Your Next Disaster

The Emmy’s were last night - which means two things: 1. My favorite shows getting praised (hopefully) and 2. Summer hiatus is almost over!

I was about half satisfied with the Emmy’s last night… I think Jimmy Fallon did a great job as host (I find him amusing about half the time and that’s pretty much all you can expect from an awards show). The comedy portion of the awards went pretty much how I would have liked them to: “Modern Family” won best comedy and that was WELL DESERVED. Even though I love “GLEE” - the second half of the season was pretty meh while on the other hand, Modern Family was consistently good every single week. I was also extremely pleased that Jim Parsons won for Sheldon - great, great character and guy and always hilarious! Jane Lynch, of course, for GLEE was also well deserved! And, I always support giving NPH an award no matter what he’s doing (wish they had aired it though… hello?!? I’d much rather see that than how the accountants used document management software to tabulate votes… come on now.)

As for Drama… well, I’m Pretty sick of “Mad Men” winning everything (yes, I’ve tried to watch it - I found it incredibly boring)… especially this year when “Dexter” was ABOVE AND BEYOND everything out there. It’s kind of shocking and dumbfounding that “Dexter” nor Michael C. Hall has never won an Emmy.. what?? Talk about underrated… Oh well, at least John Lithgow won - that’s one creepy MFer ;) The other big winner was “Breaking Bad” which I have never watched either… guess I need to at least give it a try someday.

Other random thoughts:
-Alexandar Skarsgard is a GIANT hot piece of man.
-Bill & Sookie were so cute <3 I don’t so much like their characters together but they actors are adorable!
-So glad “LOST” didn’t win anything, I don’t want such bullshit writing tactics to be rewarded :P
-I have now added “Temple Grandan” and “You Don’t Know Jack” to my queu of movies to see.. looks interesting.

We had a great day on Saturday - the weather has finally decided to cool down and not feel so much like hell so what better time to go swimming?? We stopped by and picked up some subs and chips and headed to the Grandparents house while they were at work / out for the day. It was a PERFECT swimming day - air not too hot, pool just cool enough, it was fantastic. We stayed in the pool for a good 3 hours until we looked like shriveled up old people. Just floating around and doing flips and listening to our 80’s rock.. felt like a teenager again - it was nice :) The subs we got weren’t too shabby either, we tried out this new place (well, new to me) and I had a wonderful cold turkey sub and salt and vinegar chips - great summer food!

After it got dark and the grandparents arrived home we had to help them with some computer / technical issues. “How’s the google work?”, “What’s a firefox?”, “How many windows does this have?” type stuff. Old people = always amusing. They wanted to look up some stuff about their little getaway they are taking with Jake to Cherokee - sights, hotels, NC short term health insurance and of course Harrah’s Casino ;) After we finally managed to escape the questions and Papa’s ramblings we headed home with some Krystals and continued our Buffy marathon - all in all, a good day I would say!

I did not feel good this morning… or most of the weekend really. Just been feeling generally icky - I think it’s the changing seasons.. IDK - I hope. I go to the Dr. on Thursday so I guess we’ll see? I’m sure it’s nothing.. I feel fine once I get up and eat and everything. Joe doesn’t feel good either.. but that’s every day so you can’t go by that :P

I watched “Dear Jack” again yesterday… I don’t know why I do that - always makes me cry. I guess it’s good to remember how shitty things were for him (and thus for me) and how they are now.. you never want to forget those times so you appreciate the times you have now. So good to see him how he is now :) I’m all about Andrew these days - haven’t listened to anything but SoCo / Jack’s for the past week.. it makes me happy. Although, 80% I have no idea what Andrew is talking about ;) politics, suicide blondes, kids costumes, boxing the stars… wtf? Genius.

Other than that.. we’ve not been doing much. We went and had lunch with James on Saturday and checked out his new apartment. Then came home and watched “Boondock Saints” and what not.

I’ve been thinking about doing art again a lot the last few days… I used to really love it but I haven’t done much since I graduated high school and no longer had art classes. I was just googling myself (ahem, don’t judge me - you do it too!) and came across one of the first pictures I sold - I’m kind of sad I sold it now because I worked REALLY hard on it… like months. It is something I could make money doing though.. and that’s always tempting. I was apart of the American Printing House for the Blind’s exhibit back in 2006 and I think if I submitted my drawing of Taylor Hanson I could WIN. I’m just too scared to send it anywhere.. I’d hate to lose it or have it damaged. It’s one of my most prized possessions (in the future this will include my gold plated self driving car, millions of dollars, tons of netbooks + accessories and my mansion of course). I don’t have a picture of it right off hand but here’s the drawing I found on APH’s website - along with the description:

“Dot-Rageous”

Size in inches: 16 wide by 14 tall
Artist: Kristi M. Flynn
Price: Not for Sale

Description: This piece, drawn in shades of black, white, and gray, shows a scene made entirely of tiny dots. Against a shadowy gray background, a woman leans from the bottom left corner of the drawing, toward the top right. Her head is turned away to her left, and her face appears in profile and in partial shadow. She is smiling slightly, with eyes closed.

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want to DO. What do I want to be? And honestly, I have no idea… I used to be happy doing art but I don’t know if i still would be. Only way to find out is to try I guess. I just wish I had my place in the world by now… I thought I did a few years ago and everything changed and I really haven’t found another one yet. Time will tell I guess..

So, it’s summer and it’s the time when I watch some really RANDOM stuff because there’s nothing else on. Some of it turns out to be good and some of it is obviously just desperation.

