Oh What a Beautiful Morning

It really was a beautiful morning on my drive in today. The countryside was misty with dew and the fog was clearing, giving everything this really peaceful glow. I feel good. My cold is finally gone. My back doesn't hurt. I got enough sleep last night. The baby didn't wake up screaming because her teeth hurt. And a Democrat is back in the white house! What a great morning!

I actually don't care about the Democrat part because I vote based on facts, actions, and who I feel would be the best person for the job. That being said, I'm glad Barack is in. All that being said, I hope he puts his ass to work and isn't all talk.

My radio show played "We will we will Barack you" and spliced in part of his speech last night. (Which I missed because I was asleep expecting the election to take a while to call.) It was super hilarious. But it gave me an idea. Today, I'm going to be fitting in "Barack" as much as I can.

I started out by stopping at Caribou and getting a "Barack-accino". Then I picked up some "Barack-olate" pretzels for treats for my team. And then I came in and my computer won't let me onto the work network. So it's just "Barack". Try it! It's fun! I'm going to try to do this all day long. ...I'll let you know how far I get.

Happy Barack-ensday!

Hot Naked Men

Yep. You heard me. HOT NAKED MEN. My how I love them so...


For an early birthday treat, my SILs, my cousin and I all headed out to the local casino to see some hot man action. They were called American Storm, and claimed to be the top "man show" act in Vegas. Honestly, I find that hard to believe, but maybe...


It was a lot of fun. My two SILs were a little worried before the show started, but once they got past the first guys act, they loosened up and felt some relief. Even though, they did tense up whenever the guy would jump off stage and go looking for a girl to molest in the audience. They brought several girls up on stage and we were all worried that one of us would get picked. I didn't care too much, because obviously, any reason I get to put my hands all over some hot-rock-hard-ab man, I'm totally going to take it, but I guess some girls are a little more modest than I am. (Imagine that.)


DJ's sister got a lap dance from one of them. He ran her hands down his chest. She didn't really know what to do. Then she said she didn't know what to do with all the oil on her hands, so she just rubbed it in... ha!


I couldn't really get into that guy though because he had a strong resemblance to my friend Kai. No offense to Kai, but he's beaten into my head how nasty he thinks girls are a little too much. (ummm.. did I mention his gayness?) So seeing a guy that looked like my gay friend, taking his cloths off, sort of worried me. All that being said, I sure hope my friend Kai looks like this guy did with no clothes on!


The announcer/stripper came up to me because it was my birthday and talked to me for a while. (OK. I was a little relieved that I didn't get pulled up on stage.) Then, one of the other guys came over later and slimmed me up with all his body oil and gave me a kiss. (On the cheek. Don't freak out.)


Afterwards we headed to the lounge for a free drink. Some of the strippers showed up there afterwards, so that was fun to watch all the drunken girls fall all over them. As if these strippers are really going to have a relationship with any fat girl from Fargo. Seriously.


The announcer/stripper guy gave me his business card. He works at Tao as one of their VIP Marketers. So if anyone wants free tickets to a "Man Show" let me know and I'll give the dude a call! I was a little sad that the guy had a real job on top of stripping. I would have much rather have enjoyed thinking of him as just a piece of meat. But oh well, now I have free show tickets next time I'm in Vegas! Who's gonna meet me there next time?

UPS SUCKS!

I mailed a package to my mom and dad via UPS on May 14th. (You may recall me bitching about it here.) Well, they can't find my package so I'm getting my money back. However, it still sucks because one of the things I mailed was somewhat one of a kind. So now I have to figure out what to do for that gift. The people that work at the UPS store are inept too. No wonder my package is lost if that's what they hire for their stores.

No matter though. I inflated the prices I paid for the stuff some, so that should ease my suffering from having to shop all over again. All in all, I should be getting about $120 back. My stuff, plus their packaging and shipping fees. Crappy UPS. I won't be using them again. I suggest you follow my lead.

In other notes: Things are still biting me in my sleep. The air conditioning is fixed! And I didn't have to pay for it! woo hoo! And, the best news of all! I got my car back on Monday! It's so exciting! It feels so weird to drive it too. The steering wheel is so much more comfortable in my car, and I really missed my cup holders. I also missed the "no smell" in my car. The celebrity smells like moth balls.... Ahhh... yes, it's the little things that make me happy.

