amy13

So on Wednesday when I was waiting at the hospital with my aunt and uncle for my brother's surgery to be done ( :( ) we were talking about all the shenanigans that have been going on for over 3 months now and I made the comment that my apartment had reached the point where I literally hate being here because it was so unbelievably messy, cluttered and generally a disaster area. My aunt promptly went, "OH, GOOD! I've been trying to think of something I could do for you! I can clean!"

o.O What am I, an idiot?? Of course I accepted her unbelievably kind offer! So. BEHOLD! My apartment, it does not look like a crap hole anymore! And she actually balled up all my unpaired socks as a special bonus (don't even ask how that happened) and the entire process only took 3 hours to do pretty much the ENTIRE apartment, including both bathrooms and the closet.

My aunt is a life saver!!

Meanwhile, my bro is doing pretty good - tonight he spiked a bit of a fever (100.5 :( ) but through the judicious use of vicodin and a cold compress he was back down to 99.2 before I went home. My intention is to check him out again tomorrow if my mom hasn't and if he's still running a fever I'm going to insist that she call the doc.

Before I left their house I was advised that tomorrow I'm needed to pick up his last paycheck (now 2 weeks old, WTF brother's company!? Mail the darn thing!!) and also retrieve and bring back to the house two cases of bottled water as well as some Snapple Iced Tea for my mother. *sigh* I can't wait until they can all lift/carry and / or drive themselves places.

But. YAY! My house is no longer a sty!!! \o/

Taken directly from a chat window at work on Monday:

Me

just talked to a 2 million year old woman who was calling about *edited out store name* and she just kind of yelled at me the entire time.

it was like... Easy, killer!

1:15 PM coworker!M

LOL

1:15 PM me

me: thank you for calling gift card services, blah blah ask for name, give my name blah blah - are you a store employee or a customer?

crazy old lady: A CUSTOMER! (already sounding angry)

me: what company is your gift card for?

crazy old lady: I'm not CALLING about a gift card! (hates me more now)

me: um... okay, I apologize, but I think you have the wrong phone #

crazy old lady: WHAT?! It says on the back of this gift card that I can call to find store locations!!!

me: o.O .... um. What company is that for?

crazy old lady: THAT'S WHY I'M CALLING YOU!!!!!

me: .... *cough* Um. What's the name of the business on the front of your gift card?

crazy old lady: *EDIT* SHOUTS STORE NAME AT ME!!! */ end edit*

....

she also pronounced her name like Margie, but spells is Marjory

1:18 PM coworker!M
Old people love you.

1:18 PM Me

this one didn't.

I think she's plotting my death right now.


I mean, honestly. I actually needed the giggle this call ultimately gave me, but OMG - you guys. When I had to tell the crazy old lady that we no longer provide gift card support for the customer she was calling about and gave her the "live human being" phone number for the other gift card provider she seriously SHOUTED at me "ARE THEY GOING TO HELP ME WITH MAIL ORDERS?!" and I was like, "... probably not? Because they're the GIFT CARD COMPANY and not the shoe company you're trying to use your card for?"

Sometimes my job is really both equal parts vexing and hilarious.

Just sayin'.

My stained glass project from college is FINALLY done!!!





DONE AND DONE AND INSTALLED!!! \0/

Woot, woot!!

ETA:
Apparently we only have to wait for a decision from King James until Thursday night at 9 pm. Thank God for small favors. One way or the other I want to know what he's doing next year.

If you read anything here on a somewhat regular basis you already know that I'm a TINY bit obsessed with tiny, elven goddaughter.

Today her mom and I went to get pedicures while she was having a nap. When we got back she was SUPER excited to see mommy's purple toes and Aunt Amy's "pin-t" (pink, obvs ;) toes and I said, totally not thinking the answer would be yes, "Can I paint hers?" J was like, "... sure!" and Emelie, smelling blood, was like, "PAINT TOES! EME'S TOES!"

So, before minds could be changed, I hastened out to my car and got two of the colors I had taken with me in case nothing grabbed me at the nail salon (the other was BLACK with red sparkles, and just. No. She's TWO!) even though I was 99.99999% sure I knew which one she'd pick. When I got in the house her little eyes LIT UP and, sure enough, she was like, "PIN-T AUNT AMY!!!"

Thus: Baby's first pedicure!!


And then there was a situation where I went out to put the polish away and apparently Em was walking around in a pair of J's old pumps and when I came in the house the following exchange took place:
J: Remember when I was pregnant with her and you were buying the gift for your mom's goddaughter and you said that if I had a girl you were going to buy Disney Princess shoes for her and I said no, you weren't?
me (smelling blood): Yeeees.
J: She's actually really good at walking in these, but I'm so afraid she's going to hurt herself or mess up her arches or something and... *shame face* I think I might get her some....
me: I'll go right now!!


