Television

Tonight I watched the premiere episodes of Desperate Housewives and the Bionic Woman. Desperate Housewives looks like it's shaping up to be one hell of a season. I really liked tonight's show. The Bionic Woman, on the other hand, was pretty lame. It felt like I was watching something made for the Lifetime Network, but even for Lifetime it was sub-par. Good ideas, but very poorly executed. I know it's only the pilot, so hopefully it will get better. I'm going to give it a couple of episodes before I decide to keep it or drop it. I heard production was halted so that they could retool the show, so the powers that be seem to think it's in trouble already. Part of me hopes it stays sucky so I can drop it and not feel like I'm missing anything.

206

Sunday night. Desperate Housewives is supposed to start tonight. Am I ready to get sucked back in? We'll see.

I worked my first Sunday at the State today. It wasn't painful at all, either. My loud mouthed neighbor didn't come in to work today. The four of us who sit in my part of the floor did spend some time talking about the loud mouth, though.

The new QCast I was wishing for in my previous entry is now up and running. I'm scared. I think I'm going to save it for work tomorrow, though.

After work today, I went out for one of my walks. I was getting sad thinking about the weather starting to change. It's going to get to where I can't go out walking like I do now. I've really stepped up my walking this year. It's become something I do, rather than something I think about doing. I remember last winter I would go to the mall on Sunday mornings before the stores opened to walk. And I would get off the bus early and walk home for about 30 minutes. Most, but not all days. Ken suggested looking to buy a treadmill. I like the idea, but where would we put it? We don't have a lot of options. I'm all for it as long as he promises he'll use it, too.

I'm at 226 lbs. I'm exactly where I was pre-vacation. I'm a little disappointed, because I thought for sure I was going to be able to hit 225 (or less) for the first time. But no. I can't seem to get below 226. I've been in this area for about two months now, give or take. I should be more frustrated than I am. I hate that the weight has stopped coming off. I still have 26 lbs to go, though 11 lbs is completely acceptable. I need to lay off soda. I've been drinking too much of it and not enough water. My goal for this week is to improve on this.

Catching Up

I haven't posted here since Tuesday. I didn't intend on going that long, it just happened.

*Put in 6 hours of overtime today. Thinking about doing the same thing tomorrow. I need a really nice paycheck. I'm almost completely caught up on that damn credit card. Almost.

*I was bad yesterday. But it's not my fault. Bitch Amiee baked brownies (three varieties, of course) and I had to eat some. I only had the fudge brownie and the peanut butter brownie. Man, they were good. And that's why she's a bitch. Plus, Tom's last day was yesterday and there was retirement cake. It's just plain rude to not have retirement cake. I decided that I would get off the bus early and walk most of the way home, but the sky was looking very unstable, so I nixed the idea. It just started raining when I got off the bus and in the two minutes it takes to get home, it became a nasty downpour. I got soaked. About 40 minutes later the sun was back out but it was much cooler. I grabbed my jean jacket to go for a walk. I haven't worn it in months and months. It doesn't fit the same anymore. When I started my diet, I could only button the bottom button as long as it was under my massive gut. No other buttons. By the time it was too warm to wear it anymore, I could button the whole coat, but it was just a bit snug. When I put it on yesterday, I was amazed at how roomy it was. I could fit a small child inside the thing with me and still button it up. The bottom hem of the coat hangs three or four inches lower than it ever used to. I wanted to cry.

*I'm 100% caught up on everything from vacation. All podcasts are now current, all magazines are now current, all tv is now current. If I didn't waste the last few nights on the computer, I'd be all caught up on current tv, too. And cleaning. I'm supposed to be cleaning right now.....

*Ken's home from New Mexico now. His plane got in late last night. He was still asleep when I got home from work this afternoon. Whatta bum.

