Office Toy Wars

I'm now the proud, new owner of...a Cheburashka doll. Well, I will be once it arrives at my house from the Ukraine. Everyone else at work has a desk buddy/cubicle toy/office friend, but I don't have one. I could have gotten something off ThinkGeek.com, but it just wouldn't have fit me to a 'T', so I went with the obvious choice: a Russian toy. I'm excited because these are hard to find under $35, plus shipping, and I only had to pay $20 (including the shipping). I'm finally being thrifty. Now I just need to get a hold of the white Cheburashka from the Olympics in Russia. Lord, are they are to find.

Ok, I'm not sure why I thought you guys would care about this, but I wanted to share my excitement. Now you can all be confused by my love for/infatuation of Russian cartoons.

Update: After analyzing E-Bay some more, I discovered a Gena (Гена) plush, which would go incredibly well with Cheburashka, since they're both in the cartoon. The guy was selling them together, so he canceled my original order and is sending me the two instead. And it just figures that a few days after I order these, this shows up. I have horrible, horrible timing.

After the Hustle and Bustle

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I can't say mine turned out too badly. I got pretty much everything I wanted and more. My in-laws all pitched in to get me the first level of Rosetta Stone (Russian), so I've been plugging away at that ever since. I didn't realize how much I knew already until I started using it. I find myself saying, "Cake," a lot during the lessons, which is a pretty good sign. Thanks to the stick-on letters, my keyboard is now Russian-ized, and my fingers are now adapting to typing in Russian. All is well.

In addition to that, my husband got me a few t-shirts off Threadless that I really wanted. I wore one that managed to start a lot of conversations and laughs.
He also got me tickets to see Jim Brickman at the Warner on Friday night. I didn't think we were going to be able to go because of being tight on cash, but he got them. I'm excited for him to see him in concert with me. I saw him a few years ago when he was here, and I really enjoyed it. That had to be my biggest surprise of Christmas.

Now that this is my last day off until the weekend, I'm going to use some of my gift cards and brave the crowds at Barnes & Noble (I want to pick up some more Dostoyevsky books) and Best Buy. I had wanted to get a Wii, but one; they're all out, and two; we don't have enough in gift cards and money to cover it. I guess my next choice would be Guitar Hero III...if they have it.

So did you guys get anything exciting for Christmas? Or were you too drunk to remember?

A Very Special Message From Pepsi

Click picture to enlarge.

Merry Christmas! Keep your fridge locked.

Why I Hate Erie

For all the time I was stranded on Peach Street this afternoon, spinning my wheels, you would think I would have seen at least one plow go by. Absolutely not. I watched at least 100 cars sliding and about 50-75 being pushed up the hill on Peach around Miller Avenue. If it's this bad tomorrow, I don't know how I'm going to make it to work in one piece. For crying out loud, PennDOT, do your job! They've been calling for this and gave you ample warning. Besides, it's December! In Erie!
If there's 10 feet of snow on the main roads when I go into work tomorrow morning, I blame you. Oh, and I blame you for the messed up, front, right axle I now have. Driving under 5 miles an hour shouldn't have caused that. Ok, I really just needed someone/something to blame besides the snow for that one, and it seemed appropriate¹.

¹To avoid anymore incidents, it should really be said that, one; I'm sarcastic by nature and don't actually blame PennDOT for the bang-up job on my car, and two; I'm not the only person in Erie who complains about the lack of plowing! Don't single me out as if I'm the town heretic because I'm speaking out about this. I can guarantee that no matter how long people have lived in Erie, how many snow tires they've purchased, or how many times they've driven in the snow, they wish the plowing services were more consistent and/or just taken care of. Don't jump on me because I'm saying what I can safely say 85% of Erie residents--at least--are thinking. Chill and accept it for what it is. I'll chill and move on, as well, as I always do.

Christmas: That's When the Crazies Come Out

It's been a quite a while, I know, but at least my last blog was called "Blogger's Block," so my absence demands your immediate forgiveness. As for my leg/hip issue I had, it has thankfully passed. It did last for a couple days, but after the first day it wasn't quite as bad, and that's a good thing. I probably would have taken some Valium and called it a week.

On a much lighter note, however, the job that I've been temping at offered me a permanent position, which upped my pay a dollar more an hour. I was really excited and honored by it. I'm not sure what to do with myself because I've never been at a job that I've actually enjoyed. I'm so used to starting a job and immediately wondering how I'll get myself out of the mess. What's it like to be happy at a job? Now I know, and it's kind of awkward, but in a very good way. The people there are just awesome, and the whole environment is great. I think I finally found my spot.

Today we had our Christmas party at Marketplace Grille, and that was a lot of fun. I really got the chance to know some people there a little better and give them a feel for me, as well. They have the same, sarcastic sense of humor that I possess, so it's nice to be in good and familiar company.
They played a game where everyone (well, aside from me, at least, because I found out too late) brought a re-gift item (something random that you find at home or just ridiculous) that was wrapped, and each person had a slip with their name and another with their date of birth. They were appropriately picked out of a Santa hat, and when your name or birth date was called, you went to the table and took a present. Once all were picked out, any names/birth dates called after that were allowed to steal a present from someone else. I had the one I picked out stolen, which warranted a comment from a coworker: "Welcome to LCBA!" The Christian way is to advocate stealing...ah, I see...so I stole someone's when it was my turn. Amen!
I actually really like the gift I "stole". It's the green M&M dressed in sultry, Mrs. Claus gear holding a bag that says, "I ♥ Christmas Shopping." That one is a keeper! I'm looking forward to next year. I'll think of something completely random...

