Over the hills and through the woods....

We're off to Salem tomorrow for the weekend. I'm looking forward to it. Should be a fun, good time had by all! Mom will have Pizza Hut waiting for us. I see a Yahtzee tournament in our near future. Mom better watch out though, because the girls are pretty good! Can't wait to see Hank and Stubby. J is ready to go fishing. It should be fun. Hope everyone has a good weekend, it's the holiday you know, so be safe!

stress

I am feeling the stress I was hoping to avoid feeling. I know I am stressed when the following occurs: constant headaches, decreased appetite, exhausted but unable to sleep, feeling overwhelmed. This pretty much describes me as of late. It's all work related, life outside of work is GREAT. I try to keep things in perspective and remind myself that it's just a job. All I gotta do is come in, do what I'm supposed to do, and leave it behind when I leave at night. I try to focus on the fact that once I leave, I get to see J (which always makes me happy) and/or focus on the weekend ahead. This weekend we are all going to Salem (me, J and the girls) which should be fun-so this is what I am focusing on right now.

Well, this was my brief work break. Back to the daily grind. Hope everyone else is stress free!

Everywhere we go, we hear "Jesse's Girl"

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was good. Hung out with J and the girls Friday night. Saturday I took the girls to their softball game. They were so cute, kept checking to make sure I was watching and asking me if they were doing good. Their team lost 20-7, but it was still fun. I got sunburnt, but what else is new? Saturday night we dropped the kids off at the sitters and headed out to UMB to see Rascal Flatts. After sitting in traffic for like an hour and a half (and witnessing people peeing on the side of the road), we finally got there. Thank God there were people that J knows already there and saving a spot for us because it was freakin crowded! Wall to wall people in the lawn. The show was good, we of course got to hear our song "Bless The Broken Road". The funniest part was when they were just kinda playing around and playing other people's songs. All of a sudden, they started playing "Jesse's Girl". We laughed-that freakin' song follows us, I swear! Sunday I got to have lunch with Red. We were totally wanting some McCallister's but their computers were down, so we settled for Penn Station. It was always good to hang with my sis. I went straight to work after that, had a really crazy busy day, was totally exhaused by the time I got off at 9. It was good times had by all! And good news, my fungus has cleared up. Thank God.

Happy Birthday Aunt Jan!

Hi Auntie! Hope you are having a wonderful birthday! I know mom says it's just another day, but it's always nice to have that one special day to yourself-hope Uncle Craig and Kelli take care of ya! I'll see you at the end of July when we're beaching it up! :)

Rascal Flatts tomorrow!

I am so excited! J and I are going to see Rascal Flatts tomorrow night. Now before anyone says it, YES, I have turned back into a country girl and I love it! I remember in high school, my sister and I began listening to country music and a certain aunt of ours, we'll call her "Ruth", endlessly made fun of us for it. You might say she was "ruth" less about it. Well, irony has a funny way of kicking you in the butt, because years later, "Ruth" found her very own country boy, and, yep, you guessed it-began listening to country music and still does to this day. In fact, if I remember right, a country song was their wedding song. Am I correct? Anyway, I've got myself a country boy and have returned to my roots and wouldn't have it any other way! So, tomorrow night should be a good time. I can't wait. Just being able to spend some quality time with my boy is totally worth it. Love you J!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Hi Mommy! Hope you are having a fantastic birthday. Sorry if it was supposed to be a secret, but I told the secretary at your work when I tried calling you earlier. I won't publicly announce mom's age (although she is still quite young), but suffice to say she looks fab-u-lous! Mom, I love you very much, hope you got the card! I will see you next weekend, we can spend some quality time together while dad and J build stuff and/or go fishing. I can't wait!

Love,
Your baby girl Ker Ker

"Babe, better double up on your Benadryl"

This is what J says to me the other day. "Why?", I ask. "Because Clyde is coming to stay for a while". Who is Clyde and why would I need Benadryl to be around him you may ask? Well....Clyde is a C-A-T. Kerri is allergic to C-A-T's. Clyde arrived yesterday. He is freakishly huge. He already acts like the house is his and he's been there less than 24 hours. Already he has gotten in trouble. See, Clyde apparently thinks it is appropriate to lay on the table. He also likes to lay in the bathtub and on top of the couch. He and Henry the turtle seem to be getting along, however. Clyde just kinda ignores him. It's turning into a freakin' zoo and I LOVE IT!

