Halloween Party Pix ...

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of myself, and none of anyone drinking ... how did that happen? Still good pictures of some of those costumes!

Christen plays Doc from Back to the Future



the only pic of me hangin' with White Trash (Stacy)



Hell's Kitchen has nothin' on Richard



A lost soul ...



Brit-Brit and K-Fed made an appearance ...



White Trash needs a cocktail



mmm ... cupcakes ... is that Evil Dead on the TV?



Well, I'm just not that kind of pirate ...



What kind of call was that? Are you blind?



The Trials and Tribulations of the Swiss Miss Girl ...

I want a shoehorn, the kind with teeth ...

For some reason I woke up singing that song. Maybe I should be one for Halloween. Think I can get it together for tonight's party?

I think the house is finally ready for the party. Last night I made gobs of sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins and bats and cats, and orange mini-cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting (I didn't feel like making the cupcakes on my own too, so those were just cake mix with gel foodcoloring) and roasted pumpkin seeds and white chocolate ghosts and milk chocolate pumpkins (I bough chocolate molds, people). Woohoo! I have to admit, Christen did quite a bit of the cookie baking, because I was beat by 10. My feet hurt and I was in a bad mood and I just didn't have it in me to stay up. I curled up on the couch and Christen took my jeans and washed them so I could be comfortable at work today (God bless casual Fridays). I still haven't dug out my costume to make sure everything's there, but I'm pretty sure it should be okay -- the only thing I might be missing would be the lacing for my corset, but I think I have black leather strapping in with my sewing supplies that I can use if I'm missing it. I'm not going to worry. Christen put spiderwebs all over the house on Wednesday, and hopefully he washes Lola so she's not smelly :) I think he still has to get his costume together, so I'm not going to burden him with anything else. He got the prizes for me for the costume contest, and that's good. I'll try to remember to take pictures!

I crack myself up ...

I was driving to the Zone last night and I drove past a place called "Lampshades". Huh, I thought. Must be a new stripclub. But it wasn't! They actually sold lampshades! So then I was thinking, how do you make a living selling only lampshades? ... ... ... next thought: Must be a cover ...

...

yep, you got it.

...

haha :) I giggled for a little while.

Heeeeyyy you guuuyysss ... (implement Sloth voice)

Really someone needs to remind me that when I take a nap in my car during lunch and I set the alarm on my phone, I should likely confirm that my phone is not on vibrate while in the floorboard on the car. It really doesn't do much good there, right?

I decided to take a nap today because I've just been dragging most of the morning. I'm so busy these days at work I don't know what to do. I wish I could take a vacation, but of course I can't because I need to be saving those hours for the honeymoon. Okay, well there are only 4 days and 2 1/2 hours of work until the weekend. Maybe that will help even though this weekend didn't help.

Really I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed these days. I'd like to just never get out of bed, really. Is that possible? I don't think it's possible for me to complain about anything without people thinking it's their fault that I'm overwhelmed, so I'm just not going to get into it. All issues fall into these catagories: wedding, money, overworked (at work), family issues. I don't mind so much when one issue hits at a time, but everything is getting to be a bit much.

You had me at "What the fuck?"

So I keep meaning to start blog posts, but somehow I can't figure out what to say. Everything tends to sound the same to me -- everything I write, anyhow. So I'll just out with it -- screw it. Who's reading anyhow, besides maybe my mom?
My sister's birthday went well; I went over with her gifts and she loved them. She and the brother came over for a little while when Mom went to work. It was fun, nothing too big. Wednesday Shell and I wandered the mall for a bit with her friend Theresa from work, then went for sushi at Soho Sushi (still good, but not as good as last time we went) and for a stroll through DSW where I picked up an adorable pair of black Steve Madden tennis shoes for free with my store credit (still $3.39 left!) and got home early to lay half asleep on the couch watching tv until 11. Thursday we stopped by JoAnn's to get some things for the Halloween party and lagged about at home. Christen made a delectable chicken with a combination of different marinades, and I made potatoes and croissants ... it was nice. Tonight we are going out with Shea and Kyle for dinner and then to The Zone for drinks with them and Charlie and Katie. I got an email from Charlie this afternoon -- they're finally moved back here! I'm super excited -- I'm pretty sure we'll have as much fun not smashed as we did last time when we did the whole drunk "I lovvvveee you guuuuuuyyyyssssss" ...
So now that I've done my dry "This was my week" speech, I think I'll leave you now to watch some ghost stories on the travel channel. Toodles!

