why i love friday

kristin and i have started a tradition. on friday nights we get together (in comfy pants - people who lounge out in jeans annoy me) and get something for dinner (either chipotle, pizza, or something of the sort) and maggie moo's ice-cream. then we just sit and chat and watch a movie or t.v. oh - and we also have cheap alchohol.

i love friday nights (and kristin) (and maggie moo's)

great skiens of yarn!

dear god,


today i discovered heaven. yarn heaven. it was beautiful. so incredibly beautiful. please send me lots of cash so i can return to yarn heaven many times. it would be very awesome of you. thanks.


love,


michelle




a bit much you say? well - then you've never been to yarn heaven. up until this point in my knitting/crocheting adventures i've stuck to the basics - michael's and joann's. they've been wonderful for someone with a yarn addiction on a budget. today however - i let myself wonder into the local (non-chain) yarn store and well....it was heaven.


shelves upon glorious shelves of glorious marvelous yarn! tons of cute storage containers for all your supplies! i fell in love (if you couldn't tell). i managed to only let myself leave with enough yarn for a current project i'm working on - but it was tough. i could see myself going into some serious debt there (which needs to not happen...must save money not spend money!)


so yeah - that's my story for the day. i fell in love with yarn heaven. oh - and isn't the picture below a cool idea? i'd love to have a craft room and do something like this....





p.s. i'm currently accepting donations to support my addiction. please and thank you.

p.p.s. i have a few posts from the past week(end) to actually post...hopefully i'll get around to it soon....

knit tattoo, purl tattoo

i've thought about getting a tattoo once or twice in my life. i don't know if i ever could though. i'd worry about where how the skin would age. i'm also so incredibly anal that if it were in color i'd probably end up coordinating my clothes to go with it - that just wouldn't be healthy. i'd never thought about knitting tattoo's though. not that seeing them makes me want to get one now but i thought they were interesting nonetheless....

saturday..in the park...

..i think it was the 4th of july....


no? not a big chicago fan? okay....


it's not the 4th of july anyhow. it's the 23rd of february....and today chris and i took a little drive to red wing. (they're very well known for their pottery) he'd only driven through it and i'd never been so it seemed like a good place to go. that i heard that they had a lot of antiques (i heart antinques).


it was a great day - not too cold and not too windy. we walked around the downtown area and looked in a bunch of different shops. we had a really good lunch at a cute little tavern. it was a fun trip. the only thing that would have made it better would have been seeing a friend who lives there but she was out of town...


after red wing we ran a few errands - including target. but as we walked around gathering up things we didn't need an announcement came that we had to leave the store. chris had his pager on him and so we heard what was going on - someone smelled natural gas. so we left and i dropped him off at the station just in time for him to make the second truck out there. then i went back to a bookstore nearby and took a picture....


about an hour later they re-opened the store. you could still smell gas which wasn't very comforting. i guess this about the 3rd or 4th call they've gotten about this - you think target would fix the problem. ah well. the lady at the checkout counter told us that apparently no one told the pharmacy staff to leave - and when the pharmacy closed down it was during that time when everyone had been forced to leave the store. so the pharmacy staff walks out into what an abandoned store - shopping carts full of goods were left in the middle of isles. how creepy would that be?

Chairry

today was another ho-hum day - they're becoming rather run-of-the-mill and i for one am getting rather sick of it. you probably are too. hmph.


i started it all out by stuffing another 500 envelopes. it was supposed to be 700 - i didn't get that far. and judging from what was left over it's WAY more than 200...looked more like another 700. ay-yi-fucking-yi.....


the day proceeded to get worse. i just felt like crap. more and more this crabiness has made me want to act like chris's 3 year old nephew - stomp my feet and yell to anyone who will hear it - no! i don't wanna! don't talk to me evergain! (and promptly stomp away). immature? yes - very. but it's what i've felt like doing....


i decided that the only way to get rid of this was to call up kristin and invite her to come over for a movie. supplies = cheap booze, pizza, maggie moo's ice-cream (i got a quart this time!) :) before we settled in for the evening we went couch shopping as kristin is in need of a new one. while looking we came across this chair.....


