New Year's Resolutions?

Let's see. I have been thinking about what resolutions I'm going to make for 2008 and I think I'm going to keep my list short to minimize the chance of failing at too many things at one.

Resolution Number One: Remembering and recognizing people's birthdays a little better. I'm not terrible at this right now but it's something I want to take a tad more seriously.

Resolution Number Two: Get haircuts every eight weeks. This one sounds stupid but to me it's not because of how many times I finally get my hair to grow out but then end up having to cut it short again due to horrifying split ends.

Resolution Number Three: Read more books. I used to read a lot, but these last few years I've really gotten away from it.

Resolution Number Four: Being nicer. Being happier. Not bitching as much.


Not too ambitious and that's ok. I think having any answer for the question "What are your New Year's resolutions" is better than answering with "I'm not making any". But that's just me.

I love the end of Holiday Seasons, Cookbooks and Zombie Movies.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm glad the holiday season is almost over. Things are getting back to normal now. The parking lot at my all favorite store (I live at Wal Mart) is thinning out, co-workers are coming back to work so I'm no longer the only one sitting there in my cubicle row having been too stupid to request the week off, Hickory Farms gift sets AND the holiday Coffee Mate flavors that I love so much are 50% off and my credit card is living back in the freezer frozen in a brick of ice. Life is good right now.

This weekend seemed pretty short. I was busy baking chocolate chip cookies, making rice pudding (actually, rice soup - i don't know what the hell went wrong) and Cheddar Corn Chowder. I got a few cookbooks for Christmas this year so I've really gotten in the mood to start cooking and baking. I absolutely love cookbooks. Even if I know I'll never make any of the recipes in some of them, I still enjoy reading over the ingredient lists and directions and looking at the pictures. I have 43 different cooking/baking blogs in my favorite links list that I read on a regular basis, if not daily, depending on how often the blogger updates. Cooking and baking is one subject I'm getting quite knowledgeable about. It's funny because I never really had an interest in it when I was growing up. My Mom was always in the kitchen making something and she would try to get me to help and I would say "naahhh". I enjoy baking much better than cooking, though. Cooking sometimes can really make your house smell and you have to usually cut up a lot of stuff and touch raw, gross things. Baking is only really messy and gross if you screw up cracking an egg or something like that.

I watched the movie 28 Weeks Later which I had been really wanting to see. Every time J and I went to the video store I'd walk by the movie and go "28 Weeks Later? Please?" and he wouldn't seem too thrilled about it so we would keep on walking. But I finally put it in my queue, got it in the mail yesterday and started watching it at 8:00 this morning. It wasn't as good as I remember the first one being, but it wasn't bad and it moved fast. I really like these zombie type movies. It's always very dramatic when one of the last few normal characters left gets attacked and infected with whatever zombie virus is going around. You start thinking "Noooo! Why? There's hope! Maybe they are immune! No... they look pretty scary now. Ok, maybe they will remember being human and feel bad about trying to eat their friends. No... they look pretty hungry now. Well, they have to be dealt with then. Bye Bye! And they were so nice and funny throughout the first hour of the movie... sad." So emotional.

Happy Holidays and all that...

I feel happy this holiday season.

And my favorite gift that I got so far? Well, that's easy...



yesssss!

My 2007 Best Of Movies and TV List... in my humble and unimportant opinion.

So, here we are... at the end of 2007 already and hasn't time seemed to go by so fast this year?

I always find it interesting to read year in review type lists so I thought I would make my own. What will my lists be about? Well, my favorite movies and tv shows, of course!



2007 MOVIES
1. Waitress.
My number one favorite movie of 2007 was Waitress. I watched it twice in a row when I rented it and my boyfriend bought it for me for Christmas and I've already watched it two times since then. I love how quirky this movie is and Keri Russell does such a great job in it. Jeremy Sisto plays such a great jackass husband, too.

2. I Am Legend.
I loved this movie. This was one of those movies that after we left the theater, J and I discussed all the way home. The book is pretty much entirely different but that's ok. I really liked the direction they took in the film instead. A lot of people seemed to be disappointed by the end but I didn't mind it at all. I thought Will Smith was awesome in this, there aren't too many actors I would care to see as almost the only person in an entire movie.

3. The Bourne Ultimatum.
I wrote about this move on my blog previously. I'm sad these movies are over.

4. Ratatouille.
It's fun to say "ratatouille".

5. Superbad.
heehee. Who didn't love this movie?

Other 2007 movies I really enjoyed: The Number 23, Knocked Up, 1408, Meet the Robinsons.



2007 TV
What a great year for TV. And I sure did watch a lot of it. I have NEVER been involved with as many shows before. I didn't even have TV for two years at one point and at that time I didn't even miss it. I don't think I could do that now with all the good stuff that I know is on TV. My trusted Tivo was there to step in so I could manage to fit everything in and still have a life. I love you, Tivo.

My favorite new shows:
Samantha Who? Please don't let this one get cancelled!! I am so glad Christina Applegate put out a new show and it's actually pretty good. I like all of the supporting cast too.

Pushing Daisies. The premise is a neat idea and sometimes when I'm watching it I am so surprised they actually put something this interesting and quirky on the air. Please, please don't let this one get cancelled either.

Kitchen Nightmares. I have such a soft spot for Gordon Ramsay. I like everything about him. Depending on the week, this show was extremely entertaining at times.

Other shows I watched faithfully: Lost, Dexter, The Closer, Grey's Anatomy, My Name is Earl, Rob & Big, Top Chef, Project Runway, Psych, Heroes.


Man, making these lists is harder than it seems. I'm tired now.

