Dear 2008.

Dear 2008,
You suck.

Let's break up. I found a new year (2009, isn't he dreamy?). One who promises to treat me good. One who comes with a hot black man and a fistful of hope. This new year will take me to Savannah, the beach, and who knows, maybe even somewhere far away. This new year will give me money and caress me in all the right ways.

Thanks for trying, 2008, but you were an epic fail.

Peace out,
Allison.

Good things that have happened to me in the past weekish.

A: I am finally being promoted at my job! Booyah! Now I will be going from being a GIS Technician to a GIS Analyst and you still won't understand what I do. Hopefully in the coming year I will get my professional certification thinggy.

B: I got some really awesome Christmas presents: comfy Bamboo sheets, some nice shirts, earrings, The Dark Knight, Chronicles of Narnia, a ceiling fan, an itrip, an ipod arm band for working out, and lots and lots of fun socks! I love fun socks.

C: Jared is moving out on New Years Day. This is really only positive because now I can thouroughly clean my spare bedroom. And move my desk in there.

D: I've been able to see almost all of my good friends over the past two weeks. My friends rule and have helped me get over my sadness for the most part (alcohol did the rest!)

E: Last night I went with Katie and got a pedicure, the first one since 2000, when I went to prom:


F: My step sister had a baby on Sunday, the first boy born into the family. Of course, she's still a baby herself, but that's besides the point.

G: After four long years of ups and downs and ins and outs, I finally won my office's fantasy football league. Yes, you can call me the supreme fantasy football goddess. With my $150ish winnings, I plan to purchase some nice Gortex boots, so that when I GPS my feet won't get all cold.

I'd like to thank my team, the Stormtroopers, including Jay Cutler, Adrian Peterson, Andre Johnson, Antonio Bryant, and Cadillac Williams. Thanks for caring, guys!

In Case You Were Wondering..

I'm doing okay. My amazing friends have been constantly on the ball with keeping me busy. Brad even drove all the way from Durham yesterday to keep me busy for a few hours and then drove all the way home last night.

The truth is I miss him like crazy. But happiness is important. *sigh*

As for Christmas my plans are to spend Christmas Eve with my mom, Christmas Day with my dad, and hopefully relax for the three days off after Christmas. Maybe find an awesome after Christmas sale or something.

I'm going to try really really hard to make it on my own in my condo without a roommate. Why? I'm just too damn picky about cleanliness. If it's my mess, it's okay. But someone else's mess? No thank you.

The one with the inevitable.

After two and a half good years, Jared and I have finally come to our senses and realized we were not meant for each other. Even though we still care about each other deeply, we are just too different in our opinions and needs.

He is still around for now and I am hoping we can remain friends for a long time.

I'm not really ready to talk about it much, but feel free to comment if you want.

Football again...

Don't worry, this will probably be my last blog about football until next season. Since my Apps are off until next fall, I've switched gears to the Buccaneers, my NFL team. I was thinking they could go all the way again. They were playing so well for like 10 straight games. And then? At Monday Night Football last week (which I was at) they decided to suck.

And then yesterday they lost to Atlanta Falcons. Thanks, guys! They do this to me every year. They start out ok, do amazing mid to late season, but in the last few games they crap out and suck. I'll be amazed if they get into the playoffs. It might not even be possible at this point. But, hey, at least they've won one Super Bowl before.. unlike some other local team.. This just isn't their year to repeat.


At least my fantasy team is doing okay for now. It is the first week of the playoffs for my fantasy football team. Jared was in the lead out of the whole league, but is probably going to lose tonight. In the first round. To the worst team in the playoffs. I, however, and most likely going to win. yay!

Geekdom.

As a big fan of both Star Wars and The Princess Bride, I can't help but share the funny, from ICANHASFORCE:

a survey, copied from Carmen, because they're easy.

-1. My eye color: Brown with a hint of red.
2. Favorite car: DMC Delorean.
3. Right-handed or left-handed: Right, Leftys are weird :D
4. Shoes you wore today: My Target platform work loafers.
5. My fears: Being lonely.
6. Goal you would like to achieve this year: Getting what I want.
7. Thoughts first waking up: What would be the worst that would happen if I just slept a little longer?
8. My bedtime: usually midnightish.
9. Pepsi or Coke: Coke
10. Single or Group Dates: Single dates with my baby.
11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
12. Do you smoke: Nah.
13. Do you sing: I try, but I have an awful voice
14. Have you been in love: Yes. Of course.
15. Do you want to get married: One day.
16. Do you get along with your parents: My parents are pretty awesome. Most of the time.
17. Do you play a musical instrument: At one time I played the piano, the clarient, the trumpet and the guitar. but now I just play the GPS unit.
18. In the past month have you smoked: I don't recall that happenning.
19: Favorite candy bar: Snickers.. or 5th Avenue
20: In the past month have you gone on a date: Yes, quite a few, but all with the same person.
21. All-time favorite sports team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers and ASU Mountaineers.
22. Ideal girlfriend/boyfriend: Someone who thinks I'm their world.
23. My best friend(s): Carmen, Brad, Katie.
24. Do you believe in love at first sight: No, that’s just lust.
25. Favorite clothing brand: clothes that fit
26. Dream vacation: hawaii
27. My favorite singer: Beck, Avett Brothers
28. My favorite movie: Pirates of the Carribean
29. Have you ever fired a gun: I fired my brothers pistol once, that was fun!
30: Do you like answering these questions: I don't really want to blog a real blog because I don't want to be a debbie downer.
31. Do you like yourself: In a way.
32. I am addicted to… talking and thinking.
33. Favorite drink: Vodka and Cranberry.
34. Do you have a crush on anyone: Yep.
35. Are you ticklish: Yes. Don't tickle me. I HATE it.
36: Favorite ice cream flavor: Chunky Monkey
37. Define yourself in 3 words… Passionate, Mellow, Thoughtful
38. Do you believe in God: I want to.
39: Favorite day of the week: Saturday
40. Heads or tails: Tails
41. Favorite author: Patricia Cornwell, J.K. Rowling, Kathy Reichs.
42. What magazines do you read: Not really a magazine reader...
43. Sweet or sour: Sweet
44. Favorite chewing gum brand: Five gum. It lasts for freakin ever!
45. My hair color: Red, and curly.
46. Height: 5′ 3″
47. My heritage: German, English, perhaps Irish
48. My weakness: Impatience, Disorganization, Laziness.
49. My perfect pizza: Pep. and Green Peppers, Papa Johns Pizza.
50: My most overused phrase on IM: I don't really IM.
51. My best physical feature: My hair and eyes.
52. Do you get motion sickness: Not very often.
53. McDonalds or Burger King: McDonalds
54. Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Tea makes me vomit.
55.Cappuccino or Coffee: Mochachino
56. Do you swear: By the moon and the stars in the sky.
57. Do you want to go to college: I wouldn't mind going back.
58. Do you think you’re attractive: Yes, occasionally. More so now than ever before.
59. Do you like thunderstorms: Yes, they make me sleepy.
60. In the past month have you drunk alcohol: Past 24 hours?
61. In the past month have you been on drugs: Nothing illegal.
62. Favorite cartoon as a child: Animaniacs
63. Favorite sport: Football!
64. In the past month have you been on stage: No, since karaoke doesn't happen anymore :(
65. Ever been beaten up: Nope, but I've been hit
66. How you want to die: In a horrible car wreck.
67. Number of piercings: 4 in one ear, three in the other, I used to have my eyebrow, tongue, and nose.
68. Favorite color: Green!!!
69:Favorite food dish: Green Bean Casserole, Mashed potatoes.
70. My parents are… Divorced and remarried.
71. Do you have children: Not yet.
72. Do you have pets: 2 fat cats.
73. My favorite music genre: 90's rock.
74. My favorite season: Fall. It used to be winter until this winter.
75. Silver or Gold: Silver
76. Who was the last person that called you: Jared.
77: Are you a good driver: I'm alright now, but in high school and college I was terrible.
78. Would you rather be rich or famous: Famous
79. When I’m sad or down, I prefer to… ball up on the couch.
80. What is your phone’s current ringtone: App State's fight song, I need to change that til next year thogugh.
81. The longest you’ve gone without sleeping: I haven't really slept properly for 3 weeks now.
82. What would you do with a million dollars: pay off my student loans.
83. What makes you laugh: Jared's sillly faces.
84. Your favorite book: Shades of Gray.
85. Most embarrassing moment: Can't remember.
86: Favorite item that you currently own: Laptop.
87: Have you ever moved: about 20 times.
88. Kisses or hugs: Why choose?
89. Are you a very emotional person: I base a lot on emotions, much more so now than ever before.
90: Do you think anyone else will repost this? No.

