April 19, 2009 at 7:11 pm · Filed under Friday Five, New Orleans, love, family, & friends, out & about, pictures
This past weekend was a non-stop alcohol fueled party and I am so happy to spend my Sunday sober. Friday night Blondie and I went to New Orleans to visit with my Mom and her sister. French Quarter Fest was going on, but I’m not a big fan of New Orleans crowds anymore so we went to the strip club my cousin Brian works at. Blondie had never been to a decent strip club before so I was happy to be the one to show him how nice it is to watch good looking strippers. He’s not much of a drinker, but we each had our fair share of Ketel One and Grey Goose (he only drinks Ketel). We stayed a bit longer than I expected, but my Mom let us sleep at her house so we didn’t need to drive back across the Causeway to get home.
Saturday night Blondie’s roommate’s band played at our local hangout. He got headbutted while in the mosh pit. The outcome was a busted right upper lip and a black right eye. I considered it an interesting way for him to spend his last weekend night of Spring Break. I always have a blast when The GR hosts Metal shows. All of our friends showed up. It was the first time we had all been together since our BBQ at the State Park in February. Below are a couple pictures from the weekend, but you can always go to my Flickr to see the rest.
My Mom and I
Heather and I
It may be Sunday, but I’m notorious for posting the Friday Five late anyway.
What is your favorite food from each food group?
1. Bread (Grain) Group:
I prefer whole weat all the way. I always have. Honey wheat isn’t bad either, but I’d rather the whole wheat.
2. Meat (Protein) Group:
STEAK! Unless you’re vegetarian who doesn’t like steak? I get mine cooked medium. Preferably with potatoes.
3. Vegetable Group:
Corn and green beans
4. Fruit Group:
Watermelon has always been my favorite fruit. It may make me pee like a mad woman but it is SO worth it.
5. Sugars, Fats and Oils:
It is the time of year for snowball stands to be open again. I allow myself one snowball a week. I don’t drink sodas, eat much candy, or splurge on fast food. I am a big fan of Taco Bell though. I had some last night. That will be my fast food for the month.
April 1, 2009 at 12:50 am · Filed under Friday Five, just blogging
Just when things were getting better for me I made the biggest mistake. I never bring my wallet into stores with me because I’m always afraid I will leave it or someone would scoop it out of my buggy. Well, yesterday I went to Winn Dixie and brought in my wallet because I had printed out coupons I wanted to use. When I was finished putting my groceries in my backseat of my car I put the buggy in the place it was supposed to go, drove off, and thought nothing of it. I’m guessing I left my wallet in the top fold out part of the buggy because I haven’t seen it since. I called the store and no one has turned it in. I have also searched through my house and car. It is gone.
Earlier today I called Chase and canceled my card. They are sending me a new one. I’m going to the DMV at some point this week to get duplicates made of my license and ID card. I carry both because I never bring my license in with me anywhere. I always bring my ID with me. The only other thing I had in there was my Paypal debit card and that is canceled as well. Even though I am not a religious person I still stand by the fact that I slapped Jesus in a previous life.
I just stumbled on The Friday Five from last week about our high school years. Although I am over the things that happened I still feel very strongly about the way I was treated in high school. Although my experiences helped make me into the semi-crazy person I am today I would like to think going through what I did made me stronger in some way. The questions were too good for me to pass up.
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March 25, 2009 at 12:25 pm · Filed under dvds, movies, books, & tv shows, love, family, & friends
I actually went and got my library card. My name was still in their database from the late 90’s, so I just changed the address and paid three dollars for my new card. It scans and everything. Gotta love technology! I took a break from James Patterson and decided to read The Stand by Stephen King after it was recommended to me. I’m about halfway through it by now. I really like how each chapter is the story being told from a different point of view. The books I read are usually from first person point of view. After this I’ll go back to the Women’s Murder Club series. Although The Dark Tower series is said to be pretty interesting as well. Has anyone else read them? What did you think?
