Ahh...Mondays are always such tough days, especially when you've been away for the weekend. Anyway, I had a 2 hour meeting today (I thought it was only going to be 1/2 an hour). BORING! Geez. And it became one of those moments where you're in a conversation with someone, and you realize that there's something about that person that you can't keep your eyes off of. Well, I noticed that this person was quite well fed, so while he was talking, on and on, I couldn't help but have my eyes wander to his tummy. Then my mind wandered, and he was one of those types that looks everyone in the eye when he's talking to them, so I was trying to maintain contact, while I was thinking of what I was going to do once I got out of the meeting, what I was going to watch on TV when I got home, if I had any brownies left at my desk, etc. Anything BUT what he was talking about. And I would nod my head in agreement, knowing that at any moment he might ask me a question, and I would have no idea what he had said. And the belly was a magnet for my eyes. I'm so bad! I'm just happy that I didn't fall asleep.

Recommended Reading - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. I've always loved fairy tales, and Grimms' Fairy Tales is on my top 10 list of favorite books. Confessions is a nice twist to the Cinderella story that we all know and love. Maguire gives us some insight on what really happened, through the eyes of the 'evil' stepsisters. It's definitely a magical and beautiful story, set in Holland many centuries ago. AND....it's a really fast read. It's a big book, but the words are big. *wink*

And I love these stupid web tests that they have out there. This one comes from the lovely Linda...

I am 48% evil. Take the test :: koolplace.com

Well, I had been pretty much in the dark about my trip to Pennsylvania for my cousin's wedding. I let my parents make all the arrangements, so upon leaving Chicago, I didn't even know what city we were flying into. Which I later found out, was a town, not city. It was a fun weekend, it was a beautiful wedding, and I met a lot of nice people.

So we left O'Hare, and flew to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has got to be the best airport I've ever been in. In the middle of the terminals is this mini-mall, with about 100 shops. The Gap, Victoria's Secret, Clinique, Wilson's Leather, they had it all there. And the creme de la creme of it all was the Ben and Jerry's shop. It was standing in line at that shop, trying to figure out which of the wonderful, glorious flavors of ice cream that they had, that I came to a realization. These guys are my heros. You know when people ask you who your hero is, you usually say a family member, or a famous politician or movie star. Normally, I say Martin Luthor King. But at that moment, standing in the Pittsburgh airport, Ben and Jerry moved into my top five heros. Not only do they make some of the best ice cream this side of the Milky Way, but they are also social activists, trying to make the world better for everyone, be it by giving out free ice cream, speaking out against child labor, or creating 'One Sweet Whirled' - ice cream that will make people aware of the threat of global warming. And they make my tummy happy. What swell guys. Buy their ice cream!

After Pittsburgh, we had a connecting flight to Du Bois. Now, I travel all the time for work, but this was the smallest plane I've been on. It was a little propeller plane, that seated a mere 20 people. Tiny! The weather was pretty awful, so you could really feel the bumps in the tiny plane. But we landed safely in Du Bois. I didn't know how small the town was. Our ride was running late, so I asked if I could get the number of a cab company. The lady said that the closest cab company was 30 miles away! Did you ever watch that old show 'Wings'? The atmosphere was kinda like that. OK, but the town isn't THAT small - they've got a Walmart and an Old Navy.

The wedding itself was nice, my cousin looked beautiful walking down the aisle. He husband had such a wonderful and friendly family. His mom baked all these little desserts for the reception, and they were absolutely scrumptious! The dancing was fun, my dad had a couple shots of Jim Beam and was a mad man on the dance floor. Luckily, the reception was at the hotel we were staying at. But there was much dancing to be had, like the Chicken Dance and the Hokey Pokey. As always, I'm keeping an eye out as for what I want for my wedding. However, if I hear the phrase 'So what we're going to do for your wedding is...' one more time, I think I might scream and claw my own eyes out. I mean, I still haven't picked a date! Let's go one step at a time!

The day after the wedding, we went to the family home of my cousin's husband. His dad gave us a tour of his auto shop, which was really cool. I didn't know that the equipment used in a body shop could be so interesting. I got to stand in the 'oven' where they paint and dry cars, and he showed up how the paint is mixed and all that other groovy stuff. I never knew it was so complicated!

I feel like there's so much more that I wanted to write, but I just don't remember. Maybe I'll remember tomorrow!

Well, I'm off to Pennsylvania for my cousin's wedding. Should be interesting, since I'm not going to know anyone there! Me, my mom and dad are flying out there tomorrow morning. Hopefully my mom will be ok. I have no idea what we're going to be doing when we get there. It should be tons of fun (hear the sarcasm?) But the wedding should be a good time. I always have fun at weddings. Too bad Dave couldn't be there.

I watched the season premiere of Friends today. I was thinking that they would stretch out the whole engagement/propsal thing, but it was a great episode! It's always been about Ross and Rachel. He's her lobster! I'm in a much better mood after watching.

ER was a TOTAL shocker today. When Romano lost his arm, I gasped - I wasn't expecting it AT ALL! Ohh....it's going to get good. Hopefully they get some new cast members in. With Dr. Green gone, Carter moves into his place. And everyone else moves up in the ranks. We need a new intern! STAT!

