My dear friend S

As most of you know, I try to keep some anonymity with my blog. I don't use the real names of my work friends and other people that I know because I don't want to put their business out on the internet for all to see, especially because I understand how things can get twisted around and it can create more problems than it is worth. I also don't post pictures for the same reason. And besides that, some things are better left being private and I'm learning this more and more every day.

Today though, for the sake of my healing and so that everyone else can see what a special person she was and how much of a good friend we all lost, I am posting a picture of S and I from SS's golf tournament last year.

S lost her battle with breast cancer early Friday morning and I can not tell you how much I miss her already. We knew it was close all week long as her health continued to decline and Thursday afternoon, M received a call from some of S's other friends and family that were at the hospital saying that she was no longer responding and was pretty much in her own world, no longer talking or trying to communicate with them. M left as fast as she could that afternoon and raced over to the hospital to spend a little time with everyone. As much as I didn't want to think that she was dying, I knew in my heart that she couldn't live with the pain and suffering and deep down I was expecting a phone call from M at any time saying that S had finally found peace. I stayed home all of Thursday night, keeping myself busy by talking to friends and family who were trying to comfort me through this difficult time. Ironically, M did not call me Thursday night, so I figured S had somewhat stabilized and while I knew she was in bad shape, she would hang in there and make a bit of a recovery like she had done so many other times. I didn't sleep very well Thursday night though. I tossed and turned most of the night and finally decided that at 5 am, I would get up and get ready for work and head in for another busy day. It was on my way in, the phone ringtone that I had been dreading to hear loudly rang. While I had to keep myself together while driving, I got to work and broke down. It became real that I lost a very dear friend. I looked over at her desk, which is right across the Accounting room from mine and cried. What made it so much worse also was the fact that the men in my office, the grown men that never really show emotion, were a mess as well.

Perhaps the greatest comfort for me though was knowing that S would not want us upset or sad. She'd say, like she had so many times before while fighting on, "It's alright. I'm fine. Think of all the fun stuff we've done." And I began thinking of those times and had to smile.

-Our trips to C-town in the very beginning and going to MK's hotel room asking if we could borrow a few beers for a hotel party.
- Her introducing MK as her "partner" rather than her co-worker everywhere we all went together. She always got a bunch of funny looks especially when she would then introduce her husband too.
- Her first few months at work in EC and the time she accidentally spit a Tic Tac at C while she was talking to him and felt completely embarrassed since he's the VP.
- The visit to the Coastal and her asking innocently, "M, I thought you said they had BBQ grills with hotdogs here?" and realizing that the hotdogs M was talking about were on the rollers in the actual gas station.
- The numerous visits to the Coastal after that and the time she introduced herself as SJ to one of the regulars.
- The "One Margarita Happy Hour" to Casa that turned into M, S and I going to see spaghetti wrestling at a biker bar. We ended up not getting home until really late and then tried to go into work the next day, a bit hungover and extremely tired.
- SS's golf tournament last year where we were cart partners and we did donuts around the course.
- The girls' weekends down at the Lake the last two years.
- Walking in the Komen Race for the Cure and knowing that we were making a difference for her and so many other women.
- The baseball game last year with the work crowd, where the infamous "Cup Game" was invented and S gave it her all to be the champion. She was too!!
- And all of the other stuff we laughed about when everyone else thought we were just plain crazy.

She was much too young to be taken from us, but I know I am a much better person for having her in my life these last 3 years. She greatly influenced me and made me realize that with good friends you can get through anything. She also taught me to always live life to the fullest because its much too short to be unhappy all of the time. I hope everyone else is as lucky as I have been to have a friend like S.

My personality...

So I decided to take an online personality test, just to see if it could figure me out and believe it or not, it was right on.

Your personality type:

Serious and quiet, interested in security and peaceful living. Extremely thorough, responsible and dependable. Well-developed powers of concentration. Usually interested in supporting and promoting traditions and establishments. Well-organized and hard working, they work steadily towards identified goals. They can usually accomplish any task once they have set their mind to it.

Careers that could fit you includes:

Business executives, administrators and managers, accountants, police, detectives, judges, lawyers, medical doctors, dentists, computer programmers, systems analysts, computer specialists, auditors, electricians, math teachers, mechanical engineers, steelworkers, technicians.

