Whee!

Carolyn met her main man, Chris Kirkpatrick, yesterday! And she didn't throw up! Congrats, my friend! <.wink>

I am feeling a lot better today, after many, many drugs. Let's hope it lasts!

Another day, another dollar

I'm sick. Evidence: I just tried to take out my contacts, which I didn't put in this morning due to burning eyes.

More evidence: Throat on FIRE, hacking cough, continuous sneezing and eye-watering. That last bit seems to have just started.

Bah. Really, really don't want to be sick this week. Aarti, Sarah and Brad are coming up for New Years. No real plans as of yet, but I haven't seen Sarah and Brad since, I think, Sarah's wedding, and Aarti since.... well, two weeks ago. But still, she lives in another state. Also, plans are to go downtown to eat under the Christmas tree in the Walnut Room and see the windows at Marshall Field's with Mom and Jess on Tuesday. So being sick really doesn't fit into my plans, yo.

Tonight, the fam and I went to the Bulls vs. Wizards game. It was fun! We ate at... the Locker Room, I think it's called, which is an "exclusive" restaurant reserved only for season ticket holders in the 100 level. Which my dad's company is, and one of the bonuses of that is he gets to take his family to one game a year. ;) The game was good. Bulls WON, but it was close for a while. Made it exciting. AND they got 100 points, which gets everyone there a free Big Mac at McDonalds. <.laugh> Too bad I don't like Big Macs. Was fun, though.

Oh, and Nelly was there. Why? No idea. They showed him on the screen during Hot in Herre, and I leaned over to Jess and said, "Who is that? Is that Nelly?" She shrugged. No clue. Well, it was him. He popped up on the screen a few more times, and turns out he was sitting just two rows below us. I suppose that's exciting, too. Too bad it couldn't have been someone I really like! Hee.

Okay, time for a bit of shut-eye. Need my rest if I'm going to be well by Wednesday. ::nods::

Merry Christmas!

There's always this huge build-up to Christmas, the rush of picking out the prefect gifts, making cookies, planning this and that... and then it's all over.

First, have you all seen the Google logo doodles? So cute. Hee!

On to Christmas. I had a very nice holiday this year. Tuesday night was the Christmas dinner/food drive with The Gang. Real good to see everyone. Emily did an excellent job organizing everything at Famous Dave's. Food was good, company was great... lots of fun.

I worked Christmas Eve. It was a good day until near the end, when I got "talked to" about something. Grrr. Hate getting in trouble, and this "thing" was not even all my fault. What I hate even more than getting in trouble is the way my boss does it. She made me feel like a complete incompetent idiot, and even said that I was a valuable contributor to the team, insinuating that if I was not, I might not have a job. Way to put me in the Christmas spirit. I have never, ever gotten in trouble at work, I put in 100% effort (almost) all the time, and I take pride in my work ethic, thoroughness, and productivity. To have someone point out one instance when I (along with others, mind you) may not have been at my best, on Christmas Eve, did not put me in the holiday spirit.

And, AND. The Boss did nothing to thank us for the holidays. I don't think bonuses have come out, if we're getting them at all, but those things come from above. The other departments all had a Christmas party, catered, last Friday. If we ever celebrate anything, it's always pot luck. I thought, given that Wednesday was the slowest. day. ever and one of the tellers arranged some Christmas games and a Secret Santa, we might at least get bagels or something from The Boss. But nothing. No thank-you for a good year, nada. Zilch. Way to feel appreciated.

Oo, and what a way for ME to put YOU all in the holiday spirit! My deepest apologies. Back on track, Kate, back on track.

So. Christmas Eve. AFTER work, it was a very good day. The cousins did not come in from Kansas City this year, which was sad. One of my dad's coworkers joined us for Christmas Eve dinner, as he really didn't have anyone else to spend the holidays with, so that was nice. Both sets of grandparents, my great aunt and uncle, and Dad's friend were here. The fact was not lost on me that all our guests are of age to collect Social Security. ;) But it was fun. We did the usual, dinner, reading of the Christmas story from the Bible, singing carols around the tree, and finishing up with Silent Night to candlelight. Then everyone but my mom's parents went home, and the six of us went to the candlelight service of church. It's a very pretty service.

It was a very successful Christmas, as well. I got a carry-on suitcase so that I can have my OWN when I TRAVEL. Love traveling. Watched the Disney Christmas Parade this morning, and it made me miss WDW SO MUCH. Have to go back soon. And use my new suitcase! I got a really pretty ring to replace the one I smashed when looking through extremely heavy framed posters for my dad, and two beautiful necklaces.

The best gift, by far, was the CD player Jess and I got for my grandparents. I gave them two CDs at the beginning of the morning, which they liked, but were a bit confused on (the only CD player they had was in the car). Then, after everything had been opened, we brought out the CD player. They were so surprised!! They've never owned such a thing. It was a priceless moment trying to teach my grandma how to work it. To think I bought that particular one because I thought it would be EASIEST to use! I can't imagine what would have happened had I gone for a different one. She finally got the hang of it, and promptly got up to dance with my grandfather to one of her favorite Anne Murray songs. A Christmas moment to remember forever!

All in all, a good day. The only slight hitch was going to my aunt's house (40 minutes away) and forgetting ALL the gifts at home. Oops! My dad had to go back for them. What a stand-up guy he is! But it was good to see everyone once again. Being that this *might* be my last Christmas living here, I'm glad everyone was so happy this year, and that I got to see so much of my family.

Hope you all had a great day, too! I know it's almost over, but a little something I made playing around with PSP:

Christmas is nearly here!

I realize that I, once again, have not updated in nearly a week. Bad Kate.

See, the thing is, nothing really noteworthy happens to me. I worked all week. Worked LATE all week. We had a Call Night Tuesday, joy of joys. Get to stay late and make sales calls! Imagine my enthusiasm!

I actually left early Wednesday. Not early as in, before we closed, but I was out the door before 5, that's for sure. I hadn't been feeling well at all (dizzy and headachey and generally not too good) and I just needed to go home. Jess and I borrowed Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers from the library, so we watched that (although, due to the not-feeling-well, I slept through a good hour in the middle... oops! Good thing I'd watched it at Heather's earlier in the week).

Thursday was a late day at work again, as I tried to save a big account. And failed. It was another branch's account, though, so I wasn't too torn up about it. Thursday night, Mom and I put in Bend it Like Beckham (great movie) and wrapped presents until our little fingers were raw. I could tell I was feeling better, because I was able to stay up until 11:30 wrapping, whereas I'd been about knocked out by 9 the previous couple days.

Friday was another late night at work, wherein we had a huge discussion about the referral program and why it needs to be changed, we were laughed at and generally not taken seriously by the Boss, and I left not feeling so good about things. But Mom came out to N-ville and we went to Naper Settlement's Christmas Memories, which was very cool. A bit chilly out, but a good time nonetheless.

Saturday was busy once again. I worked, rushed to Grandma's for lunch (lasagna, with snow men for dessert... yum!), and rushed again to my final fitting (an hour away) for Jamie's wedding. I now have the dress hanging in my closet, and it's so pretty! I can't wait to wear it. I just need to watch the holiday goodies so that I still fit into it come January. <.g>

Sunday was the Day of Making Cookies. Mom and I slaved in the kitchen for hours with Christmas music on. It was fun. Then Meghan and I went to see Mona Lisa Smile, which was very good, and then out for coffee. Good to catch up with her, as I hadn't seen her since our birthday bowling.

Today, I was off. I went to work out, and then Mom, Jess and I went to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. VERY good! Probably my favorite of the three. I can't decide which character I like the best, but I'm about to update my sidebar with a little LotR Christmas goodness. ;) Those books will be next on my list of reading, once I finish the book I'm in the middle of. After the movie, we met Dad for dinner at Brass, which was very nice. Yummy. I'm STUFFED, and I have most of my meal left over for lunch tomorrow.

So, that was that. I probably really should update more often, because looking back, that's a lot for one entry. Hmmm. As it's happening, it doesn't feel significant at all. But then I go back and write all the insignificant little things, and a week's worth of insignificance adds up.

Home again, home again...

...Jiggity jig.

[I just typed a WHOLE entry on my vacation and lost it. Argh!! So discouraging. Man. <.sigh> Here we go again...]

It was not a very relaxing week, but it was a GREAT week. I got to see two old roommates of mine! So much fun. I'm going to try to remember all of it.

Ye be warned!


Saturday, Dec 6

First stop, Illinois basketball! The good old Fighting Illini vs. Arkansas. I went with my dad, and what a good time it was. Great to be seeing mah boys in action once again. It was a great game, with a couple fabulous plays. The Illini won 80-something to 60-something, I think. Good times.

After the game, I started the trek to Ohio. I talked to Heather from somewhere north of Indianapolis to somewhere east of Dayton, which made the drive quite enjoyable. I made it to Columbus about 8:30, and Aarti and I headed out for Columbus's version of Dos Reales, El Vachero (spelled... possibly not right). YUM! Good food! After dinner, we headed out to Brothers with Donna and Aaron, and met up with some of their other friends. I was twirled (and twirled and twirled) by Spinny Guy, which was... interesting. And a bit frightening. Aaron had to finally step in and save me, especially when Spinny Guy tried to dip me. A big N-O! Scary! Afterwards, we all headed home to crash in front of Pirates.


Sunday, Dec 7

Aarti and I headed out for some shopping, and the Great H Hunt of 2003. After many unsuccessful trips to malls around here for the perfect Christmas gift, I finally, FINALLY found it. Whew! Then Aarti headed to work, and I headed out on another Great Hunt, this time for fondue ingredients (and gas for my car). One gas station, two grocery stores, a bread store, a wine store, and about two hours later, I returned with all but one "vital" ingredient for the fondue. Discouraged, I took a little nappy-nap, watched some TV, chatted with Aarti's roommate, and waited for her to return with apple juice as a substitute for kirsche. We made fondue (YUM!!) and had a grand old night.


Monday, Dec 8

I'm blanking on Monday morning. Hmm. Anyway. Monday afternoon, I went to work with Aarti. It was very cool to meet all her coworkers and finally put faces to names. I also got to see what she does all day (Aarti is a Very Important part of the whole operation), which was very educational for me, as we do not get trained in that aspect of the bank in my job. An all around good experience. We left around 9 and grabbed some dinner (California Pizza Kitchen) and a movie (School of Rock). Good times!


Tuesday, Dec 9

I had to leave for home, much too quickly. The weather was bad, bad, bad, which did not make for a fun drive. I made it, though, in time for my dress fitting. I was pleasantly surprised for the dress to zip after all the Thanksgiving and birthday feeding frenzy. Whew! It was a monsoon outside all day and all night, which thankfully did not turn to snow.