Best Weekend Ever!

OK. So it may not turn out to be the best weekend "EVER", but it's going to be a pretty awesome weekend for me. I've got 3 of my favorite gal pals coming UP to see me, and my two SILs are also going to come up. I think it's going to be a blast!

DJ has left the building. Which is actually sort of depressing for me. He's headed to the big W straight from work when he gets off at 6:00am. So I don't get to see him all day tomorrow. :( sniff sniff.

So when the girls get here, it will literally be a girls weekend. I'm totally excited!

OMG!

I'm totally shitting my pants right now. We got our bonus' today and I got the FULL AMOUNT of my bonus!!!!! Woo hooo!!!! I'm scared to open my envelope though because I don't want to be sad when I see the amount of taxes that have been taken out. They take like 30% for gift taxes. Bastard government! So I'm going to just be happy that I have money for the moment, and not open it until I get home.

I can't believe it though! I got it all!!! I must be loved over here. And none of the prorated crap like stupid wilsons either.

I can't wait! I've got big plans! Pay off a credit card bill that just decided to bend me over with a 25% APR, then pay off a loan I've almost got paid off, buy christmas gifts, and then buy stuff for me and baby. Woo hoo!

Five-Hundred Fifity-Fifth Post

In honor of my 555th Post (It's actually been more, but I've deleted some old posts) I decided I should create some sort of customer banner instead of the same ole cookie cutter ones. I've found some interesting things that I can do to my blogger template, so I suspect, as usual, I'll be messing around with things every once in a while.

OK. On to the Weekend Update! This weekend was a pretty active weekend for us. DJ had one of his college buddies come into town, and when he’s in town, it’s a guaranteed crazy time. Friday night, one of the nearby towns was having their annual summer street dance. It was a long night. Apparently, there were some late night calls made to one particular hot single friend of min. (Sorry about that Jordan. If you wouldn't be so hot and friendly, maybe people wouldn't call you.)

On Saturday, we hung out with my cousin and his "Red Neck Yaght Club" friends. They are a group of about six or seven guys who all have sail boats. Pretty much, every weekend they come in to town and play on the lake all weekend long. This time, it was about twenty of us on the lake that I grew up on. Oh, let me remind you that it was over 100 degrees on Saturday. That’s pretty hot for here. Usually it’s around 80-something.

So we’re boating around the lake, and it only took about ten minutes before we decided it was really frickin’ hot. I think I sweat from areas of my body that I never even knew I could sweat from. After sailing for about 2 hours, we stopped at a sand island in the middle of the lake to swim. It was a pretty cool site. All the sail boats came into the island and beached themselves, then we just waded around in the water for a while. OK. We waded around for about 5 hours. The water felt so good, we didn’t want to get out.

Surprisingly, I am not burnt to a crip. Although my husband and his friend are. I actually, am sporting a very nice tan. Which is something I haven’t had since I moved out of Texas. I have to say, I could get used to this whole sailing and swimming ritual. After DJ sheds his sunburn, we’ll have to go out again.

Ahhh, this is the life! The three months of warmth make me feel like I have a charmed life. Even though I live in BFE USA. But then I'm slapped back into reality pretty quickly come October. Brrrr.

I have one more update. This girl at my office was giving away Beta Fish away. So I have a new pet. He meets my critera. Fuzzy that will never die, or a fish. Well...he's a fish so it worked out well. He's been swimming around his bowl ever since I put him in there. Looks like he's a pretty habby little guy. I've got to think of a good name. I'm thinking Kashi. What do you think?

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Today is DJ and my Three Year Anniversary. Doesn't sound like much, but I'm still surprised that I haven't gotten sick of him. ha! That means I've been having sex with the same guy for 6 years. SIX YEARS! Isn't that crazy? The same one guy. And I still like him. Who would have ever thought that would happen?

We're not doing anything special today. He can finally get into one of his fields, so I'm giving him a reprieve for this year. We've got some fun plans for our long weekend retreat. I won't tell you what they are, because that's between me and the man, but I can tell you there will be a lot of "loving" going on. :o)

Holy Crap!