*My friends Nessa, Holly & I kind of crank called our favorite podcast last night. I'm afraid that when I hear it, I'm going to be disappointed in my parts. In my defense, I was exhausted when I called in and I was a rambling mess. But I had such a good time playing. Those guys are the best. Now I want a new QCastCT and I want it now.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I feel like I've started making headway in catching up on things that fell by the wayside during vacation. I was off today so I semi-cleaned the house (I cleaned downstairs... didn't touch upstairs... saving it for another day), finished the stack of Entertainment Weeklys that were piling up, finished up all the laundry... You know, that sort of stuff. I've also been making headway in my podcast list. I'm down to about 18 hours of unlistened to shows, and the older the shows get, the more likely I am to just delete them. With new shows arriving every day, I've got to do something. I usually listen at work in the morning, then I switch over to music in the afternoon, but I haven't been listening to music in an attempt to be current. This is all fine and dandy, but I have a shitload of new music I just uploaded to my mp3 player. The new Melissa Etheridge, the new Debbie Harry, the new Nellie McKay, the new songs from Trisha Yearwood's new Greatest Hits album, the new Joni Mitchell, the new Scouting For Girls, the new Dwight Yoakam, the new Jann Arden.... So I'm falling behind on my new releases (but I moaned about that in an earlier posting.)

I wasted a big chunk of today, I feel. I brought Ken to the airport at 5 this morning. He's gone until Friday. I had a doctor's appointment and some errands to run (record store.....). I spent more time than I should have playing on the computer today. I could have done so much more. Listened to music or podcasts (instead, I did neither). Cleaned more. The computer can be the most addictive thing in my house and I don't know why. I'm glad I went out of a walk today. It was beautiful out and it won't be for much longer. I should have been outside more. Bah. Back to work tomorrow.

Adventures In Dining

Just before vacation, I went out in the backyard to cook dinner on the grill. Only there was a problem. I turned the gas on and lit the thing, only to have flames shooting out the front of it. Not a good sign. The grill was getting old and it was time for a new one. And the timing was pretty good, too. Got one at Target on clearance, and an additional discount on top of it because we were left waiting for them to bring one out of the backroom for so long. I assembled the sucker on Wednesday, but didn't actually have a chance to use it until tonight. I hooked up the tank to it and wanted to run it for a little while to burn off whatever residue might be on it before cooking on it. That was all fine and dandy until the propane ran out. Rather than trudge over to Home Depot for a new tank, we decided to go out to eat instead. (Shocking, I know!)

Ken's been after me to try this place over by the house called TJ's Cafe. The place has been open for as long as I can remember, but I've never been and neither has Ken. He's been after me for probably three years to try it. So he wore me down enough for me to agree. We pull into the parking lot and the place is hopping. I notice two old people leaving, going to their car. And two other old people. Already I'm afraid. We get to the door, Ken opens it looks for about one milisecond and turns around to go. I only caught a slight glimpse of a table of ancient people. He has a major restaurant phobia. That is, he can't eat anywhere where it feels like it's someone's house that's been turned into a dining room. Weird phobia, but it saved us from eating there. The fact that the youngest patrons were in their early 60s was enough for me, thank you very much. As we're trying to get out of the parking lot, three more cars full of seniors pulled in.

Instead we went to one of our reliable places. Firken and Fox. It's an English style pub and we really like it there. The place was mobbed when we arrived. We didn't realize that the football game was on and apparently this was a favorite hangout of fans of the Cleveland Browns. There was a huge crowd of them and they were all very, very, very loud. Everytime something happened during the game, they were all into it. Like a bunch of fucking losers. Half of them were wearing their Browns jerseys. You know, I fail to see a difference between this and a Ren Faire. Every time the Browns did something good, there was this one nasty hag, who had a sign, by the way, would try to hug as many guys as she could. I think she was hoping to get lucky, but I'm sure she went home to her cats. Alone. The men's room door was kept propped open because the losers were afraid they were going to miss something.

What I don't understand about football is the clock. We got to the place when there was 8 minutes and some seconds left in the game. We looked over the menus, ordered, waited longer than usual for our food, ate, paid and left and the game hadn't ended yet. Crazy.

In the proud of myself department, I asked if I could substitute a salad for my fries.

I Want

This has been a pretty good year for music. For me, at least. Seems like there are weeks and weeks that go by with nothing new that interests me, and then a ton of stuff comes out all at once. Looks like we're at the "feast" end of this "feast or famine." This coming Tuesday there are going to be new cds by

Melissa Etheridge,
Joni Mitchell,
Nellie McKay
and Herbie Hancock.

Now normally I wouldn't care much about a Herbie Hancock release, but this has two things going for it. One, he's covering Joni Mitchell and two, Tina Turner guest stars on one of the tracks. And if this isn't enough, Annie Lennox's new cd comes out next week, as does Siouxsie Sioux's. I'm glad I get paid three times in October!

