I feel summer creepin in and im Tired of this town again

I must apologize. I certainly don't mean to update so infrequently and take so long to do it.
If I have any cops out there that read this, I have a question about guns, but I don't particularly want to post it for the whole internet community to see, and I don't want to ask the guys here in town that I know, because they'll know who I'm talking about. It's not something bag, at least I don't think it is. It's a question about legality of something.
Nothing exciting has happened since the 5th, that's why I haven't updated. Just work and life. And considering my work doesn't really produce anything exciting, it's not worth blogging about. I guess I could come on every day and say I went to work, it was an OK day, we made money. Not that I really have too many people reading (according to Blogger, I have one follower, and I know who she is), so I don't need to scare anyone away. I'd love to get more people to read, but I'd rather have them reading on their own free will, and I will not pump my blog full of random words just to get someone to notice me. But, I wonder if I posted a racy picture of me, would I get more hits??? Hmmm. That's ok, I don't need those.
But, I have been linked to from a cop blog. That's pretty huge if you ask me, especially since I'm under his links for VIP's. I mean, how cool does that make me sound? A lot cooler than I actually am, but oh well. I do have a link for him on the side bar, but I'm gonna pimp a link here as well. He's works at a juvenile hall, so if that interests you go here to read him.

It's summer (more or less), at least by the temperatures we've had lately, one would think so, when I walked to work today, one of the many temp signs I passed said 87 degrees. I may live in Iowa, but that's still a little warm to be considered spring temperature. And, of course, I'm dying to have a motorcycle ride. I hate that I haven't been on the back of a bike in over a year. And, since I work Thursday nights, I can't go to Porky's or Trophies in Des Moines, so I can't meet up with a certain guy that I know would take me on a little ride.
With it being warm, I'm supposed to be going on my walks, but I find it really hard to motivate myself to do that. One reason being my MP3 player's battery doesn't last over 3o minutes, I have been given my brothers' with all his music, but I know quite a few country songs that are great to walk to, that I can't listen to. Also, the last time I attempted my walk, I was too overzealous. I pushed myself way too much and barely made it through a quarter of it before I had to turn around and go home. Plus, as I learned today, with me not drinking pop, drinking water instead (which I don't drink near the amount as I did in pop), I'm not near as hydrated as I should be, and that leads to annoyances with the amount of exertion I put on myself and problems with dealing with the heat and sun.

All right, I've bored you enough for one night. But, I will try to update more often (though I wouldn't hold your breath on that if I were you).

So busy out there

Kevin and I's 2 year anniversary went pretty well. It was May 1st, Friday, he came over after getting off work Friday morning and then cuddled with me. I left him to sleep while I did my daytime stuff, woke him up about 4:30 when I had to leave for work, he gave me a ride and we picked up food. I didn't expect to see him at all on Friday, so that was a nice surprise.
On Sunday, he came over after work and slept, I went down to Lucullan's for our supper, a seafood pasta, woke him up and we went to a park to eat. I gave him his presents: Madagascar 2, a book, a couple HotWheels cars and a wallet. We went back to my house and fell asleep watching TV. Monday we went to Des Moines, stopping in Ankeny to get breakfast at IHOP, to Jordan Creek mall where we made a turtle at the Build A Bear Workshop. We went to Hu Hut (I think that's what it's called) for supper, stopped at the Brass Armadillo Antique store before heading back home, again stopping in Ankeny, this time at Walmart to get some stuff.
It was a pretty fun day and I'm very tickled about being able to make the turtle, thankfully there weren't any screaming kids in the store at the time. It turned out very different than what Kevin had planned, he said he was going to make a frog in a cop uniform for me, instead we did a turtle in construction clothing with a roaring device.

Tomorrow (May 1st) is Kevin and I's 2 year anniversary, but I won't get to see him until Sunday (maybe). It would be great if he stopped by tomorrow for at least a couple minutes, I'm not holding my breath but it would be really cool. It's been rumored that he may have to start working Sundays this week, meaning I don't get to see him.

I know things'll never be the same

May 1st is Kevin and I's 2 year dating anniversary. He asked me yesterday what I wanted and I said something to the tune of "You should know me by now, I'm sure you can figure something out". I realized later that was a bad answer. We always read everywhere how hints and hoping that guys know what you want doesn't work, so it was good he asked, but I really don't have an answer. I know what I want, but what he can actually get me, I'm at a loss at.
I would love to spend a whole weekend with him, I'd love for the mine to stop demanding so much for him, I'd love for him to be back on days, I'd love for a spring/summer/fall without severe weather, I want a nice 30 hour or so job, a nice motorcycle ride (actually a bunch of them), to have money to pay my bills and then some. But how much of that can he actually buy me?
Things that he could buy me: a new MP3 player, a nice working laptop, cute cover-ups for my job (long-sleeve but cool shirts), all seasons of Supernatural and Third Watch. Some nice jeans that fit. But I really don't want him to spend that much money on me, I know he loves spending money on me and likes making me happy, just like I love making him happy, but why spend tons of money on things?

Any suggestions from my readers?

The other day I was watching the Amazing Race, and this season they have a deaf kid and his mother. There was a little incident between that team and a team of sisters when they were both going for the clue box, and in the end he "tattled" on the sisters because he was upset over it. I found that really wrong, yes you're upset, but how old are you? It's a race things are going to happen (hell, they always do), get over it and move on. He also "said" that all hearing people think deaf people are dumb. I found that a little rude to the rest of us. We all know there are people that make fun of deaf people and decide they are stupid, but not everyone is like that.

According to the thermometor on my computer (from KCCI) it has now reached 80 degrees. That's kinda funny. At the beginning of the month, we had snow, now it's summer.

I'm being tortured

OK, I love the warm weather, don't get me wrong, but ever since it's hit 45 (sometimes even before), everyone has been out riding their bikes, and it's been so very painful to hear them.
My motorcycle helmet has been collecting dust in my closet for over a year, it sure seemed like a good purchase at the time. How was I supposed to know I'd get a boyfriend who didn't ride a motorcyle? I always thought that would be a requirement for a boyfriend.
What I wouldn't do for a ride nowadays. OK, there's a lot, but I hate being outside and seeing and hearing a bike go by. Plus, Zylstra's Hog Roast (you'll have to scroll down on the link) is next weekend and Kevin has to work both Friday and Saturday night, so I won't be going to that. Though I wonder if it won't hurt less not being able to go to that. Just having all those bikes and bikers around me and knowing I'm not able to ride on the back of (with) any of them.
Trying to think of a way to explain this to people that aren't into bikes. Think of something you love to do and then imagine you aren't able to do that thing anymore (for whatever reason), it hurts, deep down inside, it really hurts.

I want one

After seeing Jacob (Kevin's nephew), I have decided I really want a kid. If anyone has known me for a very long time, you know I have never wanted a child, I have never been really interested in children. But, I fell in love with him, and I really think I want one. I've noticed I've been on the look out for toys and clothes with construction stuff on it to buy for him.

I had a kid in the store on Friday night, he was really cute and well behaved. The mother said he was going to be 16 months, and he was dressed in a shirt with an excavator on it. It got me into chatting with her about construction equipment and how we're both excited to find dump trucks, cranes, and other stuff. I was so impressed at how well he behaved, when his mother said to put something back he did it. He was more well behaved than some older kids I get in the store.

I've tuned into the new cop show Southland, I think it's pretty good, though it's annoying that when they swear, they beep it out. If you're gonna have them swear on a TV show, leave it in. It's on a 9:00PM, kids should be in bed by then, if they can't watch/listen to swearing. They also start the show at the end of the day, that's pretty annoying as well. They do start back at the beginning, but why the hell would you want to see the end at the beginning?

What season are we in?

I'm so glad it's April, and we'll finally get some nice weather.

Nope, according to the big weather people, tomorrow we're supposed to get 2 to 7 inches of snow, and there's a blizzard warning in parts of Iowa.

