Haven’t posted a picture in a while.
Here’s a picture of a lily that I have in my garden. I’ve been too busy to take it out of the pot and actually plant it out there. Who knows. It may actually be dead right now.
But here’s a picture of it in all it’s glory, the younger days, when it was fresh from the garden store, before I touched it with my black thumb from hell….
…..and no, it’s not me.
A super big congratulations to my wonderful, awesome, beautiful friend Jen and her super cool husband Mike on the birth of her son Sam. It’s a little bit crazy thinking that she’s now a mother, but then again, she has mothered us for the last decade, and I know she’ll make a great mom. I can’t wait til she comes back so we can have a lot of festivities and I can teach her son naughty tricks.
Another big ‘welcome to the world’ goes to Alexander, the son of ex-coworker Sammy (not Aquaman - the original Sam). I offered him $50 if his baby was born on my birthday, but alas, little Alex waited a couple days later. Having another son is great, Sam, but next time have a girl. I want you to be tortured when she ends up being incredibly gorgeous and boys are knocking at your door to pick her up - boys that are just like you were. Congrats, friend!!!
Seems like everyone is either having a baby or in the process of it. My one cousin is due in a couple months, my ex-coworker also pregnant, and I just found out that my other cousin is pregnant. When oh when can I join this elite club of women who can eat whatever they want and forget what their feet look like? Don’t really know. When it happens, it happens. But the pressure is on!
I’m flying out to Jackson today, and I’m completely pooped from the weekend. My flight leaves at 5:55am, and I’m still up packing/finishing up work at 1:30am. Argh!
Oh, and I believe that Miss Mexico totally should have won the Miss Universe pageant. Damn Miss Canada and all her Thai brown nosing!
I don’t remember the contestants being as skinny as they were today. Do you?
How was your weekend?
Well, the party was a good time. Thanks to everyone who stopped by! I admit to being a bit stressed earlier in the day. I had a lot of work to do early in the morning, but had a great birthday lunch with the coworkers, and they even got me a surprise birthday cheesecake. They’re all so sweet!
I got home a little later than I had planned on, so I was running around a little bit crazy trying to get the house cleaned up. Luckily, Fata and my dad had come over before I got home so they helped out a bit. While we were cleaning out the tank, I found out that the filter was broken, so I had Claudine pick up a new one on her way home from work.
Once the party started, it was all good. There was such a strange variety of people there - my cousins, my aunts/uncles, old coworkers, current coworkers, friends from college, etc. It was pretty crazy, but a lot of fun. Of course, one of the big highlights of the night was Dave’s projector. The guys stayed down there and pretty much watched ESPN for most of the night.
Here’s a couple highlights (and thank you’s) that I’m jotting down so I can remember it before it drifts away in my memory.
- Thanks for the flowers! I love them. At first I thought it was from my dad or Dave, but then I read the card and I was so surprised! They’re beautiful and they make a wonderful centerpiece on my dining room table.
- Marky Mark, those mix CD’s ROCK! We played the old school hip hop when we were cleaning the day after and it was like a dance party in my house. I’m going to make copies so we can listen to ‘em in the car, too.
- My cousin Trully must feel like a big Twister board. She told us that her baby was kicking and she immediately felt 5 hands on her belly. She would point to an area where she thought the baby was kicking, then our hands would move. The cousins would sit there, hovering, waiting for the baby to show off, molesting her tummy.
- Thanks to everyone who brought alcohol. My secret for throwing these parties is so we can get rid of the alcohol we’ve accumulated, but that never seems to work!
- Jerry, I won a free scratch card and $1. Thanks!
- Later in the night, we had a poker tournament with a $5 buy-in. Several people were knocked out early, it looked like it was going to be a short game. All the losers had to go and watch ‘Honey’ with everyone else as a punishment. The last four (Dan, Tall Steve, Jerome and Marlon) played for a while, with Marlon ending up as the champion. In a truly generous move, he gave me and Fatima the money he won as a birthday gift.
- Many thanks to Manny for making an emergency fork, pop and ice run.
- Thanks to Melanie for the Chappelle Show Season II DVD. It provided some good laughs during the party.
- Thanks to my surprise guest Earl, who not only brough beer, but who also installed my aquarium filter. In case you were wondering, yes, the fish are still alive.
- Thanks to Jerry for providing one of the best laughs of the night. He taught little Jillian a game where they took around little Nemo and Dory toys and ‘grazed seaweed’ off the walls of the basement. Jilly didn’t want to stop the game, so Jerry was left to wander around the basement following Jillian, going ‘chomp chomp’ as he held the plastic fish against the wall. Pretty funny to watch. Not as funny when I was given the fish and became Jillian’s partner in chomping.
