Just Bring It

I looooove Wii Sports (especially bowling)

2006-12-05T20:38:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to spread the word how much I love the new Nintento Wii - mostly for the sports games right now.
When Dave got the Nintendo Wii, and told me about how awesome this system is going to be, I thought...ok, I could try this out...it looks and seems like fun.

For some reason when we first got it, I liked it..but not enough for me to want to use it, now...I am addicted. I don't know why I was like that, it just happened that way. What really jump-started me was when Dave and I went to our friend Ralph's house in Staten Island, NY for Thanksgiving weekend. I knew there was going to be a bunch of our friends together, and suddenly I wanted to play because I knew we going to play some sports as a group.

Well during one of the games, it was our friend Pete, Dave's friend Sarah, Dave, and I playing bowling, and I was having so much fun, and I was kicking some ass too! I have always loved bowling since I was a kid, and I used to have many bowling birthday parties.

Now that we are home, I start playing again, and I can't stop. The other night, I was trying to beat my old score in bowling, and I ended up playing for an hour, and I did beat my old score. I never play that long in general, but it was a freakin blast, and I think I got a good workout too!!! :o)
I like playing the tennis along with baseball. I haven't tried out the boxing, but I am sure that is just as awesome!

Dave is so shocked that I am actually playing! He thought I was too wrapped up in my soap operas to care about gaming. Well I guess you were wrong baby. I am back and ready to kick some ass!!!

Some outside/inside photos of our Christmas decorations

2006-12-03T23:30:00.000-05:00

Well Christmas is only 22 days away, so I am sure a lot of people have their Xmas trees set up already along with any outside decorations they want to display.
Our tree is not set up yet, but will be sometime this week, however we decided to decorate outside in addition to having a tree inside. Last year we did not do anything outside, but this year I wanted to splurge a little more, so we did, and this is the end result, so check it out....

I also forgot to mention that we decorated oour bannister going up the stairs inside as well (my idea by the way, lol). I wrapped around some red and green mixed garland, and added some red christmas lighs. I think it looks pretty cool.

I have something to talk about, YAY!

2006-11-04T23:30:00.000-05:00

So, it's been since July 11th since my last post. Too much time has passed.
I just wanted to tell you all that Dave and I joined Weight Watchers
(which I believe he mentioned already in a post of his own), but I wanted to let everyone know how we are doing up to this point.

This is our 10th week on it (2 -1/2 months) and we are dong really well.
Dave has lost 15.6 lbs so far.
I have lost 14.4 lbs.

We are on 1 of the 2 plans where we can eat most foods (as long as they are on the core list) and just eat to the point where we are comfortably full, and not feel like we stuffed ourselves.
We are not on an exercise program but I do some little things that Weight Watchers recommended for when you are sitting at your desk and they do work. Eventually we will get to the point where we will start exercising and lose weight quicker. For now we are happy with the way things are turning out, and we are not stopping until we hit our goal.

So that's my story. I hope you enjoyed reading. I think one day when we hit our goal we wil take our after photos and match it up with our old before photos we took way back.

Ta-ta for now....

My 1st Madonna concert!!!

2006-07-11T21:50:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday night I got the opportunity to see Madonna live in concert for the Confessions tour, it was "the bomb"!

Two of my friends from work, and another girl and I went to the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston to see her. I am a HUGE Madonna fan, so it was a must see event. The ticket prices were outrageous but it was so worth it to go. The best seats cost $350.00! Going down in price the next price was $165.00, then $95.00 then $55.00. I tried to get the $55.00 but ticketmaster.com would not allow me to choose that price, so the cheapest I could get was $95.00. The seats were in east bum-fuck but who cares. I am proud to say I went to the Madonna concert!

I am telling ya...that woman doesn't care what she does on stage, which is fine with me. Well she rides a trojan horse, looks as if she is being crucified on a HUGE ass crucifix that she is laying up against, she gives the finger to the crowd likes 3 times, etc...

All-in-all she looked fabulous! For a 47-year old that woman dance and looks great in this skin-type outfits she wears during her performances!

Here are a few pictures that I found from her Confessions tour. I could not take any because I was way too far away, but I got some close-ups with binoculars that I brought.

Some Ebay buyers just suck

2006-06-20T21:56:00.000-04:00

Hi there! Well I have one issue wih ebay that I just wanted to discuss. Actually it's not necessarily an issue just yet, but it could be.

So I was selling something on ebay for roughly 3 days, and I got a bid by 1 person, and they ended up winning. Yay! Sold!!!! It was just a bottle of perfume that I owned, but never used it, and it was still brand new in the box. The auction total for this buyer is $18.50. Hey, I'll take it.

