smiling on foot

This wonderful piece of video footage was taken in R*becca’s basement bar the night before the jersey shore party. Love that karaoke!

March is turning out to be quite the month for milestones for ol’ LK. This weekend marks the 2-year anniversary of breaking up with G and moving back to my parents house (yippee). Last week was the 1-year anniversary of purchasing my fabulous Mercury Mariner with 4×4, heated black leather seats, sunroof and many other fantastico attributes (still as in love as the first day we met). This year, I will pay off one of my three hefty college loans that I’ve been working so very hard on, before month’s end. This one was important for me to get paid off before the others as it’s in my dad’s name. So yay for March.

I’ve been laying pretty low these days and have been enjoying a calm lifestyle. Working is tough so the weekends need to counter with minimal outings and early curfews. And to further clarify, “laying low” also means not getting completely hammered or spending unnecessary dollars. In fact, I think I may actually be beyond these inclinations. For example, I went to Syracuse at the end of February for RB’s 34th “Jersey Shore” birthday party weekend. It was awesome! Everyone dressed up to the theme, which I love (more people need to have theme parties). Much to my surprise, I did not get ridiculously hammered and did not get miserably hungover during this visit. You know you’re getting old when hangovers are viewed as no longer worth it. :) When the party was winding down, RB and 2 ladies were off to a bar at 1:05 a.m. to meet boys before 2:00 a.m. closing. I opted to put on my PJ’s and get ready for bed. I heard from a few people afterward that they were surprised that I didn’t get to the bar too… like really surprised. So allow me to announce this March of 2010 that ridiculously hammered, party time LK has transitioned to a calmer, less alcoholic, yet still super fun with a little buzz LK. Let’s hope that she sticks around until next March (with a few exceptions, of course).  :)

3/23/10: This just in… Mum just informed me that today is the 32nd anniversary of my left kidney being removed!  Is March the best or what!?

This has pretty much been me for all of 2010 so far:

There’s a ghost at Hekd’s House.

First, I should tell you that I’m crazy obsessed with watching Lost. Even at this moment, I’m fighting the urge to not write this blog entry and instead dive right into some Lost episodes. Once I heard that the current season was going to be its last, I decided it was time to be part of the club. Before now, I refused to watch it because of all the unanswered questions the series poses. I would listen to my former roommate discuss the episodes with others and wonder why they put themselves through this madness of having so many more questions than answers. I wouldn’t be made a fool of. So I decided that once the series was ending, I’ll watch them all at once. Fortunately, Netflix offers them for free when I watch on my lappy.

And now I’m a fool for Lost.

I watch it just about every day and I’m up to season 3. To be specific, I have 4 episodes left of season 3. I love Sayid. I hate Juliet. I love Desmond’s accent. I’m bored with Jack. I love Ben. I’m disturbed by that Nikki/Paolo episode. I’m enthralled with Jin and Sun’s back story. It’s all a wonderful soap opera of characters. And they throw me just enough bones that I’m not overly irritated at the lack of knowing what the f is going on. But then again, I don’t have to wait very long to find out the resolution of each cliffhanger.

Last Saturday morning, I watched an episode. At the end of every episode, the credits come up and then the production company “bad robot” runs their graphic of a robot and some kid voices yell “BAD ROBOT!” and then the episode is officially ended. I’m at a place now that I’m so sick of hearing this every day of my life. So I try to hurry up and click to the next episode before this bad robot part plays. But last Saturday morning, I simply closed the laptop before the bad robot part played and packed it away in a bag. Saturday evening a bunch of us got together at Salem Beer Works for BM’s birthday, then I went to Dan and Hekd’s house for the night since it’s a lot closer than Weytown. My laptop spent all day and night unplugged and in my duffel bag. The plan was that I would sleep in the basement room on the comfortable futon. But for some reason, I was too scared. And when Hekd and Dan went up to bed, I felt uneasy being by myself. But I decided to sleep on the couch in the living room even though it’s not very comfortable. I put the TV on the sleep mode so it would shut off in 30 min. I do this at home nightly and 99% of the time I fall asleep before 30 min. At Hekd’s house, I was awake when it shut off so I put it on another 30 min. Once again, I was awake when it shut off so I just let it stay off and tried to sleep. I drifted in and out of a not-so-restful sleep and then around 4 in the morning, there was suddenly the familiar kid-shouting from the corner of the room, “BAD ROBOT!”

