This was a weekend full of snow and movies. Friday night Adam worked so I was on my own for entertainment. I watched The Black Dahlia and caught up on some of my Conan O’Briens that were sitting on the DVR. (Have I mentioned how much I love the DVR? It’s awesome!)
On Saturday we awoke to snow and more snow. Adam worked pretty early in the morning (7am) and tells me there were white-out conditions on the highway on the way to work. By the time I was ready to leave (around 9, after watching Superman Returns, which was much longer than I expected) the plows had been out and the roads weren’t that bad. I ran some errands despite the bad weather. I went up to Simon’s for cheese (because, well, it’s a cheese factory) and even managed to find some parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Score. Then I headed back to Appleton to stop at Marlene’s and pick up my garters. I had originally planned to get those at Bridal Staircase but when I was up there last Wednesday picking out a veil I looked at their selection and all they had were these feathery or furry things. Ugh. I need simple. So I got the two I needed at Marlene’s instead. After barely avoiding being plowed into by a plow (ha ha) I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some cardstock for invitation inserts, stopped at Blockbuster to return and rent (more on that later) and went to Walmart for some fake flowers and ribbon with which to craft my tossing bouquet. I haven’t yet attempted to be creative with them but I’m sure it will be lots of fun when I get around to it. (Soooo sarcastic!) Anyway, after returning home to a plowed parking lot (yay!) I settled in for some movie-watching. I watched The Devil Wears Prada and finished up all my backlogged Conans. Adam got home after 4 and we got dressed for the evening (it was “date night” – Adam’s idea.) I wore a dress. And heels. With 4 inches of snow outside. Anyway, we went to dinner at Fratellos in Appleton. Adam ordered wine (which we don’t really drink) and it was actually pretty good. I had a chicken stir fry that was great although I only managed to eat about 1/3 of it. We had their tiramisu for dessert and I must say it really rivals the Good Company version. After dinner we headed downtown to the PAC for “Sweet Charity.” We arrived just before the doors opened so we had to huddle outside (with some very rude smokers who kept stalking us when we tried to move away from them) until the ladies inside decided to let us in. We hung out on the third level on the couch and chatted with one of the ushers until the doors to the theater opened. We had box seats again so there were no elbow/butt issues. The show itself was ok. I wasn’t really impressed with Molly Ringwald, who was the headliner and the presumably the draw for the performance. Her singing wasn’t stellar and she totally couldn’t dance. And there’s a lot of dancing in the show. Oh well. After the show we managed to get out of the parking ramp amazingly fast due to Adam’s brilliant planning ahead by parking facing out rather than having to back out to leave. We got home where I quickly took off my clothes. Man, dressing up in uncomfortable. I’ve determined I’m going to have to really choose my underwear wisely for the wedding. There’s no way I’m going to wear pokey, binding crap all day long. And don’t even get me started on pantyhose.
Sunday morning brought more snow. Adam worked at 8 and I spent most of the day laying in bed watching movies. I watched Trust the Man, Marie Antoinette, and The Illusionist. I also put some stuff in the crock pot for dinner in the morning and had to suffer with the yummy smells all day long. I managed to miss when the plows showed up and my car was plowed in. By the time Adam came home we had to shovel the snow out from around it. Probably wasn’t really worth the effort since it snowed another 3 or 4 inches overnight, but whatever. Winter in Wisconsin is just a continuous practice in futility anyway. So we had dinner (which Adam didn’t like, boo) and watched some TV before bed. Not the Oscars though. Mostly "Dirty Jobs" and "Law & Order: SVU".
This morning my car was buried in snow again and it was still snowing when I left for work. I expect to have to uncover my car (assuming I can find it) after work again. My arms hurt. Someone should come up with a product that you can just point at your car, press a button, and it blows all the snow off for you. That would be awesome. I could really use something like that during a week like this where it’s supposed to snow everyday. Sometimes I wish I could telecommute.
Anyway, aside from the snow, this week looks to be rather boring. Nothing is really going on and the only think I have to worry about is tonight’s hand bell practice. We’re considering going downtown tomorrow night for The Bar’s happy hour and chicken wing special but that’s nothing definite yet. Work this week will be interesting. I’m filling in for someone who’s in Mexico on vacation and I get to be in charge of the physical inventory. Considering I’ve only been given the grand plant tour once, it should be interesting to see how lost I get on Wednesday while trying to supervise everyone else’s progress. *sigh*
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Indecision
I made kind of a strange and unexpected decision over the weekend. I don’t know what prompted it, but out of nowhere I suggested to Adam that perhaps we should reconsider going to my cousin Lori’s wedding. We had gotten the magnet thing back at Christmas and I’d even indicated that we probably wouldn’t be coming when I sent my save-the-date to them. But the more I thought about it, the weaker my reasons for not going became. Originally I had written it off because I’d be using so much of my vacation for my own wedding and honeymoon and I didn’t want to spend any more money than I had to. But when I really thought about it, I still had some days left over and since we’d plan on driving, the costs would be minimal (hotel which we can get cheap on Priceline, gas, meals.)
So I mentioned this to Adam over the weekend. He gave me one of those “you’re doing the crazy changing your mind thing again” looks but soon got on board. We debated the merits of driving versus flying but I think we both agreed that it made more sense to drive. So we both took off Friday and Monday and plan to join the family in PA. Assuming we’re still invited. I figure since I got a magnet with a date that means I’m invited to the wedding. I guess we’ll wait and see.
I also figured this plan has some upshots: One, it would allow Adam to meet members of my family he’ll most likely never meet any other way. I know for sure that my grandfather won’t come to our wedding and my grandmother is questionable. Who knows about everyone else. Secondly, I thought maybe if I go to this wedding it will offer more incentive for the family to come to mine. Luckily most of them live in PA so they won’t be traveling to Lori’s wedding so they can’t use that as an excuse not to come to WI. And WI is so nice in August don’tcha know? On a slightly selfish note, I think it’s about time that some family members show up to one of my life events. I got gypped on both of my graduations so maybe this occasion will get people out to celebrate with me.
So I mentioned this to Adam over the weekend. He gave me one of those “you’re doing the crazy changing your mind thing again” looks but soon got on board. We debated the merits of driving versus flying but I think we both agreed that it made more sense to drive. So we both took off Friday and Monday and plan to join the family in PA. Assuming we’re still invited. I figure since I got a magnet with a date that means I’m invited to the wedding. I guess we’ll wait and see.
I also figured this plan has some upshots: One, it would allow Adam to meet members of my family he’ll most likely never meet any other way. I know for sure that my grandfather won’t come to our wedding and my grandmother is questionable. Who knows about everyone else. Secondly, I thought maybe if I go to this wedding it will offer more incentive for the family to come to mine. Luckily most of them live in PA so they won’t be traveling to Lori’s wedding so they can’t use that as an excuse not to come to WI. And WI is so nice in August don’tcha know? On a slightly selfish note, I think it’s about time that some family members show up to one of my life events. I got gypped on both of my graduations so maybe this occasion will get people out to celebrate with me.
