Stayin' Alive

I promise to post a non-product related blog entry as soon as I feel like a human being again. But until then, I just have to say that Tylenol Cold is the best stuff since sliced bread ... Actually, it's even better than sliced bread.

*Gasp*

I'm fully convinced that if it weren't for this medicine, I'd be six feet under at this point. I know it's not cold & flu season, but my body apparently doesn't realize that.

But thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, I've been able to work the last five days while feeling like utter crap. It's been such a joy. Really.

Tomorrow is my day off, and let me just say that I will not be stepping out of my house OR my PJs. Rest is the word of the day. So, until I feel better, I wish you all a happy week!

Pretzels, anyone?

I'm typically a pretty brand-loyal person. For instance, when it comes to ice cream - it's got to be Mayfield all the way. If you're talking mac & cheese, I'll have Kraft shells and cheese, please. Only Viva paper towels are in my pantry. And for my cat, her breakfast, lunch and dinner is always Cat Chow.

But there are other products out there that I'm less devoted to, namely cat litter. In my never-ending quest to find a litter that lives up to its claims of odor control, I'm willing to try anything. With that in mind, I picked up this stuff, Feline Pine, the other day at Food Lion.

Last night I went to change out Anna's litter and got a bit of a surprise when I opened the bag of the new stuff. I swear to you, it looks like little pretzel sticks. Almost good enough to eat ... only they smelled like wood, which isn't so appetizing.
Anna watched as I poured the little pine pellet things into her litter box and looked up at me as if to say, "Lady, you've finally lost your marbles ... would YOU want to use the bathroom in that?!!?"

Can't say that I would.

So now, 12 hours later, she's yet to use this new stuff, and I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't revolt and head for an area rug instead of the pretzel litter.

Hope you're not having pretzels for lunch ... if you are, I'm sorry if I've grossed you out. I was just fascinated by the stuff.

Achooo!

It just doesn't seem fair to get a cold when it's so hot outside that you could fry an egg on the ground. As if breathing weren't hard enough already.

Bring on the hot tea and Kleenex!

To the moon, Alice!

Well, their names aren't Alice and they're not exactly going to the moon, but I was so pleased to see space shuttle Discovery launch yesterday.

Space travel is fascinating to me, and if you're equally as interested, you should really check out Jen's site, For the Birds. She's a shuttle electrical technician at NASA and has a very cool slideshow up of up-close photos taken before and during the launch. And, if you scroll down the page a bit, you'll see pictures of her inside Columbia.

As for me, I've had the last two days off. I'm trying to save money for an upcoming trip to Virginia, so my time was spent at home doing housework. Oh joy. Not much new to share, so go to Jen's site and take a look at her pictures!

How we were

I was talking to one of my old college roommates a couple nights ago about some of our crazy stories from our days at Georgia Southern, and we both realized it's been so long since our entire gang was in the same room together.

Five years ago, I know I couldn't possibly fathom not hanging out with these guys every day. We went to school together, worked together and many of us lived in the same house - there were some incredible times and some not so incredible times. But, man, do I have some stories that could keep you entertained for days. (And, no, most of 'em I won't tell.)

I dug up this picture the other night after Mike and I talked. Here you have me, Scott, Mike, Vanessa and Aaron - after the initial stages of our cake fight ... but before all hell broke loose.

You see, any time there was cake, alcohol and our group under the same roof, there was bound to be a cake fight. As silly as it seems now, we just couldn't resist smacking people with icing.

On this particular occasion, we had thrown Mike a surprise birthday party. Most everyone had gone home, and I'm guessing this picture was taken in the wee hours of the morning, though the details are a bit fuzzy now. I don't remember who started it (maybe Kelley or Scott will remember), but I do remember how it ended ...

Kelley snapped this picture just as things were about to heat up. I had turned around to start helping Kelley and Vanessa clean up the wicked mess we'd made in the dining room when Mike slapped something nasty from the fridge on my head (I don't remember what it was ... man, I'm getting old). Then, 3-day-old coffee was poured on Mike. He retaliated with Kool-Aid, and then, not to be outdone - I ended the fight ...

