Neighborhood Bitch Fest

Also known to some as Subdivision Meetings. I continue to attend, because I'm a good neighbor and I care about my neighborhood. However, I really must tell you about the ridiculous shit that is talked about at these meetings. First of all, I have a love/hate relationship with Subdivision committees. I think that it is a good thing to have a set of rules to maintain a safe, nice neighborhood. However, I also hate how they tend to take on a Nazi-like behavior in regards to rules and regulations of the subdivision. With that said, I'll begin.

In my subdivision, we pay $300 per year for our sub fee. That $300 is supposed to pay for lawn care of common ground, electric, misc fees, and garbage. When we first moved into this sub, we only paid $175. That was about 6 years ago. Part of the reason we, well not we, but THEY raised the fee, was to put a little cush in our account for a new sub sign at the entrance of our neighborhood. Anyway, at today's meeting, we talked little of a new sign, and mostly of a sprinkler system being installed at our entrance. Ok. So, WTF people? A sprinkler system? Are you kidding? *I* don't even have a sprinkler system for my yard. The entrance of our sub is small. Super small. Not even the size of a standard yard. The cost would be out of control due to the fact that there is no electric or water source there already. Then, you have to take into account the fees for turning the water on/off for the seasons. The monthly water & electric bills, and the maintenance fees for when the lawn crew who mows the common ground mows off a sprinkler head. Which, you know will happen at LEAST 3x's a year. Anyway, thankfully that little idea didn't pass. So, we move on. Focus people!

Next topic? Parking on the street. While I agree that at times it is a hazard that at least four out of ninety six houses park eight or more cars on the street, I feel that it is their right as citizens. Is it annoying? Sure. But do I want a rule that says no parking of cars on the street overnight? NO! I don't. We must have beat this topic to death five or more times. We left that one with our board president approaching the city/county for alternatives.

Then we move on to open discussion. Holy shit there are a lot of bitchers in my neighborhood. We discusses groundhog issues. A resident feels the board should contact the city/county for some work they recently did adjacent to our neighborhood which he claims roused the groundhogs and drove them to his yard. Are you fucking kidding me? I have groundhogs in my yard. Actually, they live under our deck. Is that the subdivision's problem? No. It's my problem. For fucks sake, get a clue. The next topic was barking dogs. SERIOUSLY? What should we do? Take a vote on whether or not we should allow dogs? I don't have dogs. Other people do. Sometimes dogs bark. They are dogs. As a dog owner, it is your responsibility to make sure your dog isn't left outside for long periods of time barking. If it bothers you, CALL THE COPS. Or, of course, try talking to your neighbor. Problem solved.

Next we discussed a dead cat in our pond. Who killed the cat? Oh noes! A death in the neighborhood. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. I don't care. How is this productive? It's not.

After more of these fabulous, important topics, I decided I'd had enough. Of course this is 1 1/2 hours later. I got up and walked out. I couldn't stand it anymore.

If the housing market would buck up a bit, our house would be on the market faster than you could say SOLD. We want to move to the city. I'm so sick of the 'burbs I could puke.

I Got It From My Mama

While listening to will.i.am's I Got It From My Mama.

Me: Aren't you glad you didn't get your mom's little boobs from your mama?

Chris: Uh, yeah. Cause I'd hate to have big boobs and wang.

Me: I guess it's a good thing you got it from your Daddy.

Chris: Everyone gets their wangs from their Daddy.

Me: But not everyone has a daddy with a big 'un.

Laughter ensues.

That is all.

A Few Things....

This is my new bag! Now, I know, you are thinking, this isn't her usual Coach/D&B purchase. You're right! It's a survival bag! Go me!

Another thing. If you see this man, ask him how he found my blog. I'm dying to know.

Anywho, tonight I attended a sad hour in honor of our soon to be extinct company. It was..well, sad. Almost like a wake. There was a tombstone, a guest book, a made up song, lighters were sparked, and stories were shared. It was sad and I almost shed a tear, but then Stacey bought me a shot, and the tear never came. Dang.

My little sis is in town this weekend. She's a liar because she said she wasn't coming this weekend, and then she came. Dag gun, liar. She wants to "study" with me this weekend. When we "study" together, we don't seem to get a lot accomplished. Yikes.

I'm tired, and a little buzzed, and I'm hitting the hay. Peace, love, and hair grease!

