Hey y'all
My apologies for the last post
I was a bit emotional and got a bit worked up
I'm having lunch with mom today and I think I'm going to talk to her about this whole "new boss" issue and see what she has to say
Mom's the head of HR at her company and she usually has good advice when it comes to situations like this

HELL ! ! ! HELL & THE HANDBASKET ! ! ! !

OH YES !
That is my day ! ! !
First I find out from my boss that as of Monday I now report to the biatch CEO's secretary as does Yenta !
I am NOT pleased ! ! !
I will quit before I work for that bitch.
THEN !
I get home to find out that not only do we have FUCKING TERMITES but that the FUCKING ATE ONE OF THE FUCKING BOOKS MY GRANDFATHER HAD BOUGHT ME ! ! ! !
MY DEAD FUCKING GRANDFATHER ! ! ! ! !
THE ONLY FATHER I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE ! ! ! !
MY
FUCKING
GRANDFATHER
MY
FUCKING
GRANDPA
BOOK ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
J didn't realize what that book was when he discovered it.
He realized it when I broke down and started crying
With his friends upstairs I had to pull myself together
But that certainly didn't stop me from cracking open a bottle of wine ! !
And requesting J to get me another while he was getting dinner ! ! !
That and champagne for MEEEE ! ! ! !
BLAH !
Someone please just fucking kill me and put me out of my fucking misery ! ! ! ! !
Will 2004 just fucking END already?!?!?!?
PLEASE?!?!?!???!?!?!?!??!?!

Hmmmm....

Got an e-mail from my friend....
Apparently some little shithead from the past, who was left in the past for a reason, chose to post in her livejournal. He thought he'd respond to her last entry and make a nasty comment to her.
I so badly want to log in and attack....
But should I?
Not my fight, I know...
But this is total bullshit.
That little fucker needs to be smacked down !
Maybe I'll call her later today and discuss....

Mrs. Fields???

Hmmm…

My mind is wandering again…

After the accolades from Tex and the continued rave reviews from Holly and Melissa I’m thinking more and more…

About something they’ve said…

Something I’ve heard at every job I’ve ever had and brought baked goods into…

Something even my aunts in Florida have been saying…

They all think I should open my own little bake shop.

That’s a scary, yet tempting thought…

What if I actually did it???

What if I gave it a try?

My biggest fear, of course, is failing.

My 2^nd biggest fear is that I’d quickly learn to hate baking.

Of course, the movie “The Muse” is running through my head at the moment…

The scene where Sharon Stone’s character is convincing Andy McDowell’s character that she could be the next Mrs. Fields…

And the quote “Why can’t I be the next Mrs. Fields?”

Could that be me?

I don’t know.

There’s the issue of needing BENEFITS…

And startup capital…

And a location…

And a customer base…

And equipment…

And I gather my recipes from all different places – magazines, cookbooks, etc…

I don’t know that I’d be allowed to sell cookies that I hadn’t created the recipe for…

*SIGH*

I just don’t know…

I think it’d be fun…

Hard work, but fun…

Maybe I’ll start small…

Like selling cookie tins…

Next holiday season…

I’ll advertise locally and see if I get any bites.

I mean, there’ve got to be people out there who’d want to purchase tins of homemade cookies to give to friends and loved ones, right?

Cookies that are tasty and reasonably priced…

Maybe I’ll even start trying to get my feet wet before the next holiday season…

Like advertise to make tins for baby showers, weddings, etc…

I don’t know…

Just as I begin to get momentum and excitement about the idea my own lack of confidence knocks me back down to thinking I could never do it…

Full House

Whoo !

There’s 3 of us here today in my area

Yup

Count ‘em !

A whoppin’

3

And it’s DEAD

At least yesterday I was busy most of the day so at least time went a little quicker…

Not today…

No sirree

And happy hour has been cancelled

So 5:00 just means it’s time to go home

Which is always a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s always a little better when 5:00 means hangin’ with the girls THEN going home

To add to my annoyance, J has today, tomorrow and Friday off.

The boy has a 5 day weekend !

BLAH !
He had tomorrow and Friday off from work as they are holidays at his office.

BUT !
Apparently his boss, in an effort to be “nice” or some such nonsense, told him to not worry about coming in today either.

MAN !
Why can’t I have that kind of luck?!?!?!

My Day Hath Been Made ! ! !

Allright, y’all…

My day has just been officially made ! ! !

I made a new friend at the office holiday party and he was whining at me yesterday because I hadn’t brought in some Christmas cookies for him yet.

So this morning I made him a big plate and brought them in.

I think I shocked the shit out of him - - - I don’t think he believed I’d actually bring them in.

Well, I just got this note from him and it totally made my day:

-----Original Message-----

From: Tex

Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 10:53 AM

To: Liz

Subject: OMG!!!!!

Liz,

You RULE! I am now CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Liz Fan Club!!!!!

These cookies are tremendous!!!!! Thank God I start working out at the gym on Jan 2nd. (It was going to be January 1st, but my alma mater is playing in the Rose Bowl and I received a couple of 25 year old bottles of scotch, soooooo....that ain't happening!)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!! If I were a puppy my tail would be wagging a mile a minute!

If you have a chance in the next week or two, let me know and I'll take you for lunch as a thank you for putting me in sweet tooth heaven!

Thanks again!

Tex

Geinus Words ! ! !

Because I’m a schlep and didn’t put up a genius word yesterday, I’m putting up 2 today !

Mellifluous

(mә-lĭf´loo-әs)

adj.

1. Flowing with sweetness or honey. 2. Smooth and sweet.

Impecunious

(ĭm´pĭ-kyoo´nē-әs)

adj.

Lacking money; penniless.

The Story of The Kitties . . .

Recently I got to tell this story...
And it's a story I love...
The story of how Panya & Agador came to be mine...
So, dear readers, I thought I'd tell it one more time here so y'all can enjoy it.

