Don't you have to question their "balance" in the first place? ; )

Q: If a Cubs fan living in Chicago pulls against the White Sox, does it indicate he or she might be mentally unbalanced?

A: "If the teams are not directly competing against each other, the idea of a Cubs fan rooting against the White Sox becomes a little pathological," says Dr. Robert Burton, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University. "Technically, it probably stems from some unresolved sibling rivalry kind of thing. Otherwise, you have to wonder what a Cubs fan has to gain by pulling against the White Sox. Not too much, really, unless it's to feel better about himself. If the White Sox lose, then they're both in the doghouse.

"A resolved sibling rivalry would let you enjoy the success of your neighbor, or whomever, and root against each other only when you're going head-to-head. Any kind of sibling rivalry is commonly referred to as arrested development. Then, you get history and other issues layered on top of everything, and it can compound things. I personally pay more attention to whichever team is succeeding."
-- Mike Conklin

Guess who's AL Central champs??

THESE GUYS!! WHOO-HOO!!

What do you think?

Do bad things happen for a reason or do they just happen?

My cyborg name!

19 year old Iraq war widow ...

Maddison Campbell, 19, right, wife of Sgt. Jeremy M. Campbell, of Middlebury, Pa., is presented the U.S. flag by Maj. Gen. Howard Bromberg, left, during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005. Campbell died on Sept. 11, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during patrol operations. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Negativity...

U-G-L-Y ... she ain't got no alibi!!!

Blah...

Why oh why do random guys seem to come out of the woodwork and haunt me? Well... this one isn't so random... this guy I dated for a few months last year... anyway, he's a big Cleveland Indians fan and decided I was due some torment ...

Whatever, dude!

You know...

I think its just one of those unhappy days and man do I hate those??

I actually had a pretty good weekend, lowkey, but good. Sang karaoke Saturday night. The place was dead so I sang like 7 songs. It was like "Me... in Concert"... I was good too. I'm getting better. If I took voice lessons again I know it wouldn't take long to get back to how good I was ... Blah ... something to consider I suppose.

So yeah I was in a pretty good mood all weekend and even this morning coming to work, although I didn't want to come to work...

Then its just like CRASH DOWN! Why do people - friends, coworkers, etc. always seem to insist on bringing you down with them? And why the hell do I allow it?? I've just been in knots all day long today and I'm sure it would not have happened if I hadn't been treated like crap almost as soon as I walked in and if I could just learn to assert myself better.

I talk about not being friends with people... You know, it isn't that. I don't want to lose friends but I just don't want to deal with the personal drama of other people. I hate how some people just seem to always bring you in. I mean, come on!! I try not to do that. I guess I'm the opposite of that and perhaps I should try and bring others in but you know what I mean, right??

I guess I'm just venting today and that makes me sad cause I really have nothing bad going on to vent about... I'm just so tired of some of this ongoing crap. You know, sometimes I would just love to run away, to make a total change in my life, to get the heck out of here - my job, this town, etc. etc. and really just start over new. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know ...

More about Yaga's...

The side of a three-story building on the Strand collapsed, exposing Yaga's Café and upstairs offices to the elements. An elaborate cornice of the building had been destroyed in the famous hurricane that killed 8,000 here in 1900. The fourth story was removed after damage from Hurricane Carla in 1961. Until Rita hit, the restaurant had served a cocktail called the "1900 Hurricane."

Oh no!!

Exterior wall of Yaga's Cafe in Galveston collapsed! I loved that place!!

White Sox

pathetic... PATHETIC... PATHETIC!!!!!!

At the very least I'll get a nice chunk of change back.

Just goes to show you ... stick with your teams, never "adopt-a-team"... See.. if I just would have stayed a Cardinals fan like I was when I was a kid, we wouldn't have problems now.

Its seriously something to reconsider!

No... This isn't Texas, is it?

Prepared in his own way

I got about 40 lbs of rock salt, two bags of charcoal, two cans of ligther
fluid, 14 gallons of whiskey, and put my socks and clothes in garbage bags. I
got my waders and about 35 lbs of meat that'll keep with the whiskey and salt.
Other than that, you don't need electricity to bar-b-q and the rock salt is
non-lethal in the shotgun, and good as a preservative and for seasoning. Whiskey
is an old friend -- the best thing for cuts, snake bites, meat, and rainy
days.

--Tony Fairbanks, Houston, Texas

Wow!

http://www.sturtle.com/2005_09_01_archive.html#112705482213271419

A few thoughts...

Seeing that JetBlue plane land at LAX safely last night was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen on television. Was watching the news on the Rita coverage yesterday and they broke in with the story so saw it from the beginning to end... Crazy stuff!!

And speaking of Rita ... Oh man... this is gonna be a bad one!! Looks like its heading straight to Galveston - another one of my favorite places! Looks like that place is gonna get pummeled. My cousin goes to grad school at Texas A&M at Galveston and the school has closed and all of the students have evacuated so she is now home in Houston but who knows if that will even be any safer. My uncle owns a condo on Galveston where Ellie and I guess some roomies live but I'm not sure where it is located. He used to have a house right on the beach there (may post some pictures at some point) but he sold that a few years ago. Its wood, its up on stilts, its maybe 50 yards from the ocean. My guess at this time is in a direct hit, that place won't make it. Chatting with my other cousin Mandy yesterday, I guess they're staying - not sure, she said she and her roommate went looking for batteries and they were out of batteries everywhere. She also said places were running out of gasoline which I saw reported today. So... Its going to be bad.

