Well - it was an eventful morning...I got an email from John. He got into a car accident today. Nobody was hurt thankfully! He was driving to work and there was a minivan parked on the side of a busy road and the guy in the van opened his door just as John drove by. He was going about 35 mph and he said at first he thought he actually hit a person bc the guy screamed! He had to sit and wait for the cop to do all the stuff cops do...exchanged insurance info...and sometime we'll have to take the truck to the shop. Hopefully the guys insurance will cover a rental or its gonna be a lot of a.m. shmoopy time in the carpool lane! ha! Heres a pic of the truck - it wasnt as bad as I was expecting but the mirror is gone!

And for those of you wondering what J-Mac has up his sleeve for this weekend...lets just say the preparations have already begun. Feast your eyes on the 2 pork shoulders he just picked up from the deli. (Yes we had to special order this) We're up to close to 15 teams for the Beer pong tourney - - stay tuned for lots of good pics! HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

"Hey, Where's our Memorial Blog?"

Can I be REALLY insensitive for a second, here?

Ok. Barbaro was euthanized. My family only had a dog growing up and a string of Ascension/Immaculate Festival goldfish that lived limited lives. Loosing Bandit was difficult but he lived a long happy life so I feel like those things are somewhat easier to get over.

As I was reading the msn.com report on Barbaro…. I went right to “Post your comments”….I was curious to see if anyone had the same feelings as I did, and I found that, at least the limited responses I could see, no one did.

Am I crazy to think the obsession with this horse is a little bit over the top? When Barbaro first went down, his stable had a mountain of “Princess Di/JFK Junior-esqe” posters and shrines out side in his honor. Here are a few, albeit, insensitive facts:

1 – Barbaro will not read your card. Unlike Mr. Ed, Barbaro cannot speak nor can he read your posters. If you feel the need to use up a marker or pen, redirect that message to an anonymous solder in Iraq, or a Veteran in a nursing home, or a Young Child in a Burn Unit. These creatures are able to read English and therefore, may be a little more receptive to your well-wishes. If you wish to send anything to Barbaro, send positive energy. Animals can feel that. Even more than humans can.

2 – Why is it that Barbaro was spared where as most horses down in Junior Varsity would have been shot on site? Could it be that from this “stud”, more of his prize winning sperm could have been extracted from him? We will never know how much he suffered post-injury. Could it be that his owners put up a front of “Barbaro is such a fighter” to give the impression that this horse was really was fighting? Its crushing to think that this poor horse lived a miserable 8 months so the owners could try and salvage a few more drops of that profitable horse goo.

3 – Barbaro has probably consumed more (and better quality) food than you will in your entire life. Take that apple and various other fruit products down to your local homeless shelter. Don’t lay it by the fence for Barbaro.

4 - I let John read this and his response was, "Yeah, and half the people making these posts were probably sitting in front of a steak"....

Im not trying to be some nasty, pet/animal hater, but the scores and scores of people posting are just DISTRAUGHT!!! When all the while there are children and adults who are living in poverty and would have loved to have eaten that apple, sad & lonely veterans who would have loved and appreciated that card, and MILLIONS of UNINSURED Americans waiting on a fraction of the medical care that this horse received.

How can we be so selective about the direction of our sympathy and aid???

Im sure that Barbaro was a charismatic, loving animal and well loved by his riders, his caregivers and fans, and its sad that he had to endure pain of ANY KIND at anytime, but where is the emotional passion for every other race horse that had to be shot? Perhaps if thier genetics were worth more they too, would have been deemed a "fighter"...

Feel free to blast me on this...I understand most people dont share my sentiments.

So...its Sunday and I promised to try and post SOMETHING once a week. I just took this picture...this is what Im looking at right now. John reading a rugby book and watching the Simpsons. I just realized how stacy is going to go nuts when she sees those curtians all in a disarray...Shes been to our house about four times in the last year and everytime she makes a beeline to curtians and "fixes" them. I think the problem is that the floorheater is behind the couch coupled with the fact that we coudl have just put the curtain rod just a "smidge" higher to have avoided the "bunching"....and dont tell me...I know putting the couch in front of the heater isnt the smartest thing, but im anal about where I want my furniture and there was just NO WAY around this.
Another thing that you may have noticed is the two-toned end table. When we moved in we got all excited to paint the two end tables and the coffee tables black to match the dining room chairs, and well, it just didnt happen. We got one end table done, all the drawers and john got as far as sanding and priming the coffee table. You can see it in our basement this weekend. So that corner of the room has been empty for months, just wating on the finished endtable, and has just become a "area" for throwing general junk. Its a magnet for anything I dont want to put way and thats just about everything. So I brought up the table a few weeks ago and John looked at me like I was crazy. I said, "Unless you want to paint this thing this week, Im bringing it up, I dont care how stupid it looks." So there it is. And I bet you wouldnt have noticed it if I didnt tell you! From here on out, we're calling it "character".

