So tomorrow's the big golf tournament and given the fact that I haven't even used my clubs since Father's Day, I'm sure I'm going to be a little rusty out on the course. At least, I have a halfway good team to pull me through. (Let's go Dad and Bro!!) My motto for tomorrow is: "it doesn't matter how I play, at least I will look good out there." Hopefully that will get me through! I do have a few small kinks to work out before tomorrow afternoon, but I'm sure everything will turn out alright. (I just need to think positively!!)
Really, I'm looking to have more fun hitting the balls at the guys from work and joking around with everyone than I am at actually playing an entire round. I have to get some practice in though because I was asked to play in another tournament in October and should I play in that one, I actually have to pull my weight since those guys will kick me off the team if I stink.
Last week I drove back out to the former company I worked for to pick up attendance prizes for tomorrow and while I was there, I had a chance to visit for the first time in 3 years. It's amazing how much changes in that amount of time. Everyone was excited to see me and I was happy to update them on all of the happenings in my life and at work. Perhaps the greatest thing for me was to see there faces as I walked in. As some of you know, in a little over 3 years time, I've dropped 80 lbs. To be able to go from 205 lbs back in May 2005 to a lean and mostly fit 125 today is quite an accomplishment and while I know what it has taken to get to this point is nothing short of amazing, it's also nice that other people notice the drastic change. That was the case when I went back to visit the other day. I look nothing like I did when I left there and for the most part, I act nothing like I did when I worked there too. With the weight loss and a huge push from my current work friends (a BIG thanks J, M, TL and SS), I gained an exuberant amount of confidence which I think has made me a much better person. As I visited each former co-worker, I told them about the last few years and had a certain glow about me as I mentioned my current life. When I finally left there, I felt on top of the world. I know everyone in my life now knows how hard I've worked to move from the ugly duckling to the beautiful swan (and yes, this is how I feel about the whole thing) but I did gain a little more confidence from that visit I made and I truly know now that the last 3 years of watching every morsel of food I put into my body and pushing myself to work out nearly every night has been worth it!
Anyway, everything else is going fairly well. Work is great and I'm still extremely busy. I'm getting ready for another month-end next Friday. It's hard to believe how quick these things seem to come around, but I should be ready for it by Friday afternoon. The Monday after that is Labor Day and I'm off of work and planning on spending that day scrap-booking my Memphis pictures once again. Hopefully I'll have enough creative juices by that point to pump out quite a few pages. Lately my creative abilities have been stuck in neutral and as a result I'm still not even halfway finished. I'd like to have everything done by Halloween so I don't forget all of the little quirks from the trip. I better step it up!
In any case, I better get ready for bed and actually try to get a decent amount of sleep tonight. I'm definitely going to need it for tomorrow! I'll update again after the tournament! Have a great weekend all!!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Just plugging along...
It's been a whirlwind three weeks again and life continues to roll on leaving me to just navigate my way through all of the projects and commitments and daily tasks. The lake weekend with the girls was fun and both rules I set for myself were followed precisely. I did miss some certainties from home, but all in all, I survived the weekend and had quite a few funny stories to tell when I got back.
Work is going fairly well. I've stayed busy enough there to keep myself out of any real trouble and I've had fun along the way. I've finally decided to take an afternoon off tomorrow to run errands that I haven't been able to take care of lately. Plus, I'm going to be able to go back out to the company I worked for before and visit with some of my friends who I haven't seen since I left there back in July 2005. I hope they are excited to see me again.
The big project I'm working on now is helping with a golf tournament that SS is hosting in two weeks. I was in charge of getting attendance prizes in order and I'm working diligently so that every golfer has something as a "thank you." So far, I've had a great deal of success. I didn't realize how generous people can be if you just ask for some help. I'm also golfing in the tournament. I haven't played 18 holes since the same tournament last September but I did practice at the driving range on Father's Day, hopefully I can make it out to hit one more bucket of balls before tournament day arrives. I don't want to let my team down by playing horrifically! I'm sure they won't kick me off of the team though if I play bad considering I'm playing with M, my Dad and my Bro. They will make fun of me though if I absolutely stink!!
Hope you are having a great week and I'll catch up again with you all soon!
Work is going fairly well. I've stayed busy enough there to keep myself out of any real trouble and I've had fun along the way. I've finally decided to take an afternoon off tomorrow to run errands that I haven't been able to take care of lately. Plus, I'm going to be able to go back out to the company I worked for before and visit with some of my friends who I haven't seen since I left there back in July 2005. I hope they are excited to see me again.
The big project I'm working on now is helping with a golf tournament that SS is hosting in two weeks. I was in charge of getting attendance prizes in order and I'm working diligently so that every golfer has something as a "thank you." So far, I've had a great deal of success. I didn't realize how generous people can be if you just ask for some help. I'm also golfing in the tournament. I haven't played 18 holes since the same tournament last September but I did practice at the driving range on Father's Day, hopefully I can make it out to hit one more bucket of balls before tournament day arrives. I don't want to let my team down by playing horrifically! I'm sure they won't kick me off of the team though if I play bad considering I'm playing with M, my Dad and my Bro. They will make fun of me though if I absolutely stink!!
Hope you are having a great week and I'll catch up again with you all soon!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Girls Weekend!
The girls' weekend at the Lake officially begins later this afternoon! I'm officially packed and ready for a little sun and relaxation. Of course, this trip usually is not about relaxation it's more about hanging out and goofing off and having and all around crazy time. It will be great!!! Again, there are only two rules that I have in place for this weekend....the main one being "No tequila!" and the other being something I'll keep to myself. I know I'll follow that rule though!! :)
I'll be sure to post about our antics when I get back!
Have a great weekend!!!
I'll be sure to post about our antics when I get back!
Have a great weekend!!!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
100th Post & An Anniversary
Wow! My 100th post on Blogger!! What a milestone! Hopefully I have enough randomness to write about for another 100 posts.
This is a special post in another way too. My 3 year anniversary at work was yesterday. It's crazy to think that I've been there for 3 years and I still get up every morning excited to head in and see all of the great people I work with. I absolutely love that place and for the most part, it's the only sense of normalcy and consistency I have in my life over the last few years. Everything else continues to be a whirlwind, but when I get up in the morning, I know I can expect to have a full day and still be able laugh about all of the nutty things that we do.
Yesterday was a great day too! I took care of my normal Friday stuff and prepped my boss for everything that he needed me to do for him while he's on vacation next week. I helped a bit fielding billing questions for K who was by herself in the department, coordinated a baby gift/shower for one of our Ops guys, secured a half day off for next Friday (girls' lake weekend! woo hoo!) and then at lunch was able to come home and pack a cooler for a little after work fun!
Anniversaries are a big deal for M and I and like usual, she was extremely sweet and gave me a card and a copy of the new Whitesnake cd, "Good to be Bad." We might be the silliest people in the world for celebrating work anniversaries, but to us it signifies the beginning of best friends and an awesome team.
After work, we decided to plan an impromtu happy hour on the parking lot before heading out. It's always fun to stand around just shooting the bull and talking to each other about everything under the sun. M and I were starving afterwards and decided to hit SidePockets for dinner with TL. While waiting on our food, we planned the details for the first Boatfest for 2008 and tried to finalize the lake plans for next weekend. M and I then decided that we would head back to her house and celebrate the last few hours of my anniversary with raspberry champagne while listening to the Whitesnake cd. (I know, we're crazy, but we had a good time and that's what matters.) I made it home around 11:30 and got ready for bed and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Tonight the girls are going out for a night on the town. Actually, Angie, Bryanna, M and I are going to dinner and hitting the casino for a bit. We haven't all been able to get together since Chicago, so it should be fun!
Hope you have a terrific weekend!
This is a special post in another way too. My 3 year anniversary at work was yesterday. It's crazy to think that I've been there for 3 years and I still get up every morning excited to head in and see all of the great people I work with. I absolutely love that place and for the most part, it's the only sense of normalcy and consistency I have in my life over the last few years. Everything else continues to be a whirlwind, but when I get up in the morning, I know I can expect to have a full day and still be able laugh about all of the nutty things that we do.
Yesterday was a great day too! I took care of my normal Friday stuff and prepped my boss for everything that he needed me to do for him while he's on vacation next week. I helped a bit fielding billing questions for K who was by herself in the department, coordinated a baby gift/shower for one of our Ops guys, secured a half day off for next Friday (girls' lake weekend! woo hoo!) and then at lunch was able to come home and pack a cooler for a little after work fun!
Anniversaries are a big deal for M and I and like usual, she was extremely sweet and gave me a card and a copy of the new Whitesnake cd, "Good to be Bad." We might be the silliest people in the world for celebrating work anniversaries, but to us it signifies the beginning of best friends and an awesome team.
After work, we decided to plan an impromtu happy hour on the parking lot before heading out. It's always fun to stand around just shooting the bull and talking to each other about everything under the sun. M and I were starving afterwards and decided to hit SidePockets for dinner with TL. While waiting on our food, we planned the details for the first Boatfest for 2008 and tried to finalize the lake plans for next weekend. M and I then decided that we would head back to her house and celebrate the last few hours of my anniversary with raspberry champagne while listening to the Whitesnake cd. (I know, we're crazy, but we had a good time and that's what matters.) I made it home around 11:30 and got ready for bed and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Tonight the girls are going out for a night on the town. Actually, Angie, Bryanna, M and I are going to dinner and hitting the casino for a bit. We haven't all been able to get together since Chicago, so it should be fun!
Hope you have a terrific weekend!
Friday, July 04, 2008
Let Freedom Ring
Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone has a great day BBQing and hanging out with friends and family!
I'm planning on taking it easy and relaxing at home most of the day, which will be nice! I could definitely use the time at home!! Tonight I'm heading over to my Mom's to hang out with her, Michael and my Grandma and quite possibly work on scrap booking my pictures from Memphis. Wish me luck!! It's my first go around with scrap booking, but I cherish all of the memories from that trip and I wanted to something special with all of the pictures. And, I figured scrap booking would be an awesome way to do that. We'll see if I'm creative and patient enough to put together something that looks half way decent.
Saturday I'm heading out to my Dad's to spend the rest of the weekend with him and my Bro. I haven't been out to see them since Father's day weekend, so I'm sure we'll have a bit of catching up to do.
