I Am Easily Make Believe, Just Dress Me Up In What You Want Me To Be

Renee gave me three bananas yesterday, so on Thursday I am going to make Banana Bread!!! Yay!!! I love banana bread... Look at the word banana... Just look at it for a second... Say it a couple times.... Ba-Na-Na... Maybe this is a throw back to earlier times in my life, but it is just one of those words that gets me. Another word like that is particular. Par-Tic-U-Lar.... Seriously...

Today was Tuesday. And Tuesday sucked balls. At one point I was so extremely infuriated at work I almost cry, and I NEVER cry at work. Unless something really REALLY sad happens. Luckily I have great people to talk to about it. Renee made me feel better but at the same time we were both pissed off at the situation (we work at the same office, obviously) and wanted to scream. Thank god we have each other to talk to, or I know I would have snapped by now. Oh, and apparently I am "management" now, or one breath away from it.... If only my pay reflected that, maybe I would be a little more content in my job and all the unexpected responsibilities that get placed in my lap. Oh well. I am also extremely happy to have my hubby to come home to. And he listens to me when I need to vent. And, of course, I have K. Even if she's not here, I know if I really needed her I can text her, or call her, or email her (so in a way she is right at my fingertips).

2009 will be better. 2008 had it's ups and downs, and I am thankful that I can say I (we) achieved some of our big goals for the year. Collin got an awesome paying job with a great company he can grow with. We moved out of his parents and moved into our little cottage in Salem. We paid our debts down more, and I paid off my last account that was in collections. I have a nice little list of goals for 2009 going. I will try to remember to share when these goals are achieved as the year progresses.

I'm going to watch some Family Guy and news before bed...

Good night! And in case I don't post tomorrow (you never know what crazy crap might happen) Happy New Year!!!

I Think I Am Gonna Puke, But Keep Talking

I am here at work feeling like poo on a hot tin roof, that then gets cold, and then gets hot. Basically I have a headache (trying to downplay it, it feels more like a freight train slamming repeatedly into my head. So I guess you'd call it a migraine...) chills, and a slight feeling of nauseousness. But that is all beside the point. Myspace actually gave me quite a laugh today. I had never noticed this before, but on my "home" page (you know, where you see all your friend's status' and you apps, and shit) there is a section in the left hand gutter down at the bottom called "People You May Know". They apparently cross reference friends of your friends and match you up with your friend's friends that they think you may know. I imagine it is based off of how many of your friends are friends with these people. One of the people that popped up made me laugh to the point I almost peed. I was thinking to myself, "Myspace... If you only knew the half of it..." It was a nice moment of laughter in an otherwise shitastic Monday. Now back to the grindstone... Just need to last three.... more.... hours.... I can do it!

I'll Take Back What I've Been Saying For Quite Some Time

I feel dirty, it's been almost two weeks since I have posted on here. Everytime I thought about it and would look at my laptop I would remember how I also need to edit a bunch of photos and post them. And I haven't had the energy for that. I have tons of pictures of the snow, and some pictures from when our power went out on the 21st because of the ice breaking tree branches. Yeah, fun times.

My Holiday plans this year were not as I had planned, but that can be blamed on the weather. We didn't go to Portland on Christmas Eve, but instead went on Saturday. It was fun. We got a couple of really nice gifts from my in laws and from Auntie Carol. The roads were just still way too icy on Christmas Eve, and weren't a whole heck of a lot better Christmas Day so we had to skip dinner at my Grandma's. Hopefully I will be going to see my family on New Years Day. Within a matter of two days all the ice and snow just disappeared now it's back to good old wet, green and brown Oregon.

So, on Christmas Day Collin and I just did nothing. We did go to the movies. I broke down and went to see Twilight, and it was good. I am very proud that they kept it as close to the book as they could, given the style the book was written in. I am even happier to say that since seeing the movie my wonderful, amazing, extraordinary hubby has decided to start reading the books. (part of this is also due to the fact that I won't tell him what happens next, I told him to wait for the movies or to read the books and I will discuss them as he goes.) Now I just need the next movie to be done.

With 2009 fastly approaching, instead of creating pain in the ass resolutions I have decided to make some goals for the new year. Some of the goals are to get in contact with the friends that I keep losing touch with, and maintain contact with them (I just seem to lose track of people); another goal is to grow my hair out another inch or two and then donate it to Locks of Love, an awesome charity that makes wigs for children with medical conditions that result in hair loss; pay back my in laws for the money they loaned us to buy the Blazer; and learn to make a bunch of new recipes. I also want to try some new things in 2009. Renee and I also want to "collect" toys and stuff throughout the year to donate to charity when the holidays roll around again.

Well, I need to get to work now. I hope to actually edit and post all those photos in the next couple days... We'll see. Au revoir!

She's My Favorite Non Human Person

In life we, as people, try to surround ourselves with people we believe to have like or similar mind sets as ourselves. It's always hard to find out that someone you are close to is not the type of person you thought they were.

What's worse is when these people are people you have the utmost respect for.

Due to past experience I have become a person who hates to see people treated poorly by people who "really care about them." It's just so frustrating. I have never particularly cared for selfish, self-centered people. And to have people I really truly respect turn out to be this way disappoints me, and makes me extremely sad. I really don't know how to explain this without going into detail (which is something I really can't do). To put it simply I am so done with dealing with "fake" people, and if you try to pull that kind of crap with me I will call you on it. If you really don't give a shit about people other than yourself, have the mother effing balls to say so. I am more likely to respect you and not look at you like some nasty two-faced piece of monkey poo.... *sigh*

I think that's as much "venting" on that topic that I can safely get away with without this post turning into a never ending stream of profanity.

Onto another frustrating issue: This messed up weather! If things don't warm up and/or de-ice by the 24th, we won't be going anywhere for Christmas. We are supposed to be at Collin's aunt's house (she lives in Portland) for Swedish Christmas on the 24th, and then on Christmas day we are supposed to go pick my brother in Corvallis and go to my grandma's for dinner in Sheridan. BTW, Swedish Christmas is when we eat Swedish meatballs with white sauce, palt (which is potato dumplings with crumble bacon in the middle), and other interesting dishes. One of these interesting dishes is lutefisk which is this nasty gray gelatenous thing that was once cod. Check out this link to wikipedia if you want more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutefisk All I know is that it has to taste nasty if the only way it is enjoyable is when it is doused in white sauce and butter... Just... Eww...

And in case you were curious, it's Spaz. She is my favorite non human person. She's also an awesome space heater.

Now to read more about how men are rubberbands. This book is very interesting (still reading Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus).

Au Revoir!

On Swallowing A Tootsie Pop Whole

Without the stick, of course. The conclusion is that it would hurt and you would still crap out a wad of undigested tootsie roll.

So, today was a blast. Collin, sweet wonderful man of mine, stayed home today and was able to get to Schwabs and get us both new sets of chains. And he came to my work and put them on my truck. What a sweetie. I think the high here today was twenty seven... It was effing freezing. Work was an exhausting trial, but I made it through the day, and honestly it really wasn't that bad. Hopefully everyone can make it in to the office tomorrow.

