It's official

As of yesterday morning....
J and I are engaged.
It turns out that all those comments at the party were just people being stupid - J hadn't told ANYONE about his plans !
How's that for conicidence?!?!?!?
So, we're at the beginning now...
No clue as to when or where (the two most POPULAR questions at the moment).
I don't think it's really hit us yet.
It's not like we feel any different or anything like that - I just have this chunk of metal and diamonds on my left hand now and that feels a bit strange...
But other than that it's business as usual.
It probably hasn't hit us yet because:
1. He hasn't told a single member of his family yet.
2. I JUST told my family last night.
3. Only 4 of our friends know.
4. He hasn't gone to work yet. (ALL of his co-workers have seen the ring as he brought it in after buying it (think he was a bit excited???) and they knew it would be this weekend.
5. I haven't gone to work yet - where NO ONE is expecting this.
6. We haven't decided on anything yet, so it's not like it's "real"....though my family is already shoving wedding dresses at me and my stepfather is already offering to pay and hopes it happens "real soon".

Oy.
What have we stepped into?
I was originally considering just not telling anyone for a little while - not take this away from me and J by sharing it....but then I thought of how angry I'd be if one of my family or friends did that to me so I changed my mind.

My mother doesn't know yet.
At least, as of her voicemail last night she didn't.
I called the entire Florida family first.
The last time I got engaged I told my mother before it happened (When I get back from dinner tonight, I'll be engaged) after which she promptly called EVERY member of our Florida family and told them so when I called them they already knew.
She stole my thunder once.
She'll not do it again ! ! !
I called her multiple times on her cell and at home to no avail.
So I left a message asking her to call me.
She called pretty late at night and we let the machine get it.
She said that she'd been at the emergency animal clinic with our dog all night and would call me from work (today).
[BTW, she said that Callie (the dog) is o.k.]
So, of my family, only my mom and little brother don't know.

The cutest thing was when I called my aunt Ting.
Her daughter, who's 16, responded to the news by saying "I'm SOOO happy ! I didn't care if it took until they were old and grey to get married, just so long as she married HIM ! ! !"
Guess J has a fan club?
:)

Illusive Sleep

Got like NO sleep last night....
All of this is weighing heavily on my mind and I'm wrestling with what lies ahead today.
I'd really prefer to just stay in the house ALL DAY LONG - I know he won't do it here.
I have knots in my stomach and I can't even begin to think straight.
What's the difference betwen this and what we're doing? Right?
But it is different.
And my fear of commitment is kicking up BIG TIME.
All I want to do is run away and avoid, avoid, avoid.
Not that I don't love him...
I just don't know that this is for me - like I think it is because I've always wanted it, but it scares the SHIT out of me and I can't seem to deal.
I mean, look at my track record !
Engaged 3 times - never made it to the alter !
Surprisingly he's got a good game face...which I totally didn't expect.
I just have NO idea what I'm going to say if he does this today.
It REALLY bothers me that EVERYONE last night knew about this....
and it makes me wonder who else he's told (like my Florida family).
I would assume his family knows - I mean, if all of his friends know, I'd think that makes sense, right?
Le Sigh...
I just don't know, really I don't.
But I'd think I have to figure it out pretty quick if today's the day, right?

I swear....

The number of times engagement was referred to tonight...
Does EVERYONE know????
Or do they all just think I'm that stupid???
I'm not even SURE of how I feel should he do this....
And all I got to hear tonight is "Cheers to J and Liz !" and "To your engagement" and "Did you get the (while pointing to the ring finger) yet?" all followed by these people getting "SHHHH" or smacked....
We are NOT engaged....
And I'm a little freaked out to say the least....

YAWN

So here it finally is...
The day of the Halloween party
And the house is nearly done being cleaned - and the decorations are about done too.
We still have pumpkins to carve - which should be interesting...
And grocery shopping/liqour store shopping to do.
I worked from home yesterday which did help out.
HOWEVER !
I was up at 4am yesterday because of work worries and went into the office first thing all for nothing.
Got pulled over on my way home - but that turned out o.k. because I knew the cop.
Basically fell over into bed at 10pm last night and am up with the chickens this morning.
I've technically been awake for 1 hour - but kept trying to convince myself to go back to sleep which never happened.
So I figured that rather than lie in bed the least I could do is try to figure out what I could accomplish without waking J up.
Posting here is one thing...
:)
Oh, and on a random note, the Halloween fun at work ROCKED !
Our conference room was the BEST in the building !
And I had a great time floucing around in my costume !
Boss man even got dressed up which I think was absolutely great !
There are pictures, so I'll have to weed through and find one I can post.
Well, must go find something else I can do without waking J.....
Hopefully he gets up soon so I can get those curtains made quick and then continue on in my cleaning/decorating efforts !

