So...THIS happened a couple weeks ago...

I know, I know...I disappeared again.  There's only about 3 weeks left in the school year, so I'm hoping to be able to catch my Bloggy Buddies up on my ultra-exciting life (NOT!)  Maybe then I'll also be able to catch up on what's been going on with all of you. 

2013 Day Seventeen

Ok, back to my day with my Sissy...

There were some "issues" that delayed my sister in picking me up, so we ended up getting to Bloomy's much later than we were supposed to.(No worries, we still LEFT at the time we were supposed to! :D )  At one point, I texted my uncle's girlfriend, who is a police sergeant in the city, to tell her we were there, because the store is in her district.  She ended up coming to the store just as we were finishing up.  Long story short, we went to dinner with her, at one of my favorite restaurants downtown, Quartino.

We had a FABULOUS meal!  I usually tell people who have never been to Quartino that it's kinda like an Italian tapas bar.  If you click around their website, you'll see what I mean.

My sister's friend drove in to work with us, so naturally she came to dinner with us, but I'm afraid Quartino was NOT for her.  She will be the first to tell you, she has the most unrefined palate.  Ok, that sounded bitchy.  Let me quote HER..."I'm freakin' IRISH!  All I eat is potatoes!"  She usually eats a candy bar, or a bag of potato chips for dinner.  (She's single, and doesn't have children, so I suppose she can do that, right?  Is it wrong that I'm a little jealous?)  She seriously wanted to run into McDonald's to get an order of fries for her dinner, instead of going to a nice dinner at a beautiful restaurant.  But, to her credit, she sucked it up, and came on the adventure.

My sister and I ordered a bunch of plates to share with each other, and my uncle's girlfriend, of course.  Here's what we had to share:

• Dates, stuffed with Gorgonzola, and wrapped in Panchetta(TO DIE FOR!!  I could have eaten 100!)
• Polenta Fries (one of the main reasons I love this place!!)
• Fried Calamari
• Escarole and Fagioli (escarole and beans)
• Baby Spinach, Walnut, Pear and Ricotta Salata salad

My sister also order eggplant parmigiana, and my uncle's girlfriend order pasta.  I had ordered meatballs, and it didn't occur to me until I started writing this, that they never came!  Shoot!  It was fine, though, since we were stuffed.  But, man, I really wanted those meatballs. :(

My sister's friend ended up ordering a pizza, cheese with a little sausage.  Thankfully, she liked it!

Now, here's the crazy part.  The restaurant comped us the entire meal!!  It was a bit embarrassing, actually.  They did it for my uncle's girlfriend, since most places in the city are very generous to cops.  But, I didn't think they'd comp the entire bill!!  Man, that waiter made out, because we ended up leaving him a 50% tip! 

It was really a nice way to end the day.  Then, we even got a ride to the train from Sergeant Girlfriend, which was great, because it was raining.  Actually, by the time we got home (our train stop) there was a raging storm going on.  The rain was coming down sideways, and it was windy as hell.  I wish I had video of the three of us trying to walk across the parking lot to our car!  It was too funny.

We're supposed to keep having stormy weather today, too.  They're talking about possible tornado activity.  Poop.  I'm supposed to go to lunch with a friend after church, but I may have to reschedule.  I guess we'll have to wait and see what it's like in a few hours when we come out after the service.

On that note, I'd better go get ready.  I hope everyone enjoys a relaxing Sunday!!

2013 Day Fourteen

Thursday, November 14, 2013
Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Well, after telling you yesterday that my favorite hour is 5am, I would imagine you would think my answer is "morning person."  And, truthfully, the older I become, the more that seems to be the case.  However, if I look at my life as a whole, I'd have to say I'm more of a night owl.  If I wasn't up at 5 am every morning, I'd probably be able to continue being the night owl I'm meant to be. =)  That being said, though, I have to say, I truly love being up at that hour, enjoying the peace that comes with the dawning of a new day.  One of my favorite things to do is grab my coffee and go out and sit on the deck (or porch, depending on where I am) and watch the sun rise.  The beauty of the sky changing colors gets me every time.

