Merry Christmas

I subscribe to this website that emails you an inspriational quote every day (well, with my work email filter it's more like 2x a month...), and today the below message actually made it through. I figured, of all the things to not be filtered out, this one was a pretty good one. i thought i'd share...it puts things into perspective i think.

Merry christmas everyone...

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow
Stood puzzling and puzzling: 'How could it be so?'
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
And he puzzled three hours, 'till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"
-----------Dr. Seuss, 1904-1991Beloved Cartoonist and Children's Book Author

Deep down inside we know
that the best gifts
don't come from catalogs
or shopping malls
They don't come in brightly-colored packages
or fancy envelopes
and they're not sitting under a tree somewhere...
The best gifts come from the heart.
They come when we look at each other
REALLY look at each other
and say 'You mean a lot to me'
or 'I'm so glad you're a part of my life'
A gift like that will never go out of style
or be forgotten
or be returned for a different size.
A gift like that can change the world.
----------Ron Atchison Inspiration Peak

Woot!

Hey everyone! Woot! This is a term that has somehow made its way into my vocabulary as of late...not exactly sure when it arrived, probably around the same time I started using the word "ginormous." :) Usually when people ask me what it means I tell them it is an expression of joy & excitement, but i found a website that defines it further. Even if not informative, i thought they were at least entertaining! Here are the best of what's listed on the site (i believe theres like 60 definitions on there...):

WOOT
Pronunciation: 'wüt (similar to "hoot!" but with a 'w' instead.)
1) An interjection similar to "YAY!" or "Woohoo!" used to express joy or excitement, usually about some kind of accomplishment. Primarily used by gamers, spreading rapidly to anyone who chats online. Gaming origins: We Owned the Other Team or Wonderful Loot (Everquest gaming slang) Example: "Woot! I got an A on this test!
2) To express agreement. Example: Robyn: Eric is such a dork. Let's put packing peanuts in his desk. Stefanie: woot!
3) As an acronym, can mean Waste of Our Time or Way Out of Topic (online forums) Less common.
4.) The Canadian way to say "What." Example: "Woots that aboot??"
5). A greeting, for close friends or people you have been expecting. Special note: When the person you are awaiting appears, it is customary to offer a long "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!" The only appropriate response to said Woot is two short, emphatic "WOOT WOOT!"
6.) The name of an internet website that sells an item a day. Getting really popular, and has some really great deals at times. Website: www.woot.com


Next topic...lots has happened since i blogged last! Lets see...last wednesday night it snowed gangbusters...friday i took the day off from work and traveled to Chicagotown with my friend Denise Deniserson. (Woot!) :) It was a crazy & interesting trip up there to say the least...the bad weather we had on wed nite traveled to Chicago thursday evening, and one of the Southwest planes landing at midway slid off the end of the runway, through the wall at the end and into an intersection on Central, i believe. Scary! Same airline we were flying...same airport...within like 12 hrs of when we were sposed to be there. Yikes. Anywho, our flight out of KC was delayed like 2hrs because of the accident, also b/c the runways were bad enough that only one runway was open....talk about congestion! So yes, 2hrs late, we arrived...and spent the weekend relaxing, shopping (YAY IKEA!!!) & shopping some more. If youre interested, ask me & i'll email you about the life-changing bra-fitting i had at a lingerie store Oprah recommended (i mean, if Oprah recommends it, you have to go there, right?) on Michigan Ave...yikes! But i digress...the trip was just loads of fun! Underlined how much I still really like the town, and still would love to live there...even in spite of the insanely cold weather...

So now i'm back...yesterday was monday...blah...and my first day of the south beach diet. The 1st 2 weeks of this diet i pretty much have to cut out all sugar from my diet. Well not all, but like 99%....being that i get so crabby when my blood sugar gets low, i was a little, shall we say, less than chipper yesterday. Today was better, and i'm sure tomorrow will be better still, but this is tough! When i was in the grocery store & walking past the orange juice, my mouth just started to water...i could almost taste it!! But no, i was strong, no sugar-laden OJ for me. I did cave and get a case of Coke Zero tho...tastes just like Coke, but with no sugar. I will have to write to the company thanking them for their life-saving invention. :)

P.S. some of my friends are coming to kc to visit this weekend...i am SOOOO excited! I feel like it's christmas or something, just absolutely can't wait. WOOT!!! :)

Winter Wonderland!

Imagine if you will, a snowglobe, with kansas city in the middle of it....now imagine that snowglobe being 1/2 filled with snow (much more than the average snow globe), and then being turned upside down & shaken. That's us right now!! We're getting TONS of snow, and it's just swirling around, just like in a snow globe. It's beautiful!! :)

So far we have around 5 inches, but they're calling for something around 8 by the time it's said and done...and all i can think of is, wonder if they'll have any sleds left by the time i get to the store? I know, I'm 27 and maybe sledding may be a bit juvenile...but darnit! there are some good hills around this place (i know, because i've had to run up them in my training runs!!), and with 8 inches of snow they most definitely should not go to waste!

La, la, la, let it snow! let it snow! let it snow! :)

**Sigh**

You are reading the post of a very tired girl...the last 4 workdays have been H-E-L-L...loong days at work, being busy nonstop from the time i get in till i leave, not getting to eat lunch until 4pm on a regular basis, guaranteed stress headache by 3:00 everyday. Booo....yes, this is me whining.... I want one day, just one, when i'm not asked to do 10 million things with the clear expectation that i will have time to do those 10million things when really there's only time to reasonably to 1 million of those things. no no no more!!! i would also like a day when i can comfortably get my job done and still have time to leave my desk to use the restroom or get lunch without someone standing at my desk when i get back with SOMETHING ELSE for me to do!! NO MORE!!! AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Have you ever seen that cartoon with the duck standing over his computer with a big sledge hammer? That's me, only its not just my computer, its the whole desk...computer (complete with zillion unread emails), phone (complete with blaring red light of voicemail doom), and papers strewn about. The whole kit & caboodle.

