Alisha's Christmas Story

I know, I know it's been awhile, but I'm coming back strong with a Christmas story for all of you!

Christmas day night. My parents, sisters and I all gathered in the family room to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (huge fan) and we were eating the cake my mom had bought for the day. Well, I was sitting on my parents lazy boy couch with the legs up when I dropped my fork on the carpet. Since it was chocolate cake I was worried Birdie would swoop down and try to eat it. So I leaned over the leg portion, it collapsed, and I went face first into my parents solid wood coffee table.

My first reaction was to stand up and cover my face b/c my cheek right under my eye hurt incredibly bad. My sisters thought I had busted my nose and my mom started screaming something unintelligable because I had started to bleed from my left eyelid with blood on my hairline as well. So, dad came bounding in from the kitchen and we held a compress to it. Dad and Kellie took me down to the emergency room at St. Lukes while mom and Laura stayed behind.

We get to St. Lukes and the lady at the window asked me what had happened - keep in mind I could not see all this time b/c I didn't have my contacts in and my glasses were all screwed up from the faceplant. So I took away the compress and she looks at it and goes "oh my." So we wait in the lobby room for about 20 mins when the nurse comes and we go to another room. They asked me some questions (Did someone do this to you-did someone hurt you)and I assured them it was a coffee table. So, the doctor and nurse lay me down and clean off all the blood. From there they spread the wound apart and then poured in the glue into the inch gash right above my eyelid to close it. Apparently, the glue will prevent scaring a lot more than stitches would. Which is fine with me. I would not be happy getting stitches in that area.

During this time my face wasnt hurting so much as it felt like my head was being pounded with a hammer. They took a CT scan just to make sure there was nothing going wrong with my head (they pronounced nothing was in there). Issued a prescription for Vicoden, wished me a Merry Christmas, and sent us on our way. All in all about 2 hours at the hospital.

Conclusion: I now have an inch long gash below my eyebrow covered in glue. I have scratches along the side of my eye and under as well. All of that is from my glasses (thankfully those didnt break-they are Dolce & Gabbanas!). Half my eyelid is a bruise with bruising under my eye as well. And, apparently my right arm took a beating as well b/c I have a huge bruise on my upper arm that hurts now.

Otherwise that, I had a great Christmas though! Hope you all did too!

St. Louis Film Festival

Hooray! The 17th annual St. Louis film festival starts up this weekend and will last for two weeks. I've worked it out that these will be the movies I plan on seeing:

Adam Resurrected: "Jeff Goldblum gives an acclaimed performance as Adam Stein, a charismatic patient at a mental institution for Holocaust survivors in early-'60s Israel. During the war, despite his status as a much-loved circus entertainer, Adam was shipped to a concentration camp, where the commandant (Willem Dafoe) forced him to act the part of a dog to survive. Incarcerated again at the asylum, Adam recognizes another such pitiable creature— a barking young boy raised in a basement on a chain— whom he works to save." I think its a comedy...

Humboldt County: "After a drunken one-night stand, tightly wound UCLA med student Peter Hadley finds himself stranded in picturesque Humboldt County at the family home of free-spirited Bogart. The judgmentally inclined Peter at first resists the eccentric enclave of pot farmers but slowly comes to embrace their easygoing life and ideals."

I've loved you so long: "Tells the story of two estranged sisters who reunite when Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) – who’s murdered her 6-year-old son – is released from prison after 15 years. Over the objections of her family, younger sibling Lea invites her sister to come live with her, and gradually a different Juliette emerges from the shadows of her terrible crime."

Let the Right One In: "Tells a darkly atmospheric, poetic and surprisingly tender story of adolescence … and vampirism. Fragile, anxious 12-year-old Oskar, regularly bullied by his stronger classmates, finds protection and friendship when 12-year-old Eli moves in next door. A pale, serious young girl, Eli only comes out at night, and her arrival coincides with a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders." And...it's in Swedish!!


Pretty Ugly People: "After shedding all her excess weight through gastric-bypass surgery, Lucy (Missy Pyle) fakes a serious illness to trick her estranged college friends into gathering together in the Montana wilderness. Lucy wants to show off her slim figure, with the hope that she’ll finally “feel like one of them,” but during four days of arduous hiking, she soon discovers that her friends have become as unfamiliar to her as her newly trim body. Faced with the rigors of the outdoors, these pretty people turn ugly, revealing their deepest fears and secrets."

Wendy and Lucy: "Down-at-heels Wendy, delicately played by Michelle Williams, begins a road trip that’s intended to take her to a job in Alaska, but her car breaks down in the Pacific Northwest, touching off a cascading series of economic disasters the includes the impoundment of beloved dog Lucy."




Yeast: "A Maddeningly un-self-aware, tyrannical and emotionally stunted young woman engaged in toxic relationships with two exasperated friends (Greta Gerwig and Amy Judd). With a physical aggressiveness and emotional violence that is undeniably feminine in nature, “Yeast” explores the grinding mechanics of friendships that have run their course. Mostly improvised, the film follows a few days in the lives of three women struggling to keep friendship alive in the face of a huge challenge: They know each other too well.

whoa

Holy shit. I was just sitting here on my couch and Obama was declared winner. What happened during the commercial break?

Can't they count any faster?!

I love election night, espically for the first time in three chances I've had to vote i'm finally going to be on the winning side, although I do find it sort of scary everytime NBC keeps telling me John McCain won another state. Thankfully Obama is still 60ish points ahead while i'm typing this.

And it makes me happy to keep hearing about Missouri this and Missouri that. I did just check though that its McCain 50 and Obama 49. Cry! What the hell is wrong with rural Missouri because they are the ones that keep blowing it for Democrats in this state. Bleh.

I got to the polling place at 5:50 am this morning and was 139th in line. I finally got in to vote around 7:30ish and was 15 minutes late for work. Oh well! At least I got to wear my little sticker around saying that "I voted, how about you?"

I'll talk to you later.

Does anyone have $9,600.00 dollars?

I want one of these Cabbage Patch Dolls. How cool would it be to be immortialized as a Cabbage Patch doll! Although, I don't remember having one growing up. Maybe my sisters did. I know I had a bazillion Pound Puppies with their little houses but not a Cabbage patch doll.

I plan on getting to the polling place at 6:00 am tomorrow. I just hope the lines are not too long because I can't be late for work at 8:00. I'd better pack a book....

I feel bad for the Joe Biden doll. He has not even broken one thousand!

Friday night hockey

So, I went to the Blues game on Friday and got to see Sarah Palin drop the hockey puck. When she came out I couldn't quite see so I climbed up on my seat and promptly started to fall off and had to grab the girl next to me who proclaimed "Wow! Are you that excited to see Sarah Palin?" My response: "No." I just couldn't see! But I was able to get some good pictures by standing on my chair. And you know, she was sort of booed, but in the end she was roundly (and loudly) cheered. I'm okay with that because her two youngest daughters came out with her. And they looked so cute in their Blues hockey jerseys so it was really hard to boo. Besides, at age 26, if I walked into the center of a rink with 25,000 fans booing my Mom, I would probably start crying...

In the end, I stayed for the entire game, the Blues lost 4 to 0, and Sarah Palin did cause this.

