the avett brothers, my favorite band.

My favorite band, the avett brothers, are finally on the Billboard's Top 200!

Yay! And I love the new album! Go buy it. Emotionalism is the name of it. You can buy it on Itunes too. Go buy it!

ME!

What's going on with me lately?
Well there's all of the obvious that you know about, new car, new cat, new roomie.
The sad thing about it all is that everything happened at once, and now there isn't anything going on. Well, Jared's still in the process of moving in, but he is more or less there already.

This past weekend I was off all weekend. I had taken Friday night off from the Brush so that I could go to the office putt-putt tournament. Then I realized that this putt-putt tournament, which is usually more of a cookout/excuse to drink with a little bit of putt-putt on the side, was this year going to be an actual putt-putt-oriented excursion with no cookout and only a few people there. Since Jared and I were both going to be off work, and he couldn't even participate in the tournament anyways (since he's not an employee at my office), we decided to have a date-night instead. Outback and movies. Yum-my.

Saturday and Sunday I did nothing but sleep and watch tv. I feel so lazy. It seems like all I want to do here lately is be lethargic. I do manage to do the minimum of housework (laundry, dishes, litter-box cleaning) but that's about it. Blurh. That's what I have to say to real housework!

Well, Shiver my Timbers.

harry potter and cavemen.

First off, as I've been re-reading my Harry Potter books, I'm getting more and more excited for the movie and the new book to come out! I kind of wish they weren't both coming out right at the same time. That just may be a sensory overload. What I mean is, I'd totally be okay with the movie coming out right now :D I almost forgot how magically addicting the Potter series is.

When I reread the first two books, I wasn't that excited because I've read them before and I've seen both of those movies so many times. But now that I'm onto the third book, I'm remembering things that I had forgotten since the first time I read them, which was right before the last book came out. It's hard to believe a book series meant for children can be so intriguing for people of all ages. I'm so excited!!! Giddy almost. Okay, giddy.

Secondly, I have barely seen any press for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It comes out next Friday. NEXT FRIDAY! I haven't even been counting down! I don't even have my ticket yet! I feel like less of a fan. I blame the media.. yea...

Lastly, I have heard rumors, but I was hoping they weren't true because I just didn't know how I would handle it. They are actually making a comedy tv show about the Geico commercial Cavemen. It's just called "Cavemen". I love those commercials, but I'm not sure how the show will do. I mean, there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing". I just know I'm going to want to compare them to Phil Hartman's Caveman lawyer from Saturday Night Live. I would totally link to a video if YouTube wasn't blocked at my office. Just know it's one of the awesomest skits ever. Anywho, IMDB has a few pictures from the show already. Get ready because I have feeling it's either going to flop or be a huge phenomenon.

Roommate.

So, when I starting telling people that Jared is officially moving in with me, I got a lot of positive and negative feedback. Most people are happy for me, as I have been wanting this for a while now. Then are those party poopers who like to remind me of all the negatives.

Cons:
*If we break up, it'll be a giant nasty mess
*We both have a LOT of stuff for my tiny condo
*He wants a dog, I have 2 cats
*We're not married, so we have to be quiet about this around all grandparents
*People are now going to look at me as if I am some sort of Jezebel
*My friends might start to think I'm not there for them anymore

Pros:
*We are going to both be able to SAVE money now
*We will, obviously, be able to find out if we can live with each other long term.
*We are serious. Damn it
*I'm scared, but I'm brave, and I'm strong, and I know this is right


I guess the moral of the story is, there's no way that everyone I know will be okay with this. Jared is moving in with me.

New Addition

Well I brought home Meatwad's new brother, Beefcake, on Saturday. It was an eventful day. As soon as I got him home, I lost him for 3 hours. After having completely torn apart my house looking for him, I finally found him about 2 feet from where I lost him, under a dresser I didn't know he could get under. Poor little guy was stunned. I brought him out and we hung out on my couch and took a nap together for a few hours. So far he is NOT a fan of Bertha, Carmen's dog. He hissed and spit at her. He has hissed at Meatwad a few times, but now they are playing, I think. Meatwad seems to be heartbroken and pissed off. I think he's really mad at me. He won't let me pet him at all now, even though I bought him a shiny new toy at PetSmart. I hope he gets over that.