Wednesday, Dec 10

There was a bit of trauma when, Wednesday morning, I noticed that I was booked on a return flight from Huntsville to Chicago on both Dec 15 and 17. After a phonecall to Travelocity, it was confirmed that the flight my ticket was *actually* for was the 17th. Bad bad bad!!! I have to work on the 16th!! After a looooooong time on the phone with Travelocity, American, and Travelocity again, I was told that to change the flight to the 15th, it would cost $1,100, or to purchase a new ticket, $600. ACK!!! I was stuck between not going at all, or calling in sick for two days from Alabama. Neither of which were grand options.

In the end, I went to the airport in hopes of talking my way out of the situation, being that it was Travelocity's fault, not mine. I got a real nice woman at the American ticket counter who was able to do the switch for a mere $146. Not perfect, but a helluva lot better than the alternatives! The plan was the freaking smallest thing I'd ever been on, with one seat along one side and two along the other, and just enough overhead space for a jacket or small bag (carry-on suitcases were valet checked at the gate... how's THAT for rock star treatment?)

I arrived in Alabama on schedule and met up with HEATHER!!! SO good to see her. We went shopping at the Huntsville mall, where I picked up some Christmas presents (which I didn't consider having to fit into my already-full carry-on suitcase) and ate at Chick-Fil-A! YUM! When we were all shopped out, I went back to meet the fam. Heather's mom and sister are the sweetest things in the whole world. Liked them a lot.


Thursday, Dec 11

A day of running around. First, we went to Heather's school to see where she works and attends classes. Looks like a real nice place, although it was empty of most students, being that it's winter break. We met the lions, Leo and Una, which were so cute! We had Mexican for lunch (yum) and did a bit of shopping at the Purse Guy and a couple of dollar stores. Then we stopped by the pet store to see the kittens (adorable!), and, having Animal Fever, we went by the shelter, too. There were SO many precious kitties and puppies there for adoption, and I just wanted to take them ALL home. I don't think my parents would have enjoyed that nearly as much as I would!

We came home and did a bit of a collaging project. Then we went to O'Charley's for dinner with some of Heather's friends, Jennifer, Joseph, Lindsey and Terry. The service was horrible, but the food and company were good. After dinner, Jennifer, Joseph, Heather and I went for some bowling. Good times!


Friday, Dec 12

Friday is a bit of a blur to me. Oh, Heather's mom took us for lunch! We went to Trowbridge's, a really cute ice cream parlor/sandwich shop that has been in Florence forever. Really good food, really nice atmosphere. Then Heather and I went out to the old railroad bridge over the Tennessee River, which was very pretty (if not a bit chilly). Great place to film a movie, as Heather and I discussed. ;) We had to go back to The Purse Guy so that I could get my "Alabama Souvenir," a wallet with a K on it. The Purse Guy is so nice, I HAD to get something from him. I love my wallet!

Heather's Grandad took us all out for dinner at Ricatoni's (I hope I spelled that right) where I had some delicious chicken parmesan (can you see that a running theme here is FOOD?). It was a really good restaurant. After dinner, we were so stuffed that we went home and watched movies. I finally got to see the first Lord of the Rings movie! That was a long time in coming!


Saturday, Dec 13

We got up early-ish and headed out to Joseph's graduation ceremony. We didn't arrive in time for a seat, so we had to join the crowd in the back. We couldn't see too well, but we yelled for him when his name was announced. It was rainy and cold, and after the ceremony (and once we made it OUT of the parking garage), we tried to eat at Logan's Roadhouse. Too crowded! Lindsey, Heather and I went back to the mall for Chick-Fil-A (can't get enough of that stuff). We went back to Heather's for a bit before meeting Lindsey, Terry and Joseph for dinner at Logan's. Ha. Food really WAS one of the main attractions! Lol.

After dinner, the five of us plus Alison, Kyle (Alison's friend from Disney who was also visiting), and later a couple more people, went back to Terry's for some Balderdash and Twister. I had not played Balderdash before, so that was fun. Twister was a HOOT! We played it the regular way and then in teams, and the most amusing thing ever was when Joseph had to lay himself on top of Kyle to reach a dot. There is photographic evidence.

After games, Alison, Kyle, Joseph, Jennifer, Lindsey, Heather and I went to Sidepocket's for karaoke. SO fun! I miss that stuff. "The Girls" sang Lady Marmalade, and then Joseph and I did Summer Nights from Grease. Everyone had a go at singing, and Heather, Jennifer and Lindsey competed in a Booty Dancing competition while Kyle did Baby Got Back. Hee! Quite entertaining.


Sunday, Dec 14

I woke up a bit before Heather and started watching the second Lord of the Rings movie. I liked this one a bit better, as it didn't take half the film for Orlando to show up. heh. Moved a bit faster, too. Anyway. We took our time in getting ready, and then went to see Haunted Mansion, which was very enjoyable as well. I liked it more than I had expected to. Good movie!

After the movie, Kelly, Heather and I went for Mexican again, and then home to watch Survivor and play some Disney Trivia. Good times!! Then we stuck in What's Eating Gilbert Grape to fall asleep to, but ended up getting sucked in and watching the whole thing.


Monday, Dec 15

The trip was over WAY too soon. After FAR too little sleep, we got up at the butt-crack of dawn to head back to the Huntsville airport. I had SUCH a fantastic time in Florence visiting Heather. Her family is awesome, and I just missed her so much. Hopefully we will live together again someday soon. Everyone in Alabama was wonderful, and I learned to say "Bah!" (bye) in the true Alabama fashion. Hee!

The plane trip home was none too thrilling, as we ended up sitting on the runway for an hour before leaving (why couldn't they figure this out BEFORE we board the plane?) and then circling O'Hare for 20 minutes before landing. Argh. That was a LONG time on the plane, yo! My butt was numb. Ha. But I made it!!


All in all, a fantabulous vacation. I wish I could have spent more time with everyone, but I'm glad I got to at least see Aarti and Heather. Someday hopefully we will ALL live in the same state.

Vacation Time!

I am FULL of glitter. Never, ever buy sparkly Christmas cards if you can help it. Eeep!

As of this moment, I am ON VACATION for the next ten days. Woohoo! I'm very excited. Ten days! In a row! Of course, it won't be at all relaxing, as I'll be movingmovingmoving from start to finish, but it'll be great to not be at work. And to see friends. Yay!

Tomorrow begins with the Illini game at the United Center. So excited! I'll leave straight from there to Columbus to visit Aarti. Of course, at this moment, I haven't got a clue how I'm supposed to get there.... *ahem* An email has been promised, multiple times, over the course of a week... *cough*Aarti*cough* But I get to meet her friends, and see her work, and hang out for a couple of days.

I'll come home Tuesday in time for my bridesmaid dress fitting. Jamie, can you make it? Can you manage to tape 24? ;) And Wednesday, I'm off again, this time to the airport to visit HEATHER. ::bouncebounce:: Very excited. I'll be flying back Monday from that.

Such a great week! I can't wait to see everyone. I only wish I had enough time (and money!) to see ALL my friends.

Oh, and funny thing. I got two more comp tickets in the mail today from Disney. These are for Pleasure Island, DisneyQuest, and the waterparks. Odd, that! My first program I got NO comp tickets. Now, an entire year after my second program ended, I'm STILL getting them! Hee! I won't complain, not in the slightest, because this means I will have to take a trip to WDW sometime before summer '05. And that's just plain happiness.

Okay, need to pack, need to finish Christmas cards, need to go to bed.

Vow to be productive!

Yesterday was, quite possibly, the laziest day in the history of days. I did nothing. Literally nothing. I didn't get out of my pajamas all day. I watched a couple movies, read my book, listened to Christmas music, and bummed around online. I didn't even get any inside-things done, like Christmas cards or cleaning of the room or wrapping of my mother's birthday present. None of that. I was completely and utterly lazy. It felt pretty darn good, too.

But today will be the opposite. I got up at 7:30 and did pilates. I had my SlimFast shake, took a shower, threw in a load of laundry and changed my bedsheets. Actually, the other way around on those last two. <.g> I have to clean my room, put a large dent in Christmas cards, finish my mother's present and wrap it, go work out, bake some No Pudge brownies for mom's birthday tomorrow (I hope we still have a box, because I haven't a clue where you buy them!), and hopefully finish up my Christmas shopping.

Yes. I can do it. I can be the Queen of Productivity on this glorious day off!

Thanksgiving Week

What a week! Worked Monday, had Tuesday off. Worked Wednesday, had Thursday off. Worked Friday and today. Have tomorrow and Monday off. And then the schedule returns to normal. Whew!

Let's see. Tuesday, I got a lot of Christmas shopping done. My dad also got a new car. It's niiiiiiice. I call dibs on buying it out when the lease is up.

Wednesday, work. Hmm. Nothing much exciting, I don't think. Saw Brother Bear. Cute movie. Enjoyed it.

Thursday, my birthday. I'm 23 now. Ahhhh!! That's almost THIRTY! Scary, that! Thursday, if you recall, was also Thanksgiving. So it was a bit of a stressful day. We cleaned, cooked, cleaned, hosted, cleaned, ate, cleaned, and cleaned some more. We must have run the dishwasher a dozen times, not counting the things we washed by hand. Yeesh! But it was good. My cousin is really nice to hang around with. Now that he will be heading off to college next year, we've got things to talk about. My mom's parents were up in Wisconsin with my other cousins, and they were missed. We had a smaller crowd this year, due to the one set of grandparents as well as my uncle's girlfriend being elsewhere, but it was nice. We all fit at one table, which hasn't happened in AGES. After the meal (and eating WAY too much!), the fam and I went to see Master and Commander. I think I like it better now, remembering it, than I did when I was actually watching it. It was a bit gory, and I'm not a huge Russell Crowe fan, but it was a pretty decent movie.

Friday, I worked. I was scheduled to go in at 10, but no one told me. Bah. They had revised the schedule to give me a late start after my birthday, but didn't think to inform me of the change. So there I was, at 8 am on the dot, when I could have been just waking up. Grrrr. Oh well. Still got paid for the two extra hours, so it was alright.

Today, I worked again. Quiet day, which was good. I'm still crossing my fingers that they'll let me off next Saturday for the Illini game, but I'm not holding my breath. My manager said that if this Saturday went well, she'd think about it. This Saturday went well. Pleaseohpleaseohplease think about it!!

