slacker.... and apparently, complainer...

no doubt about it, i have been slacking off like woah on posting. my apologies. i have spent the last 2 weeks battling a stupid cold, which i'm sure i got b/c i feel the need to run around like a crazy person and cram all kinds of things into my life only to get sick so that i am forced to slow down. you think i would have learned after the last time- couch bound for a straight 7 days complete with a trip to the dr and the ER, with the bill to prove it. which is bullshit btw... why do we pay for insurance so we can then pay out the ass for the ER. i am not a person who over uses the doctor or for that matter, the emergency room. in fact, i underuse it, much to the chagrin of my mother and as most recently noted, my sister. but that's another story all in itself. anyway. back to the insurance. so i pay each week, out of my hard earned pay check (coincidentally it's pay day) and then i have to pay out of my pocket to cover the doctor walking in and writing me a prescription for some eye drops for (gross) double pink eye (thank you dr. those were actually amazing and totally worth the trip). but seriously. i'm going to be out a nice chunk of money.

so being as it's pay day i just decided to take a look at my bank statement. now, while some people are not necessarily a fan of the bank i choose which shall remain nameless, it is super convenient for me. anyway. so i'm checking my statement and i decide to add up the amount of money i have put into my savings through their program which rounds all purchases up to the whole dollar (yay for round numbers) and then puts the extra into my savings... in a month, i have saved almost $17. now, that doesn't seem like a lot to be putting into your savings account however, it is. because that's $17 dollars i could have spent on pointless crap. i mean, yes, i'm much better at not buying pointless crap than i used to be but it actually feels better to save it. wow. i'm getting old. or just smart. whatever the case. i'm kinda pumped about it. i would make it my mission to save even more than that, but i feel like that means i need to make even more purchases in order for them to round up. but maybe i'll stop caring if i get to 40.00 on the gas pump and be okay with 39.01... because that's usually what i hit, and then, b/c i'm a touch OCD, i have to keep going until i reach a nice round sum. which is okay if i can get it on the first or second try but sometimes, my goal is to put like, $25 into the tank and i end up at $30 or $35 because i can't quite reach the 00. (ISSUES)

big weekend this weekend. heading out to the "in-laws" (who technically are not my in-laws yet but. you know the drill) for some birthday festivities for the bro-in-law (also not technically but.. you get the picture) and then for a little family party then hopefully meeting up for some drinks with one of p's good friends from elementary school who is getting married in January. since we are going to the wedding, i thought it might be nice to actually meet the groom before hand and the bride since neither of us have met her, and since the opportunity has risen, we are hopefully going to be able to take advantage of it. while i am looking forward to the weekend, i'm a little worried about the dog as he will be spending the weekend with his lovely grandparents (yes. i treat my dog like my child and i'm 100% okay with it). and it's not that my parents don't love him or take good care of him but they also have 2 other dogs- their own and a family friend's dog who is boarding with them. and normally, i don't care but since Coors puppy just had his male parts removed (sorry dude, it had to be done) and is only 9 days removed from surgery and only 12 hours sans anti lower half of the body licking cone, i'm a little nervous about his behavior...

before i go... happy birthday to one of the best friends a girl could ask for. we have been through so much together and while i am sad that i won't see you on your birthday, i am so incredibly happy for you and for everything that has fallen into place in the last few months. you are an amazing friend and i am truly blessed to have you in my life. <3 it takes a long time to grow an old friend, and you my friend, are one of the best. happy birthday, ashley!

i think men are from another planet

no seriously. i know they say "men are from mars..." blah blah blah but why is it that men are SO incredibly different from women. on all levels? i get the physical stuff, i'm not an idiot. and i can almost 100% understand the emotional stuff. but i can NOT for the life of me, understand the rest of it. and i'm not even sure what the "rest of it" would be called but... it's that shit that says "i can't fold the laundry. i'm watching tv" as if you need more than your eyes and ears to watch tv. or "i can't do the dishes, i did the laundry" well where i come from, you typically put a load of laundry INTO the washer, start the dishes, change the laundry over, put away the dishes (that have now dried), take the laundry out of the dryer, switch the wet load over to the dryer and fold the now dry and clean load, ALL WHILE WATCHING TV.

i think the kicker was the letting the dog out one that occured last night... see tomorrow (wednesday) my dog is going to be neutered. (which i'm not aloud to speak of in his presence becaue the man in my house thinks that the dog will be mad- which i'm sure he will be but he'll get over it). so i mentioned the other night how after his surgery, we will need to watch him to make sure he isn't picking at stiches (or trying to rip the cone off his head). so i said that when he goes out after the surgery, we should put him on his leash, take him to the end of the driveway and let him do his business. just so we can watch him and he isn't going crazy or anything. yes, i am an overprotective mother. i'm okay with that. anyway. so yesterday i got up about 9 and took the dog for a walk. it was only about .5 mile but it tires him out and lets him piss on every tree in a .5 mile radius (oh and every telephone pole, mailbox pole etc. etc. etc.) i left for work at noon and the other male in my house got home around 5:30. i got out of work at 8 so i get home last night (about 8:30) and cook dinner. after dinner (around 9:30-10:00) i notice the dog keeps sniffing around one of the spare rooms (the "man room") which is weird because he usually either sleeps on the bed or sits with us on the couch/in the living room. so after a little bit of the sniffing i ask "did you let him out when you got home" to which i recieved this response...

