Been awhile

Wow, I can't believe I haven't written in a whole week! Amazing how the time gets away from me. I feel like I am constantly going. It's not a bad thing, I just haven't really had a chance to slow down. Last week was pretty uneventful during the week, just the same ole same ole, working both jobs, looking forward to the weekend. Doug and I left around 12:30pm on Friday and headed for Kingsport, Tennessee. We got in around 5:30pm, not bad timing considering it was a holiday weekend. I was expecting much more traffic. I got to meet Sandra, Doug's mama. She is a sweet woman (not that I expected anything less, knowing Doug). She made me a bead bracelet with my name on it :) We took a tour around town and had some popcorn and walked around a bit. It was very cool seeing where Doug grew up. I believe he told me the town "rolls up the streets" at 8pm.....one of the funniest things I have heard in awhile. I know towns like that, had just never heard it put that way. We had burgers, then took mama home and Doug and I went into Virginia (yea, another state I can put on my list of places I have been), and went to the OTB (off track betting). We hung out for a bit and waited for Doug's brother John to get home. Then I got to drive into the country and meet John and his wife Bonnie. Very nice and friendly people. My favorite thing about Doug's family is that they welcomed me with open arms (literally), they are huggers like I am :) Saturday morning we all got up and went to a local diner and had breakfast, biscuits and gravy....I am so glad I found someone who likes them as much as I do, considering it's pretty much the only thing I eat for breakfast! If you know me, you know I don't like eggs, a.k.a. ~ chicken abortions. Next, we went antiquing. Oooo, I had forgotten how much I love that! I could get lost in those stores. It's so fascinating to see all those old things. I would probably have a houseful of antiques if I had more money. They did kind of lose me in the store a couple of times, I just can't help myself, I am a wanderer. I got to see John and Bonnie's booths, they are bigtime antiquers. Their house has some amazing stuff in it! John's a big Civil War buff, he even does reenactments, how wicked is that? Anyhow, after that, we loaded up the truck with the guns (yipee!) and saddles (hooray!) and headed out to the farm to do some shooting and riding...hee hee hee, exactly what I had been looking forward to :) I got to shoot a 22, a 22 rifle and a 9mm. Oooo, the power. There's just something hot about a gun, can't quite explain it, but from the 1st time I shot one, I fell in love. I'm hoping to own my own someday soon (just add that to my list of wants). Then I got to ride Benjamin. It's been probably about 15 years since I've been on a horse, but I really do like riding. I'm no pro mind you, but I still think a casual ride is fun stuff! If I had felt more comfortable, I would have liked to have run him, but, I didn't wanna fall on my face/ass in front of everyone on my 1st visit out...we'll save that for my 2nd visit ;) I absolutely LOVE being in the country up there. The scenery is to die for. The mountains are so cool. I am sooooo drawn to them. There was a small creek on the property and the sound of running water and the whole property around the farm was just serene. I was very much at peace this weekend, it was nice. Later that nite, we headed up to the OTB to do a bit more gambling. We met up with Dave Quillen. He is a friend that I met through the people at Erdas, it was nice to see him again too. I was picking horses to play by name, and the one that I had won on was called Wicked Mischief.....I love that name! I didn't do so swell after that, but Doug did win back most of his money before we left, that's a good thing. After that, we went back to John's and I got to try about 5 different kinds of Whiskey he had. He really likes that stuff I was told. He had quite a nifty collection...I tried some old stuff as well as new. I'm not a big whiskey drinker, but what the hell right? After that, I was pretty much tired, I think we tried to watch a Die Hard movie, but I was dozing off right before the end. Nothing new there, me falling asleep to a movie.... In the morning, Doug and I headed out to his mama's and had breakfast (yes, biscuits and gravy, oh so delicious!!) Then we played scrabble. Man I haven't played that in years! I'm not really good at points, with the help of Doug and his mama tho, I won :) Wasn't that nice of them to let me win? I thought so anyways. Then we were off to Knoxville to visit with Brian, Judy, Jenn, Steve, and Justin. The boys were doing their fantasy football drafts and us girls were just chillin and talkin. I must mention this hilarious event. There was this really "trashy" (for lack of better word) looking woman, in her tight ass shorts, and leopard print top, with her feathered then hairsprayed to the max hair, playing pool with these two "meatheads". I had been watching them and chuckling to myself all nite long, when finally I hear the woman say, quite loudly, "I put the ass in class". Lemme tell ya, that summed her up in one sentence. Maybe this doesn't seem that funny in print, but damn, I'm tellin ya, it was hysterical. After the bar, we headed back to Brian and Judy's, where I was finally introduced to the game they call "beer pong". Fun times folks! Seems like it would be easy, but it's just another one of those, the more you drink, the harder it gets, games. I just can't see myself lasting more than two-three games tho. You could really get messed up if the other guys are good shots ;) Well, after sleep that nite, we woke up and had.....guess what? Yeppers, biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Damn, I do love biscuits and gravy. Then we took a ride out to the home depot to pick up some legs for a poker table that Brian made for the Chip Slingers' guys who host poker nites at Nemoe's. Wow, this is one hell of a blog..... To wrap it up, we left Knoxville at 1pm and drove home thru the mountains so I could take more pics, and got home around 5:30pm. It was a really fun filled exciting weekend and I'm glad I went. Next weekend is my trip to Nashville to see Jordan! I am so happy, I miss that boy. Well, more blogging tomorrow. Hope you made it all the way thru :)