I was so scared, I buried my face into the couch and thought, “I knew it. I knew there was something off about tonight and there is totally a spirit in this house that’s messing with me.” At this point, my laptop had been unplugged for about 17 hours. I didn’t think my lappy’s battery could last that long. And even if it did last that long, Netflix times out when you’re not watching anything for a while. Dan went to breakfast with the boys the next day and relayed the story. Dan told me that Keith said it was probably a glitch. I think not. So I’ve decided it’s fact.

There’s a ghost at Hekd’s house.

I had a birthday last Saturday and it was a lot better than I planned. Mostly because I had initially planned to do nothing. I was going to let 33 just slide by with maybe the normal joint birthday celebration with my brother whose birthday is the day after mine (but 12 years earlier than my birth). My brother surprised me with a special phone call a few weeks before the big birthday weekend to make some plans. We didn’t do the big celebration together last year since I spent the weekend with my girlfriends at JBP’s former Cape Cod pad instead. I figured he could have the family birthday fun night to himself for that year. Good thing, though, because my brother’s son (my nephew) initiated a strong upheaval amongst the Hull locals that resulted in a parking lot brawl… and my mother trying to defend him with her words. ::Sigh:: Anyway, I was pretty touched that it was important to my brother that I was able to attend the joint celebration this year, but a little nervous that similar shenanigans would resurface. Regardless, it was decided that the family would meet at the local Chinese restaurant/bar for some karaoke, drinks and cupcakes the Friday before our birthdays. I invited NF, AMR, Bykfam and Bykfam’s sister to join me in case I needed to pretend to not know my relations. Thankfully, everyone behaved themselves and such measures were not taken.

Also around that time, I was emailing with HEKD about not wanting to do anything for my birthday. She offered to bring back the “girl dinner” so all the usual attendees could bring a dish to her home and maybe there will be some cake and candles for me. How could I refuse? I do so love a girl dinner. Since I currently do not have a home of my own, the girl dinner has definitely become few and far between. A low-key night with 5 of my closest girlfriends (and HEKD’s coworker who I never met before) was just perfect. I received many thoughtful birthday cards and presents. RB drove all the way east and forced HEKD to purchase basic baking supplies to make my fabulous smiley face cake. So I had family fun karoake night on the 29th (with no parking lot fights) and girl dinner fun night (also no parking lot fights) on the 30th. All in all, it was a nice birthday weekend (with absolutely no parking lot fights to speak of – phew!).

Since I started with such a negative title, let me begin by writing out some good things. But I have to note that when I listen to Oldies 103 and they have that little radio station in-between jingle “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I feel like yelling, “It SO ISN’T the most wonderful time! I’m freezing to death! I have too much to do! I’m spending too much money!” But I suppose there are some good things happening to… let me try and think…

I interviewed a nice candidate to be my assistant at work this week. She is SMART. Her resume is slightly intimidating and I think she’s probably going to be gunning for my job in a year, but that’s okay. At least I’ll get some intelligent assistance for that 1 year anyway. We’re extending an offer this week (or maybe we already have? Who knows.) and I hope she can start the day I return from my vacation. Which brings me to ‘good thing #2′ which is that I have all of next week off! Yippee skippee! I am in desperate need for that one week off as I still don’t have any presents purchased for my brother Chuck’s family and only a couple of things each for my parents. I also need to buckle down and do some gift wrapping… and maybe bake some Christmas cookies. So much to do…. which brings me to why this time of year is so f%$#ing far from “the most wonderful”…

1) Working in retail during the holidays sucks. It sucks for many reasons, but of course the main one is just that I work a lot harder this time of year. But admittedly, November was worse than December, so I guess that’s a bonus.

