Happy Halloweeny

I woke up with a sty (a sty!!) in my eye this morning. I guess I get a "trick" this year. How lovely...

I could be in Florida right now, lounging on the beach, getting a tan, but noooooooooooooo. I'm at home with a sty in my eye!

Wishing you all treats and no tricks,

sty girl

Sunday night at the Brauhaus

Three cheers for das boot!

Last confession

If I ever pour myself a glass of wine or beer or whatever, and I'm home alone, I always kind of raise my glass before I drink, as if to say, Here's to drinking! And I always think to myself, I'm glad nobody saw me toasting to nobody just then.

listening to The Ditty Bops! They are awesome!

Confessions 3 & 4

Confession 3: I eat baby food from time to time. JUST pears or pears & pineapple. No carrots or anything like that.

One time when I was in college, I was going through the check out line at the local Dillons and among the few groceries I was purchasing were 2 jars of Gerber baby food (pears.) The check out girl was my age, black, and after scanning the first jar looked me dead in the eye a bit perplexed and asked, "Are these for you?" Whoa!...I had never been confronted with the fact that I still ate baby food from time to time and I just froze. But she kept staring at me waiting for my answer. I didn't want to lie and say I had a baby so..I just said, in that "You got me!" tone, "Yep! Those would be for me." And to my great surprise, she said, "Girl, I eat this stuff all the time too! It's good ain't it?" I couldn't have paid her for a better response.

Confession 4: Whenever I open a pint/gallon of ice cream- which isn't very often-I always carve my initials + whomever I love at the time. Have done it since 4th grade. Not even sure why I started or why I still continue. I just always thought, Hey, If it's carved in this brand new pint of ice cream, we'll be together (or will be together) forever.

Man, I'm dumb.

I interrupt this quirky confession week with this question; WHY do I constantly find myself talking with people who don't understand what I'm saying or more importantly, what they're saying?

Like this morning, about 5 minutes ago, I had to call and talk to a Delta Rep to cancel my flight to West Palm Beach this weekend. My family was having a reunion but Hurricane Wilma decided to make an early appearance. I thought the event was still on until my Aunt from West Palm finally reached my step momlast night and told her they have no power, it looks like a war zone, they have curfews and she can't get in touch with other family members who live there...Translation: Reunion cancelled.

So I'm on the phone with this Delta Indian lady and I tell her my story and that I don't need a refund just a credit.
She says Okay but I have to make the new reservation by Nov 1st.
I tell her I don't know when my family wants to reschedule this reunion, I mean their top priority is just getting power back and contacting other family members.
She says, No, you need to fly by Nov 1st.
Pause pause pause don't be rude katy. "I don't think things will be all better 2 days after my original departure date. I can't even reach family members there right now."
"Well there are only refunds being offered through Oct. 28 when flights are cancelled and your flight, on Oct. 29th is not cancelled so you could still fly down."
(Bite the bullet. Bite IT!) Well, I'd love to go but, there is no power there. And I cannot get in touch with most family members. At all! (Breath. Breath) But, I don't need a refund. My parents also booked through Delta and yesterday they called and Delta gave them a credit that won't expire for 1 year. Can I get that credit too? Is that possible?
"So you want to cancel your flight?"
"Yes, but I don't want to lose my money. So can I get a credit like my parents did. They were booked on the same flights as I was."
"Okay, all you need to do is cancel your flight and you will be issued your ticket number which can be used as a credit towards another Delta flight through October 13, 2006."
"Great! That's what I'd like to do."
"Okay."
Long pause. "Sooo, can I cancel my flight with you?"
"Okay, so you do want to cancel your flight?"

I am not joking. She was really talking like this. But...I finally did get my credit, although it would have been nice to be laying on the beach this weekend...

WILMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Quirky Confession 2

I'd like to categorize this one under "Old Habits Die Hard."

When I was a kid I was a frequent visitor at Baskin Robins. My favorite part? Sampling some ice cream with the teeny miniature pink "sample spoon." And after I'd sample, I'd keep the mini spoon and use that instead of a regular spoon to eat my cup of ice cream (usually mint chocolate chip or banana.)

Well, I still do that. (So what, I'm an adult, I can do as I please.) And I didn't think much of it until a few months ago when I was at an ice cream shop in Evanston with a friend. I got a huge sample of some cinnamon ice cream, nibbled 1/2 the sample, made a "I don't like this flavor" face, and my friend finished the sample for me.

Fast forward to 4 minutes later. I sat down to eat my cup when I realized I didn't have my little spoon because my friend had taken it and like most normal people, thrown it away. So I looked down at what seemed like an ENORMOUS white plastic spoon in my cup and thought, "Katy, just use the big spoon. It's not a big deal." So I did. Or rather, I tried, but my mouth and lips and tongue were like, "What is this- in my mouth! I cannot- work -with this -huge spoon in here. Get the baby spoon!!!!!!!!!"

