Time Change

"No matter what accomplishments you make... somebody helps you." - Althea Gibson

Wooo baby. It feels so late right now. I got up at 11:30am and it now feels as though it were after midnight even though it is not even 9pm yet. I didn't do a whole lot today but I did a decent amount for a Sunday. Usually I don't do anything on Sundays. Today I was given the opportunity to watch a movie on the good tv with the surround sound. I watched The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition). It was good. I saw it in the theater and liked it alot. Enough to go and buy it after it came out. Elisha Cuthbert (from the show 24) is freakin hot. Then after I finished watching that Crow came over and we hung out for a while. Watched some of the extras and then we went and got some food to eat at Subway. It's always a blast hanging out with him. We've been friends for so long that we know how each other think. It's crazy.

Mels, you might need to calm down about Shoo and I updating our sites. I write when I feel the itch to write. (And I've got and itch now) I'm not writing anything profound in here. It isn't like you can't have a normal day without hearing what I did on a certain day. This is my journal. You should start a blog so that you can write everyday. And if you don't write in it often enough then I will jump your case to write more so that we can be even. See, I can't criticize you for not writing because you don't have a blog. Maybe I want to read all about your daily life? I don't think my life is very exciting. Sure I do things every so often. A lot of the things I do don't get put in here though because I like to actually have a personal life. Since you don't blog I guess I could devote this blog to you and write about you every day.

Saturday night: Mels came to the bar for Jules birthday. I don't think Mels was drinking because she appeared to be drinking water the whole time. Mels got a back rub from Shoo while she was sitting in my seat at the door while I was working. Then Mels left early with Jess so that she could go eat at Steak n Shake before she probably went home.
Sunday day: Mels criticizes Shoo and myself for not updating our blogs often enough. Saying that "u have a responsiablity to your public." I also quote "i'm sick of checking outyou guys' blogs and websites when you don't update them!"

I say that if you are sick of them then do a boycott sit in. Burn your bras. Smoke some grass. Chant hell no you won't go. Sit at your computer 24 hours a day and purposely not check out our sites. Stand up for what you believe in and that is that we should update everyday if not more often than that. Maybe I can update 3 times a day. Then it would get even more detailed. I can talk about how the kids were in the morning. Then before I go back to work I can tell you about how my nap was. then when I get home from work tell you about how the kids were in the afternoon and then if I feel really "adventurous" I can post right before bedtime telling you about how the television shows were that I watched that night and if the person won the bonus round on wheel of fortune or not.

We had 24 trick or treaters tonight. How many did you have?

"if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence... it's time to fertilize your lawn." - Unknown

"Man's mind once stretched by a new idea... Never regains its original dimension." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Victory is MINE!

Booya! Guess who just got the frickin flu shot! ME! Yeah, apparently not many people came out for the days that the standards were too strict for me to get it. Obviously too strict for a lot of people and then they had a lot of flu shots left over. Now they are not even questioning people. I just got mine at the Dept of Public Health and it was just $18. I took my Great Aunt and Uncle to it. They are the ones who pushed for me to get it. Although they read wrong about where it was today and we went somewhere that it isn't at until Monday. So I then had to drive us back to the house and reread the news paper and figured out where it was. It took about 45 minutes total at the actual place. So that wasn't bad. It was a decently long line but they went through it pretty fast. Now I only have an hour before I have to head back to school because I have to be in an hour earlier for end of 1st quarter early dismissal. Yay for finally getting the flu shot!

Go Cardinals!

Haha. Just kidding. If I believe my eyes the Saint Louis Cardinals just got swept in the 2004 MLB Wolrd Series by the Boston Red Sox who haven't won a World Series title since 1918. Well, I guess I was wrong leading all of you Cardinal fans on by saying in a previous post that you would not get swept by the Red Sox in the Fall Classic. How wrong I was, right? Woooweeee! Craziness. Yes I was rubbing it in that the Cardinals got their asses handed to them on a Silver Platter. That is only Silver because first place finishers get either Gold or Platinum depending upon what sport you play. I think I heard someone say tonight that 2nd place is the 1st place LOSER. Yes, go ahead and say, "Well Kyle, You know that the Cubs didn't even make it to the postseason." And I will reply with, "Yep, I know it, quite a disappointment but the Cubs did not deserve the postseason with the way they played. It just wasn't good ball." The Cardinals played some good ball but then it caught up with them. The steam engine actually can run out of steam once in a while. It was bound to happen just unfortunately it happened to the Cardinals ballclub on the first and ONLY 4 games of the 2004 World Series. I noticed Coble Animal hospital on MacArthur got a little overeager and as of this morning put up something to the extent of Congratulations St. Louis Cardinals 2004 World Series Champions. I bet whoever comes in first tomorrow morning has the job of taking that down immediately because Cardinal fans might start sending hate mail and call them relentlessly to get that taken down because they don't want to be reminded about how their team sucked it up in the World Series. Just think about how many wins you had over all the others in the central division this year. Maybe the Cardinals used up all their wins a little too early. Maybe they could have spared a few and used those wins to get the world series title. There was a little breathing room. It was all or nothing though right? You still can fall back on saying that you were the NLCS Champions. That is worth something isn't it? I hope so... Hey Cardinal fans! Wait 'til Next Year!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

