I've been meaning to update my LJ for days, weeks, eons but I never quite got around to it as each day passed into another and another. So much to update, but I'll probably forget half of what I wanted to mention. So we'll go with the highlights.

Last Tuesday I met my parents for dinner at Muldoon's in the Macy's at Rockaway Mall. Food was great and I had a nice time catching up with my mom and step-dad. After we ate my step-dad headed home while mom and I wandered the mall. I helped her pick out birthday gifts for my grandma. She also wanted me to pick out whatever I wanted for my birthday. I just couldn't find anything that interested me. Funny how I can go shopping and have no money and I'll see billions of things I want and yet when someone wants to buy me something, I can't find a thing. Ah well. My mom ended up sending me money in a card so I can find something I'm sure. Might need another trip to the Outlets.

Hmm... what else did I do last week? I really don't remember. Probably nothing too thrilling.

Ron's boss refused to give him my birthday off of work, even though Ron requested it months ago. He pretty much told Ron that I should move my birthday to another day. Duh. Stupid man. It worked out okay though. I've been really wanting to go to the Old Country Buffet that's in Watchung, but it's not really local to just go at a moment's notice. They sent me a buy one/get one free coupon for my birthday, so we decided to go on Saturday as an early birthday dinner. It took a little over an hour to get there, but it was worth the drive. The food was so good and there was so much of it! Mmm!

On our way home we stopped at Barnes & Noble and had some coffee while looking at different home renovation books. I also glanced at their blu-ray selection, but wasn't quite in the mood to spend the gift card that Barbara sent me yet. I'd rather go one day by myself and spend time browsing the book shelves.

We also hit Best Buy on the way home. Ron said he wanted to look for a birthday gift for me, but we left without anything. I truly believed I wasn't going to get anything for my birthday from him. I figured that he'd just take me shopping one day and tell me to pick something out. He surprised me though.

On the actual day of my birthday (Sunday) Ron worked and I was home alone with the doggies. I couldn't spend my entire birthday in such a boring way, so I decided to go to the NJ State Botanical Garden. It's only about 15-20 minutes from me and yet this was my first time ever going there. It was so pretty and a nice relaxing way to spend my birthday. I put some of my photos on Gather and plan to add more soon. I took so many pictures, but I'm displeased with many of them. It just gives me an incentive to go back again soon and try harder. I was only at the garden for an hour and a half or so, but it was very nice.

I came home and took the dogs out while waiting for Ron to get home from work. When he finally did get home, he had a gift bag in his hand and told me that I couldn't open it until later. Evil man!

We had to hurry to get ready and then we picked up a pizza from Suzi's and drove to the drive-in theater. The whole drive we weren't sure what we wanted to see. Terminator Salvation was playing with Star Trek and Night at the Museum was playing with Wolverine. I wanted to see both Terminator and Night at the Museum and wouldn't have minded seeing either Wolverine or Star Trek again. When we pulled in to pay, I finally decided that Star Trek beat out Wolverine for a 2nd viewing so we went to see Terminator Salvation and Star Trek. It was nice to go to the drive-in on a Sunday. It wasn't too packed at all! It was a good night too, but a little on the chilly side. We actually had a frost advisory for that night.

By the time we got home, my birthday was over. It was a little after 1 a.m. Ron finally gav me my birthday gift. He got me True Blood on Blu-Ray. I was so thrilled! I wanted to put it in and watch it right away. But we didn't. We're going to watch it Friday night, I think.

Yesterday I went to Petsmart, ACMoore & Michael's. I don't know why but I had this urge to buy scrapbooking stuff. So I did. Maybe one day I'll actually make a scrapbook. lol

Today I had to do some food shopping so I went down to A&P. Otherwise it's been a boring day. Ron should be home within the hour, hopefully. He has to get up so early to open tomorrow. Totally sucks.

I'm sure I had more to talk about, but now that I'm a year older my brain ain't what she used to be. They say that the memory is the first thing to go and mine's on its way out.

LISAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Thank you thank you thank you!!! The Borders gift card arrived today! Thank you so much! I think you had the wrong zip code on it though because it was scribbled out and then someone wrote in what looks like crayon the right zip. And it looks like it was stamped a few times at various post offices. So I'm not sure when you sent it, but it made it! That's too funny that you found it in your bill! It amused me when I read that. What a cool way to spread my birthday out a little longer. hehe. And it's going to be used pretty darn quick because with this heat wave, I'm constantly looking for excuses to go somewhere with AC and Borders is a perfect choice! hehe.

Also in the mail today was my Amazon books from Stef! Thanks Stef! Now I shall not run out of things to read for a couple years. hahahaha!

It is too hot outside. We were just out there with the dogs and no one enjoyed it... well, I think Rogue enjoyed it because she's a butthead. haha.

Last night was a pain in the butt. Wendy's called Ron right around midnight. The dining area of the restaurant closes at 10:00 and at that time they lock the doors and only have the drive-thru open for business. Well, at 10:00 they closed up and somehow broke the lock and couldn't get it to lock up. So instead of calling Ron at that reasonable hour, they waited until midnight to call him to say they didn't know what to do. I guess the locksmith that Wendy's has a contract with closes at 5 p.m. and so they had no one to call to fix it. Ron had to GO to the store to try and fix it himself. I decided to go along with him for the ride and we brought the dogs too so they could enjoy the trip. I just can't believe they waited TWO HOURS to call and say they had a problem. We didn't get home until after 2:30 a.m. after all was said and done. Not that I had anything else to do, but I was annoyed on Ron's behalf. In the end he couldn't fix the lock anyway and so they had to leave it unlocked with the alarm on and they notified the police department to keep an eye on the place. What a pain. All that time out of Ron's free hours. HE had to open yesterday so he was dead beat by the time we got home. Tonight he's closing in a different location because they need the help. He'll be opening at the other location on Thursday too. It's the same distance as his normal spot, so it's no big deal to him. Tomorrow he has off.

Oh guess what? My carnations are blooming! They are so bright and pretty! Right now most of them are just beginning to bud, but a couple of the plants have full blooms. Weeeee! I'm so thrilled.

Have I mentioned how hot it is? Ick. This weather is killing me. I hear we may get thunderstorms tonight. Oh joy! I also read that there's tornado watches in place for parts of New York state. Yikes! I'm not that far from NY state so it could easily affect me too. I hope not, but you never know.

I got the mail this afternoon and in it was a couple more goodies for moi! My grandma sent me a card with stickers and a check. And the big surprise was a B&N gift card from Barbara! Weeeeeeee. I'm so eager to spend it that I can't take too long here to type this up because I want to head right over to the website! hehe. Thanks so much, B! That was so sweet of you! I'll think of you as I pick out my books. hehe.

I've been sitting outside much of that afternoon/evening so far. I had the dogs out and brought my book with me to enjoy the fresh air. I love it when it's not too hot and not too cold so I can sit and enjoy a good book outside. I definitely wore the doggies out too because they're sprawled across the floor sound asleep. Goofy girls!

I can't believe this is my last day of being 33 years old. That was kind of a fun age. It's neat to have two of the same numbers. ;-) I don't think 34 is any big deal so I can say good bye to 33 without any anxiety.

I think I'm going to pop open a bottle of wine and relax and enjoy my last night at this age. Sounds good to me!

I had a wonderful surprise today! A lovely, oh so lovely, Amazon box arrived on my front step! It came right after Kristen sent me a text message to keep my eye out on the mail. So of course I was excited. I was just getting the dogs to take them outside, but they had to wait a few minutes while I attacked the box. hehe. I opened it to find this:



(A bad cell phone shot, but I get too eager to grab my big camera. haha)

So then I text messaged Kristen and told her that it arrived and I was good... I asked if I should wait to open them until tomorrow. When she didn't IMMEDIATELY reply, I made an executive decision and opened them. Hehe. So awesome! What was inside the wrapping, you may be asking. Three books! And not just any three books, but three awesomely great books! For my birthday Kristen sent me Mansions of Darkness by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Blood Noir by Laurell K Hamilton, and The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison. Eeeeeeeeee! I'm so excited. The hard part is going to be in deciding which to read after I finish Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart that I'm reading now. I may have to shuffle them around and close my eyes and point. I want to read them all immediately! Yet I want to saver them too! Thanks so much Kristen!

