The Office

I just finished watching the last episode of The Office. Brilliant.

"Beans?!"

"Muff.. now that was the bit for me."

New Toys

Bobi recently hooked me up with a new toy, which I have been spending a lot of time playing with. Hugs to him for always having an answer! (Also, I found that music I was after finally!)

I have also gotten the piano music to A Charlie Brown Christmas recently, and plan to spend many hours in the near future practicing my favorite songs. I have been wanting this book for so long! Excitement is just not the word.

My desk is currently an assembly line of ornament production. Saying that reminds me of when I use to build cars. That was a pretty cool job. Though tiring. If Rob Beckham ever reads this, I miss you guys.

In other news, I ran a mile yesterday. I was quite impressed with this feat, as I have asthma. It's been a long time since I could run a whole mile without even stopping. So perhaps I will give this running thing another shot. Inhalers are your friend.

There you go, a random update. They may be few and far between for a bit, as I'm doing too many projects at once. But as soon as these ornaments are done, I plan to be back in what shall henceforth be known as "Full Monkey Force!"

Crap, almost forgot to tell you about getting the new Fiona Apple cd! I miss that about working at Wal-Mart.. always knowing when new cd's are coming out. But it's okay, because now I have it.

"You can be nice to me, or treat me mean. I'll make the most of it. I'm an extraordinary machine!"

TURKEY!

I came home to a turkey in the oven! It smells soooo good. I love my boyfriend.

So, I'm going to eat some turkey, and stuffing, and drink some wine. And then I'm going to give this santa ornament thing one more try. Should it go as badly as last night, I shall resort to plan B. Wish me luck.

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Photo Edit:

The turkey is finally done, 2 hours after we expected it.

DS cuts the turkey.

Dinner is served!

Making progress with the ornaments tonight. Still thinking about just going to Plan B.

Ornament Update

I spent quite a few hours yesterday working on my new ornament design after work. The prototype always takes a long time to work out. With no pattern, I have to work out the size of everything, the colors, and how it will all come together. I managed to put together a rather cute santa in sleigh yesterday, only to completely ruin it while trying to find a good way to hang it inside the orb.

I think it would be easier if this part were smaller, but the smaller you quill something, the harder it is. So tiny, and so tricky to handle with clumsy fingers. I had hoped to be able to take a completed one to work today, because everyone has been asking about them. Not it looks like it's back to the drawing board.

Turkeys in the tub and fish on the counter

I hope everyone's holiday went well. I know mine did. DS and I spent the morning watching episodes of The Office while we failed to thaw our turkey. Which means we didn't have turkey for Thanksgiving after all. But that was okay, because the whole thing was funny. Especially when we tried putting it in the tub...

This of course meant that dinner was to be vegetarian. Which actually wasn't so bad. My favorite part was the 4 desserts I had. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, some kind of mixed berry cobbler, and rum cookies. Quite tasty, though the pumpkin pie was by far my favorite.

After dinner we took a walk around Monona Lake. This was probably not the best idea considering the temp of around 10 degrees and very high winds. DS and I had to switch scarves, because his poor head was freezing. I'm trying my hand at crocheting him a beanie now. While walking, we came upon a park, which had a shelter with fireplaces built into it. We found a fire at one, with some people hanging out in front. I'm not entirely sure, but I think they may have been homeless. It was hard to tell, as DS claims he's never seen a homeless person in Madison that looked on the brink of dispair. But I really could not fathom any othe reason a group of people would be huddled in front of a makeshift fire made from wood gathered from the park on Thanksgiving when it was so cold out. They were quite cheery, and shared their fire with us for a time as we talked. I hope they have a Shelter to stay in tonight if they are homeless, as I'm sure a night in this cold would be horrid.

Once our appendages were quite numb, we walked back towards our friend's house and decided it was time to head home. We wanted to give Invader Zim another try, since we thought it might be the kind of thing you have to grow in to, much like Aqua Teen Hungar Force. Then, despite the lack of turkey, we fell into a food coma. When I awoke, it was nearly 9. Appalling.