On turning the Dirty Thirty

The face of a thirty year old optimist?

Well, here it is. The day I've been "dreading". My thirtieth birthday. (Cue the screaming...)

I remember being younger, maybe 15 or so, and looking at the people around me who were turning 30 and I remember them being much more mature than I am at this point. They seemed so "adult", doing "adult" things and so... old. And the thought of me ever hitting that age seemed unreal, like something my brain just couldn't compute. (Kind of like when you really sit and think that dinosaurs existed over 200 million years ago.) Obviously, everyone knows that unless they die, they will continue to get older but you know what I mean. You always think it's so far in the future. And when you're younger, time seems to go so slow. We can't wait to reach those age milestones - we hit double digit age years (I'm 10!!!), we can't wait to hit the teenage years (I'm 13!!!), we can't wait to get our license, to graduate, to vote, buy cigarettes and lottery tickets, beer at 21 and then... the last big thing we have after that is when our car insurance rates supposedly drop at 25. Hmmm.

For me, after 21 things just sort of seemed to speed up and the years started flying by. This could be related to the fact that I had a full time job and really just tried making it through the week. It seems life got so much about making it through the week and wishing my days would go faster that here I am, wondering how in the hell all this time flew by right from under me.

I guess I've accomplished what I needed to so far at this age. Things could be worse, I guess.

Maybe it's good to be on the young side of my 30's instead of on the old side of my 20's. Time to let go and move on. This is a new era. A whole new level. I think I'll tell myself anything at this point to stay optimistic and slightly amused.

Happy Thanksgiving

Even though I was sick and stayed home yesterday instead of visiting my family, I still had a good Thanksgiving. J and I went out and got stuff to make a full dinner so neither one of us felt like we were missing out on the food part of it. I did miss my family but honestly, it was nice to relax at home.

Today, we went out shopping in the morning (after 10 am, I'm not too crazy) and picked up a few things. Then I came home and took a couple of naps, continued watching The Closer and drank some hot apple cider. I still feel sick today but it's getting better. Hope I'm all good by the time my 30th (aaahhh!!!) birthday comes along next week.

My concert week is over...

Wednesday night J and I went to see Kelly Clarkson in D.C. What a great show, she amazes me with her live performances. I was interested to see how this tour would be different from the last one I went to because this time around she's playing much smaller venues. I thought her voice had sounded strained during some of the televised performances I caught around the time her new album came out but her voice was perfect at the concert. She played a great mix as always of new and older stuff and she had a lot of energy and talked to the crowd after every song. Some of my favorites that she played were How I Feel, Addicted, Hole and Chivas.

And Friday, my best friend, a co-worker and I also saw Tori Amos. Now, Tori has been my favorite since I was about 14 so I have a lot of years put in to her. This concert was a completely different vibe. Isabel, one of the "dolls", made an appearance which was fitting for D.C. She played over 20 songs. My favorites were Hey Jupiter and Code Red. I had really wanted to hear Siren, but didn't. My friend from work wanted to hear both 1000 Oceans and Concertina and he got them back to back.

My weekend was pretty low key. I've been watching season 3 of Veronica Mars, playing Guitar Hero and today J and I went out to lunch with my sister and her boyfriend. I am so not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow though. :)

I despise weekends that feel too short.

Maybe it's just because I had a really long, drawn out and annoying week, but I feel like this weekend flew by. I didn't do too much either. I went to a birthday party for my cousin's baby, went to visit my Dad and then cleaned up the house and did all the other domestic things I hate doing.

I have nothing interesting to report so I'm done now.

I love going to the zoo

J and I were going to go hiking again this weekend but ended up stopping by a local zoo instead. I took some pictures. See below....

I love Vegas

So, the girls and I went out to Las Vegas in honor of our 30th birthdays. Three out of four of us have hit or will hit (me) the big 3-0 this year. We had a good time.

We did the Titanic artifact exhibit which was really neat. I was most fascinated by the difference in the social classes and the amenities they were offered. It was very interesting to see items like dishes, sink handles and luggage tags and how well they were preserved.

We also saw Cirque Du Soleil - Mystere. This was my first Cirque experience and it was pretty amazing. I swear, I want to join one of these shows so bad.

We had dinner at Emeril's N.O. Fish House which was excellent. We also ate at Trevi and a really good Thai restaurant but I can't remember the name. I saw fresh Krispy Kreme's being made but didn't get one. I stopped at Starbucks quite a bit because they were absolutely everywhere (not that I minded).

We also went to the Comedy Stop and saw three different comedians. This was a good time. All three of the comedians were funny.

We also did all the normal stuff like ride the roller coaster on top of the hotel, M&Ms world, the fountains, the volcano, the mall with the gondola rides, the Shark Reef, the Lion Habitat, watched the Sirens of TI, ventured through most of the hotels and walked about 500 miles the whole time we were there.

I really like Las Vegas. There seems to be so much to do there within one 4 mile stretch of road which is amazing to me. There are still a lot of things that I want to see and do so maybe next time I go, I can scratch a few things off my list. I still want to see Mamma Mia!, a few more Cirque shows, Bette Midler, Celine, Carrot Top and the Hoover Dam and other stuff like that.

I am still tired from my trip though. It seems like however long you stay out there, you need that many days plus maybe more in order to recover.

I love Hiking...

J and I went hiking today at one of the local state parks around where we live. We had fun but our ultimate destination (the waterfalls) was mostly dried up. Kind of disappointing. I took lots of pictures.

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Las Vegas for a few days.