JuJu Beans and Eggnog (don't ask)

So I'm a total lame-o.

I opted out of the wedding reception for my dear friend because I was frigging tired. I don't know what happened, really. Christen picked me up from work and we went to the mall for a little bit to walk around and I started getting sleepy. Then I slept on the way home and went to take a nap. Yeah, there was no getting up after that. I called to wish her a wonderful time (and from the pictures, I so wish I could have been there; it looked like a blast) and went back to bed. What a Friday night.

Saturday we didn't really do a whole lot. I found some things for my wedding party presents, which I like to pick up when I find at good prices so I can put them aside for next year. Then I won't have to worry about spending the money then if I spend a little at a time instead. My sister's birthday present from me came:



It's a green Coach iPod case.

And my mom's gift for her came today:



So I think she'll have a good birthday (today). She doesn't understand how spoiled she really is. But we all love her. But her turning 14 of course makes me feel old, but you know what else is worse? My brother turns 17 in 4 months. Argh! I remember holding him in the hospital!

Sunday I went to the mall with Shell and some friends of hers from work. It was fun, and it was good to meet some of her other friends. We had the usual suspects over for poker and dinner Sunday night and had a lot of fun ... Shea and Kyle won (we gave up when they were the last two playing) ... next time I think we might limit the amount of booze imbibed (I think my house echoes) and start a bit earlier ... perhaps more of a tapas snacky sort of meal instead of what we had -- shrimp kabobs, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and chocolate chip cookies (all from scratch). Yummy yummy but took too long to eat before poker!

Monday I woke up with a terrible sinus headache and didn't end up going to work. I hung out in bed until late morning and then Christen and I went out and about to get a Halloween costume for Lola (I got her a pumpkin costume -- way cute; I hope she leaves it on long enough for pictures!) and to decide what I'm going to wear -- I've decided to either be a Renaissance wench (my usual costume) or a pirate or Velma, whom I've been before. fun fun!

Totally not starving myself, let's be clear ...

I've been having trouble eating dinner for the past week. Now, that doesn't seem like me, right? I don't know what's wrong, but I just haven't been getting hungrry, and since I have a bit of a compulsion for food, I get up a couple times during the evening to stare blankly into the refrigerator and close it without deciding on anything. Last night I had a taste for ramon noodles, but thankfully we didn't have any in the house. I don't need to be eating that garbage.

Anyhow, my not eating always worries Christen because he equates it with me being in a "blah mood" (this is what we call my downwards moodswings) but really I'm fine; just not interested in food. Who knows, I think it might be a good thing -- maybe I can lose some weight? In the meantime I've started making sure I eat breakfast so at least I've got a good start, and today I skipped my sweet tea for water ... hurrah! It was a big step. And I eat a medium-sized lunch -- usually a sandwich, 100-calorie pack of popcorn and a piece of fruit. Today I'm going to Evo's with Stacy -- so tasty! I'm super excited.

Today is Stacy's birthday -- she's 30! Somehow her birthday makes me feel old even though she seems okay with it. How did we get here? College was a blink ago, and high school a blink before that. Now I'm getting ready to be married, and have kids and all that crazy grown-up stuff. Since when did I become a grown-up?

Also making me feel old is that today Theresa is getting married. I know, all of this and Friday the 13th too! I'm going to the reception tonight, which I'm so looking forward to -- my little Theresa is going to be married! She was such a commitment-phobe in college. I guess it just took the right man, right? And Andrew's great, so I'm very excited for them. We're all going to be a bunch of old married ladies soon. Ahh!

Somehow I managed to write this whole post and not say anything -- how did that happen? hehe ... Toodles!

ps - a note on fruit

Pluots are amazing! I had one in my lunch and it was truly delectable. :) The flesh of a plum but not too sweet, the thicker skin and pit of an apricot .... awesome :)

#400 -- the milestone

I'd like to bring it to everyone's attention that this is my 400th post. Does that make me longwinded? Likely.

The froggie iPod player is a smashing success at work -- It's so cute! I've had to charge my iPod twice since I got the thing because I keep draining the battery ... hehe ...

