News Round Up For Today

Just in case you have not had a chance to read the news today, please let me give you a quick recap.

Swine Flu - Do I Have It?!
Swine Flu - Will I Get It?!
Swine Flu - It's A Pandemic!
Swine Flu - Protect Yourself Against It!!
Obama - After 100 Days, What Will Happen?
Chrysler = Bankruptcy
Swine Flu - Don't Blame The Pigs!
Guess What - The Economy Is Bad :(
Guess What - We Are In A Recession :(
Swine Flu - Are We Overreacting?!
More Missing People
Swine Flu - Yes We Are Overreacting And We Better Panic, Now!
People Sick :(
Mel Gibson Steps Out with New Brunette. Is It To Soon?
*Cough* It Is Swine Flu *Cough*
Swine Flu, Mexico, Obama, Bankruptcy, Swine Flu, Recession, Obama, Swine Flu.


Yep, that is pretty much a recap of the news for today. Pretty uplifting stories, I think. Carry on with your day now, just wanted to save you a bit of time.

Thanks For Visiting Little Buddy

So for nearly 9 months we had T's brothers cat as a house guest. However this past weekend he finally went back home with K. I have to say, I was really sad. I got use to having this big goof ball of a cat around. He seriously was just that nerdy fat kid that tried so hard to be everyone's friend, and you just loved that about him. He was also a snuggler, loved to sleep with us at night and loved to be picked up...which by the way our two cats hate.

Right away Sebastian and Socrates formed an instant (I have to say it, sorry) Bromance. They loved each other and we ALWAYS caught the two of them sleeping together. Sebastian has actually been a bit lonely this week without him around. Belle on the other hand, well it took her a good month or so to warm up to him, but eventually she came around - as she didn't have any other choice. The two become friends and would wrestle all the time. Though I don't think she misses him that much, and is probably relieved he is gone (more attention for her).

So in honor of our little friend I decided to post some pictures that we took during Big Red's time visiting. Tell K. to bring you back to visit soon!


Oh and this is also the bitch cat I think farted on my pillow. He is sneaky like that, but I think he was just pissed he was going back home ;)



Belle & Socrates


All three soaking up the sun


Kitty "bunk beds"

Snuggling on our bed

He is just one fat cat (him playing with a toy)

This is how he chills, on his back legs open

Best Friends Forever

Alone in the "mancave"

Just looking out the window

Look Out Folks, I Got Me A "Sexy" Voice

So I totally have Phoebe's "sexy singing voice". I was belting out some songs on my way home from work and stopped for a moment and was all like "Damn girl, you sound awesome". Seriously, I could sign a record deal tomorrow and you would all think I was amazing. Hacking cough, sneezing, mucus filled eyes and all. It is an image I am currently working on. I think it would sell.

It’s My Party and I Will Get Contagious Conjunctivitis if I Want Too.

Yep, I have officially been quarantined in my house today and by the recommendation of my employer not allowed to go to work as I have pink eye in BOTH eyes. UGH. (I prefer to call it by its formal name, conjunctivitis...sounds much cooler then pink eye.)

I have NO clue were I got it, and I sure hope no one farted on my pillows…..pay backs are a bitch. I started noticing it Saturday, as I celebrated my birthday weekend with my family. Yeah, fun times. It then spread to my other eye Sunday and by Sunday night I just felt (and looked) like crap. I will spare any gross details of the symptoms, but it totally sucks waking up and not being able to open your eyes AT ALL because they are stuck shut.

So I went to the doctor and got drops and today I am doing the following on my "day off":
- Washing sheets (that were just put on the bed Saturday night)
- Washing all the blankets on the bed...just to be safe.
- Washing towels
- Disinfecting door handles, railings and other things that I may have touched (even though I am washing my hands frequently and being careful)
- Getting rid of my contact cases and saline
- And what makes me sad, getting rid of the following make up items: My favorite MK mascara, a three pack of eye shadow, 3 awesome eye brushes, and the saddest departure is with my bare minerals under eye concealer and brush :( What sucks is I only wear make up a few times a month so alot of this stuff is hardly used. I am really really trying hard to logically come up with a way to keep my makeup....but I think it is going to have to go.

oh well, at least it is nice outside today and I guess this is an excuse to get more makeup!


