I'm Ready for Nap Time...

I’m at work. Below is my process:

Verify the name on the letter matches the name on the envelope, fold the letter, insert the letter into the envelope and start over again… over and over and over… I’m like ¼ of the way through… I’m never going to get all of these done in time. I don't do this everyday... I would go insane if I did.

But while I’m doing this, I notice the names of the people these letters are going to. I see names I like, names I don’t like, names I can’t pronounce, names that would make great future dog names, and names that remind me of people I know. Lots and lots of names.

OK… I am such a baby sometimes. Every single time this one particular name appears (fairly popular name), it reminds me of a guy I used to date… and what do I do? I sneer! Hahaha!!! I haven’t seen this person in what seems like years, it wasn’t a meaningful relationship, hell, the breakup was SO easy. I just have such distaste for this person, to this very day. I can’t explain it. So I sneer, every time I see this name... and it's a completely unconscience reaction.

Today I realized I am prejudice… prejudice against this one focker’s name.

This makes me giggle… I belong back in 3rd grade.

NutScraps Mini-Rant...

I’m trying very hard to keep my spirits up this morning.

SHD has a ½ day of work… got to wear shorts and sandals… breakfast goodies catered into his office… has the entire week of the 4th off of work.

And I’m folding like 2000 letters, inserting them in envelopes and then sealing those envelopes today.

My job sucks.

Is it just me?

I’m starting to think I’m a little emotionally slow. I mean, I’ll have a conversation with someone and leave with a little bad taste in my mouth and the next minute (or even the next day) I think, “Fuck! They were being a real bastard!”

The worst part about it is that they got away with it.

I seem to be experiencing these moments too often these days… it might be time to start kicking back.

And We Were Off to the Races!

Last night Toast, St. and I went for sushi to celebrate Toast’s birthday. OMG… I love sushi at Jun’s in Prairie Village. Even if we had the world’s worst server… I mean THE worst… ever. It was laughable. Needless to say, I had a great time hanging with the girls. I think we need to have another wine on the front porch evening soon. Those are evil! But in a good way.

I was talking about our trip to Vegas with the girls last night and told them all about the ESPN Zone experience. I think the intention was just to go upstairs to take a look around… little did we know we were going to be there for the next few hours. We had a great time! First we played a mini version of bowling. The bowling ball was small, about the size of a softball but solid and without finger holes. The pins at the end of the lane (probably 30 feet long) were arranged by strings attached to the top. It was really fun. I kicked everyone’s ass by like 20 points! I think my final score was 104 (SHD, the fantastic bowler, only got like 62! haha). Yeah, I rubbed it in.

We continued to play different machines... K and I didn’t realize that S bought like 300 points to play with. Each game was around 6 points per person which meant we had to play like 12 games… each. K and I played air hockey and this little vintage like ice hockey/foos ball-like game… she totally kicked my ass on both (as I hang my head in shame). We raced wave runners, cars, a demolition track race, motorcycles and these race horses. The race horse thing was totally strange. The horses had heads that moved and foot pegs. The object of the race was to bob up and down on the horse while pulling his head back… not to be confused with “being on top” as St. put it last night… but it was really hard work! Right after a big meal… I thought I was going to barf. After that, K and I waited for the guys to finish playing and we headed out for what was to be the longest walk I’ve ever been on. It may not sound like a grueling task to walk 5 miles… but for anyone who’s been to Las Vegas, walking the ENTIRE strip in one evening, is no small task. I’m glad to say we did it; I never plan on doing it again.

We made it back to the hotel casino around 3am. I went straight to bed… I believe SHD went back downstairs and played Pai Gow until the sun came up. We had an amazing night… we had SO much fun.

Random NutScraps Blathering for Tuesday...

I’m having an ergonomic evaluation tomorrow at work. Apparently the way I am sitting in my chair is causing all of my back problems. Seriously, three weeks ago I was popping Darvocet and Flexeril like candy just to get through the days… now, I’m only hurting while I’m at work. Am I allergic to my job?