Covert Affairs: I am really enjoying this one! USA always has such good summer shows… plus this one includes the best portrayal of a blind guy I’ve ever seen! For one - he’s HOT! Awesome, yes please! He’s played by Christopher Gorham who I love from Jake 2.0 and Ugly Betty. Secondly, he’s SMOOTH! He’s good with the ladies - thank you for finally letting a blind guy get some! I’m sure they appreciate that too :P Thirdly, he’s got gadgets! He’s actually in quite a high position in the CIA and has cool adaptable technology to work with - it’s a sweet deal! All too often they portray the blind as not able to do much of anything but he’s one of the smartest, well versed people on the show so score one for our team!

Rachel Zoe / Flipping Out: These shows are very casual.. I enjoy them though! Who thought I would like a show about fashion or designing houses? I don’t know but I’ll definitely watch it - not sure if that would be the case were it on in the fall with so many other options.. guess we’ll never know though ’cause it’s only a summer show.

Huge: I initially decided to watch this show because of Nikki Blonski and honestly.. I don’t like her very much. I do however love the other characters and the storyline. It’s not one of my favorites or anything but I enjoy it.

Too Fat for 15: yes, yes, I know. How did I even end up on the style channel? I have no idea but I like this show! It’s kind of a real life “Huge” and it’s certainly interesting to watch.. I feel kind of bad for the children (and some are REALLY young) but it’s nice to watch them succeed! I love Tanesha - she is one of the diamonds in the rough. I love her determination and attitude.. poor thing is 500+ pounds but has lost 40 so far - you go, girl!

Pretty Little Liars: I like it. I don’t love it or anything but it has my interest… I want to know who killed Alli and WHY! But it’s over now so I guess we’ll have to wait til winter? Not sure when that show is back… it’s definitely a casual one for me. Not something I feel I need to watch immediately as it records.

and lastly…

Bert the Conquerer: I LOVE this one! He goes around and does the crazy things locals do - rollercoasters, mud diving, greasy pole crossing, blob jumping, etc. It’s a ton of fun to watch and he has a good personality so it’s all around enjoyable. It’s like Man Vs. Food but with activities! I enjoy it more than MvF actually.. just don’t tell Adam.

and I am of course watching my usuals - “Psych”, “True Blood”, “White Collar” and enjoying them all. I wish True Blood would pick up already but I feel that’s coming soon anyways. As for “White Collar” - Matthew Bomer is the cutest thing I have seem in a while! I don’t know what it is but that character is SO charming! I never found him all that attractive in previous shows but in this one.. yes sir! That being said, what are you guys watching? Did I miss anything important?

It’s so nice to have actual weekends like most of the world! I doubt we’ll be doing anything ’cause we’re pretty broke … but still nice to HAVE time off at the same time as everyone else. Joe just called me and told me he made his first sale (so proud!) so I’m going to try to figure out a way to celebrate that without spending any money.. hmm.. what to do? :P We’re not sure what commission is yet or even if he gets it when he’s still in training (they don’t expect them to make sales I guess?). Regardless, it’s an accomplishment and I want him to be happy about his job and how it’s going!

We were going to go to this splash bash thing tomorrow outside of Columbia.. it’s a big water activities day for people with disabilities but it’s on a lake and I’m not allowed to get in lake water at all so I figured it would probably piss me off / upset me more than anything so we’re opting out… maybe we’ll go swimming instead. Kind of sad to miss out on something like this because I have ALWAYS wanted to do jet ski’s, canoeing, tubing, that kind of thing :( but I can’t guarantee I won’t get wet (in fact I probably would) so it’s best not to tempt myself… the directors of the event promised to send me a slideshow of the event so I can live vicariously… not quite the same but I appreciate the sentiment. Someday, I’ll get to do all these things I’m missing out on.. I hope.

So our weekend plans are pretty empty.. do some laundry, get some groceries, watch some stuff… I guess this is what poor people do? I don’t like it. I demand to be rich - right now!

Forgot to post a picture of my complete Fall schedule! I always make a pretty print-out copy that I put on the fridge; it’s a LONG running tradition for me. I’ve been doing it since 2003 (of course back then I hung it on my wall ’cause i didn’t have my own fridge lol)! It gets more intricate and complex each year of course and more shows usually appear as each year passes. I always like to design it in pretty colors since I AM going to be seeing it for the next 12 months! This year is no exception and is actually one of my favorites thus far:

I love designing things.. ever since I was a child actually. I always decorate dmy notebooks, cups, walls - anything I could get my hands on really. I wanted to grow up and design logos - I still kind of do. I just don’t know where to start to get into something like that. I’d love to create something like custom water bottles or cell phone covers or purses! I’ve always got such great ideas in my head and I can never find anything like what I want in the stores. Anyone want to go in on this venture with me??

*I am updating from my laptop and cannot see it very well so forgive me if there are any typos!*

I’ve been searching online for some type of part time job… just something that wouldn’t make me lose my social security benefits but would also give me a little more money to work with each month. I think I would do great as a part time tutor or part time personal assistant / receptionist.. I just need to have a little confidence in myself. Any job I look at I end up talking myself out of because I don’t think I can do it. I need to stop underestimating myself and get back out there and do something I CAN do. Now, I know myself and what I can handle and i think P/T is exactly what I need right now. Something that brings in a little extra cash and is only a few hours a week. I was thinking about looking into temp agencies and seeing where that leads.. but it’d be really hard for me to just get a call and report somewhere that day. It needs to be consistent and something I can plan..

There’s gotta be SOMEONE out there who needs me! I’m a great writer, I can do computer reviews with the best of em, I have excellent computer skills in general and I’m very organized person and I type really fast too (always a plus!) We recently learned I can analyze websites so that’s another gold star for me too - I just need to find my niche and start doing something, anything, instead of relying on Joe to make all the money (not that he minds) - I’d just like to contribute a little too. A stash for a rainy day or when I feel like taking a random vacation, ya know?