I reached waaaay back into the fridge and grabbed the most vile, stinky product I could find ... Milk that had expired 4 months before. I popped the lid, and when Mike wasn't looking, I glugged the clumpy mess on top of his head. Oh, it was terrible.

Watching in the other room, Kelley, Scott, Vanessa and Aaron just stood there for a minute with their mouths dropped to the floor. Then, once the odor hit the dining room, the area was cleared and Mike and I were left to move the area rug outside, run for the showers and then clean up the horrid mess we'd made. And we were drunk, so you can imagine how fun that was ... But we eventually got the place cleaned up, and the smell only lasted a couple days.

Although I really don't have the desire to relive our infamous cake fights, I do miss my GSU crew. Both Mike and I have hectic work schedules (though his is much more glamorous than mine ... see what he does here), but we've decided this is the year to get everyone back together for one weekend of madness like we used to have every weekend in college.

When that'll be, I don't know - but hopefully it'll happen ... and soon.

Sluggish

Word of the day: SLUGGISH

Sluggish (slu 'gish) - adj. 1. Displaying little movement or activity. 2. Lacking alertness, vigor or energy; inert or indolent. 3. Slow to perform or respond to stimulation.
As in: Stacey is quite sluggish today after sleeping too late. Her sluggishness is proving counterproductive. Stacey feels too sluggish to write a blog entry, so this will have to do.

I've got the bug

Well-maintained and updated home. 3 BR, 2BA with additional loft area. New paint inside and out. Call Leslie at Coldwell Banker.

The picture of this house is perfect ... brick on the bottom, light yellow paint up top, black shudders and a red door. There's a porch and a chimney and the lawn is gorgeous. And for $149,000, it can be mine.

Well, it's finally happened. After nearly 10 years of apartment life, I've caught the home-buying bug. It may have something to do with a friend just moving into her first "real" home, which is downright beautiful. But mostly I feel it's time.

My neighbors aren't doing much to make me reconsider dropping my savings on closing costs, either. Somehow, my apartment community has taken a turn for the worse, and it's creeping me out.

I've got redneck neighbors on one side of my building who insist on whooping and hollaring at all hours of the night (they really get fired up sometime around 3 a.m.). Then there's my ghetto-fab neighbor across the hall who won't even say hello back when I smile and try to be friendly. He just stares at me like I've just insulted his ego. Very odd.

Car alarms go off every few hours ... well, I should say one particular car alarm goes off every few hours. The owner of said car lets the alarm go forever - over an hour one time (and that was around 2 a.m.). Then, one night last week, four police cars were parked outside the other entrance to my building. FOUR police cars ... what could they possibly be doing? I don't know that I really want to know.

So, there you have it. This is why I'm seriously considering jumping into the homebuyer's pool. I've got a while yet on my current lease (next May, oh joy ... ), but maybe this will give me enough time to do my research and get my act together so I'll be ready to sink some money into a home that's truly mine.

I'm just afraid of making the wrong decision and getting stuck with a house that sends me to the poorhouse. I can just imagine moving in and bam!, the air conditioning goes out. Or the roof starts to leak or any series of problems that I didn't pick up on at first.

But I guess that's a risk I'll have to take when the time comes. I'm just ready to leave apartment life behind.

Getting a case of the 'Willies'

When I was a little girl, Ioved "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" - My love of the movie actually could be classified as a case of borderline obsession. I knew every word and song and whole-heartedly craved a trip to such a wacked-out chocolate factory where snotty children are declared "bad eggs" and chocolate rivers flowed freely. I thought Gene Wilder rocked - and man, did I ever wish I could find a golden ticket that would land me on the factory's doorsteps.

So, you can imagine my delight to hear that there would be another movie about the wonderful world of Wonka. And after my hectic weekend, a trip to the movies was the perfect way to relax. So, Jim and I headed out to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on Monday night.