Id like to say we had a really exciting week, but we havent. Ive spent all weekend either on the couch watching TV or trying to get the place ready for the Beer Pong tournament this weekend. Im so excited! Ive got the basement pretty much ready...just need to mop and BLEACH the floor and make it as clean as possible...nothing like germ infested ping pong balls dropping into cup after cup after numerous bounces on the floor.

I spent three hours cleaning our room yesterday...we took a lot of clothes to goodwill and finally got the blue room cleaned again. Washed ALL the linens and made the spare room bed, the futon bed in the blue room and got the air matress out...unfortunately the battery operated air pump was corroded with battery acid when I tried to use it. I sent john out for a new one and he came back with a foot pump....um....howboutno. So we'll either have to borrow one or buy one. Either way we should have couches or beds for 10 and plenty of floor space. Im a little concerned about making sure anyone who shouldnt be driving, WONT. But we're all adults I guess, the best I can do is encourage it and thats about it. Here's the bedroom I worked on all last night - MOM!! LOOK!!! I cleaned my room! I swear! Theres nothing under my bed!!!!!

My mom once got so fed up with me when I was in high school she took a broom and I got home and there was like a four foot pile of JUNK that she had pulled out from under my bed. I had no option but to put it away. And as many of you know, I HATE putting things away. In general. One other thing thats been on probably the last seventeen household "to-dos" lists Ive made is to pull the blue tape off the ceiling in the bedroom. I keep saying Im going to "touch up" the paint in there, as there are a lot of "thin spots" which is my excuse to not pull it down....For those of you coming to the beer pong tournament this weekend, feel free to sneak into the bedroom and pull it down. Ill be forever grateful.
That "area" in front of my closet had baskets full of clean clothes that Ive been digging into and pulling from for the last month or so. Ill clean my clothes, but again, its the putting away things Im not real keen on. Whats nice is that John has his own little matching pile on the other side of bed. Between the two of us, there is just no motivation to keep things "tidy". Thats why we throw parties. Its the only way Ill get motivated to do some heavy duty cleaning.

Looking forward to even more cleaning this week...Im taking a half day on Tuesday for the plumber to come and finally fix the bathroom sink...(um, yeah its not fixed yet) Definitely have to have that ready for the party. They think they'll have to bust out more wall (from the pictures before) in the kitchen to avoid breaking tile in the bathroom. UGH. Another "rigged up" home improvement. Who wants to patch drywall when we've got all these big posters in the house. Im sure that poster of Rudolph Valentino will look lovely in the kitchen.

Katy! You & Shane coming down for the beer pong tourney??

Desperately Seeking Xeloda!!!!

So listen to the Rx Nightmare I found myself in last night…This was ridiculous and on the front end let me just say that most of this was MY FAULT, but to remedy the situation should not have been this hard!!!

I should have started my Xeloda on Saturday morning, which meant I should have called the Rx in on Wednesday so I could get it delivered to work on Thurs/Fri.

I was so busy I forgot….and the Mail-order Pharmacy where I get it was closed on the weekend so I had to wait until Monday to Order.

I called it in Monday, they said, “No problem, we’ll get it right out, this is your last refill.” (Meaning I just needed Romer to put in another Rx is all)

So Monday at work, by like 2, Im thinking, it should have been here by now, I should probably have the shipment tracked.

So I call, and they’re all, “Oh, Mrs. McLaughlin, that shipment was denied, you’re insurance is not with us anymore” Oh really? Thanks for calling to let me know. Its just chemo….

It turns out my insurance co sent new Rx Pharmacy cards out, and they switched to a new place. I saw the cards come in and I didn’t even open the envelope, I just thought it was an update of the current plan….WRONG!!!!

So now its late Tuesday afternoon and Im freaking out. I call the new place and they get me all set up and tell me that they can call the old pharmacy and transfer the prescription and then mail it out. That will take too long.

So I ask If a local pharmacy can transfer it and if I could just pick it up from them. They said that would be fine.

