I'm definitely making pumpkin pie at the moment; omgnoes! because I detest pumpkin pie and Zach loves it. SO I'm making him pie. I'm also drinking~I have a 1.5 liter bottle of Arbor Mist Orchard Fruits Chardonnay, and I'm enjoying it. Zach'll be home from work at 6ish, so ALL the food will be done by then. I'm watching the Godfather trilogy and getting kinda blitzed.

But I'm thankful for stuff, y'know. For my friends and my family and my dog and my apartment and my job and my car and stuff like that.

Drinking helps my cramps in a way that the heating pad never does, it's kinda cracking me up, and Mike just kissed Fredo at the party and it's gonna be OVER, he's gonna die fishing.

Taryn, that it!!!! Maybe he didn't die in a salt truck, he was out fishing on Canadaigua lake and somebody just shot him for being a douchebag! Please share those thoughts with Stace, but please let her know I was a bit tipsy when I said it...

No WAY am I doorbusting tomorrow I'm BALLbusting tomorrow fool. Nah, we're giving out cookies this year. If you want some cookies, e-mail me your address and I'll send you some. DO IT. GOOD COOKIES.

Hmmm...I read Dear Abby. Depending on the day, I check Miss Manners and Dear Margo. I check my e-mail, Facebook, Livejournal. FML and IMMD get checked too. Cute Overload most every day, same with ICHC and the rest of those macro sites. I check some story sites and cruise links I find in my LJ and FB friends. Definitely Modcloth.

that's what I do on a daily basis. sometimes I online window shop or plan for upcoming holidays/birthdays.



Whee. So I woke up at 6:30 this morning~big whoop, I usually do now anyway. But unfortunately, I work tonight~watching Kelli's friend Jenn's kids~well, kinda~Addison (4) will be in bed by the time I get there, and Isabelle (8) will get home from a school play at like, 9:30 or 10 and go straight to bed. I think Jenn and her guy are staying out late~she mentioned him liking to "close the bar".

So if I'm lucky, I can nap before going over there. Either way, I'll be available for texting later :-P

Questions from twilighttreader


1. How did your husband propose to you? It was the day after Thanksgiving~we had gone to Iowa for it, I had made fudge and was in the kitchen trying it. He dragged me back into his bedroom~I was kinda irritated, because I was getting interrupted during fudge-testing. But then he did the whole traditional thing with the knee and everything.

2. If you could visit anywhere in the world for just one day, where would it be? Egypt, because I'd love to go there and see some stuff, but I don't want to sleep there. I've heard they have large nocturnal bugs.

3. Would you rather have a pet snake or a pet spider? Oh god. Both options make me wanna pee my pants. I'm gonna go with spider though, because I can just keep it in a tank with a tight-fitting lid and ignore it until it died instead of having to feed it mice and seeing it's creepy-ass tongue.

4. If you had to eat one food for a week, what would it be? POTATOES! If that's cheating (there are so many forms to work with!) I choose Oven Lovin's~cut up potatoes (usually wedges) baked with olive oil and salt and pepper.

5. If you could go back in time and remove one person from history, would you? Who would it be and why? I don't think I would, really~everyone always says Hitler and stuff like that, but I think that a lot of positive things came from the aftermath of evil~I think evil people exist to show normal, non-genocidal maniacs that we've got to get a grip on our shit and love people, damn it.


In other news, Zach's decided to go to Nate's instead of to dinner with me. So whatever, I'm eating turkey, I'm taking some oven lovin's with me to contribute, and I'm not leaving him a damn thing to eat when he gets home.

