My cubicle is right next to a kitchen/pantry. Yesterday at 9:30, someone cooked what smelled like garlic bread. It turned out to be a garlic bagel, but I don't think I've ever craved chicken parmesan so bad in my entire life.

Every time one of my single female friends sends me a picture mail, I have this feeling that it's going to be a picture of their engagement ring. I'm almost happily surprised when it's just a chain text. Not that I don't wish for my single female friends to get engaged (as I hope they do for me), but I like for other people to revel in my single misery. It's only fair. I even do this when it's people who would probably never be getting engaged this soon into their relationship, or don't have a relationship at all to speak of. As the NY Lotto says "hey, you never know!" I mean.. stranger things could happen... (Strange yes.. but regardless of her octogenarian love, I still think she's great and want her to be happy and have lots of babies!!)

Remember my cute new boots? Yeah.. I didn't think today's snow would be so bad, so I didn't wear them. To quote Pretty Woman: "Big Mistake. Big. Huge." My feet are wet and I'm not liking it. I'm sorry new cute boots. I'm not used to having them, so I don't know when it's appropriate to wear them (apparently).

Soccer ended on a high note last night when we pulled out a win and quite possibly tied for 1st place in our division. I still have not scored, but did play offense for a while. That was a tad tiring, so I went back to defense where it's more fun to beat people up.. until they stick their nail in your eye. Yeah... that kinda hurt! I made up for it by blasting my own player with a pretty hard kick. She had to pull her lip out of her teeth cause it got a little stuck up there when the ball slammed into her face. She was a trooper though, and she can play with us anytime! Next session starts next week and we have a newbie coming (well.. not really newbie.. just haven't played in a while newbie), so we'll see what the competition is like!

This goes out to J, who always cracks on my "Ghetto Cable." Who's laughing now!?

2 great new mug shots for you: Charles Barkely was arrested for suspicion of DUI in Arizona while Matt Dillon was caught going 106 in a 65 MPH zone in Vermont. Seriously? 106? in VT? He's lucky all he got was arrested and not killed by a moose!

I only caught the first episode of The City before I fell asleep, but so far so good. I mean.. do I believe any of it is real? NO.. Am I confident Olivia Palermo is going to be the new Heidi? ABSOLUTELY! I really hope she shows Whitney the ropes and such, but this is semi scripted reality TV and entertainment!! It wouldn't work out if she were sickeningly nice to her all the time!

Ok.. these pictures can NOT be true! I've already told you how much I can't wait for Confessions of a Teen Idol, but if Eric Nies really looks like this, I don't know if I can take it. I mean.. you were a MODEL and on THE GRIND for God's sake.. show some respect..

Getting close to time for me to head out for my New Year's bash at the Best Western in Albany. I'm really looking forward to it, as I've never done anything like this before for New Year's. In fact, I've had pretty sucky New Year's the last 7 or so years! I'm hoping this one will usher in an amazing 2009! Happy New Year to all, and to all... a good night!!!

This is a comment I got regarding last night's blog post about the Wu-Tang concert:

Hi.I'm one of those crappy "opening" acts from the Wu show. I'm not here to disagree with you, if you think we're crappy, that's your opinion, and I'm fine with it.After attending at least as many shows as I've performed, I've found that there is a place for openers. We're there to loosen up the crowd, and is usually a necessary evil, even for people as big as WU.My friends and I have worked extremely hard to get where we are, so imagine all the even crappier groups that didn't make the cut.It's difficult to perform in front of almost 2,000 people, most of whom don't want to see you at all. Again, not trying to change your opinion. Just bored and looking for reviews of the show. I hope you continue to enjoy live music, and that maybe I've shed a little light that will help you give a chance to future opening acts you may encounter.Happy holidays.-Local Opener

I feel like I should... respond. I did say there were crappy local acts, but I guess that's not exactly how I should have put it. There actually were a few acts my friends and I enjoyed, but considering we had to sit through a million of them to get to what we wanted to see, I wasn't real excited about it (I might have been the only person there who had to work the next day, so waiting till 10:30 for Wu-Tang to come on was not a high point for me). The one thing we continued to say was that it must really suck to be these guys.. just trying to get their music heard, and people being so... well.. some were downright rude and threw stuff at the stage, which was totally uncalled for! I can't imagine going to work and having someone yell "you suck" at me throughout the day. So, I want to take this time to apologize to the local opener who commented on the blog, and all the others who opened. Maybe I thought you sucked, and maybe I didn't, but regardless, I did feel bad for the situation you were in and I appreciate the response being so... mature and articulate. Geez.. I'm totally hitting into stereotypes right now, right? You're right kids.. I expected to get F bombs dropped on me for saying what I said, and I didn't, so I'm happy about that.. However.. since prertty much all the songs I heard dropped them, you can imagine my surprise!

So... support your local acts in 2009!!!

PS - as I reread last night's post I realized that I did say I'm sure the acts weren't bad.. I just wasn't really into hearing them.. so I guess I don't feel as bad as I did 10 minutes ago, but still.. crappy might have been... a bit much... ;)

Today was a tough day. The week between Christmas and New Year's should just be vacation for everyone. It's such a waste. I swear, I walked into the bathroom at work today and was like "oh god.. I look like I got rode hard and put away wet." I really did. Terrible hair, pale face and ridiculous dehydration. I blame the Wu-Tang..

Yep.. last night was the Wu-Tang Clan concert at Northern Lights. I tried to take some pictures, but for the majority of the concert I was behind the tallest guy in the room, so the pictures are pretty much blurry lights. We got there just before 8:00 and sat through a PLETHORA of crappy local rap acts and then JAMZ 96.3 DJ Big Ray. I don't know for sure what exactly he was doing.. He basically had a DJ play old school hip hop songs and he danced... Which would have been fine, had he done it for like.. five minutes. And I'm sure those rap acts weren't that bad either, but after sitting through about 15 of them and hearing "you ready for the Wu?" as many times, seeing another Eminem wannabe get on stage was about as bearable as wisdom teeth extraction minus the drugs. Not to mention, the insane amounts of weed being smoked EVERYWHERE (um.. hello security.. how hard can it be to find the smokers? I mean.. they're the people with the cloud coming out of their mouth!) It wasn't even really the weed that bothered me, it was the people who thought that gave them free reign to smoke cigarettes as well! Wu-Tang FINALLY came on at 10:30... 2 and a half hours after the concert was supposed to start.. They were worth the wait though.. They sound exactly like they do on the CD's and while I admit, I really knew very few songs, the energy was crazy! It was a fun experience, but not one I plan to repeat anytime soon. I am friends with people who I don't want to get as close to as I did to people last night. I got stepped on, pushed, poked and almost burnt. My neck hurts from craning it to see who Tara says is "my man... Cappa Donna," and my calves are sore from standing in one place for four hours. Good times... :)

In case you're one of those people who have little to do New Year's Eve/New Year's Day and the following weekend, this list might help you out. I really would like to see all the episodes of Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust. Seriously, it's a good show... that I could never seem to find after I saw like.. two episodes!

Zooey Deschanel is getting married.. but no one's 100% sure if Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are.. And oh yeah.. apparently the rumor is that J. Lo and Marc Anthony are going to announce their divorce on or around Valentine's Day after they bid their marriage farewell with a duet at his concert. Is that not the craziest thing you've ever heard... and kinda SOOOO crazy it could be true? I hope not though.. Twins need two parents... we're tough to take ;)

Bristol Palin (my sister's Halloween costume) had her first illegitimate child, named Tripp. Am I crazy, or isn't one of her brothers named Tripp? I mean.. I don't claim to follow politics, but it sounds familiar!

Soccer is tomorrow night due to New Year's, and it's our last game of the session. We've got gals dropping like flies, but we should have enough to play tomorrow night. We were missing a few key players the last time we played this team, so it'd be nice if we could pull out the season with a win. However, if I remember correctly their passing skills were far above ours, so we'll see what happens. Regardless, we'll come out with a winning record, so that's a good thing! If anyone has some free time and wants to cheer us on, the game starts at 8!

Anyone know anything about bluetooth? I really want to get one, but I know nothing about them. I saw one on the Sprint site for relatively cheap, so I guess I just want to be sure I'm getting the right thing. However, I loathe going into the Sprint store at the mall and since everyone and their mother got new phones for Christmas, I figure I'll have to wait for quite some time.. Something I don't exactly have a lot of on my lunch break.

