Things that are just plain wrong...

Right there at the top of my list of things that are just plain wrong: Burger King Ketchup
and Fries Flavored Potato Snacks. I just can't imagine them tasting the least bit good. If
you're interested in them, they're probably still in our vending machine - just give me a call...

Commit me now!

Well, I did it again. The thing I swore never to do again. That's right - I went shopping on Black Friday. It's official - I'm certifiably insane and should now be sent posthaste to a mental institution. It's all Mom's fault. I was quite happily ignoring the ads, secure in the knowledge that I would be sleeping in, tucked snugly in my nice, warm, comfortable bed, my husband snoring gently by my side, when she pointed out that Circuit City had a laptop for $299.00. I knew what that meant - it was the death-knell tolling for my plans to hide out under the covers away from all the crazy people that thrive on that kind of stuff. So, we got up - I picked her up at 4:50 so we could get to Circuit City by the ungodly hour of 5:00am. When we arrived, it wasn't quite 5 yet, and the parking lot was packed. Seriously packed. Cars as far as the eye could see. And the line! I don't think Ellis Island ever had such a teeming mass of humanity, waiting to enter the land of milk and honey (and electronics), hoping for that magical moment when the gates would open and they could rush forth into a shopper's paradise, abounding with deals galore. Needless to say, we did not wait in line. Instead, we found a parking spot and sat for a minute, then joined the throng as the end of the line passed our position. Amazingly enough, we also ran into my friend Scott, which, if it hadn't been 5:00 in the morning, would have made the trip worthwhile. When we finally got into the store, we made a beeline for the computer area, where we milled about with other hopeful shoppers, until a lady informed us that they had given out vouchers in line earlier, and if you didn't have a voucher, you weren't getting a laptop. Seeing that we didn't have a voucher, yep, that's right - we got up at the butt-crack of dawn for no earthly reason. I made a feeble attempt to get over to the DVDs that had been advertised, hoping to snag a James Bond set, but I couldn't even push my way through to the containers they were in, and gave it up as a bad job. Besides, from the state of the lines, we weren't getting to a cash register any time soon, anyway. So, we left and headed to the next stop on the list.

Since JoAnn's is in the same plaza, and they had beads for 40% off, plus a coupon for 20% off our entire purchase, I thought we should check it out. The problem was that they didn't open until 6:00, and it was now 5:15. We decided to stay the course, and waited in the car for the remainder of the time, while we watched a line form there, too. By this time, I was seriously wondering what everyone was in line for, since I couldn't see anything, other than a 7.5 foot tree for 29.99, that should be garnering that amount of interest. Finally, the clock struck 6, and we raced back to the bead area. We were pretty much the only ones back there, so there wasn't the pushing, shoving, and general chaos that there was at Circuit City. We waited in a relatively manageable line, and made it out of there by 6:30. Since Mom wanted to pick up some milk at Walgreen's, we decided to make that our last stop. By the time we got there, it was about 6:45, and we found out that they didn't open until 7:00. Of course, there was the ubiquitous line. I never knew that even Walgreen's would have a line. Unbelieveable.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and isn't too stuffed with good food to move. If you're one of the people who actually likes the whole Black Friday thing, I commend you. I'm getting too old for this stuff...

Spam not of the Monty Python variety...

No, we're talking e-mail spam, baby! Even though gmail filters out the spam, I still go in and check - partly because the ever-increasing number of messages in the folder makes me nervous, partly because I'm afraid something I really want might get lost in there, and partly because I think some of the message titles (I never open any of them) are hilarious. I've been noticing in about the last week I keep getting titles like "SOLD OUT - Limited Time Offer." Um, excuse me? If it's sold out, why exactly are you offering it to me? I would certainly say that would be a limited time - NO TIME! Run that one past me again, please?? Too funny!

B is for...

Welcome to another edition of my encyclopedia - the things that matter to me. Today's post is brought to you by the letter "B".

B

Brian: This was totally a gimme. My husband of not-quite two years, and the love of my life. Working in Jackson has helped me realize just how very much I love him, even when he's driving me nuts sometimes. It's hard to get to sleep in the hotel some nights, because I know that no one's going to be cuddling up with me in a few hours (I always go to bed first - he's the one who gets to sleep in - no fair!), and there's no one to give me a good night kiss. When I'm away, we talk on the phone at least twice each night - generally more. I couldn't imagine life without him - it's like trying to imagine your life without one of your senses - they're such integral parts of you that you can't imagine losing them. How this could happen so quickly I'll never know.

Books: The other totally integral part of my life. I seriously read all the time. I mean, if I'm awake and not at work or doing something else, I have a book in my hand. These books are about 93 percent science fiction/fantasy, and I may or may not have read them before - I don't have any problems re-reading. My best guess is that I probably read between 400 and 500 books on average in a year. I know it sounds like a lot, but consider this. The first week I came to Jackson, I read 2.5 books in the hotel that night. What can I say - I'm a fast reader...

Beads: My new craft obsession. I took a class in January, and by July I had a booth at the Bay City Fireworks Festival selling all the goodies I'd made. Crazy, huh? I'm having a blast with it, and it's nice because Dad has found that he likes to bead, too, so that gives us a chance to bond. Dad, Heather, and I are the designers of Gems by Jen, and Mom is our lackey. It's her fault - she says she doesn't want to design, so I don't make her, but Dad can't string his stuff, so she does that, plus helps keep me organized.

