Pujols is MVP!!!

All is right with the world. Albert Pujols has been named NL MVP. Congrats to him! My boy Derek Lee finished 3rd-not too shabby! Congrats to him as well!

Fellow Missourians, be careful out there! The weather is crazy today! My car was swerving all over the highway and I swear when I was getting gas the wind picked me up. There were rumors up here that tornadoes had touched down in Southern Mo; we feared our parents were dead. I just talked to my mom, she is alive and well and working her butt off at the bank. Those newspeople overreact!

Happy Birthday JP!

Just want to wish John a very happy birthday today! I know it is hard being away from your family and friends, but hang in there, you will be home soon! We are taking good care of Heidi for you, we're working her like a dog! :)

Take care, have a great birthday, we'll see you next month!

Out of the blue....

I got a call from an old friend tonight who I haven't talked to in a year and a half. We'll call this friend C. C and I worked together about 6 years ago and became fast friends. Truthfully, I had a major crush on C and would make excuses to go by his office (why the hell else would I need to go to the accountants office 6x a day?). I think C was diggin me too, so we had this flirtation thing going on. Fast forward to me leaving that job-we began hanging out outside of work periodically, I was finally honest about my feelings and C admitted the same...we sorta dated a bit, then didn't talk for a while, I don't know who stopped taking to whom-this has been our pattern...then a couple of years ago C calls and tells me he moved to NYC...a couple of months after that, C was back in St. Louis, we started hanging out, he pursued me, we dated for a bit, that is, until I freaked out-and this time, it was me that stopped calling....fast forward again to today. Today was the first time I have heard from C since then. I truly never expected to hear from him again as the way things ended last time were not good-I broke his heart, he was pretty pissed at me, and rightfully so-I was always the one pursuing him, now he was pursuing me and I rejected him. Tonight, talking to C was just like we had talked yesterday-we have such great rapport, laughing, joking, conversation was never a problem. We make awesome friends, I just don't think we were meant to date. Anyway, he suggested we "get together" sometime for drinks, I'm hoping some old patterns do not repeat themselves....he is really cute tho.....

Trivia Night=Good Times!

Man, trivia night was awesome! There were 24 tables of approximately 10 people each. The theme-80's and 90's. Got it in the bag, right? I was happy with our table-a good variety of ages (roughly late 20's to late 30's). I figured we had a good shot. After all, I have been faithfully watching I Love The 80's 3D and listening to Y98's 80's flashbacks every weekend.

We dubbed our team "Team Ninja Pony", as Shannon was gracious enough to bring us Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and My Little Pony stickers. We got extra points for dressing up 80's style. I sported the fake pearls, tons of bracelets, and collared shirt (with the collar up, duh!). Karen sported the sideways ponytail, ripped t-shirt (Flashdance-style) complete with wrist and head bands. Shannon sported the big hair (complete with "wings"), blue eyeshadow, tight rolled jeans and her cheerleading jacket. Our table was decorated with a Rainbow Bright doll, a Smurf poster, and a Pound Puppy (this and the dressing up scored us 8 extra points!).

Some of the categories were tough, I ain't gonna lie. "National Sports"? What? And "Books that became movies". Uh, right......We totally rocked on "Family Sitcoms" (I knew my late nights of watching Roseanne, Who's the Boss and The Cosby Show would come in handy someday! And I totally knew who sang the Dukes of Hazzard theme song!), "Childhood Cereals" (the cereal was in a baggie, you had to name it-we got 10 out of 10. I know my Fruity Pebbles, ok???), "Children's Television"-yes, I knew that Alanis Morrisette was on Nickelodeon's "You Can't Do That On Television"! (remember Red?). I nearly pulled off the answer to the question "What was He Man's real name?"....I knew it was Prince something....Grayskull? No, that was the castle....the answer was Prince Adam! SOOO close. Also-can YOU name all 4 of the Ninja Turtles? Donatello, Leonardo, Rafael and Michealangelo! Woo hoo! We also rocked on "Name That Tune" (hell yea, I know myself some Faith No More and Hootie and the Blowfish!) and we got 10 out of 10 on "Game Shows" (take that, Chuck Woolery.... "hey Richard Dawson, get back behind your podium where you belong"-what movie was that from?). "CD covers" sucked-do YOU know what the cover of U2's "Zooropa" CD looks like? Me either. I did, however get Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" correct.

There were prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and last. We knew the table next to us was gonna be last-it was full of old people who got 0 out of 10 on Name That Tune ( I really wasn't expecting them to recognize "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground). They were good sports about it though! My team finished a very respectable 7th out of 24. Not too shabby! I knew all my useless knowledge would come in handy some day.......