Football and Life

So the last few weeks I've not been interested in blogging because I've either been busy or depressed. Luckily for you I'm never depressed for too long and I don't think I need therapy. Who knows. My office has is part of an Employee Assistance Network so if I ever get desperate for counseling, that's an option. But alas, usually I can talk myself out of these funks.

The past few weekends have been all about App football and not sleeping. The App games have been great, with the exception of the harrowing COLD. It seems the older I get the more I get over that "Loving the cold" thing that I've been all about for 26 years. Perhaps the Florida in me is coming back out. I still hate being hot, but now I hate being cold too.

Yes, my beloved Mountaineers lost their playoff game on Saturday ending their 4 year run of awesomeness. But seriously? THREE National Championships in a row is a huge big deal and something that will be hard for anybody to touch. I can produce a lot of theories as to why we lost this game on Saturday, but really, it was just time. Time for a break from being the best. Nobody can be the best all the time. And while we're all still sad about it, I'm just glad I don't have to drive to Chattanooga again. And I'm glad that I didn't jump the gun like my boss and buy 18 tickets to the championship game (which he now has to try to sell). Next season we will TOTALLY be back and we will dominate and we will beat ECU in September. I hope. :D

Tonight Jared and I are going to the Monday Night Football game at the Panthers Stadium to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hopefully shut down the Panthers. The last two years have seen two dirty injuries to my Bucs coming from the Panthers. I'm hoping tonight isn't a repeat.

This weekend I plan on doing NOTHING other than going to see Carmen's play: "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever".

Beefcake napping under the tree,

Beefcake napping under the tree,
Originally uploaded by allygirl520

As you can see, I have gotten around to putting up the tree with Jared's help. All we need now are presents to put under it.

Sludge

So, I am slowly but most probably assuredly climbing out of the massive hole of funk-titude that I've been in for the past week.5. Now don't go trying to pull me out by the hair or anything, I have to climb out myself. I've still got two feet stuck in the mud, but my arms are free to flail about.

*whee!

emotion

Rather than apologize for being a bad blogger or talk about how un-awesome my week last was (and still is) I'll just point you to this fun little site that I look at every once in a while for a little laugh:

Eric Conveys An Emotion

Stupid Christmas.

So I was GPSn' on Tuesday,,,

When I came across this creepy little thing in the woods:


Why is this so creepy?

The Mad Hotness

Last night I totally had a good idea for a blog. Since I had already blogged earlier yesterday, I decided to save it for today. But alas, Carmen beat me to it. But just in case you don't read Carmen's blog or haven't yet... here's a really awesome picture of Johnny Depp in his new role as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie:



I can't stop sneezing.. Thinking all of this outdoor time lately might not be so good.

Yep, Football.

Why is everything I want to do scheduled for a day when I already have something to do? Let's see.. Oct 4th was Jared's birthday AND ASU's homecoming game. Then, the 27th was a big ASU game, and Brad's costume party, but I was already going to Florida with the family. This past Saturday I was in Boone for another football game, but my mom called me the day before to tell me they were having a family cookout Saturday night with my brothers, nieces, and old friends from the past.

This coming Saturday my Sister in law is having a birthday party/going away party for my brother, who will soon be shipping out to Iraq. But Jared and I already planned on going to Cullowhee to see the last regular season Appalachian game. And we already paid $60 for the tickets. *sigh* Why must people schedule things for Saturdays in football season?

The game this past weekend was one of the few most miserable games I've ever been to. It was windy, rainy, snowy, sleety, and freezing arse cold. At least Joan and David were kind enough to let me sit with them and share a blanket so I didn't have to sit on the grassy hill. And since we won, I guess it was worth it.

I love the football. Yesterday, my Buccaneers almost lost to the Vikings, bleh. But they came back in the second half and rallied a barely-win. Now, if only the Panthers would lose a game or two so the Bucs could catch up!

Things I have Yet to do.

I have a library book due today, but I've only read 8 chapters. I hope the Hickory Public Library doesn't overcharge on their late fees, because I'm going to finish it.

This weekend is the last regular season foosball game for my Apps, and I'm being non-conformal and driving up the morning of and coming home after the game. Mostly because I'm poor but also because Jared and I have a date planned for Saturday night. This is also good because it means I won't allow myself to get stupid drunk and the people in front of us in the stadium won't have to think, again, 'who is that stupid drunk redhead?'. Look at that, I just used three punctuation marks in a row.

Last weekend was superborama because I got to do several cool things, including meeting Katiebonk's sister, who is way cool, and her cute family. I hung out with Andrea all day Saturday, which always makes me happy! We went to a chili festival and ate a whole lotta chili, including some strange concoctions like chocolatey chili (not so good).

After the chili-fest we went to IKEA which is wicked awesome. That's the biggest store I've ever been in I do believe. I bought nothing but candles, but could have left with a houseful.

Katie and Daniel met us in downtown Atlanta soon afterwards and had a blast with Andrea, Chad, and Newman (that Mike guy) at the bars. I think really this was great but I absolutely loved riding the MARTA (the Atlanta train) for some reason.

I am tired but alas, it was worth it for this:

(Seen on the sidewalk in Atlanta, Cabbagetown)

and this:

Hitting the ATL

This weekend I'm going to Atlanta to see my old roommate, Andrea! Katie, Daniel and I are headed there for the weekend. Andrea rules.

Today was my boss's birthday lunch and we went to the Hickory Tavern where I had to pay $13.00 for an overrated salad and soup and diet coke. This restaurant is on my short list restaurants that I just don't like to eat at. Either they're A) too expensive, B) overrated or C) nasty.

My list for Hickory includes:
-Hickory Tavern (A & B)
-Chili's (B & C)
-Buffalo Wild Wings (B & C)
-Iron Thunder Saloon (C)

Does anyone else have a list of places they just hate going?

Confessions of a GPSer

You know what bothers me?

The fact that no matter how hard I try, I can not open a manhole. I can not even budge those heavy metal lids. This one little thing that is really a small part of my outside/GPS job is the one little thing that makes me feel inferior as a female.

Sure, sometimes I like to play the dainty girl card, but only when it's trivial things that I really can do, but would rather watch a pretty boy do (like get things off the top shelf, or carry the heavy laundry basket upstairs).

I like being a woman, and I like being the fairer of the sexes, but I really wish that being inferior in that one way wasn't something that causes worry on the job.

Ah well. At least I see fun things whilst GPSn:




And this:

Uh.. Oops.

Well nevermind on the NaBloPoMo thing. I forgot to blog yesterday! On the second day! I guess I wasn't meant to be a great blogger.

Oh well!

I had to get up really early today and drive Jared to work since his car is broken. Hopefully we can get it fixed tomorrow on his day off. I guess we'll see.

On the plus side, Granite Falls, which is a town halfway between Hickory (where we live) and Lenoir (where he works), for some reason always has the cheapest gas around. I got gas this morning for $2.02! That's awesome for North Carolina. Apparently all the surrounding states have gas a LOT cheaper than us. I don't know though.

