I was always really good at "Follow the Leader"

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I don't think I agree. I mean, yes, I'm from Chicago. But I don't have that ... Superfan accent!

SNL - Super Fans Talk To Michael Jordan

A vibrating WHAT?

This morning, as I'm putting my makeup on, I vaguely remember seeing a commercial last night for a vibrating mascara....

I had to Google it to make sure I didn't dream it.

And sure enough, Maybelline has created Pulse Perfection, and here's what the website has to say about this new product:

Why You'll Love It:

• It’s our first vibrating mascara. Transforms your lashes to perfection.
• Patent-pending elastomer brush vibrates 7,000 times per stroke
• Provides clump-free definition, intense color, and shine
• Waterproof; also available in washable formula
• Builds lash volume, length, and adds curl
• Buildable formula
• Ideal for All Skin Types
• Contact lens safe

Really? We can't just wiggle the wand by ourselves anymore? All I see is poking myself in the eye with this vibrating stick. No. No thanks. I'll handle it on my own, thanks...

On a completely unrelated note...I watched "More To Love" last night - thank you internet for making tv shows available to me after the fact. The premise of this Fox show, if you haven't heard about it, is like a Bachelor show - one guy, 20 women, all looking to find love - but rather than the size 2's that you see on the Bachelor, these women are "average" sized. The guy is 6'3" and 300+ lbs and the woman all have curves. Some Most even have rolls! And double chins. And guess what! They're still beautiful...some of them anyway. And the ones that I found unattractive were not so because of their size, but because of their personalities or their attitudes or they were just really not cute.

The show aired on Tuesday night, so I read a couple reviews of the show yesterday, before watching, and they were mostly negative reviews. It seemed that these other bloggers (who I'm not entirely fond of, I have to admit...Obviously, I'm all for Fat Acceptance, but to what extent...? I think some of the "Fatosphere" has blown things out of proportion - no pun intended) felt like the show was a bit contrived and that the guy was corny and that there was too much crying...So, I went into watching the show as if I wasn't going to like it.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. I found it very similar to the Bachelor - I didn't think that Luke was any more or less corny than any other guy that's been on the show (or any other guy that's hit on me, for that matter).

I did think that some of the girls were a little overly emotional in their solo interviews, but I can understand why they might be. They've spent so much of their lives feeling like they're not good enough. A number of them said they'd never had a boyfriend, never been on a date, didn't go to prom...On one hand, I feel bad for them. It sucks to be 20 something years old and never have experienced what it's like to go out on a nice date. Or to never have been in a relationship. But on the other hand, I feel like these girls are all so pretty. And I know from experience that there is a plethora of men out there that will date a fat girl. Sometimes, you just have to put yourself on the line. Be confident that whether you weigh 120, 220 or 320, you can still be a beautiful person. And if someone can't see past the extra flesh or a few stretch marks, then they aren't worth your time. Have a good cry that Mr. X doesn't like you, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go out and find the next object of your affection.

I'm going to be excited to watch how this show goes. And I'll be excited to see if they do a "Bachelorette" version next.

White Knot

This morning on my favorite radio show, Drex did a segment on gay marriage and civil unions. And I cried.

Who am I (or anyone else, for that matter) to say whether or not Bob and Fred should be allowed to be married. I recognize that the Church doesn't support gay marriage. And that's fine. But why shouldn't two men or two women be allowed to go to a courthouse and be married?

There's so much hate and animosity in the world. Why do we have to stifle what little love actually survives?

Every time the topic of gay marriage comes up, I'm flooded with emotions. I feel so bad for the people who aren't allowed to marry the man or woman that they love. Why does it matter to someone else? It isn't fair and it's time to change.

At one time in this country's history, people weren't allowed to marry outside their own race. Women couldn't vote. And enough people realized that these issues were unfair and unfounded. I think it's time to do the same for this issue.

In my right sidebar, there's a link to White-Knot.org. Go there. Show your support. Lets help make a change for the better. Please!

One of my favorite things to do at work

50 Things you have never been asked. (There were two missing questions, so I made up my own! You'll never know which ones I added! Ha!)

