the perfectionist receptionist

5. Home Again...Home Again...

2010-04-09T14:15:00.002-05:00

today is the day!

chris is finally done with the training for his new job and he'll be home to stay in just a few hours!

wahoo!!

4. No Reason

2010-04-06T10:59:00.003-05:00

yesterday was an uber crabby day. UBER.

everything pissed me off. things that should not piss a person off (at least as much as it pissed me off). i wanted to punch someone in the face.

then i remembered that i had a deep jet bathtub at home. i took a bubble bath and everything seemed right again.

i woke up this morning and walked on the treadmill in my new sneakers while watching reba (i know it's not the best show but i like her and at 6am what else is on?). today was going to be a good day!

until the copier pissed me off 10 minutes after i got to work. downhill from there. i just want to go home and crawl back into bed (which since i haven't blogged in forever i have to brag about - new king size tempurpedic bed. a-w-e-s-o-m-e!)

ugh. perhaps all this is due to an impending visitors arrival later this week...

3. Arm. Eating. Off.

2010-04-02T15:36:00.002-05:00

i'm about ready to eat my arm off. and this last hour and a half is d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g by.

thank goodness dinner is planned and i don't have to cook it. we're going out for thai. i heart peanut sauce.

2. Key Lime

2010-03-30T12:04:00.001-05:00

i've been trying to eat healthy lately - very hard considering i work in a tax office during tax season (fridge full of soda - candy and chips everywhere).

i bought some fiber one key lime yogurt the other day (straying from my normal yoplait cherry or strawberry) and i must say it was super tasty!

1. I'm Back!

2010-03-29T15:36:00.003-05:00

after much debating i've decided to come back to this blog.

i've tried a few other blogs but i just can't come up with a better name than the one i've got here so....

i changed the layout a bit (used to be black) so some of the previous posts may be hard to see becuase i'd made the text white or yellow. when i have time i'll change them but for now if you're that interested in them you'll just have to do some highlighting :)

that's all for now. must get back to work - being a receptionist is pretty demanding!

New Blog

2008-06-21T12:24:00.004-05:00

i've taken a cue from molly and decided it's time for a new blog....

i still might post here occasionally so keep checkin' - but in the meantime i've moved here :)

More Dress Shopping!

2008-06-11T19:49:00.003-05:00

that's right - more dress shopping! below i posted pictures of the gowns i'm really torn between - opinions?

ha! kidding. kidding.....

although that bottom one is tempting.....(kidding. again.)

my mom is on her way down to visit as i type. she managed to get tomorrow and friday off of work and both days will be filled with dress shopping! (i also managed to fanagle leaving my 12pm each day! although i do wonder how they'll be able to manage without me doing my crossword puzzle book at the front desk.....)

i am very excited! i went shopping this past weekend with a co-worker of mine (she volunteered to my surrogate mother for all wedding related needs and i took her up on it :)) and think i may have found the one. so i called my mom right away and she's on her way!

alright - that is all that is going on in my neck of the woods. i'm off to play some cribbage with my sweetie until mom gets here :) more later!

Oy....

2008-06-08T22:28:00.003-05:00

so.....

i hope this doesn't turn into a complainy blog....that is not my intent. i just feel like i have a massive pit in my stomach. you know that kind of feeling where...how do you even describe it...like you're homesick, have a massive paper due tomorrow but haven't started it, sick, miserable, sad...all at once - pit. ugh.

i don't want to go to work tomorrow.

i've been looking for a new job. receptionist. something above receptionist. something history related. i even looked into going back to school for my masters and found not one of the programs is offered in mn. i've applied to at least 15 jobs - no one is hiring - and have not recieved one call for an interview. i'm at a loss....

any suggestions?

FINALLY!!!

2008-06-06T18:12:00.000-05:00

the week is finally over and chris will be here any minute now! Wahoo! :)

Wedding Dress Fever!

2008-06-04T22:14:00.003-05:00

i have it. wedding. dress. fever.

i went up to duluth this past weekend and tried on three dresses with my mother. i thought it was really rather awkward - all the under garments - the weight of the dresses - wearing something that fancy! it was still fun though....

when i got back home i looked up a few local wedding shops and put them on a list to check out. tuesday night i found myself in one of them - alone - having a blast! i tried on a ton of dresses and put a few on my favorites list. then today i went to another shop and made a list of dresses i wanted to try on there and then made an appointment for tomorrow (they closed at six tonight and i didn't get there until quarter after 5).

so....tomorrow i'm having my bridesmaid kristin tag along with me to try on more dresses and have her give some feedback. oh - and on top of that i made an appointment with yet another shop for this saturday afternoon. unfortunately the friend i wanted to bring will be unavailable so it looks as though i'm going it alone.....but that's okay. i'll narrow down the selection and then when my mom comes down we can possibly pick the one!

one more thing - on the way back from the shop tonight i had to stop by the jewelry store and see how my ring was coming along. he showed me the stones and they looked beautiful! he said the ring should be ready by the end of next week! Eeeee!

the girl who once shunned fancy jewels and big weddings has now turned into the shiny sparkly princess....

i thought i was immune to wedding fever - turns out i was oh-so-wrong!

p.s. i would have included a few pictures of some dresses i like but i don't want chris to have any idea what i'll be wearing :) if you're curious just e-mail me and i'll send ya the pics :)

Hee Hee....

2008-06-03T21:40:00.003-05:00

a few weeks ago chris and i went to willmar and it was there that i met his friend dave, his wife staci and their children. staci found me on facebook and remembered that i'd asked her to send me any and all photos she had of chris as i want to incorporate them into the wedding. this is one of 3 that she has sent me so far - i love it! (luckily he's in canada this week and won't see that i've posted this until he gets home :)) and if you're wondering who that other handsome gent is - it's the best man bryan :)

a new low....

2008-06-02T18:40:00.002-05:00

as you may have gathered i am in the market for a new job. one that i don't loathe with all of my being. i'd settle for mild hate at this point....

i complained that my job description (given to me 10 months after i was hired) said that a GED was preferred but not required. i thought that was bad until i read this.....

(this was taken from a realtors website - they are need of a receptionist)
"Knowledge, skill and mental development equivalent to the completion of high school."

what?

Love You

2008-06-01T23:17:00.002-05:00

just thought i'd say i love you!

i was going to blog....but....

2008-05-27T21:27:00.003-05:00

......i'm super super (yyyaaaawwwwnnnnn) super sleepy and must hurry along to.....zzzzzzzzz.......

can we say BORED?

2008-05-23T22:43:00.003-05:00

third post today? yes - i'm bored.

i was just dinking around on facebook and saw that you can add a wedding box application - something more to distract myself with from the things i should be doing :)

if you have facebook and read this let me know - if you don't you should. mindless fun shall be had by all! :)

and with that i'm done posting today. i think sleep is in order....