Tomorrow's the big day (election day!) and I'm soooooo excited for all the political commercials and such to be over with! No more pressure! I hope.

NaBloPoMo

It's National Blog Posting Month again.

Should I try for it? Last year I wrote a blog every day about all of the different things I collect. I don't have any ideas for a theme this time.. And I'm not sure if I can handle it again, but I'll give it a try.

Last night was ASU's whooping of Wofford, and it just happened to be Halloween. It was an amazing football game considering this was the one team in our conference that was supposed to be better than us. It felt darn good to come away with a 70 to 24 win. Of course, I was feeling no pain anyways.

Here's an example of what went down in the tailgating time:


Then we all went back to the hotel and tried to sleep. Well, after standing up for 9 hours straight, my legs hurt like hell and I did not sleep a wink. Boo.

I was supposed to go to Jeff & Tracy's house for an awesome costume party tonight. But since I'm so sleepy, I chose not to go. Plus, Jared's car has decided to break, so he needs mine to get to work in the morning.

I hope I can go to the next party.

Happy Halloween!

I don't really have anything Halloweeny to say.. I went searching for my pirate pants last night and could not find them, so I'm wearing my backup pair tonight and they are not as cute :(

While I was searching though, I decided to finally remove all of the old Sagebrush shirts from my closet. I had 14!! That's a lot of t-shirts that I'll never wear again. They are in all sorts of colors: red, blue, orange, pink, yellow, green, dark blue, brown-green. If I added all of Jared's old Sagebrush t-shirts, we'd have like 25 shirts. I'm thinking I need to find a cool way to recycle these shirts. Can anyone think of something neat to do with 25 t-shirts of various colors (mostly red) that doesn't involve me learning to sew?

I throw up a lot..

Yesterday I woke up with a headache. It was small and barely noticeable, but it was there. As the day went on it got more annoying. I took several (3 to 4) Tylenol Extra Strength pills throughout the day, but it never subsided at all.

I decided to go ahead and go to trivia since I didn't go last week due to vacation. This was a bad idea. Even though team "Yosef is Your Daddy" won 1st place, it probably would have been better for me to stay home. Halfway into the last round of questions I had to go in the bathroom and throw up. I felt a little better after that, and we finished the game. Carmen had asked for a ride home since her husband wanted to leave early. I said yes, but I made her drive my car home since I wasn't sure if the nausea would come back.

We made it all the way to about a block from my house when I started to feel nauseous again, and then as we were pulling into our parking lot, I had to roll the window down and throw up out of my car. Then we pulled in and I opened the door and did it again. It was rough. The worst part is, where I threw up was right where Jared would be getting out of his car a little later. Oops.

I called Jared and let him know to watch out where he stepped, and he got home soon after and took care of me. I took a Tylenol PM and man, do those things work.

I'm pretty much better today except I'm so sleepy! Ah well.

Tomorrow night is a big night! Halloween Game! Costumes! Wine!

Not a Good Read.

This blog post is not entertaining, it's more for my benefit, so I can remember what I did... Sorry

My trip to Florida:

Wednesday: Drove to K-town, visited Mommy. She's looking good, she's had lap-band surgery and it's really working out for her.
Drove to Enochville to stay at brother Alan's house.

Thursday: Got up at 7:00 and left for Florida with Alan and niece Elora. Had yummy sausage balls and Chex Mix. We stopped at Chic-Fil-A for lunch, and made it to Sarasota (Florida) around 6:30 ish.
We were supposed to stay with our cousin Eric that night, since Dad wasn't coming down til the next day, and he had hotel rooms reserved for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, not Thursday. Unfortunately, cousin Eric decided to be a punk-ass and not return our phone calls. We got a room at the hotel.
Dinner at Sonny's BBQ (blech).

Friday: We went to the South Florida Museum (which is a favorite thing in Bradenton). We go to see my lovely Aunt Dale and Uncle Rob, and then to see Grandpa Suggs. Grandpa looks as good as he can be.
Cousin Alicia came to Aunt Dale's with her chubby little son Micheal (my second cousin?).
Then we headed back to the hotel to wait for Dad, Brother Scott, and niece Madelyn to arrive. They finally got to the hotel around 8 and we headed over to Bradenton to eat at Wings & Things, where we had the best wings in the entire world. The six of us were joined by Uncle Rob & Aunt Dale, Alicia and Micheal, my Aunt Darinda and Uncle Mark, and my two other cousins, Kristina and Joey. What an... interesting dinner that was.
Thank god for Corn Nuggets.

Saturday: Alan, Scott, Madelyn, Elora and I headed to Port Charlotte to see our other grandpa, Grandpa Muhlberg. He's very German, and very uncaring of what he says. We had fun though, and we sat and watched him tell stories and play the accordion. He drove us around on the golf cart and we saw a wild hawk.
Then we all went to Myakka River State Park, where we saw deer, squirrels, vultures, alligators, and a wild boar. And my lovely niece Madelyn cried literally every five minutes. My brother Scott babied her, and I finally had enough and put her in time out myself.
Back at the hotel, Dad, Alan, Scott and I drank a bottle of rum and called Italian delivery, and my Dad knew the driver.
Also, this is the day I didn't speak to Alan for an hour because he's a jerk sometimes. I'm the black sheep of the family because I vote Democrat.

Sunday: We all headed over to see Grandpa Suggs again, and then Aunt Dale, and we had a pretty pleasant visit with each. We tried to find a bar with NFL Sunday ticket, but all we saw was Hooters, and that doesn't work with 2 little girls, so we had lunch real quick at Hops Restaurant and watched football in the hotel room. Tampa Bay lost :(. Dad, Scott, and I took the girls to the beach in Longboat Key, and then back to the hotel room, where we got ready and all went the the Crab Trap, some seafood place they all love.

Monday: We got up Butt-Ass early at 4:15 and headed home to NC. The drive was mostly pleasant with the exception of the last 2 hours when Alan was listening very loudly to Rush Limbaugh. I almost went deaf from having my ipod turned up so loud.

I got home around 6 and hugged Jared for a very long time.

So anyways, to sum up: it was hot (85 degrees!) and fun-ish. At least it wasn't June or July (like both Florida trips last year).

Now I need to catch up on a lot of sleep, but it's not going to happen this weekend (App football, party in Greensboro) or the next weekend (Atlanta with the Bonks).

Sweeeet!!!

Can't wait to be here next fall:


(ECU Pirates Stadium!) This is most exciting because it means I don't have to leave North Carolina for the big game next year. :D

P.S. Notice the road name south of the stadium? Blackbeard Alley. How cool is that?

What Have I Been Up To?

Last week was the usual sputter when the exception that I had to GPS three days instead of the usual two. And it just happened to be the hottest week in October. *yay* But I survived somehow and even managed to score a first place trivia win on Wednesday night thanks to Jared, Stephen, Tyson and his cousin Kevin. I freakin’ love trivia, I’ve decided. Too bad I’m not smart enough to go on Jeopardy…. Yet…















I had a darn gravy weekend since Appalachian squeaked a sweet win over Georgia Southern (who we lost to last year). And last night my Buccaneers beat the pants off of Seattle, which was also quite sweet. Only thing that sucked was my fantasy team. My only chance for winning is if Jay Cutler throws for 5 touchdowns tonight. Which could happen, you never know.

This weekend I’ll be in Florida visiting my Grandpas. I only have the 2 grandparents left, except for a step-grandmother. My brother Alan might be going to Iraq in the next few months (*yay*) so he wants to go see our grandfathers again, just in case. My Grandpa Suggs is in a nursing home in Sarasota, and is apparently not doing so well. Alzheimer’s is .. well.. awful.

It will be a pleasant trip though, hopefully. I’ll be there with my dad, my two brothers, and two of my nieces, Elora and Madelyn. I hope to have lots of pictures to show you when I get back!



