Show and Tell

Here's Amanda and I at One World. We all ate there on her last day of work. Facing the windows was too bright for my eyes, so Jess let me borrow is sunglasses. Amanda joined in the fun for a photo op.
Here's the cone-head dog post surgery. She was doing so well about leaving the wound alone that she was cone-free for most of Saturday.
I made this photo small, so the stitches don't pop off the screen. Not sure everyone would want to see a fuzzy dog but closeup.
Here's Grandpa celebrating the 43rd anniversary of his 39th birthday. It was quite the fun day. We used the 2 and 8 for my birthday, so Mom thought we were done with them. I said I would still be in my 20's. Grandpa said he's still be in his 80's. Tom said he's be turning 32...so we could use the 2 and cut apart the 8 to make a 3.

Most everyone I know was sharing their March 29th snow photos, so I thought I would do the same. This is out the front window. Too bad I couldn't get Jinkies in the shot. He would stand on his hind legs attempting to look out the window. He just wasn't quite tall enough.

Looking Forward

I have plenty of things to look forward to in the future. Some of them being the Bradley game with Tom and hopefully the Muno's on Tuesday, the start of the Cubs and Chiefs seasons, a couple concerts, a trip to Denver, and the search for a new boyfriend. All is good in my world, just still looking for the guy that will be the right fit for me and me for him.

I had a good weekend with the family and promise to post some photos on Monday and catchup on my blogging a bit. Everyone has to see Grandpa with the Birthday Hat!!!

Goonies meets America's Next Top Model

When Sandra and I were watching America's Next Top Model (ANTM) last week, I was finally able to place the face of one of the contestants.

Meet grownup Goonies actor, Martha Plimpton, and one of this year's ANTM contestant, Celia.

Mai Guys!

Iron, iron, and more iron

So, I've been attempting to prep for my platelet donation tomorrow. I was low in iron last time, so I've been trying to eat iron rich foods this week. Can you say spinach, artichokes, fruits, grainy cereals, clams, and chicken livers? Yep, I said chicken livers. I'm sure I've tried them at some point in my life, but I couldn't really remember what they tasted like. Tonight I thought I could add a little something to my leftover portabella mushroom quesadilla with a side of fried chicken livers. They tasted alright, but I'm wondering if they taste better when hot... who knows?
I'm feeling lazy tonight and still need to get a few photos off my phone and post them in the next day or so...sorry.

Tonight.

So tonight was somewhat of a surprising evening. Charlie so kindly let us off work an hour early to enjoy the nice weather... can't argue with that. I got home and went for a walk. Shortly after, Sandra called to invite me over for dinner. Trying to keep tabs on my iron this week, I ate at home and then joined everyone for a bit of chit-chatting. My platelet appointment is scheduled for Saturday.

I had to leave the Iadiapaolo's a bit early than I hoped because I promised to make some banana bread tonight. Sandra was hoping to steal a couple pieces, but I said there's no chance my coworkers will leave any leftover. I stole some of her bananas and I currently have two banana breads baking in the oven. I hope they get done soon, so I can go to bed and catch some Z's.

Sunday

I attempted to sleep in Sunday after the long day on Saturday and not getting to bed until 1:00amish. I should have feed Jinkies more when I got home because he didn't want me to sleep past 7:30. I was kind of dragging most of Sunday, but was awake enough to draft my fantasy baseball team known as the Mai Guys. I fairly pleased with the talent this group has and look forward to the season starting up in a few weeks.

I took a little time to pull together all of their photos, but I forgot the file at work. I will place the image in here when I get a chance tomorrow.

I will say, I'm surprised I have 3 Cubs on my team... especially one being a pitcher. I always kind of second guess myself when I put them in the starting lineup because I'm afraid I might jinx them. Didn't you know my fantasy baseball team impacts the real world? :)

Saturday

Mom and I were totally stylin' on Saturday during the 3D Under the Sea IMAX show. I give Mom credit, she only jumped a few times during the film. She wasn't quite as entertaining as when we saw Sea Monsters in 3D
After the IMAX, a stop at Whitey's Ice Cream Parlor, and an attempt at shoe shopping. We made our way to the River Center to pick up Mom's meet and greet pass for Little Big Town. We had about an hour and half to find something to eat before we had to be back to the venue. Unfortunately, Davenport was having their St. Patty's Day celebration that evening, so almost every food establishment we found had drunkin' green folk spewing out into the street. We settled on Quizno's, where they had run out of turkey... yeah, I can't explain that one.

As you can see from my previous entery, we made it back to the venue in time for Mom to meet the band. If you could meet any band, who would you want to meet??? I still have Sheryl Crow on my list.

I bought a Zac Brown Band t-shirt and we made it to our seats to enjoy the show. We were second row, just off center. Absolutely excellent seats for a floor seat only show. Here's a photo of Zac Brown and his band. They can definitely play, and put on a great show!
Little Big Town took to the stage shortly after ZBB got done playing. Phillip's microphone was placed directly infront of us. See photo below. Phillip is who tossed me the guitar picks. The first one tipped off my finger and one of the girls (see back of the head on the left side of photo) in the first row got it. He ended up tossing another one in my direction and I caught it with no problems. One side says "I'm with the Band" (a song title) and the other is imprinted with his signature.
Here's another picture with the whole group, singing only with the two guitars. The last verse and/or chorus they sang without the mics or guitars. It was WAY cool!