Pretty busy next couple of days so I need to get a move on and pack my stuff for New Year's.... get the missing sleep I've lost... and check out crunchless abs online. Only $9.99? How can I go wrong!? I'll tell you.. after looking at the site and putting in my order for the complete crunchless abs kit, they tell you that every other month they're going to send you a new video for the low low price of $19.99. You can cancel at any time by calling their customer service hotline, but I can guarantee I'd forget and then be royally pissed when I get another video that I PROBABLY don't want. The jury is still out..

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Mine was pretty darn good, as usual. I got the adorable snow boots I wanted, which means there'll probably be no more snow this season, cause that's the luck I have. I also got ear muffs and a fleece, so apparently someone thinks I'm going to snow blow... fat chance. Tre and I got Wii Music, which entertained everyone on Christmas Day! Some of the pictures we have are hysterical. Everyone is concentrating so hard on this stupid game! It's pretty funny..

So.. tomorrow night my sister, our friend Tara and I are going to see the Wu-Tang Clan in concert. Besides worrying about getting knifed, I really don't know what to wear. I have a feeling my new Liz Claiborne sweater set wouldn't be the right choice.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen got engaged. At least she won't have to change her initials.

Nick Markakis is skipping the World Baseball Classic this year because apparently, HE'S GOING TO BE A FATHER... Um.. what? He was supposed to be the daddy to MY out of wedlock baby!!!

I'm slacking on news and have to meet Keefer for lunch, so I better get a move on. She's not bringing the kids this time, so there's less of a chance I'll get stabbed with a fork.. hopefully! Enjoy the weekend!

I really don't mean to swear, but are you fucking kidding me? Seriously!? The Yankees?

It's NOT a merry christmas in birdland :(

How could I forget? The O's finally got a shortstop. I know.. a real one too! Granted, I've never heard of him, but he seems better than all the two bit jackasses that played it.. well.. last year. He's even in his 20's, can you believe it? Things are still sketchy in the Mark Teixeira meetings, as some mystery team has placed one hell of a bid for him. As an O's fan, you can guess I would speculate it was NOT the O's, however their name is still in the running as the Red Sox seemed to have walked away from the table. The O's are still in.. but so are a lot of other teams who don't have a jackass douchebag owner. But that's just my opinion.

No one went home on Top Chef in the spirit of the season and partly because all the cheftestants banded together when Hoseah and Radhika's proteins were ruined thanks to someone not closing the refrigerator. I would think the ability to close a fridge would be a prerequisite for getting on Top Chef! Anyway, I'm kind of glad because there was a strong possibility Jamie could have gone home and I think she's funny and I want her to win something. She really IS always the bridesmaid for like.. the millionth week in a row.

Another day, another snow storm. You'd think I live in upstate New York or something! We've heard all week that this storm was coming, so I sucked it up and got up crazy early so I could get to work by 7:00. I had a few things that HAD to get done and I wanted to leave before the snow started to fly. I ended up leaving at noon, when the snow had just started and thank goodness I did. It was brutal! It was like nothing was done to the roads. I made it home in one piece, after sliding right past my driveway. That was fun..

So those remains found in Florida really ARE Caylee Anthony, but there isn't much more information regarding her death. There is some really shady shit going on in this case, I'll tell you that!

Speaking of shady shit, I want to know why anyone in this world who has a television and/or reads the news, would marry Drew Peterson. And what kind of daddy issues do these girls have that actually DO marry him!?

Speaking of marriage, are we REALLY shocked that it's not legal yet? Seriously, what exactly is Spencer's job, besides being a douche. Cause I could see him having money if he were paid for being a douche, cause he IS a pro... but as far as real jobs go, what the hell?

Well.. this is good news, but I'm not exactly thrilled that Cloris Leachman will also be on. I've had enough of her.

There'll be new blood on True Blood next season (and hopefully I'll manage to watch the end of the first season before it starts)...

I don't watch Samantha Who? but Billy Zane has always been one of my favorite baldies, so I might have to give it a shot.

If you haven't seen it, you still can catch it on Hulu, but you can also find Dr. Horrible out on DVD this past week.

Ew. That about sums it up.

One of my men is sick... I should probably nurse him back to health, but it's not clear exactly what his issue is!

I can't wait for Damages to start. I mean, when the season ends with your boss basically trying to kill you, where do you go from there?

Some mornings when I leave the house, I feel like I look pretty good. Good hair day, my clothes fit.. you know, good stuff. Then I walk into work, where we have a reflective kind of mirrored door. I'm hoping the images get distorted cause if my thighs are really that big, I might use next year's vacation time for some plastic surgery.

Nytropalooza's next to last game of the session ended in a tie, which sucks, but considering we only had just enough people to play most of the time, we'll take it. I was pretty beat after that game, I'll tell you that! Hey, a tie isn't a loss. We then ended up at My Place for dinner after the game and I really don't know if I've ever seen seven girls eat that many wings in my life. I guess that game gave everyone one hell of an appetite! We also managed to convince one girl to play next session and two others to join us on our yearly sojourn to NYC for St. Patty's Day (I've already requested the day off).

Believe it or not, I'm only 31.6% addicted.

Went to see Four Christmases last night, which was pretty funny and basically a Swingers reunion, and there is nothing wrong with a Swingers reunion! It was short and to the point, and no matter what was said, I think Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon had pretty believable chemistry! Tre and I just watched Baby Mama and it was hysterical. I honestly don't know how they managed to get through some of the scenes.

Hope I've made up for my lack of posts in the last few days. I've been a LITTLE busy! I got up pretty early this morning and my mom wants me to go Christmas shopping tomorrow, so I have to get up pretty early again, so I'm heading to bed in a few. Drive safe and enjoy your weekend!

My friend Eryn sent this email to me today, regarding what young kids said when they were asked what being in love meant. These were their answers:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love..' Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired..' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.. They look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night..' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

And THAT is what made me cry.. Got all teary at work. It could be the PMS, but I thought it was pretty sweet. I'm especially fond of the highlighted ones.. Apparently I've never been in love, cause NO ONE gets my french fries.. NO ONE!

OH MY GOD.. I can't wait for this train wreck to air!!!

We all know I love the new 90210, but I'm not quite sure I can hop on the Melrose Place train...

This should be interesting..

Slow day on the news front and unfortunately, I have no interesting tidbits to tell. Oh but wait..

Twilight - VERY good! I've yet to read the books, but I intend to before seeing the next flick, which is set to open in November of 2009, if I'm not mistaken. Taking over for Catherine Hardwicke will be Chris Weitz, of About a Boy fame..

It took me about three weeks, but I finally managed to watch all of Cinderella Man. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was AND mad at myself once again for not seeing it in the theater. I am so mad I missed Russell Crowe's movie glory days.

I guess I'm going to have to start going to the movies a little more. With the totally active social life I've got going on at the moment, I don't think it'll be a problem. Here's my take on the Golden Globe nominees:

Best Picture, Drama: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road" and "Slumdog Millionaire." I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing Benjamin Button and Revolutionary Road. I've heard great things about Slumdog Millionaire and The Reader too, so obviously I have to reserve my vote on this one until I see at least one of the films!

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "In Bruges," "Mamma Mia!" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." The only one of these movies I've seen is Mamma Mia, but I REALLY want to see all of them excpet Happy-Go-Lucky, which I haven't even heard of.

Director: Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"), Stephen Daldry ("The Reader"), David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon") and Sam Mendes ("Revolutionary Road"). OK.. the more I try to do this post, the more I realize I kinda can't touch the movies, cause I haven't seen any of them. Instead, I'll tell you who I'd be ok with winning. In this category I'd have to go with Sam Mendes. Why the hell not?

Actor in a drama: Leonardo DiCaprio ("Revolutionary Road"), Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon"), Sean Penn ("Milk"), Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") and Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler"). I think this one is too tough to call. I mean.. Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio almost cancel each other out as far as matinee idol type of guys, although Brad's never won for a lead role, so this could be his shot. However, he's got some tough competition in Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon (award shows LOVE it when you play a real person). Mickey Rourke is a long shot, but a kind of sentimental favorite and it'd be interesting to see him upset them all.

Actress in a drama: Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married"), Angelina Jolie ("Changeling"), Meryl Streep ("Doubt"), Kristin Scott Thomas ("I've Loved You Too Long") and Kate Winslet ("Revolutionary Road"). I haven't been able to see it yet, but I'm really rooting for Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married." She's had a tough year and has gotten a lot of acclaim for this role. I also have yet to see Changeling, but we all know how much I still love my Angie..

