Where's the Salt?

This weekend, I am off to Kansas City. I have a Chiefs game to go to as well as a Halloween party.

Before it was even known that I would be at this party, the two I am going with had decided to be a...

and a...

So I found this to wear...

A Winning Weekend!

What a great weekend!

I made the haul to SC this weekend to spend time with my blog kids, Spurs & Napster. I'm so happy they are only a 2 1/2 hour drive now instead of a 12 hour drive. Although, when you don't leave Atlanta early enough, a 2 1/2 hour drive turns into 5!

Saturday was full of good games, food and drinks! Mizzou won, the Gamecocks won and my Cardinals won! Couldn't ask for more!

Now, I will tell you, no matter how drunk you are, if your gallbladder only functions at 6%, no amount of alcohol can dull the complete misery of eating like a complete idiot. My ability to say no to that fatty cheeseburger and hotdog was weakened by my consumption of alcohol starting at 2pm!

Right around 1am, I was ready to remove this miserable, useless thing myself! I'm not sure it could have been much more painful then the spasms, abdominal/back pain, vomiting and indigestion that followed the consumption of my blogson's cooking!

It was hard to leave with a view like this...

Sissy CAN Cook

Back this spring, Sissy made the drive and came to visit me up here in the frozen tundra of Northern Illinois.

We took the opportunity to gather a few bloggers together and make an event of it.

Being new to my job, I couldn't take off of work so, well, everyone beat me home. I needed help cooking and Sissy made the mistake of offering.

Well....this is what I'm gonna need for you to do......

And I had her make dessert. And it ROCKED!! So, just to prove to everyone that Sissy really IS a domestic goddess - I'm going to post the recipe for that infamous dessert right here on her blog.

Turtle Cake

1 box of Chocolate cake mix (milk chocolate)
mix according to the directions on the box
put 1/2 of the cake mix in a 9 x 13 greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 mins.

Melt in microwave til creamy: 14 oz bag of carmels, 1/2 cutp Eagle Brand milk and 1/4 cup of butter. Pour over the cake mix already baked.

Add remaining cake mix on top of carmel. Put 6 oz (or more) chocolate chips and 3/4 cut NUTS (heheh) on top. (couldn't resist)

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins or until done.

It's good folks. It's REALLY good. Enjoy!!!

The Fire Starter

Yes, as I reflect, I have a history of starting fires.

In college, I lived on the 8th floor, known as "The Penthouse". My roommate and I were always doing goofy things; stealing pumpkins and squash outside of a restaurant at Thanksgiving, bringing other dorm girls to the adult store at 2am in our pajamas for the fun of it (the naive fun of it), sneaking vodka in our huge 44 oz slushes from Sonic, going out to the Quad in our PJs to climb the columns and take goofy pictures. Ah, good times! I'll have to see if I can dig up some pictures!

So, with all of this late (or early) behavior, I obviously did not have time for an 8 am class. Especially Geology!

So I dropped it! I was failing anyway...so I dropped it! No more Geology hassle and no more feeling guilty for skipping that 8 am class!

After I dropped the class, my roommate and I had to celebrate. We took all my Geology notes (more like the 1st day of notes and all the work sheets that had been handed out) and took them to the balcony where the smokers went to smoke. We put them in the "butt can" and set them on fire. We took pictures and laughed and made sure the fire went out!

The dorm had a very strict fire policy. If you were caught smoking in your rooms, lighting something on fire or anything to that effect, you would get kicked out of the dorm and have to do tons of community service.

As my roommate and I were walking back to our room, we thought we could smell weed. It seemed to be coming from the room of this girl we really despised. So, we paged the RA and told them what we were smelling in the halls, and went back to our room.

Then, there was a knock on our door. It was our RA and the RA from the guys floor. My RA was pissed! She said they just spent the last 15 minutes putting out a fire on the balcony. My name had been on the notes that were supposed to be burnt!

She sent the male RA back to his floor and chewed us a new one! It could have been worse, she could have turned us in and I would have gotten a new asshole courtesy of my father!

So, we had to kiss her ass for a little while and "volunteer" at some of the floor meetings for tasks....but better than the alternative!

What's sad....this isn't the worst thing we did....and I have more fire starting stories from after college!

It's On!!

One of my favorite bloggers is not going to like me for a little while....but it's on.

Oct 1st at 11am!

Texas got us last year 28-20, but it's not going to happen this year! It's On!

How To Have Fun at Costco

Ain't Nothin' Gonna Break My Stride...

...Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh no
I got to keep on moving
Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride
I'm running and I won't touch ground, oh no
I got to keep on moving.

Oh, sorry, 80's flashback!