It’s that time again! I’m as excited as I always am! Little depressed that Joe will soon be working hours that won’t allow him to watch my shows with me :( I got used to always having someone to watch certain shows with me (he refuses to watch the really girly or awful ones). It’s going to be a difficult transition for me.. but on the other hand it gives me something to do at night while he’s at work besides watching infomercials about jewelry making tools. So, you know what this means - here’s my schedule of what I’ll be checking out this year - feel free to let me know what you’ll be watching too (or if you hate something I’m watching :P I can take it!).

Sunday:
September 26 - Dexter
September 26 - Brothers & Sisters

Monday:
September 13 - Gossip Girl
September 20 - Castle
September 20 - How I Met Your Mother
September 20 - House
September 20 - The Event

Tuesday:
September 14 - Parenthood
September 21 - GLEE

Wednesday:
September 22 - Modern Family
September 22 - The Middle
November 10 - Lie to Me

Thursday:
September 23 - Bones
September 23 - Community
September 23 - Big Bang Theory
September 23 - 30 Rock
September 23 - The Office
September 23 - Grey’s Anatomy
September 23 - Private Practice

Friday:
September 24 - Supernatural

Holy crap! Look at Thursday nights… that’s insane! Why do they do that?? Look how lonely Tuesday and Friday nights are.. why can’t we utilize those? I hope being on Friday doesn’t kill “Supernatural” :( I love that show.. As you can see my birthday (Sept 20th) looks awesome! I wish Big Bang Theory was still on Mondays.. that’d be perfect. I see no reason to separate it and HIMYM.. blah! Anyways, needless to say - I am psyched for my birthday week!

I’ve been working on my assignment for the commission for the blind this week. In the beginning I had NO idea what I was doing or if I was going to be able to be apart of this project… it’s a little out of my comfort zone but that’s good I suppose. I worked very hard on it and tried my best to give them what they are looking for - I think I did a good job and I learned a few new things about web accessibility that I had no idea about before! I think this is definitely a good experience for me - I’m learning a lot of information that could help me to get more work in the future, not to mention I’m making a little money now which is always nice!

I now know what happens to a website if you disable CSS or how difficult it is for a totally blind person to access a website with no headers or PDF files with actual text. These are good things to know for the future so I’m happy to be apart of it. I had to fill out lots of forms to see if I could break them - it’s kind of fun! Filing unemployment and searching for thecheapest car insurance as Daffy Duck, age 13175 from Waterbottle, AZ (doesn’t exist, FYI) is kind of a fun job, wouldn’t you say? I was able to break a few system but some of them let me be whatever… so there will be some interesting submissions for them to find on their websites in the morning ;) heh!

I went to Joe’s high school reunion with him this weekend … one of the worst parts of being married! My God, it was one of the most awkward, boring things I’ve had to do in recent times. About a week before it even happened they sent out an email and completely changed the entire event.. it was supposed to be a prom-type event with a DJ and dressing up and ended up being dinner at a local restaurant.. for $90! They refused to give a refund so I was already pissed when we arrived. We get there and EVERYONE is like 6ft tall and beautiful so that wasn’t a great way to start my evening. I spent the whole night texting Jade and googling things like HCG weight loss Austin and “how to appear thinner”.

But wait! The good times continue! I figured if we were paying $90 we could atleast have some good food, right? Think again! We couldn’t pick what we ate - we had three choices of entree’s and none of them sounded appealing. Sides, salads and desserts were already pre-picked and NOWHERE NEAR worth $90. Our whole table was complaining but no one really cared… pissed me off because in this economy and our current financial situation - that was a lot of money. In the midst of all of this somehow dialysis came up (wasn’t me) and some guy made it known he’d rather be dead than on dialysis - lovely. Just what I needed to hear on this night - keep it coming!

In the middle of all this while Jade is trying to entertain me and take a nice bath she ends up dropping her phone in the bath :( We blame Joe. We had to go yesterday and buy her a new one at full retail price… hate cell companies - all of them.

Anyways, back to the reunion - I felt completely out of place and like a kid (even though they’re all only 2 years older than me). Joe wasn’t really too impressed either so we ended up leaving and getting some food at Krystals because we were starving… won’t be making that mistake again! Luckily, my High school doesn’t reunite.. but I will find a way to pay Joe back for this one - mark my words!

Me and Jade had an amazing time at the Something Corporate concert this weekend! It was a TON of driving and I thoroughly appreciate her working so hard to make this possible for us. As soon as we came home we found out that it was the FINAL SoCo tour… so I’m extremely thankful and happy that we went. Imagine how we’d feel had we not been able to make it. I don’t think I would ever get over that one - so, Thank you, Jade for helping us make this happen! I couldn’t have done this without you <3

I heard every Something Corporate song that I could want to … “Konstantine” and “Walking By” were the most amazing for me. I’d dreamed about seeing those long for so long and finally being there, screaming the lyrics felt like a long awaited release. Those songs got me through so much for so many years and it was great to let all that go, finally. That’s one more life-goal down.. thousands to go! Next up we conquer all the Orlando theme parks! Ready? Go!

We didn’t get to hang around and see Andrew after the show because it was SO hot inside and outside. The venue didn’t seem to have a very good air condition going in the upstairs area (they called it “heaven” felt more like “hell” :P). We suffered through though and it was all worth it for our dear Andrew! We got some VIP seating in the corner with a stool all by ourselves away from the crowd so that was nice at least :) There was no opening act which sounded awesome in theory.. but they just let us stand there for an hour and a half with nothing to do so.. didn’t make all that much sense in the long run - ya know? The show was supposed to start at 7:00PM but didn’t get started ’til 8:30PM - ugh!