Today's my grandma's birthday. I called and sang to her on her answering machine. Hehe. My dogs were looking at me like I was craaaaazy. Oh well. hehe. She emailed me last night to let me know that my mom arrived and had surprised the heck out of her. I guess my grandma had been in the big common room playing cards and had just won when my mom walked up behind her and said "Happy Birthday!" My grandma said that she almost peed her pants she was so surprised. Hehehe. Now THAT would have been a story. haha. Today they're off to Mystic to do some gambling. I hope grandma wins big!

I should run to the grocery store and pick up a few things, but I'm rather warm and not feeling like going anywhere now that I have awesome books to read. haha. Yesterday I transferred all my stuff from my old purse into the Coach one and cut off the price tag. So it's officially MINE! (Although I did stick the price tag into a pocket to keep for memory's sake. haha.) Now I want to go out and about and show off the purse. It is such a perfect size... not too big, not too small. I even fit the Liz Claiborne wallet/clutch in there. Is that wrong? To have a Coach purse and LC wallet? Man, now I'm going to need to get me a Coach wallet, aren't I? Haha. Not anytime soon though! We'll wait at least a few weeks for that. hehe.

Not too much going on here. Ron's working until 10:00 tonight. I was considering heading over to Kinnelon today to see "Sex and the City," but I'm not feeling like going anywhere. I want a nice lazy day. I know Ron wants to see the movie too, so I'll be good and wait to see it tomorrow or Sunday. I've heard a few people say they're greatly disappointed in the movie. I've been trying to avoid spoilers, and so far I've been able to. I was just curious to see what people's feelings were about the movie and so I've looked around to see that much. I don't think I'll be disappointed though. Heck, Chris Noth on a screen for even a minute is enough to make a movie worth watching. ("Castaway" anyone?)

I have a DVD I need to send out as was requested on swapadvd.com. And I should go to the bank to deposit the check my mom sent me. However, as I mentioned a couple times above, I really don't feel like going anywhere. Maybe I'll wait an hour or so and see if the urge to get out hits me.

Almost. haha. Anyway, you're probably wondering why... well, I'll tell you. (Even if you're not wondering why I almost forgive her, I'm going to tell you anyway, so there!)

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, so here's why ( I almost forgive her... )
That is Corey's birthday present to me! Well, part of it. The UPS man delivered a huge box around 2:30 this afternoon and I saw the return address was Corey's. She had mentioned that my gift would arrive today and I was going to be "good" and wait until my birthday to open it, especially since I'm not going to have any gifts to actually open on my birthday unless Ron shocks the heck out of me and gets me something. (doubt that very much, but that's another story. haha). However, I wasn't able to be good and as soon as I found a pair of scissors, I was cutting the tape and digging through mountains of those annoying peanut thingies that are constantly sticking to everything due to static cling! The first thing I pulled out was the legs. Just seeing the pink legs I knew it had to be flamingo-ish. Then I pulled out the wing with the towel and was a little confused because I couldn't see how that would attach to legs. Net I pulled out the body and that's when it started to come together in my mind and I assembled it as quickly as I could. I have it sitting on my coffee table now. Ron laughed at it and asked where I was going to put it. I need to find a perfect spot to show it off because it's soooooooo cool! I love it!

That wasn't all that Corey sent either. It by far would have been more than enough! (Wherever did you find something so funky?!?!) She also sent a 3-pair pack of socks that are the cutest things! They have little gnomes on them and say "Chillin with my gnomies". Isn't that adorable? I wish the weather would get cold again so I could wear the socks! Also in the package was a set of Winnie the Pooh fuzzy artboard markers with scented ink and a jiggly light up pen with (I believe it's supposed to be) Captain Jack Sparrow on the top. Oh and the other very funny flamingo thing is this beaded See No/Hear No/Speak No evil necklace. Although I'm extremely sad to say that the Hear No Evil flamingo is broken in half. :( Wahhh. I think I have a glue gun somewhere and should be able to put her to rights. Corey and I just have such a bad time of mailing things to each other that I'm glad it was only one thing that has issues and thankfully there was no rain to make it a big mushy mess! haha.

