R.I.P

Mitch Hedberg. It is with great sadness that I say Mitch Hedberg is dead. Sunday we are having a cinnamon roll memorial snack in his memory, if anyone is interested.

I am totally backlogged on TiVo programming. I need to do laundry. Laundry can wait though.

Tomorrow we're going to see Sin City, Saturday my sister and her friend Emily are coming to go shopping. Saturday night we're going to Bottleneck at Ameristar to see Dr. Zhivegas. I want to go down to the Dasani Fest on Sunday but I'm not sure if we'll make it or not. Either way, it should be a good weekend.

Next Friday, Chris and I are screwing early to head to Kiener Plaza for the rally. Apparently, they're going to be giving away tickets to the game every 15 minutes during the rally..so we still have a chance! If you don't have tickets, and you're able to take off, you should go down to support the Cards!

I'm really getting annoyed with a guy I work with. He's this big, clumsy.....giant who acts like he's on some sort of drug that speeds him up. Everything is always a HUGE ordeal with him and I don't think he can form an entire mental thought without pacing around the department. UGH, he just drives me nuts. But not just me, other people too. So at least I'm not alone in my rage.

I'm going to catch up on my TiVo. Seeya!

If..

I had an infant, I would buy the said infant a sleeper, with this on it.

Cigarettes.

You know, I really hate cigarettes. And, I'm really starting to hate certain smokers. You know who you are. I grew up with 2 parents who were smokers. Actually, most all of my family are smokers, save 1 uncle and my sister. And, even when I met Chris, he smoked. AND, at one time, I smoked too. After Chris stopped smoking, I started to realize how offensive the smell is. It's not even the smell that gets me the most. It's the big billowing cloud of smoke that comes out of your filthy mouth with each puff you take. I totally respect your right to smoke, if you respect my right not to smoke. Restaurants, for example. I don't want to smoke your cigarette while I'm eating my dinner. It's just nasty. And, why do you have to throw your cigarette butts out the window after you get done smoking? You're okay with filling your lungs with smoke, but you're not okay with putting your butt in your ash tray??? That just doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, I don't mean to bitch..but I was thinking about the cigarette ban that STL County is thinking about implementing and it sorta made me think to post a cigarette rant. I think a smoking ban is a good thing. Hey, if you want to smoke, that's cool with me. But, I think if I don't want to smoke, I shouldn't have to, especially out in public. And don't get me wrong, I hang out with smokers, and I go to bars, etc etc. I'm not going to tell you to put your cigarette out..I just wish some of you would be more considerate to non-smokers. Okay, that's all I got on this too.

Boo!

Okay, okay I'm alive! Sorry. We were out of town. This past Thursday we left for Nashville to visit some family. It was fun! My uncle went over some landscaping options for our yard (he owns a landscaping company) and showed us a bunch of plants, trees, etc. Now, we have to go through these 8 huge books he gave us and pick out what we want.

While we were there, we went to the OpryMills mall and the Opryland Hotel. It was really beautiful. I'll post a few pictures later.

The thing that sucked about the trip was the fact that it rained all the way there and all the way back. Also, as we got back into St. Louis, we almost got creamed by a minivan. It was scary and I was so glad to get home.

At the mall, there was a Banana Republic outlet store. It was cool. I got a pair of capri pants, and 2 shirts, and Chris got some shorts and a shirt. Too bad there isn't a BR outlet here. I'd be in heaven.

This week, weather wise, is going to be beautiful. Hopefully it will stay nice for the weekend so I can get my bike out for a ride .

I've decided to get my hair chopped off again. I'm just tired of the longer look. So, short and layered it is. I'm going to make an appointment a few weeks from now (closer to the cruise). I also need to start fake baking in a few weeks for the cruise too. I might add, we leave in a short 53 days!

Next week, we're going to a Johnnie Walker tasting at the Chase. Wooooo! Who am I to pass up free booze? Beckie & RJ will be joining us, I think.

K, that's all I got. Out.

Weekend Update

So, this weekend we went out to a shitty little 'berg to see my mom. It was a good visit. We watched some movies and hung out. Chris worked on her crappy iMac. That's about it. Tonight when we got home, we had dinner at the in-laws and watched a movie. Now I'm tired, and this is all you are getting in the form of an update. I might post some pictures this week. Nite.

test

my blogging program is pissing me off. I'm on the edge of the 'fucks'.

