MCOQueen's Ramblings

Television:

Hell's Kitchen has started up again .  I aired the first show this past Tuesday night and of course I had to dump out of it for :05 seconds because Chef Ramsay decided to say "He's standing over there pissing his pants".  Piss cannot be said on television if it is referencing a bodily function.  Pissed off or telling someone to piss off is okay to air.   Another $50 in my pocket.  I love airing anything with Gordon Ramsay in it.  Dancing with the Stars started back up a couple weeks ago.  I am really liking it this season.  Shannon Elizabeth has surprised me a bit as well as Kristi Yamaguchi and Jason Taylor.  I haven't a clue as to who will actually win it.  American Idol is getting narrowed down as the weeks go by.  I am forced to watch it because I air it.  This season has just been okay for me.  I have no definite favorites.  The Tudors has started back up again.  The first episode aired last Sunday.  I need to watch last night's episode.  I really love that series!  I do watch Nascar every Sunday just so I can keep up with my Fantasy Racing.  It's kind of pointless since I always come in last place. Urgh!  

School:

Right now I'm waiting for my professors to grade my final projects and etc.  I will probably know on Thursday night.  I am so hoping I get an A in both my classes.  Once I have my final grades I can then do my tuition reimbursement for this quarter.  The classes I took this past quarter were "Interpersonal Communication" and "Communication and Conflict".  I really learned a lot on how to be a better communicator.  This next quarter I will be taking "Organizational Communication" and "Effective Communication in the Workplace".  I was supposed to take "Group Dynamics and Team Building" next but it wasn't being offered this next quarter.  Yay!  I was not looking forward to that class.

Vacation:

June 19th-28th I will be in Dallas, Texas.  I will be visiting friends.  I love Facebook.  A friend of mine whom I met back in 2000 when I was on pilgrimage in Haifa, Israel found me on Facebook.  She and I share a mutual friend in Texas.  I will be staying with this mutual friend's mother.  My mother and a friend of ours will be going on this trip as well except they will leave on the 24th.  I'm staying longer.  I will be going to Florida for hte ultimate Florida vacation this September.  I will no longer be going to St. Maarten.  It kind of just didn't work out.  I will be going to Florida with a coworker of my Dad's who happens to be a friend to my family as well.  I can't wait.  I've never been to Florida and I want to see Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and etc.  I can't wait.

Work:

Work has pretty much been normal.  Nothing really new to report except that the really comfortable chair in Master Control (that was really good for my back) broke.  Now I have to sit on the old crappy chairs with my lower lumbr support cushion.  I really have to convince C.D. to get another chair.  

Family:

I got my bridesmaid dress in two weeks ago.  I tried it on for Bridget and Thomas the other day.  They think I look great in it.  I really love the dark apple red color.  Bridget is keeping my dress for me.  I don't trust the cats not to destroy it one way or the other at my place.  Speaking of which, my and Thomas's lease is up in July.  We have to move out by July 25th.  Thomas will be moving in with Bridget.  I will be moving in with *Gasp* my parents.  This is only temporary.  They are only charging me half of what I pay now and I have to get a storage unit.  I will probably only be with them for a year.  I will be reducing my debt and saving money as well.  Once I graduate with my second degree, I will hopefully get a technical writing job which is going to pay a lot more than what I'm making now.  I will then move out.  My parents are looking forward to having me there.  I just hope we get along better now than when we did when I was younger.  Pray for me.  :)  Yesterday I met a first cousin of my mother's for the first time.  He currently lives in Papa New Guinea.  I didn't realize that I have relatives there as well as in Australian, England, Scotland, New Zealand, Holland, Gibraltar, and several states in the U.S.  My family on my mom's side is really spread out.  

Reading:

I have been reading up a storm in the past month.  I've been reading a lot of Lora Leigh's Breed books.  I am addicted to that series.  I also read several of Christine Warren's "Others" series.  I read one of Patricia Brigg's earlier fantasy works.  It was okay.  I have an Amazon Kindle.  I absolutely love it.  As many books as I buy in a year, I will make up the price of it in six months and will then start to save money.  I am currently reading the first book in Piers Anthony's Xanth series called, "A Spell for Chameleon".  TCO at work leant me the first 3 books in this series.   I was not aware that she loves supernatural/paranormal books.  I have leant her five series:  Sookie Stackhouse, Betsy Taylor, Kitty Norville, Rachel Morgan, and Mercedes Thompson.  She is currently reading the Rachel Morgan series.  She likes it so far.  I like the book I'm reading so far.  

