I Want to Hold a Tony...

...
That's it, just thought you all should know, I want to hold a Tony.


No, really that's it, I have nothing else to say.


Ok, I promise there's nothing else, move along people!

April Showers Bring May Bloggers...

So I totally skipped out on posting in April...my bad! Let's just blame it on all the rain and pollen, I really haven't been myself...
Any-hoo, I went to visit Sydney in March with my fab new haircut and we had a whole lot of fun mixed with a whole lot of relaxation (including sleeping past 10am!!!) which was a whole lot of awesome! She got me into Studio 8H where Saturday Night Live is taped and I had four celebrity sightings and got to walk around the set which completely rocked! It was seriously one of the coolest things ever!
I got to have some cake and hot chocolate from Magnolia Bakery and got to walk around on a Broadway stage. Even though the stage and house were empty when we were there, just the fact that it's a Broadway stage makes it awesome. The night we went to go see Hair, we got to go onstage and dance after curtain call. It was even cooler to look out and see the lights and all the people and hear everyone singing along and clapping their hands. I can totally see why the actors and musicians want to come back every night and perform, the show rocks!
We also went to see West Side Story, which, aside from my run in with Jane Fonda in the lobby, was kind of dissapointing. Between the show order being rearranged, some of the songs being sung in Spanish which I couldn't always understand, the costumes sometimes making it hard to distinguish between a Jet and a Shark, and the teenagers surrounding us talking and being generally innappropriate, it was hard to enjoy the original choreography and awesome voices that were being featured. I'm still glad we went, but I guess I had some seriously high expectations! One upside was that no one broke a leg jumping a fence...sorry Michelle, couldn't help myself!
After I got back from that visit, I've just been working and hanging out. Oh yeah, there was this one day when I turned 24 that I would like to forget. Thanks again Michelle for asking if I was turning 23, that did help. However, I cannot escape the fact that, as the boys at work keep reminding me, I am "almost halfway to 50"! Cheese and rice...
But to cheer me up (well, that's not really the reason, but it makes me feel better so I'm going to keep thinking it) Sydney, Michelle, and AJ are coming for a visit in a week and a half! Yay! Sooo excited! I can't wait to have a real conversation with my nerph, he's such a big boy now! Not such a great listener when I try to talk to him on the phone, so I'm looking forward to some face to face! The other thing I'm excited about is that Sydney and I are going to go visit Grandma who we haven't seen since September!
I am almost done with my financial accounting course. All I have left is the final exam due by midnight this Saturday. As long as I don't completely bomb that exam, I'll have an A. If for some reason I do bomb it (so not happening!) I'll still have a B. Next up, business mathematics and microcomputer accounting. Then I have to find some time to go and test out of a couple courses and I'll have a certificate in clerical accounting and an associates in general studies by the end of the summer. Woo hoo!
Don't expect another post until after all the May visits are over, I'll be too busy being excited and anticipating their arrival to post anything before then!

I <3 my hair...

So after being sick for a week and having my ears plugged up even longer, I can finally hear again! It's so nice to not feel like you've got something stuffed inside your ears that you can't get out! Yay!

I got my hair cut yesterday and chopped about six inches off of the longest layers. I lurve it and it's been a while since I've really loved a haircut! Here's a pic:

Again, I lurve it! It is pretty short, it doesn't even hit my shoulders. It was nice to wake up this morning and not have "crazy hair". It was Fabulous!

O'Malley also got a haricut yesterday and he lost a lot of length too, but in weird places. There's a 4 inch wide stripe on his back that is about 1/2 an inch long and his sides are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. I don't really understand what this groomer was thinking so I'm glad that I only paid half price since it was his first visit. I'm going to take him to the place that he used to go to from now on. I guess it didn't hurt to try!

I'm dog sitting for the Mezydlo's for a week so I spent the night over there with Lucy who is warming up to me pretty quickly this time. I think it's the bread smeared with peanut butter that's doing it for me. She loves her peanut butter!

