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.

Muffin Top.

LOLCats.

Who do I love most? Or who is lucky enough..

Howdy Ho Neighborinos!

Today I had to fill out my life insurance form for my job.

Let me just ask this: Who decided that only 2 people can be listed as my primary beneficiaries?

I mean really! I have 3 nieces and 4 parents. I have a boyfriend/future husband. I have a lot of close friends. Why must I chose only 2 people? Makes me feel guilty to not choose some people. I guess it will be easier once I'm married with a child of my own.

For now, I just put my two youngest nieces and then listed my third as a secondary beneficiary. Jared will make the cut once we get married, but for now, he just gets all my stuff :D.

Got a huge big thing coming up in the next few days that I can't talk about on here, but man, is it making me butterfly-tummy-alicious.