I feel sorry for the kids today
25 Sep 2008 3 Comments
I am so lovin technology!
Minie Red might not be feeling the same way… All the time. Especially when I can check her grades online.
Whenever one of her teachers updates her grades I get notified. So a few weeks ago I noticed some pretty crappy work on her part and I came down on her. I even took her cell phone away. The main purpose of the cell phone is for the weekends with her Dad so it wasn’t a big deal for me. It was, however, a big deal for her.
Since that time she has stepped up her game. Last week she was studying for an upcoming test in History class. She even made flash cards and we had fun working on it together. Well here we are almost a week later and I find that she kicked ass on that test.
Last night, after I got home from my fantastic date*, she and I were laying on my bed watching TV and I turned to her and said, “I’m so proud of you!“
She looked really confused.
I said, “Does it feel good to hear that?”
“YES!”
“You kicked butt on that History test! I know you studied hard for that test and it paid off. Plus it was fun studying with you. Doesn’t this make you want to keep up the good work?”
“Yeah this is a good feeling.”
This morning I got an email that more grades have been updated. One of the classes she is taking is Health. The grade in Health dropped a bit after the last test she had. I’m not worried about it though but her last test in Health was a bit thought provoking. She got a C and the test was on Mental Health. I would say that means she is about average a/k/a normal. Thank Gawd!
*See, I mentioned you!
The weekend in 3 pics
21 Sep 2008 1 Comment
in sports
Had some kick ass seats for the Nats game on Saturday and here was our view:
Miss Chatter was there too… In the press box.
Ends up there were other celebs too and in our row no less. I hate to bug people and believe they need to be left alone to do their own thing. I got a pic but left it at this:
Former Mayor Anthony Williams and his wife were out cheering on the Nats. One dude did stop and bug him and looked the fool. Wish I could have heard what he was saying.
It was a perfect evening for a game an unfortunately the Nats lost.
After the game they played the movie “Field of Dreams” up on the big screen so we hung out and watched about half before heading out cause it was getting late.
Today (Sunday) was pretty uneventful and I was able to get a nap prior to hitting Montgomery Mall for a few upcoming birthday gifts. I hate the mall and people can just be so rude. My favorite part of the mall was walking by the FiOS kiosk. Mini Red pointed it out first… All the men were hanging around watching the Skins game.
Football at the Mall… When the wife just won’t let you stay home and watch the damn game. At least none of them seem to be carrying the purse. Nothing worse than a dude holding his chick’s purse.
Why is this so difficult?
19 Sep 2008 2 Comments
All I want are some simple cardboard shoe boxes that are like drawers. Each individual box that I can stack but I can pull open from the front for easy access to the shoes.
First thing I found was this at The Container Store:
But these are $17.99 each… EACH!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me?!?
Some of us poor people need a more inexpensive solution. I need to save my money for the shoes themselves.
$7.99 for a regular and $12.99 for the Men’s cause ya’ll got some big feet. Here is a case where it’s more expensive for the dudes than it is for chicks. Normally, everything is more expensive for the women. These are still expensive, though, because I’m looking for about 10 so that would be $80.
Seems I’m not the only one looking for a better solution. Rinnah’s Marketplace found something called Benjiboxes but they are pricey too!
Oh look! Walmart carries some canvas shoeboxes made by Rubbermaid running $7.88. Still kinda pricey when you add it up but it’s the lowest so far. Seems Amazon is selling these same boxes for $9.95. HA!
See this is why I hate shopping… It costs too much and takes up way too much time.
I have a confession to make
18 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in sports
I never heard of Stub Hub before my friend’s Chicago incident.
The other day I used Stub Hub and loved them. I can admit when I’m wrong and I may not have been wrong before but just defensive for my friends. OK maybe I was wrong.
I got some kick ass tickets for a Nats Game and at a Kick Ass price. I will definitely be using them again.
Certifiable!
15 Sep 2008 1 Comment
Last week I was in a class for three days doing some serious studying so I could pass my ITIL Foundations Certification.
When I first started with this company back in December that was one of the first things I heard about. “The ITIL Way” was new to me back then. So I took the course early on and I had two things working against me then. I was brand, spanking, new to this HUGE company and I was horribly sick for my first two months here. This was when I first tried to learn ITIL. so I’m sure you can guess how that all went. Evidently, I wasn’t the first to take the course and not pass. I was devastated none-the-less.
Work has been extremely busy since then and I was finally able to sign up to take the course again… Last week. I definitely understand all the concepts of “The ITIL Way” but taking tests is not my fortay plus this exam comes from the UK and their word choices aren’t exactly like ours.
The first day of classes was a bit frustrating and nerve wracking but the instructor assured us it would all come together by the second day. Both nights I studied and worked on memorization but the second night Minnie Red had gotten herself into a heap of trouble. I had already taken the TV from her room because I really don’t see the purpose plus its a distraction. Last Wednesday I took her computer and her cell phone. The purpose for the phone is when she visits her Dad and I had been warning her that she could lose it if she doesn’t shape up.
