Ring Tones!

There are a lot of fun blog activities that circulate the web, and I am making up my own today:-) It should be fun, I think. First, a confession: I love ringtones. That's right, I am a ringtone whore...virtually everyone who matters has their own song that plays when they call me. And I never get tired of the little music snippets I get all day if anyone calls. OK...not "all day"...since I feel like it is not maybe that professional to have Christina Aguilera blaring out of my phone at work...

What I have decided to do is to run through all of my ringtones, and tell you why each one belongs to the person it belongs to. Call it "insight through RAZR" (yes, I need a new phone.) So, here are all of the tones I have in my phone right now.

• Big Sis: "California Love" - 2Pac. Because it's her favorite song. Yes.
• Smoking Hot Roommate: "Mr. Brightside" - The Killers. The best song of the decade for the best person of the decade.
• Munchkin: "Beautiful Day" - U2. I love the opening to this, and it is kinda how I feel when she calls, so it matched.
• The Boy: "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews. A) He loves Dave Matthews. B) Its about regular everyday living, which I like the idea of.
• Twin Sister: "I kissed a girl" - Katie Perry. Yea, I am that obvious.
• Papa Bear: "Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones. The music fits him.
• The Body: "Hey Ya!" - OutKast. Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor!
• The Mouth: "Dirty" - Christina Aguilera. Cause it ROCKS! Like her!
• BFFb: "Breathe" - Faith Hill. He hates that this is his ringtone, because it is super gay. But it was the first song I heard after the most important thing that ever happened with us, so it will always stay.
• BFFg: "Freshmen" - The Verve Pipe. Old song, reminds me of some old times.
• The Brain Surgeon: "Green Eyes" - Coldplay. This used to be Big Sis's, but he objected. That is what you get for objecting! It is now his!
• Boss Foxy: "Girlfriend" - Matthew Sweet. She picked this, and I like it. The opening guitar riff makes a great ring!

Non Blog-named friends:

• J : "Ticks" - Brad Paisley. Love this song!
• J (2): "Since You Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson. Oh yea, I have sung this as loud as I can in bars at 1:00am several times.
• J (3): "Toxic" - Britney Spears. Britney's best work, by a mile.
• A: "I want it that way" - The Backstreet Boys. Because no one would be more excited if they made a huge comeback.
• C: "Smack My Bitch Up" - Prodigy. And whenever she calls, I kinda want to start a bar fight. Weird...
• K: "Living on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi. Same rationale as J (2).
• M: "In da Club" - 50 Cent. Because I can also wrap in bars.
• S: "Hot in Heeere" - Nelly. Ditto.
• E: "Somebody told me" - The Killers. A tribute to a boyfriend of hers leaving her for another man. She finds it moderately humorous.
• T: "She loves me" - The Stallionaires. Oh yes, Real and Chance from VH1's myriad dating shows have a band...and they have songs...

That is pretty much all of them. I have some others that I think are not assigned to anyone right now. Also, Tinkerbelle doesn't have one! I think she should...any suggestions?

This was fun! I am hereby suggesting that you all do it! Um...can I tag everyone?

Have a great weekend!

Awards!!!

The snarkiest of snarkies, A (Aloysius Snarkelupagus?) has bestowed an award upon me, and it is with great honor and some reluctance that I accept:

Many many thanks:-) The award comes with a few rules: The honorees are to: A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep! B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

This actually a task that could be incredibly easy, but will be quite difficult. There are, in fact, LOTS of interesting things about me that I have never mentioned here...unfortunately, they are not things I care to share. And outside of those, I don't know that I have anything really that juicy. But...I will give it a go!


10) I speak a very little bit of Spanish. Part of this comes from taking Spanish in school, but the bulk of it comes from a very, very close friend from Chicago (and a pretty regular figure around these parts) who's mother was Dominican and spoke a lot of Spanish.

9) Speaking of that...I had an abnormal number of mixed-race friends growing up, and very few white friends. In fact, if I mention a friend from home, chances are that he or she is black, Hispanic or some combination of black, white and Hispanic.

8) I suck at pictures. This is probably not a surprise to anyone who has requested some;-). But even outside of blog world, I generally forget my camera (or lose it like I did on New Year's Eve), or forget to take any pictures when I am out. Good thing I have friends that are better about it than I am!