Conclusion:
I need to start packing stuff up for the move.  I need to clean as well.  I just wish I hadn't slept the day away on Saturday.  I did get up early Saturday morning to go to this grocery store called, "Aldi's" in Cary.  It is a german store (owned by the same company that owns Trader Joes" and the food is really good and it is super cheap.  A 5 lb bag of sweet potatoes cost $1.69.  Unfreakingbelievable!  Scallops were $4.49 a pound.  Freaking cheap!  Everything is either cheaper than Wal-mart or the same price.  They save on cost by making the carts quarter-operated.  You put a quarter in and it releases the chain and you can now use the cart.  When you're done with the cart, you reattach it with the chain to the cart in front of it and your quarter pops out.  You get your quarter back.  Also, if you use their paper bags, you'll have to pay  a nickel for each.  I brought my own canvas reusable grocery bags that I had bought from Harris Teeter.  I love Aldi's.  My entire family loves Aldi's.  


Later.

For the past week I've been battling an intestinal virus. I was pretty much nauseated all the time but I did not vomit! Yay! I've been on a very bland diet for the past four days. Banana, applesauce, bread, eggs, and oatmeal. No dairy, meat, vegetables, or anything that cannot be digested easily. Today I am feeling almost completely normal so I decided to celebrate by eating some good food!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I think one day I actually read 3 e-books in a row plus one book from my collection. I've been bit by the reading bug.

The baseball game, strangely enough, actually ended on time today. However, my damn VR crashed 5 minutes before I had to hit my end break. I cued up the backup and ran my break off of that. Our crime show people have made the show :15 seconds light on purpose to allow for news going over the end time and for switching time. I think I'm probably going to have to add a 5 second promo because I think we'll be too light. :10 seconds would have probably been better. I'll just have to wait and see what happens. At the moment, I haven't even gotten the tape for the show yet today. D.C. said he'd give it to me before he leaves. It's getting pretty late. Right now it's 8:30pm. The show airs at 10:34pm.

I talked to my oldest brother today. I hadn't talked to him in a while. His cat and his wife's dog are not getting along at all. They keep getting into fights. I think Vey-lo is going to end up with Adib and Ayanna who are currently visiting Ayanna's family in Indiana.

Thomas's kitties are so cute but annoying. I will miss them whenever Thomas moves out. My kitty is having a ball with my parents.

I was so mad when Fox pushed back New Amsterdam for mid-season and decided to go with Anchorwoman instead. Anchorwoman got canceled after just one episode! HA!!!!!! I laughed so hard when I read that it had been canceled. I knew it would bomb.

Later.

Yesterday I was in satellite and it looked like a nightmare. Our engineer is rearranging some stuff in order to put in our new servers. I spent all my shift leaning over a damn table to reach my vcr's. My back was killing me by the time I got home. I'm in satellite again tonight. It better not be like that again today. Yikes! So, last night I was checking the News repeat and saw this story about a freeway that was over the Mississippi river that collapsed. I asked M.B. where exactly it had happened. He said, "Minnesota". Of course, I had to call my relatives in Minnesota right away. I know my Aunt crosses the Mississippi in order to get to Minneapolis to her work. The river is very close to their neighborhood. I called my cousin and thankfully they are all alright. She was at an amusement park and rode a roller coaster for the very first time. She loved it.

Also while I was at work, I got a call from my cousin in Trinidad. She's excited about my coming to visit at the end of September. I can't wait to go to Trinidad for the first time. Two of my brothers have been.

I haven't been writing my novel recently; however, I have been jotting down ideas for the entire book. It's like I get a general idea of what I want to do, and then all the details come to me later.

I didn't really like any of the dances from last night's "So you think you can dance."

Later.

I just found out today via e-mail that my favorite Director for the news is leaving on July 26th.  NOOOO!  The last 3 times I was on the board, I had to deal with the director that I hate the most!  He has the audacity to blame me for not asking to check and see if we were routed properly over  the headset this past Wednesday.  (We sat in black for :20 seconds because we weren't routed properly.)  How could I ask when the director didn't even bother to get on the damn headset until my 15 second countdown?!?!  I really don't like that director.  He won't take any responsibility for his actions and always blames someone else.  Jerk!  I'm going to be very sad when my favorite leaves.