...often.

but you know what? it's not okay to know that I'm upset about something, and not ask me what's wrong, or if I'm okay, or even just put your arm around me.

it's not ok to give me the cold shoulder because the laundry hadn't been done~never mind the fact that I had dinner ready when you got home and the kitchen and living room were cleaned up, the dog was walked, and i spent a good portion of the afternoon is a funk literally staring at the walls after finally understanding that the emotion i've been feeling lately is loneliness.

it's not okay to barely speak 2 words to me in the few hours that you were home before playing your computer game and then going to bed without saying goodnight.

it's not okay that you spent all day at work talking to your buddy, plus an hour after work talking to/hanging out with your buddy, and then playing said game with him for 2 hours once you got home.

i'm happy you have friends; i'm not trying to get in between all that. but you KNOW that i've been upset for the past few days, and you've made NO effort to be supportive.

i found out that CUMC is doing a thanksgiving meal on wednesday at 5:30 that we are more than welcome to go to~i told you about it (knowing it was your day off and work wouldn't interfere) and you say you don't think you'll be finished at nate's by then~when your p90x thing only takes an hour and nate gets home from work at 3.

it's not okay that you don't seem to understand that this is important to me.

but whatever, because i'm going to the damn dinner with or without you. if you wanna piddle away your time at nate's, that's fine~you can figure out your own dinner that night.

I don't know what's gotten into me today, I'm just in a mood I guess.

Zach's working Thanksgiving again~he does that in order to have Christmas off. Normally is doesn't bother me, in the past I'd have friends over and we'd do it amongst ourselves~Zach doesn't really like turkey anyway, so it was never a big deal for him. This year though, everything seems different somehow~Alex is gone, Tiffany is gone. Naomi is still here, but she and Tony go to his family for it and they have a family thing together. AAA used to hand out free turkeys too, it was pretty cool~every employee received a turkey. Cutbacks this year though, you know, so no turkey. And I don't really have the desire to spend 20 bucks or so on a turkey when I don't have anyone to cook it for. And since no one is available or, you know, living here anymore that I would invite over, it doesn't even seem worth it to cook the sides or anything for myself.

It's just one of those holidays that always meant family and friends and food~you know, good food, good company, shared gluttony and contentment. It just seems lonely this year. I might buy one of those game hens from the grocery store and eat that. I was looking through some pictures the other day and found a group shot from the last thanksgiving we had with my godfather~he and Carole and Steve and Candeia came up to NY~it was junior high, I guess 7th grade? or maybe 6th~and he was already bald from the chemo, and he had little tattoos on his head because he was having brain surgery in a couple weeks. That was one of the last times I saw him, and it's kind of come to represent thanksgiving to me~being with friends and family while you still can. Nick and Sarah are going to my parents, but there's just no way I can get to NC~I wouldn't go without Zach, and he's working or else there wouldn't be a problem to begin with. My grandpa in TN is the closest in distance, 6 hours away, but he's going to my aunt becky's in FL.


And I know I'll be bitching around Christmas time that there's too many people~we're going to iowa, both of zach's sisters and the brother-in-law will be there along with us, shelby, and his parents in a three bedroom house. and i guess his extended family is visiting the day after christmas, so that'll be loud and crowded and busy and "when are you having children" filled.

I'd like to find a happy medium between alone and ambushed, but it's nowhere to be found.

Would you like to receive a Christmas card from me?  Or, you know, a non-Christmas card nontheless??? 

If you do, please e-mail me your address!  Even if you think I already have it, because I cannot seem to find my big printed-out packet of names and addresses.

So yes.  That is all.

Friday we went to dinner with Taryn and Stace~so great!  I really hope they can come visit soon, because that would be SUPER-sweet.

Saturday was AMAAYYYYZING.  We got to Sarah's parents house at like, 3:30ish, it was a zoo :-)  The house is gigantic~3 floors, dozens of room~her two youngest brothers as well as another sibling, their spouse, and their kids live there with her parents, and there's PLENTY of room left over. 

So the wedding was at like, 4:30ish~5 minute ceremony, very simple and quick.  Then Nick went about cooking all the food after some pictures~filet mignon, scallops, polenta, risotto, and salad.  YEAH, very tasty.  However, it took like, 3 hours to cook.