7) I have picked out a name for my first-born. It is kind of a unisex name, has great meaning to me, and it is sort of a secret. Actually...this is something that is a secret to people in real life (except The Boy, he knows:-)) but not to blog friends. Yes, that is an invitation to ask:-P

6) I wear a lot of boy's jeans. I mean actual boy's jeans...from the boy's department. I have a terrible time finding women's jeans that fit me, so virtually all of my bang-around, casual jeans from the boys department at Old Navy.

5) I secretly love Barry Manilow. OK, maybe not "love", and it isn't much of a secret anymore, I guess. Cheesy can be good sometimes... (and bonus points to anyone who can figure out which Barry Manilow song I sing pretty once a week;-))

4) I have a horrible heroin addiction, and I am finding that the hideous track marks really diminish what I can charge when I prostitute myself to pay for it. Hee hee...just checking to see who really reads all 10 of these:-P.

3) I enjoy nothing more than waking up at 4:00 on a cold winter morning, looking at the alarm clock and realizing that I can roll over and go straight back to sleep. Truly one of life's great little pleasures. I have considered having two alarm clocks, and setting one at that time just so I can turn it off every night...but I feel like that would be cheating...:-)

2) Based on some things that have happened in the last week, I think I am a really good listener. For some reason, people like to talk to me, and they feel comfortable opening up to me. I like that, and I would like to try and encourage it even more...I know how wonderful it can be to just have someone that you can talk to sometimes, and how much better it can feel to say all of the things you are thinking. I am glad that I can be that person sometimes. There have been people that have done it for me, and I know how much it can mean.

1) I have a weight problem, and people's reaction to it frustrates me to no end. I have a terrible time keeping weight on, and have to carefully watch my diet to keep from getting too thin. Usually this leads to "Oh, you are so lucky, I wish I had that problem!" No, I am not, and No, you don't...it's a pain in the ass, its dangerous, and it has caused substantial health problems at different times. I have to watch my diet as much or more than people that carry too much weight, and it is insulting when people belittle the issue and dismiss it as somehow "fun".

That's all;-)

Now it is my turn to bestow the award to 7 people, and to make them fill out their own list! I am going to hit up some people's whose blogs I read, but that I haven't heard much from lately...also, people I don't think I have ever tagged before, and that don't seem to get too many of these....

1) I will start with Jmhender at Getting Over You. She needs something fun and mindless these days.
2) Mo at Happier Cows. Of course, I went to her blog to get the link and she just did one of these kinda thins. Ahh well...so I already broke one of my rules:-P
3) Jamie at My Cynical POV...because Laurwilk has dramatically increased my love for Iowans, and I am spreading that love around..
4) Amy at A Day in the Life...this is what you get for posting kissy face pictures!!!
5) Megan at A Running Commentary, in hopes that maybe she will write more often! Seriously, more people should read her, she is one of the funniest bloggers I read.
6) Maria at Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken, although she is hereby absolved of the expectation that she respond promptly...since she, you know, just had a baby...
7) And finally, Scotty at Bueno Morning since, I dunno...I feel like I probably owe him one from way back maybe?

Everything you ever wanted to know about Smoking Hot Roommate

So, Laurwilk and e.b. have both claim to have passed my tag along to Porter and Magoo, respectively. Aaron has acknowledged receiving it, but hasn't yet said he would actually do it. C'mon, Aaron...we all know that Sarah is a good sport! She wants to do this, I am certain. Jenny has thus far ignored me;-) (maybe I have teased her about this Hooker character once too often?) and I am anxiously awaiting Otto's renewed health so that he can chime in as well. Smoking Hot Roommate responded directly, attached below.

But first, a little updating. The weekend was really nice. Weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I had very little that I really had to do. I babysat for The Boy's niece on Friday (he fell asleep when he got home and woke up at about 10:00 am Saturday), went to Munchkin's soccer game Saturday morning, went out with The Boy to a friend's apartment on Saturday night, went for a walk Sunday morning and then had an outstanding afternoon of Fantasy Football;-). Pretty nice weekend, if you ask me.

I was talked into leaving work early yesterday to watch the Red Sox game, which was fun. I should drink more on Monday afternoons;-). Unfortunately, they lost, so everyone was in a pissy mood. Regardless of their unhappiness, I enjoyed the beers and nachos:-)

I have several comments on Dancing With The Stars. I don't watch this often, but I did catch some of it last night. My thoughts...I feel like these people are worse than years past. Lance Bass is not getting any less gay;-). Warren's partner has the most absurd fake boobs I have ever seen. I consistently worried that Cloris Leachman would lose a hip. Susan Lucci is 61 years old...I seriously would have guessed like 45 from looking at her!!!