WS Game 1

Well, I just have to say. I've never seen Ed more sad in my life. He looked so bad after his team the Cardinals lost game 1 of the World Series. Buck up little camper, everything will be okay. Your team will win a few games. I don't predict the Red Soxs to sweep you guys or anything. They do have home field advantage and that helps mentally for the home team. Did you think about how the last time you two played each other in the world series you guys beat them? Maybe this time around it is their turn to win it? You can't have it all the time. I'm all for the Red Sox to win it. I don't care about how Ed tells me that even Red Sox fans make fun of the Cubs too. I'm not a Red Sox fan am I? Nope. But when it comes down to it I have picked who I want to see win the End All World Series and I say it is going to be the Boston Red Socks. I've been supportive of the Cardinals up until this point in time but I want the Red Soxs to win more. If the Cubs were still in it I would root them the entire way because they are my team but unfortunately they didn't have the "stuff" to make it to the post season this year.

Mr. Shoofly is "in waiting" for hearing about if he gets a really good job or not. Anyone and everyone keep him in your thoughts and hopefully he gets this one.

Well yesterday was a blast and downer at the same time. Started my day off with a funeral for a long time family friend. One of my sisters came home from Chicago for the weekend for the funeral. My other sister that lives closer but is rarely seen also was there for it. We all hung out (the family and family friends ) at Spammy's which is a small bar over on Stanford by hometown pantry. I love that bar! I always forget how much I enjoy hanging out there. I've only been there with family before so I mainly just associate it with them. We hung out there from about 4pm until 8:15pm when I headed down to Browns because I had to work the door at 9pm. I really enjoy hanging out with my family in that capacity. The time went by so fast and there was never a dull moment. Then even after I went down to the bar and my sisters came down a little bit later. I felt so proud. They were sitting there almost the entire time of the game and heckled all of the Cardinal fans. Booing when the Cards did well and Cheering when the Sox did well. They were the only ones. That takes guts to do considering that about 95% of the bar was there to watch the Cardinals win. Shannon even made bets with Shoofly and Ed over who would win the world series. If Boston wins then Shoo owes my sister 10 bucks and Ed will owe my sister 20 bucks. She is holding them to it too. And she will be true to it and pay them if she loses. Although she won't be losing so it's all good.

I think Ed and I are going to watch the WS Game 2 tonight at Sammy's not to be confused with Spammy's. Two totally different bars. GO RED SOX!

Busy week

Ugh. It is finally Friday evening. Let the weekend begin! So this week has been a busy week. Wednesday was a half day workshop so the kids got out early which means I have to be back early. Instead of heading back to the school at 2:30pm I had to be there at 11am. That was a long ass day. What made it even worse was the fact that it felt like a Friday the entire day! Then knowing that I still had 2 more days of work before the weekend made it suck that much more. The week went rather smoothly though. I actually went out a few times this week. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all nights down at the bar for me. Just hanging out. It was a good time. Mainly I was down there watching the ball games that were on. It is always a little bit more fun to watch a good ball game at a bar than it is at home with the parents. The Boston Red Sox made and amazing never before done best of 7 games comeback from being down 3-0 and won the ALCS. The St. Louis Cardinals also did a great feat of coming back to win their best of 7 series after the Houston Astros had won 3 straight games at home in the NLCS. Now the kicker, I had been rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals to go all the way. Well, time to change the stance. I'm very happy for the St. Louis Cardinals that they made it to the Major League of Baseball World Series but now I am going to root for the Boston Red Sox to win it all. My line of thinking first is that I am a Chicago Cubs fan. I have the right to pick whoever I want to win since my team is nowhere in sight. Second the Red Sox are in the same boat at the Cubs. The Red Sox have not won a World Series title since I believe 1918. They are long overdue. They also have a supposed "curse" on them also saying that since they traded Babe Ruth and then he got good a curse befell them. Something like that, I'm not totally sure what the actual curse is but that is what I think I heard. The Cubs have a "curse" on them also because of the damned original owners of the Billy Goat Tavern. Apparently the owner wanted to bring his goat into the game with him and they wouldn't let him and then he put a curse on the Cubs. The Cubs have not won a world series title since 1908. But they are the loveable losers no longer. They actually have a really good team this year. But unfortunately they couldn't get their act together and some players were in slumps and we couldn't manufacture runs like they needed. So many games were lost by a run or our freaking bullpen would give up the game in the last inning. Very very frustrating. Next year I hope they get their act together and start playing some good ball. We've got the pitching now we just need to get some runs on the scoreboard. Sosa needs to work his ass off this off season so that he can actually make contact with the ball again. His is a huge part of the team and unfortunatly when he is in a slump then that actually does affect the rest of the team.