I guess I'm having a good week and didn't even realize it.  I went to a meeting, and when I came back there was a little St. Patties Day package on my desk.  So in my head I say, "Cool candy!  Wonder what this is for?"  I read the attached note.  Here is what it says:

 

"KB is the quintessential multi-tasker; she willingly takes on projects that range from exciting and challenging to tedious and routine. Her positive attitude and "can-do" spirit help solve problems...  KB effectively communicates with other departments in order to resolve issues.  She's also willing to share any technical information she has gleamed from her research about e-commerce and the industry, and she contributes many creative ideas to drive more traffic to these sites. KB's enthusiasm and professionalism make her a terrific asset to the company.

--Nominated by Anonymous, Web"

 

Holy Crap.  I almost cried.  I was nominated for employee of the month!  I've always wanted to nominated for EOM, but never have been.  I'm totally shocked.  All this time I have been thinking I am not effective and that I should be trying to get more involved with things that I can effect.  Wow.  I'm shocked.  Just shocked.  I don't know what to do.  Do I just shout out a big thanks to everyone on my team, since it's anonymous and don't know who it is?  I don't want to come off as gloating though.  So then do I just ignore this little package and pretend it doesn't exist?  I want to share the candy with everyone on my team though.  So maybe I do mention it to everyone and say, "Thanks!  Eat some candy!"  I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but it really makes my day.  Especially with the way I've been feeling lately.

 

Wow.....  sigh....  OK.  Back to work!  (Or maybe this means I don't have to work anymore???  ha!  Just kidding.)

 

Now I have to go weigh in at WW.  Yulk.  That's going to be bad news.  I just know it.

Compliments

I just got the nicest compliment and it was from a complete stranger.  Well, she's not a complete stranger. I've seen her around the office, but don't know who she is, and don't work with her directly. Anyway.  I'm standing at the copier and she walks up and says, "I hope you don't take this rudely, but I admire your figure.  I wish I had it.  You always look good in the things you wear..."  I was totally surprised!  I told her that I was doing weight watchers to try to lose 30 pounds and she said she was trying something else to lose the weight.  I told her she totally made my day. 

 

I should have also told her that anyone can look good clothed, the key just lies in picking the right kind of cloths for yourself. Maybe I will if I ever wind up talking to her again, and I have the right lead in.

 

OK.  I better get back to work.

Important Announcement

I am very pleased to announce that DJ and I have bought REAL bed for my townhome. Woo Hoo! It's so exciting! We went around a looked at about 4 different places. 2 of which were mattress factories. Needless to say, after a night of bed searching, you start to wonder why you even care anymore. And all these salesmen talk about beds like they are cars. So we decided to "sleep on it". We finally decided to go with the first place we visited. Our bed is being specially made. It's very exciting! If at any time we decide we want more padding, less padding, firmer coils, blah blah blah, we can just call them, and they make the adjustments on it for free. Weird, and highly unlikely that we will actually take advantage of it. But the price was good, and we have the option. It is being delivered on Wednesday morning when we'll have just enough time to put the new bedding on it, and then we're off to the airport! It'll be all ready and waiting for us when we get back from our vacation.


Thumb Update:
I've effectively regenerated skin on most of my thumb. The only part left to heal is the deepest part, and that scab appears as if it'll fall off any day now. It's totally neat to watch my skin grow. I've got like 3 different colors of flesh on my one little finger.

Bonus!

I got my bonus yesterday. Which is so nice for many many many reasons. Should we count the ways?

1. It's nice to work at a company that ACTUALLY pays out their bonus as promised.
2. It's nice to work at a company that not only pays out it's bonus, but pays it out when you need it most. (Unlike a certain other crappy company I worked at that stalled stalled stalled and then ripped you off.)
3. It's nice to work for a company that gives out big bonus potential.
   One by one we were called into my managers office, where she gave us praise for being such a great team.
4. Even though the gift tax raped me, I don't care so much because it's still a good chunk of money! (Unlike some crappy other company that prorated, and deducted amounts at whim prior to cutting the check to you, on top of Uncle Sam's cut.)
5. I still have a large enough amount that I now get to pay off a credit card.
6. I can now afford to buy a new bed for the master bedroom.
7. I can now pay off my lowest outstanding student loan. This will leave only one outstanding that will be payed off within 2007.
8. I think after all that, I will still have enough left over to pay off one of my department store credit cards then close it out.
9. This leaves me hopeful for when my annual review comes around, which happens 1 year from when you start. So everyone's review date varies making it nice for the managers I'm sure.

