Quickie randoms

* I haven't been around much lately because I've become addicted to MSN games. Peggle, Jigsaw, and the one I spent hours playing yesterday, Cake Mania. :)

* As some of you already know, I joined Jenny Craig 3 weeks ago. It's been kinda rough, but I've lost 7 pounds so far and I feel like I'm having a good week this week, too. So yay for that.

* My sister is moving. They've been looking on and off for a new place for a couple years now. Their house now (the top half of a duplex) just isn't big enough for a family of 4. So they found a nice ranch house for rent and they will be moving into it within the next month.

* I would love to move (my lease is up in May) but I don't think I can afford anything better right now. :(

* My friend Tracy is getting married in April. I'm very happy for her, but also a little sad. It kind of feels like she's leaving me behind, ya know? I guess I'm just envious.

* I have so much TV watching to catch up on. My DVR has been working overtime lately. I have to clear some space off of it for Big Brother, Idol, Lost and Dexter. Dexter, yay! I fell in love with the DVDs when I rented them a few months ago and I'm glad that it's going to be shown on regular TV. Not sure how that's going to work though, as it's very bloody and dark. Hopefully they won't have to cut too much out.

And finally, the most important random:

** Happy Valentines Day, Tab!! Thank you for being my Valentine these past couple of years. Love you! *besa*

* and Valentine *smooches* to everyone else. :*

Blast from the past

Any of you remember the FedEx guy that I used to luuuuuuurve? From searching my blog, it seems it was about 2-3 years ago that I was always talking about him. He stopped delivering at our old office a long time ago, but I still think of him every time we get a delivery. Well... who should walk into our new office today with a delivery????!!!!! *grin* Yeah, he's still cute as ever. I can't stop smiling.

And! he remembered me! Or he remembered the company name. Or he recognized my mom. Heh. He asked when we had moved, so he obviously remembered something about us. I'm choosing to believe it was me. *snort*

If anyone needs me, I'll be over here being a dork.

Shoulda stayed in bed

Right as I got on the highway this morning, I discovered I had no windshield washer fluid. We've had snow for the past couple days, so the roads are nice and mucky. That was a fun drive.

When I get to work, I discover that we have no heat. It is 8 degrees outside with a windchill of 0. We have space heaters running and they keep blowing circuits.

I knew I should've stayed in bed this morning.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

First off, I just wanted to send special thanks to those of you who sent me Christmas cards. What a nice surprise! Please know that they all brought a smile to my face and the only reason you have not received one in return from me is that I am a lazy grinch and I didn't send out any cards this year. :)

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. I know I haven't been around much lately, but I think about you guys all the time and I am so grateful to have you in my life.

Much love to you and your families! *group hug*

The best thing about the new office

is the sculpture that my boss' wife put in the bathroom as a joke. *giggle*

My boss isn't too keen on it, but I think it's lovely! It sure makes going to the bathroom more enjoyable. *gigglesnort* And yes, the first thing I did was try and peek under their little loin cloths. They don't move, so you can't see anything. Drats. :D

Hi. *waves*

It's been a crazy few weeks for me, hence why I haven't been around. I feel so out of the loop. I haven't checked blogs in weeks and I've only popped onto RTVW for a few minutes here and there. I have some major catching up to do!

Anyway, last week and this week was dedicated to moving our office. What a PITA. I think I blogged about this awhile ago, but for a refresher, we've moved out to the country into a tiny old house on like 7 acres of land. My boss is planning on building a new office on the land next year, so for now we've moved into this house that was already here. He did a lot of renovation to it to make it nicer. I hear it was pretty gross before. It will take some getting used to, for sure, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. One of my main gripes about moving out here was the extra time it was going to take me to drive, but it's really only 5-10 minutes longer, so that is good. I was also worried about there not being any stores or restaurants around, but those are only about 5 minutes away, too. There are even a few things I like better about this place. We did some work to my desk/cubicle and made a larger work area for me and we took down most of the walls so that I wouldn't feel so closed in. And I have a window! Also, since this was a house, we have an actual kitchen. It doesn't have a stove or refrigerator (we have a mini-fridge) but it's nice to have an actual space to prepare lunches and a sink to wash dishes in and stuff. My boss bought us a small table to put in there so that we don't always have to eat at our desks.
So, yeah. It will take some time to get settled in and get everything unpacked and looking normal. There are still a bunch of boxes sitting around and who knows what is in them because my boss didn't label properly when he packed them up. *rolls eyes*

