In Memory of....

George A. Hill, Jr.

George was my Aunt Shennie's best friend. She met him through Susan, a gal she met at church a few years ago. Susan was George's wife. Susan died from cancer a few years back, and George and Shennie became good friends. Everyday after work, she went to his house, or he came over to hers. They'd watch the news, she'd try and get him to watch an episode of MASH with her (her fave tv show), they'd eat dinner. While she was sick (before I gave her Lucky Leftie), he kept her in good spirits. I got to meet him while I was in Boston last year. He came over one night and we all had a great time. A couple of nights later, he came back and brought gi-nor-mous shrimp with him. I have never in my life seen shrimp this big. He had them in his freezer, wasn't planning on making them anytime soon, and the day before, I had mentioned that there was no good seafood in the Mid-west. So he brought me his huge shrimp. They were amazing. I kept meaning to send him an Omaha steak to pay him back, but I waited too long. George died last week. He was an older gentleman, but had emphysema like you wouldn't believe. Wore an oxygen tube, dragging one of those oxygen tank carts with him wherever he went. His daughter has asked that no flowers be sent, but that donations be made to a Flyfishing camp in Maine. So that is what I'll do. George was an avid flyfisher, and he loved to teach kids how to tie flies, and he organized youth fishing tournaments in his area. So, I want to donate to this camp, hopefully allowing them to help some disadvantaged younster go to camp, or buy a new rod, or supplies. Something. They will best know to spend the money.

George, sorry I didn't send you that steak. I hope that the camp donation makes up for it. You were a great great man, and my aunt was lucky to know you for so long. Godspeed, George.

MLK Day Update

Ok, so last week I made a shallow joke about getting my cut to memorialize MLK Day. Well, I just happened upon this story that makes my little joke seem very silly, comparatively.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,246884,00.html

How stupid can people be?? I mean really. Kids these days don't think about how anything that they do affects others around them. Boy, aren't I the old-timer?! Ha!

Sick and Tired of....

being Sick and Tired.

I have a theory. According to mom, I've never had a fever. Never. The only times I can remember having a temperature over 98 degrees is after my two surgeries. Apparently when I'm in a buttload of pain, I get a fever. Not when I'm sick. I had the flu a couple of years ago and the doctor was flaberghasted because I had no fever, but all the other symptoms of flu.

On to the theory. When I get sick, I get really, really tired a day or two before. And I stay tired until I am over the illness. So the theory goes that my body is different from other people. Others get fevers to fight infection, I must sleep through infection.

I was sick over the weekend, and yesterday I came home from work a litte early so I could get some more sleep (hint, hint). I woke up with the sniffles. As of last night at bedtime, I almost had a full blown cold. Sniffles, coughs, sore throat, etc. I'm still exhausted despite the fact that I left work early by three hours today, just slept for at least three hours, and I'm still tired! WTF?! I just got over a stomach bug, and now I've got a cold? This sucks.

Poor, Poor Pizza Guy

My weekend started out pretty normally. Went to our friends' house for fondue and Zombies (a role playing type game). The guys played while Cheryl knitted and Robin and I talked about anything and everything. I love this girl. I enjoyed one glass of White Merlot and a half glass of Karl's uber-expensive, but very good, Gerwurtztraminer (really really sweet white wine).

Saturday morning, I woke up nauseous. And then it got worse. Soon, I was spewing out of both ends (which I'm so sure you wanted to hear about). That's when it occurred to me. My boss' son made me sick. She had to bring him in for a little bit on Thursday while she got some work done. I played with him for like 5 minutes then ran off to my meeting. That five minutes must have been enough for the little petri dish to pass his germs on to me. Great.

My entire menu for yesterday (and today so far) has been Saltines and Gatorade. It seems that is all my body will keep down. The anti-nausea pill I took yesterday didn't even stay down. Stupid anti-nausea meds that don't work. D'OH!

Onto to the poor pizza guy. Late this morning, Ben decided that he wanted pizza to eat while football is on. Cool. I have no interest in pizza, but sure. He orders it then makes a quick run to Target to pick up a couple of things before football starts. Luckily, Ben thought to leave me money in case the pizza showed before he did. The doorbell rings. I stand up from the love seat, straighten my robe, check my visage in the mirror. I look like a really, truly sick person. Great, oh well, the pizza person will just have to deal. I open the door, and I'm sure that's he's expecting someone with clothes on. I mean, it is 1 p.m. on a Sunday. Nope. A zombie looking late 20's slob opens the door. Talk about deer-in-the-headlights look. So I give him the money, he gives me the change and the pizza. And Ben STILL isn't home yet.

Bruises, Bumper Cars and Beef Stew

I had such a great weekend! My best friend Morgan and her hubby drove to our new house on Friday afternoon. Now, they are truly good friends. They left Friday at 12:30 p.m. from the Kansas City area and arrived in St. Louis around 7:30 p.m. Normally, that is a four maybe five hour drive! Not that I wanted them to risk their lives or their car to make it out here, but how much fun is it to get snowed in at a friend's house?!

We hung out and relaxed Friday night, then we were lucky enough for my boss to cancel my workshop on Saturday (granted, the weather wasn't good). So a bunch of my friends from college all came over to my house for dinner. Spaghetti Night LIVES!

Sunday was Demolition Ball. Demo ball was so much fun. I have the bruises to prove it. I'd gladly pay to play that again. All I have to say is: bumper cars rule. After demo ball, it was off to Nick's house for beef stew and Battlestar Galactica.

