Ok...haven't had a lot of blog time lately, so I just got caught up.

Logi - OMG!!! I want that dog. He looks wonderful. My friend Grips had a husky/shepard mix Jack who was absolutely wonderful. Go for it!!!

Disney - I'm so glad that the job search is at an end, but I know that you will be missed. Skye posed the question wondering if anyone knew how much it would cost to move to Texas. Check out Monster Moving. Shameless pandering to my employer, but Hell, maybe it will work for you. Probably the most valuable resource would be the USMail notifications. Best of luck to you both.

Tempest - I'm waiting for your review of LOTR. Ghost didn't like it, but I'm not sure that Ghost and I share the same likes/dislikes when it comes to movies so I'm looking for a second opinion.

Ally - thank you for the beautiful holiday message. You are right - Christmas is all about Love. Sending some your way.


I've got just a few short hours until I'm released for vacation. Yesterday was a totally miserable day, but today is looking to be promising - perhaps thats the mimosas talking. Yes, they brought in a HUGE lunch for everyone, including Mimosas. I volunteered to bartend and had myself a merry little time. I've got quite the buzz right now and that's a very very good thing. There's a case of Korbel left over & I've got it tucked out of the way right now...perhaps a bottle or two will find their way home with me tonight. Damn, but I do love champagne.

Christmas Plans: Tonight we're going to dinner then to see LOTR. Tomorrow is the big game for 2st place in the division between Miami & the Pats, so we'll be somewhere drinking & screaming loudly at the tv. Sunday I go back to CT to see Mom & her Dick to celebrate Christmas. I'm hoping that Tempest & Purge will have returned from Jersey so I can see them, but whatever. If we get out of there early enough, maybe I'll give Boogie Shoes & RedSox a call...not sure of the time line right now. We'll play that by ear. Monday we drive to East Boston to see Blixx's sister Rocks & her 4 kids. Yep...that's 4 kids. We spoiled them rotten this year with gifts, but we don't get to see them a lot & they dont' get many holidays. Blixx just wants to play matchbox cars & the kids offer the perfect excuse. Actual Christmas will be spent with Grips and his family eating pork roast & getting drunk & playing Play Do...perhaps I should do that BEFORE I get drunk. We'll see - no promises.

Then I've got vacation, baby! I won't be blogging regularly, because I have no patience for the slower than dirt dial up connection at my house. Perhaps you'll hear from me, perhaps you won't.

Hold up your glass of champagne because I'd like to propose a toast: Here's to a New Year filled with joy, happiness, true love & peace. Not that shmaltzy peace on earth crap that you hear about. I'm talking about inner peace...whatever it is that gets you to that place where you're all warm & fuzzy inside & that feeling that all is right in the world.

I just did a shot of tequilla with my boss - he told me to do it, I swear. Probablyy shoudl go now.

Merry & Happy & all that stuff.
Peace out all!

I was on the dumb laws web site today and came across this one for Guilford, CT. Only white Christmas lights are allowed for display. I found it interesting, since for years Tempest & I, along with other friends along the years, would drive around on Christmas Eve to go check out the light displays. I remember one down by Sachems Head that was unreal...and I seem to remember multi-colored lights. Hmmmm.

No time for more. Work sucks. That's all you need to know. One more day then I'm out of here. Unless I kill someone, then I'll be going to jail.

Think possitive...maybe I won't get caught.

Peace.

Some news that got my attention:

Apparently, champagne gets you drunker faster. I knew there was something about those bubbles!

In San Diego, a woman stole a bag containing a sweater before she boarded her flight. But it turned out that the bag also contained an FAA-approved dummy grenade used to test security screeners. There's a lesson in why shoplifting is bad for your health.

Curing the Common Cold?
New medicines (one due out in just a couple of months) could actually contain a cure for the common cold. Perhaps I wouldn't have snot spackle any more. Wouldn't that be exciting?!?!

***********************************************

Ally - you are not a horrible wife at all. Blixx & I actually had the same conversation about wrapping & Christmas responsibilities vs fun. I imagine that we'll see LOTR some time while I've got the days off between Christmas & New Years.

WryGuy - I read. I didn't know that it was obligatory to respond. Good stuff!

Tempest - What happened with the review? Are we definate for Jan 5th & the tattoo?

***********************************************

Work is still a hassle. I don't even want to write about it. I'm here...for the rest of the week on my own. It sucks, but I have a job so I'll just shut up. It is my dream to have money & not have to work for it. Screw the satisfaction of a job well done...I just want satisfaction!!!

Grip's little sister Jillybean is in from Utah or Montana or wherever she's been. She is living the life that I sometimes wish I'd had. There was a time where I was determined to travel the US & abroad. Jillybean always has some great stories about her adventures as a councelor for juvie kids or her jobs at the ski resorts. We'll probably end up hanging out with them later. Somthing to look forward to.

Gotta go to the company Yankee Swap. I better get something good this year, damn it!

Grumpy.

I can't believe that I forgot to blog about the toilets at Mohegan. They have seat covers on the pot, and you just press a button and it'll rotate to a new sheet for you. No hovering required.

Simple pleasures.

Peace.

If you have the luxury of long distance phone capabilities from your current employer (or don't mind wasting money on stupid things), please call 858-522-5597. It's not porn...it's hysterical.

Payroll due today...no one can give me straight answers on end of the year questions. The finance portiion of my job has exploded into a hellishly bright beem of brilliant idiocy that can't be stopped. Yeah, I'm liking the new job duties. Oh yeah...why did I l say that I had collection experience on my resume? Oh yeah, I do. That doesn't mean I like it though.

Blixx is cooking me dinner after I do some shopping so that's the thick gravy goodness on the festering dog food of my day. Visuals baby.

If you have the luxury of long distance phone capabilities from your current employer (or don't mind wasting money on stupid things), please call 858-522-5597. It's not porn...it's hysterical.

Payroll due today...no one can give me straight answers on end of the year questions. The finance portiion of my job has exploded into a hellishly bright beem of brilliant idiocy that can't be stopped. Yeah, I'm liking the new job duties. Oh yeah...why did I l say that I had collection experience on my resume? Oh yeah, I do. That doesn't mean I like it though.

Blixx is cooking me dinner after I do some shopping so that's the thick gravy goodness on the festering dog food of my day. Visuals baby.

We spent the day on Saturday combing the greater Worcester area shopping for the holidays. We've got the nieces & nephews all set (and then dome, the spoiled little brats! and almost everyone else done. Our house is a disaster with gifts everywhere. Rather than have Blixx dig through our storage space, affectionately referred to as the Back Hall of Doom) we bought a $5 fiberoptic 10" tree from Target. It's tacky and hysterical and we love it.

Sunday Blixx went over to Toad's house to watch the Pats just barely scrape up a victory over the Bills. It was apparently an ugly game. I journeyed to CT to buy Jacknife a tattoo. I should have known that things wouldn't go smoothly...it is after all, US we're dealing with here. She'd seen the wolf tattoo in one of their magazines, but the shop is remodelling and moved the mags elsewhere. We searched around for a while and she settled on one pic, but wanted changes made to it that the artists couldn't do. So, she was SOL. While I understand that they are remodelling the shop, I have to express my disappointment that there wasn't more examples of custom art on the walls to show. One artist had a portfolio out, but that's it. A woman came in asking for some work to be done and they turned her away, saying that none of them that were there specialized in detail work. Um...I'm thinking that any tattoo is detail work, but maybe that's just me. While I certainly have the tattoo bug again, I don't think I'll get mine done there. With them being legal in Mass now, I've got shops all over the place up here. I've just got to do some research first.

Rather than get the tattoo, we ended up at Mohegan Sun for the buffet lunch. We walked around and I made a $1 investment into the slot machines, but lost the whole fortune so I decided to call it a day. Blixx was shocked that I didn't do more damage, as I'd been carrying $200 in cash because of the tattoo. Nope, I', holding on to my dough, thanks. Crap...I've got to redeposit that before I end up doing something crazy.

URGENT REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE
What are each of you getting your mother's for Christmas? I'm looking for ideas here. My family makes up for what it lacks in honest emotions by buying expensive and excessive amounts of gifts. Every year I get my mother & her dick a few items, but I'm totally eclipsed by the sheer volume of gifts that they purchase for us. I'd like to have a better gift ratio this year, but I'm stumped. So far, I've gotten her a cool but inexpensive pair of earlings and a sweater jacket. Yes Tempest, just like the ones we saw in the mall that I admired until you asked if I was turning into my mother. I'm doing the olive oil in nice bottles too. So, that's 3 gifts. She's already bought us a new silverwear set (regular price $630/sale price$187 after I had coupons & used my AAA discount). It's a nice set, but we really didn't need it. I only let her buy it because it was such a good price in that moment of time I just figured F It. She wants to buy dishes for our house, but we never have anyone over because we've got a small ass apartment that's filled to the max with crap that we don't need. Our idea of entertaining involves the pizza man delivering. Yeah, we're a class act. I'm off on another rant...OK...I need cute gift ideas in any price range for anything. HELP! E-mail me HERE.

Peace.

If you get an e-mail from some girl named Carrie at Monster.com, don't worry about it.
She's cool.

Peace.

Transcript from an actual conversation:
some dramatic license has been taken, but not much. really.

Chynakatt: Hey Honey, what did you do today?
Blixx: Some errands, blah blah. I watched Survivor (taped) from last week.
Chynakatt: Oh, I wanted to watch that you know. (the glare that lets him know he's wrong, but I'll get over it) Whatever. Who was kicked off?
Blixx: Um....

(long pause for brain identification)

Blixx: Oh yeah, the annoying girl...um...um... Lindsay.
Chynakatt: Were there any good challenges? What were they?
Blixx: Um...

(pause with a really lost look on his face...scratch the beard...tap forhead...back to beard scratching...time passes)

Blixx: Um...OH YEAH!!! (he yells) It was a memorization game!!!!!

