So far I have lost...um...actually nothing...but I can explain!

 

Bridal Boot Camp Day 5: Still extremely sore form that stupid jog! The nazi is in Canada until late Monday so I am on my own! I did go grocery shopping last night which is a HUGE feat for me because I hate to go and I bought all sorts of healthy crap that I can blend and 'eat' or slurp. I took the Irrigation Festival royalty to Hoquiam for the logger's day parade. They laughed and said I walk like I'm pregnant (I should have thought the jogging thing out more since I had to walk a parade route!). We had fun and then went out to dinner. I had a bacon cheese burger with fries...I hadn't eaten all day!! I am not counting the cheesecake that Jennifer kept feeding me because it was against my will and I had to burp on her fork to get her to stop feeding me ;) When I went home, I talked to B, and had a scary drunk guy outside my bedroom window for a couple of hours! I had to call the cops 3 times before they finally sent 4 cars at 2:30 in the morning! I was frantic and terrified!!

 

Bridal Boot Camp Day 6: After church I spend the day at my future in-law's house and then we all went out to dinner where I only ate part of my chicken marsala, had like 3 glasses of wine, and split my creme brule with my new mom (she split her chocolate delight with me but it was technically on her plate so the calories don't count!!) We had so much fun because her dad and his wife were up visiting from Texas and were just a blast! I didn't leave until 10pm so I went home and talked to B and crashed.

 

Bridal Boot Camp Day 8: cleaned house!! And the nazi rocks because she vacuumed, did dishes, picked up clothes for me to sort, and flung a thong at me (not helpful but I thought I'd mention it). Talked to B that night and crashed. Not keeping up on water like I should...need to work on that

 

Bridal Boot Camp Day 9: Nazi cooked a fabulous meal! We went for a nice speed walk but made frequent stops so her dog could mark every blade of grass we passed by. Helped the nazi clean her house and watched The Emperor's New Groove. Went home, talked to B and crashed. Still not drinking much water

 

Bridal Boot Camp Day 10: B is coming home tomorrow!! I have lots to do to prepare but the nazi and I plan on doing Tae Bo tonight. I am sadly still lacking on my water even after icing and squeezing lemons into it. But I drank a smoothie of organic yogurt, peaches, unsweetened applesauce, and raspberries for breakfast and had a grapefruit for lunch. Tonight I will take a bath, talk to B, and not crash because I will be way to excited to sleep!!!

Bridal Boot Camp day 3: Chrissy wrote me up a big list of things to do to keep me on track. She is my personal trainer, best friend, and maid of honor and now I lovingly refer to her as "the Nazi". Yesterday I ate my health cookie for breakfast and then when I went home for lunch I ate a fruit, yogurt, and ice blended thing. I ate this while watching Lost (I still am like 2 away from being caught up to the end of this season).

 

After work, I decided to be ambitious and go jogging! I hate jogging but ever since I bought the Russian lesbian techno CD (TATU), I always think I could have enough ambition to run uninhibited. This is not so! I need to go back to my old philosophy that I should only run if I am being chased by someone who indeed wants to dismember me...or if they are a clown. I actually did alright for quite a while, surprisingly, but then I decided to tackle a large hill...apparently jogging takes away your reasoning ability (another reason why it is evil!). My legs were ok but I got this horrible knot in between my shoulder blades! I got to the top and decided to walk down...me running down a hill is just totally asking for it! After a while and getting the knot out of my back, I jogged some more and got back home. My legs killed!! I ate my dinner of organic live bread (ask Chrissy if you want the schpeel on why it is live) and edame while watching another Lost.

 

Branden called so we got to talk for a bit. We are both having a very difficult time being apart from each other and the word “elope” was brought up (and it’s only been 3 days!). The rest of the night was not good: I tried fixing my TV to no avail, took a bath with a bottle of riesling and cried the whole time (tears were streaming down the side of the tub), then I attempted to do dishes while drinking a cabernet and in the end got one cup cleaned before going to bed! I am so lost without him but only 1 more week until he comes home to visit!!

 

Today I’m very sore and had to raise my office chair so my legs have it easier, so pathetic! Stupid jogging! We shall see what today brings of Bridal Boot Camp day 4!

