Happy birthday Vixen! My baby is 7. Fear. During her Petco shopping trip she picked out some pigs ears and a rawhide bone.

Gladly I got myself to the comfort zone on my paper last night, so I was able to chill a little this evening. The Slipster, Beff, and I headed to the Johnstown Brewery for some grub. Back to the house and time to get some more questions answered for this week's class assignment. At least from here out things are more focused on preparing for a fun weekend.

Friday the Chiefs shut out the Storm - not too many shots on goal, but the important part is the one that went in. The boys were sporting nifty looking army style jerseys. They're a bit cheap in make, but I like the look. Much nicer than the cammies earlier this year in my personal opinion - but I've never been a camo type of gal.

Saturday I admit I slacked more than I should have and I headed to the Chitty for some shopping. I did snag another cute short sleeve blouse and a pair of dress pants in a 12, which pleases me greatly. The boys won Saturday night as well - great game against Dayton with Currie in their net. My still favorite if only on paper put up one goal in regulation and one in the shoot out to help polish things off. Post game the team photo was taken w/ all of us willing to hang out in the background, nice touch in my opinion. Unfortunately, we get our copy on Sunday and Beff and I are cut out. Go figure.

So the photo you wonder, well the Kelly cup was in town Friday and Saturday, so I took the time to get up close and get a good look, after all it's not like we had to drive as far as we did to see the Stanley cup the first time.

Today I skipped out on church to make some progress on the paper before the afternoon game. I've written up my to do list for the things that need crossed off from now to Thursday night before our hockey weekend, no time to waste. I did get my paper to about the 60% mark in my book. Now if I can get back to it a bit here this evening I should be golden in time to go away for a relaxing weekend.

The game was fabulous with the Chiefs rocketing up three goals in the first then a bit of stagnancy allowing the Titans to catch up and a thriller goal in the last couple seconds to win. Congrats to Roche on yet another goal, good to see things turning back around for you.

I helped sell jersey raffle tickets and that turned out to be quite the ego boost. I even ended up taking the fuel shot in horribly high heels as part of an effort to help market the jersey (on my part). So I was offered an extra $20 to "come with the jersey" and told that a guy's son wanted my number, among other comments, I'll take'm. I think the oddest part of my day was getting semi-asked out but not really all within eye-shot of the one I'd die to get my paws on. It's rather surreal.

Touché Richland Township. I am most likely now the enemy of my neighborhood for having hit the pavement and helped to pull together the petition which got the storm water drains started in my neighborhood. Why you may ask? Because now we, as home owners, are responsible for the cost of the curbing. Mind you, they make no mention of any range of cost. This should be terrifying. Is it a couple hundred or a couple grand? What amazes me is the owners before us were FORCED by the township to spend several thousands of dollars to redo things to prevent ground water from getting into the sewage system. Now, because of that rework I'm flooding. So their solution involves me spending even more money. Granted, had they not started work in the fall I would have looked to do a home equity loan to get something done to re-route the water, but I've since thought I need not plan for that. Word of advice: Don't buy a house unless you have to.

I at least managed to put that out of mind long enough to bust on my paper last evening. I'm making good progress and what isn't written has solid direction laid out at least. I woke up this morning quite disoriented trying to figure out for a solid 5 minutes if it was Thursday or Friday. Much to my dismay it's only Thursday, but at least I got paid. So to cheer myself up I headed to Sheetz for a cup of my French Vanilla. Can you believe I had to wait for the pot? Yes, I should have gotten my cup for free, but as rotten as I remember Sheetz customers to be during my two week stint working there I will never be like that, and I gladly paid for my coffee. It beats coming in here and making a pot, then proceeding to clean up after all of the people who can't turn and toss their sugar packets.

I probably sound salty this morning, not the case, just a bit hectic in my head. Last day of one project and time to get my mind ready for another. But somehow even that isn't enough to get the thoughts of stagnancy out of my head when I climb into bed at night wondering when something in the routine will change, if only just a little.

I didn't get very far with the paper last night, but I did read one more article before turning in. It was hard to get much done since there was a meeting and I'd rather sit and chat with the good people of hockeyland than do classwork. It's a weakness.

With regard to hockey:
1). A great big ouch and get well soon goes out to Steve Cygan.
2). To the one whom I offer much advice: I have yet more and even though I know you won't read this I'll write it none the less. It's time to start adding on to the work out and focusing yourself for playoff time. If rumors are true your time (and that of a few others) may be tenuous at best. Make the most of it. If they're not true my advice would still serve you well. As I did for someone else I'll ask why not another 20 pushups or another 15 minutes doing cardio each day.