*****EDITED TO INCLUDE*** Yesterday I also had a freaking awesome time in Boone with Katie. We went shoe shopping, and then to Macado's for a yummy lunch and then to the Library (bar, not books) to watch the Panthers game with Marie!

Last Night's Crank Call:

Me: Hello?

Them: Hello! I love you! Okay! Bye Bye! (in a fake middle-eastern accent)

Maybe the world is getting better when you get crank calls that make you feel good inside.


(Jared at Hard Rock Cafe being embarrassed)

Here's a representation.

I found a picture on line of the GIGANTIC crocodile I saw at Alligator Adventure in Myrtle Beach. So what if I'm obsessing a little. It's a GIANT CROCODILE.

And also a mullet: (You may have to click on it to get the full effect)

Last night I had a dream..

Last night I had a dream that I was looking at a map of the United States and all of the states on the east coast and all of the states on the west coast were blue. There were a lot of white states in the middle and a few scattered red states.

Oh, and it was late in the day on November 4th. Too bad I don't really believe in premonitions.

Strange, no?

Hey Look at that! I'm a bad blogger.

I've spent the last 5ish days on vacation. Jared and I took a little birthday trip to Myrtle Beach. Jared turned a big old 26 years old on Saturday! I know, I'm robbing the cradle since I turned 26 in April. But he sure is a cute little young'un. On his birthday, we went to Hard Rock Cafe in Myrtle. It was actually nice this time. Last year when we went there we had to wait for 2 hours before we were seated. This time, since it was the off season, we had no wait. Jared ordered a drink and they carded him. Since the server noticed it was his birthday, they of course embarrassed him. I loved it, especially since Jared made me PROMISE not to tell them it was his birthday. Ha ha ha. I have a great picture (from my cell phone) of him wearing an aluminum foil pigtails hat. If I ever get around to posting them you'll laugh.

The best time to be had was at Alligator Adventure. I've always wanted to go there. I finally got the oppurtunity. I LOVED it. There is 22 foot, 2,000 pound crocodile there that would make you soil yourself if you saw it in the wild. I have a video of the gator feeding too.

Of course the weather was perfect too. I'll never go back in August when October is the perfect time to go to the beach.

Thanks for being patient with me and my bad bloggibility the last few .. months...

Top 10

Top 10 reasons why I love my phone:

10. I can use the interweb to backup all of my contacts, saving me from the annoying habit of having to re-enter them when I get a new phone.

9. I can store and play MP3s on my phone. If I want to.

8. I can take videos and pictures that are sometimes decent!

7. It's got a great calender, that I don't really use.

6. I can keep all my media on a mini SD card, which I can reuse in my next phone.

5. I have the most awesome ringtones you've ever heard, and I only paid for half of them. Current ringtone: Hell's Bells, in honor of App football.

4. V-Cast song ID, it's fun. I can be listening to my car stereo, hold the phone up the speakers, and it will identify the song for me, and go to a page where I can download it as a ringtone, if I want.

3. I've had it a year and a half and it's never had any technical difficulties for me.

2. It's GREEN. No, not environmentally friendly.

1. I can play Jeopardy! on it whenever I want!

Know how I know I'm old?

Get this- I've actually kind of sort of started.. .. driving the speed limit!

I know, it's crazy. My whole life I've been a bit of a speed demon. I'm just so very impatient and want to get places faster! I've been known to cuss people out for being in my way!

But here in the last few months I've noticed that when I drive around town or wherever, I look down and I'm barely going over the speed limit! I'm talking 2 or 3 mph over! This is nuts. I'm used to going at least 10 mph over. Especially on the interstate, where now I find myself going a mere 7 mph over the speed limit.

Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe I'm becoming a responsible driver. Maybe I've decided to stop being in such a hurry all the time.

Or maybe it was those 2 speeding tickets in 2 years.

Really? Even Allison thinks this is a bad idea.

My beloved Johnny Depp will be starring in.....


ANOTHER Pirates of the Caribbean Movie. *sigh* *shakes head in disbelief*

And, yes, this blog is being written by me, Allison, the girl who is obsessed with Johnny Depp and pirates.

Here's why this might not be good: POTC Dead Man's Chest? Not a great movie! And? POTC At World's End? Even worse. I mean, it's good to have even more excuses to watch Johnny Depp, but they really should have stopped after the first one.

With this news though, comes good news: Johnny will be playing the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. And, he will be playing Tonto in a Lone Ranger movie.

I guess all I'm saying here is, I hope the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie doesn't suck.

I <3 you, Johnny.

Throwing up at the Gynocologist.

Don't worry, I'm not really going to talk about the gynecological part of my doctor's visit.

See, a year ago, my gynecologist decided that since I had never had a cholesterol screening, that my next visit (that would be this year) I should have one. She told me to fast after midnight the night before.

Fast forward to Monday. I made the mistake of scheduling that appointment at 4 pm (I like late afternoon appointments). So, I had to go all day with no food or drink. See, since I had never had a screening before, I didn't realize that I was allowed to drink water if I wanted. So no food, no water. This gave me a wicked headache, but I ignored it since taking a Tylenol might have affected the screening. I think.

Anywho so when it came time for them to draw blood from my arm on Monday afternoon, I was a little weak. I told the nurse about the last time I gave blood. And about the first time I gave blood. She asked if I wanted to lay down for the process. I said "no" taking a chance that perhaps it would be like the second time I gave blood, which is the only time I didn't almost pass out.

Bad idea. After about 3 minutes it hit me, as it tends to do. I got all hot and sweaty. The nurse put a bag of frozen peas on the back of my neck, and wiped my face with a wet paper towel. And then, I got really nauseated. And I threw up. In the trash can. This is a new one for me in the giving blood arena. She felt really bad for me and went next door to a vending machine and got me a Coke.

After a while I was fine of course, except the headache didn't go away. The point of the story is, I really shouldn't give blood unless it's absolutely necessary. And I can drink water when I'm fasting.

Heartache.

Heartache, that's what Saturday's game felt like. My Apps were like a relationship gone wrong. One of those relationships where everything starts out great and then all of a sudden you're left with a broken heart.

The first half was the buildup. The first touchdown was like the first date. Everything went well; the food was good, the conversation flowed, and you know you're in for more.

The second touchdown was like the first kiss. Soft, sweet, and it left you with a tingly feeling all over, and a smile from ear to ear.

The third touchdown was like the first "I love you". You felt like, this is it! I know I'm good now, and happy for a very long time.

Halftime: that first vacation together, when you're happy, satisfied that things are great, and you're just floating along with life.

Then, in the second half kick-off, you catch your partner in a lie. The other team scores.

A few minutes later, you realize they've been absent, and you start to suspect they're secretly seeing someone else.

And then the next thing you know, you're constantly fighting, constantly bickering, and you realize you're not in love at all.

And when the game ended, and Appalachian was left with a 35-32 loss, you're left heartbroken. A pain in the gut, and a pain in the soul.

The difference between a heartbreak and a football game is, though, next week there is another shot. The relationship will be back on, and the slate is wiped clean, and there will be good times to be had again.

This is why I love football, every week there is a chance for something great. Another first date, another first kiss, and another "I love you".

aye! avast!

Tomorrow is another one of my favorite days of the year, Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I'm not great at celebrating it because I'm usually at work and such, but tomorrow I plan on giving it the old college try.

For those of you who weren't around a couple of years ago when I posted them, here are the top ten pirate pickup lines again:

Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day

10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?

9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?

8. Come on up and see me urchins.

7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.

6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.

5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?

4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?

3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.

2. Well blow me down?

And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is …

1. Prepare to be boarded.

(Go to the website for even more.)

If you're not sure what to say or how to say it, here's a handy translator for you.

Go celebrate!!

Arrrr!!

Carmen is older than me. Ha.

Yesterday was Carmen's 27th birthday which means she's older than me again.. barely.

After a long day getting all hot and sweaty walking around GPSn, I came home and showered and then Matt, Carmen and I went to Carrabba's.