LOL

GUESS WHAT I HAVE TICKETS TOO

I tried

I tried to make something different from myself for dinner tonight. I tried so hard. I wanted to make a nice little fancy rice dish like Dad does. So I went to Shop and Save and picked up a bag of rice, cream of mushroom soup and mozzarella cheese. I came home and put the rice in a pot on the oven. I've actually never cooked rice before but figured how hard could it be? So the rice starts cooking but after 10 minutes it starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. I tried to keep stirring but it just wasn't enough! So I poured the rice into another pan and poured in the cream of mushroom soup to make it better. The rice started getting all mushy and hard to pull a spoon through so I threw on the mozzy cheese and tried to melt it before it became a giant blob.

I scooped it into a bowl and sat down to try and eat it but all I could taste was hard rice with a hint of mushroom. It was like....hard prison mush. I threw it out. Had pizza rolls instead.

Nebraska

Well, I had a very good weekend. But for the life of me, I never thought I would go to Nebraska once, let alone twice in six months. But, a friend of mine got tickets to see Mizzou play at Nebraska and I am happy to report that Mizzou won, 52 to 17. Not only that, it was the first time in 30 years that Missouri had won at Nebraska!

The drive wasn't too bad, seven hours by yourself. Left at 5:30am and got there at 12:30pm. But really, that doesnt bother me. I have a GPS, satellite radio and an Ipod to keep me occupied. I will admit though, there was one point in the drive that sort of freaked me out. I was driving through Missouri when I went past a sign that says "Iowa Welcomes You!" And for a few seconds I thought Oh My God, I drove to the wrong state. Thankfully, my GPS told me that I only have to go through a small portion of Iowa and then you cross over into Nebraska so I immediately felt better. But for a second there...

No worries though. I made no wrong turns and the drive was pretty going through the hills with the leaves starting to change colors. The game itself was awesome. The University of Nebraska Memorial Stadium basically fits 86,000 people. Not only was it sold out, but it was also Nebraska's Homecoming as well. The seats were great but the fans were annoying and stood through the entire first half, which means I had to stand through the entire first half. After halftime though, the score really got away and the Nebraska fans finally sat down and shut up. In fact, they started leaving. It got so quite in the stadium I could hear the Mizzou chant from the complete otherside of the stadium. Leaving Lincoln to go back to Omaha was pretty crappy though. All those thousands of people basically on one highway back in.

On Sunday we toured the grounds of Creighton University which is a prestigous Jesuit college. I just like to see college campuses wherever I go. I looked around Nebraska's campus as well and thought it was a hodge podge of buildings with bad art. From there we went to the Omaha Zoo which is one of the top in the country. Though you do have to pay so I would put the St. Louis Zoo over the Omaha Zoo since ours is free. We walked around Omaha's Market district which is a cute little area and I took off for home about 5:00 pm. I had to drive just about all of the drive in the dark. I know that bothers some people, but not me. I sort of like driving in the dark. Besides, I wasn't realy going to miss anything in terms of the view outside. The only things that bug me is when your driving down the highway in less populated areas and you go awhile without seeing another car. It would suck to have your car breakdown at there. That and stopping at a rest area to hit the bathroom. Never again. I got out of there so fast I didn't even bother to wash my hands.

I got home around 12:30 in the morning on Monday so it was a good thing I had Monday as a vacation day. So, alls well that ends well!

It's over

The debate is over. I loved it! So many emotions. I got a lump in my throat when Joe Biden was talking about losing his wife and daughter years ago; I cracked up when Sarah Palin was made the joke about no one understanding their vice president jokes; I was angry about both of their views of not recognizing gay marriage; I was annoyed about Palin quoting Reagan and I was even confused about at some points trying to sift through and hear the real answer.

That was pretty cool. I'm so glad she didn't fall flat on her face. I didn't think Joe Biden was going to have any issues but after I saw the Katie Couric interview I was really worried for Sarah. I did think Biden smiled too much though....

You BETCHA!

The VP debate is starting!!! If I was Sarah Palin I would have walked out on stage and throw up all over the podium but I hope she does do well. Even though she doesn't have my vote, I don't want her to go out there and bomb and a candidate doesn't put a women on the ticket for another 30 years.(Oh, I like Sarah's dress! Joe Biden does have awful hair but he is wearing a sharp suit.)

On another note, I am leaving at 5:00am on Saturday morning to drive to Omaha. It should be around 7 hours alone in the car but that should not be too bad. My GPS will tell me how to get there and I have satellite radio and my Ipod. I am meeting a friend in Omaha who got us tickets for the Mizzou-Nebraska homecoming game at the University of Nebraska (which is in Lincoln, an hour outside of Omaha). But, I don't think I am going to wear any Mizzou gear even if it is my school. I don't want Nebraska fans to yell at me :( and I look good in red anyway.

I'm going to come back late Sunday night and I have Monday off of work so I can tell you about my trip when I get back. Should be a really pretty drive though I will spend a good portion of it driving in the dark. All the leaves are turning. Now, the temperature needs to drop another 40 degrees. It was a high of 68 today. Boo! I had to have my air conditioner on in the car.

If you are watching the debate, where on earth did they get the moderator from? She just asked a question that I had no idea what she was talking about. She would have had to repeat the question or use it in another sentence for me....

A Spike Lee joint

Just went and saw the new Spike Lee movie Miracle at St. Anna and I really liked it! Though, it was a little long - 2 hours and 40 minutes. I'm not one to tell Spike Lee how to make movies, but maybe he could have just done a little more editing? But, if you have three hours to kill and want to watch a WWII drama on a Saturday afternoon, I would recommend going to see it.

Quick observations

Don't have a whole lot going on so I figured I would throw out there a few observations I have been thinking about...

1. I wish someone would give me an $85 billion dollar loan.

2. I love the start of fall tv programming, but I only know of one other person out there who goes and looks up the new fall tv schedule (like me). God bless Tivo. My 2new favorite shows right now are:
a. Trueblood on HBO. Sex, drugs, violence, backwoods southern culture,vampires
b. Fringe on FOX. Might be an X Files ripoff, but i've liked it so far

3. The United Way Campaign is about to go into full swing for the next two weeks. It's a crazy time for me.

4. It's going to reach a high of 80 degrees tomorrow so yes, that means I still keep my AC on. No one likes a stuffy house! Besides, everything evens out in the winter because I normally don't turn on my heat unless it falls below 32 degrees outside.

5. Reading a pretty good book right now called City of Thieves by David Benioff. It's set in Russia during WWII. But, if your looking for an even better book set in Russia during WWII read Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith.

Thats all for now!

Warm fuzzies

I would like to talk about Sarah Palin again. But before that, I need to say something. I really like the songs in the FreeCreditReport.com television commercials. They make me happy. I'm going to download the commercials and put them on my Ipod so I can drive to work singing about freecreditreport.com.

The Anchorage Daily News (yes, i've been reading it) put together an article consisting of jokes at Palin's expense. And some of these just had me rolling...I would like to list a few for you:



"John McCain's V.P. pick is the governor of Alaska, an unknown hockey mom named Sarah Palin that no one ever heard of. The only other job she had in politics was the mayor of a small town known as Wasilla, Alaska, and now she has the opportunity to be on a ticket opposite of Barack Obama, the first black man she's ever seen."