Now, and much more importantly I had such a lovely weekend with my family!! We hung out Saturday afternoon and then went to Carabbas for dinner. We had a very tasty dinner with some delicious sangria! When we came home we opened presents and had some Wixey Bakery cupcakes for dessert! Sunday my mom and I made a great brunch consisting of french toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. I love having them up here!

I also got some very fun and thoughtful gifts this year. I got some crocheting needles and supplies, a gift card to Finders, some CD's, a new wii game, an oven safe cooking pot, Giada's cookbook, some bowls, and a Wii Fit*! Thank you T. & family :) So now my birthday "week" has come to an end and it was wonderful, conjunctivitis and all! Now the countdown to 30 can begin.

*I will write more about my Wii Fit in an upcoming post.

Update:
May it be known that Conjunctivitis has a number of different causes, including:
Viruses
Bacteria (such as gonorrhea or chlamydia)
Irritants such as shampoos, dirt, smoke, and pool chlorine
Allergies, like dust, pollen, or a special type of allergy that affects some contact lens wearers
Conjunctivitis caused by some bacteria and viruses can spread easily from person to person, but are not a serious health risk if diagnosed promptly.
**Fecal matter is not the ONLY way you can get this!!

I have my theories on how this happened. One I went to the DMV and got one of those eye tests. My one cat has also been caught sleeping on my pillow this past week. I also find it funny that even though I am on medicine, people freak out about it. I can't wait till this is gone.

I Think I May Have A Problem

Yesterday while I was looking for my chapstick in my purse I realized that I really need to clean out my purse. I just throw everything in there and then forget about it. (Remember my other post about my purse?) Why do I think it is really time to clean out my purse, well because of some of the things I found during my latest purse excavation.

So here are some items I have in my purse: A large roll of clear packing tape with the orange tape cutter attachment (who doesn’t), a bar of homemade lavender soap, 2 large bottles of pills (one cranberry the other pain), a wallet the size of a normal person's purse, gloves, a smaller empty wallet, 3 bottles of nail polish, probably about $13+ worth of change, an empty sandwich sized ziplock bag, a nail file and nail buffer, spare buttons, travel bottle of mouth wash, 2 travel bottles of hand sanitizer, rubber bands, mardi-gras beads, a ring in a box (not to be confused with something else in a box – think SNL), 10 pens, a nearly empty roll of toilet paper, bills, a book (I hardly even read!) and tons of random pieces of paper and post-it notes.

SERIOUSLY.

My bag weighs probably 8 pounds. That is just ridiculous, but I would like to say that I have a very logical (to me) explanation of why everything is in there.

I think this weekend I will be doing a full cleaning of my bag. And I also think I need to down size my bag from overnight/carry-on size to tote size. Of course, who am I kidding...a couple weeks after I do this it will be right back to what it is now. I have a problem.


So is there anything random or in excess of in your purse at the moment?

Happy Administrative Assistant’s Day!

To all of us secretaries who have to deal with keeping others organized, last minute deadlines, shoddy writing skills, forgetfulness, spending an hour at the copier, stupid projects, technology that doesn't work, doing the work that no one else wants to do and at times being under appreciated I hope you have a lovely day and know this…you are the backbone to most companies and many of these people could not function without you!!! Ok, I may be a little bias but it is the truth! ;)

Now bring on our pizza lunch and leave us alone for 1 hour!

Observation

I can NOT eat Cheetos without making a bright orange cheesy mess on me and everything around me. No matter how hard I try, it is simply impossible.

Dang you Cheetos.

On a side note, I do not like that Chester Cheetah is now referring to himself as, “Papa Chester” and talks creepy like. He sounds like someone who should not live within 500 feet of a school. Creepy.

Thumbs Up; Thumbs Down

Thumbs Up – To spending a wonderful weekend with friends; Thumbs Down – To weekends that go by way too fast.

Thumbs Up – To getting a new computer at work! Seriously, mine was a P.O.S.; Thumbs Down – Having to learn Vista (oh well).

Thumbs Up – A late Sunday afternoon nap; Thumbs Down – Not being able to fall asleep till 1:30am because I took a late Sunday afternoon nap.

Thumbs Up – That Terry and his brother ate almost all the Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs and they are just about gone so I won’t be tempted anymore; Thumbs Down – That the Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs are almost gone.