Beefcake is adorable and very active. Very Fast. Very Cute. Very Fun. And it really is cute to see him attack Meatwad's tail. :) I love him already.




Now if I could just get over this bout of nausea I've had for the past 2 days so I can thoroughly enjoy kitten time!

1 Year!

Spiderman 3

For anyone out there who hasn't seen this movie yet, go see it!






















This movie is so so so so so so good. I cried on several occasions. It has everything. It is more than I expected. It really pushes the limits of what you thought you would see in the 3rd installment of a movie. And it does it right. It does Spiderman justice. I don't usually care for fight scenes, but there is a fight between Peter Parker (Spiderman) and Harry (Goblin Jr.) where they're in their street clothes and Peter has been taken over by the black stuff, and it is really really cool. I mean, badass. For me to say that you know it must be hot.



Speaking of hot. I had been thinking how they seemed to make Peter Parker extra dorky in this movie. Well, more dorky than usual. But once he turns to the black, he turns hot. I mean, not just hot, but Ba-dow! hot. A little emo, but again, hot.














This picture was more to show the emo than the hotness. You'll have to see the movie for yourself. It is rare to see a 3rd movie that you feel is better than 2nd. This one is definitely better than Spiderman 2, and I loved Spiderman 2.


The only complaint I have is that it gave me a horrible horrible terrible scary nightmare. In my dream, Jared was trying to save someone's life (like Spidey) but he was killed. I could see him and he was dying and they had to tear me away from him. This is when I woke up, hysterical and crying.

Other then that nonsense, I loved this movie!

A few random notes.

RUTLESS is back.

Which means it is highly likely that I may have an accident which causes me to die anytime in the next two to three months. We shall see. Hopefully I won't have to eat anymore lottery tickets. Or go all day without using my cell phone. Or cover my body with permanent marker.



Although, if I get to do another cool one like this again, I won't mind. Keep an eye out.



























My Cinco de Mayo/Birthday party didn't happen. My guest of honor, Brad, couldn't make it to Hickory due to a family emergency. And since pretty much everybody else was already busy, except Sam, I just canceled it. I'm okay with that though. I did go to El Paso with Katie and Daniel, and Stephen Foxy. Then I went home to do nothing. There's something to be said for sitting at home alone on a Saturday night reading Harry Potter with a slight margarita buzz on. And then Jared came home so my day was complete.

The best part of my weekend was during the day on Saturday when I cleaned my room from top to bottom and filled up six trash bags with clothes. Two went to the dumpster and four go to Goodwill. I feel so much better having unloaded some of the clothes I've been clinging to for years. It feels amazing to be able to say "It's time". Time to let go of stupid trashy coats I don't need anymore. Time to let go of t-shirts I've had since high school. Time to let go of that one t-shirt that may or may not have belonged to the ex. Zen. I now have a whole free closet for Jared's clothes.

Yay!

And one more thing.. five days til I get to bring home Beefcake!

Burfday

this week

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All of the awesomeness from the past couple of weeks is starting to wear me thin.
Tomorrow is more running around. During the day I am pricing items at grocery stores for the Cost of Living Index for Hickory. Then, Jared and I are going to Asheville for his sister's graduation/pinning ceremony. She is graduating from Western Carolina with a nursing degree. So smart.

Luckily on Saturday and Sunday I have very few plans. Except for this whole birthday party/ Cinco de Mayo party I'm supposed to be having Saturday night. You're all invited. It won't be anything huge though. Of course, before hand I plan on being at El Paso for some tastey Pollo Loco and a few margaritas.

And on Sunday? Satellite company #2 will be coming out to see if they can put up a satellite at my condo. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I have got to get away from the evil cable company.


Stephen Foxy would like to get Rutless started up again. Anyone interested?

happy birthday to me!

