Neil Diamond......really?

Last night I did something that I've never done before. Yes, that's right, I called in and voted for my favorite on American Idol. Oh David Cook how I love thee. I think I voted like eight times. Did y'all watch? Ok, my first reaction was, Neil Diamond? What? Truthfully, I know he's been around a long time, but I didn't know how many songs he actually had. I mean, I know Sweet Caroline and all, but the rest of them? Not so much. So the remaining five contestants sang twice last night. Here's my opinion of last night's events:

Jason Castro-I have two words for him: GOTTA GO. I mean, seriously, both songs sounded the same, he doesn't seem to want to be there and he looks like he's stoned. Next.

Brooke White-I have FIVE words for her: WHY IS SHE STILL THERE????? Ick. Her version of "I'm A Believer" was terrible karaoke at best. Her second song was better, but I'm already over her, so it doesn't even matter.

Syesha Mercado-I just don't get why the judges don't like her. I think she's fantastic. Amy Henson is right thought, she will be fabulous on Broadway, maybe not so much a pop star.

David Archuleta-I love this kid, I really do. But I gotta say that, while he is an amazing singer, he sounds the same on every song. I'm sorry Mike, but it's true. He's a little cheezy, so in other words, he'll make a GREAT pop star..... :) And, apparently he's coming to America..... ;)

and last but not least, David Cook-I wasn't in love with the first song he did. It was good but not awesome. His second song, however, was FABULOUS! Amy Henson said she'd go straight for him (she also said that about Dr. Drew, but whatever). I love when you call in to vote, the automated message says "thank you for voting for contestant #2". You're welcome, American Idol, you're welcome.

Next topic-Paula Abdul. Yes, folks, I have to go there. What the f**k is wrong with her? Did you hear her critique Jason Castro on his second song even though he hadn't even sung it yet? There was dead silence and everyone was just kinda looking at each other as if to say "what the f**k is wrong with her?". I mean, is she mixing meds again? Lay off the opiates, sista. Sure, we all like a good buzz every now and again, but on live television? Me thinks that's slightly inappropriate. We're thinking she needs to be on Celebrity Rehab II with Dr. Drew (hence the Dr. Drew comment from earlier).

Next topic-Dancing With The Stars. First I have to say the same thing to them that I did to American Idol, and that is.....Def Leppard? Really? I mean, could they have been lip syncing any more? Nothing says "gee I feel like ballroom dancing" like listening to some "Pour Some Sugar On Me". And good riddance to Shannon Elizabeth. I mean, I was getting tired of seeing her cry on every episode. Get a grip, girlfriend. I really think Cristian De la Fuente should have gotten the boot. I mean, he's injured for God's sake! Very glad to see Kristi Yamaguchi taken down from the top spot by Jason "makes me want to be a Dolphins fan" Taylor. I love when Kenny Mayne and Jerry Rice are on the show doing "DanceCenter". That's good times. Love the silky shirts they wore. Hilarious.

Ok, so today I was driving to work and as I was sitting at the stoplight right before my office, I noticed one of the Mobil employees was coming out with his little numbers to change the price of gas on the sign. Eager with anticipation, I watched to see what the new price would be. Would it go down or up? Had the much anticipated $4.00 a gallon finally happened? Well, imagine my entertainment as the price of gas went from $3.58 a gallon to.........wait for it.....wait for it.....$3.57 a gallon. WHOA! Mobil, you are OUT OF CONTROL. Whew. That is going to save me TWELVE CENTS next time I fill up. Thank you Mobil, thank you.

Tit for tat-IKEA/Chicago 2008

Oh our trip to Chicago to go to IKEA was some good times, y'all! Before I share the stories, let me share a couple of pics from the weekend before when we went to Sub Zero-the vodka bar in the Central West End....
here's me with an empty drink....an empty drink? Isn't that alcohol abuse?
Mike and Reggie-one of our co-workers.

