Contradiction

It's Freezing outside - FREEZING! I hate being cold more than just about anything. I hate sitting down on a frigid toilet seat (only in my bathroom - in public restrooms I follow a strict hover only policy), I hate that my fingers and toes feel like ice cubes just about 24-7 unless of course I sit on my hands or take boiling hot baths to thaw them out. The baths serve the purpose of a quick warm up but then I'm left with lizard skin that's not fit to be seen or touched by anyone! The Arctic air makes me cough, the indoor heat makes my nose dry up like the freakin Sahara, and I can barely venture out of my bed because the rest of the house is so cold all I do is shuffle around mumbling loudly about how &#)^#@ cold it is.

Having said this I'd like to say there's always room for ice cream. I realize this is crazy but even when it's cold enough to turn my constantly runny nose to snot cubes, ice cream has a warm spot in my heart.

Last night Stef and I had dinner and then went to our favorite ice cream spot for a quick fix. J.P. Licks has the best Oreo ice cream EVER and whenever we're near one we have to stop. As we are sitting there in our down coats, scarfs, gloves, hats, long underwear, and wool socks eating our favorite treat I realized just how ridiculous it is to be so blasted cold yet still go for the frozen treat.

Against my better judgement I'm posting a pic of me in the under layers of my winter get up (silk long underwear, knee high socks under wool socks). You can see that I don't miss too many (honestly I don't miss any) opportunities to eat ice cream. I'm also posting a pic of Stef (who looks as sweet as the ice cream) while she is eating the ice cream - note the full winter ensemble she has on. So there we sat - bundled up, shivering, eating frozen treats. Life is good :)

"Sunny" Florida

Just got back from a quick trip to Florida to see the parents and spend some time with Bugg. It was nice and sunny for the first 24 hours - we got to eat lunch outside on the Bay and I got to sport flip flops and my new pedicure for a few days. Steve and Dad were able to fish but it was mostly in the rain - sometimes torrential downpours (fishermen are crazy). Steve caught a snapping turtle. Not exactly a trophy bass but something to talk about. :-) It did stop raining long enough so that we could cruise around in the golf cart - my favorite thing to do when I'm visiting. I can't tell you how relaxing it is to wheel around in that thing. I'm sure it sounds a bit crazy but I love it. While it was rainy and overcast most of the time it was cozy and warm in the house and my mom was channeling Martha Stewart and Paula Dean with all the fabulous cooking! On Saturday we went to Highlands Hammock State Park. It's a really cool place that looks prehistoric - honestly there is an eerie feeling that a dinosaur could walk out at any minute. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlands_Hammock_State_Park

We celebrated Steve and my dad's birthdays complete with cakes and candles. And had fresh strawberries, freshly squeezed orange juice and my favorite: homegrown tomatoes. The only bad thing was that the trip went by way too fast!

Chillin over the weekend

Had a nice weekend - although I could have used some more sleep and Friday could have been a tiny bit warmer - the wind chill was below zero during the day - it was COLD!!! Kristin and I went to the Burren on Saturday - listened to a great band, the Spitting Vinnies, and made some new friends - Robin and Ben - or in the celebrity couple world - "Roben".

Sunday Stef and I chilled with Momma Moira and sweet Baby Vincent. "You have a baby - no waiting in line!" Thank God for little babies - b/c of V we didn't have to wait quite as long in the line outside of where we had brunch. But honestly how could you resist his precious lil face!

Oh! One thing that made the weekend "totally awesome" was the guy at the Burren with the full on Rat Tail - braided and EVERYTHING - please see picture for details - I tried to get a decent pic but it was hard to do it without looking obvious.

If every Monday could be like this...

Had lunch with the girls to see Tori off - she and Tom are going on a round the world - super fantastic - here's a shovel can you dig it fool - trip of a life-time!!! Then we got our nails done, had a couple of mini neck massages, and some Starbucks to chase the cold away. So Nice!

Bella

This is the dog I want...

Huh?

I've seen lots of strange things on the train but this morning I saw something that was just - well - odd. It made laugh because it was 1. unexpected 2. being done by a seemingly 'normal' person 3. so damn early in the morning.

Scenario - standing outside waiting for the T when a woman all done up her biggest, fluffiest, warmest winter finery gets in line. She has two backpacks, a purse, gloves, and about 50 other things flying around her as she prepares herself to get on the T. One of the things I notice is something wrapped in a paper towel - this she shoves in her coat pocket. I'm curious though - what is it that's wrapped in that paper towel?

On the train she is sitting across from me - still messing with her things - zipping and unzipping - taking out and putting in - when to my delight she whips out the paper towel mystery from her pocket. SCORE!

