Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!

On my way to Chammp's in Old Orchard to watch Indiana play in the Insight Bowl. Woooo! Go Hoosiers!! And go Kooder for making the drive to be there.

Thank you

Thank you giant department stores in my mall. Thank you for deciding that it's unreasonable to expect a shopper to accomplish their goals in a measly 11 hour day - or even 12. Thank you for forcing us (the little tiny stores with a staff of four) to be open for business from 8am until 11pm this week. Do you know how many people buy glasses after 9pm? Or anything really. Seriously. The only people in the mall that late are little hoods whose parents dropped them off for us to babysit for a few hours while Mommy & Daddy enjoy grown up time. OMG! Snowball fights and screaming are the mostest fun EVER!! Retailers have done this to ourselves, unfortunately. It is now unacceptable to expect someone to wait until tomorrow for anything. Pharmacies are open 24 hours. Honestly, how many people have died in the last 20 years because they couldn't get Advil or Q-tips at 3 in the morning?? And more specifically in my store, I just want to tell some of our customers, "I'm sorry you waited to order your glasses until 3 days before you leave on your vacation that you planned weeks ago. Feel free to head over to LensCrafters and hand over your wallet to get the same frames everyone else has in about a day." (That's right, you better be willing to raise Cain or settle for something else to get them in 'about an hour.' They frown on that promotion now) So that's my little rant for the day. Thank you for listening. I really do enjoy my job most of the time. Is it obvious that I was the one closing the store tonight? ;)

Ever Dance with the Devil....?

I enjoy most of the Batman movies. I think Christian Bale is great. Love the new look. I think Jack Nicholson's Joker is one of the best movie villains ever. So I was less than enthused when I heard Heath Ledger would be playing the Joker in the new movie - until I saw these. How fantastic do these look?

(Incidentally, I wonder if Tom made someone replace Katie so Heath couldn't try to hook up with her. Watch out Maggie Gyllenhaal - he may go for the sibling set)

Babies!!

This is a photo of Reis & Avery Johns. Dave's sister, Jennifer (Yes, we have the same name) now has a beautiful little girl to go with her little man. Aaaaaand, my cousin Anthony (roughly the same age as Tony) is the proud papa to little Isaiah. Good heavens. I promise you I'm still happy just having the dog. No Christmas surprises coming from me. But big congratulations to everyone else!

Book It!

Seriously. People need something else to complain about. When I was little, reading so many books through Book It! got you a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. This is a story out of Orlando about a complaint by a mother of one of the children who was 'turned into the bad guy' because 'we don't eat at those places.' Oy. First of all, your child knows McDonald's is out there for heaven's sake. It's McDonald's! There are more McDonald's around the world than clouds. Secondly, why is your child going to public school? If you're so concerned about rewarding her, give her a carrot. It works for my dog.

SNOW!

Did I mention I work in an outdoor mall? Something tells me it's going to be a little slow.

I. Can't. Wait.

Hahahahahahahahahaha

Poker? I don't even know her!

Thursday night we went to a charity poker tournament called Aces Up. It was hosted by Richard Roeper & Chris Zorich (among others). It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity for us to see what it takes to put on a really successful event. We ran a tournament for Orchard Village a few years ago, and I don't know if I've ever worked that hard. A couple of things:

1. It was in the city, NOT Schaumburg.
2. They stressed again and again that it was for a great charity. People at our event were there for the prize. Period.
3. Casino sponsorship. Volunteer dealers who are not taught the game in a spontaneous 2 hour drill on my birthday. :)
4. They had celebrities with bounties. My theory - if I don't know you, you're not famous. I let it go that night.
5. Free booze. That makes most people happy, really.

