Yesterday I got off work at a little bit after 5:00pm. I raced home and picked up The Boyfriend and we went to the liquor store and the grocery store, to get ready for our guests for the night.

We then spent an hour cleaning the house. The Boyfriend having already started cleaning before I got home - bless his heart.

Team Awesome showed up at a little after 7:00pm. Shilly showed up fully garbed in snowpants and mittens and snowboots, just like I knew she would. HA! I quickly changed into my "winter gear" and the four of us headed outside for the task at hand. At the door to the outdoors - we off course did a shot of Tequila (Ta Kill Ya) - just to prepare ourselves for the cold. We had failed to cover our jointly owned sailboat previously in the season. You know - like - before all the SNOW fell on it. We we shoveled and swept the sailboat until most of the snow was removed. We then situated the tarp and tied it down, just before our fingers and noses froze off.

We then came back inside - victory over the sailboat was finally had. We celebrated with beers and vodka. Yay!

The four of us sat in the living room talking and laughing. I noticed spakly stuff on Shilly's sweater. She glanced down and laughed - then jokingly said "It's Dandruff" while scratching her head and laughing. Laughing that is until HUGE MOUNDS came piling off of her head and onto her sweater. I laughed so hard at the fact that it REALLY WAS dandruff until I snorted. Yes - snorted. We began talking about shampoos and conditioners and trying to figure out why Shilly suddenly had SO MUCH dandruff. I mean it was DISGUSTING amounts. We even took some pictures. I even went so far as to ask her if she wanted to maybe use our shower - right then.

Several minutes later, as we were all in the kitchen examining Shilly's dandruff - that she suddenly realized something. "It's from the boat!!!" she exclaimed. At which point we all became very concerned - thinking that the dandruff had somehow started eating her brain. "FROM THE TARP!!!" she exclaimed. At which point we all realized that the flakes in her hair were peices of our old tarp - TONS of them - that had flaked on her head when she put the tarp on the boat. HA! So alas - no dandruff was to be had - but god was it funny.

Tonight Lightweight Lise and Toes are coming over for games and drinks, and we may venture to a nearby drinking establishment for some good old fashioned darts.

I'll catch up with all of you on Monday. For now it's back to work because I am SERIOUALY SWAMPED AT WORK these days.

So there is this gal at my work that I absolutely just have to blog about. I’ve been wanting to blog about her for a long time – but have never had to time to actually THINK about a post in a long time. Instead I sit down and my little fingers flail about the keyboard until all the thoughts in my brain are out there and I hit submit without even checking for spelling errors, which is probably why no one wants to read my blog. I’m just sayin…

Ok – so I’ll call her Perfecty. (and in no way because she’s perfect – but more because it’s an inside joke. And this is my blog so I do what I like.)

Perfecty is my mentor at work. When I first arrived here as a small hatched little duckling – it was her wing under which I was to stay warm. And considering how skinny I am – I need a lot of heat. The people at work make sure I am constantly aware of how small I am – and how that is disturbing to them – and they “kind of” hate me for it. To which I think they mean they “really” hate me. But that’s just semantics.

Here I am writing a blog about Perfecty – but I’m really just writing about me. I am such a bitch. Moving on…

Perfecty – is pure hilariousity. And we all know I don’t pull out the word “hilariousity” unless I mean business. I mean she makes me laugh for a good 30 straight minutes every single day. She is FRICKING HILARIOUS.

Let me illustrate this to you with some examples – (which will not be as funny to you as they were to me – but bear with me) :

1. Perfecty likes to share with me stories about her wonderful husband. We like to banter about how he is much like The Boyfriend in certain areas. She tells me about how he’s been with her long enough that it’s almost like he can’t function in certain areas of his life without her anymore. (Ladies – we all know what she’s talking about here.) He will inevitably yell from the kitchen “Oh man – we are out of mayo. Man – I REALLY wanted a sandwich.” She will reply with – “No – babe – the mayo is on the second shelf of the fridge behind the pickles and the cranberry juice.” (yes – citing the exact position of the mayo – because us women have those strange and awesome skills. We just do.) She will hear him digging and alas – FIND the lost mayo. Moments later – “OH MAN!!!! We are out of BREAD! I really wanted a sandwich. What am I going to do with all this mayo now?” (at this point in her story I am in hysterics- seriously) She will grin and reply “Babe… the bread is in the BREAD DRAWER!!!! You know that drawer we have where we store our bread?” More digging sounds and drawer sounds and alas that tricky bread is found as well. And the sandwich can be made. Victory is had. Hilarious. And if you are not laughing right now – then you do not have a boyfriend or a husband.

2. Perfecty also loves to share stories about her two yellow labs. She likes to tell me about how she spends her evenings sewing and crafting and glue gunning sparkles until she has come up with the MOST GORGEOUS outfits for her two babies. Less sparkle on the outfits for her boy dog – clearly.

3. I completely made up #2.

4. Perfecty does have two beautiful yellow labs though – and she does love them. Even if she doesn’t display that love by sewing them the outfits they clearly desperately want from her. She tells me the FUNNIEST stories about them. She tells me about how one of her dogs is obsessed with tennis balls. OBSESSED! And that the dog will run around collecting as many balls as she can in her mouth. That she will stand in front of Perfecty with THREE tennis balls in her mouth – her dog lips stretching as far as they can. That in these three tennis ball moments perhaps the dog is at her happiest. Ha. Can you picture that? The lab – with three balls crammed into her tiny gullet – lips all akimbo – and you can just tell under all that yellow fuzz and lip strain that that dog is just smiling.

Bottom line is that Perfecty is hilarious. And I love that I get to work with her – and I love that during my days here she still lets me gather warmth under her wing – even though I am far past needing a mentor here. Now she offers her wing in an act of friendship. Beautiful (and strangely – I’ve apparently made it duck-like) friendship.

Hello!!!

I know I have been a horrible blogger lately - but I have been so busy. Last week in Seattle was INSANE!! I was working the WHOLE time. It was a great trip for my job though - and I am very excited about the new opportunity it has presented to me. I am really happy with the company that bought us out - and their outlook matches mine a lot more than our old company. The new company is very prgressive and technically inclined and positive. I am very happy with my job right now.

Since I've been back I've been cuddling The Boyfriend like crazy. I missed him. I have also been snuggling Jackson That Dog - because he missed me. Awww.....

Last night we both got our hair cut - which was awesome. Then we met at Bunny's (bar) for a quick drink - and when I walked in The Boyfriend had a new sweater on and a new haircut - and wow - he looked good. HOT!

Today ay work - we are going to The Convention Grill for lunch. Our whole team is - 20+ people. I am very excited. I LOVE that place. Good burgers, good fries, great malts. And I don't even usually like malts. YUM! I am excited.

Tomorrow night we are supposed to get together with Team Awesome. The tentative plan is to have some drinks and then go tubing. DRUNKEN TUBING! Ha - I can't think of anything better. We'll see what we end up doing - but you know that crazy Team Awesome - they are usually up for anything. I just know we'll have a blast - no matter what we do.

Friday night we are going to meet some friends downtown - including Lightweight and Toes. Very excited. I haven't gone out downtown in quite awhile - so I think it will be fun.
I'll update on drunken tubing and downtown drinking - I promise.

So - I'm still in Seattle - stil working my buns off. Booch.

It's good - I am learning TONS of stuff. TONS! My head is going to tear open at it's seams - full of so much information. It's going well though.

The rain finally stopped - and the weather remains tolerable - which is better than the snow back home. I have nothing crazy to share with you - since by the end of the work day I am so exhausted all I want to do is lay in my jankity hotel bed.

Here's a picture of Lightweight Lise and me at the end of the Reindeer Run - which was so much fun. I didn't even have time to blog about it yet have I?




So - The Details:
The Reindeer Run was on Saturday morning. I rose early and piled on my layers of clothes. I had purchased snowflakes and pinned them all over my outfit until The Boyfriend told me I looked "silly" - which I suppose was true. But I also looked AWESOME - I am sure of that. I met Lightweight Lise and Toes (Toes graciously woke up to drive us - awwwwwww....) at Brueggers at 8:30am. We got dropped off at the race and got our Race shirts. I scambled to get the smallest size they made - which of course is big enough for The Boyfriend. Poop. The race started at 9:30am and it was COLD. I mean it was COLD!!! We started the race with the giddy excitement only two good friends can have together. And then the sleeting rain hit the sides of our faces and the giddy-ness may have died a bit. The wind was howling sleeting ice into the sides of our poor girlish faces. It was pretty bad. But as we passed the first mile the wind stopped and the snow was falling perfectly - softly -beautifully. We ran the race together - making decent time - and enjoying every minute. So many people are dressed up - and it was just fun to be a part of it. It was fun to do with a friend. : )

I better get going - since I'm off to do more training.

So - I am officially on my business trip in Redmond, WA. Which lies right outside of Seattle. Very beautiful. We have been in nonstop training sinc we got here - but I'm stoked to be learning a new product for work, so it's been great.

We flew in on Sunday night - and because the flight was on Sunday - I had to give away my Vikings tickets. Which made me cry.