So I call CVS, give them the old place to pull that Rx (What sucks about this is that when they mail it, I get billed. To pick it up in person, I have to front the copay on the spot. A gut-punching $238.00 for 84 pills – every three weeks)

So I give CVS the number, and they say it will just take awhile to get the Rx transferred and to come by around 6 or 7

I call before I head over there and they say that they called the number and there was no record of my Name NOR my prescription.

After some tearful investigation, I find that I gave them the 1800 number to the Phoenix location, NOT the Chicago one I was using.

So I call CVS and give them the right number.

They call me back and tell me that they called that number, and again……no dice.

I call the place back in tears and they say, “Uh, no…you’re right here in the system, one refill left, just have them call us”

So I call CVS for the FOURTH time and give them a detailed account number. Its quarter till 7 at this point. CVS Closes at 9.

Ten after 8 CVS calls me and says that they successfully got the Rx transferred and I picked up my meds and finally got my mom off my back about it!!!

I think the Murphy of Murphy’s law was working at my old pharmacy. It was definitely a good lesson to learn about staying on top of these things. I was a wreck last night...and im sorry for making you endure this painful post.

Did anyone else wait with bated breath to see the over-hyped 2hour show on the history channel about the lost city of Atlantis? Ive held a secret obsession with All things Atlantis, rushed home after my volleyball game to see it, and it was an utter disapointment. Im too tired to discuss this but feel free to contribute if you saw it. Hype something, dismiss it, hype something, dismiss it....only the last 5 min seemed worthy of two hours but it was just used to keep everyone scratching thier heads

This show did NOT deliver what all the hype had you expecting.

I give it a C-

The best part of the 2 hour show as the 20 min i spent flipping back to the Hills to see what LC and the rest of the overprivelaged skank patrol are getting into these days. Now that was enjoyable.

Ok - Two Main things to cover in this post....Mother Daughter Weekend 2007 & a little "project" I worked on tonight to get the basement ready for the next two weekends

(Im having some ladies over on Friday for scrapbooking/two weeks is the beer pong tournament...)

So this weekend was the 5th Annual Mother Daughter Excursion. That picture above is of the journal we've been writing in for a few years. Its hard to keep up with it..especially when you're hungover the next morning...(Sharon! just cut this blog entry out and slap 'er on in!)

We headed back to Covington and stayed at the Embassy Suites. Mom and I got an early start - she came down and picked me up and then we headed back up to Middletown for lunch at Applebees.

After lunch - I convinced everyone to go shopping at OTP. I will use any occasion as an excuse to go to OTP. I got a cute basket for my scrapbooking stuff and a new rug for the front door. (For some insane reason I had a white berber rug there and it was the WORST Idea ever....its FILTHY and impossible to keep clean) We spent enough time there....then it was time to head down to that free happy hour at Embassy Suites!!

We got there, had a few beers and headed down to happy hour, continued to drink, and when it was over headed back upstairs to the rooms, where more drinking ensued. Nobody knew where we were going or what we were doing - so I made the announcement that we would head out at 9:15. Sharon laughed at me and I told her I knew why - She thinks Im being just like my micro-managed father. He wouldnt have been more proud if I had pulled out my own Franklin Planner and handed out detiailed iteneraries to all the participants.

So we hopped on the bus and headed down to Mainstrausse...its kind of like the Oregon District of Covington. My idea was to go "Bar Hopping"...but I should know by now, we find one place, get comfortable, and usually get so drunk we're out before midnight. This year was no different. We got to the bar and Mom, Jess, Mandi and I stayed while everyone else went out to get something to eat.

One of our "goals" of the evening was to find someone who graduated in 74 - (the same year as the moms) It didnt get off to a good start. As predicted, they were approaching people who looked liked they were in their 30'....eventually though, we found someone. Our goal was to find four people, but I think the moms got discouraged and may have just been scared to find out who was their age. This guy did SAY he grad in 74 but looking back....the way he answered, he may have been coached...

Headed back to the hotel and ordered pizzas...I ordered WAY too much and there were 2 uneaten pizzas this morning - Mandi - If you read this - my mom gave Brenda money to give to you! Im sorry I was passed out cold when the food arrived. I did manage to wake up long enough to cram 2 slices down before passing out again....