L, at work, suggested I contact occupational health and have them come visit me. They call it an “ergo eval”… the gal I spoke with over the phone repeated it over and over… I started to think that she just liked the way her voice sounded when she said it. So, tomorrow, I get my ‘ergo eval’ at 11am. Hopefully this shooting pain running down my leg will cease.

I was thinking of other Vegas stories to tell… can you believe I’ve already let some of the best moments slip my mind?

We arrived at the hotel to (the Stratosphere) check in and tried to get an upgrade on our room (hoping we’d be closer to K and S) but were rejected, "all booked up" said the girl, so we trekked up to our room which was in a different tower from K and S. Once we got off the elevator we noticed something off, but continued on. Once I opened the door I realized what was ‘off’… we had been booked in a smoking room. I used to smoke… but my hotel rooms NEVER smelled the way this room did. It was clean and still smelled like the dirtiest, nastiest, after hours club you’d ever been in. It’s like they exhaled directly on the floor! I mean, with all new bed stuff, the carpet would be the thing that smelled so bad right? So I called the front desk. I’m a nice person; I’m very easy to deal with (meaning I don’t bitch and moan at the first person to answer the phone) so the front desk immediately offered us either a handicap non-smoking room or the option to upgrade to a higher priced room (wait, the front desk just told us we couldn’t upgrade… hmmm). SHD and I decided to upgrade, the new room is going to have a jacuzzi bathtub with high powered jets. What girl doesn’t like high powered jets, right? So, the bell boy brought up keys to our new room. We head over to the new room and as I’m opening the door… something else seems strange. Well, first the TV was on… and the place smelled like poop. I was really afraid I was walking in on another hotel guest watching TV while taking a crap in the bathroom… so I entered cautiously, yes... I still entered thinking this. Nobody was in the room, but it did smell like poop… the room hadn’t been cleaned and literally (I mean really) there was poop all over the toilet in the bathroom. Poop just doesn't smear on it's own on the toilet in the places this poop was smeared. GROSS! SHD told me not to even go in to see the “great bathtub” that sold us on the upgrade because he said it looked like “someone had eaten in it”. Once again, I called the front desk; I actually got the same gal on the phone and told her the deal… dirty room, smelly and gross. She apologized profusely and told us that she’d find another room, send the bell boy in first to make sure it was presentable and then have him bring us the new keys. A few minutes later, the same bell boy came to our room; this time escorted us to the new room using the employee elevators so we wouldn’t have to walk as far… we finally get to our new, clean room and that’s when we realized it… we were right down the hall (like 8 rooms) from K and S! SCORE!

That’s my hotel room story… tomorrow I’ll talk about the ESPN Zone and how I kicked everybody’s ass at bowling!

Viva... Las Vegas

Well, we didn’t strike it rich… but we sure had one hell of a time.

We arrived in Kansas City late last night from Las Vegas. We had such a good time! I came home with half of what I planned on spending… can’t say anything bad about that.

I mostly played penny and nickel slot machines. I am a fool for 'The Price Is Right' slots. I don’t care if I only won 100 nickels… I won 100 of something!!! I don’t understand going to Las Vegas and expecting to go home a millionaire. If I can sit at a nickel or penny slot machine, bet 9 pennies or 5 nickels and spend 4 hours doing it… I’m thrilled. I’m completely fine knowing that I won 250 nickels and only having to play 5 to get them. In this situation, I’m a cup half full person.

I got to see K drunk - something that only happens on rare occasions… I got to see S win $750 in one sitting at a 3 card poker table - then lose it over the next few days… I got to see 6 new casinos and played (and mostly won) at them all… we found the IHOP… and collected a bunch of hooker cards for a friend (she’s going to make a game out of them)… I learned to play Pai Gow, and left the table ahead… I lost my ass playing at two Blackjack tables… went to the top of the Stratosphere - looked over the edge (after moving away from the thrill ride just above my head)… walked around in 115 degree heat and didn’t want to die. Oh, did I mention that we walked the ENTIRE length of the strip on Thursday? I don’t recommend that. I do however, recommend bringing two sets of sneakers with you... ones with different pressure points. On sore feet, even the most comfortable shoes will rub the same places if worn too much.

