January 2006

Good morning. And hey - where did January go? I heard on the news that this was the warmest January in 160 years of record-keeping. Global warming ROCKS. Oh, wait. That's wrong....

Oh my gosh. Stay inside, S-B boy. Be careful out there.

He has his first tough, not-winning season and now he may not come back. C'mon, Brett - ya big baby.

I've been to the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. It was actually the first time I ever saw mountains in real life. It's unbelievably gorgeous out there. I think it's funny though.. the movie wasn't even filmed there, and people still ask questions about the scenery. Hello? Um.. it's just pretend, you know.

RIP Wendy Wasserstein.

Ugh. Why won't he just go away and stay away?

Great. Just Great.. I'll just cook over an open fire with sticks from now on.

Whoops! This is totally something I would do. Which is why I don't go to museums or art galleries.

It's the ULTIMATE! A Hello Kitty Stratocaster Guitar. I wish my blog had sound. You would hear me over here: "OH MY GOD! I WANT THIS! I NEED THIS! I HAVE TO GET THIS RIGHT NOW!" (yes..this is why my favorite geek calls me Veruca). But I don't care - I NEED THIS GUITAR!

::: Composing myself now :::

Anyway - That's it. I have a.. thing.. tomorrow morning, so I won't be doing any early morning blogging. Hopefully expect an evening update. Send a couple good thoughts my way while you're at it. Grazie. And buy me that guitar! Oh, wait. that's wrong too.. I mean, I'll talk to you sometime tomorrow. Ciao.

Here we are again - yet another Monday. Because I did a lot of laying around yesterday (and the one outing I had was pretty quiet) I was afraid that I wouldn't be doing my sleeping last night. It wasn't bad though..about 4-1/2 hours, and I don't feel too draggy yet. It'll probably be just a one-pot-of-coffee morning. Not too much in the way of news:

Prayers and good thoughts to these men and their families. You don't usually think about it.. but these reporters face real danger sometimes when covering the news.

Oh. My. God. Stop killing your children. If YOU are distraught.. just.. kill yourself, okay? I can't stand it. And it happens everywhere.

I'm surprised that Brokeback Mountain didn't win it. It'll be interesting to see what happens at Oscar time. I might even have to watch this year.

Good for you, Mooch. So would I.

Okay.. I'm gonna quickly click thru my daily blogs and then get going. It's a Monday, so I'm expecting the usual insanity - with lunch with my favorite geek thrown in there.. the brightest spot in my day!, and seeing some of my other favorite peeps after work. And thus another week rolls up. Have a good one, Bellas. Ciao.

Did you ever have one of those days where you THINK you know exactly what's gonna happen.. exactly what your plan is..And then it's nothing like that at all?? We'd planned to have fun girls' night in, me and GrocGirl. We actually ended up at the local establishment with a group of people that will probably NEVER all be together in one spot again, throwing back shots and laughing like crazy people. I have a movie on my camera-phone that I can't e-mail off (because the file is too big), but man..it is EXCELLENT blackmail material. I think I went to bed around 4:00.

Today I don't have to be anywhere until 4:00, so I'm taking advantage of the just sitting right now. And there's stuff in the cupboards to make peanut butter cookies, so I might have to do that. Quiet day in cheleville, and I'm liking those more and more. Comportisi, Bellas. Talk to you later. Ciao.

This sounds like me:

Your Social Dysfunction: Happy You're a happy person - you have a good amount of self-esteem, and are socially healthy. While this isn't a social dysfunction per se, you're definitely not normal. Consider yourself lucky: you walk that fine line between 'normal' and being outright narcissistic. You're rare - which is something else to be happy about.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com Please note that we aren't, nor do we claim to be, psychologists. This quiz is for fun and entertainment only. Try not to freak out about your results.

I love the fact that I'm "definitely not normal". Eh.. NORMAL is overrated, anyway. And those who know me best also know that I just skirt the edge of histrionic as well. Hehehe.


I had actually planned to just go to dinner and then come home last night, but 5 of us ended up eating ice cream after dinner. Best thing EVER - Snowdrift Sundae. Sweet cream ice cream, marshmallow topping, whipped cream and a white chocolate kiss on top. Mmmmmmm....

I'm off to do some house stuff and run to the grocery store. Have a most excellent day. Ciao.

Well. Here we are again. It always does get back around to Friday, doesn't it? Lots of newsy stuff today:

EEEEK! How scary. There are some really steep, windy hills up in there. He's lucky he wasn't killed.

This is something that you don't even like to think about. And it's why I'll just be watching the game with my friends, thankyouverymuch. I don't need to be there in person.

But did I mention? We ARE going to a Wild game, and they're just on fire right now. Go Wild!

Yes, Frey lied. But at first Oprah defended him, and now she's jumping all over him. Why aren't people madder at her? And why the sudden change of heart, Oprah? Bah. I'm sick of all of 'em.

