Still alive...

Hey all, I'm still alive! Just super busy these days. I may have a few posts in the next few days but other than that I'm going to be taking a break for a little bit. I PROMISE to be back in a more regular blogging role in the next few weeks! ; )

OH MY GOSH!

Man being held in JonBenet Ramsey slaying

The Associated Press
Published August 16, 2006, 3:36 PM CDT

WASHINGTON -- A man arrested in Thailand is being held in connection with the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, U.S. law enforcement officials say.

Federal officials familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man was being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges.

And...

I completely forgot where I was going with yesterday's post. It was going to be a long one but oh well. There was some drama but a good time was had by all.

I can't believe everything that is going on with me lately. I can't keep anything straight anymore.

I hope to write more when I have a chance. Right now I just need to take a nap!

Craziness...

Its just been a little bit of everything going on with me lately, I'm trying to decide where to even start...

Well... OK, last Saturday night was the Jimmy Buffett concert. Same drunken bru-ha-ha as it normally is. Anyway, stocked up on booze and other supplies and headed to a friend's place early in the day for a pre-party. Hung there for a while. Then, the friend had rented a charter bus for all of us (of course we did pay somewhat of a fee) and there ended up being only 8 of us on this bus that was meant for like 40 people. Anyway... So partied all the way there too. Get to the parking lot and proceed to party for like 3 more hours before the concert.

All kinds of drama going on at the place. It was such a riot as usual. One group of people had the back of a truck equipped as their own personal dance studio and there were tons of people dancing in the truck and on top of the truck. They played the best music too. Some Buffett and lots of country. Really good music! Most of the guys got involved play "bean bags" ... I think the technical term for it is "Corn Hole". Seriously, what adults find in this game in the last five or so years that I maybe last played at my 10-year-old birthday party is beyond me. I guess it can get a little addictive though. I played a couple of games myself. Then there was just the general rowdiness and craziness of the crowd - people doing keg stands, shots, anything and everything you can imagine. Its like a frat party for people 21(and under) through 60. And I don't know, I'm not sure I'm cut out for it anymore. It makes for a long day of drinking and I swear I can't remember much about 3 of the last 4 Buffett concerts I went to. Oh well... I'm guessing it was a good time.

No no no... it wasn't so bad this year. I was pretty well trashed but in control (unlike 2 years ago but thats a whole other horrible story). So anywhoo... All the typical funness was going on with the drama of certain situations.

Ummm ... lets see... Oh yeah, well, Psycho Boy was not invited to ride the bus cause the guy who chartered it can't stand him. So anyway he was going to the concert and he actually sought us out and found us in the lot....

TO BE CONTINUED... I HAVE SOME STUFF I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF ...

Too funny!

Men are like Snowstorms .... You never know when they're coming, how many inches you'll get or how long it will last.

Here... if you're bored...

Want to know what various elements of your dreams mean? Check this out! Its pretty interesting!

Bored out of my mind!!!!!

Blahh.... Will this day never end?

Here I am trying to eat all healthy and stuff and I end up having a huge snack this PM. Not good. Oh well... I'll just go home tonight and sweat to death and that will probably get rid of it.

Actually what I am going to do tonight as soon as I get home is start cleaning like a maniac. I have a friend bringing over a few things tonight and the place is an utter disaster. I mean... the living room... I don't want to even tell you. Its so hot and horrible even with the air conditioner, the cat is shedding like a maniac and there's nothing I can do about it. Its pointless to try and even keep up with it.

Cleaned the kitchen last night for the most part. Just a few things I need to move around and it should be fine. Need to take out the trash still. I even cleaned out and scrubbed and bleached the kitty's litter box last night so hopefully won't have to deal with that for a while.

Ugghh... I just feel such blahness about that snack... it is that time of the month though so maybe its excusable. I don't know.