Well once the auction ended, I got the email from ebay that the auction was over, along with the buyer. I decided for the heck of it to send the buyer an invoice telling them how much they owe, just because.
I have not recieved a payment yet, and it is has been 4 days. I decided to send the winning bidder an email today, just reminding her of the payment due. I have not heard baack yet, but I am wondering if she is going to blow me off.
The reason why I say this is because I had a winning bidder one time who never paid for the item he/she won, and never responded to the 2 or 3 emails I sent. Apparently I was not the only one who had issues with that person, and because of that, that person's feedback rating was -3 I believe. Yeah, not good!

I just hope this is not the same situation as last time. I need this money, even though it is not even $20.00. Got to fill up the gas tank, ya know?!?! Why can't people just pay?!?! If you can't afford it, you shouldn't be bidding on it.
I think the next time I put up an auction, I am going to add...serious bidders only, payment must be received no later than 72 hours after the auction, etc...
I will wait a few more days, but if I don't see a payment, I am sending another email and if I don't see anything after that, I am going to re-list my auction, and I am leaving her negative feedback. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this person only has a feedback rating of 2, so that could be trouble. A newbie!!! We will see...

Want a new iPod for free???

2006-05-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Found a story on one of the local news websites I check on a daily basis in the consumer section, and the story reads: Trade Your Old CD's for a Free iPod. Now when I first saw the story, I am thinking....yeah right, that sounds too good to be true, but I continued to read on.

Right now I own the 30G video iPod, which I absolutely love, but for those who don't have one and want one, you need to read on.

So, this website called MilleniumMusic.com, who is a used CD retailer based in Charleston, South Carolina, is involved in this offer. What do you do is send in your old CD's and you get a free iPod depending on how many you send back to them. They offer 3 types of iPod's. In order to get an iPod Shuffle, you need to send back 35 CD's. In order to get a 2G iPod Nano, you need to send back 65 CD's. In order to get a $400 video iPod, you need to send back 175 of your old CD's.

Are you still interested at this point?!?! :o) I hope so. The only catch about this great offer is this company (Millenium Music) sometimes get CD's that may not be acceptable either because they are not really popular artists, or the CD's have some wear and tear. What they did for one couple who was have them send in a check for the difference of the iPod value, and they still received a new iPod. You also have the choice of sending more CD's.

I would do this if I didn't have an iPod, but I am all set. Course I don't know how well I would do with returning my old CD's because I didn't keep mine in the greatest shape, but who knows.

These are the links

CBS4 Story
Millennium Music

Laters....

Top 10 Unusual Excuses for Being Late to Work

2006-04-27T19:02:00.000-04:00

This was passed around today at work today, and I just wanted to share this with all of you. I thought it was kind've funny, so check it out. I never tried any of these, have you???

1) "I dreamed that I was fired, so I didn't bother to get out of bed."
2) "I had to take my cat to the dentist."
3) "I went all the way to the office and realized I was still in my pajamas and had to go home to change."
4) "I saw that you weren't in the office, so I went out looking for you."
5) "I couldn't find the right tie, so I had to wait for the stores to open so I could buy one."
6) "My son tried to flush our ferret down the toilet and I needed to tend to the ferret."
7) "I ran over a goat."
8) "I stopped for a bagel sandwich, the store was robbed and the police required everyone to stay for questioning."
9) "A bee flew in my car and attacked me and I had to pull over."
10) "I wet my pants and went home to change."

Another Saturday night out - Club Umbria

2006-04-17T22:05:00.000-04:00

I seem to be turning into a night owl/party animal these past two weeks, but I need to slow down. Coming home at 4 am is wiping me out, LOL.
A different co-worker invited me and others out for another night of dancing this past weekend. I was not sure if I wanted to go out yet another weekend, but I had a feeling Dave wouldn't mind having another Saturday night alone to himself. We do live together and see each other all time, expect for when we leave for work.

The place I ended up going to was Umbria.

Along with being a night-club, they also have a restaurant. Their website lists the place as Umbria Ristorante. They are located in the financial district of Boston, MA. There are 5 floors in this place. The first floor is the restaurant. Not sure what the 2nd is for. The 3rd floor plays old-school hip-hop and 80's music. The 4th floor plays hip-hop and top 40. The 5th floor is basically a lounge area.

A few of the good things about going to this place was...no cover before midnight, knowing someone on their "A" list (which is the same as on the VIP list), and going in with my group of people from work, etc...which turns out to getting free drinks for 1 hour, and not having to pay to park (course I didn't drive so that worked out)! Yay!

I did have a fun time. I didn't get wasted, b/c that's not the type of person I am. I did however dance with a stranger who had dreads (I think he was jamaican, and sort of good-looking). I said no at first when he asked, b/c my feet felt like they were on fire from my shoes, but I changed my mind. Some random guy came up to me once the place was closing, and asked me if I was from the town of Milford, and asked if my name was Heather. I was kind've freaked out at first, but it turned out to be someone I graduated high school with, even though I did not even recognize him one bit. He was trying to flirt with me and wanted me to come back and hang out with him that night in Milford, but I was like I am going home. I didn't tell the guy I was taken, but it didn't matter b/c I don't plan on calling or meeting with him ever. He gave me his phone # to call him, but that's never going to happen as well. Dave knows all this BTW. He was cool with it. :o)

The only few negative things about this place was...they serve cheap alcohol for the 1 hour you get free drinks (Puerto-Rican Rum sucks), and when it's time to pay for your mixed drinks...they charge you $9.00 each!!!! I nearly felll to the floor when I heard that. All I was ordering was coconut-rum and coke. I guess that's expected when you go to Boston. Oh well.