SQUEEE?!?!?!

Saturday is our annual Halloween party.
We are SOOOO unprepared !
The house is WRECKED and we STILL haven't finalized our menu ! ! !
Not to mention that J still doesn't have his contume items ! ! !
I've been so busy lately that I can't even get into the Halloween mood like I usually do - which is not great. Hopefully that will change today and tomorrow ! ! ! !
At least doing the WFH thing will help out in that I can "lazy clean" during the day (aka intermittently attack various areas of the house throughout the day).
Provided it's quiet at work on Friday it shouldn't be too much drama in terms of getting things done around here.
ALSO !
J said he was seriously considering taking tomorrow off as well so that he could work around the house !
ROCK !
Two is SO much better than one and he won't be tied to work so he can get a LOT done hopefully.
Also, on an up note, the prizes have already been ordered and should be arriving tomorrow and my friend Mel will be sleeping over the night of the party. We've also extended the invite to sleep over to H, but I'm not sure if she'll take us up on it - I sure hope so ! ! ! !
:)
ALSO, on a totally random, but exciting, note....
I get to wear my costume TODAY ! ! ! !
SQUEEEE ! ! ! ! !
Seeing as how the weather is such crap, though, I think I'll have to change into it at work so it doesn't get ruined.
All I know is that that kid I'm watching this afternoon had better NOT puke on it !
:)
Maybe I'll just wait until after I'm done with her to put it on - smart idea?
Wish me luck, y'all.
Hopefully today goes off without a hitch and tomorrow is productive !

Grrrr....

Well that's what I get, I guess, huh?
They're doing this contest at work - a "decorate a conference room" sort of thing.
A few people had approached me about getting a group together to do it and it was basically left in my hands to make it float or sink.
Here's how it's gone so far:

Tuesday:

So I sent around an e-mail to the group asking who else would want to joing the "team" and I got a few more responses.
We then had a meeting to determine our name and theme.
THAT was fun !
(NOT !)
EVERYONE kept looking at me blankly as if I was the "leader" and it was my job to come up with the concepts here !
So, after an OVERLY, UNNECESSARILY long meeting, we had a name and concept.
GREAT !
It was then determined that it would be MY job to go pick up the supplies.
Off to the party store I went after work...and then to the WalMart because the party store sort of sucked and they had no real pumpkins...
2 hours later I made my way home.

Wednesday:

I block the room from 11:30 - 3:00 so that the entire team could come in whenever they wanted to to decorate. Of course, it ended up being me in the room ALL day long and one or two other people actually participating. One of the managers who I'm friends with was really the only other person exerting EFFORT - the others were just making comments and suggestions.
How about GET OFF YOUR ASS and HELP US OUT ! ! ! !
It was determined that we weren't quite fancy enough and that we needed a fog machine, some black lights, a strobe light and a coffin !
So, being the good little office bitch that I am, I went BACK out to find some of these items - the fog machine was bought by the manager friend of mine and the black light was assigned to another person.
I got home last night just as the sun was going down.
GREAT !
I got to spraypaint styrofoam rectangles in near darkness out in my yard. (These are going to be our gravestones since I didn't like any of the ones the store sold.)
It was then my job to carve a pumpkin....
So I got that done too- not bad, but definitely not my finest work either...

Thursday:

So today it's my job to schelp all this stuff into the office and finish this room.
The kiddies are showing up at 3:30....
(We do a "bring your kids to work so they can trick-or-treat" day and this whole decorating contest is really for them.)
I have a meeting at 10am with Boss-Man to do my overdue review.
I'm helping out a friend who's bringing in his infant daughter by watching her for an hour this afternoon while he's conducting his staff meeting.
And the room STILL needs to be finished.
Oh yeah, and I may want to try to get some WORK done as well, huh?!?!??!?!

At least I'm working from home tomorrow.
I have to go in first thing to set up a guy who's coming in as a trainer, but then I schlep back home and work from home for the rest of the day.
All I know is that we'd BETTER be winning SOMETHING for all this effort today ! ! ! ! ! !

A Night Out on the Town ! ! ! !

So, let me start with this lovely picture that was taken at the end of our night....

(and if you can guess which one is me, you get a prize !)