Chynakatt: (falls to the floor laughing hystericly) I've just been hit by Irony.

Maybe you had to be there.

Peace.

Quote of the Day:

The only thing I?m high on is love. Love for my son and daughters. Yes, a little LSD is all I need." Marge Simpson

Did I mention that I'm particularly happy today?

Last night was the best night Blixx & I have had in months! I'm still giggling.

I got out of that class at around 3 & met him back at the house. He was going over our checkbook on the computer, so I went upstairs to lay on the bed & chat with him. I'm all sprawled out, petting the cat & thinking that I could really use a nap. Next thing I know, the man is squished in beside me, wrapping his arms around me and I was out like a light. It was a wonderful power nap & exactly what I needed, since we'd had a nasty night's sleep.

We went out for dinner at a little Thai place that we like and had a wonderful meal, which didn't aggrivate my tummy (a whole other story) then caught Ocean's Eleven. What a really good flick. The cast is outstanding and even with all the big names, no one is overshadowing anyone else. There are plot twists on plot twists...and it doesn't even end like you thought it would. All & all I rate this flick very good and recommend it to you all.

Back at the house and I won't get into details as to why the night was STELLAR, but know that it was and know that I've still got a shit eaten grin on my face and can't seem to stop giggling.

Hey there piggies. I'm out of the office today at another one of those Excel classes, where I'm learning to link spreadsheets and all sorts of handy tools. Just making myself more marketable if I can ever find another job. There's just now alot out there, as I'm sure you are all aware of. I usually meet some folks at these classes...the room is full, yet no one is talking to each other. A very unfriendly group. I'm hoping that we get the option to skip lunch so that I can get out of here even earlier, but we'll see. I'm not too far from my house, so I might go home to kiss my hubby for lunch, just cuz I can. Of course, he's probably still sleeping (bastid!) so he won't welcome the interuption.
We're planning on going to see Ocean's Eleven later tonight - look for my review tomorrow. Back to class!
Peace!

Can't forget the quote of the day:

“I’ve figured out an alternative to giving up my beer. Basically, we become a family of travelling acrobats.” Homer J Simpson

My crazy husband Blixx was camping on Imp Face in NH on Saturday night in the snow. Does that seem normal to you?

Bring on the Cabana Boy!

Ug...actually, I think I'm off the booze for a while. I really did some damage while having girl's night down in CT. We dyed jacknife's hair and despite Purge's inability to tell time, it came out very nice. She's not what I would call a blonde, but it's a light red auburn color that looks really nice with her skin color. Damn proud that she isn't bald, considering that I'd had a couple of glasses of wine before we even started, then got into the shots right after I talked to my grandmother, assuring her that I'd arrived safe and sound back in MA. Yeah, it was a lie, but it's easier to lie to her than have her think I'm galavanting with the girls.

Nanny is in a nursing home and is miserable. Her health is for shit, she's loosing her sight and hearing...she's sad that she's wasting away. Oh, and did I mention that she's a vicious sadistic bitch on her good days. So, my mother & I got to visit her just as the nurse is leaving. As we enter the room, we pass a man in a wheelchair and get a whiff of SHIT FECES POOP CRAP KAA KAA. We enter Nanny's room...and the smell worsens to the point that my mother vaults over the bed and opens both windows wide and gasps for air. I'm holding my nose trying real hard not to breath as I kiss my smelly grandmother hello. I want to go out in a blaze of glory, not slowly wasting away in a home. Nanny is a wealthy woman who has always lived on her own (with help of "the girls" for cleaning and "the boys" for yard work) and now she sits in a 12x12 little smelly room watching the alteimers patients wander aimlessly in the halls. It breaks my heart. Of course, for 80K per year, you think the staff could have sprayed some lysol around or something!!!

On the topic of money, I'm steamed. As you read, keep in mind that I'm a born and bread CT girl rich bitch who's used to getting everything I want. So, with Nanny in the home my aunt Troll is the executive of the will. She controls the afore mentioned wealth that Nanny has accumulated by marrying for money...twice. To avoid probate taxes when Nanny finally kicks, every year for the past three years I have received a check for a considerable amount on the first week of January.So does my mother, my fat cousin and Troll herself. I found out that Troll's husband Garcia is also getting his very own check. So, their family is getting twice as much!!!! I call unfair, but apparently since Nanny has referred to him as being "like a son to me" then he deserves his own cut. They have two new nice cars and an addition on their house. I'm sitting on my pile, waiting for the taxes to be done so we can go back to the mortgage company & prove that Blixx is working and qualify for a house. My fat cousin already has her new house. And a new car. I'm wondering if they get a bigger cut of the cash than I do...And now there's talk that because of these tough economic times that Troll is worried about cutting all that cash loose from the accounts and may not send us our checks. (GRRRRRRR....I'm typing loudly now, with anger).

Ok, while we've got a stash of cash that would in fact be fine for what we want, I am SO counting on getting another check so that we can get the Jeep that Blixx wants and have money left over to purchase nice furniture for our house. I mean, it's BECAUSE of these tight times that I'm counting on the money. And I'm in the will now (yes Tempest, I'm still in the will) so it's either wait until she's dead or tell Nanny about all the wonderful things that her generosity has bought for us. Oh, I'm steamed that they've gotten twice as much as anyone else these past three years, and now they aren't sure if the rest of us will get our share. Oh, there will be a family meeting and it won't go well at all if Troll tries to pull any shit. Seriously, I want my damn guilt money. My family has been lacking in truth and true love, so I'll take what I can get. And I WILL get it, damn it!

Deep breath. Deep breath.

I had a very nice weekend, despite some set backs. There's something about eating chocolate all drunk & fast forwarding through parts of a movie that have too much plot to get to the beefcake. Good times.

Peace.

There's a lot of talk going on about what a hard time each of us is having in our own ways during the holiday season. Jo Jo sent this to me & I think it offers an excellent perspective:

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, and a place to sleep; you are richer than 75 percent of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and a little spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top eight percent of the world's
wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of a battle, the loneliness of imprisonment or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them, or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you are able to offer a healing touch.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, your are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

And lastly, if you can read this, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Logi - I was so sorry to hear about Shep! I know what it's like to lose a beloved pet and my heart goes out to you and your family. Go easy blaming yourself - some things are just out of our control. Once you've had some time to heal, look into getting the town to install speed bumps or be more aggressive with catching speeders in your neighborhood. It won't bring Shep back, but his death won't be in vain.

It's December 5th & I'm wearing a skirt and sandals with a short sleeve shirt and I'm HOT running around Monster. What's up with that?!

Devil is leaving for Scotland next week so I thought it would be nice to have pictures of everyone in the Inbound Dept put into a collage that we could give him as a going away present. I pitched this to Dino like 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I asked what was up, and he said "Great idea! Go for it!" Ug!!! So I've spent my day running around trying to get pictures of people. The hard part is that Devil has worked here for years and years and there's plenty of folks that have moved to different departments that still want in on the deal. Unfortunately, nobody's schedules are the same & I'm sick of waiting. Me and my good ideas get me into trouble every time!

I'm almost done with the Laurell Hamilton book...& it's awesome! I haven't been able to put it down, which is why the house is still a mess with clothes everywhere from my closet switch. Blixx comes home tonight & I've got to make it look like I did something other than just crash on the couch with a book every night. :) Who, me?!

Peace.

"If you really want something in this life you have to work for it. Now quiet, they're about to announce the lottery numbers." Homer J Simpson

Greetings all. This fine summer weekend I went to the Christmas Tree Shops and bought $50 of Christmas decorations for my apartment. I still haven't found just the right tree yet, but I continue to look. I also found some beautiful glass bottles so my master plan of making up flavored olive oils for gifts can come true this year. Ocean State Job Lot smells worse than Building 19! I gagged on the smell of white trash & BO...but they had the deal I wanted so I'll just shut up now.

I'm no longer a red head..it's back to dirty blonde for me. Well, the box says it's medium ash blonde. It's as close to my natural color as I've been in years. I'm not sure why I did it, other than I wanted a change. Every time I do the red I spend the first week with Clown College Red hair that mellows and I just didn't want to wait this time. It looks nice - I've figured out how to color my own hair & give it texture and streeks without paying to have it done. Not too bad! Apparently, jacknife will be a blonde as well after Tempest gets through with her. Oh boy!

Fri we went out to dinner at Brew City and had a few pops. We were going to hang with Grips later, but he ended up bagging out on us. Saturday Blixx had to work. I woke up with him around 7:30 am - not by choice, believe me - and made the wreath for my mother. I'm not as thrilled with it as I am the other one, but then again I did it to her tastes, not mine. I spent the day shopping in a t-shirt wondering why it was so damn hot out. I mean - it was beautiful...but certainly not December weather. I was shopping for X-mas stuff...shouldn't it be cold out? Hell, I'm not complaining. I hate snow. I went to Grips for a while to play with V, but it was pretty tense over there because of Nana & the remodelling etc, so I took off and brought a pizza home to my tired man. Grips came over for a bit and we made fun of the tv & Blixx like usual. It was nice.

Yesterday we went to Toads where we watched the amazing Pats win over the Jets, thus breaking the curse of the Tuna. It was such a good game!!! It all came down to the last 2 minutes of play when Antoine Smith caught an interception. Yeah baby. We drank and ate like kings - venision sausage is yummy. Yeah, I feel bad for Bambi and all, but food good ug! I love hangin at Toads because the boys are always grilling and it's apparently some sort of rule that girls can't grill. Ok...as long as they are aware that girls can't do dishes either. :)

Blixx is staying overnight in RI for the next few days so I'm all alone at home. Yeah, I'll be able to clean out my closet and throw things out without him under foot, but I'll be super lonely without him around. He'll be back LATE Wednesday night, then I'm going out after work on Thursday then Friday night he's going camping with Toad. I'm never going to see my hubby again! Whaaa.

I'm going to be like this all week. You've been warned...

Peace.