Those years I worked at the bar, my night owl really came in handy.  Most days, I'd pull into my driveway at about 6 am, after a full night of slingin' martinis.  Even now, I have a lot of trouble falling asleep at night, despite almost always feeling exhausted.  I'm usually up until the wee hours of the morning (2-3 am), yet I still wake up at 5.  Some mornings, if I'm really lucky, I doze off for about an hour after Magnum leaves for work at 7:30.  But, that doesn't happen very often.  That's usually when I start getting ready to take my mother to physical therapy (that's 3 times a week) or take my neighbor, Jean, to the doctor (about once a week) or to pick up a prescription (again, about once a week).  In between that, sprinkle in a day or two with my Monkey, and it doesn't leave much time for napping.  I swear, I'm busier now than when I was working. 

Up until recently, I was also driving my sister to and from the train every day, as well.  I don't mind at all, since it saves her the $10 a day it would cost her to park at the train station.  Then, there are a couple days a week that my brother calls to tell me he's driving out this way, and to meet him and Monkey for breakfast.  So, yeah, not a lot of napping time.  I know, I know, your hearts are breaking for me. ;-)

On that note, I need to go check in with my brother.  I picked my parents up from O'Hare last night, after a week in Punta Cana.  I KNOW he's going to be bringing Monkey to see them today, which means I'm gonna crash the party. =) 

Happy SHIT Day!!

(Sure Happy It's Thursday)

2013 Day Three

Not a lot to say today. 

Did you remember to "fall back?"  I put my "extra" hour to good use, and went to the gym before church this morning.  I'm trying to get back on track with that, but I won't bore you with it here.  If you're interested, you can click on that cute little penguin over there. ======>

We went to dinner with my parents last night for an early birthday dinner for Stud.  Then, we all headed to beautiful downtown Whiting, IN to meet a BIG group of my family.  One of my cousins is starring in Spamalot, being put on by the community theater there.  It was really great!!  Last night was opening night, so I'm sure the next 5 performances will be even better, as they work the bugs out of the show.  My sister and her girls couldn't make it last night, so they're going next Sunday.  I'm thinking about joining them.

Ok, that's about all I have for now.  I hope you're all enjoying your Sunday!

2013 Day Two

Ok, so I forgot Jimmy Kimmel airs repeats on Friday nights, so clearly there wasn't a new "I Ate Your Halloween Candy" video played yet.  But, that's ok, since it gives his staff a little extra time to put a great one together.  I can't wait for Monday night!

So, since I can't share the cuteness of random children I don't know, I guess I'll just have to share the AMAZEBALLS CUTENESS of my favorite Monkey!!!  (Oh, come on now, I haven't made you sit through this in a LONG time, so quit rolling your eyes!)

Guess who's been trying to make the switch to Big Girl Panties!!

It's a work in progress.  The last couple of weeks have really been good, so I'm hoping by Christmas, she'll be ready for Santa to bring her some cute panties.


As has been our tradition for nearly two decades, we went to the pumpkin farm on Columbus Day.  It was Monkey's first time, and she LOVED it!

My sister and I have a picture of our kids standing in front of this gauge just about every year of their lives.  It was so cool to finally take one of Monkey.  (And, yes Jo, I threw in plenty of pictures of my brother for you.  But, you have to share them with Mark!)

I wish I had a clue what we were all looking at here.  It wasn't until about the 4th time I looked at this that I noticed my sister and I are both in the background, and all four of us are looking at the same thing, but I have no clue what it was.

This cracked me up!

My oldest niece and her friend joined us at the farm.  Naturally, she had to get her annual photo!

One day, we were playing dress-up at Nona's house, and she put on her Snow White outfit, along with a tiara.  I know it's a blurry picture, but her adorable face still shines through!

 

Actually, all these pictures are crappy, I know, but 1) my iPhone sucks, 2) She's still cute as hell!! and 3) No, she STILL doesn't have any hair. =(

Yay!  Day 2 - over and out!

NaBloMoPo '13, Day One - Let the fun begin!

Friday, November 1, 2013
If you found one million dollars in the morning and had to spend it by nightfall, what would you do with the money?

