![](\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/userinfo_v8.png?v=17080&v=916.1\")
<\/a>babygotbass<\/b><\/a><\/span>, Hope and I are going to see Paramore (and No Doubt) for our birthdays. I'm excited! And Hope is completely abusing exclamation marks in her text messages so I'm guessing she's excited too. Sadly, I can't get ticketmaster to let me buy 2 tickets together for Taylor Swift so I can't make Alicia as happy. How rude. Someday I'll take her to a concert by herself. The new season of MMASM looks like it will be fun but I definitely miss Ronnie and Ben. Really hope Colin stays around for a while though. He's adorable.
Did I mention the drunken deal I made with Jaimie when we went out a couple of weeks ago? I have to read the Twilight books and she has to read Harry Potter. I've finished the first two books and Melissa is bringing me the third one from Malissa tonight. So far they're not bad but I don't think I'll care about reading them again. Is Bella supposed to annoy me as much as she does? Anyway, I'm a lot more willing to watch the movie now but they're not even in the same league as HP. At least now I know.
Going out tonight to see Chippendales. I'm not a big fan of that kind of thing because they always seem to sense how uncomfortable I am when they come near me. I'm fine with them dancing and looking sexy on stage but when they come out and dance around people in the audience I freak out a little. Hopefully the people I'm with will be distracting enough for them to leave me alone. I will not be waving any money just to be sure. :)
Need to get back to cleaning so I can relax until time to get ready. I love weekends!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:994526","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/994526.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=994526"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-02-17T18:50:00","published":"2009-02-18T01:19:03Z","updated":"2009-02-18T01:19:03Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"men suck"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"doctor"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"tv"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"kitties"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"karaoke"}}],"content":"I'm staying home tonight! The real part of AI is starting tonight so I'm going to have to flip back and forth between that and TBL but I'm glad to have a reason to stay home from karaoke. I've been needing a break for a while but I kept getting talked into going. I'll still go on Thursdays but not for a couple of weeks. I still love karaoke but I need a little break from some of the people that seem to show up in our crowd. And I definitely need a break from the smoke in the Tuesday night place.
Jake hasn't called. We texted a little last Monday but nothing since then. Whatever. I was mad last week but now I'm just resigned. Lisa is afraid it has something to do with her Jake not wanting to contact her again and I can see some logic in that but in the end it doesn't really matter. If he wanted to see me again, he'd call. His loss.
I have jury duty this week. Ugh. I don't have to go tomorrow but I'm nervous that I might have to go on Friday. I have plans on Friday! It's our monthly staff meeting for the whole agency and then our meeting for our group. And then I'm going to Oak Grove again with Lisa that evening and Jaimie is meeting us there. So being at the courthouse all day really doesn't go well with my plans. I'm crossing my fingers that all the trials on Friday are continued or settled.
I went to the doctor on Friday for my annual checkup. I've been having some issues but I'm hopeful that the prescriptions I got will help. The cats had to go to the doctor too. They were so good. Scared to death and trying desperately to basically crawl inside me to get away from the doctor but they behaved. Chandler is still too fat so I'm cutting down on his food and putting Monica's food on the window ledge in my room since Chandler can't get up there. I feel bad for him but I have the same problem he does so I'm being tough on both of us.
Mom is learning to knit and it's nice to see her so excited about something. She needs something to make her happy for a change.
Okay, I need to focus on my channel flipping. :)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:993513","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/993513.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=993513"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-01-25T20:46:00","published":"2009-01-26T03:00:50Z","updated":"2009-01-26T03:00:50Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"weather"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"work"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"cooking"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"family"}}],"content":"I've only been outside once since Friday night. I've gotten a lot accomplished so I wasn't completely lazy. But there just wasn't a reason to go out in the cold so I didn't. And now we apparently have a storm coming so I may be staying home on Tuesday too. Tomorrow I need to think of something to bring home to work on. I don't miss making teaching materials all the time but it would be a lot easier to \"work from home\" if I had something to cut or color.
Pizza Hut doesn't have pork sausage any more. I hate Italian sausage and I'm not a big fan of pepperoni either so I guess I won't be ordering Pizza Hut again. Good for diet purposes but, still. How rude.
