Jamilyn's Journal -- March 2005


	Date: 30 March, 2005 Time: 10:03pm Subject: CHECK!! * * * * * We got lots done today. Went to Wal Mart, got haircuts (check!), got groceries (check!), came home to put the groceries away, went to CiCi's but they didn't take plastic so we went to Chevy's instead (mmm...fajita check!), came home and rearranged the bedroom (check!), and even did some laundry (bonus not-on-the-list check!). Including Scott washing & waxing the cars this morning, I would call this our most productive day off EVER. Scott passed out around 7:00. I think he must have fallen asleep mid-channel-surf, because as I was sitting here on the computer, I became aware that there was a Lifetime Original movie on our TV. I wonder how early he's going to wake up tomorrow. And if his sleep schedule is ever going to get back to normal! While Scott was snoozing on the couch, I was coming up with a decent color scheme for April's journal page. It's peach and coral. I like it - very spring-like. I also came up with an archive page I won't have to completely re-do every month. The music notes were annoying me anyway. (www.twomorechecks.com!) I just finished watching the Idol results show. It wasn’t pretty. My two favorites were both in the bottom three. Apparently I need to start voting again. I have to say though, I’m really starting to like Carrie from Oklahoma. I’m still cheering loudest for Anwar and Nadia, but I think Carrie is going to take it all home. Of course, that’s what I thought about LaToya last year and she didn’t even make the top three! I think I'm going to try to go to sleep now. After all, it's back to work tomorrow. JLM, 3.30.05, 10:12pm \| Date: 30 March, 2005 Time: 9:37am Subject: Blue Nails * * * * * Well, Kilo currently has about 5 blue nails. He started with 10, but I guess we need to work on our gluing and application. Getting them on Kilo was fairly non-traumatic. So far, I've managed to trim Milo's nails. I figure it's going to take some finesse to get his all done. Scott woke up at 2:00 this morning. I don't know why. And he scared the crap out of me! I didn't hear him get out of bed, and I heard the hallway door squeak. I thought there was someone in the house. But then I looked over (to have Scott shoot the bad guy) and realized that he wasn't there. He washed and waxed my car though. No wonder he's not a morning person - if he were, he'd be super-productive. Next on the agenda is wal-mart for haircuts and some semblance of a shopping trip, and then CiCi's for lunch. 17 miles for pizza...stuff better be good! And then...assuming we get the things I need to move the cable around the room...we rearrange the bedroom. Yay! JLM, 3.30.05, 9:48am \| Date: 28 March, 2005 Time: 1:28pm Subject: Scott * * * * * Well, right now, Scott has been up for more than 24 hours. He's (I believe) planning on calling in from work tonight to recover. Knowing he was going to help his mom move heavy things from her apartment today and would probably be calling in tonight, he decided to work a double yesterday to make up the pay. Obviously, he made this decision while he was asleep and didn't have me there to point out how ill his logic really was! Between the exhaustion and the heavy-lifting, I predict an illness or injury within 6 days. I am a little confused though. Since Shirley is working today and it's just Scott (days off: Tues/Weds) and Jon (days off: Mon/Tues) and Janette (days off: Sun-Sat) *why the $&@** are they doing the move today instead of tomorrow when Scott wouldn't have to call in from work to do his son-ly duty? I'm sure there's a reason. There must be a reason. I'm working a day shift 6-hour OT tomorrow (and WILL be staying all 6 hours!) and then Scott and I will have a whole day-and-a-half off together. Woo! Perhaps we'll finally be able to rearrange the bedroom! JLM, 3.28.05, 1:33pm \| Date: 27 March, 2005 Time: 12:34pm Subject: MJ * * * * * Michael Jackson makes me smile. No, I'm not a tremendous fan of his music. I do, however, love it when I read something he has said that is so completely absurd it defies any logical explanation. Check this out... However, he said he believes he is just the latest of several "black luminaries'' to be unjustly accused, citing former South African President Nelson Mandela and former heavyweight boxing champions Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson as others. That's right...MJ and Nelson Mandela. Besides their race, they have that whole anti-apartheid thing...or not. They're both famous recording stars...or not. Maybe I'm missing something. And in the same article ( from John Rogers, AP) I learned about the origins of Thriller... He said the high point was when he recorded his heralded "Thriller'' album of 1982. He set out to make it a disco version of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite,'' and believes he succeeded, Jackson said, noting it won eight Grammys and was the biggest-selling record of all time. The Nutcracker?!?!? This should keep me smiling for much of the day! JLM, 3.27.05, 12:38pm \| Date: 26 March, 2005 Time: 10:52am Subject: Replies * * * * * I try to not generally reply to comments in here...as this is my journal and I don't consider other peoples comments to be an actual part of the journal, but I this might be a worthy entry. Yes, SoftClaws do allow cats to retract their claws. No, you are not invited. Tickets are now on sale for $100 per person for anyone who thinks that watching the cats have their blue nails put on would be entertaining. Stinky Shoe screwed us out of our fortune cookies. I'm trying to stage a protest, and all I get are hungry people going "mmm...chinese buffet..." This happened with some other friends in an e-mail too. I need to find some activist friends!! I got a 7-cent/hour raise when I left the Comm Center. I think the company considers it a lateral move, and therefore worth another 7-cent raise if I were to go back. And for the record, I'm not unhappy where I am now. I write down things that I think may be worth remembering some day when I write my memoirs, but generally I'm happy. I've never in my life had a job that I hate. And I was desperate to get out of the Comm Center when I left. But most of that has to do with Maggie and Lindsey and that whole firing-your-matron-of-honor-four-days-before-the-wedding