So for 3 hours, we drank champagne and nibbled some finger-foods.  Sarah's dad bought a case (?)~12 bottles, anyway~of Chandon.  So we drank ALL the champagne except for one bottle.  Then we ate~the food was awesome, and we hung out a bit, but it was like, 11 by the time we finished all the food, so we went back to the hotel to sleep.

Sunday we went to Willowbrook~it was so weird, there's hardly anyone there anymore that I remember, and the people who were still there that I knew...didn't recognize me.

It really was kind of bittersweet, and I won't deny that it hurt a little bit~people that had been a big part of my life no longer remembering my name or recognizing me at all.  So I really think now though that I've let a big part of my Victor ties go.

But I've still got Taryn and Stace!!! 

So the Pure Romance party was last night~what a hoot!  I was worried about how many people would show up, but Theresa brought 2 friends and Heather brought one too, so we had 10 people, me and the consultant included.  Good turnout, JUST enough seating :-P

The games were funny, and one girl's phone rang loudly and disruptively, so she had to hold a 3 foot long dong for the rest of the presentation as punishment.

The girl next to me (one of Theresa's friend) was pretty adamant about getting her picture taken while holding each and every vibrator up near her mouth.  I'd be terrified to see her drunk if that's how she is stone sober!

Today I guess I have to clean up and do the dishes, but that's it.  Tomorrow is Ben's birthday party, it should be good~I mean, for a while anyway~Zach's not going, so it's gonna be me and the people I work for and their relatives~So I might just pop in for like, an hour or so :-P  I got him a pair of big-boy sneakers, and a shirt for Ali so she has something to open:-P

I only work 2 days this coming week, and Friday we leave for NY.  I'm SO exited for Nick's wedding and visiting some Victor people~Taryn and Stace are meeting us for dinner Friday, wedding Saturday, and Willowbrook folks on Sunday.  Then back home and back to work Monday :-P

Oh, and the carpet cleaning people are coming Wednesday to clean the old apartment's carpet~Thursday we'll turn in our keys and stuff and get that taken care of since that's our "official" move-out :-P  I'm gonna spackle sometime this weekend too~then that'll be all done with.

Taryn, you and the girls from your class and Stace and Laurieann should totally do one of the Pure Romance parties though.  SO hilarious. 

...I think this is oddly question.  Is my friend wanting me to help him/her have a baby?  Or is my friend wanting to impregnate me and I keep the kid????

Whatever.  If one of my very close friends was having trouble conceiving, and wanted me to be their surrogate, I think I'd do it.  I don't know if I'd be okay with letting Zach donate to the cause for someone else though~mainly because I know he'd not want to do it.

...I KNEW there had to be a reason I stayed away from NJ for like, 6 years...

The ride down~11 hours of driving in gray drizzle, sometimes interrupted in PA by slight wet snow.  Tiring.

Sunday was Poppy's party:

HIGHLIGHTS:
seeing Poppy
seeing Court
meeting Sarah
drinking at 2 in the afternoon (believe me, you would too!)
eating meatballs and sausage and peppers back at Poppy's house

LOW POINTS:
Uncle John commenting~ALL AFTERNOON~about my boobs.  They weren't even out that much, it was an appropriate amount of cleavage!
needing 3 vodka cranberries to get through 2 hours with 77 family members
aforementioned Uncle John, after a few too many, grabbing the front of my dress and tugging it in an attempt to cover my boobs himself
Drunken, cynical Uncle Donny annoying the shit out of me, Court, Aunt Riss, and my mom by...being drunk and cynical.  And LOUD.  and handsy.

Sarah is awesome~love her to bits already, we've got a lot in common.  I'm excited for her to be my sister in law!

So it might be another 7 years before I get my ass back to NJ~Court, you and/or Aunt Riss are welcome to visit anytime though.

I've been all giggly and weird today :-P

I'm seriously all geeked out over going to NJ this coming weekend, and all the stuff coming the rest of the month.