My stepmother isn't doing much better and her second doctor's diagnosis is pretty much the same as the first one. She's going to have to quit working and avoid all germs and be on oxygen all the time. It's just so sad but at the same time it makes me angry because she's known how sick she was for over a year and she was still smoking. I just don't understand. At least this is giving Jaimie enough incentive to finally stop smoking herself. But it shouldn't have to come to that.
Nothing happened Friday night. The vodka from the week before was definitely a factor and the guy just wasn't as attractive to me this week. Still cute but kind of a jerk and not worth the effort. And apparently he's been annoying all of the women he's working with and they're talking about sexual harassment. Obviously not someone I want to get involved with so I just won't.
I made several new recipes today and was pretty happy with all of them. And now I don't have to cook all week except to bake potatoes. Although if I'm home on Tuesday I might bake something else. I don't want to get my hopes up though. Right now they're saying we might get five inches of snow and\/or some ice but I don't believe anything they say. They didn't say anything about snow last night and I woke up to a covered parking lot. Whatever."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:992928","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/992928.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=992928"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-01-22T19:29:00","published":"2009-01-23T01:43:56Z","updated":"2009-01-23T01:43:56Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"tv"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"plumbing"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"travel"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"ugh men"}}],"content":"So this morning my landlord's phone was working again and he said someone was supposed to be here last Friday and he'd call them again and remind them. You'd think he'd have noticed that he hadn't heard anything from them about what's wrong but, whatever. No one came today either. Grrr. But at least I know he's still alive.
It looks like Melissa and I are planning a trip to Vegas at the end of March. Lisa is thinking about it too and maybe one of Melissa's friends. I know I'm supposed to be saving money but I haven't been on a trip in ages. Travel withdrawal pains! If we can find good deals and I can limit the spending to mostly just my tax refund, I won't feel too guilty.
We had a beautiful day today with a high of 60 degrees so I got to go for a walk during the lunch break. I hate winter but it sure makes those random nice days in January really enjoyable. It'll be cold again by tomorrow afternoon but today was great.
I think I'm going over to Melissa's tomorrow evening to just hang out. Several other people were mentioned but not the one I was hoping for and I don't want to be pathetic and ask if he's coming. Ugh. Why does this always have to be so difficult?
Who else is watching TBL? In the preview for next week, did they totally give away the two that will be below the yellow line? Not cool. They did that during one of the commercial previews this week when they said something that implied this elimination was going to be a shock. And it certainly was. The game-playing is starting already. Anyway, what's the point of watching the whole show if they're going to give away the bottom two? How rude."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:992743","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/992743.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=992743"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-01-21T19:29:00","published":"2009-01-22T01:47:45Z","updated":"2009-01-22T01:47:45Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"job hunt"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"president obama!"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"plumbing"}}],"content":"I didn't get to watch the Inauguration but one of my teachers remembered to turn a radio on in time so I got to listen. And I taped some stuff last night but TBL is on the tape first so I need to get through that somtime tonight between AI and Top Chef. It's a reality bonanza tonight!
My boss told me on Monday that a group in KC is writing a grant very similar to ours. She's going to put in a good word for me with the people that are writing it and tell them I'd be interested in a coordinator position. I don't really want to do the mentor thing again but I guess I would if it came down to doing that or not having a job in KC. The biggest problem with all of this is that the grants aren't awarded until the middle of August. Waiting until then to know if I even have a chance for a job is pretty scary. I'd only have a month and a half to find something else if it didn't work out. Something to think about anyway.