...anyone remember Pee Wee's Playhouse? Chairry the talking chair? It doesn't really look like that one in particular but you can so see the mouth and face - can you not? we thought it was pretty funny...


when we finally settled in for the night we enjoyed our cheap booze out of matching Campbell's mugs :) we ended the night by watching a History of Prostitution and eating our ice-cream. It was a great night and I feel a tons better. fatter but better :)

and i'm not so much worried about the whole fat thing. i've been doing a pretty good job with the dvd's and eating (except for 'exception' days) and even though i wasn't going to i measured myself. i'm down 1.5 inches in each thigh! in a week's time! well - 2 weeks. but still! :) the whole weight loss challange ends on March 3rd. all of a sudden everyone seemed to lose 5 lbs. i don't buy it. but if they keep it up i won't win so i didn't worry about the ice-cream :)

crap it

i'm crabby. again.

i really don't know what is wrong with me. i'm exercising. my visitor has left. things with chris are fantastic. things with my family and friends are great. but for some reason i am just craptastically crabby.

perhaps if i get off my chest things that have been bothering me it will help. so.....

i got to stick labels on and stuff 500 envelopes. tomorrow i get to sticks labels on and stuff 700 more. that sucks. and spare me the 'some people have it worse - you should be thankful' speech. we've all been in the crabby place and we all know how fucking annoying it is to here it. if i had a job cleaning toilets then that would suck too and i'd probably bitch about it. but for the time being i'm wasting my brain power on sticking and stuffing envelopes. i am so glad i went to college for this. i'm so glad that they required me to have at least 3 years experience for this job. i mean really - what would i have done had a i not gone to college!? i would have never been able to stuff an envelope or write happy birthday (they teach you how to do that when you're a sophmore in college btw).

people who feel the need to speed everywhere they go piss me off. drive the god forsaken speed limit. not only are you putting your life in danger but you're also putting my life in danger. i could care less if you're late for your job - get up earlier and slow down!

people who use up a handicapped parking spot due to their weight problems should not be eating fast food and Mt. Dew every single day for lunch. i understand that weight is a tough issue for a lot of people out there and that sometimes it's not all your fault - but must you stuff your mouth with BK and pop daily? eat a salad and take the stairs.

perhaps someone who runs this place (the apartment complex i live in) should be concerned about the fact that whenever the washing machines are going on the 2nd floor they vibrate objects in my apartment (which is not directly below it). i can't see how that's good for the foundation not to mention the fact that it's annoying.

people coming in to take an English Comprehension Exam should not even have to ask me if the test involves reading and writing IN ENGLISH. dear god.

hmph. i don't really feel that much better. in fact my shoulders tensed up while typing that and they hurt. a lot. sigh...

alright - i'm going to go finish the movie chris and i are watching. hope you're all having a better day than i am. hopefully my mood improves. to talk to me you wouldn't even really notice the crabbiness but it's just there - inside. :(

updates

the apartment:
it's coming together. we've hung a few things. the second bedroom is still a disaster. i have so many ideas on how it could look better but have no money to buy the things to make it so. it's hard not being able to get what you want rightnow. kari and mark are going to visit this summer - hopefully there'll be enough room for them to sleep in there by then.


my mental state:
i'm far less crabby today. in fact - i'd go so far as to say i'm not crabby at all! (period going away = happy michelle) slightly frustrated with myself for not completely a workout dvd but the squats and lunges i did yesterday have made my thighs want to run away and hide....


christopher:
still amazing. still incredibly awesome. still love him an insane amount. still amazed that he loves me (and all my craziness)!


my job:
see previous post. nuff said.


crocheting/knitting projects:
i think i mentioned that i finally finished all of my christmas presents(!!!!!) i even finished the two burp clothes for my co-workers baby! now i just have to manage actually getting those things in the mail/delivered (this is the part where i usually fail). i am desperately trying to find a cute way to organize my yarn - having it neatly stored but yet visable (ideas? i'm thinking crates....)


my fat:
still (annoyingly) here. i'm working hard to make it go away though. according to the scale at work i'm down one pound. only 34 more to go......


minerva:
suprisingly more likable. as soon as i wrote that post about her she changed her tune. she will now tolerate you getting close(er) to her face and petting her. she has even taken to sleeping right by my head and also jumping into the sink whenever i'm in the bathroom doing anything in front of the mirror - kinda cute.


albus:
he's still incredibly strange. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick - you get the picture.


my hair:
it's getting long - but not cute long. it's that inbetween stage - neither long nor short. it's driving me insane and i desperately want to cut it but i'll give it a go until the end of may.


my stomach:
not hungry but chris is making dinner so i think i'll go chat with him :)

and with that....