Once upon a time ago there was girl named Liz
Liz REALLY wanted a pet and, after much convincing (of J that is) it was agreed that she'd get a kitty
She found a shelter for homeless kitties and a kitty she wanted to adopt was listed there...
A tuxedo cat named Pete...
So off she went to meet Pete
BUT
The shelter wasn't totally upfront about Pete
He was a grown cat - not a kitten - and he was terribly shy
Liz knew she couldn't possibly give Pete the attention he would need to help him come out of his scared little shell
She felt badly but kept looking at the other kitties available
There was a tiny calico kitty who kept mewing at Liz
Liz didn't want a girl cat but she picked up the little fuzzball anyway and looked at her
Still deciding this was not the cat for her she put the calico down and kept looking at the other kitties
After a few minutes Liz realized that infamous little calico wasn't giving up that easily
She'd scaled up Liz's leg with her little kitten claws and had gotten to Liz's hip !
Liz picked her up again and held her up to look at her again
At which point the little cat, with wet food dried and crusted to her face, promptly sneezed on Liz's face
"O.k., I guess you're supposed to be mine" was Liz's response
And so Panya came to live with Liz & J
How cute of a baby was she?!?!?!?!?


how tiny was she????


No bigger than a bottle of nail polish remover !


See? Wet food smooshed and dried all over her face !

And then there were three...
Liz, J and Panya

After a few months Liz decided Panya needed a little friend to keep her company

Liz made every argument for getting another kitty and FINALLY J relented

Liz brought home a 1 year old tuxedo cat from the shelter she was volunteering at
His name was Chico
Liz LOVED Chico and hoped they'd get along
Unfortunately Panya, at 6 months old, beat the crap out of Chico and had him terrified
Liz couldn't stand to have Panya terrorizing this cat she'd grown to love so much
And so he went back and found a new home

Heartbroken, but not discouraged, Liz went back to the website of the shelter she'd gotten Panya from
And there he was
A one eyed tuxedo cat in need of a good home
So off she went to get him
Well, one eyed cat turned out to have both his eyes and had absolutely NO interest in Liz
However, there was a grey tuxedo kitty who kept climbing all over Liz and head butting her
She picked up this little ball of fuzz and looked at him
And he sneezed in her face
"It must be fate" she thought and brought him home

Then there were 4
J, Liz, Panya & Agador


Little scraggly cat had hair sticking out in every direction...
And ears and eyes far too big for his head...



Though he was cozy almost immediately and didn't let Panya bully him



And he quickly became a fixture on the bed !


Panya was NOT happy to have another cat in the house
But Agador didn't seem phased by her in the least
She was mean to him the first few days, nipping at his butt and trying to chase him around
Then one day she changed her mind...


And now they love each other and seem to get a bit frantic when they can't find one another

And that is the stories of how the kitties came to be mine !

Testing? Testing?

O.k.

Seeing as how posting from my AOL account results in odd characters being added to my post and posting from my work e-mail takes FOREVER and ends with the posts happening hours upon hours later....

I'm trying this out...

My Yahoo account !
So, I'll be hitting "send" now...

At 1:26 PM

And when I get my booty home tonight I'll have to see if this thing worked minus any funky glitches.

My fingers are crossed !

---

Do you Yahoo!?
All your favorites on one personal page – Try My Yahoo!

WAAHHHH!!!!!

Know what happens when you’ve been sick and lost your appetite and your tastebuds are shot?

You stop eating and your stomach shrinks and you get absolutely no enjoyment from food.

Know what happens when you’re starting to get over this yet you still have no tastebuds or appetite and you decide that, for the sake of saving time, you’ll grab McDonald’s for lunch?

You feel like crap.

Know what happens when, after eating the McDonald’s you decide you need some Twizzlers and a ½ a Twix bar so you eat it?

You REALLY feel like crap !

WHY?

WHY?

WHY?

Why can’t I feel better?!?!?!???!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

I ate a ¼ pounder w/cheese and a small fries

Some Twizzlers and a single Twix stick.

And I feel like I want to BARF !

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH ! ! ! ! !

What's My Job Title???

Editor in Chief ????

Is that my job ?!?!?

No.

Though apparently some around here apparently thinks it is.

UGH.

There’s this employee…

And she has a good position here…

And she has her little bachelor’s degree….

And she’s currently working on her little MBA…

And, yes, she’s a nice enough person…

BUT !

She can’t put a f-ing sentence together ! ! ! ! !

Forget college, HOW did she graduate high school?!?!?!?!

This girl (and I’ll call her a girl because she’s like 12 and is a bit on the immature side) works directly for my boss….

And shortly after she started at the company it became grossly apparent to him that she was lucky to have been able to fill out the job application by herself !

So what do we do ?

I go to her office (yes, the child has an OFFICE) and I sit with her and give her a Writing 101 lesson in the hopes that she’ll catch on….

(I mean, I DID hold a Teaching Assistant position during my freshman year of college for a writing class . . . so I must not suck, right ?)

Yeah.

Didn’t quite catch on.

(I should’ve known when she asked me what the word “haste” meant !)

So then we send her to WRITING SEMINARS !

And we though that worked.

APPARENTLY NOT !
Not according to this slop she sent to my in-box to “proof” !

In all fairness, I know writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit. And I know that business writing can be tricky for some. But COME ON. The mistakes being made are purely out of lack of effort or lack of brain power ! This is basic stuff here !

Run on sentences…

Lack of proper punctuation…

Attempting to use words that I’m sure she has no clue what their definitions are !

It’s like she doesn’t READ what she’s writing !

It baffles my mind that she could’ve written this mess, read it over and thought to herself “YUP ! This sounds GOOD !”.

Her writing lacks professionalism !

HELL !

The girl cannot convey a complete thought ! ! !

Most times you are left to guess what the hell she’s referring to !

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH ! ! ! ! !

So here I am…

Using the black line option on the computer to make the changes to her document…

Which, incidentally, I’m shredding to bits and re-writing for her.

If I had any intention of staying at this job for an extended period of time I’d say something and fight it.

But that’s not the case here and it does provide a distraction.

As annoying a distraction as it is…

I’m literally pulling my hair out as I go over her “masterpiece” and, after deciphering what she means, putting it into a clear, concise format.

At least lunch isn’t too far off.

And she’s not here to be “offended” by my red strikethroughs and green underlined substitutions !

THPPFFPT

That’s nice.

Ya know.

It’s REALLY nice to come back from 5 days away from the office to find your inbox OVERFLOWING because no one’s bothered to sort your boss’ mail.

Forget the fact that YOU do it for others when they’re out.

NAH !

That doesn’t matter !
BAH !
There goes my good mood !
PLUS !
My desk overfloweth with work.

GRE-HEY-HATE ! ! !

This is what I get for coming back to work !

THPPFFPT ! ! ! !

Cool Beans !

WOW !

GREAT commute in today !
ROCK !

LOVE it when that happens ! ! !