We tried watching the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy afterwards, but DS just can't stay up much past 9. I watched it without him while I worked on his new hat.

Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday: I'm fish sitting for the weekend. Now, considering my previous experience with caring for betas, you would think that my friend Katie would not trust me with Grover. But indeed she has. So far so good. He's eating well, not convulsing, and quite responsive in a good way. I was told that if he were to die while in my care, to not come back to work. Either that, or find another just like him and never let her know... I just have to hold out until Saturday.

Turkey Time

DS has been kind enough to make me a turkey for tomorrow. We have been invited to dinner at friend's house, but that friend happens to be vegetarian. I just can't imagine Thanksgiving without turkey. She says it's cool if we bring a bird, and he said he was willing to make one for me. I am definitely thankful for him this year.

I have spent the evening watching Batman Begins and eating pizza. I plan to spend tomorrow morning in my pajamas for as long as possible. I hope to get some ornaments made, as I've been invited to a Craft Open House on Sunday by one of the people at work. Her sister makes jewelry, and she sells it here in Wisconsin. She says there will be about 12 crafters there, and I'm very excited. I didn't know if I would have any made by then, but she said if I did, to bring them along. She has a seller's permit, and I just have a wholesaler's permit. A seller's permit is expensive! So yes, I'm going to enjoy a crafty Sunday, though I'm not sure it will be as cool as that craft girl sweatshop thing going on down in Florida.

And as usual, medicine meant to dry out my sinuses has given me a dry nose that now burns to breathe through, and a headache. However, nastiness dripping down my throat is no longer an issue. As my biggest sickness related fear is nauseous however, I'll take the burning nose and headache over dripping sinuses anyday. So no worries about me sneezing on my turkey :) (Though I'd probably eat it anyway.. *shhhh!*)

Herbert Kornfield

I have recently been rekindling a relationship with one Herbert Kornfield. He's the Accounts Receivable Supervisor in some company. By far, my absolute favorite column writer over at The Onion. If interested in some good humor, check him out.

But for now, I must find some Benedryl, as draining sinuses bypass my nose and head straight for my throat, making me slightly naseous. If left unattended for too long, it'll feel like I have bronchitis. I'm not sure what happened to my ability to be healthy, but I totally lost it somewhere along the college path.

Stockings

I spoke with my Mom yesterday day. I was telling her how DS and I are too poor to buy all the things that go with a Christmas tree, like a tree skirt. And also stockings. So I bought the cheapest skirt I could find, and I'm decorating it myself. She seemed a little panicked. Turns out, she was in the process of making DS and I stockings herself, and was worried that I wouldn't want hers if I made my own. She's so silly. We always had handmade stockings growing up, and I always loved them. My Mom rocks. I can't wait for them to get here!

So now, I have a lot of crochet patterns for stockings and a bunch of green and red yarn. Anyone want to buy a stocking?

Firing Day

It finally happened. The girl we will no longer name was fired at work. The whole thing was actually pretty anti-climatic. Katie and I had been popping up saying, only 2 more days! Things like that. And now it's over. No more having to do two people's work because the other does nothing. No more having an employee lie to me about how much work they've done, or the fact that they've done it at all. No more awkward hugs from people I would never even speak to outside of work...

I think that was the thing I disliked most. The way she always hugged me like we were best friends. So clingy. And she would stand there, while she wasn't working, watching you work, and stroke my hair. I hated that. *shudders*

The store manager was nervous about it, as it was only the second time she had to fire someone. Apparently the first time did not go well. Being the third ranked manager, and only one witness being needed, I stayed on the floor. They didn't even let her clock in. Just, hi, how are you, let's talk.

I kept myself occupied, as there were floor moves to do, and elderly ladies needing help. Thankfully, I was busy with one of these ladies when they all came back out about five minutes later. She had tears in her eyes as she gave me one of her clingy hugs, me in the middle of telling the customer about our fragrance lamps (no one ever knows what they are..). Kate and the SM rolled their eyes. And with that last moment of discomfort, she was gone.