1. What color is your toothbrush? blue, white & silver

2. Name one person who made you smile today: One of my coworkers bought a card for an ex-coworker (He left for a better job) in congratulations of his recent wedding. The card played music. Everytime someone opened it to sign it, the card sang 'Goin to the chapel...'

3. What were you doing at 8am this morning? "working"

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? "working"

5. What is your favorite candy bar? Dark Milky Way...Mmmmm

6. Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud? Sure, I can do that.

8. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? It's a tie between Rocky Road & Prailines n Cream

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Horchata...Mmmmmm...

10. Do you like your wallet? Yeah, I got it at Kohl's to replace the old one, which was probably five years old and falling apart.

11. What was the last thing you ate? Nachos & a steak burrito. Yummy!

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? Uh, nope. Last Sunday was the last time I bought clothes.

13. The last sporting event you watched? I don't watch much sports. I'm positive that it was the Cubbies, though.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Kettle Corn

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? TIFMS

16. Ever go camping? Yep, I wanna go again soon!!!

17. Do you take vitamins daily? No, but I really should.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? Again, no, but I really should.

19. Do you have a tan? Pfft...I have a minor tan on my left arm...It's better than sun rash/poisoning.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? No, I definitely would pick pizza over Chinese.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? Only if there's a lid with a straw hole.

22. What did your last text message say? 'That's cool. Prob less expensive that way?'

23. What are you doing tomorrow? The same thing I do everyday. Wake up at some ungodly hour, shower, say screw my hair, drive an hour to work, "work" for 8+ hours, drive an hour+ home, make/eat dinner, get Hubby off to work, go to bed.

24. What color are the underwear you're wearing? Yellow & green

25. Look to your left, what do you see? My friend/coworker JB and a bunch of other things. She's the only one worth mentioning.

26. What color is your watch? Silver with a black face and silver dots for the hours. And in tiny white writing, it says BULOVA.

27. What do you think of when you hear Australia? Kangaroos, koalas & "G'day Mate!"

28. What was the last thing that you took a picture of? The sunrise this morning - Very pretty!!!

29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Unless I have to go in, Drive Thru

30. What is your favorite number? 19

31. Who's the last person you talked to on the phone? The guy at Tierra Grill.

32. Any plans today? After work, drive home, stop to try and take some photos on the way, make dinner, get Hubs off to work, go to bed. You thought I was lying, earlier, didn't you? I really do the same thing every day.

33. How many states have you lived in? Just Illinois.

34. Biggest annoyance right now? This nagging feeling that I should be doing something other than filling this out...Hmmm...

35. Last song listened to? "Alberta" by Eric Clapton

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Maybe...I'd be pretty slow about it, though.

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? Pfft...Yeah, and I have someone that wipes my ass after I poop, too. :-P

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Gym Shoes...But only because my ankles and feet swell up like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man when I wear sandals for more than 6 hours at a time.

39. Are you jealous of anyone? Yes, women with children. And money. And no job.

40. Is anyone jealous of you? Maybe? If they are, I don't know about it.

41. Do you love anyone? Do I ever!

42. Do any of your friends have children? Yes, and the number of friends with kids is going to double by my birthday in January! From 3 to 6!

43. What do you usually do during the day? Haven't we covered this? I "work".

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? Nah. Hate is a very strong word that people overuse.

45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? Uh...Yeah...?

46. What color is your car? Ugly beigey tan.

47. Do you like cats? This is a silly question for me.

48. Are you thinking of something right now? I'm sure I was. But whenever I'm asked what I'm thinking - I lose it. And then I'm thinking of nothing.

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Yeah, it's been a really long time, though.

50. How did you get your worst scar? My mother accidentally closed my head in a locker at the Y. lol I have a scar above my left eye, where my eyebrow starts. Had to get a few stitches. I don't remember the incident at all. Funnily enough, my dad has a matching scar...he was a teenager and he and his friends tied their asses on skates to the back of a car. Needless to say, that ended badly. lol

Weekend Update

This weekend was pretty uneventful. To make it appear more interesting, I present to you this week's Weekend Update in List form! Oooh...Ahhh....

