to keep driving." LOL! Oh well, what can ya do?
So thats about it... What do you think about someone who is not invited to a particular event or party or whatever showing up anyway? Someone who thinks that just because another relative may be invited that they are automatically entitled to attend? What the heck is up with that? A lot of people have a lot of nerve. If I didn't receive an invitation, I would never in a million years even consider that I was "entitled" to go and then actually go. People need to learn some serious manners!
So anyway, Friday out to dinner and just visited with my parents and grandparents. Saturday was a lazy day and my dad made his famous pizza for dinner and oh yeah... big Saturday breakfast too - my dad is sort of known for those. Ummm... Sunday was church and a nice Easter dinner before heading back. All of this about food, right?
Anyway, it was great! The drive back wasn't too great as the weather decided to have a meltdown. Stormed part of the way back including even a tornado WARNING in the county I was driving thru. I sort of freaked my mom out about that by telling her "Well, I looked around and I didn't see it so I just decided to keep driving." LOL! Oh well, what can ya do?
So thats about it... What do you think about someone who is not invited to a particular event or party or whatever showing up anyway? Someone who thinks that just because another relative may be invited that they are automatically entitled to attend? What the heck is up with that? A lot of people have a lot of nerve. If I didn't receive an invitation, I would never in a million years even consider that I was "entitled" to go and then actually go. People need to learn some serious manners!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Its gonna be a slow one...
OK, well at least the morning is. We'll see what happens after 1pm but its gonna be slow til then. At least we get a free lunch today since there's a meeting in the office - whoo-hoo!!
I *think* the kitty is getting better - I'm not sure. She still is making a bunch of trips to the litter box with nothing happening so I don't know. She's getting her medicine and pills and generally hating life when she has to do this but she's not so bad to deal with either. I hope its making a difference!!
Trying to think of anything else to write about at the moment. Nothing of interest going on this weekend at all.
Heard we're in for some nice big spring storms this weekend as is typical of Easter weekend. Isn't Easter weekend one of the biggest weekends (no matter when it is) for like tornados and general storm chaos? Is it Easter or Palm Sunday? I can't remember, but one of those weekends is historically bad regardless of if it occurs in March or April. I'm not a big fan of storms. Some people love 'em, but I really don't.
I have had a few bad storm experiences. Actually, every storm was somewhat of a bad experience for me growing up. My backyard out in the country looks just about like Dorothy's in the Wizard of Oz and that sort of freaked me out. What I mean is just country and barns and land... wide open spaces so to speak. Seeing black skys against that ... I don't like it. Had a couple of smallish tornados in my hometown but nothing of real damage - made a couple of trips to the basement though. Had some other tornados on some camping trips that were super scary. Had one driving experience alone at night by myself driving up to northern Wisconsin which was just horrible - I think I'm still shaking from that one and it was about seven years ago!!
I think the one that scarred me the most was camping one weekend in the farm lot at my great-grandmother's farm. OK .... I know that doesn't make much sense so here's the story:
My family still owns the original family land down in southern Illiois where my grandfather grew up. Anyway, when my great-grandmother moved out of her house (my great aunt/uncle took care of her for a few years before she was in a nursing home and later died... she lived to be 96 years old), when we went to visit the area we would stay in the old house. Well, eventually they started renting the house out and its like... where are we going to stay now? Well, my grandfather's cousin owns the other house on the lot and he allowed us to bring our campers/tents and just camp out in the farm lot. It was lots of fun - really! We brought family friends from time to time and made weekends of it. It was/is just a great place to hang out - totally rural, in the country, farm land, woods, ponds, lakes, etc. Its about a 45 minute drive from St. Louis.
The nearby towns are cute little towns - everyone (including myself) is of German decent. They all even still have this weird accent down there. My grandfather's cousin has it, even my grandfather's brothers had it... my grandfather does not which I always thought was kind of weird. They all do/did speak German fluently though. Anyway, the towns are nice - small - but each town has about 5 restaurants with huge outdoor beer gardens and fish fries every Friday night. Its a great time!! There are also some German bakeries around - although the original one that my dad loved and was super authenthic has been gone for several years. And, they're big on their "home killed" meats down there. There is this one butcher shop we always go to and stock up big time to take home - the best brautwurst on the planet!