This Saturday, we're leaving bitch-ass early to drive to NJ~gonna see a lot of family that we haven't in a while, and meet my soon-to-be sister in law~although we're friends on facebook and know each other, but have never MET~although I know her sister, she's a year older than me, so we were in school together.  And actually, if Sarah had stayed at Victor, she would have been a senior my freshman year, so WE would have gone to school together...weird.

Then the 23rd I'm hosting a Pure Romance party~it was a raffle prize, a free party and 40 bucks of free merchandise.  Plus 10% of the profits from the party.  The 25th is Ben's first bday, so we're going to that, I got him a pair of 'big boy' sneakers so he can stop wearing those little soft-sole things now that he's walking well.

And THEN, on the 30th, we're driving to NY!!  Gonna see Taryn and eat at Cretekos Diner, and then on Halloween my brother is getting MARRIED!  I'm so excited for him :-D

Sunday we'll go to church and see folks there, and then head back to Cincinnati~I have to work Monday. 

I've got my outfits all settled (believe me, it was hard!) and my necessary makeup and accessories have been picked out and packed up.  I still need to figure out what to do with my hair, but that'll be okay~and I need to do my eyebrows and nails Thursday (my only day left not working this week).  Friday after I get paid I've gotta run to the store for camera batteries and stockings~it won't be THAT cold, but my dress is short and my legs are VERY pale!

So yeah~planning and planning and getting stuff done and being crazy excited about it!

So yes, Dr. Brennan, OMG yay! indeed.

I gues sthis is kind of along the lines of why I don't understand those girls in the "Girls Gone Wild" DVDs~don't they realize that odds are good that their fathers or brothers or cousins or uncles or any other man they know might see them???

So Facebook is awesome because it's facilitated the reconnection of me to some of my cousins, which is awesome.  But it also creeps me out a bit, and makes me relieved that people can keep their profiles somewhat private to just friends or whatever.

Court, this isn't really about YOU, but some of the other cousins and some of my friends' siblings mainly and is kind of an open letter type of thing~and obviously, I trust you not to be all "Amanda said..." or whatever. 

But some of my younger cousins~and by younger, I mean I went to their parents' weddings and can REMEMBER the event~are just crazy with the stuff they post on FB.  And I know it's partly due to the age gap, which falls directly in line with a boom in technology and social change and whatever (god I feel old).  But having your birth year listed as 3 years before your parents got married is weird, and I don't see any reason for it other than you want people to think you're older than you are~"old ENOUGH", as the phrase goes.

And yeah, trips to the beach are fun, and hanging out with friends is fun.  I'm not THAT old, I know fun.  But I'm not sure that everyone you're friends with on FB needs entire albums devoted to half-naked glamour shots taken in front of the bathroom mirror.

YES, the lighting is usually good in there and you can see in the reflection if the picture's gonna come out good or whatever, that's what MySpace picture jokes are built on~silly angles and the camera flash and all that.  And a lot of them are fine, getting ready to go to a party or whatever, I've done it too.

But whatever you post on FB doesn't just STAY on FB~there is NO guarantee of total and complete privacy once you upload those things~even if you delete them from your FB, they're still floating out there.  And whatever, I know you've all gotten the internet safety speech a gazillion times and Oprah talks about sexting and all that stuff, but really~any nasty old creep with a good search engine can stumble onto those things~or, if he's REALLY a nasty creep, can search for YOU, specifically.  It's easy~I just entered one of my cousins names into Google and one of the first results was her FB page~and under "image results" was a picture of her.

It's creepy and gross and slightly scary that it IS that simple.  And I'm guilty too, I've put stuff out on the computer that I later regret~none of it has come back to bite me in the ass, and for that I'm thankful.  But I'm also old enough to deal with the crap~and you guys, as unfair as it seems, and as much as you wish it otherwise, are still kids.  I mean, you aren't small children or anything, but for the most part, yes, you guys are still kids.  TEEN is still 'kid', that's why there are laws SPECIFICALLY designed to protect you from the creepy people.  But by posting certain things, you leave yourself vulnerable. 