Ok...i'm done whining now...i think i got it out of my system...

On another note, happy st nicholas day everyone! I brought in cookies & fudge to work today to celebrate, although i believe i may be the only person in my group, possibly the whole company, who celebrates the day. heathens... ;) j/k.

On another note as well, I am taking a long weekend and going to Chicago this friday for a little R& R with my friend Denise. Cant wait!! Even though i know it is going to be INSANELY cold there, i'm so excited to have a weekend where it is my job to relax, spend some money christmas shopping, drink some margaritas and have some fun. Woohoo!! i seriously cannot wait...less than 72 hours!! Once we get there i may just hide in the Marshall Fields and not come back. It's a big department store...surely it wouldnt be THAT bad to live in...

christmas time!

Ok. I confess...I have finally succumbed to the christmas fever! (if you are a grinch, probably would be less painful to stop reading after paragraph 2...)

Now that it is finally december (actually i should be saying, it's december? already?) I feel like yes, we can now sing christmas songs with a clear conscience! It seems like every month has its holiday, so it's just wrong to celebrate a holiday before its date is due...kindof like celebrating your birthday a month early, there's something just not right about it! :) I started seeing christmas stuff out as early as September (sigh...it's going to be a long season...), and one of the KC radio stations started playing christmas music as early as october (scandal! it's not even halloween yet!), and then of course putting up the christmas decorations on thanksgiving in november (what?? I'm still drowsy from the turkey!!). BUT it is now december...so...deck the halls!

I've changed the ringer on my phone to the dance of the sugar plum fairies, put the few christmas decorations I have up in my apartment (it is a-dazzle with blue & silver-gorgeous!), started writing christmas cards, and am starting to accumulate christmas gifts for the chosen few I can afford to buy/make for. Plus, as if we need another reason to enjoy the season, how can you NOT get excited about all the great christmas movies out there!!! A Christmas Story ("you'll shoot your eye out!"), Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Its a Charlie Brown Christmas, aand...my all time absolute favorite (no matter what season)...Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase & Randy Quaid. Just thinking of that movie makes me laugh!! I can't even choose my favorite scene, every part of that movie just makes me giggle and laugh like i was 10 again & watching the 3 stooges...pure happiness...

So...grinchy people of the world beware...24 days & counting till the big day!!
Ho Ho Ho!! *<:D
(that's supposed to be santa btw...)

I love going to the Dentist!!

hehe...yeah, thought that title would be an attention grabber! :) Today I had an appointment with my dentist to get a cavity filled....ho hum...necessary evil. It was kindof a hassle actually, because the appt was in the middle of the day and since we've been CRAZY busy at work this week it was tough to get away. The actual appointment was at 3, but for some strange reason i thought it was at 2:30, and for some even stranger reason I was there at 1:30. For those of you that know me, my being on time is a rare occurrence & being early (let alone an HOUR early) is unheard of! So i'm there...sitting in the waiting room... irritated with myself for wasting time being early when I could be at work getting stuff done...when the receptionist lets me know they can get me in early. sweet! So, as i'm going in, i see this sign about new spa services being offered. Struck me as a strange thing to offer at a dentist's office, but it was a fleeting thought. Probably just an advertisement or something.

I go in, sit down, & the dr comes in with his big needle of fun (novacaine)....which by the way, has NEVER hurt in all the time i've gone to this dentist. Can't think of more than one time i've been in pain at this doc ever, and never from the numbing stuff-stellar! Anywho, he fills the tooth, bing, bam, done! Less than 15 minutes and it's over. As the dental assistant is finishing things up (i'm still laying back in the chair btw), this lady comes in leans over me and says "Hi! I'm Dr. So-and-So's staff massage therapist. We give complimentary facial massages to our patients after their treatments to aid in the numbness going away and to speed healing. Would you like one?"

The look on my face mustve read something like "duhhhh...." or maybe that was the novacaine...whatev. :) Needless to say, i was flabbergasted. Shocked. If i hadnt been laying down you couldve knocked me over with a feather! Here I am staring at the ceiling trying to gauge how long it'll be before i stop drooling b/c of the numness, and suddenly i'm offered a free massage? At my dentist's office? Sign me up!! :) I have to say, it was the BEST!!!! While I was walking out, I kept thinking to myself, "Dude! Did that just happen?? Did i actually have a pleasant experience getting a tooth filled?? Maybe the novacaine is going to my brain..." Incredible...whoever thought of that service to go with dentistry deserves a raise. :) I think i might have to start coming up with excuses to go to the dentist!

Telling my mom about it this afternoon she wanted to know who this guy was, and if they accepted hers & dads insurance! :) That really must be a good dr, if people are willing to drive like 3 hrs for an appointment!! (ps...if you want this guys name/# let me know, he's the BOMB!) :)

Gobble Gobble!

GobbleGobble! :) My thanksgiving holiday starts tomorrow...I took tomorrow off from work in order to head back to the Lou a little early for the holiday. I'm hoping to get on the road by 8 or 9am so that i can beat all the crazy holiday travelers on I-70...cross your fingers for me!