Wait a damn minute here, it's spring, spring isn't supposed to have snow. We're supposed to be past the freezing temperatures. We're supposed to be able to put away the heavy coats, boots, and snow shovels. I saw that ice melt and shovels were on clearance at the local stores. I betcha they knocked the prices back up when they heard what the weather was doing tomorrow.

And from Tuesday through the end of the week it's supposed to be in the 50's. Lets hope this is the last round of snow until next fall. That would be nice.

Yay for Iowa

Looks like the Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. Now gays and lesbians can get married in 3 states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Iowa, Iowa being the first in the nation's heartland. How cool is that?

On other news, Kevin is now an uncle, his brother and sister-in-law had their baby early yesterday morning. Congratulations to them.

CELEBRATION!!!

YAY GOT MY TAXES DONE!!!

OOOHHH!! Movie Meme (we all know how much I love meme's)
1. Name a movie you have seen more than 10 times:
Just one? UMMM, The Blues Brothers, I know practically every line in that movie (people don't like to watch it with me)

2. Name a movie you’ve seen multiple times in the theater:
The only one I've seen multiple times: XMen: The Last Stand, I saw it with different people each time.

3. Name an actor who would make you more inclined to see a movie:
Johnny Depp

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to see a movie:
Benecio DelToro (I think that's how you spell his name, he is ugly)

5. Name a movie you can and do quote from:
Tommy Boy, all the time, you can use "I need your John Hancock, It's Herbie Hancock" anywhere.

6. Name a movie musical in which you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs:
I don't do musicals

7. Name a movie you have been known to sing along with:
I don't think I sing along with any movies

8. Name a movie you would recommend everyone see:
Anything on my movie shelf, I can't name them all

9. Name a movie you own:
Only one? I own at least 50. A favorite: Any of the Die Hard 4-ology (don't know what that's called), 3 or 4 are the best

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops:
No idea

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?
Nope, ours close before I ever went to it

12. Name a movie you keep meaning to see but you just haven’t gotten around to yet:
Paul Blart: Mall Cop, that looks funny

13. Ever walked out of a movie?
At the end, sure. During? never

14. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater:
XMen the last stand

15. Popcorn?
Depends on my mood

16. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Very rarely

17. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
It was the day after Christmas of 2007, but I really don't know, before that it was the 3rd Pirates of the Carribean

18. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Action. Out of the over 100 movies I own, most of them are cops or war

19. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
Don't know

20. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
I don't recall any

21. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
SAW I and II and III


I'm not gonna tag anyone, cause they don't usually play along anyway, but if you want to feel free.

Is it over?

I need a break, or better yet a vacation.

I am so physically and mentally exhausted from dealing with taxes and I haven't even filed them yet.

Fun for a rainy day

Remember this post? I certainly hope so, it was the last post. Anyways, here are some of the cars we've been painting.
I don't have a before of this one, but it was pretty much the same, I didn't change the base color, I took out the plastic green crotchrocket in the bed, painted the bed grey and outlined the flames on the side in white.
Chevy Silverado:
I don't have a before of this one, but it was pretty much the same, I didn't change the base color, I took out the plastic green crotchrocket in the bed, painted the bed grey and outlined the flames on the side in white.
1966 Impala. Go here for a before shot.

Kevin painted the whole thing in blue, then added the red and white flames and the American flag on the trunk.
Custom Ford Bronco. Go here for before shot.

Kevin painted it black and grey.

1969 Chevelle SS 396. Go here for a before shot, but picture it in silver.

Kevin painted the blue on it.

Check out my flickr pictures to see all the cars.

We got it going on

I forgot to mention what Kevin and I have been doing lately. One time when were at smallmart, he picked up tome plasti-kote truck/car color touch up, that they were clearancing out for $1.00 each and a whole bunch of Hotwheels/Matchbox cars, and we have been painting them to our liking. It's pretty cool. The first night we did it, we were up until 4:00 am, and unfortunately woke up my mom a couple times. Got an earful from her on that.
Also, I've had a jonsing (don't know the real meaning of that word, or where it came from, I know it means something like craving, cause they used it in the Red Dragon) for ice cream, no idea why. Last Wed, I watched Modern Marvels or something like that on ice cream on the History channel, and they were at the Dreyer's factory and other places. I did learn that the ice cream sandwich was born in Iowa, pretty cool huh?
Anyways, I finally bought me some last night at mallmart. Creme Brulee and half-baked from Ben & Jerry's. I've always wanted to try B&J's but its so expensive, I decided to splurge last night. It's good, but you can basically get the same stuff from Blue Bunny for less.

People Annoy Me

Big surprise on my title, huh?

I had a chick in the store the other day with a phone glued to her ear chatting about how she didn't like that her babysitter had someone come over to the house while they weren't there (yes, I listened, when you come into a store, are the only one there, there's no music, you can pretty much expect I'm gonna hear your conversation. If it's so private, chat in your car, or your house), and then when she walked out, gave me a look that was something to the fact that I didn't help her. If you're going to be rude enough to have your phone plastered to your ear the whole time you're in here, I won't be greeting you. I've had enough people give me another look when I greet them while they're chatting on their phone. Because, then, I'm interrupting their conversation.
If I need help in a store, I'm not talking on my phone, and I sure don't have earphones in my ears (as I've seen enough times at the bookstore, while checking people out).

I'm also quite amused at people that say they're looking for ideas, then I have to pry out of them who they're looking for, and they get annoyed. My job is to help you with stuff in the store, if you're coming into the store looking for something, at least have the decency to tell me what, or who its for, then I can help you without (hopefully) getting on your nerves.

I hate it when people park illegally and then turn their hazards on, cause that makes it OK. Kevin loves writing tickets for those, cause then they argue, and they still get a ticket. Like today, there's a pizza delivery guy parked in the driving lane with his hazards on, cause I guess he's too lazy to park, go in and get his next deliveries and then leave. Course the pizza guys do that all the time, there have been numerous times when Kevin drops me off and he has to drive around a car in the fire lane with its hazards on, and while we're sitting there (for 3 seconds) the pizza person gets in and drives off. I think it'd be very funny if they were there when the fire trucks had to use the fire lane, cause they'd just push them out of the way. I'd laugh.

They had a segment on Tyra about morals, and showed some features of the ABC show, What Would You Do? One little 'experiment' they did was have a chick walk away from her laptop and cell phone in a hotel lobby, and then someone 'steals' them. I would've laughed. I've seen so many people do that at the library when I worked there. It's not my job to watch your stuff, how do I know whose it is? Mind you, I do pay attention. People have this false sense of safety when they're are people around. I would never walk off with my stuff sitting out. Even when I worked at the library and we were able to have our laptops out front, if I had to go to the bathroom, you can be sure I tucked my laptop (and anything else) underneath the counter, where my bosses would see someone go into.
The world is not as safe as it was when I was a kid, when you could leave stuff out. There's so many people that do crimes of opportunity because you were too stupid to take your laptop with you, or shut your car off and take the keys when you went into the grocery store for a minute. Yes, it sucks when those things are taken, but it's your own damn fault.

One of Kevn's coworkers the other day said they hated ruining people's days writing meter tickets downtown (when it was 70 degrees out), we were both thinking you are in the wrong profession. They took the job, to get closer to the police department because they want to be a cop someday. Good luck no ruining people's days as a cop. Someone somewhere said about 90% (I have no idea I'm paraphrasing) of the time when people run into cops its because something bad happens. Very true. I also read this, about how the cop wanted to help people, we had a guy at the PD here like that, he was a teacher, now I don't know the reason he quit, but I can guess it's because people didn't want his help. That's how it is, so many people have this idea that people are good. People aren't good, yes there is a percentage that is good, but most people you run into have other intentions.

The way you make me feel.