Horrible storms in the Chicago-area last night. Really bad lightening and thunder - scared the crap out of me - totally jarred awake!! I hate storms, I mean really really hate them! I think it has something to do with growing up in the country and having a huge backyard and fields around which look something like Dorothy's farm in The Wizard of Oz - ha ha! So I told him this morning that as I was lying there shaking about the storm I thought that at least I didn't have a Category 5 hurricane barreling towards me (you know, I'm all about putting things into perspective these days). He says I have to stop watching the news!! : )

Crappy night/crappy day...

I have been experiencing some sleeping issues recently that are sort of freaking me out. It can happen any time but I think it typically occurs around the time of my monthly visitor. Anyway, basically the problem is that I am burning up hot ... like I'm running a fever or something (and I think I am) and am to the point of delirium where I do not know where I am, what I am saying or what I am doing. This has happened two times recently, once being last night. Its scaring the crap out of me. On top of that, I can never remember what happened. I don't know what to do about it either. So I'm in a horrible awful mood this morning because of this. Actually, last night I was quite sick - stomach issues, fever, headache. Took some aspirin, tums, and went to bed an hour and a half earlier than normal. So I guess the explanation behind all of it then was that I actually was sick. Still sort of sick today and wish I wasn't at work. I don't know, thinking about going home early today but I think it will just put me in a bad mood for the afternoon. Perhaps its better to be at work and be distracted. I guess we will see what happens ... : (

Holy crap!

-- Hurricane Rita expected to reach category 4 in the Gulf of Mexico by 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, forecasters say.

Boredom...

The last two days at work...

BLAH!!!!

Cool...

Originally uploaded by -w7ĐãღMNღêŁღN@ss-.

I don't care...

I love how customers write to complain about stuff you have no control over. Guess what guys ... I DON'T CARE!!! Stop wasting words and emails by going to the trouble!

Agreed...

"When the hurricane struck, it did not turn the region into a Third World country ... it revealed one" -- actor and activist Danny Glover.

Interesting...

The pictures from Hurricane Ophelia make it look a lot worse than I thought it would be. Hatteras Island - another one of my favorite places on the planet! I once spent a week there camped on the backside of a sand dune. Climb the dune, there's the ocean!!

Random thoughts...

Several things I need to do when I get home, specifically cleaning up the apartment, getting gas for my car, etc. etc. Also need to find something to eat! I think I'm officially out of food.

My cousin is crashing at the apartment tonight cause we're all driving down for Corn Fest bright and early tomorrow morning. He gets the couch - he can sleep with the cat! I hope to be out of there by 7:30am at the latest, hopefully earlier.

Keep asking Mom when the damn parade starts and she thinks its 1 but my cousin Lisa said something about it being 11. So I don't know. Anyway, I think we're going to head uptown immediately without stopping by my parents. I'm sure we'll find them easily. I told her I was just going to go up to people and ask "Have you seen my mom?" Easy enough to do in my small hometown, especially when EVERYBODY knows my mom.

Not sure what the plan for the weekend is though especially since we'll only be around one night. My dad has his class reunion so they will be gone to that for several hours. I think we should just go drinking with my cousins. We sort of did that last year and it was fun. Sound good? The bar we would go to is within walking distance of my parents' place. You can't beat that! Other than that we'll probably just hang around the carnival or whatever. Maybe we'll try out the new Mexican restaurant in town. Yes, Sullivan officially has a real Mexican restaurant and my parents say its good. My sister tried it and she said it was good so... I'm going to have to believe her since she loves Mexican food too. Plus, they actually serve ALCOHOL! I'm really impressed they got that liquor license. There aren't many places in town that serve alcohol. I guess its mostly margaritas and Coronas but hey, thats pretty cultured for Sullivan!!

Will have to spend some time with my grandparents which reminds me that I need to go get a birthday card for my grandfather on my lunch break!!

Ummm... other than that, my cousin Lisa and her family are down so we'll probably at least bump into eachother. I don't think I have seen her in like 8 years. Haven't seen her much in the last 25 years or so anyway. Her daughter recently had a baby which makes my parents great-great uncle/aunt. I think thats kind of funny.

And, other than that I'm guessing church and a nice meal on Sunday and then back home.

President Bush in front of one of my favorite Democrats...

Whoo-hoo!!

Just picked up tickets to Games 1 & 2 for the American League Division playoff which will *hopefully* be hosted at US Cellular Field - assuming the White Sox don't blow it and believe me, they could still seriously blow it. If so, I'll get a nice refund. Anyway since they will most likely be day games (at least they were in 2000 when I went) I will be attending unaccompanied. Just me, myself and I going to the game which will be kind of weird because I've never really done that before. Oh well... regardless it will be a good time and if they turn out to be night games, I suppose I will be crashing on my sister's couch for those evenings. Hope it all works out!!

Perturbed...

Yeah so I go to Dunkin Donuts and get a bagel for lunch - I'm not very hungry but just looking for a little snack. So I get back to my desk, take it out of the sack and THEY FORGOT THE CREAM CHEESE. OK so there is no way I can eat this now. Took a look at the work refrig and there is nothing in there I can put on it. Darn it! Guess I'll take it home and have it for breakfast or something tomorrow!

Quote of the day...

"To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self"
-- Joan Didion (American Journalist and Novelist, b.1934)

Once again...

Its cute kitty day!!!

: (

I feel like absolute crap right now.

Nevermind!

No more suggestions needed, I think we have a good list!!

Girls...

I'm working on a little project for a friend of mine ... please send me any suggestions of either woman-empowered or man-hating songs that you can think of!!

Thanks!!

You ever have one of those days ...