The night started with me being stuck in traffic and having to meet everyone at the restaurant. (And, as a side note, I hadn't been feeling well last week, and I was still not 100% great that night, but I was going to go come hell or high water - Mel had had enough people bail on her at the last minute !) (Also, poor Mel was on antibiotics, so she couldn't DRINK at her own party ! So we determined we'll just have to have another one for her after the wedding when she's feeling better !)
The restaurant group was considerably larger than the Hoboken group. Literally, the majority of her bridal party showed up for dinner but did not come out with us. Dinner was fun - our friend, H, made it which TOTALLY made Mel's night and she and I got to catch up which was a LOT of fun ! :)
We did a "guess who bought you which thong" game that one of the girls had come up with whereas she had to figure out who gave her which thong based on the wrapping, the thong itself, or both. There was a rather creepy guy in a booth behind our table, who was with his wife, and he was WAY too interested in this game, let me tell you! One of the girls got a picture of him lurking even ! HA !
So, after dinner, we went back to the hotel and the limo was waiting for us. We'd gotten a stretch and were rearing to go. The first club we got to wouldn't let us in, regardless of our excellent attempts to convince them. They were "at capacity" so we headed on to another club. I have to say, if a group of girls go out to a club and one of them has a tiara on her head and a feather boa around her neck, men are on that "decorated" girl like white on rice ! ! ! We managed to land a group of older guys who were, for some reason, not deterred by our lack of willingness to allow them into our circle. They started asking how they could get our booby beads away from us. Mel was too nice - all one of the guys had to do was lift up his shirt and she handed over her beads immediately. So, when they approached me I figured they needed a CHALLENGE !
I told them that they had to hand over their underwear.
They wouldn't do it.
I said that they had to go into the bathroom, strip down to their underwear, and then run through the club.
They still weren't biting.
So I made one of them bend over and shake his ass while his friend smacked it.
THAT was worth booby beads ! ! ! !
:)
The only other guy who got beads off of me was the one and only guy who congratulated Mel, rather than saying "I'm sorry", when she told him she was getting married.
We got back to the hotel around 2am and stumbled up to our rooms.
There was some drama - what with 8 diverse girls drunk off their asses - but it eventually settled down and we fell all out.
The sad thing is that I was like the adult of the evening. I was the one herding the girls back into the limo when it was time to go, doing a head count to assure we didn't forget anyone. I was also the one who had to take the money away from Mel's sister at the end of the night to count out the total for the limo driver - making sure he was paid what he was suppposed to be getting paid and that the money count was correct.
I was up at 7:00 the next morning - rearing to go.
(One of things that does NOT make me very popular is that I don't get hangovers and that I'm usually up at the crack of dawn, happy as a lark.)
I made myself go back to sleep for another hour and then determined I'd just watch t.v. until someone woke up (I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye). So, around 9-ish I got dressed and, as I was finishing putting my things in my bag, Mel's sister's cell phone alarm went off and she woke up.
WHOO HOO ! I could go home ! ! ! !
:)
So, I thanked her for having invited me and told her that I had a really good time, etc.
Then, on my way home, I stopped off and picked up bagels and creamcheese and o.j. for J and I along with the Sunday paper. It was really good to be home. I hadn't been feeling physically too well as of late and, I wouldn't have missed Mel's party for the world, but I really just wanted to rest. I spent the day yesterday slogging around the house, my stomach not quite right and, when waking up this morning had such an upset stomach that I opted to call out sick from work to give myself one more day to try to shake the frickin' stomach bug I seem to have gotten.
I SO hate feeling like crap !
At least her night was a good one and we got a lot of great pictures.
I have to exchange some pics with Mel's sister as she was taking some too - so maybe if I end up with any more good shots I'll post them.
:)

Let Me Backtrack for 5 Seconds...

When starting the post that will be posted next I realized I'd never written about that wedding J and I went to...so I'll slap that out here first and then do a post about the bachelorette party !
----------------

