A perfect s**t storm

This day has been one for the record books so far. 

Let's see, so far we've had:

1. Not one, but two, of my regular facilities at work giving me shit about things I have absolutely no control over.

2. The HR lady at my part-time job called to AGAIN reschedule my exit interview. Wants me to come in "sometime next week". Um, no, that is not happening. As I've told you before, I only work every other week, I do not work there next week and I am NOT coming in just for a stupid exit interview. Maybe you should have shown up sometime in the last month for that to be done. I gave you people SIX WEEKS notice for God's sake.........

3. Someone stole my lunch. Seriously and, no, we are not in kindergarten (at least I don't think we are). It's the SECOND TIME IN THE LAST WEEK this has happened so, yes, I'm starting to get pissed off about it. Those frozen dinners are NOT cheap and I don't know about some people, but I don't have the money to just piss away and fund someone else's lunch needs. So now I'm cranky and hungry....and won't be able to eat until I get home.....at 9:00 tonight. Fan freakin tastic.

I hate everyone and I need a break. That is all.

Cubs beat Lincecum....is that even possible?

My Grandpa would have hated last night's game. He hates pitcher's duels. But last night, Ryan Dempster was every bit as good as Tim Lincecum if not, dare I say it, better. At one point, Demp retired 20 Giants in a row...not too shabby! The game was scoreless until the 8th when Mr. Sexy Pants, Carlos Pena, scored Run #1 after a hit by Sikeston's own, Blake DeWitt. Demp was allowed to come out and pitch the 9th as he'd been so stellar throughout. He immediately gave up a double so Quade pulled him in favor of Mr Heart attack, Carlos Marmol. You can see where this one's heading, right? The little engine that could, Tony Campana, tried an ill-advised dive (and missed the ball), then made a horrible throw to home, tie ballgame. Luckily, Marm was able to get out of it with a 1-1 score. Bottom of the 9th, Lil Campana got on and pinch hitter extraordinaire (ha!) Rami, singled him home. Cubs win! Cubs win!

Game 4 is today. I doubt you can catch lightning in a bottle twice.

Let's play a game, shall we ladies?

Since the Cubs are tremendously horrible, I thought I'd take this opportunity to completely exploit the one reason we all watch the Cubs at this point....and that is, to ogle super-hottie first baseman, Carlos Pena. So, the rules for this game are simple: Which is your favorite Carlos pic.....and why? GO!

he makes eye black and a Cubs uni look GOOD

how bout happy, smiley Carlos?

helmetless Carlos?

swimming with the dolphins Carlos?

angry, yet hot Carlos?

swinging and missing Carlos?

Rant

I'm not one to spout off about the management of professional sports teams (mostly because I have no idea what in the hell I'm talking about), but since I've been in a pissy-ass mood all week, I feel the need to speak up.

The Cubs general manager, Jim Hendry, needs to be fired. NOW. It's clearly evident he has no idea how to put together a semi-decent baseball team. Sure, he got lucky in the beginning and the Cubs went to the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, but that was nothing to do with him.

Do you see the team he puts out there every night? I mean, yes, I know, the Cubs are notorious for sucking, everyone on Earth knows this, but this is beyond sucking. This is just..........pathetic. Laughable. Embarrassing. You name the negative adjective and you got what the 2011 Cubs are.

Sure, there are some bright spots-watching Starlin Castro grow and develop into an All-Star caliber player has been fun, watching Carlos Pena finally start to hit homeruns like he's paid to do has been fun (and, hello, watching HIM has been fun, you know, because he's hot), Darwin Barney has been a nice surprise, Aramis Ramirez is actually having a decent year.....but that's really about it. Our closer never gets the opportunity to close because, well, the Cubs are never in the lead in the 9th. The "bullpen" is laughable at best. John Grabow? Jeff Samardjiza? These guys are our late inning hope? For serious? Oy. And don't get me started on the fools thrown out there to actually start-Rodigo Lopez and Doug "I'm actually 108 years old" Davis? Are you effin kidding me? No...sadly, they are not kidding, that is who they threw out there yesterday for a DOUBLE HEADER WITH THE DEFENDING WORLD SERIES CHAMPS. Yea, that seems like a good idea........