Saturday night at "The Foggy Goggle"

2006-04-10T13:23:00.001-04:00

So Saturday night I was invited out to celebrate a co-workers's birthday, and I was unsure about going out at first because I am not a night owl like I used to be. I'm getting old ya know?!?! LOL. Just kidding.

Well anyways the plan was to meet up with this guy (who trained me for the position at work where I just started not recently), his girlfriend and some others at his hotel to have some drinks at first, and then head to the bar/s. I drove in with my friend/co-worker Lynn and her friend Kim. We ended up eating dinner at the hotel restaurant downstairs first and then went up to the room and had some drinks.

The next place we head is this place called The Foggy Goggle.

The name sounded very odd but was worth trying out. I did some research online to find more about it before I went there. Turns out I was reading some not-so-positive comments about it - saying that it composed of scantily-clad women and sleazbags that were always trying to hit on women, and some of the people that went there looked like they were under 21. I was not sure of the idea now, but most people wanted to go there regardless. Turns out I had a really good time and the reviews that I read didn't seem to match the atmosphere which worked out well. It was a very small place though, and mixed drinks were around $6.00-$7.50, but they played pretty decent music and I danced with the birthday boy a little (sorry Dave!).

I was invited to yet another bar/club in a few weeks again to "The Liquor Store". Another interesting name. We shall see.

Say No More to Mops - Scooba is Here

2006-03-19T00:23:00.000-05:00

Alright, I am finally back. It's been almost a month so I have been way overdue.
Tonite I had been watching tv, catching up on my soaps and a show I watch weekly. I usually fast-forward through the commercials since we have DVR, but while fast-forwarding through a particular set, something caught my eye.

It's the all-new iRobot Scooba - The first floor washing robot for the home that preps, washes, scrubs and dries your floor. It works on hardwood, tile and linolium. How cool is that?!?! Most people hate washing their kitchen floors (like I do) but now you can have a robot do it for you and you can just sit back and relax. The only problem with this is - price. These sell for $399.99, oy vey!

It sounds like it would be definitely worth it though. If you check out Dave's blog, you can see that the iRobot vacuum is already a success when it comes to vacuuming carpets. We have the Roomba and we will never go back to hand-held vacuums.

Here's a quote I found about the Scooba...
"...it managed to cover every inch of the kitchen floor…the linoleum that had been greasy and sticky, with the occasional crusted food spot, was buffed to a smart shine."
— Time Magazine [December, 2005]

Here is a little more information I found on this product...

Make mopping a distant memory. With Scooba your floors will be cleaner than ever and you’ll never have to touch a dirty mop and bucket again.

-Programmed to prep, wash, scrub and dry the floor all by itself
-Cleans under furniture, tables and hard-to-reach places
-Cleans a standard-sized kitchen floor on a single tank
-Simple to operate: fill tank, press clean and empty tank when finished

Is it worth it to buy at at this price? If I had enough money I would go for it!

I'm Hired!

2006-02-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

Well I found out the news last Thursday that I am now hired in the position I was temping in. I was asked to go into my new boss's office first thing in the morning, and he tells me that they decided to hire and make me permanent. Sweet! I was not expecting to hear anything that quick, but that works for me.
The very interesting part of this is that...one of the reasons they hired me was because they decided to terminate my old position in Accounts Payable (technically Vendor Correspondence), and they are downsizing! How about that!!! I am very lucky that I was moved here when I did. If I was still working in my old department, I could have been one of the people in that group to get let go...adios! I am not sure how they would have made that decision, basing it on seniority or people's work ethics, but I am just glad I won't have to go through that at all.
I just hope that I like it here. This position is not exactly the most exciting, but at least I am getting more money, I hope. However, I am still going to keep my eye out for other stuff in the meantime. This company seems to not be very stable these days, and who knows what will happen next. I have been here for over 4 years now, maybe enough for one place, but we will see what happens down the line.

Friday night bowling, yay!

2006-02-12T01:44:00.000-05:00

The other night, Dave and I along with two other friends of mine went out for a night of bowling. This was actually my friend's idea, but I certainly was not complaining. I LOVE bowling so much! I have not gone in years, but I was ready to kick some ass!
This was kind've like a double-date night. I was trying to set up my friend from work with this guy I somewhat dated for a few times years back. They both came to my birthday/360 LAN party a few weeks back, and they both took a liking to each other, so I decided to set something up.

