I LOVE SUNDANCE!!!!!

Ok, I now owe the church $7. I couldn't help it-this stupid girl cut me off in traffic today-the bad word just came out-I couldn't control it!!!!! This is a true Lenten challenge for ol' KD....

American Idol-I thought the guys did pretty good tonight. Sundance rocked my world-loved it!!!! LOVE that beat box kid too! I think he's adorable (Mike loves him too, don't you Mike???). Jared is hot-I'm voting for him based on that...oh, wait-it's not Hottie Idol? My bad. The guy that did "Geek In The Pink" was really good-I'm sure he'll make the top 12. Who wants to bet that Sanjaya goes home this week? He was definitely the worst one this week. Would it be lame to watch American Idol next week while I'm on vacation? You know, from the hotel in Phoenix? Yea.......it probably would, wouldn't it?

OMG-did anyone watch Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Wow....I would have failed at that show for sure! Those questions are hard! No adult retains any of that....I'm sure when I was in 5th grade I knew the answer to some of that stuff.....or not.

does it count?

For my Quest To Not Curse For Lent, does it count if I curse in my dreams? I was totally having some wacked out dreams last night (must be the crack) and I distinctly remember cursing in one of them. I don't think it should count. You can't control what you dream, people!!!!! Thoughts? Comments? Concerns about my sanity?

OMG-I am gonna go on a homicidal rampage if the person who is playing music in the office doesn't freakin STOP! Luckily, Mikey-poo went over and investigated for me and got the person to turn it down. It was waaaaaaaaaay annoying.....thanks Mike!!!! I really didn't want to have to kill anyone today...just don't have the energy.

Tonight is my only night I am not working this week. I plan to fully take advantage by putting my jammies on as soon as I get home, watching American Idol then probably going to bed. My alarm has gone off two days in a row-my alarm NEVER goes off, I always wake up before it does. So, you know I am exhausted if it actually goes off.

And I want to publicly hate on Amy for abandoning me today. She knows what I'm talking about.

my blog sucks

I want to apologize to all my fans (don't laugh-you know you're out there!!!). My blog has really sucked lately. I can't formulate one funny/sarcastic or even intelligent thought. I just can't do it anymore. I think it may be because I am ALWAYS TIRED. Yep-that's it. Now, don't worry, I am not on the verge of a Mariah Carey/Britney Spears-like breakdown. I will not be shaving my head. Or going to rehab. Yet. I know I took on the responsibility of working two jobs (it is financially necessary, unfortunately for me) and must face the consequences and really have no right to complain. That being said.....I'M TIRED. Did I mention that? As I sit here at 10:45pm on a Monday night. I just got home after a 13 hour work day. I am actually going to be putting in 65 hours this week. Can't wait to see what kind of mood I'll be in by Sunday...yes, I'm a little cranky. Today, my friend Amy said she loves it when I'm b**chy (can't even write the bad word-it'll cost me a dollar and I'm already down $5) because it makes her look nice. Glad I could help Aim, glad I could help. I'd blame my crankiness on PMS (that is part of it), but thats not the real cause. I really hope my blog will get back to it's fun, sarcastic self sometime soon because I miss it. I don't even entertain myself anymore. Did I mention I have a headache? And that I'm tired? I am so tired, in fact, that I barely have the energy to lift and/or eat this cracker I have in front of me. Too tired to eat???? That's crazy talk! But it's true. It's ok though, I was having an I Feel Fat Day anyway......Ok, as tired as I am, I am wired. It's almost 11pm, I have to be up at 6:30am, and I am nowhere near ready to go to bed. Must relax. I can tell I'm stressed because my shoulder hurts-that's always my sign-weird, huh?

The good news in all of this is........IM GOING ON VACATION IN A WEEK!!!! Yes, March 7 I'll be leaving for sunny Phoenix, where early weather predictions are calling for temps in the low '80's....uh, yea, I think I can handle that.....

'nuff said

yep, the church is gonna get rich off of me....

Ok, Lent just began and I already owe the church $4 (and counting). Yikes. It's gonna be a long (and expensive) 40 days...I can't help it, the bad words just come out-especially when driving...if people would stop driving like idiots then I wouldn't have to call them names. It's their own fault really....
Here are some pics from Heidi's shower. Aren't we cute?me and ReneeMiss Heidi The Prego

Oh, I failed to share a story with y'all. It is patented KD, you'll love it. So, yesterday I was cleaning my apartment because my sister and Chloe were coming over, and I was throwing something in the closet when (and I have no idea how or why) the closet door came back at me and knocked me right in the head. I was dazed for a minute and even had to sit down. I think I saw stars. I figured it wasn't good to give yourself a concussion when you're home alone...so I prayed I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that. I didn't-in case you were wondering. So today I have a nice bump on the ol' noggin. And it frickin' hurts. I am my own worst enemy, I swear.