2) Since my job requires me to be email-subscribed to many different types of retailers, I get LOTS of email to read through this time of year. The advertisements entice me to spend money and I stress over whether I should do it or not. Oh, would my niece like that? Maybe I should go into the store and see it in person? Will a better idea come around? Do I really need to spend this much money on her? Do I even have time this week to go to a store? Maybe I should just buy it now online. Will it arrive in time? Maybe I should wait until vacation so I can go to the store? It’s emotionally draining for me to ask myself these questions over almost every email and family member almost every day of the holiday season.

3) Since I am physically and emotionally drained, I will often get sick this time of year – which I did. Thankfully, it lasted only four days. Yesterday was my first day of being back to good health and it felt GOOD. Working hard and being so sick is not a good combo – fyi. I will also often perform immense amounts of “retail therapy” as a sort of “release” from my self-inflicted stress. As a result, 50% of boxes that have arrived at my home are for myself, while the other 50% will be distributed across my friends and family. I have also spent an obscene amount of money this year. I need to not be so willy nilly with my online shopping next year. This sh*t is ridiculous. I’M ridiculous. I bought self-tanner on ebay today that was recommended to me by a co-worker. Yah – crazy, right?

4) Christmas Cards. I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas Cards. Every year I tell myself that it’s a big waste of time and money and to only do it if I have many nights free and/or start them early. But when I begin to receive them, I can’t wait to get mine together to send back in return. I love this “best wishes” correspondence from your household to mine and vice versa. But then there’s always the question of whether I should photoshop something personalized or just buy a box of cards like most people. Since I know I have the skills to be slightly creative and make them personalized, I feel like if I’m going to do it, I should do it to the best of my ability. Mum says this makes me like my dad: do it super great or not at all. I do not have many nights free this year due to late nights at the office and boyfriend visits in Marshfield. But last Sunday, Mum insisted that I create a Christmas card on the ol’ computer that would feature our multi-species family. We brainstormed and I came up with an idea that took two photoshop-heavy nights of a very sick LK to execute. The card is super cute, LARGE and a little sloppy… but it’s done. I printed out a shortened xmas card list and wrote out envelopes last night. Phew. Done. I don’t know how many years longer I can spend this kind of time on Christmas cards. What if I have my own home and family someday? There will be no homemade cards if that day comes. Mum will need to hire a new designer. I hope the “I do everything else in this house” speech works on the new designer. :)

Okay, now I’ll end with some good thoughts. I have noticed how my attitude about the holidays is notably cheerier than last year. I know, I know – you are skeptical because you just got through reading the above 4 points on why I find the holidays the most terrible time of year… but until the Holidays aren’t so much work, you’re never going to get a 100% “It’s a Wonderful Life” reaction out of me. What you will get is an LK who is actually turning on Oldies 103 to listen to holiday music in the morning. An LK that willingly decorated the xmas tree and even put on the holiday music while doing so. And an LK who bought a festive tablecloth last weekend in excitement for having everyone over on Christmas day. I even wore little ornament earrings to my work’s holiday luncheon last Friday. Last year, I wanted nothing to do with holiday merriment and Mum had to force me to help her with that tree and attend family gatherings. I’m glad and relieved that my reactions have improved. You never know what can happen in a year.

Now that Halloween is over… it’s pretty much all downhill from here. I don’t mean to be a negative Nancy, but I just love, love LOVE Halloween and then I hate, hate HATE cold weather and snow. I can’t help but feel a little down trodden once Halloween is over. The cold is creeping in and I’ve already started using my electric blanket. Cold weather tends to make me quite inactive and I’m really wanting to maintain my 25 lb. weight loss from earlier this year. But it’s actually proving quite difficult already.

