A Dillon christmas....

So Dad came to visit for 10 days. In on the 20th, out on the 30th. What do we do for 10 days?? I figured he'd want to rest. He did just move himself, you know. After he left at Thanksgiving he flew home and made a mad dash to move 17 years worth of stuff in three weeks to a new house. That included doing last minute repairs to his current house for the new owners (part of the contract...)

You know, nothing in our house is normal... and that includes Christmas. Well, the actual holiday was normal. Christmas Eve, Grandma C's house. Christmas Day, mother-in-law's family's place.... I figured after the actual holidays we'd be lazy, go out to eat, go see movies... that kind of stuff.

Nope.

Now there's been a big debate as to who's idea this was - mine or dad's. I say it was dad's. The man just can't sit still. But to put it in a nutshell - Wednesday through Saturday (he left Sunday morning) we went full throttle home make over, all day, every day.

I'm not kidding.

We tiled the hallway and redid the powder room (which is right off the hallway) which included taking down the wallpaper (hideous!!) , taking out the old sink and vanity, light fixture and toilet, painting the room and installing a tile floor, new: moulding, pedestal sink, mirror, light fixture, toilet and hardware. I still have to paint the hallway and put up new moulding before I'm done. To be "officially" done I have to get a new runner and pretty things for the walls. (I only had a mirror and a table in the hallway before.)

Yep - that's how we spent our Christmas..... I need a vacation from my vacation...

Oh, and we were supposed to tile the kitchen while dad was here too but we ran out of time. The good news is we already bought the tile for the kitchen so now it's just a matter of finding the time to do it...

I'm a terrible DIYer - I always forget to take "before" pics. The vinyl flooring in the hallway and kitchen is the same though - 1980's brown, orange and cream shit... original to the house. Now you know why I had to tile over it. It HAD to go.... The previous owners thought it would be just fine to put up wallpaper of their liking and not mess with the floor.

The wallpaper in the bathroom was a.... well, think pastel Monet impressionistic crap (with the brown, orange and cream vinyl floor....) hung terribly to where I'd sit on the crapper and peel the paper at the seems. (I figured that'd get me a remodel faster... hey, it worked!!)

The wallpaper in the hallway was a light silvery, cream, something... I don't know - something yucky. Also hung terribly. (Note to y'all out there. If you can't hang paper correctly, PAINT!!!) Again, with the brown, orange and cream vinyl floor.

SO.... that's how we spend Christmas.... Any takers on coming to visit next year???

true love

when do you know it's true love?

when he sends you flowers every day?

when he gets you that special "something" you've always wanted?

when you finish each other's sentences?

when he can read what's on your mind?

when he can tell you've had a bad day? when he knows what to do when you've had that bad day?

when you feel secure in his arms, knowing everything will always be fine, so long as you're together?

when, no matter what, you know he'd walk through thick and thin, to do whatever is necessary for you and your relationship?

I know when. When you're sitting on the toilet, in your worst possible moment, crying in pain and he's right there beside you, telling you it's going to be ok, while simultaneously running you a sitz bath so you can make as smooth a transition as possible from toilet to bath. And in the end you know he'll still love you and not think less of you even during one of the most grossest moments you can possibly imagine.

If that's not true love I don't know what is....

Update

Well, I'm home and everything went well. For those of you that I didn't tell, I had surgery on parts that "shall not be named". We'll just leave it at that. I'm on good drugs and trying to mend as fast as possible. Sitting is not comfy so lying is the choice position. Apparently David could only best describe me in the recovery room as "feisty". (he's never been around me when I've had surgery before...) I really wanted to leave - that part I DO remember!!!

David's trying to win the "best home nurse ever" award. He's doing a great job too! He's so cute - always asking if there's anything he can get me, anything I want. I'm getting drinks, food - he's even drawing bathes for me! The medicine makes me dizzy sometimes so he's holding my hand and making sure I'm ok getting off the sofa... you name it, he's on it!

I imagine it's pretty hard to play nurse when you've never been in any type of similar situation to know what is needed/ wanted. And as some of you may know - sometimes it's really hard to tell someone what you want/ need when you feel like shit. Saturday was hard as all day I was nauseated and not feeling so hot. When you're already in that state it's hard to coach someone as to what to do - just the tiniest bit of talking made me want to throw up. But he was good - he was patient and waited on me hand and foot. I didn't get any wet washcloths to forehead or neck - but that's because he didn't know and I was too sick to tell him.
Next time - I'll make a note to tell him for next time.

All the animals know something isn't kosher so they're all over me trying to be helpful in a not-so-helpful way. Generally my days are spent me lying on the sofa with Ries and Jax joining me with Liam and Nikki on the floor beside me. I'd post pictures but that's part of the problem.

The last day I was at work our network went SO screwy that my computer wouldn't even work when I popped it out of my dockking station (ditto with the boss too). Needless to say we aren't too happy with the IT guy. And don't go taking up for the IT guy... trust me. this is not the first time, or the second, or the third.... Right now I'm blogging from the home computer.... and all my pics are on my work computer, etc.... anyway I'm sure you can picture me on the sofa wrapped up in a Clemson fleece blanket looking all pathetic, with a cat curled up behind my knees and one curled up in in front of my chest (or at my feet, depending on his mood).

The local friends have been great! I've gotten spaghetti with homemade meatballs (Thanks SP!!!), drunken chocolate dipped strawberries (injected with liqueur - she said they were ok for me to eat - she should know, she's a physcians asst.) and flowers from the gals at the office - " hope everything came out in the end." - what a bunch of jokesters...

Now as soon as I can start t0 ween myself off some of these drugs I have to do my fiscal 2009 bugdet for work. Can't wait until my boss sees when I try turning that in!! No tellin' what I'm going to try and slip by!! (at least when he says "no" I can always blame it on the drugs!!! : )

I'm still stayin' home tomorrow and Wednesday. Good thing too since we have a good bit of snow outside. I hope I didn't write anything too embarrassing in this entry and I hope it makes sense. I think I almost nodded off to sleep 2 or 3 times while writting this. Oh well. once I'm off the meds I can go back and read this and laugh. I hope....

possible break

I had to have a little bit-o-out-patient surgery today. No big deal but I will be out of commission for about a week. I may or may not get a chance to blog while I recoup. I just wanted to give you a heads up that 1) you might not hear from me for a while OR 2) if you do it might be spiced wwith some drug-induced nonsense. Well, you may or may not be able to tell that apart from my regular nonsense.

See, maybe I just shouldn't have told you and you might not have ever been able to tell the difference.....

OMG!!!