"She's not bad-looking. She looks like one of those women in the Van Halen videos who takes off her glasses, shakes out her hair, and then all of a sudden, she's in high heels and a bikini. All of a sudden, I am FOR drilling in Alaska."

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is out on the campaign trail, and today she attended a rally in Wisconsin. The Alaska governor said she was thrilled to visit Wisconsin, because she's never been to the Deep South."

"Whoa, man, I like that Sarah Palin looks like the weekend anchor on Channel 9. She looks like the hygienist who makes you feel guilty about not flossing. She looks like the relieved mom in a Tide commercial."

That just makes me feel good inside. Honestly, i'm sorry if you do like Sarah Palin. And really, she will be making huge strides for women if the Republicans win in November. And you can only tell my looking at the picture above how excited she is to be running! But c'mon! Who doesn't like a good joke! (Besides, it's not our moms).

Now I would like to talk about something serious for a moment. Taking 2 Benadryls with dinner and laying down on your couch can have negative effects. I fell asleep and didn't wake up till 11:00 that night, completely missing the Cardinals come back and beat the Cubs at home. Garrr!!

How rude!

I was just sitting there, on my couch, TRYING to watch the season premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the darn tornado warning sirens kept going off outside and FOX 2 news kept cutting into my program to bable something about the weather. Jeez! I want those minutes back that I missed ;[

Cock a leekie pie

So, I went to the Scottish Arms for dinner on Friday with some friends of mine. I know I made fun of the cock a leekie pie in my previous blog, but that is what I ended up having. I thought the resturant was one of the best ones i've been to in St. Louis, but the cock pie was...um...thick. Think of something that looks like a pot pie with the breaded crust on top. Inside is all cream, chicken and onions. I can only take so much real cream before things start to go wrong so I wasnt able to finish it. It was okay, but I wish there was more bread so it would have counteracted the cream.

But, the desert was the best ever. In fact, I should have ordered the desert for dinner as well. It was (drumroll please) a fried Mars Bar with vanilla ice cream. A fried candy bar. So awesome. I have heard of fried Snickers bars or fried Twinkies, but I had actually never really seen one before. Brilliant idea. I can't image that there was a single redeming healthy quantity to anything I had for dinner..

After the resturant we went over to the Just John's bar. I would like to make a recommendation. Never have a heavy cream meal and then have Midori sour drinks. Cream and anything sour dont' mix. At all. I didn't get sick, but my whole body is telling me that it hates me.

In the end, it was a fun night though. I'll definately go to the Scottish Arms again. But next time, I'll stick to fish and chips and fried Mars Bars. No more cock pie for me.

Word Sarah Palin. Word.

Alright, alright, I obviously was one of forty million that watched Sarah Palin's speech. I was also one of the forty million that watched Barak Obama's speech as well. All I have to say...is holy crap. Now that was a speech!. It actually had me cracking up during it because someone wrote her some real zingers. Her's and Obama's speeches should be shown in speech classes so students can learn from them. I was totally impressed by Sarah Palin and how she came together in such a short amount of time to put together a stunner of a speech. I'm still not voting for her and McCain though. Oh, did anyone see the undercover cops taking out that lady during the speech? That was pretty cool.

Does anyone else think Cindy McCain is a little....scary? There's something I just don't like about her. And, she was born in 1954. I thought she was in her late 50s early 60s. Must be that Arizona sun.

I'm going to an authentic Scottish resturant for dinner tomorrow. I was looking over the menu and while Cock a Leekie Pie and creamy tatties sound good, I was so happy to see fish and chips on the menu. And shepard's pie. I'm a huge fan of shepard's pie. As long as it tastes exactly like my Dad's. I'll be sooooo disapointed if it doesn't taste like his.

While I am writing this, I'm watching John McCain's acceptance speech. He is nowhere as good as Sarah Palin was. She should give all the speeches from here on out. And CNN keeps cutting to protesters in the crowd and turning away from McC. How awesome is that! We know who CNN wants to win as President ;)

Wasilla calling

It's been awhile since I've been able to get on my computer. On Saturday, I plugged in my Ipod to charge it and I swear, my computer crashed and burned. I plugged it in because I figured it ran out of juice, but 5 days later the computer would still not turn on. Fearing the worse, I took my laptop down to Best Buy so the Geek Squad could take a look. And of course, as soon as he plugged it in, the computer started right up. But, he said the issue was with the plug in in the back. Something about the cord wont stay in anymore and I had to wiggle it around in order for it to connect. He then went on to say that in order to fix the problem, they would have to fix the entire motherboard (?) and it would be more worth it for me to buy a new laptop. Just what I want to do right now ;(

I have to admit, I am fascinated to watch Sarah Palin's speech tonight at the Republican National Convention. Does that mean I will consider voting McCain/Palin? Sure! She just needs to change her position on abortion, gun ownership, gay rights and polar bears. Oh, and switch to the Democrat side. Is that too much to ask for? Still, I don't want her to fall on her face tonight. It could set back women for years on the political scene as the parties try to avoid another Sarah Palin. I don't want that. This is a huge step forward.

So Sarah, go out there and give a great speech. Just not one that will sway the fence voters to your side.

Sarah Palin hates Polar Bears

Kudos to John McCain for blowing my mind, temporarily. I have to admit, my first thought was how cool is that! A woman, Sarah Palin, as a vice presidential nominee. One step closer to having a woman at the highest level of government in our country. And, she's from Alaska. I lived there! And since I obviously don't remember the Mondale/Ferarro ticket of 1984, this would be an entirely new experience to live through. And then I started digging into who this lady is and what she stands for. I started reading information such as this:

-An outspoken anti-abortion Republican
Stay the hell away from my body lady and let me decided what I can & cant do
-Palin is an avid hunter and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association So we can have more guns in the hands of freaks that shoot up schools
-Elected offices: Wasilla, Alaska, City Council member, 1992-96
--Wasilla mayor, 1996-2002
--Elected governor of Alaska, 2006
Great. 2 years as governor of Alaska and no national experience. Could stand to be leader of the free world. I belive I saw she was a PTA leader as well.
-Against same-sex marriage, although she claims to have good friends who are gay
Yeah, because bigotry stings less if your friends

I did read that she was a runner up in a beauty queen pagent though. And won Miss Congeniality! Actually, I shouldn't make fun of that. She is really pretty. And does look a lot like Tina Fey who is so totally funny. 30 Rock is one of the best shows on TV right now. Season premier Thursday October 30th!!

I knew all along who I was voting for in this election, siding with the same party I have since I was old enough to vote. But, I have to admit, it did give me pause when I saw the potential for a women to be the second most powerful person in our country. And then I got over it. I'll end with this quote from Hillary Clinton:

“We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain," Clinton, the first woman to win a presidential primary, said in the statement. "While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

One day left

I'm sad the Olympics are almost over and now I'll have to wait 2 more years until Vancouver in 2010. They make me really happy to watch, but really tired. I've been watching to 11:00-11:30 everynight and I have to turn around and get up at 5:30. There is one sport that seems really interesting to me, and it's handball. I'm surprise that the US doesn't have a mens or womens olympic team. I'm not sure whats happening when I watch the game, I think it's like soccer only you use your hands instead of feet, but it seems like it would be fun! And, they have a cute little ball they get to play with, sort of like rugby.

