the search continues
Mood:  a-ok
I've emailed half the country asking questions about their silly cars.. I was pretty close to getting an Acura 3.0CL today, but I didn't meet the reserve on the auction... it was really sweet looking. It had a few more miles than I would have liked, but after all, it is a Honda (in some shape or form) and I'm sure that it would have been a great car even with 136k on it. The KBB on it was $9,000 anyway and I would have gotten it for WAY less than that. I emailed the dealership and told them that I'd be willing to pay more than my measly maximum bid of $4950, haha. I didn't say how much, though. ;)

Just returned from eating dinner... I was reading my instruction guide for my "Conair Aircare 1 1/4" Hot Air Thermal Brush" and can you believe that under the "WARNING" section, warning #7 reads this: "7. Never use while sleeping." You have GOT to be kidding me! I guess that in case I sleepwalk I should keep my curling brush locked in a drawer somewhere, right?? How weird.

Well, it is getting late and I would like to do a little reading before bed. Goodnight!

Mood:  a-ok
Topic: TV, music, movies, etc.
wow! one of my fellow bloggers posted a comment on my blog... YAY!! Thanks, Maureen -- I LOVE YOU!!! lol...

she's a very sweet girl, I can tell from her blog. :)

amazingly enough, I made it in to work on time this morning. Okay, I was 15 minutes late. But still -- that's not bad for me. I got this money round brush/hair dryer combo thing on Sunday and it is the coolest thing ever. When I got my hair done, they told me that I should blow dry it with a round brush to do the flip under and to give it some lift... well I just can't coordinate the flip and the dryer, plus I get all hot and sweaty while I'm doing it and I end up with crappy looking hair and a bad attitude to start the day. Not anymore! What used to take me an hour to do now takes me 10-15 minutes!! YAY!!!!

Hey, you have to celebrate the small victories, you know?

Tonight 24 is on, as is American Idol. I'm not bitter, really. I should have made it.

I've decided that I'm going to try out again this year... after all, it will be my last opportunity, I'll be too old next year. Who would have thought that 25 is old? That's so silly.

There's a VW beetle on eBay right now that's going for a really low amount of $$ ... if it weren't red, I'd bid on it. I just don't think I could ever live with myself if I bought a red car.

Kurtis is at his guitar lesson, so I think that I'll take this time to call around about a few cars.

I just hope that I have something in the next month.

exhausted

Can you believe that I'm up this late??? I'm never up this late! I watched Idol and then my big fat obnoxious fiance.. the poor girl on that show! I don't know how she did it.

I've been on eBay of course. That's why I'm still up. I'm hoping that the weather will be crappy in the morning so that I have an excuse for being late; Kurt's Jeep is in the shop getting the brakes done, so we're using my vehicle right now. Went to Annapolis tonight to Garrett Park guitars, then to Ram's Head where we had a terrible meal and then to 49 West for post-terrible-meal coffee. Hmm, maybe that's why I'm still up?! I never drink coffee. Well, make that RARELY drink coffee. Never again will I drink it after 6pm! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Time for bed!

is it Friday yet?
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Michelle Branch -- All you wanted
Weekend was pretty good... had the meal with my grandfather, Aunt Terri, Mom, MC & Kurt on Saturday...it was really nice. I can't remember the last time that I'd seen Terri. No one ever tells me when she's coming down or when they're going to dinner or lunch. I don't expect to be included on everything, but at least once in a while it's nice. ;)

My cousin Heather and I have emailed eachother, she has Emma's 7 month pictures up...she is so cute. So much hair! Kurt and I are going to go up to Boston in June... he wants to see Fenway Park. I'm looking forward to the trip...while I was there for Heather's wedding, I didn't get a chance to do much exploring.

Let's see, what else? The Patriots won the super bowl... what a great game! Then we have the Janet Jackson breast-baring fiasco. What?? You didn't hear about it?? Well, you'll see it here, first then...I found these pics on Yahoo...who wears something like that over their nipple??? Yes, my dear reader, I fear that this was a *gasp* planned disrobement. I sense that Janet Jackson's saw her career going down the tubes and needed some controversy to boost album sales. I also sense that Justin Timberlake had to do something more outrageous than Britney. How silly. Next thing you know, Justin will marry Cher and then have the marriage anulled (sp?) two hours later. I picked Cher because she's older than Cameron Diaz and it would be a bigger shock.