I'm not even mad that the Cubs suck horribly this year-we all knew they would-what I'm mad about is that this moron is allowed to continue to run this team. The Ricketts Family are quickly proving that they know nothing about owning a MLB team. I don't even think this is manager Mike Quade's fault-he's playing the hand he's been dealt......poor hairless bastard.

I don't even think landing Pujols or Fielder in the off-season will fix this team (and you know the Cubs management is gonna WAY over-pay for one of them. It's happening.).

I love, love, LOVE baseball. And I love, love, LOVE the Cubs. I always will. But it'd be nice to see them run like a big boy team and not a AAAA team.

That is all.

I want a Carlos Pena value meal........super sized

Can I be in the middle of this Cubs hottie sandwich, please?

The title of today's blog post is courtesy of the girl sitting next to me at Saturday's game. Seems Cubs fans everywhere appreciate Carlos Pena's hotness. I mean, we DO have eyes.

Yesterday was the Carlos and Rami show. Both hotties hit two homeruns and basically carried the team on their strong, manly shoulders.  Too bad Carlos won't be on the team next season (or perhaps even the rest of this season as he is making himself trade bait with his awesomeness). In a season of suck, he has made watching the Cubs worthwhile.

Speaking of suck, the Cubs play two today against the World Series defending champion Giants. So, that should go well. At least there will be Brian Wilson sightings, so that's cool. Does anyone know if the night game is on TV tonight?

If  laziness doesn't take over tonight (like it did last night), I will write a post about my trip to KC....complete with Cubs pics. And by Cubs pics, I actually mean "several Carlos Pena ass shots". You're welcome ladies.

GO CUBS!

The Cubs.....and yours truly, will be in Kansas City this weekend! Woot! Woot!

Whazzup, baseball fans? It's the weekend and yet another interleague series for the Cubbies. This time.....they're on the opposite side of the Show Me State in good ol' Kansas City. And I am making the 4 hour trek over there tomorrow. Woo!!! My trusty sidekick (and newly born-again Cubs fan) Robin will be with me. We are SO freakin excited!!!! I've got all my Cubs gear packed (a girl needs options), I'm getting new tires in the morning (an unfortunate necessity), getting snacky treats for the road, and we'll be off mid-morning or so. We'll be at both the Saturday and Sunday games (thanks for those free tickets Dave!) rooting on our boys in blue (well, "Cubbie" blue that is, no royal blue here!).
We will get to see Big Z pitch tomorrow night and Belleville's own Randy Wells on Sunday. Let's do this!!!

On top of all that fun, I was informed last night that my Uncle Jimmy's band got a last minute gig.....in Kansas City tomorrow night! Talk about timing! So, if Robin and I can brave downtown KC, we will be seeing my uncle play live. How cool is that?

GO CUBS GO! Let's bring home a winner!

K update

I haven't talked about my precious niece on here in awhile. But I have to document....she actually said "Aunt Kerri" this past weekend!!!!! Ahhhhh! I LOVED IT! She only said it the one time (usually it's "Hewwi" or "Terri"), but I heard it crystal clear. She's getting so big and talking so well....and so much. Yes, our girl is a bit of a chatterbox. No idea where she gets that.......

She went fishing for the first time this weekend. SO freakin cute, watching her reel it in...with her Dora the Explorer fishing pole. Ha! She also got to help decorate Grandma Bal's birthday cake (let's just say, mom no longer has sprinkles left in the house because the entire bottle is now on her cake).

She's such a funny kid. Wild...but funny. She is so much fun, we just can't get enough of her. Which makes the anticipation of 2.0's birth just that much more exciting! Can't wait to have two little rugrats running around. My sis is now 31.5 weeks along...getting there....slowly but surely. She'll tell you she's ready to give birth today, however. Right, sis? ;) Our lil guy is apparently quite active in mommy's tummy. Yep, definitely a wild little boy!

Being an auntie is the greatest. It helps that my sis and brother-in-law make the greatest kids EVER.

At least we have Carlos Pena

Oh Carlos' dimples, how I adore thee

Well, news flash-the Cubs suck. I know, I know, it surprised me too. At least they have Carlos "Dimples" Pena, who is finally doing what he gets paid to do....hit homeruns. He hit his third in as many games last night, but it didn't matter because the Cubs still lost. Still, Carlos must know that hitting homeruns makes him even more adorable. I mean, look at him! If you don't think he's cute then there's something wrong with your eyes. We gotta enjoy him while we can-we all know he won't be on the Cubs next season because the Cubs will be too busy breaking the bank trying to land Pujols or Fielder, so let me have this moment, ok? Pena also makes Starlin Castro look that much better. Let's face it, Lil Starlin often makes spectacular plays at shortstop, but he also makes some mind boggling ones. Luckily for him, Carlos Pena is an amazing defensive first baseman, he's bailed Star out on many an occasion. You're welcome, kid.