Book Reviews
I get totally behind on book reviews even when I’m not reading competitively. *sigh* Anywho, here are a few I’ve read (ok, re-read) lately:
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
I think I saw the movie and then went out and bought the book. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the movie but if I remember correctly, the movie and book were drastically different. Perhaps I should re-view the movie just to make sure. Or not. It wasn’t that great of a movie. Anyway, the whole book (as well as a few others Ms. Highsmith has written) concerns a young sociopath named Tom Ripley. Admittedly he’s had a rough life, what with both of his parents dying and him being raised by a not so pleasant aunt. By 25, he’s grown weary of his life. When he bumps into the father of Dickie Greenleaf, a young man he met once, he takes the opportunity presented to go to Italy to try and convince Dickie to come back home. He thoroughly enjoys his time in Europe, but when he’s appeared to have overstayed his welcome, he takes drastic measures to keep his new, more attractive lifestyle. He kills Dickie and transforms himself into him. Things begin to collapse around him when the police question him (as Dickie) about Tom. His own fears almost get the better of him but he manages to work it all out.
There are apparently two or three other books in the “Tom Ripley” series but I haven’t read them. Nor do I think I plan to. He’s just too psycho for me.
And Both Were Young by Madeline L’Engle
The inside front cover of this book says “To Martha from Dad. Christmas 1994.” Perhaps this should tell you how many times I’ve read this book. It’s a cute book about a girl who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. She’s been traumatized by a car accident that left her mother dead and her knee stiff (which restricts her athletic ability, thereby making her a social outcast at her school.) She yearns to travel with her father while he works on a drawing project but Eunice, a woman “lusting after” her father convinces him to put Flip into a girls school in Switzerland. While there she meets Paul, a troubled young man with an unclear past. No, really. He lost his memory somehow and doesn’t know who he is. They help each other out along with Paul’s aunt, Colette, the art teacher at Flip’s school. It ends with an exciting ski tournament and lots of smiling faces.
Interestingly, the foreword to this book tells how Ms L’Engle was able to revise the book after the original publication to be more accurate to her manuscripts. Apparently when it was first published a lot of her writing was thought to be inappropriate - references to men, women, their relationships, that kind of thing. Personally, if what I read was the “naughty” version of this book, I can only imagine what the “clean” version was. Oh, how times have changed!
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I’m not even sure why I own this book. It’s a pain in the butt to read and the story isn’t really that thrilling. It’s just a classic I guess. I think everyone probably knows the story of Hester Prynne. She commits adultery which is discovered when she ends up with a child. She is publicly humiliated and forced to wear a big red “A” on her chest. She refuses to name her partner in crime even when her husband, who had been presumed dead, shows up trying to blackmail her. She is shunned from society and spends most of her time at home with her daughter, Pearl. In the meantime, her husband takes a new name and enters into society as a doctor in the town where Hester lives. He is immediately dispatched to help the ailing minister, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. He suspects the Reverend is hiding something and when he discovers what it is, he resolves to get his revenge by slowly killing him. In the end all is revealed and everyone (well, almost) can finally move on with their lives.
This book is full of antiquated prose and lengthy descriptions of all kinds of things. It’s not quite as bad as, say, Victor Hugo or Jules Verne, but it’s sometimes frustrating. I find myself skipping over the boring sections. Perhaps not the best way to fully appreciate the book, but I get the gist of things.
Up next: a biography of George Washington.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
I think I saw the movie and then went out and bought the book. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the movie but if I remember correctly, the movie and book were drastically different. Perhaps I should re-view the movie just to make sure. Or not. It wasn’t that great of a movie. Anyway, the whole book (as well as a few others Ms. Highsmith has written) concerns a young sociopath named Tom Ripley. Admittedly he’s had a rough life, what with both of his parents dying and him being raised by a not so pleasant aunt. By 25, he’s grown weary of his life. When he bumps into the father of Dickie Greenleaf, a young man he met once, he takes the opportunity presented to go to Italy to try and convince Dickie to come back home. He thoroughly enjoys his time in Europe, but when he’s appeared to have overstayed his welcome, he takes drastic measures to keep his new, more attractive lifestyle. He kills Dickie and transforms himself into him. Things begin to collapse around him when the police question him (as Dickie) about Tom. His own fears almost get the better of him but he manages to work it all out.
There are apparently two or three other books in the “Tom Ripley” series but I haven’t read them. Nor do I think I plan to. He’s just too psycho for me.
And Both Were Young by Madeline L’Engle
The inside front cover of this book says “To Martha from Dad. Christmas 1994.” Perhaps this should tell you how many times I’ve read this book. It’s a cute book about a girl who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. She’s been traumatized by a car accident that left her mother dead and her knee stiff (which restricts her athletic ability, thereby making her a social outcast at her school.) She yearns to travel with her father while he works on a drawing project but Eunice, a woman “lusting after” her father convinces him to put Flip into a girls school in Switzerland. While there she meets Paul, a troubled young man with an unclear past. No, really. He lost his memory somehow and doesn’t know who he is. They help each other out along with Paul’s aunt, Colette, the art teacher at Flip’s school. It ends with an exciting ski tournament and lots of smiling faces.
Interestingly, the foreword to this book tells how Ms L’Engle was able to revise the book after the original publication to be more accurate to her manuscripts. Apparently when it was first published a lot of her writing was thought to be inappropriate - references to men, women, their relationships, that kind of thing. Personally, if what I read was the “naughty” version of this book, I can only imagine what the “clean” version was. Oh, how times have changed!
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I’m not even sure why I own this book. It’s a pain in the butt to read and the story isn’t really that thrilling. It’s just a classic I guess. I think everyone probably knows the story of Hester Prynne. She commits adultery which is discovered when she ends up with a child. She is publicly humiliated and forced to wear a big red “A” on her chest. She refuses to name her partner in crime even when her husband, who had been presumed dead, shows up trying to blackmail her. She is shunned from society and spends most of her time at home with her daughter, Pearl. In the meantime, her husband takes a new name and enters into society as a doctor in the town where Hester lives. He is immediately dispatched to help the ailing minister, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. He suspects the Reverend is hiding something and when he discovers what it is, he resolves to get his revenge by slowly killing him. In the end all is revealed and everyone (well, almost) can finally move on with their lives.
This book is full of antiquated prose and lengthy descriptions of all kinds of things. It’s not quite as bad as, say, Victor Hugo or Jules Verne, but it’s sometimes frustrating. I find myself skipping over the boring sections. Perhaps not the best way to fully appreciate the book, but I get the gist of things.