New poll

Check out the new poll!

I'm an aunt!!!

No, my sister is not knocked up. She and Jon adopted a dog today. I went with them-it was just supposed to be a nice little trip to the APA to see all the poor doggies (all three of us had been entertaining the idea of getting one), however, as soon as Red saw Chloe, she was in love. Chloe is a 7 month old German Shepard/Collie mix. She is brown and black and totally adorable....and she LOVES Jon! She will definitely be a daddy's girl. My niece will be spoiled by her Auntie Kerri, thats for sure. She didn't get to come home with us because she needs to be, um, "altered". She will be ready to come home on Monday. We realized they were gonna need tons of dog supplies, so off to Target and PetsMart we went. Chloe will be well taken care of, that's for sure. I'm studying up on how to crate train right now.....

Goodwill

My sister and I decided today that we needed to, um...dress the part at next weekends Ivory Tiger show, so we headed down to our local Goodwill in search of rock and roll t-shirts (the tighter the better). We didn't exactly find what we were looking for, but we did laugh a lot. What we DID find may be even better than we thought-I pulled out the Hilary Duff 2004 Tour t-shirt and my sister pulled out N-Sync...we laughed and laughed and laughed. Especially when we found a Tim McGraw t-shirt for Jon....I don't think he wants to wear it.....I am off to other area Goodwill's tomorrow in search of better material, after all, they were only $2 a piece!

The worst team in hockey is....

Our very own St. Louis Blues! Coming into today at 2-10-3, they are sitting in the basement of the Central. Man, Tim and I were just joking about them only getting 15 points this season...now, it's not so funny. Canada, enter any insult you'd like here: _________________. This isn't cute like it is when the Cubs lose. They are not doing much to win their fans back, that's for sure. Is it too late to become a fan of the Oil (as in the Edmonton Oilers)? How bout the Hartford Whalers? Oh wait........

Isn't Moose Jaw your Salem?

Surely Canada has a "Salem-esque" town....how bout Moose Jaw? I've never been there, but it can't be too exciting there....And yes, sadly the Tower Inn is no more. No, wait, that's not entirely true. Actually about 4-5 floors of the great Tower still stand. It's gutted of course, and is quite an eye sore standing right at the 4-way stop. Rumor has it, it will be turned into office space as well as apartments. This rumor has been swirling for nearly 2 years, so we shall see. It's quite white trash looking right now....

Who's ready for Trivia Night? Such good times! It's a night where people get to fully realize they don't know jack....a real self-esteem booster. Especially since my darling friend Shannon has already reminded me and a couple of other friends that we are a part of Team Short-bus. NOT a compliment....of course there is a story behind that. A couple of years ago, we had a slumber party at my friend Krista's house (yes, adults can still have slumber parties!) and we played the board game Cranium. We divided into teams, and lets' just say, my team didn't do so hot (example-Krista had to sing a song and we had to say who the artist was. She began to belt out "What A Wonderful World" and Maggie yells out "Neil Armstrong!". Well, actually its LOUIE Armstrong, Neil being the astronaut, of course, thus Team Short-bus was born.) We have never lived it down.....

It's my last night of work this week...hope its a good one....then only 4 more working days till vacation (can you tell I'm excited?)

One week til vacation!

Six more working days and I am then off for a week and a half! How exciting! Not that I'm doing anything exciting, the prospect of doing nothing is exciting to me....I will be spending a lot of time in Salem with the fam (Canada, I'll tell the big Conoco you said hi!) during Thanksgiving week. I so look forward to that. Thanksgiving is always a good time at the Davidson household. From dad burying the turkey carcas in the woods (long story), to Jon breaking his ankle during the Annual Men's Football Game in the front yard, Thanksgiving is never boring. I love it, helping mom prepare some of the food the night before, putting up the Christmas decorations (a tradition), spending time w/mom and dad and Timbo, as well as the cousins and aunts/uncles that come down to visit, it's always fun. And I do have Book Club with my friends and Ivory Tiger/Warrant next week to look forward to as well.....

This Saturday is Trivia Night. I pose a question to you all-If you study for Trivia Night, is that cheating? I've received mixed answers to this one. Krista found a fab web site that has 80's trivia on it (our Trivia Night theme is the 80's and 90's). Most people in my age group remember the tail end of the 80's, so I figure a little studying isn't such a bad thing. Come on, you think we're the only group studying? Trivia Night is ultra competitive! It's every man for himself! One of the subjects is album covers, so, as soon as I see that close up of a man's ass with the American flag in the background, I will be able to yell out "Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA", and my team will be soooo proud......