... where you just sit and do absolutely nothing at work and can absolutely not find any motivation to do anything whatsoever? You just sort of sit there browsing mindlessly stupid websites and watching the clock? Yeah, that is today for me. I'm so bored lately. Plus I have no idea what I'm even going to do tonight? My sister came over for several hours last night but I have a feeling tonight is going to be sort of lonely ... Oh well...

Fun stuff that makes me smile : )

First thing this morning, I got a nice email from a customer... its always nice to be appreciated:

Melissa, You Rock!! (:
Thank you.
Julia

You can't beat that!!

And, I got a mention on a blog!! I like to be interesting. In fact, I think I'm way more interesting than this blog portrays. No, I don't go into detail on stuff because I sort of learned my lesson on that the hard way - unbelievably, I've had people stalk me from blog to blog for whatever purpose, people break into my blog and email accounts, etc. etc. etc. Its a very long story.

Although I can be a paranoid freak (ie, oh my god, did I turn the curling iron off??!!), I'm not being paranoid about this. I used to have an awesome blog too that I kept for almost a year. I LOVED that thing and it was really a part of me. I even had several regular readers. Unfortunately I had to give it up because it was causing me just too much grief.

I've tried starting over so many times but ... I don't know, although you may think you are anonymous on these things (if you want to be), you really are not. Maybe I'll get back to all of that someday, I hope so, because I really had some fun with it. I am thinking of starting a new little project perhaps next year.

So for now, I AM writing for myself, perhaps telling the incidental story, or just venting, but writing is something that I like to do and enjoy doing every day. It has always sort of been a part of who I am and no one is going to take that away from me.

Cool...

So I hear that one of the coolest chicks on TV - Tina Fey - had a baby. This reminds me of one of the most hilarious rants she ever went off on on Weekend Update on SNL. And the internet is a wonderous place ... I actually was able to find the text of it. This, as far as I'm concerned is CLASSIC, and I couldn't agree more:

The cover story of New York Magazine this week is Baby Panic. This goes
perfectly with the other magazines on my coffee table -- Where Are The Babies?
(US), Why Haven't You Had A Baby? (People), and, For God's Sake Have A Baby
(Time). Thanks Time Magazine, this is just what I need -- another article so
depressing that I can actually hear my ovaries curling up.

According to author Sylvia Hewlett, career women shouldn't wait to have
babies because our fertility takes a steep drop-off after age 27. And Sylvia's
right -- I definitely should've had a baby when I was 27, living in Chicago,
over a biker bar, pulling down a cool 12 grand a year. That woulda worked out
great.

But Sylvia's message is feminism can't change nature, which is true. If
feminism could change nature, Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be all oiled up on the
cover of Maxim.

Ladies, there's no reason to panic though: it's out of your control
anyway. Either your cooter works, or it doesn't.

My mom had me when she was 40, and this was back in the 70s when the
only "fertility aid" was Harvey's Bristol Cream. So, waiting is just a risk that
I'm going to have to take.

And, I don't think I could do fertility drugs, because, to me, 6
half-pound translucent babies is not a miracle! I'd rather adopt a baby. I don't
need a kid that looks like me. I was not a cute kid. I looked like a cross
between that chick from the Indigo Girls... and the other chick from the Indigo
Girls! Not a cute kid.

Love it!!

http://mikebrown.blogspot.com/2005/09/check-out-caption.html

I swear...

Kelly Clarkson's song writers can read my mind!!

LOL!

Friday night's karaoke song list!

My Songs:
1. Cowboy Take Me Away - Dixie Chicks
2. Crazy - Patsy Cline
3. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
4. ...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears

Umm... yeah... so this was an interesting night. #1 I sing a lot and I sound *if I may toot my own horn* pretty damn good on it. I'm actually a pretty good singer. I had six years of lessons, mostly classical stuff, so singing country and pop is kind of different. But anyway... I'm still good but I used to be so much better, but anyway...

#2 a fistfight actually almost broke out when I was singing this. I have never felt MORE like a real country singer - ha ha!
#3 another one I sound pretty good on
#4 I did this as a joke but ... I couldn't follow thru and be all goofy on it. The sad thing is that I ended up sounding pretty good on this one too

TOOT TOOT!!

Hurricane pictures

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=14ewb3ap.b147fdut&Uy=nyvoby&Ux=1

Last night's little adventure...

So the carpets were being cleaned last night. Its a long story and ... well ... I was kind of annoyed that this was being done on a random Thursday night, but whatever. It looks good now. So anyway, carpets being cleaned, I'm hanging out in my bedroom when all of a sudden, lights, computer, TV, air conditioner, everything goes out. Well, bummer. It appeared to just be in the bedroom and the living room. Everything was working in the other rooms. So... this has sort of happened before when I had the hair dryer and the air conditioner on in the same room - I guess it just doesn't like this. So... go downstairs to flip the fuse box or whatever and the ones for the livingroom and bedroom would not go back into place - usually its a super simple little thing to do. So... ended up talking to the guy downstairs who is also the onsite basic maintenance dude and he didn't think he would be able to handle it then so I'm like well, whatever, its not too hot out, have some lights and have an alarm clock so I guess it ain't that big of a deal. Well I don't know what happened then but he changed his mind, ran off to Home Depot to pick up a part or whatever for the box and whoo-hoo - electricity back up and running!! Thank goodness. Like I said, it wasn't that big of a deal but just would have been annoying to have had to wait til today. Can't imagine what it was like for all of those hurricane survivors to deal with no electricity, no water, no nothing for days on end. I mean this was only like an hour!! Another thing to make you really appreciate what you have and realize your problems are minimal. That is the thought I have gone over and over in recent days. No matter how messed up things might get or how upset I might get over various things. I don't have problems, they have problems. I guess that is what you call perspective.