Up next: a biography of George Washington.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Awww
He's like the guinea pig version of Helen of Troy!
...who likes to cuddle...
And here's some (tripped out, blurry) Einstein for good measure:
The Endless Struggle
Lately I’ve been debating with myself whether I want to go back to school or not. I’ve researched the MBA program at UWO and it seems do-able. I know most of the professors and have even had most of them before. The classes themselves don’t seem overly difficult and I wouldn’t have to worry about a thesis. My main concern is the cost. The tuition reimbursement plan at work is very limited and the majority of the courses required wouldn’t qualify. I don’t know what kind of financial aid I’d be able to get governmentally without actually filling out the FAFSA. Each business graduate credit is running about $460. A full-time (9 credit) semester is over $4,000. Between paying for the wedding and trying to put together a reasonable down-payment for a house, I’m not sure it’s smart to go spending that kind of money. I’m also concerned about the time the classes are offered. They are all night-time classes (since I’d choose to attend classroom versions in Oshkosh rather than do online classes or weekend classes up in GB or Point.) This is good, but they run Monday through Thursday. Mondays I have hand bells and once a month on Tuesday is IMA. No matter how I swing it I’ll end up missing meetings and practices if I choose to enroll.
The process of enrolling isn’t too painful. I’d have to find my way to Brookfield to pay $250 and take the GMAT. I’d have to dig out an official transcript. I’d have to update my resume (which I should probably do anyway.) I don’t doubt that I’d be accepted. The problems would come after that.
I don’t know that having “MBA” behind my name would make me any more valuable to my employer. I don’t need it for what I’m doing right now. In actuality I’d probably be better off spending my time and money getting a certification. I don’t know what I want to do. I think I’m more comfortable with the spread out pressure of classes as opposed to the focused pressure of the CPA or CMA examination. Although considering the people I know who have passed those exams I would likely have no problem passing them myself. I just lack the motivation to study like crazy. It doesn’t help that right now I feel like none of these options would increase my earning and power potential at work.
The pros and cons aren’t really helping me make a decision. Adam has indicated at times that he’d like to go back to school and get a bachelor’s degree. I think if we had to choose between him and me, I’d tell him to go. Sometimes I wish I had an endless flow of money. If I could pay for it without worrying about the financial consequences I think the decision would be a lot easier. I can’t rationalize that I’m making an investment because I really doubt my salary will increase by $10,000 if I get the additional degree.
Argh, I’m talking myself in circles.
The process of enrolling isn’t too painful. I’d have to find my way to Brookfield to pay $250 and take the GMAT. I’d have to dig out an official transcript. I’d have to update my resume (which I should probably do anyway.) I don’t doubt that I’d be accepted. The problems would come after that.
I don’t know that having “MBA” behind my name would make me any more valuable to my employer. I don’t need it for what I’m doing right now. In actuality I’d probably be better off spending my time and money getting a certification. I don’t know what I want to do. I think I’m more comfortable with the spread out pressure of classes as opposed to the focused pressure of the CPA or CMA examination. Although considering the people I know who have passed those exams I would likely have no problem passing them myself. I just lack the motivation to study like crazy. It doesn’t help that right now I feel like none of these options would increase my earning and power potential at work.
The pros and cons aren’t really helping me make a decision. Adam has indicated at times that he’d like to go back to school and get a bachelor’s degree. I think if we had to choose between him and me, I’d tell him to go. Sometimes I wish I had an endless flow of money. If I could pay for it without worrying about the financial consequences I think the decision would be a lot easier. I can’t rationalize that I’m making an investment because I really doubt my salary will increase by $10,000 if I get the additional degree.
Argh, I’m talking myself in circles.
Countdown: Six Months to go!
We’re at the six month mark. Not much has really changed since the last wedding devoted entry. I still haven’t gotten up to Kaukauna to get my veil and I still haven’t picked which hair place I want to go to. Or which nail place I want to go to. I’ve never gotten my nails done before so I’m thinking maybe I should start doing that before August, just to make it easier on the poor person who has to do them the day before the wedding. My nails have always been a pain. They are brittle, break into layers, and are generally ugly. And don’t even get me started on my feet. Perhaps I should reconsider the open-toed shoe choice if it means I have to let someone near my feet to make them presentable.
Anyway, I’ve got some things I need to get done to finish the clothing and accessories part of my job. Other than that we’re still kind of in a holding pattern until invitations go out. There are some small things I can still do, but mostly it’s revamping the invitation, investigating postage, and waiting. It’s kind of nice. We plan to meet with the DJ and do some menu tasting at the reception hall soon. I suppose we should also confirm music choices since we kind of left it open with the organist. There’s plenty of time for that though.
I’ve been devoting a lot of my time lately to preparing the various invitations, program layout, and stashing additional money into the ING account so it can make us some money before we blow it all. It was my goal to stick with the $10k budget (excluding honeymoon and rings) and we’re pretty close (right now my estimates put us at $10,363.) It was also my goal to pay for everything in cash (well, on a credit card which I then pay off each month. Yay worldpoints!) and we’re doing well with that goal too. By my calculations, we should be able to pay for everything upfront when it’s due. No use starting off married life in debt. Right now I’ve got the money to pay off the cruise and photographer, two of the big chunks still outstanding, sitting earning interest. The other big chunk is the reception, which we won’t have an actual number for until a few weeks before the event. Other incidentals (like postage) and the rest of my stuff is the final piece of outstanding expenses. I obsess over every dollar and love looking at the budget. I’m so weird…
I’ve started putting together a new page for the website that will also be a part of the bag we give to out-of-towners. It’s kind of a guide to the area so they have things to do while they’re here. I plan to stop out at the Fox Valley Tourism place in Appleton and get their official brochures but I also wanted to highlight the things I think are interesting and worth checking out. Hopefully this will make everyone’s stay enjoyable and not boring. There are lots of things going on during the summer in the area so there should be some good stuff to do.
I also have been putting together a rough schedule for Thursday and Friday and designating responsibilities. There’s a lot to think about and I want to make sure everyone who needs to be in the loop is there. It’s going to be hard for me to delegate jobs to other people. But it’s just not realistic for me to be doing everything that needs to be done on Friday. Especially when wearing the big white dress. I guess I’ll have to have some faith in other peoples’ abilities. It’s going to be tough though. Just ask Adam. I’m a total control freak.
Anyway, I’ve got some things I need to get done to finish the clothing and accessories part of my job. Other than that we’re still kind of in a holding pattern until invitations go out. There are some small things I can still do, but mostly it’s revamping the invitation, investigating postage, and waiting. It’s kind of nice. We plan to meet with the DJ and do some menu tasting at the reception hall soon. I suppose we should also confirm music choices since we kind of left it open with the organist. There’s plenty of time for that though.