Man oh man. Did I get a deal from Charter last night! My current bill is around $178 a month for 5mg net, all the movie channels including HD, On Demand, and one DVR box downstairs in the living room. It is beginning to My roommate is always downstairs and while the TV is a 40-something inch it is not a HDTV. It is also not in my bedroom. Even if I record a show downstairs I can’t watch it when I want all the time. The girl I talked to with Charter (who was also named Nicole) was super helpful and immediately told me she could not only lower what I was paying per month but she could get me more per month. It is some current deal on Charter, so call them if this sounds good for you. I went from having 5mg Internet to having 15mg (it was fast in the first place). I have a Moxi box downstairs with DVR and a normal Motorola cable box up here in my room. I’m getting two upgrded DVR boxes for both rooms now. I have a 37″ HD TV in my room, so I’d like to make use of the HD channels we get. Normal cable looks like crap on my TV. I am so excited to be getting DVR in my room. Now I can record Heroes, House, Big Love, Lost, and all the other shows I’m addicted to. Time to head out to Best Buy and buy a HDMI cable.
I also got good news in the mail today. My electricity bill was $30 less than it has been. Heat always makes my bill over $100. Not anymore! I love this time of year.
I’ve really been trying to save money. I just ended my first six months with Geico and my bill is over twenty dollars lower. The breathalizer has been out of my car for almost a month, so that releaves me of at least one monthly neusance. It is nice being able to go grocery shopping. I try not to get too stressed out with money. Maybe it is also my inability to just sit still and do one thing all day. I enjoy being outside. Or maybe I just enjoy being out of my house. Once it gets night time I am ready to lock myself in my room. It is odd how that works.
Luckily Blondie keeps me occupied. We have a lot of fun when we do things together. I’m looking forward to going to the Insectarium in New Orleans when we both have an entire day and night off. The State Park here has a nature & hiking trail, a beach (I wouldn’t go in the water), camping sites, and convenient shade when it is dreadfully hot. We walked the nature trail and had a picnic in the gazebo on Lake Ponchartrain several days ago. I’m wanting to give this elaborate explanation of how I felt, but it was disgustingly “cute” to say the least. I probably looked like a girl going to her high school prom to the other people in the park. I kept looking up at him and smiling. Then again, he’s had that effect on me for a while now.
March 2, 2009 at 11:37 pm · Filed under Holidays, dvds, movies, books, & tv shows
Mardi Gras sure came and went quicker than I anticipated. Up until last year I attended several parades during the Mardi Gras season. The year before last I got to be on the Bacardi balcony at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon St. Last year I was lucky enough to attend the Endymion Ball. I’ve done all the parading my body can handle in the past 24+ years.
I actually prefer to work during Mardi Gras season. Bars are always busy during this time of year. My restaurant was on a parade route two Fridays in a row and I worked the day shift each day. It was quite profitable. Mardi Gras night was quite and interesting one. I was really happy to be working. I assumed we would not be that busy due to everyone being wasted from being at parades all day. Boy, was I wrong. Around ten thirty I had a full bar and it stayed full til almost one in the morning. I really needed that night to happen. I was able to pay some bills ahead of time and get out of debt with a few people.
Several months ago my Step mom let me borrow First To Die. It is the first book in the Women’s Murder Club TV show that aired on ABC. The writing was a bit simple, but the story had me not wanting to put the book down at all. I really don’t feel like driving to Baton Rouge every time I want to read another book, so I am going to go to the library on Wednesday and get a library card. I haven’t had one since I was about fourteen or fifteen years old. I’ve been on such a reading kick lately.
If you download or listen to one song this week make sure it is “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon. Also, if anyone knows of any active (and fun) message boards please give me some urls. My favorite board is down, but I’m looking to expand. I’m on line so much sometimes I need many ways to occupy my time.
Anyone else as excited about Watchmen as I am? I read the graphic novel and it was very good. I hope the movie lives up the expectations I have.
February 10, 2009 at 4:38 pm · Filed under New Orleans, just blogging, out & about, work
A major congrats to Ashley and Pam on the birth of their babies. It is about time. It seemed as if y’all were pregnant forever!