Hope you have a terrific day and be safe if you're actually setting off fireworks!
I'm planning on taking it easy and relaxing at home most of the day, which will be nice! I could definitely use the time at home!! Tonight I'm heading over to my Mom's to hang out with her, Michael and my Grandma and quite possibly work on scrap booking my pictures from Memphis. Wish me luck!! It's my first go around with scrap booking, but I cherish all of the memories from that trip and I wanted to something special with all of the pictures. And, I figured scrap booking would be an awesome way to do that. We'll see if I'm creative and patient enough to put together something that looks half way decent.
Saturday I'm heading out to my Dad's to spend the rest of the weekend with him and my Bro. I haven't been out to see them since Father's day weekend, so I'm sure we'll have a bit of catching up to do.
Hope you have a terrific day and be safe if you're actually setting off fireworks!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
This post won't make sense to anyone but me, but I felt the need to post something for myself. I get into these reflective moods and lyrics are the only way to express some of the things so near and dear to my heart. So, here we go: Save Your Love by Great White. If you know the song, then you know how awesome it is. If you don't, go find it on You Tube and watch the live version of it and you'll be hooked too.
I wake in the night
to find you on my mind
Deep in a dream,
you'll always be
until the end of time
I look in your eyes
They touch my soul
My love is hard to hide
I'm never alone when we're apart.
I feel you by my side
And here in my heart,
where no one else will ever be
I know who you are,
so lock the door
and throw away the key
Save all your love
Save your love for me
When I'm alone at night,
you're all I see
I wake from a dream
and see you by my side
How could I belong to someone else,
when holdin' you feels so right?
And here in my heart
where no one else will ever be
We've made it so far,
so lock the door and throw away the key (YEAH)
Save all your love
Save all your love for me
When I'm alone at night,
you're all I see
Save all your love
Save your love for me
Don't turn your back on me
You're all I need
I know who you are
we've come so far
so baby stay with me yeah
save all your love
save your love for me
don't turn your back on me
you're all I need
save your love save
your love save all your love
save save all your love
save your love baby
save all your love save all your love
I hope you found these lyrics and the song in general as inspiring as I do. I wish I could say more, but I just don't feel like completely expressing my feelings in a normal post right now. In any case, I'm going to head to bed even though its just barely after 9. I think that might help me. I'll try to put something else together soon.
I wake in the night
to find you on my mind
Deep in a dream,
you'll always be
until the end of time
I look in your eyes
They touch my soul
My love is hard to hide
I'm never alone when we're apart.
I feel you by my side
And here in my heart,
where no one else will ever be
I know who you are,
so lock the door
and throw away the key
Save all your love
Save your love for me
When I'm alone at night,
you're all I see
I wake from a dream
and see you by my side
How could I belong to someone else,
when holdin' you feels so right?
And here in my heart
where no one else will ever be
We've made it so far,
so lock the door and throw away the key (YEAH)
Save all your love
Save all your love for me
When I'm alone at night,
you're all I see
Save all your love
Save your love for me
Don't turn your back on me
You're all I need
I know who you are
we've come so far
so baby stay with me yeah
save all your love
save your love for me
don't turn your back on me
you're all I need
save your love save
your love save all your love
save save all your love
save your love baby
save all your love save all your love
I hope you found these lyrics and the song in general as inspiring as I do. I wish I could say more, but I just don't feel like completely expressing my feelings in a normal post right now. In any case, I'm going to head to bed even though its just barely after 9. I think that might help me. I'll try to put something else together soon.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I'm back!
Well, after a vacation and a little time to myself, I've decided that it's time I put together another post. Sorry for the lack of communication on my part. I've had a lot of stuff on my mind recently and work is keeping me pretty busy in the meantime.
Memphis was a complete blast. I'm so glad that my bro and I had a chance to go down there and experience Beale Street and everything else the city had to offer. My bro and I never really get to spend much time together just him and I and this trip was a good opportunity for us to bond. Our 3 days down there were jam packed, visiting the Memphis in May World BBQ Championship Festival, Sun Studio, the Rock & Soul Museum, Gibson Guitar Factory, Mud Island, the Peabody Hotel and spending the rest of the time partying on Beale Street. Hopefully I earned some brownie points with him and I retain my title as the "Coolest Sister Ever!"
The weekend after Memphis, the President of the company celebrated his 50th birthday and had a party at his house. My awesome group of work friends an I were invited over along with a ton of other people. The night was great! We played foosball, pool, sat by the fire pit and joked around even playing a practical joke on the boss! (He loved it too!)
Memorial Day went fairly well also. I just went to a BBQ at my Dad's on that Sunday and one at my Mom's on actual Memorial Day. Really, it was low-key and a nice break from the craziness. M and I went into work late Memorial Day afternoon to decorate for the surprise party we were throwing for our boss at work for his 50th birthday. We had a blast scheming and laughing at all of the silly pictures we put around the office and we were excited to surprise him the next morning with all of our hard work. We even had everyone in the office wearing shirts that had his picture print-screened onto them. Needless to say, I'm sure he'll get us back when either of us has a "BIG" birthday!
The following Friday (May 30th), the party crew went out to celebrate SS's birthday, which was actually on Memorial Day. We went to Hotshots and again just had a lot of fun joking around and being goofy. C actually came out to celebrate with us (first time in months!) and got the Quarters tournament going. I'm not much of an experienced Quarters player, but I made a few shots and even made a few people "consume" that night. I think an actual Quarters Tournament is in the works for some night in the near future! Overall, I think SS had a great birthday, even though he had what seemed to be long way to get home at an extremely late hour of the night, especially after spending the 8 hours before that partying and the 10 hours before that working!
Last weekend I spent the weekend at my dad's again and I'm heading back out there later today for Father's day. It's been nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of life here and just relax out there for the last few weekends. It has also helped me with not going into work and spending what little time I do have off in there working on "projects" that I feel I should be doing. (Don't worry, they will get done eventually, it will just take a slow down with the every day tasks that I face. With the economy being in the slump its in, it has caused all of us at work to look more closely at the job we do and make sure that it's going off without a hitch. And considering my primary position there is cash based, I must stay on top of that and not worry about the little projects!) In any case, I'm sure I'll get everything accomplished soon enough!
Hope you have a terrific weekend! I'm going to try to get some sun and enjoy my time off! Catch ya later.
Memphis was a complete blast. I'm so glad that my bro and I had a chance to go down there and experience Beale Street and everything else the city had to offer. My bro and I never really get to spend much time together just him and I and this trip was a good opportunity for us to bond. Our 3 days down there were jam packed, visiting the Memphis in May World BBQ Championship Festival, Sun Studio, the Rock & Soul Museum, Gibson Guitar Factory, Mud Island, the Peabody Hotel and spending the rest of the time partying on Beale Street. Hopefully I earned some brownie points with him and I retain my title as the "Coolest Sister Ever!"
The weekend after Memphis, the President of the company celebrated his 50th birthday and had a party at his house. My awesome group of work friends an I were invited over along with a ton of other people. The night was great! We played foosball, pool, sat by the fire pit and joked around even playing a practical joke on the boss! (He loved it too!)
Memorial Day went fairly well also. I just went to a BBQ at my Dad's on that Sunday and one at my Mom's on actual Memorial Day. Really, it was low-key and a nice break from the craziness. M and I went into work late Memorial Day afternoon to decorate for the surprise party we were throwing for our boss at work for his 50th birthday. We had a blast scheming and laughing at all of the silly pictures we put around the office and we were excited to surprise him the next morning with all of our hard work. We even had everyone in the office wearing shirts that had his picture print-screened onto them. Needless to say, I'm sure he'll get us back when either of us has a "BIG" birthday!
The following Friday (May 30th), the party crew went out to celebrate SS's birthday, which was actually on Memorial Day. We went to Hotshots and again just had a lot of fun joking around and being goofy. C actually came out to celebrate with us (first time in months!) and got the Quarters tournament going. I'm not much of an experienced Quarters player, but I made a few shots and even made a few people "consume" that night. I think an actual Quarters Tournament is in the works for some night in the near future! Overall, I think SS had a great birthday, even though he had what seemed to be long way to get home at an extremely late hour of the night, especially after spending the 8 hours before that partying and the 10 hours before that working!
Last weekend I spent the weekend at my dad's again and I'm heading back out there later today for Father's day. It's been nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of life here and just relax out there for the last few weekends. It has also helped me with not going into work and spending what little time I do have off in there working on "projects" that I feel I should be doing. (Don't worry, they will get done eventually, it will just take a slow down with the every day tasks that I face. With the economy being in the slump its in, it has caused all of us at work to look more closely at the job we do and make sure that it's going off without a hitch. And considering my primary position there is cash based, I must stay on top of that and not worry about the little projects!) In any case, I'm sure I'll get everything accomplished soon enough!
Hope you have a terrific weekend! I'm going to try to get some sun and enjoy my time off! Catch ya later.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
You know what I could use right now?!?
....a vacation! And a vacation is what I will get tomorrow morning! I'm heading to Memphis with my awesome bro for the big Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Festival. I can hardly wait! Even though we are both adults now, I still have that "Oh look...no parents! Time to party!!" feeling and like we're getting away with something.
I know we're going to have a blast and I'm ready for some time away from the Lou and work. I'm just hoping we make it back on Sunday in one piece, especially since there is only one rule for this trip....no tequila! Ha! As for the rest of the weekend, we'll just go with the flow.
Hope you have an exciting and relaxing weekend! I'll post a trip update when I get back! :)
I know we're going to have a blast and I'm ready for some time away from the Lou and work. I'm just hoping we make it back on Sunday in one piece, especially since there is only one rule for this trip....no tequila! Ha! As for the rest of the weekend, we'll just go with the flow.
Hope you have an exciting and relaxing weekend! I'll post a trip update when I get back! :)
Monday, May 05, 2008
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
While most Americans take this day as a day to party...me included, I would like to note that I do know that this is a historical day for Mexico and more specifically for the Mexican state of Puebla and it should be taken seriously.
However, in true Lindsay fashion, I did find time to party with my awesome friends at Chevy's after work and have a margarita. What a great way to start off the week, especially since I'm sure that the next 4 days will be extremely hectic with working on financials and running analysis on last month's data! In any case, I'm sure I will survive it all just like every other month.
Hope you have a great week! I'll update again soon!
