Get out of my dreams, get in to my car!

I had a dream (I would say last night but I've been awake since 3am--it's 4:15--so it's technically still tonight) that I acted out the scene in License to Drive that includes this line:

An innocent girl. A harmless drive. What could possibly go wrong?

You know it.



Anyway, I think the reason I dreamed this is because of the new show "The Two Coreys" that I watched tonight. Corey Haim moves in with Corey Feldman and his wife. Back in the day, I LOVED Haim. He was the better one in my eyes. (In my dream, I acted out the scene FOR the two Coreys. Because I'm that cool.)

God, he can be a JERK! If you saw it, you know what I mean. The Feldmans had a rep from PETA over for dinner, and Haim ordered a frickin' pepperoni pizza because he didn't like what they were having. He's a slob, and is pretty rude to Feldman's wife.

I did feel bad, though, when Feldman had to tell Haim that they are, in fact, making a sequel to Lost Boys and that he (Haim) wasn't asked to be a part of it. Feldman was (as a cameo) but turned it down.

It's a big freakin' train wreck.

I can't wait for another episode!

First time ever...

I have higher blood pressure now that I've had in my life. SO, I got to go in today to get monitored. (It's not alarmingly high, just higher than normal for me)

The baby seems fine...moving around and having a good heartbeat, which is all that matters.

I have to go back on Monday to get the blood pressure checked again.

Hey, it's not all bad.

I'm on mild bedrest, and can't do housework.

Aww, shucks.

Free at last!

Today was my last day of work.

WOO HOO!

There are a few reasons this is good, but I'll just mention the parts about being able to blog whenever I frickin' feel like it! And having access to all those "adult" sites, like the one I tried to look at yesterday when I wanted to try to read a book online.

They're probably glad to see me go...I was constantly trying to access "bad" sites. Like blogger. It's a personals/social networking site, you know. And lord knows when there is NOTHING for you to do at work (seriously. i did 3 things in 2 days, and they each took about 3 minutes) you shouldn't be trying to socialize.

Anyway, it's all good. I'm back!

You'll never believe this...

I talked to my sister-in-law on Friday and she said she'd call me after she got done work at 11am Saturday to come pick up the blasted mattress.

Imagine my "surprise" when she didn't call.

Imagine my SURPRISE when she DID call on Sunday.

She picked up the frickin' mattress Sunday afternoon!!! I'm so excited!

(the back story includes at least FOUR conversations where she promised to call the next day and didn't, and I was getting VERY irritated!)

What Else Will They Take?

I can't access blogs anymore at work. They're considered "personal/social networking" sites and have been blocked. No fret...my last day of work is next Wednesday. After that, everything is fair game again! I don't have any sites blocked at home yet!

Next WEDNESDAY? That's only 17 days before my due date. EEGADS! What the hell am I going to do???? I'm sure I don't have to worry too soon though, my mom thinks I'll go 12 days late. (Thanks, Mom!) A co-worker told me today she agrees, because I "have a ways to drop yet." Yes, I realize this. (The heartburn makes me feel like this baby is in my freakin' throat!) Regardless...no woman 3+ weeks from her due date wants to hear "You'll go late!"

Back to baking my brownie cupcakes. It's the last night of class tonight and my turn to bring the sweets!

Yes, I have pet peeves

It drives me crazy when someone says "I'll call you" and then doesn't.

However, if "I'll call you" means "Just want to chat", then it's pretty easily forgiven.

If you say "I'll call you after my 3:30 hair appointment" so that we can possibly go to dinner, DO NOT wait until 6:15 to call (and leave me a message because I'm NOT answering at this point) to say "Not hungry. Maybe next week."

Because seriously? That's just freakin' rude.

And I don't like it.

Here's another one...

Another cat that is NOT Blu...



I found this one while reading some message boards on a pregnancy website I visit.

(Poor thing - Kozmo - broke his leg jumping off his owner's steps!)

It's the little things!

My husband came home with cheesecake for me yesterday as my anniversary "present" and said "Sorry I didn't get you a card!" A card? Who the hell needs a card when you have CHEESECAKE? Seriously! He also said later "I thought about getting you a card and flowers, but I just wanted to get home." Again I said "Hello! You brought me cheesecake! I don't need no flowers...they don't taste very good!" Ok I didn't say that part, but I did tell him that flowers are pretty much lost on me. I don't take care of them and then they die. Cheesecake I can EAT. Have I mentioned I'm 9 months pregnant? Give me something to eat!

Then he did the unthinkable. Without me having to ask, he made his own lunch for today!!!

Life is good!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow (Monday 7/16) is our 2nd anniversary!