Also, even though their country's leaders are acting like bastards, I really like Team Russia's uniforms: I really like their uniforms and the track jackets are even better. And no, I have no idea why there is a little puppy photo-shopped into the picture. But look at the coaches shoes! Cute!

I have Rams box tickets tonight to see them play Baltimore for the 3rd game of the pre-season. Free food and tickets. That makes up for the $20 i'll have to pay in parking. But, I did get gas today at Mobil for $3.29 a gallon so filling up my tank when it was a little less than half empty only cost me 25 bucks.

Who let rythmic gymnastics into the Olympics? And they are getting rid of softball and baseball....jeez.

Olympic sized injury

I was going to write an entire blog about how much I love the Olympics and how I have been religiously reading/watching the games since they started...but then I came across this video. It's of one of the weighlifters from Hungry. So awful. I can't imagine how that felt. When I saw this for the first time, I was eating spaghetti and it made me drop my fork and put my hand over my mouth. Ugh!

Consider yourself warned.

What $50 dollars can get you. Part two.

Part two of my mini 4 day vacation. So I drive on up to Branson which is about 45 minutes outside of Springfield. All the way up in them thar hills. Now Branson is considered a hot place for those with families or are over the age of 60. A place where people can go for wholesome entertainment without the supposed sin and debauchery of Las Vegas. Yeah, it's a pretty boring place. But thousands of other people don't agree and that is evident by the fact it took me over an hour and a half to drive 3 miles down main street. So aggraviating. Just stop and go, stop and go. Sometimes, when I am in traffic like that with no way out, I just want to drive my car into a tree.

But, I didn't. And first things first, I needed a place to stay. I wanted to keep it cheap again and while I was driving 2 mph down the road I caught a building out of the corner of my eye. It was in the shape of a giant riverboat. One side was flat, the other side all rooms with little portholes for windows. I knew that was place for me. So I pull up to the front office and get out. By that time, the temperature outside was a heat index of 112 and my Old Navy flip flops started melting into the asphalt. I go inside and get a room for one night at 50 dollars. I climbed up three flights of stairs (This is not a hotel for the handicapped) and go to my room. It wasn't bad at all! For some reason I had two beds, but the AC was just under the window so I had no problem reaching it. The only problem was the lock. It had a little door handle lock and the other lock was a chain lock that you hooked up. But, the chain was gone. So it was just the little door knob lock. This time though, I had a chair in the room so I simply put the chair up against the door that night. And, when I looked out my porthole, I saw this:

If you can't tell, its a scaled back version of Mount Rushmore with John Wayne, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin. At least I think it's Charlie Chaplin. It took me awhile to figure it out. I kept thinking it was either Bozo the Clown or Adolf Hitler but then I finally figured out he was wearing a bowler hat.

I had some time to kill before meeting up with my friends and I decided to do something incredibly touristy: The duckboat tour. The tour takes you down the streets of Branson and then into Table Rock Lake. Here is a picture of other Duck Boats getting into the water after us. They are WWII relics put to good use. I got a seat all by myself which was a good thing because it was so hot. What was annoying & embarrissing though is that everyone was issued a duck bill whistle that when you blew into it, it quacked. And all the stupid kids in the duck boat blew their duck bills all the way down main street and into the lake. Just imagine, your sitting in a WWII era boat/car in 112 degree heat with little kids blowing on their honkers all the way there, and all the way back.

I survived the duck boat and spent a great night sitting around and talking with my friends. The next day, Sunday, we decided to do something fun before I had to take back off for St. Louis. We decided that a showboat cruise out on Table Rock Lake would be it. It vaguely reminded me of the ferries I would take as a little girl and that always makes me happy. It was an all encompassing tour. We actually got a stage show (so korny), three course meal and a two hour lake cruise. We actually skipped the second stage show and just spent it out on the upper deck of the boat looking out at the water. It was a nice ending to my mini vacation. So, after the cruise I drove back home for four hours and prepared for a full week of work.

What $80 and $42 dollars can get you. Part one.

Well, you may wonder why I have a photo of cashew chicken from Wong Fu to the left. Thats because I went on a mini vacation to Springfield and Branson Missouri last Thursday-Sunday! I went there for a reason - to meet a friend that weekend, but I decided to go early to hang out in Springfield and rehash some old memories.

I went to college for one year at Missouri State University. in Springfield before transferring to Mizzou for the final three years. I hated Springfield. Best grades I ever got in college, but it was a miserable time. EXCEPT for the Cashew Chicken at Wong Fu. Seven years ago, it was the most.awesome.dish.ever. I have not had it for seven years, and I knew this would be a good time. So I went to the student union and got my food. Spilled a portion of it down my shirt and pants and the meal wasn't exactly as I remembered. But, I was still happy. So I spent the rest of the day walking around campus and taking pictures. I also went to Bass Pro Shop which is fun (in a horrifying sort of way).

So later that night I needed to get a hotel room. Decided to go to stay at a Best Western. When I got up to the front desk and received my room, they told me it would be $80 bucks. So I swallowed my pride and said "okay, I'll stay one night." No way did I want to spend that much. But I took my little card key and went to my very nice hotel room for a good nights sleep. That was Thursday night.

On Friday I did a little more of the same...slept in, hung out, went to the mall. That night I actually had a ticket to go see the Springfield Cardinals which is the St. Louis Cardinals AA team. Its a great brand new little stadium and I had a really fun time. And prices were so much cheaper at this ballpark than the major league park back in St. Louis. So Friday night, I needed a new hotel room. I wanted to be cheaper this time so I decided to spend the night at the Dogwood Inn (no website) for $42 dollars. The clerk (no english) handed me a key and a tv remote control and I went on to the room. The room had an air conditioner, and it was going full blast. But, the unit was high in a corner that I could not reach and the room had no chairs for me to stand on. At least it was on though. Oh, and the door lock was just a little button on the door knob. And, the topper, was that there was a little hole in the wall. All I could see was wood in it but what I was thinking about was Anthony Perkins taking the picture off the wall in his office at the Bates Motel to spy on Janet Leigh in her hotel room. I shoved a receipt in it.

So Saturday I headed down for Branson. Part 2 soon. But I will give you a hint, it involves three kinds of boats: Duck boats, Showboats and Riverboats.

And then there's Maude...

Estelle Getty passed away today. You know, the mom on Golden Girls who had to move back in with her daughter Dorothy because she burned down her retirement home at Shady Pines. That makes me sad. I have specific memories of watching this show with my cousin as a little girl years ago back in Seattle. I got back into watching reruns of Golden Girls in college for no better reason other than it made me feel nostaligic. And every now and then I'll catch an episode because, damn, those old ladies were funny and damn, I keep moving farther and farther away from those early years watching it with my cousin.

You know, I got to see the front of the house that they used in the show. It's out on a backlot for Universal Studios in Orlando. It was part of the tour. Remember when they would do cross episodes with the dad and daughters from Empty Nest? And that dog. I think his name was Rufus or Dreyfuss...something like that.

Bummer.

My next car will be a tank

Well, it's happened again. For the second time since January my car has been involved in a motor vehicle accident. And, same as last time, it wasn't my fault. I wasn't even in the car. I was inside, helping my mom with the dishes when dad backed out of the garage and into my left front bumper. Luckily, no one was hurt but my car. The Royal Gate Dodge people (who fixed my car last time) averaged the amount of damage at $1800 give or take. What bums me out though is that they can't get my car in till July 28th so I have to drive my car around for a week with a bashed in front left bumper and cracked headlight. Cute. And they said it will take a week to fix my car so I will be getting a rental that week.