Friday

• Grocery Shopping After Work - Not NEARLY as crowded as I was expecting. Might make this my new grocery day.
• Shake n Bake chicken with baked taters for dinner - Yum!
• A glass bottle of blackberry wine
• TV and internet til 2 am

Saturday

• Woke up at 7am, despite Hubby's attempts to let me continue sleeping
• More TV shows (Hell's Kitchen has started again and BOY! does it look like it's going to be a great season. Not to mention my FAVORITE chef from last season, who had to leave due to health issues, is BACK FOR THIS SEASON!!! YAY ROBERT!!!!!!!!!!!)
• Created my house in the Sims 3 - I did a damn good job. I should have taken screen shots.
• Created Hubby and myself in Sims 3
• Played our sims and immediately had us create a baby...If only it was really that easy.
• Made/ate dinner

Sunday

• More simming...It's an addiction, what can I say?
• Made spaghetti sauce with Hubby - awesome batch. Thick and luscious. Fabulous sausage from the newly-found butcher.
• Managed to keep the kitchen clean while sauce bubbled all day.

Yeah, that's it. I was happy to have a task-free weekend. But I really meant to create a new layout and wash my car. Oh well. Maybe this weekend?

The story of how Hubby came to be Hubby, Part 1

I met Hubby when I was 16...Eleven years ago. I was at a high school football game with Spunky (previously mentioned here as the best man at another friend's wedding). I dont think that I ever actually watched a football game when I was there. It was more about the atmosphere and being with my friends. Seeing what everyone was up to and who was making out with who. And the night that I met Hubby was no different.

Spunky and I were meandering around and ran into our friend, whom I will refer to as Bennet. Bennet was there with his friend C, now known as Hubby. So, we chit chat for a while with Bennet & C, and then C starts trying to act like he's got game. He was apparently trying to teach Bennet how to be slick with the women, by demonstrating on me - the only female in the group.

He starts getting close and rubbing my shoulders. Did the whole whisper-in-the-ear thing. Whatever a 17 year old boy (definitely was still a boy at that point in time) can come up with. And I have to admit - I LOVED the attention. Some guy that I'd just met was seemingly all into me. It didn't matter that he was just "showing Bennet how to flirt." I was the center of attention and what girl doesn't love that?? I did have a boyfriend at the time, but he could never go out on Friday nights - family commitments - so while I did feel a bit guilty, I was mostly not concerned with that. At the end of the night, C whispered something to Spunky about me, and refused to tell me what it was. I blew it off, knowing Spunky would fill me in later. We said our goodbyes and I figured that was it. Spunky and I went back to my car and he immediately told me that C had said something vulgar about the degree of moisture in my pants and how he'd be the cause and that totally ruined the whole experience. I was so irritated and didn't mind if I never saw the guy again...Or at least that's what I said.

A month or two later, C showed up at the play that our high school was doing (Spunky, Bennet & I all went to one school - C went to another. Bennet & I were involved with the theater. C came to support Bennet.) and during intermission, I was in the lobby selling baked goods. C noticed me and came up and started talking. He asked for my phone number and for whatever reason, I decided to give it to him. That began a series of long, late-night phone calls (for which I usually got in a lot of trouble. The rule was no phone after 9pm. C and I often talked til 1 or 2 in the morning.). I liked talking to him. He was always very flirty and made me feel great about myself. Very early on, he began telling me that one day he'd marry me. Don't go thinking he's some psychic...He was just saying whatever he could to get me to stay on the phone with him a little longer. While we continued to have these long phone chats, I still was dating B, though I doubt that he knew about my "friendship" with C. That being said, I always made it very clear to C that I loved B and that I was intending to marry B. C didn't care. He was, if nothing else, persistent.

More to come soon...

Got a little excited...

I googled free collage software, since I couldn't remember which of the photo editing softwares that I HAVE actually does this, and the All Knowing Google reminded me that it's Picassa. So, I did some fantabulous collaging. Click the collage(s) to see a larger image.

North America


Asia Quest


Beco, Asian Elephant


The Shores


African Forest


Australia & the Islands

Our Mini Vacay!