However, in true Lindsay fashion, I did find time to party with my awesome friends at Chevy's after work and have a margarita. What a great way to start off the week, especially since I'm sure that the next 4 days will be extremely hectic with working on financials and running analysis on last month's data! In any case, I'm sure I will survive it all just like every other month.
Hope you have a great week! I'll update again soon!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sun, sleep and Kroger stores
What a difference a week makes! Last weekend I was going 10 different directions with things I committed to and this week I have no firm plans for the weekend.
The wedding reception last Saturday night was extremely enjoyable and I had a blast dancing and socializing with my co-workers. It was a bit disappointing that everyone couldn't be there but I understand things come up sometimes and not everyone could make it. MH looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress and I wish her and JF the best in married life now that they have finally taken the plunge.
Sunday was a really good day as well. Even after coming home late from the reception the night before, I got up at a decent hour and got myself out to Highland around 10:30 in the morning. After chit-chatting with my Dad and Bro for a few minutes, we headed over to pick up my Aunt and made our way to Nashville, IL for the anniversary party. I don't know about anyone else, but because my immediate family is so small, I forget that when a major family event comes up, we have a ton of extended family members. My head felt like it was on a swivel saying hi, telling people who I was and what I've been up to the last few years and figuring out who belongs to which part of the family. I also forget that with these events, comes a bunch of awesome homestyle cooking and I stuffed myself with the fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, cole slaw and rolls.
Before we left Nashville, we stopped into the one of the few local Kroger stores left and my Bro made fun of me for standing out front and taking a picture of it. He said something to the effect of looking like a crazy tourist taking pictures of grocery store. Kroger stores have always been a big deal to me and it brings back a lot of good memories of my early childhood. I still get excited when I see a Kroger trailer when I'm driving down the interstate and yes, I take pictures when I see a store out of town. (By the way, this is the 3rd store I've taken a picture of in the last few years, I also have pictures from Columbus, OH and Charlottesville, VA and when I come across another store, I will take another picture. So...Ha! Bro!!)
We got back to Highland and decided to just hang out at my Aunt and Uncle's house and enjoy the awesome springtime weather while sitting out and having a few drinks on their patio. Finally around 8, I had to head back across the river and get home so I could get ready for another week of work.
I must say, work this past week went very well once again. I thought I was going to have a few time constraints because I had two payrolls to enter this week and a few other "big" projects that needed to get done, but it went really smooth and I was even able to leave at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon and 10 minutes early yesterday. (Ok, it wasn't really early because I've been going into work at 7:30 and I had 42 hours in for the week already, but I like to think that I left early.)
Last night, the guys were playing racquetball again and we were invited to go watch and cheer them on but before that, M, SS and I decided to stop in to Wiliker's for one drink before the game. It's funny that we find enjoyment sitting there watching them play racquetball but it is a fun time and we laughed our butts off at them out on the court and laughed some more when we BSed afterwards. It ended up being an early night, which was perfect for me because I was completely exhausted by 9 anyway, so I came home and crashed. Literally, I walked in, put my purse down, called M and made sure she got home alright, walked into my bedroom and fell asleep with my jeans, shirt and jacket on. I don't know what is going on with my sleeping pattern but I've gotten to the point where I only sleep for 5 or 6 hours a night and then I'm wide awake. It wouldn't be bad if I was waking up at my normal time for work but no, I wake up at 3 in the morning and toss and turn until I have to get up at 5:30. Hence the reason why I'm so tired at 9 or 9:30 at night. I don't know if my body has gone back to my college schedule or if I just have too much on my mind, but it has to stop! Maybe this weekend will be a nice way to relax and clear my mind of everything and I can get on a regular sleeping pattern again.
Hope you all have a great weekend!! I'll update again soon!
The wedding reception last Saturday night was extremely enjoyable and I had a blast dancing and socializing with my co-workers. It was a bit disappointing that everyone couldn't be there but I understand things come up sometimes and not everyone could make it. MH looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress and I wish her and JF the best in married life now that they have finally taken the plunge.
Sunday was a really good day as well. Even after coming home late from the reception the night before, I got up at a decent hour and got myself out to Highland around 10:30 in the morning. After chit-chatting with my Dad and Bro for a few minutes, we headed over to pick up my Aunt and made our way to Nashville, IL for the anniversary party. I don't know about anyone else, but because my immediate family is so small, I forget that when a major family event comes up, we have a ton of extended family members. My head felt like it was on a swivel saying hi, telling people who I was and what I've been up to the last few years and figuring out who belongs to which part of the family. I also forget that with these events, comes a bunch of awesome homestyle cooking and I stuffed myself with the fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, cole slaw and rolls.
Before we left Nashville, we stopped into the one of the few local Kroger stores left and my Bro made fun of me for standing out front and taking a picture of it. He said something to the effect of looking like a crazy tourist taking pictures of grocery store. Kroger stores have always been a big deal to me and it brings back a lot of good memories of my early childhood. I still get excited when I see a Kroger trailer when I'm driving down the interstate and yes, I take pictures when I see a store out of town. (By the way, this is the 3rd store I've taken a picture of in the last few years, I also have pictures from Columbus, OH and Charlottesville, VA and when I come across another store, I will take another picture. So...Ha! Bro!!)
We got back to Highland and decided to just hang out at my Aunt and Uncle's house and enjoy the awesome springtime weather while sitting out and having a few drinks on their patio. Finally around 8, I had to head back across the river and get home so I could get ready for another week of work.
I must say, work this past week went very well once again. I thought I was going to have a few time constraints because I had two payrolls to enter this week and a few other "big" projects that needed to get done, but it went really smooth and I was even able to leave at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon and 10 minutes early yesterday. (Ok, it wasn't really early because I've been going into work at 7:30 and I had 42 hours in for the week already, but I like to think that I left early.)
Last night, the guys were playing racquetball again and we were invited to go watch and cheer them on but before that, M, SS and I decided to stop in to Wiliker's for one drink before the game. It's funny that we find enjoyment sitting there watching them play racquetball but it is a fun time and we laughed our butts off at them out on the court and laughed some more when we BSed afterwards. It ended up being an early night, which was perfect for me because I was completely exhausted by 9 anyway, so I came home and crashed. Literally, I walked in, put my purse down, called M and made sure she got home alright, walked into my bedroom and fell asleep with my jeans, shirt and jacket on. I don't know what is going on with my sleeping pattern but I've gotten to the point where I only sleep for 5 or 6 hours a night and then I'm wide awake. It wouldn't be bad if I was waking up at my normal time for work but no, I wake up at 3 in the morning and toss and turn until I have to get up at 5:30. Hence the reason why I'm so tired at 9 or 9:30 at night. I don't know if my body has gone back to my college schedule or if I just have too much on my mind, but it has to stop! Maybe this weekend will be a nice way to relax and clear my mind of everything and I can get on a regular sleeping pattern again.
Hope you all have a great weekend!! I'll update again soon!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Earthquake!
Major news here in the Midwest! We had an earthquake Friday morning and I must say, I was completely freaked out by it. I know we have little earthquakes fairly often but this was the first time I've ever experienced the movement of one that strong (magnitude 5.2) and I didn't know what to do. Of course, I'm sure it did not help that it happened at 4:30 in the morning and I was awoken from a sound sleep. I also must note too that I was equally panicking because of the fact that I live by myself and there was no one here to even acknowledge to me that indeed it was an earthquake that I felt and the news stations were not reporting anything that early. I finally got online about 5 and found my bookmark for the US Geological Survey and checked out when the latest quakes happened and saw that there was one about 120 miles away from St. Louis. That calmed me down a bit, along with the phone calls I received from my friends and family asking if I was alright. The aftershock around 10:30 in the morning wasn't nearly as scary since I was at work and we usually feel the floor beneath us shaking because of the tractor-trailers that come flying down the street right next to us so to us, it was pretty much normal, just shaking of a little different sort.
Spring is in full gear here too and the Cardinals are back home for baseball season! Woo hoo! In the past two weeks I've gotten to go to two Cardinals games and it's been a blast! Because I've put in way too much time trying to get everything squared away with my new position, the President of the company told me to take the 4 tickets to the Friday night game on April 4th and have some fun. I was thrilled that he even offered them to me, but I wasn't sure who I would be able to get to go with me. And because I work with some of the greatest people in the world, I ended up asking 3 of my favorite co-workers to go and we had fun time at the game and partying on the way there and home.
Then, I got the shock of my life on this past Monday when my immediate boss called me into his office and asked what I had going on Thursday afternoon. Well, besides working on a few ongoing projects, my day was going to be pretty easy and he invited me to the afternoon game along with him, the President, and our Corporate Banker. I felt high class getting out of work and going to the baseball game! It was a beautiful day out also, which made me feel even more guilty for playing hooky, but I definitely felt like I was something special by being invited.
Usually I don't get into baseball season much at the beginning because a lot can change by the season's end, but I've started checking out the teams a bit more and rooting for my Cardinals a lot more now. I think by being cooped up all winter, I'm ready for summer and keeping track of baseball and how my team is playing is my way of saying "Adios cold weather."
The rest of the weekend is jam-packed. In about an hour, I'm heading out to a wedding reception of one of my co-workers who got married earlier today. Her wedding was beautiful and I'm sure her reception will be a lot of fun like any of the events involving work people. They really are a great bunch!
Tomorrow I'm heading back out to Highland for my second trip out there in a week and half. Last Friday night I drove out to go bowling with my awesome Bro and his friends and did my best not to make a fool of myself while hanging out with all of them. This week I'm going to a 50th wedding anniversary party for my great-uncle and aunt. 50 years....wowzah!
Then its back to work on Monday for another week of work. It seems like time is just flying by! Hope you have a spectacular weekend and I will catch up with you later!
Spring is in full gear here too and the Cardinals are back home for baseball season! Woo hoo! In the past two weeks I've gotten to go to two Cardinals games and it's been a blast! Because I've put in way too much time trying to get everything squared away with my new position, the President of the company told me to take the 4 tickets to the Friday night game on April 4th and have some fun. I was thrilled that he even offered them to me, but I wasn't sure who I would be able to get to go with me. And because I work with some of the greatest people in the world, I ended up asking 3 of my favorite co-workers to go and we had fun time at the game and partying on the way there and home.