Today I turn a quarter century old. I have a feeling I'm going to be turning 25 for at least a few more years now. Am I too young to be lying about my age? I just don't want to turn late 20's. Ever. Blah. So far for my birthday I have recieved: an Anne Bonney action figure to add to my pirate collection, an electronice mousey thinggy, a $20.00 gift certificate to Olive Garden (a regift from my bro's wedding, but I don't care), a bottle of some really yummy lemony liquor, and Night at the Museum on DVD, which is a great movie.

I can't wait to see what Jared gets me!

I've just had such a great week.
-I got a new car
-Jared told me some great great news that I can't share yet
-I got DSL and have internet now!
-I haven't had to DO a whole lot
-Saturday I went to Kannapolis for a birthday party for my niece and I had a great time!
-Sunday I went to Carowinds with Carmen, my brother Alan, his new wife Wendy, and my nieces Elora and Emma. We had a blast even though the waterpark was closed.

Awesome. But there were also downers..
-My grandmother has a brain tumor which caused her to have stroke like symptoms. It's not malignant though, and hopefully she'll have a full recovery.
-The satellite company apparently can't put a satellite in my condo for some wiring reasons :(. So now I'm stuck with the cable company for my t.v. But at least I have DSL for my internet! And now I have internet at home! yay!

Here's to me having a great day! And another great week! And a fun Cinco de Mayo/Birthday Party on Saturday night!

Dear Cable Company, Here's why you suck.

Dear Cable Company,

First of all, let me just say that I have been a loyal customer of yours since 2001 when I was a poor college student who allowed herself the one luxury of cable t.v. I have never had problems before with your cable t.v. services, and still don't have any complaints there.

Your customer service and technical support, along with your sensitivity to time, however, suck. I would like to point out that there were other avenues I could have chosen when moving into my house and building my home entertainment options. I could have easily picked satellite. But since I had always been a cable customer, I chose to stay a cable customer. Along with my cable t.v. service, I added on high speed internet. This was very important to me in keeping in touch with friends and keeping my eye on things in the internet world. Also, it is especially important since I can not access Myspace at work. They blocked it :(.

Things were going fine and I didn't really have any complaints. But then, on March 3rd, a Saturday night, my boyfriend pointed out to me that my internet was no longer working. Since I know you have a 24 hour technical support line, I gave you a call and figured it wasn't a big deal.

First of all I have to point out that a) the automated system for "problem solving" when all agents are busy assisting other customers, she is a stupid whore. And b) the music we are forced to listen to while waiting on hold (after screaming at said automated prostitute) is quite possibly the most awful mind-numbing music i have ever been forced to listen to.

After finally getting to speak to an actual (agent after having to hold for 20 minutes), I was told that something must be wrong with the line going into my modem and you would have to send a technician out to my house. It would be a week before one was available. Disappointed, but satisfied that I was going to be solving this problem, I hung up.

I suffered a week with no internet at home. This was a terrible, frightening experience as I felt I was missing out on the world. I could no longer check my myspace daily, and could no longer watch funny youtube videos (also blocked at work) and could no longer laugh at funny, yet NSFW images on my favorite celebrity gossip blogs.

Saturday finally came and I excitedly waited for the technician to arrive. Around 2 pm he finally made it, and I was so happy I could barely contain myself. But after an hour and a half of fiddling around with my wiring inside and out, he told me he couldn't fix it. I was going to have to call back to your hot line and schedule a contractor to come and wire a direct line to my modem from the pole outside. Reluctantly, I said goodbye to this technician and called you again. After being jostled through several different people and having to yell at the automated sl*t again, I was finally able to schedule a contractor. For April 2nd. This was March 10th. Almost a month's difference. I was very, very sad that I would have to wait that long but understood that it was the contractor, and not your company that made this appointment.

Alas, 3 1/2 weeks went by with me saddened by no internet, but knowing there was nothing to be done, I accepted it. April 2nd finally came. And went. Without a single phone call or visit from your contractor. Weakened by this blow, I waved it off and went to work the next day expecting to call back later in the day. But thankfully, during my lunch break, the contractor came. Note, he didn't call first as I had requested, but luckily I was there.