My friend was still paying, I was breaking into a sweat. There was a huge line of people and I had already bought my ice cream so it would seem a bit odd to go ask for yet another sample. I was feeling absolutely ridiculous. I mean at home I eat with regular size spoons- even if I'm eating ice cream. But here, my mouth just would not have it.

So, without thinking too much about how stupid I would sound, I got up, squeezed in between some people and asked the lady, "Ummm, could I have one of those little sample spoons please." (Just typing that made me wince.) She replied, "You want a sample?" I paused, and then said, "Uhhhh, no, no,...Just the spoon. Please." She looked at me like I was from mars, then slowly handed me the spoon."

I sat back down, took a bite with the mini spoon and felt like I had just won the lottery or had passed go and collected my $200, like I could finally breath again. It also made me realize that maybe I have a problem in the mini spoon department.

But I'm okay with that.

Kind of.

Quirky Confession Week

I've decided to dedicate this week to all the ridiculously quirky things we do. Might as well just lay 'em out on the table and come clean and hopefully (fingers crossed) I won't be alone here in some of these things. So feel free to comment away on what bizarre things you have been known to do. Alright, here's my first confession...

I...sometimes...empathize with inanimate objects. Now I'm not talking about stuffed animals here, or totally plausible objects. That's different and acceptable. I mean REALLY inanimate pbjects. For example, I'm running low on paper in my printer. There are about 4 sheets left. I get a huge stack for replenishment but before I put the stack in I make sure to pull the last 4 sheets out, THEN I put the new stack in and THEN I put the 4 sheets at the front. Why? Because somewhere deep in my brain I have the thought that these last sheets have been waiting for so long to get printed on and just when they were about to get their chance, I would have the nerve to stick 50 sheets ahead of them??? That would be just plain mean...

...As if the paper actually had FEELINGS...Paper.

Go on now!!! You know you've done it too! You know it!!!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 8/10 correct!

(Yes! Thank God...If I had failed I would have felt really stupid! Especially since last week I took the "Could You Pass The US Citizenship Test," and failed miserably.)

Maybe you had to be there, but it sure made me laugh!

I saw this shoe polished on the back windshield of a car the other night:

"I'm 20 today bitch!"

Wednesday 9:18 pm

I just finished watching Garden State.
It made me sad.


I should have watched it a month ago when the weather was warm...

Well, I was back at the dentist AGAIN this morning, this time having 3 cavitites filled and oooohhh...It was so bad...SO BAD. It made getting 2 root canals last week seem like a walk in the park. Usually if I have a cavity I have just one and its not even a full fledged cavity- just a baby. But these suckers had planned to move into my teeth forever. And after today's experience, it made me never want to eat food again for risk of getting yet another one.

What I hated the most, aside from getting shots in my mouth and the wonderful smell of burning teeth, was that there were way too many things going on in my mouth at one time. The dentist kept going from high pitched dog whistle drill to low pitch brain shaking drill while the assistant had 3 tubes in my mouth: one drizzling water in, one vacuuming the water out, and one shooting air in. I kept half gagging because the suction tube was too close to the back of my throat, and water kept spilling out the side of my mouth and it was just horrendous. And I figure since my face is numb up to my EYES, I'm entitled to a little bit of whining.

But the topper was having to keep my mouth open for so long (probably 40-45 minutes total.) It just killed my jaw. The dentist kept giving me little 30 second breaks so I could close my mouth and rest because by the end of the procedure, my jaw was starting to shake.

All too much for 8 in the morning.

AND...I have to go back. In two weeks to get my root canals filled permanently. I think I'm just going to have my mail forwarded there since I'm practically living there now.

Waaaaaaa! My eye is numb!

Listening to Ghost of You by My Chemical Romance

With the fall weather beginning, it has made me extremely nostalgic. Too nostalgic. There's just something about when the air starts to cool down and the leaves begin changing colors that sends me into pensive mode...and it happens to me every year.

Like today, I have a million things I needed to do this morning, and all I've done so far is sit here on my couch, looking out the window. It seems that all the ghosts of my past somehow resurface this time of year to try and pull me back into days gone by. Days that just make me sad when I think about them. So it ends up being a constant battle between me and the ghosts. Oh, I wish they would just go away...

So I'll be heading to sunny West Palm Beach, Florida in 2 weeks for a sort of mini family reunion. My Aunt Suzie is turning the big 5-0 (on Halloween proper) so they are throwing her a big party. Well, I might be making that part up, but a celebration of some kind will be had by all and family will be flying in from Peru. So I couldn't pass it up.

Which got me to thinking about the last time I was in West Palm, (about 4 years ago). I hadn't seen one of my uncles in quite some time, since I was living in NYC and weighed about 20 lbs. We had all just finished having some drinks and were lazily walking towards the cars to head back to his house. He ends up beside me, puts his arm around me and says how nice is to see me, glad I could visit, etc...etc...THEN, he says, and I quote, "I see you've been hitting the mashed potatoes...AND the gravy!"