I am getting married and I cannot tell you how excited I am!! He is the sweet  prince who I've been waiting for my entire life. Only after 4 months of dating we are engaged and going to be married on June 27th, 2009. The saying is so true that "when you know,  you know!". We both knew right away that this was it, we were hooked .

 

This gives my life an amazing exciting turn. His name is Branden and he is working to be a professor/missionary in Ireland. He just started his first year of grad school in Vancouver BC and I'm staying here (hours away) planning our wedding. Next year, after the wedding, I will move up there with him while he finishes his master's degree and then we move to England! He wants to get his doctorate at Oxford so we will be there for 2-3 years. Once school is done, we will finally 'settle' in Ireland. In quotes because we like having fun and never plan on "settling down".

 

Since he's gone, I'm trying not to be to depressed so Chrissy is keeping me quite busy! We have started Bridal Boot Camp and here is a little entry about my first day yesterday:

 

She is no longer the woman she once was.  She is a changed and beautiful creature, breathing in all things wonderful. Her eyes are a constant sparkling sea of blue joy, filled with heart-wrenching emotion. Life and love burns inside of her soul and she finds herself singing constantly. She had lived her life blind to such wonders but now as her eyes are opened she could weep at what amazements she has missed. Every day is an adventure and excitement. He stole her heart and now nothing can steal her smile. Her spirit soars and her head swims in the true bliss of it all. Prince Charming has found her and completely swept her off of her small, delicate feet. This is the Padded Cell Princess; this is me…in love.

Ok, so I watched Atonement last night and I'm highly depressed that I cannot get those 2 hours of my life back. It reminded me of that other dumb love movie that I hated, "The Notebook" (you may have heard of it). I thought Atonement should have been re-titled "The Typewritter", then maybe I wouldn't have even wasted my time. I did think the score was great, the costumes good and the cinemetography beautiful, but I hated the plot. I got so bored and then really felt nothing for the characters at the end because I felt as though the writters didn't put enough into their love or even them to make me feel any sort of attachment to them. I know that people just eat this type of stuff up but I can't stand it. And it's not that I'm not a romantic because I am, but this stuff just not my cup of tea. I really wish I would have gone with my better instict and turned it off in the middle of the whole "I'm in the war but walking around the countryside pointlessly forever" sceens. Urg, I want a good love story! My own would be great but not happening and I'm just so not into relationships right now. What's a girl to do!?!

 

Before anyone goes ape on me, I am well aware that alcohol and depression does not mix well. So I just drink it to make house cleaning go by easier! Anyhoo, one night a little over a month ago I made up my drink of choice Rum and Coke (it's my drink of choice because it's only 2 ingredients) and decided to do the dishes while listening to the most amazing CD ever: My Chemical Romance's Black Parade. (also good when house cleaning). After 3 loads and 3 drinks later I was on a roll until one particular touching song came on that in my great 'enhanced' mood, I decided to pause and pay homage by singing along. Of course when I drink, everything is elaborate and dramatic so I grabbed by glass and sat, legs sprawled, on the floor, back against the coffee table, and I sang very loudly...but emotionaly...along I don't love you, like I loved you, yester-day-aye-aaaaye. Unfortunately you get the picture but luckily you didn't get the vocals. After belting my heart and soul out, I got the 'brilliant' idea to go put my adorable cute nighty on so I'd feel better about my slightly dampened spirit. (and girls know that wearing something sexy, even if nobody sees it, just makes you feel good).

 

So here's the scene: After singing a heartwarming balad, I get dressed as naughty housewife to finish my cleaning, drink in hand, but when I get to the kitchen I step in a puddle...oops! Before I had gone to sing, I was filling up the sink for my next load and completely forgot all about it!

 

New scene: My kitchen is flooded, there is water under the fridge and even over in my laundry area under my washer and dryer. There is a lot of standing water and towels are not going to cut it so I grab a blanket and throw it on the swamp. And then there's me, sobbing hysterically, mascara running, in a nice little nighty that is now sopping wet.

 

I did get it all cleaned up and taken care of but needless to say I now only drink if I'm NOT doing the dishes (cuz what harm can come from leaving the vaccuum on?!)