So far, only mildly itchy eyes, presumably from Clyde. I can't even focus on the allergies because I also have the flu. SO unpleasant. Yea, had to leave work yesterday due to getting physically ill. I was going to stay and just work in between the vomiting episodes, but my boss made me leave. It was probably a good thing I did. I got home around 6pm and pretty much slept until this morning at around 9am. I was heading to my doctor anyway today because I discovered this rash-like thing on my back yesterday. It freaked me out. I was wondering if I had Tim's skin disease. Well, while I was at the doctors, I said "so, while I'm here, guess I should let you know I've been throwing up and have a splitting headache and all I wanna do is sleep". Next thing I know I'm being told not to go to work, to drink clear fluids and eat soup. Oh, yea, and I have a fungal infection on my back, which sounds way gross. I'm on some medication for it now. There is a fungus among us now.

In more exciting news, today is my mom's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! If you see her, make sure to wish her a happy 29th birthday! I'll see you next weekend mama! :)

Whew...

What a day so far. Work has been absolutely crazy. I spent most of the afternoon taking calls, meaning I couldn't do any of my supervisor duties. I am also knee deep in writing people's yearly reviews. I've been compiling numbers all week. My head hurts and I can't see straight. I only have 14 reviews to write-I should be done sometime in 2007. I'm also on call until Monday so I haven't been sleeping well because I'm afraid I'll miss a call (I haven't). I'm exhausted. Physically. Mentally. I also found out today that my job duties will be changing as of July 1 (don't worry, I am still a supervisor, they are just doing some "restructuring"-you know how that goes). I have mixed feelings about this, cannot comment more at this time as I am still processing it. Wow-is it only Tuesday? Yikes. We are playing a fun little game called "BHR Bingo" tonight. It's a game in which each square contains typical client statements we hear on the phones over and over again. Examples are "I need my nerve pills", "someone stole my medication", "come get my kids they're out of control", and "is this Domino's?" (for some reason we get calls at the crisis line for Domino's at least once a day). All I need is a "I need to speak with Dr. So and So" and I win. I rock.

Well, enough rambling for today, must get back to work. Or maybe I'll actually eat (its 7:30 at night, just realized I haven't eaten yet-oops). Hope everyone else is having a better day. Later people.

Welcome back Mark Prior! YOU SUCK!

A quote from the Cubs web page: "Starter Mark Prior had command problems in his first outing of the year, allowing three homers in the first inning and four overall in a short start against an unrelenting Detroit attack. The Cubs hit three home runs themselves, but each was a solo shot, as Chicago was swept at Wrigley."

Sounds about right, huh? The Cubs lost 12-3 that day. They are now a whopping 16 games out of first, only one game ahead of the last place Pirates. It is a sad, sad season. Here's a good question-if the Cubs try to trade Mark Prior or Kerry Wood, is anyone gonna want them? My guess is, probably not.

Henry the Turtle and his excellent adventure

I'm beginning to think that Henry is a very special turtle. He's not slow like turtles are supposed to be. No, he books it across the living room like he's running for his life (and maybe he is, who knows?). Friday, he did something that made me laugh out loud, all I could do is watch.

Henry lives in a nice, plastic bin-sorta-thing. I'd say it's a good 6-8 inches high. He has plenty of room to walk around, he's got some grass, and lettuce, and carrots to eat. Well, Friday night he was apparently feeling adventurous. I looked over at him and saw that he was trying to get out of the box. Impossible, I thought. Well, I thought wrong. I watched him get both his front feet around the rim of the box, he then tried with all his might to get his back legs up and over. Several times, he made it, only to fall. Then, with one final push, Henry got his whole body over the rim. He just sorta balanced there for awhile-there was nowhere for him to go since the box was against the wall. That freakin' turtle was able to get out of his box! He didn't get far though, because he lost his balance and went flying back into the box, lying on his back, his little turtle legs flailing about. I was nice enough to put him right side up, but he was scolded for trying to run away and was told that he was grounded. Henry behaved the rest of the weekend. But, I'm keeping my eye on him now. I don't trust him. Hmmm....kids these days, they're out of control, I tell ya!

Happy Father's Day to my daddy!

Happy Father's Day Dad! I know I already talked to you today, but still wanted to publicly wish you a happy fathers day. I hope you are relaxing as you are watching the Cardinal's game today and that mom makes you a nice dinner-even though her grill is broken! I love you and I will see you soon!

To my Grandpa-hope you are having a wonderful Father's Day as well. Hope you get to talk to all 6 of your kids. I miss you and love you very much!

And to the other dad in my life, Jesse-hope you are having a great day with the girls. Hope you liked your present-the girls were so excited and couldn't wait to give it to you!