Try it out for yourself and see if you get accurate results: www.41q.com.

Everything else is going fairly well. I've stayed busy as usual the last few weeks with work and all of the other things going on and I've tried to find a bit of time to just sit back and enjoy my life. Hope you're all doing fantastic and I'll put together another update soon.

P.S. Please keep S in your thoughts and prayers. She's taken a turn for the worst while trying to battle breast cancer and has been in the hospital for almost a week. She's a fighter though and we're all hoping for the best. Without sounding like I'm on a soapbox, please remember how important donating to breast cancer research is. Any little thing you can do helps all of the women fighting and surviving this battle. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month too.

Ah....Saturday

Thank goodness the weekend has rolled around again! For a week that I thought would be a piece of cake, I sure stayed busy!!

Last Saturday was the much anticipated NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Series race at Gateway and boy did I have fun!! There is something that intrigues me about fast vehicles and racing and being able to see the truck series added to my fascination. We had awesome seats and were able to see the entire track and I found myself trying to strategize (is that even a word?) for each driver while I was sitting there watching the action. I didn't realize how much horsepower was out on the track until all of the trucks came around and how loud the trucks are when they go speeding along. The noises were almost unbearable. I do have a note for next time though...remember ear plugs!! With one race under my belt, now I'm ready for Daytona or Dover or Indy or anywhere else for that matter! By the way, if you're following the NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Series circuit, Ron Hornaday Jr. won the race. His truck ran amazingly well through all of the accidents and cautions and he led most of the 200 miles.
After the race, we decided to head to Fast Eddies for dinner. Nothing beats a cold, frosty beverage, yummy shrimp and a pork kebab!!

Tuesday I came home from work and got a huge shock when I opened my mailbox. My friends... I have been chosen for jury duty in the county and I am not thrilled by any means. Actually I'm still a bit pissed about it, but after trying to convince my boss that I can't be gone from work and him telling me that he can't get me out of it, I mailed my form back to the courts and accepted the date. I don't even take time off of work for myself because I'm afraid I'm going to fall behind and now the county is forcing me to take at least a day and maybe more than that off because I have to fulfill my civic duty....uggghhh!!! I have nearly 4 weeks to get everyone trained on my essential duties to get me through a whole Tuesday without being there, so I don't need to stress just yet, but I know what happens when I'm not there for an entire day; however, I'm going to have positive thoughts. Who knows this might turn a new leaf for me and everyone at work and I might be able to start using my personal and vacation days before I lose them all!!

Last night was my night out with the work crowd and while not everyone was able to attend and we missed them, we did have a fun night. One thing that I find from these nights out, I'm able to get to know some of my co-workers that I really don't get much of a chance to talk to on a regular basis. I think these kind of nights also allow me to open up a bit more and become more comfortable around everyone and even a bit more laid back than I seem when I'm flying around the office dealing with the 100 issues I have going on at once. Don't get me wrong, I'm friendly in the office but outside of my core group of friends, no one else really drops tools to talk to one another and say much besides, "hey, how's it going?" When we're out, it's usually much easier to talk and get to know more about everyone's lives and families.

As for today, I ran a few errands this morning and treated myself to a pedicure. I felt I needed the splurge and my toes look amazing and my feet feel wonderful. M and I are thinking about getting together later to work on a picture project. We have so many shots from work functions that we thought it would be fun to put them together in a book for the office. I haven't followed up with her yet, so I'm not sure if we'll actually do this tonight or not. If not, I guess I'll say put and just relax this evening since that sounds very appealing right now too.

Have a fabulous Saturday! Catch ya later!!

And the results are in...

...what can I say, the golf tournament last weekend went quite well and while we weren't the best team out there (we weren't even close!), we had a complete blast and were able to do some good for a very awesome charity! My team also had the privilege of playing between the President of the Company's team and SS's team (otherwise known as the fun guys from work), which included NR, TL & TL's friend John. While the President of the Company's team took off and played what seem to be a speed round of golf, my team and SS's team had a good time joking around and giving each other trouble for our stances and shots and anything else we could think of at the time. Those guys really are quite the characters and M and I made it a bit more comical by doing cartwheels across the green every few holes. I almost got hit twice by flying balls from NR and TL and they all gave me trouble when I would miss the ball I was trying to hit and my horrible golf cart driving skills. I think my Dad and Bro had a good time hanging out with us also. And really, I'm hoping I didn't embarrass myself too much and they aren't trying to disown me now. :)

The day after the tournament I was beat from the heat and all of the excitement from the day before so I really didn't do much. I had to do my laundry for the week so I stopped by my Mom's for a few hours and then came home to nap and just relax. I did end up cooking dinner for the week too by throwing a roast in my crock pot to make pepperoncini beef. While that doesn't seem to impressive to most, it was to me since I haven't actually cooked a real dinner for myself in weeks.