Things are really picking up in the life of Sissy! Things are looking up, out and falling into place! There's still a lot to go, but the days are getting better!

With that being said...I'm out of here for the weekend! I am off to Morrigan's to spend a weekend with her before I leave.

I am both excited and sad. Excited because, hello, I get to see Morrigan and we're going to have a blast!

Sad because this is the last time that I'll be just 3 hours away. No spontaneous weekend trips down there. Hell, the next time I'll see her is in Vegas for New Years (if she'd hurry up and book the trip already).

But enough of that! It's all good times!

Meanwhile, go pick on my blog spawn Spurs & Napster.

Or, if you are really bored....you can play with Harvey's birthday presents below...

A Day of Success

It's been a long time since I've had a day like this! If we can make it a full weekend, I'll be on cloud nine!

I didn't have to travel at all this weekend! No commitments! A weekend to myself!

I started off by sleeping in! You have no idea how great it felt to not wake up to a screaming buzzer! I took a nice, unrushed, hot shower!

The weather was great, so I decided to spend a little time outside....laying out by the pool! It was perfect! Mid 80's, low humidity, no clouds and a light breeze! I did a little reading and a little napping! It was great!

I spent some time online looking for a place to live. Not much luck yet. We'll see what phone calls I get back Monday.

We finished our team project in class and I completed my final...two days ahead of schedule! That means I have two days to not even think about school until Tuesday, when my next class starts!!

I've gotten miscellaneous cleaning and laundry done. Not quite done, but made a good dent!

And then....what I've been putting off so long....BLOG MAINTENANCE!! I was able to figure out how to add a module for my side bars so I didn't have to update 4 templates every time I made a change to my side bar. I did some tiddying up of blogrolls, pictures, links and fonts. Wow, I feel so much better!

Now that I have the module put in, I can consider doing the Word of the Week again. Haven't made up my mind yet...we'll see...

I love successful days!!

Neon Sign

As I was driving from Kansas City, east to Columbia, MO, I went through a town by the name of Sedalia.

Ooh, memory!

In college, my roommate would use my laptop a lot to chat with her friends. She was from Missouri and knew a lot of people around here. She started talking to a guy that she didn't know, but that knew a friend of hers.

When I'd be using my laptop, he'd pop up on messenger and start chatting. I'd tell him that Maria wasn't there, so he'd start chatting with me.

He was really into music, like I was...especially 80s! We talked more and more and it got to where he would ask for me when Maria was online.

Maria and I went to a party at a hotel in Sedalia, thrown by some locals she knew. And there he was, Brian. Back then, I didn't drink. At least not at parties. I was too scared....I always wanted to know where I was and have control of the situation.

But everyone else was drinking. I'm not sure anyone was of age except for Brian who was 21.

We talked the whole night while everyone else got boozed up. I know at one time Maria was hugging the vodka bottle in the dark, locked bathroom. It was routine!

Brian and I talked about the music videos that were on MTV. I drove him to the store (I wasn't getting in a car with him, I didn't know him!) to get more soda for the rest of the gang. The band LIVE was playing in my car and he was hooked!

After that, we went on a few dates. He'd take me to dinner; we'd go to a movie, stuff like that. He drove this small purple pick up truck and always had the best music playing.

Hmmmm....I forgot to mention what Brian looked like. He was about 6 feet tall, with the best eyes and the cutest smile. Oh...and piercings! Ear piercings, an eye brow piercing, oh, and the tongue piercing (oh how I miss the tongue piercing...uh, oh...moving right along) Needless to say, not the typical guy I dated.

This whole relationship was based of our love for music. Really, it was. It was all we talked about. I soon found out he could sing and I was hooked! "Our song" that he would always sing to me was "Keeper of the Stars" by Tracy Byrd. He'd make me mix tapes of songs he knew I loved and be sure they were playing in his truck when we went somewhere.

Just a fun, sweet guy!

I soon found out he had dropped out of high school and didn't have his GED. So I tried to help him get ready for that (which didn't end up working). We went to a 311 concert with my roommate, which happened to be the first time I smelled weed. I remember saying "something smells like ass" and Brian and Maria laughed at my innocents.

He was the cause of me skipping several classes that fall! But then, he lied to me.

He told me he used to smoke weed. Ok, no biggy...he USED to do it. Come to find out, from my roommate, he still did. That was it for me! I didn't want any part of it. He lied and he did something that I didn't like to be around. That was enough for me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take back the days I had skipped class to be with him. Or the friendships I had screwed up to be with him. Or the mistakes I made while with him. But hell, it was fun while it lasted!!

Believe it or not, this is one of the more fun, lighter memories of being back here. I'll add a picture of him to this post when I get back home...just for shits and giggles.