To all the other dads out there-hope your Father's Day is wonderful!

To my baby:

Just wanted to tell you (and the world) that I love you. No particular reason why, just felt like blogging it! You are my world baby.

To everyone else, J and I have been together six months now, and it has been the best six months of my life. We are very happy together and forming our own little family with me, him and his girls (oh yea, and the pet turtle, Henry). Life is good right now, that's all I can say! I can't wait to see what the next six months will bring, and then the six months after that, and the six months after that....well, you get the picture.

Sorry for the little bit of sappiness, sometimes I can't help it. J makes me feel that way. I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER CUTEBOY!

Anita Baker

My good friend Anita called me today. I hadn't talked to her since she called to tell me she was engaged a couple of months ago. I always love talking to her. We are the kind of friends that, even if we only talked a couple of times a year, could pick up right where we left off and talk as if we talk to each other every day. Anita and I went to grad school together at Webster. We started calling her "Anita Baker" (as in the singer, not her real name), I believe in our stats class. Stacy and Denise started it, and it stuck.

So, my girl is engaged. I loved talking to her about her wedding plans, but again, reminded me that if/when I get married, I am soooooo not planning a big wedding. Just don't want the stress! They have a date set-March 31, 2007-so, I guess a road trip to Arkansas is in our future!

Today

Today has not been that exciting. I woke up early, was up for a bit but felt totally and completely exhausted, so I fell back asleep on my couch. I debated calling in sick to work but ultimately decided to tough it out. I'm regretting that decision right now as I still feel nauseated (not sure if I'm actually sick or if it is the expose to the raw sewage....). Work has been fairly uneventful so far. I am monitoring some of my staff's calls (for quality assurance purposes, don't you know) and will be meeting with one of my staff for clinical supervision. We are gonna watch Girl Interrupted, if you haven't seen it, its about a girl with Borderline Personality Disorder who is locked up in a psychiatric hospital. Right up your alley if you work in the mental health profession!

Book Club

I have been in a Book Club for over three years now. It's me and six other girls. We take turns hosting each month and meet the 3rd Thursday of the month. Sure, I have to take a day off work to go, but it's worth it. The name "book club" is a bit misleading, however. Is it wrong that we haven't actually read a book in oh, say, three months? The term "social club" may be more like it. This is our monthly chance to get together with good friends, gossip, catch up on everyone's lives and, of course, EAT! Yea, we do have good food at book club. Each month we have a food theme (April was baseball themed, June is grilled food themed). It's our chance to watch Shannon's belly grow (she's 8 months pregnant), and hear Krista's stories about Hannah Grace, and hear everyone's horror stories from working in the mental health field. Oh, and we laugh. A lot. I love my book club. I consider all the ladies good friends. So, Thursday night I'm off to St. Peter's as Krista is hosting. Should be a good time had by all. See y'all then!

Cubs update

The Cubs are in second to last place in the NL Central. Not surprising. But watch out-D Lee is coming back soon, and Mark "I get hurt all the time" Prior is back within the next week or so. It is so ON people! :)

raw sewage, Day 2

Seriously, this is disgusting. The aftermath of the Great Flood of 2006 continues. Everyone in the office has been having headaches, nausea, and sore throats. We all have to fill out incident reports that are going to Worker's Comp. I feel like crap right now. My darling boyfriend tried to convince me that we are all going to get Hepatitis C. GREAAAAAT! My boss Bart confirmed that you can, in fact, get Hep C from exposure to raw sewage. That is such good news. This is a hostile work environment. I'll talk to y'all later. Feel like I'm gonna hurl.

The Great Flood of 2006

Ok, so I get to work this afternoon, get ready to walk in the door and see a huge fan in front of the door with a big sign that says "caution, floor is flooded". Huh? I go inside the office, there is green caution tape everywhere with more signs in the kitchen stating "do not enter" and "slippery floor". What the hell happened?, I asked when I made in to the call center. Apparently, I missed the great flood of 2006. On Friday, the kitchen sink apparently began spewing black sewage all over the kitchen. Staff said that the entire kitchen was covered in black goo and it began seeping into the call center, by my cubicle, of all places (my boss Chris tells me "it smelled like shit" in the call center)! Yuck! The Drain Surgeons were called (yes, the company's real name) and apparently all is well now. Except it smells. Not a good working environment. And all the staff are having weird symptoms that can't be a coincidence. Headaches, nausea, sore throats. We've been poisoned. This is really uncool.