Now, on to Chicago/IKEA weekend. We met up at Maggie's house and loaded up our ride for the weekend...the sexy (yet stylish) Dodge Caravan....complete with Stow and Go seating, which ended up being a godsend.....

here's the girls leaving Maggie's. From left: Shannon, Maggie and Christina (who does NOT have that many chins in real life...HA!). The drive down was quite rainy, poor Maggie (driving a foreign vehicle), wasn't sure if her headlights were on or not (it was really hard to tell). We stopped to eat in Springfield, IL and were horrified when our server pointed out a stain on the table and said "don't worry, it's not dirty, it's just stained". Should that have been our exit cue? Or perhaps it should have been when the creepy 107 year old bus boy (are you still a bus "boy" when you're 107?), kept leering at me and giving me that "come hither" look...I'm pretty sure he had teeth missing, but anyway....We arrived at our hotel in Schaumberg around 10pm, not bad considering the weather. We had to venture out for a few items (forgotten toothbrushes, razors, etc) and when we asked the lady at the front desk if there was a Target nearby, she said (with all seriousness) "no, but are you familiar with Wal-Mart?". Uh yea no, never heard of it....anyway, we got a good laugh out of that one all weekend long. We ended up at a Meijer's, which is apparently a cross between the previously mentioned Wal-Mart and Target. We kept pronouncing it wrong, saying "ma-jyers" and even "mujeres". It was funny if you were there.
Friday night was fairly uneventful and we went to bed as we anticipated being at IKEA by 9am when it opened. Below is the view from our hotel room window. Yes, we stayed THAT close to IKEA.....beautiful, isn't it? Check out the parklike setting around it. My idea of heaven........Here are the girls as we arrived at IKEA. Christina was our IKEA virgin, so it was very exciting to get to share in her first IKEA experience....she took to it like a pro, I'm happy to report......
We spen SIX AND A HALF HOURS at IKEA. Is that even possible? I mean, who does that? Here is a picture of me babysitting the loot. A sista's gotta take a break every now and again!Here is Shannon riding up the escalator with her cart. We did cause a scene at one point as one of our carts jammed up the rest of them, causing an employee to have to rush over and fix it. Crisis was short-lived, I am happy to report. Here is Miss Maggie with all of her goodies for the day....yep, $500 down. The way she figured it, subtracting our stop for lunch, she spent about $100 a hour. Now THAT's impressive..... After our marathon shopping day, we decided to go back to the hotel and chill before going out for Christina's birthday (the big 3-0 y'all!). We had purchased some quality liquor the night before, Boone's for three of us (at 3 for $5 a total steal) and Lambrusco for Christina. Why the quality booze, you may ask? The better question is: why not? I was having flashbacks to my first drinking experience as Boone's is what I had....yikes. After a few rousing rounds of UNO (made much more entertaining by the alcohol), we took some pics and laughed, laughed, laughed. We managed to get out the door around 8pm or so, looking for a place to party and celebrate with our birthday girl......Maggie and Christina with their "booze"....
yes, I am posing with a bottle of Boone's....nothing says "classy ladies" like chugging bottles of Boone's...
I'm not entirely sure what is happening here, but picture me standing on the bed, taking this picture....Miss EyeMask is "resting her eyes", not sure what the other two are doing...... Is Shannon a secret member of the Taliban?
making silly faces.....yes, it COULD be the alcohol talking.....
Awwww.....aren't we cute?our beautiful birthday girl. We made her wear a 30th birthday crown and we all wore mardi gras-like necklaces that said "30" on them. Sure, we looked like a bunch of fools but we didn't care. We went out to John Barleycorn's, which is a happenin' hot spot in Chicago. I was excited because the Cubs game was on (they won). We had more drinks there, and some yummy food and had an overall good night.Here's Christina on Sunday morning, still wearing the crown, getting ready to leave. We left, but not before we went to IKEA #2 located in Bowling Brook (don't ask why). I could explain what is going on in this picture, but this is a family show, so I won't. I will tell you this, the girls are role playing, there are phones involved. And I'll leave it at that. Hey, ya gotta find ways to entertain yourself during a five hour car ride (especially in the rain). When the Mad-Libs were no longer cutting it, we were left to our own devices...
A pic of all our loot. We did a pretty good job, dontcha think?

We will definitely be repeating the IKEA trip at some point. We have visions of visiting IKEA's all across North America....next on the list? The girls have selected the Vancouver metro area as our next stop (I MAY have had something to do with that suggestion).

I'll leave you with this. A very important question that we asked, well, everyone, throughout the weekend. And that question is......would you rather be tit or tat? Decide and discuss amongst yourselves.....