After work, we decorated the Christmas tree my parents got at the Jaycees lot today. It's purdy! I was veeeeeery sleepy, so I had two mugs of coffee, and then laid down for a nice two-hour nap. Now, you see, I am wide awake. But that's okay. We went bowling to celebrate Meghan's, Emily's and my birthdays tonight. It was so much fun! Quite a success, I should say. Many people showed up, and it was a good time. Let's see if I can remember... Greg, Tammy, Elenid, her friend Keith, Theresa and Dan, Melissa and Andrew, Jamie and Craig, Em, Frank, Meg, Anthony, Kelle, Tina, Megan, Dor, Erik, and some people I didn't catch the names of, but who were all really nice. I think people had a good time. Afterwards, a bunch of us went to Fridays for drinks, which was good also. Michelle, I'm so sorry you weren't feeling well and couldn't make it! We missed you. Next time fo' sho'!

And now, I'm home, and massively updating. I'm sure y'all are excited. Right? Heh.

Tony! On my TV!

Carolyn, I LOVE THIS TAPE! It has TONY!! Ahhhh! Now I know why you were so anxious for me to watch it!

Not that I didn't love seeing Blue Stone or the Curve, or all you crazy gals. Because that was awesome! The Curve is very good, and I wish I could see them live as well. =/ And of course, Blue Stone! I miss them so, so much. Not as much as I miss y'all, of course, but yes.

Tony! I'm still giddy.

Thankyouthankyou!

Man, I miss Orlando. *sigh*

Nearing the end of November

I'm not going to be home tomorrow (my cousins are coming down from Wisconsin! Yay!), so I thought I'd say it now: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEGHAN!! The big 2-3. I'm still younger than you! Na-na-na-na-na-na!

Okay, I'll stop being twelve, and revel in my last week of being twenty-two.

C, I did get the tape. Last night (our mail comes after 6 pm now... CRAZY!). Thank you!! I didn't have time to watch it, between Friends and ER and all that, but soon. :) I can't wait to see it!

The end of the year is always totally nuts. I'm feeling stressed already! I want to get my Christmas shopping done before my vacation. I'll be spending the first part of the week visiting Aarti, and the second half visiting Heather. I'm so excited! A little bummed that I won't be able to go to Atlanta to see JC's show, but it wasn't meant to be. He'll just have to come to Chicago.

Dear JC,

Please come to Chicago with your solo!club!tour. I'd reallyreally appreciate it.

Thanks,
Kate

Ho, hum. I don't really want to go to work. I'm quite tired, and it just doesn't appeal to me today. Don't you wish that was a good enough excuse? "No, thanks, I don't think I'll work today. I'm not really feeling it." Heh.

On the other hand, it was 68 degrees yesterday, and is supposed to be in the 50's all weekend. How cool is THAT? It was such a wonderful feeling to go over to my little park and read my book at lunch yesterday, without a jacket, at the end of November. A-yup. Okay, work. Going now.

Bad days, no basketball, and Brandis.

Rough day. The kind where, at 2:00, I wanted to either go to sleep, cry, or go home. I did none of the above, by the way. I hope tomorrow's better.

One of the things I was most upset about is December 6th. My dad got tickets to the Illinois game at the United Center to celebrate his birthday and mine. He was so excited about them, and I can't get the day off. One of the bankers is on vacation that week, and they "just can't have only two people on a Saturday." Come ON. When I was the only banker, we ALWAYS only had only two people -- me and my manager. And on the rare occasion I got a Saturday off? Just her. One person. So why do we need three on the ONE week I really, really would like to have off? Couldn't we make do with two just once? <.sigh>

That, the crazy, issue-filled day, and that rumor about Jonathan Brandis dying make for not a very happy Kate. I did find a very cute JC article, though, which I stuck down in "more." If you feel so inclined.

JC in this month's Paper Magazine. Transcribed by Nichole8 on the JJB.
Hurtling up the west side highway in a chauffeured Chevy Tahoe, JC Chasez�formerly a member of the world�s most bombastic boy band, �Nsync, and currently at work on a solo album, Schizophrenic�has already made it clear that he isn�t afraid to lip synch or cuss like a thug. Later he�ll even dance on a banquette or two. But right now he�s singing along with Nelly Furtado on the radio. �I�m like a bird, I�ll only fly away, I don�t know where my home is�,� he purrs, gesticulating and squinting on the more hot-blooded stanzas. The other passengers in the car aren�t singing with him, but Pete Kelly (the friendly driver), Lonnie Jones (the friendly, 300-and-something-pound bodyguard) and the rest of the gang are still having fun. It seems impossible to not have fun hanging out with JC Chasez (that�s sha-zay to you bub). He�s famous, rich, and exceedingly sweet.
Back at the Canal Room in Tribeca, it was photo-op city. Hip-hop fans were raising hell at a record-release party for scenester DJ Mark Ronson, and JC�clad in a navy blue Fred Perry tracksuit, Hanes tank top and Kangol cap�was at ease in a sea of weed smoke, women and celebs. Mos Def snuck through the VIP section unnoticed by fans, R&B starlet Tweet mugged for paparazzi, and singer Maxwell looked very sexual-chocolate in a choo-choo-train hat and snug trousers.
Lonnie Jones positioned himself beside JC at the beginning of the evening and rarely left his side after that. �I keep people from bothering him and help things stay cool,� Lonnie says. He likes his job. �Working for JC couldn�t be any easier. I can�t think of anybody who is more low maintenance.� Indeed, the pop star�who started out in the dance world battling at NYC clubs when he was 15 years old, the was cast in the Mickey Mouse Club with Britney, Christina, and Justin�seems carefree. Since �nsync delivered their fourth album, Celebrity, two years ago, JC has started to work for himself. The release date for his solo debut keeps getting pushed back, and it�s not clear why. But whatever the reason, it doesn�t matter tonight. He�s ringmaster of a 15-person entourage, just going along for the ride. When people ask him about plans, he�s reticent. �ask Noah,� he says, referring to his friend, nightlife lion Noah Tepperberg. �Noah knows what�s next.�
What a difference 40 blocks makes. If we were club-hopping in Times Square, partying with JC would be �complicated. Boy-band fever has wilted since 1999, but you can bet your Good Charlotte concert T-shirt that if they spotted JC, preteen tourists would scream until their heads, like, totally popped off, and Lonnie Jones would need to lay the smack down. Downtown, there is less titillation. There are, after all, places where people don�t notice a teenybop pet. �If I�m drinking a beer at an Irish bar on the corner, nobody gives a @#%$ who I am,� JC says. �At parties it�s not usually a problem.� But that doesn�t mean it�s never a problem. �Sometimes people notice and it can get weird,� the 27-year old admits: �It only takes one girl to set it off around a party: �He�s from nsync! Oooh, oooh� At a place like this, it�s easier. People might notice who I am, but nobody makes a fuss.�
Another reason JC gets fuss-free partying is because Lonnie Jones, Pete, Jive guy Carlos Vega and Carlos Melgajeco (JC�s best friend, roommate and manager) take fine care of him. Tepperberg, who cuts through velvet ropes lickety-split, is also an asset. Finding more fun is never a problem.
�Noah and Jason hook me up,� he says gesturing to Tepperberg and his partner Jason Strauss, who met JC last summer at the Tepperberg-helmed PlayStation2 Hotel in the Hamptons. Indeed, Noah�s a glue that holds parties together, pouring drinks for a pack of pretty girls. (Alexis is a writer for People, Kim is a model/personal trainer, Saskia plays professional soccer�there�s also Morgan, Mary Ann and a few others.) Sean Paul�s �Get Busy� thumps loudly; $1,000-per-hour DJs label this genre �party classics and hip-hop�; everybody else knows it as �wedding music.�
�You wanna bounce?� JC asks as the party dies down at Canal Room. It does seem like a good time to bounce. On our way outside, Lonnie barks, �We�re hitting the door� to what seems like no one. Then I notice a cord squirreling from his ear and a wrist microphone inside his big sleeve. The Tahoe is idling a few steps from the door.
When we land at Lotus, JC is almost forgotten in the hustle. �Hey, can I get out?� he asks, trapped in the backseat of the truck. �Guys? Hey, let me out.� Inside the club, rich yuppies disco dance, and waitresses are supremely attentive. A song called �Get Low� by Lil� Jon and the Eastside Boyz starts playing, and people cheer. JC stands, steps onto a banquette and starts grooving and singing along. Later, he bemoans the track choice. ��Get Low� is an amazing song, but the DJ playedthe clean version. The good parts were bleeped out,� he says. �In the real version the lyrics are �To the window, to the wall/To the sweat drip down my balls.� It�s awesome, totally funny.� Sweaty balls, sure thing!
It�s odd to see Justin Timberlake�s wingman partying like mad. He�s super-duper famous, yet people don�t really know who he is, and that seems to work out well for him. Heavy-duty celebs like Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts might guzzle Veuve at P. Diddy�s private after-parties and loaf around Soho House every once in a while, but they don�t have this much fun in public. Maybe they�re too famous, maybe they�re too boring, maybe they�re just over it. JC isn�t. He�s dancing and chatting, and it�s just right�until it�s not, at which point we decide it�s time to leave.
When the bill is given to JC, Lonnie swiftly whips out a flashlight and shines it on the slip of paper which JC signs quickly before stepping to the door. Outside Bungalow 8 a few minutes later, somebody says, �Great. Now we can go and listen to the same music we just heard.� It�s true. There�s more Sean Paul, George Michael, more �Hey Ya� by Andre 3000 inside. It�s almost 4 a.m. and the Jive publicist is cavorting with his co-worker Tanielle. Amy Sacco�s chatting with a mysterious white-haired man in a booth. JC�s friends swear they recognize the man, but they can�t quite place his face.
It�s hard not to be smitten with his scene, where people dance hard and smile big, as if the world is all beach houses and heli-pads, with no problems to deal with. Case in point: the Bee Gees �stayin alive.� When this song comes on at other clubs (barring, say, Polly Esther�s and Culture Club), guests typically abandon the dancefloor in revolt. How pedestrian, they think. When it starts playing tonight, the crowd gets busier then ever. They love �Stayin� Alive� so much it�s almost punk rock. Embracing the weathered Saturday Night Fever theme is the pop life. There�s no pretense here, not tonight. And that might be the coolest thing of all.

Jon Brandis!

Not to be perpetuating rumors or anything, but I've heard a bit of talk that Jonathan Brandis died. Haven't found a real news story, other than the Cleveland paper that reported it, but it kind of sounds legit. How sad!! Jonathan Brandis was my Sekrit Boyfriend in junior high. My first big celebrity crush. I even had a binder of pictures and articles cut from teenybopper magazines. Ha ha. I think I've still got it, somewhere. <.sniff>

In other news, my class is OVER! This means no more staying laaaaaate on Tuesdays. Also, no more lots-of-overtime, but that's okay. I can actually work out on Tuesdays again. Whee! Good stuff.

Hmm. Nothing much else to say. I guess I'll blowdry my hair now.