UGH! I'm so bad at keeping this regularly updated, and for that I apologize.
In the meantime, I have been dealing with an ear infection that finally cleared up yesterday. I never had ear infections as a kid, so I really hated dealing with this. There was a basketball game that I was working, and I guess I had the radio up really loud (on the case of being partially deaf in one ear), and one of the officers made a comment about it. Thankfully, it finally cleared yesterday and I can hear again.
It's been pretty nice out lately, Sun and Mon we got into the 70's and this week promises to be all in the 50s. I'm pretty happy about that, though I'm having a hard time getting my butt in gear to get out of the house and go on my walks. Sunday, I walked down to Target and back (I mapped it online afterward and found I walked about 3 miles), I spent way too much money on Hotwheels cars. Why do they have to have all those cool '60s models out? So, yesterday I told myself I was going to go on my 4 mile walk, left at 4:30, so if it took me 2 hrs I'd be back before 7. That didn't quite work out as planned. For some reason my left ankle started hurting and made me cut the walk short. I haven't mapped it out yet, so I don't know how much I walked. I'm also finding it annoying to have to go without music.
My Mp3 player's battery will not last over 30 minutes lately. It's pretty annoying, and seeing as it's an internal battery, I'd have to buy a whole new replacement and send it in to be replaced. I feel kinda annoyed since it's only a little over 2 years old (I got it for my graduation from college in Dec of 2006) and I know it cost my brother a pretty penny.
I do have a little portable radio, but the antenna must suck, cause I seem to walk 2 feet and can't get the same station in.
I have found out that walking to and from work every night I do walk a mile. That's nice to know, but seeing as how I've plumped up lately, I need to do a little more and actually work out.
In other news, after getting my new toy, Kevin and I went back to his parents home and then went shooting where I shot up this guy. Kevin says it was from 20 yards away. I'm not sure if that's really good, considering I have a scope on my rifle, but I'm pretty happy about it.
Sorry, about the quality of this picture, I did something to my camera and now it won't zoom as close as it did before. I'll have to ask Ross to look at it next time he's in town. Anyways, if you can see, I hit the van 4 times. Once through the top, next to the circle window, once close to the front windows, once at the back wheels there, and once that you can't really see, but I kinda nicked it at the bottom of the undercarriage.
In this picture: you can (hopefully) see I hit the whole packaging 6 times. The 4 on the van, and then once on top of the van, and once through the cardboard picture near the front of the van.

I was remarking how much fun I was having shooting things that day. It was Kevin, his brother, his dad and me. We had his brother's plywood target stand, with my van, another hotwheels car, some paper targets, shotgun shells sitting on top of it, pop bottles on the ground, shotgun shells on the ground, and some wood sticking out of the ground. We spent about 3 hours (maybe?) shooting. I was having so much fun. Plus, Kevin says the rounds for my .22 are pretty cheap. I really can't wait to go shooting again. Kevin and I are considering buying a membership at Ike's here in town. He's got a fun little arsenal to play with, and I am loving my rifle.

Also, I did find some new boots, I went to Kmart, Walmart, Target, JCPenney's, Younkers, Journeys, Hot Topic, Payless, Thiesen's, everywhere that sold boots are our mall, all the places downtown (there's a couple), a few places in Cedar Rapids (Famous Footwear, Macy's I think, Sears), some places in Des Moines (DSW, Scheels, G&L Clothing, Sportsman's Warehouse {OK, that's in Ankeny}, Dillards), I even went to Zappos.com and didn't find what I was looking for, and finally found a couple pairs at the Payless in Des Moines, at a pretty fair price, I bought 2 pairs, so if one wears out, I still have another one. They're working out pretty well.

I'm surprised at the lack of hiking boots/nice looking boots people had. I've made the conclusion women aren't supposed to hike at all. I found minimal pairs of hiking boots at best, and the ones I found were just that, hiking boots. That's what I loved about my Harley boots, they looked nice so you could wear them to work (I have) and then go hiking at the Ledges after work in them. It's kinda annoying to have to switch shoes to do things, but I guess I'll have to in the future.

That's my news, I'll try to do better at updating, but I can't promise anything.

A little help, please

Alright, kids, I could use some advice.
I'm shopping for new boots, you all remember when I bought these? A couple years ago? Well, they're wearing out (guess that's what happens when you wear them all the time), I have holes in the soles inside the boot, in the heels, going all the way down to the rubber soles, plus I'm getting holes under the toes.
I'm hoping to get something about mid-calf height, black, nice durable tread on the bottom, easy to care for, leather, less than 2 inch heels, and under $100.00 I love the style and everything about my current boots except that they're wearing out, if I could find something like that, I'd be in heaven. They don't need to be Harley-Davidson boots, it's just that those fit and were a great price at the time.

AAAAH! It's Friday the 13th

So, Sunday night I spent the night at Kevin's house (that's when I got the other huge frog), and in the morning we went to Earl May (OK by that time it was more like afternoon, as we didn't get out of the house until noonish, and after making some trips to the bank and somewhere for lunch, it was well after noon) and look at their critters, and they had a cute little guinea pig, so cute. The lady said they received it on Friday, and it hadn't really been taken out and played with that much, and while we were there it never made a sound (important tidbit there).
That night, I go home and Kevin calls later saying he's bringing me a Subway sandwich and to meet him downstairs, I'm wondering why I have to meet him downstairs if we're just going to eat the sandwich here. So, I go downstairs and starts walking towards me with something in his hands, turns out his was holding the guinea pig we saw earlier. He said he was going to keep it at his house until Sunday (this being before he decided to go to the conference, mentioned in last post), and then give it to me, but his roommate didn't want her staying there. Apparently after dropping me off at work, he went in search of a cage and then went back to Earl May and picked her up.
Her name is Val, for Valentine's day and the fact that she's got bright red eyes. I've been missing having a guinea pig since my last one died. Val is ours, though she stays at my house.

Love is in the air?

I hope you all are getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day or Friday the 13th, whichever strikes your fancy, or both, that works too.
I have already received all my presents (and there were a bunch of them too), as Kevin is out of town at a storm chasers conference in Denver, CO. I was telling him he needed to bring me back something and suggested they should be giving away stress balls shaped like tornadoes. I don't think I'm getting anything though, oh well. You wouldn't think I needed something more after you see what all I got for Valentine's Day.
Last week he started by giving me this giant frog. He's at least 3 feet tall.
And after (or before, I don't remember which), he gave me this little one.

And this week he started (with something else, but that will be in my next post, as I haven't quite figured out how to upload more than 4 photos per post in the order I want them) with these guys, he picks me up from work Tuesday night with these 3 (or 4, depending on what you're counting) in his truck.

And then yesterday, we had to go out to his house to pick up the rest of the lot before he went on to CO.

Plus, the caterpillar

That equals 11 (there's another one at his house), well that's weird, I thought for sure there were 12, wait a minute, I forgot the one that's still attached to the mug he's in, guess there are 12. And the giant caterpillar, and.... Oh you'll have to look at the next post (or previous as it comes up on my blog) for that, it's the best present out of the lot.

Don't ever say that I'm not a team player

Tomorrow I get to work another basketball game. I sure hope it's a little less exciting than the last one. Last week we played Kansas and it was interesting, not because of problems by the fans, no the fans were very nice. But we had some very entertaining guests attend. I had Chewbacca come in my door and I saw a gorilla with a giant banana getting a drink at the water fountain.
I did have some annoying people too. I had a couple of guys that decided to go out and have a cigarette pretty much right after they were let in. Because of the law passed last July there is no smoking on public property (or something like that), all I know is you're not allowed to smoke anywhere on University property. They were smoking RIGHT outside the door, that's just annoying in itself whether it's legal or not. So, I go out there and yelled at them (it was windy, cold and I was annoyed to have to talk to them), I told them they couldn't smoke there and they better go to LWay or not come back in. I told the other person working the door with me, she'd have to deal with them when they came back in because I was so pissed. Apparently they weren't so nice when they came in either. I guess they were very rude to my co-worker.
I hate smokers, not all of them, I have come in contact with ones that are very considerate, but the ones that just disregard anyone else that gets in the way of their smoking. Those are the annoying ones.