And THAT worries me, because I don't want anything to happen to any of you.  And I don't want you to get in over your heads, or spend so much time trying to be adult and mature that you miss out on the best parts of being young.  I miss being a kid something terrible at times~not anything specific, but being that young and naive and innocent and having my biggest responsibilities be homework and after-school activities.

You're going to miss those days too, when you grow up.  So please, don't be in any hurry.

And stop posting half-nekkid pictures of yourself.  Your uncles and cousins and friends' parents can see them, good Lord!

Thus endeth Amanda talking like an old lady.  I tried desperately not to make this a lecture or anything, but I think it might have come out that way...

So I tried to edit this, and it royally messed it up. I think I've finally figured it out though.

So Court~I'm not sure how much of this the extended family knows about, so I'd appreciate you not bringing it up with Uncle John and Aunt Riss~I don't want there to be any awkwardness next weekend or anything.

( response )

We're moving into a nice bigger apartment~like, a lot of out shit is there right now!  It's in the same building, on the same floor, only it's a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath with a bigger living room and kitchen, and more closets and a pantry.   I am thrilled.

So Dan, that's the apartment you'll be crashing in, not this dinky little one.  IF we had a second bed you could even have a room to yourself instead of the living room, but no such luck :-P

So I feel the great need to comment on a couple shows, really just NCIS and Mad Men.  All I'm gonna say about NCIS is that I'm liking it so far, but they're treading a fine line with Ziva being...girly.  I mean, she was the tough kick-ass chick character, and she still is, but last episode she was all emotional reconciliations and hugs and "you're the closest thing I have to a father" and it was juuuuust on this side of out of character.  Hopefully they find a good balance between her established character and the emotional changes she's gone through during her captivity.

Mad Men: I LOVE this show.  It's...extravagant and luscious and a bunch of other words that aren't quite what I mean but are close.  And I may be one of the only people who thought what Duck said was...kinda hot.  I mean, I don't think he's a terribly attractive man, and his characer is kind of a train wreck, but I'm intrigued by what he wants Peggy for~is it really that he WANTS her (for his company's sake and his own evil doings) or is it all just a way for him to piss Don off?  Steal the talent out from under him and gloat?  Oh well~it's the 60s, Peggy is very young 20s, and he used a very (for the time) smooth line on her.  I wonder if he and the writers hadn't been watching Kiss the Sky though, because it seemed (not so much word for word, but the delivery and intent) very reminiscent of Billy Petersen's line in that movie, the whole 'to you, for you, with you' bit.

On second though, it was kind of  across between that and John Barrowman in Shark Attack 3: Megalodon when he just casually suggests that perhaps, since he won't be able to sleep, he just take the woman home and...well, NOT watch I Love Lucy, as the edited for TV version would have you believe.

Also, January Jones is Alfred Hitchcock's (well, if he were still living) dream girl, right up there with Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedron.  Her character's kind of a bitch, but she's just lovely.

Last night on my way home from work, Zach called~his buddy Nate's kids are sick, and can't go to school today because they got sent home yesterday.

So I have a sick 6 year old and a sick 9 year old currently sleeping in my bed.  They've been here since 5:30, and their mom is picking them up at 2ish.  Coughing, fevers~at least no vomiting or anything like that.

I really hope I wasn't this annoying as a child, a sick child at that. 

I have no toys for them, they brought one workbook for the little boy so he cold work on his letters.  So I'm gonna rot their brains some more when they wake up with TV and movies, I guess~because there's no WAY I'm letting them on this computer, or cuddling them in close to read a book so they can cough and hack on me. 

Eeeesh.  Obviously not my favorite age group, especially when I barely know the kids.  I'm opening the doors and windows to keep their germy air from accumulating around me.


