Quick bloggage...

Here's something fun to do... Go to www.google.com, copy and paste the text below and click "I'm feeling lucky"

eat steak in moulton al

Hehe. Someone wound up on my blog doing a search for that. Kewl. Finished up everything I needed to get done. Headin' to Nashville here in a bit, I guess to try and recreate some of the magic of New Year's Eve 2001, whatever that means.

Just remembered a couple of funny exchanges from last night.

Tag was all like, "Tracy and I have an announcement to make.... we're expecting again." So after congratulations, I was like, "Well while we're making announcements, I have one..." Several uh-ohs, followed by a short pause, then I continued, "Oh wait. I'm NOT expecting." lol

I also remarked to Shama that I always tell Kyle to call you when we're doing something, but he never does. lol That was funny.

Well, I'm off. Happy New Year! Be safe! I'll probably see several of you tonight. I'll be the sober one, with the Coke. lol

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne..."

I was dreaming when I wrote this...

...forgive me if it goes astray.

Nice lil get-2-gather at APPLEBEES for KYLE'S B-DAY last night. Thanks to everyone for coming. TAG, TRACY, SHAMA, NAMIE, KYLE, and I were there. Just happened to be Tag & Tracy's 3rd wedding anniversary as well, so that was cool. I tell you, they are absolutely two of the nicest people I know. Hadn't seen Shama in quite a while either. We all need to get together more often. BUNNY was sick with some funk (hopefully not mad cow), so she couldn't come. And SHANE'S wife wouldn't let him come. WOOOOOOOO!!! Tag was checkin out Namie's new Sony digital cam. He picked it up and was filming a mini-movie within like 30 seconds. lol

We really got shafted on the seating arrangements. SHIRLEY said we'd be sitting with TRACY, so I thought "OK, well we won't get freebies, but at least she sorta knows us and she's cute." Well, we sit down at table 41. Tracy: "Wow, you know all the table numbers." lol And ROB comes out to take our drink orders. So T & T order sweet tea, then it's around to Kyle. He gives this look like, "Nuh uh", and says "Water. So I also get water. lol They were really packed out. DAVINA was like our only "regular" server working. No Donna. No Beth. No Jessica. No Kristina. There was a wait at the door basically the whole time we were in there. I didn't figure a Tuesday night would be so crowded. Oh well. Staying with my "Eat Mor' Chikin/Ward Off Mad Cow" diet, I had the N'Awlins Skillet... chicken, sausage, and shrimp, with rice and onions and peppers. Oh man, I gave Kyle a card saying a charitable donation had been made in his name to the Human Fund. Hopefully, he will scan it in and post it online. It's pretty funny stuff.

We had some good conversation as usual. Namie said a couple of things that caused Kyle to remark, I don't believe I've ever heard a man say that. Namie's two statements were: "Ice cream goes right to my hips." Yikes! And, referring to his roomate, "He'a s stud." ROFL Double yikes! That was some funny stuff right there.

Otherwise, finished up laundry, spent about an hour and a half finishing up the year end recap for work. Didn't get in the bed til around 12:30. So I have no idea how I'll make it til midnight tonight. We were all laughing last night about how a few years ago, your night was just really getting started at midnight. Now, it's all most of us can do to stay awake til 12. lol I remember last year, I probably fell asleep by 12:30. Shama was like, "It just happens to you all of a sudden." Yes, it does. Yes it does.

I need to make some resolutions. Aim for the moon, and if you miss, you'll end up among the stars. What kind of crap is that? I say, shoot low, set your goals incredibly low, that way you won't fail. Sheesh. Stay tuned for more on my motivational methods, and how you can obtain a copy of my book "You're Only A Failure If You Set Your Goals Too High." lol

I want it to snow. Like ten inches. I want to make snow cream, and a snow man. I want to go back to NY this year. I want to move. Sometimes when I'm outside, I'll pretend I'm the only person left on Earth. And I can do whatever I want. I have to rely on myself and the land to survive. Sometimes though, when I'm driving like I'm the only person left on Earth, other people get upset.

Don't know what's going on tonight. Talked to AMBER last night. Sounds like she's going to Huntsville for New Year's. I haven't heard anything else about the Nashville thing. So that may be off. I'll end up doing something. Hope everyone has a safe night. Be careful out thur. 27% of Americans plan to be intoxicated by the end of the night tonight, and most of them will be doing it out somewhere, not at home.

"I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long. I'm movin' on..."

Errand boy

Well, I've been doing laundry all afternoon... excitement! Need to run by the grocery store and CVS to pick up a few things. Heading to APPLEBEES about 6:45 tonight for KYLE'S birthday.

That's about it. Still haven't figured out anything definite for New Year's. BUNNY'S laid up sick, so it looks like she's out on the Nashville trip. We shall see. I can vividly remember my past four New Years. Last year was in MEMPHIS. Two years ago was in NASHVILLE. Three years ago was the snowstorm party at KYLE'S. And four years ago we wound up in some field, around a campfire. That was for Y2K. Alright, I can't remember '98, but I imagine it was with Bobbie.

I'm out. Have a good evening.

"Ycan't take me anywhere. Pretty soon, we're almost there. Baby one more night. It's been a long, long drive. And I'm way, way tired. I don't need no backup plan. Say, I don't want nobody. Nobody don't want me...."

Happy Happy Birthday...

...from Bone's blog to you
I wish it was my birthday
So I could party, too...

Actually, I'm glad it's not my birthday, cos birthdays suckie-poo. ROFL

Happy birthday to my good buddy and fellow blog-junkie, Kyle. He is 29 today. Go by and check out his website. That'll cheer him up, I guess. lol Everyone is invited out to celebrate tonight at 7 at the Establishment of Tasty Delights, also known as APPLEBEES.

Concerning the passing of time, my friend, Eric, composed this little song...

"Remember how it used to be in the Third Grade? We used to laugh and play and cherish each day in the Third Grade. We learned wondrous things from our teacher so nice. Sat on marshmallow desks with teddy bear smiles. The world seemed to all make sense. But that sense seems to slowly fade, after Third Grade..."

Wilson

Actor Earl Hindman died Monday at age 61.

Kinda odd, just a few weeks ago, when we were over at Tag's new house, he was at the fence in his backyard talking to his older neighbor, and I made a remark that "Tag's talking to Wilson." :-)

"We look to our future. We make all our plans, as if we control what is out of our hands..."

Sein-feud

Richards will take part in DVD: Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus still out

"Cos I'm already gone. And I'm feeling strong. I will sing this victory song. Wooohooohooo...Nah nah...woohoohooo."

A loser again...

Well, I didn't make the top ten list on the Letterman website again. This week's category was "Top Ten Effects of This Year's Flu Virus." My entry was: "Kids told they can't spend the night at Neverland till they've been fever-free for 24 hours." I thought it was pretty good. Didn't make the top ten. I don't really care anymore. They quit giving away t-shirts. Now they're only giving away a high-tech Late Show mousepad.

Sitting here watching the end of the billiards tournament we attended in March. It's on ESPN2 again. Man, we were all over that TV screen. I wish I would've known, I would've wore some better clothes.. some sunglasses or something. lol

After talking with my tech-adviser, J-MO, I've decided to try out the NiMH batteries for a few days before returning my camera. Maybe it's just something I'll have to deal with.

"We're caught in a trap. I can't walk out, because I love you too much, baby..."

Hello, I'm Ran Dather and this is your B(log)BS morning news...

Got some of what I needed to get done yesterday. Went running for the first time in a while. Went to the car wash, washed and vacuumed the truck. Today, I must clean up the Christmas mess.

OK, that's about it. lol Let's see... I'm thinking of trying to send my camera back, because of it's extremely short battery life. Although these NiMH batteries seem to be working a little better. I went to JACK'S last night to get some chicken for dinner, cos I don't wants me no mad cow 'sease. Something about the thought of having my brain eaten away doesn't appeal to me... it's a little too Hannibal Lechter-ish for me. I talked to MATT about New Year's plans. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to go up to Nashville with my other friends, because of work and such. We'll see how that all pans out in the next two days. I hope I can go, but otherwise, I don't want to be left sitting home if I'm around here, so I'm trying to make alternate plans.

Again, it was really great watching the video Saturday night. I think all three of us had at least one ex in there... Meredith, Ann, and Kevin. lol There were actually quite a few "guest" characters in there, some I'd almost forgotten about, some who are still part of my life, and lots of Applebees servers... lol--Namie, Donna, Sarah, Solita, Cassie, Teri, Michelle, Kristy, Veronica, Shama, etc.

I keep having random thoughts about the video:

- Two surprises on the video for me were the sitcom pilot that we filmed back in about 2000 (I didn't figure anyone had kept that footage, for obvious reasons), and the bit Kyle and I filmed in Saraland. lol I still can't believe he put that on VHS and gave it to her. lol WOOOOOOO!!! I think this is the first time that footage has ever been seen by anyone other than me, Kyle, Sarah, and the local authorities. What?

- It was neat that Bunny's Mom was like, "He looks like he's weighing the sugar" when she was watching the pilot, since that was what we were trying to get across.

- There's nothing like spending time with good friends. That's what it's all about. And I'm glad we have most of our lives on videotape. lol Seriously though, I wish we had the '99 Braves/Six Flags trip on there, and the '99 beach trip, as well as some footage of Liz and Meesh. AND the first Opryland Hotel trip, when Kevin went AWOL. lol

- I didn't realize Solita used to come to our Applebees gatherings so frequently.

- Namie's tennis commentary was pretty good. And I had forgotten all about the girl in the yellow shorts. ROFL

- We were watching Ann on video, and Bunny said to Kyle, "And YOU broke up with HER?" ROFL WOOOOOOOOO!!!

- We deduced most of the funny stuff that was said usually came from me and Bunny. Kyle normally had the camera, at least 75% of the time. Shane is definitely the most "off the wall". lol And Melody wasn't that funny, except when she was fighting with Shane or hitting people. Hmm.. violent. lol

- The best stuff came when someone had just turned on a camera and we were all sitting around doing nothing.

- I had forgotten all about the "Blair Witch" excursion to Bankhead. That was pretty good. lol

Funny quotes and dialogue from the video:
"Melody, does Big and Red mean anything to you?"