I love award winning chili and falling asleep during movies

This weekend was good. J and I went to a chili cook off yesterday at one of the local baseball stadiums around here. It was pretty cool, I had never been to a cook off before. I really like chili and like most people, I'm picky about how it's made. I like mine mostly sweet but a little spicy and with little or no beans. I think we tried about 16 different types of chili yesterday. Most good, some bad and some weird. There were no strict rules like in the serious competitions, people could pretty much do what they wanted as long as they called it chili. I had read a little bit about last year's competition and knew who the People's Choice Award had gone to. I made sure I tried their chili this year and out of the 16 I tried, that group was also my favorite and had I paid $1 to vote, I would've submitted them as my People's Choice vote. We were stopped by a reporter while we were walking around and we answered some of his questions and our comments ended up in the paper this morning. That was kind of neat.

Yesterday, I found 10 four leaf clovers in my backyard. Does this mean the start of some out of this world extreme luck or is this a case of some freak genetic mutation of clovers in my neighborhood? My whole life, I've always had a thing with four leaf clovers. I could just be walking by some, look down and immediately pick one out. Over the years, I have almost every single one I've found in one of those photo albums where the sticky clear stuff folds down on the pictures. One time, when I was about 20 or so I was at my Dad's house and we were walking down to his pond and I just happened to spot a four leaf clover so I bent down and picked it up. He stopped and looked at me and said "Have you always been able to find them like that?" and I said "Yeah" and he responded with "Your grandmother could do that." My grandmother died when I was really young so I didn't really get to spend a lot of time with her. It makes me wonder what innate abilities you truly pass down to your kids and their kids and so on and so forth or if things like that are just coincidences.

See below for my confusing find. I do hope it means I'll be lucky times 10. I need it right now.




My last week of training for my new job begins tomorrow. I really hope I know what the hell I'm doing by the time everything is said and done. I am feeling nervous for the first time. Whatever, I'll suck it up and get over it. Hopefully.

TV Talk: I watched the first Kitchen Nightmares episode this past week. I really think so far that this show will be better than Hell's Kitchen. I do like Gordon Ramsay and it's a nice change to see things change up every week since he'll be making over a new screwed up restaurant each time. It got old on Hell's Kitchen where you would watch the same idiots fail at making Pea Risotto and/or Beef Wellington week after week.

In other great news, some of my shows are coming back like Heroes, The Office and Earl while others are ending like Top Chef. This season of Top Chef has been hard to sit through. I don't want any of them to win.

Movie Talk: I watched and fell asleep at different times through both the movies School for Scoundrels and Fracture. Fracture was worse than I thought it would be and School for Scoundrels was a lot better than I anticipated. I didn't know SFS was a remake of a 1960's movie until I looked it up. I'm sorry, has everything already been done before? And when will my generation of movies start to become re-made on a regular basis? A new Honey, I Shrunk the Kids for 2030 perhaps? Ooh, I don't think I can wait!

I love Heroism, County Fairs and Train Rides

I had a pretty good weekend.

Saturday, my girlfriends and I went on a Mystery Train ride. It lasts for about 3 1/2 hours and you eat dinner while watching a murder mystery play. You get a little involved in the show and at the end you have to turn in a sheet saying who you are accusing of the crime, what weapon they used and their motive. I accused the wrong person, guessed the wrong weapon and motive and my chicken was a little dry, but it was fun anyway.

When I got home Saturday night, I found J in the basement playing Guitar Hero. He got the chance to play it for the first time at our neighbor's house yesterday and he got addicted and went out and bought it for us. I stayed up for a few hours last night playing it, only stopping because I was basically falling asleep while playing. Guitar Hero was the first thing on my mind when I woke up this morning. I am addicted now, too. It is so much fun. Every time I hear of things like this that a large number of people are into, I always think it's stupid. Then way down the line when everyone is already tired of whatever it is and it's not cool to do it anymore, I somehow step in and find it and go nuts with it. Whatever, I don't care. My hands hurt from playing so much. It hurts to type. I've opened up the third set of songs on the EASY level and I'm getting better. Most of my scores are in the 90-95% range. So I'll be moving on up soon enough. I think my favorite song to play right now is Mother by Danzig. The hardest seems to be Life Wasted?? (not sure of the title) by Pearl Jam.

J and I went to the county fair today. We walked around, looked at cows, pigs, goats, chickens, rabbits, all the art and food exhibits, and ATE, ATE, ATE. I am so sick right now. I had fresh lemonade, italian sausage, deep fried oreos and a deep fried twinkie... and a slice of pizza. Uggh.

I'm done and out. I need sleep.

I Love Birthdays

My friend Chr is celebrating a birthday on Monday and his get together with friends happened last night at one of the local bars around here. I had a good time.

I really like when a birthday of one of my family members or best friends rolls around. I'm not sure what makes an anniversary of someone's birthdate a fun time, but it just is that way so I don't try to question it. There seem to be a few common types of reactions to someone's special day: either they are in a great mood the entire day, a bad mood because they are reminded just how old they are getting or they are surprised and relieved they were able to see another year go by without kicking the bucket.

I work with a girl who is usually not in the best of moods most days. When her birthday happened a few months ago, it was like a different person was in the room. She was laughing, making jokes, running around screaming "It's MY BIRTHDAY!!!" and ready to party at 8 am. It was good to see her happy for once. It made me secretly wish that every day was her birthday.

My big 30th is coming up in November. Holy shit, I remember when 30 was OLD and I thought "that won't happen to me for a LONG time" and somehow, here I am about to experience it for myself. I try to be sensitive when talking to people who are already older than that and surpassed their 30ths years ago. I've learned they are generally dismissive of my woes over the upcoming loss of my 20's. "You think 30 is bad, try 50!" or "Oh, you're still young! I wish I could be upset about turning 30 again, you're still a baby so quit your crying!"

