MCOQueen's Ramblings

I didn't do all that much yesterday.  I did not get my hair done yet.  I'm probably going to wait until I get home and then get it done.  I did eat at a nice middle eastern restaurant yesterday.  I have been eating nothing but Persian food since coming here.  I'm not complaining.  It's all awesome!  Jasmine and her fiance wanted to have a nice dinner with some friends and Jasmine wanted to serve Lasagna.  I told her that Lasagna is my specialty dish. We bought all the ingredients and instructed her how to make it.  I didn't lift a finger.  It was a huge success.  Everybody but Jasmine and me had seconds.  It was so delicious!  We all played on Wii for a while.  It was really fun.  We played this modiphied pictionary game that was really fun and funny.  Overall it was just a really great evening last night.  

Today, I am going with Jasmine and her fiance to the Dallas Aquarium.  I haven't been to an aquarium since I lived in Myrtle Beach and would go to Ripley's Aquarium.   I was just looking at some pictures of Ayanna's on facebook.  She had some really cute pictures of her kitties.  I am still suffering from cat withdrawal.  MUST HOLD CAT SOON!  I'm returning home on Saturday.  This is the first vacation I've taken all year.  My next won't be until September.  Oh well.  

Later.

Thursday June 19th.  My flight is at 8am and it's a direct flight to Dallas/Fort Worth.  I will be there until the 28th.  Right now I'm struggling to get ready for my trip.  My back (like clockwork) decides to start bothering me even though I had an adjustment last Thursday.  I called and made an appointment for Wed. Morning at 8:15am.  I have a dental appointment at 11:40am.  I have to clean and pack in between, before and after.  I'm borrowing luggage from insignia_void for this trip.  The only luggage I own is a hot pink carry-on.  I went to Lane Bryant today and bought a really nice formal dress (all black).  I got an overtop to go with it.  I really love it.  I bought some Spanks hosiery.  I've heard good things about it. 

I am not going to Florida in September.  I want to reduce debt and limit traveling by plane to once a year.  I might go visit friends in Myrtle Beach at that time.  It's just a 3 and a half to 4 hour drive.  I haven't done this drive in at least six years now.  This past Saturday I was in Clemmons with most of my family visiting Bridget's (Thomas' fiance) family.  I really like them. 

I'm waiting for one professor to grade my final project.  I already know I'm getting an A with my other class.  I finished real early on that class.  I finished 4 days earlier with the other.  I would like to get my grade before I leave but I'll just have to see.  I'm taking Writing for the Web and Rhetorical Analysis of Non-fiction writing next quarter.  It's going to be interesting. 

I honestly feel as if I just do not know how to relax.  I am always tense in my shoulders and neck.  I hope I can relax during my vacation.  I'm not going to be able to see Tina P. when I'm in Texas but I should see her at the end of July when she visits her sister in Roxboro.  Sophia B. is currently in Fayetteville.  I'm going to have to get in touch with her and see when we can get together.  I haven't seen her in many years.  Thomas picked up his kitties today and took them to his and Bridget's apartment.  I will miss the cute little buggers but I think I'll enjoy being able to sleep uninterrupted just a tad bit more. 

I really have to focus on cleaning the apartment (kitchen is already done) and packing stuff.  I already am renting a garage right in front of my parents' apartment building.  It's huge and we'll be able to store a lot of stuff in it.  Thomas is even going to store his books in it.  Dad's thrilled.  He's excited to have a garage to keep all his tools and all the clutter in.  Dad likes to be organized.  I wish I had inherited that trait. 

I am currently at work with insignia_void.  She's covering for M.B. because he was off yesterday and today.  My vacation is messing with everybody's schedule.  But, that's the way it goes no matter who takes off for vacation.  I've had to work 1st shift to cover for someone on vacation before.  I don't think I would relish covering for someone on 3rd shift.  I worked third shift for way too many years.  *Shudder*

Later.