Find what you loved about it and start there.

Ok kids, here's my late Christmas present.
Let's just say I am very giddy about having this.
I don't know much about it except that it's a .22 bolt-action rifle (?) and it's fun to shoot. Kevin says I should take a hunter's safety course to learn more.

I never stray too far from the sidewalk.

I started working full time at the bookstore for the university on Monday, it's whooping my ass. I stand for about 7.5 hours (actually for the past two days it's been 8.5 hours), and then I get home and sit all night. My feet still hurt this morning, I've noticed I'm walking on my toes.
Nothing like the -10 degree days to make you love Iowa weather. Tonight the low is -14 and tomorrow the high is -2. I hate Iowa winter. Plus we've pretty much had it snowing since Saturday. We got about 9 (maybe) inches on Sat, about an inch Sun, 3 or 4 Mon, and another 3 or 4 last night. Since it seems to be coinciding with me working all day and then night, I haven't shoveled that much, I shoveled on Sunday, and I'm guessing when I get home from the game tonight I'll be shoveling again.
I'm so tired.

Let's take our time, relish

OK, I am no longer allowed to look at buttons. I went to Hobby Lobby today to look for a shadow box frame (it's like a frame, only it has more depth to it for 3D objects) for this, before work, after finding a couple, I still had a few minutes before I had to be at work, so I went to the button aisle. They have these button bags that are just mixes of buttons, and I have a tendency to look and see something cool (like the tree button I saw today) and buy them. I did that and bought 3 bags. BAD WENDY!!!

Has anyone seen the Dr. Pepper commercial where the Diet Dr. Pepper 6pack of bottles "walks" to the candy aisle? During the commercial, the theme song to Cheers is playing, the one that starts "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name...", everytime I see that I stop and listen/watch it, I can't help it, I'm drawn to the TV. I'm not going to go out and buy Diet Dr. Pepper, yet I'm mezmorized by the song.
The Marines commercial has that same effect on me, though I'm drawn to them, not a song.

Speaking of commercials, am I the only one that's sick of Campbell's VS Progresso and their MSG thing. You'd think they could come up with something better.

Hope all is well with my readers.

Fun with technology

How great is technology? I don't have cable and get my TV channels through an antenna. I have already bought the digital converter box and hooked it up. Tonight, CBS's local channel was having troubles with their digital connection and the only way to watch the channel was to unhook your digital box.
I certainly hope they figure out this before February.

Happy New Year!

Found this in my past posts:
What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Began to seriously think about selling my art and sold some of it
Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don’t make resolutions, though I am planning on changing a few things in my life this year (we’ll see if they stick until 12/31/09
Did anyone close to you give birth? No
Did anyone close to you die? No
What countries did you visit? US of A
What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A full-time job and a steady income where I didn’t have to worry about if I’ll have enough money for bills
What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? May 1st, that’s what Kevin and I decided is our anniversary for dating
What was your biggest achievement of the year? Somehow having money and getting by even though I was basically unemployed for 5 months
What was your biggest failure? Can’t think of one
Did you suffer illness or injury? No, but I’m sure I messed up my knee a few weeks ago when I walked into my radiator (that’s what happens when you have a small amount of room around your couch next to your radiator), I realized it was really bothered yesterday when I was standing for 4 hours.
What was the best thing you bought? All the Hotwheels and Matchbox cars this year, I’m loving being able to collect the cars I think are sweet, but aren’t thousands of dollars.
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My parents. Just little things that they do without even realizing it.
Where did most of your money go? Food, health insurance, credit card (all the usual things)
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Any time I got to spend with Kevin
What song will always remind you of 2008? Nothing really comes to mind
Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? Happier
II. thinner or fatter? Fatter, I’ve developed a stomach, which I’m hoping to get rid of this year
III. richer or poorer? Most likely poorer
What do you wish you'd done more of? Work, only because that gives me more money to pay off things
Did you fall in love in 2008? No, but still in love from 2007
How many one-night stands? None
What was your favorite TV program? A new one from this year would have to be Flashpoint, continuing one would be Supernatural
Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Not that I’m aware of
Do I like anyone now that you didn't like this time last year? Probably, but no one comes to mind
What was the best book you read? I don’t remember reading a whole book this year (that’s pretty sad, seeing as I had all that time when I had no job)
What was your greatest musical discovery? Nickelback, but pretty sure I discovered them before this year
What did you want and get? Die Hard 4, new toaster oven, new coat
What was your favorite film of this year? I haven’t gone to a movie since last Christmas
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Nothing out of the ordinary, 25
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Getting a full time job
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Same as before. jeans and a T-shirt. Whatever's comfortable. I really love summer where I can wear my favorite outfit: jeans, tank top, barefoot.
What kept you sane? Music and Kevin and Loretta
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? None
What political issue stirred you the most? The election, just cause I’m not happy with the results
Who did you miss? No one
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: Have fun in life. Plan ahead. Don’t take anything for granted.

I keep rolling on down that road

The other night, I had the scariest dream I've ever had. I saw the Grim Reaper standing beside my bed, and I got this really bad feeling, I tried turning on the light but it wouldn't go on and then I ran outside my room into a hallway and into another room that was filled with zombies. That part after getting out of my room wasn't what scared me. When I saw Death standing over my bed, it felt like it was really happening and then the light wasn't working. After waking up my heart was pounding (at least it sure felt like it, I felt my pulse and it was pretty much normal, nothing really fast) and I had to lie with the light on for at least 15 minutes.
But now, I feel as if something's going to happen to me, and when i close my eyes I see that robe and scythe.
FREAKY

Where you are is where I belong

Here's hoping y'all had a good Christmas and aren't planning to party too hard tomorrow night.
Christmas for me was pretty good. I got plenty of new snowmen, some Fareway gift cards (those will help out immensely), a new DVD player (I was really hoping for a VCR as my DVD player works somewhat and my VCR is totally down for the count), 2 toaster ovens (this is becoming a tradition, last year I got 2 vacuum cleaners), some frogs, 2 new coats (I'm favoring the one Kevin got me), new gloves, and a plaque at the new alumni hall on campus. Like I need a plaque, if you're gonna spend that much money (I don't know how much it is, but I'm guessing a pretty big chunk), spend it on something I need.
I'm trying to continue what I started last year, going to Kevin's parents' for Christmas and celebrating with them. I really hope that will be a lasting tradition.
I had my family Christmas on Christmas eve.
(Ya know I had this nicely planned out an hour ago, I don't know what happened to it)
A couple years ago, I received a Toshiba Gigabeat MP3 player as my graduation gift from ISU, the battery has become shot on it, and now at full battery power it lasts 30 minutes. It's so nice that things nowadays are built not to last, are built so you have to buy a new one every few years.

Idiotioc people

What kind of person names their kid Adolf Hitler, and then wonders why people are upset over it. Way to set up your kid for disappointment for the rest of his life. He's going to be teased or not liked at all, all through school. No one's gonna wanna date him, I think it'd be wise of him to change his name when he's old enough.

Thanks A Lot

Thank you old guy that decided to walk into the store with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth and not thinking that was bad. He realized it when I glared at him and now the store smells like cigarette smoke. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

HELP!!

For all of my two readers, I have a question:

Am I required to get presents for my co-workers at the store I work at?
When I was in college I worked at the library and while we weren't asked to get presents, I always made something for my bosses (they also gave each of the student workers a basket of goodies). Last year, I wasn't going to do presents, but my boss told me she got a present for me, so then I made something for her and for my coworkers. I don't know if I'm supposed to do anything for my coworkers this year. Any advice?