Since I was little, I have always made the same wish before I blow out my birthday candles. And no, it's not to get my own PONY!! I will probably keep wishing for the same thing every year until I'm not alive anymore to blow candles out. I hope my 30th rolls in and rolls out quietly but spent with my loved ones, friends and family. I'll be in a new segment of the company I work for at that time and I was already informed that birthdays and other stuff are generally not celebrated. I guess in a way it could be a relief not to be celebrating stuff seemingly every single week out of the year but I hope my desk still gets covered in tons of confetti like usual.

Anyway, I need something to eat.

Happy Birthday, Chr!

Put your music on shuffle and write about the first ten songs...

I saw this on another site and I'm bored tonight so here we go...

1. Riot Poof - Tori Amos.
This is one of my favorites by her. It reminds me of a very specific period of my life.

2. Paradise City - Guns N Roses.
I still love this band. Appetite for Destruction is in my car cd player as we speak. One of my top ten albums of all time. This is one of my least favorites from the album but hey, that's alright.

3. Many Men - 50 Cent.
I have a soft spot for 50 Cent. I like this whole album and still listen to it quite a bit. He's got a few songs on my top 200 most played list on my iPod.

4. X-Static Process - Madonna.
I love this song. I was happy when she started going to an acoustic sound.

5. Wash Away - Joe Purdy.
My number one most played song on my iPod. I used to listen to this one on repeat constantly. It makes me feel happy and that life really doesn't suck whenever I feel like crap about things.

6. Whatever You Do! Don't! - Shania Twain.
Gotta love all the exclamation points this woman uses in her song titles.

7. Tribute - Tenacious D.
Jack Black is my celebrity crush. He makes me laugh. This is a great one to sing with your friends in the car driving home from somewhere.

8. Fighter - Christina Aguilera.
I think she's awesome. But I have a hard time singing along with her so I do it in private where no one can hear.

9. If it's Alright - Lindsay Lohan.
She's one of my favorite artists and everyone seems to make fun of me for it. I like her music though, especially this song. I love the chorus.

10. Joyful Girl - Ani DiFranco.
What a great song to end my ten songs on. Such a pretty song. Dilate was definitely my favorite album of hers.

It's time...

for me to quit smoking. yeah, yeah, yeah. I know all the comments people make about people like me who have quit before and started smoking again but it really is time. My smoking partner at work is on vacation for the next week and a half so that would give me a good jump start on quitting. I'll have ten days under my belt by the time she gets back. I won't talk to much about it since there's no point but wish me luck.....

I want the ketchup fights and the tickling and the giggling...

What to say? This past week has been pretty good. I started training for my new job this past Monday and my stress level has dropped almost 100%. Which is something I really needed to happen in my life. I liked my old job but I really was ready for a change. What I'll be doing now is pretty similar but I won't have a lot of responsibilities like I did before. Which sucks in a way because I like having responsibilities but it's going to be so nice not to have to worry about as much anymore. Having a positive attitude about my work is a different thing for me and I'm going to try very hard to keep my attitude positive. I mean, I'm there 40-50 hours out of every week - it shouldn't suck for all 40-50 hours... right? My life should be better now.

My weekend was fun. I worked a little yesterday, was a cat sitter for my friend, went out to lunch, did some shopping, hung out last night in a neighbor's backyard and had some beers.

I don't know what today will hold yet. Probably relaxing and wasting the day away. Which is good too.

Some recent thoughts on my mind: How I like season 2 of Veronica Mars way better than season 1 at this point. I want to see some meteors during the shower. Did the optimum viewing time already pass or what? I guess I could look it up. How would my cats react to J and I bringing a dog in to live with us?

Concert Talk.

I'm going to see my absolute favorite artist Tori Amos in October.

This month, I'm going to get tickets to see Colbie Caillat and Minnie Driver. They are both playing the Birchmere different days in August. I love both of these singers and it would be nice to see them in a smaller venue. Ticket prices are next to nothing.

So, we've covered movies, work, concerts. That's all, I'm really done for today.

Movie talk.

J and I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum last night. Damn it, I love the Bourne movies. I wish every action movie could be done at least half as good as these have been. Tons of action, tension, light to non-existant in the romance dept, great car chases, hand to hand combat, a great actor playing the main character and a plot that even when really impossible doesn't come off as a joke. I also really like the style of camera work although I've read a lot of complaints on it from other people.

I'm sad that this trilogy is over (I guess it's over). I think they left the third movie open to where they could do another one but like J and I were discussing on our way out of the theater, what could they really do now? Pretty much everything was wrapped up. Except maybe the previous relationship with Nicky which wasn't really explored but I would hate to see a movie with my Jason Bourne all wrapped up in luuuv stuff. It seemed fitting to have the third movie end in the same way the first one started, everything came full circle in a good way.

I think I might go see the Simpsons today. I know I want to see the new Resident Evil movie when it comes out. I love Milla and I loved playing the video games and the other movies have been decent.

Upcoming movies I want to see: Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon. The Brave One with Jodie Foster. Dedication with Mandy Moore and Billy Crudup. December Boys with Daniel Radcliffe. The Darjeeling Limited with Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman (I love him). And of course, Rush Hour 3!!

Video releases: I just watched Premonition and thought that was pretty good. Wasn't really a fan of the end but whatever. I want to see Zodiac and The Number 23 also.

