Holiday Party Update:

Minutes Andy has been beaming about bonus: 32
Times editors here have said bonus is "clutch" in high-pitched voice, but quietly: 5
Beers Andy retrieved on round for coworkers: 4
Phone calls made to correspondents: 1
Phone calls Andy is waiting for: 3
Beers Andy will have at work the rest of the afternoon: 0
Time Andy still has to stay at work: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Holiday party update:
Beers drank: 2.5
Stories edited: 2
Times made fun of: 2
Babies present: 2
Times babies were made fun of: 0
Putting challenges lost to a coworker: 1
No. of putts made in putting challenge (of 7): 2
Onside kick challenges scheduled: 1
Bonuses just received: 1
Bonuses Andy is VERY happy with: 1
Amount Andy will bitch about money for the next week: 0

Merry Christmas! :) :) :) :) :)

I'm sitting in my cubicle right now.
I'm drinking a Miller Lite.
I'm eating some pasta.

It's holiday party time!

Of course, I'm in my cubicle and everyone else is pretty much in the conference room. Oh well. I have work to do too. :)

Yay! I did get a decent night's sleep yesterday. It's nice when I can be disciplined, talk to Gina on the house phone (unlimited minutes) and stop talking early enough for both of us to get to bed at a reasonable hour. That's always good. :)

I have my lamp now from Bolingbrook too, which makes me happy, because it lights my bedroom up much cozier than the adjustable track lighting, even in "mood lighting" mode. It's much warmer-feeling in there with the lamp on. :)

I've got much on the plate this weekend, let me tell you. :) But I won't tell you now. More later...if you're lucky. :)

Dude, go here. Anyone of you techies or psychies out there know how this works? I want to know...I did it twice and the site was right both times! Weirdness...

Hey all...
I was feeling weird today. Very on edge, but not in a bad mood. Though I felt like I could have beaten the crap out of anyone who might have crossed my path poorly. Fortunately no one did. :) Well, except one of my coworkers, but that didn't go so badly anyway. Just a tough, tough debate that started to get a little personal.

I went to lunch at Big Bowl. That was good. Especially since I brought home the leftovers and had dinner too. :)

"24" yesterday was still good. But Laz informed me that we won't have it until Jan. 6. Oh no...what will I do until then? I guess I'll survive. :) I unpacked some stuff today from what I brought from The Brook yesterday. Not a lot of stuff though.

Honestly, looking back on it, I didn't get much done today after all. Oh, wait, except for figuring out my budget and realizing that I can finally see the surface of the pool above me. That's good. I felt a lot better. Although I still have to be very, very careful with my money. My actual money, not my credit cards...that's what I HAVE to use for my Christmas presents--I have no choice. It's just a matter of keeping it small. That's the key. so we'll see.

But now I'm tired...so I'm going to bed. I'm gonna get a good amount of sleep, I hope. I'll catch y'all later...

ESPN2 currently is showing the national Putt-Putt championships. Pretty funny. What's funnier is that many of us have it on here at work.

Not much else to report, really. I went out to The Brook yesterday to get more crap and to pick up a cassette of me singing "Oh Holy Night" at Christmas choir years ago. I was hesitant to play it for Gina, as she has an unbelievable singing voice. But, she did not laugh at me. In fact, she complimented me and said that with a little bit of work, my singing would be great. So that was nice. :)

Otherwise, I took Kazak out to The Brook with me. He was so happy to visit Autumn, and even happier to run around in the yard with her and by himself. He hadn't been off the leash outside (except in our tiny yard) since we moved. So he loved it.

Update on Donna...
Donna is out of surgery...6 hours long!
She's still in ICU and will be for at least tonight and possibly tomorrow night
as well.
She's in less danger than she was; although she's feeling very sore and nasty.
Last I'd heard, she'll be in 3-5 more days in the hopsital before they release
her, but I don't know the specifics now that she's actually been operated on.
So, thoughts, prayers, whatnot, and I'm sure she'd appreciate more visits/calls
in the next few days after she's feeling a bit better.

There ya go...

The nice thing about Mondays: I can change my mind on a whim.

I'm going out to The Brook today, and taking Kazak. He'll be so happy to see Autumn and vice versa, and to have the yard to run around in for a while. :) I can do a load of laundry or two and pack up more stuff and maybe clean a bit. Oh, and of course, see Gerard. :)

I'm meeting my brother and whoever else at Lindy's tonight probably. And in fantasy football news, I'm losing 58-31 with Correll Buckhalter to play. Can I get 28 points from Buckhalter? Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes. But I can hope.

Donna should be in surgery today, so if you're a praying type, say a little prayer for her, even though the surgery isn't a big, big deal. Just sayin'...

Ugh. Still..........so.........tired.

Yesterday evening was cool. The movie was good, not GREAT, but good. Good editing and stuff, but I wasn't blown away by the story, honestly. But it was good otherwise. Basia, Husband of Barb, Bob, Duffy and I went to Silver Cloud Cafe on Damen and Wabansia afterward, marking my third straight evening there. It's (obviously) a nice place...and not expensive either...eventually, I'll find another place to go. :)

We were hanging out there, and Gina called and decided to meet us there (once she was done hanging out at her friend Lisa's place), so we waited for her and hung out for a while. Then we went home and I went to bed at 2-2:30.

I slept until 9:30ish, getting up to edit a couple stories before heading to (dun, dun, DUNNNNNNN) church. I wanted to see/hear Gina sing in choir, and well, I wanted to go to church. I want to get back to it. No idea why, other than that guilty Catholic conscience...I guess part of me misses it, really. It was such a big part of growing up. Gina's church is really nice. I like it. I'll probably go back. Of course, I told Gina I was going to join choir with her, because I miss choir too. Plus, I want to learn to sing better anyway, and she and her choir people can teach me that. :)

Her mom was there and asked if I was coming to Christmas Eve at their place, and I said yeah, and it should be a good time. Which it should be...there certainly will be lots of food there, no doubt. :) I just hope I don't get screwed by work again like I was on Friday, when I was stuck here waiting for crap to do for an hour later than what I wanted. I hate when that happens.

Thanks for the swing class ideas...Gina and I will probably take classes at Big City Swing. Those start in early January.

Anyway, I'm so sleepy...I hope today goes quickly so I can get home and go to bed. I've got plenty to figure out tomorrow in the financial realm, and I want to cook some chicken pot pie (thanks Basia and Starbux Princess!) and maybe some spaghetti or something so I don't have to buy food for the week. We'll see though...we'll see how it goes.