Off to go four-wheeling! Be back on Sunday! Wooooohooo!

Valentine's Day has always been fun for me, even when I'm single. I guess it's because I've never looked it as just a couples holiday. I've always seen it as a special day to tell everyone who is important to me how much I care for them and how special they are. I know, all you Singles Awareness Day'ers can stop puking at my optimism now, but seriously, it's always been like that for me, just because my family made it that way and even me and my girlfriends in college used to make stupid little Valentines and give them to each other.

It's still nice to have a Valentine though, but Steve and I didn't make a big deal out of it, mainly because, as I said before, we need to save money for next weekend. He had to replace the gas tank on his truck tonight to give it some time to make sure it worked properly before this weekend. So we got together around 7:30pm and wished each other Happy Valentine's Day and just spent some time watching TV together and hanging out. This weekend will be a makeup because we will be four-wheeling but we will also be away in a hotel alone together at night. *rowr* LOL

In the spirit of Valentine's Day though, I just like to highlight some of the things I love, besides Steve.

I love my family. I love my mom, my dad and my brothers and how supportive they are of me and they're there when I need them. I'm proud to be a part of our family. I love my grandparents for loving my unconditionally. I love my dad and my sisters. I love my cousin for being one of my best friends, even in times of absence.

I love my friends. I love the girls at work because they transcend work and allow me to be myself and laugh with me (and at me) as I laugh at myself. They give me the estrogen time I need. I love Casey because she's so much like me in that we can go for months without speaking and still pick up right where we left off. I love Madelaine because she has always been and always will be the 'original' best friend.

I love my girls. My girls meaning the Kallure girls. Melantha wrote a very wonderful tribute to use over at her site and I swear to god, I couldn't have said it better myself (and I about dropped dead because I had almost the same idea - brain waves are flowing across country apparently). I love how unique we all are but how we seem to click together perfectly. I love how comfortable we are and ow supportive we are and how we've pretty much formed our own family. What I don't love is how far apart we all are - we need to all get together for a weekend in Vegas.

I love my job. Okay, I'll be a bit realistic and tell you that there are days that I don't love it. And there are days that I hate it, but seriously, if I said I didn't, you know I'd be lying. But when it comes down to it, I like what I do and I like where and I work and I'm grateful that they gave me a chance. Some days I wake up and am excited to go to work. Some days I wish I could be making more money. But something keeps me coming back and it's just a great place to work.

I love my independence. I love being able to go where I want, when I want and not have to worry about anyone or anything. I love being able to go to bed when I'm tired and wake up when I'm ready (or with the alarm - for work!). I love being to sit around all night and watch TV or to head out for a late movie on a school night. I love paying my own bills, driving my car and making my apartment something that I can call my own.

I love my life. I love everything about it right now. I have my moments and my days and certain things that I may not neccessarily agree with on certain days, but overall, I'm happy with where I am and what I'm doing. In the future, things might change but for now, things are working out quite nicely.

I love you all. And sometimes, it's not about who loves you but who and what you love. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Well, it's been about a week. I apologize for not posting more this week. I guess I started off the month at full force and just sort of dwindled to nothing. I spent most of the beginning of the week feeling sick, with a head cold. But I eventually got better. I wasn't surprised as I usually tend to get sick around this time. I'm just glad things cleared up a bit.

Steve and I saw Boogeyman on Tuesday. I was TERRIFIED!, which isn't saying much considering that I still cannot watch the commercials for The Grudge DVD. Regardless, it wasn't a bad movie. It got pretty bad reviews but personally, I thought The Grudge was worse. But I watched half of the movie with my eyes closed so maybe my judgment isn't what you want to listen to. I did go home and close my closet door, but I'm terrified on things like that: creepy things in the dark, ghosts, etc. I'll watch a bloody slasher flick any day and not be bothered, but you let the movie deal with creepy, unexplained things and I can't sleep for days.

We also saw Hitch last night, which was a perfect pre-Valentine's Day movie. It was a pretty decent mixture of romance and comedy, which worked since there were four boys with us. It was actually Buff's idea, which was perfect because I don't think Steve would have gone to see it had I suggested it. I sort of used up all of my movie suggestions when I drug him to see The Phantom of the Opera a few weeks ago. Even I knew I pushed the limits on that one and have used up my movie requests for the next two or three years. Anyway, I loved the movie. It was funny and cute and sweet all rolled into one. I spent quite a bit of the movie laughing, had more than a few "awwwww" moments, and walked out of the theater with a huge grin on my face. One of the best lines I've heard in awhile also came out of that movie: "Life isn't about how many breaths you take; it's about the moments that take your breath away."

My mom is scheduled to have her surgery on February 17th. It works out a bit because we have Monday off, being that we work at banks and President's Day is one of our holidays. She is probably going to be out of work for a week or so and we have yet to know if it's going be laproscopic or invasive. The doctor said that will be determined during surgery. My dad will be taking off to help out around the house, so I feel reassured about that. I'm sure things will go well but I always worry about things like this.

We had some good news this week. My dad was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer (CW02) in the Navy. He had to fill out a package and submit it to a board to be approved. He had done it twice before but this time he finally got approved. This means he is sort of in between enlisted and officer ranks. He's like an enlisted officer. The difference is that as a CW02, he's a specialist, where an officer (O1 and above) is generalized in the work they do. It doesn't kick in until 2006 and that means that he will change duty stations, which means he will change his two-week duty station as well, according to where he goes. He's in the reserves now and has been since he left active duty. I'm very proud of him!

We had a fairly lazy weekend. We stayed in Friday night and rented some movies: Paparazzi and Boondock Saints. Both were excellent movies. I loved, loved, loved Boondock Saints. And Saturday we went to see Hitch and today we just laid around and did nothing. We did go to Buff's hockey game around 6:00pm and then went to eat afterwards. Just a lazy weekend.