I'm still not feeling 100%. My cold is almost gone, it seems, but I've still got a stomach bug. I need to shake this right now otherwise work on Monday isn't going to be fun. I have Tuesday off, which is nice.

I read on Pod Is My Co-Pilot's blog earlier tonight that Alice Ghostley died. I'm really sad. I loved her on Bewitched and she was my favorite part of Designing Women. They're dropping like flies and I'm not happy about it at all.

Bionic Woman vs. Fembots

Sniffles

Still sick. Bah! I hate having a cold, especially one this time of the year. I think you're only allowed to feel this crappy during the winter. My symptoms don't jive with the weather outside currently. But I think I got hit going from the heat of Florida to the crisp coolness of the Northeast. I'm not really sure why, since our hotel room at Disney was rarely above 40 degrees. Ken was so excited when he realized we had one of the older style air conditioning units in the room. Most of the resorts at Disney have replaced the old units with motion detector units. If no motion is detected in the room, the air doesn't blow as hard. But we had a unit that stayed on until it was actually turned off. My glasses fogged up every time I left the room. That's how fucking cold that room was. Maybe it was the room that got me sick? I don't know. All I know is I'm giving up Saturday overtime because I feel like crap. We have Sunday overtime this week, which is rare. If I'm feeling better and still feeling poor, I'll go in then.

I weighed myself when we got back. I put on six pounds while on vacation. I was expecting more but hoping for less. I give it a week or two before I drop back down to my pre-vacation weight. Not feeling good also means not getting out there and walking. Again, if I feel better, I will go walking tomorrow. I've got the motivation, just not the energy.

I'm listening to DUSTY IN MEMPHIS right now. I haven't listened to it in a long time. I keep forgetting how awesome it is.

I went back to work on Thursday and spent a good bit of time catching up on the office gossip. My favorite bit was finding out that one person I work with sent around a collection envelope last week because she was fund raising for Alzheimer's. Coincidentally, she was on vacation this week. Not the first time something shady has happened around her vacation and it won't be the last time. I just can't believe the people who actually believed it was for charity.

I got a couple of mentions on the newest episode of QCastConnections. I was really, really happy to hear my name mentioned. It was a great ego boost this morning. Add to this the fact that Rosie baked four cakes for Jeanne's birthday today, I was in hog heaven today. Rosie is an amazing cook and these cakes were so damn good. I had a slice of the chocolate cake and of the better than sex depending on who you're having sex with cake.

I really need to clean my home office/comic book room. It's a fucking pit.

Bleeegh

I don't feel good. I have a cold and it's fucking annoying. I just chugged some more NyQuil and I'm about to go to bed.

That is all.

Tribute To Brett Somers

Homeward Bound

I'm all packed (except for the computer) and am getting ready to leave. Check out time is in an hour. I'm kind of sad to go, but I'm not devastated. I've never had a vacation this long before. When I was working retail, it was hard enough getting a solid week off. And there were restrictions as to when I could take vacation, too. Anyway, I guess I'm ready to get home. I miss the cats. We've never left them alone for this long before. The most was three days, I think. I'm sure they're fine, but I'm worried about Lucy. She tends to act out when she's not happy. I hope I'm not coming home to a house full of pee soaked furniture or poop covered floors.

The plane isn't until 6 tonight. The only real plan we have for today is going over to the Polynesian for lunch. After that, who knows.

Brett Somers

I was just reading up on some of the blogs I check on a regular basis and saw that Brett Somers passed away on Saturday morning. I'm really sad. Seriously sad. My first thought was of my friend Jay, who obsesses over the Match Game like I do. Actually, as much as I love Match Game (and it's a lot), Jay loves it more. And I think of my friend Michael, whose blog I originally read this on. He was close to getting Brett to appear at his own Match Game show he did in Connecticut.

Back in the day, I didn't really like Brett on Match Game. I thought she was great on the Odd Couple, but I didn't really care much for her otherwise. It wasn't until I rediscovered Match Game as an adult that I really got her. This alone made Match Game even more enjoyable than it was when I was a kid. To lose her and Charles Nelson Reilly in such a close period of time is just so sad.