...last post i promise to not blog about my period again (or for a long while at least).

moving on...

today was a rather crabby day and i'm not sure why. it just was. perhaps it was related to...wait...sorry...not talking about that. but it might have been. every little thing just seemed to piss me off more than it should - more than i should have let it. frustrating.

when i got to work my computer took f-o-r-e-v-e-r (seriously...forever) to start up. then it wouldn't let me log in! i tried and tried and tried - nothing. i finally had to call the IT department so they could let me change my password. that computer manages to piss me off pretty much every morning. it's 2008 - perhaps my place of employment should invest in computers that are not older than myself and have a faster server.....

after that it was just more minor things. like getting frustrated again at the fact that i'm educated and work a job that does not require any education. i long for a job that has an actual job description. one that has actual duties (aside from stamping endless streams of paper or writing 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!' until my head wants to explode). i want a job that pays more. and i know the answer to that - get another job! and i want to - but....well...i have reasons for wanting to keep this job awhile longer (reasons i will explain at a later date). so yeah - for the time being i'm stuck. and it makes me crabby.

there is a division within the company (which i think i've probably mentioned) and it's driving me nuts. i'm tired of keeping tabs on who comes in on what business and how angry they were that i couldn't help them. and why am i keeping tabs? i know the reports have been used in at least one meeting but nothing was done. it's just one more 'let's look busy even though the task is absolutely meaningless' thing to do. and no one tells me squat. there is a man that moved his office into our building over a month ago - did he ever come down to inform me of this? no. have i ever seen him? no. gee - i'm just the receptionist - please don't tell me anything - why on earth would i want to know! people have meetings and don't tell me that 20 people might be walking in wanting to know where it is. people go on vacation and think i'll just know - do i give off a psychic vibe? in short - people piss me off.

i know i'm not the only one - check out my friend kari's blog. she puts it better than i do. her latest blog made me cringe. people are - for the most part - stupid (except for myself and my friends - kari and i only associate with the educated). i was watching 'ellen' the other day - during Mardi Gras and her DJ was there interviewing people. so - the dj is in new orleans and asks a girl what state new orleans is in. she didn't know. ARE YOU F*CKING CRAPPING ME - you really don't know what state you're in?? and somehow it's always these people that tend to reproduce the most. it scares me.

ugh. i'm going to go eat some dinner. at least i did a really good workout tonight and that made me feel better......

oh - and you may have noticed (or not - maybe you mute it right away) my change in music. i find this selection good when you need to blow off steam. so turn it up! :)

B-Day(s)

no - not birthdays - blood days.


this last bought with my reproductive organs has got me thinking. i suffer (scream, pant, cry, vomit, want-to-die) my way through these cramps every single month. the pain is so severe that i'm rendered useless. this is not my fault -i'm a woman! my boss - the company i work for - would not exist if woman didn't have their periods - and i think it's high time that we got shown the appreciation we deserve.


okay - maybe that's going to far - never mind the appreciation. scratch that.


i think that woman (the ones who deal with actual cramps) should be able to get a note from the doctor and have at least one excused absence a month that does not subract from your sick/vacation time. i'm serious. it's not some lame excuse - it's real honest to god pain - and it happens every month. if the day it occurs just so happens to be a weekday then i cannot work. i don't think that should have to count against me - do you?


it would take away from having to call in sick and having to pretend that you're flu-sick or something because you don't want to come right out and say 'i'm leaking blood in mass quantities and i feel like my insides have been ripped out via chainsaw and are scattered at my feet." instead just call in and say "i need to use my B-Day"


anyone else with me?






and just in case you're wondering i had to use sick time today due to my period. completely unfair. :(

day 2 of hell.

day 2 of hell and i'm still here. i feel a ton better although due to reasons that i won't go into (i'm not that disgusting) i didn't do much today.
i ate ice-cream for breakfast. (yum!) i made an emergency trip to Target to pick up cat litter supplies as the cats destroyed and/or made a mess of their current ones. made another trip later in the day to get even more stuff. we got the wrong litter on one of our last trips and it does not clump the pee - disgusting and SO smelly! so we got the right stuff along with a plug-in air freshner for the bathroom (thank god!). i bought a lot of Valetine's day 50% off items - my favorite being these red heart shower curtain hooks. they add the finishing touches to my bathroom that has a yellow (cheap plastic because the kitties will claw it) shower curtain and red bath mat :) i also got the cats a new Easter placemat for the food bowls along with 2 Easter food dishes. i know they could care less but I love doing it and the stuff is only a $1.99 - how can i not?
aside from spending too much money at Target i finished the second bear! (i'll have these christmas - yes christmas - gifts in the mail by Tuesday! wahoo!! i'll post pictures then :)) other than that - not a whole lot. very relaxing.
and now it's time to go whoop chris's butt in cribbage. (don't be too jealous of all the excitement in my life now....)

one more thing....

(i got this via e-mail from kelly)




This an actual letter sent to Proctor and Gamble from Wendi Aarons, Austin, TX, regarding their feminine products. She really gets rolling after the first paragraph...




Dear Mr. Thatcher,


I have been a loyal user of your Always Maxi Pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the Leak GuardCore(tm) or Dri-Weave(tm) absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowingthere's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from "the curse"? I'm guessing you haven't.

Well, my "time of the month" is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call "an inbred hillbilly with knife skills."