Sometimes there are just too many possible things that could be said. So I'll just let this one go.

Awwwwww. Congrats, Meg! Don't you think she'd make a far better mom than Angelina?

Al Roker has only been on the "Today" show for 10 years? Wow - I would have guessed it was longer than that.

I've gotta say, every once in a while, the system works. I worry that if I make a $.01 mistake on my taxes that I'm gonna get taken away.. this guy thought he could win a prize on a top-rated TV show that everyone in the world watched and then get away with not paying taxes on it?? Yep. Faith in the system is restored.

Why didn't I think of this? Instead I bought the little MnPASS thingee. It used to be $0.25 every time. Now it's usually fifty cents, and it's been up as high as $1.25. If it's up over a buck, I'll take the back roads. But it's nice to have the option.

What the hell? Nice Spanish class there, teacher.

I think I've done a better job of not jamming up the weekend with too many things to do. Dinner and a movie tonight, dinner tomorrow night, getting the rest of the tax papers ready, a few errands. It feels manageable, not crazed. So - andiamo! Let's start the day. Ciao, amici. TiAmo.

Good Morning. I don't feel like being news girl this morning, so let's play Fours (taken from the fabulous Freakgirl, who didn't tag me but I'll do it anyway..)


Four Jobs You've Had In Your Life:
1. Corporate Office & Facilities Manager (current)
2. Director of Retail Operations (fancy name for I worked at the stores ALL the time!)
3. Executive Assistant (what I did at this company when I first started here)
4. Revenue Accounting Clerk (a bazillion years ago, when I worked for the airline that no longer exists)

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over Again:
1. "When Harry Met Sally"
2. "Steel Magnolias"
3. "St. Elmo's Fire"
4. "Breakfast at Tiffanys"

Four Places You've Lived:
1. St. Paul
2. West St. Paul
3. Minneapolis
4. St. Louis Park

Four TV Shows You Love To Watch:
1. "Family Guy"
2. "Grey's Anatomy"
3. "Commander in Chief"
4. "Boston Legal"

Four Places You've Been On Vacation:
1. Santa Barbara
2. New York City
3. Cancun
4. San Francisco

Four Blogs You Visit Daily
1. Freakgirl
2. Write on Megs
3. Chocolate Mussolini
4. Lileks

Four Of Your Favorite Foods:
1. Pizza
2. Gnocchi
3. Canollis
4. Mostaciolli/Meatball from Cossetta's

Four Albums You Can't Live Without:
1. Indigo Girls - Self Titled
2. Liz Phair - Self Titled
3. Joni Mitchell - Hits
4. U2 - Joshua Tree

Four Vehicles You've Owned:
1. 1974 Pinto Station Wagon (my first car!)
2. 1989 Nissan Pickup
3. 1998 or 1999 Chevy Blazer (nickle and dimed me to death car)
4. 2002 Saturn SC3 (Hello Kitty Saturn)

Four People To Be Tagged:
Eh - I won't tag people because I don't want 'em to feel guilty. Feel free to swipe this, or leave yours in the comments.


We had just about all my favorite foods listed above for dinner last night, so my kitchen is a mess this morning and I need to go clean it up (I just couldn't do it last night. Sometimes I'll let myself be a little bit lazy). And I didn't think I had that much to drink, but I have a big ol' wino headache this morning. Lots of caffeine is required, so I'm gonna go make another pot and click thru some blogs. Have a good day. Ciao, Bellas.

Buon Giorno, Bellas. It's another day of livin' the dream. Heh. (okay..I can't even take credit for that. That's a Mac line from years ago.)

Why do I don't know who Chris Penn is? Anyway - RIP. I know just where those condos are. Pretty area.

OH. My. God. I weep for these kids. Gunplay at ages 7 and 8. The world is just ALL f*cked up, man.

I haven't seen a lot of hockey this year. But now, it seems, we're on a roll... and I found out yesterday that one of my favorite reps got us some FABOO tickets (club level - yeeeehaw!) for a game in March. Yeah, Baby!

I actually LIKE The Book of Daniel. I don't think it makes fun of religion at all.. It's about a guy just trying to deal with life. I'm guessing all these yahoos that are screaming about it have never even watched an entire episode. Betcha it's no worse than the stuff going on in their own lives.

Shhh. Kevin. Stop with the rapping, now. Smellen sent me the link. Watch it at your own peril!!!

Stewie's getting his own talk show. Sah-Weeeeet!

Note to self. No taking the train in China. No. Uh-uh. No way. No.

I guess I've got not-much else. More construction stuff going on at the workplace today. I'll end up with 3 projects going on all at the same time. THAT should keep me out of trouble. Or push me right 'round the bend. So yep, let me get on with it. Have an adequate day. Ciao.