If you're ever bored, and you want to make your own online movie, try out Digital Films. It's really easy to make a mini movie here, and you can send them to your friends. You know. Your friends that have blogs that you read every day. Purple themed blogs. Yeah...that friend. *wink*

And a big welcome to Amy, who finally got over her fears of me thinking that she's stalking me and has started making comments. Glad to see you here! And I knew you were stalking me BEFORE you started posting.

Today was a SUPER TOUGH day at work. For some reason, I got everyone's left over calls, and they were all tough. It's hard to work on a person's problem after someone else has been working on it for a while. I'm so frustrated! I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off today! There was no time for rest for me at all, and I actually snapped at people a couple times. I don't like snapping at people! I even ate at the Chinese buffet today, and all that crab rangoon did not lift up my spirits. Grr....luckily the Friends premiere is on tonight, and I should be in a better mood. I better be!!!

CD for the Commute Home - Lenny Kravitz: Greatest Hits - Lenny has got to be one of the coolest guys ever to walk the earth. 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' is one of my favorite videos, and such a great song. There are a lot of groovy tunes on this CD, like 'American Woman', 'Believe' and a slew of others.

Well, just got done reading Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein. I really liked the book. It's a science fiction book, but it's really light on the science fiction, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try out science fiction, but doesn't want anything TOO sci-fi. The book "is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, born during, and the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Michael is raised by Martians, and he arrives on Earth as a true innocent: he has never seen a woman and has no knowledge of Earth's cultures or religions." It's interesting to see Heinlein weave the story of Michael's adjustment to earth, our society and customs. Read it!

I had myself a less than adequate McDonald's Peanut Butter Cup McFlurry today. VERY disappointing. Something I also realized today, was that about 75% of my posts have to do with food. *oink* *oink* How I love food!

The new TV season is upon us. I don't know if I'll have the time or attention span to catch any of the new shows out there, it's the returning shows that I'm interested in. My top shows for this season are Friends, CSI, Will & Grace, Buffy, Smallville, Angel, and Law and Order. And John Doe is the only new show that I'm excited about watching - the season premiere was definitely entertaining, and I admit I'm a little hooked. And contrary to popular belief, it's not that ass shot in the first episode that sealed the deal. But it did help! I still get so surprised seeing butts on TV. I might also try checking out Push, Nevada sometime. I've heard that show was pretty good, too.

As for the Buffy premiere, I was left with more questions than answers. I think Joss Whedon is back in good form. Looks like it's going to be a great season for that show. There are so many possibilities that could have come out of last nights premiere - Buffy as a counselor? Spike with his soul back? Xander in a tie? Mind-blowing. Definitely. And anyone have any ideas about the first 10 minutes in Istanbul?

Smallville was good, too. Clark is such a thick-headed dope, but you gotta love that hunka-man-of-steel.

Did anyone hear about Randy Moss running over a traffic cop? What's up with that? And the Vikings are letting him start this weekend. Grr. He didn't seem remorseful at all. They were also showing a clip of him running away from reporters, and running over a camera-woman. I just had to laugh.

Tonight, I clean my room. Wish me luck. For those of you that know me, you know that I'll need it!

I don't think I mentioned this before, but there are a couple new pictures in my picture page. Just click on the link on the left.

Damn, how many of these quiz-type things are out there?

Which Disney Princess are you?

You are a true bookworm and dream of a life better than the simple, quiet one you lead now. Your good looks can attract the town jerks, but you manage to ignore them most of the time. Sometimes you feel like you're surrounded by idiots. So what are you waiting for? You don't need your father to be kidnapped to get out and see the world. Although you can be stubborn, you're also very compassionate and see beyond people's façades.

Well, BloggerPro wrote to me and asked me to recount my highschool memories on my blog. Here goes!

Anyway, I don't remember much of high school. I was a nerd. A band nerd. I loved music, I loved band. Everything you saw in American Pie, that was me (well, I didn't play the flute). We went to band camp. We went on band trips. And any conversations we had outside of those places were about those places. We hung out together all the time, partied together, dated each other. A nice little nerd community. But some of the best, most genuine people I've ever known. My band director was the best teacher I ever had. Ever watch Mr. Holland's Opus? He was a little something like that. As for other people in my class, I remember a bunch of snobby popular people. People who really didn't care to get to know the person inside, who just saw a social stereotype and treated it accordingly. Of course, there were exceptions, and I did have good friends in school. It wasn't as horrible of an experience as I may portray it to be. There were a lot of great teachers, great enough to make me forget the awful ones. I did lots of stuff. I was vice-president of the Math Club because I knew that the VP didn't have any responsibilities. I was on the academic team. I loved the chicken hoagies in the cafeteria. I drew the cover of our literary magazine. I loved listening to 'Supersonic' and 'Brown Eyed Girl' on the jukebox in the cafeteria. I was in the drama club, but never tried out for any school plays. I was a super nerd. But I woudn't have had it any other way. There were a lot of great experiences. Many laughs shared, a lot of growing up done together. When I look back, it seems that I was so innocent then, so unaware of how complicated life could be outside of those halls. It always comes down to that phrase 'If I knew then what I know now...' I would have really caused a ruckus in school! Yeah, so that's it in a very small nutshell.