"It's a contest, will Shane get out of the parking lot first, or will Melody get the Big Red out of her purse first... or will Jeff and Kyle pick up chicks first?" (Melody won)

"Jeff, say something to them." "What should I say?" "Ask them if they enjoyed the giant pandas." ROFL

"It's 11 AM, we're about to wake up Bunny and Melody. We think they're in here. We don't think anyone else is in there, but we're not sure."

"Saraland... a land full of Sara's."

(from the mini-golf course) "Well Dan, it's a terrible scene here. One of our nation's great landmarks has been destroyed by terrorists. As you can see, the top of the Washington monument has been blown off by a ten megaton nuclear bomb. There are no suspects, although we have heard reports of giant gray elephants roaming the streets."

Sometimes I think I want to just move to a metropolitan area, by myself, find a job, an apartment, and just start over. Does anyone else ever feel like that? Do you ever yearn? There's something about this time of year that sort of makes me reflect on my life. I suppose it's because I can see the passing of time so clearly this time of the year, moreso than probably any other time, even my birthday. So we make resolutions, and they get broken, and we usually end up pretty much in the same place again at the end of the next year. But, alas, I think that it is good to reflect. If we never reflected, we'd never improve.

I always do like a year-end email to send to my friends, summarizing the past year, so I need to get started on that. Wow, that was a long entry...

"And I thought of all the bad luck, and the struggles we went through. And how I lost me and you lost you. What are these voices outside loveÕs open door, make us throw off our contentment, and beg for something more? I'm learning to live without you now, but I miss you sometimes..."

Plans go awry..

Well, we never made it to NASHVILLE yesterday. SHANE was delayed longer than he thought with family stuff, so we ended up hanging around here. AMBER came by to get her Christmas present. Then I rode to WAL-MART in Hartselle with her. She got a couple of exercise videos, and I got some rechargeable batteries and a charger for my digital camera, which sucks the life out of batteries like George Bush has sucked the surplus out of the budget. lol

KYLE had called while I was there, and wanted to know if I wanted to meet him and BUNNY at Oh! Bryan's in Hartselle. So after I got home from Hartselle, I had to turn around and go right back. Dinner was decent. I had the catfish and sirloin combination plate. My steak was undercooked. Afterwards, we headed to BUNNY'S and ended up watching the video KYLE made for all of us for Christmas. It was great, seeing all the fun times we've all shared over the past four or five years. A lot of memories and a lot of laughs. K did a killer job on the video.

"Oh baby give me one more chance, to show you that I love you. Won't you please take me back in your heart. Oh darlin I was blind to let you go. But now that I see you in his arms, I want you back..."

It's been a long day, always, ain't that right...

Friday was a long day for me. I left home going to work early yesterday morning and didn't get home til nearly 11:00. Went to APPLEBEES straight from work to meet everyone for our annual Christmas gathering. Saw a lady from church up there. Finally, Bunny and Shane and Melody showed up. Got a book from Bunny, another book from Shane and Meloday, and the DVD from KYLE. (I watched about 30 mins. of that last night, and it is sweeeet.) We ate and talked and laughed until around 5:00. Then went and hung out with NAMIE for a little while. Around 6:30, KYLE and I went to play BILLIARDS. It was pretty even. I started out really well, only took two turns the first game to win, then slacked off at the end. JANICE, TINA, WES, ROB, and MICHELLE were up there working. Went to BOOKS-A-MIL after that. I bought a Billiards Digest magazine and James Carville's new book. lol Then, got conned into a BAM discount card for ten bucks. At least now, the next time I buy a book and they say, "Do you have one of our discount cards?" I can say "You better believe I do."

Wound up at APPLEBEES after that. Sat with DONNA. Jade sat down beside me and kept telling jokes. She was imitating Wil Ferrell when he does Harry Caray on SNL. It was pretty freakin' funny. There was this very hot blonde sitting at the bar and she kept looking over and smiling, and I knew she looked familiar, so finally I asked. It was AMY, a chick that used to work there for a little while. How else would I have known her? lol

On the agenda today: (I'm not sure how much of this I'll get done)
Begin cleaning up Christmas crap
Clean out closets to make room for Christmas crap
Wash my truck
Heading to Nashville, around 4:00 it looks like. We're going to try and go by the Opryland Hotel to see their lights, and then probably all get together to watch the four-hour video KYLE made. lol This is gonna be great. My stomach hasn't been feeling the best the past two days. Maybe five or six hours in a car is not what I need. lol

The SP was on Thursday night where Cartman sings "Oh Holy Night." That is some funny stuff right thur.

"I can see you, your brown skin shinin' in the sun. You got hair combed back, and sunglasses on baby. I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong, after the boys of summer have gone..."

Is anyone working today?

Seems like I am the only person working today. Hardly anyone has been online this morning. Ran to the bank today when I went out for my mid-morning snack. Transferred all of the contents of my old wallet into my new wallet (aka: checkbook holder, organizer, friend). Found some pretty old receipts in there. One from O'Charley's from January. I think TIFFANY and I must've gone there, cos it was like $29, so there would've had to . Found one from September 2002 from Applebees. My meal was like $9 and I tipped $2. Boy, those were the days. Seems like my tip percentage continues to rise steadily, like the mercury in a thermometer on an early September day, like the national debt, like the subscription cost at russianbrides.com. Oh wait, what? ROFL

Random exchange from yesterday:

"Do you remember how to tight-roll?"
Me: "Do I remember how to tight-roll? I'm king of the 80's. I remember when Kirk Cameron was cool. Of course I remember how to tight-roll." lol

Gonna try to get my printer set up. However, I'm not sure it'll be compatible with my ancient UNIVAC 7000 computer. lol 1200 bps, babee! The only way to surf.

BUNNY called last night. Was trying to figure out a time when we could all get together for our annual (or now closer to semi-annual) Christmas gathering. KYLE mentioned doing it at APPLEBEES (what a shock.. lol) sometime this afternoon. We'll see. I've got BUNNY'S gifts from this year and last, so if she doesn't get them this year, I'm not buying anything next year. lol KYLE made a kickin', awesome video of all our trips, get-togethers, and stuff over the past four years, and it would really be better if all of us could watch it together, I think. Oh well. People are busy.

"But that was yesterday, wasn't it? And things are so different now. So i was right not to ever tell you, because i guess i always knew, it never really would've had a chance to grow. And though i'll use my better judgment again, and never mail this letter, I still kinda wanted you to know..."

Happy "Return All Your Crap And Get Money Back" Day

Well, yesterday was a big day, no doubt. My little baby sister got engaged :'( I guess that was the big news in our family. Mom is tore up. She broke down into tears two different times while we were on the phone yesterday. I guess selfishly, I'm afraid I won't get to see her much once she's married. We have just really become close in the past couple of years. I think how I feel might be a little bit like how a dad feels when his daughter is taken away. But, alas, very few have the skill and talent to stay single thru their twenties like me. lol

For Chri-muh, I got way more than I deserve. Here are a few items:
Olympus D-560 digital camera (Yes, I'm only lagging 8-10 years behind in technology)
HP Photosmart 7350 Printer
5 pc. luggage set
NCAA Football 2004 for XBox (I have the mind and body of a 17 year old)
A new wallet (which also serves as an organizer, filing cabinet, and friend... lol)
A navy Dockers jacket
More clothes

Among the small gifts that I really enjoyed were my Don Henley's Greatest Hits CD. Oh man, I'll be jamming to that for awhile! And my sister found an old Mattel Football game that she got for me. Also got a Nelly CD. Umm, some sheets for my bed, a small space heater, a calendar, and that's all I can think of right now. Oh, and some cash, of course.

Anyway, Mom fixed dinner yesterday, so I went over there and we ate about 1:30 or 2. I was in charge of carving the turkey. So about halfway thru, it falls off the counter into the kitchen floor :-O Oops. Sowwy, Mom :-\ Anyway, the part that didn't fall in the floor was good. lol And she had baked a ham anyway. I got home about 6:00 I guess. Put a few things up, but I'm leaving most of the cleaning till this weekend. I need to throw a bunch of clothes away, maybe take some to Goodwill. Need to clear some space.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I told you it'd be here and gone before ya knew it.

"But happily ever after fails, and we've been poisoned by these fairy tales. The lawyers dwell on small details, since daddy had to fly..."

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

Hope Santa made it to see everyone. If you are having a white Christmas, please take pictures and post them somewhere on the web and then send me a link ;-)

Did family stuff, got lots of gifts last night. More family stuff and gifts today. Really blessed more than I deserve.

"Through the years we will all be together, if the fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself a merry little Christmas now..."

I fought the crowds and the... well, let's call it a draw...

Ended up working til 1:00. Our bonuses came in at 12:15, 15 minutes after every bank within a 400 mile radius closed. Oh well, so I went to the mall and charged a few things. Traffic was as bad as I've seen it around here. There was this one time where I was in the left hand lane at a red light, and left a gap so cars could turn left across in front of me. Well, they still couldn't see if anything was coming in the right-hand lane so I was motioning people across. It was like, "Come on, come on. Wait! Hold it! OK, come on. Hurry!" Maybe I should've been a traffic cop.

Mall wasn't too bad crowded, not as bad as I thought it might be. Saw HOLLY at the mall. Wow, she's still lookin' really hot. Also saw JADE up there. That's what I like about going out on Christmas Eve, you see lots of folks you know. Met KYLE up at APPLEBEES for lunch. Sat with DAVINA. DONNA, JESSICA, KELLY, and others came in while we were there. DONNA came by to chat. KRISTINA was up there with her young-un. Ran by Wal-Mart on my way home. It was a madhouse. Now I'm gonna wrap what I bought today, while I watch "Miracle on 34th Street." One of the cool things about this movie is seeing the city as it was all those years ago. Planning to leave around 6:30 or so to go to one of my aunt's for family stuff. Then more family stuff tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to all my friends in the blog world.

"Itís the most wonderful time of the year. Thereíll be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near. Itís the most wonderful time of the year..."

WOOOOOOOO!

One of the search strings to my blog was "Dress me up like a mailman." ROFL That's from South Park... I think... I don't really watch that show.

Christmas is really rolling now. Our secretary made me some chocolate oatmeal cookies and brought in today. Ummmmm.. my favorites. Oh wow, I've just gained 4 pounds in the past hour. Kewl.