After about an hour, he informed me that the first technician had been wrong and that I *didn't* need to have a direct line put in. He apparently had been new and didn't know how to fix the problem. Finally, after a month with no internet, he saved me and it was back. My lovely wired friend with myspace and youtube and NSFW was back. I rejoiced quickly and went back to work, happy.

About 20 minutes later, Jared sent me a text message that the internet was out again.

Highly peeved, I called your technical support again. After bluntly telling the automated Jezebel to go to H-E-Double hockey sticks, I was connected with Sergio, who understood very little English, and who didn't grasp the fact that I was not going to deal with the normal procedure of checking all the wiring at the modem. He did not get that the contractor had left only 20 minutes ago and that something was wrong. I was too mad to listen to him, and didn't want to die of a heart attack, so I hung up and decided to call back later after cooling off.

Next day I called you back. I was connected with a very nice lady operator who listened carefully to my plight and very nicely connected me with her supervisor, claiming that she would be the best person to help me out. This supervisor was not as nice as the operator, but being that she was a woman, and I am sexist, I was good with speaking to her kindly. She refunded some of my money and after having me hold on the line a few times, finally told me she would get a contractor out here as soon as possible. This was the first week of April. The next available time slot for the contractor was April 23rd. Again, I was upset by the wait but I understand that it's a different company than yours and you have no control over that. So, reluctantly, I agreed to wait. Again.

April 23rd has come and gone. It is now April 26th and I have heard nothing from you or your contractors. I did, on Saturday, receive an all too pleasant apologetic card from your public relations department which was a nice gesture but I was fooled into thinking it was an early birthday card and was highly disappointed.

Yesterday I signed up with the satellite company and the local phone company to get DSL. Monday I will be cancelling my service with you. You are the worst company I have ever had to deal with, mainly because all I wanted was my darn internet and you were not able to fix it, not with your broken promises or your stupid cards. I can't wait to tell your dirty automated vixen to go screw herself.

Sincerely,
Allison, new Direct TV customer

Blue Pearl?

Will be mine by 6:00 today:






















More Pictures Here
I need a name for this one! The Black Pearl was a great car but it's time for a change.

Meet the newest member of my family

Well, soon to be a member of my family anyways. In a few weeks, I'm taking home this little guy from Katie's house. It will give Meatwad a brother, a friend, and hopefully someone to cuddle with while I'm away. I only hope he doesn't beat up on the cute little guy. Maybe having another kitty around will calm my Meatwad down and make him less apt to claw and bite me all the time. Maybe. It's worth a shot. Plus, who could resist this cuteness:

you know you're in kannapolis, nc when...

You are driving down a fairly busy road. Suddenly, traffic slows to a crawl. Upon looking ahead, you see a man a horse.

You get closer to the horse and realize the man is wearing only shorts and a cowboy hat.

You get even closer and realize the man is super hottie. Upon doing a double take, the hottie naked cowboy waves hello and smiles.


I had a great time at the wedding, pictures below. No stories to tell other than I wore myself slap out. The best part was of course dancing with Jared. Unchained Melody really is a great song, I tell you.

Yet, I never collected unemployment...

I think it's time I told you the story of my job history, and how I'm terrible bad luck for restaurants. I don't know why I'm such bad luck. I work hard, I do my job right. It's just fate I guess.

Job #1: Cox's Seafood in Kannapolis, NC. I was 15 and I was a busboy. I was getting paid $5.00/hour under the table, so I was rolling in dough. I had seriously never had that much money at once in my life. It was awesome. I only worked on Friday and Saturday nights, which kind of sucked because I had to give up my Friday nights at the skating rink (which is really hard for a 15 year old boy crazy girl to do). Then, about 5 months after I started there, I got the call, "We're going to have to close down the restaurant". So, that's job #1 that closed down. I didn't get another job until I was 16 because you have to hire 15 year olds illegally or you can only work them a couple hours a day.