I'm lucking out in the having to get up early department. Well, not that 5:00 isn't early to be up. It's just not as early as it COULD be.

I opened my Yahoo homepage, and there was yet another severe weather alert listed. This time it was a WIND ADVISORY. ---insert ominous music here---   Oh my GOD! It's gonna be -horrors- WINDY today!!! I'm so sick of these weather people. Just calm down, already.

This is sad, but good news for a friend of mine whose husband works at the Ford plant in St. Paul.. sounds like that plant isn't closing - yet, anyway. He's close to being able to retire, so he'll be okay. Not okay, though, for others in Atlanta and St. Louis.

At first I thought "What a great idea!". Then I saw what the side effects were. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Never mind.

Just listen to the tall tales this guy is telling. Liar, liar, pants-on-fire.

Well, this doesn't sound like a good idea at all.

The one part of American Idol I watched last week was when Simon asked that contestant whether or not he was a girl. It was a legitimate question. I happened to glance up from my knitting at that point and I couldn't tell, either.

I mostly like Scrubs. But sometimes I don't get it. Is it supposed to be silly?

All together now: Yeeeeeeeeeeeouch!

Faboo nail color of the week (well, 2 weeks.. that's about as long as my fills last): Pinking of You.

Quello è tutto. I gotta run. Talk to youse all later. Ciao.

I went to bed thinking that TODAY was a day I had to be up extra early.. then I remembered it was tomorrow. Whew. What I didn't remember before this morning was to turn the heat back up a little bit. When I run the dryer, I literally have to turn the heat almost all-the-way off. It gets like an oven in here. It's wonderful for my utility bill. But yeah, I woke up this morning and it was a tad chilly.

Doggone it. I knew they'd end up cancelling The West Wing. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the last few episodes, though. Maybe the Republican candidate will win.

I like a Steelers-Seahawks Superbowl. I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't Carolina..

Deal or No Deal is coming back. I love Howie's comment - "There's no skill required. You can be a rock and move into another cash bracket." Bwah Ha! It's a game even Issy could play.

Oh. My. God. Read this story and then tell me about how itchy you are. --Shudder --

So the weekend was all about the resting, and I really do feel much much better now. The key is to NOT just immediately begin running around like a crazy-person again, which, face it, is exactly what I'm likely to do. If you see me starting up, please feel free to stop me in my tracks. Thanks. So let the week begin, and have a good day. Ciao, Bellas.

Awwwww..... Cute. It's my new virtual pet! He'll probably eat less than Issy does. (click on him.. he purrs!)

adopt your own virtual pet!

I forgot where I got this meme from... but let's do it now anyway:

1. What is your full name?
chele. um..do you think I'm gonna put my REAL name on here??

2. What color pants are you wearing?
Black yoga pants with a pink stripe up the side

3. What are you listening to right now?
My really loud refrigerator. Man.. that thing's just gonna go one day, and then I'll have to buy a new one.

4. What was the last thing you ate?
A chocolate mint truffle.. a late Christmas present from a friend of mine.

5. Do you wish on stars?
Of course I do!

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Barbie pink.

7. How is the weather right now?
29 degrees and cloudy, and just starting to get dark outside

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
My friends B&S, they stopped over to visit.

9. Coffee or hot chocolate?
Coffee, with cream and sugar.

10. Favorite sport?
Hockey

11. Hair color?
Naturally? Brown. Now? Reddish-Purplish

12. Siblings?
Two.

13. Favorite month?
June. When it's not too hot, and there's lots of light.

14. Favorite food?
Anything Italian - meatball pizza, canollis, gnocchi...

15. What was the last movie you saw?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on DVD

16. Favorite day of the year?
Either June 21st (longest day of the year), or December 26th (farthest away from all the holiday hoo-ha)

17. What do you do to vent anger?
Clean.

18. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Barbies

19. Summer or winter?
Summer!

20. Hugs or kisses?
Why is this an "or" question? I want both!

21. Chocolate or vanilla?
Again, why is this an "or" question? I want both?

22. When was the last time you cried?
Last night.

23. What is under your bed?
Unless Issy is sleeping under there, nothing.

24. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
S-B boy. I've known him for 25 years. Eeeeka.

25. What did you do last night?
Stayed in, watched TV, talked on the phone, knitted.

26. What are you afraid of?
CLOWNS! --shudder--

27. Plain, buttered or salted popcorn?
Kettle corn, or plain with sugar sprinkled on it instread of salt

28. Favorite car?
Cadillacs.. old ones or new ones (well, except for those lame cateras and escalades).

29. Favorite Flower?
Iris.

30. Number of keys on your key ring?
4.

31. How many years at your current job?
Nine next month.

32. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

33.What did you do on your last birthday?
I went out for dinner like 6 nights in a row. I loved that!