We landed and got our rental car and headed to our hotel room on Sunday night - and by the time we got to our room I was EXHAUSTED. But we still had to venture out to get food. Which we did. ON Monday morning we headed over to our Redmond office. I will just say - WOW. The office is big and nice and nice and so, so nice. Especially compared to the office building I got ot work to each day at home. Don't get me wrong - I really like my job and my position and the company, etc. etc. etc. But our building at home is Jankity. It just is.
So here we arrive at this really nice building to these really great new coworkers. Everyone is eager to have us and has been really welcoming. So it's been really nice.

We've been working our tails off though. We are booked for some form of training or meeting for every hour of every work day. But that's good. I want to get in all the training I can while I am here - because I know I am going to go home and still have a ton of questions.

So let's talk about the weather - because EVERYONE loves to talk about weather. It's been raining since I got here. And if any of you have been watching the news, Seattle is having one of the worst storms in record and roadways are collapsing and there is flooding everywhere. But it's not flooded between the office and my hotel - so it doesn't affect me. So - I don't really care. Clearly I am a heartless person. Here's the part I do care about - it's in the 50 degree range EVERY DAY!!!! BOO CHA CHA!!! Because at home we are getting 5 - 7 inches of SNOW today and I KNOW that it's "feels like" below zero in the mornings. But here - all I need to worry about is not getting wet and otherwise I don't even need a jacket. LOVE IT!

The trip is all work though. We wake up - we eat - we come to work - we work - we go back to the hotel - we venture out to find sustenance - we sleep - we return to work. It's exciting for my career though - so it's all good. I miss The Boyfriend like CRAZY! And I IM him whining about how life is unfair that I have to sleep without him. About how I need to wake up without him. About how I need to eat meals without him. And my big fat pouty lip comes out - because life without The Boyfriend sucks.

So I hope that the rain clears up and we get a couple of 50 plus degree days with no rain - so I can stick out my tongue at all the MN snow without it getting wet.

As I explained in my last post - The Boyfriend and I decorated our real live Christmas tree last weekend. It was so, so fun and it made the house smell amazing. Now every night I come home to my wonderful tree. The Boyfriend having already plugged in the trees twinkly little lights for me. I stop and gaze at it and smell it - almost as though I'm doing some kind of Canine-like mating dance with it. The tree is perfect. It sits nuzzled in the corner or our living room, snuggly next to that glorious real fireplace. That fireplace that probably won't see a break until the end of the winter, because there is nothing better than a real live fire crackling away in the living room every night.
The tree has two additions since the picture was taken. The Boyfriend demanded that I buy him "tinsel" to toss about the bows of our tree. I also bought him a very classy looking Penguin Ornament. The Boyfriend LOVES penguins. This particular penguin looks like he is about to waddle into the kitchen and make me a martini, bless his little penguin heart.
Here's our tree in all his glory.


Swoon. Swoon. Stare. Gaze. Sniff.

Moving on. I've been keeping up on my running. Yay for me. The Boyfriend and I have had glorious nights together enjoying each other and winter and the Christmas Spirit. In fact last night we built a fire and wrapped Christmas presents together. It was wonderful.

Even Jackson That Dog and Shoelace Mouth (aka The Cat) were SNUGGLING on the couch. Seriously was SO cute. I'll post a picture of that too - once I get it uploaded onto the computer. And when I say once "I" have uploaded them - I obviously mean once "The Boyfriend" has uploaded them for me.

I have a busy weekend ahead of me. Saturday morning is the Reindeer Run (5K) with Lightweight Lise. I am very excited. Saturday afternoon The Boyfriend and I have our orientation for this restaurant review program we are doing. The program is so cool. We are supposed to go out to dinner to a different restaurant each week (we'll get a schedule) and eat there (appetizers, meals, desserts, wine) and then write a review and send in our reciepts. For this paltry review we'll get ALL our money back!! Sweet. So we essentially get to go out to dinner for free for 10 weeks. They are even paying for our BOOZE! Anyways - then I have to jet over and help my mom with her craft sale. Then Saturday night I need to pack my bags, because on Sunday afternoon I leave for my business trip.

Here's the clincher about the business trip. I have tickets to go to the Vikings game on Sunday. TICKETS TO THE GAME!!!! I was going to bring my dad. I LOVE my Vikings. And now I can't go. Even though I bought tickets. Poop. But the business trip is good for my career and I get to fly first class. HA - just thought I would put that out there again. Because I am definitely way to LARGE of a person to fit in a regular airplane seat. I mean they don't make that coach section to fit 100 pound people like me, right? I'll clearly be MUCH more comfortable in First Class. Boo cha cha. And I better stop gloating about that, lest my plane crash into a fiery inferno.

Time to get to work.
I'll post from Seattle - I promise.
Skitch

Thanksgiving is not only wonderful because it means family and turkey and pie and running. But more so because it means that I got a 4-day weekend!!!

I'm going to be lame and highlight each day. Because I am lame like that.

Wednesday - I got off work early and so I went SHOPPING. No - it wasn't Christmas shopping. It was Me Shopping. It was glorious and I came home with a much needed pair of new shoes.

Thursday - I got up early (as did the poor Boyfriend). We drove and picked up my stepdad and The Boyfriend drove us downtown. He drove because I was worried I wouldn't find parking. So while he could have been snuggled warmly into bed - he was instead driving us two crazies to go run a 5K. What a swell guy. My stepdad and I ran the Turkey Day 5K which happened downtown. It was GREAT! I didn't have to walk - I felt really good. There were 11 THOUSAND people registered for the race. It was really exciting and I loved it. I think it's a new tradition for me. After the race I went home and showered then went to my mom's house to celebrate the completion of the 5K by eating massive amounts of FOOD. My moms made a glorious meal - I mean it was out of this world delicious. Then the fam drank and played Pictionary. It was a lot of fun and The Boyfriend got pretty juiced - which was hilarious. HA!

Friday - The Boyfriend and I hung out with each other. We did some shopping (Christmas shopping this time). It was nice. Then Friday night we went out to Al's and met Lightweight Lise, Toes, Shilly, The Nutriotionist and Big Al. We had a good time. I bought a round of ButterShots - so everyone was at least a little tuned. Sweet! I got pretty blitzed and had a great time with great friends.

Saturday - We had a baby shower type event to go to. My dad's friends adopted a 1-year girl from China. She was cute and happy. It was fun. Then we went to my dad's house to celebrate Thankgiving with him and his girlfriend. My dad and The Boyfriend shot big ice blocks in the backyard with his pellet gun. It was really fun. Saturday night we laid in and snuggled.

Sunday - We woke up early and went grocery shopping and bought our CHRISTMAS TREE!!! So exciting. We went to my stepdad's house to watch the Vikings completely OBLITERATE the NY Giants. And to drink beers, many beers. It was fun. Then The Boyfriend and I went home where I continued to drink beers. We put on skimpier outfits, lit a raging fire in the fireplace, and decorated our first real Christmas tree together. It was wonderful and fun and full of laughs. I loved it - and now I'm done being all sappy.

This week I need to hit the treadmill - because I have the Reindeer Run (5K) on this coming Saturday with Lise. I am very excited to be running another 5K soon. I also need to pack my bags because I leave for my business trip to Seattle. I leave this coming Sunday.

Hope you had as good of a break from work as I did.
I'll try to take a picture of the tree and post it tomorrow.

This weekend was pretty chalk full of chores. Poor Boyfriend....

although we did manage to get some morning loving in there somewhere. : )

Friday night we went to Southdale with the intention of seeing the movie, Dave In Real Life. We decided to eat at the Cheescake Factory - because YUM! We put our names in and they said the wait for a table was over an hour. We went into Southdale (which is a mall for all you non-Minnesotans) and shopped. I went to Victoria's Secret, spent money, was happy. Then I went with The Boyfriend to The Gap where he bought delicious jeans that make him look so, so good. (He argues this fact saying that they are too long because they BRUSH the floor when he has shoes on.) Well, well - he may be going back to high water pants before I know it. I can only convince him so much I guess. Anyways - he also bought boxers with Penguins on them. LOVE THEM! And he bought be a Christmas dress that I love, love, love. And have I mentioned that I love, love, love him? Cause I do.

Moving forward in the story away from the LOVE, LOVE, LOVING... We ended up getting seated at The Cheesecake Factory much to late to see the alst showing of the movie. Which was fine. The food was delicious, the company was glorious, and the drinks we prefection. We went home happy.

Saturday morning we got up and lolled around in bed for awhile. ; ) It was glorious. Then we got up and RAN ERRANDS! Good lord - did we run errands. We went to LifeTime fitness and picked up my number and shirt for the race on Thursday. We went to PetSmart and got dog food. We went to Crate and Barrel to help haul the furniture my parents decided to buy that morning which would not fit in their cars. (Ah - sometimes having an SUV is a CURSE!) We dropped the furniture off at my parent's house. We went to TJ Maxx and bought some Christmas presents. Then we went home and ate and snuggled and watched TV, for less than an hour. Boo to that. Then we loaded up my dad's boat which had taken up residence in our backyard for far too long. We towed said boat to my dad's house, where he of course convinced us to stay and drink many beers with him. We FINALLY got out of there - sans the boat. We got home and the beers made me sleepy - so I napped. Then we went grocery shopping, and I'm exhausted just WRITING about all the chores. Whew.