Oh, and the bestest part of this move? was of course the fact that I had thrown out my back right when we needed to start packing things! Yeeehaw! OMG, I was in such pain for like 2 weeks. It started out as just a mild annoying pain and then it got bad, fast. I missed a lot of work, but when I was here, I was packing even though I could barely move. I'm doing better now. I went to the doc and got a bunch o' pills. Anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers and some Vicodin. It still hurts a little, but not so much that I can't function.

Anyway, that's about all that has been going on with me. I'm off to catch up with you guys now! It might take me a few days, but I will be visiting your blogs. *smooches*

Just what I needed... another addiction

I know you're all waiting with baited breath (is that the right expression? It looks weird) to hear how I'm loving my DVR. :)

Let me just say this... my addictions to fast food and alcohol now have company. *grin*

I've had the thing for less than a week and I've already used up 22% of my recording space. I went a little crazy at first, obviously. Who knew that The Soup was on like 100 times a week? Heh. I have a couple movies recorded that I haven't had time to watch yet. I just don't have time for all this tv! In addition to all my DVRings, I've also been renting a lot of television shows from Netflix. This weekend I will be watching some Flight of the Conchords and some Dexter, as well as trying to watch all the shows from the week that I recorded.

Not that I'm complaining. I luuuuuuuuuuurve tv, so having too much is better than having nothing. :)

The only thing I am a little disappointed in is the fact that I can only record 2 shows at once. Some nights (Mondays, especially) I have 3 or 4 (or 5, now that they've moved Intervention to Monday nights. Grrrr.) things on at the same time that I want to see. I just either have to tape them on the VCR in my bedroom or watch them online.

Other than that, I'm very pleased. I look forward to going home and watching a new recording every night. It's the highlight of my day, sadly. I think I'm a bit too anal though, because I don't like having 22% of my space used up. I want to delete it all and start fresh. It bothers me to have things using up my space. But on the other hand, I don't want to delete something that I might want to watch again in a few weeks. Yes, I am too anal. Heh.

Oh! And. Since I had to upgrade my cable in order to get the DVR, I now have the Fox Reality Channel! I haven't watched anything on it yet, but I hear that they're supposed to be starting up a new season of Paradise Hotel. A whole channel dedicated to reality tv. It doesn't get much better than that. *grin*

*squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!*

I'm getting a DVR!!
OMG, I've wanted one for so long and I always thought it would be way too expensive because I would have to upgrade my cable service, in addition to the DVR service and equipment. My mom has sattelite and she hates it, so she just called and got this awesome deal with everything included for like $80. I couldn't stand it anymore. Now both my mom and my sister are going to have DVR and they barely even watch TV?? No way, not fair. So I finally called to see how much it would be. Only $10 more than what I pay now! I was sure that couldn't be right. I kept asking the girl "So, there's no other fees, or equipment charges or anything?" "No installation fee?" "No fee for the cable box?" "Are you sure?" She claims that there isn't anything else. That everything is included in the $10. I'm still suspicious. Heh.

But for right now? *giddy* I'm getting a DVR next Thursday! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

*throws videotapes out the window* Oops. I shouldn't have done that. I still have a bunch of shows taped that I haven't seen yet. *giggle*

Monopoly!

Judging from Bob's "What's in your wallet" thread, it seems several of us are collecting the Monopoly game pieces from McDonalds. So, whatcha got? Maybe we can pool our resources to win something and then split the prizes. I thought I had won $500 today, but I had duplicate pieces when I thought I had all 3. Bummer!

I have:

Light blue- Connecticut, Oriental (I thought I had Vermont, but it was another Ct.)
Purple- St. Charles
Orange- St. James
Red- Illinois, Indiana
Yellow- Marvin Gardens
Green- North Carolina, Pacific
Railroads- B&O, Pennsylvania, Reading

Picture time!