For the past few days our cable has been very choppy and keeps cutting out (we have a digital cable box) and it has been driving me CAHrazy. Finally, I had my in house tech (Collin) unplug it and plug it back in to reset it. That didn't work. To see if it was the line and not the box, I had Collin disconnect the cable from the box and plug it into the TV. Now the picture is fine, so I have the wonderful privilege of calling Comcast tomorrow and setting an appointment for a tech to come out and swap the box out for a good one. Yay me!

Checking the weather forecast and the rest of this week looks awesome.... Yea... Awesome like a rectal infection and burning diarrhea...

Snow pictures up on myspace and more to come depending on the weather....

I spent all weekend baking. The office loves me for it. I made two batches of fudge (one with nuts and one without), snickerdoodles, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal white chocolate craisin cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treats, and no bake oatmeal cookies. Saturday night I broke my favorite spoonula while doing the snickerdoodles... It sucked hard. We ran to Walmart and got another one, this one has a stainless steel handle so it shouldn't break (the other one had a plastic handle).

I am tired.

Toodles.

I Thought I Lived In Oregon

But it never snows or freezes in Oregon... UNTIL NOW! It is about twenty five degrees outside and they say that's as warm as it will be today... and all week. There is about two inches of snow on the ground from last night, frozen into a hard ice pack. It's ridiculous. There will be pictures on Myspace later. K, I know that you have like a foot of snow out there in Michigan, but you're from here so you know what I mean when I say this is highly abnormal weather for Oregon. Back to work for me! Peace Out!

We Are Overcoming The Objections!!

That is something the head of my company has been repeatedly saying lately. "We need to overcome the objections." I hate that phrase. I hear it and I think of those stupid word math problems we had to solve in elementary school.

"Paul is two years older than Jeff who is four years younger than Eric. Eric is three years older than Susan who is dating Timmy. Timmy is fifteen. How long will it take to get to the park?

Totally stupid right?

So we just got done watching The Dark Knight. It was awesomeness wrapped up in chocolate... and I am gonna leave the metaphor at that.... I could have taken that above and beyond the level I left it at...

I am going to bed, to sleep, and have disturbing dreams... About me having babies.... Ewww.... They are more like nightmares, terrifying messed up nightmares....

Peace Out.

Choking The Monkey and Spanking The Chicken

This year has gone by way too fast. It has had it's ups and downs. Sadly there will be no Holiday cards from me this year, time got away from me and the really awesome idea I recently had for a card takes too much time to get done right and mailed in time. So my peoples, you will have to wait until next year. It'll be worth the wait though.

My hair is driving me crazy again. I am thinking when I go in this month I will have some of it cut off... I just have to make it until after winter has come and gone and then I can cut it short if I want.... I can make it... It's just lately (like yesterday and this morning) it has seriously been giving me headaches. It's just so effing thick, and the longest layer is down past my shoulder blades. Ugh... I could cut it short now, but then my head and neck will be cold all winter. Grrr....

Spaz was sitting on the table here by my laptop while I was checking email and on Myspace, and she kept trying to bite the cursor on the screen... She's weird...

I had a thought today (shocking I know, Alicia thinking.... What is this world coming to?), if, in these tight economic times, we were to allow consumers to work off their debt in the office doing collection calls and what not, would that not be indentured servitude? I think technically yes. Not that we would nor are we doing so, it's just one of the multitude of random thoughts that flit through my brain.

Oh, Vikki let me borrow the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. She said it was really interesting and remarkably dead on, so I am very intrigued to read it. I will keep you posted as I read it as to how accurate I find it. I am also reading a book Joshua (or was it technically dad, the books being passed through the family) lent me called Uncle Mike's Guide To The Real Oregon Coast. Any one who is a coast native should read this, it's freaking hilarious. I am finding it to be all too true (in a dark twisted native way). And of course no reading regimen wouldn't be complete with a good dose of romantic fiction so I am finishing up re-reading Breaking Dawn.

Well, I am out like a pregnant woman's belly button! Speaking of, one of the girls who used to work with me just found out she is expecting not one but two babies!! (not that she'd read this but...) CONGRATS TO HER!!!

Peace Out Homies!! (I almost spelled that HIMOES....) Hmmm...

'Night!

P.S. (this really is a postscript, I forgot to say this!) The weather forecast here is saying that it is going to snow on Saturday! Now anyone from Oregon knows that the forecast changes every five minutes but still, snow? BEFORE Christmas!? IN OREGON!?!?! Yeah... K knows what I mean. Peace.

Let The Chips Fall Where They May

It is once again the beginning of the month, and one of the most stressful times for me at work (as the beginning of the month is each month). I am tired of letting shit at work stress me out. Last night, by the time I got off work and got home I was so unbelievably mad that I was just angry almost all night. The thing is, I have no control over the factors at work that make me mad and stress me out. This morning, while I was getting ready (and dreading the minute when I would have to walk out the door to go to that office) I made a decision. And this is funny because it's something I am constantly telling others (maybe I should practice that which I preach). I am no longer going to let work stress me out or upset me to the point where I come home mad at night. I cannot change that which I cannot control. I may have said this in months past, but I really need to do it now. I am not going to let work depress me anymore, OR stress me out to the point that my psoraisis flares up (like it has in the past couple months, after clearing up greatly when we moved out of the in laws'). That is how it is. Though my job is part of my life, I am not going to let it disrupt the rest of my life.

Now on to happy, sun-shiny, puppies'n'kitties type thoughts.

We had an awesome, relaxing weekend. We watched seasons one and two of The Venture Bros. Funny ass cartoon from Adult Swim, my brother loaned them to us when we took him home after Thanksgiving dinner.

Speaking of, Thanksgiving was the BEST Thanksgiving of my adult life. I loved it. Jordan was a handful, but that was to be expected. I loved having my dad and siblings and husband and nephew all there. It made me feel so accomplished that they all loved dinner. Seriously, there was just enough left overs for our lunches on Friday (we both had to work), and for turkey sandwiches on Saturday. Granted, I didn't do a whole turkey, I just did a full breast (which in my mind was technically two turkey boobs, it was like the whole chest) and all of the fixings of course. When Dad and Jenn and Jordan got there, Jenn was helping me set everything out and kept looking around the kitchen forlornly. Finally she asked me if I had made yams, I said of course I had and opened the oven to show her where they were keeping warm. She was like good, and then I told her that I had put marshmallows on them (like our mom used to) and I thought she was gonna pee herself she was so happy. And before Jenn and company got here, Collin had picked Joshua up earlier in the morning so we could hang out for a bit. I am sure I have mentioned that my cat does not like new people, and most times not even people she has met before. So, Joshua gets here and walks in with Collin. Spaz just sits on the back of the love seat staring at him, watching him as he makes his way through the living room to sit down on the big couch. After he sits down, she continues to stare at him as we are talking, then she hops down from her perch and walks across the couches to where he is, and dammit all if the little attention whore didn't curl up in his lap. Every time he spoke she'd just look up at him, like she was listening!! Then he'd try to pet her and she'd put her paw on top of his hand like, "Ummm... I never said you could touch me." (in a really snobby voice) It was a great day.