In no particular order:

I would pay off my house.  And, no, not necessarily buy a newer, bigger one, but pay off the cracker box I already have.  We've been in this house 19 years now, as of Oct. 15.  We moved in right before Stud's 1st birthday.  I can't believe my "baby" is going to be 20 in five days!!!  But, I digress.  My point is, I don't know if I'm ready to leave this house, as there are so many memories connected to it.  Besides, a million dollars really isn't as much as it sounds like anymore. If anything, I would consider some remodeling and/or an addition.

I would set up a fund to pay for Stud's future education.  He could go to whatever college he wanted, and get as many degrees as he wanted.  Hello, Dr. Stud!

I would set up similar funds for my three nieces.  I want all three of them to be able to get the best education possible.

I would pay off my brother's condo.  It would be one less thing for him to worry about as a single dad.

I would give my sister an equivalent amount, to do with whatever she wanted.  Her place is paid for (she got lucky when she got divorced, and found a place she could buy outright with her divorce settlement) so she may want to get a new place, or save for her retirement.

I would give a good portion to my parents.  I know they set themselves up well for retirement, but I think I would call it their "Fun Fund."  They could use it for traveling, or whatever they wanted.

I would invest the rest, to ensure I would be comfortable during my Golden Years.  And, for me, those would start right now!!  I don't think Magnum is ready to stop working just yet, but this cushion would give him the freedom to find something that truly makes him happy.  Maybe start his own firm, so he can be his own boss.

Hmmm, I just reread that list, and I'm thinking I put too many things on it.  Like I said, a million dollars just isn't as much as we think.  I've been saying for years that, if I ever played the lottery, I'd want to just win a million.  Not the hundreds of millions that the jackpot sometimes reaches, but ONE million.  It wouldn't be enough to quit working, but it would be enough to make us comfortable, and hopefully, take us through retirement.  And, hell, if we're really lucky, leave a nice little chunk of change for Stud (and our grandchildren?!) when we're gone.

Ok, I made it through the first day.  Just 29 to go!

FINALLY!

Wow, do I have lots to catch you up on!  I have no less than 50 posts stored up in my brain.  Good thing it's so empty, or I wouldn't have enough room for all of them. =)

Let me start by going back a couple weeks.  I did something BIG!  Are you ready?

Here are some not-so-recent, random "before" pictures.  I picked this one cuz I think I was really having a good hair day here.  This is actually from about 2am, after a full night of dancing with Stud at the Mother/Son Dance.

This one is from this past Christmas, with my beautiful niece.  You can't really see my hair, but she's so darn cute, I wanted to post it anyway.

Well....a couple of weeks ago, I did this....

My sister and niece took those at the salon, after my girlfriend finished.  Then, I took a couple more at home, just for fun.  Every single person who looked at these said it looks NOTHING like me.

 I had to see how the new 'do was going to look when I wore my glasses...

I kept this new look for a few days, but then I finally had to see what it looked like curly, instead of straightened.  Keep in mind that this picture was taken on a morning when I had only had 3 hours sleep the night before, so be gentle.

Last Saturday, my cousin and his boyfriend had a big party, and I took this picture with my beautiful niece.  (My other niece took the picture, and she seems to always take pictures at a weird angle.  My legs look like they're 3 inches long.  In real life, they're at least 5 inches long!)

Ok, so that was the first thing I wanted to share with you.  I realize some of you (men!) might be thinking, "Who the heck cares?!  It's hair!"  But, my girlfriends understand.  It's hair!!!  I've had some moments of regret in the past few weeks, especially since my hair was to about my mid-back before I cut it, but for the most part, I'm digging my sassy new look.  My biggest issue is that I can't just pull it back and put it up to get it off my face and neck, but I'm learning to deal with it.

Now, moving on.  You may remember me teasing you the other day with this.

Well, my SIL and I ran The Biggest Loser Run last Sunday!  It was a blast!  If you aren't a fan of the show, you may want to just skip the rest of this post, as I'm sure it will bore you to tears.  If you're a fan though, keep going, so you can be super jelly.

Here we are at the starting line.  How cute are we?!