Now, I don't necessarily buy into the concept which I've labelled as rumor but it makes me a bit pensive. The ranks above play until April 15. The most they could do is rotate guys around and still be able to fill their bench. They're riding 23 guys at present so droping one or two would be the max without then pulling people back up. Like I said, not so much likely, but dreaded in a way - in other ways it might be the best thing for my catty evil female mind.

On to the dog portion of my overarching topics. Satin's bloodwork came back with little more direction. Her platelets were a little higher which is good, but her protein was even lower than it was last time. Her red blood cell count? Still low. We've now doubled her dose of steroids, which has her drinking like her daddy did. *ha* At least she's more willing to eat when I pull out the spoon and do some spoon feeding to get more in her.

I'm a sucker for silly stuff on other ppl's blogs. At least I don't forward spam-mail.

1. Reply to this entry and I will write something random about you.
2. I will then tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I will pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. I will say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I will tell you my first memory of you.
6. I will tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I’ll then ask you something that I’ve always wondered about you.
8. If I do this, you must post this on your Blog (if you have one).

Where the heck have I been? Don't worry, you can't get rid of me that easily. Ok, so let's get caught up. Friday we headed to watch the Slipster's debut in Cinderella on ice at the war memorial. It took a little while, but I then pointed out to Beff that I think we were at the wrong place for the game. Didn't get to listen, which is probably why the boys won against Trenton.

Saturday Aaron was back in town to finalize on his homestead and to run for the hills one last time, so I followed down to Szechuan for some good grub and then on to the Alibi for a drink or two, and some quite educational discussion. As if I needed more good reasons to not travel to foreign countries that barely speak English and hate Americans. The boys lost in Trenton on this fine evening. This was a pretty rushed day since I didn't get out of bed until 1:30. Oops. But I still got laundry done, and cleaning, and all kinds of other goodies before I headed out.

Sunday I headed to church like a good egg and to the game. I think attendance was pretty good for a Sunday, even if there was a huge number of rugrats. Unfortunately we lost to Wheeling. Painful loss for me since it puts us perilously close to dropping down to 5th place again. Throughout the aforementioned days I spent some time working to read everything and start my paper due on the 5th of March.

Today I got my butt up, cranked out a few more player posters, headed to the arena to get everything up, got the oil changed and tires rotated, grabbed some grub, and of to the vet w/ the bigg'n. More blood drawn, so we'll get an update in a day or two. She's uber thin, but perky... so I'll wait and see if we get any indicators. Ok, time to get back to my procrastinating, I mean working on my paper. Do I really have to go back to work tomorrow? How about another vacation.... a cruise, yeah, that would be nice. Where is my sugar daddy?

It's time for a little more audience partici- (say it... say it...) pation. So, place your votes on which cute little item I should buy for myself as a Valentine's day gift.

Item #1: Jacquard and lace corset from Frederick's of Hollywood. Pros: It's red and black, so the colors are ideal. There's something about fire-engine red that screams wise. Cons: My size isn't available until April. I keep looking for the add on item that makes me look like model in the following link, but I don't see it. [view it]

Item #2: The Pyramid Collection Hankerchief blouse. Pros: It is bitchin cute and so gothy despite being white. Cons: It's white. I'm messy. [view it]

Oh baby, oh baby, oh. Gotta love Valentine's day. The color red runs its thread directly from Satan I believe.
Do visit... http://www.fuckvday.com/


At least my favorite band is releasing a DVD next month to prove they're still alive. How behind am I that I just noticed this tonight? Now when is the next album coming. I need new Type O. The only 44 year old man that is way hot in my book. It must be the fangs.

"Another lonely valentine's day. I can't believe that things turned out this way. -Type O Negative"

Another followed link from Angela... "What breed of dog are you". I'm sure you're all shocked, but I'm a siberian husky. Their write up is rather amusing and dead on for both a siberian, and me (okay, except that last little piece).
"Hey there, lost your marbles? You're a space cadet! You forget people's names easily, forget where you put things, and sitting through an opera - well, forget it. But you're no bonehead - your mind just wanders. Your nature assures you'll never hold grudges and you don't sweat the small stuff. You avoid making enemies by not being one to sniff around someone else's business."

So, what breed are you? Add your test results to my comments.