Happy Birthday to my mama!

Today is my mom's birthday. I think she's telling people she's 29 this year....is that right mom?

Anyhoo, I just wanted to wish her a very Happy Birthday on this public forum. I love you mom!!!

Not really the pic you wanna see of your star player:

Life is short

So much is going on with all the people around me that I'm thankful for my relatively boring life. Sure, I have a little work stress, but who doesn't?

I was saddened to hear that my brother's best friend Travis lost his mom yesterday. Travis is essentially part of the family-he and my brother were both in the teaching program in college. He came over frequently on Sundays to let Mom Davidson cook dinner for him. His mom had been in poor health for some time, but recently seemed to be making progress. She'd been in a wheelchair, but was working with physical therapy and was able to walk in a walker for his college graduation in May. Her new goal was to be able to walk on her own....for his wedding. Sadly, she will not physically be there for the July 9 wedding. That part breaks my heart.

My brother (and dad) are currently in Joplin doing tornado clean up. I know my brother wants to be home to be there for his friend, but he also has his own stuff going on....he has a for real job interview tomorrow!!! Please keep your fingers crossed! And my brother-in-law is waiting to hear some news of his own....fingers crossed for him as well!

Tomorrow is my mommy's birthday. I'm all the more grateful that I have her in light of Travis losing his. Life truly is short, people.

NO cowbell.

Happy Friday!

What's goin on? Crazy busy here. Don't get me wrong, I like having things to do, but sometimes I wish I could just have one weekend where all I had to do was sit and watch TV. Haven't had one of those in awhile and the next few weekends will be no exception.

Let's do a week wrap-up, shall we? This week my poor little favourite Canadian's Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. I really wanted them to win for him, especially since he was at the game, but it was not to be. I know "at least your team made the playoffs" doesn't make you feel any better DT, but, well....at least your team made the playoffs. ;)

Yesterday was the 16th. Two months from that day is my sister's scheduled c-section and the birth of my new nephew! Although my sis tells me today that her mother's intuition tells her that the lil guy is coming early. I'd be ok with that, Aunt Heewi is VERY excited to meet him!

Funny Kendall story-they apparently had to take her to urgent care last night because they thought she had a spider bite. Before they left, however, she ran up to her room and insisted on wearing a fancy party dress to said urgent care.....and then she dressed herself. Ah, the fun dressing myself stage begins! That kid is a riot. Oh, and no spider bite, just an infected bug bite. :)

Cubs. They just took 3 of 4 from the 1st place Brewers. I'm still confused as to how that even happened. As are my peeps up in Milwaukee-talked to one today (the lady whose favorite player is Ryan Braun-yuck), she was none too happy about her team...BUT, at least the Cardinals got swept by the Nats, so....there's that.

The Cubbies play the mother effin Yankees this weekend. I'm sure that will be a real hoot. At least Jeter is out.

Speaking of the Cubbies, I don't know if I've mentioned that I'm going to see them in Kansas City next weekend. My friend Robin and I (who has become a very good student of the game, and now knows who the Hot Carlos is and that you shouldn't bring cowbells to baseball games) are headin across the state. Roadtrip! What's even cooler? We scored FREE tickets to the Sunday game. Apparently one of my old friends from college is a Royals season ticket holder and he contacted me on Facebook the other day (had no idea I was already going to be in town for the Sat game) and asked if I wanted his Sunday tix because he knows how much I love the Cubs (who DOESN'T know?) and he wasn't going to be able to use them. He refuses to let me pay for them...AND he gave me his parking pass. Um...AWESOME. I have awesome friends! So...TWO Cubbie games in a row. We are sooooo freakin excited!

I'm heading to Salem tonight after work. It's the Dent County Relay for Life tonight. Tomorrow my sis, BIL and niece are heading down as well to celebrate both Father's Day and our mom's birthday (it's on Wed). Should be a fun weekend!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! GO CUBS!