So Corey, thank you very, very, very, very, very much for all the great stuff! I love everything! And you're now almost forgiven for being a bad influence. I'm not sure just what it would take to be completely forgiven, but eh... this is a good start. hahahahahah! ;-)

It's almost time to celebrate my birthday! I hear everyone gathering
and in a moment I'll be called over to blow out the candle. I wonder
what kind of cake it'll be. Hmmm. Ooh, gotta go...

Ok, I'm back! What a good cake that was. It had a chocolate layer on
the bottom and yellow cake on top and then had white frosting with
chocolate melted over it. It's hard to explain but boy was it good!
Out of my scratch-off lottery tickets, I won a whopping $2. Woo hoo.
It's better than nothing, I suppose.

Yesterday I managed to read about 100 pages in The Camel Club by
David Baldacci. Although most of the day I played on-line instead of
reading. Today I've read 115 pages so far. Not too shabby, but even
still I've been less focused on it than I'd like.

Ron had to open today, so I shall probably see him tonight. I'm still
waiting for him to wish me a happy birthday. Not once since my birthday
has he said anything about it. No card. No e-card. No e-mail. No
gift. No promise of dinner or shopping. Nada. Jerk. Haha. If he
says nothing tonight, I'm going to take Kristen's advice and dish out
one heck of a guilt trip. Tee hee. Hmm... What do I want? I'll work
it so well that I'll be able to get my heart's desire. I just need to
decide what that might be. Haha.

Last night at midnight we had some MASSIVE thunderstorms roll through!
The thunder shook the house it was so loud and it followed almost
immediately upon the lightning flashes. I was betting that the power
would go out or a tree would come down. Fortunately neither of these
happened at the house. Phew. It made it heck to sleep though with that
loud noise going on constantly for a good 30-40 minutes. It was
actually scary.

I brought my Mall of America travel mug with me to work today. I filled
it up with coffee this morning at home and have filled it up a couple
times today... Once with water and once with coffee. I like it better
than the paper and styrofoam cups that they sell in the cafeteria and
store.

I'm wearing my pineapple earrings today. They were in the set of 5
earrings that my grandma bought me at the QVC store in the MOA. I want
to wear my flamingo ones sometime this week too and the flip-flops and
the palm tree and the cosmo drink and the turtle. Hehe.

I'm tired and bored. Back to my book I go...

Awww! Somebunny wuvs me. Hahaha. I arrived at work earlier today than
normal because traffic was so light! I guess everyone and their brother
took today off work. I don't mind because it meant that I got here nice
and early. I surprised Sue though because I was sitting here eating my
breakfast of fruit and yogurt and suddenly I hear "Hey! What are you
doing here?" I looked up and laughed as soon told me that she was
trying to surprise me and put my birthday present on my desk before I
would get in. I thought it was funny.

She had to run back up to her desk and I finished eating my breakfast
before opening the gift bag. Oh my gosh, she gave me the prettiest
watch I've ever seen! It's a Relic and it's two-toned (silver & gold).
The face of it almost looks like pearl with little diamond chips at 12,
3, 6 & 9. (I'm sure they aren't real chips, but they're pretty and
sparkly!) Also there are gold flowers on the face too. It's so pretty.
I'm sure that I'm not describing it in any way that does it justice. I
love it! It came in a really cool metal tin thing that looked almost
like a candle holder. When I pulled it out of the bag, I thought it was
a candle until I opened the tin and saw the watch. Inside the tin there
was also a tag with the price on it. Whoops. Haha. It showed a price
of $60!!!!!!!! I'm sure Sue got it on sale for cheaper than that, but
wow! I've never owned a watch that was at any point worth that much
money! I always buy cheap-o watches! Like the $4.99 ones at Wal-Mart.
The funny thing is, when I was at Wal-Mart on Wednesday I was looking at
watches and almost bought one. Something told me not to buy one though.


I needed a new watch badly since my last one turned my arm green on
graduation day. Needless to say I haven't worn that one since. I've
been watch-less. So this birthday present is doubly wonderful because
it looks good and it is something I needed. Sue's the bestest!

I still have this stupid cold that will not leave me be. It also won't
let me sleep much at night. Grr. It was over 80 degrees in the house
last night and I was already uncomfortable with the darn cold! Add the
heat to the mix and I was downright miserable. We do have a window AC
unit in our bedroom, but even that at full blast was barely cooling the
air. Ugh. I'm hoping that Minnesota will be a little cooler next week
than the warmth we're having here in Jersey.