Also, remember this post? Well, here are the pictures.

ugh

So, I've figured out that my mother thinks I know nothing. I think part of the reason I got my degree in CJ was because my parents didn't know much about it and I could speak my mind and be right, or at least listened to. But my mom always talks down to me, even when we're talking about opinions, there's always a tone about how she says things and she implies that I don't know what I'm talking about.
Like today, she leaves me a note on a container of ice melt not to use it, like I don't know you don't use ice melt on top of snow. It was because we got a 1/8 inch of ice last night, and I sprinkled it with ice melt and some sand. We have a new piece of concrete at the bottom of our driveway, and we're not supposed to use ice melt on it, something about the chemicals reacting with the new concrete.
Stole this from one of the blogs I read:
1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

I want a Designer frisbee

What is a designer frisbee you may ask. Well, my friend, Loretta's dogs cross bred to create one. Neither one of us thought it would happen, but I guess that's what you get when you have a female Burmese Mountain Dog in heat and a male Bichon Frise knowing this. I'm rather intrigued to know how big they'll get and what they'll be like.

I'll post a picture if she ok's it.

UGH!!

Why do the people in my neighborhood seem to be so stupid? Originally I was just going to complain about the people and thier stupidity in parking, but now people with dogs get included (and if you happen to be one of the people I'm complaining about, tough, since I know the things I'm saying are true, too bad for you).
So, I get the wonderful job of shoveling snow today, because we got about 2-3 inches of snow between yesterday and today and it's still coming down. My mom called me and told me there was snow shoveling to do. NO SHIT!!! Like I wasn't outside with you yesterday and I didn't walk through the snow last night, so I didn't know there was shoveling to do.
So, I'm shoveling and while taking my short breaks or just noticing stuff around my neighborhood, I notice 2 illegally parked cars. One being a van down the street that's parked in the parkway (that's the part of your driveway that's between the street and the sidewalk), that's illegal. And two, the jeep that's parked on the wrong side of the street, now they couldn't say they didn't know because there's a no parking sign 10 feet in front of them. If you can't read, you really shouldn't be driving.
DOGS:
In the city, it's code (or law) to have your dog on a leash at all times while you are outside and it's not in a fenced in yard. The guy down my street decided to take his dog on a walk while he was bicycling, and then let it run wild to go to the bathroom after they got back. And then as I was going to buy some pop, I run into a chick talking on her cell phone with her dog not on a leash. So, I tell her it's law to have her dog on a leash within city limits. Her response: "I'm not from Iowa", and I tell her she should research laws if she's going to live somewhere. She says her dog's very well behaved and that "she lives 2 blocks away" so it's ok. I love it how people always say their dog is well behaved when you tell them it's supposed to be on a leash. SO FRICKIN' WHAT???? Just because it's well behaved doesn't mean it might accidentally run in front of a car and get hit, to which point you would blame the driver. Or maybe someone has some really good food in their pocket and the dog really wants it, it could attack them because of this. And, some people don't like dogs running through their yards, I don't mind it until it starts shitting in my yard. I may look like just a normal citizen, but that doesn't mean I don't know city code. If I was a cop telling you this, you'd probably give me the same reasons and then something about I'll put it on a leash next time, because you obviously don't have a leash with you now. I think she was just really pissed that not only did I tell her the law (which she may or may not have known), I interrupted her phone call. BOO FRICKING HOO!! If I knew where she lived I'd call animal control and say that she was letting her dog run loose, they would most likely say they got a complaint and go have a chat with her.

The more I know about city code, the more I see people not obeying it and it drives me nuts. In some situations, too much knowledge sucks.

I am so disgusted

I was watching this show on ABC today, called the Dr's. and they have a segment on a 5 year old who weighs 135lbs. The mom "is desperate to change him". How is this not the parents fault? They weren't too thin either, but he's five, you control what he eats, he doesn't control it. She says when he doesn't get what he wants he throws a tantrum and tries to hit his parents. How hard is it to control your child, let him throw that tantrum, maybe he'd burn off some calories doing it. You hear of people saying things are not their fault everywhere you turn, but when you say you 5 yr old weighing over 130 lbs, his problem of being overweight isn't your fault, that is total BS. Try not giving him pop tarts and pizza and food whenever he wants it, make him go outside and play. When walking makes him breathless and you're afraid he's going to be diabetic by the time he's a teen because of his overeating problem, do something about it.
These dr's give them a book, a membership to a whole bunch of physical activity places and tell them they have to get rid of all the junk food. I'd be surprised if they actually did it, what's to get them motivated now that hasn't motivated to keep the kid healthy in the past?

And then they have this lady who believes she's so hideous she needs a total makeover and of course they do the surgery for her. She's not a hideous person, try starting with a little self esteem makeover and go from there.

They also had a segment of this chick that thought she had a gummy smile, her gums showed too much in her smile. So, they do this procedure on the show, and we watch them burn off her gums. That was nasty.

Stupid Hollywood

****CAUTION CSI: MIAMI 11/17 SPOILERS****
On CSI: Miami tonight, they had a baby kidnapping. At the end, they figure out the guy that planned the kidnapping was selling the child to a couple flying in from somewhere else. Horatio (head CSI guy) pulls up in his Hummer with his lights and sirens going when the kidnapper’s making the deal with the “adoptive” parents, so the kidnapper jumps in his SUV and they go on this chase through this tiny airport, and then the kidnapper hits a pile of boxes and flips his SUV several times.
That would never happen in real life. The cops would never attempt a car chase in that small of an area when they know (or are pretty certain) there is a child in the car because something like that could happen. If my child were kidnapped and that happened you can bet to hell I’d sue the PD, and I’m guessing with how people view cops, I’d win. Now you all know I love the cops, but if anyone would put my child at risk like that, I’d be throwing that love and appreciation out the window.
Also, if the cops actually knew where the people were flying in to, they would never show up in their lights in sirens. I won’t be watching CSI: Miami anymore.

Karma's a bitch

This is to the idiot in the blue car that ran the red light at 6th and Clark at about 8:10 tonight. I hope the next time you decide to be too impatient to wait 3 seconds for a green light, a cop catches you, or something.
If I were close enough, you can bet I would have crossed the street in front of you very slowly so you would have had to wait.
Maybe next time you do something because you're impatient it'll come back to bite you in the ass.

I'm getting old :(

I used to laugh at a former roommate of mine because she had white hair.
Guess what, I'm getting white hair. Karma? I don't know but it sucks, I'm 25 years old with some white hairs, they all stay in one little place.
Here's my question, is there any other way than dyeing my hair that I can get rid of them? Obviously, I can continue to pull them out, but I've been doing that, but I finally decided to stop doing that, and Kevin was yanking some out the other day.

Venting

I am a hostess of an ATC (Artist Trading Cards) Yahoo! Group. I received an email of someone saying how they had been ignored when they asked questions in the past. I apologized and informed them why they were unable to join a certain swap that they had inquired about. Then I went to the group website and found that when this person asked questions, I responded to all of them.
This is the newest in the problems I've had with this group (and I guarantee it won't be the last). The drama of some certain members of this group make it not so fun to deal with, but I know that if I kick them out then they'll get to talking to each other and will drop out. I've had that happen.
I had one member that got their card posted on the homepage (I pick one of my favorite cards from the swap and post it on the homepage), and had asked if they could have that card. I happened to be the one who had that card, so I emailed her privately and told her that I was holding onto it. And that in the future when she complained about someone else's cards/items, that they should try NOT responding to the whole group (I just happened to be the lucky person she was complaining about). I did the better person thing and did not strike back at her through the group, I didn't respond at all and let it slide. After this email (about the homepage card), she sent an angry email to the whole group about how mean I was and how she shouldn't have been treated a certain way and ended up making (at least I'm guessing, as I never got to explain what happened) someone leave because of it, and then she unsubbed. A month or so later she emailed me again, and profusely apologized for her behavior and asked to join again. Once again I did the bigger person thing and let her join.
Then I had one person take a card that I had made for a certain swap and use it for another swap. Instead of making her own background, she chose to use my card as the background and add her stuff from that swap to it and make it into her own card. Imagine if a big artist had done this with someone else's work, would it be considered flattery? I don't think so, as this was my original art, maybe (only maybe) if it were a photocopy. To which I told the group this was unacceptable, and she apologized to everyone for making that so. In my mind you should always make your own backgrounds, whether out of paper that you altered or even just using a magazine page.
I can't say I'm a fan of all the art that comes in, but everyone has their own idea of art and I try to keep an open mind when I see the artwork. I made the mistake of raising a stink about someone's artwork in the past and received a blown up answer from her and she got quite upset with me and left the group in a huff. Now I realize that everyone is trying their hardest and if they see it as fit to send in and that they are proud of it, I use them all.