All in all, it was a very fun night. It's just a completely different game in that kind of situation. For example, the point of betting is to win the pot by making someone else lay down their hand. This is hard for novice players (I know I sound obnoxious) to understand. They keep thinking 'this next card will be AWESOME!" so they play cards they really shouldn't. But again, it's for charity. But those are the arguments used by people (lawmakers) to say it is strictly a game of chance. No skill involved. Lots of people have said it before, but there's a reason the same people win the big tournaments (professional) every year. Luck plays a part, absolutely. But at heart, poker is a game of skill.

So that's my unexpected rant. Who's ready to go to work??

Happy Thanksgiving!

Look at my pie! That's the Amish in me. :)

(Don't worry....I made pumpkin too)

I love Seth MacFarlane

I know I've said it before, but I do. He's got a great quote in this article about Fox's decision to finish some original episodes of Family Guy without his participation. He is Family Guy. And he's got some cahones.

I recommend 'Roulie'

I would like to thank iTunes and Jessica Simpson for making my day. I was looking up the song "Jessica" to settle a bet (They Might be Giants do cover it!), and a page full of Jessica Simpson came up. I noticed the song "A Public Affair - personalized version." What could this be? Mmmmwhaa haaa haa!!!! Some marketing genius decided to have the back-up singers fill in various names. And you'll be happy to know, they can all be made into ringtones for your iPhone.

Seriously.

This little bit of holiday joy is for Kris.

It's been ages,

but let me just say I love salsa. Both the music and the yummy condiment, but mostly the music. Dave is loading cd's for a client and I'm increasing the size of my own music library thanks to Ray. He has some great salsa albums. They're great to play at work (probably the only thing that can hold back my avalanche of Christmas music just bursting to come out and play).

Although it is only a week until Thanksgiving. Black Friday, here I come.

Grey's Anatomy

Is it too much to hope they might call him Dr. Pacey? I love the prime time drama.

My day off

This is why I go to the park. Because my dog is cooler than your dog. Now I'm off to do laundry. Also, I finished Water for Elephants and while it didn't change my life, it was a great book. I really wanted to see a movie today, but there's nothing I'm interested in seeing. I think I'll just go rent something.

Darth Vader + hoedown = Jenny laughs hard

I just spent about 5 minutes laughing at this. If there's any problem with my typing, it's because of the tears I'm wiping from my eyes. Thanks to Dave for bring a big dork and bringing it to my attention.

**sigh**

What a lovely day! I finally took advantage of the gift certificate that I gave Dave TWO YEARS AGO for Valentine's (I say if a gift is unused for a full year, it's mine again). I had a fabulous massage at Egea. Outstanding. Then had myself a little lunch while reading my new book, Water for Elephants. I've heard nothing but good things - raves, in fact. After that, I stopped here to get Davonna's birthday gift. Time for a little more reading before I head to the Chicago Brauhaus for the birthday dinner. That's right, there will be polka and beer. Prost!

Slightly Dorky High Nerd

I'm going to say the 'high' stands for high school. Like that makes a difference.





link courtesy of Kris ( I totally just linked that without using a shortcut for the first time. I'm moving up the nerd ladder!)

My visit with the baby

My photos from my trip to Bloomington are here. Bailey's very cute and everyone is doing well. I'm sure there will be more photos soon. We'll be in trouble when she starts smiling. :)

Cutest. Picture. Ever

Seriously

LOOK AT THE BABY!!

I'm going to see her next week! Apparently she's loud and likes to stay up late. We should get along just fine.

Season Premiere of Dexter This Sunday

I worked in Water Tower yesterday to help out Mike & saw Showtime was staging some promotional things around the country. One of them was to dye the water in Buckingham Fountain red to promote Dexter. They weren't allowed to dye it, but they changed all the lights to get the effect. Pretty cool. Incidentally, I am getting pretty spoiled with my iPhone. Good camera. Deathly Hallows as I wander around the city. And I have a lovely new ringtone (P.Y.T). Sweet.

Cheesy vacation photos

Check out how we roll in Vegas

It was nice to take the photos other people take when they bring traffic to a halt in front of some building/statue/fountain. It made me giggle.

