As of 1pm, CST today, I am now employed.

WA HOO!

I start June 2. More money, cool job. I'm excited.

Back in St. Paul after spending the last week in Rochester. It was a nice time-relaxing. I don't know why I was able to relax better there then at my own place. Me and the dog had fun. I got so used to being at his beck and call and reacting when I heard a noise outside like he did that yesterday I heard kids outside and was ready to start saying, "TJ-take it easy." Wierd.

Today I had to attend a job re-entry session at the local Job Force Center. Mandatory. And a big waste of my time. The guy was about my dad's age and really looked like he didn't know how to advise people on how to find a job. He spent 20 minutes showing us a web site and how it worked. Read everything off a piece of paper that the entire room had a copy of. I didn't learn anything other then my job search methods were probably going to find me a job better then his.

I have a second interview tomorrow for the job I really am interested in. Hopefully it goes well.

Our friends Matt & Jill let us know they are expecting a baby in November. I'm very happy for them-now the questions start on when we are having kids! Let's just say....we're not ready yet. Give me two more years.

Wanted to post this web site and forgot recently...I think I mentioned trying to remember this comedian's name to Pat. His special on HBO is over the top hilarious. Eddie Izzard...if you see this cross dressing makeup wearing dude on television, you must stop and watch. His best line on referring to how the language in Britain is spoke (he is a brit) and our version here is this: "You say ERB and we say HERB because there's a f-ing H in it." He's rocks. Thanks to my husband for introducing me!

Mike and the Stanley Cup...what can I say? He had fun while I was in Rochester!

One funny note regarding the Wild and the playoffs...our cousin Whittney, who is 18, has turned into a hockey fanatic in the last year or so. (Reminds me of me at that age! It really has to do with hot boys when it starts, but then you actually learn the game and like it) My aunt and uncle are telling me how violent she gets when she's been watching the Wild. Such things as "clear the f-ing puck you moron" can be heard coming from this quiet and shy young woman. But, the classic, was heard by her dad while watching American Idol. As one girl is going to be voted off, Whittney yells: "You're going down, BITCH". Apparently hockey screaming spreads!!!

FYI-I have now begun to hire myself out for cash on the barrel. I clean houses and organize photo albums for people, which are two jobs I've recently acquired. Please contact me via this web site for more information and costs. My prices are very competitive and if you are a relative (as that's the only people hiring me) I'll give you a deal. Just remember you are supporting my Krispy Kreme habit by paying me.

Target stores have now started to sell boxed Krispy Kreme's. I found this out today. It's a bad thing for me.
GOD HELP my weight after this revelation.

Believe it or not, I was actually busy last week. I should have posted, but our computer sucks lately.

Anyway, when it rains it pours. I had 2 job interviews yesterday, and one today. Out of 3, only 1 sounds like it is something I'd like to do. And, since I just sent my brother into gails of laughter over how it occurred, I will share it with you...I've sent in stuff to places that advertise for a position, but don't put down the name of the company. Therefore when they call, I don't always have a clue who they are and that I sent something to them. So, on Saturday while we had Mike's company visiting, I get a phone call. Thinking it's a telemarketer as he says, "Hi Kristin this is Tim from Blank Company, do you have a minute" I say in respose: "Well, I have company, but can you make it quick?" He then proceeds to say that the job I applied for had been filled but he was curious to know if I'd be interested in hearing about another one available with them. Then, I nearly crapped myself. I apologized, he apologized for calling on a Saturday, etc. It was fine. But, still embarrassing. Turns out to be a cool company.

Yesterday was a really fun day as well because Mike won tickets to the MN Wild game! This is playoff game 2 against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. 5th row, lower level, behind the goalie. Amazing seats and such a fun time. They lost 2-0, still fun. Mike's great luck occurred through the radio station 93X and was just really luck. He didn't have to answer any trivia questions which he always knows the answers to anyway! We called Pat from the arena to let him know where we were. Low and behold, they saw us! What a night!

Today I am in Rochester for my week long stint with the dog. He's depressed that the parents left him behind. I told him that he better start being nicer to me because I was his only friend for the week! We took a nap together and he is now finally perking up. Man, they can act like little kids sometimes! He is looking at me to go outside right now because he knows that the mailman and paperboy are on their way. He is not allowed outside when they come cuz he goes beserk. We still don't know why. The mailman likes him, and TJ likes him back, but the paperboy is FREAKeD of TJ. I think it's funny.

