World Spins Madly On

Man, I am loving this four-day work week. Tomorrow is Friday and then it's the weekend again. Montgomery came into town tonight to stay with me for the next couple days and we're going to Purdue Cal. tonight to check out their View Purdue night. I'm thinking about maybe taking a criminology class or perhaps another English Lit. class. Marquette totally sucked at giving their students the chance to take classes they actually wanted to take instead of classes they needed to take so maybe I could take advantage of literally living five minutes away from a college campus and sign up for a night class. We'll see though. I'm not exactly the academic type. Just check out my high school/college transcripts.

It was so good to see Bill this past Memorial Day weekend. He came in late Friday night and left Sunday afternoon and the time in between was a blast. I really do miss him though I will never admit such a thing to his face. With the two of us together, we were wishing Chrissy was there with us but she's coming for the Fourth of July so the three of us can hang out together then. I miss my family. Bill and me were talking about how different the two of us would be if I hadn't gone to Marquette. There are five years between us and I was only thirteen when he left home. If I hadn't gone to live in Milwaukee for college, we both doubted that we would be as close and have as much in common as we do.

On June 15th, Linda and I are going to a concert in Chicago to see four bands: Godsmack, Finger Eleven, Buckcherry and Taproot. It's going to be crazy - especially since there's a Cubs baseball game in the city that same night. I'm glad Linda is going to be the one driving. The next day, while my parents babysit Baxter for the weekend, I'm driving up to Milwaukee to spend the weekend with Melissa, Annie, Brandon and of course, Dan. Because what trip up to Milwaukee would be complete without seeing Dan the Man?

Home For Mom's Day

Good God. It has been a while. Do you remember when I used to update three, sometimes four, posts a day? Sorry for totally slacking on The Mixed Tape but as I have mentioned in earlier posts, I have been bitten by the writing bug once again and when that happens, I am completely consumed and all I can do is write story after story until I burn myself out again. And unfortunately, when the bug decides to bite me, everything else seems to take a back seat, including blog updates. I apologize to this blog's five readers though. I promise to try to keep it more up to date - especially since I graduated from college almost a year ago already, meaning that my first official year in the real world is coming to a close.

I am in Ohio for a three-day weekend and though it is only 2:45 as I write this, I have been quite busy today. I went to the dentist this morning, came to see my mom at work and bug my friend, Jeff, before heading over to get my hair cut and waved. I'm now back in my mom's office, finally updating The Mixed Tape and enjoying the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, I'll probably run some errands with my mom before hanging out with Adam and Jon tomorrow night. Adam just got an apartment downtown and he's excited to show it off so me and Jon are going to probably head there tomorrow night for some beers and a cookout. I'm so excited to see them. I miss Brittnay though. I wish she could be here too. The group seems rather incomplete without her.

Sunday is Mother's Day and though I think my driving five and a half hours to be here this weekend is present enough, I'm going to get her something else. It feels like the right thing to do considering she had a hand in creating me and all. Maxwell, once again, has aged about a hundred years since Baxter has invaded his home but I'm sorry Maxwell. I love being home. I'm already dreading having to go back on Sunday and then back to work on Monday. One year later and my thoughts are still the same. The real world, and being an adult, completely sucks ass.

St. Patty's Day

Last night was interesting for me. I had just hung up the phone after talking with my mom when my cell phone rang and it was Jimmy. He told me to get my ass to his house, which isn't exactly right down the street from me, but nonetheless, I packed Baxter up and I headed to the northside of Chicago. Not only was Jimmy there but Montgomery and ELI were there! I was so happy to see Eli. He has been in NYC since we graduated and I couldn't believe how much I missed him. He's growing a beard as well, which was different for me to see. It scratched my cheeks when I hugged him but I like scruffy guys and he looks good.