But, I digress... its a great place to visit and sort of feels like a second (or is it third?) home to me. I think my sister and I had more fun hanging out at their town homecoming festivities one year than we have ever had at Corn Fest in our hometown. Gosh... when I think about it ... we really did make some special trips down there each year. We would go down for this German festival they had each summer ... Werschtsmart? Something like that? I'm not sure how to spell it? Anyway, it was a big brauts and beer fest... lots of outdoor games. Really fun stuff. We haven't been for several years as the group my family is honorary members of (thats another story) no longer put it on. Another group does now I think. Actually... I think this type of festival is quite common down there and there may be several during the year in all of those towns down there.
OK ... where was I and how did storms lead me into this story?? Yeah so one spring we were camping in the farm lot. This was one of the times that our family friends came with. My parents, my sis and I went one night early and the two daughters of our friends came with us too - their parents were coming the next day. I'd say I was about 12-13 years old. Anyway, this is when we had the pull-type pop-up trailer. The weather was so bad by the time we got there that there was no way we were even going to set the trailer up. It was horrible -black and windy and downright scary. I mean... I can't even begin to tell you how frightening it was. Before we went to *bed* (yeah right, like we were going to sleep) my grandfather's cousin's wife showed us how to get into their storm cellar. Now, I'm not talking about a basement here - I've done that a million times - I'm talking about outside, life the lid and get inside and close it behind you. How country is that?
So... me, my sis, and our two friends slept in the bed of my parents van. This was 1987 (I remember now) and my parents had a *real* van. One of those conversion vans and when the back seat folded down it created a bed that was probably somewhat between a queen to king sized bed so there was room for the four of us. My parents slept in the chairs. It was a horrible night, I don't think we got any sleep.
The next night my friends' parents were there and same thing. I can't remember exactly what happened now but basically another night of horrible weather and us kids ended up sleeping in the vans again - I was just too scared to sleep in the trailer. The trailer must have been up. I was in one of the vans (my friends' parents had one too) with one of my friends, all of the trees looked like they were gonna fall over - I remember that being the scariest thing about all of this. We look outside and we see my parents outside running. And we're like, crap, are they going to the cellar? Well, looking at it now... why did we think that? They never would have left us there like that if they were. But anyway, we thought they were so me and my friend come running out and run to the other van where my sis and other friend were staying. I guess my parents and my friends' parents were running outside because they were trying to put down the camper before it got shredded. So... it was another night sleeping in the vans. By this time, my nerves are shot. I was always uncomfortable with storms prior to this but this just sort of sealed the deal for me as far as making me afraid. I still look back on it as two of the worst nights of my life. I mean, it was really bad.
The next night they decided to pop up the trailer inside the barn. I'm not sure what good that would have been if there had been a tornado and the barn blew away with it. But anyway, it was windy as crap all day long but it was just wind. I don't remember there being a storm that night at all - of course. Anyway, its one of those stupid stories that I always tell everyone and its not anything that I'll ever forget!!
Back to something I mentioned earlier ... us being "honorary members" of this club. So the story on that is that my grandfather's family owned a bunch of land in this area and its handed down thru the generations. Anyway, this club *rents* (for a great deal) some of the land on the family land. They were allowed to do whatever improvements they wanted so they built a club house, shelter house, outdoor game/family area, and like 3-4 small lakes on it. Yeah... nice, right? It is nice. So now when we go visit over there we don't camp in the farm lot - we either camp at the club or we even put out some sleeping bags in the club and just sleep there. Its still a fun thing for me to do. I don't think I went down there last year but in the two previous years I did. Another thing that I like about going down there is that we go to St. Louis Cardinals games from time to time. I'm sort of hoping to get down there sometime this year so we can go to a game at the new stadium. That would be cool!
So sorry about the tangent here but I guess it gives a little more insite into my life ... and it gave me something to do ... so anyway, thats it for now!!
I *think* the kitty is getting better - I'm not sure. She still is making a bunch of trips to the litter box with nothing happening so I don't know. She's getting her medicine and pills and generally hating life when she has to do this but she's not so bad to deal with either. I hope its making a difference!!
Trying to think of anything else to write about at the moment. Nothing of interest going on this weekend at all.
Heard we're in for some nice big spring storms this weekend as is typical of Easter weekend. Isn't Easter weekend one of the biggest weekends (no matter when it is) for like tornados and general storm chaos? Is it Easter or Palm Sunday? I can't remember, but one of those weekends is historically bad regardless of if it occurs in March or April. I'm not a big fan of storms. Some people love 'em, but I really don't.
