Snow Days

It's Christmas Eve... =)

2008-12-24T12:25:00.006-06:00

...And I am waiting for the Mailman to see if any last minute packages arrive which I have ordered off of eBay...gifts for my Mommy. =) ...And, looking to see if I get any more Christmas cards in the mail.

I received a $25 gift card for "Starbucks" during the gift exchange with my fellow bartenders at our Christmas party...and I HATE coffee...and do not even like the hot chocolate from Starbucks. Give me a regular 'ole packet of Swiss Miss with mini-marshmallows mixed with hot water, any day! ;)

SO...I tucked that into a card for my fabulous mailman...who has trucked zillions of packages up to my front door this past year...all of my hard-won bounty from eBay, and assorted other vendors.

That poor man has muddled thru the muck, torrential downpours, the snow and ice, and suffered the blistering St. Louis Summers to deliver the mail to my door...and I feel so sorry for him! LOL...

However, he HAS arrived at times when I have just gotten out of the shower, and I have to run to the door in my towel, in order to sign for something...LMAO...I keep telling him it is not intentional!

...Hold on...there he is now!... (Quick! I have to get into my towel! Hee-hee... ;)

Okay, I just gave him his card, and a festive holiday package of blue M&M's...and I am now happily munching of some of the yummy "Haribo Peachie" gummy candy-thingies which I ordered for my mom.

But, hey!...It was a 5 POUND BAG! No way does she need that much candy! And...Mmmm...are they ever fabulous!

(And they had better be...@ $30 for the candy, and then an additional $18 for shipping...ughhh...However, she cannot find them around here...and so it follows, nothing is too good for my Mommy! ;)

However, now I am going into sugar-shock from it all. Oy-Vey!

Boomer JUST went off on his Christmas shopping journey...it is noon on Christmas Eve...LOL...good luck!

Last night, Boomer watched his all-time fave Seinfeld episode (which, is his all-time fave sit-com, BTW.)...and it was, OF COURSE!: The "FESTIVUS" episode! LOL... ;)

"Festivus"...that time of year when you gather your family 'round, and tell them all the ways in which they have disappointed you over the past year! LMAO!...And, boy-oh-boy, does Boomer ever need to do THAT!...

..."It's 'FESTIVUS' for the REST OF US!!!" ;)

I am sitting here, listening to Skittle continue to yip and bark and drive me batty...because she is STILL pissed that the mailman came to the door...ughhh... AND, I am contemplating changing out of my sweats and heading out to the mall, myself.

I really do not have anything I HAVE to buy...yet it is tradition for me..."decking the malls" on Christmas Eve...and I feel like I am missing something...part of the holiday spirit...plus, I could totally go for a hot and buttery pretzel right about now! =)

So, I know that after I finish up here, I am going to point my PINK! Mustang in the direction of the Mall, and I am sure it can drive itself there by now!

Tonight I will finish-up my wrapping, as I listen to Christmas music on the satellite...and sip away on my yummy Blackberry Merlot Arbor Mist! (Hey, sometimes I AM a cheap date! ;) ...And I am going to seal-shut this huge bag of little gummy peachy things right now, before I mow my way thru all 5 pounds of them! Yeek.

Tomorrow is my day of running hither and yon...(and let's not forget "to and fro"! ;)...doing the family-thing at my parents' and at Boomer's Mom's and then to his Dad's...

It's gonna be a LOOONNNNGGGGG day!

~**Merry Christmas to all ...(Oh, and Happy Hanukkah, too! =) ...and to all a GOOD NITE!**~

"You've Got Mail"... =)

2008-12-17T21:33:00.010-06:00

I have been super on-the-go for the past week...and I had not even seen my bed/couch in 3 days. No kidding...no sleep...no nothing.

So, today when I got home at 6pm, I was "done"...no more "go" was going to be wrung out of me...so I snuggled down into my electric blanket with the pups and kitties, and slipped off to blessed sleep...and, OMG...how good did THAT feel! =)

I slept for a few hours, and awoke to "You've Got Mail" on TV.

=) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) !!!!!!!!!!!

SUCH an absolutely divine movie... =)

A movie in that rare class of movies which were just ABOVE all others when they were made...timeless little jewels which just make your insides smile and sigh with delight...and this is definitely one of them.

A few networks have been running this movie in conjunction with "Sleepless In Seattle" this holiday season...and whenever I stumble across them in the midst of a channel-surf, I immediately jump on my board and catch that wave. ;)

Now that I have made so many true friends on-line, as well as reconnected with friends from my youth, I understand the allure behind those three little words: "You've got mail".

Even though my computer does not actually TALK to me when it delivers that message, seeing the little blinking icon above my in-box when I sign-on to my email account, or when I am notified by MySpace or Facebook that I have a message...I do get a little thrill...

...the thrill of opening an unexpected little present just for me...

A present of "WORDS".

For a lover of words...the written...the spoken...the doodled...the printed...the as-yet-to-be-spoken...

that is a pretty cool thing.

Mmmm...the 3 hours of sleep in 3 days has made me nostalgic and "floopy" ("floopy"--a nod to Phoebe on "Friends". ;)

Anywho...I DO dig my email...and electric blanket...and furry little pups and kitties snuggling-up to me on a cold, blustery night.

The colorful twinkle of Christmas tree lights dance nearby...as I watch a warm and comfortable movie, knowing that I do not have to BE ANYWHERE right now...nor do I have to DO ANYTHING right at this moment...

Sheer freaking BLISS.

I love knowing that so many important people in my life are just a click away...connecting us in an instant all over the globe...and being able to reach out and just say: "HI!" =)

Pretty damn cool.

"Flurry, Flurry...Scurry and Hurry!... It's 'Bartender's Ball' Season, Baby!!!" =)

2008-12-02T23:04:00.010-06:00

*WHEW!* ... :O ... November was simply a whirl-wind of events... ups and downs, and ins and outs.
I have not had a whole lotta' time to write much lately...nor even the inclination...(odd for me, 'eh?)

Just been in a busy spiral...and the weather turning so blah has me rather in a funk, I suppose...I dunno.

Also, so much has been going on, that it is rather overwhelming...so I will just give you the Reader's Digest version... (Although, you should know by now, that even my abridged version still manages to ramble incessantly here and there! ;) ...

My parent's 50th Anniversary party was PHENOMENAL!!! It went off without a hitch, was a huge evening, and completely perfect in every way...OMG...it was fabulous...great memories.

Everyone attended...100 people...Boomer acted as DJ (I burned awesome CDs for the evening)...had 14 large posters erected about the room, on which I had arranged old pics... they turned out beautifully. The cake was gorgeous...the room was too...and it was just such a great time. I wish we could do that every month! (Could not afford it, though...it cost a bloody fortune!)

Of course, I am a technological idiot, and have to get Boomer to load the pix onto the computer for me...and the pix from my Mom's 50th HS reunion, as well. And, yes...I DID wear the same dress to both events...*GASP!* :O

...I know...totally unheard of from me...however, I only got about 2 or 3 hours of preening out of that dress at her reunion, and it was just too awesome of a party dress not to wear again.

Plus, when I heard from Mom how much Dad liked the dress, and that he actually was telling people how pretty it was (SHOCKING!!!)...then I had to wear it again. My Dad does not dole out the compliments haphazardly, lemme' tell 'ya!
So...pix coming soon...I hope!

Another great moment that night was when my Mom's sister (Aunt Kim) from Atlanta made a surprise appearance...my sister and I were the only ones who knew she was coming...Mom was THRILLED!

And, the big moment was when I managed to get MY OLDER BROTHER TO SHOW UP!

Yes, that's right...not my older brother "Bo", but my older brother "Tommy"...whom I have NEVER MET.

My dad was married twice before Mom. (Busy man...since he was only 24 when he married Mom.)

The first marriage lasted about 1 year...and the second about 4 months.

The first was to a lady named Joanne...whom he met thru his sister (they were best friends...went to school together.) Dad went to her prom with her...married her, and had a child..."Thomas Smith, III" ...my dad is a "Junior".

Anyway...they divorced shortly thereafter...he joined the Navy...and she remarried rather quickly. My Dad was dirt poor, and an agreement was struck between all parties involved for my dad to sign adoption papers to have her new husband legally adopt Tommy.

Tommy came back into our life when he was 16, and I was about 4. (He is about 5 years older than my brother, Bo.) Tommy stayed around for about 2 or 3 years...working for my Dad at his tool-and-die/engineering business. (Dad taught him the trade...and he is still in the business today.)

They had some type of falling-out at that point, and "that" was apparently "that". Dad is a major "grudge-holder", and he really does not know how to set things "right" which have gone askew...so decades went by, and Tommy was just "gone".

Dad saw Tommy twice since 1974...once at the race track when we were racing in the 80s, and another time at the casino about 5 years ago...but it was always a big "thing" each time my Mom and Dad saw Tommy...a very GOOD thing...which is why I wondered at the fact that it was never pursued...hmmm...

Joanne (his mother) is still Dad's sister's best friend...and Joanne is even a patient of my sister's. (Toni is a chiropractor.)

So, my mom and I discussed inviting Tommy to the party...Mom is totally good with all of it. I had my sister get me his phone number from Joanne...and when I called him up, I said, "Hello, is this Tom?...This is your baby sister!"

He WAS shocked, I've got to say...LOL. We had a great conversation...for about an hour...and I had to convince him how much we all wanted him to come. (A total surprise for Dad.)

It was not easy to accomplish, but he DID show up...with his wife. Dad was SPEECHLESS...then he gave him a hug and started crying...then *I* started crying!

I cannot believe we all let so many decades go by without fixing that situation! I chalk it up to MY own naivety...but once I finally grew up and thought about it, I am saddened and ashamed that so many years have been lost.

I was amazing to see Tommy...he looks SO much like the "Smiths"! While it is clear that Bo, Toni, and I all completely favor my mom's side...the Native American side of the family. However, there are slight family resemblances between Tommy and the rest of us. (Tommy looks a lot like Dad...it was weird to see.)

We DID get a family photo with all of us in it. When I told Dad that we all needed to line up for a family pix (and I had already included Tommy), Dad looked at me and said, "Tommy too." I assured him that he would definitely be in it.

My poor dad, I know he has so many regrets...and my heart breaks for both of them, that so much time has been wasted. I plan to try and include Tommy in our lives from now on, in whatever way I can...(and, hopefully, he will be amenable to the situation)...he is really a nice, quiet, shy man...NOTHING like the rest of us boisterous idiots! LOL... ;)

(BTW...the party lasted until 11:30pm...and then my parents and I went to the casino! They stayed until 3am...Dad plays craps...is a whiz at it!...and Mom is totally lucky on the slots. I left after about 20 minutes of just hanging out with them...and later found out that they won over $1000 between the two of them! I was POOPED! I have no idea how they go-go-go like that...LOL. Mom is 68 and Dad is 74! ...Well, Dad just turned 74 on November 20th. =)

Okay, so THEN, the day after the party, November 10th...Dad had to do a "cleanse", because he had to go into the hospital for a colonoscopy on Wednesday. (His yearly exam, since he had colon cancer and almost died last January.)

They found 3 polyps, which are being tested. However, when he returned home, he became violently ill...throwing up everything! He finally went to the ER on the following Friday morning (November 14th) ...they found out thru a cat-scan that he had intestinal blockage...apparently the camera from the colonoscopy knocked loose some scar-tissue in his small intestine, and impacted it in there.

They could not perform surgery...he cannot go thru that again. They wanted to put a little tube down his nose, and into his intestine, to pump liquid out of there, and then gently force air in, acting as kind of a plunger, to wiggle the blockage loose.

Well, Dad was having no part of that...he was hoping it would pass on its own. So, he was in the hospital all weekend...(AND I WAS A FREAKING NERVOUS WRECK!)...

He finally came home the following Tuesday (the 18th)...and he has been able to pass enough of SOMETHING, to let them know that he is at least partially unblocked. He has also been able to eat without being ill...so that is a great thing.

I had made reservations for the family (14 of us)...at Dad's favorite steak house for his birthday (November 20th)...and we managed to keep that reservation...although Dad is still feeling kinda queasy.

Still, it was a great evening. =)

Oh yeah! I almost forgot! When I went to visit him in the hospital, I leaned over the bed when I left and gave him a hug and said, "I love you, Dad." (Something we really do not do in our family...I dunno why...)

Anyway, he hugged me back and said, "I love you, too."

