I need a part-time job.

Money is getting so tight, although we’re still keeping our heads above water. I want to be able to start paying things off, not just down. Getting through each bill cycle without looking in the couch for gas money. I want a house. I want babies. I want to be comfortable purchasing a new skirt or pair of shoes or a dinner out with my husband. I want to be able to contribute. I want motivation. I want to be able to keep money in the bank and be able to trust my husband and myself not to blow through it. I want to play. I want to go on vacation, be able to have fun without constantly worrying how it will impact our next rent payment. I want to stop paying rent. I want to invite friends out to do things. I want to say yes when I’m invited out. I want to be able to buy birthday gifts, wedding presents, a mother’s day card. I want to not be ruled, confined by credit. I want to throw my husband a party when he turns 30. I want to be able to offer to pay for our own dinner when we go to dinner with family. I want to not have to ask my dad for money to take my sister to the movies. I want to be able to take my cats to the vet. I want to live for today and tomorrow, not for yesterday.

I need a part-time job

Last weekend turned out to be pretty good, despite the last minute change of plans. J and I played hookie on Friday. There is this amazing deal for Cardinal’s tickets where you can go up to the stadium the morning of a home game and get two tickets for $11. Seriously. Every single home game they sell 275 pairs of tickets for $11 each. Of course you have no idea where your seats will be until you get there at game time and you can’t count on seats being together with other pairs, so it’s not a great plan for a group, but for just two people, it’s awesome. We ended up sitting in Section 160, Row 30, which is right behind third base, 30 rows away from the field. Of course we got soaked waiting to get into the stadium and the game was rain delayed for 2 hours, and we only ended up staying through the 1st inning because the temperature dropped 20 degrees, but hey, $11 tickets!!

The highlight of the weekend would have to have been seeing this guy. He was here promoting his Feasting On Asphalt: The River Run book at the Missouri Ethical Society with Left Bank Books. He talked and answered questions for the first hour and then did a book signing. Our poor butts couldn’t afford a book that day, so we didn’t partake in the book signing (which totally sucked because he was taking pictures with people!!) but we went to hear him speak. Holy crap this guy is funny. I laughed my tush off the entire time. People asked some weird/funny questions regarding everything from how different chili yield different digestive ramifications to how to make breastmilk cheese! Seriously. Hilarious! You can tell that he is a pretty normal guy with a penchant for food. Someone you would totally want at your backyard barbeque. Oh, and by the way, for those of you living in or around Alton, IL, he would like you to know that you’re pronouncing it wrong.

This week has been pretty quiet. I managed to eff-up my back on Monday putting away a binder. That’ll teach me to put stuff away! It’s getting a little better, but walking, sitting, standing, or laying down sure hurt. Lost is on tonight (squee!) as well as Grey’s, which I’m excited about b/c Addison returns. This weekend is looking empty. I think I pissed off one of my friends because she hasn’t talked to me for over a week and she’s not returning my email/phone calls. She’s one of those where if you piss her off, she won’t tell you for like 2+ weeks, she’ll just ignore you and then out of the blue she’ll call and be all, “I need to talk to you about   ” and usually it’s something completely random that got her panties all bunched up. Oh well. I’m sure she’ll get over it sooner or later. I just hate those uncomfortable talks when the other person is really seriously offended and I’m thinking WTF? How is it possible that you’re upset about that?

Anyway, hopefully ya’ll have a good weekend. May is finally here, so I’m looking forward to those April showers to end already. And the end of these cold snaps that keep popping up.

FREE CONE DAY!!!

at everybody’s beloved Ben & Jerry’s.

Today.

Free.

Ice Cream.

Why aren’t you running?

FREE!!

Sucks. That is how I feel right now about the impending weekend. Mostly because I am pouting like the big baby I am. J and I were supposed to go down to Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend with my mom to stay with my cousin and his wife for the weekend. I was really looking forward to the trip. We haven’t seen my cousin Bryan in awhile; he’s an army veteran who was hurt in Iraq almost two years ago. He spent the following year in the army hospital in D.C. and has just recently gotten out and moved to Tennessee with his wife, got a regular job and all that. Also, I’ve never really visited Tennessee at all. It’s always just been a place to pee on the way to Florida. But then my mom went got some bacterial bronchial infection and our fun plans all went to pot. J and I, of course, don’t have any money to go there by ourselves, so now we’re staying here. We also both took Friday off work and J is insistent that we keep the vacation day and do something fun, but there’s not much to do around here that we don’t already do anyway. We’ve got to keep it cheap, and it might rain, so it feels like our options are limited. I just want my trip back! (insert annoying whine here).

