Jill

I'm so excited!!! I just can't hide it! I know - I know - I know - I know - I know I want YOU. I want YOU.



Except for I got you!

Reason why I hate UPS: I had the above shoe order from Fluevog slated to arrive on Friday of last week. They sent it from San Francisco via UPS. I had an order from A Greater Gift (this really neat online store/catalog that sells fair trade items made to help reduce poverty in countries over the world) also due to arrive last Friday. They sent it from Connecticut via FedEx. FedEx drops it at my front door early Friday morning. Woo Hoo! UPS calls my cell phone twice with weird voice mail messages, gives me a vague delivery window (between 8am and 7pm, which is ever so convenient for those of us who work!), and then leaves a sticker on my door saying I can't just sign for it and gives me their inconvenient 30 minute window at the end of the day that I can pick it up.

Blarg to UPS. I understand they work really well for other things, but for the person who works normal M-F work hours away from the home, they are utterly irritating.

Anyhoo, I was lucky in that my conference call this morning lasted longer than normal, so I left for home for lunch today 17 minutes later than usual. I was also lucky in that the dog is really becoming obstinate about not going in her crate when I leave. Combine that with my last minute scavenging of the cupboards for an afternoon snack, and I step out the front door to see the UPS truck two houses down from me. The lady stops at my sidewalk, lets me sign her electronic thingie, and hands me my NEW SHOES. *clapclapclapclapclap* I haven't had a chance to try them on yet. I'm very excited, if you hadn't already noticed. They are on clearance, though, so the only sizes they had near my own (7.5) were the 6 and 8. So I ordered an 8. I haven't had a chance to try them. I will be so VERY UPSET if they don't fit, but I think they will be fine. If they work, I think I can then relegate my old Skechers that I bought in Boston a few years back to be my permanent lawn mowing shoes.

Interesting side note: Miss Jody Mae was visiting this weekend and spied my stupid love note from UPS and quickly got excited. "Did you buy those boots?!?!" Alas, no. I cannot really allow myself a $500 purchase at the moment - even with the stimulus check - for boots I don't really have the balls to wear very often. My car just hit 100,000 miles last month on my way back from Dallas, and has slowly been picking things to cost me money. I cannot afford another car until possibly next summer (or, I'll at least have a better down payment by then), so I will have to use the stimulus money to get my car in better shape.

Thing that makes me giggle:
On the St Cloud Times website, there is this story bit:

People look for ways to make quick cash
Al Lassen, manager of Granite City Pawn Shop, works on a firearms purchase application between customers Wednesday.

When I first read that, I thought that Al was gonna buy a firearm to make some quick cash!

It's early. Give me a break.

Baby Abraham was born at 5:34am on Saturday, March 8th. He's so cute! He has a little dimple in his left cheek just like his dad. He's got tiny little monkey feet.

It also finally occurred to me why the comic Baby Blues has a baby named Hammie. Before I always wondered why a family would name a kid after food. But I understand now that it is short for Abraham.

So Jody has two kids: Tater and Hammie. hehe.

I am SO ready for spring. The thing I look forward to most is the end of my eternal refilling of the humidifiers. I feel like every time I look at them, I have to refill them. And it's that or nosebleeds and annoying crusty boogers.

My cubicle is faced such that the sun in its current position is able to shine directly into my eyes in the 1 ft of window that peers out over the top of the cubicle. Methinks I'll have to get a tall shelf and add some plants to block it.

And seriously, people. Don't call me in the morning all bitchy because you can't type in a website address correctly. That ain't my fault. Good thing we have it in a PDF where the link is clickable. It's amazing how many fat fingers (including my own) that cures.

Oh yes, and also: taxes suck. I finally see why there are people out there rooting for Ron Paul. These are the people who want immediate gratification and are unable to save money. Kinda like me right now. I received the automatic deposit pay stub for my bonus and stupid taxes took almost half of it! And they treated it like my normal paycheck, so 10% went into my 401k and then the rest of it got put in our family accounts instead of my personal accounts. (That last part is more my fault than anything else, and just annoying that I have to transfer funds between accounts now.) I realize that I have to pay taxes and stuff, but my own naiveness had me assuming I'd just be getting a nice fat check to hold in my hands and drool over. *pout*

OK. One more amusing thing for the day.

So I only accidentally found the YouTube link I posted in my first post today by scrolling through old entries in a friend's of a friend's of a friend's ... journal. I personally live under a rock when it comes to anything YouTube-y or current mainstream music. (At work they have the radio set to a classic rock station with a total of about 50 songs in its rotation)

Jody calls me up tonight because her Rocki cat has feline pancreatitis and she's understandably upset. She also somehow bought 8 tickets to see a band (which I keep forgetting the name of... Oh yeah. the Fray) on Monday night but got bailed on by a bunch of people. So she invited me. Guess who is one of the Special Guests opening for them? Ok Go. The band who were in that enjoyable little treadmill flick.