thing. For the last time, I am fine. My car has no damage. None. I'm still not sore. Driving with Cat hurt my neck...this didn't. And now, I shall indulge in my favorite guilty pleasure: The West Wing. Wait - that's not a guilty pleasure. It's a well-written intelligent dramedy! JLM, 3.26.05, 11:07am Date: 26 March, 2005 Time: 10:23am Subject: BIG Stretch and Outta Bed * * * * * I got almost 12 hours of sleep last night. That may sound like a lot, but not when you look at it against the 4 hours I got the night before. I worked a day shift yesterday. I traded with Yvonne, who got scheduled a mandatory OT shift and had a doctor appointment. It was fun. I woke up early to go and have breakfast with Scott (mmm...banana-stuffed french toast...) and then we wandered around Port Orleans for a while before he got to go home and go to bed. And work wasn't too bad, except that time seemed to be standing still. I think that had more to do with my sleep deprivation than anything. It was crazy-busy. Hopefully after next week they'll all be home and I can go back to reading at my desk. I didn't even get through one page of my TOPS packet. In other news, Mom is home. In fact, she's starting a new job today. That's all I know. I told her she needed to write me a wrap-up, because right now she's still in Tupelo on my map! My bedroom still has carpet and all clean clothes are hanging or folded...even after two days and two loads of laundry! Jennifer Anniston filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. I only mention this because having a list with only two bullet points seems stupid. JLM, 3.26.05, 10:40am \| Date: 24 March, 2005 Time: 12:03am Subject: Incredibly Productive Day * * * * * 11:30am Wake Scott up and tantalize him with Chinese food from Stinky Shoe "Chinese Supper Buffet." (that's what it says on the receipt!) 1:00pm After stuffing ourselves on crab rangoons, steamed dumplings, fried bananas, and assorted other tasty treats, we left (sans fortune cookie...boohoo) the restaurant and headed to Once Upon a Toy to buy The Incredibles on DVD. 1:30pm Clean bedroom. This is possibly the first time in the 15 months we've lived here that there isn't crap all over the floor in there. Of course, there's still a mountain of laundry...which is now contained in two laundry baskets in the bedroom and a few piles in the bathroom...but all of the clean clothes are hung up or folded. We literally finished cleaning about 5 minutes before Idol came on at 9. 9:00pm Watch Idol for about 10 minutes, realize they are just going to play last night's performances again, and then decide to eat dinner while watching the bonus features from our new DVD. Jack Jack Attack is soooo funny! Don't bother with the deleted scenes or the bloopers...not worth the time and the long-winded intros from Brad Bird. We tried to watch the movie, but it turns out I've been up since 6:45 and I'm too pooped to party. I'll probably watch the rest of it to(morrow? )night when I get home from work. And now...sleep. JLM, 3.24.05, 12:12am \| Date: 23 March, 2005 Time: 8:52am Subject: morning...uhhh * * * * * I was awakened at 6:45 this morning by my irrational fear of thunder. Actually, I should say that I was awakened by the thunder and my irrational fear kept me up. I hate waking up to rain. It really messes with my chi. I also hate waking up with cramps. It's like waking up with a headache - the kind of day that you really don't want to start at all. But alas, I was awake, and there was going to be no more sleep for me. I guess that's a good thing though, because this has been an interesting news morning. Actually, I guess I would think more news mornings were interesting if I were awake to watch GMA every day! There is a State Trooper in CT who should no longer have a job. Luckily for him, apparently compassion isn't a requirement when answering 911 calls about fatal accidents. This guy got a 15 day suspension for saying "too bad" and hanging up on a guy whose friend had just been involved in a fatal motorcycle accident...and then yelling at the girlfriend who called back a few minutes later. @$$hole! Apparently the American Idol producers screwed up last night, and there won't be anyone going home tonight. They put the wrong numbers up on the screen for the last three contestants, one of whom I believe could've been sent home tonight otherwise - Mikalah, the 17-year-old spazz from Las Vegas. After I heard the news on GMA, I came out and watched my tape from last night. Sure enough, during the recap at the very end of the show, they put up the wrong numbers...sort of. Here's what it looked like: Anwar Robinson 1-866-IDOLS-10 1-866-436-5702 Versus what it should have looked like: Anwar Robinson 1-866-IDOLS-10 1-866-436-5710 Who reads those tiny tiny numbers anyway? So they'll do another competition show tonight, and then a special results show on Thursday. It's like they know I have off Tues/Weds now and they're just trying to get me to use the VCR...and choose between Idol and Apprentice. How unjust!! I also made an online purchase this morning. With new furniture on the horizon, I figured it was finally time to try out SoftPaws, which are little rubber kitty nails. They're part condom, part fake nail. You squirt some special glue into the tip and then stick it to kitty's claw. I'm sure this won't be a fun process, but if they work I think they will be worth the trauma. (and in case you were wondering, I got the stylin' blue ones) Well, considering it's barely 9am, I sure have had a lot to say. I should go...play computer games or something! ps - For those who hadn't heard, my car is absolutely fine. Not a scratch. When it happened, I was convinced my bumper was going to be all crunched in...but she's fine. Thanks for caring :o) JLM, 3.23.05, 9:11am \| Date: 22 March, 2005 Time: 10:55pm Subject: you did WHAT?!? * * * * * Today was one of those days where things happed and you question how they happened. I posted a hotel charge today for one of the golf course beverage carts - $80. That's a lot of booze to consume while driving a golf cart. It's still busy as all get-out, but somehow knowing I was only there for 6 hours and making time-and-a-half made me really positive. I was big-time guest whispering today. But I have two rather -- unique stories this evening... The first is a