I think Carrabba's might literally be the best chain restaurant ever. Matt got free beer and crab cakes, and our tiramisu was free too! They gave us all of this free stuff because it was Carmen's birthday and because we were cool. We are cool.

To celebrate further, we went back to Carmen's where we played two games of spades with Brian D (my old roommate) and Matt against Carmen and me.

For those of you who don't know this, Carmen and I are a LETHAL pair when it comes to spades. We do lose, occasionally, but it's pretty rare. We outright spanked the boys two games in a row. It felt good. Damn good. I really think Spades is one of the best skills a person can possess. Jared needs to learn how to play.

Yes, it was a good night. Except for one little thing. On my way between Carmen's front door and my front door (which is separated by about 20 feet), I stubbed the hell out of my flip-flopped pinkie toe. It is the same pinkie toe that I had surgery on 2.5 years ago.

Carmen was kind enough to give me a bag of frozen okra to pack on it while we played spades, but today it still feels like it's constantly being stepped on. Shoes hurt. Walking hurts. What is it with me hurting me toes? Like here and here.

I should just give up on walking already.

AWWWEEEEEEEEEEE YEEEEAAAAA

Thanks to Joan's POS (that's Power of Suggestion) along with everyone else's, I finally got me some delicious Pumpkin Beer.
MMM hmmm.

GPSd out.

I have a new schedule that has started this week with my job. I used to only be in the field two days a week, on Mondays and Tuesdays. Now, since I'm not working in Lenoir anymore, and they need more people in Morganton, I am in Morganton two days a week. So Mondays and Tuesdays I am in the field in Morganton (meaning I have no computer access during the day) and on Wednesdays I am in the field in Hickory (no computer access most of the day).

This is the reason blogging has been so very very sparse lately. I am not a fan. But it's better than not having a job so I won't complain too much. I will say this however: Sometimes it's a nasty, yucky job. For instance first thing Tuesday morning when I opened a water meter and found this:


You should really see the large size for the full effect. It's a man-eating slug. He's about 7 inches long and slimy. I almost vomited.

I see a lot of weird things while out and about GPSn. Especially now that I'm in Morganton. Lots and lots and lots of black widows. I've seen pet geese, people burning trash right in front of me, and a few weeks ago we saw a garage set up with a confederate flag with a noose hanging in front of it. Lovely.

I have an entire flickr set dedicated to stuff seen while GPSn. It's still a work in progress.

ASU KILLS JU

I've gone from having an awful time in LSU to having a fantastic time this past weekend.

Friday night I went with Katie and Daniel to see Cowboy Mouth in Asheville at the Orange Peel. I love to watch Cowboy Mouth live because they always make every show they put on feel like it's their best show ever. Fred, the lead singer makes every person in the room get into it and have so much fun. Awesome. And then we spent the night at Daniel's parents house in Madison County, which was also really cool.

And of course Saturday was when App slaughtered Jacksonville University 56-7. Sweet. After watching that nasty game in Baton Rouge, it was really nice to see us play so well. Of course, since I had gotten so little sleep and then we tailgated for like 15 hours, I actually slept through the first half of the game. But the halftime show and the second half were great!!

Tailgating was especially fun this weekend since, like, everybody was there. We had a lot of fun hanging out and listening to Popcorn Rob tell a story. And I was bad and gave a baby a minibottle of Bacardi.. Of course we didn't let her open it, or drink from it :).

Anywho pictures are here



But there aren't any game pictures from me, since it was drizzling right before we went into the game, and I didn't want my camera to die.

Adventures in Sucktown

A short story, by Allison

Allison and Wendy arrive at the airport in Baton Rouge after two relatively scary flights. Bumpy rides are normal to some people. But the landing part spooks Allison every time.
Taking the first step out of the airport, Allison immediately feels the humidity hit her skin and hair. The piece of paper she had crumpled up in her hand succumbs to the humidity and becomes more like a wetnap than standard notebook paper.
After getting a cabbies attention, she stood waiting for Wendy and could already tell her hair was at least 4 inches taller than it had been minutes earlier. A bug flies at her and almost knocks her over.

Carl the cabbie took Allison and Wendy to their hotel, which was relatively nice, compared to some other Days Inns they had stayed in. Once checking in and changing, they call Carl the cabbie back and get a ride to the Baton Rouge Mellow Mushroom (which is the greatest restaurant chain on Earth). It is, after all, Allison's goal to eat at all the Mellow Mushrooms in the country.
After two delicious beers, some tasty cheesebread, and a wicked good cheesesteak sub, Allison gives her seal of approval and puts it at number 2 on the list of best Mellow Mushrooms (Boone will always be the best).

Carl the cabbie once again picks up the girls, and they drop by a convenience store where they discover that Louisiana sells liquor everywhere. Sweet. Back at the hotel, they drink a couple of beers before hitting the sack at 11:30.

5:30 comes way to early on Saturdays, as the Appalachian tailgate has moved to 7:30 am, and the cab is going to be at their hotel at 6:15. Good thing Katie is there to wake them up.

Since the tailgate was changed to 2 hours long instead of 4 hours, and outside instead of in (Hurricane Gustav, you bastard), the tailgate officials decide it would be best to offer a free-for-all on beer and bloody marys. Very early drinking ensues.

After an awesome meal of jambalaya, boude and red beans and rice, Allison, Wendy, and the rest of their group sit around and enjoy a raunchily good Cajun band, which includes a woman playing the washboard.

Once 9:30 rolls around, everyone heads to the stadium.

The adrenaline is high. The people are nice. The seats are fairly good. Allison and Wendy are so excited they can't contain their enthusiasm.

Then the game starts. After five minutes, the mood changes slightly, to anxiousness. Louisiana State University's football team scores 14 minutes in the first quarter.

The mood changes to scared.

After the first half, it starts getting very hot, and very sticky. Allison and Wendy realize their team is not going to win this ball game.

Once the game is over, really over, the girls leave the stadium, frustrated and hot. Allison is confused and unhappy and tries to find the rest of the group. It turns out they can not immediately get taxied back to the hotel. After several different people give them confusing directions (including policemen) and walking across campus twice, they finally locate the rest of the group at a pizza place called Reginelli's.

The seven people at the table are tired, hot and dirty. They eat their mediocre meals and attempt to make positive conversation. After eating, another hour passes before they can finally get a taxi. Most taxi companies only allow a maximum of five passengers per taxi. Since their are seven passengers, the taxi situation is even more complicated.

After several phone calls and waiting around while being hassled by some creepy guy, the group loads up all in one old, big, blue taxi. Five people in the back, two passengers and a driver up front, they are squeezed and sweaty. Halfway through this death-defying taxi ride, the driver turns to Allison and she realizes he is missing his left eye, a few finger parts, and shoes, making the ride that much more uncomfortable.

A few minutes later, our group is finally back at the hotel. Allison jumps in the shower as everyone prepares to nap in the air conditioning. The shower is low flow (like that episode of Seinfeld) but enough to make her feel better.

Allison gets out of the shower and the bathroom light goes out. She flips the switch a few times, then hollers to her roommates that her light is out. That's when Katie breaks to her the bad news: The power has gone out.

The power is out. The air conditioning is off. The phones can't charge. There is no t.v. and no radio. It's still hotter outside than in, so the group resigns to taking hot naps and sitting in the dark.

After several hours of sitting around the hotel room doing nothing, most of the group walks to McDonald's for a lovely (*Sarcasm*) meal of McDonald's. Grumbling and hot, they walk around Walgreens and WalMart as well, until Katie (who has stayed at the hotel to rest) lets the group know that the power has come back on (after 5 hours). The air conditioning (GLORIOUS AIR CONDITIONING!) is running, and they will soon be cool once again.

5:00 AM the next morning, Allison and Wendy head back to Baton Rouge airport, and kiss this un-fun state goodbye. Goodbye to Gustav, and goodbye to 1000% humidity.

