Oh the Places You Will Go . . . Like Walmart???

So today I pulled another long day at work, 12 hours. Most people think that it is really cool that I don't have to be at work until 10am and I tend to agree. I like not having to be at the office at the crack of dawn but when I pull another 12 hour day it gets tiring. Anywho, I get home from work famished! I honestly could have eaten my junk mail. Sooo I come in the door, happy to be home and always happy to be greeted by my baby Coley, and change into my sweats and a t-shirt, ahhh comfy clothes at last. I go to the fridge in search of something to eat for dinner and what do I find . . . . . a container of mandarin oranges, a tub of margarine, a bottle of San Pellegrino that has about three ounces left in in and is no doubt flat and the box of baking soda to keep the fridge fresh. Don't fret I think to myself there is always the freezer. I open the freezer door and find: one frozen waffle, one mystery Lean Pocket long since removed from the box and a bottle of Absolut Mandarin. Now since work has been super insane lately, I considered having a few glasses of vodka. I asked Jason what we should do about dinner and he had no idea. Guess he wasn't in the mood for a mystery Lean Pocket and Absolut!!!

So at 10:30pm, Jason and I are in the car and on the way to the grocery store. There is always a great debate as to where to shop. I prefer Central Market or Whole Foods but at 10:30 on a Tuesday evening, neither of them are open. There are tons of grocery stores that I could go to but I couldn't decide. I was hungry and tired. After driving around for twenty minutes we arrive at the "upscale" Walmart on the Tollway. Normally I am not a huge fan of Walmart, it is far too much walking and the fact that you can buy clothes, a bicycle and a gallon of milk in one place is just disturbing for me. In New York, we don't have stores like that. We have normal Walmart and Target without the "super" associated with it. Anyway, back to Walmart. I figured in my head that we just needed essentials for the house to keep us going. Should be $50 or $75 max. I am cool with this. I figured this in my head as we walked into the store not realizing that we had committed the ultimate sin of grocery shopping . . . we were shopping on empty stomachs! Needless to say we wandered around the store and I started getting a major headache. In the cookie aisle, I grabbed a bag of iced animal cookies (super nutritious) and ripped into them and began to munch as we wandered Walmart. Grabbing random things as we walked thru the store, we made our way to the checkout. Another pet peeve of mine about Walmart, they don't unpack and re-pack your cart for you! Kroger, Tom Thumb and Central Market all unload and re-load your cart. I unhappily unpacked my cart and watched as the bill began to grow. Needless to say, just grabbing a few things when you are hungry added up to $198. I guess no matter how you look at it, I need to return to work tomorrow to pay of the Hannukah, Christmas and Walmart Visa bill.

Happy, Mad, Sad, Glad . . all in one day??

Sometimes in life you find that sometimes Friday will really rock or really suck. Sometimes they start out bad and get really good; or start out really good and slowly go down hill. This Friday was jam packed full of an emotional roller coaster ride.

At one point in my past life I was in therapy (admitting is half the battle to recovery)! One of the parting gifts that I received (of course other than mental health) was an facial emotion recorded. For those of you that don't know what that is I will explain. It is far less complex than it sounds but here goes. Picture if you will, a magnetic piece of paper (about 7x7) with all sorts of faces with different emotions: Happy, Mad, Sad, Glad . . . .etc. Each day while in therapy (and since then) you are supposed to put a magnetic circle over the facial expression that best describes your mood or day, etc. You are supposed to do it twice a day (morning and night). Then towards the end of the day you are supposed to once again put the circle over the emotion and if there was a negative change, think about how it could have been better. If there was a positive change, you are suppose to record the steps that you took (if any) to get there!This morning I came in and was happy! I didn't oversleep (chronic insomnia will do that) and was early for week. I woke up to an adorable and loving puppy (Coley) giving me a facial! I guess the buzzing of the alarm clock was bothering him! So I get to work and am thinking that it is a good day, I am early for work, in a good mood, and it is Friday! So my day begins. . . . things went weird for awhile and then got bad, stressful and then good again. I had some really weird but informative meetings, got yelled at again by Mr. Mean and got all stressed out about upcoming stuff that my team is not ready for and then got good again! For those of who don't know who Mr. Mean is, he is my boss. Sometimes he is nice, cool and easy to get along with but lately he has been a major jerk! This title was previously bestowed by Queen B on her boss who is no longer working in her office. I got sad when I realized that yesterday was my friend Chiquita's birthday (yes, like the banana) and I forgot to call her or send a card. Then I got even sadder when I found out that Evel Knievel died today. It got good when Travis called me and reminded me that when I get to his house later on we get to assemble my somewhat cranking new PC! He was kind enough to go to one of my favorite geeky electronics stores (Fry's) and buy some neat things to put into a machine that is being built for my gaming pleasure! Finally glad came along when I once again realized that it is Friday and I have two days of rest and relaxation ahead of me.