This past Saturday, the local crime show that we air had a 4:10 false start.  This was so NOT good.   After a good bit of bars aired, I hit my :30 second break and fast forwarded like there was no tomorrow!  Luckily, DVC Pro fast forwards SUPER fast.  I did manage to air the show in its entirety (got as close to where it cut off as I could) and also managed to get network started on time at 11pm.  I just feel as if I've had some really bad luck recently.  I just need to shake it off!  GO AWAY bad luck! 

I am working on July 4th.  Yay!  Holiday pay kicks ass!    Since I last wrote in LJ, my one brother moved out to his townhome and his twin moved in with me.  My kitty went to my parents' place and my brother's two kitties moved into our place.  His female cat, Calypso, is warming up to me.  She kept bothering me this morning for attention.  I think part of it was due to them being out of food.  The male cat, Cassius, likes me but I'm not the one he prefers.  I'm okay with that.  My kitty has attached herself to my mother, and it seems that my mother now absolutely loves my kitty.  Go figure! 

I've been doing a lot of reading lately.  I've been reading mostly contemporary romances and a few supernatural ones.  I have yet to read "White Knight" by Jim Butcher.  Shame on me! 

I'm back to eating right and exercising.  I'm doing pretty well. I've been doing my cardio exercises, but I need to get started with my resistance band training again.  I hope to be smaller for my trip to Trinidad.  My goal is to be in really good shape by December. 

Later.

I did enjoy the very last episode of Gilmore Girls.  I can't believe it's over.  I love that show.  The season finale of Grey's Anatomy threw me for a complete loop.  Next season is going to rock!  "The Tudors" is on tonight.  This will be episode #8. There are only 10 episodes in the first season.  I really love that show.  The "Dancing with the Stars" finale will be tomorrow.  I'm hoping Laila and Maks will win but more than likely Apolo and Julianne will win do the teenage female vote.  Speaking of the teenage female vote, Blake Lewis only made it to the final because of it.  I couldn't believe that Melinda was going home.  M.B. told me to stop underestimating the Female Teen vote.  How else did Sanjaya last so long?  I seriously hope Jordin wins American Idol. 

I got my car back on Thursday!  My car looks brand spanking new!  They detailed it also.  I get really nervous driving in Parking lots now, even though I wasn't in my car when it got hit in my parking lot.  I guess I'll get over the fear of my car getting hit eventually.  It just feels so good to have my car back.  Thursday, I took my dad out to lunch in order to celebrate.  We went to Earthfare and ate from their Hot bar.  Their food is pretty good.  Friday, I decided to have lunch with my mom.  I bought some Jamaican food and took it to her work.  We ate outside on a bench next to a fountain near her building.  The weather was really nice and we both had a great time.  Ayanna is in Indiana right now getting her a new used car.  She's going to drive it down to here.  She flew to Indiana.  She's getting a Honda Accord. 

My back started hurting me while I was at work yesterday.  As I was driving home, I couldn't sit comfortably in my car because of my back.  I woke up this morning with my back sore and stiff.  I am definitely going to the chiropractor sometime this week. 

Later.

Ayanna graduated on Sunday from Duke.  She is done with her classes but still has a few rotations left.  She is a physician's assistant.  She'll be completely done in August.  Her entire family and her Uncle came this weekend for the graduation and to meet my family.  Adib had already met them a month ago. Dad, Ayanna's father, and I went fishing early Saturday morning.  We had a lot of fun and we all got along really well.  I was the only one to actually catch fish though.  I caught 2 little bass and one little perch.  Later on that day, Ayanna, myself, her mother, and two sisters went to Southpoint mall and did some shopping.  I saw this one pretty dress that I like and Ayanna made me go try it on.  It was way low cut in the front, way more than I'm used to.  I have a big chest and don't like it hanging out all that much.  But, I liked the dress and bought it anyway and wore it to Dinner on Sunday.  Saturday night, my parents had cooked a really good meal and had invited Ayanna's family over.  We all had a really great time and got along as if we'd known each other for years.  Adib and Ayanna ended up getting her parents' blessing that night to get married.