As for my plans this weekend. I have no idea really. I know I have a funeral visitation to go to tomorrow during the day. My sister will be home for it also. Tonight I may just head down to the bar as usual. Tomorrow night I work at the bar so everyone come down and see me. I drank last night and it was great. I tried out the day fresh beer that they had at Browns. Bud light. It was good. I would like to try a day fresh import or 2 but I don't see that happening anytime soon. To do that I would have to get a little closer to where the imports are made and yeah, being an import that means that they are not here in this country.

GO RED SOX!

High Risk, MY ASS!!!

SO I just did a lot of calling around. First my blood doctor, I told them my story. I have no spleen and I because of this have a weakened immune system because the spleen is part of the immune system. They say that I need to call my primary health physician for information on that. I'm like oh great. So I call my family doctor. I again explain the no spleen factor and ask if I qualify for the flu shots and then how would I represent that I need the shots. They say that they don't think that I qualify unless I have HIV or something along those lines. I'm like what?!! But they then give me a number to call which is regarding the flu shots. So I call another bloody number. It rings and rings and then finally someone answers. I say I need to find out information on the qualifications of the flu shot. They then (without actually talking to me past the point of my question) immediately transfer me to a recording which doesn't mention being spleenless. The thing is most of the population has their spleen(s). So is it going to be like this? Am I going to get looked over for the rest of my life in the no spleen area? I can't get a definite answer. The spleen is a huge part of the immune system. I had to get 3 vaccinations prior to the surgery because of the potential of getting insanely sick after spleen removal. Now due to a stupid shortage I am not risky enough? Old people are old! I have a lot of living left to do and I would not like to get sick and die. Health care can kiss my rear end. Sending me all over the place and not giving me a straight answer. I don't take medications. A standing order for Amoxacillin I don't think will cut it for a prescription that would qualify me in their eyes as a high risk. So I guess I will just have to tough it out. If I feel sick I am loading up and living off of Amoxacillin if it will help me or not. Also, I know that these kids are going to make me sick again. I already got a head cold a while back and I know it is because of the kids. Today one kid I was sitting next to sneezed and I felt it. Yeah I FELT IT. Germs, everywhere. I was like oh damnit, that's gross. Let us all hope that of what immune system that I have it is good enough to battle the flu this year. Last year I didn't get the flu shot and that is what made me sick as a dog and led to my blood platelets dropping again and then all the crap that followed. Now I'm in a different boat a year later. I just want to know why weren't the facilities at that Chiron Corp sanatized in the first place. That stuff should be regulated to the point that the regulators live there always checking on that.

SO what it comes down to is that they don't recognize people without an immune system organ like me. If that organ that I no longer have was inflicted with something serious like HIV then I would qualify but to not even have that organ makes me non high risk. Sounds like BS to you too? Health Care's internal monologue "Leave that man out in the cold. Maybe he will get sick and die. Then he will stop calling us and bothering us while we are playing solitare on our computers at work. "

DVDs

Oh goodness, it has begun. I just started ordering DVDs again. See what happens when I have money. I actually wanted to fulfill my Columbia house obligations so that they would get off of my back. So I went ahead and ordered a few dvds. I got The Girl Next Door (Unrated Ed.), Elf (Pre Order), and Bruce Almighty. And also just added to my collection is Man on Fire. A good movie that I saw in the theater. My parents plan on watching that tonight because I said that they both would like it very much. I hope I am right but I am getting a feel for movies that they enjoy and also movies that they might enjoy together. I love DVDs. They are my hobby besides sitting in a bar and drinking with friends.

Today I slept in until about 1:30pm. It was great. I went to bed by 3am last night so it definitely was a good sleep and much needed too. Friday was exhausting. I was actually running around after the kids during play time. We were playing keep away from Mr. Kyle with a beach ball. I allowed this because I assumed that if they played keep away from each other someone's feelings would get hurt and start crying and such. So I say if they all keep away from me then they can work together and have a great time. Of course most of the time I actually 'could' get the ball but I would let them run ahead of me and such. Or if I did get the ball I would just throw it up in the air and start over. Emphasize for them to pass to each other when I would be getting close to getting the ball from them. But woooo, I sure did a lot of running. Those little tykes have a ton of energy but I somehow found enough energy within me to keep up although I had the kids in 2 groups and inbetween groups I had to take a break and drink some water. Read with a little one while I was breaking and then took the rest out onto the gym floor. We were inside cause I had taken a few of them outside and then it started raining again and I didn't know how long that would last so we had to move it into the gym. Which is better anyway because then Miss Loretta can also keep an eye on things from the stage where she is with the other half of the kids.

I need to do a load of laundry and then maybe I will go over and visit with my Grandma for a while. I didn't make it over to see her yesterday so it has been since Thursday evening.

Oh last night I got to see so many people. Ben and Dufrene were in town. That was great to see them. Ben was just home for the night and then heading to the UofI football game today in Champaign. Dufrene, I don't know why he was home, but it is always fun to hang with him. Jeremiah was also there along with Josh. Philly, stopped in for a few drinks. Offered to buy Dufrene a drink but no one else. I see how it is Philly. I also ran into some old friends that I don't hang out with anymore but I saw Terry Olson and seperately Kirk Kellus with Nick Zellers and Todd Malensky. It was crazy. I was like there are so many people here that I know! That is why I love that bar.