The four of us went to several bars last night and the boys got completely and utterly drunk. I had three green beers therefore I was the most sober. Jimmy was about to drive us all home but we would have probably wound up becoming statistics if he drove. So through his intoxication, Montgomery managed to tackle Jimmy to the ground in the parking lot of the bar and I got the car keys from him. When I got us all back to Jimmy's home around two in the morning, we passed out on his living room floor only to be rudely awaken by Jimmy's mom wanting us all up for church. I had so much fun last night and I'm glad Jimmy called. I love my boys and of course, spending time with Eli again was great. Montgomery was able to stop thinking about law school for a night and I was able to not be mad at Jimmy for twelve hours before I hated him again. I just can't believe that I didn't drink more than I did.

The New Baby

It's such a beautiful day today - a perfect Spring day with a soft breeze blowing and the temperature just perfect to be wearing a sweatshirt. Bill was cleaning the gutters out for me and I was in the house, desperately trying to air it out after everything being cooped up for months. The house, in and out, needed a good cleaning. While I was in the basement, across-the-street neighbor, Jen, surprised me by coming over with her new baby girl. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks but I knew that the baby had arrived so I didn't want to go over and bother her.

The baby is five weeks old, six weeks this coming Wednesday, and she's adorable. Jen let me hold her and let's just say my experience with new-born babies is close to none so I was a little nervous at first but I must have done well enough since the baby's neck didn't break and I was supporting her head. The baby was due February 14th but she came at the end of January instead and wound up spending a week in ICU before she came home during the February blizzard. Jen and I were outside talking for maybe ten minutes before the baby wanted to go eat but Jen told me that I wouldn't be bothering her and that I can come over whenever I want. Jen is one of the nicest neighbors in the world.

Actually a Pretty Nice Little Saturday

Poor Baxter. Everyone has been commenting on his hair, or lack there of, for the entire day. He is sheared like a lamb and his hair will grow back. I just have to make sure I comb it as it starts to come in again. My biggest concern at the moment though is it's getting colder outside again and during lunch, Baxter came back into the house from being outside and he was shivering. I refuse to buy him any type of clothing though. I hate dogs dressed up as humans.

I was such an adult this weekend. Jimmy and Montgomery came over on Saturday and after dragging them both to church, we wound up at Target where I was so excited at our discovery. I bought a shark bath towel and shark hand towel! I was so excited. Sharks are never on anything that can be used to decorated a bathroom. For some reason, people don't like to look at sharks while they're taking a shower or bath. I can't help it though. I adore sharks and I of course had to buy these towels when I found them. I also went to Kohl's and bought purple bedsheets. I needed new ones for my bed and I loved the purple color I found. And since they were on sale, I made the adult decision and bought them. I felt like Will Ferrell in Old School when he's talking about going to Home Depot and maybe Bed, Bath and Beyond.

I'm so super excited because this coming Thursday, my brother Bill is coming to visit for the weekend and I'm working on a couple cds to give him. Bill and I have always had the same taste in things - tv shows, movies and music. Though he is a Who fan and I'm a Zeppelin fan. And I just found that he likes Lips of an Angel by Hinder, one of the worst songs on the radio at the moment, so I'm actually not sure whether or not he deserves these kick ass mixes from me.

In Like A Lion...

Today during my lunch hour, I finally called the groomer and set up an appointment for Baxter to get a haircut. I think the last time he was groomed was sometime in October - around Heidi's wedding maybe. Well, no matter when it was, he desperately needs to be groomed again. The weather is slowly turning to Spring so I don't have to worry about Baxter freezing to death when he goes outside with no hair. Not only is he a hairy monster but he also smells. I can't take it anymore.

I also finally went grocery shopping tonight after work. I couldn't take eating rice anymore and I missed eating a pear every morning. I adore fruit. Besides pears, I also bought grapes, raspberries and some bananas. I wish I could have gotten a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper but one day at a time. You think since I gave pop up every year for Lent, it would start to get easier but that's not the case. I think one year, instead of giving up pop, I should try to not swear for 40 days. Now that would be a challenge.