In my next to last post I mentioned that my sewing machine had been fixed, and that i was itching to make something. I came up with some good ideas, and decided to make a table runner & some placemats for christmas decor in my apartment. Figured, how much easier could it get, pretty much i'm just sewing in straight lines, right? Wrong!! :) I had to go & make it complicated...BUT....i think it turned out beautifully! The original pattern called for one long strip of fabric with some sheer borders on each end. I chose dark blue damask silk and then silver sheer borders...and then purchased silver thread to use for finishing touches. Well, after i had it partially put together, i decided that it needed to look more like the picture! In the picture the solid fabric had embroidery on it...i have a feeling it was already like that when the fabric was purchased & sewn in rather than being put on it afterwards, but whatever...i thought 'i can do that!' and set to work. (this is a phrase that has gotten me into more unfinished projects than i care to count. ) So, i drew some vines & leaves on the blue fabric with chalk, and then set to work with the sewing machine & my silver thread to trace out the chalk lines. After a few minor setbacks, learning how to adjust the tension on the machine, fine tuning the start/stopping process, i was rather proud of the finished product! The pictures really don't do it justice. It's also reversible, the other side is solid blue from one end to the other, with a silver sheer band in the middle and an outline of silver thread around the outside seams. The furniture in my apt is blue corduroy, and the candle accents i have are polished sterling silver, so the fabrics coordinate rather well. What do you think? :)
There's more where that came from...there are 2 matching placemats that are cut out, just waiting to be put together. Can't wait. So what should I make next??

Well, i'm off to pack & do laundry for the road trip tomorrow. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy thanksgiving....

Interesting...

Thought I'd post an interesting commentary I read in Newsweek on Senator Murtha's recent comments that we need to expedite withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and the general situation in over there...

TGIF!

Thank goodness tomorrow is friday! This has been a very tiring week at work so I'm looking forward to some downtime this weekend....all i really have planned is going for a run on saturday morning, and then to a friend's 40th birthday party that night (seriously, am i really old enough to have friends turning 40??) :). Other than that-I think i may just plan to lay on the couch and watch some dvd's netflix probably thinks i'm trying to steal. I've had napoleon dynamite and one of the Smallville dvd's for about 2 mos now, still havent gotten around to watching them. I think this may be just the weekend!

So tonite I picked up my sewing machine from the repair shop, and am very excited to start using it! Some time ago my mom gave the machine to me as she inherited my great grandmothers' sewing machines, and to be honest the most i've used it for is to hem a dress. I think i tried to make a skirt with it once, but that turned out to be a scary thing, and I think maybe it got thrown away. Anywho, when i hemmed the dress i noticed that the machine was having some issues with skipping stitches, and since then it's just been collecting dust, probably for over a year now. After a weekend watching my good friend Leslie learn how to use her new sewing machine, and after reading all these blog entries from my cousin Sarah & how crafty she's gotten with her sewing skills, I figured maybe it's time to break it out & try again. I took it to a repair shop here downtown early last week & the guy there said with a little oil and a tune-up the baby will be purring again in no time. (almost exact words there...not kidding...is this a car or a sewing machine? lol) While he was writing up the work order we got to talking about whether a treadle sewing machine or an electric one is better....the whole time i kept thinking, am i really having this conversation with a guy?? (btw, he looked to be about my age.) Not that guys cant or shouldnt sew, it's just not that often (ok...never) that i run into a guy who is interested in that. I guess it could be a new take on picking up chicks...although i dont think many 'chicks' frequent sewing stores, so perhaps this isnt the most clever idea on his part as far as career choices or catching a girl. :) Anyways, i'm excited to start using my new 'old' machine, although i doubt i will be turning out much more than patchwork quilts these days. Any ideas on simple fun projects to do?

p.s....Considering the previous blog entries about my partying habits, does it strike anyone else as funny that I changed the subject to how excited I am that my sewing machine just got out of the repair shop?? Kindof makes me laugh....guess it's not a bad thing to have a wide range of hobbies...but still... :)

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Aw man...it was snowing cats & dogs here today! You shoulda seen it...by 10am there were big fat clumps of snow coming down, you couldnt see farther than a block!! Umm..wasnt it like 80 here about 2 weeks ago?

After i left work at 7pm tonite (for the 2nd day in a row...grr...) i had to walk the 1 block to my car in like 40 mile an hour winds & snow flurries. I felt like the nannies in Mary Poppins, just about ready to blow away!! I know, I know...the girl who lives 4 blocks away DRIVES to work?? Yes, yes she does. When it's like 20 below outside, raining and snowing big chunks of fat wet snow all over the place, she most certainly does! :) It's probably going to be the worst winter ever so I should just hurry up & get used to walking the cold miserable four blocks in this, right?

Still, i feel justified in my resistance of winter...there hasnt even been time to ease into it! Shouldnt the temperatures just gradually creep into the below freezing zone rather than plummet? Shouldnt there be snow flurries before fat clumps of snow? Shouldn't i just quit complaining and get used to it like everyone else does? ;) hehe...I think I may be in the minority here...seems like everyone I know likes this winter weather. I guess it could be worse...there was no accumulation, so at least there's that. Oh yeah, and it's supposed to be back up around 60 by the weekend. Woohoo!! Gotta love missouri!!