Monday off

So what have I been up to since my last post? I bought four winter coats. That's right, four. I actually took two back yesterday, though. Which is GOOD. I didn't want to have all of that on my credit card! One of the ones I'm keeping is a bit nicer. It's for work, knee-length and really cute, if I do say so myself. And a bit different than anything else I'd been seeing in the stores, so that's good. The other coat I'm keeping is actually going to be a Christmas present from my grandma. It's a grey peacoat, casual, to wear with jeans and stuff.

So that was Friday, the shopping extravaganza with my mom. I also bought two new suits, one which is for my birthday from my mom, and the other which I bought for myself. It was on sale, and I needed another suit, so that worked out well.

On Saturday, I worked. I took a little nap in the afternoon, and went to see Love Actually at night. Good movie!

Sunday was Jamie's shower. It was very nice! Good to see everyone, and I think Jamie had fun. ;) How many cars did it take to get the gifts home? Hehe. Sunday was ALSO Emily's birthday. So a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!! Mwuah!

Today, I have the day off. I need to do some serious Christmas shopping, though. Gah. So many things to buy, it's nuts. I'm making a list right now. I hate Christmas shopping. Therefore, I'm trying to get it done NOW, hopefully before the mall gets too terribly crowded. Okay, off to do that.

Wednesday, Wednesday

For reasons unknown to me, I have been unable to sleep in on my days off. Whyyyyyyyy? *pouts* I have an awful headache right now, too. I've got too much to do to let it get in the way, though. Today:

• work out
  
• get oil changed
  
• go to post office
  
• get gas
  
• pick up Finding Nemo
  
• exchange wrong-sized shoe
  
• get winter coat
  
• random other shopping that needs to get done ASAP

The theme for today is spending money. Left and right and up and down. Meep! I better make sure my checkbook's all up to date. I think I get paid this week. Or not. No, I think not. I think that's next Tuesday. Darn!

JC was on JoJo's show last night. I was listening over the internet (and on AIM with Tonya). A & J were in-studio with him again, and I got their full report this morning. I can't say I'm not completely jealous at how much better this in-studio was than the one I was at. They got personalized autographed pictures! And still got their pictures taken with him! From their reports, he sounded so very much happier this time. Not that he wasn't last time, but he was reeeeeal mellow. I guess this time, he was making faces and talking in funny voices and playing with the sound effects board and just being goofy and bubbly and happy. *jealous jealous* But I'm happy for A and J, and glad they were there to give the report!

Old habits die hard

Just called LA. Like old times! Talked to my pals over at KIIS FM. First to Natalie, who at least pretended she remembered me (not that I asked... she did sound pretty excited when I said "This is Kate from Chicago," so either she was just happy that people were calling from all over the US, or trekking across the country to see a pop star makes an impression on people. Heh). She, of course, put me on the air with JoJo. He's a cool guy. We chatted a bit about the cold and the Cubs. I don't even want to know if they play any of it. I'm sure I sounded like a complete doofus if they did. But I put in my vote for JC, and I got to hear "Some Girls" while I was on hold! Too damn cool to hear mah boy on the radio. I'm so proud! ::wipes tear::

Anyway. Enough of that. I have tomorrow and Wednesday off. Whee! A mid-week weekend! Two days in a row is longer than I can say for most real weekends, so it's a happy thing. Plus, it's Veteran's day. Have to remember my grandpas. Don't forget your moment of silence at 11:11 am, y'all! ::salutes::

Weekend

I've had a really fun weekend. Full to the brim, that's for sure! I worked yesterday, as usual. After work, T, K, my boss W and I went out to lunch. And D came, too! D being the banker who quit to go back to school in August. It was really good to see her again, catch up on things. And fun to hang with the coworkers outside of work.

Afterwards, I went to the library and got some more movies to watch, and then to Jamie's for a little partay. She has SUCH a cute place, now! There was LOTS of food, and good company. We were all a little bit sleepy, which was a bummer, but it was a good time. We will have to do it again soon, girls. :)

Today, Kelle and Tina (friends of Megan's that I met when going to her birthday shindig last month) came over and we had a Johnny Depp marathon. First, we went to lunch, and then came back and watched just Johnny's parts of Before Night Falls, and then all of Blow and Nick of Time. Nick of Time was filmed at the Westin Bonaventure in LA! That's where Dad and I stayed in October! It was super-cool to see places that were familiar. The entire movie takes place in that one hotel (aside from the Amtrak station, which I spent time in when going to visit Elaina in Bakersfield a few years back), so it was a lot of fun to recognize everything. Plus, Johnny's hot. And Kelle let me have a copy of her Pirates (not that yours wasn't good enough, Miggie, but this one plays on a DVD player!), which I'm watching now. Love this movie. Can't wait until I can buy it on DVD!

So, that was that. Short week this week. I work tomorrow, and have class at night, but then I'm off Tuesday for Veteran's Day and Wednesday for my regular day off. Then I work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but still. It'll feel like a very quick week. Which is good.

Two years... and three days?

I had planned this to be my "Look at me, I've been blogging for exactly two years!" post, because I had in my head that November 4, 2001 was the day I started all this madness. Looking back at my archives, the first entries say November 1, 2001. So. Either things got converted slightly off when I moved from Blogger to Movable Type, or this is now my "Look at me, I've been blogging for exactly two years and three days!" post.

For an anniversary post, I unfortunately don't have much exciting to say.

JC's first single, "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" dropped on Atlanta's Q100 yesterday. The word on the street is that it's playing there and in Miami (Y100?). This means I need to start emailing the radio stations here. And possibly calling KIIS in LA again. Heh. Because I don't have anything better to do.....

Musical Theatre

In the past three days, I've seen three musicals. Er, well, both Thursday night and Saturday night I saw the same show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, as performed by my old high school. Sandwiched in between was The Lion King downtown.

Joseph was amazing. There is SO much talent in that school, and T, the boy who played Joseph, was just phenomenal. He gave me chills, quite literally, more than once. I remember him as the little squirt in my children's choir's Advanced Choir. He was eight, and I was thirteen or fourteen, and he could sing circles around any of us, even then. And now, at seventeen, he just blows me away. He'll go far. What I wouldn't give for a recording of that performance last night!

Lion King was excellent, as well. It was freezing in the theatre, though, so that broke my concentration a lot. Still, the boy who played Young Simba was fabulous. Everyone was great. Good show!

After the Lion King, I went out to a couple of places with Aarti and her friend Mary. Being Halloween, we all dressed up. It was fun. I was a Tavern Girl, which I feel was cheating a little bit, as I bought the costume. I have never, in my entire life, worn a store-bought Halloween costume, and it felt wrong. But the one I was putting together myself just wasn't coming together as much as I'd hoped. I couldn't find a shirt, and that was an important component. Anyway.

It was good fun to see Aarti again, however briefly it was. We went to IKEA on Wednesday, and to dinner with my parents at Houlihan's, and then to Blockbuster, where we purchased a bunch of movies. Hee. I got How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Chicago, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Chocolat for $45. Three of them were previously viewed and one was new, so. Not too bad. On Thursday, Aarti and I went to see the aforementioned Joseph, and on Friday, we did the Halloween thing. It was a good couple of days.

Today, I'm catching up on relaxation. I have a three-day weekend! Whoo! Monday AND Saturday off. Niiiiiiice. I rarely have either of those days off, let alone both. And I don't really have any plans. I need to go to the library, as I have nothing to read on my lunch, but that's it. Feels wonderful.

Johnny, going out, and All Hallow's Eve

Another one of these massive update-y things.

Not much exciting has happened. The highlight of my week was having my Johnny Depp marathon on my day off on Wednesday. Six--six!--JD movies in twenty four hours. Borrowed Benny & Joon and The Astronaut's Wife from the library, watched them and took them back and borrowed The Man Who Cried and Dead Man, watched those, and rented Edward Scissorhands and Donnie Brasco from Blockbuster. All in the span of 24 hours. To my credit, I did do eight loads of laundry, a TON of filing/cleaning of the room, AND did my homework for class during said marathon.

Last night I went out to McGees with Em, Frank, and Em's friend. Was a good time. Took waaaaay too long to drive into the city, but once I was there, it was worth it. I need to get my butt out more. This I know. So I'm making an effort to do so. ;) Afterwards, however, I could NOT fall asleep. The last time I saw the clock, it was 2:20. And I thought to myself, two more minutes and it will be 2:22. I am a dork, yes. I didn't see 2:22, but I saw 5:52, when my alarm went off for work. Bah.

Worked today. It was massively busy. Which, I suppose, is the best way for it to be when in danger of falling asleep. I didn't have a moment to even finish up one thing before I had to start another, so I certainly didn't have time to be sleepy. It was a good day, though. Got a lot accomplished.

After work, I went to Shelley's. We watched *NSYNC on Loveline from '99 and Joey in RENT from last fall. Well, highlights from Joey in RENT. That's a pretty long play, yo. But that was fun. And then we went to my bank, to stop in on the one-woman show they were having tonight. Small crowd, but I'm glad I made an appearance. We had yummy apple cider.

Then, we went to Naper Settlement for their All Hallow's Eve event. Naper Settlement is this 19th century living history village, and they had it all done up for All Hallow's Eve. We had quite a time of avoiding both the Headless Horseman and a pumpkin-headed dude on foot. Somehow, they both seemed to be converging on us from opposite directions everywhere we turned. We also avoided Death and some undead pioneers, saw a ghost tea party, had a fried Snickers (Snickers bar dipped in funnel cake dough and fried... while not really authentic with the times, it was YUMMY and those 19th century folks were seriously missing out), and saw a dramatic reading of the Tell Tale Heart.

We also had our fortunes told. I'll take mine! I had my palm read. She said my love line and life line meet a bit later in life, but they run together strong and for a long time. So I will fall in love a bit later (which is good, because I'm well on my way to later rather than sooner being my exact destiny), but it will be once and for good. My wealth line also meets my love line, so I will marry a wealthy man. I will have four children -- three girls and one boy. My talent line splits into three equal parts, so I have three passions and will be successful at whichever I choose to pursue. Not too shabby, eh? If I held stock in that kind of thing. Heh. ;)

So that was that. Good times, good times.

The week since California

Whew. So after California (see previous post... whoo! I updated!), the week just flew by. On Thursday, I went to the Village (retirement home) in the morning, as I do every other Thursday. Then, in the afternoon, T, K and I had to go downtown to present our banker projects to the branch sales managers, regional managers, Illinois sales managers, marketing department, and training department. Whew!!

After the presentations, I met Karen for dinner at Cheesecake Factory. It turned out to only be about a mile from where I was, so I met her at Borders and we popped across the street. Hadn't seen Karen since February, so that was good to catch up. And GOOD food. I ate WAY too much. And pumpkin cheesecake. Yum.

