friends from far away lands

and also some from not so far away... LOL  

work today was very nice.  i spent almost the whole day working on a timecard project, and will likely spend most of tomorrow on the same.  i got to talk w/ some really interesting ppl while i helped them clean up delinquent timecards.  : )  pandora played lots of great songs by metallica, skillet, disturbed, linkin park, etc.  yes, hard rock is also my happy place.  ; )  don't pretend like you're shocked.  you know it's hard metal, hair bands, alternarock, yanni, phil collins, disney tunes... they all make me happy!  

had lunch at adolph's w/ my friend casie.  chips & saaalsa!  yummies!  

my friend diana from mexico was in town for a communications conference & so after work i went over to her hotel to hang out for an hour or so before meeting nicki for dinner.  it was so neat to actually get to meet diana in person, and look at pictures & learn more about her life & stuff!  we met up w/ another person who was here for the conference, Guillermo, who is from brazil, and i took them across the river to drop them off down town to hang out on my way to dinner.  the stories they have..!  seriously, other than being embarrassed by the state of my car (messy, verrrryyy messy, had to clean it out so guillermo could sit in the back, agh!), it was just so neat!  very grateful for the time i got to spend w/ them!  : )  

and diana is so sweet, she brought me presents!  she gave me a handmade coffee mug w/ beautiful artwork on it.  love it!  and also a compact that is really pretty w/ flowers & such.  : )  just gorgeous, and it touched my heart that she got them for me.  and also i felt bad that i didn't have anything for her - i am usually the present queen!  i've been slacking in card & present mode a lot lately, tho, and i really need to get back on track w/ that.  : )  

dinner w/ nicki was also a blast!  we met at osaka buffet & had many different kinds of sushi.  mmmm!  it was so nice to get to hang out & talk about life & work crush & beagle boys & entertainment news... LOL  i had no idea about the rabid paparazzi who took inappropriate pictures of princess kate!  i need to get my mail & read my people magazine.  yeesh!  (and also, to that photographer - seriously?!  how RUDE can you be?  have some respect!  and, just for the record, i maintain that taking pictures like that of ANYONE is rude, not just because she's "royal."  ya know?  oye.)

anywhoo!  it was a blessed, blessed day, and i'm so thankful for each friend i got to spend time w/ today.  :D  now, i am off to try & finish my book before bed.  i finished Infinity last night & started on Night Pleasures again because i couldn't resist reading kyrian's story again, and then i might have to read val & tabitha's story again, and then i WILL read The Host which i borrowed from trish...!  and then i may or may not go back to the D-H world for a couple more re-reads before starting the other new books i got from the book rack... i also may or may not stop by the book rack tomorrow after work to see if i can find the other two Nick books that are out... ; )  

i hope your week has been going super!!  *HUGS*  to you & yours!

ttfn!

case of the mondays (& weekend pictures to make us smile through them!)

today was definitely a monday.

that is not to say that it was a horrible day, just had more than its fair share of stressy moments.

i was out of the office friday.  long weekends are GREAT!  sometimes coming back & facing my email boxes is not so great, but today they weren't so bad.  only about 100 emails among the four of them, instead of the over 400 when i came back from my last time off!  LOL  i even got through them fairly quickly, so that was a blessing.  

then i had to converse w/ two VERY RUDE ladies back to back.

timecard issues were rather hectic, altho not unusual for any monday.

and there have been quite a few HR actions that haven't been completed in a timely manner - either by reps or managers of new employees.  these actions that don't get done in a timely manner end up causing new employees or transferring employees to be w/o necessary accesses for longer than normal.  and of course when their accesses mess up (or, appear to mess up as the case may be), who do they call?  

moi.

and it's really interesting sometimes to see the email chains on some of these issues, because ppl get persnickety about things happening, and then i have to point out that these things are happening because THEY didn't do what they were supposed to do.

i point this out as politely as i can, because my goal is not to make anyone feel badly!  but i definitely want them to know it wasn't someone else's fault, or a systems issue, or anything like that.  i want them to LEARN what THEY need to do in order for this same situation not to happen again, ya know?

my goal is to educate, so i try to be as clear as i can be.  i don't think anyone WANTS to screw up!  but in order to not screw up, they need to listen and pay attention to processes, because for the most part processes are there for a reason.  

so.  

