posting halted

Hey all! I may not be posting for awhile (I know, you are saddened beyond belief). Tomorrow I am leaving for Hilton Head, SC with my family (I know you're jealous). While my Aunt Cheryl will surely have her laptop handy, I'm not sure how much blogging I will be doing. Here is what a family vacation entails:
1. Mom and dad singing "oldies" in the car
2. Eating at Cracker Barrel at least once in every state we drive through.
3. Me and dad both getting bored by, oh say.....Monday.
4. Mom and her sisters getting tipsy on pina coladas.
5. Me and Red's hair getting GIGANTIC as a result of the fresh sea air.
6. All of us coming up with one liners that are sure to stick around for sometime (does "if driving 90 is wrong then I don't wanna be right" ring a bell? Or how bout "it's these kids back here".)

Then again, I may have to blog as a sort of trip diary. Gotta capture the good stuff while you still remember it.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great week. I will be back in St. Louis on Saturday August 6. Be good everyone.

Oh, and J, sweetie-thanks a million for getting "More Human Than Human" in my head. No really...thanks......Have I mentioned that I luuuuuuuuv you? :)

The idiot test

http://www.fuali.com/test.aspx?id=741516d0-8635-449e-8e7b-914071fd3d36


Apparently, I'm 63% idiot. Like anyone is surprised by that one........

The "Are you an a**hole or b**ch" test

http://www.fuali.com/test.aspx?id=dd4c0ca6-a554-4cbe-b0e7-bc17462a412e


Apparently, I am 25% bitch. Who knew (besides just about everyone that knows me)?

ha ha ha

go to www.uglydress.com

it is freakin' hilarious! here are some examples from the site, and, yes, I am working hard today....

It's never a good sign when....

It's never a good sign when you wake up with a headache. The workday has not even begun, nothing has even happened to cause your headache, yet you already have one. That is what I woke up to today. It is of the migraine variety-complete with nausea. I'm not in a bad mood, just not feeling real great. I did get to spend a very nice (and rare) afternoon with my boy (baby-I am very glad that your baby girl is ok!). I made him some lunch and cleaned the "squirrel" cage out (right, J?), and endured a creepy Nicolas Cage movie while J finally got some sleep (for those that are not aware, my sister and I strongly feel that Nicolas Cage is one of the creepiest people on Earth. I mean, hello, have you seen City of Angels????). I'm glad for any time I get to spend with J this week. I'm at work now and hoping the handful of ibuprofen I just took will get rid of this headache. If not, it's gonna be a long, long night.....

Just another manic monday.....

I'm getting very sleepy. I think it's because my boss was feeding me chocolate today. The afternoon was a little rough, very busy, definitely called for some chocolate. Unfortunately, when you get that sugar high, you also get the sugar crash. That is where I am right now. I find myself distracted today for some reason. My boy may know something about that..... :)
The count down to vacation is on. I have mixed feelings about it because I am really gonna miss J-a lot. But I am looking forward to not working for a week and spending time with my family. I'm sure the week will go by fast and I will be able to torture J with my presense once again!

Grandpa is ok. He's been hanging out at.....Harrah's?????

I talked to Grandpa today-finally. Yes mom, you're right, he is being stubborn and insisting on staying in his home. He has been sleeping in the basement, however, to keep cool and has been eating "McDonald's hamburgers". And....he has been hanging out at Harrahs. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? He's fine, we talked about our trip next weekend-he is a bit concerned that his fishing gear isn't going to fit in the car....

pictures of this week's storms

I saw that orange sunset on Wednesday. Freaky, isn't it? I just can't believe how much damage has been done. People are without electricity and now water-and no telling when it will all be back up and running. I hope my grandpa is ok-I tried calling him, but all the phone lines are down in Florissant. If anyone talks to him, let me know! J said that you wouldn't even recognize Granite City right now. It got hit both Wednesday and today. What a freakin' mess......