It's a Girl!!

So my little baby brother is a daddy. Craziness!! I have a new giant niece. I say giant because Molly is an itty bitty thing and this baby was decidedly not. After a checkup on Friday, the doctor decided they were going to deliver her on Saturday. The ultrasound was clocking her at about 11 lbs 3 oz. You can see Molly's bubble belly from a month ago:




In the end, Bailey was 9 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. In baby speak, I'm told that's a big'un. Then again, we all have giant heads so you'd think someone might have anticipated this. I mean really, look at the little Butterball in the picture with his big sis up there - and my lusterous hair. I'll be heading down to Bloomington early next week to visit (and make sure my supercool gift is getting some use). Look for lots and lots and lots of pictures then. It's my turn to be the doting aunt.

Half-Blood Prince

My friend Amy's husband, Scott always gives me the best news (apart from waiting for my little baby brother to tell me I'm an aunt again). He just clued me in that Jim Broadbent will be playing Horace Slughorn in the next HP film. That's an inspired bit of casting if I do say so myself.

Sick Puppy

6:30am phone calls are never good. We left Hannah with Joyce last night because we were out so late. She's been a little squirrelly since we moved, but think much of it. She got sick all over the house. So we took her to the emergency vet early this morning. She should be fine, she's just very dehydrated because she isn't keeping anything down. :*( Not to worry, we're picking her up tonight if all is well after her day of IV fluids. Oy.

Update: Hannah's staying overnight so they can watch her. She's well-hydrated now, but not so big on the eating. Joyce will pick her up tomorrow (and keep us posted in seperate, but identical phone calls I'm sure). All's well and I am officially ON VACATION!!

Alex Borstein, you're my hero

So we went to the 10pm show of Family Guy Live. If you get the opportunity, you must go. My face still hurts. They started with a 'greatest hit' montage playing to the Rocky Theme (Gonna Fly Now for the band geeks). Seth MacFarlane then introduced the rest of the cast - including Jon Benjamin who I love from Home Movies. He's joining as a convenience store owner who gives Chris a job. Everyone came out doing their signature character's voice. Alex Borstein (Chicago native) was rocking a Walter Peyton jersey and called Rex Grossman a retarded vagina. The night was off to a fantastic start. They read through the episode (with much improvisation) where Peter loses his fingers and we meet Brian's moronic girlfriend. Then a little song and dance (Peter & Lois Girffin singing an NC-17 rated version of You Don't Bring Me Flowers). It was gorgeous. Seeing Seth MacFarlane switching between Peter/Brian/Quagmire/ and of course Stewie was worth it alone. He also sang I Need a Jew. He was an amazing voice. Just outstanding. There was a lovely bit about the Gyllenhaals as well. We got treated to part of the Star Wars-themed season premiere, then a sad, pathetic question/answer period. People just ask stupid questions, but the whole night was great. I had a great time and Dave laughed as much as I did (even though it was way past his bedtime). If it is anywhere near you, go go go go go! You'll thank me, then we can make all kinds of inside jokes. (Shipoopi!)

But then I see things like this....

make me so happy!

Senior-itis

Or vacation-itis, I suppose. So far this week I've been enjoying the party in the back of my head that keeps chanting in an annoyingly sing-songy way, "Guess where I'll be on Monday! I don't care if you're a crabby poo face - I'm going to Vegas!!" Today it almost wasn't enough. I filled in at a different store today (in a neighborhood notorious for cranky, whiny, demanding and simply unpleasant people. A mother and her grown daughter who fit the bill stopped in about ten minutes before I closed, after spending about an hour in the store this past weekend. She was upset because the frame she just loooooved had been sold. Well, see here's the thing. If someone comes into my store and wants to give me money to buy something, I usually let them. Call me crazy. So her daughter starts in with the Seinfeld bit, "so you can take the reservation, but you can't hold the reservation." To which I reply, "If you choose to put money down, we'll be happy to hold it for as long as you like. You see, we do actually have to sell our product." Her response? Then you should have called me to see if I wanted them because I saw them first. If you really wanted them, you should have bought them when you saw them. But if we're going to sink to 3rd grade, then finders keepers, lady. People are so snarky and 'witty' when they know you are really limited in the responses you can make and remain employed.