Sometimes coincidences are just weird.

I know I told jo_mommday I'd take this class with her, but the way things went today, I will probably need to take it more than once.

Just signed up for #852 of Basic Motorcycle Training. So, June 5th, 9th and 10th, I'll be walking the half-block to the Tech college and hopefully learning how to not hurt myself. And, on someon'es bike that isn't my beloved husband's.

Today after begging and whining and being much of a nuisance, I finally conviced Tim to help me start to learn on the bike. His bike has a full gas tank and is pretty heavy, so I was getting very frustrated very quickly. I also am terrible at driving a manual transmission in a car, so those concepts are also new for me.

The best part of the afternoon was when I got the bike going in first gear and was driving down the alley. Unfortunately, the alley then goes to a road and I have to turn. Uh oh. I wasn't quite sure where the turn signals were and I thought I was supposed to pull in the clutch when trying to slow down (forgetting entirely that you also need the brake to slow down, so while holding in the clutch I was trying to find the turn signals, but I wasn't slowing down (going all of 15 mph) and I heard a bunch of honking and then I let go of the gas and the bike engine killed and I tipped it over.

Turns out the honking was me (the horn button is right below the turn signal button). I managed to break off the knob tip of the clutch handle and spill some gas on the alley. I was fine other than a scrape on the top of my ankle, and general disappointment.

So I went inside, put on a bandaid and got some knee-high boots on (instead of the shoes I was wearing). Put on Tim's gloves (just in case) and re-padded myself with helmet and jacket. Tim suggested that I just focus on my balance. Our driveway has a slight decline towards the alley, so he thought I should practice (without the bike running) going down the driveway and turning right and left into the alley.

I only got more frustrated. My frist trip down worked well, but trying to push the bike back up the driveway was a different story. It's heavy and wobbly and then I'm not all that strong, either. While on the bike, I couldn't push it backwards very well up the incline and off the bike it would wobble and I was all afraid I'd drop it and break something again. Tim pushed it back up for me and we had a few pep talks.

After a few minutes, and a lot of encouragement from Tim, I suited back up again and got back on the bike. I started rolling down the driveway again, but it was going faster than I wanted for my turn and I squeezed the brake handle hard. BOOM! and the bike was on the ground again. I'm glad I had my jacket and helmet on, because I hit the ground and only got a small scrape on my knee. But I was definitely done for the day.

I get so frustrated when things don't go right immediately. I was always someone who could catch on to things very quickly, so if I don't, I get crabby. Tim showed nothing but patience the entire time. I am very thankful for that!!!!

Mandatory overtime continues...

The parents seemed to have a good time this weekend. The Huskies won the hockey game on Friday. We had a good time. :)

Saturday we had lunch at Mongo's and it was yummy (as usual). We drove around town and I showed them the house with the fake palm trees on the river, where Tim works, where I work, and the rental house. That evening I made dinner and Jody and Jack came over. He is just smarter and smarter by the second, that one. At one point, he was looking through an old year book where I have a bunch of Jody's senior pictures. He had two in his hand and said "I have two mommies." Then he saw another one, picked it up and said "Now I have three mommies." How many three year olds know what three actually means? Usually it's just the word after "two". But Jack knows it means a quantity of three. He also claimed the little pocket reference book Mom and Dad gave me. When I put him to bed, he asked me to read out of his black book. So, now Jack and I know what to do if someone is suffering from hypothermia or a bloody nose. heh.

As it was his first time sleeping at Aunty Jill's house without Mommy (she was having an adult night out), I let him keep a little flashlight with him when he went to bed. Jody got in later and found the little blond three-year-old clutching a flashlight and a reference manual with a firetruck blanket wrapped around him. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken of that cute tableau.

We opened a few presents together and Tim gave me The Sims 2. My brain is no longer my own. Poor Murphy, my little Sim. He was having a hard time because he fell in love and married Nina and all he wanted was a baby. All she wanted was to have "WooHoo" with three different Sims. A baby was one of her biggest fears. But, days have gone by and they now have a little girl who promptly barfed all over her daddy. :)

Do not expect any kind of intelligent conversation with me for the next few weeks. You have been warned.

The illustrious Miss Jody Mae has gotten herself an LJ: jo_mommday. Go give'er a hug, will ya?

Interesting thing.

Jody and I have been friends since I moved back to Minnesota in tenth grade. We had a rocky year in 2000 when she said Andrea would fuck us over and not pay rent and I didn't believe her and then Andrea fucked me over and didn't pay rent. We graduated from college together. When she got pregnant with Jack, I had bought a pregnancy test the week before for myself. When she became a single mom, I became single three days later. That adorable little crying pooper helped us both get through some trying weeks as we adjusted to our single status. Every vehicle either of us has ever owned is the same color as the other person's at that time. She had a white Dodge Sundance in high school. I had a white Chevy Nova in high school. She had a white Chevy S10 pickup in college. I had a white Pontiac Grand Prix in college. She got a beige-y tan colored SUV after moving to the cities with a full time job. I got a beige-y tan colored sedan after getting a full time job. None of these decisions were premeditated or planned.