- I didn’t need a clown at the party to entertain the kids. All I needed was Fatima the origami queen. Although there were only two kids there, Fata did a great job with her origami workshop!
- Note to anyone who has a party on a Friday and tells people to bring food - you’re going to have a lot of chicken. We had 4 different kinds of Buffalo Wild Wings (garlic, medium, teriyaki and sweet BBQ), Hooters wings, chinese wings, Popeye’s chicken, and more. We had a LOT of chicken!
- Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes - all of you who commented on the site (I love you guys! I have the best readers ever!), for the presents, the cards, the calls, the hugs. Even though I’m 30, the love of the people around me keeps me young.
Party at my house tonight.
I had initially thought that I’d just invite a couple of my closest friends and family, but once I started the invite list, it kinda got out of control, so hell, I’ll just tell you all.
If you know how to get a hold of me, email me and I’ll tell you the details.
Unfortunately, this invite is only open to people I know - stalkers and shady people will get the beat down by Claudine, who will be employed as the bouncer, the waitress, the cook, and the person who takes away all the empty cups.
Good times are comin’!
Well, it’s finally here.
I’m thirty.
Happy Birthday to me!
Hmm.
Don’t feel any different. Don’t feel like I’m any more of an adult than I was yesterday. Haven’t noticed any gray hairs or crows feet at the corner of my eyes. My bladder is still functioning ok, and I haven’t noticed any liver spots.
Seems like business as usual.
Remember that show ‘Thirtysomething’? I remember watching that show when I was a kid and thinking, “Wow, that’s how adults live. They’re so responsible, so mature. I want to be like that someday.” Well, I didn’t think all of that. But still, the people on that show were OLD. REALLY OLD.
…and here I am. 30.
Does that make me old? Do people see me as old? What have I done with the past 30 years of my life? Are there a lot of things that I thought I’d accomplish by now that I haven’t?
So many questions, and all I can think about is how great the season finale of ‘LOST’ was yesterday. *wink*
Even though I haven’t done everything that I had outlined in my 8th grade paper predicting my future (I still have time to become a world famous fashion designer), I think I’ve led a full life up until now. I was raised by two wonderful people, who unfortunately I had appreciated a little late in life. I have two amazing sisters who I admire. I’ve met and married my soulmate, and even though he may love his projector more than me, he’s stuck with me for life. I will never feel unloved because of the family and friends that surround me, supporting me and being there for me whenever I need them. I’ve got a job that drives me crazy, but hey, it’s a job.
I’d love to say that I’ve lived with no regrets, but I’m the type of person that wishes she could live moments over again, to make things better. But even though I may want to go back in time to fix the past, I know that I’ve learned from my mistakes, I’ve learned from my experiences with others. They’ve made me who I am today.
Wow. Look at me.
I’m like an old lady that starts talking about the past that just won’t shut up.
Geez, I *AM* old.
Not only is tomorrow my birthday, (*wink* *wink*) but it’s also the day my driver’s license expires. So I made a visit to the DMV today to get it all taken care of. I wore a little more makeup today than usual, though I don’t know why, since I rubbed most of it off blowing my nose (I’ve got a pretty bad cold).
The line at the DMV was pretty short - I only waited about 2 minutes in line, rather than the 30 minutes to an hour that I have before. When I got up there, I also changed my address to my new house. I was then informed that I would have to take the written driving test again.
WHATCHU TALKIN’ ‘BOUT, DMV LADY?!?!?!?
I haven’t taken a written driving test in, like, 10 years. I barely know what I’m doing out there. (kidding!) I hate taking tests, which is why I never did anything past college. I hate school, and I hate the pressure of taking tests.
So there I was, pen and test in hand, contemplating cheating off the other test takers, but realizing that they looked more clueless than I was. I sat down to start, and it wasn’t TOO bad. I had to get 28 out of 35 right. There were a several that I was unsure of, like when to turn off your brights as you’re heading towards another car, or rules when approaching a school bus. I was also stumped by some of the road signs. The look a lot different when they don’t have the words on them! I mean, can you think of what a ‘No Passing Zone’ sign looks like? Exactly.
Fortunately, I only got one wrong. Which one? I’m not going to tell you, in case your children will be riding a school bus anywhere in the neighborhood. Just kidding. My answer for that one was actually too cautious.
So I’ve got my brand spanking new license, complete with a new picture of my big fat head. I don’t know why my head looks so big in the picture, I think the guy zoomed in on me. The picture is all face. Ick.
So stay alert, people. I’m still on the roads.
In a world where the news seems to be reporting on one horrible thing after another, where it seems like kids are growing up faster than they need to, where all people care about is money, it’s good to know that there are still some genuinely good people out there.