Marge: Homer, is this the way you pictured married life?
Homer: Yup, pretty much. Except we drove around in a van solving mysteries.

**********

Buffy quote of the day:
Spike: The last time I looked in on you two, you were fighting to the death. Now you're back making googly-eyes at each other like nothing happened. Makes me want to heave.
Buffy: I don't know what you're talking about.
Spike: Oh, yeah. You're just friends.
Angel: That's right.
Spike: You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood...blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.

***********************************************

I'm bored with my boring life. Every day is the same: get up & go to work (almost late), work my ass off for peanuts, run errands (beer store, groceries, gas for car) then home to cook dinner & watch nothing on tv until 11 when I finally decide to go to bed. Repeat. Most Friday's we order pizza and hang out with Grips, but he's been staying home to be with his family because of Nana. I can totally respect that, but I miss that 3rd sarcastic commentary. At least that livens things up a little. I'm going to petition that we go out to eat tonight, just to break the cycle. I may get the veto, since Blixx has to work tomorrow early. I also would like to stop by Grips to just say hey. Again, we might end up just staring at the tv again.

While Blixx is working tomorrow, I'm going to clean the house and make the wreath for my mother that I mentioned. Let's hope that I'm still a creative genius. I told Grips to invite me over for dinner on Sat - we'll see.

Blixx promised last weekend that he'd get on the whole car shopping/car loan thing this week. I wonder if he remembers that he promised?

I'm thinking of coloring my hair again this weekend. It's been a while & I entertained going back to my natural color (whatever the Hell that is!), but the roots growing in don't look so good. And the ends are getting that brassy color again that I hate. Yeah, maybe a nice rich auburn...or I could go dirty blonde & maybe the roots wouldn't be so bad next time. Decisions...

Gunna be in CT on Sunday to see Mom & her Dick, as well as Nanny. After all of that doom & gloom I'm hoping to hook up with Tempest, Purge & Jacknife, for at least a little while.

Crapass...work calls.

Peace.

Tempest - you have some anger issues. Anyone who thinks your last post was over the top can lick my balls.

WryGuy is thinking about cucumbers too much.

I'm running around like a loon at work, with the end of the month sales craze on! Everyone is stressed out to the max. I've spent the day lifting boxes of sales materials so my back is killing me. I woke up with a killer headache...I've really got to ask my doctor about this because I swear I couldn't move for a few minutes because my head was swimming so badly. It's a dull roar now, but I shouldn't have to take so many pain relievers just to get to this stage. I'm drinking tons of water, which is supposed to help, and I've had my usual afternoon caffiene boost, which is also supposed to help. Damn it! I even tried some reflexology that Youngster suggested...all to get me to this dull roar. I've still got a cough from the plague of last week, so every time I caugh my brain sloshes around in my skull, which causes more pain. Oh, and I still have cramps.

I'm a walking nightmare right now kiddies. Be glad you're just reading me & not face to face, cuz I'm ready to snap like a dry twig.

I will be watching the Tolkien special on Fox tonight at 8pm...expect a full review tomorrow. I'm off to try to hide for the rest of the day.

Peace.

Tempest - since you have a captive audience, why don't you write us clot members a short story? Just to keep the juices flowing... On the topic of Christmas gifts, if you dont' pussy out I'll buy your tattoo as a present...think about it.

Youngster is having huge problems at home and is telling me things like "I almost drove my car off a bridge last night" or "I just can't take my life any more." Arg, I don't think she's suicidal, but there are definately some problems there. I'm trying to get her to get some therapy & see if Monster can pick up the tab or something, but she's freaking me out. She's really freaking me out.

I have cramps. Ahhh, Aleve...what did I ever do before the little blue pills?

I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I've got my card list pretty much in order, and I bought my cards on big sale so I'm good there. I've still got to figure out what to send to relatives that I won't see over the holidays. I send chocolate last year and flowers the year before. Any ideas? I was thinking a nice centerpiece of flowers...I know, but I'm not in a particularly creative place right now.

I've got the days between Christmas and New Years off this year, so I'd love to get away for a while. I was looking into maybe staying up north at a ski lodge kind of place, but I don't think we can afford it. I really want to do something FUN this year for New Years, since last year was pretty much a bust. It ws the friggin millenium and I ended up in an alley in Worcester watching what we could see of the fireworks. I mean, I was with good friends, but I was looking for something spectacular and ended up lame.

It's later now & I just realized that I never hit the publish button.

Peace.

Farscape has been renewed for a 4th & 5th season by SciFi. Woo Hoo! Unfortunately, we have to wait until January to see new episodes. Oh well.

From Once More With Feeling, the Buffy Musical...

Buffy:
I touch the fire and it freezes me
I look into it and it's black
Why can't I feel?
My skin should crack and peel
I want the fire back

From Once More With Feeling, the Buffy Musical...

Buffy:
I touch the fire and it freezes me
I look into it and it's black
Why can't I feel?
My skin should crack and peel
I want the fire back

Angel (David Boreanaz) got married over the weekend. No wonder I didn't feel well. I wonder if he wore leather pants...

I got dressed in the dark in a hurry this morning & am wearing navy blue socks with black pants. I can't stand myself today.

U.S firm says it cloned human embryo for cells What is the Clot's opinion on this new cloning technology developed in my lovely hometown?

US officially enters recession No shit!

UIM - Buffy Rules! Have you tried out Angel at all?

Nana looks to be OK, at least for now. HUGE sigh of relief.

Nightskye is gone for so long that I forget to even check his blogs...then BAM there he is, back in the blogging saddle and with much to say. In regard to Skye's Identity crisis, I'd like to point out that you defined yourself in relation to other people. You are You baby. That comes first, and you have to have at least a clue who You are before you can relate to being anyone's husband or friend or anything else along those lines. And before you get all jealous over Blixx's working freelance...remember that it isn't a steady paycheck & he never knows when he'll work next. If you can deal with that, great & more power to ya. I suggest that you seriously write down what qualities your 'perfect' career should have. Want to work only 20 hours/week...from home...for 50k a year? Hey, at least you'd know what you're looking for. It's a start.

Over the weekend I suddenly became crafty. I went to Michaels and spent next to nothing on a grapevine wreath and some stuff to put on it. Then I put the stuff on the wreath...and it actually looks good. I mean, it looks great! I can't believe it and I'm not sure where this new found creativity came from, but I was frustrated because I couldn't find a wreath that was untraditional enough for Blixx and I. I created one with plum and silver colors that looks terrific! I'm so proud of myself.

Blixx's showstopper comment while I've got the wreath on my lap & I'm painstakingly glueing each piece together:
"SO, you nesting bigtime or what?" Yes, I guess I am.

More on THAT later.

Peace.

I know that I've mentioned Nana in previous blogs. She's Teacher's grandmother and a really wonderful and good person. She reminds me a great deal of Tempest's grandmother.

Nana had a stroke last night. I'm still waiting to hear any news, but please send her your good thoughts, prayers & whatever good mojo you can.

Peace.

I have arisen from the post turkey stupor. There was just WAY too much food. I ended uop jetting from Monster at around 2:30 & made it home in about an hour, which isn't to bad considerin the traffic reports I was listening too. We convened on Grips house, where the men promptly went off to continue with the bathroom putz. Teacher, Geridog & I made pies. We got so into the prep work of cutting veggies & making the stuffing that we totally forgot about dinner, but everything was all ready to go. Teacher's cousin came over in the morning and made omlettes, so we arrived just in time for the first feeding. It was all downhill from there. I brought some seafood hot apps poof thingies that were a big hit, and which we devoured around 1:30. There were 10 for dinner and food for at least 20 so it was all good. I almost killed myself with an extra piece of pecan pie. No lie - death by pie.
We then bottled our Christmas beer, which is going to be super strong kick ass beer. We then drove home & passed out, only to be awoken again today by Grips. Blixx & Grips went out to visit with DirtDirt, who was in town for the holiday, while Teacher & I went to the mall to do some early bird shoopping. I actually got out of bed like a shot today & did some shopping even before she came to pick me up. I got fleece throws (buy one get one free!) for Nanny & my mom, & some stuff for Blixx which I can't comment on here. I also got my mom some really beautiful mother of pearl earings, which were a particular find since she doesn't have pierced ears and clip ons are a thing of the past. Teacher & I shop well together and had a really good time. We got back to the house and set upon the turkey leftovers & now I'm typing away while Blixx is putting up wallboard. We're going to the Worcester tree lighting tonight, then Teacher has invited us to stay for dinner. I don't know if we will or not - they are terrific people and great friends...but we've spent an aweful lot of time together lately and I think I might want some alone time with my man.
The poor dear has been working his ass off for Grips the whole week...all he wants to do is sleep in for a day...and I'm getting him up early to go car shopping. I know I'm mean, but it won't get done unless I push him out of bed.
Oh, I went to the super sale at Michaels today & bought myself fixings to make a wreath. This is my first endeavor into this type of crafty arena, but if it comes out good I'm going to make one for my mother. We got out of going to NH to see them this weekend, but we're driving down next Sunday for brunch. Tempest - you guys going to be around? We've got to do the Nanny thing as well.
Ok, off to the tree lighting now...and I hear the pitter patter of V heading this way so it's her time, because at age 2...it's all about her.

I'm out of work early today & I'm not upset about that at all. I'm so sick of this place. Enough complaining. Ally started it, but let's all write what we're thankful for.

I am thankful for having a wonderful husband who puts up with my quirks and always manages to make sure that life is interesting.

I am so very thankful that Blixx & I are each other's best friends. I am thankful that we I are both strong and healthy and happy. I am thankful that we were able to put our youthful transgressions behind us and have a wonderful future together.

I am thankful that while we're not yet ready to have children, we can talk about kids without freaking out. I am thankful that we're taking our time.

I am thankful for my wonderful circle of friends, near and far, new & old. So many of you have touched me in ways you'll never know. While I pride myself on my strength, it is wonderful to know that should I stumble, there would be hands to help right me on my way again. You are all so special.

