And it just gets better..

I thought we were gonna be in the lawn, but we have seats! Section 205 Row JJ, seats 9 & 10.  If you're there, stop by and say hi. 

I saw the Goo Goo Dolls open for Bon Jovi two(?) years ago.  The lead singer was drunk and slurred while he spoke, but gave a flawless performance.

AND!!! I stopped by Church's on the way back from picking up the tickets and I won a free spicy chicken sandwich with any soft drink purchase. 

Does it get any better?

Mr. Jones and *ME*

rrrrrrrrvvvvvvv rrrrrrrrrrvvvvv <--that's my cell phone vibrating

who the hell is calling me?  Hello?

Hello, is Cynthia there?

This is she. who else is gonna answer my cell phone?

Hi! This is Anna.

Hi, Anna (who!?!)...can I help you?

I'm calling from Jack FM to let you know you won the tickets you signed up for to see Counting Crows and the Goo Goo Dolls on September 9th.

No way!  Anna, you rule.  Anna, you rule.

Honk

I've pulled a couple of miracles out of my ass today.  I can't even get excited about it cuz I swear John thinks I'm the golden goose and won't let me be.  I didn't get a chance to eat my lunch till 2:30 today.  They ordered Jason's deli for the whole office.  Very tasty, but I can't help but wonder if I don't have salmonella for letting it sit on my desk so long.

First day of school

I sent my baby off to third grade today in a new school.  When did he get so old?  When did I get so old?

Before he left the house he asked how he looked.  ""Fabulous, as always."" was my reply.  He does a self-check and says, ""Yeah.  I really think these shoes are stylin'."" 

I offered to walk him to his classroom.  He told me, ""No, thanks.  I'm nine.  I got it.""  I wanted to walk him inside, but just said, ""ok, honey"" and got in the drop off lane with the rest of the cool kids' moms.

my baby

I love pictures.  Love taking them, love arranging them... I'm not fond of being in them, but I love looking at them and remembering what was happening.

My default pic is one of me and my baby taken four years ago at Picture People in the Southlake Mall in what was then Merrillville and is now Hobart, IN.   It's one of my favorites.  Yes, we were on the floor for about 40 minutes posing while mall-goers peeked in, but it was fun and I was very happy with the end result. 

I need to get more pictures taken of me and the boy before he's too embarrassed to be seen with me in public.  He turned 9 this week and I am not allowed to kiss him in public anymore.  He has informed me that he's growing his hair out so he can style it in that white boy quasi-mohawk. 

It was about the time that picture was taken that I called him ""my baby"" and he told me that he wasn't a baby he was a big boy.  Silly me.  I asked him, ""What did you do with my baby?""  With a most sincere and exasperated sigh he answered, ""I was your baby, but I growed!""   That's one of our running jokes.  It made me a little sad a week later when he started saying ""grew"", but he just keeps growing.

Chuck E. PooCheese

My baby decided he wanted a Chuck E. Cheese party so that's what he got.  My hostess was just terrible.  I had to ask her for the kids' tokens and chase her down to order pizza.  Then I needed more cups cuz they only set out cups for the kids and I waited for a while, but she never turned up so I got up and got in line with all the other folks who weren't paying $15 a kid for service.  Then I filled all the cups and refilled the pop pitchers.  I served all the pizza.  After I had done all this about 15 minutes later, the hostess shows up to ask if I need cups.  I told her I had gotten them and she just said, ""oh""   The kids then go play and have fun and she comes up to me and says that Chuck E. is going to dance for the kids and could I go get them.  I asked if she could page the party over the intercom...the place wasn't very crowded, in fact we were the only scheduled birthday last night.  She said that she could, but the kids don't always come so I  should just go get them.  Then one of the parents asked another employee to page the kids who said she would get the girl to do it.  She never did it.  I had to go and gather children for the birthday dance that wasn't really a dance...mostly hand clapping...then my hostess disappeared again and we wanted to do cake and presents.  So I clear the table of all the pizza plates, go to the counter wait in line and ask for forks and plates.  I get the forks, but they said the hostess would bring out plates.  Waited..... waited..... almost went into the kitchen when she came out with my plates.  After cake, the kids went to play and I knew that despite the fact that I reloaded several token cards, people would be leaving soon so I wanted the 100 tickets per kid that came with the party so I got in line again to ask for them and the manager was at the register.  I told her we I did not have a happy time and she gave me a pizza package and 200 tokens, which helped, but doesn't make it all better.  My guests were joking, ""Hey, I didn't know you work for Chuck E. Cheese!""  I didn't get a chance to play skeeball with Alex, but the kids had lots of tokens and lots of fun and got to take home ballons and those hard plastic straw cups with Chuck E on top.  And the adults had fun too--mostly laughing at me waitressing, but it's ok, I'm good at it.  I wish I could have gotten that girl back in Merrillville...she was the bomb hostess of all times...even Mama liked her...I'll have to fly her in next time.

