look mom, no tears!

well, so far so good. no tears today. gotta love paxil. i did have trouble getting to sleep last night, but it could have been the soda and the bloody mary right before bed. and the thrilling episode of kill reality. woooot!

tonight is going to be a slimmed down night of trivia. only 4 of us are going to be there. but it'll be all girls, and those are by nature more fun. no airs to be put on, no "googly eyes" needing to be made. i'm drinking martinis tonight too! shiiiiiiiit. i have a feeling we're gonna come in last, but we'll have a ball doing it i'm sure.

tomorrow is the FC dinner. i can't wait. i miss those guys. maybe we'll make getting together a more often thing. i also pick up the famed "cedar entertainment table" tomorow, i hope it fits in my car. i'll also have to have peopl over soon to test it out. perhaps a game night.... or just wine and cards.

what doesn't kill me will make me stronger.

today has been the saddest day i've had in MONTHS, maybe even more then months, i wasn't even this upset when buster died. it makes me long for my old office at KB. my eyes are pretty stingy. good thing i'm going to the eye dr to get new contacts next week.

so yesterday was the wedding i was not invited to... my informant told me that someone i used to know was there with his new lady friend. it's been a really long time, and i am not really surprised, but still, it hurts to hear that kind of thing.

so immediately i think, oh god, they're going to be at this upcoming wedding i'm going to also. :( just what i want to see.. not to mention i haven't seen this person (among others in 2 years). then i start thinking, god, this is making me so upset. here i am, almost 30, not seeing anyone, no closer to owning a home then i was 5 years ago. still in debt, barely saving for retirement. in two years these other people have bought homes, are married... who knows what else. i feel so unaccomplished.

so... what better way to feel better then to think out loud and make some lists.

why it will be better if i don't go.
- it will cost TG and FC less $.
- i won't have to see JT, TM or NS.
- i won't have to wear a dress.
- FC and TG will be so busy they won't even notice that i'm not there.
- the people i would be going to see and be hanging out with i see on a regular basis.
- i might cry.

why i should go.
- maybe i can have some sort of closure, (or at least know what to expect in the future for LM's wedding). i'll have to see JT at some point again probably...
- FC and TG asked me to be there.

why i'm better off without NS...
- i don't cry everytime i get in my car any more.
- he "wasn't that into me".
- we were incompatible in the bedroom.
- i've met a lot of nice people out of the whole situation, and made new friends.
- i tasted life in brighton, something i will always look back fondly at.

conclusion...
i guess laying it all out and taking a step back, it's going to be an uncomfortable 5 or so hours out of my life. there is always the bar. and worst case, i can leave early. and i'm dying to find out what the "silver lining" on this cloud is going to be. it'll have to be good. plus what doesn't kill me will make me stronger.

i'm curious to hear your thoughts.

sleeping in...

so yesterday i slept until 5pm. hahahahahahhaa. such a waste of the day! but it was so worth it. i so rarely get to sleep in, it was so nice.

then i went to see broken flowers. what the f. this movie is getting 5 stars all over the place. i have no idea why. there is virtually no soundtrack, all kinds of questions, no answers. waste of time and money. dont' bother seeing it.

so i've been watching tv all morning. kill reality, filthy rich, and now the sweet sixteen show. oh god. maybe i should watch one of my dvds. i have the brown bunny and confessions of a dangerous mind.... hmmm.

i need to groc shop at some point today. shiiiiit.

minus two el-bees

so i lost 2 pounds last week. not too bad for having guests the 2 days before weigh in... i should do well next week too. having zero guests!

i made an appointment this morning for the eye doctor and the dentist. so proud of myself. start saying your prayers that i don't have any cavities.

my friend julie just got engaged. woo who. they are getting married next summer. i'm not expecting to be invited, but if i am that will be two weddings so far for me next summer. yes.......

tonight KT, pep and i are going out to dinner and then going to see a chick flick. i can't wait to sleep in tomorrow. it'll be heavenly. LK is going away this weekend (not weymouth either!) so i'll have the house to myself. i'm going to run around naked all weekend!

home improvements, yeah!

so in my day off, even though we got a start of 11am, we had the most productive day!

first off, we decided to forgo the trip to "the center of the universe", natick, and instead go to nashua.

well, the christmas tree store was in the same plaza as the llbean outlet and the home depot. woooo who!