It's amazing how quickly the weather changed. Two weeks ago, we got slammed with a blizzard and now, we're dealing with thunderstorms. I'm not sure which I prefer. I love the winter and the cold and the way everything seems to be silent when it snows. But I love being tucked away in my house with a book and listening to the rain hit the roof above. The only problem with that is I can't sleep when it rains. Whenever it starts to rain at night, I know I'm in for a long night unless it stops. It's been raining on and off all day so I did get to wear my favorite yellow rain jacket, which always makes me happy.

My Weekend

I had a really good weekend back at home though the two days seemed to go by too quickly in my opinion. I left work on Friday around 2:30 and was packed and on the road by 3:10. And since you gain an hour crossing into the eastern time zone, I got there around 9:30. I love going home. I miss my room and just being there. Baxter was absolutely insane upon seeing Maxwell and my parents and since he slept the entire way there, he did not sleep one wink Friday night and my parents had to suffer since they were the ones he bothered all night.

I got to hang out with Adam and Brittnay on Saturday night, which really was the main reason for me going home. I also got to meet Adam's new girlfriend Sarah. She seemed nice and a lot better than the girl he dated while in high school but I find it always hard to really get to know a person who's thrown in a situation like this. Adam, Brittnay and myself have been best friends and have known one another for years. When we're together, we're talking about all of these things that probably don't make much sense to anyone else. As is our tradition, we watched a bad horror movie, but only after calling Jon and asking him if it was alright to do so without him. Adam and Sarah left early but Brittnay stuck around and we watched another movie and hung out. Hopefully, she'll be able to come up and visit me during her Spring Break.

My dad is a full-blown Rome addict now. I had ordered the DVDs at a really good price on-line and the package had arrived Friday before I left, which was wonderful timing. I took it home with me and my dad could not stop watching episodes. I can't believe this. My dad doesn't understand buying DVDs and there he was, sitting on the couch all Sunday morning, except when we went to Bob Evans to eat, and afternoon, watching Rome. I'm happy he likes it so much. If he's going to be addicted to a tv show, at least it wasn't to one he found on MTv.

My parents are going to kill me reading this next part since Baxter didn't let them sleep Friday night. Driving back yesterday, Baxter slept for the entire five hour drive. Normally, in most situations, there would be no way he would sleep that night. But last night, after chasing his bones around and humping that IKEA dog, and I watched a few episodes of Cops since the first couple hours of the awards show are concering awards I really don't care about, we both went to bed. And Baxter slept the entire night through except around 3 when he had to go out. But other than that, he slept and he let me sleep. I'm sorry mom and dad. I guess sleep just doesn't interest him when he's with you.

Feb. Blizzard '07

These are just a few pictures I took of the snow outside today after yesterday's and last night's snow storm. We got about another 1 1/2 inch today but after all we already got, it didn't really do anything. My shoulders hurt from shoveling and I wasn't able to get my car out of my garage without risk of getting stuck so I didn't go to work today. Linda called me around two o'clock today to see how I was doing. It made me happy and glad to know that I have a boss that seems to genuinely care about me.

My dad told me that he heard on the news that for the Chicago area, this is the new record for snow fall in February so I'm so glad that I was living here to witness it. (insert sarcasm here) I enjoyed my unexpected day off though. I watched some episodes of Rome, wrote a little bit and then in the evening, I watched The Departed, which I had pre-ordered and arrived today. I'm not going to like going into work tomorrow but at least it will be Thursday and the weekend is almost here.

Let It Snow

A snow storm has hit the midwest and it is officially horrible outside. It snowed last night and with gusts of wind topping at about 30 miles an hour, we also have snow drifts several feet high to deal with. The snow plows can't keep up. As soon as the street is plowed, more snow is blown over to cover it once again. Driving to work in my Intrigue was not at all fun and even less fun as I drove home for lunch. The roads are getting worse. As I was home for lunch, the snow seemed to falling harder and the wind blowing harder. I called Linda and told her that since I was home, I was just going to stay home.

I've been trying to stay warm in my house, curled up on my couch underneath my blanket and watching the Rome DVDs that came in the mail today through Netflix. I am officially addicted to this show and it had perfect timing to arrive today of all days. My dad didn't go into work today and instead worked out of my mom's office before both of them went home for the day at lunchtime. Their power went out for about 40 minutes but it's back on again. I hope I don't lose my power. I think that Baxter would offer very little warmth if that situation arises.

