Long, slow weeks ahead.

Well, Thanksgiving is finally over. I hope everyone had a good one. My favorite thing about the holidays is all the yummy food. Yes, of course, I ate too much. We had a traditional Italian Thanksgiving dinner in Galveston. Then the next day we went to Louisiana for some Gumbo. Oh my God, you wouldn't believe how good this stuff is. Saturday, boyfriend's mom made us some left-over turkey pot-pie. So, needless to say, I'll be in the gym all week.

I saw a pretty good movie on Thursday night, National Treasure. When boyfriend saw that it was produced by Disney, he immediately said "Oh great." And not in a good way. I had my doubts at that point as well. Have you ever read The DaVinci Codes? Well, I have and I loved it. This movie is based around the same historical plot as The DaVinci Codes (Knights Templar, Masons, the sacred treasures, along with all the clues of a true treasure hunt). So if you like the book, you will like this movie.

Yesterday, boyfriend and I went bike riding up and down Buffalo Bayou. He's says we went 2 miles, but I beg to differ. Surely it was more like 10 miles. So, yesterday marked the beginning of my hardcore week of working out. Hopefully, I can stick to it. I love these gym-rats that swear that once you start a regular routine, you'll become addicted. I'm not convinced but I'll give it my best shot. I know, I haven't worked out nearly enough to notice any changes yet. Blah, blah, blah.

Today, all I worked on was Reagan's Closet. I love my job, except for the salary, that sucks. Anyway, all of the jewelry is listed. I sold several items over the holiday weekend. Based on my traffic reports, I have no doubt that next week will be even more successful. Check it out when you get a chance. There is definitely something for everyone there.

I'm off to the gym to see a man about some muscles.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, Turkey day is finally here. And since it's been storming here for the past 3 days, the weather cleared up just in time. Thank goodness, some much needed relaxation.

Great news to start the holiday weekend off, several Christmas decorations sold this morning in Reagan's Closet. Check it out if you get a chance. That means I'll be listing more over the weekend.

We've got a lot of traveling to do over the weekend as well. We're going to Galveston and Louisiana. I'm really excited to see everyone, especially my family. I haven't been to visit in a month or so. At least I've been calling home a lot though, since my Dad and I started this new business venture. I'm sure he's happy about that part. He used to complain a lot that I didn't call home as much as he'd like. I know my oldest younger brother does the same thing. Occasionally, I can catch him on IM and get him to say a few words to me, but he's pretty much in his own world for now, I guess (*wink*). I think they will be moving back this way soon, so hopefully that will change after the new year passes.

Anyway, a big huge ...

Happy Thanksgiving

... to all my friends, family and readers. Be safe and gorge yourself! ;)

Dreary chatter.

What a yucky day. I don't have much to chat about. I've been working on Reagan's Closet for going on 4 days straight now and I've still got a lot to go. I've got all the Christmas decorations up now so if you know anyone who likes to shop, send them my way, PLEASE! Of course I'll be adding more things over the next week. Things like toys, art work, home decorations, and jewelry. So if you are looking for gift ideas, this is a great place to start. I've got it all, trust me!

OK, done with work talk. I'm actually looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Mostly because of the days off and family time, partially because of all the great food, and slightly because that means New Year's Eve is closer. A great girlfriend of mine hosted a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner last weekend. There were about 20-25 guests and everyone brought something to eat. Everything was exceptionally good. I'm serious here. At most pot-luck dinners there will be at least one or two dishes that are ok, because whoever made them doesn't have kitchen-skillz. That definitely did not happen at this dinner. There wasn't one dish that didn't make you want more. Needless to say, boyfriend and I gorged ourselves with food and wine, and snuck out early to go home and sleep it off. I must be getting old.

Hmmmm, that leaves nothing else to talk about.

The weekends just don't last long enough.

Well, the weekend is finally here. We've got a birthday party, a Thanksgiving dinner, and the Easy Rider Tour to go to. I wanted to go to the Texas Renaissance Festival on Sunday since it's the last day this year, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to work instead. I'm adding lots of new items to Reagan's Closet, so check it out if you have time.

The funniest thing happened the other night and I just have to tell because I feel like such a silly-goose. I burst upright at 3 AM to what I thought was the sound of breaking glass. Scared out of my wits, heart in the pit of my stomach, I managed to whisper to boyfriend, "Did you hear that? What the Hell was that?"

Still not moving, his face in the pillow, barely audible, he muttered, "I heard something. What was it?"

"I don't know, babe. Wake up!", I said as I grabbed my chest where my heart is about to pound out of it.