public bathroom tale. I went into the bathroom at the beginning of my second break. There's a cabinet right inside the door where people tend to keep their purses or, in my case, water bottle, while they are in the stall. On top of the cabinet was a half-eaten Reeces Peanut Butter Cup, still on its little black paper doiley. If it had been whole, I might have thought about stealing it. But I didn't. I did, however, drop my water bottle on the cabinet and settle in the first stall for a pee. Well, the girl in the stall next to me flushed, walked out of her stall, grabbed the chocolate and stuffed it in her mouth, and then went to wash her hands. Now to be perfectly honest, I'm not the most fastidious hand-washer on earth...but EATING in a public bathroom?!?!? Ewwwww! And the second thing: I had a major brain fart and left work a half-hour early tonight. The really sad part is that Ethel did the same thing yesterday and I made fun of her mercilessly all day for it. So ten minutes into my drive home when I realized what I had done, I called and talked to Beth, who may have called me a freakin' moron (although I'm pretty sure that was my internal monologue screaming out) and told me she'd let me use one of my free ROS's rather than give me the 1/2 attendance point. She also told Ethel, who as you can imagine, had a tremendous laugh at my expense! Maybe six-hour shifts aren't so great after all. At least I have tomorrow off to re-grow some brain cells! JLM, 3.22.05, 11:06pm \| Date: 22 March, 2005 Time: 1:00am Subject: Lousy Cook * * * * * So my cooking has slipped to an all-time low. This morning when Scott got home from work, he made a pot of spaghetti sauce and e-mailed me to let me know I could make angel hair for lunch today. And it smelled sooo good. But I ran out of time to make the darn stuff, so I had a bagel and decided to treat myself to a McSalad for lunch. (more on that later) Scott called me later to tell me that he forgot to tell me turn the sauce down if I wasn't going to cook it. Apparently it over-cooked and turned too sweet. So see? Now I can mess up food without even touching it! It's a gift. (DISCLAIMER: Scott never accused me of ruining his pasta sauce. And I still haven't tried it. I'm sure it's fine.) My trip to McDonald's definitely had its highs and lows. I got a Happy Meal (hello? "Pixar Pals" - how could I resist??) and the toy was a Mr. Incredible figurine. He's like 6" tall, which is huge for a happy meal toy. And I got a salad for dinner. At dinner, about halfway through I found a hair. A 2" black curly hair. gag And yet somehow I continued to eat. I don't know what it is with hair in food recently. I'm having some sort of bad luck! (although I prefer to consider it good luck because the hairs haven't ended up in my mouth...except for that one unfortunate steamed dumpling. now THAT was gross!) So after work I stopped by the comm center to bring Scott his new mascot. I forgot just how much I liked that room. I like knowing what's going on. I like being ruler of my own little empire. I think I may consider applying to go back...after TOPS in May...and if Scott and I don't really enjoy working the same shift. I'm thinking about it though. Strongly considering. And not making decisions at 1am when I should be in bed. JLM, 3.22.05, 1:13am \| Date: 21 March, 2005 Time: 11:42am Subject: Bump * * * * * So Frances and I got rear-ended at a stoplight on 192 yesterday by a nice man named Jose. She's fine. I'm fine (physically). But I was three minutes late for work. I called to tell work why I was going to be late, and the girl who answered the phone said she would tell the managers. So as I'm walking in the door, she's walking out, and she told me that she told Doris (name changed to protect my @$$). So I walk in, clock in, log into my phone, and then go about my normal pre-shift things - put my lunch in the fridge, fill my water bottle, log into ten thousand computer programs (or four...it's hard to keep track), and then stop to breathe. There were four managers there when I got there yesterday and not a single one asked if I was ok. I pretty much sat there and stewed about it until my first break when I e-mailed Scott (who was working a double, poor guy!) and spread my angst his way. He said that the people I work with are horrible and let me know that the two people at his work whom he called to tell he was going to be late asked him if I was ok and if the car was ok. Thanks! By after lunch, I'm having about the worst shift ever. Guests are like dogs - they smell fear/weakness - and when they do they walk all over you. So last night my calls seemed to involve someone yelling at me for something completely ridiculous. And then I reduced some woman to tears because she asked me what was on her room account and I said "twenty-four-oh-one." She thought I meant $2401. I actually meant $24.01. Oops. It turns out they had all sorts of problems, and there were tons of charges and rebates on the account. So I walked her through it line by line until we were on the same page. But she was still crying. I really can't blame myself for all that! So by the end of the night, it's killing me - do they really not care AT ALL? Was it just Doris who doesn't care? So I went to ask Carly if she had heard. Well, Carly wasn't in her office, but Kay had come back from vacation a day early to catch up on paperwork. She's my direct manager, and the one who always seems to be around me when I lose it (all two times...which I believe is more than I ever cried in security!). So I told her the story, and of course the first thing she says is, "are you ok?" And I told her I was absolutely fine...but frankly it hurt my feelings that no one asked me when I got in. (Kay, by the was, wasn't there at the beginning of the shift) She thinks that maybe the girl who took my phone call told Doris I was going to be late, but didn't tell her why. And she assured me that they do care about me. I'm still not so sure about that last part, but at least I'm not about to quit anymore!! In other news, Mom is back on the road. And she tells me we're getting all the furniture I had asked for from Alice's house (2 chairs, a lazyboy, and a couch...woohoo!). We just have to take that hell-ride back down I-4 in a U-haul to get it. ugh! JLM, 3.21.05, 11:59am \| Date: 20 March, 