That's enough!

Some of you might not know what I am talking about but Mr. Dustin and Miss Brooke have decided to use my blog comments section to throw insults back and forth. I don't appreciate that at all. You both need to work out your issues on your own like the adults that you are supposed to be. Name calling and hypothetical insults are not cool with me. I have deleted a few comments because you two are getting out of hand. So stop. Say it to each other's face and not on my personal blog. I feel like putting you in time out like I do with my 5 year old kindergarteners so that you sit there and look at how you are behaving. You're old enough to act mature and rationally about your life situations, so go ahead and do so. Now I'm not mad but I don't appreciate what you two have been saying to each other on here. Also leave Ernie out of the problems between you two. He is a great guy and I don't like the fact that you include him in your badgering of each other. It has been very immature. That is all I have to say about that.


-Vote in the United States' Presidential Election. You DO make a difference.

National League Championship Series... BEGIN!

The Cardinals start the final leg before the actual world series tonight. The square off with the Houston Astros in St. Louis. A ton of my friends are going. I'm jealous. Yes I know. I am a Chicago Cubs fan but the way I feel is that I am a fan of the sport before I am a fan of any particular team. Don't you agree? How can you root for a team in a sport if you don't even care for the sport in the first place? First you find your love for the sport and then you find your love for a team. It goes in that order. It shouldn't be any other way. So even though I am a Cubs fan, I am jealous that everyone is on their way down to St. Louis to watch game 1 of the NLCS. Can you imagine how exciting that would be? The fans would truly be what the word fan is a derivative of "fanatic". It would be crazy, exciting, and fun down there. Just knowing how crucial every pitch and every play is for getting to the next level. The World Series. Unfortunately I am working and don't have the luxury of being able to take time off to do this. Yeah yeah, if I really wanted to I could have asked off. I have personal days that I can take. I still need to be responsible about them. I need the money that I am making from working right now. The tickets are pretty darned expensive too for these games. Plus just going down I would spend money on gas and food along the way more than likely so that is more money I would be spending when I am currently not making money because of the time that I have taken off. So I just couldn't let myself do that. Now... If I should happen to get World Series tickets then that is a different story. The energy of NLCS increases by 10 fold and weighs much differently on the need to ask off of work. All I have to say now is that for now Go Cards! But if the Cards end up making the World Series against the Boston Red Sox then I am definitely rooting for Boston. They have had a hard knock time just like the Cubs when it comes to making the World Series and actually winning the World Series. But I will deal with that when the time comes.

Marriage

How can people date for just a short amount of time and then decide to get married. Marriage is for life. It is for better or worse. How can you know in just 3 months or less that the person you are with is someone you can be with for the rest of your life? Even if I have a really good feeling about it, what is the rush? Is there a rush because you feel that the person may run off and change their mind? I hope not because if that is the case you shouldn't get married. Do you feel that you need to get married just to get it over with? That isn't very smart either. Is it that the sooner you get married then later in life you can say you've been married x amount of years to look impressive? That would be lame. I just don't get it. I feel I really need to know a person and also I want them to know me before that big day comes. Because in my mind once I'm married, I'm married. There is no turning back because why would you want to turn back anyway? The only reason for turning back is because you jumped the gun, I feel. You didn't know the person as well as you thought you did in the first place which takes you back to not taking enough time to get to know the person. Plus I hear that the time dating before actual marriage is sometimes the most special because the demands of "family life" are not as pressing. More fun and carefree are the days of dating and/or serious relationship. Is there something wrong with the period of dating that people want to get out of that period as fast as possible so that they can be a married couple for the rest of their lives? God I hope not...

An Effort

Whew. Today has been less than boring but not exciting. I paid some bills today. That is always a hoot. Giving all these people money. About $230 in bills I'm like, but I just earned that! I ran some errands to the post office and then to buy some filing folders so that I can get my affairs in order and be more organized than a huge pile that I rummage through every few days to make sure I am on top of things. Which I didn't check for a few days and my cell phone bill is going to be late since it was due Sunday, ooops. My parents get home from their trip to Tunica with all my aunts and uncles tonight. Not til late though. I don't think that they won any money. I hear that no one did really well. I was hoping with more family concentrated in one place their odds would go up for at least someone coming away with a big win. I will get the final details when my parents arrive home. So with their homecoming that means that tonight is my last night of taking care of my Grandma. I've been keeping an eye on her since all of her kids and kids-in-laws are out gambling and having a hootinanahollerin good time. She hasn't made me any food in a few days but I keep telling her that I can manage on my own. I know how to cook. I'm a really good cook too among other things...

I realize with taking care of my grandma since Saturday that I don't spend nearly enough time with her. I have really enjoyed seeing her everyday. She isn't as healthy as she used to be too and forgets things quite often. I am going to make the extra effort to see her more often. Heck, she does live next door. I know I know. That makes me look bad but I do have my own life to live and manage. But I do have time for her and I'm going to make it. She is the only grandma I have left.

People!