Looking outside again, it's still snowing. It's so white outside, it's almost hard to see clearly. I hope it stops soon but it's probably only going to get worse before it gets better.

Chrissy's Visit

When I got home Friday after work, Chrissy informed me that we would be going out to dinner since I ate nothing but things that came out of cans. I wasn't going to argue and after thinking of places to eat, I decided that I just wanted pizza so we went to Eduardo's, this pizza place I hadn't been to since I was a little kid going there for a birthday party. After eating a delicious veggie pizza, we went across the street to Dollar Junction since Chrissy wanted to get a few things. Target is right next door and since it's one of my favorite stores, I wanted to go in. Chrissy convinced me to buy a 24 pack of Play-Doh though she really didn't have to convince me that much. Play-Doh is one of those great things from childhood that can be loved even years later.

Jim and Heidi came over later and Baxter was completely insane but that was too be expected and for some reason, Baxter became quite attached to Jim. Heidi took pictures of my letter and giftbox from author Chuck Palahniuk since both she and her husband Dan are fans and then the four of us proceeded to sit at my kitchen table and play with the Play-Doh for most of the night. Trust me. It's a lot more fun than it probably sounds. Pictures of that will be posted tomorrow. Jim is amazing with Play-Doh. We couldn't believe the things he was able to make. It's always fun to hang out with them. I know that I'll always have a good time when I'm with them.

Chrissy left this afternoon to go into Chicago since this whole weekend was a work related trip but she promised that she will either be back in late March or early April. I'm glad. It was a nice visit even if it seemed too short.

Superbowl Sunday

What a great but tiring and most of all COLD weekend. It was about four degrees yesterday and now about one degree today but that doesn't even take in account of the windchill factor. My parents were here for the weekend and it was nice to have them visiting. And my dad is always eager to drive five hours to visit Baxter. As his daughter, I'm just the girl he has to put up during those visits. I'm just kidding. He actually hugged me goodbye this time unlike that one visit where he only hugged Baxter farewell.

On Saturday, we braved the bitter cold and went to IKEA to try and find the hutch to my desk. Thankfully, they had it and we bought it immediately, especially since this particular desk I have is going to be discontinued. I don't know why. I love the color of it. It gives the spare bedroom this fresh clean look it has never had before. And I love the fact that I now own a secretary's desk. It gives me some much needed shelf space for my ever growing book collection and trinkets and I have already fallen in love with keeping the two doors open so I can look up at it all while I'm sitting there trying to write.

Today is of course the big game: the Chicago Bears vs. the Indianapolis Colts. Go Bears! I'm one of those people that generally watch the game for the commercials but I'm actually going to be watching this year since my team is playing. Indy is favored to win but that is what will make it a good game. My dad threw a pork loin in the crockpot for me this morning and I just enjoyed some delicious barbecue pork sandwiches - wonderful football game food. All I want to do this evening is watch the game, eat and stay as warm as possible.

Game Update: Bears - 7; Colts - 0

That's what I love to see! Two minutes into the first quarter and already a touchdown!

And How Was Your Weekend?

Blah. Monday mornings are the worst but it's not like no one knew that. My weekend was pretty good. Relaxing and slightly productive which are the best kind of weekends to have. It was pretty cold the entire weekend and I didn't really have anywhere to be so I didn't go anywhere. I went grocery shopping on Friday after work so I could stop eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and macaroni and cheese for every meal. I didn't buy too much though - just enough to get me through the next few days before my parents come to visit me for the next weekend. On Saturday, I did laundry and made dinner - that delicious chicken and mushrooms in the crock pot with rice that I absolutely love. I tried to clean the house but honestly, looking at it now, it doesn't look like it.