And finally, on behalf of all the women in the world who have had children or may one day have children and face the horrors of the absolute abuse to your body from doing so... FUCK YOU, BROOKE BURKE!!! How the fuck has she had four children? Are we sure of this? Maybe she hired someone...I am suspicious. Honestly, if I thought I would look like that afterwards, I would have like a dozen of them.

Anyway...below is Smoking Hot Roommate's six things...she definitely came up with some good stuff, as you will see. For the record, I will vouch for the weird food habits and the unnatural love of Diet Coke:

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1) I tore my knee up playing soccer in High School. At the end of a slide tackle, I tried to plant my foot to pop up. She slid right through me. Bye-bye knee ligaments. Hello large, winding scar.

2) I've suffered from some really bad bouts of depression. AM has seen it, she has been a big help in getting through some of it. I love her for it.

3) Big Sis, AM and I are all pretty sure that I was an accident. My older sister was 7 years old, and my parents were both about 35. People don't have a baby at 28, then all of a sudden decide to have a second one seven years later. My Father refuses to admit this, but he doesn't exactly deny it, either.

4) While we are on that subject, my Father definitely wished I was a boy. Big Sis is all girl. I learned to play golf and love every sport you can think of by the time I was about 5. Boys are, for some reason, really attracted to the idea that a girl can beat them at golf. Latent desires to be dominated sexually? I am just throwing ideas out there.

5) I have less artistic ability than virtually anyone I have ever met. I have always wished that I could be an artist. I can not draw. Nor paint. Nor sculpt. I can not sing and never could figure out how to play any instruments. I am a pretty good dancer, though.

6) I have food OCD. I like to eat food in its individual parts, not the whole. Example: Twix Bars - I nibble the caramel top off, then the chocolate sides, then the cookie. Oreo Cookies - I eat the top cookie, then as much of the bottom cookie as I can without eating the cream. Then, finally, the cream. Maybe this applies mostly to snack foods and candy. Whatever it is, I eat food weird. Also, I drink Diet Coke in unhealthy quantities. So much that you likely wouldn't believe me if I told you. In a normal day, I usually drink 5-6 of the 20 oz. bottles.

Tagged

I got tagged by Snarky Much, and while my record of responding to tags is...um..."spotty", this one seems like a good way to occupy a quasi-holiday Monday morning. So...

1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP

First of all, this is kinda hard. There are lots of things about me that I have never written, but they are almost all by intentional omission. I have very few secrets that I don't intend to keep. But here goes...some random facts and a couple of stories from the past...

1) I never smoked cigarettes. Seriously, I have had a lot of bad habits, but I never picked this one up. I am not really sure why...but I have probably had less than four cigarettes in my life, and never ever felt any desire to be a regular smoker.

2) Weather permitting, I usually drive barefoot. Someone told me that this is actually against the law in Massachusetts...can someone confirm that? But during the summer, I almost never wear shoes while driving, and actually find myself weirdly pained to do so. This was an awfully nice part about living in Arizona...no need to really ever wear shoes while driving.

3) Speaking of driving...have I ever told you how I learned to drive? My mom used to hang out at a whole bunch of local bars, and often drank herself into oblivion. One night (I was probably 12) she got completely hammered and they wouldn't let her drive home. She called me to come down and get her. So, I walked the three blocks to the bar (not a really safe three blocks, by the way) and drove her home. Somehow the bartender felt like it was unsafe for her to drive herself, but it was OK for me to drive her. I dunno...it made sense at the time. Fun story, huh?

4) BFFg and I were once almost involved in a bar fight in which three people ended up getting stabbed. We were 17 with really bad fake ID's and were hanging out in a really, really wretched, unsafe place. We got out because BFFg recognized the gang dress from a kid in our math class, and dropped his name to get someone to sneak us out the back. More fun times.

5) BFFb has saved my life on two occasions. Once figuratively, once once literally. We were at a pool with a bunch of people and I was playfully being chased around the pool. I slipped, cracked my face on a metal pole and knocked myself unconscious (I still have a scar on my lip from it). I also, according to everyone that was there, teetered on the edge of the pool deck, which fell off about 10 or 12 feet into a parking lot. BFFb grabbed me as I started to fall off the edge. OK...maybe I wouldn't have died...but it would have been messy. That's why he is my favorite boy in the world:-)

6) My favorite jeans come from the boys department at Old Navy. The boys jeans don't make my butt look that good, so they aren't my hot jeans...but they are the most comfortable. I have trouble finding clothes that fit me (no surprise there) so I end up buying lots of stuff in places intended for teenagers;-)

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OK, here is where it gets fun...