In other, less disgusting news, I had a good weekend. I did not participate in Race for the Cure this year (for the first time since I've lived in St. Louis). I decided not to because I was on call for work on Saturday and could just imagine trying to deal with doing a 5K and carrying around my work cell. It was a good thing I didn't do it because I got called five times yesterday. I knew I would since it was the full moon and all. Always crazy good times when that happens.

Friday was a chill day. Hung out with J who made us dinner (thats right boy, do your job! Ok, just kiddin! But you know I hate to cook. Besides, I did the laundry and dishes-I think it evens out!). Were supposed to have the girls that night, but ended up not having them, so I had a "free night". J went to work and I watched crappy TV, hung out with the turtle, and read all night. Sometimes you gotta have nights like that. It was pretty cool. On Saturday, didn't do much. I took Henry the turtle outside to play in his pool. I think he was pissed off for some reason though. He kept ducking his head under water then rubbing his little face with his front legs. It was weird. And he was trying to climb out of the pool. He was giving me some attitude for real. Needless to say, our outside adventure didn't last long. I was ok with it since it was 107 degrees outside. J and I had aspirations of actually going somewhere on Saturday. Well, technically we did go somewhere-we went to the Chinese buffet again. I always have fun there-it's the damn chinese donuts. I love them. We just missed the downpour, but watched it from the safety of the inside of the chinese buffet. After that, went to Eddie's to watch Southbound 55 play while J worked, then on to everyone's favorite place, Pop's. It was a pretty uneventful night, right J? :) Overall, it was a good night, I had fun just getting to be with my boy. I don't care where we hang out, as long as I get to see him. I miss him already. Love you baby!!!!!

Ok, now I must do some payroll, pray the power doesn't go out in the office, and pray the office doesn't flood again. What kind of hellhole do they have us working in?????

Southbound 55 this weekend!

Ok, here's my shameless plug for Uncle Jimmy's other band, Southbound 55. They are playing at Eddie's in good ol' GC this weekend. I know many are afraid to cross the Mississippi (for reasons unknown, apparently Illinois is a foreign land to some), but think about coming out! The band is great-country and southern rock, I'll be there on Saturday. And if anything crazy happens, my baby will be there to stop it (right sweetie???) .

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Stay cool, it's freakin' hot out there already and it's only 10:45am. Geez. Have fun. Get out of the house. It's good times. Peace, I'm out.

What the????

Ok, so today I was cleaning out one of my closets and I found this giant blow-up Corona lime (the picture is exact). Where in the hell did it come from? I have no idea. I remember stealing the pink blow-up alien. And I remember Carrie stealing the giant Bacardi lemon pinata (and Robyn biting it). But I do not remember the origin of the Corona lime. Hey Babe-think we should give it to Raven? Doesn't he like Corona stuff?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS HEIDI!!!

Happy Birthday girl, from those of us back in the states! I hope you are have a great birthday today. Hope you are having fun with your parents. Tell your hubby I said "sup". Everyone at BHR misses you and I was told to tell you happy birthday from them. What are you now, the big 2-9? Yes, that's right. How could I forget "hid 77". Ha! :)

Anyway, we miss you guys tons, can't wait to see you in August. Come pick up some shifts. I've got Sundays reserved just for you! Good luck the rest of the semester JP! We'll see you guys soon!

SO not nice Aunt Cheryl

This email was sent to me by my dear auntie. I was highly offended, but got over it pretty quickly because it's pretty damn funny! Enjoy!


May 8, 2006 Chicago, Illinois (AP) -
A seven year old boy was at the center of a Chicago courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with the child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible.
The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the Judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Chicago Cubs, who the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

It's 6/6/06 AND the full moon is coming....

Yes, it is crazy at the crisis line this week, and with good reason. Today is 6/6/06 and the full moon is coming in the near future (Saturday). We have been getting the strangest calls. I know it's par for the course given its a crisis line and all, but still!

I want to wish a happy belated birthday to my c0-worker Matthew. His birthday was yesterday. He tells me that he is 113 in "gay years", whatever that means. He's a nut.

That's about all I have for today. My brain is on overload. Hope everyone else is having a good week and it's not too crazy!

Holy Cow! I won our bet!