Losing the cell phone left her wailing like a banshee. I maintained my cool for a while but my breaking point hit especially because she was keeping me from studying. My redhead temper came out… Oye! Unfortunately, it didn’t scare her because in the apartment I won’t yell like I might in the car and believe me I can yell.
Minnie Red is just being a typical teenager and I’m not going to continue with some of the silliness she is bringing. Mom is taking her down a notch or at least trying because she is one STUBBORN girl.
So come Thursday morning I was tired and hadn’t done my practice test. I figured I was doomed to fail. I got to the classroom and promptly took the practice exam cold. Passed! Not by a lot but it was passing. class started for the day and by noon we took a second exam… Passed! Still not by a lot but slightly better than the first exam. By one thirty the proctor arrive to administer the exam and by two we were working it out. I didn’t take the full hour for the 40 question exam and nervously turned it in.
I couldn’t help but worry what would happen if I didn’t pass this time. I hadn’t heard of anyone going back for a third time.
Today the email came with my results:
PASSED!
Thank goodness!
I can’t tell you what a relief that is and I did better than I had done on either of the practice exams. So I am now ITIL Certified but I like to just say I’m Certifiable.
OhhhhhhWeeeeeee! I’m excited!
12 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in music
This chick went and bought herself some Amos Lee tickets. This dude will be gracing the 9:30 Club with his presence in early November.
You don’t know who he is?
Just check this out:
Be sure to check out this one too! Turn it up and just immerse yourself.
Did it give ya the goosebumps?
One Wedding down now on to the next one
05 Sep 2008 1 Comment
The Chicago Wedding was WONDERFUL!
View from my room
It was non-stop from the time we arrived. Get this… There were 38 wedding parties staying at our hotel (Chicago Hyatt Regency). That is one HUGE Hotel!
Friday was the Cubs game and I got to see Soriano hit a homer and break the tie to lead the Cubs to a win against the Phillies. Wahoo! But damn it was hot and chivalry doesn’t exist at Wrigley Field when the Cubs are doing well… I don’t blame em.
Wrigley Field
Friday Night we headed out to Howl at The Moon, a piano bar, for the combination Bachelor/Bachelorette party. A good time was had by all.
Saturday, three of us girls were at brunch when five fire trucks showed up at the building across the street. We had the perfect seats to check out the Hot Chicago Firemen. Ends up it was a false alarm.
Chicago Firemen with Marina Towers in the background
We did a lot of running around that day doing preparations before heading to the Rehearsal and the Rehearsal Dinner at Greek Islands. On the way to dinner we got stuck in traffic but I now know where I want to go next time I’m in town:
The Crying Deaf Stripper?
The Crying Deaf Stripper ? Sounds like something from one of Mad Cabbie’s stories.
After dinner five of us shared a cab back to the hotel where everyone met up at the Big Bar. In the cab four of us chicks were in the back and we had one dude with us. We over heard the Cabbie and dude talking and all we got was dude saying, “So you like it rough?”. On that Mrs. M immediately closed the little window separating the front from the back. We were howling and repeated the line to dude the rest of the night but he insisted it was innocent enough.
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! The Wedding Day!
That morning was incredibly crazy. Our bridesmaid dresses were full length. The bottom was three layers with the bottom layer having crinlin, this got a bit hot. The top was sleeveless and low cut. Those of us with a bigger bust had concerns about our cleavage in church.
See!
I’m not gonna show her cleavage but I must say it was impressive. Even Jimmy said so.
By the time we got on the boat we were all overheated again. The top of the boat had the sun beating down and the A/C hadn’t really kicked in down below. But then I noticed it… The bow of the boat. So I headed out there and it was heaven. There were a few Greek women out there and I just lifted my dress a bit to let the wind help cool me off. They thought I was funny and offered to take my picture for me.
It was windy.
The food was wonderful and the views were amazing especially as the sun was going down.
See the Hancock Bldg?
What a Beautiful Scene!
The Happy Couple and Red
I had the hardest time getting nighttime photos but some turned out beautiful. I’ll have to work on that.
And last but not least I have to post a pic of my roomie and I.
Roomies
For quite sometime I have been considering moving to Chicago. I’ve never lived anywhere else but Maryland and would love to have the experience of a different city. Being in Chicago exacerbated this and all my Chicago friends egged me on big time. Since being back, which hasn’t been long, I’ve done some serious contemplating about the move and I’ve made a decision.
I can’t move… Yet!
I’m going to do my best to keep Minnie Red in her school and with her friends through High School. Then I’ll move to Chicago. It’s only five years away and then I won’t have to worry about what school district I’m in and I’ll get a trendy loft in downtown Chicago. I’ll only be 45 and I’ll run with the young’uns. Brotha-Man and SIL can visit and I’ll take Brotha-Man and The King to Wrigley Field.
Ok, so I digressed…
The wedding was beautiful and everyone had a ton of fun and made new life long friends. Nicole and Louis waited six years to do this and they definitely did it RIGHT!
Thanks for including me in your special day. I’m honored.