Should get the first unemployment check this week. Received the severance check. Taxes took care of most of the extra received. Lovely.

I completed my Target Market scrapbook last week as well. It was really therepeutic and I felt like I put things behind me. I haven't thought about the work crap since then. I can now look back on it as a cool experience.

Going out tonight with my college friend Erika and her boyfriend that I have not met yet. He is graduating from optomology school this week to be an eye doctor. I think she's got some moola coming her way if they get married! We love to tease her about that.

I watched the best movie on Sunday: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington starring Jimmy Stewart. If you haven't seen it, and you want that feel good feeling you get from watching It's A Wonderful Life, rent this one. I would place it a close second to that classic. Both Frank Capra directed of course. That guy had a way of making you feel good about mankind again!

Since I last posted, I've now joined the ranks of the unemployed. Today was day 3 (not including the weekend) and I'm getting really agitated. I need more to do. I'm working on it.

A short story on the last day of work: it was wierd. The people are psycho. I'm glad it's over. The CEO didn't have the balls to say good bye to anyone and many people couldn't look me in the eye. The ones that still had their jobs, to say the least. AHH. Guilt. It does funny things to many people. Post party with co workers was a blast. We had the cops called on us because we were so loud. We enjoyed it. Go out with a bang. I wrote a kick ass Exit Interview. Harsh, but polite. It's now officially over and I'm working at putting it all behind me.

Today I did the following: worked out, took a shower, watched Days of Our Lives, ate lunch, watched part of Monsters, Inc. again, watched some of Jerry McGuire, went to get my oil changed (they're so dumb it made me laugh), went to the bank for quarters for the laundry, came home and did laundry, did some graphics for a project I'm working on, finished the laundry and started supper, now I'm doing my cover letters for the week. I'm currently doing this to avoid doing more cover letters.

We saw X-Men 2 on Friday night. Great movie, I liked it better then the first. It's a bit jam packed with story lines, but I felt it kept my attention well. Wolverine is still cool.

Pat-I think you need some sort of device that signals you when you don't zip up your fly.

I also received my unemployment PIN number today and the calculations of what my weekly payment will be. At least they are on the ball with getting out the paperwork!

On Friday I also obsessively cleaned the entire apartment. How many more times do you think I'll do that in the next month?? Next week I am dog sitting for my parents in Rochester. It's something to do! YAY!!

2 more days of work!

Because we just had Easter, I couldn't resist this web site that was posted on Dave Barry's blog about my favorite candy: PEEPS!

It's taken me awhile to like them again, but I do. Here's why they were off my favorite candy list for awhile:

When I turned 21, it was March 1996. At midnight, I was going out to celebrate the night before. I was really tired because I'd been working alot and had mid-terms. So, in order to stay awake, I drank the dregs of a 2-liter of Coke and ate one of those 5 pack of Peeps. I figured the combined sugar would keep me going. Well, it did, and we took off with my roommate Jill, her boyfriend Matt, and my 3 best college guy friends: Brad, Steve & Dan. Needless to say, they proceeded to get me completely s**t faced. The bars close in Wisconsin at 2:30am, so we all stumbled to the dorms together. I headed straight for the bathroom. And what did I throw up? Peeps. Then I passed out and slept through my first class. I made it to my 11am class, lasted only 5 minutes, and left to go vomit again. Thankfully, as I was walking out the door I overheard someone say to the teacher,"I saw her downtown last night-it's her 21st birthday." The teacher was sympathetic.

After this, I could NOT eat peeps. It made me sick to even look at them. My family took great fun in giving peeps to me for both Easter and my birthday in the following years. But, I am proud to say that since peeps made their first appearance in stores in early March, I have eaten more then a dozen. And they FINALLY taste good again. :)

A side note: my co-worker told that she and her roommates in college took peeps and put them on people's car antenna's. Depending on how cold the spring was, most of the time they froze on there. People had frozen peeps on their car until it was warm enough to remove the goo. :)

This is sort of related in a beer sense, but check out this new sport.

Thanks for the words of advice Mike L.