Oh be still my heart! I come into work late today and there are Krispy Kreme donuts waiting for me. Oh, the world hath not heard such a noise as the sound of my happy belly singing the praises of those little circles of fluffy heaven. Sure, I'll meet my fat quota of the day in a single sitting, and my arteries are clogging up as we speak, but there is a sweet smile of blissful happiness on my face. For those of you who have never had a Krispy Kreme, my heart goes out to you. For most of my life, I was a Dunkin Donuts fan. Oh yes, I even applied to work there. But after being told repeatedly by a friend from the south, 'You ain't had donuts til you had a Krispy Kreme' I tried one. And my life has never been the same again!

Watched the Emmy's yesterday, and I love Conan. I was hoping that he'd be a lot sillier, but he still did a great job. It was really nice that 'Friends' won best comedy, considering that this may be the last season. And surprise surprise, West Wing got best drama. I was hoping that Six Feet Under would pull an upset. I don't have HBO, but whenever I'm on the road I try to catch it whenever I can. I also really enjoyed Oprah's speech that she made after getting the Bob hope Humanitarian award. If you want to see a wrap-up of the show, check it out on E!-Online.

So it's sunday football time. I'm watching the Bears and they're giving the New Orleans Saints a spanking, leading the game 20 to 0 after the first quarter. The Saints are getting disheartened. In the middle of the second quarter, the announcers says 'The foul smell of dead carcasses is coming from the field. The Saints really need to come back to life.' These guys crack me up. But then again, damn them for jinxing the Bears. The Saints got a second wind and won the game. Bastards.

Yesterday I went to my cousin's bridal shower. I haven't seen her in a couple years, and she's been living in England for a while. Which is where she met her husband-to-be. But he's not English, for those of you that will be asking if he's got an English accent. He's from Pennsylvania. So his whole family drove over from Pennsylvania for the shower, and they are the nicest bunch of people you'll ever meet. And it's good to know that my cousin is in good hands because you can easily see how much her fiance cares about her, and her about him. They make a really great couple. Next week's wedding should be fun!

I haven't had a chance to take a good pick of the darker 'do, but here's one that I took yesterday. The angle is weird because I'm the one taking the pic, and I don't think you can get a good view of the blackness. Maybe I can get one of the guys to take a pic of me tomorrow.

Are you bored today? Feel like finding out what personality type you are? I got a link to the Myer-Briggs personality test from Corin. I'm an Introvert Intuitive Feeling Perceiving (INFP), which according to Keirsey.com makes me a Healer (look at the bottom), me and 1% of the population. So what are you?

Ok, the hair coloring is done. And I DON'T look like Elvira. I look like Morticia Adams. YANO GOTH. That's what I am. It's SO WEIRD! I never realized that my hair was so dark. Jack, my hair guy, did a great job of finding my natural haircolor, because this color matches my roots perfectly. It's just so dark! Haven't really gotten any negative reviews, but of course, no one is going to say anything. Well, what's done is done. I won't have to go back to touch up my highlights every 3 months anymore. Just for haircuts.

Had some tense little moments today at work, working on setting up the company president's laptop for this big shindig that he has going on next week. I was under a pretty big time crunch, but hopefully everything turns out OK. He was suspiciously calm and supportive during the whole setup and testing, which unnerved me more that if he was tense and demanding. It's like watching the calm before the storm. I was waiting for something bad to happen. But he didn't. He left for his flight all happy and la-dee-da. Whew! Maybe it helped around when I was joking about accidentally deleting all the program files on his computer. Oh wait. He didn't laugh at that joke. He just looked at me sternly and shook his head. Oh well, he didn't fire me, which is all I care about.

I'm getting tired of cloudy skies. The big guy up above could at least produce a really cool light and thunder show. These clouds are getting OLD! Give me some sunshine! Gothic Yano is tired of the gloom. Oh well, I'm going out for drinks after work. Since my hair is dark now, I'm going to do my Jeanette Lee impersonation and kick some pool ass.

Well, looks like I'm back on the A-List at work again. What I thought was going to be a little demo of one of our products turned into an all day training class on the installation and use of 2 of our products. I wasn't even warned, it was just assumed that I was ready to teach it, though a) I've never taught it before and b) such a training class doesn't even EXIST for us. So basically, I winged the whole thing. If I had known, I would have blocked my day out, and I would have done some testing of our present installations. I had some idiot moments where there were little software glitches that I didn't know about, but luckily I was able to resolve them and turn it into a learning experience. Grrr. But going through this torture seems to have put me back in the good graces of some people here, at least for now. I'm not holding my breath! I'll just keep on working hard and making sure I'm covering all the bases.

So today is the day that I color my hair back to black. Still a little nervous, but there's no turning back now. Pictures will be taken, granted that the results of the hair change are positive. If I end up looking like Elvira, you'll never see me in public again. OK...I'm being dramatic.

Still got the zits, and DAMN, they're nasty. Oh, I hate my face right now! Oh...dramatic again.

