shiny new toys

so, after work yesterday i went to the best buy - well, but first i went to sonic for a cranberry diet coke.  and the gal there knows me now, because apparently i'm the only one ever who has ordered this particular drink?  which, hey, works for me.  i like it!  : )  was just funny because when she handed me the drink, she said, "are you SURE these two things go together?"  lol  yes, yes they do.  


after sonic i went to the best buy & my plan was to look at an ipod touch, because last night i googled & it looked like the thing i wanted.  basically, i need a new purse camera & i'd been thinking of getting a new phone. to do both would cost about $250 or $300, depending on if i could find a good deal on the kind of phone and camera i wanted.  so i thought i'd just look at the virgin mobile phones & see what they had to offer in an upgrade.  


i have to take a moment to give kudos to the dude who helped me out.  he answered my questions, found a sample phone for me to look at since there wasn't one on display, and just generally was actually HELPFUL - without making me feel like i was wasting his time, which unfortunately sometimes happens at the best buy.  so, i ended up getting an LG Optimus V.  and so far i really like it!  it is a touch screen w/o a keyboard - only because the touch screen w/ keyboard phone was quite a bit more than this one!  it has the apps that i want, i can listen to music (oh, pandora, love you!), get to fb, and it's an android so it's connected to my google account.  woot!  : )  


so, i was all set, and then i headed home.  carol came over (friend carol not aunt carol) to drop off girl scout cookies & then we visited for a couple hours, which was way nice!  AND she said if there are still $20 tickets to barry manilow available, she'll go w/ me!!!  *bounce*  now i just have to remember to call the venue during business hours tomorrow... i called at 8 this morning & they don't open til 10 & then my day was ca-razy and so i forgot to call back.  whoopsies!  


i didn't get to bed until WAY LATE last night, and then JUST as i got to sleep, i was awakened by the howling wind & driving rain pelting my house.  and the thunder was loud, too.  it's winter, right?  it felt like a spring or summer storm.  kinda nutty!  so then i reallllly did not want to get out of bed this morning!  *laugh*  but i did, and work went well & it was a pretty good day.  : )  my wall-mate went to adolph's for lunch & brought me back some chips & SALSA.  deliciousness!  she's a good friend!  


AFTER work, i met mom & the boys at CFA for dinner.  leyton came & gave me a great big hug, which was super sweet.  mom & anthony ooh'd & ahh'd over the new phone.  then anthony pulled out his ipod touch & wanted to play pass & play words w/ friends w/ me.  so that was neat.  : )  suddenly, mom gasped & started tapping the glass to the play area to get leyton's attention.  "why?" you ask?  well, because THE COW was there!  : )  we weren't expecting to see the cow!  leyton came tearing out of the play area to say hello.  i WISH i would have managed a picture of his expression, because it was super cute and suuuper excited!!  : ) the cow high fived us & hugged leyton & very kindly had a pantomime conversation w/ mom as she tried to figure out just what time mr cow (again, MR cow?  a cow is, by definition, a girl...but that's what leyton calls "him" so i guess we all just go w/ it.  i did try to explain it once, but then i think i saw the cow referred to as a he on a CFA site (i could be wrong)...) was generally at the restaurant... *laugh*  


being mr cow is HOT work & he followed us out (to leyton's utter delight) to get some fresh air.  


mom took the boys home & i came home to jammie up, and then i headed to her house for survivor.  good ep, but boy those girls still are dumb.  i don't even care that they (wait, no spoilers!).  anyway, they are just not thinking strategically & it drives me batty!  i stayed to watch the next-to-finale episode of top chef texas, had a short bread cookie & then came home.  to charge my phone because i'd been playing w/ it so much that it was begging me to plug it in.  no, literally - little notes kept popping up, "please charge your phone now.  the battery is at 10%."  heh  or, as i like to read it, "please, woman, plug me in!  i'm dyin' here!"  *laugh*  


oh, speaking of playing w/ the phone... i made my first accidental call this evening, too.  i was trying to figure something out w/ my FB contact info & somehow hit my friend andrea's name & ... all of a sudden her name pops up on the screen, so i said, "hello?"  and she said, "hello?"  and then after the pleasantries there were crickets & i asked sheepishly if i had called her... LOL  it was hilarious!  glad she's good ppl!  (well, duh, why would i have the number of not good ppl in my phone?  silly!)


ahhh.  so, that is my novel for today!  and yesterday, since i apparently fell asleep before posting then.  LOL 


i hope you're have a great week & that your leap day was FABULOUS!  : )  


ttfn!