I’ve been devoting a lot of my time lately to preparing the various invitations, program layout, and stashing additional money into the ING account so it can make us some money before we blow it all. It was my goal to stick with the $10k budget (excluding honeymoon and rings) and we’re pretty close (right now my estimates put us at $10,363.) It was also my goal to pay for everything in cash (well, on a credit card which I then pay off each month. Yay worldpoints!) and we’re doing well with that goal too. By my calculations, we should be able to pay for everything upfront when it’s due. No use starting off married life in debt. Right now I’ve got the money to pay off the cruise and photographer, two of the big chunks still outstanding, sitting earning interest. The other big chunk is the reception, which we won’t have an actual number for until a few weeks before the event. Other incidentals (like postage) and the rest of my stuff is the final piece of outstanding expenses. I obsess over every dollar and love looking at the budget. I’m so weird…
I’ve started putting together a new page for the website that will also be a part of the bag we give to out-of-towners. It’s kind of a guide to the area so they have things to do while they’re here. I plan to stop out at the Fox Valley Tourism place in Appleton and get their official brochures but I also wanted to highlight the things I think are interesting and worth checking out. Hopefully this will make everyone’s stay enjoyable and not boring. There are lots of things going on during the summer in the area so there should be some good stuff to do.
I also have been putting together a rough schedule for Thursday and Friday and designating responsibilities. There’s a lot to think about and I want to make sure everyone who needs to be in the loop is there. It’s going to be hard for me to delegate jobs to other people. But it’s just not realistic for me to be doing everything that needs to be done on Friday. Especially when wearing the big white dress. I guess I’ll have to have some faith in other peoples’ abilities. It’s going to be tough though. Just ask Adam. I’m a total control freak.
Valentine's Day Recap
Wednesday went pretty well. Kind of.
I made the dinner I had planned to make. I think the next time I make steak and pineapple kabobs I might not put a cup of pepper on them. But once you burned your taste buds off they were good. We popped open a bottle of champagne Adam brought back from California. It’s good that he’s got strong hands because otherwise we’d have a hole in our ceiling. The mini angel food cakes turned out kind of weird because I overfilled the pans. They ended up looking like big muffins. But they still tasted good. I filled the apartment with smoke while grilling the steak and had to open the patio door, letting the sub-zero wind in. I tried to do a candlelight dinner but really that’s just not practical. You can’t eat when you can’t see. So I ended up turning on 1/3 of the sun (a really bright lamp in the corner) so we could function. Overall, tasty food with not-so-perfect preparation or presentation.
I had ordered a totally cool gigantic fortune cookie from 1800flowers.com to be delivered to Adam at work. It never showed up. Adam talked with the FedEx delivery guy and found out it was sitting in California and had never been scheduled to be picked up. So after sitting on hold for 15 minutes I finally emailed their customer service department. I got an automatic response yesterday and nothing since. Adam got home last night and tried to call and he kept getting disconnected. He tried again this morning and after 30 minutes on hold he got through. Turns out they ran out of cookies. And it didn’t occur to them to let me know even though they had run out BEFORE I PLACED MY ORDER. They were going to just ship it when they got it. He told them to cancel the order and refund my money. I’m kind of disappointed because it was a totally awesome gift. They’re going to send a 20% off coupon but I’m wary to use their website again considering the service I received with this order. I’ll have to decide what I want to do. His birthday is coming up so I suppose I could try again then.
Adam had already given me chocolates on Monday and had let me know I wasn’t getting a card. But he did order lunch for me and have Erberts and Gerberts deliver it to my office. That was nice since I had forgotten to bring lunch with me.
So it was an alright Valentine’s Day. Not exactly the way I had planned, but that’s generally how life goes.
I made the dinner I had planned to make. I think the next time I make steak and pineapple kabobs I might not put a cup of pepper on them. But once you burned your taste buds off they were good. We popped open a bottle of champagne Adam brought back from California. It’s good that he’s got strong hands because otherwise we’d have a hole in our ceiling. The mini angel food cakes turned out kind of weird because I overfilled the pans. They ended up looking like big muffins. But they still tasted good. I filled the apartment with smoke while grilling the steak and had to open the patio door, letting the sub-zero wind in. I tried to do a candlelight dinner but really that’s just not practical. You can’t eat when you can’t see. So I ended up turning on 1/3 of the sun (a really bright lamp in the corner) so we could function. Overall, tasty food with not-so-perfect preparation or presentation.
I had ordered a totally cool gigantic fortune cookie from 1800flowers.com to be delivered to Adam at work. It never showed up. Adam talked with the FedEx delivery guy and found out it was sitting in California and had never been scheduled to be picked up. So after sitting on hold for 15 minutes I finally emailed their customer service department. I got an automatic response yesterday and nothing since. Adam got home last night and tried to call and he kept getting disconnected. He tried again this morning and after 30 minutes on hold he got through. Turns out they ran out of cookies. And it didn’t occur to them to let me know even though they had run out BEFORE I PLACED MY ORDER. They were going to just ship it when they got it. He told them to cancel the order and refund my money. I’m kind of disappointed because it was a totally awesome gift. They’re going to send a 20% off coupon but I’m wary to use their website again considering the service I received with this order. I’ll have to decide what I want to do. His birthday is coming up so I suppose I could try again then.
Adam had already given me chocolates on Monday and had let me know I wasn’t getting a card. But he did order lunch for me and have Erberts and Gerberts deliver it to my office. That was nice since I had forgotten to bring lunch with me.
So it was an alright Valentine’s Day. Not exactly the way I had planned, but that’s generally how life goes.
False Alarms
Right after lunch yesterday the fire alarms went off. We looked at the stacked signal ights at the end of the hall and the red light was flashing. We figured this meant we should get out of the building. So we grabbed our coats, passcards, and purses and headed out into the cold. We got halfway across the parking lot before some people back at the building yelled “Come back in!” Turns out we need a flashing red and flashing yellow together in order to evacuate. And there’s a poster that states that right on the end of the row. No one thought to look at it… Oops.
Apparently it was a false alarm anyway – some system fault or something. As one of my co-workers said, “If this was a test, we all failed.” Then another said, “If failing means I’m safe, I’m ok with that.” I think we all need a refresher course on the flashing light system though. I never know what I’m supposed to do. All I know is green = good.
Apparently it was a false alarm anyway – some system fault or something. As one of my co-workers said, “If this was a test, we all failed.” Then another said, “If failing means I’m safe, I’m ok with that.” I think we all need a refresher course on the flashing light system though. I never know what I’m supposed to do. All I know is green = good.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Romantic Plans
I have big plans for tomorrow. Well, at least tomorrow evening. I’ll be cooking a Valentine’s Day feast. When this day falls mid-week it doesn’t really make sense to go out and cooking for yourself is generally cheaper, healthier, and more satisfying. Plus, at home we can eat in our pajamas. What beats that?