"Bonus? Bonus? Here little bonus...here girl..." Still no word. Wow, I'm being a big optimist here.

"But I can't fake another day. I can't face another night. So I just take another breath, and let it go..."

Twas the night before Christmas, and all thru the Blog World...

It's Christmas Eve! Also the day after Festivus. See, one of the best things about Festivus is there are no gifts to return the next day. lol Kilborn had a funny one-liner last night in his monologue. "President Bush lit a menorah today in honor of Hannukah. Then he made a wish and blew out all the candles." ROFL

Well, got some news yesterday from one of my friends, Jack. He and Paige are having a baby. Well, she is. They are excited. I told him he could name it anything but Seven. And also that if the baby needed a godfather, I could hold him at the bris, if it's a boy. lol (Those are Seinfeld references. If you don't get them, then you probably don't get half my blog.) She was like "Guess what?" And I said, "Uh oh." She said, "Can you guess?" And I said, "One of you is pregnant?" ROFL She was like, "How'd you know?"

Oh well, let's see, got laundry done. They moved Bible study up to last night I guess so no one would have to miss it. MATT was home from the Navy. He's on like a 10 day leave I think. Seemed to have a pretty good outlook about things. He hasn't changed much, and that was refreshing. He's been gone probably close to a year and a half, and I think he's only been home 2 or 3 times, so it was good to see him.

There is a girl who works at a gas station that I deliver to on Wednesdays and she's been there ever since I've been delivering there, and she's always smiling and she always speaks and she seems to have the greatest outlook on life, and that just really touches me. So I thought I'd share. I mean, I don't know anything else about her. She looks to be in her twenties. I guess she usually works at night. But her positive outlook and cheerful disposition always makes my night a little better.

Chatted with DAVINA online last night. Told her Merry Christmas, since I knew I wouldn't be seeing her til after the holidays. Oh man, someone just called in and called me OJ! ROFL Now I answer to a lot of things... Jeff, JT, Bone, Nibbler, T-Bone. But OJ? ROFL I found that funny. Went by last night and helped my sister with one of the gifts we're "making" for Mom.

I just remembered this funny quote from the other night. From my unemployed friend:

"If we put your two quarters and my two quarters together, we'll have enough for one game of pool." ROFL I don't know why that is funny, but it is.

Sitting here at work. We're supposed to get off at 12, I think. I brought gifts for my co-workers. Gonna try to do some last-minute shopping today. I really could stop, but I might pick up a couple of little extra gifts. Then I'm going to try to have time to watch "Miracle on 34th Street" while I get ready for tonight.

Health update: I'm still coughing. It's a lot worse late at night and when I first wake up in the mornings. Still very dry, like I cough and cough and it does no good. Might go to the doctor once the holidays are over. Halls have become like my fourth food group. I've drank enough Robitussin, Nyquil, and Vicks cough syrup to float a battleship. I think KYLE had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Hope that went OK.

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time..."

Striving for a Low-Fat America

As my friend KYLE suggests, a three-month gym membership makes a great and useful Christmas gift. Soon it will be the law to be thin. lol OK, well not exactly, but I just hope they include a clause setting a maximum weight limit for wearing bikinis at the beach. For crying out loud people, I was planning on eating dinner later.

For the non-blogger in your life, give the gift of blog this holiday. It's quick, it's easy, it's cheap, AND it will cut down on your need to communicate by phone with this person. lol

I'll recap today's events tomorrow. (I know you can't wait.. lol) It's late. Nite.

"Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood. Hope a flight to Miami Beach or Hollywood..."

Holiday Spelling 101

It's M-E-R-R-Y Christmas. Not MARRY. lol And it's R-U-D-O-L-P-H, not RUDOLF. He wasn't a Nazi reindeer. lol Or maybe he was.. Rudolf, Blitzkrieg... what? Anyway, I've seen both of those spellings in the past few days, and it's been under my skin, as you can probably tell. lol

Well, my Amazon.com gift came. I must say I'm impressed by my first amazon order and by the UPS service. The guy left it with my neighbor, which I thought was a little odd. Don't they normally leave the little sticker on your door? I guess they probably aren't working tomorrow. Anyway, she came over right after I got in from work and gave it to me. That was so nice.

Went to Wal-Mart to pay my cellular bill. Ended up buying a copy of "Miracle on 34th Street." It was just seven bucks. So I figure by the time I rent it twice, it's paid for itself. I love that movie. You'd think with all the hints I drop that someone would've gotten it for me for Christmas by now. Now that I bought it, someone will probably get it for me this year. I got it on VHS. Am I the only person still buy VHS tapes? lol I could use my X-box to play the DVD, but they didn't have it on DVD. I feel so ashamed carrying a VCR tape up to the register, and so I'm trying to conceal it like I'm buying condoms or something. lol Ran by the grocery store. They didn't have the small pack of microwavable sausage & biscuits I like, so I got a healthy choice dinner, a lean cuisine dinner, and some kool-aid. lol

In other news, I can't wait to have kids and take them to see Santa. The look in a child's eyes when they see Santa Claus is priceless. There are no words to describe it. It's beautiful. Of course, I need to be married to have kids. And I need to be dating someone in order to get married. Crap, how did I get off on this tangent?

It's here! I can feel it. Christmas is in the air. I love it!!!!

"Paint me a Birmingham. Make it look just the way I planned. A little house on the edge of town. Porch goin all the way around. Put her there in the front yard swing. Cotton dress, make it early Spring. And for awhile she'll be mine again, if you can paint me a Birmingham..."

Happy Festivus!

Well Festivus has finally arrived. "I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!" lol

The airing of grievances, the feats of strength, the aluminum pole, the Festivus dinner. (sigh) This is what it's all about. A lady brought three plates of candy by work this morning, with MY NAME on them. lol Chocolate and peanut butter fudge, some sort of things that look like rice krispy treats, except they're made with corn flakes, and some sort of sour-tasting peanut butter balls.

You know what's great about women? They know how to fix all these little treats, little whatchamados and thingamabobs. I have no idea what's in this stuff. I just eat it. lol Another thing that's great about women... they always have these little seasonal stamps they buy and put on their cards and letters. And then they even have little stickers they have to seal the envelopes. How cute!

Headed to APPLEBEES for dinner last night. Met KYLE up there. Sat with BETH. Had the nachos. JESS and JADE came by to chat. After that, we cruised over to play some BILLIARDS. KYLE said he had noticed they were open earlier. They're usually closed on Monday and Tuesday nights. I had an unusually good night, won all seven games. I think KYLE was distracted by the uncommon number of hotties in there. That places was crawling with hot, single chicks last night. One weakness I had noticed in my game from the last few times was that I was more often than not left with a tough-to-near-impossible shot on the 8. So I really worked on positioning the cue ball as I was shooting my last ball, to get in good shape on the 8. It seemed to work well, except for a game or two.

Got home around 9:45 and my sister came over to look through some pictures for this thing she is making for Mom for Christmas. It's cool to look thru pictures, but it always leaves me feeling nostalgic and like I wish I could go back sometimes, ya know? Oh well. She also brought me some medicine she thought might help my cold/pneumonia/bronchitis.

In closing, 115 years ago today, on December 23, 1888, in a state of depression, Vincent Van Gogh cut off part of his ear. In tribute, I will also enter a state of deep depression today and attempt to recreate this infamous act. Oh wait.

"So long ago I don't remember when. That's when they say I lost my only friend. Well they say she died easy of a broken heart disease. I listened through the cemetery trees..."

Deliver The Toys!

Here's a little Christmas game to try.

Oh yeah, I am waiting for a gift from Amazon, which is coming UPS ground. For those of you unfamiliar, UPS ground is also known as "our slowest possible means of delivery." It is the slowest way to send or receive a parcel, but I clicked on "delivery by Christmas eve" and that's how they sent it. So we shall see if/when the camel arrives with my package. lol

I need to clean out my closets and drawers. Like seriouslah, dude. Otherwise, I fear that after Christmas, my 'partment is going to be more overcrowded than the United States prison system.

"Well I guess I've changed but yeah, couldn't you, given all we've been thru. Heaven knows I've been around and around. And I guess I'll strain, well how 'bout that? Here's my life, here's a doorstep. Well, heaven knows I've been around and around..."

First Day of Winter (also: Festivus Eve)

Wow, it's the first official day of winter, and the temps here are supposed to be in the sixties. Something tells me we're not having a white Christmas 'round these parts. I love the winter--cold, dark, gray, things dying. It's so exhilarating. I did see a most beautiful sunrise on the way in this morning. Pink, yellow, orange, blue, gray, purple... so many colors.

Mom had cooked supper last night, so I went over there to eat. Otherwise, just tried to rest all day and evening. I'm tired of coughing. I may try to drop by APPLEBEES tonight and spread my Christmas cheer. lol This will probably be my only chance before Christmas, cos the next three days will be packed. I'll probably go shopping, too. I don't really need to get anything else, but I just like being in the stores the last day or two before Christmas, to see if anyone drops any change or anything. Oh wait. Seriously though, that's what it's all about, the last-minute shoppers, seeing Santa in the mall, the little kids all bundled up where you can barely see their faces. All that's missing is the snow. And usually, I end up buying more gifts anyway. Economically, it probably is the best time to shop, because the retailers realize, "Oh, so you're not gonna pay that much for this crap. OK, we'll mark it 50% off, so we don't have to box it up til next Christmas." lol I just wish I could box up these next four days and save them, or just make them last a little longer than I know they will.

Festivus preparations should be nearly done, for those of you celebrating A Festivus For The Rest Of Us this year. After tomorrow, it will be time to take down the aluminum pole. The feats of strength will all be over. And someone will have to live with the shame of being pinned for the next 364 days.

Oh, here's one to check off your list of possible come-on lines: "Uh excuse me. You've got something between your teeth." Doesn't work so well. ROFL What?

"And the winter calls me back to another time and place. On the cold December nights I can still see your face. And I run from it. I run as fast as I can. But it always catches up in the end. So I turn and face the cold, winter wind. And I'm alone. And I think of you again..."

