reflections on 08

well, i can certainly state for a fact that 2008 has been a terrible year on many fronts. it pretty much ranks #1 as the most consistently overall bad year. there have been other years where events have caused it to be bad for a short time, but this unusual year has brought my heartache and strife than i ever thought possible. and while this all sounds rather dim and sad, i promise it is not all terrible! there were definitely some big highlights too. and so i look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly....

the good:
*our family banded to gather to fight for a common cause and we've never been closer
*sarah and dave got married and i had the privilege and pleasure of being in it!
*holly and scott got married!
*i got to go to spain with the folks
*i had many chicago visitors: sarah l, lara, megan c, higgins, annie, alex, penny, craig, my parents, my favorite cousin caitlin, scotty
*i reconnected with my old childhood friend, cherry. she grew up across the street from me until they moved to a different neighborhood. but we've kept in and out of touch, but this time we really got caught up and had so much fun
*we beat that hobag and settled with the best possible outcome for us.
*we got many sentimental things from my nana and her family as well as my grandad. we have war artifacts (ww1 and ww11), my nana's bible from when she was a child, her diary from when she was 10, some of their wedding presents, some of her collection of limoges boxes and herrend pieces, loads and loads of photos, and dolls from various countries my great g-ma visited and brought back for my nana - they were all tagged and identified with their country - my nana then continued a tradition that i didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago by bringing me a doll from every country they visited... and they went everywhere.
*made some new friends here in chicago: megan, trish, sonny, nicole, other megan, kyle
*joined junior league
*ran my first marathon with one of my best friends from high school, alice!
*ran my first half marathon - again with alice!
**in addition: as dev dev pointed out my overloaded or underused brain (i prefer overloaded) forgot one of the most fun events of the year: the nunes/larkin wedding!! duh. i had so much fun playing host to sarah and lara and dancing the night away.
**thought of something else and of course promptly forgot. hmmm... see? overloaded or underused...

the bad:
*my aunt has been in and out of rehab now for almost 3 years, but appears to be doing so much better and has been sober since mid oct-ish.
*lost my job twice this year for a record total of about 4 months of being unemployed
*worst year income wise by a landslide which is a total kick in the ass once you've been doing so great and then to lose so much b/c of such a bad economy it stinks
*new year's eve! sarah and kim and jared all know why!!

the ugly:
*lawsuit with the sinister minister b!tch from hell. which really truly made my year the most stressful and the most difficult i've ever had to go through
*my most favorite place on earth now belongs to said person above
*that woman being so vindictive she sent 100+ boxes to my parents' house - some sentimental and good, a lot of it complete and total trash. as in chair cushions that had been in the attic for 50 years and were rotted and smelly and had no chairs with them... ummmm, it's called garbage, but b/c we paid for shipping she wanted to stick it to us. so she did.
*this economy!!

so overall, i guess a lot of good things did happen. but, it seems so unduly overweighted in the ugly category. the lawsuit, deposition, fact finding, memory recalling mess really took over the entire year from jan until oct when we finally settled. for 10 months my emotions were up down and every which way over overshadowed a lot. added to that feeling like my career has been in the dumps and so has the money and it makes me feel so terrible and like all of my achievements and advancements i'd made in my career just went down the tubes this year. and now, i get to figure out a new direction. which is ok... i know i'll find one....and i know it's been a rough year monetarily for scores of people so i tell myself it isn't just me.

but, i'm looking forward to starting a new year, a new decade, and all that that brings. so here is to leaving all of the bs from 08 behind and ringing in a much better 2009!!!

happy dead granddad day!