Then, I got the shock of my life on this past Monday when my immediate boss called me into his office and asked what I had going on Thursday afternoon. Well, besides working on a few ongoing projects, my day was going to be pretty easy and he invited me to the afternoon game along with him, the President, and our Corporate Banker. I felt high class getting out of work and going to the baseball game! It was a beautiful day out also, which made me feel even more guilty for playing hooky, but I definitely felt like I was something special by being invited.
Usually I don't get into baseball season much at the beginning because a lot can change by the season's end, but I've started checking out the teams a bit more and rooting for my Cardinals a lot more now. I think by being cooped up all winter, I'm ready for summer and keeping track of baseball and how my team is playing is my way of saying "Adios cold weather."
The rest of the weekend is jam-packed. In about an hour, I'm heading out to a wedding reception of one of my co-workers who got married earlier today. Her wedding was beautiful and I'm sure her reception will be a lot of fun like any of the events involving work people. They really are a great bunch!
Tomorrow I'm heading back out to Highland for my second trip out there in a week and half. Last Friday night I drove out to go bowling with my awesome Bro and his friends and did my best not to make a fool of myself while hanging out with all of them. This week I'm going to a 50th wedding anniversary party for my great-uncle and aunt. 50 years....wowzah!
Then its back to work on Monday for another week of work. It seems like time is just flying by! Hope you have a spectacular weekend and I will catch up with you later!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day....
....and Happy 21st Birthday to the Most Awesome Bro in the Universe!!!!
Ryan,
It's hard to believe that you are already 21! I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday and you have continued to amaze me since that day in 1987.
Funny story about when you were born:
I was adamant that I did not want a little brother. Mom and Dad kept telling me that it would be cool for me to be the older sister to either a little brother or sister and I just kept telling them that they better bring home a girl or a green baby (an actual green baby mind you because my favorite color was green). You were due on April 1st and for about two weeks, I would not budge on my demands and I kept telling Mom that if you were a little boy she better leave you there (stubborn little bugger!). Somehow though I got my wish and you were a green baby! Not in the sense that you were actually "green" but by being born on St. Patty's Day, the hospital had you in the cutest little green outfit and when I got to see you for the first time that evening, I was content that you were "green" enough and you could come home with us a few days later.
Sure we've had our ups and downs over the last 21 years but I could not ask for a greater brother or friend! I hope you have a very special day and even though we can't go celebrate tonight, we'll definitely find time to party soon! (You're actually much more responsible than I am because I would not have put writing a paper for school before going out...and I'm really proud of you for doing that and having your priorities straight!)
To everyone else, have a safe St. Patrick's Day!
Ryan,
It's hard to believe that you are already 21! I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday and you have continued to amaze me since that day in 1987.
Funny story about when you were born:
I was adamant that I did not want a little brother. Mom and Dad kept telling me that it would be cool for me to be the older sister to either a little brother or sister and I just kept telling them that they better bring home a girl or a green baby (an actual green baby mind you because my favorite color was green). You were due on April 1st and for about two weeks, I would not budge on my demands and I kept telling Mom that if you were a little boy she better leave you there (stubborn little bugger!). Somehow though I got my wish and you were a green baby! Not in the sense that you were actually "green" but by being born on St. Patty's Day, the hospital had you in the cutest little green outfit and when I got to see you for the first time that evening, I was content that you were "green" enough and you could come home with us a few days later.
Sure we've had our ups and downs over the last 21 years but I could not ask for a greater brother or friend! I hope you have a very special day and even though we can't go celebrate tonight, we'll definitely find time to party soon! (You're actually much more responsible than I am because I would not have put writing a paper for school before going out...and I'm really proud of you for doing that and having your priorities straight!)
To everyone else, have a safe St. Patrick's Day!
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Chicago will never be the same!
Last week at this time, I was just getting ready to take a short nap after staying up partying in Chicago all night long. Quite an accomplishment for me if I do say so myself!
Our weekend in Chicago started last Friday afternoon about 1 when I picked up the Explorer and all of the girls met M and I at work so we could load it up and head out for our long awaited weekend in the Windy City. Let's just say we had a few issues before we even left St. Louis. First off, we didn't have all of our tickets for the Bon Jovi concert, secondly we weren't sure if Joe was going to be able to help us get a car because he didn't think they had anything available to rent that was big enough for all of us to go in the same car and then to top it off, it was a bit icy and starting to snow when we were getting ready to leave. Well, we ended up having one girl cancel on us, so Joe was able to hook us up with something a bit smaller and it worked perfectly and it was also big enough that we didn't have a problem driving as the weather continued to spit out all sorts of precipitation.
We got on the road around 1:50 and made the trek up north. Perhaps one of the funniest and most talked about part of the weekend happened just a few miles outside of St. Louis. My phone started ringing while I was driving. It was Joe calling to find out how the car was working for us so far (Awesome customer service if I must say so! Of course, it's probably because we are friends too!) and we got to talking and I blurt out "Cool Beans" and no one would let me live that down! I was given the nickname CB and every time something happened on the trip, all the girls would say, "Cool Beans." I'm not even sure what he and I were talking about when I said that...but we got carried away with saying it the rest of the weekend!
We made decent time driving up to Chicago and after checking into our hotel and getting ready we decided to head to dinner about 8. After asking the door man and the concierge about places to eat and party in the city we decided to go to Tavern on Rush. Dinner was pretty good but we had a better time when we decided to hit the martini bar there after dinner. I'm sure that you can imagine that seeing 5 girls sitting at a table often times causes a stir and we had a ton of people coming up to us and talking throughout the night....many of which were pickup artists who just wanted to impress us but we did meet a few nice guys that told us a little bit more about the city and wanted to know why we drove up from St. Louis for the weekend. One guy was even nice enough to buy our table a round of martinis! (All of the girls made fun of me for this too....supposedly because they thought he liked me because I was talking to him about being a pilot for much of our time there. I was just interested in what he was telling me especially since I don't know any pilots!) After Tavern on Rush, we decided we either wanted to go dancing or go sing karaoke. The karaoke bar closed at 1:30 and it was already 12:30 so we decided on going to Jilly's because we heard they had dancing....we didn't know that when we got there we walked into the piano bar, so we sat in there and had another drink and met a few of the off-duty Chicago police officers who frequent there. Nice enough guys also....one even though he could help us get backstage at the Bon Jovi concert because they provide security for one of the production companies in town....come to find out, it was not the production company that was sponsoring the show. We finally made it downstairs to the dancing spot, but as luck would have it they closed at 2 and the DJ was already packing up. So we sat and talked to more people until 2:30 and then decided to head back to our hotel.
When we got back to the hotel, most of the girls were tired but Bryanna and I decided that we wanted to see what the 4 am bars looked like, so we set back out for a bar a few blocks from us.
Again...we met more interesting people including the owner and manager of another bar and grill in town and I spent a good portion of my time talking to the manager (who was about my age) about our jobs and what we like to do in the little bit of spare time we have. I think I talked more to unknown people in my night in Chicago than I have ever here in St. Louis! Finally about 5 and only because the bar was finally ready to close for the night, we headed back to our hotel. We were both still wired though and trying to figure out what was opened between 5 and 7 am. After talking to the clerk at the desk we found out that there is not much open in Chicago at that time. We could drive to Indiana to go to the casino but considering that cab ride was about an hour and a half it wasn't really worth it. She did ask us why we were in Chicago for the weekend and we told here about the Bon Jovi concert and how one of our friends was a major fan and you know what....she told us that 8 bus loads of his crewhands and band members had checked in earlier in the night! I was thrilled, especially since I had seen a guy in a tour jacket when we checked in and I had a hunch (since it was a very ritzy place) that they could be staying there. So Bryanna and I decided to check it out. We went up to the top floors to see if anyone was up at 5:30 in the morning that we could schmooze with and see about getting M backstage. Well, those guys aren't nearly the partiers that Bryanna and I were and that floor was completely silent, so we went back to our floor and woke up M and told her that the guys were staying in our hotel and we just might run into them. M was not nearly as excited as we were....could be because it was extremely early in the morning and she had just gone to bed like 2 or 3 hours before that. In any case, Bryanna and I decided that we'd go back down to the lobby and sit and wait for The Original Pancake House to open for breakfast since we didn't want to be quiet and sleep. Dozing and talking for about and hour, it was finally time for breakfast and since the other girls were not up, we decided just to go ourselves.
Breakfast was good and exactly what I needed after drinking all of the Cosmos, Bud Light and shots on Friday night. Around 7:30 we made it back to our hotel and decided to just rest for a bit since we had a big day of shopping ahead of us. By 9 am cell phones started going off and everyone was getting calls making sure that we made it up to Chicago alright so we decided to get up and get ready to hit Michigan Avenue for the day. We spent most of the day hitting all of the department stores and designer shops up and down Michigan Avenue. Around 3, I felt absolutely miserable from the lack of sleep and vodka reacting in my system and I decided to go back and lay down for an hour before I had to get ready for the concert. That helped TREMENDOUSLY!!! And once again, I was pumped up and ready for Bon Jovi!
The concert was probably one of the best I have ever seen and it was well worth the money I paid for the ticket. He rocked with his old stuff and his new stuff and put on an excellent show. I was on my feet most of the night singing and dancing. The only thing that was not so good was trying to get a cab after the show. It took an hour and a half to get a cab from the United Center back to our hotel downtown and we finally got back to our hotel at 12:30. Everyone was exhausted by this point, but I still wanted to go out. It's not all that often that you get to go to Chicago and hit the town. For me, it was a first going to Chicago as a mini-vacation and being of age that I could get into all of the places that I wanted to check out. Since I couldn't get anyone to go out with me, I decided it was just best to stay in the hotel and make it an early night. Nothing like getting lost by myself in another city!
We all woke up Sunday morning and got ready to leave and decided that before we left town we'd go to Navy Pier for lunch and to look around for souvenirs. Around 3, it was time to get our Explorer and drive back home. I must say, the drive home was not nearly as fun as the drive there...probably because we were all sad that the weekend was ending and we had to get back to real life in a few hours. We made good time coming back and I got all of the girls dropped off and the car back by 9:30 and I came home to unpack and crash.
Overall the weekend was a complete blast!! I think I've told just about everyone about the crazy antics and how much fun we had in the city. Derick called me about 6 on Monday morning and wanted to see how the weekend went and I know I talked non-stop for 20 minutes about the trip even while I was half-asleep.