Long Time, No Blog

Wow, I haven't blogged like all day. lol Did ya miss me? Been trying to rest up today. Still coughing some. It's always a lot worse in the mornings, and gets better as the day wears on. I basically haven't done anything today. Fixed some Lean Cuisine spaghetti for lunch, and watched Dallas beat the Giants 19-3. Then I watched the end of the Saints/Jags game. Wow! NO had like four or five laterals as time expired to score a touchdown, and all they needed was the extra point to tie it up, and the kicker missed it. I bet he's a popular guy right about now.

Last night, headed over to D-town. J-MO and I went to RUBY TUESDAY'S to grab some dinner. I had the New Orleans Seafood. The food was great. The service was less-than-satisfactory. Basically had to beg the waiter for water. J-MO had to get up and go get some extra crackers because they only brought one pack. Some people just aren't cut out to be in the food service industry. Oh well, can't beat the service at your hometown APPLEBEES. lol After that, headed over to Books-a-Mil for a bit. Thought about buying four or five different books, but decided it was too close to Christmas. Dropped J-MO off around 9, then stopped by MATT'S to watch the BAMA basketball game. It was an exciting game. They won on a shot with 4 seconds left. Got home around 12:45. I wrapped all my remaining gifts last night. So now I've got a nice, neatly stacked stash of goodies 'neath my tree.

Oh, I finally saw a Salvation Army bell-ringer outside of Wal-Mart yesterday. That's the first time I've seen one all year. I don't know if they just don't have enough volunteers or what, but usually they're out early and often in December. It's funny, when I was younger, I used to try and avoid them and feel bad. Now, I look for them and give, and feel like I'm not doing near enough.

Thinking about maybe picking up another gift or two for Christmas. It may come down to whether or not I get a bonus check in the next two days. lol That's about it for now.

"When you get home she'll start to cry. When she says I'm sorry, say so am I. And look into those eyes so deep in love, and drink it up. Cos that's the good stuff..."

All My Ex's Live in... Wal-Mart?

Wow! I am speechless. After work, I had some errands to run--get gas, post office, Wal-Mart, etc. So I walk into Wal-Mart and like the first person I see is Cindy, a girl I dated when I was 18. I've probably seen her three or four times at most in the past ten years. So that was like a shocker. She was like my first real love, you know, and my first broken heart. So for the next few minutes I walk around in a daze pretty much. Then I run into my old roomate and later I see my high school driver's ed teacher. So everyone I know is out at Christmas. OK. Also while I am there, I see yet another girl I dated, when I was like 19 or 20. Well this was my first and only venture into the single-mom-dating world. So I see this little girl behind her and she asks the little girl,"You don't remember him, do you?" And the little girl is like shaking her head 'no' and then she's like,"I'll be ten next year." And I'm stunned almost beyond coherence. And her mom sees this shocked look on my face, I'm sure, and says, "It's been quite a while." And I'm just like shocked that it's been that long and it seems like no time and there is this person standing there who I knew when she wasn't even a year old, and haven't seen since, and now she's almost ten. And all of a sudden I have this tangible evidence of the passing of time, and I see the past ten years of my life have vanished and so the rest of the time at Wal-Mart I'm pretty much wandering aimlessly around trying to absorb all this and not being able to concentrate on what I came there for in the first place. So, is someone trying to tell me something? And if so, what?

It was just quite a day. I don't know what else to say about it. I'm just getting home actually, because after that I ran by to get some lunch, went over to see my sister and she was wanting me to help her make some sugar cookies. And we decorated them and everything, so that took awhile.

# of presents wrapped in the past two days = 0 (zero, zilch, nada, nothing) lol

"Who'll light up the darkness? Who will hold your hand? Who will find you the answers, when you don't understand? Why should I have to be the one who has to convince you? Cos you know I know baby, that I don't wanna go..."

Yeah well I got a disease deep inside me...

Well I got exactly zero wrapping done yesterday. That's zero, as in absolute zero. I did make it out to shoot pool. Got kind of a late start and the place was already hopping. We played seven games. The good news is I sank the eight ball every single game. The bad news is, once I sank it in an uncalled pocket, and once before I had pocketed all my balls, but it was a pretty good night anyhow. lol Some hot blonde KYLE knows from the gym came down and chatted with us for a few minutes. We were both coughing the entire night. I probably should have stayed home. Afterwards, went to APPLEBEES. Seems like I've done this exact same thing on a Friday night before. It was like deja vu. Sat with JESSICA. I had the fiesta lime chicken, and some hot chocolate. JADE and KRISTINA came by to chat. Chatted with DONNA for a bit, too.

After that, it was off to BOOKS-A-MILLION. Ran into NAMIE up there. He is home for a few days from California. He was like, "How are you doing?" And I was like, "Well, I'm doing OK. Just a little coughing, double pneumonia, and a touch of the flu." For some reason, after I said that, I noticed that the entire aisle cleared out. Got home about 11:00. Crashed on the couch til 3:30, then went to bed. And now, I'm sitting here at work, on a Saturday. I think I am completely done with my shopping now though. So I'm going to try to wrap the rest of my presents when I get home this afternoon.

Well, I've got to finish up quite a bit of work so that I can get out of here by 1:00.

"There's nothing quite as lonely, as a sky that turns to gray. Or a love that just starts dyin', and slowly fades away.... Love is still the answer. It's the only place to start. Why do you and me have to be worlds apart?"

Obscure Seinfeld Story (Month-Old News)

I was surfing around on TV-to-me's Seinfeld page today, and ran across this. I know it's a little old. Kellie Waymire, who played Vivian, on "The Blood" episode of Seinfeld, passed away last month at like 36. Ironically, her character on the show was having some health problems and told Elaine that if the worst happened, it was nice to know she could count on Elaine to take care of her son. Hmm...

Gonna try to wrap most, if not all, of my remaining gifts today. Then maybe I can rejoin the billiards tour tonight. We did not get a bonus today, as I thought we would. So hopefully Monday or Tuesday. I sort of overspent, counting on that bonus check coming in at some point. lol Oops.

Went by the bank on my way in, and my check flew out of the tray, before the teller closed it. It was the cute teller, Tasha. And she looked at me and was like, "We HAVE to have that." lol So she went out the back door and came around the building. Fortunately, my check had gotten stopped up against the curb somehow. So she went back around and went inside. Aww, that was so sweet. She was gonna help me chase my check. :-)

"I was thinking I was angry, but I let it go. I was waiting for a miracle, but nothing showed..."

This Robitussin is making me thirsty!

This Robitussin DM really doesn't taste very good at all. I don't know if chasing it with a Mountain Dew helps it work better or not. I'm not sure what effect that has, but that's what I did.

Happy birthday to Venus Fly-Trap. Wow, he looks different now. Man, I loved WKRP in Cincinnati. What a cast--Gordon Jump, Howard Hesseman, Loni Anderson, Tim Reid. Actually, Venus has his own site.

K, that's all I got to say about that. I read this today: 'Tis better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness

"Baby, if you ever wonder. Wonder whatever became of me. I'm livin' on the air in Cincinnati. Cincinnati, WKRP..."

Me and Danny Glover

Recapping the past 18 hours... Went to the mall for a bit before our work Christmas party last night. Picked up a few more Christmas gifts. Ran into Roxanne, who I used to work with, so that was neat. Ran by BAM after that, but couldn't find what I was lookin' for. Then headed to the party. It was OK, except I was one of only like two guys who showed up dateless. Blech! One of our waitresses was hot though, so that was cool. My steak wasn't the best. They're usually pretty good there. I guess when you're cooking for 35 people, quality sometimes gets sacrificed.

The funny moment of the night, for me, happened at the party. One guy was leaving, and I remarked that he favored Rodney Dangerfield. Randy was like, "Yeah! I've been trying to figure out who he looked like, and that's it!" See, I have this uncanny ability to pick out celebrity look-alikes. Anyway, that prompted this other lady to say, "I figured out who you reminded me of the other night. But I'm afraid you might be offended."

So the dialogue went like this:
Me: "Well as long as it isn't George W. Bush..."
Her: "No." (she begins rubbing her cheeks)
Me: "Or Michael Jackson."
Her (laughing): "No."
Me: "It's not a woman is it?"
Her: "No. I'm just afraid it might offend you."
Me: "It's not gonna offend me. Go ahead."
Her: "It's that guy that always plays in the shoot-em-ups with Mel Gibson. What's his name?"
Me: "Danny Glover?"
Her: "Yeah, Danny Glover! We were watching one of his old movies, when he was young, and he reminded me of you."

Wow, that's a first. ROFL Well, we were all laughing. What the crap is that? It didn't offend me. I thought it was funny, being white as I am and all. lol But now I'm gonna have to look around the internet for some old pictures of him, and see if I notice the resemblance.

I can already see my rap career taking off.. I'm like a white Danny Glover/I'm a fighter not a lover/My lethal weapon you'll discover/Make ya wanna run for cover. WOOOOOOO!!!!!

Anyhow, after the party, I headed to Wal-Mart to try and finish up shopping. Got some stocking stuffers and several other things. I don't know which is worse, fighting the shoppers at Wal-Mart, or going after 10:00 at night and fighting the stock people. It was like driving my buggy through a war zone--boxes flying everywhere, big ammo dumps (pallets) out in the middle of the aisles. Anyway, I'm a couple of hundred bucks lighter after last night, and still have one or two more gifts to get. Now, I've just got to wrap everything I bought last night, along with a couple of gifts I didn't wrap during my first gift-wrapping session Tuesday. lol

Health update: Been coughing more. It started as a really dry cough, but last night and today, there's been more phlegm. (Why do they even call it "phlegm"? It's basically snot in your throat. That's what it seems like to me.) Maybe that didn't gross anyone out.

It's finally Friday!!!! Heeeeeeeey Yaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

"My baby don't mess around, because she loves me so. And this I know fo sho'. But does she really wanna. But can't stand to see me walk out the do'..."

The Festivus Tradition

(Many of you have asked, so here it is: My explanation of the growing tradition known as Festivus)

It's time to share with you the tradition known as Festivus. "A Festivus For The Rest Of Us" was created by Frank Costanza of Queens, New York, who was fed up with all the commercializtion of other holidays. It is celebrated each year on December 23rd by tens and tens of people around the world.

Instead of a tree, all you need for Festivus is an aluminum pole. It is chosen for its high strength-to-weight ratio, and also because it requires no decoration. Many who celebrate Festivus find tinsel distracting.