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers' monthly visits from "Aunt Flo". Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women.

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... which brings me to the reason for my letter.

Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: "Have a Happy Period."

Are you f__king kidding me? Does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness – actual smiling, laughing happiness is possible during a period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak girl, there will never be anything "happy" about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Kmart armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, if you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like "Put Down the Hammer" or "Vehicular Manslaughter Is Wrong", or are you just picking on us?

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescendingbull s__t. And that's a promise I will keep.


Always.
Best,


Wendi Aarons Austin, TX

because i deserve it - that's why!

days like today are days when i have major penis envy. today is a day when i'm positive that god is not of the female gender. today is a day when i'd rather be in labor - at least afterwards i'd have something to show for my pain and suffering. today i got my period. it sucked. a lot. a ton.

if you don't care to hear blunt blabber about 'that time of the month' then i suggest you go read someone else's blog. now. go!

still here?

alright then. so yes - periods suck ass. i understand their purpose - great. fine. whatever. there is a part of me (though it shrinks to the size of a pinhead this time of the month) that appreciates the whole process. that being said.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH(breathe)HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

today sucked. i feel like i should be used to this by now. they've always been this bad. they've always been this long (six days in case you were wondering. SIX. that's right. six. six days of hell.). i'll never get used to it though. and while some (perhaps one in 40) are better than others - today was not one of those days.

my hips hurt. my back hurt. my thighs hurt. my stomach hurt - and was also incredibly sick at the same time. my whole upper body felt like it was going numb. i was light headed. i kind of sort of wanted to rip out my insides. or die. or eat a shitload of ice cream. and i did. chris got me not one but two pints of Maggie Moo's ice-cream.

that's right. the weight loss challange ends in 2 weeks and i have 2 pints of ice-cream in my fridge. screw weight watchers. screw the male gender*. please - men get the sniffles and it's all 'oh god i'm gonna die!' ha! come back and talk to me after you feel like someone has taken out your insides - mashed and beaten them to a bloody pile, rolled them out and started to twist them until they dry - oh and don't forget the 50 knives that are getting stabbed into them the whole entire time that's going on. then you come back and talk to me about pain. you bleed for a week and then come and whine to me. and that goes to you women out there. you know who i'm talking about. the ones with the 3 day periods. the ones who've never experienced an actual cramp in your life. but don't be too mad - i don't really hate you. the opposite in fact. i'm so jealous of you - but at this moment i choose to hate you - yes.

i mean honestly. i've been going through this since i was in junior high! and i'll continue to go through it. then i'll get to push a 5 to 10 pound human being out! what i ask you - do the men have to go through? their voices change. they might get excited at awkward moments. big deal. and to top it off - they can pee wherever they want! pisha.

ugh. 3 midol and 4 advil later i feel slightly normal - if not slightly high from the over medication. i'm going to go eat some ice cream.

sorry if i scared anyone. not all my posts are like this. and i'm sorry if this was too blunt for you mother :) but i know you know where i'm coming from. ugh. ugh. ugh. ugh......

*minus chris. he has been so kind. so thoughtful. so incredibly patient. thank you sweetheart!

Happy Birthday Kristin!

dear kristin,

i know you don't look at my blog and will therefore probably never see this (thank god because you'd kill me for putting that picture up...but you know...you really should let me take more so i have more options :)) but i just wanted to write you a little note and say 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD WOMAN!!!'

yes, yes, i know you are actually younger than me - but i can't help the fact that i look younger, can i? (kidding! kidding!) remember how in the 7th grade we were science lab partners and you thought i was incredibly annoying? well - some things never change, eh?

it just occured to me that you're one of the oldest friends i have (not age wise - that would be chris - ha!) but one of the friends i've had the longest and that i continue to talk to on a regular basis. pretty amazing! you're a terrific friend kristin - always there for me, always giving it to me straight and never sugar coating it. i can always count on you - thank you. i hope you can count on me too (except remembering you're actual birthday - i lucked out this year. i always know that it's the day before or after V-Day....).

i'm glad we've become closer this past year. playing tennis, walking in the dog park, drinking cheap alcohol and/or expensive bourbon (i know how you love that stuff!). thank you for continuing to play Monopoly with me despite the fact that i kicked you at Gina's house that one time. thank you for continuing to let me drive - despite the fact that i turn into a horrid driver whenever you're in the car with me (i swear - only you would make me stop in the middle of a freeway!). thank you for letting me lodge at your house for awhile (and for letting me continue to use it for a lot of my stuff) - for letting me use your squeeky bed! (ah memories...that sounded bad...)