34. How many states have you lived in?
One. Minnesota

35. How many towns have you lived in?
St. Paul, Minneapolis, West St. Paul, Burnsville, St. Louis Park, Inver Grove Heights... Six. All within like a 30 mile radius. Sheesh. My world is pretty small.


And I rested for a while, went and had a little coffee and some lunch, had a couple friends stop by (and bring me a present!), and am gonna settle in and rest some more, I think. This resting thing is getting easier. Heh. Talk to youse all tomorrow. Buona Sera.

I'm tired, I'm a little run-down (hello, anemia!), and I'm just a little bit sad today. Because even chele hits the wall sometimes. I'll bounce back - I always do. Amazing what a little iron and B12 will do for ya. So I'll just be over here resting.. Ciao.

So much stuff happened yesterday! Yes, the big project is now underway, so I had to have a lot of meetings about that, and innumerable trips up to the construction site (there's your $5 word of the day). Then I had lunch with Jenni-from-the-internet. Now that I know her in real life, I should call her something else, I suppose. I kept getting interrupted and distracted all afternoon, and then there was faboo happy hour with my favorite phone man AND my favorite geek. Excellent! Got home and collapsed on the couch, and S-B called to check-in on my well being, because he's just that nice. It's almost time to go out there, you know. Whew. I'm exhausted from just reviewing all that.

Yikes. I would never want to be a miner. How dangerous.

Hmmmm. This doesn't seem like a good idea at all.

If I'd ever get to ride in a space craft, I'd want to make sure it was a "Super Fast Spacecraft"! 3 billion miles. Wow.

Awww. RIP Wilson Pickett

They got rid of Mariucci and hired Marinelli. It's important to have a goomba coaching your team.. YAY!

I dunno. She hasn't been around much since Seinfeld. That "Ellie" show was unwatchable. This new one doesn't sound much better.

Commander in Chief just isn't as good anymore.

True confession time: I've never watched one second of live/taped broadcast coverage of ANY Olympic games. Ever. Never. I've seen highlights on the news, but that's it.

That's it! Gotta get back at it. Talk to youse later, Amici. Ciao.

Today's the day I start the next huge construction project. About 46,000 square feet. Wow. To put this in perspective - my house (which I affectionately refer to as the postage stamp) is about 660 square feet. I'm more than a little wigged out about this. I know it'll be fine (one foot in front of the other..in thru the nose, out thru the mouth, as my favorite geek would say. hehe.). but standing on THIS side of it..it seems a little insurmountable. But it's like jumping off a cliff. Once I actually jump, there's nothing to do but go with the flow of it on the way down. So: one.. two... three...

I broke my rule, and watched American Idol last night. Ugh. Why? I need to just stop that. Right now.

It's getting to be the end of the film camera era. Yep. Remember when they used to sell vinyl records? And turntables? No more..

Ewww! Ewwww! Driving thru poo!!!!

Well, that's one way to escape from jail.

The big story here right now is about the 20-year-old kid that killed his mom. Now he appears "flippant" about it. Well, kid.. tell me how flippant you are when you're in jail with the big boys. Good luck to ya, there.
Each and every day, I'm glad I made the decision to have cats, not kids. They have no thumbs.. they can't come after me with firearms. Sure, I have to clean out the litter box once a week, and yesterday one of them threw up all over my newly-washed comforter, but that's a small price to pay...

And someone needs to explain this to me: why now, when we're supposed to get 1"-3" of snow, they call it a severe weather alert?? Hello? WHERE do we live? We live where we have winter and sometimes it freakin' SNOWS. Gah.

Okay. I think I'm done ranting now. I hope you have a most excellent day, and I will talk with you later. Ciao.

When I was a little kid, I was a goody-two-shoes. I admit it. I was a good little girl in school, I tried to be the good little girl at home. I didn't pick fights, I didn't antagonize people... I was just all good, all the time. Today, as an adult, I'm still that way about 99% of the time. Sometimes, though.. when people push just the right buttons.. MAN it's hard to just be the good-girl. That's my challenge today. Be the good girl, and don't start antagonizing people. Even though it would be just a little bit fun to do just that. Heh.

I think that, much like a woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnacy or not, it is our right to choose assisted suicide or not if we become terminally ill. I don't think I myself would ever choose this - but what gives me the right to say that others CAN'T? And now we're getting dangerously close to that politics-on-cheleblog rule... so I'll stop right now.

Nine years and three billion miles. I can't get my brain around that.

Do you watch Boston Legal? Is this a totally Denny Crane thing to do, or what? It makes me laugh.

Someone should maybe check to see if the mayor of New Orleans got hit in the head or something during the hurricane. What the hell is wrong with him, anyway? Next time, sir, turn the little editor in your head ON.

Mike Tice didn't get the Jets job. It went to my pal Mangini instead. Yay!

Quick! Someone catch me while I fall over from NOT surprise.

Oh, I guess I didn't even know that these two shows were still on.