On a side note - Happy Birthday Doogie!

Teddy Bear Blasphemy??

Those of you that know me well, are aware that I am a teddy bear fanatic. I have been collecting them for years and years and love them to this day! When I first got Cole, the first toy that I gave him was a tiny stuffed teddy bear. When I found that bear chewed and torn beyond recognition I actually teared up. Imagine my surprise when I was out surfing today and found this article. The title: Sudan charges teacher for teddy bear name


For your reading enjoyment: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071128/ap_on_re_mi_ea/sudan_british_teacher


In reading the article, a British woman was teaching 7 year olds in the Sudan and she bought a teddy bear into school. She had the children suggest and vote on a name for the bear and wound up naming it Muhammad which is a very common name among Muslim men and is also the name of the prophet. One of the things that she had the children in her class do was take the bear home for weekends and write about their time with the bear. This is a normal elementary school activity. Apparently parents took offense The apparent offense is being referred to as a "act of misconduct against the Islamic faith". If found guilty of the charges she will receive: 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine. No where did the article talk about the teacher naming the bear or the name being placed anywhere on the bear.

I really can't imagine being a teacher who is working in a foreign country and being prosecuted for an what seems to be harmless activity for your class to participate in. Just seems so sad.

Happy Birthday Frankenboot!

As you get older, you find that you can usually count your true friends on one or two hands, not more. So today is the birthday of my true friend, who also happens to be my best friend: Heidi Ho. She is my best friend for several reasons:

• I can always call on her for advice or a shoulder to cry on.
• No matter how much I irritate and annoy her she still wants to be my bestest bud.
• No matter how mad she got when I told her that I was moving half a world away, she still spoke to me.
• She doesn't get older, she gets better!
• She is the most fanatically NY Islanders fan I have ever met in my life!
• She loves Disney movies even more than I do. Anyone that has Disney Trivial Pursuit must!
• She understands why Eeyore has High Hopes and Low Expectations.
• Knows how gross Budweiser really is since Coors Light rules!
• She loves hanging at Tri-County looking for dumb stuff like new scrunchies!
• Loves getting new pocketbooks made by hot designers such as: DK and Y or Kada Spada.
• Knows that Beauty and the Beast is the greatest Disney movie ever!

So here's to the bestest bud in all the world: Heidi! Hope you day is a groovy one and no lizards try to kiss you!

All Time Cheesy Ballad Playlist??

I was so busy at work today I had no free time. I worked thru lunch and found my lunch, partially eaten, still on my desk at 5:30. I did get a small reprieve and was listening to a BORING conference call while surfing the Internet. I came across this great article on Entertainment Weekly about "all time cheesy ballads" . . . This made me chuckle since we frequently come up with lists like this at work frequently. Some of the previous list include: Greatest Superhero of All Time; Greatest Action Hero; Stupidest Movie of all Time; Greatest Movies of all Time, etc.

The article can be found at the following link for your reading enjoyment: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20034199,00.html

One thing that I find laughable at work is that the people that tend to come in for interviews to work in my department are fetuses. Half of them are barely 21. It is crazy. I know that when my girlfriends and I go out we laugh about how most of the guys that are out looking for girls are fetuses. They are actually young enough to be our own children. Scary Thought! My great friend Tiz whom I happen to be lucky enough to work with, who is also my brother from another mother, is the same age that I am. When we have new people start that are born in 1985 and 1986 we laugh and remember what good years those were. We recently had a guy start that celebrated his 21st birthday. I laughed with Tiz, I actually have shoes that are older than him. Anyway, back to the point. Most people that are born in the 90's and after have no idea what a ballad is. In my mind, that is a term from the 70's and 80's. Funny enough, the theme song from my Senior Ball in High School made this list.

Please read the article and enjoy the stroll down memory lane. I may just have to go home and get the photo album out and take a look at my high school yearbook and look at the horrible 80's hairstyles. Just for the record, the theme song for my Senior Ball was: Phil Collins, One More Night. Oh the memories.

My personal favorite all time cheesy ballad: Take My Breath Away by Berlin. I mean wasn't Top Gun the greatest movie of all time and Tom Cruise just the dreamiest??

Think You Have the Worst Job?