It was a good thing that I decided to do that too because this past week was crazy once again. Monday was a normal Monday and I left work drained and ready to just come home and plop myself on the couch but I worked out and actually had a healthy dinner. (Go me!!) Tuesday, I was all set to go do some consulting work at 5:30 but at 1:00 I was asked if I wanted to go to the Cardinals game and since I haven't been to a game in a few months, I decided that I could put off the consulting project until this week and I'd go to the game with M, B and TC. The game was a complete blowout and the Cards ended up losing to the Brewers 12-0 but we laughed and had a good time anyway. We even caught up with the infamous Yokohama guy who had all of the girls drooling at work because he was such a hottie and M tried to convince him that he should visit our office again in the near future. We'll see what happens with that! HA! (Quick note: I had never seen the Yokohama guy before because I was busy the day he came into the office the first time, but I can concur after seeing him at the game, he is good looking.)

Wednesday was Boatfest 08 after work. It was the first time all summer that we were able to hit the river and we had a great time! MK took his boat out, TL and John brought their waverunners and TC, V, R, M, SS and myself all came along for the ride. We grilled hot dogs and brats and just BSed in the river until it got dark. It was such a beautiful night and the river was fairly calm.

I decided that since things had been so busy the last few weekends that this weekend was going to be a bit different. I didn't plan anything besides doing my laundry on Sunday and trying to fit in some scrapbooking today and boy did I need this kind of weekend! I was home most of Saturday except for running a few errands and stopping into my Mom's for dinner and to watch the Mizzou-Illinois game. Earlier in the day, while I was home I decided to download some music and update my Ipod - something that I "haven't" found the time to do in months. Music is my therapy and I'm not sure why I didn't get around to this sooner. I'm loving the new stuff I got and I'm hoping to score a few more Pepsi points from my Dad so that I can pick up the last few songs that I'm really wanting right now.

Sunday I woke up and took my time to get ready before heading to do my laundry. While I was leisurely getting ready, I was able to finish 3 scrap book pages. Amazing what I can do when I don't have a million things on my mind and my creative juices are flowing a bit! It was the first time in weeks that I was actually able to put some thoughts together and pump out something that I was proud to put in my Memphis book! After doing my laundry and running a few more errands, I came home and sat down to watch the Sprint Cup race only to fall asleep halfway through it, but I needed my sleep and I was fairly certain that Jamie McMurray was not going to win after dealing with a flat tire in lap 3 and restarting in 43rd place, so I didn't fight the feeling, I just crashed. SS and I both picked drivers for this race and his guy (Kasey Kahne) finished in a better position than McMurray so I'm sure I'm going to hear an earful about my beloved McMurray even though he's not a big Nascar fan. I'm going to try harder next weekend!! It's the last weekend before the Chase so I have to redeem myself before McMurray is completely out of it!

As for today, I spent my day scrapbooking and burning CDs. I was able to produce 4 more pages and I almost have day one in Memphis finished! Woo hoo!!! I cooked dinner once again (watch out, I'm on a roll!) and decided to sit here and update. Man...maybe I should have an extra day off every week. I seem to get a lot accomplished that way!! Nah, they'd miss me way too much at work and I couldn't get everything done in 4 days. I know tomorrow is going to be extremely hectic however, I think I finally have my head cleared enough that I can muddle my way through it all and at least leave there exhausted but in one piece.

Next weekend it's off to the Nascar Craftsmen Truck Series race at Gateway. I'm excited to be going with my Dad and my Uncle Steve. I'm sure I'll have something interesting to post from this week at work as well as from the race. I'll update again soon! Have a great week!

Tournament Time!

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!!

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!

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!!!

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!

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!

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'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.

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! :)

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!!!

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!

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!!!