In other, unrelated news, I was getting random spam e-mails sent to my phone one particular day. It's never happened to me before, and it hasn't happened since, but my husband got the same thing on the same day. He has Verizon, and I have Cellular One (or should I say AT&T?). I got one at 2:43am and another at 7:26am on Tuesday morning (?), I believe, and they both had something to do with Vicodin or whatever random product they assume I was looking for [Yes! We have Vicodin! Oh! Tell someone who gives a damn!]. Did any of you get these messages? I was ready to complain to someone about Hector1@safe-mail.net. What the Hec...tor?!?

Anyway, now that Christmas is almost here, I'm going to have a hell of a time trying to buy presents this week. If my husband would just tell me something he wants, I could get it done [Come on, sweetie!]. As it stands now, I'm completely clueless. Argh...I don't want to shop with the crazies. Hell, I had to wait on them the past--oh, I don't know--three Christmases. That was enough retail exposure for me.
I guess online shopping would really be the option...don't say it's too late!

Blogger's Block

Happy Belated/In-the-Middle-of-the-Holiday Channukah! Yeah, so I don't really fully celebrate it anymore, but I do in spirit because my parents do. I know that's really not comparable, but that's all I have the time and money for at the moment. Plus, they'll be having us over for dinner Saturday night in celebration anyway. One night is enough rather than eight.

I'm hoping I'll be feeling better by then though. I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure what I have is a pinched nerve. The whole left side of my hip/leg is numb and excruciatingly painful. For the better part of my day at work, I was writhing in pain. When no one was looking, I was close to tears. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like it in my life. I feel as if I've been shot in my hip. I'm hoping it goes away soon.
On top of that, my stomach is upset. It's been hurting on and off over the course of the day. Geez, can the weekend get here any slower, so I can wait to rest and feel better?

Beyond all this, there really isn't much going on. Although, I'd like to be blogging more often, I haven't got much to talk about lately. Short of annoying drivers and the weather, there isn't a whole lot. I love my job for the first time in my life, and the people I work with are great.
This "blogger's block" is really starting to get to me. I've lost a lot of readers. Not even the people who read my blog on a daily basis before come back anymore. If you think about it, it's kind of depressing. Makes me wish I could resort back to the old days of retail to complain about all the customers I had, but...nah, I don't miss it that much; however, I really should have had a better variety of content.

I will say this though: It's nice to get some feedback from people; even if it is the same people commenting over and over again. It makes me feel like I'm interacting with you guys a little more rather than talking to a wall. If I wanted to do that, I would. I have plenty of walls to choose from, but to avoid being committed, I'll refrain.
Just let me know you're all still out there, so I don't feel completely alone, and I'll start blogging more frequently and with better, more relevant content.

One Question

What in the hell does this have to do with marriage...or anything relevant or rational, for that matter?!?

Happy December To Ya

I know it's now December [Where'd the month go?], and I never blogged about our little Thanksgiving dinner we had last week with Ron and Monica. It actually turned out really well. Nothing was a disaster like I had envisioned, and more importantly, no one got sick or died. I was so beat by the end of the night. I think I out-did myself because not only did we have a 15-lb turkey (stuffed, of course), but I made homemade, cinnamon applesauce, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, rolls, a banana cream pie (fully equipped with meringue), and we bought a Sara Lee pumpkin pie. The applesauce seemed to be the biggest hit, so I was thinking about making some more and giving small jars of it as gifts for some people this Christmas [It's either that or a 20-lb fruitcake, folks...you choose].
I was afraid we weren't going to finish all the leftovers, but we actually cleaned them out pretty well. I'm happy I won't have to throw out too much food. I can understand why people go elsewhere for Thanksgiving. Let someone else do all the work and get fat off the leftover food.

The next day we put up the Christmas tree only to find that half of the lights aren't working on it. Of course, I discovered this after putting the ornaments on. At least you can't tell from outside that it's all screwball. It's laughable from inside the house though. I think buying a new set of chaser lights for next year will be on the top of my list.

I'm now just waiting for the 13th to come around because my sister will be up from Kentucky for a couple weeks. She was able to get some time off work to come visit. I miss her a lot, and I don't get to spend a lot of time with her anyway, so I'm hoping that we'll be able to spend at least a couple days together just hanging out.
As for now, I'm just enjoying the USB drive of Christmas music my boss gave me yesterday. He even threw on a special folder of his self-proclaimed "Badass 80s Music" since he knows I'm a fan. It does have a good mix on there, but Jon and I have a bigger and more diverse collection. It's still good though. There are plenty of good Christmas songs on here, as well. He put over 117 songs on there, which I will fully utilize this holiday since I'm lacking in the Christmas music area. Beyond 'NSync, 98°, and Amy Grant, I haven't got much variety.

Oooh, Louis Armstrong...