Thank God no one is hurt

Yes, Wednesday night we got the storm from hell here in the STL metro area. I was at work, one of my co-workers had just come from North County and mentioned it was "real ugly" there. No sooner did she say that, that all hell broke loose. Trees were sideways, the sky was part orange, part gray/green. It was freaky, to say the least. I emailed J to see if he was ok down in South City. About two minutes later, he emailed back to let me know that it had just hit there. Well, the power went out at work (which is never a good thing when you are a crisis hotline), so here I was, handing out lanterns and flashlights to people-because you know the phones were still working. So, we took crisis calls in the dark. Our computer guy came in, discovered half the building had power, so he ran a bunch of extension cords and we managed to get three computers up and running. Long night. Once on my way home, the damage was unbelievable. Traffic lights out, trees everywhere. The storm got us good. J told me Granite City got it pretty bad-that made me nervous since his kids are there and all his friends, but everyone is ok! The girls are with us now because they still don't have power at their house. We were lucky, the apartment never lost power. Thank God my sister got an earlier flight in from Chicago-originally she would have been trying to land during all that crap! Now the clean up begins. There are tons of people without power still and tons of trees to clean up. But for the most part, everyone is ok. Let's hope this doesn't happen again for quite some time.....

Good thing I got that extended warranty

Uh, yea.....so my car that I just got at the end of March is about to hit 10,000 miles....yea, you heard me right-10,000. I haven't put all those miles on myself-J has helped me a bit, but most of them are my doing. It's under warranty for 100,000 miles, which should happen sometime before Thanksgiving......at least she gets good gas mileage-at $3.05 a gallon, that is a must because I so do not want to take the bi-state bus to work.....

Mixed emotions

Well, I thought the day would never come, but I am officially resigning from my job. I've been there nearly six years and honestly thought I'd never go. Sometimes, however, you just know when it's time. And now is my time. My new job will certainly be a change-I'm entering the world of managed care.....gone are the days of working nights, weekends and holidays. I'll be working normal people hours, no weekends, no holidays-I won't even know what to do with myself. Leaving work when the sun is still up? That's crazy talk! I am really going to miss a lot of the people I work with-some have been there longer than I have. You certainly get to know people when you work with them day in and day out for six years. I broke the news to my team on Sunday and several said I was going to make them cry...I'm not trying to make anyone cry! Tonight, two of the girls on my team informed me that they are plotting to beat me up for leaving...I'm pretty sure when you're plotting against someone, you shouldn't give them the heads up.....

Welcome Grayson Nicholas!

Grayson is finally here! My friend Shannon and her husband Bruce welcomed Grayson on Sunday. He arrived a week early, had to be delivered via c-section because he was nearly TEN POUNDS! He's a big boy! Congrats to Shannon and Bruce. I can't wait to meet him!

Nice day for a 5K

What a turnout for the L6! Wow, there were well over 1,000 people-not bad for a first ever event. It did happen to fall on the hottest day of the year thus far, but no biggie. My sister is the runner in the family-she finished a very respectable 4th in her age group. I, on the otherhand, walked. My walking partners were my brother-in-law Jon and his other wife, Robert (right Red???). I also walked with my friend Val and my friend Krista's husband, Scott (who is Laura's brother). Not to mention Miss Hannah Grace who was very graciously going to let me ride in her jogging stroller. I figured it probably wasn't very cool to con a 2 year old out of her stroller, so I let her keep riding....I also ran into my friend Sean (as in Channel 5 Sean) who I hadn't seen in a million years. As predicted, it was a very emotional day, especially when Laura's husband Jeff got on the stage to thank everyone. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the place. I just hope that the money raised today will in some way help out. Jeff also announced that they are forming a foundation in Laura's name to help others with traumatic brain injuries. Very cool.

Well, now that I'm home, I'm quite sleepy. Getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday will do that to you. J is in GC visiting his baby girl, so I think a nap is in order for me. Nighty night y'all!