*laugh*

other than all of that, it was a perfectly pleasant day.

weather was nice, new ppl starting were nice.  

no work-crush sightings, but that is the norm more often than an actual sighting, so... LOL 

after work, trish texted to see if i wanted to come over for homemade chicken & noodles.

um, the answer to that is always YES!  

she makes EXCELLENT chicken & noodles.  grammy worthy noodles, for sure.

YUM!

i had to stop at casey's & then i headed to her house.  we had a good couple of hours of chatting & delicious food.  i didn't get to stay for monday night comedies, tho, because mom & jen had been stalking my phone while i was in the kitchen chatting w/ trish.  *laugh*  apparently, the power was out at jen's & mom was at work & jen had to go to volleyball.  so she wanted me to pick the kids up & take them to mom's if the power wasn't back by the time it was getting dark.

no worries, that, except i had to think - WHY DID YOU WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE?!

the power was off this morning, because she had called mom to ask for help getting it back on.

no shame in that - as you know i have had to do the same thing once upon a time.  i'm not annoyed by that.  i'm annoyed because - why couldn't you call/text & ask me to pick the kids up earlier?  or even figure out earlier that you wanted them to stay at mom's?  even if the power came back on while they were gone, ya know?  at least they would have been taken care of & not at the last minute, making everyone (except jen) rearrange schedules?  i mean, she could have taken them to mom's before volleyball.  (when i asked that, she said she didn't have time because she was headed out the door right then, but at that point it was 20 after 5.  if she'd just taken them to mom's at 4:30, she would have been golden, right?)  

anyway, i'm sure she had reasons for waiting til the last minute, so whatever.
i left trish's as it was getting dark & picked the boys up.  they were in a good mood on the ride to gramma's. they were in a good mood while we were there.
and then, when mom got home, for some reason both their attitudes went phhhttt.  :(
well, i know the reasons - and it wasn't mom's fault.  LOL  
leyton wanted to watch tom & jerry, but it was bedtime when mom got home.  why he didn't say anything about watching tom & jerry right when we GOT there, i have no idea.  i would've loved to watch tom & jerry!  which i told him as he was having his melt down.  if it'd just been that, i think i could have talked him out of his mood, but then mom said something about the whole power outage thing, and anthony wasn't aware it was because there was a past due or whatever on the bill.  he thought it was the power company's fault, based on a call his mom made to them... anyway, so then he wasn't in the greatest of moods.  mom was upset, and then upset that anthony (not meaning to, but did) called her a liar when in actuality he'd either misunderstood the call his mom was making to the power company, or... ya know?  

anyway, i needed to get home, and so i hugged - or attempted to hug - both kids & headed out.  of course, since both kids were being brats, including to me, i said something snappy about being so glad that i'd ended my plans for the evening early so they wouldn't be either stuck in the dark or having to go to their mom's vb games, and how maybe next time they could just go w/ her.

i did say i love you & see you later before i left, but their attitudes really hurt my feelings.  :(

anyway.  
happy to be home.  
i'm going to finish Time Untime, the last book in the D-H series so far.  idk if i will get to start Infinity before bed or not, but that's the next one on my list!  : )  and then will be The Host, which i borrowed from trish.  i've been wanting to read it for ages!!  

oohhhh, and just to end this on a really happy note - over the weekend btwn massive reading sessions & movie watching, i got to hang out w/ mom & the boys.  we did red robin & target on saturday & then went to nathan's bday party on sunday.  the kids had a BLAST!  well, so did the adults!  : )  cousin matt & johnna  did a GREAT job w/ the pirate themed party.  johnna made the cake & pirate cookies, pirate bubbles, all sorts of nifty things!!  super neat!!  : )  

 leyton's smile for the first picture.
mom was not smiling.