I got to see my brother for a minute yesterday. He and four of his buddies were in town to get fitted for tuxes for his friend's wedding (never mind that my darling brother is also in my cousin Ben's wedding-ON THE SAME DAY!). I met up with them for lunch-now thats love, driving all the way to Chesterfield in the rain, just to see my baby brother. I do love that little rug rat...

Didn't make it out to see Ivory Tiger last night (good thing as I hear there were like 8 bar fights-SOOOO not into bar fights...). Maybe next time! I had movie night in with my sis and Miss Chloe who just loved being at Aunt Kerri's house! She only barked once-which I'm sure my neighbors appreciated. She stood guard at the door every time she heard one of my neighbors come home. Such a good watch dog!

Woo hoo! Ya'll I'm on MySpace now. Ok, I think MySpace is the devil and should be stopped, but I got on it because my brother and my cousins are on it. So now I officially have 3 friends. I am sooooooooooooo cool. Have I mentioned that I hate MySpace?

Lent

Ok, for Lent I am giving up saying bad words....even on the blog. Yes, this may be a challenge, but I think I can do it, and if I can't? I will be setting aside a dollar for each curse word I say in the next 40 days-then that money will go to my church. Atonement is about to get rich on good ol' KD's dime......so, if you catch me saying a bad word-call me on it (from now till Easter....).

Wil this cold ever go away? I mean seriously? After feeling somewhat better yesterday, today I woke up with a sore throat and in order to purposely gross you out let me tell you about how the stuff coming out of my nose is illegal in like, 6 states. It's bad. Sounds sexy, huh?

It is an icky, cold, rainy Saturday here in the STL. Ok, I don't really know if it's cold since I haven't been outside, but it is February, so I'm just guessing....I'm hoping to see my brother and sister at some point today. I miss them. Especially that little turd of a brother I have (and no, turd is not a curse word, I looked it up)-I haven't seen him in a while. I miss my sister too-we really should see each other more often sister!

Ok, I'll quit rambling. I gotta go do some grocery shopping. In the rain. Yippee.

PS-I leave for Phoenix in less than 2 weeks! YAY! GO CUBS!

back in the land of the living

Ugh. I made it to work today but I am still not feeling too great. Yesterday I called in sick to work and proceeded to sleep FIFTEEN hours....in a row. Then I later took an hour and a half nap and was still in bed by 9pm. Today I am at least functioning, but still kinda out of it. I can't take any medicine during the day because even day time stuff makes me drowsy.

I'll be attending the wake for Laura tonight, after that, it's bedtime for me. Rumor has it my brother is going to be in town tomorrow (this has been neither confirmed nor denied), and the plan was to go see Ivory Tiger....we'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow.

Other than that, not too exciting of a weekend planned. I work at the crisis line on Sunday and then like four days next week-yea, I know, glutton for punishment....

meet Sicky Sickerson

That would be me. I left work at 2:30 today, got home at 3:00, was asleep probably 15 minutes later, woke up at 6:30, decided maybe I'd eat, call home and watch American Idol, and now it's 9:00 and I'm about to go back to bed. Yes, something is kicking my ass. Hardcore.

I did want to comment on American Idol for a moment. I think LaKesha is the one to beat. Anyone agree? There were 3 or 4 girls that were really, really good. I didn't get to see the guys last night because I was working, but from the clips I've heard, the girls were waaaaay better. Any other American Idol junkies out there? Who is your pick?

Ok, this stuffy nosed-bags under her eyes-coughing-aching-lightheaded girl is going to bed. Good night all and may you too fall asleep with the help of Nyquil.....

oh my

I feel like crap. I almost fainted in my shower this morning-literally. I had the nausea, ears ringing and everything going black. I had to sit down in the bathtub. I figured fainting would not be a good thing since I was there alone-what if I hit my head on something? I'm all congested, my head hurts like a mo-fo. I can barely turn my head. My eyeballs even hurt. I'm running a low grade fever. I have no business being at work today, that's for sure. The only reason I came in is because one of my hospital reviewers from Kansas City is coming into town today so he could meet everyone. We were supposed to do a happy hour tonight, but I really don't see that happening. I am sicker than I have been in years. I need my bed. And some Nyquil.

prayers needed

Just requesting prayers and thoughts for my friend Krista and her husband Scott. Scott's sister Laura passed away this morning after a long, long struggle with a traumatic brain injury. Laura had been in a coma for quite some time. It is really sad, but the family is doing well, given the circumstances. I'm thinking of you guys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STORMY!