Ch..ch..ch...changes

They say change is good. I sometimes tend to disagree. I don't always adapt to change well. I like to be on a schedule, perhaps it's the OCD in me (which helps me do well at my job actually). There are many, MANY, changes happening at work right now. So many, in fact, I have a hard time keeping up, a hard time adjusting before yet another change occurs. The good news is, I still have a job, at least for today, so I really can't complain too much. One of the things I have always liked about my job is that it's predictable-I go in, do my job, I know what to expect, I go home. Not the case nowadays, however, and it's throwing me for a loop. They say change is good. I'm not so sure. And then I got all hacked off about something today and Amy Henson had to calm me down. Now, I don't get truly angry often (irritated, yes; angry, no), but today I was angry and when I'm angry I cry. No, I haven't cried yet but the day is young.............Actually, I must learn to let go the things I have no control over and just get over it.

We are having yet another food day today-this time is all breakfast, all the time. I am up to my eyeballs in quiche (with bacon-YUM!) and powdered donuts. I have been at work since 6:30am (so I can leave early today), I'm well fed, caffeinated, I'm ready to go!

We are driving to Chi-town today after work-IKEA, here we come! I am super excited about our trip (I love a good road trip!). It's a good time to get the heck out of dodge, hang with some of my girlfriends and do some retail therapy (my favorite kind). We've got our mini van rented (with the stow and go seating, dontcha know!), or itinerary typed (literally), CD's burned specifically for the road trip, and good ol' KD in charge of the quote list documentation. I think we're ready to go! Only 5 more hours of work to go............ :)

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend. Is it supposed to be nice here? I think it's gonna be like 80 degrees today. It's gonna be a bit chillier in Chicago, I'm afraid, but that's ok, I don't care!

Mikey Poo-Remember that I love you and that you are one of my favoritest friends EVER, even when you're being an a-hole. ;)

10,000 wins baby!!!!

The Cubbies won their 10,000th game as a franchise last night. More importantly, they beat the Rockies and improved their record to 15-6 and widened their lead in the NL Central. Oh yea, and did I mention that they are tied with the D'Backs for the BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL? Not that I'm excited, mind you.

I got to talk to my baby brother on the phone last night, that was some good times. Had to congratulate him on his promotion at Wal-Mart, the kiddo is moving up in the world! I got to talk to both my siblings this week-that made me happy! I miss them both so much.

Ugh, seasonal allergies rear their ugly head today. It's days like today when I really don't dig living in the nature capital of the world. Yes, the trees and flowers are pretty, but they make me sick. Today I woke up with a sore throat, my ears ache, I'm Sneezy Sneezerson and Amy Henson has doped me up on Sudafed. Good times will be had by all. At least tomorrow is Friday and I'm heading for........Chicago! One of my favoritest places EVER!

Ok, so I hear Carly got the boot on American Idol last night. Now, I'm not necessarily a big fan of hers, but there are people WAY crappier than her still on the show (Brooke White, anyone????). Whatever, America. At least my man David Cook is still on and we'll get to hear him sing another week. YAY!

Ok, I gotta go. I think the Sudafed is kicking in because my head feels like it's swimming right now......KD high on allergy meds is a GOOD TIME. You're sad you're missing it, aren't you?

Phantom of the Opera

Oh I do so love American Idol. I'm not sure why they think making the contestants sing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs is a good idea, however. I mean, granted, he is amazingly talented and I am admittedly a bit of a sucker for musicals, however, not so sure his songs are appropriate for American Idol. And is it just me, or is he just a teensy bit creepy???? And weird???? I'm just sayin.....

Anywho, is anyone surprised that my man David Cook was awesome yet again????? Who knew he has a background in musical theater? Certainly not me. I think he was awesome last night. Even less surprising is the fact that David Archuleta was good-I mean, that kid has "theater dork" written all over him, no offense. I thought Syesha was fantastic as well. Carly was ok. What was NOT ok was Suzy Sunshine Brooke and even more horrible was Jason Castro-I'm sorry to all the Jason Castro lovers out there, but ICK! Of course, he's probably so freakin' stoned, he doesn't even care what happens. My pick is for Brooke to go home tonight. We'll see.