Story of the Ring (Part 1)

2008-05-23T21:08:00.005-05:00

as you probably saw from my 'we're engaged!' post - this is the ring. my beautiful red plastic adjustable ring. i was thrilled to wear it - even if it did confuse people and prompt them to constantly ask me 'where's the diamond??'

even when the ring started leaving a ring of rust on my skin and chris started asking me if i wanted a 'real' ring - i was still in love with it. after a few weeks though i started to reconsider. i knew the plastic one probably wouldn't last the whole year - and while i had been against an engagement ring to start with it was fun having something on your finger to play with and show to people. but what kind of ring?

i knew from the get-go i couldn't go with a diamond. a girl in an anthropology course i took did a lecture on the diamond industry (years before the movie 'blood diamonds' came out) and how it was basically the mafia - i've been morally against them ever since. that and the fact that some people go into SO much debt over a rock...ay yi yi! now i don't mean to diss on those who have diamonds. i have many good friends that have them and respect their choices - i just knew it wasn't for me. so i started searching. i liked the idea of a pearl - very pretty but not something i could wear everyday. so then i started looking around online at antique rings. i didn't plan to buy one online (who knows what kinds of scams there are!) but just wanted to get some ideas....and i discovered white topaz!

same look as a diamond but practically dirt cheap in comparison! chris and i went to one of the big chain jewelry stores (even though their commercials make us throw up a bit in our mouths) just to see if they even had them. no they did not. end of story. i then went to a local jeweler and asked them if they carried any white topaz rings - they said no but immediately followed that with a 'but we would be happy to order the stone for you and customize it!' very nice!

i browsed around and saw a beautiful diamond ring that i (guiltily) loved. it was a round solitaire with little chippy diamonds all around it - all in a white gold setting with a very thin band. perfect! two days later i brought chris in to show him and we asked the jeweler if he could do that setting but with white topaz - he said that he could although he'd have to enlarge it a teensy bit since he couldn't cut the white topaz into such small chips. fine with me! so the ring i'll be getting will look like an almost $5,000 dollar ring but will have only cost an immensely tiny fraction! in fact - the main cost is the white gold and the custom order - the stone itself is very inexpensive. which will be nice if anything every happens to it - which it shouldn't. it's an 8 on the hardness scale and i'm not doing a ton of hard work with my hands (hello - i don't do any work, remember?)

this is an idea of what the ring will look like - although i'll definitely be posting pictures as soon as i get it (about 3 weeks)

so there ya have it - the story of the ring - part 1. i do feel slightly guilty after having gone on to chris about not wanting a ring and then getting one custom made. even more so i feel guilty about perpetuating the whole gotta have a diamond thing. even though i know it's not one people will think it is - i'll just have to advertise it as the great alternative!

deep down though i'm super excited to wear this ring - IT'S SHINY!

oh! i forgot - the first ring - i mentioned how we were pretty sure it wouldn't survive a whole year? well...it broke today! as i was gathering up my bags to leave work it snagged on something and popped right off! needless to say i was super bummed (it was the cherry on top of my already shit-tastic day)! but i found the red rose and plan on super gluing it back on. i'm always gonna keep it even if it's not always on my ring finger :)

Exhale......

2008-05-23T19:13:00.008-05:00

this has been my attitude as of late. well...not everything sucks - just the job. but when you spend the majority of your waking hours at that job it does start to seem like everything.

i'm very frustrated. i'm tired of feeling like this. i feel like there is no job out there that i'll be happy at. i seriously feel like i'd hate anything short of being a tour guide (can't find that job) or working in a yarn store or cute knick knack store (fun but pointless and no benefits or good pay). everything out there seems to have that big corporate cloud looming over it and i am so sick to death of corporate bullshit.

seriously - i'm sick to my stomach over it. the company i work for has no fucking clue about anything. since day one i've been responsible for answering questions about a company i don't even fucking work for! and let me tell you (in case you missed it) - i'm sick of it. i answer ZERO questions about the company i work for. ZERO. i hate it. and i can't really even answer the questions becuase i have yet to get an updated phone list from that other company. not that it matters - the customer service number for that company - i constantly get complaints about how they never answer their phones, return calls or plain just don't help! seriously!

and you know what - i no longer care. i've made it a well known fact that i'm looking for another job. i've made it a well known fact that i am not happy having a guard breathe down my neck all fucking day. does anyone notice? care? no - let's just keep on giving michelle mindless tasks! if i'd known i'd be doing shit like this i'd have dropped out of school in the 5th grade. christ!

ugh...sorry. EXHALE....michelle...EXHALE......

i've been looking for another job. i even got called for an interview but couldn't get it as they were only conducting the interviews 8am-5pm (i could make it there at 5) and i can't take time off. i was pretty sick awhile back and so used up those days. i also used up my doctor time as i went ahead and scheduled them all for one day. i also actually like my boss and didn't want to leave her hanging as she's been swamped as it is (not that having me gone would mean shit as there is a guard at my desk.....). so yeah - finding a job when you have one is damn near impossible. if it weren't for the fact that i actually like having a savings account i'd quite now.

the whole point of this darned blog was to point out that i was reading a Dolce's blog - she is going through something similar with her job. her friend gave her some good words of advice 'i'm way better than the stress i put myself under working here'. so true. so true.

so with that i'm attempting to exhale. attempting to relax and rejoice in the fact that i have a three day weekend. enjoy the fact that i have the worlds greatest fiance, a great family, terrific friends, wonderful in-laws to be (who all still manage to like me despite the crap i spew out in this blog and language i use in doing so...)

exhale.......

seriously....

2008-05-22T07:25:00.004-05:00

the one day i actually get myself out of bed early to exercise...the one day where i actually need to shower becuase i'm all sweaty.....NO HOT WATER! not even luke-warm! ICE COLD!

i'm just now regaining feeling in my fingers after washing my hair in the freakin' sink (and still not managing to get all the shampoo out!)

as soon as that apartment office opens.......argh! i know in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal but seriously..the one day i get up and exercise and i can't even shower.......

and now i'm off to a job i loathe......Happy Thursday!

a first (among many to come i'm sure...)

2008-05-20T21:52:00.004-05:00

chris and i just got back from a little trip to Target (oh who am i kidding - no trip to Target is ever little) and it was there that i bought my first 3 bridal magazines. a martha stewart one, a knot one for minnesota and another minnesota bride one. i can't wait to look at them tomorrow - hopefully they'll keep my spirits up at work - and get some good ideas :)

and now for my inner squeal of delight.......

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Ladies and Gents...Boys and Girls....

2008-05-20T17:58:00.003-05:00

...i would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you my........

Fiance!!!!

(how do you do the little accent marks...)

that's right - we're ENGAGED!!! he actually proposed on April 21st (kelly's wedding anniversary) but we wanted to tell our parents and people we wanted to have in the wedding party in person...and well...this past weekend we accomplished that so now I can shout it out all i want! :)

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

i'll post more details and pictures as the days pass but for now i'll stick with the proposal. in case you didn't know...i talked about getting married....a lot. i didn't mean to persay but once i started it just never stopped. i tried too - fearing that i would scare him away - but nope - just kept right on yacking....sigh....

i asked him many times if it bothered him that i talked about it so much and he always insisted that it did not. one of the things i made clear in all of my babbling was the fact that i did not want a diamond engagement ring - or any engagement ring for that matter. i did say that if we happened to find a cute little nonsense ring that struck our fancy it'd be fun to have that - but nothing fancy. so one day we were out putzing around and i saw this little plastic red rose ring - i loved it! i told him that i'd wear that as an engagement ring - he bought it! this of course excited me to no end as i now knew that a proposal had to be coming - and two days later it did!

we both knew that the proposal wouldn't be a huge suprise (me and my big mouth garaunteed that!) so we were just hanging out on the couch and he causally asks if i'd like to marry him. thinking that he was just teasing (cause it's happened before...) i said yes in a mocking sort of way. then he took my hands and looked me right in the eye and said 'no, i'm serious - will you marry me?' at this point i'm confused and wondering how far he'll take this cruel little tease. i then realize he's not kidding and start to cry. it took me awhile to actually say 'yes' as i kept asking him if he was sure..sure that all my babbling didn't pressure him. etc. etc. etc. he was sure :)

unfortunately none of the pictures we took that night really turned out. i was crying and ended up looking like ass - while he looked adorable as usual :) so the above are the most showable - the rest will remain on my computer for private viewing only :) below is a picture of the ring i took while out on a walk a week later - the same day we went to the Festival of Nations - which is where the first picture came from :)

WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!

ack....

2008-05-16T21:19:00.001-05:00

for some reason blogger is saying that my last post 'low high level' published but when i go to view my blog it doesn't exist unless you click on 'may' in the sidebar. so...if it's not showing for you than try clicking there.....

wierd. perhaps it's just a small hiccup.

low to high to level......