I'm getting a little freaked out. I've been having a plumbing problem in the kitchen for almost two weeks. I called my landlord last Monday and told him about it and he was supposed to get someone over here. He called me last Wednesday and said he was sorry no one had been there yet and someone would come the next day. I called his cell phone on Friday and left a message. It's now Wednesday again and there still hasn't been anyone here. I tried to call his home phone tonight and it's either not working or disconnected so I left another message on his cell phone. I don't understand what's going on. He's never been like this. He's really old and now I'm starting to worry that something happened to him or his wife and that's why I haven't heard anything. Very strange. And I'm tired of going through so many rolls of paper towels while I wait for someone to figure out what's happening."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:992212","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/992212.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=992212"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-01-17T10:23:00","published":"2009-01-17T16:43:33Z","updated":"2009-01-17T16:43:33Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"clubbing"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"weekend"}}],"content":"What a week. I'm so glad it's finally Saturday. I've been fighting off a cold or something off and on all week. Between that and the horrible cold, I've hated leaving my apartment every morning so staying home for most of today is wonderful. Mom's coming over later for dinner and to color my hair and then I'm going to the comedy club with Melissa and other people tonight. It's warmer today so I really should go out and take a walk or something but I really don't think it's going to happen. Maybe tomorrow. I'm working in the office on Monday so maybe I'll sneak out early and take a walk then. I just know I have to take advantage of warmer weather while it lasts!
I'm not very excited about going out tonight but I know I need to stop hibernating and avoiding society. I just hate winter so much and it's hard to be motivated to go out when my pajamas are so much more inviting. But Lisa may have found a babysitter for Tuesday nights so she can start going to karaoke more often. Maybe that will get me there. Although I have no idea how I'm going to manage to keep up with AI and TBL if I'm not home on Tuesday nights.
I have three hours until I have to start cooking. Hmmm. Nap or read? :)Yay, weekend."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:991507","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/991507.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=991507"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-01-07T19:10:00","published":"2009-01-08T01:26:47Z","updated":"2009-01-08T01:26:47Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"karoake"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"diet"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"family"}}],"content":"Today is my dad's birthday and I tried to be sneaky and call him while he was at work and leave a message. I was foiled when he was actually home sick. Serves me right. It actually wasn't a bad conversation and I felt bad for him that he was sick on his birthday. But I'm still relieved that I'm off the hook now until Father's Day.
Melissa and I had a nice time at karaoke last night. No one else showed up but that was actually nice because it meant we just sat and talked and caught up. We haven't hung out without other people for a long time. I enjoyed it. I limited myself to one drink but I did have vodka for that drink. I wanted to have a little buzz at least. And I came home early because I didn't want to be exhausted today. So much for that. I was so cold that it took forever to warm up enough to sleep and I was so tired today. Then I went to get some groceries and brought home bad food and blew my two-day-old diet. I should NEVER buy groceries when I'm cranky and tired. The good news is that I bought mostly okay foods to eat this weekend and my intense annoyance at myself should give me enough momentum to get through the weekend.
As much as I've hated the end of my vacation, I have to admit that this week is going by pretty quickly. That makes me happy."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:991426","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/991426.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=991426"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2009-01-05T19:42:00","published":"2009-01-06T02:00:13Z","updated":"2009-01-06T02:00:13Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"work"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"new year"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"family"}}],"content":"I have to get a TB test tomorrow. Boo. I should have had it in December but we all forgot they were due. Oops?
New Year's was nice. We ran out of Margarita mix early so by midnight I wasn't even slightly tipsy so Hope and I came back to my place so I could sleep in my own bed. We all went to see Marley and Me (so good but take tissues, lots of tissues)on New Year's Day and then I made lasagna and minicheesecakes for everyone and we watched the season 3 finale of TBL. The rest of the weekend was spent setting up my new computer and then reading as much of the H\/D holiday fics as I could.
I kept trying to think of some kind of New Year's post but I didn't come up with anything. 2008 was actually okay for me personally but it sucked for my family so I'm glad it's over. However 2009 is going to involve a job search and hopefully a move so I'm scared to death. Therefore right now I'm just going to concentrate on getting back in the groove after two weeks off and wait a few more days to start freaking out about where my life is going.
Back to reading!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:991003","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/991003.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=991003"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-31T13:34:00","published":"2008-12-31T19:40:43Z","updated":"2008-12-31T19:40:43Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"karoake"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"family"}}],"content":"Apparently my family is all about the spontaneous this month because my mom bought a new car yesterday. She was pissed off because she had to spend a ton of money for a new battery on her hybrid Civic and she thought the Honda Fit was adorable so she bought one. Yay!
