Mom & Dad's 25th Wedding Anniversary

My Dad threw my Mom a surprise party for their 25th wedding anniversary last week. It went really well! Almost everyone invited came, good food, beautiful cake (thanks Mike & Bobbi)! I didn't post all of the pictures, but I'm sure my Mom will on her blog.

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School Supplies Drive

There's something magical about a box of crayons! And Doba and it's employees are donating over 500 of them to Geneva Elementary! We put together a school supplies drive for our community service project this year and it went really well. Employees brought in supplies for over 3 weeks and at the end of the drive a few people made cash donations which Doba matched dollar for dollar. I headed to Walmart with over $500 and bought more supplies. Monday I'll take everything to the elementary school. Check out all this stuff!

500+ boxes of crayons

300+ glue sticks

300+ spiral notebooks

150 pocket folders, 750 pencils, 75 scissors, 500 erasers, 100 rulers, 250 pens

100 colored pencils, 60 markers

This is the cool sign I made to track our progress.
We used gold stars to represent each item donated!

I feel weird

I feel weird. I don't know how to explain it. I think maybe I feel nothing and that feels weird. The last week or so, it's like I'm just going through the motions of life. Wake up, get ready, go to work, go to lunch, back to work, go home, eat dinner, go to bed. There is nothing going on in my life. Nothing. I do the same thing everyday. I don't have friends, I don't date anyone meaningful. I am just here. Blah.

My birthday is next month. I'll be 25. Twenty five. Twenty five was my number, I always knew for sure I would have a "life" by age 25. And by "life" I mean started a life with someone. Working toward common goals together, maybe talking about kids, living life side by side with someone. But instead, at age 25, I will have a dog. 

I've either made peace with the fact that my life is where it is. Or I'm on the brink of a mental breakdown. I don't know. Check back in a month or so. 

Picture-post recap

I just spend 20 minutes typing up a post to recap everything since my internet went down, but it was the most boring thing I've ever read, so I deleted it. So I'm just going to post pictures with explanations. Happy Sunday.

I updated Yogoz Boutique with new beanies and a tube scarf.
Everyone go buy some for Fall!

I bought a Crockpot from work for $10

I have an Otter pop shelf now and it's wonderful.

I made my Dad's pasta salad and it was delish!

I took the leftovers to my Mom's work party. Along with Tonka.
Check out Hoe in the background with her Sidekick.



I'm about 100 pages in to The Time Traveler's Wife and I like it so far.
After TTW, I'll attempt to finish Breaking Dawn.

My parentals just brought me this care package because I have a headache. They are the best!

Depressed much?

Today sucked. It started with something that's been a year in the making. I'll post about it tomorrow maybe, I really don't have the energy to put it all into words right now. So I went to Walmart and bought all of the sucky day things: twelve Dr. Pepper's, Iced Oatmeal cookies, a new love book, chocolate ice cream, and yarn.

Then I came home to find that Tonka had eaten my very favorite shoes. The ones that the shoemaker/fixer told me to let go of, but I didn't. These shoes are precious to me. I have nursed and worn them gingerly for months now. Only to come home to them in this condition. I loved them dearly and now they are in the garbage. I immediately text my Mom, which made me laugh a little.

So then I decided that this would be the best time to fight the fight with Comcast. They have been charging me for cable TV (which I told them to cancel when I moved) and long story short they will not remove it from the bill until I return the cable box. I didn't know anything about returning the stupid box until a few days ago, and frankly I just haven't had the time to do it. Also, I won't pay the bill until they remove the cable charges. So we are both stubborn and they won the fight today by disconnecting my services. Heaven forbid I go more than a few hours without internet access, so I paid the past due balance and my services are connected again. I'll return the box tomorrow and get the charges reversed, hopefully.

Oh and I'm fat. I have been taking a steroid for my shoulder, which I think is helping it but the side effects are awful. I shake like I have Bells Palsy and I am STARVING. Seriously. I could eat an entire cow and then have a bowl of ice cream. Yesterday, I had Cafe Rio for lunch, went to my parents and ate dinner, then came home and ate a ham and cheese sandwich, then a bowl of cereal, then after I went to bed, I woke up and had a bowl of ice cream. So needless to say I am a total fat ass. And my recent Walmart trip isn't helping my steriod-induced-eating-disorder. I am on day 7 of 16 so by the time I finish I'll easily be pushing 300 lbs. Lovely.

So I have the thing I'll tell tomorrow, my dog ate my shoes, my internet was disconnected, and I'm fat. I'm in the dark place.

List of Loves

I had a list that I started in high school, of things I love and things I hate. I came across this list while I was moving and some of the things on it are so funny, like substitute teachers? What? Anyway, I've been making a new list. Enjoy.