i got a pair of hiking shoes at bean. $20. not that i hike much, but if i ever do, now i have cute hiking shoes like emily. at christmas tree store i got a purple curtain to hide my closet. its a cute one, its got silver stiching around the edges too! Now my room is about 7 different shades of purple. yesssssssss. we also orderd this cedar folding table that cathy keeps talking about to be sent to the natick store. so when that comes in i will have to go out there and grab it! wooot! Home depot is where i scored the biggest. i got shower rod to hold the new curtain across my closet, pink panther insulating shit to put in the door jam along with some 1/2 inch think foil covered, foam board to hold the pink panther crap in place. i also got an under the door sweep thing in case some giggling tries to get under the door. i tested it out and you can still hear a little, but its definitely more muted. i think thick "decorative" rug hanging on the wall over the door might make it better.

we also got little clippy things to hold the glass window in the back door tighter, and a new door pump thing so the back door will stay open.

ooooh, i forgot the best part. at llbean i also got a thule bike rack for my trunk. its so nice, only $29. and it'll hold 3 bikes. the only thing i need now is some velcro things to hold the extra straps in place, and some bungies so that the front wheel of the bike doesn't slam into the bumper while i am driving. and i need to put air in the tires of the bike. it could probablly use a tune up as well. minuteman trail here i come!

mike brown is my hero! he was such a bob the builder today!

one of my neighbors thinks i parked too close to her driveway, so she called the cops. apparently the cops didn't think i was too close, cause i didn't have a ticket. what a-holes! it was the same woman that has the rav-4 that LK hit when we were moving. that bitch doesn't even use her driveway. and i was a good feet from the edge of her driveway. i thought we left this shit behind when we left brighton!

teen girls have risen from the ashes...

and fly now under the name "sci-fi greg" wooo who!!

anyway, we took third place. we missed the very last question. it was "which olympic gold medalist was a representative for a major party at a run for president?"

the new 6 week challenge culminates in the winner going on a tour of the sam adams brewery. we're gonna win damnit! we got 10 points tonight towards the running scores towards the 6 week challenge.


jen and cath

we had a very fun productive day, we saw 3 whales. that equaled out to be about $12 each per whale. we took no pictures of the whales, but i got a couple of my parents acting like the rest of the tourists that were sleeping during the whole whale watch.


waiting for the whale watch


boston skyline from the harbor


mom and dad making fun of the asians on our deck

tomorrow we are going to the christmas tree shop, and home depot, and maybe the llbean outlet in nashua.

woooooot!

2 days off of work!

mike and cath are here now!

this weekend a bunch of us went down to LKs place on the cape. it was really fun. i save a majority of my points for drinking, so i was definitely drunk, and what is better then swimming at 10-11 at night totally wasted? nothing.. the water was so clear and warm, we had a ball with the "surfboard" (really a sailboard with out the sail). we tried to play chicken, but i was having a really hard time staying up with LK on my shoulders. i was trying unsuccessfully to launch katie into the deep end when i hear crying.. i turn around and LK is crying and holding her eye. she is bleeding from a cut in her eyebrow. she's gonna have a scar for sure!

i watched two of my netflix movies this weekend too. the alamo and hildago. the alamo was so informative. i kinda really liked it. i learnt about davy crockett and the guy that made the "bowie knife" famous.

tomorrow we are going on a whale watch at 10am. woooooo who! then probably some laundry doing, and shopping, and then trivia..

catch up.

so weight watchers was good last night the leader seems competent and funny. there were not that many people there. only like 8 or so people and two couples. strange.. i weigh more now that i have ever weighed in my life. that is not good. :) no wonder i am having ridiculous heartburn problems.

tomorrow is "friend weekend" at camp friendly. i'm gonna save my points for dry reisling.. i was reading all about it yesterday and i was totally salivating thinking about it.

i smell really good today. i might have even overdone it with the vanilla lotion and the vanilla body spray. but what good is it if you can't smell it yourself?

i'm thinking at taking atrip up to VT sept 10th to see anna and her kids, and maybe kerris son.. here are anna's little ones...

added some pics

i added some pics to the post abt the weekend. so mnay good shots were taken! check them out!

teen girls suck....

so. once again, we lost trivia. but this time there were 15 teams. the bar was more packed then any other night we've ever been. em and ryan, you wouldn't even recognize the place. it was beyond busy. and shockingly, there was one bartender, and one waitress. we ended up writing our drink order down on little slips of paper and passing them to the bartender so we could drink.

there were 7 of us. pep couldn't make it, and stop the presses, the "team leader" left early so she could giggle in her room with her lover.

the funniest part of the night was when KT asked george foreman if he was going to camp friendly. apparently noone told KT that george of the jungle was not invited. :)

i am trying to get a little FC reunion together. looks like 6/7 of us can go next thursday. we might push it back till the next week. i'm glad, i haven't seen these boys in forever!