Then, on Sunday, I went to the Strokes concert with Sarah. She drove down from Wisconsin about 3, and we headed into the city. We found the venue, and then (Aarti, you'd be PROUD), I navigated our way to Devon for some Indian food. After sitting in the parking lot FOREVER waiting for a parking spot, we finally found one. But it was really tasty food! There is a theme here... revolving around food. At this rate I will NOT lose the 1/2 inch to fit into Jamie's bridesmaid dress!!

The concert was... loud. Of the three "groups" (one girl, Regina something, who did a solo... thing, and then Kings of Leon (very 70's) and the Strokes), I had heard two songs before. It is just not really my type of music. A bit too alternative and LOUD for me. I prefer songs with lyrics that are understandable. But it was an experience, and I got in for free, so not all was lost.

Today, I had my midterm for my banking class. It went alright. I was totally out of the test-taking mode, as I haven't had an exam since December! I got a B on the test, which kind of disappointed me, because this was not differential equations. This was banking. Should be easy, yeah? It was all regulations and acts and laws and the history of banking and the history of the Federal Reserve Bank and who governs what and UGH. Not my cup of tea. So I guess a B is alright. I just need to step it up for the final!

And that's where I am now. I have tomorrow off, and I have almost exhausted the library of its Johnny Depp collection. He is so good, that Johnny Depp. I watched Inside the Actor's Studio with him the other day, and man. I'm so impressed. So, yes. Good times. I'm watching Benny & Joon now, in fact.

Californ-i-a

I haven't updated in forever. I know this. I suck.

Last weekend, I went to California with my dad. It was great fun. For your reading enjoyment, a play-by-play:

We got in late-ish Saturday night and sat for-freaking-ever at the Hertz place. We ended up with a Lincoln Towncar for our trouble, and damn was that thing big. Heh. Cushy, but ginormous.

The hotel was also cushy. Very fancy-pants. The conference was at the Westin Bonaventure, and in choosing there to stay (for convenience), we did not think of the fact that, in surprising my godfather, we would have to be stealthy for the first two days of the trip. We had to sneak around and keep a sharp eye so we didn't run into him and ruin everything.

On Sunday, we met up with Elaina, who is now living in Bakersfield, and she, Dad and I went to Disneyland. I had to compare. I am definitely a WDW girl myself, but it was fun to see the differences. They had some spiffy rides that the Magic Kingdom doesn't (Indiana Jones, Matterhorn Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion was all Holiday-ified), so it was a good time. Afterwards, we drove (and drove and drove) to West Hollywood (I think) to have dinner at Mel's Diner. I think we ate next to Tara Lipinski, if she would have any reason at all to be in LA. Looked a lot like her, anyway.

On Monday, Dad and I went to Hollywood, walked down the Walk of Fame (and resisted sitting down and taking my picture on a number of different stars), avoided the creepy Spiderman and Wonder Woman outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. No less than three (three!) men sang "M-I-C...K-E-Y.....M-O-U-S-E" to me on the street because I was wearing my Mickey Mouse Club t-shirt. But THREE! One was a police man, too. I was amused.

We ate outside in a little outdoor mall where we could see the Hollywood sign from our table. That was fun. Then we went back to Mel's Diner to get a t-shirt for my mom (who is still known as "Mel" to all my dad's old college friends, even if she hasn't gone by that name in years) and to get a coffee at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf there. Good stuff. Afterwards, we took Sunset almost to the coast (took a little detour to shorten the trip), and stopped in Santa Monica for a bit, just to admire the ocean. So pretty. I would love love love to live in Santa Monica.

Monday night was the reception for my godfather as he takes over as president of the International Water Environmental Foundation. He didn't know we were there yet, so we spent the first half of the time keeping our eye on him and countering his moves around the room. They showed a slide show of really pretty hysterical pictures of him growing up, and then it was time for the speakers. My dad was up first, doing "the college years," and my godfather was floored when they announced my dad's name. Jumped out of his seat and turned around, then ran up to him and gave him a big hug. It was great. He was thrilled that we were there! Very fun.

After the reception, there was an after-reception-reception in my godfather's swanky penthouse suite. It was good to hang out with his kids (we've gone on vacations with them), who became a refuge in a room full of waste water engineers. We were *thisclose* to venturing out onto the town, and I wanted to go to the Viper Room, because hello, Johnny Depp's club. We ended up staying at the hotel, and boy. I now hear JC ended up there (at the Viper Room, not the hotel) that very night. What luck. But I'm glad I got to see the family friends, and they were the real reason I even went to LA, so. No regrets.

Tuesday, we left about 8:30 for the airport and got stopped by security due to our bags setting off an alarm for nitro-glycerine. Trace amounts on the outside. Which, I suppose, could have come from the hotel, the rental car, the bus we took from the Hertz place to the airport... any number of places. But they had to upack every. article. we had and check them all for explosives. Talk about embarrassing. This is the second time the entire contents of my suitcase have been dumped out for all of the airport patrons to see.

Oh, and funny thing. There was a plane leaving for New York City at the gate next to ours, and I swear they paged "Passanger Robson, passanger Wade Robson, please come to the desk, passanger Robson." They most definitely were paging a Robson, and my head snapped up at mention of the name that sounded very much like Wade. But that could have just been my ears fooling me. Heh. Would he have had reason to jet to NYC on Tuesday?

The plane was way delayed due to weather in Chicago, and we finally got home about 8:00 Tuesday night. Whew! It was far too short, but we packed a lot in. Not nearly as much as I would have liked to have done, and but what I did do was wonderful. I guess that leaves something to do next time, right?

So that was California. Next post to update the rest of my week.

Busy Beaver

I'm off today. It's the most perfect day to be off. It's in the 70's, with the bluest sky and just a touch of a breeze. The trees are starting to turn golden, and it's so beautiful. It's times like these when I love living in Chicago.

I got up early, chatted a bit with dear Miggie (where's your prettypretty background? Maybe it's just not loading at the moment...), and went to work out. I hadn't been to the gym since last Thursday, so I've been slacking! Oops. Then I got gas and got my car washed at the good car wash. It's all sparkly now!

I dropped off my movies at the library (made it through Sleepy Hollow and From Hell, but I'll have to take Drumline out again next time... no time for that) and headed to Target for a little shopping. Bought some cute work-out pants for winter. Well, one long pair, and one that's kind of like capris. My fall pair. ;) Also got a new suit, which I'm kind of on the fence on. It's not the cutest suit in my wardrobe, but it was only $32 for the whole thing, so that ups the value a bit. Heh. And a shirt to wear with the suit, and my make-up, which I was running out of. All in all, I spent under $100, and it was all necessary. So I guess that worked out well.

I came home and cleaned my room, did some laundry, and I am about to meet Theresa at the Addison movie theatre. Hee! She was giving me a lot of crap about seeing Pirates so many times, and then last week she admitted that she might want to see it. But she'd only go with me. So here I go again! This'll be the last time in the theatres, though. I'm telling myself this now.

Leave for California on Saturday. I'm excited! I wish we could have been leaving Friday night, but that's a whooooole other story. So we'll arrive around 7:30 Los Angeles time and probably crash, because I have to work early Saturday morning. Sunday we are planning on hitting Disneyland (YAY!!), and Elaina is probably going to come along. Double YAY!! I haven't seen Elaina since I visited her at school in January of 2000. She has been living in California ever since, so I'm looking forward to that greatly. Monday, Dad and I are probably going to just bum around LA, see what there is to see, and then Monday night is the reception. I don't know what to wear! Ahhh!!! Then home Tuesday. It'll be another whirlwind trip (don't I take enough trips I can count the number of hours spent in that city? One of these days, I'll take a whole week somewhere).

So. Off to the movie theatre I go!

::Sends good vibes to the Cubbies::

Yesterday was Megan's birthday (Megan-from-Wheaton, not Meghan-from-here). I went over to her friend Kelle's house (whom I had never met) to find our way downtown along with Kelle's friend Tina (whom I had also never met). Kelle and Tina live right close to me, though, so we thought we'd figure out the L and find the bar together.

We took the L from Cumberland, which is a new trick I think I will be using in the future when not wanting to find a place to park the car downtown and not needing to be right in the loop via the Metra train. Yay! Also. Exciting tidbit! (maybe only for Carolyn and me...) They guy who does the voice on the L ("Doors closing. Next stop, Adams. The doors will open on the right side at Adams.") is the guy from the monorail!!! Yes, yes. He's the same guy who says "Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas." Hee! The novelty didn't wear off. And he talks a lot on the L, yo!

We made it to Goodbar on Halsted about halftime of the Iowa game. The Iowa game is what we were technically there to see, as Megan is the biggest. Iowa. fan. ever. But the Cubs game was playing on the small TV in the corner, so Kelle, Tina and I all sat with our backs to the big screen with Iowa and watched the Cubs. Iowa beat Michigan, which I guess is a good thing, but we kept wanting the football game to be over so that they'd put the Cubs on the big screen where we could actually read the score and the count and all of that. They finally did. Sammy almost-not-quite pulled through in the end there. *sigh* Today, boys! And I hope Kyle didn't get hurt too badly. Ack. I really, really want a picture of him laying on the ground with his leg kicked up, though, because so adorable. Hee. It would have been awesome for them to have won yesterday, here in Chicago, but I have faith that they can pull through in Atlanta. Go Cubs!

After the game, we made our way to some tattoo parlor for Megan to get her bellybutton pierced. I could not watch. ::shudder:: It was kind of making me sick just looking at the little displays they had. They had plastic tongues, belly buttons, eyebrows, ears and nipples displaying different pieces of jewelry, and that was just... Eww.

We then tried to eat at Buca di Beppo, which would have been so tasty. The wait was 45 minutes, though (because, duh, thousands of people in Wrigglyville for the Cubs game... did we expect to not have to wait?), so we went to Pompei, which is kind of a Corner Bakery of the Italian food world. A step up from Fazzoli's, but you order it at the counter and they bring it to you. Afterwards, we took a different L route home and didn't have to deal with the scary tunnel of the first transfer we'd made going, but had to deal with an almost-equally creepy tunnel at this transfer station. I like the L much better when it's above ground. Heh.

So that was that. It was a good time, and Kelle and Tina were really nice. We're going to have a Johnny Depp-athon one of these days. Yay! Exciting.

Work: the good and the bad

Not many of my customers are too young to be receiving Social Security, so when someone under thirty-five walks through the doors, it's practically shocking. And when that someone spends the entire interaction hitting on me, in a kind of creepy way (I've never had someone say "How YOU doin'?" and not be 100% joking), I'm just thrown for a loop.