OH. HOLY MOLY I almost forgot. A huge Congratulations to Jeff and Becky for the birth of their new baby girl about an hour and a half ago. Jeffy called me a few minutes after she was born and I even got to hear her cry her little lungs out. I can't wait to see her! So, make sure to stop by Becky's blog and post your good wishes.

So, Like, Totally, Dude.

I feel myself shifting into boing boing boing, OCD, crazy, rushed mood. The party is next weekend and I have a ton of shit to do. I also have homework to do. Tonight I bought a new bookcase for all of our books. Too many freaking books!

Today at work, I had a meeting with a difficult PM I'm working with. When I say difficult, I mean really. He's a nice guy, but a bit of a spaz. He's totally technical, which is cool, but about a year and a half ago, he was placed in a PM role. Wrong move dudes. He needs to go back to the tech side. He's always in such a rush that he never stops to listen or give the correct information. My meeting with him today consisted of him spending an hour getting a spreadsheet, that he had already sent me, right. I told him the data was corrupt. He argued with me for 20 minutes about it, then realized that the data was corrupt. WHEN I TELL YOU THE DATA IS CORRUPT, THAT PROBABLY MEANS THE DATA IS CORRUPT. That's what I wanted to scream to him. Tomorrow I'm really looking forward to our follow-up meeting. NOT. I'm going to have to explain PM 101 to him, again, for the umpteenth time. Can someone throw me a bone, please?

One more thing. SISTER! I am begging you. BEGGING. Please come help me next week when you roll into town. I need your assistance cooking and cleaning. I mean, not real cleaning, but you know...cleaning after the cleaning lady cleans because she's supposed to come on Thursday. Anyway, please! Please! Please! Throw me a bone!

That is all.

Ask and You Shall Receive

So some anonymous reader asked what I was going to get at REI. Well, while I'm not 100% sure of everything I'm going to get, one of things I'm going to get is something along the lines of this. I'm not sure if I'll go with this specific one, but I'd like one like it. I'm also looking for a good compass. I also need some of these and these for a trip in January.

There are some other things that I'm sure I'll buy, but those are a few of the things I definitely want.

As I sit here, typing this lovely post, my deck is being worked on by a professional. Yes my friends, we have outsourced. Carpentry is apparently not either one of our forte's so we decided to call someone who knows what they hell they are doing. Who knew the railing of the deck is the most tricky part. Sheesh. Anyway, I'm super happy that soon the deck will be finished.

Yesterday I spent the day working in the yard. I trimmed our bushes and also took out a bush. That's hard work, yo. I was so exhausted last night that I went to bed early. I still need to finish up one bush and to mow the yard, but I'm going to do that later this evening when it cools off a bit. It's too hot for this bitch to be exerting herself.

Friday night I went to a happy hour to raise money for the United Way, and then hopped around to a few different places before meeting up with Chris at the Tap Room. Good times.

In other news, my mom is back home. She called me and left me a voicemail. So, that made me feel a little relieved to know she was at least back home and not dead on the side of the road somewhere between here and Montana. The drama continues.

Next week I start my management cluster. I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully it's a little more challenging that the classes I've experienced so far. Oh, also next week I may or may not hear more regarding my work status. As we come closer to the Oct 1 date, my fate seems to become more and more sealed. Friday, we got an email about the first "workforce displacements." So, it's only a matter of time.

Before I go, I want to mention that I do support the Jena 6. I don't know if any of you have been following this, but I just cannot believe how some people are still racist. It blows my mind. Is this really happening? Is it 2007 and people are still anti-blacks? Something needs to be done to fix this ignorant attitude.

So, I'm thinking about going to REI, or lying back down to rest my aching back. So, I'm out. Peace!

Dirty Balls Are Better Balls

So, my bowling league started up last night. I had a shitty day yesterday, as most of my days have been. I forgot my bowling ball and my shoes at home. A slow car was in the fast lane, and I was late for work. Anyway, after being annoyed all day about forgetting my shoes (I HATE HATE HATE wearing shoes other people have put their feet in) I went to the alley. I'm a sucky bowler. You guys know this. Yes, I'm the captain of my team. Yes, I'm bowling again this year. However, I suck at it and I really don't enjoy the act of bowling as much as I enjoy the ball jokes. HA! So, last year my average was 91. Yeah, I told you I suck. This year, I fear it's going to be even less. I bowled a 111 the first game. A 71 the second, and a 61 the third. GO ME! The good news is that the rest of my team really did well. At least I have that.