We have been interviewing potential candidates for a to-be-open position at my company for the past two days. That means I've had to wear a suit for the past two days. That means to make my ass look smooth/ keep my ass warm I've been wearing tights.

CONTROL TOP tights.

WHO IN THE HELL INVENTED THESE???

It's a love/ hate relationship to be sure.

I can hardly breathe.
I sure as hell won't be going the bathroom for the next two weeks. (Nothing can digest when you're wearing these, you know.)

But man my ass and thighs look good!!!

Damn these things.

long, long 2 weeks....

Sorry for the delay folks. I've been on a business trip in Orlando. Now, before you start with the sarcastic comments about me being in Florida let me tell you that I was outside, relaxing, in daylight for a total of 60 minutes. That's right, a whole hour. And in all honesty it was dusk.

The rest of the time I was working.... with a full on-set case of viral bronchitis. Except all week I didn't know it was bronchitis... I just knew that I felt like shit, my head felt like it was filled with wet cement, my nose was dripping stuff that wasn't clear (I'll spare you the details) and I was constantly hacking up a lung and phlegm. yum. all the while giving presentations, working our booth and, yes, shaking hands and talking to clients.

I had pockets full of kleenex (there goes your trademark down the drain), hand sanitizer and halls all the while hyped up on sudefed and advil (it's all I had). We were at a resort and they didn't have a great selection of drugs at the little store in the lobby. and me being me, was too cheap to pay for a cab to find the closest drug store and buy "real" drugs. Which turned out to be a good call anyway because I'm on Mucinex DM now and it's not doing me much good anyway - which is what the doctor told me to keep doing 'cuz as we all know - antibiotics don't do anything for viruses.

So, I worked 2 weeks straight (worked through the weekend due to the FL thing) so I'm looking forward to this weekend. I think we're decorating the tree tonight. Hopefully I won't hack all over it. If I do I'll be sure to spray it down with Lysol when we're done. ; )

Leave it to a man...

David took the day before Thanksgiving off (because he had to use his vacation.... wish I had that problem...) so I left him a list of things to do to help me get ready for Thanksgiving since we were hosting and I was working Wednesday.

Most of the list consisted of some food prep and little cleaning things the "ladies" don't do. One of the cleaning things was:
- Wipe out the oven and clean the pizza stone - but DON'T run the cleaning cycle because I don't use the oven that much

I came home and David was SO proud of himself for getting most of the things on the list done (and we easily got everything else checked off in a heartbeat) that he was showing me what he got done. He walked over to the oven, open the door and said "yeah, and when I looked in the oven it was mostly just crumbs on the bottom so I just vacuumed it out."

YOU WHAT??!!!!

Yes - ladies and gents. That's how a man's mind works. It was just crummy so he vacuumed it out. It guess it worked and it didn't hurt anything. But it made me laugh. I guess I'm just jealous because I never would of thought of something so easy. And let's face it - the only reason I wanted it wiped out was so when I opened it in front of people they weren't appalled at all the stuff in the bottom. I guess he took care of that....

Ten points for David for getting the job done and ten bonus points for being original (even though he wasn't trying to be.)

not something you hear everyday...

WARNING! This post contains a story that involves the mention of poop. If you have a queasy stomach I recommend you pass on this one.

I walked in from work last night with David standing in the far corner of the dining room/ rowing room, slowly, suspiciously eyeing all around the room.

D: Hon, come over here. Do you smell something?
me: (hesitantly walking over beside him) ew... yeah. smells like shit.
D: (giving me a knowing look) Yeah. Good, so I'm not going crazy.
me: (giving him a "what???" look)
D: so you smell it to. (giving a nod to the room) now try and find it.

Ok, that's odd. Trying to find poop isn't usually part of the problem.

Of course with our menagerie I figured a dog or cat wasn't able to hold it - and just recently, by the smell of it. So I do the obvious first - I start looking at all the openly visible places on the floor.

Nothing. Then I start looking under things.

Rowing machine. Nothing.

China cabinet. Nothing. (dining room and living room are all same big room - currently using living room as dining room - don't judge me.)

Table holding stereo. Nothing. (must have music to erg to!!!)

Erg (aka - rowing maching) cover waded up in corner. Nothing.

Behind matress stacked against wall. (don't judge! no place to put it yet since getting Tempurpedic.) Nothing.

David looks on top of stacked matress. Nothing.

David looks on top of china cabinet. Nothing.

So apparently we have mystery poo somewhere in the dining room. Not good.
1) smells like ass
2) hosting Thanksgiving at our house in a few days

David was able to use his nose to pinpoint a spot on the rug that seemed to be the source of the stink. (husbands are good for something!! : ) He promptly got out the steam cleaner and took care of the issue.

However - that still leaves us wondering - what the hell was it???

We figure one of two things - and this is probably the gross part. However if you have dogs or a kid it probably doesn't rank as too terribly gross in the scheme of things... (I hope...)
1) One of the cats probably did a dog-like butt drag in that area and left a "little extra" on the carpet
2) One of the cats didn't make it to the litter box for whatever reason and Liam, the canine garbage disposal, decided he needed a snack. This is the dog that eats his own vomit and eats rabbit poo like PEZ in the backyard.

I guess we'll never know....

Ah, life with "kids"....

...makes me wonder what else he's eaten off the floor at our house over the years....

Let's welcome Blue Moon

Yet another one of my kooky friends has decided to enter into the blogging world. This time it would be my pole dancing friend SP - from henceforth known as Blue Moon, or BM... or, um... let's just stick to Blue. (hum, didn't think that one through, did she....??)

Let's all welcome Blue! HI!!!!! Go visit her blog "I don't make mistakes, I date them". I've added her link over on the side with all the other crazies.

Where do I begin??

I accidentally had a story-packed weekend... so where do I begin?

Saturday I went with some friends to the "Deck the Halls" Seneca Lake holiday wine tour. For those of you that don't live in NY, Senca Lake is one of the Finger lakes - of the famed "Finger Lakes" wine region. I anticipated having at least one or two stories to tell you about this trip!!! I wasn't let down!!!!

So my friend Yana orchestrated a wine tour 14 of us. During the holiday season they have this "special" thing where you have to buy "special" couples tickets and you go to participating wineries. At your first stop you get a wreath and a cookbook and at each winery you go to they give you an ornament for your wreath and you get "special" tastings paired with a small food sample, etc... all included in the price of the "special" ticket. You get the idea. And to make sure we had proper transport, Yana rented one of those little tour-bus thingies, complete with a driver. It was great!!

