alive

I am alive!

Christmas was good... New Years is going to be VERY low key... headed out to meet Rylee for the first time... I'll actually do a full post when I get HOME! Which, seriously I can not wait for. Being away from home for two-weeks for a "home-body" is difficult.

Happy New Years everyone! See you in 2009!

Yesterday I completed my 2nd of 2 classes I had to take at Wayside Waifs to be a volunteer. I can now go socialize with the kittens / cats and walk the dogs. Training yesterday was... somewhat helpful but oh so boring. I walked a dog named Diva, such a sweet sweet lab. I plan on going out one night this week before I leave for Iowa.

I chopped my hair off! Well, I didn't - my friend Carrie did. I absolutely love it. It takes me all of about 8 minutes to completely dry and style it. It used to take me 10 minutes just to dry my hair!

My head is still very sore, I wonder if it hasn't been what my headaches yesterday and today have been from.

I went to church today. First time in over a year. I sobbed. Literally. It was the kids Christmas program this morning, which... it wasn't my favorite kids program I've seen, but it was very cute nonetheless. They had a soldier speak who has been back for 10 days from Kosovo and was getting ready to deploy again today. He couldn't speak for the first few minutes as he sobbed. Joy to him was playing Wii with his son, talking to his daughter, being able to hug his wife. The things a lot of us take for granted. The pastor seems incredible. He cried multiple times, I felt like I was at home ;)

I leave for Iowa a week from today and will be there for 14 days. I made sure I was going to be there for awhile as I don't plan on going back somewhere between April - June.

I have one person left to shop for, my 8 year old nephew. When asked what he wants, he says either a 4-wheeler or a 50 inch plasma TV. I know, right? He'll probably end up with cash from me. That way he can spend it on a game for his PSP or something else he's been eyein.

Not sure I'll get around to posting before I leave for Iowa, or Christmas... if not, I hope everyone has a very Merry, safe and happy Christmas!

saw stars

Only have a few minutes before I have to head out for a birthday party so this will be quick. I'll post more later....

Yesterday morning I was throwing a few things out of the fridge at work, I was standing back up when I hit my head on the corner of the metal first aid kit. Oh. My. Gosh! Seriously, saw stars. It took my breath away. It hurts beyond words today, it hurts to wash my hair (which I have hardly any left thanks to a good friend, a story and picture for another post). It didn't bleed but wow. That's all I can say to explain the pain. WOW!

so he was here

It's been a crazy last week. Playing catch up Monday, CEO in town Wednesday night so a lot of preparations Tuesday and Wednesday... Thursday was the big day. I wore a pant suit for the first time ever...EVER! It felt great and I got a load of compliments. Breakfast was good... only a few of the customers who were supposed to attend ended up coming, but it was a great time. I headed back to the office for about 30 minutes and then we headed downtown for lunch. Overall, it was good but it sucked that only 1 customer showed up. I can't believe how humble, down to earth he is. I seriously almost started crying as I'm sitting next to him, listening to him. He is truly a good person and that makes me even more proud to be working for this company.

I learned something new in the world of blogging today, thanks to MckMama. So lets see if it worked. Tonight as I am heading upstairs to get ready for the birthday /holiday party I was going to attend, I made it to the bathroom just in time to throw up. I haven't felt the best all day ... I would say just a case of the flu. So, vs. going out tonight and having fun, I'll be staying in ... damnit dag nabbit!

Something new

I completely forgot... Friday night, my parents and I met Patti at the Riverside casino. It was the first time I'd ever been to a casino. I had so much fun and am ready to go back already! I won $20...I lost $2 on the penny slots, lost $1 on the quarter slots then won money on the nickel slots. There was a band playing, singing Buddy Holly songs ... they were excellent!!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

It feels like it has been forever since I've wrote anything... I'm sure I'll be all over the place with this post as things "come back to me".


Just when I think things at work can not get any more hectic, the ceo is coming to town this week. So between trying to get things ready for vacation 2 weeks ago, preparing for month end, I also had additional work added with the team coming to the branch. Lets hope I don't pull out all my hair by the time Thursday gets here :)


My phone bit the bullet Thursday night (the week before Thanksgiving). I had intentions of going to the store Friday night, but we went to the bar instead. I thought I'd try calling into Customer Care Friday night, they told me I'd have ot go into the store, which was closed for the night. Saturday morning (the day I was supposed to be leaving for Iowa, so I was late getting on the road) I ran into the store and with my luck, they didn't have any of my phones in stock. Imagine that! I had to wait until Wednesday to get a different one...we'll see how long this one lasts.