Sunday evening, We all went to Brasas which is a Brazilian steakhouse at Briar Creek.  Since it was mother's day, we all gave our presents to our respective mothers and after that, Adib PROPOSED to Ayanna in front of all of us.  Ayanna was shocked!  She knew he was going to propose eventually, she just didn't realize he was going to do it that night.  Of course, she said Yes (though it was more like nodded yes).  She was still a bit surprised and yes she did end up crying tears of joy for a bit.  I teared up a bit also.  It was really sweet.  Adib had bought the ring about two months ago.  It's a very pretty ring. 

Brasas is very good but you must be a meat lover to fully appreciate the food.   They bring you different meats on skewers and you tell them how many pieces you want and they put it on your plate.  There is a hot and cold bar also which is pretty good.  If you don't like meat, you definitely don't want to go there. 

Dancing with the Stars was good last night.  I so thought Apollo and Julianne would get the highest score and that's what I picked on my Fantasy Dancing, but they came in third.  Go figure!  I was happy that Layla and Maks tied for first with Joey and Kym.  I seriously hope that Ian and Cheryl get voted off this week.  Joey and Kym are so much better! 

Later.

I spent my days off this past weekend being absolutely lazy and it felt great.  Work on Monday was very light.  I had no commercials to dub and very few promos and a few feeds.  I got to read a lot that night.  I watched the latest episode of Blood Ties yesterday.  It was really good.  I really love that series.  I am currently halfway through the third book in the series.  I bought Beauty Pop Vol. 3 yesterday as well as Kim Harrison's "For a Few Demons More" in hardcover.  Beauty Pop, Vol. 3 was as funny as ever.  I think I'll wait until Thursday to start reading the latest in the Rachel Morgan series.  I'm still waiting for "Kitty Takes A Holiday" to come out in the stores.  It's available to order online, but I'd rather not order it yet. 

I am currently watching "Dancing With the Stars".  I have NEVER watched this show before.  I'll reserve judgment until I'm done watching it.  Work last night was fine up until Entertainment Tonight.  I've pretty much blocked it out of my mind by now so I won't go into too much detail.  Let's just say, there was a minute of black where there wasn't supposed to be.  'nuff said.  I called Thomas yesterday and he had just gotten back from the Grand Canyon.  He thought it was awesome.  He's coming back Thursday.

Later.

When I talked to my brother, Thomas, yesterday about his not going to Italy because of the snowstorm in Newark he told me that he got a refund on the tickets.  I told him that since he has the time off and has his money back that he should just pick a state and GO somewhere.  He said that he would either stay home or go visit his friends in Myrtle Beach.  I told him that he can do that any time and that he really just needs to GO somewhere.  After talking to him yesterday, I thought for sure he would not listen to me and just stay home or go to the beach. 

Well, around 6pm today, he calls me at work and tells me that he actually took my advice and bought he and his friend that was supposed to go to Italy with him tickets to Arizona.  They're going to go visit our relatives in Arizona.  Their flight is at 6am Saturday morning (tomorrow).  I'm so happy that he finally decided to fly somewhere else.  Thomas is going to take my camcorder with him.  I hope he gets to visit the Grand Canyon. 

Friday nights are supposed to be really busy for me in Satellite.  Yet, I had less to do today than I had on Monday.  Monday felt like a Friday and today feels like a Monday.  WEIRD.   

Later.

My brother Thomas and two of his friends went to the airport yesterday to catch their flight so they could be on their way to Italy.  Unfortunately, there was a really bad snow storm in Newark and their flight was the last flight of the day and could not be re-routed to another airport.  The earlier flights had already been re-routed.  The next flight available on their airline would have been Monday the 18th which of course would be the day after my oldest brother's wedding in Italy.  Even if they went on the 18th, they'd have to come back two days later which is just not worth it.  They did get their money back though for the tickets.  This just sucks!!!  Now, no one from my brother's side of the family is going to be there tomorrow.  I'm hoping at least Ann's side of the family made it there.  My brother was going to take my camcorder and record the wedding, but that's not going to happen now.


I just finished watching the latest episode of "Grey's Anatomy".  It was really good.  I did love watching "Blood Ties".  I think I've re-watched it several times already.  I can't wait for the next episode!  Zombies!!!  I can't wait for "The Tudors" to start.  That looks like it's going to be a really good series. 

Work was normal yesterday.  Today is Friday and I'm in satellite which pretty much means that I'm going to get overloaded with commercials and promos to dub. 

I finished reading Vol. 16 of Blade of the Immortal.  It was good.  I read Vol. 2 of Dramacon.  Dramacon is so freaking hilarious.  I can't wait for Vol. 3.  I am currently reading, "Predestined" by R. Garland Gray.  It's good so far. 