Anyway, the menu as it stands right now is this:
Pineapple and steak kabobs
Glazed baby carrots with tarragon (which will probably get magically swapped with dill since tarragon=ew)
Rolls
Strawberry angel food cake with whipped cream frosting
sparkling, bubbly drink of some kind (not sure what we’ve got sitting at home)
Adam works until 6ish so I should have plenty of time to get this all done before he comes home. But don’t worry – it’s not a secret. I ran this menu past him this weekend so I don’t mind if he reads this post before tomorrow. Of course when I asked him what he wanted he said something like, “you, dipped in chocolate” so he wasn’t really much help in the planning process. :)
I expect it will turn out to be a delicious meal and I plan to take pictures of it all. I’ve been slacking on my cooking website lately mostly because I’ve been slacking on my cooking. I lack motivation to cook things just for myself. Usually what I end up doing is making a big pot of pasta one day and then eating the leftovers for the next week. That’s not very picture-worthy. There are some good recipes in the latest issue of the Rachael Ray magazine though so perhaps I’ll try out a few of those. I’ve got plenty of food in the house to work with. I just seem to be falling back on microwave popcorn a lot lately. Adam recently changed his schedule at Walmart and will have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off so perhaps that will help too.
Adam gave me a big box of meltaways last night. He tells me he had to give them to me early because he bought them that afternoon and didn’t want to risk eating them all before tomorrow. It also came with a big meltaway heart that I’m embarrassed to admit I ate last night in one sitting. But I haven’t eaten any of the boxed chocolates yet. I’m trying to resist them, but they’re so good. Adam also informed me that since he couldn’t find one he liked, I will not be getting a Valentine’s Day card. Pfft. I’ve never been this “holiday”’s biggest cheerleader so it’s not a big deal to me. The fact that he has off from work and can spend the evening with me is good enough. Let’s just hope that we don’t annoy each other too much.
As for what I got him – that IS a secret I can’t reveal yet. :)
Anyway, the menu as it stands right now is this:
Pineapple and steak kabobs
Glazed baby carrots with tarragon (which will probably get magically swapped with dill since tarragon=ew)
Rolls
Strawberry angel food cake with whipped cream frosting
sparkling, bubbly drink of some kind (not sure what we’ve got sitting at home)
Adam works until 6ish so I should have plenty of time to get this all done before he comes home. But don’t worry – it’s not a secret. I ran this menu past him this weekend so I don’t mind if he reads this post before tomorrow. Of course when I asked him what he wanted he said something like, “you, dipped in chocolate” so he wasn’t really much help in the planning process. :)
I expect it will turn out to be a delicious meal and I plan to take pictures of it all. I’ve been slacking on my cooking website lately mostly because I’ve been slacking on my cooking. I lack motivation to cook things just for myself. Usually what I end up doing is making a big pot of pasta one day and then eating the leftovers for the next week. That’s not very picture-worthy. There are some good recipes in the latest issue of the Rachael Ray magazine though so perhaps I’ll try out a few of those. I’ve got plenty of food in the house to work with. I just seem to be falling back on microwave popcorn a lot lately. Adam recently changed his schedule at Walmart and will have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off so perhaps that will help too.
Adam gave me a big box of meltaways last night. He tells me he had to give them to me early because he bought them that afternoon and didn’t want to risk eating them all before tomorrow. It also came with a big meltaway heart that I’m embarrassed to admit I ate last night in one sitting. But I haven’t eaten any of the boxed chocolates yet. I’m trying to resist them, but they’re so good. Adam also informed me that since he couldn’t find one he liked, I will not be getting a Valentine’s Day card. Pfft. I’ve never been this “holiday”’s biggest cheerleader so it’s not a big deal to me. The fact that he has off from work and can spend the evening with me is good enough. Let’s just hope that we don’t annoy each other too much.
As for what I got him – that IS a secret I can’t reveal yet. :)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Busy Birthday Weekend
I think the birthday weekend was successful. As mentioned previously, after work we went to the bowling alley. It was an experience being required to score your own game. I’m so used to the electronic scoring I had to flex my brain muscles to do the calculations. I usually got frustrated and made Adam do it though. Heh. It wasn’t a particularly good day for either of us. I almost broke 100 in the first game. I even got a strike on my very first frame. It all went downhill from there. There was a girl and her parents bowling two lanes down from us. She was probably 8 or 9 and she was kicking my butt. When we were overrun by a family with (too many) children, we called it quits after two games rather than our normal three.
After a short discussion we went downtown to The Bar for the free beer and good food. We happened to arrive while it was still Happy Hour so not only did I drink for free but Adam got to enjoy the 2 for 1 deals and the free subs. We ordered food anyway and played a few games of darts while we waited and ate. Adam tried their suck and blow jello shot as well. When they dimmed the lights and cranked up the music (around 7) we packed up the rest of my food and headed to the martini bar. Well, we stopped at the tobacco store so Adam could get some cigars first. Then we went to the martini lounge. It was fairly empty and no one was smoking, which was nice. We hung at the bar for a little bit until the corner couches opened up. We grabbed them and remained there until we left. We then headed home for the night.
On Saturday, we woke up relatively early (I think Adam had taken over my side of the bed when I got up to go to the bathroom around 6:15 and we didn’t go back to sleep after that struggle.) We left around 9, making a Starbucks run on the way. We went first to our favorite West Allis Marshalls. Then we stopped at Sprecher to pick up some root beer and ask about volume discounts. We stopped for lunch at Culvers on the way down to Waunakee where we picked up Jess and headed to Madison to shop for a cell phone. We went to a mall and then to a Walmart. We stopped at our second Marshalls of the day in Madison. After some communication problems with Jill (the GPS) we found a US Cellular store where everything fell into place. We stopped for food on the way back to her apartment and then headed to our final Marshalls stop in Middleton. Then we started the long ride home. I’m not sure what we did when we got home. Probably sleep, but I really don’t remember.
Sunday morning Adam worked at 8 so we got up relatively early. While he was at work I did laundry, changed sheets, made beds, cleaned, cuddled with guinea pigs, watched the second Presidents DVD, and lots of other stuff. He got home around 5:30 and after an unplanned meltdown (mind) we watched some tv and ate dinner.
Today Adam got sent home from work again because he’s supposed to be grieving still. Apparently Cisco has a mandatory three day bereavement policy or something. Seems dumb to me but it’s a paid day off so I suppose he shouldn’t complain too much. I have a normal day. Actually I have a lot of normal days coming up. Nothing really out of the ordinary until probably May. *sigh*
Anyway, plans for this week so far are pretty minimal. Hopefully I can find some motivation somewhere and get up to Kaukauna. I’ve been saying this for about a month though so I don’t know if anything will change for this week. I’ve got handbells tonight and of course Wednesday is Valentine’s Day. Adam has the night off from Walmart and I’ll be making dinner.