HOLY CRAP! Mom was shocked too! I have started telling my parents I love them since Dad almost died last year. It was awkward at first...but is now natural for my Mom and I. However, Dad has NEVER said it back to me! I almost fell over. =)

So, okay...that leads us up to the lay-offs at my job...Ameristar Casino.

I went in to work Friday nite (November 14th) after leaving the hospital, still floating on my "Dad loves me high", and was pulled in to the Food and Beverage Director's office, to be told that Ameristar was undergoing some major cutbacks, and over 200 employees were being laid off.

Well, since *I* was one of the "low men on the totem pole", I was slated to "go". However, my department heads, and those in management in the other venues in which I had been picking up shifts, all thought highly enough of me and my skills, that they lobbied to save my hide.

JEEPERS! How close the guillotine was to my neck!

That was a harrowing experience in the "Principal's office"...I had just gotten to work, was all glittered-up and ready to rock, when I was suddenly looking down the barrel of the gun...and I was all like, "Don't you dare make me cry...my Daddy is in the hospital...I am THISCLOSE to coming unglued...and it took too damn long to do my make-up!"

So...I continue to suck-up, kiss-ass, and work like a fiend these days...I KNOW how easily the winds can shift...and I am not about to get caught in the tempest again...if I can help it.

On the homefront...

The pups and kitties are perfect-in-every-way...and the absolute loves of my life! :o} ...

Skittle had to have a minor surgery on her neck, to remove a small lump...which was sent out to be tested, and came back "clean"...*whew!* ...That made me nuts, though...like all things...lol... ;)

And...I remain ever-vigilant in my litter-box-patrol...ughhh...

.
We have been hella-slammed at work lately..."Hell Month"...the month of holidays...which is exhausting...but killer cash...and a major rush, as well. (Reminds me why I got into this crappy business...LOL ;)

My good friend Lisa got married last week...she is Jewish...he is not...and it was a gorgeous ceremony...plenty of pomp-and-circumstance. A totally cool, long-haired, hippie-type Rabbi...funny and insightful...plus a Deacon, performed the ceremony. Her Rabbi was so good that I joked to Boom, that *if* he and I ever actually get married, that we should use HIM!

It was actually the first wedding that I had ever attended as a "guest'...I have been a bride's-maid and maid-of-honor too many times to count...and I thanked my lucky stars that Lisa and I reconnected in the friendship from our youth, only AFTER she had already made her wedding preparations...woo-hoo! LOL...

And, it was also the first wedding at which the minister had actually "moved" me with his words...(including MY OWN wedding...LOL)...and it was by the Rabbi! ...Who knew...??? =)

Last week I went to luncheon with my mom, sister, and all of the ladies which my mom used to "run around with" when she was in high school...50 years ago.

And, I use the term "run around with", because THAT is what "they" all say...apparently that was "the phrase" back-in-the-day...(who knew?... ;)

Anyway...there were about 5 other ladies there, and a couple husbands, as well as another daughter...and it was ENLIGHTENING, to be sure!...OMG!

My mom had not kept in-touch with any of her cohorts over the past 50 years...(Dad effectively squelched THAT...no-way/no-how was SHE "allowed" to have those kinds of freedoms... =( ...

However, when we all attended her 50th High School reunion in October, it rather lit the match which fired them all to reconnect...which was a very cool thing.

And, apparently, I learned at this little tete-a-tete, that my mommy was the RING-LEADER of this particular bunch of Catholic school rabble-rousers from the '50s! And there were pictures to prove it!

Holy crap! My mom was hot! ...and funny, bright, enchanting...and wonderful. I wish I would have known her then...known the type of girl she was before she met my dad and she lost herself...before he broke her spirit, her will, her "self".

Now...my dad is a wonderful man...I love him dearly...but that was the 1950s...and men treated women differently back then...there were not a whole lot of avenues open to women (as far as careers went...or their futures.)

So...that was that...Mom conformed to the vision which Dad had for her...was basically "assimilated"...and she completely lost her sense of self. That is why it is rather surprising when I catch a glimpse of the girl she used to be (back in the day...when she used to "run around") ...and wonder over the woman she was SUPPOSED to have become.

Still, she is totally AMAZING, and I am in awe over the things both she and my father have gone thru over the course of their 50 years together.

It was SO BIZARRE to walk into that luncheon, and see a "sea" of fluffy, white-haired "old" ladies...and then there was my mom...tons of hair--as black as pitch...and with her body tone and fit...and skinny as hell...from a lifetime of softball, bowling, yard-work, and work on the farm.

She SO did not fit in with that table of ladies! LOL...She looked AMAZING!...I hope I have inherited her good genes...yikes!

Mom wants me to host a dinner party for her long-lost friends (and their spouses) at my house between Christmas and New Year's...should be interesting...one more thing to plan for. At least the house should be all spic-and-span, and all a-glitter with Christmas trappings...there is that.

Now, on to the "Main Event"!... LOL... ;) ...

The Bartender's Ball was this past Monday...December 1st...(always the first Monday in December.)

This year I was once again on the quest to out-do myself and my gown from the previous years...a nerve-wracking quest...but I am such a "prom queen dork" that I get totally swept away in all the preparations...what can I say? I LOVE IT! =)

There has been a gown that I have ALWAYS coveted...and really did not think that there would be anyway on God's-Green-Earth that I could ever actually HAVE...

But wait...stop the presses!...Where there is a "will", there is a "way"! ... (Major "light-bulb moment! ;)...

The lady who made my wedding gown, altered my Wonder Woman* outfit, created numerous Halloween costumes, and has sewn oodles of amazing things for me...as well as my family and friends for YEARS...came to my rescue.

"Yes, Virginia...there IS a Santa Claus!" ;)...or rather...

..."Yes, little Snowy*...Virginia IS Santa Claus!"...or rather, my Fairy Godmother ...LOL... =)

'Ya see..."Virginia" is the name of my seamstress...and she is PHENOMENAL!!!...OMG.

So...I had ALWAYS totally drooled over the RED BALL GOWN from "PRETTY WOMAN"...you know...that amazing red gown which Julia's character wore to the opera?...Yeah...THAT one. ;)

Well...I conducted diligent research on the Internet about that gown...and...NOTHING!...There are no patterns...no dresses...no clues...nothing. There ARE a lot of chat-rooms and forums discussing the topic of that gown...and many people wanting one...or wanting to know how to make one like it...but no clues and no answers.

So, I bought the DVD, went to Virginia's house (60 miles away), and we studied that scene over and over again...

To put it briefly...the fabric was impossible to find...but we did...the perfect color red...and pristine quality silk and sheer.

...we had to dig thru zillions of Virginia's old patterns to come up with pieces and parts of the dress that we could alter enough to contrive to work together (sleeves, bodice, skirt, shawl, etc., etc...)...and we managed.

I bought an obscenely expensive long-lined bra from Victoria's Secret...which we then had to partially deconstruct...to then rebuild to fit our specs...and hide within the bodice...an engineering feat of massive proportions! (Uh...the "engineering feat" was of "mass proportions"...NOT my boobs!...LOL ;)

I logged zillions of hours on the road to Virginia's house...just about every damn day for 2 weeks...because she and I only had so many hours each day available to work on it. (Thank God gas prices were down to the miraculous low of $1.49/gal! That $4.00/gal crap would have been disastrous.)

We continually replayed that scene of the movie...getting the dress PERFECT...and then I spent days on eBay searching for the perfect jewelry...shoes...red pantyhose...purse...high-quality opera gloves (totally different than regular 'ole, run-of-the-mill "stripper gloves", lemme' tell 'ya!...LOL ;)...

THEN, I agonized during the wait to actually RECEIVE the items in the mail...since the jewelry was all from different sellers in China...Hong Kong and Beijing...the shoes from London...the purse from Australia...

Man-oh-man, did I sweat those shipping dates...but, in the end...it all arrived safe and sound...*Whew!*

I bought a killer red Jerry Garcia tie for Boom...Virginia made him a matching pocket-square from my dress fabric...and he looked smashing in his suit! (I joked with Virginia that it took us weeks to get that damn dress made, and about 90 seconds to whip-out his pocket-square! LMAO)

I also had purchased a copy of that DVD for my hair dresser...(I know, I know...my insanity knows no bounds...I have WAY too much time on my hands!...Well...not really...I just eliminated sleep from my schedule for a while there...Hey, I have my priorities! ;)

Anyway...my poor hair dresser had to study that scene as well...I then came armed-and-ready to my appointment yesterday (after my pedicure and facial)...with 2 cans of the best freaking hair spray on the planet (which is now discontinued, much to my consternation...however, I have a veritable stockpile squirreled-away in my closet...God, I LOVE eBay! ;)...

Plus, I had purchased 2 large decorative hair combs, bejeweled with Swarovski crystals, for her to insert in the back of my French Twist...and it turned out totally killer...(although, on the drive back home, and then to the Ball, I had to hold onto those combs...every bounce of the car made them try to wiggle out just a bit.)

So...after weeks of tread-milling, rowing, sit-ups, free-weights, and Pilate's...plus several trips to the tanning salon (just to get that ghastly white glow off of my hide!)...I then primped, prepped, exfoliated, shaved, slathered, lathered, spritzed, spackled, troweled, finely-tuned, exactingly executed, and then shimmied my ass into that gown...which Boomer then had to zip and hook, (a zillion hooks on the back of that bra alone!)...until I was all trussed-up like a Christmas present!

(Lordy...now I see why it took a freaking FLEET of Ladies-in-Waiting to dress those broads in the old days...Cripes!...I could have used a few of those myself! As it was, I pretty much DID have my own "team" at my beck-and-call there for a few days.)

Oh...and...LMAO!...did I mention that we had to use industrial-strength, super-sticky velco pieces to stick to my upper arm, and then to the insides of the sleeves of the dress, to have the sleeves stay up "just so"...?!?!

LOL...no kidding...and I had back-up little squares of the stuff pre-cut and tucked-away in my evening purse, just in case I had to make repairs...which Boom only had to help me with once...Hee-hee... ;)

SO!...That leads us to THE BALL!!!...The BIG NITE! This is the night I wait an entire year for...and make plans for months every year! God...I love it. =) (I am SUCH a dork. ;)

Anyway...getting into and out of his very-high-off-the-ground truck was laughable...uh...quite the OPPOSITE of "lady-like", if you will. (Envision Boom hoisting my silk-swathed ass up into the truck like a beached whale...lol...there was not a whole lotta' manuevering room in that tight-ass dress...and definitely no way to step my leg up into the truck, or even bend at the waist to sit properly...I was desperately trying not to wrinkle! ;)

It is also the freaking most bitterly cold night of the year every year when the ball is held...amazing how it works out that way...and this year certainly did not disappoint... *Brrrr!*

It was held at the "Hyatt Regency" this year in downtown St. Louis. (Rather apropos...since the hotel in which the characters from Pretty Woman were staying was the "Regent Beverly Wilshire"...well, it's KINDA "close"...)

And...OMG...what a FABULOUS night!!! From the moment we entered the Ball, people were commenting on my dress. (And, I am sorry...but this kinda stuff is what I "live" for at times, okay? So, cut me some slack here...;)

So...yeah...it was amazing...I loved when total strangers would walk up to me and say, "Ohmigod! You look JUST LIKE her!" ...and then snap my picture... lol ... :O

Okay...yeah...I know...I am NOWHERE NEAR Julia Roberts' caliber...believe me...I am aware of my short-comings. However...Virginia did such a spectacular job with the gown...and I also think that people were sufficiently blinded by all that red lipstick to give off a reasonable illusion...and that is all I can ask for...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Besides...I FELT like Pretty Woman...if only for 5 hours...and it was FABULOUS.

(No more hooking on Hollywood Boulevard for me, baby! ...LOL! ;)

It is also tradition for Boom and I to listen to the Christmas stations on the way to and from the Ball (like that is all I listen to from Halloween till New Year's, anyway)...and on the way home I am always sufficiently giddy on glass after glass of champagne (my drink of choice), that I am bubbly-Christmas-caroler-girl!

Oy-vey...Lol...

"Hark!...The Herald Angels Sing!"... =)

I slept way too late today...totally missed my vet appointment to have 3 of the cats groomed (shorne-down), and get their shots this morning...YIKES! Ugh...how much of a moron am I, that I made that 7am appointment for the morning AFTER the Ball???

Yee-Gads, were they ever peeved up at the vet's office...however, I DID manage to reschedule that for next week. (Like you were worried, huh?)