Happy Birthday to my friend Stormy who gets to be 31 like the rest of us today! Yay for you girl! Hope you have a great birthday, we really must get together soon. Maybe I should take a road trip to Warrensburg/Kansas City!

I finally saw Heidi's belly button

Darn her! She finally conned me into looking at her belly button. My attempts to resist proved to be futile. And Heidi, for the record-it does not look bad!!!! Heidi's baby shower was yesterday. It was fun (you know, baby shower fun). We played a game where we had to match up the celebrity baby names with their parents. I am very, very sad to say that I got all of them right....clearly I need to get a life. The freakiest part was when Heidi's husband John called in and we all got to see/talk to him via the web cam. It was just kinda weird because we passed the laptop around the room so everyone could say hi to him, then his sister goes "ok, I'm gonna take you back to dad now" and carries off the laptop. Guess you had to be there.

So, yet another work week begins. I am working both jobs tonight and tomorrow night (fun) and have a work related Happy Hour on Wednesday. That should be entertaining. This weekend is Ivory Tiger in Portage Des Sioux-I am sooooo there! Can't wait.

Well, here's to a good week. Later people.

I'm Too Old for Mardi Gras: The True Story of a Drunk Girl

Yikes. Mardi Gras is rough, man! Oh, I had fun, don't get me wrong, but there is just something not right about being intoxicated at like 3 in the afternoon (I think at one point I even said "OMG, it's not even dark yet!"). Yesterday was fun alright (and before anyone freaks out, we DID have a designated driver-my friend Carrie was sick, so she carted us all around in the family mini van-nice, huh?).

The day started with lunch with the aunts, my sis and a couple of my cousins. That was fun, especially when I banged my head on the light fixture (you know a light is hanging down too low when a girl that is only 5'2" is hitting her head on it....). Anyway, after that, I hightailed it over to Erin's new house, got there around 2:20pm and seriously had a good buzz on by 3:00 (can you tell I really don't drink much-no seriously, I really don't....). Two drinks and I was ready to go! Carrie dumped our stupid asses off at Broadway Oyster Bar and the fun began. Us gals were drinking buckets of hurricanes (literally, they were purple buckets, with a handle and everything!), I think we all did a Jaeger shot (disgusting, by the way) and basically just sat up at the bar and drank (my friends John and Val knew the bartenders so we basically drank for free-nice, huh?). We saw Beatle Bob there! Does everyone know who I'm talking about? If you are in St. Louis, you have probably heard of, or seen, Beatle Bob. He is usually dressed in some brightly colored leisure suit and has a Beatles bowl haircut. He is at most local festivities. He's a semi local celebrity, I guess. Anyway, it was funny....I can't wait till we get the pictures developed....We hung out in the tent as well and hung out with a group of Hell's Angels (for real, they were), they were very nice and some good times. Apparently, at one point I called my friend Renee and left her a drunken voicemail (which today she informed me she listened to on speaker phone with some friends of hers and laughed at me....). We then decided our time there was over and we proceeded to go to the Tin Can...LOVE it! That was fun. Erin and I met a group of really cute guys...the one guy was like "you are both really cute, but you have to stop telling people you're Cubs fans, it could be a deal breaker". Oh, is that all I have to do? Noted. The Tin Can was fun too. Boogie fell backwards out of his chair, Carrie braided all the girls hair and we drank beer in a can. What was funny was that at this point, it was only like 8 or 9pm, it felt much, much later than that.....at some point we decided it would be a good idea to go sing some karaoke, so off to Gitto's we went. Karaoke Rick was in the house (if anyone listens to the Craig Cornett Morning Radio Show on 93.7 the Bull, you know who Karaoke Rick is), Boogie and I sang the classic "My Humps". Boogie didn't know the words, so I had to sing the boy and girl parts...I'm sure it was hot. After that, we just danced and laughed and listened to crappy karaoke all night. It was so much fun, and although I didn't wake up until 10am today, I don't feel hung over.

I'm going to my girl Heidi's baby shower this afternoon. I made her promise we wouldn't play any games in which one would have to taste baby food....she better make good on her promise.....

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

Ok, so technically, Mardi Gras isn't until Tuesday, but the Annual St. Louis Mardi Gras Celebration is today. I am soooooo not going to the parade. Did that one year with my friend John (yes, Heidi's hubby). Let me tell you, being drunk off jello shots at 9am is not at all pleasant...anyway, I find it kinda funny that Mardi Gras is such a big party. Because, really it is the start of a really important time in the Catholic, and in my case, Lutheran, church. The day after is Ash Wednesday (which I will be missing church this year, by the way, have to go to a work related happy hour...I know, I know....) then Good Friday then Lent officially begins for the next 40 days until Easter. Maybe Mardi Gras is a party because the Lenten time is about self sacrifice and a kind of calm reflection....ok, enough of my religious rants....LET'S PARTY!