Here are some pics from Tate's birthday bowling party.

My BIL's brother makes amazing cakes. Tate was in love with this one. :)

Make a wish!

Aidan was having fun at first...

And then by the end of the day he was so over it. *giggle*

*hack hack*

I am getting sick. I have just about coughed up a lung today. My throat is so sore and scratchy, if I take a deep breath it sends me into a coughing fit. And I can feel my nose preparing to be stuffed. I haven't had a cold in such a long time. I guess my streak is over.

I want to go home and lie down. *sniffle*

If anyone wants to see new pics of Tate and Aidan... buy me a digital camera. :)
Actually, I will try and get my sister to send me some pics from Tate's 5th Birthday party that we had this past Sunday. Hopefully I can post some soon.

Hope everyone is doing well! I don't post comments much these days, but I am still reading. *air smooches*

Birthday weekend

First of all, thank you all for the birthday wishes. Love you guys. *smooches*

My birthday weekend was very good. I got all my freaking out of my system in the weeks beforehand, so I was able to enjoy myself. Plus, I had a lot going on, so that helped keep my mind off things.

Friday night I went to the Indians game with my mom, BIL (his birthday was the day before mine) and Tate. I had several beers and was feeling no pain. :) They had fireworks after the game which always makes me happy. Love the fireworks. And we won, so yay for that.

Saturday I was supposed to run some errands, but I was not feeling so hot (see comment about beers) so I just hung out at home for a little while, before getting ready to go to dinner with the family. We went to the Olive Garden and had a nice meal. I filled up on salad and breadsticks (with alfredo dipping sauce *waves to Boo*) so I didn't eat much of my actual dinner (five cheese ziti). Afterwards, everyone came back to my house and we had some birthday cake. Then everyone else left to go to another Indians game, while I prepared to pack for my trip the next day and called it an early night because...

Sunday morning, bright and early at 6:30am, I awoke. Ugh. I don't even get up that early to go to work. I had to be at Tracy's house at 8 to pick her up for our journey to X-Fest in Dayton. We arrived at the concert a little before noon and we did some pre-concert tailgating. Tracy had made jello shots and I had brought some beer. I was cracking up laughing because the shots were so big that we were eating them with a spoon and to anyone walking by, it would've looked like we were just hanging out in the parking lot, eating jello. *snort* By the time we finished up and walked to the venue, we had missed the first band, but that was ok. The rest of the concert was good, but it went way too quickly. They had 2 stages and had it planned out so that when one band finished, another band was just starting up on the second stage. There was no time in between to just hang around and wait, which was nice, but it also made time just fly by. Before I knew it, 7 hours had passed and it was time to take my sunburn and leave. My mom had paid for a hotel room for us so we wouldn't have to drive back that night. We checked in there, went potty (damn porta potties at the concert. I held it as long as I could, but ended up having to go once. Ick.) and then we headed back out to grab some dinner. We were both starving since we hadn't eaten anything at the concert. Well, Tracy gorged herself on Starburst and Tootsie Pops, but that doesn't really count. :) We went to TGI Fridays and stuffed ourselves full of appetizers, and once again, I barely had any room for my entree. Heh. We got dessert to go and headed back to the hotel room to take showers, watch HGTV and chill out.

Monday morning, we drove back home.
The End. :)

27/10

My birthday is on Sunday. I’ll be 27 and I’m dreading it. Which is funny to me, because I’ve never really cared about age and I thought my sister was being silly when she was so down about her 30th. But, it’s not about the age. It’s not about the number 27. I know that 27 is still relatively young. It’s about where I am in my life, at 27. I’m still broke and alone and fat and unhappy. Seems like things never change. Every birthday and every New Year’s Eve, I tell myself that this year will be different. This year I will change, things will change. They never do. And it’s just hitting me hard this year.