Too much going on to try and explain! I hate to admit it, but I spend more time on Myspace than anywhere else (keep in mind though that I still don't own a computer so my time on the internet is limited to like 30 min a day when I'm on breaks at work!). Seasonal depression really sucks...especially when you have it. It's winter which means lots of storms going on, which creates power outages, which means I get called in to answer phones at 3 in the morning (but I get overtime at least). Mark and I broke up about a month ago and my new motto is: Back in the dating pool which unfortunately looks to be unchlorinated! I've did have a fun and exciting weekend with my friend Marina where we toured local wineries. We even joined one of the clubs! The day was probably fun due to the 27 samples we had tried. I found the best bottle of wine ever; it was raspberry, not too sweet, but made from local berries. It tasted like an actual raspberry but with a kick! I got to go see Dane Cook in Seattle last week and laughed like crazy; he was awesome! Marina liked his butt, but I'm a thigh girl, and man does he have great ones! My sister moved back to California in August because her husband came back, so that means my nephew is growing up far away from me. I did get to see him in September when Mark and I went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Warner Brothers. In January I am going for 6 days to stay with my sis so I'll get to see him walking! He just turned 1 on November 1st and is absolutely adorable! He has curls on the side of his head which I have labeled his "Jewish curls" and tell my sis that he's going to be a rabi. That is all I can think of at the moment. I've had some funny things happen but I'll blog them later. Hope all is well!

Things I've learned:

 

-being a locksmith was cool because it's no longer impressive to tell people that you are a customer service representative.

 

-being an aunt is one of the best things ever...even if you are a barf magnet. But I am loving being Auntie Moo; I've totally embraced the name (saying that I've grown into it wouldn't paint a good picture)

 

-I truly and dearly dislike people...ok so not totally, but my customers are usually cussing or threatening to shoot your service personnel when they are there to shut their power off for not paying a bill (which by the way is apparently MY fault because 'they were never notified despite the date on their original bill, the past due notice and the phone call they received 3 days earlier...but it's still my fault)

 

-Driving a reliable, leak free, hobo free car, that can hold more than 1 passenger is a wonderful thing...even if it only does have just a tape deck. (yes this means my old car is gone and actually sold!)

 

-Drinking after work may not be the best way to deal with daily stress...but it sure helps you go to bed at night. (and FYI, my idea of 'drinking after work' is the equivalence to 1 totally froo froo, hardly potent fluff drink)

 

-Having a Wii is more impressive to tell people than to actually play. Although the guy at Best Buy told me that Mario paper is a really cool game and Mark has already beat it, I have yet to put more than an hour into it.

 

-Weight Watcher desserts totally rock and probably aren't that good for you still, but it makes me mentally feel better!

 

-Mika is now my totally fun, cleaning the house while dancing, music. He reminds me of a current pop version of Queen which also is a fun one to work out too!

 

-Riding a bike for hours may seem like a breeze until half way through you really wish you had one of those inflatable donuts to sit on.

 

-Diamonds are a GREAT Valentine's Day present and are an even bigger surprise when you receive it a week after Valentine's Day!

 

-I have become that total and complete independent woman that I always couldn't stand and wanted to be nothing like...but it kinda feels good

 

-I eat my willpower on a regular basis and later I realize it's not worth it. But then I do it again 30 min later.

 

-The less teeth people have, the less likely they are to pay their bills.

 

-Chocolate really does make everything better

 

-Loving someone doesn't mean you always have to like them, but that's ok and it makes loving them all that more special.

 

-Vanilla frosted mini wheats may be the best breakfast food in the world; second to steak and eggs of course.

 

-I do miss being able to blog at work, and totally miss you all, but life is still good and I'm still learning!

I know I've been like a ghost; you get kinda like a feeling that I'm there but can't quite tell if it's just your mind playing tricks on you. Well, unfortunately things are going to be worse...basically this is probably the end. The Padded Cell is going to basically be closing. The good news (unless you hate my site then this will be the second good news for you...psycho) is that I have a new job! I applied for a Customer Service Rep. posistion, temporary part time (180 days, no benefits) at a very good public utility company for my county. I hoped to get that job so eventually I could get on full time and into their benefit and retirement and all that good stuff plan (plus it pays really really well). Well, they called me today and told me that they don't want to hire me for the temporary posistion...they want me for a permanent part time posistion! Which means that I can move up in the company, eventually go to full time and get all the great benefits! (this probably means I'll have to go back to the dentist...:(  I hate those guys). So, since I won't have my 'goof-around' locksmith job (which as you can tell has actually been very busy from lack of blogging) I will no longer be online except random chances to check my email at Mark's house at night. For those of you who remember, I'm a bum with no computer.