Which makes me once again say: IF I ever become independently wealthy, I promise I will not quit working right away. I will wait for the most obnoxious, self-righteousy pompous blow hard to come in and I WILL get myself fired. It will be glorious to witness and I'll probably get a slanderous law suit out of it, but I will strike a blow for retail workers everywhere. I will be the Rosa Parks of retail!

So Aussies think Americans can't spell?

Well I hope to God you didn't see this:



I is so vary proud write now.

I could be wrong...

Ok, so now that I've read through His Dark Materials, I'm pretty excited about the Golden Compass movie (hoping like crazy that it's not another Eragon). But is it just me, or is the music at the very beginning of the trailer the background of the final world in Mario 3? You know the one, but just in case you don't:



(If I still had my Nintendo, I think I'd miss work for about a week. This is hella impressive. That's right. Hella)

How was your Labor Day?

"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday. We're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath & Beyond, I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time. "

Yeah, switch that to a Monday and add in some laundry. Living the dream, kids. Living the dream. Why would you go to either of those places on a freaking holiday?? You would think I would know better. But at least we have welcome mats now so you can wipe your dirty, dirty feet.

I know you're jealous....

I kind of hope this isn't the episode they choose to do, but I'll still laugh myself silly. We're seeing this 2 days before we head to Vegas. Should help get me into a vacation mindset (like I need help). Thanks, Q101!!

Family Guy live!

And we're done!!

And by done I mean we're out of the old condo and living like hermits amongst boxes in the new apartment. We were able to withstand elevators malfunctioning and elevators breaking down completely. My feet will be sore for days and I won't know where all my new bruises are for about a week, but we are OUT! I'll put up pictures when everything's finally settled, but I'll leave you with Dave at the end of day two days of moving. This is when we knew it was time to stop.

Truck rented? Check. Cable turned off? Hold, please.

So literally everything else is scheduled. I've even guilted my sister into helping carry boxes (Thanks, Kim!), but on hold I sit again with Comcast. Smart little cookies that they are, they've completely hidden the 'I want to cancel my service' button on their site, so I've been on hold for a solid 10 minutes now. Granted, I could have gone the quicker 'I want to start service in a new place in a different name' route (something tells me they wouldn't keep me waiting this long if I wanted to BUY service - which I do), but the masochist in me won out. Woohoo!! Only 13 minutes and I have a live person!! See ya!

OMG! So Excited!

This is how Hannah helps me pack

I think everyone can agree that moving is never entirely pleasant, so I'll just give you a quick run down of what we've gone through in the last week: We found a 1 bedroom we liked and I drove into the city to sign the papers. That same day, we got into the apartment to take some measurements and discovered (dang it!) we had no cell phone reception. Followed that up with a call to the management company to ask about changing buildings. No problem! Cut to today and Dave being all helpful and proactive by calling to get the utilities scheduled. Only problem? He gave them the wrong address. And that's the explanation for my morning of waiting. The hard part's over, right?

Moving is my second favorite

So, I'm setting this up (you're welcome, Ms. Howard) while on the phone with the gas company. Can you guess where the title came from? I've signed the papers so as of tomorrow we will be starting the lease on a nice little 2 bedroom and getting out of oppressive, nosy old people purgatory. That's actually who lives in condos here. Not the cute couples (apart from yours truly, of course) or small families you'd think. It's cranky old busy bodies who downsized from their homes to join together in a little community to run everybody else's lives. I'm really looking forward to renting. :)