I'm having a 7th grade flashback. My face is breaking out!!! Yeah, so I get the occasional zit every now and then, but right now I'm getting MULTIPLE zits. Like I'm 12 years old again. Greasy oily face. I thought I was done with puberty! I could yell to the heavens 'WHY ME!?!?!' but I already know why. I have not been very nice to my skin lately. Haven't been really keeping up with a good skin care regimen lately. Hopefully once I start up again, my face will return to normal. Speaking of puberty, I was on a conference call today, and my voice cracked. Not a minor crack, it was a total Peter Brady 'Time to Change' voice crack. Everyone had a good chuckle over that one.

Today was pretty uneventful from what I remember. Work was actually good today. Maybe it's because I made a lot of progress with some clients today. Whoo hoo!

Thursday I'm planning on coloring my hair to my natural color. I've been debating about it for the past couple months, but if I don't like it, I can always go back to the highlights! But my hair is so fried, and I'm just curious to see what I'd look like if I went back to black. But I'm still a little nervous. For your entertainment pleasure, I think someone in an earlier comment thread had asked about about the blond wig. Here's a pic of Melanie, me, and Trully last year. I own that wig now and like to wear it around the house during the winter to keep my head warm. *wink*

Which Peanuts Character Are You Quiz

I haven't started reading my book club selection yet, and our meeting is next week. However, I VOW to finish the whole book this time. REALLY! Anyway, I had gone to the Borders that is by my train station on my way home from work, and I tried looking for Stranger in a Strange Land and I didn't find it in paperback, but they DID have the mega big volume, which was the unedited version. I think that it was about a billion pages and it weighed about 60 pounds. So I decided to drive over to the Barnes and Noble by my place. I used to go there a lot when Dave was studying for his MCATS. I kinda miss the place! And there are SO many great books out there. Also, I got lost in the Photoshop section. With the release of Photoshop 7, there's a plethora of new books out there. I was thinking that I'd only be at Barnes for about 15 minutes, but I think that I got stuck in some sort of time/space warp because before I knew it, I had been there for over an hour. Damn that place for sucking an hour of my life. Ahh...I should just go there and hang out for a little. It's so relaxing. I love it there.

So I'm watching football. And I have to tell you how much I love the touchdown dance. Everyone's got their own moves. I want to play professional football, so I can get a touchdown and do my touchdown dance. I've got it all choreographed. After a couple drinks, I'll do it for you. Just ask.

Hmm...I haven't really posted here in a while. Well, let me go over the events of the past couple days.

Friday was work work work, but as I had said, there was a nice little festival going on across the street. I had myself some really tasty bratwurst, and I bought a nice little ring. Bryan bought his girlfriend a pot with bamboo in it. How sweet! They also had 'fried Milky Way bars'. I guess its breaded Milky Way bars that are friend. Looked like little pieces of poop. Just kidding. Looked like chocolate Twinkies. Which, when you think about it, would look like little pieces of poop. Anyway, after work, I headed back out to the festival to watch the Mighty Blue Kings play. I'm a big fan of theirs, but not as much lately. I kinda feel bad, because they're basically a blues/swing band, and swing's not as big anymore. But they did a great job. I was surprised to see that my friend Jerry isn't drumming for them anymore. He was a fellow band feek with me in high school, but he was different - he was a COOL band geek. After that, I headed to a party my co-worker had at 'Howl at the Moon' a piano bar by my office. It was fun, and Dave met me there. It's nice when Dave comes into the city to go to these things. I know how much he hates looking for parking! After leaving, we went for a little walk around downtown. It was really nice, we haven't gone for a walk like that for a long time.

Saturday, I was going to clean, but Dave came over after work, and he basically just slept on the couch. I used that as an excuse to play some playstation with Fatima. We tried out the 'Winter Olympics 2002' PS2 game that Claudine bought for me. It was OK. But what, no short track? And no figure skating? No curling? Heh heh. Then we played some Bust a Move and Chef's Love Shack. Fun stuff.

Later on, me and Dave went to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I really liked that movie. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of four. I don't want to hype it up too much, but it's a movie I would definitely recommend to other people. Essentially, the story is about this Greek woman living in Chicago, who gets engaged to a non-Greek man, and all the funny things that happen with the planning of the wedding. Seriously, I never knew that so many things in the Greek community parallelled the Filipino community! But I guess that's why this movie is such a hit. No matter what your ethnic background is, there's something you can relate to in this movie. From all the food that is eaten, to the strange grandmothers, to the home-made remedies, to the relationships between the generations, there's something there for everyone. I know that my wedding is going to be just as crazy with the meddling (and I say that with affection, with a tinge of apprehension) of all my relatives. But I guess you just gotta go with the flow and not fret over it.

Today I dedicate to the sloth, one of my favorite animals, and I will sit around, eat, and do nothing. OK...I'll do something - watch football. Right now I'm watching a KICK ASS game between Minnesota and Buffalo. They're in overtime right now. Good game.