We do have the digital cable system with the guide on it so I'm well prepared. Because we are nearing May, I am hesitant to upgrade cable, as I would like to be outside more if possible. But, we do have movie channels so I'm sure I will use them well. I have started making a list of things I would like to accomplish and people I would like to visit. I will make sure to add such things are laundry to this list however. And, I will have to leave the house on a daily basis or I will go insane. I've found that out already.

Technically, only about 5 actual days of work left. My days consist of answering the phone and scanning pictures of my own personal stuff. I like the scanner here better. Otherwise, my files have been cleaned out and my computer has been cleaned out. They would rather we didn't touch anything else, especially if it's heavy, because they don't want any workman comp claims to deal with. So, we're all pretty much sitting on our arses. There is about 8 of us left out of 17.

We saw Anger Management on Friday night. Because we are fans of both Nicholson and Sandler, we really liked it. As one reviewer said, it's 'obvious laughs'. Well, what Sandler movie isn't? And they're all a little korny. I would say that I have never seen Nicholson like this before-its his finest goof ball comedy. Sandler played more of straight man for the first time and Marisa Tomei was a nice extra as the girlfriend.

Bought the book "Thanks for the memories, Mr. President" by Helen Thomas. Pretty cool so far. Great stories about the presidents from Kennedy to George W. I also purchased "Woman Enough" by Loretta Lynn. It's the sequel to Coal Miners Daughter and what's happened since then. She a darn nice job and the editors left her language intact, which made for a fun read. When she says, "I run her off the place." I believe it! The coolest story was that when Tommy Lee Jones wanted to hang out with Doo to learn how to walk and talk like him for the movie. Doo didn't want anything to do with him because he thought Tommy was going to make fun of him. Finally, Tommy gave up. He drove on down to Butcher Hollar where they actually filmed the early parts of the movie, took a jeep, got drunk and drove crazy all through town. He ended up getting arrested and the studio had to bail him out. After Doo heard that, he thought Tommy was about the coolest thing and hung out with him after that! I started that book Saturday night and had it finished by yesterday afternoon, it was so good. ;)

We didn't go anywhere for Easter. Anti-family. I cleaned out the closets and boxed stuff up for a garage sale. We had tacos for lunch and brats for dinner. Mike played Playstation 2. We watched Episode 2 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. That was the extent of our day! Hope everyone else had a nice Easter.

The Gophers win the Frozen Four Championship, and the students riot in Dinkytown.

Why? I guess I just don't get it. Breaking stuff, burning and looting must be the way to support your team.

Wild in the playoffs for NHL hockey. Who'd have thought it just a few short years ago? Take that Norm Green. We salute you.

The nephew will be celebrating his first birthday tomorrow. Hard to believe! We had a nice party for him over the weekend where he received many toys and clothes that he will not care a thing about. Boxes and wrapping paper are MUCH better to play with....But at least he has the essentials of being a 1 year old!

It hit 90 in St. Paul today...can you believe it? However, Mike & I were comparing notes, and a year ago tomorrow when we left town to go up to Duluth to see Alex in the hospital when he was born, the temp was 91 when we left. Duluth, when we arrived 2.5 hours later was 39 degrees in the harbor and 100% fogged in. Can it get much wierder in Minnesota then that?? Tomorrow we'll be freezing our arses off it sounds like. 40's by Wednesday, not that I'm complaining though...

And might I point out that Mike said he is watching too much Larry McReynolds on FOX, because he said the word 'fixin' today in a sentence. Is NASCAR making us a bit hillbilly?

Pat, my mysterious illness is beginning to crop up at work. I think I'll have to be sick next week or something. Maybe the mysterious SARS??

Either way, it looks like unemployment will be my new friend by about May 15 or so. Yikes! I've never been on it before. Anyone have words of advice?

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was informed by my step-dad that David Bloom had died. I couldn't believe it.

I have to say that I was doing pretty much the same as Pat in terms of commenting to people on the fantastic reporting the guy had been doing. I had been watching NBC Nightly News for 2 weeks just to catch Bloom's awesome footage. Being a former (almost) journalist, the stuff he was pulling off had me scratching my head trying to figure out how they were editing this stuff.