Well, we thought it was great until the driver never knew where he was going. This was not Yana's fault, mind you (it was a reputable bus company - but where did they find this guy???) But it kind of takes the fun out of over-indulging when you realize that are responsible for getting you to the next winery, and the next winery, and the next winery, and then home....

oh, by the way- the finger lakes are about an hour from Syracuse. not exactly next door...

Oh, and also, not everyone in our group is a "couple". (they tour kinda descriminates that way, don't they??) but they buddied up because going as a couple is cheaper than buying a "singles" ticket. That was funny in so many ways... but wouldn't be funny to you because you don't know everyone that went, now do you. Anyway....

It just so happened that it was Lisa's bday. (lot's of bday's lately in my circle, isn't there??) Yana and Susanne brought gifts for Lisa to really embarrass her. It worked. The funniest were the "Birthday Bitch" party hat and the "Birthday Girl" sash (think Miss America Pagent) they made her wear. Ok, so she wasn't really diggin' the hat - but she was game on wearing the sash. We made her wear it into every winery.

She got sung to my many strangers. But really? are they still strangers when they sing you happy birthday??), got bought many Redcat shots (local wine shots). Even got it caught on film (much to her dismay) Even SP got in on the action - drawing out her own bday celebrations from earlier this month.














The first winery we go to was Hazlit's - home of Redcat - the most popular wine in the Finger Lakes. The guy pouring behind the counter is dressed at Friar Tuck. It was too much - I had to take a picture. You know me - I had to ask. And the answer was "only a sock".





Then we show up at this winery and find these half drunk (or maybe a bit more than that) frat boys getting hazed. (Or at least that was their story they were stickin' to.) and their crazy shenanegans. who knows. they were just excited to get their picture taken. and even more excited when I told them my blog was read by millions. poor idiots.... they believed me...

I don't think they were drunk... just stupid....












So in the end, on Saturday, fun was had by all.



And I still have Sunday to tell you about!!

I'm married to Ty Pennington II

Check out what my nifty hubby did a few weekends ago.
He done built us some new shed doors. He done a darned spiffy job, if I do say so myself.

Now, that paint job was done on purpose. Don't make me go into the long explaination about pressure treated wood vs. non-pressure treated, etc. take my word for it. That's the way it will stay until spring at which point the unpainted wood will then get a coat of that white stuff and then the whole she-bang will get the appropriate brown that matches the house.

Birthday girls

Recently SP and KL had birthdays. YEAH!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Well, shame on me for not blogging about our little surprise dinner for KL and for me forgetting to snap a few pics of the momentous occasion. In the super-secret-CIA-covert-surprise-birthday-dinner mission I totally forgot to pull out the trusty camera phone. Probably for the better. Any fun captured on a digital contraption would probably had ended us up in Gitmo and our families would have never heard from us again...

So, against my better judgement, to honor KL, I post a picture of JJ.

Well, since SP lives so far away a surprise event was out of the question. Instead it was more of a "we're planning a b-day party for you with food and Jack! what day works best for you??!!"

Yep, it was a fun little evening of food, vanilla cupcakes for SP (can't have chocolate!! oh the HORROR!), chocolate for us, of course, and a fun little game called "Dirty Minds" thanks to KL. Oh and a few beverages - Jack and coke.... Nothing too out of hand - the little event had to take place on a Tuesday and we all (when I say "we", I mean everyone but me.. : )had to drive home...

SP, the b-day girl. Her t-shirt should win a prize...

It says "I don't make mistakes. I date them." That's priceless...

This game is HAR-LARIOUS!! If you havent' played - you should... I think KL found it at Spencers..

You know... I don't think my house is level....

AAHHHHHH!!!!

For those of you that don't know, I don't sleep. Rather, I don't sleep well.


So, go on with your jokes about me being a grandma and going to bed at some insanely early hour but there is a method to my madness. Or some hopefulness to my geriatric-ness. I go to bed early in the hopes that all those hours I spend in bed will total up to some semblance of a "normal" amount of sleep. Because let's face it - I do need more sleep than most, I'll give you that.





So in my never-ending pursuit of blissful sleep the hubby and I finally made the plunge and purchased a TEMPURPEDIC bed. Not some knock-off "memory foam" bed. Nope - we sprung (half-assed pun intended) for the real thing. (I know - you can't tell with the bedspread on... trust me. wanna see the bill???)



get it? half-assed pun... no springs in a tempurpedic... HA! I crack myself up!! : )

Ok - so we haven't gotten around to "doing" this room yet. What you can't see in this picture is the antique armoir on the opposite wall. Really. I know - from this angle it looks all college-student-esque. Well, even from the other angle it looks all college-student-esque, but with an antique armoir in it. But now with the new bed D and I are inspired to finish this room. I'm making a cool headboard - Thanksgiving project. (when I'm done I'm sure HGTV will be knocking at my door to offer me my own show.) And "paint picking" is in the works. So, unlike Wondering Girl, I can't get the equivalent of apartment square footage done in a week, but I'll get it done... eventually....

So - back to the bed. I won't tell you how much we paid for it (I'm almost embarrassed to say) but after sleeping on it last night I CAN tell you that it was WORTH EVERY FREAKIN' PENNY!!! (and that would be a lot of them....) If I didn't actually have to get up and go to work to pay for it I would have stayed in bed ALL DAY!!!!! And I mean it.

I don't usually do product endorsements. (because the whole Veet product review was certainly NOT an endorsement) but let me tell you... this is an endorsement. I slept great and my back didn't bother me AT ALL today (yeah - did I mention I have back issues too??) So -if you're in the market for a new bed, might I suggest a Tempurpedic???

Oh, by the way - skip the Sleep Number bed... a guy I work with got one and said it was a terrible!!! he paid a lot of money for " an expensive air matterss"... just so you know....

Smells like roses

For some unknown reason - and I really mean unknown - Karl the cat is in LOVE with my shoes. No, really. I'm not kidding. No Hollywood stunts here. No hiding catnip in the slippers. As I'm known to say, I shit you not. That cat is crazy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those people that have cheese feet. Fortunately I did NOT get that gene from the rest of my family. I do not have smelly feet, ergo, no smelly shoes. But why in the world would a cat, or any living creature for that matter, want to roll around in shoes even if they do smell semi-fresh????

All I can say is that cat is crazy no matter how you slice it. This, my friends, is not a freak occurance caught on film. Nope. This happens all the time. These happen to be my slippers. But it could be my running shoes, my clogs, you name it. I come home, kick off my shoes under the coffee table, snuggle up on the counch and the next thing I know is I have a crazy Karl (or rather "Krazy Karl", more catchy that way...) rolling all over my shoes, rubbing his whiskers over them and usually settling down, sitting on them. This past summer I caugh him LICKING the FOOTBEDS of my flipflops. That's just gross.

