We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

So, I'm at work but getting ready to fly fah fah away to Chi town for to welcome 2008. Gah, 2008! Can you believe we graduated COLLEGE in 2003? Good Lord.

Do you make New Years Resolutions? Welp, I do...I make two that are really important to me then have the other "traditional" ones...

1. To "grow the hell up" when it comes to my finances. I don't mean I manage money poorly; I don't at all. But, I resolve to get a financial planner to help me figure out what the hell I'm doing with my future...and help me manage the small mansion I owe in school loans.

2. To stay true to myself. I'm pretty good about this one, but sometimes it's easy to lose oneself in the shuffle before you know it. Getting a new job this past year was a great way to "re-discover" myself and what I want from life. So, I resolve to stay true to myself, what I believe...and stand up for the same!

Okay, now for some others...

1. Travel More/Move. I realized that I'm turning 27 this year. For some reason, that hit me harder than 25, 26... I've lived here my WHOLE life. I mean...I've gotten out and traveled and stuff, but.. Well, I guess I used to want to move to escape...b/c I hated my job, wanted a change, etc. But, now, I think it would just be great to step outta my comfort zone through traveling more and/or moving. I dont need an "escape" anymore so I think moving would be for the right reasons if it happens this year.

2. Work out more regularly. I've been so good lately, but the damn ice storm screwed me all up. Here's hoping my ass isn't only bronze (thanks to the tanning bed at th gym) but also toned by this time next year...haha.. Maybe I'll become a workout junkie! Too far? Yeah. Sorry.

3. Volunteer. While this is about becoming a better person, blah blah, it also just feels good. I resolve to find an organization that I can truly impact by volunteering. I'd like to use my law license somehow to help...but we'll see.. Also, I'd like to volunteer on a presidential campaign. I've become "into" researching the candidates this time for some reason. I dont like to talk about my political beliefs on here, but lets just make it clear Mitt Romney will not have my help. lol!

Welp, leaving soon for my FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!! :) Hopefully no delays getting to Chicago! Happy New Year-Cheers!

PS..Someday I shall throw a fabulous New Years party and you shall all be invited. Also, I'm kinda into masquerade events. So, just look for masks now. You know any party I throw will have a theme. C'mon... ;)

PPS...I also resolve to like odd numbers more. 2006 BLEW and 2007 was better. So, I figure it's time to let go of the OCD a little. Yup. I even got out of bed at 7:43 a.m. (I'm a nerd. I know).

Lawson no more!

Jennifer's wedding was fab! I'll give you the photo recap:

Wedding: GORGEOUS.

Reception:

- aquarium: awesome!

- couple: adorable!

- dancing: embarassing (aka fabulous- I love this photo of Sarah and Casey btw)

- photo booth: great friggin idea!

- not being the only "single" chick: priceless

- Jenny almost stealing random baby: LOVE IT! (actually she didnt, but she looks cute, right)

- girls taking over the dance floor: frightened relatives and groomsmen. whatever. :)

- Just like a prayer? totally.

- Conga line: No idea who this is...

- Sorority chicks singing to David: children almost cried b/c we were so bad. no kidding.


Overall, having her wedding during the holidays was awesome b/c the decor was so pretty! White lights everywhere..and the fish at the aquarium were cool too.. Just sayin.

The TRIFECTA .... LOL!

CON-FREAKING-GRATULATIONS to MARY!!!! She just got a new jobbie and will be leaving the firm!!! Dennis, Mary and I were "the family" or "the trifecta" or a lot of other random names that we found funny...D's gone. Jax is gone. Now, Mary's going. Wow.

1. The night after I took the bar exam...construction work on brookside plus celebrating equals this photo!
2. THE FAMILY! :)
3. Well, lookie there, it's another former lawyer from the firm! 4. I dont know where this was.....but we've both got drunk eyes....
5. My FAVORITE photo... This was in my old office (note the empty bookshelf behind Mary..haha...hey, I had three of them and couldnt fill them all yet) She's sitting on a box of med recs or some other fun documents...
A HUGE Congrats to her!!! :)

Speaking of law, I was blog m.i.a. the past couple days b/c I was in my CLE...er I mean hours and hours of hell that rivaled bar review. Most of you dont share my pain, so I'll spare you... At least I had a friend the second day. However, the first day, I knew I was in trouble when the following happened...