Feelin' Icky

Yep, that's right, I'm feeling yucky today. I had a really good dinner last nite with Casey, his wife Eva, Doug and Byrd (Dan showed up later). We sat around and yapped and had beers (the reason I feel icky today). Didn't get much sleep either. Not good sleep anyhow. I should have known better than to play like that, I have to work at Nemoe's tonite :( Today at work has been busy busy for me too. Our "acting president" of our company is in and so there are a bunch of meetings going on. I just got their lunch ready, and ate mine. My boss is out because her mom is in the hospital, so all things now rest on me. I have to plan lunch for tomorrow and possibly book reservations for dinner for the team as well. I've been watching the weather, looks like there is a category 4 hurricane heading towards Cabo. Please, please, please let it miss Cabo! My vacation is in almost exactly a month! I am really getting excited to go to Tennessee this weekend. We are going to Kingsport, Doug's hometown. I'm gonna get to meet his mom and his brother, then we are gonna head to Knoxville to see Judy and Brian. I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Then next weekend I am meeting up with Todd in Nashville to see Jordan! Yay!!!! I can't wait to see my little man again. I miss him so much! He said I can't think about him, because then I'm going to want to tickle him. He's too funny :) Alrighty, I'm pretty sure that sums up all I got to say today. Hopefully this day will get better!

Bye now.

Date Nite

I had a date with Doug last nite. We went to dinner at the Arena Tavern. I think it's in Duluth. I'm still not very familiar with my surroundings here, even though I've lived here for 2 years. After dinner, we headed to the Bass Pro Shop. That's right, you heard me, we went to what Doug calls it "The Redneck Mecca". :) We picked up some Ammo for Byrd (Justin, my best guy friend and Doug's roomate) and he got some fishing lures. We looked at all the camping equipment, I took some pictures of the stuffed moose (Doug called me a tourist), we looked at the fishing boat he wants and checked out some party barges I would like to own one day. Oh yea, we checked out the fishtank too. Then we browsed around the mall a bit and headed out. He asked where I would like to go, and I decided I wanted to check out the Tilted Kilt. It's a bar closer to home that I have heard tons about. It's kind of like a Hooters, but the chicks are wearing kilts not shorts. I suppose if I was a drunk guy, I would have enjoyed it more, but honestly, I wasn't that impressed. The girls didn't smile much, and I guess I'm just more used to a friendlier crowd. So we headed to Nemoe's. I know I work there and spend most of my time there, but I really do like that bar. I know almost everyone there, and it's just a very comfortable place for me. I definatetly got drunk, had some beers, tequila, buttery nipples and even danced. It was a good time, but today I am not feeling so swell. Today I get to go get my tooth pulled, yipee! I am so dreading it. Not getting knocked out and they said they are using some other numbing stuff, not novacane, so I'm not sure how much pain to expect. I have a haircut appt. at 4:30pm, I'm hoping I'm ok to go. Well, I'm gonna cut this short, I gotta hop in the shower. Wish me luck!