Last year we spent our anniversary in NYC, visiting a friend, eating at Nathan's on Coney Island, and spending way too much $ on steak at Ruth's Chris Steak House (the best we've ever had...we can't wait until the one in Middleton opens!)

This year, because of my condition, we couldn't travel quite so far from home. So we went to Fitchburg and Middleton. (If you're not familiar with the area...I actually work in Middleton. It's pretty close!) Anyway, we went to see Harry Potter 5 on the IMAX and it was GREAT! We both really enjoyed it. We then went to Hooter's for dinner. I'd never been there, and the food was really good. Of course after all the movie goodies, I wasn't too hungry, but I ate it anyway! Still not very hungry, we went to Coldstone Creamery for dessert. I'm glad I only got a "like it"! It was a beautiful night and we sat outside to eat...it really was perfect. To be completely honest, there was no real "reason" for us to get a hotel room just 25 minutes from our house, but we did. I've always thought of it as a bit of a luxury...so my husband booked us a room. I probably would choose otherwise next time I'm 9 months pregnant. It just wasn't comfortable sleeping (as always lately) and my husband forgot his breathing machine so he snored all night! But, we were close to some shopping, so I got to buy some "necessary" goodies this morning. (I'm making the birth announcements myself, and had to buy some supplies!)

Anyway, on our way home he said "Do you have the Lowe's gift card with you?" and I said "No, but we can go get it!" So we headed home to grab it and found my goodies from Babycenter had come...a monitor, baby bjorn and bf'ing pillow among other things. So exciting! In the meantime, my husband's mom called to ask us over for dinner tomorrow night.

We headed out for Lowe's (the closest is over an hour from home) and used our gift card to get a smoke/carbon monoxide detector and some other stuff.

Heading back home, we stopped at Fuddrucker's for lunch/dinner. I love that place, and the one closest to my house CLOSED. I was mad about that.

Anyway, it's not NYC, but it was a pretty good anniversary weekend overall!

When will it stop?

This story makes me so angry and so sad. It happens too damn often.

Coroner Confirms Body That Of Missing College Student
Dane County Coroner John Stanley positively identified the body found in a rural Wisconsin area Monday as that of missing college student Kelly Nolan Tuesday night. Police said that Nolan's death is a homicide but that the exact cause of death will not be made until all testing is complete. Nolan, a 22-year-old University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student, vanished early June 23 after a night of drinking at bars in downtown Madison.
Authorities said that before Kelly Nolan disappeared, she might have been walking with a man in downtown Madison around bar time as she was heading for home.
The owner of Amy's Café said that one of his workers told him that he was at the Lava Lounge on Gilman and then started walking Nolan to her West Mifflin Street apartment.
The employee reportedly said that they had passed only a few homes before another man suddenly appeared and said he knew Nolan and would take her home.

It happened in another case just under 2 years ago. A girl (Angela Drake) left a bar without her friends. She turned up dead in a ditch. Thankfully the guy was caught. But seriously...think about it people. If you're out with your friends and one of them wants to leave on their own, DON'T LET THEM. MAKE SURE THEY GET HOME. I would NEVER leave my friends to walk alone at that time of night. Especially in an area of town that has gotten a fairly bad reputation lately for things like sexual assault. Do whatever you can to make sure your friend gets home. If she wants to stay at the bar, suck it up and stay with her. Don't let her tell you different, because she's drunk and therefore "10 feet tall and bulletproof". It will be a lot easier in the morning when you know exactly where she is.

That's Wild!

We had a pretty busy weekend. Friday night I hung out with the girls at the Pier at Edgewater. It was pretty hot out, and the lake was smelly, but it was still nice to hang and chat. Saturday was my husband's uncle's 80th birthday party. Ok, so it wasn't very exciting, but it was nice to see Cousin Judy up from Texas. She was preoccupied with her grandson, but it was still nice. After that we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner...we'd never been there, and there's a new one in town, so we thought we'd check it out. D got boneless wings and I got a wrap, and it was really good. Our service kind of sucked, but what do you expect, right?



Sunday was Marshall's first birthday (Dave's great nephew) so we went to Devil's Lake and chilled. Well, as much as you can chill when it's 90+ out, but there was shade and breeze, so it wasn't too bad. On the way there, the baby got it's first Ferry ride...I hadn't been on the Merrimac ferry in AGES, so it was a nice little ride.



Now we're home, spending some quality time with the air conditioning. And my real reason for posting is to show you these pictures.


Here's Blu...but you know that.



This, however, is NOT Blu. It's cousin John's cat Taz. When I first saw him, I was taken aback. He looks JUST LIKE Blu.