Well, here's an update on my zoo plans this weekend.  Adib was going to go but he has to get a bunch of car stuff done.  My friend Skip and I are going to go to the zoo on Saturday, stay in a hotel saturday night and then drive to Winston-Salem on Sunday and spend the day there.  It's going to be an eventful and fun weekend. 

Class starts in two days.  Yikes!  I'm determined to get ahead and get everything done before Saturday. 

Damn cats kept waking me up this morning.  I should have known they were running low on cat food.  I have to get an oil change for my car on Wednesday.  I have to go to the chiropractor on Thursday.  I need to buy new tennis shoes and new pajamas.  I have an eventful week ahead of me. 

Adib really wants to go to the zoo so we've planned to do just that on Sunday, May 18th.  I think that the majority of my family will be able to go on that day. 

Later.

Right now I'm being forced to listen to the Presidential address. My only thought is that I hope it ends on time so I won't have to run News off of tape. It can get a bit tricky if the address only goes over by a few minutes. I've been enjoying my two weeks of no classes. The 10th week of class doesn't have any assignments. My next quarter starts on Wednesday. I currently have a 4.0 cumulative GPA. I got an A in both my Technical Writing class and my Fundamentals of Grammar and Editing class. I cannot wait to get reimbursed for these classes. Paying off debt, here I come! I'm doing really well with Weight Watchers. I've lost 11.2 lbs. I started back with my resistance band training yesterday. I'm a little sore. I am determined to get back on the treadmill tomorrow. I'm eating a whole lot better now and can still eat what I love.

Vacation this year will be Texas in the summer (a few days) and then a week in St. Maarten in September. Because of where mom works, we (mom, dad, and I)get to stay in the resort for free. We just have to pay for our tickets, food, and entertainment. I can't wait! I am so going to do as much as I can when I get there. My plan next year is to go to London. I have a cousin living there and I want to go visit her and see all the sights. I'm probably going to go for two weeks.

My brother's cats are driving me crazy. They won't let me sleep. They keep waking me up in the middle of the night. Just because I get up and go to the bathroom doesn't mean that I'm awake and ready to pay the little pests some attention! I do like waking up to the cuties sleeping up curled next to me.

Till next time.

I went to sleep last night around 2am and got up around 8am in order to get to my 9:10am dental appointment on time.  It seems that my teeth and gums get more sensitive each time.  It's currently 6pm and my gums and teeth are still aching.  No cavities for me!  Yay!  It's been almost 2 years since I've had to do a filling!  Immediately after my appointment, I went to my mom's apartment.  She made me some nice breakfast and then we went to the bank to make a deposit and afterwards we went to the gym at her work place so she could loosen up her knees on the bike.  After that, we went to Michaels and mom got her a few things to help fix some of her necklaces.  I dropped mom back at her place and then went straight to my brother Thomas's apartment. 

I hadn't seen his kitties in forever.  They are huge and are probably going to get even bigger.  Thomas and I went and saw "Eragon" in the movie theater.  I was a bit disappointed.  The movie wasn't bad or anything like that, it just crammed so much into so short of a time.  The events in the movie went too fast.  There was almost no character build up.  When one of the important characters died, I didn't feel sad, instead, I felt bored.  It does have a lot of action but just no substance.  The book is so much better.  I wish they had taken the time to do this movie right and go in depth like "The Lord of the Rings" movies did.  Eragon was not even quite 2 hours long.  They left out quite a bit and changed a few things around.  Why do I bother to go see movies that are based off of books that I have read?  I get so disappointed.  I loved the LOTR's movies probably because I've never read the books.  I also loved the A&E miniseries of "Pride and Prejudice" with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.  Watching that mini-series was exactly like reading the book.  They left nothing out which is probably why I watch it over and over again.