Karaoke was fun last night. It was just me and Lisa and her grumpy Republican husband but there was a huge crowd and everyone sang fun songs and Lisa and I had fun just hanging out. There wasn't anyone else there that I knew though. I've only been gone for about a month. How did the crowd change so quickly? Maybe everyone stayed home so they could go out tonight. Whatever. It was fun. :)
There's an Elf marathon on. I'm currently on my second viewing. You'd think I'd be sick of this movie by now. But I'm not!
I'm almost done with all of the prep for our New Year's Eve\/Alicia's Birthday party tonight. I'll be at Mom's so I'll say Happy New Year to all of you now. Have fun and be safe!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:990912","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/990912.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=990912"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-29T21:14:00","published":"2008-12-30T03:34:52Z","updated":"2008-12-30T03:34:52Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"concerts"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"shopping"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"friends"}}],"content":"As usual, my vacation is going by way too quickly. How rude.
I was a complete hermit over the weekend. Didn't leave my apartment from Friday afternoon until this morning. It was great and I got a lot done too. Reorganized drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and the shoes in my closet. I threw away a bunch of stuff and have a bunch of stuff to donate. If I keep in mind that I want to move in a few months, maybe I'll actually stop being such a packrat. We'll see.
I'm pretty happy with my new car. It's lighter than my old one so I felt a little blown around on the highway but I'm sure I just need to get used to it. And it's still pretty. :)
I finally got my cruise refund so I went computer shopping today. Mom got an emachine last month and is pretty happy with it so I ended up with one too. It has Vista on it which I'm not thrilled about but I got a good deal on it and it came with a 19 inch monitor. The one I have now is 15 so that's going to be a nice change. Now I just need to buy a printer and get Mom over here to set everything up and I'll be all set.
I also bought shoes and books with some of my Christmas money so that was fun. My best college friend and her family are coming to visit tomorrow and I'm sure we'll go shopping so maybe I'll spend my Kohl's gift card.
Lisa is trying to get a babysitter for tomorrow night so we can go to end-of-the-year karoake but Melissa apparently isn't going so if Lisa doesn't get a sitter, I guess I won't go either. I don't know what's up with Melissa. I texted to ask her about it and if she'll be at work tomorrow so I can drop by there and all I got from her was yes or no responses. So eiter she's mad at me about something or too busy to be polite. Hmmm.
I'm taking my nieces to see The Cab again in February and Hope wants to know if it's her birthday present. Heh. I wasn't really thinking too much about it since the tickets are cheap. But since she asked, I think I need to figure out a way for them to earn it. ;)My new car will probably need to be washed frequently."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:990525","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/990525.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=990525"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-25T13:28:00","published":"2008-12-25T19:31:17Z","updated":"2008-12-25T19:31:17Z","content":"Merry Christmas!
We've opened all of the gifts, my dad and stepmom have been and gone, the girls are playing Rock Band while Tanner is watching Star Wars in the bedroom and it's time for the Mexican feast. Bring on the margaritas!
I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday as much as I am. Happy Holidays!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:990427","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/990427.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=990427"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-22T19:57:00","published":"2008-12-23T02:07:15Z","updated":"2008-12-23T02:07:15Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"new car"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"weather"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"work"}}],"content":"I have to join in on saying, WTH?\" to the weather. It's messing with my travel plans. And it's not like we can ever trust the forecasts. So right now our plan is still to leave as soon as we can on Wednesday morning, hoping that the snow moves out of the area faster than they're predicting and that it doesn't snow more than they're expecting. I'm planning to drive up to the preschool in the morning, mainly to drop stuff off so it can be out of my car when I go to pick up my new one. But I'll probably come right back so I don't get caught in freezing rain. And then I'll pick up my car! :)
They're really not doing anything productive at the preschool this week anyway. I only stayed half a day today because I was basically just sitting around while they made ornaments and\/or painted their classrooms. I'm sure tomorrow will be even less productive. Plus I just really don't want to work anymore. I want to be on vacation!