I am thankful each time one of my friends has a personal accomplishment or finds love in the world.

I am thankful that I have a job in this cruddy economy. While by no means rich, we have enough financial stability to be looking at new cars and starting up a family. We have room to make choices.

I am thankful that Blixx is doing so well in his freelance career and that he's realized that he just isn't a 9-5 kind of guy. He's so much happier since being layed off...so I guess I'm thankful that Wave closed and gave him the push to pursue his dream.

I am thankful to my two kitties who keep us company & purr us to sleep every night. I am also thankful that Violet the cat is back and living the good life with my downstairs neighbor.

I am thankful that I am back on speaking terms with my mother. For so many years I was so angry that I couldn't understand that in order to communicate, I had to be willing to listen. We've still got a long way to go, but we're getting there.

I am thankful that Mom has a man in her life who loves her and makes her happy. I don't have to like him for her to love him.

I am thankful that Grip's daughter V says 'I love you Auntie Chynakatt.'

I am thankful that there's a group of people with enough time on their hands to read my blog and even occasionally e-mail me or mention my random chaos in their own blogs.

I got this in an e-mail today. Since I don't know all of your addresses...I'll post it here. Bitches unite!

This is excellent! Thought you'd enjoy this one that came through today!

BITCHDOM

When I stand up for myself and my beliefs, they call me a bitch.

When I stand up for those I love, they call me a bitch.

When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts or do things my own way, they call me a bitch.

Being a bitch means I won't compromise what's in my heart.

It means I live my life MY way. It means I won't allow anyone to step on me.

When I refuse to tolerate injustice and speak up against it, I am defined as a bitch.

The same thing happens when I take time for myself instead of being everyone's maid, or when I act a little selfish.

It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won't become anyone else's idea of what they think I "should "be.

I am outspoken, opinionated and determined. By God, I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!

So try to stomp on me, try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me. You won't succeed.

And if that makes me a bitch, so be it. I embrace the title and am proud to bear it.

B - Babe

I - In

T - Total

C - Control of

H - Herself

B = Beautiful

I = Intelligent

T = Talented

C = Charming

H = Hell of a Woman

From the Sisterhood of Bitchdom!!

I am tired beyond words today. I went out with the managers for a wonderful dinner and some drinks last night. While I did have a few beers and a glass of wine with dinner, I didn't tie one on. They were doing shots & I refused and was called all sorts of names, but I held my ground....barely.

Anyway, it was a really good night. I feel like I developed some great relationships with the managers and Devil again mentioned bringing me over to Glasgow. He also said that his apartment is only 45 minutes from London proper. It's wierd to think that different countries are as close as states are over here, but I am excited to plan a little Europe vacation for next year. Even if Monster doesn't pick up the tab, I think it would be great to go over and visit.

So, I've had a great night where I feel like a member of the team and pretty damn good about myself for brainstorming some great team building ideas...then I get home. Blixx has been just sitting watching tv and is very mellow. I come blasting in telling stories and jumping around...he tells me to calm down. I don't know why it cheesed me off, cuz he didn't even say it in a snotty way or anything, but all of a sudden I'm pissed. Also I'd called him on the way home & he brought up how I schmoke every day & pissed me off there too. So, it was a rough night. I'm usually the one who ends up hanging out alone at home waiting for him to come home & tell me stories of his adventures. The roll reversal just didn't go well. I'm trying to think if I ask Blixx to calm down when he comes home all excited after a trip or a night out with friends. I'm also trying to figure out why he ticked me off so much with off hand comments - I'm being overly sensitive, cuz I know he didn't mean anything by his comments. Maybe I just wanted him to be as excited as I was to have gotten a life. Yeah, that's it.

So, I went to bed all out of sorts & ended up waking up every hour or so. I just couldn't sleep. Then the delicious lobster with asparagus & butter that I had for dinner didn't agree with me, so I spent most of the night running from the bed to the bathroom to rid myself of the bowel shaking earthquakes. I know you all really needed to hear that. :)

I slept maybe 4 hours last night and I'm loopy today. I've been wicked dehydrated lately...I can't get enough water into my system to keep my skin & lips from drying out. I thought it was the cold medicine I was taking for a while, but I've been off it for several days & it doesn't seem to help.

Angel as kick ass last night. I can't believe that Darla dusted herself so the baby could live.

Tonight on TV: Of course, there's Buffy. I'm also looking forward to the 3rd installment of 24. Smallville is also on, & I've been enjoying the story of young superman. Lex Luthar is a cutie, & I don't usually go for bald guys.

Peace.

Here's some wierd news from Fitchburg MA. The robber in question is Youngster's cousin. Dumbass! I think he's almost Darwin worthy.

I just got around to reading some blogs:

Tempest wrote: Bleagh! I also have to stop worrying what other people think about me. Purge is great at this, "Accept me as I am and Fudge ya if you don't like me." attitude. Me, I'm always trying to do the right thing and say the right things to smooth over problems. Stop laughing Chynakatt. I'm that way at work, OK? Is that better? I guess I'm bending over backwards and playing Twister trying to be PC and protecting everybody's feelings. A little bit of that is good, but it's really starting to effect me. I'm just tired of dancing.

That's totally your problem at work - you're trying to be someone you are not. That's why you're so miserable! While I'm not advocating a total balls to the wall approach, be a little more like the bossy comandearing self that I know you to be. :) Work is not a popularity contest, and since from my readings I don't sense that you'll be making any long term friendships with any of your co-workers, then F Them!

I guess Blixx & I are the only people who didn't see the meteor shower. We should've gotten up, but we spent all day on Saturday over at Grip's house. He was remodelling the bathroom...which intailed ripping everything up and out, putting down a new & level floor, re-doing hte plumbing, removing the cast iron tub...bringing up the new jacuzzi tub...you see where I'm going with this. I don't know why Grip's thought this was a one day project, but it isn't. Not by a long shot. So, we got there at 9am & didn't leave until after 10pm. I raked leaves in the yard with Teacher & babysat V. Man, that girl has a lot of energy. I was wiped out from chasing her around all day. She really is so stinkin cute, and is so talkative now. Unfortunately, she's discovered the word MINE.

Yesterday Blixx's mom came over to take us out to lunch to celebrate his birthday. It was nice..she had tons of pictures from her trip out west & the Hamptons...some of which were very good. At least I know to get her photo albums for Christmas now. One more person checked off the list. After lunch (chinese food - woo hoo) we had to go back to Grip's house to help with the bathroom again. I pulled Blixx out of there at around 8, because he hadn't been feeling well on Friday, with the intent of going home & chillin & watching the football game & maybe putting on our own 1/2 time show (wink wink). Well, since the bathroom is far from finished, Grip's came over to take a much needed shower. He ended up staying until 11ish, so there was no rest & no 'quiet time' for he & I.

Tonight I'm going to a coctail party & dinner for Devil, who leaves for Scotland shortlly. He's taking the management staff & included me...I feel so special. Whatever...free drinks & dinner sound good to me. Poor Blixx is all on his own for dinner & was gripping about it...I'm all like, what do you think I do when you aren't here??! Yeah, I feel real bad that I've borrowed a life for a minute.It's not like he'll starve - there's a box of mac & cheese in the cabinet if worse comes to worse.

Tonight on TV: Boston Public has the hot teacher 7 of DD, Jeri Ryan. I guess she's good looking, if you're into the tall, thin, blonde bombshell type. As a side note, whenever you see the teachers out for a beer, that is actually Doyle's Pub in Jamaica Plain. I've been there & they have a terrific selection of scotch (not my bag) & a chowder breadbowl that is absolutely to die for. Also, we have Angel, where his child will be born. Blixx better be taping, or he's a dead man. Crossing Jordan will feature the dude from Law & Order so maybe there will be some gratuitus sex. Fingers crossed. Crossing Fingers. I'm a funny lady.

Peace.

A big blogger HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ghost!

Tonight we'll do the usual by drinking the week away & ordering pizza. Life on the edge!

Tomorrow Blixx is helping Grips to remodel his bathroom and make sure that there's another toilet in the house before Thanksgiving. They are installing a huge tub too...should be a big day for the boys. I'll go over for a while in the morning, & maybe do some shopping with Teacher, or just hang out with V for a bit. I've got to get back to my house to clean like a mad woman, because Blixx's mom is coming over on Sunday...yeah. This is the first time she's seen him since his birthday, so I'm sure we'll go out & grab a bite or something similar. She's been traveling to the National Parks & Virginia, so I'm sure she'll have plently of pictures to look at. As a mother in law, she isn't all that bad. I definately could have done worse. Or I could live right next door to the inlaws...right Purge?

Sunday night is the Pat's game so we'll go somewhere & drink until they play like a decent football team or we pass out - whichever comes first. Anyone want to take the over under on that bet?

Oh, and I've managed to get out of going to my mother's dick's daughter's house for Thanksgiving. It just wouldn't be pretty. During the whole biological father blow out, Mom said some things about Blixx that I made the mistake of telling him. So now, he's not believeing her smurf-like front of happiness & love. I certainly don't want their first meeting to be over a dry turkey in front of someone elses family. If shit will go down, & it just might, we don't need any witnesses. I'm psyched that we'll be spending Thanksgiving with Grips and his family. I'm even making pumpkin pie using GeriDog's recipe...fingers crossed. I think I'll pick up a SaraLee just in case.

And for your TV viewing pleasure this evening, the WB is re-airing the Buffy Musical. It's actually really really good, & I'm not just saying that. It's on against Dark Angel, so the clicker will be cooking toinight. That's at 8pm, then at 9pm they are airing Iron Chef USA, which is hosted by William Shatner. You've got to know that I'm all over that!

Hey Tempest - what's the name of that spa you were talking about. What you, me & Jacknife should do is pick a day & go & make it our christmas gifts to each other & ourselves. Ponder.