BLARGH ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I don't WANNA go to work ! ! ! ! !
WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH ! ! ! ! ! !
All of that "positive outlook" from yesterday?
GONE !
Crap.
And I just realized it's 7:00.
Now I'm REALLY annoyed !
Gotta run if I think I'm going to get there on time.

Big Sigh . . .

So.
I did, indeed, dig out our driveway today and venture out.
OHMYGOD !
The people in the stores are HEINOUS.
They're just as bad as they were during the Christmas rush !
Everyone is pushing and shoving and have absolutely no manners !
It's quite disturbing ! ! !
So after buying a shitload of turtlenecks and long sleeved tees at Old Navy I trudged through the grocery and then home I went.
I made dinner . . . not that I can taste anything still (tastebuds died when I started getting sick) but I was trying to be nice. . .
And I built myself a nice fire . . .
And got a lot of the crap cleaned up that I wanted to get cleaned up for a while now. . .
And I continued trying to put more of a dent into the neverending pile of laundry . . .
And the kitties are doing the happy kitty dance because today was officially "Complete Litter Change Out & Clean Out The Litter Box Day" !
They are a little more than thrilled, I think, seeing as how they were shoving one another to get into the nice clean box once I finished !
Crazy cats ! ! !
And now I'm hanging out on the couch, drinking a big fat mug of hot chocolate with a giant dollop of whipped cream over a ton of baby marshmallows . . . YUMMY ! ! ! !
The fire is starting to die down and I'm getting a bit sleepy now. . .
And I'm watching the insane Maury show I TiVoed earlier today . . .
It's pretty pathetic, really . . . and scary . . .
Me thinks once the show is over I'll be slinking off to bed . . .
Unfortunately I have to drag my bones back into work tomorrow . . .
(oh, and as a quick side story, this morning I had a total panic attack around 8:15 because I started second guessing myself as to whether or not I really had the day off. I tried to call a couple of my friends - no one was around - then I remembered I'd sent myself an e-mail in which the dates off for the rest of the year were referred to . . . so I pulled it up and re-read it about 20 times before I was truly convinced that no one from the office would be calling my house at any moment to demand to know where I was . . .)
Though it's only a 3 day week ahead of me, I'm still not particularly looking forward to tomorrow.
Yenta will be out . . .
Which means just me and Heifer. . .
Notsomuch fun.
3 days . . .
I can do 3 days . . .
Besides, if I stay home another day I may very well go stir crazy . . .
OOOOHH ! ! ! !
And I just remembered ! ! ! ! !
The girls wanted to do Happy Hour this Wednesday ! ! !
WHOO HOO ! ! ! ! ! !
So I only really have work 2 days, then Happy Hour, and then the final day of the week for me is Thursday !
WHOOOOOO ! ! ! ! !
I'm a happy, happy girl now ! ! ! !
Happy Hour SO makes dealing with work easier ! ! !
SQUEEEEEE ! ! ! ! !

Genius Word Of the Day

O.k.
One of the things in my Christmas stocking this year (yes, my mother still insists on making my brother and I stockings chock full of goodies and she also still signs most of our gifts from "Santa") I got the Genius Magnetic Poetry Kit.
NOW !
Since I now have "240 brainy word magnets" at my disposal I think I'll start doing "Genius Word of the Day" until I run out of words or until I get bored of this game.
At any rate !
The word for today:

Kafkaesque

What does it mean?

Pronunciation: (käfk-sk)
Definition: adj. 1: relating to or in the manner of Franz Kafka or ihs writings. 2: characterized by surreal distortion and a sense of impending danger.

The Great Debate ! ! ! !

So.
I'm home today...
"Holiday" day off from work...
And it snowed a bit last night....
So the great debate is this....
I'm starting to go stircrazy...
And I want to go out....
BUT ! ! ! !
This is what it looks like outside currently....




And here's my driveway....




A bit steep and a bit covered in snow !
I'd have to shovel in order to leave and then to get back into this godforsaken driveway.
So what now?
Do I go outside, trudge through that crap, and shovel all so I can go get some pictures printed, buy a couple of new turtlenecks and pick up lunch?
Or do I continue to vegitate in the house all day and REALLY be nutty by the time J gets home from work tonight???
Decisions decisions...
This would be considerably easier a decision if I
1 - Could tolerate the cold
2 - Did't have a torn ACL in my right knee

Hhmmpphh....
Will have to ponder....
Too bad a neighborhood kid hasn't knocked on my door yet - asking if they can shovel the drive for $10.
Hell !
I'd even pay $20 !
Oh well....
Maybe I'll just dive into my box of Godivas and mull it over....

Agador the Christmas Cat !

After a long morning of unwrapping gifts, Agador crashes out !
(Luckily for me he sleeps pretty hard so I can pose him and put things like gift bows on his head and take pictures without waking him up !)

=0(

Bad day.
Preceeded by a bad night.
I'm in a not so pretty mood at the moment....
And I'm wallowing....
Self pity...
Doubt....
Misery...
Merry fucking almost Christmas ...
Whatever.

Where's The Beef !?!?!?!?! - Part Deux ! ! ! !

So.
I get home from work last night...
And what do I see sitting at my front door???
ANOTHER large white cooler which looks suspiciously like the cooler we received just the other day full of Omaha Steaks meat !
YUP !
That's what it was !
I groaned "NOT MORE MEAT ! WE HAVE NO MORE ROOM IN THE FREEZER ! ! !"
I then looked at who it was from and didn't recognize the name...
Then I looked more carefully at the receipent address...
Not us !
Same number on the house....
Different street !
One street over !
So, in trying to be a good bunny I put the box in my car and off I go in search of my neighbor to deliver their meat.
My neighborhood is a bit confusing and has lots of twisty roads...
Finally I find the house and drive up the long, dark ominous driveway...
But the house is lit so I assume someone is home...
I ring the bell and wait...
In the freezing cold...
When I hear no movement inside I ring the bell again...
Wait...
Still nothing...
I lean back and see that the window downstairs is lit and think I hear voices.
Figuring maybe the bell wasn't working I knock.
And wait...
Still no answer.
As I'm about to give up I ring the bell once more.
I hear a woman inside yelling at someone that the bell rang "again" and maybe there was someone at the door.
DUH ! ! !
This dopey kid comes to the door and looked rather confused to see a semi-frozen Liz standing at his door with a large white cooler in her arms...
I explained that this was his meat and that they'd delivered it to our house by mistake - that I was a neighbor one street over.
He seemed to understand and finally took the 2 tons of beef off my arms thanking me and telling me how much they appreciated it.
I was like "No problem. Have a good night."
And headed out.
Karma - +1 good deed !
It was just slightly annoying that they kept me standing out there like some gimp.
Oh well.
At least that case of meat didn't turn out to be for us !
Could you imagine ?!?!?!?!?