2008-05-16T20:26:00.004-05:00

oh dear god how i love this cartoon...i mean love it.

as you might have guessed it's been 'one of those days' - no...no...one of those weeks!
if you read my blog you may have gathered that i don't have my dream job. i tried to find the blog where i described what i actually do and can't find it (perhaps due to the fact that i have eight million four hundred sixty five thousand labels....must work on that...along with the other eight million four hundred sixty four thousand things i should work on...). since i can't find it i'll do a recap for those of you not familiar....

there are two parts to the place i work. separate companies under the same umbrella logo. the receptionist position i now occupy was once under the control of Part A. Part A said 'we don't need this anymore' and eliminated it. Part B said 'well we can't just have people wandering in off the streets! we'll fill it.'
enter me.
i was basically hired to make sure people didn't wander in who didn't belong. problem was - a lot of people came in and all of those people had questions about Part A. since i don't work for Part A i had no clue how to answer their questions and looked like a dumbass. (update: i just - as in the past month - got a list of people i'm supposed to direct these Part A seekers too - problem is Part A recently had layoffs and so the list is now out of date. it will probably be a year before i receive an updated copy).
after a few weeks of reading books (for my pleasure - not work related) i got my first task. birthday cards! since that time i've been given other important and vital tasks like folding t-shirts. tying ribbon** and stuffing thousands of envelopes. i also have a shitload of 'me-time' to reflect on all the hard work i put into college. all that money that was spent. all so that i could have a job where they would prefer you have a GED. prefer - but not required. (this was stated in the job description i got two months ago....)
oh - forgot to mention the fact that there is a guard in the building. he used to leave shortly after i arrived at work and would arrive again when i left for the day. due a number of complications and fuck-ups that i don't have time to and don't care to elaborate on - Part A screwed a whole lot of stuff up and due to that the guard is now sitting in my tiny work area with me all frackin' day. two feet behind me. granted - the morning guard i like. he's cool. the afternoon guards....oh god. one was so large that there is no way in hell he could have 'secured' anything. he had trouble walking! (nevermind the fact that i don't think he bathed). granted he was only there one day but this is the kind of stuff i might get stuck with. starting monday i'm going to be sitting with some new mystery guard i have yet to meet. so help me god - if he's anything like fat man i will run away screaming and never come back...(you may think i'm joking - i'm not.)

so yes - as you can see the one small purpose of my job - stopping wanderers has now been rendered pointless seeing as how i have a guard breathing down my neck. i use absolutely no brain power at my job and as much as i thought i liked it or even tolerated it - i'm losing my fucking mind. these past two weeks - since the guard has been posted there all day - have been so extremely stressful. at first i thought i might get laid off - hello - who would not recognize the fact that i do nothing. you pay me to do nothing. can we say 'waste of money?'
ah but no. rather than let me go let's give me more pointless tasks. Re-enter ** - the ribbons. I was given the task of tying ribbon onto 72 books. i was then supposed to curl the ribbon into a cute bow. it looked nice - fine whatever. then i had to put them back into the box they came in. so i spent time tying and curling ribbon so they can get smashed flat and look like crap. seriously - they look like ass and they're giving them away to people. i mentioned that maybe we should try a different ribbon - that wouldn't curl and get smashed. but no - they want to get rid of all the curly ribbon and don't care it smashes. awesome - so basically you're telling what a waste of time my task is. great. fantastic. super!

ACK! Sorry - what i meant to be a short blog has turned into a monstrous rant but jesus lord almighty heaven hell and gumdrops - i'm losing my mind! i'm trying to find another job but you it's so hard to do that when you have a job already. no time to take off to interview. wtf!

so...that is why i was so stressed coming into work today that my hands were shaking. i hated being there that much. ugh.

but....lunch came along and my mood improved. for two reasons. one of them i'm keeping secret for now. the other...well...the other....is......(see below)

for those of you who do not recognize this band - it's The Raconteurs. jack white is in that band. for those of you who don't know - i love jack white. love him. i could go on but we don't need another ramble. the short and sweet of it is that they will be playing a concert here coming up in august. i cannot tell you how extremely happy this made me! not to mention that i just looked it up on a whim and found out tickets go on sale monday morning! can we say perfect timing? i so needed this and it turned to rest of my day - ribbon tying and all - into a smiling non-hand-shaking happy day.

so there ya go. started out on an extreme low. moved to a high. now i'm level. neither good nor bad. steady as she goes.....

that last bit was a raconteurs bit...you should really check them out!

stupid *%$#@&.....

2008-05-13T20:30:00.002-05:00

today i worked on being calm. not getting all pissed off at the hordes of moronic people that i encounter. it was going pretty gosh darn good. i even began to exercise! i got one round on the treadmill complete and ran upstairs to throw the clothes from the washer into the dryer. i realized that i had left my card in the machine but was relieved to see it was still there. i hauled the clothes to the dryer and stuck my card in. ERR. what? stuck it in again. ERR. wtf? seriously...chris just put money on it this morning. ERR. perhaps leaving in the machine fucked it up. or perhaps the person who started their laundry after switched cards - the one i have now doesn't look like our old one...but i could be wrong. i'm going with the latter version of events since i'm cynical and would rather blame someone else for having an entire basket full of wet clothes and absolutely no place to hang them that isn't covered in cat hair.

p.s. i asked two people that i encountered in the hallway if i could borrow their card for a load and give them money tomorrow. they said that don't use the machines here. bullshit. so i suppose it's just me. oh - and that lady who decides to do eight hundred loads of laundry in one night. or the lady who finds it necessary to take one item (i shit you not..including one sock) shake it out - walk it over the dryer and put it in. she repeats this process for every single article in her washer - not caring that you're standing there waiting for the machine....

soundtracks...

2008-05-08T21:43:00.003-05:00

for some reason i decided to listen to 'the last kiss' soundtrack today. haven't listened to it in a really long time. there was a period - during late summer and early fall of 2006 when i listened to it a lot. listening to it tonight brought me back to that time in my life and everything that was going on. i then proceeded to sit and read through a bunch of e-mails from that time period. i had intended to come home and clean as i am hosting a book club meeting this saturday and my apartment is in no way ready to have guests...but alas i find myself sitting in front of the computer...it's 9:49pm...i'm still listening to the soundtrack and have yet to start cleaning.

Sunshine?

2008-05-05T21:41:00.004-05:00

sunshine has been lacking here in the northland. the beginning of may came with lots of grey skies and rain mixed with snow. oh joy! sunday finally brought the sun out and along with it chris and i.

love it!

2008-04-27T13:57:00.003-05:00

i was running some errands today and discovered this store - Patina.

if you live in the twin cities check it out. or you can shop online - i've linked it above and on my sidebar under the 'like to shop?'. i could spend a lot more time in there than i already have and also a ton more money.....

if only....

2008-04-25T17:10:00.002-05:00

i could say this to some people.......

Still Here!

2008-04-24T07:43:00.002-05:00

just wanted to let ya'll know that i'm still here and still tickin' - i've been really busy though so i'll try and post something soon :)

FINALLY!

2008-04-13T12:26:00.004-05:00

I CAN BREATHE!!!!!!!!!

when chris went to pick up dinner last night he brought me some Afrin nasal spray - he said it had always worked for him. i was a bit hesitant - spraying something up a nose that wouldn't let oxygn pass hardly seemed like a solution. that and spraying anything up my nose has never really appealed to me. but i did it. it was really cold and uncomfortable at first but then....then.....HEAVEN! pure bliss. the gateways to heaven opened and i could breathe! it was - just like the cartoon* above says - more awesome than i could have ever imagined!

still feel like crap - but hey - i can breathe!