Gotta get some work done! Sing a song for me at kareoke & say hi to Skye & Rhinogirl, should they make an appearance.

Have a great weekend!

Peace.

Light Show
Scientists predict that a pre-dawn meteor shower will provide a great show for those willing to wake up early enough Sunday morning. I think I might actually get up just to see what's to be seen.

I've been farting all day. Big nasty loud smelly farts & I can't seem to help myself. I'm usually more of a belcher - not like Tempest, but I can hold my own - this ass play is just gross!

Work busy makes Chynakatt cranky so going home & going to bed. Ignoring the vacuuming & laundry & dishes that demand my attention. Blixx is going out with friends from his old company tonight so he'll be lit up like a Christmas tree when he comes home. Maybe I'll get lucky. Or maybe he'll run from my butt. That wouldn't be fair, since it's usually him that scares me & the cats off.

Speaking of Christmas trees - if any of you see a nice small tree that doesn't look like I bought it at the dollar store, let me know where you saw it please. We've got a small place & haven't decorated for the past few years, but this year I think I will. I just can't have a normal sized tree. Besides, the cats will climb it and I hate picking clumps of cat hair out of the angel's wings.

Thats the blog for the day. I'm outa here!

Peace.

Today is a better day. Less pressure at work, & plenty of sleep last night. Is anyone else watching 24? I think the show is awesome, with a great plot & some daring camera moves and editing. Yes, I spend too much time with my husband watching movies & tv. He's ruined me forever. Buffy was most excellent last night but this potential romance between her & Spike is rather disturbing. She already had a vampire boyfriend...the storyline is so like last week, ya know?

TV Vote for Tonight: Check out Titas on Fox tonight. The show is funny as hell, with observations on romance & life that make you pee your pants laughing. Absolutely hysterical, expecially for fans of sarcasm.

Speaking of sarcasm, have their been any sightings of Skye & Rhinogirl? They should be back by now, right?

Violet the cat is back. I don't have all the details, but the dude downstairs called the pizza place & the driver brought her back. He swears that he thought she was a stray - whatever. At least I wasn't the rat on this one. She's alive & well & living downstairs for the time being. A once overly friendly cat, she's now skittish. But she's ok.

I haven't dealt with my mother yet. Blixx says I should be honest & say that we have plans & try for alternate arrangements. I feel more comfortable lying to her - truth! But, we always use Blixx's family as an excuse & she's bound to see through it at some point.
I'll tell you all about the call tonight.

For my nails last night, I chose a airbrush french design with a little lace-like pattern on it. When done, I'm looking at these totally different nails wondering what I was thinking. I hate that - but at least it isn't a turkey. :P

Gotta run & get some work done. Peace.

E-Mail from Tempest:
Subject: Do You Have Your Period?
:D
Just an observation!
Seriously though. I think you're fine and your family's whacked. Have
a baby and you'll see how much emotion you have. That's my
prescription. Simplistic and fast! Gotta go back to work!

Reply: I'll take that under advisement. You've seen close up the wackiness of my family, so I appreciate your support. I'll mention getting knocked up to Blixx tonight when I get home & see what he says. :). He's enjoyed the rehearsals so far...

*********************************
No, I don't have my period. I don't know where all this angst is coming from & I was tempted to go back and delete my rants & ramblings, but Hell, isn't that what this page is for? Seriously, I'll be fine. I just needed to get some of that off my chest. I've always freaked out around the holidays and now you all have the thrill of riding the emotional rollercoaster with me. Strange - after I typed that I realized that I had a dream about rollercoasters on Saturday night. Hmmmm. I'll have to consult the dream book & see what's to be seen.

I'm fine. Everything will be fine.

Anyone got a valium?

Buffy is on tonight, so that will be alright. It's off to the nail place to get a fill so I will meet with V's approval, then home where my super tired husband will bring me home chinese food. It's his night to provide sustinance, & I'm betting that since he was up at 4:30 to get to Hingham by 7:30 that he'll be too damn tired to cook me the gourmet meal I know he is capable of. It's all good, cuz I'm a chinese food junkie & it's been a while. MMmmmm chinese food.

Peace out.

Hello clotters. How was the weekend?

Friday night we had Grips over & he presented Blixx with a bottle of tequilla & a toy jeep. Love that dude's sense of humor. We toasted at midnight, then off to the land of sleep. Saturday morning I made a colesteral special breakfast of hash & eggs, then we drove down to Cape Cod. We weren't in a real rush, and made it to the hotel at around 5pm. The room was very small, but we had high hopes for the heart-shaped hot tub. We decided that we should grab a bite to eat immediately, as if we were to start anything (et hem) we'd never leave the room. Part of our package was that we got dinner at their restaurant, but they weren't taking reservations until 9:30! No shyt! So, forget the free food - we took a look in the yellow pages & headed down the street to a brew pub. Man, was the food good! I started with clam chowder that was heavenly, then had the baked stuffed cod. The Octoberfest beer was excellent, & Blixx loved whatever dark beer he was drinking. I ate so much that I seriously couldn't breath and we had to take a little drive around town so I could belch my way to a reasonable comfort level. It was wacky...haven't felt like that since my last baked trip to the all you can eat chinese buffet. We took a little walk on the beach, but it was cold out so we headed back to the hotel.
I'm going to have to say that I DON'T recommend Cuddles n Bubbles. As mentioned, the room was really small. The hot tub looked good, but had no real bubble power at all. Yes, we were there to get it on, but we're both stress monkeys and I was really looking forward to a long soak for my aching back and shoulders. We made due, but the tub just wasn't what I'd hoped for. I'll spare you the sorted details of our exploits and just say here that we both had a great time and were very pleased. The shower stall had a seat and 4, count them 4, shower heads. Two were at regular level (& pleasingly to Blixx were high enuf that he could stand under them) and two that were lower, all with massaging heads. Yeah, we were almost late for check out. They offered breakfast too, and the blueberry blintz's were delicious. We'd developed an appitite. :)
We putzed around the Cape for a while on Sunday, but nothing was really open & we were tired so we headed back toward home. All the while, what we were really looking for was a nice bar where we could watch the Pats game...there it was, a sign on the roof of a building that read "Half-Time Pub - BEER." We ended up chilling there and watching the Pats ugly win over the Bills. What a joke of a game, but at least we won. We'll see about the Rams this Sunday.
I ended up getting Blixx the Crown Royal he'd asked for, the only thing he'd asked for, and a monogrammed flask too. We stopped at the Wrentham Outlets on the way to the Cape & he picked out a nice watch at the Casio outlet. Tempest...you'd fall in love with the outlets in Wrentham - 10x better than Westbrook with everything you could wish for & then some. You'll have to come up for a visit & we'll check it out. I also got Blixx a Pats had that he wanted, and The Worst Case Survival Guide from the Discovery Store. It's hysterical with practical advice on how to escape quicksand & the like. I thought it might come in handy with all the outdoorsy stuff he's into lately. And, there was a new Pink Floyd disc out that I know he'd want. All & all I think he had a nice birthday. I'm filled with all kinds of self-doubt about it though. I don't know what my problem is.

VIOLET THE CAT
Oh, we ordered pizza Friday night & the delivery guy took Violet the cat. She's this little black & white kitty that I guess belongs to the guy around the other side of the house. She lived outside, and all of us enjoyed her company when checking the mail, taking out the trash etc. Blixx said he saw the dude coaxing her toward the car & when the guy took off, he swears that the cat was in the car. I let the dude downstairs know what happened, & he'd tell the owner, but I feel like I should have done something more. If I'd seen it go down, I would have chased the guy down and demanded to get the cat back. She's not our cat & maybe she's in a loving home...but it's the darker thoughts that really get to me. I'm having nightmares about it. Blixx says don't worry about it & let the owner handle it...but I need to know she's OK. I think I'll go by the pizza place tonight - but I worry that if I start something with them, that we'll get a clem pizza next order.

Wow, that sounded really selfish.


Yesterday I called in 'sick' and went over to Grips. I'd hoped that we'd take V to the park or something, but we ended up searching malls for replacement glasses and plates so that there will be enough for Thanksgiving. It was fun, & Grips even left me alone with V for almost 1/2 hour while he & Blixx dropped off his car. I got to watch General Hospital, but it was a slow lazy day when I was looking for some excitement. Oh well - that's just how it goes. We didn't get to the laundromat, but I did sneak a load in at Grips so I've got clothes for work this week. GeriDog came over for dinner & we ate pizza & gossiped. You know that V spends too much time with her when she looks me right in the eye, grabs my hand & says "LOVE THE NAILS." She's 2!! I cracked up for hours.

THANKSGIVING RANT
Thanksgiving has another wrench...Mom left me a voice mail here at work (she's getting better at tracking me down)_saying that we're invited to MaryKaye's for dinner. She's my Mom's Dick's daughter who is a biggot and boring and we really didn't hit it off at all. I've only really seen her a few times & that she has my mother invite us, rather than calling herself, is a social boo boo. We were invited there last year and blew it off so Mom will be on edge. She'll be waiting for an excuse. Now they live in NH so I'm thinking the only way out is to say that Blixx is working at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving and that the drive would be too much, but my Mom knows better. She knows that I don't mind a road trip. Crapass! Mom will be so disapointed that we won't spend the holiday together, but I really don't want to. STRESS! STRESS!
I'd so set in my head that we'd go over to Grips' house. I'm even in charge of making the pumpkin pies! The holiday's make me want to just run away from everything and hide. Seriously, I'd be more than happy to run off into the wilderness rather than deal with my mother's guilt & disapointment. But if we DO go, there will be the uncomfortable silence all over the place. Blixx & MaryKay's hubby have nothing in common & since I've never met their kids, I won't have the excuse to go play with them rather than listen to my mother. I don't want to talk about my work or our search for a house or make stupid small talk. I don't want to do anything. Then there's Christmas - if I'm sucessful in blowing her off for turkey day, then there's another holiday right around the corner to worry about.
I'm really getting myself worked up into a state over all of this - I didn't sleep well at all last night - fretting! I think it's worse now that Mom & I have come to a truce over the biological father deal because she expects me to give a crap, but I still don't. I've often pondered why I'm so cold & unemotional toward them...& toward life in general. I mean, I really am. Sometimes I feel like I'm just watching life go by, rather than living it. I feel love, but I don't often show that I feel love. I'm so much better at sarcasm than at true emotion. I clinch up. I know that I love my family and I don't wish them harm, but I really can't get all excited to see them or care what goes on in their lives. I don't even want them to know too much about what goes on with me & mine. I just don't get warm & fuzzy for Mom or my aunt or cousin or grandmother. Is it that I've had all these issues for so long that I've pushed the reality of family emotion so far down that I can't access it? Or am I just cold. I think I'm doing the same thing to Blixx too, but I don't know how to stop the cycle! I feel hollow inside - he's the only one who brings warmth into my life, but if I hold him too tight I'll extinguish the flame.