Marlee Matlin got sent home on Dancing With The Stars last night. It was time. Although, it has to be said that she was pretty damn good, especially given the fact that she can't hear the music. And she looked hot-gotta give her that.

I got to talk to my sis on the phone last night. We had to process Idol (she and Jon are now on the David Cook bandwagon, as they should be!) and her many trips across the great state of Texas lately (be safe driving to Austin today!). Ah, it was so good to get to talk to her, we giggled a lot (like sisters do). I tried to talk to Chloe (the dog) on the phone. Red said that when she heard my voice she ran to the window-I guess she just assumes the person is there to see her. Sorry baby girl, auntie Kerri hopes to see you soon though! :)

Two days until Chicago-can't wait for that! It is, after all, one of my favoritest cities ever!!!!!!

An intellectual I am not

Ok, so I was at Barnes and Noble this weekend looking for some new stuff to read. As I glanced over the newest paperback releases it dawned on me that none of it seemed interesting. That's when I got my most brilliant idea yet-I, Kerri M. Davidson, would read the "classics" (think Moby Dick or A Catcher in the Rye). As I perused the classics section, I settled on two great American classics-The Scarlet Letter and Wuthering Heights. Excited with anticipation over broadening my literary horizons, I headed home to start reading. Mistake #1? Me thinking that for even a second I could play the role of "intellectual". I started reading The Scarlet Letter and I gotta tell ya, I have no effing clue what the hell Nathaniel Hawthorne is talking about. It's written in that old style English (which I totally don't get since the dialect I speak is "Southern Missouri"). I have made it to page SIX and have nothing to show for it but confusion and a literary headache. I think I'll stick to People and US Weekly....... does this mean I should throw out my MENSA application????

OMG, so last night I was doing my workout, sweating away, working on six pack abs when all of a sudden my toes on my left foot started cramping. Has this happened to you before? You really can't stand on them, I kinda dropped to the ground and threw my shoe off to try to get them under control. Once stabilized, I did the rest of my workout with no shoes on. And today I'm eating bananas.

I actually got to watch an entire Cubs game last night as they were on ESPN. It was a rather slow game, 2-1 into the 8th inning, then my boys came alive and scored 5 more runs to win it 7-1 and maintain their hold on first place in the NL Central (I was torn watching the Cards vs Brewers game because I wanted both of them to lose since they are the Cubs biggest competition....) :) At 13-6, the Cubbies are on a roll. Let's hope it stays that way. No need to get excited yet as it's only April......

I also watched Dancing With The Stars last night. I don't want to like Kristi Yamaguchi because I think she has an unfair advantage, but DAMN was she good last night! Her jive was awesome and got a perfect score. I thought the group dance was a big ol' mess, but it looked fun. I'm thinking the deaf chick may have danced her last dance-sorry, but it's true. Either her or Shannon Elizabeth who admittedly is hot, but is really boring.

Tonight is the best night of the week-American Idol night. LOVE IT!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

What a gorgeous day today! It's sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and around 75 degrees. And I'm stuck inside at the crisis line today. Oh well, at least my peeps are working with me.

It's been a good weekend thus far. Last night I had a fun dinner at Culpepper's with Mike, Amy and Shannon, Julie and her husband Jason and their super cute baby, Chloe and our friend from one of the local hospitals, Kassie. After lots of laughs, Mike, Kassie and I headed down to Sub Zero, a vodka bar in the Central West End. What a cool place! I don't frequent the CWE very often, but I really enjoyed the place. Tanya and I decided we wanted "our gays" to meet, so she and our friend Don met us there. Was there a love match? Stay tuned to find out......... :)

I managed to get up for church today despite my late night last night. My cousin Grant and I got the giggles when the band made us sing a song in Spanish and Grandpa at the end says "si senor", really loudly (in his deaf old guy kind of way). It was one of those cases where you can't stop laughing even though you know you should. After church, the Baumgartner's and I went over to Grandpa's where we somehow got on a tangent about Savannah cats (these rather large breed cats-they look like dogs) and the size of litter box they would require. Well, when Uncle Jimmy said he'd train it to use the toilet, I just happened to have soda in my mouth, I was laughing so hard I had to go spit it out in the sink. Ah, good times. After the Baumgartner's left, I sat down with Grandpa to watch some baseball. We flipped between the Cardinals and Cubs games. Once the Cardinals got down 6-0, Grandpa permanently turned it to the Cubs game, who, currently are up 10-4. That Ryan Dempster is HOT as a starter. Who knew? Besides DT? :)

I'm working at the crisis line now, but only until 7pm. Not so bad I guess, I'm putting in 12 hours there this week. I rock. Happy Sunday y'all!