*i've posted a number of these cartoons and just found out there are from this lady :)

it had to be said again....

2008-04-12T19:02:00.002-05:00

i know i posted this picture less than 8 hours ago but it has to be posted again - becuase it's doubley true. i can't breathe and it's pissing me off!

i went to target. i got tylenol rapid release gels - multi cold symptom. i got just a plain nasal decongestant. i took both. notta. nothing. zilch. zero. zip. jack shit. i would give anything - i would smile just to have a queasy stomach. jump for joy over my period woes. sing praises to the heavens above for this craptastic cough i have. just please please please please let me frickin' breathe through my nose!

i'm going to go take more meds. then i'm going to write both med companies and tell them what i think of their products and where they can shove them. hmph.

one more thing....

2008-04-12T12:38:00.004-05:00

i've been meaning to post this link...so.....

my friend carrie makes movies. this is the trailer for her latest film 'GOD ROCKS!'. it's is incredibly awesome and i highly suggest that you check it out :)

sorry for the short description but the trip to target has whooped me and i now must return to my post on the couch with my tissues.

that's right.....

2008-04-12T11:18:00.003-05:00

i'm sick.

my week went as follows.......

MONDAY: i wake up to find the room spinning round and round. YAY VERTIGO! (sarcasm...) i throw up. the room continues to spin. i throw up some more. i sleep pretty much the whole day.

TUESDAY: more vertigo! YAY! begin to curse U2 - no one who has ever experienced vertigo would ever write a song about going there. sleep all day.

WEDNESDAY: i go to work. throat hurts. body aches all over - it hurts a lot. as evening falls my temperature rises. i go to bed with cold packs and frozen berry bags on my head.

THURSDAY: i am a moron and go to work. throat hurts. body aches even more - lower back especially. i am boiling hot. i'm freezing. my neck hurts. i can't breathe. i am boiling hot. i get my period - can it get any better??

FRIDAY: screw work. throat hurts. can't talk. can't breathe. can't move neck. lower back still hurts. i have insane cramps. i feel sick. sick. sick. sick.

TODAY: still can't breathe. can't talk. getting an extremely annoying and painful cough. oh..and more cramps. my eyes are also watering constantly. it's freakin' awesome! i should attempt to venture a target trip for a nasal decongestant......

yet another rant....

2008-04-04T17:17:00.004-05:00

that whole theory of natural selection is completely bogus. technology and lawsuits have prevented nature from taking it's course. instead of dying off stupid people are breading en masse - creating more stupid people.

don't believe me? sit with me at my job for a day. sit with kari at her job for a day. stupid people are everywhere and something really needs to be done about it before i completely lose my mind. i've never had much patience and now i'm bordering on having none. hiding that look of disgust is getting harder and harder with each passing day.

Into the Wild

2008-04-03T19:35:00.005-05:00

chris and i watched 'into the wild' this past weekend. chris had wanted to see it since it came out and while i thought it looked good it wasn't something i had to see. so going into it i didn't have any expectations. that said i don't want to talk the movie up here because sometimes that can ruin it - ya know what i mean - someone builds a movie up and then you see it expecting everything and beyond and end up going 'eh.' well, i don't want you to go 'eh.' so instead i'll just leave you with a few pictures.

for those of you who did not know (like me) the story is true. these pictures are of the real chris mccandless. below is a photo shortley before his death - the card he is holding reads "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!"

one more thing - the soundtrack to this movie is fantastic (in my opinion). i bought it for chris's birthday back in december but didn't really listen to it until afterwards when you have all the visual and emotional ties to it. it's great. listen to it :)

strange....

2008-03-28T21:14:00.002-05:00

i just posted about being bored tonight (which is getting better due to the fact that i went and bought myself some wine :)). i posted this a) because it's true and b) without any knowledge of this......

post from one year ago today (which i just discovered - because i'm bored and had nothing else to do but read through some previous posts...)

strange, no?

a sign i need more excitement? yes.

b-o-r-e..................................

2008-03-28T20:33:00.002-05:00

i am extremely bored. extremely. bored.

i'm craving some good conversation. someone who doesn't mind sittin' around in comfy pants with a glass of wine and just chattin'. hmph.

seeing as how it's 8:30 and i doubt i'll find someone i guess i'll go to the store and grab some wine for myself. that knitting project will turn out beautiful! ha :)

did you have to point it out?

2008-03-27T21:11:00.004-05:00

i'll be the first to admit that my work wardrobe is not exciting. since i gained back the weight i lost i wear pretty much 3 skirts and 3 pair of pants (but mainly the skirts) on a rotating basis. i have a few shirts and cardigans that i also rotate. they aren't flashy - they're earth toney. for the most part i could care less - my desk is so high that people walking in can only see my head anyhow. i have more clothes but i just can't fit into them right now and i don't want to spend money that i don't even have on clothes that i don't want fitting me right now....

that said....

i did not need to hear a (male) co-worker say 'YAY! New shirt!' to me today when i walked by. for one - i've worn the shirt i wore today plenty of times. for two - you wear fucking scrubs and [name of employment] t-shirts every day - like you're one to comment on wardrobe ya doorknob!

i know it shouldn't but it kind of hurt my feelings. i know i don't have big variety but i think i look nice. and who cares if i don't have a big selection? as long as they are clean - i mean i work on a floor were everyone else is in scrubs - pish.

he should have known better.......

ticK. toCK. tICK. TOCK. TICK TOCK!

2008-03-26T19:04:00.003-05:00

it's getting very loud........

i'm making and buying baby items left and right for friends. everywhere i turn it's showers. baby yarn. baby clothes. baby pictures. pregnant woman. babies. sigh.....

*don't worry mom - i'll get married first. i promise :)

Issue Resolved. Sort of.....

2008-03-26T18:53:00.003-05:00

i got home to find another e-mail from itunes. i think i forgot the mention that this whole time they weren't even sending the e-mails to me. they were sending them to 'girl-with-same-name-as-me-minus-that-first-initial(at)gmail.com! luckily this girl was able to see the mistake and was kind enough to foward them to me! (she's now thinking about boycotting iTunes as well...)

anyhow - the latest e-mail said that i was not charged and they were sorry they could not help me. i checked my bank account and low and behold the charges had disapeared. so who knows what the fuck happened - but it's over. i'm still rather upset with iTunes and probably won't use them for awhile. perhaps when their tech support decides to get an actual phone number. perhaps when they decide to grow brains. perhaps.....

i have the angry marge picture above because i'm still rather upset with automated answering services in general. they suck.

iCrap update

2008-03-25T17:21:00.003-05:00

wow. i kind of hate iTunes right now.

i tried to do it their way - solve the problem via e-mail. the only problem was that it wouldn't let me send the e-mail without an order number and hello - you didn't give me an order number you crap heads. instead you charged me for a cd 3x and put no record of the purchase attempt in my purchase history so.....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! i then proceeded to call Apple tech support - just for the sake of getting a human being. i tried not to be angry on the phone as it wasn't this poor woman's fault. i did a good job considering she kept me on the phone - most of it on hold - for 40 fucking minutes! then i got transferred to some guy in India who asked me what problem i was having with my iPhone! iPhone!?!?! so - i explained the situation again and he told me just to put 'na' in the order number space. gee - thank you! it only wasted 40 minutes of my day....

so - i sent the e-mail to them (explaing everything and why i didn't have an order number) only to come home and find an e-mail in my mailbox from iTunes saying that they would love to help me with my problem but that i forgot to include my order number and that for them to proceed they would need that. WTF?

i wrote back AGAIN and stated about 3 times why i did not have an order number. how many times does it take for them to understand this?? evidently a lot as when i came home they said that they showed no record of my purchase. that i should contact my bank about these charges. that perhaps the charge needed to be authorized before i would get my purhase. WHAT?

for crap's sake iTunes - you fucking charged me 3x for a CD that i did not recieve. i'm sorry that it didn't show up in my purchase history but it clearly showed up on my bank account. i highly doubt that my bank is going to deauthorize it - especially considering it's TCF and they also suck. perhaps iTunes should actually get an actual phone number.

ugh. i'm p-i-s-s-e-d off.....just in case you missed that part.

