My New Years Resolution

is to be nice...Tanya says I can't do it.....I say the bet is on. We are gonna see how long into the new year I can do it. Tanya's giving me 8 minutes.....

P.S. Drunk Heidi....we LOVE YOU!!!!! :)

The Blues shut out the Red Wings tonight!

HA! Take that Canada! I don't know why I'm being so hateful....must be because I've now been working for 15 hours......

New Poll!

There is a new poll up, inspired most likely by our long, long night here at the crisis line....yes, there is nothing cooler than working at the crisis line on New Year's Eve. Please take the time to vote on this very important poll. Thanks.

It's the end of 2007 as we know it.....

Not sure why that REM song popped into my head, but whatever......HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE people! Anyone else working today? Anyone else gonna work SIXTEEN hours today? No? Come on! All the cool kids are doing it! Yes, after I leave my full-time job today, I am going to the crisis line to work until around 11pm or so, then my friend Tanya and I are gonna go out and pretend we are semi-cool and go get a drink and ring in the new year.....I realize it is quite a stretch to pretend I'm even "semi" cool, but I'm gonna try.

Is there a stomach bug going around? Just wondering.......

I had a fairly uneventful weekend. Drank WAY too much Friday night....I mean, we were at the Blues game, in $125 seats, getting all the free food and alcohol we wanted...and I wasn't driving. You do the math. At some point we thought doing jager bombs was a good idea....then decided we needed to go out after the game...I had received a text from Polster saying that he and his friends were at the Jive and Wail, my new favorite place, so we headed over there after the game...and the drinking continued...oh good Lord, is all I have to say. Needless to say, I was less than productive on Saturday and really yesterday as well. I did manage to get outside and walk a couple of miles since it was 45 degrees, which at this time of year is a warm spell.

Today I was up at 6am since my new work hours officially begin today. 7:30am to 4:00pm. Yee haw. Luckily, things are fairly quiet today in the managed care world, a good sign for the day ahead. Now if only the crisis line will be the same way.....

We have a new theme for 2008. Mikey, I think you'll be on board for this one. Here it is......drum roll please.......2008-let's find a decent date! Whaddya think?

In all seriousness, I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's Eve. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. I hope that 2008 is the best year yet, full of happiness and all that good stuff...yada, yada, yada.

Predicament

Here's something I am struggling with and, yes, I am soliciting advice because I am not sure what to do. The problem? I know of someone who likes me but I may possibly have feelings for someone else (I'm still sorting that out in my head)...not a good situation, right? What is a girl to do? Please, for those of you who know who I'm talking about, do not name names if you comment, thanks. But I would like your opinion on how to best deal with this situation.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

I am slowly coming out of this funk I have been in for the last couple of weeks. I said slowly-still not really very happy, but getting better. No need to send out the crisis team or anything like that. Still not thrilled about my job-today is my last day with my current hospitals. One of my reviewers told me that he is pretending it's not happening and he fully expects to speak to me on Monday....very sweet. But not happening. Ah well, such is life. Full of disappointment.....one more example of that before I end my doom and gloom rant. Got paid today.....between paying my rent and paying my personal property tax my paycheck is almost completely gone. Fun, huh? I need to find myself a sugar daddy.........any takers?

At least the weekend is upon us. I'll be going to the Blues game tonight and I have a brunch planned for Sunday all of which should be fun. I have gift certificates to spend, so perhaps a little retail therapy will lift my spirits (especially when it's not costing me any money). Either that or I'll just drink..........I'm sorta kidding.

GO BLUES!

I'm going to the Blues game tonight for the first time in, oh, probably three years. Yes, I took a hockey hiatus and even now admittedly, am not wholeheartedly back in to it. I have kept track of their record-they aren't too shabby, but apparently no one can beat the effing Red Wings which really irks me.....here's hoping they can beat the Sharks tonight, I don't know, are they any good????? I can't lie, I am still pining away for my Cubbies....Spring Training tickets go on sale 1/8/08, I sooooo can't wait for that......but in the meantime-GO BLUES!

Happy Boxing Day!

Hey Canada, hope you are enjoying your extra day off work (you do get off work for Boxing Day, don't you?). What does one do to celebrate Boxing Day?

Already over it

I am sooooo already over this day. My not wanting to be around people continues. Ugh. Probably the fact that I have to work both jobs today doesn't help. At least we are not freakishly busy today like I expected us to be.

Can I be like a bear and hibernate for the next two or three months? Thanks. I'll see ya in the spring.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day with your families. I spent mine with the Davidson side of the family that was, um.....interesting, to say the least. We hung out there until around 4pm, I was invited to Jon's parents house to hang with them and see my sis and Jon one more time, but I felt really awkward doing so, as if I was intruding on their family celebration, I hope my sis understood my decision to go on home.....I have always hated feeling like the 3rd wheel (which, unfortunately, happens a lot). I decided to go on home and pretend it wasn't completely pathetic to be sitting home alone on Christmas. I tried to make the best of it and put my new jammies on (my parents and Red and Jon got me some-LOVE Christmas jammies!!!), watched a movie (I am such a wuss, but watching those Harry Potter movies by myself scare me!), and did some reading. It wasn't such a bad night after all.


Here's a pic from Christmas Eve. It is the only one I am willing to share because I look hideous in the rest of the ones I've seen......that's little ol' short me in the red, amid my baby cousins who are now quite a bit taller than me. From left to right are my cousin Jeff with his baby Taylor, my cousin Rachel, me, cousin Kelly (below me), cousin Jackie, cousin Chelsea (below), cousin Ben, my sister Kristy, cousin Patrick (below), my brother Tim and cousin Grant. That's not all of us-we were missing Michael and Clint this year.... :(

I also want to wish Polster a Happy Birthday...sorry you didn't get top billing, the Big JC ranks just a bit higher.... :) Anyway, hope you enjoy your last year of being in your '20's. And if I hear you complaining again about how old you are getting, I will slap you in the head...... :)

Christmas at The Can!

I joined my sister and Jon, my sisters friends and Polster for a little Christmas Eve lunch at the Tin Can. Interesting choice, I know. We were gonna go to this cute little place across the street called Three Monkeys, but it is apparently closed on Monday's (and/or holiday eve's). It was rather weird being at the Tin Can during the day (it is a bar primarily). It was a fun little lunch though, although all I could think about was the fact that I still had to make those damn deviled eggs (a task that I really was not looking forward to). My crankiness (that I still have as I am actually typing this post on 12/26) REALLY set in the moment I began working on those eggs. You see, they wouldn't peel. I was this close to throwing all two dozen of them across the room (no, seriously). I think part of making them is the presentation and these were NOT pretty, and that made me unhappy. So, by the time I made it over to Grandpa's house to actually get to see my family, I was already in a mood. I tried to snap out of it, however, although I don't think it was meant to be......from previous posts you can tell that I wasn't really looking forward to the holidays. Of course I wanted to see my family, that wasn't it. I really can't pinpoint WHY I wasn't in to it, I just wasn't. I did request we do a shot when I got to Grandpa's. Tim, of course, was all in. I was thinking Grandpa would have something mildly tame, such as his infamous peppermint schnapps....well, not this time...all Grandpa had was.....whiskey. Now, I am by no means a good drinker. The thought of shooting whiskey did not at all appeal to me. Tim, the professional that he is, shot it right on down. Me, on the other hand, mixed it with some Diet Dr. Pepper before I would drink it.....

We went to the 5pm service at church then headed over to the Baumgartner's for some Christmas Eve fun. The house looked beautiful (Aunt Diane is amazingly talented at decorating, there was not one room that wasn't beautifully decorated). It was sad that not everyone was there (Mike and Kim, Clint and Kira-you all were missed!!!). We had a lot of fun, although there were many times that I started getting really hot, and feeling lightheaded and overwhelmed and had the urge to run before a full-on anxiety attack happened. Perhaps it was all the people in one room (I have quite the large family), I don't know, but it wasn't fun. In better news, the bourbon slush (or whatever it was) was really good. I got lots of great gifts. My parents, as usual, outdid themselves and gave me more than I deserve. The Baumgartner's had my name this year and really tapped in to things that I like-a cute snowman, the Keith Urban Greatest Hits CD (LOVE it!) and I loved the little spider ornament and the story behind it. We were all a little concerned about how much whiskey Grandpa had had, but other than that, all went well.

Jive and Wail, baby!

Oh, the Jive and Wail is SO much fun! It is a dueling piano bar located in the very trendy and up and coming neighborhood of Maplewood. My friends and I decided to try it out last night. I wasn't sure who all would show up, but it ended up pretty much being girls night out (with a late night appearance from Polster). Yes, Allison, Tanya, Shauna, Melanie and two of Tanya's friends (I'm sorry, but I can't remember their names!) and I had a good ol time! It was so much fun to get to hang out with Shauna too-she works with me at the crisis line-she is one of the nicest, most sarcastic and funniest people I know (and she knows ALL about Salem, MO and the Schwagstock festival that is held there.....). I'm sure you know the concept of a dueling piano bar-there are two pianos on stage with two different people playing, they play silly songs and really any song you request. They pull people on stage and make asses out of them-it's a good time! I have decided that my birthday celebration in February will be there (I was gonna sit this next birthday out, but now that I've discovered this place, I'm gonna go have some fun!). They played many of our requests (done much like karaoke night where you fill out slips of paper and turn them in), among them, "Wanted Dead Or Alive", "Come on Eileen" and "Afternoon Delight". SOOOOO much fun! I am a little sleepy today but it was WELL worth it.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY to my cousin Rachel today! Hope you are having a great day, kiddo! I will see you tomorrow! Love you much!