SHE CALLS THEM GLASS SLIPPERS. And she put this pair on, then went in the kitchen where her daddy was making dinner, stepped out of one of them and kind of limped back to the play room in one yelling, "OH NO!" until her daddy looked down and kind of sighed inwardly and yelled, "OH, NO! CINDERELLA!!" and came after her with the lost shoe.

SOCUTEICOULDDIE.

Just sayin'.

Good on you, Boston! The Celtics wanted it more - plain and simple. They outplayed us, and they had more heart and they deserved the win. Celebrate it and go on to kick the crap out of the Magic!!


What I don't understand is how the Cavs came out and played that badly after such a stellar season (best record in the NBA, 2nd MVP in a row for LeBron). What a fucking joke. I honestly turned it off with 10 mins left in the 4th because I just didn't need to see it to know what was going to happen.

I don't have a clue how this will pan out - but I'm going on record as saying that there are a few major things I think 'ole 23 needs to keep in mind:
1. You were BORN HERE, dude. I like to think you GET IT. I mean, c'mon. You get what I'm saying, here. This town has got to be athletically cursed - and the owners and GM built you a team to back you to win it all with and you let us down. Stick around and FIX IT.
2. Do you really want your last home game to be the debacle from Tuesday???
3. I hesitate to bring it up, but WTF is wrong with you?? Something has to be wrong with you - if you don't have surgery on that elbow I'll be even more angry than I already am.
4. Triple doubles do you no good when you have 10 turn-overs on your OWN, dude. Turn overs lose games. Plain and simple.

Yes - I'm angry. WTF?! Win a championship and THEN build your legacy. Greatness is measured in championships - and this was your year.

I live in a City where we NAME our failures ( The Drive, The Fumble , The Shot, the 1997 World Series (ONE OUT AWAY, OMG), the '07 and '09 Finals and Playoffs... Here - have it all in one long clip, even!!) and where no matter how promising it looks no one here ever REALLY believes because this is the shit that always happens - I'm just pissed. I wish I were disappointed or sad - but I'm pissed. I'm sick to death of "there's always next year." There was THIS year, and they couldn't close the deal.

Shame on you, Cavs. Shame on you.

The time has come, kids. I have no choice, but to fish or cut bait on the cell phone debacle, because there was a totally freaky situation where a full can of Diet Coke erupted INSIDE MY COACH BAG and the only thing of electronic nature that survived was my piece of crap work-phone from which I can't even TEXT, OMG.

SO. I ask you all...

[Poll #1549026]

Is there even the slightest chance anyone has disc 29 of Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, read by Davida Porter? My copy goes from disk 28 to disc 30, which is... just not acceptable. :p And I don't have a book-copy of the novel, of flipping course. It's the only Gabaldon book I don't have!!

Booooo.

... do leprechauns do anything but hoard money? ie: if I had myself some leprechauns could I force them to finish icing the shamrock cut out cookies I've been baking since 5:30? I mean - I've been done baking or a while, and moved on to icing, but. The shamrocks are LITTLE, and OMG taking FOREVER to ice. I also snapped a plastic spatula while scraping sugar cookie dough out of the kitchenaid and realized after a bit that I'd managed to slice my thumb open in the process. FAIL! But at least it didn't bleed (that I'd have noticed) but it's right in the crease of the inside of my thumb, on the backside of the knuckle, so it's SERIOUSLY bugging me...

*headdesk*

I had to take a moment to get up from the chair in the kitchen, crack my back and NOT have icing on my fingers for a moment. (But. OMG - I <3 my kitchenaid. This is not news, but. I'm reminded yet again.) I paused in my re-watch of the entirety of SGA @ the end of Return Pt2 (oooh, SHOW!) today and am listening to Diana Gabaldon's Fiery Cross because I was gifted Echo in the Bone at Christmas and I've never quite made it through Fiery Cross and I can't just go skipping entire books. ;) I have Breath of Snow & Ashes on audio book, as well. I'd forgotten how good Davina Porter is at the accents - although, I think part of the reason I've come to seriously dislike Bree is because her American accent comes off as a bit whiney. Do we sound like that to Europeans? Slightly whiney all the time? Or is that just Bree? ;)

( Cut to avoid spoilers for The Fiery Cross )

Okay, enough slacking - back to icing cookies.

.... I have to be all !@#$(*@&#$ for a moment...

Had floor seats to tonight's Cavs/Hornets game. Cavs win - yay! But. DUDES. Floor seats.