First of all, why in the hell am I awake right now? It is 8am on a Saturday. I've actually been awake since around 6:30, which is near the time I get up during the week. Guess my body just can't sleep in anymore. Anyway, I guess I am feeling ok. Still have some goo in my nose (pleasant, I know) and a bit of a scratchy throat, but I think I'm gonna make it and will be ready to party with my peeps this afternoon. Yes, it's snowing outside (not as much as they said though) and it's really cold (but isn't it sad that lately, 30 degrees sounds warm to us???), but I'm sure there will still be thousands upon thousands of people out today. Yippee. My crew and I are going to a place where we can party and have fun....but still be indoors. Ingenious, I tell you! First I will be having lunch with my sis, my aunts and my cousins, then it's off to Ern's for a mini house warming party, since she officially moved into her new house last week (yay Ern!).

If you are going out for Mardi Gras, please be careful! Don't flash too many people, ok? You may end up on the internet somewhere, and no one wants that....

Salmonella enteritidis precautions

Ok, so, apparently the way to test for salmonella is with a stool sample. I will have you know that I provided my dear friend Mike with a little plastic baggie yesterday with which to collect his stool sample. I am a good friend.

You can learn more at www.salmonella.org in case you are bored today....

No Mardi Gras?

I LOVE Mardi Gras. Everyone who knows me knows that. However, I am not sure I'm gonna make it. The idea of standing outside in the snow and freezing temperatures just isn't appealing to me. Call me old and cranky, but it's just not. I believe we are coming up with alternative plans, however. As long as I can get outta bed (still feeling on the verge of developing some major illness) tomorrow, I will be celebrating, some way, somehow! I am such a trooper......all in the name of drinking and partying.....right now I have this weird I-don't-feel-good-but-I'm-high-on-cappucino feeling. I'm not sure what to do about it.

Ok, so now I believe the salmonella outbreak has spread throughout my team at work. Yesterday, Mike disclosed that he, himself, owned the dreaded Peter Pan peanut butter (I believe in fairies...). Today, my co-worker Julie disclosed that she, too, owned the tainted peanut butter, so we now have our very own outbreak at UBH. Red-I think you need to come and investigate....STAT.

Having lunch with all the female members of the family tomorrow, that'll be fun. Then on Sunday is my girl Heidi's baby shower. I swear to God Heidi, if you make me look at your belly button, I am soooooooo outta there! :)

It can only mean one thing....

I haven't blogged all day long. That can only mean one thing-I'M SICK. I feel like crap on a stick. I think I caught Mike's salmonella poisoning (you are such a hypochondriac, Tinnin! have you heard about the salmonella outbreak with the Peter Pan peanut butter? Mike has some at home so he is convinced he has been stricken with salmonella). I hurt. I'm freezing. I'm sneezing (that rhymes). I ache. I want to go to bed. I'm skipping out on happy hour tonight (and you KNOW how much I love myself some happy hour....). Erin told me I have to get better because there is no way I am missing Mardi Gras...I'm gonna do my best, hopefully I'll be back up and running by Saturday!

Happy Single's Awareness Day!!!

It's Single's Awareness Day, according to my friend Mike. Or it's I Don't Have A Boyfriend But That's Ok Day. Take your pick. I heard the most romantic Valentine's Day song on the radio this morning...."Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. Nice, huh?

Flashback to Valentine's Day 2006 (sorry J, but I feel compelled to tell the story....). KD ends up with a dislocated ankle as the result of a wrestling mishap. I never knew a bone could make that loud of a popping sound.......but it can. You see, J and I were just killing time while dinner cooked (yes, I cooked, it was a roast and it was really good, thank you very much), and were wrestling (I mean, what else would you be doing while you're waiting for dinner to cook???). It was fun, that is until we heard "POP", and J says "Uh, was that your ankle?". Oh yes, it was. I didn't feel any pain at first (because it was numb), but by the next morning, I couldn't walk and ended up at Urgent Care. Let me tell you how unpleasant it is to have your ankle popped back into place...I said some really, really bad words, scored some Vicodin and made J take care of me (I milked it for all it was worth). Wasn't that a fun story?