So..

I went to Emporer's Buffet tonight. It had a really great atmosphere, and the food was ok. They had a lot of different foods, fresh sushi, mongolian, chinese, american, japanese, etc. Some stuff tasted kinda gross, but sometimes that happens at big buffet places. The foods seemed very hot and pretty fresh. Everything is cooked kinda out in the open. So, it was cool..I'd definitely go back.

Do you guys ever think of your life/future in terms of how you'd *like* it to be? I guess sort of a dream/fantasy? Well, I always picture my 'dream' with my husband, of course, and a great job, having my MBA, a big(ger) house, a boat, lots of nice stuff, and lots of shoes! haha But you know, just the basic 'good rich things' in life. Hey, a girl can dream can't she? And you know, who's to say I won't ever have those things.

I talked to my mom tonight, and she really kinda stressed me out. I am really feeling very blah and sad this week, so far. I'm not really sure if it's going to get any better, but right now, I don't think it will.

Tomorrow I need to make some taco layer dip and an almond cream cheese pound cake for a potluck we're having at work. Plus, I'm going to pick up 2 crave cases from White Castle on the way in on Thursday. Since there are certain people in my department who like to eat on food days, but never like to bring anything...I decided to tell them to just give me a few bucks, and I would bring some extra food so that there would be enough. So, that's what I'm bringing so far. If I get more money tomorrow, I'll probably end up bringing a meat/cheese tray or something also.

Well, I really have nothing else to say. I think partly because I'm in a crappy depressed mood. So I'm going to go now. Maybe I'll just go to bed.

Oh, and to answer a certain comment leaver, juan, I'm sorry you have problems leaving comments. And yes, it's not my problem..it's blogger's problem. If you can't leave a comment, and feel I should hear your voice, email me. d a n a at d u d e i t s d a n a d o t c o m. And, to answer your other comment..I usually don't comment on comments because I don't feel I need to. I read what you say. If it moves me enough to respond, I will. If not, I won't. That's just me. But I'm glad you read my blog, even if you are an evil elephant. ha!

Sometimes..

I feel crappy. I get tired, I have 0 patience for anyway, I feel under paid, and I hate paying bills. Then, I just feel like sleeping for days. Now, obviously I cannot sleep for days. I have to work. So, I'll just buck up like a good little buttercup!

Today I got really annoyed trying to teach someone how to use Visio. If you work in IT, shouldn't you know how to use a computer? At least, the basic functions of a computer. I suppose it doesn't help that I have no patience. Finally, I just gave up. Well, not totally, but I gave up the hands-on training. I will try again tomorrow. I hope I can find at least 30 minutes worth of patience. I really need this person to know the basic functions of building workflows with a template in Visio. Wish me luck!

Besides that, the day wasn't bad. I was really busy all day. The day went by super fast. After work, I came home and made tator-tot casserole & green beans, and did some more laundry. Then I worked out, took a shower, and paid some more bills. I hate bills. Life would be so much better if we had no bills ever, really. The tator-tot casserole wasn't normal stuff. I decided to make it into low-fat tator-tot casserole. So, I used 90% lean beef, fat free cream of mushroom soup, and extra krispy tator tots. It was okay, but I think I like regular tator-tot casserole better.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going out to dinner with some friends to the new buffet place in Chesterfield with the big torches outside...I think it's called Emporer's Buffet or something. I hear it's yummy, so I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

I think I'm going to go sleep my night away and try to have sweet dreams of nothing before I have to wake up. G'nite.

The Weekend.

Man, I feel like I got a lot done this afternoon...though I suppose it wasn't all *that* much. We went to Chris's grandma's for lunch. She made so much food. Fried fish, hush puppies, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, spinach salad, a really good fresh apple pie, and a pound cake. It was waaaaay too much food and I'm *still* full. If I eat dinner tonight, it will be either fruit, or a salad. Anyway, after that, I came home and started (more) laundry, then I went to Sam's. After that, I came home and Chris helped me organize the basement. We arranged boxes, threw stuff away, swept the floor, etc etc. It was a lot. I sometimes forget how large our basement is. I can't wait until we finish it.