Old As the Hills

So guess who is old as the hills now? You got it--yours truly--today I turned the big 2-7. YIKES! I absolutely don't remember signing anything saying I was okay with being anything older than 21...seems like I spent the first 20 or so years of my life always wanting to be older or looking forward to that next milestone. At this point i find the next milestone to be 30...to be honest, I can't say i'm looking forward to that with the same level of excitement i was about approaching 16 or 21! I figure the key is to have something planned for this milestone that makes me excited about getting there, right? The plan we've come up with (we being me) :) is to celebrate that milestone somewhere in Germany during Oktoberfest. Not a bad idea eh? Visit the homeland of my ancestors while partying it up appropriately with good friends. So far Hannah's the only one i've heard as excited about this trip as me, so it may be just me & hannah boozin it up with our German homies...but...the trip is open to anyone with the want to go, so if this is you--start saving! You have EXACTLY 3 years (minus a month or so). :)

Speaking of celebrating birthdays, several of us met up saturday night to celebrate mine & chet's turning 27 since our bday's are only a week apart...and it was so much fun! We played pool & spent the evening catching up, since those of us that went dont really get to see all that much of each other (hoping for that to change in the near future here...). Chet & I also spent the night proving we could still hang like the old days...or attempting to prove this. With the 2 of us taking turns buying each round, and a shot for each of us at each turn, I think we each ended up having between 6 and 10 shots in between the bud lights for him & coronas for me. My chosen shots were all sissy girly shots, easy to take & easy on the hangover the next morning...not so for chet's choice! OUCH!! I forgot how much he loves Jim Beam! :) When I went to bed at the end of the night, whoa nellie...i had to hold on to the wall to convince my body that the room was not spinning...what a night!

This morning i woke up cursing the day Jim Beam was invented....and wondering what in the heck i was thinking taking all those shots ...and hoping that Chet was as miserable as i was since he was half responsible for my condition--after all, he did buy half those drinks & shots! lol (i think it went "ugghhhh ... mmfffhatejimbeam ... ugghh ... imustbecrazy ... uggghhhh ... damnyouchet .... uugghhhh") Really though, I had a fabulous time & after a few ibuprofen & a bunch of water I was back on track. Definitely worth it for the amount of fun had by all. It was a great way to ring in my 27th year...I hope the remainder of the year goes as well as it started off! (this is not to say I want the rest of the year to go like a 5star hangover...want to be clear on that...) :)

Words of Wisdom

Good evening all!

There is definitely something to be said for volunteering...life would be awesome if i could just do that every day. A couple of my girlfriends & I volunteered with the American Cancer Society today....we didnt do a whole lot other than clean, but we definitely pitched in where help was needed, and made the jobs of others just a little easier by helping out with the chores. In my everyday job it's rare when you feel like the work you do is making the world a better place. Dont get me wrong, I do like my job alot (well, on most days anyways), but I've always wanted to do something that I knew was making a positive difference in someone's life...giving back to the world just a smidgen of what I have been so blessed to receive. Hopefully someday I'll be able to have one of those jobs, but in the meantime I am content to work for a company where they give me a day off here & there to make a difference. :)

Tomorrow we will be volunteering with the American Stroke Association...am definitely looking forward to that! Over the last 2 1/2 years I have put in many volunteer hours with this organization, but decided this last summer to take some time off. My schedule with working 2 jobs and then volunteering on top of that was kindof wearing me out (understatement), so i made the decision that to really be able to give my all to this cause, I needed to take some time off to regroup. I've noticed that my schedule has calmed down a little bit, but I also noticed that I have really come to miss the people I worked with & for! Our weekend training runs allowed me to keep in shape, also helped keep me in touch with all my regular running partners. Since then running has just not held the same excitement it had before...i guess now i'm doing it just for fitness' sake, whereas before it was a social thing as well. Also, our fundraising events were not only efforts to raise money for stroke research & advocacy programs, but were also social events. While I havent so much missed the stress of preparing for the events or finding time in my schedule to make all the training runs & meetings, I've missed everyone...so I'm hoping to see a lot of long-lost buddies at the event (in addition to helping them to raise some much-needed funds)!

On a side note....

I'd like to make an apology. Since the wal-mart rant/tirade (i bet you're thinking "oooh noo....dont get started on that again!!") :) I have realized that a lot of what I wrote may have hurt some feelings or have been taken in a way that it wasn't meant to be. I know that I have been known from time to time (umm...probably more than that) to act or speak first and think later...and after it happens and I realize it, i have a mental "D'oh!" moment...one of those "Crap! I didnt mean it to be taken like that!" moments. (I'm going to be 27 in a few days, and you think I would have learned a little bit by now...but i digress...) With that said, I am sincerely sorry if I stepped on any toes, or made any statements that were offensive or hurtful to anyone who might have read that. I was just venting my thoughts on the subject, and certainly didnt mean to make any judgements on anyone in particular (especially those of you i hold near & dear to my heart...) . I guess I didnt think that many people out there would be interested in my lil ole blog...but as one VERY wise person warned me, what you put in a blog is not ever assumed to be private...more people than you think, and people you probably arent aware of, will be reading so choose your words wisely. I promise to try and be more wise in the future.

Also--if you read something you disagree with, or have questions on, or just feel like being a wise guy, there is a little link at the end of all my posts for comments...they can be anonymous or not, so feel free! :)

love and hugs to all...

Short Week

Hm..so i guess it's time to quit ranting and get back to my ponderings on life...or at least, bet back to the daily grind and leave the editorials to the professionals. :)

So this weekend was a great one! It was truly the first weekend in FOREVER that I've had the time to just take the weekend as it comes, just pick & choose what I'm in the mood to do and just do that--nothing really scheduled, just takin it easy. I had Friday off from work, and instead of sleeping in and taking it easy (i am my mother's daughter, after all) :) I planned a bagillion things to do...what started out as being a great trail run with my friend Jason ended up being a short sprint and then a walk through the woods as he pointed out the different trees & how to identify them. Pretty interesting stuff! I really enjoyed that, actually...unfortunately i'm not the quickest learner and only remembered 2 trees--a locust tree--those things have HUGE thorns on them! ouch!--and a shag bark hickory...(did i get that right J? probly not...sorry...)
After that the rest of the day actually continued on at a nice leisurely pace. I met Beau & Leslie back at my place for lunch (mmm...thai...) and then after my dr appt i met up with work friends for happy hour. woohoo! Happy hour actually lasted 7 hours...some of us ended up going out afterwards although we were wise enough to head home before the bars closed.