What's even crazier is that Working Mom's looks like her too. When we got Blu, I thought she was a pretty rare looking cat.

I was wrong!

She's not as evil as her eyes make her look

I found a Pack N Play at a resale store today, and it's in great shape. I brought it home and set it up, and here's a picture for you.

BAM!

No, not the Emeril sort of Bam. It's a different kind of BAM.




Easy Off BAM toilet bowl cleaner. I know...I HATE cleaning the toilet with a PASSION. This stuff is a God-send. Pour some in, and 10 minutes later you have a clean toilet. No scrubbing! Yay!!!

And that's the end of this commercial interruption. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Half Days!

Things are slow at work, so I offered to go half days. And they accepted! Hey, I've got stuff I could be doing. I'm only going to be working a few more weeks anyway. And getting paid for a half day is better than not getting paid at all!

The boss man said he appreciated my honesty (about it being slow and me having nothing to do). I thought "Well, you see, there are only so many websites I want to browse, and I can do all of that before 8am!"

So, I get to leave work at noon every day...except maybe next week, when people are on vacation. But so far, I LOVE it. Yesterday, I went home and took a 2 hour nap! My house is a disaster, but I slept great!

Well.

Standing in line at Babies R Us on Sunday, purchasing our car seat, stroller and diaper genie, I saw something I've never seen before. And probably never will again.

If you've been in a Babies R Us, you know there's a "mom's room" for women who need to take care of their babies. Feeding and such in a private area.

Apparently this mom missed the sign.

I understand it is legal to breastfeed in public.

But most women don't do it while they're walking through the store.

Without a blanket to cover themselves.

I honestly don't know if I'd even be coordinated enough to WALK while breastfeeding.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I was minding my own business, listening to a little Eric Church on the iPod, when I had to take my headphone out (ear buds...only one works) because I could hear half of a conversation. I work in a call center, and at first I thought the girl was yelling at a customer. Then I thought it was a bill collector, because she said "I should not have to take these calls at work!"

It was her mom. Pestering her about money. "I am writing the check for you right now. I don't have a stamp or an envelope, so I'll have to give it to you when I get home."

And the clincher?

"You know I forget. I have memory problems. All the drugs you had me on for 3 years, this is a result of that."

When she got off the phone, she said "Jesus Effing Mary And Joseph"

I'm in an office with a LOT of people. And you could tell they were all listening. It wasn't just me!

Wait...WHAT?

I saw this story today, and I could NOT believe my eyes.

I shit you not, this EXACT same thing happened last August. You'll find a reference to it here.

It's not weird enough that a truckload of onions spills onto the beltline TWICE in ONE year, but it was ALMOST THE SAME SPOT.

I will not forget the day in August '06, because I was stuck in it, trying to get to work to grab something for my boss before the biggest concert of the year. And I ended up going in a big freakin' circle because of the mess combined with construction.

It's not just me...this is weird, right?

She Could Be A Rock Star

So, Sunday was THE day.

No, not THAT day.

The day my cousin sang the national anthem at the Madison Mallards game.

I was so nervous ahead of time. I was shaking and my heart was beating like crazy. And that was before she even took the mound.

She started...but they didn't have the sound on. So she started again, and she blew me away.

I cried through the whole thing, I was so proud of her. And so happy that I'd been able to give her the opportunity.

I'm going to look into getting video of it, so you can see just what a Rock Star should sound like! :)

Who would YOU go to?

Sometimes using the shuffle feature on your iPod can open your eyes to things you didn't know existed. For example: a song from a CD released in 2001 that I think is the best I've heard in a while! From Gary Allan, I present to you, What Would Willie Do

I was lost in trouble and strife, I heard a voice and it changed my life
And now it's a brand new day, and I ain't afraid to say
You're not alone when you're down and out
And I think you know who I'm talking about
When I don't know how I'll get through
I ask myself what would Willie do
What would Willie do, well he'd travel so far with nothing but a song and his old guitar
And a tour bus and some semi-trucks, thirty crew men and a little bit of luck
Well he loves all the people, the ugly and the randy
If you don't believe me take a look at the family
And they'll tell you that it's true
When skies are gray what would Willie do
Well long ago he came unto us, his words were simple but they went right through us
And the whole world sang along, but then they didn't want to hear his songs
He was gone and we thought we'd lost him
But he grew his hair and he moved to Austin
And all of the people smiled, they came to hear him sing from miles
Like a miracle all those rednecks and hippies
From New York City down to Mississippi
Stood together and raised a brew
When it's all gone wrong what would Willie do
You know sometimes I wonder when I ain't gettin' nowhere
What would old Willie do when it all gets too much to bear
And I can see him on his lonely old tour bus
And he's got his problems just like any of us
Well he'd just take a deep breath and then he'd let it all go
And he'd take another deep breath and let it all go
And he'd take another deep breath...and he'd hold it
Ah and I bet he'd feel hungry in a way that seems strange
Yeah hungry for all the things that he just can't change
Like the time he passed out in is own bedroom
And his wife sewed him up in the sheets and beat him with a broom and he forgave her
And you think that's rough, well then the IRS came and they took away all of his stuff
They took his golf course and his recording studio, and he just went out and did another show
So when it's all coming down on you
You better ask yourself what would Willie do
What would Willie do, well he'd take a little time
And talk to old rooser as he'd drive on down the line
And there's millions down that road, and with a word he's gonna lighten their load
He loves all the people no matter their races
Hell he even had a hit country song with Julio Iglesias
And that ain't easy to do, so when it's all too much, what would Willie
When the game gets tough what would Willie
When they call your bluff what would Willie do