him: "no. you said we had to take him out on the leash and watch him"
me: "no, i said that after he has his surgery, we have to watch him"
him: "oh well, no. i didn't let him out"
me (obviously): "i hope he shit on your clothes" (hey, if i can't teach him a lesson, maybe the dog shitting on his clothes would)
him: "well go let him out"
me: "really. you didn't let him out at all?" (although not sure where the disbelief came from- i shouldn't be that surprised)

so i let the poor dog out and he did his business and (unfortunately for me and my lesson teaching) didn't drop anything in the house (good boy)

after this bullshit conversations, i learned that "i (he) shouldn't have to go bring the dog for his surgery becuase i have to pick him up and it's my day off"
Um... it's your day off which is exactly why you should bring and pick him up. that's what a day off is for- to do the things you can't do when you are working!

i left a nice note this morning about all the things i need done before i get home from work. they include changing over a load of laundry, folding a basket of laundry and walking the dog.
"fold the laundry. you can do this while you watch sports. if you miss something, it will probably be on again in an hour. you have unlimited access to the bathroom- so should the dog. walk him". and other such things.

tuesday is also his night to make dinner... it's not the dinner that doens't get done, it's the dishes... which is a whole different entry....

WHY are they so different!? and what can we do to stop it!? i know you can't "change a man" but... there has to at least be an edit button for some aspects right?

(very) early birthday present & other stuff...

last night, p. took me to umass to see cirque de soleil- quidam. what a crazy show... the costumes, performers, makeup... all of it was awesome. p. thought it was more on the weird side... to which i responded "... you're just broadening your cultural horizons..." which is so true seeing that most of the time, the only "culture" he gets is from a tool or korn (incorrectly spelled which makes it even worse) concert. anyway. it was a great birthday present and since we probably won't make it to vegas or even to disney anytime soon... it was an awesome show and i'm very glad i saw it... (thanks p. i love you!)


so i started watching the show 'whitney'... now, we all know i don't need any other shows to watch but sometimes it's nice to watch new stuff just for the heck of it. so i started watching... and it's actually pretty funny... too bad it's on Thursday's. (that's grey's night, sorry kids). but the funniest part was when Whitney said "I feel like all we ever do is go to weddings. I can't remember the last time I sat down for dinner that didn't involve a DJ screaming 'let's get this party started'. " hahahah. if you know me, at all, you know that is the story of my life. not that i don't like going to weddings and i am happy for all of my friends and their nuptuals but... that seriously is my life. we have been to so many weddings that when we get an invitation now, i just laugh. and depending on who the wedding is for, that uses up anywhere from 2-4 weekends for the wedding and related festivities. showers. jack and jills. engagement parties. bachelorette parties. and the wedding itself. so if someone were to have all of those things, that's 5 different weekends for 1 wedding. there are 52 weekends in a year and in the year 2011, i already know where at least 7 of my weekends will be spent.. 7... which doesn't seem like a lot in comparison to the 52 that comprise the year, but it's not even january yet and i know where i'm going to be for weekends in june and august. what i do think is funny is that when i get a call to "book a weekend" because a friend is getting married. it's a running joke with my wsc friends if p. and i can't be somewhere we "have a wedding" or "something for a wedding"... and usually, that's the truth. and while i have missed out on some of the wsc vacation weekends, i have had some great times at the weddings, so that makes up for it. we are wedding free for the rest of 2011 with the exception of an engagement party in a few weeks for one of p's friends. which i'm excited for becuase i have never met the groom, let alone the bride and it will be nice to meet them both before their wedding. and i'm looking forward to their wedding because the hotel looks amazing, isn't too expensive considering and will give us a nice weekend away.


i can't believe it's october already... this year has flown by... this time last year, we were packing up our apartment in milford and getting ready for the big move. sometimes i miss being out in milford- but i definately don't miss the apartment, "harry man back" (as we called our upstairs neighbor) or the stomping from the other neighbors. i don't miss the police showing up, or our cars being broken into. (bullshit). i don't miss the lock on the door not working with the keys and i don't miss the lack of closets. i do miss the proximity to target, to my holliston friends and to my other friends in that part of the state... and the proximity to boston. on a day like today, taking the t in to boston or shopping at shoppers world would be a great time...


i'll try to post more frequently- as i've been slacking... but for now... adios... happy long weekend (those of you who are lucky enough to have one)....

if i were 16 again...