Saturday I headed down to Leslie's mom's house to help her & leslie out with some yard work. It has been so long since I had a yard to work in, i actually miss out on all that stuff! We raked leaves, cleaned out & repaired some of the gutters, and washed windows. After that, we ordered bbq & had apple pie & chocolate ice cream for dessert, and lounged around working on our knitting, sewing and watching law and order. Is that a great day or what?! Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast, watched the chiefs gameday show, and then i headed home. It was such a pretty day--the forecast was for 'abundand sunshine'--i spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning my car inside & out. I figured, there wont be many of these days left, better take advantage! All in all, a pretty good weekend i think!

I'm off work for the next couple of days and sooo looking forward to it! As part of my benefits I get 2 days off a year with pay to volunteer, and cant think of a better way to spend the middle of my week...i'm working tomorrow with the american cancer society, and then wednesday with the american stroke association. Both causes are very near & dear to my heart...I wish I was able to spend all my time devoted to volunteering! I'll take pictures from both days & post them on the blog later this week. Something to look forward to! :)

new titles

Good evening all!

So...when i went to log into the blog this evening to write my post, i noticed how blah all the titles are of my posts...if i were a visitor, i dont think i'd be terribly interested to look through those! From here on out, only eye-catching, interest-snagging titles for these postings! Um, starting tomorrow...i'm not in a creative mood just yet. :)

This morning i received an email with the online edition of the Truman Index, a campus newspaper from my alma mater....and wouldnt you know, there's an editorial in there from one of the readers supporting Wal-mart! I read it through patiently...ok, actually i was like "what is this student on!! oh wait, it's only a freshman...that explains it!" ;) just kidding...so anyways, i read it through and actually considered some of their points. As much as I hate to admit it, the author of that article does make some good points about what Wal-mart is doing to contribute back to the community. I mean, when a college student is looking for a good distraction from writing that term paper, a Wal-mart run always seemed to be just the thing! Especially if the distraction was needed at like 1am...the place was always open. Seriously though, aside from distraction & entertainment for college kids, the proportion of what they give back in relation to what they take doesnt even come close to what i view as acceptable...I could go on about the injustice of it all...but, i believe i will just let you read the articles & make your own decision...I promise no more ranting about Wal-Mart. PROMISE. :)

On a lighter note, i have the day off tomorrow & can't wait! I'm going on a trail run with one of my friends first thing in the morning, and then out for lunch with a couple of my other friends...and then to a dr appt...then to a happy hour. i think it'll be a good day...start out with a fabulous nature run, end with some drinks with friends...can't beat that!

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Goodness! Time sure flies when you're having fun....it's been a few days since i've blogged, almost a week! Sorry for being a slacker...

Today I think I'm the most unmotivated girl in Kansas City. So much so that i'm about to fall asleep on my desk rather than pay any attention to what is in my inbox, or the fact that the big red light on my phone is shining in vain...no i will not answer that voicemail today. :) My group here at work organized a food day today to celebrate thanksgiving, since this seems to be one of the last days this month that we are all here instead of on vacation for something or other. We have turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (ew), cheesy potatoes, bread, pumpkin pie, cookies, and various other not-so-good for you dishes. My contribution to the day was 2 home-made apple pies. mmmm....imagine the kind that grandma makes, with the beautiful lattice tops...golden brown cinnamon-appley goodness...YUM!!!

In preparation for the day, I didnt eat anything all morning & went for a 4 mile run over my lunch hour to burn some calories...somehow that justifies eating my heart out when i got back from the run. Oh man, that stuff was good...I am SO looking forward to Thanksgiving now! Except...the sleepiness from the turkey is starting to set in...any minute now my coworkers are going to hear this loud thud coming from my cube...yes, that was my head hitting the desk as i fell asleep. Nice!! :) And so...i have no motivation to do anything but muddle through the next couple of hours until i can go home & be lazy on the couch. I'd do anything for a nap right now!! :)

To battle the sleepiness I thought, hm...i should do something fun like write in the blog! There's no better way to lose loyal readers (yeah right...all i hear are crickets chirping out there... ;) ) than a few days of silence....so better get back to writing! So...here's some food for thought.

Reflections on the company from hell (a.k.a. Wal-Mart):

I was reading the stL Post Dispatch this morning and came across this article. It's about a lawsuit brought against Wal-mart (better known as The Devil) by some of its workers...apparently they have been forcing hourly employees to work off the clock, without breaks, and screwing them out of overtime. An interesting thing to note is that there have been lawsuits just like this one brought up in several states for pretty much the same charges...but the courts (until now-yay missouri!) have denied these cases class-action status, and so left them dead in the water. But hopefully this will change things!!

By now you probably realize I hate Wal-mart...there is nothing worse than walking into a store & being met by screaming children and their white trash ignorant parents, wandering aimlessly around the store doing nothing but trying to run you over with their shopping cart (not to mention running the gauntlet of a parking lot outside...these people pay just about as much attention when driving their cars as they do when steering their shopping carts or minding their screaming children). Talk about a pleasant shopping experience!! Not only that, having gone to college in a small rural Missouri town (shout out for Kirksville!), I have seen firsthand what Wal-mart stores do to the local economy of these small towns. They run small mom & pop stores out of business, and do very little to contribute back to the community in which they are making so much money in profits....they sap the originality, income and general happiness out of every town and person that sets their sights on that awful blight of a store. Furthermore, I have heard horror stories about the company's anti-union and shady labor practices....now, i'm not one of those gung-ho be union or be nothing people, but when workers' rights are being stepped on, and the company is scheming for ways to prevent employees from organizing as a group or to prevent a union from coming in and representing the employees, I have a problem. The way I see it, if the company is doing right by its employees, it should have no fear of an organization that has those same people's best interests at heart. It's no wonder they don't want their employees as members of an organization such as this, their abuses would have to come to an end!