I pitched my plan to Hubby last weekend, and he while he wasn't nearly excited as I was, he gave in and we made a compromise. We'd go to the zoo, not the waterpark, and we'd do it all in one day.

*blink*

That conversation went something like this...

Hubby: We'll leave early in the morning, get to the zoo right when they open...Tool around for a few hours and then drive back home that night.
Me: Uh, it's a seven hour drive. And the zoo opens at 9am, eastern time...You're saying we leave here at 1am? We're going to be exhuasted.
Hubby: You sleep on the way out there. I'll sleep on the way back. It'll be all good. We'll go Wednesday.

*blink*

Uhhh...okay. That sounds like fun! *eye roll* I was just happy that we weren't going to spend the ENTIRE vacation in the house. Even if it meant running around for 20 hours straight. So, I kept my mouth shut, although in my head, I'm thinking Dude, my hair's gonna look like a bird's nest if I sleep on the way there. Somehow, I'm changing your mind on this one day deal.

We had plans to go see Hubby's mom for lunch/dinner on Monday. So, we start getting ready and out of the blue, Hubby suggests that we go to the zoo a day earlier than planned. We discussed the logistics of it and I finally got him to agree to get a hotel for the night! So, after his mom grilled for us, we got in the car and started driving east. When we were about an hour and a half north of Columbus, and Hubby couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, we decided to stop and get a hotel room for the night.

First, we went to Holiday Inn Express. And they were completely sold out.

What?? We're in the middle of bu fu Ohio and the Holiday Inn has no rooms? Oh, and the front desk attendant tells us that the Hampton next door is also out of rooms, but the Comfort Inn & Suites across the street has some available rooms. So, we go over there and the lady at the desk tells us she only has suites available - all the regular rooms are sold out. We end up getting a King suite with a whirlpool tub in the bathroom. Between the bedroom and the living room area, it was almost as big as the first level of my house! And for only $110! Too bad we were only there for like six hours. lol I didn't even get to try out the tub, as much as I really would've liked to!!!

The next morning, we were back in the car by 7. Another hour and a half on the road, and we'd made it to our destination!!!

We took a TON of photos...And as much as I'd love to litter your temporary internet files with tons of pics, I'm going to limit myself to my five six favorite photos from the trip. I had a hard enough time narrowing it down to six.

We came at a good time to see a couple baby animals, which is always fantastic! The photo above is the baby Langur, born on July 6th - a week before our visit. It was really dark in here and so hard to get a good shot. I loved this one with the mother and sibling looking down on him.
This is Beco, the baby Asian elephant, along with his mother, born in March. They have viewing of him between 10-2. We were lucky enough to walk up at 9:45, and still waited around for about 30 minutes. When we walked out of the viewing area, the line was quite long - would've been 45 minute wait just to get up to where the elephants were at! It's amazing to me how these animals will walk up to the glass and just parade around (Some of them, anyway...Early in the morning, all the animals were still in sleep-mode. I didn't get any good shots of the lazy ass bears, because they refused to get up! lol).
The aquarium was pretty small, but still cool. They had a few small tanks and one gigantic tank that had a variety of fish and sharks swimming around in it. They also had a hands-on station where kids could touch certain water animals. I got in line (dragged Hubby in line, too) and then as I looked at the line, realized we were the only people over 10 that weren't holding on to a small child. I backed us out of the line and walked on by. I should've gotten some shots of other people's hands touching the starfish and stuff, but I didn't.

This orangutan made my day! We walked up and saw a couple of these orange guys hanging out in the trees, showing me nothing but ass. I happened to glance around the area, and saw this one all swathed up in the red cloth. Sorta looks like an old man. lol
I almost missed this one. We were getting near the end of our adventure, with only Australia to visit, and I was sweaty and my ankles hurt and I was thirsty. I told Hubby I was cool with skipping the last section. He was not having it. (I'm glad he didn't let me...Don't tell him that, though!) So, we see some more monkeys and the kangaroos, and then we come up on these fuzzy little koalas. How flippin cute!