There are people out there who are so selfless, so giving of themselves, without asking anything in return. There are people who deserve to be rejoiced, who deserve be in the spotlight, but choose to remain in the background.
I’m glad that there are people like that in my life. It makes this rollercoaster of life a little easier to handle. These are not only people I know in my ‘real life’, but also the people I’ve met over the years through this crazy blog. I say it all the time, but I don’t know why you all come back. But I’m glad you do.
So thank you. Thanks for your support, thanks for being so generous with your time, and yourselves. Thanks for being a shoulder for me to lean on when I want to vent my frustrations. Thanks for the joy you’ve given me. You all rock!
Let’s have a group hug!
My apologies to NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon for what happened at Wrigley Field. I can only tell you that if you’re going to sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ at Wrigley, you do a little research first. Like what the lyrics of the song are. Or that if you’re asked to sing the song, that you SING - we don’t care how off tune you are, but sing it loud! If you can’t sing it, make sure you bring your kids or a friend who can sing it with you.
Another tip? It’s Wrigley Field, not Wrigley Stadium. It’s like calling the Daytona International Speedway the Daytona International Arena.
So yeah, I feel a little bad that you were booed as you sang the song yesterday, but hey, if you’re going to be in front of 38,000 people singing a song, it may help a bit to practice the song at home.
Luckily, you escaped the biting tongue of the press here - I could only find one real reference to what the AM news called “The worst performance of the song since Mike Ditka. And we can forgive Ditka because he’s one of ours.”
I wouldn’t read too much into Clemens’ night ending early Tuesday.
There was some concern about tightness in his right groin, but longtime watchers know that he’ll be fine unless he runs into either kryptonite or starts preparing for games the way Jeff Gordon got ready to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
OK, Jeff, it’s Wrigley Field, not Wrigley Stadium. Has been since 1926, when it stopped being known as Cubs Park.
And just about every 12-year-old can sing the song without looking at a set of words, as it appeared you were doing when you fell hopelessly behind the crowd, which wound up booing you. Your act was as weak as the two lineups on the field, and that’s saying something.
From chicagosports.com
Jeff’s official site makes it into a more positive experience:
In the middle of the 7th inning, Gordon led the crowd in a rendition of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” which definitely didn’t go as smoothly as a lap around a NASCAR track (the words simply escaped him). Though Gordon’s “Let’s get some runs” proclamation at the conclusion turned out to be a boon for the home team as the Cubs rallied from a 2-0 deficit with 4 runs in the eighth inning to win the game.
Geez, Jeff, even Ozzy Osbourne did better than you!
Well, at least we won the game - we’re on a three game winning streak!
You know, I’ve always had the feeling that I was born to be rich. It’s not that I have expensive tastes or like to dress up in the latest fashions, or that I like fast cars and hobnobbing with the upper crust. I just hate doing work. I’ll admit, I’m a princess that way. I don’t like doing chores, like washing dishes, mopping floors, cleaning toilets, etc. There’s a voice inside me that says, ‘Hey Christine, this isn’t the life you should be living, one day, you’ll be rich and you’ll get a maid.’
I’ll get a little taste of that this month, when I get my very own live in maid, and I don’t even have to pay her!
With that said, my sister Claudine moved in yesterday.
What better way to pay for a month’s accomodations than to cook, clean, and do laundry for your hosts? I’ve made sure to pile up my laundry and let the dishes stay in the sink, waiting for her arrival. I can’t wait to come home to a hot dinner every night and have brownies and cookies baked for me every day. I’m looking forward to the foot massages and having my pillow fluffed before I go to sleep. This is going to be AWESOME!
OK, fine. I’ll leave her alone. She has to study all her doctor mumbo-jumbo, I know.
It’ll be interesting to have her living here. We haven’t lived in the same house together without our other sister Fatima to act as a buffer. Claudine and I have VERY different personalities. I’m the more carefree, lazy, crazy one and she’s the more conservative, responsible and worrisome one. Usually when people meet us, they think she’s the older one because she’s a lot mature. I admit, I’m a big kid. Our personalities clash, with some of our mini-arguments ending with me saying, ‘I could SO punch you in the face right now.’ But she’s my sister, and I love her to death, even though I may want to put nair in her shampoo sometimes.
So we’ll see how this month goes. I’m sure I’m going to go crazy with all the doctor talk that’s going to happen at the dinner table. Claudine and Dave go into doctor mode and use a lot of big words that my tiny brain can’t comprehend. But it also could be a lot of fun, it’ll be nice to have someone else in the house, especially when Dave is on call.
But she better be making me some brownies sometime. If she doesn’t, her clothes are out the window!