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

Finally, Friday! I love it, even if it is raining :) Worked at Nemoe's last nite. Thursday's are definately my worst money making nite, but I get out around 9-9:30pm, so that kind of makes up for it. Had a couple beers, and a shot of tequila then headed back to Doug's. He asked me out to dinner tonite, I'm really looking forward to it. Going to J. Alexander's, I've never been there, but I heard him describe it as expensive American food....lol. Doug's as picky of an eater as I am, so the way I look at it, if he will eat there, then there must be something for me to eat too.
Wow! This storm is awesome! I love the thunder and lightening! So right now I am IMing with my 2nd cousin (at least I think that's what you would call her), she is my cousin's daughter. It's the coolest thing, cuz I never really got to know that side of my family. Facebook is cool for stuff like this! I have had contact with 2 of her (Dionne's) girls so far. All of them have added me to their facebook. I have found two of my other cousins on there too and my mom's cousins. It's wicked to talk to family that I haven't seen or heard from in years. Also talked to Koleen last nite for a little bit. She is really enjoying school. She has a bunch of friends, some that she remembers going to school with when she was in 2nd grade. I'm so happy for her. I know it was tough for her here making new friends. I asked her if she thought she was gonna move back here next year, and for the 1st time, she said "I don't know yet". It kinda hurt my heart, but I completely understand where she is coming from. Her entire world is there (with the exception of me of course). She has all of my family, Jason (her daddy) and all of his family. Here there is only little ole' me. I think if she decides to stay there, it will be hard on me, but in my "master plan" I think I will eventually wind up in Tennessee. It's a beautiful state. It would put me few hours closer to the kids too, well, so long as Todd doesn't try and move on me again. I think he isn't gonna stay put til he thinks he's "rich" enough. We can save that topic for another time tho. I'm gonna head out and finish up this conversation with Nicole.

Have a great weekend! :)

Wednesday's done

Well, I made it through Wednesday, quite successfully. I brought home enough money from Nemoe's to cover getting my tooth pulled this weekend. Funny how quick the money goes, it's spent before it's even made! Tonite I am hoping to cover my haircut on Saturday :) I don't think I've had it cut since April, I think I'm long overdue. So how did I make so much money on a slow ass Wednesday nite? Well, I do my best to keep my people hangin around. The longer they stay, the more they eat/drink, the bigger their bill, the bigger my tip :) I have noticed that my out of town travellers tend to be my best bet on big tips. I made a $19.00 tip off a table of 3. The table consisted of two guys drinkin and a pregnant chick driving them home. They were extremely nice people and thanked me for my "hospitality". How sweet is that? Then I had a table of 8 guys in from out of town. You know what that means? Smile pretty and be very very sweet! That's how I make my money on those tables. I make sure they NEVER run out of their drink and I'm extremely attentive (and smilie and cute of course!) Gotta work it baby! I am really getting more comfortable there. That was the best part about working at Sunnyside Inn (did I mention I bartended in Illinois for 3 years?). When you are really really comfortable, it's not even like work anymore, it's more like hosting a big party! Anyhow, need to get some stuff done here at the day job today, it's getting close to end of month and I like to get a head start on my reports, etc.