Lately we've both been very busy with life and family and work. We haven't seen each other as often as we'd like or talked to each other as often as we'd like. In fact, I hadn't seen her in about three weeks until last night.

Did I mention I got a short, sassy haircut last Saturday? Did I mention she got a short, sassy haircut on Wednesday? Did I mention we hadn't told each other about our plans to get short, sassy haircuts?

It's nice to know that even if we are distant in some ways, we'll still be on the same wavelengths.

Bachellorette party was yesterday. It was fun.

First I had to have a sobbing reunion with the hair stylist and now my hair is no longer purple. Yay.

Then, the glorious Miss Jody Mae picked me up and we had some tasty soup and fancy tea with steamed milk (I believe they called her fancy tea Xocatlatl) at Serendipity. We did not see the ghost, but we also stayed downstairs. We chatted about busy life, crappy dad's who don't pay child support and give her many many health insurance issues, and how she generally needed a vacation a year ago and it still hasn't happened yet. And, of course, how she needs a conjugal visit by either The Rock or a close look-a-like.

Next, we stopped at the DayLily Spa for many hours of pampering, champagne drinking and peanutbutter cookie chomping, gossiping, laughing, debating, and general good girly fun. All of the bridesmaids were there and it's just darn fun to hang out with them.

A side note: I smudged my nail polish less than twenty minutes out of the door there and I think the massage chair gave me a bruise!

Dinner at Ciatti's was good. The Salmon Orriechette was ordered by Dana and myself and we all agreed it needed something in the sauce. A little too flavorless. We were joined by Kelly, Amanda, and Ms. superna and had some good fun conversing as well. Karen, one of the bridesmiads, had to leave after that step as she's had strep throat for a month and anti-biotics and alcohol don't mix. Amanda also is on the anti-biotics, so she was kind enough to be our sober cab.

We trudged through the rain across the parking lot to the martini bar, where I was handed my bouquet of "suck for a buck" lolipops and garbed out in various dollar accessories from Target. (Including a blinking red lips pin which Karen surreptitiously helped me attach to my butt. I'd had a few drinks by then and was thoroughly amused! Wore it all night and I think Tim is planning on wearing it tonight on his crotch during his bachelor party. We be classy here in the Cloud.)

At the martini bar, I stumbled across a bachelor party and was propositioned by a groom-to-be to sit on his lap and suck cake frosting off his fingers in exchange for the lolipop. He, sadly, was turned down by a creeped out Jill. I was only slightly less creeped out when attempting to rid a loli on two older gentlemen, one of whom proclaimed he was getting divorced in two months and insisted I tell him why the hell I'd want to get married in the first place and what does this guy do for you anyway? Katie met up with us there and Dana had to take off -- she has my future nephew, the 17-yr-old, home alone that night and was eager to get back.

Our next stop was DB Searles across the street. I sold off the remaining suckers and also got a free shot and a few free drinks to boot. At one point while squeezing through the crowd, a man, upon seeing my outfit and big veil, wished me a happy birthday. We had a bit of a giggle over that. We rocked out to Kelly's high school alum and his band for quite a while, but the room was incredibly hot and we were quickly running out of layers to remove and still keep our modesty, so we headed off for The Press.

Kelly's fiance Dewey had picked Tim up and brought him to The Press, to be met by Katie's fiance, and an usher, Scott, and Cyndy's husband Dennis. We also ran into a recently promoted co-worker who has an unenlightened view of women. Thankfully, I did not have to hear first-hand his account on whose boobs are what classification in his puny little brain. Tim bought me a shot to take in my nifty plastic shot ring and additional dancing ensued. The party was winding down, as most of us had mates present.

All in all, the party was great. I got to hang out with some of my best friends, eat good food, drink good drinks, I was hugged and congratulated by many a stranger and escorted to the "little girls room" by an amicably amused white-haired man. I'm not overly hung over, and I came home to a beautifully cleaned house. My man loves me. :) So much so that he was vehemently requesting that if he called me tonight during his bachelor party, that I would come join them.

It's rainy and cold outside now, so I think I'll make myself some tea and curl up on the futon to crochet a bit more. Perhaps the cat will be good enough to sit on my lap a bit. :)

( Tim in Vegas )

( Mom's travels )

( Shower scares )

( Sunday adventures )

And then we had some Pho. :)

( Shower decorations )

( Saturday night )

( Math problems and crazy seamstresses )

Then we had BLT sandwiches at Benton Station. Mom thinks it will be a great place to bring Dad for lunch when they come up in May.

I also amused my mother this morning with this video.

Her friend Gail gave her a book that had us both cackling on the couch.

And now I think I will reserve hairdresser appointments for the big day and take a lovely nap on the couch.