And in the let the punishment fit the crime department...

I keep thinking that it's Thursday, when I'm really too busy in work and in real life to wish a whole day away. Speaking of busy.. I should just go in and start digging through the inbox. It won't go away just because I wish it away. Have a good day, amici. Ciao.

Yep. Sorry for the rain and snow yesterday, people. I knew I shouldn't have gone after that spider...

It was a weirdly busy day. I often have those days where I never seem to stop moving, I get tons of little stuff done, I check things off my to-do lists... and at the end of the day, my desk looks exactly the same. How does that work, anyway? The big news is that I'm almost ready to start the building the huge new floor. And... well... I can't think about it any more right at this moment, because it's making my stomach knot up. Heh.

There's just no news that's doesn't make me sad or angry this morning.. so let me tell you about one of my favorite websites - PostSecret - an "ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." I don't remember how I stumbled onto this.. it was last summer, I believe. New secrets are posted every Sunday, and it's the first thing I read on Sunday mornings. Some of the secrets make me laugh, a lot of them make me cry, all of them make me think. Some of them could have been written by me. There's a PostSecret book now, too. I got it last week, and quickly cruised through it.. Now I'm going back through it slowly. Amazing. ANYWAY... there's a quick little tidbit for you.

And here's one other fun little tidbit that I nabbed from Susan: go to Google and type in "your-first-name-here Needs" (ie - I typed in "Michele Needs") and see what the first ten "your-name-needs" items are. Mine are:
1. "Michele needs to write another book soon"
2. "Michele needs help updating it"
3. "Michelle needs to learn to be more careful with her voodoo" (there's not that many one-L Micheles out there.. I cheated and used two Ls too).
4. "Michele needs to speak to Gus Friedrich about this matter"
5. "Michele needs help adjusting her body regularly"
6. "Michele needs a medium t-shirt and a medium sweatshirt"
7. "Michelle needs to visit one of those awful liberal indoctrination camps"
8. "Michelle really DOESN'T need to prove she is one of the best skaters"
9. "Michele needs to be more consistent"
10. "Michele needs help defining the categories we have for membership"
There was one REALLY dirty one in there - Oh My! But I'm just not that kind of girl. heh.

Okay.. enough with the clowning around, I've gotta get to work. Comportisi, bellas, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Ciao.

My Italian gramma told me once that you should never kill spiders, because it rains when you kill a spider. A weird superstition, yes, but one that's hung with me through the years (and yes, I know that they eat mosquitos and other nasty bugs, too..). But this morning I set my coffee cup down on the end table and this ENORMOUS spider went scurrying across the table onto the arm of the couch, and I freaked out, grabbed it with a kleenex and flushed it. So let me say in advance: sorry, everyone. If it rains today, it's my fault.

In Geek News this morning - someone solved a Rubik's Cube in 11.13 seconds. I've had one of those for, like, 10 years and I haven't solved it yet.

I'm paying a little bit of attention to football, now that I don't have to care who wins. I like Carolina, and I like the Broncos. I actually like Seattle, too. I'll probably pay at least a little bit of attention at the SuperBowl Party...

This happened over the weekend: RIP Shelley Winters.

I watched ER last week in the first time in.. well, in FOREVER, it seems. When did Luka and Abby get back together? and they're having a baby? I knew that Neela and that other guy got married.. I didn't think that would last, and now it's looking like it's not going to. Other than those characters, I barely recognized anyone else. Grey's Anatomy is way better.. I have that for my doctor show fix now.

Interesting article about a "trauma pill". I do get that traumatic events are stored differently than regular events. EMDR helps with that. I know that for a fact.

You know - Sometimes the jokes are just too easy...

And to wrap it up - Geek News Pt. 2, and Sometimes the jokes are STILL too easy.

Happy MLK Day to you. Take a minute today to remember all those leaders who've changed the world for the better, especially those who have a dream.

Have a good day, Bellas. Ciao.

Quick mid-weekend update:

Friday night - played poker (lost again, by the way! Sucks!), and learned how to play craps. That could actually be fun in Vegas, CuzGirl (see, I'm planning the trip already..). Got home late, and then slept late. Went to lunch and shopping with GrocGirl, and found the cutest little Kate Spade bag - red and pink stripes, so it matches everything. Because, as we all know, matching is very important. Heh. Stopped at the office to pick up the power cord to my laptop, and while there, proceeded to lock my office keys IN my office. We'll deal with that one tomorrow when I get there. Got home, rested up (slept for about an hour, rested for 2), and then volunteered last night and this morning. It'll be on to brunch at 11, then home to crash again. Yeah, it's not a very exciting life I lead..

OH! Very important event that must be documented: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SMELLEN!! Are you back stateside yet?

Okay - Gotta run. Ciao, Amici.