anon

not a lot to say today.


it was a monday!  it did go fast - felt like i was treading water for most of it, but hey!  *laugh*  


was supposed to meet becks at chili's for dinner - i have a coupon for free chips & queso, but it's only good today, tomorrow & wednesday.  unfortunately, she had to reschedule for next week, so ... no chips & queso for me today.  boo!  or for her, so boo there, too!  heh.  instead, i went to arthur's, and that was a big YEAH!  : )  i even treated myself to some strawberry fro-yo because i wanted to.


came home & watched Endgame & caught up on Alcatraz.  yay!  i should watch friday's GH before bed, but i'm not going to because i'm tired.  : )  


*yawn*  thrilling post, right?  sorry!  but i'm off to bed - i hope your day was fabulous!


and oh - prayers please for my neighbor's daughter, chloe, who is in the hospital w/ possible appendicitis, and for joy's neighbors, who had an apt fire & there are some hospitalizations - not sure on the whole story there, but pray for healing & help w/ things.  


thanks & ttfn!

today's assortment of random thoughts & pictures

sleep is a wondrous thing!  i think i went to bed at 10:30 last night, and leyton let me sleep til 7:30-ish this morning, so that was nice.  the way i'm feeling right now it might be another early night, as well.  we'll see - i have a lot of GH to catch up w/ now that my computer is being cooperative.  pan am will have to wait again, tho.

last week's GH was INTENSE.  kinda like the good ol' days except i'm mad about some of it.  well, i guess that's kinda like the good ol' days, too... LOL 

i watched city of ember - the random family movie i rented.  it was okay.  some of it was really good, and some of it was just kinda stiff acting - and that was by bill murray, which i totally didn't get.  i also watched real steel, loved it just as much the 2nd time!  : )  

i was reading thru blogs & realized that there are several that i follow that haven't had a post in months - some almost a year.  and i feel like i want to clean up my blog role & get rid of them, but then i think when they DO post i'll enjoy reading the posts... do you guys do that??  like, go thru your rolls & clean them out, or do you just let them be?  

leyton helped me put up some postcards today.  we had fun!  we also played a little catch, of course.  

mom picked him up for church & then they picked me up for lunch after.  we just went to wendy's, but it was fun.  : ) 

i went to the PO tonight to mail some postcrossings & then went to TB for a taco, and i was going to stop & get gas, but kwik shop's pumps were full.  and they are currently 10 cents cheaper than even WAL MART, so i want to get gas there.  of course, tomorrow morning when i go they could very well have caught up & i won't have saved anything... *sigh*  

anyway, there's my randomness from today.  i hope your sunday has been swell!

ttfn!

Pavilion!

today was really, really fun!  i picked leyton up at 10 & we went to starbucks (green tea frapp completes me LOL).  all the new stuff at the pavilion, and the design, is all just AMAZING!  AND they added some forestry equipment, including my all-time favorite piece of equipment which looks like something sci-fi-y!!  :D  

leyton & i were both really excited that a combine is on display now, and he pointed out that the CANstruction combine was featured in the pictures on one of the walls.  John Deere is celebrating 175 years of business this year.  how neat is that??  : )  

i had been worried from the design schematics they were handing out before the remodel that there wouldn't be as many things to play on (as far as equipment goes), but there are and they are the BIG machines.  soooo amazing!  

 oh yeah, and of  course leyton was excited they had a gator!  

i like the gators, too, but this one hurt me - i knocked my knee somewhere on it, and it HURT!

and the kid's corner is pretty nifty, too, w/ play areas, books, and some interactive things.  

after exploring, we went to the JD Store for a bit & leyton picked out a JD football, and also a new key chain for gramma because hers broke.  d'oh!  


SUCH a fun time!  


we left about 12:30 & leyton had the choice of olive garden, red robin, or chili's for lunch.  he chose red robin.  (YUM!)  i had fish & sweet potato fries - SO GOOD!  : )  

we came home & he opted out of nap in favor of playing & then going to bed "early" tonight.  since he normally stays up til 10 or so here, early was 8 o'clock.  we watched Night At The Museum & played catch & w/ airplanes & kick ball w/ his lightning mcqueen ball.  

for dinner, we picked up subway.  we also stopped at the video store & he got a Fireman Sam dvd.  i got Real Steel (love it!!!) & some random little family movie that i've never seen.  i couldn't find bride wars, and i completely forgot to get confessions of a shopaholic, which i have been wanting to see again for weeks!  ah well, maybe i'll take a look when i take the other movies back.  