I still have to wade-thru and clean up the fall-out created by my process of getting ready FOR the Ball...as well as the rubble which lies in the wake of getting undressed AFTER the Ball...

(Another tradition of mine...whenever I have a big event to attend...there is always crap strewn hither-and-yon about me.)

The center-pieces which I snaked off of a couple Ballroom tables (tradition again...hee-hee)... are still scattered about on the backseat of Boom's truck...glittery flowers, berries, and glass bowls littering the back of his very masculine truck...LMAO...

And the master-bath and closet look as if a bomb of red silk, pantyhose, white satin gloves, and glittery red heart jewels has exploded in there...plus, it took me FOREVER (hindered just a tad by my slightly inebriated state) to fish about 50 little black bobby pins out of that curly rat's nest atop my head! Lol...

So, there is life in my fishbowl these days...now it is time to get the Christmas trappings dug out of the basement and start it all over again! ... (Boom already has the lights up on the house. =)

God, I love the Christmas season! :o}

XOXO...

I Wish For Just One More "FERN HILL" Day...

2008-10-17T15:16:00.021-05:00

So, I thought I would pop-in and ramble for just a bit here...it just seems to be one of those "bloggy"-days! ;)

Today is a perfectly splendid Friday afternoon...slightly cool, clear, and crisp...with a weekend outlook beautiful and sunny...and warming to somewhere in the 70s on Sunday...woo-hoo!

Sunday we are all going to the PUMPKIN FARM!!! I have managed to wrangle-up my brother, sister, and their families...as well as Boomer and his daugher...to spend a right-Halloweenie kind of day on Sunday. I am thoroughly stoked, and cannot wait! :o}

Another note on the weather here...I just have to add how THRILLED I am that it is finally "Sweatshirt Weather"! =)

I simply love it when the weather finally turns to those lovely, blessed Autumnal temps...and all of my cherished sweatshirts can finally be dug out of the back of the closet. =)

People in steadily warmer climes, such as California, may not "get" how thrilling this is...but, believe me...the liberation and freedom...not to mention the "comfort" and "luxury" one experiences while schlepping-around in a good, baggy, soft sweatshirt, is not to be scoffed at!

I do not have to worry about my pasty-white skin for a few months, do not have to worry about tanning or toning, or squishing myself into my "skinny" Summer clothes...LOL...not to say that I plan to actually "fill out" my Winter clothes...but it is nice to be able to just RELAX for a while, and not have to worry about it all, 'ya know? =)

The pets are good...picked up 2 cats from the groomer today...had then shorn-down. Only 7 more animals to have groomed! (And then, I start all over again.)
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Beuford apparently ate a dead frog, or something yesterday morning...while I was taking the cats to the groomer. Boom does NOT watch them closely enough! He just opens the back door and lets them out...while *I* stay out there with them...so crap like this does not happen!
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Anyway...Beu has been all hacking and pseudo-choking for over a day now...I have been giving him Benadryl...that is what the vet had me do the last time this happened. It takes a few days for it to go away...and he needs the Benadryl to help alleviate the shaking and the allergic reaction he has from the frog toxins.
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Plus, there is that nasty business of digesting the frog stuff...and that cannot be pleasant...the bones and such. Eeewww...it boggles my mind why on earth these dogs pick the smelliest, nastiest stuff out there to roll around in and/or eat!
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So, I could not go to work last nite...had to keep an eye on him. There is no way that I would leave him home alone. Boomer played a gig last night...and I did not even go to that. Beu comes first. Period.
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My mom's 50th HS reunion is tomorrow nite (11/18)...and I am her date! Well, Dad is going too...but I was her original date, before he decided he would go. I bought an adorable dress the other day...black with a bit of gold accent...totally cute. I usually do not buy anything with gold...and own no gold jewelry...just silver, white-gold, and platinum.
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Sooo...I had to buy earring and a necklace to match...and a bracelet. However, the necklace is a black, pave-rhinestone heart, with a thin gold chain, and a little gold bow across the center of the heart...so the gold is actually minimal. The earrings are black rhinestone hoops, and the bracelet is of large, black rhinestone hearts all linked together.
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The dress is 50s-inspired...princess-cut, with a swooshy, full-skirt...hits me at mid-calf...and the shoes are black, patent-leather Mary Jane's...except they are kinda "slutty" Mary Jane's! ... LOL! ;) They have SUPER high heels...and are HOT, HOT, HOT. So, in conjunction with the cutesy dress...the yin/yang vibe of it all is perfect. I cannot wait!
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Mom is wearing a little black, sheath dress...mid-calf, sleeveless, with a little black jacket. She is wearing her hair in a pony-tail, and so am I. Hee-hee...talk about the Bobsey Twins! I look so much like what she did, as a high school girl...except I am about a foot taller...with much smaller boobs! ...I wonder what her HS friends are going to say when they see us together?
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As I mentioned before, I am throwing a major bash for the parents' 50th anniversary on Nov. 9th. (Wow...Mom survived 50 years with Dad! Holy crap...she should be awarded a saint-hood for that!)

Anyway, I am hosting their party at the same banquet center which I had my wedding reception...the Heart of St. Charles.

It is a big soiree...dinner, dancing, open bar, 50th anniversary/wedding cake, ice sculpture, favors, etc., etc...everything except the horses and the butterflies! LOL... (Referring to my wedding...there was a veritable FLEET of white horses, and 100 Monarch butterflies were released as we came back down the aisle...it was outside, BTW. ;)
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This thing started out relatively small-ish...and has now morphed into about double it's size.

Mom keeps adding names...as does my sister...as well as my brother...and none of the siblings are thrilled about this...and do not want to help any...for it "was not their idea." ...WTF? The last time I checked we all still had the same parents...unless that adoption theory of mine actually rings true.

~* **{EDITORIAL REVISION...Post-Party:}

Anyway...it all eventually worked out...

The brother forked-over his allotted share to help with the party, plus did some major running-around town to complete a few of his appointed errands....thank God! (He then called me the next day to tell me how great the evening was, and that he saw how much work I had put into the night.) ...The sister...seared my ass with a scathing comment about the blog recently...thanks loads...much appreciated. ***~

{~***Now, back to our story, already in-progress! ;) ***~}

Mom is really going to love their party...she never had a wedding. They married at the courthouse, with her wearing her graduation dress.

Grandpa did not approve of her marrying Dad...he was divorced twice before, and SHE was strictly Catholic.

So, her dad disowned her for a few years, and her mom was not allowed to talk to her... before my dad managed to get on his good side.
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Dad went to Grandpa's house one day after my brother was born, with a brand new hunting rifle, which Dad gifted to him.

That was a big deal...Grandpa was a major outdoorsman. He raised hunting dogs...Brittany Spaniels...and used them for bird-dogs. Grandpa won all kinds of awards for his dogs. He also had a lot of rifles...and apparently the one Dad gave him was a really good one.So, somehow that managed to break the ice, and the rest is history.

They became VERY, VERY close after that...and were like father and son. When Dad remodeled the farm house in the early 70s, he had a special private suite added on to it, for Grandpa and Grandma.

OMG...they LOVED going up there with us all every weekend! They both adored the outdoors and everything "nature".
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Grandpa hunted for EVERYTHING...and fished...and Grandma PAINTED everything. She was a magnificent artist..and the oil paintings and water-colors she did of the farm, and the lakes, and the wildlife in the forest...they are phenomenal!

She could also sew and create anything! She made all of our quilts and Halloween costumes (she also had made that graduation dress which Mom wore when she married Dad.)
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Grandma used to go traipsing around in the woods with my sister and I...taking Nature Walks...pointing out the various plant-life to us, telling us their scientific, Latin names, and then she and I would dig a lot of the seedlings up, for her to transplant in her garden at home.
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We had a big ravine which led down into a large creek, on one part of the farm...and we called that "Fern Hill". (There were also numerous massive, sturdy vines dangling from the towering Oak, Walnut, and Hickory trees...vines which we used to swing across the creek! SO much fun! ;)

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In the Fall the hillsides were blanketed with mounds of colorful leaves, and jumping about in the piles of leaves was always a major source of entertainment, as well. :o}
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There were all kinds of ferns growing in abundance, completely covering both sides of that hill, and in the creek bed...Umbrella Ferns, oodles of Boston Ferns, and many other which I do not remember the names of.
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However, Grandma knew what they were...and she transplanted many of them into hanging baskets at her house in St. Louis...and planted them in the flower beds around her house. She also dug up little Pine Tree saplings, and transplanted those as well.

(Those little saplings were planted across the back of their driveway at home, and they grew to mammoth proportions! ...And it was so sad to see them chopped-down when my parents had to finally sell that house after my grandparents finally passed.) ... =(
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OMG...did Grandma ever have a green thumb! She was a true miracle...she could do anything and everything...Sew, paint, cook, garden, and just be the best all-around Grandma, wife, and mother one could ever hope for.
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When she died in 1977 (the same year as Elvis), it completely took us all by surprise. She was going into the hospital for heart surgery...but none of us thought that she was not going to come back home.
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However, SHE knew. Somehow, she just KNEW. Grandma was really into astrology, and her "charts". And, apparently, we discovered after she had passed, that the time that she had scheduled her surgery for was the ABSOLUTE WORST time on her "chart" for her to undergo surgery. She could have changed the date of her surgery, but did not...for whatever reason.
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And, when Grandpa returned to the day-to-day things which he had to do just to keep on living...just the simple things...like doing his laundry, and putting his clothes away...etc., etc...he started to find little notes tucked all over the house, which Grandma had left for him...notes she had written before the surgery, and placed in strategic locations about the house...telling him how to do things...where to find stuff...and how much she loved him. =(

~(Hmmm...I wonder what ever happened to those little notes...??? I wonder if my Aunt Kim has any of them saved...??? ... *Tap, tap, tap!*... Attn: Auntie Kimmer!: "Do you have any of those little missives???")~
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Like I said before...NONE of us ever recovered from losing her. And, it was many years before Grandpa could return to the farm, without her. When we moved up there, and lived on the farm for 2 years (1978-1980), their suite became my room. (It was pink...what can I say? =)
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My mom and I are at just about the same ages that MY mom and grandma were when Grandma passed. I cannot imagine ever losing my mom (or my Dad, for that matter.) Even at this point in my life, I still need her...I am so sad for her that she had to go through losing HER mom, at such a relatively young age.
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So, anyway...Dad and Grandpa were super-close, like father and son, until my grandpa died in 1987. It broke my dad's heart when grandpa died. (Not to mention my mom's!)

Alas, Grandma never did like dad. She knew what was really going on...on the INSIDE of the marriage...and she hated him for the way he treated my mom.

Okay, so anyway...skipping ahead, to much happier times...I am hosting the parents' 50th...my lame-ass brother and sister are not being the easiest to deal with as far as receiving any "help" with this.

However, my brother sure is telling me who I CAN and CANNOT invite! The nerve! Grrr...

Allrightey...that's the latest.

Hope things are good with you all...and may you all have a "Fern Hill" day...a languid day of Nature, peace, fun, sweatshirts, pleasant surprises, and swinging from a few vines! ;)

I AM "Jesse's Girl"!...(Well, at least for a moment in time... =)

2008-10-11T17:41:00.026-05:00

There once was a RELATIVELY "young" girl named Snow*... =)

...Well, actually the name-thing is a rather technical issue, fraught with grainy details and minuscule overtures. However, for the situation-at-hand, we will just stick with "Snow*". ...(The "*" is silent...LOL ;)
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So, "young" Snow* is a certified, 70s/80s rock-idol groupie girl...tried and true...no doubt about it. Just as she is holding onto the tenuous threads of her rapidly vanishing youth, by the spackle and bondo of ultra-awesome hairspray and the best glitter available on the Black Market (aka: eBay ;)...
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...She can appreciate the value of faded super-stardom...having the ability to overlook the lines and creases on her former teen-idols...mentally filling-in the receding hairlines with her mind's-eye...viewing her young crushes with the verve and sparkle of the newly-hatched.
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One day, Snow* stumbled upon a group of young women who suffered from the same affliction...the misplaced adoration of one former, ULTRA MEGA hot-crotched, lion-maned 70s/80s teen idol...the hair-of-hair...the "package"-of"packages"...the voice-of voices...and the SUPER EGO-of-SUPER EGOS!
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However, this small group of women, all fabulous in their own ways, forged a collective friendship worthy of the Silver Screen...rivaling the sagas expounded upon in such cinematic epic chick-flicks as: "Fried Green Tomatoes", "Steel Magnolias", "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", "First Wives Club", etc. etc.
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Snow* (now grudgingly accepting the fact that she is no longer "young", nor "fresh"...grrr...) slowly allowed the admiration of other 70s/80s superstars to become a part of her life.
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One formerly overlooked, major 80s heart-throb was brought to the forefront of the discussion quite frequently, allowing her short-attention-span to grasp the star-power and sexy-as-hell qualities which this performer exudes.
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And he is none other than RICK SPRINGFIELD...the OTHER "R.S."...the man who is "hard to hold" wants to "love somebody", and is obsessed with "Jesse's girl".
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Okay, so...target sighted...locked-and-loaded...Snow* commenced to fully examine this "new" Super Nova from the 80s.
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And, upon further inspection, he proved himself to be ultra-worthy! Rick Springfield is a man who has only gotten BETTER with time. The years have made him MUCH more sexy...and his full-throttle, rock-and-roll ability, combined with his earnest and soul-dredging ballads and heart-felt delivery has forever sealed his fabulousness in the minds of all 40-ish, pre-menopausal women about the globe.
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These women dream the dreams of Rick coming home to them after a hard tour on the road...a tour which he sings songs scribed specifically for them...where he gives frequent shout-outs to his one and only true love...for when the moment comes when he tries to silently creak open the back door of their sprawling Cape Code-inspired "cottage"...quietly setting his guitar case by the back door...