OY VEY.
Where do I start????
For starters NONE of the childhood friend groupwas invited except for the Lumberjack and J - so we knew like NO ONE there, right?
It was a DISGUSTING day with all the rain and I'd decided that since I had to go do this thing that I'd be damned if I didn't show up the bride and ensure that I looked better than her (which, truth be told, isn't that hard to do considering what she looks like, but still, you get the point). So, I bought this KILLER dress and did my hair and make-up.
J and I had NO motivation to go at all...and we ended up at the church 20 minutes late - - - and caught the last 15 minutes of the ceremony.
To my great delight the bride looked like she was bursting out of her dress for all the fat she had spilling out - SQUEE ! I got the fat bride I'd ordered !
As they were walking back down the aisle I got nasty looks shot at me from The Lumberjack (she was a bridesmaid) and Bozo.
Let the games begin.
So as we went down their reception line I looked dead at Bozo, said "Congratulations", gave her a once over and then congratulated Creepy Boy. She looked scared to say the least...he he he.
They had a 3 hour (yes, 3 HOUR) delay between the ceremony and the reception!
That being the case, J and I went back to the house to relax.
When it was time to leave for the reception we both STILL had NO motivation to go...but we did.
We get to the reception and, just as we'd thought would be the case, we knew NO ONE.
To be nasty they didn't even bother putting both of our names on one tent card ! We each had our own !
Bitch !
I was 1/2 way surprised that J and I were even assigned to the same table !
So J made his way to The Lumberjack and The Crypt Keeper to do some "small talk" until it was time to go in to the dinner. The Lumberjack, as I'd expected, was rude. She looked at me, said "Hi Liz, how are you" and then continued to talk to J before I could even respond.
Whatever. Just more proof that she's a dumb rude bitch. The Lumberjack "invited" us to her Halloween party for this weekend (Nice to steal my party idea - last year we had a "haunted housewarming" party after moving into our house. They just bought a house and are doing the same thing. Could you be any less original?!??!?! What an ass !). J laughed at her when she was explaining that they would be having this party and that it was BYOB and that they were going to order some pizzas. He looked at her and told her that we were having our annual Halloween party that same night so we couldn't make it. Afterwards, he looked at me and said "BYOB and we're ording pizza???" I just rolled my eyes - in my opinion it's to be expected from someone without any sense. (Our parties have a SPREAD of a variety of foods and we supply the majority of the alcohol. We tell people what we're having in terms of alcohol and tell them that if there is anything else they'd prefer, they're welcome to bring it along with them, but it's not necessary if they're o.k. with what we're providing. Guess we're just the silly people who are good hosts, huh??)
They FINALLY let us go into the "ballroom" - which has a leak coming in from the roof.
The DJ looks like he's wearing a wig - his hair COULD NOT be real !
Rather than sitting us with the few people we knew, we were relegated to the table of her co-workers. There wasn't a "head table" so it's not like it would've been an issue.
Just another example of her being a bitch and, in my opinion, the fact that she only invited the two of us to rub her marriage in our faces and to "oust" us publicly.
We refused to let it show that we were offended.
If she wanted to be a bitch than so be it.
We were going to have a GOOD TIME regardless !
We made friends with EVERY SINGLE PERSON at our table and had a great time with them !
Bozo kept shooting looks my way throughout the night - I ignored her.
J and I danced and drank - a lot - and were bound and determined to make the best of a bad situation. I had a FABULOUS man from the U.K. sitting next to me and he was a BLAST to chat with ! We ran amuck at the table and he was even kind enough to investigate the DJs hair to determine if it was real or not ! :)
The reception was a carnival of freaks to say the least (with the exception of our table, of course) - a walk on the side of oddities and tastelessness. Her mother wore stripper shoes (the clear platform kind) and a dress that looked torn up at the bottom (but, like it was a deliberate tear). Her brother danced like he was at a ho-down (imagine him clapping his hands while stopming his foot up and down - his knee coming up to the middle of his chest). He also made a point of picking up his date by the ass on the dance floor on multiple occassions. Now THAT'S appropriate ! ! ! The bride requested the song Lady Marmalade - at which I made the comment to J that I thought it was a little classless to have a hooker song at your wedding reception and to have your ass on the dancefloor gyrating to it all by yourself. They kept playing the SAME Italian songs OVER and OVER and OVER again....with the occassional disco song thrown in, and Mambo #5. J and I were the best dressed people there (including the bridal party !) and I must've accomplished my goal of being the prettiest woman there as all eyes were on me and J couldn't stop telling me how beautiful I looked (a compliment I don't get often).
The Lumberjack, who's dress was a size or two too small for her (her fat bulging out everywhere), got PLASTERED and kept coming to our table, draping her arms around us and hung inbetween us babbling about how we should "come to their table". J looked at her and said that it was o.k., that we were quite happy at the table we were asigned - but thanks anyway. (CHA CHING, BABY ! ! ! !) The last time she came up to us she was trying to convince J that he needed to go dance with her since the Crypt Keeper wouldn't. I didn't even have to so much as shoot him a look. He immediately responded with "I don't think so." TEE HEE !
When she lumbered away from us J looked at me and asked "What the hell was all that about???" I was like "DUH, honey ! She was trying to use you to make the Crypt Keeper jealous ! ! !" He was like "Yeah???" I was like "THINK ABOUT IT !" He responded "Hell no, we're not going to be playing those games !"
It came time for Bozo to throw her boquet to the unmarried women. When they announced that all of the "single ladies" needed to make their way to the dancefloor I sat in my chair. I was NOT going up there. Bozo shot me a look and I gave her a look right back that made her head and gaze snap away from me so fast her head was nearly spinning. HA HA HA ! Don't FUCK with me BEEE-YATCH ! ! ! !
Throughout the ENTIRE night, J kept leaning over to me and asking "Can we leave yet???".
I told him that we had to stay at least until they cut the cake, then maybe dance once more and then we could leave.
They FINALLY cut the cake (the cake table convienently being right in front of the table we were assigned to), we had some tea, danced once more and then got ready to leave.
We went up to Creepy Boy, who is completely clueless that there have been daggers thrown all night, and congratulate him and thank him for having us. Then comes the goodbye to Bozo. J gave her a hug and then she looked at me with fear in her eyes. She leaned in and gave me a hug (ICK !) so I did the quick "pat pat" on her back and disengaged her. "Thank you so much for coming" she nervously said to me. "Yeah. Congratulations again." I responded coldly, then turned to leave.
The icing on my cake for the night is that she made the rounds to every table except for ours - she never once approached the table at all to thank the group for coming. That, in my mind, did nothing but make her look bad to her co-workers ! I mean, how RUDE can you be that you won't stop by EVERY table to thank the inhabitants of that table for coming to your wedding?!?!?! POINTS for LIZ ! ! ! Bozo totally made an ass of herself and showed her co-workers that she truly has NO manners ! ! ! !
And such was the wedding of crap.
It's over now and hopefully these people will begin to fade from our lives.
I DO NOT like her. She has been a little bitch to me for how long now and her actions in inviting us to the wedding and our obvious "ousting" by our table seating shows her lack of character.
She is a rude little bitch who was obviously not raised right and that's really not my problem.
The next possible time I may have to deal with her will be at the annual St. Patrick's Day party. I'm sure J will want to invite both her and the Lumberjack. (He has SUCH a hard time letting go of his friends even when they are completely out of line, but he did realize at this wedding that it is becoming time to realize that they likely won't be his friends much longer. I mean, the ONLY time we ever see them is at our functions - they NEVER invite us for dinner or anything else - it's very one sided. And now with hard feelings fully in view, I sincerely doubt that they'll be dumb enough to show up in my house again for an event if they're invited - and if they do I guarantee they won't want to stay very long. I should've thrown their bitch asses out at the last event when all of the drama started - lesson learned and if they do bother to show their faces and do start with me they WILL be thrown out.)