A little bit-o-history

I just renamed the links to my blog friends over on the right hand side of my blog. Previously I had them listed by the title of their blogs. I thought that was too cumbersome and decided to rename them by their nicknames. Just decided that SaraG was deficient in this area. Hopefully we will remedy this soon.

I have noticed I have been getting a few new friends stopping by from other bloggers and from new friends I have been making here in my town.

Welcome!!!

I thought this might be a fun time to take a little trip down memory lane and let y'all know how I might know your friends in this big web of blogdom. It's kinda neat how I had one friend from college who started blogging a few years ago to keep in touch and then I started and then I had two more friends start and now people I don't know have been popping over and saying 'hi'... pretty cool!!!!

This could possibly have the potential to get legthy - and this is supposed to be just a fun little time killer - so I'll try and give you funny little highlights.... and don't you judge me...

MadHatter:
I met MH in high school but we really didn't hang out until college. I believe we went to a few parties together - the details of which are quite fuzzy.... I can tell you that I hooked her up with her husband, MB. The funny story is - I dated MB in high school... and my dad was his football coach.

While MB and I were dating in high school MB drove me home after a date one night, leaned over to kiss me goodnight and in the midst of the kiss, he apparently forgot to put the car in park, his car rolled forward and hit BOTH OF MY PARENT'S CARS that were parked in the driveway at the same time. Luckily there was no damage.

Fast forward several years to MH and MB wedding... I was a bridesmaid in the wedding. really!! : ) and after the wedding I finally 'fessed up to my parents about MB hitting their cars that fateful night in high school.... we still laugh about it...

and then there was the time in high school when MB and I were on a school trip to Europe.... but that'll have to wait until another blog entry. I could write a novel about that trip in itself.....

SaraG:
I met SG in college. Her husband was one my my BFFs in high school. Her hubby, DG, and I were quite inseparable during high school. In fact, I'm pretty sure there was a time when our families were convinced we'd end up together. However, SG suits him much better and I'm sure provided him much better looking kids than I ever would!! ; )

DG, his dad, me and my dad were big backpacking buddies all through high school. We've hiked several high peaks on the east coast together. It's a good thing that DG is 6'4" because I specifically remember hiking Mt Khatadin in Maine (beginning of the App. trail) at a section called Knife's Edge - yes - it's exactly what it sounds like. Narrow, rocky and a bit scary. You know, straight down on one side, straight down on the other.... DG and I were way ahead of our dads scrambling over the rocky terrain, bouldering up and over, having a blast. DG climbed up and over a big boulder and I was right behind him.

All of a sudden I looked over the edge and realized SHIT! I froze. Right there. couldn't move. couldn't go forward. couldn't go backward. couldn't go up. couldn't go down. DG was ahead of me - "hey, you comin???" Luckily since he was so tall he just reached down, grabbed me and pulled me up. no questions. he knew I froze. he didn't make fun of me or anything. we were 17. most 17 year old guys would never let a 17 year old girl live that down. ever. but not him.

SaraG found herself a good one. And DG wouldn't just pick any 'ol girl. So it stands to reason that if he picked SaraG I knew that she and I would get along just peachy! I flew all the way to SC from CO for their wedding. I mean really - who would miss the wedding party come in to the the Clemson fight song with the Clemson Tiger at the reception???!!!

Wondering Girl:
Can't say enough about Wondering Girl. We met in college. We were RA's together actually. She was always trying to get me to go out and party. For those of you who know her - are you surprised???? One Fall break I went home with her to "the farm" and her mom made her famous apple crisp. I don't know how I had gotten that far through life without ever having apple crisp. But I had. I LOVED it. Loved it so much I had it for dessert after dinner. And then I had seconds. and then I had some before bed. and then I had it for breakfast. and then her mom and had to go to the store and buy more fixin's for it and made more. and I ate more. and more. and more... and her mom and dad commented on more than one occasion how they'd never seen anyone eat so much apple crisp....

So that's why I'm called Apple Crisp Girl on WGs blog....

All I want for christmas

All I want for christmas is a new sports car.......



















Ok, not really. I'm a truck kinda girl. But I bet the hubby wouldn't mind having one of these.....


I had to take a pic when I saw this dealership in downtown Chicago while I'm here on a business trip. We don't have dealerships like this where I live....

Pee Pants

Sorry - I did have a pic of the infamous faux pee pants... I just didn't realize it.

How much can you pack into 44 hours and 800+ miles??

I know - I've been delinquent... I've been sick and I'm in the middle of a huge project at work. What can I say.... Any time I've actually had in front of my computer I've actually been working. Sorry...


But I'm here to share a few details about the Cedar Point trip. Now a fever has burned a few details from my brain but a few still exist. I vaguely remember sitting in a car for hours after work on Friday dishing gossip with Karen and Sara. Mike is such a good guy for driving - rather chauffeuring - us girls all the way to Cleveland. But who am I kidding?? Mike is the roller coaster KING! It's not like WE dragged HIM on this trip. Get serious... He had the pedal to the metal. This was HIS trip. We were just along for the ride.



This is Karen with the computer booted up. "Why?" you ask? Because Mike has a GPS system in it. There's a thingy attached to the computer that's up in the dashboard. He had Karen giving him turn by turn directions. This was the joke of the trip. Even when we had visual contact with our destination Karen would ask "can I turn this thing off now???" Mike would shoot back "NO!!" Yep - it wasn't allowed to be booted down down until we were in the parking lot, parked, engine off.


We didn't stick to "the schedule". We arrived at the hotel at 12:06AM. Not the schedule 11:59PM that Mike had planned. tisk tisk. oh well. that's what happens when you go on a road trip with 3 women. I mean really... at least we didn't have him stop 15 times to pee on the way there. we wanted to get to the hotel just as badly as he did. (we saved the pee stops for the way home : )


The next morning we were up and at 'em bright and early. Stopped for breakfast at this fun place. Don't we look like we're having fun? This was THE BEST couch ever!! Do you see how deep it is?? We were all about to take a nap. really. (but noooooo. that would put us off schedule... the park opened promptly at noon and we had to be there at 11:30 you know... ; )















Ok - so we made it to the park. This was our first ride. Something "Dragster-Thrill-Kill-Throw-Up-Pukster-Ride" or something like that.




It doesn't look like a lot, I know. But it goes from 0 to 120 mph in 4 seconds or something. I like coasters. I enjoy them, they don't scare me. You know when you ride a coaster you get that little tickle in your whoo-haa when you drop down the steep parts or go through the corkscrew?? Well that little tickle was well extended as you go racing up to the 120 mph. uh, a little too extended, if you know what I mean...