2005 Time: 11:12am Subject: State Symbols * * * * * There have been two stories in the news recently about new state symbols. NJ is attempting to pass legistlation to make the tomato the state vegetable. (insert question about the vegetable-ness of the tomato here) Why not make the tomato the state fruit? I looked it up. It turns out that the state fruit is the blueberry. I agree with that. I used to eat them right off the bush at Girl Scout camp. It turns out NJ has a state dinosaur (Hadrosaurus foulkii), insect (honey bee), folk dance (square dance), but no soil or vegetable. What about Florida? Funny you should ask. Florida has a state beverage (orange juice), state flower (orange blossom) but no state fruit. There's legislation going through now about that. We think orange has a lock. Florida also has 3 state mammals - a land mammal (Florida panther), marine mammal (manatee), and a state salt water mammal (dolphin). There's also two fish and a reptile. I think that's a bit excessive. I'm going to go watch a movie now. ttfn ps - I've just realized that today is the first day of Spring. yay! JLM, 3.20.05, 11:22am \| Date:19 March, 2005 Time:11:47pm Subject: Hearing aid? No thanks...I need a brain aid! * * * * * So I want to play back a conversation I had tonight. The caller sounded like a kid in the 16ish range, calling from his room: Him: Do you have a Jim there? Me: Yes, there is a Jim here, but is there something I might be able to assist you with? Him: Uhh...no...I just want to go work out. Me: OH! A gym! I thought you meant a person named Jim! haha Yes, it's open 6am to 9pm every day. haha Him: Uhh...ok...thanks. (note the lack of laughter on his part) So I disconnected the call and just bust out laughing. I couldn't help it...I thought it was hysterical. Yvonne sitting next to me thought it was funny, and Jim at the help desk thought so too. So ha, kid, you're out-voted. My stupidity is funny!! JLM, 3.19.05, 11:54pm \| Date:19 March, 2005 Time:11:14am Subject: Garbanzo Beans?? * * * * * In my world, chick peas come in a can. You open them up, dump the oily goo out, rinse them off, and serve. As a salad topping or straight from the can with a plastic fork. In Scott's world, they are like any other bean - bought dry in a bag, then soaked, then cooked for a long time. But then they will be hot. I don't know if I've ever had a chick pea served warm...except maybe in couscous. Last night was my night to get yelled at by crazies. Inbetween calls I was reading a book until Beth came over and dumped TOPS flash cards and a nomenclature guide on my desk and said, "here...study." So now I know what the map symbol is for a pay phone with TTY, parade route, companion restroom, video captioning, reflective captioning...hmm...it's possible I already knew those. Well, I didn't open my book for the rest of the night, so I guess she got her way! I'm going to go now and make some pasta salad to take to work for lunch. There's a box of tri-color rotini calling my name. ps - Mom had pumpkin creme brulee. I'm so jealous! JLM, 3.19.05, 11:53am \| Date:18 March, 2005 Time:11:32am Subject: Pretty! * * * * * I got flowers! There's a pink egg in the arrangement, so either they were on sale for Easter or it's some sort of weird fertility arrangement. I don't care...they're lovely...and a nice thing to see first thing in the morning. JLM, 3.17.05, 11:53pm No comments required. He's great. You don't have to tell me! Date:17 March, 2005 Time:11:44pm Subject: Money on the Brain * * * * * Today is payday. Like I (try to) do every payday, I sat this morning in front of my on-line bank statement, balanced my checkbook, and paid some bills. But something strange happened today. I paid the last bill of the month...and had $250 left over! Of course, I had transferred $50 from savings at the beginning of the month, but I made up for it when I put $150 in today. This warms my heart because the $1000 I put in from my bonus in December had dwindled to around $500. I think with Scott's raise, and with my OT we put in an extra $100 last week. And next week we both have OT shifts (Scott's is 8 hours...mine is only 6). In the coming months, things continue to look up. Our DAMN Nextel contract ends this summer, freeing us from the shackles of the $160/month bill. I figure even with a tricked-out plan from Verizon we shouldn't be over $100/month...although we'll have to pay some sort of deposit and buy phones...which still aren't half as expensive as POS Nextel phones. Plus, we each get our paltry 4% raises in October (thank you SPFPA and IBEW for fighting for our right to keep up with inflation), and my car will be paid off in December. So what if we have to stay here for another year? By the end of '06 we should definitely have the required funds to move into an actual home of our own. And any hurricanes that blow through will only pad the savings account. Happy days are here again... (not that I'm implying money = happiness) JLM, 3.17.05, 11:53pm \| Date:16 March, 2005 Time:6:41pm Subject: and now...sleep * * * * * It's been an exhausting two days. After all day at Animal Kingdom yesterday and a good chunk of the day today at Magic Kingdom, I am ready to sleep for a week. But Idol is on at 9, so I guess I should stay awake at least that long. I had a lot of fun...despite my whining to the contrary today (ow...my toes!). Anyway, I have lots of pictures. Here's the lowdown before I begin: Jackie and I went through school together from 6th grade on. Her husband is Jon. Jade is the three-year-old (who can spell her name and tell you her address!!) and Juliette is the baby. She's just over a year and oh-so-cute. If you want lots of attention, just take these kids with you! Here are the girls in their unusual states. They were so happy most of the time...but it's more fun to take pictures when they look like this! The left picture is Jade's first Mickey picture, taken when she was an infant. The right picture is Juliette's, taken yesterday. I just love symmetry! Who doesn't love a good Disney Princess photo!?!? Ahhh...Pluto ate the baby! Everybody sing: "Dumbo Riders...Dumbo Riders in the sky..." That's it for today. I'm getting verrry sleeeepyyy p.s. Mom's back online. Check out her progress! JLM, 3.16.05, 7:01pm \| Date:14 March, 2005 Time:2:26pm Subject: a real (a)live hero * * * * * I don't often crib entire stories here in my blog. For this story, though, I'm making an exception. I stole it from AOL News last night and wanted to paste it in here so that I'll always remember it. DULUTH, GA. (March 13) - The woman held hostage in her apartment by the suspect in Atlanta's courthouse slayings said Sunday that her ordeal began with the man sticking a gun in her side and tying her up, but ended with the weapons on the floor as he let her go to see her young daughter. After hours of talking about the killings, their families and God, Ashley Smith said Brian Nichols "just wanted some normalness to his life." Smith called 911 after she was freed, and police soon surrounded her suburban apartment complex. Nichols, who police say killed three people in the courthouse Friday and a federal agent later, gave up peacefully, waving a white towel in surrender. "I honestly think when I looked at him that he didn't want to do it anymore," Smith said in a statement televised on CNN. If he didn't give up, she told him, "Lots more people are probably going get hurt and you're probably going to die." Nichols allegedly overpowered a courthouse deputy escorting him to his rape trial Friday and took the deputy's gun, then entered the courtroom where his trial was being held and killed the presiding judge and court reporter. He also is accused of killing a deputy who tried to stop him outside the courthouse and a federal agent during his flight from authorities. Smith said Nichols, 33, took her hostage in the parking lot outside her apartment when she returned from a store about 2 a.m. "He said, `I'm not going to hurt you if you just do what I say,"' she said. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody else." She said Nichols tied her up with masking tape, a curtain and extension cord and told her to sit in the bathroom while he took a shower. "I thought he was going to strangle me," she said. She said as the night wore on, she tried to win his trust. Choking back tears, she said she told Nichols that her husband died four years ago and if he hurt her, her little girl wouldn't have a mother or father. "I told him I was supposed to see my little girl the next morning at 10," Smith said. "I asked him if I could go and he said no." He eventually untied her, and some of the fear lessened as they talked. Nichols told Smith he felt like "he was already dead," but Smith urged him to consider the fact that he was still alive a "miracle." "You're here in my apartment for some reason," she told him, saying he might be destined to be caught and to spread the word of God to fellow prisoners. He eventually put down the guns police say he took when he overwhelmed sheriff's deputies, putting them on the floor and later under a bed. When morning came, Nichols was "overwhelmed" when Smith made him pancakes, she said. They watched television news reports about the slaying and the manhunt for Nichols. "I cannot believe that's me on there," Smith quoted Nichols as saying. Smith said Nichols didn't bring any weapons when he had her help him move a truck he had stolen away from the apartment complex. When Nichols let Smith go, he said he wanted to stay at the apartment for a few more days, but she said she thought he knew she was going to call 911 after she left. Police said they were impressed by the way Smith handled herself. "She acted very cool and levelheaded. We don't normally see that in our profession," said Gwinnett County Police Officer Darren Moloney. "It was an absolutely best case scenario that happened, a complete opposite of what you expected to happen. We were prepared for the worst and got the best." Nichols did not say anything when he was arrested but was "very calm, very compliant with officers' directions to him in securing his arrest. He was very cooperative," Gwinnett County Police Chief Charles Walters said Sunday. Police say Nichols drove a stolen vehicle to the woman's Gwinnett County apartment complex, which he may have picked at random. "The bottom line is that law enforcement had no idea where he was - this victim, the community owes a tremendous debt to her because she kept her calm and provided us with the information that ultimately led to the arrest," Walters said. HERO...that's all I have to say. I hope something very wonderful happens to that woman as a result of her ordeal. And now, a complete change of subject. I never really thought of Scott as the personalized white pick-up kind of guy, but here's some proof: click on the picture for the rest of my photo evidence! I called in sick today, but I have to call the help desk later because I promised a lady I'd fix something on her account this afternoon and then I went and called in. Go figure! I went to sleep with a headache, and woke up with a headache. Not the sharp ice-pick-in-brain type, but the very dull, but with spots in front of your eyes that make you wonder if a migraine is on the way type. I decided not to take any chances, especially because Jackie is in town the next two days and I won't be relaxing too much during my weekend. Plus, I worked two hours of OT last night. Not that that justifies calling in...but maybe I won't pay myself all 8 hours of sick pay for today. We'll see. I may need those two hours some day! I'm going to go veg now. Later: laundry. JLM, 3.14.05, 2:40pm \| Date:13 March, 2005 Time:1:43am Subject: not another! * * * * * Well, I've picked up another blog. This brings my total to four: Matthew, his friend Justin (who is a brilliant writer, but doesn't write often), Jaime, and Rosie. I didn't mean to be interested. It was morbid curiosity. I clicked and there she was, all fat and gay and oh-so-liberal. I put her on my favorites list in the blog folder. I don't know if I'll read her every day, but I'll visit when I'm bored. Of course, I also read myself...more than I read anyone else. After all, I don't proofread them. But it's no fun reading me - I already know how each entry ends. Today was my last day with Reyna's munchkins. My new earlier bid starts tomorrow and I won't be sitting for them on the weekends. We celebrated by watching the SpongeBob Movie (lots of naked animated butts...and way too much David Hasselhoff, or has Hunter calls him, David Husselpuff). The boys were good...making sure I'd miss them as much as possible I