That's it for the movie talk. Thought I would do movies instead of tv for a change. :)

I start my new job tomorrow.

Actually, I begin a two month training program. I'm excited.

You need one of these...

I'm a huge coffee fan. I drink it in the morning, the afternoon and at night. If I miss a dose I end up getting a headache. Anyway, I knew what a french press was but I had never used one or had coffee that was made in one. Now that I've been made aware of how awesome they are, I am not going back to a coffee pot or instant (YIKES) which is what I was drinking for many many months. I also bought a smaller one so I can take it to work and not have to drink that shit they serve for free there. My life sure is improving in the coffee area.

My vacation is coming to an end...

I had a great week off of work. I drove by my lovely place of employment this weekend and it seemed like it was from another time in my life. I feel it's going to be a rude awakening walking back through those doors tomorrow.

This weekend, I was on my own. J went back to his hometown to visit and I stayed here alone. Friday night, I hit the bars with a group of friends. Saturday, I finished up season 1 of Veronica Mars and then later on that night saw the movie No Reservations. This morning, I had breakfast with the girls and went over to the mall for some shopping. J comes home soon and then I'll be doing all my usual Sunday night rituals in preparation for tomorrow.

Is this turning into a TV blog or what?

Ok, I just came across an story that "The Two Corey's" (Corey Haim and Corey Feldman for you people that didn't spend your childhood obsessing about these guys like I did) are getting ready to have their new fake-reality show out on A&E. I remember Feldman being interestlingly annoying on... The Surreal Life?? but enough time has passed for me not to remember for sure or be sick of him anymore. Hell yeah, I couldn't be more excited to see what these guys are going to do now. I'll have to set my Tivo up for a season pass and figure out how in the hell I can fit one more show in right now.

Hell's Kitchen is coming to an end so it shouldn't be too bad to start another one. That sucks about Julia going home, but it was nice of her to get a paid ride to Culinary School on behalf of Chef Ramsay. Now I'm not sure who I want to win.... Jen is probably the best choice.

Anyway, that's it about tv for a while... I hope. I'm really starting to sound like I have no life.

First day of my vacation...

I'm really packing it all in. Laundry, cleaning chores, watching movies that co-workers have let me borrow that I hadn't yet got around to watching, shopping, cooking... I'm getting things accomplished.

I had a good weekend. I went to a Jeep show with my Dad and we all drove up seperately in our Jeeps. It wasn't as fun this year as it has been in previous years. The obstacle course seemed smaller and not as hard and nobody was really giving out free stickers, keychains, etc. The weather was beautiful though and I got burned to a crisp. It looks like I'm wearing a white shirt even when I'm not.

Yesterday, J and I finished watching the first season of the Showtime show Dexter. Wow, what a great show. I loved Michael C. Hall on Six Feet Under and I love the character he plays on this show, too. He's works in forensics during the day and is a serial killer that kills serial killers and other bad people at night. This show had so many layers to it and it's been one of my favorite shows when it comes to character development, back stories and every character's different plot lines. The show is depressing, funny, scary, disgusting, full of drama and situations where you go "what would I do?" The second season is about to begin soon and I can't wait. I really hope iTunes has them available soon after they air on Showtime.

Another busy, but fun weekend.

I'm seriously getting worn out by all these booked weekends. It seems like it's been two months or more that every Saturday AND Sunday is filled up. By the time Sunday night comes around, I feel like I need a weekend after the weekend. I need some decompression time or I'm going to go nuts, so my vacation scheduled from the 23rd-27th can't come soon enough.

This weekend was fun. Friday we had dinner at my new favorite Thai restaurant and saw Harry Potter afterwards. I liked this new movie, but it's so weird to see the flash backs of him when he was younger because he's so grown up now. Those new pictures of him in the Details magazine or whatever had my mouth hanging open.

Saturday was the annual picnic at my friend Kellie's. There was a lot of food, karaoke (some good, some BAD), swimming, and lots of laughs.

Today, J and I got up early and headed to DC to check out the Spy Museum and the Smithsonian. We had dinner at Ruth's Chris. God, I love that place but it is expensive.

I have to go to bed now. Tomorrow it's back to work... yay :(

Here we are...

So, my sister just recently graduated from high school and we had her graduation party this weekend. Damn, do I feel old! I was eleven when she was born and it doesn't really seem like that long ago I was in the hospital room, hiding under a table trying not to pass out from all the stress of seeing my Mom in labor. (I honestly believe that day turned me against having children for a long time. When I was ten years old, I had to do a project in school about what my future life would be like and present it as a book and I remember specifically wanting five kids. Then when my sister was born the next year I was like "nuh uh, no, not me, ever!" Although, 18 years later I may be getting over the memories a little more as each year goes by because I definitely don't want five but one would be ok.)

On another note, Hell's Kitchen is getting better as it's getting to the end. I really hope Julia pulls through and wins the whole thing. She's the least annoying and everyone else looked down on her in the beginning for being a Waffle House cook. I like when people rise up and give a big fuck you to all the people expecting them to fail. And Waffle House cooks are awesome, I watch them work and eat their food every Sunday morning. (Except this past Sunday when I had to skip it due to a major headache I had for over 24 straight hours that started late Saturday night, but every other Sunday I'm there, damn it.)

I've been watching The Larry Sanders show on DVD. I never heard much about this show before when it was on, but it is so funny. "Hey Now!"

I'm done and out...

Happy 4th

I am having a nice couple of days surrounding July 4th. Yesterday, we went down to the park for the big celebration but ended up getting rained out. We decided to see Transformers instead. Actually, the movie wasn't bad. I think I was in bed by 10 last night. I didn't even see any fireworks this year.