 leyton's look for the second picture...
but mom was smiling!  : )
(Red Robin (YUM!) on saturday

 rollin thru target, gettin a present for nathan's party the next day.

 my new phone comes equipt w/ a flash & a "negative" option on the camera feature.
interesting!

 sunday treasure hunt w/ cousins jonell & soph

 piñata!!!
isn't this a clever idea?

 idk why, but this reminds me of the scene in Office Space where the guys take the fax machine out in a field & beat the crap out of it... LOL

 well, at least he's not glowering at me...
(aunt gnome - i mean nancy - and anthony)

 johnna made the cake, cookies, pirate bubbles - all the little figures on the cake...
she is WAY talented!!  : )

 idk if you can tell, but they really did beat the crap outta that box...
also, it gave them at least an hour of enjoyment AFTER the candy was sucked out of it!!

 tiny little pirate mustache on birthday boy nathan!

 grandma (my aunt vickie) & baby bentley lookin so cute!
(seriously, those eyelashes should be in commercials!)

 present time!

 aunts nancy, vickie & judy.  (aunt sandy was there, too, but she was over by the swings...LOL)

now it's time for ... WRESTLE MANIA!

 one of my favorite shots... : )

 dinner on sunday - onion rings & a strawberry shake & some water.
not exactly balanced, but it hit the spot!

ah, Monday!  
LOL

hope you enjoyed the pictures!  
ttfn!

you'll be in my heart

pandora's playing a quick mix right now, and it's full of lots of phil collins & wil smith currently.  *hearts*  i love the Tarzan soundtrack because it's almost ALL phil!  (btw, the other day leyton told me that he told his mom about phil.  then he said, "wouldn't it be cool if that phil were my dad phil?"  love it!  he also told her there's a song named after me.  cuz we heart it like a week before that on the radio & he remembered enough to tell his mom about it?!  cuuuteness!)  : )  

work went pretty well today, i have to say.  i spent most of the day working on error reports.  i'd hoped to finish them, but alas my email was also full of timecard issues, so those took precedence.  i did get maybe 1/2 way thru my reports, tho... of course, a new one will be printing off tomorrow... LOL  

after work i was feeling a big case of weekenditis, since i have tomorrow off.  i wanted to go out to dinner, but mom wasn't available & trish didn't text me back in time, so i ended up stopping at family video to get step up, safe, and surrogates.  my intent was to get all 3 step up movies, but they didn't have 2, and i didn't want to get 1 & 3, so i just got 1.  : D  the guy working was very helpful - especially since i somehow was no longer in their system?!  i had to re-register or whatever, but it worked out nicely as i got my movies for 1/2 price.  love it!  then i ended up at happy wok, but i didn't really want anything but crab ragoon & a diet pepsi, so i got that.  heh.  (YUM) then made a PB & fresh garden tomato sandwich when i got home.  i know it sounds gross, but i love PB & tomato sammiches!  (also, pb & cheese, pb & pickle, pb & bacon, ... and the more normal, pb & jam.  heh)

i watched and bopped along with step up & then turned on pandora & finished No Mercy.  i don't want to spoil it for anyone who happens to read my love of the dark-hunter books & wants to pick them up themselves, but i have to say that what Savitar does for the bears in the last two pages makes my heart sing a happy tune.  : )  next is Retribution, The Guardian, and Time Untime.  then i believe i will be reading Infinity, just so i can stay in the D-H world a little bit longer before moving on to a new world... heh.  : )  

what else?  i'd been hoping for a work crush sighting & chat, as the brief sighting i had yesterday only whetted my appetite, but alas it was not to be.  *pout*  however, silver lining, i DID get to see his handsome smile as we were both leaving, just didn't get to chat at all.  ah well, maybe next week!  