First let me say that the movie was clever, witty and vaguely disturbing - much like the first go 'round. I enjoyed the additions that gave moviegoers a little insight into Willy Wonka ... the boy, the man, the legend. However, as much as I love Johnny Depp (and I do mean "love"), he was a bit too creepy to me. I couldn't get the notion out of my head that he was another version of Michael Jackson - and instead of living at Neverland Ranch, he was the owner of a crazy candy factory.

Depp's acting was great, as always, but I guess being a fan of Gene Wilder's depiction of Wonka, it was too drastic a change for me. But, I would see it again - and likely will when it comes out on DVD. There were several hysterical scenes, and the oompa-loompas were quite entertaining (though I do think Tim Burton skimped a bit on this part).

But you have to see the movie - especially if you grew up singing, "Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-do ... "

Wedding adventures

What I learned from my best friend's wedding:

* I have a new desire to get a pedicure every week.
* High, high, high heels are of the devil.
* I suck at catching bouquets.

------

This past weekend was lots of fun and super busy. It all started Friday morning with manicures and pedicures with the bridal party (pictured here). It's been several years since I've had a full-on spa pedicure, and let me just say that I'll never wait that long again. It's wonderful, and my toes are so pretty!

As far as the manicure, I'd never had one - basically because I'm not a nail polish girl. But we decided to do french manicures, and they turned out great. Though, I'm not used to having to be careful with my nails, so within an hour I'd already messed one up. But all was well.

After the pampering at the salon, the girls (Allison, Lisa, Leanza and me) met up with Allison's mother, grandmother and Luigi's mother. We had lunch at the Veach House, which was sooo good. I'd never met Luigi's family, so it was nice to chat with his sister (Lisa) and mom.

Later that evening, we gathered at the church for the rehearsal. Then it was off to dinner at Rosabell Manor, which is where Allison and Luigi's reception would be held the next day. The place was beautiful! Roses lined the brick walkway to the front door. Inside the house, which looked like it was built in the 1800s, everything was antique and period. While I'm not a huge fan of antiques, Rosabell was gorgeous.

And I had THE BEST dessert that night ... chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake. Sounds kind of gross, but man, it was incredible. Mmmmm ...

After the dinner, I flew home and crashed at Dad's house. But before I went to bed, I asked him to wake me between 7:45 and 8 a.m. Saturday morning. To know my dad is to know that the man can't sleep past 5 a.m. without being knocked out on sleeping pills (which never happens, so he's always up by 5 a.m.). So, I had no issue with relying on him to wake me instead of setting an alarm clock.

Fast forward to 8:35 Saturday morning ... Dad is standing over the bed saying I may want to start thinking about waking up. I roll over and ask him to come back in 5 minutes. He tells me I may want to go ahead and get up now. That's when I ask, "What time is it?" ... His reply sprung me out of bed, down the hall and into the shower in 10 seconds flat.

How is it that the one time that I need to be somewhere early, my dad doesn't wake me up?!? Later that day when I asked why he'd let me oversleep his reply was, "Well, you looked so restful." Sweet, but the timing was wrong.

On to the church I went and got myself ready, then did Leanza's hair. Allison arrived about an hour later from the hair salon and we helped her get into her gown and ready for her big day.

The ceremony was perfect - well, with one minor glitch. Poor Leanza fell up the steps to the pulpit area at the start of the ceremony. But, she was down and up within a matter of 3 seconds. Better her than me, I say ... considering I was in 4-inch heels and could barely walk, much less get myself off the steps without doing major damage!

After the ceremony we headed to Rosabell and had lunch and enjoyed your basic wedding reception ... minus alcohol, which was a bit of a downer for me (considering the DJ was less than cool). If you're going to play bad music, I'm going to need some booze to get my booty on the dance floor.

The cake was cut, the garter was thrown and it was time for Allison to toss her bouquet. It was pretty much known by everyone at the reception that Allison's aim was me. I'm the last of everyone to get married, and by God, it's GOT to happen sometime. So, I prepared to catch that bouquet - nothing was going to stop me. ... Except a fiery redhead who practically jumped over me to snatch the flowers from the air. Heck, if she wants it that bad, who am I to stop her?