I'm going to make a couple collages, I think. Maybe I'll post them later. Or maybe I'll just post everything to FotoJenic next week. We left the zoo around 1pm and got back on the road. We were home 7 hours later, and haven't done a whole lot since. :-)

Almost over? Already?

Geez! I will never get over how fast the time goes by when you'd like nothing more than for it to slow down or even stand still. My summer vacation is almost over. It's almost time to go back to work. Bleh. Just wanted to say what's up to all my homies. lol

We did go to Columbus - did an overnight trip. Checked out the zoo. No waterpark. It was a compromise. Had a very nice time at the zoo, but if we'd been in that car together any longer, I'm pretty sure my husband would be missing an eyeball. We can only be in those tight spaces together for so long before I want to poke him in the eye.

The rest of the week has just been spent here and there. Picked up my new glasses today. Apparently the shape of my eye changed since I last got glasses, so my eyes have yet to adjust to the new prescription. The lady who handed my new specs over said that I should put them on first thing tomorrow morning, so that my eyes adjust to them first thing, rather than getting all used to the old ones first. I'm excited for new eyes, though. Lost my sunglasses a couple months ago. Was hoping that they'd turn up, but they didn't. Gave in and bought new ones, along with new regular glasses, too. Maybe pics to come.

Today started the second session of my photography glass. We have assignments now. I'm stoked. We're working on composition this week. She gave us some things to focus on, but what I got out of the assignment is that she wants us to take some macro shots. I'm good at those!!! Yay! Five printed photos. So, we'll see how that goes. She also suggested that we play around with b&w and sepia editing, which will work nicely with this week's You Capture.

Anyway, this was meant to just be a short what's up! And I will be returning shortly with a more in-depth recap of the week. Hope everyone's having a good week!!

Censored

I spend a lot of my life censoring myself. My dad taught me early on that the best policy is to pick your battles. And I do. To a fault. I hate confrontation. I hate when people are angry with me or with something that I've done or with something that someone else has done. I feel like I'm constantly trying to smooth things over. Like I'm always in 'Can't We All Just Get Along?' mode.

My blog should be a place where I can come and vent. Where I can let off some steam. Do you see the name that I've assigned to myself? Easily Manipulated. Because I am. I let people push me around and make decisions for me. Why? Because I'd rather have myself unhappy and torn than have someone that I care about in that situation. But you know, I'm really rather sick of this. I'm tired of putting everyone else's feelings before my own. Hubby and I have made a lot of progress in this department in the last six months and I think it's high time that I apply it to the rest of my life.

You may or may not have read a blog that I posted yesterday morning. The person that I was writing about read it and requested that I take it down. I did, not because I feel that I'd said anything untrue, but because I do value the relationship that we once had. The intentions of the post was not to hurt her feelings, but to alleviate my own. I don't know if she randomly happened upon the blog or if someone pointed her to it, but in either case, here's the deal...

If you don't like what I have to say, stop reading.

Death is the best way to describe it

On Monday, I was feeling just fine.

On Tuesday, I was doing okay in the morning and then at one point, I had this enormous sneeze, and the rest of the day, I felt very congested and developed a headache. I was attributing these things to allergies. When I got home from work, I took a dose of allergy meds and while the pressure in my head and the drippy nose didn't go away, I continued to assume that the pollen and weather change were getting the better of me.

Yesterday, I woke up and couldn't hear out of one ear, I was stuffy, my head was pounding and I just couldn't pull my ass out of bed. As the day went on, I developed a fever, chills and a sore throat. As much as I would have liked to, I didn't leave work. But I can't say that I actually got much done. I spent most of the day counting down the minutes til I could leave. It was a chore to type or read or focus on anything other than how cold I felt on the inside, but how hot I was on the outside. Quarter to three rolled around, and I was out. I got home by 4 and laid down with a ton of blankets in my recliner. Put on Tyra and napped for a couple hours. I still wasn't feeling better, so I went up to bed, made Hubby roll over and slept, with a couple interruptions, until 5:30 this morning.