It's Rough....

It's rough to be my cats...
YEAH RIGHT ! ! ! !
This is their ritual every morning...
We open the curtains in the master bedroom and they curl up in their little beds and bask in the sunshine....
And pretty much stay in their beds until late afternoon...
How cute and cozy are they?!?!?!?

Happy Fat Fat

Now.
I live in the woods...
And we have many little friends who come visit our deck often...
This is one of the happy little fat squirrels that was visiting recently....
What a cutiepie ! !

What I Did Today . . . In Part....

Since we have no space for one we were going to forego a tree this year...
But then where would we put our gifts?!?!?!?
So I bought this little Charlie Brown tree yesterday during lunch...
And today I took some time to decorate it and put all of our gifts around it.
How cute is that?!?!?
NOW we're ready for Christmas ! ! ! ! !
(at least I am since I officially finished my shopping for J as of this morning and all of his gifts are wrapped up nice and tight !)
SQUEEE ! ! !

HOW AWESOME ! ! ! !

O.k., y'all !
This is just rockin' cool ! ! !
One of the gifts I received from my friend Holly was this...
Which stems from our shared love of My Little Ponies growing up (a common denom. we recently discovered !)
She found me a My Little Pony ornament ! ! !
Since we have a runt tree this year and this is the coolest ornament EVER I've deemed the pony the tree topper for 2004 ! ! ! !
WHOO ! ! ! ! !

Where's The Beef !?!?!?!?!

Apparently it's in my freezer !
My Aunt Bo sent us this HUGE cooler of meat for Christmas !
First my mom (incidentally the sister she's closest with) and now Bo.
Mom did not too shabby with the 4 filet mignon she sent.
Bo went over the top, though ! ! !

We have:
6 stuffed sole
8 stuffed baked potatoes
2 filet mignon
2 strip steaks
10 steak burgers
1 cheesecake
1 cutting board and knife set

GEEZ OH PETE ! ! ! !

Our freezer overfloweth ! ! !
It's not a big freezer to start with, but still !
The boxes upon boxes of meat and fish and potatoes !

Guess it's a good thing J got a grill recently, huh?

I think I know what we'll be having for our Christmas Eve dinner !

Could it be....

STEAK !?!?!??!

I'm happy that she sent us this very generous gift - don't get me wrong.
But I wish she hadn't spent that much money on us !

Le Sigh . . . BIG Time

So.
I stayed home yesterday.
I felt guilty as hell but I did it anyway.
I woke up feeling queasy and my head was so full of congestion I wished it would just roll off my neck.
I DON'T WANT TO BE SICK FOR CHRISTMAS ! ! ! !
WWWWWAAAAAHHHH ! ! ! !
(yes, I'm going to be a big whiney baby in this post so just deal)
This morning I'm still congested as fuck but at least my stomach's a little more settled.
I'm going in.
I have no choice.
Besides, I'd feel REALLY guilty if I didn't because I am, in fact, feeling somewhat better than I did yesterday.
Goddamned work ethic !
I guess the good side of all of this is that this is the last day I have to be in the office for this week . . . that's a plus, right?
And both Heifer & Yenta will be in today so if the stomach ickies come back I can always leave 1/2 day and not feel badly because at least I'd tried.
BLARG !
O.k.
I'm going to run now...
I've got t-minus 43 minutes until I absolutely have to leave this house and a mane of wet hair to go blow dry.
FUN ! ! ! !

A Laugh For My Day . . .

At least SOMETHING made me laugh today.

SOMETHING broke up the monotonous misery and the battle to hold down my lunch !
The Heifer...

Is in...

FUR.

OHMYGOD !

It's HYSTERICAL !
She's struttin' around here like she thinks she looks good !
I'm sorry, but NOTHING can make THAT look better !
BLAH HA HA HA HA ! ! ! !
I am just SOOO amused ! ! !

ICK

Lunch time is nearly here.

And a wave of nausea has just washed over me.

My eyes are now feeling hot and they hurt.

My stomach is all jumbled up like no tomorrow.

I WANT TO GO HOME !

But I can't.

Yes.

I'm VERY whiney right now.

Because I DON'T FEEL GOOD ! ! ! !

And I'm screwed.

You'd be whiney too if it happened to you.

Tee Hee ! ! !

Get Your Own Christmas BlogCard Here!

I'm Amused...

Get Your Own Christmas BlogCard Here!

THANK GOD it didn't come out Uranus ! ! ! !

You Are From Jupiter

You are exuberantly curious - and you love to explore newness. Enthusiastic and optimistic, you get a kick out of stimulating intellectual discussions. Foreign cultures and languages fascinate you. You love the outdoors, animals, and freedom. Chances are you tend to exaggerate, so try to keep a lid on that. If you do, you'll continue to be known for your confidence, generosity, and sense of justice.

What Planet Are You From?

How to describe...

PUNCHY.
Yup
I think that about sums me up.
PUNCHY
I've been feeling like SHIT all day, wanted to go home, couldn't....
THEN!
Heifer decides to take a vacation day tomorrow (in my opinion because she knows I'm sick and because Yenta was out sick today - - - so she doesn't want to get stuck alone tomorrow) . . .
And now I have a very hard decision to make.
If I still feel like this tomorrow do I stay or do I go?
I mean, I KNOW Heifer will be out.
I don't know if Yenta will be in.
And I don't want to screw Yenta and leave her there all alone tomorrow.
But what am I supposed to do? Spend another whole day of work feeling like crap?!?!?!
Plus.
Could I use a day at home to tie up some lose ends?
SURE !
I think my boss thinks I'm going to call out tomorrow because he could see how badly I felt today.
I don't know.
I've been nauseaus since 11 or so this morning.
I'm tired and I feel like crap.
What to do?
What to do?
Goddamned work ethic ! ! ! !

Well Then...

Guess it's a good thing I DIDN'T call out sick today !

Apparently, without leaving a message for either Heifer or me, Yenta has called out sick today.

She left a voicemail for her boss who didn't get in until just around 9:30 or so...

Know what that means, kiddies?

No ½ sick day for Lizzie no matter how terrible she feels !

GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I am NOT a happy camper AT ALL.

My stomach's a mess and my head is killing me and my cough is getting worse.