Job #2: Papa's Pizza to Go in China Grove, NC. This job was awesome. They had just opened the store right before my 16th birthday and I began working there 2 weeks later. I loved it. Free food, easy job, cool people, and a real paycheck. I started as a cashier and worked my way up to head pizza cook after a year. Of course, after a year, the sales dwindled. We went through five managers (one was an embezzler). After I had been there about a year and a month, I got the call, "We're going to have to close down the store, and we're selling the store to another pizza restaurant from Concord". This sucked, as I was afraid of my job status. The new store, Pi-zon's Pizzeria, offered me a job at the new store. I was apprehensive at first because this store was run by yankee NASCAR fans. If there's anything worse than NASCAR fans, it's yankee NASCAR fans.

Job #3: Pi-zon's China Grove. I decided to go ahead and work for the yankees. I started out at their Concord store while they were renovating the China Grove store, then moved back to the China Grove after a while. The China Grove store was doomed to fail though, from the beginning. Why? Prices. Those New Yorkers didn't realize that redneck China Grove does NOT want to pay $15.00 for one large pizza. After six months, I got the call, "We're going to close the store down, but you can still work for us in Concord". I knew it was best.

Job#4: Pi-zon's Concord. This job was great. I worked with all kinds of cool people who loved me (even yankee NASCAR fans). I learned from a real New Yorker all about making real New York style pizza. I was great at it too. I could toss a pizza, and spin a pizza. I knew everything there was to know about brick oven pizza. The best part came the day after graduating high school when I met Adam, my first love. But that's another story. Then, I went away to college. I still worked there when I came home for Christmas and the next couple of summers. But alas, the next time I came home, they were closed. No more yankee NASCAR fans.

Job #5 was on campus at App, in the Park Place Cafe in Trivette Hall. As long as the school wills it, this place will stay open. This job was ok, but I only got paid once a month so I was very very very poor.

Job #6: Big Pauly's Pizza in Boone, NC. I have had a lot of great jobs, but this one was by far the best. I was 19. I needed a job desperately and so I decided to apply there. As soon as I talked to the asst. manager over the phone, I went down there. Who should I see when I walk in the door but my ex, Adam (the one from Pi-zon's). So we worked together for a while until he quit due to our manager who hated him. After 2 months, I was given the job of assistant manager, and I was getting paid $7.50 (after 2 raises) under the table. AND since the other asst. manager was also 19, when I was off work and wanted beer all I had to do was go there and buy a 6 pack from him (at a discounted rate!!!). I LOVED it. But of course, since the yankee italiano mafia a**hole who ran the place did such a shotty job with "taxes" and "paychecks" and "health inspections", we closed down shortly before that Christmas. And once again, I was out of a job. But Big Pauly (the a**hole) also owned a deli and bagelry in Boone, and I was given a job there, making pizza (even though it was a deli).

Job #7: Ma's Deli & Bagelry. This wasn't a great job. In the deli, Big Pauly's wife was in charge. And she just may be the biggest biotch I have ever known. She hated me because I wasn't a preppy little sorostitute like all the other girls that worked there. But I still had power, having been the Asst. Manager at Pauly's. But here at this deli, I had to be paid by a real paycheck, with taxes and everything. Only problem is, Pauly never paid us on time. Not once in the 5 months at the deli did we get our paycheck on time. It was always at least a week late. Once in February I deposited one of these very late paychecks into my checking account. What do you know, it bounced. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until it was too late and I had already spent the money. So I told Big Pauly it bounced. He told me it didn't. He claimed my bank must have messed up. I call my bank, get a copy of the bounced check and have hard proof that he bounced this check. He still denies it. I took a legal course of action and wrote him a certified letter demanding the money in 15 days or else I was going to sue. In the meantime I quit Ma's Deli and even worked my 2 weeks notice. Note, this is the only job I've ever quit that wasn't due to moving. On the very last day of the 15 days I had given him, I recieved another check. I immediately cashed it and savored my victory by holding onto the $367.81 for 1 year in an envelope until I really, really needed it. Two weeks after I quit, the deli closed down, go figure.

I went for a few months without a job. I went home for the summer (Pi-Zon's was still open at this time so I "worked" there). Once I got back to Boone, it took me 2 months to find a job before I finally found the Boone Bowling Center, or the BBC for short.