All in all it was a very successful concert - nobody fainted or got sick so… score one for the team! We did sweat A LOT and felt quite dehydrated the next day but I’m finally started to feel better now. Concerts take a lot out of you - I don’t think people who don’t attend them regularly understand that. It’s not just standing there and enjoying the show - it’s work! And well worth it :)

I leave you with this picture - I love it.. even though it’s really blurry. It’s of Andrew and ALL the cameras during “Konstantine” - great moment.

My Jadeline is currently on her way here for a Girls weekend + Something Corporate concert on Sunday! We are super excited! We’ve never actually seen SoCo in concert - just Jack’s Mannequin. They have been on hiatus for a very long time and this is their “reunion tour” so we are psyched to attend! We’ve seen Andrew together before (and I’ve seen him twice without her) and I’ve always gotten a good picture.. but Jade’s never seem to come out! My goal this weekend is to get Jade a picture with Andrew :) We’ll be dawning our rocawear jeans and cutest tops for pics with our favorite musician. What more could you ask for? I don’t have my good camera anymore (damn robbers!) but I’ve got the camera on my phone.. so hopefully that will do the trick. ::fingers crossed::

I think we’re also going to watch “Dexter” while she’s here which I am all for! I’ve been wanting to rewatch to geat up for the new season in September so this seems like a perfect excuse. Joe and I also have to go to his High School Reunion tomorrow… blah. I was looking forward to it - but we paid a lot of money for a prom at a nice venue with catered food and a DJ.. and at the last minute they switched it to a local restaraunt with a jazz band playing… not what I paid for nor what I want. They refuse to offer a refund so we still have to go and pay this huge amount of money for some local food. So, as you can see I’m not too happy about it.

BUT I’m trying to be positive and think of the great time we’ll have on Sunday! I called the venue just to make sure they’ll have some seats - and they said they would and if I couldn’t find one they would bring me one. So, yay! I don’t think I have the stamina to stand up for that many hours anymore.. my feet swell like crazy so I’m a little more at ease knowing that I’ll have a chair if I need it. So.. I will be back next week to tell you about all the adventures that will had - hopefully good things are to come!

Ever since I’ve started getting closer with parts of my dads side of the family (namely my Aunt Anita) she’s been wanting us to all get together and have a family retreat. Now, I thought such things only really happened in the movies so I was a little skeptical.. but apparently it’s something people really do! I find myself kind of excited about the idea - it’d be good to get to know others on that side of the family.. I’ve been in the mindset that they’re ALL evil for such a long time and we all know that’s never true (”one bad apple don’t spoil a whole bunch”). Since my gran-gran passed away last week we’ve all been slowly reconnecting via facebook and that’s been lovely but face to face is always better for getting to REALLY know someone. Losing her has really made me realize how much I want to get to know some of these people again.. we’ve all had rough lives and rough child hoods but that’s no reason for us to be so distant from each other. If anything, it’s a reason for us to be closer, I’d think. I wish I could have spent more time with my Gran Gran in recent times but situations just did not permit it - I can change that with the rest of the family. Most of us haven’t really hung out since we were children so I think it would be a blast to have a little family vacation away from everyone and everything - doesn’t that sound kind of amazing?

So, me and Anita have been looking for a big enough place that could handle all of us who would want to come and would have fun stuff near enough for us to do all together. I think I found a pretty cool place that fits all of our criteria; Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s not too far from where most of us live so it’d only be a couple of hours for each of us to get there. It also happens to look AMAZING! It has all the amenities I would want from a family retreat spot; pool, hot tub, pool table, near the beach, plenty of room for everyone - extremely close quarters is the last thing we need when getting to know each other again ;)

This is a picture of the house i’m looking into - it’s called the Seahawk - You can see some more pictures on the site of the fabulous house, doesn’t it look amazing?! It’s not nearly as expensive as I thought a place like this would be either - you would pay the same amount for 2 people to stay in a hotel for a week, that’s crazy!

I’ve never actually been to the beaches in North Carolina - we’ve always stayed in GA, FL and SC but I would love to venture up further; I hear they are beautiful! We are looking into going in October when it’s not too hot or too cold - just perfect weather for a beach retreat with the family! What do you guys think? Have you ever taken a family vacation? This is a new experience for me so fill me in on what it’s like and things I need to make sure we have!

Two previews of the upcoming season of “Dexter” - one from Comic Con and one featuring “Storm” by Lifehouse (love it!). I’m super excited… this season is going to be amazing. How poetic would it be for Dexter to finally go down for a crime he DIDN’T commit. I think that would be an amazing ending.. but I also don’t want “Dexter” to end so I’m a little torn. “Dexter” is the only show I can think of that would have the guts to show a blood soaked infant - it broke my heart to see little Harrison that way! I’m sure the station will get him some new baby clothes pronto but it’s still really disturbing to SEE. Although, we saw it back when Dexter was little but he was much older.. It’s A LOT different when it’s an actual baby. Anyways - the clips look amazing, check them out:

Comic-Con sneak preview

“Storm” promo

In related news… it’s one of my life goals to go to Comic Con someday. Me and Joe are always talking about it but can’t even seem to make it happen.. something is always in the way. Comic-con has become something so different than what it started out as but… it’s kind of my heaven. All the big shows go there each year (sci-fi or not) and … I just can’t even fathom how amazing it would be to go to even half of them! We’re eventually going to do it - someday.. and hopefully not get stabbed in the eye for it.