Sunday morning we got up and cleaned the house and made Beef Stew together. Awwww.... swoon. My Stepdad came over and we watched the Vikings game. We ate Beef Stew and had some beers. Fun was had by all. Victory was had by the Vikings! Then I had to run some MORE errands to pick up some books for my upcoming business trip and to get some ingredients for the pie I am making for Thanksgiving. And yes I said the PIE that I am MAKING! ACK!

The Boyfriend (exhausted) passed out at 6:30pm on my lap on the couch. Hialrious. He basically slept until this morning. : )

Now it's Monday - but it's a short week. We have Happy Hour with the old work crew on Tuesday so we are both looking forward to that.
Hope you had great weekends.

I got home from work last night and hopped right on the treadmill for a TWO POINT FIVE mile run. So I was very happy about that. I went from nothing to 2.5 miles in 2.5 weeks - so that's cool.

Anyways - Team A came over at 6:30 for Chinese Delivery and Board Games.. The boys shot pellet guns in the backyard (of course). And I tried on Bridesmaid Dresses for Shilly's Wedding. Squeee!

The Chinese Food got delivered and we all sat down for a game of Worst Case Survival or something like that. You essentially had to answer what the best solution was in certain situations. Like - How To Detect That You Have The Ebola Virus or Where to Fashion A Shelter In The Desert. If you got the question wrong... you LOST A BODY PART! Ha ha ha! The Nutriotionist won because he's a nerd and possibly an Eagle Scout...

At this point plenty of boozamahol had been consumed - especially by Shilly. Awesome. We all played some Guitar Hero - ROCKING OUT WITH OUR COCKINGS OUT! It was awesome and hilarious and so much fun. This instance is just one of the reasons that we love being friends with Team Awesome, because anything can become SO MUCH FUN!

Fun was had by all... I loved it.

Shilly and I also decided that we are going to throw a Holiday Schmoliday Drinky Lots Party. Yay! We'll have things like Peppermint Martinis and Hot Toddys to be followed by winter activities/festivities. I'll give you more details when it gets closer....

Tonight I may or may not run. It's possible that I might just go home and take a glorious nap with my glorious boyfriend. We'll see. We have no plans with friends tonight, so it's just cuddle fest for me and The Boyfriend. We might go see Dan In Real Life at the movies. It's that one with the boss from The Office and it has Dane Cook in it - so I think it must be hilarious.

Have a good weekend all - I'll be back on Monday.

I haven't blogged this week because nothing interesting has happened. I'm having one of those low key weeks.

I got a migraine at work on Tuesday and took an Imitrex (doctor prescribed) - but all I had was a 50mg Imitrex which completely wonked me out. I was so out of it at work, and almost went home. But I stuck it out as I had a lot to do. That day stunk. I did not run on Tuesday because I was still looped from the medication. The Boyfriend and I laid in snuggling. Very nice.

Yesterday was better. It was a good day at work, and I booked my December business trip. Apparently my new company has a deal with Sun Country right now - because I got upgraded to FIRST CLASS round trip suckas!! I am so stoked. It stinks having to fly for business - so being in First Class is going to be awesome. And for all of my blog readers out there that are saying "pwa - first class schmirst class, I fly that all the time..." Well I DON'T fly that all the time - or EVER. In fact I've only ever flown first class once before in my life. It's a silver lining in the business trip - especially since it's a LONG ONE. I am going to miss The Boyfriend like CRAZY!

Anyways - enough about how I am going to be flying FIRST CLASS!!!! Last night I did get on the treadmill. I got the WORST cramp in my lower calf. I ran 1.5 miles - then got off and stretched my calf for a LONG time. Then I hopped back on with the intention of running 2.5 miles. Since my run had already been completely interupted - I just ran the 2 miles and got off. Man that cramp was INSANE PAIN!

Tonight I am going home to RUN, thankyouverymuch. Then shower. Then The Boyfriend and I have to run to the liquor store to get more beers and liquors because Team Awesome is coming over tonight for gaming and some boozing. Methinks we'll play some Guitar Hero, the boys will shoot pellets in the backyard (dorks), and then we are going to play this Survival Game Board we have but have never played. In the midst of all that - we'll order Chinese food. Yum. It should be a good night - and if anything blogworthy happens you know I'll be on tomorrow with the details.

Time for me to get back to work.
I promise I'll try to blog more regularly next week...
Skitch

Friday I got home from work and ran on the treadmill. I am awesome. Then we headed out for the MMP.
Yes - Friday was the much awaited for Murder Mystery Party...




We all showed up at Sill's house - in COSTUME and in CHARACTER. Ha ha ha - it was so hilarious. Everyone did a really good job of getting into it. Which was awesome. Tho-mas came with his pants hiked to his nipples and a POCKET PROTECTOR in his shirt. HILARIOUS! Lightweight Lise showed up with a LETTER SWEATER, and a cirlce skirt. LOVE IT! Sill looked like she came from the wrong side of the tracks and in the middle of the game she pulled out a ROACH CLIP (complete with fake joint). Oh my - it was so hilarious. I love my friends. The Boyfriend was hotness with his slicked back hair and tough demeanor. Me-Ow. Toes was wearing all brown - with PLEATED, CORDOROY pants and brown sweater VEST!

Ha ha ha - Oh my it was funny.I am still laughing about it all. Fun was had by all - we drank and we were merry and we drank. We made a rule that if you used anyones REAL name you had to take a half-shot of Vodka. There was a lot of Vodka consumption. Good times.

Saturday we slept in and I DID NOT RUN ON THE TREADMILL!!! We ran some errands and The Boyfriend did a ton of "IT" computer work for my stepdad's new business. We were there for about 4 hours setting up a new server and networking all the printers. Good times. Nothing like a Saturday in geekdom, right? HOT!

Sunday I woke up and ran on the treadmill. Double awesome of me - since I was a wee bit hungover. The Boyfriend and I POWER cleaned the house - which felt glorious afterwards. Then we watched the Vikings game - and I can't even TALK about it - it was/is so depressing to me. The weather was so nice that we went outside and The Boyfriend raked while I planted Tulip and Hyachinth bulbs. Spring Flower Bloomage!!! Hopefully.

We also hung some Christmas lights outside since it was so warm. And yes SHILLY, WE EVEN TURNED THEM ON!!! Yay for Christmas... ha ha ha ha!

Now it's Monday and I have a business trip to plan, cranky customers to attend to, and snoopy coworkers to avoid. Ah - work.

Hope you all had awesome weekends - my sights are already set on the one upcoming.

I meant to post yesterday - but my new boss was in town and in the office. He was here on Wednesday and Thursday actually - and it was so great to get to know him and to have him shed some light on my future projects.

He determined that myself and my co-worker will fly to Redmond, WA for the first week in December. I got my Corporate AMEX in the mail, and now I need to book my trip. It's a long one though - ACK! It will be good and I'll get to meet all the people on my new team. Nice.

On Wednesday EVERYONE in my department went to an impromptu Happy Hour. I am a sucker for beer - so I went. This resulted in several beers - and of course, no running. ACK! I texted The Boyfriend all night. Enough beer in my veins to make me miss him more than is humanly possible. That was awesome.

Last night I DID run. Yay! 2.2 miles. Working myself up to 3 miles slowly so I don't get discouraged and I still like running... The Boyfriend got home from his business trip right as I finished my run. I walked upstairs to greet him - warning him that he couldn't hug me. He started to go in for one anyways - but then probably caught a whiff of me. (Have I mentioned how hot the basement is for running?) He decided instead to greet me with a kiss on the forehead. HA HA HA! I sweat A LOT when I run - and he got a salty mouth. So funny.

I made him Chicken Marsala for dinner because I am the best girlfriend that has ever existed. I missed him in every way - and so we got to get "reacquainted". HOT!!!

Tonight Sill is hosting a Murder Mystery Party. I am SO excited. (I will run before I go to the party.) Everyone has to come dressed as their character. Sill and The Former Fiank, Lise and Toes, Tho-Mos, and Sussssss-an will all be there. We all have to be "in character" all night. Everyone is bringing tasty food. We are all really good friends, so it will be so fun to do together. I hope I don't end up being the murderer! The Boyfriend and I are planning on bringing several bottles of wine for ourselves - so my character better be a drinker. Mwa ha ha and Boo Cha Cha.
Have a good weekend all.

Today's post is probably going to be rambly (I think I made that word up). It's going to be rambly, because my brain is ramblin' and I can't help it. Nor can I sit down and write a dignified post that is going to be coherent. Oh well.

The Boyfriend is out of town.
The Boyfriend left on Monday morning. I miss him like a sea among thousands of seas... Or something like that.

Monday night I hung out with My Moms. I think I already blogged about that - but it was awesome. She is awesome. We have so much hilarious fun together. It's just so easy. We worked on making Vintage Belts for her craft sale which is coming up. I even hemmed my own pants. Yes, because I am learning to be girly. What with the sewing and the cooking and the fricking attempts at baking lately. Sick.

Anyways - I'm moving on. Tuesday!!! I got home from work and got on the treadmill and I conquered TWO MILES! Which is exacatly where I need to be right now - on my way up to 3 miles for the 5K. I made it through the 2 miles - but then I need to do it again tonight. And tomorrow and the next day and the next day, and then the next day three miles, and on and on and on. ACK!