 

So here's my final update:

 

My brother in law is being deployed to Iran on Saturday so my parents are going down to pick up my sis, the baby, and Lily (the dog), and move them up here so Katie won't have to play single mom to a 2 1/2 month old. I'm excited to get to be with my nephew as he grows up the next 6-8 months, but I'm no substatute for his daddy who we are going to be praying for daily!

 

Mark and I are doing great, bickering just keeps it interesting...hehehe. We have a new TV obsession (besides Lost): The Office! Mark has the first two seasons and the third season is going on now but we aren't caught up yet (so no spoiling!). We are downloading them and watching them at night after work; we can't get enough of it! Great, dysfunctional show!

 

My car is leaking more than ever now and the smell of Chuck the Hobo is sometimes overpowering. But... my mom is getting a new car and so I can buy her car off her for easy, interest free payments! No more Chuck!

 

I am going to be getting a cat! My ex boyfriend's grandma (whom I simply still call grandma) has a cat that years ago (like 4) I gave her a cat. The cat became grandpa's cat and then when grandpa died the cat wasn't too happy. When I'd go visit he'd always be on my lap and all over me. He never really took to grandma but was kinda in a way like my cat. I housesat for him a few times and then I haven't seen him in like a year. Grandma called me up and needs me to watch the cat again, but I don't want to stay at her house when I work (even my new job) really close to my house. Plus grandpa died in that house and there were lots of big spiders last time I stayed there so I decided to move the cat to my house for the time being. The next day grandma said that if it worked out then maybe I should keep the cat...so I'll probably get to have my sweet littly kitty back! I really love this cat, he's great. Unfortunately his name is Alien because grandpa called him an illegal alien when we brought him over to grandma.

*Funny side note story from last time I housesat at grandma's house:

It was about midnight and I decided to do dishes. I loaded the dishwasher up and poured the liquid soap into the compartment and then went to click the lid of the soap compartment closed....but it wouldn't. I pushed and pushed and made sure nothing was blocking the lid. After about 15 minutes of this, my face was red with frustration, my fingers were covered in liquid soap, and a breakdown was about to burst. When I finally couldn't take it anymore I just completely lost it...laying on a cold kitchen floor, pounding my soapy hands on the linoleum, bawling out, "Why God, Why!?! I just want it to close!!!" I'm a girl...we are allowed to cry over things like this so mock me and I will stuff you in a dishwasher!

 

My sis got me a fondu pot for Christmas so a couple of weeks ago, I had a surprise party for Sarah and I made chocolate fondu! It was so good with strawberries, marshmallows, oranges, pineapple, apples, bananas, and angel food cake...mmmmmm!

 

I had lots of fun on Christmas with my nephew. He loved to fall asleep on me so I've got pics!

 

I stayed in Victoria BC over the weekend. Chrissy's family has a house over there; we had a blast! It was absolutely freezing, kinda snowing, while we walked around town shopping. We decided that of all things ice cream sounded good, so we went to a gilato place! I had creme brule and Chrissy had chocolate rum...well, mine was good. At night we went down to the water, on the beach we walked on rocks and since it was dark, it was hard to see where you were stepping. So thinking that I was stepping on a rock, I splooshed my foot into freezing ocean water! It was a cold walk back for my poor foot.

 

I know I'm probably forgetting lots but I can't remember and I really should get back to the loads of work that await me! I'm going to miss all of you (Manny, Kalli, Ms. Virgo, Blabby, Josh, Tabi, JT, and lots more!) My email info is posted on the site (below my pics I think) so you can drop me a line. I should be able to email every now and again. In all of this I have learned that yes, this strait jacket really does make my butt look fat...either that or the chocolate fondu!