When my lease is up in 2 years on my Rav4, I am not going to buy it. I'm really surprised by the amount of damage my car took today from another SUV going about 5 miles an hour. I'll go bigger and better next time :)

We went and saw The Dark Knight today. Totally awesome. I would like to see it a second time on an IMAX screen. You know whats weird? My first accident back in January was the day Heath Ledger died. And today, the day of my second car accident, I went and saw the last full movie he ever made. Weeeird.

Famous last words

Well, I didn't have a very good day at work on Thursday. It was the day of the quarterly blood drive and if you went and gave, you got this really cool St. Louis Cardinals shirt. And yes, I really wanted it. Now, the only time i've given blood was at the doctor's office, but I figured, nothing went wrong then, so whats the worst that could happen?

So I go down there and they make you answer a bunch of questions, many of them centered around have you ever gone to an African nation or been around someone from an African nation (if yes, leave now). Which is sad. They are losing an entire generation to the AIDS virus. But anyway, I answered no to everything but piercing (in my ears) and that was fine. So they prick your finger and put it in a vial to test for iron and that came back just as good also. So, I go over and sit in one of the chairs and wait for the nurse to come over and we could get started. So, she cleaned the area on my right arm with iodine, gave me a little heart ball to squeeze and put the needle in that was hooked up to a bag. Everything starts off fine and I'm just sitting there, when I start to feel a little light headed. So I just put my head back and closed my eyes. Only it got worse and I started to feel really reall naseaus. One of the nurses came over and asked if I was okay because I was pale and sweating and thats when it happened. I was able to cover my mouth in time for them to run over and get a trash can. And that started me sitting there in the chair repeatedly throwing up into a trash can while they put wet clothes over my face and neck. During all of this, I never even felt them take the needle out of my arm and bandage the area up. The throwing up lasted about 2 minutes and then I laid back down and they put more wet towels on me. And I laid there for quite a while.

It was sort of weird, that was an older guy that came over to me and kept patting me on the leg saying it would be okay. And all I could say back was I'm sorry over and over. But, there were only 2 other people there at that time (and they won't say anything) so at least it wasn't a room fool of people. I was finally able to make it to the area where they had food and downed a bottle of water, a chocolate chip cookie and a box of raisins. But, I wasn't feeling that much better. I had to go back up to work with my hair matted down and my shirt collar soaking wet. For the rest of the day, I felt so tired and completely drained. I was so tired in fact, that while I was driving home all I wanted to do was lay my head on my steering wheel and go to sleep. But, I made it home just fine and laid on the couch and watched TV and was asleep by 9pm.

This morning when I woke up, I felt like I had a hangover. But I had a bunch of water throughout the day and felt better. I was able to join my friends at dinner tonight at the St.Louis Gast House. A totally awesome German resturant and they are expanding into the next building and making it a German pub. And yes, I will be there. For dinner I had the Hühnerschnitzel with Kartoffelpuree and Gemüse. And for desert I had the Apfelstrudel. In review, I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and apple strudel. All awesome.

Here, hold my sparkler

Well, I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July. I did! I went over to my parents house for BBQ dinner and then we all went up to the park to see a great fireworks display. After the fireworks I went home and watched Sophie's Choice. I wouldn't have watched it if I knew I would have gone to bed totally bummed, but I had not seen it before and I'd tivod it in HD. Oh well.

On another note, Missouri has new liscence plates that everyone will be getting when they renew their tabs. The plates are totally lame! Booooooo. The little bird is dorky. I don't know why they couldn't have put a steamboat or something. So, when it's time for me to renew, I'm either going to get this one (for obvious reasons):
Or, I'm going to get this one. Because I like puppies and kitties too! In fact, if I could put the Mizzou one in front and the pets one in back, that would be even more awesome.

Where's the beef?

On Monday we went to Taco Bell only to find out that they were out of beef and I have been laughing about it ever since. They were also out of sour cream and tomatoes, but I wouldn't have touched those 2 to begin with. But beef! How would I eat my grande soft taco!

Now I really really want Taco Bell since I didn't get it on Monday...

O! Pioneers!

Well, it's been awhile. I just got back from a two day work/vacation in the lovely city of..........Omaha, Nebraska! One of the biggest companies I work with is located in Omaha and they invited me to come down. Even cooler, I got to go to three games of the College World Series. And how cool was that! It's just a huge Nebraska block party were people from all over the country come together to watch college baseball. It was so much fun and I can totally see why people flock there every year. And the people that live around the ballpark make out like gangbusters allowing people to park on their lawn.

Even better, this turned out to be a two state trip: Nebraska and Iowa! Two places I have never been too (or ever thought I would). Our hotel was in Iowa and I am proud to say I contributed to their economy. We went to the Horseshoe Casino of Iowa and I lost $20 at the nickle slot machines. I actually had my total all the way up to $30, but I was convinced that if I kept playing, I would hit the big time. Alas, I was mistaken.

Omaha is..well..Omaha, but they did have a nice little district called the Old Market. We ate at an outdoor resturant where they had Omaha steaks. I had fish and chips, and they were good!

I was only in Omaha on Monday and Tuesday, so going back to the weekend, it has been a good couple of days :) On Saturday I played in a golf tournament and even though our team didn't place, I won a new putter (Which is good. The one I have is lame). And on Sunday, my birthday/father's day, I drove down with my parents to Fulton to visit my sisters. It was good family day and we all went and saw the movie "The Happening." And, it wasn't happening. The best part of the whole movie was the great stage actress Betty Buckly (Cats) trying to smash her face and head in on the house and window.

I've been stimulated!

I was going to talk about something else on here, but then........my economic stimulus check came in the mail! How exciting is that! Thanks President Bush (could I have one more though?) Here is how I plan to use my $600:

-1 year supply of contacts and new lenses for my glasses
-Oil change
-Pay that annoying bill from Des Peres Hospital
-Re-enroll in Triple AAA
-Shopping spree at Sams Club/Shnucks so I don't have to go grocey shopping for a long time
-Buy "The Sister" by Poppy Adams; hardcover edition out June 17th
-Pay down my Mobil Gas Card *sigh*

Now, what I was going to say before my check came was that I keep on seeing all these advertisments on TV and in the paper about Fathers Day on June 15th and not one of them mention that it's also my birthday. How rude!

Good for something!

"California has seen some of the highest prices; a gallon there now averages $4.436 a gallon, the most in the country. Missourians are paying the least at the pump, with a gallon in the Show-Me State selling for a relatively cheap $3.802 a gallon."
-MSNBC online 6/7/2008

Our long national nightmare....

Is almost over. Sure, I wanted Hillary to win the nomination, but I am just as happy with Obama. It's pretty cool to watch history unfold in front of you. But...can you say RFK? I'd be terrified if I was his wife. He'll probably need triple the Secret Service because of assasination worries. I just couldn't imagine what it would be like to know there is a large faction out there in the country that wants to see me brought down at all costs. Oh, and I am just going to think of Obama as our President starting now. I just don't understand John McCain. He is 71 years old. Why on earth would you want the worry of protecing the free world at that age? Can't he just go and be a bagger at the grocery store? WalMart greeter maybe? Jeez.