I'm not sure what our plans are for this evening, but I'm not thinking that I'll drink anything. Tomorrow night we have reservations at <a href="www.cuddles.com">Cuddles n Bubbles on the Cape to celebrate Blixx's birthday. I'm looking forward to relaxing in a hot tub for endless hours, followed by some (at hem) 'bonding' between Blixx & I. We'll putz around on the Cape for a while on Sunday - some shopping, some hangin on the beach. I love the beach in any weather & am packing my winter gear so we can stay out for a while without me starting to whine. I managed to get creative on his gifts. I can't post what I picked up here, for fear that he might actually read this once in a while, but I think he'll be suprised and pleased with what I picked up for him.
I'm calling in sick Monday, and this hangover just helps to make me look under the weather. Grips has V for the day, so we're all going to take her to a park or something to have fun. I wanted to go to the Children's museum in Boston, but Grips says its too far of a drive. Oh well, maybe next time. I think we should plan to pick Teacher up at work then all go out for a bite to eat. Those plans are still in the works.
I'm not sure if you'll hear from me until Tuesday. Can you stand it? Will you be able to get through your day without my whit and sarcasm? Yeah, I bet you'll do just fine.

Peace.

Last night was the Inbound Auction that I'd been planning back in September. We cancelled it in light of the terrorist attacks, then again after 1/2 our department was layed off in October. Well, I'm happy to report that it went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time. To throw a wrench into the plans, Gardner decides yesterday morning that it would be funny to have a roast of Devil, who will be leaving to Glasgow in a few weeks. He'd watched the Hugh Hefner roast on Comedy Central & thought it would be a great idea. Anywho, he gave me 2 hours to come up with a speach detailing Devil's life and accomplishments.
What I wrote was a complete act of fiction and I'm quite proud of how it came out. I started with how he wet his bed until the age of 15, then went on to tell of his experience as a stunt double for Lee Majors on the Bionic Man. He was married to Farrah Fawcett and Daisy Duke. He was a rodeo clown. His prison friends call him Babyface. I went on and on, making it up as I went along. I'd thought that either myself or Gardner would be reading this, but he went one step further by asking the sales witch IceQueen to read it. I got real lucky that she was in a good mood and thought the idea was funny, or I could have kissed my job goodbye. As she's reading this blatant mockery, Devil was dressed in a prom gown & blonde wig and had lipstick and purfume applied. It was a hoot and everyone laughed and I didn't get fired, so I call it a success!
We had a few drinks setting up the meeting room, then a few more during the actual auction. All of the employees were pretty psyched to be bidding on prizes like a $100 Ticketmaster gift certificate, cash prizes and a DVD player, among other things. After all was said & done, we drank a few more cleaning up then went over to the local watering hole to have yet more booze. I even took a little walk with Dino & some other managers to smoke up - quite the bonding experience. You have no idea just how many people out there shmoke. Youngster was shut off by the bar owner for being too loud & several managers/directors etc were there buying drinks & boozing it up.
As a result of the evening, I'm all out of sorts today. I'm not 100% sure that lunch is going to stay down & my head is pounding. All of us are in rough shape & hanging pretty low. I haven't hurled yet, but it's early.

U.S. Acts to Stop Assisted Suicides I figured that a discussion topic (other than Ghost's lack of love life) is in order to get things rolling again. Until reading this article, I had no idea that Oregon allowed assisted suicide. I personally am all for it. I want the right to die with dignity and on my own terms, should it come to that. A slow painful death that draws on the mental and financial resources of my family and friends is just not something I'm into. Discuss.

I'm in training right now and it blows. There is no reason in the world why I should be here...and I found out that there are 6 more modules of training required. Lovely. I'm just hoping to get out of here before 6pm.

The Farscape site isn't up, which makes me sad. I was hoping for some update as to when I can expect new episodes. I miss that show! I still haven't been able to catch that 'special' episode that aired on a Saturday last season. X-Files is new this Sunday, and I can't seem to care, depite Lucy Lawless's guest appearance. Nope, couldn't give 2 shits. There's a new Simpsons Halloween special on tonight. There's also the Buffy musical episode - Man, I hope it doesn't suck. It's going to run long, so I have to tape 24, which looks interesting. Keifer is a cutie so I'll give the show a chance. Smallville is also on tonight, so the VCR's will be humming. Buffy is the #1 priority & no matter how Grips or Blixx mock me, I still demand full quiet during the show so I can have the full experience. If you're ever on the Buffy website, reading in the Bronze, I'm listed as Five by Five. I'm a woman posessed. Angel was good last night. Darla coming back all pregnant with his child, who is either good or evil, but has a soul either way. Yeah baby, bring on the plot twists. And have Angel get naked. Mmmmmmm naked.

Apparently Buffy will not be shown in Florida tonight, as there's a basketball game on. Poor Sherbear called begging me to tape it for her, but alas I can not. Both of our vcr's are SVHS, which is a format that is different from the regular vcr. I can't tell the difference (Blixx can) but our tapes won't play in anyone else's vcr. Sorry Sher!

Well, training seems to be coming to a close (5:15 WOO HOO) so I'm going to blaze.

Peace.

Howdy folks!

Thank you to Paul Smith for posting pictures from Nightskye & Rhinogirl's wedding. Is anyone but me shocked that he would have a Mickey & Minney on the wedding cake? I don't know why, but it just struck me as odd. Anyway, I appreciate the pictures and the commentary. Well done! The best part was that I got to see what CooGwuh & UIM look like, as we've never met. I remember Paul & Jade/Disney from the Tempest & Purge joining. Tempest - LOVE the dress! Rhinogirl looked terrific and they both look so super happy. All the best to them both.

Pegasi - I'm sorry to hear that you lost your furry friend. Two years ago, I lost my boy cat Tanis. He was a big boy who was tons of fun, and more of a dog in a cat suit than anything else. He knew my moods and was always there for me to soak him in tears or to jump with me in joy. Anyway, a friend sent this to me when he passed, and now I pass it to you. The Rainbows Bridge is a site with some great tools and chats to help you, but it's the poem that chokes me up every time. Grab a tissue before you read...trust me.

Blixx did not look for a Jeep yesterday, nor did he get rolling on the loan we'll need. He did not go to the bank, and he did not do any shopping. He went for a walk down to the lake & put some stuff away in the livingroom. That's it. Oh, and he helped me bring in the groceries and beer that I purchased after work, and after I went to pick up my prescription, in the rain & cold. I don't blame him for enjoying his time off, but it's hard not to feel resentfull of all the free time that he has, that I WISH I had. He & Toad are heading up a mountain & camping tomorrow into Thursday, then it will be the weekend. I'm just jealous, damn it. I try not to be too hard on him, but I know that my lists of things to do get to him...yet, if I don't leave a list then big things fall through the cracks. Crapass! I'm pissed off that I don't have free time & I take it out on him. Yeah, that's healthy. I've got to try to work on that so I don't become a nagging shew wife who treats her husband like a child. I've seen that up close and it makes me sick.

And I still don't know what to do about his birthday. Socks & underwear are more Christmas gifts than anything else. Ah, whatever! We're going to be cuddling & bubbling on Saturday so who am I to complain. Just roll with it!

There are no jobs to be had out there right now. I mean, I'm a (sometimes) glorified secretary & I'm searching Monster.com for jobs and coming up empty. I guess that stuffing envelopes will get my by for now. Actually, I start training in Oracle for that other job I was telling you about. I'll be liaison between sales & finance. I can already tell that it will take up more than 25% of my time and that it's going to be hard work, but I'm up for a challenge. I just have to stick it out until they open up some more $$ then I'll be all set up for a big raise...fingers crossed.

I've got training on a new Monster product that I won't ever have to use, but have to get trained on. Yeah rah, 2 hours of my life wasted away. I wish I had a lap top! Ah, I'll make my Christmas card list. There we go - I have a plan. Lunch is over (buffalo chicken salad w/ no fat blue cheese dressing) and I've got tons to do before this training sucks the life out of me.

If Rhinogirl and Nightskye are at Universal, then it is safe to say that they are riding Fire and Ice over and over and over again right this very minute.It's the most awesome rollercoaster ever.

I got this e-mail today and while I forwarded it to some of you, I still think it worthy to share with the rest:

Deep thoughts by Jack Handy:
Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed.
Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered.
Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true, than be selfish and worry about my liver."


Peace.

Thanks to the dilegence of Logi & Ghost, The Bitch Session is back online. It was showing only a blank white page for a while there. No clue what happened, but I'm glad I heard about it.

Blixx got the car fixed for me...for only $50. The horn works again, so I don't have to resort to screaming obsenities out the window. I find that can sometimes be counter productive, if the offending driver slows down to roll down the window to hear the creative things I'm saying about their mother. Anyway, I'm back to loud honking with the occasional finger thrown in for good measure. It's a classic that says so much!