We finally have water ... and hot water too! I took a lovely shower this morning -- it was blissful. I also washed clothes and did the dishes last night, and that even sparked a cleaning streak in me and I straightened up the library and the bedroom and my bookcase that has all my wedding stuff (all stuffed with clutter). We stopped off at the library last night and I finally asked about volunteering and she took my information. So yay! I'm glad I finally got around to that. The volunteer coordinator is supposed to call me. I also borrowed Ellison's Invisible Man and Bob Dylan's Chronicles and a book on CD of The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman. NPR is doing their donation drive, and since I'm already a member I choose not to listen during that week so I need something to occupy my airwaves in the car. The audiobook is interesting; it's not a book that I would naturally pick up (the gothic airs make it more something Autumn would be reading) but the narrator's voice feels like a mother reading a book to her child. She does "voices" for each of the characters, and elogates the sound of each description. I'm interested, but I'll let you know how I feel on Disk 5, since I'm only 20 minutes into Disk 1 right now.

I picked up Chronicles because Nick Hornby recommended it in Housekeeping vs. Dirt. I adore Hornby. And more often than not, he's reading something that I've read (The Poet and The Madman), or bought but haven't read yet (A complicated Kindness), or Autumn recommended and I hadn't gotten to it yet (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City). I get so excited when I see that he's reading the same thing as me. And I love that he's about reading things that you enjoy and not always about reading things that "are good for you". This is why even though I hate things like James Patterson books, and The DaVinci Code, etc, the fact that these thing encourage people to read is still commendable. Plus, it excuses me for my mild addiction to trashy Mary Higgins Clark and Barbara Michaels books. :)

Anyhow, so hungry ... off to lunch! Toodles!

Update

No water until tomorrow. Arg.

Playin' at the Savoy

It was a weekend of ups and downs, I'd say. Mostly fun with a bit of pain-in-the-ass-ness. Friday we decided to hop on down to First Friday in St. Pete. Lainey had TM'd me about going to Ceviche for dinner but Christen and I had decided on Italian for dinner (mmm, sweaty hairy men ...) so there was pasta and burgandy to be had before driving down there. We walked around, but it was very crowded and although I have a friend that lives down there at Hotel Detroit, I didn't have her number and didn't feel like yelling her name and hoping someone came to the balcony. :) So we went on down to Baywalk and stopped by Tastings, a way yuppie wine bar where you put money on a card and get mini-pours of any wine you want. It's a great way to try wines that you wouldn't normally try or wouldn't normally be able to afford, and we sat on an overstuffed sofa and felt like a rich middle-aged couple. We've both decided to embrace our yuppieness, especially since it doesn't entirely encompass who we are but rather a lifestyle that we choose to live.

And then we woke up, quite literally. Saturday morning we got up and took a shower and when we were ready to leave the house we realized the water heater was not only broke, it was pouring water into the garage. We both searched the unit but there wasn't an switch to stop the water from flowing into the heater, so we had to turn off the water to the house. We called the realty, but so far (now Monday) we still haven't heard from them .... I take it back; I called and the plumber is coming sometime today. But anyway, in the meantime we went out to the mall to return a pair of shorts (I don't know why I buy shorts, I never ever wear them) and to the German place in the mall for sandwiches. After we decided the realty wasn't calling back for the day we meandered out to Citrus Park to walk around the strip mall out there -- it was such an amazingly beautiful day. I got a stuffed frog with speakers that attaches to my iPod for my desk at work

-- so cute! I was so excited. We met with his parents at Ballyhoo's for dinner and drinks (grouper nuggets and wine) and went back home because my sister was spending the night.

Jamie and I watched a movie (First Daughter, yes we're lame) and hung out ... she spent all night on the computer talking to her friends until I finally told her she needed to start asking (I had a very bad headache, and it was starting to grate on my nerves) and we went to bed early (before midnight). Sunday we made cranberry walnut muffins and Jamie and I took the dogs to the beach (Christen was watching football). The beach was fantastic! Now, we all know that I hate the beach, but everytime I go I have such a good time I forget that I dislike the beach. I got a pretty good tan and I'm sore, but we swam with manatees!

(Not my picture, this was the one time I didn't bring my camera to the beach)

There were three manatees close to shore and we swam out with them, and one swam over my feet (it felt tough and sandy). A guy that was out there too kept "surfing" on one of them, and Jamie accidentally stepped on one's fin. It was very nifty. I have to admit that I'm not much of a creature person -- I'm not one of those girly girls that loves dolphins and manatees and all that -- but manatees are so much cooler in living color rather than at the zoo. It was one of the coolest things I've done in awhile.