Hey, well look at that. More people read my blog than just Ed, Shoo, and Melissa. I just found out that my sisters occassionally read this too. So hello to Dustin and Brooke. Also, it take a big person to be able to do a shot but it takes a bigger person to turn down a shot. I didn't see any guns to any heads. I know I don't do shots anymore. On a big occassion I might but I have for the most part decided not to do them anymore. It is my own decision and I'm sticking to it. Just beer and mixed drinks for me. I can guage how much I've had much better than when I throw shots into the mix. Plus I don't want to throw up a stomach full of blood again. That was very upsetting. If I had real insurance at the time I would have gone to the doctor but I didn't. Now I am doing well so no need to go.

Also I don't see why you wouldn't go back into Sammy's. Besides Browns and Dempsey's it is gaining rank as a nice and fun establishment in my book. Of course The Curve Inn still ranks better than Sammy's. But Browns and Dempseys will probably always remain the top 2 bars in Springfield, Illinois.

I wonder who else reads my blog. I know Ed, Melissa, Shoofly, Jenny, Holly, my sisters Jen and Shannon do. Now I know Dustin and Brooke check it out. All of you stalkers... man, this is great. I've always wanted a stalker. This is more than any man could ever hope for. Who else reads my blog? Go ahead and leave a comment if you do. I won't bite.

OH! I think I am actually going to go out on a week night tonight. If I am correct on this I think that tonight is Dempsey's Celebrity Bartender night. Like each hour there is a new celebrity bartender. Plus I just got word that Jessica Bursi is in town. It is always wonderful to see her. I will see if she wants to compare scars although I think I might have shown her mine already. She had a trying last few months.

A Day Of Mourning

I just received some very very sad news. My idol. A very respectable and honest man and great actor died on Sunday, October 10, 2004. 'Superman' star Christopher Reeve dead at 52 is the headline of the article that was brought to my attention. This makes me so incredibly sad. Please take a moment of silence and reflect upon his life. Say a prayer for his wife, children, and family. He is in a better place now. Rest in peace Christopher Reeve aka Superman. You will always be remembered and can never be forgotten.

The news article.

Get laid?

Ha! Reier and Ed joking around tonight said that they were going to get me laid tonight. Funny ha ha. Well as it turns out we run into this girl at Sammys who is DRUNK. She's just crazy I guess. Not really my type though too. But the thing is as Levi put it "Dude? You don't know her? She was all over you. I thought you knew her" If I didn't have morals and I suppose taste I probably could have. But why? Do I have something to prove to hook up with some girl I don't even know? I don't think that I do. Reier and Ed started making up a story saying that I was having a party at my house after the bar. I'm like no no no. But they kept going with it. Reier even sent Levi over to add to it being like "So, I hear you're having a party tonight." It was pretty funny. But still I was not interested in this girl. Maybe if I was shallow or desperate. I'm not.

It was a good night tonight all in all. Hung out at Reier's bar for the most part and then he closed up early because the only people there were people he knew. Like us. Ed Reier and myself decided to keep the night going and went to Sammys. I'm still not drinking again and Reier doesn't drink so then it was just Ed having a few drinks and we all chilled. We actually knew quite a few people there tonight. I don't go to Sammy's very often but it is a decent bar just below Browns and Dempseys. Ran into Dustin Thayer and Nate Baker. That was fun running into them. That is until Dustin had one shot too many and then threw up on the table right next to us back into his cup. That was way too gross. Then he just bolted and didn't offer to clean it up or anything. That is a few demerits for Dustin right there. Besides that it was fun. Oh and Ed has a weak stomach for puke. Never puke around him or he might just puke right back at ya. I was like, whoa, tough guy can't handle it. Just jokes though. It might end up like that scene in one of the Scary Movies where they all end up puking on each other. Which was pretty grotesque.

I have tomorrow off of work because it is Columbus Day. I'm excited. I think I may be going to breakfast with Natalie and possibly Kristine at DJ Cafe where I hear that they have a "Breakfast Shoe" Oh man that just sounds delicious. I'm stoked. I love breakfast foods and I love horseshoes so this should be some good shizznit. Mmmm Mmm. Other than that I think I might get my files in order. I do need to pay a few bills so I need to get on that.

Responsibility

Well I have been taking on more responsibility with my family lately. I'm sure all of my relatives have thought that I was good for nothing but I am proving them wrong. First of all I have a respectable job now. That helps. I've been helping my Grandma lately. My parents along with my aunts and uncles all took a trip to Tunica to go gambling. They usually check in on my Grandma and give her her daily medications. I am doing this while they are all gone for a few days. I am happy to do it too. Not grudgeingly like some people might think that I would do. I also am helping out my Great Aunt and Uncle who live next door. They are getting to the point that they can no longer vaccuum their carpet without difficulty so they have humbly asked for me to help them out. At first they didn't want to or rather hadn't thought about asking me but they finally did. I am now going to go over to their place 2 times a month and vaccuum their carpet throughout their whole place for them. They are going to give me 10 dollars per time. I said that was not needed of course but they insisted because they say if they had someone else come in they would have to pay them anyway so they may as well pay me too. So I will be getting an extra 20 bucks a month for doing a little vaccuuming. I just did get done giving my Grandma her meds for the evening and for tomorrow morning. She is doing well even without all of her kids here fussing over her. I drove us and she treated me to a late lunch today at TGI Fridays. I had a Jack Daniels Burger. That was damned good.