Burda: My best friend for the past 26 years. It seems like just yesterday we were carpooling to third grade at Handley, but now we're all grown up, with grown up responsibilities, and jobs, and lives. She lives down in Berkley (another "B") now, and I don't get to see her as often as I would like to, but every time we do manage to get together, it's just as wild and crazy as sleepovers at Aunt Rose's, watching MTV rock blocks and drinking warm pop. As of August 8th, 2008, she'll have a new last name, but she'll always be Burda to me.

Burda's Berkley Hide-A-Way: "Where you've always got a place to stay!" What I christened Kate's house the first time I saw it about five years ago. It just fits. Excuse me, I've got to go book a room for December now...

Encyclopedia of Your Ordinary Life...

Ok, so this was the album track I took at CKU this spring, and I really enjoyed it. The track was based on the book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and I thought it was just such an awesome idea that I had to do it. Of course, I also promised myself that I would finish my wedding album first, and since that's not done, only the first few letters of the scrapbook are done. Anyway, I am going to try to adapt the concept for my blog. So, here goes:

A

Apple Cider: Love it!

Airplanes: I'd never been in an airplane until I was 20, but sometimes I think I've made up for lost time. I'm not one of those people who is afraid of planes, so I really enjoy flying.

Aunt Rose: My "little old lady." At times infuriating and stubborn, but I love her anyway. She enjoys the casino, so Brian and I always make time to take her over there, as well as watching Tigers games with her and playing cards/dominoes/other games with her and Phyllis, her friend. She turned 87 this year, and we took her to the Tigers game vs. the New York Yankees (turned out to be the only game in the 4-game series that they lost), and had her name put on the scoreboard during the birthdays. She didn't say it in so many words, but I think she secretly loved it - I know she enjoyed the trip to Detroit, especially since we went to Greektown beforehand!

A: The only grade I was happy with when I was in school.

Aimee Mann: Great musician with a gorgeous voice and intelligent lyrics (which totally gets me interested in the music - I can forgive a lot for a little intelligence in my music).

This week's blog posts brought to you by the letter "A". Stay tuned for "B"...

Of Hotels and hotel rooms...

As my loyal reader well knows, this is my fourth week of traveling for work. I'm enjoying the work - testing the new computer system we'll be getting very soon - but the hotel part - well, let's just say not so much. I'm staying at a Holiday Inn that has seen better days, but is in the process of being renovated. The staff is excellent - everyone I've dealt with has been super nice and very friendly. But the rooms seem to have gone downhill as my stays have progressed. It's somewhat to be expected - at first I was booked into executive rooms - very nice - king-sized beds, a nice desk, couch, roomy bathroom, refrigerator and microwave, and popcorn and bottled water left for me. Wow. Very comfy, except for the room the second week, which had a leak in the bathroom ceiling that went drip, drip, drip all night the first night. No big deal, though - I put towels down to muffle the dripping noises and left a note for the housekeeper to have maintenance look at it, and by the next night I was good to go. So I can accept that after this, I might be a bit spoiled. The third week, I was in just a regular king-sized room - no couch, but it still had a decently comfortable chair and a fridge and microwave. However, the bathroom had gone from roomy to one you couldn't swing even a very small kitten in and no popcorn or water (which I didn't need or use in the executive room anyway). Oh yeah, and it's an outside entrance, making it a little harder to go swimming in the pool or relax in the hot tub which isn't currently operational. OK - I can deal with this - not too bad. When I checked into my room this week, I officially hit rock bottom. The room has two double beds - not a problem, since that's what we have at home, but they're basically not very comfortable for actually sleeping in - two straight-backed chairs more appropriate for a torture chamber, and a slightly smaller bathroom than the previous week's. Oh, and by the way, the bathtub doesn't drain well when you're showering. There is also no refrigerator, which is kind of a problem for me, since I've been bringing my water and storing it in the fridge, which gives me something cold to imbibe at night. I did check with the travel arrangers at our company today, and they've changed my reservations for the remaining time to rooms with refrigerators. Hey - a girl's gotta have some comfort, right? All in all, I'm happy with my traveling and with the hotel - especially since I'm earning triple points for my stays, which should give us some nice free nights for the next vacation we go on. Yay!!

The plus side of traveling is that I get to visit places and people that I've never seen/don't get to see often. For example, last week I discovered a paint-your-own-pottery place and painted a mask for myself, which I picked up today and am very pleased with. Last night I trekked up to Novi and had dinner with Kate and Kevin, got updated on the wedding plans, such as they are, and had a generally great time. We ate at BW3s, then sat around and talked for another two hours. A good time was definitely had by all!

Things I think about while driving...

Anyone who knows me knows that I can be pretty silly/punchy/goofy/whatever you want to call it, especially when I am tired. This is often the case when I wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, jump in the car, and drive hell-for-leather to Jackson for work. So it should come as no surprise that I think of very strange things at six-something in the morning. This week, I decided that it would be very, very cool to live in a subdivision where the streets were named after the characters from Clue. Just think - wouldn't it be great to be able to say, "Yeah, turn right onto Colonel Peacock - we're the fourth house on the left - you can't miss it." Even better, the cross streets could be named after the characters from Scooby Doo. "Yeah, we're right on the corner of Fred and Miss Scarlet - it's the green house with the pink awnings." Think about it. I'd buy a house in that sub. Yeah...