The fever was gone when I got up and I'm so much less achey than I was yesterday. I still feel like poo though. My head's all clogged up, I sound horrible and I can hardly keep my eyes open. About 20 minutes after I got here this morning, JB - my friend at work - called in, saying she's got the same shit I have, and she's staying home. Lord knows that I wasn't going to be off all next week, I'd still be in bed right now.

So, yeah, I feel like death. And I'd appreciate it if this feeling could just go away. Soon.

I really shouldn't...

Get my hopes up, that is. I have been trying for weeks to come up with a good plan for next week's summer vacation.

• First, we were going to go the BMW National Rally in Tennessee. Then Hubby's mom told us she didn't want to go, so that was ruled out.
• Then, we were going to go camping somewhere. But the more we considered that, the more we decided that camping is really something that's best done with other people. We get too bored with one another when we go camping.
• So, then we talked about going to a waterpark resort like the Kalahari in Sandusky, Ohio, where we went for our honeymoon. But that's like $300/night. And honestly, part of the reason that we loved it so much for our honeymoon was that it was in the middle of October and it was rather empty. We got a great deal and didn't have to deal with a lot of people. But now, we're in peak vacationing season. I'm sure there would be a ton of people and their rowdy-ass kids there. And I know Hubby wouldn't enjoy it as much.
• We talked about going on a roadtrip to who knows where.
• He finally said to me last week that we should go someplace that has a nearby photo-op, like a zoo or some sort of scenic place and where the hotel room is relatively inexpensive.

I think I might have found the perfect place. And I really want to get excited about it, but I know that if I come home, jumping around him about it, like a puppy that needs to pee, I'm going to get shot down. So, let me jump around your ankles for a moment!

I want to go to Columbus, Ohio (I don't know what it is about Ohio...It just seems to be a happy place for me). I did a google search for the top-ranked zoos in the country and Columbus Zoo & Aquarium was one of the closer ones. So, I googled Columbus Zoo, and lo & behold, they have a waterpark that's associated with the zoo!!! At first, I didn't want to be swayed by the waterpark alone, so I tried to pretend like I hadn't seen that. I looked around at the zoo's site and it seems like it's a pretty nifty one! They've got a lot of the animals that I love, and a lot of ones that we don't have here at Brookfield. They also are associated with Jack Hanna, who is the COOLEST! Okay, so I'm totally sold on the zoo. So, now, I go check out the waterpark site. AWESOME!! They've got all kinds of rides and two different lazy rivers!!! (If I was a puppy, this would be the part where I piddle a little bit because I'm so effing excited!!!!!!!!!!!!) They even offer a discounted rate if you buy the package deal for both the zoo & waterpark - $38/person. It's only $4 off (waterpark - 30, zoo - 12), but hell. $4 will buy me...a cheeseburger...? I checked out hotels in the area and there's an Embassy Suites nearby - Can you say awesome room and free HOT breakfast??? I'm so completely and totally sold on this idea. It's about 6.5 hours away, which isn't too bad at all. I really hope I can sell this to Hubby. This is supposed to be his birthday celebration, but seriously, when don't we do what he wants!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me!!! :-D

I just need one more day...

...to recover from this weekend. Geez, did it fly by!!!

Thursday, I left work later than planned and actually missed my last photography class. The traffic between work and home was horrendous. And I hadn't thought to bring my camera to work with me, so I had to stop at home to pick up my cam. By the time I got to the park district, I was a half hour late and everyone was gone already. Boo. No class this week, but then round two starts next Thursday. I'm pretty excited about this one. We'll have actual assignments. We'll have to have them printed for class. I'm stoked about that. Give me a challenge! :-D