I am quite enjoying this lazy Sunday. Been watching Christmas Vacation on tv, doing some laundry and straightening up a bit. I must venture out to the grocery store in a bit to purchase the ingredients for those effing deviled eggs I have to make for Christmas Eve...uh, I mean, I LOVE making those deviled eggs! It brings my heart GREAT joy.....no, really. :)

Wal-Mart makes me hate people

I should have known better than to go to Wal-Mart, on a Saturday afternoon, three days before Christmas-but I needed to take something back. I quickly regretted that decision. First clue was the fact that I had to park pretty much in the last parking spot that was about a mile from the store. Second clue-the line for returns was roughly 40 people deep, I passed the time with the lady behind me by laughing at the maintenance guy who continuously stuck his head in the ladies restroom saying "maintenance"-women in there kept telling him it was occupied, and no one ever came out, yet he continued to ask. I said if he is that desperate to clean, he can come clean my apartment....anyway. There were, of course, people EVERYWHERE. I started feeling dizzy and lightheaded for real, before a full-on anxiety attack could happen, I hightailed it to the self-checkout and got the hell outta there. Lesson learned.

Now I must work on beautifying myself (a tough feat for sure, but I'm up for the challenge). Me and some of my girls are going out tonight, a little pre-holiday celebration if you will. I already told my friend Allison that I feel a Captain and coke night coming on....she said she's buying the first round-hell yea!

Oh, by the way-my previous post today was my 1,000th post! Man, I know I talk a lot, but I had no idea I had that much to say!

Dinner with Grandpa

So, after work yesterday (I got to leave at 2:30!), I went over to Grandpa's to get the charger for my phone (that had been dead since Tuesday). I guess Grandpa's discovery of the charger in his basement caused quite a bit of distress for him as he was unable to reach me (because my phone was dead) and had been calling Aunt Cheryl in a panic asking what he should do about it. Well, I was able to get it from him without incident, I figured I shouldn't just grab it and run, so Grandpa and I sat down in his kitchen and chatted for a bit. He was talking about how happy his party made him (great job everyone!) and how he struggled with what to say in his thank you cards and the email he sent to all of us (both of which about made me cry). Isn't he cute? He then asked me if I wanted to go get dinner. Now, in my head I was thinking "well, it's only 4pm...." but it's Grandpa! How could I tell him no? So off we went to the place of his choice-Steak and Shake, he commented that I was holding my steering wheel correctly (hello people-if you hold your hands at the typical 10 and 2 positions and you have side airbags-they will BREAK YOUR WRISTS if you are in an accident!!! Didn't y'all know that?). We had a nice dinner, although I think Grandpa scared our poor little server when he admonished her for not bringing him a spoon for his coffee....after that, I headed back down south where I decided to purchase a splint for my thumb. It was feeling better throughout the week, but yesterday the pain was so bad at times that I wanted to cry. I'm too cheap to go get it x-rayed (thanks to my awesomely crappy insurance), so I'm gonna try fixing it myself (smart idea, huh?). I must say, it is rather difficult to type with a splint on. Also difficult to carry the laundry basket downstairs...dammit, I may end up at urgent care after all.......

In a better place

I am in a bit of a better place today regarding this whole job situation. Oh, I'm still not too happy, but I'm dealing with it. I figure God has given me this challenge for a reason, and I will do my darnedest to succeed. I had to call all my reviewers today and tell them I would no longer get to speak to them-it was very sad (one almost made me cry!), when you work with someone for a year and a half and talk to them on the phone daily, you kinda build rapport and a bond. And as one of them said to me "I don't like change". Me either, but sometimes it has to happen.

So, I am aware that Christmas is on Tuesday, but what I didn't fully comprehend was that I have a four day weekend ahead of me-hell yea!!!! Then only three work days next week-yay! I'm not gonna lie, I am not particularly excited about the holiday, I felt this way last year too but just attributed it to the circumstances in my life at the time. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I will get to spend time with my family and have some time off work, there is just no excitement, it's too much hustle and bustle for me, I guess. I am trying to not be all "bah humbug" but to be quite honest, I just wish all the holidays were over.

Red-you and Jon be very careful driving here tonight!

Everyone please travel safely if you are going somewhere for the holiday, have a good one!

I do have a funny thing to share. God bless my Grandpa-he, for the life of him, could not figure out why his phone line gets tied up when he is on the internet, trying to explain to him how dial-up works is pointless....I think the very fact that Grandpa is surfing the net is funny in and of itself.....

Oh, and for the record-Mike Tinnin I love you most! :)

Addendum

I think what I'm most upset about regarding this job thing is that I am afraid I will no longer like my job-and that makes me very sad. In the year and a half that I have been here, I have absolutely loved it (even on the crappy days), so now with this added crap and stress I am just afraid my job satisfaction will go down the toilet, and I don't want that to happen. I think this happened on a really crappy day because I have been feeling kinda blah all week and this is just the icing on the cake. I'm sorry, I am trying not to be Negative Nelly here, but it is hard. Thanks for listening to me vent. I'm done now.

Welcome to Pennsylvania

KD is not happy. Not happy at all. Seems the Managed Care Gods HATE me. Today they gave me a big, fat kick in the ass with a side of "Merry effin' Christmas". I was told today (in the form of a compliment) that my facility assignments would be changing and that I would now be managing facilities in Pennsylvania. Let me put it to you this way, the Pennsylvania facilities are much like the bastard child you don't want to admit is yours. The only good news about this whole thing is that Mikey will now be managing them as well, so at least our lives can suck together. Oh yea, and did I mention the MONTHLY trips to Pennsylvania? F that. Truthfully, I'm so mad I could cry, but I won't. I was told this is happening because I am so good at my job....funny, because it feels like a punishment to me.

Thanks for letting me vent.

And Merry effin' Christmas.

Pictures from Grandpa's birthday party.....shamelessly stolen from the family blog

Here's the birthday boy! How cute is he?

Blowing out the candles...some of them were trick candles which did not thrill Grandpa in the least...at least we didn't put 80 of them on there!

Grandpa with all of his kids, from left to right: Aunt Cheryl, my mom, Aunt Jan, Grandpa, Aunt Paula, Aunt Mary and Uncle Jimmy

Dad and Tim had to miss the party due to the weather but myself, my mom, my sister and my brother-in-law Jon were representin'!

My brother-in-law Jon, my sister and Jon's parents, Pam and Al

My "little" cousins that aren't so little anymore: Rachel, Jackie, Kelli, Chelsea and Grant. I am literally twice their age...yikes!

Grandpa with his nephew, Cousin Terry, who flew in all the way from California (the OC no less!) to wish his "Uncle Bob" a happy 80th birthday! It was so great seeing him, it had been way too long.

KD strikes again!

Yes, I injured myself again today. Are you surprised? This time I hit my head on the car hood. See, I thought I'd be all independent and stuff and put in some windshield washer fluid (really because I was totally out and could no longer see out my windshield). So, I did my business and for reasons I'll never know, banged my head on the corner of the car hood. I saw stars for a minute, but luckily, I have no bump (must be the large amount of hair I have piled on top of my head-it was an extra cushion). Moving on.....

Is anyone else annoyed by the bell ringers? Now, I know they are there for a good cause and all, but do they need to try to engage me in conversation? It's just like salespeople in stores-if I wanted to talk to you, I would. Do I sound bitchy today? I apologize, but you see, thanks to my awesome ability to procrastinate, I had to do all my Christmas shopping today, meaning.....(gulp)...I had to to go to......THE MALL. One of my least favorite places on Earth. I thought going on a Wednesday would be a good idea seeing as most people are working (I am again off for the day). I was wrong. There were still a million people there, all of which were in my way. There were annoying salespeople at every turn, I couldn't escape them. Miraculously, I was able to get in and out of THE MALL in under an hour. I'm that good. So, now all my Christmas shopping is done and I even remembered to buy stamps today-yes, that's right folks, you may actually get a Christmas card from me BEFORE Christmas! It's a Christmas miracle!

We had our team holiday dinner last night. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that, for the second year in a row, Mikey was my Secret Santa (funny how that works out, huh?). Oddly enough, Mike, Amy and I all had each other-interesting........Our dinner was great fun, Jeffy was slurring his words a bit after his one very, very, very dirrrrrrrty-Britney Spears-skanktastic martini, which was quite entertaining. We had our cookie exchange during the day. Seems my chocolate sugar cookies were a hit, which for most people would be a good thing, but not for me. See, now I have been outed as someone who can actually cook. I've masqueraded as a cooking retard and now I've been found out. Do you know what that means? Now I will be expected to cook for things-no taking the easy way out by offering to bring the soda or the paper plates....dammit. Everyone's cookies were way good...I am trying to control myself as it would be just plain wrong for me to sit in my living room-alone-eating four dozen cookies....my life hasn't become that sad.....yet.