Next we rode one of the "little" coasters. Somehow when I got off the ride I must had let condensation from my THREE DOLLAR water bottle (what a rip off!!) get on my jeans. It totally looked as though I peed my pants! Which was funny/ embarassing in itself - but the fact that it happened on a weenie coaster was EXCEPTIONALLY embarassing!!! I mean, really. If I was going to look like I had pee pants at least it should have happened on one of the big, mean, scary coasters!!!


We rode a few more rides and then my cousin LH and her SO met up with us. Unfortunately, since it was such a nice day, the place was PACKED. We stood in line for well over an hour - sometimes TWO HOURS - for each coaster. At the end of the day we only got to ride 7 of the 17 coasters they have at the park.

Sara snapped this pic as we left the park. Kinda creepy, isn't? We went back to the hotel and crashed, got up early the AM and hit the road back to NY. It was a fun weekend. I haven't done something like that since college. And here I thought I was getting too old to do stuff like that...

Update soon to come

I spent a fun-packed, whirlwind weekend at Cedar Point (amusement park in Sandusky, OH) this past weekend. Boy do I have stories!! but I'm going to keep you in suspense until I can get my hands on some picutres to accompany said weekend.

stay tuned!!

Veet with squeegee product review

Last night I picked up some of that Veet stuff from Walgreens ($8.99) - not Neet, as I has previously posted. You know what I'm talking about - the cream hair remover that comes with the non-razor squeegee thingy. I believe I referred to it as the equivalent to the kindergarten safety scissors...

Have you seen the commercials for this stuff? The cute, skinny girl - with the assumably fine leg hair - dancing around her bathroom with the white cream on her legs... then taking the squeegee and simply wicking it all away.

yeah, right. let me tell ya - that's not exactly how it works.

OK sista's. (and bro's - for those of you out there that like a nice, slick look) let me tell you the real story behind this stuff. First off, in case you are a visitor to my blog or haven't been up close and personal with my legs let me share that I have the good 'ol dark, coarse leg hair. Yep - and proud of it. Real leg hair. Stuff that really deserves to be shaved. When I decide to go tree hugger the guys really do run for the hills. There really was a reason I lived in CO for a while. They were the only ones that would take me during that "phase"....

So the directions say to spread on (NOT rub in) the cream and leave on for 3 minutes and then squeegee off. Ok, they don't say "squeegee" but I just like to use the word over and over again : ) They do say you can leave it on for up to 6 minutes. They warn that any longer and you're leaving yourself open to chemical burns.

Now remember the reason I'm trying the product in the first place. The last thing I need is a chemical burn. I'm watchin' that clock like a hawk.

Just in case this shit burns I decide to spread it on just a small area on my leg with the coarsest hair - about 2 inches by 4 inches on my shin. I set the timer for 6 minutes. I let it count down 3 minutes, squeegee off , check to see the results, lather back on the same area and repeat every minute for the next three minutes. Pretty scientific, eh?

By the 6th minute I'm still on the verge of not getting all the hair off. But I'm not trying for anything longer. I'm chalking it off for the precious lost seconds in between the checking and respreading. I'm satisfied that I'm not going to burn myself or have some sensitive skin/ allergic reaction and decide to go for the full leg. Well, right up past the knee.

Ok, I'm just going for an honest product review here. I lathered both legs and set the timer to 6 minutes. After a little over 5 minutes I start with the back of the first leg I lathered (finest hair) and start squeegeeing. It's not as easy as the commercial makes it look. I'm standing in the shower with just the tap running so I can rinse the squeegee off. The coarsest hair still isn't coming off that great. I finally get both legs done right around 6 minutes.

They aren't nearly as smooth as with a razor but they are smoother than I thought they'd be. The smell isn't the greatest either. Even though it didn't take that long it still was a pain because I couldn't just incorporate it into my regular shower routine. Ok, maybe I could have, but I didn't.

But I didn't stop there. I decided, what the hell. Wonder what it would do for my pits??

Let me stop you right here and warn you AGAINST trying this at home. Although the instructions didn't say you couldn't do your armpits I wouldn't recommend it. My hair there is also very course - more so than my legs - so I left if on for 6 minutes and I do believe I did end up with mild chemical burns. NOT COMFORTABLE!!! Plus the instructions to tell you not to apply anti-perspirant for 24 hours. WHAT???!!! So what am I supposed to do? go around smelling all day??? Actually I totally disregarded this advice and did apply some Dove eventually. It seemed to soothe the burning pits. I'm ok this AM but there are still noticeable red blotches when I went to apply more deodorant this morning.

So - my final recommendation? Regardless of how hazardous a sharp razor can be it is still worth the risk for a good shave. Just be sure to keep the girls out of the way....

shaving update

I have sufficiently scared myself out of shaving. I haven't done it all week. Not even the pits. Haven't touched the razor AT ALL. Thank god David's out of town. He comes home late tonight. For his sake I'm going to have to break down and shave eventually.

I think I'm going to stop at the store on the way home and pick up some of that new Neet stuff with the rubber tipped "razor" to shave off the hair removing cream. It's like the equivilent of kindergarten saftey scissors.

I may try that for a while and when I'm comfortable work my way back up to the big girl scissors. um, I mean, razor.

MK Par-tee

I hosted a bash last night! Who knew so many women still had issues trying to put on make-up???

I have truly found "my people".

I am not a freak.

I am not the only girl in the world that can't figure out freakin' mascara.

...that not all eye shadow makes me look like the bride of Frankenstein.

...that wearing make-up does not make me a fluff-ball... just prettier...

And I think I have conquered my bizarre make-up hording fetish.... I actually went upstairs last night, grabbed all the baggies of old make-up (some that were YEARS and YEARS old) and tossed them. In front of EVERYONE!!! I think I'm cured.

That or I realized I needed to make room for new stuff....

I will soon be the new owner of vanilla and bronze eyesicle cream, a lip stick and a gloss. Wheee!!!

So thanks to everyone who came and had fun. Thanks to Sara for being the patient jedi master with all of us.

Can't make this shit up

Ok fellow legs shavers. most of this story will probably sound familiar to you... hopefully the last part will not...

picture this:
I'm in the shower. Left foot propped up on the shower wall in front of me. Leg all lathered up ready to be shaved. Thigh gets shaved first because otherwise as I lean forward to shave my shin my boob rubs off shaving cream. (yes, my boobs are big enough to rub against my thighs... smartasses....) I've been shaving since I was about 11. I have this down to a science.