So one thing from last weekend I forgot to mention was that I got the first pedicure of my life on Saturday. Yep - me who is totally freaked out by another human being touching her feet. I totally have issues about it which is why I had never done it before. But anyway, a group of friends were going so I was like OK, I'll do it. Did a normal manicure, not a full set. I'm planning o a full set in another couple of weeks. I took a break from that this summer too. Another money saver! Then I did the pedicure and you know, it wasn't too bad. There were points of it that I didn't like but I survived and I would do it again and probably will. I was a little bit stressed out and watching everything so I didn't turn the vibrating thing on the chair which I guess is supposed to be a great part of it or whatever and I had done some walking and felt like I had a little blister on one foot so that kind of bothered me but ... I guess what you could say is that I am looking forward to doing it again under ideal conditions - not freaked out, stressed out, and with unhealthy feet. LOL! I'm a freak I know.

Anyway, thats about it for now. Gonna try sneaking out of here in 20-25 minutes or so. Just want this day to end. Why do I feel so guilty about that damn snack??

As we speak at 4:38 in the afternoon...

Chicago, IL
99°FPartly Cloudy
Wind: S at 14 mph
Humidity: 42%

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????????

-- Tour de France winner Floyd Landis fails drug test, his Phonak team says, according to media reports.

Yeah, but Sam Hornish didn't need the U.S. Supreme Court to get him that Indy win ...

After the formal photo, Bush spoke to Hornish about the thrilling finish of this year's Indy 500, where Hornish made a last-lap push to pass rookie Marco Andretti.

"You had a close one there. How close was it?" Bush asked.

"A little too close for me," Hornish replied.

"I've had a few close races before, too," Bush said. "And my attitude is first is first."

I'm still here!!

Yeah, I'm still here... things have just been nuts or I've been too bored to write.

Lets see... where were we?

Anyway, last weekend I went back to Toledo but this time I chose different transportation. What I ended up doing is taking the Megabus (check out megabus.com if you're in the midwest - it ROCKS!) to Detroit and was picked up in Detroit and then we drove back to Toledo. The early train to Toledo was booked and there was no way I was taking that late train again. The Megabus dropped me off right downtown Detroit near Comerica Park (or is it Field?) and there was a Tigers game going on at the time. I worked in Detroit on an election for like three weeks back in 1998 and... I don't know if Detroit has improved since then or if there actually IS a nice part of town but I was really impressed by what I saw. The field is beautiful. I love it actually. Too bad "the Cell" ain't that nice. There are tons of bars and clubs nearby and some super nice housing developments going up all around there. I'm guessing these are serious improvements for this area. That part of town made me see Detroit in a whole other light. Where I had worked before I was instructed not to go outside by myself and that there were even certain parts INSIDE the building where I was working that I should not go by myself. Ummm yeah...

So at least this time I made it to Toledo at more midnightish than 5am which is acceptable!

Saturday spent some time at the Toledo Zoo and played mini-golf that evening. Sunday spent pretty much the entire day at Cedar Point. Now let me just tell you that I am a complete amusement park flunky. I am not the most fun - I won't go on the super scary rides and thats pretty much all Cedar Point is. It was super hot that day - like 100 degrees - so the place was fairly dead with only like 10-15 minute waits for some of the most popular coasters. So its not like I had to stand around waiting because "others" were in line. So it really worked out. I went on like four of the smaller coasters but just wasn't going on the others. I'm getting better with this stuff though so maybe someday I can go on the mid-sized ones there - ha ha! Did go on all of the water rides which just rock though. I LOVE water rides - especially on a day like that. I could seriously go to an amusement park and spend the entire time on the water rides. Back in the days when there was still and Opryland in Nashville my family went with another family and we spent the whole freaking day on their rapids ride. We went on it nine times in a row. It was the best time. I really liked that place. The new mall in Nashville is super cool but too bad they got rid of that place too.

Monday morning I did Amtrak it back to Chicago but thats no big deal other than having to get up at 4am. I even slept some on the train back.