It's going to be a long day. 3 people are out today... Rick's leaving
early to head to Massachusetts and so those of us stuck here all day are
going to be beyond bored. Even the company store is closing early at
3:30! How rude! I'll have to make sure to get my afternoon caffeine
fix at 3-ish instead of later.

More iTunes for meeeeeeeeee!

Thanks to the lovely Darla, I have another iTunes certificate to spend. Yippeee.

I didn't spend my iTunes or Amazon certificates tonight. I am planning on doing that tomorrow. I was too tired to shop on-line tonight. Shocking, ain't it? But tomorrow... watch out... here I come. I will be a spending fool!

at 11:30 my group still hadn't all posted their assignments so I gave up and wrote a summary for those of us who did do the assignment already. Then one minute after I posted my summary, one more group member posted. GRRR! So I posted an addition to my original summary. I checked again right after that and there is still one member who hasn't posted so I gave up for the night and will worry about adding hers in tomorrow. It isn't fair to me or any spokesperson that these people wait until so late to post. Our summaries are due by midnight of the due date and so how can we do it if they don't post with much time to spare? I'm not staying up and waiting for everyone. Hopefully the professor understands this. I just wanted to get my info up there and at least he can see that I was ready and willing to do my part.

I'm so tired. I do believe it is bedtime for me now.

Nighty night and thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!!

Well other than some annoying clients calling today, work wasn't too bad. The "Cars" thing broke up the day so that it wasn't completely bothersome and then the cake this afternoon gave another break from the workflow. I didn't win anything on my scratch-offs though. But I had fun scratching them off, so that's what counts. The cake Sue picked out was sooooooooo delicious! It was white cake with strawberry filling. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I loved it!

Tonight Ron and I met my mom at Bennigan's and I had my usual French Dip. It was delicious as always! Plus I had the Brownie Bottom pie dessert, although I couldn't quite finish that. It was so yummy too! Then I got to open up my presents from my mom and Gary. I got a really nice pair of brown sandals that I can wear to work. Yippee. I also got a really funky purse (I had asked for a funky purse with a shoulder strap and gave my mom no more details than that). This purse is so cute. It has little monkeys on it and... well, it's hard to explain but I love it! My parents also gave me the first two seasons of "Northern Exposure" on DVD. So I think I made out pretty darn good!

Ron bought me a rhododendron. I must really be getting old because I was excited over a plant! Haha. He also got me miracle grow for the plants and he's spraying it on them right now.

I got home to discover another surprise in my email inbox. Corey sent me an Amazon gift card! Yahoo!!! More books! Oh man, Ron is going to roll his eyes big time at the amount of books that will be soon arriving for me. I can't wait to spend spend spend spend spend!! Thank you Corey!!!!!

It has been a good birthday. I can't complain one bit.

I also managed to post my assignment for today while at work. I do still have to do the summary for our group for today but not everyone has posted yet and so I must wait. *yawn*

I think I'm going to go pop in "Northern Exposure" and watch a few episodes. Or maybe I'll just hit Amazon or iTunes and start spending my certificates! Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Oh and in good news... the back porch now has a floor again! And I see the guys have the lights here and ready to go up too. Cool beans!

Yippee!! I received two more awesome birthday gifts!! Stef gave me an
Amazon gift certificate (YAY ~ MORE BOOKS!) and Kristen gave me an
iTunes certificate (YAY ~ MORE MUSIC!). I'm so excited about both of
them. I don't know which to spend first! Hee hee. I guess I could
multi-task and spend both at the same time! I'm trying to decide if I
should get full CDs or just pick and choose a bunch of songs from
iTunes. Hmm... Maybe I should take recommendations. I know there's a
few songs I definitely want but I could always use suggestions too. As
for the books, I've got a few ideas too but again, recommendations are
always welcome. Not that I'll listen but hey, I'll always keep them in
mind for down the road. I think I want to get another Yarbro book.
Hmm... Or I could pre-order the next Anita Blake book because that's
coming out soon. Then again, nah... I'm not a pre-order type of gal. I
like instantaneous satisfaction. I want to know that when I order, it's
on its way... Or very shortly thereafter it is on its way.