Oh the drama!!

My sis has a mouse in the house. This all started about three weeks ago when she happened upon it and called my mom up freaking out! LOL! So I guess they thought the mouse was gone but apparently its back - or its a new mouse. Had sort of a funny chitchat about it with her on email. Talking about our cats back home - Frisco and Babe (Babe is no longer with us). Anyway, back in the day Frisk, who usually does not hunt at all (indoor/outdoor cats!) actually caught a mouse. Mom didn't notice and she let her in the house with it. Actually she was carrying both a mouse and a big leaf in her mouth. We always joked that Frisk was actually probably chasing a leaf (she's that kind of silly kitty) and accidentally caught a mouse. Anyway, Babe ended up "re-catching" Frisco's mouse and took it outside for a nice dinner:

Sis: Our mouse is back in our apartment! AAH!
Me: Set more traps or get a cat - ha ha!! ; )
Sis: I'd love to get a cat but Katie is allergic and doesn't like animals! I have to set another trap tonight. Minnie (our mouse) was in one of the drawers in the kitchen eating Hershey Kisses!
Me: OH NO!!! Did you get any poison?? I'd lend you Willow, but she's blind as a bat so I doubt she would be any help.
Sis: Yeah. I bought poison about 3 weeks ago. Guess it didn't work! This time, we
put the poison in the drawer that she was in though so hopefully that will work. 'll set another trap tonight too. I told Jaclyn I might have to borrow one of her cats too but they've only known the indoors so I don't think they've ever seen a mouse. I need Babe!! Or if I could disguise the mouse as a leaf, I could use Frisk!
Me: Exactly ... Babe hunted that one down that day that Frisk brought it in. That was too funny! LOL!!
Sis: Yeah, I don't think she really had any clue what she was doing! Silly kitty.

There is something bothersome to me that they have actually named the mouse and are calling it MINNIE!!

Ha-ha!!

Basically ... stay out of the Atlantic!!

Some stuff...

A few interesting stories regarding the situation in New Orleans ...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0509060122sep06,1,785100.story?coll=chi-news-col

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0509070245sep07,1,6482254.column?coll=chi-news-hed

Quotes of the day:

The worst thing about Europe is that you can't go out in the middle of the night and get a Slurpee. - Tellis Frank

I take my children everywhere, but they always find their way back home. - Robert Orben

And, oh yeah ... I found the "missing" 'Bill Nye the Science Guy'. Seems he now has a show called "Eye of Nye". Not sure if it was on PBS but some channel like that ; )

Bloggin'

Sorry my blog is so random and weird lately. Just like me - random and weird ; ) Anyway, I do plan to try and still stop by at least once a day. I miss my long detailed blog entries I used to write. People liked to read them too : ( Anyway, perhaps I'll do that again someday, perhaps not. We shall see...

More nonsense found on the web...

Well... at least she knows she's beautiful!!

Sheesh!!!!!

http://amberie.blogspot.com/2005/09/unavailability.html

Anne Rice on New Orleans...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html?ei=5090&en=ce2f33f8719dba9c&ex=1283486400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Yes, the Irish came too. Two branches of my family first step foot on American soil in New Orleans.

Friday night's karaoke song list!!

Song list:
1. She's In Love With The Boy - Trisha Yearwood
2. Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
3. I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany
4. Crazy - Patsy Cline

You have to be kidding me...

Looters and lawlessness aside ...

THIS is actually what is wrong with America today:

http://www.repentamerica.com/pr_hurricanekatrina.html

Who are these people? Yeah right, the wrath of God and all of that. What are you people smoking?

PATHETIC!!!!!!!!

Hurricane relief

Sign up here - simply your name, email address and location - and the Oxygen Network (Oh!) will donate $1 in hurricane relief..

http://speakup.oxygen.com/campaigns/neworleans/register/ 5a10b9058a1f0b4004a3009d04097080/

Definitely the most interesting thing on the internet right now ...

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

Spinal Tap guy gets it right ...

Watching MSNBC last night and they interviewed Harry Shearer who I guess has a place in New Orleans. New Orleans is one of my favorite places, as I've mentioned, and I thought it was kind of hard to explain why but I think his explanation best sums it up...

"Well, it is a real love affair, and like most love affairs, it‘s hard to explain if you don‘t partake of the emotion. But it‘s the closest you can get to someplace that‘s not in the United States without a visa or a passport. The culture, it has a totally indigenous culture that‘s unique and original, and it‘s been steeping there for 300 years. It‘s a mix of the Caribbean and the French and the African. Every day means something in New Orleans. There‘s a ritual or a meaning or a ceremony or something that marks each day as different from every other day, and it‘s a city that, you know, the joys are great and the sorrows are great, and we celebrate both."

I think I remember reading something similar to this that Jimmy Buffett had written.

Huh...

Bourbon really sort of looks the same...

Why are men the way they are??

You're upset about something, you want to hash it out ... What is wrong with the phone or email especially if its an external problem and not a problem between the two of you? "I'm not going to discuss it on the phone or email" is what he says when prefacing the fact that he'll call me later. Blah ... So my reply? "Fine, I'm not going to discuss it in person at all." So there... the problem is just not going to be discussed. I told him that I will handle it "in my own way". Now I have no idea what that means but I can be pretty scary sometimes and he knows that. Believe me, I know how to make the most of handling things "in my own way". So fine, he doesn't want to discuss this now in a civil and convenient manner when we CAN... Well, I'm not going to discuss it around his work schedule. So there.

The fact is, I can be fairly evil even when I'm NOT pms-ing. At least this really has nothing to do with him.

What I'm thinking about ...

