Meowy Christmas!

"I sure hope Mommy has kids someday so she will stop dressing me in these stupid costumes! This is ridiculous. I'm a freakin' cat, not a clown! The dog is laughing at me. I'll never live this one down. Oh well. Meow-y Christmas everyone!"

Family Pic

Here's a great picture of my mom & cousins (well...my cousins' kids) at our family Christmas party today. So, 2 of these kids are driving now. Seriously?? How can I possibly be old enough to have cousins that have kids that old??? I should note, my cousins are MUCH older than me. Haha! But still....

Headband Woes

I got a couple of really cute headbands in my stocking this year from my sister. There is one in particular that I love - it's plaid. And I love me some plaid. In fact, my sister used to call me "The Queen of Plaid" because I used to be so into it. But I digress.... Today is a family Christmas event, and I had planned on wearing this super cute sweater that matched my super adorable new headband. But, here's the problem - it doesn't fit my head! Well, it does, but it hurts like crazy! And slides around funny. Just doesn't look good at all. This is because I have a freakishly large head. Seriously. A huge noggin. No one really comes right out and says it, but my friends know it's true. (Well, except for my friend Katie who once said, "Yeah...you do have a big melon".) I long to wear cute headbands and lust after stylish hats. Last year I got one of those scarf, hat, mitten combos, but the hat shot off my head like a rocket after about 10 seconds. I have to just resign myself to the fact that I will never be able to wear a super cute hat. If I want to wear a hat, it needs to be a baseball hat or nothing. I don't really know where I get the huge head from because no one in my family has a really big head. My sister has flat feet. I think she got the better deal.

Cutest. Baby. Ever

I am tired. Exhausted with a capital E. Spent. There is nothing left. My feet are killing me and I'm a shell of my former self. Yes, I work retail. There is nothing like dealing with the throngs of last minute shoppers to suck the Christmas spirit right out of you. This week started off well enough. Santa waved at me yesterday on my way to work. Well, it was the Santa advertising for Eastpointe Apartments on Broad St., but still....Santa waved at me. Then, I got a free Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks! Things were definitely looking up. I even tuned my radio to Christmas music. Then I got to work. That's where things turned ugly. A woman called me a "stupid fat bitch" because we didn't have the Nerf Vulcan that she wanted for her kid. Seriously? It's 3 days before Christmas and you have the audacity to ask me, "What am I going to tell my son on Christmas Day?" SERIOUSLY??? Now, I'll give her fat. And I admit, I can be a bit of a bitch at times (even though I was being so nice to her). But I am NOT stupid!! Unbelievable. But when I checked my BFF's blog today, she had posted pics of her new baby, Jacob. Isn't he the sweetest?? So cute it just about killed me! If that doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will!

1 White Chocolate Mocha

Okay, as you may remember, my sister has been training for months now for a marathon. Every week she runs an insane amount of miles. No one should put her body through what she goes through to run. Seriously. You should see her feet - ick. But, when I think about why she's doing this, I am SOOOOOO proud of her. Amanda is running in the Walt Disney World Marathon in January as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training. My cousin, Sarah, was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia 5 years ago at age 12, and has been fighting it all the way ever since then. I wish I could explain to you what a cool kid she is. So polite and smart and funny. What amazes me the most about Sarah is how she is just so positive about everything. She really is an incredible young lady. It's a horrible disease, but especially unfair when a child gets sick. (By the way - I can't believe she's going to be 18 in January! I am getting so old! I still remember her as a 5 year old...) Anywho, Amanda needs to raise $3000 to run in this marathon and she's only about 1/2 way there. So I'm hoping that some of my friends will losen their purse strings and give to a good cause. I know it's Christmas and everyone's spending lots of money and times are tougher.... But it doesn't have to be a lot of cash to make a big difference. 1 grande White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks costs $4.03. And you might as well go ahead and round that up to $5 because you're just going to throw the change in the ashtray of your car. So, this Christmas, give up 1 White Chocolate Mocha and help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (and my sister....and my cousin.....)!

By the way.... I can't figure out how to post a link on my blog.....so you'll have to cut and past the web address for Amanda's fund raising site:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/wdw09/ahiltonpsq

Thank you!

Random Thoughts

I've been out of the loop this week. Literally. The movers came to my house on Tuesday, so I've been without cable and computer until tonight. Also without furniture (I've been sleeping on an air mattress!) So...guess what it did today on my last day in Erie??? It snowed, OF COURSE! While I was at work today, it snowed a good 5". I left Erie around 2:30pm, and the roads were so bad, it took me nearly 30 minutes to go 2 miles. Ridiculous. I drove in snow for most of the trip....it didn't really let up until I was about 70 miles from mom & dad's house. How exhausting!

