chez_jae

My Hat Club had our November outing today.   We spent several hours in Rockford, where we shopped and had lunch.  We tried a new restaurant called Granite City, and it was wonderful.  Our waitress was a peach, and she cheerfully took a group photo of us.  For once, I didn't buy much--just my lunch and a book at Barnes & Noble.  Oh, and a hot chocolate at Starbucks. 

I retired my ridiculous, powder blue mesh hat for the season and wore a dark purple velvet one instead.  I had to hold on to it in the wind, though.  *laughs* 

I'd love an icon to use for Hat Club posts.  Unfortunately, when I searched images for hats, I got a lot of Halloween costume type things.  Is anyone clever enough to make me an icon with a gorgeous, groovy hat with "Hat Club" scripted on it? 

My temp agency called today to notify me that I am the lucky winner of the $50.00 Walmart gift card they had a drawing for!  Woo-hoo!  A few weeks ago, they sent a survey along with my pay stub, and the incentive to fill out the survey and return it was to go into a drawing for the $50.00 gift card.  I had forgotten all about it until I got the call today.  I'm so excited! 

I decided to "share the wealth" in a manner of speaking.  I'm not much of a cook, so I called my Mom to tell her of my good fortune, and I said that I would buy some nice steaks or pork chops or even some shrimp for her and Dad and I if she cooked.  *laughs*  Hey, it's a win-win situation.   I get a yummy, Mom!cooked meal, and they get something other than hamburger or chicken for a change. 

I also have my eye on a $20.00 cat condo for the felines.  Part of me thinks I should be responsible with my gift card, but then again, it's an unexpected bonus, so I think I will buy silly, frivolous things with it.  *nods happily*

I was incredibly bummed when my Pittsburgh Penguins lost in six games to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals in June.  Tonight, the two teams met for the first time since Game 6.  The Penguins scored first, which is always a good thing in hockey, but Detroit stormed back.  At one point, the Wings had a 5-2 lead on the Pens.  However, my boys battled back to within one goal, then pulled their goaltender with time winding down.  They scored with the extra attacker on the ice to send the game into overtime, tied at six goals apiece.  Then, Pittsburgh won it in OT!  Wow!  That is an amazing comeback, and I'm so excited and proud of them! 

Any other hockey fans on my flist?  If not, what's your favorite sport?

I've brought Timea into the house.  *head desk*  I'll spend the next few weeks or months wondering what the heck I was thinking, but there it is.  She's currently dozing in the cat carrier, of all the silly things.  I'm most worried about leaving her in the house all day when I go to work tomorrow.  When I brought Tau in the house last year, I was on unemployment, so I was home most of the time.  Plus, I banished him to the basement when I was gone.  I don't think I'll do that with Timea.  She's been using the litter box, thank goodness, but there's nothing to say I won't come home to a mess or even some destruction tomorrow.  Urgh. 

Wish us luck!

I had dinner at Applebee's with my friend Lynne tonight.  We used to work together at the life insurance company that laid all of us off six years ago.  One of the best parts about working there was the office closed at noon on Fridays, and each week, Lynne and I would have lunch together.  We'd usually go to a fast-food place like Burger King or Taco Bell.  Every now and then we'd go to Pizza Hut, and if we were both feeling wealthy, we'd eat at Applebee's or the Esquire--some place nice where you got to sit down and be waited on.  Now, Lynne and I work in different small cities, and we hardly ever see one another.  We only manage about twice a year any more, and that makes me sad.  She's also raising a grandson now, and that makes it difficult for her to get away.  I miss her.

My friend Lucy used to work at the insurance company, too.  She and I still email one another every day.  When I worked at the title company and had an hour for lunch, we used to meet up every now and then.  With only half an hour lunch where I now temp, there's no time to run out and meet up with someone.  However, I'm going into town Saturday, and I asked Lucy to meet me for ice cream at Dairy Queen.  I haven't seen her since August, so I'm looking forward to it. 

New friends are always nice, but old friends are to be cherished. 

Our local YWCA is hosting its huge semi-annual book sale this week, and I'm going Thursday after work.  I usually come home with a big bag full of books that cost me about $20.00.  A lot of the short, contemporary romances (Harlequin, Silhouette) are only ten cents each.  Such a deal!  I can easily spend an enjoyable hour or more there, browsing through thousands of books.  Heaven!

I'll never live long enough to read all the books I have now, but it hasn't stopped me from buying them.  Obsessive-compulsive much?  *laughs*

Seriously, I have about twenty dollars in my checking account. Yikes! October sucks the life out of me when it comes to bills, and of course, I still must spend some mad money. Darn good thing I get paid on Friday. If there's one benefit to being a temp, it's that I get paid each week instead of the twice a month I was used to before I got laid off from Hell.

The weather was fantastic today! Seventy degrees in November?! Unheard of.

I am hoping by this time tomorrow, I'll know who the next President of the United States will be. I have a favorite, but mostly I just want it to be done with.

Wow, what a party! We had people in costume, lots of good food and drink, and we even had fireworks!

I wore a purple princess-y type costume, and my sister was wearing a red one, so we looked a bit like the Bobbsie Twits. *laughs* Wee brother was simply dressed in a natty suit, and his fiancee was a mummy. My father got the biggest laugh of the night. He was wearing a ridiculous blond wig and said he was dressed as my sister! Cousin TJ came dressed as The Crow, which was appropriate because wee brother has always been fascinated with that movie. Cousin Boo Boo came as a clown, cousin Tutu came as a prisoner complete with orange jump suit and handcuffs, and her sister Vern was dressed as a police officer. One niece was dressed as a vampire and the other niece like Tinkerbell.

Later in the evening, after my father had ditched the wig, we badgered other people into putting it on for photo opportunities. The funniest/creepiest was when TJ, aka The Crow, put that blond wig on with his made-up face. It half made you laugh, half weirded you out.

My uncle had brought some fireworks, and I'm not talking sparklers and bottle rockets. No, these were the big aerial displays you'd see towns and cities setting off.

After most of the company had left, the last group of us sat around Mom and Dad's dining room table telling stories, as all good Irish families do. So, it was a fun time, and we still had quite nice weather for it. We'll have a big family breakfast on Sunday morning to see my sister off, and then maybe I can finally get to relax Sunday afternoon.