Later.

I spent the afternoon waiting for FedEx to deliver a package for my brother, voteformcoqueen .  Yes, I managed to get one of my brothers to start doing livejournal.  Yay!  I just love the user name.  FedEx did not come before 3:30pm.  We've already missed this package twice already.  Damn them!  Now I'm going to have to sit around and wait tomorrow for this package.  Tomorrow is my day off and I want to go out and do things.   Oh well. 

Work is really slow right now.  insignia_void kicked major butt today in satellite.  I must give props to her.  Void let me know about a Durham County Public Library book sale that will be on April 13-15.  Here's a link to the website: http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/pr/program.html#sale  .  I'll go at least one of those days.  It's not as big as Wake County's, but it'll at least satisfy me until the fall when the Wake county one will happen again. 

I think I've already read J.R. Ward's "Lover Revealed" five times already.  It's the fourth in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  I really love that series.  It just keeps getting better and better.  Elizabeth Vaughan's "Warlord" just came out. I must go get it.  I loved the first two books in the trilogy, "Warprize" and "Warsworn".  I love her style of writing and the whole premise to this trilogy. 

Last week's Gilmore Girls episode was pretty good.  This week's was just, "Blah".   House last night was pretty good though.  Oh, the majority of the boys just sucked last night on American Idol.  I'm hoping the girls do better tonight.  I'm actually looking forward to watching "The Wedding Bells".  It looks really funny and entertaining.  David E. Kelley is the writer and I've liked several of his shows i.e. Boston Public, Ally McBeal, & Girls Club. 

Well, I should get back to work and check some shows.  Later.

ROME is only going to be 2 seasons.  So, this is the last season for that show.  Why does HBO do this to me?  They did the same thing with Carnivale which was a great series.  I have to wait until March 6th before seeing another new episode of House because of American Idol.  Speaking of which, was it just me or did the majority of the boys suck last night?  I'm hoping the girls will do a lot better tonight. 

I dropped my cousin off at the airport yesterday morning.  I didn't get to sleep until about 7am which is really late for me.  I was exhausted yesterday and lo and behold, I had my testing in Master Control.  I did well.  I purchased my ticket for Minnesota today.  I got a non-stop ticket.  I'm going June 8th through the 13th.  My aunt already told me that we're going to spend one entire day at the Mall of America.  I can't wait! 
 
I decided to check around on Cheaptickets.com and see how much a ticket to Trinidad would cost me.  As of right now, it would only cost me a total of $500 (taxes and fees included) to go.  That is seriously cheap!  My cousin was telling me that it normally costs between $800 and a grand to get a ticket to Trinidad.  I'm going to try and take off in October and if I can get this ticket for this cheap, I am definitely going to go to Trinidad and visit my relatives.  I decided that this year I'm visiting my mother's side of the family.  Next year, I'll probably go back to Arizona again.  I'll have to check out my passport and see if it's expired. 

I'm off tomorrow and Friday.  I can't wait.  I keep winning tickets to the Canes games but the ones I win tend to be early in the week.  I am only off on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  I'm never off at the beginning of the week.  So far I've been to three games this season with 3 different family members and the Canes have lost each time.  Maybe it'd be better if I don't go. 

I love my new George Foreman grill.  It's so easy to clean and it cooks everything so fast.  I just cooked some Whiting for me to take to work today. Yummy!  Speaking of which, I need to get ready to go to work now.  Later.

I have been searching for the past week for a winter coat and cannot find one in any store.  Today I was at the mall and couldn't find anything but rain jackets.  I can't find a damn coat, but I can find a ton of swimwear for the summer right now.  Okay, seriously, how messed up is that?  I guess I'll just have to wait until summer to buy a winter coat.  Damn stupid stores.  Oh well, enough ranting.  I did buy two new pairs of New Balance tennis shoes.  I got one half off from Rack Room Shoes.  Since I wear the same pair of tennis shoes every day, I'm really supposed to buy a new one every 6 months.  I usually wait until my feet feel like their scraping against the floor before I buy new ones.  I'm wearing a new pair right now and I can really feel the difference.