The day wasn't all bad, though. I stopped in Cleveland to see my friend, Katie, who just happens to be the cutest pregnant woman ever. Seriously. She's freakin' adorable. So that was a highlight to my afternoon / evening. But I'm here at mom & dad's now. I closed on my house in Erie today. I'll be spending most of the day tomorrow unloading my car and getting caught up on stuff since I'm off. Then I start working in a new location (another temporary one) on Sunday. It's mildly annoying that I don't have my permanent assignment yet, but that's okay because I'm in Columbus!

So, as I'm driving through my neighborhood this morning, I noticed a house with 2 (life-sized) white ceramic cats sitting in the window. Hmmmm... I wonder what was going through that lady's head when she placed them there. Surely whoever put them there is a cat owner. And, based on how much Mollie likes to look out the window, I figure that the real live cats that live in that house are pretty pissed off that they can't get a good view because of those ceramic cats. It just made me wonder.....

Near Death Experience

So, I thought I could make it out of Erie okay this afternoon. Mother Nature, however, had other plans for me. I was on my way to my good friend's mom's house for her baby shower. Even though the Erie weatherman was calling for snow from 1pm on, it seemed like all was well in Cleveland, so I decided to go for it. My neighborhood streets were virtually un-drivable (is that a word??). I thought I-90 would be better, but it really wasn't. I finally decided to turn around about 3 miles from the Ohio border. This was after going through a white-out and nearly sliding off the road. But I'm warm and safe at home now...and very thankful that I made it home in one piece! But I'm so sad I'm missing Katie's shower. I had baby Reilley's gift custom made and was sooooo looking forward to seeing Katie open it. I know she understands, but it just sucks that I can't be there! I think I may take a nap to settle my nerves.....

Holiday Shopping Reminders, Part 2

Okay, I know I've blogged about this before. AND I know that those close to me who don't work retail are probably tired of me being crabby this time of year. As my dear mother said the other day, "Gee I love you during the holidays". I know it's crowded out there and the weather sucks and sometimes it's impossible to find someone in a store to help you. I'm a shopper too. Trust me, I get it. But all the same, I do have a few more holiday shopping reminders!

1) Be nice to the retail workers. If you happen upon a surly one, remember that they are probably exhausted and kill them with kindness. It may snap them out of their funk. Nice people remind us that we are there for the customers and we need to do everything we can to take care of them. Seriously. I will do so much for a nice person. Even (gasp) looking for items at a competitor and calling them with the info.
2) Remember that calling a store to see if something is in stock really does you no good at all. Most places don't hold anything this time of year, and by the time you haul your butt to the store, it may or may not be there! Plus, while the poor person is trying to help you shop over the phone, there are 20 people standing around him wondering why he isn't helping them. Plus, instead of Joe Clerk counting how many Pictionary Man games are in stock, he could be restocking the Bakugan items.....
3) I can almost understand calling a store to find out if they carry something. If you do this, be nice to the person answering the phone! You might just happen to be speaking to the store manager, who could maybe give you some inside scoop like if the Wall-E robot you want is going to be on that night's truck. But if you're a bitch, she won't tell you anything. Not. One. Single. Thing.

Seriously, I shouldn't even be posting these reminders. The people in my circle are not really the kind of people that even need these reminders! So I guess this is kinda like preachin' to the choir.... But it makes me feel better. (And I'm crabby.)

Today's Weather

Snow. More Snow. Of course. Because why would my last days in Erie be anything but snow-filled?? I've given up. Erie, you've beaten me.

More Freakin' Snow

Have I mentioned lately how much I despise Erie's weather? We got yet another 3 inches or so of snow last night. The weather forecast is calling for more snow today. Seriously? This is ridiculous. I grew up in Ohio, so I'm certainly used to snow, this is just cruel and unusual punishment. Gotta go find my snow boots....

Thundersnow!

I found out what thundersnow is. It's a thunderstorm with snow instead of rain. Oh joy. Only in Erie.... We're headed into "Snow - Round 5"! Only 8 more days left in Erie!

PS - Mom, I took this picture while stopped at a red light....not while driving.

Who Knew?

So this is what really really really clean floors look like! Clean floors without kitty hair! I love my Mollie, but man-oh-man does he have a lot of hair. And he hates to be combed. Hates it. I have to chase him every night to get him combed. I've intensified my efforts at grooming Mo lately, because we'll be living with my parents for a few weeks and "Nana Cheryl" is allergic....

New House!

I made an offer on a house in Columbus yesterday! It's in Dublin, probably closer to Hilliard than actually Dublin....and a little further away from the 'rents than I wanted to be....BUT.....I LOVE IT! It's exactly everything I was looking for. Wood floors, tile in the kitchen & bathrooms, a big fancy bathtub, & a gas fireplace. I'm really excited. I close on my house here on December 12th and will be closing on the new house sometime before December 31st! So excited! I have to give my mama props for hauling it over to the soon-to-be-mine crib so I could have a picture of it to post for you all to see! What do you think??