alright. i'm gonna get going here. hope you had a fantastic birthday. sorry i bailed early on the celebrations - i'll make it up to you next week with a cake! maybe i'll even back into your car and knock your plates off for old times sake :)

love you, michelle

to: chris

a map of the world

one of the ancient maps of the world

is heart shaped, carefully drawn

and once washed with bright colors,

though the colors have faded

as you might expect feelings to fade

from a fragile old heart, the brown map

of a life. But feeling is indelible,

and longing infinite, a starburst compass

pointing in all the directions

two lovers might go, a fresh breeze

swelling their sails, the future uncharted,

still far from the edge

where the sea pours into the stars

-ted kooser

i love you

happy valentine's day

hope you all are having a wonderful day. to some this is the best holiday and others despise it. i myself don't really care. well - i'll admit - i love the pinks and reds and decorations...oh and the candy - but the extravagant gifts, flowers, etc. i can do without. this year chris and i are just exchanging cards (his is the one shown above :) i'm not really one for the hallmark cards filled with sentiments of undying sappy passion. i got this one at robot love) when he gets off work later. we're mushy with each other all year round :)

(i will shamefully admit to wishing i had hinted at flowers once the deliveries start rolling in at work. but the feeling only last a few hours...)

Office Contest

Office Dares
ONE-POINT DARES
1. Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.
2. To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
3. Leave your fly open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, "Sorry, I really prefer it this way".
4. Walk sideways to the photocopier.
5. While going in an elevator, gasp dramatically each time the doors open.
6. When in elevator with one other person, tap them on the shoulder and pretend it wasn't you.
7. Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy..."
8. Don't use any punctuation.
9. Interrupt your conversation with someone by giving a huge dejected sigh.
10. Use your highlighter pen on the computer screen.
11. Run 3 laps around the office.
THREE-POINT DARES
1. Say to your boss, "I like your style", wink, and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
2. Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle.
3. Shout random numbers while someone is counting.
4. Every time you get an email, shout ''email''.
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has got over his or her caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6. Call I.T. helpdesk and tell them that you can't seem to access any pornography web sites.
FIVE-POINT DARES
1. At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2. Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3. For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as "Dave".
4. Announce to everyone in a meeting that you "really have to go do a number two".
5. Call someone in the office, when they answer, say "I really can't talk right now I am very busy."
6. After every sentence, say 'Mon' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in: "The report's on your desk, Mon." Keep this up for one hour.
7. In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, damn it, all of you just shut up!"
8. At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, "As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again!"
9. Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it's gone now."
10. Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuit; smash each biscuit with your fist.
11. During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
12. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.




kelly sent this to me awhile ago and today i finally passed it around the office. it got a lot of laughs (especially from myself and vija)! as the end of the day she had 34 points and i had 54 points :) so if you're ever bored......
the hardest part is trying to not explain yourself afterwards!

.access denied.

so my place of employment finally caught on to this little thing called the blog. i'm suprised it took them this long - no wait. i take that back. i'm shocked they did it this fast considering that anything having to do with computers there takes for-fucking-ever! (sigh...)


i understand the principle behind blocking sights such as this - who wants to pay people to read blogs when they should be working? they key words there being paid and work. i would say all of the employees get paid to work - i on the other get paid to crochet/knit/read/twiddle my thumbs. as exciting as that may sound it gets rather dull. i'd actually like to have more work (unless that means stamping thousands of papers - that sucks!) to do but i don't. and so to break up the day i check my blog. i read other peoples blogs. and now i can't. access denied.


we are not in pre-school here people....cut the restrictions. if someone isn't getting their work done - fire them. but if they are doing a great job and just so happen to read a few blogs over the lunch hour or during a slow time - who the crap cares, right? pish....


ah well. i'm not really crabby. not even really annoyed. just thing it's rather ridiculous is all - ya know? on a different note - I'm Sore! very very very very sore. it's a good sore though - haven't been sore from a workout in a long time so at least i know it worked something.


despite the soreness i did the second video tonight - cardio party. i managed to do most of it - the rest of the time i just shook and wriggled and waved my hands in the air like a moron because i could not keep up with their moves! they had the advantage of being on a slick wood floor whereas i was on not-slick carpet - making some of those position changes near impossible without dislocating a knee joint. but i feel good and that's what counts. luckily tomorrow is a rest day - i'm not excited about how sore i'll be tomorrow. especially when i sit all day and then stand - painful painful painful. makes me wish i had one of these - i heard about them on NPR today. too bad they cost so much - work would never go for it. sorry - acess denied.

all the young dudes.....

today was pretty gosh darned good. gosh darned good indeed....