is it terrible that i feel no love or loss towards my granddad? i feel bad about it, yet when being truthful to myself... it's the way i feel. after the year of strife he caused all the members of my family and after the way i've come to learn how he truly treated his children and my nana and his grandchildren i just don't like the man. he didn't deserve everything he was given. his children are amazing people and yet he never said he was proud of them. my nana was the most amazing person in the world and i know i'm biased but everyone thought that about her and yet behind closed doors he was a real jerk. and now, the ultimate humiliation of disinheriting his own children after having committed with my nana to leave them the estate and pass down the house in maine. and it's not just the disinheriting that makes me hate him. it's the fact that my dad and his siblings did nothing to deserve it. absolutely nothing. are they saints? no. but is anyone? they called, they visited, they tried to love him in the ways they knew how, they dropped what they were doing in their lives to go help that hobag when she asked. they didn't deserve this. it's not the money... it's the gesture and the lies he told my nana. my nana signed everything in her name to him with the premise that he'd in turn leave everything to her amazing children. he promised and then renegged. he didn't fulfill my nana's wishes. he didn't fulfill commitments that he made to her and his children when they sent each of their children a letter in the 80s (which my dad kept, thank god for packrats!) explaining their will and what they ultimately saw happening upon their deaths. leaving everything to a nondeserving hobag was not written in that letter. and i guess that is why i am so angry. mom wants me to drop the anger as she says it hurts me more than anyone else. i know this. but i'm not ready. i'm not ready for forgiveness and i'm not ready to give up the anger yet. i'm still healing... as for the happy dead granddad day, last year on this day, his birthday, we had his memorial service where i comforted and held that hobags hand and told her it'd be ok. i comforted that woman and it makes me sick. i had no idea of what she'd done or he'd done until christmas eve. and for that, i say happy dead granddad day.

it's freeeeeeeeezing!

baby it's cold outside! the temp isn't even above 0 and the wind chill is -20 to -30! brrrrrrrrrrrrrr. i was outside as little as possible, but it was beyond cold when i was out there.

snow in the alley sucks

i got stuck not once, but twice trying to get in and out of my garage within 3 hours. to the point of: a. i was about to cry with frustration b. never move my car again this winter. and by stuck i meant my wheels were spinning and my car wouldn't go forward or backwards. so i was leaving this morning to go for my sat run and got ridiculously stuck. my super nice neighbor, colin, helped me out. i'd never met him before today, but i was so grateful. 25 minutes later, i'm finally on my way to the run. which i got to late. and i had to run to catch up to everyone. it sucked. but i did catch up. and it was freezing! go down the first part was fine. turning around in to the wind sucked. i seriously thought i'd lose about all of my fingers to frostbite. then, i drove home and got stuck again in the alley. arghhhhhhhh. thankfully the guy who lives right behind my place had his garage open and was quick to offer me some help. about 45 freezing minutes later, mario and mario jr had helped me get my car into the stupid garage. where it will now still for an indeterminate amount of time. as in until the snow melts or i forget about this miserable experience. i'm guessing the snow melts first.

btw, devs... you're raffle ticket was almost a winner.... you were what, 74? they called 73. i was po'd. i won nothing. booo!

more sculptures.

here is the new home for two more sculptures which just happen to be my favorites. well, actually my top three. there is another one that my parents will let me have here as it isn't my dad's favorite. he thinks the girl looks depressed. i think she looks pensive and frankly it reminds me a lot of well, me. i don't have a good picture of that one right now, but don't worry it'll be a future post!

for now... here are two more. they are flanking my parents fireplace in the living room which is where i suggested they be displayed. i think they look fabulous.

blogging every day is tough!

it's tough especially when you don't do much besides the gym on a daily basis. but there are some exciting (not so much) updates of things i've done... yesterday i headed to mich ave to shop sales i have no money for with my friend nicole. i bought nothing and neither did she. but we are both jobless so at least we got out of the house and did something! i've been a regular at the gym pretty much every day though i skipped wednesday b/c i wasn't feeling it. last night i had a junior league committee meeting and then i went to alice and trish's house for megan's surprise bday party. everyone was already there, but i made it in time for cake. yum! megan's actual bday is today and we are celebrating on sat night. today i attended my last pilates session at equinox... booo... i had to relinquish my membership due to the high price of it and my non job status... go figure. but it sucks. i've done pilates 3 times this week! but, i plan to join another gym once i get back from houston. what else... hmm. well, actually that's about it for today!

here's a picture of nicole since none of you have met her yet.i don't particularly love this picture of me, but whatever... and yes, nicole is about 6 foot bare foot so i love it - i actually feel normal size around here even though it is only 2 inches. she's super fun and it's nice to have someone else to hang out with during the day sometimes.

otis

since i haven't done a post on otis for a while, i thought you all should know that he is doing splendidly and loves chicago. he has a bunch of sinks to choose from, loads of windows to look out at, and plenty of room to run around in (but he usually chooses to sleep in my bed or on his favorite barcalounger.

this was when i first moved in and got this new rug. i still didn't have a couch at this point. but he's saying hi in this picture.