My car is all cleaned out and ready to be dropped off. I'm a little sad but I keep reminding myself of the mysterious squeak it's been making and the weird brake thing that needs to be fixed for $600 and I come back to being happy about the new car. I'm just a little attached but I'll get over it. I guess I need to be thinking about a name for the new one."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:990160","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/990160.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=990160"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-20T17:17:00","published":"2008-12-20T23:29:01Z","updated":"2008-12-20T23:30:45Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"new car"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"christmas"}}],"content":"Well, apparently I was wrong. I did buy a car today. Here it is. http:\/\/www.toyota.com\/yaris\/exterior-360.html<\/a> If you click on the third color, you'll see the right blue. Isn't it pretty? The payments are more than I had planned but I can deal with that. At least for now. I'm a little concerned about what I'll do when I have a new and possibly lower-paying job but I'll figure it out. I'm getting free oil changes for a year and I'll save the money on repairs that seemed to keep coming up with my current car. So now the Yaris is the official Princess Pal car. :D I'm picking it up on Tuesday!And now I have a reason to leave work early on Tuesday when no one will be doing any work anyway.
I also exchanged Christmas gifts with Mom so now she has her new microwave and I have my new set of pots and pans. Just in time for the many rounds of fudge-making coming up in the next few days. Tomorrow is going to be way cold so I'm staying inside and doing fudge and cookies. Who wants to come over and help me decorate the cookies?"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:989938","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/989938.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=989938"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-20T09:38:00","published":"2008-12-20T15:44:28Z","updated":"2008-12-20T15:44:28Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"*nsync dreams"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"car shopping"}}],"content":"I'm going car shopping with Mom today. Well, more like car investigating. I probably won't buy today because I don't want to pay property taxes next year on a new car but I'm hoping to find a good deal that will still be there in a few weeks. Even though I still owe money on my car, I think it would be better to trade it in now while it still has low mileage and is worth more. Seven more months of driving to Moberly every day is going to take its toll. Plus it would be better to get a loan now before I have a new job and a new residence. We'll see.
I had a dream about JC last night. I don't know why it's always JC when I have *NSYNC dreams. I mean, I love him but he's not Lance! Anyway, because it was obviously a dream, I flirted with him effortlessly and had an coherent conversation with him right up until Monica started pawing at my bedroom door and woke me up. Brat.
I guess I should get dressed if I'm really leaving in 20 minutes to pick Mom up."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nothinggold:989690","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/989690.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/nothinggold.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=989690"}}],"title":"nothinggold @ 2008-12-19T19:10:00","published":"2008-12-20T01:34:03Z","updated":"2008-12-20T01:37:18Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"christmas"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"work"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"shopping"}}],"content":"I really kind of love eggnog. Even light eggnog. And I don't know how anyone drinks it slowly. Mine never lasts very long.
So glad today is over. Way too much socializing for me. First we had a staff meeting for just our group this morning which was really just a time for my boss and several other people to hand out gifts for everyone. I almost felt bad again but reminded myself again that I bring a treat to every staff meeting. So, no guilt! Plus Lisa's gifts to me were a cookie recipe book and a calendar with cupcake recipes and her card informed me that she expected to see \"outcomes\" from her gift very soon. Hee.
Then we all headed over to our executive director's house for our agency holiday brunch. He's also a lawyer so you can imagine how big and beautiful his house was. I ate a ton of shrimp, laughed at the toasts to the three people that are leaving and endured small talk until Lisa dragged me out early so she could go home and get ready to drive to KC to pick up her son. Thank goodness we rode together so I could escape early. It really was a nice gathering. I just get worn out quickly by those types of things.
After I dropped Lisa back at the office, I went on a mission to find a hat for my dad and finally found it five stores later at Sears. It's not the exact hat that he got for Grandpa but I think it's close enough and quite honestly it will just have to be good enough. The mall was crazy! I did take time to find a cute sweater at JCPenney so I could use my $10 coupon. Yay for $5 sweaters! Then I went to Walmart to buy all of the ingredients for my day of treatmaking for my teachers on Sunday and somehow I also left the store with two new pairs of shoes. Oops? But then I came home to a fun gift from
<\/a>kare<\/b><\/a>