Saturday was Nana's birthday party and she was very suprised. Some ladies she used to work as a nurse like 30 years ago with were there and she was just blown away! We test drive a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic on Saturday, as well as a Honda Passport. I'm liking the Jeep better! It's a bit more than we wanted to spend, but I'd rather have a decent car than any of the shitboxes we looked at that were in our price range. The 2000 is a sweet deal & I'm hoping that Blixx is chatting with AAA today to get us a car loan. I hope we don't run into problems because he's self-employed. If it isn't one thing it's another.

Saturday night we saw K-PAX. It was pretty good, but not spectacular. I won't offer any spoilers here, but there's a twist at the end that makes it interesting and gives you something to think about on the ride home, but it really wasn't a top movie pick. We did sneak into the previews being shown with Monsters Inc so we could see the trailer for Star Wars - Episode 2. It was short, but the movie looks really pretty. I'm hoping that more effort is put into the plot than in Episode 1...fingers crossed.

I never even got out of my PJ's yesterday. Blixx made me a wonderful breakfast of blueberry & banana pancakes and we just set up camp in the livingroom and watched TV. The Pats game was a good win over Atlanta, and we watched our new favorite show Mutant-X. Cleo the cat was right there for us, alternating from lap to lap, making sure we both took well deserved naps over the cource of the day. I made veggie & meatball boboli pizza for dinner, and we returned to the comfort of the couches for a few more hours until we went to bed. I tell you, I have all kinds of energy today and the day is flying by for me. I guess I really needed all that sleep. Of course, I've got to go grocery shopping and pick up my prescription tonight on the way home, but it was worth it. We SHOULD have done laundry, so I'm thinking that Blixx is humping all of it over some time this week. I'll just have to get creative with the wardrobe choices...and (EGADS!) maybe wear a skirt to work.

I'd like to welcome Pegasi Ink to our clot. No clue who you are, but if you're linked to another clot members site you must be good people. And for the record, you weren't the only one not invited to the wedding of the year. I've updated some of my links, as Purge & DidgScream never update their damn sites. Old links must go! And I'm glad that Broadway is back to writing, even if she doesn't sound too happy about it. Wildcat has been away for some time...I hope all is well there.

Lunch hour is over and I've got to fly.

Peace.

Ooops! I almost forgot...


A hearty CONGRATULATIONS to WryGuy and Sparks on their wedded bliss. May your life together be filled with health, happiness and success!

Blixx has my car today to get rid of the 'check engine' light that's been on for a few days. No clue what's wrong there, but I hope whatever it is isn't too expensive. I'm driving his Geo and I can't believe the thing is still on the road. Second gear is non-existant and it shakes when you drive over 70, which I do. I'm thinking that we'll find ourselves at a Jeep dealership over the weekend. Blixx won't even know what hit him.

Both of our mother's have called or e-mailed wondering when we'll get together for his birthday, which is next Saturday. He can't give me an answer, so I guess we don't have plans with them this weekend. Yeah, I'm crushed.

The only plans we have (other than the accidental car shopping) is a birthday party for Teacher's grandmother. She's 90 and such a super sweet lady! She reminds me a great deal of Tempest's grandmother and we will of course celebrate with her and the family.

I think we're going out tonight. We'll see. We're easily distracted.

This work day will never end. I may be stuck here forever. Crapass!

Peace!

I just heard a great story. In a small town in California, on September 11th, a Budweiser driver went to make a delivery to a convenience store on his route. He entered the store, and the Arab owners were wooping it up, elated by the terrorist events. The Bud driver went out to his truck and called his boss in horror, explaining that he just couldn't make his delivery because he was so angry. The boss was equally horrified, and asked that the driver DID return to the store...and to remove every Bud product from it.
He declaired that they would never deliver to them again! Apparently, Bud is the drink of choice in the community and this caused quite the ruckus. It seems that the Bud driver told all of his friends this horrible story and how Bud handled the situation. His friend the Pepsi Co delivery man called his boss and explained the story to him. Lo and behold, the Pepsi driver was told to go into the store and remove everything and anything on their product line (that's also Frito-lay products!). Word spread and now the store has few customers and even less product.

Capitolism is the American dream...not the Arab dream!!!

*************************************************************************

There are some people that you know are going to be a part of your life forever. I'm confident that in 20 years I will still be in contact with Tempest and Jacknife. Grips will always be around for Blixx and I, and us for him and his family. You just know, ya know? Here's a story for you. I met JC while attending Colby Sawyer College in NH. We had some mutual friends and partied together often. That time in my life was filled with REALLY REALLY BAD DECISIONS and he was witness to the whole thing. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about here...I was seeing someone (BAD DECISION), but this other person liked me. I had no clue, as I was under the watchful and abusive eye of Doc. Anyway, this other person decided to break up Doc & I by putting road kill all over Doc's car...not in bags, but the actual carcas strewn all over the white Yugo...blood & guts everywhere. "I did it for you!" These are the crazy ass people I was with and I'm still thankful that I came to my senses. So, JC was there to see all of this and me at one of my darkest hours.

Years go by, and I'm pretty much together (quiet you sarcastic people!) at FSC, going to class, having fun but not TOO much fun. I's met Blixx by this time and we were almost exclusively hanging out. And what do my wondering eyes should appear, but JC. He was a communications student and had some classes with Blixx. Small world. I made him promise to never ever ever share any of the deep dark goings on of Colby Sawyer and he agreed, as long as I followed the same rule in regard to his pizza delivery sluttiness. We hung out, but only really on the fringes of each others social circles, although we were on the Major's dart team for a bit which was a hoot. I don't know when or why, but I just knew that I'd know him for a long time.

I haven't thought about or seen JC in years since the great retreat from FSC and the move to Worcester. We have mutual friends and occationally I'll hear something about him, but mostly we just keep on keeping on. Then today, walking out of the builing cafeteria...JC!!! He's working for Verizon in my building! I can't believe it. He's married with a daughter. We promised to do lunch one day...I wonder if we will. EJ, another guy I knew from FSC works in the building too but I hardly ever see him, and we made the same promises.

It's wierd who walks in and out of your life. Makes you go Hmmmmm.......

Peace.

Logi suggests a Clot party. I'd have to be nuts not to want to drive 4+ hours to the Paved Island to hang out with a bunch of singing loons...most of whom I've never met. Yeah, I'm in! I'm totally into it.

Tempest - your gym offers a Pirates class? Is that where you learn to say "Aargh" with menace?

Boogie Shoes - thanks for the link. I'll be sure to check it out. Have a great time in Vermont over the weekend. I'll be interested to hear about the butterfly museum.

Just got back from a company wide rumor dispelling meeting led by the ever so popular CEO Jeff Taylor. There's some restructuring going on with our corporate office and there's been talk of more lay offs here at Monster, but I'm happy to say that we won't be directly effected with the new business plan. Woo hoo! I was sick of worrying all the time. It was a good meeting overall and helped to raise the spirits and morale of the employees. Wacky thing is that Jeff wants to have a Holiday party here at the office (it's a cool office with plenty of space) where he DJ's and we bring in dishes. That sounds well & good, except that I'm naturally comparing it to last years gala event in Boston where the booze were plentiful, our spouses were invited, and we didn't have to bring our own dinner. Still, I think it will help me get back into the swing of work.

I've been looking for another job and not having too much luck. I WILL NOT accept any less money than I make right now (including bonus $$), unless it's for a college or university where I can take free classes. Too bad no one is hiring, or if they are they want to pay $10.00/hour! Who the hell can live on that kind of cash? The search for the perfect job continues. I did hear from Devil, the manager who I wanted to work for & who is moving to Scotland for a year - he's thinking that he'll have me come over for a week or so to organize the administrative process over there. I guess the sales folks send out their own collateral and it's an organizational nightmare. I am thrilled that he thought of me to head this up, as well as the thought of international travel. This is the big time now!

Grips came over last night and told us that our beer had exploded all over his kitchen the other morning. It's fermenting now and needs to vent the gasses produced by the yeast eating away at the sugars (thus, booze). We put a filter cap in it, but I guess all the maple sugar and brown sugar in the recipe threw it for a loop and there was an explosion all over the ceiling, walls and whatnot. Ooops...I'm betting that Teacher won't let us make beer in her kitchen for a while. Oh well. He rigged it back up and we should be all set to get hammered at Christmas.

Blixx's 29th birthday is coming up in November and I don't know what to get him. I've asked what he wants, and the only response I've been able to get are: 'a Jeep, you to quit smoking, & snowshoes.' If he gets off his ass and even looks for a Jeep, then fine that will be his gift...perhaps some fuzzy dice, but that kind of purchase would negate anything other than birthday sex. I will eventually quit smoking, probably when we get a house, definately if I get knocked up. Not a gift option, especially with the holidays coming up. I turn into a chimney at the THOUGHT of having dry turlkey with my mother. And I wouldn't know where to begin to get him snow shoes! I'd get a gift certificate, but that seems too impersonal. Maybe we'll just go shopping and he can pick out whatever he wants at REI. Of course, he always does that so it wouldn't be 'special.' Any ideas on wacky gift are apprecitated - hit the RAIN ON ME link at the top of the page for my e-mail address or check me out online at AOL IM.

Speaking of Blixx, he's off for the next few days and I've got some things for him to do. He knows this... the primary action items have been on the List for a while and aren't going anywhere. For instance, I've been after him to take our two air conditioners out of the windows for weeks now (since the first morning I had to scrape frost off my car), but last night he came out and said he would do it today. He PROMISED. Well folks, I got off the phone with him just a little while ago and it's done! Granted, the A/C units are probably still in the middle of the floor, but at least we can seal up the house and turn the heat on. It was freezing last night. So, Kudo's to Blixx for his accomplishment! Not to be a nagging wife, but I wonder if he remembered to take out the trash... :)

Logi - no talking for 2 weeks! Yikes! We'll be pulling for you. I liked Ally's idea to tape yourself yelling at the kids I know that I personally couldn't do it, no matter how much it hurt. Getting the last word in is a priority for me that I can't let go.