Tonight the Cardinals play another game in the Division Series. Hopefully they can get some runs tonight. Unlike last night which was a complete flop. It is hard to win a game if you don't get any runs on the scoreboard. I might be going out or I might be staying home. I have no idea at this point in time. Shoofly and Ed want to go to Sammy's to watch the game but I offered for them to come here. Apparently because I don't have "hot waitresses and hot wings" my place is not worthy enough to hang out at. It isn't like they are going to hook up with the Sammy's waitresses anyway.

Saturday

Awww yeeeeah. It is the weekend. Freakin Finally Already! I've been waiting for the weekend since the end of last weekend.

Yesterday was a good day. Did the usual work nap work during the day. Then I came home and Mr. Shoofly was helping set up my dad's network between the new notebook cpu he just got and our family computer. Then I took Shoofly to Bellacino's and I treated us to a really good pizza and some free garlic cheese bread. Yeah, free. The girl brought the pizza out and then says I'll bring the plates and such in just a moment. And we are like, sure of course. So she comes back and gives us our dinner ware and then also a plate of garlic cheese bread. We almost said something then we were like... no way. So we said, let's give it 5 minutes incase they come rushing back saying it was a mistake. We did and they never said anything and I never noticed other people complaining about not getting their garlic cheese bread. So SCORE! The funny part about it is that I had mentioned how I was going to order some gcb but then I decided to get the biggest pizza and just forgo the gcb. I didn't even mention the word garlic cheese bread until after we had ordered and were sitting down waiting on the pizza. It was like Bellacino's had read my mind or something. CRAZINESS. So Shoo and I had a great dinner. I ran an errand and then went home and spruced up and then headed down to the bar because I had to work at 9pm until 1pm. That was a good time. People came out and had a few drinks, Melissa, Laura, Shoo, Phil, Jenny among other people. Becky's husband Jason was there for a little while and we chatted quite a bit swapping stories. Reier and I played some word dojo and set some decently high scores. I think that we can get even better if we play a few more times but I was shor ton time because this was right before my shift and I can't be distracted by a game like that because then people would walk in and go right by me and I would never notice.

My sister Jen's friend Melissa came in with her group of friends. It was her birthday yesterday. She was pretty drunk by the time she came into the bar. I guess making it their last stop. She wasn't like slap stick drunk but it was obvious she had a decent amount. It is always a pleasure to run into Melissa.

People have been getting upset with me lately because I haven't been wanting to go to 3am bars with people. I just come home. Used to I thought this was because it would be when I wasn't drinking but now even when I have been drinking I still don't feel like going to a 3am bar. I just haven't been in the mood. I would rather go home and start the getting ready for bed process. I really value my sleep. Yeah I know that I can sleep in on the weekend but still. I don't seem to have a good time when I go to the late bars nowadays. Sometimes I do. I still like the Curve. But no one wants to go to the Curve. Something about sitting around a 3am bar where you can actually hear your friends talk and have some cheap drinks is appalling to everyone except Ed and myself. I've been quasi yelled at a few nights for calling it a night after the bar closes. Maybe if I had a prospect or someone that would be worth an extra effort to hang around deeper into the night.

Last night was also good because I got a kiss from a lovely lady and then randomly this other girl as she was leaving I told her to have a good night and she was like, "You too!" a pause then "I love you!" as she walked out the door. I was like well that's cool. That girl that just left loves me. So it's good to know that there is someone out there that gives a shit about me.

Cardinals have to win...

Today went by rather fast. I thought it was going to be a slow one considering it is hump day. Once hump day happens my week actually does speed up it seems. I did my usual formula: Wake up and go to work, come home and eat and nap, wake up and go to work, come home and eat and watch tv then go to bed. Tomorrow is a little different. It is picture day at Enos. From what Miss Loretta says she and I both get out pictures taken and it doesn't cost us anything. I'm like whoa! School pictures, I never thought I would be doing that again or rather it hadn't ever crossed my mind. So I just did some laundry because I want to wear a nice shirt for this special occassion. My first school picture not as a student of the school. CRAZY! AHH! Yeah, it's weird. Also the other thing that is tomorrow is that it is PAYDAY! I'm always stoked about that. Collecting my earnings for showing up everyday on time and doing my job the best I can. It is very rewarding anyway and getting paid makes it that much better.

So the Cubs season ended earlier than the sports analysts at the begining of the season had predicted. It didn't come together like it needed to and that's how it happened. Nothing more to it. The machine known as the Chicago Cubs needs a little more oiling before it can start running full force. The Cardinals are making a good run. I hope they win because they deserve it. Plus it is always nice to say you lost to the best. If the Cards lose then the amazing season they had was just a waste. That would be a pity for them to just waste it all after they have come so far. They have to win. If the Cubs had made it, sure I would be happy but they didn't deserve it. They played horribly this entire season. Sure there were good moments but overall it was not the season of the Cub but the Cubs are still contenders and no longer are the loveable losers that they have been in the past. Bring on 2005!