I took today off and have just been hanging around the house, playing with Garage Band on my Mac and had lunch down at Bentley's. I'll probably waste my night away watching tv and crying because I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Ahh... don't we all love weddings?

So, yesterday was my cousin's wedding. It was one of the better ones I've attended. Everything moved fast, it was not pretentious at all, she looked beautiful and everyone was in a great mood.

One thing that has really picked up some momentum in the last year or two with all of the baby showers, weddings, etc. that have been going on is that question to me of "So, when is it going to be your turn?" I guess because I'm getting ready to hit the BIG 3-0 and people younger than me in my family have already started the route down the adult road, it just seems like a natural question. I don't know why I get so thrown by it though. I truly don't have a good answer for it. J's answer is usually "Sometime between now and never". That's comforting...

I would make a beautiful bride though, huh? :)

R.I.P. little pod

Well, my iPod didn't make it. We gave it time to dry, took it apart, looked around (it smelled like blueberry coffee once opened up), but... nothing.

It's not all that bad, I ended up getting another one as another gift. It's the exact same one, just a little cheaper now. I'm not used to seeing my video screen so clear and not covered in scratches. Now I have another little pod to love and keep away from open coffee cups. I'm going to be so paranoid now, but in different ways than when I had my last one. I only ever worried about losing it. I knew where it was at all times and if I didn't, I was finding out where it was real quick. Now I can feel myself being scared about every little thing with this new one - am I plugging it in too hard? blah blah blah. I'm sure I'll get over the fear eventually. It's funny how dependent I've become on this little thing that's no bigger than my hand.

So, needless to say, nothing is holding me back from my 30 Seconds to Mars addiction now. It's back on in full force. Now that I have maxed out both songs The Kill and From Yesterday, I have moved on to current song obsession Modern Myth. I may need help.

This is how happy I look when I think of my weekly Sunday trip to Waffle House!

My poor pod

I dropped my beautiful, well loved iPod in my coffee cup yesterday morning, totally submerging it to the point where it's not working right now. The more time that passes and it dries out, the more things it does like the "very low battery" wheel actually spins around, the screen lights up and then blinks on and off real fast.

Please pull through little pod.

I will miss you if you are completely gone.

This unfortunate turn of events really gets in the way of me enjoying my latest musical obsession 30 Seconds to Mars. I've never really been one for male bands, except GNR of course, but this band is awesome. I can't get enough and I've been listening to them non-stop for days. I almost think this pod in the coffee thing was for my own benefit, since the 30stm addiction can't be that healthy.

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - I didn't know this was the longest word in the English Dictionary. Did you?

I'm following the news on the latest spelling bee and this stuff is serious business. The commentary while you're watching is just awesome.... the picking of favorites by the commentators, the back stories on the kids, the thoughts on the strategy of the competition.

It's always sad to see the kids crash and burn, especially after they ask all their questions and then they still look totally bewildered.

So much pressure, so much pressure.

I wonder how I would do in a spelling bee now. Now as I get older and my brain seems to fail me more and more, I sometimes question myself on my spelling. I still think I could whoop some ass, though. I wonder if they would let me in at my age. Or do they have senior bees?

Stupid Stuff

J is having a good influence on me. He's making me get organized. I have no problem keeping things straightened up on the outside, but please do not look in closets, drawers or cabinets. It's a whole different story. Check this out, I just had to take a picture of my newly, beautifully organized cabinet. Don't worry, I don't think my shelves will break from all the weight of my quality china. Thanks for the concern.




Now, with my new Mac anything is possible.

I always wanted a twin. Check out these hot babes!




** Also, I really like the new Fidelity commercial with the older married couple.

No more shows.

After House tonight, all of my favorite shows are over for this season (except my favorite cooking competition shows like Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef, both beginning the first week of June). Lost, 24, The Office, Heroes, House, American Idol, Grey's Anatomy... yeah, it looks like I have no life but that's where Tivo comes in to help me schedule things better so I can actually live a little. It's hard keeping up with so many shows, though. Sometimes, I really just have to turn new ones down because I can't fit anymore in. Or I try to keep a balance, like when I dropped Desperate Housewives to pick up Grey's Anatomy. TV on DVD makes things much easier because I know eventually I'll catch up on everything (if I really want to, that is).

Lost had been getting on my nerves for a while but the last few episodes (with Desmond especially) had given me some hope. Then, the season finale finally came and it was so good that I was back to my old ways of freeze framing to try to read a newspaper clipping, searching the internet for better quality images of the newspaper clipping and driving myself nuts again.

Grey's also had a great finale which I just watched last night (along with the last few episodes). Almost every character on this show has been my favorite at one time and my least favorite at another time. I have never been able to stand that McDreamy though, I'm still not sure why ladies go wild over him - it's Ronald from Can't Buy Me Love! Guess he did go from "totally geek to totally chic". I'll be damned.

And it sucks that there's no more Office for now. This is the one I'll miss the most.

So, come on Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef, please don't suck. Top Chef won't be the same without Marcel in it this season (STILL can't believe he didn't win). If they had call in votes like American Idol, I might have actually been on the phone dialing up Marcel over and over and over again.

I'll always have my old standby - all 7 seasons of Seinfeld on dvd. I think 8 is due out any day now, so I'll have "new" ones again. If there was a way to get rich by answering Seinfeld trivia questions, I wouldn't have to worry about how I'd pay my mortgage anymore. I'd own a mansion outright.

On a side note, Judge Judy is still awesome.