i don't think i mentioned it but i started weight watchers today. my co-worker started it as well and she told me how many points i could eat and my mother (who only signed up for the online version) lent me her login info so that i could use the point calculator. i think this will help me get the proper amount of food. i was never really overeating but rather not getting enough - causing me to be tired and in no mood to exercise like i should. so it's going well so far! i even did the elliptical and the first dvd workout of The Firm (my mom got this for herself and me for christmas). If you have the money - i recommend it! it comes with a series of weights (pink ones!) and 5 dvds that you rotate (so you don't get bored). i was really impressed with it and feel like i got a really good workout (55 minutes!) so yeah - worth the money (in my opinion).


so yeah - all of that has put in a great mood. i feel good. :)


oh - here are some pictures of the kitties from this evening. we learned that albus could really care less if you stick stuffed animals on his back and that minerva is a table scrap begger.

oh - the title 'all the young dudes' is a song on the juno soundtrack - it was playing when i signed into my blog. it's strange - i was listening to it a lot the day that i found out about heath ledger and now it's just tied to him. everytime i hear it i think of him and so it has a bittersweet mood to it now. hmmm...

nap time!

yes - company is gone and it's now nap time!


that isn't to say that i didn't enjoy the company - i loved having megan and carter here (and nathan and mandy)! but like i said - i'm a champion late sleeper and chris and his sis are not. we had a good day though - got up early to meet nathan and mandy over in mpls for breakfast. (the place we ate - i found out the barista's make more than i do by almost an entire dollar - wtf?) after that we did a lil bit of shopping - bad idea when it is absolutely fucking cold! seriously - we walked less than a block and my face was in severe pain! ow! one of the places we stopped was robot love - where mandy works. i'm addicted to those darned zipper pulls and keychains. argh. i suppose there are worse things i could be addicted to though, right?


alright - sorry to cut this short but i'm very sleepy and my bed is calling me......

A Good Day

today was a good day. really good.


it started out rather early (well - early for a self confirmed champion late sleeper). i got up to attend Stich & Bitch :) chris came over to my place and together we drove over holly's. i had a fantastic time! aside from the book club meeting this was only the second time i've hung out with chris and i really enjoyed it (we should do it again soon okay :))! there were a few other ladies there as well - all scrapbookers (you'll have to come next time kelly!). pete (holly's husband - who so kindly made us lunch) was there along with her daughter claire - so incredibly adorable! we just chatted and crafted and before i knew it it was about 2:30 (it started at 10)! so we headed out and plan do it again in about a month. thanks holly!


while i was there chris, megan and carter did some running around. the science museum and the fire station (megan got a super cute picture of chris and carter that i'm waiting for her to send).



when i got home we just sort of hung out. we were all kind of tired and fell alseep to The Polar Express (carters favorite movie - we only watched 3 times so far - ay yi yi! :)). afterwards mandy and nathan came over for dinner (i love chipotle). we watched carter to the most hillarious "butt" dance ever - times like that make me wish i had my video camera permanately strapped around my neck.....
right now megan is attempting to put him to sleep. she's been trying to do it for the past hour i think :) carter is 3 and the people and excitement and being away from home have turned him into - well - a 3 year old. he's had little fits all day long 'no! don't talk to me ever kitty! (he actually said that to minerva). megan is embarrased and keeps saying he's never acted like this - i just laugh. you can laugh when they aren't yours. (right? :)) right now he's coming up with every single excuse in the book to not have to go to bed. i can't blame him - i once pretended to sleep walk :)
once she does get him down we're going to watch The Shining. we started it last night but fell asleep right before it got scary. so we're starting it over tonight (chris has never seen it!). so there ya go.....a play by play of my day. how was yours?

TTLIFF!

that translates to - Thank The Lord It's Finally Friday! (tgif seemed rather dull...)


i'm seriously so happy that the weekend is here! not the work was stressful or anything but who doesn't prefer two days off over going to work? that and i have some plans for the weekend :) tomorrow chris and i are going to a 'stitch & bitch' at holly's house. (not my chris - a friend chris) i'm really excited - i've been wanting to get a group of gals together to do this since i moved down here. (i miss our knitting nights carrie!) perhaps i'll host a few sessions at my place as i know of a few co-workers who are also interested.....


as for tonight chris's (my chris) sister megan and her son carter are coming over. in fact (since i started this blog right before they arrived) they are here now! megan is attempting to put carter to sleep. she put him down in my room but i'm worried that albus hid under the bed. albus and minvera are not the biggest fan of small beings. i'm sure - given time - that they would be. it just takes them time. albus* hated chris for about a week when they first arrived. so yeah - they are here and will be for the weekend. unfortunately megan has a bit of a cold so her and i might just chill while chris takes carter out and about tomorrow...we'll see....

we just got done watching peter pan. i bought a copy before christmas when i saw it was out. but they remastered it. i really really prefer the hand drawn charm of the older version - anyone know of how i can get an old - non-remastered - copy on dvd?