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Nine

Today was the last full day at Disney. Here's what I ate:

Lunch at Restaurantosaurus in Animal Kingdom

*Diet Coke
*Mandarin Chicken Salad - Fresh greens and mandarin oranges tossed in a sesame ginger vinaigrette dressing.
*Brownie

Snack
*Candy Corn Shaped Rice Krispie Treat (shared with Ken)
*Diet Coke

Dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh in Epcot's World Showcase

*Chicken Bastilla - Baked layers of thin pastry stuffed with minced chicken and almonds, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar. (I traded Ken half of my appetizer for half of his, which was Seafood Bastilla - Baked layers of thin pastry stuffed with grouper, shrimp, mushrooms, vermicelli, feta cheese, onions and egg.)
*Mediterranean Seafood Platter - Shrimp ragout, seafood bastilla, and broiled salmon.
*Moroccan Symphony - Assorted pastries
*Diet Coke

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Eight

Lunch at Sci-Fi Drive In Theater at Disney-MGM Studios

*Spinach & Artichoke Dip - A blend of mozzarella, Swiss, and asiago cheeses, spinach, and artichokes served with corn tortilla chips.
*Smoked Baby Back Ribs - Basted with BBQ sauce served with cucumber/melon salad and coleslaw.
*Diet Coke with Vanilla
*Chocolate Milkshake

Dinner at Columbia Harbor House in Magic Kingdom

*Fried Chicken Strips & Fish - Served with French fries.
*Apple Crisp
*Diet Coke

Rain

It's raining out. It's forcing us to slow down, which I seem to have an inability to do on vacation. All Ken wants to do is take a nap. All I want to do is attack the parks head on. Today we're really trying to keep a quieter pace. We had lunch reservations at the Sci-Fi Drive In in MGM. So we took our time getting there. Headed straight for lunch (with a quick detour to Star Tours) and then left the park. I made Ken go to Downtown Disney to go shopping before we went back to the room. We got here and fifteen minutes later it started pouring out. So Ken fell asleep and I surfed the internet. Once it stopped, I went out for a walk, getting back just in time for the return of the rain. *sigh*

Magic Kingdom is open until 11 or 12 tonight, so we're going there soon. I just hope this rain clears up by then.

It Really Is A Small World After All

Today Ken and I went to the Contemporary Hotel. He wanted to rent the little speed boats and go play on the lake. Before we went out to the boats, we poked around inside. It's been a while since we stayed there and wanted to see how the remodel was going. When we got to the 4th floor concourse we were greeted by a cast member. Ken noticed that the hometown printed on her nametag was Kingston, NY. I'm from the next town over. So I say to her that I used to live in Port Ewen. And so we started talking. She said she was born in Kingston, but lived most of her married life in Port Ewen. Right around the corner from where I lived. And then she said her last name. I asked if she was related to anyone named John. She is. It's her son. I went to school with her son John. How crazy is that? She's going home to visit her son next week and she wrote my name down to tell John she ran into me.

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Seven

Lunch at Captain Cook's at the Polynesian

*Polynesian Salad

*Brownie

*Diet Coke

Dinner at Nine Dragons in Epcot

*Salad in a Vase - Daikon radish, carrots, asparagus, Romaine lettuce, and fried noodle ribbons served with our delicious House dressing.

*Honey-Sesame Chicken - Batter-fried chicken breast served with a delicious tangy honey and sesame sauce.

*Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

*Diet Coke

A Few Random Vacation Pictures

More Of What I've Been Up To

Today I had hoped to catch up with Michael again. He was planning on going to Disney to check out a couple shows that he's going to audition for. We did manage to meet up at Magic Kingdom for a show and a couple of rides. Then Animal Kingdom for another show. He also hit MGM and Epcot. All four parks in one day. I'm tired just thinking about it. His roommate John was with him. I'd heard John on a recent QCast, and I'm glad I got a chance to meet him. He's a trip. I'm just bummed that I managed to clam up again. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. My nerves tend to get the best of me sometimes. I get nervous, I get quiet. I don't know why I got all nervous, though. I've known Michael on and off for probably ten years online. The nerves kick in and I get very self-concious about everything that comes out of my mouth. I think I edit what I should say and let fly whatever can make me feel idiotic. I hope I didn't bring down any of the day. I had a great time and I hope everyone else did, too.

In the park today I found my new boyfriend. He was wearing a Batman t-shirt and he had a chest that would not stop. I didn't really get a good look at his face, though. I didn't really need to. There was another guy on the tram back to the car, but Ken and Michael are battling it out over him. He was a hot Brit. Really hot.