Last night I went over to Lightweight Lise's house. I mean The Boyfriend is gone, so the bed is lonely, the couch is lonely, the house is lonely. I brought over Jackson That Dog too. HA! Toes was there, and the three of us played Mario Party (which I am not very good at). I also taught Lise and Toes how to play Jackson That Dog's Riblaphone. Which is when I strum his poking out ribs and sing "RIBLAPHONE, RIBLAPHONE, LET'S PLAY JACK'S RIBLAPHONE!!!" Jackson loves it and let's face it - it's fricking hilarious. It was a really fun night! Boo cha cha.

This post began with some kind of purpose. There was something I was going to end with, and now I'm drawing a blank. In fact all I can think of right now is "Riblaphone, Riblaphone, Let's Play Jack's Riblaphone!"

Oh wait - now I remember. So while I was at Lise's house last night "Love with Tila Tequila" (or whatever that show is called) came on. I don't have MTV - so I don't watch it. OH MY! Did you know that all 30 of them sleep in one GINORMOUS bed together? What is up with that? They all sleep in one bed!!! HA! Kids these days....

Anyways - I better get going. Not only do I have to sit here and think about how I have to run on the treadmill again tonight, but I am also meeting my new boss today. Since our company got acquired - I got a new boss. He flew in and I get to meet him today. I am pretty excited about that. It will be nice to get clarification on what my job is going to look like for the next three months and find out when I'll be travelling.

And to end - woe is me, because I miss The Boyfriend. COME HOME NOW AND LOVE ON ME PLEASE!!!!

Skitch

I didn't go to work on Friday. I took the day off. I used a vacation day to sit on the couch all day watching DVDs and crappy daytime television and eating Apple Sauce. I lost a part of myself on Friday. A part of myself that I will never get back. Ever.

I woke up in the morning and showered per usual. Instead of throwing on my black work pants and a button down, I chose instead a pair of old jeans and my red hoodie. The Boyfriend and I piled into the Infinity and we were off to begin my Friday off of work. We arrived at a building and went in. I checked in at the front desk and shortly thereafter was called back. I laid down in the chair and the lovely nurse started giving me lovely Nitrus so as to buffer the fear that they were soon going to RIP MY TEETH OUT OF MY HEAD WITH PLIERS! The doctor was running a little behind on seeing me, so I sat deeply brething in the Nitrus for a good 20 minutes. Good god - I was high. So so so high. I was high as a kite in a doctor's office, envisioning myself snowboarding down the whitest of white mountains. The crisp air on my cheeks. (and I don't even know how to snowboard). By the time the doctor came to knock me out, I was HIgh, Highity Highness. He stuck an IV in my arm and while I was asking him how long until I went under I was OUT!

I awoke in a different room. I was so confused because they had made me take my hoodie off before the surgery - and here I was sitting in a NEW room with my hoodie firmly zipped on my body... I kept asking the nurse how I got my hoodie back on... "How did I manage to put this thing on? Did someone put it on for me? I mean - my arms aren't really working so I can't imagine that I put it on myself? Did you put it on me? Did the doctor put it on me??" She of course ignored me. Ha. Then she said she was going to go and get The Boyfriend to which I may have smiled (while possibly drooling - one never knows) and said "yay". The Boyfriend came into the room and I flailed my useless heavy arms around, knocking them into my blood pressure machine, and calling it a "puke bucket". As in "Oops, The Boyfriend, I just hit the puke bucket." The Nurse then told me all about how to put the new gauze in my mouth and when to take my pain meds and how often to ice, etc. etc. To which I replied "I am way to stoned for this pertinent information..." She probably rolled her eyes at me and then she told The Boyfriend he could take me home.

Only I couldn't really walk - and had The Boyfriend wanted to play a cruel trick on me he could have let me go and I would have crumbled to the floor.

So - that's about the extent of it. I am forevermore without my teeth of wisdom...
The only thing to note is that I bled ALL DAY (for 24 HOURS actually) and couldn't sleep for the fear that I was going to get dry socket. But now I am ok.

I didn't take my pain pills on Sunday as our friend Jameson offered us tickets to the Vikings game on Sunday last minute!! Sunday we sat on the 50 yard line, 20 rows up, and watched the Vikings pull out probably their best game of the season to beat the Chargers. LOVED IT!


Ok - moving on. Today The Boyfriend left for a business trip and will not be returning until late Thursday night. I hate it. He also gave me a really old cable box (that he was supposed to return over a year ago). He gave it to me to return for him this week. Even though I put it in his jeep several weeks ago and told him he needed to return it. Convienently - it NEEDS to be returned this week. And even though he passed the drop off place on his way to the airport this morning - he was not going to have time to drop it off. Boys. Boyfriends. Geez. So today during lunch I will spend my entire hour driving to Richfield to return the box for the man I love. Because... I love him. On any normal day - this would be fine, and I would arrive home from work immediately demanding payback favors in the bedroom or in the form of backrubs. But alas - today I will arrive home proclaiming the necessity for "payback favors" only to hear my voice echo back at me through the empty house, the whine of my anxiety-ridden dog (who is not used to being home all day alone), and to the sounds of my treadmill screaming at me to get my "sucks at running" self onto the treadmill for a good run. Dang my luck.

So Halloween. Good times. Good times.

I got home from work and ran on the treadmill. One measely mile. But that's ok. Then The Boyfriend had made dinner, so we ate. Delish! Then we headed outside to set up the Halloween decorations. I decided that Halloween is my new favortie holiday and so bought a bunch of stuff to decorate with. I mean - I remember being a little chitlen - trick or treating in my 100% totally awesome cotume - out gettins me some cady with my dad and my friends from the neighborhood. It was sweet. And I loved it when people decorated. It made it even sweeter. Right?

So The Boyfriend and I joyfully carved pumpkins and decorated the entry area this week. We wanted to GIVE BACK. And it turned out awesome. Don't get too excited - because there's not THAT much going on. We didn't like build a graveyard in the front or anything. But still....










And this is a close up of the bugs all over the door. They wouldn't stick with tape - so The Boyfriend came up with the idea to cover the whole door with Spider Webs and stick the bugs in it. The bugs were all over the door - but this is just a close up of the handle area -




And then here's Jackson That Dog ready to hand out candy in his Shrimp costume -




So we were ready for the hoards of children to run gleefully to our door. Screaming TRICK OR TREAT! Alas - we only got one ring on our doorbell. ONE RING, TWO KIDS, ALL NIGHT! It seems my future in halloween decorating is over. I will not be decorating next year. I can't believe we only had 2 kids. I felt so dejected. It may have had something to do with the fact that they had that drug bust here in Minnesota a week ago and found massive amounts of drugs in cady bars.... I don't know.

At least the deocrations will not be a complete waste (yes they were) - as you all got to see them. And then laugh to yourselves about how I spent all that time out there fricking decorating, for two kids.

In an effort not to end this post on a sad note, here is Jackson - NAKED - having a healthy snack -




He loves Broccoli. What a fricking Weirdo. He also loved celery. Again - weirdo. Hilarious.
Want to see the hilarious video of Jackson That Dog tearing this Brocolli up? HA - you can even hear him munching it -

This morning I was perusing my bevy of regular blogs that I read. And? I noticed that many people have decided to post pictures of themselves in former Halloween costumes... which is completely neat.

I am NOT going to do that. For starters - I dress like a SLOOT for The Boyfriend twice per year. Halloween and Anniversaries (and mostly any other time he asks me - but that's moot). Anyways - Halloween is one of those times. And he loves it.

Last year we went to Madison, WI - the Halloween Capital of the world - with Sill and The Fianc. I dressed like a Catholic Schoolgirl - The Boyfriend as a priest. Naughty. Yes. But I am NOT going to post pictures of that debauchery ALL OVER THE INTERNET. For starters - when I posted even one of the more innocent shots from last year on my MySpace I got gazillions new friend requests. GRODY! Secondly - I let The Boyfriend cut my skirt for me (HUGE MISTAKE) so you can see my undies in almost every shot. HA!

This year I dressed as a Nurse - The Boyfriend as a Doctor. And the outfit wasn't nearly as, should I say, "revealing". But still - I am NOT going to post those pictures on the internet! Ha! People at my WORK read my blog.

I guess since my blog isn't anonomous I can't post embarrassing pictures of myself. I mean I think my MOM might read this sometimes. So - no pictures. Although tomorrow I promise to post pictures of my front door area - which I deocrated last night. And? LOOKS SO COOL!

In other news - I bought a treadmill on Craig's List. The Boyfriend went yesterday and picked it up for me - because he LOVE, LOVE, LOVES me. he had to go to this lady's basement and disassemble it and carry it to the Infinity. ACK! It was like the heaviest thing EVER! Yep - he LOVES me. (and it's not like I didn't "pay him back" for his favors). ; )

Anyways - so we set it up in the basement and had to make some adjustments because the track was running off to the side. We got it all up and running and I set up a little TV and DVD player... Boo cha cha, right?

