I ran five miles today, just wanted to let you know.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go pass out now.

Have a holly jolly Christmas?

The local lite rock radio station here in the STL, 102.5 KEZK, has started playing Christmas music.......24/7. Uhm, really? It's the first week of November. Are you sure Christmas music 24/7 is necessary at this point in time? Thanks to KEZK, I now have "Please Come Home for Christmas" by Don Henley in my head. Awesome. And while I'm on the subject, don't you think "Frosty the Snowman" is a bit too traumatic for children? I mean, he MELTS for God's sake. Remember on the cartoon when he keeps saying "Happy Birthday"? I know know why, but that keeps running through my head (along with Don Henley).

TGIF and all, but seriously, I do believe EVERYONE in the state of Tennessee with United Healthcare insurance was hospitalized either on a psych unit or detox unit last night because my caseload is OUT OF CONTROL today. Yikes. So, while I'm glad it's Friday, I must first get through this crazy busy day at Job #1 and then work 4.5 hours at Job #2. My life is awesome.

Merry Christmas. And Happy Birthday.

New Kendall pics! Nearly 7 months old!

Who's the cutest little penguin ever? Kendall B. is! This was her WAY too cute Halloween costume for this year. Love it. Look, you can see her two little teeth on the bottom!


A great pic of the Baumgart fam. I love those people.

SO cute. A little punkin sitting amongst the other punkins. And the baby jeans, how cute are the baby jeans?????

Kendall getting ready for her 6 month portraits.

Kendall's pensive look........

Kendall started swimming lessons when she turned 6 months old. She LOVES it, gonna be a water baby like her daddy!

Just doing a little light reading before bed....

Blah, blah, the Yankees won the World Series, blabity, blah, blah, blah......

I'm only gonna address this once and then we're moving on, k? The mo fo New York Yankees won the World Series last night. For the 27th effing time. Ya-freakin-hoo. I hate them all except for Joe Girardi (and is it just me, or is he starting to look like Skeletor?). I particularly hate Kate Hudson. Now, I realize she is not technically on the Yankees, but she's dating A-Rod (have you heard???) and for every effing game, they showed her in the crowd at least 27 times. QUITE annoying. Hey, remember when the Cubs passed over Joe Girardi to hire Lou Piniella instead? Guess who just won the World Series??? Just sayin. So, here we sit, baseball is officially over for 2009. We must sit through the "other" sports until our boys of summer come back next spring. I can't even watch Blues hockey because every effing game is blacked out (GFY Dish Network). But I'm not bitter. Speaking of hockey, going to the game next Saturday....14 rows off the ice. Nice. Now, before you say, how can she afford that, let me tell you how-StubHub. GREAT deals on tickets, just sayin.

Now on to random things, last night as I was driving home from work, I saw a bumper sticker that said "I'm only speeding because I really have to poop". Nice, huh? Even better? It was on a mini-van. Wow.

I think I have my first real workout injury. I was running on the treadmill last night and I periodically kept having a cramp-like pain shooting up my left leg. I tried to ignore it (no pain, no gain, right?) but the more I ran the more it hurt. I hopped off the treadmill and tried to stretch it out but it was still a'hurtin. It's ok to walk on this morning, but I'm thinking I should probably take a day off from running. I love old age.

So, I did end up getting my hair chopped off. Six inches, gone. Love it. It's now shoulder length-ish. I have had SO many compliments on it and one of the docs at work told me it made me look younger (a girl ALWAYS likes that compliment). He is also kinda a creepy pervy perverson, so I'm not sure how I feel about his compliments (we call him Dr. Pimp behind his back. For good reason.).

I am soooooooooooo ready for Thanksgiving. Not only is it my favorite holiday because it's the only one we spend in Salem, but I also have the Friday before and the entire week of Thanksgiving off. Yesssssssssss! On top of that, I'll get to see my precious baby girl! I haven't seen her since the end of September and she has changed so much since then! I also can't wait to see my sis and brother-in-law.

After having listened to the new Weezer CD several times now, I can tell you I like it more and more each time. I can do without the weird slow song with the sitar and the lady singing in the background, but other than that, the songs are pretty good. Now, if they would just go on tour again, complete with a stop in the STL............

KD's review of the new Weezer CD "Raditude"

The album cover alone should entice you to listen to this CD....