did i mention the other night about the dude behind me in line at the pharmacy?  he was telling his friend (or, based on recent events, some random person in line) all about how his wife was bi-polar & filing charges on him for abuse & stuff.  so, tonight i stopped at the mailboxes for my mail & he was there to get his mail.  we exchanged the usual, normal, hellos & then all of a sudden he launched into this SAME story - almost verbatim - that i had heard (from him) at the pharmacy!!!  who does that?  life story to stranger on the street?  i mean, really!  LOL  i must have had my "Doc" vibe going or something tonight.  leyton wasn't having it, tho, he yelled at me from the car to get going cuz he was hungry.  *laugh*  whew!  i got the feeling this guy's life story was going to go on for awhile... i wish him the best & all, but those were billable hours!!  LOL 


when we got back home, we ate, had bath, jammied up & watched his fireman sam movie until bedtime.  he must've been tired because he didn't fuss much at all about going to bed & was out after about 5 minutes!!  i know today wore me out - i was ready to sleep at 8, too!!  *laugh*  


so, how was your saturday?  do tell!  : )  


ttfn!

breakfast for dinner

TGIF!


work was a ball today!  idk if it was just "the fridays" or what, but we were all cracking up!  AND it was gyro day at lunch.  they make some of the best cucumber sauce!  and there were some great (non- cracking up) conversations today, too, thru many mediums.  it was just a good day, and i'm quite grateful!  


after work, tho, i had that itch.  you know the one, where you don't WANT to go home, you're keyed up & want to do something.  do you know that one?  *laugh*  sadly, my peeps were all otherwise engaged, so i was on my own, and i couldn't figure out what i wanted to do on my own, so i just came home.  then i couldn't figure out what i wanted for dinner (finally settled on breakfast).  and i tried to catch up w/ Pan Am, but my computer was tired after my many hours of hulu earlier in the week, so i switched to safe mode & popped in my Kyle XY DVD instead.   then i spent some time trying to figure out what happened after season 3.  guess i'm going to have to invest in those dvd's to watch the bonus footage & reveal!  oye.  *laugh*  


i wanted to go to the family video & rent a couple movies, but decided i'll rent them tomorrow while leyton & i are out & about & i can watch them sunday.  anthony's not joining us cuz he's got the sickies.  poor anthony!  :(  i hope he feels better soon!  he said it was like whooping cough!  not fun! there's some sort of sickies going around that at least 3 of my friends have had in the past week - and they are all not in the same area, but described almost verbatim the same symptoms!  d'oh!  hopeful & praying it stays AWAY from me!  


ummm... what else?  idk!  : )  ttfn!

battleground

i should be catching up with Pan Am or The River or one of the multiple other shows i need to catch up with currently.  what am i watching instead?  Battleground, on hulu.  it's about a campaign for wisconsin governor, i think.  it's just started.  but it's really clever writing!  and cute boys.  idk if they're canadian... LOL  but one of them looks like harry potter... : D  


today was kinda a buggar, but the snow held off til tonight (and it wasn't bad (yet)), and i went to starbucks after work for a green tea frap.  then over to trish's for dinner (chicken "fried" in corn flakes, yum!) & BBT, Person of Interest (no Secret Circle til march 15th! boo!) & The Mentalist.  and i got to vent all my confusion/frustration/annoyance w/ today out so that made me feel 100% better!  vent it, and forget it.  it's kinda a motto!  


thank God tomorrow is friday.  i am so ready for a couple days OFF.  so ready to hang out w/ leyton (and maybe anthony) on saturday.  


right now, i'm so ready for bed!  *laugh*  ttfn!

thunder snow

someone was talking about that on the radio this morning & i thought it was funny.  


of course, what i don't think is funny is the fact that we're supposed to be GETTING snow tonight & tomorrow & it's potentially blechy.  boo!  i really don't mean to whine about the snow every time it happens.  i mean, i live in the midwest, and yucky humidity in the summer and snow storms in the winter are part of the deal.  i get it, i know.  but i don't LIKE either of those things.  at least w/ humidity i can stay inside.  i mean, still have to go out in the summer, right?  it's just different in the winter, because driving in snow (certain kinds of snow, not all snow) is a pain.  traipsing thru the snow in the shoes i wear to work is a pain.  shoveling?  actually kinda fun.  *laugh*  if i'm shoveling OUT.  if i get home & there's a hip-high drift in my driveway & path to my house... NOT fun.  i hope i remember to bring my shovel w/ me when i leave for work... 