Just curious is anyone that reads this blog a hostess of any art groups on Yahoo! or otherwise that I could chat with? Let me know in the comments section.

Don't need no credit card to ride this train

I decided last night as I was walking past the PD on my way home from work, I miss the cops (no, not in that way). I miss going on ride-along's, I miss seeing them at work, and most of all I miss chatting with them. Wonder what that means.
We got our first snow yesterday mornin, Kevin said he had about an inch on his truck when he got off work at 6AM. And later when I started off to work about 4:30PM, it was snowing again, as well as when I left work at 8. But, because the ground is still pretty warm, it didn't stick. Though I'm glad I don't live in the Dakotas.

OK, so I'm disappointed about who won on Tuesday, but what really bothers me is I was talking to my dad last Sunday, and I was chatting about how much the store had made on Sat.
Me: one woman wanted to get her Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving.
Dad: She won't be doing her American duty to go out and shop on Black Friday
Me: It doesn't matter how many times you say that, I'm not going to believe it.
Dad: But your president said it.
Me: I don't believe everything he says either.
Dad: Well, Sarah Palin will kick you out of the country for that.
Me: No, she won't cause I'm voting for her.
Dad: You shouldn't waste your vote on Tuesday then.

That really bothered me that he said that, I know he was kidding (maybe), but it really bothered me, and after hearing the results Tuesday night (I kept hoping it would be like the Truman election, where they predicted Dewey won, and then the next day said it was Truman), it kinda felt like I did waste my vote. This year was the first year that I voted for president where I didn't agree with my parents. The last election, I voted for Kerry because that's who my parents were voting for. That is one of the most horrible reasons, I know. And I hope that everyone does their homework and researches the candidates before they pick anyone. But it would have been really cool if McCain won. Just because this was a big election for me, because I had researched McCain and decided that his stance on the Iraq War lined up with mine pretty well, and that was the biggest most important thing to me.
Argue with me if you want to, but I will not engage in a conversation about politics. It's usually two people trying to convince the other person of their side, but neither person is going let go of their beliefs and it turns into a screaming argument where people are hurt afterward, and nothing is resolved. Politics is one of the main reasons people do not get along. I choose not to talk about it and I get along fine with people.

Just curious

A couple questions for my readership:

1. Does an engagement ring have to be a diamond?

2. Is it possible to get a nice ring for under $1,000?

VOTE

Please go out and vote today. We've been hearing about this election for over a year, there's no way you didn't know it was coming. I don't care who you vote for, just vote. The only people I don't want voting (this may come back and bite me in the ass), are the people who are only voting for someone because they are black, because they look better than the other candidate, because you're parents are voting for that candidate. If you're going to vote, make sure you have done research on the person you're voting for, make sure some of their ideals and platforms match up with your beliefs. DO NOT vote for someone because you flipped a coin and they were heads. DO the research.

I need some help

Does anyone know anything about the software Photo Loader? When I got my digital camera, it came with the software Photo Loader to copy the photos from my camera onto my computer. Today, I went to do that and after it starts (or attempts to start) copying the files, it gives me this error message: An error occurred while writing library. Proccess will be aborted.
I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software, but that didn't do anything. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the date stamp, the last time I uploaded photos to my computer, they were stamped January and February of 2006, instead of September and October of 2008. I changed the stamp on my camera, and renamed the folders in my computer, but I'm wondering if for some reason, Photo Loader isn't able to process past August of this year, kinda like how everyone thought the computers would mess up when we switched over to 2000.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it makes a difference, my camera is a Casion Exilim Optical 3x, I run Windows XP on my computer and the software is Photo Loader 2.3

More updates in my apt

I envy the guys in my living room.
My living room ceiling has been sagging for awhile, and lately if you push on it, it moves quite a bit. So, mom hired someone to rip out the old ceiling (plaster attached to lathe boards, they're not pulling off the lathe), and put up a new ceiling, (drywall), and paint the ceiling. The guys got here this morning and pulled off the old ceiling, now it sounds like their measuring, cutting and putting up the new drywall.
How come my mom always hires people to do the fun stuff, and all I get to do is paint? She hired Kevin and I to paint the stairs last summer, because of the crappy winter and all the ice we got last year, we had to retouch the steps, so she asked me to paint our north ones. I got to sand and varnish windows, paint my bedroom door (which I didn't need), she asked me to scrape and paint the porch floor, the railing and the spindles on the railing, and she's asked me to paint some benches.
I wanted to rip out the walls in the old bathroom, I want to rip out the ceiling in my living room. I'm pretty sure I could do it. Yeah, I'd have to be careful around the corners where the ceiling meets the wall with the old wallpaper and stuff, but it's not that hard. Why pay someone else when I could do it (especially after she's all wary of people being in the house when we're not here).

GUYS GET ALL THE FUN STUFF :(

How annoying is this? I listen to a radio station that usually has 80's Friday Nights, from 7:00pm until Midnight. I look forward to Friday night all week for these. Now, I find out, they changed it so it only goes until 10:00PM. Now, they have some talk program about what's going on in "stars" lives. Like that's any better than relaxing to great music destressing from the week. As if I give a damn about movie stars lives.

2 Annoyances and 1 good thing in my life

I may be upgrading something in my life soon. I'll let you all know when I get it.

UGH!! My dad just called asking if I wanted to earn some money, when I asked doing what, he said cleaning up leaves. Apparently they got a quote from someone else and decided I could earn that much doing it. Thank you sooo very much for thinking of me, but no thanks. Which is pretty much what I said, to which he replied, when do you want to work on it. I'm so glad my word means nothing to my parents. It's really nice to know.

Also, I had decided to go with them to Hawaii this winter, but since the stock market sucks so much, we're not going anymore. Paying for 4 people to go down there is pretty expensive, I bet paying for 3 people to go to Rome last year was pretty expensive too, and going on a cruise 2 years ago in July for 2 people was pretty expensive too, but you guys didn't think that much in the future about money. So, when I finally decide to go on vacation with you, we can't do it.

All night long

Here's a question for y'all, do you get nervous talking to really hott people?

So, I'm on a bread pudding kick. I love bread pudding, and some of the restaurants that have it here, are cutting it out of their menu, so I decided that in order to really get good pudding, I'd have to make it myself, I've been saying that for a couple months. Well, my grandmother's 90-something birthday party is on Sunday, and when we were planning it out in September, I said I'd make bread pudding and bring it. My mother said I needed to try 3 recipes and figure out the best one. I made one recipe a couple weeks after that, and got all bummed that it didn't turn out too well. Sunday, mom brings me 3 more recipes and a gift card to Fareway for $25.00. I looked at all my recipes, decided what I needed and went and bought stuff today.
I made a 2nd attempt today, and barely got it out of the oven before I had to run off to work. I did taste it, and it tasted pretty good even without the Rum sauce they suggest serving it with. I also prepared a 3rd one and it's waiting in my fridge to be cooked when I get home.

I'm gonna post the recipes on here, so other people can enjoy them. I'm also gonna tell you what went wrong (it's a given something will go wrong, it always does when I'm cooking)

FIRST ATTEMPT:

Cinnamon Peach Bread Pudding

8 slices white bread
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon margarine
2 Tablespoons peach spreadable fruit spread
1 1/3 cups skim milk
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toast bread. Spread with margarine and peach spreadable fruit. Cube bread. Pour skim milk into 4-cup glass measure. Scald, but DO NOT BOIL MILK in microwave about 4 to 7 minutes on HIGH. Let cool. In a large bowl, stir eggs with a wire whisk. Add sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extrat. Stir in scalded milk. Mix well to combine. Add bread. Mix well. Let set about 10 minutes for bread to absorb milk. Pour into an 8-by-8 inch microwave-safe baking dish. Bake at 50% or MEDIUM power in microwave for about 10 minutes.
(from Healthy Exchanges Cookbook by JoAnna M. Lund, page 187)


I felt that peach should not go with bread pudding, so I eliminated that. By doing that, the pudding was a little bland. Kevin suggested I dump some apple pie filling in the next recipe, so I bought some.