The only good thing going for my mood today is TONIGHT!!! LOST!!! IS!!! BACK!!!. And so is Grey’s Anatomy! So that makes me feel a little better. But only a little.

Question for my fellow St. Louisans: What have you done around town that is both fun and inexpensive? Any good restaurants lately? What about nearby wineries? And have any of you done this? If so, how early did you have to get there to get tickets?

I’m stealing this from Hotfessional because i don’t have my own ideas, especially after a weekend spent writing 5 essays for my take home exam. Brain. Shot. End of story.

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

Not as easy as you might think.
Remember: one word answers.

1.Where is your mobile phone? desk
2.Your significant other? soft
3.Your hair? boring
4.Your mother? thin
5.Your father? working
6.Your favorite thing? cat
7.Your dream last night? lacking
8.Your favorite drink? grape
9.Your dream/goal? family
10.The room you’re in? chilly
11.Your ex? stupid
12.Your fear? alone
13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
14.Where were you last night? in-laws
15.What you’re not? fit
16.Muffins? blueberry
17.One of your wish list items? affordable
18.Where you grew up? kaske
19.The last thing you did? Q’Doba
20.What are you wearing? capris
21.Your TV? recording
22.Your pets? lazy
23.Your computer?  average
24.Your life? good
25.Your mood? decent
26.Missing someone? honey
27.Your car? dying
28.Something you’re not wearing? socks
29.Favorite Store? ikea
30.Your summer? busy
31.Like someone? friends
32.Your favorite color? purple
33.When is the last time you laughed?  earlier
34.Last time you cried?  Saturday

No tags, but I’d be interested in what you would put down

Literally. For those of you not in the midwest, you may not have known the joy of being jarred out of your bed at 4:37 this morning to the earth shaking. I was pretty sound asleep, dreaming as usual, when I felt my bed shaking. I woke up pretty quickly and after doing a nano-second assessment that it wasn’t just the usual cat wrestling match, realized that what had been predicted since I was in second grade was finally occuring- EARTHQUAKE!!! (it deserves all caps and excessive punctuation) Of course my husband was still half asleep. I, ironically, shook him awake and half dragged him into the door frame of our bedroom. I may have over reacted a little bit, but you never know! There has never been a local EARTHQUAKE!!! in my lifetime, so I was more than a little shaken up (parden the pun). The bookshelf in our bedroom was shaking and hitting the wall, which J thought was the cat again and he was more than a little surprised that the cats were nowhere to be found. Once the wine glasses in the kitchen stopped swinging, I ran into the living room to watch the news and J went on a kitty hunting mission. He was more successful than I. He found both cats under the bed, where they stayed for a good 15 minutes after the quake. Once they came out, Henri was obviously freaked out and walked around very carefully with a very puffy tail. I turned on the news, which was the national news since the local news doesn’t come on until 5am. I was a little weirded out by the fact that nobody said anything about the EARTHQUAKE!!!. I had almost convinced myself that it was a dream until our local news affiliate popped up at 5 till 5 and confirmed that there was indeed an EARTHQUAKE!!! and that the epicenter was in West Salem, IL, about 127 miles south-east of St. Louis. It had registered 5.2 on the Richter scale.

J and I couldn’t fall back asleep right away, so we hit McDonalds for breakfast and then came back home to catch an hour of sleep before we had to get ready for work. Despite all that, I don’t think my heart rate has returned to normal. It wasn’t big around here, but it was significant. They say there is a 90% chance that a big (>6.0) EARTHQUAKE!!!! will hit us via the New Madrid fault in the next 30 years. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.

The life I live is not so much filled with blog fodder, at least not to my creatively-challenged eye. So I was relieved to find a good meme on The Pink Herring. Thanks Jennifer, I’m stealing your idea!