In a way, I do feel bad that she was let go without any written warnings. However, being that she was within her probationary period still, none were necessary. But then, every time I think of how she actually told another employee that the old manager (whom I was hired to replace) taught her to do next to nothing and get away with it, I lose that empathy. When I remember how she would sit behind the register, where no customers could see her, to build lamps, and then tell not only other associates but other managers that no, she didn't have to listen to them and stand up, because I told her it was okay.. I still don't know how she turned "You can't sit behind the register, no one can see you," into "yeah sure, it's okay." And especially when I think of how she actually argued with a manager about the price of something, an as-is price that only a manager can decide, right in front of a customer... Yeah, I'm glad she's gone.

She had started coming in and saying things like, "My mom is mad at you." This person was over 20. Not by a lot, but still, more than enough to be an adult in every way. You have no idea how aggravating it was to be told that her mother was mad at me. Saying that her mother didn't work there didn't seem to have an effect. Therefore, it wasn't much of a surprise when she later called in anger about her being fired. I can't tell you how many times SM had to say, "If she wants to talk to me, she can call me. She's an adult." Just ridiculous.

So yeah, work is now like, 20 times better. Everyone left that works there actually works. And while things are still far from perfect in the store, the imperfections that remain are ones that I can deal with and still come home without fuming and threatening to quit. So I'm happy.

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Note for those that care: I learned how to lead climb and lead belay tonight. Ooyaxzah!

(yeah, so I stole that from mo.. what are you going to do about it?)

Accusations

I have been accused of putting my tree up too early. I have also been accused of making baby Jesus cry, but that probably has more to do with me breaking his arms off. He looks funny in my nativity set now....

Let me explain something. In case you have all forgotten, I work in retail hell. That means the day after Thanksgiving, I'll be spending my entire day fighting with uppity people who want to spend their day shopping instead of putting up their tree. Considering that most of the people that shop at my mall are rich white women, they probably have their husbands/servants doing it for them, but whatever. My point is this: I don't know when my next day off will be after Thanksgiving. It was yesterday or nothing. And I am not one to wait a week or two after Thanksgiving for this sort of thing. I love it too much.

So, you can all take your condescending judgements and aim them at Chanda, who puts her tree up the day after Halloween, every year. (I still love you Chanda)

My First Christmas Tree

Today, DS did his duty as a boyfriend and bought me my first Christmas tree!! I'm so excited. I've been singing made up songs about it all week in anticipation. :)

It was actually really hard to find one that wasn't prelit. Why do all the trees come with the lights built in now? I just don't get it. Like DS said, putting on the lights is half the fun! Not to mention that the two strings of lights cost less than $5, which saved me at least $50 by not getting my tree pre-strung. What a rip off!

I know some of you will be disappointed by the fact that we didn't get a real one. Especially when you learn that I've never in my life had a real Christmas tree. DS and I discussed this, and we decided that we would wait to mess with all that when we have a house. Living on the second floor of an apartment and getting a live tree up there just seemed like more of a headache than anything.

DS wore his "Superfly" t-shirt for this important event.

That mug on the chess table is the carousel mug I bought my Mamaw for Christmas. It makes a good eggnog mug.
We went with the cheap ornaments, just so our tree wouldn't be bare. But really, we prefer the random assortment that you collect over the years. The problem is that we haven't had a lot of years for collection, so we only have about 6 of the cool ones. You can't have a tree with 6 ornaments.
This is the only picture of the ornaments that turned out okay. That last drop of my camera at Devil's Lake really made it useless. Stupid broken focus... Also, it's not really our first Christmas, that was last year. But that ornament is at my mom's right now.

Harry Potter

So, I spent a hellish day at work yesterday. The weekend marked the beginning of hunting season here apparently, which also apparently marks the beginning of shopping season for women. I'm pretty sure I only saw about 4 men in my store all day yesterday. Also, let me just say that I think it's total crap that I can't tell customers when we close unless they ask. Especially when those customers come in the store as I'm ringing up my last customer 10 min after we close. Even more especially when they stay until 45 min after we close. And if those women had stayed any later, thereby jeopardizing my early arrival to the late showing of the new Harry Potter, I would have personally grabbed them by the uvula and thrown them out of the store myself.