First of all, I’m dating someone and that comes with nights out to eat and drinking during a new relationship. Secondly, Halloween candy and treats are EVERYWHERE at work. So I’ve gained back about 8 lbs. during September and October. But on the relationship front, I think we’ve now moved into another phase where we can spend a Saturday night cooking and watching a movie “on demand” instead of drinking beers and eating chicken fingers at the Ming. He’s a FANTASTIC cook and is not the mac & cheese kind of guy at all. We eat steak and veggies or stir fry or homemade pizza… mostly healthy stuff. So that should help. However, I find myself trading in my gym-nights to spend time watching TV and drinking wine with him. I need to get better with my 3 x’s a week gym schedule. I’m seriously losing my stamina to stay on that machine for any good length of time. I went on Monday after not going for 2 weeks and it was a poor, poor showing. I’m going back tonight and showing that Precor AMT 100i what I’m made of.

The winter also brings about a lot of family parties and that brings us back to eating. Mum, my two brothers, my sister and myself all have post-Halloween birthdays. My brother, CS, and his wife, LS, have birthdays around Veteran’s Day. There is usually a dinner and birthday cake made by Mum. I haven’t heard if it’s happening this year, but it probably will. And I will undoubtedly pig out on Mum’s cake and eat at least 3 tablespoons of frosting before she even gets a chance to use it. Side note: I’m disgusting when it comes to sugar… and it’s getting worse with age. The candy corn consumption this year was shocking even to myself. I could eat a whole bowl of Mum’s frosting, no problem… especially if it was lemon… mmm lemon frosting…
Estimated weight gain after CS and LS’s birthday: 4 lbs.

Then there is Thanksgiving which is a good excuse for Americans everywhere to partake in some good ol’ fashioned gluttony. Mum makes everything so, so, so good for Thanksgiving. Her apple pie is almost an art form that shouldn’t be eaten… almost…mmmm apple pie… Then there is her famous cheesecake. And the stuffing and the mashed potatoes… and did I mention the apple pie? Then I’m taking some time off work to perhaps go on a road trip with NF and friends. Road trip = fast food and many, many swedish fish for the drive.
Estimated weight gain after Thanksgiving Weekend: 6 lbs.

December brings forth many holiday parties, Mum’s birthday party, Christmas and then New Year’s. Mum makes the most delicious oriental meatballs that are best to consume immediately before cheesecake. I know it sounds strange, but I’ve been eating this combo for so long that I’m conditioned to want cheesecake (but only HER cheesecake) after eating those meatballs. I should mention that she puts delicious, syrupy, canned cherries on top of the cheesecake… mmm cheesecake… I can see my gym visits fading away by mid-December. My sister-in-law, LS, makes a great spread for Christmas Day and usually has these scrumptious little pastries from a friend’s bakery. I so look forward to those pastries. She also has many dishes of Italian food of which I make sure to eat one of each kind: manicotti, lasagna, meatballs, etc. Then on New Year’s, the friends will all gather at HEKD’s and order massive amounts of Chinese Food. Yup, I should be one, blubbery, fat, piece of S by then.
Estimated weight gain in December: 8 lbs.

Then in January, I will celebrate my birthday and my brother, AS’s, birthday. When I celebrate my birthday, I usually do so for at least a week beforehand and indulge in multiple celebrations with family and then friends. I’ll also convince myself that whatever Superbowl party I attend is actually a birthday celebration for me too. And I will go after a plate of nachos like they were made for only me and absolutely necessary to my existence on this planet. After my birthday, the cold weather really starts to affect my mood and ‘eating my feelings’ doesn’t make ‘the cranky’ go away anymore. So I drink heavily instead. Not only does the drinking cheer me up, but also provides my body extra warmth in addition to my new layer of fat. (Smart thinkin’, right?) This phase comes right in time for RB’s birthday weekend in February where I will get stinkin’ drunk in her basement, do karaoke, argue about friends of hers I don’t like, do more karaoke and then end up collapsed on the floor in laughter. It’s also my sister’s birthday, as well as her last born’s birthday. The family will get together for dinner and birthday cake and it’s amazing that we’re all not sick of each other. I think if mum had one more child in the winter, that child wouldn’t get a party… just too much getting together. Good thing my brother and I usually celebrate ours in one combo party. February, I’ll start to try and exercise again, but it will be futile for I will be that aforementioned blubbery, fat piece of S. By March, my spirits improve, I usually start eating better (since there are no family parties) and I’ll probably be better at going to the gym.
Estimated weight gain in January and February: 12 lbs.