So he finally sits up and looks over at the closed bedroom door, I'm assuming to see if anyone turns the knob. Then he manages, "Do you want to get up and search the house?"

No, let's sit here and wait for them to come up and kill us in our bed, "Uh, YES!"

So, he goes over where he has the shotgun hidden, hands me his cell phone (as if I'm going to have time to dial 911 before whoever may be in the house has time to knock both of us over our heads or worse) and we start searching the house like a SWAT team. Have you ever watched those shoot-em-up movies where the police are moving through a house and they open the door and then jump in front of it while aiming their guns at nothing? That's sort of what we were doing, only my only weapon was boyfriend's cell phone and I was following a considerable distance behind him in hopes that I could run away, dial, and hide before "the intruder" could get through boyfriend after me. We search every room, behind sofas & counters, under beds, under cars in the garage, everywhere ... Nothing! We even looked at all the windows in the house to make sure none were broken. Nothing!

We get back upstairs, lay down, and try to catch our breath as I recount to him what I thought I heard. Then I realize, I heard the "breaking glass" coming from my right, which is our bathroom. I get up, open the bathroom door, turn on the light, and look up at the light well windows at the top of the far wall ... NOTHING! However, on the ceramic tile floor is the silver metal cross that was hanging on the wall. I sort of kicked at it (just as a test, I'm a good Catholic ... I wasn't trying to be sacrilegious), and sure enough, it vaguely sounded like glass being shattered.

Boy, do I feel like an idiot.

Busy week ahead ...

OMG! I've got so much work to do this week. And the holidays are right around the corner to give me enough anxiety on top of it all.

I've got to take my CE class for my real estate license before it expires on the 11th. Thank God, I can just take it online at work between emails and it's pretty much open book, so it'll be easy to pass. But still, it's going to take me the better part of a day. Not to mention, it has to be paid for, roughly $155 that I don't really have right now. So, another one of my credit cards is about to be maxed out.

One of the brokers in my office gave me about 200 mailers to stuff into envelopes and get mailed out this week. Mind you, he said, "no rush", but I feel obligated to get that done before I do any personal things for myself.

On top of that, I just got tons of items to list in Reagan's Closet. The trick is being able to use the scanner & computer at home. Since, boyfriend does most of his work from home and he's trying to prove a point to his partner, he's working extra hard so I get no time on the computer after work. I may have to put this stuff off until this weekend, which I hate to do, because the faster I get it all listed, the faster I'll have more money coming in. But I guess it can wait a few days. I really want to get my laptop set up on a wireless modem so I won't have this problem. But again, this is something that has to wait until Reagan's Closet starts bringing in A LOT more money. I'm giving it 3 months, tops. Cross your fingers for me.

On a positive note, boyfriend and I went to the gym yesterday and he got me a membership. The best part is that they offer kickboxing classes! WOO-HOO! Now, I already have a pretty mean kick (just ask boyfriend ;). But, look out now, I'm going for the body I had when I was in the military. Granted, I have a much curvier shape (with the chest addition and the womanly hips) than I did 10 years ago (oh shit, did I just give my age away, DAMNIT!), but I'm still really thin. I'm 5'7" and about 118 lbs. on a good day. So loosing weight is not the issue by any means. I just want to tone up and be able to kick boyfriend's ass when he tries to wrestle me down to the ground on his frisky days. I swear, he just barely touches my wrist to grab at me and it freakin hurts, or maybe that's just my subconscious reaction. Who knows, but I'm excited. Look out B, you're about to get some serious payback smacks on the ass.

Oh, before I forget, I wanted to give a quick "Congratulations" to my two beautiful friends Randy & Charlotte. What a beautiful wedding. They had it at the Intercontinental Hotel this past weekend. Everything was absolutely fabulous. Randy's been a very good friend of mine for the better part of 10 years now. And I've gotten to know Charlotte pretty well in the past year. I can't imagine a sweeter, more beautiful woman that I would want to see Randy married to. I know the two of them will have an incredible life together. All my love and prayers to both of you.

Ok, gotta get back to work!

Thank God it's Friday.

Well, there's not much going on with me today. The election is over, thank God! My candidate won, so it should be easy to figure out who I voted for. I really had no doubt he would win until the votes started coming in. I mean, I knew it would be close but, Damn! I admit John Kerry is a very charismatic man and he knows his stuff. But I just feel so strongly about our position in The War On Terror.