But its been sort of an odd week. Really tired to start things out and then I worked some odd shifts that threw things off even more. Went out with one of my friends the other night and stayed out much MUCH later than planned. Somehow we got into "girl talk" and I swear I cannot think of the last time I had girl talk with anyone. Its just not really me - well, at least not anymore. I think I have trouble sometimes being friends with females. Chalk that up to four years of living in a sorority house (that'll do it to anyone). But anyway, I've become pretty good friends with this person here in the last year. I honestly don't think that I have made a new consistent female friend in almost ten years; several guy friends, but not girls.

So anyway, thats where things are now. I have a million things to do this weekend but it should end up being a good weekend so I'm sort of looking forward to that. I'll try and write more next week.

Every name in the book for you today, Mr. President...

-- President Bush issues the first veto of his presidency, rejecting a bill to expand federal research on stem cells obtained from embryos.

Another smart kid!

Here's a good one!

How do you say "Ya'all" in French??

http://www.autonet.ca/Motorsports/Story.cfm?Story=/Motorsports/NASCAR/2006/07/11/1679149-sun.html

Yikes - I heard about Montoya to Nascar for sure and maybe Danica and now they're saying possibly Jacques too???????

Geez... I think I'll go ahead and book my Brickyard 400 tickets for next year right now and anything else available!

Daytona in February anyone??

Love, Melissa - Future Nascar Groupie

P.S. Despite popular perception I am not - at this time - a Nascar Groupie. I am just a fan of both Nascar and IRL. My race fan "roots" are in open-wheel racing being originally from Indiana. Nevermind that odd thing I have for Tony Stewart - short, a little pudgy, yes; but oddly enough, I love his attitude, he's a bad ass, he can drive for real and of course, he's a Hoosier boy!

For some reason...

.... this is just awesome! : )


A mouse rides on the back of a frog in floodwaters in the northern Indian city Lucknow June 30, 2006. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar (INDIA)

Melissa's Oscar analysis... months after the fact

OK ... now remember the big controversy or the made up controversy of Crash vs. Brokeback Mountain?

Well... I have now seen both movies and I'm sorry but Crash is a MUCH better movie. I was bored to death during Brokeback... it just seemed to go on and on and on ... I found nothing anymore compelling about their love story than anyone else's. It was a big ol' yawn in my book - not even close to being one of the better movies I have ever seen.

Crash, on the other hand, gripped me and I swear I thought I couldn't breathe during certain scenes in that movie.

If you had to choose between the two of them, Crash was definitely better!

Have I mentioned that I'm on a licorice kick?

Well... strawberry Twizzlers anyway...

So I still haven't told you about my trip to Toledo/Detroit area last weekend.

So yeah, this was kind of a last minute trip in that Friday morning I decided that I was going to go that night and I was going to Amtrak it there. Mistake #1... Anyway... so get to work, ask off two hours early and thats no problem. So go back home, pack my bag and head back to Chicago to catch the train out. I had bought my tickets Friday morning when I arrived on the commuter train for work.

Have you noticed that trains seem to be my life? Well, you spend a good deal of time on them when you live in the Chicago area. I actually love trains and think they're one of the most convenient things in the world. With the exception of the larger cities in the U.S. though, they are a bit of a joke. Amtrak is pointless... very unreliable... and possibly unsafe ... who knows. Very sad from the country who invented rail traffic. They have it right in Europe and Asia. I could walk into the train station in Rome right now and catch a train to probably anywhere I wanted to go on that continent probably within an hour. That ain't no exaggeration. I've done it.

So yeah ... my train to Toledo was to leave at 8pm so I was told to be there for boarding at 7:30. So 7:30 rolls around and we are delayed. In the meantime I had heard from people in Toledo that the 8pm was very unreliable. There was a 5:30 too but it was sold out. So wait and wait and wait and anyway, the delay ended up being a little over two hours long.