What do you get when you have 8 girls, 1 soon-to-be bride and a bunch of booby beads in a bar???

Guys who will do ANYTHING for the booby beads ! ! !

These two agreed to do the ass-smacking dance to get beads !
HA ! ! !



What could be more fun than making 1/2 drunk guys do stupid things for shiny plastic beads???

More details on last night's run later !

Beginnings and Endings...

Last night J was on the phone with one of his friends, D, who's sister has been having some trouble as of late. We went to this sister's wedding 3 years ago - it was our first "dress up" event to attend together and it was also the first time J and I had a picture taken of us that wasn't embarassing (to clarify, the only other pictures up to this point were embarassing because they were of the first night we started seeing one another and they are of us on a dance floor at a company holiday party. We look like crap because, really, who looks good dancing to disco unless they're posing???) and it was also the first time I really mingled and met a lot of J's friends. This event, from my POV, was like the beginning of J and I really becoming a couple and my integration into his circle of friends. Things were simpler then. I trusted him 110%. I encouraged him to go dance with one of his ex-girlfriends - completely secure that he only had eyes for me and not having it cross my mind that she may have underhanded plans for trying to get him back. Things were good.
Well, last night we found out that the sister is getting divorced.
Her soon-to-be ex-husband has EVERY right to file for divorce and I can't say as I blame him.
You see, she decided to start sneaking around with another guy and cheated on her husband in the process - even going so far as to move out of the house they bought together all the while expecting her husband to just wait for her to get it all out of her system and pine for her.
Well, he may be a nice guy, but he's not dumb, and he's filed for divorce.
I hate to say it, but I'm really glad I can't make it to the birthday dinner they're having for this woman on Saturday. J's going, but I have Mel's bachelorette party to go to so I'm not going. I don't think I could sit at dinner with this girl without wanting to smack her. What is WRONG with her?!?!?!?
The fun of all of this going down is that it's created an upset for me.
She and her soon-to-be ex dated and lived together for a while before getting married.
And look at where they're at now.
Did she fall victim to the 7 year itch? I mean, the timeline does suggest that could be the case.
The thing that's getting to me is my situation with J.
We've now been together for nearly 4 years - and have lived together for 3.
We've kicked around the concept of marriage - usually resulting in an argument and hurt feelings on my side - but remain "single" for now.
The fact that a couple who seemed to have the same path as us is now getting divorced instills fear and unsettledness in me.