I heard today that they think his blood clot could have been caused by his sleeping conditions. He had mentioned that he was sleeping in a curled fetal position due to the close quarters they were in. Medical Officials have said that long airplane trips with little leg movement can cause blood clots-may have been the same thing here. It's just one of those deals that is NOT fair. We've lost an amazing reporter.

Minnesota's NBC affiliate KARE 11 had just done an interview with Bloom's brother last week because they are from Edina, MN. (And Bloom grew up here). The brother said they were worried about him just like if he were a soldier. It's unfortunate that he wasn't able to make it home. Having just gone through one funeral of a guy too young to die with kids, I can't help but really grieve for this family.

Sitting down here at Mike's aunt and uncles house, so thought I'd post since I'm not doing much else. Besides watching people be drunk :)

I got down here to Muscatine, IA Wednesday afternoon. Took about 4 hours-nice trip. It was about 80 degrees and so sunny. Very nice drive with my thoughts...Went to the funeral home that afternoon for the wake of Mike's Uncle. Met a lot of family and friends of course. It was pretty cool-they buried him in his Cubs hat and jersey. About 4 cans of Budweiser and packs of cigarettes made their way into the casket as well. As they joked today, they're probably already gone :)

The funeral was much more difficult as we all know. Unfortunately, the pastor was a real boob and delivered a very inappropriate sermon to say the least. A lot of people were very upset. The hard part was the song played-Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle. Since he was a dad to 3 kids, it really broke a lot of people up. As usual, I underestimated the impact of the cemetary just like I did at my Grandma's funeral. Military funerals are hard and so emotional (Tom served two tours in Viet Nam). The part that hit me was when this old VFW guy in his outfit comes up to Tom's oldest son (who is currently in the army and was dressed in his uniform) and said with the flag in his hands: "On behalf of the United States Army, we'd like to present you with this American Flag in appreciatation for your father's service to his country." Wow. Then, they did the 21 gun salute and Taps. Taps hit everybody hard. Anyway-I think we all felt a large weight lift off our shoulders when everything was done. He's really going to be missed by his family and friends.

Leaving tomorrow morning to head back to Rochester and stay there until Sunday. Mike will leave here on Sunday to come home. Back to work for us both on Monday. I've been checking my work emails and I'm starting to get nervous. They want a full staff meeting with us all on Tuesday and the request was that all the staff bring their schedules of what they have planned for work in the next month or so. What can that mean? I'm really thinking shut down early.

Jobs-send 'em my way. PLEASE!! :)

It's been over a week since I posted-been extremely busy.

We had our last big event with Target Market this weekend. I haven't had a day off now in 9 days, worked 43 extra hours on top of my normal 40. Ready for a break!! :)

Unfortunately, we had more bad news yesterday. Mike's Uncle Tom was killed in a car accident Saturday night. So, he left this afternoon to head down to Iowa. I'm leaving Wednesday for the funeral on Thursday. He's very shook up about it, as are the rest of the family. Hopefully all goes well this week.

FYI to Dad, Pat, Lyn-no NASCAR results probably until next week. I"d do them, but I don't know where he has the Excel sheet. Lyn-I heard you're sick of Steve Park being the human wrecking machine?

I haven't had time to catch up on my war news until today. Just found out that Peter Arnett was fired. That's a story, for sure. Heard Geraldo got fired too...that on the other hand isn't so surprising.

Pat-Kirby's trial is all the news at night up here. He's supposed to be testifying himself sometime this week.

I'm watching the movie Primary Colors tonight. I love it-John Travolta was great in it. Makes me miss Clinton. I can't help it. I was reminded of an SNL right after Bush took office. Will Farrell's on the phone talking to Bush Sr. and says, "Daddy, this is HARD!" I love Barbara Bush's quote last week. She said (and I'm paraphrasing big time) "I'm counseling the former President, the current President, and the governor of Florida." Then I think she said something about how she's really running things. Pretty close!

I'll be out of state from tomorrow through the weekend. Our HR director who is acting as the boss these days had the nerve to ask me if I was taking sick time for funeral leave. My response? "How many hours do you think I worked this past weekend? I'm taking comp time." I would have liked to have added a name to punctuate the sentence, but I did not. I need the unemployment. :) Pat, I keep your advice in my head each day, believe me. It's the only way I don't go postal.

