Happy Birthday Nenonen!

Happy birthday Carrie! Hope you have a fabulous day! Man, does everyone I know have a birthday in November? It seems like it. Anyway girl, lets go out and celebrate. Name the time and the place.

I had a really weird dream last night. I dreamed that I had hit my pinkie finger on something and thought it was broken, so my family took me to some medical clinic, where I was led to the back room, for some reason I was barefoot and I noticed that there was blood on the floor and I was walking in it. Anyway, I got some young doctor who was not from our country who told me my finger wasn't broken and gave me a prescription for "the pain". He gave me a script for Lorazepam, better known as Ativan (a fantastic and easily addictive anti-anxiety med) and instructed me to only take half a pill at a time, the pills were chewable like a Flintstones vitamin. So, we get ready to leave this clinic and for some reason now Amy's girlfriend Shannon is with me and notices I have a cough. She gets all freaked out and just knows this means I have walking pnemonia (this and the broken finger are the link). So the nurse comes out, says I have to come back in but can't come back till 6pm. So, I get upset because apparently I have Book Club at 6pm and for some odd reason, book club is at my parents house in Salem (and you though Valmeyer was a long drive!). The dream ends with me dropping off some Christmas decorations for the book club girls and then I wake up, and my finger hurts.....

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 55th birthday. Happy birthday daddy! I know he had looked forward to this monumental birthday because it is his magic retirement age. One month from now, my father will officially be retired. Those 30+ years working for the feds will finally pay off. Although, I think he may be busier in retirement. He will be working full time at his farm and taking on a part time job pimping out his tree knowledge skills. He will also be overseeing the building of their new home. He ordered the plans for the new house and it is beautiful. Good to see I will have a nice inheritance.... :)

Life is short, live each day as if it were your last

Seriously, the title says it all. I just finished re-watching the Channel 4 news story on my friend Krista's sister-in-law Laura. For those of you that do not know the story, Laura was involved in a serious car accident in July. She has been in a coma ever since with a pretty severe head injury. She is in what they call a "waking coma", her eyes are open, she responds to minor stimuli, but remains in a comatose state. The news story told the story of her relationship with her new husband and showed footage of her wedding. My sisters fiance and his friends went to high school with Laura where she was the homecoming queen. Laura was/is a very beautiful girl. She was one of those people you'd love to hate because she was beautiful, had great job, great husband, great house, but was also one of the nicest people you would ever meet. What happened to her could happen to anyone. Watching the story (with tears streaming down my face) made me think about that. Life IS short. It puts things in perspective real quick. If you'd like to see her progress or know her whole story, you can go to www.lauralaughlin.com for more information.

In other news, today, thus far, has been a good day with Chloe. She has been very sweet, although she still seems to think she is a lap dog. I'm pretty sure 40+ pound dogs are not "lap dogs". We'll see how sweet she is when I try to get her in the basement today before I leave for work. Yesterday she refused to go in, would stop at the door and as soon as I got near her she would run upstairs. I finally just had to crate her.

I want to thank everyone for their offers of assistance for my big move. I think I am going to borrow Uncle Ron's truck (I may have to have one of the boys drive it), that'll save a lot of money. Jon-I hope you and the boys know how much I appreciate your help! And sister-don't be sad, we may actually see each other more now that we won't be living together! You won't be able to get rid of me. Who else is gonna be able to keep you calm in the coming months before your wedding? As the MOH, its my job! Anyone got any Valium????? :)

Well, must go make myself presentable-have to go to work in an hour and a half.

Back to work=good times

Ah yes, I missed the crisis line so. Ten days away is a lot. I was greeted to four calls waiting and our bell going off as I came in. Welcome back! It was a pretty busy day all around but should be expected since it was the monday after a holiday. Yesterday was my 5 year anniversary at my job. They just can't get rid of me. I want my desk clock.

So, Amy wants to set me up with her girlfriends brother. Amy claims he is good looking "for a boy". That gives me such hope. Why is it that everyone has someone they want to set you up with but you never end up meeting that person? "Oh, so and so's brother/friend/cousin/co-worker/dance partner would be perfect for you, I'll set you up". But does it ever happen? No. At least not in my world. So, I'll believe it when I see it.