Thumbs Up – That I haven’t done dishes for a week; Thumbs Down – That I haven’t cooked in over a week.

Thumbs Up – That we got a little bit of money back from our tax return; Thumbs Down – That we had to pay more than 4x of that return back for other taxes. And also Thumbs Down – that this year it cost $300 to get taxes done at H&R Block….we will be looking for someone else next year. Ridiculous.

Thumbs Up – That my birthday is this week; Thumbs Down – NOTHING…My birthday is coming up this week!

News That Isn't And Should Never Be News

So it appears that stupid, selfish, attention hungry mom (aka Octomom) is now looking to trademark her media nickname and slap it on a range of baby goods. Excuse me a second, I just threw up in my mouth a little.

NO, she wasn't trying to make a name for herself and trying to get media attention when she decided to have all these children. Nope, Not at all. Some may argue that she needs to find money to afford to raise these kids and this is a good solution; I argue that she has wanted this all along, isn't putting the kids best interests before her and needs to give those kids to people who will raise them right.

And since I will never speak of this person again on my blog, she is also doing a TV show. Here is what she says: "What I'm doing with this TV show is basically creating documentaries about the lives of my children. It's going to be an ongoing thing, and it will follow them from now until they are 18." Yeah, great. Way to whore out your kids to the media masses for the next 18 years. I mean seriously, good luck with that.

(She really rubs me the wrong way and makes me sick.)

Friendly Reminder

Please & Thank You

Simple words that are very important and that you should never forget to use.

Terry’s Random Question of The Day:

A phone call from Terry.

Terry: “Jenn, Question….is it OK to wear a Popeye Backpack when you are a grown man?”

Me: “Is this question based on an observation, or would YOU like a Popeye backpack for school?”

Terry: “Yeah Jenn, I want to look like a complete idiot by wearing a childs vinyl Popeye backpack through Downtown BG so people, like myself, can laugh at how ridiculous I look.”

Me: “I think you answered your own question.”

And Now For Something Completely Different…..

Lets talk about HULU. Do you use it? Have you heard of it?

Hulu is a website that offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from NBC, Fox and many other networks such as Comedy Central, PBS, USA Network, Bravo, Fuel TV, FX, SPEED Channel, Sci Fi, Style, Sundance, E!, G4, Versus, and Oxygen. You have probably seen the Alec Baldwin and Seth MacFarlane commercials that are pretty funny.

Recently my hubby has been spending a lot (I mean A LOT) of time on Hulu. Infact, it is pretty much all that has talked about in our house the past month.

I have only watched a few things on it, but I have to say it is pretty great! Take for instance the other night T & I wanted to watch an episode of Fringe that we recorded Tuesday and guess what, 7 minutes got cut off because of American Idol. Stupid AI. So of course it cut our show off by 7 minutes. But no worries, we went straight to Hulu and watched the last 7 minutes right on Hulu with NO problems. They offer TV shows and movies and the quality is great. There are a few commercials, but less then if you watched it on TV.

I loves me some Hulu!

ENOUGH.

(I am not intending to hurt anyones feelings but I am angry and I am not going to keep this in. This is MY opinion. If your opinion is different please, please share. If you can answer any of my questions PLEASE DO. But please if you feel like you need to be an asshole on my blog, I would appreciate you just don't leave a comment.)

So I try to avoid political blogs as I try to keep my overall blog semi-light and humorous, plus I know 1) people get turned off by political blogs 2) people are TIRED of political blogs 3) people get so highly passionate about politics….hence the length of this blog.

However, I have had ENOUGH and I would like to say that I am sick and tired of people being SO overly critical of President Obama. I am not talking about having different ideals then him and being critical of those issues…OF COURSE people should have different view points. I am talking about people who just will not even give him a chance and seem to have such a strong dislike, even hate for not only the people who voted for him but more importantly what the man stands for and what he does that they call him names and bring him down when they can. (I am sure if they could they would find fault with the way he wipes his ass.) There is a difference between disagreeing with him politically and just being a smug and condescending asshole towards him.

Like I said, you shouldn’t agree with everything one person is doing but this over critical attitude is unacceptable. The fact remains there are people who didn’t like Obama from the beginning and I am afraid to say will never like him, no matter what he does. They will find fault with even the “good” things he does and find joy in the “bad” things he does. It is almost like these people want Obama to fail just so they can say, see I told you he wasn’t qualified for the position.