*nelly on pandora dance break*

ahh, that was fun.  and then she played one of my favorite yanni songs.  :D  then slaughter and now vertical horizon.  mmm!  well, i'm off start Retribution.  

ttfn!  

my happy place

that would be the book store.  heh.  or anywhere i'm curled up w/ a book.  i think the ultimate happy place would be on a porch facing the ocean or a great lake (which is almost like the ocean) with a perfect breeze and a stack of books.  mmmm.  and an iced coffee drink.  (and, since i'm fantasizing, my work crush sitting next to me doing whatever it is he would enjoy doing while facing the ocean...*grin*)

i think i might have to do some serious looking into getting back to the ocean.  it has been WAY too long since i have been near it, and some days i feel it calling out to me.  

anyway, back to today's happy place.  LOL 

i had no plans to visit the book rack today.  i'm reading No Mercy, and i still have 3 Dark-Hunter books after it, and so i wasn't really looking for a new book yet.  (oh, not quite true, i do want to find the first book of the Argeneau series so i can read that one through, as well, but i think i'm going to do that series in november, so i do have time to get the remaining 4 books that i'm missing!)  but when i pulled out of the parking lot, i felt like the book rack was calling to me (i know i use that phrase a lot, and maybe some day i'll explain all my thoughts & feelings on listening to your inner voice, which some call premonitions or psychic ability, but that phraseology tends to make ppl think you're into the occult or something, and you all KNOW that's not me.  LOL  not like that anyway!), so i ended up turning left instead of right and took myself to the store.

so glad i did!  i found the first book of The Chronicles of Nick series (which is a YA series related to the Dark-Hunter series), a book about a genie (Genie Knows Best by Judi Fennell) and two witch books (A Taste of Magic and A Stroke of Magic by Tracy Madison)!  hooray!  i am always on the lookout for good paranormal romance/urban fantasy!  : )  (please refer back to my statement above about NOT being into the occult!)  

mmmm.  so glad i have friday off & no plans this weekend so i can just READ & READ & READ!  : )  (okay, so i just remembered that i'll probably hang out w/ leyton sometime on saturday & then my little cousin nathan's bday party is on sunday, so i actually do have some plans...LOL)

tonight i'm heading over to mom's to watch the premier of Survivor (blair from facts of life!  famous baseball player dude!  3 former competitors who had to leave the game for medical issues!) and then... and then... the FINALE OF BIG BROTHER 14!!!  :D  dan, danielle & ian are battling it out for who will reign supreme (haha, iron chef moment) and i'm rooting for ian, but would be happy w/ dan.  not that i'll be upset if danielle wins - she has won challenges & the like, but every time she's been in a power position, she's been dan's puppet.  so... *shrug*  call me silly, but i would rather see ian or dan win since they have made actual power plays that came from their own brilliant minds!  

: )   so, that's my story today!  i hope your wednesday went BRILLIANTLY and that you have a lovely night!  do share if you have fun or relaxing or whatever weekend plans coming up!  

ttfn!

dear best buy, you're the greatest!

praise the Lord!!!  : )  

so, i have a new phone!  hooray!!  and it's nice, so far.  i haven't played around w/ it much - gotta charge it first - but it's the next phone up from what i had.  

the  best buy warranty was worth the $20 i paid.  it's a 2 year warranty, and i just went in the store & they exchanged my phone right then & there.  they don't carry my old phone anymore - of course, because i always get the sale phones - so i got an upgrade, the warranty/protection plan, AND almost $4 credit!!!!!  *bounce*  plus, the super sweet mobile worker peeps set up my phone for me right there.  no coming home to deal w/ customer service (not that i mind - Virgin Mobile customer service also deserves props, because they are always helpful & knowledgeable as well) or setting up the phone or anything.  

WOOT!  is what i have to say to that!  : )  

so, today was a little wild.  i had an off-site meeting first thing in the morning, except i didn't realize i was actually supposed  to BE off-site!  normally, my boss & i call in from her office... but she wasn't there, and she wasn't answering her cell, and so i finally IM'd the meeting organizer & she said that yes, it would be good to be there physically.  d'oh!  so i was only 15 minutes late, but that was okay because the first 15 minutes is always getting settled & shooting the shoot anyway, right?  plus, my boss was at another meeting & so she didn't get there til even later, so it was all good!  : )  and it was a really good meeting.  