Shameful! How on earth do the Canes go and lose to, of all crappy teams, the Penguins? You've got to be kidding me. Shame shame shame! *buries head in hands* At least my local boys continued to shine in a critical game to pull back into 3rd place last night. They finished the Toledo Storm 5-3 last night. Here's looking forward to another solid evening in the game against Dayton *fingers crossed*

While we're talking hockey, I also want someone to tell me why jobs like this don't come open for the Canes:
http://hockeyjobs.nhl.com/teamwork/jobs/jobs.cfm?supcat=219&supcat_name=Sales%20%26%20Marketing#8049

Why do I hate the media? When the whole gambling "thing" broke they roped people in (read: me) to listen longer by stating "involving the great one" before a commercial break. So I stick around to find out it is instead his wife that they wanted to announce the involvement of. Fine. Today, this takes the cake. This dumb broad on CNN, immediately following a clip of Wayne Gretzky discussing the issue and stating "I did not place bets" has the gall to roll her eyes and make a comment about him saying "he wasn't involved". Nice flippin reporting. He didn't say that so don't translate (and quite poorly I might add). I admit that the American people are idiots who can't think for themselves and rely on our blessed 24 hour news stations to feed them their opinions but that is just insane.

On the flip side who hasn't gambled on a game? Did you participate in a super bowl poll? I did. Are you telling me that basketball, baseball, and football players, (including your precious Pittsburgh Steelers) are completely clean on the topic of gambling? I doubt this to be so. Oh wait, let me take the CNN reporting stance and say that "I have reason to believe that they have also incurred infractions". Take your "one for the thumb" and stick it.

Idiots.

Failure: fail·ure (noun)
1). The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends: the failure of an experiment.
2). One that fails: a failure at one's career.
3). The condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short: a crop failure.
4). A cessation of proper functioning or performance: a power failure.
5). Nonperformance of what is requested or expected; omission: failure to report a change of address.
6). The act or fact of failing to pass a course, test, or assignment.
7). A decline in strength or effectiveness.
8). The act or fact of becoming bankrupt or insolvent.

Ok, someone please tell me what the HELL this question even means, much less where to start answering it.
"It has been argued that the extent to which each determinant of performance impacts a firm's performance is a function of the measure of performance. Do you agree or not? Support your answer with examples."

I feel like I'm trying to read a foreign language. Keep in mind this is one of five essay style questions for the week and then there is a case study with a series of additional confusing questions that lead me on a wild goose chase for financial information that is ambiguous, phrased differently than what we're told to look for, and confusing as hell.

WAH. FREAKING WAHHH!

Royals to the shootout and the Chiefs down them with two unanswered shoot out goals. How about them apples? Oh... that's applesauce b*tch. Chiefs now move into 3rd place in the division and Reading ties up Wheeling w/ that one point for 1st. Roche had a goal in regulation and one in the shootout, good work buttercup. Andy Thompson never showed his face and is now released *ponder*. Henrich returns and Rosehill leaves once again. Lots of moves back and forth lately.

I spent part of the evening trying to dig through more classwork. I'm still "behind" by my standards but at least I don't feel buried. Satin had me up 4 times the night before last, last night only once - but I'm still moving a bit slow today. It's just my slow week - we all have one right? If I'm "off" at least the boys were dead on.

To sum up Saturday, I got moving early as to cross off as much as possible on my to do list. As part of that effort I made the fastest work of my taxes ever, and filed so I don't feel the compelling need to review them 80 times. At least with those done I should have funds coming my way in plenty of time to let me bid come March for the St. Pat's jerseys. The Chiefs lost to the Bombers in the shoot out two nights in a row. The Eklund story proved to be true as he was in goal for us and Betz was backup. I'm guessing Cey is not well right now, but I've not seen an IR announcement. Rosehill is also back in Jtown.

Today Beff and I did some shopping at a few good discount stores in the area. I managed to find the perfect set of curtains for my dining room. I've been eager to find a new set since Beff started shopping for curtains for her new place. At last I can retire the burgundy-purple curtains which use to hang in my NC bedroom. The new set fell perfectly into the sage scheme I wanted to work with. They're a silver sage and they reflect tones of purple and brown - they fit in wonderfully! $52 for new curtains. Woot! Most girls would go blow $300 for curtains. I'll never understand the compulsion to blow cash above what is necessary. Frugal is my middle name, but at least it saves me money to put into other - more frivolous - areas (see my comment about a jersey above).