I also had a discussion with someone and they said, “well you were very critical of President Bush.” Fact remains; I may not have agreed with Bush’s ideas and stance on things when he entered the office but I gave him a chance. He was our President and 3 months into it I was NOT calling him names. I have NEVER been afraid to admit when I am wrong and I truly try to be opened minded with everyone. Even after 9/11 I stood behind him and supported what he did. I may not have thought war was the best option, but like many people I was angry and figured that he would unify us as a country and that the President had OUR best interests in mind. After a couple years I saw that this was not going the way it should and it took those YEARS of false promises and poorly running our country in many many other areas other then just the war for me to ultimately loose respect in President Bush’s judgment and ability to run OUR country. Yes, the last few years I have been VERY critical of where he has taken our country and many of the things he has done over the last 8 years but I gave him a chance and I have every right to be angry with him and how he ran our country. Plus, I have always tried to project my frustration/concerns/opinions in ways that have been semi-educated in nature and not strictly based on my emotions. But even any smug comment I made was left to myself or to only those people closest to me. Even then, there was a line I wouldn’t cross. But SO many people are not even giving President Obama a chance to fail or succeed. It hasn’t even been THREE months since he has taken office and some people are acting like it has been 4 years of him just fucking up as President.

And I ask why? Why is it SO hard for people to be open to him? Is it strictly because you are SO against how he plans to run things? Is it just simply because he is a Democrat and you are a Republican and you have different ideals? Is it specifically just HIS ideals that upset you? I mean I personally find it very hard to believe that him being a Democrat is the lone reason for this hatred because we know BOTH parties have their issues and neither has gotten it right 100% (or even 50%) and if we can not even be OPEN to others ideals and perspectives without criticizing everything they stand for then we are fools. So what is it, is it just not liking Obama? I REALLY want to know because that alone is not enough to be acting like this towards him a few months in. Bush messed up many times and was not perfect. You have to see that and can’t keep covering up for him and all the bullshit he did while in the position as President. And will Obama do things that people do not agree with? YES. And will he mess up? YES. There hasn’t been a President who hasn’t, but only time will tell to what degree they mess up. But the big problem I have and the difference is people are not giving him a chance and instead of giving constructive criticism and educated opinions they have resorted to 5th grade name calling and back-handed comments. Yes, very mature.

Or is it because you simply never wanted him to be President and think he is not qualified for the position as President? Well then you just need to drop it, as there is nothing you can do about it as he IS President. I understand your frustration just like I am sure you understand how people felt when Bush was elected not once but twice. Welcome to a Democratic world and the freedom of choice.

Could it be because you feel he is over “commercialized” because he is on magazines and t-shirts and all over the place in the entertainment media? Because "he" blogs and twitters or because he goes on talk shows while he is attending corresponding appointments? Well I say, so, and I don’t get this either. Over the years people have been so worn down that what does it matter if people are looking to someone to try to change the status quo and give them, dare I say the word, hope. I agree that there are some people who may think he is going to solve everything and put him on a pedestal that he doesn't deserve or even want for that matter, but this is NOT the majority (as much as you wish it was) and I too get annoyed with these individuals and think they are being unrealistic…but again, this isn’t the majority. JUST because you support Obama and wear a shirt showing that support or proudly display a bumper sticker on your car doesn’t mean anything more then the fact that he is OUR President and if that is how an individual wants to show their support then really what difference does it make to you. NONE. And think about how much people adored Reagan and Kennedy….if they were in 2009 they could have been treated the same way…dare I say at the time they were treated like Celebrities. It is a phase and will die down, just like it has in the past. Obama took a different approach and is reaching out to people in different ways. It isn’t taking away from him running our country; it is getting the word out there through different avenues.

And if you think it is because how much the MEDIA praises him then you also will realize how much they also criticize him. Hello Fox news. In the end, it goes both ways and though I listen to the viewpoints of the mass media I really take what they have to say with a grain of salt. Anyways, it is hard to give a rats ass about what the media thinks anymore. The minute they started making Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and anything else pop culture related headline news was the minute I lost all respect for what they had to say. If it is the media that is making you upset about Obama, turn off your TV. And if you think that people & the media are “brain washed” by Obama, as I heard one station suggest then I really don’t know what to tell you because I can not have an intelligent conversation with claims like that.