Okay, now for the good stuff. I saw the new Harry Potter movie last night!! I do have to say that it is without a doubt my favorite movie so far. But then, the 4th book is absolutely amazing, so anything less would have been a disappointment. The crowd was awesome too. It was sold out (of course), and the whole theater laughed together. Cried together. Clapped together at the end. I love it when everyone claps at the end of a good movie. DS too was impressed. The whole movie was a surprise for him, not having read the books. I made sure to wear my Gryffindor scarf that my friend Chanda made me. I was much cooler than all the college students running around with little wooden brooms. However, reign at the top of the cool pyramid was quickly dashed when I spotted a guy wearing an actual Gryffindor Quidditch jersey. *le sigh*

And on a funny note: They of course took advantage of the large crowds and showed about 10 movie previews. Among them, a move entitled Happy Feet. This is apparently a CGI version of March of the Penguins, where of course the animals talk and dance. First, I couldn't believe the blatant wave riding this movie was attempting to do. OOohhh, March of the Penguins was a huge hit! I bet we could make tons more if we made them talk! Then, I remembered this article that I'd read in The Onion a while back. I was still sad that the article was so right on, but I could at least laugh at the absurdity of it all...

Taking Suggestions

I decided last year to make ornaments on a yearly basis. One basic design, like collectible yearly things. This is last years:
Notice that I personalized them with the year and the person's name. My plan for selling them is to always have the year, but to charge an extra dollar for putting on the name. Then I can make a bunch of generic ones faster. You'll notice that I painted the design to be seen through the glass, but I painted it again on the back to be seen from behind. I also found this cool paint that looks like snow for the bottom.

So, now I'm taking suggestions for design ideas regarding this year's ornament. If I choose yours, you get two free ones! That's a $12 value! So, leave me a comment, or if you're stingy with your ideas (which is fine by me), you can e-mail me.

My First Wisconsin Snow!!

It's snowing!!! I took pictures, but my computer has decided to not recognize my camera tonight. So maybe tomorrow... I'm so excited! I love snow!! Yea!! for winter!!


Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points.


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PHOTO EDIT:

It's hard taking pictures of snow at night.

This last one was taken with the flash on. I think it's awesome.

A Great Big THANKS

As it was made known by a publicized letter, I have been making magnets for a Mr. Harry Yak. He was quite late in making his payment. However, I now owe him the biggest thanks. He gave me waaay more than I charged. Why? Not because it was late, but because "That's what I think they're worth." How freakin awesome is that??

In thanks, I'm sending him a copy of The Onion in print. Because one of the perks of living in Madison is having The Onion printed here.

Also, I have to tell him, that I'm glad your "edge living" turned out okay. It would suck to lose $25 in the mail. However, your letter rocked. You, BOBI and Dane can come over anytime you want :) The zoo is free!

My first football party

Well, the first one worth mentioning...

Today, because DS is out of town and Mo didn't get to come visit, my friend Katie drug me out of my house for the last home football game of the season. I managed to go my entire four years of college without attending one party, whether it be football related or no. I've never really been much of party person. At least, not drunken retard parties. I was never invited to them in high school, because "you wouldn't have come anyway." Yeah, you're right. And I would have told your Mom too!

However, the older I get, the more comfortable I am getting together with some adults and having a few beers. And since I have to get used to the idea of spending time with people other than DS while he's in France, I took Katie up on her offer to party all day. Initially, she told me we would start around 8:30am. Later, when she realized the game didn't start until 2:30pm, she changed her mind to a more "reasonable" 10:30am. I showed up around 11ish.

I don't own any Badger-wear, except my baseball shirt. Which I get flak for, because the school no longer has a baseball team. However, I carefully choose an outfit with red as the dominant color and went downtown. I was shocked at how far away I had to park just to go to her friend's house. She told me they were out front. So I'm walking down the street, and literally every house has about 20 people in the front yard, all in red badger gear, and all playing beer pong or some other drinking game. I was beginning to think I had gotten in over my head, as I've never played any drinking games. You have to go to a party to do that...