I am going to tag some people, but I am gonna do it a little differently. I am not gonna tag bloggers, I am going to tag their attachments and ask them to post their responses on their blogs. Or, email them to me and I will post them here. So...Laurwilk? Let Porter know that he is on the clock. And e.b.? Magoo is expected to respond. Aaron? Let the fabulous Sarah know that she is tagged, too. Jenny, you can give it to either Hooker or Andy, but I want one of them!

Because I know he is going to feel better soon, I am gonna tag Otto and Martha together:-).

And finally, I am gonna tag the wonderful, fabulous, divine and famous (at least in these parts)...Smoking Hot Roommate.

Tagged

Tagged by Laurwilk, and still kinda under the weather and not feeling really motivated, so this will be fun.

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A. Attached or Single? Engaged
B. Best Friend? I have a couple...both BFF's, and of course Smoking Hot Roommate are probably at the top of the list.
C. Cake or pie? Cake. Chocolate.
D. Day of choice? Usually Saturday, but I am partial to Thursday evenings because of the chicken fingers:-).
E. Essential item? Ugh...cellphone? I hate it, but it is essential
F. Favorite color? Blue.
G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears. I am a traditionalist. And bears seem more appetizing than worms. Although, worms can't eat you...so, I dunno...
H. Hometown? Chicago, IL. Although Boston is definitely "Home"
I. Favorite indulgence? Spa visits during lunch:-)
J. January or July? July, duh. Cause the weather is nice and it's my birthday!!!
K. Kids? I sorta have one;-). I will likely have one of my own. No time soon...couple years?
L. Life isn’t complete without? Ice cream!!!
M. Marriage date? July the 25th, Two Thousand and Nine.
N. Number of brothers and sisters? Two half sisters. Munchkin is 13 and lives with me, Tinkerbelle is 9 and lives with her Mom in Chicago. And SHR and Big Sis and I sometimes pretend to be related:-)
O. Oranges or Apples? Oranges. Vitamin C is good for you.
P. Phobias? I am not a fan of spiders, or ants, but I wouldn't call it a full-blown phobia.
Q. Quotes? "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..." You know the rest.
R. Reasons to smile? Because it is Chicken Finger Thursday!
S. Season of choice? Summer.
T. Tag 5 people: No. I don't want to, and you're not the boss of me!!!
U. Unknown fact about me? Oh...there are some...and they will remain unknown;-)
V. Vegetable? I like lots of them. But fresh corn on the cob in the summer is tops for now.
W. Worst habit? I shuffle my feet when I walk sometimes just to hear the noise of scuffing shoes.
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? I have no fucking idea. This seems a little forced to get an X in here, doesn't it?
Y. Your favorite food? Ice cream. And chocolate chip cookies.
Z. Zodiac sign? Cancer. Almost Leo. I would rather be a lion than a crab. And, who really wants to be cancer, anyway?

So there you have it...

Answers

1) New England Patriots, Golden State Warriors, Carolina Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning. Carolina is not a state, and Tampa Bay is a body of water;-)

2) Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild.

3) The Florida Marlins and The University of Colorado Buffaloes. The plural of Marlin is Marlin, and the plural of Buffalo is Buffalo. Marlins and Buffaloes are not words;-)

So, there you have it...and if any of this is wrong, take it up with the guy that gave me the questions and the answers. Consider this the first installment ever in "Tuesday Trivia".

Back to regular blogging tomorrow (or Friday)...

Total Nonsense

This is post #500 since I started blogging...that really seems like a lot. Like, really a lot.

Anyway, I should have something good for such a momentous post, but I don't:-P. I am super busy and have very little time to write, but I got tired of the spreadsheet I was staring at, so I am going to write quickly.

Actually, I have a fun exercise...prompted by the combination of a GoogleChat discussion with e.b. and some random trivia that my co-workers love to ask each other at lunch.

So, I pose to you the following sports-related, totally inane trivia questions. Answer in whatever channel you prefer, and there will be invaluable prizes for the winners (and by "invaluable", I mean "of no value".)