It was difficult going back to work on Monday, especially since it was the last week of the month and I was still extremely exhausted from the weekend, but I made it through and even completed month-end yesterday. Of course, I must say, this weekend can't even compare to last weekend. I'm back in the real world taking care of laundry, grocery shopping and running other errands. Ugghhh!
Hope everyone else has a pleasant weekend! We should have nice weather for a change...which is a major plus! Catch ya later!
P.S. Pics from Chicago are posted on my Photobucket page. There is a Chicago album and then a Bon Jovi sub-album for the concert.
Our weekend in Chicago started last Friday afternoon about 1 when I picked up the Explorer and all of the girls met M and I at work so we could load it up and head out for our long awaited weekend in the Windy City. Let's just say we had a few issues before we even left St. Louis. First off, we didn't have all of our tickets for the Bon Jovi concert, secondly we weren't sure if Joe was going to be able to help us get a car because he didn't think they had anything available to rent that was big enough for all of us to go in the same car and then to top it off, it was a bit icy and starting to snow when we were getting ready to leave. Well, we ended up having one girl cancel on us, so Joe was able to hook us up with something a bit smaller and it worked perfectly and it was also big enough that we didn't have a problem driving as the weather continued to spit out all sorts of precipitation.
We got on the road around 1:50 and made the trek up north. Perhaps one of the funniest and most talked about part of the weekend happened just a few miles outside of St. Louis. My phone started ringing while I was driving. It was Joe calling to find out how the car was working for us so far (Awesome customer service if I must say so! Of course, it's probably because we are friends too!) and we got to talking and I blurt out "Cool Beans" and no one would let me live that down! I was given the nickname CB and every time something happened on the trip, all the girls would say, "Cool Beans." I'm not even sure what he and I were talking about when I said that...but we got carried away with saying it the rest of the weekend!
We made decent time driving up to Chicago and after checking into our hotel and getting ready we decided to head to dinner about 8. After asking the door man and the concierge about places to eat and party in the city we decided to go to Tavern on Rush. Dinner was pretty good but we had a better time when we decided to hit the martini bar there after dinner. I'm sure that you can imagine that seeing 5 girls sitting at a table often times causes a stir and we had a ton of people coming up to us and talking throughout the night....many of which were pickup artists who just wanted to impress us but we did meet a few nice guys that told us a little bit more about the city and wanted to know why we drove up from St. Louis for the weekend. One guy was even nice enough to buy our table a round of martinis! (All of the girls made fun of me for this too....supposedly because they thought he liked me because I was talking to him about being a pilot for much of our time there. I was just interested in what he was telling me especially since I don't know any pilots!) After Tavern on Rush, we decided we either wanted to go dancing or go sing karaoke. The karaoke bar closed at 1:30 and it was already 12:30 so we decided on going to Jilly's because we heard they had dancing....we didn't know that when we got there we walked into the piano bar, so we sat in there and had another drink and met a few of the off-duty Chicago police officers who frequent there. Nice enough guys also....one even though he could help us get backstage at the Bon Jovi concert because they provide security for one of the production companies in town....come to find out, it was not the production company that was sponsoring the show. We finally made it downstairs to the dancing spot, but as luck would have it they closed at 2 and the DJ was already packing up. So we sat and talked to more people until 2:30 and then decided to head back to our hotel.
When we got back to the hotel, most of the girls were tired but Bryanna and I decided that we wanted to see what the 4 am bars looked like, so we set back out for a bar a few blocks from us.
Again...we met more interesting people including the owner and manager of another bar and grill in town and I spent a good portion of my time talking to the manager (who was about my age) about our jobs and what we like to do in the little bit of spare time we have. I think I talked more to unknown people in my night in Chicago than I have ever here in St. Louis! Finally about 5 and only because the bar was finally ready to close for the night, we headed back to our hotel. We were both still wired though and trying to figure out what was opened between 5 and 7 am. After talking to the clerk at the desk we found out that there is not much open in Chicago at that time. We could drive to Indiana to go to the casino but considering that cab ride was about an hour and a half it wasn't really worth it. She did ask us why we were in Chicago for the weekend and we told here about the Bon Jovi concert and how one of our friends was a major fan and you know what....she told us that 8 bus loads of his crewhands and band members had checked in earlier in the night! I was thrilled, especially since I had seen a guy in a tour jacket when we checked in and I had a hunch (since it was a very ritzy place) that they could be staying there. So Bryanna and I decided to check it out. We went up to the top floors to see if anyone was up at 5:30 in the morning that we could schmooze with and see about getting M backstage. Well, those guys aren't nearly the partiers that Bryanna and I were and that floor was completely silent, so we went back to our floor and woke up M and told her that the guys were staying in our hotel and we just might run into them. M was not nearly as excited as we were....could be because it was extremely early in the morning and she had just gone to bed like 2 or 3 hours before that. In any case, Bryanna and I decided that we'd go back down to the lobby and sit and wait for The Original Pancake House to open for breakfast since we didn't want to be quiet and sleep. Dozing and talking for about and hour, it was finally time for breakfast and since the other girls were not up, we decided just to go ourselves.
Breakfast was good and exactly what I needed after drinking all of the Cosmos, Bud Light and shots on Friday night. Around 7:30 we made it back to our hotel and decided to just rest for a bit since we had a big day of shopping ahead of us. By 9 am cell phones started going off and everyone was getting calls making sure that we made it up to Chicago alright so we decided to get up and get ready to hit Michigan Avenue for the day. We spent most of the day hitting all of the department stores and designer shops up and down Michigan Avenue. Around 3, I felt absolutely miserable from the lack of sleep and vodka reacting in my system and I decided to go back and lay down for an hour before I had to get ready for the concert. That helped TREMENDOUSLY!!! And once again, I was pumped up and ready for Bon Jovi!
The concert was probably one of the best I have ever seen and it was well worth the money I paid for the ticket. He rocked with his old stuff and his new stuff and put on an excellent show. I was on my feet most of the night singing and dancing. The only thing that was not so good was trying to get a cab after the show. It took an hour and a half to get a cab from the United Center back to our hotel downtown and we finally got back to our hotel at 12:30. Everyone was exhausted by this point, but I still wanted to go out. It's not all that often that you get to go to Chicago and hit the town. For me, it was a first going to Chicago as a mini-vacation and being of age that I could get into all of the places that I wanted to check out. Since I couldn't get anyone to go out with me, I decided it was just best to stay in the hotel and make it an early night. Nothing like getting lost by myself in another city!
We all woke up Sunday morning and got ready to leave and decided that before we left town we'd go to Navy Pier for lunch and to look around for souvenirs. Around 3, it was time to get our Explorer and drive back home. I must say, the drive home was not nearly as fun as the drive there...probably because we were all sad that the weekend was ending and we had to get back to real life in a few hours. We made good time coming back and I got all of the girls dropped off and the car back by 9:30 and I came home to unpack and crash.
Overall the weekend was a complete blast!! I think I've told just about everyone about the crazy antics and how much fun we had in the city. Derick called me about 6 on Monday morning and wanted to see how the weekend went and I know I talked non-stop for 20 minutes about the trip even while I was half-asleep.
It was difficult going back to work on Monday, especially since it was the last week of the month and I was still extremely exhausted from the weekend, but I made it through and even completed month-end yesterday. Of course, I must say, this weekend can't even compare to last weekend. I'm back in the real world taking care of laundry, grocery shopping and running other errands. Ugghhh!
Hope everyone else has a pleasant weekend! We should have nice weather for a change...which is a major plus! Catch ya later!
P.S. Pics from Chicago are posted on my Photobucket page. There is a Chicago album and then a Bon Jovi sub-album for the concert.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Chicago here we come!
Wow...it's been a busy few weeks once again. I've seemed to stay hopping lately and most of the time I can't tell if I'm coming or going. It's all good though!
Let's see...the Sunday after my birthday was Superbowl and I, along with a few of my coworkers were invited to a party at my boss' house. It was really awesome to get to watch the game on a big screen and hang out with the fun people from the work crowd. It was pretty cool to see the Giants win too, even if I didn't pick them in my football pool!
Exactly one week after my birthday, Derick called me while I was at work and asked what plans I had for the night. Considering it was almost 6:30 and I was still sitting at my desk trying to plug along through payroll and inter-company transactions, I didn't have much planned. He was heading back to Missouri after spending the day in Benton, IL and would be passing right by my house and since we didn't get to do anything special for my birthday, he wanted to make up for it. I was definitely excited to see him so I packed up my stuff and headed home. We went to Olive Garden for dinner (one of my favorite places!) and just came back to my place to talk and relax for a bit. I was so happy he thought of me and it really did make my night 100 times better.
On Friday night, I called Shell after work and asked if she wanted to go out and have dinner and catch up because its been so busy with the holidays and all. We had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and then hit a few stores in St. Peters. It was so weird seeing all of the teenyboppers at the mall on a Friday night. I remember when we did that 10-12 years ago and man...I don't think we were nearly as disruptive as kids are now days. (Guess this just goes to show that I'm getting old!) Then on Sunday, I drove back out to St. Peters to see Shell model in a bridal show.
Valentine's Day (Thursday) was just like every other day for me and rather than having a hot date that night, M, Kristin & I headed to Syberg's for happy hour. If you can't be with the one you love, its definitely nice to get to spend the time with close friends. While we were there we tried to convince Kristin that she should take this upcoming weekend off and go to Chicago with us for girls' weekend. She agreed and became just as excited about the weekend as we already are.
Friday night was absolutely a blast. M and I decided after work that we were going to go somewhere for a drink. For some reason Wiliker's popped into my mind and off we went. Well, I wasn't ready to go home after that, so we headed over to Charlie's for karaoke. I've become much braver in the past few weeks with getting up in front of a crowd and singing and for some reason on Friday night, I thought I was invincible (of course, it might have to do with the fact that I had 7 Bud Selects! ha!). We ended up singing "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down, "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi & the finale for the night, "Desperado" by The Eagles.
