Go vote for my pretty girl!

Time for some misc bs and catch up, so do pardon the subject jumping.

First - HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIXEN! I can't believe my wee one is nine years old. It seems like forever ago but just yesterday at the same time, that she was just a teeny tiny pup who's legs couldn't keep up with her big sister. Yes, much to the dismay of her ears I sang to her this morning.

Last night Danika accompanied me to the first Pups and Pucks night at the Chiefs game. Section 9 sucks butt, the goal horn displeased her, but she had a blast getting petted and adored by all and the Chiefs had a comeback win, what more could we ask for? Oh - how about the sweet bag of goodies from Gitler's? As someone else mentioned - the give aways for the dogs were better than any season ticket holder give away so far this year! Unfortunately, while we were gone I left the birthday girl have free reign of the house and the new carpet had its first accident. Apparently Vixie's tummy was a bit upset, I can't fault her for this one.

The other night, instead of eating at Westwood I enjoyed a meal at a little cafe in Pleasantville before the movie - and YES, I avoided Westwood's cheesecake. Nice little meal. The movie was good, but clearly Disney with its obvious "turn the crank" type presentation of mystery and suspense. We were the only ones in the theatre, so I feel bad for the gal who had to stick around and wait for us to leave.

Hell hath frozen over once again. There isn't a lot of snow, enough to keep the yard from being mud and to make things pretty without gunking up the roads. It would be a-okay with me if it just weren't so friggin cold! 9 degrees. *shiver* Can I PLEASE crawl back into my nice warm bed now?

Instead of food for thought... thought for food:
Ravioli. As I heated my canned lunch I had a mundane epiphany. When it comes to the frozen stuff I make for dinner it's cheese ravioli all the way baby. To hell with the meat crap. But when I buy the little cans of chef boyardee it's meat. Heck, I've never even SEEN the cheese version. I wonder if it exists?

Going to see National Treasure this evening... never saw the first flick, so hopefully I can follow along. If not, at least I'll enjoy my "Miss Piggy". Damn Westwood has good grub. If I can just avoid the temptation of their amazing cheesecakes.

To clarify my last post, really it's all the expectations I place upon myself and those around me that go unexpressed that create the angst, so I have no one to blame but me. As a result, I intend to be a little more open and force some issues to narrow timelines down. That said the next few evenings are planned out. Perhaps tonight I'll manage to squeeze some reading in. Now that I've finished book 4 I am ready to dig in to the next one with the hopes that things will get better.

I also need to figure out when I can get in for another massage, nothing major, but just to finish dealing with the tension that the last therapist started to work out of my right shoulder and back. Too bad that stuff doesn't fall under health plans like chiropractors do.

... or maybe I'll just sit around in a perpetual state of wait and allow my angst to build.

I feel like I've been on vacation, it's kind of an odd feeling. One thing being away from work does is it rejuvinates me. After sleeping in like a champ (was up a bit later than I should have allowed myself last night) I started getting in gear with basic weekend cleaning. Made a quick run to work to drop off the projector and one up the cave then headed back to the house with designs on patching the holes in the bedroom walls.

The bedroom was painted when first buying the house way back in 99. I still adore the silvery gray walls, but they're due for some upkeep. So, I pulled everything down off the walls, pulled nails, and patched everything up. If the paint isn't still good *laugh* I am more than happy to go buy more in the same color to touch things up. I've been taking the room to strictly gray and black with b&w pictures on the wall, but my mind has been pondering an accent color. We'll see.

After patching the walls I was still all geared up so I started the kitchen destruction that needs to take place to bring the living room wall change to a completion. I have the paneling down on the wall behind the table and over the doorway and scraped the wall pretty well. It's rather nasty back there, I shouldn't be surprised that it's bumpy and crumbly. I'm just glad that the paneling wasn't glued out the wazoo. In there I'll eventually need some nice bright white paint. I wonder how much it would cost to replace the countertops. Maybe it was the glimpse of spring that Charleston provided, but I am feeling too motivated today. Hopefully I'll get to expel some extra pent up energy tonight, after the Pens win.