I went to the Cheesecake Factory today with my cousin.  We ended up ordering too much and so had to box up a good bit of our food to take home.  I have a really nice meal to eat tonight.  I'm currently at work right now.  Today seems to be a very light day in Satellite which is a nice break from the insane amount of promos I had to dub on Friday.  For dinner, I have Cashew Chicken and rice and for a snack I have fresh guacamole and tortilla chips.  Yum!    I had the fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert at the restaurant. 

Because I don't want to manually type in all the ISBN numbers for my books, I have decided to finally buy the laser scanner from Collectorz.com for my Book Collector software.  This scanner will work with any of their software.  I also decided to get Movie Collector, MP3 collector, and Game collector along with it because the more you bundle the more you save.  I can't wait to completely organize all my stuff and this time I will save the databases and BURN them on a cd or maybe even 3 cds.  Better safe than sorry.  I learned that the hard way. 

I'm not going to be able to go to sleep tonight until probably 7 or 8 am.  I'm going to be dropping off my cousin at the airport.  Her flight's at 8:15 but it is an international flight so she needs to be there at least 2 to 2 and a half hours early.  Hmmm, I will be needing some caffeine tonight. 

I slept way too long today.  I think I was making up for all the sleep I lost this past week.  When I got up, Ayanna informed me that my cousin is coming here.  I'm like "Which Cousin?"  I thought it was Sam who goes to NC State.  Nope, it turns out my cousin Ruhiyyih (Sam's Sister) flew from Trinidad and is going to be staying at my place until Tuesday.  Apparently my whole family knew about this since last weekend and nobody bothered to tell me.  Adib's excuse to not telling me, "I thought someone else had already told you!"  I am ALWAYS the last to know anything in my family.  Sam is coming over tonight as well so he can see Ruhi. 

I've been playing the Wii some today.  The Smooth Moves game is pretty cool.  A.W. says that his daughter loves the Smooth Moves game.  I have to go into work tomorrow (overtime, yeah!).  Supposed to be my day off, but C.D. wants me there as a backup for the Daytona 500.  I am to stay for the entire race.  Basically, I do whatever needs to be done in Satellite and I watch the board for the MCO's when they need to go to the bathroom and breakroom.  I just realized that I forgot to make a dub reel for the pre-game show and the race.  I was supposed to do it Friday night before I left, but I was so busy that I completely forgot about it.  I think I'll stop buy work before going grocery shopping tomorrow morning  and make a dub reel.  I had way too many promos to do Friday night. 

Ruhi noticed my collection of Bewitched DVD's.  She loves that series.  Finally, someone else who likes Bewitched as much as I do.  She also likes Grey's Anatomy.  Ayanna loves Grey's Anatomy as well. 

I'm currently watching yesterday's new episode of "Law and Order".  I actually know someone who guest starred in that episode.  His name is Reza Salazar.  He plays the character of Julio Rodriguez.  Reza's mom, Tahirih, cut my hair once before I moved to NC.  I'm halfway through the episode and I think he's doing a great job. 

I have a busy day tomorrow.  I think I'll go to bed early today.  Later.

It's been a while since I've updated. This is probably going to be a really long post so ON with the LJ Cut!!!

Computer Update:  My Eldest Bro and Magnus discussed my computer problem and my brother pretty much came up with the fact that either or both my motherboard and chip have gone bad and need to be replaced.  My brother mentioned that since I needed to get them replaced that I might as well upgrade my computer since a lot of my stuff is old (except my motherboard which is only 2 years old).  So I gave my bro my credit card and a budget and he ordered for me all the computer parts than I needed and want.  I'm getting a new dvd-rom because my old one won't play dvd's anymore.  I'm also getting a 16x DVD Burner because the one I have is a 4x and it takes forever to burn DVDS!!!  I'm also getting a new Video Card since the one I have is old and outdated.  I thought I might as well upgrade everything at once.   I can't wait to have my computer back.  Oh, Computer, how I miss thee!!!

Okay.  I went a little nuts Thursday.  I had gone to look specifically for one book at Barnes and Noble and realized that the Buy one TV Box Set Get One Free sale was ending soon.  Tuesday, in fact.  I found the first four seasons of "Bewitched".  I love that show!  I only paid for two and got the other two free!!!  Too cool!  I also bought the first 3 seasons of the "O.C."  (yes, I like that show.  It is too funny.)  and the first season of "Melrose Place".  Of course I only paid for two of these and got the other two free.  I also bought several chick-lit bargain books.  These books normally cost 13 bucks and I got them for 5 bucks.  The one book I was looking for is "Blood Bound" by Patricia Briggs which is the sequel to "Moon Called" which both Tiff and I love.  I have already read "Blood Bound".  It was really good. 