When the "boarding" did actually begin they allowed pre-boarding for people 62 years old and over. Well, as you look around at most of the people who ride the train, more than 50% are travelling with someone 62 years and older. So all this "pre-boarding" consisted of (you would have thought it was like pre-boarding a plane in that you could go ahead and get on but no...) was simply those people got to walk into a room and sit closer to the track. What the hell ever. So then they called for pre-boarding of families with children. So they all got to walk into the room. So now the rest of us childless youngsters get to stay in the other room which is maybe ... I don't know 5 feet from the other.

They eventually began the boarding which was also sort of a joke. Because this train was making many stops before it got to New York City (god... can you imagine that ride? catch a plane!) they divided up the cars by stop so all of us in Ohio and eastern Indiana were generally on 1-2 cars, etc. Of course there is nothing labeled and nothing on your ticket about where you sit so you basically had to go up to each car where there was boarding and ask the official standing there what car it was for. Blah... So then you get on the train and most of the seats are labeled "party of two". So not only am I young and childless ... I'm also traveling alone ... what a LOSER! LOL! So anyway, finally found one that was not labeled "party of two" and got a window seat. Not that the window seat mattered so much cause it was dark by this time and the only thing we were going to see on the way was Indiana corn fields anyway. I can go out in my parents' backyard and see that.

So I ended up sitting with a girl who was maybe 11-12 years old and she sat across the aisle from her mom and younger brother. So this girl must be a seasoned train traveller cause she could sleep. She like passed out in the seat, kept flipping over, kicking me in the butt. At one point she like rolled over on me and put her head on my shoulder. I tried shaking her a bit and talking to her but she would not wake up. She had a very heavy head. She was completely out of it. So I let it go and just let her sleep like that although I felt weird about it. Finally I got a call on my cell which allowed me to sit up and grab my phone and it woke her up and I think she realized what she had done and was embarrassed and rolled the other way. That girl slept the whole freaking way there. If only I could have.

So... that was one good thing in that I could talk on my phone on the train. The other thing was the huge amount of leg room - you don't get that on a plane. But why even ride the train in the U.S.? These are the only things I can think of 1) And I would say this is probably the #1 reason - you are AFRAID TO FLY; 2) all other possible options sold out or too expensive last minute and for whatever reason you ain't driving; 3) you have some kind of physical problem where you need more legroom and first class on a plane is too expensive; 4) you are just looking for something different to do; 5) then there are those people called "train enthusiasts" who are just into it or whatever - Amtrak would kill that spirit for me. 6) oh yeah, how can I forget this! This only applies to certain parts of the country - Indiana/Ohio/Pennsylvania especially - YOU'RE AMISH!! There were all kinds of Amish on the train to/from Toledo and I had seen them when I Amtrak'ed it once from Fort Wayne. I guess that makes sense. OK so those are the only reasons and I guess they're six good reasons. One reason would NOT be "its cheaper than flying" because it ISN'T! At least not by much! I think I saved maybe $25 by taking the train than if I had booked a ticket in advance and flew into Detroit or something. (Side note ... I never realized Detroit was so close to Toledo).

So after the slowest freaking ride ever... it seemed like the train was constantly stopping and starting or just moving very slowly... and despite only having left 2 hours late, I arrived in Toledo 4 HOURS LATE!! And by this time, 4 hours late meant 5AM IN THE MORNING! I was supposed to be there at 1am which was completely do-able to me especially since that is only midnight Chicago time. Can you believe it? Now ... as far as that stopping and starting were concerned, I'm not sure what that was all about. I have heard contradictory things about who has the right-of-way on the rails. I heard from someone that passenger trains always *should* have the right-of-way but they are never granted it cause the freightlines own the tracks and switches and - especially in the middle of the night when they can - they screw the passenger trains out of the right-of-way and just let them sit so they can move their stuff. Another person told me that that wasn't correct and that the freight trains have the right-of-way. I don't know which it is but let me just tell you that it sucks!

