Amazing Blanket

So as I was leaving work today, and in the breakroom putting on my tennis shoes to head off to another fun filled evening at the gym when a co-worker asked if I could wait a second, she needed to go get something, and that it wasn't work related. I said ok, and sat down, wondering what in the world she was doing. She came back with a present, a lovely wrapped present, and inside was the beautiful HANDMADE throw she had made for me. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but if you know anything about quilt making, it's a long process. I could care less! This thing is beautiful! I could not believe that she would take the time to do this for me. I'm honestly not that close to her. We've celebrated a few b-days together, but she by no means is a drinking buddy or anything.
She had asked me a few months back if my color scheme was still red, and if I still enjoyed the color. I thought it odd, but honestly didn't think much of it. She had been to my house briefly about a year ago to pick up a work key, so that she could work over the weekend. As you can see, I love red so much, my furniture is red!
It's hard to tell from the pic, but she managed to almost match perfectly to my couch/chair/ottoman, amazing.
I gotta say, this throw is really beautiful, I couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of time this thing took. The pattern on this thing is very intricate.
Very easily stated, I was shocked, and totally blown away by such a wonderful gesture. I'm taking suggestions on how I can repay her, her birthday is in the spring, March, so it's coming up, I want to do something nice for her, so let's open up the comments! No, I am not going to take up some crafty thing and make her something, I'm not very talented and way too impatient in that arena. Hell, I don't think I could even sew a button on something if I needed to. My Dad always did that stuff for me growing up!
I'm just looking for something different. She is an avid reader, obviously likes sewing and is into the whole renaissance thing. So something in those areas, but not just a gift card or something lame like that, something special and thought out, as she obviously thought this one out for me!

I'm Weak/I'm Old!

The "I'm Weak" part:


Well, I didn't make it on Saturday night. I told myself that as long as no one called (and I really assumed they wouldn't) that I would stay in. Thanks Amanda, I love ya! Amanda called right at midnight, when I should have just been getting ready for bed, but alas, I was still in a great mood, and ready to get the hell out of the house. It really didn't take too much convincing on her part to get me out.
We headed up to The Landing (big shocker eh?) and in that 1 1/2 hours I had to drink, I managed to do pretty well. 3 Crown on the rocks and 3 Tuaca shots later, I was feelin' good. Back to Amanda's w/Chris C. and Brandon to hang out. Bed finally about 5am, but of course still woke at 10:30 with only 5 or so hours sleep. Had a great time, it was totally worth it.
I'm not big into feeling guilty. Not about this anyway. As stated previously, I have learned in this month of not drinking that it really isn' t much about the booze at all, it's just being with people. I really enjoy being out and about. Ok, at The Landing, and that's about it, but it's still out right? I am a creature of habit, what can I say?
So of course Sunday was a bust. Didn't make it to the gym, didn't even make it to the shower (I know, gross huh?). I just lounged about and watched a lot of stupid TV. If you didn't know this already, The E Channel is the BEST hangover channel. You know how you tend to drift in and out of sleep when you are hungover and trying to cope? Well, E is perfect, because everything on that channel is basic crap, so if you miss something, you really aren't missing anything at all! But you do find out a lot of useless Pop Culture knowledge like why Jessica Simpson REALLY broke it off with Nick Lachey. Yeah, see, like I said, total crap.