Pet Diaries

2008-03-25T17:13:00.003-05:00

DOG DIARY :

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wag ged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY:

Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fedhash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearlydemonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.
The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.
The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with theguards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he issafe..... for now...

(i got this today via e-mail from my mother. it's so true!)

Letter To My Face

2008-03-24T22:05:00.003-05:00

Dear Face,

I won't beat around the bush - I'll just come right out and ask it. Why do you hate me?

We had a rather lovely relationship during my adolescent years. Sure - we had a few arguements but for the most part it was smooth sailing. Other kids my age were battling pimples and zits up the ying-yang - but you were good to me. Now that I'm in my 20's though - the tides have turned. Those little arguements have turned into full on battles. Why?

The least you could do is show your anger on my forehead - I have bangs now - it wouldn't be a big deal. But instead you choose the area around my mouth. It hurts. And worst of all - this past week you gave me one in my nose. What could I have done to warrant such pain?

Hmph. I'll wait for your response. I hope we can patch things up. I'm tired of looking like a 14 year old. I hope you understand.

Sincerely yours,

Michelle

Great Minds....

2008-03-23T19:33:00.004-05:00

...think alike....

how else would you explain the fact that chris and i not only got each other matching Easter baskets but also pooping animal keychains!? that's right, animal keychains that poop (candy). you've probably seen them around and wondered to yourself 'who would spend money on such a thing' and well - now you know :) (i got him the cow and he got me the chicken)

HAPPY EASTER

suckity suck suck suck.....

2008-03-22T14:15:00.004-05:00

that's right. suckity fuck sucking suck.

i was trying to be a sweetheart and purchase a cd via itunes for chris's easter basket. i've never ever had a problem doing this before. this time though - the cd didn't download. i tried again. nothing. i tried again (3rd times a charm, right?). notta. the cd did not download. it was not there. but when i checked my bank account itunes had kindly charged me for it 3 times!

how to fix this?! try to fix a mistake like this with itunes and see how far you get. not only are you pissed that you have $30 bucks missing from your account (and when you poor it's a big deal) but you realize there is no phone number for tech support! all itunes support is done online. bullshit. there was nothing there to help me. i called the sales support number and finally got a human being. he told me that he showed no purches on my account. i told him that i realize that but it doesn't change the fact that i was charged by itunes 3 times! he told me he would e-mail the problem to itunes and hopefully i would get an answer in about 24 hours.

gee. thanks! that is was so convienent! so easy! so considerate! in the meantime i'm out 30 fucking bucks and have no cd to give chris. and exactly what am i supposed to do, if in 24 hours, no one fucking contacts me?

itunes technical support - you suck. you suck BIG TIME. piss on you.

just sniff my area.....

2008-03-18T23:28:00.003-05:00

not that area ya perves (vija - i'm talking directly to you!).....*

i woke up to find this outside - it was beautiful!

unfortunately i had to go to work in it. i'd much rather have stayed home and had a snow day with chris. but alas i had to go to work. birthday cards needed to be written out. orders needed to be crocheted.....

i've been rather absent from the blogging world. i mean to blog every night. i've actually had things to blog about (well - not big things. not exciting things. just things). exciting quotes to pass along - like 'it just doesn't feel like holy week' (perhaps you had to be there....). and now that i finally find myself sitting down to blog i realize it's a quarter to midnight and that i should really be brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed. the teeth need to be brushed. i made the mistake of buying a bag of bubblegum eggs and have managed to go through most of the bag. not a really great idea for a poor person with bad teeth.....

so......

and of course my mind goes blank. of course!

i should go to bed. i promise to return soon. in the meantime here are things i might blog about in the near future - things to look forward to. things like trips to the vet's. my job (i know you're dying to hear me complain some more, right?). friends. my amazing boyfriend. oh - and my completely awesome playlist. check it out. the songs rock. a lot.

*the other day (yesterday to be exact) i smelled urine. it was disgusting. chris brought me lunch at work. we sat down to eat with darrah and vija. i smelled urine. it was so strong i could hardly eat. i didn't want to say anything at first. then vija noticed me sniffing around and looked at me like i was crazy so i explained which only continued to get me crazy looks as i was the only one who could smell it. it wasn't me. i don't know. i moved to a new table and tried to convince vija to sniff my area (as in the area i'd been sitting in). she did and didn't smell it. hmph. i've heard of people smelling burnt hair before a stroke - maybe i had a mini stroke and smelled urine. this is pointless. i'm going to bed......

oh. dear. god.

2008-03-11T22:00:00.003-05:00

i haven't blogged for awhile. i meant to do the blog 365 - i really did. but then one missed blog turned into 3. by the time i got around to back blogging i forgot what i'd even done. i couldn't even come up with any bullshit. ah well - it's just blogging. it's sort of a strange thing when you think about it i guess.....

so, where shall i begin. i'm sure you're all just dying to hear about all the exciting going-ons in my life, aren't you? how about we start with today. it was great. and by great i mean boring, dull and thoroughly embarrassing....

today i went to work. i don't even want to complain about it anymore (but that won't stop me i'm sure...). i've said i like my co-workers (i feel the need to emphasize this...). i think it's me. i start to come up on that year mark and panic. well - not panic. but something - not sure what. i'm scared that one day i'll wake up years from now and realize that for the past however many years i've gotten up and done the same thing every day. sat in the same chair for 8 hours every day. accomplished nothing.

i came home from work yesterday and felt nothing. it wasn't depressing. it wasn't annoying. it was nothing. i felt void. i felt like nothing. luckily i came home feeling like this to see chris. i love him so much! together we make that nothing a something. it makes me feel whole. it makes me smile and giggle.

the one thing that is slightly depressing is not having a damned clue what i do want to do. i used to feel a passion for history. i wanted to preserve it. i wanted to share it with others. i lost that somewhere along the way. perhaps it's the perfectionist in me. i realized one day how so many people were so much more accomplished than i was. they knew more. they did more. they had more motivation. more charm. and rather and try harder i gave up. i don't know what i want to be anymore. i don't want to keep chipping away at my soul anymore through corporate america though. it's eating me. i just cannot stand the fact that i sit in a chair and do nothing for 8 hours a day. i could be making things at home. exercising. learning how to cook. doing something....else...

you want to know my secret wish? i wish that being a receptionist was considered a good job. i wish that i were married. i wish that i were a stay at home mother. i wish my biggest problem was deciding what to make for dinner. i wish i could wear those cute dresses and vacuum in heels. i probably just made a lot of woman roll over in the graves but who cares. that's my (no longer) secret wish. think what you may.

i'll leave you with that. for now i'm going to go empty the dishwasher. then i'm going to tell chris about my night (which is what i mean to post but got sidetracked). perhaps i'll post more tomorrow. perhaps not. i think i'll leave the blog 365 tag just the same. the picture and statement kinda fit me....a lot.

another addiction...