Babies. Babies. Babies. I know it is just my age, but everyone around me is either pregnant or popping out little rug rats. I used to not have the patience for small children what so ever. Around July 2005 I had the opportunity to work in the nursery at one of the YMCAs on Baton Rouge. That was such a learning experience for me. I thought I would be cripplingly clueless, but to my surprise it was one of the most rewarding jobs I have had to date. My friend Mindy is married and pregnant with her second child. Adrienne is pregnant. Jamie is married and has a baby girl. Tiffany is married with a baby. Candace, Jessica, and I are the only ones left! Candace is just finishing up college, so I see why she wouldn’t want one right now. I know she doesn’t.
Personally, I am not ready to have a baby. I do not feel I am at a place in my life where I would be able to give myself emotionally, financially, or physically to a child. This is a huge reason I decided to get back on birth control. At this point in my life I have too much to lose. I will be 25 in about six months. In no way could I give a child the attention or the financial support that it would deserve, and neither could my boyfriend even though he’s a few years older than me (he’s also a full time student). I wish more girls in my position would get on the pill. There are so many single Mom’s I know of that are raising accidental pregnancies. In that position I honestly don’t know what I would do. I know it wouldn’t be to count on the guy I’m dating…and I’ve been with him since last July. I would like to wait until I’m married. I don’t mind going the route less taken. Does it mean not having my first child until I’m in my 30’s? My Mom had me when she was 30 (Dad was 31) so I see nothing wrong with it.
Now also seems to be the time of year when friends who have moved out of state are coming back to visit. Pictured above is my girlfriend Joey and I last week. She came in town from New Jersey. Mindy (Candace and I’s best friend since high school) is also coming to town soon with her son. I cannot wait to see her. I haven’t seen her since the baby shower for Aidan which was sometime in 2006.
The restaurant finally opened up! I’m scheduled over 40 hours this week. Friday is the Eve Parade. Yup, it is Mardi Gras season already. My job is on the parade route and I get to work Friday during the day by myself. I’m used to fast paced bartending so this should be fun. I was lucky enough to score Friday night off so the boyfriend and I are doing the Valentine’s Day thing that night. I am working the martini bar on Saturday night. I’m hoping I get some couples who want to drink a lot that night. Anyways, the job is great. I’m working a lot and as business picks up so are the tips. My life as a whole is much better when I’m working.
January 20, 2009 at 4:54 pm · Filed under Holidays, dvds, movies, books, & tv shows, love, family, & friends, pictures, work
My parents were right. Time does fly once you get older. I cannot believe it is already 2009 and January is almost over.
I must apologize for the umpteenth time for my absence. Last night was the first night I slept at my house in over a week. The restaurant I’m going to be working at has postponed the opening for the third week as of yesterday. I have bills that need to get paid, so I have been working for my Aunt in New Orleans. I tend to get more done when I’m not in my room surrounded by the Xbox. She has a ton of routers, servers, surge protectors, and miscellaneous computer stuff that she asked me to help her get together. I have priced most of it. This week she is going to open up a Paypal account and I am going to help her sell what I can on Ebay. I have never seen one person own so many of the same things. Her ex husband would never get anything fixed. He would just buy new things. That astounds me. I am also helping her with paperwork for her medical billing company. I’m staying with my Mom while I do this. It is nice to be able to spend time with family members I don’t normally see that often. I’ve also been able to see some of my old buddies from when I worked on Bourbon St. My friend David lives right around the corner from my Mom. He’s the guy I go to all the concerts with (Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, NKOTB). We were going to see Brad Paisley but with my money situation I didn’t feel that was the best decision to make. He will be back.
Christmas turned out to be much better than I expected. My family was super cool with the fact that I couldn’t buy gifts for anyone. We were all just glad to see each other. I stayed at my Mom’s Christmas Eve. My cousin Brian and my Aunt came over for a few hours. My cousin and I ended up going to this bar in Kenner for a while. I’m not that big of a drinker anymore, so by my third Crown and 7 I was a bit tired. I woke up fairly early to help my Mom with things, ate lunch once my Aunt & cousin arrived, and then I drove to my Grandmaw’s house to see my Dad, Step mom, and brother. My Dad and brother were napping when I got there (typical holiday for my Dad), so I spent some time with my Maw Maw & Step mom. The plan for the evening was for me to bring Tommy back to my Mom’s to see everyone. We would then go to the nursing home to see my Mom’s Mom, and then I would drive my brother back to Baton Rouge to my Dad’s house. My Dad actually slept the entire time I was at my Maw Maw’s. Tommy ended up doing something with his friends that night, so I didn’t get to see my Dad for Christmas. He has 23 years worth of Christmas’s with me, so he was alright with it.