Ally - sweetie, this weekend is going to be rough for both Brogan and yourself, but it will be good to have some sort of closure for you both. Sad as a wake and funeral can be, be sure to remember the good times that you all shared and to celebrate Life, rather than the life lost. You're strong, and you'll get through this.

Tempest - I'm jealous that you're going on vacation AGAIN! About the Disney cruise, check out AAA for travel deals...I've seen some great prices on cruises. I like the cruise format, because you aren't tied down to any one spot for vacation. I mean, Aruba would be terrific, but do I really want to spend a week on the same beach when I could see 4 different beaches...think about the cruise.

I'm off to stuff more envelopes and lift more boxes and try to keep my spirits up. Today is a better day for me, and I hope it is for you all too.

Hey folks! DaveGrips let me use his scanner over the weekend, so I've updated some pictures. Check out the link on the top of the page. I'll be adding more soon, once I ever dig through my pictures and find some more decent ones, but these will get you started. I think I'll update once a month, so welcome to November's picture gallery.

Over the weekend, we made beer again for the first time in 2 years and it smells so good. It's a holiday brew where we added lemon and orange zest in the last few minutes of the boil - that combined with the clove and cinnamon and we've got ourselves a very aromatic brew. The plan is to have it ready for Christmas.

Ug, the holidays are coming and I just don't know how I'm going to juggle the families. Even Blixx's birthday is turning into a pain in the ass. We're going to Cuddles n Bubbles that Saturday, and I wanted to bum around the Cape on Sunday, but his family will want to see him. My mother wants to take us out for brunch too...joy. I thought we were in the clear this weekend coming up, but it's Nana's 90th birthday surprise party on Saturday so that leaves us Sunday to either do laundry or see a mother. Tough call on that.

Teacher lost her mind and says we can have my mother and her dick over to their house for Thanksgiving. I don't know if it's right to contaminate a wonderful family holiday with my faImily. Then theirs Blixx's sister and her clan. Hmmm, I wonder if she's pregnant again. It's been a while and 4 kids just might not be enough.

Enough random ramblings over holidays that haven't even arrived yet. I'll check back with you folks later today.

Wryguy - sorry to hear about your butt. Glad everything is in working order and you'll be well for your wedding.

Congratulations to Nightskye and Rhinogirl on the beginning of their wedded bliss. I'm so happy for you both!

Cat - sorry I wasn't around to meet you and F this weekend.

Happy belated birthday to Logi!

My interview went well, but was frustrating in that the sales guy that I would be working with wasn't available to speak with me. Now I've got to go back if they are interested. I don't know if it's something that I'd be challenged with, but it can't be as bad as here at Monster. I stuff envelopes all day and my manager complains that we aren't able to do more. Well, they should have thought of that before they laid off half the staff! Bastards!

There aren't many decent jobs listed on Monster or Hotjobs right now and I'm very discouraged. I'm sick of it here and want out, but we can't afford another of my famous out of work sessions.

Sorry I'm not upbeat today.

Peace.

I've got an 8:30 interview with American Stop Loss on Monday for a Sales Coordinator position. Keep your fingers crossed.

I wish I had some uplifting words for Tempest and the rest who are unhappy at their current employment, but I don't. I'm in the same boat and it sucks. Sorry I don't have more.

Everyone attending the gala Nightskye & Rhinogirl wedding, please give them an extra hug for me. They are going to have so much fun on their honeymoon, I think we should all fly down and stay with them for at least a week. Wouldn't they just love that?

I've read through many but not all blogs that I missed and I hope all are well.

Peace.

Saturday was the suprise bday party so the boys were sent off to Disney Quest - 3 floors of interactive and video games that amused them greatly. I don't know if Rhynogirl is into games or not, but I see Nightskye loosing like 3 days in there if he isn't careful. Ladies, in Florida they have something called SUPER WALMART, which is where we went to get all of the party supplies. It's a grocery store & fish market & full service classy bakery & auto center & regular WalMart all in one giant building. We bought 2 cases of beer, burgers etc for 30 people, plates...and only spent $130! I mean I had to keep my hand on the top of the cart toward the end of our journey to keep things from falling. What a deal! I think I'm in love.

We spent the HOT day setting up tables and chairs that were borrowed from the neighbors. The old man next door was a hoot - super sweet man. FedExMan was suprised at the party & even though not everyone showed up that was supposed to, we all had a great time. They have some very nice neighbors and friends. We managed to get plowed (go figure) and hit the jacuzzi for a while before the drinking caught up to us.

Sunday was the day of rest, where we ate a wonderful truck driver special breakfast prepared by FedExMan, followed by some wanderings in Old Town. They have a human sling shot ride, but it wasn't operating because it was raiming for most of the day. We took it slow and watched some TV and just hung out BSing for the night.

Sher had to work Monday (much to her displeasure) so the three of us went to Universal Islands of Adventure. OMG the Hulk rollercoaster is addictive. We did that one twice. Fire & Ice is another great coaster that kicked butt. We did the water rides and got drenched and ran around like little kids all day. The Spiderman ride is a WOW too. Nightskye & Rhinogirl are going to have a blast! I regret that we didnt' get to do the Universal tour and the Jaws ride, but we did have lunch at the Hard Rock during a rain storm. That place is intense!

Our trip home was equally uneventful, but with a bit more security in Orlando. There were screaming small children all over the plane so it wasn't restful as I had hoped, but I picked up Dean Koonz's Strangers which is turning into a very nice read. As mentioned yesterday, all sorts of shit hit the fan at work while I was gone & I didn't even have a chance to put my purse down before my (micro) manager was laying it all out for me. I'm still looking for another job, and may have an interview next week with American Stop Loss - I guess they are an insurance agency of some sort. I've got to research them on the web before I committ, but the money looks good and they pay bonuses quarterly on top of that, so it may just work out after all. I told that other job to go screw for lack of money and time off. HA! Its great that I can be picky until I find something I like. Or until I get laid off. Which ever comes first.

Peace.

We left out of Providence airport because it's actually easier for us to get to than Logan, as well as being cheaper to park etc. There was like no security there at all - just a few National Guard guys with sidearms, but not a big deal. They only half-assed searched my purse. We then had 2 hours to kill before our plane so I read one of the trashy romance novels Tempest had given me a while back. I was done with it by the time the plane touched ground in Orlando. There was a bit more security there, but not at all what I expected. Whatever. We made it.

I booked the plane & rental car online and had absolutely no trouble at all. The whole time I'm thinking in the back of my head that there would be a hassle, but it went without a hitch. We arrived at SherBear & FedExMan's house at around 7:30pm and proceeded to play catch up and have a few drinks over pizza. Their friend Dawson came over - I call him Dawson because he looks JUST LIKE Dawson...I mean he's a little heavier, but other than that he's got the blonde hair with dark brows and the same smile...it was spooky! Ask Blixx - this guy was a dead ringer! We did some shots and ate and drank and laughed and had a great time.

Both of them had to work on Friday so Sher used her employee pass to get us into MGM for free then we dropped her off at work. We ended up checking out Animal Planet and MGM that day & it was a blast. The safari ride was a hoot, with beautiful animals. The tree of life is incredible...and apparently has a phalic symbol carved into it. I'll have to get the pictures back to verify that one. We rode the rides and did the backstage tour. It rained briefly, so we ducked inside and grabbed a giant potato & turkey leg to gnaw on for a bit. Tower of Terror KICKS ASS in a big way, as well as the Rock n Roll Roller coaster.

Crap - work. This is going to be one of those days again. More at lunch.

I'm back and I have stories to tell. I also have 109 e-mails to read through and tons of crap sitting on my desk, so you'll just have to wait until later to hear all about it.

Peace.

Ghost is just breaking my heart...

I'm sick of work and want to leave. I've got to get my nails done & still haven't packed a thing! I think this is going to be the perfect vacation for the both of us. Blixx is pissed because he keeps getting work offers for the time we're away but I say tough crap to that! He didn't have to work the past two days & spent his time napping & reading & napping, with major accomplishments including doing the dishes & taking a shower. I'm so filled with envy, but he's working today so I guess I'll let it go. Since he had all that relaxation, I'm not going to feel bad at all dragging him around Disney trying to see everything in the shortest time possible. Bring your running shoes baby!

I probably won't blog from Florida so I'll chat at you all in a week.

Peace.

I just spent my lunch hour catching up on e-mail and blogs.

Cat & UIM will be in CT soon I hear. When, where & why? I would certainly love an opportunity to meet you both IRL. Poor Ghost tells a sad tale. I hope they are both able to work it out and realize that life is too short to let the mundane BS get in the way of happiness. I'm glad to hear that WryGuy & Spark's wedding plans are right on schedule and that his health issues won't terribly impact the ceremony or honeymoon. Ally's story about the landlord cracked me up - the new found wealth will sure come in handy decorating your new house.

Because it's better to be safe than sorry, here's my flight info for Florida:
Delta Air Lines 2301 October 18, 2001 leaving Providence 3:10PM arriving in Orlando 6:10PM.
Delta Air Lines 2420 October 23, 2001 leaving Orlando 11:50AM arriving in Providence 2:35PM

The interview went very well. I have a good feeling that they will call me back for a second interview, but I'm pretty sure that I don't want the job. Apparently a "Circulation Assistant" is the person who data enters the address stuff from reply cards into a database. Just from chatting with her, I'm getting that the manager wants to move up fast and needs to pawn the shit work off on someone, thus the assistant. One thing that struck me as I waited for the interview was that no one walking by the reception desk on their way out for the night said good night to her. Not one person interacted with each other or the receptionist. I didn't like that vibe at all. Or perhaps it was the lack of vibe that got me. They have shitty bennies too, with only 1 week sick/personal time & 1 wk vacation the first year. Only 6 paid holidays. Nope, I don't think I'll be working there but it was a great interview and I've come away more committed than ever that I ROCK.

That's all from the self-serving egoist network.

Peace.