...He slips out of his comical black and white "Chuck Taylor" low-top sneakers...shucks out of his jeans and black pull-over on his way to the bedroom...setting his sexy, onyx-framed glasses on the nightstand...and slides in under the crisp cotton sheets to draw his lady up close to him...breathing in the scent of her hair, and absorbing her warm, sleep-tousled scent into him...relieved that, at long last...he is finally "home"...and with the love of his life...
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Each and every women he comes into contact with holds this fantasy close to her heart...shrouding it in protective coverings from the reality of their actual day-to-day hum-drumness...from their husbands with the thinning hair, from the women standing in line behind them at the supermarket, perusing the supermarket rags for bits and pieces of their idols' lives...from their kids who think that "mom" is "old" and out-of-touch with the times.
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This fantasy, and others like it, are just a little part of what makes the 40-ish gals smile secretly to themselves in the middle of the night...or when they are driving to pick up the kids from school or soccer practice, and one of the much-loved smash-ballads of our more formative years...(a time known as the FREAKING AWESOME 80s, baby! ;)...

...cues-up on the radio of the mini-van, and we are once again transported back to that junior high or high school dance, mooning over our school crush, hoping he would ask us to dance...as we stand in a cluster with our girlfriends, all decked-out in our brand new mall outfit (purchased just that day)...replete with multiple Swatch Watches, big hair, and massive, dangling earrings.
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So...with this all in-mind, it was a major source of excitement when Snow* was informed by her boss at her casino-concert-club job that she was to actually help HOST the Rick Springfield private, acoustic mini-concert, take part in the meet-and-greet afterwards, and actually have the opportunity to meet the man himself...and get a picture with him!
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It was a major Elaine-from-Seinfeld, "Get Out!" moment. ;)
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So, the day-of-show, Snow* took extra care with her appearance...exasperated and equally bummed that way more effort and time is required to look like a presentable groupie girl, than it ever did in the past. There is a fine line between looking "good", and looking ridiculous...like one is trying "too hard".

Alas, sometimes that line is probably crossed...but not for lack of trying to maintain one's awesome groupie girl persona and aura of coolness. (But, dammit all..."age" is simply a BITCH.)
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When the time came for the special event/mini-concert to start taking shape, Snow* was all a-twitter with excitement. Her boss derived great glee in watching her shine like a kid on Christmas morning...being so totally wrapped in her element that everything faded in comparison.
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However, the young 23 year-old waitress who was roped into helping with this event was less-than-enthused. When it was time for the group from the radio station to start setting-up for the event...hanging banners and such...Snow* had to educate said-waitress on exactly whom our hero-of-the-hour was! (Depressing times, indeed.)
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The event was scheduled to commence at 5pm...but was pushed back to closer to 5:30 or 6pm. Rick was still at the Family Arena (a couple miles down the road), and his pre-concert sound-check there was running longer than anticipated.
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The concert-club at the casino was to open at 7pm for regular business hours...and Rick's private gig there was to last about 45 min. Things were definitely getting cut close to the wire.
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Plus, the word was out that President George W. Bush was in town, as well as Presidential-candidate John McCain...(one flying in, and one flying out)...on the campaign trail. So, therefore, all major highways and exits were shut-down for that hour, successfully paralyzing the city during rush hour.
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Thankfully, Rick was already in town, and was only brief moments away...well-away from any major highways and bi-ways.
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The group of about 50 middle-aged women, all stacked-up outside the doors, straining to get in...were getting restless. Many of the group were all bedecked in their happy hour finery...with perfectly coiffed do's and brightly lacquered, acrylic nails.

Most of them had the air of "wife and mother" about them. However, there were also quite a few "cougars" in the mix, as well. These women were DEFINITELY "on the prowl"...married at one time, but now divorced...and apparently having purchased themselves a fresh new set of plastic boobies with their windfall from their divorce settlement.
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Now, they are overly-tanned, freshly exfoliated, all tricked-out in their leopard-print bustiers and questionable "Chanel" bags. These are "pack women"...carousing in groups with other cougars of their ilk.
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These are the women that actually thought they had a chance to score with said 80s heart-throb. Pathetic...truly pathetic. (And, there but for the Grace of God go I!...Thank God I hate leopard prints, the overly-tanned look, nail artifice, and the Silicone Valleys! ;)
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The doors were kept shut on the rabid 40-Somethings...while the stirrings of "something" taking shape inside were beginning.
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A few people came in the side door from the outside parapet area, entering the stage area thru the side stage-door off the parapet. These were obviously techie-types, there to fine-tune the set-up and arrangements.
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One man of questionable import took the stage. He was tall and lanky, with black hair, and a handsome countenance...appearing to be about the same age as Rick. He took the stage, picked-up the acoustic guitar which was propped center-stage on a guitar stand...and perched his long frame onto the wooden stool set on the center of the stage.
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He commenced to pick a few diddies out on the guitar, fine-tuning the instrument as he went. At one point in this brief interlude of entertainment, he cracked, "This is a little tune I wrote"...as he played the opening chords to "Stairway to Heaven". ;)
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At that point, the waitress turned to Snow* and asked, "Is that him?"
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OM-freaking-G.
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>major eye-roll<

Youth is sooo wasted on the young! Aughhh... ;(

Soon thereafter, the side door opened once again, and...BAM!...THERE HE WAS! Slowly loping his way across the stage was RICK-FREAKING-SPRINGFIELD!!! :O

He was decked out in afore-mentioned blue jeans, ridiculously charming black and white Chuck Taylor's, thin black jersey shirt...toting a Starbuck's coffee cup...and looking sexy-as-hell...with slightly long, tousled hair, onyx-framed glasses, and a self-possessing presence of complete comfort in his own skin.

"OHMIGOD, it's HIM. :O ...OHMIGOD...THERE HE IS!" Snow* gasped out to her boss, who stood there grinning from ear to ear that she was so giddy about the whole business.

The waitress, on the other hand, was far less enthused, and informed her boss and bartender that she was going to go check on her tables in the neighboring restaurant.

Hrmphhh...twit.

While Snow* had never really appreciated the awesomeness of this man "back in the day"...and has just developed a working knowledge of what he stands for, and his amazing talent...she had never really BEHELD the man, the myth, the legend.

Well, let me tell you...it was an AWE-INSPIRING moment. Truly worthy of Oxygen being sucked right out of the room!

Just seeing him stride across the stage..."her" stage...in "her house"...a mere 25 feet away...and him smiling up there, all exuding sex and self-effacing amazingness...well, that was just a "moment" in progress!

Holeeeeee-CRAP!

Finally, the natives were let in thru the double doors...and they rushed to the seats directly in front of the stage...cameras in-hand, freshly-applied lipstick as their armor.

There were maybe one or two completely pathetic, portly, short, balding men amidst the group of cougars and soccer moms. These few men were sporting their slightly greasy comb-overs, were be-garbed in high-waisted jeans, covering their rather prominent backsides, with their non-descript shirts tucked far into the waistband of said jeans...belted prominently...with fanny packs securely flapping against their paunch.

The "ICK"-vibe which these men gave off was palpable...just the question of WHY such rabid fans were there made one shudder. ;( Blechhh...

However, time was paramount, and wasting precious moments of such a once-in-a-lifetime event on these derelicts was out of the question. So...on with the show!

Snow*, being the bartender, had absolutely nothing to do...as far as bartending went. For, of course, none of these broads were going to actually order anything. They had much bigger bridges to burn...trying to catch the eye of one former teen-idol.

However, a few of them DID come to the bar initially, to get several ice waters. (Yippee...Snow* is sooo over-qualified to make ice waters!)

And, when said rabid-fans engaged Snow* in conversation at the bar, they were all very surprised to learn that Snow* did not only know who Rick Springfield was, but was a fan as well! They all thought that Snow* was much too young to have known who the hell he was...freaking LMAO!

Hee-hee...well, THAT certainly felt great to hear! At least the cougar-mentality and aura has not overtaken our "young"-ish heroine. ;)

Rick finally started his "show"...never really playing any full songs...just portions thereof...and chatting with his audience as he went.

He strummed-out "Love Somebody", as well as "Jesse's Girl"...to the complete rapture of his audience. And...to the complete rapture of Snow*...whom edged all the way to the side-front of the stage, and was transfixed with glee by the reality of it all.

This was AMAZING!

Who had time to BREATHE (much less, could remember HOW), when Rick Springfield was just mere feet away, singing to "HER"???

*sigh...swoon* ... ;)

Holy crap...where had she been all of his life? Why had she never been witness to his awesomeness???

(Well, thank God for Karen, and her little posse of on-line gals...they had truly opened new doors of enlightenment for Snow*! LOL! ;)

Rick only strummed through about 4 or 5 songs...and never touched on his new stuff. He said he was saving that for the concert. But, what he DID perform was MAJOR. WOW. =)

Several of the nit-wits in the audience were on their cell phones during the performance...one phone even rang...chiming out the tunes to "Jesse's Girl"...LOL.

Well, Rick kept telling these broads to get off their phones...and finally he made one gal give him her phone, and he was talking to her husband from his place on the stage. All of the hyenas thought this was great fun, and such a lark (although, Snow* is betting that he does this schtick often).

However, it went over with a bang...and it appeared that the hubby on the other end of the phone was LESS then enthused by it all. Rick ended the call with some type of racy comment, designed to make the hubby believe that his wife and the superstar were gettin' rather "close".

That drew a laugh from the bevy of estrogen laden gals (and the weird, icky, paunchy men as well)...and you just KNEW that the wife was in for an argument once she finally got home to her annoyingly possessive husband.

Good times.

Personally, Snow* would never have answered the phone...much less even had the damned thing ON! How RUDE. ;(

For the duration of the brief "concert", Snow* made her way about the concert venue, snapping pics as she went...trying to get as many good shots as possible. Alas, to her supreme consternation, she has proven herself to be a complete technological retard...and apparently did not have the camera on the correct setting...resulting in most of the pix just turning out depressingly blurry. Grrr... =(

While Rick was in the midst of cuing up another song, the radio personality from the station cut in on the microphone with how they did not want to "take up all of Rick's time", and that he "had a concert to get to."

DRATS!

Annoying, ugly, fat bastard. ;( ...Shut UP...let the man play some more! Arghhh...

Rick appeared a bit surprised, strummed a few more chords, and dutifully placed his guitar back in its stand, and was herded by the radio people over to the "Y-98 FM" backdrop which they had pre-hung off to the side of the stage, in order to pose in front of for pictures. (Oh, and the event was also sponsored by "Arby's"...big whoop.)

The audience was pre-warned that they would be taking pics with Rick in groups of 4 or 5 people...that to expedite matters, there would be people in their pics that they did not even know. No one-on-one pics would be allowed.

Well, that sure flew out the window immediately! For, EVERYONE was getting their pic taken individually with Rick! The only groups were the ones which came together...the hyenas which were running in packs.

Snow* waited until the line died down, before hustling her rhinestone-clad, "BeBe"-jeans ass up there.

She had her camera in-hand, as well as a silver Sharpie-marker, which she had found next to the cash register...and her red rubber-encased metal bottle opener, and a piece of paper, which she had fed-up off of the register-tape.