Yay for haircuts and extra income! And I get to go visit Sydney next Friday for five days! Well, three whole days and two half, so really four, but still, yay!!!

Let's get ready to Rant

I just spent 20 minutes writing a post and with the stroke of a key it's all gone. So this is my new post.

I HATE COMPUTERS!!!!!

Not nearly as informative as the original post, but I think it gets the point across, don't you?

Once upon a time, there was an Enchanted Castle...

Having Sydney, Michelle, and AJ visit was soo much fun. I met them after my half day of work on Thursday at Enchanted Castle. I hadn't been there in forever and it was nice to have someone with us that would actually appreciate the crappy prizes you can get with the tickets you win. AJ actually got a pretty cool car with all of our hard-won tickets though. It flips over and goes the other way when it bumps into things. Except the front of couches...then it gets it's front end stuck under the couch...but it's still cool.
Let's see, Friday, what did we do on Friday...
Oh yeah! I can't believe that I almost forgot! I had the stomach flu and laid around in and out (mostly in) of the bathroom Thursday night and all day Friday! That was uber fun! I won't go into any more detail except to inform you that I won't be eating red pasta sauce anytime soon, so yeah.
Saturday, we headed to a couple of stores in the coutlet mall, then went to Chili's where we ordered waay too much food (yay for leftovers!) then headed over to Dad's for a couple of hours of quality nap-less AJ time. He continued practicing for the WWF or whatever they call it these days by body slamming Grandpa and the floor. Good times.
We sent Michelle and AJ home on Sunday and Sydney and I made the rounds during the Super Bowl. The commercials were ok, though the E*Trade baby ad was hysterical! But in the end, who really cares about the Steelers or Cardinals anyway? Not me!
Sydney went back to NYC on Tuesday but we've heard a lot from her since then as she's been busy preparing her taxes! I finished filing mine last week and look forward to the larger than expected deposit that should appear in my bank account this Friday (fingers crossed!) while cursing the fact that I had to pay the state of Illinois $1. It doesn't even matter that it's only $1, I didn't want to pay them on principal. But since I figured if I didn't pay them their $1, they would fine or arrest me on principal, I paid the stinkin' $1. But I didn't enjoy it, so there!
I finished the third chapter in my accounting course before everyone came to visit because I didn't want to have to work on it while they were all here. It was due the day after Sydney left. I tried to hold off doing chapter 4, but I couldn't resist and finished the homework and two quizes last week (it is due this Wednesday) and went ahead and did the first of two exams for the first Unit (chapters 1-4). I have to do the second one but considering I have until next Wednesday and that I missed 3 pts out of 150 on the first one, I'm not in a hurry. I'm thinking of emailing the prof and asking if I can just work at my own pace (aka ahead of the syllabus) and finish the course work early or if that would somehow screw her up. We'll see what she says.
So all in all, things are going well. I'm getting ready to plan a trip to visit Sydney for a long weekend in the next couple of months, yay! I'm glad that (thanks to airline miles!) we've been able to see her so often since she moved out to NYC. That's also a benefit of her job, she has downtime between shows so she can travel without taking extra time off. It makes having less time at the holidays if she's working easier to handle.
Oh, best news yet is that we are officially running on our new hours at work which means NO MORE SUNDAYS!!!! We also close an hour earlier Monday - Thursday and on Saturday we close an hour earlier and open 30 minutes later!!! Woo freaking hoo dudes! Right now I'm super excited. If I start getting less hours because of it, MB's gonna have some issues. And I swear if one more customer sees the new hours and says, "Oh, you were open on Sundays?", I don't know what I'll do, but it will probably cost me my job...