I talked to my new landlord today. Yep, I got the apartment and go pick up the keys on Saturday. He seems like a really cool guy. Now I just have to find someone to help me move and pick a day to do it. I'd also really like to find someone with a truck so I don't have to rent a u-haul. U-haul costs a lot of money. I'm sure Jon and Red will be glad to have the place to themselves and not have the sister/sister-in-law living with them anymore. I know I'd be tired of me if I were them. I will miss living with them because it really has been a good experience, however, it is time for me to be on my own. And besides, I absolutely love this apartment. It's great and I can't wait to decorate it and make it my own. I miss my stuff!

Back to the STL

I'm back. Isn't that great? I have to go to work in just over an hour. Let the fun begin.

Red has decorated the condo for Christmas. It looks great. She is a little mini Val. Speaking of, as soon as everyone left mom and dad's yesterday, mom cleaned the entire house. That woman just can't sit still! I definitely did not inherit that trait from her!

Tomorrow is my daddy's birthday. I'll call home tomorrow and I'm sure the first thing he will say is "I'm retiring 30 days from today...". Gotta love his predictability.

Chloe is sitting here burping. I have never heard a dog burp before. It's weird. What are you feeding her, Jon?

Well, guess I better unpack and get ready to go back out into the real world. Vacation has been fun. Must do it again sometime.

I don't like being in the "tornado watch" area

Storms they are a' brewin'. We have been under a tornado watch for the last few hours. I don't like it. Everyone who knows me knows I hate tornadoes. I am glued to the TV screen currently (all the while watching Grey's Anatomy). The dogs are clawing at the door to be let in. They are too stupid to figure out that they will continue to get wet if they stay on the deck. They have the garage available to them. We are not letting wet dogs in the house.

Back to work tomorrow. I guess I'm ready to come back. It will be quite the adjustment, it's been awhile. I also must detox and not eat any more crap until Christmas. Back to eating green for me!

Playing poker with grandpa

What a night. I finally learned how to play poker (at least I think I was playing poker) tonight. Imagine playing poker with your grandfather. Good times. It was me, dad, grandpa and my cousin Rachel (who I am pretty sure hustled us) and for a bit, Tim. We just played with the spare change from Tim's room since we were too cheap to play with our own money. I now know how to play 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw and Texas Hold 'Em. I got confused at times, but kept my cheat sheet handy (grandpa wrote down what a royal flush was, a straight flush, a full house, etc.). I'll probably forget how to play come tomorrow, but it was still way fun.

We also had our bonfire. We gathered out in the woods and dad lit stuff on fire. It was cool. We burned some hot dogs, dropped some in the leaves (the dogs loved that) and burned the crap out of some marshmallows. Then grandpa told some bad jokes and it started raining. Kira (my cousins 3 year old) then pronounced that we needed to go inside because we didn't have umbrellas. She's a pretty smart kid. She also told me I was being mean and that I was in big, big trouble because 1. I wouldn't let her eat cookies before dinner and 2. I wouldn't let her have a glass plate (never did figure out why she wanted that). That child is lucky she's cute.....

Happy Birthday Uncle Jimmy!

Today is Uncle Jimmy's birthday (aka Ivory Tiger uncle). Hope you have a great one unc!

The Thanksgiving weekend is coming to a close. I'm exhausted. Between the 12 people and four dogs that were at my parents house, this holiday was a crazy one. Apparently the country dogs don't really like the city dogs and vice versa. There were some tense moments at times. Chloe the big giant sheppard/collie mix got along well with Sophia the maltipoo. We went down to the pond to do some fishing since today was so nice outside. Of course, I didn't touch any fish. Rachel and Grandpa did the fishing (with the occasional assistance from Kira). I baked dad's special birthday cookies for his birthday on this coming Tuesday. Dad is going to be 55-this is notable because 55 is the majic age in which he can retire and he is going to do so at the end of the year (I've heard the story about a thousand times this weekend).

Although crazy and tiring, visiting with the family is always good. I haven't slept much since Tuesday (especially last night when Chloe decided to jump in the bed around 4:00am and start biting me). I am looking forward to going home, although going back to work will be quite an adjustment since I haven't been there in 10 days!