This Valentine's Day I will be spending at the crisis line. Romantic, I know. I guess you don't have to be IN love to celebrate Valentine's Day. So, to all those I love (friends and family)-Happy Valentine's Day and Bah Humbug.

this is a crock of crap

Uh, ok, they just announced that they are closing our office for the day, effective at 1pm due to the massive amount of snow on the ground. Sounds great, right? Yea, well not for me and Amy since today is our late night (where we have to stay and give all the decisions from the peer reviews), so WE will be stuck here until at least 5:00.....SOOOOOOOOOOOO unfair. I just wanted to whine for a minute. Thanks for listening.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

The title is a quote from the song that my co-worker Alex sings to me when I walk in the door at the crisis line (dude, I told you that if you read this blog, you are likely to become a subject of it. It's just the way it works.....sorry).

Anyway, people are freaking out, once again, about the weather. Now, to be fair, there was not a bit of snow on the ground when I got to work at 8:30. It is now just before 10:00 and the snow plows are out and the ground is totally covered. I'm hearing we are supposed to be getting an inch an hour. My question is-FOR HOW MANY HOURS? This could be problematic....and more importantly, I hope my 12-pack of Diet Coke doesn't freeze and explode in my car. That would suck. Trust me, I know. It's happened before, and I had Diet Coke slush all over my trunk. Not so much fun to clean up, believe you me.

I swear I didn't do it

Birthday pics! I actually got over 50 sent to me, but censored them...not that they were bad, I was really just avoiding the ones where I looked fat....Here we are doing Jaeger-bomb shots...
American Idol, here I come! We were really belting out the "I Will Survive". Several folks said it sounded good...think they were just saying that???
Uh, yea.....this is one to be proud of....
Hi Random! This is the dude that stopped talking to me once he discovered I was a Cubs fan.....I think his name was Ryan. It never would have worked out...he's wearing a velvet jacket for God's sake.....

MJ, Me and Denise. Very cute picture.
This is the guy that was also celebrating his birthday. Bob, was it? I don't remember. Anyway, I apparently posed for a picture with him.....hey, he's kinda cute.....
Me and MJ cuttin' a rug....check out the chick behind us in the dress and jeans.....she was a FREAK!
I don't know who the crazy girl with the boa is. She just got up and started singing with us....I really didn't want to share the spotlight with her, but whatever.....
Me, Denise and Aimee. Too cute! The lei's are from the Jaeger Girls....I "accidentally" left mine at the bar...

Oh Sleepless Night...(sung to the tune of "Oh Holy Night")

I so did not sleep last night. And now I feel like crap. I remember falling asleep somewhere around midnight and woke up at 3:30am and decided I was thirsty. Why, I don't know. I then proceeded to toss and turn until my alarm went off at 6. My lack of sleep may have had something to do with the near gallon of green tea I drank yesterday...I thought it didn't have caffeine in it, but apparently it does. Who knew? Obviously not me.

Well, I have a very exciting night of working at the crisis line ahead of me. Don't be jealous. Canada, I finished your application for the Most Beautiful Person In The World. Results should be out soon, I'll keep you posted.

Over It

Thanks so much Heidi for making me a copy of the Katharine McPhee CD. I really like it, and I am totally diggin' her song "Over It". In fact, I placed the copy of the lyrics Heidi gave me on my fridge.

Worked at the crisis line tonight. It was fairly uneventful. Kinda busy. I didn't have time to do my crossword puzzle and that upset me greatly.....watched the Grammy's when I got home. I was able to catch Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood (which is really all I wanted to see anyway).

Hey, does anyone want to go see Keith Urban when he comes to town in June? Let me know, I am definitely interested in going.

Well, another week begins. Yahoo, I am working two shifts at the crisis line this week, I have book club happy hour on Thursday then the weekend is...........MARDI GRAS! I love it. Missed it last year but not this year! Woo hoo! And, no, I will not be flashing anyone.....

Hockey Night In Canada

Isn't is always hockey night in Canada? Just a thought.....anyway, I got to talk to my dear friend Canada tonight-yay! I'm so happy you called! Isn't it weird that we can talk for like two hours and it seems like five minutes? It's some good times! Thanks for the birthday wishes and confirming that I am indeed an old, old woman. It's good to know I have friends I can count on to make me feel better about it..... :)

That was really the highlight of my day. The rest was spent running errands, contemplating showering and getting out of bed, and reading. Actually, it hasn't been that bad of a day. I'm now thinking of going to bed-who cares that it is only 10pm on a Saturday night.....tomorrow is church and working at the crisis line for five hours. Pretty exciting stuff. I rock.

P.S. Canada, I'd like you to know that I am going to nominate you for People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People this year....I think you have a good chance of making it. That is, if Beautiful Canadians are eligible....

Happy Birthday LC!

Just a quick happy birthday to my girl Laura. She is the 3rd of the February birthday trio...Have a good one girlie!

KD and Jaeger-bombs: not a good combo.....