Brian is now referred to as the "Neon Sign" by my friends. They think the piercings and the lack of education were a neon sign of who he was.

What can I say? I was like a month drawn to the light!

A Heart Attack

I just finished reading a book a couple of weeks ago called Mind Hunters. Morrigan loaned it to me, knowing the Law & Order, behavioral psychology fan I am. Great book on the beginning of the FBI's behavioral psychology department and the cases they worked.

Three of the cases were here in Columbia. They named roads and areas I am familiar with. Kinda creepy.

Tonight, I was bumming around, covered up on the couch, watching E! True Hollywood Stories on Serial Killers with an emphasis on BTK.

Now, a little background here. I am single! I live on my own and I don't know anyone! I pay attention to sounds, people and my surroundings. I also get easily freaked out by sounds outside or things I think I see. I hate walking to my truck at night (although I don't let that stop me), as their are many possible hiding places around my apartment. I miss having Kiki here to alert me when she heard something or to scare intruders. Yes, she is small and couldn't hurt anyone, but she made me feel better.

I've also been getting 1 hang up call a day from a guy in Florida for the past 3 days. They call my phone and when I answer Hello, this is..", before I get to my name they hang up. I looked the phone number up on Google and it is a residence. A guy's residence. I don't know him nor do I know anyone in his area.

So yes, I am paranoid and a little on edge!

To add one more thing to it, a month ago, my 17 year old sister was purposely searching to find my blog, AND FOUND IT! After talking to her and my mother about how that was wrong and I didn't want her reading it...she took it as a challenge. She left comments at two of the blogs of my blog family with personal information (real names).

I ended up blocking her IP!

So now that you have a little history...on to why I'm cleaning my desk chair right now!

I was on the phone with Napster, laughing up a storm about Mr. Balls and all of a sudden saw a comment email pop up for a post of "If You See Her..." That post didn't ring a bell to me and I was curious as to what it was about and when I wrote it.

I didn't know it was from just a few moments ago! I interrupt Napster to tell her what has happened, and she is trying to help me find out who could do it or how.

My first thought was my stepmom. It's something she would do. I'm sure I will get an email or a letter (or something crafty) from Kiki soon that she did. BUT, I never accessed my blog while I was in Phoenix, nor would she know where to go to post or even how to. That option was out.

A couple of people have admin rights to my blog. People I trust and want around. But it wasn't their username. The name was under Kiki. So, someone had to create a profile. I looked up the info and it said the profile was created by me. Huh?

I'm looking at my sitemeter to determine who was on my site and what time, looking at IP addresses and such....meanwhile, Napster is ready to drive to SC to protect me! LOL (Yes, two paranoid friends should not be on the phone at the same time in situations like this! hehe)

So, I send an email out to the people I have given rights. I believe the exact words of the email were, "Please tell me one of you did this or I’m freaking fuck out…..http://andwhatnext.mu.nu/archives/112851.php spooky shit!"

If I would have just calmed down a moment, I could have figured it out. But no! After reading/watching stuff on serial killers, getting hang up calls and my sister trying to show of her hacking skills...I was a paranoid chic!

Someone fessed up! I'm not saying who. But after I knew that someone wasn't trying to scare the shit out of me, I was smiling big and laughing up a storm! They conferred with other people that know me to be sure it would be okay. They all just wanted to make me smile!

Which they did! I miss Kiki a bunch and I know if she could type, she'd be on here as much as me! I look forward to more messages from her!

Now....I'm off to make me a drink and check under the bed, in all the closets and behind the shower curtain. Just to make me feel better!

Still in the Belly Button

Yea, I know...the word of the week is supposed to be up by now. Sorry, not a lot of time and a little too much to drink.

Obviously, we all know about the blog crawl this past weekend! Well, it seemed to continue a little bit for me. Monday night, I had several drinks throughout the evening with my former boss 2 years ago. It was good times! I miss her and was glad I got to spend time with her...if only for 2 hours. How many drinks we consumed in those two hours is the question. I think our hotel is questioning the whole "happy hour" idea!

We had a very long bug great training today on design and development from one of my favorite trainers. Afterward, it was time for team building with the 5 other people on my team and the outside trainer. I unfortunately had an upsetting phonecall before the event which rained on my parade for a little bit before dinner. But then we went bowling and the alcohol was a flowing!

The more I drank, the better I got...and it was apparent! My first frame, I bowled a big fat goose egg! By the second game, and after about 4-5 drinks, I bowled a 160. We had a great time and I'm glad we got to get together. I only broke 3 nails.