this is otis in ny in his favorite window. he has new favorite spots now.


he loves to sleep on the barcalounger while i am on the computer. it's his favorite spot... besides the bed and the couch.


he's my very large and adorable otis bear.

blackmail!

i love my little brother. we are complete opposites and don't talk all that much, but i appreciate him and love him. and i love to have this fantastic picture of him that i found... you guessed it in all of those picture boxes!

sculptures!

these are some more of my nana's beautiful pieces of sculpture. it's hard to see them all and it's hard to see the detail, but you can tell she was talented and that she put a lot of love and time in to them. so they are absolutely treasured by us.

happy halloween?!

since i don't have much time, but have promised daily updates... i'll take the short easy road... another old photo! and folks... i have an endless supply of those as i kid you not there were a bazillion pictures that we sorted through.

so, i know it's a little past halloween, but i loved this picture. this is my friend cherry who grew up across the street from me and is getting married this june, my little brother (who wore this costume a lot... even on non halloween days he was a little superman, and me. clearly a princess. duh. aren't we adorable?!

my nana

although she's been gone for 15 years which is just so not fair as she was only 67... i've blogged about my nana and how special she was to me. i found this picture while digging through all of the various photos. i'd never seen this one and fell in love with it immediately. every night before bed, my nana would come and tuck me in, read me a bedtime story, and kiss me goodnight. i can still hear her voice in my head and i miss it so much.

although this isn't bedtime reading, it is me, my brother, my older cousin adam, and his stepbrother matt.


i just love how i appear to be the only one really paying attention to nana reading! and if you look on the coffee table amid the toys, there is a sculpture of a woman - my nana did that and now it belongs to my dad. also on the table right behind the couch you can see to more sculptures: my head and my cousin adam's head. my nana did a bust for all of her grandchildren. i have 3 heads at my parents' house. 2 in clay and 1 in bronze. good thing i was a cute 2 or 3 year old!

thankfully the draft is over

on tuesday morning, my aunt and uncle came over and we prepared to have our 'draft'. my dad had to work in the morning as he was giving a webex. so while he was doing that, all of us worked on getting rid of more of the trash and putting things in the give away pile that nobody wanted. i really truly thought my mom might kill my uncle at one point so i ran up to my dad's office (he was off the call by then, but still working) to tell him mom was about to lose it and he better get downstairs before she gets really pissed. the problem was that chuck was trying to get rid of things and go thru things, but he wasn't listening to her. there were so many boxes that they were in the dining room, living room, and family room. well, my mom has to store other stuff for her charity as well as stuff she needs to take to the lakehouse. my mom showed him several times which piles were which, but he didn't listen. at one point, he came in to where we were in the dining room and said "did she really send us a bag of candy!?". to which my mom about lost it... she said no! that stuff is stuff that goes to the lakehouse and she got mad b/c she went in there to check on stuff and realized he was moving everything around including the stuff for her charity and the house and it drove her crazy. it was a little more involved than that, but all that stuff is super overwhelming and it was an overwhelming situation. (i should have taken pics of all the stuff, but i didn't.... i just now thought about doing that. oh well)

before we started the draft, we all decided that going to lunch would be good. get food in us and hopefully not be at each other's throats. so we easily picked a place: thai food in the village about a mile or so away. maybe less. then, came the problems. first rounding everyone up. then deciding how to get there. my uncle had parked his big expedition rental in the driveway (which is long and narrow) and didn't want to move it yet. my aunt has a bmw convertible and we all know how many that fits comfortably. certainly not this lot of 6 big adults. so then my dad and uncle and a few others decide to walk. i was going to walk until i stepped outside and decided it was so freaking humid that i'd be a hot sweaty mess if i walked and i didn't want that right before lunch. also there were supposed to be t'storms brewing and the sky was rather dark. so we all argued about what if it rains and we are all walking... and i swear i was going to lose it... can we just go already?!?!? literally we all stood around in the front yard for a solid 5 minutes trying to figure out how to get there. while standing, we felt rain drops. so we made chuck back out his car and drive up there with all of us. lunch was very nice and good. and while there it absolutely poured.