Even though I have many pictures from that day, naturally I'm only going to share the ones that are the least hideous.

There were professional photographers posted along the entire route taking pictures.  We were then able to go and download all the pictures that were taken of us throughout the race.  Here are a couple of us.

 You have to look closely at these.  It's us approaching, and then crossing, the finish line.

 We did it!!

Now, let me tell ya the REAL reason I did this run.  I just had to go see my "boyfriend!"

OMG, I LOVE DOLVETT!!!

Turns out that one of my SIL's best friends went to college with him, and is one of HIS best friends.  Apparently, she put a call in to her friend, who then spoke to Dolvett.  I was told, on the way down to pick up our packets, "Umm...ok...don't be mad.  Dolvett knows your name, and your story, and he's going to be looking for us tomorrow."  What da WHAT!?!?!?!

He is just as sweet and wonderful in real life as he appears on the show.  He hung out at the finish line, cheering people on, and even crossed the finish line with some. 

When we got to the finish line, my SIL told him who we were, as he was high-fiving us, and he went to talk to us, but I actually said to him, "Um, can I go cross the finish line first, and then come back to you?"  Yes, I really did.  But, I wanted to get in a good finish time!  He just laughed and said yes.

I tried to get some pictures of him from the sidelines, where we stood for a while and cheered on the other runners.

 Yeah....that would be his backside...so what?!

We were able to meet all of the Biggest Loser celebs who participated in this event.  And, God bless my sweet SIL.  She took a ton of pictures of me, and never got into any herself!!

Me and Danni, Season 14 Winner!

Me and Francelina.

Me and Pam.

Good Lord, Pam is a freakin' RIOT!!!!  Every time we met someone, my SIL would immediately tell them, "She lost 75 pounds!"  When she said that to Pam, Pam punching me in the arm, and said, "You fuckin' bitch, that's more than ME, and I was on the damn show!"  I thought I was going to wet my pants from laughing so hard.  She hung out with us for quite a while, and was just hilarious the whole time.

Me and Jackson

He's another sweetie pie.  And, yes, they both have beers in their hands.  Every runner could get a free beer after the run.  Apparently, it's a great way to replace some of the carbs burned while running.  Too bad it was only about 9am when we finished!

Pam, me, Jeff and Francie

When we were looking at these pictures after we got home, it was brought to my attention that I'm in this picture with 3 former contestants, and I appear to be the smallest one in the group. I'm certain that has more to do with the camera angle or something, but it made me laugh.

And, yes, Jeff and Francie are still a couple.  They are adorable together.  Francie wouldn't let Jeff have his beer because she put him on a No Carb diet.  tee hee hee...  (He got one anyway....)

The Whole Gang

Ok, here comes the part where you're gonna be REALLLLL jealous....

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

They almost immediately posted the results after the race.  Now, for our first 5k, I actually tried to train somewhat, and went running, etc.  I am embarrassed to say that the last 5K was the last time I ran outside until this run.  I ran on the treadmill at the gym twice, and that was in the week immediately after the last race.  I didn't even go to the gym for the three weeks leading up to THIS run.  ~~hangs head in humiliation~~

All that being said, we actually beat our last time!!  Not by a ton (about 2 minutes) but still!  AND, the first run was very straightforward, up and down the streets of the town I grew up in, so it was all flat and easy.  The Biggest Loser run was routed through some really pretty areas on the lakefront, and there was a lot of up and down on that path!  It certainly seemed harder, and we seemed to do a lot more walking than the first race.  But, according to the microchips in our bibs, we shaved about 2 minutes off our last run time.  Hell, I'll take it!!

Here are the results for my age group (AKA-old!):

I came in 48th in my age group, and 695th overall.  There were about 1,000 runners, so as far as I'm concerned, that's not too shabby.  Hey, I wasn't last!!

We had such a blast at this run.  Oo, and SIL and I played a game, and both won exercise bands.  Sweet!  I can't wait to use them, and tone up my Bingo Wings! 

Sheesh!!  Maybe if I posted more than once every couple of months, I wouldn't be so long-winded, huh?  Well, hopefully I'll be back before September.  Enjoy the weekend!