It was a blast! We played guys against girls, and it certainly made for some good competiion. My friend said he had only bowled once or twice in their lives, Dave has bowled numerous time, but not in a long time, so my friend and I knew that we had the games in our hands.
We played 3 games total, and the winners of the night were the women! WOO-HOO! I actually had the highest score in game #1, and then I had the highest score in game #3. HA! My friend had the highest score in game #2. Go Lex! The guys were slow at first, but started creeping up in game #2 and made some close scores between all of us. Good job guys!

What made it fun too was the part of the night where they turn the lights off and turn on the neon lighs and play music in the background while you are playing. I am not sure of the correct name of what it is called. I think they call it Rock-n-Bowl, but I have heard it called as Cosmic Bowling too. I think though I am all set for a while now. One being my fingers are hurting from holding the ball, and I know Dave's arm is hurting from throwing the ball. I am glad we went regardles.

My newest addiction

2006-02-12T00:09:00.000-05:00

About a few weeks ago, Dave and I threw a party for my birthday and a 360 LAN party, and a bunch of cool people came over.
A few of the people that came by were our friends from NY, which were Ralph, April, their son Matty, and their kick-ass friend Tony (you can thank me later Tony, lol). Well before they came, I kindly asked (well maybe I didn't, oops) if they could bring some of their NY style bagels which are so awesome! Of course you could get something similar here, but they are not the same. Boston.....New York...I pick NY!

Well in addition to the bagels they brought, they also came with a jar of this delicious peanut butter swirled with cinnamon and raisins to spead on the bagels.

The name of this company is called....

At first my thought was..."no way am I putting peanut butter on my bagel". If I am going to spread my NY bagel with anything, it's going to be cream cheese, what most people put on their bagel. Ralph said this peanut butter stuff was one of the best things he had ever tried. I did believe him, but I chose not to try it just yet, and I wanted to stick with cream cheese for now. Eventually we ran out of cream cheese, so I decided to try out this stuff. After a few bites, my tastebuds were starting to like it. It turned to be surprisingly good at this point, leading me to either have another bagel or just put some on a knife and lick it (which is something I usually don't do). Dave already loved this stuff a lot, and now I did too!!!

It's too bad this stuff is only found in NY, but the good thing about is, you can order some online.

Their website is http://www.ilovepeanutbutter.com

Changes at work...

2006-02-09T20:32:00.000-05:00

Well....
I have something interesting to discuss that happened to me at work today.
I lost my job, but gained another one the same day.
My boss decided to call us in for a meeting today out of the blue about noontime, not too long before we take off for lunch at 12:30. She says I have something important to tell you all. She goes on to say one of the people working in Merchandise Accounting just got promoted, and so they need someone to replace the position ASAP. The thing is they cannot put up a post for the new opening b/c the CEO is on vacation, and he plays a role in that, so they need to pull someone from one of the departments until he comes back which is 2 weeks I believe.
She then goes on to say that they tried to ask many people in other departments if they could assist for the meantime, but I guess most people are swamped right now. At this point, we are told that our department is now the target, and my boss breaks the news that us that one of us is going to be let go and placed in that department. We are like, WHHHAAATTT?!?!?! I am now thinking...what if it's me?!?! I haven't even been in my department for 6 months, and I am still learning. So finally she says, the name of the person being let go is Heather. I am thinking, freakin figures! The decision was based on who was the most recent person to get hired in the department, and DING, that's me!
My co-worker then asks when I will be starting, and my boss then says tomorrow. Tomorrow?!?! That isn't enough notice! I have not even told my vendors I am leaving, I haven't cleaned up yet, and now I am about to leave?! OY!

Here's the thing though....
1) I am going to the position on a temporary basis, but when the CEO comes back from his vacation, they are going to check my progress, and if they like me, I could get offered the position permanently, and will get a raise b/c this new department is a higher level than the one I am in (or used to be in).
or
2) A posting would go up in a few weeks when the CEO returns, and if they find someone else, I am done, and I can go back to my old position, no questions asked.

What do I do? I really love the group of people I work with, and I really don't want to leave, but if I like this position, I would make more money, and I could definitely use it! I had a rough 4 years with the 1st 4 years working in my old department, and I was loving the people that I work with every day, but now I have to make new friends all over again, job #3. Can I really do that...I am not sure. I guess I will soon find out.

Turns out I had one more surprise as well. I get back from lunch, and about an hour later my boss comes by and says so and so wants to know (my boss's boss's boss who is an asshole, lol) when I am going to start the new position, and once he heard, he instead tells my boss he wants me to start this afternoon once afternoon break is over, which is 3:30! Ahhh...yeaaahh...now I really have no notice. Well I had to do what the big boss said, so I packed up, said goodbye after break, and I went over to my new department to start the new job.

I learned a slight amount today, but most of it went over my head. It's not easy for me to just forget what I was still learning, but I have no choice. Well, here's to a new job anyways. Cheers!