Back to this weekend.

We got the tree up and decorated. It looks gorgeous (as always there are pictures on Myspace). Then we did our gingerbread house. It was my first ever time making one. We got this awesome kit at Costco. And, naturally my husband and I thought the exact same thing as we assembled it. It would have been awesome if we had some little gingerbread people to make a family. Then at almost the exact same moment we thought how awesome it would be to use some little gingerbread people to make it a murder scene... Seriously! It would have been AWESOME!! Well, there is always next year... Tehehehe...

Well, I think this is long enough for now. I had a lot to say, more than I expected...

Peace

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Figures, I actually get a weekday off and I am still up before the sun... We actually woke up at five... Ugh...

Happy Thanksgiving to any and all who read this!!

So, Thanksgiving, a time to be thankful, and boy, I tell you, I am. I guess here's a list of the stuff I am thankful for right off the bat, and I am sure I will forget a few things...

I am thankful for all my friends, especially my two best friends: Renee and Kristina.

I am thankful for my family (ALL of them, in-laws included).

I am thankful that both of us having good, steady jobs (especially in these troubled economic times!).

I am extremely thankful that we have our own place, and that all of our bills are getting paid down.

I am thankful to be alive (that's always a plus right?).

I am so completely and utterly thankful that I am with the love of my life, my soul mate, my missing puzzle piece, my heart and soul, my all time bestest friend forever and ever, the finisher of my sentences, the person who knows my thoughts before I ever speak them, my partner, my co-conspirator, the angel on my shoulder and the devil on the opposite shoulder, my uber hotness, my Collin. I love you so much and am thankful for every moment with you. (I hope I didn't just make any reading this throw up their Thanksgiving meal.... I know, way to mushy right? Well suck it up and deal, I love this man dearly, and I am thankful for having him in my life.)

Oh, and I am thankful for my cell phone, high speed internet, my car, our Wii, my coffee maker, and tons of other everyday conveniences that I generally take for granted.

Now I am going to get more coffee and watch my husband play Super Paper Mario on the Wii.

I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving, and K know that I love and miss you tons, and I wish I could come see you... Any one know how much kidneys are going for on the black market right now?

Gobble gobble bitches!

Don't Make Me Send Guido After You...

I really really don't want to have to send Guido after you... I mean he is one scary Mo-Fo.

As we all know we are in a rather stressful economic period (aka a recession, that's right you chicken shit economic analysts, I said it, RECESSION!!) and though in one aspect, the industry I am in (collections) is "booming", it is getting harder and harder to recover the bad debts our clients assign to us. We face so many obstacles in trying to collect these past due bills because the consumers are facing so many obstacles too. They are losing their jobs, their homes, and so on and so forth. It is my office's job as a collection agency to overcome these objections and get the bills paid, whether by payment in full, a payment plan, a settlement offer, or as a last resort issuing a payroll garnishment (assuming said consumer has a job). Below is more or less a joke, a way to vent my frustration at things being beyond my control. So please, don't think me evil, or crude, or crazy... Okay, well the last one maybe, but that's a given.

Overcoming The Objections: Practical Collection Techniques for The Modern Collection Agency

Objection: Consumer- "I just can't afford to pay this all right now."
Collector- "We can set up a payment arrangement to take care of the balance."
Consumer- "Okay, I can do that...."

Objection: Consumer- "I just lost my job and I can't afford to pay this bill."
Collector- "Are you getting unemployment? We can work out a smaller payment plan until you get back to work. I am willing to work with you on this account."
Consumer- "Thank you, I can probably do...."
If that doesn't work, know your local job market and find out what kind of work they do. Worst Case Scenario: Collector- "Have you consider selling plasma? Or maybe even a kidney?"

Objection: Consumer- "I can barely afford to keep a roof over my kids' heads and keep them fed. I really have no way to make my payment."
Collector- (first check local and state law before proceeding with this tactic) "Have you considered renting out your kid? Or even maybe selling him/her? I heard there is good money to be had for young, easy-to-train children."
If the consumer doesn't immediately hang up on you, or demand to speak to a supervisor after making this suggestion, you know you have a consumer that really does want to pay their past due obligation.

Objection: Consumer- "I have to make my truck payment this month, I have no other way to get to and from work, so I can't deal with this bill right now."
Collector- "You drive a 2007 Ford F350 Super Duty right? Dark blue with plate number 245DPG? What kind of payment are you making on that?" (Not only does this scare the bejeezus out of them, but it lets them know you have driven by their house or at least pulled a DMV report on them)
Consumer- "Ummm.... The payments are $389 a month plus the insurance which is another $125 a month."
Collector- "Have you ever considered trading that vehicle in for something more affordable like a used mid-nineties Geo Metro? Or even a late nineties Hyundai Accent? Or maybe even a bike...?" (now would be the time for a nice little psychological pause)
......
Consumer- "Uh, I guess I could find a way to get my payment in to you this month..."

Objection: Consumer- "I was horribly maimed and lost an arm in a terrifying mill accident, so now I can't work, and I can't pay this bill."
Collector- "I am terribly sorry you got hurt, but you still need to take care of your obligations. Surely you are getting workman's comp, or some other form of monetary compensation for the injury you sustained? Have they offered you a settlement? Would you be able to take care of this when you get that?"
Consumer- "I just lost my arm and all you care about is that stupid bill!!"
Collector- "Again I apologize for what happened to you, but my client provided a service and just as you deserve to be paid for your arm, he deserves to be paid for his services."
If the consumer is still on the line at this point you may have talked him down and now you may be able to get some money out of the poor bastard.

Objection: Consumer- "I just don't have the money to pay this."
Collector- "I had really hoped we could work this out and get this taken care of over the phone... *sigh* I guess I have no choice. Are you going to be home for the next few hours?"
Consumer- "Well, yes... What does this have to do with me paying the bill, I told you I don't have any money..."
Collector- "I understand that. I am just going to have one of my associates drop by with some paperwork and see if we can get something worked out that way. So you know him when you see him, he's about six foot five, muscular, bulky like a professional wrestler, dark hair, and olive complexion. His name is Guido..."
Consumer- "Um, I could actually probably come down there and work something out, maybe make a small token payment of twenty dollars. You don't need to send Guido..."
The consumer should sound a little shaken, like maybe they even peed their pants.

We collection people aren't bad people, we're just people working to make a living. I like to believe we're a little better than telemarketers. Yes, like them we want money, but we want it for a past due bill, we're not trying to sell you useless junk. We have hard times just like most of the people we collect from, and some of us have even been "in collections" ourselves.

I am going to read. Peace Out.

People Will Be Puking Santa Everywhere...