Finally, I honored Martin Luther King, Jr., by getting my hair cut. What is the connection from MLK to hair cuts? MLK would have wanted a cute gal with way cute hair to be driving over his bridge each day. I was being disrespectful to his memory until yesterday by not having way cute hair.

OK, I'm just kidding. I didn't cut my hair to honor MLK. I did it because I wanted to. My hair was damn long and needed to be trimmed. In the end, I took off five inches and it's STILL below my shoulders!

Anyway, Thanks to Mike and Morgan for coming out to visit. I had such a good time and I know Ben did, too. We can't wait to have you back in town!

Almost Lost It Today

Got home from work and I see that the voicemail light is flashing on our phone (which means we now have phone service!! Thank God!). So I listen to the voicemail and about threw the phone across the room halfway through the message. It was my old landlady leaving a message saying that she didn't think that my cleaning lady shampooed the carpets. I thought for sure that this meant she was going to try and screw us out of our deposit.

I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders and dialed the phone. Luckily, she believed me when I told her that my cleaning did in fact shampoo the carpets; I saw her unload the machine from her van early in the morning then saw her wet socks later that day. She had taken her shoes off to keep from dirtying the freshly shampooed carpet.

So, it looks like we'll be getting our deposit back, which is nice, because it means we aren't losing any money. It cost money to have someone clean the house, but I sure didn't have the time to do everything that was on the list of requirements to get our deposit back. And Ben mentioned something else we spent money on for that house, but his thought escapes me at the moment, but I remember the jist of the conversation being that getting our deposit back would mean we'd break even on the house.

I thought about doing a Wordless Wednesday blog yesterday, but that would have meant trying to find our digital camera, and I just didn't have energy or drive to do that, it'll have to wait until next Wednesday. Hopefully, we'll have found it by then.

Whatta Day...

Oh my goodness.... I worked my tail off this morning, had a mission with a really rambunctious group of kids, then something went wrong with something in one of our simulators. So, that led to me staying at work until 8:30 with the wonderful Bobberino who worked his tail off trying to fix the problem for us, until I got too tired and begged him to stop. I still had a 30+ minute drive home. I'm certain that he could have fixed it with enough time, but I'm exhausted.

Luckily, though, my honey kicked some major antenna butt and got our HD antenna set up and was even able to get it to recieve channels we couldn't get at the other house.

So, I'm going to go enjoy the cookies I break-n-baked while they are still warm. Then I'm going to bed. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

You Make It Liveable...

I make it loveable. In other words, Ben gets the things we need to and for the new house, I get the things that make it more home-like. For example, he got the stuff we needed; furniture, clothes, etc. I bought the things that make the home, i.e. the little basket thingy for the master bathroom, the bath rugs for the master bath, the mirror to go above the fireplace mantle.

It's coming together ladies and gents. Satellite TV is hooked up, and furniture for the bedroom and dining room have been delivered. I am typing to you now from my brand new bed. Yay! Now it's bed time so I'm not a freaking zombie tomorrow at work.

Check out THIS side boob....

OK, not really side boob, but my sidebar has a new inhabitant. Just in case Jessica, Morgan and my blogs are not enough hilarity for you, I've been turned on to this freakin' gut-splitting blog. This Melanie gal cracks my shiz-nit up! She kinda reminds me of Morgan, but way more sexual and out with her body (which I never thought could be possible....).

She, much like myself and Morgan, is not into hiding her cursing and outright sexuality. Although, I do try and keep it somewhat tame in case my boss or family other than my sister happens upon my blog. Anyway, when you have time, I highly recommend you check out Melanie's Kick-Ass Blog.

Almost There....

Slowly, ever so slowly, we are getting unpacked. We really don't have much at the other house; we'll pick up the rest tonight, I think.

Good news, though. Yesterday we heard from the furniture store and we'll have all our new furniture on Sunday!! Yay!!!!! Once I find the camera, I'll take pictures and post them for you all.

Well, I've got some shopping to go do. For work (I'm buying the World's Cheapest Spacesuit) and for our new bed. Comforter and bedding.... way cool.

New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution is....

Wait for it.....

Not to make a New year's Resolution. No one ever keeps them. Especially me. Anyone who knows me knows it's a miracle that I've stuck it out this long with the blog. I'm just not someone who stays with much for very long.

I don't need to lose weight. I could stand to get in better shape, but not lose anything.

I don't drink too much (not even last night... four glasses of wine over the course of five/six hours).

I don't over eat.

I traveled plenty last year. It was all over the U.S., but who's to say that isn't worthy? I saw New England (three times... I think that's a freaking record, even for me), San Antonio, and Houston. Ben and I are going on cruise #2 (for us... #3 for me) in April. We'll get the chance to see a couple places in Mexico... possibly some Aztec ruins.... I hear Belize City is amazing (huh-huh Morgan..... I mean it this time...).

I'm happy with my life. What could I possibly want to change? I have a wonderful husband. Perhaps I need to improve things with him. He's so wonderful because he puts up with me. There's nothing wrong with our relationship, but most relationships have at least some room for improvement. It just so happens that I believe I could be a better wife. Hmmm.... that might be a good resolution. Be a better wife. Jessi, where's that book?

See... I already broke my first new year's resolution. It's been what, five minutes since I made it?