After all was said and done, I had a truly excellent time, my feet were swollen and my bones were tired. I think that spells a successful wedding, don't you?

Whew!

The wedding is o-v-e-r, and I'm p-o-o-p-e-d.

I'll catch ya'll up once I catch my breath.

It was a wonderful time, and my feet are absoulutely killing me. That's about all I can muster from my brain at this point.

Oh, and here's a picture I took of Allison before the ceremony. She looked stunning.

More later!

Yee haw, I've been tagged

Windingo over at Sakrata.com has tagged me to do a memory meme. So, considering my brain is pretty much mush, I figured I'd go for it.

Here goes nothing ...

What I was doing 10 years ago:
Having just graduated from high school in June 1995, I was anxiously awaiting my first year at Berry College. A mixture of excitment and dread filled my soul as I prepared for my first semester of college. Unlike many students, I opted to stay at home instead of living the dorm life ... it's a decision that I soundly laud now, considering the depth of my student loan debt without having paid the extra thousands each year to share a crackerjack box with a stranger. Besides preparing for school, I was working at Chick-fil-A and Today's Gourmet (a coffee/gourmet cooking store), where I was making pretty good money for an 18-year-old, oddly enough. I'd been at Chick-fil-A since I was 15, and would remain there until I moved to South Georgia to go to Georgia Southern University two years later. To this day, if you ask me what my favorite job has been, I would still say Chcik-fil-A. We "Christians" had one helluva time.

5 years ago:
Hmmm ... Five years ago I'd just walked across the stage to receive my fake diploma from Georgia Southern University. No, I hadn't pulled off some elaborate graduation scheme ... The school doesn't hold graduation during the summer semester, which technically is when I fulfilled my graduation requirements, and since it was pretty much a given that I would pass all my courses during summer semester, I walked a couple months early. Woo ... go, me. Besides cramming every night for that damned Mass Media Law and Ethics class (which I know for a fact that I had the highest grade in and still made a flippen' B), I was trying to ease the transition at GSU's student newspaper where I'd been managing editor for two years with my roommate and good friend, Kelley, who was editor-in-chief. Socially, I was having a blast. Great friends, lots of parties, killer margaritas at El Sombrero and trips to Savannah filled my non-studying hours. Good times, awesome friends and lots of memories. Oh, I also worked at a local marketing company, too. In short, I was busy, but happy.

1 year ago:
Last year at this time, I was doing pretty much the same thing I'm doing right now. Working at the paper, lacking that killer social life I once had, wondering if I'll ever have enough money to shop when and where I want, and trying to find interesting things to do and see whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Yesterday:
One word sums yesterday up: HECTIC. I woke up at 9:30 a.m. (a mild victory in my war against laziness), and hit the ground running. So much to do before my friend's wedding, and so very little time to do it. I spent about 3 hours at the mall searching for accessories and make-up, spent way too much money at the Clinique counter (surprise, surprise) and hit Target later for my basic needs (i.e. toilet paper, laundry soap and kitty litter). After running myself ragged, I went to work and busted out a good-looking front page for our faithful readers. Again I say: Go, me!

5 snacks I enjoy:
Pop tarts (chocolate with vanilla filling), creamsicles, bananas, choc. chip cookies with milk, and mozzarella sticks.

5 songs I know all the words to:
Oh goodness ... there are too many to list ... but anything by Bon-Jovi, Jennifer Nettles (now with Sugarland), Sublime, Keane ... etc.

5 things I would do with $100 million:
1. Pay off my bills 2. Buy a dream home in the Carribean 3. Invest in the stock market/CDs/Money Markets 4. Start my own business 5. Travel, travel, travel, travel ... (Basically the same as Windingo, only with a few modifications.)