I've never been particularly phobic about the whole Friday the 13th thing. Why is that day any scarier than Thursday the 12th or Saturday the 14th? Now 13.. well, maybe that's an unlucky number (here are some reasons why 13 may be unlucky)... but Fridays are my favorite day of the week. Not scary. Friday is also poker night, so I'm looking forward to winning back a little money. The last two poker nights weren't particularly kind to chele.

Oh. My. God.

Huh? Was he supposed to have called her about this? And really, why do I care? So why am I still writing about it? Okay... I'll just stop now..

Now he's going to add an author's note to the memoir. "By the way, everything in here is A LIE!" Heh.

Well, this seems weirdly appropriate.

Good God. First, we had a wrestler for our Governor. Now this guy is running. Suddenly Jesse seems incredibly boring. I think I'll move to California, where the Terminator is governor.

Two yucky meetings this morning, then I can skate thru the rest of the day. Poker tonight, volunteering tomorrow, brunch Sunday.. that'll be a quick weekend. I need a vacation pretty soon. Ciao Bellas. TiAmo.

Here we are again. How can it be Thursday already? I gave up and left work just before noon yesterday.. I was doing no earthly good there. Took care of some stuff, then went home and slept for a couple hours. It felt like a year. Last night I decided it wouldn't be a good idea to just sit at home, so I met up with some friends and went walking at the mall of the universe. They have a Bijou Bijou there now.. excellent! I'm pretty sure CuzGirl and I found one of those in Vegas that I went a little nutty over. The one place I didn't go (because I must have been distracted and wandered right past it) was my favorite store in the world. DOH! I successfully avoided the mall throughout the holiday shopping season. I might actually go back out there again just to see what's new out there this weekend.

AND.. best news in the world.. S-B boy is in town just for today. I couldn't be happier about that.

You know what? I've finally hit that point: I just don't care anymore if this book is reality or fiction. I'm sick of hearing about it, and now I'm never going to read it.

It's official - Brad and Angelina are expecting a baby. And you know what? I just don't care about that, either.

I'm never leaving the house again. When is SimonDelivers going to start delivering here???

I got nothin' else. Have an especially good day, and I'll see you tomorrow. Ciao.

The secret to a NOT so restful night's sleep is to have a busy day and then a yucky evening. Nothing I can talk about here. Send some good wishes to a family that's going to need them, though. I think I only slept for about 3 hours.. not 3 contiguous hours, mind you. Heh. Time to caffeinate up, I guess.

I saw a little of this bank standoff playing out on the TV at Taco Bell, of all places. It was a successful standoff, I'd say. Only a bad-guy got hurt.

How about this? The Bird Flu won't spread at all if we just stop kissing chickens. Seems pretty simple to me.

Yes, Arnold, you should probably get a motorcycle license if you want to ride one.

Someone has to help me understand this. Lyndsay Lohan sat for (probably) multiple interviews with a writer, answered all sorts of questions, and now is "appalled" by the Vanity Fair article??? What did she THINK was going to happen when she told the reporter about bullimia and drug use? That it would just be "their little secret"? Oy. That girl is dumb as a bag. of. hair.

The best part of this article? Check out the name of the guy's publicist. Bwah hah hah!

I lost IQ points just from reading the review of this new show.

Tried to watch that Jake in Progress show.. eww.. not-so-much. Last about 7 minutes, then I had to erase the rest of it. No good.

Hmm. According to this article, approximately 29 people in my office are drinking on the job every day. I'm gonna walk around and look for them today. And ask if they'll share a little with me. (kidding, kidding...)

Say it with me: Ewwww! Ewwww! Ewwwwwwww!

Here's hoping for a more peaceful day. Send some good thoughts my way too, if you think of it..I'll send some your way as well. Comportisi, Bellas - behave yourselves. Ciao.

The secret to a restful night's sleep: Busy day at work, followed by steak, a nice glass of wine and bed at a reasonable hour. I'm like a whole new person.
And can we just talk about these glasses for one second? Not because I'm old, but because I have the worst eyes ever (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it), I had to get bifocals this time. I've spent the past few days looking at a floor that's either WAAAAY too close or REALLY far away. The cool thing is that I can read things up close again without having to take off my glasses. But I do a lot of the moving-my-head-up-and-down trying to see things in the middle. Everyone at work keeps telling me I'll get used to them.

Oh for the love of God - beware the anti-Starbucks activists!

Do I want to pay attention to Vikings football news? Nah.

Oooh. Chad and Hilary are both available again. For now, anyway. I loved him when he was on Life Goes On.

I was going to pick up "A Million Little Pieces".. but I think now I might just skip it.

Gah! Sudoku makes me absolutely crazy! I've never, ever been able to finish one of those.. Just not patient enough.

Yay. Michael J. Fox is going to be on Boston Legal. (Is this too much a TV blog now??? Am I watching too much TV? Am I going to become the mummified TV lady???? Eeeek.)

