On the Stage

I met a new driver this morning, which is surprising because I thought I had met them all. I was late this morning, about 10 minutes late (I made up 5 of those minutes thank you very much!), and so I was going 80 mph on the interstate in the left lane and I came upon this new driver. He was going about 70-72, I know because I had to slow down for this jackass, and had just started passing a driver and so I waited and waited (he’s also one of this drivers that likes to pass going 1 mph faster than the person in the right lane) and finally he was past the other driver, but didn’t get over!!! BIG SURPRISE. So I go into the right lane to pass him and…he speeds up….what?!?! Why did he do that? So now all of a sudden he’s going 80-82 because there’s no one in the right lane to pass. SO, I have to get back over behind him because the next car in the right lane was coming up. Believe it or not he slows back down to 70 to pass the car, then speeds back up to 80 when there isn’t a car in the right lane anymore. I have NEVER encountered such a messed up driver before. It just astounded me and I was at a loss of what to do. Finally, after doing this for about 4 cars he passes a car and get over into the right lane and I pass his ass and I find out it’s a woman, a rather butch looking woman, and I pass her with a mean WTF look on my face and she doesn’t even glance over so I can show her my mean WTF face, which makes me even more mad. But I was past her and life moved on again, until the next set of dumbass drivers.

YAY! We got plane tickets to go see the in-laws in WA. We had been looking for a while and we couldn’t find much that worked with times for under $347 a ticket. To find cheaper we had to take a red eye or leave at 6 in the morning in Seattle to return home and they live 3 hours from Seattle so leaving at 6 in the morning wasn’t going to work. So last night I was on the phone with my mom while she was looking and I was looking and V was talking to HER mom so she knew what we were looking for and after about an hour (Kaia was running around the apartment singing silly made up songs and loving that she wasn’t in bed yet) I came upon the tickets we ended up buying. I found 3 tickets leaving Dec 31 at 5:30 PM from Minneapolis taking a direct flight and getting into Seattle at 7:15 PM. Then our return flight is on Jan 8 from Seattle at 12:10 PM and getting to Minneapolis at 5:30 PM. Fairly excellent times! I found these bad boys for $285 a ticket, that’s including the taxes and shit. Oh YEAH baby! We get 7 solid days in WA with the in-laws, whom I love, and then one day of travel to get there and one day of travel to get back, which still means three hours in a car to MNPLS with my Dad and then three hours in the car with mom-in-law to get to their place then vice versa to get back, so that’s still time spent with family, it’s just in the car. AND…that’s 5 solid days of paid vacation from work! :-D AND, it’s only going to count as ONE PTO day taken, since I have three left over this year that will carry into 2005 and we get a floating birthday day off which equals four days, and then I will be taking one new 2005 PTO day, which is FINE. Excellent, I’m mucho excited.

Oh man, I don’t care if you watch TV or not, you should have seen this last weeks ER. It was VERY good. It guest starred Ray Liotta and he gave a tour de force performance. If that man does not win some kind of major guest starring award I will be disappointed. Damn, it was good. Way to good and too complicated of a plot to try and explain or go into, lets just say if you saw it you probably feel the same way I do. I just got to see it last night, thanks TiVo J, so that’s why I’m commenting now.

Speaking of things I just saw, this weekend I just saw the move Cold Mountain with Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellwegger. Wow, good movie! I see why it won best picture. The war scenes were tough to watch, when that family died it was seriously tough to watch, and Renee Zellwegger, I can see why she won best supporting actress for this movie, she was fantastic, totally out of her element. All the other roles, played by various seasoned actors (including the very vivacious Natalie Portman! *rowr* ) were spot on as well. Very good film, it comes highly recommended from this reviewer.

I know it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but let me say that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. I could go on for HOURS about how much I love Christmas, but I will do so at a later date, just wanted to throw that out there now.

I get to sing a bunch this holiday season! If I may toot my own horn, I was asked every time too, so it makes me feel very special. First, I was asked to sing a solo and then a duet with my sister at this thing in Story City called “Yulefest.” I’m not sure what solo I’m singing, but Jena and I are singing “The Prayer” which was made famous by either Celine Dion and Andrea Bocceli or Josh Groban and Charlotte Church, depending on which you know, or maybe you know both, we sang that at my church last year, it’s a beautiful song. We’re doing this on December 5th, so I hope my bronchitis is under control by then. Second, I’m singing “O Holy Night” at my church on December 24th, I was asked personally by the church organist/pianist who has played for me before. It’s an open call to anyone who wants to to come sing or play at that service, but she asked me ahead of time because she really wanted me to sing “O Holy Night” and as she said, “get some professional talent.” Ooooh J That made me feel good! I sang “O Holy Night” previously at that service two years ago. Last year I was sick, so I didn’t sign up to sing, I hope I’m not sick this year! Thirdly, I am singing at the in-laws church. I have sung once or twice every time we’ve been out there and mom-in-law, who is the music director/pianist, said they comment and love it so much that there’s no way I can’t sing when I come over there. That made me feel good too J Mom-in-law is a vocal instructor and has a music degree, so she is real proud to have this son-in-law J

Bronchitis, huh? Yeah, still battling with it, around one month now. First set of medication didn’t work, so I called back my doctor and said, “listen here bub! That didn’t work and I need to get rid of this god-awful cough I have.” So she gave me this cough medicine that is in a gel capsule that I take three times a day. When I went to the pharmacy to get it my pharmacist, who knew me and got it ready as I walked up (what a guy, even though I rarely get sick or need medication, I’ve been there enough to get it for Kaia and V and I so he’s a good guy), said “Now don’t bite down on one of these. And don’t go home now and bite down on one of these because I told you not to because this will make your whole mouth go numb.” Cool! But I choose to heed his advice. I also asked him, “Do you have any words of inspiration to let me know this stuff is going to work?” He just told me that it would get rid of my cough but the bronchitis is something you just have to work through. Well whoopdefriggindoo I want this friggin thing GONE. The cough is so bad it’s given me a mini hernia and it’s made my chest sore and it’s given me headaches and almost made me yak. It’s just not fun. I can’t sing as well, though I can still mostly sing for some reason, which is really nice. But definitely not as well and as clear as I CAN, which really sucks.

Yeah nothing on a job yet, keep sending me good job vibes though, maybe some day they will work! Ok, today at work has been HECTIC and it’s not even close to over yet, it’s just lunch right now, so I will catch up with ya’ll later.

Ya’ll come back now ya’ hear?