Also, tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of my dad’s death. I don’t even know what to say about that. *sigh*

Why must it all come at once? (a whine)

Generally, I don't have a whole lot to do at work. I'm free to read blogs and message boards and live feed updates for Big Brother (I almost bought the live feeds last night. They have a special deal-- only $8 for the rest of the season! But I was able to restrain myself.)
Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, work. So, I'm kind of used to having nothing to do. And then... it all comes and piles on me at once. Currently I have to put together 14 binders. *sigh* That entails ordering more literature, printing out price sheets and other crap, ordering more generic binders, more custom index tabs, more custom binders, making up covers and spines for them, etc. And then I have to assemble them all. Did I mention this is the part of my job I hate the most? I usually put it off as long as possible, but these are for a new employee so I guess I'd better get them done soon. I don't really know why I hate doing the binders so much. Every time I put some together, I think "Oh, that wasn't so bad." but then sure enough, when the time comes to do more I always dread them.

I also have to order some supplies for the office, and none of them are fun. *pout*

And, to add on to my work whine; we are probably going to be moving. My boss has put the building up for sale and he has put in a bid on some property out in the bumfuck country (*shudder*) where he plans on building new offices. I am NOT a country girl. I need stuff. Stores and restaurants and just STUFF. Not to mention that this new location will pretty much DOUBLE my drive time.

*sigh* I hate my work right now.

Tune in to Oh.My.Blog next week, when I will be whining about my birthday. Hmm. Maybe I should rename it Oh.My.Whine.

Hi

I haven't had much to say lately. Just been feeling shitty, physically and mentally drained and exhausted.

I'm going to Glow's this weekend (yay) for a party. I think we're having tea and crumpets. Not sure what else might go on. *grin*

I got lunch at Quizno's today and I was standing in line behind this absolutely gorgeous cop. *swooooooon*

I have this odd blood blister/pimple/don't know what the fuck it is thing under my left arm. It really hurts.

I will be going to the concert that I posted about down there. As of now, I'm going with Tracy, but if Glow can convince her bitchboss to give her the day off, she will be going with us. *crosses fingers*

We're going to the lake for Labor Day. Looking forward to that. I'll be doing lots of travelling over the next few weeks.

It rained a ton on Monday, but it was nice and cool. I like weather like that. Today and tomorrow will be near 90 and humid as a muthafucka. I don't like weather like that. Come on, Fall!!

I got my hair cut last night. I have no feelings about it, good or bad. Same old haircut I always get, but without layers this time. I like that it takes me less time to blow dry in the morning.

I guess that's all. Peace out!

Concert fever

I'm going to a 311 concert tomorrow night. This will be the 9th time I've seen them. :) Yesterday Glow and I got to talking about all the different concerts we've been to and how we can't remember all of them. I've saved most of my ticket stubs, but I know there are quite a few missing. I'm thinking that I've been to about 40 concerts. I'm in the process of making a list. :)

Wahhhhhh! As if I wasn't already concert obssessed enough, I just got an email alert for a ticket presale to X-Fest.

X-Fest XII featuring Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Chevelle, Sum 41, Flyleaf, Finger Eleven, Seether, Fair to Midland, and Evans Blue.

Oh, hey! Don't you love most of those bands, Jen? Why yes, yes I do. All except Sum 41. And hey, look at this- the concert is on your freaking birthday! And tickets are only $20 until tomorrow! But what's this? Oh, it's not in Cleveland... it's in Dayton. Boooooooooooooo! *cries*

Dayton is only a 3 hour drive, but I doubt I could get anyone to go with me. Unless... *looks longingly at Glow*

Cleaning Machine!

So far this weekend I have:

-done 2 loads of laundry (damn machine ate $1.50 worth of quarters. grrrr.)
-washed all my pots and pans
-run and unloaded the dishwasher
-dusted living room and bedroom
-vacuumed living room and bedroom
-windexed all mirrors and picture frames
-cleaned and swept bathroom
-changed sheets
-trimmed and painted fingernails (clear)
-painted toenails (dark silver)
-sorted mail

Everything is nice and clean. Whew! Now I'm relaxing with a SoCo and coke and waiting for a pizza to be delivered.