Also today, my mom mentioned to us that she's starting to lose her hair, due to her chemo treatments. It's a day that we knew would come. Luckily, Fatima was home, so we were both trying to cheer her up. She's still got her wig from the last time she went through this, but she's got a different hairstyle now. We tried to convince her to just forget the wig, and just do the 'Bald is Beautiful' deal, but she won't go for it. So we were looking through the wig catalog to find her a new one. Meanwhile, we were playing around with her present wig. Don't I look fetching? Don't I look like a Beatle? And we tried having her try on my blonde wig that I have, and she looked REALLY good, but she said it wasn't an option. She's going to get a new one. That's ok. More wigs for me to play with. It could have been a pretty depressing day, but fortunately we were abe to lift her spirits with our antics. I should be a clown.

Not much time to post today. Going to watch 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. Anyone seen it yet?

Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Say that three times fast!!! Well, happy Friday the 13th everyone. We've got a major release coming out today for work, and I'm thinking who's the genius that picked Friday the 13th to send it out. Not like I'm looking for it to be a disaster or anything, but I admit, I'm a bit superstitious, if anything bad was to happen, today would be the day! But everything is A-OK so far. We've got a little festival going on outside, so me and the guys are most likely going to go out and partake in the festivities.

Here's a couple links about today:
Urban Legends and Folklore
UrbanLegends.com

Well, today went by REALLY fast at work. I guess it helps to have a couple meetings a day to make the day seem to go by quickly. I'm so-so at work. There are good things, there are bad. There are things that make me happy, there are things that drive me up the wall. A great thing about today was lunch at Uno's. Nothing better than lunch with great, interesting people over stuffed pizza. Oh, how we love to gossip.

Yesterday was pretty tough, as I knew it would be. It started driving to work, listening to the names being read, and the deafening sound of the moment of silence at the time when the first plane hit. I was already teary eyed coming into work. It was also a little weird to look out the window to the Amoco Building (one of the tallest in the world) because it looks SO MUCH like the World Trade buildings. We stopped by the memorial, and talked about it at work. One of the buildings across from us posted LET FREEDOM RING on each of their windows. I tried taking pictures, but my window is so dirty that my camera just focused on the dirty window. When I got home, I just watched the specials with my family. I kept on switching channels, wanting to watch everything. Each channel seemed to touch on a different aspect - the story of the survivors, a time line of the plane crashes, the effects a year later, musical tributes, stories of those left behind. There was just so much to see. But I couldn't tear my eyes away from it, as much as I wanted to just go to sleep and block it out. Some people told me yesterday that they wouldn't watch anything, that they would go on as if it was any other day, that the horrors of September 11th were too close in ones memory to relive. But I need to remember. I need to burn it into my head, because I don't want to forget, to take it for granted.

But today is another day.

So I go on! So, back to silly business. Well, this link I've got for you all isn't really silly. It's actually pretty cool. There's a lot of sites out there that do biorhythms, there's a lot of sites that do tarot, there's even some that do numerology. Well, Facade has them all, with some other kinds of divination that you may not have seen before. I used to go here all the time. There's some pretty neat stuff there. Check it out!

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Well, I've been dreading today. Dreading all the memories coming back, dreading the coverage that I know I'm not going to help but watch, dreading the thought of remembering the ones who are gone - my mind recreating their last moments, the feelings of the loved ones left behind. Today will be a very hard day for us all. No bellyaching or bitching about people today. We're all in the same boat. I just wanted to share something I posted on a board not too long ago...

On the morning of September 11th, I was later for work that I usually am. Before running out the door, the TV was on the Today show, which was showing images of the World Trade Center on fire. Katie Couric was reporting that it was an airplane that hit the building, and that chances are it was accidental, there was no cause to suspect foul play. I left, and when I got to work, my coworkers immediately came to me and said 'They shut down Sears Tower. It's been evacuated.' And I asked 'Is this because of the plane that hit the world trade center?' And they replied, 'Plane? There were two.' I had no clue what was going on. At work, we tried accessing the internet to find out what was going on, but there was too much traffic on CNN and MSNBC. It's hard for us to get reception on radios, so we didn't have that either. All the information came from clients that called, and by calling our homes. My late shift coworker told us about the Pentagon. Another client told us that O'Hare was hit. We didn't know what was the truth, and we were not aware of the scope of the horror that was happening in New York. All we knew was that we're one of the tallest buildings in downtown Chicago, and that we could be a target, or close to one. Being on the 33rd floor, I can see the Sears Tower outside of my window, and the John Hancock building outside of another. We were watching both that morning. Finally, at 1pm, they evacuated our building. For some reason, we didn't feel like going home. We went to the local sports bar that we normally hang out at and sat and watched all the different news stations. We sat there in disbelief as we saw image after image. Drinks that we ordered sat untouched as we watched the towers fall. I felt like crying, but I was too stunned, the tears wouldn't fall. Hardly any words were spoken, other than 'This is surreal', 'Can you believe this?'. But no answers were expected. After we couldn't take anymore, we went home. Downtown Chicago was a ghostown, nothing was open. Coming home, we just watched more TV, hours and hours of it, as if it would give some reason for the madness.