Want to Know?

Want to know where Self Magazine Ranked your city in that article I talked about a few posts back?

 

Follow this link.  Interesting stuff.

 

http://www.self.com/livingwell/articles/2006/11/20/healthy_cities

 

Ranking on Places I used to live:

 

Albuquerque

Population: 764,600
Ranking: 44 out of 100

+ Heart disease deaths one third below average
+ 69 more days of sunshine than average
+ In top 10 areas for air quality

– Second highest suicide rate on list
– Violent crime nearly 75 percent above average
– In bottom fifth of list for prevalence of asthma and allergies

Fort Worth
Population: 1,878,300
Ranking: 93 out of 100

+ Top-ranked area on list for watershed quality
+ Women's cancer death rates nearly one fifth lower than average
+ 20 more days of sunshine than the average place on SELF's list

– In bottom 10 areas for rates of women getting mammograms
– Less than half the average number of ob/gyns and internists per capita compared to the average city
– Drinking rates among the 10 highest on the list

Dallas
Population: 3,886,600
Ranking: 77 out of 100

+ Among 10 lowest rates of depression on SELF's list
+ Among top 10 places for watershed quality
+ Women's heart disease death rate nearly 30 percent below list average

– 21 percent of women lack health insurance, among the list's five highest rates
– Among bottom 10 cities for air quality
– Among the five lowest rates of women getting mammograms

Happiest Place in the World

In the issue of Self Magazine that hit stands today, Fargo-Moorehead was named the Happiest two Cities for Women. Isn't that interesting? Aren't you girlfriends jealous? I get to live here, and you don't. Nah nah nah nah boo boo! I totally feel the envy as you continue to read through this post. There's no need for you to hide it. I already know.

As I was waiting in line to get to the condiment tray at Qdoba, right there, on the front page of the Fargo Forum was this headline, "So, Are you Happy?". "Why yes I am", I replied to my inner self. Why wouldn't I be? I had a huge ass burrito in my hand, it wasn't windy outside, and it was up to a whole 56 degrees!

Who the heck knew that these people were actually happy up here. Then I thought to myself. Well, I'm actually about 95% happy, so I guess it is possible.

I posted the article here so you don't have to follow a link.

So, Are You Happy?

By Erin Hemme Froslie

The Forum - 11/21/2006

Smile, women of Fargo-Moorhead.

In the issue that hits stands today, Self magazine names the two cities the happiest in the nation.

Low crime rates, low unemployment and short commutes are among the top reasons editors at the popular women’s health and fitness magazine declared our community a nirvana of sorts. Because of its size, residents also get to know each other, and families tend to stay nearby.

“Having a sense of community and a sense of belonging is very important to feeling happy,” said Jessica Kaster,
a psychologist at Lakeland Mental Health Center in Moorhead who is quoted in the magazine package. “If you need support, you can find it here.”

Area women we talked to agree with the findings in Self, which boasts more than 5 million readers.

Happiest cities
1. Fargo-Moorhead
2. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
3. Nassau-Suffolk Counties, N.Y.
4. New Haven-Meriden, Conn.
5. Boston

Unhappiest cities
1. Las Vegas
2. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
3. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
4. Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
5. Jacksonville, Fla.

My Actual Birthday Celebrations

Well, you're all going to be disappointed. Last night was quite a bore. (I guess that's what happens when you get old.) I wound up doing my laundry, and waiting for the man to show up. DJ is working hard in the fields so he didn't leave until 6:30 or somewhere in there. He didn't get to my place until 8:00. We didn't even go out to dinner. I ordered us a pizza and we watched Nip Tuck. We didn't even do "it" because he was so tired. Poor guy. I'm not too upset about it though because the weekend was so much fun, and I know that he's really tired and stressed right now. Since it was a Tuesday, I really didn't mind doing nothing either. Snuggling with my man on a weekday felt really good. Can't wait until January when he actually lives with me! Woo hoo!

I just got back from my eye doctor. My eyes have not changed a bit! Wow! That's exciting for me because they always get worse. I started taking a supplement for them, that has Lutein, Bilberry, Zanthethin (sp) and a bunch of other crap good for your eyes. I know my left eye was getting better because things were less blurry. So I'm totally excited! My Insurance paid for my contacts in total. Unlike my crappy old job that only paid for 2/3 of them (Bastards).