Oh my. Got a bit of a headache this morning. Must have been the shots last night (damn you, girls!). For all y'all that pooped out on us, you missed some fun. Karaoke night at Gitto's was some good times, and you missed your opportunity to hear me sing (I know, it is something you have all wished for.....). Denise and I did "I Will Survive" and "Summer Nights" (two karaoke must-haves....). It was hot.

The evening started with dinner at Stir Crazy-I love that place! Thanks to everyone that made it out to dinner-I had so much fun and it made me so happy to have so many of my friends with me! After dinner, we were gonna make a side trip to a local tattoo place (don't worry mom-I did not get another tattoo...), but it was closing early, so the only plan that made sense was to head out to Gitto's! Apparently my friends thought shots for the birthday girl was a good idea. I recall one I believe was called brass balls, and I did a peppermint schnapps shot (thanks Grandpa for getting me started on that one!) and then, I did my very first Jaeger-bomb. I always refused to do them because I don't like the taste of licorice, which is what Jaeger tastes like. Well, the Jaeger-bomb kinda tastes like a sweet-tart.....in other words....I LIKED IT!

I also loved having guys flirt with me and buy me drinks and dance with me and call me beautiful (I don't know about you, but I don't get called that every day....). I mean, sure, we were in a bar, all drinking, but still, I'll take a compliment anywhere I can get it. Oh, and I got my ass grabbed twice-hey, I'll take it.....I met a very nice guy named Matt (I believe there are pictures of me with him floating around somewhere...you may see it here in the near future...) and another guy named Ryan (who stopped speaking to me after it was announced that I was a Cubs fan.....can't say I blame him). And there was another birthday person-Bob, who was too cute and I danced with him to the song "Crazy Bitch". Nice, I know. Then there was Bob's cousin, I think his name was Dan, he kept asking us to go back to his house so we could all have a "dance off"....uh, is that what they are calling it nowadays? I'm happy to report I went home alone....it was just fun for me to be out there, ya know? Flirting with boys is what I do best.....and I really hadn't been feeling like flirting for the last few months-but I think I'm ready now! Watch out! :)

The best part is that no one believed I was 31. I think they were all genuinely shocked which made me feel good. Although one guy said "I mean, 31 is old, but you don't look it". Uh, gee....thanks. Yea, he was 26. Hello, cradle robber......

So, overall, it was a great birthday. Thanks so much to everyone who helped me celebrate, and celebrate, and celebrate, and celebrate......

Birthday fun

I had such a good day today! Work was so much freakin' fun, I couldn't hardly stand it. I think we were all a little buzzed on our sugar highs.....I almost wet my pants (for real) when our Clinical Director (this man has a PhD, mind you) decided to prank call one of our triage people. He made the call (we chose a former crisis line employee as his victim....shame on us) and, um, acted like he was mentally retarded, complete with some unintelligible speech....sick and wrong, I know, but nonetheless-HILARIOUS! We just stood outside his office laughing, with my co-worker Jeff yelling "get off the phone so I can beat your ass"....yes, the folks I work with are sick and twisted....and I LOVE it! I think my birthday was fun for everyone today! Yay!

Can't wait to see how tonight goes.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, I am really really freakin old, Happy Birthday to me!

Well, the day didn't start out so well, I'm hoping it will only go up from here. So, my car was on empty (thank God today is payday!), so I managed to make it to the gas station this morning only to find that the pump was broken. Ok, I can handle that, I think to myself, so I get to a pump that is working, go in, get myself some cappucino (turns out, it tastes like crap) and find that they were OUT of my 20 oz. Diet Coke (so not cool)....then, go back out to the car and the pump says "see attendant". I was a little panicked, especially since there should be plenty of money in my account. Turns out, it was just the receipt machine-thingy that was broken. Oh, and I forgot that the light at Chippewa was broken, and it stayed red for two cycles. I finally ran it-I'm sure the St. Louis PD are out looking for me now (everyone else did it too, ok?).

Once I got to work, it got better. My cube is all decorated with balloons and streamers AND I have a giant cookie cake that says "Happy Birthday Ker Bear" (awwwwww) AND a chocolate cake w/Skittles on top. My team loves me and I love them, its gonna be a good day DAMMIT!

It is also my friend Erin's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERN!!!!!! And to Erin's mom-thank you so much for the birthday wishes and finding my blog! You can post anytime! :)

I have already talked to my mom this morning. I wasn't sure how to take it when she told me that this morning my dad said "our baby girl is 31, that just doesn't seem right". Uh, was he calling me old? I think he was.......I love you anyway daddy! :) My sister just texted me and I have lots of ecards in my inbox. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone! I love you all, I really do.