Speaking (sort of) of Social Security, I helped one of my new favorite (favorite new?) customers today get his Social Security direct deposit switched from his bank in Florida to his bank here. He's 93 and hard of hearing, so I had to talk to the fine folks at the SS office for him. He's just the cutest man in the world. Moved up here to be closer to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He's always in great spirits, and is in fantastic health. I need to learn a thing or two from him! Anyway, he was very thankful for my help. About ten minutes after he left, he popped back in and handed me a bag. Inside was a box of Fannie May Mint Meltaways! That gave me all kinds of warm fuzzies.

I've gotten thank-you notes from customers, but he actually brought me a present. For doing my job.

On October 1, 1971...

...Walt Disney's new theme park in Orlando, Florida opened. Happy birthday, Walt Disney World! The Magic Kingdom has been around for thirty-two years today.

I have so many fantastic memories of Walt Disney World. I can see myself, eighty years old, telling "This one time, at Walt Disney World..." stories to my grandchildren. Up through now, the best times of my life were those spent working for the Mouse.

Boy, do I miss it.

Let's quickly update my life

I went to Michigan this past weekend to visit the sister. Mom and I went up early on Saturday (but arrived just a bit before lunch). We took Jessica and her roommate, Amanda, to lunch, then did a bit of shopping. Jess had gotten us tickets for Grease for that night, which she had to work. We waved hello to her as she frantically took people's orders in the concession stand at intermission.

The play was quite good. Sandy was played by a girl from Estonia. I wish I hadn't known that during Act 1, because it would have been neat to see if I noticed at all. She did very well with the accent. There were only a few times that I smiled to myself over something she said. And she had an amazing voice. Actually, most everyone did. Especially the guys. Every one of them blew me away. Plus, Frankie Avalon! Hee! He reprised his role as Teen Angel (25 years after the movie came out... that's a long time!). He was so obviously having such a good time doing it that you couldn't not love him. After the play, he came out and had us do a sing-along to "Witch Doctor," sang a couple of fifties songs I didn't know, and then sang his two (or... two of his?) big hits (I only knew "Venus"). It was a good time.

It has gotten so cold out. We turned on the heat last night, because it was only 64 degrees upstairs. Eeep! It's been in the lower 40's the past couple mornings when I left for work. Not cool, folks. Not cool. Actually, too cool, and not in a good way. It's much too early to be worrying about frost and breaking out the lined coats. Brrrrrr. ::shiver::

I had class again last night. It's scheduled to go from 5:30-8:15. We started at 5:00, with the intention of then getting out at 7:45. Noperdoodles! We still got out at 8:15, but effectively squashed any time we could have used to eat some dinner between getting off work at starting class. Supposedly, we're going to be starting at 5:00 from now on, specifically TO get out early. If I'm not going to have a break between work and class, we better stick to the time schedule, yo. I become a bit cranky when I leave my house before 7 am and don't get home again until 9 without a dinner break.

And woops! Better finish getting ready so that I'm not laaaaate.

O-Town on TV. Hee!

Aww, I'm watching Newlyweds (first time ever.... heh! It's quite amusing!), and they're at Red Hot & Boom! Last summer, I was there! Brings back memories. <.sigh> I miss Orlando! I miss it a lot.

Tonight, I had my first Principles of Banking class. This means I was at work for twelve hours. I left my house at 6:55 am and walked in the door at 8:58 pm. I'm sleeeeeeeepy. <.yawn> It's going to be a LONG ten weeks.

Hey Carolyn...

According to Joe Fatone, Sr., in an interview with Kid Cruz of Orlando's 106.7fm, Joey will play the lead role of Danny in the musical Grease starting November 20, 2003 and running until November 23, 2003 at the Linda Chapin Theatre in Orlando, Florida. Auditions for other parts were held on September 4th. The cast also includes Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton from The Fresh Prince), and Jeff Conway who stared in the original movie as Kenickie will join Joey and the cast as DJ Vince Fontaine.

Performance Dates are: November 20, 21, and 22, 2003, at 8:00 P.M. and November 23, 2003, at 3:00 P.M. Please Call (407) 224-5478 for ticket info.

MmmJohnny

Since I don't know how to change my page design, and I felt it needed a little Johnny facelift (somewhat inspired by Miggie's awesome new layout could do without the smoke, love the piano), my little picture is all I could work with. Isn't he pretty? ::pets voyeur!Johnny::

And Miggie? I didn't get to Best Buy for the DVD, but I'm going to try my darndest to get there tomorrow. After working out. They're gonna love me, walking in all gross and in sexay shorts and t-shirt. Heh.

Wedding Bells

It's kind of funny writing this, as half of the people who will read it attended the wedding. Oh well. This is for my memories. ;)

It's so strange that Emily is married! This is my friend from sixth grade orchestra, co-violinist and bus-riding buddy. I remember when she told me her mom was pregnant with her little sister, who was a junior bridesmaid. I've known her a long time. Probably one of my oldest friends I still see on a regular basis, which is pretty cool, if you ask me. We survived junior high, high school track team, orchestra, and AP English together, not to mention a handful of school dances and a little class called Drama I that we didn't survive *together*, because I suck. Heh. There have been a lot of good times (and a couple not-so-fun "Kate... I threw up!" experiences), and it's so exciting for her to be a Real Grown-Up now. With her own husband and her own apartment and everything!

Friday was the Big Day. The day my dear friend Emily became Mrs. Frank. Er, well, you know. <.g> Meghan and I met up with a couple other people at the reception hall at 3 to take the trolley to the church. It was good times in the bouncy back of the trolley. Jamie, Meg and I thought we were going to bounce right out of our dresses. Poor Sean and Craig had to put up with us. Hee.

Emily was absolutely beautiful in her dress. It was such a pretty ceremony! Everything was perfect. The pastor read passages Em and Frank had written about each other, which was so sweet. Very cool. It was just a really nice wedding. Afterwards, there was a little fly by, which was quite fun. We took the trolley back to Beau Jolie, where the festivities began!

Let me just say, it was the most *perfect* place for their reception to be. Elegant and beautiful, and RIGHT by the airport. I'd bet a lot that the airport placement is what sold Frank on the place. Hee. We had a good table, Meghan and I, along with Nicole, Kim, Katy, and some friends of Emily's from school and work. The food was delicious, the toasts were good, the slide show was adorable.

After dinner, the dancing began. We had a ball. There was just the best group of people there, and I had SUCH a good time. Em, you throw a great partay! I hope you got to enjoy yourself some...

Anyway. After the reception was over, Meg and I headed back to the hotel. Let me just say, I stayed in that room by myself. Not too cool. But whatever. I can't be too mad because Meg and Anthony are adorable together, and he seems like a really nice guy. So I'm happy for them. Hee! Could have done without forking out money on a hotel room I stayed in alone, but all in all, not a horrible experience. Plus, I got to watch infomercials (Straight to the Maxx, baby!), Lil Bill, and Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls while I waited for Meghan to find her way back to our room in the morning. Could have been worse. ;)

Yesterday, I was dead tired (due to having less than five hours of sleep the two previous nights), but I couldn't for the life of me take a nap. No idea why. I finally fell asleep for about 45 minutes, which only resulted in making me more tired. Then, I went to see Underworld with Tammy, Darkeith, and Lydia. I love hanging out with them, but the movie was NOT my thing at all. Heh. It actually had a pretty good plot, but the violence and gore kind of overshadowed any good storytelling there may have been. Plus, the fantasy angle (vampires and such) and the DARK colors (the entire thing was in blue, black and grey, I swear) were not really my thing. But I got to see Tam again before she headed back down to Eastern, which was good. Miss her.

Today, once again, I only got five hours of sleep. I had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to be in Naperville for the Crohn's and Colitis Walk, for which I was a team leader for Team Regency. It was a good time. My cousin has Crohn's Disease, so I felt like I was walking for a really good reason. It was a gorgeous day, and a nice walk down the Riverwalk, so that was cool. Then Mom and I went for lunch at Jimmy's Grill (yummy!), and then browsed through the art fair that was happening at the Riverwalk as well. Good times. I love going to art fairs!

And THEN (busy weekend!), Dad and I went to see Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Again, not really my kind of movie (lots of violence and gore again), but Johnny Depp was hot, and his character was funny. He was very good in it. That being the reason I wanted to see the movie in the first place, I was not disappointed.

So, here I am. All updated and such. Tomorrow, I have to go to almost-Indiana for a training class and luncheon with the Operations people in our company, which will be fun. I talk to these people on the phone every day, but have not met them. I am looking forward to putting a face to the voice. Yay! Shall be good times.

Today is Tuesday

Friday night, I had to go to the college in town to open up accounts. It was a lot of fun! We ended up working laaaaate (even later than our usual 6:00 end time on Fridays), but it was great to get out and do something outside of work. The international students we were opening accounts for were really nice, and I look forward to working with them again. After work, Kelly and I went to Jimmy's for some dinner and a couple drinks. It was good to go out with her. I'm glad I like the people I work with. Next time, maybe more people can come. Yay!

On Saturday, I worked again, and then went to see Matchstick Men with my parents. The jury's still out on whether I liked it. Hmm. Anyone seen it? Want to convince me of whether it was a good movie?

Sunday, I saw Aarti in the morning, got lost in the city trying to find the expressway (or, more specifically, trying to find a westbound entrance; the expressway was right there and there were plenty of eastbound entrances, but I needed to go west!). Sunday night I stayed at Em's place, which was great fun. Like the slumber parties we used to have in high school. Hee. And then getting up in the morning was wonderful, because it was only a 15-minute drive to work! Thanks for having me, Em!

Yesterday was our Call Night. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd imagined. We got out earlier than expected (about 6:15) and I was able to meet Jamie and Michelle for another look-see at the bridesmaid dresses Jamie's thinking about. Good times. I think she's narrowed it down to two, and I love them both. So, yay.

Today is Tuesday. There used to be a song, Today is Tuesday, today is Tuesday, Tuesday string beans, Monday bread and butter, all you hungry children, we wish the same to you. Went through all the days like that. I don't know why that just popped into my head.

I need to get my eyebrows done. Need to. Do I have time to work out tonight and get my eyebrows done? Yeesh! Hope so.

I'm sorry.

I'm really, really sorry. For any misunderstandings, for anything I did or said or didn't do or say that hurt you. I think I'll write it in a big, long letter where emotions don't have to be involved and I can be relatively objective.

And I'm really not attractive when I cry. So I want to thank you for that. ;o)

Busy day off

I'm sick. Bah. I pretty much feel like total crap right now. Maybe it's allergy, I don't know. I've been taking allergy medicine, though, and it hasn't helped one little bit. You would think that going from not taking allergy medicine to taking it would make at least a marginal difference, yes? So I don't know. All I know is that my throat hurts and I have an awful tickle in my chest and I keep coughing and coughing. And my nose is stuffy on one side.