once back, we began the draft. it was decided the order should be chuck, dad, ellen and then in reverse: ellen, dad, chuck. the games began and it was very interesting to see what people started taking. i thought that everyone would be fighting over the sculptures my nana had made. she was a very talented artist and sculptor. but they didn't! chuck ended up taking 2 and then started in on the silver. my aunt took one and then started on the smaller things like the limoges boxes. my dad continued to take the sculptures. yay! so dad/we ended up with all but 3 sculptures which i am thrilled about!!! after that, dad knew i wanted the limoges that my nana collected and her herrend collection (which bitch only sent 8 or 9 limoges boxes and 2 herrend - my nana's collections were much much larger. whatever, stupid ho - linda, not my nana!). then came the silver and glassware and other sentimental items. since my uncle and aunt had deemed my mom the archivist, we were able to save a couple of things that my uncle had wanted. my nana's bible from when she was a girl given to her by someone in the family (can't remember) and her diary from 1935 when she was 10 years old. i was dying to have that diary. it was so cute! there were only a few months entries, but they were so cute. so i'm glad that stayed in the 'archival' so conveniently located with my parents. ellen seemed to want almost nothing and only things that she could easily take that were small which was just fine with me... my uncle chuck seemed to want the silver stuff... again, whatever for the most part. i have no sentimental feelings towards silver with the exception of the ones monogrammed with my nana, her mother's, or my other great grandmother's (whose name was also katherine) names.

i got po'd with chuck twice. bc there was this great pink outfit that was beautifully embroidered with sequins and other shiny things and i thought that would be wonderful to have one day for my kid to dress up in. i loved playing dress up and i would have coveted that skirt! i'll show you guys a picture, but you can't see the beadwork... i couldn't get a good pic of it. anyways, my uncle is trolling for his next pic and my mom says jokingly "hey chuck don't you want the pink skirt? i bet it'd look nice on you". she was joking, but it called attention to the item and he decided he actually wanted it. arghhh!! then another time, it was my fault... my mom and dad kept assuring me that the last piece of limoges was safe b/c it was a champagne cork. clearly my alchy aunt won't pick it and chuck had already announced that he wasn't interested in limoges. well, he's checking out items on that shelf and picks it up to which i said, oh, i'd really love to have that thinking that if he only half wanted it he'd put it back and let me/dad pick it. he didn't. he took it!! really?!?! that was so mean. and then he says to me "don't you have a birthday coming up?!". arghhhhh. whatever.

the skirt... i was trying it on. my nana was 5'9 but a very slender woman!

at the end of the draft, there were so many items that chuck and ellen didn't want. i pretty much got everything that meant something to me so i am happy about that. my nana also embroidered and did needlepoint and turned them in to pillows and other things. i don't know if you guys have ever noticed, but i have to framed embroidery pieces on my wall as artwork. my nana made those when i was little for my dollhouse. they were dollhouse oriental rugs! i adore those and many years ago mom turned them in to framed artwork so they didn't get lost or ruined waiting in the hot humid attic for some grandkid to come and play with the dollhouse. my parents already have a bunch of pillows and they are great. ho had sent us 5 or 6 (which is so not all of them) and i was floored to find out that they didn't want any of them! what is wrong with these people?! maybe they don't want them, but what about their kids?! maybe i'm the only one who really cares. i think it is so sad. but again, whatever, more for us.

after they had all left (wed morn), mom and i finally had some time together and we could unwind from the stress of having everyone their and the high tensions. my poor parents though... even though chuck and ellen took a bunch of stuff and more was thrown away, there was still a ton of boxes and stuff around. it still looked almost as cluttered as it did before they came. i think my mom might lose it soon if she doesn't get her dining and living room back soon!

short post

just a quick note b/c i'm tired. i just got home. otis missed me terribly. the flight and getting home was beyond easy. i will have to fill you all in on yesterday. the day of the so called draft. but, that will take a long time and i'm hungry for dinner and ready to relax on the couch. so, look forward to tomorrow everyone!

the witch did send us an enormous amount of photo albums and pictures... among them, i found this absolutely adorable (if i do say so myself) picture of me and my friend heidi on the beach in maine. i have no idea how old we are but i'm guessing maybe 6 or 7.

let the fun begin!

so yes, i already missed a day of posts, but i can explain. and will do so today!