i am getting pretty excited for cathy and mike to come visit, i'm collecting my coins.. LK and i have started a list of things that dad can fix...

speaking of cath and mike, if anyone wants to come to trivia next week please do. cath and mike are going to put us over the 5 people max for team members, so wtf, the more the merrier. and i guarantee cath will chase your coinage all over the bar!

i am also beyond excited about this wine tour in syracuse in september.. there is a brew club that my moms cousin belongs to and she tipped us off to it at the family reunion this year. $40 gets you a bus ride from syracuse out to 7 wineries around cayuga lake, breakfast, lunch and a ride back to syracuse... there are 10 of us going, its going to be such a good time. i am so looking forward to it..

good afternoon!

so, this weekend was so much fun.

em, ryan and i got to meet LK's lover. he's funny, and seemed able to keep up with the conversation, big plus since we tend to talk in all inside jokes. either LK's been taking incessantly to him abt the usual "inside things", or he's a good faker.

sat i did the fenway park tour for the 3rd time. this one was by far the least extensive. my recommendation is to do the tour in the off season.


ryan and em


LK and KT

i got some new kicks at new balance, $35 for some cute shoes, not a bad deal.

if your looking for quantity, i found 2 different places to drink cheap beers... boston billiards before and after games has a cheap limited menu, and they had miller light pints for $2.50. and the harp had miller high life buckets, 5 for $10. shiiiit. i drank the champagne of beers all night! i was even dancing at the harp. woot! it was a great time, and once again ryan has some of the nicest friends i've met. KT let me pass out on her couch afterwards in our quest for pizza, i was pissed when i woke up at 5am, sweating to death and the bitch wouldn't wake up to give me a ride home. thank god there was a cab stand up in teele square... otherwise i'd be so much more pissed!


the gang (note the gang signs)

sunday was kind of a recovery day. i tried to sleep thru it, but wasn't able to sleep well. when i finally got my act together to go and get my shopping done iparty was closed. i had to get the party treats at target for my bosses b-day. i got some strawberry shortcake hats, goodie bags and play-doh and little airplanes that you put together, and an m&m carvel ice cream cake. the boys loved them.. i think that boys secretly want to play with girls toys...

i've decided to go back to weight watchers on thursday 7pm at the malden center. my eating is out of control!

girl dinner!

first, a cleaning update! I vacuumed the living room and the hallway and my bedroom, but I still need to tackle the kitchen, no point in doing that till the girls dinner is over, cause I’m sure its gonna get messy! Wooo who! Tonight I think I will do the bathroom before the dinner guests arrive. I might try to fix up the storage room too. Things are all out of place cause of the leaking ceiling.

Girls dinner is going to be sweet tonight. This is the menu…

Appetizers
spinach and goat cheese quesadillas
artichoke heart stuffed mushrooms topped with calembert cheese
goat cheese and cream cheese spread over melba toast topped w/ olive

main course
homemade lasagna
salad

dessert
layered ice cream cake with sugar wafers, hot fudge and chocolate dipped strawberries

and wine!!

So excited!

one thing down....

i got the laundry done... and i sprayed the shit out of the carpet with this carpet cleaner i had. with a good vacuumming, the carpet might just look presentable.

tonight i am going to dinner with kok at bukowskis... i haven't been there in forever, and i haven't seen kok in even longer, and i even have cash today!

i might try to see JL after that, but who knows, a tree fell into his house last night.

tomorrow is girl dinner, its going to be pretty awesome. jen (the iron chef) has proposed ridiculous amount of gourmet appetizers, not sure what the main course is going to be. but i'm looking forward to the wine. woo who!

let the cleaning begin!

well, i think tonight starts the cleaning frenzy... and it will continue till the 11th hour i am sure..

M and Ryan are coming friday night (anyone that wants to come out with us for drinks is more then welcome to show up at our house friday night, the guests should be arriving at 10-1030. we will most likely be going up to mcGoun's saloon/possibly davis).

this morning when i was taking the trash out i got out to the steps of the house and saw that tere was a pool of wetness forming, so i looked behind me and realized that i had dripped some sort of trash liquid all across the white rug through the living room, and there was even a puddle in the entryway. grrr. i was late to work so i left it. :) so much fun to clean tonight! i have no idea what it even is. it looks like coffee, bt there is no way its coffee, we don't drink coffee. and i'm pretty sure that all liquids get thrown in the sink before the garbage can. yuck. so gross. i hope i don't puke in my mouth while i am cleaning it.


i got breakfast foods for the guests last night at the groc store. i am goin to attempt to hard boil some eggs for RH. supposedly he likes them. wish me luck!

tonight i really should do my laundry too. so much to do so little time!

more details for you nosy people....

apparently i didn't give enough details in my earlier post.