it made the morning go by super-fast, too, as i didn't get back to my office til 10:30!  which was cool, except that today was payroll cutoff, and my email box was full of ppl needing timecard help (because it's monday), and so i didn't even get to claims until after noon!  thankfully, i got them all in by 3:30.  it was just a very fast-paced, edge of your seat kinda day.  *laugh*  

and then there was the rain.  it was neat, cuz we saw the clouds coming closer & closer, and then about 2:50 it got really dark & the skies opened up & it was like being inside a car wash!  and it stopped just in time for us to leave at 4.  yay!  now it's raining off & on again, but not the car-wash-type rain, so that's cool.  i'm glad i got to see a little of that!  : )  

now i am going to let my new phone charge a bit & settle in to read Bad Moon Rising.  : )  

i hope your monday went well!!  i'm taking friday off, so only 3 days to go before that!  LOL  

ttfn!

deep sighs of the happily exhausted

i was up til 2 reading Acheron, and thought i would sleep til 10 or so, do my bills & then pick leyton up.

i awoke at 7:30 & couldn't get back to sleep, so i got up at 8... and read Acheron.  : )  

(i also did my bills before i started in on the story, like a responsible person or something...)

got so involved in the book that i ended up picking leyton up 15 minutes later than expected.

i know my getting involved in a book is a shock to us all.

har.

LOL 

so, picked leyton up, paid for the raffle tix i bought from him (omh, y'all, when kids start school, they start really SELLING stuff all the time.  oye!  much as i love him, and my other nieces & nephews, i have enough of them to break me if i chipped in to every little thing.  so, i have to pick & choose...) & off we went to meet juli & the gang at mcd's in bdorf.

this mcd's is new & amazing!  well, i mean, it's a typical mcdonald's, really, but they have something i hadn't seen before - VIDEO MENU BOARDS!  what the what?!  has it really been that long since i've been to mcdonald's?  i knew about the calories being showcased now (ironically, i did not even really look at them, as ... it's mcdonald's.  i'm not there for a salad, i'm there for a cheeseburger.  i don't care how many calories are in it, i'm not eating it every day, and i want it.  LOL), but didn't realize it would be all digital & pretty & stuff.  

it was sparkly, like a Twilight vampire.  

heh!

so, w/ my phone being in a coma, i tried to charge my camera battery last night in preparation of taking many delicious photos of the kiddos today.  sadly, apparently my camera battery es muertos (i finally looked up the correct tense for the word "dead."), as well, and unlike my phone, i will definitely have to buy a new one. had i not been reading this morning, i could have been to best buy to buy a new battery AND see about my phone before picking leyton up... but maybe i'll do that tomorrow.  or monday after work.  

so, thankfully the phone i switched to temporarily has a camera, but unfortunately, it doesn't have a USB connector so i can't upload them to the computer.  bah!  

there were some good times, tho!  the kids all got along, and were in good moods for the most part.  leyton had a lot of fun making faces & playing clapping games w/ ruthie (she's 8 months), running around w/ andrew (6) and sarah (9).  interestingly, and perhaps because he's a little flirt, he hung out more w/ sarah than andrew.  after lunch, juli & sarah got ice cream cones, and when sarah was done w/ hers, she gave it to her mom to finish off the chocolate coating.  juli had just been talking about something along the lines of making a mess when suddenly ice cream exploded out from the cone at her because she'd pulled at the coating somehow... it was hilarious & would have made a GREAT picture!  LOL  

the pavilion was a lot of fun, the kids really enjoyed it - and i just realized i left leyton's apple art project w/ juli.  d'oh!  i was gonna put that on my wall... ah well.  leyton had a little melt down before we went across to the store, because i told him we couldn't get a toy.  he'd found 3 pennies on the ground at mcd's, tho, and i said we could get a couple of them squashed (i.e., imprinted w/ a JD logo).  he cried about wanting a toy, but also snuggled up to me during it (as opposed to throwing an all out anger fit), which told me he was just overstimulated & tired, and not trying to be a brat.  ya know how you can tell those things sometimes?  it's nice to be able to discern it, nice to not feel like you always have to "punish" kids or make them feel bad when they misbehave.  don't get me wrong, there are times for punishment.  but to me, IMO, there are very few things little kids do that should be actually PUNISHED.  i mean, when they're little - and by little, i would say probably up til they reach double-digits - you're shaping them.  you're going to be the one who garners future reactions w/ things.  if you punish or get angry over every little thing, you're just going to teach them to either be scared of you or to be scared of ever doing anything, or to be scared of ever making a mistake.  