Tonight, on the last night in Salem, we are having a poker tournament. Nothing like playing poker with your dad and grandpa. We tried playing yesterday but Red and I had no idea what we were doing (I am sooooo confused). Today, grandpa taught me all the suites so I am ready to go! Bring on some Texas Hold 'Em! We are also having a bonfire outside and roasting marshmallows. Isn't that precious? Tim suggested family bowling, so maybe we will do that too....its a busy night in Salem, Mo y'all!

Happy birthday Clint!

Happy Birthday to my darling little cousin Clint. He is the big 2-5 today. Geez. Where does the time go? Maybe when he's here tomorrow we will pull out the pictures of me, him and my sister in the bathtub together. Now, don't be sick people! He was a baby, my sister was like 2 and I was 4. It was perfectly appropriate!

He and his daughter will be here tomorrow along w/the rest of his fam (minus Ben) and good ol' Grandpa! Can't wait! Not to mention that Red and Jon will be here. Clint-just because you are a big tough Marine doesn't mean I can't kick your ass!!!!! :)

The tides have changed

Hank got a taste of the good life tonight. He was allowed inside the house. He doesn't usually get to come in like Stubby does because he is big and, well, dumb (I call him Forrest Gump) and his one bullet wound still has not healed. Tonight, we felt sorry for him as he watched us playing Yahtzee-he stood at the deck door and cried. He didn't quite know what to do once he came inside. He tried going in the living room (a big no-no with the white carpet), dad was convinced he was looking for a place to pee. He couldn't quite figure out how he was supposed to act once inside, so he was banished to the outside again. We later let him back in, he trotted off down the hall to my parents bedroom and his 70+ pound self climbed up on my parents bed (it took quite the effort to get his fat ass up there). Stubby didn't like this at all, as she was kicking back on dad's side of the bed. She barked at Hank who just stared at us. He then laid in mom's lap. His head is bigger than hers. Tim and I then tried to lure both of them into the basement, we figured they could do the least damage there. Hank gave us a big "hell no" about going down those stairs-he was scared to death! (he was also scared of the TV when it was on and his own reflection in the window). Anyway, we finally got them both downstairs where they are currently napping on Tim's old ALF sleeping bag....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Time for me to get sappy for a bit. I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is celebrating with family and friends. I find it odd that people only focus on what they are thankful for on this day. Shouldn't we be doing that everyday? I try to thank God every day for what He has given me. I really can't complain too much about my life. Sure, I'm still single (and almost 30), but what I do have is so much better. I have a wonderful family and am blessed to be able to see them on a fairly regular basis. I so many wonderful friends I can't even count them. I have a good job, great co-workers and even have a great soon-to-be brother-in-law. Life is good. I hope you all take the time to remind yourself of the good things in your life. Thank God every day that He has given you another day on this Earth with your friends and family. Even though several of my friends are far away, I love them dearly, and know that if we hung out today, it would be as if we see each other all the time, the months and years in between mean nothing. I am thankful for my mom and dad-they are a constant source of support to me. I am thankful for my sister-she is my best friend and the greatest sister a girl could have. I am grateful for my brother-he and I are so much alike, he's a great kid and I love him dearly. I am grateful for my grandpa-he is the best grandpa in the world and I am thankful for every day I get to spend with him. I am grateful for my many aunts, uncles and cousins-they are the greatest and I look forward to our get-togethers. And last, but not least, I am thankful for my many friends. I have found so many great people that I couldn't possibly name you all, but I hope you know who you are, let's get together sometime and have a beer.....or go see Ivory Tiger!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

"Get dressed Ker, we're going outside and hanging Christmas lights"

This quote came courtesy of my dad when he came home from work today. I just kinda looked at him-me? doing manual labor? what kid of his did he think he was talking to? Where is his son when he needs him?