Actor in a comedy or musical: Javier Bardem ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), Colin Farrell ("In Bruges"), James Franco ("Pineapple Express"), Brendan Gleeson ("In Bruges") and Dustin Hoffman ("Last Chance Harvey"). I doubt it'll go to a stoner, but James Franco was hysterical in Pineapple Express and since Huey didn't get a nod for his contribution to the soundtrack, I'll have to give it to Franco!

Actress in a comedy or musical: Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), Sally Hawkins ("Happy-Go-Lucky"), Frances McDormand ("Burn After Reading"), Meryl Streep ("Mamma Mia!") and Emma Thompson ("Last Chance Harvey"). I'm kind of indifferent to this one.

Supporting actor: Tom Cruise ("Tropic Thunder"), Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder"), Ralph Fiennes ("The Duchess"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt") and Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight"). I'm sure it'll go to Heath Ledger (the Globes are usually sentimental like that and he does deserve it), but if Tom Cruise upsets Robert Downey Jr., I'll be shocked. He was funny, but not award show worthy!!

Supporting actress: Amy Adams ("Doubt"), Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), Viola Davis ("Doubt"), Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler") and Kate Winslet ("The Reader"). There I go again with the indifference!

Best Television Series, Drama - Dexter (Showtime), House (Fox), In Treatment (HBO) MNad Men (AMC) and True Blood (HBO) I'm ok with either Mad Men or True Blood. Both are really great shows and maybe by the time the Globes come around, I'll know how True Blood's season ended.. MAYBE

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama - Sally Field (Brothers and Sisters), Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU), January Jones (Mad Men), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) I will always love my Olivia Benson, but I'd like to see Anna Paquin take it home.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama - Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Michael C. Hall (Dexter) Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Hugh Laurie (House), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors). I have to give it to Jon Hamm, mainly because I don't watch any of these shows on a regular basis.

Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical - 30 Rock (NBC), Californication (Showtime) Entourage (HBO), The Office (NBC), Weeds (Showtime). 30 Rock is an awards show darling, but I have to stick by The Office, as always!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series - Christina Applegate (Samanatha Who?), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Debra Messing (The Starter Wife), Mary Louise Parker (Weeds). I'm pretty impartial to this one as well, mainly because I kinda like them all!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical Series – Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Steve Carell (The Office), Kevin Connolly (Entourage), David Duchovny (Californication), Tony Shalhoub (Monk). Alec Baldwin will more than likely win, but I still love Steve Carell as Michael Scott.

And finally, my two least favorite categories, as I don't think it's fair to include actors/actresses in miniseries in this category:

Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Eileen Atkins (Cranford), Laura Dern (Recount), Melissa George (In Treatment), Rachel Griffiths (Brothers and Sisters), Dianne Wiest (In Treatment). Nothing I watch.. indifferent.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Denis Leary (Recount), Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Blair Underwood (In Treatment), Tom Wilkinson (John Adams). Have you met me? I'm rooting for the Piv all the way!

What a night! I wasn't really worried about anything until my Mom called and "suggested" that I not sleep in my own room becuase there was a good chance branches could fall down and my room has LOTS of trees surrounding it. So then I got nervous. Around 11:30 I had settled on the couch and then I started to hear what sounded like gunshots, but it was branches cracking all around the house. I have to say, it was one of the scariest things ever. Tre and I kept trying to find the safest place in the house, which turned out to be the pool room. Luckily, I was smart enough to scarf up the papasan chair so I was a little more comfortable than Tre was! She got over her fear and went into her bed shortly before 3 and I think I went in shortly after. Yep.. we slept in her bed because not only did we lose power, but we lost heat. This morning it was 58 degrees in our house and I couldn't exactly feel my fingers. So not good! We had to get our basement pumped out by the fire department, so we then had no hot water as our hot water heater was flooded (or some other technical thing). Our power went on at 11:30 this morning and luckily, the house didn't take too long to heat up. The hot water has now also been fixed, so we're basically back to normal, which is more than I can say for most people who have heard they might not have power back for up to three days. I've come to the realization that I am WAY too high maintenance to not have power.

Here are a few pictures of the carnage:

This first one is the pine tree in our back yard, taken from my bathroom window. Those are ALL branches underneath the tree.

This one was taken on the side of our house, and I'm pretty sure it's the big bang I heard just before the power went out. This is the tree outside my parent's house, in the neighbor's backyard. Looks like lightning hit it, not ice!This is the tree that fell on my parent's neighbor's car and into her back yard.

Nytropalooza notched an unexpected win last night, beating Sunshine (the first place team) 3-0. Granted, they didn't have one of their star players and their leading striker was apparently hurt and in the goal, but one person does not a team make! We played really well and scored three GORGEOUS goals en route to our win. Shannon got leveled and called a douche bag, but I was just happy that this week it wasn't me that got the shit kicked out of me! Early game next week in case anyone wants to spectate!

Today's weather sucked, but at least I made it to and from work in one piece. I'll be honest, the roads weren't as bad as I though they'd be. I think they'll be way worse tomorrow, which is why I'm pretty sure I won't be making it to work tomorrow.

I was just about right when it comes to the housewife who's leaving The Real Housewives of Orange County: Lauri has decided to spend more time with her family, which considering her son's circumstances, is probably a good thing! I haven't had a chance to watch this week's episode yet, but I should probably apologize to C. Howe for spoiling the fact that Gretchen's man died. I honestly didn't know anyone but me actually cared!

Macaulay Culkin's sister has died after being hit by a car in LA. It is NOT a good week for celebrity offspring!

The O's traded away Razor Ramon, but at least for once there's someone waiting in the wings to take his place. It may not be over yet, but rumors are that the Red Sox are gonna fight hard for Mark Teixeira. I have a feeling SOMEONE WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS (for those not into baseball, I'm talking about Peter Angelos) won't let the O's compete for him. I'm just saying..
This really sucks. I had a LONG list of things to blog about but I was so excited and eager to leave work that I left it there. When I go back in (hopefully on Monday) it's not going to make any sense.

No one I know is having a holiday party this year, but if they were, I would attempt to make these. They could be my NEW specialty!!!

Someone is now going to have even more Daddy issues... and I can't wait to watch it unfold!

I am a little ashamed to admit this, but since I know some of you will be with me (and when I say "some of you" I mean Tara), I feel ok with posting it. Now that I've heard of it, I'm kind of excited about Confessions of a Teen Idol. Not so much about I Love Money 2, but that probably won't stop me from watching that trainwreck unfold.

This one was kind of surprising, and I like the way they TRIED to be subtle about it. 14 months?! Damn shame I say.

I'll take whatever Dawson's Creek reunion I can get, even if it's just good old Grams.

Ok.. I think I did alright considering my lack of a list. I know I still have the Golden Globe nominations and I'll try to devote a post to those tomorrow or this weekend, once they sink in. All I have to say is that my man, the Piv, is once again nominated. Just one more reason to watch the red carpet AND post a picture of him in formal wear. Not necessarily good formal wear, but formal wear just the same.

Enjoy your night and drive carefully!!!

Rumors around town are that T.R. Knight is leaving Grey's Anatomy because he's "unhappy with his storyline." Um.. at least he HAS a storyline. I mean, Izzie's sleeping with a dead guy for god's sake!!!

So, apparently Oprah's pushing 200 and she's ashamed. Well ya know what? She should be. I'm sick of hearing about her thyroid. If I had Oprah money I don't think there'd be any reason for me to be more than a size 8! I mean, you could have your own private chef, trainer and plastic surgeon for the money that woman has. Even if she really does have a thyroid condition (which they have medication for and since I am Anti-Oprah, I'm not so sure that's the case), I think she's just being lazy, but that's just my bitter opinion. I'm chubby because I don't have Oprah money.... but if I did.... I'd be the hottest housewife in Columbia County! Ok wait.. if I had that kind of money it's doubtful I'd still live here, but you get the point.

So, J and I had "the talk" about our relationship the other night, and I don't think things are going to end well. Basically, that they ARE going to end. Right now we're "thinking" about why we're together, since the other night, neither one of us could really come up with a good answer. That's not a good sign, right? Today at work, it was one of my co-worker's birthday. Anyway, to add insult to injury, her boyfriend came in to take her to lunch and subsequently proposed to her. It was sweet and all, and I'm happy for her, but do you really want someone else to be starting a new life and being sublimely happy when you're miserable and only two years away from a "geriatric" pregnancy? To answer that question, no.. you do not. However, congratulations and happy birthday go out to her anyway cause hey, I'm just that kind of person.

The Orioles are at the Winter Meetings. Will they do anything? Doubtful, but at least they ARE thinking about it.