I Love Long Holiday Weekends

This has been my first weekend that has been free of any scheduled plans. Lately, each day of every weekend has been full with baby showers, weddings, get togethers, moving days, etc. It kind of gets to you after a while to not have any time to yourself.

All I have done so far is join the YMCA, see Pirates of the Caribbean, have dinner at the restaurant that makes the chocolate raspberry beer and waste the rest of my time playing games like Belle's Beauty Boutique, Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile and many others. I cleaned the house and took care of other business, too.

On Pirates, though... I actually had a hard time figuring out the plot to this one. I eventually had to look it up on IMDB. I also thought it was about an hour too long. One improvement over the other two: it seems they weren't focusing so much on Keira Knightley's face. She's pretty, we already knew. I thank them for not making me look at her face for long close ups this time around while I sit there having to pee.

Also, I need a reason why I want to win an Ohio farm for $100. I have to write an essay. It has to be good because it seems they would prefer to give the farm to a young family. I don't have a husband or children, but I do have J and my three cats. Maybe this will be enough.

American Doll Posse

So, when ADP came out recently I posted about it. Just wanted to give an update that I think this is Tori Amos's best work since some of her earlier albums. I listen to this album non stop on my iPod. Yes, her videos still kind of suck which is a shame but being able to deliver a great album 15 years after her first commercial success is a great achievement.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and to all the other Mom's out there.

Skin

I came across this website for Shelley Jackson's new work called Skin. Skin is a story tattooed on 2,095 volunteers one word at a time. I was very intrigued by it and am considering trying to get approved to be one of the "words". I have never had a tattoo before and don't know what I would get if I did get one. You don't have a choice if you're approved what your word is. So maybe it would be alright for my tattoo to get picked for me to take off the pressure of deciding.

Beer Festival

Yesterday we went to the annual Maryland Brewer's Springfest at Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick, MD. I just wanted to mention that the Naked Fish Chocolate Raspberry Stout from DuClaw Brewing Company is the best. I spilled a whole bunch on my new shirt and probably ruined it, but if I did it was worth it.

Tori Amos - American Doll Posse

Tori Amos's latest studio album came out yesterday. Go out and get a copy.

Some of my favorite songs:
Velvet Revolution
Digital Ghost
Secret Spell
Beauty of Speed
Devils and Gods
Almost Rosey

It's no fun being so sick you can't even enjoy your time off work

I have been sick for the last two days. I'm thinking it was food poisoning, I guess I'll never know for sure. I rarely stay home when I'm not feeling well, but if I do, I can usually enjoy part of the day. Like when The Price is Right is on or TLC's makeover shows. This time, I enjoyed nothing. Yesterday was a blur of illness. Today is better although my body is exhausted from yesterday. I would have rather gone to work both days than be sick - you know a person is sick when they say that.

I Love Technology.

I've always been somewhat resistant to any new technology. Whenever I hear about some new, wonderful, convenient (and always expensive) device designed to make me crave it even when I don't quite know why, I just cringe inside. Maybe I take after my Dad, he's always been the same way. He won't buy hardly anything brand new and he fixes things he's owned for years when they break. He has a radio that looks like it's from another time dimension because, literally, it is.

I noticed that the cringing trend began somewhere around the time that DVDs starting getting really popular. I had just recently gotten a 4 head VCR and just thought that was the shit. "Why do I need a DVD player? I own this awesome 4 head, did you hear me? 4 head VCR!" Plus, every movie I owned was already VHS, did I really need to buy DVDs, too?. I knew how to work the remote and I knew how to set the time and make it record shows. I felt complete. **Side note, it amazes me that some people refuse to master some of these skills even today when it comes to those old VCR's they still use for their kid's Barney tapes. Come on, people!

Eventually, we all know we moved to DVDs. How could we not? DVD players were $30 during the holidays, Netflix got popular while Blockbuster and Hollywood Video began removing all of the VHS tapes until only DVDs remained. You had no choice but to get with the new way things worked.

I've seen this automatic resistance happen again and again with me whether it's Internet speed ("I'm happy with my 56K, why would I need something that goes faster?") to TiVo ("I can just use my magnificent 4 head VCR to record!") to iPods ("Really, I don't mind carrying around 500 cds with me every where I go!") to just about anything that has come out new, different or improved.

I start out resisting almost every technological advance but sooner or later, I'll come across one of these new devices and inventions through friends, family or even strangers and get a chance to really see what it can do and maybe play with a few of the buttons myself. This seems to ALWAYS turn my frown upside down. Then within a few days, I have to get one of whatever it is for myself.

And we come to the whole point of this... I had always thought navigation systems were just, I don't know, dumb. Extra that just wasn't really necessary. Sure, for people who really needed to use them like truck drivers, etc., that was fine. For regular people like myself "Why not just get directions off the internet? Or read a map?" Until tonight when I had one in my vehicle trying it out. I have driven past the same streets every day for two years since I moved to this new city. The only time I ever saw or noticed any of the street names was tonight when the navigation system told me they were there. It showed me how to get home step by step. Not that I didn't already know, but you know what I mean. It demonstrated that if I was in some huge, big complicated city driving around with no idea where I was going that I could find my way by hearing "In 250 feet, right turn. Right turn in 250 feet. Gas station up ahead!" So, now that I've had the navigation system in the car for about an hour and now it's gone, something seems like it's missing. Guess I'll be at Best Buy within the next couple of days picking out my new, wonderful, convenient (and expensive) navigation device. I promise I won't play with it while I'm driving.

He makes up for the bad stuff he does by being so cute.

Isn't he cute?