Mo Williams, Shaq, Boobie Gibson, Lebron James, Anderson Varejao. Shaq's so huge he makes Daniel Gibson look TINY - but the guy's seriously 6'2". So. He's not a TOTAL midget. But. OMG Shaq is huge. A few seconds after I took this picture Shaq made a shot and my brother was like, "NICE SHOT, SHAQ!" and Shaq, who is clearly a sucker for all things "heaven's special children" seriously looks over at us, smiles and gives my brother the trigger finger salute... My bro may keep smiling for a week. He's sure they're "friends" now. ;)



Lebron & Boobie screwing around during warm ups while Varejao and Shaq look on... (click for larger version)



Lebron for 3!! (he knows it's good, we know it's good... Everyone else ASSUMES it's good.... ;)

OMG SO FUN! I'm officially spoiled for "normal" seats now. Just sayin'. I only had to yell at my brother ONCE for talking to Gloria James (Lebron's mother) who has the seats next the ones we had for the game. In the car on the way to the Q I was like, "What are the rules?" and he said, "Stay with you the whole time, no talking to Gloria." And what does the little shit do the minute Gloria James sits down? Turns to her and is like, "I like Lebron!" And I'm like. *FACEHANDS* "DUDESHUTUPWHATDIDITELLYOU?!" ;)

*hands*

Three of my co-workers were at the game - two (dating) in the crowd and one shooting one of the cameras for the Q. So friend!D and his GF!T were on the scoreboard during the warmups, and then in the 3rd I look up and co-worker!R is in front of me with his camera and he goes, "you guys wanna?" and points and the scoreboard and I was like, "Uh. Sure?" So, we were. Also, the dude from Fox Sports who was on the other side of the hoop from me shot us at one point, waving like dorks. So. That was fun ;) The seats were literally on the floor, there is a SLIGHT gap between the seat I was in and the base of the hoop, where the cheerleaders and the super-annoying mascot... Astrodog or whatever the hell his name is... go in and out. The mascot molested me no fewer than 3 times while going on and off the court. *grumble* But Lebron's mom gave the bro a little plastic Cavs basketball so... Everyone went home happy. ;)

FUN! And they won, which is a total bonus and extra spiffy!

And now. Bed!

My toes have been cold for two weeks. This is pretty much unacceptable.

I am (as mentioned in previous posts) someone who would happily pull a Jon Walker and live in flip flops for the rest of my life, so how the hell I decided to remain dwelling in the Midwest and now 'scientifically' proven coldest place in America is a mystery to me. I blame the 'rents and the baby bro and the fact that I have a job that pays actual money that I actually like most days... It sucks to be a grown up, because otherwise I'd seriously be taking up friend!M on our loosely and vaguely planned intentions to move to somewhere on the Mexican coast and sell friendship bracelets and suncatchers to tourists....

Anyways. Today I need to go out and get the rest of the godchild's bday gift. I have already finished the main part of her gift - a cross stitch "sampler" style little thing, that's kind of a family history thing for my family. My goddaughter is going to be either very confused, or very enlightened when it comes to religion. Her mommy's Lutheran, her daddy is athiest, her Farmor (dad's mom) is Christian, her maternal Grandma is Buddhist, her godmother is Catholic... As I told her when she was 8 weeks old and J&A asked me to be her godmother, "You're gonna be so confused! But it's okay - we'll all tell you about what we believe and you can pick the one that sounds best - or bits of all of them."

I digress - this is the finished result of the cross stitch adventure:


this was attempt number FIVE at framing it. I still don't think it's quite centered, but I effing GIVE UP at this point. She's 2, she's in no position to judge me for off-centered framing. ;)

( tl/dr )

Friend!M fishtailed on the highway on her way home from work night-before-last and apparently "fucked up her car." So I'm not sure what her deal is and if she's at the shop, or what, dealing with that. She was highly displeased when she advised me of the situation via txt the other night. But, I'm gonna head out of here around 2:30 and get shopping done, so that I can try to get my butt to the 'rents for the opening ceremonies for the Olympics tonight.

I'm excited for the Olympics! I do ♥ me some figure skating, and speed skating, and snowboarding, and also the ski-jumping (which I would never do, but looks like SUCH an adrenaline rush!) and such. I graduated from college in Dec of '01 and found myself back in NW Ohio for the opening ceremonies for the Salt Lake City games. We became so annoyed with NBC when they talked over the bit where they brought out the Ground Zero flag to TELL us it was the Ground Zero flag (even though it helpfully said so on the screen) and it was... Just one of those moments where they should have shut-the-hell-up and let the images do the talking, you know? So we flipped over to the CBC channel we got and they were being appropriately reverant. We ended up watching a lot of the channel, and as a result a lot of curling and I developed a fondness for it. I hope we get some coverage of curling this year, because it's oddly enjoyable to watch. ;)

So, yeah - I should get moving. Time to finish up the dregs of my coffee before the warmer turns off, and if M is actually interested in heading out I've only got an hour until I told her I was planning to leave (which, in her case probably means I actually have about 2 hours until she'll be ready, but. Whatevs. ;) so time to get my butt in gear.

(Hey, look! I got myself a sewing icon, tooooooooo!! :)