Um. Sorry for that. That was pretty much entirely TMI.

I'm reallyreally tired, too. I slept nine hours last night, have been awake for thirteen hours, and I'm just exhausted. This can't be good.

I did see Pirates of the Caribbean again today, though. For the *ahem* third time. Eeep. It's SO GOOD, though! I just can't get over the fact that I think a dirty, drunk, crazy pirate with gold teeth and dreadlocks and eyeliner is so very, very lickable. That's just very unlike me. *shrug* I won't argue, though. I can't wait until this movie comes out on video. I haven't seen a movie that I've wanted to buy in a looooong time. I'm trying to think of the last one. Maybe Chicago, but I haven't bought that yet. Before that, possibly Lilo and Stitch.

*cough, cough* I hate coughing.

I did everything on my list for today, though. This makes me proud. I got up at a decent hour (9 am), went to work out about 10:30, went to the bank to get cash and deposit my paycheck, came home and showered, did a couple loads of laundry, met Megan at the Loews to see Pirates, went to Marshall's to see if they had any cheaper dresses I liked better than the one I bought last week for Emily's wedding, went to DSW Shoe Warehouse to buy shoes to go with the dress I bought last week for Emily's wedding, got my car washed, and went for coffee (er, tea) with Meghan.

Whew!

No wonder I'm tired. Heh. I'm trying to break in the shoes. They're higher heels than I normally wear, so I wore them around the house a bit tonight. They huuuuuurt. But in a way that means I need to get used to them, not in a way that means they're poorly constructed. I may still look some more on Saturday, just to make sure, but for now, I'm happy with these. They're cute and they make my legs look nice. ;)

A New Member of the Family

My mom just got a new car. It was well overdue, as the minivan she drove up until today was purchased before Mr. JT was even on the Mickey Mouse Club (a.k.a., circa 1990). It's an Accura, and it's pearly white, and it has a nifty navigation system.

My parents now own five cars. For someone with the last name of, say, Timberlake, this might not be unusual. But for someone with my last name, it seems... excessive. Ha. Except not, because they are needed. My dad has his company car, my sister has my dad's old company car, my mom has her brand-spanking-new Accura, I have my Malibu (for which the title is technically still in my father's name), and there's the van, which my dad refuses to get rid of in favor of having a vehicle to haul his wood and machinery and whatnot in.

So, yes. We are a Five Car Family.

Nothing much else exciting is going on.

The girls at work and I made plans today to go out after work next Friday. This excites me, because finally, I'm "making friends" at work. Not that I wouldn't have hung out with my coworkers before now, but the opportunity has persented itself and that makes me happy.

I work tomorrow. And then I have to exchange the jeans I bought last week (the seam lost a few stitches and is developing a hole... bah!), and maybe get a dress to wear to Emily's wedding. Except I don't like shopping for clothes all by myself. I need second opinions to tell me when I truly look hideous in something. Ha ha.

And I reallyreally want to see Pirates again. Maybe tomorrow. Anyone up for a trip to the AMC? Hee.

Ohio

Every time I think of Ohio, I think of Big Bird in Japan. Or, possibly, it's Big Bird in China, as that's the movie that comes up on imdb.com, but I SWEAR it was Japan. Regardless. And yes, there is an actual correlation here. I haven't seen this movie since I was probably seven years old, but I distinctly remember everyone Big Bird met bowing and saying "Ohio." Apparently, this means "hello" or something of the sort in Japanese (or Chinese), but Big Bird thinks that everone he meets is from Ohio.

Anyway.

I went to Ohio this weekend, to visit Aarti. Columbus, to be exact. This is officially a Long Ass Drive. Especially to do alone. I left work about 1:45 on Saturday and drove, and drove, and drove. My butt got numb. My back started to hurt. And I got bored with every CD I owned. But I made it there by about 9:00 or so Ohio time.

On Sunday, Aarti and I got up late, watched some "Sex and the City," made chocolate chip pancakes, and then headed out for some shopping. We went to the Easton Mall, where I spent way too much money at the GAP. Oftentimes, the GAP doesn't have a single item I wish to purchase. But when it does carry things I want to own, it carries a LOT that I want to own. I came home with five new shirts and two new pairs of pants from there. But of those items, I bought four of the shirts and one of the pairs of pants specifically to wear to work, as my work wardrobe was getting mighty repetitive. So that was good.

After the mall, we did some furniture shopping. That was fun. Then we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which was tasty, and then to see PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, which is, quite possibly, my new favorite movie. Good-NESS! Excellent. No one warned me that Johnny Depp was so freaking hott in eye liner, or that Orlando Bloom was so totally, adorably sexy. Yum. Good times. And the movie was hysterical! The man we sat next to REALLY thought it was funny, complete with roaring laugh and knee-slap, which upped the entertainment value by about threefold. Heh. It was fun.

On Monday, we did some more furniture shopping, had some ice cream, saw Freaky Friday (very cute and rather enjoyable), watched some more "Sex and the City," made dinner, and then Aarti headed to work and I headed to bed.

And Tuesday I came home. Another six-plus hours in the car, but I made it in one piece.

And that was my weekend. I just now watched my tape of JC on the Latin Grammy's from tonight (luckily, he presented first, so I can tape over the rest). He looked goooooooooood. And to hear him speak un muy, muy poco espanol was just... I love him. Hee.

Now, I only need to see him on the Wade Robson Project. Because, yes.

Car Woes

Today was my day off. I had grand plans for the day, I did. I would get up, work out, get my oil changed, get gas, go to the library, pick up something for lunch, head to Target for some necessities, and to Marshall's to return a coat and maybe buy a new one. And, if I had the time and energy, hit DSW to see if they had the New Balances I was thinking of exchanging my as-yet-unworn new Nikes for. I ended up keeping the Nikes. And wearing them.

As it turned out, I got up, worked out, and... tried to get home. Car wouldn't start. Again. It happened two Wednesdays ago, for the first time in my car's life. (Somehow, I knew I'd hear from Starcom today, since the last time the car wouldn't start was my day of Starcom-ness. Heh.) The car tries to start, gets most of the way there, and won't. It's like it's turning over, and over and over, but not catching. I don't know how else to explain it. Last time, opening the gas cap did the trick. This time, that didn't work. The car guy thinks it's an electrical problem with the theft system (didn't know I had one!), since the THEFT SYSTEM light kept flashing. But he can't say for sure unless he catches it in the act. So.

Anyway, it started up after about twenty minutes, and I went on my merry way. Got the oil changed and got gas, but then was talked into taking the car in to get looked at, by my dad. So my productive day ended there, after the getting of gas.

Now I have a full-of-gas car with freshly changed oil that's sitting at the garage. The guy said it would probably be fine, most likely a little glitch, but I'm driving the car six hours to Ohio on Saturday. Would rather not enjoy being stranded there, thankyouverymuch. So, just to be safe, the car is being looked at.

So I came home and watched A Wedding Story (twice) and A Baby Story and Trading Spaces. And plucked my eyebrows and watched an infomercial that I could. not. turn. off. on some make-up system. By Alex or Alexis something-or-other. And that was my day.

I also started looking at real estate in the Los Angeles area. Because I am a dork. It's utterly unaffordable, but who knows. Someday, perhaps. Someday.

Oh, almost forgot to say. Visited with Michelle last night! It was so good to see her. We went out for ice cream and looked at pictures, and I played all the JC song clips for her (more like MADE her listen to them, but she was a good sport about it *g*), and we chit-chatted the nice away. Good times. Glad I got to catch up. It WON'T be so long before visits next time, I promise!

Okay. So, time for bed, I guess. I'm all TV-ed out after today. Maybe I'll read. And Carolyn, I wanted to thank you for transferring your car issues up to me. Much love.

Getting pictures developed is fun

I just got back a bunch of pictures from three rolls of film dating back, well, a long time, some of them.

Had pictures from Miami, which, yay! Got my Miami pictures back! Excitement. It was so beautiful there. And I was so tan. Ha. Got some reeeeeally teeny-tiny ones of the Skills Challenge and the game, some decent ones from the club, a couple beach shots (beautiful!), a couple pictures of the gang. Good times.

Rewind a bit to February, and the Nick Carter concert. Some cute ones of Nick at White Star and some cute ones of the group I went with at White star.

Back a little further to LA. Just one or two from that trip. The rest were on the digital camera.

Then there was Christmas of this year, with the classic cat-glaring-at-the-camera picture, from when we made Specks wear super-cool reindeer antlers with bells hanging off of them. He loves us for that. Every year.

Before that, we have graduation. Aarti and me climbing on the Alma Mater, standing below the arch. Aarti, did you get your pics back from that? Mine came out kind of small, and I only had one at each location. I thought we'd taken more. Bummer.

Going a little farther back, we have the end of school. Apartment-being-decorated-for-Christmas and whatnot.

A little earlier and we get the 711 apartment of two years ago. We have Aarti (as I am completely wiped out by the Attack of the Giant Thumb) dancing to Pop, we have me doing the Flopping Fish, a quality headstand against the wall... we have Shelley, Aarti and myself getting ready to go out somewhere, and Aarti and Shif all dressed up in Indian clothes.

Rewind some more, and we get, oh yes, New Years 2000 and the first Disney Reunion Trip. Pictures of All Star Sports, of the crew, of the lights at Epcot, of the Tapestry of Nations parade. Some pretty cool ones, too.

So, yes. The lesson learned here? Kate is HORRIBLE at getting pictures developed in a timely fashion. Horrible. But it was fun and exciting to get them back now! A great trip down memory lane.

Now I've got my own JC to cuddle with at night. *g*

I'd meant to post about my day on Thursday, but I forgot. So I will now.

I had a very frazzled morning. Couldn't WAIT to get out of there, man. It was nuts. K, the other banker, and I left at noon with C, a banker from a nearby branch, to head downtown to one of the branches in the city. All the "new" bankers had to give presentations on our banker projects. These presentations were for all the branch sales managers, the regional managers, the Illinois sales manager, and more. The room was full of "higer-ups" in the company. MEEEEP!!

My presentation went fine. I had done my project on home equity credit lines, comparing five other banks' products to ours. Had a nifty power point presentation and everything to go with it. And, as it turns out, my manager used my power point when trying to convince a customer that ours really IS the best product. Ha.

But anyway. After the presentations, they took us all out for drinks at a little bar down the street from the bank. Very fun. I got a Trixie, or something. It was tasty. I had to leave the bar early, though, to go to the White Sox game with my dad and sister. It was hotter than heck out (heat index of 112 in some parts), but exciting to be at the game just the same. I'm not really a Sox fan, per se, but it was a good time. Our seats were excellent -- five rows behind the Sox dugout. And the Sox are in first place, apparently, so that was fun. They won. Good times, good times.

