i am the soul of discretion

Monday, December 29th two things happened. First, my computer monitor went black and discontinued working. I took it into our IT computer guy Jayson who called his good Dell technical support people, was on the phone for an hour and forty-five minutes fighting with them about how many times I had dropped my computer (zero). Finally, Dell said that they would send a replacement monitor and a guy to put it all in within 3-4 days. The monitor came on Tuesday, the guy still has yet to show up. Harassing Jayson has become annoying to both him and I but it seems to be working, because hoping Monday (tmrw) Dell guy will show up and fix computer or so Jayson says.

Secondly, Andria & her man-friend got married at the courthouse in Willmar and then a large group of us, his parents, sister, grandmother, aunt, my parents, sister & nieces went to Cafe Persepolis and had supper. We were the only group in the whole place till around 7:00 or so when one or two patrons showed up. The restaurant is very nice, it feels like you're in downtown Minneapolis.

I am very tired.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that I haven't smoked since the day before Thanksgiving! I'm going to try to quit. I attempted to smoke on the way to the parentals but was coughing up a lung before I even got through the first puff. That is all.

I found some travel soaps this evening while digging in my linen closet. One of them, I don't even remember where I got it, Angie had a smiliar one. It's the small greenish/blue bear. He's now sitting in my shower waiting to be washed away.

I'm going to grandma's tomorrow. Probably will leave at the crack ass so that I can spend more time with her. I hope its not raining and/or snowing out, blah, I am so not ready for this nasty weather to come.

Then on Friday I'm going to Steph & Ben's for Maren's belated birthday. Should be exciting. Hope all is well with everyone else, esp. Erin!!!

I should update, I haven't updated in 19 weeks, wow!

All is well with me. I've been busy over the summer with parades (2), spicer & willmar. Meeting new friends with big ponies, spending time with the girls (maren & taylor). Both girls are getting so big. Maren jabbers on and on about nothing in particular but she is so cute when she does it. Taylor is also growing. I used to take naps with her, she'd fall asleep in my arms and we'd pass out for a good hour or so. Now she's happier rolling around on the floor but we still get to nap together every once in awhile. They are both so precious.

My health has been well *crosses fingers*.

Work is also good. Char, the regular receptionist, is retiring and her last day is this Friday :(. It will be sad to see her go. She is so much fun with her crazy humor. We hired a new girl to take her place. She seems really nice and I hope she can deal with the job. The bad thing about the new girl is that she will be full time and will take over the Wednesday's that I normally work. That means that my job will be cut back to 4 days a week, still full time. I had the opportunity to pick my day, Wednesday's sounded good. I haven't had a Wednesday off in about a year or so. A, the supervisor, said that it may be just short term having this day off or it could be long term, she doesn't know. The other gal, T, does the accounts payable and was in the same situation as I was and they found work for her so hopefully it will work out for me. Last Friday our CFO was fired, let go out of the blue. She stuck up for a lot of the staff and made the work environment more tolerable so that really blows. She never saw it coming. She said that if she had known this was going to happen she never would have bought a house in willmar. With her departure and this job opening "A" could possibly take over her position and that would leave me with "A's" billing to do which would bring me back up to 5 days a week or not. We will see.

I have been lazy this evening. I did get 2 loads of laundry done but there is still that load in the dryer that I have to haul up. I really should go to bed early this eve. I say that almost every night and it never happens.

Hope everyone is well.

I'm really pissed off right now because the LOST season finale will be on in 45 minutes or less and my en-tel communications cable provider is broken. I called them at about 6:00 and they said a transformer was down somewhere and the power was out so once they get the power back on the tv will start to work. Why the "H" did it have to happen tonight? I thought cable was always the best way to go, it wouldn't ever lose signal. At the parentals home they have Directv and that has hardly ever gone out. I may have to think about switching my television provider. This really blows. Bitches!