I have had a few bad storm experiences. Actually, every storm was somewhat of a bad experience for me growing up. My backyard out in the country looks just about like Dorothy's in the Wizard of Oz and that sort of freaked me out. What I mean is just country and barns and land... wide open spaces so to speak. Seeing black skys against that ... I don't like it. Had a couple of smallish tornados in my hometown but nothing of real damage - made a couple of trips to the basement though. Had some other tornados on some camping trips that were super scary. Had one driving experience alone at night by myself driving up to northern Wisconsin which was just horrible - I think I'm still shaking from that one and it was about seven years ago!!
I think the one that scarred me the most was camping one weekend in the farm lot at my great-grandmother's farm. OK .... I know that doesn't make much sense so here's the story:
My family still owns the original family land down in southern Illiois where my grandfather grew up. Anyway, when my great-grandmother moved out of her house (my great aunt/uncle took care of her for a few years before she was in a nursing home and later died... she lived to be 96 years old), when we went to visit the area we would stay in the old house. Well, eventually they started renting the house out and its like... where are we going to stay now? Well, my grandfather's cousin owns the other house on the lot and he allowed us to bring our campers/tents and just camp out in the farm lot. It was lots of fun - really! We brought family friends from time to time and made weekends of it. It was/is just a great place to hang out - totally rural, in the country, farm land, woods, ponds, lakes, etc. Its about a 45 minute drive from St. Louis.
The nearby towns are cute little towns - everyone (including myself) is of German decent. They all even still have this weird accent down there. My grandfather's cousin has it, even my grandfather's brothers had it... my grandfather does not which I always thought was kind of weird. They all do/did speak German fluently though. Anyway, the towns are nice - small - but each town has about 5 restaurants with huge outdoor beer gardens and fish fries every Friday night. Its a great time!! There are also some German bakeries around - although the original one that my dad loved and was super authenthic has been gone for several years. And, they're big on their "home killed" meats down there. There is this one butcher shop we always go to and stock up big time to take home - the best brautwurst on the planet!
But, I digress... its a great place to visit and sort of feels like a second (or is it third?) home to me. I think my sister and I had more fun hanging out at their town homecoming festivities one year than we have ever had at Corn Fest in our hometown. Gosh... when I think about it ... we really did make some special trips down there each year. We would go down for this German festival they had each summer ... Werschtsmart? Something like that? I'm not sure how to spell it? Anyway, it was a big brauts and beer fest... lots of outdoor games. Really fun stuff. We haven't been for several years as the group my family is honorary members of (thats another story) no longer put it on. Another group does now I think. Actually... I think this type of festival is quite common down there and there may be several during the year in all of those towns down there.
OK ... where was I and how did storms lead me into this story?? Yeah so one spring we were camping in the farm lot. This was one of the times that our family friends came with. My parents, my sis and I went one night early and the two daughters of our friends came with us too - their parents were coming the next day. I'd say I was about 12-13 years old. Anyway, this is when we had the pull-type pop-up trailer. The weather was so bad by the time we got there that there was no way we were even going to set the trailer up. It was horrible -black and windy and downright scary. I mean... I can't even begin to tell you how frightening it was. Before we went to *bed* (yeah right, like we were going to sleep) my grandfather's cousin's wife showed us how to get into their storm cellar. Now, I'm not talking about a basement here - I've done that a million times - I'm talking about outside, life the lid and get inside and close it behind you. How country is that?
So... me, my sis, and our two friends slept in the bed of my parents van. This was 1987 (I remember now) and my parents had a *real* van. One of those conversion vans and when the back seat folded down it created a bed that was probably somewhat between a queen to king sized bed so there was room for the four of us. My parents slept in the chairs. It was a horrible night, I don't think we got any sleep.
The next night my friends' parents were there and same thing. I can't remember exactly what happened now but basically another night of horrible weather and us kids ended up sleeping in the vans again - I was just too scared to sleep in the trailer. The trailer must have been up. I was in one of the vans (my friends' parents had one too) with one of my friends, all of the trees looked like they were gonna fall over - I remember that being the scariest thing about all of this. We look outside and we see my parents outside running. And we're like, crap, are they going to the cellar? Well, looking at it now... why did we think that? They never would have left us there like that if they were. But anyway, we thought they were so me and my friend come running out and run to the other van where my sis and other friend were staying. I guess my parents and my friends' parents were running outside because they were trying to put down the camper before it got shredded. So... it was another night sleeping in the vans. By this time, my nerves are shot. I was always uncomfortable with storms prior to this but this just sort of sealed the deal for me as far as making me afraid. I still look back on it as two of the worst nights of my life. I mean, it was really bad.