Sure, Allison might go back to this state someday. Maybe even visit New Orleans one day (where some others had a lot of fun), but this won't happen anytime soon.

Luckily there's next Saturday, when the Apps will play another game, and get started on a winning season.



For pics go here.

A little something my boss-man had me whip up the other day...

(Click to see it large)

I would blog more this week...

But honestly I can not concentrate nor think about anything else other than App football this weekend, and Hurricane Gustav.

And I know at least one of you might be sick of that kind of talk..

Next week normal blogging may or may not be back. Of course, I'll have to talk about my trip to Louisiana, and show off pictures.. And then I'll want to talk about the following weekend when I'll be going to the Appalachian versus Jacksonville State game....

Okay, okay. If you want something other than App football for the next few weeks, go read CNN.com. Otherwise, enjoy this kind of stuff:






Oh, and I even made "Hells Bells" my current ringtone on my phone. Or should I change it back to "Hi Hi Yikas"?

Is it Saturday yet?

Seriously, I can't think about anything else but the football game on Saturday.

This is crazy because I have a few good things coming up this week. Wednesday and Thursday are my last days in Lenoir, and we may or may not be celebrating with a trip to Boone to Mellow Mushroom..

Thursday is my office's fantasy football draft, which will be fun. Jared got lucky and gets first pick. :P

But Friday's when my sister-in-law and I leave for Baton Rouge and I'm SO SO SO SO EXCITED that I honestly can't concentrate on anything else. I hope no one expects me to get any work done this week. hahaha.

As If.

ASU! ASU! ASU!

Need More Flair?

So, yesterday I noticed a really cool Facebook Application called Pieces of Flair. It's a corkboard that you can add buttons to! And you can make your own buttons!

I'm a little obsessed and I already have added a whole bunch of buttons. I think I even made about 10 of them! Here's what I've got just since yesterday:
















I'm not sure why I'm obsessed with this. Maybe it's because growing up I always liked to have buttons, but never had anywhere to put them and they always ended up collecting dust in a drawer somewhere. This way, I have virtual buttons that don't collect dust and people can actually look at them!

Yay!! To get your own, just go to my facebook and then click the button under my flairboard.

Pet Peeve

Hum-eaters: n. (HUM EETRS)- People who hum and make other various noises while they are eating or munching. The most common hum-eaters will not even know they are making the offensive noise. The best way to avoid having to deal with a hum-eater is to first identify them, then give them peanut-butter sandwiches.

10 DAYS!

So it just dawned on me that NEXT weekend is the ASU/LSU game! 10 days until I get to go see Appalachian play some real football again! I've been jonesing!

Katie, Daniel and I went to App's Fanfest last Saturday and had a lot of fun bar-hopping and then getting autographs and watching a scrimmage game. But scrimmage games aren't really very fun. Here are my pics.

My new favorite player is Coco Hillary:


Ten more days until I get to see some heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, Tiger-fighting Mountaineer football!

Do I think we will win? No.. I'm not even going to kid myself here.

Do I think we will score some points? Hell Yes. We have that in us, for sure.

Do I miss Corey Lynch? :(

In ten days, I'll be here, sweaty and happy and having a grand time (I Hope) between a whole whole whole lot of LSU fans:

ally and mom

ally and mom
Originally uploaded by allygirl520

Isn't it funny how you can go 14 years completely worshipping your mother, then go 4 or 5 years where you can't stand her and anything she does? And it's not for any real reason other than you're a teenage girl and she wants to be your friend (As if).

Good thing I grew out of that because really, my momma is pretty cool. She does the best she can, and for some reason, she still loves me even after all that nonsense.

There are certain days of the year that make me happier than others, days when I'm actually okay with the concept of getting up earlier than 10:00 am. On these special days I'm actually somewhat happy to be awake and not lying in bed surrounded by pillows and blankets and Jared. These days of the year usually come expectantly, and I gladly welcome them with open arms and say "Hello you glorious day".

When I was young, the first day of school was the most exciting day of the year. These days I looked forward to a month in advance. I would decide ahead of time what to wear, what to pack in my book bag (which was packed up the day after the last day of the previous school year) and who I wanted to be in a class with. Mostly, I wanted to be in the class with all the boys I had crushes on.

Christmas has always and will always be a fun day, but not necessarily my favorite holiday. I like the feeling of family and all that stuff, but I'm usually too stressed out about all the presents and whether everyone will like what I got them.

Of course I love my birthday, who doesn't? I know, I know, I'm supposed to hate getting older (which I do), but I still love that small, special feeling you get inside when you know it's your day and you wish everyone would stop you in the street and say "HEY! HAPPY Birthday!!". Yea, that's me.

Halloween and New Years are also fabulous days for me. Any time I get to dress up in costume or light fireworks, it's a great day for me. This year will be especially grand because for Halloween there is a big football game at APP that I get to go to. And New Years I'm planning on trying to get away with having a good old fashioned throw down.

But there is one more, most special, most awesome day that comes every year and leaves me with a general happy "Sigh" and I sleep better knowing that it is here. That day? Days like today, when I wake up, go outside, and realize the most outstanding thing: SUMMER is almost over!

Yes, most of you already know, summer is my least favorite time of the year. This year was no exception to my miserosity. I've suffered for 4 months of stank-hottedness already and I'm anxious for FALL! Glorious Fall! Football! Leaves! Cool Breezes! It's here!

So, tonight, I will lay down in bed, happy and content, and ready to not sweat. Ready to sleep well, ready to dream of football, leaves, and cool breezes. And perhaps more football.

A Text Conversation..

A text conversation between two coworkers during a day-long 50-person meeting:

S: U should randomly scream

A: U should loudly fart

S: Get Ready

A: I'm waiting

(A few minutes later...)

A: Walk to tha bathroom and trip on the cords up front

S: Walk to the br go in and start screaming obscenities

A: Go in the kitchen and start peeing in the fridge

S: Go up and stab andy w ur car keys

A: Go up and dry hump him

S: Melt a snickers w a lighter and draw a pentagram on the table and summon demons to consume his soul

A: Go get your car and crash it through the side of the building and then get out of the car and start singing opera

S: Go to rock barn and steal the mower and bring it back and setup a 2 dollar haircut booth

A: Go to LA and get Britney Spears and bring her back and offer 2 dollar sex

(A Few more minutes later..)

S: This guy has smoked something illegal within the last 3 hours

A: HOw do you know? did u share a J?

S: Meth @ motel across street off a hookers back

A: Hope you didn't get gynosyphaherpeles

S: Cant get what u already have

Awesomenificus

A few simple ways to turn your frown upside-down:

1) Have boyfriend take you out to dinner at one of your favorite restaurants.

2) Drink beer. I suggest Magic Hat #9.

3) Enjoy a treat. I suggest the Peanut Butter Perfection at Cold Stone.

4) Watch a movie at home with your boyfriend.

5) Discuss plans to FINALLY go to the beach in October.

6) Take a six-hour lunch break. I suggest high-tailing it to Boone for Mellow Mushroom, then getting stuck in traffic and almost getting lost when you turn around to go the other way. Hey, at least it's Boone.

7) Have a tasty chicken salad sandwich with cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet honey mustard, and sprouts.

8) Have someone else buy your lunch 2 days in a row.

9) Get NFL tickets to see Buccaneers play.

10) Find out your Mom may be flying to Florida for a couple of days next week.

11) Watch some old episodes of X-Files.

12) Go enjoy a night of the ancient art of karaoke with your friends. And beer.

Follow these simple steps and you, too will have an upside-down frown.

Friday Morning Fun

On Wednesday, Jared and I went to Best Buy and saw this awesome mullet:


















Then today, I got my Monday Night Football tickets to see the Buccaneers play!
















Tonight: The ancient art of karaoke. In Charlotte. With Carmen and Sam and Molly.

Boo Face.