 

~Maggie

*Queen of the Cell*

Ugh, I just have no clue what to write about and the fact that I'm non stop out the door working is not helping!

• V - Vegetable you don't like - tomatoe
• W - Worst habit - chewing my nails 
• X - X-rays you've had - besides the normal dental ones, I've had my elbow once and my ankle once 
• Y - Your favorite food - Steak
• Z - Zodiac - Apparently I'm an Aries

 

It's been pouring which is not normal for my area. Yes, I realize that I live in the Pacific Northwest but specifically where I live gets only about 15-17 inches of rain a year. Today alone we are projected to get about 2 inches which is over how much we get a month! I love the rain, especially downpours, but my car doesn't particularly get along with them. Rain means that Chuck, the hobo who just craps in my car while eating from a greasy chicken bucket, is back. This year I have discovered how Chuck came existance. My car leaks big time. So now I can only do the ultimate redneck fix...put WalMart bags under the leaks to catch the water! To top off the 'my car sucks' portion of this blog, the window has decided to no longer roll up. It happened once while driving through the bank and my boss was able to get it back up but informed me to NOT roll it down again! So what did I do on Sunday? Rolled it down and had to wait till Mark's dad came home to help me get it back up. I had a Superman action figure randomly in my car so I wedged him between the door pannel and the roll down handle with his menacing fist sticking out, warning me to not touch it! When asked what I would do if I won the lottery, my answer was simple: "I'd buy come C4 so I could blow my car up...then I'd buy a new one."

 

 

Finally, for all you Johnny Depp fans out there, Mark has made the ultimate tribute. It's really cool starting with his first movie, ending with his latest, and lots of good ones in between. They all have original music from the films to collaborate. I almost cry when I hear the music from Edward Scissor Hands and Finding Neverland, such good movies! Go watch it HERE or I will have the link in his movie list.

My sister had her baby, Hunter Lee, last night at 2:58 a.m. She's doing well but is extremely tired. Hunter is 19 1/2 inches long and 8lbs 2 oz. So he's a short fat little tootsie roll. Actually in the pic he looks more like a burrito! I'm so happy! She called me at 6:00 this morning and told me he's so cute and that I couldn't do it lol. Yay!

 

 

 

 

Ok, so my attempt at having time and actually catching up on everyone else's blogs has been drown in loads of work! Sorry I won't have time to grace your spaces and leave comments and I have no time to blog as well, so you get an old one of mine.

 

The 10 dumbest things I've done!

I am making an attempt to catch up on everyone's blogs and leave comments but work is against me. Things have been quite crazy at work, we've been busy out of our minds! I haven't had time to do much on the computer. Today has slowed down *fingers crossed* *knock on wood* so hopefully I can do some blog surfing!

 

New stuff to update:

*I now have a hampster, the same blood thirsty one I talked about months ago. Long story, but he's mine for now.

*I am in a Christmas choir. I love singing in choir; it's great but still somewhat challenging because I don't even come close to reading music.

*Mark and I went and saw Man of the Year which was a let down because I was fully expecting to laugh hysterically over this 'Robin Williams pure comedy movie'. It was more of a drama and the ads for it didn't even give a clue to the plot so I was kinda ticked.

*I'm back on the "Ethiopian diet"; I feel like old mother hubbard. This time though I don't even have lettuce or apples so I guess it's the Olsen twins diet.

*I fixed my dryer. The hose had come off the back causing my whole house to completely fog up.

*My sister is due sometime next week and her newest complaint is that "the little monster" has fingernails. And she can feel them which is kinda freaking her out.

*I still haven't had the opportunity to shoot those raccoons but I love all the infultration ideas. I didn't realize raccoons traveled in organized crime groups.

 

That's it for the moment. Sorry nothing funny or amusing because it's fall and it's rainy and there is nothing funny or amusing about this time of year! (can we say seasonal depression?)

 

Some interesting things have presented themselves this week.

 

First off a local multi millionaire has taken an interest in me

Age?: 70's

Surprising?: not really

Despite that he owns a castle and is worth oodles and oodles of money, it's still nasty. Even my Anna Nichole Smith instinct is gagging! (doesn't mean I didn't think about it for like a few seconds). I have been personally invited to his huge exclusive Halloween party and all of us at the office know why. He loves his women young and apparently, by his stare, he also loves boobies. Unfortunatly I qualify in both areas. This means there is no way I'm going to the party because it will be just a big drunken bash and he's an alcoholic so no thanks.