Playing Catchup

After a fun weekend of going to Davenport with Mom on Saturday and then drafting my fantasy baseball team on Sunday, I had to get some work done today. Thankfully it was an absolutely beautiful day, so I was able to work outside some. I even took the time to add some more pvc pipe and caulk to the "water wall" in the basement. I'm so very glad I took the day off. I caught up on

Here's a photo of Mom meeting Little Big Town. From Left to Right: Phillip, Kimberly, Momma, Karen, and Jimi. The day was a blast and I look forward to sharing a couple more stories about the weekend.... need to get a few photos off my phone first.

Odd day at work.

Charlie called another team meeting today. After everything that's been going on in the office, I asked if it was for good or bad news. Well, he had a little bit of everything. Then I asked if I should hide under my desk now or later. He told me later... so I joined everyone for the meeting.






Well, there's no more wondering going on in my head and playing out all the possible scenarios of what's going to happen to Amanda's position (we got good work news last week and Charlie gave her the option to come back full-time). After working part-time spending a few days home a week with her lovely son, who just began crawling, she's decided to end the Mcomm chapter of her life. It's a chapter I'm very glad I was able to share with her and the rest of the team. Maybe now she'll have time to fit in the Scooby Doo-a-thon I've mentioned over a dozen times.

So, what's the good news? Apparently several items on our paychecks have not been being pulled out at the appropriate time, pre-taxes...something like that. After Charlie and Gina met with the accountant, it turns out (thank goodness) it's been an error in our favor. The accountant said he would fill out the paperwork for all of our Tax Return Amendments for 07 and 08. Thank goodness I don't have to deal with that paperwork, considering it was not my error.

Monday Special

Deciding to leave the other have of my $5 foot long Subway sandwich at work for tomorrow's lunch, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I like to browse the meat section for the orange stickered items. I started in the seafood section and my eyes got locked onto a package of alligator.

After some thinking...(when will I ever get the chance to eat alligator again, at this price?)... I dropped the package into my sack. I wasn't quite sure how to prepare it, so I just boiled it like I do any other seafood I buy. I'm guessing not the best way to prepare it because it was a bit chewy, but it had a very good taste... no, it did not taste like chicken. Maybe I'll try to spice up the leftovers tomorrow with some type of sauce... we'll see.

In case you didn't believe me.

(Don't) Watchmen

I normally see it as a good idea to avoid all previews and write-ups of a movie, if I know I'm going to see it in the theater. That means I haven't already seen all the good or funny parts, and I get my money's worth.

This was not even close to true with the movie, Watchmen. I thought it was going to be similar to X-men... boy was I wrong! Matt didn't even care for the movie. You go to a movie to see the special effects, but watching a bullet blow through a leg in slow-motion is not the added detail I want to see. The storyline of the movie didn't help matters, nor did the unlikelable characters. Apparently this was a comic book movie, not a superhero movie.

Ugh.

I was totally going to blog more tonight, but it took until now to get my computer back up and running properly, and in that time, I believe I drank some not so good orange juice and my stomach isn't feel all that swell right now. I just bought the OJ today, so I figured it was just a slightly different taste because of it being brand X. My stomach is telling me otherwise right now.

So, the basic gist of what I was going to blog about is all the possessed doors that I am surrounded by. The garage door that opens and closes whenever it pleases. The bedroom door that "breathes" open every time the heat comes on. Today, the newest edition was the spastic CD-rom drive that was opening and closing every 10 seconds. I thought I was going to lose my mind. Getting 1 out of 3 fixed isn't too bad. Thank you to Nicholas G. at the HP online helpdesk.

One Busted-up Puppy Dog

I never thought I'd have the opportunity to call Lizze Tripod and Conehead at the same time! If you haven't heard already, the Bartonville Olson's went through a traumatic couple of days last week when Lizzie dislocated her hip, TWICE within 36 hours.

I just happen to be over there when the second incident happened and joined Mom and Dad to the emergency veterinarian Friday night. Below are a few photos of the unlucky dog.
Note: The bump shouldn't be there.

For a change, my weekend actually seemed like it was long enough. I had lunch with the "Homeshow" crowd over at the Burger Barge on Saturday and then had dinner and a movie with Matt that night. If you have not seen the 3rd installment of the Mummy movies, you might want to check it out.

I managed to get all of my laundry done on Saturday, so that left Sunday free to get Mom out of the house and bum around town with her. I also helped Grandpa finish another puzzle. Okay, I actually took it upon myself to start and finish the puzzle within an hour. No, it was not a 25 piece puzzle, it was a 500 piece puzzle. I should have taken a photo of it, but just picture Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Laura, Tom and I gathered infront of my parents' house for a photo. It's really weird to find Dad's beard on a puzzle piece... or should I say two puzzle pieces.