Questions are courtesy of my co-worker, and you can yell at him if the answers are wrong tomorrow.

1) Name all of the professional sports teams (NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB) in America that are not named after a city or a state (for example: the Boston Red Sox are from Boston, which is a city. The New England Patriots are named after neither a city nor a state...so there, I gave you one already. )

2) Name all of the professional sports teams in America that have nicknames that do NOT end in "s". One of them is right there in question #1;-)

3) Name two mascots...one professional and one college...that are grammatically incorrect. Not just misspelled like the Red Sox or White Sox, but actually incorrect.

There you have it...those are your questions. Maybe later in the week, if everyone has fun, we can do some non-sports questions. But those happen to be what the trivia buffs around here gave me yesterday....

Have fun:-)

Tagged. And stuff

I am all out of whack on my blogging schedule. This work nonsense keeps me way busier than it should. Seriously, why can't they just overpay me to be the cutest little senior analyst anyone has ever seen? I mean...the salary is outstanding, the bonuses are great, it is just the actual "productivity" thing that bothers me. Why can't every day include a whole bunch of free cookies and a three hour massage/lunch?

Anyway, I was out of the office all day, got home just in time for chicken fingers and now I am putting off the inevitable "catching up on emails" to waste some time on the Internet. I did end up talking to Munchkin last night about her sleep-talking because I wanted to see what she remembered. She said "I don't remember that, but I dream about Mom all the time, so it makes sense." And yes, I guess it does make sense... So, never mind my worries about a crisis...

Tomorrow shouldn't be nearly as bad a day. I am in the office, don't have a ton to do, and have a lunch date with the boys at work that should make the day interesting. Then, the weekend! The Boy and I have a date tomorrow night, and then Munchkin's birthday party is on Saturday, which should be fun. Unfortunately, our little break in the weather seems to be temporary, and it is gonna get miserable again soon. So, we have that to look forward to...

One last piece of business: I have been tagged by Kristin to do the six words thing. I will skip all of the introduction stuff because I think everyone has pretty much seen it already. And I am not gonna tag anyone because I feel like most everyone has already been tagged. If you haven't, let me know and I will edit this post and tag you:-P

Basically, describe yourself in six words... I thought about it, and this is what I came up with (yea, one is a contraction, so what?):

There's more here than you think.

Personal chefs

I'm late in posting today, stupid meetings all morning...blech.

The sick ward is finally getting a little better. The Boy is back at work today and feeling at least moderately better. The good thing about having him home yesterday was that he was able to go over and get Munchkin at school at lunchtime and save me the trip. Then they had some quality time on the couches watching Days of Our Lives, Tyra, Oprah and whatever other junk was on TV in the afternoon.

They are actually really cute together...totally buddies. To be honest, Munchkin is kind of buddies with everyone, but she and The Boy get along really well, and make each other laugh a lot. Obviously that is pretty important to me...she and I are a package deal. If you want me, you get her, too, and I would never be with someone she didn't like. She gets veto power (which she exercised once, much to the dismay of the guy who had a date cancelled with "Sorry, my little sister says I can't go.")

They made dinner and baked a cake yesterday, which was very nice of them. Kind of a baked ziti with zucchini, sausage, tomatoes and cheese. Not sure where the recipe came from (I think he probably called his mother, but he is trying to pass it off as his own) but it was pretty fucking good! I have some leftovers for lunch...:-)

Since this is kind of a short post, I am going to cheat and pose the following question for everyone to discuss. It's not really a question, so much as a subject...and the subject is:

Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Ikea, or other...please discuss.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner...

Munchkin's foot is a very silly looking shade of purple right now, but she is diligently icing it and doing all of the stretches that the doctor told her to. She needs the crutches for another day at least, and her foot is still too swollen to fit into a lot of her shoes, but she is in pretty good spirits, as always:-) Kids are funny with injuries...I think they like the attention. She appreciated that the boys at school were all excited to carry her books for her from one classroom to the others...

Surprisingly, most everyone has some advice based on spraining an ankle and not letting it heal properly...I had no idea it was such an epidemic! It is still weak for a long time after it feels 100% better, which means I may have some trouble keeping her from overdoing it. It takes almost 6 months to be fully and completely back to its original strength...ahh well, I will just have to make sure she wears a support brace during basketball.