That's it for today!

going to din-din
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: the ceiling fan! brrrr
Topic: Friends and Family

Kurt and I are going out to eat tonight with some family members. I should say this afternoon; we're supposed to be there 3:30-3:45. We're having crabs at Seaside, I think... my aunt Terri is visiting from MA and I don't get to see her very often, no one ever tells me when she's coming down, so I haven't seen her for a while. Kurt has never met her, so I thought that this would be a good opportunity. We're planning on going to Boston this summer to visit my cousin Heather and her family; Emma will be having her first birthday in June and I wouldn't miss it for anything! :) It's a shame that we don't live closer... it seems that all of my family is so far away. I only have two cousins; one in MA and Emily is in ID... speaking of Emily, she turned 18 last week. I haven't heard how her birthday was, but I'm sure that she had fun. I still remember my 18th birthday, haha... went to Ocean City and got my tongue pierced. (sorry, Dad!) At least piercings aren't permanent like tattoos...of which I have too many. I don't regret having them, just regret the placement and material. I can think of other things that I would rather have on my body.

Anyway, I must get back to getting ready...I decided not to get the Camry, btw. I'm trying not to freak out as much about finding a car right away, I have time. Maybe I'll even wait a few months. It's hard for me to not be impulsive, but I haven't done too badly.

2nd chance
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: two suns in the sunset
Topic: Work

Mom, if you're reading this, I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to email you back yet, but this car stuff is driving me crazy. Not to mention I've been doing more work than usual at work and haven't had much time, lol.

I've been given a second chance offer on a car that I bid on two days ago; the auction that I lost by $1. It's a 97 Camry and has 100k miles on it. It's only had one owner. BUT it's in Philly, and the only day that we would be able to get it is tomorrow; for the next two weekends we have plans. I'm thinking about trying Carmax and just see what kind of financing they can offer me. Maybe even a Honda or Toyota dealership. Kurtis is going to some guitar stores tomorrow, maybe I'll try a couple of car dealerships. I know there are a couple Honda and Toyota dealerships in the area, in Glen Burnie and Annapolis.

Kathy and I have an assistant of sorts at work. He works too damn fast, we're actually running out of work to give him and he's been here for less than a week. Maybe now people can understand why I procrastinated filing, because it doesn't take that long once you get started. He even updated those enormous county code books in less than half a day -- and we were a whole year behind!!! Maybe it's because his dad works for the county that he was good at it. I told him that he's too efficient and that he needs to slow down. I mean, he does make my job a lot easier, but my job is pretty easy to begin with. My job is more annoying than anything else. The hardest part is just dealing with the people here... I won't name any names.

Blah.

We tried the Rainforest Cafe last night; not quite as tacky as I thought it would be, but the food was awful, especially for the prices that they were charging. I paid as much for dinner there as I paid for dinner at a nice restaurant in DC last Sunday. Crazy. Forgot to mention that Kurt grilled me steak Wednesday night, 7 inches of snow and ice on the deck, too. Damn tasty, too. I tried to convince him not to, but he did it anyway.

Well, I still have work to do, so back to it!

the search continues
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Pink Floyd -- Comfortably numb

Still doing the car shopping thing. Right now I have a bid in on a 98 Camry...it's below reserve right now, I'm hoping that I miraculously win it... this is the one that I really want. It's inspected, too... I let a 97 get away from me last night, it went for $4902 and my bid was $4901. C'est la vie. The only bad thing about the 97 was that it was in Philadelphia and it has 100k miles instead of this car's 80k miles. This car is going for a higher amount, but I'm sure that it's worth it...Toyotas are so reliable, and my friend at work has one -- he loves his! 5 hours left. We'll see what happens! It says on the auction that they may contact the high bidder after it ends and make another offer, so we'll see.

I'm waiting to sell my car until I have another one, obviously. At this point in time, I think that I am going to make the necessary repairs and sell it.. I'll probably list it on Ebay as well as in a paper or two, I'll see what offers that I can get. I'll replace the timing belt and muffler and also have it detailed.

Well, it's time for lunch... ebay results after work!

Sean Astin got the shaft!
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: A little fall of rain -- Les mis
Topic: Lord of the Rings

Sean Astin didn't get nominated for an Oscar... however, ROTK was nominated for 11 of them. So I guess that's still good. But I'm still not happy.