She takes off her gloves - what could it be? She unwraps it....the anticipation is intense...it's long and yellow - a banana perhaps? No, not your typical breakfast item but... an ear of corn. AN EAR OF CORN. She unwraps an ear of corn and starts gnawing on it for breakfast. Please see the numbered items above for why this made me laugh. It's just not something I expected to see - I wouldn't eat on the T if you gave me all the Kit Kats in the world - it's just so germ infested - so to see this woman touch that ear of corn with her dirty T hands and then eat it - ick! She might as well have licked the floor or the homeless person's a** sitting next to her.

Luther, Kilts, and the Girls

Busy this weekend checking out the music scene - i.e. hung out at a couple of pubs with the girls.

Friday night we saw Luther Johnson http://www.telarc.com/biography/bios.asp?aid=46

On Saturday we went to the Burren - it was the owners 40th birthday - the pub is Irish - he's Irish so the place was FULL of Irish - had a great time. A shout out to our barely legal boy in the kilt! The band was great and we even got to hear some bagpipes.

Holiday Pics

Birthday Fun

Took this picture with my camera phone on the T on the way home after my birthday.

Two things are scary about this picture:

1. We are all sober


2. Stefanie (on the left) was the only one intentionally making a "crazy" face - she thought that's what we were going to do - Kristin and I - we just naturally look crazy.

Year End Reflections

Let's do a quick recap...

1. I'm now 34


2. Almost lost one of my best friends


3. Gained a few new ones


4. Divorced - officially


5. Dating - officially


6. Went through 3 different hair stylists


7. Did a few things that scared me


8. Watched the Cardinals win the World Series


9. Got a speeding ticket for the first time since I was 20 - thanks NY - you really do suck!


10. Saw Guns N Roses

I think the homeless person (see picture) I saw on the train a few weeks ago sums it up best...

"I got no worries, no job, no boss, no woman (no man for that matter) but I'm not against the gays, that's not my business, you wanna be gay be gay who am I to judge anybody. I've got 25 hallways I can sleep in anytime I want, I don't worry about anything. I'm just sitting here on this train enjoying my buzz. I'm not drunk, I'm just buzzed. Just riding this train, keeping warm. You white folks come out when it gets cold out - not like us black folks - we don't handle the cold like you do..."

He continued voicing the random thoughts in his head for the entire 20 minute train ride and it was awesome. He may have been buzzed but he sure did have the right idea: a) just sit and enjoy the ride b) live and let live c) don't forget to rest once in awhile d) don't worry too much e) if you're white be sure to dress warmly because apparently we like the cold :-)

From his picture you can see that he is dressed for the holidays as well which is nice :-) He clearly has the Christmas spirit.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!!

This one's for you...

A poem for Kirk

Kirk, You are the man
You make deer meatloaf - and tomatoes you can
Your kid Lil E - he is so cute
And you have a beautiful wife Julie to boot (as in bonus not as in kick)

New Baden is where you live
Oh what I wouldn't give
For an ice cream from the Frosty Whip
But that sh*t would go straight from my lips to the hip

Julie and Me - we're a couple of "Basket Cases"
But who could resist our sweet round faces
Two crazy girls who laugh and cackle like witches
And proud to be a couple of bad a** b*tches!


And Scene

Note: The Frosty Whip was my favorite ice cream place in New Baden when I was a kid. Sadly it's no longer there. As a child I told my parents that if they ever got divorced I would live with Dad because he was the one who always took me to the Frosty Whip.

Note 2: New Baden IL was originally named Baden but was renamed New Baden after being destroyed by a tornado in the late 1800's early 1900's.

Note 3: Kirk makes the best deer meatloaf and canned tomatoes ever!

Storefront Dogs

Uhhhh

Tonight's news had a story about a man in Lakeland, FL who was attacked by an 11 foot alligator. The man was rescued by 4 police officers - who risked their lives to save him.

The man, the reporter stated, admitted he had been smoking crack-cocaine before he was attacked. A few sentences later the reporter said that authorities were still trying to figure out what the victim was doing down by the water, naked, at 4 am.

Uhhh... BECAUSE HE WAS SMOKING CRACK-COCAINE...because he was smoking crack-cocaine.

I'm not a doctor or a detective but I have a pretty big hunch that's probably the reason the dude was hanging out naked near alligator infested waters - just a hunch.

Swingers

Had a great weekend (miss ya B) with the girls. Stef and I did some shopping on Saturday and saw a great band last night at the Burren (Acme Music Trio). Kristin and I did some more Xmas shopping today and we got to play on the swings and the jungle gym of a school playground - it's been so long since either of us had been on a swing that we both got sick! :-) It was so much fun though!!

Once Upon a Time...