alright - i think carter is asleep. megan and i are going to watch 'the shining.' i've never seen it and she says i have to :)

*i was watching ellen today (of cours) and she was talking about her pets. her cat liked to sleep up my her head and she attributed this to the fact that he was part abyssinian and those breeds were more dog like. i was intrigued becuase i and a lot of other people have said that albus is more dog like. he isn't a lap cat but constantly has to be at your side and walking along with you wherever you go. he plays fetch (i'm not kidding - he will walk back with whatever you throw - he prefers balled of socks - and trot back to you and drop them in your hand). and he has to sleep at my head. i did some researching and it also mentioned the fact that abyssinian's can have defects that cause them to groom themselves compulsively - leaving bald spots. albus does not do this but he does obsessivley lick any and all surfaces he comes in contact with. his favorites are skin (he will lick you and lick you and lick you - i swear if you let him he'd like a layer off....) - he's always licking my legs, and plastic bags. he will not stop licking plastic bags. ay yi yi! minerva is the same way about the skin thing. they're weird. but at least now i may know why...

uh oh - carter is up! gotta go.....

also introducing..........

KELLY'S BABY

BOY!!!

that's right ladies and gents - It's a Boy! :)

To Kelly:

seeing these pictures is just unreal to me. I know it should make it more real but...kelly - you are growing another human being inside of you! i just - wow. that is the most astounding and amazing process to me!

i know that you are going to be an absolutely fantastic mother! that little boy is going to have more scrapbooks dedicated to him than anyone i know! and i know you were kinda hoping for a girl (i think all woman kinda do) a boy is going to be fantastic - like molly said - they are extremely devoted to their mama's (and younger siblings - not that your thinking about more at this point in time :))

i'm really just so excited and happy and thrilled for you! always know that you have a strong circle of friends and family that are going to support you no matter what! Good times and stressful times - we'll be there for you! Need a nap? Pickles and Ice-Cream? Call me and I'll come over :)

I love ya with all my heart! :)

Introducing Lieutenant Christopher!

Chris has been made a Lieutenant at the Fire Department!!


He's been one for over a month now (since the New Year) but his swearing-in ceremony was tonight and so I waited to post about it until now. Here's how that went.....You may remember the post from his first swearing-in ceremony (as a firefighter). The ceremony itself went great - the pictures on the other hand...the ones that took were blurry and as soon as I got about two the camera died on me! I was bummed - he looks so handsome in a uniform (and out of one - wait - that sounds bad....)


Tonight I came prepared. I brought not one but two cameras! I arrived there early and no one was there. Eventually Chris and a few fellow firefighters showed up and we realized the ceremony started an hour later! Not a big deal except for the fact that Chris was on call starting at the same time (meaning he had to have his pager on and if a call came in he had to leave that instant). Everything was going fine - except for the fact that one camera died on me! I checked the batteries before leaving too! (I think the camera might be broke...) I still had one though and it worked. We sat down and the ceremony began. Chris and some others were the very last part of the ceremony. Literally as soon as the announcer walked up the podium to call them down Chris's pager went off! Out he ran. Kind of a bummer but understandable of course. I thought I'd get a few pictures of the remaining guys anyhow and turned on the camera only to find that it had died on me as well! Seriously....


As I sat there though I noticed the Public Safety banner located on the stage. On it were a collage of photographs - and low and behold one of them was from Chris's first swearing-in ceremony! And here it is :) So at least I have one good one (even if he did close his eyes :))

Holy Cluster((bleep)) !!

wow. i was worried i wouldn't be able to find the caucus sight - ha! turns out i just had to follow the mile+ line of cars ahead of me. traffic was backed up onto the freeway and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r! at least 30 minutes from the time i actually got on the exit ramp till i managed to find a parking space. so yeah - wow.
it was incredibly cool - although i was bummed that i did not see one Clinton poster but about 8 million Obama ones. i do not dislike Obama by any means but i just love Clinton. really really want her to win....
i'm glad i went. it was great to see so many people and feel the excitement and the energy. and i'm really excited to see the results - in fact when i'm done posting i'm gonna go plop myself down on the couch and watch a bunch of different news channels while i knit :)


did you caucus? if so - how did it go? had you done it before?

VOTE! CAUCUS!

i urge you all to go and vote/caucus (depending on your state)!

a lot of people are fed up with the whole voting process - but you cannot make changes if you don't give it a go - so please please please DO!

if you live in MN you can go to this site and find your caucus location :)



(i write this in earnest partly becuase i want people to vote no matter what your prefence and partly out of selfishness for Clinton. a co-worker who is very very republican just told me she was going to vote for obama just to prevent clinton from winning! sigh....)