The "I'm Old" Part


But crap like that is exaclty what I am now calling "the youngsters" at work like, it makes me still somewhat cool to know this kind of information. It surprises them. Ok, for those of you older (which aren't all of you older? tee-hee-hee) than me, I am calling "the youngsters" anyone that thinks 30 is old now. The 18-25 range. Yes, I am now officially old to them, it sucks. There is one guy there, that is now 20, at the time of this incident, I believe he was 18. He was in our communal lunch room at work, getting his large paper bag out of the refrigerator. I am talking the paper bags that they put your groceries in, not the cute small ones you can buy for school kids lunches. I was just walking through, but stopped to watch this because I was intrigued at the size of his lunch recepticle, and had to know why he needed such a large bag. He sits down, opens the bag and pulls out (and this is not an exaggeration, this really happened):

an apple
a banana
an orange
2 cans of soda
a large bag of lay's (as in the family size)
4 sandwiches
and little debbie brownies (the WHOLE box)

I started laughing hysterically, because immediately the whole Breakfast Club scene at lunch goes through my mind. He stares up at me and asks what I am laughing at. I say something along the lines of, "Oh man, it's the whole Breakfast Club thing, ya know?" and of course he stares at me blankly. We go into a conversation about what is that, oh it's a movie, blah, blah, blah. I of course feel so old immediately and ask him what year he was born. Yeah, he was born the year the movie came out, 1985....yeah, ok, so I'm only 10 years older than him, but STILL!! I mean seriously. I don't mind my age, but it's things like that, that make you feel old. Other people thinking your old, most definitely makes me feel old.

Ok, so I went to the gym tonight, came home, showered, came in here to blog this, and now I'm off to make a nice, healthy salad for dinner and watch me some 24! I love me some Keifer!

Musical Mishap/Missin' the bar

Well, I got the rest of my CD's this afternoon from BMG, and alas, In Between Dreams is Jack Johnson's 3rd album, not Jason Mraz's 2nd. I knew this, but when ordering 13 CD's at once, you can see how I might have gotten a bit confused.
I'm about to go put it in, listened to the 1st & 2nd first, now onto album 3, could I be more anal retentive???
So it's Saturday night, a little after 7pm, and I am officially bored out of my ever loving mind! This sobriety thing is getting old. Well, I say sobriety thing, but really what I've learned out of this little experiment of mine is that I don't go out to get loaded, its more for the social aspect of it. I live alone for god's sake, I get BORED. Luckily I'm getting a puppy soon, so that'll keep me busy. I'm sure there will be blogs like Sue's, http://www.paganmonster.blogspot.com about her not so little pooch.
I have done a whole lot of nothing today. Went to the gym this morning (big whoop), came home and showered, played a shitload of spades online and listened to CD's all day. Haven't turned on the TV once. I have no desire for TV. I have a desire for socialization. I'm dying over here.
Granted, I do have to say that waking up not hung over has been nice. I'm the queen of hangovers, it's ridiculous really. Why do I drink when I know how I'm going to feel the next day? Oh, I know, the SOCIAL aspect of it. Come to think of it, I have not spoken outloud ONCE today, I probably sound like shit. Wait.......yep, I sound like shit.
I so want to go up to The Landing tonight, BAD. I miss everyone. I miss talking....
Seriously, this is the worst I've had it all month. I think I get why kids drop out of their senior year of high school 1 month before graduation. They just can't WAIT anymore. That's exactly how I feel.

God I need to get some friends that don't drink.

"Black Magic Woman" is comin' for a visit!

So my friend Sarah that moved to Portland and then to Seattle most recently is coming home for a visit. For you Landing folks that were around before I took my 2 1/2 year hiatus, you know Ms. Sarah Baker probably pretty well, if you know me. We were definitely a two-some there for quite a few years. Sarah is responsible for me finding The Tipp, which then led to The Landing.
I met Sarah in August 1996 when I began my short career at Patrizio Highland Park. She was a somewhat veteran there when I started, her and Alisha. They took me to The Tipperary Inn in September of 1996, right before I turned 21. I was served without asking for proper ID, as they were quite the regulars there, so an ID from me wasn't even an issue.
The day I got fired from Patrizio, also happened to be Sarah's birthday. Of course EVERYONE was going out that night, but alas, I was now in money trouble, so I said I wasn't going, couldn't spend the cash. Everyone offered in some free drinks, so of course I went. I ended up sitting with Bill at the bar, as I became sad (because I was drunk, and it turned into the "oh poor me" drunk) and told Bill the woes of my day. When he found out I got fired, without hesitation he said, "You want a job? I need a waitress." Then began my career at The Tipperary Inn. Of course 2 weeks later I interviewed w/McCann-Erickson, and started the career I currently hold.
So now you all realize how important this girl is to me, she pretty much gave me great bars, an avenue to meet and love all the people I do!
Thanks Sarah!!!!!!
So anyway, she will be here the last weekend in February, so for those of you in town, it will pretty much go like this:
Thursday Night - Landing
Friday Night - Landing
Saturday Night - Landing
So there's your schedule, stop by any, or all nights, we'll be there having a good ole time!
Sarah's a great gal, wish she didn't live so far! But I'm a former Pacific Northwesterner as well, so I totally get why she is there.
Hope to see you out!