Still on my list of things to do:

-get a haircut (which I tried to do last night, but the wait was 50 minutes! No thank you!)
-get an oil change
-clean car (vacuum and wipe down dashboard)
-make an appt with the chiropractor
-clean out and switch purses
-sweep kitchen floor
-clean out junk cabinet

I'm pleased that I got all of my major cleaning done though. That was my big goal for this weekend. Yay!

What's that? You want a new Aidan pic? Ok! *grin*



I wish I had a pic of Tate to share. He just got a drastic haircut and he looks soooo different! I love it, even though it makes him look so much older.

What are you up to this weekend?

Email Karma, and other stuff

I don’t necessarily believe in karma, but I had a brush with it today. Last night I sent a couple emails to people that I don’t talk to as much as I’d like. I was just feeling like I wanted to reach out to them and let them know that I was thinking about them. Then this morning I got an email and a PM from two different people who I don’t talk to as much as I’d like. It was a nice surprise to hear from them. Funny how that works sometimes. :)
I would have emailed more of you last night, but I needed to pass out because it was getting late. I think of you all too! *group smooch*

I need to get to a chiropractor. I’m just too lazy to make an appointment and I don’t really even know who to call. I guess I should call my doctor’s office and see if they have someone to recommend. It kind of worries me that someone will be messing with my bones, but my neck is not getting any better. In fact, after sleeping on my couch for several nights (only get a/c in my living room) my neck is much, much worse. It hurts all the time and I have a constant headache. *sigh* Have any of you ever been to a chiropractor? Does it hurt?

I’ve been taking on more responsibility at work lately, so I’ve been a bit busier. It’s good in that it makes the day go faster sometimes, but I also miss being able to play as much as I used to. I’m supposed to be getting a raise though. I don’t know when or if that will actually happen. I feel kind of guilty, because I don’t feel I deserve what I make now, but I’m sure not going to turn it down! I’m barely scraping by every month right now, and I really, really want to be able to find a new place to live next year. I’m sick of my apartment. I always say I’m going to start saving money, but it never actually happens. It’s hard to save when you’ve got nothing to start with. *sigh*

ETA: Blog and you shall recieve. My raise of $1/hour has been instituted. Yay! Hopefully I can get out of the hole over the next couple months, and then open up a savings account and have some of my paycheck put directly in there.

To end on a happier note, I’m going to my sister’s to visit with them tonight. They got home from the hospital last Friday. I hope Aidan is awake for a change! Heh.
I need a nickname for him. I always call Tate my sweet pea. I need something to call Aidan. Hmmm.

Introducing...

My new nephew, Aidan Tyler! :D

(Click to enlarge the cuteness)



























Big brother Tate brushing his "lil' cutie baby's" hair.










Aunt Jen *LOVES* Aidan :)












My favorite pic. :)











In other news, I am soooooooo not cut out to be a parent. 3 days of watching Tate and running back and forth to the hospital and I.am.exhausted. zzzzzzzzzzzzz (But it was worth it.)

More later...

Guess I should update, huh?

I've been on sort of a mini-break for a couple weeks now. Just feeling very disconnected from everyone and everything and haven't felt like participating on blogs much. I'm still reading every once in a while, but I don't always comment. I've been spending a lot of time on the SYTYCD forum, and I've also been lurking at another board because they have a lot more info than RTVW. I feel like I'm missing a lot, but it's also been nice to have a little break.

Anyway, it looks like I will have a new nephew in just 5 days! My sister is scheduled to have a c-section on Tuesday morning. The baby is breech right now and it's unlikely that he will flip around since he's so big, so they are going to go ahead and do the c. Amy is very upset about it, but I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll be going over to their house on Monday night and sleeping over so that I can watch Tate when they go to the hospital, and then I'll take him to visit his new baby brother later on in the day. :) Hmm. I guess I need to pack a bag. I might be staying over until Wednesday, too.
I can't wait to meet the lil' guy. This will be the last baby this family sees, most likely. My sister doesn't want to have another because she has such troubles with pregnancy, and it's highly unlikely that I will ever have one. So we need to cherish this time. *sigh*

I have other stuff I could write about, but it's all boring so I won't bother.

TTFN!