apologies for the lack of blogging on sunday and monday... i'm not sure what happened to sunday, but yesterday just got away from me. well, really i was just pissed and didn't really feel like doing a god damn thing, though i didn't really have much of a choice on that matter... but after i got home, ate dinner (that i didn't have to cook) and talked to my bestie in cali, i just enjoyed being on the couch, watching tv and spending time with my boy... and the monday night show line up is pretty decent. i'd say if i had to rank the 4 shows, HIMYM is still first (how i met your mother) followed by 2 broke girls and closely followed by mike and molly with a 2 1/2 men bringing up the rear... they should have just quit while charlie was alive (get it? haha)... i mean, no offense to ashton but the show is kinda weird now... not that it wasn't getting weird before. and with great shows like 2 broke girls and mike and molly, they are killing the nightly line up. i guess that's why it's in there 3rd because anyone who watches the monday night CBS lineup would probably stop right before it came on... i know i'd go to bed... anyway...

so all these kids i know are turning 16... having sweet 16 parties and surprise parties... getting their permits.. and here i am thinking... what the fuck... it's been 12 (almost 13) years since my 'sweet' 16 and i'd pay good money to go back there, and frankly, to do a lot of shit differently. don't get me wrong. i don't have regrets- i loved high school, had a great time and sophomore year was the start of the real fun but... damn, if i knew then what i knew now... so many things would be different... again, NO REGRETS... just things that i would change now that i know what i know... that's what they all say right? but seriously... i would save the money i made in high school because then, when i got to college, i wouldn't be so poor.. and then, when i got out of college, i wouldn't be poorer and trying to make it in the "real world" (which btw: extremely overrated). i think that they should have a class in high school entitled "how to navigate the real world"... or maybe you should take it in college... because i'm closing in on 29 (yikes) and still don't know what i really want to do with my life. i mean, i have an idea, but then that whole funding thing comes into play and i'm like.. okay so shit.. i can't really do what i want to do because i can't really afford to do that right now... even though in the long run, it would pay off...

i really would go back to 16. And this time I wonder if things would be different. Who knows.

In the meantime...happy sweet 16 to some of the greatest kids I know...

turns out... you really CAN deep fry anything... (adventures of the big e)

so last friday night, p. and i took a trip to the big e. it was the first time we have ever been together although not the first time either of us have been. being from western mass, i've been only about 25 times which is roughly once a year since birth... give or take... we went in the rain which was both a blessing and a curse. it was nice because there was hardly anyone there but it was gross because my left foot found it's way to a puddle and i spent the rest of the night with a wet foot... but anyway... we did the usual... state buildings. played some games. blah blah blah. the only exciting purchase of the night was 3 sets of 'sham-wows'.

so tonight. i went back to the big e, this time with two of my good friends and two of the cutest 6 year olds ever. it's a totally different experience to be at the big e with a kid, let alone 2 kids. turns out, i morph into "mom mode" under such conditions. hand holding (which is not out of the normal), counting kids (even if there were only 2 of them)... but in addition to that going to the big e with kids means you get to act like a kid. roller coasters. games. the giant yellow slide. and of course, cotton candy. which by the way, they make in the maple sugar variety and i'm fairly certain i told the woman in the New Hampshire building that it was the only reason i went back to the big e. the corn on the cob (NH) was a little overrated, but nicole did get a killer potato (sorry, maine. you got NOTHING on the ones outside the CT building)... and of course, there was the hitting up of Millie's for some polish food. (best ever).

i think the real highlight of a fair like the big e is the fried food... and not necessarily because it tastes very good because let's be honest, some of it is just bad news. but it's a highlight because well, you really can deep fry anything. and they are deep frying things you should NEVER even consider deep frying. vegetables- okay those are one thing... unfortunately, they are made in such huge batches that they aren't really as good as they could be... and while we were really looking forward to the fried pickles, there's something about the pickle chips that makes it a little more tasty than the spear (take note oh friers of the vegetable... ) the real star of the big e is the fried oreo... honestly. i mean, i thought it sounded pretty gross but lucky for us, one of the cutest 6 year olds had an in at the oreo booth and hooked us up with some freebies... wow... whoever decided to fry the oreo- good going on that one...

the moral of this story? the big e is a great place for a date night... it's fun, you can people watch and win corny prizes for each other... it's a memory builder. the big e is awesome with kids like the ones i went with tonight because they were well behaved, enjoyed everything we did, and didn't even complain about the shopping (neither did b. very proud of him for that)...

but more than anything... the moral here is this...

just because it's a food, doesn't mean it should be covered in batter and dropped in a frier... stick with stuff that makes sense... because "fried kool-aid" (coincidentally just fried dough made with kool-aid) is a rip off and if you ask me, false advertising (no we did not try it, just asked) and fried butter is just a disgusting excuse to get people to say "hey, i wonder what that tastes like"... newsflash people... grab a stick of butter out of the fridge and a french fry... eat them at the same time... you have yourself "fried" butter... better luck next year oh friers of the food... stick to things that make sense, like oreos and fries...