SECOND ATTEMPT:
Donut Bread Pudding

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans fruit cocktail, with their juice
2 eggs, beaten
Pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
24 donuts, cut into cubes (recommended: Krispuy Kreme)
Butter Rum Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients except for the donut cubes and Butter Rum Sauce. Add the donut cubes and toss until they have absorbed as much of the liquid as possible. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish and bake for one hour. Serve with Butter Rum Sauce.
Butter Rum Sauce
1 stick butter
1 (1 pound) box confectioners' sugar
Dark Rum

In a saucepan, melt butter and gradually stir in the confectioner's sugar. Add rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Donut Bread Pudding.
(from the food network, Paula Deen's recipe)

For this one, I used a store brand donuts, it still tastes good. But I found that 24 donuts were too many, by the time I got 12 donuts cubed and into my mixing bowl, all the liquid had been soaked up. Like I said, I haven't made the rum sauce yet, but looking at the recipe now, I wonder how much rum I'm supposed to put in.

THIRD ATTEMPT:
Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

3 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons rum
1/2 cup raisins
7 (1/2-inch) slices brioche bread, cubed or torn
4 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large saucepan, add milk, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, rum and raisins and heat until war. simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Into a large bowl add the cubed bread and pour in the hot milk mixture. Let sit for 30 minutes so the bread absorbs the milk. Add the beaten eggs to the bread and milk mixture and stir. Pour bread pudding into a buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish and bake for 50 minutes.

(from food network, The Neely's recipe)

This one is sitting in my fridge waiting to be baked, I wonder if that will make the bread really soggy. HMMM. I learned to mix the ingredients first and then warm them on the stove, because that rum really boils over.

It's gonna end

It's so sad to see a show go into the ground. I was all ok to see the end of Supernatural with Dean being eaten by Hell hounds at the end of last season (ok, not OK, but I could handle the end, it kinda seemed fitting), but now that an "angel" has pulled him out of Hell because of the coming war between Lucifer and God, I know this show's gonna be ending soon.
When you add a war between good and bad, the show always goes to hell. I used to watch Joan of Arcadia and when they injected in the guy that was supposed to be against God and that a war was coming with Joan being the leader of the "troops", that show didn't come back for another season.
And Tru Calling when we decide there's an alternate force whose trying to keep the people dead, when Tru is trying to save them, and it ultimately becomes a war between them, that show came back for a very short 2nd season, I know it's on DVD but I've never seen it. It sure didn't last long after creating the War Between Good And Evil.
It never works, and it really sucks to watch as people ruin a show.
We all know I love those boys and that sweet Impala, but I guess I'm gonna have to find me a good job (working on it) and buy all 3 seasons on DVD, cause that's the only way I'm gonna be able to see them soon.

Accessories for life

Taken from the book: Swim Naked, Defy Gravity & 99 other Essential Things to Accomplis Before Turning 30. by Colleen Rush

For the ladies: how many things have you done before turning 30 (or whatever age you are now)? I've bolded the ones I've done (good thing I have 5 years to get the rest done).

Swim naked.
Break all of your parents’ arbitrary rules.
Grow something.
Dump toxic friends.
Speak a foreign language.
Buy a kick-ass mattress.
Draw and frame a self-portrait.
Stop chronic over-apologizing.
Create your own sisterhood.
Travel solo.
Develop a Plan B.
Know your friends’ family tree.
Embrace your inner eight-year-old.
Read: Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, M.D.
Build a raging campfire.
Make the first move.
Know the other mouth-to-mouth.
Be your own muse.
Master a signature recipe.
Quit something.
Find the perfect red lipstick.
Negotiate for something expensive.
Google yourself.
Hold your booze.
Track down your best friend from kindergarten.
Masturbate.
Write a complaint letter.
Claim your granny panties.
Make brownies from scratch.
Exercise the words “like” and “you know” from your vocabulary.
Find your religion.
Write thank-you notes for everything.
Perfect you’re A.M. stretch.
Declare your birthday a national holiday.
Stock an emergency disaster kit.
Accept compliments.
Minimize pointless drama.
Unplug your TV for awhile.
Dye your hair an outrageous color.
Invest in seriously frivolous undies.
Own your mistakes.
Take your hobby more seriously than your job.
Talk to strangers.
Get health insurance.
Hook up something high tech by yourself.
Live through a blind date.
Be a gracious guest.
Escape creeps and kick criminal ass.
Invest in earplugs.
Lose your virginity. Again.
Know your blood type.
Confront someone who’s done you wrong.
Walk in heels.
Write a body manifesto.
Watch the sun rise and set on the same day by yourself.
Disagree. Out loud.
Memorize your ring size.
Have a mantra.
Research your family’s medical history.
Do it somewhere risky.
Open a bottle of champagne.
Make more money than you spend.
be a nudist for a day.
Adopt an awkward teenager.
Eat soy.
Dress for longevity.
Kick one habit.
Defy gravity. (meaning get a great bra)
Own a cashmere sweater.
Use a great dermo.
Get over yourself.
Sleep in a hammock.
Own a toolbox with all the basics.
Jettison your “skinny” jeans.
Collect correspondence with friends.
Get a massage.
Memorize your favorite smells. Surround yourself with them.
Fall in love (or lust) without blowing off your friends.
Dub the “Greatest Hits” from your childhood.
Care about where your food comes from.
Fly first class.
Cultivate your own style.
Carry something to read, a notebook, and a pen at all times.
Forgive your parents.
Be a dork.
Stop slamming other women.
Get waxed down there.
Adopt another motherland.
Tell someone your deepest darkest secret.
Make a killer cocktail.
Read your old diaries.
Tie a few knots.
Have your fortune told.
Cry often.
Give yourself flowers.
Stop looking for a soul mate.
Give props to a teacher.
Learn how not to be a flake.
Give yourself a make-under.
Be notorious for something.
Bounce back.

I need a little help here...

I hate my feet. Most people have one foot slightly larger than the other, mine are like that, only my right foot is a whole size larger than my left foot. So, I have to buy shoes in 8's, I was wondering if anyone knew of anyway (other than buying a 7 and and 8 size shoe) that I could help my left foot not be so small in size 8 shoes.
I've been looking for flats, because as I'm working constantly at the games store, I was hoping for a selection of shoes in the winter other than my black dressyish boots. So, I bought a pair of really cute blue flats yesterday at Walmart. My problem (ok I have more than one) they're wide, my feet are pretty narrow. That isn't quite a big deal for my bigger foot, by my smaller foot just slides around in the shoe. I've tried heavier socks, and other than wearing a big heavy wool sock on the smaller foot that doesn't help. I'm considering going back and buying the same shoe in size 7 for the smaller foot, because they are soo cute.

Question

If you overheard a cop saying this, what would your reaction be?

"Drunk people are going to drive, and they're going to get into crashes, and they're going to kill people, and there's nothing we can do about that"

(No a direct quote, overheard by someone who heard someone else reiterating a story)

I must complain.

I know it probably won't make any difference to the higher-up people on the channel for one lowly TV viewer to stop watching, but I'm still complaining.

On most evenings, I have to work at 5pm, so I sit and watch a half hour of Reba on KCWI before leaving for work at 4:30, but today, they massively, changed their schedule. I have no desire to watch The Wayans Brothers. So, I commented on their website and told them I wouldn't be watching them in my free time anymore. Screw it, I don't have to watch the crappy movies on Saturday afternoons, or the random show on any given day of the week. I will only be tuning in for 3 shows now. Hell, I may even just watch my shows online, but not through their website.
That's the first time I actually go so pissed at a channel that I complained. But I guess we just don't wanna continue the good-natured humor of Reba in the afternoon. Oh well, it won't take much for me not to watch TV. I might get some things done in my life.