The Boy didn't get a chance to see her on Monday, so he brought flowers over for her last night and a super sweet card for me for absolutely no occasion:-) I guess he had a nice weekend, too!

OK, back to last week's contest...

There were some good entries, although not many that I would count as purely x-rated. And maybe there is a lesson in that, that the content of the message is less important than the people sending the messages. I think the key takeaway may be that good text messaging is really contextual. It can be a great way to start the foreplay well before you even get together...and a way to have private jokes that make you feel just a little bit dirty in all the right ways.

But we need to pick a winner, so here goes. Smoking Hot Roommate is disqualified because I forced her to enter and even reminded her of something we both knew. Jordan had one that was straight and to the point and just dirty enough;-) She can't win, though, or else every Red Sox fan I know would kill me for rewarding a Yankees fan. Both Princess Extraordinaire and Still Just Me get special mention for making use of technology to keep a lengthy marriage spicy...I hope that someday, when I have been married for 10 or more years and have little nuggets running around, that my sex life still has some excitement to it.

But the official winner is going to be Ys, for creativity's sake. Circumstance requires some sneaking around, and they seem to use the texts as an important part of that. Oh, and she used the phrase "encourages him to have a wank and tell me all about it". Have a wank...lol...that is brilliant.

Feel free to keep sending suggestions, though...this is fun! And, I was reminded yesterday during an IM discussion of the value of pictures, too. Like, I know that The Boy thinks I have a really cute stomach, so when he was out of town once, I sent him a cell phone picture of about three inches of skin, including my belly button. I think he liked that:-) I am not talking about outright porn, just slightly suggestive pictures that maybe the other person is the only one who would really understand anyway.

Contest Time!!!

Hmm...Jordan asked a good question that I am gonna take a couple days to think about. I have to make sure I have a good answer, so I will get to it on Tuesday. Which means you can all feel free to ask anything else you want, and I will try and get to that on Tuesday, too.

In the meantime, I am going on vacation, bitches:-) Given the amount of vacation time I take (hee hee!) this should hardly seem like an earth-shattering event, but I am really super excited. The Boy and I have never really taken a vacation, just the two of us, of any real substance before. We have gone away with friends, or with family (heck, we go away to the beach most weekends in the summer), but never alone. Not that this is a huge vacation (really just an extra day) but it will fun to be alone with him in a new place.

I also have an interesting contest, as suggested by a fellow blogger (who shall remain anonymous unless choosing to self-identify). I am on record as being a huge fan of the X-rated text message. I just think it is really hot to drop someone a random message in the middle of the day that says "I know we are both busy, but I am still thinking about you" or "I just can't get you out of my head" and doing it in much less...um..."refined" language.

So, the contest is this...who can come up with the hottest, sexiest, best text message idea? This can be something you have actually sent, or received, or would like to send, or just plain think is really hot. Feel free to provide the context of the message if it was a real one (i.e., something may be hotter if you have been married for 30 years than it would be if you started dating three weeks ago...so the background may help.)

There are no real rules, other than it has to be the approximate length of a text. You can submit via comment, or via email or IM. If you are too shy and want to submit by anonymous comment, you can feel free to do that, too, but send me an email to let me know who it is, if you wouldn't mind.

I reserve the right to be the final judge, but I will absolutely solicit input from readers to pick favorites. Depending on how many of you take me up on this, I may have more than one winner...the rules are somewhat flexible;-)

I guess this means we will also need prizes. I haven't quite worked that out yet, but be assured...it will be awesome! At a minimum, you shall receive the people's ovation and fame forever!!! On the downside, I wouldn't count on a large cash payout...

So that's about it...anything submitted before tomorrow morning will get published right away, otherwise it may have to wait until I get back. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Go Red Sox!

Tag, I'm it

Looks like I have been spared the task of telling you how my weekend was by OC in CT. I have ignored several tags in the past (which is bad blog-form, I know...but I also never really tag anyone, either. Although I am gonna do it at the end of this...)

Carrying on… THE RULES: This is simple. Elaborate on the words below.

Accent:
A little bit of my Chicago roots (Chicawgo) comes through, but not much. I have also incorporated the word "wicked" into my vocabulary,which identifies you as a New Englander. I can not, yet, however, use the word "pissah" in conversation, which would finally make me a Bostonian.

I Don't Drink:
Miller Lite. But MFND sure does... Seriously? Gin. Whatever they ferment to make it, they should stop. Given my family history, I should probably avoid Vodka, but I don't.