Did anyone watch The Biggest Loser finale last night? Bill won as I predicted, the dude lost like 150 lbs-amazing! Of course, I cried several times throughout the episode-did you expect anything less?

Betty Crocker I am not

Ok, I thought it was just me having a bad attitude towards baking. Sure, having a cookie exchange at work sounds good at the time, but to actually apply it is a whole nother story. Seems everyone else is now full of the anti-cookie baking attitude that I am. Everyone came in this morning bitching about how long it took to bake everything (we had to make approximately six dozen), what a pain in the ass it was, etc. I now have four dozen cookies in front of me (as if my fat ass needs that....) all of which I am sure are delicious (yes, I will be having them for breakfast and lunch). I see a sugar coma in my future (and Mikey getting obnoxious on his sugar high-we've already been warned). Our team dinner is tonight, I can't remember where, but it's free food on the company's dime, so I'm there. Happy Holidays!!!! :)

my level of functioning is declining

Proof that sleep is important: I just tried to drink my can of soda backwards only to have Diet Dr Pepper dribble down my chin. You can start laughing now.

My balls won

This just in:

It appears my balls have won the May The Best Balls Win contest at work today. I pretty much kick ass. I'd like to thank my sponsors, Tinnin and Turner, LLC and the makers of Michelob Ultra (the secret ingredient).....without you, this victory would not be possible.



I will sign autographs upon request.

I think we set a record Canada!

I didn't know talking on the phone for four hours was even possible, but apparently it is. Yes folks, that's what I said-Canada and I talked on the phone last night for FOUR HOURS. I really had no idea that much time had gone by until I looked at my alarm clock and it said 2:22am. Wow. What did we even talk about anyway? :) I believe I am one step closer to luring him down to Missouri-well maybe not, but we talked about it, right? Canada-I say the sooner the better on the Missouri trip. MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!! I'm pretty sure I have never, ever talked to anyone on the phone for four hours. Someone call the Guiness Book of World Records and see if we're in.....

I am not complaining at all because I truly could have talked to Canada for another four hours, but I gotta tell ya-I am quite sleepy today. I was totally wide awake after we hung up, so it was 3-ish before I fell asleep......and my alarm went off at 6! Then I had my hour long commute to work ahead of me-which was extra slow due to the fog. No worries though-I am actually kinda freakishly hyper today, slap happy-itis, I guess.

We are having food day at work....again. In cooperation with Tinnin and Turner, LLC (mostly with the Turner part), myself and Jeff Turner have both made meatballs. It is the Duel of The Balls-May the Best Ball Win. Henceforth, said meatballs will now be known as "spherical meat shapes" because apparently the word "balls" was causing too much giggling......my spherical meat shapes have a very special ingredient.......BEER. I mean, how can you top that???? Perhaps the only way would be if they were topped with that awesome British Columbia crack.....

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!!!!!

Today is my Grandpa's 80th birthday. Truth be told, he doesn't look anywhere near 80 (good genes, I guess). Despite the nine inches of snow on the ground (which is a lot for this area), we managed to pull off Grandpa's party complete with family (and there are a lot of us) and friends (some of which have known him since they were kids!). I think Grandpa was truly happy-it was wonderful to see so many of his old friends (the BaRaCaGa gang-named after the streets they grew up on in North St. Louis-they've all been friends for 70 years!), our cousin Terry (my mom's cousin), came in all the way from California, my sister and Jon made it from Texas, dad and Tim didn't make it due to the weather (and the fact that Tim had a flat tire) and my cousins in the military weren't able to make it, but all the rest of us were there.

I must say....the scrapbook I made Grandpa was a BIG hit! I don't like to brag about my work, I made it with love and didn't care about the time or money it costs. As Grandpa was looking at it for the first time, he looked at me and said "I don't deserve this!", which made me tear up.....of course he deserves it! He is the only grandparent I have, I'd make him a million scrapbooks if he wanted me to! It started with baby pictures of him all the way through the years to the present. Uncle Jimmy gave a wonderful speech, providing some of the hilights from Grandpa's life. He got us all sobbing when he mentioned my two cousins, Adam and Andy, who left this Earth entirely too soon (they both had Tay-Sachs disease-a horrible genetic disorder that just attacks a poor child's body). In lieu of gifts, we gave everyone the option to make a donation to Rainbows in Wichita, Ks. It was the school my cousins went to and a charity that is near and dear to all our hearts (they even have a playground named after the boys there). I think we all hit our breaking points then-my family is so super close that it is hard to imagine not all of us being there. Anyway.....enough of that! I am so glad everyone was able to make it out, in spite of the weather. I will try to have pix of the party up soon. For those of you that are MySpacer's-my cousin Rachel already has pix from today up on her site-notice her new profile pic is of the two of us (party pics!!!).

I am finally back home after having been gone all weekend (I stayed at Grandpa's so I could see him and my mom). It is kinda interesting typing with limited use of my right thumb. I mean, could I be any more of a 'tard for falling down the stairs? I think not. It was for real crazy out there yesterday. Mom, Cousin Terry, Grandpa and I attended a memorial service at Mt. Lebanon (the cemetary where my grandma is buried). Immediately, I had a bit of a freak out-you see that funeral home belongs to the Dignity Memorial group (all those at the crisis line know what I'm talking about!!!! I stole some mints with the logo on it for y'all!)-I instantly felt like I was at work taking grief calls.....After that, we all hung out at Aunt Cheryl's-watched some old home movies (damn, I was a cute kid! What happened?) and had a great dinner (I daresay Aunt Cheryl's meatballs are better than mine....). We had so much fun chatting that we didn't realize it had begun snowing again-probably four or five more inches! Mom and I were a bit nervous to drive back to grandpa's-what is normally a 10 to 15 minute trip took us an hour....it was terrible, cars sliding everywhere, cars in ditches, people driving like a-holes, you know. Luckily we made it back to Grandpa's in one piece.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! I love you more than you could ever know. You are the greatest Grandpa in the world! Here's to many, many, many more birthdays to come!

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Yes folks, I fell on my ass today-literally. As my mom, her cousin Terry and I were leaving Grandpa's house today, I proceeded to slide right on down all the stairs (ok, so there are only three, but still) and landed right on my rear....and my right wrist. I initially felt no pain, was just pissed because my jeans were now wet....soon, however, the pain in my wrist set in. Now, I know it's not broken or anything like that (I had my Uncle Nick-a radiologist, take a look at it and he pronounced it bruised). It was a good run-it had been quite a while since I'd last injured myself...I knew it couldn't last long. I think I'll live though. Just make it another chapter in the "Kerri is a Klutz" book. :)

My ears! My ears!

Wow. So, I just got off the phone with my Grandpa to advise him that my mom is on her way to St. Louis (in the hopes of avoiding the pending snow storm). As we were talking, Grandpa noted that he has been hearing from "people" all week about what he should wear to his birthday party on Sunday (read: his many daughters). Now, Grandpa likes to make certain statements to us because he knows we will be shocked, appalled and/or horrified-if he had his way it would be all three. He gets some sort of sick pleasure in doing this. Well, today he may have topped himself (this could be worse than the time we were at the mall last year and he was talking about being "hard up" and made some inappropriate comments about the mannequins...). Today, he said to me "I'll just go to my party in my underwear.....and a bow tie". Well after my shocked "Grandpa!!!!" he laughed and said "what? I'll wear shoes too". That man is out of control, and this gives you a lot of insight into why I am the way that I am-it's genetic, so it's not my fault!!!! It's gonna be a long, but fun, weekend......

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Je suis fatigue!

Ugh-I am feeling ROUGH today. Guess a sleepless night will do that to you. That, and I had a nightmare last night. Seems my job causes me more anxiety than I realized. Over the last week or so, I have been having some difficulty with a particular doctor group in Kansas City that shall remain nameless. I work with these three doctors daily so, really, it is imperative that we get along. It is sometimes hard when I am receiving directives from people much higher up than myself-you know it is the messenger that ALWAYS gets shot. Anyway, I had a dream last night that I was in this huge warehouse hiding because I was in fear of my life....the part I remember is me up on a high shelf trying to hide when those three doctors came in...TRYING TO SHOOT ME! I told my hospital about it this morning-all she did was laugh and assure me that none of them want me dead.

I didn't get home until 10 last night, it was Book Club Christmas party, y'all! There was a twist this year-the Book Club kids came along for the fun. So, we got to hang with Hannah Grace, Grayson and Declan all night-very cool, and very entertaining! Once I got home, something told me to check my email even though I never do at night....I had a message waiting from Canada informing me he may not be home for our scheduled call. Apparently, he was going to a "play" and this "play" would be interrupting our phone time (that's fine Mr. Tessier, but consider us BROKEN UP! Just kidding! You'll always be my Favorite Canadian...did you like my melodramatic voicemail about crying myself to sleep? I thought it was a nice touch...). :) He emailed me back to advise me he got home later than expected from said "play" and knew my old ass would be asleep. On a normal day he would have been correct. Little did he (or I) know that I would be up late anyway with InabilityToSleep-itis and a nagging cough. Pleasant.

So, I am doubling up on the caffeine today. Everyone is having a freakout here about the potential Great Snow Storm of 2007 tonight/tomorrow. I have a million and one things to do tonight and this weekend, so I'm gonna put a special order in for NO snow and/or at least to have all morons/idiots stay out of my way.....THANKS!