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Six

Lunch at Pecos Bill's in Magic Kingdom

*Chicken Wrap
*Apple Slices
*Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Mousse
*Diet Coke

Snack

*Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar

Dinner at the Maya Grill at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

*Seafood Margarita - Shrimp, Lobster & Mussels marinated in lime & Herradura tequila.
*Mixed Grill - Filet mignon, fresh catch and St. Louis style ribs. Includes choice of potato & mixed veggies.
*Chambord Chocolate Cake
*Diet Coke

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Five

Lunch at ABC Commisary in Disney-MGM Studios

*Fried Fish
*Black Bean Salad (only ate a few bites. Too many onions and peppers in it.)
*Diet Coke
*Chocolate Mousse

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe in Downtown Disney

*Crispy Calamari - with marinated English cucumbers and sweet curry aioli (I only ate about 3/4 of this. The plate was HUGE. My entree wasn't as big!)
*Chilean Salmon - Saffron whipped potatoes, asparagus and basil butter sauce (Didn't eat the potatoes)
*Flourless Chocolate Cake
*Diet Coke

Finally

One of the things I really look forward to when I go to Florida is the Appliance Direct commercial marathons. I will sit in my room and watch these things for hours and hours if I'm allowed. Anyway, I finally saw my first Appliance Direct commercial and I'm so happy. It wasn't this one, but that's okay. You get the idea.

The Trip So Far (Reader's Digest Version) - Part Two

I'm having a lot of fun. I really needed this.

Everything is a great big blur, so here are the parts I remember.

*Lunch with Michael was fun. I'm still kind of horrified to listen to the lunch podcast we recorded, but I'm equally excited. We also went to his comic shop and I found a couple different Batgirl action figures in the bargain bin. Score.

*It reached at least 101 degrees yesterday. Ken was melting. (He wanted me to make sure I pointed out that the Volvo registered that temp. Because if you listen to the newest QCastCT, you'll understand that we rented a Volvo, not just any old trashy car. A Volvo.)

*Went to Magic Kingdom twice so far. I've officially determined that the Space Mountain track on the left is the preferable one. The one on the right is good, but not as good.

*The room has been a consistant 47 degrees. I didn't come to Florida to freeze my balls off, thank you very much. I got Ken to at the very least turn the ceiling fan off last night. Why I'm not sick is beyond me.

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Four

Oops I did it again. I over ate. And I blame Holly for it (because my New Year's Resolution was to have no personal accountability. And Holly isn't here to defend herself. Note to Nessa, you're time is coming.......)

Lunch at House of Blues, Downtown Disney

*Cheeseburger
*Fries
*Diet Coke

Dinner at the Kona Cafe, Polynesian Resort

*Lump Crab Cakes - pan-seared lump crab cakes with Asian tartar and pineapple relish
*Char Crusted Filet Mignon - mashed yukon gold potatoes, asparagus and a 5-spice mushroom sauce
*Kilauea Torte - an explosion of warm liquid chocolate inside a brownie volcano, side of vanilla ice cream
*Bread
*Diet Coke

I didn't eat all the potatoes. Saved room for dessert.

Correction

The lunch link in the previous post is now fixed. Sorry.

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Three

Today wasn't so good.

Breakfast
*Diet Dr. Pepper

Lunch at Cosmic Ray's in Magic Kingdom

*Double Bacon Cheeseburger (at 3/4 of it)
*French Fries slathered in mayo
*Chocolate Cake (ate on bite of it, kind of dry, and all the frosting)
*Diet Coke

Dinner at Boma's at the Animal Kingdom Lodge

This place is a buffet. Always bad news. I tried to behave.
*A slice of prime rib.
*2 pieces of salmon
*2 pieces of chicken
*Calamari salad (basically garden salad with calamari)
*sun dried tomato humus
*white bean humus
*banana bread pudding
*zebra dome (a small pastry of some sort)
*chocolate crunch mousse
*Diet Coke

I still feel pretty bad about my intake today. Just came back in from a 45 minute walk around the resort. This is after Ken and I took a short walk around it.

Here's what's on tap for tomorrow. Click here for lunch and here for dinner menus. What should I have?

My Disney Dining Diary - Day Two

With apologies to Nessa. ;-)

Nothing for breakfast. Still full from last night.