The tradition of Festivus begins with the "airing of grievances." This involves gathering your family and friends around at the Festivus dinner and telling them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year.

After dinner, Festivus wraps up with the "feats of strength." This involves two people wrestling. Usually, the father or man of the house, is involved, along with another guest who is chosen at random. Normally, the women gather around and root on the men.

The reason for the "feats of strength" is not known for sure. It is believed by some to be a way of taking out the frustrations of the past year on those you love. Some think it is simply a measuring stick to see who is in better physical condition. Whatever you believe, the main thing to remember is that Festivus is not over until someone has been pinned.

Festivus reclaims the sometimes forgotten holiday values of family and... well, family. Here's hoping you have a Happy Festivus and may you come out on top in the feats of strength.

(Festivus originally came from "The Strike" episode of Seinfeld.)

"By now in New York City, there's snow on the ground. And out in California, the sun shines falling down. Maybe down in Memphis, Graceland's all in lights..."

Blog Stat Minutiae

What operating system do visitors to my blog use?

Windows 98 - 48%
Windows XP - 39%
Windows 2000 - 10%
Windows NT - 1%
Windows 95 - 1% (Old school babee!)
MacPPC 1 - 1%

Pretty interesting, I thought. Or maybe not. Whichever.

"Give it to me babee! Uh oh, uh oh. Give it to me babee! Uh oh, uh oh. And all the girls say I'm pretty fly for a white guy..."

Weird Night

I couldn't get to sleep for the longest last night. Had like almost constant pains in my chest. So I'm thinking, pneumonia. Finally, the extra strength Tylenol kicked in I guess, and I dozed off. Then I woke up at 2 AM and I was wide awake. My throat was hurting, so I got up and drank some water, then went back to sleep. Feel a little better this morning.

Seems like a lot of people are off today. I see J-MO has begun his holiday. KYLE continues his extended vacation. Talked to a couple of other friends last night who are off today, as well. Me? I'm working. Or, I should say, at work... blogging.

Our work Christmas party is tonight. So this sort of begins the week of Christmas for me. The next few days will be filled with last-minute shopping, wrapping gifts, Christmas parties, Christmas goodies (cookies, fudge, pecans, etc.), exchanging gifts and spending time with friends and family. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

I'm going to try to get the rest of my shopping wrapped up tonight before the party, or at least most of it. I need to rest, but there's no time now. I don't wanna be stuck a day or two before Christmas with gifts to buy and wrap. Wow, you know it's going to come and go before we know it.

I would encourage you all to spend time with family members, especially parents and grandparents, if you are fortunate enough to still have them. Believe me, there will come a day when you'd give anything if you could go back and spend another day with them. My last living grandparent passed away more than eleven years ago. I seem to always think of her more around this time of year. That's where my family would always go for Christmas Eve, and then again for dinner Christmas Day.

Changing subjects, I had a dream last night that I was starting my senior year of high school. lol It was like the first day of school and I was roaming the halls, trying not to get in trouble. Hmmm, was that a dream, or just a flashback? lol

I wonder if and when "Miracle on 34th Street" is going to come on this year. I want it to snow.. lots and lots and lots.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white..."

Nappy Nappy

Slept from about 2:45 until 5:30 today, trying to rest and recuperate. I just don't want whatever it is to be or turn into pneumonia. However, I do have to be out tonight. I want to tell Dad that I can't help him tonight, but I'm just not good at stuff like that. What is that? I'm not a work-a-holic. But I have a problem calling in sick, telling people no, even when I feel like crap. I've worked every day this week, and left an hour early only on Monday. Oh well. I'll probably pay for it someday.

I just tried this Dole Caesar Salad Mix. It comes with the dressing, parmesan, and crutons all. It's actually pretty good. Much better than the other garden salad mixes I've tried. Remind me to tell you sometime about the time I found a live bug under my roll at Shoney's. Not long after that, all the Shoney's around here started going out of business. I promise I had nothing to do with it.

Our company Christmas party is tomorrow night at Oh! Bryan's. They asked for a count today of how many people were coming, because a lot of people have been sick. I said I'd be there. I mean, yeah, I need to rest. But you only have one company Christmas party a year. Plus, it's like two businesses combined, and ours is much smaller. So I gotta show up and represent. ROFL

That reminds me of a funny thing that happened a week or so ago at APPLEBEES. JESSICA was trying to get someone to go out with her, and I told DAVINA, "You can go." And she's like, "I don't have any clothes." I said, "Well you can wear your Applebees shirt." And she was like, "I don't care. I'll represent!" lol Plus, it's in her country-sounding accent. It was funny.

"I got a hole in me now. Yeah I got a scar I can talk about. She keeps a picture of me, in her apartment in the city. Some things in this world man they don't make sense. Some things you don't need until they leave you. Then they're things that you miss..."

Eight Days

'Til Christmas. Six days 'til Festivus :-)

Blogger was down for about an hour this morning. I almost died.

Well, I was feeling a good bit better yesterday, so I got all my LAUNDRY done and wrapped gifts. Then, something odd happened. I started feeling worse again. This morning I was coughing like a lifelong smoker with emphysema sitting in the audience and trying to cheat on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. One good thing did come out of it all though--a new bit of internet lingo. COL=Coughing Out Loud :-[

I ordered a pizza and some cheesesticks, but then got to feeling worse and had to force myself to eat it. Most of it got stored in the fridge. So, maybe I should have just rested yesterday. It's just like, there's no one else to do all this stuff, you know. And plus, being the holidays, that seems to add things to my normal to-do list. Hopefully, I'll be able to get all better and finish up shopping this weekend. I still have several gifts to get.

You know what is neat about Christmas cards? You send out a bunch of the same one, and then you get all different kinds back. And, if you send one to an ex-girlfriend and she doesn't send one back, that's probably a good sign you shouldn't call her. ROFL I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. Woooooooooooo!!!!

Seems like a bunch of people are having health issues lately. I hope and pray everyone is OK.

Well, I'm gonna get back to what I was doing. What? LOL "Uh, Mom, this is um.. Tatiana." ROFL

"Some chimps in hard hats, chimps a-working on a chain gang. Some chimps who love cats, burning rubber in a Mustang. A birthday-wishing chimp, a chimp in black like a goth. A goin' fishin' chimp, a British chimp in the bath. Another postcard with chimpanzees..."

Recent Referrals

Last 100 Referrers:

(23) J-Mo
(21) Kyle
(18) Google
(12) Bookmarks/manual URL entry
(10) My AOL homepage
(6) Blogger.com
(5) Eric
(2) Stan the Caddy
(1) IWon.com
(1) AL.com
(1) Daypop

Recent search strings... (You gotta like all the Festivus love that's in the air...gives me chills) I always find these interesting anyhow:

+song with the lyrics "i'm sleepin with my clothes on"
+illegal downloads
+festivus bagel
+aol commercial jerry stiller snoop dog seinfeld
+happy festivus seinfeld pics
+festivus traditions
+"holli white"
+amber blog jerry
+"35% of Americans do it in the kitchen or on the dining room table, while 27% do it in th
+AOL "Snoop Dogg" "Jerry Stiller"
+festivus audio seinfeld
+kramer festivus shirts
+lyrics "everything is wonderful now " -Everclear
+words to live by elim chew movie
+applebees tv commercials clips
+FESTIVUS PREPARATIONS
+charlie bone's dad
+aol fish "Jerry stiller"
+"I was standing you were there two worlds colliding"

"Catchin' catfish on the river. Chasin' fireflies by the creek. Kissin' Debbie Williams' sister on the porch Homecoming Week. With rusty cars and weeping willows keepin' watch out in the yard. Just a snapshot of downhome Dixie, could be anywhere you are..."

Dear Dave...

Please send me a free Late Show t-shirt. Your friend and lifelong fan, Bone. lol

Well I didn't win yet again in the late show online top ten contest. The category last week was Least Popular Peanuts Specials. My entry? "It's Crystal-Meth, Charlie Brown." I thought it was pretty good. But it didn't make the top ten. All I want is one lousy free t-shirt. By the way, did you see the real top ten last night? It was the top ten things Saddam Hussein said when he was captured. I just remember a couple were like, "Am I going to be on Cops?" and my favorite was "Is this about the illegal music downloads?" ROFL

Otherwise, I worked a full day today. I feel a lot better than the past two days. I am working on LAUNDRY. Planning to wrap some gifts and do some studying, too. I still have a bit of shopping to do sometime this week, hopefully. A hint was dropped today that we will be getting a bonus for Christmas this year. We got one last year, but you never know with these things. So that's good news for everyone I'm shopping for, I guess. lol

"But it's alright now. I learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself..."

Sick ward update...

Frank: Two months ago, I saw a provocative movie on cable TV. It was called "The Net", with that girl from the bus. I did a little reading, and I realized, it wasn't that farfetched.
George: Dad, do you know what it takes to compete with Microsoft and IBM?
Frank: Yes, I do. That's why I got a secret weapon--my son!

Yes, I watched "The Net" last night on TBS. Yes, I've seen it multiple times before, but come on, it's Sandra. I can't think of anything better to make sick boy well ;-)

I left work about an hour or so early yesterday. I just couldn't sit there anymore. Ran by and got some stew on my way home. Ate that, drank some Nyquil, and napped from about 2:30 until around 5:00. Pretty much just laid around the rest of the night. I slept a lot better last night than I did Sunday night, so maybe that means I'm getting better. Just keeping myself on a steady diet of spearmint Halls, Nyquil, and TheraFlu. I think I have/had a touch of the flu. Had a little fever, sore throat, cough, chills, and some aches.

Anyhow, I am at work again, even though I know I need to be home resting. Maybe I'll leave a little early again. Wow, I'm sure this update on my condition is very exciting to everyone else. lol

Oh! I can't forget this... there was this old, skinny guy dressed up in a Santa outfit Sunday night at APPLEBEES. He came over to our table and was like talking to KYLE and said something to the effect of, "You guys having a good time?" Kyle was like, "Oh yeah." And he was like, "No beer on Sundays" like he was disappointed he couldn't throw one back. ROFL I was thinking, Dude, there's kids at the very next table, like three feet away. Funny quote: "I'm not sure I'm comfortable eating candy I got from a skinny, old stranger with a fake beard dressed in a red suit."