ETA: well, they've left now.  And now I have to buy a new brush and some RIT spray for the furniture and wash all the bedding, because when I was braiding the girls hair I saw what appeared to be many, MANY nits.  And her brother said he had little bites from fleas~which she corrected by saying "lice, not fleas!"  God I just wanna soak in the tub with a copious amount of alcohol...I NEVER had lice as a child, and I'll be damned if I get them now as an adult.

As a matter of fact, biology can kiss my ass.

:-P  And those fucking "have a happy period" commercials can suck my non-existent balls, that pisses me off so much.  HAPPY? Bullshit.


Apparently I can be a handful~I don't bitch AT people, or loudly, or anything when I'm like this~but Zach knows to leave me alone if he isn't going to be helpful~he lept me sleep this morning because he "wasn't going to attempt to awaken the beast". 

Which, really~ I enjoyed the sleep (and the fear I've somehow instilled in him) but I'm not THAT bad.

But I seriously ate a pint of mint ice cream, a couple big spoons of hot fudge, a bag of popcorn, steak, potatoes, and some chocolate ice cream today.  And I'm planning on eating bacon and rice krispie treats tomorrow.

Oh, and finishing the gallon of apple cider I started today.

Hormonal gluttony, thy name is Amanda.

On the good side~had an awesome conversation with a drunken Dan last night about the sexual prowess of ninjas and how he's always half-naked when he texts me. So it oughta be pretty fun when he rolls into town in a few weeks!

...I'm all jacked up on Midol~seriously, like two cups of coffee worth of caffeine in the dose I took.  Maybe I'll make those rice krispie treats tonight...

I also need to look at some pictures and find a new hair style~i wanna keep most of my length, but freshen it up and get my color fixed~I dyed it too dark, but there wasn't anything I could do to fix it at home, so I've let it grow now, and it's been a few months.  Nicole's gonna fix me up fine though.

...for a family event.  Why do i feel the need to primp for a family event?  I'm also debating getting a cardigan to wear with my dress to cover my cleavage.  what the hell, go hard or go home, right?  FUCK the cardigan.

So I usually don't go to wal-mart if I can avoid it, but I didn't wanna truck all the way out to Target to buy a stapler, and I told Zach I'd pick him up one, since his work one broke.

I don't really enjoy Walmart because it's always crowded, there are babies drinking soda/kool-aid out of bottles, and it's just depressing.  Also, there's only ever like, 3 lanes open and people talking on their cell phones and a bunch of things that piss me off all in one place.  And yeah, they treat their employees shitty and import crappy things from China.

But my visit was shockingly pleasant!  I went in, grabbed the stapler, and went through the self-checkout after only a couple minutes of waiting.  And the old man working the exit cracked me up.

I'd seen him before~I bought one of those paper balloons for their fundraiser for Childrens' Hospital last christmas (I had a gift card!) and he's like, their main "good-bye, have a nice day!" person.

So I'm leaving, and he's like "Have a nice day!" and I told him to do the same, which he took as an invitation to start a conversation with me about the weather and how he misses fall and hopes it gets here soon because he likes it when the leaves change.  Then as I left, he said "You have a great day, pretty girl!"  and it was just adorable.

He's like, my grandpa's age(mom's dad, who calls me 'sweet thing' and told me I could make good money working for hooters) and he reminded me of grandpa a lot in that moment. 

So yeah~a nice little trip to the wal-mart.  And hopefully Dan will still wanna hang out with me after knowing I went to wal mart.

So Dan sent me a video he found of Spring Awakening~a really great musical about some pretty heavy issues~the original play was written in 1890 and was banned, mainly because there's teen sex and authority issues and abuse and abortion and all kinds of things Victorian and pre-Victorian Europe wasn't ready to contemplate :-P

I guess someone at an off-broadway (where it premiered as a musical) show video taped it~pretty good quality, considering.  And it was just as awesome as I suspected!  I knew all the music and the storyline and everything, but it was cool to see it all played out.