The next night they decided to pop up the trailer inside the barn. I'm not sure what good that would have been if there had been a tornado and the barn blew away with it. But anyway, it was windy as crap all day long but it was just wind. I don't remember there being a storm that night at all - of course. Anyway, its one of those stupid stories that I always tell everyone and its not anything that I'll ever forget!!
Back to something I mentioned earlier ... us being "honorary members" of this club. So the story on that is that my grandfather's family owned a bunch of land in this area and its handed down thru the generations. Anyway, this club *rents* (for a great deal) some of the land on the family land. They were allowed to do whatever improvements they wanted so they built a club house, shelter house, outdoor game/family area, and like 3-4 small lakes on it. Yeah... nice, right? It is nice. So now when we go visit over there we don't camp in the farm lot - we either camp at the club or we even put out some sleeping bags in the club and just sleep there. Its still a fun thing for me to do. I don't think I went down there last year but in the two previous years I did. Another thing that I like about going down there is that we go to St. Louis Cardinals games from time to time. I'm sort of hoping to get down there sometime this year so we can go to a game at the new stadium. That would be cool!
So sorry about the tangent here but I guess it gives a little more insite into my life ... and it gave me something to do ... so anyway, thats it for now!!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Stuff...
Still waiting to hear back from the vet regarding the rest of the kitty's tests. I don't know what its going to be. Get to give her pills and medicine which is ever so much fun... I don't know if its working. Poor kitty.
So much on my mind lately. I just got bombarded with work the moment I walked in today and it has been nonstop ever since. Right now I'm on lunch so I get a bit of a break then I have to call back a user and hold her hand regarding simply renaming files and moving them from one directoy to another. Simple, right? I bet we're on the phone for over an hour. I'll let you know.
Bunch of stuff to work on at home, etc. I don't know how I'll ever get anything done.
My mind is spinning and I hate that!
So much on my mind lately. I just got bombarded with work the moment I walked in today and it has been nonstop ever since. Right now I'm on lunch so I get a bit of a break then I have to call back a user and hold her hand regarding simply renaming files and moving them from one directoy to another. Simple, right? I bet we're on the phone for over an hour. I'll let you know.
Bunch of stuff to work on at home, etc. I don't know how I'll ever get anything done.
My mind is spinning and I hate that!
Quotes of the Day
Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh. - WH Auden
I have just returned from Boston. It is the only sane thing to do if you find yourself up there. - Fred Allen
Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. - William Dement
I have just returned from Boston. It is the only sane thing to do if you find yourself up there. - Fred Allen
Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. - William Dement
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Kitty update
Well... so far so good. The vet has run some of the tests and nothing bad has come back. He has a few more tests to run. If he finds nothing, his suggestion is just to keep her on the medication for a week and see what happens. A part of me is beginning to wonder if the kitty isn't just a head case.
Kitty
So... I thought or hoped it was going to be something simple with the kitty cat, but maybe not. Doc couldn't find anything wrong with her and she wasn't running a fever which I guess is what typically happens with an infection. So he gave her some kind of shot, two prescriptions and took some blood. Supposed to get the test results today. No idea what this is going to end up being. Poor kitty. I just can't get over how happy and healthy acting she is though. She is her normal self. Other than the trip in the cat carrier and in the car... she was fine. I'm really stumped by this. I hope it doesn't end up being something serious.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Ho-hum
Really nothing to write about here. I would say I'm at about 97% health-wise. I still feel some ickiness every once in a while. This one has really taken some time to kick. I am going to see if I can start maybe easing back into working out tonight. We shall see... I might go for a little bit.
Remember me mentioning that the cat was sick? She is indeed sick. Ok, well maybe "sick" is saying a little too much. She seems her happy little self but she has bathroom issues. Basically she keeps making trips to the litter box and I'm not sure if its a #1 or #2 problem. I'm thinking bladder infection but she's on her way to the vet tonight to find out.