I got to hang out with the boyfriend (SHD) for 5 days… played cards with him, played slots with him, and ate breakfast at IHOP with him, drank too much with him, even spent the mornings after drinking lots with him - and yep, I still love him! We really had a blast… we like to hang out together, and hardly ever get on each other’s nerves!

Oh! We even went to at one of the many wedding chapels for a bit… what a crazy evening… there's a reason they call it the Sin City...

I really wanted to get a new tattoo… a pretty one this time. I can justify spending money while on vacation… and even though I came home with some ($), I find it hard to justify it now that I’m home. I’ve got just enough to break Lucy out of the “joint” aka. the boarding kennel. We’ll see… I really want a pretty one next, I think I’ll start working on the design and see what happens.

I can’t wait to see Lucy and Sammy… I missed them while we were gone! Tonight I will be celebrating with the dogs and then to bed early for me.

Podcasts… I need input!

I’ve finally added iTunes onto a computer I have access to on a regular basis. This makes Nutscraps very happy…

About a year ago I started listening to The Dawn and Drew Show… their tag line is something like, “Two gutter punks fall in love…” and they are pretty funny. I’m currently catching up and thought that I should find a few others to listen to.

Does anyone out there have Podcasts they listed to on a regular basis and just love?

Let me know…

Weekend Recap…

I am so very fortunate to have the wonderful family that I do… really; I have the best family in the world. I’ll also say that I’m even more fortunate to have a boyfriend with such an amazing family as well.

Finding someone to love that has just as great a family as you do doesn’t happen all that often. Believe me. I won’t even go into the stories I have about my ex in-laws…

SHD and I spent an amazing (not in a Kate and Tom way) weekend visiting with our families. I wish we would make more time to spend with them all.

Saturday was spent at SHD’s sister’s home. D (sister) & D (brother in-law) have such a beautiful home out in the country (Grain Valley to be exact) and they are such gracious hosts. They have spent the last 20 years making their home a replicate of a great lake vacation get-a-way on 10 gorgeous acres. Brother D smoked up some ribs with the perfect recipe of spices and apple juice, Sister D made a spread of side dishes that would make Rachel Ray jealous. The wine was flowing and the conversation engaging. We had such a good time. I was sad to leave… even if it was 3:30am with a 40 minute drive to get home (I slept).

Sunday was spent working at the pet store (the business is really picking up, we’ve been open 1 month now) and then dinner with my parents. I get along SO well with my parents. We had a great dinner and SHD and I listened to their latest stories. Dad is working for an inner-city (named after a KC Chief’s football player who died a few years ago) charter school and has very interesting stories about it on a regular basis. For the end of the school year, they had a faculty talent show for all of the kids. My Dad and the gym teacher did a hip-hop dance. OK… wait…

My Dad is a 56 year old (without the pipe), computer nerd type… oh, and white, dancing to hip-hop in a predominately black inner city school. Oh, I can just hear what those kids told their parents when they got home from school…

My Dad tells the best stories ever… I think that is where I got my long windedness.

So, I’ll stop already for today…

¿Puedo tener yo algún helado por favor?

Last night Toast and I went to Tropicana for some scrumptious homemade ice cream on the Boulevard. I was hoping to try their avocado or rose petal ice cream, but they didn’t have those choices so I went with a safe (and boring yet wonderful) favorite – Oreo and Toast had Pasticcio.

Mucho Gracias, Sra. Toast… era muy bueno.

I had an interview this morning. Apparently someone actually viewed my resume online and called me, twice. I went in and talked with them. I’m sure they loved me. I’m awaiting my offer as I type.

I’ve never been turned down for a job I interviewed for. Is this normal? People like me… I’m nice, and I’m damn good at what I do.

I really enjoy working with my current boss… it’s the rest of the people that I have come to dislike. You can’t trust women. They are sneaky and ruthless. You get along for a while, then you make a decision they don’t like and they turn into your worst enemy. They talk badly about you to anyone who will listen… it’s really just horrible.