Then, I started some more laundry, paid some bills, and prep'd 2 lbs of strawberries. Now I'm watching TV. This weekend was pretty good. Last night we had some friends over for dinner. Chris made his awesome homemade spaghetti sauce, and we had garlic cheese bread, and salad. Then, we watched "Walking Tall" with "The Rock". It wasn't a bad movie really...if you like the kind of movies where the 'good' guy gets to beat up all the 'bad' guys. It was a short movie too, so that was a bonus. Anyway, it was a nice night.

This week will be busy at work. I've got 2 new projects to start working on starting Monday. Plus I have a ton of meetings this week. UGH. This coming weekend, we're going to visit my mom. Chris ordered some new stuff for her iMac and we're going to spruce it up for her. I'd like to just get her the new Mac mini but she's really weird about her iMac because my dad bought it for her, and since he died, she's gotten really sensitive about that kind of stuff. The sad part is, is that her iMac is about to die. It makes the most horrible sound. The HD is seriously trashed. So, we're replacing her HD, and adding some more memory, and hopefully in a year or so, she'll part with it and welcome a new Mac into her abode.

For Easter weekend, we're going to Nashville to visit my Uncle/Aunt/Cousins. It's going to be fun. My cousin and his fiancee are going to take us out. And they're a blast to hang out with!

I don't know if I mentioned this already or not, but a few weeks ago, I bought tickets to see The Producers at the Fox. I'm excited, even though Matthew Broderick isn't going to be in it. I think it will still be a great show!

Well, that's it I think. I need to go switch the laundry. Only 3 more loads to go. It's amazing how much laundry 2 people create. And, I do laundry usually throughout the week. Crazy stuff.

Nice!

It's so nice out today! A great day for the St. Pat's parade & run. We were going to go to the Home Show today, but we didn't. This morning, we took Jack to the vet, then came home and took a nap! ha. After that, we picked up a little and then went to Kohl's and Target.

Tonight, Jason & Nicole are coming over for dinner. We're making spaghetti, salad, and garlic french bread. For dessert, we're having strawberry shortcake. Yum! I'm hungry now.

I should be doing some laundry, but I just don't feel like it. Even though I went to bed early last night, and even had a nap today...I'm still feeling tired. Hopefully I'll get a second wind soon. I just really need a vacation. 70 more days to go. It seems like a long time, but I guess it's not really all that far away. 2 months and change. That's not bad.

I got the new copy of Caribbean Travel & Life. The cover had 'beach-lover's guide to St. Martin' so I felt I had to get it. I can't wait to get there! It had a lot of other neat articles also, if you're into traveling, you should pick up a copy. I also got the latest copy of Conde' Nast Traveler, which features 80 best cruise ships in the world. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet though. Oh, speaking of cruise ships, next week is cruise week on the Travel Channel. So, set up your TiVo's for a keyword search on 'cruise'!

I'm not very interesting today and I don't have anything witty to say. I think I'm just to exhausted to be myself. So, with this boring post, I leave you. I must go find some energy before our guests arrive!

It's Almost Friday!

Woohoo for the weekend! I didn't even realize it was Thursday, until this morning. So, it was sort of a pleasant surprise. Surprises are hard to come by sometimes. Give me a break!

Anyway, before I sat down, I was tinkering in my closet. Actually, I was trying to cleverly arrange my massive shoe collection in a way that would mask exactly how many pairs of shoes I have, so that Chris wouldn't get all bitchy at me about it. Well, I realized that I have a lot of shoes. And, I've come to the conclusion that I need a devoted shoe closet. And, I have decided to turn the closet in our guest room into my devoted shoe closet. I literally have boxes of shoes piled up to the ceiling in the top of my closet. Plus 3 shoe racks covering most of the floor, except for 1 rack that has Chris's shoes on it. PLUS, I have a huge pile of shoes on the other side of the closet. Plus shoes in the living room coat closet, the garage, the office, and some in the living room. It's really quite pathetic. Something needs to be done, and I need to get some new shoes, you know..for summer and all!

Today, I got a dress to wear for one of the formal nights on our cruise. It's so cute! It's a lime green cocktail dress with a little jewel thing that hangs down in the front, and the hem is the asymmetrical. It's really cute. I need to go take my contacts out. Please stand by...BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP........okay, back!

Anyway, what's the plan for the weekend? We've got a few things going on. The Home & Garden Show, having some friends over for dinner, we have to take Jack to the vet for a shot, and dinner at Chris's grammy's on Sunday. Plus a few other things that I can't think of right now. I know the St. Patricks parade is on Saturday afternoon, but I don't know if we'll make it down. I kinda doubt it, really. We need to hit the Home & Garden Show to see if we can get some info on siding for the house. We are going to get some. And that's that.