yesterday morning, i got up early and finished packing. i hauled my suitcase which fortunately wasn't too heavy to the el and got on the brown line. at washington/wells, i made the switch to the orange line and took it out to midway. i'd never done that before, but hey, i'm broke and thus 1.75 is a lot easier to handle than a $40 cab ride. it took twice as long but since it was more than twice cheaper, it was a bargain. anyways, i hopped on my southwest flight, made a pitstop in jackson, mississippi and then headed on to houston. mom was there waiting for me when i got to the baggage claim. we made our way home and my uncle chuck was already there. my aunt ellen and uncle jim were on their way over. chuck is the chicago uncle and ellen and jim are the dallas contingency of the family. my dad needed to be working and does this from home. so mom and i were left with the relatives (his brother and sister).

chuck is a natural organizer and hates clutter. my parents don't love clutter but somehow their house is beyond cluttered. to the point it drives me crazy and i really really hope that one day they sell this place before they die so i don't have to clean it all out. wow, moving my small places is enough work for me... this 3 story house?!?! oh boy...but i digress. so chuck wanted to get started right away going through everything the wicked witch had sent. i'm pretty sure i've told all of you that she set us over 100 boxes from both florida and maine. it cost over $13k to ship it all and most of it does not have much value monetarily but it does have a lot of sentimental value. and being the sentimental person i am, i am glad to at least have that even though the witch was such a bitch and still kept a lot of my grandmother's things and things that should be handed down to us. whatever. even worse, the witch sent us trash. and anything heavy. she cleaned out her f'ing attic of the house in maine that my family had owned since the early 60s. for example in a few of the boxes we received 1950s space heaters. 6 of them. more boxes of box of the unsentimental variety just bc they were heavy. then there were all the lp's. at least 5 or 6 boxes of those and you don't realize but those suckers are heavy! again, sock it to us. if you haven't figured out already, we paid for the shipping costs. she even sent us extremely dirty and moldy things. i mean when i say she went out of her way to be a bitch, i'm not exaggerating!

so, we sorted through things and made some good progress. there are a lot of things that chuck and ellen don't want which is good b/c that means we get them. and if we don't want them, then goodwill gets them. they voted my mom be the archivist and so all pictures and army related stuff (from my great grandad & gdad)and my nana and gdad's baby books and other interesting artifacts remain with us for my mom to preserve. awesome. but, that means my mom has a whole lotta work in front of her. which she doesn't mind b/c the history is fascinating, but still! they are leaving it to my mom to do which i find very selfish and odd. they don't think their children want any of it and they didn't want it b/c what were they going to do with it. i am super happy to have all of that memorablia one day so whatever. i just find it strange.

the items multiple people wanted all went in to a pile for the 'draft' as my uncle calls it. my mom had promised to stick up for me and get the things i wanted. she said i didn't need to be here, but i knew better than that and i was right. i was so angry last night! there is a little doll bed that used to belong to my nana. both ellen and i played with it growing up (i'll have to scan in a very cute picture to show you). ellen's daughter caitlin really wanted it and i think ellen did too. well, that was one of the most important things to me that i wanted. and my mom knew this! so when ellen said ohhhhhh, i want the bed - my mom said ok. just ok! what?! aren't you supposed to say that i want it too??? and that since it is in contention it goes in the draft. well, she didn't and i was pissed. not one to stay quiet, i made a stink about it. later my dad said he agreed with my logic, but during that time he was upstairs working. so here i am pissed as the stupid doll bed now apparently belongs to ellen.

after awhile, tensions were high. mom did it to me again on another item... can't even remember what it is now. but i was pissed! mom!!! really?! what was all this that you said you were on my team? sure didn't sound like it. she said she was just tired. she did feel bad later when we talked about it. same dumb excuse - she's the daughter and i'm just the grandaughter. yes, but ellen has drunken/dranken/drinken most of her memories away and i don't think she's any more important than me. and that's my view point. i spent a lot of my childhood with my nana. i would spend a month in maine with them every summer taking lessons and playing boardgames with my nana. she would tuck me in at night and read a bedtime story. she'd even play barbie dolls with me. i was her first grandaughter and only one until i was 8 or 9 so come on, let's be honest i was her favorite. and she was mine and i cherish those memories and i just don't feel like my memories and my love for her is any less important when i always felt and thought of her as a mother figure. anyways...