Now heres a funny story - Two years ago when we were at the Embassy we met this really wierd girl who had just gotten married and was on her honeymoon. Long story short - she hung out with us and was later referred to as "Danger Stranger"....its kind of become our thing to attract odd people. Well, we had gone all night without bringing a random stranger into the fold, and so one of the moms popped her head out the door, and grabbed the first couple off the elevator and invited them in for a beer (perhaps WE'VE become the "Danger Strangers" perhaps)

This couple was coming in from the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and before I tell you what happened next, stop reading for two seconds and JUST GUESS....

Thats right. Pam KNEW this woman. Shes a waitress at Nortons. Im not kidding. This happens everywhere and no longer surprises us that much. here we all are:

Then...of course....the best part....Made-to-order omelettes for breakfast at the best view in town!!! It was a great time as usual - post any interesting stories if Ive forgotten..Woke up to the first snowfall of the year! Im excited for the first overnight snow when I can get into my car - in the garage - and be the jerk who didnt have to scrape their windows! Ive always wanted to be that jerk. Heres the back yard today:

Ok - Second subject...My Sunday "Project"

So - Im not happy with the basement. Its unfinished, and at this rate will be for some time. So I wanted to create some sort of divider that runs along the front of the storage shelves, the washer & Dryer and the basin. Just to chip into the eye-soreyness of it all. We're holding the beer pong tournament down there and I just wanted to remedy this. I told John I was feeling "Inspired" and set out for supplies. I have to say I spent a lot less than what I had thought I would have. Here is what that wall of the basment looked like before:
BEFORE:

Supplies Needed: 2 - 10 feet pieces of conduit pipe (super cheap at Lowes...like $6 for it all), needle nosed pliers, one roll of pliable wire, small screw-in hooks.

5-shower curtians. I was worried that this would break the bank but I found some nice cotton ones for $10 each at Target.

5-shower curtian hooks - These can get pricey. I just went to Odd Lots and paid $1 for each set.

The Process: I basically hung the conduit from the wire attached to the screw-in hooks. then added the shower curtains.

Its exactly what I wanted, but it will take some getting used to. Hopefully gravity will do its job and the wrinkles will go away. Now if I could just clean the rest of the basement!

AFTER:

GOOD NEWS!!!
TUMOR MARKER RESULTS FROM FRIDAY: 67 - (DOWN FROM 71 three months ago!!!)

More tomorrow...we're off to haps to celebrate!!!

This post is dedicated to Cole Slaw and Sweet potatoes

Ok - so for almost 30 years, I have always felt secure in the idea of what foods were on my "I dont like these foods" list. Cole Slaw and sweet potatoes are definitely on this list. Every now and then, Ill put a spoonful of slaw on my plate and eat it for the sake of being at a cook out, but OFFICALLY, my stance is that I dont like either.

Until now.

A few weeks ago when we were over in Oxford for Brendans cookout, He had a massive bowl of cole slaw that, I, out of "cook-out obligation" scooped a small amount onto my plate. That was the beginning of something great. As if he had laced it with cocaine, I was heading back for more a few minutes later.

"Whats up with the cole slaw?" I asked. "Its really good!"

"Bleu Cheese"

Ahhh.......Ok, so long story short, I am not only EATING slaw with enthusiasm now, but I actually MADE a batch yesterday....with bleu cheese of course. You may think it sounds gross, but its not. Its awesome.

And sweet potatoes. Again, my offical stance is that I do not like sweet potatoes (Although I will admit muching on some SP chips at some point)....So John starts cooking dinner tonight and I see that he has two big sweet potatoes boiling. I dont say anything, even though I know for a FACT that we have had the discussion that I didnt like sweet potatoes, I dont do the cooking, there fore I dont complain.

So I run out to pick up my rx of Ambien and when I get back? Whats waiting for me? See the photo above...Its Sweet POtato Fries. That guy chopped those sweet potatoes up and fried the suckers, and they were AWESOME. Lets not even mention the side of chipotle mayo he whipped up. ....it was so incredible I took a picture of the plate.

Never say never!!!! Switching two more foods from the DONT LIKE list to the LIKE list probably will not help any future diets I plan on failing, but whatever. It was worth mentioning.

Kat - sorry I didnt call you back. John wasnt feeling well yesterday and I didnt get your message until later.

***If you havent taken "The Quiz" yet...I suggest you take it...its posted below.

Another Check up with romer on Friday

Had my regular check up with Romer on Friday morning. Same old Same old. Mom noticed that it has rained for ALL of my appointments. Something just dawned on me as I wrote that. Back to that later..