Yes, I have a problem with commitment.
Do I want to get married - absolutely.
Does the concept of a wedding COMPLETELY freak me out - OH YEAH !
Do I want to "run" every time J seems to be inching closer to proposing - big time.
But it doens't mean I don't want to be with him and that I don't want to be more than his "girlfriend" for the rest of my life.
(I'm such a mess !)
Watching these two divorce makes me want to run away and not look back.
It reminds me that, yeah, marriage typically doesn't work and it ends in divorce. So why bother?
I hate having these conflicting emotions ! Wanting something but being terrified of it all at the same time !

J could see that I was upset last night after he told me about what's going down. I explained to him that it was really unsettling to me. He kept saying "we're not them" and, though I know it's true, I can't help but wonder if maybe we're more like them than we care to admit. Not in terms of me having a need to cheat - but in terms of marriage not working for us.

DANCING AROUND SINGING "HA, HA, HA, I WON!"

Yup.
I'm on top of the world today ! ! ! !
That sonofabitch I was talking - the one who was demanding that I pay him for the scratch on his bumper - is GONE GONE GONE ! ! ! !
Yesterday it got REALLY nasty.
He was SCREAMING at me and then J took the phone away and he and the guy screamed at each other until the guy's wife took the phone from him leaving her to talk to J. She was screaming at first but then she calmed down and suggested that she and I meet to exchange the money. Then she switched, saying she wanted to go through insurance. I then took the phone and talked to her and she switched back to wanting to meet me. I agreed to meet her this afternoon to give her the money. (Funny how the amount changed by the end of the conversation !) 2 hours before the meeting was to happen I look at my phone to see that I've missed a call. It was from the guy. He said his wife couldn't make it and that he wants to "just forget about it" and to "leave it as it is".
HAH ! ! ! !
Forget that I had to go into work on my day off - - - this totally made everything in my universe absolutely WONDERFUL ! ! ! !
I had to go into a conference room to call J and squeal with delight !

I
WON ! ! !

WHOO HOO ! ! ! !
Literally, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Both this guy and his wife were OBVIOUSLY trying to scam me.
The funniest thing is that obviously I've been immersing myself into my law class a little much because I started throwing jargon at him during the verbal rumble yesterday. I only realized it after the fact, but I must've sounded somewhat intimidating because he said something to the effect of "I don't understand all this fancy talking you're doing, just give me my money !"
Tee Hee !
Thanks Prof. Gallo !
I SO felt like Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde (the scene when she confuses her friend's ex into giving the dog back) except for the fact that I actually KNEW what I was talking about and was applying the proper legal terminology to the situation ! ! !

I did go to the post office this morning and got a money order for the amount we agreed to.
I was ready to just pay and get this over with.
I was so upset by this whole thing last night and today.
I wanted to do the right thing and pay what I owed, but I didn't feel right about it because I knew I was being scammed. I did decide to suck it up and deal with my feelings of being screwed over and figured karma would get them eventually.
All of this to have them back out at the last moment !
WHOO HOO ! ! ! !
Once I got that message all my stomach issues went away and I actually got my appetite back !
I went to the grocery and made us a big celebratory dinner - a roast with yorkshire pudding and my "famous" home made apple pie for dessert !
Suddenly, things don't look so bad.
This had been weighing on me for the past month - and it's over now.
Wow.
I mean, I knew it was effecting me, but I really had no idea just how much until this afternoon when all the stress and trauma went away.

So, everyone raise a glass ! ! !
Sometimes being a good person who tries to do the right thing actually works out in your favor !
The good guy doesn't always finish last ! ! ! ! !

SonOfABitch

That bastard I tapped in my car a month ago is back !

It took him 2 weeks initially to get back to me regarding his first "estimate" where he was demanding that I replace his bumper. I told him to forget it. It was a scratch and that we did not discuss anything more than a touch-up. He told me he'd have to call me back. I told him that was fine.

It's been another 2 weeks - which now brings us to a month past the incident in question. After calling me like 5 times he finally left me a message saying that he had gotten another "estimate" for $150 to have a touch up done. (I didn't pick up the phone any of the times he'd called because I couldn't believe it'd taken him 2 weeks to get back to me and I REALLY didn't want to deal with it - besides, who calls 5 times before leaving a message?!?!?!)

I left him a message back this morning saying that I'd received his message and that $150 was fine but that I would ask him to please fax me a copy of the estimate as well as a copy of his registration and the address to which I can send the money so that I have the information for my records. I said that upon receipt of the fax I would get his money right out to him.

Do you even KNOW the son of a bitch had the balls to do???
He left me a message back saying that he didn't know who I thought I was but that I was not going to call the shots here and that he wasn't going to "fax (me) nothin" and that I needed to call him back. That it was, afterall, me who "hit" him and so I have no business asking him for anything. He was fucking nasty as shit.