Joe is finally back at work! He started today at Comcast - I hope it’s going well :) This is the longest we’ve been apart in a month! I kind of miss him, I must admit - but I’m glad he’s back out there earning money for us and that he has something productive to do (so I can get MY productive things done too, heh). He’s going to be in training for 5 weeks, which means an 8-5 schedule for us for a while! We’re definitely happy about that.. we have NEVER had a regular work schedule! I wish it would last.. but it’ll be over soon and then we’re back to crappy, no weekends, crazy hours.. but we gotta do what we gotta do.

We went shopping this weekend and got him a few shirts and pants to adhere with Comcast’s dress code + make him feel better about himself (I know I always like to start something new with a new outfit!). We also got him an Ipod alarm clock (which he LOVES) and a Patek watch - keeping him on time night and day! Believe me; he needs it.

We got the house all situated yesterday; washed all the clothes, organized closets, got everything cleaned - I wanted to start this job off right with good habits and a good home environment to go with it. Hopefully we’ll keep it up! I’m going to try to make Sunday’s “laundry day” so we don’t get TOO far behind again… ::fingers crossed::

It’s storming outside so I’m going to go watch some TV (don’t want the computer to get fried!). I’ll be updating more frequently now that I have more time on my hands so… look out!

So, we’ve got some big family events going down this week! All very exciting stuff! First up on Saturday is my cousin Jessica’s wedding which I am really excited about! It’s in this great old church downtown and it’s going to be BEAUTIFUL! It’s a place we didn’t even consider because it costs so much.. but I’m really looking forward to going in there for the first time and enjoying the scenery! This will be my first wedding (other than my own) so that’s going a big event in and of itself! I bought a dress for the wedding (and I NEVER wear dresses, they always look awful on me) - it cost more than I wanted to.. I might have to start selling seniors term insurance to pay it off but it looks really cute on me so.. worth it? I think so, yes! I’ve always wanted a cute summer dress anyways so I might as well just invest in one now, cost be damned!

Also, on Saturday, Caroline is finally auditioning for American Idol! She went up to Nashville on Tuesday, finally got her wrist band today (after standing in line since 4:30AM) and on Saturday she’ll get to sing for producers and what not! We’re all really ecstatic! We’ve been waiting on her to be old enough for American Idol for a good 10 years! We’re not exactly sure how the process goes - does anyone know when they audition for the actual judges (if they make it that far)? I know the show doesn’t air until January-ish so it may be later in the year… I’m really not sure!

These are the two pictures Caroline has sent us so far - the line and the coveted wristband! Not sure why they’re so small..

Then on Sunday we have Jasmine’s 9th birthday Luau! She’s having a big blow up water slide (which she doesn’t know about) and we just found out the neighbors across the street are having an even BIGGER water slide on the same day so… can anyone say block party?? I’m looking forward to that cause I love water slides ;) I doubt I’ll go on it but it’s just fun to watch other people do it too!

If you know me then you realize this A LOT going on in one weekend for me ;) I’m a home body but I’m looking forward to all events so hopefully it’ll go well and it won’t be too hell-ish outside ::fingers crossed::

It’s a Joe-free day for me ;) He’s out shooting stuff at the range with James (heh, rhymes) and I’m here workin’ on a few thing around the house. I’ve got some of my laundry done, house is clean and I’ve started working on my assessments for the commission for the blind. We work to make sure websites are accessible to the disabled with visual, hearing or physical obstacles. So far, it’s going pretty well.. I just sent in my first assessment so we’ll see if I did it right or if I need to change my technique. Either way, it’s something to do and it’s helping companies be more accommodating - win / win situation! Plus, if I turn out to be a valuable addition to the team, I’ll start being paid for my work! Yes, please!

Later, when Joe gets back from his day out, we’re having spaghetti and meatballs, salad and breadsticks! Yum! Joe makes THE best spaghetti (don’t tell grandmother). We’ll have to break out the apidexin when we’re finished chowing down but it will be worth it ;) I want to learn to cook too… it’s something I’ve been thinking about. They offer cooking classes for the visually impaired at the commission - it’s definitely something cool to think about! I’d love to be able to cook Joe dinner one day and have him come home to dinner on the table after work - haha, I think he might die of shock!

So… we randomly decided to go to the beach yesterday afternoon - bad decision. We had the best intentions - go to tybee island, get a cheap hotel and visit the beach. What actually happened was a completely different story. As soon as we got to Tybee - it started POURING. I mean, hurricane type weather, lightening every second, roads flooding, the works. I was scared to death! I hate driving in the rain as it is but this was terrible.. worst storm either of us had ever seen. We made the wise decision to find a hotel when we got there… and everything was booked. We ended up at the one place that had an extremely overpriced room (I think they gauged us) - it was called the Dunes Inn and Suites. We had to pay $200 for the tiniest room we have ever stayed in - it was the size of our spare room - bathroom included. We had no other choices though… we would have looked around more but the streets were flooded up to our HOOD! It was really scary.. it eventually calmed down and we headed next door for some crab legs - that always makes it better.

After our bellies were full we went back to the hotel ’cause it had started raining again and there was really nothing else to do. I took a shower and we attempted to sleep. There was no fitted sheet on the bed.. not to mention it was the most uncomfortable bed we’ve tried to sleep on so far. Joe ended up just sleeping on the floor. So it was a restless night for both us. I woke up at 6AM and was tired of trying to sleep but Joe was still making an effort so I waited around for him to get up. We eventually headed down to the beach just to say “what’s up”. The water felt great and it wasn’t too terrible hot yet so we hung out for about an hour. By then the worlds best natural weight loss supplements had set in - heat and sweat! We headed back to the hotel, packed our things and went on our way to Fort Polaski so Joe could do his annoying man stuff. It was too hot for me to go exploring around a stupid wall so I stayed inside and watched the movie / looked at the museum while Joe wandered around the fort for an hour and a half.