I start shaving said left thigh. I need to rinse the blade. Due to the way I have the shower pointed I need to reach across my left thigh with my right hand to get the blade under the heaviest stream of water that is showering down on the left side of my left thigh.

got all that?? it's very important!

Somehow (and I stress the "somehow") I manage to hit my boob with the razor as I move it across my body to the water.

At first I'm thinking "careful there Tex!!! not smart to go slicin' off the nipple!" Then I go back to shaving. A few minutes later I go to rinse the blade again and notice that MY NIPPLE IS BLEEDING!!!!

I CUT MY NIPPLE WITH MY RAZOR!!!

How in the F**K do you do that?? (aside from how I EXACTLY described it above??)

Yep. I did it. I cut my nipple. Just a nick, mind you, but I cut it all right. And like every other razor nick that bitch kept on bleedin'. Imagine me trying to keep pressure on it while still trying to finish shaving that leg and then the other leg!!! No kidding - it couldn't get it to stop bleeding when I got out of the shower either. I used a tissue and kept applying pressue with no luck.

Yep - I finally grabbed a band-aid, slapped that thing on and put a bra on over it to hold it in place. I'm guessing it finally stopped because it hasn't bled through the band-aid. I think that's a good sign.

And if I ever have kids I'm pretty sure I'm not going to even try to breast feed. Totally not worth it...

100 mile bike is OVER

Whew! The ride is O-V-E-R! Thank god...

Well, I wasn't able to do the whole 100 miles. I'm kinda bummed. but I learned that apparently my "mild" exercise-induced asthma isn't so mild after all... and I don't have it well controlled either... which is triple embarassing seeing as I work for the company leader in AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICES!!!!!

So, long story short (because giving you the play-by play of a 100 mile ride would be tough for even the best story teller...) 3.97 miles into the ride I had to stop because of my crappy-ass asthma (that isn't supposed to be a big deal!!! AAHHHHH!!!!) I had to get off my bike, get in the SAG wagon ("safety and gear") and ride until I was better. It took me only about 10-15 minutes and I was fine and ready to go!!

"all right - let me out. I'm fine. I've only missed a few miles. let me out!!"

only problem - rule is, once you're in the SAG wagon - for whatever reason (medical emergency, flat tire, etc...) you're in until the next stop. Figures - I got in the wagon early in the LONGEST section (the very FIRST section, might I add...) So I was held hostage until we got to the first stop/school.

Well, that's how David got to finish and I was about 20 miles off. Oh well. Next year I'll get the asthma under control (and condition better for the hills. They were KILLER!!!)

We still had a good time even though we came upon a thunderhead and saw lightening that made me think that Dorothy and Toto were about to make an appearance in a tornado, got caught a shitty downpour (from said thunderhead we saw that we apparently had ridden into) - like the kind where you're riding and the raindrops are stinging your skin. (of course we were still riding....)

But now I have a personal score to settle... so you can bet your pretty panties I'm doing this again next year!!! So - start saving your pennies now becuase I'll be out hitting y'all up again for donations come about July-ish....

BTW - the pic above is from the local news channel. The guys in front in the white jerseys are two of the "shepards" (leaders). The left is Carl and right is Todd. They are AWESOME. Both are racers. Shepards are strong riders that set the pace, watch out for the other riders, assist with issues, etc... kinda like scout leaders... Carl and Todd pet the pace the WHOLE ride. I should mention that a ride like this is ALL about draft. If you're leading you have no draft, you're creating it for everyone else... which means you're one hell of a strong rider. Oh, did I mention that we had a wicked headwind all day too??? These guys need to be given some SERIOUS props!! Although I'm sure that in the scheme of things this ride was really nothing for them, but thee deserve some credit....

Wish me luck!!

Well, it's almost here! My crazy 100 mile bike ride is THIS FRIDAY.

Like as in, day after tomorrow.

I think I want to run and hide under the bed.

Do you think they'll find me there??????????

Really. What was I thinking??

Well, it's here and it's too late to tell them I've changed my mind after all. Plus, I've accidentally raised $455 !!!!! People are really expecting me to do this... So I guess I'm committed.

(In case you have forgotten, or I have forgotten to tell you, I am raising $$ for the NY chapter of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.)

Send me all your energy vibes people!! (and your cojones vibes too!!) I need it all!!!! I'll be cycling ALL DAY Friday (from 7:50am to about 5pm!!!)

Wish me luck!!! And pray for NO RAIN!!!

More girls weekend

Ok - so I have mroe pics to post. These are the rest of the pics from my girls weekend when we went bikinng in the Pocono's.

This is right before we got started. Becca, Lena, Tracy, Sara, Jenn and me. Sexy, aren't we?? ; )







Along the way there was a water fall. We all decided to get our picture taken.


Here's Becca - of "candy nipple" fame...

















And Lena, our fearless leader.














And here's Jenn, posin' for the camera.

















Tracy was a FABULOUS sport. She was kicking the ride with a chest/ head cold!!! (Did I mention we did TWENTY SIX MILES??!!!)











Check me out! (in me kerchief.... am I'm 60 years old, or what??!!!)













Sara decided to take a detour and I decided to go with her.











Here's a biking shot of Sara in action













And, another group picture in front of the lovely waterfall.

We had a lovely time!! Actually, it ROCKED!! We need to f***ing do it again!! And SOON!!!

Update on dinner

I want to know what he made.... Hey, PB&J would still count in my book, but what did he "whip up"???? -MadHatter

Ok - truth be told - he ended up not actually making dinner - but the fact that he offered to help - that's all I was looking for. It's a start. He has made "real" dinner for me at least once - maybe twice. (I don't count boiling water for pasta, ordering pizza or suggesting going out as "making dinner")

BTW - D doesn't "whip up". Since's he's new to cooking he's a by-the-cookbook kind of guy. Which is fine with me but always requires a LOT of preplanning. He'll learn laddies, he'll learn...

I'm going away more often

real conversation with my husband yesterday...


ME: (on the phone, calling from work) hun, I'm running to the grocery after work while you're at practice. want to add anything to the list?


D: whacha got on the list for dinner this week?


ME: well, I've got that new pasta dish I was telling you about for tonight and other stuff... blah, blah, blah....


D: won't you be at that cycling meeting when I get home from practice tonight?


ME: yeah - I figured I could just make dinner for us when I get home - is that ok??


D: I guess. Or is there anything you'd like me start getting ready for dinner while you're on your way home?


ME: *complete silence* what did you say?


D: well, I figured you aren't going to be getting home until late so I figured I might be able to get something started while you're on your way home.


Ladies... I DID IT!!! Three years of training and I finally got him to VOLUNTARILY ask if there was something he could do to help with dinner!!!