Now that I've gotten your attention. I'm on the internet at my home in Willmar. Ha-ha it's about time something lucky like this came up, stealing the internet, yay me!

This weekend will probably be busy. Taylor is having her baptism on Sunday and I'm one of the god parents. I haven't been to church since March when I went to a funeral, this should be a bit more uplifting I'd imagine.

Yesterday I went to the Walmart and finally bought a computer game. I got Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games 2008. It has the old school games on it like backgammon & pachisi but it also has newer games like runes of avalon and word yacht. I've been playing it whenever I get a chance.

In the meantime Pa came over and mowed the lawn this evening. It was about a foot high in places. I'm also doing several loads of laundry. I've had my washer/dryer for about a year or so now and sadly I've only used it to wash socks/underwear, bed sheets, and the occasional t-shirt or pair of pants. I haven't washed any of my dress shirts in a long time so that is what I'm pretty much doing now. I've done about 3 different loads. Sure it may not sound like much but to me it's quite a bit.

That is all. And now I will peruse on this wonderful gift that someone has bestowed upon me before it disappears as quickly as it appeared.

My new laptop was delivered to me on Tuesday. I was on it for at least 4 hours straight. Also on Tuesday Stephanie was induced at 4:00pm. On Wednesday Pa called and said I had a new niece. Taylor Rian (Ryan), 8lbs. 5oz. 22 inches long, born at 5:40am. After work on Wednesday Anno and I drove up to Melrose to see her. She was so cute and soft, red and wrinkly. She didn't cry at all while we were there, she did coo a bit, which was sweet.

Mom said that Maren didn't really like Taylor in the beginning. She was rather jealous and whenever Stephanie or mom (grandma) was holding Taylor, Maren would have a fit. Maren seemed to be doing just fine when we were there. Maren has started to laugh a lot more and talk a lot of baby talk. When she laughs she puts one of her pudgy little hands up to her mouth and covers up her mouth. I don't know who she learned that from but it is the funniest thing you'd ever see. We (Pa, Ma, Steph, Ben, Anno and I) were all laughing at her constantly. After Anno and I left my face hurt so much from the laughing. Good times.

If I ever find any king of deal online I'm usually bought and sold with it and I send for me free sample, so when I found Totally Free CrapI was elated. I have kept busy with it most of the night and I'll feel special the next coming days for I will be getting mail. That is the excitement in my life. YAY!!!

Thursday night Anno and I went out with a friend for supper at Culver's. We were there for about 1 1/2 hours talking about what was new, catching up, etc. After, Anno came to my house and we watched Lost. We were both feeling really gassy so we shared with each other. The smell was terrible. Later, after Lost, she went home and I got ready and went to bed. Around 11:00 I woke up with an attack of lower abdominal cramping which led to liquid shits the remainder of the night and several bouts of vomiting. It was not fun. The worst was being on the pot and having to puke at the same time. I don't know if I became sick from the food at Culver's, not eating there anytime soon, or if I had the flu. I called in sick to work on Friday and had the 'rrhea until yesterday. I'm hoping its done.

I had a bad flare on Monday night. I left work at about 2:00 or so on Monday because my hands felt like they had cramps in them, they were very achy. Later that evening I took 3 Tylenol extra strength hoping that would help a bit with the hand pain, it did and I was happy. Falling asleep was another story, it didn't happen. Earlier last weekend I had picked up some kind of chest congestion/cold at home and it was still haunting me so before I went to bed I took some Nyquil hoping that would knock me out. When it was midnight I took 2 Excedrin PM to try to sleep once more and there was no hope. There was a constant routine of 15 minutes crying, 15 minutes trying to relax, back and forth of this for the remainder of the night. Finally, at 2:00am I called Ma & Pa and asked them what I should do. They suggested I take some of my extra Prednisone and try to relax, which I did and I relaxed enough to refrain from crying throughout the remainder of the night.

The next morning I got into the doctor who put me on a burst of Prednisone and Tylenol #3 again. Thank goodness for that lifesaver and I slept the rest of the day away. I went out and voted at one of the caucuses in town. Yay, I felt special.