1) Pompeii

2) I have always believed that state governors seem like some of the toughest people around. Most of them are a different breed from your typical national politician. Of course you have the exceptions... Anyway, what I mean to say about this is, I see them as strong people and to see governors crying on TV - even male governors - that scares me.

3) He is always telling me to stand up for myself. Now that I am, he's pissed. I can't help feeling this way and am certainly entitled to my feelings. I just do not know why he doesn't "get it".

4) Why Alanis' song "You Oughtta Know" ROCKS!!!

My small part...

Gave $100 to the Red Cross yesterday for disaster relief. Wanted to do something I guess. It's another one of those things that makes you realize the problems in your life are really minimal...

Yikes!

I remember driving under this overpass!!

Water

I've always had a dream to at least spend some time in my life living by the ocean. Then days like today happen ...

New Orleans...

I have been around enough to have picked what I consider to be some of my favorite places on the planet. I've been all over North America and all of Europe and maybe that isn't everything but I'd definitely say it is enough. Anyway, New Orleans definitely falls onto my list of favorite places on the planet. I've been there 3-4 times - 2 of those times when I was old enough to have a good time there! ; ) Just watching the news broadcasts tonight is depressing the crap out of me. One way or another, its not going to be the same, maybe it will be gone completely. Just sending out some prayers that everyone and everything down there makes it thru. It makes me so sad to think that I may never get to see those places again ...

Pelicans are cool!

One of the quotes of the day...

"Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a human does."
- Bill Nye

Which begs the question .... what ever did happen to "Bil Nye the Science Guy"??

A picture from a fellow blogger today!

Awesome!!

Just plain evil...

That's me! Blah ... PMS will do a number on you sometimes. I think I'm finally getting better though. Thank goodness. Anyway, nothing to report today!!

: )

TMI

I am having serious "women's issues". I mean BAD! In the 20 or so years I've been experiencing this lovely time of the month, it has never been so bad. I don't even have it yet but I'm like doubled over in pain beyond belief. Keep taking the special over the counter "medicines" for this stuff and it works for the hours it says it will, then I have to take more. I'm swollen all over, my stomach is killing me, I'm in absolute hell!!!! And, I can't stop freaking eating - especially chocolate. I wish it would just hurry up and get here. I was stuck with it over the weekend (which was also my birthday) so that was no fun! : ( And at the rate this is going, its going to be another weekend too. BLAH!!! I have no idea what is up...

Yeah, well, like I should share that, but you're reading my blog and if you don't want to know about it, don't read it!!

Anyway, other than that, I did have an excellent birthday. Hung out in South Bend of all places. Went to a nice dinner at a nice restaurant there and other special stuff!! ; )

Took yesterday off and got back. Was going to go downtown to do my cleaning on the apartment but was feeling just way to sick to do it. So today I get a phone call from my landlord and he is wanting the status of all of this because apparently the person who is going to move in wants to move in THIS weekend... So.... that throws things off a bit in terms of my scheduling. I can't clean tonight cause I have my car parked at my friend's place and so I can't stay late cause she will be trapped in her driveway. So I guess I'm just going to go home tonight, do some cleanup and organization on the current place (its an insane mess at the moment!!) and then tomorrow will come to work early and leave early so I can get some cleaning done tomorrow. And, I will hopefully do the same thing on Thursday except I think I will drive to work cause I do have a few things I still need to cart back to my new place. Worst case I have my sister pick the stuff up and I get it from her another time. We shall see but I'm hoping that on Friday sometime during the day I may be able to go drop off the keys to the landlord. I don't think the cleanup is going to take too long. I haven't been there long enough to have screwed the place up that much - LOL!!

So thats my story, take it or leave it!

Today's cute kitty pictures!!

Things I have learned living in the suburbs, part 1

OK so its only been a few days, but here are my thoughts at the moment:

1) When taking the train from Union Station after work, try to sit on one of the back cars. I had always done this in the past but yesterday I was thinking about it and decided I would walk all the way up the the front. My thinking was, if I did this, that it would make it quicker when I got off the train because I would be right at the crossing instead of having to walk up there. Well, this was a bad idea. Walking further up in the tunnel sucked because it was like 200 degrees in there with all of the trains lining up with all of those engines. Plus, being closer to the engine, it smells pretty bad and this does not go away when you get on the train - you're sort of stuck with it the whole ride. So from now on I'm sitting in the back and I'll just do my extra walking when I reach my destination ; )

2) People are nice. I mean I knew this anyway, but some people are really nice, for example my friend Dawn who lives within walking distance of me (20-25 mins). The train station is also within walking distance of me but Dawn lives right along the tracks. She offered to let me park in her driveway (she owns her own place) on the days I drive to the train to avoid having to pay any meters or get a parking pass! How very nice of her. Now when I drive its only a little 10 minute hike to the train which is no big deal to me at all for the money I save. I only plan to drive on days when I have my early shifts or when I'm running late. Yeah so for some reason I've parked at her place both days since she offered - ha ha! She actually said I could park there every day but I'm not planning on that. I sort of like the exercise from my walks!

All grown up!

Over the weekend I moved to the burbs and bought my very first car. Yes, the first car I have actually owned all by my lonesome. Sad in that I'm 31 years old and my little sister owned her own car before me. Well, I've been living in downtown Chicago for almost 9 years so I have an excuse - you don't need a car! Well anyway, so many observation about the surburbs and so much weird stuff has happened in the last few days. My mind is such a jumble on it though so as I get situated and have interesting things to write about I will be sure to stop back here and write about 'em!!

; )

Hey, Trixie...

Where have you been the last 90 or so years?

A picture says a thousand words ... or doesn't ...