Oh, and please cross your fingers that I get this Executive Secretary job with the Correctional Department here.

I don't like to hear I'm wrong when I'm right

This morning, I would've asked y'all what the deal was with guys and guns. Well, Kevin took me shooting this afternoon, now I get it. I'm not quite as gung-ho as he is, but I get why it's so cool.
He went to a gun show in DM yesterday and bought himself an AR15, so he was giddy all last night and today. So me, him, and his roommate went out shooting today. I got to shoot his roommate's .22 and that got me all giddy, especially after hitting a clothespin after aiming at it the first time. I also got to shoot through a couple shotgun shells, unfortunately I got those after about 4 shoots, but I'm still excited about it. I wish I had taken my camera and gotten a picture of me shooting. I also asked Kevin if I could have one for Christmas (have to hide that from my mom, I'd probably get kicked out of the house for having a gun).
So, yeah, it was a good day. (And if anyone's thinking about breaking into Kevin's house, he is VERY heavily armed)

Remember

Never Forget
Let's not forget the 2,974 people who died in the attacks.

Welcome to the party

So, last week was busy as hell. Worked 8 - 4 at the book store, and then Tues, Thurs and Fri worked 5-8 at the games store. Got off from the book store, hurried across the street, caught the bus, got off by the games store, bought my pop, went into the back of the games store, changed my clothes, ate my supper and had about half hour break before working the 3 hours.
I was beyond tired every night after getting home. Saturday I slept in til 10AM, which for me is majorly sleeping in. I liked the work, don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it, it was just really tiring. Sure didn't like getting up at 6:30 every day, catching the 7:45 bus and getting to work where it was dead for about 1.5 hrs, but I really enjoyed working there. On Friday, the credit/debit service went down, so we were just running people through who were paying with cash and check. Then to reboot the system, we shut all the registers down (there's about 15 in the whole store) and were working on one register in the whole store. It was a portable register and was on a totally different system. It was like that for about 45 minutes. Personally I thought it was fun, no one else shared my sentiment.

Yesterday, being Labor Day, both Kevin and I were off, so we went to see the windmill farm, those wind things are HUGE. Then we went over to the Ledges and wandered through there. The road's still closed as they haven't scraped off the road, it's covered in 2-3 inches of mud at least all on the bottom road. It was interesting to see what had been cleared away by the flooding and how the creek had changed.

I don't think you know

I got the job at the bookstore, and I'm ecstatically happy about it.
I have magnetic poetry on my door (it's a steel door), and sometimes I like to put messages up where I hope certain people will find them. Last night, I stuck the message up "my ma thinks I'm a failure" today she came up and talked to me about going to Okoboji (I won't be going this year because of jobs), money (typical) though she wasn't yelling about me about the porch floor (thank God), surprisingly. Anyways, after she left my dad came up wanting me to look at some things with him, so after locking my door to go downstairs, I notice my mom changed the message to "u must expect from yourself! failure never" What the hell does she know about what I expect? I expect stuff from myself and I meet those expectations, but I guess since I don't expect the same things that she does, I don't expect anything from myself. What the hell does she even know about me? It's not like she takes the time to learn about me, and when I do share things, it always seems she's got some way to knock those things down, or put me down.
Now, I'm pretty sure she doesn't think I'm a failure, but if she would act toward me that she doesn't that would be really nice. Following my brother, who got out of college in 4 years (I took 4.5) knew exactly what he wanted when he went in (I was accepted into the Design College, switched to the Business College before starting, and ended up getting a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Sociology from the Liberal Arts and Sciences College), got himself a great paying job when he got done (I still haven't), is living on the 19th floor of an apartment building in Chicago with a view of the lake (I'm renting from my parents), making nice money (I'm barely making enough to pay my bills), and knows what he wants to do with his life if he doesn't he's sure putting up a nice facade (me I have no idea and I show it every day). I'd love for my parents to harp on him about not having a girlfriend, and praise me for having a boyfriend (and someone I would love to spend the rest of my life with, they don't know that part though). But I never hear anything bad about him, all the disappointment is about my life and my lack of a job and my lack of money.
If I went their direction, and stayed in business and somehow made the grades to graduate and get a good job, I guarantee I would be very miserable, I wouldn't have met Kevin (I know that for sure), and he is a huge part of why I'm happy with my life.
I love telling people that I don't care what my mom thinks, but it still hurts when I let her down (if I didn't truly care, it wouldn't make a difference). I think somewhere deep down I really do want to please my mom, actually I know I do, as much as I love to say I don't. I wish someday she could tell me she's proud of me, but those words are few and very far between, I don't think I've heard it since I graduated college, and before that I don't know. And that hurts.
I've been listening to Hate Me by Blue October a lot lately (partly cause I bought the download on Amazon not so long ago), and I realize some of it explains how I feel about my mom. Bolded parts are what i relate to

Hate Me
by Blue October

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don’t lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I’m alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you. Will you never call again?
And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face?
And will you never try to reach me?
It is I that wanted space

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you

I’m sober now for 3 whole months it’s one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won’t touch again
In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I’ll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you
Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling “Make it go away!”
Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered “How can you do this to me?”

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you
Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you
For you
For you
For you

in ways hard to swallow

I was watching Dr. Phil the other day, and something he said so applies to my mother. The show was focusing on spouses that abuse their larger spouse. And they were all calling the other one degrading names because they were fat, and they kept saying they were encouring them to lose weight. Dr. Phil said that if what they were doing wasn't encouring the spouse, maybe they needed to change their tactics. That applies to my mother, I think she thinks she's encouraging me to find a job by whining at me about jobs and money, and maybe she needs to realize that she should back up and let me deal with it. She also has me doing random things around the house, and she has the tendency to check my work at the end of the day (or at random times), and then she goes back and do more at it. Like right now, I'm scraping and painting the porch. Well last week, she kept checking every day and scraping (on the most weathered piece of wood on the porch that's going to continue to peel until the end of time) and then she went and painted part of it, and whined at me cause I actually had other things to do. Now today when I get home from the library she's out there scraping away on it (on the other very weathered pieces of wood). DAMN!! I wish I had money.

I know too much

I'm loving Flashpoint. I've found out it's hard to watch a cop show when I know so much about law enforcement, so then if they do something different than what I know, I don't think it's realistic and I'm always critiquing the show. With Flashpoint, I have no idea what it's like to be on SRT or SWAT (or ERT like it is here), so I don't know what procedure is and I don't know if they're doing it right or wrong. TV shows are so much more enjoyable when I don't know much about what it's about. Like Bones, I don't know much about forensic anthropologists or FBI agents, so the less I know the more enjoyable a show is for me. Course that also kinda sucks, because I loved Third Watch when it was on TV, at least it's a mix of police, paramedics and firefighters, so that will help, but I'm afraid if I go buy it on DVD and rewatch it, like I did with 21 Jump Street, I'll point out things that don't really happen and will ruin the show for me. Like when I watched Category 6: Day of Destruction with Kevin, he kept pointing out things that were wrong and it ruined the movie for me. (I'm never watching Twister with him).
It's kinda weird that the less you know about some things the better it is.

I hate my mother. Plain and simple. It's 9:00AM and I'm seriously thinking about going and getting drunk because she pissed me off so much this morning.
I'm very glad I got this job because now I won't get to go on the family vacation and listen to her whine to me about money and shove it in my face how much I could buy and what they are buying for me because I don't have money.
Thank you mother for making my life hell right now, when I have enough things to deal with. I shouldn't have to worry about you on my ass all the time. I know I need to find a job and start making money, I know you don't need what you're proposing to me. I know you're just being the bitch you always are and are doing your best to upset me, because that's what you do.