WHOO HOO!!!!!



That's it. I'm going away for the weekend more often.

Girls weekend in the Poconos

This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with 5 other gals in need of a girls weekend from my adventure group. And these are no ordinary ladies, might I add. Now, I know y'all want all the juicy details.... well, I can't spill EVERYTHING! I mean, I could, but then I'd have to kill you. We made a pact, what can I say??

But here are some things I can tell you.... (the rest of the pics will have to wait because I have to get them from the other girls. Case in point - this pic is kinda yellow b/c I took it with my cell phone in the not-so-well-lit hotel room... no, not that kind of hotel room... well, maybe it was. but I'm not tellin', and you'll never know...)

It was me, Becca (pictured above with her candy-coated nipples), Jenn (in the background), both of which were my roomies, Lena, Tracy and Sara. We biked the rails-to-trails in the Poconos, ate good food, drank good (and bad) wine, ate chocolate, played games, and my favorites - DID SHOTS AND PEDICURES!!! (not at the same time... but almost at the same time... which accounted for the not-so-hot-looking pedicures the next morning...)

Conversation winner of the weekend:

While we're waiting for our shots to arrive at the bar -

ME: Sara, what career/ job have you NOT have???

(BTW, Sara, in her short 28-29 years of life has done everything from police dispatcher, contracter, mary kay lady, land lord (or 'slum lord' as she calls herself), quasi-massage therapist, hardware store book keeper, working with the developmentally disabled... pretty much you name it, she's done it... I'm sure I'm leaving out the most interesting stuff too... I just can't think of it right off the top of my head.)

ME: Have you ever danced on a pole?? (smile on my face. funny, ha, ha)

SARA: for money? (serious as a monk)

ME: uh, really?

I was speechless. BTW - no, she hadn't for money....

Who knew??

As soon as we drive into the driveway after our camping trip (around 6pm) I get out of the car and immediately let the dogs out, go inside, feed the dogs, get the mail, start going through the mail, you get the idea. At the same time David starts unpacking the car, carrying the cooler inside, bags inside, camping gear to the basement, you get the idea. We do what we can until we just can't do any more.

The next day I take my car to work and later that night when I get home I go to the basement to start sorting through the camping stuff (what needs washed, what can put away, what is for camping only vs. could be used for backpacking....) while David said he was going to finish cleaning out my car. Now, I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by this as there was no more gear left in my car.

My brain processes "clean out car" = "remove all extraneous 'things' from said vehicle"

David's brain processes "clean out car" - "remove all extraneous 'things' *(*anything not nailed down that did not accompany the car from the factory) from car, vacuum distusting dog hair and dust off seats, throw away all trash in trash bag (and trash not in trash bag), actully move seats and vacuum all 'junk' out from under said seats that has been there for god knows how long, wash dog slobber off outside and inside of windows"

WOW! I said. It's not even his car! He doesn't even have to drive the "car full of filth"! He said he did it because the following weekend (this coming weekend) I was going away for a girls weekend and he knew I'd be driving a bunch of my friends in my car and he wanted it to be clean for me.

Isn't he sweet??

Our First Camping Trip

Nikki's version:
This was my first camping trip. It took me a few hours to realize it. At first I thought that mom and dad could have picked a closer park. I mean really!! For the first TWO HOURS I stood anxiously looking out the window wondering when in the heck we were going to get there. It finally dawned on me it wasn't going to be any time soon. I finally decided to take a load off. Liam's butt seemed to make a good pillow.












Ugh!! Are we THERE YET???!!!











I should have know we weren't just out for a few hours at the park when I saw dad packed this on the back of the car...











After a few days in the wilderness I was sick and tired of waking up to gunshots at the firing range across the lake!! (At least mom let me get in bed and snuggle with her until the shots stopped...)













Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with the fam and all, but I have had enough and was ready to get home to air conditioning and a dry, padded bed on level ground. At least the ride home was air conditioned and I was able to get the "double bed"!!! God I can't wait until we get home! I've had enough of this "communing with nature" crap!













Liam's version:


Ah! Fresh air, back to my roots. Lounging around, laying out on the ground, laying my head where ever it happens to land. Chasing balls out in the lake, shakin' off and lettin' the air blow through your fur... that's the life. Not a care in the world. Just how I like it.





























I will admit that the A/C on the way home was kinda nice... just don't tell Nikki I said that....

I'm behind

ok - Ihaven't posted in a while due to jury duty and vacation. Give me a minute to get my pics in order and I'll post here soon.

BTW

Did I mention that last weekend, for some unknown reason, I decided to paint my fingernails? Did I mention that I don't really paint my nails much? If I do it's only ever been a nude color? ONLY a nude color. But last weekend was different. I painted them RED!! Check it out!!

I know, I know. Don't quit my day job. I have vein-y hands....

And yes, I know - we desparately need to paint the deck....

potty humor

I have a friend that won't take a poo when her husband's around... (careful what you comment here - she's a reader of my blog!! : ) Me and David - quite the opposite. It started out when I was single - I never closed the door. why bother? it was me and the cats. If I tried to shut the door to go the cats would go nuts - meowing and scratching... I think they were convinced I'd fall in the toilet or something. so it was just easier to leave the door open.

This continued once D and I got married. Pain in the ass (pun intended) to close the door to only have to get up, with you pants down, ass shining, to open it because the cats wouldn't leave you alone.

Today D and I went to do a 40 mile training ride with our group. We were meeting over at the boathouse and we knew there were 2 port-o-pots. We decided to hit the johns before starting the ride (do you know how far 40 miles is???) We each walk into a port-o-pot. As I'm peeing I realize you can hear EVERYTHING from the other john. I can't remember what started it but D said something and the next thing I know we're having a detailed conversation between the two of us in our own separate port-o-pots. I had to laught at the ridiculousness of it all. Thank god no one was waiting in line outside!!! They would have gotten an earful!

I was tagged - your turn!

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1) Many of you know that I'm not a fan of the beach - what you might not know is that I'm terrified of the ocean. My feet CANNOT touch the bottom - it grosses me out - and apparently I've seen Jaws either one too many times or I saw it when I was too young... either way it scared my sh*tless (go figure that I was a biology major...)

2) I have to rub my feet together as I fall asleep, until I fall asleep. I do this every night (and have for as long as I can remember) much to the chagrin of my husband

3) I hate minty flavors - with 2 exceptions: junior mints and peppermint patties. (figures it would be candy....) thank god for the fruit flavored toothpastes!