Around 1 in the morning, we headed to pick up my car and then I took off for home. Along the way I decided to call Joe and see how he was doing. And since I was in such a talkative mood, I spent a majority of the time telling him about nearly everything under the sun. Side note: Thanks Joe...I owe you a big time for listening. I bet you never thought I would talk as much as I did that night! I probably could have gone on and on too if you didn't stop me. :)
Saturday I woke up about 8:30 and I was seriously debating whether or not I would drive out to Highland later in the day, but I had made a promise to my bro and around 11, I made the trek out to see him and do his taxes. Like always, I had an absolute blast hanging out with him and Kyle. He was even nice enough to take me out to lunch!! My dad came home a little after that and I was able to visit with him too. My dad also took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday since I wasn't able to make it out there around my actual birthday. And overall it ended up being a really great day!
Sunday I decided that since I haven't spent much time at home, I would at least spend a few hours trying to clean up my place and then try to get a few things together for Chicago, especially since I was not sure how the rest of this week would pan out.
I must say though, this week has gone somewhat smooth for me so far (it's only Tuesday though!). It's amazing how some weeks go by and I can catch my breath and other weeks go by and I could just cry or scream because life is so demanding.
I am hoping that with this weekend trip to Chicago (and also the trip to Memphis in a few months), I can finally take some time for fun and enjoy what little free time I can find. This upcoming weekend is a girls only weekend with some of my friends and friends of friends. 6 girls in Chicago, shopping, going to see Bon Jovi in concert and having an all out good time...watch out now! I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories and maybe some pictures when I get back! And if I have time, I'll update again after the trip...I guess it will depend on how many more sets of taxes I have to get done in the next few weeks.
Hope you all have a great week! Catch ya later!!!
Let's see...the Sunday after my birthday was Superbowl and I, along with a few of my coworkers were invited to a party at my boss' house. It was really awesome to get to watch the game on a big screen and hang out with the fun people from the work crowd. It was pretty cool to see the Giants win too, even if I didn't pick them in my football pool!
Exactly one week after my birthday, Derick called me while I was at work and asked what plans I had for the night. Considering it was almost 6:30 and I was still sitting at my desk trying to plug along through payroll and inter-company transactions, I didn't have much planned. He was heading back to Missouri after spending the day in Benton, IL and would be passing right by my house and since we didn't get to do anything special for my birthday, he wanted to make up for it. I was definitely excited to see him so I packed up my stuff and headed home. We went to Olive Garden for dinner (one of my favorite places!) and just came back to my place to talk and relax for a bit. I was so happy he thought of me and it really did make my night 100 times better.
On Friday night, I called Shell after work and asked if she wanted to go out and have dinner and catch up because its been so busy with the holidays and all. We had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and then hit a few stores in St. Peters. It was so weird seeing all of the teenyboppers at the mall on a Friday night. I remember when we did that 10-12 years ago and man...I don't think we were nearly as disruptive as kids are now days. (Guess this just goes to show that I'm getting old!) Then on Sunday, I drove back out to St. Peters to see Shell model in a bridal show.
Valentine's Day (Thursday) was just like every other day for me and rather than having a hot date that night, M, Kristin & I headed to Syberg's for happy hour. If you can't be with the one you love, its definitely nice to get to spend the time with close friends. While we were there we tried to convince Kristin that she should take this upcoming weekend off and go to Chicago with us for girls' weekend. She agreed and became just as excited about the weekend as we already are.
Friday night was absolutely a blast. M and I decided after work that we were going to go somewhere for a drink. For some reason Wiliker's popped into my mind and off we went. Well, I wasn't ready to go home after that, so we headed over to Charlie's for karaoke. I've become much braver in the past few weeks with getting up in front of a crowd and singing and for some reason on Friday night, I thought I was invincible (of course, it might have to do with the fact that I had 7 Bud Selects! ha!). We ended up singing "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down, "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi & the finale for the night, "Desperado" by The Eagles.
Around 1 in the morning, we headed to pick up my car and then I took off for home. Along the way I decided to call Joe and see how he was doing. And since I was in such a talkative mood, I spent a majority of the time telling him about nearly everything under the sun. Side note: Thanks Joe...I owe you a big time for listening. I bet you never thought I would talk as much as I did that night! I probably could have gone on and on too if you didn't stop me. :)
Saturday I woke up about 8:30 and I was seriously debating whether or not I would drive out to Highland later in the day, but I had made a promise to my bro and around 11, I made the trek out to see him and do his taxes. Like always, I had an absolute blast hanging out with him and Kyle. He was even nice enough to take me out to lunch!! My dad came home a little after that and I was able to visit with him too. My dad also took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday since I wasn't able to make it out there around my actual birthday. And overall it ended up being a really great day!
Sunday I decided that since I haven't spent much time at home, I would at least spend a few hours trying to clean up my place and then try to get a few things together for Chicago, especially since I was not sure how the rest of this week would pan out.
I must say though, this week has gone somewhat smooth for me so far (it's only Tuesday though!). It's amazing how some weeks go by and I can catch my breath and other weeks go by and I could just cry or scream because life is so demanding.
I am hoping that with this weekend trip to Chicago (and also the trip to Memphis in a few months), I can finally take some time for fun and enjoy what little free time I can find. This upcoming weekend is a girls only weekend with some of my friends and friends of friends. 6 girls in Chicago, shopping, going to see Bon Jovi in concert and having an all out good time...watch out now! I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories and maybe some pictures when I get back! And if I have time, I'll update again after the trip...I guess it will depend on how many more sets of taxes I have to get done in the next few weeks.
Hope you all have a great week! Catch ya later!!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
It's official....
I am 25. No longer in my early 20s....now I'm in my mid-20s and halfway to 30. My oh my! Everyone kept telling me at work that this is the last birthday I have to look forward to for awhile and to look on the bright side my car insurance should be going down. I can only hope!
It was another extremely busy day at work and I was happy when I finally got to leave at 6. I decided that I just wanted a relaxing evening at home to try to unwind a bit. I have a few more days of hell but I'm hoping that I can finally get into a routine schedule again next week.
But most of all, I want to thank all of my family and friends for the birthday wishes today and for all of the nice things they did for me! I truly did appreciate everything! You all are the best....thanks for thinking of me!
It was another extremely busy day at work and I was happy when I finally got to leave at 6. I decided that I just wanted a relaxing evening at home to try to unwind a bit. I have a few more days of hell but I'm hoping that I can finally get into a routine schedule again next week.
But most of all, I want to thank all of my family and friends for the birthday wishes today and for all of the nice things they did for me! I truly did appreciate everything! You all are the best....thanks for thinking of me!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Big News!
Major news on the work front...I have been promoted!
The last two weeks have been extremely crazy as I have had to train for my new position personnel and administrative payroll. I took over the reigns for good Friday afternoon and really everything went off without a hitch. I am working for the President of the Company most of the time but I'm still trying to hold on to as many of my Accounting duties as they will let me because I truly do enjoy that aspect too. Yet, I'm positively thrilled that they have so much confidence in the job that I'm doing that they would trust me with something as important as personnel and payroll, especially since it was only 2 1/2 years ago that I walked in with no prior knowledge of my job or the industry itself. I'm also pretty proud of myself for working so hard and showing them that I can get the job done.
We'll see how things progress...I'm sure there will be some snafus in there now and again, but with a few people helping me, we should do fine. I'm definitely excited for what's to come though!
In other news, I turn 25 a week from tomorrow. And really, for the first time in a few years I'm not too worried about this birthday. Usually I start freaking out about not accomplishing enough by a certain age but besides the few minor inconveniences I've faced in my personal life, I'm pleased with where I sit right now. I plan on having a low key birthday this year but we'll see if that pans out or if I change my mind before next week. You never know with me....
I will update again soon. Have a spectacular week all!!!
The last two weeks have been extremely crazy as I have had to train for my new position personnel and administrative payroll. I took over the reigns for good Friday afternoon and really everything went off without a hitch. I am working for the President of the Company most of the time but I'm still trying to hold on to as many of my Accounting duties as they will let me because I truly do enjoy that aspect too. Yet, I'm positively thrilled that they have so much confidence in the job that I'm doing that they would trust me with something as important as personnel and payroll, especially since it was only 2 1/2 years ago that I walked in with no prior knowledge of my job or the industry itself. I'm also pretty proud of myself for working so hard and showing them that I can get the job done.
We'll see how things progress...I'm sure there will be some snafus in there now and again, but with a few people helping me, we should do fine. I'm definitely excited for what's to come though!
In other news, I turn 25 a week from tomorrow. And really, for the first time in a few years I'm not too worried about this birthday. Usually I start freaking out about not accomplishing enough by a certain age but besides the few minor inconveniences I've faced in my personal life, I'm pleased with where I sit right now. I plan on having a low key birthday this year but we'll see if that pans out or if I change my mind before next week. You never know with me....
I will update again soon. Have a spectacular week all!!!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy New Year!!!!
Let's hope 2008 has more exciting yet stable things in store....I feel like 2007 was a complete whirlwind for me.
As for New Years Eve, I'm heading out for dinner with my friends and who knows what else. It will be a calm night for me though because I would like to enjoy my day off tomorrow without feeling the effects of a hangover or being overtired from lack of sleep!
However you spend this last night of 2007, I wish you all the best in 2008. Here's to a healthy and prosperous New Year!! If you're in the Midwest, try to keep warm! :)
And finally, go Mizzou!!!
As for New Years Eve, I'm heading out for dinner with my friends and who knows what else. It will be a calm night for me though because I would like to enjoy my day off tomorrow without feeling the effects of a hangover or being overtired from lack of sleep!
However you spend this last night of 2007, I wish you all the best in 2008. Here's to a healthy and prosperous New Year!! If you're in the Midwest, try to keep warm! :)
And finally, go Mizzou!!!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Gratitude
The holidays are usually a crazy time of year for me -- one, because I'm an Accountant and heading into year-end normally produces a lot of extra work to the point that I'm going nuts thinking about all the stuff I still need to accomplish before December 31st and two, I'm always the one driving in between my parents' (and other relatives) houses seeing everyone and spend what little bit of time I do have with them trying to enjoy their company. This year has been a little bit different. I have decided to ease off a bit and take more time to think and truly enjoy the season.
While my workload is something that I can't always control, I've tried to prioritize most of my duties for the next 4 weeks and try not stress out nearly as much as I have the last two years. As for my family life, I also decided that instead of running myself ragged with all of the driving, I would spend Thanksgiving with my Dad and Bro and my dad's side of the family and then spend Christmas Day with my mom and Michael and my Grandma. This one little change has brought a huge relief to my already busy schedule and has allow me more time to think and figure out what's truly important in my life.