Do you care what people think about you?

I got asked the question tonight "Do you care what people think about you?" and I thought about it. It is actually a tough one because it makes you think deeply. It isn't as superficial as you might hope it is. This is what I like to think. I do but I don't. See. Great answer huh? Well the way I see it is I don't care what people think about me. They have their minds made up about how they see me. I like to think that being myself is good. I'm not a bad person and I don't do bad things. So if I keep being myself and I am a rather productive part of society then they should hopefully think good thoughts about me. I wouldn't try to offend someone which would lead to someone thinking ill of me. I attempt to dress decent although I probably don't have the best fashion sense. I never claimed to be great. I just try to be me and hope it is good enough. I know who I am. Do you know who you are?

KIDS!

Ah these kids! They won't listen to me. Miss Loretta leaves for a few minutes to get a kid straightened out with his homework situation which is becoming a huge situation. I have one table of kids who I'm having put their heads down because they were misbehaving. I have another table of kids who are finishing up their projects for the day because it was K and 1st grades' day for an art project. Then I have the middle table with just a few odds and ends. Yeah, I'm just monitoring because it should be simple. Half are heads down which means no touching and no talking. They don't seem to understand that this means that. Even though I kept telling them and telling them. Then the youngins who are doing their art are just getting louder and louder. For a decent amount of time they act like they listen and then end up doing the same thing over and over. So finally I just yell. BE QUIET! oh and I yelled. I had already been at "elevated voice" stage. Everyone shut up immediately. It was amazing. They knew I meant business. Although one kid started crying. I was like, UGH! I go and ask him why he is crying. He says that I yelled at him. I restated that I yelled at everyone because everyone was entirely too loud. I was not singling him out. He slowly stopped crying. Some of these kids are pretty sensitive yet others are numb to any scolding and brush it off as if it were nothing. So I had a decent amount of quiet for a few minutes then Loretta finally came back. I told her what I did and I think she was happy with that because we both know they don't listen to me as well as they listen to her. I'm starting to send kids inside from the playground much more now. I will sit a kid in time out. These kids are a rough group. And we never have more than 20 there at a time. You think, oh only 20 kids? Yeah, well it is a range of K - 5, so we have kids who have no idea what is going on and others who smart off to you thinking they own the world and can do no wrong. We do have a few who are just great and almost always listen and follow instructions. I praise them when they do to show that punishing kids isn't the only thing that we are there for. We are slowly figuring out what to do with the kids as to how we will keep them in line.

This felt like last Friday all over again when they wouldn't listen to me and I kept having to try to disipline them.

Today I only had 2 kids get hurt on my watch. One was swinging around a tetherball pole and flung herself onto the ground and hit her head. She fakes being hurt quite often but of course I still had to investigate. She actually did hurt her head and had a small mark. It was nothing serious though and she would live. Another kid apparently hit his shin very hard on the steps of the monkey bars or something. All of a sudden he is on the ground crying in pain. skin is not broken and there isn't even a bruise but I still can see where he hit it. I do what I was taught when I was a little kid "WALK IT OFF" That was the solution to everything when I was a kid. Just walk it off and you will be better in a little bit. So I now impart this wisdom to the kids that I watch. All we are allowed to do for the kids are use preventative measures and band-aids. Yep. I'm not a doctor and parents don't want me to treat their kids, so I just say walk it off and put a bandaid on it.

Thursday is my 2nd pay day. I'm already looking forward to that. You think, kyle will probably just spend it all on DVDs. Yeah right. I've got bills out my wahzoo that I need to get paid off. Bill here and a bill there. This paycheck is going to be going places already. Just like the last one. Now I do need to get myself some new shirts and maybe a few more pairs of jeans. I definately need a new pair of shoes. It has been about 2 years since I bought the pair I am currently wearing and they are not holding up but by barely. It will be nice to finally start saving some money too. My savings has sat at a standstill since I opened it in May with the 100 bucks that is in there. I need to start it up and get it going. If I am to go places in life I need savings.


I have this coming Monday completely off for Columbus Day. I'm so Stoked. A weekday off without asking it off it going to be nice. A 3 day weekend. What shall I do? Maybe go visit Crow and Ben in Peoria? Maybe sit at home and rent movies or just watch Starz channel? Maybe sit at the bar all weekend and just watch other people drink?

Oh yeah. I put this in a comment on Shoofly's website but for the next month or so I am not drinking anything alcoholic or any soda beverages. I have my all so important follow up appointment with my Blood Doctor to check me out and make sure things are going well with me. I want to have some damned healthy blood by that time. Now I expect that if I got checked right now that I would be fine but I want things to look exceptionally good for the doc. I want to hear all good news. I want to hear that the surgery is still a success and that my platelets are still at really good levels. Plus I need to lose a little weight. My dad is trying to claim that when I drink the days that follow I eat a whole lot more than I do when I am abstaining from drinking. I think that this is bullshit but hey. I do know there is some correlation. But I just like to eat. Eating is tastey and good. I'm going to try and start eating less too.... just when that is going to be I really don't know. I should just start right now or even when I started thinking about it a while back but I am an awesome procrastinator and I can put something off until it is the very end or even when it is too late. Let us hope that it is never too late for me. Yay. Okay. I have been typing for a long ass time now. I am going to leave you with some words of wisdom.