Hank the Tank-AKA 50 Cent

Exactly a year ago, our boy Hank was shot twice in the side. We assume he was out being bad (i.e. chasing cows) and one of the local farmers shot him. I remember little Stubby running up the driveway, she was like Lassie, trying to tell us that something was wrong. I went to the back door to go see her when I saw Hank laying there in a pool of blood (sorry to be so graphic). I, of course, freaked and yelled for mom and dad. He totally didn't look like he was going to make it, he was in shock and could barely move. Stubby was licking him trying to stop the bleeding. We tried desperately to get a hold of a local vet, but reached only answering machines. Dad faced the fact that he was probably gonna have to put Hank out of his misery, a task I'm sure he didn't look forward to. Mom and I took Stubby in the house and cried and cried and cried. We love our Hank! And, this was right after our beloved Spaz died. Dad was going to get Hank onto the scoop-thingy on his tractor to take him out in the woods, but good ol' Hank put up a fight. It was as if he was saying "hell no fool, I ain't gonna die!". In the meantime, one of the vets returned our call. I'm not sure where this guy got his degree, but his response was "if he makes it to the morning, he'll be ok". What? We tried to make him as comfortable as possible and prayed he would make it (just hours later I found out my friend's sister-in-law had been in a horrible car accident-it was NOT a good day!).
Morning came, mom woke me and Tim up and told us to look outside. Well, there was our boy, standing (albeit painfully) with the most pitiful puppy face I have ever seen. Hank is one tough boy! The buckshot may have shot some stupid into him (come on, we all know he isn't the brightest), but he was alive.
Hank is perfectly fine now. True, one of his bullet holes has yet to heal, but otherwise, he is happy and healthy. And he now stays out of that farmer's field....

The L6 race is tomorrow....

Tomorrow will be a very emotional day. It is the day that we will all remember what happened a year ago to the day. My friend Krista's sister-in-law, Laura, was in a horrible car accident while driving to work. Laura remains in a coma to this day. Tomorrow there is a 5K race taking place in honor of Laura. As you can imagine, her medical bills are astronomical, not to mention the emotional strain it has put on her family and friends.
What I hope to take from this is to remember all the people that I love and to be thankful that I have them all in my life. Because you never know what is going to happen in life. Something like this makes you remember to not take things for granted. So, tomorrow, I will give my money for a good cause and hope and pray that someday Laura will wake up from her coma.
Take care of yourselves, and each other! Love-KD

Say it ain't so.....

My friend Erin just emailed me the most devastating news ever. I'm not sure I'll recover.......

Rivers Cuomo Says Weezer Is Done
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Rivers Cuomo says that, for now, Weezer is "done." Cuomo, the band's bespectacled songwriter and frontman, told MTV that while he remains in touch with his bandmates, "we've never mentioned getting together."
"Really, for the moment, we are done," he said. "And I'm not certain we'll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one."
Weezer has released five albums since forming in 1993. The group took a considerable break between 1996's "Pinkerton" and 20

01's self-titled disc (typically called "The Green

Album"). The band's last release

was "Make Believe," in 2005.
The liner notes of that album led to conjecture that it was Weezer's last. They included a quote from a parting soliloquy in Shakespeare's "Tempest," the playwright's last play.
Cuomo, 36, said he has been writing songs, but said, "I don't know what'll happen with these songs — if anything. ... I certainly don't see them becoming Weezer songs, and I don't really see the point of a solo career. So we'll just have to see."
Jim Merlis, a spokesman for Geffen said that the label had no official response, but did add Cuomo has made similar statements in the past.

My friend Christi

Just got these pictures from my friend Christi. One is of her little family: her husband Jim and her little girl, Shelby. The other, obviously, is Shelby. I haven't seen them in ages even though they live here in St. Louis. Christi was my college room mate at good ol' CMSU (a million years ago now!). That girl and I had some good times, thats for sure! The fact that neither one of us ever got arrested is amazing (although we did have to bail a few of our friends out of jail). Just wanted to share these pics!

Uh....

Is it just me, or does Hilton Head Island look like a shoe?

stress, stress and more stress

Yea...I'm near my breaking point. Stress level is definitely high right now. It's not just me though, which, in some weird way, makes me feel a little bit better. It seems to be just about everyone around me (which makes me a little paranoid-is it me causing the stress? I sure hope not...). Work is crazy right now. I am trying to keep my head on straight when I'm there, but it is getting hard. One of my fellow supervisors even said to me last night that she was about to burst into tears. Yea, we're all feeling it. I worked late-AGAIN, for the 2nd night this week. As soon as I got in my car I started crying and did so the whole way home (I also cried myself to sleep). I guess that helps me relieve some of the stress. I was having sharp, shooting pains in my side too, but, oddly enough, they went away when I got home....hmmmm....I am trying to keep things in perspective, it's just really hard right now. I took Benadryl so I could finally sleep last night. Well, one didn't work, so around 2:30am I took another one. I still had a pretty restless sleep and totally did not want to get up today. I only have 8 more working hours until my weekend starts. I'm counting down now...