I found one of my old friends from high school on Facebook today, and it made me very happy. I haven't talked to her in years! She reminded me of a skit we had to do in high school English, where we had to modernize Shakespearean plays. Ours was Othello. There is a great section of our senior video that has me waxing poetic about my "black man, black man, my dear moor Othello." Ok, it doesn't SOUND funny to you, cause it's kind of a had to be there thing, but if there were You Tube in those days, this certainly would have made it on there!

Sadly, Mark Ruffalo's brother has died from a gunshot wound sustained last week. There's lots of speculation as to why he was shot, but the latest is that he was the big loser in a game of Russian Roulette. I had no idea people played the odds enough to still do something like that! So NOT a game I want to play! I bet there is WAY more of this story to come to light!

Tre and I are headed out to see Twilight tonight, finally! We've been trying to go since it opened, but we could never get it together to do so, so I guess I'll have to let you know what I think at another time. It'll be way past my bedtime by the time we get home! In other Twilight news, Catherine Hardwicke will not be back for the sequel "New Moon," due to scheduling constraints.

Last night on The Hills, Whitney went to NYC and had her interview with Diane Von Furstenberg. I'd hate to ruin it for anyone but she gets the job, which will begin her new spinoff show "The City" which debuts December 29th. I don't want to want to watch it, but I do.

Tonight on The Real Housewives of Orange County, one of the housewives will leave the show, as I've previously mentioned. I'm thinking it might be Gretchen. Through reading her blog on Bravotv.com, I've come to find out that her fiance Jeff did not survive his bout with Leukemia, and it would be logical for her to have to leave the show to take care of him. Sadly, I hope this is the case because besides Lauri, I really can't let any of the others go. I just can't! Then again, it seems the ladies aren't ALL friends.. big shocker, right?

Time for me to get out of here. Don't forget - tomorrow is hump day and since I plan to live vicariously through others, someone please hump what you've got!

I really have never liked Rachel Zoe, but her show on Bravo was like crack and I'm so excited it was renewed for another season. I also LOVED Tabatha's Salon Takeover and Bravo did not disappoint me.

I check this site every day, so imagine my surprise to find the reader of the day was from ATHENS, NY! Crazy, right?

I realled liked her in The Devil Wears Prada, so I might be ok with her dating my favorite Polack, John Krasinski, much like her ex seems to be.

We all know I love The Hills, and I have to say I've always felt the same way.... about Lo AND satin pants..

I've been on the treadmill three days in a row. Yay me. It was a slow day and I've got some things going on that I'm not quite ready to tackle on the blog, so you'll just have to bear with me! Hope you got through your Monday and that the rest of the week goes by just as quickly!

I've been meaning to post a picture since I made the "announcement" last week, but this is my friend Toine's newborn daughter, Taylor Gracie. Being a woman, I know enough not to post a picture of the baby and parents, as Toine looks like it's any normal day and poor Kelly just had a baby. It's just not fair to anyone involved ;). She is a cutie though, isn't she?

I've also been meaning to post pictures from our girl's night out. Granted, I wasn't there for the majority of them, as I was too busy being passed out, but here are a few of the pictures I was still awake for:

Shannon played hairdresser with her cute pink flat iron.. It'd be a GREAT Christmas gift Shan!

See? I may not have felt good, but I sure did look FABULOUS!

This must have been early..

Today is Hudson's annual Winter Walk and Fish is hosting the party of the year (after Nytropalooza of course). My camera is charged and this will be my first foray into drinking again since that night. I had two beers at bowling last night and to be honest, they didn't even taste that good. It's amazing what one bad night can do to you!

I've been pretty productive today. I walked a few miles on the treadmill and first thing I did was head to my nemesis, Jiffy Lube. Luckily, no one else was there and they guy that took care of my car was really nice and didn't try to sell me on anything! As I'm checking out he tells me that there's an air filter listed on my receipt, however there is no charge for it. Apparently, the manager from the last time I was there had a habit of forgetting to put air filters in the cars, one of which was mine. So yeah, I've been driving around without an air filter for the last three and a half months. I don't know anything about cars, but I'm pretty sure that can't be a good thing! I should have known though. If I remember correctly that manager was bald and pretty cute. There had to be something wrong with him (besides the fact that he worked at Jiffy Lube, who has a habit of screwing me in the bad way).

Enjoy your weekend and I hope to post more pics soon!

If you're not doing the speed limit, don't put your high beams on me after I pass your slow-moving ass. If you had driven anywhere near the speed limit, I would not have had to pass you, which therefore negates your reasoning for putting your high beams on. You're just acting like a douchebag, which kinda makes me even happier I passed you.

Know what else makes me happy? Bowling well, and I did that tonight. I shot 213-213-221. I know, I know, I could have gotten that triplicate patch I've been eyeing my whole life (sarcasm) but it didn't work out. Still, it's rare for me to have three 200 games when I bowl a 600, so I was pretty thrilled with myself. Next week is position round and we're in first place. I hope we keep it that way. I like winning money.

This afternoon we thought there was a gas leak in my office. Come to find out, it was the stench of one of the attorney's snacks. I can't remember the name of it, but it was some sort of Chinese fruit that is notorious for it's gruesome smell. Who wants to eat something that smells like natural gas?

Is it sad that I was a little forgiving this morning while watching Casey Anthony's jailhouse talks with her family on the Today Show? I know.. I have issues.

I'll end this post with good news: Kathy Griffin got her coveted Grammy nomination for her comedy album! I honestly never thought it would happen, but it did and I"m thrilled!

Yesterday I got a message from a friend of mine, basically berating me (in a good natured way) for sending him a Christmas card that said Happy Holidays. To be honest, that doesn’t bother me. I didn't get the cards to be PC and accomodate all my friends. I don't even think any of my friends celebrate anything BUT Christmas. It was the only one out of the four boxes I bought that didn’t have a reference to Christmas and I bought the box because I thought it was pretty. Sue me.

To be honest, I could care less what you wish me. I celebrate Christmas and that's what important to me. It’s the holiday season, what’s the difference!? I know someone who won’t shop at Home Depot because they don’t say Merry Christmas. I mean.. come on! As far as that’s concerned, it IS a business and you’re supposed to cater to everyone. As for me… just be happy I spent $.42 and then some sending you a card. It means I’m thinking of you and just didn’t want to write “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” in your card because after signing 60 or more, my hand gets tired!!!

Guess we'll see which whiner gets a card next year... ;)

Last night's soccer game had it's ups and downs.. especially for me. We only had one sub, without Tre and Nikki there, so everyone had to bring their "A" game! Literally a minute into the game, I was dribbling the ball up the field and all of a sudden, I was down on the ground. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my shoe getting caught in the turf. I now have scratches from the turf from my calf up to my thigh. I'm not looking forward to shaving.

Anyway, we ended up ahead 5-1 at one point after the half, and that is when the other team decided to take their goalie out. Their HUGE, hard kicking goalie. Yeah.. she decided to play the front line which left myself and someone approximately 1/3 this girl's size to defend her. Well, she scored two goals, one of which sailed by our goalie's head faster than anything I've ever seen. She was like "I've been a goalie for a long time, but I was NOT getting in the way of THAT!" I'll admit, it was scary! I went down shortly after she headed a ball into my nose and decided that was a great time for a sub to come into the game in my place. We ended up pulling out the win 5-3, but it was a tough final 5-10 minutes, as most of our team played defense just to stop big bad goalie from scoring and/or killing one of our players.

Next week we play against Psycho Goalie, who is our most hated nemesis. Unfortunately, her team is pretty decent so hopefully we can keep up this momentum and if not kick her ass, maybe get in some cheap punches instead. It's times like this I realize how much I miss rugby. I think I have a lot of aggression.

I will never understand why you would trade away your most valuable players, but if anyone's gonna do it, you can bet it'll be the O's. Seriously, the blog will be black if Roberts or Markakis goes.

Someone is leaving my beloved Real Housewives of Orange County. It better be Lauri or Gretchen.. I like them, but I can live without them. If Jeana leaves the show, I might have to follow suit! (OK.. I’ll never be able to quit cold turkey, but I WILL be VERY upset).

Looks like the recession is hitting some of the Atlanta ladies where it hurts!

Heidi says “oh yes, there WILL be Project Runway.” Skinny bitch better be right.

Alex got sent home on Top Chef last night, for an inedible Crème Brulee. I called it from the get-go cause they spent WAY too much time on him in the episode, when I’d barely known his name just a week before. Top Chef is about as good at editing as Top Model.