Say it ain't so! The Cubs actually took 2 of 3 from the Cardinals this weekend. And I won my precious Cubs hat back! Yay! Apparently, the Cards are the only team in the entire league that the Cubs can actually beat. Ok, J, so for our three bets so far, I'm 2 for 3! Better watch out for the next one baby! :)

What a great weekend

This past weekend was great. Friday, J and I drove to Salem. It looked bad for a bit as we were stuck in that Hwy 44 traffic, but once out of that, it was smooth sailin'. Mom had KFC waiting for us when we got there. J got to experience the magic that is Stubby and Hank. And those two were in rare form this weekend. J wanted to dog-nap Hank, but I really didn't want that giant dog in my car....Friday night we pretty much chilled. Dad took J and I to the farm-he was soooo excited and talking a mile a minute. I just sat there and laughed (and thanks for pointing out my math retardation dad. I owe ya one!). Saturday, we were up bright and early (like 7am early). I was surprised to find J awake, but truly, for some reason, you can't sleep in there. Or maybe it was because Stubby jumped on him, I don't know.....Mom, Red, Tim and I went up to the high school and did the 5K for Relay for Life. It was cool, but the course was almost all up hill (I am still hurting, for real!). Red came in 2nd! Yay! And, no, she did not eat Tim's dust. Turns out, all Tim's trash talkin' was just that-talk. But apparently he did really well-ran most of the way. Mom and I did the walk/jog method. Of course mom would be like "come on Ker, let's run some more". Now, I really didn't want to, but I couldn't let my mother beat me, now could I? Once we got back to the house, J was ready to do some fishing. My dad gave him one mission-get rid of the catfish in his pond. J was up for the challenge, so off we went to the Wal-Mart (uh, for the 2nd time in less than 24 hours) for some fishing gear. I was a little confused in the fishing department-who knew there were so many different kinds of hooks, and lures and other fishing stuff? By the way-the mullets were out on Sat. J and I saw some good ones!!!

J spent most of the afternoon down at the pond. He was catching the hell out of some catfish, just like dad asked. Those things are really ugly! And did you know that they talk? I think during fishing is when J fell in love with the place. Almost had to drag him out of there! We'll be back soon babe, don't worry. Now mom and dad won't be able to get rid of us! After a fabulous dinner by mom (mom it was still good even without the grill, I promise!), we had to go back home because J had to work. We went by and picked up Avina and introduced her to their new pet-a turtle that we "stole" from the country. So now, the turtle she named Henry, is now sitting comfortably in a box in the living room with some lettuce and grass. He's totally digging it.

Sunday was a chill day. I went to my friend Shannon's baby shower. That was good times. She is a cute prego person. Can't wait to meet baby Shelley! Then I went back to J's-we hung out outside where all the kids were playing. Sadly, all the fish J caught didn't make it, it's a long story...but they are resting in peace now. We WILL be back to Lake PawPaw for more. Be afraid catfish, be very afraid! We had a great dinner Sun night. I'm pretty sure J was making it up as he went along, but it was still good-it's a keeper baby! :) We ended the day with a bon fire-nice and relaxing and a great way to end a great weekend.

Mom, dad, Red, Tim-thanks for a great time in Salem. We will be back soon! And J-I am so happy that you liked Salem and want to go back! I can't wait to take the girls down there. Well, now it's monday, a new week. Hope everyone has a great one!

Do I have to bet????

Ok, so the Cubs and Cards are playing each other again this weekend. J and I have been making bets each time they play each other. Can I back out of this one J? I am not at all confident in the Cubs ability to win. They just plain hardcore suck. I'm not gonna lie. The bet will be a sure thing-for J. Yes, I am being a big baby.

me and my baby

Yay, finally a picture of me and J on my blog! Granted, I had to "steal" it from the family blog...This is from this past weekend at the family picnic at Shaw Park. Don't we look thrilled? Seriously, it was like 172 degrees outside.....too hot to do much of anything. Also with us is J's daughters, Kristin and Avina. What a good lookin' bunch, huh?

A 5K in under 20, Tim? BRING IT!!!!

Ok, my money is on Red for this one. Apparently, our baby brother is talking some smack and thinks he can beat Red in this 5K we are doing this weekend. Good luck with that one, Timbo! My lazy ass will be walking it, that's for sure. Getting me out of bed that early in the morning on a Saturday will be a feat in and of itself. At least I'm being a good girlfriend and letting J sleep in and not making him do this 5K at 8:00am! Mama-hope you're walking with me while those two fools race each other! I'm too old to run, I may hurt something.

I'm very excited to be going home tomorrow and getting to show J my hometown for the first time. All you Salemites know how exciting that is!!!! He can see the now skanky 4-way stop with the Tower Inn half torn down and the building across the street torn down as well. It's really pretty, let me tell ya! Then it will be on to touring the famous Salem super Wal-Mart, always a fun time. Hey baby, maybe I'll take ya out to Make-out Lake as well!!!!!! :) Ahhh...Salem is some good times.