Dating-a strange phenomenon

Dating is a weird, weird thing to me. Even if you are not a game player, there is still game playing going on. Trying to figure each other out, trying to decide "do I really like this person?" or "do I only want certain things from this person?" (fill in the blanks there). Sometimes, I feel too old for this, dating is hard work, but I realize, if I ever plan on getting married, well, I kinda got to date first (not that marriage is an absolute for me, and I really think I'd be fine without it). I'm in the midst of the dating game right now. As I told my girls-we are currently at the pivotal point-either this guy likes me for me or he is only after one thing. The ball is in his court now-if he calls, I'll know he likes me as a person, if he doesn't...well, I'll know what he was after all along. I am ok with it either way. Life is too short to worry about such things. Besides, there's always those creepy, leering old dudes at Gitto's.....Everyone knows I'm saving myself for Canada anyway! :)

RENT?

Anyone interested in going to see RENT with me when it comes to theatres? If you have never seen it before, you should. I was lucky enough to get to see the play on Broadway in NYC a couple of years ago. I fell in love with it. The best part was the little old couple in front of us leaving at the intermission-I think they were offended by it (ok, so there are a lot of references to sex, drugs, AIDS, and "alternative lifestyles"). I also got to see it again in St. Louis when the show came through. Now its a movie. Even if you don't like the premise, you must see it anyway-HELLO??? Taye Diggs is in it!!!! I believe it opens the week of Thanksgiving. Did you know that Jai Rodriguez (Queer Eye) was the original "Angel" in the play? I soooo can't wait to see the movie!

I wonder what my team thinks of me....

I supervise a team of 16 at work. I often wonder what they think of me as their supervisor. Half of them I am friends with outside of work (as we were friends long before I became their supervisor). Today one of them told me I needed some Ritalin...ok, so I can be a bit hyperactive at times...I really want to try to make work fun. The crisis line can be the most stressful place on Earth (as you can probably imagine), so, I try to lighten the mood, crack some jokes, tell my staff about my latest adventures, stuff like that. My guess is that they are thinking a combination of "what the hell is wrong with her?" and "why do I have to be on her team?". Well, Team Sunday rules! We have a very tight, close-nit little group. We had to band together when Heidi and John left as they were both very integral parts of the team. Everyone just kinda takes care of each other-I like that. My team really makes me enjoy my job. That, and the nights I work with Stephen. We are very immature, but boy do we laugh a lot! Laughter makes the world go round. That, and creepy, leering, bar guys....

Karaoke-a study in human behavior

What an interesting phenomenon karaoke is. Seemingly mild-mannered people all of a sudden become Diana Ross, or Garth Brooks, or the chick that sings "I Will Survive". It's the chance for the truly talentless to shine. Everyone around them is drunk, so no one cares. My favorite karaoke experience took place in some random bar in Columbia, MO and it involved my dear friend Canada. Now, Canada was/is a big Police fan so, he decided to sing "Roxanne". If anyone knows the song, you know that Sting hits some pretty high notes. Well, Canada being Canada, he, uh...hit the notes too. It was so horrible that everyone in the bar was cheering for the horribleness. It was awesome. That, and we signed Deven up to sing a New Kids on the Block song.....Last nights karaoke experience was an interesting one. Shannon was cracking me up with her signature dance moves, all of us were singing into our beer bottles and we even got up to belt out "YMCA" and helped Denise with "I Will Survive". Then....there were the random dudes hitting on me. Ever since I dropped 20 pounds.....I have been hit on more this year that in the rest of my life total. I really shouldn't complain, but I also don't know what to do with it. I get all embarrassed. This one dude last night was at least 45-he wanted to dance and I was like "uh, we're getting ready to leave". That wasn't a total lie....we left about 20 minutes later....There was some other dude that kept dancing behind me, the look on my face was pure horror, Sarah was cracking up at me...oh yea, and there was another old dude-you know the type-stands in the corner, leering, is probably an alcoholic and is hoping, maybe, just maybe, tonight will be the night that some young thing will talk to him....He asked me my name and tried to grab my hand...Not so much dude. The song "My Humps" started going thru my head, you know the line "don't pull on my hand boy, you ain't my man boy". I really just wanted a night to be with some of my girls and hang, ya know? I wasn't out man-hunting. But if I ever am, I know where to go...

HEIDI-your dude was there!!! You know, the old guy with the toupee? The one who called you a "witch"? His name is Mikey, I found out. He didn't sing the witch song, but he sang plenty of other Frank Sinatra-esque songs. Reminded me of that night when he sang to you and you were like "uh, I need a shot". I ran to the bar and took care of you.....