So the day after I got back from Orlando (which was also the day I was home sick, BOO!) my accounting course started. Let me tell you, I flew through the first Chapter! I had the homework done two days later and the two quizes were easily finished a couple of days after that. The homework and quizes for the first two chapters were due 2 weeks after the course started so I was ahead of schedule and I decided to do some extra work on chapter 1. The other night, I started reading chapter 2 and thought that I was going to throw the book at something. They throw the words "debit" and "credit" around with no actual meaning, just that debits go on the left and credits on the right. A credit doesn't always equal an increase or money in and a debit doesn't always equal a decrease or money out. Needless to say, after a year of working in a bank where debits and credits need to be matched all the time and they both have very specific meanings, I don't appreciate having to use memorization for chapter 2. I was and am slightly frustrated. I finally gave up looking for a reason and started some of the extra problems at the back of the chapter so that I could get some practice before I have to do the homework and quizes. I made myself a cheat sheet so that I don't have to keep flipping back and forth in the book. Annoying!
But considering that I finally got it and can do the exercises easily and that I just spent almost an hour trying to help a customer find an error in her check register, I'm thinking that I'm still in the right class!

It Takes a Lot of Crazy to Get a Goofy...

Dad lived! And he finished the half and full marathons earning him not only the Donald duck and Mickey medals, but a Goofy medal for registering and completing both! More importantly, I reiterate, Dad lived! Yay Dad!
Mickey land was so much fun, it got up to 80 degrees one day! It was funny to watch AJ stare in awe and amazement at characters he had watched in movies or on TV shows. He always looked dumbfounded, like he didn't know how they found him or got out of the TV or something. When he met Buzz Lightyear and Woody, he was speechless until the second we walked out of the door, then he said, "To infiniby, and beyond!" and grinned from ear to ear. In every picture, he's either facing the character instead of the camera or just staring in amazement, no smiling ever. I take that back, when he met the toy soldier from Toy Story, he had a different reaction...he cried. I guess he isn't into war and armies like his daddy!
On our last night there, we went to the Magic Kingdom to watch the light parade and the fireworks, both of which everyone enjoyed. I managed to fight off a cold until the day we all left. It's a head cold and everything was stuffed up so I was not excited about getting on an airplane! Needless to say, my head felt like it was going to explode when we were making our descent into O'Hare, so I was glad to finally get back on the ground. Before we even took off, I called in sick for the next day knowing it was only going to get worse. I was right. I spent Wednesday laying in bed watching TV, then unpacking and sorting laundry. Then I forced myself downstairs, started my laundry, made some lunch, and laid on the couch watching TV, only getting up to switch my laundry, get more water, go to the bathroom (which was my most frequent activity that day, I really did drink a lot of water!), and answer the door to tell the child whom I could barely understand that I didn't need her to shovel my driveway, but thanks.
Thursday and Friday, my box of tissues and I went to work, albeit reluctantly. Every day I feel slightly better, but my poor nose looks worse. It's days like these when I wish that I was on hiatus right now like Sydney and could just stay at home drinking OJ and water and laying on the couch instead of trying to get people to understand what I'm saying in my "man voice" coupled with congestion. At least my coworkers are getting a few days of entertainment from my illness. Clearly they are easily amused! I'm working for a few hours today, then I have tomorrow off. I'm hoping to use the 36 hour stretch to rest and recover with limited talking so that I can get my voice back to "normal", though I always sound congested so normal will only help so much!
So to sum up the past week and a half: Yay Dad and Mickey! :P Boo head cold! >:(

A New Year, A New Blog...

Thanks to Michelle for finding the cutest blog on the block website. I now have a fabulous new background and blog layout that makes me super happy, so cute! Enjoy everyone!

p.s. That would be two posts in one day, that's right, but don't get too used to it!
p.p.s. I forgot to mention in my last post that while the cake decorating course was fun, I decided that I'm more of an office, desk kind of a girl. So for my next course, I'll be taking accounting with plans to complete a certificate program in clerical accounting which is a step towards an Asssociates degree and eventually a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. The course starts the day after I get back from Florida so I have my book already and I'm ready to go! Yay me!

A Whole Lot of Nothin' Goin' On...

I thought that since my last post was not only over a month ago but last year as well, it was about time to update. Please hold your comments until the end of the post, thank you.