Then some of us went to the lounge to chat, drink and play table soccer (I'm not going to attempt to spell foosball while drunk...oh wait...nevermind). I got the new guy to the team to do a tequila shot with me while my boss and the others did a "club soda" shot.

All in all...not too bad. Makes my job seem a little better after all the crap for the past 6 months. It may also be the alcohol talking

So, hopefully, I'll around to doing some sober psoting, the Word of the Week and some substantial posts.

Excuse me...I must pass out in time to wake up for an 8am meeting.

Off to the Belly Button of America!!

I have 4 hours until I should be waking up to get on a plane to Kill Me (TLTTFG), TX. And I'm still not finished packing! I've been running around all day!

I got laundry done, but it'll have to wait until I get back to put away.

I got some unpacking done, but the two boxes of trash will have to wait until I get back.

Bathroom, vacuuming, etc....all when I get back!

I hate leaving a dirty house!

I also hate leaving a dirty blog. I have tons of maintenance to do....but no time at the moment. So if you notice the different size fonts or the bad links, please close your eyes! I'll get them fixed ASAP!

But, it's all worth it. Because Napster will be picking up at the airport! Yeah!! Napster, Spurs and I will be celebrating her birthday and the Blog Crawl together!

Hell, I may even have a margarita on the plane!

Blog Crawl 2005

Oh, is the blogosphere in trouble!

I can already tell you that Spurs, Napster and I are gearing up! I will be at there place (after the bar at least) for the event and they have a router all set up and ready to go!

Do you want to know the rules? GO HERE!!

Everybody else is doing it!! GO ENJOY THE DRUNKEN FUN!!

Unanswered Prayers

My stepmom called on my birthday to tell me I had a package coming. She said that it was all in fun and that I would take it one of two ways; I'd laugh or I'd get mad.

I got it the other day. There was a letter stating what she had said on the phone and that her feelings wouldn't be hurt if I threw it away.

Hahahah! I LOVED IT!! And I just have to share it! (BTW, not the highest quality pictures as I had to take pictures of what she did. But you'll get the point)

The wallet she put the album in. It says "Special Memories"

The Album Cover

The next page is the lyrics to Garth Brooks' Unanswered Prayers. In case you are not a country fan or have never heard the lyrics, here they are:

Unanswered Prayers by Garth brooks

Just the other night at a hometown football game
My wife and I ran into my old high school falme
And as I introduced them the past came back to me
And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times
And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine
And if he'd only grand me this wish I wised back then
I'd never ask for anything again

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams
And I could tell that time had change me in her eyes too it seemed
We tried to talk abou tthe old days
There wasn't much we could recall
I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all

And as she walked away and I looked at my wife
And then and there I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts in my life

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered...
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Want to see what else was in the album...

What my stepmom wrote is in quotations.

"First true boyfriend"
(This is at homecoming my freshman year. We were together for 2 years)

"Sharing a special moment together!"
(We were at a Patty Loveless/Clay Walker concert for 4th of July)

(His Junior Prom my freshman year)

"Went to Senior Prom with Tony" "Was very excited when he asked" "He was a really nice guy but very shy"
(Obviously, my taste in men improved with this one)

"First boyfriend brought home for Christmas!" "Sis#2 still talks about Tim!"
(Okay, this was Christmas morning. The whole blogosphere knows what I look like when I wake up now)

"Attended Marine Corps Ball with Tim"
(Damn, thos Dress Blues can make anyone look good!)

(Yes, that is a gun he's holding)

There's one boyfriend missing that I brought home for Christmas. I think the whole family is trying to forget him!

« Hide "Unanswered Prayers"

Coyote Ugly Pictures

While in Denver last week, we got the opportunity to go to Coyote Ugly. We were still in business attire and had just went to dinner.

All the bouncers were wearing shirts that said BMF on the back with steel toed boots.

The bartenders were fun and full of smart ass remarks. I went up to the bar to order drinks and a guy that looked like creepy snitch from Erin Brokovich asked me if I was one of the girls that danced on the bars. My reply was a big not hardly. He then gave me a $1 to go play him something in the jukebox. Weirdo!

The 5 of us sat there listening to music, watching the girls dance and chatting. Then, they announced my birthday. I had the choice to either let someone do a body shot off of me or do a body shot off of one of the girls.

I had two thoughts that went through my mind: I did not want to be laying on the bar showing my stomach. And if I did, I didn't want the skeezy dollar dude to get to do the body shot. So, I chose to do the body shot off one of the bartenders. Boy did the guys like that! I'm not sure how that was a birthday present for me, but hey, whatever! Oh darn, no one got pictures!!

But, we did get pictures of the bar...check them out. Some of the pictures are dark so you will have to click on them to make them bigger.