So, I put my jacket on (I was already dressed) and outside we went (Tim conveniently announced his lunch hour was over and sped off in his car). Dad advised me someone was going to have to get on the roof of the house (I volunteered him) and the other person would need to climb the ladder (I got that duty). Once dad was on the roof, I climbed up, handed him the lights, and continued to "supervise" from the ground. Hey-I was multi-tasking! I was able to hold the lights, pet the dogs, and talk to my sister on my cell. That takes talent. It was quite entertaining watching dad try to figure out how to connect all the strands of lights as well as making sure the little red bows were straight. The end result was beautiful clear lights all along the front of the house and the porch, which brings the question-who is gonna see it? My parents live in the woods at the end of a private drive. The only people that will see the lights are....us. I then suggested to dad that we hang a huge wreath atop the porch. He liked the idea, but did one better-he suggested we make one. So, tomorrow we are going to go out in the woods and gather some cedar branches along with some wire and some ribbon, and we will make our own wreath. Must be where I get my creative streak....

Coming home creates a plethora of blog material.

weight loss sabotage

The holidays are evil. Let me put that out there. I have successfully maintained my weight loss since around April. This may change after this week. I recently scanned my mothers kitchen. On top of the typical Thanksgiving feast, we will also be having chicken wings (no, Jon, you cannot have ALL of them), two pumpkin pies, a pumpkin/cream cheese cake, an Almond Joy cake (I will be hiding that one in my room...), a chocolate fudge pie, various dips, chips, sauces; cresent rolls wrapped in cheese and bacon, and so many more things I can't even keep track of. Ugh, my pants are getting tight as we speak. When I finally come back to work next week, no one will recognize me. No-must keep my focus. I will repeat this mantra "you will not eat like a pig, you have to fit into the bridesmaid dress you ordered that will be arriving in January, you must say no". Repeat.

Does everyone like the quiz I sent?

Has everyone checked their email? It's quiz time again! Stormy started this one, I swear. It's good, clean fun. My sister responded and noted she is a government worker and it's the day before a holiday, therefore, it is totally PC that she is checking her personal email on company time. I couldn't agree more.....she also publicly admitted that she cheats at Clue. Admitting it is the first step sister dear!

Well, on this very special day, good ol' Val (aka mom) has me.....BAKING. Uh, baking? Does she know me? Not only that, but she has me baking FOUR pies/cakes. What? I'm afraid I'm gonna get dad's yearly accusation of "you ruined Thanksgiving". Usually, this accusation is directed at Red in some sort of way (she gets to ruin every holiday in one way or another-long running family joke!). This year, I may really ruin it if those pumpkin pies don't turn out right. I'm feeling the pressure....I haven't entered the kitchen yet. I must finish watching All My Children first. Priorities, people. Priorities.

Hope the Ivory Tiger show tonight is a great one! Half the family will be there. Tim and I will be here in Salem, we'll have a beer in honor of the band!

The lucky Jew game

Please don't take offense to the title-my family is part Jewish, I would never make fun of them on purpose. That being said, every year my family and I do play what has affectionately been titled "The Lucky Jew Game". The rest of you may know this game by it's other, more common name-Yahtzee.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we inevitable have a family game night (last year it was poker and my sister and I learned just how bad we are at that game), and at some point we end up playing Yahtzee. One year, we were all gathered around the dining room table set for some fine family fun. My mom was on a roll that particular game. She was rolling double Yahtzees, if she needed a straight, she rolled one, if she needed "6's", she rolled that. Well, after her 2nd Yahtzee in a row, my dad yells "you lucky Jew". And my mom says (sarcastically, of course), "oh yea, my people were really lucky". We laughed and laughed, especially because dad continued to say it (he would also roll the dice and say "come on, papa needs a new pair of shoes"). Ever since then, the game has been known as the Lucky Jew game. Guess you had to be there.

This year, we will be incorporating both Go Fish and The 80's game. They are new to our game repetoir, joining Yahtzee and Uno. Speaking of Uno, that can be one vicious game! Every year my little cousin Rachel has won just about every time. Last weekend, I boldly said to her "you're going down in the Uno tournament this year Battocletti". She was like "uh yea, right. I'm gonna win". Sadly, I know it's true. That 12 year old will take the Uno crown again this year.

I will have to post the results of game night. It's gonna be some stiff competition. I can't wait. BRING IT ON PEOPLE!!!!