Many moons ago, my good friend Queen B blogged about the worst job. I came across this article today and actually paused and said Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Work recently has been completely insane. We had a huge round of lay offs and lost five people from our team. Has the workload been reduced you ask? Of course not, it is just now more work dispersed among the few, the proud, the remaining??

Anyway, today I am feeling particularly down about work. We are shorthanded to begin with, there are three people on vacation, one out sick and one dealing with a family emergency. Our dwindling team, seems to be smaller and smaller. Never the less, I came across this article and decided, I do not have the worst job ever! Feel free to read the attached and agree for yourselves that no matter how crappy your Monday is.... it could be sooo much worse!

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1177&SiteId=cbmsnhp41177&sc_extcmp=JS_1177_home1&GT1=10563&cbRecursionCnt=2&cbsid=4c0b7df27ab04a6d97402d2c4354401d-248795888-RO-4

Blog Gone Bad???

Okay, So I haven't been the most dedicated blogger in the world. I can however, think of a million and one excuses as to why I haven't blogged lately:

• Work has been insane! The last thing I want to do when coming home after a 13 hour day is sit in front of the PC again and write about my day!
• I was sick! Upper respiratory infection that kept me at home and in bed for a week. Barely had the strength to read email, never mind blogging about my state of health.

I could go on and on with excuses. I will spare you that and leave with this note - If I am not blogging, what you are reading so intently on your monitor??? Are you in fact, checking your eyelids for holes?

Haircut Gone Wrong!?!?!

Well.... yesterday it was time for Coley's monthly trip to the groomer. Jason was good enough to transport him back and forth and they even called me to get instructions about his cut. Normally, they listen to what I say and do an awesome job. I wish that was the case yesterday. When I got home last night, after having gotten my haircut, Coley ran to me. His face looked adorable they did it beautifully. The rest of him, sadly was a mess. They shaved his underside, which they normally do around his winkie, but they did the complete underside as well as the inside of his legs strangely enough. They shaved his hiney and a big chuck of his tail. I called this morning to ask if he was acting up while they groomed him and the girl that groomed him said that he was an angel as always. I asked her why she shaved so much of his underside and she said that he had a lot of knots. I have to tell you how much this bothered me. One of the things that I do with Cole each night before we go to bed is brush him. I know for a fact that there were not knots in his fur. I brushed him again before I left for work yesterday. My pooch was knot free! I guess I am going to have to find a new groomer!

Bath Time Fun!!

Sooo . . Last night it was time for Fudge to have her bath. Normally, Jason and I work together on this, one person cleaning the cage out and one person bathes her. For those of you who have no idea who Fudge is she is our ferret. Cole gets very excited any time that Fudge is out of the cage. They love to play together and can do it for hours on end. When Fudge gets her bath Cole usually just stands by and excitedly watches. Last night, this was not the case. Jason was bathing Fudge in the tub. Cole was in the bathroom monitoring the going-ons with Fudge and Jason while I cleaned out the cage. Suddenly, I hear a loud splash and Jason screaming for me from the bathroom. I go running thinking that something has happened to Fudge and what do I find????? Cole has decided that he wanted to take a bath with Fudge. I have attached a picture for your viewing pleasure.

Death of a Blog

Okay - I know it has been a long time since I posted anything. . . . BUT in my defense I was trying to have a vacation while in NY visiting with friends and family. When I did get home I was sick (Thanks Pebble!) and barely felt up to going to work. I know that I have no excuses! I had a great time in New York. It was wonderful to see friends (Jaime, Anthony & Tyler) and family "Pebble" (my Godson). I got great pictures which I am working on uploading and will share them soon. Now that I am back and feeling much better I promise that I will blog more often.

Football Party - Recap

So the football party was a huge success and there weren't any major disasters! Coley was a good boy and played nicely with all the kids. He slept great that night. Everyone that was there had a great time, including me interestingly enough.

Unfortunately, the NY Giants did not fare so well. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys (45 to 35)! After awhile, I am not sure that many of us were paying attention to the game, we were far too busy having fun!

Next time - I have to get much less food. I think everyone went home with leftovers and for some reason I felt that eight 12-packs of soda were needed! Boy, I am going to have a lot to drink in my house for awhile. Maybe I should just throw another Shindig!

The Beginning Of Fall

For this New Yorker, a good indicator that Fall was upon was that the different men in my life would disappear on Monday nights and be glued to a television screaming on Sunday's. When I lived in New York, it would get a bit cooler and the leaves would begin to change but that doesn't really happen in Texas since we only have two seasons Summer and Winter!