No grammy nods for Taylor Swift and The Jonas Bros. are nominated for Best New Artist? I wonder if the texts are gonna start flying!? PS – I don’t consider no nods for Miley Cyrus being a snub, but Taylor Swift!? She has insane pipes AND has sold a bazillion albums already.. What is going on with the grammy nominators?! Ok.. I stopped watching the grammy's years ago so I don't really care, but I do LOVE Taylor Swift.. Can you tell!?

I got an email from my dear friend Toine after my black/brown post yesterday:

Your blog was good. I am really big on staying away from black/brown myself and people who aren't aware of it stick out like a sore thumb! So.....black cashmere sweater, light tan pants, black shoes. Question....light tan socks to match the pants? Or black socks to go with the shoes?

He’s so metrosexual and I adore how he knew not to wear the tan socks, but asked anyway. Don’t you love how he threw in the fact that he was wearing cashmere? Must be nice to work for the Braves.. I hope I’m not embarrassing you Toine.. it’s when I DON’T talk about you that you should be worried!

You have to love good guest stars. I mean, this sure beats Izzie screwing a dead guy (albeit a hot, sweet dead guy).

More on last night's soccer game to come.

Here's your interesting "winter" tidbit for the day.

Remember kids, there are two sides to every story! As much as I feel bad for her (and am thoroughly ashamed to admit it), I'm even more ashamed I kinda feel bad for him too! What is this world coming to?

For real.. don't you want to know where Miss Cleo is today? Sadly.. I kinda do...

Ok.. I'm no Scrooge, but I'm not a huge Christmas fanatic. I don't listen to Christmas music, and the only thing I insist on watching every year is Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas (if you haven't seen it, you don't know what you're missing). However, this might be the ONE Christmas song I sing along to, and it's nice to see I'm so not the only one! Granted, I can't say I've heard any of the cover versions they post on the site, but I might have to check them out! I wonder if Huey or Counting Crows have done one? Now THAT would be awesome :)

I am not yet caught up on True Blood, as Sue and I haven't been able to get our schedules together so I can finish out the season, however it looks like I will have a good shot of seeing it before it comes out on DVD. However, if you don't like nude scenes, you might want to find another show to watch cause True Blood seems to be the Queen!

This should be a no-brainer. If you're wearing anything black - wear black shoes! Don't wear a gray sweater, black pants and brown shoes. It doesn't work. Also, even if you're wearing brown pants and a black shirt.. wear black shoes, cause you're never gonna get the brown in your pants to match the brown of your shoes.

Every day when I turn into my complex at work, there's this moron that puts her left blinker on to turn right. Granted, she's taking an immediate left after that right, but there is no possible way to take a left when her blinker is on and it irks me.

I can't believe Hootie and the Blowfish didn't make this list.

I had a productive lunch hour: I made my New Year's Eve reservations. I haven't had very good new year's and this year I'm gonna try to turn it around.. even though I'd probably rather be home in my jammies, eating Wendy's and watching a Rock of Love Girls: Charm School marathon. I also ordered some of my dad's Christmas present, so I'm practically done, which is a good thing. A mall is NOT where I want to be this holiday season!

All of them will work, but I'm partial to #23.. it's not an every day thing you know, especially in the winter. Who wants to waste a good shave!?

Is Britney's comeback ever going to involve ACTUAL singing and not lip syncing? I'm a little ashamed to say I watched part of her documentary on MTV... and kinda felt bad that I call her batshit crazy all the time. Kinda..

Members of the State are all over the place, but I want to see them back together again! Read on to find out what would be a REALLY great present for me...

I've been really busy at work lately, which has been nice. Sure does make the day go by. However, some people aren't quite ready to trust me. That's cool - stay later to do work I could have done for you. No skin off my nose, right?

I'm still in shock that it's December.

Sometimes you just need a long weekend.

Wednesday night, after a long, busy day of work, I went out to dinner at Mexican Radio where I strayed from my ever present tacos and got the enchiladas. They aren't as good as mine, but they were ok ;). After that, my friend's husband and I went to Melino's.. I lasted 15 minutes. I felt like I was 80 years old. Let's just say I won't be making THAT mistake again. I met everyone else at Stray (Jason's Upstairs Bar) and even then I only lasted till about 11. I was tired, not drinking (still) and just not in the mood to be out. I went home and enjoyed the season premiere of the Real Housewives of Orange County instead.. Speaking of which, I kind of like Gretchen, the new housewife. She seems like a decent egg, although it's only the first week so that could change!

Thanksgiving was good. The food was REALLY great. My mom made these awesome mashed potatoes and of course, there was plenty of turkey. At one point my mom looked at the table and said "you guys better get married and have babies, cause this is pathetic." Yeah, it was just the four of us. It WAS kind of pathetic! Still, that meant more food for me! Anyway, the rest of the family showed up and we spent the rest of the night laughing our ass off watching everyone play the Wii Fit. J has finally realized he's never getting it back.

Friday morning Tre woke me up and said we were going to the mall. After last year's outlet debacle, I did NOT want to go shopping on Black Friday, but we were going later than most people and I really didn't want to let go of those kind of deals! So, I got out of bed and much to my mother's surprise, headed to the mall with her and Tre. We walked into Macy's and it was hot, bright and loud! Within five seconds I was run over by a stroller and finally ended up at the Lancome counter almost unscathed. Mom and I had a slight ulterior motive to get Tre to use makeup that she didn't buy at CVS, so she sat down to get her makeup done and I started seeing ripples (auras) in my line of vision. I thought maybe I had just looked into the lights and couldn't see quite right yet, but it lasted way too long. It was so bad that I couldn't even read stuff, so I tried to get Excedrin Migraine into my system, but it was to no avail. I lasted another hour or so, but then I headed out to the car for some air and the chance to close my eyes. I ended up coming home and going to sleep for a few hours and even missed bowling that night, which is a rarity for me. I basically crashed out the rest of the night and laid low all weekend.

Saturday afternoon I met up with some of my cousins for lunch at Baba Louie on Warren Street. I had never been there and it's basically an "upscale" pizza place where you can get just about anything you want on your pizza. I got pepperoni. I'm not adventurous, sue me. Anyway, it was really really good! I had heard so much about it and I just expected it to have been.. overrated, but it wasn't. Plus, it was nice to hang out for a while, especially since my cousin Mandy isn't coming home for Christmas this year. It'll be the first year EVER that we're not all together on Christmas.

Anyway, that's really all that's going on with me. Like I said, I kind of laid low this weekend. We planned on going to see Twilight, but there was no late afternoon matinee. What the hell!? So, I hope everyone had great holidays and the food coma only lasted as long as you wanted it to! Back to the grind!

My sister, my friend Tara and I are going to see the Wu-Tang Clan on December 28th at Northern Lights in Clifton Park. My fave is Method Man who, of course, won’t be there. I’m considering it a cultural experience and it looks like I need to bone up on my Wu-Tang song knowledge before we go. A month should be enough time, don’t you think?

The finals of Dancing With the Stars was last night, and I’m still rooting for Lance and Lacey, even though if the judges had their way, they’d crown Brooke and Derek right now. There’s still the audience vote and to be honest, I’m surprised people know who Brooke Burke is! But hey, let’s hope the gays get out the vote for Lancey!! I wasn’t real enthused by any of the freestyles, so I’m still hoping Derek is still shut out of the victory (Sorry Brooke – guilty by association).

Congrats have to go out to my friend Toine and his wife Kelly, who are the proud parents of a daughter, Taylor Gracie. She was born on Sunday and Mom and daughter are doing well!

In my migraine induced haze yesterday, I spilled soda on my pink wool coat…. and thought it’d be a good idea to put stain stick on it, and then put it in the washer. It’s hanging up to dry as we speak but I guess there’s a reason it goes to the DRY cleaners. Then again, it gets wet in the snow and rain so how bad can it be? Only time will tell..

I don’t normally watch CSI:NY (or any CSI’s for that matter) but Chris Daughtry made his acting debut during last week’s episode and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, I adore him so I would have never ripped him apart, but I would have been honest had he been atrociously bad. Luckily, he didn’t put me in that awkward position.

I’ve missed Quizno’s ever since the one in Valatie suddenly closed, barring me from my sammies. I FOUND one this afternoon, which was a pleasant surprise! I REALLY wanted the chicken carbonara sub, but my stomach is still not quite right so I settled on a sammies meal. While still way more expensive than two little sandwiches should be, I thoroughly enjoyed it and even managed to make my former co-worker jealous over it.