There's no place like home

Here I am, in the big town of Salem. It's good to be home. I had lunch with my mom at the new Taco Bell/KFC, it was good times. As I pulled into my parents driveway, I was greeted at my car door by Stubby and Hank. They were quite excited to see a human and began jumping on me before I could even get out of the car. Their little paws were wet, which leads me to believe they had been playing in the pond earlier. Anyway, Stubby is now sprawled out on dad's chair, laying her head on the pillow like she's a person. Poor Hank, he's just outside laying in the yard. He did talk to me though, in his "dog talk". I'm sure he doesn't understand why he doesn't get to come in the house but Princess Stubby does.

Mom already has the Christmas tree up with wrapped presents underneath. Man, that woman works fast! The house is decorated throughout, the porch is even decorated! Tonight we will have one, of what I am sure will be many, trips to Wal-Mart. It's very exciting.

I wish I was going to the Ivory Tiger show at Humphrey's tomorrow night. I know the Batto clan is gonna be there, not to mention Cute Boy. Aunt Mary-if you see a cute boy, short hair, lots of tattoos, usually hangs backstage or with the band-tell him I said HI! I am a shameless, shameless flirt. Oh well, I will catch them on the flipside. I'm thinking of becoming an Eddie's groupie.....

I found an apartment!!!

I am so excited! I saw an apartment yesterday that I just fell in love with. I'm mailing my deposit today. It's in the area I wanted and there is a park with a lake right across the street. It is second floor, makes me feel a bit safer. When you walk in the door, you walk up a curved stair case to the living room. The living room has a huge window overlooking the park, and a huge walk in closet to the side. The kitchen is nicer than the other kitchens I have seen, the cabinets are even updated. There are four huge closets, plenty of room for my crap. The landlords are a nice older couple who do things simply: if we like you, you move it. If you pay your rent, you stay. If you don't, we kick you out. I like it!

Are dogs supposed to eat Jolly Ranchers?

Well, Chloe did. Grape. She seemed to like it. I'll admit, she is grating on my nerves today. Woke me up around 3am and got me out of bed nearly two hours before I usually do. I'M ON VACATION DAMMIT!!!!! When I freed her from the basement today, I noticed she had tried to chew off her leash. Don't know why her leash was still on her (I'm guessing she was grating on Red and Jon's nerves too), but there are definite chew marks on it now. I tried to get the Jolly Rancher away from her, but she resisted. She laid in the floor and crunched it up, wrapper and all. She is a monster.

My ears are still ringing...

SUCH good times last night! Ivory Tiger rules! And, I believe it was the general consensus of all I talked to that they were better than Warrant! That's right, I said it! The new lead singer of Warrant is......scary. I WANT JANI LANE!!!!! What a fun evening. Ivory Tiger did their set first, complete with their very own groupies! My friend Carrie's husband told me he wanted to marry Ivory Tiger (He was pretty drunk when he said that, but I think he may have been serious....). By the time Warrant came on, I could no longer hear anything.

I saw Jon Bounds there! He is a good ol' Salem High School alum. His brother Benji was there too and his wife-they are in a band here in St. Louis too-Slapdragon, I believe they are called. Anyway, Jon looked hot, too bad he's married......I had my chance in high school! I remember what finally drove me to break up with him was his obsession with Def Leppard...oh, the irony.

Karen, how was going to work at 8am? You were cracking me up last night girl! I had so much fun with you. And thank your darling husband for trying so hard to hook me up! :) We had so much fun just dancing and singing. Uncle Jimmy was rockin the guitar. The band was totally in a groove last night. IVORY TIGER ROCKS!

The best part was before the show. Us girls went in together and got Robyn a Warrant/Cherry Pie t-shirt for her birthday. Then after the show.....we got the band to autograph it. It was the coolest thing ever! I'm still laughing thinking about it....

The people-watching at Stratford Inn/Ballroom is unlike any other. My friends and I were definitely the hottest chicks there. Unless you count the lady wearing flame pasties......I did have to tell one dude with a mullet and a do-rag tied around his head to not touch me. I was feeling my head because I was running a fever prior to the show (like that was gonna stop me from going!) and do-rag guy decided he would feel my head too...uh, no buddy, I don't dig strangers touching me. Especially strangers with mullets....