Anyway... THANKS so much Kristen and Stef!

Ron dropped me off at work this morning. I really could get used to
being chauffeured. Today he's going to bum around and hit Home Depot
and a few other places and then he'll pick me back up after work to go
meet my mom at Bennigan's. Fun stuff! He says he's also going to buy
my birthday present but I assumed the flowers and the back porch were my
presents. I guess we'll see if he actually does go buy me something.
I'd be pleasantly surprised. Uh oh! I almost forgot that today is my
mom & Gary's anniversary! I must get a card before dinner. Fortunately
they usually have cards in our company store so I'm hoping they have a
nice anniversary card.

The cars from "Cars" (the movie) are going to be here today. We got a
free "Cars" keychain too. I wonder if we can get our pictures taken
with the cars. That would be nifty!

I don't know why but "nifty" seems to have made its way back into my
vocabulary after a decade's absence. I guess it's better than "swell".
Haha. Or maybe not. I'm amused though.

Today was too darn hot! Ugh! I hate the heat. I think it's going to be one long summer! Wahhh!

We went to Ron's brother's today and it wasn't too bad... just hot! Lots of food to be had... chicken, london broil, sausages and meatballs, macaroni salads, corn on the cob, veggies, chips and dips, fruit salad, pickles, olives, and much more than that. It was nice, although we stayed much later than I had wanted or expected. We got there around 1-ish and didn't leave until 9:00 tonight. I think I got bit by every mosquito in the area. I'm going to be itching all night. Darn bugs! I can't complain though, it was a good day. Ice fight and all. I have to admit... I started the ice fight. Yes. I admit it... and it was probably the funniest part of the day. Little Kyle was running around putting ice down everyone's shirts and they couldn't yell at him because I showed him how to do it and kept egging him on. It felt good though, the ice that is. It was so hot in the sun that it didn't bother us at all to have ice melting down our backs. Or at least it didn't bother me.

I must take a moment to thank dracschick. She has given me my second birthday gift of the year... paid LJ time and cute little balloons on my user info page. Thanks so much! I can always use more LJ time and I think the little balloons are neato!

Tomorrow I don't have any specific plans and I must say I'm glad of that. I'll need tomorrow to relax. Although I think Ron has ideas in his head to do some work around the house and so I'll probably get stuck helping out or something. Drat.

I like these three day weekends... I like them so much that I wish I could make it a four or five day weekend... or six, or seven, or twenty...

I could not sleep last night at all. It was way too hot in this house. We put on the attic/whole house fan and that would cool it down to a reasonable temperature but Ron didn't want that running all night because it uses too much energy or something. So when he'd turn it off, the bedroom and all of upstairs would get suddenly sauna-hot again. Ick. Tonight when we got home from Jeff's, the first thing we did was put the small window AC unit up in the bedroom window. So hopefully that'll help cool things down tonight.

I received my first birthday present today! Well, technically I received it in the mail on Saturday but it was in a Barnes & Noble envelope that didn't say anything on it except that it was from B&N so I assumed wrongly that it was a notice to renew my discount card or I thought it might be coupons for coffee or a percentage off books. Thankfully I didn't toss it as junk mail (I can never do that with anything from B&N or Borders because more than likely I'll use whatever it is as an excuse to shop! LOL). I just opened it a couple minutes ago because I figured I'd see what it was. Turns out it was an early birthday gift... a gift card to B&N from Lisa and Petra! What a surprise! Now I must spend it! I hope I don't have to wait until the day of my birthday to spend it because I can't wait that long. hehehehe. Thanks so much Lisa & Petra! It'll be put to great use! Ron rolled his eyes when I started dancing around the room singing "I get more books. I'm getting more books. Wee hooo".

Speaking of books... Two of the books that I need to review for June arrived today. Yay! More reading stuff!

I watched the stupid Orientation Video for my class tonight. 1 hour & 2 minutes of stuff that I already knew. There wasn't a speck of information on it that was new to me. Oh well. I did manage to finish my assignment for tomorrow so I can post that from work and I posted today's assignment. Ooh I should watch the next video thing for Thursday's assignment so I can work on the questions at work tomorrow. Fun stuff.

Well, back to bn.com I go. Must. Spend. Gift card. Now. Hehe.