I think that's all I know today. Hope yours is most excellent, and parlerò domani, Bellas. Ciao.

I'm all downside up and ass-backwards on my sleep. I took a nap yesterday after knitting, and then went to bed at 10:30 - and then woke up at 2:30 AM on the dot! GAH! I made myself just stay in bed for a while - at least my body is relaxing that way - but I finally just gave up at 3:30 and got up. The joys of having bizarre sleep patterns.. I tell ya.

Perhaps Arnold should stay off the motorcycles. At least he was wearing a helmet.

I just realized - I'm not even paying attention to the NFL anymore.

I watched The Book of Daniel. It was okay. I have whatever the DVR equivalent to a season pass is to it.

It's almost Spring! Why? Auto Show Season is starting!

Okay.. I just did a really dumb thing. Clicked over and started looking at work e-mail and work calendar. In doing this I realized: a) I think there's something wrong with our service interruption reports going out over our pagers. My pager didn't go off once all day yesterday, and it should have been. b) I am booked straight through from 11:30 until 4:00 (well, I have lunch at 11:30, so that's a happy thing.. but after that my day goes rapidly downhill) c) I have to deal with all kinds of vehicle issues today and tomorrow - it's all the stuff I didn't want to deal with late Friday afternooon. Well. Now that my stomach is all tied up into nice little knots, I think I'm going to go have one more cup of coffee and then head in to start the day. I get a nice reward at the end of it, though.. so life's still pretty good. Hope your day is most excellent as well. Ciao.

The genius bar at the Apple Store rocks. I have a working keyboard once again, and the guy didn't even make fun of me... and they fix stuff for free! So just to make it all even, I bought a fabulous pink case for my Nano.

I've gotta go find something to make for knitting. Almost all my dishrags have disappeared. Maybe it's time to whip up a few new ones. Talk to youse all later, mooks.

Mid Weekend Update:

Friday night I had great thoughts of staying in and doing nothing.... maybe working on all the paperwork. Got home and settled on the couch and, well, GrocGirl had other plans for me. We ended up at Izzy's for some medicinal ice cream. And when they threw us out, we took a jaunt over to the broiler for some equally medicinal french fries.

On Saturday it was off to FINALLY get my eyes checked (at last - I can SEE again), and buy some faboo new glasses. Prettiest color ever. Exactly matches my hair.

Then I got a wild hair, and decided that I should dust and clean my laptop keyboard. While not going into specifics, um, I now have to take a trip out to the Apple store to get the ". >" key put BACK onto the keyboard all the way. What a dork I am.

Last night I went with some friends to hear some music, and while there got a call to go work an overnight..so I ended up getting home at about 7:00 this morning. Slept for a refreshing 90 minutes (HA!) and I'm back up and at it again. I have to run to the Apple store first, then 2 hours of Chicks with Sticks (yes.. the other knitting group!), then I can come home and crash. Heh. Tis a hard life I've got going over here.

What are YOU up to? Hope your day is good. Ciao, Bellas.

Here you go.. In no particular order, here are 5 things I'm happy about today:

1. Finding Oanh, who does my nails beautifully and FAST.
2. The fact that the holidays are over and life is returning to its normal chaotic levels.
3. 30 degrees in January.
4. A weekend with a good balance of activity and quiet.
5. And everything else.

Someone needs to explain to me: What the hell is wrong with this guy? Perhaps that's a rhetorical question.. one we can't afford to spend hours and hours on.

Read this article, and then try to tell me that you didn't weep.

Same with this one.

:::  Rushing to check calendar to see if there's a reason why I'm so weepy today  :::

Oh.. RIP Barry Cowsill. I'm just barely old enough to remember them..

Someone with a lot of time on their hands and not enough to do, obviously. He should come to work with me. I'd keep him busy for a while.

I'm going to get new glasses this weekend. I'm tired of not being able to see. I also have to sit myself down and go through the scary "I'm Buying a House" folder.. There's stuff in there that I need for taxes, and lots of duplicate paperwork that can just go away. I'm going to take all my tax stuff to a professional this year. Especially for the first year on a house.. I need to have someone who KNOWS what they're doing. After that I can probably muddle along on my own.

There you have it. Time to get along to work now. Ciao, Bellas. TiAmo.

I'm... mostly awake, I think. I slept like a rock. Had one of those work days yesterday where I was busy for every single moment.. I did a jillion little tasks, cleared lots of stuff off the desk - and yet my inbox still looks exactly the same. How does that work, anyway??

Still keeping these families in my thoughts today. How utterly sad..

What. The. Hell. They brought the dogs to the grandmother's house - but not the kids. I.. I.. I have no words. Nope. None.

Blah, blah, blah-de-blah. Apple is STILL better. Hehehe.