A BIG THANKS to everyone who remembered to call, send gifts, make it to the party, etc. 

Next year is double digits...he's talking about Hawaiin Falls so get your swimsuits ready.

I am the son and the heir

""You have killed me."" 

Why do people read the back of my shirt to me like I don't know what it says? 

""I gotta ask...what's on the front?""

Like you know who he is ""Morrissey.""

""I saw him back in '92 for like 15 minutes here in Dallas then he walked off the stage."" 

You, sir, are instantly more interesting...

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I now have copies of ""Meat is Murder"" and ""The Singles.""  They supplement and complement my funky mood.  I plan on putting  ""How Soon is Now"" on repeat after lunch and letting it ride till someone (the office drama queen) complains.

Great minds think alike

I member going to the Bon Jovi show and having to pee afterwards cuz Juana got us each gallon sized Cokes.  There has got to be 30 lines of stalls with 30 toilets in each line at Tinley Park so when we saw a single file line of women, Juana and I decided to let them stand there and go around them.  As we walked in, this middle-aged, white lady points her finger at me and says, "You're cutting and that's not right."  to which I turned and replied, "Kiss my ass."  My darling sister was ahead of me and missed this transaction and asked me what happened.  I told her what that lady said to which she replied, "Did you tell her to kiss your ass?"

my favorite word is "crackehead"

I adopt speech patterns from people with whom I socialize...always have.  Sometimes it can be as minor as which word is stressed in a sentence.  It's hard to explain, but I'm bored and obviously so are you.

I talk really fast.  All the sisters do.  I think it's cuz there were four of us and you had to get it out in 10 seconds or less if you wanted to be heard.  I heard myself on the radio yesterday and was like ""what the hell did I say right there?""

My tendency to quote obscure movie lines and song lyrics is Josh's doing...as is my mastery of dead pan delivery.  I was working on it when I met him, but he was the file on which I sharpened my skills.  And while I was sarcastic before I met him, we spent a lot of time trying to get the last jab in.  He is also responsible for ""pooh/poo""  ""that's looks/tastes/smells like poo"" and compound words like ""poocheese.""  For example: ""Velveeta is not the real deal, that's poocheese""  However, a grilled cheese sandwich made with Kraft Deluxe is ""tasty goodness.""

""Ya think?"" <--pure Scott.  I ask it when people make statements with built in justifications like ""I think..."" or ""that's just my opinion.""  [Of course ""you think x"", if you didn't think it, you probably wouldn't say it.  Asking ""ya think?"" is part of an ongoing effort to make folks stop saying ""I think"" before every friggin opinion.  You are entitled to your opinion without apology or justifications. Actions have reactions, but thinking, well that's always ok. whoa...tangent]  My friend Scott ceases to use contractions when he is making a point and/or being silly.  I do this in similar circumstances.  My tendency to quote Fight Club stems from the fact that he loves that movie as much as I do.  When he and I talk, there's a rhythm to the conversation.  It is most noticable when it is interrupted.  If you've heard it, you know what I mean, if you haven't it's like a tennis match in the Matrix.

The Spanglish thing comes from my parents.  I crack me up sometimes with that stuff.  I don't do it all the time.  It happens sporadically...more and more at work lately. 

Jason's still stuck in my head.  The other day I asked my son if he was ""pouty-wouty"" and just today I found myself saying ""yuppers.""   I'm gonna have to wash that one out of my vocab.  It could be worse, I could start interrupting people with ""At any rate.""  Someone kick me if I start doing that.

Juana has made my vocabulary exceptionally colorful. Her contributions include, ""hatericious"", ""po po"", ""re-re"", and ""ghetto glorified.""

My mother has labled my platforms ""hoochie shoes"" and had us all saying ""dirty, old dog""

But my word choices have not been the same since I was sitting at home watching a movie with Josh.  A car rolled by and almost hit Danny Glover and the cabbie yelled out to him, ""Watch it, you crackhead."

Let's play outside

The thunder is rolling quite loudly outside.  There's honest-to-goodness rain in Texas today.  Can I get an Amen? 

I love the rain when it's warm outside.  I love thunderstorms.  I miss watching a big storm roll across Lake Michigan like something out of a movie.

I hope it's still raining when I get home; I want to go outside barefoot with a bottle of Pantene and wash my hair