Fuck that shit.

I am SO tired of this bullshit.
I called J and told him that I wanted him home when I called the bastard back.
J says I should call him back and tell him that I am asking for these documents for both my protection and his and that I am unable to send him any money before I see this information. If he gets angry and nasty then I am to hang up on him. If he calls back J wants to handle it and he'll pick up the phone and deal with the bastard.

This shit SO unnerves me!
I do NOT like to deal with this sort of crap. I am not a confrontational type !
J asked me if I wanted him to deal with it. I told him that I didn't know and that I don't really want to involve him. I feel badly, but I so DO want him to just take over this and handle it and not look down on me for my shortcomings in handling matters like these. I want to be strong but I really really am tired of this crap and I don't want to have to deal with someone being ugly with me. This bastard is OBVIOUSLY trying to scam me. I just want to kick myself because I was stupid enough to give him my cell and home number. DUMBASS that I am, I was trying to go the right thing and was honest. STUPID STUPID STUPID.

My friend from work gave me the hint about requesting the registration. He said that this guy may not even be the owner of the vehicle and that I should ask for this to verify that it really is his car otherwise I could possibly have the real owner calling me up next. And once he said that it hit me - - - there was a "How am I driving?" sticker - like a real one- and I think to myself "It was a work vehicle ! ! !"

So I'm a bit freaked out right now.
Think I may need a drink.
SO don't want to have to do this.
What the fuck?
This douchebag won't just go away !
And now he wants to get nasty with me?!?!??!?!
I'd REALLY rather leave him another message - but I know I can't do that.
Great.
There goes my relaxing weekend.

Puppy Doggy

So, on our way home from breakfast this morning we say this dog running across this VERY busy street and he nearly got hit ! ! !
So we turned around and followed him into a neighborhood and I got him to come to me so I could check for a tag - which there was none. A collar but no fucking tag ! He was SOAKED and dirty and, though was obviously well-fed, appeared to not have been to a vet in quite some time seeing as how bad his teeth looked.
Then a car pulled up - two women who'd turned around because they'd seen the dog on the busy street as well ! Good Samaritans ! YEAH !
So we knocked on a couple of doors - and no one knew who's dog it was - while J called the cops. The dog obviously belongs to SOMEONE.
I told J I want to check back in with the cops tomorrow to see if the doggy got safely home or if he had to be turned over to the pound.
If he does land in the pound I want to keep tabs on him and take him in if no one claims him.
He's an old dog...and VERY well behaved. I can't imagine he doesn't have someone who loves him and wants him back - but people can suck and if it turns out that his owner no longer wants him then we'll take him in (provided, of course, that he doesn't try to eat our cats or the bunny). And if we can't take him then I'll find him a no-kill shelter to take him in !
I really hope he does get home....I'm going to worry now until I have an answer.....

Death Penalty

Yesterday I went to this session on the dealth penalty where there were 3 POVs presented.
This topic does nothing but infuriate me when I'm forced to listed to someone so stupid as to try to convince a room full of people how "hard" getting a life sentence is ! ! !
Yeah.
It's REAL tough getting 3 square meals per day.
It's VERY tough trafficing drugs !
It must be SUPER hard to watch t.v. and workout all day !
And you know what must REALLY be the HARDEST thing of all????
How about the groupies that write to you and you get to respond to? Or how about when you're permitted to MARRY one of those groupies so you can get conjugal visits?!?!?!?!??
WOW !
Life would be SOOO hard ! ! ! !
Criminals ADAPT !
That's REALITY !
Then to have to hear people bring up topics like Aileen Wuornos - saying that the movie "Monster" was made to make her sympathetic !
How about the fact that the movie, as well as plenty of books and documentaries, have been made about her because she's a FUCKING ENIGMA ! ! ! ! ! ! She was in the rare position of being a woman who was a serial killer who did not have a male counterpart. How about the concept that she's the most high profile serial killer in our time because of the fact that she's a woman seeing as how our society cannot comprehend that a woman would be capable of being a serial killer???
I walked out of the session annoyed simply because of this "abolish the dealth penalty" woman.
I liked the other two who were part of the debate.
GRRRR !
Maybe it's just because I'm southern, but I 110% agree with the death penalty and wish it were even a bit harsher than it currently is. Heck, criminals should be happy I'm not really in control of the universe cuz they'd be goin' DOWN ! ! ! !

Something's up...

And I have a VERY good idea of what it is...
But I can't really talk about it at the moment...
Though I'm having some VERY conflicting emotions about it and would LOVE n0thing more than to be able to babble all about it here and get y'all's feedback...
But, alas, no can do...
Unless the "something" happens soon and then I'll spill my guts for you all to read...
However, I sincerely anything will happen anytime very soon...
HHMMPPHH...
Why are things always so complicated?