Finally--one last point (and then i'll stop ranting, I promise)--I remember all too vividly the days when I had to work a job in retail making minimum wage. It SUCKS. The scheduling blows, the pay blows, the working conditions blow....every last bit of it just sucks. Can you imagine being someone who has to work at this place--it's not just a stepping stone while you're going to school, or an extra job for play money--you HAVE to work here...can you imagine how awful of a sentence that is? For some it is their only source of income, or one of many sources of income b/c working at this place doesnt come close to making ends meet. Also, whatever income they get quickly disappears because if they want insurance it is deducted before they even see what they earned in the first place! What the heck?? So now they are either without insurance, or without money for necessities like new shoes for the kids, the electric bill or repairs to their car (b/c who can afford anything but a hooptie on that salary??). On top of that miserable experience, lets take these people and make them work extra hours--but not pay them for the overtime....AND, lets make them work through lunch and skip their breaks because the productivity level is worth more than their health or happiness.

Bottom line--making money is more important than any employee on the payroll or community in which they have a store. If you have an ounce of community awareness in your body--do everyone (and yourself) a favor & shop at Target. Wal-Mart is the devil.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Ok...so i just got done writing a post...and the stupid website lost the whole darn thing!!! Awww MAN! I guess that will teach me not to save my work periodically. :(

*sigh*

Well, here's an attempt to recount what was in the blog...

Today was day 2 of a new workout schedule I started with this friend of mine at work. He's a guru of sorts when it comes to weight lifting, so i recruited his help. I've got the cardio thing down, now i want to work on toning. So, we're working out over our lunch hours, doing weights 2 days a week & then running on the others (alternating). Not a bad deal i think, i figure that whatever pain he dishes out during our weightlifting sessions, i can return with a session of hill repeats ( think we'd both be losing there, but whatever). :) Yesterday we started the new regimen by spending the whole of our lunch hour working on shoulders, biceps, upper back, and some other muscles I didnt know I had. They hurt now, that's how i know i have them...which is why it was such a good thing that today we went running. Something that doesnt involve the painful usage of my arms was definitely needed.

I suggested we run down in the west bottoms, which is a part of the city that used to be by the stockyards, next to the missouri river. now it is all industrial, so there's not much lunchhour traffic, and it's nice & flat....only downside is that it's located at the bottom of a reallly big hill. or shall i say, our office is on the top of a bluff...so you can imagine the hike we're in for to get back to work!! The road to get to the bottoms (and to get back to work) is about a mile long, and is one of those looong slowww hills, very painful; i'd say it's about a 30 degree incline. We had great weather--65 degrees, clear & sunny, not too breezy, just gorgeous, so the run overall wasnt bad at all. We talked about a ton of stuff, normal running jabber...what's new at work, what we're up to this weekend, exchanging fitness & nutrition ideas and theories...and then we found our way back to the hill. da da dum!!! then it was like crickets (you know, so quiet you can hear the crickets chirping?)...well, like wheezing crickets...we had to really concentrate to keep running all the way to the top. this guy was almost 100 yards ahead of me when he reached the top, and i'm thinking, here i am supposed to be showing him the ropes, and he's smokin me! well i'm not giving in! at the very least i will keep going, even if i am slower, and even if i can't breathe! breathing is for sissies! :) i think it nearly killed me. hehe...so much for an easy day at the gym!!

All was not lost though...we got in about 3 miles, and my new running partner said that he was glad I went along because it motivated him to do better than if he was just on his own on a treadmill at the gym. So...if 'letting' him (wink wink...yeah...i um...let him win...) beat me to the top of the hill helps build his confidence in running, by all means, the trophy is yours man! :) If it keeps me from having to run on my own, i'm okay with that....it's almost always better to have company than to head out on a run on your own.

With that said, i'm going to bed...these last 2 days have worn me out!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Hmm...so i've been wondering about that visitor map thing i have on here...when i signed up for it i was supposed to put this line of html text on my blogsite & supposedly it was going to track who has visited....but...when i click on the map, nothing shows up. i think i may have done something wrong, but am a little too lazy to fix it right now. maybe another day when i'm a little more ambitious.

so about that getting up early & turning over a new leaf? yeah, that lasted one day exactly. today i slept SOLID until 8:20 when i cracked my eyes open to look at the clock. i didnt even hear the alarm!! i think i may have been ignoring it in protest...last night i put in a cd to listen to as i was reading my book before bed and it would never recognize that there was a disc in there. I tried everything to get it to work, holding it at every angle, trying to blow the invisible dust off of the lens. i tried putting in a new disk, no go. how about pushing all the buttons at the same time? nope! I realized that I was in a losing situation here, and so like the mature adult girl I am, I finally resorted to cursing at it, throwing my cd's in the drawer of the nightstand & slamming it closed, and then bitching & moaning to myself about it for about 10 min...'stupid cd player! wtf?! why of course the warranty is only for 2 years, because the jerks at GE who made the damn thing dont expect it to last even that long...buncha goodfornothin...' and it goes on and on. :) The whole situation reminds me of this quote from the movie "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carrey:
"What am I going to do about it? Nothing! Because if I take it to small claims court, it will just drain 8 hours out of my life and you probably won't show up and even if I got the judgment you'd just stiff me anyway; so what I am going to do is piss and moan like an impotent jerk, and then bend over and take it up the tailpipe!"