After a short discussion we went downtown to The Bar for the free beer and good food. We happened to arrive while it was still Happy Hour so not only did I drink for free but Adam got to enjoy the 2 for 1 deals and the free subs. We ordered food anyway and played a few games of darts while we waited and ate. Adam tried their suck and blow jello shot as well. When they dimmed the lights and cranked up the music (around 7) we packed up the rest of my food and headed to the martini bar. Well, we stopped at the tobacco store so Adam could get some cigars first. Then we went to the martini lounge. It was fairly empty and no one was smoking, which was nice. We hung at the bar for a little bit until the corner couches opened up. We grabbed them and remained there until we left. We then headed home for the night.
On Saturday, we woke up relatively early (I think Adam had taken over my side of the bed when I got up to go to the bathroom around 6:15 and we didn’t go back to sleep after that struggle.) We left around 9, making a Starbucks run on the way. We went first to our favorite West Allis Marshalls. Then we stopped at Sprecher to pick up some root beer and ask about volume discounts. We stopped for lunch at Culvers on the way down to Waunakee where we picked up Jess and headed to Madison to shop for a cell phone. We went to a mall and then to a Walmart. We stopped at our second Marshalls of the day in Madison. After some communication problems with Jill (the GPS) we found a US Cellular store where everything fell into place. We stopped for food on the way back to her apartment and then headed to our final Marshalls stop in Middleton. Then we started the long ride home. I’m not sure what we did when we got home. Probably sleep, but I really don’t remember.
Sunday morning Adam worked at 8 so we got up relatively early. While he was at work I did laundry, changed sheets, made beds, cleaned, cuddled with guinea pigs, watched the second Presidents DVD, and lots of other stuff. He got home around 5:30 and after an unplanned meltdown (mind) we watched some tv and ate dinner.
Today Adam got sent home from work again because he’s supposed to be grieving still. Apparently Cisco has a mandatory three day bereavement policy or something. Seems dumb to me but it’s a paid day off so I suppose he shouldn’t complain too much. I have a normal day. Actually I have a lot of normal days coming up. Nothing really out of the ordinary until probably May. *sigh*
Anyway, plans for this week so far are pretty minimal. Hopefully I can find some motivation somewhere and get up to Kaukauna. I’ve been saying this for about a month though so I don’t know if anything will change for this week. I’ve got handbells tonight and of course Wednesday is Valentine’s Day. Adam has the night off from Walmart and I’ll be making dinner.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Big 2-5
(note: I wrote this at work this afternoon)
So far, so good on the birthday front. Adam decided not to go to Minnesota for the funeral. I suppose it makes me happy that he chose me. He says his parents understand and they don’t hate me, but I still feel guilty about it. In any case, he’s here and has off from work today and tomorrow.
This morning I awoke to a card on the table. It’s a card that talks when you open. It cracked me up, but it’s not really appropriate to write what it said to me on here. I left for work early so I could stop at Big Apple Bagels on the way to pick up some treats for the co-workers. It still doesn’t make sense to me that the person with the birthday brings the treat, but whatever. I’ll go along with it. They were a hit. As of now only ½ a bagel and one muffin remain. Not bad considering 3 or 4 people were off today. Much better than last year when no one was interested in my cheese and sausage plates and they ended up sitting in the fridge for a month. Heh. Guess I know which way to go for next time.
Adam sent me flowers like he did last year (although he keeps threatening me with a gorilla-gram) – the really fresh kind that ship overnight and actually bloom after you get them. Being the plant-killer that I am, I wasn’t too excited about being required to set them all up but I think they’ll be ok. We’ll see tomorrow if they bloom or keel over. He also came down and took me to Red Robin for lunch. I hadn’t been there for awhile and we discovered (after he had paid the bill) that you get a free burger on your birthday. Whoops. Another thing we’ll know for next time.
After I’m done at work tonight we plan to head up to The 10th Frame (a bowling alley) in Appleton. They have a special unlimited bowling deal after 5pm and they also have a coupon for a free meal for your birthday in the Valpak. We also haven’t gone bowling for a while either. After that it’s kind of up in the air. Depending on what time it is we might try and catch a movie. Most likely we’ll miss the 7-7:30 showtimes and end up renting one instead. We haven’t even discussed going to a bar. I’m not sure that’ll happen although this would be the first time I’d go to one on my birthday and get one of those flashing mugs to drink for free. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.
This afternoon Adam is going to sell his Bowflex. He’s also going to go grocery shopping. This makes me a little nervous because he’s never done the shopping by himself. He’s also the worst impulse buyer I know. He has the list (with plenty of details) and I have no doubt he’ll do spectacularly. I just hope he doesn’t come home with 4 bags of stuff when what’s on the list should take 2. I suppose I should have confidence in his ability to resist temptation. I’ve been known to throw random items in the cart too.
Tomorrow is still up for discussion. He has the whole day off and the hand bells ringing at the 4:30 mass was cancelled because we didn’t have a practice this week. So we have the whole day. Right now it sounds as though we’ll head to Milwaukee, Chicago, or Madison. Or maybe all 3. We’d stop at 1 or more of the three Marshalls in the Miwaukee area. We’d stop in at the Sprecher Brewery to see how their gift bag development is coming. In Chicago we’d stop at the Kohl’s Children Museum to get some Kim and Scotts pretzels directly from the source. For Madison, we’d actually be stopping in Waunakee to visit with my friend Jessica. I haven’t contacted her yet so this is the most unconfirmed. So who knows what we’ll actually end up doing. Knowing me and my lazy indecision, we’ll probably end up sitting in bed all day watching movies.
Completely off topic, Adam went to the Neenah library for me yesterday and got volumes 1 and 2 of the History Channel’s Presidents DVDs (Volume 3 was checked out.) I watched the first one yesterday: Washington through Lincoln. I was falling asleep during Lincoln’s (not out of boredom – I was tired and it was getting late) but I found it interesting for the most part. I’m undecided about whether I want to own the set. I guess I’ll delay that decision until I watch the other 2 discs.
Update: We did indeed go bowling and I totally sucked. (The place we went has old school scoring so I'll scan the scorecard in later.) We also went to The Bar for dinner where I got my flashy button and free beer. We then stopped at the cigar store so Adam could pick up a few before heading to the martini bar for a little while. Right now he's in the shower. He hates the smell of smoke. Ironically, he was the only one in the whole place smoking...so it's his own damn fault.
So far, so good on the birthday front. Adam decided not to go to Minnesota for the funeral. I suppose it makes me happy that he chose me. He says his parents understand and they don’t hate me, but I still feel guilty about it. In any case, he’s here and has off from work today and tomorrow.