Today some jerk at Walmart decided to park right on my rear bumper. See I had pulled through the parking spots so that my front end was facing out. When Renee and I left to go load up the stuff in the back there it was, this ginormous Ford F-350 had pulled into the spot behind me and was at most 18 inches from my rear bumper. Obviously this prevented me from opening the tail-gate. So we decided to fold down the back seats and put stuff in that way and through the back glass. While I was folding down the driver side back seat (and this happens a lot but generally not so bad) as the seat folded down the freaking head rest flung back (like it does) and smashed the shit out of my poor innocent middle finger. I was so pissed, if that douche bag hadn't been parked right on my bumper this never would have happened. Luckily nothing was broken, but my finger started swelling and bruising immediately, and it broke the skin and made me bleed right at the base of my nail. It IS painful. Thank god for ibuprofen...

Today I made two batches of pumpkin bread (totaling six loaves; two raisin, three chocolate chip, and one plain for Renee). And now I am making dinner... Well, I have made dinner and it is in the oven baking. I made lasagna. Which I haven't made since June I think...

Lately I have had a couple really interesting horoscopes in the paper. Here's a couple:

November 12th: You're a believer. You won't wait for the supporting evidence or the facts. You believe in something just because you want to, and that works out well for you. There is intelligence in your innocence.

November 19th: The work that's in front of you is not your favorite. You might actually have physical symptoms regarding this, like just looking at it makes you super tired. Get it over with quickly so you can go back to being your happy self.

November 20th: This one is my favorite. You're an original. You're looking at the same scenery as everyone else, but your thinking something different about it than anyone before you has ever thought.

Okay, so what I get from the one for the 12th is that I believe whatever the hell I want, screw the rest of the world. Yeah, that sounds about right. The one for the 19th hit the railroad spike on the head, that day sucked ass. I really didn't want to be working that day, I was exhausted... Not sure why though. And then there's my favorite horoscope ever, the one from the 20th. My understanding of it is that everyone sees horses when I see unicorns, or they see a field of overgrown grass and I see hobbits waiting to attack me. I guess it really means that I analyze things differently, and does not necessarily mean that I am crazy.

On a similar note, my imagination seems to be in overdrive. For some reason, (and I think that this stems from one of Collin and mys fave past-times) when I am around people that I don't really know, until I know more about them I tend to make up stories about their life and how they came to be where they are. Collin and I like to do this when we see people walking on the street or when we pass them in traffic and so on and so forth. One such person I have been making up stories about is a new person I see day to day. I don't know why, I just do it. Like, I think the reason him and his wife moved here was so he could "get out" of The Life. You know what I mean... **nudge nudge, wink wink** Okay, so I think he was in the mafia or something similar.... I don't know why... I am sure as I get to know him better that will go away, but until then I think it's a pretty interesting life story, and a good reason for moving to the area.

Thanksgiving is upon us and then before we know it, it's gonna be Christmas. Yay...

I am excited about our first Christmas just the two of us, and I will probably put the tree and shit up on Thursday after my family skidaddles. It's just all the other shit that you have to deal with during the holidays, people spewing false goodwill and cheer, and blah blah blah, that I just can't stand.

Well the lasagna is about done, so I need to get the bread ready. Peace Out.

And So I Drew A New Face And I Laughed

I have noticed that about every two years or so I have the strong urge to chop all my hair off, I felt this way earlier this year and got my hair trimmed. Well, I am feeling that way again.... like hardcore. When I woke up this morning I had a headache, and as I was staring at my reflection in the mirror I wondered if I would feel better after taking the clippers to my hair, right then and there. I decided against it. One, I don't think I can pull off bald, I will leave that for my husband. Two, it's practically winter time and I don't want my poor head to freeze. I guess I will probably just chop most of it off come spring time.

Speaking of, I am thinking (hoping and planning) that come spring time Collin and I can take a week off and go on a road trip. I want to go south down I-5 and then come back up the coast. Maybe even go down into California. On the way down I want to go to the Oregon Vortex, and from there head south to the Redwood National Park. That would be fun and a nice vacation I think, especially since we haven't had any real vacation since our honeymoon. So, if our financial situation allows it (which I am gonna try really hard to make sure it does) we are going to have a nice little week of vacation come spring time. And then take another week around our anniversary.

Karma: cause Life can't be the only bitch.

I whole-heartedly believe in karma. Whether good or bad your actions always come back to you, and I like to believe that I have fairly decent karma. I know I have hella good "car karma", because I am always letting people into traffic (if I can safely), and stopping for peds and bicyclists. In life in general, I may have made a few karmic no-nos, but I think the good really out weighs the bad, and I am sure I have "repented" (so to speak) for any karmic wrong-doing. (and if not, anyone is free to call me on it and I will do so... maybe) There are times however when I don't give a shit about karma and just feel like being a bitch, if you happen to see me on one such day, I apologize in advance. I probably just had a shitty day at work. But for the most part I am nice to people, except the ones I make fun of. I look at it this way (my husband enlightened me on this one) you gotta figure in this world, while you make fun of the idiot who is wearing black knee highs and seventies style basketball shorts, there is someone who is making fun of you. It goes back to the quote: "To survive you have to learn to laugh at the world, because it is sure as shit laughing at you."

That last paragraph kind of came out of left field. A little psycho babble never hurt any one, that's assuming it made any sense in the first place.... I think originally I had a totally different point... Hmmm....

Conversation from last night:

"Brush your teeth."

"I'm going to."

"It sounds like you're talking to the cat..."

"I am... I'm establishing my dominance, I am letting her know the only way to kill me is in my sleep."

"Oh..."

Collin then came in so we could go to bed and proceeds to tell me how he established his dominance by talking to the cat:

"So I told her, 'You'll have to kill me in my sleep, cuz daddy's not as sympathetic to small furry creatures as mommy is.'"

I was speechless...

Yea, speaking of my husband, while I have to work, his lucky ass gets the day after Christmas off (he has vacation time he needs to use by the first of the year). I then informed him that he was watching my co-worker's nine year old son that day since her day care would be closed and he was available. His response: "What?!?" I just laughed. Serves him right for bragging about getting time off while I work. I told the girls this and then Renee pipes in with, "oh, yeah, and he can watch Mia too, right?" Fun times.

Who wants to be a potato chip when they can be a Twisted Cheetoh?

I am going to go read for a bit now before the ANTM cycle finale is on.

Peace out.

Gouge My Eyes Out With A Dull Spork

"In chaos there lies opportunity." So sayeth the Dove Chocolate foil wrapper, so it must be true... Right?

This month has been a tough one. Shorter months always are. Luckily I have Collin and my bestie Renee. I probably would have left my job months ago if it weren't for her.

We have seen some crazy shit in our adventures. This last summer, on one of the really hot days, we were driving down 17th Street towards Mission, and saw this extremely overweight man standing in his yard, wearing nothing but way too short-shorts. All the blinding white flesh scarred our retinas... It was bad. Then in late September we were running errands on a Saturday and were going towards downtown on State Street, and we saw a guy standing in the shrubbery at Bellinger Tires, peeing on the side of the freaking building. Either they gave him a raw deal on some tires, or he was just a bum, or he just really really needed to pee.