so we all head to dinner. tex mex. i thought dinner might be a little testy... but it was fine. phew. we then headed back to the house for some pie and ice cream. and the doll bed comes up again. i of course take my position. and i leveraged my persuasion. i knew my cousin caitlin really really really wanted my nana's wedding dress. i would love to have it too. however, neither of us can wear it. while my nana was tall (5'9) she was so small. i tried on the dress and couldn't get it over my shoulders. my cousin is smaller and also bigger than me. there is also a white mink that i knew ellen wanted so i said ok, i know caitlin wants both and i do too. but i'd be willing to give up the fight for the wedding dress if you'll give me the doll bed. she caved. yay!! it just wouldn't have been fair for her to have all 3. the reason i mentioned the fur is b/c i can't quite remember if i had to let her have that too... anyways... after all of this they left and we were exhausted. mom, dad, and i stayed up talking for a bit, but then it was time to go to bed. so see, it was a rather long emotional day and thus no post. but this is long enough and if you are still reading, i think it more than makes up for not doing one yesterday. i better head downstairs before someone tries to take something i want again!! the draft officially begins this afternoon once my dad can take a break from work. btw, i have no idea the last time chuck, ellen, or jim worked. chuck has 5 clients he manages money from, but it is his own business. ellen and jim used to own retail stores, but they sold those at least 10 years ago and haven't worked since.

ok, on to more fun! i'm sure there will be more stories and more long posts... stay tuned and check back in for my next daily post!!

happy birthday smac!

ok, so it isn't technically smac anymore, but i think it might take awhile for me to get out of the habit of calling you that! i hope you are having an absolutely fantastic birthday!!! lots of love....

jingle bell 5k

this morning i woke up at 6:30am in order to get ready for the jingle bell 5k for arthritis that i'd signed up for. i turned on the news to figure out what to wear. the weather guy told me it was 2 degrees outside. 2!!!! plus some mild wind and that made it negative. oh boy. maybe i should go back to bed... but no, i have a t-shirt from it and therefore, must participate. and i'd already paid for it. so i bundled up in all of my winter running gear and headed out. the start line was at merchandise mart -it was actually inside the building. well, not the start, but there was gear check and food and a warm place to wait for the race to get started. the organizers had all passed out bells for our shoes and people had dressed up like santa or reindeer. there was even a gingerbread cookie guy! they were fun. i finished my first mile in 10min 30sec which is very fast for me! i typically do a 12:30pace. guess i was cold and needed some warming up, thus ran faster. then mile 2, i was slightly slower at 22min but still... ahead of the usual pace. at mile 3, i was at about 34something or 35, can't remember... but i finished the 5k with the best time for me ever! in just under 36 mins which i was really happy with. and yes, it was cold, but it was not as bad as i was anticipating! it was fun as they had all past out bells for our shoes and people had dressed up like santa or reindeer. there was even a gingerbread cookie guy! they were fun.

shut up!! are you kidding?!

i happen to be headed to the houston airport on mon and again on wed. omg, if this thing is set up i am so so doing some terrificly horrible song!! my old boss just sent this to me.


Karaoke: One More Reason to Drive During the Holidays



Fed up with long lines at the airport? Try belting out a tune.

Houston's Bush International Airport is setting up karaoke booths for travelers, just in time for the holidays. One will be up and running on Thursday afternoon, airport officials said.

For the past two years, officials have invited choirs and bands from local high schools and churches to perform at Bush and Hobby airports during December. The karaoke booths seemed the next logical step, said Caroline Schneider, assistant airport manager for customer service.

"During the holidays, we have a lot of our novice travelers," she said. "We thought while they are waiting, they can just sing a song."

Aspiring vocalists can choose from hundreds of song titles, Schneider said. Small prizes will be given to the singers.

2nd daily post!