We had lunch in Savannah and then headed home… it was a pretty lame trip. I regret going and wasting the money - it was a bad idea on my part. I now know that I cannot handle the beach in the actual summer months - pretty sure I’ve learned this lesson several times before but apparently it bares repeating. Remind me next time I have the brilliant idea to take a day trip to the beach - I know for sure it served one good purpose though. It makes me very thankful to be home in my air conditioned comfy house!

Joe had a root canal on Wednesday and he’s been a whiney baby about it :P He’s been all drugged up the whole time so he’s been groggy and grumpy as hell - yay for me! I guess it’s good he got it fixed and that he had the time off to do it.. but damn, be a man! I kid, I kid. Hopefully he’ll be done whining soon and we can have a little fun before he gets scooped up for a new job.

Whenever he does get a new job we are hitting the town! Not sure which town yet.. charleston, myrtle beach, savannah, VEGAS?? I wish! Probably somewhere close and not too expensive - just a little reward trip for us. I hope and pray and hope and PRAY that Joe ends up with a better job than he had and we can rub it in that Jackass friend of his’ face - that’d be the ultimate ;) Even better would be if he could make more money than him - muhahaha, that’d just be the icing on the cake. He’ll be using an epson receipt printer and we’ll be living large eating crab legs and lobster - ah, that’s the dream…

I’ve never had a year where EVERY single show, actor and actress that i felt deserved an emmy nomination got one! This is that year! All the bases were covered in drama and comedy - I’m pretty amazed. It’s going to make it REALLY hard for me to pick winners though because I love so many of them! Let’s just take a look at some of the big categories and all the well deserved nominations - and I’ll highlight my top picks:

Drama Series:
• Breaking Bad
• Dexter
• The Good Wife
• Lost
• Mad Men
• True Blood

Comedy Series:
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Glee
• Modern Family
• Nurse Jackie
• The Office
• 30 Rock

Lead Actor, Drama:
• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Matthew Fox, Lost

Lead Actor, Comedy:
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
• Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Matthew Morrison, Glee
• Tony Shalhoub, Monk
• Steve Carell, The Office
• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Lead Actress, Comedy:
• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Lea Michele, Glee
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
• Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Supporting Actor, Comedy:
• Chris Colfer, Glee
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
• Ty Burrell, Modern Family
• Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
• Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
• Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Supporting Actress, Comedy:
• Julie Bowen, Modern Family
• Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
• Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
• Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men

Supporting Actor, Drama:
• Michael Emerson, Lost
• Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
• Terry O’Quinn, Lost
• Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
• Martin Short, Damages
• John Slattery, Mad Men

Guest Actor in a Comedy:
• Mike O’Malley, Glee
• Neil Patrick Harris, Glee
• Fred Willard, Modern Family
• Eli Wallach, Nurse Jackie
• Jon Hamm, 30 Rock
• Will Arnett, 30 Rock

Guest Actor in a Drama:
• Beau Bridges, The Closer
• Ted Danson, Damages
• John Lithgow, Dexter
• Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
• Dylan Baker, The Good Wife
• Robert Morse, Mad Men
• Gregory Itzin, 24

Guest Actress in a Comedy:
• Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
• Kathryn Joosten, Karen McCluskey
• Kristin Chenoweth, Glee
• Betty White, Saturday Night Live
• Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock
• Jane Lynch, Two and a Half Men

Variety, Music or Comedy Series:
• The Colbert Report
• The Daily Show
• Real Time With Bill Maher
• Saturday Night Live
• Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien

SO many good nominations, am I right?? People who have never probably even been to the Emmy’s are going to have to start diet supplements because this is the YEAR! Friday Night Lights have been a deserving crew for a while now… i wish they had been nominated when the show was still great but we’ll take what we can get. I’m of course really happy about John Lithgow and Michael C. Hall + all my GLEE folks! Modern Family was also well deserving - they dominated that comedy category and with good reason - so if you haven’t watched that show, do it! One of the best comedies of the year and one of my favorites in general.

I hate to say it but… GOD, I WISH JOE WEREN’T HERE EVERYDAY! It’s not that I don’t love him or like having him around but he is a SLOB! He is so messy.. the amount of work I used to do on cleaning the house in a week is now what I have to do on a daily basis. It’s ridiculous… I’ve tried yelling, sitting down and talking about it, being nice, crying, etc.. nothing works. It’s driving me nuts! Everyday I get up and the house is a mess AGAIN I just want to scream - it gets a little overwhelming sometimes.

I wish I could just be like other people and ignore it.. but my mother raised me as an OCD psycho so it’s in me and I have to do it.. whether I feel like it or not. All the extra work is a good fat burner though… but I’m slacking in all other areas of my life. Like blogging for instance - things I used to do while Joe was at work. Luckily, it’s not TV season or i’d be freaking out even more!

Hopefully a new job is on the horizon VERY soon - he did a drug test for Comcast today so that is definitely a good sign! Please cross your fingers for him and for my sanity!

Happy belated 4th of July / Jason Wade’s birthday to everyone! 7 years ago today my life completely changed; I met my Lifeho’s and lifelong friends in KY and the rest has been history. One of the best decisions I made in my life was to take that trip with Elissa and Cayte :) Even though they were strangers and could have killed me - we took the chance and all survived!