and it's been such a nice, mild winter so far!  we're almost into spring for pete's sakes!  so i am VERY, VERY grateful for that!  


today was nice.  a little on the crazy side, but still nice!  AND i got to leave on time!!  : )  likely won't be able to say the same tomorrow - altho if the weather is really bad, i will leave on time & let whatever wait til friday.  deadline's already passed for this week (w/ flying colours!).  : )  


i came home for an hour to watch some Glee & then met mom at the chinese buffet for some sushi & crab ragoon & some delicious walnut shrimp!  YUM!  altho, the sushi was not as delicious as it is at other places.  idk if they use a different wrap or rice or ... idk!  i mean, i would think a philadelphia roll or a california roll should taste pretty much the same no matter where it's from, right?  same ingredients, same way to prepare it... nope!  ah well, i'll make it to osaka for some FABULOUS sushi soon.  : D  


mom & i had a good dinner, tho, and nice convo & then i stopped at WM to put $10 of gas in my car.  at the current prices, $10 got me just shy of 3 gallons.  it nearly makes me weep, as i distinctly remember being able to put $10-$12 in my tank & it being FULL.  *sniffle*  stupid dependency on foreign oil.  bah.  anyway, so i did that & then went down to mom's to watch Survivor (seriously there is one tribe that is just DUMB (no spoilers)) & Criminal Minds (man, i have MISSED that show!) & CSI, which was pretty good.


got home a little after 10 & finished watching Glee - i'm not sure i really liked last week's episode.  it was okay, not awful or anything, but i was expecting ... more, or something... from rachel's dads. did anyone else get that vibe?  and i can't decide if i am rooting for rachel & finn to get married or not.  


now i'm watching a couple eps of GH & then BED for moi!  GH is SO SAD right now.  SO SAD.  :(  but robert & anna will be back - and what ever happened to my OLTL peeps coming to port charles?  i'm confused - they made it sound like they would be coming right over, but OLTL has been done for a whole month already ...!  


i hope your day went well & that you have a GREAT thursday!  


ttfn! 

every breath you take

tonight when sting was singing this, i was thinking about how it could be God singing to us.  not that sting is God - but that He watches over us, every breath we take, He's there.  He's HERE, for us.  He loves us, and wants us to love Him.  He loves YOU.  He loves if you're gay, straight, black, white, chinese, iranian, muslim, hindu, athiest, fat, skinny, ugly, beautiful, short, tall...He loves you if you believe or don't believe.  His love is never in question.  


anyway, i just thought i'd share that today!  : )  


today sort of felt like another monday.  after my late night last night, i slept til after 7, so i didn't get to work til 8:30, and then it was another fun (no, really, it was fun!) and busy day, so i didn't leave til 5:30.  and then i picked up adolph's for dinner because my taste buds have been craving it for weeks!  *laugh*  next up, SUSHI!  not sure if i'm hanging out w/ mom & the boys tomorrow after work or not, altho i will likely go over to mom's to watch SURVIVOR.  : )  first, tho, i'll stop at target for some groceries... : )  


speaking of target - okay, do you shop at target?  do you prefer it over WM & other "super stores" or are they all fairly equal in your book?  for myself, they're all fairly equal, but i like different things about each store.  like, WM usually has an excellent selection of christmas cups & other holiday stuff.  i love that target has a starbucks, and also their dollar spot is spot on!  kohl's has AWESOME ornaments & tchotchkes when i'm looking for unique gifts.  not that kohl's is really a super store, as they don't sell groceries.  i guess they'd be more in line w/ penney's or gordman's... 


anyway!  target.  so, the other day i went to the IL target for the first time.  and it was really interesting.  the set up reminded me of the target i went to in maryland, w/ the placement of the starbucks & stuff.  it's funny how all targets/wm's, etc. are the same but different.  like, they breed a sense of familiarity, while being just different enough to feel like a new store.  ya know?  and different regions have different merchandise, making it fun to go to various stores that are the "same."  heh.


no shopping tonight, tho.  just adolph's deliciousness & Once Upon A Time (heartwrenching but oh so goooood!) and Castle (seriously, nathan fillion.  LOVE.  i want to hug him.  i just want to hang out w/ him.  and listen to him talk.  and ... he's Canadian, so that might explain the crush.  *grin*)... 


okay, Endgame (more canada!  oh, canada, i love you!  i got a postcrossing from canada tonight, too!! ) & then bed.  : )  my postcard from canada is a print of artwork that the sender's father made, and i also received a lovely valentine from my dear micaela - artwork that she created!  love love looooove!  : )  

ttfn!