As I have said before, Renee and I watch Maury everyday at lunch (we love our baby-mama drama, and lie detector tests; it makes our lives seem normal) and everyday we see those dumb ass commercials for the "colleges". So, there is this one school's commercials that the chick on it has become really annoying and we tend to make fun of her. We noticed that in some of the commercials they show the names of the "students" who are giving there testimonials, but they never showed hers. One day, out of extreme ornery-ness and boredom during lunch, we called the number on her commercial to see if the "they" that she was always talking about would answer, and if they did would they know her name. They didn't. And I imagine they probably thought we were on drugs since we were giggling like school girls.

Sometime last week, before Collin and I went to bed, for some reason or another I was being excruciatingly stubborn about actually getting my ass off the couch and going to bed. Collin looked at me and in a stern voice said, "Bed." I looked at him and responded, "Head." All the while just as stern.... This began a fun new game of him saying words and me saying a totally unrelated word that sounded the same. The one he said that really got me was orange. If I remember correctly (I was completely exhausted and could have slept right there on the love seat) I responded with storange. Collin said this wasn't a real word but come to find out (I just looked it up in the urban dictionary) it is in fact a word. It is a noun meaning: "a store that sells only fruits and vegetables." Cah-razy.

I invited my family over for Thanksgiving dinner. This should be fun. I need to tidy up the house this weekend, and clear all the paperwork off the tables, and shit like that. I am hoping that dinner will go smoothly. I invited my dad, sister, nephew, and brother. I could not bring myself to invite my mother. It would only cause problems, plus Jenn and I agreed that it was just easier this way. Part of me wants to feel guilty for excluding her, but all the other parts of me tell it to shut the hell up. Plus it is well known that my mother is the destroyer of holiday cheer.

As most of the world knows by now (unless you have been hiding under a rock), Twilight the movie is coming out this week, and I am extremely torn. I have read and own all the books (in fact I am re-reading them again) and totally fell in love with the characters, and the story. I guess you can say I am one of the masses who is irrevoccably in love with the idea behind the stiry. Back to the point at hand, so this movie is coming out and I really really really want to see it, like right away. The problems with that is #1. I am worried I will be disappointed if the movie strays too far from the original plot (I understand that some things will have to be a little different to work as a movie) and #2. for the price of two movie tickets (even at matinee pricing) I could just buy the damn movie as soon as it comes out on DVD. Yea, if I buy it and hate it I will have another coaster, but I don't see that being the case... I don't know I am torn... Some of the casting decisions for the first movie, sort of mess up the storyline in the second movie (assuming they will make all the books into movies.... they better....), and anyone who has read all the books knows what I am talking about, and if not re-read the first two books. I am not going to spoil anything for those of you people who haven't yet been sucked into the world of Twilight. So what to do... Do I go see it in the theater, spending at least $15.00 (unless the hubby somehow scores us some free movie passes from work)? Or do I wait patiently and go to Walmart at midnight the day it gets released on DVD? Honestly? I think I will prolly cave and go see it in theaters...

Well, I think that's enough rambling for one evening... I put some new pics up on myspace.

Peace Out.

I Will Be Utterly Disappointed If I Don't See A Fight Tonight.

Last night was awesome! We had so much fun, granted we were in the upper level seating, but it was still awesome to watch a hockey game live and in person. There were two really awesome fights. It was GREAT! I would love to go to another game but I would want to get better seats. And talk about "sticker shock" for a bottle of water at the concession stand it was $3.75!!! Holy freaking cow.... It's like highway robbery.

So yeah, I had a great time but the leg room was rather lacking...

Today I got a new pair of these hard brown leather shoes, and I love them. Now I just need to find the perfect winter coat... Collin and I figure it's about time I get a real coat, rather than a sweatshirt. We also got all of our Christmas decorations today. I know you're prolly like "Oh, she's one of those... It ain't even Thanksgiving yet and she's got all her shit..." Yes, I have the stuff, but I am not putting any of it up until the weekend after Thanksgiving.

While stuck in traffic in Portland last night on our way to the game, the OHSU tram went over head. Now I had never witnessed this in person, so I mentioned to Collin there was no way in hell I would ever be able to ride that thing, unless I was already unconscious. If he did manage to force me on there I would prolly be hanging on to a pole or something, white faced and screaming, "AHHHHHHH! I want off!!! AHHH!!!!" And I would completely freak out all the other passengers and prolly have to be sedated to be able to let go of said pole and get off of the effing tram.

Then Collin asked me if I had ever gone to the Space Needle, I told him no the closest I had been was when we were up in Seattle in May of 2006. He explained I probably would hate it, because the ride up is in a glass elevator. I agreed, and then he went on to say "....blah blah blah the Speece Needle..." And we busted into laughter... Apparently my husband is German as well as all his other interesting heritage. Ha.

Well my home-made Hawaiian Pizza is done and we are gonna watch a movie, so, Peace.

I Think My Cat Is Trying To Kill Me....

Collin sent me a link today that outlines signs of your cat trying to kill you. And Spaz does all of these things!!! Everyone needs to check out this link, it may mean life or death. www.catswhothrowupgrass.com/kill.php

Seriously, check it out. You're life may be in danger and you don't even know it.

On a lighter note: We are goign to a hockey game tonight!! Yay me!! (and Collin, LOL)

Peace Out!

I Think There's A Club For That... You Should Join It.

Okay, I have about ten minutes before I have to leave for work, so I thought I would hop on here momentarily and slam out a quick post. I have yet to post those pics from Halloween, I will try tonight.

I am sure you are asking about the change of the blog name. Well, it actually has a lot of meaning, and I couldn't ignore it when it hit my like a brick wall at work. When the thought came stumbling through my head I had to silently laugh (cuz if I did it out loud my co-workers would think I am even more unhinged than they realized) because the first thing I thought of was Austin Powers. Plus, it just makes sense, that's what this blog is after all: me in a nutshell.

Yesterday was one of those days for me; at one point I almost started screaming at my stapler.... Yeah, it was bad.

I have to tell you about the best trick-or-treater of 2008. I opened the door to hand out the candy, and there is a lone kid (he looked like he was about ten-ish) He was dressed in jeans, a black turtleneck, a ninja mask, and a big curly blonde wig. I couldn't help it, I had to ask what he meant to be, and without even hesitating he gave me the best answer. "The lead singer of Twisted Sister." I heard his dad laugh from the sidewalk. I gave him extra candy for that. Seriously, it was awesome.

Time to go to work.... Yay.... Peace Out.

When Life Shits On You, Smear It In Life's Eyes

Sitting at my desk this morning I realized that I hadn't posted in over a week now... I think... And the more I thought about it it all made sense...