The rest of Thursday was just getting Hubby off to work and lounging around the house. Friday, the morning was quiet. Played the Sims for a while and then went over to my Uncle's house for a big birthday bash. He and his son share a birthday and this year was a big one for both of them - 50 for Uncle Jack and 21 for my cousin, Ryan. They only live about 30 minutes from me, now. I wish I was closer to them. Obviously not distance-wise, but like...Familiar-wise. I really don't know them at all. Ryan has always been very quiet at family parties, not much to say and one word answers when asked a question. I just figured he was a shy kid. No big. His younger sister, Erin, is a lot more outgoing with the family. Has plenty to say. I recently hooked up with both of them on Facebook. It's interesting to see them in pics with their friends or to see how they interact with other, non-relative, people. When I was saying goodbye later in the afternoon, I told Ryan that I'd love to have him and his sister over sometime. I wish I could be the cool, older cousin whose house they feel like they could hang out at, if they just wanted some time away from Mom & Dad. When I suggested that they come out, he said yeah, sure. But I know it's all a facade. That's not how our family works. We get together a couple times a year - once at Christmas and generally once in the summer - and that's it. My dad and his three bros get together every once in a while, but that's really it. It just saddens me that I don't have a real relationship with any of my extended family, other than my mom's parents.

Anyway, back to the weekend. After the family party, I went back home and hung out with Hubby for a while. Played some more Sims and went to bed pretty early. Saturday morning, did a bit of cleaning and chillin. Took a four hour nap after lunch. Did a little more cleaning and then we went to the new Walmart at like 11pm. Spent entirely too much money. And then stayed up til 3am, making potato salad, which, it turns out, needed a lot more salt.

Sunday, got up at 7, made a wonderfully tasty and beautiful dessert - Red, White & Bluebarry Trifles (Hopefully Hubby won't dig in to the untouched one that's home. Assuming he doesn't, I'll take some pics tonight) - cleaned until noon and then showered and got ready for our guests. A friend from out of town was visiting for the weekend, so we had a BBQ. I was prepared for about 20 people, 7 of which didn't show. Everything turned out pretty nicely, though. I grilled burgers, brats and hot dogs. We set up a couple tables and chairs out in the garage and had a nice afternoon. It was really nice to get together with the girls. I'm so glad that they were able to make it out. Everyone was gone by 8pm. Hubby helped me clean up and then we were in bed by 9.

I couldn't believe the alarm was already going off at 4:30 this morning. I'm dragging ass today. It's so quiet in here. Half the office is out today (4 out of 9) and it's just silent. My eyelids keep drooping. Each time I blink, I'm sure I'm going to fall asleep. And I've got a bit of a tummyache. I was going to suggest sushi for lunch, but I'd hate to ruin it by not feeling so well. That shit is so expensive...I have no desire to get sick after I've spent $30 on lunch - for myself alone. Maybe tomorrow instead.

Five more days (including today!) until I am off for 9 days straight. O.M.G. I cannot effing wait. I still have no idea where we're going or what we're doing, but it is going to be fun, damnit. :-)

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend!!!

New Updates!

Happy Fourth of July, Folks!!! Hope everyone has a great holiday! Please stay safe!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've updated my photoblog with pics of Melissa and her kids from last weekend. Go on over! Check em out! Let me know what you think!!!

Yesterday's Freak Out

Okay, yesterday, I went on a little adventure while on my lunch break. And when I returned to work, I was just a little bit freaked out.

Here's me as I was leaving work (pay no attention to the squinty eyes...Despite the lack of sun yesterday, it was quite bright. And disregard the shoddy camera work, too. It's an iphone - not a miracle worker):

And here's me preparing to return to work:

Yes, I chopped the majority of my hair right off. I also colored it, too. But this is something I've been doing for a few months now, so that has nothing to do with the freakout. I'm in love with the color. Anyway, here are some more shots from this morning.

Side view (do you see how incredibly short it is in the back??? I haven't had my hair this short since 7th grade when Drunky Skunky convinced me that it'd be cute for me to have the super shortest hair ever - she lied)
This one just makes me laugh...a. I think it looks nothing like me. b. I was making an O.0 face, but since you can only see half of my face, I just look a bit demented. c. My nose looks a lot like my mom's which sorta freaks me out.

I'm still not sure if I really like it. Hubby didn't have much to say about it last night. I'm pretty certain that he hates it - he prefers long hair and a ponytail. My girlfriend at work was raving about it again this morning. I have to admit that it was pretty easy to style this morning, so that was nice. And it's definitely less hot and more healthy-looking. It's just really really short. I just keep telling myself 'Hair grows. In a few weeks, it'll be a bit closer to where you were expecting it to be.'