I feel like I'm bored with the internet these days. The only real things of interest out there are the blogs and picture sites anymore. I'm just not interested in the other stuff. I have a whole list of bookmarks that I try to visit every day and most of them I'm not even looking at anymore. I need some ideas for entertaining sites.
A little bit stressed out here at work today. I have a whole list of work stuff and personal stuff that I need to attend to and I'm slowly but surely making my way thru the list but its stressing me out. Its a head-ache afternoon.
OK, thats about it for now!!
Remember me mentioning that the cat was sick? She is indeed sick. Ok, well maybe "sick" is saying a little too much. She seems her happy little self but she has bathroom issues. Basically she keeps making trips to the litter box and I'm not sure if its a #1 or #2 problem. I'm thinking bladder infection but she's on her way to the vet tonight to find out.
I feel like I'm bored with the internet these days. The only real things of interest out there are the blogs and picture sites anymore. I'm just not interested in the other stuff. I have a whole list of bookmarks that I try to visit every day and most of them I'm not even looking at anymore. I need some ideas for entertaining sites.
A little bit stressed out here at work today. I have a whole list of work stuff and personal stuff that I need to attend to and I'm slowly but surely making my way thru the list but its stressing me out. Its a head-ache afternoon.
OK, thats about it for now!!
Quote of the Day
The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you'll never find it. - CP Snow
Friday, April 07, 2006
Quick update!
Just been kind of crazy around here today but I think I'm finally caught up. Got my work done, paid my bills, took care of a few random things.
I'm not 100% healthy yet but feeling 100% better. Does that make any sense? I'm still tired and I have a nasely sound to my voice but I can breathe and I'm STARVING so thats a good sign.
Don't know what is up for tonight other than spaghetti for dinner. May go out or just stay in. We shall see!!
I'm not 100% healthy yet but feeling 100% better. Does that make any sense? I'm still tired and I have a nasely sound to my voice but I can breathe and I'm STARVING so thats a good sign.
Don't know what is up for tonight other than spaghetti for dinner. May go out or just stay in. We shall see!!
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Blah...
The last few days have been complete and utter .... *&$#!!!
You fill in the blank.
It started out just great Friday night going to the Big & Rich concert. Met the group at a nearby bar, had a couple of drinks and then headed over. I wasn't feeling too great in the tummy but thought it was probably something I ate. Had a bruchetta appetizer that was just loaded down with garlic and sometimes that makes me feel icky.
So went to the concert felt so-so but had some more drinks and it ended up being a great time! It was a really cool concert. They really only played like an hour so the played all of their hits, a few new songs and a song or two from their next album. We had "special" tickets - this I did not know. It was pretty much a free concert event from US-99 so the entire downstairs of the bar was just crammed with all of the listeners who won tickets on the air. They were packed in down there - couldn't really move. Well, our tickets were for the "balcony" section. The numbers were small up there, you could walk around, hang at the railing and had an all-around great view. It was really nice and a really good time. They played all acoustic and Cowboy Troy even came out on a few songs with them. It was pretty cool.
Well somewhere during the evening I started getting this little tickle in my throat. I wasn't too concerned but didn't like it. Saturday morning I woke up and I could barely talk. Welcome my first cold of 2006. I usually get one in late winter/early spring so this one may have been slightly expected. I wasn't even sure it was a cold at first. My mom typically gets larengitis (sp?) around this time each year because of bad allergies. Stuff is starting to bloom and I was thinking that maybe this was just another gift I had inherited from her. In the beginning it was just my voice, I pretty much felt fine. That was sort of the last for "feeling fine" for me. I have pretty much been sick since then. I even missed three days of work. The throat got worse, then it moved to my nose and now its pretty much gone from the throat but still sort of in my nose and now its in my ears which just sucks!!! I don't think I have really slept in three nights because I can't freaking breathe. Last night was the first night I got a few hours - I think the Robitussin I took finally helped and I was at least able to lie on my back and breathe. So I was finally able to come back to work today. I seriously would have LOVED to take the rest of the week off. I still need to rest - big time. I'm pretty much fine in the hours after I take my Tylenol Cold but once it wears out ... I feel crappy again. And, if you ask me, I am sort of running a fever on and off. I think the cat might have it too - I'm not kidding. The last two days all she has done is lay around and hasn't been her playful self at all. Sorry Willow! LOL!