2008-03-04T22:19:00.002-06:00

yes. another addiction. knitting/crocheting books. it started out with those handy little stitch guides for $3 at joann's. then chris's mom bought me a felting book. then i bought a few small baby books at michael's. last week chris took me to a 1/2 priced book store - bad idea. well - not bad really - i got $75 dollars worth of books for $25. bad in that i want to keep going back to these stores and buying more!

at the moment i'm really into the 'hand knits for the home.' it's got a lot of nice patterns - and ones that will incorporate the sewing machine that chris got me for christmas :) i've got a lot of projects on my plate right now - a lady at work just ordered about 11 scarf/collar type garments for her choir group and she wants them done by april! that's good though - i like to be busy doing something i love!

and speaking of which - i'm going to back and knit some before it's time for bed. i'm also going to be watch the campaign coverage (fingers crossed!!)

i LOVE the beatles

2008-03-03T18:01:00.000-06:00

the weight loss challange ended today. i lost nothing (and gained nothing - which i guess is good in a way). the girl who won lost 4 pounds. 4 pounds! it's kinda sad that we had this challange going from september until now and the most any of us lost was 4 pounds - and she was already skinny to begin with! ah well. i've lost some inches and still have hope. i want to lose the weight by june. i want to enjoy my summer - perhaps even wear a swimsuit...in public (and not just in fron the mirror and getting depressed...)

on a brighter note - a coworker of mine got back from his two week long vacation to vegas. when he told me he was going i told him that he had to see LOVE for me. he didn't go to the show but he did bring my back this awesome t-shirt! he also said i didn't owe him a thing (since i made him a hat for nothing awhile back - my first hat ever). so that was incredibly cool and it brightened my day a ton :)

and other than that - it was a monday. chris and i are about to go watch the second half of the first LOTR movies. i remember not wanting to see the first one - i hated (or thought i did) anything having to do with sci-fi/fantasy. i ended up loving them though. :)

today was good

2008-03-01T22:02:00.000-06:00

today was really good. i didn't do a damned thing.

well, i did - but not the things i normally think/feel i should be doing. usually i feel the need to exercise, clean - do something that everyone generally views as productive. when i normally attempt these things though i never feel satisfied. i didn't enough exercising. i didn't do enough cleaning. etc. etc. so today i woke up early (9am is early for me on a saturday when chris works) and had ice-cream for breakfast. then i read my book for book club for awhile. then i took out my fancy yarn and knitted for a few hours while listening to my ipod (although i eventually had to turn it off when i found out that my brain could not sing along and count at the same time and i ended up having to take out 2 complete rows - i despise reverse knitting). i did attempt some cleaning - but it was because i wanted to and not because i felt i had to. i didn't get very far but i was pleased.

when chris got home we ran a few errands and got some pad thai for dinner (this after we just talked about how we should not eat out so much). then we watched the tele. i knitted. he called his mother. we played some cribbage. and now we're going to bed. we don't go to bed this early on weekdays!

why i love friday

2008-02-29T18:50:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-02-28T21:48:00.004-06:00

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

2008-02-24T14:33:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-02-23T23:12:00.000-06:00

..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

2008-02-22T23:45:00.001-06:00

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

2008-02-21T21:15:00.005-06:00

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

2008-02-20T20:07:00.003-06:00

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....

2008-02-19T20:15:00.004-06:00

...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)

2008-02-18T20:39:00.000-06:00

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.

2008-02-17T21:27:00.002-06:00

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....

2008-02-16T23:14:00.003-06:00

(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!

2008-02-16T22:09:00.007-06:00

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!

2008-02-15T22:40:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-14T22:17:00.005-06:00

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

2008-02-14T19:39:00.005-06:00

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

2008-02-13T17:28:00.001-06:00

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.

2008-02-12T19:38:00.000-06:00

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.....

2008-02-11T22:13:00.001-06:00

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!

2008-02-10T15:06:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-09T22:17:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-02-08T18:29:00.000-06:00

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..........

2008-02-07T17:55:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-02-06T22:06:00.000-06:00

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)) !!

2008-02-05T20:33:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-02-05T11:51:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-04T22:15:00.000-06:00

(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

2008-02-03T23:04:00.000-06:00

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 = ...............

2008-02-02T13:06:00.000-06:00

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.

2008-02-01T17:19:00.001-06:00

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......

new favorite

2008-01-31T22:38:00.000-06:00

check out the song 'gotta have you' by the weepies on my playlist. it's my new favorite.....

Nude

2008-01-31T21:52:00.000-06:00

no...not that kind of nude ya perv.......sheesh.....

i mean nude as in no-make-up. zero. zilch. notta.

it's something i've thought about many times before - going without make-up. this last time i decided to do something about it. give it up - for an entire month. i even got a co-worker to do it with me (the only difference being that she gets it sit up and away in her cubicle whereas i'm greeting everyone that walks in the door....)

i don't wear a lot of make-up to begin with. eyeliner. mascara. and blush (oh lord how i'll miss my blush stick!) no foundation - the thought of caking something onto my face like that bothers me. i went through the powder faze in highschool - when it was cool to have your compact with you at all times. now i can't stand it. so - i'm not giving it up becuase i think it hogs up too much of my time. i just think it's time that we (women) start thinking of ourselves as naturally beautiful. i don't think there is anything wrong with make-up persay but for some women it is truely a crutch. they will not - unless possibly in need of urgent medical attention - leave the house without it. ever. why is this? do they truely believe that they are ugly without it?

i admit - there are times when i wake up and think - oh hell no - not walking out the door like this. but i want to get over that. that's why i'm doing this - so that by the end up of the month perhaps i'll think i look better without it. i'm happy that darrah (hi!) is doing this with me. she was so concerned and when she came in this morning she looked exactly the same as when she was wearing make-up (minus the sparkle of eyeshadow on her eyes). she looked beautiful!

i'll admit that it was not fun to look in the mirror and see the bareness of my eyes - but i liked it anyhow. and any dislike was quickly outweighed by the fact that i could rub my eyes! think about it - everyone gets that little tickle in their eye at some point during the day. instead of having to carfully not mess up the eyeliner (etc) you can just rub away. it's very liberating! so - feel free to join me if you want. post some self portraits of yourself (mine were taken with my camera phone - hence the quality) and see how your perceptions change over the course of the month.

oh - had to include a picture of the finished hat! i started on one of the orders today :) if you want one let me know :)

cats out....

2008-01-30T22:29:00.000-06:00

love this picture

saw this picture on this blog - check it out. i'll post more political stuff tomorrow. i meant to tonight and forgot. and dammit - it's way past 10 - must get to bed........

big white - still missing (!)

2008-01-30T21:36:00.000-06:00

big. white. spider! is still missing (!)

chris humored me by looking for the ick as soon as he got home. he even dug out his headlight. i thought it was incredibly cute and sweet :) even minerva joined him in the search. unfortunately the spider is still missing. ah well. i managed to fall asleep just fine......

in other news......

that guy that was supposed to come in and observe me yesterday (the cheeseball who promised to bring me supplies to hand out to patrons along with the phone numbers. the cheeseball who also promised to update this supply box weekly...) - yeah - he didn't show up. didn't call. didn't e-mail. and in doing so proved my point. he's a flake. not that i wanted him to come in the first place but at least it would have been done and over with. now i get to wonder if and when he'll show up. the whole thing is rather dumb - people do not appreciate trapsing into the building expecting a live person only to be handed a number. i can be as sweet as punch but it doesn't cover the fact that they pretty much left me hanging and it's not appreciated......

something more positive? i finished chris's hat. well - all except for the poof ball (or pom-pom - but i prefer poof ball). i had made some finishing touches and had taken the hat to the bathroom to see how it looked in the mirror. while there i ran into a co-worker and she loved it! she asked me to make one for her :) then - as i was leaving - i got another order from her daughter! wahoo! i went to the yarn store right after work and picked up the supplies :)

oh - i was listening to the radio and heard that the John Beargrease marathon had been won (congrats Jason Barron!). i did some peeking around and realized that the team i got pictures of (see the 'fennel toothpaste' post) - ryan anderson's - came in 3rd place :) so congrats to him as well! i was reading and he - along with his brother and sister-in-law have 100 dogs that they've raised since puppies! that's a lot...wow.....

alright. the clock is ticking. i want to get up and walk before work (the weight loss challange ends in a month!) and i told myself i'd only do so if i got into bed by 10. so i'm late - but if i hurry i can think i can pull it off :)

night!

the big white.....