Chore I Hate:
Laundry. I hate folding it. I don't mind the sorting and the cleaning. It is just the folding that I really hate. So tedious.

Pets:
No, but Munchkin has been lobbying for two years to get a dog. Papa Bear has a dog that we "borrow" sometimes. If I had the time to walk it three times a day, I would get a Swissie. I think they are adorable:-) A little on the large side, maybe:-D

Essential Electronic:
I guess my cell, but I lose it all the time and am not nearly as attached as most people are. I kind of hate it, to be honest.

Perfume/Cologne:
I don't wear a lot, but when I do, there is a Victoria's Secret one I wear a lot (Dream Angel or something?). And Smoking Hot Roommate has a Dior one that I like and borrow sometimes, too.

Gold Or Silver:
Platinum:-)

Insomnia:
Only when I am worried about something. Like when I thought I had cancer two months ago;-)

Job Title:
Senior Analyst, Special Agent in Charge of Client Personnel Investigations, Liaison to the Boss When Angry, Chick Magnet for Male Co-Workers, Doer of Whatever My Superiors Tell Me.

Kids:
Sort of:-) None I have given birth to, but one that I have to keep an eye on. No plans for any more anytime soon, and I have entrusted the fine makers of Triphasil to keep things as they are. I went into this a little bit a while back...even if I was kind of on the fence, I promised The Boy that I would have one because I know how much it means to him. Pending some other stuff and for what its worth, that promise still stands.

Religion:
Catholic by birth. Non-practicing. Kind of ambivalent, kind of anti-organized religion. Not sure I have my thoughts totally sorted out on it.

Siblings:
Two, both younger. OK, somewhere between 1 and 4, depending on how you count. Definitely 2 half sisters (does that makes one whole one?). Munchkin is my half-sister by my mother, she is 12 and lives with me. Tinkerbelle is my half-sister by my father. She is 8 and lives in Chicago with her Mom. I just met her last Christmas and I think she is the coolest! I wish I saw more of her. Both Smoking Hot Roommate and Big Sis are very, very dear friends that I consider my "pretend sisters" and who sometimes introduce Munchkin and I as their sisters.

Time I Wake Up:
I take very little time to get ready in the morning. I can get up at 6:45, eat breakfast and scan the paper, shower and dress and be out the door by 7:45. That gets Munchkin to school by 7:50 and me to work by 7:55. This is part of what I love about living in the city:-)

Unusual Talent/Skill:
I have to think about this...I am not sure what qualifies. I think I am a really good dancer. And I am dynamite at oral sex:-D

Vegetable I Refuse To Eat:
Carrots. They make me throw up...bad experience as a child. Bananas make me throw up, too. It is the texture that does it.

Worst Habit:
Not answering the phone. I let most calls go to voice mail and call people back. I don't know why...weird phobia. Oh, and apparently I suck at sending pictures to people...sorry about that:-)

My Favorite Meal:
Chicken Fingers and French Fries, every Thursday:-) But I would never turn down a giant slab of red meat, especially if it comes from here, or here.

Now that that is over with...I am gonna tag...hmmm...Claire. You seem to have escaped the wave of taggings, surveys, chains, meme's, etc...no more!

Five Questions from Ally

I'm hopping on everyone else's banwagon, and doing the five questions thing. As far as my blog universe extends, it started with Brandy...but I imagine she got it from someone else, too.

Before I start, thanks to Aaron for picking me as the blogger he most wants to trade places with. Surprisingly, it has virtually nothing to do with the knockout of a roommate, either;-) Unfortunately, my life is not that exciting...I guess a lot of weird shit does seem to happen to me, but I also spend like an hour a day doing fifth grade homework...not that exciting. As for The Boy...well...I don't really know how to respond to that...lol.

So, super special thanks to Ally for these questions...as always, she made me think;-)

(1) If you had to work in an entirely different profession, what would it be (realistically)?

Well, I was a political science major in college, so I guess the short answer is probably "graduate student", since being a poli-sci doesn't really qualify you for much else;-) If I had to work in another profession, I think I might say "hospitality", which I know is kind of a broad brush. I bartended and waited tabled in college, and I always likes it. The pace can get really hectic, but people are generally in a really good mood, and you always get to meet lots of people. And I think I am sort of good at that...so...how about Casino host...can I pick that?

(2) If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks with only one other person, where would you go and who would you take? (Note that childcare for Munchkin is not an issue.)