The last five years in a nutshell... (no pun intended)

Another beef about Starbucks ...

So like OK, you know how they have those little tip cups out there at the cash registers? Well I will occasionally throw in my coinage after paying but not usually and I definitely won't give more than say 50 cents or so. So today I went and paid with a $10 bill and received $5 back and change. Well what I found interesting about this was that she gave me my $5 back in all $1 bills (OK, so perhaps they were out of $5 bills but I sort of doubt it) - sort of like how they do in restaurants assuming you might want some smaller bills for a tip. I'm kind of like, what is this about? You really think I'm going to give you a $1 bill because I now "conveniently" have one? It takes maybe 30 seconds to take my order and a minute and a half to make my drink. I'm not sure that I even tip that well all the time at "real" bars, and believe me, thats worth more to me than stupid coffee... Nice trick but all she got in return was a few cents.... tricky.

I love staffing emails... this from a co-worker

With Management Permission I will be out tomorrow a.m. I'm not sure what time I will be back in the office ... depends upon how quickly I am able to get divorced!

The weirdness continues...

There's an odd vibe in the air ... and I do not like it!!

Bridezilla

OK so today I heard one of the most stupid stories I have ever heard and probably one of the funniest suggestions ...

So this past weekend my sister and crew went down to Bloomington for a friend's bachelorette party. Now I need to preface this with my sister and her whole bunch are still super close friends with everyone they were friends with in college. I'd say about 75% of them live here. In the last year or so a couple of them have moved down to Louisville, Kentucky, of all places.

So anyway... sis wasn't too enthused about going. She had been to a big birthday party the night before and was kind of hung over, plus she has recently started dating one of her guy friends and I think maybe she just didn't want to leave for the weekend. But she went anyway and drove a few other friends down with her on Saturday. A few others had already gone on Friday.

So it sounds like everything was going well or whatever, they were going from bar to bar and then towards the end of the night my sister's roomie (who was also her roomie in college) asked the bride if they could go to a certain bar next. Well, the bride, who I'm sure was heavily intoxicated at the time was something like ... "No you f-ing bitch, this is my party and we'll do what I want." So my sister's roomie was like taken aback and all upset or whatever and left. Oh... I should also say that my sis had already headed back to the hotel to crash by this point so she did not witness all of this. So then I guess a few minutes later another friend, who was supposed to be a bridesmaid in the wedding, went up and asked the bride the same question and got the same response. So now everyone is pissed. I'm kind of unclear about what happened next but I guess there was some kind of falling out with the bridesmaid and the next thing my sis knows everyone is back and her roomie is asking people if they would like to have her shower gift.

The next day was supposed to be an informal shower. My sis left, a few of the others left and went home. Not exactly sure who was actually there for the shower. My sis didn't leave because she was mad at anyone, although she found the whole thing bizarre, pathetic, etc., she just really didn't want to be there. So I guess this pissiness goes on for the next couple of days to the point where the bride called the bridesmaid that she had gotten in the fight with yesterday and told her that she had discussed it with her fiance and they no longer thought she should be a bridesmaid, I'll pay for your dress, have a nice life, good bye. The whole thing makes no sense to anyone.

So the girl who was to be the bridesmaid is like all upset because she has been friends with this girl for like nine years and none of it is making sense to her either. Basically, no one can figure it out. So the girls who live in Chicago all got together last night and had a bitch-fest about the bride. Everyone is debating who actually will be invited, if the bride will try to "promote" another of their friends to bridesmaid just to be a bitch (I'm guessing she will) and if they are invited, who will actually go.

Right now it sounds like no one is going except one of them who is also a bridesmaid but they have another fun and I think awesome idea. This is the idea and I think its great and I really think they could turn it into somewhat of an event. The plan is instead of going to the wedding that day they will have a party at a bar where each of them will wear the worst bridesmaid dress they ever had and take a bunch of pictures and stuff. I think that sounds great. I was laughing my butt off. I told my sister she had to tell me the when and where because I wanted to come and take pictures of all of them too. She's like, yeah, we also want to get them posted on the internet somewhere and make sure the bride finds out about it. Heh-heh ... That won't be a problem.

So my sister and I were back and forth on what the bride's problem is and we have about 5 different theories but we really can't pinpoint anything specifically, but I think for whatever reason the bride is trying to break away from all of her old friends and she is just going to extremes to do it. Sis did tell me one other really bizarre story about the bridal party. The maid of honor is someone the girls haven't really spent much time with. She is the bride's old high school friend. Anyway, in all of the back and forth planning emails the maid of honor said something like ... "Tell all of those Chicago girls that they need to bring gifts to all of these events. They're all really bitchy and self-centered so they probably won't." Well... the bridesmaid who had the falling out with the bride was on these emails and she was like ... "Excuse me???" The maid of honor wrote back "Oh... you weren't supposed to see that." So yeah, these are the influences at work here. Basically, these people do not sound like very nice people.

Oh yeah, does this sound like these girls are about 21 years old??? Wrong ... These are 28 year olds we are talking about.

And, lastly, the bridesmaid who was kicked out is the one who had planned the entire bachelorette weekend including making a scrapbook, etc. The bitchy maid of honor didn't even show up.

I told my sister I honestly would have nothing to do with the bride anymore. What a piece of work.

Tony wins the Brickyard! Whoo-hoo!!!!!!!

I love my new DVR!!!

Recently spent some more buck-age with Comcast and picked up their DVR unit. Now I hate Comcast as a company as they have spent many hours screwing me out of appointments they say they are going to show up to but never do. But decided to take a chance on this.

So far so good...