After the movie, Thomas and I went to Biaggi's Italian restaurant.  Their food is awesome!  I had the Chicken Parmesan with pasta.  I didn't eat much of it.  I took the rest home.  I had an incredible dessert.  I had the Spimoni (ice cream sundae with cherry, pistachio, and chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream with fresh strawberries and chocolate and raspberry syrups).  It was purely sinful! 

I am currently at home and waiting for Adib to get home.  He and I are going to play Mario Kart for a while tonight.  I can't wait.  I've been practicing.  I'm getting a lot better with the driving.  Oh, I didn't work today because I had one vacation day left and had to use it before the end of the year and I just told C.D. to pick a day.  He picked today. 

I saw a Fox the other night when I was driving home.  I think that's the first time I've seen a fox that wasn't in the Zoo.  I found out yesterday that the head of our programming department lives in the exact same apartment building that I live in.  She's on the bottom floor, and I'm on the very top floor.  Weird, huh?  She's lived here for 8 years, while I moved here back in July. 

Well, time to kick butt in Mario Kart!  Later.

I decided to go to Earthfare today to finish up the other half of shopping for groceries that my brother and I normally do. We buy some stuff from Super Wal-mart and the rest from Earthfare. Seeing how Earthfare is an organic Wholefoods store, food can be very expensive there. I went a little crazy today. I actually went down the baking goods aisle and found many mixes of things that I love that are "Gluten Free", "Wheat Free", "Dairy Free", "Fat Free", and etc. I spent way too much.

I managed to take some pictures of Vita today. I posted them at this Cat lovers community called cat_lovers  I think it's very aptly named. I love looking at the pictures of all the kitties. Cat owners post questions about cat problems and other things on the community as well.

I thought I'd share the same pictures here as well. I even have a picture of Frieda and Pishi, my kitties that I had to put to sleep 4 years ago.

Frieda (died, Age 10) I had a special relationship with this kitty. She loved me a lot.


Pishi (died, Age 17) Very classy cat. She knew she was the Queen of the house.


Now, Here are some pics of my current baby, Vita.

I watched a really funny video of some cats doing some really funny things at www.tv.com.

Here's the link: http://www.tv.com/uservideos/?action=video_player&id=KnU0l2Sr5bsJsj7X
Just click on Watch Video. It is too funny! Cats rule!

I made myself get up earlier this morning so I could go and do a deposit for my mom at the bank, and then go feed my brother's kitties. I stood in line forever at the bank. The kitties were at their usual spot when I opened the door of the apartment. They're usually standing on a small mirror table next to the door just staring at me. I fed them and stayed and watched a little bit of TV while they annoyed me half to death. On my way to my car, a big insect flew into my arm and bounced right off it. I hate it when that happens! Completely freaks me out!

I decided to make the "Healthy Baked Macaroni and Cheese" today. It wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be. I am currently eating some. It came out really good. I think I'll take some to work so I can eat it tonight for my dinner. I think there's a playoff baseball game every night this week starting tonight. I can't wait for Saturday!

Last night, the very first two commercials I was going to dub in had out of phase audio (not in stereo, it sounds horrible). I had to correct the problem by using a XLR or Y-cable which would split the audio. I got really good at using the Y-cable last year because of VA Tech Sports Show. Almost every time I got that feed, it only had one channel of audio.

I have to get ready to go to work now. Later.

Today, for some reason, I just started thinking about old game shows that I used to love to watch. "Press Your Luck" was one of my favorites. No Whammies! No Whammies! Also, "Name That Tune" was really good. I used to be amazed if someone could guess the tune in just ONE note. Too cool. I used to love watching the game show network when I had cable.

Sometimes when I hear a song, I think of a specific movie. For example, Guns 'n' Roses' song "Welcome to the Jungle" instantly gets me thinking of the movie, "Lean On Me", because the song was playing throughout the opening of the movie. Also, Guns 'n' Roses' song, "Paradise City" reminds me of the movie, "Can't Hardly Wait". "Stay" by Shakespeare's Sister makes me recollect the movie, "Highlander".