If you are keeping track, I’m estimating a 30 lb. weight gain this winter on top of the 8 lbs. I’ve already accumulated. This is not good. After re-reading this post, I think I may have to sit down with Mum and have her plan in advance her menus for all family events. Is this unreasonable? Then I can form an eating strategy for the winter where I’ll indulge once or twice, but other times eat salad, one meatball and maybe one bite of cheesecake. And I canNOT give up on my gym visits… no matter how badly I want to sit on NF’s couch instead, no matter how sniffly I get, no matter how dark and cold it is when I leave work… I must keep up with my good health and not become the Jabba the Hutt of Weytown! There’s just no excuse for me if I don’t. I implore all to send helpful tips on how to get through this winter without gaining back the weight I worked hard to lose!

But when the weather outside is frightful and Mum’s food is so delightful… *sigh*

My favorite holiday is coming up this Saturday and I am SO excited! Halloween is great. I love candy and all things sugar. (I am wearing my candy corn socks and they’re making me want to buy some!) I love the “spooky” decorations. I love stepping out of your normal self and dressing up as something fun. I’ve been slowly gathering items all month for my costume with glee. The house was decorated last Saturday with all my fun ghosts and skeletons hanging from everywhere. Tonight, AMR and I are doing some pumpkin carving and will add my jack-o-lanterns by the front stairs for all the trick-or-treaters this Saturday. Then after trick-or-treaters, there’s a Halloween party to attend with friends. It’s going to be such a great day!

I basically wake up on Halloween morning the way other girls wake up on their wedding day.

I will never be one of those people who don’t like to dress up for Halloween. When I was going with that Irish guy, he told me that no one in Ireland dresses up and that it’s just for kids. What?! I tried to explain that Halloween is a “party holiday” (no gift-giving, yay!) and since they are a “party culture” – I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t get into it. But many feel foolish dressing up in costume. Or they are all busy/stressed and adult-like so they can’t be bothered with silly nonsense like costumes. I get it, but I feel bad for those who can’t let loose and have fun with it. They are certainly missing out on how great it is to dress up weird and rip it up with your friends.

What are you going to be this year? NF and I are going to be Brangelina… yet we need to get our act together this week for the “brad” part of the costume. I found an Angelina dress (black and low-cut) at the Goodwill for $6 and had mum perform some alterations so that it’s not TOO revealing – but still revealing enough to get the point. I need someone to draw on the elaborate tattoos (I saved out a bunch of pics from the internet in preparation). Perhaps Mum, perhaps Xtina – probably not NF, although he said he’d do it. Do you think black pen is too permanent? I’m going to be so cold, but it’ll be worth it.

Whether you’re watching Halloween-themed movies and waiting for trick-or-treaters or heading out to a spooktacular party with friends, I hope everyone has a fun Halloween and enjoys the holiday!

Hilarious Halloween Costume Links:

Top Ten Tasteless Costumes

How to Find a Masculine Costume for your Effeminiate Son

——————————————————————————–

Yesterday, I entered a writing contest to describe my favorite Boston Moment to win a signed Red Sox jersey and a meal for two at Bacco that will include two perfectly mixed ABSOLUT BOSTON cocktails.  To be honest, I would trade the signed Red Sox jersey for a $30 bottle of ABSOLUT BOSTON, but I’m not sure negotiations are allowed.