We had an okay 4th around here.. Joe’s got a tooth ache so he wouldn’t get out of bed until 2PM.. which was fine with me because I was missing my alone time with the TV and there was a discovery health marathon on! We eventually decided to head over to my grandparents house for some free food :P Joe got his to go since he still wasn’t feeling good - I, on the other hand, stuffed my face with hot dogs, chips, cupcakes and coke! That’s what I call a good meal! I couldn’t go swimming since there were SO many people there so we just ended up leaving when my mom and sister did.

We came home, had a fight, made up and then watched some more “Bones” (we’re marathoning). Eventually James came over and we set off some fireworks we’d picked up this weekend on sale. We blew up all kinds of shit - plastic bottles, plastic knobs, the cement… Joe almost lit the forest on fire… good times :P Everyone lived and we didn’t get in trouble so I deem it a successful 4th of July!

The job hunt is going really well so far! We’ve managed to get 4 interviews in a weeks time - Sprint, Comcast, Knology & some air purification place. We’re really excited about all the prospects :) I’m hoping only good things are to come. I started working on applications last week a little before Joe got laid off because we KNEW it was inevitable that bad things were coming.. he needed out . We had hoped he’d get the chance to resign but that didn’t come to pass the way we wanted it to. Oh well… everything happens for a reason and I think this is just something that needed to go down, didn’t HAVE to happen in this way, but it did and in the end it will be a blessing.

We’ve decided that when he DOES get a job we will go to the beach! We deserve it.. we’ve had a pretty shitty year (all things considered). A lot of good stuff has happened to, of course; wedding, house, home buyers credit, etc so I guess it all balances itself out. Just hard to remember that when you’re in the middle of the storm. Until it passes I’ll bide my time writing alli reviews, applying for more jobs and trying to be supportive as I can (even when it’s hard!) - that’s what marriage is all about, right???

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So, it’s 4th of July weekend and we’re trying to decide what we want to do. We were planning to go to the beach this weekend, but that got scrapped once Joe lost his job. We could go to the beach for the day.. and that’s definitely an option but it feels like such a waste to drive 2 hours there and back in the same day - I’m a stay over night type of girl. We could also just stay in town and go to cookouts and fireworks.. which could be fun. So, we’ve got a few options. I was just really looking forward to going to the beach, ever since we got back from St. George I’ve just wanted to get back there!

We’ve had to change a lot of our plans since the job situation changed.. we were going to get new floors for the kitchen, bathroom fixtures, storage unit for the back yard, etc… we had big plans for our home buyers credit but they’re on hold for a bit. It’s a good thing we HAVE that money though - it means we’ll be okay for a bit while Joe is finding another job. That gives us more time to make better decisions and not have to take a crappy job just out of necessity.

I suck at updating this summer.. I have intentions and then I don’t follow through. It’s been a REALLY shitty week for us. Joe got fired from T-Mobile for some twisted reasons. It all started when Joe’s uncle passed away - they wouldn’t let him off or let him have a break and told him that it “shouldn’t effect his work because you knew they was coming” Then they wouldn’t let him off for HIS UNCLES FUNERAL - nice. Even though he had the saved up time, etc. They said they were too busy and that “he wasn’t that close to his uncle anyway” which is some BS if I ever heard any. So he went to his bosses boss and got permission to go to the funeral and then HIS boss got pissed and went on a rampage looking for an excuse to fire him (which he overheard them saying).. and they made up one and here we are today. They called it “call avoidance” because he stayed on the line with a customer while he was helping her get directed to another associate. How dare he! It wasn’t purposely and it wasn’t anything serious but they made it into something because that’s what they were looking for. $*#& you, T-Mobile! You lost a good worker who ALWAYS promoted T-Mobile, whether he was working or not, he went to the stores in his off time and helped people pick out phones because YOU wouldn’t let him switch to retail like he wanted. You have no idea how many people he convinced to join the T-Mobile network - and we’re sorry to all those people. Contracts will end soon enough and we’re ALL switching.

Me and Joe already switched to AT&T (’cause the lovely T-Mobile gave us 6 days to find a new plan before they cut it off). Joe sold his Cliq and got an Iphone and I kept my cliq because I JUST bought it and we got taxed to hell on it from TPTB ($150 on a $200 phone) so I might as well get my moneys worth. James switched to Verizon and got a new blackberry and you would be AMAZED at how much better our service is! I had no idea… My cliq works TEN times better on the AT&T service - no dropped signal every few minutes, aim stays signed in all day, internet is faster and this is a T-Mobile specific phone - T-Maybe at it’s best.

We’ve had a few interviews with competitors and they’re all very interested in getting Joe on their team. T-Mobile is at the point where they’re firing all their “well paid” employee’s and hiring people that will work for $8 - $9 and soon they’ll see what kind of customer service THAT brings. Failure for T-Mobile = happiness and vindication for us. The disgust for T-Mobile is ALL over town because they brought this call center here, hired a ton of people, were a GREAT company to work for at first and then it all changed… anywhere you go you will find a fired T-Mobile employee working for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc. (for higher pay I might add). So, hopefully this will all lead to better things for us. Joe was miserable there and it was a hostile work environment every. single. day. We’re not going to just shut the blinds and be depressed about what we loss, this is a new start for us. - Good things are coming, it’s just going to take a little time.

Alright - tech geeks, I’ve got a problem. Our internet explorer on the laptop WILL NOT work! I’ve tried all the little tips from google searches and none of it is helping… firefox works just fine but IE just gives an error message. This would be fine if that was the only problem but if IE doesn’t work then AIM doesn’t work, Utorrent doesn’t work, antivirus doesn’t work, etc - you get the picture. So.. that’s a problem. It’s a brand new laptop so i don’t know what the hell happened.. does anyone have any different suggestions on what to do about it? I would take it back to Best Buy and have them look at it but they always come up with a reason to charge me for something.. and i hate to pay them for something simple that I am overlooking.