This whole Lyndsay Lohan asthma attack just seems a little.. suspicious. I've had to go to the hospital twice with my asthma, so I know that it can happen and that it is scary. Hmmm. Jury's still out...

Whew. Charlie Sheen IS still available. I was a little worried.

On the list of things to do today: Thank God that I don't live in Terre Haute IN, where the TV stations decide what you can and can't watch.

Number two on the list: Thanking God that I don't live in Little Rock AR, either.

No, no, no. Not a good idea. Leave some things just for TV...

Say it with me: Idiot! Heh.

Have I mentioned that it's January and it's 30 degrees out there? Global warming is the BEST. (yeah yeah.. I'm kidding about that. Just calm down.) Of course, now that I've said that, we'll get the storm of the century soon. For now, though, I'll take it. If the sun could come out, though, that would be good. And before this totally turns into weather-blog, I'll say arrivederci. Have a better than average day. Ciao.

It's amazing, what an evening of just resting will do for you. Oh, I got a load of laundry done (because I'm not EVER gonna just do nothing - I'm not wired that way), but there was no running around. I even dozed through the news a little bit. I got to actually catch up on the phone with people, too. It was the best.

Oh my God. Just one miner survived. How horrible..

Everyone is jumping on the iTunes bandwagon now.

Hmmm... There was something very, very wrong with my DVR box this morning. I never turn on the TV this early, but I wanted to geet a quick look at the weather. Turned on the TV, turned on the DVR and... nothing. Then it started cycling on and off. If I've learned nothing else from hanging out with all the geeks in my life, though, I've learned one thing: reboot! I unplugged it, counted to ten, plugged it back in. It's like a miracle! Everything works again.

I took down the rest of the Christmas fineries last night. The wall outside my kitchen looks blank and lonely now. I also need to get some REAL bookshelves that match the rest of the furniture, so I predict a trip to IKEA in my near future. After I get the taxes figured out, maybe. È tutto, amici. That's what I know. Have a good day, and I'll talk to you later. Ciao.

Yesterday.. up early without a problem. Today, however, it's a different story. I have to be up and in there EARLIER than early.. and lemme tell ya, it's not pretty. We played darts last night (and our team - Team Suck! - won the first round. Woop!). Got home and ended up chatting with people until after midnight. So yeah, when my alarm went off at 2:50, I was a sad girl. I'm a sad girl still. Right now I'm a sad girl filling her little self up with coffee. Let's see if it helps.
So sorry, you'll have to get your own news today. Let me get in there and get at it. I don't have to be anywhere tonight, so it's home and crash time. Maybe I'll think of a story to tell you then. Otherwise I'll talk to you domani. Ciao, Bellas.

Buon Nuovo Anno. Yes, I'm still on vacation, and yes, it's 6:00 and I'm awake. I haven't had coffee yet because a) I'm still trying to decide if I'm really gonna STAY up, and b) I had so much coffee yesterday I probably don't ever need to drink any ever again.
SO - the new year celebrating recap. It was the most fun NYE I've had in literally years. The party was much fun, good food (a taco bar.. which is now going to be my most favorite way to do food at a party), fun and games, watching the ball drop on Times Square, and blowing bubbles and setting off tiny explosives indoors (well, that may not have been the best idea.. what a mess!), a 'purging bonfire' in which we could write down that which we wanted to be rid of and burn it (two guesses what I burned.. it starts with the letter 'c'..), and general merriment and good times. Got home at a reasonable hour (only saw 3 people pulled over by the cops, so it was before the drunks were all out on the road). Yesterday I went to a kick-ass brunch, and the girls got the couch and were served food and drink all day. I sat down and didn't get up for literally 6 hours. I could get used to that in a hurry. Heh. Like I said, it was the most fun, and least stress, I've had in years. Even with the hella-summer I had.. this has been the best year, because I know that there a lots of good people who have my back. TiAmo.

Let's quickly look at the news:
Breaking the cheleblog 'no politics' rule: Well, he's never lied to us before, right? Right? Oh.. never mind...

Wouldn't you be so mad if you faked your own death and got caught anyway?

All this rain in California better stop before I get out there. Eeeek.

I didn't know this - Why do they have a never-on-Sunday rule for the Rose Parade?

I'm pretty sure that my kitties would call 911 for me. They'd do it the minute they missed their first meal.

And the big news here - So Long, Mike Tice. It had to happen, unfortuntately. It wasn't handled well, I don't think. He was a good guy.. it just didn't work out.

I think I might go back to bed for just a little while. Then I have to clean up my more-than-messy kitchen (it's stressing me out..there are dishes in the sink. aaaaaaaagh!), do some laundry, be domestic. I'm going to go throw pointy objects - AKA darts - tonight I think, and then it's back to real life. I'm too used to these four day weeks at work. Next week's gonna be a problem. I can tell already. Have a good day, Bellas. Ciao.