There's a guy who works on the fifth floor who has over the course of the last few months brought Emma and I various sweet treats. Home-made ice cream, cookies, and today a chocolate cake (see picture). In addition to the cake there is also a large bin of chocolate chip cookies in the office left over from the training I did yesterday. Emma and I have a really hard time saying no to the sweets and I'd been battling those damn cookies ALL DAY when 5th floor sugar daddy brings down the aforementioned cake.

I cussed when I saw him walk past with the evil chocolate creation. But it didn't take long before I went over for a taste test...surprise surprise. I asked Emma angrily through a mouth full of cake why the hell he keeps bringing us all this food! Emma's theory is as follows:

"He is the witch from Hansel and Gretel and he's trying to fatten us up so he can take us upstairs to cook us in the autoclaves so the researchers can eat us!" I almost spit the cake out of my mouth and I asked her - well why hasn't he taken me yet? ;)

Stuff

Check out the cool kicks Kristin got me....And the cool drag queen we met the other night at the bar.

Weekend

Had a great weekend! Thanks B.

Finally Dancin' with Mr. Brownstone

15 years since the STL Riot at Riverport. 15 years since my rock n roll heart was broken in the middle of "Rocket Queen". 15 years since I sat in a baby blue Chevette in complete shock at what had just happened. 15 years I've waited and last night I waited some more. I was about to start a mini riot of my own having to wait for sooooo long but it was so worth the wait as G n R finally took the stage just before midnight.

I have to say that being at the concert made me feel like I was stuck in the 80's but I'll live with it because it was awesome! Plus there were several peeps there who were clearly stuck in the hair band era (scary scary scary) so I'm glad that at least I had on my "trendy" G n' R shirt (thank you Urban Outfitters) and wasn't sporting a mullet. ;)

As you can see from the abnormally large, super close up picture - I'm pretty happy. I'd like to give a shout out to Kristin for being a super sport and trekking all the way to Worcester with me, staying up way past our bedtimes, and rocking out - good times! :-)

Natae + Axl = L.O.V.E.

My Happy Moment

I waited at the Central Square T-stop for the train after a particularly melancholy afternoon. The train pulled up and I realized I would have to cram into an overcrowded T car. This normally doesn't trip my trigger. I hate all those freakin' people around me; too close, too smelly, too loud, too much...I was almost positive the ride was going to be painfully unpleasant both emotionally and physically (sometimes the quiet (in my own head) the T affords leads to too much time to think which can be a bit overwhelming on the best of days and downright tear producing on the worst. So I was ready for the waterworks as I squeezed my way onto the car.

The train had just started to move; I had just found my footing and a place to hold onto when the middle aged man next to me with the dreadlocks broke out into an cabaret like rendition of "A Whole New World", the theme from Aladdin. I lost it. I could not stop laughing. The guy was right next to me yet I could not stop laughing. But I wasn't being rude - he could actually sing pretty well - but it just seemed so absurd that of all the songs to sing he picks that one to belt out. And then as he's singing he says "Cincess" instead of "Princess" and it made me laugh even more.

My friend who was on the train with me then points out another swingin cat sitting in the corner who has his headphones on, CD player firmly in hand, and who appears to not only be rocking out but also having a conversation with the voices in his headphones. Picture if you will a small man, shirt unbuttoned to almost his navel, several of his front teeth missing, with a completely satisfied look on his face as he sings and talks to himself.

Both of these amateur David Hasselhoff's were very obviously in their own happy places - they were content and were clearly enjoying their "happy moment" and in turn I had a happy moment as well which made all the afternoon crap seem not so bad.

Trick or Treat

Saw the best thing ever tonight while crossing the street. First let me start by saying that I think the pedestrians here are crazy - more so than the drivers I think sometimes. They walk out in front of cars without so much as a second thought to the fact that you, as a driver, are in a 5000 pound car that cannot stop on a dime. They also will not, under any circumstances, yield to other peds coming or going and it's not uncommon to get whacked with a briefcase, backpack, or purse.

Tonight though some brilliant mom/dad thought it would be really cool to let their 10 year old son walk through the crosswalk carrying his Halloween sword tucked under his arm and sticking straight out in front of him, ensuring that he would impale anyone who didn't steer clear. It was fantastic - I wish I would have had a Snickers bar to put in his candy sack for being such a "great" kid.

World Champs Baby!!

Couldn't be happier right now!!

Friday Friday - I love Friday

Two of my favorite things today.

Parents - the Visit

Newburyport & Ipswich

Weekend Pics

Mom and Dad are here for a visit - they couldn't have picked a nicer weekend as far as weather to be out and about. We went to Newport on Saturday, drove through the Cape on Sunday and saw Walden Pond yesterday.