I threw on my workout gear last night. (Can I run on there barefoot??) Anyways - I hopped on for a quick 2 mile run. Which is usually what I do when i run outside. Except!!! I could only make it 1.5 miles. ONE POINT FIVE MILES! What? It was SO HOT!!! And the air was so DRY!! I was coughing and running and coughing. I mean ONE POINT FIVE! I felt so dejected. Clearly I am going to have to start getting serious and TRAIN! Man - that was depressing. I got up early this morning and ran a quick mile - which was fine - but still not easy.

My new plan is to get a fan down there, bring a water bottle, and change the thermostat so that the heat doesn't come on in the morning until AFTER I run. Good lord. I am the worst runner ever. And here's the thing. Last year at this time - I was up to over 7 miles. ACK! I guess the first few weeks when you start running again are hard, but geez. I suck at this whole running thing right now. I have TWO 5K races coming up - so I better get in gear...

Last night I ran a couple errands - went to get my oil changed, had the Infinity's tire mounted and balanced, went grocery shopping, and stocked up on rental movies because I will be home ALL DAY on Friday. I am getting my wisdom teeth out on Friday Morning. ACK! ACK! ACK!

When I got home - The Boyfriend and I set out to finish carving our pumpkins. We used a dremel so that we could get a more intricate design. These pumpkins were SO THICK!! Oh my. The dremel bit wasn't even quite long enough to get all the way through, and that was after I scraped down my carving side from the inside!!!

Here's a hilarious picture of my in my pajamas carving - HA! I can't believe I am posting this thing.




And then here are a couple pictures of the final results. Mine is the cat design and The Boyfriend did Homer. We are dorks - but these things turned out awesome.







Tonight we are finally going to decorate the front outdoor entry area to our house. And yes I know I've been saying that forever - but we kind of HAVE TO do it tonight, since tomorrow is Halloween. I will try to post pics of that tomorrow.

In other news I bought a treadmill off of Craig's List last night for $200. It's a Nordic Track that was originally $1500. I can't believe people spend over $1K on a treadmill. I mean noone actually uses those things very much. it's crazy. The Boyfriend is going to pick up the treadmill today for me. I am stoked. I just signed up for a race with my StepDad on Thanksgiving called the Turkey Day 5K, which I am excited for. I am going to need to run on that treadmill so it's not hard for me though. I am also doing a 5K with some of my girlfriends called the Reindeer Run - where you dress up and race. Last year we all wore Reindeer pants - which I am actually wearing in the pajama picture above! I don't know how many people are coming this year though, or if we are going to dress up. Oh well. It's still a really fun race - and I know for sure that Lightweight Lise is running it with me. Boo cha cha!

I guess that's all I have for today. I am crazy nervous for my ORAL SURGERY on Friday. But at the same time I want this week to move more quickly. I'll update you all later about the treadmill and whether or not it bursts into flames the first time I try to use it.

Nurse.

Yes - this weekend I was a nurse. For a Halloween party. The Boyfriend was a doctor, complete with stethoscope and covered in blood.

We went to a house party with a friend of ours, I'll call him Fratty. Fratty was dressed as a "Rocker". So - Fratty's friends were having a costume party and we went to it. I think we did a few shots before we even left for the party. Ah - yes... Drunken Nurse. Anyways - we got to party, my friend Ay-Lax showed up and we all played some serious games of Tippy Cup. I did QUITE WELL I must admit. I kept telling people that The Boyfriend and I were dressed as Nurses - that he was a Male Nurse. Ha ha ha - which he did not think was quite as funny as I clearly did. Fratty's friends were really nice - albeit kind of weird. One guy was dressed as Larry Craig, he was wearing a trench coat and had a penis sticking out. A fake penis - but still a penis - and it was blinking red. It took awhile to not be repulsed when I looked at him. ACK! There was also a ref - and his friend was dressed as a HUGE penalty flag - which I thought was AWESOME! So anyways - we played Tippy Cup which was cool. We also played some Beer Pong. Fratty and his friend beat The Boyfriend and I at Beer Pong, but we put up a good fight. Good times.

We had gotten a ride to the party - and so come 1:00am when I was ready to go home, our ride was not there. Our ride didn't come to get us until after 2:00am. But I can't complain because he was giving us a ride and for that I am grateful. The party died down at 1:00am though. So The Boyfriend and I took a nap on the couch of this house. HILARIOUS! Ay-lax (dressed as a Handy Man - as in "he'll get Handy with you") fell asleep on the floor. Ha ha ha ha! It was so funny.

Anyways - then Saturday I made a HUGE pot of Beef Stew - which turned out to be completely fricking delicious even though I CANNOT cook well. Yay! I was so happy - and I even had to improvise the recipe a little and it turned out SO GOOD!!! The Boyfriend LOVES it - which makes me so happy. Team Awesome came over briefly on Saturday night to start winterizing our sailboat. I was all snuggled up on the couch - not expecting them at all. Ha. So I threw on some warmer clothes and stood outside and watched The Boyfriend and The Nutritionist do stuff for an hour or so. Good times.

Sunday - The Boyfriend and I met Sill and The Former Fianc (now The Hubs) and Lightweight Lise and Toes downtown to watch The Vikings game, The Bears game and The Steelers game - all playing at noon. It was fun. We had many pitchers of beers. We were at Champps - and on my way to the bathroom I noticed that they have a Breathalyzer there you can do for $1.00. I REALLY wanted to see what I was at - but I hadn't drank much. I decided to wait and go out one weekend night there - and THEN test myself. Should be good times, right?

After the football frenzy at Champps - The Boyfriend and I went to Home Depot to get a new mailbox. Because apparently overnight on Saturday some punk kids hit our mailbox with a bat and SHATTERED it. Bastards. So we got a new mailbox and pretty new house numbers for the mailbox. We also went and bought new pumpkins - and started carving them last night too. Busy day.

Now it's Monday - back to work, back to the grind. Tonight The Boyfriend and I are going to finish carving our magnificent pumpkins and we are going to decorate our outside front entry area for the Trick or Treaters. I will try to post some pics. I am sure it's going to turn out looking all ghetto - but its the effort that matters, right?

Yes - you heard me. Tonight I am going Prom Dress shopping. We all remember Prom. We all remember Prom Dresses (the hideous gross things that they were [are]). But alas - I have decided that I will spend this lovely Wednesday night shopping for a beautiful Prom Dress. A Prom Dress which will make it's wearer feel that special high school tingle, hair in an up-do, corsage tightly secured on wrist....

Tonight I search for a Prom Dress.

For my mom.

Yes - I am going with my MOM to find her a Prom Dress. What does a Mom's Prom Dress look like, you ask? I have no idea. Apparently my mom's friend is throwing herself a Prom Party for her birthday. What??!!?? I know... So I am going with my mom to find her a Prom Dress to wear to this Birthday/Prom Event. I don't even know what I would wear to a Prom at this point in my life. I remember Prom Dresses as being Sparkly! Slinky! Teenager-y!

We are headed over to Via's Vintage Wear to see what we can find. I mean you can't just wear a regular dress to a Prom party... To an ADULT PROM EVENT.

Tonight the search begins... for the adult prom dress... for my mom... to wear to the adult prom event. My mom - as luck would have it, is completely beautiful and really stylish. I mean half the time I see her I want her outfit... So I am sure that we will find something funky and great and vintage that will make her look amazing. It's still funny though, right? That I am TAKING MY MOM PROM DRESS SHOPPING!! I love it.

Have a good Wednesday all.

ALSO - HAPPY BIRTHDAY SILLY!!! You are an awesome friend - and if we could drink during our lunch breaks at work I would take you out in E.P. for a birthday cocktail (or three). I heart you. Have a wonderful birthday. Also - always remember that we are too sassy to get older, so we don't need to worry about age...

So I got a comment from Super Genius on my last post - stating that he has never heard the word "Budgers" before. He loves the new word and is going to start using it.

I read the comment this morning at 7:32am. Perhaps my mind is a bit groggy. I think to myself. Budgers.... BUD-gers... Budge.... Budging.... Is that a word??

I test it out in my mind - "Hey - you can't just BUDGE in line." or "I can't belive those BUDGERS just cut in front of us..." I am testing these phrases in my head - inflecting with just enough incredulousness (probably not a word).

Then I think Budger...?? Is it Butter? Like - "Hey - you BUTTED in line, you BUTTER..." No - that does not sound right. I am losing my fricking mind. I have been using BUDGER since I was in fricking Grade School. I've been using Budger for a long time.

But then I think - maybe I MADE THE WORD UP in all my grade school glory. Or maybe someone else in my school made up the word BUDGER - because they couldn't say BUTT in their house. And here I picked up the word from this kid who couldn't say BUTT and I've been saying BUDGE and it's NOT EVEN A WORD...

And then all of a sudden it's 7:34am and my mind has been mulling this whole BUDGER/BUTTER conundrum for far too long and I'm starting to doubt myself.