Picture this

Ok, I want you to sit with your eyes closed and picture this:

Hair piled on top of head.
White sports bra.
Black capri-exercise pants
BLACK socks (for extra sex appeal)
tennis shoes
and a black belt around the waist with resistance bands attached.

ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?

Welcome to my afternoon.......

I need structure

Yea, days off from work are nice and all, but truthfully, I need the structure of a work day. I need to get up at a certain time, go somewhere other than my apartment and stay at that place for 8 hours. With this structure, I am able to maintain the other things I need to do-monitor my eating, workout, being semi-productive, etc. Without it, I just lay around at home like a big lazy slob. Can you say "OCD"? I knew you could.

Well, Heidi, you'll be entertained by the rest of my evening at the crisis line. Annoying Girl must have been on her A-game because she did not shut up all night! I was getting irritated because I was trying to talk to Alex, but she just kept sticking her sniffling nose into our business. At one point she was rambling about something and Alex acted like he was yawning and said "man, my fibromyalgia is really acting up tonight!" (that is our little inside joke that we say anytime Annoying Girl or anyone else weird for that matter start to annoy us). To which I responded with "yea, mine too. It's really bad when I'm here.....especially on Wednesday nights". Of course, she had no clue what we were talking about. On another entertaining note, due to the new darker hair, Alex is now calling me Punky Brewster....uh, thanks. We entertained ourselves by looking up the theme song on YouTube...it was quite amusing, I must say.

Well, if the stars align themselves correctly today, I might actually get to talk to Canada! YAY! Hey Big D (yes Canada, that is your new nickname-ya like it?), want me to just call you when I'm done with Book Club? I am guessing it will be 10-ish (of course that is 8-ish Snooty Canadian Time). I think the last time we talked was September-ish, so it will definitely be good to chat! He'll make fun of my country twang, I'll make fun of the fact that he says "aboot", we'll laugh, we'll cry, but most of all, we'll have good times!

I am off soon to do the allergy study that Aunt Paula hooked me up with. I get paid for it and everything-SWEET! I believe my afternoon will then consist of working out, showering (I suppose) and meeting my Book Club girls at the commuter lot for our trek to Illinois. I was contemplating going to my office Christmas party that starts at 3 (why 3 I ask you?) but I don't think I'm gonna have enough time. I'm a busy girl, you know. :)

The fam is in town this weekend. Grandpa's birthday/party is only three days away! YIKES! Guess I better finish his gift, huh? It's about 85% done, I'd say.....guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow night!

Happy Birthday Broker.....Love, Tom Brady

I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I promise! No more Tom Brady jokes!

Seriously, hope you are having a fabulous birthday Broker! Behave, that's all I will say!!!! :)

Make it stop!

Ok, so I am at my part-time job tonight. This, after I spent the entire day....doing nothing. Yes, my plans to be productive on my day off turned out not to be. I was a lazy, lazy bum. And I loved it. I spent my morning finishing the 5th Harry Potter book, playing on the internet a bit (dreadful with that dial-up internet I have at home) and having some lunch. I spent the afternoon watching Dogma (because, after watching the Harry Potter movies, I have this strange fascination with Alan Rickman. He is just so good at playing a jackass. I love it!), although I did fall asleep near the end of it (must have been that Ben Affleck that did it). Once I awoke, I cleaned my bathroom (very fun) and the proceeded to head out to my part-time job, all the while listening to Christmas tunes in my car.

Which brings me to my original point. It is Wednesday night at the crisis line and Annoying Girl is here. And she is extra loud and sniffly tonight (she is the attention seeking Axis II freak that drives everyone there crazy. Even the nice people, like Shauna, can't stand her!). Anyway, she has already tried talking to me once-Alex and I were discussing movies and I mentioned to him that I was in the midst of watching the Harry Potter movies, when Annoying Girl tried to throw her two cents in. To Alex's credit, he deflected her, I refused to make eye contact, and eventually she turned around and annoyed someone else. The night is young, however. I have another 3 hours with her. Dear God give me strength......

Bumpkin Standard Time/What's this thing coming out of my arm?

Bumpkin Standard Time. Canada's idea of being funny, I suppose. Seems organizing a time for us to chat on the phone is not as easy as one would think. I mean, the boy plays like 37 different sports at night, among them: volleyball, underwater basket-weaving, soccer and naked walleyball (don't ask). I mean, he is clearly too busy to talk to his favorite Bumpkin. :( The two hour time difference does make things difficult, considering Canada informs me I am an old grandma because I go to bed early (it's true). I am hopeful we will be able to talk tonight or tomorrow night. I mean, I have to pin him down to a time when he is gonna come to Missouri (not literally pin him down). NO procrastinating, Mr. Tessier!

In other news, I was at my computer last night when suddenly I said to myself "what's this thing coming out of my arm?". I soon realized that it was a MUSCLE. My tricep to be exact. I actually have one. Can you believe it? I sure couldn't. Guess that working out stuff is really helping! Bless you Karen "The Sicilian" Tullman for introducing me to this workout. I LOVE IT!

Mike and Jeff are singing Christmas carols at work today. It is, um....interesting. Everyone seems to be in a festive mood. Maybe because our caseloads are low today (thank GOD). I am off work the next two days (yay!) but must clean my apartment AND finish Grandpa's scrapbook. Fun stuff indeed!

Let me leave you with this, some wise words that my good friend Mikey always says. Those words are: "It's hard out here for a pimp". Remember that.

"I'm gonna throw a fit"

That's what my co-worker just said. Our phones AND computers have been down for the last hour. SO not conducive to a productive work day. Now Mike has no choice but to sit here and look pretty (which he does SO well!). My response to the whole situation? THIS SUCKS MONKEY BALLS. Yes, that did actually come out of my mouth. My mother would not approve and may wash my mouth out with soap when she comes to my apartment on Saturday. The computer situation is so bad that one of the icons on my desktop for our database has DISAPPEARED. That can't be a good sign when even the icon is gone. I told our team lead I was gonna call in sick, but she reminded me that I'm already here. Damn.

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart

I totally made that Wham song "Last Christmas" the song on my MySpace page.....it was making me giggle yesterday (ok, so I'm easily entertained). I know I was whining and complaining about having to work on Sunday but it turned out to be not so bad. All of my favorite co-workers were there and the call volume was low. This gave me plenty of internet surfing time, which, really, is what it's all about. Mike, so glad you loved the picture of the S&M Ken and Barbie...is it wrong that I thought of you immediately when I saw it? :) Polster "grounded" me for being a smart-ass (come on, did he really expect anything less from me?) and I bombarded Canada's page with messages and pictures. Yes, I was quite productive.

I had quite the sleepless night last night, and not by choice. Was something on my mind? Not that I recall. I fell asleep around 11pm and woke up at 12:22 (I remember exactly). I then woke up again at 2am and was awake for good at around 5am. Luckily, my Secret Santa (yes, it's time for that once again) surprised me with a Diet Dr Pepper this morning. Drinking it on top of the one I am currently drinking will make for a very interesting day. I have totally cut back on my soda/caffeine intake, so the extra dose may bring out the Super-Hyper Kerri of old. Watch out!

P.S. Hey Canada....so how much does it cost to mail something to Canada? Are you sitting on the edge of your seat? Because guess what? I'm actually mailing you your birthday card AND your Christmas card-together. You have to read the birthday card first and just pretend it's August, k? Maybe I'll just stick like five stamps on it and call it a day. :)

Working six days a week is good for your soul

Well, here I am working on a Sunday. Yay me! I am a sleepy girl today, it could be this icky weather that's doing it-cloudy, dark, drizzly, just plain BLAH!

OMG, last night's Christmas party at The Shelley's was one to remember....out of respect for my friend, I am not going to go into much detail (because I don't know who may be reading this), but suffice it to say it was a good time. We did have a rousing game of Cranium-the holiday edition. We were divided up into teams. I had my good friend Renee on my team, Shannon's very drunk friend from Indiana and our friend Kelly's husband, Dan. So, I say to Dan "great, we have a doctor on our team-maybe we'll win". He looked at me and advised me he had only played this game once and he was really drunk at the time. Awesome. I must say, our team kicked ass. We were accused of cheating several times (which we totally were not-we were just that awesome!). The game quickly fell apart as most of the room (minus Renee and myself) proceeded to get quite intoxicated. Oh, it was entertaining all right.

In exciting news (at least it is to me), I went shopping yesterday and dared to go shopping for.......jeans. I have been avoiding it for quite some time as a couple of extra pounds have snuck up on me and I refused to spend money on pants that were another size bigger (when you are only 5'2" every pound counts!). So, since I have been dilligently exercising and following Weight Watchers (which really encourages my OCD tendencies...), I figured it was time to see if all that work has been paying off. I am happy to say......IT HAS! Yay! No going up a size, I am comfortably in the size I'm happy at. It seriously made my day. It's the little things in life.....

Well on to another week. I still have another 2.5 hours here at the crisis line, then I will be heading straight home and basically getting ready to go to bed since I have to be at work at 7:30 in the morning. Luckily, I am only working at my full-time job three days this week (gotta love extra PTO!). I will be hustling to finish Project Grandpa and will try to squeeze in some Christmas shopping as well. Tis the season!

someone get me a drink

Got yelled at today by that same doctor. Oy vey (as my Jewish friends say). I politely asked him if he wanted to speak to my supervisor (which he did along with HER supervisor). For the record, I didn't do anything wrong and my supervisor acknowledged that (I think I heard the word "narcissistic" come out of her mouth and she wasn't talking about me). Rough day. Know that poll I have up? Someone mark a vote down for "drinking alone". Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Happy weekend!