I went this morning to my brother Thomas's apartment to feed his kitties. They are just too cute! Thomas is in Myrtle Beach right now. He'll be back tomorrow afternoon, I think. I just realized today that I don't own any luggage. (The last time I flew somewhere it was to Israel and that was back in 2000) I then immediately called my dad and asked if I can borrow one of mom and dad's suitcases to take with me to Arizona. They have nice luggage. I talked with my oldest brother, Varqa, and he also doesn't have his own luggage. I agreed to let him use the largest suitcase and I'd use the slightly smaller one and the carry-on. I'm only going to be gone for a week.

I haven't been able to read much, especially over the weekend, but the few minutes I did get was spent on reading the first "Pern" book. I LOVE Pern! I'm right now at the part, F'lar and Lessa discover that the threads have been falling for about a week and because it's cold it has been turning into dust. F'lar then decides that they're going to go back in time to a week ago to start destroying the threads. Damn, I LOVE this series!

I watched "Dances with Wolves" the other day. I love Mary McDonnell. She's the President on Battlestar Galactica. She's in "Dances with Wolves". I am debating on whether or not to watch "Overboard" , "Hairspray" or "The Whole Ten Yards" today. I'm too tired to read right now. I'm afraid I'll fall asleep and then be late for work.

Yesterday, I was out and about even though it was raining. It's starting to get really cold. It's supposed to be cold all this weekend. I had to wear a jacket last night.

The first place I went was to work to pick up my hockey tickets for last night's game. I had called B on Thursday to let him know about the potential disaster this Sunday for football. He had forgotten to tell C.D. I saw C.D. and told him what my dad had told me: The pre-game show is in Philadelphia in the parking lot of the stadium. Terrell Owens is back for this game and Philadelphia hates T.O. and the Dallas Cowboys with a passion. The Network is a bit worried because more than likely there will be a lot of obscene language not only during the pre-game but also with the game itself which is the 2nd game on Sunday which I will be dealing with. C.D. said he'd alert D.S. about the pre-game before Sunday. C.D. also let both J.G.'s know. Sunday's going to be interesting, especially if there's going to be a baseball game afterwards. Right now, it's just an "If necessary". I'm not sure who has to win tonight's game in order for it to become necessary.

I saw Natalie. I hadn't seen her since I switched to 2nd shift. We talked for a few minutes. I then went to several stores to find a dress to wear for my cousin's wedding in Arizona. I finally found a dress at Marshall's. It's a bluish-gray dress and it accentuates all my assets. I feel very feminine in it. It's been years since I've actually worn a dress. Now, I just have to find shoes to match it. I saw this kid who was wearing tennis shoes with one wheel at the heel of both shoes. He kept rolling on his heels in the parking lot and would then walk on his tippy toes. When he got inside the store, his dad was pushing the shopping cart and the kid was on his heels holding onto the cart and was just skating along. How cool is that?

I went over to my brother Thomas' apartment yesterday. We watched "Fearless". The fight scenes were awesome though the story line was predictable and not all that attention grabbing. His kitties are so huge now! They're about 6 months old. I can't believe how big they've gotten. Both kitties slept on Thomas' lap. One partially sleeping on top of the other kitty. What's wrong with my lap, huh? My bro tried putting Calypso on my lap but she went right back to him. Then he put Cassius on my lap and he stayed. Cassius will sleep anywhere when he's sleepy. I threatened to Catnap him. Out of all our current cats, Thomas's cats are the only ones that are "lap" kitties.

After watching the movie, Thomas and I went to the hockey game. Carolina was playing the New Jersey Devils. The devils scored 3 goals in the first period. It just went downhill from there. The canes ended up losing 4-0. We left after the 2nd period. Our seats were great though. We were 14 rows from the glass.

I plan to relax and do some reading before going to work today. Oh, I can't wait for baseball to be over with. The newest episode of Grey's Anatomy was really good.