In other news, my actual computer has become a POS as well.. it’s 8 years old, I understand… I’m going to have to get a new one. It’s difficult having a crappy computer and a challenged laptop all at the same time when you LIKE to spend most of your time online and more importantly, that’s how you make your money. So, me and Joe have talked about it and will probably be getting a new desktop with our home buyers credit money (which isn’t much after it’s all said and done). I hate to spend anything, ever, but this is kind of essential I suppose. So, if anyone has any loose diamonds or spare change or pesky $100 bills they want to put towards the “Kristi needs a new computer fund” - send it on over! I also accept checks, money order, credit cards and expensive gifts.

Did I forget to talk about the Lifehouse / Daughtry concert? Oops… my bad. It was actually pretty fun - not like it used to be, of course but we had a good time. Joe got off early that day and went and ran some errands; bank, went to sell textbooks, groceries and to see where the tour buses were parked for future reference, duh! We went to a nice dinner at Red Lobster first (Me and Joe decided to turn it into a date night) and once our bellies were full we headed over to the venue to scope it out. The people were just coming out from the Daughtry VIP so I figured I had missed the LH meet n greet… oh well, I’d live. Then I kept hearing “Lifehouse meet n greet” mentioned as I was walking around (I listen to everyones conversations) so I went and lurked around the radio stations table and listened in. The guy said “we’re ready for the LH meet n greet” and I tried to get Joe to ask the guy if I could go but he wouldn’t.. so I just jumped in the line with the others. The guy asked “whose coming?” and I said “can I come??” and he ignored me so I just jumped in the line with the others… :) Joe was extremely nervous and would not get in the line and I was quiet yelling at him to chill out and COME ON. We got the door and the guy asked Joe if he was coming and he said “yea” and finally jumped in the line. We were in! It was the fastest meet n greet I had ever been to.. the pictures were pre-signed and the only time we got to speak to them was when we were trying to smile for our picture.. oh well, at least i got to see them and they got to meet Joe.

After that we hung around in the venue for a bit until we got caught (’cause Joe can’t stand still) and had to go back outside for the last 5 minutes before the doors opened. We got to our seats and they were MUCH better than I thought they were! We had a great view of the stage - one of the best seats in the house! The radio DJ’s were sitting behind us, that’s how good they were ;) A lady came around and took our picture for the paper:

The show itself was good, Cavo was pretty nice to listen to. Lifehouse was good too.. it was mostly songs from “Smoke and Mirrors” which I do not enjoy (as we know). “HBAM” was fun as always.. It was nothing amazing though. Daughtry was good, lots of energy and tons of songs I know from the radio of course. He put on a great show! So, it was definitely worth the money we spent to have a night on the town and see some good music played live. I’ve got no regrets!

Gosh, we are so busy lately… I haven’t had much time to update or do much of anything around the house besides clean it. I’m assuming things will slow down soon? Who knows.. it’s not been so bad though, I like being busy. I’m not a big fan of what has kept us busy this week though… Joe’s uncle passed away; he was only in his mid 40’s. He was fine at Christmas time.. he always brought his guitar and had Jam sessions after dinner. Soon after that they found out he had a brain tumor and it’s been all down hill since then.. it’s awful. We’ve got the funeral today and even though I barely knew him, it’s going to be hard not to cry… it’s just always heart breaking when someone young passes away and leaves a family behind. Hopefully he’s at peace now though and not in any pain anymore. $&*# cancer is all I can say.

With all that going on we’ve been watching Joe’s niece quite a bit this week; taking her to dinner, playing games, etc to keep her mind off things. It’s been fun, except when Mr. Lames, er, James is around :P - he’s SO mean to children! He’s going to be the most hated teacher in school, I can see it now. He needs to lay off those testosterone boosters and take a chill pill instead.

Anyways… I’ve got to go find something to wear to the funeral today. I’ve only been to one in my life and what I wore then you can’t really wear in June / 102* weather.

We finally got to go swimming yesterday! It looked like it was going to rain but it never did so I’m definitely thankful for that! Me and Joe had a good time. We picked up some subs and took them over to the grandparents house, had lunch and a day of swimming together. Joe swears Papa’s abundence of chlorine is going to make him go on a search for the best acne treatments but I didn’t mind it.. chlorine is good! Keeps the pool clean and cleans the skin, what’s so wrong with that? My obsession with water has only grown since last year - tell me I can’t get in water and that’s the ONE thing I want to do all the time now. Luckily, I can go swimming in Papa’s pool and the ocean.. so it’s enough. Much better than before when I couldn’t get wet above the chest at all… those were horrible times - let’s not speak of it!

After swimming we went to the movies (finally starting to use our many free movie passes from the rehearsal dinner party) and say “Get Him to the Greek”. It was pretty good, we laughed, fun was had. I did not realize it was a follow up, spin off to “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (which I loved) - I just wish Jason Segal would have shown up! That would have made it 10x better.. he needs to do more movies - I <3 him.

So, I’m getting more psyched about the Lifehouse show.. my local radio station is giving away VIP tickets that I’m hoping to get my hands on somehow! Lifehouse in Augusta - I’ve GOT to be at all the events.. come on, it’s only right. This will be my 30th show - isn’t that crazy!? Wow.. I doubt I’ll ever see any other band as much as I have seen them. My current rate is 1-2 shows a year now.. when it used to be 15-20 - those were the days.