Just for you, Canada!!!!

people are a-holes

What is wrong with everyone this week? I mean, yesterday I get screamed at by a psychiatrist as well as a facility then today I have to deal with attitude from my co-workers. I'd say I'm partly to blame, but I don't think I am. I have been nothing but pleasant to these people, yet the snarkiness continues.....you'll be proud to know I was a big girl and took the high road and did not say or do what I really wanted to (one chick in particular I wanted to tell to "f**k off and/or punch her in the nose-BUT I DIDN'T). I simply walked away from the situation and attempted to get my blood pressure to lower.....TGIF! :)

In better news, one of my reviewers in Kansas City told me today that I complete him. I'm not sure if that was inappropriate or not, but it made me laugh. I am fortunate to work with some awesome, snarky, sarcastic, funny people in the Kansas City area-personality wise we are all very similar-makes for a pretty good working relationship, even when I am "harrassing" them. :)

So, we are having a book fair at work today. It reminded me of the days back in grade school when the Bookmobile would come to town. Do you remember that? I remember all of us kids were always so excited when it was Bookmobile day-I always bought sticker books. Guess I thought they were cool....anyway, today I got three cookbooks for $15 (you can't beat that with a stick!).

Tomorrow night the Book Club girls and I are trekking to beautiful Valmeyer, Illinois for the Annual Shelley Christmas party-should be fun, although I hear we are playing a holiday version of Cranium (every year we have some sort of game we play-very fun). I have voiced my protest of said Cranium game based on the fact that Team Short Bus is left disadvantaged. Every time we play it, Christina, Shannon and Renee are always on a team together and CHEAT, they CHEAT I tell ya (Bill Cosby my ass!!!). Meanwhile, the rest of us (myself included) are stuck on Team Short Bus (who is the guy who walked on the moon? "Louie Armstrong"-hence the name Team Short Bus).

I have to work at Job #2 on Sunday for six hours, not sure how I got suckered in to that one. Man, last night at job #2 I was in RARE form-and most of it was at my poor co-worker Alex's expense. I can't help it, he is just so easy to harrass (Heidi gets it, don't ya?). I mean he teases me incessantly about growing up in a trailer park and I harrass him about wearing loafers in the office. I also deemed him the "Biggest Tool In The Call Center". Not sure he liked that. I stole a phrase from Mikey and informed him that "I kid because I love". I had the entire call center cracking up with my antics (with Ricardia repeatedly saying "oh no she didn't). And don't even get me started on our lively discussion about Britney Spears.....

Wow, I am really talky today. I apologize, but if you care, I suddenly feel better having purged all my frustrations out on this blog. Thanks for listening. And as Casey Kasem always says "keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars"(I don't know what that had to do with anything...it just popped into my head).

Hottie of the Week

New Poll

Please cast your vote. Thanks!

What in the hell is wrong with people today?

I mean seriously folks! Why are people so cranky? WTF? Ok so far today I've had one of my normally mild-mannered and very nice psychiatrists scream at me (albeit by voicemail) that I was harrassing him, then I had some woman wanted to argue with me about the fact that our doctor denied coverage for someone (complete with a "I am very disappointed with your company-I thought you cared about your members" guilt trip). Whatever people! DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER! :) It's a rough day here in Managed Care land....I'll just keep on smilin'! :)

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Another chapter in the "this could only happen to KD" book

Why me? I mean seriously? Does karma hate me? Have I been that horrible a person (don't answer that!).

Today I was driving to work, minding my own business, listening to my iPod (with a nice montage of George Michael/Wham tunes. How could we not have known that he was Gay Gayerson????), when all of a sudden I see a large piece of wood flying through the air-straight for my car. Ok.....it wasn't so much a large piece of wood-but it was a good 4-6 inches long, looked like a piece of a 2x4, anyway-I didn't have time to react, it hit the side of my car, I believe by the driver's side mirror and made a really loud "bang". I was like "great, there's gonna be a big huge dent and then I'm gonna be pissed". Well folks, the good news is-there is no dent and really no obvious damage that I can see. That piece of wood is lucky! Driving on Hwy 70 is always hazardous, you never know what you're gonna get. It's a crapshoot, really.

Can I rant for one second? (like you could stop me....). What is up with all the random new people they have working at the crisis line? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love that the place is fully staffed and everything, but every time I walk in there I see nothing but new faces. I used to pride myself on remembering everyone's name, but it is just impossible to do at this point. Last night, I basically kept to myself because I didn't know any of the people there. And is it really possible for a person to be both arrogant and a total ass kiss at the same time? Cuz if it is, then I have met him. Ick is all I have to say. Oh I pray for the day I don't have to have a second job.........

prayers needed

Wow, I just found out that one of our longtime family friends, Mitch Stauffer, has cancer. He apparently had lung cancer, beat it but now they have discovered a tumor in his brain. It's so hard to believe. I have known Mitch and his wife Bonny since I was born-he was good friends with my dad back in their wild-and-crazy partying days (and I believe was one of the guys that dad moved to Florida with....). They have a son that is around me and my sister's age. I remember them coming to visit us in Salem so Mitch could go fishing (and the ongoing joke that it always rained when they visited). They'd be in their camper, their son Billy and I would play house and be the mom and dad and we'd always make my sister be the baby. :) These are some great folks and any prayers or good thoughts you can send their way is greatly appreciated. This man has been through a lot (lots of heart problems) and now this. Sometimes life just isn't fair, is it? I struggle with my faith when bad things happen to good people.......

Preparan las armas! Apuntan! FUEGO!!!

The title is for my dear, dear sister, who is stuck in San Antonio all week for a conference. The title stems from an inside joke after a family visit to The Alamo a few years back. First of all, have you been to The Alamo? It is rather disappointing, I must say. Not a lot to it. It should also be noted that we were in San Antonio during the Great Flood. Seems it never rains there, however, when we were there it rained about a million inches. Imagine me and my fam touring The Alamo in giant ponchos that say "The Alamo" all over them. Imagine this tour guide who was talking about Daniel Boone as if he knew him ("and then Daniel did this...." "Daniel said...."). Of course, my smart ass asked him if he did actually know him....The title of this post means "Ready, aim, fire!" in Spanish. This is apparently what they yelled as the battle began. My brother, sister and I thought it was funny and said it repeatedly for the remainder of the trip (you have to entertain yourself any way you can when you are in Texas).

Guess you had to be there.

Only in Missouri

There is a new drug craze in Missouri, y'all! WTF is all I have to say. Today as I was driving to work, my local radio station was talking about a story in Clay County (north of Kansas City), seems the sheriff's department had issued a statement regarding the new drug of choice in that area. What is it, you may ask? Well, it's better than meth-that is SO 2006. Yes, the new drug of choice is..............smoking TOAD VENOM. WTF? Seems you can only get it from the Sonoran Desert Toad. And you really have to work hard to get access to it....it is only found in the Southwest desert region of the US. What is this world coming to? First people mix together Drano, Benadryl, battery acid and some fuel injector fluid and inject it in their systems and now they are smoking toad venom. What next? Smoking rat turds? Dead squirrel carcasses off the side of the road? I mean seriously people!!!!

Is it weird that I am eating a bowl of peas for breakfast? Only TWO Weight Watchers points, y'all! Several people in the kitchen made comments about it as I was heating it up. Oh well, when I am super-skinny and FABULOUS you won't be laughing, now will you? My boss has already told me she can tell I am getting more toned and I am back in my size 5 jeans, y'all! My goal is to get back into all the size 4 clothes I have....not that I have gotten huge, mind you as I am still a 6 (or an 8 on a bad day), but I am happier at a 4, so that is my goal. Funny how much better you feel working out-I did a 45 minute work out last night w/those resistance bands-those bitches kill! Dang! They were kicking my butt.

Did anyone watch The Biggest Loser last night? That Nicole girl got voted off. They showed how she looks now and she looks AMAZING! I love that show, and yes, I did cry again last night watching it.

So, I'm getting mixed reviews about my new darker 'do. Some love it, others (Jeff Turner) hate it and want "the redheaded Kerri back". I was never a redhead people! Get it through your heads! My real hair color is brown, brown, boring-ass brown. My sis got the natural gorgeous red hair, not me.

Canada, you got that trip to Missouri planned yet????? :)

Elf yourself!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9636304231


Go to this link and re-live the beauty that is me, my dad, my brother and my grandpa as magical dancing elves. It is truly a sight to behold.....makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. Happy Holidays! :)

Canada, are you still alive?

I heard there was really icky weather up your way, not sure if it hit Vancouver or not, but read about the storms in Washington/Oregon and that the Amtrak train service from Seattle to Vancouver was shut down....here's hopin you weren't planning on taking a train ride....hope the mudslides and "hurricane force winds" didn't get you, my favorite Canadian friend! :)

Uhhh....how do you pronounce that?