I'm sure I'll get some flak for this, but oh well. It's a free freakin country! I agree that we need to back off a little in Iraq, just to repair some of our diplomatic relationships. But I also, have no doubt in my mind that going there in the first place was a necessity as well as the timing being dead-on. Yea, I get it, Saddam didn't have weapons of mass destruction armed at the time of the declaration of this war. But, HELLO!, HE'S AN EVIL BASTARD WHO WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO CAPTURE FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS! And we finally have. I also have no doubt in my mind that if we do not do everything in our power to capture, if not (hopefully) kill Osama very soon, he will try another attack on us. And for Osama's capture/death to occur, we MUST have our people over there hunting him 24-7 until it is done.

It's funny, I got into a shouting match with my best friend today (we'll call him "Jimmy", for his own protection since he mistakenly voted Democrat this year and doesn't want anyone to know - silly, silly, silly man!) He made a joke/comment that insinuated that I have no compassion for the innocent Iraqi people that are getting killed over there, because I am a Republican. The only reason that has stuck in my head is because that is every Democrat's feeling. Simply not true. I do have compassion for Iraqi people who are living the war and losing family members everyday. I also have compassion for the soldiers who are fighting for and believe in the vision of Iraqi Democracy and freedom, and those soldier's families. It's called "The War On Terror" for a reason, IT'S A FREAKIN WAR! And we didn't start it. People on both sides are going to die, it's a fact of life. War - (wôr) n. - A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious. I would say that terrorists are definitely injurious. If you disagree, look terrorist up too.

I was in the Army when Dessert Storm started. Although, I didn't actually get deployed there, I had a very real sense that I could get deployed at any time and was very much mentally prepared and proud to have the chance to do so. My little brother is currently in the Marines. The job he is trained for, puts him at a very high likelihood that he would have to go at some point. Although, I would be very frightened for him, I am even more proud of him that he chose this path.

SADDAM NEEDED TO BE CAPTURED AS WELL AS EVERY OTHER TERRORIST OUT THERE WHO THREATENS THE FREEDOM OF HUMANITY. And if the United States has to risk friends and allies to make sure it happens, so be it. In the long run, when all of these evil bastards are dead and gone, the rest of the world will be thanking us. I hate to have that "Shoot-em first, explain later" attitude about it. But, that's the bottom line as far as I'm concerned and I'm not afraid to express that.

One last thing. I am very impressed with John Kerry's speech. I especially like the part where he said that we need to put our differences aside and re-unify our country. He's definitely got a lot of great ideas and he's a very smart man or he wouldn't have gotten as far as he has. I will definitely be watching more of him in the Senate to see the changes he's promised to make. It all comes down to this: If you don't like the way things are going in The White House, get off your butt and really get out there to make a change in your direction. Otherwise, STOP YOUR WHINING & SHUT THE F@#K UP!

Anyway, that's the last thing I'll say about that subject. I've got a busy weekend. No partying though. I'm completely motivated to get on a regular work-out routine. I'm going today with a girlfriend on a guest pass to her gym. Then I have the Heart Walk tomorrow. I've convinced a few of my girlfriends to join me on that as well. Of course, I've bribed them with a breakfast prepared by myself. But I have a feeling they would have come anyway. Other than that, I'll be working on Reagan's Closet all weekend. Then on Monday, boyfriend and I are going to his gym together so he can get my membership for me. Thanks, baby!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Election Day!

Wow, Vegas was an absolute blast! A big huge "THANK YOU" to boyfriend for the best birthday I've ever had. MUAH! XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Also, a big "Thank You!" to Damon Griffin for the major hook-up on Saturday night! It was really great hanging with you. You definitely know how to party. We will most definitely come to LA and hang with you guys again very soon.

It's finally election day. Thank God! I don't know if I can stand to hear/see another campaign ad. Although, I'm certainly not looking forward to the voting line after work. With that said, if you are a Democrat/Kerry voter, don't you have a root canal or a colonoscopy to go get today? If you are a Republican/Bush voter, get your butt to the polls today and vote! You won't get a campaign speech here because I personally hate them. If you don't know who to vote for by now, just give Nader your sympathy vote. But, I have a feeling this is going to be another very close election race. So, YES, every vote does count! If you need help finding what precinct you're registered in, click HERE. I know the weather sucks ass and the lines are long, but trust me, it's worth it. You can't complain later if you don't put your vote in.

Finally, if you haven't made your donation to the Heart Walk, please do! This is definitely a worthy cause. Just go to the link in the menu to the right. Thanks so much to everyone who has put in their donations.

AARRGGHH! Gotta get back to work, YUCK!