Video speaker: "So, I practice employment law..How many out there dabble in employment?"
Two guys behind me "Yea-yuh" followed by a high five.

Dude. It was a video.

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree...

Happy Day After Christmas!

Mom and I had a great day together, despite me being a horrible daughter. Oh, what do I mean? I'll tell you.. I took her to see PS I Love You. Have I mentioned that my dad DIED when I was younger? Yeah, well.. taking my mom to see a movie about a husband dying.. on CHRISTMAS was not a good idea. *sigh* I only did it b/c I heard it "wasn't about death at all...it's really cute and funny.." Really?! Um. That was NOT my idea of cute and/or funny. Plus, mom and I both agreed that it was a little freaky and morbid that Hilary Swank got letters from him for a YEAR after he died. Dude.

Anyway, we ate good food and opened gifts and had a great time chatting, etc.. :) We might have a small family, but it's a good family nonethless. Oh, and I got an Ipod! Yes, I realize I am way behind but I really didnt want one until recently. Now, I kinda feel like I'm way behind the times since it took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to get the damn thing out of the package. Yeah. Really. But, tonight, Maureen said she'd help me with the uploading thing...

Lauren, A love and I went to grab a glass of wine after Christmas with our families. Good times and some semi-good photos. None of us were feeling photogenic. Maybe I'll post them later after I get off work. We all agreed that this year didnt really feel like Christmas.. Maybe it was the ice storm or flight delays or something.. but it just didn't quite feel like it. I mean.. I only had one day off which was way weird. I volunteered to work this week since I'm taking New Years Eve and the day after New Years off.

Welp, that's all I've got for ya. Hope you all had a great holiday! :)

I'm easily entertained when I'm hungover

So, yesterday afternoon, still slightly hungover (a LOT hungover) from the bachelorette party, I watched Hope Floats. Yes, I really did. I laid there on my sofa, just-showered wet hair, uncombed, nearly passed out, watching a movie where I mostly just sat there being jealous of Sandra Bullock's legs.

Aside from the superstar leg-envy, I got to hear my favorite quote from a movie...maybe ever.. (aside from "nobody puts Baby in the corner...Hello, thats timeless) Anyway, it's Harry Connick Jr's quote:

"The American dream. Find something that you love that you're good at. You twist and you torture it and you try to find a way to make money at it. You spend a lifetime doin it and in the end, you cant find a trace of what you started out Lovin"

I think that's SO true....to some degree. I know, I know... There are people out there that truly love their jobs and are passionate about what they do AND make millions. But, I think what the quote's saying is many people are often stuck in corner offices, billing their asses off (for example), just to pay for their newest Jaguar... Anyhoo.. that's my semi-rant today.. and I like Hope Floats. So there.

My other fav Hope Floats quote:
Dancing is just a conversation between two people. Talk to me.

Don't you just want to jump Harry Connick Jr when he says that? *sigh* Whatever.

Anyhoo, yesterday, I tried the boob taping...then tried again...and again.. I finally got it right thanks to some internet instructions. (Yes, I really googled "how to duct tape boobs"-that chick knows what she's talking about btw). Then, I tried on my dress, ready to be totally impressed with my efforts....And.. my dress is cut too high so taping my boobs just made them look mis-shapen, not perky. *sigh* Whatever. Then, I tried on a low cut dress just to make myself feel like it was all worthwhile. Yeah.

Tonight: midnight mass with mom where I get to demonstrate my horrible singing skills while people look at me like "who is that? She never comes to church...hmm.." haha.., then hanging with little G and preparing for Christmas. :) Happy Christmas Eve, people!

Popozao...

I dunno. Seemed like a fitting title for this post. Let's see.. goings on.. Gracie just puked up the Origins ad she ate earlier. That's about as exciting as it gets. lol! Actually...

Tonight, Maureen and I ordered pizza and played on dating sites. Yes, you read that right. I'd be lying if I said it wasnt b/c we were making fun of some people in different zip codes b/c we're evil, horrible people. Plus, people that can't spell divorce (ex: devorce) entertain me. However, when Maureen burst out with "I'm marrying that guy. I'm calling it" we opted to make a profile together. Anyway...some funny quotes during our matchmaking evening...