Again, I agree with Pat's analysis of Clerks.

God Bless America.

And hope for the very best.

This article really makes me sad about Kirby Puckett.

As I read this quote from an article relating to the SI one, I felt it was appropriate. Especially since I looked at this guy like an idol.

"Idolatry is really not good for anyone," as Washington Wizards assistant coach John Bach said of Michael Jordan in Monday's New York Times. "Not even the idols."

I'm still glad I saw him go to Cooperstown. There isn't another baseball player I'd probably ever go see inducted in person.

Tell me again why I'm mad at you Lally??

;-)

Tell Karen she'll probably like Daredevil. I didn't tell MN Mike that I had no interest in going because I knew nothing about the character. Since it was his birthday, I went. And then, to my surprise, I liked it. So, tell her to give it a chance. I did the same thing with SpiderMan and Xmen and really enjoyed them too.

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted anything. Work has been hellish and has taken much of my time and energy.

For Lally and my brother, I sent to you both a photo of Mike & I at Graceland. I promise I will scan more when time permits. My days are taken up largely by resumes and cover letters these days.

The birthday season for us passed through on March 1 and March 6 for me and Mike (respectively). When my grandfather who is almost 88 tells me that I'm old at 28, what does that mean!?! :) On Mike's birthday we went out to dinner at Ol' Mexico, a neat mexican restaurant in Woodbury near our home. Then, we went to Best Buy so he could spend his birthday money on electronics. His purchases were: The Osbournes Season One DVD and NASCAR 2003 for PS2. I had a few bucks left from Mike's parents gift to me, so I bought an Elvis CD and a cheapo design cd for the computer so I can make frames around photos I scan, for a project I'm doing. The $5 I spent on Corel Draw was not worth it, but what do you get for that amount of money anyway? Exactly. Also, I must point out that I was asked by 11 different people at the store if they could 'help me'. Why is it that when I am not purchasing anything of value at their store, they want to help me? But when I want to buy a computer or television, there isn't anyone around for miles and miles? The service even included an emaciated young man in a wheel chair asking if he could help me out. His arms were so thin that I wanted to ask him if I could help him before they snapped in two!!

After the Best Buy excursion, we went to see Daredevil with Ben Affleck. Great movie-I really liked it a lot. I'm not a big comic book person, so I don't know anything about the character. Because Mike is a big fan of this guy, he wished they had gone into more detail in some areas. I like Ben most of the time and thought he did an admirable job. My favorite character was played by Jon Favreau, the guy that played Monica's boyfriend Pete the millionaire on Friends. (the guy is always and will be Pete to Mike & I. Also in Swingers and Rudy.) He was the perfect balance for Ben Affleck. I did agree that there were a few too many gaps in the story line that left me wondering a lot of stuff. Overall, entertaining. And, Jennifer Garner kicks some ass.

Remember Lally, this is all only in my OPINION!!!

Shut down date for Target Market: April 30. My thinking: they'll get rid of us by March 31.

Pat, I bought the book Religion for Dummies that you had listed on your wish list. It's a cool book.

In response to my brother's post of the Kellogg guy being the namesake of my junior high...it is so fitting that the man was a 'flake' because I HATED that school more then anything I've ever disliked in my life. It was the worst three years! It was so appropriate they named the school after him.

Lally-I collect Hard Rock shot glasses.

And, I will scan Graceland photos to post.

Back to Minnesota last night as off 9:15 pm. It was a long 13 hour day of driving from Memphis, Tennessee. But, we made it and had a fantastic trip. The only downside is that we've come home to 5 degree temps after basking in 80 degree sunshine for 5 days!

As I could tell a zillion stories, I'll give you a low down of the trip, and then put in "tales from the road" as my brother does...

We left at 7:30am on Friday, the 14th. We were in Paducah, Kentucky by 6pm that evening. Not too bad. Left at 7am the following morning and arrived in Jacksonville at 6:30pm. It was warm and beautiful! I liked Jacksonville as a city a lot.