Yes, we really did have an earthquake today

OMG, we had a frickin' earthquake today. Did y'all feel it???? What a fabulous 4:30am wake up call. I awoke to the windows rattling and my bed shaking, my half-asleep mind instantly clued in that it was an earthquake. WTF? I remember getting up once everything had stilled and I looked out the living room window, I guess to see if there was any visible damage, I then turned on the TV, although the news was not on yet. As I drove into work today, the radio stations were all talking about it, confirming it registered at 5.2 on the Richter Scale. So, no major damage, but a bit freakin nonetheless! All morning I have been telling all of my reviewers in Pennsylvania about our harrowing morning (trying to earn the managed care company some sympathy, dontcha know!). HAPPY FRIDAY! See the link below for the full story...... http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/85FD230AAFCED4D08625742F003769F5?OpenDocument

Wow....did ya feel that? We just had an aftershock. I thought I was just having a dizzy spell or something, but no, the office building really was shaking.....our boss is laughing at us because she used to live in California so she is something of an expert on earthquakes. But as Mike pointed out, us Midwesterners are not so much. We're real skurrrrrred. Hold me.

So, Book Club was fun last night. We are anxiously awaiting our trip to Chicago next weekend. IKEA BABY! We have an itinerary, nicely typed up by our Book Club secretary, Maggie. Get this, four of us are renting a van for this trip-apparently there are plans to buy out the store....

As for this weekend, there will be some fun, but the fun will be sandwiched by lots of working. I'm working at the crisis line tonight and Sunday. That, and dodging fault lines.

So long, pretty girl!

Ah, too bad, the Pretty Girl got voted off American Idol. It's sad. No really. :)

Finally, spring has sprung around here. It was nearly 80 degrees yesterday, I though I'd died and gone to heaven. Of course, it's supposed to rain today, but at least it's fairly warm.

So, I have been a bit on the cranky side this week. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true. Well, I was pretty much over it yesterday, that is, until I got to the crisis line and encountered the new database. I felt like a total retard, and even though I have worked there for eight years, I felt like it was my first day. Imagine talking to suicidal people all while trying to figure out how in the world to document the case. It was a bit frustrating. One co-worker actually made herself a sign that says "I need help" in purple marker, so any time she got stuck in the database, she just held up her sign. Loved it. Then, once I got home, I discovered my already crappy computer was now not working....at all. It keeps freezing up, won't let me access anything. And I, being the tard that I am, have no idea how to fix it. I was bummed because I really wanted to chat with DT....I miss him TONS!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

In some good news, I hate to jinx it, but my Cubbies are doing rather well as of late. That Derrick Lee is a stud. Of course, they are still chasing the Cardinals, but that will change, that will change. I'm not too worried about it, although Alfonso Soriano was placed on the DL-never good news. Erin and I will get to see our precious Cubbies at Busch Stadium on 5/4...SOOOO can't wait for that.

So, tonight I have Book Club-always excited about that. Get to see Krista's pretty new house. Tomorrow is typically my night to chill, but I agreed to cover Amy's shift at the crisis line, so this chick will be working tomorrow night...and trying to master that new effin' database! Saturday is what Tanya has dubbed "Big Gay Night Out". We are having her gay, Don, meet my gay, Mikey. We'll see if there's a love connection..... :) Prior to that, a bunch of us from work are getting together for dinner (with some of our buddies from one of the local hospitals), we get to see baby Chloe-Julie Zoell-Patricks' baby. Good times! Sunday, I am am back at the crisis line...again. Glutton for punishment? Probably. Desperatley poor? Definitely. Truly, the fun never ends.