Kosuke Fukudome

Can someone tell me how you pronounce that guy's last name?????? Anyone????? In case you care, he is a Japanese baseball prospect that just about every team wants to sign, including my Cubs......

Coming to a country near you...

I have heard a rumour that my favourite international friend, Canada, is coming to The States for a visit (notice the Canadian spellings of "rumor" and "favorite"). YAY!!!!! After many, many, MANY months of me harrassing him, he has finally caved. I don't know when he is coming for a visit-we are still working out those details, however, it's gonna happen (or the harrassment WILL continue....). Better make it a long trip, Canada-there are lots of people who wanna see you! Can you imagine a road trip to Kansas City to see Uriah and everyone's fave, CABIN BOY? Or to good 'ole Jeff City to see Deven? Not to mention all the peeps in the St. Louis metro area. Hope you have enough vacation time..... :)

Ok, slow news day at work today. We only have seven cases, which quite honestly, I could do in my sleep. Needless to say, everyone is in a good mood today. We tried to get JuJuane today with Brett's fart machine, but she was wise to his antics! Yes, our Clinical Director, a man with a PhD, has a fart machine. Sadly, we all laughed as Mike continued to press the button on it----we are really immature, aren't we? Don't lie-you would have laughed too, I know you would have!!!

My arm itches. Got my second allergy shot yesterday, this time in the right arm (way to switch it up). I informed the nurse that last week my arm itched for three days following the shot. She just looked at me and said "that's because you are severely allergic". Oh yea. Too early to tell if these shots are doing me any good, here's hoping it's worth the pain in the ass of getting to the doctor's office weekly.

I think I'm done talking for now. Shocking, I know. It's just that I got sleepy all of a sudden, despite the fact that I slept like 9 hours last night.......

All hail the queen!

I was dubbed the Queen of Hospital Discharges today. I believe I had eleven patients get the boot. Way to go me! I promise I will never be a bigger queen than Mike though........ :)

I am so freakishly tired today. I have barely said a word all day, I just wanna crawl back into bed. I was hopeful that my morning caffeine would pep me up a bit but as I sit here at 2:40pm, I am still beat. It may be because I tried a new workout yesterday, I don't know. I have to get my allergy shot today after work, then I am heading home and chillin' on the couch. I am at a loss, however....what in the world will I do with myself without Dancing With The Stars? My Monday's are incomplete without it....I'm sure I'll find something else to occupy my time.....

So, we are doing a cookie exchange at work for the holidays....we have to make six cookies per person that participates...I estimated that is approximately 70 cookies. Yikes. I was a bit perturbed as the sign up list went around and I saw that people had already signed up for the only two kinds of cookies I know how to make-oatmeal raisin and sugar cookies. What am I to do now? Huh? Well, I outsmarted them all...I am gonna do chocolate sugar cookies-SO THERE!!! Gotta dig out those cookie cutters.....

Wacky weather

Ok, so when I left my apartment earlier this afternoon, it was 66 degrees outside. By the time I returned home a mere three hours later, it was 46 degrees. That's quite a change. The weather has been very weird the last couple of days. Yesterday, It was really cold all day long, however, when we left PF Chang's last night around 9pm, it was a balmy 60 degrees....WTF?

Hey Canada-so I passed along both of your messages to the gang and I must say-Mike L laughed his ass off. Seems he got it, whatever it meant.Thought you'd like to know that. They all say hi and, like me, want to know when you are coming to visit us.......

I had a good weekend although it went by WAY too fast. How is it Sunday night again already? Sheesh! Friday night, Mikey and I went to see the movie No Country For Old Men. I had never heard of it prior to that day, but it came highly recommended by several people, so we decided to give it a try. My review? Maybe this will sum it up..........48 hours later and I STILL don't know what happened.....when the movie ended, Mike and I looked at each other and said "what?". We even called our friend Amy to help translate for us-I'm sorry to say she wasn't much help.

Yesterday I was up bright and early. I left my apartment around 9am and didn't return until nearly midnight. I went and got my hair did-I requested my stylist Alisa give me a darker 'do this time around. I told her I was tired of people calling me a redhead.....well, she granted my wish....she styled me up, pronounced me "hot" and sent me on my merry way.....I do like it darker. I don't know about "hot" however......After that, I went over to my friend Christina's for some scrapbooking good times. The pressure is on to finish Project Grandpa. His birthday/party is only two weeks away. I have only about 5-6 pages left to go, then all the finishing touches, I figure I have a good 10 hours of work ahead of me....but never fear, I have three random day's off soon thanks to my excellent amount of PTO at work, so I believe I will have time to get it all done.

After scrapbooking, I met up with some of my old college friends at PF Chang's for some dinner. I hadn't seen Mike, Lori or Christi since March so it was really good to see them all. I love those people. We, along with Christi's husband Jim, laughed all night (with some help from our key lime martini's, mind you), it was really good to catch up with all of them. I mentioned how I had seen our friend Ryan Austin recently, and that I had heard from Deven via email recently and how Canada and I talk smack to each other several times a week via this blog-they deemed me the resident Keeping The Group Together person. I do what I can!

After dinner, I met Allison and Tanya at OB Clark's to watch Mizzou take on Oklahoma for the Big 12 title. Sadly folks, it wasn't to be. But dammit, they had a good run!!!! And I believe I announced my crush on Chase Daniel to everyone in the bar (never mind that he is only like 21. Demi Moore did it, I can too!).

Hope everyone else had a good weekend. Red and Jon-hope you had fun with the girls and Polster. Hope Jon and Polster weren't too disappointed that Mizzou lost.... :(

Well, in a couple of hours I am off to bed. I have new working hours on Mondays-7:30am to 4:00pm to accomodate my allergy shot schedule. Yay.

H-O-T hot!

Happy Birthday Carrie!

Happy Birthday today to my friend Carrie! Hope you have a GREAT day girl! Hope Boogie spoils you rotten on your big day (I'm sure instead your day will be full of taking kids to school, picking kids up from school, cleaning up dog crap and making din-din, hopefully you find something relaxing in there!). I miss ya-when are we all gonna get together again????

Mikey and I have another date night tonight-movie night. We are SOOOOOOOOOOO not gonna be Bridget Jones.....ok, maybe we are.....in more fun news, we are making plans to possibly go see........THE SPICE GIRLS...........in Chicago. Dorky? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely.

Big weekend plans? I am getting my hair did tomorrow-always exciting! Then am power scrapbooking at Christina's, then meeting my college buds. Any messages you want me to pass along to them Canada? I'm gonna try to relax this weekend because next week I am doing extra shifts at my part-time job in order to pay for my personal property tax and my new medical bill I accumulated thanks to my CRAPPY health insurance (is it ironic that I work for the company that provides the crappy insurance?). I believe I am working like 20 hours next week, or something ridiculous like that. Woe is me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Today is my daddy's birthday, although he informed me last week that he was not having any more birthdays.....too bad! I hope you have a GREAT day dad! Hope your "little woman" makes you some dinner....or brings it home! :) I'm sure you will spend the day in your greenhouse, or with the dogs, or doing some home improvement project-just the way you like it! I love you and I will call you tonight!

Favorite Product Alert!!!! Skinny Cow ice cream cones. TO DIE FOR. Seriously. It's low-fat vanilla ice cream in a cone....with some caramel on top. Only THREE points for all you Weight Watchers folks out there!!!!! They are a bit pricey, and there are only four in a box, but they are so worth it. I'm sold. They also come in chocolate and mint. I am also sold on the Snyders of Hanover 100 calorie pack of pretzel snaps. Yummy yum.
Can you believe this week is already almost over? I'm glad. I am looking forward to the weekend. Saturday I am going to Christina's for our monthly scrapbook-a-thon and that night I am going to dinner with some of my old college friends, Christi (and her husband Jim), Mike and Lori and possibly the elusive Mike D. I am very excited to see them as it's been awhile, but I can't help but be a bit nostalgic. The dinner would be more complete if say, Canada or Deven, were there as well. I've been talking to Deven a lot via email lately, makes me all sappy and missing everyone (oh and Canada, he says to tell you to return his damn emails already!)! I have a couple of pictures in my cubicle that keep them all near me. One is from Deven's wedding a couple of years ago-the pic has me, Lori, Christi and Deven it it. Very cute. The other one I have is from college-it has Canada, Mike L, Deven, Me, Christi and Lori in it. My peeps that I love so much and miss like crazy. At least I am able to get harrassed via the internet by Canada (AKA "RP", AKA "Darin", AKA "The Most Ridiculously Good-Looking Person On Earth"), that usually makes my day!

Ok, enough rambling for now, gotta do some actual work today. Although we only have SEVEN cases, which is nothing, not that I'm complaining! I love it! :)

eatin' seaweed

So Mikey, Bruce and I went out to dinner for Dine Out For Life last night (benefits St Louis Effort for AIDS). We went to Cafe O, we stayed on the path and all ordered fish-it was very good. Mid-way through our dinner, Bruce asked our waiter what the yummy green stuff was on our plates. Our waiter informed us that it was.................seaweed. Yum. Bruce was like "gee, I've seen it in the ocean and never thought 'man I want to eat that'".

YEA-Helio won on Dancing With The Stars! He was my fave from the beginning, I'll have you know. :)

If you haven't received the dancing elf email from me, let me know (or ask my mom). It has already provided endless entertainment at work this morning......