It was nice to see my Mom’s Mom. The smile she got on her face when she saw me was totally worth the drive out there. She doesn’t like it in the nursing home at all. Her room is so small, and she shares it with another woman. Their beds are separated by a sheet. My Mom tells her constantly she can come live with her, but my Maw Maw is stubborn as all hell and refuses to be a burden. I can tell she’s unhappy. She told me while I was walking her back to her room. It is so sad to see her in this position, and at 87 years old I know she can’t be comfortable. She has her options though. I can’t make her do anything.
About three weeks ago I picked up the Watchmen graphic novel and within a week I was done with it. I am super excited about the movie, and I also wanted to see what all the hype was about. When that book was open I could not put it down. I was then told about The Sandman graphic novel series. Within a week I am already halfway done with book five. The funny thing is I have been having the craziest dreams since I started reading The Sandman. I either have silly powers like in the books, or I have vivid nightmares where I will wake up whenever Blondie (the boyfriend) touches me and I start swinging. I remember waking up about three morning ago to him touching me and I was swinging. Something in the dream scared me enough to wake up and just begin to freak out once he touched me. No matter which way my dreams go I will continue reading this series. It is too interesting for me to give up. Even if it does give me freaky dreams.
I recently found my picture from Hurricane Katrina. I had them up in the site’s gallery, but since I have deleted it I went ahead and put the pictures on my Flickr account. I have also updated plenty of photos taken throughout this lovely and cold month of January. Enjoy. I am about to leave my house to stay at my Mom’s for a few days while I work. I will be back for the weekend. Y’all have a great week!
December 24, 2008 at 6:17 pm · Filed under Holidays, love, family, & friends
I’ve been so busy trying to make my offline life a happier one that I just did not have time to post. I am leaving in a hour or two to spend the night at my Mom’s in New Orleans. This Christmas hasn’t been a great one for me. I haven’t worked in a while, and won’t start until next week. I had saved up money just for bills, so I wasn’t able to buy one person a thing. No one minds. My family told me as long as they get to see me they’re happy. They better be! This is the first year in a very long time I haven’t been able to get presents for my family. It happens though. I know I’m not the only one in this situation.
Aside from that little bit of stress I had some things to sort out in my personal life that have gotten much better. If there is an issue I address it and try to work towards a solution. I found out that is definitely a positive one, which made my Holidays just that much better.
Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy New Year if I don’t blog by then.
December 16, 2008 at 2:24 am · Filed under Monday's a Bitch, out & about, pictures
In a drastic change of events Saturday morning I woke up and had one thing on my mind: cleaning. I don’t just mean picking up stuff off of my floor. I am talking about dusting, vacuuming, doing all laundry, scrubbing every part of my bathroom, washing all of my bed linens, and consolidating my two sets of IKEA shelves. Here is a picture of the shelves I have. I liked the wood better. They collect dust like nobody’s business. I own every single Sims 2 game, so I took those off my shelf and put them down on the bottom of my DVD movie rack since I had the room. The Sims 2 games took up almost an entire shelf on their own. I tend to get home and empty stuff out of my purse onto a shelf too. That added up. All six of my shelves are dust and clutter free now.
I filled up an entire Glad Force Flex (double bagged) trash bag with all the stuff I didn’t want and the magazines I saved. I save my Shape magazines because they have decent recipes (especially their smoothie recipes) and killer work outs. Since I’m not the type to do the same work out all the time that worked out perfectly for me. One year and fourteen issues later I realized they were taking up too much space on my shelf. I tore out all the exercises I liked and the recipes that looked the best. My one set of shelves closer to my bed I consider to be my space for books. I do not keep books very long after I read them (except for my hardcover Harry Potter). Here is a before picture of the shelves on the left side of my room and here is an after picture. The purple box in the before photo is now next to gaming chair because I needed something sturdy and solid to put drinks and strategy guides on. The extra space behind my computer chair will take getting used to. Here are the shelves on the right before and after the cleaning. It was nice to walk into my room earlier from being downstairs and adoring the way my room looks.