The next day I went to work...Anno found an apartment, paid me a little bit of money, and then she moved out on Friday.

Who remembers Riggs? Ehhh...

What about the crazy road?

Or Angie driving erratically and passing someone on the hill on Hwy 67 while you're in the passenger seat almost shitting your pants for fear of another car rounding the corner, it doesn't but you don't know.

Currently I am feeling excessive warmth and also a lot of shortness of breath. It is not fun believe you me. Last night as I was going to sleep it took me ever so long to catch my breath and I'm not sure when I finally did get to sleep but I slept nice and long.

Tuesday afternoon I fell in the back parking lot, slipped on the ice. It was very painful and I wanted to curse but didn't. Alana helped me up. I didn't function well for the remainder of the day, thankfully it was only 1 hour. I was still sore the rest of the week, my bum/pride. I'm still having discomfort even today, its hard to find a decent position to sit without pain. Enough about my bum.

Tuesday night I went out for supper with a couple of co-workers. Since I've attempted to quit smoking I have saved some money for more fun things!!

I'm at the parentals now, like always but I'm here this weekend for the holiday. I took Friday off for the hell of it and I have Monday and Tuesday off so that's quite nice.

I think that's all I have to say for now...except...I'm very, very itchy...I like watching Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman in Someone like you...

and

it's been a little over a month since I updated last, wow.

*I failed to mention during the first post that on Thursday night I went to a Hardanger class at the Kandiyohi County Historical Society (Anno's work). It started at about seven and ended around 9:30 or so. It just depended on when you finished your ornament. Hardanger is kind of like cross stitch so it was quite easy to pick up on. It was pretty cool and in the end I had an ornament to hang on the tree.

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

Our family got together this past Sunday and celebrated Thanksgiving then. Mom & Dad's house was full of kids, I felt as though I was at a daycare. It was a good time, long and exhausting but good to see people again.

Nothing much is new with me. I'm still trying to quit smoking. I've been on the Chantix for almost a month now. I'm still smoking one cigarette a day, except on the weekends, I don't usually smoke then. I think its the stress or peer pressure of work that I smoke.

Annos friend/man-friend brought over a Super Nintendo and 3 games. I'm a dork and I am so happy to have these, I'm even bragging about playing them all with people at work. Is it sad? I think so. I mostly play Mario All-Stars, which has Super Mario, Super Mario 2 and Supmer Mario 3. I suck at these games a lot, guess I need more practice. Every once in awhile I'll even be yelling at the television because I'm so upset.

And that is all I can tell you for now.

The curse of the deerslayer is no longer I believe. On the way to G-ma's a couple of miles before a Donnelly met up with 3 deer I did. Slammed on the brakes and came to a complete stop while 2 of the deer ran in front of me and the other turned around and headed back the other way. My heart was up in my throat it was. I cried out hallelujah and continued on my drive.

It was nice to see grandma & I even saw my uncle Keith whom I haven't seen since I was 15 or so. He's somewhat of a recluse in the family and when other members see him he usually doesn't speak to them. He had just returned from an elk hunting trip to Colorado so he was in a very talkative mood. My aunt Julie also came up on Thursday and we went out to eat at the Perkins and then did shopped at the mall for about an hour.

Grandma and I also did some crocheting and we eventually figured out how to make a potholder. G-ma had forgotten so we had to rip up one of hers. Yes, times were good. Thursday afternoon we got some good news, my cousin Jessie had a baby girl, Katlyn Rian (Ryan), 7lbs. 13oz. 20 1/2inches long. Grandma and I went to see her on Friday at the hospital in Breckinridge. Then we ate out in North Dakota and headed back home.

Later grandma shared some stories about mom and the kids growing up, showed me some pictures of grandpa (who died a year before I was born) when he was in WWII. She even showed me pictures of Jews in the concentration camps. It was totally disguting...one picture had a bunch of bodies piled up and another picture had about 4 people laying down and they were nothing but bones...