Donkey Style in '08

(did i really just type donkey style? i apologize.....)



here at the home of m&w we vote democratic - even the pets (even if it's against their will....minerva is secretley a very conservative right wing republican - hence her head shake of 'NO!' at having to wear the shirt in the picture below)


i'm not saying that i'll always vote democratic persay - but the state of things right now leaves me no choice. not that i've ever voted republican - but the party itself is not really evil. bush has wacked it out of proportion and in my opinion basically created his own party of Bushies. i'm sure you all know one or two or a few.....


anyhow - i don't feel like digging around in that muck. i told you i'd tell you the story behind that picture from yesterday's post and i shall....


during the last election i signed up to volunteer with the democratic party. almost as soon as i got home from doing so they called me and asked if i had access to an suv. i didn't by my parents did - so they asked me if i'd be willing to pick up cate edwards from the airport. sure! i picked her and her assistant man (forget his actual job title) up and took them out to grab a bite to eat. as we ate they went over last minute poll findinds, statistics for the state of mn - etc. we talked about politics and how crazy their lives had become. half the time they had no clue where they were at.
afterwards i drove them to a press conference and then off to their hotel. the next day i watched her introduce her father at a rally held at UMD. and while i didn't get to meet her farther personnally i did get to shake his hand. all in all it was a pretty cool experience :)


perhaps i should sign up again this year and maybe i'll pick up chelsea?






p.s. i know how extremely mean i am for dressing my pets up. i never mean to really but then i see things (like the above shirt) and just can't help myself. i should also mention that i got one of the last democratic shirts - there were a TON of republican ones left. but perhaps that just means republicans are nicer pet owners......

Edwards

this would be with john edwards daughter (and my ex). i'll tell you the story tomorrow. for now i must get some shut eye.

g'night

saturdays = ...............

saturdays =


shit - i woke up too late - but not shit becuase i finally got to sleep in....


crap - i need to exercise badly but have zero energy and zero willpower and would rather stare at the t.v. and be depressed about the state of humanity based on 'bret michael's - rock of love'


okay - getting motivated. paid rent (well - dropped of chris's check for rent). paid cable bill. charged ipod. must start to clean............




i love weekends but often find that without concrete deadlines i'm worthless. when i know i have the whole day to do things - they probably won't get done. i'll wait until the last minute and then start to panick that i didn't get anything done. sigh....
so starting now (even though - yes - it is 1pm - better late than never, right?) i'm going to clean. must clean. if time is left over i'll exercise. then i must finish hat orders. ipod is charged up and ready to go....

do not touch me. ever.

meet minerva. the world's most un-cuddley cat. ever.


sure she's cute. she'll even pretend that she likes you. she'll meow and meow like she's absolutely starving for some attention - until you go to pet her and the above happens. she's never bitten or scratched anyone but wow can she growl. deep guttural growls of rage. she hates being touched - especially near her head. she'll tolerate petting on her back - and once in a blue moon she'll like it. but don't try and pick her up. she braces her paws against your chest and pulls her head back like your the the most disgusting thing to ever come into her line of vision. sigh.....

in other news.....

today is february 1st. i made it through an entire month of blog 365 without a snag. in fact - i posted 48 times! something tells me i shouldn't brag about this fact as it probably just helps clarify the fact that i have no life.

today is also the day i'm supposed to get my measurements done. and to celebrate this joyous occasion kristin is coming over to eat pizza and drink with me. perhaps i should do the measurements first.......

oh - one more note in the 'cheeseball' story. when he didn't show up my supervisor and i drafted an e-mail explaining that we would like to set up a new time...etc etc. she (my supervisor) made a passing comment in jest about the way things are going 'over there' and that they probably let him go on monday morning. well....turns out they did. oops! who knows what is going to happen now....

alright. kristin should be here any minute. she wanted to watch 'willow' but it's on vhs and our vcr doesn't work. that and i was traumatized as a child when i was taken to see it in the theater. my dad (or mom - can't remember) had to come and pick me up becuase i started crying and was so scared when they sent that baby down the river in the leaf basket. i thought he would die. funny how i got scared at that but not when my babysitter took me to see the gremlins (might have been becuase she put my sun jacket over my head. then there was that time when i saw 'teen wolf' in the theater. i ducked down behind the seats whenever he started to transform. i'm getting sidetracked...but while on the subject - what movies scared you as a child?

one more thing - any of you sprint users out there? i just got that new phone and for some reason it picks up my phone calls without my ever touching/answering the phone. it doesn't even ring. i'll just be sitting there and all the sudden the white noise of the speaker phone comes on. the outer screen says it's a call - but no ring - just picks up the call. i can hear the other person breathing (while they wait for an answer i guess) but they can't hear me unless i pick it up and open it. very strange......