Rescue Me, Tonka, photos, text messages, Kelvin, baseball, books, summer, Jeeps, handmade things, blogging, gluesticks, Apple, my new printer, Target, being kissed, my camera, Coke, yarning, Ambien, movies, personal emails, TSO, sleeping, fish, purses, fireworks, being sunburned, ice cream, Hot Tamales, molten cake, clothes from the dryer, big mugs, white tee shirts, Fiji Water, chap stick, rain, nugget ice, Bootz, winking, avocado, big fat rings, iTunes, RSVP Pens, Kenny Chesney, singing at the top of my lungs, taking the top off on the Jeep, good hair days, San Diego, instant messaging, Sex & The City, princess cut diamonds, laughing, Grey’s Anatomy, a clean car, chai tea, Sanuks, feeling needed, calla lilies, Christmas time, BBQ, Orem Owlz, Marley, my family, online shopping, the back of a guys neck, lighthouses, organization, Food Network, making lists, when a boy gets that look in his eye, baseball pants rolled up, stars, Build-A-Bear, Garth Brooks, sticking with a routine, self portraits, The Mets, Elvis Presley, Sharpies, loyalty, Café Rio, freshly cut grass, being in love, theme parks, the way my name is spelled, being independent, intelligent guys, finding cash in my pocket, lemon cream bread, Kenneth Johnson, HOT showers, storms, popcorn, KitKats, sweats, mascara, my bed, 12:34, Tuesdays, payday, tanning beds, Dad’s pasta salad, mechanical pencils, vacations, Google Reader, Radio From Hell, the smell in bookstores, comments on my blog, chocolate oranges, turtles, mexican food, sunglasses, finding the perfect gift, Ross & Rachel, letting go, just knowing it's right, 2007, The Notebook kiss, feeling skinny, my Christmas Tree, Zomig, people's court day time TV shows, simplicity, tradition, knowing the words to songs, this one time...at band camp, when the snow melts, my closet...

New Office Digs

We are leasing out the 3rd floor of our building at work so I moved offices today! I like the new scenery and I needed a change of pace. I didn't realize how much stuff I had though. I think it took me like 50 trips up and down the stairs/elevator moving it all. I got it all but one load of books and I have no idea where they will go. Tomorrow I start moving everything from storage rooms on the 3rd floor to the 2nd. I'll be moving stuff all week I think!

Hootz & Holly Wedding

I've waited all season for this Owlz promotion and I totally loved it. Hootz and Holly got married tonight and it was so adorable. They had a few other local mascots as groomsmen and the on-field promo girls were bridesmaids. I am slightly offended that I wasn't asked to be a bridesmaid though. I mean Holly was created after my sister, I should have at least been in the line or something, right?!

Stats & Stalkers

When I first created my blog during the fall/winter of 2007 I wasn't sure I'd keep up with it. I was skeptical about the whole thing. I didn't feel like I really had anything important to say and even if I did who would actually want to read it? But I have found that it's an amazing avenue to keep up with old friends, getting feelings off my chest, and more importantly record my life. When I was younger I wrote in a journal almost daily. Most entries were in the classic form of "Dear diary, today I...". The entries don't have a lot of profound meaning to them, but maybe one day when I have children they will find them in an old attic and get a glimpse into my life as a child. I wish I would have had my blog during high school or made more of an effort to record that time in my life. I'd like to get my blog printed similar to the printed version of my Mom's dirt blog. The company we used for that was still in beta version back then, so I am sort of waiting for them to add more options until I print mine.

Anyway, I love to check the stat counter on my blog and I recently went over 20,000 page loads. Go me go. I suppose I shouldn't be too excited by that number though since I've set it up so that each "hit" is just a page load, and not a unique IP address. So technically, I could visit my own blog a million times and that's how many hits I would have. (Side note - yes, I know that it's sad that I am excited by this and yes I said IP address. Get over it.) Regardless, I love that I can track the people that read my blog, how they got there, and when they come back, which posts are most popular, and which ones aren't. It's just cool. I wish there were a way for me to see who follows me with the various feed readers though. 

Most of my hits come from local people, but I do have a few blog stalkers from all over. I wish I knew who you were Buffalo-NY, Niceville-FL, or Norwhich-CT. Maybe one day I will. Anyway, if you guys don't have stat counters on your sites look into getting one.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Can.Not.Wait.

Sling Arsenal

Drugs, iPhone, chapstick, and Big League Chew bubble gum. Always be prepared, that's my motto. Ha!

Down Home with the Neely's

9.9/10 times if you turn on my TV (assuming it's not already on) you'll find Food Network was the last channel watched. I love it. I can't remember the last time I changed the channel. I can watch Food Network for hours and hours. I know all the chefs. ALL of them. I like Paula Dean and Giada De Laurentiis and Ina Garten. I can not stand Rachel Ray. Can.not.stand. Anyway, my most favorite show to watch lately is Down Home with the Neely's. I love them! Pat and Gina are the cutest couple! At first you may think (like me) they are a little over the top, but within a few minutes you will see they are so sincere. You know that they absolutely love what they do, and the fact that they get to do it together makes it even better. They are so happy with each other it almost makes me puke. But good puke. I just love them.

Anyway, the episode I just saw was so adorable. A little background, they love pork and piggies. Gina has a pig room and all of their canisters are little pink piggies. So it was a grilling episode, which is an area that Pat excels in, and throughout they made it clear that Gina doesn't do any of the grilling in their house. So to encourage Gina, Pat bought her her very own grill that is a pig (above)! How cute is that? It has a snout, curly tail, and eye lashes and look at the wheels! They have diamonds! And then she named it Barbecutie. Ha ha, anyway, just watch it sometime, it's my fav.