It's always nice to end the night on a positive note, right? :) finally i calmed down & realized i still had a good book to read, so it wasnt an entire loss. Which speaking of (ok, subject change here...), i'm reading this book called "The Patron Saint of Liars" by Ann Patchett. It's awesome...last night i spent about half my night reading it. Also, I read on MSNBC today that Anne Rice, who used to write the Vampire Chronicles ("Interview With a Vampire", etc) among other things, has started writing along more of a Christian line now after returning to the Catholic church. After spending quite a bit of time studying theology and history, she is writing a story from the point of view of Jesus Christ, at age 7. I'm interested to see her take on things! You dont see that drastic of a turnaround every day.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Back to the grind...man, that's the most difficult thing about Mondays, having to leave your fabulous rockstar lifestyle & go back to being a normal adult again. i gotta say, i'm not so crazy about it!!

I actually got out of bed at 6:30am this morning...Talk about a way to start the day, i seriously thought i might be sick, this is not normal! Last week just sucked so bad though...i didnt get into work before 9:00 on any day, and i was stressed from the time i got in to the time i left. So, i figured maybe the day would go a little more smoothly if I got there earlier and gave myself a little more time in the morning. I was right, the day did go better, but i was dragging by 3:00! THIS is why people shouldnt get up early!! It just makes you more tired, not more productive!! Jason & I went to an HR meeting at like 3:30, and i was doing the head-bob thing for almost the whole thing....you know, when you're so tired that your eyes slam shut and your head suddenly gets...soo....heavy....what!? I'm awake! lol...yeah i only had to do that a couple of times before i got whiplash and the people around me started to notice. Hello, we are not in college anymore...time to actually pay attention. :(

I think my fatigue may in a tiny way be related to the crazy weekend I just had...not sure, but i have a hunch. What makes me think that is that i believe my hangover finally started to set in at like 4:00 today. is that possible? there should be a statute of limitations on when you can get a hangover...if you've made it 24hrs & it hasnt hit yet, it shouldnt be allowed!! I also STILL do not have a voice. I mean, it's there...but i sound like this old lady whose been smoking her whole life...kindof comes out as a cross between a rasp and a squeak. nice huh? Seriously! I'm fallin apart.

Other than being crazy tired all day, and not having any voice, things really werent all that bad. Those of us that made it to the pub crawl traded stories, and filled everyone else in on all the fun they missed out on over the weekend...i'm not so sure all of them thought it was so much fun as much as it was us being in denial about a problem with boozing it up. :) Hey, i figure as long as i'm there & not smelling like Grey Goose like our last guy, I'm good to go!! It could totally be worse.

And now it's time for bed...it's been calling my name since 6:30am. This early-bird lifestyle is definitely not for the faint of heart. :)

A few pictures from the pub crawl...

Kenny, Sarah, me & Jason at the pub crawl on saturday. Good times!!!

p.s...this was after we finished the crawl & were just partying at the beaumont...i think we look pretty good for having gone through 5 bars already!!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Yay pub crawl!! I have to say, we are a bunch of rockstars, truly!

I started the day by picking up Jason & heading to FirstWatch for brunch...just as one would carb-load for a marathon, the same goes for the pub crawl...gotta fuel up for the challenge ahead! Afterwards we started the pub crawl at Blayney's where everyone on the team met up. It was also our first bar, so the 10 of us quickly downed our 4 pitchers of beer and cheerfully went on to Cactus Cafe, our 2nd bar. I haven't been there in awhile, & they had done some remodeling. Kindof a cool place, had good music. While we were there i spotted Sean...yikes!! What rule was that that said no ex-boyfriends allowed?? Yeah, so i avoided that situation altogether, drank my beer & out the door we went! On to bar 3...oh wait, not so fast! We had to stop at Buzzard Beach Bar next door, a bunch of our friends were there so of course we had to say hi! and...um...help them drink some of their beer... :) So now we're on to bar 3...America's Pub...which is the worst bar ever! Totally gangsta on a normal nite, but fortunately at the time we were there it was just us pub-crawlers. We danced it up while racing through our 4 pitchers there and then it was on to the Dark Horse Tavern, bar #4. So far so good, everyone's having a good time, and the drunk dials & drunk text messages are starting to pour in! Once at the Dark Horse we decided shots were in order, and had a couple of rounds of those in addition to our 'usual' 4 pitchers. It was at this point that i started to realize, maybe i havent exactly been pulling my weight...i've been consistently with beer in hand, but i dont think i've had more than maybe a cup or 2 at each bar....not exactly contributing to the beer consumption our team is responsible for. Of course, this is a fleeting thought...because now it's on to the next bar! Bar #5, the Beaumont...thank goodness! All this traveling about was starting to wear me out! Actually, not really...the night was just beginning!!

We ran into just about everyone i know in kc there, since it was where the afterparty was. I ran into some of Beau's friends & chatted with them for awhile...had a heart-to-heart with my good friend Leslina...then ran into Dawn & Jill & talked to them for awhile...i think i had some more beer in there somewhere...ran into Kenny & Sarah & ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. At some point we decided that Harpos was the place to be, so we left the Beaumont for there. Had a couple of beers, did a bunch of dancing & goofing off with everyone (I cringe to think how silly we were acting...drunken fools! lol), and when it started to get crowded we decided that we needed to go to Kelly's. Once there we had MORE beer, and ran into a couple of other people we worked with (i'm starting to sense a trend here...). Kenny & Sarah decided they were calling it a nite (wusses! ok wait...it is like 12am now...) so i continued on with my coworkers until about 1am. Crraaziness!! I was afraid i wasnt going to last 5 hours, and here I am 12 hours later still going strong! Definitely time to call it a night, otherwise i risk looking like an alcoholic. ;) (ok, maybe it's a little late for that, lets be honest) So, i hailed a cab & home i went. Once you decide the end is near, best not to wait around for someone to carry you home.