The Sound of Music

So I am a member of BMG. It's just like Columbia House, where you get a bunch of CD's for free, then have to buy a few in a year, blah, blah, blah. I love it, I really do. I have my favorite CD's that I listen to over and over again, but lately, I had become bored with them. I also am still working on a CD collection, as I had built up quite a nice one, but in the first break in of my car, they stole everything IN the car, and I pretty much had all the good stuff in my car. The second break in, they took more, by the third I had wised up, and only had a couple of CD's in the car (I think). Anyway, my CD collection was bleak, don't think I had ordered any new music in well over a year, so a few weeks ago, in my bored "I'm not drinking this month" state, I went internet shopping, and purchased quite a few CD's. Only 2 actual new releases, Fiona Apple's latest and Coldplay's latest. Everything else is old, but here's a bit of what Shawna's taste in music is:

1. Coldplay - X&Y (listening to it as I type this blog)
2. Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
3. Coldplay - Parachutes
***yeah, had no Coldplay, I tend to buy EVERY album an artist does if I really dig them.Plus I am REALLY into their stuff right now after catching a repeat of VH1's version of MTV's Unplugged, except they aren't unplugged....anyway.....
4. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
***have her two previous, her 2nd is actually her best in my opinion, I still listen to it quite frequently
5. Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
6. Jack Johnson - On and On
***I've seen Jack in concert twice now (Austin City Limit's Music Fest) and his albums are PURE, he sounds the same live, he is a rare, raw, natural talent. God bless Jack Johnson! It also doesn't hurt that he's a totally hot surfer dude.
7. Justin Timberlake - Justified
8. Wilco - A.M.
***at one time, had every album from Wilco, slowly gaining them all back, there's quite a few. A.M. is probably my favorite, I've quite missed it. Have Summerteeth too, very different, this is when they jumped genres and went a little more keyboardy-eclectic-acid rock-funky-pop on us. But I like it. I met him at ACL year 3, he was staying in our hotel, he's SUPER short.
9. Garden State Soundtrack
***loved the music track in this movie, it definitely lended to the whole vibe of the movie, just a brilliant mix of songs.
10. Jason Mraz - Inbetween Dreams
11. Jason Mraz - Waiting For My Rocket to Come
***first album is really kinda funkadelic, hard to explain, most of it is nothing like the stuff on the radio, it's almost hip-hop rappish, it's interesting, trust me.
12. Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
13. Uncle Tupelo -No Depression
***from Uncle Tupelo spawned Wilco and Son Volt, two awesome bands on their own. Too bad the bitches couldn't get along, otherwise a "super band" might have been formed. No one will ever know....god damned bitches...