I am torn on this one...I have a lot of possible answers. I'd love to take Smoking Hot Roommate somewhere just to be goofy girls for the whole time. And I would love to take Munchkin almost anywhere.

A close second place would be that I would love to take Tinkerbelle to Disney World. I feel like I have a lot of time to catch up on with her, and that would be a really great way to do it. I can't get the first 7 years of her life back, but I feel like that would be a really great start to the next seven, and all of the years after that.

But if I have to pick one, I would take The Boy away, just the two of us. Someplace secluded and tropical, just to sit on the beach, feed each other fruit and talk about stupid couples stuff. He puts up with a lot for me, and one major part of that is a lot less "alone" time than most people our age would normally get. Two weeks alone would be a really special time:-)

(3) What was the last thing you did that you felt guilty about?

Ahh...and easy one! Talking to Munchkin when I was absolutely shit-canned drunk on Saturday. That's not the example I should be (or want to be) setting.

(4) What is your favorite trait about yourself? (I stole this from Brandy)

Hmm...I think I would say that I am very genuine. When I say things, I mean them, and I am proud to say that I never half-ass personal relationships. I am not sure that makes sense...but it does to me:-)

(5) What well known person (celebrity, politician, etc.) would you like to hang out with for a weekend in the mountains?

Depends on what you mean by "hang out", I guess...but Daniel Craig is gonna be high on the list.

If it is NOT going to be someone that I intend to rub oil all over, then I would pick Oprah. I know that is kind of cheesy (and that she is starting to get kinda nuts with garbage like this whole "The Secret" thing) but she is pretty hard not to admire.

First, we could have some solid Chi-town talk;-) And then I would want to talk to her about her show, and about her ability to reach people, and then finally about her ability to reach the levels of success that she has without creating the mountain of bad will and resentment that some other female celebrity/executives like her have (say, Martha Stewart...)

Or, I would pick any of the women that I mentioned in my favorite post ever (read it!).

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So those were Ally's questions, but I will also open this up to anyone else that has others! Ally said she had kind of a hard time because I already told her so much stuff, there wasn't a lot left to ask...so some of you that don't know as much about me...feel free to send me your own question(s) and I will answer them, too!!!

If you are interested in participating, here are the rules:

Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me!”

I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.

You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Unoriginality on Display

I am stealing this from Ally, Ella and Jordan...and probably many others. But it is fun, so :-P My trip got cut short, so I didn't have to stay overnight and am back in the office today. Hope everyone has a nice day!

Three Things That Scare Me:
1. Ants
2. Rats
3. Staph infections

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1. Chelsea Handler
2. Sarah Silverman
3. Amy Poehler

Three Things I Love:
1. Sunday morning walks
2. Saturday morning soccer games in the fall
3. Summer evenings on the beach

Three Things I Dislike:
1. Driving
2. Laundry
3. Grey's Anatomy

Three Things I Don't Understand:
1. Credit swaps
2. The appeal of Jack Black
3. What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding

Three Things On My Desk:
1. A whole bunch of pictures
2. A giant pile of papers
3. About 40 writing utensils I don't use, and one that I do.

Three Things I'm Doing Right Now:
1. Missing the people I love that I don't see enough
2. Aging
3. Thinking that I should call Tinkerbelle to say hi:-)

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Live overseas for at least two years
2. Take my two little sisters on a vacation, just the three of us
3. Pay Papa Bear, Big Sis and Smoking Hot Roommate back for everything they have given me and done for me

Three Things I Can Do:
1. Drive a stick shift (since neither Ally or Ella can:-P)
2. Recite every word of "Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail"
3. Dance and never get tired!

Three Things I Can't Do:
1. Reach the top shelf in any cabinet
2. Pretend to like people I don't
3. Let go of people that mean a lot to me, even when I should

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. Anything and everything by The Killers
2. "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits
3. "She" by Gram Parsons

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. Sean Hannity
2. Air America
3. Nickelback

Three Things I'd Like To Learn:
1. Another language
2. How to be more assertive
3. More about personal financial planning and management

Three Favorite Foods:
1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Chocolate chip ice cream
3. Chicken fingers and french fries:-)

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:
1. Power Rangers
2. Saved by The Bell
3. Party of Five (how ironic is that?)

Three Things I Regret:
1. My relationship my mother
2. Not seeing Munchkin for most of two years
3. There is a third thing that I am keeping to myself...