One loud discussion on "my daughter is lookign for that weight watchers book with the calculator" and two employees helping us later, we all conclude that the book is not there.

Today I took a walk down at Winton Woods. Ive dropped my expensive mp3 player so many times that now the touch screen doesnt work. So I can only play it randomly. Which is ok I guess. I had downloaded my Chi Gong onto it so I could do it by the pond during my walks but I cant do that anymore. There's 2000 some songs in there and It it rarely comes up.

But while I was walking, and scrolling through songs, I told myself that if the Chi Gong routine came up I would stop where I was and do it. A few minutes later, it came on...and it was the 16 minute long version that I hate doing. So I stopped in the light rain by the lake and did it. It felt great. The Chi Gong often gives you this glowing, energetic feeling and really puts you in good spirits. When I finished, I started walking, and what random song came up? The song that I consider JP & I's song. Its by Vanessa Carlton and its called "Ordinary Boy". I always think of my son when I hear it and it just helps me to think that there was something bigger going on and that he was some wise soul who was trying to teach me something....I guess Im still learning.

If you get a chance, Google "ordinary boy"...its a beautiful song

So all in all, it was one of the best walks Ive had in a while. It was dark and overcast and it was lightly raining the whole time. and I was in such a good mood over it all and I was thinking to myself how much I love overcast days and rain. I cant put my finger on it I just enjoy it. Sunny days are fine too, but I was just walking and smiling to myself the whole time.

And It was as I had this "I love the rain" epiphany that I remembered that mom mentioned that it has rained for every one of my appointments for as long as we can remember.

Just because it looks like rain, doesnt mean its gonna suck.

One more thing, I get these bone strength injections when I go to chemo and I was talking to a woman who had a great new saying:

"Smart is the new skinny"

love it.

How well do you know FORT??? Take my quiz! Take This Quiz See Scores Make Own Quiz

CHeck it out! I was able to post this on my blog AS WELL as my myspace page. Ill post some more tomorrow. I understand that this is mostly OU stuff, but give it a whirl.

Tonight Judy, Bobby & Willy came down to Cincinnati and John & I went with them to my cousin Andy's game vs. Cincinnati State...Clark State gave an impressive effort with 73 points..I think andy had 12-15? but it was not enough to beat CS's 112 points!!! What an NBA effort...at one point they had THREE dunks in a row. It woud have been nice to see Clark State dunk, but lets face it who doesnt like to see a dunk? I took some horrible pictures:

Well, my husband may very well divorce me over this whole new myspace addiction...and its why the blog has taken such a serious hit. Well, that and for those of you that dont know...I got written up for blogging at work. It was a few months ago. My boss was like, "You really are a great writer, but Im going to need you to sign right here."

It was a big wake up call, but I didnt have a whole lot on my plate at the time so in stead of asking for more work...well...I dont really want to talk about it. The good news is that Ive been slammed at work with all the private railroading stuff and the Ready Tools stuff...Its been keeping me really busy at work and Ive really been busier and happier and the days are flying by which is great.

As for blog-worthy events..there are none!!! The hole is still in the wall, the sink still doesnt work, I was supposed to have our maintence guy call my cousin Doug to get the sink situation fixed, but Im lazy. I dont have an excuse. We have been using the fireplace quite a bit though....those starter logs are the shiz-nit!

Im just trying to get something up here so I can go to bed! I promise Ill post something tomorrow or friday...Ive got nothing going on this weekend so Ill try and catch up. For those of you who get bored and need a good blog to read, Stetson started a myspace page and has been posting some good drunken story blogs...So good Ive been tempted to cut and paste his stories in my own blog...is that wrong???

Heres another thing I DONT really want to blog about. I got sick of looking at my fake blond hair and dark brown roots, so I died it again....brown...and it SUUUCCCKS. Suckety-suck-suck-sucks!!!! To add insult to injury, the length is awful and I look like I have a hair helmet. It takes a handful of strong Elmers glue like paste to sculpt it into anything respectable and it still looks like crap. I look like a man. I told john that we should now be considered life partners. He did not like that idea.

Im going to try not to get into the myspace thing but Im hoping that this crack-like addiction will soon subside. I thought I was too old, too good for it, but I have to be perfectly honest in saying that finding all these friends from high school and college and seeing how great everyone is doing is awesome.