WFH

That stands for "Work From Home"...
and that's what I did today !
SQUEEE !
And to make things that much better I took Monday off as well !
LONG WEEKEND FOR ME ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Now...
What to do on Monday???
Me thinks perhaps I should hit the Bronx zoo...
Or maybe just go to the city and hit a museum....
I dunnoh....
I know I've got quite a bit of studying to do over the weekend so it just depends on how much I can get done before Monday.

Now...
Onto bigger and better things...
NIP/TUCK ! ! !
WOW what a show Tuesday was ! ! ! !
As per usual I was SO pumped up by the end of the episode that I was ready to fall off the couch with anticipation !
CANNOT WAIT for Tuesday to get here again ! ! ! !

In honor of my being in a good mood, I thought I'd post a fun picture !

HONK ! ! !

Tears of Joy

:)
i am so happy right now that i'm actually crying !
it's nice to cry for a good reason now !
my all time favorite band is back together ! ! ! ! !
yippee ! ! ! ! ! ! !
though the lead singer's site says she'll be on hiatus until the spring...which unnerves me a bit...
what about the thanksgiving show?!?!?!?!
i went on their website just to check in and saw that an old picture of the original band members was up...and i was like WOW !
so i did some digging....and the singer that replaced the original singer is gone and the original singer is BACK ! ! ! ! ! !
not only that but the trombone player is back too ! ! !
i've now officially had my night MADE !
i cannot WAIT until the next time they do a gig ! ! ! ! !
i think i may very well have to go get their cd and play it all night tonight and all day tomorrow !
long live deep banana blackout ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

My Apologies to All !

So, I've been AWOL for a little while now.....and I have to start by apologizing to everyone for not responding to your comments to my recent posts. Life, in every aspect, has been completely insane lately. From work to home to school....no aspect has been untouched by the madness.

I'm hoping things will start to even out soon...but until then I absolutely do appreciate your comments and your support ! So thank you all ! :)

NOW !
Let me get to responding to those comments !

To MattR:

The deal with the computer class is this. I'm now in a class that is completely remedial and it will definitely be an "easy A" for me. I expect to learn absolutely nothing and I am completely bored already. The professor is a very nice man, which is at least a plus. The Dean has yet to respond to my letter, which I find VERY upsetting. I plan to give him to the end of this week at which point I will be forced to address this issue with the President of the college. I was going to talk to the President initially, but my new professor assured me that the Dean would take my letter seriously and act on it. So, I suppose this just means I have to suck it up and deal with being in a dumb dumb class for the next 10 weeks....and raise holy hell if the issue isn't addressed and I don't receive a response to my letter. Fun, right?


To MissMargo:

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement !
:)
You and I definitely seem to have quite a bit in common....and it's nice to know that you hear where I'm coming from and "get it".
:)
And though the drama never does seem to stop, one thing's for sure - I certainly don't intend to wave a white flag and give in. I've thought my skin was pretty tough, but I guess when you have a build up of events over 2 weeks and having every aspect of my life touched it tends to make that tough exterior start to crack. This weekend held some more "fun" for me (which I'll be writing about shortly) but at least this time I felt more in control and after this week things should begin to settle down at least a little bit with work. School is ramping up with my first round of tests this and next week...and the personal life is what it is.
So, MissMargo, THANK YOU my dear ! Thank you for being there for me and for your kind comments !


To felicity:

Thank you for stopping by and for commenting ! :)
And thank you for your support and words of encouragement !
My blog isn't usually this filled with drama...it just seems to be something in the air lately.
The crazy guy up the street seems to be leaving us alone thus far - and I'm still working on curtains. Unfortunately, when you have a living room that is 3 shades of green and the window is abnormally big that means curtains are not an easy thing to make happen. I'm thinking I may just have to make them at this point. The stepfamily I will likely not have to deal with again any time soon - which is good news.
Thanks again for your words of support and hopefully I'll be able to write about happier things in the future !
:)

Think the drama is nearly over?

THINK AGAIN !
I decide to go to my mother's house and I get ANOTHER dose !
WHOO !

Let's see...
What did we learn tonight?

My grandmother is still alive - my fucking father LIED to me about her being dead all these years.
My brother got arrested...AGAIN.
Oh.
And the typical drama of throwing me to the wolves of my stepfather's nasty family who hates me not for anything I've said or done, but rather because I'm not blood to them.

I'm going to bed now.
I've had enough.
And I have to be at work bright and early tomorrow for another day of drama filled fun !
SQUEEE.