and that doesn't help anyone.

anyway, sorry, idk quite where that tangent came from, other than seeing parents - or adults, really, whatever relation they are to a child - get upset w/ kids to the point of yelling, threatening or whatever (not threatening in an abusive way, i just mean threatening w/ punishment, in a harsh/mean voice), making the kid feel bad, makes me feel bad.  

it's that darn empathy thing!

plus, seriously ppl, reading stories about childhood abuse will make you DARN grateful to have grown up w/ a loving family.  there was abuse in my childhood.  there were things i went through that no one should ever have to go through, but even those things weren't SO bad, compared to what others have to survive.  

and it's true, adversity does make you a stronger person.  and i'm sure the things that happened in my childhood and even in adulthood made me more empathetic and compassionate.

so.

wow, tangents all over the place, ppl, sorry!

it was a good day. 

we had fun.

i loved hanging out w/ my friends & nieces & nephews.

i'm grateful for them!

we parted ways around 2:30/3 & leyton & i stopped at sonic for happy hour & apple slices.  woot!  then we went to gramma's to hang out, watch disney & play w/ cars til gramma got home from aunt jan's birthday extravaganza.  : )  

then i came home & finished Acheron.  : )  

next is One Silent Night, which is the story of the big bad of the book series, so should be interesting.  i haven't read it since the first time in 2008 or 09, so we'll see if i like it the 2nd time around... 

i'm also going to attempt to watch GH, rookie blue, white collar... we'll see.

happy weekend, my friends.  

happy weekend!

:) 

ttfn!

alternarock - friday edition

is that even a genre?  idk, but it's what i've been listening to on pandora & i love it!  the music definitely has been fitting my mood lately.

mood: stressed & frustrated, yet happy

(dichotomy of my life continues!)

song: seven nation army 

(i think that's what it's called.  i just call it the "goin' to wichita" song.  LOL)

life: busy

reading: Acheron

(i did start at the beginning, for the first time since the first time in 2008, and it was hard, but not as hard as i thought it would be...)

(and now it's friday, because my computer took a poo on me last night but it's back up, so praise the Lord for that!)

so, i'm happy it's friday!   
today was a good day at work, much better than the rest of the week has been as far as frustration levels, anyway.  which is odd, thinking about it, because i had some very difficult situations to deal w/ today, AND the whole phone issue... hmm.  idk, maybe the alternarock & metallica i had playing today helped.  or, possibly the lunch i had w/ my former wall-mate & friend at the hungry hobo!  or, possibly, knowing i was meeting erin for dinner.  

anyway.  : ) 

after work, i came home to switch my phones & then headed to erin's to pick her up.  i got to read a chapter of Acheron while i waited for her to be ready.  woot!!  we went to rudy's for chips & beans & i had a tostada & we had a nice time hanging out!  

tomorrow i'm picking up leyton around 11 & meeting juli & the kids for lunch (nowhere fancy!  i think we're just doing mcdonald's!) & then going to the PAVILION!  gotta remember to charge my camera tonight and then remember to BRING it tomorrow!  in which case, be prepared for a post full of fun pictures tomorrow night.  : )  

for now, much as i would love to write all about whatever it is i wanted to write about yesterday (i think there was some work-crush stuff, even!), Acheron is calling to me.  i just finished the 9000 or so years ago part, and started the 2008 part, which is my favorite, and ... i may be up til 3 reading... i don't have to get up til 10...i could probably push it to 10:30 if needed.  LOL  leyton lives just down the street!  : )  

what're your plans for this weekend?  i know my twinkie friends are going to be together, happy happy!  felix is on her wayyyy!  : )  

love you & ttfn!!