"I keep tellin' myself, this is the right thing to do. I was wastin' her time, waitin' on dreams that just weren't comin' true. This old highway, seems to understand. Leadin' me on to somewhere that no one knows my name. Got the window rolled down. Got the radio up. I'm doin' all I can, to get my mind off us..."

For my fellow doggie lovers...

Even Dogs Get The Holiday Blues. Aww, poor puppies. I can't buy my dog any toys for Christmas. I tried getting him a new toy earlier this year and he was scared of it. He's never been the playful type, as far as toys go. He's more of a jump all over you and get mud on your clothes doggie. lol We did throw an old comforter out there in his house so he could stay warmer. He seems to like it.

The secretary has been trying to get me to leave work early today, and take my sickness with me. lol I may do that. Got a little more work to finish up though.

Need to start working on my list of grievances for Festivus.

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special..."

Sicky-Poo

Rough night last night. I kept waking up, feeling like I was about to gag because of the sore throat and congestion, I suppose. Seems like I woke up at least three or four times. Anyhow, enough complaining.

Wow, Tracy, Davina, Beth, and Jess were all looking cute in their little Santa hats and stuff last night. I told Mike I think that they should be allowed to dress that way until Christmas. lol Jess and Davina came over when I first got there and I was like, "Wow! It's like I'm dreaming. And I wake up on Christmas morning and you two are under my tree." lol

I can already feel the holiday season passing so fast. I just want to reach out and stop the clock and enjoy the season a little longer, ya know? It seems like Thanksgiving was just last week. And now, just ten days til Christmas. And only eight days until Festivus. lol

Kyle mentioned the other day that he finds this time of year depressing. I think he was mainly referring to being single around this time of year. I can see the point, and it is nice when you have someone to share the holidays with, makes it even more special. But with all my family and some great friends, I can't help but feel blessed. It's hard for me to be unhappy this time of year, I just love it so much. However, it would be nice to have someone to go looking at Christmas lights with, watch classic Christmas movies with, decorate the tree with, etc. Oh well, such is life, my friends. It's the most wonderful time of the year. So no matter your situation, enjoy it. It only comes once a year.

Company Christmas party is Thursday...

"You're as slow as Christmas. I was up before the dawn. Up so fast I missed it, or was that old saying wrong. Every Christmas day makes every other day seem long. And what seemed would never get here has so quickly come and gone..."

The worst part...

...of being single is when you're sick :-( I want someone here to take care of me. I always try a mind over body thing when I feel like I'm getting sick. Sort of a "if you think you feel OK, then you will" thing. But truthfully, I have felt worse as the day has gone on.

Anyway, I did make it out to church tonight. I felt so guilty about missing this morning. It's not just church though. I always feel guilty about missing work, even if I'm really, really sick, which is why I have probably taken a maximum of 3 or 4 sick days the last four years. I think I have a problem... my conscience is too demanding. lol

OK, enough whining... I went up to APPLEBEES tonight because they were having their Tips for Charity night. (No, not Charity the waitress. lol) They are sponsoring three needy families in the area at Christmas-time, and so the waitresses basically worked for free tonight, and all the tips go to help out those families. They were ringing the bell in there for everyone who tipped at least $10, so when we paid, Davina yelled out, "Ring the bell for Kyle and Jeff!" ROFL It was funny, for some reason.

Just about everyone was working, so every table had two or three servers helping on it. There was a guy at the hostess station, and he was like, "Smoking or non-smoking?" when I came in. I was thinking, "Just get out of the way and let me see the seating chart." About the time I got a look at it, MICHELLE saw me and she was like, "Just seat him with BETH and DAVINA." lol That worked. JESSICA was in that section too. MARK walked by and was like, "You got all three of them tonight." I guess it has become pretty obvious which servers we usually sit with. lol I told Mark Happy Festivus. ROFL

Anyway, the charity thing was the only reason I went. If it hadn't been for that, I would have come home and rested. Afterwards, I went by and helped MOM wrap some Christmas gifts, cos she's not a wrapper. Just got home about 10:15 and now I am going to take some elixir, lie down and hopefully feel better tomorrow.

Oh, the SEINFELD where George's girlfriend favors Jerry is on right now. A couple of funny scenes...

(In Jerry's apt.)
Kramer: "Well, someone certainly seems to be having a bad day."
Jerry: "Yeah, because of you."
Kramer: "Well then I think one of us should leave."

And they just stand there for a few seconds. lol

Elaine: "George, Janet is nice. She's really a handsome woman."
George: "What is that supposed to mean?"
Jerry: "Yeah, what is that supposed to mean?"
George (to Jerry): "And what do you mean by that?"
Elaine (leaving): "Enjoy..." ROFL

Almost forgot... we nearly recreated the "Parking Garage" episode of SEINFELD yesterday. We drove up three levels, then had to cross over a bridge into an adjoining garage, and drove up a couple more levels. Anyway, when we came out, we ended up walking around the garage, up and down stairs, for about twenty minutes. lol Fun, fun, fun!

"I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter. But my will gets weak, and my thought seem to scatter. But I think it’s about forgiveness, forgiveness, even if, even if, you don't love me anymore..."

Does it finally have me?

Woke up with a scratchy throat and cough this morning. I'm afeared that the sickness which has infected my friends, family, and co-workers over the past three weeks may finally be attacking me. I stayed home from church this morning. It's more because I don't want to infect anyone else. I always feel guilty when I miss services though. But one of my pet peeves is people getting out when they're sick and spreading their sickness to everyone else.

I'm sure being out in the cold all day and night yesterday didn't help things. Went to APPLEBEES for lunch, then headed up to NASHVILE with KYLE. Stopped by SHANE'S for about an hour and a half on the way up there. Then we ran by the mall. I picked up a few Christmas gifts. Went downtown to shoot billiards. I had a so-so day. The longer tables are definitely more difficult, BUT I think it has made me a lot better on the shorter ones. I think I won 5 out of 9 games, so at least I was competitive. Stopped back by SHANE'S for another hour and a half. Then came home.

That's about it for now. I think I'm at least half done with shopping now. I can think of eight gifts I still need to get, but I've still got ten shopping days after today. Also ran by Best Buy yesterday to look at cameras. And I've been looking around online today and think I've narrowed down the digital cam I want to three choices.

Big news of today I guess is that Saddam was finally captured.

"Baby, baby, baby, when all your love is gone, who will save me from all I'm up against out in this world. Maybe, maybe, maybe, you'll find something that's enough to keep you. But if the bright lights don't receive you, turn yourself around and come on home..."

Elf

Quick post today because I've got to get dressed and head up to NASHVILLE...

Finally got to see "Elf" last night. It was pretty good. I would recommend it. However, it was in the crappy movie theater. Now I know why nobody ever wants to see a movie when it is playing at that theater. There were stains all over the seats. Some looked like gum. Some were indeterminate. The seats were all tilted at different angles. There were a couple of seats, where the cloth had been ripped off and there was just some yellow foam. One seat was totally missing. And there was this smell of popcorn butter, human bodily fluids, and just general mustiness which permeated every corner of the theater. It looked like some 1970's movie theatre museum. I think "Grease" was originally shown there. lol

OK, I'm off to do some shopping, play some billiards, and probably get conned into some sort of work with Look Mom Videos. lol

"I wonder how you sleep. I wonder what you think of me. If I could go back, would you have ever been with me? I want you to be uneased. I want you to remember. I want you to believe in me. I want you on my side..."

Dru Update

Still haven't found her :-(

More sadness... found out this morning that one of our clients apparently shot and killed herself overnight last night. It's tragic. Obviously, I don't know the circumstances, and would be remiss to speculate, but it does seem like more people are depressed this time of year. I've always heard New Years is like the day more suicides are committed than any other. Anyway, it is sad.

I'm sure most of us have had someone come to us when they were really depressed, and to some degree had considered taking their own life. I always just try to point out the good that I can see in them and their life. Tell them that I genuinely care about them. I'm not a psychiatrist, but it seems that most of the time it is just a short-lived deep, dark feeling of hopelessness, and for a short while, maybe an hour, maybe a day, maybe a week, they really feel that dying is better than anything that could come from living. But once you can get them thru that, a lot of the time, they can look back and see how crazy that was. At least that's been my experience. I love for people to come to me with any problem. Well, I don't love it, because I hate that people have problems. But man, that is a tough situation to be put in, because you don't want to say the wrong thing, and you feel pressure to say something to change their mind and get them to think rationally. Sorry if this was depressing. But it's real, ya know.

"But it's over now. And I don't know how, to get it back to good..."

I'm alive

Blogging away while somebody somewhere is wondering why Smurfette was the only female smurf...

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I guess when you normally post 3-4 times a day, and you only post once one day, some people begin to grow concerned. But I am here, ready to blog like never before.. whatever that means.

Recapping yesterday. Ran to the grocery store after work. KYLE was online and IM'd me to see if I wanted to shoot some BILLIARDS. Sure, why not. After all, it's good to try new things. Oh wait. lol I played pretty well. That's like the last three or four times I have found some consistency. I'm almost afraid to say anything, because I know one of these crappy times will pop up soon. More on billiards below.

Afterwards, headed over to TAG'S with KYLE, because he had to drop off some DVD's. TAG got this funny look and was like, "Oh, I didn't know Jeff was coming." lol You know what I was thinking? That maybe he'd gotten KYLE a Christmas present and was going to give it to him and he hadn't gotten me one and felt bad. ROFL Anyway, turns out he wanted me to do a little voice work for this intro thing they send to Channel 48. So I did three takes of that.

Dropped by APPLEBEES after that. Sat with DONNA. CHARITY and JESSICA were up there hanging out. So I sat by JESSICA and chatted with her awhile. Had some hot chocolate. She was all huggy when she left, gave me a full-sidal hug. Kewl. I'm not one for turning down hugs from hot chicks. Here's a kinda funny thing that happened... DAVINA had been sitting by me for a few minutes, and for some reason had left her name tag lying there, or it had fallen off or something. Well, she apparently didn't know she had lost it. So I put it on, and before we left I got her attention and pointed to it. She was like, "Whose is that?" and started feeling her chest. lol Then, realizing it was hers, she was like, "How'd you get that without me knowing?" ROFL It was pretty good. I just had this like evil grin. TRACEY was working. That's the chick KYLE is nuts about. Unfortunately, no progress was made on that front, oddly.