Well I wasn't that distraught about not going to the beach with my Mom this summer because there was the work conference at the beach in September. This was assumed and I assumed we'd all get to go.

Turns out, my assumptions were wrong.. No beach for Allison...


Maybe I'll get lucky and my boyfriend will want to take off and go to the beach sometime in October...

Thanks Mom!

Since I was busy job-hunting-ish this summer, I didn't go to the beach with my Momma like we had planned. My Mom felt bad, so she brought me back this awesome present for my house:


Thanks Mom!

Yes, I'm Fair Skinned

It makes me feel good when somebody inspects every single inch of my body and then tells me I look great.

Of course, she's a dermatologist and what she means is, "you have no scarey moles". But still, body compliments rock.

I like to think I've tried really hard to be sunblocked as much as possible this year.

Sure, there was that awful sunburn I got at the Michigan game, but that was the last time I've been sunburnt, and that was Sept 1st 2007.

Since my momma had a melanoma removed from her face 3 years ago, I've been forced into going once a year for skin checks, just in case.

Stacey went two days ago, and I have to agree with everything she said.

Muggle-Football-Vision

Two really awesome videos were released upon the world yesterday, to make me a happy little girl.

First is the first trailer for "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" which comes out in November. Yippee! I love these books and these movies. This book was my favorite of the series so I'm hoping the movie lives up to my imagination. I'm going to try to read the book again before I see the movie,to really get me in the mood. Oh, and when I got home from work yesterday, I was going to tell Jared about it, but he told me about it first!


The second video is the official trailer for Appalachian football versus LSU Tigers. This is also awesome, and gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. I will be at this big event, so it really hyped me up! I think everyone in the Appalachian family has already seen it, but if you haven't take a look. Worth it.

Last night I had dinner with Jared and his family. We had yummy-licious Outback. Then Jared and I went to see the Dark Knight. It was his first time watching it. He loved it as much as I did. I think my favorite part is the music, really.

Tonight I'm going to try to go to trivia. It's Carmen's first night doing trivia at Drips, so she needs me!

Goings-On

This past weekend while everybody I know was at Bele Chere in Asheville, or watching the Avett Brothers, I was in Durham visiting my friend Brad. It was his birthday so he had a big pool party. Definitely worth the trip. We played volleyball, grilled hamburgers and cheese dogs, swam in the pool for hours, and then played Mindtrap and Battle of the Sexes. I drank alcohol all day but thankfully didn't succomb to a funk-nasty hangover like the last time I was there. I'd like to thank the Chaser Pills for that one. :)

Then Monday night Jared, Jared's brother Josh, his sister Amy, and I went to see Maroon 5 and Counting Crowes. Maroon 5 was opening but I rather wish they had been the headlining band. They totally rocked and I knew most of the songs. I had seen Counting Crowes before at Woodstock '99 and I enjoyed them. But Monday night for some reason they decided to only play 2 of their popular songs (i.e. songs I knew) and the rest of the songs were all slow, sleepy time music. I'm amazed I didn't fall asleep. At least it was a free show, since Jared's brother bought the 4 pack of tickets!

Tonight we're going out to dinner with Jared's parents, which I always enjoy. Hopefully the house is clean enough. Not that Jared's parents will say anything, but as a girlfriend trying to impress my (hopefully) one day mother-in-law, I feel like the house must be spotless. It's how I am.

Tomorrow is trivia and this weekend? NOTHING. And I'm going to keep it that way. If anyone requests the honor of my presence, they're going to need to drive to my house. No driving anywhere or getting up early for this redhead.

:D

Generation Gap

Jared and I have been watching the Die Hard movies lately (his idea). They're actually not bad movies, just bad wardrobe, hair, etc.

We are halfway through the second one last night when I realized something.

Bruce Willis is hot. Even with the bad hair, Bruce Willis is hot.

I have heard before people talking about Bruce Willis as being a "hunk" and I never got it, til last night.

But then again, there are a lot of men like that. I never thought Sylvester Stallone was hot until I saw the original Rocky movies. I mean, he had some gorgeous eyes.


















I'm sure my children will wonder what the hell I see in Johnny Depp (but then I'll make them watch Chocolat and Don Juan Demarco and they'll understand).

Same thing happens with music, obviously. My mother has always made us listen to "Golden Oldies" from the 60's and 70's in the car when we were growing up. I always thought the music was slightly lame (not ALL of it, but some).

I can already tell that I'm going to HATE what my kids listen to. I don't care much for most of the new rock music that comes out these days. Give me a radio station that plays all music from the 1990's and I'll be so very happy.

I won't even go into the generation gap in clothes. Ha.

What generation gaps are prevalent to you?

Caffiene is weird.

How is it that caffeine can keep me from sleeping if I drink it too late at night, but then in the morning, it ceases to wake me up?

I know that if you drink coffee everyday, it stops having an effect on you after a while. How come soda doesn't work the same way?

WHY CAN'T I DRINK COKE ZERO AFTER 5?

This is something that plagues me. I need to learn this oh-so-delicate balance.

I'm looking forward to this weekend, when it's my Durham BFF's bday party. But what to get the Redskin fan who has everything?

Finally...

After many many many weeks of not knowing where I would be working, whether I would be staying at the job I love or going to somewhere more secure, I have Finally Finally Finally been given the best oppurtunity- to stay right where I'm at!

I have seriously been toiling inside, tearing back and forth between two (sometimes 3) options of great jobs. It has been seriously scarey at times. I have annoyed everyone I know asking them about their opinions almost every day.

I'm one of those people that don't really like change, even when I'm offered more money, if you can believe that.

But finally, I can sleep a little easier, and I can appreciate my job a little more, knowing that the guy in charge fought pretty hard (even while he was in the hospital) to keep me here.

Shew... Now many I can stop being a slack ass blogger. :D

Why So Serious?

4:15 today, Carmike Cinemas,
Be there or miss out.. Unless you're lucky and went to the midnight premiere last night...

Good Times and Football.

I’ve got some good things going on right now.. despite the work issues which will all come to a head tomorrow.

Last weekend was Katie’s fabulous 2nd Annual 29th birthday party in Blowing Rock, NC. It was fabulous to be able to sit around in the mountains just having fun and not worrying about life. Check out the pictures from the photo booth her photographer friend set up.

Tomorrow (Friday) is a big day for me. I *love* the new Batman movies and (in case you live in a cave and don’t know) tomorrow The Dark Knight is coming to theaters. I’m going to take my 2 hours comp time (from counting Vehicle Occupancy Rates) and go see the matinee! Hopefully Carmen and Jon will be going with me. But if not, I have no problem going alone. I would invite Katie, but I don’t think that’s her kind of movie. :)

Then Saturday, Katie and I are going to see Andrea, my old roommate from Hickory, who is going to Georgia Tech now, but interning for the summer in Charlotte. Hopefully, we’ll have a real good girly time!

Next week, The X-Files movie comes out! I have a feeling I’ll be going to see that one on my own.. But since I haven’t watched any X-Files since the series finale premiered like 8 years ago, I am dying to see Mulder and Scully again!

The 26th is when my Durham BFF, Brad, is throwing his annual pool party for his birthday. I was going to go to Bele Chere, but then his party was scheduled for that day. That’s okay, I’m going to have a LOT of fun swimming in the pool with my buddies. And hopefully I can convince Jared to come with me.

I just found out that I’m going to get to go see the Buccaneers play the Panthers in Charlotte on December 8th! FOOTBALL!! YAY!!! I don’t know whether to wear my Bucs jersey or my Appalachian jersey! Since the App jersey is for Armanti, not Dexter Jackson, I will most likely wear my Bucs jersey (it’s for RONDE Barber).

I’m glad to have all of these fun things coming up! And FOOTBALL!!

Especially since my life may be changing a bit in the next 2 months. Maybe.

Carmen Rules

AWE, this is like the nicest thing anyone's ever taken the time to write about me.. or say about me, or maybe even think about me..