Sunday was lazy - just as Sundays should be. I watched a couple of movies, including the two hour documentary 30 Days in Hell, the making of The Devil's Rejects. It was highly entertaining and I love listening to Rob Zombie talk about his movies as well as others because that man knows his movies. And I love Bill Moseley and Sherri Moon Zombie who play Otis B. Driftwood and Baby Firefly. They have a great friendship but of course, making this kind of movie together and sharing nearly every scene, you would have to get along. I also tried to make cookies but I definitely am not a culinary master in any sense - or baker for that matter. I just cannot seem to gain the skill of making cookies. I don't know what it is. But on the plus side, I was able to write for most of the weekend, which was most welcome. I've been working on one of my stories that have been a work in progress for almost three years so being able to add to it made me quite happy with myself.

Superbowl Shuffle

It's the Chicago Bears vs. the Indianapolis Colts in the Superbowl and living in Indiana, it is a state divided. Jokes have been circulating through our email accounts and today, Sarah who works in our branch in Naperville but was born and raised in Indianapolis sent this joke today to Linda and me.

"A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Chicago Bears fan.

She asks her students to raise their hands if they are Bears fans too.

Not really knowing what a Bears fan was, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands fly into the air.

There is, however, with one exception. Susie has not gone along with the crowd.

The teacher asks Susie why she has decided to be different.

"Because I'm not a Bears fan" she reports.

"Then the teacher asks the girl, "What are you?"

"I'm an Indianapolis Colts fan" boasts the little girl.

The teacher asks Susie why she is a Colts fan.

"Well, my Dad and Mom are Colts fans, so I'm a Colts fan too", she responds.

"That's no reason," the teacher says. "What if your mom was a moron and your dad was an idiot. What would you be then?"

Susie smiles and says, "Then I'd be a Chicago Bears fan."

It was pretty funny even though the Bears are going to kick the Colt's asses. It's about time Chicago gets another Superbowl Shuffle.

Valentine's Day Baby

Jen had her baby shower on Sunday but I didn't go. Instead, I went across the street to her house last night after work to give her her presents. I had gone to Target a few weeks ago where she was registered and I cannot believe all of the stuff, and some utter crap, they make for babies. It was mind boggling. I got her a cool flow back sleeper because I had never even heard of such a thing and I figured that if I got it, I would be able to see the baby use it. Jen showed me the baby's nursery and this baby, Victoria, seems to have everything imaginable. Jen is going in for her c-section on Valentine's Day so the baby has a very easy birthday to remember. I'm actually kind of excited. I've never really been around babies except for this real bratty one my mom used to babysit so I think that I just like to see them when I have a chance. When Starla used to bring Emily when we had lunch, I always wanted to hold her. I'm glad though that I just have to deal with them for a few hours and then leave. I can barely handle Baxter. I don't think I'm ready for a baby of my own just yet.

Slow Days, Fast Week

It's always like this. Whenever Linda is out of town and I'm in charge of the lighting department, my phone won't stop ringing and I have at least three quotes a day to do. But whenever she gets back, the work completely stops. And now that I'm working eight hour days, the hours seem to really be dragging now. I had one quote to do yesterday and one today with another request to send out. Even Linda commented on how slow it has been these past couple of days. But it's weird. Tomorrow's already Wednesday so at least the week doesn't seem to be a slow one. The man I'm supposed to be helping, Dave, is still awaiting for all of my passwords to be accepted and cleared so I can get into certain programs I need to in order to do sourcing, but that hasn't happened yet and I can't start helping him until all of that is taken care of.

Baxter has become obsessed with gutting his stuffed animals, which is pissing me off to no end. He learned this from his Uncle Maxwell, who insists on destroying every new toy within five minutes of getting it. It seems that Baxter has picked up the horrible habit seeing as how I am constantly picking white cotton and fuzz from off of the carpet. And worst of all, he has gutted Bink, his favorite stuffed animal and the first toy he got when we bought him. It had a sentimental attachment so I'm not pleased to be picking Bink's insides up.