A few birthday gift puchases

2006-02-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was my birthday, and I got some gift cards for various stores, and tonight Dave and I went out and I used some of them.

One was from my mother, and it was for the Fossil store. I have been wanting a watch for the longest time, because the one I have sucks. I have to constantly change the battery, and the glass plate has some scratches on it, so it was time for a new one. I have been checking thr Fossil website recently to see what they have for stock, and I found a few that drew my attention. Once we get there, I soon saw they had so many more styles in the glass cases than I saw online, and one of the styles I liked a lot turned out to be so much cheaper in the store than online. Perfect! The online price was $85.00, and in the store it was $39.99! Holy crap! I had to get it, so I did. Here is a picture of exacly what I got. It's a beauty...to me that is.

I also got a gift card to Circuit City from my kick-ass buddy Chris. Now with that type of store, electronics and all, the only things that I could really pick out would be a CD or a DVD. I don't really need anything else, but I knew I could definitely pick out a DVD! I ended up getting Will & Grace Season 4. I love that show so much, even though I have not watched it in ages. I already own Season 1 & 2, course I have not really watched every episode of both those DVD's yet, but I will at some point. Their humor on the show is so awesome! Anyways, this is the cover for what I picked up.

Oh yeah, Dave got a watch too from the Fossil store. He was so intrigued of the display of watches in the store, he said he had to get one too, even though we were only going in there for me! :o)

Now serving good coffee

2006-01-24T20:36:00.000-05:00

I was online on one of the local news stations today to check the weather, because I was hearing about a light snowstorm that is heading in our direction late tonight. I usually watch the video content that they offer on their site, so I know exactly what is going on. In this video they show, it talks about a few important stories then they head to the weather portion.

Anyways, this small but interesting blurb they mentioned is letting everyone know that starting the end of this month, the very affordable airline JetBlue will now be offering Dunkin Donuts coffee on all their flights. How cool is that?!?! They want to bring brand-named labels to their airline, and I think that is a fantastic idea! This article also mentioned that after doing a recent survey, they said that they coffee they serve on airplanes pretty much sucks! I haven't tried airplane coffee yet, but I am sure it is as bad as they say. Now that this plan of attack is in action, I'm wondering what kind of coffee are they going to serve, whether just original, or flavored as well, and are they going to charge a lot more than you normally would walking into the coffee shop. Hmmmm....

Well anyways check out this link I found, and the video if you can play it. This is CBS4 in Boston, MA. Laters....

Looking Back at New Years Eve

2006-01-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

On New Years Eve, Dave's sister Mary, Dave's friend Jenni, Dave, and I went to Mary's friend's house for a New Years party. It was a lot of fun and I tried something fun that I have never done before, taking shots from an ice luge! I I had never heard of people doing that, or realized they made something for that purpose. I am not really a big drinker these days, but since it was New Years, I figured why not!

One of the guys that was at the party brought some Malibu Mango Rum, and as soon as I saw that, I was like, "I NEED TO HAVE SOME OF THAT". LOL I love Malibu Coconut Rum, but I had no idea they made other flavors. They also make Malibu Pineapple Rum and Tropical Fruit Rum. Yummy!!! Jenni also took an interest too, which was cool. Someone else who liked the same kind of liquor as me, nice! Once we found out later that they were using the malibu rum outside for the ice luge, we made our move and took the physical challenge. What a feeling it was!!! For one, the bottle was sitting outside in the snow, so once we drank it, it feld so cold in our bodies, along with our lips being so cold from putting our mouths up to the ice. Jenni and I definitely enjoyed ourselves at that point!!! :op

I just thought I would share that with all of you, along with a picture of what I actually did. Rock on!

******HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE*******

A Change of Scenery

2005-12-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today has been a really quiet, and kind've boring today, which is fine and all, but I needed something to keep me pre-occupied. I had done all the laundry I needed to get done, and there was not much really else to do, and not many places to go seeing it is Christams Eve day/night. We were not planning to go see any family until tomorrow, so it was a fend-for-yourself day.

After sitting at home for so long, between being on the phone a few times, and surfing the net, I just said to Dave, I really want to get out of the house, and maybe get some dinner. He was working on his new PC trying to encode some movies and whatnot, but I wanted to get out, and I wanted some company. We did decide to go out and get some chow, but we had a hard time finding places that were open, being Christmas Eve. We eventually found some fast-food and just ordered it to go and took it home.

After we ate, Dave asks me if he can go on the Xbox 360 to play for a while. I figured, sure, go right ahead. After a few seconds though, I was thinking, hey, I have not been on the Xbox 360 much at all, and this would keep me busy. I would really love to play some Bejeweled 2, I love that Arcade game. So I asked Dave if he doesn't mind me using it and he says "Yeah go right ahead, it's yours too". Once I started playing, I could not stop. I think I was on there for about 2 hours non-stop and I was lovin it!!! I started off at Level 1 and went to Level 17 and it felt awesome! I have so many more levels to go, but it felt relaxing to sit there and just play with the unique music in the background. I never realized how much fun video games can be. Usually when I am not online, I watch my soap opera that I record every day on the DVR, along with my other show TLC's What Not To Wear. I need some change.