I get to Iowa Saturday evening...to find out Mom is watching the kids. We had fun but damn I was tired come Sunday. Early in the week, Mom's pc crapped out on us. Thankfully I had brought my work pc as I had planned on working some ... but that meant I couldn't do anything besides work... no email, no facebook, no blog... UGH! And with having no phone... I was going crazy!


Thanksgiving was good. Food was delish, company was good, but we were missing my Uncle J and family. Very difficult Thanksgiving in that manner. My Aunt J and Mom and I made a trip to Burlington Thursday night to see them though.


Mom and I left their house at 4:15 Black Friday morning... with the kids and Dad at home sleeping. Our last stop was Target, where we stood in line for TWO FREAKIN hours. Target was SO messed up when it came to checking people out, it could have been easily prevented but apparently Target or their management staff wasn't prepared for Black Friday.


Saturday, Mom and I went to CR for hair cuts... I have hardly any hair left... still getting used to it but I think I like it. HUGE adjustment. I didn't get any pictures of it Saturday and didn't do anything with it today, so no pics yet.


Lastly, before I show the pics... a conversation with my 8 year old nephew...


B: Aunt Kelli, give me a multiplication problem. A hard one.
Me: What is 4 x 30?
B: 120
Me: What is 3 x 30?
B: 90
Me: Good Job, B.
B: Aunt Kelli, give me something harder.


Seriously? 2nd grader who is asking for multiplication problems? I don't remember doing multiplication until 3rd grade. Oh, and he can spell transportation and enthusiastically.


A conversation with M...


My Mom: M, what do you want for Christmas?
M: White socks
Mom: Why white socks?
Not going to post her answer...
Me: so you want purple socks?
M: (very stearnly) No, white.
Me: how about pink?
M: (deeper voice) No, WHITE.
Me: can I get you purple with green polka-dots?
M: (even more deep and stearn) No, I said I wanted W H I T E.

So, M will be getting white socks for Christmas and she's pretty serious about getting white socks!

M taking a bath... I had to edit some of the pics ;o)

Medusa




She loved looking at herself in the mirror.

The goop afterwards.

Watching TV
B flying out of Grandpa's chair
coming in for the landing

Isn't he freakin adorable?

Hope ya'll had a Happy and safe Thanksgiving! Hope you survived Black Friday! Have a great week!

my heart felt warm

Not a lot to talk about... so I'll share some pics. These first two were taken this week as M and I pulled into the parking lot at work. Beautiful!

This past Thursday, part of the team volunteered at Operation Breakthrough. We only got a glimpse of the facility as we walked through, almost being trampled by little kids, trying to find the front desk to tell them we were there. From what I saw, it was amazing! I definitely want to go back to work with them again!

The 5 of us that went (including M's boss who was in from out of town) chaperoned little kids to the circus. 4 of us were with 2 and 3 year olds, one was with 5 year olds. It was a long morning, but they all did SO good!

Me and Faith. She loved that dang wet wipe!

Pam and Jason. One of two lil boys that ate their entire brown sack lunch and pretty much sat in their seat pretty much the whole time.

The two girls I was responsible for most of the morning... Faith and Tatyana (sp?)

B "catching" the kids as they jumped into his arms off the bus.

One more week of work and then I'm off for 9 days!! Yipppeee!

Have a great week everyone!

Sit back and relax, I feel like this could be a long one! Haha

This past week was pretty quiet, Monday morning was the most people we had in the office the entire week. After Monday, we were lucky to have 3 reps in the office... very very nice for me! Two of the reps left Monday afternoon for Iowa for training...that immediately changed the office! With Tuesday being election day, those that were there were late, some left early to vote, it was just an off day. We had one out sick 1/2 the week, one that was in Springfield for appointments one day... seriously, a different week.

My parents bought me curtains for the patio / dining room for Christmas when they were down last month... the store didn't have them in stock though. They called Thursday and said they were in... WOOT! I went and picked them up Friday after work while I was waiting on dinner. I also went to JoAnn Fabrics and picked up a small tree, some ornaments, a little skirt. I got these for the office since we are hosting "Little Angels" through the Salvation Army. I also picked up a couple of really cute things for christmas... all for a whopping $24! I didn't get a pic of my collection.