* there was no action. no kiss, nothing. he asked me if i wanted to do the kiss thing, but, a "good night" kiss in the middle of the day in a dirty yellow car in front of my house just didn't seem like an appropriate time for a first kiss.

* we agreed to see each other again. but have not made plans as of yet as to when.

* i was talking to someone at work about this, i think that its hard to be attracted to someone instantly... in the past, with people i've dated, i've had a chance to scope them out, imagine what they are like, observe them, etc. but with online dating, you "meet" the person via email and talking on the phone, maybe trade pictures, and its just not the same, there are very few people that i am attracted to just based on looks. i'm having a problem where i ike what the person has to say, and their opinions, values etc. i will have to go on some more dates with this guy and reassess the situation...

* as of right now i haven't told him abt my blog. not sure if i'm going to...if/when i do you'll prob notice a cutback/editing of some of these posts. :)

aftermath

i went out with JL (jonathan) yesterday... but before that, in case anyone is confused. i added my mom as a user to myblog, so anytime you see, posted by catbrown, that is cathy.

so JL is 45 minutes late picking me up. when he asked me what i look for in someone that was the first thing i said, on time. check minus. he said he got lost, and didn't have his cell phone (turned out it was in the car, just wedged between the pass seat and door). anyway, we went to lunch at the border cafe on rt 1. it was good, he wouldn't let me pay. :) then we went to the theater in lowell and saw charlie and the chocolate factory. it wasn't too bad.

both of us were pretty much falling asleep at the theater since we had talked till 4am the night before, so at 530 we decided to end the date. i slept from around 630 till this morning. it was fabulous...

saturday i went to LM's party at tammys house. such a nice party place. there was enough beer to fill the lake, and tons and tons of food. it was a good time. KT joined me later and tammy introduced her to everyone as "lee's crush". that was kind of uncomfortable...

after LM's party KT and i tried to go to a coworkers party, but when i called to make sure it was still happening, he said it was winding down and not to bother, so KT and i went to hannahs and a guy there threatened to beat me with a brick to "teach me a lesson". KT and i quickly got away from that weirdo, and then shortly afterward he was escorted by about 6 bouncers out of the place, thank god he wasn't waiting for us outside with that brick he promised.

very dissapointed in cath

uhm, cath, emily had to tell me today that the elephant died. not you! didn't you go to the zoo yesterday, and you failed to mention it ws DEAD!!!! are you in mourning and too sad to write about it?

very unlike me....

so i just got in from my car where i've spent the last 4 hours talking on the phone. the phone? you ask. yes, me on the phone for 4 hours voluntarily, and it wasn't with dell or comcast..

i was perusing craigslist last night and found someone that sounded "writable". my general qualifying factors are btwn the ages of 29-31 (big window), dark hair if hair color is mentioned, and funny. so i found a few and this guy wrote me back. he's 30, works for fed ex, funny, talkative, and the best part is... he is a youngest of 3...

so in talking to him tonight i found out we have a lot in common.. he's going to call again tomorrow, and we are going on a "date" on sunday. and it sounds like he is going to foot the bill. :) big plus...

i'll let you know how it goes down...

50th birthday

hi there, today is aunt theresa's 50th birthday. She is 50!!!!!! Please wish her a happy day. we were married on her 18th birthday. what a day!!!!
we have a busy day ahead, we are off to the zoo, and then to our dinner cruise.
we were just out checking the deer damage, they seem to LOVE the TASTE of Irish Spring! maybe not the smell, but they like to eat it! go figure. we saw some evidence of deer in the yard last night and dad heard the bleating again last night. apparently they screech when they are startled and scared.

preliminary research...

okay,

first off, i am having a hard time finding a package deal to vegas that would be both flight and room... so far flights out there run abt 250 a person, and room for 4 nights at the IP is around 136 each.

flight to dublin for a week would be around 293.66.. hotel/b+b/hostel/car hire TBD

what is your vacation CB?

trial and error

Kill reality is on right now, and if you have EVER watched any reality TV, (we are the reality addicts), it should prove to very entertaining.
We are off to buy a dehumidfier for the cellar. Such an exciting day.
Our back yard smells like Irish Spring! i have little pieces of soap hanging all over the back yard to keep the deer from eating ALL our trees, vegetables and flowers. Apparently they dont like the smell of the soap. i'll keep you all posted on the success of soap.