Another Thursday, another 13 things to think of. I think I’m going the book route today. I’m a reader. I honestly have been known to define myself as such. Not as much by what I read, but by how much I read. I have always loved books, although I do not always read the most quality literature. I’m a Danielle Steel fan (don’t you throw that cabbage at me!). Have been since I was 11 years old. I’m also a fan of Nicolas Sparks, Jodi Piccoult, and Jennifer Weiner. However I do have a few quality pieces in my library, novels with a little more meat to them. So for this Thursday, I’m going to list 13 Books That Make Me Feel Like I’m Well Read.

1.) East of Eden by John Steinbeck- I fell in love with this book way before Oprah did. I had a hard time reading any of the other Steinbeck books, but this one made me love him. The good, the evil, Cain, Abel, Jesus, Satan- there all there (not literally) and it’s just a great book.

2.) Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut- disgusting book. I read it first for school and then again because I was hoping I would get it more, but I didn’t. I don’t really remember the significance of it, but I like to say that I’ve read it.

3.) DaVinci Code by Dan Brown- Had to read it because everybody else couldn’t stop talking about it. Loved it. Despite being Catholic, I really like things that challenge our traditionally held beliefs. Especially when it empowers women. I know we can’t take all of it as fact, but it does present a fun conspiracy theory.

4.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen- I loved the movies first, and then I read this book. Wonderful of course. I am glad that I saw the movie (the Colin Firth edition) first, because it definitely gave me a good picture in my head when I read it. Of course now I’m besmirching Miss Austen by reading Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife, a good bodice ripper. I love it.

5.) L’Etranger ( The Stranger) by Albert Camus- makes me feel smart that I read a novel in French about existentialism. Didn’t really like it, thought it was very strange.

6.) Le Petit Prince ( The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint Exupéry- widely known children’s book with a lot of idealism. Beautiful book, beautiful story, beautiful pictures

7.) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley- very interesting book about the potential dehumanizing of our world as it progresses. A little disturbing, considering that it doesn’t seem that far off or outrageous. A must read.

8.) 1984 by George Orwell- good book, a little slow paced. This, I believe, is where the concept of “Big Brother” originates; the idea that someone is always watching you. Very interesting read

9.) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee- fantastic book that everybody must read. Loved it. I know it’s a pretty typical eighth grade summer read, but still one of my favorites.

10. - 13.) (plus 3) The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis- I read the entire series, all 7, and I was 23. These books are not just for kids. They are great stories with lots of meaning. A fantastic read at any age!

I suppose it’s a little late to do the weekend wrap-up, being Wednesday and all. This week has been pretty busy at work, so I haven’t had the time or brain power to throw out some posts. Anyway last weekend I had a blast! My husband and my friend L and I all went out to a place downtown, Broadway Oyster Bar, to listen to some live music and have some food. We got a little adventurous with our meal.

Well, that’s adventurous in my book at least.

After that we went down the street to BB’s Blues, Jazz, & Soups to hear a blues band. It was a lot of fun, I would highly recommend both these places to anyone in the area.

This week I’ve continued my workout routine. I’m doing a cardio program from FitTv in the morning and then another show, this time yoga, in the afternoon. My ass hurts, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

Hopefully I’ll get back in the groove on this whole posting daily thing. In the meantime, can somebody please tell me where the spellcheck on this upgraded WordPress is??

Finally. This week took way too long. Not that Friday really means much this week. I have no plans for the weekend except the usual cleaning that never really happens. And I need to start working on the 10 page essay take home exam that is due in 2 weeks. Yeah, I probably should get moving on that.  I finally got some decent sleep last night. And I also ordered two new channels packages from our cable company. The first J has been begging for since we got cable, it’s the sports package with Fox Soccer. He’s in heaven now. The second is some random package of 23 channels that must be purchased to get FitTv. Our gym membership expired last month, but since my lazy ass hasn’t gone there in awhile, I haven’t renewed it. So I figured with warm weather (Please God Almighty!) coming and hopefully us being outside more, I would try giving up the gym farce and instead do some workouts at home combined with outdoor activities. So I DVR’d a few early morning programs and then did a 30 minute one this morning before work. Do you know what’s nice about a DVR workout? 2 things- first, you can pause it, fast forward through commercials, make it to your own pace. Second- there are commercials, which really only make it about 25 minutes. I’ll tell ya, it makes all the difference!

Happy Friday everybody!