Getting ready for a Florida trip

2005-12-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

On Thursday I am heading to Fort Myers, Florida to see my best friend get married over the weekend. I am really excited for her! I have not seen her in almost 10 years, and I have not seen the rest of the family since I was 14. Oy vey! I am leaving early Thursday morning. My flight is about 6 am (yucky!) and I get there around 11 am and I come back around 12:30 pm Sunday. I wish I was going there for a lot longer, but I need to save the remaining 2 vacation days I will have left from work.

We have known each other since we were 7 years old, and she wil be my best friend no matter where she is living and no matter how little we talk. She used to live across the street from me up till the age of 12, then her and her family moved to Florida. The next time we met up is when I was 14 and on my way to high school. I went to FL by myself. The next time I saw her again was when I graduated high school, she came up here for that. Ever since then I have not seen her since, which has been about 9 years.
The man she is marrying is Korean, which is where she met him, South Korea that is. Leighann (I guess SHE is getting boring, hehehe) has been living there for almost 2 years now teaching Korean children, and she loves it there! I barely know anything about this guy she met and will soon be marrying, just his name pretty much, but I am sure I will get to know him while I am visiting.

Right now, all I can think about is the warmer weather I will get to experience! Aaahhh... I don't get to look at snow for 4 days, YAY!

Coffee-flavored coca-cola.....not so much....

2005-12-09T15:29:00.000-05:00

I am not one for reading newspaper articles or news stories on the web, but an article I saw on MSNBC today got me intrigued to read and later post on my blog. I am not a fan of Coca-Cola products, but I prefer Pepsi, however I would drink Coke if I wanted a soda and that was the only kind available.

This article talks about bringing a new type of Coke to the market that gives people an energy kick, and brings in a new generation of carbonated beverages. I am talking about coffee-cola!!! WOW! When I first read about it, my first thoughts were..."eeewww". It's one thing to have Vanilla Coke, (which they said they have taken off the shelves to make room for this new product), but I never liked vanilla coke, so I don't see how I am going to like this. Oddly enough, I do like Pepsi Vanilla (Yes, I can tell the difference between the pepsi with vanilla from the coke with vanilla, lol). If I want a coffee, I am heading for Starbucks. I may pay a lot there, but it is worth it!

Well anyways, there is more to this article, and you should check it out. It gets more interesting the deeper into the article you get. Here it is!!!

"What's my name bitch?!?!"

2005-11-28T18:54:00.000-05:00

How hard is it to get someone's name right? Apparently really hard for a select few.

My birth name is Heather Lourie, so with a name like that, you would think that's pretty easy to remember. Heather...Lourie, period. Is it that difficult?? I don't think so, and neither do most of my friends.

Well it seems for some people, it's a hard item to get them to understand. It boggles my mind to no end, but what can I do? The way my last name is pronounced can sound just like I have 2 first names, which I can understand, but there's no excuse for being lazy and not giving someone that common courtesy that everyone deserves. Being that my last name is "Lourie", people think that it's my first name, and think it's Lori, or Laurie, etc...but that's my last name!!!! UGH!!!

But with work, dipshits are calling me by my last name... One in particular is this ass-munch vendor who emailed me today, calling me LOUIE! WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!?!?!

A) I am not a freakin male.
B) My first name is Heather.

How many fucking times do I have to tell these people what my fucking name is?!?! With my Outlook email at work, it's set up so when we send something out or receive something in, our last name comes up first followed by a comma, then our first name. (Basically it looks like "Lourie, Heather")

So what's a girl to do? Kindly and gently e-mail that tard and explain to him that I am not a guy? That's a start.

A Good Ending to Thanksgiving Day!

2005-11-24T21:40:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to say I had a great Thanksgiving Day, and I ate enough, but not to the point where I went overboard. Dave came with me, and we went to my cousin's house in Cape Cod. There was about 19 people there all together, so it was a big family event, but it was really nice to see all of my family again. I don't see all of them very much, even though most of them live in either in the state or one state over.

We were asked to bring a block of cheese (we actually got 2 just incase), and some chips w/ dip. Barely anyone touched it so we had to bring it all home, so now we have a ranch dip that will probably last us a while, along with cheddar cheese blocks. Oy!

The only bad part of today was waking up this morning, opening up the window, and seeing a winter wonderland outside! We knew that we were expecting a slight amount of snow, but not 2-3 inches, which is really not that bad at all. This was our first snowfall of the year, even though it is still fall. Oh well! At least it wasn't a blizzard. LOL

New IKEA store in Massachusetts

2005-11-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday night Dave and I ventured out to the town of Stoughton, MA to check out the opening of the 1st IKEA store in MA. It was a 61 mile ride there, but we wanted to see what this place was all about. For those of you who have never heard of this place, they sell home furnishings that are swedish-made.