Heres an example of the fun Im having - I was on a younger OU rugby players myspace page...he mentioned that one of his most favorite memories from OU was the party where the porch collapsed. I dont know if he knew this but i had a picture of that event. I was out in the yard and I was going to get a shot of everyone up on the porch...and when it got too over crowded, the whole thing collapsed. Thank god it was just low enough NOT to have people underneath...otherwise it woudnt have been so funny. Anyway...I posted this on his page:

Thats it for now...I promise...Im making a new commitment...at LEAST one blog entry per week...Lets shoot for monday mornings....I can commit a Sunday from here on out, at least!

Ok - Furnace got fixed...there was a bird of some sort stuck down there..

went to the Fairmont/Alter game...dont want to talk about it...I think im going to be sick....

Yeah...Im pathetic, I know. What do you want to know about my holiday? That I spent probably a combined total of 12-13 hours of shoveling cookies, spin dip, cocktail weenies and other various holiday goodies down my pie hole? Well thats what happened. Drove up to the lake, hungout with the in-laws, Erin, Aileen and their clans...

Oh and PS - I was informed that I was not allowed to get into the box of jarred salsa, apple butter and various other things until I officially made Aileen and Katy READERS OF THE MONTH....

READERS OF THE MONTH:

AILEEN HORCH and KATY STIERWALT!!!!
Way to go ladies!...chomp, chomp, THanks for your support!!! >gulp<

Well, as many of you know, having a house has its ups and downs....heres a recap of our last week:

Below - we finally got our sink replaced in the downstairs bathroom...as you can see - we have mad that bathroom our homage to the McLaughlins and the Carpers...works out as I had a ton of dorm room frames that didnt really "GO' with any particular room...and we needed a place to put john's diploma. The sink in there originally was as old as the house. Corroded out dial knobs and it leaked, bad...all the time. when you would walk by the bathroom you could HEAR it running and you could tighten the knobs to stop it from running. Only took us NINE months to fix it...not bad.

Then we got all ambitious and decided to have our new maintence guy - (Tom, a guy who's business card I found at the local harware store and charges a fraction of the labor + a receipt of what he spent on supplies) put in the sink upstairs. We bought it about six months ago and its been sitting in our living room or our dining room ever since...looks good, huh?

But course, if anything went as planned, it wouldnt be OUR life, right? So the guy gets it all in, but now theres a problem with the drain pipe, I heard statements like, "The previous intsaller did it incorrectly" and words like "Galvanized" and "I cant access behind the wall and I dont want to break the tile" .....So I suggested that maybe he could get to it from the kitchen wall, behind the cabinet above the stairs going down to the den...I lead the charge and helped him remove the cabinet... I felt like an archiologist, only instead of finding what tools our ancestors used to kill their prey, I found out what horrible taste they had in wall paper.....

.....And well....since the cabinet could go right back up....I gave him an "all systems go" on trying to get to that pipe....

Long story short? The cabinet is still on the floor, along with a box of non-perishables, the hole is still in the wall, the sink cannot be used, our furnace is not working...(its 55 degrees in here) We dont know why...oh god...thats a whole other story...someone is coming tomorrow to look at it, in the meantime we've got a fire going which really isnt doing SHIT, and john just got a space heater for the bedroom... We dont know WHAT is wrong...the gas is fine bc we have hot water. Who knows. Thank God we're fat and fend for ourselves in the meantime.

On a brighter note, john installed a new garage door opener and I have a remote and we cleaned out the garage and I can fit my car into it!!! So excited. I want it to snow, so now I too, can be one of those assholes on a snowy morning that DOESNT HAVE TO SCRAPE!!!!! FINALLY!!!! IVE ARRIVED!!!!:

What would YOU do?

This little gem was sent to me today and Im wondering...what would YOU Say if you were the librarian?? Or better yet, what would you actually say and what would you WANT to say??

From MOM:
"I just read The Polar Express to the afternoon kindergarten....after the story, I give each student a bell on a necklace, and tell themI talked to one of Santa's elves and asked if he could get them fromSanta's sleigh (just like in the book)...the kids were SO excited...EXCEPTfor one (who KNOWS EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING)..."they're not from Santa'sleigh, you don't know an elf, there are Santas everywhere, Santa's comingto MY house first,"....it's amazing how ONE kid can ruin a story for therest of the class - drives me crazy. Oh well, the rest of them reallyENJOYED the story and believed the elf story.Just had to get that off my chest."

So? What would you say to little Johnny?

ITS OFFICIAL....I have no life.