guess. And Autumn's sleep schedule is messed up again. She laid on my lap through the whole movie, except every 10 or so minutes she'd get down, walk 10 feet away, and the decide she didn't want to go play and climb back up with me on the couch. She's such a cuddle-bunny. So is Conner. Hunter isn't so much into the human touch. I wonder if that's a genetic difference or if it's an age thing. He is, after all, second man of the house. That's a lot of responsibility for a five-year-old! Scott is back at work after his two-day mini break from hurting his back. He blames the mattress at the Holiday Inn Express. I blame other factors. Possibly the clenched muscles from the terror of me driving. Possibly our own bed. I really never had trouble with my back (except on laundry days) before we were married. And unless ground beef causes back injuries, the only other factor is the mattress I'm sleeping on. It's way too mushy...and if Scott rolls towards me, the middle sags and I roll down into it. I want one of those NASA foam mattresses, but Scott says we don't have the thousands of dollars it would take to buy one. Oh well...I'll put that on the list right below cruise and house. No word from mom tonight, but Scott says he saw her online. She must be alive somewhere...I just don't know where. Hopefully she'll write in the morning. Tis time for me to sleep! JLM, 3.13.05, 1:59am \| Date:12 March, 2005 Time:3:43am Subject: Sleep? What's that? * * * * * I must still be frazzled from my long day (which really was long...I stayed for 1 1/2 hours of OT) of getting yelled at by people who think that paying thousands of dollars for a vacation entitles you to yell at people who have nothing to do with your problem. I'm sorry your keys don't work. I'm sorry the cheerleaders keep waking up your kids. I'm sorry the front desk checked your party of 4 into a room with a king bed. But I can't solve your problem until you shut up and let me call someone to help me. And then it's going to take even longer because I'm going to tell the person I call what an A-hole you are. In other news, the Traveling Mom is in Boerne, Texas tonight, home of the Cave Without a Name (something I came across trying to place the Boerne dot on my map). I wouldn't say I wish I was in Boerne...but I wish that I was someplace other than here...seeing something I've never seen. After all, the most exciting part of my day is seeing the progress of the Wendy's they are building on my way home from work. I'm not eating burgers from any other restaurant in anticipation of my first 99-cent Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. drool I think I need to lay down and close my eyes and practice some deep breating and visualization until I fall asleep. The alarm is set for 11:30. JLM, 3.12.05, 3:52am \| Date:11 March, 2005 Time:1:57am Subject: Strength or Selfishness? * * * * * I finally got some momentum tonight at work reading Traveling Mercies, and came across a passage that really struck me. She was talking about an old lady at her church who was going blind. Everyone in the church expected her to accept her blindness and eventually find joy in its meaning. She went into depression and stopped going to church. The elders would bring her communion once a month, but wouldn't be a part of the community anymore. "It must have been too annoying for everyone to be trying to manipulate her into being a better sport than she was capable of being. I always thought that was heroic of her, that it spoke of such integrity to refuse to pretend that you're doing well just to help other people deal with the fact that sometimes we face an impossible loss." Maybe it's heroic for an 80-year-old woman to say "no...it's not going to be ok," but I always feel a little selfish when I'm not ok and I say so. To what extent are we responsible for the peace of mind of other people? I mean sure, this incredibly open, spiritual being respected the fact that this woman was just going to be, without being for other people. But how many other people would have just felt sorry for the old blind woman and maybe a little sad that she wasn't handling things as well as she should have? Well, since it is ultimately all about me, I guess I'll keep on being strong and selfish and calling 'em as I see 'em. And from now on, "fine" is a dirty word to me. "Good" is good, "bad" is bad, but "fine" is a lie I won't tell. And now, in a complete change of subject, I would like to present two random amusing images. 1) The psychic (or is it Polish?) wet paint sign... Don't they usually put the sign up after there is paint on the walls? 2) The exploding prom dress... This is the petticoat I wore under my wedding dress, in my back seat, on its way to its new owner, Beth. Poor Frances isn't used to being dressed so girly...she is usually covered in umbrellas and old mail and shoes! JLM, 3.11.05, 2:11am \| Date:10 March, 2005 Time:11:58am Subject: Vicarious Living * * * * * I've decided to live a little vicariously through my mom for the next few weeks. Whilst she is exploring uncharted territory, I'm going to keep track of where she goes. Check out Mom's Travelog by clicking on her custom map below... Well, believe it or not, nothing has happened in my life since 2 this morning, and I have nothing left to say. I need to get going now so that Scott and I can go grocery shopping before I have to leave for work. Adios! JLM, 3.10.05, 12:04pm \| Date:10 March, 2005 Time:1:48am Subject: strung-out, wrung-out, driven-out * * * * * I've had a pretty emotionally (and somewhat physically) draining couple of days. And I'm not quite up to writing about it in prose. So let's make a list, shall we? Drive to Bradenton down a construction-clogged 27, a construction-clogged I-4 and then I-75 for a total of 100 miles in steady 40 MPH winds. Scott hadn't slept, so I was driving - both hands on the wheel - it was like steering a parasail against the wind! All-too-short visit with Mom, who is now off on her whirlwind US tour. I miss her already. Alice died, and she's going to Texas for the funeral and then she's going to keep going west. We might get some furniture and a practically-new Dell computer, but that's neither here nor there. Drive back up 75 and 4 and 27 in rain. Emotionally drained to an extent that I was laughing...laughing...laughing with