my phone es muerte

if muerte means dead.  i'm not actually 100% sure on that, and don't feel like googling.  i'm on hold w/ virgin mobile right now to see if i can switch my service to an old phone temporarily while i figure out how to fix mine.  it froze today, so i took out the battery, as per usual, to reset it.  well, now it won't turn back on!  :(  it's charging fine, so there's nothing wrong w/ the screen, battery, etc.  i believe it's the power button. 

okay, while i was writing that, my computer took a header, again, but it's back now.  also, while i was rebooting, i got my phone switched over, thank God, the new one is still under warranty, but have to figure out where to send it or whatever.  *sigh*  gonna check w/ BB tomorrow to see if they can fix it or if i have to send it to LG or VM.  

meanwhile, i have plans w/ erin, so i have gotta go!  LOL  will work on yesterday's post that didn't post when i get home.  : )  

i hope your friday is going well!  ttfn!

dreams of george clooney

good morning, bloggy friends!  

the other night, i had a disturbing dream about someone being beheaded.  i woke up & thought, "well, that wasn't fun, let's have some good dreams next!"  and i did - my next dreams that night were strange, but happy.  i don't remember much about them other than a really beautiful office.  then last night, i dreamed of george clooney.  now, this is odd because - while i find george clooney handsome & enjoy his acting, i've never been particularly "into" him.  ya know?  my dear husband, mark harmon, oh yeah, baby!  so idk why i was dreaming of walking arm in arm w/ mr. clooney.  but it was definitely a good dream!  *laugh*  (prior to his appearance, i dreamed i was jogging (uh, yeah, jogging, wth?) through a neighborhood w/ my sister-in-law (not the real, ex one) to get to wendy's for lunch.  i got waylaid by a prickly bush at some little old lady's house.  very, very strange all around!)  

yesterday i had a very nice work-crush sighting, smile, and even a little chat.  i'm truly flummoxed by this work crush thing, because he is SO NOT my usual type at all.  he's shorter than i normally am attracted to, and younger - so. much. younger!  but all i want to do is sit & listen to him tell stories and watch him smile for more than 2 minutes at a time.  lol  no clue, but his smile just makes me HAPPY.  : )  alas, i do not think that particular dream is anywhere close to ever happening.  

ah well.  i'll just continue to enjoy the unexpected two minute smiles when i can get them!  : )  

juli called the other day - i've been thinking of her & sarah & andrew & ruthie cuz i haven't seen them in awhile & i've been wanting to hang out!  so i was going to call her last weekend when leyton & i went to HQ, but didn't get around to it in time.  so i was very happy to hear from her yesterday!  we made arrangements to hang out & go to the pavilion next weekend.  yay!!!  : )  

this weekend my plan is to catch up on GH & Grimm & Rookie Blue & anything else i can watch, while reading The Dream-Hunter (it's my 9th Dark-Hunter book this month, hooray!!!) & probably the next two books.  : )  woot!!  

what've y'all been up to lately?  : ) 

ttfn!

last day of a four day weekend

the last day of a weekend is always hard.  doesn't matter if it's 2, 4, 9... lol  i am looking forward to my 9 day birthday/thanksgiving week "weekend" already!  : )  

this one was extremely nice, tho, i have to say!  thursday after work, i called the book rack to see if they possibly had the books i was missing from my dark-hunter series.  even tho i'd been in there just a couple weeks ago, and hadn't seen them, i had hope.  hope is a wonderous thing!  : )  they said that indeed they DID have BOTH books i asked about!  one was in IL & one in IA, and i was THRILLED!  they said they could have one or the other brought to a store, but i said it was no problem for me to pick them up from both stores, as they were on my way.  : )  EXCITEMENT!  and they were only $2.50 each!  *bounce*  THEN, when i was at the IA store, i spotted the paperback of Bad Moon Rising, which i technically have in hardback, but i can't find it.  so i picked that up to.  my collection of dark-hunter books is OFFICIALLY complete until the next one comes out.  well... unless i count the YA books, which are on my list to get after i complete my Argeneau collection... ; )  