Pa and I just finished watching Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. He had never seen it before and didn't understand what was going on. Enjoy it he did though. Tomorrow is Maren's birthday party in Melrose. Her b-day was actually on Wednesday but we're celebrating when all can get together. Should be interesting with the in-laws (doesn't sound like everyone is getting along with them - especially the mother-in-law).

Another week lies ahead. I will miss having 2 days off this upcoming week but I really can't wait to get there. I know I'll have a lot of work to do.

I skipped out on a sex toy party to sit on my ass and do nothing today. I would have gone but I'm lazy and currently I have a lack of funds as of late to spend on myself.

I'm going to visit my grandma this upcoming Thursday & Friday. She lives in Fergus. It should be a good time, I rarely see her except for holidays. I don't know what we'll do but I know for sure I'm going to bring a skein of yarn and grandma is going to show me how to make a simple pot holder. I've never quite gotten down the knack of making one of them.

Once again Sixteen Candles is on HBO. I guess I haven't seen the original version in a long time because I was really surprised to hear the swearing. It put a little twist on a long time classic that I always believed to be clean.

I know something...

I just spent the last hour or so searching for fall icons. Sadly I couldn't find any that I really liked. I also was updating my wishlist on Amazon.com. ff

Cold Mountain is on right now, it's almost over with. I even got Pa to watch some of it with me. Yep.

Ben, Steph, Madison, and mostly Maren wanted to share some news with us. I can't believe it - Maren's wearing the big news!!!

Last Monday I went to bed around 10:30, it had started to sprinkle and there was thunder and lightning in the distance. I didn't want to be up during the night so I took an Excedrin PM to get me to sleep. Anno went out with movie guy so I didn't have to worry about her waking me up either. Around midnight I kept hearing this constant knocking so finally I got out of bed and and looked out the kitchen window to see where the knocking was coming from. All I could see was a river running from the front yard to the back coming right off my deck. I went to the basement and there was about 2-4 inches of standing water. Then the knocking began again. It was my neighbor who lives across the street (Abby Schlenner married him) letting me know that my sisters car which was parked in the street was probably totaled. I thanked him for coming over and rushed to my room to put on some shorts then I ventured outside. Andria's car was almost submerged in water. Actually the water was almost up to her windows. There was water in her car up to the seats. I walked into the street and there was about 1'7" of rain. I didn't like the idea that my basement was filling up with water and I had no sump pump to get it out, I did like the fact that I was able to meet my neighbors who are so very kind and helpful.

The Rennisance was okay yesterday. My favorite part of the whole day was that I got to ride a Clydesdale who was 17.1 hands high. It was amazing. Then of course, I never really realized that the fair was a bunch of shops which had ridiculously priced merchandise. I'm happy as a child my parentals did not take me there. I definitely got a workout with all the walking I did. We didn't eat there, well I had 2 dill pickles throughout the afternoon but that was good enough. There was plenty of people there it was almost too congested to walk. We only stayed for about five hours which was long enough for both of us. On the way back we stopped in Hutchinson for lunch/supper and we got back to Willmar around 6:30. And yes, it was very warm and of course I got burned from the brightness of the sun.

Now I'm sleepy.

I was pulling onto highway 23 off of 19th Avenue when I stopped at the stop sign like any other person would do. Under the stop sign is another sign that says "Cross traffic does not stop" and spray painted on that sign was a blue penis. It gave me a little chuckle the whole way home. I told my parents and they each got a laugh out of it.

Right now I'm having a fire in the basement at ma & pa's house. It's nice and warm, I think I may have to take a nap.

I'm going to the Renaissance Festival this Saturday with a gal from work. I've never been there before and I'm sure it will be a blast. I can't wait to eat and see all the crafts and other little shows. I hope the weather is decent, nothing like this weekend I mean. That is all.