Thanks to the holiday, soccer is tonight instead of tomorrow night. I could care less either way. I still kind of feel like crap so playing soccer should be fun, especially since at the last minute we have only one sub. As for tomorrow night, just looking at beer makes me want to puke. I guess I still need some time to recover.

Ewwwww

Had to leave work early today. Got a migraine on my way and lasted till about 1:30 before I couldn't really function anymore. I came home, took some Excedrin Migraine and passed out for a few hours. So far so good.

I would LOVE to post pictures from last night's girl's night, however, I hardly took any. Instead, I was passed out in the hotel room, thanks to a little too much pregaming.

I bowled in the afternoon and had a few beers before I met the girls to head up to Albany. My friend Jen and I picked up Heather, then we picked up the pizza, which was very good and very cheap, thanks to my friends at Gourmella's (formerly Cusato's). We all housed the pizza and Fish opened gifts and all was well. Until Shannon busted out the vanilla vodka that she didn't want to drink alone. Let's just say the drinks were more vodka than ginger ale and they tasted amazing. We finally headed out around 10 and went straight to Savannah's. First order of business - an Irish Car Bomb shot.. I don't do those.. I only finished about half of it so I ordered myself a jager bomb. BIG mistake. I'm pretty sure there was no red bull in it yet and that was what pushed me over the edge. Apparently I peed in an alley and then decided I had to go home. The girls put me in a cab and memorized the number, just in case anything happened to me. Course, someone could have taken the cab with me but NOOOOOO... lol.. I was supposed to text or call when I got back to the room but instead, I passed out so I think everyone was a little nervous about that. When Nikki came back around 1:30, she made me puke and got me into my jammies. I puked again when Tre and Fish came back around 3:30 and luckily, for once Tre didn't want to leave at the crack of dawn. I spent the rest of the day in bed, just trying not to throw up. I finally had some toast at 3:00 and am now feeling much better. I'm really disappointed though, as I planned the night and didn't get to partake in all the fun everyone had. Hopefully there'll be another girl's night on the horizon and there will be nothing but beer for me. NO SHOTS!!

Rumor has it, someone hit a transformer up near where I work so we lost power a little before 1:00. They finally let us go around 2:30 as we stood around in the dark for an hour and a half. It was nice for me because I got quite a few errands done that I didn't anticipate being able to do today, so hopefully no one got hurt too bad to get me out of work early!

Ashlee Simpson FINALLY gave birth to a baby boy, her first child with Fall Out Boy member Pete Wentz. I have no doubt you'll agree with me that this kid should be home schooled, cause any child named Bronx Mowgli (yeah.. like the f'n Jungle Book) deserves to get his ass kicked. Actually, it's his parents who's asses should be kicked. I'm not saying I want to name my kids sterotypically "normal" names, but I am pretty sure they won't be the ridiculed every day because of their name.. and again, NEVER gonna find that on a license plate in a Wheaties box. NEVER!

I'm always happy when someone leaves a comment or says something that makes me realize they read my blog. However, I was pretty excited this morning when I got a comment from someone whose blog I read pretty religiously. It was a good way to start my day!

Julianne Hough is hanging up her dancing shoes to concentrate on her music.. Until the music thing doesn't work out and she goes back to her day job. Why can't people just be good at one thing and let it go? Thanks to my early day, I've finally gotten around to watching DWTS this week and all I can say is "Go Lance and Lacey!" They picked the perfect time to peak and I hope they can keep it up and STEAL it from Brooke (she of the.. well.. NO personality) and Derek (he of the.. well.. WAY too much personality)!!!

Let me tell you, this is what I call a quickie!! I've done quite a few of these, but never that quick!!! (Get your minds out of the gutter)

Mike Mussina has announced his retirement. No offense, but I'd care JUST a bit more if he had stayed an Oriole and not broken my heart all those years ago.

Busy weekend on tap, but i hope to post some pictures for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy your weekend!!!

Why don't overweight celebrities have double chins?

I know I'm probably the only person who thinks so, but sometimes Kath and Kim cracks me up. Case in point: Kim is freaking out about the cable being out because "there is a Denise Richards marathon on at 3 pm and she's right. It IS complicated." Ah.. guilty pleasures. I really miss that show. I don't feel good about it, but it's true.

In a not-so shocker, Mckey (one of the three Brittany's) won America's Next Top Model. What did shock me was that it was Samantha and not Analeigh that made it into the Top Two. From that point on, it was a no-brainer. I do like that both girls had short hair and were kinda tough. I mean.. McKey came into her first photo shoot boxing and then picked Tyra up after winning. She's an interesting looking girl and I actually liked her the whole way through so while I was pulling for Analeigh, I'm ok with McKey. Congrats! Wonder if they'll let her have her name back now that she's won?

I picked up my new glasses this morning and I'm not so sure about them. I think they'll just take some getting used to but for right now, I'm kind of going back and forth. I know it's not the right thing to do, but baby steps are better than no steps at all!

We lost 6-4 last night, but it could have been way worse. We were missing my sister AND our usual goalie, but Allyson really stepped up again for us. This team just had some stellar passing, something we have not quite mastered yet. Personally, I played like ass and these girls were 8 million mph faster than me. So yeah.. that didn't help. We play this coming Tuesday instead of Wednesday, leaving the night before Thanksgiving open for some boozing, unlike last year. Well... that's not true. We DID booze last year, but then had to play soccer. Not a good combo!

I might be getting a little bit of OT today, as we have some applications that need to be filed before midnight. No, I won't be here THAT long, but it could be a couple extra hours, which is ok. I mean, I'm going home to an empty house so why should it matter what time I get there!? I think as long as I'm home in time for my Thursday night lineup, I'll be a happy girl!

Here's the latest on our FAVORITE Bravo TV reality shows. Well.. one Bravo show and one that might still go to Lifetime.

Twilight opens up tonight at midnight and while I'm not screaming bloody murder when the stars come on TV, I'm intrigued. However, I'm the nerd that would rather read the books first, so I already have them in my overstock.com shopping cart. Still, I have feeling my curiousity will not allow me to read them first. At least not all of them!

I'll try to get back to you later, but I make no guarantees. I might just enjoy my solitude! Have a Happy Thursday!!!

Ever wake up and just know it’s not gonna be your day? Let me count the ways:

Bad hair day
Too fat to fit into my pants
Got the hiccups
The heel on my shoes is non-existent, therefore anytime there’s NOT carpet, I sound like a one hoofed horse and I slide all over the floor, which was fun walking through the mall on my lunch break
Every slightly hoochie shirt in NY & Co. looked terrible on me, except the ones that were NOT on sale
My computer at work has mutinied against me – I don’t know what I did to it to make it do the things it does to me, but I’ve prepared at least 4 documents more than once today for that reason
My lips are so chapped that I can’t stand it, and no form of chapstick is helping. I’ve resorted to slathering my lips with my eczema medication.. Sexy. The last time I can remember them being this bad is when J and I first started dating and we were making out a lot.. I miss those days :(

In other news, Avenue Q, the best musical ever, is coming to Proctor’s in January. I have been waiting for it to come around ever since I took Sipper (the Australian) to see it when he visited me a few years ago. It’s the funniest show ever. I mean, when puppets have sex, songs are called “If You Were Gay” and Gary Coleman are involved, how can you go wrong? I’m trying to put together a group to go so I can enlighten all my friends to the hilarity that is Avenue Q. It didn’t win Tony’s for nothing ya know!!

I hit the mall at lunch to find a hoochie shirt for Saturday night, when the girls go out for my friend Fish’s 35th birthday. Obviously, that didn’t go so well. However, I did hit up the Macy’s One Day Sale and got two Liz Claiborne sweaters for $50.00. I have a problem, and it’s called Liz Claiborne. Because I went to the mall at lunch and didn’t eat, I ended up eating a Hormel Compleat meal for lunch. It’s basically a lean cuisine that you don’t have to freeze. Freaky, yes but WAY better than expected. I got the chicken pasta alfredo and while it did freak me out that I was eating non-frozen chicken, it was still pretty appetizing. Way to go Hormel!

I remember the days when my friend Chris and I used to watch The Real World religiously and actually cared what happened on it. Ya know, when they did more than just fight and hook up. Anyway, my co-worker’s roommate is in the running to become one of the new cast members, so head here and throw the guy a vote. His screen name is marcp2 and as of this post, he’s in 14th place from Troy, New York. It’d be kinda cool to get a real local person on and I don’t mean one from NYC. And just in case you can’t get enough of the challenges (and your favorite MTV “Stars” need a change of pace), here’s a new show for you. I admit.. I did get into Beauty and the Geek for one season, so this could be interesting.