2008-01-29T22:29:00.000-06:00

ahhhhhhhhhh......sleeeeeep.......

this is my bed (sorry...our bed - aren't the sheets he bought me just so cute?). tonight i took a glorious nap in it. not a care in the world. then i decided to change the sheets before chris got home since we were too sleepy to do so last night. that's when i saw it.....

the big

white

SPIDER!

yes. you heard me. big. white. spider. i'm gently fluffing down the top sheet when i see it scuttle across the bed (on my side) and over the edge. i run over to try and snatch it up with a tissue but it was gone. gone on my side of the bed! i called chris to inform him that i'm not stepping foot into the room until he gets home and finds the ick. if he doesn't....well...i may be sleeping on the couch. or just not sleeping.

over reaction you say? you go to sleep with a big white spider mia on your side of the bed then. ((::shivers::))

Le Sigh.....

2008-01-29T10:46:00.000-06:00

today is one of those days....

one of those days where you feel sick but not sick enough to call in. one of those days where the thought of dealing with people ((cough::morons::cough)) seems painful.

one of those days where the e-mails i recieved with the below quotes made me chuckle :)

(e-mail from Kelly)
"Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or hump it...piss on it and walk away"

(e-mail from Vija)
"I don't mind coming to work, but this eight hours of waiting to go home is just bullshit"

i should get back to work. i actually have a lot of stuff to keep me occupied. mainly becuase i have someone coming to sit with me this afternoon. i mentioned in the 'loose lips' blog that i was given a list of phone numbers to hand out to people coming in with various work related questions. the guy who gave me that list is coming in to sit with me for about 2.5 hours today to 'make sure it's going smoothly.' ugh. this man has the personality of used car lot salesman. cheesy. one of those guys. i'd really rather not have him sit in the chair behind me like a lurk while i do busy work. i hope to god he doesn't try to make idle chit-chat. and let's mention the fact that the amount of people coming in (to whom i'll hand out those phone numbers) varies from day to day. one day i could have 30 people come in. the next day 2. today it'll probably be 0. he'll go report to his boss that 'everything is just fine' when it's not. argh.
stupid corporate america hoo-ha. ugh.

Fennel Toothpaste

2008-01-28T20:48:00.001-06:00

yes. fennel toothpaste. quite possibly the nastiest thing i've ever heard of.....

but enough of that. like i said - we had a great weekend. even though we got an extremely late start (arriving in duluth at 4pm) it was still a great time. i'm really glad i finally got to meet don and anita - we tried to hatch a solid plan to get chris back up there in a few years :) having them and carrie and steve - why...we'd have friends! (at least friends that in live in the same city or thereabouts) plus don mentioned having game night with drinks - love him already :)

wow - it's already 9pm! chris just finished making dinner (we got a late start tonight. going to the grocery store evidently also meant going shopping at the gap and ae - not that i'm complaining. seeing their cute stuff inspired me to hop on that ellipitical when we got home) so i'm gonna scidaddle and eat. i'll leave you with some (okay...a lot) of pictures from the weekend.

enjoy!

when i grow up....

2008-01-28T11:12:00.000-06:00

You Should Be a Social Worker

You are deeply caring and empathetic.

You are able to take on other people's problems as if they were your own.

Sensitive and intuitive, you understand human emotions well.

Helping others gives you the most joy in life. You feel like it's your purpose in life.

You do best when you:

- Have a lot of responsibility

- Greatly impact someone's life with your work

You would also be a good philanthropist or stay at home parent.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Habanero Beer

2008-01-27T23:48:00.000-06:00

that's right. habanero beer. mmmmmmmm......sort of.....

chris and i had dinner last night at Hell's Kitchen with his friends Don and Anita. the menu was pretty decent (great sweet potato fries!) and the drink selection was great. don and chris were curious about the spicy beer and asked for a sample. it was good. not hot - just a hint of pepper at the back of the throat. don went with guiness while chris ordered a pint of the special stuff. yeah. the sample was more than enough. once you start drinking a pint it gets to be a little much....

after dinner we headed out to dublin's to play pool. i think that's the first time we've been "out" with another couple in...well..let's just say a looooooong time! it was fun though. i had a great time and look forward to seeing them again (hopefully) soon :) carrie and steve met us for a drink as well. it was great to see them but the new parents were a wee bit tuckered (can't imagine why....) and turned in early. we turned in not too long after - getting old sure is a bitch....

today we headed down to see the start of the 25th Annual John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. i remember going to see this once in highschool but this time it was better. i was closer and we had a camera (i'll post the pictures tomorrow). i love seeing all the dogs in their little footies :)

later we headed over to see carrie and the baby. i just got to sit and hold the little one for about 2 hours and it was wonderful! (tick tock tick tock) it was times like that i really miss living in duluth (well - i miss it every time we go up for a visit...). being able to just go over and say hi and hang out. plus now with the baby - i could just go over and sit and hold her all the time....

alright - i'll post more about the weekend tomorrow. right now it's late. i'm tired. we're tired. it's sleepy time..........

just in cases......

2008-01-26T11:22:00.000-06:00

chris i should be in duluth as i type this. but....we are the king and queen of late starts. well...i suppose if left to his own devices chris would always be on time. me on the other hand? i'm hard to get up in the mornings.....

anyhow. as i write this we still have yet to shower, wrap, pack, and get out the door. perhaps i should be working on one of those instead of blog blog blogging (as chris calls anything i do on the computer).

later gators.....

Hmmm...

2008-01-25T20:52:00.000-06:00

saw this in a friend's blog and gave it a go...

What's Your Best Quality? Your Result: Personality Your best quality is your personality! People like you because you are an all around good person. You have good manners and values. You also like to express your personal style and interests.
Loving
Out-Going
Intelligence
Sense of Humor
Ambitious
What's" Your Best Quality? Take'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Take More Quizzes

Loose Lips

2008-01-25T20:23:00.000-06:00

ah friday. how i love thee.....

today was good. my stuffy snotty leaky-faucet-of-a-nose is finally clearing up. (wahoo!) and (as sexy as it may seem) i'm sure chris will appreciate being able to kiss me without having a kleenex protruding out of my nostril.

at work a few new developments occured. the girl to whom i normally send all work related inquires up to is being transferred to a new location (or fired - not sure which). this means that i will now have to deal with all the people (aka morons) coming in the door. i know what you're thinking - shouldn't i be doing this anyhow - i am the receptionist after all. well....it's complicated. i'm a sort-of receptionist. a poser. i didn't even get a performance review because there is no job description for my position. in the words of my boss 'what am i supposed to critique you on? how many hats and scarves you've made?' so yeah. a guy came in and gave me a list of numbers to give people coming in. we'll see how it goes.....

after work i got my bangs trimmed. i went to a new place. as much as i love the $5 bang trim the other place offered i was not willing to risk 'poofy-claw-bangs' again. (i swear - they whip those thinning shears and go to town before you've even had time to open your mouth in protest!) so i shelled out a bit more but am really happy. in fact - this is the best bang trim i've gotten thus far. it has a certain bit of funk. i like it. and i got the eyebrows waxed. thank god - they were getting scary...

and now i think i'll return to the couch and try to finish chris's hat. we're going to duluth tomorrow and it'd be nice if he had it to wear. i've gotten a lot done in just the little bit of time i worked on it at work.

oh....the juno soundtrack. first of all - if you have not seen this movie. do so. very good. i wish i had been like that in highschool. not pregnant - just spunky. but the soundtrack! i am self proclaimed movie soundtrack addict. love them. in fact - 5 seconds into the movie i turned to chris and told him i wanted the soundtrack. and you know what - he bought it for me! a suprise :) (i really don't think he has any imperfections...) i love it. love it. i have the song 'loose lips' stuck in my head as i write...

okay. off to the knitting.