Ok, I gotta actually do some work now. I'll see some of you tonight for dinner, drinks, and my favorite pasttime-making fun of people singing karaoke!

Happy Birthday Chris!!!!

Happy Birthday today to my crisis line supervisor, Chris! Have a good one! It was always fun when I worked there full time because her birthday is 2/8, mine is 2/9, and her sister, Laura's, is 2/10. The Aquarius girls. Good times. Anyway, Chris, hope you have a great birthday. Are you 29 again, too??????

4:30am

I woke up at 4:30am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. That just ain't right. Especially when I gotta work 13 hours today. I'm not sure what that was about. Ok, and I have this bruise on the inside of my right arm and have no idea how it got there-but it hurts like hell, I can tell ya that much. I'm falling apart in my old age. I am trying to not be bummed out about my upcoming birthday. Not that I love being 30, but I HATE being 31. I know, I know, in the scheme of things, it's not that old. I'm just not where I thought I'd be in life by now. Ok, enough of the pity party. I'll focus on what I DO have-great friends who want to spend my birthday with me. I promise I won't be a party pooper on Friday! We will have fun. Get a couple drinks in me then I'll be ready to go! And you can forget the previously mentioned Rule #1 (pretend I'm 29), I will freely admit I am 31 so that I can hear people say "you don't look 31". People are gonna say that, right? RIGHT????

for the ladies

You know you go to a redneck church when...

1. ... the finance committee refuses to provide funds for the purchase of a chandelier because none of the members knows how to play one.
2. ... people ask, when they learn that Jesus fed the 5000, whether the two fish were bass or catfish, and what bait was used to catch 'em.
3. ... when the pastor says, "I'd like to ask Bubba to help take up the offering," five guys and two women stand up.
4. ... opening day of deer season is recognized as an official church holiday.
5.... a member of the church requests to be buried in his 4-wheel-drive truck because "It ain't never been in a hole it couldn't get out of".
6. ... the choir is known as the "OK Chorale".
7. ... in a congregation of 500 members, there are only ten last names in the church directory.
8. ... people think "rapture" is what you get when you lift something too heavy.
9. ... the baptismal pool is a #2 galvanized "Wheeling" washtub.
10. ... the choir robes were donated by (and embroidered with the logo from) Billy Bob's Barbecue.
11. ... the collection plates are really hubcaps from a'56 Chevy.
12. ... instead of a bell you are called to service by a duck call.
13. ... the minister and his wife drive matching pickup trucks.
14. ... the communion wine is Boone's Farm "Tickled Pink".
15.... "Thou shall not covet" applies to huntin' dogs, too.
16. ... the final words of the benediction are, "Y'all come back now, Ya hear".

Winter poem

S**T IT'S COLD!!!!!!

Sleepovers and rubbers

So last night was our annual Book Club Sleepover (there is nothing like a group of grown women having a sleepover-really, it is SO much fun!) at Christina's new house (gorgeous, by the way). We were minus Sally because she had the NERVE to GIVE BIRTH the night before....Congratulations Sally and Chris!!! Little (and by "little", I mean nine and a half pounds) Declan Heath came into the world Friday night-I can't wait to meet him!!!!

The fun started with our drive out to Christina's. I swung by and picked Renee up since we live on the same street and all, things were going fine until we were on Hwy 270, suddenly I was like "uh, Renee, look behind us" (in a slightly panicked voice), because, you see, coming up on us fast was this big van with a giant ceramic dog on top of it. Seems Kennelwood Village thinks that's cute....I was just freaked out. Needless to say, Renee and I were laughing so hard I thought I was going to drive off the road. Then we stopped at Schnucks and I swear the name of the plaza was Monkey Plaza (it wasn't-clearly I can't read). By the time we got to Christina's we were worn out!

We first went to the Painted Zebra and painted pottery-SO much fun-especially watching Renee get frustrated with her vase and Krista who kept painting hers over and over and over again. I painted a vase as well-tried to match it to the colors of my living room. We'll see how well it turns out after they fire it in the kiln. We get to pick them up on Thursday. After that, we went back to Christina's, ordered pizza ("did we order three pizzas???"), ate a bunch of junk food (cheese dip, anyone?) and laughed-A LOT. We played a couple of board games-Team Short Bus lost again (yes, I'm on that team-did you have any doubt?). We played the board game "Imagine If", which quickly turned into "Let's tell each other all our dirty little secrets" (I won't discuss this further-we're keeping the blog clean people!!!). We did some drinking (the strawberry daiquiris were awesome), which may have been why we thought it was a good idea to tell all our dirty little secrets......There were, of course, many good one liners that came out of the night, nicely written on a paper plate. Here's a sample:

"There's a rubber!"-said by Cheryl, it had something to do with the smootie maker...
"Does the rubber go on the inside?"-said by Christina, supposedly regarding the smoothie maker....
"It's her time to go"-said by Krista, describing one of Scott's older relatives....nice.
"We haven't done Maggie in awhile"-said by Christina during our game of Imagine If.
"I squirted too hard on the third drop"-said by Scott (Krista's husband) as reported by Krista while on the phone with him...he was talking about putting their 2 year old's ear drops in, people!
"What's this a chunk of? It must be a strawberry because it's soft"-said by Cheryl, who was reading too much into her daiquiri....
"You've had others!"-said by Cheryl to Krista, talking about her "hookups" in college, to which Krista replied "Oh, lots, lots".
"You look at it and you stick it in there"-said by Shannon. I have no idea what this was regarding, however.....

So, overall, it was a really fun night, I didn't sleep much, but thats ok. Today is Super Bowl Sunday, I personally could care less, I think I'm gonna get caught up on my scrapbooking. Or take a nap.........

P.S. Krista-you owe me a date with Get 'Er Done!!!!!! :)

this year is the Cubs year????

This is my friend Sean (and fellow Cubs fan) with the World Series trophy. Yes, the Cardinals have the title for now, but a new season is about to start, pitchers and catchers report in like two weeks....I am so excited! I love baseball. I can't wait for Spring Training and the real deal to start in April. I don't know if my Cubbies are gonna be good this year or not (wishful thinking, but they DID make some great deals in the off-season). We shall see! As for the NL Central-BRING IT!!!!

name that band

Can you name the bands in this picture? There are actually over 70 of them. A hint to get you started...you'll find Matchbox 20, Blind Melon, Smashing Pumpkins, Guns-n-Roses, Queen, The Rolling Stones and many, many more! Good luck! And thanks to my cousin Dan's wife, Amy, for emailing me this! It provided hours of entertainment at work yesterday!

Do you remember? Don't lie! You know you do....

I remember watching Duck Tales after school. And yes, I can still sing the theme song...duck tales, woo hoo!

I remember this kid named Joe made a pair of Hammer pants in our 9th grade Home Ec class...they were HOT!

I LOVED The Babysitters Club! My sister and I literally had all the books (like 60 or 70 of them!)

Remember when Michael Jackson was still black? I had a huge poster of him over my bed (it's true!). Red and I used to listen to "Thriller" with the lights out and scared ourselves silly!

You know you had a stone washed jean jacket! I put New Kids On The Block pins all over mine!

And you know you wore flourescent! I remember this was about 7th or 8th grade for me. I know I had a pair of hot pink biker shorts....sexy, huh?

I loved this game! In fact, I played it with Jesse's daughters not all that long ago!

Now, the Ninja Turtles were more my brothers thing-he had all four of them-you know-the like 18 inch tall ones? And, yes I can name them all-Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Rafael!

Remember "I've fallen and I can't get up?"Classic.

Oh, the jelly shoes. I know I had some, don't remember what colors, though.

I remember making these friendship bracelets. They were really hard to make!

I LOVED He-Man! Watched it every day after school. If you play your cards right, I may even do the theme song for you...yes, I still remember it. Here's a sample "Only three others share this secret. Our friends The Sorceress, Man-At-Arms and Orco. Together, we defend the secrets of Castle GraySkull from the evil forces of Skeletor!". Sad, I know. I also remember playing He-Man with our cousins Matt and Chris on their farm in Illinois. We always made Red be the stupid girl, She-Ra, I wanted to be one of the cool boy characters! And who knew that He-Man would become a gay icon?

Oh, Hypercolor shirts. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

What can I say about New Kids On The Block. I was in love with (and going to marry) Jordan. Red and I had our bedroom walls plastered with their pictures.We saw them twice-once at Six Flags and once at the old Arena. I thought I'd love them forever....

If a Saved By The Bell re-run was on right now, I'd watch it.

Did anyone have their birthday party at McDonalds? I don't think I ever did. Mom, didn't Tim have one there? Or am I making that up?

I totally had a Rainbow Brite doll. It was the coolest thing ever!

Remember tight rolling your jeans? I remember thinking there is no way I will every NOT tight roll my jeans.....

Oh, we had a slip and slide. Many summers of fun with that one....

You know you used to put your hair up in a banana clip!

Big hair. I had it in high school. Some people still have it....

Mullets. I am traumatized by my 4th grade mullet (and, no, you cannot see a picture of it). My mom says it was all the rage and I really wanted that cut. Horrifying.

Shot through the heart, and you're to blame! You give love a bad name. Enough said.

Wasn't that time fun? What other 80's/90's stuff do you remember?