What I do know is this-J, I love you. Thank you for last night. As my Grandma B always used to say "this too shall pass". I gotta believe that right now...and hope that I'll be back to "normal" Kerri really, really soon.....

What I need to remember is that I have a great family, great co-workers who are feeling my pain, great friends and one great boyfriend. I'll try to keep this in mind next time I have the thought of hurling myself off the 2nd floor balcony at work...(and NO people, I'm not really gonna do it, so don't go calling the crisis line or anything!).

Remember this for next time

Don't eat a bag of Skittles just a couple of hours before you plan to go to bed or you'll be like me. Yes, last night, the sugar high was fun, I won't lie (I think my co-workers would agree with that one!), but once I got home and tried to go to sleep, it soooo wasn't happening, and in the worst way too-I was totally tired and wanted to sleep but was still wired from that sugar. I tossed and I turned, then I tossed some more. It wasn't cool. Not sure what time I finally fell asleep, I do know it wasn't a good sleep, so I may be a bit more delirious than usual today. Sorry to anyone who may have to see me or talk to me or live with me today..... :)

Happy Birthday Aunt Cheryl!

Just wanted to wish my Aunt Cheryl a very Happy Birthday today! Hope you get to do something fun! I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Let's pray for no sharks and no hurricanes!

It's not my fault

One of my employees gave me Skittles tonight. So, it is totally not my fault that I am way hyper and have the shakes right now. Not my fault. Someone here at work just asked me if I was on crack. I'm pretty sure there isn't any crack in Skittles....

what?

No blogging for me the last couple of days. That is because I have done nothing but work and sleep. Pretty boring blog material. I don't even have anything interesting to say, nothing to make sarcastic comments about-I got nothin'. Sorry to my faithful following who like to read this blog, I know I have let you down. I promise to have more blog material in the future.

Who needs sleep anyway?

I mean, seriously. Sleep is overrated (I say this as I am downing Diet Coke and sugar like it's going out of style). It is perfectly normal to get to bed at 6am and be at work by 1pm. Right? I'm not at all bitter that while I'm slaving away at work, a certain someone is sleeping peacefully at home....not at all bitter. At least his thumb hurts..... :)

Had a good weekend. Actually got to hang out with J all weekend which was pretty cool. No work, no kids, no nothing but hangin' with my boy. SOMEONE, I won't say who, decided that getting drunk Friday night would be a good time. Oh, it was a good time, alright. "Someone" was freakin' hilarious and obviously having a good time. "Someone" was cracking me up. We saw Uncle Jimmy's band, Ivory Tiger, play. It was good to see him again, it's been a little while. We started to talk about vacation, but J and I had to stop that-we are already having separation anxiety and I haven't even left yet! I'm gonna miss that boy so much! Anyway, I took care of drunkboy, made sure he made it to bed safely. We proceeded to sleep most of Saturday away, went grocery shopping (ramen noodles and peanut butter, right baby?), then headed back out to Eddie's for a less intoxicated evening. It was a good night just chillin, had fun hanging out after the bar closed. Still managed to not get to bed before 6am, but whatever, it's cool. I'm not complaining. I'm at work now, gonna be busy, can't wait till 9 so I can leave and go see my baby!

uh, yea......

My co-worker gave me a Burger King crown today. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it other than insist that staff refer to me as the Queen of the Call Center. Think that will catch on?

My boy is wonderful

J has been so awesome. I am having a really crappy week and he has been nothing but supportive and trying to make me feel better. J-I love you so much!!!!!

I am on the countdown to the end of my workweek. Seven and a half hours and counting....is that sad? I live for the weekends anymore (and time with J). I know that by the time I leave for vacation with the family I am definitely gonna need some relaxation time (although I hate the fact that I will be away from my boy for that long!). I'm thinking a Benadryl induced sleep may be in order for tonight. I haven't been sleeping well all week and my body feels it.