I will say that it probably doesn't have all of the options that Tivo has - my sister has that and she loves it, I swear they don't watch "live" TV at all anymore - but its cool nonetheless. Plus, you don't have to purchase the unit and its also a little cheaper per month.

So we'll see how it goes but right now I think its just the coolest thing!! Also, I hear that Comcast is upgrading to actual Tivo next year anyway!

; )

Jimmy Buffett tickets - Wrigley Field

To Chicago Jimmy Buffett Fans -

I have two tickets to the Monday show at Wrigley Field. I am looking to swap them for the Sunday show. If you are in the Chicago area and are interested, please leave a comment.

If you would like to purchase the tickets instead, I will let them go for $400. These are the $99 seats in the stands. Yes, I'm a scalper, but what can I say. I'd like to go but the money might be more fun!

I do not have them with me today with the details about the seats numbers, etc. so if you're interested, I will have to get back to you on that!

Thanks!

Real quick

Went to the Def Leppard and Bryan Adams concert at beautiful Alexian Field in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was actually a great concert! I will have to say that I was very impressed!!

My "funny test" results - agreed.

the Ham (39% dark, 52% spontaneous, 27% vulgar)

your humor style: CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | LIGHT Your style's mostly goofy, innocent and feel-good. Perfect for parties and for the dads who chaperone them. You can actually get away with corny jokes, and I bet your sense of humor is a guilty pleasure for your friends. People of your type are often the most approachable and popular people in their circle. Your simple & silly good-naturedness is immediately recognizable, and it sets you apart in this sarcastic world. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Will Ferrell - Will Smith

Today...

Worst customer EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost forgot...

These guys are a bunch of whiners! What they are going to accomplish with this is driving away the new fans of a sport which really needs them. Please ... she has done more for this sport and attracted more attention to the IRL than any other driver ever. They should be thankful!

Wow!

There is so much I could write about today but thats not the type of blogging I do anymore! ; )

First off, happy thoughts sent out for your work day - whoo-hoo!!

A couple of interesting pictures found on the net today. The first one is of a proposed new building that looks like would be built smack dab in the middle of my old neighborhood. Kind of cool looking actually.

The second is of a bird hitting the space shuttle on liftoff. Now, this wouldn't be that funny except when I was watching the launch video live on the net yesterday I noticed a bunch of birds flying around and I told him ... "That bird is going to be obliterated on liftoff." Well, I'm sure its not the same bird but I just found this kind of ironic!

Skittles ... its an illness actually...

I know I mentioned on my old blog back in the day that I am addicted to Skittles. I don't know why or anything like that but I love them. I can even remember the first time I ever had them - seriously, it was about 1984 in Casper, Wyoming with my cousins on a fairly "roughing it" camping trip. LOL! Anyway... today I get this from my sister. This is funny because my boss teases me about my Skittles addiction so I had to forward it to her too...

Sis: It's official...I am addicted to Skittles. I feel like I eat them every other day!

Me: Its a family illness - I am the exact same way!!!

My boss (after I forwarded our little thread to her): Oh my god, it's genetic! I saw a guy grabbing a package today and immediately thought of you!

Yes, its a disease, what can I say?

Speaking of other illnesses, it appears my White Sox "fandom" is getting me out of trouble these days ; ) I have our software installed here and thought I was running the standalone copy. Well, apparently there was something wrong with my license so the software started searching the network for a copy of the license to use on its own. Its this nifty little thing that is built in to our software. So it grabbed a copy of the license from our like Windows development coordinator. Not a big deal but I guess he had several instances running the other day and my license was using up one of the licenses he needed so I had to back out of the software. Today he sent me a screen shot of the "proof" that I was using one of the licenses and oops! I was but I have corrected it.

Him: In case you don’t believe me ;)

Me (after fixing it): What about now?

Him: I’m going to let you slide since you are a White Sox fan, otherwise I’d have to report you. Kidding. You’re fine! :)

Membership has its privileges I guess... ; )

Karaoke Goddess, part deux

Karaoke song list:
1. Life #9 - Martina McBride
2. Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
3. Down At The Twist And Shout - Mary Chapin Carpenter
4. Cowboy Take Me Away - Dixie Chicks

Today's thoughts...

Space shuttle safely off the ground - thats great! So good to see that this morning after so long. I saw a launch back when I was in high school. Still remains one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Karaoke again last night until 1:30am. Will post my song list later if I get a moment. Drank a few beers which must have led to the freako nightmare that I had last night. Woke up freaking out - it was sooo not pretty. I do that sometimes and I hate it.

And today's super cool picture ...

Blah...

Isn't it weird how during that "pre-time-of-the-month" the most stupid things seem like the most important things on the face of the earth???? I HATE IT!!!

Cool moon pictures!

Well...

He got the job. And I'm happy for him. Its just going to be a major change once things get rolling. I'm so used to seeing him every day and now he's going to be doing a lot of travel. I guess we'll see how it goes. I do think this is an excellent opportunity for him and I don't see him "on the road" for long. At the very least its going to possibly give me the opportunity to do some of my own travelling on the weekends!

Ironic?

Anyone else find the irony in two stations with the name of "Bush" and "Oval" being bombed today in London?

Praying for you!

Sending nothing but happy thoughts your way!

LOVE!!!!!!

A few freaky weather photos

Today's entry...

Yeah so forgot to write yesterday. Anyway, just uploading a few pictures I took at my friend's wedding reception this past Saturday down home. I don't know why but it seems like my digital camera was behaving a little funky so they turned out a bit blurry. I have edited a few so they are black and white, seems to make them look a little better. The first is of Jennifer and Brandon, the second is me (far left) with Jennifer and two of our other high school friends, Jennifer and Katie.