But then I found her, and there weren't that many people in this particular yard, though there was the drinking game table set up. I was given a beer from a keg, and I set about making myself comfortable around all these people I'd never met before. I'm not really a people person.

I watched several rounds of flip cup while I sipped my beer. When I had about an inch or two left in my cup, I decided that it had gotten low enough that I could manage to play. They gave me some slack because I was a first timer. As it turns out, I'm very very good at this game. However, I never actually won. The first time, my team was disqualified because I got overeager and started before the last teammate had finished flipping. The second time, I got placed on a team of giggly girly-girls, the kind who act stupid so you'll have sex with them. I think they lost on purpose. However, I know that I'm good, because everyone who won said to me, "wow! that was a great flip!" So while I'm not eager to spend many days drinking just to play this game, I'm glad that I can hold my own when needed.

By the time the game started, there were more people than I cared to count in the yard. I was shocked that I liked most of those that I was introduced to. We moved the gathering to a bar with a TV for game watching. It was standing room only. Outside. And shortly thereafter we went to yet another bar for game watching. Though to be honest, we didn't see a lot of the game. Too many people. But we did make a point to see the last 30 secs. The rest of the night was spent in a trip to Rocky Roccoco for dinner, and then dancing back at the bar. I love dancing.

I was dutifully walked back to my car, as it was dark, and I was parked a long way off. I spent 9+ hours with a bunch of people I barely knew. Well, I only knew one, the rest had been complete strangers. I very carefully drank just enough, but not too much, and stopped 5 hours before I went home, to be safe. Now, I'm in my pjs, and very sleepy. Yes, even the Sleep Goblin needs sleep sometimes... I'm happy to report that it was a good day.

Random Quotes from an Evening of Playing Blackjack

"I need one more bust protector!"

"I'll double barrel you!"

"Did you just spank your own ass?"

"How many of those do you have in your mouth?"

"They're not potato chips, they're corn chips, and I'm convinced that makes them better."
"Why, because they have a vegetable in the name?"

"Do you have pet names for your genitals?"

"Have you started the internet porn yet?"

"All of my penises are in South Carolina."
"You have more than one?"

"I saw that tongue action."

"I just can't stop looking at myself."

"Alice blew that one!"

"Read the damn entry!"

"My boobs are pilling from rubbing them on the cardboard."

"Man, I've got to unbutton my pants."

"That makes me feel all makey outtie."

"Hit me!"

"I was down under the desk on my knees in the dark."

"Is book light a secret code for vibrator?"

"I got an eruption!"

"Bastard!"
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It's amazing how dirty a conversation can sound out of context, no?

I rated my life

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7
Mind:	7.3
Body:	6.6
Spirit:	7.5
Friends/Family:	5
Love:	7.7
Finance:	8.4
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

I'm happy with my life overall. Friends/Family is definitely on the low end, so that's no exaggeration. Though I really doubt that my finances are the best part of my life. Just because I pay my bills on time and don't live at home doesn't mean that I'm not also in debt up to my ears.

Badger Day

So, it looks like instead of driving to Michigan tomorrow, I've been invited out for drinks Saturday morning in honor of the last home football game of the Badgers. And by morning I mean 8:30 am. And by drinks I mean for real bloody mary's. My friend Katie is serious about football....

Oh, and I'm finally getting around to changing your link Bobi, but I'm not happy about it. I'm opposed to change.

Family Tree

Note: It is not a good idea to put off making one of these to the last minute. This is especially true when you have to take your boyfriend to the airport at 5am the next day. Just be forewarned, it takes a long time to print all those pictures at the right size, and then cut them out and put them in there. We did the back side too. It may not make up for DS forgetting his mom's birthday, but I think it'll be close. All that work, and I'm not even going. I can't even fall asleep on the plane. Nope, just coming back home and then going to work all night....

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Updates: A while back I told you about an employee who made work suck. I think we're going to fire this employee soon. Work is looking up because of this.

DS is leaving in the morning to visit his mom in S. Carolina. This is in large part because he forgot her birthday, but also it's because he loves her. I am staying home.