30

My sis is officially 30 weeks pregnant today! My how time has flown. And since little guy's c-section is already scheduled, that means that at the most, he will be here in only NINE weeks! Wow, I'm getting so, so excited to meet him. If he's half as fun as his big sister, we're in for a wild ride! Last night Kendall and I sang out of "microphones" (hers was an attachment from a vaccuum-I think, and mine was my keys)-we belted out a mean version of "Old MacDonald". I expect someone to sign us to a recording contract soon. She also informed me before I left last night that I was going bye bye, going to take a bath, put on my jammies and then go nite nite. Oh, and that the gorilla at the zoo was scary, the penguins were in the water and that she rode on a green train with her mommy and daddy. I LOVE being able to have a conversation with her. I'm still not 100% fluent in toddler-ese, but I can follow her pretty well. She gets so serious when she's talking to you-which makes all of us crack up.

I got to see my nephew's room yesterday. They're making progress on it, it's going to be adorable when it's done-a baby elephant theme-SO cute! Now we just need him in it. I hope these 9 weeks fly by!  My sis said K has been putting her baby doll in the crib-um, how cute is that? I hope she's still excited about her baby brother when he gets here (I tried explaining to her that being a big sister is an important job-I would know-but she just wanted to keep singing and telling me about the zoo). The age difference is just about the same as the age difference between me and my sis, and our mom said that I did just fine with her when she was born. Here's hoping it happens that way this time. :)

Roadtrip to KC! WOOT WOOT!

Looks like I'll get to see the Cubs not once but twice this summer! Yayyyyyyy!

My trip to Chicago next month has been planned for quite some time, but a cousin of mine from KC mentioned on FB a couple months ago that my Cubbies were going to play the Royals at the K in June. I kept that in the back of my mind and decided today to search StubHub for tickets. Turns out....you can get pretty damn good seats at the K...for not a lot of money (I mean seriously, their seats for the upper deck? $11. For reals). SOLD. I'm so excited. I've got my born-again Cubs fan friend Robin on board, so we are roadtrippin to the other side of the state on June 25! Holla! I'm not sure what the difference between Cubbie Blue and Royals Blue is, but rest assured, we'll be in our Cubbie gear!

Cubs-Cards weekend? Meh.

I can't seem to find the energy to make myself care.

My Cubbies are here this weekend playing the Cardinals, something I usually LOVE (no matter how good or bad either team is). But this time? The Cubs are SO depressingly bad (moreso than normal) that it's no longer fun to watch them. That, and like 95% of their roster is on the DL. There are a few bright spots-Castro and Barney are fun to watch, Tony Campana is too, but other than that, MEH.

The Cubs are starting a nine game road trip tonight. They will play the Cards, Reds and Phillies. They just got swept by the only NL team worse than them, so the likelihood of them going on an 0-12 streak is well, high. This team sucks, there's no other way to put it.

Luckily, to be somewhat put out of my misery, I'm going out of town tomorrow. I can't watch the trainwreck that is about to happen.........

Reunited and it feels so good!

I am very much looking forward to this weekend. Why? Because my little college crew and I are having a reunion....back in the town where we all met! Yay!

My college friends remain some of my favoritest people on the face of the Earth. We're all spread out across the country now (although a good chunk of us are still in various places in Missouri), so we don't get to see each other much. That's what will make this weekend so fun!

To commemorate the reunion, I took it upon myself to create a CD of songs from our college days (think mid to late '90's). I asked for input from everyone and I think I've come up with a good list. What I learned is that music back then was awesome, terrible and strange, all at the same time. I had a lot of fun putting it together. I took it one step further and decided I'd design the CD cover as well. I've never done anything like that, but how hard can it be, right? The program was fairly simple to follow, the hardest part was deciding on a design. I finally settled on one and have all the labels for Disc 1 printed and on the CD's. Yes, there is also a Disc 2. There was WAY too much music for just one CD! Disc 2's cover will be less detailed because I'm almost out of color ink and that shiz is expensive. ;)

I'm also unearthing the scrapbooks I made of our college days. That should be a riot to look at again.

It'll be great to reminisce about the "good ol days". Thanks to Facebook, we pretty much know what's going on with each other now, but hearing the stories of the past never get old. Those were, and continue to be, the best years of my life. Seriously. If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I wouldn't have been in such a rush to graduate in four years. ;)