Allrightey, then...commence "moment in the sun"! ;)

Everyone got their pics taken relatively quick. However, there was the incident when about 7 women argued their way past the door-guy, and into the club...women whom had NOT won tickets to the special event...but whom were going to the actual concert...and one of their girlfriends had won a ticket to the meet-and-greet.

So, somehow they were able to push their way in, horn-in on the front of the line, and jump in a group pic with their girlfriend and Rick!

Bitches.

The guy who had previously tuned-up Rick's guitar was apparently more than just his techie/roadie...possibly his manager...for he was supremely PISSED at how the meet-and greet was being handled...how all the rules about group pics were thrown out the window, and how the rabid women were basically running the show.

He strode past Snow* at that point, when the 50-year old harpies were accosting Rick for their photo, saying to her, "This is fucking BULLSHIT!"

Snow* gave him her best empathetic smile, and commiserated with, "I know, I know...totally a bunch of crap."

He walked off in disgust, completely giving up on the meet-and-greet being handled in the manner that it should...for it was the radio personalities who were dropping the ball, and allowing the "bitches" to get the better of them.

So, how it worked was: Each chick (and weird, fat, bald dude) was allowed about 30 seconds of Rick's time. They would meet him, he shook hands, signed whatever was thrust in front of him, and then they would pose for pix.

The radio station had their camera there, and they took a pic of each fan with Rick for their website...and the other radio chick would use the fan's camera to take another pic for said fan.

Well, as Snow* got closer to the "prize", she was all aflutter, but could see that just this brief outing had totally taken its toll on Rick. It was probably more due in-part to him traveling and touring so much (and with him not getting any younger, either)...but he just looked so damn TIRED.

Snow* felt quite badly for him. He was forcing his smiles, had bags under his eyes, and was obviously quite not "into" the whole thing. You could just tell that he was wiped-the-hell-out, and was wondering how he was going to dredge-up the fabled energy he was touted to display on-stage for his rapidly encroaching concert.

Still, the tiredness, and the human-ness of it all made him that much more appealing. He was just a MAN...a man whom everyone wanted a piece of...who was sexy as hell with his tousled hair...a man who made Snow*s pathetic little groupie girl heart palpitate within her meager breast.

OMG...It was suddenly HER TURN. :O

She approached Rick with, "OMG...it's my turn...I am beyond excited to meet you!"

(Twittering like a nit-wit...that's pure, 100%, unadulterated Snow*!)

She thrust out her hand, to shake his...and, bless his sweaty hide, and adorable heart...he just envelped her in one big, sweaty bear-hug instead...OMG!...Indeed!

She had him sign her bottle opener and the piece of register paper. (And, oddly enough, she noticed later that his signature...a practiced and scrawled "RS" was MUCH like that of the OTHER "R.S." Quite similar, actually...although, there are really not too many ways to dash out an "RS", huh?)

Then, it was photo-opt time. Hot damn! :)

Feeling the rush of the moment...knowing that her moment in the sun was soon about to fade, and not wanting to screw it up...that is precisely what happened.

Snow* is a moron...and some things will just never change.

She gave her camera to the radio station chick...and was flustered when she had both cameras aimed at them at the same time. She just knew that both of those pics were going be taken at the same time, and that one of the pics was going to be ruined, because she would be looking the wrong way...and it was probably going to be HER pic with HER camera!

What to do...what to do...???

Rick had his arm slung around the back of Snow*s neck for the pic...and she had her left arm firmly planted about his waist...memorizing his slim build, and just the general FEEL of him. A super nice "feel", indeed. =)

With his arm draped about her shoulders...basically about her neck, it was TOTALLY smooshing her hair against her shoulders! NOT GOOD! This is a total pet peeve of hers...and she just had to grin and bear it. Aughhhh...!!! ;(

So, there they were, her hair getting ripped out of her head by one sexy, sweaty, tired, super-star...the tour manager stalking around, pissed as hell...and facing the very real dilema of WHICH CAMERA TO LOOK AT!?!? :O

Shit!

Of course, she screwed it all up.

She smiled very quickly for the Y-98 camera, and then panicked and rapidly spun her head to the right, to make sure that if HER camera "went off", that at least she would take a good pic for THAT one.

Well, the Y-98 camera's shutter clicked just as Snow* turned her head...ensuring that pic was a bust...and then she quickly smiled for her camera (still mesmerized by the very fact that RICK SPRINGFIELD and her had their arms around each other!!! OMG!!!)...

...At this point, Rick somehow felt it necessary to POINT OUT which camera to look at...annnnddddd...

HE TOTALLY RUINED THE PICTURE!

Snow* was hustled off, as the next groupie had her "moment"...and as she slowly ambled a few feet away, she clicked her camera onto "view"...and saw that Rick had his ENTIRE ARM across Snow*s face in the photo!!! :O

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

This is just NOT going to fly! ;(

So, she rushed back to the chick who had taken the picture, showed her what had happened, and told her that she just HAD to let her take another picture with Rick...that this was NOT going to work!

At that point Rick was quite done with it all, and was being rounded-up by his handlers, but he very graciously posed for another pic with her.

Awesome.

Except for the whole smashing of the hair thing, and the head-lock thing again.

And then, when the pic was over, he kinda rubbed/scraped his hand up and down her back once, and ended it was a soft "slap" on her back, before he walked away...which resulted in EVEN MORE hair being ripped out by their 25 year-old roots, and smashing what remained still attached to her head.

(Um, yeah...while the HAIR may be 25 years-old...the actual PERSON is a wee-tad bit more...Oy-Vey...)

Ignoring all that, Snow* dialed-up the pics on her camera again...and was relieved to see that at least THIS pic turned out. Even though Rick looked WAY tired, his smile was totally forced, and her hair suffered the consequences.

Well, fall-out is a bitch...but we do what we have to do.

Then, he was off like a fabled, fairy-tale prince...leaving "young"-ish Cinderella clasping her bottle-opener to her chest, and gazing adoringly at the miniature screen on her digital camera.

The rest of the night passed on a total high...with the other guy bartenders making fun of our resident glitter girl...and with her not really giving even one whit about their obvious ignorance of what is REALLY important! LOL...SHE knew better! ;)

A few days later, when thinking to go look at the radio station's web site, and check out their posted pictures from the event, she was presented with proof-positive that she is a royal dumb-shit, and had thoroughly screwed up that pic, too.

Upon further inspection of the other pics of the cougars and Rick, Snow* noticed that Rick had his arm(s) draped about the necks of ALL the other women...which led to an "ah-ha" moment for her.

This was a liability issue.

When Snow* worked as Wonder Woman at 6-Flags, the performers and characters were all schooled in proper camera-etiquette...

ALL HANDS MUST BE IN FULL VIEW OF THE CAMERA AT ALL TIMES!

If one of the hands is hidden behind one of the subjects, then that leaves the situation of the "unknown" wide-open for questionable doubt. The "guest" could accuse the "performer" of accosting them, thus grounds for a nasty, potential lawsuit. It happens...believe me.

So, that totally explains the arm-around-the-neck scenario with Rick.

However, it is probably not that akward for gals who are SHORTER than Rick. For us tall chicks, it is a bit odd...for him too, probably...to sling his arm UP and around a gal's neck...not the most natural of gestures.

Okay...and that concludes Snow*s brush with Greatness/Rick-ness.

And, it also concludes Snow*s speaking in the 3rd person about her old ass! ;)

(Oh, BTW...I had to retire my FAVORITE bottle opener! Rick's signature never did totally dry on the rubber-casing...so I did not use it ever again after that moment. It is now safely ensconsed in my curio cabinet. =)

Yep...and the lameness reigns supreme! ...

XO! =)

"I have officially LOST IT"...

2008-09-23T05:23:00.013-05:00

Where'd everybody go???

Yes, yes...I know...everyone has big problems right now...with the fall-out from the hurricane...getting caught-up at work AFTER the hurricane...family stuff...the cost of living going sky-high..and just "life", in general.

So...I thought I would pipe-in here and share MY day with ya'all...

WHICH...tends to run along the lines of an "I Love Lucy" skit...or "Laverne and Shirley"...except I am without an Ethyl or a Shirley. =( ...Which usually results in all the chaos of a sit-com...yet without the hi-jinx of the "buddy-factor", the canned-laughter, the adoration of a studio audience, the great wardrobe department tricking me out in super-cool stuff...or a team of make-up and hair people...or the big payola at the end of each episode in my paycheck...

NOPE! None of that...just little 'ole me wading thru the mounds of cat fur, litter boxes, cat pee and stuff MUCH WORSE than just plain 'ole "cat pee"!...Plus a veritable kaleidoscope of doggie issues.

Hell..."work" is somewhere in there....and...who has time for a boyfriend? Or the inclination???

Okay...so, "back at the ranch"...

(Gads, I desperately need a Diet Coke!...Hold on for this program interruption...gotta' go forage thru the 'fridge in the garage... ;)...

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..."Aaaahhhhhh!!!" ;o} ....Sooo GOOD!

Okay, on with the show...

Today I had to be at work ultra early...(for me! ;)...I picked up a shift with the Banquet Dept...was supposed to be there at 1pm...but it got switched to 9am.)

So...I got there around 8am...I still had to get the uniform for "Banquets"...which, BTW...is THE UGLIEST uniform EVER! ...Black slacks (my own, thank goodness)...a man's camel-colored, long-sleeved dress shirt, man's black vest, and hideous black and tan tie...WHICH, I had to re-tie about 8 times before I made it look half-way presentable.

The skinny end of the tie actually was longer than the fat end...but I was sick of trying to make it turn out right. Besides, with the vest on, no one could tell, anyway. So, I just tucked the longer, skinny end into my shirt...problem solved!

UGLY...UGLY...UGLY. I look HORRID in browns...and "camel" has got to be THE WORST. Plus, I LOOKED LIKE A BOY!!!...The shirt and vest were too big, there was too much material on the shirt to tuck nicely into my slacks, which resulted in my butt looking all lumpy...plus, I was HOT AS HELL!

YUK.

The casino property has a huge and elegant conference center on the upper-level...massive banquet rooms and monster ballrooms. It is one of THE places for wedding receptions, etc.

Well, today was the Christmas/Holiday party for one of the largest liquor companies in our area..."Glazier-Midwest". They had 2 adjoining ballrooms (with the dividing "curtain" pulled back), all decked-out in Christmas decor. Seriously, it was like Christmas Eve in there...massive Christmas trees all decorated, huge Santas and Frostys around every corner...elves....reindeer...Christmas music by the orchestra...the works!...Very, very cool!

And, around the ballroom were all of the liquor reps which sell their products thru "Glazier".
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There are basically 3 liquor distributors in the area, that all bars HAVE to buy from...it is against the law to buy from anyone else but the distributors assigned to your sector of the state. It is ESPECIALLY illegal to buy liquor or beer from the grocery store, or liquor store, and sell it in your bar. Total NO-NO! A bar would be majorly fined, and lose its liquor license if they were caught doing that.

Now, you would think that it would be just the opposite...that allowing distributors to have a monopoly on an area would be the illegal part. However, that is just not the case. So, the 3 distributors in this area are: "Glazier", "Summit", and "Major Brands". And, they all carry different brands of liquor.

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For instance, Glazier carries "Jack Daniels", and none of the others do, etc., etc. Which means that the Jack Daniels people signed a contract with Glazier to represent their brand in this market.

So, when ordering the liquor and beer (there are a few beer distributors, too)...a bar has to order from ALL of the different distributors to be able to stock their club. It's kinda like having to go to 7 different grocery stores to find all of the stuff on your list. (And, that is not even taking into account the different vendors for the non-food items, and the different food vendors...That's a LOT of doing inventory and ordering!... Oy-Vey! ;)

Okay, now that you have all had your crash-course in bar-ordering, I'll continue with boring you to tears ;) ...

So, around the ballroom were all of the liquor vendors which sell their products thru "Glazier"...and there were well over 100 different vendors...all with their huge tables and displays set-up, featuring anywhere from 1 item, to 12 items at each table.

This means that each vendor had sent their reps for this market to this event to showcase their products and whatever NEW products they were coming out with. This was Glazier's party, but it was to invite all the bar-owners/ restaurant owners/ managers/ liquor stores/ grocery stores, etc. to this "trade show", to let them all sample the products, and hopefully either start ordering the new items, or get them to order MORE of what they already carried.

Also, to showcase new ways of mixing and marketing their particular products...new shots which can be made with the liquors, or specialty drinks which they liquors could be utilized for, etc., etc.