The next day we went back to Georgia to visit with Mike's cousin Chad, whom he hadn't seen in 6 years. He is married with 7 year old twin girls, and a 14 month old daughter. We met at a great outlet mall about an hour from Savannah where I was able to shop at the Gap and get some deals. Nice to meet more of his family. On Monday we drove to St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest town in the US. This is where Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth. Naturally, there is a whole tourist attaction around this! The town is cool-a fort is on the water front and the town is all in cobblestone with little shops. Spanish influence, sort of reminded me of a cross between California and the French Quarters in New Orleans. Ate supper there and shopped. Beautiful weather. Went to the beach there as well and walked in the ICE COLD ocean!

Left Tuesday morning for what intended to be a stop at Daytona and then to Disney. Well, we rolled into Daytona at 8:45am and fell in love with the place. Toured the track (which is so banked on the corners it's amazing) and got to walk on pit row, AND go to victory lane for pictures. Wicked cool stuff. Got to see the Earnhardt statue out front. Inside there are attractions such as the history of the track, the hall of fame of Daytona, etc. There is the 16 second pit challenge where you are invited to try change ONE tire, not four, in 16 seconds. It was fun to watch. You can also do play by play for a taped race, watch a movie, drive the Silcon Speedway, go on a simulated ride (the kind that puts you in a seat in front of a screen and jostles you all over). The highlight was to Michael Waltrip's Napa car on display from just two days prior. I posed with thumbs up! :)

We didn't leave Daytona until noon, and decided to go to Sea World instead of DIsney. We finally realized we wanted a lot more time to go to Disney then we would have, so decided to wait until another trip. Disappointing, but I think we made the right decision. Sea World was really neat. Shamu show is fantastic as are the other shows such as dolphin and sea lions. It was a super fun day.

On to Ocala, FLorida to stay with Aunt #2 who had a new puppy named Minnie. We didn't do anything for 2 days but lay around and actually 'vacation' and check out the town. Left Friday morning for Memphis and had one hell of a day trying to get there. Got caught in Birmingham, Alabama for over an hour due to a closed down interstate. Then it rained all the way to Memphis. Another 13 hour day.

Spent all day at Graceland on Saturday, which of course to me was the highlight. I'm a dork, I know, but i've wanted to go there since I was 8 years old. I nearly peed my pants when we drove up I was so excited. It was a cool experience, with the house being as gaudy as you would expect from Elvis. Shag green carpet on the floor AND the ceiling in the Jungle Room! But, only 2 rooms were lavishly decorated-the rest are putting much typical 70's living areas. Just with more money! The do a nice audio tour, so you can wander at your leisure and it has Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa giving anecdotes on your headset. I learned even more then I thought I knew about the King. Last, we headed to the Meditation Gardens where he and his family are buried. Everyone gets pretty quiet out there-rather neat experience. Then, the rest of the time is spent exploring 3 other museums and like 20 gift shops. I didn't buy a lot, but did buy a fair amount! Car museum is really nifty-he had some great ones. Ate at the Elvis Chrome Grill, which is a southern style restaurant with harleys and cars parked in it. Then, we also were able to go on the two airplanes he owned. The Lisa Marie is truly a 'Flying Graceland' as he called it. Gold plated seat belt covers for godsakes! I was in my glory all day long.

Later, we drove down to Beale Street and then went to Sun Records where Elvis was first recorded. The pamphlet says, "They say the tour will give you goosebumps..." Which I thought was crap. It is not. One truly does get goosebumps! It's a simple half hour tour, with a tour guide who is a little too theatric, but puts a nice twist on everything. (He totally fits the place-side burns, rolled up jeans like the 50's, and REALLY knows his rock n roll history)_I was actually standing on the mark that Elvis stood while recording "That's All RIght Mamma". They play bits of the different songs recorded there in the studio as you stand there...and that's where the goosebumps begin. Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, BB King, you name it. They even let you touch the original microphone that Elvis used. They let you use flash photography in the studio so I hope the pictures turn out. They also have a great souvenir shop where I bought Dad his tshirt that he asked for. I also bought a small poster of the "Million Dollar Quartet" if you've ever seen the photo of Elvis at the piano with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash surrounding him. That was Sam Phillips money makers at their best.

We ate on Beale Street at BB King's club. Great food, and even cooler music. It was Beale Street at it's finest with loud blues music, lots of people and food that is southern to the core. Did a little shopping at the Hard Rock down the street and a few other shops. It was hard to leave Beale!

