Charge it to my flight account please.

Okay, so I am super excited!

I have been working really hard to get my credit in shape and was totally rewarded yesterday. I got a new credit card! I know, I know, it is contrary to my purpose. But this is a Southwest Airlines Visa. Now, I am earning points toward a plane ticket. I will only be purchasing things I need (hellllooooo lappy) and will pay it off immediately. However, each $ spent earns me a point. Ater 1200 points, I get a credit. Sixteen credits is a free round trip flight. Not only that, but for every $ spent on a southwest ticket or car reservation, I get 2 points. I also get 2 points for each round trip I take.

With my travels last year, I already have 8 credits. That means that with a christmas flight, I will earn ~700 points and will get 2 credits for the round trip. If I charge a laptop this month, I will have earned 3 credits by Dec!

Unfortunately, I will still not be able to come home for thanksgiving. I have to work Black Friday at AT, and by not working to get out of it, I think I can finagle a few extra days at Christmas. I have four days vacation to spend and already have the 25th and 26th off! Nebraska, here I come!

Oh, and for the first time in 3 years, my limit is more than $200!

post #2

On a mission:

I am exploring the use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and would like reputable data. If you have any magazine articles or books that talk about this and reference research articles, I would like to read them.

I am tired of being informed by all natural/organic freaks (SIDE NOTE: not that all people that are all natural/organic are freaks, but I only get preached to by the nutjobs) and now the corn growers association is advertising on TV. I wanna know what science says, not advertisers after their own agendas.....

Don't be that guy part II

This weekend was the weirdest in regards to "that guy". Not the one from work, but all of them.
First of all, X is in CA. I thought I was going to get a little phone break. (Not that I mind talking to him, but he calls about twice a day.) Too bad he has a national calling plan because he still calls twice a day!! Good grief! When I go on vacay, I go on a phone vacay too. Seriously.

Guy #2. My last ex, Jeff. I picked up my phone to go to work on Sunday and had two texts. (No Nik, I still don't have texting.) The first was from Jeff. "What u up 2, hot stuff? :)" Um. Nothing at 2 am! Really, who thinks it is appropriate to text an ex at 2 am (especially if you have not spoken for almost two years...)

Guy #3, Text two. Steve. Nice guy, that's it. He sent me a Valentine's day package a year ago, but our 'relationship' can be very awkward... Everytime, and I mean EVERY time we talk, he says something to the effect of girls telling him that they wish he would have taken some initiative and made a move. Not me. I'm happy with him being a friend (just not my type in the looks department). Each time he says it, I can just see him waiting for me to say it too. Sorry Steve, you can practice your bad-boy-take-what-you-want moves on your other blasts from the past. This shop is closed.

I was just sure that it was a full moon, but my calendar says it is not due for another two weeks! Perhaps Venus is rising in my house, or whatever that astrology saying is... Stupid Venus.

Hair today, What hair tomorrow?

Last night while working at AT, I was chatting it up with a co-worker. She is also attending the Aveda Institute (cosmetology). She just started and will soon be looking for volunteers to practice on. Sign me up! Free haircuts and dye jobs? Hello? I change my hair like celebrities change boyfriends. And guess what...Surprise! She needs to practice a one color dye job on Saturday. She was hesitant at first, worried that she might screw up my hair, but I assured her that she could do nothing to my hair that I have not done myself.

So, Saturday I am going back to brunette. Fun!

Don't be that guy!

Everyday at lunch we all sit in a commons area and eat together. Some people bring lunches, others go to the cafeteria, and some bring in take out. The group consists of more marketing people and it is roughly 7 girls and 4 guys that usually partake in the festivities.

There is this one guy. I admit it. He's cute. Tall. Funny. I like him, but we had an issue the first few days I ate with the group. He stares. I kept catching his eye and he was just looking at me. What is the deal? My first thought is "What do I have on my face?" (Thank you social anxiety...) Followed quickly by, "Is there something hanging out of my nose." (Social anxiety really does take a bit of time to pass...)

I have finally settled on one of two conclusions: I look like someone he knows OR He thinks I'm cute.