Lunch at Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom

*Chicken Caesar Salad
*Diet Coke
*Frozen Strawberry Lemonade Cup (only at about 1/3 of it)

Dinner at Chefs de France (France -- Epcot's World Showcase)

*Tartare de Saumon legerement fume, sauce moutarde - Tartare of raw salmon lightly smoked with cucumber dill and honey mustard sauce.
*Noix de Saint Jacques et gambas sautees Flan d'epinards, sauce a l'oseille - Sauteed scallops and black tiger shrimp served with spinach flan and sorrel sauce.
*Tarte au chocolat - Chocolate tart with chantilly vanilla cream and praline sauce.
*Dinner Roll

Also had a Diet Coke while walking around Epcot and a Diet Dr. Pepper in the room.

The Trip So Far (Reader's Digest Version)

Just a quick rundown of the trip so far.

Early ass flight out of Albany. Bad weather meant for what was probably the worst flight I've ever been on.

Rental car through National. Ken's in the Emerald Aisle Club, which means he can choose any car in that section of the garage. Spent what seemed like forever watching him go up and down the aisle. He found a Volvo and nearly peed himself.

Checked into the hotel and headed out to the parks. First bus that came was for Epcot, so Epcot it was. Had lunch, hit the rides, had dinner, headed back to the room. Put in earplugs because Ken didn't bring his breathing machine thingie. Without it, his snoring could wake the dead.

Today started with me going for a walk around the resort. It's really pretty.

Headed to Animal Kingdom. Got there just as Expedition Everest broke down. Grrrr.... Toured the park and got back to Expedition Everest as it was reopening (score!). Made Ken very, very naseaus. He sat while I rode it again. And again. And again. Seven times total. What a great ride.

Back to the room so Ken could nap. I walked around the resort again, snapping pictures.

After his nap was over, it was back to Epcot for dinner. Thunderstorm began during dinner. Back to the hotel afterwards.

I'm pooped.

Some pics at mybadpictures.blogspot.com and at 12205.blogspot.com

My Disney Dining Diary - Day One

I'm going to try to keep track of everything I eat on vacation. I'm hoping that by recording everything, it will keep me in line. Here goes.

Lunch at Sunshine Seasons (The Land -- Future World -- Epcot )

*Chicken Caesar Salad
*Piece of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
*Diet Coke

Dinner At Le Cellier (Canada - Epcot's World Showcase)

*Prince Edward Island Mussels - served chowder style with Applewood smoked bacon and potatoes
*Bread Stick
*Seared King Salmon - served over sweet maple corn cake, with candied walnuts and Maple-Ginger Glaze
*Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake - chocolate cake brushed with Canadian whiskey, layered with chocolate mousse, finished with tarragon anglaise, topped with a chocolate curl
*Diet Coke
*Raspberry Lemonade

I also had a Diet Coke at the airport this morning and another one on the plane.

I'm feeling really fat right now. The Chocolate Cake was the only thing I couldn't finish. I ate half of it.

Okay Bitches

It's 5:20 am. I'm up. I'm showered. I'm packed. I'm syncing my iPod. I'm ready to leave.

Oh, and did I mention I'm tired. Knowing I had to get up so early messed me up. I had weird vivid dreams (in one, I realized that I was supposed to be at work today but forgot to go in. In another, I dreamed I missed an email from Michael about lunch and missed it) and I kept waking up all night long convinced I missed the alarm. I can nap on the plane after Pod Is My Copilot, though.

And I weighed in. I'm at 226 this morning. As long as I put on less than 10 pounds on vacation, I'll be thrilled. We've got free dining for this vacation as an incentive to bring people to the parks during the low season. What that means is we get a free counter service (usually something like a burger, fries, soda and dessert) and a free sit down service (appetizer, entree, dessert and beverage at any restaurant at Disney, no matter what the price... tip included) and a snack (ice cream!!!!). I guess if I come home not gaining 10 pounds, it was a failure. :-)

Friday

I'm home. Work is over. I'm officially on vacation.

What I loved about today is how needed I felt. Everyone seemed to go into panic mode when they realized today was my last day before vacation. EVERYONE seemed to need me. It was touch and go as to whether I would be able to finish up everything before leaving for the day. Even I felt the panic. But I finished. I didn't have to give Tammy my left overs, which made me feel good. I feel bad that she's covering for me. I shouldn't because I covered for her while she was away last week and I kept up.