I fought it tooth and nail...when they said how fun it was, I said I was too old for that. Stacy told me not to. But everybody was doing it. I got a taste...and I have now fallen into the social abyss that is.....myspace.

so without further ado.....

http://www.myspace.com/fort00

Check out my new License plate!!!
(when I emailed the idea to Stacy, she wrote me back and was something along the lines of this: "When I first read that, I was like, SHRIVER? As in Maria Shriver? And then I thought the connection to the Kennedys and how you love democrats & I thought, Oh Fort, you're so political"....I wish I could actually find the email - I was dying. This email is also appropriate because legend has it, that on my 21st birthday as I was barfing up a full night of non-stop shots, beers & mixed drinks, I would periodically lift my head up and proclaim, "Fort's a SURVIOR"...(I dont remember this)

Ok - We had NOTHING - NOTHING going on this past weekend. For the first time in about FOUR months. It was weird. Brendan posted he was going to have a cookout Saturday night so we said what the HAY. John was off to the grocery store to pick up beer and I said, "Eh, I dont feel like drinking tonight. Just pick me up a 2 liter of Diet Sprite." He stopped in his tracks, smiled, nodded, and did just that. We get to Brendans, and they both crack a beer and needless to say that was all the peer pressure I needed. I was eyeballing that Fifth of Captains and the Coke Zero and that was it. We decided to stay.

The group picture above is us in a bunch of Napoleon Dynamite-esque shirts that Brendan made with the intention of selling at a recent Notre-Dame game. They were made for the new coach of ND & brendan claims he got drunk and forgot to sell them...so he gave them away to his rugby girls & some friends...

Check out these hot college guys we met at the bar. Damn!

Ok - Every once in awhile stacy gets caught in a situation and she wishes that I was there for support. I had one of those moments when I noticed these homemade looking espadrilles. Ok. Maybe they ARE cute and woudl have looked great in my bridesmaid dress...but Ok. I was drunk, I was in a hoodie and a ball cap, and my first instinct is to poke fun at the overdressed when Im feeling somewhat underdressed. It only gets worse as I get older....

So I slyly get my camera ready, walk over to the juke box, and hold my camera down and act like im playing the jukebox and take the picture. It may not been that subtle, as I was only four feet away from the girl and it did require a flash...Judge for yourself.

Ok - Im not trying to be disgusting, but seriously. I HAD to take a picture of this bathroom stall at The Balcony....Im not going to go into details, but this really IS as small as it looks and five more pounds and my chances of using this facility would be SERIOUSLY at risk. There was another girl in there and I was like, "This stall is SOOO small!!! Im totally taking a picture of it for my blog!" It sounded reasonable at the time, but in my state of mind, it was probably the girl in the espadrilles who was later making fun of ME as I took her picture.

Just sitting here watching the bengals game - Tied 10 10 - I get too nervous during these games, Ill probably head to bed soon and check it out tomorrow. John is working 2nd shift all week so Ill really only see him sleeping, as he will I. A nice vacay from his annoying wife! ALthough Its gotta be killing him to be working during a bengals game!!!

man, NOTHING exciting has been going on...so Ill post a few pictures my mom took of the Chili Cook off...better late than never

Here's Nick with Annie (Alisa's) and Emma (Stacy's) little girls. Big ol' teddy bear....WHO DAY!
Here's Johnny Mac with Pauly - THE GRAND CHAMPION. He won hands down.
J-Mac presenting the second runner up award to Tony Schenke....
Kenny Hamric took off because apparently his cat was stuck in his walls and his roomate was freaking out. So he just left, missing his "Burnt Pot" award for worst chili. Think of a big pot of manwich...but greasier and soupier....John posed for this picture with the idea that we could superimpose kenny into it later...hmmm....that will keep me busy for the next few hours...

NOthing planned for this weekend...I think.

Ok - I know im making some sort of breach by posting this picture off the photographers website...but It let me! and I was going to direct you to her website anyway so you were going to see this picture no matter what... she'll probably have some more pictures up later this week, but for now, it looks like she found a gem for her home page! www.nicolecphotography.com check it out! She did a great job!

I felt old today. I had a customer on the phone and at the end of the conversation i said, "Thanks, Hun." It just came out! I felt old. When ever I say it I always think of Flo from that show Alice...like, I hang up with customer, chomping on my gum....."Thanks, Hun" then a co-worker annoys me and Ill start yelling, "Kiss my GRITS!" .....its only a matter of time.

What makes you feel really old?