National Lampoon's Minneapolis Vacation

You know the scene in "Vacation" when the Griswold's end up lost in the ghetto?

It happens. One minute, you're in downtown Minneapolis. Then you go around the building, and you know there could be serious trouble. And I'm not just talking about the guy walking down the street that looked like a zombie. I'm talking about groups of people standing around looking scary, and a paddy wagon stopped in front of one of those groups., which happened to be in front of the Salvation Army. Thankfully, it was still light out and we were able to get out fast. We were able to laugh at it.

We laughed a LOT this weekend. We went to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood and it was the FUNNIEST THING EVER. We laughed for 2.5 hours straight, including the intermission. It was worth the 4.5 hour drive...and we're very excited they're going to be in Milwaukee in January. We figure since it's an improv show, seeing them more than once wouldn't be redundant.

Other than that show, dinner at the Loon Cafe, and the hotel we stayed at, Minneapolis was a disaster. The hotel was good because they give turn-down service to "club level" members. We got the club room because it included free room-service breakfast and "high speed" internet. We didn't know about the turn-down serivce though, so when we got back from the show and our bed was made and there were new towels and stuff, it was a bit freaky. My husband went to get ice and when he got to the machine he realized there was ice in the bucket already. We didn't know where it came from.

Anyway, I can not tell you how many times we got lost or turned around in that damn city. On Saturday it was funny. Street names include S 1st St and S 1st Ave. That's not confusing enough. But it was all laughable.

Sunday is a different story. I shit you not, it took us 2 F(*(ING hours to get out of Minneapolis. (I apologize to anyone reading this that enjoys MNPLS...I do NOT. I should have gotten better directions, I suppose). There are a lot of one-way streets in downtown Minneapolis. And when we got lost Saturday, we were seeing a lot of signs for the interstate. We couldn't find them today. We had looked at the map online before we left the hotel, and it looked plain to us. Hwy 55 runs into the interstate. Yes, 94W. We want to go east. And when we FINALLY (after a lot of searching) found an entrance to I94 East, it was under construction. Closed. Ok, there's a detour sign. Never fun, but it's got to take us where we need to be. So we're following this highway, and there's a detour 94E sign pointing up and to the right. So we took the exit. Realizing right away that there must have been another exit right under the bridge that was actually the detour. Shit. We have to get across the highway we were just on, get turned around, and back where we came from. Easy, right? Not so much. I swear to God, the side road ended with no way to get across the highway. We had to take some random way back because part of the side road was one-way, and we finally found our way back onto the highway and to the correct detour. We still have not found 94E, still detouring.

OOH! What's that? A sign for 94E. GET ON! We do that, and are determined to make it out of town without getting off the highway. But we really need gas, and the only places we've seen gas stations were really shady areas. We're trying to find something a little less scary. We see a BP, but we've passed the exit because there wasn't a big blue sign that said "GAS" on it. So we get off at this exit that has "attractions" on the big blue sign. No gas stations. We actually go BACK two exits to the BP. There's a guy washing windshields, and that creeps me out. D can't get the pump to work, so we decide to head across the street to the other gas station. Still not a great area, but dammit, we're down to about 20 miles until we're out of gas, and we haven't even made it to St. Paul yet. We get our gas, get back on 94E and GO GO GO.

Needless to say, it was a LONG day. I cried a little bit, but there was no yelling. I was very glad to know that we could get through that without yelling. A lot of times it would be each person blaming the other, even though it is NO ONE'S fault. We don't do that, and I consider myself very lucky for that.

We finally made it home, and I can tell you I will not be going back to Minneapolis. I'm pretty sure my husband won't be either.

EVER.