Too Cute :)

2008-01-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

minerva decided to plop herself down beside me while i crocheted. she conked out nose first into the couch :)

Owwie!

2008-01-24T15:27:00.000-06:00

i just got back from the dentist. my mouth hurts.

this appointment was to set in place my permanent crown. when i sat down they told me that they don't do novacaine. (uhhh...excuse moi? pass that by me again?) i told them that i would prefer to have it and so they gave it to me. perhaps it was out of spite at having asked for it or perhaps his aim was off but the the area they worked on did not get numb. instead - the entire right side of my tongue is beyond numb as are the right halves of my lips. but not the tooth area. nope. not at all. felt everything they did. still do. and it hurts :(

not only that but my nose is raw. that hurts too. hmph.

oh - update on the previous post. i stupidly decided the finish the hat at work. i knew i should have waited until i got home where i wouldn't be distracted and in such a rush (to finish it before i left for the dentist). and i paid for it. the hat is..well...too big. granted chris has yet to try it on but yeah. too big. i'll wait to make a final judgment until he gets home but i think i may end up having to start it over. ah well - practice makes perfect, right?

and that's all for now. i'm going to change into comfy clothes and rest. i'm stuffed up and sore and feel like doing nothing :)

I can Knit!

2008-01-23T21:13:00.000-06:00

chris wanted me to make him a hat.

he picked out some yarn. the yarn just happened to match the scarf that mandy made him for christmas last year. the scarf that she knitted. because i am slightly ocd i decided that the hat must be knitted so as to match the scarf. so we picked out a pattern....

the pattern called for 5 needles! 5! i decided to brave it though. unfortunately i got the wrong size dpn (double pointed needles) and the yarn i had was too thick for it. so i ended up finding another pattern that started from the bottom up and gave me time to go get the correct size dpn. after some help from D (resident volunteer greeter / knitter) and some other co-workers the hat is lookin' pretty gosh darn good. the tricky part was learning the dpn method (which i'll have to use tomorrow when i finish up the top of the hat) and also learning how to attatch the other ear flap....

i must say that i'm rather impressed with myself after having only knitted one (horrific) baby blanket and one scarf. so there ya go Carrie - your teaching me how to knit has not gone to waste :)

ain't he just so cute?

sad....

2008-01-22T20:25:00.000-06:00

just heard about this and it made me sad......

Snot

2008-01-22T17:15:00.001-06:00

being sick stinks

whoa....

2008-01-21T21:59:00.000-06:00

i had a whole laundry list of things to blog about. that was before we sat down to watch the kingdom. it scared the shit out of me. and as a result the laundry list seems rather whiny and pathetic.

a small post it shall be. if you haven't seen this movie i would put it on your list. that's my opinion.

Book Club

2008-01-20T16:50:00.000-06:00

today was my first ever book club! and while we didn't spend much time discussing the the actual book (the year of yes by maria dahvana headley - a book i still have to actually finish) it was still a great time :)

i miss having that 'girl time.' just sitting around and chatting about anything and everything. nibbling on snacks. having a drink. it's very relaxing and in my opinion needs to happen more often! (stop by any time ladies - especially you Chris - we live close together :)) i got to see kelly who i have not seen since my birthday (the day she found out she was pregnant!)! it was a little depressing to see that her pregnant belly is still smaller than my non-pregnant belly....but i'm working on it. i'm so excited for her though - and can't wait to make a ton of fun baby related things :) speaking of - molly brought along two books full of great knitted toys. hopefully one day i'll be able to make them. right now i'm trying to attempt the knitting with 4 needles thing and it's seems entirely too complicated..but i know i can master it.

alright. that is all. i am currently suffering from severe stomach cramps. yes - i know you were all dying to know that :) i had cramps in my dreams last night. kind of the like when you have to pee in your sleep and you keep dreaming that you have to pee but can't? anyone? (maybe that's just me). so i woke up and took 2 midol (which had never worked for me before so i took advil then a friend gave me a midol and it worked like a miracle so i started taking it. now it sucks again). nothing. i took another. nothing. but for some reason i woke up an hour later feeling really sick - like i'd over medicated. 6 hours later i took another. still notta. well - the cramps are better but i just feel plain sick. bleck.
so yeah - i'm gonna go lay down........

i could use some adderall....

2008-01-19T13:25:00.000-06:00

seriously.

i got up this morning and worked out right away. yay! then - due to the fact that is it currently butt-fucking-cold (what would you call 15 below?) outside i had planned to sit around all day in comfy pj's and try and finish the last of the christmas presents. good idea, right?

i had to go in the 2nd bedroom to get the supplies. that's where it started to go downhill. the room is a mess. i promised chris i'd clean it a long time ago. so i set aside the crafting and decided to clean. but i can't focus. there is just too much stuff!
i tried sorting things into piles. books here. cd's here. pictures here. etc. not working. there isn't even enough room to make piles! i have so many things that need a shelf - a place to display it. we have just one bookshelf. it's driving me nuts. i cannot put this all away when i have nowhere to put it! i'm sick to fuck of having it all stuffed away in boxes. why have it? argh! i find something and think oh this would look great in this room - but oh yeah - i'll have to set it on the floor becuase we have no shelves!

sorry. you know when you're brain just feels like it's going to explode becuase it cannot process more than one thing for 2 seconds at a time? the room needs to be cleaned. don't have a place to put it. the christmas presents need to get finished but i feel guilty just sitting on my ass to do it. the kitchen needs to be cleaned. i need to shred a ton of stuff. laundry needs to be done. the litter box needs to be cleaned. bills need to be paid. i should probably eat at some point. perhaps shower. or maybe i should workout some more. i need a storage container for the wrapping paper. tired of looking at that. how is possible that we that many cd's and mine aren't even over here yet? must remember to send thank you notes that are now incredibly late. have to buy stamps before i can do that. must remember to start 401k. and switch banks. and open up an IRA. what is this? i don't remember having this?

now you see why the title is appropiate. i would like some adderall....but i'm not even sure that would help. a magician would be better. or a carpenter - with a charitable frame of mind who desires nothing more than to help me out. yes. that would nice. anyone?

sigh. i litterally just am sitting here staring/thinking about all of the above mentioned and am clueless about where to start. i start one think about another and start that until i'm just spinning and doing nothing.

((whimper))

Hats....

2008-01-18T21:34:00.000-06:00

i would like to knit a hat. a hat for chris. a hat with earflaps.

i have no idea how to do this.

what are double pointed needles?

why must i use four needles (how do you even do that???) instead of just knitting on the round with circular needles?

my brain and eyes are sore from searching the web for answers to these questions and looking at hat patterns. if you have answers - or can find a cute pattern please please pass it along :)

thank you :)

Super Happy

2008-01-18T18:21:00.000-06:00

i want this book.

mandy (chris's sis-in-law) got it for christmas from her hubby and the patterns inside are awesome. so so so cute.

i know i've done a supreme amount of bitching lately about my complete lack of funds but it isn't that expensive. perhaps i could purchase it? but how to justify it......

i could make some cute gifts for people (or sell).

i'll think about it while i go bust by butt. speaking of busting butts the ladies who started this whole weight loss challange brought in the scale to work today. not because we've reached the end of the compitition but to see who exactly our competition is. i have stayed the same (boo! - but on the plus side i'm losing inches which is even better in my opinion. the weight loss will follow). one lady gained 9 pounds! i felt bad for her but inside went 'yes!'. mean? probably -but i could use that $200 and some prize.....

oh - if you any of you have some across cute and unique knitting/croteching books out there let me know :)