I Heart David Cook

The first thing I was asked by my co-worker Michele this morning was "did you cry?". She was referring to David Cook's performance on American Idol last night that was nothing short of.....AMAZING. And, yes, I did cry just a bit. It was seeing him get teary eyed that did it for me-I soooo can't handle men crying! And I mean, come on, his brother who is dying of brain cancer was in the audience-you'd have to be a heartless bastard to have that not affect you. I was a little concerned about the night's theme-Mariah Carey songs. Uh, what? But David Cook's performance of "Always Be My Baby" was H-O-T, hot. So freakin' awesome. He is SO good that I really hope he doesn't win. Yes that's right, DOESN'T win. Look what not winning American Idol did for Chris Daughtry. That's all I'm sayin'.

Overall, everyone did really well last night but I'm gonna say it right now. Susie Sunshine (Brooke White) GOTTA GO! I am totally and completely over her. Ick. As always, I think Syesha was really good, but for some reason, the judges don't really like her. The Pretty Girl was ok but I'm over her too. I actually thought Carly was good and I'm not normally a big fan of hers. The judges were right-the guys were definitely the best last night. David Archuletta was good as always, but why does he always choose the cheesiest of the cheesy songs? Ok, admittedly, I still don't "get" Jason Castro, I'm not sure what the appeal is, but people seem to love him (I know I have been confronted by a few people about bashing him on my blog......). :) He was ok I guess last night, I just don't get it.

This concludes my American Idol wrap-up for today.

Weekend/family fun

Such a fun weekend! So much to do, so little time! Lots and lots of quality fam time this weekend. I got to finally meet my cousin Clint's girlfriend Amy who is awesome! Got to see Grandpa which ALWAYS makes my day! Saturday was our monthly Girls Lunch. Here are a couple of pics from that day, shamelessly stolen from the family blog: This was at Trailhead in St. Charles. From left is me, my cousin Clint, Clint's girlfriend Amy, Clint's daughter Kira, Aunt Cheryl, Aunt Mary and my cousin Rachel.
Amy and I...MySpace buddies and now real life buddies!

Saturday night I attended the crisis line employee appreciation dinner. Here's a couple pix from that:
me and my "date" Tanya...aren't we lookin' cute???

me and my old friend Rob...known him since I started at the crisis line 8 years ago...he recently left so he could be home more w/his family...I miss him tons! The place isn't the same w/out him!

Yesterday I had a nice brunch with Sue and Renee at Sue's cute new condo. I did have a bit of an issue with Sue's three cats...I was sneezing 7, 8, 9 times in a row, was wheezing at one point and was overall kinda miserable....I then went on to my Aunt Mary's house, who also has a cat....Amy was nice enough to hook me up with a Claritin, life got somewhat better after that. Despite my allergy issues, the BBQ at the Batto's yesterday was some good times. After some trash talking with Rachel the day before, an UNO tournament was started early. Amy, Rachel and I (and sometimes Kira and Aunt Mary) played all afternoon. The wins were pretty much split down the middle. It is safe to say that Rachel's UNO reign of terror is over. No more total world domination. Sorry kiddo. :) Below are some pics from the day and I have to tell you now, most of them were taken by Kira who is apparently a budding photographer. At only 5 years old, her pics are not bad. What is hilarious is that unbeknownst to me, she was going around the house and making everyone pose with a princess crown on their heads (as you will see). Nothing says 'fine family fun' like seeing your 80 year old grandfather with a princess crown on his head....
you got to know when to hold 'em.... .....know when to fold 'emThe UNO crew: me, Sophia the dog, Amy, Kira and Rachel

yea, I'm showin' my cards.....Kira made us pose with all the stuffed animals and the real stuffed animal, Sophia, joined in the fun.....yes, this is my 15 year old cousin making a drink.....not for herself, people!Uncle Nick, Aunt Cheryl and ClintAunt MaryGrandpa with Sophia, who looks quite comfy....

Clinton John, my baby cousinUncle Ron enjoying his dinner after slaving away on the grill for all of us---thanks Uncle Ronnie! too cute!now this is precious....look how innocent Kira looks.....don't be fooled! :)

Kira with her Aunt Ray Ray PARTY PIC with the Verde's y'all!Kira is a crack up......

And now for the much anticipated "Crown Pictures"..............
Aunt Jan
Aunt CherylAmymeRachelClintand the creme de la creme, Grandpa in the princess crown. It doesn't get any better than that!!!!