So I click onto Dictionary.com - completely convinced that when I enter BUDGE it's going to pop up a message that says - NO SUCH WORD EXISTS DUM DUM...
But alas -
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -
budge1 /bʌdʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[buhj] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, budged, budg·ing. (often used negatively)
–verb (used without object) 1. to move slightly; begin to move: He stepped on the gas but the car didn't budge.
2. to change one's opinion or stated position; yield: Once her father had said “no,” he wouldn't budge.
–verb (used with object) 3. to cause to move; begin to move: It took three of them to budge the rock.
4. to cause (someone) to reconsider or change an opinion, decision, or stated position: They couldn't budge the lawyer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Origin: 1580–90; < AF, MF bouger to stir < VL *bullicāre to bubble, freq. of L bullīre; see boil1]

—Related forms
budger, noun

So it seems I am not so crazy as I had myself convinced I was so early in the morning - before one's brain should need to be functioning...


Also - last night was glorious. I treated The Boyfriend to dinner at Broders Pasta Bar. It's pretty close to our house and we've never been. Plus, I just wanted to eat out. And... WOW!!! That place is amazing. They make all their pastas in-house, DAILY! It was so delicious, and quaint, and might I say - romantic. It was an awesome date night with an awesome boyfriend.
And now I have in-house-made pasta leftovers to devour at lunch.

I was so excited for this weekend and The Trail of Terror with friends.

We went to Team Awesome's house and made cookies and cupcakes and carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon - which was SO FUN. It also clearly demonstrated to Shilly that I possess NO baking skills. Ha. Anyways - fun was had by all. Then I did (perhaps?) one too many shots. Lise and Toes showed up and we were stoked and on our way to the most awesome adventure that was to be the Trail of Terror.

We arrived at the Trail of Terror - to see that there was a MASSIVE line leading to buses - which would then take you the rest of the way to the entrance. So we got into this line that looked like the line leading to Noah's Arc, except the masses were people and not animals. (small detail) As we are standing in line discussing how long we think it will take for us to get to the front of the line to board a bus to give them our money... we notice large groups of kids just walking to the front of the line and budging. Not just like 2 groups of kids either. There were at least 100 people that walked to the front of the line and budged. It was ridiculous!! There was NO security to prevent this from happening. It was maddening. The Boyfriend became LIVID. He started telling people that they couldn't cut in line. He started patrolling the area. I just waited in line. Waited for The Boyfriend to return. The Boyfriend was pissed - he wanted to go home. Then we stopped a group of people from butting - and there were people all around us in line saying - "there's more people over there" and "go stop those people over there" - basically cheering us on. I just wanted to stay and have a good time with my friends, but I was pissed about the line situation too. Then The Nutritionist tells Chris to go tell some girl that butted in line that she's ugly, so then I get upset that he's coaxing The Boyfriend (yes - I may have been drunk..... ha ha ha). Anyways - this all leads to The Nutritionist telling me that we are being "embarassing" - which maybe we were being. I have no idea. Although I do remember all the people around us asking us to let less people budge in line... so I don't know. Does it really matter? So then I was upset that he said that to me. It was horrible.

We finally got to the beer tent and got a few beers. The Nutritionist and I hugged and made friends again - because that is what beer is for. Then we went to get on the Haunted Hayride - only to discover... wait for it... wait for it... A HUGE FUCKING LINE! So we waited in line for another 2 hours (not kidding) to go on the Hayride - which was not that scary - and lasted maybe 10 minutes. It was the worst waste of money and time EVER!!! I actually did have fun just hanging out with my friends, which was nice. There was a lot of laughing in line. Although The Boyfriend LEFT the line and went to wait in the beer tent - as he couldn't stand to wait in line any longer, which was sad for me. I wanted him to be there just to hang out with us, and I was sad that he wasn't having fun. So after the hayride we headed home. It was ridiculous. I was "embarrassing". Hilarious.

Bottom line is that I will never go back to the Trail of Terror. Ever. It was a ridiculous amount of money for NOTHING! The Boyfriend woke up on Sunday still upset about all the line standing and line budging. Hilarious.

Sunday was spent on the couch, grazing food from the kitchen all day. The Vikings almost pulled out a win on Sunday, but then that Field Goal got blocked - which NEVER HAPPENS! Oh yeah - and our QB only completed 6 passes of 19 attempts. Clearly it's no wonder we can't win a game. Too bad.

Now it's another week. I might be travelling soon for work - which could be nice depending on where I would end up going and for how long. I'll try to blog again tomorrow....
Skitch

I need to start this post by saying that recently I have had a TON more readers. YAY! Tons of readers that I don't know. Tons of readers from all over. Which is awesome and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. So thanks for reading about my mundane life, and my hot Boyfriend, and my jankity adventures...

If you read my blog - or if you know me - you know about Jackson That Dog. He's an Italian Greyhound. He's also a rescue dog. Poor thing. We believe that he was abused - as his tail is broken and he has lots of little scars.
Whatever happened, one thing is for sure - he's weird. He's also anxious. He is initially afraid of men. He hates smokers. He's also awesome. He warms up to people once he knows they won't hurt him. He loves to play fetch. He loves to play chase with The Cat. (The Cat chases him too, awwwww....) He loves to snuggle.

I love Jackson That Dog, and so does The Boyfriend. All Italian Greyhounds have accidents in the house - so when he pees inside - I like him less. But I still love That Dog.

Jackson comes with us pretty much everywhere we go. He's small enough that he can. Jackson loves riding in the car, he loves camping, he loves Jeeping, he is ok with sailing. Jackson just loves being with us. He's a good dog. (most of the time)

This post is for Sassafrass - (check her out at http://thesassafras.blogspot.com/). Anyways (and here comes the dork in me) I read other people's blogs. There I said it. I read them EVERY DAY! I LOVE READING THEM!!! So - I'm a blogger and a blog reader - and yes I have a Boyfriend. Ha ha ha. Anyways, one of the blogs I read - Sassafrass - has a Whippet, named Wicket. It's just like an Italian Greyhound only a little bit bigger. She wanted to hear more about Jackson That Dog - so here goes a story of Jackson in pictures. Enjoy!

Jackson That Dog - Glamour Shots :


What Jackson does while I am at work (the bastard) :



When we first got Jackson - we bought him a "Snuggle Sack" which he LOVED... (until a couple months later when he peed on it) :



You may be sensing a theme - but one of Jackson's favorite pastimes is to sleep. He tends to sleep with his legs rigidly outwards. It's fricking hilarious :



Jackson also likes to sun. Here The Boyfriend hydrates lazy Jackson :



It's me and Jackson with his pajamas on. (yes I said pajamas - he gets cold you bastards) :



He especially gets cold in winter and needs to wear a special coat with a "Snood" on it - which The Boyfriend and I have decided stands for "snout hood" :



Jackson and me on a trip in the Upper Penisula of Michigan - NAPPING!!! Cute.... :



A not so great memory of Jackson is when he jumped off of our bed and broke his toothpick leg. Which resulted in a $2500 vet bill. (we have since purchased a platform bed) :



The upside of the broken leg were the pain pills that we had to give him every four hours and which left him COMPLETELY STONED!! So stoned he couldn't keep his little mouth shut. It was so hilarious. SO HILARIOUS!



Lastly - here is a picture of Jackson on the sailboat. Initially he didn't like sailing - but he's coming around to it. Again - he just likes being with us :



So there you have it. Jackson That Dog in all his glory. There are so many more pictures of Jackson that I would love to share with you, but I am completely cheap - and so I don't pay for this blog. Since the blog is free - I have to host my pictures on Imageshack and then post the hosted link in here. It takes a long time. Because I am cheap.
Maybe I will do another Ode to Jackson in the future - depending on the response I get from this one....

Have an Awesome Weekend. Thanks for reading my blog. Comment to your heart's desire. No mean comments about how my dog looks like a rat... or a small grey deer... or an anorexic raccoon...

I don't have anything interesting to blog about - but now that I have more readers I feel all this pressure. Pressure to blog... which is weird. Because I love blogging, my lif ejust really isn't interesting enough to blog about every day. Right? I try to keep it funny, and well my life is only occassionally funny.

Anyways - work has been different lately. Since we got bought there have been many changes, one of which is that we are all going to work REALLY hard for the next 6 months. But I'm cool with that. I might even get to travel a bit - which is always kind of nice. ESPECIALLY DURING THE MINNESOTA WINTER!! The new company took all of our vending machines and pop machines and replaced them with NEW vending machines and Pepsi fridges. The Pepsi fridges have FREE everything in them - soda, diet soda, water, sparkling water, juices. It's awesome. A small little perk and I am falling right in love with the new company. I'm such a freebie slut.

Other than that - I bought pumpkins this weekend. I'm totally geeking out about how I am going to decorate our front door area for Halloween. We have this like alcove thing outside at our front door - so I can decorate without anything getting wet. The Boyfriend says we won't get THAT many trick-or-treaters, but I figure it's enough to decorate for. Hence the pumpkins - which we are going to carve this weekend with Team Awesome. I also bought spider web stuff and spiders and little pumpkins that can't be carved, and pictures of skeletons, and bats to hang. It's going to be so cute. I'll have to take a picture (if it turns out at all) and then I can upload it for you all to see). I'm a dork.

Other than that - we are going to the Trail of Terror this weekend with 7 friends. I am stoked. It's going to be so fun. Oh yeah... and really fucking scary!! I get scared really easily. Like I will scream like a four year old child and probably wet myself. (several times) I don't know why - but scary stuff actually SCARES me. And I don't like being scared like most people do. I actually shake like a totally wuss. HILARIOUS! So the Trail of Terror will be hilarious for all of my friends. Good thing that they also have beer there, and a bar there, and live music there and also BEER there. I am so excited. The Haunted Hayride is totally going to mess with my head though.