Uncle Jimmy!!! Uncle Jimmy!!!

That's what the crowd will be chanting a little bit later tonight (at least my crowd will be). Tonight is the night! Ivory Tiger and Warrant, baby! I've got my Bud Light cans chillin' in the fridge as we speak. The show doesn't even start till 9:00, so I have approximately nine hours to kill.....

Thus far, my vacation has consisted of shopping....and getting my hair done. I got the best hair cut ever. It's quite sassy, which given it's on my head, seems pretty appropriate. I love it. Going to do some more errands today. Can't spend all my money though, between getting new brakes and possibly paying a deposit on an apartment, money is a bit tight right now. Not to mention Christmas is right around the corner....

Jon, Red and I have survived (barely) the week without sleep, thanks to Miss Chloe. All three of us seem to be fighting some sort of cold-like thing which happens when you haven't slept and your immune system is compromised (right Red? I pay attention to your Miss Health Department lectures!). All three of us still love Chloe thought and are spoiling her rotten with toys. She LOVES stuffed animals. She ignores the rest of her toys and carries around her stuffed ones all over the house. She is quite funny. Last night she jumped on my sisters lap, even though she is not allowed on the furniture. Red and I laughed as she tried to get down-her front paws were on the ground, but her rear ones were still on Red's lap. We laughed till we cried. It was good times.....

The countdown is on...

Two days until the big concert! The excitement is mounting! I can't wait! Big hair, hoosiers and beer in a can-whats not to like?

Saw an apartment today. It was totally retro and I loved it! I filled out the application, so we will see if they want me. I'm hoping my boss will give me a good character reference (remember how I bring you Diet Coke almost every day Chris??????).

Chloe and I have been hanging out all day. She loves her stuffed rabbit (at least I think its a rabbit). She carried it upstairs and brought it to me while I was typing. She is quite content as long as one of her human's is within eyesight. She went poopy for me today which was quite exciting. The pooper scooper they got is quite a contraption. I'm not sure if I was working it right, but the poop got cleaned up and disposed of properly.

I must go now. I have to "cook" something for Book Club. I am making green bean casserole, and it does go in the oven, so technically, I AM cooking....

Free at last...

It may sound like I don't like my job, but that is not the case. I actually really like it (most of the time). However, I am about to be off for 10 days, and who doesn't like time off? I'm not doing anything exciting, just hanging out and hopefully relaxing a bit. I have my Book Club tomorrow, getting my roots covered/hair cut on Friday, the big Ivory Tiger/Warrant concert is Saturday; I'll probably go to church and see Grandpa on Sunday, maybe Monday I'll go shopping and Tuesday I will be leaving for Salem where I will stay until the following Sunday. Sounds good to me.
Hopefully some time in there I will go see some apartments and start to get an ETA of when I'll be back out on my own! I have enjoyed living with Red and Jon, but haven't lived by myself in 3 1/2 years. I miss it. I actually never got lonely-I really crave the independence and freedom living by yourself brings. Red and I have already discussed the fact that we will have to have at least monthly Sister Shopping Saturday's. It's imperative. Maybe I'll dog-sit Chloe every now and again (ONLY if she stops that whining bit!). Things will be good.
Red informed me we have a ship date for our bridesmaid dresses-January. Perfect timing! What if we gain weight over the holidays like so many people do? What then? Can they take out the dress a few inches? Must watch my fruitcake intake carefully between now and then....

Happy Birthday Deven!

Today is my friend Deven's birthday. Happy Birthday D (or as he was briefly known-D Mac). Deven lives in Jeff City with his lovely wife Mandy. I miss him tons, actually haven't seen him since their wedding a year and a half ago. Deven is from my college group of friends, its funny that we don't see each other often (even those of us that live in St. Louis), but we are all still great friends, and if we got together today, it would be like we see each other all the time. I love those people!

Have a great birthday Deven!