Carmen is my best friend and she rules. She's basically my sister.

Carmen is like, the most creative, spiritive person I know.


I wish I could say how much she means to me, too.

Warning: Debbie Downer is back.

It's kind of funny how every person in my office knows about my job situation. How? I guess it's all whispers and stuff. Here's the kicker people: I DON'T KNOW ANY MORE THAN YOU DO!

I'm just sick of explaining the little I know about it to everyone who asks me. I'm sick of worrying.

I had an "interview" yesterday and the Man told me that all they were authorized to offer was $3000 a year more than I'm currently making.

Sounds good right? No. There's this:

a) Gas to get from my house to Lenoir and back 5 days a week at $4.50 a gallon for a year: $1800.

b) My current job offers a Longevity check (Christmas Bonus) every year at about $300 for me.

c) I would be paying social security now (which I haven't been doing at my current job). Roughly $2500 a year.

d) My current job usually gives raises every year. EVERY YEAR. Guess how many "raises" the Lenoir job has gotten in the last 3 years? ONE. And that was significantly less than the raises I'm used to getting every year.

e) This sucks.



How can I negotiate for more if he's already told me he's only authorized so much?

Why can't my current job fight a little harder to keep me?

Depressed. AGAIN. Sorry.

I LOVE being micromanaged.

So, how do I bill time to "Filling out job applications and writing a cover letter"?

Who should be paying me to go interview in another town?

What about when I went to feed the cats on Monday during work hours?

I should really not be publishing this, but I am.

Recent Things that make me Happy

(Hang on til the 3ish minute mark)

ReCAPLOCKS

So, I ended up having a pretty decent week last week. For Thursday (which was really Friday) I had dinner (well, beer) with Daniel and Katie at Backstreets. Then, Jared and I played poker at Carmen's with her, Matt and Brian. It was a $1.00 game, but we still had fun! Jared ended up winning the biggest part of the $6.00 pot.

Then Friday I got up early (10:00 am) and went to my Dad's up in Ashe County for his cookout. There I had a ton of fun with my brother Alan and my Sister-in-Law Wendy, my brother Scott, my nieces, and my step siblings and all.

We barbequed and watched the kids play in the kiddie pool. We had a family viewing of Jeopardy (we all love the trivia) and then we all played with our cheapo Wal-Mart fireworks. Then, it was time to go with Alan, Wendy and Elora up to Grayson Highlands where I shared their pop-up tent, wine, and s'mores!

When I was a kid, we used to camp there all the time, so I was loving the trip down memory lane. On Saturday, the four of us went to West Jefferson to the Christmas in July Festival, and to Boone to Macado's for lunch, and then to Blowing Rock to the Shoppes on the Parkway where I got some capris at J. Crew.

That was the first time I ever bought anything at J. Crew and also the first time I've ever bought capri Pants. I'm still not sure wether I like them or not..

Tonight was trivia at Beef O' Brady's in Hickory. It was fun, and hopefully next week we can get more people in there and it will be even better.

Pictures from this weekend:

This week = okay so far!

Sunday night I got to hang out with Katiebonk and watch some 90210 and drink beer and eat yummy chicken ceasar wraps.

Monday night I played Taboo for hours with Carmen, Jon and Matt.

Yesterday GPSn was actually pleasant outside!

Last night I got to sit around with my man and eat pizza and watch Hell's Kitchen.

These are all good things.

I'm thinking this week might be better than last. Good.

Oh, and yesterday I saw this:

A HUGE black widow in a water meter. It tried to get me. I laughed at it and took a picture with my camera phone.

Cheap Sunglasses

Lately I've had a superb knack of losing sunglasses. Or breaking them. In the last month I have broken 3 pairs and lost another pair.

This past Tuesday when I broke that 3rd pair, I was on my way to GPSn (well, I thought I was GPSn!) which meant I needed to have sunglasses! I have sensitive eyes due to my hardcore astigmatism. So, I ran into the gas station real quick and grabbed the cheapest pair I could find, which are these:















Now, I'm fully aware that these are the ugliest pair of sunglasses ever. They look terrible on me. But since I had to buy them for $7.99 (yes, that was the cheapest!) I am going to wear them anyways!


The thing is, these sunglasses might seem dorky to you, but Dylan Mckay thinks they're styling:















I also saw Brandon Walsh wearing them. If Dylan and Brandon think these sunglasses are cool, well then dammit, they are cool.

Shopping List

The disheveled cashier at the Granite Falls Wal-Mart just rang up my purchases:

1. Prescription of Yaz (the greatest birth control ever, in my humble opinion).

2. One sleeve of 3 oz plastic cups.

3. Three boxes of different flavored Jello.

Someone's going to have a good 3 person party tomorrow night.

NEED CAFFEINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just realized I haven't blogged on whether or not things got better since Tuesday. Well at first, that would be a "no".

Later that day, I got word that the big thing I had been wanting was not going to happen. (okay, I interviewed for a new job, but did not get it). And then yesterday when I went to work I found out more news that seemed terrible at the time (enough to send me to the bathroom to cry, twice). But after having lunch with Carmen and Jared, I felt much better and realized that perhaps I was blowing things out of proportion. That does tend to happen, from time to time, particularly at certain times of the month.

Last night I did nothing but follow around Carmen and Matt, and then enjoyed dinner and decorating. It was good to not be responsible for any heavy lifting.

Tonight I will try to make jello shots for the three person party I'm having tomorrow night with Carmen.

Oh and Jared? Great with making a pity party into a happy good fun time. I love that guy.

Today

7:30 am: Hear the telltale "bedom" of my cell phone being taken off of the charger. Only, we were both asleep. And then in my sleepy stupor I realized that the air conditioner and fan had cut off too. Power Outage.

So reluctantly, I got up and got ready for work in the dark. On a normal day this would be fine, but on Tuesdays I am outside so I must heavily spatter myself with my favorite sunblock (the jelly bean SPF 50 stuff). This requires being able to see, which means I had to find a sunny spot and mirror in my condo. This can be difficult in a condo with only 3 windows. I managed, though.


Then I drove to Morganton, which is a 25 minute drive from home, to where I work on Tuesdays (outside in the heat). I noticed when I arrived that my coworker Tom's truck was not in the parking lot. I went inside thinking maybe he was either late or driving a different vehicle. I go inside, no Tom. I call Tom. Turns out, it was implied that we would not be GPSn today due to the 4:00 pm reception for my retiring head boss today.

I don't know if any of you have figured this out about me yet, but I'm not real big on things being implied.

In fact, I just want the facts, darn it. Some of us (ahem, ME) are not good at picking up on implied things. I'm kind of slow with that sort of thing. How am I supposed to know anything if nobody tells me these things!!

Well on the positive side, I don't have to be outside in the heat all day today, and I still get paid the travel to go to Morganton and back. I'm just hoping this doesn't turn out to be one of those really bad days where just when things are looking up, you get a phone call that the thing that you were really hoping would happen for you isn't going to happen. Yes, I'm referring to the big thing that I was talking about before.

So I've been repainting my kitchen for a couple of months now..

I tore down wallpaper, primered and painted the walls. Then, I've been slowly taking down cabinet doors and repainting those.

Things have been going pretty good and I've been pretty happy with my results so far.

Today, I decided to start on some more cabinet doors. The thing is, I've been working on the upper level of doors. The one I took down today did not go so well. It works a lot better if the door is closed completely, so that when you take out the last screw, it doesn't fall easily.

This one, was not closed all the way. As I got to the end of the last screw, the whole door came crashing down on the counter, then down to the floor. On the way, it made a stop on my middle toe.

The damage:

I have no idea how I'm going to fix this. IF I can fix it.


I don't think it's broken, but it's bruised and cut and it hurts real bad!
I'm such a klutz!

I really hope I can continue with this kitchen without any MORE broken things.