So I get in at 5am and go to sleep at the hotel. Wake up at 9:45am just in time for the free breakfast to be ending at 10am. Go down for breakfast and its slim pickings by this time so I give up and go back and go to sleep til noon. Saturday afternoon took a drive to Windsor, Ontario, by way of Detroit. I guess Windsor is a real party town but didn't stick around long enough really to see it. Just did some exploring, walking along the river, checked out a festival and went to dinner. Oh yeah... also did some brief gambling at the casino where I sat down at a 5 cent slot for 5 minutes and won $120. Believe me, I know when to quit soI was done.

It was easy enough to get into Canada - although they did ask some weird questions about having ever been arrested or if I had mace in my possession, but whatever. Getting back into the U.S. there was less quizzing (way to go Department of Homeland Security!) but the line was a lot longer and took forever!! Windsor seemed fun and it might be fun to go back there sometime. Its a real bachelor party town I think. Left right after dinner but the cops were starting to make their presence known.

Sunday was more of a relaxing day and sort of explored around Toledo which I come to find out, there ain't much to explore. Spent some time swimming and laying out at the hotel pool.

Monday morning tried to catch the 5am train back to Chicago. It was only delayed a half hour so that was OK. I ended up getting into work an hour late but no problem. I was exhausted though. I was supposed to go to the Cubs game with my sister but there was no way. And, the Cubs suck so much lately I couldn't even sell my tickets - not even for 2 for the price of 1. I didn't care though, I just wanted to go home and go to bed and not be stuck on that 10:30pm train back to the burbs again.

Anyway, thats my ever-so-long story. I think about ready to call it a day here.

Later!!

Heh Heh... this IS the memory I have of one of my friend's weddings....

Q:
Dear Mindy - Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to throwing weddings?
A:
Yes, I think when there is not enough food or help it's just bad planning! You don't want guests' last memory of your wedding to be the drive thru at McDonalds.

So went to a wedding in my hometown where they were having a buffet dinner. The thing just was not organized well. I mean it was not organized to the point where the bride and groom didn't even get to go thru their own buffet first before the guests started diving in. That was horrible. I'm not even sure when the bride and groom got to eat cause by that time the ridiculously long line of 200+ guests was out the door. Could have taken hours to get food for all I know. The place was just too small to accomodate that many guests on a buffet set up like it was. Unfortunately they didn't think to have people go to each table to invite each table individually to the buffet.

So my friends and I bailed for McDonald's, ate there, and then came back for the booze. I'm so not kidding about this. Most of us were like 22-23 at the time so probably not too surprising for our ages at that point. I don't think my friend ever realized that is what we did. At least I hope not!

Incredible news yesterday!

So yeah, yesterday I gave my friend a call who has been in the hospital recently. She had been having a reaction to some medication she had been on and I thought her hospital stay was related to that but it turned out to be a bit more serious than that - more on that later.

I gather she needed more time in the hospital because ... as she told me for the first time yesterday ...

She's pregnant!

So she tells me this and I'm all like... oh thats so wonderful, congratulations, blah blah blah... She and her husband have been trying for like three years. The next thing she says is...

"Yeah ... with TRIPLETS!"

So the next thing I say is...

"OH MY GOD!"

And she goes on to say, "Yeah well there were SIX to begin with but my body naturally got rid of three of them."

Me again ... even louder: "OH MY GOD!"

Yeah so as you can guess this is a case of being on fertility drugs. I'm still freaking, I cannot IMAGINE. The whole thing blows my mind actually! She is an only child and for years had told me she didn't even want kids. Think this will be a bit of a change? Ummm... yeah.

Three at once? I can't even comprehend that. Twins, maybe? But not triplets. Wow!!!

So she's only nine weeks along. And they put her in the hospital because of mucho side effects she was having from the drugs. I knew about the first part of it but I guess she has developed some blood clots or something and that is what put her in the hospital. So now she's going to have to take a shot like every 12 hours from now until months after the babies are born. She is on bedrest now because of this and may be on bedrest for the entire pregnancy. She doesn't know when or if she will ever be going back to work. Plus, these are the friends of mine who were planning on moving far far away (mentioned in a previous post) ... so now that is delayed and they have taken their house off of the market.

Talk about changes.

I still can't believe it!!!!