Mo was supposed to visit me this weekend, but all of our careful planning has come to naught. I am consoled only by the fact that she has a computer again, as of today, and can at least spend time on pogo with me in place of our game night. (I hope she reads this and gets prepared...) Also, maybe, just maybe, I'll go see her instead. Won't be quite the same, but it's probably better than nothing. I don't know though.. I can be kinda pessimistic.

Eggnog is now in stores. I love this whole 2 months of straight holiday sooo much. (Only when it's two months though.. my store started selling Christmas stuff in early September. GAG!)

I am so sad. I have known for some time that DS's job would be sending him to Lyon, France for a while this winter. However, he has recently been given the details of said trip. He leaves January 15 for THREE MONTHS! How am I supposed to go three months without him, when I've already posted about how I have NO friends? How will I keep warm during my first Wisconsin winter? How will I keep healthy when I have to go back to a Ramen noodle diet?

I am so sad.

I love Mountain Dew

I have a Mountain Dew addiction. To be more specific, I had a Citrus Drop addiction, which I liked much better than Mountain Dew, but we don't have Krogers in Wisconsin. Stupid Wisconsin. For a long time, I found nothing that lived up to my Citrus Drop, so I stuck with Mountain Dew. Now I've found Mountain Fury. Not as good as Citrus Drop, but I'll drink it over real Mountain Dew. I have a thing about good generics.. I don't know why.

Anyway, my point is something else entirely. When I sit here at my computer for long hours, like tonight, I can go through more than one without really noticing. It's probably bad for my butt. But good for my can collection. Okay, it's not so much a "collection" as it is a bunch of used cans on my window sill. DS hates it. I wonder what he would do if I went for the world record? That's got to be a helluva lot of cans....

Yahtzee

When I lived with my dad and his girlfriend for a brief time during College 1, we had a pretty regular game night. We would play anything from Rummy and Poker to Yahtzee to Dominos.

When I dated my now ex though still record holding longest boyfriend, we played Rook with his family at least once a week, usually on Sundays.

I have no one to play games with anymore. I have a stack of board games almost as tall as me that no one plays with me. Cranium is not a fun game by yourself, unless you're well adapted to split personalities.

I made DS play Yahtzee with me tonight. It's the least he can do, since he's the reason I no longer have any friends closer than a 9 hour drive.

On a different, though related note, I also have no one to see movies with. What about DS you say? Well, when I get excited about things like Rent and Harry Potter, I'm not all feel good about my only movie watching partner groaning and saying "you owe me." In fact, I don't think we've ever gone to to a movie which I didn't owe him for later. And of course, because he's never picked out a movie at the theater, or had any desire to see one, I owe him a lot of movies still.

Where are the rest of the super cool dorky people in this stupid town?

A Complete Blank

I can't think of anything to post about today. So, in lieu of leaving my loyal readers with nothing new, I'm posting this pic I took at the Henry Vilas Zoo in August. It's an orangutan family. Isn't the baby adorable?

Climb On!

I climbed both my first 10a and 10b today! I am awesome!!

A Note to Mr. Harry Yak

Dear Mr. Yak,

I recently sent you an e-mail with a picture of the magnets I've been making for you. I have been disappointed in your lack of response. Are you not excited? Do you think they suck? I know you've been online because you have left evidence of your presence on this very blog.

If I don't get a reply soon, I may be forced to either keep them, or bestow them upon other eager souls who find a magnet of your face wonderful. Consider this a friendly warning :)

Sincerely,
Sleep Goblin

Please Wear Your Seat Belt

Dear Everyone,

I'd like to take a minute to remind you that seat belts save lives. Though you may be tired of hearing it, or maybe you don't care, it's important to others that you do. In high school, my best friend's best friend died in a car wreck because she didn't have her seat belt on. I found out today another good friend of ours died this week, also because of a lack of seat belt wearing.

Aside from the fact that wearing your seat belt is now law in most states, wearing them is better than not, safety speaking. And if that isn't a good enough reason for you, think about people like me and Kel, who will spend the rest of our lives without you.

Sincerely,
Sleep Goblin