The itcy and scratchy show

So, I got my first allergy shot last night. There was a room full of people when I arrived at the doctors office-all awaiting their shot. The procedure is very systematic in nature. The receptionist says "Davidson, you're next". You then go to the back of the office "by the refrigerator" and meet up with Beth, the nurse (who hails from Eminence, MO-holla!). Beth shoots you in the arm with a mixture of all the things you are allergic to and instructs you to go back to the waiting room, wait exactly 30 minutes, then return to her so she can "read" the results. As I sat in the waiting room, my arm began to itch. I didn't know it at the time, but it was also red and swelling. Awesome. Beth was like, "uh, yea we expected that to happen since we just injected you with allergens". She then proceeds to tell me that my arm may itch for the next twelve hours. TWELVE HOURS? Benadryl here I come! On a side note-my arm still itches today. Twelve hours my ass.

I must say I was a bit disappointed in Dancing With The Stars last night. It was the finals, and the stars got to do a freestyle dance. Scary Spice and her hottie partner weren't all that great, and Marie Osmond was downright creepy with her giant doll weird dance thingy. At least Helio's dance was good-he's my pick y'all!

While I watched tv last night, I also put up my Christmas tree. It took me quite awhile. Not the tree part so much, but the untangling of the lights. I need a better system. It looks really good though, if I do say so myself.

SUPER NERD alert-I am on Book 4 of the Harry Potter series. I fought it for a long, long time, but finally wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I am enjoying them, I don't think they are the greatest books on Earth, nor do I plan to dress up as Harry Potter for Halloween, but they're good. I also watched the first two movies over the Thanksgiving holiday. I have movie #3 in my possession and plan to watch it soon. Book 4 is gonna take me awhile-it's nearly 800 pages long. Yikes.

Tonight Mikey and I are going out to dinner for Dine Out For Life. It's a good cause, I'm totally down with it. I have to stay on "the path" however. I am back on the eating well tract. It gets tricky when you go out to eat, but I am determined to behave. Baked fish and steamed veggies, anyone?

Happy Birthday Uncle Jimmy!

Just a quick shout out to wish my Uncle Jimmy a very happy birthday today! Hope you have a good one! I'll write more later, very busy at work today. Hope everyone is having a good day!

MIZ-FKU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my cousin Clint. I know it was yesterday and, no, I didn't forget. It's just that I am still in Salem and my parents have dial up. I have avoided the computer as much as possible because it is so mind numbingly slow. I apologize cuz! I hope you had a GREAT birthday, the big 2-7, huh? Hardly seems possible. Guess we're all getting old....

My time off is about over. Yes, tomorrow I will return to work. I may not have a voice, but I will be there. Seems my "smokers cough" continues to worsen. I sound like a scratchy voiced dude. It's pretty sexy.

So, didn't work on Project Grandpa once this week. There was just too much to do with all the cooking and visiting various family members. It's ok thought, next Saturday we are going to Christina's to scrapbook all day. I will have to get some work done then because Grandpa's party is only three weeks away.

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. Mine was great, spending time with the fam. We did have one game night in which we played the Lucky Jew game (now forever known as the lucky "Jewt" Game-a combo of Jew and Scot....you really had to be there). I think Jon won, I can't remember, I was too traumatized by my crappy scores (I think they should have taken my math disability into consideration and spotted me a few points....). It was a lot of fun though. And last night was way fun, we watched the Mizzou-Kansas football game as a family (minus mom who just couldn't get in to it). The game was GREAT, Missou won and now we are anxiously awaiting the news that they are now #1 in the country. Pretty cool stuff.

Anywho, gotta go, mom is dragging me to church. :)

Happy Thanksgiving 2007/How do ya like my balls?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope this Turkey Day finds you well. I am already sleepy and I haven't even had turkey yet. Dinner time is looming-almost time to put ourselves in a food coma-gotta love it. The Dingii are here and I have already horrified Patrick with my Cubs pictures (he secretly loves it!). It's time for my annual sappy "what I'm thankful for" message. I thought long and hard about what to write. I mean, I could individualize it and write things like "I'm thankful for my Mikey Poo and his ability to make me laugh every day", or "I'm thankful for my friend Canada for always being my sounding board and being such a good friend even though he is a million miles away". Yes, I could write an individual shout out to all, but if I were to do that for each and every person/thing I am thankful for, we'd be here awhile. I have so many awesome people in my life, and I'd be too afraid I'd accidentally forget someone.

So, let me say this:

1. I am grateful it is no longer 2006. 2007 has been MUCH better.
2. I am grateful I am able to take care of myself, even if it does mean working two jobs.
3. I am grateful for my parents who are there for me no matter what. I couldn't have picked better.
4. I am grateful for my sister and my awesome brother-in-law. I miss them now that they are in Texas, but think of them everyday.
5. I am grateful for my brother who always makes me laugh and has successfully gotten me to read Harry Potter this year.
6. I am grateful for my Grandpa-about to turn 80 next month and he is just as feisty and ornery as ever!
7. I am grateful for such awesome co-workers (at both jobs). They make it a pleasure to come to work-even on the worst days.
8. I am grateful for all my girlfriends. Without you, I have no idea where I'd be.
9. I am grateful for all my guy friends as well. Love having the "guy" point of view!
10. I am grateful for the fact that I was able to go on (and pay for) two great trips this year.
11. I am grateful to have my health and get the opportunity to get allergy shots once a week (ok, that one was a bit sarcastic).
12. I am grateful for everything that God has given me. Even when things are bad, I try to understand the reason for it, but know overall that I can't complain too much about my life.

I love you all! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. May your bellies be full, may you drive safely, may you enjoy your families and friends. Peace, I'm out.

P.S. The semi-ignorant title comes from the sausage balls I made as a appetizer. They were quite the hit, but I couldn't resist being just a little bit of an a-hole. :)

Garland Man

That is what my dad sang to himself this morning as he and I were putting up the Christmas tree. It went a little something like this...."Garland Man, Garland Man, I am the Garland Man". Ok, guess you had to be there. So, I have been put to work since I arrived in Salem yesterday afternoon. So far, I have baked a batch of cupcakes and two pumpkin pies. I've also been to Wal-Mart three times in less than 24 hours. That must be some kind of record. I'm sure I'm not done visiting there. Things are quiet now, but in about an hour I must start dinner. Yes, I am cooking for the fam tonight. VERY impressive, huh?

Yesterday before I left I got to briefly see Sharon, Marques and their two a-dorable kiddos, Sophia and Aiden. SO precious! Seems their trip to St. Louis was a last minute thing, I'm sure glad I got to see them while they were in town (they live in North Carolina). After that, I began my trek to Salem. I occupied myself by 1. listening to my iPod, and 2. counting the dead animals on the side of the road. I saw a couple armadillo (or is that "armadillos"?) and a handful of dead squirrels, not to mention some dead deer. I arrived in Salem just in time to visit my mom and then run to the little girl's room (WAY too much Diet Dr. Pepper), grab a blank check from her (gotta love that!) and head over to Wal-Mart for trip #1. I also went to see my brother and visit his new apartment. It smelled like boy (I can't describe it, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about), but was fairly clean. Last night we watched Dancing With The Stars and The Biggest Loser (Tim got to witness me crying....). I was pulling for Marie Osmond to get the boot, but Jennie was a close second for me. Besides, Marie has the whole state of Utah voting for her-she's a shoo in!

So, I'm sure I'll write more of my adventures in the country. Tomorrow is Turkey Day and time for my Annual Sappy Message to all. Bet you can't wait!

Miss Davidson, you are allergic to......

EVERYTHING. The answer is: everything. Yikes. So, I went for my skin test at the allergist today. I was pretty pumped to finally see what all I am allergic to, to have my suspicions finally confirmed (I am too allergic to fruit!). For those of you that have never had this test done before, let me tell ya, it's a real treat. They stick you in the arms and back with various allergens. Then the plan is to watch how your skin reacts, if you develop welts, hives and itching well, then congratulations, you are allergic. So, as I was being stuck, the nurse informed me that I will need to sit with the allergen on me for at least 15 minutes, that if I started itching I COULDN'T SCRATCH. Are these people insane? So, as I get injected, I sit and wait. And then I see giant welts forming all up and down my arms, I look in the mirror and see my back looks the same, and all of it itches like crazy. This is my idea of hell-itching and not being able to scratch. I paced the room, tried to distract myself by reading, not much helped, it was quite possibly the longest 15 minutes of my life. SO not fun. When my doctor came in to read the results, I hear her saying a lot of "wow's" and "oh my's". That can't be good, right? Then she says "my child, you are severely allergic!". Good times, I think in my head, now where's the Benadryl because this itching is gonna cause me to lose my ever lovin' mind! Seriously. So, the final tally-I'm allergic to grass, weeds, trees, pollen, cats, dust and those pesky fruits (strawberries, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc). I'm allergic to dogs a little bit-not like cats though. So, what's the best treatment for this? What I dreaded......allergy shots. Weekly. For the next year. Uh......does United Health Care pay for that? No really.......she said not everyone has to do the shots and that she sometimes gives people the option, but in my case, she really didn't give me an option. I also have to be on Allegra and Nasonex. Such fun. Guess we'll see if it helps!