Hangman Christ Style

True Story
Tom's daughter was at CCD (Sunday school during the week for the non catholics in the group) yesterday and they played a rather interesting game of Hangman. Instead of using the normal Hangman set up (see picture) they actually played using the Cross and Jesus.

G n R

And on the 8th day God said "Let Guns n Roses play in Worcester, MA". And it was done - well it's scheduled anyway - now we just have to wait and pray it actually happens.

Rocket Queen

Deal or No Deal....

is the Devil.

The people on it tonight - demons from hell. I kinda thought part of the idea of a game show was for you to sort of care about the contestants a little bit - but I can't remember one of the sideshow freak contestants that I've liked and actually wanted to win. Then again I don't watch it too much. It's still the devil though because when I do happen upon it I'm sucked in; attracted to it like a sorority girl to a keg at a frat party...

WTF

I just saw a news report about the Superdome's big reopening - Big Game tonight - first one in like 2 years. It's a symbol of the rebuilding of New Orleans according to the report. Also in the report is a woman who lives in a neighborhood that is still having power issues and instead of normal street signs the intersections of the still dirty streets are marked with home-made street signs. Apparently it is ever so much more important to get the Superdome functioning again then to worry about the actual citizens of the city.

I realize I'm not saying anything new here but I was so disgusted by the whole thing that I felt like writing about it. I don't know how the news reporter got through the report without ripping his soul out from the shame. I couldn't believe he was actually reporting (with conviction) about "the big game" and how the players all knew "this was much more than a game" and in the same sound bite interviewed a woman from the 9th ward who still is not settled properly into her home - because she doesn't have a home yet.

Whatever - it's disgusting.

Pics

Self - Help

I was having a convo with a friend tonight about self help groups, confidence building seminars and the like and it reminded me of a seminar I went to last year. Last year wasn't the greatest year and I decided to take a self-help class - I can't remember the exact name of the class but it was about "Empowerment". Say it with me - EMPOWERMENT!

The class met for four hours one Saturday and was lead by a "self made" woman - single mom, started her own company, the whole nine yards. She had some good ideas but as I sat there I thought - shit I know all of this - I watch OPRAH for chrissakes!

Part of the class was of course to share our personal experiences. After listening to the other train wrecks in the group for four hours I was definitely feeling like a winner, these people had some serious crazy going on and there's nothing like a group of worse off disasters to make you feel like the best damn disaster EVER!!

So I vote in favor of self-help groups because you might be lucky enough to be least screwed up of the bunch and that's always good for a smile.

Hick Chicks

Time Flies

It's been just over a year since I moved to Boston - just over a year at the job, almost a year of knowing "the girls".

I just found out today that Rick Springfield is 57 years old!!!!! 57!!! I just can't quite believe it - I know we all get older (if we're lucky) but it doesn't seem possible that he's almost 60.

This post is a whole lotta nothing I know....

Subway Hell

There's a "heat wave" in Boston. It is going to get nasty hot tomorrow and it was uncomfortably hot today - but still not as hot as summer in St. Louis. As much as I find the STL heat oppressive the one thing I never had to deal with in STL was a stank filled subway filled with stanky people. We literally walked INTO an odor yesterday when boarding the T. WALKED INTO it - it was almost visible. It smelled like cooked onions - hamburger style stinky onions.

Today was yet another round of fun - I somehow made it through the hoards of pushing, sweating, stinking, Bostonians and scored a tiny plot of personal space on the train. It really wasn't all that personal though - there is literally no room to move and due to the fact that the train was so freakin' overcrowded I couldn't hold my head up straight because of all the hands reaching over my head to hold onto the bar next to me. I was the shortest person around and so I got to be right at arm pit level with a crapload of people with their arms up in the air. Love it!

To make matters worse I had a guy behind me whose backpack fit perfectly into the small of my back - forcing my back into the oh so attractive and comfortable swayback position. This pushed the top half of my body into the guy's ass in front of me. My stomach was as tall as his ass folks - and his ass was - well it was sweaty - it was warm and sweaty.

So let's recap - Booksmart has his backpack jammed into my kidneys and Miss Prada (with her pretty manicure) and Queen Granola (with her haven't washed in days manicure) and Mr. Where have those Hands Been, have their fists clenched tightly around the pole above my head which means that the only thing I can do (remember I can't lift my head up) is stare at what's in front of me, Sweaty Crack's crack.

The only thing that could have made it any better would have been if someone with their Deluxe Hummer stroller had shoved their way in, ran over my toes (manicured with Revlon Malibu Sun), slammed into my shins and let their child projectile vomit all over me - oh wait - that was Monday.

I'm fine thanks for asking - how are you all doing? :-)