Get your car "winterized". I have a really bad feeling that this winter is going to be really harsh considering last winter was mild and this summer was mild. I forsee a whole heck of a lot of snow. Make sure your battery is good and your oil is changed and that you have good antifreeze. Also own 2 ice scrapers. Keep one inside your home and one inside your car. Sometimes the car doors freeze shut and you can start scraping before you deal with opening those doors.

I taught today

Awww. Today was great. This afternoon Loretta wanted to take the kids on the playground because she hasn't been outside in about 3 weeks and she loves being outdoors. Well, I was like sure, I'll stay in because that is only fair. So Loretta had got some fire prevention fun books that have games and such in them along with important information in it. Well I got to sit down with half of the group at a time and attempted to teach them about fire safety. I felt so happy after I did that. Now we didn't finish because we are working on the booklets all week long but it was good. I told them about detectors, exstinguishers, and the different types of fires and how to handle grease fires with baking soda. I really hope they took something away from all of this. Some didn't know what a fire exstinguisher was so I know that I accomplished something just by pointing that out. I think I enjoy teaching the kids a whole lot better than just trying to regulate out on the playground. It gets very tiring out there always having to keep your gaurd up and yell over here and then yell over there.

Fire Prevention Month

This just crossed my mind because we are talking about it with our kids at Scope. This month is fire prevention month. SO check all of your smoke detectors and also check furnace air filters and make sure they are clean so that you have less chance for a house fire. I know I check mine every so often when I try to cook something so I know ours are working too well... Be safe everyone.

Good hand hygiene doesn't take much time or effort. But it offers great rewards in terms of preventing illness. Resolve today to adopt this simple habit as a way to help protect your health.

Flu Season

Yep. It is almost that time of the year. I blame the flu season of last year on all of the shit that hit the fan for me in the first half of 2004. I got so sick last December which I believe led to all of my blood problems resurfacing. So now I am in a different boat. My spleen is gone and now I am more susceptible to getting sick and if I get sick it is likely to be more severe than the average joe. I'm planning on getting a flu shot this coming Thursday with my mom. At 9am the Meijer Store will be having a flu shot clinic and it will cost just $15.00 for the shot. I see that Walgreen's ($20.00) is doing it too and also has a Pneumonia shot($35.00) too. But I did some research and it reminded me that I got the Pneumonia shot back in February before my surgery. It was a requirement. And I just read that people don't need more than 2 pneumonia shots in their life and never get this closer than within 5 years of each other. So, hopefully I will never get pneumonia. I will get the flu shot and hopefully I will not get sick like I did last year. Cause if I get THAT sick again I might have to go into the hospital or something.

I got my oil changed in my car today. I decided to use this 2 dollar coupon I had for Lube Master over on Stanford by Chantilly Lace. They appear to have done a good job. It was 24.99 for a basic service but they use a higher "quality" of oil apparently. Valvoline or what not. Supposed to be good stuff. I'm not well read on that stuff so I will take their word for it. It is a bit expensive though compared to other places. Seemed pretty complete. They say I may need to get my transmission fluid changed and also have my radiator flushed and changed. My dad says I should go to other places for those, like places that focus on those parts for a living. Also they actually vaccuumed my car all over unlike Wal-Mart Full service oil change who did nothing of the sorts even though they were supposed to.

If you want to destroy my sweater

Pull this thread as I walk away, as I walk away.

Hell yeah, It is finally Saturday. It is the weekend. I somehow survived my first full day of Scope. The rugrats had no school so then we at Scope got them all day long.

I just had a nice visit from my sister Keri and her niece Peyton (no relation to me). I don't see her very often as she is older and has her own life but she stops by and we do family things.

Last night was fun. It was nice to be able to hang out and have a few drinks and relax. Even though I am still sick but not as bad as I was. I think that my head cold is moving into my throat now. I'm battling it the best that I can. Tonight I work the door. That should be a good time. I always enjoy working the door.

I sure do love hanging out with lovely ladies. Especially ones that don't appear to be shallow and superficial.

I hear that Crow wants to get a tattoo of a "Crow". I don't advise going through with that. Especially the picture that I think he is going to use is more of a dead parakeet or something. Not really a crow. Crow is addicted to those cheap 1.00 sundae's from McDonalds. Weird. Of all things to crave... is a mini cup of cheap softserve.

Shoo thinks that if someone asks you if you are a homophobe then that someone must be homosexual. Because that is how he replys to such a questions.

The Cubs piss me off. Where the hell is the offense. Sammy is actually hitting somewhat again but hell now everyone else is like, uhhhhhh what?