So there's been a family situation going on recently and it's frustrating beyond belief.

The background is this: one of my sisters and her husband have 3 kids. their parenting is well sucky, atrocious, non-existant at best. Punishments never stick, one parent says one thing, the other parent says another. The kids have gotten basically anything material they've wanted, if not only to have something to "babysit" the children. There has not been any kind of set bedtime....

So I received a bunch of gift cards for my birthday a few weeks ago. There is one that I don't care for and would gladly give to someone here who wants it and/or needs it given the crap ass economy. It's $25 for Denny's. Let me know and I'll put it in the mail.

It's fairly inconsequential (ok it's really nothing to get upset about) but the curiosity is what is getting to me. Why would a friend come all the way from NY to Chicago to attend my wedding (flying on a plane for the first time in her life and incurring hotel and food expenses), tell us that she'd see us in May for her wedding yet we didn't get an invite? I'm not upset upset, but I really am wondering. It's not like I can come out and ask...might be a tad uncomfortable.

...

another year gone and this one was a busy one for sure.

January---probably just cursing the snow and depressing winter weather. Oh and I had the pleasure of seeing this person in concert. Two tickets were a gift from my sister (if you knew her, you'd understand her sense of humor. regardless, we went to the show anyway. It was $10 a piece):




February: seeing Bon Jovi & meeting...

I ordered 2 new pairs of shoes and when I tracked it online when I got home today from work, it said that the package was delivered to my apt building a little after noon today. however, no package was to be found at either door to my building. I've called DHL and they're looking into it but I have to believe here that some not so nice person treated themselves to my new shoes. I'm hoping for a miracle here and the driver will tell me that he really didn't leave my package here but I'm not counting...

...mirrors on the ceiling

my husband and I just returned from a few days in Vegas. we got our hotel room through Hotwire aka didn't know which hotel it would be until we purchased. Our main criteria was at least 3 stars and on the strip. We ended up at the Imperial Palace for about $225 for 3 nights. Our room had a king bed and a bathtub that reminded me of Al Pacino in Scarface. Both had mirrors on the ceiling above. definitely my first experience with that and I honestly...

I originally had a different title on this entry but after having a night to reflect, I am trying to stay optimistic and just get out there and do this for myself.

apparently I'm back on the market again....job-wise anyway. I got screwed today. the receptionist at my office applied for a different job within the company and got it. instead of filling her position, they instead decided that they would put me in her job. the same job that I had over 2 years ago before I was promoted....

what do you do for your sister's 40th birthday? for a stay at home mom that rarely ever does much for herself because she's so busy? well, my sister Theresa is a hard person to shop for, but any gift that is either Snoopy-related or Pittsburgh Steelers-related is a sure thing. This year with a landmark birthday, my other 2 sisters and my mom decided that we would buy her tickets to finally see a Steelers game. If you'd seen her collection of Steelers stuff....apparel, jewelry, magazines, collectibles....even...

last year, K and I attended my company's golf outing dinner and won a laptop. we came home tonight with a Panasonic DVD/CD home theater system:



and it has an iPod dock too





I wonder what next year will bring, I think we could get used to this

for months I've had a lot of things to post but for whatever reason, just haven't. there's always been something else to do. it's been a whirlwind these past few months...two bridal showers, wedding planning, wedding gifts, a baptism, another new ballpark for us (Nationals Park), a family pet being put down, and finally....the wedding (June 29)! Yup, I'm a married woman now. Anyway, here goes. read on if you like...there's pictures


For our gifts to each other...Last fall,...

After having some ups and downs this past week or so, it was nice to have a really great day. This morning, I was supposed to have a pre-bday brunch with my fiance and his mom. We met at 11:30 this morning. Well as we're walking toward the table, I see balloons and flowers and a bunch of his aunts and cousins. It turned out today was a surprise bridal shower for me I had no idea (that's the point ). So after a great meal, I got to open a ton of gifts. the whole car was filled when we...

true story. long and short- I was asked to be my niece's godmother. problem is that I haven't been a regular churchgoer for some time. I've had the sacraments--baptism, first communion, confirmation, just haven't been to church in a while. my sister's church needed a form/letter that stated that I was eligible to be a godparent. Anyway, I went to a local parish and inquired about membership and this letter. I had to fudge a little of course, because I haven't been to mass. but the priest said he...

...that a 2nd airline would go crapsies in one week??! Apparently, Skybus is no more. And as my sister said in her voicemail last night, "We're all fucked." She and another one of my sisters and their husbands and kids from North Carolina all had tickets to my wedding in June on this airline. That's 8 tickets down the crapper and they're instructed to contact their credit card companies to get their money back. I guess the positive in this whole situation is that there is still...

...is way too early in the morning for bad news.

My fiance wakes me up as he leaves for work every morning. Today, he informed me after watching the morning news that ATA airlines is kaput, ceasing all service on all flights. Normally, this wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. However, we have tickets through Southwest Airlines/ATA Airlines codeshare for our honeymoon to Hawaii in June. The first half of our tickets on Southwest are fine, since that gets us to Oakland. The other...

So there probably doesn't need to be ANOTHER reason why road rage can lead to bad things, but anyway...

I was driving home from work tonight. Got off the highway at my exit like I always do. the ramp was backed up a bit, so all the cars were bunched together so to speak. Traffic starts to move and there's a red Ford Taurus behind me. I don't pay any attention as we pull up to a red light. The light turns green and I proceed to go straight/veer to the right to take the ramp that leads...