A few notes about the evening....managed to follow almost all the rules i set yesterday....ALMOST. Yeah, remember that one about ex boyfriends not being allowed?? Yeah, we can thank Sean for blowing that one out of the water! While at the beaumont i find out from dawn that she & sean had this long talk earlier in the evening...can we say yikes?! how am i supposed to avoid this guy with him chasing down my friends?? so anyways, she tells him to chill out & just give me my space & things'll be fine...so what does he do? Immediately call me & then send about 10 text messages trying to find out where i am. Oy. When he finally found me, all i got was "hey, hows it goin? havin a good nite?" wtf? dude, you're trying so hard to find me & this is all you can say? you're killin me here! anywho...my good friend kenny came over & saved me, so our conversation ended about 5 min after it started. *sigh of relief*. I feel bad for the guy, but sometimes you gotta know when to just let something go. :
So...aside from that, it was a really good time!! oh wait, one more note...i think i smoked half the cigarettes in kc yesterday...or at least, that's what it sounds like i did, since my voice was gone when i woke up this morning! It's come back a touch, so now i sound like a 60 year-old lady whose smoked her entire life...some improvement huh? hehe...All in all though, given the shape i could be in (say, suffering a 5-star hangover right about now) this is stellar...much better than i wouldve expected given the circumstances. yay pub crawls!! Can't wait for May, when the next one is.

October 21, 2005

So today started out just like any day...alarm goes off at 6am...and 6:15...then radio goes off at 6:20...alarm goes off again at 6:30...and every 15 min until 8:20 when i finally got up. :) MAN i hate mornings! I'm hoping that someday I'll learn to get to bed at a decent hour so i can get up in time to start my day with the rest of the working world at 8:00. Ok, well at 8:30 or 9. :) Gotta love flex time.

When i came into work at 9:20 there already had been some excitement! One of my co-workers found a job in another state and put in his 2 weeks, and today was his last day with the company. Turns out, to mark the excitement of his last day he went out last night & just got hammered & didnt get home until 5:30am. When he came in to work at 9 he was still drunk!! Can you believe it?? I'm appalled...i mean, i dont always love my job, but i'd never disrespect my company & coworkers that much by coming to work in such a mess. Apparently at like 9:30 he decided he needed to get some food in his stomach, left, and didnt come back. Good luck buddy...and dont let the door hit ya on the way out! Now to muddle through with covering all of his work until we can get someone else hired & trained to take his spot. This guy didnt last 90 days, so i hope the next one is a little more ambitious.

On a lighter note...tomorrow is the pub crawl...woohoo!! My friend Jason & I have been training all week for it...granted, that is just a couple of beers here & there a couple of nights this week, but that is more beer than i've drank in the last month alltogether. Very sad...my social life used to be much more exciting. But i digress...so tomorrow is the pub crawl. Really, it sounds like we're just a bunch of boozers looking for an excuse to party like its 1999...but really it's for a good cause!! The money raised from the event (i think there are several thousand people participating) will go to the American Cancer Society. Definitely a worthy cause.
We are meeting up for brunch at 10:45, and then on to take on the challenge of getting through 5 bars of drinking, and still being able to last the rest of the night!! Each year has been a lesson in marathon drinking, and I have learned from my experiences...i've listed them here for your benefit as well! lol

• Pub crawl lesson #1: Make sure to avoid running into ex-boyfriends...this means you cannot have them on your team either. Avoid drama at all costs.
• Pub crawl lesson #2: Do not attempt to train for a real marathon (i.e. going for a 16mile run) the morning of the crawl...this makes you very dehydrated, and the alcohol goes to your head much too fast. You're only allowed one extreme sport per day.
• Pub crawl lesson #3: make sure you eat periodically during the crawl. A sick girl is not a fun girl.
• Pub crawl lesson #4: pacing is key...but so is momentum...if you stop drinking to take a nap, you are down for the count. (mental note here...if you stop early you minimize the hangover factor, hidden bonus...) :)
• Pub crawl lesson #5: If possible, have your team paired up with another team of army/airforce guys...especially helpful if your team is all girls; this definitely helps b/c you have other people to take up the slack from your low tolerance; also helps when you dont feel like walking to bars #4 and 5, they can just carry you! Hoooah! All that PT is paying off guys!! ;)

This will be the 5th pub crawl to date that i've been on (they're twice a year), and things have gone better every time. I'm hoping that this one will be the best yet!! They're all a blast, so no complaints here.

My first blog posting

Welcome to my first posting on my very own weblog....how exciting! I have slowly been finding out that one by one, my friends all are jumping on this weblog bandwagon...and realizing that i am slowly becoming the last person on earth to have her own blog. i thought i'd give it a try! I have to credit my cousin Sarah for this...after reading her blog it really is inspiring! I doubt my postings will be as interesting & fun to read as hers, but it's all good...i am hoping that this will be less about my trying to entertain someone and more about my doing a better job of keeping a journal. I'm much better about typing than I am about writing in one of those 'old school' journals, so maybe this will be the turning point. :)

I was also thinking, maybe this would be helpful in keeping people posted on what's going in my life, should they be remotely interested....whenever anyone asks me what's new the only answer i have is "oh you know, busy as ever!", never anything interesting...or at least, that i would think they'd be interested in. So....here goes!