Job #8: Boone Bowling Center. I was the snack bar girl and I was very good at it. I learned how to bowl, and even joined a league. I worked for 2 very cool people, Mario and Diana, who were from Curacao, and island country next to Aruba. I worked here for 2 years until I graduated college and moved away. This is one place that hasn't closed. There is only one bowling alley in Boone, and I'm sure that is why they are still open. I loved this job and would go back in heartbeat if I didn't need more money than that.

Since then, I've had a state internship and now I have my real job at a real office that will never close. But at night I work at the brush. I give the brush 6 months before it closes down.

I swear I don't know why every place I work at closes down. I've never been a slacker when it comes to physical labor. I usually love my jobs, even if they suck. I'm just bad luck I guess.

I really hope the brush can turn around and come back to life, but I doubt it will happen. Especially if they move Jared to the Lenoir store like I think they might do.

i love google.

And I LOVE my Google homepage. It's so pretty!

You can click on it to see it big.

This weekend is my brother's wedding and Jared is finally confirmed to be coming with me! Yay! Now I get to show off my man in front of all of my brother's butthole friends who were mean to me growing up. Now I get to laugh in their face and say "Look, I'm a successful woman who has a college degree, a real job, my own home, and the finest piece of manmeat this side of the Mississippi."

Or at least that's what I'll feel like. This is so exciting!!

Tomorrow night I get to go to my first Crawdad's baseball game of the season! Yippee! This will be a good week.

Bat Shot Crazy.

This morning as I was walking into city hall in Lenoir, NC, I happened to look down at the sidewalk. There on the sidewalk was a familiar looking shape. Down on the ground at my feet was a dead bat. At least I thought it was dead. It's not everyday (especially during the daylight) that you see a bat just laying on the sidewalk. I bent down for a closer look. He opened his mouth at me!

An alive bat, just hanging out on the sidewalk? I then deduced that he must have flown into the side of the building, and was stunned. That or he blew into the building. Lenoir was quite windy this April morning.

I bent down and took a picture with my camera phone, as it was all I had with me. I thought I had a better angle but here it is:



Okay that's a terrible picture but it is what it is.

I told someone at city hall about the bat and they told the street sweeper, who was going to move it somewhere out of the sidewalk. He bent down, put his hands around the bat when all of a sudden it HISSED at him and tried to fly up to his neck! Can you imagine how high the guy probably jumped!? HA! Then the little bat flew away. Apparently he was just stunned and has found his way again. Poor little guy. :) I'm glad he was okay (the bat, not the sweeper).

In other news, whoever hasn't seen the Alanis Morissette version of the Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" song, please dear God click here and watch how awesome.

Getting Ready..

My brother Alan is getting married on April 14th. It is his third wedding, and most likely his last. He and Wendy have known each other since middle school (early 1990's) but have only been dating for 10 or so months. They seem to fit together really well though. They are more open with each other than I can even imagine being with Jared. But I guess knowing each other for more than 10 years will do that to you.

I am in the wedding, a bridesmaid. This would be my fourth bridesmaid venture. My others include my oldest brother's (divorced), my mother's (will probably be divorced within a year) and Carmen's (divorced) weddings. Maybe I'm bad luck, but I hope not.

Jared is going to be my date, hopefully. The brush is getting a new General Manager this week and his schedule for this month has not been made yet. Saturdays are the busiest days of the week and generally they would like to have 2 managers present just in case. If Jared goes to my brother's wedding with me, there won't be an extra manager. I'm just hoping our new manager is cool and that she will understand that if I have to go to my brother's wedding without my date, I will most likely cry. Damn it. Nothing is sadder than dancing alone at a wedding.

Urgh.

On the bright side, Wendy's friend Holly is going to do my hair for the wedding. Every other wedding I was in, I had to do my own hair. I've only had someone else fix my hair once before, for my senior prom. It's going to look awesome. Yesterday I drove down to Kannapolis so she could try out a little somethin' to do to my "perfectly virgin hair". Apparently since I never dye my hair and it's really long and thick, it's easy to mess around with. Yippee!

Here is a preview that I took with my cameraphone. You can't really tell, but there is an awesome boufant like bump on the back of my head containing half of my hair!