Have a fabulous day :)

Tuesday at Nemoe's

Well, last nite was a good nite at the pub. Not too busy, but I managed to make some decent money. There was a group of 3 guys who came in from out of town, one was from Montreal, Canada and he spoke French. Oh boy, one of my weaknesses. If you know me, you know I took 7 years of French growing up, in hopes of one day going to Paris. Well, let me tell you what. He talked, I listened, but I'll be damned if I knew anything he was saying! I didn't care tho, I still enjoyed it! The rest of the nite was pretty typical. It was poker nite, which is a good thing since Doug plays, and I usually get to see him :) The poker group is dropping tho. I remember when there were at least two tables, now they are down to fighting to get one started!! I do think I may have helped "push" the issue of bringing back $2.00 16 oz drafts, which would be huge, since I have seen business (and my tips) drop since we stopped that promotion (one of the reasons I think the poker crowd has dropped off!). Oh yea, and without warning, they cancelled my Tuesday nite live entertainment. I was not expecting that, and I really liked Kristin coming in and singing. From what I gather, there was not much of a following coming in to see her, so he was having a hard time paying her. This damn economy is crushing everyone! Well, today will probably be pretty uneventful at my day job, but all I gotta do is play keep awake and make it through both jobs! Tonite is my swing dancers at Nemoe's. Not a big drinking crowd, but they usually take care of me. I'm out for now......

Tuesday's News

Well, nothing new has really happened in one whole day. I had a good dinner last nite cooked up by two of my favorite chef's: Doug and Justin. Unfortunately, I had to go into Nemoe's for some "training" as soon as dinner was done. It was so slow there, that I left after 1/2 an hour. I was a bit upset that I walked out on my dinner for a waste of my time.

Now onto today. A day in the life of a receptionist/admin. asst. Not much to it really. I do love greeting all of our employees with a smile and good morning. I have always thought it was a great way to start your day. I mean really, who wants to walk in and see some "bitchface" all pissy in the morning? Not me for sure! So I put on my smile and welcome them all in. I've already handled most of my work for the day and it's only 10:45am. I like to get all my "tasks" off my desk right away. I've handled the incoming travel, ordering lunch for one of my engineering groups, called for price quotes for a company "picnic" we are planning..... Not much else for me to do today except answer phones. I work at Nemoe's tonite. Tuesday's aren't so bad, I have poker, so I get a decent crowd. After working tonite, I'm sure I will have some interesting things to say tomorrow. Working at the bar is so much fun for me. I do enjoy being around people! The only hard part is the lack of sleep during the week, but I've been doing it for awhile now, and it seems like my body is getting used to it.

Well, I'm signing out for now. If something exciting happens, I'll post more! Have a wonderful day :)

New to blogging

Well, I'm new to this blogging thingy, but since I know a small handful of people who do it, I figured, why not? A little about me.....I'm originally from McHenry, Illinois, but moved to Georgia in June 2007. At the time, I was married and he got a job down here. Well, times have changed, I'm no longer married, but I chose to stay here. I have two beautiful kids ~ Koleen, who is 11 and is spending her next school year with her dad in Illinois and Jordan, who is 3 and he lives with his dad in Kentucky. I work as a Receptionist/Administative assistant by day, and as a bartender 3 nights a week. Outside of all of the crazy things that have happened in my life, I must say, it is pretty good. My jobs pay my bills and I even have extra now and again. I finally have a "home" of my own and am really honestly for the 1st time in my life living independently. It makes me proud.

Today has been an interesting day. Todd (my 2nd ex, who has custody of Jordan) just called to tell me he has a potential job in Baton Rouge, La. Well, as part of our divorce decree/custody agreement, he can not move outside a 500 mile radius of where I live right now. Guess how far Baton Rouge is from me? 550 miles. He has already moved once ( a little over a month ago) to Fort Mitchell, Ky, which is 450 miles away. Crazy thing is, I thought for sure that once he moved there, it could only get better, thinking he could only move closer. Well, apparantly he doesn't see it that way. He said he will commute 2 hours to work if he has to in order to stay within the 500 mile radius. My thought is......you would rather have Jordan be in daycare for an extra 4 hours a day? Ugh! I could go on and on..... Well, enough bitching for now. When I have something a little more pleasant and positive to write about, I'll jot it down :)