And he's a celebrity, too. J put his picture up on a photo website and multiple people have said how cute he is. One person even said they wanted to take him home with them. I thought about it briefly, I do miss the times when I had furniture that didn't have the stuffing hanging out, but decided I would continue letting him live with me. Maybe next for him will be posing for calendars. The world needs a new face in Tuxedo cat modeling. And since he can't cash checks, I'll take care of that for him.

The Best Milkshake money can buy

If you haven't had a Chick-Fil-A milkshake yet (they are hand spun..mmm) you are truly missing out on one of the finest culinary masterpieces of this lifetime. It would be a shame for me to have never experienced the awesomeness of a perfect chocolate milkshake, or vanilla, or strawberry, or cookies and cream, or Mint Cookies and Cream. Luckily, I saw the big milkshake sign and being as swayed by advertising as I am, I had to stop in. Money buys me happiness in a big cup with whipped cream on top - all for less than $3.00. Shazam!

All aboard the Bruise Cruise

As a child, I used to love looking at clouds in the sky and saying "Look Mom! A Teddy Bear!! See it?? Right there" and she would say "Oh yeah, hmmm... Interes... damn it, where is my lighter?" while I would sit there proud of myself.

Imagine my delight when I got out of the shower this morning and just happened to notice my bruise (the one from my first spin class) and saw a shape not in the clouds, but on my very own leg! Mom has been a non smoker for a long time now, so she might even be interested in this one...




It's a Chicken!



I like my marshmallow peeps stale.

What is up with 24?

I have been a big 24 fan since the first season. Every year I would ask myself "how is it that this show just keeps getting better?" I recognized the "Power of Bauer" (I always thought that phrase was lame). Now, this season comes along and I think it starts out amazing with him in the prison and all. Then it got really boring. And it stayed really boring. Even Chloe with her scrunched up face wasn't doing anything for me. I had some hope this past Monday when things seemed to be getting good. Then the good stuff was over and the boring stuff looks like it's back next week when the plot line again picks up one of my least favorite characters. I've never minded that Jack's days in terms of time wasn't possible - "when does he find time to use the bathroom?" and all the crap people who don't watch the show say. But I do mind when the writing starts getting lazy and everything is guessable. If I can guess what's going to happen, shouldn't I be able to get paid for being a writer on the show? I have no formal training, but really, why not me if I get the same ideas? What's supposed to set the average viewer apart from the big production is that we are able to suspend reality for a little while and go along for the ride and be surprised by a couple of turns that we take along the way. So far, this season amounts to driving on auto pilot but I still have faith in the "Power"... for now.

The Second Spin

I went to my second spin class last night. I wasn't able to go last Thursday or Saturday as planned... it was probably a good thing since I still couldn't walk. Last night went much better. I could do most of it without stopping too much. I didn't fall down off the bike when I was done. And I realized how much I miss the song "All Fired Up" by Pat Benatar.

Just up in the gym, working on my fitness...

I'm having a blast with my new Mac

I got a new Mac (so far, my favorite present since my 5th grade Christmas when my dad got me Nintendo) and I am on this thing non-stop. There just seems to be so much stuff to do and play with. Everything is so different than what I'm used to so it makes the Internet and all kinds of programs seem more fun. I'm addicted.

The one thing that seems to offer me the most entertainment is the Photo Booth where you can do all kinds of funny manipulations to yourself. It's not like it's hilarious or anything, but it is a good time to see your forehead really big or your mouth really small. I also use the program in normal mode in the mornings when I put my make up on, it doubles as a mirror. I like things that have multiple functions.



This is one of the not funny ones.

Sunday Drives

I like taking pictures while riding in the passenger seat on a long boring drive. Usually, I take pictures of my boyfriend which really seems to distract and annoy him. Eventually, I'll turn my attention to my side of the window and just starting snapping away at anything and everything. It's nice because my camera barks like a dog every time I take a picture so it's like I'm getting nature and wildlife all in one car ride. Most of the time, all the pictures suck but that's not really the point. I like having blurry records of moments in time I normally would have tuned out and ignored.

The Office is my favorite show right now

I can't get enough. I'm catching up on the first season and parts of the second season that I missed. I love this show. At first I absolutely hated it. I only would watch it sometimes just because it was on after My Name is Earl. I always liked Dwight but didn't care much about any of the rest of it. Now. I. Love. It.

Please just let Jim and Pam get together already! Get Angela pregnant by Dwight and make that the big "problem" for a while.

Spin Class anyone?

So, my first spin class kicked my ass. I went Tuesday night and I am still in pain on Friday night. I can walk up stairs now without whining but going down stairs still sucks. I can sit down without too much problem but getting up still sucks. As for bending down? Forget it. I didn't know how out of shape I was and it's quite depressing. Those little seats aren't very comfortable either on those certain parts where it's not good to feel uncomfortable. I had a good time though. Things were upbeat, the music was alright and I had my two best friends on the bikes on either side of me.

But the worst part of the class on Tuesday? Not knowing I would have no control over my legs (they were like overdone linguine noodles) once I was done and falling off the bike and hurting myself. Ouch.



It's blacker today. Notice the circles imprinted from the pedal. Lovely!

Spin Class tomorrow as planned? I'm still debating...

Let me think of something to say.

I opened this account this morning after talking to a friend of mine who also just opened one. On my drive home from work tonight I wondered what I could possibly web log about. But I guess everyone wonders about that when they decide to start one.

I'm opinionated, but I don't get nasty about it. I'm a pretty good critic. I like silly stuff. Maybe things could get interesting, maybe not. It doesn't really matter though, does it?