It feels really good to be needed, wanted and missed.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

One more day of work and then it's vacation time. I know I have a million things I need to do before we leave and I know I'm going to forget half of them. But I don't care. I don't know what sort of internet access I'll have while away, so this may or may not get updated until I get back.

That's all. I'm tired and I should really go to bed. Got a lot to do tomorrow at work. Ugh. On a Friday. Doesn't quite seem fair if you ask me.

Bad Old Habit

I worked late tonight. So did Ken. He called me just as I was getting ready to leave and said he wanted to go to dinner. I wasn't really hungry, but I agreed to go. I ordered a chef salad and ate the whole thing. MJ's makes large salads. Plus I ate some bread, even though I wasn't hungry. And then MaryJo gave us some Lemon Cake. Again, I wasn't hungry, but I ate it. I've fought long and hard for the last year to break these annoying habits. Eating for the sake of eating, not because of hunger. Now I feel bloated and fat and disappointed with myself. Dinner was delicious, but I really didn't need to eat it.

Labor Day

I couldn't post yesterday. I tried, but Time Warner has having major connection issues. We have our phone through them, as well, and instead of a dial tone, whenever you would pick up the phone, you heard Prairie Home Companion. When it finally did come up, it was still pretty sporadic. So I said "fuck it" and didn't try to post.

What a great day off today was. It was the second Labor Day I think I've ever had off. I always had to work when I was at the store. Days like today I always dreaded because we'd be busy as shit and people would be annoying as hell. Three day weekends were always crazy. What was particularly painful about Labor Day was kids. The week before school was always painful. They knew school was starting and they would be in obnoxious overdrive. Really, the two worst weeks of the year would be the first week and the last week of summer vacation. Just out of their minds obnoxious.

So, since I've been out of retail, do you think I would remember that it might as well be Christmas Eve at the mall? I had a couple of errands to run and one was at the mall. I lasted about ten minutes in there before I had to leave. I also had to go to Target, which wasn't as crowded, but the people were just as terrible. I bought Hello Kitty Band-Aids and that made me feel better.

Ken went in to work today to try and catch up. After my errands, I went to pick him up and we went to McDonalds. I behaved and got a Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad. 260 Calories. Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. 50 Calories. Four of Ken's fries. They were delicious.

When Ken got home, we ran out to Home Depot to look at grills. Last night I went to go cook chicken on ours and flames were shooting out the front. Not a good sign. So we went looking for a new one, just in time to pack up for winter. :-) Home Depot had a crappy selection. Lowe's was better, but we found the best (for what we were looking for) at Target. And it took so long to pull the thing from the stock room that besides the 30% off it was already marked, we got an additional 10% off. What a deal.

That's my life today.

September First

I can't believe it's September already. Where the hell did the summer go? I don't feel like I've done anything. Probably doesn't help that I haven't taken my summer vacation yet. But I will in one more week. Then it can be fall, even though I'm not ready for it.

Tonight we actually left the house. My friend (and old boss) Lisa turned 40 today and we went to her sort of surprise, but not really birthday party. She knew she was having one, but she thought it was going to be in her backyard. Instead, the surprise part was her husband rented out a banquet hall for it. I had a lot of fun. I saw people I haven't seen in years. Many, many years. For instance, about two months ago I went to my friend Christine's 40th. That's where I last saw Lisa. In talking, we both realized that the last time we saw each other was at Lisa's 30th. I'm not going to let another ten years pass before seeing her again. Or Louise. Or Christine. You get the picture.

On the drive home from Kingston, Ken and I talked about that. It's weird how time flies. And it flies faster the older you get. It really doesn't seem nearly that long since I've seen these people. But life happens and things (and people) get put on the back burner and before you know it, a decade has passed. I have some amazing friends and I hate that I rarely see them. Christine had moved to Georgia a number of years ago, so that makes getting together difficult. She's recently returned to the area. Louise has lived all over, but she's back in the area after most recently living in NYC, I think. Lisa's always been in Saugerties, so I don't have an excuse there. I say I'm going to be better, but I reconnected with my friend Maria from high school a couple years ago and haven't seen her since. I adore her.

I'm such a homebody. I need to do something about that.

I'm Not Gay

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