The only bad thing about this week... with M and I car pooling, I got "stranded" at the office one day. It was my week to drive, but M needed to drive one day b/c he didn't want to be seen in one of the reps vehicles for their appt (haha!). Well, neither of us thought about it before they left... they were gone from 9AM - 530pm. The company car was in Iowa with the 2 reps in training and with the short staff, I had no way of getting lunch. I ended up having to have Quizno's delivered, so I guess it turned out okay.

This weekend was busier than normal for me. I have a feeling though that things are going to pick up with volunteering. The morning started off with sitting at the dealership getting my tires rotated. Of course, they tried to do all these "maintenance" things to the car -... ummm, not for $150.00. no thanks!

Saturday afternoon I headed over to Wayside Waifs to go through volunteer orientation. The room was freakin packed full of people, which is awesome! Read more about Wayside Waifs here . I am so excited! I socialized with a few kittens before I left. Of course, I had one that just attached to me, a white long haired one. SO cute! I signed up for two classes while I was there. I'm more excited to get out and walk the dogs, play with the puppies and kittens!

Today, I worked on a gift to my grandparents. I took this picture during our family get together in September. I knew after taking it I wanted to make a frame for them vs. just buying one... for my 2nd picture frame, I think it turned out pretty good.


Frame before any changes made.

Colors I would use... I didn't end up using brown.

First coat

Matte... which would soon change.

Almost done
Final product . .. my grandparents kitchen is an off-white color with blue trim. I figured this would fit in well.

The curtains

Besides that, I've been nursing an owie most of today, so it's been pretty laid back. Preparing for a busy upcoming week too...We'll have 2 "visitors" (M's boss and RR's boss) in town this week and a full office again. The team also has an all day semimar on Wednesday at the Sprint Center and then Thursday we will be volunteering at Operation Breakthrough on Thursday. I couldn't get the dang link to work for some reason so... here it is www.operationbreakthrough.org.

Now, I'm off to eat my homemade pizza and watch my Sunday night shows. Have a great week ya'll!

Yes I did

Yes, I did vote.

As much as it pisses a crap load of other people off... I have to get this off my chest. For those of you that know me - I don't follow politics, I'm just not into it. Now, ask me what happened on Grey's last week and I'll give you a run-down... hahaha. Back to the voting.... what really, really pisses me off - people who will spout off at the mouth and blabber until their blue in the face with their opinion on who we should all vote for, and then they don't vote. So you were out of town, you knew you were going to be out of town - plan freaking ahead and absentee.

Then, we have people who moved, YEARS ago... literally, YEARS ago... you freakin knew what / when election day is - and you don't update your information to vote? And then you say "I'm only one person, my vote won't matter!" OMG!!! Seriously? If everybody thought that, then we'd have no votes. Yet again, another person who has no problem voicing their opinions. And T, if you're reading this, I swear on my Grandmother's life this is not in reference to you.

Right, I'm not into politics, but I'm VERY VERY passionate about voting - if you can't tell :)

As we all have people to pray for, please pray for a co-worker. She and her family are very religous, very smart people. Well, they found out today that their daughter has gotten 4 tattoos since leaving for college in June. Please pray that they don't kill their daughter when she gets back at Thanksgiving. I have nothing against tats...promise - but, well this family does. Aye...

I'm off to watch the results... I hope my man wins :)

awwwe, kittens and puppies

For our community service this month, we volunteered at Waywide Waifs. The majority of the morning we did "busy work" ... filing paperwork, cleaning out a storage closet and getting paperwork ready for scanning. The rest of the morning, we socialized the kittens and puppies. Basically, we got to play with the kittens and puppies. Being a cat and dog lover, I had so much fun! I had one 'lil kitten (whose name was Chatty Cathy, imagine that!) that just latched onto me and cried everytime I put her down. As soon as I picked her back up she purred and just loved on me. We moved on to the dogs... and OMG melt my heart! Derrick was my friend, he sat on my lap, ran around for awhile and then sat on my lap some more. *sniff*

I got one pic of one of us with the kittens but that is it...but here are some with us and the puppies.


the gang

Brenda trying to give me a kiss

Brenda and me

Brenda chewing on Pam's pants

J and Derrick. Aint he cute??