Looks like maybe a trip to NASHVILLE will happen tomorrow. I MUST get a large amount of shopping done this weekend.

Another random observation: "Kyle seems a lot happier, well maybe happy isn't the word, but at least a lot less stressed and frustrated, without the burden of having to work eight hours a day... or four hours a day... whatever. lol Wooooooooooooo!!!

OK, back to billiards... Lately I have just been seeing the angles wonderfully. I guess the main thing is just experience. Now, the thing is, once I see the angle, can I actually make the cue ball go where I know it needs to go? Just because you miss a shot doesn't necessarily mean you misread the angle. You could've just pulled off it, or simply not hit the cue ball where your eye was looking. I did cut down on my scratches a lot yesterday. Maybe that's just a blip on the radar, but maybe not. There are so many parts to the game, so many intricacies. I think you just have to add to your game little by little. First get good simply at making balls. Then worry more about english and position, because if you start trying to play a lot of english when you're still not very consistent with ball-making, most of the time you'll run into trouble. If there is a particular shot that gives you a lot of trouble, practice it, over and over and over. Everyone can make simple shots. I mean, not that you shouldn't practice to stay consistent on those. But work on your weaknesses more. At least that's what I try to do. OK, more of my BILLIARDS dissertation later. It's a long uphill climb, sometimes frustrating, but it is good to finally see some tangible progress.

Oh and before I forget, for the child that has everything, check out the Michael Jackson sleepover kit.

Wow, I didn't expect it to be that long. Have a fun-tastic Friday!

"Was it something I said or something I did? Did my words not come out right? Though I tried not to hurt you, though I tried. But I guess that's why they say every rose has it's thorn. Just like every night has it's dawn. Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song. Every rose has it's thorn..."

Slow down...

Today's trivia: 35% of Americans do it in the kitchen or on the dining room table. Only 27% do it in the bedroom. Most do it at night. And a few even pay to have it done. What is it? (answer below)

Looks like things may finally start to slow down a bit this afternoon. Of course, that's taking into consideration I don't have half my shopping done. I'm probably 25% thru, if that. But I love shopping for others, so that's really a joy. I do need to undertake a major cleanup project at the bunkhouse. There are mucho clothes that I can't or don't wear anymore. I need to do some massive space clearing work in that area, take some to Goodwill, and probably throw most away. Notice I say need to. I am searching for motivation, cos it will take awhile.

"The Apology" ep of SEIN was on last night. lol Jason Hanke is going thru the 12 steps and is on Step 9: Making Amends. George is expecting an apology for a remark Hanke made years ago that George's bulbous head would stretch out the neckhole is his finely-knit cashmere sweater. lol Of course, he doesn't get it quite the way he wants. lol JERRY discovers the difference between good naked and bad naked. KRAMER'S showers take him an hour. So first he tries to shorten them. Then he decides to live in his shower. lol The site of KRAMER taking notes as guys shower at the YMCA is hilarious! lol "Now see, that's smart. Constant motion. Wow! Oh yeah, I'm watching you. But this guy's really showing me something." ROFL Great fun for all germophobes!

Looks like Stan the Caddy has posted some FESTIVUS tips as well.

Trivia answer: Wrap their Christmas gifts.

"Like a lot of kids do I spent most of my youth, in a hurry to grow up. Chasing money and dreams as a young man it seemed, nothing happened fast enough. But now I'm much too busy always running late. Seems there's never enough hours in the day. Slow down... It feels like time is flying by me now. I'm not asking for this crazy old world to stop spinning around and around. Just slow down..."

Festivus Is In The Air...

I was just reading Fake Peterman's blog. Indeed, it is time to start making preparations for Festivus, the non-commercial holiday invented by none other than Frank Costanza himself. If the traditional holidays have you continually yelling "Serenity Now!!!!" maybe Festivus is for you. ROFL

We'll look at some basic Festivus traditions in a later post. Or you can check out Fake Peterman's blog. It's funny he mentioned that, because I put "Happy Festivus" in a few of the Christmas cards I mailed out yesterday to fellow Seinfeld fans. lol

Festivus' beginnings (in the words of its inventor):
"Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reach for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows opon him, I realized... there had to be another way! The doll was destroyed. But out of that, a new holiday was born. A Festivus for the rest of us! ROFL

Just got in from church and work. Study was really awesome tonight. Sorry, I can't think of a better word. I need to expand my limited vocabulary. I think that is one reason I don't write more. I feel my vocabulary is somewhat inadequate.

No bagel no bagel no bagel no bagel no bagel... ROFL If you get these Seinfeld references, then I want to be your friend. By the way, if you're looking for a quick, easy, yet meaningful gift this year, you might think of making a donation in someone's name to the Human Fund. The Human Fund... helping people. ROFL Woooooooo!!!

"Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard, and mostly what I need from you..."

I knew it would happen...

I'm sure most of you have done or said something, and as soon as you did it, you immediately thought that was something your mother or father did or said to you. Well, when I was younger, and actually even in the past couple of years, my Mom would sometimes call me and ask, "Are you alright? Where are you?" And I'd be like, "I'm fine. Why?" And she'd say that she just saw a wreck or heard sirens and was calling to see if I was alright. Well I did it. A couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to eat, and I passed by a wreck, and I couldn't tell what kind of car it was. So immediately, I called my sister, because I knew she was off work that night, and I asked her what she was doing and if she was OK. I guess there's worse things that could happen to you though.

Just got home and fixed a mug of hot chocolate. My sister had some dental work done today, so I went by to check on her on my way home. Got a lot of studying to do and I'm gonna try to get started on wrapping gifts at some point before church tonight.

"Come out Virginia, don't let me wait. You Catholic girls start much too late. Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate. I might as well be the one. And only the good die young..."

1000th Visitor!

Congrathulathonth to dith blogth one-thouthandth gueth! You have won free access for a year to "If You Read Only One Blog This Year." lol Seriously, I just noticed we had the 1000th visitor earlier today. I was looking back at the other blogs. The AF count is at 1900+, and my original blog was at 2200+. It all adds up to 5200+ hits since I began blogging in May. Definitely not the biggest. But probably not the smallest either. Thanks for reading. I hope my blog is getting more interesting and improving day-by-day. That always brings the question.. why do you blog? Why do I blog? I think a main reason is to keep up with friends. It's cool to have a new forum for thoughts, ponderings, and to discuss the latest events, both newsworthy and on a personal level.

I also noticed, since I haven't been blogging on AF in about six weeks, all the hits were from search engines. And at least half of them had something to do with the song "Sweet Southern Comfort." For some reason, it's still not getting a lot of airplay, but everyone who hears it, loves it. I might post lyrics later since there seems to be a lot of interest.

As for now, I'm 'bout to get me some Cappy D's fish and shrimp for dinnah! Mmmm... greeeezy!

"But I would walk five hundred miles. And I would walk five hundred more, to be the man who walked five hundred miles to fall down at your door..."

Kind Acts of Randomness

Bloggin' away like a 21st Century Anne Frank...

I got a couple of nice comments on my doughnut story, from female readers at that ;-) Thanks. There's nothing simpler, yet more encouraging and uplifting, than a compliment, whatever it may be. I should compliment more. Find something good to say about someone, and say it. That's a good rule. A simple compliment really cheers you up.

Remember when you'd have dental education day in school, and you'd get a new toothbrush and you'd chew those tablets and get that stuff all over your plaque-y teeth, and couldn't get it off?

I actually wore a short-sleeve shirt while working outside ayer. It was nice. I really enjoy working outside, whatever it is. You can't beat some nice invigorating manual labor.

The GM came in today to get some reports and he had like acute bronchitis with signs of impending dementia. If I don't get sick after that, I will be really thankful. So far, I have been blessed and have not come down with any of the massive sickness that is going around. My hermit-like lifestyle probably helps. lol

Night last on was Seinfeld backwards the. lol
"Oh boy, there's Sue Ellen. She didn't want me at this wedding, but here I am with a buch of my idiot friends!"
"This is gonna be great!!"

You know, I do need to work on being more charitable year-round, not just around the holidays. It's a weakness.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being a good friend. Am I overly critical? Am I dependable? Would I want a friend like me? That is really the question right there, isn't it? Sometimes I may be critical, but it is always out of care and concern for my friends. Then again, a big part of being a friend is accepting your friend's flaws, right? No one likes being around people who are always pointing out others flaws, yet in their eyes, seem to have none of their own. I have known, and know, people like that. You just want so bad to say, "Hey jerk! Look in the mirror." lol

"And there's a storm that's raging in my frozen heart tonight. I ain't missing you at all, since you've been gone away..."

Guess I'll pat myself on the back...

...since there's no one else here to do it. This will probably be boring, but it'll give you an idea of what I've been up to since getting off work. I think I'm normally a little self-deprecating, but I feel like I've gotten some things accomplished today:

- Vacuumed out and washed the truck
- Did all my laundry. Folded, ironed, and put everything up
- Cleaned out the dog's pen (blech!)
- Finished decorating the Christmas tree
- Worked an hour and a half trying to install a new printer my sister bought (For some reason Windows won't pick up the driver off the installation disk.)
- Wrote, addressed, and mailed Christmas cards (If you don't get one, then I probably don't have your address. Either that, or the last time I sent you one, you took legal action against me. LOL What?)

And now I've just put the bed sheets on the bed. I am going to lie down and study, or at least read a bit. *sigh* I'm tired. And Wednesdays are always my busiest day. Remember when you could just sit around for hours, playing video games, talking on the phone, surfing the net... I think maybe I vaguely do. lol Nite.

"He said, Bill, I believe this is killing me, as a smile ran away from his face. Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star, if I could get out of this place..."

Decisions...