Zootini

What a busy weekend! I slept like nine hours last night to make up for it-but it was all fun! Did anyone watch the American Music Awards last night? Was anyone else slightly offended by Simon Le Bon's super, super tight pants? Let's just say they left VERY little to the imagination.....it's already a little freakish that Duran Duran is back given that it's 2007, not 1984, so the pants were a little over the top for me.

So, Friday night I went out with my girls Tanya and Allison. We are PARTY ANIMALS when we go out together, someone call the cops, seriously.....we went to OB Clark's to watch the Blues game, had some pizza and stuck to our typical one drink (ok, Tanya had two-CRAZY!). It was a lot of fun just gossiping and laughing and as an added bonus, the Blues won!

Saturday was busy, busy, busy. I was up at 7:30am to make sure the apartment met Mom Davidson's Standards of Cleanliness. I almost passed, she was impressed with how clean it was but did have to point out that several things needed to be dusted....that's my mom! I'm guessing I got about a B- for my efforts-I'll take it! Dad put together my new Ikea dresser-it is SO cute! Love it! After that, he headed to Grandpa's and mom and I headed out to St. Peters to meet the aunts/cousins at Costco. What a zoo that place is on a Saturday morning! Yikes! After that we did lunch, I hung out at Grandpa's for a bit, then rushed home to get ready for me and Mikey's DATE NIGHT! :) I also had to whip together a green bean casserole-no prob for this cooking pro! HA! Mike and I got all dressed up since Zootini required we do so (and we looked HOT, if I do say so myself). We first went to the 2nd Annual Friends Thanksgiving at our friend Denise's house-it was lots of fun, the food was fan-ta-stic. Mike, Amy and I were a bit obnoxious, as per usual ("welcome to our Monday through Friday"!). Zootini was quite fun, it kinda reminded me of a wedding reception-everyone was dressed up, there was a band, and there was lots of white people dancing......I ran into Red's friend Angie there (who was totally making out with some dude...) AND rand into Ryan Austin from my CMSU days! How random is that? I haven't seen him since Deven's wedding. Good times. Other than a brief moment where I thought I lost my drivers license and debit card, the night was a success, I must say.

Sunday I was up bright and early for church with the fam. Hung out at Grandpa's afterwards for a bit before mom and dad headed back to Salem. I tried to take a nap once I got home but wasn't quite successful with that. Around 3'ish, Renee, Maggie and I headed out to Krista's for her Tastefully simple party-one of the best I've been to. Why? Because they let you sample almost everything! I'm talking dips, cheese balls, bread, soup, tea....it was awesome, and I wanted to buy everything, but didn't. I set a budget and stuck with it-can't wait for my stuff to come in. You may be seeing a key lime cheeseball coming your way soon!

Right now I am just chillin, I have to go to my allergist at 12:30 for the skin test-wish me luck! I'm hoping for lots of reactions! :) Then I will be running errands all day and then watching the Blues game with Polster. Yes, I said Polster and no, hell did not freeze over, nor is it Armageddon (at least not that I'm aware of). :)

Happy Birthday Deven!

Just wanted to wish a very happy birthday to my friend Deven today (I gave him the link, so I hope he sees this!). I was very excited to hear from him this week, it's been a long time. Anyway, "D Mac", I hope you have a GREAT 31st birthday....welcome to the official "over 30" club....isn't it fun? :)

Happy Birthday Aunt Diane!

Happy Birthday today to my Aunt Diane! Hope you are having a GREAT day! See ya Saturday for Girl's Lunch!!!!

Had a sleepless night last night. I was up most of the night coughing, you know that feeling like something is in your throat and the only thing to helps is to drink water....but then you have to pee...so it's an endless cycle and the end result is me not sleeping. I was a bit groggy this morning. Doing ok now, in fact, I am a little on the hyper side for some reason. And that biatch Mike Tinnin accused me of flirting with one of my UR guys today...the nerve....ok, so maybe I was, I can't help it! He has the BEST voice ever and he's a sarcastic biatch like me. Mikey will always be my #1, however.

Book Club is tonight-YAY! We are having our Thanksgiving celebration-yum! Hope we don't discuss the book we were supposed to read because I didn't read it, nor did I even purchase it.....oops.

Happy Birthday Uncle Jay!

Happy Birthday today to my Uncle Jay. He's what now, 60? Just kiddin'!!!!! :) I do know that his gorgeous wife is much, MUCH younger....(I got your back Aunt La La!). Anyway, hope you have a great birthday Uncle Jay! Love ya!

This eating right and exercising thing is for the birds. I say this as I am sitting here eating a bowl of steamed veggies-carrots, asparagus and corn (it is deceptively good, no really.....). I am faithfully doing this exercise video that my boss gave me-she lost 22 pounds doing it and looks GREAT, she's my inspiration (and I'm not even saying that in an ass kissing sort of way). It is a tape by Leslie Sansone-ever heard of her? Let me tell you, her work outs KICK YOUR ASS (3 miles, 45 minutes)! Seriously, I sweat like a fat pig. It's pretty hot. I'm hoping to see some results soon. Dammit.

Well, we have made it to the mid-point of the week. I have to work at the crisis line tonight, tomorrow night is Book Club (Thanksgiving edition), Friday night I am going out with Tanya and Allison (destination unknown). Saturday is gonna be a busy, busy day. Mom and dad will be at my apartment at 10am (ugh), then mom and I are heading out to St. Peters for Girls Lunch while dad will stay at my apartment and put my new dresser together that I bought at Ikea when we were in Texas. That evening is date night for me and Mikey. First we are going to Friends Thanksgiving at our friend Denise's house and then we are hitting Zootini. Good times. I will not have time to be bored, that's for sure. LOVE IT!

Canada, you have been missing from my blog.....where are you?

Dammit, Marie Osmond!

Ok, enough of the sympathy votes already! Marie "I'm a little bit country" Osmond should have been voted off Dancing With The Stars tonight, not my little Hottie McHotterson, Cameron. This is an injustice and I will not stand for it I tell you! At least that other hottie, Maks, is still around-yum. Guess I can continue to watch Cameron on All My Children.....I think I need a date, what do you think?

Is today Tuesday?

Blah, blah, blah, just another day closer to vacation. Not that I'm doing anything exciting, mind you, but just the prospect of not having to go to work is what is getting me through the day at this point.

I got a bit of a rush last night after having finished cleaning my apartment. How nice it looks when its clean! It's very cute! Wow, I had no idea! Wanna come over?

Mikey and I have a date on Saturday night (I LOVE my gay boyfriend!). We are gonna go get drunk at the zoo together, doesn't that sound like fun?

Dancing With The Stars update-Helio kicked ass last night. The only reason I want Scary Spice to stick around is because her partner Maks is HOT. I will be flipping between this and The Biggest Loser tonight. My life is awesome.

I'm a gal of few words today, just wanted to stop by and say HI!

Personal Property Tax

The City of St. Louis just sent me a big "F you" in an envelope. Yes, that's right, I got my Personal Property Tax in the mail yesterday. This is my first year paying it for my pretty little car. What's the damage? How bout $393.20. Ouch-that hurts. Now, I know as an American, taxes are a part of life. I get it. I wanted to educate myself on just where my tax dollars are going, so imagine my surprise (and sarcastic laughter) when I saw that 57.8% goes to the St. Louis Public Schools. Are you freakin' kidding me? They are THE WORST schools in the ENTIRE state, it's a proven fact. I'd like to know just how they are using that money....and I was a bit offended to see that only 1.18% goes to fund Mental Health programs. Nice. I don't want any complaining then as the homeless/crazy continue to walk the streets of this fine city, you hear me?

I am sleepy today. Guess that's what a sleepless night will do to you. Ugh, been the story of my life lately. So, my Saturday was fairly uneventful. I did start Project Grandpa and am pretty proud of the job I've done so far. I wrote a letter to him that is the first page and I must admit, it made me cry (I am such a sap!). I spent the evening just watching movies (and fielding drunken text messages from Polster, not to mention a totally hilarious and rambling phone call at around 11pm.....I received an apology text this morning). This morning I was up bright and early to meet Sue and Renee for brunch at First Watch (YUM), only to discover as we were leaving that I had forgotten my wallet....sounds about right, doesn't it? Renee was kind enough to cover me, love you Renee Williams! I had to rush home after that so I could get said wallet, then I hightailed it up to Florissant for the Veteran's Day Parade (there was a tiny side trip to the Kirkwood Wal-Mart so I could purchase a lawn chair-the prospect of sitting on the ground after it had rained did not at all appeal to me). I was front and center on Washington, anxiously awaiting Grandpa and his fellow vets. As I saw his "float" approach, I realized he was on it, but on the other side, so I couldn't even see him to get a picture of him (well, I guess I could have tried to cross the street to see him but I was too afraid I'd get run over by a Shriner on one of those mini-cars, you gotta watch those bastards!). So, I got some pix of the truck he was riding in, continued to wave to the vets, and gathered candy for the kid next to me. Then I headed home to begin cleaning my apartment. Such a daunting project for sure, but it must be done. My mother will be here next weekend and the woman likes things clean! Besides, I have very little time to do it this week, so today it is! Luckily, I'm able to listen to the '80's station on Sirius, so it is helping the time go by quicker ("Angel" by Aerosmith is on right now).

Here's to a good week!