Saturday Part II

After I finished with DJs laundry, I decided to stop over to my Grandma’s and see what she was up to. My cousin, my aunt, and she were fixin’ to watch a movie, so I decided to stick around. I hung out with them for a couple of hours.

Hint #1 that something was going on: I call him around 3:30 to see what he’s up to, if he wants me to come out there, or what. So he tells me that he thinks he’ll quit around 5:00, and maybe we can go to dinner or something. This is weird because he NEVER quits working this early during harvest season. Especially since it was so nice out. He tells me he’ll call me when he decides to head into town. So I say, “OK” and we hang up.
Hint #2 that something was going on: He calls me at 5:01pm. He NEVER calls me exactly when he says he’s going to call. Usually he calls me 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour later than he tells me. So when he called. I knew for sure something was in the works.
Hint #3 that something was going on: Once he gets home, and cleaned up, he’s already ready to get out of the house and off to dinner. It was only 5:38! He doesn’t eat that early. In fact, he’s always giving me crap for being hungry around 6:00. So I just KNEW that people were waiting for us at the restaurant.

We get to the restaurant, where I am expecting to see my family sitting at a table. Instead, I see my 3 girlfriends from the Cities! I was so excited! I almost cried. I was so excited (and a little embarrassed at the same time, since the Big W is not very exciting this time of year. I wasn’t sure if they’d have any fun or not). So we ate dinner and headed out on the bustling town. Ok. (Maybe we were the only people out.)

One thing I wasn’t expecting was for DJ to organize getting my cousins and have them gather at the Legion. Usually in a small town, we all wind up drinking together anyway. So I was expecting to see some of them anyway. But turns out, he made sure to call everyone and have them come out. I had a blast. It was so much fun having Jordan, Sara, and Charlotte around again. I could post a whole separate blog on just that topic. I have a feeling my in-laws saw a whole new side to me!

Now, I KNOW for a FACT that Jordan had a good time, and I am somewhat sure Sara and Charlotte did as well. Like I said, not much to do in a small town but sit around and drink. And drink we did! Especially me. A girl who’s breaking out a new decade of life can’t turn down drink that were bought for her. Who knows when a man other than her husband will buy her a drink again? Probably never actually.

Anywho, I had a blast! It was the best birthday gift a girl could ever get from her closest friends! The gift of them! What they don’t know is how much I really loved seeing them. I can’t even try to put it into words. I’m very happy that they decided to risk their lives in someone’s silver bullet, just to come little ole Podunkville me. Thanks Sara and Charlotte for leaving your babies to come see little ole me. (ephasis on the ole now) My husband is also super fabulous, because he actually spent some time helping to coordinate this, and he's been working 18 hour days to get his crop in. I feel very blessed to have such good people to call my friends!

Oh yeah, stay tuned for photos from the evening too!

Birthday Celebrations

So I've decided something really fun to do for my birthday. But it won't happen because what I want to do happens this Friday. And all my fun friends live 3 or more hours away. :o( The Thunder Down Under are appearing at the casino 1/2 way between here and the big W. They'd totally be awesome to see! They are hotter than Chipendales, and these guys have accents. Which we all know, any guy with an accent is automatically hotter than a guy without one.

It'd totally be a good time if I could get my cities friends to come down/up/over (Did I cover them all for you Jordan?) But I think the one friend who'd really appreciate this sort of thing is out of town on business this weekend (J), and the other two I think I'd have fun with (S,C) I don't really have any place to house them if they could make it. My town home would be alright, but DJ's house is closer to the casino, and his place is just embarrassing. I don't even let relatives in that place. So I guess whoa is me. Even though the casino does have hotel rooms attached to it.... Well... either way, it's a little bit short notice.

Dang! I just tried to go to their website to grab some photos and I've been "Websensed" due to sex and gambling. Dang! Websense sucks. If I remember, tonight I'll post some pics of them when I get home. I'm totally bummed because I wanted to see if there was anything going on at the casino on Saturday because that's where I think I'm going to make everyone go instead of sitting in the local bar staring at each other.



Here's one I pulled off of ticketmaster. (Enjoy if you can see it.)