I keep meaning to type something, but as soon as I remember what it was, by the time I'm typing what I was typing at the time I thought of what I was going to type, I forget what it was in the first place. I suck sometimes.

Oh, I remembered. I'm trying to decide if I should get my hair cut like I had it about a year ago (like in my profile pic) or if I should keep it all one length like I have it now. I've gotten a few opinions but it doesn't hurt to have a few more.

I'm tired and I can't believe it's only 8. I feel that I could go to bed right now. Perhaps after I fold the laundry and finish watching this show I'm watching, I will go to bed. So, that's it. OUT!

This will be a fuck-less post.

Sometimes I just need to get a few fucks out, here and there. But, that's all out of my system now. No worries.

So, it seems traffic was the theme of the day. For example, this morning, on the way to work, I was driving down Pine. In front of me, was a BMW Z3. So, we're driving and then, all of the sudden, we're not driving. He stopped, dead, in the middle of the street. So, I had to stop. And he just stays stopped. So, I think maybe he's trying to get over...but he doesn't. Then, I think maybe he's looking for a certain building...but he's not. So, I honk. A nice long honk. And what does he do? He honks back. And honestly I thought it was stupid, because I don't ever honk at people unless they do something really stupid. And, if you do something stupid, you usually know it, so you don't honk back. Ever. Anyway, so I finally wait for the cars to go by, and I go around him. As I go around him, I flip him off. And, I usually don't just flip people off for no reason (believe it or not.) but, he had it coming. So, I get to the intersection and he's still a block back. All of the sudden, he zooms up to me and FLIPS ME OFF. Ummm..what in the hell? You don't flip someone off after they flip you off for doing something stupid. Anyway, I flipped him off again, and gave him a dirty look. I was really pissed. So, I pull into the parking garage at work, and go to my usual spot and park. I look over and see Mr. BMW Z3. Imagine that. So, you can imagine how mad I was, and a lot of you know how shy I'm not. So, I decide I'm going to wait for him to get out, and then confront him on his driving skills. However, he never got out of his car. I think he recognized me. So, finally I got out and went in to work because I couldn't wait any longer.

It amazes me how stupid people can be when driving. And then, some of those same people think they do nothing wrong. Ugh! So anyway, the bad driving just continued as I left work. I got stuck in the parking garage behind this lady in a old Ford Probe. She felt that her car was so precious that she had to come to a COMPLETE stop before she could go over a speed bump. Crap, it took me 10 minutes to get out of the garage because of her. GOSH!

Speaking of parking garages...in my parking garage, most of the spaces are reserved spots. If you've been with the company for so long, you get an assigned spot. Now, while I think that's a good reward, I think the formula they use for the spots is stupid. For instance, there are assigned spots waaay far away from the entrance to the building, while there are un-assigned spots right next to the door. Where is the logic in that? I would not want an assigned space that was way far from the entrance. That just sucks. I'd rather take my chances with an un-assigned spot. But, maybe that's just me. Who knows.

I have, what feels like is a lot, of stuff to do. Like, for instance, I need to pick up & drop off dry cleaning, get gas, pick up a prescription, and go to the gym. Not necessarily in that order. That just seems like a lot for a Wednesday.

Last night (as I was posting about before my post disappeared), we went to Macaroni Grill with some friends. Oh, wait, that's "Romano's" Macaroni Grill. Not to be confused with "Janet's Macaroni Grill" or "Ted's Macaroni Grill". I just wanted to clarify. It was yummy! I had salmon and spinach orzo, which I will be eating the other half of tonight. Plus, I got to see Ricardo & Jim-Bob and my other friend John. Not to get off the subject, but I'm listening to "Cheeseburger In Paradise" and I'm sort of confused as to why Jimmy Buffet would write a song about cheeseburgers. I mean, they're good to eat when you're hungry...but I don't think they're so good that someone should write a song about them. But, whatever!

Speaking of Paradise...only 73 more days to go until I'll be sipping mojitos in Miami and only 75 more days until I'll be drinking Bahama Mama's in San Juan. MmmMMm mojitos!

