This & That

this weekend i’m having some coworkers over for a get together.. since i’ve been at the company (over a year), there haven’t been any departmental social gatherings. that’s got to change. :)

i hope everyone comes thirsty and with a DD, cause i have enough alcohol in this house for a fraternity party. :) well.. maybe not quite.

everyone is bringing something, and most everyone is coming. it’ll be fun i think. we’ll be regifting our crappiest xmas gifts.

i’m excited.

i’ve spent all but a few hours of my time off inside my house. i made list after list, and crossed thing after thing off of them.

here’s a sampling…
thank you notes – done
letter written – done
xmas decorations taken down – done
vacuuming – done
“up in the air” – watched
eli stone episodes – watched
flash forward – totally sucked in. 2 more episodes to go
papers – filed
gifts – put in their proper places
curtains – hung
new calendar – purchased
bar room – arranged properly
photos – ordered and placed on wall
prints properly framed and hung
rest – achieved

these things i did not get to…
bills – checkbook is at the office
properly hemming curtains
total scrubdown of the house
changing the lightbulb in the outside lamp

i’ve been able to rest which was much needed. i’m eating normally now, and my sniffles are all but dried up. i think one more night of nyquil will do the trick.

my plow guy came twice this weekend. that’s 7 times total this year. (or about $71.5 per plow) little by little it’s becoming worth it.

this weekend i saw up in the air. it was a decent film, i thought the actress that played the younger woman was good… i would rent it though.. if you are so inclined.

after the movie i got gas at one of my favorite full serve gas stations.. they had a problem removing my gas tank cover, both attendants tried to remove it, and one managed to break it into two pieces.. he suggested i “go to walmart and get a replacement – they are only about $4″. well. walmart, nor napa nor autozone carry my part.. and if they did it would need to be ordered.. i called the dealer and they had the piece for $32. cath suggested i ask about it being under warranty. i’m glad i did, because it was.

i finally got around to watching the backlog of my dvr queue. i had to supplement some of my eli stone episodes with downloaded versions, but i was able to put that show to rest.

flashforward is a pretty compelling show. i’ve been immediately sucked in. there are at least 4 people in it i recognize from other shows. the main female character – dr olivia benford (Sonya Walger) is “penny” from LOST, simon (dominic monaghan) is also “charlie” from LOST and nicole the babysitter (peyton list) is also “Jane Sterling” from madmen.. the main character, mark benford (joseph fiennes) is a movie star, from shakespeare in love, running with scissors.. and another fbi agent demetri noh is john cho, he’s also a movie star. he is in the harold & kumar movies. if you haven’t watched it, i urge you to.. it’s quite great. the 2nd half of the season starts march 4th, it’ll be 14 more episodes.

i rarely ever get sick… i wonder if that is why i am getting hit so hard by this stomach virus….

yesterday i was feeling rather full after lunch, but was able to eat dinner and sleep through the night, and i didn’t have the runs… so i thought i was in the clear… but i had to leave work today… and thank god i did when i did because i’ve been evacuating any sort of liquid or food in my body quick and often.

i seriously feel like my stomach is made of alka-seltzers.. i’m full of gas… it’s such a  terrible feeling. when i called cath today she told me SBH and teagy have been puking all day. :( ugh, i would never wish this on anyone… it’s miraculous that cath has been able to resist with all the sickies that she is living with.

i’ve had to cancel my NYE plans as well. :(

what terrible timing.

i’m going to try to get to bed early tonight and pray that i feel better tomorrow, eating just crackers and plain rice. cath *my hero* went to the store for me and brought me saltines, ginger ale and gatorade. heaven.

if i have a headache tomorrow from dehydration i will be so upset.

has anyone else seen previews for this on MTV? its 4 guys who drummed up a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they died, then set off to try to accomplish these things and filmed it all documentary style along the way.

it starts january 18th on MTV. theburiedlife.com

so i procrastinated sleeping last night by coming up with my own list of things i wanted to do before i die..

1. fall in love and be loved back
2. spend a couple weeks in australia
3. spend a couple weeks in new zealand
4. see pearl jam in concert
5. survive a plane crash
6. own a BMW
7. meet adam carolla
8. tour the pyramids in egypt
9. lose 25 lbs
10. have children
11. meet seth macfarlane and tour studio where family guy is made
12. spend 2-3 weeks touring around france
13. get paid to write a travel blog
14. help build a house
15. lose 50 lbs
16. plant and harvest a vegetable garden
17. see a gilbert godfried stand up
18. nude model for a figure drawing class
19. spend a couple of weeks touring italy, be sure to see the amalfi coast
20. meet michael phelps
21. have a solo art show, sell some of the pieces
22. lose 75 lbs
23. see a taping of SNL
24. see the inside of the green monster
25. watch a red sox game atop the green monster
26. drive cross country
27. see a taping of the jimmy kimmel show and meet jimmy.
28. visit dresden, germany
29. lose 100 lbs
30. go to greece
31. take a cruise to alaska
32. take a helicopter ride around Hawaii
33. be a contestant on the show Amazing Race
34. fill up a passport
35. stay overnight in an ice hotel
36. lose 125 lbs
37. travel down the grand canyon on a donkey
38. own a persian cat
39. tour some wineries in california’s wine country
40. read the bible
41. spend a week or more on a sailboat
42. stay on a yacht
43. spend a week in Maine
44. whiten my teeth
45. lose 150 lbs
46. build a stone retaining wall
47. be assigned a clan by the mohawk tribe
48. take part in a sweatlodge ceremony
49. skydive
50. take a zip line through the trees
51. slide down a natural waterslide made of stone
52. have a song written about me
53. go water tubing
54. learn to snowboard
55. ride a mechanical bull
56. Go on a long train ride and stay in a sleeper car
57. go to pamplona and witness the running with the bulls

this christmas i was so ill… i caught a stomach bug somewhere and still am not feeling back to 100%. but at least the puke-fest and bowel explosions have subsided. there were times where i couldn’t keep a sip of water down that i thought i might need to go to the hospital and get on an IV. my body is sore in places i didn’t know i had.. two upsides to throwing up i discovered though, 1. it’s a great ab workout. my only ab workout really. and 2. that euphoric feeling right after you are done retching and puking your guts out is heavenly, i wonder if that is what heroin feels like….

take the general bad feelings from eating pure crap for about a week straight and add a couple days being tied to a toilet plus a four hour drive back to syracuse and that is where i am at now. if i had any sort of appetite, fresh fruits and vegetables would seem most desirable to me right now.

aside from the sickness, christmas was pretty great. we were able to skype with the hunts of NY and even see the guarnas in person yesterday. little auds hair is turning darker, and i wonder if it won’t turn dark like her mommys someday. EH is ready to have her own little “zoe-girl”.. we all hope for a boy, but won’t be surprised if it’s a girl…

patty was glad to see here mommy and daddy for about 5 minutes, but was more than ready to go home this morning.. it’s funny how she knows when travel days are..

i got all kinds of great gifts too. :) and spent more money than i’m willing to admit at IKEA. i just love that place…

i’m sad to say that i only took 16 pictures the whole time i was there. :(

i’ve added them to the end of this album.