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak! Mortification had taken over my body. I kept hearing his comment in slow motion, "Aaaaaand theeee graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaavyyyyyyyyyy." I was just absolutely stunned. I mean, I knew I had gained weight since living in New York, but not 50 lbs! And certainly not enough to deserve the now infamous mashed potatoes comment.

Needless to say, somehow I got through that horrid moment and he ended up apologizing and everything is all fine and dandy, etc... And I'm sure he would never mash potato me again, but... just to be on the safe side, I don't think I'll be eating very much for the next 2 weeks.

I saw Richard Thompson last night at Park West and he was FAB.U.LOUS!

As for the chic who opened up for him, she turned out to be a real disappointment. What sucked the most was that her voice was really good and for never having heard her before, I was really digging her. She had this cool somewhat folk/Lucinda Williams/Neil Young thing going and after her first song I thought, I might just buy one of her cd's while I'm here!

But then, she started getting crazy political on everyone and I mean out. of. control. Half way through her set I felt like shouting, "OKAY! I GET IT! YOU HAAAAAAAAATE GEORGE BUSH! YOU THINK HE'S AN IDIOT AND 'BUTT UGLY' AND TOTALLY INCOMPETENT AND THE WORST PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE. I GET IT. YOU CAN STOP SHOVING IT DOWN MY THROAT NOW, THANK YOU!" But my shouts would probably have gone overlooked because it seemed like her reason for being at Park West at all was really to just make sure we all knew how much she hated Bush and the "singing songs part" was just a little added bonus for us all. It was so annoying.

So needless to say, I decided to pass on buying her cd.

Your Seduction Style: Fantasy Lover

You know that ideal love that each of us dreams of from childhood? That's you! Not because you posess all of the ideal characteristics, but because you are a savvy shape shifter. You have the uncanny ability to detect someone's particular fantasy... and make it you. You inspire each person to be an idealist and passionate, and you make each moment memorable Even a simple coffee date with you can be the most romantic moment of someone's life By giving your date exactly what he or she desires, you quickly become the ideal lover. Your abilities to make dreams come true is so strong, that you are often the love of many people's lives. Your ex's (and even people you have simply met or been friends with) long to be yours. No doubt you are the one others have dreamed of... your biggest challenge is finding *your* dream lover.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

(Just took some fun blog quizzes. And who knew I was a fantasy lover??? Alright baby! Boy, it sure would be nice if all this were true...a girl could only be so lucky!)

Bad combo update

Well, I had my dates confused, so I didn't have my cavities filled today, that's NEXT wedneday. Today, I had TWO ROOT CANALS done. Two. Oh man, so much worse than getting cavities filled.

It took two hours and I have to go on antibiotics. And right now I am home whimpering like a baby horse because my mouth hurts so bad.

Too bad I'm not really a baby horse, because I bet they don't ever have to get root canals done.

Bad combination of the day

A hangover headache + the dentist drilling out cavities in your mouth for an hour

(This bad combo will come to fruition in just 90 short minutes. Any prayers will be greatly appreciated.)

It's 11:11...make a wish.

13 Things You Probably Didn't Know (I didn't)

1. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

2. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."

5. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

6. It is impossible to lick your elbow.

I7. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

8. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace.

9. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

10. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.

11. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

12. A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2" by 3-1/2".

13. At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

(Yeah, I tried to lick my elbow too...like an IDIOT!!!)

Thumbsucker

Saw the movie yesterday (with dear Wendy) and I must confess, it was really good. Reeeeeally good. I highly recommend it. Vince Vaughn is a trip, Keanu Reeves is even more of a trip, and the lead guy/kid/(he looks about 15, but is really 19) is AMAZING. His name is Lou something Pucci and he is too cute to boot. Wendy and I are now his new biggest fans AKA: stalking him.

So go see it.

And yes I was a thumbsucker when I was a kid. Anyone else?

I have a female dentist!!! Who knew they even existed??

So I went to the dentist yesterday; haven't been since I moved to Chicago. I was expecting the worst, as I always do when I go to the dentist, since after the magical age of 23, my cavity-free mouth suddenly became very cavity-prone.

I had 3 cavities this time (grrrrrrrrrrr) AND my route canal that I had done 2 years ago didn't "heal right," so they have to redo that AND do a route canal to the tooth next to it! Just to be safe. So within the next 14 days I have 3 fillings and 2 route canals to look forward to. How did I get so lucky????

But! But...I did get a fabulous compliment from the dental hygienist. As she was poking at my gums with that horrible ice pick of an instrument, she said to me, "You really have gorgeous teeth. (sigh) Thanks...I needed a mouth like yours today. " She actually thanked me for having a great set of teeth and gums! Thanked me! I felt so elated, so honored, so...special...until she added, "Yeah, the woman who was in here before you was missing every other tooth on the top." Oh...Well,...I guess compared to the lady with only FIVE TEETH ON TOP, my teeth would look gorgeous. Kind of put a damper on the special/elated feeling.

I think I'm just gonna forget about that part of the story and keep my compliment at the fabulous status...