I'm a member of ColumbiaHouse.com, which can, at times, have DVDs at a really good price and today, three movies that I had ordered during their after holidays sale arrived today. I got Good Night and Good Luck, The Devil's Rejects {which I'm watching right now}, and Shattered Glass {which I just finished watching}. If you havn't see Shattered Glass, I highly recommend it. It's a movie about journalist Stephen Glass and the completely fabricated stories he created that eventually brought him down. Peter Sarsgaard is amazing as Glass's editor, Chuck Lane, and reminds everyone just how much of an amazing actor he is and reminds me why I have a crush on him.

My Plans

Jimmy called me on Thursday during my lunch break and told me that his brother Oliver is in the hospital on account of his white blood cell count being really low so I'm going to drive today to the hospital and see him. I don't know exactly what the situation is but I don't it to be a situation of me not going and then something happening to him.

I also have to go grocery shopping with a very tight budget and do laundry. I might hold off on all of the cleaning though until tomorrow. I have no idea what my schedule today is going to be. It was supposed to snow today but at 9 o'clock in the morning, it's really sunny and the sky is clear so I don't know how reliable that forecast prediction was. Baxter let me sleep good last night but that's not a surprise. He always sleeps a lot on the weekends which is always nice because after a work week, I want to do nothing on the weekends but sleep.

I Want To Go To Sleep

I really got slammed with work today for some reason and Wednesday this week was at first looking to be my slow day. I have to quote this Fresh Foods Market that's due tomorrow and it turned into this huge project plus the dumper gave me two more jobs that the contractor wants by tomorrow morning. For some reason, every one wants their jobs quoted and out on Thursday, Jan. 18th, which is making my life a bit more difficult. I was exhausted by the end of the day. I stayed past five o'clock today until Mark, a nice man I work with, told me that he was leaving and he needed to close up since I didn't know how. Who would have thought I, Katie of all people, would work late? Things certainly have changed.

I came home and eating a chicken patty for dinner, collapsed on the couch. Wednesdays are officially becoming my Netflix days and tonight, after work, I watched The Night Listener. I would suggest not watching this one. I was very disappointed with this so called thriller. Thrillers are supposed to be slow-moving but this one resembled a snail - a boring snail. Thankfully, I also have The Illusionist to watch and I've heard that this movie is amazing. It stars Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti so of course it doesn't surprise me that this movie is supposed to be amazing. A new episode of "Top Chef" is on tonight so I'm going to have to watch it tomorrow night. I'm so tired though. I kind of want to go to bed even if it is only 7:30.

I'm a little upset with Baxter. For some reason, he has started gutting all of his stuffed animals and my garbage can is full of white fuzz. I hope he knows that this means he won't be getting any more really cute toys if all he's going to do to them is destroy them.

Frost, Snow, and Baxter

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This weekend was as lazy and wonderful as I thought it would be. And sadly, it's coming to a close. Weekends never last long enough. I'm trying not to think of work though. Work should be left at work and should not at all be thought of during weekends. Lauren's visit did not interfere with my laziness at all. In fact, I asked her if she wanted to do anything and she said that she just wanted to say inside and watch movies which of course was fine with me. She took residence on my couch and played with Baxter while I cleaned the house a little bit. She has become obsessed with Firefly/Serenity in the span of a day, which is actually hilarious. The more browncoats though out there in the world the better.

It's cold outside. It rained last night and it's supposed to rain more tonight. Sleet and then snow tomorrow morning. Wonderful weather in my opinion. Of course, I like that weather when I have no where to be - like today. But driving to work in such weather is not my ideal. Baxter has been sleeping the afternoon away after an active morning and hopefully he'll sleep tonight after an active evening. He's been sleeping good the last couple of nights. Of course, he always sleeps well when I don't have to get up early the next morning. He's always been evil like that.

Mom Still Makes It Better

I've been so sad lately. My mom called tonight and we wound up talking for almost a half hour, maybe more, which is exactly what I needed. I felt better after hanging up with her. I don't know how she does it. Maybe after you have children, you automatically get all of these secret mom powers. However she did it, I'm glad she called. I've always been really close to my mom and even though I've moved away, I'm glad that that hasn't changed. I'm still feeling sad but not as much. I really don't know how she does it.