While I have yet to watch the show, I couldn’t avoid knowing that Cody Linley was voted off Dancing with the Stars this week, setting up a showdown between Warren, Lance and Brooke. From what I hear, Brooke faltered a bit and Lance wowed the crowd. Can the sure thing be beaten? I hope so… Derek Hough gets on my nerves and I ADORE Lacey Schwimmer.

Finally, the ANTM finale is on tonight and I’m anxious to see who really goes home with it. All the leaks are saying the winner was obvious from the start, but I don’t see how that’s possible with these finalists. I mean, McKey’s first photo shoot was a disaster, Sam has been in the middle most of the time (except for her terrible runway show) and Analeigh only recently became a frontrunner. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. I know when I get home from soccer I’m going to have to watch that instead of Top Chef. Finales take precedence over shows I can tape and watch tomorrow without ruining the outcome (thank you world wide web).

Hope you don’t have as much trouble getting over the hump as I did today. Go NYTROPALOOZA!!!

My friends have way too much free time on their hands.... and thankfully, no pictures of me :)

I'm lacking on postable items today, but I'll give you some stuff to work with anyway.


Awww.. sometimes life imitates art, doesn't it?

Yeah.. I really have nothing. I didn't realize how much nothing I had until I tried to post it.

Let's do another conversation, this one between J and I. It was actually texts. Let me preface it by saying that I called him yesterday afternoon and left him a message. He then texted me this:

J: You're breaking up..
Me: We're breaking up? That's tacky
(In my head I'm thinking, um.. are we that Jonas Brother and Taylor Swift? I have a feeling her rebound options would be considerably better than mine, but I digress)
J: No dumbass, your phone was breaking up during your message.

I am not drinking excessively or smoking pot non-stop, so I don't know what is going on with my lack of brain cells lately.

I almost forgot: I'm getting glasses. I had laser eye surgery a few years ago and everything has gone really well with it. I'm both excited and shocked that I can see the clock in the middle of the night. However, one eye has an astigmatism so it's only about 95% while the other is 100%. Therefore, that eye struggles to keep up with the other eye so it has come to my attention that I should probably wear glasses for reading and when I'm on the computer, which is the majority of my day. My glasses are in and I just need to pick them up and start wearing them. I actually recycled a pair of frames I had bought just prior to my surgery so now I'll actually get some use out of them. And before you ask, no.. no pictures.

I tried to do a handstand (drunkenly) after the Chatham Fair. Whenever that Ipod commercial comes on talking about "doing handstands for you" I am cruelly reminded of my lack of ability (and fat ass) that hindered me from doing so.


No posts tomorrow so I apologize in advance. I'll have about 45 minutes between work and soccer and that time will more than likely be spent eating and changing. Hope you can get over the hump!!

It defeats the purpose of walking on the treadmill if you're going to eat an entire Red Baron pizza afterwards.

This morning I was listening to my Ipod when the Beyonce song "Ring the Alarm" came on. The alarm went off and I asked my co-worker what was going on, not realizing the alarm was only going off in my ears. She might think I'm crazy.

Seriously, does EVERY boy band have to have a gay guy in it these days? Let's take bets as to which Backstreet Boy is coming out of the closet.. And NO Sandra, it's NOT the "rat-faced" one.

Yes.. this made me happy. Get over it.

An actual conversation I had with my father:

Me: Hey Dad.. when do you have off this week? I need an oil change and Jiffy Lube sent me a coupon.
(Note: Screw you all.. you know I get sucked in at Jiffy Lube and if my Dad takes it, I save money as he is smart enough to say no to whatever they say I need. Sue me)
Dad: I don't think I can do it this week. Maybe next week.
Me: Ok.. whatever works.
Dad: You know, with that new Toyota "saved by zero" campaign, you could probably upgrade your car for the same payment.
Me:................ Um.. yeah but I just need an oil change.

And now he's got me thinking. I know no good can come from this.

Nytropalooza notched our first win of the session by a 2-1 margin, thanks to Shannon's strategically placed head ball and Tre's awesome goal! It was a really great, fun game, with very little bitching. Nice thing was, we had a new ref who didn't call a thing! Really.. that's great, especially for our team who's a little more.... aggressive than other teams! We only had one sub which sounds bad, but after last week's debacle of too many subs, I think it really worked out. Two people (at least) can't come next week, so we should be in decent shape.

I had to run from work to the game, so I didn't eat anything prior (I didn't think it would be the best choice). Instead, I stopped after the game and got myself a Spicy Chicken sandwich from Wendy's, just the way I like it. I haven't had one in a while cause I had a few bad experiences with it, but I was in the mood for chicken. I think my spicy chicken phase is over. It just didn't do too much for me and I was kind of wishing I'd gone for the Baconator. What's happening to me?!

Speaking of food, Shell and I met my friend Julie for lunch today. Julie and I used to bowl against each other in high school and college, and we've managed to stay in touch all these years. So, when I started working not far from her, we decided to have lunch. Julie has introduced me to Moe's and I'm not sure if I'm eternally grateful, or if I should be upset with her because of it. I got an awesome burrito, but I also lapsed into a heavy food coma shortly afterwards.

We have a cleaning lady at my work, who is usually getting started while I'm still there. She empties out my garbage can, but she only empties out the bag, so I keep the same bag all week. It's a little disturbing to me, but to each their own. I have taken to crushing up my post-it notes as I've noticed her spending way too long ripping my post-it's out of my slightly used bag. I felt bad about it. She's a nice lady.

Tre and I got Chinese food on Sunday and this was my fortune: Good luck bestows upon you. You will get what your heart desires. Is Jason Statham coming to town for a Transporter 3 press junket? Cause THAT would make my fortune come true.

Marjorie finally was evicted from the Top Model house this week. The judges finally had enough of her nerves and awkwardness. That leaves Analeigh, McKey and Sam as the final 3. I'm gonna guess Analeigh and McKey will be walking in that final runway show. Sam's fine and all, she just doesn't really compare to either of them.

Aubrey Huff has been awarded the American League Silver Slugger award as DH for the O's! The award honors the past season where Huff was in the league's top 10 in hits, home runs, RBI's, doubles and extra base hits. It's nice to see something good has come from the O's this past season and hopefully he can keep it up, if he's still with the team. I mean.. you never know what could happen so I'm not gonna get too excited. What can I say? I'm a cynical O's fan, but at least I'm still a fan!

Top Chef debuted last night with a slightly oversized episode, where two contestants went home, one of which never even made it to the house after Tom Colicchio has the cheftestants work it out with some apples. I'd explain to you what he made them do but all I can remember is peeling, then something weird, then they had to make something with the apples. The bottom two were actually friends from cooking school (seemingly the CIA in Hyde Park) and while Patrick was upset his buddy went home, he didn't have to wait long to lament about his short time on the show as he was the next to go. There are a few entertainers, some annoying and full of themselves (HELLO STEFAN) but it looks to be a good cast and hey, there always has to be a villain. I'm looking forward to watching another season of shit I'll never eat, yet am enthralled with anyway!

I can't wait till the weekend. I think my Tuesday dress down day really screwed with my head and made this week seem WAY longer than normal. Good luck getting through your Friday!!

This XM/Sirius merger is surely going to be a good thing sometime down the road, but right now it’s just bugging me that they changed the names of some of my favorite channels. What was wrong with Lucy? Why did they have to change it to Lithium!? I know they’re the same channels, but I am just not ready for the new names. However, I should look into it and see if there are some new channels I might like. Ugh.. research.

Jennifer Aniston is FINALLY speaking out about her feelings after Angelina Jolie professed her love for going to work on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith set.

I have yet to see either show this week, but I couldn’t avoid hearing Maurice Greene was the latest to be let go from Dancing with the Stars. The final four are Cody Linley, Brooke Burke, Warren Sapp and Lance Bass. It makes sense to me. I mean, from what I’ve seen lately, Maurice had kind of taken a step back while the others had been steadily improving. Please tell me there are no more group dances… I can’t take it!

I wish I had learned earlier in my life what a wonderful spread cream cheese is. I know what I was missing and I scold myself every single time!

I have an eye doctor’s appointment tomorrow for the first time in over three years. I got the laser surgery and never went back. However, with the migraine and ocular issues I’ve been having lately, it seemed like the right thing to do. Even more so now, as I have vision insurance! I have a pair of frames that I got just prior to having the surgery, so I’ll probably just have the eye doctor put new lenses in them. They’re really cute and I wouldn’t mind having to wear them while reading or at the computer.