Mike playing with the kittens.

I had so much fun that I applied to do some volunteer work on my own. The place was a 'lil rank - but that's to be expected with all these animals.

Its a weekend of R&R for me. Have a few things I need to get done but no real plans. Have a great weekend ya'll!

I need another day off

Last week flew by... it's been about 6 weeks since I've had a "normal" work week. We had a new hire start Monday, her boss and a trainer in town this past week and then I was off Friday so it's all a blur.

My parents got into town at about 6:30 Friday night. We ran and got Subway for dinner and came back home.

Saturday we were all over the place...we had breakfast at ihop, headed down to Prydey's Kitchen o try the pie and then to Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Kohl's, JcPenney's, JoAnn Fabrics - ate at Arthur Bryant's...seriously, all over the city!

Sunday was "fix-it" day. Mom finished painting the kitchen, Dad tore apart the island and put it back together and we took care of a few other "problems" around the house. Dad took down the nasty blinds in the dining room / patio area and put up a new rod. The panels should be in soon. We ate at Texas Roudhouse for dinner.... MMMMM.

They left this morning after we ate breakfast. It was such a good weekend, I miss them already but it will only be a few weeks before I see them again!

Other than it being a 4-day work week, the week should be pretty normal.

I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself... I have over 100 pics from last week and this past weekend and I only ended up uploading "a few"!

in Denver at the hotel

*sigh* I love the mountains

This past weekend, 3 of my very good girlfriends came down from Iowa. We laughed so hard, had so much fun and are planning another one in the spring!

They got in around 4:30 Friday afternoon, after unloading their car, we talked for a few minutes then left for dinner.... Texas Roadhouse, yum!

Mmmmm.... beer
Patti being funny

After 2 or 3 silly ones, finally... a good pic!
here's to you Shaun.... hehehe
Amanda and me

After dinner, we ran across the street to Wal-Mart for drinks and snacks for the night (which who would have thought we'd need snacks after dinner... geesh). Anyways, they had punkins (my version of pumpkins :o) ) for $1.98 - the big ones! Patti wanted one that was at the very bottom of the box and the shortest of us all, Tammy, decided to climb in the box and get it out for her. We all almost pissed our pants laughing at her. People were stopping to take pictures of her.

After Wal-Mart we decided to start the night off right... at a bar! Hehe...

Tammy's drink and shot... that I ended up drinking.
My drink
3 of the 4 shots empty - 4th one is above, I just had yet to drink it.

We tried to convince M to stop by, but he wussed out. Patti made him promise and threatened him if he didn't show up. I told him we'd stop by at 2 am if they didn't show up since he promised. After we agreed he wasn't going to show up, we decided to come back to my place to drink some more.

Towards the end of the night....
Dancing the night away!

Glamour... work it Tammy!

We followed through on our threat to M that night... not sure what time it was but we headed over to his house to leave him a nice present since he broke his promise. LOL - he was cleaning it up as we drove by Sat AM.

The night ended at about 3:30 am...after puking twice. I couldn't believe it, I've drank way more in the past and only ever thrown up once before. I tried to lay down next to Patti but woke up around 4:15 b/c she was snoring in my face... silly girl. I was up at 7:30 for our nail appt.

We were all so tired, the pedi felt so good to all of us!!

We ate Mexican for lunch and then headed down to Crown Center for the punkin fest / patch.

Patti, Tammy and Amanda with the scare crow

Patti in the firetruck
Amanda in the firetruck

Patti, Tammy, Amanda

It was pretty warm Saturday afternoon... the kids all looked like they were enjoying themselves. From Crown Center we headed back to my place. Patti and I took a nap while Amanda and Tammy watched a movie. We ate a late dinner and then lounged around my place afterwards.

We got up Sunday morning, had brunch then the girls left, of course not before we got a group picture.

Haha... Tammy is a bit on the shorter side, so I wanted to make sure the camera position would get her in the picture. I set the timer and showed her where to stand, she thought I meant right beside me - this is me pushing her into the camera view!

To my girls: I had SO much fun and hopefully you did too. I will cherish those memories forever, including the "incident" while at M's house Friday night! I can't wait for our next girls weekend!!