And I'm stuck here with this dumb biatch who doesn't answer her phone at all ! ! !

JUST what I need, right?!?!?!

I've taken an Aleve for head cold/sinus pressure...

Not working yet.

BLAH ! ! !
And that won't help my tummy to feel better.

So basically I'm screwed.

Happy f-ing Monday.

Shizzy...

Oh my god.
Do I feel like SHIT today or what?!?!?
My head feels like it weight 100 lbs., my sinuses are so full they're making my face feel as if it's puffed up and my throat still feels like it's closed up.
GR-EA-HEY-HEY-T.
And I have to got to work.
I'd love nothing more than to call out but I don't feel that I can.
I mean, it is Christmas week.
And I do have both Thursday and Friday off.
So I'm sure my boss would be less than willing to accept any reason for my not showing up short of death.
So I'm lying on my couch at the moment, wallowing in my discomfort and misery and really wishing I didn't feel like this.
Perhaps when I go in today if I don't feel better I'll just leave early.
I mean, at least that way I've tried, right?
And that way my boss can SEE how badly I feel.
UGH.
I hate this whole feeling as if you have to PROVE you're sick when you are.
I mean, if I was one of those people who was chronically out sick then o.k.....
But they make you feel like crap for calling out because they think you can't possibly be ill.
Assholes.

At any rate.
I'm going in.
Have to.
Unfortunately.
So I should stop blogging now.
The wind is whipping up outside and I have to go blow dry my hair so I don't have to deal with a cold wet head and hair that's being whipped about.
BLAH.

BLAH and Double BLAH

So.
Went to the office party and post party on Friday.
Details will have to follow in a later post.
The "BLAH" is for the fact that I seem to have lost my voice somewhere between the post party and my house !
I woke up yesterday morning completely unable to make more than a Minnie Mouse type of sound every time I tried to talk ! ! !
And apparently my vocal cords are so weak right now that by the end of yesterday it was a struggle to even make those noises.
Today?
No different.
My throat feels as if it's swollen up (as it did yesterday) and everytime I speak my squeaky Minnie voice seems to fade the more I try.
If nothing else, at least I've managed to provide my family and friends with amusement.
My nickname growing up was "The Mouth of the South" because I was such a talker.
And, incidentially, still sort of am.
When I called Aunt Ting her husband answered the phone and immediately began to laugh hysterically at me. He then handed the phone off to Ting and she began to laugh.
Then Dan called.
He laughed too.
They all think it's just the funniest thing that I, of all the people in the universe, would lose my voice.
I had other family members to call yesterday to thank them for the onslaught of Christmas goodies we got over this weekend (Filet Mignon from Mom, Popcorn Tin from Ting, A Bulb Garden from Grandma, etc.). Luckily none of them were home and I didn't leave a message because I'm sure they'd have just been like "Who is THAT on the machine????" So I'll have to try to call today.
The only family member I did talk to who didn't laugh (at least not so I could hear him) was my Uncle T.D.. I'd called to thank Aunt Amy for the box of Christmas goodies she sent me and she wasn't home so I talked to him for a minute.
At any rate.
I'm now going out with J to finish HIS Christmas shopping.
Mine plus teh 1/2 of his I took on this year is done, wrapped and ready to rock !
So now we just have to finish off him.
Will have to update more later.

WHOO HOO ! ! !

Got my first Christmas gift just now !
WHOO HOO ! ! !
Mel got me a pair of hand-painted Christmas wine glasses ! ! !
They are TRE cute ! ! !
They have little gingerbread people painted all over them !
How frickin' adorable is that?!?!!?
I'm all excited !
I got a gift !
WHOO HOO ! ! !

Not Cool ! ! ! !

I found something out today….
Something that annoys me a wee bit….
One of the execs in my area, who will go unnamed, apparently re-fills his personal printer with paper from the copier !
It’s maybe 10 more steps for him to get to the supply closet to pick up a ream of paper to take back to his office but NOOOOO ! ! !
God forbid he go an extra 10 steps ! ! !
No wonder the copier is always out of paper ! ! !
He walks over to it, snatches out the ream in the copier and takes it back into his office where he deposits it into his printer ! ! !
How RUDE ! ! ! ! ! !
And yours truly has the menial task of keeping that f-ing printer stocked with paper !
I’m fighting a losing battle here with behavior like that !

Mixed Emotions...

I come in this morning and notice someone’s car is missing….
And I wonder if she’s to be “late” yet again….
Then I turn on my computer and open this e-mail…
………………………………………………………………………

-----Original Message-----
From: Heifer
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 4:56 PM
To: Yenta; Liz
Subject:


I will be taking off tomorrow (Thursday).

………………………………………………………………………
I don’t know if I should be happy or annoyed….
Happy that she’s not here…
Or annoyed that, as per usual, she doesn’t have the common courtesy to give us ANY advance notice of her absence.
I think I’m going to choose to be happy.
I don’t have to deal with being watched and having my every move documented by that psycho.

Big YAWN ! ! !

I am SO tired !
Last night I ended up staying out with the girls for 2 hours - not one and when I got home had absolutely NO desire to bake. So I wrapped all the gifts I have thusfar and crawled into bed at 12:30 again. At least I was productive, right?
I've realized that there is no way I could've accomplished my baking goals without having taken a day off from work. And I don't have but one day left which I've already allocated to the 23rd. And being "sick" isn't really an option at the moment.
So this weekend I'll work my butt off and get them all done and packed out so I can do my mailings on Monday.
1 1/2 more days to deal with work and then that's it.
I have a very bad feeling this time is going to DRAG simply because I'm looking forward to it being over.
And if I think I'm tired this morning just WAIT for tomorrow morning ! ! !
Mel is picking me up & driving me to her mom's where her mom will drive us both to work (god I feel like an 8th grader all of the sudden !) so that we don't have to worry about driving ourselves home from the bar where the post office party is being held. Holly said she'd drive us from the office to the bar and then Mel's fiancee is picking us up and driving us home after. The only catch? She'll be here at 6:45 tomorrow morning to pick me up ! ! !
UGH ! ! !
Tonight I CANNOT stay up late.
I HAVE to get to bed early so I can be ready when she gets here !
And J sprung on me last night that he wants to go see his sister dance tonight at some concert thing. I think I'm going to have to find out more details . . . like where, when and for how long.
Tomorrow is also "business formal" attire day so it's going to be "super fun" to have to rifle through my clothes to see what fits that's appropriate for this momentus ocassion.
I HATE business formal.
And we're getting all gussied up so we can mull around at some dumb "party" for 2 hours.
Just craziness.
Oh well.
Enough typing for now !
I should go get ready to run out of here ! ! !