I travel a lot for work, and I was on a plane one week and a day after September 11th, ironically on a flight to Newark, where one of the planes came from. It was the oddest sight, seeing the national guard, in uniform, carrying grenades and machine guns in the airport. Everyone looked at each other suspiciously. Anyone who looked Middle Eastern was immediately given the evil eye. Everyone was afraid. But I was determined to keep on doing what I do. It's a shame that the airlines are losing money, that people are hesitant to fly. This is what they wanted to have happen.

So what am I going to do on September 11th? I'm going to go to work, look out the window, watch people. I might go to any memorial that's by me. We'll probably sit around and talk about that day. I'll go home, watch whatever special they have on NBC, knowing that it's not going to give me any answers to the questions that still lie in my head, or offer me any more comfort for the lives that were lost. But I'll still watch it. It's a day that I'll be happy that its over when its done. But, as was said before, this should be a day that we remember that such horrors are not something uncommon. There are others all over the world, casualties whose only crime was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. We cannot forget that we are not the only ones. But we will get through this day, together, be it as a country, as a community, as a family, and we will always remember.

I think I'll start posting the silly quizzes that I take. Give you guys something to do, too.

Which Animaniacs Character are You?

Talkative, huh? Perhaps sing-ative would be more appropriate, actually. When people don't understand something, it usually drives you to cutting, sarcastic remarks. Your other extreme is bursting into song with almost no prompting, often to explain complex ideas. No one knows quite what you are, exactly. You have made many "special" friends, and there's baloney in your slacks.

It was a good weekend. On Saturday, I went to the wedding of Gil's sister, Eileen. She looked gorgeous and it was a lot of fun. Me and Dave were totally eyeing the wedding and checking out details of what we want to have and what we don't. Of course, there was a lot of dancing, and we ruled the dancefloor when the Todo Todo came on. I also do a mean Casper Slide and Electric Slide. It's electric! I did some proper stretching before dancing, so I'm not as sore as I was last week. I also minimized my 'jumping around' time and I didn't take off my shoes. After the wedding, we all headed out to the hotel bar for drinks and pool. I rocked the fucking table playing pool! Manny started calling me 'Spider Lady', comparing me to Jeanette Lee (who's actually called 'The Black Widow', but it's Manny, so it's OK) Ahh, it's nice to have a good day at pool. We all had a nice time. Later today I'll put up pics. Really I will. For now, you'll just have to enjoy a picture of mine and Dave's big heads. I don't know why I like taking pictures like this.

Yesterday was just a rest day, to catch up on sleep and to watch DA BEARS. Poor players, it was about118 degrees on the field. So many players left with heat exhaustion. Big men faltering under the sweltering heat. I have to admit that I was getting pretty upset in the middle of the fourth quarter, waiting for the team to get their head out of their asses. I mean, the Vikings beating us at rushing yards? No way! But it happened. Fortunately, we had 'the one who always saves the day', Mike Brown, making one of his now common fourth quarter interceptions to turn the tide of the game. And although Marty Booker missed 2 KEY passes, he had a great game. All in all, it was a good game, done Bears style, with the last minute win. GO BEARS!

It's been an endless parade of people in and out of the house, coming to check on how my mom's doing, and we've been getting SO MUCH food! We've got a bunch of cookies, there's an Eli's cheesecake sitting in the freezer, and last night when I went in there to look, Lord help me, there was a Baker's Square FRENCH SILK PIE in there! It seems that Dave's parents were the ones who brought it. Since my mom really can't eat any of that, I guess I'll sacrifice myself and take care of those things. If I have to! I predict in two months I'll be so fat I won't be able to see my toes.

So my cousin David is here from Florida. He's the greatest! He's an all round great kid, though sometimes quite a handful. But he's such a sweetie, you'll forgive him for anything he does. He's only 11, and he's an inch taller than me. When I was in Floriday last year, he was seriously at my shoulder. Man, it sucks having to look up to him.

So...as some of you might now, I KICK ASS at Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. I have not yet found anyone that can beat me. So I need to find some way to entertain David...and he says that he loves to play Playstation. So I ask him, 'Have you played Tony Hawk?' and he says 'YEAH!!! I'm awesome!' And I said 'Yeah, sure you are. I can kick your ass.' And he says 'Nooooooooo....I'm really good, Ate Christine!'

So we play....and I kick his ass. 1,253,687 to 30,263. Of course, he complained throughout the whole game that I didn't have the cheats turned on...'How can I play without moon physics?' to which I replied, 'There's no cheating in this house, buddy! You gotta EARN your win!' So I gave him about 20 chances to take away my crown. Nope. He's got all week to practice. After that I was wondering, 'Should I have thrown a game, give him his eleven year-old pride back?' Then I thought 'Nah......he's already taller than me! It'll put him in his place!' I'm so mean.

I got a wonderful surprise at work today. Orlando's mom cooked us up some KICK ASS Puerto Rican Steak and Rice. Glory Be! My belly was singing! Hot damn that lady knows how to cook! WOW! Yum! DELISHHHHHHHHH!!!

But then, to counter that, I probably had the worst slice of tiramisu over. Take note, people, never have tiramisu at McDonald's! The new Mickey D's opened up at our food court, and they have a little dessert area, and they had tiramisu. It was terrible. It was dry, and the coffee was too strong. Eeew. But to counter THAT, I came back to work with a lovely macadamian nut cookie on my desk. Hello heaven!