It’s time I work for some men; I get along with men. They tell it to you straight. If they have a problem with you, they tell you off and ten minutes later the issue is no longer there. I like that. You always know what is expected, what you see is what you get. If you do your job and you are pleasant, you’ve got it made. I’m ready for a little of that.

I’m almost positive I’ve mentioned this before…

Of course not right here... this is brand new!

Whitney Houston? WTF? What happened to you girl?

I grew up listening to Whitney Houston hits and I’ll fully admit that I bought her 2 disk greatest hits… the Throw Down mix, with songs like, “It’s Not Right, But It’s OK”, “I Learned from the Best”, and “Queen of the Night” get me through the hum drum of the work day.

I love listening to this CD.

So, Whitney – I’m really pissed at you for turning into a crack head. Now you’re worth nothing musically. Dump Bobby, get your act together… you still might have some fans left.

Now I probably wouldn’t see her in concert or anything… but she really can sing.

It's all about me, isn't it?

It’s no secret that the SHD and I agree that children most likely won’t be in our future.

My reasons (I can’t speak for him) are purely selfish… I like to nap, I like to drink too much and stay out too late, I like to go out on a whim and not have to worry if there’s someone to take care of the kid(s), I like to go on vacation and only have to reserve a kennel for Lucy (leaving for Las Vegas in one week!!!), I like not having to take personal days for anyone’s sickness but my own… I could go on and on.

Will there come a day when I’m tired of doing things for ME? Maybe… and at that time I’ll revisit the idea of kids. I don’t think I need to harvest my eggs (as one person suggested) to plan for that day, that one day - that might never come. If I’m too old, I’ll adopt. And just for the record, abortion is not an option for me… I believe in the woman’s right to choose, MY choice is life. It’s not hard to NOT get pregnant. I’ve been not getting pregnant for many years now; I don’t think my system will fail me now.

I don’t believe people should have kids unless they really, really want them. There are enough people breeding out there, no one will notice if I don’t add to the population. People all the time are telling me that “once you have your own” all of my views about kids will change. Well, what if they didn’t? Or, what if I did love my little critter and then I hate (with a flaming passion) all of their friends?

*Please note that there are exceptions to my dislike* But, I don’t really like kids… well, at least most of the kids I see. Much like, when you’re talking with your girlfriends about your boyfriend, it seems that all the bad things he did come out, instead of the many silly, nice, caring and wonderful things he does on a regular basis? We see the bad, the bad sticks with us and the good is taken for granted and forgotten (at least in that moment).

I see those kids at W*lmart that scream, kick, lay down in the aisles, are covered with boogers/dirt/that pink stuff that they were eating that is now all over their face and running down their arms… and God knows what else. Also, I see those little dirt leg’s parents yelling empty threats, grabbing them by the arms and loudly whispering in their ears, swatting at them… I’m so embarrassed for them that I can’t even explain it, I mean; somebody has to be embarrassed right? I believe all teenage dates should end at W*lmart… that’s all the birth control anyone should need. * I now go to Target, I’ve noticed this behavior less there.*

The bad parenting skills of today have made me choose not to be one.

Last night SHD and I had a fondue extravaganza with p4dd0 and M at their home. We had a fabulous time and got to spend a little bit of the evening watching them interact with their daughters. They have two lovely girls, and I got to see first hand a couple of kids that I like. Do I want my own? NO. But I realized that not all kids are bad. Some can be very well behaved, always use an indoor voice while indoors, complete a thought in a structured sentence at a young age and just be cute as a bug. I think they’re pretty fantastic parents.

I think I would make a good parent; I had good parents and that stuff rubs off right? Couldn’t I just use those skills to baby-sit somebody else’s GOOD kids once in a while?

Ok… I’ll step off my box now.

Back in Action...

So, now that mySpace has been censored by Big Brother... I'm realizing that I only blog while at work (is that bad?).

So, here begins my new blog.