ramblings..

has anyone been watching "kill reality"? its on E!, i've been watching it when i see it while flipping channels. how did this show get by my radar? its 20 or so reality stars of shows past trying to reclaim 15 more minutes. rob cesterino from survivor, jenna from the 1st survivor, a bunch of real world people, johnny fairplay, some bachelor and bachelorette people, some apprentice and amazing race people. they are all living in the same house while they are shooting. very "real world" like... johnny fairplay has been hooking up with tanya from the real world... its like real world road rules challenges without the challenges..


last night we had the coolest thunder and lightning storm. it sounded like it was right ontop of my house. soooo cool! i was hoping the power would go out. but it didn't. the cable did though.


since my 30th birthday is a little over 6 months away, i decided now is as good a time as any to start thinking about what to do to celebrate.... i'm open to suggestions...


also. my parents 32nd anniversary is in two days. does everyone get their parents a gift for their anniversary? i am always torn about this holiday.. i can understand a card and or/phone call, but isn't that a celebration that they should have with each other. it's not like me and my sisters were around when they were married, or had anything to do with them getting married... i can see where if you were the reason your parents had to get married, celebrating it, but i always feel like its not a holiday i should be concerned with... anyone else have feeling about this?

so cute and pregnant!

ooooh. i almost forgot to post this picture...

alecia sent me a picture of lori last week, and i haven't had a chance to post it yet... she looks so cute! lori and kevin are having a baby girl. i think alecia said they are naming her riley elizabeth.. she has one more month to go! kids, keep sending me updates!!

sunset...

this is one of the reasons i went to oswego. this kind of sunset was a daily (well, nightly) occurance.

new link!

so peg hahn burns figured out blogger!!! so i added her blog to my links! woo who. maybe she will add members so that anyone that took pics this weekend can add their pictures and stories.

i made it home in under 5 hours. i was pretty psyched. i should travel on mondays all the time.. i have the house to myself tonight and as i was putting away my presents to myself from wegmans i saw that i have 1/2 a bottle of bloody mary mix. so i spun around and saw we have plenty 'o vodka... so i poured myself a stiff drink just to make sure i won't be any sort of productive tonight..

it worked!

i am torn abt whether or not to turn my a/c on i heard on my drive home that the weather is supposed to be 60 tonight, but i am sweating, but it might be the 1/2 pint glass of vodka...

i think i might just turn the ac on so that i can ensure a good nights sleep. shiiiiiit.

i'm going to download my pics now.. and then maybe i'll post them.

Monday mid morning...

so it's monday morning, i'm in syracuse.

this weekend was the family reunion. lots of fun. the "younger" kids are all growing up and having their own babies. there were 2 babies there this time, kayla (mary's daughter 2.5 years old) and ava (kristas daughter 11mos old). kayla was sooo cute... she is talking, but a little shy.. she LOVED frankie and lucy. but only lucy was really tolerant enough to let kayla hold her and pet her.

some highlights of the reunion:
* carolyn blowing up the air mattress. she tried to play dumb so someone else would blow it up for her... hah, we showed her.
* the spread was like the rest of the years. three taco dips. and one taco casserole. a million and 2 desserts, this year there was sweet tea. soo goood.
* sarah and jr kept the public making out to a minimum. but.... they seemed to have replaced it with smoking. they are almost chain smokers. apparently they both want to die of lung cancer like nanny and papa.

other notable weekend happenings:
* i slept in the tv room last night on the couch (even though i told al i would sleep upstairs and even made up sarahs bed for myself) well. it was my worst night of sleep. my nightgown kept twisting all around me, the A/C kept turning on and off, acid reflux, allergies, and the police scanner was on all night. i heard about every police worthy incident.. officers calling in plate numbers, po-po being dispatched to places all over, ambulance calls... grrrrr.
* there were the usual random dogs that showed up, two black labs and one mini-greyhound. franklin gave that greyhound a run for its money.... hysterical.
*franklin is apparently having repercussions from eating crappy people food all weekend (puking and bloody stool).

i went shopping at wegmans and got some good stuff, salt potatoes, rings, and spreadable limburger cheese. yummmm!

i learnt about a wine tour that is happening on sept 24th. it leaves from syracuse on a bus, drives 2 hours out to the wineries, breakfast, and all kids of alcohol are provided. the tour of something like 12 wineries, and then the bus ride home. all for $25 dollars. shiiiiit.

i'm gonna do it.. wooot!