I have this issue with someone I know. She is not a friend, not an aquantiance, just someone I know. Her perfume is so strong that I can't breath around her. And its a weird scent, like pine on steriods. When I walk past a place she was once, it still lingers. Like walking through a forest. It's so strong! Does she think smelling like a pine tree is hot or something? It makes me want to cut down a tree, not save one, just to get away from the scent. Arrrrrrgh.

Well hi there, I'm writing for the last time until next week. I am dogsitting starting tomorrow, again. But, this should be the last time for the summer. I would really like to know what the dog does from 6:15am when I leave to 5:00pm when I get home...

We had discussed this at work, but they really need to find a new to way to kill off the bad guy in the Indiana Jones movies. Have you noticed this? Except for The Temple of Doom film, which was not all that good anyway (I'm looking at you Kate Capshaw) the main villian from the first, third and fourth all die in relatively the same way - from the face down.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The bad Nazi guy's face melts
The Last Crusade: The bad Nazi guy's face rapidly ages and turns to dust
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: The bad Communist lady's face blows up because of the power of alien knowledge (you sort of have to see it)

If there is an Indiana Jones 5, George Lucas, call me. I'm sure I can come up with a different death for the bad guy. Oh, and the bad guy should be the Ayatollah Khomeini. Then Shia Lebouf can walk around in the movie with an Ayatollah Asshola shirt. Now that is a good idea!

If your looking for a better movie to see than the new Indiana Jones, go see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspain. I'm a huge fan of the first film and thought the second film was just as good.

Movie to rent this week: Rambo

The roof is on fire!

The most interesting thing happened at work today. We were all just sitting there, working around 2 pm when we noticed that there was a large billow of smoke coming from the parking lot. Naturally everyone ran to the window to see smoke just pouring out of someone's Ford Explorer and engulfing all the cars around it (including mine). After it smoked awhile then the flames started coming out of the hood and down the right side of the car. It was basically the entire front of the car on fire. People ran out with fire extinguishers but it didn't put it all the way out! By then the fire was actually spreading with the oil on the street and the tires had flattened on the car because of the fire. So we all watched the fire department come with their hoses and have to wrench open the hood that had melted closed to spray their hose. The fire department got the flames out and left, leaving a smoldering wreckage of a car. I was parked a couple of cars away and I had to go through a good car wash to get off all the dust (and stuff) that was on my car because of all the smoke. But, I am happy to report that I no longer smell burning rubber in my car.

I mean, can you imagine that? Your just sitting at work one day and someone comes up to and says "Um, your car is on fire." LOL they even announced it over the loudspeaker. The receptionist downstairs said something to the effect that "Whoever owns Ford Explorer XXX, your car is on fire."

Welcome Back Mr. Kotter!

Hi there. I've been away for awhile - I've been dogsitting at my parents house while they were away. Poor dog, she missed them so much. She even went on a hunger/no potty strike for the last few days. I always let her sleep with me at night when I stay over and she wouldn't even sleep on the bed! I think she was mad that I dumped her on her head when she was sleeping on my pillow.....

I'm currently watching the American Idol season finale. I thought that George Michael just looked old and the tan aviator jacki-o sunglasses didn't help. It's hard not to see him and think of....bathrooms. I want David Cook to win. He should win. I bet he doesn't. I'll find out in a minute.

I watched this documentary called Jesus Camp the other day. It's about young children growing up in Pentacostal families and going to a week long religious camp OH MY GOD DAVID COOK JUST WON AMERICAN IDOL! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I was not expecting that at all. Little does he know that he is going to marry me. Maybe David Archuleta's Dad will stop wearing that stupid hat. That was so awesome. And he is from Missouri! Hooraaaaaaay. I am going to (ill)legally download all of his songs RIGHT NOW. What a happy ending!

Oh, back to what I was saying about Jesus Camp. Anyway, these kids border on religous fanaticism and it really reminded me of my next door neighbors in Alaska, the Bakers. My little friend Stephanie would show me these pamphlets that were cartoons of people doing whatever, can't remember, but what I do remember is that the man in the cartoon would die at night all alone surround by flames. The pamphlets would give me nightmares and I haven't forgotten about them 20 years later. I have so many good stories regarding those neighbors. But I won't tell them all right now, I'll spread them out :) Oh, but here is one other good one. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were really popular at the time, and I had a bunch of the action figures. The Baker son, Daniel, had GI Joes. We would play angels and demons and my ninja turtles always had to play the demons, because the Bakers said thats what they were.

Happy Mothers Day!

Well, I spent a very nice Mother's Day with my parents. We tried to go to First Watch for breakfast at 9:30 but the wait was over an hour and a half long soooooooo we went up to the street to eat at the IHOP. And in no way does it sound as bad as it was! My sandwhich (think Moon over my Hammy) was great and everyone working there seemed really happy. And then we all went and saw IronMan. I liked it a lot and I had not even heard of this superhero before. I never really read comics growing up, unless you count Archie comics.

Saturday was also pretty awesome too. My sister Laura graduated from William Woods university so now my sisters and I are all done. This first picture is of her receiving her diploma from the President of the school. From there we took a ton of pictures outside the school and we made her do a picture channeling Mary Tyler Moore. I'm putting this up because it's totally cute!After graduation we all drove up to Columbia to go to a resturant she liked called Jazz: A Louisiana Kitchen. I have no issues with Cajun food so it was a great place to go (hooray for gumbo and hush puppies!). After that, Mom, Dad and I drove back to St. Louis concluding a very good day. So in conclusion, it was a very good weekend!
Movies to buy this week: Untraceable. Don't let the bad reviews sway you.

¡Feliz el cinco de mayo!

Mom and I went to Senior Pique's for a dinner of margaritas and burritos. I can't believe how packed it was -I have no idea what I was thinking. Something along the lines that "It's Cinco de Mayo, we will be able to walk right into a resturant!" But we got a table a half hour later inside the resturant. We could have ate outside with the Mariachi band but my allergies are still really bugging me and it was windy outside.

I did decide that If I had to chose between St. Patricks Day and Cinco de Mayo, I would definately choose St. Pats. To go a little farther, Ireland over Mexico. But still, it was a good night out and the mango margarita was definately strong. I should have done a $4 dollar Tequila shot for a free shirt but decided not too. These Tequila girls would come over and scream UNO DOS TRES and then blow a whistle as you downed it. There is always next year!

I wonder what Cinco de Mayo is like in Mexico. I'm not really sure. I am going to guess that everyday is Cinco de Mayo in Mexico.

Agony

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGH! My eyes are itching so bad! I just want to tear them out. Along with my ears. Why won't the Benadryl work?? Oh, but I still plan on playing 9 holes tomorrow. Our department's golf tournament is on June 14th and I have to get practice in.

Say it ain't so Miley!

Okay, I don't think the photos of Miley Cyrus in Vanity Fair are all that awful. And, c'mon! The photos were done by THE Annie leibovitz for Vanity Fair. It's not like these photos were done by Joe Blow for Maxium. I don't know why people are making such a big deal out of this saying they will never let their kids watch Hannah Montana again and blah blah blah. Hey, she could be like Jamie Lynn Spears, who is 16 and pregnant with a nut job of an older sister.