Well, that's about it. I need to get my butt in gear. I've almost got myself pysched up to pay $2.17 a gallon for gas! WHAT THE _______! (Remember, I said this was a fuck free post.) That's just too much for gas.

FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING FUCK.

FUCK. I just typed a long fucking post. And my fucking wireless fucking network fucking cracked out and fucking lost my fucking post and I'm fucking pissed off about it. Fucking shit. Fuckity FUCK!#$!#!#!#Q! Saying fuck makes me feel a little better. I am not going to retype my post. I will type another long one tomorrow. I am tired and now I'm fucking angry. Maybe a pair of 'pretty khaki's' will make me feel better. Maybe I can borrow Sarah Jessica Parkers.

Lately..

I find myself not being able to pay attention. I don't know what it is exactly. Maybe it's just that I'm tired. Worn out. My brain is on the edge of going down. Re-booting. Blue screening. I've also noticed that my normal lack of patience has grown increasingly more impatient. I'm not really sure what that's all about either.

For example, this morning when I got to work, before I even got my coat off, 3 people (whom I find very very annoying) came up to me and started talking. I don't know, maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something..but I started feeling really pissed off. And the day just got increasingly worse from that point on. I just had no patience. Outside I smile, but inside, I'm screaming, cussing, kicking, biting, punching, etc etc. If people only knew the things I really thought, but did not say...I probably would be locked up by now.

Tonight at dinner, I started talking about something going on with some of my friends. My friend, we'll call him Jim-Bob, went to the YMCA to join. He also went with his partner, who we'll call Ricardo. They wanted to join under a family membership. Since, they do live (own) in the same house, and they did get married in BC. However, apparently the snotty teen working the desk told them no. Because they were not a man & a woman, they could not have a family membership. So, Jim-Bob told me about this. I told him that I was fairly sure that the Y went by address for a family membership, and he should contact the director of the facility. Well, Ricardo contacted someone pretty high up in the YMCA and was told no again. Though, he was apologized to as to how the situation was handled. Now, I don't really know how you feel about being gay, nor do I care how you feel. So please, don't tell me because honestly, I don't give a shit. But, I will say that this pisses me off for a few different reasons. #1 being that it's blatant discrimination..and yes, I'm aware there's a huge debate over gay marriage and life isn't always fair. But come on. I cannot believe that people still hate these days. #2 being that I have had a family membership with the Y for as long as I've been going to the Y. A few years ago, when my sister lived with us, she was on our Y membership. She has a different last name than me. There was never a question as to why. She lived at our house, and that was that. For all they know, she could have been my lesbian lover. She is, of course, only 5 years younger than me. #3 being why would the YMCA be hating on people. The Christian organization. Discriminating? I am a Christian. I am a Lutheran. I love God and I believe in God, and honestly, do the people at the YMCA believe that God is discriminating in his love to gay people? That somehow God loves straight people more than gay people? The whole situation just makes me upset..and I'm not even gay. And for me, it's not really about being gay. It's about being different. Weather your gay, straight, etc etc. There are so many what if's involved. I realize that the Y is a private organization. But, this is my blog and I can say whatever I want. With Jim-Bob & Ricardo's permission, I'd like to be an advocate for their right to have a family membership. And you know what, I don't care if you think that's stupid. For me, I feel that it's right. So if you don't like it, suck it. And I'm sorry if I seem hostile, but I'm a little upset.

So, with that I'm done. I'm going to finish watching TV, and I'm going to work on writing a letter. I bid you goodnight and I hope I'm a little more calm tomorrow.

Oh Vera!

I got new glasses. Wooo. They're fancy schmancy Vera Wang, and they came with a fancy schmancy case. What do you think?

I got a raise today, and a kick-ass review. It was a total Dana love fest in my bosses office today. And that was great. So, all in all, I had a great day. Granted, the raise wasn't *that* good...but geez, I was lucky to even get a raise. I have, only been at my job for 4 months.

I got new tires today. Actually, the tires were sitting on my porch when I got home tonight. Chris ordered them from tirerack.com. Hopefully I can get them put on tomorrow, because I'd like to have them on before we trek down to see my mom this weekend.

I'm catching up on my backlog of TiVo tonight. Currently, I'm watching Distraction, which has to be one of the greatest game shows on TV right now.

Well, that's it for me. Soon, I'll have a huge rant regarding Sprint. But not tonight. For I have way too much TV to watch.