Here is the list:

1. Best Picture: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Lost in Translation," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Mystic River," "Seabiscuit."

2. Actor: Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"; Ben Kingsley, "House of Sand and Fog"; Jude Law, "Cold Mountain"; Bill Murray, "Lost in Translation"; Sean Penn, "Mystic River."

3. Actress: Keisha Castle-Hughes, "Whale Rider"; Diane Keaton, "Something's Gotta Give"; Samantha Morton, "In America"; Charlize Theron, "Monster"; Naomi Watts, "21 Grams."

4. Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin, "The Cooler"; Benicio Del Toro, "21 Grams"; Djimon Hounsou, "In America"; Tim Robbins, "Mystic River"; Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai."

5. Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo, "House of Sand and Fog"; Patricia Clarkson, "Pieces of April"; Marcia Gay Harden, "Mystic River"; Holly Hunter, "thirteen"; Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain."

6. Director: Fernando Meirelles, "City of God"; Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation"; Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"; Clint Eastwood, "Mystic River."

7. Foreign Film: "The Barbarian Invasions," Canada; "Zelary," Czech Republic; "The Twilight Samurai," Japan; "Twin Sisters," The Netherlands; "Evil," Sweden.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, "American Splendor"; Braulio Mantovani, "City of God"; Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; Brian Helgeland, "Mystic River"; Gary Ross, "Seabiscuit."

9. Original Screenplay: Denys Arcand, "The Barbarian Invasions"; Steven Knight, "Dirty Pretty Things"; Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, "Finding Nemo"; Jim Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan, "In America"; Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation."

10. Animated feature film: "Brother Bear"; "Finding Nemo"; "The Triplets of Belleville."

11. Art Direction: "Girl with a Pearl Earring," "The Last Samurai," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Seabiscuit."

12. Cinematography: "City of God," "Cold Mountain," "Girl with a Pearl Earring," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Seabiscuit."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Last Samurai," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Seabiscuit."

14. Sound Editing: "Finding Nemo," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. "

15. Original Score: "Big Fish," Danny Elfman; "Cold Mountain," Gabriel Yared; "Finding Nemo," Thomas Newman; "House of Sand and Fog," James Horner; "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Howard Shore.

16. Original Song: "Into the West" from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox; "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from "A Mighty Wind," Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole; "Scarlet Tide" from "Cold Mountain," T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello; "The Triplets of Belleville" from "The Triplets of Belleville," Benoit Charest and Sylvain Chomet; "You Will Be My Ain True Love" from "Cold Mountain," Sting.

17. Costume: "Girl with a Pearl Earring," "The Last Samurai," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Seabiscuit."

18. Documentary Feature: "Balseros," "Capturing the Friedmans," "The Fog of War," "My Architect," "The Weather Underground."

19. Documentary (short subject): "Asylum," "Chernobyl Heart," "Ferry Tales."

20. Film Editing: "City of God," "Cold Mountain," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" "Seabiscuit."

21. Makeup: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

22. Animated Short Film: "Boundin'," "Destino," "Gone Nutty," "Harvie Krumpet," "Nibbles."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket)," "Most (The Bridge)," "Squash," "(A) Torzija ( 1/8A 3/8 Torsion)," "Two Soldiers."

24. Visual Effects: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

weather
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Fantine's Death -- Les Mis
Whew, what a weekend!!

We were in DC last night for the 3 doors down concert... it ended at 10:45 or 10:50 and the Metro stop was 1/2 mile away from constitution hall!! When we got out, there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground, and it didn't look like the streets had been plowed at all... the ride home was definitely a white knuckle ride... 50 hadn't been plowed (at least much) and I guess that the snow was falling too fast for them to keep up with it anyway. There were people skidding and fishtailing everywhere, it made me wonder why they were even out (maybe they were at the concert, too?). We saw a few cars in ditches and jersey walls. Pretty scary stuff, but still not as bad as the trip from Tahoe to Reno.

Didn't want to go to work today, but I needed to get in my timesheet and it's looking like I won't make it in tomorrow. Snow we can deal with, ice is a different story. As usual, I was the only administrative person here to answer phones... fortunately I was permitted to keep them on night.

Well, I have to finish up here! Maybe post tomorrow, depending on the weather and the power.

happy hair day!
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: pink floyd
Topic: News
got my hair done!!