5 locations I would like to run away to:
1. The Cayman Islands 2. Jamaica 3. Virgin Islands 4. Florida Keys 5. Just about anywhere in Europe

5 bad habits I have:
1. Being a pessimist 2. Hating exercise 3. Zoning when I should be paying attention 4. Jumping to conclusions 5. Rushing through things

5 things I like doing:
1. Shopping 2. Vacationing 3. Reading 4. Blogging 5. Going to concerts

5 things I would never wear:
1. A belly shirt 2. Those new long shorts that are supposed to be suitable for the office ... um - no way. 3. Those Paris Hilton skirts she always seems to have on 4. A skirt with pants - what's up with that?!? 5. Knee highs

5 TV shows I like:
1. The Real World (I know, I know ... ) 2. Anything newsy 3. Saturday Night Live 4. The Daily Show 5. Sex and the City

5 biggest joys of the moment:
1. Friends 2. Friend getting married 3. Upcoming trip to Virginia 4. My new hairdo 5. A little extra money to work with

5 favorite toys:
1. Jim's digital camera 2. The SIMS on Xbox (yes, I'm a dork, but I rarely play it) .... I can't think of anything else. I'm not really a gadget person.

As per the rules, I'm supposed to tag 5 other people to complete a similar survey on their blogs, but I'll let that be optional madness. If you have the spare time and find this mildly entertaining, go for it.

Have a happy weekend!

Redemption, at last!

One evening when I was about 6 years old my mother did something unthinkable. That night, I sat at home in my bedroom listening to my cassette tapes over and over - and when I heard my favorite Neil Diamond song, "Sweet Caroline," I cried and cried.

My mother was gone, and all I could do was think of all the spectacular things I was missing out on. All the excitement my mother had left me for.

Between my sobs I sang to my stuffed animals. I held a wooden spoon in my hand as a microphone and gave an improptu performance to my dolls. If she was gone, that's the only thing I could do. It was only fitting.

My mother had left me with my father (who was snoring in his recliner in the living room) to go the Neil Diamond concert without me, and I was FULLY crushed. It was a tragedy, indeed.

I loved Neil Diamond, and she knew it. She was well-aware that I knew every last word to every last song that I'd heard of his. She knew I danced around the living room when his songs came on the radio. And she knew I was equally as thrilled when, for Christmas one year, she'd received his "Love at the Greek" concert VHS.

But she wouldn't let me go to the concert, and it just didn't make sense to me.

Apparently the show was more than I could have dreamed of. The next morning, as she told all about the glitzy shirts he wore and all the encores he performed, my heart sank.

So there you have it ... I've been scarred since that day.

But wait! Wipe the tears from your eyes! ... Why, you ask?!?

I'M GOING TO A NEIL DIAMOND CONCERT!

And it's all I can do to contain myself. It's not until October, but that gives me enough time to brush up on my Neil Diamond collection.

I know each of you is jealous, but don't sit at home like I had to 20-some years ago. There are so many tour dates this year! Shell out the $75 and pay Neil a visit.

I'm sure it'll be a 'beautiful noise'.

Waking up is hard to do

I've become a sleepaholic over the last couple weeks. If I manage to pry myself from the comfort of my bed before 11 a.m., I feel like I've accomplished a major feat.

(Now before you flip out and call me a lazy bum without all the facts, let me say that I typically leave the office after midnight each night - usually close to 1 a.m., and it's absolutely impossible for me to go to sleep as soon as I get home.)

I don't know what's happened to me. And even when I get a full 8-hours of sleep it never seems adequate. Maybe I should set my alarm early every morning and get some exercise. But that just doesn't sound very fun.

I think I'm in a funk. Sleep is all I crave, and I just can't seem to get enough.

Zzzzzz ...

Procrastination is the name of the game

I don't know why I do it, but I do. I put things off until I have to take care of everything all at once, and then I'm in a frantic state of mind so I can't really take time to breathe and enjoy myself.

That's the point I'm at now with my friend's wedding. I did so well with her shower ... everything was pretty much ready a week or two before the day of the party (amazing). But with the wedding, which is obviously the most important thing, I've been lax -- So lax that I've yet to try on everything I'm supposed to be wearing to make sure it works/fits. I haven't found accessories to wear, and I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do with my hair.