I don't always recommend me thinking because most of the time it brings about many wacky ideas, but I have found over the past few weeks that this extra time to think has actually been very helpful. One thing I slowly realized was that there are many people and little things I have to be grateful for at this point in my life:
- My bro for our awesome friendship and sibling relationship. Dad always told us that one day when we were older we'd be friends and we both thought he was off his rocker, but I know now that he was right all along. Ryan, you are one of my closest friends and I'm very lucky to also be able to call you my brother.
- My mom and Michael for always allowing me to stop by and throw in a load of laundry or two
and totally change their weekend plans so that they can spend quality time with me.
- My dad for looking out for me when I drive to and from Highland and anywhere else for that matter. Even though I make fun of him for always telling me I not to drive in the dark unless there is absolutely no other way around it, I do appreciate his concern.
- Derick for always listening, whether we're visiting each other or he's miles away and driving. No matter if it's complaints about work or exciting news about any other aspect of my life, he hears it all. And even though we've only known each other for a short amount of time, I truly do think of him as a special part of my life.
- Josh, for never giving up on me...I know I've been a complete psycho as of late...but I truly appreciate everything you have done for me over the last 4 and a half years. Your support has kept me going through so many hard times.
- M, for being my best friend and always getting me through the ups and downs life has to offer. She's been my shoulder to cry on, my happy hour com padre and my Accounting partner and a friend like her is very rare nowadays.
- J, for helping me understand who I am as an individual and bringing out my true personality. It's funny because he and I talked about this when he came in for a visit from Little Rock a few months ago - he told me that I was almost the complete opposite from the girl he met when I first started at work nearly two and a half years ago. Then I was shy, quiet, and highly unsure of who I was; now, I'm outgoing, bubbly and comfortable with both myself and my work.
- Shell, for fueling some of my quirky ideas and helping me through some of my worst fears. (Like my idea to go through Santa's Magical Kingdom in a convertible or making me climb to the top of the MonstroCity at the City Museum even though I'm deathly afraid of heights.)
- Nicole, for allowing me to stay young at heart and think that I'm still cool even though I have no idea of what it's like to be "in" now. (Really, why are Hannah Montana, the Cheetah girls & the Jonas brothers so popular? What happened to the Backstreet Boys, NSync & Hanson?)
- My brother's friends, who for some reason don't mind me hanging out with them and playing Guitar Hero and crashing their bowling nights every now and again.
- All of my family and friends I have yet to mention, for helping me realize that the relationships I've built over time have made me the person I am today and even though we continue to evolve and change, I have learned some very valuable lessons from each one of them.
Hopefully I'll get another update in before Christmas rolls around. I know there is a lot going on the next few weeks and I really need to start my Christmas shopping fairly soon, but I'll see what I can do....have a great rest of the week all!
While my workload is something that I can't always control, I've tried to prioritize most of my duties for the next 4 weeks and try not stress out nearly as much as I have the last two years. As for my family life, I also decided that instead of running myself ragged with all of the driving, I would spend Thanksgiving with my Dad and Bro and my dad's side of the family and then spend Christmas Day with my mom and Michael and my Grandma. This one little change has brought a huge relief to my already busy schedule and has allow me more time to think and figure out what's truly important in my life.
I don't always recommend me thinking because most of the time it brings about many wacky ideas, but I have found over the past few weeks that this extra time to think has actually been very helpful. One thing I slowly realized was that there are many people and little things I have to be grateful for at this point in my life:
- My bro for our awesome friendship and sibling relationship. Dad always told us that one day when we were older we'd be friends and we both thought he was off his rocker, but I know now that he was right all along. Ryan, you are one of my closest friends and I'm very lucky to also be able to call you my brother.
- My mom and Michael for always allowing me to stop by and throw in a load of laundry or two
and totally change their weekend plans so that they can spend quality time with me.
- My dad for looking out for me when I drive to and from Highland and anywhere else for that matter. Even though I make fun of him for always telling me I not to drive in the dark unless there is absolutely no other way around it, I do appreciate his concern.
- Derick for always listening, whether we're visiting each other or he's miles away and driving. No matter if it's complaints about work or exciting news about any other aspect of my life, he hears it all. And even though we've only known each other for a short amount of time, I truly do think of him as a special part of my life.
- Josh, for never giving up on me...I know I've been a complete psycho as of late...but I truly appreciate everything you have done for me over the last 4 and a half years. Your support has kept me going through so many hard times.
- M, for being my best friend and always getting me through the ups and downs life has to offer. She's been my shoulder to cry on, my happy hour com padre and my Accounting partner and a friend like her is very rare nowadays.
- J, for helping me understand who I am as an individual and bringing out my true personality. It's funny because he and I talked about this when he came in for a visit from Little Rock a few months ago - he told me that I was almost the complete opposite from the girl he met when I first started at work nearly two and a half years ago. Then I was shy, quiet, and highly unsure of who I was; now, I'm outgoing, bubbly and comfortable with both myself and my work.
- Shell, for fueling some of my quirky ideas and helping me through some of my worst fears. (Like my idea to go through Santa's Magical Kingdom in a convertible or making me climb to the top of the MonstroCity at the City Museum even though I'm deathly afraid of heights.)
- Nicole, for allowing me to stay young at heart and think that I'm still cool even though I have no idea of what it's like to be "in" now. (Really, why are Hannah Montana, the Cheetah girls & the Jonas brothers so popular? What happened to the Backstreet Boys, NSync & Hanson?)
- My brother's friends, who for some reason don't mind me hanging out with them and playing Guitar Hero and crashing their bowling nights every now and again.
- All of my family and friends I have yet to mention, for helping me realize that the relationships I've built over time have made me the person I am today and even though we continue to evolve and change, I have learned some very valuable lessons from each one of them.
Hopefully I'll get another update in before Christmas rolls around. I know there is a lot going on the next few weeks and I really need to start my Christmas shopping fairly soon, but I'll see what I can do....have a great rest of the week all!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Some Exciting Times!
Wow...so where do I start? It's been busy once again and the month seems to be flying by!
On the 1st, I had my annual review at work and it went very well. My boss is happy with the job I've done over the past two years and he continues to sing my praises. I was thrilled with his evaluation and I felt much better about my position and the duties that I've taken on in recent months.
The next night a group of us from work decided to stop by the Coastal for an impromptu happy hour and then I met Shell for a late night dinner at City Diner. We updated each other on the exciting and crazy stuff happening in both of our lives.
I was completely exhausted since I ended up getting home at 3 in the morning, but I had a lot of things to take care of on Saturday. So I ran my errands and did my laundry and then went out to dinner with M and a few others that night and overall it ended up being a very full day once again.
Sunday was pretty much a day of rest for me and I was glad to have the extra hour from the "fall back." I spent much of the day watching football and trying to catch up on some much needed relaxation. I did go visit my parents new house and I got a tour of that in the late afternoon. It's just about done and they will be closing on it and hopefully moving in the next few weeks. The place is huge, but it will be nice for entertaining and family gatherings. (I'm hoping that should they go out of town anytime soon, I'll get to house-sit and perhaps throw a get-together of my own. Ha!)
On Wednesday, the 7th, Derick called me on his way to Vandalia after work and asked if I'd drive out to visit him. Of course, I was willing to drive out to see him. We hadn't been able to spent much time together the last few weeks because he's been so busy and was out of town for part of the time, so it was really a no brainer for me. It was fairly late by the time I got out there, but we were able to talk and visit for a bit and I was able to show him the specs for the new house and he showed me part of the reports he has to put together for work and the downloads that come off of his handheld for the logs he buys. We finally went to bed about midnight and tried to get a few hours sleep before we both had to go to work in the morning. Around 7 am we left Vandalia and headed on our merry ways for the day - he was headed to Northern Missouri to buy his last load of logs for the week and I was back on my way to good 'ol Earth City for another day in the office.
Friday I took a day off of work and it was needed badly! I took my car in to get the heater fixed and spent most of the day with my Mom and Grandma before heading to Highland for Nicole's birthday dinner and bowling with Ryan and the guys. We went to dinner in St. Rose and wow...was that crazy. The restaurant was packed and the service wasn't that great so it took quite awhile to get our food. After dinner we went back to my Aunt and Uncle's for cake and ice cream and then Ryan and I high-tailed it back to my Dad's to pick up his car and head up to the bowling alley. Let me tell you....I had an absolute blast bowling with the guys!!! I was a little nervous that they weren't going to like me tagging along but none of them seemed to mind. In fact, they gave me trouble just like they do to one another. I ended up bowling fairly well also - 101 in the first game and 107 in the second - much better than my experience with J when we went bowling two years ago! After bowling we came back to my Dad's and I played Guitar Hero in order to strengthen my skills for the Thanksgiving tournament with my Bro. I didn't do too bad nor did I do too great, but I had fun and that's all that matters.
Saturday morning we had to get up early to make the trip to St. Louis. Ryan, Kyle and I were making lunch for my Grandma in celebration of her birthday last weekend. We grilled Guinness steaks and I made my world famous roasted potatoes and had a great afternoon entertaining over at my Grandma's house. The food turned out awesome and I think we're becoming pros at this cooking thing. (Actually Ryan is becoming quite the grill chef! And I'm just his assistant that fills in where necessary.)
Around 6:15, we left my Grandma's and I headed out to meet M for drinks. We stopped into Las Fuentes and then went to Brewskeez. We were hoping to hear a good band, but really the group that was there could have used some work. Around 11 I finally decided to call it a night and I came home to crash. It had been a long two days and I was looking forward to finally seeing my bed!
Sunday was another low key day. I called J to leave him a message and wish him a Happy Birthday and was surprised to get to talk to him for a few minutes while he was down in the country deer hunting. Later on, I went back over to my parents' new house to take a few pictures to show everyone the place and I ended up talking to them for about an hour before coming back home and trying to get everything ready for the work week. The rest of the night was history.
Today I had to try to get back into the swing of things at work. With being off on Friday and having to get financials done, I had quite a day and I ended up putting in 10 hours just to stay caught up a bit. Tomorrow I have a meeting with our Director of Sales and one of our new customers at their facility and then I have my weekly AR meeting with the managers. Hopefully everything goes well! I'm not sure what's up for the rest of the week, but like normal, something always pops up.