Today I had my mid-year review at work. I'm awesome. That's all I'm going to say. However, you already knew that. Right Jeffy? :P

Speaking of Jeffy, can you say C O N G R A T S to him and his wife? They're about to become parents to a beautiful baby girl. Yay!

What else? My mom is still MIA/In Montana. I'm still in the same state I was when I posted a few days ago. Except, today I was feeling a lot more anxiety than I have in previous days. Maybe it's that and a combination of the merger I'm going through. I don't know. It sucks, that's all I know.

I'm sleepy. Tomorrow I'm going out to dinner with my beeeeaaauuutttiiifulll sister, bro in law, and sister's friend at the Drunken Fish. MmmMmmm sushi!

With that thought, I'm going to go eat some ice cream. Peas!

Turkey!

Bowling starts tomorrow. I'm sooo excited to lead my team to another suck ass victory. We have new shirts this year. When they come in, I will take a picture.

I've been busy obsessing over my mom and finding ways to keep myself busy, such as mopping my floor multiple times, baking cupcakes multiple times, washing dishes when I have a dishwasher, and Magic Erasing scuff marks around my house. As far as my mom goes, she is MIA. Well, not completely. She called my Grandma to tell her that she made it "ok" to Montana. She claimed she was going to Montana with her drug dealer to look for dinosaur bones. My Uncle said he felt relieved that she called because she said she'd be gone for 2 weeks. My response was the following:

Great! She can make meth and smoke it too!

I'm so sick of being constantly worried that I'm going to get another phone call from the ER telling me my mom's had an "accident." Do you know what it's like to deal with that sort of shit? It sucks. I'm not supposed to deal with shit like this. It's just not fair. I shouldn't cry at the thought of my mom. I shouldn't have to worry about my sister being so upset that she kills a patient. I shouldn't have to turn the radio off in the car because everytime a song comes on that talks about parents or love or daughters or drugs because it makes me cry. I hate this. I'm sorry that all I seem to talk about lately is how upset I am. I hate blogging about it, but I don't know how else to express it. I'm getting some referrels for therapists, but until I find one, this is all I've got. Did I mention that I hate crying? I hate it. I'm tough and mean and should not cry. But, when it comes to my mom..I can't help it.

Well, that's about it. I'm doing shit at work that I never thought I'd do. I'm waiting for my books to get here so I can start on my homework early. (Who ever thought THAT would happen?) I'm making list after list after list of things I need to do, buy, fix, throw away, sell, etc etc etc. I'm trying to focus on things that take my mind off my own reality. Thank goodness my subdivision is trying to raise our sub fees again. At least it gives me something to be pissed off about besides the obvious.

So that's it. Oh, and if you're out and about Friday, Beffa's on Olive is having a happy hour and donating 1/2 the proceeds to my work's United Way effort. Stop by if you're in the area.

Oh, and one more thing. I got the final nail in the coffin today regarding getting my tat removed. Not only do I have purple, but it's on my ankle. Fuckity fuck.

And with that, I'm out.

Weekend Recap

I'm really tired today. Maybe I'll go back to sleep after this. Who knows. Yesterday, a little work got done on the deck, but then we hit a snag with a bent bored and we're sorta at a stopping point. Crappy. Yesterday, I returned library books to two different library's, got an oil change and tire rotation, picked up a few things I didn't need from crappy Wal-Mart, and went to the grocery store twice. Then, I took a nap. When I woke up, Chris was making a homemade Indian feast that was so good I almost crapped my pants. Saag paneer, chicken vindaloo, and curried lentils. Oh, and naan and tamarind sauce. Soooo yummy. After that, my OCD kicked in and I made Chris clean the oven, then I washed all the dishes in bleach water, ran some more bleach water and wiped the cabinets down, swept the floor, mopped the floor...twice, and wiped down the baseboards in the kitchen. I'm telling you, I just don't feel like it's clean unless you use bleach. I'm also a little ticked off because I'm pretty sure the cleaning lady hasn't been moping. I also KNOW for a FACT that she doesn't shake my rugs. I'm really upset about it. I like my house clean. As in, eat off the floor clean. What is so hard about shaking a fucking rug if I'm paying you to do it? So, I'm looking for another cleaning lady. I think I'm going to join a certain list by a chick named Angie to get a referral, hopefully.

Anyway, so today there is more deck work planned and I need to bake some cupcakes for work tomorrow. Yellow with chocolate icing. Yummy! Well, a nap sounds lovely to me right now, so see ya suckas.

Fuck A Bunch of That.