So...there were at least 1500 people attending this event, all walking around, and sampling the alcohol...and it was all FREE, FREE, FREE!

It was a lot like the BARTENDER'S BALL, where I reign as Prom Queen each year =) ...however, THIS time I was NOT in a ballgown, and was schlepping crap around like Cinderella! Grrr... What is WRONG with this picture??? ;(

Each vendor supplied their own inventory of liquors, and we had to set each table up with fruit trays, glassware, ice, sodas and juices, straws, napkins, etc.,etc. (And then, we had to constantly walk around the grand ballroom and pick up the trash and glassware...and there was TONS of it! OMG!)

Plus, these people were all drinking for FREE...so they had no compunction about just leaving their drinks "where ever", because they could just get another new fabulous concoction at the next booth.

Also, there were massive food stations set-up across the center of the ballroom...you would not believe the food! Probably something similar to the food on a cruise...

Ice sculptures of massive clam shells, filled with chilled, jumbo shrimp...appetizers galore...fresh fruit and cheeses...just mountains of gourmet edibles. A total first-class presentation.

SO...that meant that there were millions of plates and forks to collect and haul to the "back of the house"...ughhh. I have not waitressed in YEARS...and I hauled these stupid-ass, huge oval trays around today/tonite FOR HOURS! Now, I remember why my arms used to look so killer! ;) (Boy-oh-boy, are they going to be sore as hell tomorrow!) =(

The party started at 1pm...lasted until 9pm...and then we had to clean the disasterous mess up afterward, and break it all down...the tables and chairs, the linens, the skirting for the tables, the flower arrangements, the dishes and glassware, the trash, the buffet, the ice-buckets, and the liquor, etc., etc.

OMG...the "liquor"! ...Yes, the reps all brought their own liquor...hundreds of cases of it! However, whatever they did not give out to the guests, they--by law--could not take back with them.

And, also--by law--we had to throw it all away! (Since my casino did not "order"/buy it from the distributor, we are not allowed to use it, or to let it leave the property...WAAAYYY illegal.)

And there were TONS AND TONS of partial bottles and un-opened bottles that we had to dump down the sinks. We had to open the new bottles...uncork the champagne and wines, and open the liquors...and dump it all out. :O ...OMG...this was some of the major high-dollar crap, too! We dumped out thousands and thousands of dollars worth of liquor and wine tonight!...MANY thousands!

Then, we had to throw all the bottles away...you would not BELIEVE the number of bottles! We just kept filling these huge. rolling dumpsters with them...AND, they do not recycle! It was such a crime, throwing all that glass away, and not recycling it...made me sick, the waste of it all...the money, the product, all that junk in a land-fill...disgusting.

And then, we had to start setting the room up for a private party for "Monsanto" in the morning. (I am working that too...have to be there at 8am...which TOTALLY SUCKS!)

So...I finally left work around 1am (keep in mind I got there at 8am...17 miserable hours...blechhh...

Never sat down, never stopped moving, never had a break, never ate, never peed, barely had time for a quick drink of water...and it was HELL.

PLUS!...I have a nasty blister on the back of my heel! ;(

THIS IS NOT "BARTENDING"!!!! ...How did I get myself INTO this??? Ughhh...

Oh yeah...we did not make tips...it was a straight hourly rate...and I will not see that until my next pay-period...in 2 weeks...AFTER TAXES. (Yay-me.) ;(

So...I finally limped my blistered, tired, grungy hiney out of there around 1am...having sweated my ass off in that ugly shirt, and looking like something the cat puked-up...the curl long ago having fallen out of my pony-tail, and mascara smudges further enhancing the shadows under my eyes. (Which...on ghastly-white skin, is not the best look.)

Oh, yeah...I nearly sliced OFF my finger in the fruit slicer many hours before...bled profusely...(and hurt an INSANE amount...with all that lime juice pouring into the wound!)...Yet, I could not get a band-aid...because I would have to go to "First Aid" for that...and "First Aid" would have to call "Security...since I had "hurt myself" on property...there would be a big-ass report to fill out...and THEN, I would have to take a drug test, to prove that I was not drunk or strung-out when I nearly sliced my finger off.

I don't even drink, smoke, or do drugs!

So, since I did not have the time to go thru all that crap, I just wrapped napkins around my mangled finger, and rubber-banded them on. (We are not even ALLOWED to have band-aids in our possession. Like, I could not bring one from home and keep it in my work bag, or pocket...for "just in case". Is that majorly jacked-up, or what???)

Okay, so I limped my bedraggled self out of there...realized I had lost my phone on the way out...possibly in the employee bathroom when I stopped by the time-clock, to wash my hands and FINALLY pee!

So, back I went...and... NO PHONE!

I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off for about 15 minutes, trying to re-trace my steps...and FINALLY went BACK into the bathroom (after having been in there 3 times already)...and shouted out to, what I thought was an empty room: "Anybody in here find a phone???!!!"

I never actually expected someone to ANSWER!

When, from one of the many stalls, this disembodied voice calls out: "What's it look like?"

OMG!?

"It's PINK!" ...(LOL!...What else? ;)

She replied, "It's at Security...someone already turned it in!"

Holy-smokes! How totally COOL!!! =)

So, I ran back to the Security base, (at the employee elevator, which we ALL have to use to get on-property) and, right there, propped-up in the window, looking forlornly at me as I raced up to the glass, was my little PINK Razer! Woo-Hoo!!!

Thank God!

Okay, so back on the elevator...and to the employee parking level...and headed home!

'Er...actually...had to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart for a few things...I was TOTALLY out of Diet Coke and V-8! :O

I finally got home about 1:45am...

Had to feed ALL of the animals...and they were STARVED! Fed all the cats their canned food (they always have dry food...but only get canned at night, after I get home from work.) The dogs have dry food at all times in their bowl...yet Maya is the only one who ever really eats it. My Lhasas will only eat dry food once in a while...and just a few nibbles...and ONLY if I am right there.

They get their canned food a couple times a day...they will only eat small portions...so they need to eat twice a day...especially Truffle.

Well, Truffle is the only one who will actually eat without being hand-fed...although, he has to have his food cut up into little bite-sized pieces, and spread out on a small towel...plates or bowls scare him....and having the pieces of food touch each other freak him out too...it is too hard for him to eat it, if it is all in a pile.

And...Skittle and Beuford have to be hand-fed...piece-by-freaking-piece. LOL! That's okay though...it is part of my bonding time with my babies. =) ...Seriously...they will NOT eat, unless I hand-feed them...I am not kidding...DAYS would go by, and they still would not eat anything! I cannot afford more vet bills for sick dogs...I NEED them to eat healthily.

Okay...so, I fed the cats and the dogs...and then the dogs have to IMMEDIATELY go outside...their little digestive tracts spring into action right-quick...and once they eat anything...it is time to "go"...like, NOW.

(Okay...they "went"...and came back in.)

I failed to mention that when I got home, the smell of my precious little baby-girl, Skittle, was enough to (as my mommy says): "GAG A MAGGOT!" :O...Ughhh...SOOO GROSS! ;(

Yep...one night with Boomer "monitoring" them, and she apparently quite merrily rolled around in what was probably the equivalent to a putrid, decaying dinosaur! Or...maybe just some rabbit guts (damn Maya, out there killing bunnies again!)...it was definitely blood and gore and the worst smell on the planet! No wonder Vultures can smell that crap from miles and miles away! YUK!

Okay, so then after Skittle went outside and pottied, I had to park her little stinky butt in my bathroom, while I rounded-up the Oatmeal Doggie Shampoo (with "long lasting Vanilla scent"! ...Or so the label said. I beg to differ on that! Yeek.)...plus several towels, the doggie brush, and my hairdryer.

Bath-time was NOT fun...especially at 2:30 am...on my knees, bent over the edge of my tub, and getting drenched, as my stinky little baby looked at me like I was torturing her! The poor little, itty-bitty, drowned rat, that she was!

Plus, my back is KILLING me...and all that leaning over the tub was grueling. ;(

Okay...I THOROUGHLY cleaned her...and then "RINSED AND REPEATED!...And then Rinsed again!"

I towel-dried her off, numerous times...in between all of the bouts of shaking from nose to tail...and spraying millions of little droplets of water all over me. I brushed her out, cleaned out her ears, made sure the water was all out of her ears (ear infections are so NASTY!), trimmed a few mats out of her ears, cleaned her eyes out, trimmed the hair away from her eyes, used a little "wipie" to make sure her little hiney was "Sanitized"!...and then commenced with the blow-drying.

And after all that...YEP...she still smelled! Not NEARLY as bad as before...but definitely NOT like "Vanilla"!

I washed off her little pink leather collar with the little pink rhinestones and little pink heart-shaped tag (what else did you expect? ;) ...with Clorox Bathroom cleaner...for it smelled vile, as well. It no longer smells, but the bleach turned her little pink rhinestones all cloudy...drats! =(

Once that was all done, I opened my bathroom door, and she sprinted out of there like her tail was on fire!...And then there was a whole lot more shaking from nose to butt (HER...not me! ;)...Beuford was hot on her tail, with his nose up her butt, giving her the once-over...while Truffle was hiding under my coffee table, desperately trying to look as "clean", and smell as "non-Vulture worthy" as he could! LOL! ;)

I then had to wash out my tub with spray-bleach, change into my sweats, brush my teeth, wash my face, and then...

...totally STRIP my bed...for she had "funkified" the sheets, covers, and pillows! I tossed those into the washer and had to rummage around for more sheets and covers, and re-make it all...as the dogs kept hopping up there under the sheets, like it was all a game...they do that EVERY time! LOL! ;)

TIME CHECK: 3:20am.

I FINALLY headed downstairs to the kitchen, to relax for a few minutes with a much-earned Diet Coke... and maybe check my email and MySpace.

I plunked down at the kitchen counter, fired-up Boom's lap-top, and barely had time to enter my password, when "Cookie Monster" (my 20+ pound, domestic-long-haired, 5-year old, totally rambunctious cat...but probably the smartest, too), sprinted down the steps to see what I was up to...

He vaulted up onto the counter, slid behind the lap-top, and finally skidded to a stop right before he ended up in my lap.

And...THAT is when I SMELLED "IT"!!! :O

OMG!!!!!

And I thought that SKITTLE had smelled bad! Blechhh!!!

The smell rapidly slammed up my nostrils, wreaking havoc and destruction upon my olfactory senses...as it quickly spread up into my eyeballs...effectively making them bleed. YUK!

Allrightey then!

I squinched my nose and eyes...hoping that maybe if I exposed less of my actual eyeballs, and less of the insides of my nose, to what was assaulting it, maybe it would not smell as bad...no such luck.

Okay...I lifted his ENORMOUS tail, and dreadfully checked-out what I was dealing with.

Uh...apparently...the Apocalypse. ;(

That cat has LOOOONNNGGGG fur...and there was an ABUNDANCE of what I can only term as: CAT POOP!...Smeared all over hell and back...

Welcome to my world. ;)

I desperately wanted my mommy!

I knew that it would require several calf-ropers, a team of groomers with gas masks, and a few sedatives (for ME, and for HIM)...to effectively deal with that disaster. There was NO WAY in hell that cat was going to hold still and let me deal with that.

However, what was I going to do, huh? I could not just LEAVE him like that.

So, I grabbed the scissors and paper towels, and wrestled him to the kitchen floor. Not an easy feat, since I knew that I would not be able to actually GET UP again.

So, I was able to cut some of it out, before he shredded me from stem to stern with those lethal back claws of his. And, he is about as strong and agile as a kangaroo...so, even though I valiantly fought "the good fight"...my 9 good fingers eventually went down in flames. He had just about completely severed my already sliced finger... yay me.

As I attempted to haul my ass back up off the kitchen floor, I was seriously considering just STAYING there...and maybe sleeping on the throw-rug in front of the dishwasher. However, I still had to flush what I WAS able to manage to remove from his butt...the smell was certainly NEVER going to allow me to sleep!...

AND...as Cookie Monster streaked off thru the dining room, in full-shriek, like the Hounds of Hell were after him...they kinda WERE. Of course, when the rest of the fur-balls heard the ruckus, they had to investigate...and when that cat hauled-ass outta' there, it was like an engraved invitation to be CHASED. And my group...they never fail to respond.

Usually not a big deal...however, with Truffle, he is SERIOUS about the chase, and he goes full-on tackle/attack when he finally catches the "runner". So, I had to jump my decrepit ass up off the floor, and race off after them all, to prevent kitty-carnage. Like I said...I CANNOT afford another huge vet bill.