Satin has been eating like a champ for the past fourty-eight hours. There is still a good sized fluid-bubble just below her chest cavity which pooches out into her stomach area... so I'm not thinking her cured of whatever exactly ales her, but at least she's eating and thus strong, awake, and able to be herself.

For some strange reason I cannot get into my class this evening, it says this semester is not yet available... ok, so I guess I'll take the evening off from the classwork I had hoped to dig in on. Time to break in those classy new martini glasses from the Laws and to polish a nice big pucker-tini.

Superbowl: don't really care. It would be nice to win some cash from the poll in at work. It would be even nicer to not hear that damn "here we go" song ever again. It's on a loop everywhere - Walmart, the mall, the grocery store. The real joy of the superbowl for me was the commercials. I found this to be the real draw of a superbowl party while attending Joe's soiree in NC where the TV was unmuted for commercials. Further on this topic, I remember reading recently that there is some movement to try and name the Monday after superbowl Sunday a holiday. 'Scuse me? Granted, I would not complain about another paid day off of work, but there are two points I need to make here. 1). Maybe you shouldn't get so drunk that you're unable to function the next day if you know you need to work. 2). If this works out, I'll remind you all that the Stanley Cup finals could be 7 games. That easily can mean 4-7 days off of work if we then push to celebrate those "day-afters" as holidays. See? I tell you, the reasons to be a hockey fan are many-fold.

Oh lovely night. Alton tackled mixed drinks this evening on Good Eats! Mmm, booze. This was definitely on my agenda for this evening as I sit and listened to the Chiefs play so I'm glad he prepared me for the evening. What is it w/ Latulippe trying to start things w/ our players? Last time Bittner, this time Elliott. Are you crazy little man? All said and done the Chiefs lost in the shootout. At least Toledo is beating Trenton at this point, so we won't slide out of 4th again just yet. Rumor has it Eklund is coming from Springfield, but I've not found anything official, thus it's not on the FC site. Seems a bit harsh since we just tossed some cash to bring in Betz as our second tender.

I managed to figure out a little more of our work for class this week. I can't say I totally get it, but I was able to solve a few more problems. It's progress.

Before Alton came on I was whizzing about the house getting some cleaning underway as I was behind due to my excursion to Columbus last weekend. The kitchen is clean, the floors are vaccuumed, the bathroom is even dealt with, and the laundry is well under way. I'm giving the best attempt to get things out of the way so I can do more classwork this weekend and still have time to relax a bit too.

Who is that on the jumbo-tron? Why it's Beff! The other two shots are just quick glances at some of the shots from the arena district in Columbus and outside of the arena itself.

Wednesday night the Chiefs decided to follow suit w/ the Canes and stomped some Trenton Titan butt, 5-0. Today I see we have another Thompson headed our way from waivers, welcome Andy.

Satin is feeling a little more saucy once again and was willing to eat two sets of left over chicken today, so at least she consumed. This sure beats her having problems getting up the basement stairs on her own the other evening. There hasn't been additional vomiting, so - at least it that appears to have been a temporary bout of upset stomach. Small gifts truly do mean more.

Last night the Canes put a severe hurting on Montreal with an 8-2 score. I had picked up Cole for my fantasy league, so having him and Staal last night proved to be quite profitable.

Work stress is starting to pick back up but I guess it's probably because of everything else, things tend to build on one another. There is also the stress of just not getting the questions for this week's assignments in my class. I can't believe I'm lost already and it's only the second week of class. I've read all of the information provided and the things I need to learn are presented in a couple different ways across the printoffs, but there just seems to be holes where my answers should be. Hopefully it will click soon - or this could be a very long semester. At least now I know I didn't miss a calling in finance or accounting.

Satin isn't feeling too hot the past 24-hours. I arrived home Tuesday after work to one spot of vomit - she wouldn't eat a thing (and believe me I was pulling out just about everything to offer to her). Around 2:45am this morning I heard her throw up again so I got up to clean things up and tend to her. I ended up dealing with another 3 spots within 40 minutes. She actually wanted me to sit near her and I could tell from the way she looked at me and behaved that her stomach was quite upset. After she was able to settle back in enough to go to sleep I took her to the basement in case there was more messes forthcoming. I have to be honest, I wondered seriously if she'd be there in the morning, but she rested well and I woke to find only one more spot in the basement (and one in the bedroom I missed the night before) and her wagging her tail at me, seeming to feel a wee bit better.

I head this afternoon after work to pick up additional pills as our final effort. There is little hope that this will turn things around, but even a small percentage chance is worth taking as they can do her no harm.