This morning I awoke to a card on the table. It’s a card that talks when you open. It cracked me up, but it’s not really appropriate to write what it said to me on here. I left for work early so I could stop at Big Apple Bagels on the way to pick up some treats for the co-workers. It still doesn’t make sense to me that the person with the birthday brings the treat, but whatever. I’ll go along with it. They were a hit. As of now only ½ a bagel and one muffin remain. Not bad considering 3 or 4 people were off today. Much better than last year when no one was interested in my cheese and sausage plates and they ended up sitting in the fridge for a month. Heh. Guess I know which way to go for next time.
Adam sent me flowers like he did last year (although he keeps threatening me with a gorilla-gram) – the really fresh kind that ship overnight and actually bloom after you get them. Being the plant-killer that I am, I wasn’t too excited about being required to set them all up but I think they’ll be ok. We’ll see tomorrow if they bloom or keel over. He also came down and took me to Red Robin for lunch. I hadn’t been there for awhile and we discovered (after he had paid the bill) that you get a free burger on your birthday. Whoops. Another thing we’ll know for next time.
After I’m done at work tonight we plan to head up to The 10th Frame (a bowling alley) in Appleton. They have a special unlimited bowling deal after 5pm and they also have a coupon for a free meal for your birthday in the Valpak. We also haven’t gone bowling for a while either. After that it’s kind of up in the air. Depending on what time it is we might try and catch a movie. Most likely we’ll miss the 7-7:30 showtimes and end up renting one instead. We haven’t even discussed going to a bar. I’m not sure that’ll happen although this would be the first time I’d go to one on my birthday and get one of those flashing mugs to drink for free. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.
This afternoon Adam is going to sell his Bowflex. He’s also going to go grocery shopping. This makes me a little nervous because he’s never done the shopping by himself. He’s also the worst impulse buyer I know. He has the list (with plenty of details) and I have no doubt he’ll do spectacularly. I just hope he doesn’t come home with 4 bags of stuff when what’s on the list should take 2. I suppose I should have confidence in his ability to resist temptation. I’ve been known to throw random items in the cart too.
Tomorrow is still up for discussion. He has the whole day off and the hand bells ringing at the 4:30 mass was cancelled because we didn’t have a practice this week. So we have the whole day. Right now it sounds as though we’ll head to Milwaukee, Chicago, or Madison. Or maybe all 3. We’d stop at 1 or more of the three Marshalls in the Miwaukee area. We’d stop in at the Sprecher Brewery to see how their gift bag development is coming. In Chicago we’d stop at the Kohl’s Children Museum to get some Kim and Scotts pretzels directly from the source. For Madison, we’d actually be stopping in Waunakee to visit with my friend Jessica. I haven’t contacted her yet so this is the most unconfirmed. So who knows what we’ll actually end up doing. Knowing me and my lazy indecision, we’ll probably end up sitting in bed all day watching movies.
Completely off topic, Adam went to the Neenah library for me yesterday and got volumes 1 and 2 of the History Channel’s Presidents DVDs (Volume 3 was checked out.) I watched the first one yesterday: Washington through Lincoln. I was falling asleep during Lincoln’s (not out of boredom – I was tired and it was getting late) but I found it interesting for the most part. I’m undecided about whether I want to own the set. I guess I’ll delay that decision until I watch the other 2 discs.
Update: We did indeed go bowling and I totally sucked. (The place we went has old school scoring so I'll scan the scorecard in later.) We also went to The Bar for dinner where I got my flashy button and free beer. We then stopped at the cigar store so Adam could pick up a few before heading to the martini bar for a little while. Right now he's in the shower. He hates the smell of smoke. Ironically, he was the only one in the whole place smoking...so it's his own damn fault.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Another Political Post
I found it interesting that Ted Haggard has announced he’s 100% heterosexual after completing some therapy. I personally believe that no one is 100% either way. Everyone has a little gay in them and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I find it preposterous that this guy brashly states he’s totally straight. I’M more straight than he is. He had sex with a man for goodness sake! That’s totally the opposite of straight. I don’t care if he had some kind of electroshock therapy or had some Men in Black-esque memory erasing deal. His past is still a part of him and that part of him is gay. There’s no way he’s 100% straight. You can’t just discount something you’re ashamed of.
The hypocrisy that runs rampant in so many religious/moral circles is depressing. I’d wager that a good percentage of the loudest pro-lifers have had an abortion themselves. The loudest opponents of gay marriage are closeted bi-or homosexuals in sham marriages. It’s like they believe they can make up for the choices they regret making by degrading others who make the same choice. People are ridiculous. Why can’t we all just get along?
Then there’s this thing with phallic symbols in Price’s half-time show. I admit, I didn’t watch it. There are stills posted online, but I’m not really seeing the problem. For one thing, It’s PRINCE. Have you seen his videos? Listened to the lyrics of his songs? Pretty much every song he ever put out (ha) is a thinly veiled reference to sex. And now some uptight parents are upset because he allegedly made his guitar look like a penis? Come on. Be glad he left “Pussy Control” off the play list and go back to watching your secret porn stash.
Why must we be so repressed? There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that women have breasts and people have sex. It’s not a big secret. I long for the freedom found in Europe where their soap commercials feature naked people lounging in bathtubs. We need to work with nature, not try to suppress it. And I’ll just mention that I’m still loving the abstinence-only sex ed idea. I’m sure it’s working out splendidly for repressed Republicans everywhere. Too bad it’s the smart people who won’t accidentally procreate because they know better. But perhaps that’s their plan… Hmmm… Conspiracy theory anyone?
The hypocrisy that runs rampant in so many religious/moral circles is depressing. I’d wager that a good percentage of the loudest pro-lifers have had an abortion themselves. The loudest opponents of gay marriage are closeted bi-or homosexuals in sham marriages. It’s like they believe they can make up for the choices they regret making by degrading others who make the same choice. People are ridiculous. Why can’t we all just get along?
Then there’s this thing with phallic symbols in Price’s half-time show. I admit, I didn’t watch it. There are stills posted online, but I’m not really seeing the problem. For one thing, It’s PRINCE. Have you seen his videos? Listened to the lyrics of his songs? Pretty much every song he ever put out (ha) is a thinly veiled reference to sex. And now some uptight parents are upset because he allegedly made his guitar look like a penis? Come on. Be glad he left “Pussy Control” off the play list and go back to watching your secret porn stash.
Why must we be so repressed? There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that women have breasts and people have sex. It’s not a big secret. I long for the freedom found in Europe where their soap commercials feature naked people lounging in bathtubs. We need to work with nature, not try to suppress it. And I’ll just mention that I’m still loving the abstinence-only sex ed idea. I’m sure it’s working out splendidly for repressed Republicans everywhere. Too bad it’s the smart people who won’t accidentally procreate because they know better. But perhaps that’s their plan… Hmmm… Conspiracy theory anyone?
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A Difficult Decision
Adam's father is adopted. As an adult, he found out who his birth mother was and they met.
She died on Monday morning.