So I'm not having the best week. Actually, this ranks up there with one of the worst weeks of my life. Until you know what it's like to see a drug kill your mother, and have your mother laugh at you, then have your sister call you crying and tell you that you mean more to her than her own mother, well you just haven't had a bad week. My work environment sucks right now. There is a problem with a co-worker who isn't a team player. She's negative and she's really getting on my nerves. Today, I had a conversation with my boss about her. I'm betting things are going to get worse, before they get better. I just think she should view this as a coaching opportunity. Hmm, what else? I'm sick. Yeah, snot abounds. Oh, and today we got a letter from our subdivision committee about an emergency meeting at the end of the month where we will be discussing raising our subdivision fee. Fuck a bunch of that. You can bet your sweet ass I'll be front and center at that meeting. I'm tired and I'm not going to take it anymore. Think Norma Rae. Anyway, so there's that. Oh, then we got our Charter bill today for our phone and internet and surprise, surprise it had gone up. Fuck a bunch of that. AT&T here we come. Shit.

I'm hoping tomorrow is going to kick off a much better streak of life for me. My sister will be here tomorrow evening and I'm going to a happy hour. If I can't get happy at a happy hour, then there is no hope for me. This weekend will be an exciting weekend of deck railing construction. I'll try and snap some pictures.

I Hate You.

You destroy lives. Your only purpose is to hurt those who use you, and hurt the families of those who use you. You make your consumer laugh at their children when they call them, crying, begging them to go to rehab. You make their teeth fall out, you give them sores on their bodies, you fry their brains, and you wreck havoc on those lives around you. I hate you. You will never understand how much you've hurt me, my sweet little sister, and the rest of my family. You have literally ripped our hearts out and stomped all over them, then laughed in our faces and told us, "I don't need this shit." Yeah, you don't need our shit. You would die if your consumer went to rehab. Only to pickup and move on to another innocent family. I really do hate you.

I will never understand what it is about you that so many people find interesting. I don't get addiction. I never will. How does the conversation with your consumers go? Something like this, perhaps?

You: So, you want a hit, don't you?

You: You want your teeth to fall out. You want to pick at your body until it bleeds. You want to hurt those you love. Come on. You know you want to.

Does it go something like that? Do people really buy into that? Obviously. I mean, you've managed to hurt us like that. I hate you, and unfortunately as deep as my hate runs for you, there are thousands of people who love you so much that they're willing to give up everything they love, just to spend a little time with you. Fuck you and the sudafed you rode in on.

Saturday, Bloody Saturday

Hey ya'll. What are you doing on the 29th of Sept? Nothing you say? Great! You should come and eat some yummy BBQ and give some blood. It'll be another great event with the Zombie Squad and the Rollergirls. Zombie fighters and hot chicks, who can beat that?

Be there. Or be square.

Fallout

Well, by now, the huge Britney comeback fiasco has been widely circulated. I spent much of the day texting with my gays about the disaster. I even shed a little tear while listen to Toxic. What happened to her? I guess she'll now deal with the fallout from this big flop. She's already shaved her head. I wonder what's next?

Other than the busy work of gossip, I spent the day working, and thinking about the end of the day. I find myself doing that a lot lately. A little birdie told me today that a big someone from my work resigned. It scared me a little. I hate merger related uncertainty. I'm going to a training class tomorrow to learn how to deal with my anxiety. Good times.

I'm drinking some wine. I love wine. Blogger is telling me there is a scheduled outage at 2am. Not that you'll know this, but if you happen to wake up in the middle of the night and have a sudden urge to read my blog, you won't be able to, so get your fix now. OK?

Britney's VMA Performance

Well, it isn't a big surprise to some of you that I was hoping for a smashing Britney return on the VMA's. Hold the phone, ma. She sucked. It was such a disappointment. It totally looked like she was moving in slow motion. Maybe nerves? Maybe drugs? I have no idea, but she should have stayed her ass at home eating cheetos. I loved the song, not so much the performance. Ah, such is life. Poor white trash Brit. It looks like her career really is going to stay in the port-a-potty. Damn.

A Few Pictures

Though it was raining last night, I did manage to take a few pictures.

Lori & Cindy - Notice Lori's wet glasses.

Lori and I a little after the rain stopped. My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. (I gotta wear shades.)

At this point, it was pouring rain.

Singin' In The Rain

We rocked out last night at the REO Speedwagon concert. It was wet, and humid, and muddy, but we endured. Thankfully, it stopped raining half way into the concert so that made it good. I had a great time. I loouurrvvveee REO Speedwagon. I guess it's because growing up, my mom loved them. I remember riding in her orange Nova, singing along to all their songs. It rocked and I rocked and that memory rocks. Anyway, good times.