I just went back to the listing of the contest because I wanted to look up the restaurant’s name… and just noticed that they wanted 50 words or less.  50 words or less!? And this is considered a contest!? If you are an avid reader of the bloggo, you’d know that 50 words or less is near impossible for me to describe anything. At this point of this very entry, we’re already at 132 words. Bogus.

So I submited 562 words about Marathon Monday 2008 that all lead up to my favorite Boston moment. And I think it’s pretty good. Maybe I’ll win anyway. Probably not. Oh snap… I hate when I don’t look before I leap.

There’s always the writing contest AMR has proposed where one has to submit a 2-page essay about their favorite foreign food.  Winners are selected to come over and enjoy a meal off the new raclette grill (a tabletop grill that she experienced in Switzerland and Bykfam bought one to teach us Americans the way).  The thing is, I am not one who likes foreign food. In fact, the more I hang out with NF, the more I’m realizing how picky my diet really is. I did try sushi with him one night and it was okay but not something I could call my “favorite” or write 2 pages about. In fact, most foreign food I eat is because I’m with someone who wants to eat these mildly edible concoctions and I just put up with it and try to be worldly.  I would say I like Italian… but Xtina told me that the Italian I like is really just “American Italian” and not the real deal. I guess the same would go for the Pu Pu platter at the Chinese restaurant. Not the real deal either, right? What about when I go to Mexican restaurants and say I want a quesadilla with just cheese and chicken and no onions, peppers or spicey things? Does that count?

So I will have to make something up since I have no favorite foreign food and do not want to risk the possibility of never eating off the new raclette grill! Hopefully, I have a slow day at work today or tomorrow so I can think of something.

HEKD is making fun of me because I was making fun of her choice of framed photos in her new house… every one of them a pic of her and her husband.  I told her, “We get it – you’re in looooove!”  What’s funny is that we then suddenly realized I have not appeared in any framed photos of hers during the entire decade of our friendship.  Then we thought back to the condo she lived in for about 6 years and confirmed that there were no framed photos of me on display at that place either.  I noted that she did have a framed photo of her friend LC and her husband MC on their wedding day… she used to have a framed photo of her and the tall one… and she has a framed photo of her with another girl she’s friends with (but she says it was a gift from that girl so I can’t be mad at that).  The point is, all these people aren’t as important as me and yet I have no presence in her house!  HEKD says she is working on a shrine in my honor if it will keep me happy. Well, it’s a start. Next, she will need to be sincere about worshiping it.

Then I was thinking about it some more and I don’t think any of my friends have framed photos of me in their living quarters… unless you count a photo of KDM, AMR and I on prom night in 1995 that is on display at AMR and Bykfam’s house.  If I am wrong, please let me know to help ease my mind. But even though my living space has decreased from a 2 BR apt. to just a single room within my parents’ house… I have pics of my friends all over! In fact, you would think I was in love with HEKD with amount of photos I have framed of her… at Vegas, at her wedding, at the cheesecake factory, etc.  AMR, RB, Bykfam, JBP, Xtina… they all are there on display so I can look at them lovingly and look forward to the next time I see them. The realization that no one does this for me is frankly devastating. Xtina doesn’t even have my 4th grade picture on display at her desk anymore.  :(  I’m feelin’ the non-love today. I see how it is.

On a related note… I have two very talented friends. One is a fiend at knitting and the other is a creative artist. Do you think either of them has ever made anything for me? Hellz no! I’ve been very good friends with them for years and watched with sadness as they’ve made project after project for every one else they know and nothing ever for me. What’s up that? Is it crass to complain about not receiving homemade gifts produced from their talents?  Probably. Are we close enough friends that they’ll think it’s funny? Likely. Have I been such a good friend that I deserve a homemade gift? You know it’s true. If I dote on my framed photos of my friends as much as I do, just think how much I’d adore your homemade gift! But don’t drop everything and make me something just because I’m sobbing every night at my multiple unrequited loves. I’ll survive. Don’t worry about me. But HEKD, I’m following up with you this weekend to see how the shrine is coming.