My only pet peeve with the musical versus the original play is that the musical kinda downplays Wendla and Melchior's "sex" scene~in the original, it's pretty much straight rape, but the musical made it all kinds of ambiguous consent and date-rapey~not that date rape equals ambiguous consent, i mean that she kind of agrees at the end of the scene, but she says no in the beginning.  Also, two of the characters (one who was kicked out of her home for turning her father in for molesting her, and one who was putting up with it to keep from being kicked out too) were kind of two dimensional~yeah, they had their song, but it's more of a deal in the play.

The scene where Wendla's begging him to beat her so she understands her friend's pain (who is beaten often) was pretty well done~I mean, the concept of trying to stage that and make it believable is batshit crazy, but they did a great job.

So thanks Dan!  I love musicals, and I'd wished to see this one~maybe I'll see it for real if they come through town...

Last day with my parents was fun~started off NOT fun :-P

Last night they said they'd be over around 11:30 or so, and that they'd call so I could meet them at the parking lot and give them a guest pass for parking, yeah?  So I roll out of bed around quarter to ten, bum around, vacuum up the little bit of spilled kitty litter, watch some tv.  Zach gets home from Nate's with an EggMcMuffin for me, I sit down to eat~not dressed, hair a mess, all that.  Parents call at 10:16~"we're four hundred feet from destination!" per their GPS.  So I throw on some clothes, brush my teeth and hair, and wipe down the bathroom counter and such.

I DON'T like being hurried~I wake up slowly, do what I need to do~I got ready in like, 3 minutes flat~Zach was hooking my bra for me while I brushed my teeth kind of hurry.

We went to the aquarium, which was awesome as always~we have a really nice one here, they had fun.  We went to our little Mediterranian place we like for lunch, all is good and all. 

Went to see Naomi and Tony and Syds~mom fell in lurve with Sydney, which is understandable, because she's an amazingly GORGEOUS baby~she should be like, a baby model, no kidding.  Naomi was a child model when she was young too.

So yeah,then we came home and hung around and had dinner and watched the fireworks. 

So yeah~no more little comments or anything~however, came in from walking the dog to find mom and dad looking through my old yearbook from senior year~like, reading things and such.  AWKWARD.

But a good visit.  And now I can exhale.

Wow!  So dinner was awesome~Mitchell's was a really good choice, dad ordered a good wine (what else is new!)  and a good time was had :-P

Then we walked around Newport for a bit~Mom is in love with Newport now, which is understandable, because it's awesome and everything a riverfront venue should be what with the view and the restaurants and the stores. 

Then we went to Shadowbox, which~well, I didn't know EXACTLY what all the sketches and stuff were, but those weren't what I was worried about~mom handled the swearing just fine (she hates the word 'fuck', and they used it a LOT) but they did that Ragdoll song?  And instead of it just being performed on the other stage, they had a whole choreographed dance bit to it that was mildly awkward~definitely more suggestive than their other songs~three girls in teddies and fishnets dancing while the guy sang, and I was, in order, thinking,  "Oh hell, what have I brought them to?!"  "Hey, I think they got those at Hot Topic!" and "Awww, she's got a rip in her stockings!"

So all in all a good night~although I knew I was forgetting something~vacuuming my car!  It was all cleaned out, and we put a blanket down when the dog is in there, but there was a little hair on the seats anyway, and Mom was like, "ooeeww" but I had a Kroger bag in the seat pocket, and she whipped that out and sat on it.  Yeah she did.  And then asked Zach if he had lost weight (he has, but doesn't want to admit it until we see them next month, he's doing that P90X thing), and then stated, "And you've gained some!"  to which I replied, "No, no I haven't, thanks."

So yeah~mainly good things, and only 2 things to make me feel like an awkward teenage fuckup :-P  Today is the aquarium and maybe seeing Naomi and Sydney, and then hanging out here for dinner and fireworks, so we'll see what she comes up with.

Wish me luck.