This Sunday, Fall begins with the first game of the NFL. If you don't know what the NFL is, you can go and Google it! This year, the Dallas Cowboys will be hosting the New York Giants. Now, since I am a fan of the NY Giants and I live in Texas (bizarre in itself) I thought that it would be really cool to have a few people over for the first game of the season, even though it didn't start out that way. I am sure that I will be one of only two people that are rooting for the Giants. Laura's really cool idea to have a few friends over has gotten a wee bit out of hand (as usually does in perfect Laura style). First it was just going to be me, Jessie and Tiz going to watch the game at a local sports bar. Then I came up with the brilliant idea that it would be so much more fun if we had it at my house. Then we invited spouses, other friends and children of all. Now we have 15 people (kiddies included) coming to my house to watch the game. I am really looking forward to it! ( Especially since most of the people that read this are coming to the party!) I will let you know how it all transpires. Hopefully Coley will not be too terrified with all the people and kiddies in the house!

New York Mets Rock!!!

Well the NY Mets actually pulled it off. They won ALL THREE GAMES @ Atlanta!!! Check out these scores:

Fri: Mets 7, Atlanta 1
Sat: Mets 5, Atlanta 1
Sun: Mets 3, Atlanta 2

Woo Hoo! This NY fan is quite ecstatic! The METS remain #1.

GO NY Mets!!

For any of you that follow baseball, the regular season is beginning to wind down. This weekend, the NY Mets will be in Atlanta for a three game series which starts on Friday. Now, I am not just writing about the Mets because I am a fan (which I am) but to encourage you to root for the Mets, even if maybe you are not a NY fan!

My Mets have not had it easy in Atlanta, especially not in September. Since Atlanta's Turner Stadium (Death Valley) opened in 1997, the Mets have played 26 games (in September) and lost 21 of them!! I am certain that I am not the only NY Mets fan that is praying that they can break their horrible September record and come out on top! Unfortunately, the last three seasons have not ended nicely for the Mets and their dreams have been shattered right there in Death Valley and their seasons come to a screeching halt!

Please, if you can find it in your heart, say a prayer that the NY Mets can beat the Braves this weekend!!

Coley the Wonder Pup

For those of you that know me, Cole is my puppy. Technically he is not a puppy any longer but I still call him my puppy. When I talked to the vet about his real age I was given some random explanation about it being different depending on breed, lineage, etc. Since I never got a really clear answer, for those of you that are interested, Cole just turned 13 months old. Being that I have not had Cole that long, I frequently go out shopping for him and get him stuff. Mainly toys, treats and bones, but sometimes I look at clothing. Now, before I had Coley I was one of the people that felt clothing and pampering of your dog was absolutely insane and a complete waste of money. Growing up, I had cats and the most expensive purchase was the regular trip to the vet (which can become quite costly). Please understand that I am not saying that you shouldn't groom them, there is nothing worse than a poorly cared for, smelly old dog!! I have seen shows on TV that show people and the things that they do to their pets (the name of the show escapes me). I remember one episode featured a Mini-Yorkie who was a little girl and dressed the part. Not only did she have clothing on, she had a pink fru fru dress, pink slippers and a tiara on her head (now, the Princess in me thinks this is a great idea!!) which for all I know could have been made of real diamonds.

Shortly after getting Coley (October 2006), I went to PetSmart and found an adorable olive green sweater for Cole to wear since the weather was getting colder (not that it gets all that cold in Texas) and I was convinced that my poor little baby was going to freeze. I come home with this adorable sweater very pleased with myself for being such a concerned Mommy that was going to keep her baby from getting a chill and show Jason who just looks at me and shakes his head in disbelief that I am going to dress my poor puppy in a sweater. I think he told me that he was going to look Gay and that he would never walk him with it on because people would clearly think he was. So I put the sweater on Cole, which I tell you was a chore in itself. Have you ever tried to dress a fidgety three month old quadruped in clothing?? I finally get him outside and he is biting at the sweater and trying to pull it off of himself. Needless to say that was one of the last times that I put that sweater on him. Anyway, getting around to what I wanted to tell you about (finally), since Halloween is coming around pretty soon I thought that it would be really cute to get him a little costume and take a picture of him. Now each time I visit stores like PetSmart and Woof, they have pictures of these absolutely adorable dogs dressed up in all kinds of things. I thought it would be neat if I could take him to PetSmart or Woof and get a picture of him in some adorable little costume. They apparently have a person who photographs pets (clearly, I am not the only crazy who thinks this is the greatest idea!). In my free time I have been searching the Internet for a costume for my baby. I think I have finally found the one that I want, and I am not going to spoil the surprise. If I happen to get lucky enough to get this costume on him and take a picture, I promise that I will post it here!