tears in my eyes...and then sobbing. Literally couldn't see the road through my tears. In the rain. And did I mention I was driving?? Lunch at Cracker Barrell - good server. Hair in my mac n cheese. But really, the waiter was so cool I may still go back. His name is Harry. If you go there, ask for him. Work. Cold and wet people are especially cranky. Home. And bed isn't far behind. Tomorrow is another day, right? JLM, 3.10.05, 2:01am \| Date:7 March, 2005 Time:3:13pm Subject: High Fidelity * * * * * It's been two hours since I finished watching this movie (I started it last night around 2am and was falling asleep) and I still haven't been able to really decide if I liked it. I definitely liked aspects. First, the cast. I love John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Tim Robbins, and Catherine Zeta Jones. Any movie with them will touch me on some level. Second, the story. John Cusack stars as a guy who is being dumped in the first scene of the movie. His character is a record store owner who makes Top Five lists of everything, and he starts making a list of the top five most horrible break-ups of his life. You see them in flashback from the girl who went from kissing him after school in the sixth grade to kissing another guy after school all the way to his current break-up. And then he goes and actually catches up with these women who broke his heart, attempting some kind of "what have I been doing wrong?" catharsis. He discovers that these old relationships all ended for very different reasons (he actually dumped one of them) and somewhere along the lines he realizes that the reason his relationships never worked out is because he didn't expect them to. I smell a turning-point. Things I didn't like: Jack Black. He's so dirty. Lots of casual sex talked about casually (don't start calling me conservative...I just thought it was unimportant to the story). Cusack's character broke the fourth wall. The last time I saw a movie where that was a good idea was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. If I want an actor to talk to me, I'll go to Hollywood and find one. In a movie, they should stick to talking to the other characters. Anyway, he gets back together with the girl in the end and they all live happily ever after. What I don't get is whether this movie is trying to be deep and philosophical and falls short, or whether it was effortlessly and deceptively deep. I wouldn't say this movie was entertaining. There were no big laughs and no tears. But it made me think, and it made me smile. I wouldn't recommend going out and renting High Fidelity, but if it was on cable on a rainy afternoon, I would tell you to watch it. (and no - I didn't spoil the ending) JJJj out of JJJJJ And in honor of the "Top Five"s in the movie, I present my own. Top Five Celebrity Power Siblings: 5: The Olsens. Mary Kate and Ashley are too obvious...and too filthy rich...to not make the list. 4: The Cusacks. John, darling of John Hughes films and cult classics, and Joan, with supporting roles in most of her brother's movies and other random films like Toys, are an obvious choice. 3: The Osmonds. There's a whole clan of them, but let's focus on the two key players - Donny and Marie. From evening variety to daytime talk to game shows to Mulan (Donny can make a man out of me any day!) and a touring production of The Sound of Music (co-featuring my good acquaintance and former Miss New Jersey Jill Horner), this pair may be more Utah than California, but their celebrity status remains. 2: The Estevez-Sheens. Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen collaborated in Men at Work, and their separate bodies of work make them true contemporary legends. After all, with Mighty Ducks 4 in pre-production and all those big- and small-screen comedies Charlie has starred in, Martin Sheen must be pretty proud of his boys! 1: The Marshalls. Penny and Garry are really in a celebrity sibling League of Their Own (which, by the way, was directed by Penny and featured Garry). From Happy Days to Laverne and Shirley to Pretty Woman, no other set of siblings has been so diverse and successful, behind and in front of the camera. JLM, 3.7.05, 3:56pm \| Date:7 March, 2005 Time:1:39am Subject: TGIF * * * * * Well, I'm not fired. When I got to work, there weren't any good mangers on duty so I went ahead and looked up the room, saw that Ops "fixed" the mistake (which of course undid what I had tried to do) so I went in and re-did what I did yesterday and added the missing step. So all is well. Mrs. X got her $10 credited back to her credit card and I'm still employed. And now I have two days off. I have High Fidelity and Double Jeopardy to watch this weekend. I've already seen Double Jeopardy, so I probably won't review it. I really liked it the first time around. And we'll see about High Fidelity. I don't remember ordering it, and the synopsis on the jacket doesn't sound that interesting. We'll see. JLM, 3.7.05, 1:44am \| Date:6 March, 2005 Time:10:25am Subject: oops * * * * * I made a $10 mistake at work last night. And I didn't realize it until I woke up with a start about 30 minutes ago. The good news is that it's only $10, and I figure one of two things happened: Ops at the resort may have discovered my error last night and fixed it (and may or may not have notified my managers) or they didn't notice it and if I can get my hands on the room number that I messed up on I can fix it. Either way I plan to go in and throw myself on the mercy of the nicest manager I can find. The good news for me is that I start back on nights tonight, so it'll be my normal managers who know and love me and know how not-this-stupid I really am. Of course, technically a cash-handling error is a terminable offense...but this was $10. Maybe I don't like this front desk stuff as much as I thought I would... nah...it'll be fine. If you're wondering where I've been, I've been here. Sleeping a lot. Possibly fighting off a new sickness working its way around. And playing a new Club Pogo game -- Lottso! It's addictive...don't start up. And that's about it. Hopefully I won't be back writing at 6:00 tonight after getting canned for my $10 mistake! JLM, 3.6.05, 10:32am \| Date:3 March, 2005 Time:7:55pm Subject: 26 - a Day in Pictures * * * * * Well, before I start the pictures, I'd like to