PLUS...I did NOT want to wake up Boomer! That would not have been pretty.

Okay, I finally caught the little (huge) sucker...and tossed him into his bedroom. He was not going to be infecting the entire house. I already had to spray-bleach off the counters, floor, and scissors...not to mention my HANDS!

TIME CHECK: 3:25am.

So, at that point I knew that I had to call my vet/groomer at 7am when they open, to BEG them to take Cookie and his sister "Twinkie" tomorrow, to groom them. (I have them shaved a couple times a year...and I really should have done this by now...totally my fault.)

However, my vet has to sedate them for the groomer to be able to groom them...and they have to do blood-work on the cats if they are going to sedate...and they have to be current on their shots, too...which are due this month...SOOO...to get all the shots for both cats, do blood-work, sedate and groom...that's about $600...at least.

Yep...sucks...however, it is the price I pay to have pets...ESPECIALLY long-haired ones!

(Oh, yeah...as kittens and puppies, they are so adorable, with their fluffly hair...but much more of a hassle when they are older.)

However...I adore them all...and they come first...so, it is off to the vet tomorrow...and then, immediately to work, to slave away at yet another awful party...in the world's most hideously ugly outfit, once again looking like a boy...for no tips...picking up trash and dirty dishes...with my monster blister...and 9 fingers...and swollen and arthritic knees...and pasty white skin...

...Good times. =)

Okay...so...I finally checked my email and MySpace...and NO ONE has said one damn thing! ALL DAY today...and NIGHT, too!

I go thru all that for NOTHING?!?! Sheesh.

Then, I start typing this...what was supposed to be a relatively brief missive...(yeah...right...since when have I ever written anything "BRIEF"???)...When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Cookie Monster, vaulting back onto the counter???

Yes, the little shit is so tall and strong...and SMART as hell!...That, unless I lock his bedroom door, he can stand up and hit the levered-door knob, and open the damn door!

I thought I had locked the door, but apparently not...or he has finally learned to unlock it, too! LOL! ;)

Back into his room he goes...and back to my email I go.

And I type like half of this message...and "save" as I go...when suddenly I lose it! I check in my "drafts" folder...praying that it is still there...and, yes, it is...however, about a THIRD of it did not make the "save". Crap!

Yes, I re-typed it all...and now, it is so freaking LONG, that I am toying with the idea of pasting it to my blog...which I may yet do...

Although, I still feel like torturing you all by sending it off via email!

However...I also realize that none of you are actually still READING this... I am sure I lost you all at: "CAT POOP"! ;)

TIME CHECK: 5 am.

Nope...there will be no sleep tonight. For some reason, I apparently still think I am
22, or something...and can just "go, go, go!"...which I have done for YEARS! Now, it is catching up to my broken-down ass...

Again..."yay me".

Okay...I am going to hit "SEND" here...and hope I do not manage to totally crash Yahoo-mail with it.

Then, I am going to mix up a Molotov Cocktail of Glucosamine and Chondroiton to hopefully help lube my creaky joints...slap on the ICY HOT, and then slowly crawl back up the steps, to get in the shower for work again.

Weeeee....!!!

Tune in tomorrow for more inane blithering...I know you are just dying to find out how that whole "groomer"-thing goes!

Oh yeah...that's right...you are not even still READING this, anymore!

*UPDATE: Well, I have wasted even more time, pasting this to my blog, and then tooling around on Photobucket, in search of cutesy little pics to add to it. Plus, there was even more proof-reading...and several glaring errors to be fixed...(I hope I caught them all! ;)

Time check: 6am.

Yep...I have totally lost it! ;)

XO!
=)

Bliss on a Stick! ;) ...

2008-09-10T02:23:00.018-05:00

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There is a magical quality to the air recently...it occurs every year about this time.
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It is the hint of promises yet fulfilled...of new and purity...of wishes and dreams.
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It is HALLOWEEN SEASON! ;)
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Yes, I stand by my belief that this time of year heralds songs unsung, promises unspoken, and destiny yet to be fulfilled.
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This time of year is MORE like "New Year's Eve" to me...with limitless possibilities and the excitement of new and wondrous adventures propelling it along.
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Why?
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Well, it starts the same way every year, and it is just as exhilarating every time...
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It begins with the change in the air. With that faint, North wind blowing in... rustling the grass, and tinging the leaves on the tress...just beginning to tweak them towards their pallet of brilliant oranges, vibrant reds, golds, yellows, and burnt umbers.
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A long, hot Summer behind us, and the citrus-twist of Fall wafting slowly through the air...just the beginnings of the change-of-seasons eliciting excitement.
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The air quality changes...becomes crisper, sweeter, fresher...and invigorates my soul from within...rustling up the depths of memories...memories built and cherished from every year at this time.
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This phenomena began the day I was born...HALLOWEEN! =) ...The BEST of all days to have been born! =)
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As a kid, it was GLORIOUS!...
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It was always a special occasion...it seemed as if everyone in the world was celebrating with me.
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My child's eyes looked at it this way: It was THE BEST day to be born...everyone partied with you, and you did not get screwed-out of presents! ;) LOL! ...
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...Unlike those poor Christmas-time babies...with the one gift for both occasions...your birthday gift always being wrapped in gilt Christmas paper.
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I ALWAYS had costume-themed birthday parties, I ALWAYS dressed-up, ALWAYS had a Halloween-themed birthday cake, ALWAYS went trick-or-treating, and ALWAYS received loads of candy in my orange, plastic jack-o-lantern.
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I remember I was a witch for MANY Halloweens in a row. My wonderful grandma (whom could do ANYTHING!...Sew, paint, cook, had a magical green thumb, and was AMAZING! =)...
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Well, Grandma made witch costumes for my sister and I, when I was about 6, and they were WONDERFUL!...
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...If I close my eyes, I can still smell the thick, black fabric...and, oh yes, it DEFINITELY had a certain fragrance to it. Maybe it was because it smelled like Grandma's house...like roses, lavender, and ivy...Grandma's house always smelled like roses and lavender.
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My sister and I already had the long, black hair...so the witch-theme was a natural progression. I loved it too, BECAUSE I was born on Halloween...and I truly believed myself to BE a witch...still do! ;)
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And then, there were the years when those store-bought, plastic costumes were all the rage...with the thin, plastic smock, complete with a stamped design of whatever character you wanted to be...
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...and to top it all off, was that thin, plastic mask. The mask which covered your face, had a rubber-band across the back of your head, and only tiny slits for eye holes and a mouth hole.
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That would NEVER fly these days! Those masks were a complete safety hazard...you could not see, and you could barely BREATHE! ;)
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Never-the-less, I loved them completely...I recall that I used to stick the tip of my tongue out thru the little mouth hole, feeling the sharpness of the plastic...and building up quite the wall of steam behind the thing! ...Which, made that whole breathing-business all the more tedious! ;)
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Ah well...even then, I subscribed to the motto of: "It is better to LOOK good, than to FEEL good!" (Thank you very much, Billy Crystal, for voicing what I inherently knew, yet could never quite accurately convey. ;)
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My little "CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST", and "WONDER WOMAN*" costumes were two of my favorites! =)
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I have dressed-up in full-regalia EVERY YEAR of my life, for Halloween...I could not imagine doing otherwise.
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My costumes have become more extreme...custom-designed and sewn by some of the best seamstresses around. My sister even helped me to create a few...I the designer, she the seamstress.
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They were gorgeous costumes...
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Oh, BTW...I simply HAD to be a Disney heroine/princess every year there for a while. That was when Disney had a new animated movie out each year, and the heroines almost always resembled me! ;)
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So...they included:
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~"SNOW WHITE"...(go figure, huh? ;)
~"ESMERELDA" from "THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME"
~"JASMINE" from "ALADDIN"
~"MEGARA" from "HERCULES"
~"POCAHONTAS"
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~And then, I had to be "DARKWING DUCK", as well...LOL! ;)..."The Terror That Flaps in the Night!" =) ... It was a COOL costume.
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Now, of course, I have my full-on, jacked-up, authentically-fab WONDER WOMAN regalia!...and it is INSANE! ;) ...NOT a "costume"...the real deal! ...Remember?...I AM Wonder Woman*! ;)
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So, every year...about this time...when the air changes to candy corn breezes, and the corn stalks and hay bales dot the landscape...with scarecrows and pumpkins peeping out from their midst, it signals the beginning of my new search for THE costume...a heady feeling indeed...WAY better than designing a wedding dress...I get to do this EVERY year!
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I exploded into happiness yesterday, when I went to Dierberg's (our local, high-end grocery store chain)...I approached the entryway, and immediately spied the abundance of fresh Mums strewn about the patio area...blossoming in hues of reds and oranges.
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I walked through the automatic doors, and there...between the two sets of doors, was an eye-dazzling delight of festive orange!...It was the display of MINI-PUMPKINS! :o}
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I carefully examined them, for just the "right" one...the perfect little pumpkin, expressing a totally round, slightly squat shape, with a pert little stem on top. =)
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Finding my prize, I set the little jewel carefully in my cart.
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Ahhh...the 1st pumpkin of the season! Certainly the smallest, but definitely the cutest...and this one will last me through the Thanksgiving holidays, for sure...they always do. =)

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I will scour the pumpkin farms this season...as every season...culminating my journey at "ROMBACH'S FARM"...the Crown Jewel of pumpkin patches!... .
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...Resplendent with acres of pumpkins, hay rides, straw bale mazes, haunted attractions, spooky music, a giant mountain of enormous pumpkins, an outdoor barbecue area...plus cold beer, cider, and soda for sale...
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Oh!...also, a "pumpkin launcher"-catapult thingy--certain to thrill the kids, and the NASCAR-shirt-wearing, pick-up truck driving, mullet-sporting guys alike!
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(*NOTE TO SELF: The pumpkin farm is NOT the place to pick up a guy! ...Eeewwwww...)
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So!...
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...I ALWAYS have to buy THE biggest, most perfect pumpkin I can find...hundreds of pounds of pure, pumpkin-carving bliss! And, ooohhhh...the yummy pumpkin seeds I make out of those! Mmmm... :o}
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Many years, I have had MULTIPLE monster pumpkins...but now I try to keep it to just one massive pumpkin. However, I know that THIS year I need to buy TWO...one for Boomer, and one for myself.
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I DO NOT share pumpkin cleaning and carving duties. It MUST be PERFECT...and it MUST be MY WAY! LOL! ;) We are both too much of the "project manager type"...total control-freaks...so there is NO SHARING of the pumpkins.
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I learned that LAST year... he TOTALLY needs his own. ;) ...I am WAY more of a perfectionist than he is, ESPECIALLY when it comes to design/decorating. (Uh, yeah...possibly his own Christmas tree would be a good thing, too... ;)