Thanksgiving was fun. Mom and I had a lovely night's sleep on the way to Virginia thanks to the fabulously cushy beds at the Hampton Inn right outside of Toledo, OH. I knew that if we drove through that state often enough, I would have to find something good about it! Thankfully, I wasn't completely wrong about Ohio. Their refusal to allow I-Pass, I-Zoom, EZ Pass or whatever your state calls it added more than an hour to our return trip...but I don't want to talk about that so moving on. Thanksgiving dinner was great, it was nice to have a whole big family holiday, so thanks, Michelle, we all appreciated your hospitality (and your kitchen with its double ovens!).

The short four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were filled with work, clearing snow off of the driveway, and a couple of last minute gift ideas and shopping. Mom and I also managed to squeeze some baking in. We made: Sugar cookies, Chocolate Kringles, some kind of Cherry log, what Mom calls Mexican wedding cookies, coffee cookies, chocolate chip cookies, reindeer head cookies, some concoction with rice krispies, tiny marshmallows, nuts, & coconut all mixed up with melted white chocolate, brownies, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. I also found time to make a batch of rice krispie treats and bake my last cake for class. Here's a pic that looks crooked but it's the only one I have right now so you'll all deal:



On Christmas Eve, Sydney made it home for about 48 hours. We were so happy that her flight made it because we were not having good weather here in Chicago and New York wasn't great that morning either! We had a white Christmas though, so at least we got something out of it. She got to get her hair cut (super important, you know!), got to see Samantha and Mike and exchange gifts, have a ham dinner, go hang out with Dad for a few hours, and she got back to NYC in time to go to work. All in all, I'd say she had a successful trip!

I had a quiet...no, calm...ok, I had a fun New Year's Eve with the Grandys and Karda clans. It was the first time I met all of Mike's family, so that was nice and I always love hanging out with Sam and her parents and brother. I baked (surprise, surprise!) some molten chocolate cupcakes and took a plate of cookies over and had a good time hanging out and talking to everyone. It was a good way to end 2008 and ring in 2009.

After New Year's Eve, I had four unrequested, non-vacation days off from work which was fabulous! On Thursday, Mom and I went to see Four Chirstmases, which was great. Then I went over to Dad's and got a little hand and foot practice in. Friday, I took my car to get my Christmas gift from Dad installed (remote starter, yay!) then went home and spent the day with Mom in the basement going through all of my boxes of stuff I've accumulated from living in various dorms and apartments and moving back and forth over the last five years. Not only did we move it all from the back room of the basement into the true storage room, but we managed to fill four trash bags, carry stuff up for garbage that didn't fit into trash bags, and amassed a whole bunch of stuff to donate! Go us! That spilled over into Saturday morning which made me sore, exhausted, and a little crabby on the way to lunch, but I got over it and mom and I had a great lunch at a place called Adobo Grill out in Yorktown (mmm, churos!) then we stopped into World Market and TJ Max before calling it a day and heading home to our dawgies.

On Sunday, I did laundry, had dinner with Dad, and sorted some clothes that I knew I was taking with me this weekend. What am I doing this weekend? I'm glad you asked! I'm going to Disney World!!! That's right, Dad is doing his crazy thing again and running a half and a full marathon down in Disney so his daughters and grandson decided to tag along and enjoy the attractions that he will be too tired and sore to enjoy until the last full day of the trip when he will be dragged out of the hotel to go ride a couple of rides with his grandson. I packed all of my clothes and the majority of my other stuff last night and haven't been able to sleep for the last two nights because I'm so excited. I overslept for work this morning because I couldn't sleep last night (thanks, Mom ;P)! We leave at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning to fly to Dulles, then we get to fly with Michelle, Pete, and AJ from there to Orlando! I'm uber excited, despite the butt-crack comment. Yay for Florida!! I'll think of everyone stuck in the cold midwest and wish you were all there with us!

Happy 2009 everyone! Hope you all have a good one!