Just one more note...

It was announced at my company today that one of our employees in one of our England offices was killed in the terrorist attacks. I did not know her but that is very sad. Here is the information from the BBC regarding Samantha Badham.

Sox fans...

Did you ever think you would read a story like this?

Whoo-hoo!!!!!

In case anyone needs any explanation to the previous picture

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078902/

http://iusf.bloomington.com/little5frm2.html

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/1413.html

http://www.cutters-cycling.com/

Here is my sorority's team from last year. We always had a great team when I was in college. Finished second one year - it should have been a first!!

Go you Cutter!!

CLASSIC!

Oh no! Cancun!!!

Quote of the day...

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. - Marquis de la Grange

Karaoke Goddess...

Yeah well I actually forgot to write yesterday. Oh well...

Anyway, last night was kind of fun. There is this bar we hang out at a lot and they are trying to make some changes there. So they have started having karaoke on Mondays. Well they are currently auditioning "karaoke hosts" for the permanent spot. So last night they had this guy there who has the most awesome setup. He had like over 100,000 possible songs so we definitely had to go. We sing karaoke a lot, which I used to think was sort of nuts, but now I think its a lot of fun. Plus, I'm a pretty good singer - not even close to what I used to be after like six years of voice lessons singing mostly classical music - but still good nonetheless. I used to be pretty hardcore as far as singing was concerned. I had two voice teachers, took lessons twice a week and probably practiced at least two hours every day. When I was like 19-20 years old. I was quite good. Kind of rusty since then and I sometimes think about taking lessons again just to get my voice back into shape. Its sort of like running. If you don't stick with it, you will definitely lose it. Anyway, the place wasn't too busy so most of the people I was there with got to sing around five songs. My songs are listed below. The first song there - Life #9 - that is sort of becoming "my song". If you don't mind the bragging, I kick ASS on that song. I've only sung it twice karaoke and have gotten some rather big applause both times. He said the first time I sang it that I "tore it up" and the people sitting in front last night agreed I think. So - pat on the back to me. I've even had people I don't know come up to me at bars and tell me I was good. All I can think was ... well you should have heard me back when. But anyway... the other songs I sounded pretty good on. The Shenandoah song is a duet I sang with him even though I have a rule that I do not sing duets with him. He loves that song though and I sort of do too. Plus, it sort of has some emotional meaning to me at this point - its a long story. Anyway, fun night. We were out til 1:30am. I only had one beer so I was doing OK this morning even though I was a little tired when I first woke up!!

Last night's playlist:
1. Life #9 - Martina McBride
2. We Belong - Pat Benatar
3. We Danced Anyway - Deana Carter
4. Somewhere In The Vicinity Of The Heart - Shenandoah
5. Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson

September 11 bell tolls for victims of London attacks

NEW YORK (AFP) - A bell presented to New York by the people of London after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack tolled here in memory of the victims of the bombings in the British capital.

The five-foot high bell, housed in the grounds of the tiny St. Paul's Chapel next to Ground Zero, was rung four times, one for each of the bombs that reaped carnage in the London transport system on Thursday, killing at least 50 people.

The bell was presented to the people of New York as a gesture of solidarity on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

It carries the inscription: "To the greater glory of God and in recognition of the enduring links between the city of London and the city of New York. Forged in adversity."

The bell was rung by the vicar of the chapel, Rev. Anne Mallonee, during a brief ceremony.

Earlier in the day, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a condolence book at the British consulate

"All New Yorkers' prayers are with our friends in Britain," Bloomberg wrote before announcing that flags on all city buildings would fly at half mast until July 12.

Scary stuff...

Pretty scary stuff going on in London this morning. So glad I didn't know about it when I took the train this morning. Train ride home this evening too... gotta love city life I guess!

Bloggin'

Don't have a whole lot to discuss at the moment...

My work schedule is getting sort of weird. I usually work one or maybe two early shifts a week. Now they have me starting to work four beginning next week. Well thats all well and good for the time being because I can get off of work early but I'm not sure how long that schedule will be good for me. Sort of depends on some upcoming stuff going on. For now its cool though.

Actually work was sort of hellish today for me. I took like 20 incoming calls, including 8 in less than an hour, and then had like 10 cases to work on. I don't usually have that kind of load. Fortunately I appear to be caught up at the moment so thats cool. I have an email shift tomorrow and I really like those ; )

Going to try and go work out tonight although I am less than motivated. It needs to be done though. I really need to get back in the groove.

Other than that, that is pretty much it. I could really write so much more but why??

Later, dudes!

Meeting the fam...

Well... this weekend was kind of interesting because I ended up meeting almost his entire family. I would say I'm at 95% now... Lets see...

First off... all of these are half-siblings. He doesn't have any full siblings.

OK to begin with, Saturday met his brother from Georgia who is his Dad's other son.

Then Sunday... Let me see if I can keep it straight...

Actually... here is the easiest way...

I met his mom again...

And ...

Three sisters
One brother
One sister-in-law
Six nieces
One nephew
Two great nephews
And four boyfriends of various people...

The whole thing is just too confusing.

So I still need to meet, one sister-in-law - from Georgia- and one nephew and two nieces from Georgia. There is also one brother with either three or four kids in Arkansas maybe? But chances are I might not ever meet them so...

Thats about it for now!

Later!

Talk about your revolutions ...

Independence Day

by: Martina McBride

today ... dedicated to me and a dear friend ...


Let Freedom ring,let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today is a Day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it's Independence Day


Seriously seriously thinking of you. You're going to be OK. I think you have realized this and I am so glad! Things will begin looking up sooner than you think! ; )