I don't know what the final answer is, and I don't think I'll ever find out. But I do know one thing


He's married.

Donating too

So, since I do not have enough hair (or money for that matter) I am back to donating blood. They are having a blood drive here today, and I am set up for 1:30. But I'm worried. Here's why.


three years ago, I donated blood six times in one year. I religiously signed up every 56 days (or whatever that time limit is) and donated everytime it was at work. Two months after my second donation, I was diagnosed with mono. Except I was already over it, meaning that I had it when I donated blood. Not good. The year rolled over with no other mishaps, and then the next two times I tried to donate, I had low iron. Six times in a row and then rejected twice! Ack!

Lets hope my good night's sleep and crappy breakfast bar helps.

Go me!

Just got done. My iron count was great and they always let me know how much they appreciated having such nice veins to draw from! I even got a bow on my bandage!

Pardon me, but would you mind if I tear out your hair?

I feel so much like a girl this week. Don't get me wrong, this is not one of those: life sucks because I have a va jay-jay (hear, hear Oprah). I am just feeling like the epitome of all things stereotypically portrayed as crazy female things.

I am so crabby. Just the sound of the girl at the front desks voice sets me off. She is nice and very organized (perfect job for her), but her voice is that of a no-nonsense celebutant assistant. I just wanted to reach into the next cube and tear her hair out. It's rediculous, but there it is.

Every Monday is an update call with our sister team. One girl just can't seem to not talk all over everyone else during the call. I just want to reach through the line and poke her in the eye!

People can't drive fast enough, people drive too fast, people talk too loud, people talk too much....


Perhaps I just need sleep. Meh. So far, there have been no immediate casualties due to Tropical Storm Stacey. However, there may be collateral damage at TP. They assured me that I was no longer needed on that last research project. "No, if we have any questions, we can ask someone else who attended the meeting." Then I get the phone call yesterday afternoon. "I need help."

Yeah, well I'm busy with focus groups from 5-9 tonight, so I guess she gets an answer on Thursday. Hope it isn't urgent......

pictures!!

They are a little longer than usual.....Just so you know.

Cruise and such:

Atlantis Resort

Just so you know, in the hotel pics there appears to be a bridge. This is a two room suite. People like Michael Jackson, Shakira and Nicolas Cage have stayed there. Sweet.

All of the fish pics in the second slideshow are from the Atlantis Resort. They had private lagoons and pools full of them.

Too much to blog, but I'll try!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!!!!!

Yeargh to all of you followers of the flying spaghetti monster. We are all touched by his noodley appendage today. rAMEN

TP called last night. First, she asked about my cruise, then she asked how my job search is going. I told her that I had one. Here is the fall out of the rest of the convo:
"That's so exciting. Where is it?"

"I'm not sharing that with TP right now."

"*uncomfortable giggle* Is it like a secret?"

"Nope. I'm just not sharing it."

"Oh, are you going to resign soon?"

"No"

"Do you have any intention of resigning?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Oh, well, keep us aware of your plans then."

THE END.

She didn't fire me! What is going on? Seriously, I am asked to leave and then they just wait for me to quit? WEIRD!

And finally, here is a pic of the dress. Notice anything different?


Yeah, that extra 18 inches of hair is a clip on piece. Brandy has one too and we had so much fun with those.

Rock the Boat!

I got home yesterday with the intention of cleaning and helping E get the house set up...finally. However, my cruise-ship-spidey-sense is still on. As I sat at my desk yesterday (or in the conference room, at the dinner table, on the toilet) I found myself swaying with the imaginary waters of my imagination.

Ever been on a cruise ship? Well, you get used to the rocking quickly, and most of the time you don't even notice it. Then you go back on land. Everything rocks: the shower, the bed, the starbucks counter. I ended up sleeping for almost 3 hours just to try and get my bearings. Ugh.

That means no pics yet, but I will persevere tonite!

I also called back TP, but there was no answer from my fantastically passive aggressive manager. She is on vacay and now she has the instructions to call me sometime after 4pm EDT. I am so not going out of my way to help her fire me. "Hey! Just calling because I noticed you have not fired me yet! Today? No? Okay, I'll call back tomorrow. You have a super day."