I can so hang with "da boys". If any girl has ever earned her man card I did last night. I kept up with drinks (including shots of tequila), woofed some delish sushi at Tsunami, and even made their final stop with them, which I can say was educational. I am also proud that despite the drunken stupor, the text messages I sent last evening were all at least legible. I also had nicely red-stained finger tips on my right hand from sniping a glass of marachino cherries off of the one bar and woofing them down through the evening.

Our planned meetings only took part of the day, which compensated nicely since travel time today and Tuesday was rather extensive. Since I was out of there with time to enjoy myself I hit the spa and got a lavendar lemongrass salt scrub and massage. My shoulder feels a ton better, but could definitely use more attention in the fairly near term.

Of course there was two hours of small must do immediately tasks to tend to when I got home - making for an even longer day. I am so friggin tired... but I'd stay awake for a few choice things. *

Oy. More details to follow.

I am alive and well in Charleston (much to the dismay of some). The trip went well, no delays, baggage arrived in one piece, nothing travel-related to remark on. The weather is, as expected, much more pleasing here. When we first arrived I didn't even catch a chill in a tee shirt, riding with the windows down in the rental. Oh Carolinas how I miss thee.

I did manage the booze trifecta today. They say when in Rome do as the Romans do. I guess the same goes for playing Navy. Not only was I drinking before noon in the Baltimore airport (rum and... well, it was mostly rum, but there was a hint of brown that I think was suppose to represent the coke), but we got checked into our (bitchin) hotel in enough time to catch some of the free wine and cheese hour. A little while later and off to dinner where I skipped out on booze and loaded up on sweet tea (aka Carolina crack, aka hummingbird food). A little further down the street we backtracked for ONE BEER where I had a cider/guinness. I could have really rocked the booze at this hotel... since they have sherry and whiskey available in the lobby 24-7, but even I am not that hardcore.

I watched the better part of two hockey games, since they have the VS network, managed to shower and wash my hair already, and got my wireless up and kicking on the work laptop so I could hop online (sup w/ these hotels that ONLY have wireless???) All this... and not even 11:30. This whole "wow, I can't believe how much I achived so early" thing is starting to occur rather often. I guess I should crash so I can polish the dog and pony show, enjoy my massage (if they have a slot available late in the day), and keep up with the booze cruise tomorrow evening. No puppies to jump up by my feet... sigh.

Lucky (and busy) day! Here it is, not even 5 yet... and I feel like I've been moving for two full days straight. I started off way earlier than I would normally get up on a day off and headed to Denny's for breakfast and cofee to delay the caffeine induced headache. From there my grocery run to gather things my mother will need while here is done, I also swung through Big Lots and Ollies as a part of the regular grocery procurement run.

I started to pack but I realized the one suit was a little too snug since I've porked out. Off to Value City in the hopes of finding a top to go with another pair of dress slacks. Here is where the luck comes into play... the exact matching suit top was there, in my size, and on the 50% rack. Woohoo! I also hit the post office for some additional supplies so I could get the books I sold off on ebay ready to mail out when I get back to town.

As if that isn't enough to fill the day I also vaccuumed and did three loads of laundry. All that is left is to run and unload the dishwasher. Tell me how much I rule.

We can call this one "the Princess and the Crooked Pea". Nothing pisses me off more than the inability of a bed to stay firmly on the frame... needless to say this is an ongoing theme in my life. From the gawd awful thing the ex and I first used which would suddenly drop us to the ground in the middle of the night (talk about dreaming of falling) to my current bed/frame which seems to have developed the issue since returning to PA. Yes, I've been putting up with this crap for four years now.

Tonight it has reached an all time pain in the ass peak. Thus, here I am at 1:30 in the morning ready to start eyeballing frames etc on overstock and other places.
I love my bed, still, after over 10 years with this "headboard". Yes, in a previous fit I looked where we bought it and learned I could buy a new frame for it... but would that really solve my issues? I'll probably remain awake for half of the night wondering if I should take the plunge, and if I do... should I suck it up and upgrade to a queen sized bed? Ugh.

I hate feeling the wash of emotions that flow over my days thanks to hormones. I know it's happening, but still can't force consistency upon myself.