Having a dog is hard work

Sure, they're cute, but having a dog in the house is harder than I thought. Chloe is lucky I already love her, because last night, thoughts of killing her went through my head. Ok, not serious homicidal ideation, but imagine her WHINING all night long. And I mean ALL NIGHT. Around 1:00am, I finally couldn't take it anymore and went down to see what the fuss was about. Now, I know the whining is just attention seeking behavior, still, I wanted to make sure she didn't have to "go potty" or something. As soon as I opened the door, she shot out like a bullet. She ran two flights of stairs to the upstairs and started clawing on Jon's bedroom door. She LOVES him! I HATE him, because he was able to sleep through all that (I am so jealous-I wish I was a deep sleeper!). My sister and I, however, heard every whine (I even heard barking), all night long. I just talked to my sister. We're both pretty sleepy, probably cranky, and litle miss Chloe? She is passed out on the floor next to me as I write. She's perfectly content as long as one of her humans is around. I took her outside for a walk this morning hoping to use up some of that energy. She likes to chase leaves and stands at full attention when she sees another human outside. I won't even get into the excited "dribble" of pee I found on the kitchen floor today. Again, she's lucky she's cute......

Where is Stephen when you need him?

To put it bluntly, tonight was the NIGHT FROM HELL at work. At last count we had called the cops six times....this may not sound like a lot considering it's the crisis line, but trust me, it is. My faith in the St. Louis City PD continues to dwindle. They just don't impress me at all.

I have a pounding headache, have eaten nothing but a few bits of South Beach Diet cereal, and am all the more glad that tomorrow is my last day for 10 days. Today was one of those days where you just have to throw up your hands, a day where you either laugh or cry (or do both, whatever).

At the end of the day, I know we have done all we can do to help people. We cannot control the other agencies we come in contact with, cannot make them do what we think they should be doing to ensure safety. As long as I can leave work knowing we did all that we could, I feel ok about it...I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day. Plus Stephen will be in.....

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!!!)!!!

What? No Crisis Counselor?

I can't believe no one has chosen "crisis counselor" as my dream job. Just can't believe it.....
I'm gonna have to come up with some new poll questions. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
My co-worker Stephen showed me some pics of his kids today. They are three of the cutest children I have ever seen! Adorable! And I'm sure they have their father's charm.....:)

Only one more day of work this week. Went by fast! Geez! Tomorrow we play host to a former FBI agent.....that should be fun!

Anyone have big weekend plans? Amy and I and some of our other friends are finally gonna hang. It's been too long! Of course, hanging out with Amy usually gets me into some sort of trouble.....thats why I love her!

Cow Crap Capital of the USA

Lizzard-I didn't know you moved back to Salem! :)

Hmmm....come to Texas and visit-that could be a good idea....I am off starting the Thursday before Thanksgiving...I DO have time to spare say Sun-Wed.....let's talk! LOVED the pics of your kids. They are so cute! When did they get so big? Good Lord, we're getting old! Where in TX are you now? Are you sure you can handle me? Are you coming home at all for the holidays or staying in cow crap?

Ivory Tiger/Warrant

I have invited just about everyone I know. I think my boss is even gonna go. It's huge. I was talking about it at work today with one of the newbies, who looked at me and said "I'm going to see Quiet Riot this weekend". I was like "really, cool, then you'd like Ivory Tiger". He looked at me again and said "I was joking". Oh......

November already?

Where has 2005 gone? I can't believe it is November already. I swear I missed a few months somewhere....today was a pretty good day. Having to do more training of new employees at work-seems to be a daily thing. Luckily these two trainees are pretty smart-they'll be easy to train. My motivation is knowing I have a vacation coming up-10 glorious days of doing NOTHING! I can't wait....

Mom asked for my Christmas list. Isn't it cute that even though her kids are all in their 20's (and some of us about to leave our 20's....), she still makes us give her a Christmas list? Of course, I can't remember what I did an hour ago, much less be able to think of things I may want. The truth is, I don't really need anything. I truly love the holidays for the meanings behind them, and the fact that I get to spend time with my family. Thats what makes my memories good ones-time with my fam, not the gifts. Cheezy, but true.

Happy Anniversary Eric! One year-I am so proud of you!

JP-hang in there. I know its tough being out there by yourself right now. Hang tight, study hard, you'll be home before you know it! We will all have to get together when you come back to the STL. Tell that wife of yours to call me!