"He listed sarcasm as a turn OFF. What is THAT?!"
"I'm gonna tell him to find me on myspace...Wait..the price came up. Shit."
*reading profile out loud* "I'm active an enjoy outdoors" Maureen: Ew..*cringe*

When filling out the questionairre for eharmony, we opted to just pick the same thing for every question b/c there were like 500 questions...Maureen's quote "It's probably gonna say 'we wont pick you b/c you're apparently bipolar'." Then, a REAL message came up saying "We noticed that you picked the same answer for every question. That usually indicates the user is rushing through our process." No shit.

Since you have to pay to actually email anyone, we opted to write the guy Maureen liked a message on our profile! LOL! I dont think match.com liked that b/c we're now in the "approval" phase. It doesnt look good for Maureen's soul mate. He actually looked like a cool guy...just sayin.

Oh..the best part...our headline for our profile..is "FLAVA FLAV!" (please say it like on tv. thank you)

Aside from Sunday single sites, the rest of the weekend was awesome, too. Who knew having power again would be this much fun? haha.. Actually, Sat it started sleeting again and I got a leetle freaked. It think Mother Nature is trying to f**k with me... Dude. It's like "haha..you got power back...dont enjoy it too long, beetoch."

Sat was Lawson's bachelorette party, too. We had a friggin B-LAST. From penis cookies (a-la-Jenny) to large black men wearing the fake veil, we rocked it, despite the icy weather. Oh...and who wouldn't love some candy underwear, too (please see below pic). Also..lemme have a moment of selfishness..you can totally tell I've been pumping iron in that one pic. Lookie lookie! Gah... be intimidated damnit!

I edited these...the inappropriate ones shall be released for blackmail purposes only. Kidding. ;) I pity anyone who was on the dance floor when P-Control, Sexy Back, and Gimme More came on... It wasn't pretty..



And..I never posted my pics from the ice storm. I took lots of good ones of the roads, etc, but I didnt feel like explaining each one. You guys understand how badly it sucked b/c I whined about it for 12 days. So..uh...here's what happens when you're needing easy entertainment and all you have is candlelight.

The pic where I have my white coat on outside is the one that prompted Kelli's "We're so a dateline special right now" while walking to find food outside our hotel. Oh..and love the pic of my power lines. I drove up every day and, after seeing it, lemme just say....hell hath no fury like Jax realizing she can't sleep at home..AGAIN. Oh..and the tree in the road.. just my average drive to work after the damn storm. Whatever.

Please note how happy little G was when sleeping on Andrew. I drug her around all week and she slept on someone else. Gah. ;) Actually, it was friggin adorable...

I'll likely blog from work b/c I volunteered to work on xmas eve.. I dont know why. Whatever. But, if I dont, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It finally feels like the holidays...

...now that I have power! However, I have done NO Chrismakah shopping! ARG! Yeah, yeah, it's Christmas, but my boyfriend is Jewish so I can call it whatever I want. I'm sad that I didnt get holiday cards out thanks to the effing "wintery mix" that took out Tulsa for12 days. Whatever. Anyhoo.. I'll have to post the pics I was going to use.

My idea was AWESOME...at least I think so. I got Gracie a bib that said "My first Hanukkah", a santa hat, etc. I sat she and Pablo Escobar (the fish, remember) in front of the tree and a menorah. What awesome picture would THAT have been?!!! For those of you that will have adorable, "precious," and classy holiday card pictures with your family, please dont anticipate those ever coming from me. I like funny. You will laugh. Or you will just throw them away. Whatever.

Anyway, b/c I'm in a good mood and have power, here's a survey. Do it. Or dont. Whatever. I took out the questions I thought were stupid.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog has alcohol. Need we say more?

2. Colored lights or white on tree/house ? My mom loves colored. I prefer white. Whatever.

3. Do you hang mistletoe? No. I dont need a reason to kiss strangers. I do it all the time. ;) Kidding, of course... :)

4. When do you put your decorations up? After my mom's birthday. Family tradition. (so after Dec 10 typically)

5. What is your favorite holiday dish? Um...Stuffing. I really like stuffing. And dessert. And..wine. Hey, it's a dish. Whatever.

6. Favorite holiday memory as a child? There are a lot..watching White Christmas with my dad, decorating the tree with the fam, Christmas morning of course, how my mom loses her copy of It's a Wonderful Life every single year so it's a perpetual stocking stuffer...

7. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? That he's really just a gay rabbi?( saw that on a card and loved it) ;) Um.. nah.. I dont remember, but I believed longer than I should have. That's all I'm sayin.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I used to get to open one present on Christmas Eve.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With ornaments. What kind of question is this?

10. Do you remember your favorite gift? Yeah, but it's more about the person who gave it to me than the actual gift anyway...

11. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both. But, I'm a giver. ;)

12. Favorite Christmas Song? All I want for Christmas is you or Carol of the Bells (b/c I could never sing it) or...I like a lot of them...Chipmunks Christmas Carol...or...NSync.. lol!

I'll post pics later tonight. I plan on staying in and relishing the awesome electricity, cable, internet, etc. Everything will be running at the same time! WOO HOO!!!

I've GOT THE POWER!!! AND THE CABLE!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! My stupid ass landlords were getting ready to go out of town for the weekend and leave the box thing LOCKED unintentionally. We caught them just in time and the electrical people were able to get in and hook us up!!!!

I'm going out to celebrate with Kelli b/c she got a new job...and I got power!!!!

My favorite conversation at work this week btw...It was candid, not like a supervisor or anything.

Talk talk talk.... leading to....
Guy: "Where do you want to go in the company?"
Me: "Well, I'm pretty happy right now, all I can think about anyway is power.." *laugh*
Him: "Well, you know...if you keep doing the job you're doing, there's plenty..."
Me: "Um. No. Like electricity. Power."

In 2007, I... (b/c I'm in my 20s)

This year, I....

Got a dog. Left a job. Got a new job. Broke up. Got back together (much better than before). Chopped my hair off. Grew it out again. Lost my drivers license...twice. Gave up tanning...then started again. Helped my mom move. Cried. Laughed a lot more than I cried. Said goodbye to friends that moved away. Got closer with friends I barely knew before. Traveled to Chicago-a lot. Watched a LOT more tv than my old job permitted. Started a new blog. Shot a gun for the first time. Met Aaron's dad, grandparents, uncle/aunt and cousins. I could keep going.. but basically been an eventful year! :)

Kinda funny, this is where I was at around this time last year. Looks like I got lots accomplished that I wanted to and didnt even realize it. lol! However, I was totally being cheesy with the "happy stuff" from 2006. I mean.. sure it was cool that I graduated law school, passed the bar, blah blah. But, I was truly pretty damn unhappy this time last year. I HATED my job, the billables, the hours of sleep I lost worrying about it, etc. I HATED the nice office with the awesome bookshelves and big windows. Most of my friends knew, but I didn't really post about it. Then, I had a relationship that was falling apart day by day which didn't really add to the happy-go-lucky stuff... haha.. I think I was just in a whirlwind of "what the eff am I doing with my life?!"

Then, this is how I started off 2007. :) haha.. What a year.. but man oh man was it better than 2006! Long and short...I'm in a MUCH better place and much happier now!! *little cheer from my desk* haha..

2007 proved to be pretty damn alright despite coming in like a lion. :) I think every year in our 20s proves to be a whole lotta challenges that we may or may not have anticipated. The main things I'd doubted and questioned in 2006 were resolved in 2007... So, here's to 2008 and hoping things keep going uphill. :)

So, off I go to get a new drivers license at lunch. Lord knows mine is somewhere in my dark apartment or something, but I dont plan on using my passport to get into the bar this weekend. And...who knows when I'll have power. I got a text saying electricians were at my building this morning, so cross your fingers. I found out my normally-on-top-of-things landlords were using an electrician they knew...who was screwing them over. However, they'd seeminly refused to call anyone else for whatever reason. My neighbor and I were about to make some heads roll by calling our own electrician, but hopefully we wont have to do that... Cross your fingers.... Day 12 with no power. Seriously. Do you think it's fair that we ask for pro-rated rent...at least for this week? I mean most people (including out street) were resotored over the weekend...so...opinions?

I'll have the duct tape...and a side of electricity.. thanks

Sooooooo... I think I've officially booked New Years plans! :) Looks like Lauren, some of her friends, Aaron and I will be headed to a club owned/operated by outfit events (http://outfiteventschicago.com/) Everyone in the main image gallery looks like a pinched, prodded, plastic version of themselves, but whatever... It's New Years! haha.. The other image galleries dont look as well...plastic. It looks like it promises to be a good time...and I get to wear the cute black dress I bought when I was with Sarah! :) I think I'm gonna need some serious push up bra-ness and likely a little duct tape. C'mon, you all know what I'm talking about... 18 year old looking cleavage here I come...