I managed to read another chick-lit book called, "HIssy Fit" by Mary Kay Andrews.  It was ho-hum.  I was a bit disappointed with the ending.  My computer still isn't fixed.  My brother is going to buy a fan tomorrow and install it as well. I NEED my computer.  I swear I'm addicted to my computer as well as Barnes and Noble. 

My dad had the day off Friday, so I spent the morning at my parents' apartment.  I ate breakfast and watched "The Dresden Files".  For those who haven't read the series, the show will look really great and promising. I of course couldn't help but notice the many inconsistencies with the books.  However, I still think it's pretty good and very entertaining.  After watching the show, Dad and I went back to my apartment to play with the "Wii".   We bowled and then played Tennis.  Dad loved it!  He wants to get mom to play when she and Dad are coming to my apartment on Wednesday.  Mom hasn't been able to visit yet because of her bad knees.  Now her knees are great and so she'll be able to climb the stairs and come visit.

Well, I can't write anymore now.  It's getting too close to the news.  Later.

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.

Friday sucked. I am really starting to dread Fridays in Satellite. The other departments load up and dump tons of stuff for us to do on Fridays. Although, I didn't have a huge amount of commercials to do. I had plenty, but not as much as a normal Friday. I even told my boss how much I'm starting to hate Fridays.

Saturday and Sunday I basically loafed. I managed to start organizing my room a bit. I am such a procrastinator. I'm finding that the problem is that I am not quite sure where exactly I'm going to put stuff at. I have an idea, but it's still not quite finished forming in my head. Because I work 2nd shift, I have been forced to watch prime time programming on FOX. I had never watched the O.C. before, until a few episodes of this season. Now I just HAVE to know what happened before. I have been watching Season one.

Last night I made a gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, low sodium and sugar Chocolate cake from a mix I had bought at Earthfare. It was really good.

Today, I took mom to the gym so she could exercise her knees on the stationary bike. Then, I took her to her work place so she could see her coworkers. After that, I took her to Spartacus to eat lunch. After dropping her back off at home, I then came to my place and am currently getting ready to go to work.

Tomorrow, Mom and I are going shopping at Wal-Mart and TJ Maxx. Later.

I woke up earlier than normal to take Mom to her physical therapy session this morning. While she was having her session, I dropped by the Barnes and Noble at Southpoint. I only bought 3 paperback books. MaryJanice Davidson's new book, "Sleeping with the Fishes". I've started reading it. It is really crazy funny so far. Typical MJD. I also bought the 2nd book in the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. I haven't read the first book yet but I had bought it at the book sale really cheap and it was hardcover. I love Jim Butcher so I'm sure I'll like this series. The third book was another supernatural one that is being touted as a cross between Laurell K. Hamilton's "Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series" and MaryJanice Davidson's "Undead" series. The book is called "The Becoming" by Jeanne C. Stein. Here's the publisher's summary I got off of B&N.com:

"Anna Strong is trained for anything-until she's attacked one night, only to awaken in a dark world that exists between the living and the dead. Here, Anna struggles with her love for the two men who inhabit the realms of each: Max, a human DEA agent, and Avery, a Night Watcher who joins Anna in pursuit of the vampire who changed her life. Now, as her two worlds collide, fate plunges Anna into the ultimate battle between good and evil where survival is not just for the living."

It sounds really cool. I'm going to read it after I finish MJD's new book. My oldest brother wanted my help in taking his kitty to the vet on Saturday in which I normally would be more than happy to do so except that I will be out of town. He then called me back a few minutes later because he had changed the appointment to Friday morning at 11am. I can't help him at that time because I'm taking mom to her next Physical Therapy appointment at that exact time. He finally decided to get his fiance to help him with this. I just thought it was so funny. Apparently, my time is on high demand. My other brother, Thomas, wants to take me out to lunch tomorrow while he's getting his car serviced. I'm going to get him to help me put together my furniture.

Friday, after mom's session, I'll drop her off at home and then my other brother, Adib and I are going to Best Buy to finally get my Birthday presents (accessories for my I-pod video). He's also going to get me a TV stand for my tv. Friday is going to be "Organizing my room and getting rid of old furniture" day. The next two days are going to be busy.

Well, back to the grind. Later.