Sorry to be such a downer. Just one of those times where stress is high. I know it will get better eventually. Just gotta hang in there.....

Happy 4th of July y'all!

Is everyone having a good holiday? I am spending mine at work. So far, so good. I am actually getting some work done. I was upset to find that staff had brought in Krispy Kreme donuts though. That is just pure evil. I realized I could totally eat the entire box, so instead, I am staying clear of the food table so that I can show some restraint. Can't stay a size 4 if you eat a box of donuts....AND I have to sport a swimsuit in a couple of weeks at Hilton Head. Nothing like pressure. At least I am getting off work tonight at 8, I'll actually get to spend the evening with my boy, which always makes me happy. Well, hope everyone has a fun and safe day!

The day before a holiday and all's well

Yes, while most of the world is off work today and tomorrow, I am working. Luckily, today has not been too bad, although I have been plenty busy. I will be celebrating the 4th of July....at work. My boss was nice enough to let me work noon to 8, so at least I could see some fireworks if I wanted to! My team and I plan to be obnoxious and wear head to toe red, white and blue tomorrow. I came to a sad realization today that my staff are clones of me. Everyone is sarcastic, likes to laugh a lot, and doesn't take too many things seriously. It's a little frightening. I don't know if they were that way before or if I have influenced them in some way. Anyway, they are good times and I love them all.

Happy Birthday to my friend Eric today! Hope you are having a good one! Hope you are taking care of my favorite city (Chicago).

Hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!

Happy Birthday Parker!!!

My friend Carrie's son, Parker, is SEVEN today! Woo hoo! Happy birthday Parker, hope you are having a great day!

I rock at putting worms on the hooks

Yes, that was my contribution to fishing yesterday. That, and I would take the little fish off the hook after the girls caught them-we were holding out for the big guys! I also drank some beer and sat in a lawn chair in the shade-yes, I worked hard. Dad and J caught most of the big fish-catfish and bass. The girls had a blast, too-everyone was down at the pond the entire day (except for mom, who stayed in the house to make us all dinner!). We got another turtle, although, I think this one may be psycho, so not sure how long he is gonna stick around (that, and Henry may kick his ass). Overall it was a great weekend. Very relaxing and I was so glad to see the girls have fun. My boy has a sunburn, probably from sitting out in that boat all day! :) Then there was an impromtu drive down the gravel roads at midnight last night. This morning J and I were not sure if that actually happened or not (we were really tired last night), but I'm pretty sure we did go out and see the witches altar and made it down to to the Meramac River. It was kinda fun, from what I remember. I know Hank and Stubby enjoyed all the attention this weekend, they're gonna be bummed that the girls are gone. We'll be back though, mom and dad can't get rid of us now! Here are some pics from the weekend. Enjoy! Hope everyone has a fabulous 4th of July!
My brother Tim, he's a real bad ass, isn't he????Stubby the Princess. She likes to lay on the pillows like she's a human.Hank the Tank. This is what he did in between the times he went swimming in the pond.Kristin is quite the caster! She was getting that line way out in the middle of the pond.My dad giving Avina some guidance. What in the hell am I looking at?Jesse with Big Joe's little brother-next time baby you'll get Big Joe! He's scared, I know it! Dad with all the catches of the day. I think there were 11 catfish and 2 bass. Not bad for a days worth of fishing at Lake PawPaw!

Day 1 in the country

Well, after a traffic filled drive, we finally arrived in Salem last night. Boy, Hank and Stubby sure were happy to see us and the girls love them! We had a good night last night just hanging out. The girls were having fun catching frogs for fishing (who knew they could be used as bait?). They caught a giant toad, which I thought was pretty disgusting, but then again, I'm not a 10 or 11 year old kid. We made our first trip to the Salem Wal-Mart. First of many, I'm sure. Mom has made us a good ol' fashioned country breakfast, just waiting for everyone to get up so we can eat. This girl was up by 7am-mark it down, it's not likely to happen again any time soon (except for probably tomorrow morning). Here's to another fabulous, relaxing day in the country!