so, after i finished my Perrigrine Connection book, which i'd started wednesday, i dove right into the Dark-Hunter world, where i will stay until i've read/re-read every single book.  *happy dance*  it is still amazing to me that i'd never read Night Pleasures or Night Embrace.  it's so neat the way the story weaves through these books, how the first few all take place, or start anyway, at the same time.  it really is like reading one huge book, and it's WONDERFUL.  : )  

anywhoo, other than reading (which, btw - i finished the PC book, read NP & NE, Dance With The Devil, Kiss of the Night & am now on Night Play - what a weekend, right?!) ...

friday around 5 i picked up leyton.  we went to WM for some groceries, had dinner & then came here to play kickball & watch some thomas before bed.  and eat lots of tic tacs.  that boy loves his tic tacs.  LOL  

saturday he said he wasn't feeling well, so we watched toy story 3 & a little bit of elf while snuggling on the couch & then got dressed & headed to HQ.  we had to skip the zoo since it was rainy!  but he didn't mind... so i didn't mind!  *laugh*  they'd done a little rearranging to the display floor at HQ, and even tho we hadn't been there in a few months, leyton noticed the changes.  which i found awesome.  i find everything about him awesome, tho.  except his tantrums, but hey.  LOL  

(unfortunately, one of those tantrums happened before we left the house, because he accidentally knocked my phone into my cup of soda.  :(  he was scared i was mad - which to be fair, i did use his full name but i didn't yell! - and i was upset, but it was an accident & he wasn't doing anything "bad" when it happened, so ... trying to calm him down from that one was hard, tho!  and my phone is now a little goofy.  still works, thank God!  but the camera lens is foggy & i can't use my top button to black out the screen... *sigh*  ah well, it still works!!!  and it didn't dampen my ability to take pictures ... just for them to be good... LOL)  

 look!  the gator has a convenient purse rack!  ; ) 

the last five, tho, are fairly clear and CUTE, dontchya think?  

we had a blast & then it was time for lunch & he wanted wendy's.  i didn't really want wendy's, but since it's right next to CFA, i said we could go thru the drive thru of both & then take it to gramma's to eat.  as soon as he heard Chick fil A, he was like, "oooh!  i want chick fil a!!"  : )  he's such a smart kid, knowing good chicken!  : )  heh

then we headed to gramma's & ate lunch & hung out there for a bit.  bret had texted to say he was in town for the festival of praise event, and he wanted to stop by to get some of his stuff (and clean his room, hooray!).  so i headed over here to make sure i'd get to see him.  : )  he was watching national treasure when i got home, and we had a good 40 minutes or so to chat before his ppl came to pick him up.  he blessed me w/ some money, which was a VERY big blessing, because end of the month is always a struggle.  so, praise the Lord for that!  hopefully this will keep me from needing to borrow any (more) money from mom the next two weeks.  oye.  

anyway!  sunday night i went over to mom's to watch Big Brother & also In Time before BB started.  love that movie!  BB is really, really excellent this season.  we have some GREAT players, some great scheming & alliances, and ppl i really LIKE!  : )  hooray!  (anyone else who watches think production has been trying to make dani & shane the jeff & jordan of the season, but it's just not happening?!  jeff & jordan are a unique happening.  sure, there's also rachel & brendan, but they are a whole different kind of unique.  LOL)

and now back to today!  i slept til almost 10.  it was luxurious!  : )  tomorrow, it's back to the work-week, but i'm excited for it.  not in the same way i was excited when i found my books, but just... idk, i am claiming that it will be a GOOD, nae, an EXCELLENT week.  : )  

how bout you?  what've you been up to?  i'm off to see if my computer will let me watch some rookie blue & GH while reading.  altho... i may shut everything off & just be lost in my book.  while i have no problem multitasking, and that is a gift!, i still just kinda want to be ensconced soley in bride & vane's story, because i love them so much.  : )  

ttfn!