I got home waaaaaaay late, though, and was totally exhausted at work yesterday for the Day of No Power.

Today, I worked again. It was fine. Just a normal Saturday at the bank. Afterwards, I met Megan at Woodfield and I made a Build-a-Bear. My first ever! Hee.

The lady tried to sell me on girls' underwear for him, but he is a BOY. No matter how sparkly his outfit is, he's very much a boy bear. Meet JC. And his shirt, see? It's BEDAZZLED. Hee! He's got a sparkly silver belt on, and his visor has a cute little paw print on it. And the coolest velcro ever. Heh. He doesn't have any undies on, due to the absense of boy underwear, but he'll get some next time. Yes indeedy. Isn't he cute?

Power Outage!

Our town's Street Fest is going on about eight or so blocks from my house. I can hear the music loud and clear. Right now, there's something really fun and jazzy. I'm groovin'.

Today was a rather exciting day. Arrived at work with a big Starbucks latte (thankfully, as I was not able to make coffee at work) to a sign saying "Bank Closed Due to Power Outage." I about turned around and went home. Heh. But we had no power. Which meant no network, no computers, no phones, no nothing. No toilet flushing, either. The walk-up and drive-up windows are power operated (the walk-up has a switch to unlock the door, and the drive needs to suck in the tubes), so before the lobby opened, they literally could not do any business.

We did end up opening the lobby. It was almost a little scary, because while we *thought* the hold up alarm was working on an eight-hour backup generator (due to expire around 1 pm), our other security systems were down. No cameras, no other alarms. That's like a huge welcome to anyone that the bank downtown has no power! Anyway. Four of us had to stand outside the bank and greet the customers. For anyone trying to use the drive, we had to run their transaction inside to the tellers for them. Curbside service. We could only do deposits, though, because there was no way to track money going out.

It turned out to be a lot of fun. Especially going down to the safety deposit vault in the basement with the one working flashlight. We had donuts for the customers, and handed out pens and a little advertisement for our home equity loans (there's no hiding the fact it's a very sales-oriented corporation) to everyone. And we got to work outside all morning. Power went back on about 11, so it was work as usual after then. But it was an exciting morning!

Sick Day

I'm sick today. I had a really productive day, though, for feeling so terrible. *wink* I got up and worked out. It was a weighing day, so I did that. I lost inches (figuratively, as nothing is actually a whole inch) in my waist but gained them in my boobs. The net "inches" gained/lost is still in the negative, though, which is good.

Then I ran a couple errands with my mom. We went to the library and borrowed Dick and The Ice Storm. Then we went to K-Mart to drop off film from Miami and their trip to Arizona, to Starbucks for some provisions, and to school so I could help her put up bulletin boards. We watched Dick while we worked. That's a really funny movie, yo. Hadn't seen it in a while.

After school, I dyed my hair. It's just one of those temporary wash-out kinds, for 30 days or whatnot. I dyed it Amber, which is kind of just a brighter version of my own color. I like it! I might do it for permanent once this washes out. Here's a picture...



So that's me, today. Hee. I look a little dazed and confused, no? Give me some slack, people, I'm sick! <.snicker>

Is it Saturday yet?

Just a quick update here. Worked today, joy of all joys. It wasn't bad, actually, but you know. Working on a Saturday. It's just the principle of the thing.

After work, I went to see Emily's new apartment. It's so cute! They're going to have it decorated all adorable-like. Yay! I'm jealous. I want an apartment. I actually want a townhouse/condo. I think I'm actually seriously looking at purchasing something. It's a definite possibility. I just don't want to throw more money away on renting. I've rented for five years, and it's such a waste. "Here, have a couple hundred dollars. Here, have some more. Next month you can have more of my hard-earned cash. What do I get in return?" I know, I know, a roof over my head.

Then, Em, Dor, Kim and I went to see Uptown Girls. I liked it. I had thought it would be a lighter, happier, more-fun movie, but I did like it a lot. That little girl, Dakota Fanning, or whatever her name is, is excellent. Like her a lot. Brittany Murphy kind of looks like she's on drugs, but that's okay. She was still good in this. Two thumbs up.

Bummer weekend

So this weekend is the State Fair. I went to the state fair with Sarah after our freshman year, and it was so much fun. A real bonding weekend before we became roommates for real. Well, since Sarah got married in May, I thought it would be fun to go again this year as one last little hurrah before she *really* gets used to married life. I've kind of been planning on/looking forward to this weekend all summer.



I can't go.



I don't like to complain about work here, but my journal, my thoughts. D, the "new" banker/soon-to-be assistant manager, has had many, many Saturdays off. Which is fine, because I usually don't mind working Saturdays. Aside from the initial waking up at 5:30 thing, that is. Hee. But really. I don't mind, and I don't ask for many off. I had one off for Sarah's wedding, I think I had one off in between everything, and I had one off when I went to FL on vacation.



W, my manager, has been admittedly working six days a week pretty regularly since March, when we lost all the bankers. I know she needs days off. I told her all along. She didn't need to work six days, but she felt she did, which was fine. So now she is taking Saturdays off permanently. Also fine. But I asked for this weekend off FOREVER ago, and got a "we'll see." When I asked again more recently, I got a lecture on why W needs her days off, too. Which I agree she does, but argh. I don't ask for a lot around there, I really don't.



This was supposed to be a fun weekend with Sarah and Aarti, who is coming into town from Ohio for the weekend. Instead, I will be working. It's not worth it to drive down to Springfield after work, because I wouldn't get there until 5 or so, and we would have to drive back up to Champaign that same night to stay. It would probably result in twice as much driving as the amount of time actually spent in Springfield. AND I'd have to drive separately from Sarah and Aarti.



It's a bummer. <.sigh>

Day of Emily's Office

It's been kind of nice to have the house to myself. The cat and I have been bonding. My parents are coming home (three days early) tomorrow. The wake is tomorrow, and the funeral is Friday. I don't think I can get off work to go to the funeral, but I might go to the wake. We'll see how it goes.

I borrowed Spider-Man and I Am Sam from the library. I am completely in love with the library. They have an awesome film collection (both on DVD and video), with quite recent movies (might get 8 Mile next), and they're FREE! May not ever go to Blockbuster again! You only get the movies for three days, but at the same time, if you don't watch them... didn't cost you anything but a trip to the library. So I don't feel so bad. I watched Spider-Man yesterday. Tooooooobeeeeeeeey! I'm so hooked on Tobey. Heh. I even drew a picture of him, for which I used this (only, a bigger version thereof) as my "model".

Today was a long and draining day. I am completely exhausted. I was at the train station by 10:00, made it down to Emily's office about 11:45. We went out to lunch to a really tasty cafe and I got a buffalo chicken rap. Yum. We chatted, and then headed back to her office for a bit. After a draining three hours, I ended up on the 4:39 train home (had to boogie back to the station... more tiring!), and got back to Palatine about 5:40. Well, my car would not start. I called my dad, and he was convinced it was the battery. I know what a dead battery sounds like. This was not that. It's like it was trying-trying-trying to start, but just couldn't catch to actually get all the way there. So after trying for twenty minutes, I finally tried opening my gas cap and trying again, and there she went. Started right up. Apparently, since my car was out in the sun on the top of the parking garage all day in the heat, I had vapor lock. I'm just glad it's alright now. I might drive my dad's car to work tomorrow, just in case, though.

I did get the August (and July and September.... thanks, Em!) issue of Biography Magazine because Tobey was on the cover. Hee. Good reading for the train. So, if for nothing else, today was not a total loss. ;)

I came home and was STARVING so I had the rest of my chicken wrap and then a brownie sundae with peanut butter and homemade-by-Grandma fudge sauce. It was soooo bad for me, but sooooo good tasting. I needed a treat.

Now I have to clean the house for the cleaning lady. Joy of joys. And work tomorrow. Can I manage a woo and a hoo? Not sure.

I think I owe a massive update

There hasn't been a *lot* of exciting in my life lately. Last Monday, I went to see Joe Firstman in Chicago. Love him. He played barefoot. His little briefs were sticking out the top of his pants. He got SO into the music. Played the guitar and the piano, and, of course, sang. He wiggled a lot when he sang, and I thought he was going to tip the piano bench more than once. He didn't. There weren't a lot of people there at the beginning. He was on first, and it was only about 8:30. By the second song, though, a whole lot of people had found their way in to the *tiny* room. Very cool. Joe threw me his guitar pick. Or, really, it deflected off Megan's knee and I caught it.

Hmm. What else? Went to Cheesecake Factory for Dorothy's birthday last Wednesday. Spent way too much money and ate way too much bad-for-me food. But it was good. Went to lunch with Tammy, Emily, and Darkeith today. Also good. But I'm getting out of sequence here. Heh.

Went to the zoo with Shelley on Thursday. That was fun. Good to see her. Although, she *swears* she can drive now, but I'll believe it when I see it. ;)

Friends of the family came for dinner on Friday. Good times. Good to catch up with them.

Saturday was full of working, getting my hair cut (yay! I actually like it now!), and going to the library. Hadn't been there since high school. I got a new library card and rented Wonder Boys and This Boy's Life. Free movies, man. Doesn't get any better than that. I have been on such a Tobey Maguire kick.

Was supposed to go to the John Mayer/Counting Crows concert on Saturday, but no one could go with me, and it was too far to go by myself. I love John and all, and if it'd been JC, I'd have done it, but yeah. Long drive, big venue, didn't really know where I was going, all alone... wasn't worth the effort. So I watched Wonder Boys. Strange movie. Tobey was great in it, but the movie as a whole... eh.

Sunday, took my parents to the airport. Sunday (last) night, got a phone call that one of my dad's employees passed away. He was only 49. I'd known him most of my life. He designed our landscaping in my yard, and I worked with him for the three years I spent at my dad's company. He had a bright yellow Mustang and always wore this bright yellow shirt. I'd tease him that he looked like a bee. He'd go bzzzzzzzzzzzz every time he passed me, wearing that shirt. It's a bit of a shock, really. It was a heart attack. Gosh. So sad.

So my parents are cutting their vacation short. They can't make flight arrangements until they know when the funeral is, so I've been instructed to keep an eye on the obituaries. Joyous job, I'm sure.

Tonight, I watched This Boy's Life. I really liked it. Tomorrow they go back, and maybe I'll borrow something else Tobey was in. This house is too big to be in alone, just me and the cat. Too many rooms to keep track of, man. I didn't get much sleep last night, and I didn't eat dinner tonight (although neither of those things have anything to do with the house, or the lack of its current inhabitants), and I think I'm going to try to go to bed.