Sunday night was an amazing evening for myself. One of my good friends Alicia (we bartended together in 2007) was home for a little bit from Cali so we went to see Pandemic play. I have mentioned them several times in my blog before. They’re amazing. Their show was a shorter than what I am used to, but still incredible as always. They played a new song called “Gravity” and played pretty much every song I favor on the cd. This is a band that sounds just as good live; if not better. I posted pictures on my Flickr here. Check them out on MySpace if you’re curious about the music. They’re great. You won’t regret it.
Here is my Monday’s a Bitch (like the Friday Five) for this week. The questions were so interesting. Please feel free to post these on your blog. If you do, leave me a link so I can read.
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December 6, 2008 at 10:42 pm · Filed under QOTD, love, family, & friends, munchies, work
I make this at least once a month if not twice. I love pasta and meat sauce.
Work has been so slow lately. The restaurant is on the river and most of the tables are outside. The owner said at a meeting that they were going to put heaters in and work on making the business boom all year. That has not happened yet. My shifts got cut majorly (I’m the newest employee so I understand). This job was one that I had planned on staying at not only because of the money I make, but because I adore some of the people I work with. I was working a day shift a couple weeks ago and they had cut most of the servers before it was 1pm. Once business picks back up I will get my shifts back. My Stepmom asked me why I don’t get a nine to five job and I always reply “Because bartending makes me happy”. I consider myself lucky to have found something I enjoy doing, because I know tons of people who hate their jobs. I just loathe the whole process of finding a new place to work. Such is life.
Vox had the best question of the day a few days ago. It was: “Which 5 words would your best friend use to describe you?” I was intrigued by this question. My best friend Candace knows me better than anyone else in my life. She knows me better than my own family. This woman has been with me through it all, and I mean she knows details about things I won’t tell another soul about. I text messaged Candace and asked her that exact question. These are the answers I got:
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November 21, 2008 at 2:18 am · Filed under Friday Five, out & about, pictures
I got last Sunday off when I was supposed to work (we were slow) so I called up my buddy Adam and asked him if he wanted to go to the Renaissance Festival in Hammond. He does Ordo there on the weekend days when the festival goes on, so I was super excited to get to see him do that. I’ve been teasing him about it for over a year. Now that I have seen him fight I don’t tease him anymore. He was so beat up two weeks ago from a fight. He got a busted up chin and everything. I had the best time. Check out the picture set here. I had my first turkey leg. It was huge and only six dollars!
It is officially Friday (feel free to comment back with your answers or post them on your blog), so here is my Friday Five for the week:
Feelings…
1. What made you happy this week?
Hanging out with Candace for a little bit. Talking to my Mom on the phone for a solid 45 minutes. New episodes of Heroes, 30 Rock, True Blood, and Entourage.
2. What made you sad?
Work telling me my shifts were going to be cut since it is slow season for us. I am the newest bartender so I am the first to lose shifts. Good thing I know how to save money.
3. What made you angry?
Having Marley wake me up an hour or so before I need to be up for work. First she licks my face. Then she drinks out of her water bowl. Then she eats. Then she uses her litter box and it smells so bad I have to get up and empty it out. By then I am awake and unable to go back to bed. She is lucky she is such a lovable cat.
4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
Thanksgiving! I am going to my Dad’s house first so I can see my Maw Maw (his Mom) before she moves to Virginia to live with my Aunt (her oldest daughter). After that I planned on driving to New Orleans to see my Mom and her family. I am looking forward to seeing most of my family all in one day as well.
5. What are you not looking forward to?
Getting bored.
I am working a double Saturday and Sunday. If I do get Sunday off I am definitely going back to Ren Fest with Adam. I am very interested in the dresses and corsets they sell. I already have a beautiful pair of earrings. Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend if you’re able!
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