And then we left yesterday morning. we drove by Graceland on the way out of town as I waved and said,"Later Elvis!"

Tales from the Road:

Played the license plate game and came up three states short: Hawaii, Rhode Island and Wyoming.

Some interesting signs included the following:
Cruisin' Chubby's Gentleman's Club-Truck Parking
Ho Chunk Casino
ABS-The Bovine Love Connection
Eat More Chikin (from a bunch of cows posing)

Funny License Plates:
Uff Da 4
Nrwgn 2

SItes:
A water tower size cross in Effingham, Illinois. Still no idea what it represents.
From Paducah to Florida we saw more then 50 Waffle Houses. What's the big deal?
In Nashville, you could buy Fireworks EVERYWHERE. And really cool ones at that!
Saw TBS, Olympic Torch Site and Turner Field in Atlanta.
Kentucky boasts cheapest cigarette sale prices in the US.
We got into some freaky backwoods places in Alabama. "You shore gotta purdy mouth"
Earnhardt statue at Daytona!
Cheapest gas was $1.33 just over the Georgia border.
Most expensive was $1.79 in Illinois. Most we paid was $1.74 in Edgewood, Illinois.. The cheapest we paid was $1.51 in Macon, Georgia.
Went through 11 states in all: MN, WI, Illinois, Kentucky, Tenneessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansaw.

And those are the tales from the road. Great trip, but I think we'll fly to Florida when we go back the next time!! It was a looonnnnggg drive but well worth the money and vacation time. Back to work tomorrow! All I heard from the newspapers on the job situation is that the Governor proposed taking all the money that funds us-but obviously the legislature still has to vote on it. I'll find out more tomorrow I'm sure! Post cards will probably reach many of you this week...hope you like them.

I'm outta here...gone until the 25th.

Bye!

I just spent 2 hours at the most worthless job fair of non-profits. You know things are really bad when all they're offering is summer help and stipends.

It's even worse when you see a former political candidate that you know there who lost the last local election looking for a job too.

I had a blogger moment this morning as I was attempting to drive patiently through traffic in snowy weather....do you ever have a time when you want to tell something to someone, but the topic is rather gross? Here's an example: say, you go to the bathroom, and something happens such as a poo that is so long you wonder whether it will flush. It's so funny and interesting (at least to you) that you want to pass it along. But others will be grossed out, such as many of you are that are reading this. So, maybe you confide in your spouse. Your spouse is equally grossed out, but can't help but laugh. I guess one just keeps it to oneself. Here's my question then:

What's the funniest term you've heard to describe having a bowel movement? Here's a few I've learned:
"pinch a loaf"
"dropping the kids off at the pool"
"take a crap, shit, dump"
and my all time favorite, "I gotta go grow a monkey tail."

Florida trip is close to being a reality. We leave Friday morning. I guess all that's left to do is to buy food and stock the cooler, plus pack. I dug out the summer clothes and I can only hope that it's actually warm enough to use some of them!

We might try to go to The World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, on our way to Memphis. Still no decisions on Disney World yet. It's really hard!

Tonight, we are all cordially invited to watch Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne renew their wedding vows in a ceremony sure to freak us all out. Preview: Ozzy kissing Marilyn Manson. Ouch!

I'm feeling like this sort of says it all for American companies these days...

"A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race
on the Missouri River. Both the teams practiced hard and long to reach
their peak performance before the race. On the big day the Japanese won
by a mile.

Afterward, the American team became very discouraged and morally
depressed.

The American management decided the reason for the crushing defeat had
to be found. A "Management Team" made up of senior management was formed
to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was: The Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person
steering, while the American team had 8 persons steering and one person
rowing.

So American management hired a consulting company and paid them an
incredible amount of money. They advised that too many people were
steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the rowing team's
management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors,
3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering
manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1
person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called
the "Rowing Team Quality First Program," with meetings, dinners and free
pens for the rower. "We must give the rower the empowerment and
enrichments through this quality program."

The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, American
management:

- Laid off the rower for poor performance,

- Halted development of a new canoe,

- Sold the paddles, and

- Canceled all capital investments for new equipment.

Then they distributed the money saved as bonuses to the senior
executives. "