JOY & RAPTURE ! ! !

I just realized something !

Something WONDERFUL !

Last year I was forced to go to lunch with Heifer & Yenta for the holidays.

It was TERRIBLE.

For starters, I'm used to holiday lunches equaling someone putting it on their corporate card and I don't have to pay.

Not around here.

We each paid our own.

Which is fine, I guess.

But the company !
OY !

Conversation was SOOO hard !

If it was just Yenta & me it probably wouldn't be so bad...

But add Heifer to the mix and WATCH OUT !

(particularly because she HATES me with a passion !)

Anyway !

What I just realized is that NO ONE has said a peep about doing a repeat performance this year !

YIPPEE ! ! !

I don't have to go to lunch with them and invent things to talk about !

WHOO HOO ! ! !
(doin' the happy dance)

Feelin' Like Trouble ! ! !

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

That would be me ! ! !

At lunch today I...

Went to the Borders

And what did I see???

"Voodoo Kit In A Box" staring at me ! ! !

Now, I already own one myself.

When I first found it I thought it was absolutely hysterical and HAD to have it.

I promised myself that I'd pick up 2 for my friends here at the office if I ever found them again.

I snatched two of them up and trooped myself around the store to pick up the other items I'd come for.

When I got back to the office I wrapped them up (I keep a supply of tissue paper at my desk for just such an occasion !) and just met them to hand off the goods.

Mel opened hers immediately.

She was DYING laughing.

LOVE IT ! ! !
Holly couldn't open hers because she had some guy at her desk....but I'm sure she'll rip the paper off as soon as he leaves !
BLAH HAH ! ! !

And, of course, I just HAD to include an evil office cartoon !

=0)

I'm such a trouble maker !  Encouraging my friends to jab needles into a doll pretending it's their enemies and difficult co-workers !

Also...

Apparently the decision about the Turtle tonight has been made for me.

Holly is having a ROTTEN day and she sounded a slight bit desperate when she asked "We're still on for tonight, right?!?!?"

I couldn't say no.

So I've decided to go and just stay for like an hour.

It shouldn't be an issue since Mel is meeting her parents for dinner and she can't stay too too long either.

J doesn't know all of this yet.

But I've left him a voicemail asking him to call me.

So he'll find out when he calls !

To top things off it's my 4:30 day...

So I'm going to have ½ an hour to kill between the time I leave the office and the time I'm meeting the girls...

Perhaps when I talk to him I'll ask J if he cares if I start filling out the cards...I don't think he wants to do more than a generic message so it hopefully shouldn't be a problem.

Too bad there aren't any shops near here so I can get some more shopping done in that ½ hour I have to kill today....

Oh well...

So much for me getting too much done tonight, huh?

I may have to concede that I'm not going to be able to get all of my baking done by tonight....

BLAH !

Oh a happy note...

My boss has been out of the office since 11:30 and he's still not back yet though he said he'd be back by 2:30....

Hmmm...

This is good particularly because as of right now I only have 1 hour 40 minutes left in my day....

And it'll be less than that by the time he gets back here...

And I've gotten a good chunk of my day free of him.

SOOOO nice ! ! !

The Universe Sucketh

O.k.

So, it's only like 11:10 am and I'm having to get ready for my attack at the bookstore at lunch.

I've got to get there, find books and calendars for various assorted people, pay the nice cashier and then get my booty back to work.

WHEW !

At least I sort of have a list of what I need to get - - - that should make life a bit easier, right?

The great debate of my day today?

Whether or not to partake in the Turtle with my friends after work.

It's our local watering hole that the three of us frequent once a week or so.

They both want to go but I have MORE frickin cookies to bake still and J wants us to "do cards" and "figure out lists" tonight.

But I think I have a plan.

At lunch I'll pick up some cards and get them done here - - - I mean, I have the addresses and even printed them out on labels in festive colors.  So that's easy to knock out - - - give just about everyone the generic message and BLAM !  we're done !

As to the list?

Well, I've got my list.

I've checked it twice.

And I have a pretty good idea of what to buy for who.

So this whole "list" thing is more him than me.

Even getting these two items out of the way, it still leaves the cookies which I desperately need to finish up.

I mean, I was up until 12:30 this morning working on them !

Granted, that's mostly because I managed to kill my new mixer - - - the mixer I've only had for a couple of days now . . . that I bought to replace the mixer I killed over the weekend.  J wasn't home yet and was kind enough to pick me up yet ANOTHER new mixer on his way in but he didn't actually get home until 8:30...so that's when I got to start with the mixing and the baking.

FUN !
Maybe what I'll do is go but only stay for like an hour.

That is SO hard to do with my girls, I have to tell you !

We have so much fun together and the time just FLIES by when we go to the Turtle.

Hhmmpphh.
I'll have to ponder this, I suppose.

I mean, today is also my early day so I'd even have a ½ hour jump on the game if I didn't go and went straight home.

But then I feel bad because I'm canceling on them.

But then again, we are going out on Friday after the office party and we can do our catching up then...

Hmmm...

Ponder

Ponder

Ponder

Testing? Testing?

O.k.

It worked when I tried it from home...

Let's see if this posting from e-mail works from work !

BLAH

So.
Technically right at this moment I should be getting dressed or doing my hair and makeup or something that gets me closer to leaving this house in the next 12 minutes.
And what am I doing?
I'm typing here.
Why?
Procrastination ! ! !
That and I have an adorable boy cat cuddling with me right now and I'd very much prefer that to rushing out of here to go fetch breakfast for my boss' meeting before even getting to work this morning.
BLAH.
Guess I should go and be "responsible", huh?

Another Vote !

Vote #2 regarding the dilemma has come in !

Yet another who things I should respond in my handwriting, but thinks I should not put her name in it and should make it as generic as humanly possibly - - - writing NOTHING personal in it whatsoever.

This idea I will have to mull.

I mean, the absolutely last thing I want to do is make her think she has a green light to start contacting J again !

UGH !

Vote #1 ! ! !

1:23 pm

O.k.

One vote so far on the dilemma….

And I think I know why….

………………………………………..

-----Original Message-----

From: HELPDESK

Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 12:07 PM

Subject: Email Delayed

MailWatch is having technical difficulties delivering email. As a Result, email messages coming into Hooper Holmes is being delayed. They are working to resolve this as quickly as possible.

