Today's joy, brought to you by 4square and iPhone

Went to work, and honestly, any day I can get out of bed, I feel lucky. So, after getting up and ready, then I went to work. I had a heck of a day at work. At times it seemed like I was the only person out of the 6 of us there who was ACTUALLY doing something. then the computers at work went down. No worries, call Brian, he can fix it, and well, I did. But at that point in time all work ceased. I got things up and running, and got people back to working, that was the hard part, the people. But I had my usual day of fielding questions about insurance, co-pays, cost of medication, and of course, can I drink beer with this. Took a break, well not really, I sat on a stool in a place no one could see me. It was for maybe 3 minutes. I was going to order some tickets to see Marc Broussard. Ever hear him?? Check him out, but only if you love awesome music, but I digress....So I get on my trusty iPhone, and go to buy tickets and of course, its sold out. I almost threw up...I was mad, at myself...I was supposed to buy them for a friend and I, but I figured I had a month, no worries. So in addition to the fact that I'm now not going, I get to make the text of shame, admitting my inability to make a simple web transaction. The killer is that I had them in my cart the day before, and I had to go get carrots for soup I was making...and that kids, is why vegetables are NOT good for you. So, I send the text, and she is of course nice, but disappointed. I of course feel like a tool. From this point on, I was a real bitch at work. Ruined my day, and the day of my co-workers....heh......sorry about that.....everything was pissing me off. Finally my boss told me my shift was over and to go home, and to be in a better mood when i returned, she was only (half) joking. I apologized and left. Went to get a turkey burger, and waited with a Maker's, double, rocks. It was not a good day/night.

I hate when people beg. But I sent a tweet to the venue where the concert will be, and asked, not begged, if there was any chance I could get 2 tickets for the show....pretty please with sugar on top.... they replied with an email address to contact, but things didn't look great,but they'd see what they could do for the mayor(I am the 4square mayor of said venue) So, I sent off an email, and low and behold a few hours later I was told that there will be 2 tickets waiting for me at will call that night!! Holy Balls!! I was pumped!! So excited! I then sent off the text of triumph!! My day took a total 180 from crap to awesome, and to top it off, I ended the night by watching Julie and Julia, which I loved.

I guess all the 4Square sign ins are finally paying off....

Julie and Julia....spoilers in this blog

I'll just say it, I'm a sucker for romantic movies. And I'm fine with that. I've watched them all, well, ok, not all, but a lot of them. I've laughed, cried and enjoyed it. I never wanted to see Julie and Julia. I'm a fan of Amy Adams, so cute, and Stanley Tucci, forget about it, but I'm not a huge fan of Meryl Streep. So I sort of avoided it. But it came up on my Netflix recommendations, and a friend of mine, you should really checkout her blog,www.paigeworthy.com(way better than mine..WAY BETTER), blogged about seeing it and figured I'd give it a spin.
I started it and stopped it. Then started and stopped. Walked around, got a drink, and then sat down and re-re-started it. SIMPLY WONDERFUL! What took me so long?? I was delighted with it from the first....well....from the third time I started it. I'm not a great writer, I'm not really good at expressing how I feel in words. If you were here, with me, I could maybe do an interpretive dance, but I fear that would not go so well either. But I did come away with a few things from it, of which I will share.
First, Julia and Paul. I. Want. That. I just loved the way they looked at each other, how they supported each other, how they loved each other. All the time. I want that, for me, for you, for everyone.
There are some scenes that really touched me. In the kitchen when Julia got the letter from her sister telling her she was pregnant, that really broke my heart. Maybe I'm wrong, but Julia and Paul couldn't have children, and it seemed to be something she longed for. It's a hard place to be, in that position. Obviously filled with joy for her sister, but at the same time, feeling a void in her life for something she wants so bad. Been there.
The scene where she meets Avis for the first time at the train station. When Julia explained how she had never met Avis, how they were pen pals. They had exchanged letters back and forth, for 8 years, and they would finally meet. Avis called Julia "My dear friend". It's funny to me, that today, we do the same thing. We make friends on the internet, twitter, some of who we will never meet. But even though we may never meet them, or haven't met them yet, we know them. And they know us. Well, as much as we LET them know.
To do something, anything, for a year, is a tremendous task. I can't seem to string a few blog posts together each week let alone cook every recipe in a cookbook AND blog about it. I'm happy if I get to work on time and leave on time most days(that never happens). Julie did it, she finished it, had some ups and downs, but quite frankly looked smashing and pixie cute doing it.
So, recap. Julie and Julia-loved it, want to be that, whatever it is in the movie. Adams, Tucci, Streep, and the rest, BRAVO ! Heck, even Jane Lynch is in this movie, and you know how I love me some Jane Lynch!
Pop some corn, rent(or stream via Netflix) this movie, sit back, relax and enjoy. You won't be sorry....Bon Appetit!!

Stop bothering me....yeah, im here.....of course i can help...

So, if you know me, and I assume my 4 readers know me, because, why else would you be reading this, you have heard me talk about, or actually complain about my pop. But first, maybe you don't know this, but my mom died a few years ago. Shortly before my pop retired, my mom got sick and was in the hospital for about 100 days. During that time, we, my family, got called there a few times, because...well....they thought mom was going to die. All those times she didn't, thankfully. Eventually, she physically recovered, but she was never the same mentally...she was just different. My Pop, then retired, and became pretty much a nurse to my mom. He never complained. Even now when we talk about it, he has never said a bad work, or felt bad for himself. It was something that happened, and he dealt with it the best he could. He wasn't perfect, but none of us are. Then, mom got sick again, and eventually died. My pop was a shattered man. It was really hard on him. Since I was the only one of me, my brother and sister who was close, it was my job to go see him daily. I would go to see him, we would watch TV, he would sigh alot, and we would eat, and he would excuse himself to go cry. He thought I didn't know, but I did. It broke my heart. I thought he didn't know that I knew, but maybe he did. After some time, a year or so, he got "better" or I think he just learned how to deal with the pain, he grieved and was a different man. A stronger, better man, but different. He is now dating a great woman, and is very happy. He stops by work to see me almost daily. If he stops and I'm not there, he will call me just to tell me he stopped, and nothing else really. So, honestly, it's really great to see him that much and that happy. He is proud of me, he tells me, and that really makes my day. Buuuuuuuut.... you know, times when im working, and he calls me and I tell him, I can't talk, but he CAN'T wait and has to ask me...who was that guy in that movie...he wore a funny hat....That's Will Farrel in Elf, pop...RIGHT!! he says....what is that other movie he is in?? POP....I'm working...I can't do this right now...

Also he has a tendency to want things fixed, RIGHT NOW. It is usually something that doesn't need to be fixed. Ever. But it bugs him, so he calls and expects me to run right over, drop everything. Annoying, right. But then he calls me back to tell me, he figured it out, that it wasn't that hard. I tell him "cool, i knew you could", then he says that is good to have me right across the river and it's good to know he can call me, and I will be there to help him...I tell him, Yep, call me whenever you need anything. And he does.