I don't have any days off before Friday, which is the day before the wedding. On Friday, I'm driving down to Rome to get my nails done with the rest of the bridal party. Then it's the bridal luncheon and then I'll have several hours before I have to be at the rehersal and dinner.

I have a feeling those precious 3 or 4 hours between the luncheon and rehersal will be spent flying around Rome in my hot car looking for accessories, new makeup, something to do with my hair, items I've somehow forgotten that I'll be needing the next day and God knows what else.

This is crazy. So, I am vowing right now that if I'm ever lucky enough to get married, I will not put things off until the last minute. Argh.

Never mind the fur

This is a common site in my bedroom. If I lay any article of clothing on the bed, one certain ball of fur immediatly plants herself on it.

Last night it was my blue jeans ... but most nights it's dress clothes from work, which are typically dark and show fur like you wouldn't believe.

I just wonder what the fascination is with lying on clothing ... there's a lot of bed there, but she immediatly goes for the garments.

This is why I could never do without a lint (fur) roller.

Sleep + Walk = Kool-Aid

I've been having very vivid dreams lately. Some are quite bizarre - like the one I had the other night about my toes falling off (I have no idea where that one came from). And others have been more mundane - Like the one I had last night about making Kool-Aid to quench a terrible thurst.

Fast forward to tonight when I got home from work. I popped my head in the fridge to see if I had any Diet Coke left. Nope - it was gone, as I'd suspected. So I shut the door.

And then it hit me - was that lemonade Kool-Aid sitting on the top shelf?!? Sure enough, it was.

I think my mouth dropped to the floor when I realized that at some point in the night I apparently got up and made a pitcher of Kool-Aid, drank a glass (which was sitting on the stovetop), put it in the fridge and went back to bed. And I don't remember any of it.

According to my mother I used to sleep walk when I was a little girl. I'd go into the kitchen and turn on the TV that sat on the countertop and then turn around and go back to bed.

Apparently I'm reverting back to my 6-year-old self and visiting my kitchen late at night as I sleep. Let's just cross our fingers that I don't decide to make a cake and eat it all in one sitting.

Mmmm ... cake.

Dennis the Menace

Those who know me know I love taking cruises. There's just something about waking up every day in a new tropical locale and taking advantage of all the things cruiselines offer. The ships are practically floating cities, and there's always somethig to do.

This is why I was so excited to hear about a co-worker planning his first cruise. He asked me about cruising a few months ago when his father-in-law booked a vacation for the family.

He's leaving town today en route to Tampa for his cruise, which is scheduled to depart on Saturday. But Hurricane Dennis is on its way to Florida, and I'm crossing my fingers that it miraculously weakens (a lot) before it gets there.

After last year, Florida doesn't need another hurricane, that's for sure. And I would hate for his first cruise to be ruined because of the storm.

I know all too well about hurricanes and cruises. Last year, Jim and I boarded the Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral for what was to be a 7-night cruise to the western Caribbean. That was right in between Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne. The cruise ended up lasting 9 nights - not 7 - because Hurricane Jeanne was bearing down on the path we were to take back to port. That sounds really cool because who wouldn't like to tack on an extra couple days to your vacation ... but the atmosphere was so hectic with people trying to reschedule travel plans and deal with work issues and school problems, that I was so ready to get off that ship when it was finally able to dock in Miami (Port Canaveral sustained some damage and was unable to allow us to dock where we started out).

We were bused back to Port Canaveral by Royal Caribbean and after finding our car in one piece, Jim and I drove back to Chattanooga. We were absolutely amazed at the devastation we saw during that ride through Florida. Hurricanes are so powerful it amazes me.

So, I'm crossing my fingers for my co-worker and everyone in the path of this hurricane. Let's hope it loses strength soon.

Age is relative, right?!?

"Where'd these kids come from?!?"

That's a question I've asked several times over the last few days at the office. And it scares me that I'm using the word "kids" to refer to college interns.