 

Last night I had a showdown with some raccoons. I could hear them in my rosemary bushes and when I heard them climb the fence I got perterbed at the thought of them digging up my flowers in my planter box. I peeked out the window and expected to see the two neighborhood raccoons but saw a total of 5 little bandits. There were two under my window so I flailed and shouted and they just looked at me all funny. One tried getting up towards the window to get a better view of my amusing scare tactics! I opened the window to shout more but they didn't care. I saw 3 other ones on my deck by my planter box so I had an idea to really scare them off. I grabbed my broom and swung the door open quickly, arms outstreatched and making loud 'shoo' noises. They didn't even jump! One started growling and came right up to the screen door which luckily I had the glass down over the screen.  I pounded the broom against the door and he kinda jumped back but came right back growling. Another one got really curious as to what I was so he came right up to the window and started sniffing at a little hole in the metal panel at the bottom of the door. This infuriated me! I was 'big and scary' and they should be running like mad trying to get away! So I grabbed the pepper shaker and furiously shook it over the hole trying to make the raccoon go away. It didn't work very well except that now my rug is very peppered. Eventually I gave up. But I have a plan, I'm gonna take the screen out of the kitchen window and when they come on the deck I'll shoot them with my airsoft gun (which won't really hurt but will probably scare them) But then again what did I accomplish before in scaring them?!

 

Have a good weekend!

This weekend I took off for Oregon to go stay with Sarah at college. I left after work and started a long haul southward. I made it there by about 9:30 Friday night. We hung out with some friends of hers and had a nice evening. The next day Sarah had some things planned that she wanted me to 'see'...which actually translated to eat. We got totally lost trying to find this cute little parlor called Alloto Gelato. I've never had gelato before (for those who don't know, it's an Italian ice cream that is fabulous!). It was very scrumptious; your smallest size was a two flavor combo so I got caramel and cheesecake. We window shopped and then got completely lost again trying to find our way back. For dinner we went to a Thai place down the road that Sarah said was good. It was really tasty and I had her try some coconut ice cream for dessert. I'm not a fan of coconut but coconut ice cream is to die for!

 

We met up with some more friends and drove downtown to the Lloyd Center mall, watched the ice skaters and played on the escalators. Then we caught the light rail (called the Max) down to the historical district and we went to Voodoo Donuts. A little hole in the wall donut shop that was open and busy at 10:30 at night! I got a Butterfinger donut and everyone else split giant glazed donuts. It was kinda creepy with their macabre motif and it was in a sketchy part of town but we were with a bunch of guys so it was all good.

 

Sunday morning Sarah wanted me to go to Elmer's, a cute restaurant, for breakfast. I had Dutch apple French toast that was so good and Sarah had triple berry pancakes. Then we headed off to church which was what I had been waiting for the whole trip! We went to a Southern Baptist black church, something I've always wanted to do, and it was amazing to say the least! We were of course a minority but I've never felt so welcome at a church as I did there. It wasn't awkward at all. The music was of course toe tapping, body swaying, jumping fabulousness and I enjoyed every minute of it! The pastor was phenomenal and funny to boot. Church went for 2 hours but it didn't feel like it at all. If I lived in Portland that would be where I would go to church but then coming back home to visit I would be so bored with the stuffy old white churches. Nobody knows how to have church like black people do; they have it the way it should be! Amen, preach it, and hallelujah!

Of course after church, Sarah had another place she wanted to go have me eat at. A place called Cruisers that is like a better but cheaper version of Dairy Queen. I got a chocolate chip cookie dough and heath bar blizzard but couldn't eat it all. After that we went back to the dorm and I packed up and headed back on the long journey home.

 

Mark met me at my house. He turned the heat on for me so it wouldn't be so cold and I found out he had gotten somewhat bored while I was gone. He made yet another movie! This one is not serious at all and was just kind of a playing around/experimenting video. Watch it HERE or I've already linked it under his movie list. His birthday is tomorrow also so an early: !!HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!!