The first week of the month is always the most stressful and frustrating week in my office, so by the time I drag myself through the front door, make and eat dinner I am just too effing drained to boot up my laptop and get on here to tell the world how crappy my day was. Also I was getting over a nasty cold this last week, so double whammy. But I feel better, and though I am utterly drained here, things are good. Tomorrow night or this weekend I will be on putting up new pics, some of me on Halloween (I was an angel. Fitting, right?), and also a picture of Collin's awesome birthday cake I made him.

Now I must get back to work, I just felt the uncontrollable urge to get on here real quick. Oh, and in my next post I will tell you about the awesomest trick-or-treater we had on Halloween. Peace Out!

Pumpkin Guts and Dyslexia

We carved pumpkins!!! Yay for mess!! The pictures are on myspace of course.

As for the dyslexia, while cleaning up all the pumpkin stuff, Collin and I were in the kitchen and I was going to tear a paper towel off the roll and it didn't tear like it should have and ended up pulling more off the roll than I wanted. I commented to Collin that this particular roll seemed to have more issues than the others we had used (like they weren't perforated properly).

Then he responded, "They aren't tearing right, correctly?"

I am sure you see the problem with that statement, what he meant to say was, "They aren't tearing correctly, right?"

The best part (yet another sign we are so freakishly meant for each other) is that I completely and totally understood him, and if he hadn't pointed out his mistake, I more than likely would have never noticed.

As I type this I realize that Thanksgiving is like four weeks away, and then before I effing know it it will be Christmas. What does this all mean? Other than the obviousness that time marches on with or without me... It means I need to start thinking about what I am gonna do for my Christmas cards this year! (I need certain people's addresses.... *nudge nudge K*)

I am now going to take an awesomely healthy dose of Nyquil, and prolly go to bed... I hope I sleep better tonight and not cough so much.... I did fine last night until about 2:30ish when I just couldn't stop coughing, so Collin went and spent the rest of the night on the couch.... SO yeah, I am off.... DRUG TIME!!!

I Am Not Laughing At You, I Am Having A Seizure Of The Face.

You know, I really truly meant to be on here sooner than this, but oh well. That just means this will be an exceptionally long and hilarious blog. Loads to share. Okay, I am going to pick up where I left off in the last little blurb I posted....

As I mentioned, the weekend before this last one, we went to Minto Brown Park and I almost died. What happened was while we were walking around, I stopped to take a close up picture of some really red leaves (I love the colorful foliage this time of year... see the pictures on myspace), and this "drunken" wasp came flying out of the brambles right at me. I say drunken because it was really cold, and bees, wasps, etc. tend to sssssllllloooooooooowwww down in colder weather as they prepare to hibernate for the winter. The effer landed right on my freaking arm! Thank god I had a thicker shirt on, cause it wouldn't get off my sleeve and it was doing the humpy motion with its but like it was trying to sting. (For those of you unaware and slightly confused as to how in god's green earth this could kill me, I am allergic to bee, wasp etc. stings.) So I am freaking out, Collin's freaking out, and I am sure inside its little head the wasp was freaking out too. Collin FINALLY managed to get it off my sleeve, at which point it tried landing on him. Once we were finally sure the wasp was on neither of us, we rapidly left the area, praying to god no one heard us screaming like little girls...

The day before that particular adventure we went to Collin's final follow-up appointment for the accident. While we were sitting there waiting, one thing led to another and somehow I was physically threatening him in the scariest possible way, I believe he was biting his nails and for some reason it really sets me off. I said to him, in the quietly psychotic voice all women possess, "If you keep biting your nails I will cockpunch you so hard your testicles will come out you nose and your weiner will come out of your mouth!"

Can you imagine his response to that? I know it shocked me. His biggest question, after I threatened to mutilate his junk, was, "Will they be inside out?"

That is my husband... He is awesome.

A big part of the reason I haven't been on to post is that I got this stupid cold and have been sick since Thursday-ish. I hate being sick! But then again who likes it? Except for maybe hypochondriacs... For the past two nights I have found comfort in healthy doses of Nyquil. I love the stuff since it knocks me out and I can sleep, I think it's the only reason I am feeling better so quickly. That and the extra vitamin C, the high amounts of water, loads of green tea and honey, and I have not smoked since Friday, except for one cigarette. (Not that it matters, I really only smoke at work and at family functions, and if I go to a bar)

Oh, and the kicker of it is, I get sick the day after I set up plans to go pick my mom up to spend the afternoon with her. And since she's been dying to see my place and blah blah blah, it's not like I could cancel on her, she already thinks I don't like being around her. Of course, when I pick her up and she notices I am sick, she's like, "If you're sick we could have done this another time I would have understood." And the little voice in my head is screaming in response, "Yea, I could have, but you'd think I was lying about it!!!!!" Yea, Saturday having my mom over for the afternoon was a freaking blast!!!(if you can't tell that statement is drenched in sarcasm) After we got to my house she didn't even allow me the opportunity to show her around, she just started snooping. Then I am making lunch for us (my mom, Collin, and me) and I asked her if she wanted her grilled cheese cut (as I take the first completed sandwich out of the pan), and she's like, "Yea, but that's not for me is it? It's for HIM right?" Shocked and appalled I look at her and tell her no, this is hers. She then says, "No, no feed him first." Still dazed by her actions, I bluntly told her, "Umm, no. We don't play that game in this house, I will make his when I am ready to, and he knows that." I just couldn't believe that she thought we were like that... And to make matters worse, from the moment I picked her up to the moment I dropped her off she was telling me about how horrible her mom (my grandma) is to her, and how her mom hates her... I just wanted to grab her and shake her (and maybe smack her a bit) and scream at her that if grandma hated her she wouldn't be letting her live there. Sheesh....

So after that debaucle of a Saturday, I am pleased to say that Sunday was fairly awesome. Thankfully it was warm when we went to the pumpkin patch or with my luck I would have gotten worse than I was. It was about 73 degrees on Sunday when we were out and about, it was cah-razy. I am fairly certain it was the last of our warm weather for the year though. At the pumpkin patch we got two huge pumpkins, they are going to be carved tomorrow I believe. There are pictures of the pre-carving on myspace. They were six bucks each, which I think is a good deal considering the hugeness of them. I can't believe Halloween is Friday... Collin will be twenty six.

Wow, this post has almost turned into a novella... I think I might go see if Collin wants to start on the pumpkins tonight after I post all the awesome new pictures from the last two weeks. It's only 7:40 after all.... If I can tear him away from COD4 with his friend.... Peace out!

It is almost a sure thing I will post tomorrow night if we get the pumkins carved.

Nooner

Work is good, Collin is good, I am good, life is all around good. Collin got almost two and a half hours of overtime last night (yay for his next paycheck, boo he didn't get home until almost 7pm). This weekend was fun. We went and saw his grandma on Saturday and took her some pictures. On Sunday we went to Minto Brown and had a fairly nice walk until I almost died. Took some awesome pictures of the trees. It was really cold that morning and foggy. I will go into more detail later about the death thing... I am exaggerating on the almost dying, but there was a scary moment towards the end of our walk. I am going to go eat my lunch and see whats on Maury. I think I am gonna post pictures on Myspace tonight... Peace.