That's a bunch of music eh? As you can see, I am going with the whole,"if I like their first album, I'll probably like their next".
And YES, for those of you who FREAKED on #7, I purposely left it out, knowing there would be some oh my god's coming from you, I LOVE me some Justin. I love me some N'Sync, can't believe they aren't in my collection (and no, they aren't) but I'm sure will be some day. If you know me really well, you know I have this problem/love with ultra pop music, I just love it, I can't help it. I know they are talentless fucks, but someone out there wrote and composed the music, and sometimes I'm in the mood for it, sue me!
So that's it for my musical review, hope you enjoyed. See, now we can have stuff to talk about at the bar!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Man, I'm not very good at the blog stuff so far. It's hard to think of clever, interesting things for your friends to read, that might, somehow make you sound cool, or at least spark conversation at The Landing when we all gather for the weekend ritual of intoxication.
Not getting together and drinking on the weekends has been pretty weird, I must admit. Complete and total change of lifestyle in the blink of an eye! So much free time, and restlessness, wondering what in the world to do with sobriety!
Ok, so I'll admit, as most of you know by now, last Saturday I fell off the wagon, for Brandon's birthday. Ok, yes, his birthday is just an excuse, but a damned good one I must admit! Thank you Brandon, for turning 33, you will forever hold a place in my heart! tee-hee-hee
It was fun, dinner at Bangkok City (I said cock), drinks at The Landing (of course) and then off to Million Dollar Saloon to look at tiddies! Yeah for the tiddies! God love the strip joints, for all the entertainment factors they hold. Here are the top five reasons to go see tiddies:

1. You get to see tiddies, and somehow it's not weird.

2. You get to hear really good 80's hairband songs like "Girls, Girls, Girls", which will always bring me fond memories of tiddies past. There will be a lot of Billy Idol faces made and hands up in the traditional "horns" fashion, and mustn't we forget the trashing about of the head.

3. You get to spend $5.75 on a Budweiser and somehow you don't scream highway robbery, it's just the price you pay for getting to see all the lovely tiddies.

4. Watching the men you are with, as well as the others scattered around the room, oogling at all the tiddies, look at all the pretty tiddies. Black ones, white ones, fake ones, real ones, small ones, tiddies as far as the eye can see.

5. All the fond memories you will have of chasing a stripper down for that special birthday song, friends acting like pros with the ladies, drinking hot tuaca and jager, and laughing at how horrific it tastes and lest we forget, all the glorioius tiddies you got to see.

That's the most exciting thing I've done in the last 2 weeks. I guess that's a pretty good one, it's not as if I frequent the strip clubs or anything.
Haven't had a drink since, really wanted to last night, but managed to keep my butt at home. Went and had some steaks over at James & Dave's place about 5:30, but alas, the boys had plans all along to go out, so I had to quickly make my escape before the temptation grew too strong.
One more weekend of not going out, then I'm back to the bar. This should leave me with more interesting things to blog about, because hyjinx always happen at The Landing!

Day 9

So it's day 9 of my 31 days of non-drinking.....um......yeah.......it's just fan-fucking-tastic. Seriously, just kidding. Although we will now get into why not drinking is not really going to save me money, it's inevitably going to cost me more.
So I had my first weekend of non-alcoholic entertainment. Can I just start by saying, it's rather lonely! Everyone I know likes to get loaded on the weekends to blow of some steam, so I'm just left like a shadow, waving sadly in the background, while everyone peels off in their camaro's and shit to go to the Landing. Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an overstatement (because I don't know anyone that has a camaro, but it sure would be bitchin' if someone did) of the truth, but you get my drift.
So let's do a little play by play, and you can comment on whether or not this was a "fun filled weekend". Friday night I went straight home, been battling a bit of a sinus infection/bronchitis little ditty, so just wanted to go home and take a bunch of drugs and pass the fuck out. So I went home, piddled around the house, played online spades for way too long (what the hell else did I have to do?) and took a bunch of drugs and passed out around 12:30am. Woke up at 8:30 on Saturday morning (thanks Jodi) and went right back to sleep until about 10ish. Called Amanda to get the scoop on the night before (god forbid something happens at The Landing and I'm not there to witness it) and was pleasantly surprised to find out that not a thing had happened, it was lame, so Amanda started drinking whiskey and got hammered. So I went over to Amanda's and we went to Goldrush for breakfast with Brandon. I got to listen to them pick at eachother for about an hour, and then made my way alone to Ikea in Frisco. Wasn't as nightmarish as I had suspected. Got a few things (and no, not enough, I must go back for more, I am a brainwashed drone) and headed back to non-suburbia. Hit the Blockbuster on the way home. I pick up Radio (old movie, but on the recommendation of my sister Sherri), Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, March of the Penguins and Last Days (as Gus Van Sant flick about Curt Cobain).
And now for the reviews of the movies I have watched thus far:

Radio
-Cuba Gooding Jr. playing a retard (yep, I said retard) and befriends the coach of a small town football team. Blah, blah, blah, suck you in and make you care, then you cry. That's the movie.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
-Brad and Angelina......yeah, they are super-human androidinally (don't know if it's a word, but I sure do like it) hot and look great, and blah, blah, blah, blood, fighting, sex, ahhhhhhhhhhh, we DO love eachother. That's the movie.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose
-Not anyone too famous, scary but not gory, interesting courtroom drama twist, blah, blah, blah, scary contortions of the body, fight for justice, happy for all. That's the movie.

So I watched the first two on Sat. night, Exorcism on Sunday afternoon (yep, too afraid to watch it at night alone). Sunday I got up around 9:30 and had a laundry list of things to do. Didn't get them all done, but quite a few. Laundry, pedicure,Wal-Mart. That's all she wrote, that was enough. Played spades more, made some dinner, watched TV. Went to bed around 11ish, and there you have it.
You be the judge.

Not that it's a big deal, because if I had gone out my weekend would have gone like this:
Went to the Landing, got drunk, passed out, woke up, hung over as hell, breakfast w/the usual, lay on couch until 8pm, then shower, go to the Landing, got drunk, passed out......

So it's day 9, not too terrible yet, but there's still quite a road ahead......

To be continued...

Alcohol Free January

Well, here it is folks, I've finally decided to become a blogger. Been thinking about it for a while, and decided it was time. I've quite enjoyed The House of Dave, as most of you probably have as well, and felt it was time to share my life, thoughts and rants about random things that happen in day to day life. Sometimes it might be funny, sometimes it might be sad, you never know with me, now do you?
I'm starting off the New Year with no alcohol. Thought I'd try no booze for 31 days and see if its really all it's cracked up to be. Don't fret my friends, this is not a path that is leading me to AA or anything like that. I once went to AA when I was 20, thinking I was an alcoholic, because my father, his father, one of my sisters, and numerous other relatives of mine have declared their over indulgence of the alcoholic (or drug) kind and I thought, "well, I'm sure to be one too!" Well, I was wrong. An old man said to me in a meeting I was attending, "Honey, I've spilled more booze than you've drank!" I realized then and there, that he was probably right, and I think I headed to the nearest bar to celebrate! Is that some foreshadowing you ask? Maybe, maybe not.
I'll admit, I have a tendency to over indulge in every aspect of my life, I have a highly addictive personality. I've done it all, booze, drugs, food, smoking, work, you name it, if I've tried it, I've gone overboard. It's just who I am. Like it or leave it. Most people leave it unfortunately, but at least I know who my true friends in life are.
I have a feeling my weekends will be filled with blog rants this month of how stupid I was to decide that not drinking for 31 days was a good idea. I'm hoping to get some things accomplished that my drinking weekends tend to get pushed aside due to the collosal hangovers I get. Why I drink, as shitty as I feel the next day, this still remains a mystery.
I have a feeling most people in my life do not believe this is something I can accomplish. I certainly hope to prove them all wrong.
I can only see what happens and try my hardest to accomplish this minimal feat. If I can pull it off, then certain people (and they know who they are) need to give me a little slack and realize I drink because I like to have fun, not because I have to drink.