Ok - I just had a long meeting - and completely stopped blogging in the middle of blogging, and now it's time to go home - so I am leaving.
RANDOM!

Last night when I got home from work - The Boyfriend and I cleaned out the garage enough that I could pull the Saturn in. The Saturn has been neglected since we got the Infinity SUV. Sorry little Saturn - you who have been with me in good times and bad... you are now relegated to the garage. But I think of you often... Especially when I am filling the gas tank of the Infinity SUV. Especially then.

After cleaning the garage I just really wanted to go out to eat. I've had this gift certifate to The Roasted Pear in Burnsville for some time now. I convinced The Boyfriend that it would be worth the horrendously long drive to nowheres-ville (which is what I call all outer ring suburbs). It would be worth it - because dinner would be practically FREE. Plus - we had never been to this restaurant before (namely because it's in nowheres-ville), so it would be an Adventure! The Boyfriend reluctantly agreed.

We changed to some nicer clothes, as we had been cleaning the garage, and headed on our way. I read the address off of the Gift Certificate to The Boyfriend to put in the GPS as we drove. (this is an important detail) We arrived at the restaurant (forever minutes later - because it's in nowheres-ville) and it was actually quite busy. We put our name on the waiting list and took a seat at the bar. I ordered a House Special Cosmo. The Boyfriend got a "90 MPH Grey Goose". The Cosmo was HUGE. It came in a shaker - and filled my HUGE glass 4 times by the end of the night. Wow!

We ordered dinner - which ended up being pretty delicious. Or at least mine was anyways. I think The Boyfriend just thought it was "meh". He enjoyed his 90 MPH though. Then the bill came. And I grabbed my purse to get the gift certificate. It was perfect because it meant that our meal was to be almost FREE! AWESOME!!! I love free things. I especially like free, good food. Alas - the gift certificate could not be found. ANYWHERE! And at this point the Cosmo (4) had kicked in, so I was getting very confused.

Skitch's Brain - "But you had the gift certificate in the car! On the way here!"

I continue searching through my purse for the fourth time. I cannot find it. Where is it?

Skitch's Brain - "Where could it be? Tink tink tinker tinker tinker... Oh hey - there's my Cosmo... Yum. What was I thinking about? Oh yeah - the gift certifiacte. Dang.... Hello Cosmo..."

The Boyfriend went out to the Infinity to check in there - because WHERE ELSE COULD IT BE!!??!! He came back empty handed. So I paid the bill. Which was FNE! But it was bothering me so much, like where did that little bastard go to? Was it a trick Gift Certificate that dissolves once you walk into the restaurant? Where's my Cosmo?? Oh there it is - HELLO!!

So we drove all the way to nowheres-ville to go to a restauarant based SOLELY on the fact that we had a gift certificate and then lost it somewhere between the car and the restaurant. (and before the one Cosmo that was four Cosmos)

It was worth going though. My food, at least, was really good. My Cosmo (as far as I can remember) was also really good. And really big. Really, really big.

We pulled into the driveway at home, full and satisfied and I was a little drunk. And there between the center console and my seat was the Gift Certificate! So it looks like we will be heading back to The Roasted Pear sometime in the next few months - except next time I am going to duck tape that Gift Certificate to my forehead.

There is no way that I can do this post justice. I am just too busy today - and too tired. But I have to at least try. Quickly. Then back to the grind.

This weekend was awesome. Friday my dad came over to our house for a BBQ - which was fun. I liked having the time with him. The Dad and The Boyfriend shot BB guns in the backyard for a LONG time - which was hilarious. I'm glad they like each other.

Saturday - we didn't do much during the day. The Boyfriend tinkered around on our new-ish Infinity, fixing things, etc. HOT! I laid on the couch completely useless and watched MTV. *(bliss)

Saturday night - we met up with Lightweight Lise and Toes to go to the Blue October concert. THE BLUE OCTOBER CONCERT!!! (swoon, smile, pee) We met up with them at the hotel room we rented. Then - without further ado we hit the bottle. Prepartying in true rock star fashion. Toes was drinking Effen Vodka. He liked the name so much he kept drinking it, and drinking it, and drinking it. We were all slamming the cocktails - it was good times. We headed over the the club, Myth, and listened to one of the opening bands - Yellowcard. Yellowcard was - "meh" - I was not impressed. Then between sets - we headed to the front so that we could see Blue October (ack!) up close and personal. The show was FUCKING AMAZING! I try not to swear too much on here - but FUCK. ME. It was awesome. They are awesome. It was amazing! I love seeing them in concert. This is the third time The Boyfriend and I have seen them live. LOVE. IT. It was probably my favorite thing I will have done all year. They sounded fantastic - they play an amazing live show. Justin (the lead singer) was all into it - did an amazing job. It was great. Lise and Toes loved it too - this being their first Blue October concert - but not their last.

We headed back to the hotel room - had one more cocktail and PASSED OUT! Nice.

Sunday we watched the game. The Vikings won (barely). I am still super happy about that though. To be honest they did play a good game - wait - let me rephrase: Adrian Peterson had a good game. Our Offensive Line did a good job of opening up holes. It was a fun game to watch. I love it. The Boyfriend is helping the Stepdad with some business - so they were talking business during the game - which was fun. I love the Stepdad - so hanging out with him is important to me. Good times.

Anyways - back to the grind. I can't explain to you how amazing the Blue October concert was - but you should all check them out. Favorite. Band. Ever.
Check them out here - http://youtube.com/watch?v=rebN_cxYwd8
and here - http://youtube.com/watch?v=gOziJi-1hHE
(you may need to copy and paste those URLs - but take the time - AMAZING)

Have a good week. The weekend can't get here fast enough.

So yesterday was the illustrious event - The Boyfriend's Birthday!!

It was an exhausting day for me.

I woke up and immediately - I mean immediately - starting singing Happy Birthday. Mwa ha ha! Then I went to work - which was long...

I got home at 4:45pm. I immediately headed to the kitchen to make The Boyfriend his birthday dinner. He wanted Chicken Marsala. I of course had chosen a difficult recipe - in an attempt to make it special. Then I got worried that I wouldn't be able to pull it off. It was a COMPLEX recipe - and we all know how well I do in the kitchen. I did end up getting the chicken (stuffed with Fontina Cheese and Prosciutto) done. And I successfully got the Marsala sauce completed - this being the first time I have ever made a Marsala sauce. We sat down to eat dinner, and that fucking Chicken Marsala was so fucking good. It was delicious! I was so surprised.

Then The Boyfriend opened his gifts from me. I got him a straw holder - because he loves using straws. I know... Keep reading. I also got him a Jeep Pocket Knife with a light on it - very cool. He really liked the knife. Then the final present .... an ESQ Swiss watch. A beautiful piece of jewelery with time function. It is heavy and shiny and glorious. The Boyfriend liked it - like meh... and then continued to play with him pocket knife. Ha! Can't win 'em all. He claims he does love the watch - so hopefully that's true. If nothing else I love that watch - and it costs more than my entire outfit - so... yeah.

It was at this point that I needed to convince The Boyfriend to come to Uptown with me - for his surprise Happy Hour with friends. He did not know - obviously - hence the surprise part, so I needed to get him moving without being obvious. He got a call from his dad at 6:52pm. We needed to leave the house at 7:00pm. Ha! So I was all ready to go - and standing there staring at The Boyfriend while he talked to his dad. Just STARING.... at. him. for. a. long. time. Then I switched tactics.

Skitch - "Can we go - you can call your dad on your cell and talk in the car."
Boy - "Yeah Babe - 10 minutes."
Skitch - (thinking : 10 MINUTES!!!) "Babe - let's go - I don't want to get home too late. I have to work in the morning..."
Boy - "Ok babe - 10 minutes."
Skitch - (changes tactics again) - "But I REALLY just want a Margarita. I like NEED a Margarita. Right now. i don't want to wait for a Margarita. My mouth waters for a Margarita."
Boy - "Dad - I have to go."

Mwa ha ha! Girlish tactics successful.

We pulled up to Bar Abilene and walked in the door. I looked around to find his friends - and heard them all clanging their glasses. AWESOME! The Boyfriend glances over and sees our friend Markus Parkus - and thinks to himself - "oh - Mark is here - ironic" - then "why is Markus Parkus sitting with Jameson??" Brain slowly starts moving - hamster straining to turn wheel...
And then it dawned on him and he realized it was a table full of friends - and it was his birthday - and it was a surprise. Then The Boyfriend's face turned to a full smile and so did mine.

It was a great night with friends. There were several people who couldn't make it - but it was a great night. Although EVERYONE was wondering where in the hell Scratch was.... geez. Scratch or no Scratch - The Boyfriend got to celebrate with friends. Team Awesome brought him hilarious and fantastic gifts. Jameson even came out with a hilarious gift - awesome. It was a great night - and The Boyfriend had a great time. In fact he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face all night (although that may have been due to the phenomenon of "drunken perma-smile".)