In life it is inevitable that we will have to make tough decisions. This evening, I must make one such decision in my life. ABC is showing "I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown," while CBS is showing "Rudolph." *sigh* I hate to miss Rudolph, but I can't forsake the Peanuts gang, especially after I told BETH last night that SALLY reminded me of her. ROFL

WOOOOOOOOO!!!!! DAVE and I have been emailing back and forth all day about the BCS. I hope USC wins, just so there will be a controversy and maybe the BCS can be disbanded, or at least greatly altered. As I said earlier, cut the regular season down to 11 or 12 games. Have a 4 or 8 team single-elim playoff. Also, I'm sick of 5 and 6 overtime games that last nearly five hours. The OT system needs to be changed. Either that or go back to having ties, except in championship games. I'm beginning to think the NFL has about the best OT system. People say the coin toss isn't fair, but statistics usually show the team that gets the ball first only wins 50-55% of the time.

Oh. I nearly forgot. Last night, MNF was on and I was kidding with KYLE about "Who did you put your money on?" (He's not big on football.) So he looks up and the little score thingy in the corner there says STL and CLE. So it goes something like this:

Him: "The Steelers."
Me: "They're not playing."
Him: "Oh, I meant Seattle."
Me (rolling by now): "Uh, they're not playing either. That's St. Louis."
Him: "Oh man, I should've just went with Cleveland." ROFL

WOOOOOOOOOO!!! Now THAT was funny.

"I knew she'd leave, but I didn't know when. It matters to me now. Aww, but it didn't back then. I laugh everytime I start to think about us. We sent that summer out in style. She's gone, but she left me with a smile. Cos she was mine for a little while..."

Friends and Doughnuts

When I was younger, maybe eight or ten years ago, I had a good friend. I don't remember exactly how she and I became friends, but we did. The earliest memories I have is playing cards in the afternoons with her and usually a couple of other people. Then somehow, eventually, it was just her and me. Those were my favorite times. We had some of the best conversations, about anything and everything. I guess that went on for a few weeks. Looking back, it seems like it went on longer.

At some point, we stopped playing cards. We got into the routine of going to Krispy Kreme, because we both loved Krispy Kremes. And we'd have a doughnut or two, drink a coke, and chat. Every Saturday, we'd meet at Krispy Kreme. One odd thing about our relationship was that this was the only time we ever saw each other, every Saturday. And that was it. Anyway, I didn't think as much about it then as I do now. I guess that went on for several months. Again, it seems like it went on for years.

Then one Saturday, I showed up and Krispy Kreme was closed. I peeked inside and saw a lady, and knocked on the window until she opened it. I asked why they were closed. She said they were going out of business. The store was old. It wasn't the best part of town. Made sense. I turned and walked toward my car. It did not seem like such a significant event then as it does now, looking back. I saw my friend's black Talon pulling into the parking lot. I told her what the lady inside had told me, and that I guess we would have to end our Saturday meetings. She looked sad. And suddenly, I felt as sad as she looked. There was a period of a few seconds where we just kind of stood there, looking at each other, then looking off. Speechless. We were parked next to each other, and after a few seconds we both opened our doors. And before we got in, she said, "You know, I love doughnuts. But doughnuts aren't the reason I loved coming here."

I don't even remember if I said goodbye. I don't know if I acknowledged what she said, if I responded. I don't remember. I know that I only saw her a handful of times after that day, if that many. I saw her at a ball game maybe a year or two later. I think we said "Hi." I'm not sure. For sure, we never shared the closeness we shared for those few months when I was younger. Last I heard she had gotten engaged, but I never heard or saw if she got married.

It seems that once the bond of closeness between two people is broken, it can never be repaired. At least not fully. No matter how much time and effort you might put into repairing it, I do not think it ever becomes as strong as the original bond. Maybe there are certain exceptions. I hope so. Not only do the right two people have to come together, but they must do so at the right time.

It's funny how certain people don't seem all that important until you lose them. Funny how certain events which seem so insignificant at the time can leave you with so many "what ifs" and "if onlys" years later. Funny how certain things which did not seem important when you were younger, seem very important when you get older. Maybe funny is not the right word at all.

I have driven past the site where that doughnut shop used to be hundreds of times since they closed it down. It's a parking lot now. So many times I have wished I could go in and have just one more doughnut. Then I always remember. Doughnuts aren't the reason I loved coming here.

"Try not to think about what might have been, cos that was then. And we have taken different roads..."

Lock... load... blogs away...

Blogging away while somebody somewhere is wondering what percentage of people have actually roasted chestnuts on an open fire...

I want to go caroling. I want to look at Christmas lights. I want to shop. I want to give to a hundred charities. I'm afeared that I have come down with the holiday spirit, my friends. Speaking of, I found this list of the ten most efficient charities, as surveyed by Forbes. They are in alphabetical order:

American Kidney Fund
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Brother's Brother Foundation
First Book
Heifer International
International Rescue Committee
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Marine Toys For Tots
Northwest Medical Teams International
Salvation Army

I made it out for a nice run yesterday. The weather was great. I took the shirt back that they had left the plastic security thingy on. When I walked in, an alarm sounded. lol There were two older women coming out of the store right about the time I walked in, and they stopped and one of them was like, "I think we better go back inside." lol There was a really cute chick working the customer service desk, Leah. She saw me from like 50 feet away and was like, "Someone forgot to take your _______ off." (I can't remember what they call it, officially... lol) I was like, "Yep." So she took care of it for me. Also ran by Wal-Mart to get some stuff last night, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, etc. Went to APPLEBEES for dinner. Sat with BETH. JADE, CHARITY, AMBER, KELLY, and JESSICA were all working. I had the N'awlins Skillet and a salad. Talked to BUNNY for a bit on the phone. My sister wanted me to stop by on the way home, so I did. Ended up having to fix their printer. She was watching "Average Joe" when I got over there, which was funny, because BUNNY had just mentioned it. From the blogs I've read this morning, seems like most everyone was rooting for the average guy and against the pretty-boy. Oh well.

Then something really disturbing happened once I got home and was online. One of my friends was freakin' because he couldn't ask a girl out. lol I'm like, "Dude, if she's been chatting with you for two hours, she will probably go out with you." I tried to help out, but I don't think it did any good. I think maybe she finally asked him out. lol

I dreamed last night my brakes were grinding and two of my tires were completely worn, so I had to get new tires and get the brakes fixed, and it was going to be like 500 bucks here at Christmas-time. Thankfully, I woke up.

"She likes me for me, not because I sing like Pavarotti, or because I'm such a hottie...ooohh. I like her for her, not because she's phat like Cindy Crawford. She has got so much to offer. Why does she waste all her time with me..."

What a Beautiful Day

I'm thinkin' I am going to go running, to take advantage of the rather warm day (upper 50s) this time of year. Later, I have to return a shirt, because they left the little plastic security thing on it. Yet it never set off the security alarm when I left the store. Or maybe it did. I was wondering why those cop cars were following me... what? I need to get some Christmas cards to send out, too, and pick up a few more gifts. I'm not nearly done with my shopping.

I was reading someone's blog the other day (I'll have to find the link later), and they were ranting about how these new video game consoles only come with one freakin' controller. What is the deal with that? What kind of psycho only plays video games by himself his whole life? OK, I'm sure there are some. But normal kids have friends over. Old school consoles, like Nintendo and Atari, came with two controllers. Who decided to only include one, thus meaning you have to spend another 30-40 bucks just for a second controller. I guess maybe you can have a BYOC party. ROFL Throw in the extra controller. Good grief. You're already mass producing these games, which costs dollars to produce, and selling them for 50 bucks. OK, I'm done.

Completely changing subjects... Living alone, I'll sometimes prepare to go to the bathroom before I'm actually safely inside the confines of the bathroom. So last week, I caught myself beginning to undo my belt at work before I got to the bathroom. Weird. lol Ever happen to anyone else? No? OK, I didn't think so. lol

"Promises mean everything when you're little, and the world is so big. I just don't understand how, you can smile with all those tears in your eyes. Tell me everything is wonderful now. Na naaa na na na naaaa naa...."

Ya better watch out, ya better not cry...

ASCAP's 25 Most-Performed Christmas Songs.

Speaking of the holidays, one of my VHF-challenged friends had the SNL Christmas special on last night. Adam Sandler was on there with an all-new Hanukkah song. lol
"Osama Bin Laden... not a fan of the Jews."

"We got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby. Harrison Ford's a quarter Jewish, not too shabby. Some people think that Ebeneezer Scrooge is. Well, he's not, but guess who is? All three stooges. Tell your friend Veronica, it's time for Hanukkah. I hope I get a harmonica. Have a happy, happy Hanukkah."

Wouldn't it be nice..

...if it were Friday, then we wouldn't have to wait so long.

I'm gonna have a couple of rantages in here. lol Firstly, about the drivers this morning. If your vehicle will not easily fit between the painted lines on the road, then please drive it on a wider road, or at least keep it off of two-lane roads. If you simply can't keep your vehicle between the lines with any regularity, maybe you should go back to GED school... or CDL school.. whichever. Wow, that felt good. Second rant (on tipping) is below.

Looks like a pretty calm Monday, so far at least. I cracked up reading J-Mo's blog. lol He offered a disclaimer to make sure everyone knew that he wasn't the person I was referring to who was dating the 16 year old. I don't know why anyone would think that anyhow. LOL I was just looking at these search strings to my blog:

"fights on Krystal restaurant property"
lyrics + "I want you" + "Just go ahead now"
slang for "give me the slip"

Well, as for the latter, I think that can be referred to as "pulling an Erin." lol

Headed to APPLEBEES for dinner last night. Sat with JESSICA. She has quickly become one of my favorites up there. Found out she lives in the same apartments where DONNA used to live. It's true we get benefits up there. But there are two underlying facts that most people tend to overlook. First, I've been going up there probably an average of twice a week or more for over four years. It takes awhile to obtain that "regular" status. And secondly, and most importantly, we take care of the servers. For example, I tipped 26% last night, and that was probably the lowest I have tipped up there in a long time. I'd say normally I tip between 30-50%. I probably tip 20-25% most other places. So naturally, it increases up there. So in reality, are we really getting that much of an overall discount? Probably not as much as you might think. But that's not the point. Wherever you go, remember, at most of these types of restaurants, the servers make like $2 an hour wages. The majority of their pay comes from tips. So when you tip $2 on a $20 check, shame on you, el-cheapo. And be aware, the Tip Patrol is coming after you.

"Well it doesn't show signs of stoppin', and I brought some corn for poppin'. The lights are turned way down low. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."