Why are most of my posts about food?

Anyway, I had a great talk with one of my manager's today, and it felt really good to get some of my stresses off my chest, even if he was just listening to me. And it's good to know that someone notices that I haven't been the same. But on the flip side, it was sad to get the information that my suspicions were true - there are certain forces at work that are definitely against me. Oh well, there's nothing I can do but work my hardest. It was a MUCH better day today, despite that information, and I feel like I got a lot accomplished. I'm feeling much more like my old self. Not completely, but close. After work, we went out for drinks and just relaxed. I even played some pool, which was really good, because I haven't played in a while. I need the practice!

Well, the workout was much better than I had thought it would be. I was reluctant to go (as I am with any physical activity) but as soon as I changed into my tee, shorts and gym shoes, I was a changed woman. It was like Superman stepping out of the phone booth. I was Super WOrkout Girl, ready for a full workout, jumping around like nobody's business. It was a good workout, and I really enjoy the music there - a lot of old school dance and hip hop songs. It's like Club Gorilla Sports. I'm waiting for the disco ball to come down and the go-go dancers to come out in their cages. I'm also really intrigued with the belly dancing class that I saw taking place in the aerobics room. It looked really low impact, and I'm always willing to learn new forms of dance. Makes the whole thing fun. AND...they get to dance with scarves! Ohh...just imagining myself wiggling and hopping around with my frilly sparkly scarf of many colors. Whoo hoo! And if only I could find myself a hip hop dance class there. My life would be complete.

But then...(throw in the Law and Order music here (*dut* *dun*)) I had gone to the main desk when I came in and asked for a new membership card. I've lost mine, and I've been getting in by using my license. When I went to go pick it up afterwards, they said that my level of Bally's membership didn't include a membership to Gorilla Sports. Then they checked Dan's, and said the same thing. Although Gorilla is owned by Bally's, you need a super special membership to go to Gorilla, too. I asked him how much it was, and he said $70 a month. WHAT THE---!!! Grr... So, my main issue isn't this shady 'special membership' deal, it's the fact that Dan's been going there for the past 3 months, and they've scanned his card and let him in, same thing for me. They've been looking up our accounts, and we were none the wiser. It would have been ok if the first time we went there they turned us away because we didn't have the right memberships, but we've gotten a taste of the place. I want to take bellydancing lessons! So we're switching our workout days to Mondays and Wednesdays. They didn't stop us from coming in before. Chances are, they won't if we come in again. I'm going keep on going til they have my picture on the wall - 'DO NOT LET THIS GIRL IN THE BUILDING'. Damn....Bally's sucks! Just when I wanted to start getting healthy again, they try bringing me down. I might have to start looking for a Bally's that's in my area. It sucks, because Gorilla Sports is just around the corner.

So it was a nice surprise to come home and see Dave sitting on the couch. What a sweetheart. He came to surprise me and I wasn't even home. But it was a nice surprise, nonetheless! I made him watch ER with me, and I know I was being really annoying because I kept on asking questions. I wanted to see if he would break, but he was pretty cool and informative about everything. 'Have you ever had to intubate?' 'Does the ER get all their X-Rays and test results before everyone else?' 'How often is apropine used?' He answered all these questions and more. Pretty interesting stuff. It's good to have a doctor-to-be sitting with you when you watch ER. It's like pop-up ER.

So today, I've treated myself with the first Iced White Chocolate Mocha with soy from Starbucks that I've had in a month. Mmm...how I've missed it! But I can't really justify four bucks a day on coffee. So it's my treat for a good workout, and for not buying Starbucks in a month. Yum!

Damn....I talk a lot.

Well, after the cheesey two hour finally, the lovely and talented Kelly Clarkson wins and becomes our American Idol. GO KELLY!!! YAY! I admit, I got a little misty eyed at the end when she sang 'A Moment Like This' and got all choked up. That girl kicks ass. Though I don't know how far she'll go. She's got a lot going for her, but I don't know how the general public will take it. I mean, where's Eden's Crush right now? Exactly. But I'm happy that she at least had her 15 minutes of fame. I'm still a little salty that Tamyra got booted.

Anyway, me and Dan are working out today. Yay, fun. I'm bringing my free American Idol radio to the gym with me. I'm such a dork. But I'm in touch with my dorkiness. I revel in it. I AM A DORK!

Work today was much better than it has been in a long while. I'm still a little out of it, but I think things are getting better. I'm just trying to make a little attitude adjustment, trying to fit into this newly molded group, and it seems to be working a little. I knew it was getting bad before when a coworker called me and said that he had noticed that I had lost my 'spark' and that I've looked pretty down at work. I don't want to lose my 'spark'! I want it back. So we're gonna see how Yano gets her groove back. I'm working on it. I'm just SO resistant to change. But I've got a master plan. I always do! I just have to zone out all the ass kissing that goes on here. Ack....enough to make me gag.