Every six months, we get a new batch of about 6 to 8 fresh faces at the office - interns who are ready to take on the world (by way of whatever beat they've been assigned, of course). Most of them are hipsters, stylin' in their new office fashions and seemingly excited about all the opportunities that lie ahead.

I, on the other hand, am feeling not so spring chicken-like these days. The new kids on the block look too young to be out of college, and it's giving me a little dose of reality.

It's funny how perceptions of age chance over the years. I guess that's what's really hitting me lately.

Weekend tidbits

Because I'm too lazy to chronicle all the events that transpired over the last four days I've had off, here's a brief rundown of the high points. Try to stay awake, OK?

* Threw a successful bridal shower that included tons of food and lots of great gifts. Too bad they weren't for me!

* Celebrated the Fourth of July on two days ... July 2 and July 4. Both were good times. One included fireworks, the other did not. Although, the homemade ice cream and blueberry cobbler more than made up for the lack of explosives on the 2nd.

* Enjoyed some fiery Buffalo wings and beer with Jim while watching the Braves game and making fun of some crazy preppy dude who thought he was stylin' in pastel plaid patchwork pants. Yes, I'm serious ... pastel ... plaid ... patchwork ... pants.

That's it. Now I think I may go to bed so I can be well-rested for the nine days of work I have staring me in the eyes. *shudder*

Toothpicks and breakdowns

Question: What does it take to make me a little crazy late at night while trying to assemble something like 5,000 finger sandwiches for a bridal shower?

Answer: Realizing I should use those cute little party toothpicks with the frilly things on top to hold the sandwiches together.

Why would this drive me to the brink of insanity, you ask?

Well ... the answer to that question would be because no store in Chattanooga carries them, and for whatever reason, I had my heart set on the stupid things. I didn't know why, but I just HAD to have them.

So, I dragged Jim to Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Wallgreens, Eckerd and finally decided to throw my arms in the air and venture into hell (i.e. Wal-Mart) - because surely they'd have frilly toothpicks that would complete my finger sandwich masterpiece.

No such luck.

By the time the frilly toothpick fiasco was over, I had to settle on multicolored picks and was not at all happy.

Normally I'm a fairly rational person, but something about those damn toothpicks sent me into meltdown mode, and I lost all sensibilities.

But seriously - how can stores not carry these things?!?

Dinner and a movie

First off, thank you guys for all the nice things you said about my new look! I'm still lovin' it and really loved every last one of your comments. Thanks!!
---
Yesterday, after going with Jim and his mother to a whopper of a furniture mall to place an order for his new *RED* microsuede sofa (insert cheers here!), Jim and I headed over to Fox and Hound for dinner and drinks. Only I didn't really feel like drinking, so instead I guzzled about 5 or 6 Diet Cokes over the course of two hours.

Thank goodness I didn't go for the hard liquor, otherwise I may not have noticed that my chicken wasn't fully cooked in the center when I received my entree. That always gives me the heebee-jeebees and when I get my fully cooked order back, I'm usually reluctant to sink my teeth into what I have seen raw. But I was starving, so that was no problem.

After dinner Jim and I went to see "War of the Worlds". With all of Tom Cruise's recent antics, I hadn't really wanted to contribute to his empire of wackiness, but the movie had already piqued my interest so I decided it was worth it.

It was my kind of movie (which you won't hear me say often). Lots of action, no zombies, a bunch of crazy alien things and plenty of cool effects. Dakota Fanning, who plays Tom Cruise's little girl, is incredible. I've seen her in several movies before this one, and she is such an amazing actress. And to see her on Letterman and other shows is like listening to a hip adult in a little girl's body. Very odd, yet impressive.

The only thing about the movie I didn't care for was its ending. Well, the endng that Spielberg came up with (the basic plot's ending was just like the book's) ... it was way too far-fetched, weak and just doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. Spielberg could have done much better. But besides that, it was a really great movie.

Enjoy your holiday weekend! I can't wait to get mine started!