My sister’s hair came out really nice. It’s more of an auburn, rather than a vibrant red, like I thought it was going to be. She was thinking like Kate Walsh from Private Practice to which my friend replied “that’s natural. I can’t give you natural red hair.” Course, I’ve only seen pictures, but she swished it around like a hair model so you could see the actual colors. I bet she could have gone redder if she really wanted to.

Thanks to Sue and Pete, I’m all caught up on Entourage and ALMOST caught up on True Blood. If you don’t have HBO or do and aren’t watching these shows, what the hell is wrong with you!? Ok.. maybe you don’t like blood. I can give you that. And maybe you don’t like Jeremy Piven. If that’s the case… stop reading my blog. You’re not welcome here.

I got 10/14 on my football picks last week. I usually just let J do them, but he hasn’t been doing so great lately, so I thought I’d take them over. Don’t tell him, but I just go with what the majority of the people are doing, or I look at what the experts say and give them a shot. It has nothing to do with actual football knowledge by any means. Regardless, I’m kicking his ass and isn’t that really all that matters?

The O's unveiled new uniforms today. They made a big stink about the unveiling and I was really hoping it'd be a little more.. climactic. Still.. YAY! New unis!!! :) New look, new identity.. does that translate into wins? God, I hope so!

Unstable? Paula Abdul fan? NEVER…

Hump ‘em like you’ve never humped ‘em before…. even if you have.

It's gonna be a busy week for me, so I'm trying to sneak a post in while I can. Unfortunately, I don't have much to say!

Operation Ipod is a work in progress. I'm trying to remember what I had on it in the first place, but it's easier said than done. Still, I'm up to almost 1500 songs which puts me pretty close to what I had.

Poor Britney - Girl can't leave town for ONE DAY and something sketchy happens.

Lindsey's not 100% sure she's a lesbian. SHOCKER..

Fringe comes back to TV tonight and I can't wait. Course, I doubt I'll be home to watch it (that seems to be a trend this week) but I still look forward to it. I have a soccer game tomorrow night but it's early so I can't go home after work. I just hope it gets me home in time to watch the first installment of Top Chef in real time. Or something resembling it.

I don't know if anyone watches The Big Bang Theory, but Analeigh and Samantha from ANTM had cameos on last night's show where Howard and Raj spend the entire episode trying to find the location of the Top Model house... and the future Mrs. Wolowitz. I wonder how they pulled off that network crossover...

I went out for Monday Night Football last night, as the majority of my friends didn't have to work today. At least it's a dress down day for me. That makes it not so bad. I have no idea why I don't go more often. $5 all you can eat pizza and wings and a guy I could spend hours staring at. Again... why don't I go? Maybe it's because I only watched mmm... 10 seconds of the game? Yeah.. that could be it.

Winter Walk is December 6th and I'm trying to get some of my girls from college to come. Hudson is "so far away" (let's not point out that I go see them with no complaints) but barring any terrible weather, they might actually consider it. I'll keep ya posted on that one! I feel bad making it out like we enjoy Winter Walk, when really all we do is pre-game at Fish's house, freeze our asses off for about a half hour, then bar hop. I think we do it in a more fun way.

My friend Shannon is dying my sister's hair red today. I'm anxiously awaiting the photographic evidence!!

I've gotta get a move on. Lunch is almost over and I have stuff I need to tackle. Enjoy your Veteran's Day and Happy Birthday to my friend Joey, and J's mom (not that she knows about this blog or anything, but I feel better putting it out there).

Let me catch you up on some things:

My enchiladas were THE BOMB. They were just as good for lunch the day after. I'm no top chef, but I make one hell of an enchilada.

Thursday night I had to get my hair cut by my friend Shannon. Another friend of ours was getting her hair colored for the first time ever, and getting it cut somewhere other than the mall, so we thought it'd be a good reason to get together. A few of us made it a "wine night" and here are some pictures to prove it.

Tre loves wine night!Everyone thought a mohawk would be funny... until I still had the goop in my hair after a few washings. The finished product! Check out those highlights. Virgin hair no more!!

Friday night, my sister subbed in my league once again. She only bowled OK (for her) the first two games so she decided she was going to bowl 290. Well, she bowled 298 instead! It was such a crazy experience. She buried every single shot and I really believe that if the lane hadn't broken down, she would have gotten her first 300. The lane being sketchy just gave her too much time to think about throwing that final ball. Funny thing is, my Dad bowled 298 about three weeks ago. I sure wish it were my turn next, but I was so nervous watching her that there is absolutely no way I could ever do it myself. My nerves just can't take it!

After that, J and I went to see Zach and Miri Make a Porno. I'd been begging him all week and I finally got my way. It was absolutely hysterical! I mean, I like Kevin Smith movies practically regardless, but this one was just funny from start to finish. I think that even people who aren't huge fans of Kevin Smith can find something to like. It's on my list of movies I highly recommend!

Saturday was our summer softball party, and it was an absolute blast. I have no pictures, as my sister decided it was her turn to take all the pictures, which turned into me trying to figure out how to work the camera so she could continue to be the camera whore she loves to be! However, that also means they are not yet online, or at least I haven't received them yet. When I do, I'll post some. Anyway, we got home around 8 am after staying at my cousin's, so I immediately got to work on my Ipod. It took me 12 hours, but I have come close to getting it to where I want it to be. I reset it to the factory presets and then started downloading and loading my cd's on. Like I said, it took me 12 hours, and it's not perfect, but it's way better than it was a week ago. So, do I still hate Itunes? No... but that doesn't mean they're back on the top of the list either.

I caught up on all my shows, and imagine my surprise to find ELINA got kicked off ANTM!? Um.. seriously? I'm shocked that Marjorie is still there and she's not. Now I have to say that I have no idea who's going to win. Maybe Analeigh will come from behind and take it all! I'd be ok with that.

Mouse watch 2008 - 7 mice in three days. I'm grossed out just thinking about it

Well, I'm trying to watch Shampoo and do my laundry before Rock of Love Girls: Charm School comes on (yes, I have priorities) so I'm gonna cut this short. I'll try to post again in the very near future! Hope you have a great week!!!

Breaking up with Hef is apparently the right thing to do. It kills the show, but it makes so much more sense!!! I mean come on.. did you really think this girl was gonna end up with an 83 year old man? She's dumb, don't get me wrong... but smart enough to know what a good thing she had and move on!

DAMN YOU SUSAN LUCCI... Is it wrong that I hope one of the other male dancers (hello Derrick Hough) comes down with dysentary so Tony Dovolani can take his place?

Soccer was a train wreck. 12 people is just too many to have on the team. There's no time for people to really gel and know how the others play. At least that (and the fact that we're all out of shape) is our story and we're sticking to it. Ugh.. the other team had this goalie that we lovingly call "psycho goalie"... cause she is. She was talking SOOOO much smack and actually threatened one of our girls. Tre got a penalty kick past her, but that was our only goal, mainly because we really didn't give her anything to save. She won't get off so easy next time we play her, let's put it that way.

Time for bed... I might have a concussion (ball kicked to the back of my head) so I'm pretty much just hoping I wake up in the AM! Hump whatever you've got!

I'm always so hungry when I get home from work. I'm not used to this schedule yet. I've basically spent my ride home telling J about all the things I want to eat when I get home. Yesterday, it was a turkey burger on the best rolls ever. I had one left. It had a TEENY spot of blue mold on it. I cut the mold out of the roll. I have a problem. Regardless, it was a damn good turkey burger and I'm glad I did it. Tonight, I made enchiladas and corn bread. However, we're not eating it until tomorrow. It's pretty sad that I have to plan my meals a day in advance. If I do say so myself, the enchiladas look great and I can't wait to see how far my cooking expertise (or lack thereof) goes.

Ok, I love my Grey's and I TOTALLY didn't see this one coming!? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the Hahn/Callie relationship, mainly cause I really like Callie and Sloane together, but that doesn't mean I wanted to get rid of the bitchiest bitch on Grey's!? AND, lots of shakeups on Heroes too! Apparently, the recent EW cover lamenting how terrible Heroes has become has really taken it's toll, as the show is being "restructured."

I still adore Hulu. I managed to watch old episodes of Private Practice and 90210, so now I am completely up to date on my television watching. At least for my midweek shows!

No mouse traps yet, which might be why when I (once again) opened the dishwasher, my little mouse friend was sitting on top of one of my dishes, staring right at me. The little bastard isn't even scared of me, yet I (once again) screamed and slammed the dishwasher shut. What he have here, is a battle of wits, that I'm losing miserably.