So yeah, I'm watching American Idol right now. The finale is kinda cheesey....I don't know yet who's won, but it better be Kelly, because she's been whoopin' Justin's ass. This is one of those shows that you really don't want to watch, but once you start watching you're hooked, as much as you try not to be. Kinda like 'Dawson's Creek'. Though I actually don't watch that anymore. Once Joey and Dawson hooked up again I got tired of it.

Watching commercials right now. This John Doe show that FOX is gonna have on next season seems really interesting. A man who knows everything, except for his own identity.

OK..commercial over...must watch more...

I'm SO incredibly sleepy right now. My belly is full of Chicken Bowl. Anyway, on the way to lunch, I got a free 'American Idol' wristwatch and mini-radio. The watch is pretty cheap - it's velcro and one size fits all. But the radio seems pretty cool. I'll keep it here in case there's some disaster where I need a radio. It comes with batteries too!

Hmm...I feel like finding me some chocolate!!!

Back to work today. It's always hard to get back in the groove after a long weekend. I tried to get a lot of work done, but I didn't really have a structure to my day. I tried just calling random clients that were having problems, but it looked like there were a lot of people on vacation this week.

CD for the Work Commute: ABBA Gold - Ahh, I love these songs. These are the songs that I remember growing up to, having my parents play on the record player/8 track. Great songs to sing along to, to dance stupid to, to just sit and listen to. So it was so nice to listen to in the car. It's one of those CDs that you can listen to every track without skipping over any.

Still got the slightly bum leg, but I promised Dan that I would work out with him on Thursday. I gotta stretch out the leg tomorrow. And no more donuts for me! Not that I'm going on a diet, but the donuts really aren't helping my arteries any.

Stupid Question of the Day - You know when you need someone's phone number, you call 411, right? But what if you need someone's cell phone number? Is there directory assistance for cell phone numbers? Because the only directory assistance I know is for home numbers.

Well, I was supposed to go to a picnic today, so it rained, so I decided not to go. Anyway, I can't walk too much anyway. My calf is still sore, and it's still pretty hard for me to go down stairs. I have NO idea what I did to make this happen. I guess jumping around for several hours on a hard floor with no shoes on is not a good idea. Well, tomorrow's gonna be a 'drive into work' day. It'll take me hours to take the bus! So I just stayed at home and vegged out. Ahh, one of my favorite past times.

Well, I'm back from my weekend at Jen's wedding. I don't know what I thought it was going to be like. Maybe I thought it would be uncomfortable, or maybe I thought we wouldn't have anything to talk about, or that maybe our lives would have changed so much that we wouldn't be able to connect. Well, even though it's been almost 10 years since the last time we really hung out together, when we saw each other last weekend, it was as if no time had passed. We laughed, talked about old stories, old friends, highschool, life. It was a really great time. And although our lives have taken us to different places, we're still the same Res girls inside. Jenni, one of my best friends from gradeschool, was also part of the wedding party. It was great to see her as well. I really need to keep in touch with these people! Anyway, the wedding was beautiful. However, my partner and Cheryl's partner got mixed up, and when I was supposed to put my arm in his, but our arms just got tangled up and he ended up walking down the aisle with me with his arm around my waist. It was pretty funny. Jenny looked beautiful as she was coming down the aisle. I have to admit that I got a little misty eyed. Who would have believed that the girl who told people that she was Ozzy Osbourne's love child would not only be the first one of us married, but that she would become a pillar of the community and a Catholic school religion teacher? Crazy!

The reception was probably the longest reception I've ever been at. Open bar started at 4pm. By the time they did the announcement of the wedding court, we had all had a couple drinks in us by then. And since Jen's new husband, Dennis, is a DJ, the music was REALLY good. I danced the whole night. They played a lot of the tunes that we loved when we were in school, like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and 'Brown Eyed Girl'. My wedding partner was a hoot. Midway during the reception he had his shirt unbuttoned, and he kept on taking it off. About 5 women asked him if he was exotic dancer. (that's his pic on the left) A woman came up to us later and told us that we were the best wedding party that she had ever seen, because we were out there dancing all the time, we were all drunk, and we looked like we all got along and that we were having a great time.

Many thanks to Dave, for coming along and being my picture boy, taking pictures of this and that for me. Also, he had to sit through the rehearsal dinner, where me and the rest of the girls just laughed, screamed and gossiped about our highschool adventures. And YES...the term 'One time, at bandcamp' DID come up more than once. Me, Cheryl and Jen (right) were chock full of band stories. Poor Dave saw a window into my geeky gradeschool and highschool life. Also, thanks to him for not leaving my drunk ass at the reception. What patience!!! He's gonna make some lucky gal a great husband someday. Hey wait...that's me! That's another funny thing, being engaged, you see weddings in a whole new way. Everything is that much more romantic and emotional, but you're also thinking 'Hmm...I could do that at my wedding', or 'Oh yeah, that will save us some money if we do that at the wedding...'

All in all, it was an awesome weekend. I had a lot of fun. Actually, my calves keep on cramping up because I danced and jumped around for about 5 hours yesterday. My poor body isn't used to so much exercise. hopefully I'll get the rest of the pictures up here soon. I would have taken more pictures, but everything was just so busy and hectic. But it was a great time!!!