……………………………………………

Call me crazy but I bet this is the holdup !
UGH !

Anyway !

The one response I got said that I should, indeed, send a card back in my handwriting.

I, upon mulling this over all day, think that perhaps I should do just that….with my own “special message” inside for her. Something along the lines of “We got your card and appreciate your well wishes. Hoping the same for you.” Not too overly bitchy, but just bitchy enough I think….

I’ll have to update when I get more responses from the friends.

I just got an e-mail delivered to my in-box that was sent at like 10 this morning !

EEK !

Le Sigh

10:43 am

That’s all it is?!?!

UGH

This day is just going to DRAG

That I can already see

What to do for lunch?

Hmmm…

Let me think about that one…

I could go to the grocery and pick up the things I need to continue the baking frenzy tonight, but then what am I going to eat?

I could go to the soup place, but they’re a little on the expensive side for this time of year.

I’m avoiding the mall, the bookstore and any form of shopping as I have another day to wait until my paycheck hits my bank account….and I have no answer from J regarding our credit card as of right now otherwise I’d go there and knock out some shopping.

Hmm….

What to do.

What to do.

I’d like to go to the gym as I’m feeling like a fat oinky pig.

But I don’t have gym clothes with me.

Perhaps I’ll do that tomorrow.

So what does that leave?

This company doesn’t have a “real” cafeteria…so that’s not an option….

Le sigh.

What to do.

And I’m back to thinking about the grocery.

If I did go there I could pick up the baking stuff, hence preventing me from stopping on my way home and hindering the amount of time I’d have to do this baking. I could also scope out what I want to pick up for the meeting tomorrow morning . . . get an idea so tomorrow will be quicker and easier on me.

OOH!!

And that means I could go get a tuna bagel sandwich for lunch ! ! ! !

And the plan comes together ! ! !

BLAH HAH !

Hence lunch plans were decided on and I’m a happier camper !

Quote of the day...

“Have a good weekend, and beware of any little children that come over. They may look cute, but they can have evil in them!! Hide the cats!”

This is my quote for the day.

Supplied to me by my friend Holly.

She’s the best.

I opened my e-mail this morning and this was waiting for me….and it made me laugh.

And trust me…

I NEED to laugh today.

We didn’t get home from mom’s until rather late last night and I’m draggin’ this morning.

Not to mention that I sat down and took a look at the cookie stats….

Yeah.

I’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there !
19 batches of various cookies in 3 days.

It’s like the cookie baking decathlon ! ! !

I’ve mapped it out as to what I’m baking when and I’m really hoping I can get all of this done !

Worst comes to worst I’ll just have to let some of the cookies go to the wayside if I get pinched for time and I can’t meet the schedule I’ve made for myself.

And then I look at my Christmas gift list.

WHEW do I have a ways to go there too ! ! ! !

It’s not such a big deal except for the people who I actually have to send stuff too….

I knocked a couple of them out this weekend…

But there are still 3 left !

EEK !
And they’re not “easy” gifts to get because I have NO idea what to buy !
Oh well…

I’m sure I’ll get there.

And not to be too ugly about it, but if some people get their stuff a little late then TOUGH.

I’m one person and can only do what I can with the time and money I’ve got.

Dilema Time...

So.
I now have a major delima on my hands...
Something I will surely mull over and over and then ask my friend's opinions of before continuing to mull...
See, "we" got a Christmas card from someone...
And I don't know if J wants to send one back (probably does) and if I should beat him to the puch so the card will be in MY handwriting if he does.
Hmmm....

To Sum Up The Scene:

J has this ex-c0-worker from years ago. This chick. When J and I started living together 2+ years ago was when I first met her. She came into our apartment and disregarded me completely. And I totally got the vibe from her that she digs J.
Fast forward...
So, she called on like a weekly basis and had him on the phone for minimum of an hour to whine about her "mean" boyfriend (oh woe is to her !)....
Also, during this time, J's female friends (some of them) were getting into the habit of calling the house and, when I answered the phone, treating me like I was the f-ing secretary. My solution? When one of these little triffles came along and answered my "Hello?" with "Is J home" I'd then respond with "Who's this?". Upon my instituting this rule this little ho immediately stopped calling our house phone and ONLY called him on his cell.
Sneaky a bit much?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!
J, I know, wasn't doing anything out of line. He's home constantly so it's not like I was fearing he was having an affair...
Anyway....
J knew I didn't like her at all and so decided the three of us should go out to dinner.
BAD idea.
She flirted with him the ENTIRE night RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. The boy is OBLIVIOUS.
Fast Forward some more...
It all came to a head and I requested a meeting with her - - - just the two of us.
When we did meet I went into it trying to explain my position and my feelings.
She got snotty, nasty and completely acted guilty though defiant and that was that.
J hasn't heard from her since.
Not too obvious, is she????
Anyway...
Now the little tramp has sent a Christmas card to our new house.
The envelope?
Addressed just to J.
The card has both our names inside of it though.
I know she did this just to piss me off.
DUH.
So now the great debate begins....
I almost don't want to ask him because that'll open a whole can of worms.
He told me about this card last night on our way to my parents house in CT....
And though I didn't yell or anything, my reaction was not good...
So now what?
Hhmmpphh....
Time to bring out the arsenal of friends and debate the topic !

Tee Hee....

Angel

When four of Santa's elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys.

So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Here's the Dilly...

Recap of last night…..

Steve brought Grace over.

Like as soon as I got home from work.

Jess kicked them both out because she was having a "mom's club" function and didn't want them around for it.

So Steve asked if he could come to our house.

No problem, right?

WRONG

I know that 1 ½ year olds are full of energy and get into things. This I

expected.

She was chasing the cats around and Agador was a wonderfully good sport when she caught him.

(he is SUCH a good boy ! ! !)

Anyway.

What Jason and I both didn't expect was for Steve to have such a lack of respect for our house that he'd let Grace do some of the things she did.

At Steve & Jess' house it's normal for Grace to climb up on and stand on their coffee table and side table.

No one even tries to stop her !

So last night we were happy because she didn't seem to want to climb on our

new coffee table.

Then she did.

With her sneakers on ! ! !

And Steve helped her up !

I waited for Jason to say something.

Jason tried to be subtle. He looked at Grace and then at Steve with a look

on his face that said "What is she doing?"

Steve didn't get the hint.

Jason then spoke up.

He was like "Not for nothin' Steve, but come on."

Steve was like "What?"