Um, what else... I dont have power. haha.. Like you didnt know that one. Electricity is overrated anyway. Right. Pretending to be in the Oregon Trail is awesome.. However, I'm fairly certain after 11 days (today marks 10 nights and 11 days), the message would have come up "Jax has died of ____." Yeah. Whatever.

Today is my company holiday lunch..which means I'm outta here early. Hopefully, I'll get to get some much needed holiday shopping done. Sheez....

Oh and guess who's having the best year ever?! (insert the voice from the tv show) The Spears family! Lol! Congratulations, 16 year old Jamie Lynn! Knocked up n underage. What a year! LOL!

Serenity Now... SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I havent thrown a good pity party/whiney-fest since my staph infection. It's overdue.

I just got a call from AEP. Apparently, my LL's havent gotten an electrician out there yet and therefore "we've been moved to the bottom of the priority list for repairs." AND we have to call back once my LLs get this crap repaired...so that the electric company can fix the electricity. Oh. My. GOD.

I want power. It's been 9 days. I WANT EFF-ing POWER. I am tired of driving back and forth, wasting gas, getting my hopes up, eating fast food, having no cable, not being able to sleep in my own bed, paying my bills (despite not LIVING there to enjoy what I'm paying for). If they dont pro-rate our rent, I might lose my mind. They're nice people; they really are.. and this isnt their fault. But, uh, seriously... how did my mom get an electrician to come out DAYS ago and yet we still havent? I mean.. what if they dont pro-rate us? I dont want to piss off my LL's by refusing to pay the entire month, but my God. Not living there for almost two weeks makes me a little angry that I have to pay rent.

Also, where the EFF are the rest of my neighbors? I mean.. I know one girl has been calling, too. But, I feel like I'm the one doing most of the harassing AEP. The rest are just kinda waiting to see when we get power. I text everyone telling them we have to tag team the electric company once our LLs get this fixed. Plus, let's tag team our LL's to GET IT FIXED. People that sit there and do nothing royally hack me off. Since when did I become the leader in this power mission? We ALL live there. Gah! Stop being such a drain on my psychological well-being!!!!!! *insert me making a crazy face.. really*

I got infuriated and went to grab a Diet Dr. Pepper. I dont even like diet, but I'm trying to be healthier damnit. I went to ALL THREE vending machines at work...ALL SOLD OUT OF DIET DP. That was pretttty much the straw that made me want to throw my body at the vending machine to show it who's boss. Yeah. I didn't do that. But mostly b/c I was afraid I'd hurt myself.

I have done hardly any holiday shopping, my gas bill (car) is crazy from all the driving I've done to my apt then back to wherever I'm staying then back again and I'm basically putting my life on friggin hold. WHERE ARE THE DAMN ELECTRICIANS? FIX MY POWER. NOW. And as for my neighbors, get off your asses and call the electric company and our LLs. Finally, people in our building need to drink less Diet Dr. Pepper.... AGH!

And.. know what else... people that watch foodtv dessert specials while working out... FREAK ME OUT. Stop torturing yourself, morons. Whew.. that's been bothering me for awhile.

I feel healthier now...I'm harnessing my chi and getting back to a very zen place... I doubt I'll stay there... but for now... deep breaths.... deeeeeeep breaths......

Twas the Night Before....

No, I don't have power. Apparently the powerhead (?) is messed up (per my LL). So, today hopefully. Whatever. I've lost hope at this point. I think we need a discount on our rent. My little legal brain is gettin started.. Anyway, speaking of my legal brain, I found this funny online. I'm writing one for my vice president to read at our holiday thing..I'll post mine on here when I'm done. :)

'Twas The Night Before Christmas, Legal Version
- Author Unknown

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g. stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter.

The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House, were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as "I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the parts of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g. kerchief and cap.)

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtent to said House, i.e. the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter the "Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen (hereinafter the "Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co-conspirator named Rudolph may have been involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature.

Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney. Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items.

He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations. Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)

Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts."

Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination. However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.

See. I think that shit's funny. The rest of you are bored. lol! That's what's wrong with me. *sigh* haha! Anyway, on that note, I signed up for the "last chance" to do continuing legal education and therefore keep my license. Gah. Lawyers... ;)