Nature

Sometimes the beauty of Missouri escapes me. Today, I decided to recapture it and I took advantage of the beautiful scenery we have right here in our backyards. I drove around a local park today, taking pictures and just pulling my car over and listening to...NOTHING. The quiet of the woods, the leaves falling. There are still some beautiful leaves out-yellows, oranges and bright reds. They won't be around much longer as winter will settle in soon. And did I mention the elk and buffalo? Oh yea...right up to your car. They were amazing, truly. Just hanging out, eating grass, tearing the bark off trees. There were babies and an adult elk with big freakin antlers. He must have been the leader of the pack. I wonder if they were thinking "what the hell are you looking at?" as all the humans drove by in their cars, snapping pictures of these animals in their natural habitat. A sign to the right stated "bison mating season. proceed with caution". I was thinking in my head that I really hoped I didn't have to actually witness bison mating, so I did what the sign said and I proceeded with caution. Buffalo are cool. They are so huge. One was sticking it's tongue out. I'm sure that was a big "F you" to the humans....

Crying 2

Uh yea......cried at the mall today when they began playing "Lady In Red". The fam knows what I'm talking about.....

Crying

I never was the kind of gal that cried. Hallmark commercials didn't get me, funerals didn't touch me. I cried privately at times, but even that was a rarity and usually when I was really pissed off about something. Nowadays, however, I cry at anything. Now, I'm not talkin the "I'm depressed and can't go on" crying. No, I'm talking "I can't get through 3 minutes of Three Wishes without the tears flowin" crying. I can't watch A Baby Story, A Wedding Story, or even Ryne Sandberg's(formerly of the Cubs) retirement celebration at Wrigley without crying. I've even been known to cry at All My Children, reading greeting cards, and reading emails from various people. Yes, its official, I am a SAP.

What got me today? See page C3 of the West County Suburban Journal. That's right, my sister's engagement announcement is in there. Now, I've seen the picture before (very good, by the way, Red and Jon look fantastic!) and knew the announcement was coming, but still, as soon as I saw it there and read the words, I cried. I was even crying after reading the OTHER PEOPLE'S announcements-I DON'T EVEN KNOW THEM!!! If I'm this bad now, how in the HELL am I gonna get through the wedding? People-start gathering your water-proof mascara now!!!! I am gonna be one big, bubbling idiot. Sister-I'm sorry in advance. You know us Davidsons are NOT pretty cry-ers!!!

Do you have YOUR Warrant/Ivory Tiger ticket yet?

Get to ordering people! It was $17.25 with tax. I'm receiving word from lots of folks that they are going. I can't wait. Did I mention that Ivory Tiger will be playing again later that night? It's double your Ivory Tiger fun! By the way, you can catch Ivory Tiger on a lot of Wednesday nights at Humphreys (the SLU bar)...hey, I could be your promo gal, guys! Do I get a free "I love Ivory Tiger" t-shirt????

Well, I'm off to do what any other self-respecting gal would do on her day off...I'm going shopping. Bye!

WTF?

What kind of world do we live in where someone can make homicidal threats to kill people and the local police elect to not do anything about it? It amazes me that this can happen, but does not surprise me. At the end of the day, all I can do is have the knowledge that I did everything in my power to ensure safety. The above referenced situation still bothers me, I hate cases without resolution, I will have to work through this. What an ending to an otherwise good week.

Welcome to my blog Shauna! You voyeur, you! :) You must register and join the fun. Such a cathartic experience. I realize no one really cares what I think. But if any small bit of my rambling entertains others, then by all means....read on! It makes me feel better to have an outlet.

HEIDI'S BACK!!!! I am so happy! I can't wait to work with ya again, but also hope we can get together outside of work, you know, especially since I'm not your "supervisor" anymore! :)

My work week is over, let the weekend begin. Another weekend with the place to myself as Red and Jon are heading to Perryville for a wedding-have fun! I swear to God I am going to clean my room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's really happening

The invitations for my sisters wedding came in this week. This has made the wedding all the more real to me. It's really happening! And soon! Less than 5 months now! The realization that my baby sister is going to be a married woman soon hit me hard. Wow. The fact that she is marrying a great guy helps. She found the perfect person for her. All I ever wanted for my sister was someone who would adore her-she found it. Jon will be a great husband, father, brother-in-law, friend. If you think I'm sappy now, just wait until that maid of honor speech! Robert can do funny, I'll do sappy! I truly cannot wait for her big day. It's going to be beautiful, she will be beautiful. Let's just pray for no rain (which is always a crapshoot in April).....Davidson/Baumgart Wedding 2006 is gonna kick ass (watch those Baumgartner women-they know how to party!!!)!!!