.***(NOTE FROM TEACHERS: "Little Glitter Girl does not play well with others...although she MANAGES her play-group very adeptly!" ;)***
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Okay, so back to my sojourn into Dierberg's yesterday...the initial SOURCE of the inspiration for this blog...
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I continued on into the store...wheeling my grocery cart towards the produce department...and then...BAM!...
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...Nirvana beckoned from the little cooler-case display across from the Courtesy Counter...
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...THE PURE, CARAMELLY-BLISS THAT IS THE ~"MERB'S CARAMEL BIONIC APPLE"!~
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LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! ...(Uh, that's the Heavens opening and the angels singing! ;) ...
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...LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! ...YIPPPPPPEEEEEE!!! :o}
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I was IMMEDIATELY transported to a feeling of divine RAPTURE!
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The "Merb's Bionic Apple"...an amazing and colossal creation of our local "Merb's Candy Company"...and a staple of my Halloweens since I was a kid.
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The Bionic Apple is an enormous Granny Smith Apple, double-dipped in the smoothest, butteriest, most succulent home-made caramel you will ever taste!
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...Then, 3/4 of the dipped apple is rolled in toasted, meaty pecan halves. The pecans are fresh and thick, and slightly salty...just salty enough to perfectly complement the divine sweetness of the buttery caramel.
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Heaven-on-a-stick, baby...no doubt about it.
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These colossal jewels are individually wrapped in their own little plastic baggies, tied off with a red ribbon-bow, and priced at a lofty $5...(which for here, is kinda steep)...especially since they USED to be 2 for $5...but, then again...EVERYTHING has sky-rocketed, has it not?
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I will totally forego an extra gallon of gas in my tank, in lieu of this divinity. ;)
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The caramel apple season only lasts until just after Thanksgiving...and then they disappear until this time next year.
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Which, is just about the right amount of time to allow me to get over foundering myself on them, and make me salivate for more, once again. ;)
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Damn, I love the Halloween season. (Just too bad that now it also means I am going to be yet another freaking year OLDER...ughhh...I am SOOO not liking the Yin/Yang dichotomy of THAT...makes it a little harder to get my verve' on to it! ;)
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However!...I will muddle thru! ;) LOL!...
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So, as I spun my cart through the produce department, I conjured up all the possibilities of how THIS Halloween season was going to be EVEN BETTER...brighter, more fantastic, and more ethereally magical.
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What a heady feeling. =)
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Halloween marks the beginning of that mystical and delightful season that is the Holidays...
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...which, to me, had always meant a new school year...and then those fabulous, well-earned BREAKS from that same school year!...There is NOTHING like the excitement leading up to Christmas Vacation!
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Hell, I feel like going back to school, just to experience that feeling again! ;)
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Of course, there are the actual holidays, themselves...
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~HALLOWEEN...(when the major department stores always start decking-the-halls with all the Christmas schwag. ;)...
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~THANKSGIVING...and Mom's yummy Thanksgiving dinner...
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~CHRISTMAS...with all the magical glory it beholds...
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...OMG...and do not even get me started on the Christmas season!...And the glitter, the majesty, the CHRISTMAS CAROLS!!! *SIGH*...God, I love it! =)
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And then, finally...
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~NEW YEAR'S EVE...the grand-daddy of ALL fresh-starts!
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So, Halloween has always brought forth these feelings of untamped excitement and wonder...wonder of what is yet to come.
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To ME, THAT has always seemed the perfect starting point for a new beginning...a new fantastical holiday season...which can be anything I choose to make it.
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I figure I have a 4-month jump on the rest of the world, making their New Year's resolutions...
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...While *I* am WISHING UPON A PUMPKIN! ...(It *IS* "THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN"! ;) ...Linus was TOTALLY RIGHT! And, hey...'ya just GOTTA' love that SNOOPY! =)
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...While I have started fresh with that first bite into the first caramel apple of the season...as I let the sweet and tangy juices run down my chin like a little kid...washing away all my sins, and the gloom of the past year...
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...(That's one powerful apple! ...Hey, it's not called a "BIONIC" apple, for nothing! ;)
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...The possibilities are ENDLESS!

At a Political Crossroads...

2008-09-01T06:33:00.007-05:00

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I have been diligently conducting my research on Governor Sarah Palin...to ascertain WHAT, exactly, it is which she stands for...and AGAINST.

I must say that I am more than a bit disappointed that she is WAY on the socialist conservative side of the playing field...very much against Reproductive Rights, and a big supporter of the NRA.

I, as many Americans (from what I have read), have mistakenly believed Senator John McCain to be more on the moderate side of the fence, with more support towards reproductive rights for women.

Alas, this is certainly NOT the case...McCain's past Congressional voting record has been VERY anti-choice.

Actually, not JUST anti-choice, but he has leveraged a full-sweeping attack against the rights of ALL reproductive choices for women...

McCain has voted:

*AGAINST Family Planning.

*AGAINST Freedom of Access to Clinics.

~This has fallen under the "Violence Against Women" area...which is astounding to hear..."violence"...INDEED!

*AGAINST Funding for Teen Pregnancy Prevention.

~I cannot even BELIEVE that! The teens of today are far too promiscuous, and this is certainly NOT helped any by the media and movies which GLORIFY teen pregnancy, such as that atrocity "Juno"...which is just stupid, at best.

However, many of the parents of those same knocked-up teens were child mothers themselves. .

I heap a lot of the blame upon ineffective, lax, and horrid parenting skills.If these kids are not learning how to be SMART from their parents, then they need to learn it from SOMEONE/SOMEWHERE. And THAT is what TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION is all about.

Many of these same teens, who think it is a "good idea at the time", admit later in life that they WISH they had chosen differently...chosen more wisely...been educated about the consequences to their immature actions.

ALL of these issues have proven McCain to be VERY EXTREME in his voting patterns AGAINST Reproductive Health Issues for Women...a pattern which worries me greatly.

I am thrilled that he is at least on-board, to an extent, with stem-cell research.

McCain DID vote in FAVOR of:

*Expanding Federal Funding of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research. However, I wonder how long it would be for him to change his tune on that? How long before the Socialist Conservative zealots sway him totally into their camp?

What dismays me is that Governor Palin seems to be even MORE conservative that HE is...and this man is the one whom would be appointing any further Supreme Court Justices...Justices who are in it to "win it"...and for "life" terms.

These are are the men and women who uphold our laws, or overturn our laws.

In my opinion, there are just some HARD-FOUGHT, and HARD-WON battles which have been inscribed in law, which should NEVER be over-turned.

I have always considered myself a Republican...yet my path is NOT that of a straight line. My course is complex, and I veer towards the conservative side at times, and then I turn the opposite way, into the Liberal light at others.

I am proud to be a "Liberal Republican"...to me, it is the best compromise I can make.

However, what do you do when you are at a crossroads regarding the candidates?

I have a strong opinion regarding:

~Immigration issues

~Reproductive Rights for Women issues

~Health Care

~Gun Control

~The Death Penalty

~War and Homeland Security

~Economic Stability

~Welfare...etc.,etc.

Like I said...I have MY opinions, and they are VERY STRONG ONES...and they are opinions based out of the beliefs of BOTH political parties...so that leaves me torn.

Do I chose the "lesser of two evils"...of conflicting topics in opposing factions? And, if so, then WHICH "evils" do I choose?...WHICH main issues do I choose as the PRIMARY issues?

There really will be no "happy medium" in this race, for the opponents--as well as their VP-nominees--are just as extreme.

Now, with that said, I know that MANY of you hold very near and dear to your hearts the COMPLETELY OPPOSITE beliefs which I do...and that is your prerogative.

I completely respect the opinions of others. I am not here to bash, argue, or hold in contempt. I am merely trying to sort this out.

I have only 1 vote...a vote which will surely be cancelled-out by the voter in the booth to my left or my right.

However, it is a vote which I honor, and a process which I respect. I do not want to blindly cast my vote in any one direction...for I have to live with my decision for the next 4 years...possibly 8...and potentially forever, depending on which Supreme Court Justices are appointed.

*SIGH*...This is going to be a long Autumnal season, until the election in November.

RNC, Governor Palin, and Gustav...OH, MY!...

2008-09-01T06:05:00.005-05:00

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As the Republican National Convention is set to kick-off, and we are yet to hear from McCain and his brand-spanking new VP nominee, Governor Sarah Palin-Alaska.

Our meteorological system is in flux, set to go into full-blown hay-wire mode with the encroachment of Hurricane Gustave in the Gulf, headed straight for Louisiana...which is still reeling from the lasting effects of that bitch Katrina, and the war-zone which remains much of the wards surrounding New Orleans.

I was all aflutter over McCain's selection for his running-mate...not having enough information on Governor Palin, and concerned that the rest of the voting public was just as uninformed as I on Gov. Pain, her political stance, political history, and just overall...her strength as a candidate on the Republican ticket.

Okay, so I have been doing research...and will continue to follow the issues, learning what I can, and furrowing out the rest...as I hope everyone does.

While I am aware that politics makes strange bed-fellows, and that it is really not socially polite to share ones' political views within mixed company...I believe it is important to stand for SOMETHING...to be INFORMED on the issues, and to be able to BACK your beliefs, if needed.

I do not shove my political beliefs and designs down the throats of those around me...I do NOT want to offend any of my friends who take just as strong of an OPPOSING stance.

Although, that does not preclude me from quite merrily shoving those same beliefs down the throats of my family and friends which live nearby...ANNNDDDD I do it with much zeal and delight in our debates! LOL!

Thank God my immediate family pretty much is on the same page...or it would be a blood-bath! ;)

That is all well and good...like I said...just STAND FOR SOMETHING...and then be prepared to defend that...the WHY'S & WHERE FOR'S of it all. I totally respect everyone's views...and their beliefs...as long as they HAVE them.

I do NOT get into the rampant and blatant mud-slinging towards ANY candidate/political party, just for the sake of taking a side, and getting in the mud.

So, to each his/her own...and truly, may the BEST party prevail...the one which is BEST for ALL OF US...for our COUNTRY.

So, yes, I will most assuredly be tossing my comments into the ring from time to time...as I hope others will, too.

Discussion is GOOD...at least talking about our system is bringing the blood surging back into it, reviving what--to some--is only a topical issue once every four years.

Now, on the eve of the RNC, our country, especially those in the South, is forced to deal with the very real threat of Hurricane Gustav. I doubt that the GOP's Convention will pack the glitterati of the Democratic National Convention's...with their "Political Karaoke" (Holy-crap, did you all SEE that shit? Insane, hysterical Karaoke contests, where the contestants recited the SPEECHES of the candidates! LOL! Too much.)

The DNC also had turned their convention into the place to "be seen" for many celebs...(not to mention the ones PERFORMING there.) I mean, come on!...The Olson waifs? That nit-wit Heidi what's-her-name, from THE HILLS, and her equally androgynous leech of a boyfriend? I have my reticence regarding a party which has the likes of them, and many others, as their political hangers-on.

President Bush, and Vice President Cheney will not be attending this year's convention, in order for the disaster preparedness for Hurricane Gustav. I do wish that we could hear from the President and the Vice President, however, they will be doing their job...not whooping-it-up on-stage at the convention.

It will be interesting to see what the RNC rolls-out for THEIR party...the GRAND OLD PARTY.

I will be worriedly flicking the channels between Convention news, and tracking Gustav...and praying for EVERYONE involved...especially those poor, innocent animals in the path of the storm...God rest their souls...

"My Dog Sam Eats Purple Flowers" :o} ...

2008-07-23T21:07:00.009-05:00

Damn, any song that has that in the lyrics cannot be all bad! ;)
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My new Song-of-the-Day is: "Draggin' the Line", by Tommy James and the Shondells.

I heard it today on the radio, and was instantly transported back to when I was a teensy-tiny little girl...wearing pink sundresses with my shiny red Mary Janes from "Red Robin Shoes"...
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...I had tons of little pink dresses, and oodles of pairs of those shiny red "Dorothy shoes", as I called them. LOL! It may not have really been all that fashionable...but I loved those shoes!
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Anyway...one of my favorite '45s was the Tommy James record, with "Draggin' the Line" on one side, and "Crimson and Clover" on the flip-side. I played that for HOURS on my little red and white plastic, Mickey Mouse record player with the lid that snapped shut. :o}

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I remember the label on the '45 was a bright yellow and orange...and to me, looked like a tiger, with the radiating bands of color. However, I have recently discovered that it was actually supposed to look like a Roulette wheel...for it was "Roulette Records".

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I was not even in Kindergarten yet, and I would run around the house, singing that song at the top of my lungs. What a precocious little shit I was! LOL! ...Some things never change. =)

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I vividly recall being in my mom's brand-new, 1973 Buick Centurion convertible--(which she had for about 20 years!)-- maroon with the black top and interior...cruising to the grocery store, standing up on the front seat, dancing and singing to the radio...with Tommy James and the Shondells as MY back-up band! LOL!

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Yes, that was WAAAAYYYYYYY before the days of seat-belt laws and child safety-seats. Mom would just sling her arm across the front of me whenever she had to slam the brakes on, to ensure that I did not go pitching thru the windshield, and rocketing across four lanes of highway!

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And hell, the speed limit was still 70mph... That was before even Carter was elected.

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Damn, I am bloody old! AND, I have a FABULOUS memory. Just one more testament to the fact that I never partied in my formative years...UNLIKE my brother and sister, who partied mucho, and cannot remember shit! LOL! ;)

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Anyway, I still love it just as much now, as I did then...maybe MORE, because it now brings back so many wondrous memories...of a simpler time...and a simpler place.

It was not until I recently Googled the lyrics, did I know what the words ACTUALLY were! LOL...who knew??? ... He had a dog named Sam, and he ate purple flowers???

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*I* had a dog named Sam when I was little, too! However, I am unclear on if he ate purple flowers or not! Hee-hee. =)

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Also...Tommy apparently dug: "Snow"...

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Awww...I'm flattered! =)

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Here are the lyrics:

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Makin' a living the old hard way

Takin' and giving by day by day

I dig snow and rain and bright sunshine