Which leads us to this morning.
The 7 Reasons the day after is not so great for The Boyfriend:
1. Tejas Margarita
2. Shot of Jager
3. Shot of Jager
4. Tejas Margarita
4. Shot of Jager
5. Shot of Petrom
6. CC and Diet Coke
7. CC and Diet Coke

I am really tired today - The Boyfriend kept me up until past 1:00am. He had a great day though - and he deserved a great day - because he is a wonderful Boyfriend and a wonderful friend.
So I hope your birthday was everything you hoped it would be... I love you.

And now I am going to go pretend to not be tired at work.
skitch

Yes - This week The Boyfriend has a birthday. He gets a little bit older. He maintains his current hotness level. He gets treated all special like - for a whole week.

This year though - during this, his birthday week, I am sick. Sick, sick, sick. I am tired and sore and sniffly and snuffly and tired. Did I mention tired? So The Birthday Week is suffering. On Monday - my parents came over for dinner, which was awesome. The prep for such a visit involved A LOT of cleaning though, which was not fun. Yesterday at work, I was so tired that I almost took a half day off just to go home and sleep. Instead though (because I love The Boyfriend), I went during my lunch hour to get the ingredients for The Boyfriend's Birthday Dinner. I will cook it for him on Thursday, his actual birthday.

I also bake him a pie for his birthday, because I am awesome like that. And don't go thinking that this isn't a big deal, because I NEVER BAKE anything, much less pies. It's a BIG deal for me. Last year I made a Pumpkin Pie for The Boyfriend. It was the first pie I had ever baked by myself. It turned out ok. I was surprised. This year The Boyfriend wanted an Apple Pie. So, while at the grocery store I bought all the ingredients for said pie. When I got home last night, instead of immediately falling onto the couch in the fetal position to watch MTV while moaning and complaining, I headed straight to the kitchen. I spread out all my ingredients for both the Pie and dinner. ACK! I mixed all the ingerdients and made a HUGE mess. It took me 30 minutes just to peel and cut up all the apples. Ha ha ha! I suck. Anyways - I finally got all the ingredients together and had the pie ready to go in the oven. There were only a few minor last minute touches. I put "egg wash" on the top of the crust so it would apparently "brown well" - and then placed the tin foil over the pie (like the recipe told me to) and plopped it into the oven for the initial 25 minutes of baking.

Then I turned to dinner, where I planned to make Chicken Pesto Pasta. Yum. I cut up my chicken, olive oiled my pan, tossed in pesto and delicious other spices. I got my pot of water boiling. I was fricking cooking and baking AT THE SAME TIME!!! My chicken was coming along nicely. I added a little bit of Garlic Salt, some Rosemary, then grabbed that delicious Basil canister and tapped the side to let a little basil crest my chicken. Instead - The Boyfriend had taken off the safety thing on the spcie container - you know the piece with the holes in it - so that when you tap the side of the container only some basil comes out and not THE ENTIRE CONTAINER - which is what happened to me. In addition to that - my olive oil was starting to burn - because I was trying to turn up my boiling water, but was turning up the burner under my chicken. Why was all of this happening? - you ask. Because I SUCK AT COOKING AND BAKING, and that is why I don't ever do it. Especially when I have a really bad cold that prohibits my brain from working. So I took the chicken out of the pan - RINSED IT OFF WITH WATER - ha ha ha. I started a new pan, with new olive oil, pesto, garlic salt, and basil and then tossed the "washed" chicken into it. Oh my god. I got the noodles cooked and the chicken completed with an olive oil sauce. Dinner was ready.

The Boyfriend and I sat down to eat and my timer went off for my pie. Perfect. I went in to reset the oven for an additional 25 minutes, and the recipe said that I was supposed to remove the tin foil - so the crust could begin to brown. It smelled delicious. I grabbed the tinfoil and pulled it off the pie - and along came THE ENTIRE TOP CRUST! Fuck me. The crust came OFF the pie. Off of it. I took the pie out of the oven - too shocked at my inability to do anything in the kitchen correctly to even say anything. I scraped my pie crust off of the tin foil and attempted to put the pieces of it back on the pie. It covered about half. Ha. Ridiculous. I put the pie back in the oven - because I was making this pie damnit. The pie finished cooking and actually looked pretty good. I set the pie on the counter to cool.

About 20 minutes later while I was laying on the couch - horrified with myself - I remembered (at that moment and no sooner) that I had NOT put the butter in the pie. Oh. My. God. I forgot the butter. Ha ha ha ha! I suck so much. Good thing The Boyfriend only has a birthday once a year.

We ate a piece of the pie last night - and it was actually REALLY good - so I guess I'm not as horrible as it seems, but still. My goodness. It's the thought that counts afterall, right? Right?

I will be sure to regail you with the rest of my birthday attempts later this week. Hilarious.

Happy Birthday Week Baby - Enjoy Your Jankity Pie.
Skitch

Let me begin this post with an Open Letter to the Rain Gods -

Dear Rain Gods,

Please send me the date and time when you would like me to come over and make out with you.

Sincerly,
Skitch

The weekend was awesome. I was fully expecting 3 days of rain stormage, but alas it was not. Instead the rain held out - and only fell while we were sleeping - snug in our warm, dry tent.

The Boyfriend and I headed up North on Friday afternoon. We arrived at Sherwood Campground with a beautiful view of Lake Ore-Be-Gone. Nice. I wouldn't say that the weather was pleasant - but it wasn't raining. We set up our tent and then The Boyfriend took me out to dinner at this great Jamaican Restaurant they have up there.

On Saturday we hit the trails early in the morning. We hooked up in the "Hard Group" with Frenchy and a bunch of other jeeps at our same capability level. The Boyfriend rock crawled with ferocity all day. It was HOT, HOT, HOT and so much fun. The people we jeep with are awesome - so it was a lot of fun. We (knock on wood) did not break anything. Awesome. Frenchy however did break something, most likely because he got cocky and bought HUGE tires. Oops. It was all good though - as he was able to get his jeep fixed up North the next day. There was also a Hummer Event being hosted at the Off Road Park. So there were probably 30 - 40 (or more) Hummers (H1s, H2s, and H3s) at the park on Saturday. They aren't nearly as capable at off-road as a jeep - so they were mostly just "mudding" - gross. Anyways - it was fun to watch the Hummers ravage themselves in the Mud Pit. There was one blue H2 that was clearly worth $100K. It had "dubs" and the inside was all "pimped out". It was going CRAZY in the mud pits, just really tearing itself up. Then it stopped and out the driver's door popped a girl - that looked to be about 20 YEARS OLD - and her boyfriend. Ha! Only someone who's daddy bought them a $100K Hummer would go and wreck it up like that. Hilarious. It was also really awesome because The Boyfriend has a sticker on his Jeep that says "H2 Recovery Team" (which he purchased when his brother used to have an H2). Well H2 Recover he did indeed when one of those Ya-Hoos got themselves stuck - in mud. Ha ha ha ha.



On Saturday night we had dinner at The Sawmill - which was tasty. Then we hit the bars with a couple of jeeping friends. It was fun - and The Boyfriend even sang Karaoke. Ha - I love it. (side note: I will never sing karaoke in public - period) Anyways - there was a video of said karaoke but it somehow "accidentally" got deleted.

All in all it was a great weekend. The Boyfriend and I hung out, we jeeped, we were all in love and whatnot. The Boyfriend had a cold - which he has since given to me - since instead of making out with the Rain Gods I was busy all weekend making out with The Boyfriend. Dang Germs!

Now it's Monday - and I am back at work. I am getting a cold. Boo to that. My Moms and Stepdad are coming over tonight for dinner. (which means The Boyfriend and I had to spend 3 hours cleaning yesterday - always fun). So a family birthday dinner for The Boyfriend, which should be fun.

That's right - Bithday Dinner. This week The Boyfriend gets Older - as though that's even possible.... so I'll let you know how much he loves or hates the birthday presents I will be giving to him on Thursday...

Feel free to post comments about your weekend -
Skitch

It's been one of those really l o n g days....

It's only Thursday, which sucks. Although I have a half day tomorrow since The Boyfriend and I are leaving early to head up North for the MN Jeep Run. Whoot!! It goes a little something like this -



And hopefully not like this -


So last night - I got home from work and immeditately changed my clothes and mowed the lawn. I love mowing the lawn - although last night was REALLY humid for all that physical work. Also - I will admit that I waited perhaps a BIT too long between mowings, so the grass was pretty long. Oops. The Boyfriend put his new 36 inch off-road tires on the Jeep - HOT! Then I went to the grocery store and bought camping food, which was so weird to do since it clearly isn't summer weather outside.

The weather in the cities this weekend is supposed to be 80 degrees and glorious with minor rain on Sunday. The weather 4 hours up North where I will be is cold, with 100% chance of constant rain all weekend. Awesome. I'm still excited though - since we haven't been jeeping in far too long. Jackson That Dog is going to freeze his rump.

Tonight I need to dig out my long underwear, raincoat, sleeping bags, etc. GOOD TIMES!

I probably won't be posting tomorrow - as like I said I have a Half Day. GLORIOUS!!!
I'll try to post something hilarious on Monday. Hopefully it will not involve flipping the Jeep. Knock on wood. Throwing salt over my shoulder. Standing up to spin in 5 circles.