Have a spectacular week! I will update again soon
On the 1st, I had my annual review at work and it went very well. My boss is happy with the job I've done over the past two years and he continues to sing my praises. I was thrilled with his evaluation and I felt much better about my position and the duties that I've taken on in recent months.
The next night a group of us from work decided to stop by the Coastal for an impromptu happy hour and then I met Shell for a late night dinner at City Diner. We updated each other on the exciting and crazy stuff happening in both of our lives.
I was completely exhausted since I ended up getting home at 3 in the morning, but I had a lot of things to take care of on Saturday. So I ran my errands and did my laundry and then went out to dinner with M and a few others that night and overall it ended up being a very full day once again.
Sunday was pretty much a day of rest for me and I was glad to have the extra hour from the "fall back." I spent much of the day watching football and trying to catch up on some much needed relaxation. I did go visit my parents new house and I got a tour of that in the late afternoon. It's just about done and they will be closing on it and hopefully moving in the next few weeks. The place is huge, but it will be nice for entertaining and family gatherings. (I'm hoping that should they go out of town anytime soon, I'll get to house-sit and perhaps throw a get-together of my own. Ha!)
On Wednesday, the 7th, Derick called me on his way to Vandalia after work and asked if I'd drive out to visit him. Of course, I was willing to drive out to see him. We hadn't been able to spent much time together the last few weeks because he's been so busy and was out of town for part of the time, so it was really a no brainer for me. It was fairly late by the time I got out there, but we were able to talk and visit for a bit and I was able to show him the specs for the new house and he showed me part of the reports he has to put together for work and the downloads that come off of his handheld for the logs he buys. We finally went to bed about midnight and tried to get a few hours sleep before we both had to go to work in the morning. Around 7 am we left Vandalia and headed on our merry ways for the day - he was headed to Northern Missouri to buy his last load of logs for the week and I was back on my way to good 'ol Earth City for another day in the office.
Friday I took a day off of work and it was needed badly! I took my car in to get the heater fixed and spent most of the day with my Mom and Grandma before heading to Highland for Nicole's birthday dinner and bowling with Ryan and the guys. We went to dinner in St. Rose and wow...was that crazy. The restaurant was packed and the service wasn't that great so it took quite awhile to get our food. After dinner we went back to my Aunt and Uncle's for cake and ice cream and then Ryan and I high-tailed it back to my Dad's to pick up his car and head up to the bowling alley. Let me tell you....I had an absolute blast bowling with the guys!!! I was a little nervous that they weren't going to like me tagging along but none of them seemed to mind. In fact, they gave me trouble just like they do to one another. I ended up bowling fairly well also - 101 in the first game and 107 in the second - much better than my experience with J when we went bowling two years ago! After bowling we came back to my Dad's and I played Guitar Hero in order to strengthen my skills for the Thanksgiving tournament with my Bro. I didn't do too bad nor did I do too great, but I had fun and that's all that matters.
Saturday morning we had to get up early to make the trip to St. Louis. Ryan, Kyle and I were making lunch for my Grandma in celebration of her birthday last weekend. We grilled Guinness steaks and I made my world famous roasted potatoes and had a great afternoon entertaining over at my Grandma's house. The food turned out awesome and I think we're becoming pros at this cooking thing. (Actually Ryan is becoming quite the grill chef! And I'm just his assistant that fills in where necessary.)
Around 6:15, we left my Grandma's and I headed out to meet M for drinks. We stopped into Las Fuentes and then went to Brewskeez. We were hoping to hear a good band, but really the group that was there could have used some work. Around 11 I finally decided to call it a night and I came home to crash. It had been a long two days and I was looking forward to finally seeing my bed!
Sunday was another low key day. I called J to leave him a message and wish him a Happy Birthday and was surprised to get to talk to him for a few minutes while he was down in the country deer hunting. Later on, I went back over to my parents' new house to take a few pictures to show everyone the place and I ended up talking to them for about an hour before coming back home and trying to get everything ready for the work week. The rest of the night was history.
Today I had to try to get back into the swing of things at work. With being off on Friday and having to get financials done, I had quite a day and I ended up putting in 10 hours just to stay caught up a bit. Tomorrow I have a meeting with our Director of Sales and one of our new customers at their facility and then I have my weekly AR meeting with the managers. Hopefully everything goes well! I'm not sure what's up for the rest of the week, but like normal, something always pops up.
Have a spectacular week! I will update again soon
Monday, October 29, 2007
A Low Key Two Weeks
It's been pretty quiet over the last few weeks and actually, I have behaved myself fairly well -- I don't know if that's a good or bad thing though.
On the 19th, Nicole came and spent the night at my apartment and we had an absolute blast dancing around my apartment and singing Bon Jovi. She also taught me about the phenomenon that is Hannah Montana. From going to lunch at Fiesta Brava to going to Claire's and buying makeup to making ice cream sundaes, we had so much fun and I was sad to see her leave on Saturday afternoon. Really, I had been looking so forward to our girls weekend that I was kinda lost when it was all over. It was nice being able to leave work early on Friday also...I could get used to doing that on a regular basis too!
We didn't throw any impromptu happy hours throughout the week so I just came home every night and pretty much took it easy after work. And really, work wasn't that bad either...I had the normal problems to take care of and in my spare time I helped out billing and payables so that we wouldn't have a backlog when it came down to the last few days of the month.
This past Friday afternoon Shell called me and asked if I wanted to go with her, Greg and Duane to the City Museum for the 10th Anniversary Party and since it sounded like it would be fun, I told her to count me in. Greg drove over to my apartment around 7:45 and then we drove over to Shell's to pick her and Duane up. It was the first time I'd ever been to the City Museum and it was a little different than I expected (really, I don't know what I expected though). We climbed through the caves and the monkey bars known as the MonstroCity and checked out most of the other attractions offered. Finally, about 1 in the morning, I made it back to my apartment and just crashed.
Saturday, I went over to my mom's to do laundry and she invited me to stay for dinner and I couldn't resist. It was nice to have a home-cooked meal, especially since I haven't done much cooking myself lately.
Sunday, I spent much of the day watching football and then decided to load some music on my Ipod, but as luck would have it, I couldn't get it to sync up and I ended up creating a bigger problem when I couldn't get my Ipod to reset. So I decided to take it to Best Buy to see if they could get rid of the error message. Well, of course with my luck, the Geek Squad rep was no help and told me that I needed to take it to Apple, so I drove out to West County for them to press two simple buttons and fix it for me. I felt like a complete idiot that I couldn't figure that out, but I guess that's what Apple techs are trained for. On my way home, I was sitting in my car thinking and decided to check in with my bro. He and I ended up talking for 3 hours and I must say...I miss our little weekly dinners and sibling nights out like we used to do when we lived under the same roof. We're actually more alike than both he and I thought and I think we truly do miss not seeing each other more often. But, he invited me out to go bowling with him and the guys on a Friday night and I think I'm going to be able to go in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it, even though I haven't bowled since my little incident with the work crew over two years ago. Hopefully I bowl much better this time....otherwise I'm going to be the laughing stock of the entire evening. (Although that won't be a shock...I usually am when I'm with all of them!)
I'm not sure what's going on the rest of this week. Halloween is Wednesday but it is also month-end so I'm sure I'll be at work a little late. M and I talked about finally doing some thing fun this week or at least just getting out for a bit. We'll see what we cook up!
Hope everyone has a great week! I'll update again soon...
On the 19th, Nicole came and spent the night at my apartment and we had an absolute blast dancing around my apartment and singing Bon Jovi. She also taught me about the phenomenon that is Hannah Montana. From going to lunch at Fiesta Brava to going to Claire's and buying makeup to making ice cream sundaes, we had so much fun and I was sad to see her leave on Saturday afternoon. Really, I had been looking so forward to our girls weekend that I was kinda lost when it was all over. It was nice being able to leave work early on Friday also...I could get used to doing that on a regular basis too!
We didn't throw any impromptu happy hours throughout the week so I just came home every night and pretty much took it easy after work. And really, work wasn't that bad either...I had the normal problems to take care of and in my spare time I helped out billing and payables so that we wouldn't have a backlog when it came down to the last few days of the month.
This past Friday afternoon Shell called me and asked if I wanted to go with her, Greg and Duane to the City Museum for the 10th Anniversary Party and since it sounded like it would be fun, I told her to count me in. Greg drove over to my apartment around 7:45 and then we drove over to Shell's to pick her and Duane up. It was the first time I'd ever been to the City Museum and it was a little different than I expected (really, I don't know what I expected though). We climbed through the caves and the monkey bars known as the MonstroCity and checked out most of the other attractions offered. Finally, about 1 in the morning, I made it back to my apartment and just crashed.
Saturday, I went over to my mom's to do laundry and she invited me to stay for dinner and I couldn't resist. It was nice to have a home-cooked meal, especially since I haven't done much cooking myself lately.
Sunday, I spent much of the day watching football and then decided to load some music on my Ipod, but as luck would have it, I couldn't get it to sync up and I ended up creating a bigger problem when I couldn't get my Ipod to reset. So I decided to take it to Best Buy to see if they could get rid of the error message. Well, of course with my luck, the Geek Squad rep was no help and told me that I needed to take it to Apple, so I drove out to West County for them to press two simple buttons and fix it for me. I felt like a complete idiot that I couldn't figure that out, but I guess that's what Apple techs are trained for. On my way home, I was sitting in my car thinking and decided to check in with my bro. He and I ended up talking for 3 hours and I must say...I miss our little weekly dinners and sibling nights out like we used to do when we lived under the same roof. We're actually more alike than both he and I thought and I think we truly do miss not seeing each other more often. But, he invited me out to go bowling with him and the guys on a Friday night and I think I'm going to be able to go in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it, even though I haven't bowled since my little incident with the work crew over two years ago. Hopefully I bowl much better this time....otherwise I'm going to be the laughing stock of the entire evening. (Although that won't be a shock...I usually am when I'm with all of them!)
I'm not sure what's going on the rest of this week. Halloween is Wednesday but it is also month-end so I'm sure I'll be at work a little late. M and I talked about finally doing some thing fun this week or at least just getting out for a bit. We'll see what we cook up!
Hope everyone has a great week! I'll update again soon...
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