Last night was just for laying around being sore and nursing my wounds (I stepped on a rock and cut my foot open, and tred through sandspurs so I have little holes in my thumb from pulling them out of my pants and shoes and toes and the dog's paws. And I made lovely chewy chocolate chip cookies. I lost my football pool, but it was still exciting because it wasn't definite that I lost until Pittsburgh was defeated last night. C'est la vie!

(I'd better have water when I get home from work today ... I'm only sayin' ...)

Ballade Vor Chue

Okay, so I know I said I'd tell you how the soup was ... it sucked. Pretty bad, actually. We poured it down the disposal and made something else, but I wasn't feeling well so he ate and I sat around. Kyle and Shea came over, but Shea was just as out of it as I, more so even, so we sat around watching tv and when she fell asleep in the chair I went to bed and left the boys to their work outside.

I dreamt last night of high school, but only sort of. In my dream I was my age, but I stopped by the school to take a shower on my from my grandmother's house to the Ringling Museum. Now's when you'd need to know that none of those places are anywhere near eachother, nor are they in line at all so that it may have been convenient to do this. But I got there and it was graduation and the marching band was doing a final show (which they don't do at graduation). They were playing The Magic Flute, and my high school boyfriend was the drum major (he wasn't, in high school) and he was wearing a robe that looked like the one Mickey Mouse wore in the animated version, and he hugged me and I felt his "cash and prizes", as Jamie puts it, up against my leg. But all my friends from high school were there and playing with the band, but somehow I was older than everyone ... I guess it's because I've moved on from hanging out with all those people and sometimes I miss then, you know how it is. I'm so different than the person I was in high school, definitely for the better, but I miss some of those relationships. Things were so much easier.

In other news, I put the Jack Johnson album on my iPod last night, but when I put the CD in my laptop to upload it, a message came up to pick which album it was:

• On and On
• In Between Dreams
• In Between Dreams

So I picked the first "In Between Dreams" and that was evidently the Spanish-language version, because now all the song titles are in Spanish on my iPod. Not that I care too much, but it's interesting. :) I also put Ben Folds' Rockin' the Suburbs and Evanescence's The Open Door. I don't know about Evanescence -- they're alright, but Lacuna Coil is so much better that in that genre (the beautiful-chick-voice-over-scary-dark-music genre) they just pale. But I'm giving the new album a chance. The guy in the next cube said he liked it better than the last one, so I'll try it out. I in turn am making a copy of Camalies for him so he can see how Cristina Scabbia does it.

I've decided I need stock in Chick-fil-a. I stop there every single morning. Yesterday I decided to skip the one near my house and ended up stopping anyhow at the one near work. I have an addiction, I know, but I just can't stop. Those damn chicken minis and sweet tea ... awesome. Pure ecstasy in rush-hour traffic. Today I gave up the ghost and stopped immediately (althought running late for work) thus giving me time to savor those doughy bisquit wrappings ....

Up up and away

Cramps must be caused by all the possible children from a month kicking my insides. That's what it feels like, anyhow. This week has been uneventful -- but wait, that's a good thing! I was so exhausted and overworked the past few weeks that it's been nice to work at my leisure, calling people as needed and arguing with lawyers when I feel like it.

Friday night I went to Theresa's bachelorette/bridal shower soirée at Limey's Pub -- great fun, lots of Strongbows. I met several very cool people who subsequently made it onto my MySpace friends list ... as if that's hard ... but I hope to hang out with them again soon -- like at Theresa's wedding reception at the sports cafe near my house! And Christen will be there, so I'll have license to drink as I wish, because really I could walk home if I wanted.

The weekend was slow but fun; Christen and I walked about in downtown St. Pete looking for a cute retro ashtray so that he can ash his cigars in style. We saw a few, but they were far overpriced (everything at the store down there is) but we got a couple ideas. I think we'll probably pick one up at Rick's Picks this weekend; cute and inexpensive is the name of the game this time. At the apartment with Brad I had a nifty square candle holder that we utilized as an ashtray but I don't know what happened to it in the multiple moves since then. Sunday was football, and I lost the pool after the 1 o'clock games, so I retired to play Oblivion in the library for a bit. It was a lazy weekend, all in all.

I'm so looking forward to dinner tonight -- we picked up some she crab soup at the market Monday and haven't had a chance to eat it so tonight's the night! I hope it rocks, but I'm not too sure ... I'll let you know! Shea and Kyle are coming over after dinner to hang out, so maybe a little wine or whine will help the cramps -- sulfites unite!