Well before going in, we had to deal with some major traffic, and on a Saturday night I may add. It was pretty ridiculous! We tried to get off the exit from the highway we were on, and it's blocked by cops, and we were thinking, "Is this for all the traffic to the new IKEA?" We made to the next exit and the sign says detour to IKEA, well that is interesting. Once we finally got off the right exit, we saw a lot of cars lined up on the main road thinking there is a traffic light coming up and there are probably just a lot of cars at that moment. Well we were wrong, they were all trying to go the same way as us, to the IKEA which there is a sign pointing to the new IKEA. Oy vey!

I have never seen so much traffic before, and practically no one was moving. After a few minutes of slow-movement, we decided to forget parking in their lot and find a spot in a different store parking lot, and just walk the rest of the way, which worked out better and we found many other people doing the same.
Now that we finally got there, we looked around to see what this store is all about. On the 2nd floor there is a showroom and if you want something, you grab one of their checklists and you write down the item # of the product you want, and then you pick the item/s up in what I would call their warehouse. On the first floor there is general merchandide and those items you can grab and add to your carriage/tote bag. What was neat about the place, is they have a small sit-down restaurant there too.

After 2 hours of walking around, we never bought anything. It was nice to check it the place, but we thought the stuff was just "eh". I took a liking to some of the picture frames they had, and maybe some of the couches, but that was about it. Going to a place like Crate and Barrel, etc... seems like a better options for us. They have great stuff there, even though it is much more expensive.

If anyone is interested in what this place sells, check out their site.

Speed Limit 65 MPH

2005-11-09T19:23:00.000-05:00

I know I have not posted in what seems like a long time, but now after a while, I've got something to say.

Here in the state of Massachusetts, we have a speed limit on most major highways that reads 65 mph, which I can understand. Some people like to take it up a notch a little and travel at say, 70 (which would be me) or slightly more, or maybe even more than that for the speedy types.

For me, I consider the right lane as the slowest lane, the middle lane as the faster lane, and the left lane as the fastest lane (which I use most) on a non-traffic day. I drive the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) every day to work and home, and it usually takes me about 30 minutes each way, which is not too bad considering it can be a virtual traffic jam.

Well today I was driving home from work, and there was some rain showers (more like light drizzle) but not moderate rain at all, so it was pretty easy to drive in. From what I've obsevred, every time there's a bit of precipitation, everyone starts driving like there is a god damn blizzard out there! I mean come on, it's only light drizzle! There is no need to start breaking every 2 seconds and slowing down for no reason. I would understand if there was heavy traffic, but it was nothing like that.

I was about 4 miles away from my exit, and I was driving in the left lane as usual, and I noticed 4 cars in front of me driving close to each other, because the person in the front of them was taking their sweet time. Well they must've got tired of being behind this jerk, so they all moved out of the lane and kept on truckin. So then I started picking up speed, and the next thing you know I was behind this dodo. I look at my speedomoter and he is only driving 60 mph or slightly under in the left lane. I am thinking, "Come on buddy, pick it up!" But he doesn't budge! I then proceed to pretty much tailgate him, when he starts to put on his brakes, and does not want to move out of that lane. I was getting impatient, so I moved over just as the other people did, sped right by and jumped in front of him. After about 10 seconds, I look in the rearview, and he is about 12-15 cars behind me just trotting along. What I should have done was flashed my high beams at him, and maybe he would have moved. It just pisses me off because we have a speed limit, this dude can't even go that speed, and while in the left lane too! Get the hell out of the way!

I think I am done ranting now! LOL. I just had to tell you all how that bothered me on the way home tonight.

I like my job, do you???