4) I feel naked if I take my navel ring out - even though that I logically know that having a navel ring over 30 is somewhat questionable.... although I have tried a few times and I feel weird... (but who sees my stomach anymore except my husband??)

5) I'm so neurotic that I have to write in pencil (must be mechanical pencil - no sharpening going on here) - so I can erase. I have used-eraser all over my carpet at work. You should see my floor on Friday!! (the cleaning lady only comes on Friday nites) it's a good thing they make those mechanical pencils with the twist-up erasers that last a little longer than traditional erasers!!!

6) I'm addicted to spider solitare. regular solitare just doesn't do it for me anymore...

7) I have terribly high cholestrol - on meds for it (and I'm only 31!!!! aahhhh!!!)

8) I SUCK at crossword puzzles. and just I continue to abuse myself by trying over and over again to do them. (although I cheat... A LOT...)

Well, that was therapeutic - although now you know WAY too much about my crazy self! (I should note that I didn't really cheat and write things that you probably already knew - I really went with the "secret" stuff!!) And since I know so few people who blog - and 2 of them have already done this, I'm tagging Tiffany!!!!

Tif - you're it!!!!

It still raining girls!!!

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Everyone welcome the "official" arrival of Madalynn Elizabeth!!!!!

(is it just me or does anyone else see a trend with baby girls here??!!)

She was born on Aug. 17th to my good friend Teresa and her hubby Hoy. Isn't she a cutie!!! Yet one more little girlfor Aunt Julie to spoil!!!

Check out that head of hair!!!

My name is Earl, uh, I mean Travis Jones.

Ok I'm a first child. You know - serious, overachiever, etc... and I'm married to a first child. I would venture to say he has more severe "first child" issues than I do. I think one reason is because he has two other siblings to make up the personality "differences".

My brother-in-law, Chris (I'm using his name because some day he'll be famous and I won't have to worry about protecting his identity....) is definitely cut out for acting. Now, I personally, have never been into acting. I feel you really have put yourself out there when you act - become incredibly vulnerable - something I'm not at all willing to do. Chris - he's all about it. I think he might find acting enjoyable for just the opposite reason (which I've read a lot of actors state the reason as to why they are attracted to acting) which is it gives you opportunity to be someone completely different than yourself - a "reason" to act unlike you would normally.

Nope - you'll never find me acting. I'd rather run naked through Times Square in the middle of winter during x-mas shopping season....

Regardless as to why Chris enjoys acting the bottom line is he appears to love being "other people" and has no qualms about doing that in front of others. Case in point:


Here's a regular picture of Chris the weekend of my wedding. Sorry it's not a big picture - it's all I have on my work computer... But I would think he comes across to most of you as a clean cut, good-looking guy.







Recently Chris and some of his friends went to Vegas *baby* and originally he and one friend had decided to actually fly to Vegas as "My Name is Earl"-type characters. Why?? I have no idea. They may have had a reason - knowing Chris, they probably just wanted to have *extra* fun. Well, his friend had to back out of the trip for some reason. Did that stop Chris from dressing up as "Earl"?? or rather, as we later learned, aka "Travis Jones"? Hell no! Not only did he "dress up" but he even grew a moustache for it too!! now, his hair is long but I don't know if he grew it out for this or another part he currently has. His mother and I are still debating as to whether the chest hair is real or not.

Oh - the best part!! what you can't see is that he is also wearing cut-off jean shorts and work boots!! He flew on the plane from NYC to Vegas "in character". I believe he even went to a casino dressed like this when he first arrived.
















See- he's obviously the ham of the family.... and the least inhibited....

Congrats to TF and HF!!

Everybody - send your congrats to my Friend TF and her husband HF. TF gave birth to a little girl - their first child - this past Friday night! Everyone is doing well and healthy. HF promised (or rather - TF promised for him) that I'd get photos, etc. soon. Once I get those (and confirmation on the correct spelling of her name) I'll post them!!

Welcome the MadHatter!!

One of my friends finally started a blog!! ; ) So everyone - go check out the MadHatter's blog. (crazy for lovin' this life) I've got her linked on my page. I'm already lovin' it!!! She's got three kids - so there's some great parenting stories already!! I love her parenting style!!! I'm confident her kids will grow up emotionally unscathed!!!

it keeps on comin'

So - I have been chosen for grand jury duty. who hoo! well, not really chosen... it's not like a trial jury where they ask you questions. This is purely on a lottery system. So, I'm in. Luckily it's not everyday, all day - but I have to call in after 5pm each weekday to see if the tentative schedule has changed. So far I'm not scheduled until Monday. all afternoon....

Obviously I can't talk about what we talk about. but I already have some funny stories that I can talk about. Yesterday the jurors (me and the rest of the group) were being sworn in by the judge and his assistant. Ok, he may not be an assistant but I missed his title. Anyhoo - this other guy was the one that read the spiel that we all had to swear to. Funny thing - the guy looked EXACTLY like Cliff from Cheers. I shit you not. And he had a thick NY accent. HA!!! I'm standing there, right hand held up, trying to pay attention to what I'm swearing to and not laugh at loud at the ridiculousness of it all.... ok, I thought it was funny....

And on a serious note - I had to have another CT scan today. I've been having headaches again for the past month... Two weeks ago it was a scan of the brain and today a scan on the sinuses. I know, I know. I've heard it all. "if I had a head like that it'd hurt too!" yeah, yeah. ha, ha. very funny. Hopefully we can finally figure out what is causing these. They are quite irritating....

So that's my life right now in a nutshell. Doctors appt, jury duty and work. whoo hoo!!

My life's soundtrack

I had to laugh to myself the other day. I had an interaction with the hubby that reminded me why I married him in the first place.

me: man, I went running the other day when you were out of town. it felt great!!

D: really? do you think the cycling is helping

me: absolutely! when I was running I didn't feel like I was dragging around a lead weight. I even sprinted towards the end, like I do sometimes, but this time I felt I was really sprinting! I felt light and I was pumping my arms and my legs were just moving on their own!

D (with a straight face): Did you hear "chariots of fire" in your head?

I heart him!

He's witty like that - in a dry-humor kind of way that I'm not. I told him he is now responsible for editing the soundtrack to my life. He just proved he's much better at it than I am....

Flowers take 2

I was out of the office sick yesterday. (has anyone else besides me noticed that I get sick a lot since moving to NY??) I came in today and the beautiful flowers David sent me were still on my desk. Connie had watered them for me while I was out... but still about a third of them were drooping and dying!!!! WHA??!!! So I called the florist and POLITELY told her how unsatisfied I was that my flowers were starting to die TWO days after I had them. So they sent over new ones. Still as pretty!! And will alst much longer! (I hope..)