A bit of good stuff that I am celebrating:
- Chiefs kicking the Wildcatters' butts last night... great game
- Mork becoming a fuzzy daddy
- Cran-Pome getting primary custody
- A long weekend
- A comfortable bed with an uber warm blanket

The pensive points:
- Men vs cards
- Lonely games
- Website online statuses
- Watching happy couples
- No response

I made it through one of my least favorite holidays relatively unscathed. Matter of fact I have a lovely pair of orange roses from one suitor who is probably planning our November 2009 wedding as I type *laugh* and a comfy and pretty wolfie blanket. For a gal who was fully expecting nothing on Valentine's day I made out pretty good so far. I remain eager to see what my gal pal Beff has for me today at lunch... she's worked the mysterious end of this gift quite well. Too bad the piece of her gift she doesn't know about hasn't arrived yet.

Thank goodness it is finally Friday. This week feels like it has gone on for ever. Game tonight should be kick ass... hopefully the Chiefs will step things up as they have in the past games and hang tight with the Wildcatters. Who knows, we might even have a tough guy coming back for a rematch against Sgroi!

Taste test: I did it. I bought soy milk (Silk). I have never been a fan of milk, not even as a child. Bleh. Sure, I'll drink a little bit of what is left after I finish my cereal but it is mostly because it is good for me (and, depending on my cereal of choice that day might actually be sweet). Admittedly, the silk tastes a little better than milk, but it still does not appeal enough such that it would draw me to pour a tall glass. The color difference from regular milk is a little offsetting... but, eh. All in all it will be okay on cereal, but my two cents says it isn't worth the extra expense.

Even less appealing than milk was the weather today. I woke to a couple of inches of snow and left work to several more. The roads are messy, but the Durango did just fine in 4WD despite Richland's renownedly poor plowing skills.

It is definitely the peak of winter out there. 4 degrees says the closest bank - but that is without the wind chill, and mind you, we are in the midst of a wind advisory. Blah! The worst part is knowing how unhappy I'll be when the alarm goes off tomorrow morning.

I did find a way to warm up after the game and that was with my second of my dozen delightful cinnamon buns. Tonight's selection was chocolate raspberry. Yes, you can definitely defrost them quickly in the microwave, and yes, they are still delightful. I decided to treat the girls as well. They are gnawing on their flavored rawhide treats as I type.

The Chiefs won once again this evening taking us out of a tie for fifth place and securing it outright. Roche is back from Bridgeport after two games and one goal.

It's the weekend - and so far so good! Friday night the Chiefs were kicking ass and taking names... and all w/out my boy who is presently skating in Bridgeport. 9-3 against a team that has been jumping back and forth at the top of the division, how bitchin is that?

I slept like a champ last night, much needed to catch up on those nights that provided 5 hours or less this past week. The best part was hearing the twitter of my phone as I started to drift off. How comforting is it to be thought of when someone is out and about having a good time? It's the things I don't expect that keep me so incredibly drawn. So random, but it made me smile, so I'll take it.

To enjoy my Saturday perhaps I'll do a little wandering in a few discount stores... but first, time to get the laundry started up.

Yep. There's a dusting of snow now this morning. Johnstown is definitely one of the plains of hell.

60 friggin degrees. Yes. How wacky ass is that? I guaran-friggin-tee it'll be 20 within 48 hours. That's just Jingletown.

So here I am with my bitchin new Victoria's Secret cut. I am liking the new do something fierce already. It's lighter, much less hair, the red stands out more, and I can see the options for styling.

Did I mention that I love my new Lia bracelet? It didn't get here in time for the party, but arrived yesterday, and I wanted to wear it all evening - that definitely says something.

Anyhow, nothing else super exciting... testing in at work, and it's only Wednesday. Whee.

Definitely did not need to make a double-batch of both types of cookies for Saturday, however, the broccoli cassarole and the sweet potato cassarole went over well as did the chicken. Shockingly, I have half a pitcher of mojitos and half a pitcher of grain punch lingering around. Either way, it looks like I am going to have a hefty amount of free jewelry coming - thanks to my friends for making my party quite the success, even if you didn't take advantage of the wealth of booze.

This weekend's games weren't much to cheer about until late in the game, but quickly became entertaining. I maintain if we didn't just play to the level of the team we are against but instead played to our capacity we'd have a lot more wins.

My comfort level in other areas is returning, slowly. I guess I've just never experienced so many unforeseen bumps in the past. Maybe how smooth I perceived past roads to be was the problem in and of itself?