I want my picture taken by Annie Leibovitz too!

For all you haters

I am writing to you as a triumphant trivia winner. My team beat thirteen other teams for the glory and it's safe to say I won it for us. I swept the music, movies and sports rounds. The only 2 sections we struggled with was the history of North County, Missouri and retro TV. But we were able to answer enough in those sections to have a final winning score of 77. SNAP! And our prize for winning the tournament: 20 boxes of assorted Entemenns donuts. We each took four boxes and gave the rest out other groups (because we were totally gracious winners)!

One bad thing about the night...I was under the impression that the fundraising was for the school that we were at. But, no. It was for the St. Louis Cigar Club.

Remember Carly, it's AMERICAN idol!

I think it's going to be a good weekend! Saturday night I'm joining some friends for trivia night (I'm best for sports and American/European history) for charity. On Sunday, I'm going to the Cardinals game. It will be Sportsmans Park replica day! AND, the high temperature is to be 57 with a real feel of 50.

I wish I had direct deposited my tax returns, alas, I had them mailed to me. Now I have to wait a little bit longer while the checks are starting to be mailed on Monday. If you go the IRS website, it will tell you the approximate ship date based on the last 2 numbers of your social security number. Mine is due to be shipped out June 13th, 2 days before my birthday. How nice of the President! That way I can have it for a late July, early August vacation. In the meantime, I have to pay off my gas card. Sigh.

Paging Sarah Brightman

Andrew Lloyd Webber as the special guest coach on American Idol? Please. None of these singers are anywhere near the likes of Sarah Brightman, Michael Crawford or Betty Buckley. Boo.

The last episode of the John Adams miniseries aired. I cried through most of it. I guess I figured they would all live forever somehow! I just like the fact that they showed exterior/interiors of Jefferson's Monticello and I've totally been there. Did you know there is a whole I love Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson website? I thought I was the only one! They should do another miniseries with just him. I would so watch. But for now I will have to wait for this miniseries to come out on DVD in June. Guess I'll go read the book too. It did after all win the Pulitzer.

We went to PF Changs for my mom's birthday tonight. One of the waiters there was a girl I graduated from high school with. Her name is Leah. Back in 8th grade, she and I went to the movies together. We wanted to go see Seven because we had heard it was so scary but we werent old enough to see it. We bought tickets for another movie and were going to walk into Seven but chickened out at the last moment and saw Unsung Heroes instead. I don't know why that matters to me...

Movies to buy this week: The Orphanage, Cloverfield
Movie to rent this week: The Savages

Conversation Piece: Circuit City

Conversation between myself and the cashier at Circuit City:

Cashier: Just so you know, the Atlanta Braves suck.
Me: Huh?
Cashier: Your hat! Anyway, I'm just kidding.
Me: Oh. Well, my name starts with an "A."
Cashier: I know. I wear a Red Sox hat because of my last name.
Me: So, your name is Red Sox?
Cashier: No, it's Boston.
Me: Yeah, that was a joke.
Cashier: I'm not racist or anything, but I also work as a waiter. And I wear my hat and black people call me "B" like "Hey B!" I wish they would let us wear hats here, but with the red shirt it would look like we were dressed to work at a fast food resturant.
Me: Well in that case I would like fries with my DVD.
Cashier: Cool. Sign in the box over there.
Cashier >looks at signature on the computer<
Cashier: Wow, hitting the early morning bottle?
Me: No. Signing in a box isn't a perfect science. Well, thanks.
Cashier: Cool! Bye A.
Me: Uh huh.

Oh the HUMANITY!

Here is a picture of the damage that was inflicted upon St. Louis after today's earthquake.



All kidding aside, it was sort of fun. We even had 2 today. The first one woke up at 4:43 this morning and the first thing I thought was WHO THE HELL is having something delivered this early! But the shaking continued 15-20 seconds. I could hear my dishes rattling in the kitchen from my bedroom and stuff on my dresser moving around. But, I just laid there in bed and after it stopped, I rolled over and went back to sleep. I can't remember, are you supposed to stand in a doorway, or can you sit in the bathtub? Something about the bathroom being the strongest room in the house. Or, maybe that is for tornados....

The second earthquake happened at work and was just a short jolt. I was standing at someone's desk and all of a sudden I felt really sick to my stomach. I looked over at a computer and I could see the computer monitor shaking.

So the earthquakes came and went. It caused no major issues, no one died and could the local news please stop talking about it because it wasn't local at all. The epicenter - West Salem Illinois, is near the Indiana border.

Mariah? Is that you?

It's been awhile! I've been at my parents house dogsitting while they were out of town. So here is a few things you missed:

My ankle is feeling much better. I went to the surgeon who did both my surgeries and he said it was healing great and i'm just to be careful with it. The ankle is at it's most sore when it's stuck in the bended position when I am driving. It's also worn out by the end of the day so I have to give it a break. It is bruised to all get out though. I would put up a picture, but I just can't get a good angle with my camera.

Mariah Carey was the guest coach this week on American Idol. I went to 5th grade with a girl named Mariah back in Federal Way. I went to her birthday party and gave her a Mariah Carey tape. Nobody really like her. A couple of the boys would make paper cut outs of her and the chop off her head with one of those large paper cutters. And when I think back on it after 15 or so years, it's still totally funny to me.

As you know, I absolutely love the HBO miniseries John Adams. But, in the 6th part, John Adams looked absolutely scary. Here is the actor. He looks totally nuts! I know he was our President, but still. What happened to wearing wigs or something? If someone like that came up to me, It would cause me to pause. And, I've decided, he looks a little like this: Cousins maybe? Next time, I will tell you how much I heart Stephen Dillane as my personal favorite President, Thomas Jefferson.

Movie to buy this week: Juno

Australia calling

Michael Johns got kicked off of American Idol. Hahahahaaaaahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I couldn't stand that "thing" he did with his microphone and how he he would squint and look up to the right when reaching higher notes.

Arch Madness

Oh, I almost forgot what with all the excitment about my ankle. I went up the Arch with my cousins last week when they were visting.
It had been about 12 years since I last went up and nothing has changed. You still go up in a dryer top pod and its really cramped and tiny up at the top (Thats me at the top). But it was a nice day outside so you could see forever. I really like this shot down into Busch Stadium. The Cards were there playing the Nationals (we won!)That was worth it right there. Here is another shot of downtown, to the right of Busch Stadium. That is the Courthouse and Keiner Plaza in the middle.
Another thing my sisters and I did with our cousins is go bowling. Now, I really tried here, but I have not bowled since Elementary School. So, I ended up with a score of 23 in 10 frames. My sister won with a score of 109. Butbutbut, if there would have been bumpers up, I would have done so much better!

Ice Packed

Well, it was a long day at work. By the end of it my poor busted ankle was so swollen and sore I could not wait to get home to put it up and take a Vicodin. I can't take the pain medication at work because it just makes me sooooooooo sleepy. I haven't seen my ankle/foot look so big since they took the wrapping off after having surgery.

Speaking of surgey, I go see the surgeon who performed both surgerys on Monday. They want to do more X-Rays and an MRI to make sure there was no additional damage done. I hope they give me better information on what to do. The hospital said wear the splint for 4 weeks, don't exercise and call my surgeon. And then they sent me on my way!