I'll super day her......

home again

I love being home. More so than I used to. It is exhausting to me to not be able to fully relax.

The cruise was great! we kayaked at coco cay, went to the atlantis resort in nassau and had a blast on the boat. I don't have any pics uploaded, but I will sent them out when I get a chance.

there are so many things, but I think the high point was during kayaking. halfway through the tour, we docked the kayaks and waded into the shallows. we noticed stingrays and one swam by me. It was only 18 inches away! how cool! At atlantis, they have huge aquariums and tunnels to walk through under them. There were huge stingrays, sharks and some fish that were so big they would not have fit in the trunk of my car. Wow!

Also, most people always say that they put on weight during their cruises. However, Brandy likes working out on her vacays. So, needless to say, I lost 7 pounds. Seriously. Who does that?

I'll give a blow by blow later, but I came back to craziness at work. Have a great day!

and I'm off!

See you all Wednesday!! I'm off for the bahamas/miami beach/everglades.

politics

Wow. I sure sparked some feelings with that last one. Perhaps I should continue the hot/cold feelings with a political point.

Nah. I can't muster up the brain power to care about the election yet. I have tried so hard to not get wrapped up in it until I should care. I heard one radio announcer say that politics should have the same guidelines as college sport recruiting. You get six months. That's it. No coloring outside of the lines. (though I'm sure the president of the US is slightly more important than the Husker's QB....perhaps less than slightly)

Got a lame email today from work. My supervisor wants to chat. I just can't muster up the feelings to care. Supposedly she was going to call me to "chat" aka fire me. Since she couldn't give me the courtesy of a phone call and I have a nice little office assistant option that fires back a message saying I am out of the office, I think she can wait until after my nice little vacay.

What do you do?

Brett's ex just requested to be my friend on facebook. What do you do? She's not my ex, but I still don't really like her. She was mean and also not so loving to me EVER. I thought about shunning her. YEAHhhhhh.... That'd show her. "Stace didn't approve me on facebook as a friend. I must be a horrible person. Why do I think I deserve any friends?"

I can just see her, sitting there. Rethinking her life with her hand hovering over her mouse.

Meh. I don't really care. I just checked to see who our "1 mutual friend" was and since it was actually Brett, I figured no big deal. My life as a facebook status ruiner is over and now I can just be happy that she is married to someone outside my family...

and did I mention fat......?


Dodged a bullet there Butter. (I'm sooooo mean)

Late Sunday

So, worked at AT. Things are going well. Also went to pleasure Island at Disney with E. This is the bars area and we hopped around each club, checking them out before they close. (Obviously, bars and drinking are not very Disney-esque, so they are closing for good at the end of the month.)

A good time was had by all. Well, except for E. She broke out into full body hives. No idea what caused them and they just seem to keep shifting around. We headed out in an effort to distract her, but her hands itched really bad.

Wish I could say that something exciting happened, but no such luck. Hope you all had great weekends.

Back in Black

Well, as you most likely know, no hurricanes have really hit yet. However, things have been crazy!! I was asked to leave my last job (the initials weren't the same as what you wipe you wipe your butt with for nothing.) I am now the newest employee at H0ught0n M!ffl!n H@rc0urt Textbooks! I am a market research analyst and so far things are great. No one has yelled at me, no one talk to me like I am an idiot and I already have a project.

Thursday eve I head to Miami(Hurricane willing) and Brandy and I head out for our cruise!! As hurricane Ike heads toward New Orleans (It's a category 4 kids...) I feel kinda guilty as I wished that it would miss Nassau and Miami. We stay at Miami beach and then head out to CoCoCay Friday (spend Saturday there) and spend Sunday at Nassau to dock back in Miami on Monday morning. Monday we head for the everglades and then back to Miami Beach where we are staying at a totally pimp Resort/Spa. (We got a huge deal given it is hurrican season.) I am super excited!!

The house is getting done. We laid the hardwood floors and tiled the kitchen. I have yet to download any pics, but I assure you they are coming!!

Hope that all is well with you.

Love from Florida!

Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com