But I'm a survivor and I'm hoping by tomorrow I should be A-OK. I hope I can try and have some fun this weekend but I'm not sure what is up. Came in here this morning and talked to my boss and got her to give me email shifts for support the next couple of days. There was no way I wanted to be stuck on a 4-hour phone shift feeling like this. I seriously could have killed someone.
So that is everything that has been going on in my life in a nutshell the past couple of days. Got to watch some White Sox baseball and so far, not so good. Oh well, its only April, right! LOL! Got to see my soap (Days of Our Lives) in real time instead of watching it on the DVR. That has been the curse of the DVR for me. I have gotten back into soaps after not watching them for years! It just became too much of a pain to record on the VCR every day but the DVR sort of solves that problem. I've been watching Days since I was like 2 and it was always a huge event each lunchtime at the sorority house to watch it - LoL! Those were the days. Does anyone else watch it? I have some serious thoughts on some of the current storylines and was considering blogging it.
Alas, that is it for now. I have a bunch of stuff I need to take care of this afternoon and then I might try to bolt a little bit early.
You fill in the blank.
It started out just great Friday night going to the Big & Rich concert. Met the group at a nearby bar, had a couple of drinks and then headed over. I wasn't feeling too great in the tummy but thought it was probably something I ate. Had a bruchetta appetizer that was just loaded down with garlic and sometimes that makes me feel icky.
So went to the concert felt so-so but had some more drinks and it ended up being a great time! It was a really cool concert. They really only played like an hour so the played all of their hits, a few new songs and a song or two from their next album. We had "special" tickets - this I did not know. It was pretty much a free concert event from US-99 so the entire downstairs of the bar was just crammed with all of the listeners who won tickets on the air. They were packed in down there - couldn't really move. Well, our tickets were for the "balcony" section. The numbers were small up there, you could walk around, hang at the railing and had an all-around great view. It was really nice and a really good time. They played all acoustic and Cowboy Troy even came out on a few songs with them. It was pretty cool.
Well somewhere during the evening I started getting this little tickle in my throat. I wasn't too concerned but didn't like it. Saturday morning I woke up and I could barely talk. Welcome my first cold of 2006. I usually get one in late winter/early spring so this one may have been slightly expected. I wasn't even sure it was a cold at first. My mom typically gets larengitis (sp?) around this time each year because of bad allergies. Stuff is starting to bloom and I was thinking that maybe this was just another gift I had inherited from her. In the beginning it was just my voice, I pretty much felt fine. That was sort of the last for "feeling fine" for me. I have pretty much been sick since then. I even missed three days of work. The throat got worse, then it moved to my nose and now its pretty much gone from the throat but still sort of in my nose and now its in my ears which just sucks!!! I don't think I have really slept in three nights because I can't freaking breathe. Last night was the first night I got a few hours - I think the Robitussin I took finally helped and I was at least able to lie on my back and breathe. So I was finally able to come back to work today. I seriously would have LOVED to take the rest of the week off. I still need to rest - big time. I'm pretty much fine in the hours after I take my Tylenol Cold but once it wears out ... I feel crappy again. And, if you ask me, I am sort of running a fever on and off. I think the cat might have it too - I'm not kidding. The last two days all she has done is lay around and hasn't been her playful self at all. Sorry Willow! LOL!
But I'm a survivor and I'm hoping by tomorrow I should be A-OK. I hope I can try and have some fun this weekend but I'm not sure what is up. Came in here this morning and talked to my boss and got her to give me email shifts for support the next couple of days. There was no way I wanted to be stuck on a 4-hour phone shift feeling like this. I seriously could have killed someone.
So that is everything that has been going on in my life in a nutshell the past couple of days. Got to watch some White Sox baseball and so far, not so good. Oh well, its only April, right! LOL! Got to see my soap (Days of Our Lives) in real time instead of watching it on the DVR. That has been the curse of the DVR for me. I have gotten back into soaps after not watching them for years! It just became too much of a pain to record on the VCR every day but the DVR sort of solves that problem. I've been watching Days since I was like 2 and it was always a huge event each lunchtime at the sorority house to watch it - LoL! Those were the days. Does anyone else watch it? I have some serious thoughts on some of the current storylines and was considering blogging it.
Alas, that is it for now. I have a bunch of stuff I need to take care of this afternoon and then I might try to bolt a little bit early.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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