last night was so much fun. drunky drunk fun. my high school (culver) friend, laura, was in town. she lives in northern indiana and although it isn't that far, i don't get to see her that often which is sad, but... anyways i made the decision to go out on a friday and that i would in all likelihood miss the sat run. oops. but i feel ok about it b/c i am doing the jingle bell 5k which isn't quite the 5 miles i'm supposed to do, but eh, that's ok. so, alice and i went to her coworker's fundraiser for women who can't afford mammograms. it's called the silver lining foundation and it was at zella. i'd never been there before, but i really liked it. it was so much fun! laura and nicole (betti, not richman) and her husband chris all met up with us there. there was another coworker of alice's there too - his name is loren. he's super nice, but slightly annoying. that's ok. there were two great things about last night. ok, i'll tell you the second one first b/c the first one is way more exciting and you just have to wait for it.
so, we went out on the patio last night (it was tented) to get out of the very loud indoors as i was losing my voice and tired of talking so loud. so we headed out. i was talking with nicole and this very drunk silver fox comes up to talk to her. she manages to squirm away and leave me with him. so he's all where did she go and i pointed and said to talk to her husband. so then he decides i'm ok and hits on me. and i'm all how do i get rid of this guy?! this silver fox who didn't appear all thaaaaat old was telling me that he was staying with his sister in the city b/c he lives in the burbs at his parents' house b/c he's separated from his wife. oh wow, ladies, he sounds like a winner. anyways, i start looking to my group of girls who are completely oblivious to my plight and i realize that two more guy coworkers of alice's happen to be looking over and i caught their eye. one mouthed, help? and i just looked at him and nooded slightly. silver fox has no idea. he just keeps his close talking. so, this coworker guy i've never even met comes over and says hey baby, how are you?! or something along those lines and silver fox is all that must be your boyfriend and of course i said yep. and then i gave this guy a kiss on the cheek. figured why not. he was cute. of course then later i found out that he has had a gf for 5 years that he apparently isn't into all that much but that comes 3rd hand. who knows. whatever. i just found it to be a funny situation. and oh yeah, the gf showed up at the bar a little later and he tells her how he saved me and i think she was less than amused. eh, oh well. :)
the second fun news is that my friend laura is pregnant! she just found out yesterday and she isn't really telling anyone yet, but she couldn't help it. i've promised to say nothing, but since none of you know her or have the potential of ruining the surprise, i can write it here and spill the beans. she's 3 weeks along so like i said it is super early and we know something could happen, but it's still very exciting news and i'm so glad she told me!
oh and alice is never super super drunky drunk, but last night, wow! i was all go alice! she was dancing with a bunch of different guys throughout the night! she was so funny! until she started feeling sick, so i took her home. the cabbie was very nervous that she'd puke in or on his cab... she didn't. but i had to keep reassuring him she'd be fine. love it.

i'll post some pics of this raucous event soon.

holly wants daily... ok!

well, today i was hungover from going out last night. it really takes just about nothing to leave me a nasty one in the morning. ugh, i feel so old. in any case, i am headed out tonight again. tonight, i feel very special as i was in the shower and managed to cut myself on my razor. on my index finger. sliced it right on open. no idea how i managed that but holy hell it hurts. and boy did that thing bleed! yuck. tomorrow i will update you on tonight's events. and if holly wants daily blogs, well then that's what you shall get! i promise to even get in the hang of uploading pics. i have quite a few to put up here.

happy thanksgiving!

playing dress up
lake house
aunt/uncle/cousin
golf cart
wii
dinner!
leftovers
unpacking/arranging boxes


this is just my outline ladies so that i can remember everything. i do have some pics for this as well! as soon as my mom sends them to me. they were on her camera

drowning sorrows with booze...

oh yes, i lost my job. and not b/c my boss read my rant on this blogger :) nope, the deal that was supposed to go thru on fri, the 21st didn't happen and fidelity backed out of it. so, that weekend we all knew we were screwed, we just didn't know how soon. some of us joked that the doors would be locked on monday and wondered if we'd have a job on monday, but i think we all thought we had at least a few weeks if not more as the 1031 dept was the only profitable one. well, no, that was not to be the case and last monday i walked in to work as normal after receiving an email on my bberry that said everything was business as usual.... well someone should be shot for sending us that one b/c while apparently the rest of the company has time left, the 1031 dept up and closed its doors and i learned i no longer had a job. happy thanksgiving!! so, we all packed up and left. i really liked my coworkers so it was pretty darn sad. i think we were all just in total shock. so, there it is... apparently while our ceo was telling us everything was ok, it really wasn't and the company was in the shitter. and i'm guessing the rest of the employees that still have jobs will soon find themselves without one as well as the landamerica name is now completely trash. so when my friends heard about my day, they immediately said how about happy hour?! so some of us went to vines and drank a lot of wine and ate some food. megan found us a great mon night place with deals so it would be cheap - vines has 1/2 off night on mondays! half off everything including wine. it was a fun night, but i woke up with quite the hangover and then left for houston early on tuesday morning to start the t'giving holiday.