Jason was like "That's a new, $300, coffee table and she on it with her sneakers on. Not for nothin' but I'D like to damage my new coffee table before anyone else does."

Steve was like "Oh. Is it really a $300 coffee table?"

Jason was like "Yeah."

Steve then took Grace's shoes off and left her to wallow all over our coffee table.

When she finally decides to get off she's running around and tries to climb

onto the bottom piece of the table (it's like the top and then there's like

a bottom shelf thing).

Steve lifts her up and PUTS her on the bottom shelf ! He f-ing HELPS her !

! ! !

Jason doesn't want to be a dick and I don't want to be a bitch.... But come on...this is not romper room and coffee tables aren't made to support that much weight ! ! !

Jason keeps trying to hint and keeps giving Steve looks but Steve is oblivious.

To top things off Jason had picked up dinner for us all on his way home.

He got Chili’s to go.

And Grace LOVES French fries.

She was in her booster seat for dinner - which was fine.

And he cleaned her up after.

HOWEVER.

When she got whiney later he gave her left over French fries and she was running around our house...dropping the fries and leaving grease EVERYWHERE.
You should've seen the coffee table and entertainment center by the time they left ! !

It was just a bad night.

Steve stayed longer than he should've.

My cats got abused.

And Steve didn't bother to have enough respect for us or our belongings to keep her under control.

Afterwards Jason & I had a talk.

We both said we felt like we were bad people because we got upset about what had happened and both said we hate feeling this way.

However.

Jason also said that this was his wake-up call and that this is OUR house and that next time he's not going to bother with hints. His mindset is that it's our house and we have our rules and that we are going to enforce those rules in the future.

Losing Patience

I'm starting to get really fucking annoyed right now....
And my patience is wearing VERY VERY FUCKING THIN ! ! ! ! ! !
Will talk about it more later....
Going to go back to gritting teeth now....

My mother is a lunatic . . . but we already know that, don't we?? ???

O.k.

Here's a "Liz's Crazy Mommy Story" for y'all ....

She tells me that she was at the casino over the weekend and that, as she was walking through the lobby, she saw a crowd forming. She realized that Tim McGraw (the country singer) was there chatting to a bunch of fans. Mom freaked out and whips out her cell phone. She then calls my aunt Bo in Florida to tell her that she's standing just feet away from Tim McGraw. His entourage then starts to move away and my mom decides that she's not letting him get away that easily ! OH NO ! So what does she do?!?!?! She chases his entourage through the hotel/casino halls until they come to a stop again. She pushes her way through the crowd of fans and yells "TIM ! ! ! Could you take this phone and say Merry Christmas to Bo for me?!?!?!" as she thrusts her cell phone at him, my aunt Bo still on the other end. He looked at her, smiled and said "Sure !" and grabbed the phone and say "Hello? Bo?" to which my aunt just freaks out and he then was like "MERRY CHRISTMAS !" and handed the phone back to my mom and off his entourage went again. Needless to say, aunt Bo was completely ecstatic....

Only MY mother is the crazy lady who chases celebrities with her cell phone and demands that they wish her family members Merry Christmas !

4:17 pm

I’m going stir-crazy
La La La
Stir crazy
SOOOO crazy !
T minus 43 minutes and counting ! ! ! ! ! ! !

BLAH !

Went to the Target at lunch today
“Angels” are due by tomorrow at like 10am and I can’t go shopping after work
Why not, you ask?
I’ll tell you why not !
Because Jason’s friend, Steve, is being kicked out of this house with his 1 ½ year old daughter, Gracie, and he’s seeing refuge in our house.

THAT’S why

I like Steve
I really do
And I love Gracie to pieces
But with the way this week’s gone I’d really rather not tonight
I still have like a bajillion cookies to bake
And shopping to do
And a talk to have with J
And I probably will get little to none of that done tonight

Not only that
Our living room has TONS of boxes of Christmas crap in it
Because J emptied the attic over the weekend

AND

Dinner stuff from last night is still out

Know what that means, kiddies?!?!?
I get to rush home to hustle through reorging the boxes and cleaning up the kitchen
ALL before they show up ! ! !

AAAAHHHHHH ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Oh a slightly brighter, and odder, note…

I found out today that my brother has indeed gotten married and that the baby has not been born yet
Makes me feel at least a little better that I wasn’t left out of the loop of my first niece being born
E-mailed Patty today who sent me pictures of their wedding day
She also, incidentally, gave me his mailing address AND his cell phone number !
SCORE !
So now I’m debating on whether or not to call him . . .

*Special note for those of you who don’t know the deal. My family tree is a MESS. Mom & Donnie were high school sweethearts and got married when they were like 19. They had me and then got divorced a few years later. Donnie met and married Patty. They were doing fine until she got pregnant with Bryan. Donnie divorced her and then tried to come back when she went into labor. She promptly told him to shove it and that was that. Donnie then moved onto Janice and married her. She had a son already from a previous marriage, David. (David’s the one who shot me when I was a little girl) Together they had a daughter, Jennifer. Meanwhile, Patty got re-married to a man named Bob. Bob adopted Bryan and then he and Patty had a son together, Bobby. Mom got re-married to Patrick, who had a son and daughter from his previous marriage, and they had Matt. Patty recently got divorced from Bob and has moved across the country and just got a new man.

Keeping up so far?

So the final tally is like this:

Mom = 2 marriages & 2 biological kids, one from each marriage & is still married to Patrick

Donnie = 3 marriages & 3 biological kids, one from each marriage & is still married to Janice

And once you add up all of the halves and steps it comes out to 2 half brothers, 1 half sister, 2 step brothers and 1 step sister.

I’m the only one who knew about Bryan and Jennifer up until a few years ago - - - I knew about them, they had no clue that I existed or that one another existed. I contacted Patty some years ago and that’s when Bryan found out. When I got back in touch with my estranged father, Donnie, Jennifer found out about me and went ballistic. I’ve e-mailed Bryan but haven’t pushed to talk to him on the phone or meet. After writing to Jennifer for a little while we talked on the phone and I actually finally met her when I was in Florida over the summer.

The really scary thing?

Though we’re only ½ siblings, Bryan, Jennifer and I all look oddly alike….especially me and Jennifer. She’s sort of like a blonde me !

VERY scary !

And now Bryan is married so I guess I have a sister-in-law (or would it be ½ sister-in-law) and a niece on the way (and, again would it be ½ or whole?)

So, I’d like to thank my parents for making this fine mess for me and all of the offspring they’ve created !*