Well, Before The Bed Catches On Fire I Should Check On It

Apparently there is a scheduled outage at 8pm tonight on blogger so I will have to keep this fairly brief.

One. I got pics of the Halloween decorations up on Myspace (well actually I will be doing that after I post this but since there is a "scheduled outage" I am posting first then going to mess around on Myspace). The bloody hand prints look freakin' awesome. And I am thinking I am going to make up a little story about Edgar on here tomorrow... Edgar (by the way, in case you see this before the pictures) is our skeleton. He is awesome.

Two. We watched some movies this weekend. You Don't Mess With The Zohan was cute, and definitely funny in some spots. The Happening was typical M Night Shyamalan, in that it was slightly creepish and it makes you think.... Unless you don't have a brain then you probably won't really get the point of the movie.... We also watched Baby Mama which was funny (I love Tina Fey).

Three. I really don't have a third point to make but leaving off at two makes it seem kind of light, or empty, or something.... But I did just think of another point, oh.... no... It's gone too...

Four. How do you respond to a Myspace message from someone who's drunk, who brings up the fact you had a crush on them in high school and they still have the note(s) you wrote them? It's probably something I will tackle when I am on there later...

Well it's ten minutes until this "outage" so I am gonna lead by example and head out.... Well, not really. I mean I will still be here.... Just not on HERE. Yeah, okay.... Peace Out!

No, I'm Good, I Think I Just Inhaled Someone's Skin

**Exasperated sigh**

Work is going good. This month has already been way way better than last month.

This weekend we put up Halloween decorations!! Sooooo much fun! Tomorrow night there will be pictures up on my Myspace of all the awesomeness. And I can never say this enough, I have the best husband EVER. He (obviously) loves Halloween just as much as me, after all it is his birthday.

I am trying to have a get together with a couple of his really good friends and their wives, but I doubt it will happen. Dan & T will prolly be taking the boys trick or treating, and then won't have anyone to sit for them. There is still hope that Doobers & S will come over if Doobers will ever answer my text back. I will probably have to resort to emailing him.

I hope we get lots of trick or treaters.... I really would like to get rid of some of the five pounds of candy we have sitting here that we bought at Costco... Like two months ago...

Oh! We got the best fleece sheets this weekend. A million times better than flannel. Nice and toasty.... SoOoOoO awesome.

Collin's job is going great. For his birthday (way early, I know) his parents gave him a $25 gift card to The Ram which I have heard has good food, so it will be nice to go out for a change.

I think it's time to head to bed now. After a little bit of news and a quick email check. Peace out!

That Was More Like Fifty Five Miles Per Hour On A Curvy Road

So, I think things are finally going to settle back down. Doobers' wedding has come and gone. It was very traditional. There will be pics on Myspace. Sadly, (and I am really sorry K) I do not have any pictures of me dressed up. I did get you a pic of the dress, but I didn't end up wearing the dress. I found out Teresa (the best man's wife) was going to be wearing dress pants and a nice top, so I took the dress back and bought a new pair of black dress slacks and a nice black and grey lacey top (I can wear both to work).

Next time I wear the outfit I will take a picture.

How do you feel about miniature schnauzers?

So much has been going on lately, I really don't know where to start. Work truly is getting better... Just need to push all the way out of this slump and I will be good. Umm, what else.... I am making plans to invite Collin's best friends and their wives over for his birthday (Halloween!!) I am thinking we will watch scary movies or something... This weekend we are doing Halloween decorations, and I swear there will be pictures. I have AWESOME plans for our Halloween decorations. I LOVE Halloween, I was one of those kids who always wanted to decorate for the holiday, but we couldn't afford to do so. I would then take white sheets out of the linen closet and put ghost faces on them with markers (washable) and hang them in the trees. I always got in trouble.

My boss, Stan, introduced me to this song by this jazz group he heard at a jazz festival. I swear it is the best song ever. It's called "I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones". Seriously, great song.

Would you get my phone out of your mouth!?

I went to WalMart with Renee, Drea, and Mia last Friday, and oh my god, Mia is such a doll. She has finally started to say my name (well her grammy's nickname for me, LiLi). When we were on our way to the store Renee and Drea were talking and I heard Mia sitting behind me saying, "LiLi..... LiLi..... LiLi...." Just really quietly like under her breath. Then they stopped talking and she kept saying it, so I was like, "What Mia?" And typical little kid, just would mumble in response. She thought this was a great game, so she continued to do this all through the store and while we waited in line at the checkout... It was adorable.

I am getting tired so I am going to go upload photos on Myspace and then go read or something... I was watching the debate for the most part... All I have to say is I am happy with my choice for the next POTUS, and do not care for the other candidate. You'll know if my man wins or not come Election Day, or the day after.

"So, it looked like Spiderman drilling Santa in the ass!"

If We Were Going Ninety Miles Per Hour We'd Be Naked

This is just a quick one to let the world know I am alive... The last month has been a bitch and I am glad it is finally over, and hopefully the world will become a little more sane.... I hope everyone is taking their meds. Tonight is the wedding rehearsal for Doobers' wedding, hopefully all goes well. I have loads of fun tidbits to share with everyone, just not the time to do it right now (I am at the office), but hopefully I will have the time tomorrow night. Peace out homies!

I thought about calling in today, I had the perfect excuse: "I can't come to work today, I just found out one of my testicles didn't drop." And Collin was gonna call in to his work and say, "I can't come in today, I just got my first period." It would have been awesome.

If You Use Pasta Other Than Spaghetti, Is It Still Spaghetti?

And the answer is no. It then technically becomes whatever pasta you are using with tomato sauce (or whatever sauce you are using I guess...).

Here is a quickie, there will be a better one tomorrow or the next day with pictures! Well, with some pictures. I think I mentioned in my last blog that I was looking forward to an uber busy weekend.

It was fun but cah-razy. I went to Sarah's bridal shower on Saturday, it was interesting. It was nice to finally meet the girl who is marrying my husband's best friend. It was really great to get to spend some time with Denise (Doobers mom).

On Sunday, I went to Mia's 2nd Birthday party. It was great, Mia is such a doll (this is where the pictures will be coming from). I got her an adorable My Melody doll (My Melody is a Hello Kitty "friend"). She loved it! She wouldn't put it down! I guess after she got home she was carrying it everywhere, and she has this cute thing where while carrying her dolls around she always says to them "Come on." You know, like how a mom would say it to a child. Just "Come on." It's hilarious.

Well the non-spaghetti is ready and today was definitely a Monday all across the board.

Just Remember To Bend Your Knees And Stand On Your Balls

"Okay... Look, Returning Balls. You're good at that."

"I'm not good at Returning Balls when I have to bend my knees and stand on my balls."