mention the part of my day that didn't get photographed - breakfast at Perkins. We got two free muffins...not because of my birthday but because I complained to the manager about the crappy service. No drink refills, no tomatoes in my omelette, no ranch dressing with Scott's sandwich, and a pretty crappy attitude. This wasn't the start to my "special day" that I was hoping for. And then on the way to the Magic Kingdom, it started to sprinkle. And it continued to sprinkle all day long. But enough about all that. We took the monorail over to the park (mostly because it was just too cold for the ferryboat) and we had a close encounter with Stitch's butt... Once we got into the park and got me a birthday button from City hall, we stopped to take a picture of the "improvements" to the Castle... ...and then we started in Adventureland. We hit Jungle Cruise (still lame as ever), Pirates, Tiki Room (lamer than ever), Haunted Mansion, the Carousel... ...the Mad Tea Party, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, TTA... ...the steam train (which we took all the way around the park...and then the extra leg from Toontown to Main Street), we stopped to visit with Chris and Dave and Dave at the turnstiles, and then went back to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz and the TTA again, stopped in the Chapeau to take the obligatory stupid birthday hat picture... ...and then had dinner at Tony's. We started with fried goat cheese (or was it ricotta?) and Scott had seafood pasta and I had pan-seared salmon with lemon risotto cake and buerre blanc. That risotto cake is my new favorite food. And for dessert we split my complimentary ice cream with candle...after our waiter had the whole restaurant do the wave-your-napkin thing, yell "Happy Birthday Jamie" and blow me a "big Italian kiss." It was great! :o) So I'd like to thank alll the random people at the Kingdom who said "happy birthday" to me - especially Jan in Tomorrowland who remembered my name the second time we saw her and Parviz at Tony's for the "big Italian kiss" and especially Scott who came out and got cold and wet with me all day...and tolerated all of my old age comments...and lamented with me when Jan asked if I was 21 (which, by the way, is the age people pretend you are when you're obviously older...kinda like the way people ask Mom if she and I are sisters). And thanks to Janette and Shirley for the presents and dinner last night. I wish every week was my birthday so I could always eat so well! And thanks to Matthew for calling at 9:30 this morning to tell me happy birthday. And thanks to Mom for re-telling the story of my birth over IM this morning. And thanks to Cat for remembering that my birthday was some time this month. I think that's it. I had a great day. And now I'm going to put on warm dry clothes, bundle myself under a few blankets and watch some reality TV! JLM, 3.3.05, 8:30pm \| Date:3 March, 2005 Time:9:34am Subject: It's my BiRTHDAY!!! * * * * * Yeah...I just love that picture...any excuse to use it. So...yeah...birthday. Sounds like a good excuse to have a brownie for breakfast, right? Last night in honor of my birthday, we went with Scott's family (minus Jon) to Cracker Barrel and feasted on fried catfish. I ordered it and then everyone else went "ooh...catfish!" And I had hash brown casserole and broccoli casserole and corn. And a biscuit. mmm...catfish. And they came with hush puppies. mmm...hush puppies Today in honor of my birthday, Scott and I are going to the Magic Kingdom to have dinner at Tony's (no, there will be no long-spaghetti-strand sharing, and if Scott attempts to roll a meatball at me with his nose I may get up and leave!). Hopefully we'll get over there in time to get a birthday button, go on a couple of rides, and take pictures!!! I guess I should wrap this up before the style police come and take me away for over-use of italics, bold, underlining, and exclamation points!!!!!!!!! 26...that's old. And I think I'm handling that fact remarkably well! JLM, 3.3.05, 9:43am \| Date:1 March, 2005 Time:5:53pm Subject: The Crew * * * * * Of all the old-guys-reclaiming-their-youth movies I've seen, this could be the worst. The story is amusing - 4 former New Jersey "wise guys" currently living in Miami Beach can't afford to pay the 200% increase in the rent on their ocean front apartment, so they stage a murder to scare away the young "hipsters." They steal a body from the city morgue and shoot it in the lobby of their building. Oops - the "John Doe" from the morgue turns out to be the father of a Miami drug lord. Mayhem ensues. The "wise guys," played by Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, and two other old guys, were great. The dective, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, was tough and sexy (and she kicks a guy in the face...twice). And the climax was amusing. The plot, however, made more twists and turns than necessary. I give The Crew JJJ out of JJJJJ. If you're looking for a better movie in this genre, I recommend Space Cowboys, which starred Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones as the old guys reclaiming their youth. JLM, 3.1.05, 6:01pm \| Date:1 March, 2005 Time:12:19pm Subject: Happy March * * * * * Well, I haven't gone outside today, and I haven't checked the weather, but it looks to me that March is coming in like a lamb. Whatever that means. I get it - in like a lamb, out like a lion, or the other way around. But who came up with that silliness in the first place? So this is the March page. New picture of us, and a new background. And this is no generic Windows background - I took this picture while sitting in a rocking chair on the back side of the Boardwalk while we were out on tour. When it isn't raining on me, or beating sun down on me, I really love the Florida sky. Yesterday I was mostly unproductive. I watched a movie, took a shower, and "made dinner" consisting of baked sweet potatoes and a salad with a cubed baked chicken breast thrown in. And I packed Scott food for work - a bag of cucumber coins left over from the salad. Today I have to do laundry...or show up for my one day of work naked. And nobody wants that! Well, time for breakfast. I have another movie to watch today, so stay tuned for another review. JLM, 3.1.05, 12:27pm \| Do you need to go back toFebruary?