I had so much to blog about the past few days, but to be honest, I've been slacking with my posts. I apologize. There has been so much going on, I just haven't had the time to do so.

I did register for my next class this week. It's a HR/Business Management cluster and I'm really looking forward to it. I'd rather write papers about things that interest me than about shit that has no bearing on my life or career. So, now I'll have class on Thursday nights. As per usual, my schedule is shaping up. Bowling starts on the 18th on Tuesdays, and class on Thursdays. Anywho.

Hmm, what else? Oh. Tattoo removal. I need to call a dermotologist and find out how much it would be to get my tattoo removed. It's not that I'm against tats, I just don't like the one on my ankle. So, who knows. If I get my tattoo removed and get Invisalign on my bottom teeth, I'll be set.

I went to the casino last night and won some cash, but I lost it all by the end of the night. Except for $7. Go me.

My sister has delivered 2 babies this week. I'm so excited for her. She's completely estatic. Her words were, "The patient bled all over me. It was soooo cool!" So, whatever does it for her. She's a super sweet girl and I know she'll make an excellent pediatrician/obgyn, whatever her specialty comes out to be.

So that's it. I'm going to go back to watching football and being lazy.

Poke Me and Call Me Done

I've ran out of steam my friends. I'm out! This weekend was a freaking blur. Friday night, I went to the Cards game with the ladies, then after that we headed over to Al's to party the night away. My sweet sister was kind enough to come pick my drunk ass up. Only one more perk of my sister living in the city. Saturday I spent most of the day and evening studying with my sister. Actually, writing a paper. Don't ask me what I did Saturday night because I couldn't tell you. Sunday, I went to the Cards game again and apparently missed a faithful reader because my dumbass left my cell phone in the car. Next time, L, next time. Sunday night I resumed writing my paper with my sister, and then came home and literally passed out from exhaustion. Monday we went to a BBQ, then the STL County Fair and Air Show, then home to finish writing said paper. Oh yes friends, it was a busy f-ing weekend.

So far, this coming weekend is stacking up to be another busy one. Friday night is margarita's with a co-worker and his wife, and Saturday I'm going to a concert. Now, I know you're going to be jealous, so I hesitate to even say who I'm seeing, but I'll go ahead and let you in on it. Just try not to hate. .38 Special, Kansas, and my all time favorite REO Speedwagon. Yeah bitches. You can be envious. ha! I'm just kidding. I'm going with my friend Cindy, and Lori, Stacey, and my sister are going to tag along. If you're interested, or if you too are going, let me know!

Working is going ok. Kicking my ass, but going ok. This class I'm taking is almost done kicking my ass too. I have 1 week left. Thank you sweet Jesus!

So, this is my update. I swear, one of these days, I will have some funny, witty post for you guys. I just need to schedule some time to be witty these days. Sheesh.

Lean Like A Cholo...

I can't get that freaking song out of my damn head. This is my attempt to cleanse it from my mind.

So we're only half way into the weekend and I'm already pooped. Last night, Stacey, Lori, Cindy, and I went to the Cards game. Good times! Then, my sweet sister offered to come pick me up at 3am and be my sober chauffeur so that was nice. Today, I had lunch with her and my brother-in-law and his sister. After that, India and I went to the library to study. Unfortunately we didn't make as much progress as we would have liked because we kept getting interrupted. We were also aggravated at the St. Louis City Public Library because they refused to give my sister a library card because her ID didn't have her current address on it. They told her to bring in a piece of mail with her current address. So, she did. (She lives a few blocks from the Schlafly branch) Anyway, the new guy working refused again because the mail had no date on it. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Excuse me while I vent for a brief minute. Is a city library card so fucking precious that you have to jump through hoops just to get one? I got approved for the American Express Black card easier than that. What happens in the case of the STL kids who go to MU and have their MU addresses on the ID's? Are they refused library cards as well? Give me a fucking break. So, she being an actual city resident didn't get a library card, but me, being a St. Charles countian did. Dude, that's some fucked up shit so you can bet your sweet ass I'll be writing a letter.

Besides that action, not much else has happened. Tomorrow Chris and I are going to the Cardinal's game, and then I'm going again to study with my sister. At Starbucks this time though. F the library. Monday we have a family BBQ and we're going to hit up the fair. Good times I tell you.