That was a conversation from last night. I was trying to help Collin with his golf swing on the Wii, and I was telling him he will get better force in his swing if he bends his knees and stands on the balls of his feet. Knowing us and our dirty minds the moment I said to him "Just remember to bend your knees and stand on your balls." We started laughing so hard I thought for sure I would pee myself.

And of course the next event he had on his fitness test was "Returning Balls" (which is tennis practice), so it obviously was all down hill from there.

Thank god I met someone who has the same type of mind and sense of humor as me. It would get weird if I was always the only one laughing... Plus I am sure by now he would have had me committed otherwise...

I am making Apple Zucchini Bread right now. I also made a small no-fruit-added loaf for Renee (she doesn't like the raisins or dried apples but loves my zucchini bread). It has about fifty minutes left. Everyone at work loves it when I bring goodies. And now that we are headed out of summer I can bake more without overheating the house (or dying of heat exhaustion in the kitchen).

Kristina I love you dearly, but there is a high likelihood that I will not post a pic of me in the dress. Maybe, MAYBE, if I get a good picture of me in the dress I will post it... Okay, for you I guess I will make sure I get a "good" picture of me in the dress... I'll try to get it posted this weekend but I make no promises. I must love you....

Alright bitches, I am out like a drunk whore.

This Is The "Something" I Did

"And the Truth shall set ye free!"

Finally an honest picture of the two of us, LOL!!!

The Art and Science of Toast

Great song for anyone pissed off at a man: "Dickhead" by Kate Nash.

It's great.

Not that I am concerned he would read this and infer that I am mad at him, but to be safe I am not mad at my husband. It's just a really great song.

Cheese sticks can get into Canada but do not try and take an orange to Canada. They hate citrus fruits...

So, today was better than yesterday, I think. It will get better. I really truly do believe in the power of positive thinking and holding onto hope, yet I wouldn't label myself as an optimist. It all comes down to the mantra that I learned very early in life, "Hope for the best but plan for the worst."

Saturday I am going to Sandy with Doobers' mom for the bridal shower, it will be my only chance to meet my husband's best friend's wife-to-be before the wedding. I am looking forward to it, I love Denise (Doobers' mom). She is awesome and we get along great. Plus then I can get her impression of the girl (whom I am sure is awesome) who is marrying her only son. The wedding is two weeks from this coming Sunday... It will be here before I know it.

I got my dress for the wedding finally (it's a semi formal evening wedding which = Alicia has to wear an effing dress...), it's this cute black dress and I got a pink sweater to wear with it. Since, (knowing me and my hate of dresses) I will probably only wear the dress once, I am keeping the tags on and taking it back to the store after the wedding and getting either pants, or a shirt or two or something. I am not keeping a dress I will never wear again.

Sunday is Mia's second birthday. I am excited. I picked up the sign from FedEx Kinkos last night. It turned out great. I hope to get some good pictures of everyone at the party for Renee and Drea (Mia's mommy).

I had an epiphany in the shower this morning... Well, I guess it's not really an epiphany, since I already knew that I wanted this, but anyways: I want to go back to school. It's not gonna be this year, it's just not plausible, but by next fall (so in the next year) I want to go back to school and do something. Part of the reason I am waiting is because I don't know exactly what I want to go for. I am thinking Business or Winery Management (okay, okay not really on the Winery Management) or something I will definitely use in my career. (Which will probably continue along the office administration line)

It's funny (well not really funny I guess, but you know what I mean) but even with all the bills, and stress at work, and adult life in general, I don't think I have ever been happier with my life. I not only have a nice place to live, an okay job (where I have pretty decent job security and great bosses), two dependable vehicles, an awesomely heathenistic monster of a cat, and a few really great friends; I also have someone I can share all the good and bad of life with. It just amazes me. (This blurb came about from a convo at work where we were discussing the whole "If I knew then what I know now, I would have..." and the only things I would have definitely changed were some of the financial "boo-boos" I made when I was younger, and even those were worth it to be where I am now.)

Does purple always have to smell like grape? Or can it also smell like lavender, lilac, or even something totally off the wall like onions?

I think I am gonna go read, or do something... Like breathe, breathing is good right?

I Never Gave A Damn About The Weather, And It Never Gave A Damn About Me

Time for *imaginary drumroll*The Week In Retrospect!!! Okay, so actually the last six days, but it might as well have been a week...

First off, somewhere in Salem there is a street called (wait for it...) Fussyduck Lane. I swear to you I am in no way kidding, and someday I want to live there (if it's not in the bad part of Salem... Which I view as pretty much everywhere except where I live now....). But yeah, awesome name for a street.

In other news, we sold Ethel to this guy from Vancouver, he has an engine and tranny to put into her, so good for him. I love the Blazer aka Ricky. It's just... Great!

"That's about as off-road ready as a can of tuna fish."

This was a comment Collin made... Speaking of cans of tuna, (I should have taken a pic...) at Costco there was this ginormous can of tuna! Like, you could make tuna sandwiches for 25-50 people with this one can of tuna.

When we were at Walmart on Saturday we were scoping out the Halloween decorations we want to get for our place (I love Halloween like crazy, and it's Collin's Birthday), and we were walking down the remnants of the back to school aisle when I saw the best folders in the history of the planet. I had to take pictures of these, had to!
This one (in case you can't see it clearly, or read it... but if you can't read then you don't know what this says, and if you're illiterate what business do you have reading my blog? Well I guess you aren't actually reading this, and in fact have no clue I am even berating you...) says, "Chuck Norris does not sleep he waits."
Then there's this one, "Chuck Norris can blow bubbles with beef jerky."
And finally, "Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water and make him drink."

Seriously, best folders ever.

We bought season four of Grey's Anatomy on Saturday. I am totally enamored with the show. We have all the previous seasons and have been watching since the beginning. We didn't do anything Sunday except watching Grey's on DVD. It was nice to take a day off.

Saturday we were up by 5:30am to go grocery shopping (I am one of those early morning shoppers, I figure everyone else is still hungover and passed out from their Friday night), then after all that stuff we went out to the inlaws in the afternoon to give them the proceeds from selling the car, then we went to Best Buy where we bought Grey's, as well as Ninja Reflex (a game for the Wii), and then I got a new CD. I had heard a couple of the songs on the album and I liked the other stuff I heard from them, so like some other groups and artists, I went out on a limb and bought the CD. I have to say it is an awesome CD. I guess I should say who and what, Panic! At The Disco; Welcome To The Sound Of Pretty Odd. It reminds me a lot of some of the Beatles stuff.

Saturday we managed to stay up and watch all of Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey did the opener as Sarah Palin. I had a nightmare about her the night after her acceptance speech for the Republican VP Nominee. I couldn't stop laughing, loved it, like hardcore. It was worth it, then Sunday morning we slept in and as I mentioned above we did nothing at all on Sunday. It was great.

I don't know what else really has happened other than the fact that work is still pissing me off on a daily basis, and every little upset pushes me closer and closer to the edge, and makes me want to find a different job...

It'll get better, it has to get better...