We are at a time right now that is scary. Many of us have never seen anything like this before and there is a lot of uncertainty. I know many people do not believe that Obama has the experience to handle this and that he is not the person you wanted in office. But it is done. At this point instead of constantly tearing him down in such a mean and ridiculous way we should be coming together to try to support the direction of OUR country, which means supporting the individual running the country. PLEASE have your opinions and thoughts about what is going on but do it in a thought out, intelligent and respectful way and don’t just make back-handed comments about him because you think you are being funny and showing your loyalty to the “other side”. That just furthers the divide between people instead of us coming together. Give him the time he DESERVES to show you what he will do for our Country. He alone did not put us in the position we are in and I do believe he is trying to do what is best for ALL OF US. I don’t know what is going to happen and I have my concerns as well, but I will also not unjustly tear him down if he doesn’t deserve it. I am supporting him as President of our Country. And when he gives me just reason to not agree with him or be upset with how he deals with things, then you can bet I will say something. But this unwarranted bullshit name-calling and constant criticism has to stop.

In the words of my mother, if you have nothing nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all.

Please Excuse My Excess Use of the Word Awesome…But This was Awesome.

MSN article & Article here.

So this weekend we were in Cleveland to attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Concert!! We were excited that it was going to be in Cleveland (where it belongs EVERY year instead of New York) AND that this was the first time they opened it up to the public, you know the FANS. Besides it being in Cleveland, what made us really want to attend, was that Metallica was getting inducted!

Overall we had a really good time. The things that were annoying had to do with the set up of and execution of the event itself, and believe me a courteous but also informative letter/email will be making its way to the Rock Hall. Even though our seats were not the best, they were almost but not the worst, but I think (and maybe this is the event planner in me) they need to rethink the layout for when they have it again in 3 years.

But the performances themselves were great. It was so fun to be a part of something like this and to see this kind of activity and support in Cleveland is wonderful…..Cleveland needs this event. I thought all the performances were wonderful, Little Anthony and the Imperials surprised me…they still got it. Of course my favorite performances of the night had to go to Jeff Beck and flipp’n Jimmy Page – um AWESOME!!!!!! The two of them together were just great and to see Jimmy Page play was amazing. He is wonderful. Of course the Metallica performances also just rocked. I was SO happy to see that they included Jason Newsted (their bassist for many a years) not only in the induction part but also had him play on stage with the current Metallica line up. That was Awesome. I wanted them to just keep playing, two songs were just not enough. They also played a finale at the end with Metallica, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Flea and Joe Perry. Again I say it – AWESOME!!!

Additional Favorite Moments from the Concert/Weekend:

- Flea’s speech was incredible…what a great speaker.

- Loved when J. Hetfield said in his speech “Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Rush, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Iron Maiden, Motorhead. We'd like to invite them through the door," Totally agree and one of my biggest problems with the Hall of Fame is these people, along with others that they leave out of the HOF. Politics?!?!?!

- It was cool to see Run DMC and Eminem. I would have loved to see them perform, but understand why they didn't.

- Oh, we are now BFF’s with Eddie Trunk. Yeah, that’s right. Click on the link to see who he is, but we watch That Metal Show every Saturday. It was funny because we were walking through a building and we walked right past him and K & I both looked and said That was Eddie Trunk! We wanted to say something but didn’t. THEN, as we were leaving the concert and walking back to our hotel we saw him again. We were thinking of what to say and Dad said welcome to Cleveland and hope you come back. He was very gracious and then the dork I am said We loved That Metal Show (to which he said thank you) and then the bigger dork I am said So Old Metallica or New Metallica (which was something they did on their show). He then proceeded to talk to us for the remainder of our trip back to the hotel (a few blocks or so). I think Terry could have just kept talking to him, he was so easy to talk to. It was cool.

- I loved seeing the middle aged white people trying to rock out to Metallica. It cracked me up! Because who got inducted it was a unique mix of people but it was pretty easy to recognize the Metallica fans.

- Terry and I really want to go see Metallica in concert and are looking at tickets for this fall.

- We stayed in room 1408….creepy.

- Another fun concert with my family. Seriously, I feel very lucky to be a part of a family that really has an interst in good music and that brought us up listening to everything.

(I could keep writing about the evening, I will stop now)