Oh yeah, remember me telling you about the awful sound from my new TV? Well Dad hooked some Bose speakers up and it sounds so much better, but the problem still exists. So Firedog came out to look and said my speakers were blown on the TV. They were going to swap it out with a new one, but found out that they stopped making this TV. SO, I have 2 options; 1. upgrade the TV to something more expensive or 2. Have Samsung fix it. I decided I want them to fix it, thats why I bought that warrenty!

Movies to buy this week: There will be Blood
Movie to rent: P2

Falling on hard times

Well, tonight I was going to tell you all about last week, but then something happened. I had my night all set up today. I had to go to my parents real quick to take out the dog, then I was going to go to the gym for an hour and then be back in time to watch the Cardinals play the Astros. I ended up watching the Cardinals game (they lost) from the hospital.

Backtracking...So after work I drove home to take out Birdie. Mom works 10-6 on Mondays and the poor dog is in her kennel all day long. So I put her leash on her, heads towards the garage and missed the step. My ankle wobbled back and forth and gave out and I crashed to the garage floor. I ended up laying in a heap of pain on the concrete trying to hold onto Birdie's leash because the garage door was open. After a while I was able to pull myself back up and go back into the house and call mom. My ankle had already swelled up to half its size and it looked like a I had a golf ball on my ankle (left side) right where the surgeon opened it up. When Dad got home we all went down to St. Lukes. Wasn't too busy, they wheeled me around in a wheelchair. Had X-Rays done and found out I broke my ankle. But, its not a bad break. I only have to wear a splint for a few weeks and won't need crutches. But, they are going to have me meet with my surgeon so an MRI can be done and they can make sure there is no tearing. So now I have a splint on my left leg that goes halfway up the shin and I am on Vicodin for the pain.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Advil anyone?

Ouch

Watch the video. Bet that hurt.

Bad Firedog, Bad!

You spend all this money, and the soonest they can come out is April 9th? What kind of crap customer service is that? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgh.

I am so happy baseball is back. Poor Cardinals though, opening day was washed out. At least we get to see an extra game tomorrow!

I am trying to put together my summer vacation 2008. I have a few ideas: Wyoming, Virginia Beach, Seattle, Las Vegas, Portland, Chicago, Charleston and a few others I am kicking around. I need to decide if it's somewhere I want to drive or somewhere I will fly too, and not have to bother renting a car. I don't want to have to pay for plane tickets, room and a rental car. If you have any insight let me know.

Prince Albert in a Can

Well, it can never be perfect. My new TV and stand look totally awesome, but there are some issues. I had Circut City build the stand for me, but there is a large scratch right in the front. As for the TV, the picture is gorgeous, but its almost impossible to listen to it. The TV sounds like everyone is speaking from a tin can, giving it an incredibly "tinny" sound to the TV. And if there is music, you just have to mute it. So, naturallly, I wasn't happy. I went to down to Circuit City and they are sending someone out from FireDog to fix it. As for the stand, I was given 2 options: 1. Take a discount on it or 2. Have them build a new one and deliver it. I went with the discount, and got $53 dollars off my bill! I'll easily fix it with a furnature pen.

President Bush got a pretty resounding booooooooo while throwing out the first pitch at tonight's game at Nationals stadium. Nothing wrong with that.

Don't forgot, tonight is the Season 2 premier of The Tudors on Showtime!!!

Movies to buy this week: Sweeny Todd.

Its Alive!

My new TV arrived (sort of crappy picture, I know). But in an odd scheduling fluke Circuit City won't be coming to actually hook it up and turn it all on until Saturday. So, it's sitting in front of my bookcase because I still have my old entertainment center and TV sitting where all the new stand and TV will go. The TV stand it's on is new too - and weights 81.5 pounds so I'm not going to be moving it until the circuit city guy comes. The stand is actually a dark brown and will match the oil I have hanging on my wall right now. Saturday is sort of going to be a wash because he will come between 11-1 and then Charter will come between 3 and 5 to bring my new HD box. I got a break on signing up for HD; only $3 dollars more added to my cable bill!

I saw something intersting at the Post Office today. It was two foreigners mailing huge suitecases. Literally, suitecases. I had no idea the Post Office took suitecases as a viable means of shipping something. And they were good cases too! How stupid is that? It's going to get all banged up going overseas.

stuff white people like
Have you seen this website? It's so funny. I learned about it while reading the Boston Globe online.

Movies to buy this week: The Mist

My bracket is busted

Four of the teams I have in the Sweet Sixteen are already out. Ugh! But, Kansas and UCLA are still in it, I have Kansas set to go all the way.

So you might be hearing about the floods in Missouri. It is literaly down the road from me. About a 3 minute drive down the road (I am up on a hill). To get onto Highway 44 has been barricaded off because the road we would go down is under water. That is sort of weird. At the empty Schnucks by me there's about 30 semis in the parking lot and assorted MODOT vehicles. Stupid me, when I first saw the parking lot, I thought "Finally, a new store is moving into the empty Schnucks!" It's just nuts to be driving to my apartment and pass Highway Closed and Water on Road signs.

I love this picture of the Lewis & Clark statue on the St. Louis Riverfront. This is a before and after shot from this week. My question is, why don't they move the statue? This has happened to it before. Why not move it up just a tad? Oh well. I can't remember the name of their dog...Scout?

Next week is shapping up to be a really exciting week. I bought a new Samsung 40'' 1080 HD LCD tv. It's being delivered next Saturday. I also subscribed to the High Definition service from Charter and got a deal - only three dollars more added to my monthly bill. I'll put up a picture once everything has been set up!

In memorium

Stupid America. How could you? Now Kristy Lee Cook will never be voted off.

Carry on my Wayward Son

Back in the USSR

I Hate Myself for Loving you

Tar? Check. Feathers? Check.

So it rained all day. Who cares. There is no reason to complain. In April when everything is blooming and your allergies are killing you, you will wish it would rain.


I'm really into HBO's new miniseries John Adams. The guy deserves his due. But, I do have one issue. The first episode was rated TV-PG but it had male full frontal nudity for an extended time in one scene. What happened in the show was that there was a protest at the Boston Harbor and the English pulled this poor guy out of the crowd, ripped his clothes off, and then tarred and feathered him. I wonder if there were any parents who let their kids watch it because it was rated PG and then watched that? (I thought it was sort of funny...)
John Adams

L for Lame

I am happy to report that I am feeling a lot better. I go and see the ENT tomorrow so we will see how that goes...but the new medication has helped a lot. It was a good weekend and I got to go see the Funny Games movie. That was awesome! Not for the faint of heart though. Those poor yuppies. But for those who see the movie, I did not like the whole rewinding the movie thing. It's only playing in theater in St. Louis so if you want to see it go to the Tivoli.

While I was down in The Loop, I happened to past a group of about 20 protestors standing in front of the Church of Scientology building. Now, I think it's a totally bogus "religion" too, but hey, this is America people. And why where they wearing the Guy Fawkes masks from the movie V for Vendetta. How stupid is that? Yes, Guy Fawkes stood for something, fighting against the English government and all...but how does that relate back to a bunch of dorks in St. Louis protesting in front of that church. Why wear the masks from the movie. Wouldn't it discredit you if I leaned out the window and said how much I liked that movie? I dont understand.