Now Adam has to decide if he will be going to her funeral. He has been asked to be a pallbearer. The funeral is Friday afternoon in Minnesota.
Friday is my birthday.
How does one choose between things like this? There's no obvious answer. No matter what you choose, someone will be hurt/disappointed/mad.
Now, he tells me he only met her twice so it's not like they were thisclose. But it's still a family thing. Both of his sister plan on making the 5+ hour drive on Friday morning. His parents have already booked hotel rooms for Friday night.
What would you do?
She died on Monday morning.
Now Adam has to decide if he will be going to her funeral. He has been asked to be a pallbearer. The funeral is Friday afternoon in Minnesota.
Friday is my birthday.
How does one choose between things like this? There's no obvious answer. No matter what you choose, someone will be hurt/disappointed/mad.
Now, he tells me he only met her twice so it's not like they were thisclose. But it's still a family thing. Both of his sister plan on making the 5+ hour drive on Friday morning. His parents have already booked hotel rooms for Friday night.
What would you do?
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Weekend Fun
It was a busy weekend. Even though the temperatures steadily dropped to below 0, we still accomplished quite a bit.
On Friday, Adam came and picked me up and we went to his team’s quarter-end celebration at The Wave. I had met some of the people at the going away party for someone a while back but I met others as well. We had dinner at the bar, and played some bowling. It’s similar to the golf games with the ball thing you use to throw the ball. I totally sucked. I didn’t even get a strike or spare so I could put my initials there. I was PLR2 the whole time. *sigh*
Adam was supposed to work at Walmart on both Saturday and Sunday but on both days he was told to not come in because they were so slow. On Saturday we stopped by Hobby Lobby and got matting and a frame for the picture we’ll have at the cake table at the reception. It looks awesome. We also got a frame for the comic strip one of Adam’s co-workers did for me for my birthday. We headed to Simon’s for some cheese and I got some goods ideas for things for the out-of-towners’ bags. Then it was on to the casino. I had my $10 birthday credit to cash in and it had been awhile since we’d been there. I proceeded to lose the $10 (plus $5 of my own money) to Monopoly in about 3 minutes. Adam also didn’t do so well although he spread his around a little more. Oh well. He somehow ended up with $.01 in The Terminator slot machine so he cashed it out and I scanned and posted it because I thought it was funny. We stopped and paid a visit to his grandma and cousin before heading back home to chill. Or warm up as the case may be.
On Sunday we headed to the mall where I found the rest of the jewelry I needed. I also found a couple good shoe styles although I’m not set on anything yet. We stopped a few more places (Sam’s, Blockbuster, Walmart) and then headed home for the Big Game. I didn’t watch it. Not even for the commercials (although I’ve been told there was a very cute guinea pig one.) When it started I headed to the bedroom and watched The Little Mermaid and then finished up the rest of the Girls Next Door episodes from Season One.
On Monday I got ready to go to work and about 5 minutes before I was to be out the door my breakfast came back to say “hey.” I planned to just go in a little late, but I ended up staying home all day with various issues. I don’t know if it’s the weather, a cold, or something hormone related (I just switched from generic to brand-name BCPs again), but it sucked. I feel better today although the headache is lingering. In any case, I spent the day trying to keep warm in our artic bedroom. It was made additionally cold by the fact that the outdoor temperature was -15 with windchills ranging from -20 to -35. Brr. I love our heated mattress pad. Adam came home around 5 because Convergys decided to shut down for the day (yes, they decided to shut down at 5. Don’t ask…) Because Walmart told him not to come in and hand bells was canceled, we ran up to the pet store to get some bedding so I could clean out Mo and Einstein’s cages. We also got a new log for Howie and some new orange slice treats. We spoil our pets… Anyway, we came home, I cleaned, Adam watched wrestling, all was right with the world.
This morning went smoother than yesterday did. At least I made it to work so that’s a good sign. Not sure what else the week has in store. Things might get complicated with Adam’s Dad’s birth mother passing away yesterday. We’ll see what happens.
On Friday, Adam came and picked me up and we went to his team’s quarter-end celebration at The Wave. I had met some of the people at the going away party for someone a while back but I met others as well. We had dinner at the bar, and played some bowling. It’s similar to the golf games with the ball thing you use to throw the ball. I totally sucked. I didn’t even get a strike or spare so I could put my initials there. I was PLR2 the whole time. *sigh*
Adam was supposed to work at Walmart on both Saturday and Sunday but on both days he was told to not come in because they were so slow. On Saturday we stopped by Hobby Lobby and got matting and a frame for the picture we’ll have at the cake table at the reception. It looks awesome. We also got a frame for the comic strip one of Adam’s co-workers did for me for my birthday. We headed to Simon’s for some cheese and I got some goods ideas for things for the out-of-towners’ bags. Then it was on to the casino. I had my $10 birthday credit to cash in and it had been awhile since we’d been there. I proceeded to lose the $10 (plus $5 of my own money) to Monopoly in about 3 minutes. Adam also didn’t do so well although he spread his around a little more. Oh well. He somehow ended up with $.01 in The Terminator slot machine so he cashed it out and I scanned and posted it because I thought it was funny. We stopped and paid a visit to his grandma and cousin before heading back home to chill. Or warm up as the case may be.
On Sunday we headed to the mall where I found the rest of the jewelry I needed. I also found a couple good shoe styles although I’m not set on anything yet. We stopped a few more places (Sam’s, Blockbuster, Walmart) and then headed home for the Big Game. I didn’t watch it. Not even for the commercials (although I’ve been told there was a very cute guinea pig one.) When it started I headed to the bedroom and watched The Little Mermaid and then finished up the rest of the Girls Next Door episodes from Season One.
On Monday I got ready to go to work and about 5 minutes before I was to be out the door my breakfast came back to say “hey.” I planned to just go in a little late, but I ended up staying home all day with various issues. I don’t know if it’s the weather, a cold, or something hormone related (I just switched from generic to brand-name BCPs again), but it sucked. I feel better today although the headache is lingering. In any case, I spent the day trying to keep warm in our artic bedroom. It was made additionally cold by the fact that the outdoor temperature was -15 with windchills ranging from -20 to -35. Brr. I love our heated mattress pad. Adam came home around 5 because Convergys decided to shut down for the day (yes, they decided to shut down at 5. Don’t ask…) Because Walmart told him not to come in and hand bells was canceled, we ran up to the pet store to get some bedding so I could clean out Mo and Einstein’s cages. We also got a new log for Howie and some new orange slice treats. We spoil our pets… Anyway, we came home, I cleaned, Adam watched wrestling, all was right with the world.
This morning went smoother than yesterday did. At least I made it to work so that’s a good sign. Not sure what else the week has in store. Things might get complicated with Adam’s Dad’s birth mother passing away yesterday. We’ll see what happens.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
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