Everyone who knows anything about me knows I'm a HUGE Weezer fan. I have been ever since "Buddy Holly" and the Blue Album came out in 1994 (that's 15 years for anyone who's counting). I've even seen them perform in another country, for God's sake (I've seen them live five times total). I have very fond memories of the first two albums (for any Weezer purist, you will agree that Pinkerton is their greatest CD. Maybe one of the greatest CD's EVER by ANYONE, but I digress....), they came out during my college years, and most of my friends dug them too. Those two albums were in constant play. They took a bit of a hiatus after 1996 so that lead singer Rivers Cuomo could finish his degree at Harvard, but came back 2001-ish and have been around ever since.

Raditude is Album #7 and in all fairness, really can't be compared to the previous six. And I'll tell you why. Raditude is a POP album. I'm not saying that's bad, just different. Truth is, after a couple times listening to it all the way through I must say, for the most part, I totally dig it. Sure, there are a couple of songs I could do without, but most of them are fun, catchy and will most certainly get stuck in your head (much like Ricky Martin's "Shake Your Bon Bon"...right Rob???). The first single "If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)" is, in a word, FANTASTIC. And if you haven't seen the video, I demand you go to YouTube right this minute and watch it-it is HILARIOUS (in true Weezer fashion).

Many die-hard Weezer fans will probably hate this album. I am not one of them. What you need to remember is, if you know anything about this band, you will know that many of their songs are silly and sarcastic. They don't take themselves too seriously, and you shouldn't either. I mean, on Raditude, they collaborate with Jermaine Dupre and Lil Wayne for God's sake, and that, my friends, is good times right there.

I feel like I am best friends with them because I met them at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle last year-true story. Ok, well, I met half of them-Pat, the drummer and Scott, the bassist. Couldn't have been nicer guys, and were also quite funny. I didn't get a pic to document this momentous occasion of me meeting half of my favoritest band ever (I didn't want to be THAT fan, ya know?), but I will never forget it as long as I live. And, as long as I live, I will most likely love every CD they make, no matter how cheezy.

Confessions of an idiot

I need help.

I recently developed an obsession with red grapefruit (????). There's only one problem----I don't know how to eat it. I know, I know, those that know me well are currently shaking their heads and wondering when my room at the group home will be ready, but I really don't know how to eat it.

I bought some fresh red grapefruit at the grocery store last night and brought one in to work today to eat. I cut it in half as I've seen other people do and brought it back to my desk. Now, let me provide you with a visual-my desk currently looks like I'm about to do surgery. I have a bowl, a plastic fork, a real fork and a real spoon, several paper towels and, of course, the grapefruit. Here is what has happened so far-I have grapefruit juice all over me and all over my desk. Digging the grapefruit out with a fork doesn't seem to be working, nor does the spoon option help.

So, I ask you, how in the HELL does one eat fresh grapefruit????? Do I need to peel the outside off? Do I need someone to do it for me? What????

I need rehab....STAT

I can't stop. I can't stop eating the caramel apple candy corn. I'm pretty sure it has crack cocaine in it. I have a bag of it sitting on my desk right in front of me, taunting me, daring me to eat the rest of it. Even though I have a tummy ache now, I still can't stop. I am powerless against it. I'm gonna need to get a hold of a Where and When and find out where the closest CA (Candy Anonymous) is located. I can't stop on my own and I fear I'll have withdrawal symptoms if I stop cold turkey.

Halloween Fun!

my brother being freaky weird
the back of my mom's car for Trunk or Treat
me being the candy gobblin....

me and my brother
my brother and mom
John and Linda Maledy's car
some folks went all out with their decorations

lovely halloween scene....on a church parking lot
the thing in yellow next to my brother is NOT a real person. Looks like it though, doesn't it? It was freaking me out.

My parents church hosted Trunk or Treat on Halloween night. The premise is that you decorate the "trunk" of your cars and give out candy. Supposed to be a safer alternative than letting your little ghosts and goblins walk the streets. Especially the mean streets of Salem, Mo. It was actually a lot of fun-approximately 2,300 people were there. That's a lot of frickin candy to hand out, but it was really fun-the kids were so cute. My brother and I, and his friend Travis helped my mom out. Tim and Travis entertained us all night-who knew they were so funny?

The one thing I will point out (God don't hate me for being judgemental) is that, I swear to you, I have never seen more people with missing teeth in my life, and no, it was not part of any costume. I mean, I realize Dent County isn't the richest of areas, but come on!

Missing teeth and all, it was still a fun night....I'll probably do it again next year. The kids were just too cute-even the little monster that sassed me. He was probably 7 or 8 and was wearing an Incredible Hulk costume. Me, thinking I was being funny (my first mistake) asked him if the muscles built into the costume were real. This kid looked at me like I was the biggest retard and said "it's just a costume, it's not real". I half expected him to say "DUH", but he didn't. The rest of the kids were polite, but I tell ya, if I ever see that little hellion again...........