2005-10-27T21:20:00.000-04:00

I just started a new position about 2 months ago and I have to say I really like it. This is my 2nd position in the same company, going on 4 years there total as of the end of November, and I will say that this position is so much better than the 1st one. I work in the Accounts Payable department but my position is Vendor Correspondence. What I do is pay back money that is owed to the vendors that I am responsible for their merchandise, whether it is for the full invoice or a shortage.
I have so much work to do all the time, which is good and bad. It's good because I am never bored but bad because things get piled up. We get a lot of phone calls (which is good for me b/c I am a chatty kathy anyways, LOL), constant emails, and constant faxes, along with mail that comes in on a daily basis. I like having a job where I am never bored, and that is what I got, and that makes the day fly by so fast.
I was told by my boss that from Day 1 and when I had my interview that this was going to be a very challenging position, and that it will take a good 6 months before I can truly know anything and handle a lot of things on my own. You know, I was like, great! In my other position, I did the same thing all the time and there was times when I was bored because I was all caught up. I will say that it was nice sometimes to have just about nothing to work on, but then the days just dragged, so that sucked. Now there is so many different things that I am responsible for and it is not the same thing every day. Yay!
My bosses are really cool and so down to earth, which makes my work day easy too. My manager swears sometimes right in front of me, and not in a serious way. One day I was in her office and she was reading an email that she got, and she didn't like what she saw, and says, I don't want your shitty old work, and then she sticks her middle finger up towards the monitor. That was great!
When I was in my other department, I felt like I was on 24 hour watch. My bosses were tolerable some of the time, but other times they creeped me out. I was working in another building then, and my boss's boss was someone who was a major bitch and a half and spread her negativity with a lot of us, making us unhappy there. She practically ruled the downstairs half of that building. She was too god damn anal and rude. Thank god I don't have to deal with that anymore.
The only bad thing about work is the commute there. I drive to work on one of the busiest highways in my state, but it is worth it. Does anyone else enjoy their job, or have they had it?

It's official, I have lost 10 lbs

2005-10-22T14:47:00.000-04:00

I have finally lost 10 lbs and I am very happy about it. My exact total is 10.5 so far. Yay! I have been struggling all week because for one, I did not work out the 3 days I am supposed to, I only did 2 because I was not feeling well the 3rd day. The other reason is I was slightly not eating right, but I managed to stay at the same weight, which I can't complain about. This morning I stepped on the scale right after I woke up and used the bathroom and I was 2 lbs less than I was yesterday and the whole week. It definitely put a smile on my face. Today is Day 1 one of my new workout week and I will make the most of it. I ate a healthy lunch which is good, but I hope I do ok with dinner. Dave and I are going to my friend's house tonight and she is making baked ziti. Yum! We are going to have to watch our portion sizes but I think we will be ok for the most part. Rock!

8 lbs lost and Counting

2005-10-17T22:22:00.000-04:00

It may not seem like a lot, but I have shed 8 pounds and I feel slightly better about myself. Dave however has lost 20 and I am so thrilled for him! Dave and many others have said that men tend to lose weight faster than women, which kind've sucks because I want to drop a bunch of weight and it is taking longer than I thought, but I know it will happen eventually. My goal is to drop another 40 lbs, but I am not sure if my body will let me take that much off in addition to the 8 so far. What shocked me a lot, is when I went to the doctor's for my physical about a little over a month ago, and to note my last visit was January of 2004. I did the whole weighing in thing, check my height, etc. After doing that I went in to my doctor's office to talk for a few about my health and all that. I had mentioned that I am on this new workout/meal plan b/c I feel unhappy with the way I look. She says to me that is great, but to let me know that the last time I was there, back in January of 2004, I was 26 lbs less. Hearing that made my mouth just drop so low. I never thought I had gained so much weight but I did, but knew what I needed to do now. I am on Week 8 of my Bowflex program now and I am on a great meal plan as well that lets me still have the things I enjoy eating. I know down the line I will look and feel even better, and glad I stuck with it. Maybe tomorrow I will be down another pound. Only 1.5 to go to hit 10 lbs.

String Cheese = Yummy

2005-10-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

I have not had string cheese in a long time, but after buying it this past weekend during me and Dave's weekly food shopping trip, I have to say it is one of my new favorite snacks now. I like it so much that I peel off the strings little by little just to make it last. Seems kind've lame but whatever. It is also healthy too which is great b/c it fits into my meal plan that I am curre, ntly on. I think the label said it is only 90 calories as a whole piece. Not too shabby! Man I wish I ate it a lot more when I was younger. Oh yeah, I have to say thanks to Jenni too for bringing up the idea of string cheese as a snack. Jenni is the one who mentioned the item to Dave and then he brought it to my attention, and now it is sitting in our refrigerator. Woo-hoo!

Massachusetts State Police corvettes...weird...but cool

2005-10-07T19:34:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share this with everyone, not sure if anyone else has noticed this too. I was on my way back from lunch break yesterday, driving on this road that is almost like a major highway, but is located in the shopping district. I had the radio going, the windows down and just cruising. I turned my head for a second when all of a sudden I see this corvette...and what do you freakin know it is the Massachusetts State Police, just like the normal Ford Crown Victoria's I see around the state. I couldn't believe my eyes! I did a double take just to make sure that is what I really saw. I was like, damn! I guess they must use those for high speed chases. Has anyone ever seen this type of car as a state police cruiser on the road before? I have seen other types being used like the SUV, but nothing like this. Maybe it has been around for a while and I just have not seen it.

Hey y'all....

2005-10-06T22:27:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce myself. I have never done blogging before on a website, but I am sure it will be a lot of fun once I get used to it. I will be adding many more posts, but this will be a brief one for now. My favorite man in the entire world, Dave, has a blog so I see what he does on his site, and it looks really cool. Not long after, I decided to start my own so here I am. Rock and roll baby!!!