Looks like my blog-cation is over...
Im online, and ive got no excuse to keep disappointing you all! :)
So...this weekend was the wedding.

Here's all the lovely Bridesmaids & Meredith at the church.

Nick and Meredith were married at Holy Trinity church in Downtown Dayton this Saturday and it was a great...but busy weekend.

We both worked all day friday and raced up to Dayton for the rehearsal. It was your typical rehearsal. Jokes were made, people told me not to race down the asile, (which I did anyway...i think i was just nervous. it happens. I cant control my speedwalking) We then were off to the Spaghetti Warehouse for the rehearsal dinner where there were 40 some people.

All was going swimmingly until my brother and I got into a very verbal and very public display of our typical bickering when we got into an argument about exactly how the cheesecake should be distributed. He wanted people to get up and pick their own, i decided we should just pass them along into the crowded seating area. Nick thought otherwise. I proceeded to pick up plate after plate of cheesecake and pass them into the tables as my brother yelled things like, "ITS MY WEDDING, and we'll do it MY WAY" in front of his new family. (This is old hat for rest of us) As usual, I got my way, and Nick was then deemed, "Groomzilla"... Here we are in a happer, booze-induced party mode at the reception:

Here's John & I. Some of you might see this in form of a Chrismas card if we can find your address. Or not.

Nick with some groomsmen, and that guy in the white shirt. If I had a dime for every person who came up and asked me who that guy was, Id have about thirty cents. Still dont know who it is, although he did take his shirt off at the end of the night and was verbally berated by his date for doing so. I can only assume that there's a Harrigans connection there???

Here's Stacy, Paulythebastard, Me & John. Ive come up with a new trick. Use other people to sheld the sides of your gut and its more slimming than vertical stripes....

Nick throws the garter to all the single men. For the first time in many recent weddings, it DID NOT JUST DROP TO THE FLOOR. Meredith's brother was the lucky guy.

Later that night, it seemed as though everyone was going out to the bars. I decided on Taggarts since John and I didnt have a car, & it was really close to my folks place. Enter Pauly & Elizabeth. We got them to agree to go out with us, and when we got to Taggarts, my feet hurt so bad that I just kept my slippers on the whole time. And as soon as we got there I knew it was a bad idea. So I went into the bar with my bridesmaid dress and slippers on, and damn near fell asleep.

Even in this state, I managed to get hit on and asked out by a guy...It never would have happened if J-Mac and Paulythebastard would have given up their seats to E-Beth & I at the bar...we had to fend for ourselves up front...The guy asked if we could get together sometime. It was nice to be able to say "Thanks! But im married!" It was a little feather in my cap, even though all my friends SWORE he was mentally handicapped. I REALLY dont think he was. Just a little closed off and creepy.

Went home, scarfed down moms leftover lasagna and passed out. Woke up the next morning and had a blast with Trinity...my moms cousin Jan and Her daughter Kim and Grandaughter Trinity stayed with mom and dad and it was fun to have this little kid full of energy bouncing around all over the place. Kinda made me excited to get this process going with the fostering...in case you didnt know already, this last round of chemo pretty much did its job and threw me head first into menopause. Im the only 28 year old in town bitching and moaning about hot flashes....its driving me nuts! So anyway, in the new year we're going to work on the foster parent thing. Hopefully this blog doesnt come back to haunt me! ha ha!

Later that sunday, we all went to the Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railway for their "Polar Express Train to the North pole" with me, mom, Jan, Kim, Trinity, Leanne, Tony and all their kids, AJ, Lindsay, Katie, Michael and Danny. We had a blast! Here are some pics -

Left: Leanne & Tony with Katie, Danny, Mrs Claus, AJ, Santa, Michael & Lindsay

Trinity & katie - so cute!



Tony with Michael, Lindsay & Katie -

All the kids on the wagon....at least until college...

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IVE BEEN THROUGH WITH THIS COMPUTER!!!

Its Thursday night, 10 o'clock and I am officialy back on line, with a brand new virus protection....long story short? I practicing unsafe computing and got a virus that apparently sent out thousands of emails and rr detected it and shut me down. Im a dirty, dirty girl.

Had to get my computer wiped out and nothing short of THREE HOURS with tech support to get this baby back up and running.

I am NOT ready for my brothers wedding on Sat and we have to be ready tonight since we've got to drive straight to Dayton after work tomorrow and we'll be there till Sunday afternoon.
next week Ill be blogging like Ive never blogged before.

sorry for the vacay!