We needed to save money because we're heading to the Poconos next weekend to go four-wheeling again! I'm so excited. I love these trips. And like my mother, I have a three-day weekend too, which will be nice after a long weekend.

Well, I need to go to bed. I've got work tomorrow (blegh!). And I have to run some errands to make sure I've got stuff for Steve for Valentine's Day. I love Valenitne's Day, even when I'm single. But that's because my mom always made it that way - we celebrated it together and it evolved into a holiday to tell everyone how much you love and appreciate them.

Talk to you tomorrow!

I'm sick and miserable, but the oddest thing is that my temperature is about a degree and a half lower than normal. Is that normal? This is when I need a mommy.

The top searches on this site lately have been about that damn Lionel Richie Starburst commercial and what type of dog Jessica Simpson has. It's a maltese people. A maltese ... search for that and you'll find your answer. As far as that Lionel Richie commercial - well, I find it funny but that's all I have to say. I don't know anything more or less about it.

I need to sleep and sleep and sleep. My head is so clogged.

I can't say I'm not disappointed about the Eagles losing the Superbowl, but I'm devastated, mainly because I think I expected. However, it was a good game. It was rather frustrating to watch because I couldn't figure out whether to yell at the Birds or to congratulate them. They did a hell of a job putting points on the board but there was so much sloppiness, I just had to hang my head and not look. The drive in the third quarter that put the second touchdown on the board was impressive though. Had they been able to play like that all night we might have won. It was close though and that's what made me proud - they didn't let themself get shut out. We made it this year, perhaps next year we can take the win.

I think I need to get to bed early tonight. We a very long weekend, to the tune of not getting home until 5:30am this morning. Nights in Atlantic City will do that to you. I am exhausted and tired and don't feel like elaborating on the details right now but let me just say - the Borgata is one of the fanciest and most beautiful casinos I've ever been in. Now I've never been to Las Vegas so I'm sure there's more but in Atlantic City, it takes the cake dahling.

I don't feel very good. I think I may have a cold coming on. Stuffy nose, aches, tiredness, headache, etc. Steve said he feels like he's coming down with something too so it may be more than just in my head. I need to get some rest.

Thanks for all the comments and well wishes. My mom is meeting with her doctor at the beginning of the week to schedule the surgery and find out if it can be laproscopic or has to be invasive. Of course, we're hoping for laproscopic because it's an easier recovery. I'll keep you updated as I know.

I'll check back in tomorrow so I can tell you about my weekend.

Looks like this weekend may encompass a birthday trip to Atlantic City. God, I really do love where I live sometimes. I'm an hour from Atlantic City, three hours from New York City, two from D.C., one and a half from the beach, one and a half from the mountains and I have huge city that I call home right in the center of it all.

And sometimes I wonder why we can't find anything to do.

My mommy called today and said she has to have her gall bladder removed within the next week or so. Apparently, it's "diseased". Not exactly sure what that means but it's kind of scary. This is the biggest thing my mom has had to face. She had a hysterectomy a while ago and that was pretty scary for all of us because it was invasive surgery, but she pulled through it. I guess I'll hear more from her once she knows more, but I wish I could do more than that. I wish I could be down there to help her because she's always been there to help me when I needed.

It's times like those I wish I lived there instead of here.

So far, so good. Almost two full days without comment spam. I think it may be working, which makes me feel wonderful. Having to clean that crap out really made it hard to maintain this site. So thank you for the advice!

I'm still considering resigning as an adult. If I can find a place to do that, I'll be the first to let ya'll know. I think the closest thing I came to it this week was asking my mom to help me buy the replacement taillight for my car, since the opportunity presented itself to buy it now and I didn't have the cash in hand at this moment. But that's why I love my parents so much - they respect my independence and raised me to be self-sufficient, but if I really need them, they are always there for me. I'll be paying them back at the same time that I'm working in the cash to pay Uncle Sam but it's nice to have them help now.

My parents are thinking about buying a new house and I am so excited, as if I'm going to live there. Just another reason to want to be a kid again. I love the house they live in now but the new one will be so much nicer. As a matter of fact, the house they live in now looks so much like yours that I'd think you were in the same development (but she's in Mt. Pleasant and I think you're further inland). The new house will look like this and it's going to be so purty! :-) They're still waiting for the new lots to open since it's new construction and they're not finished, but once they do, they'll be able to pick they're lot and start the process. And once all that goes through, they should be in the hosue by next year.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck getting all claustrophobic in my tiny ass shitty apartment. Actually, let me take that back since on most days, I actually like my place. Yes, it's small. Yes, there's not enough space to put things. Yes, I could go for a bigger, nicer and newer place. But for now, this fits the budget and it serves its purpose. However, last night I had quite an evening. I walked into my bathroom around 8:00pm and as I walked on the bathroom rugs, water squished into my socks. And one thing I cannot stand is wet socks. So I freak and look down and see that there's about a half an inch of water on the floor. Being the responsible adult I had to be, I rolled my pajama pants up to my knees, took off my socks and began wringing the water out of the rugs. Not an easy task because those fuckers are heavy when they're soaked with water. It was as I was bending over and examining the seal around the bottom of the tub to see where the water was coming that I felt a drip on my head. Turns out the leak was from the ceiling. The strange thing is that I swear everything was dry when I got home from work but I can't imagine everything could've gotten that soaked without me hearing something.

Turns out the metal vent cover for the fan had water in it and when I pulled that cover off, water just dripped and dripped and the area around the ceiling was all soft and soggy and drippy. Luckily, I live right next door to the superintendent so I ran over there and he came over and checked it out and said they'd call maintenance and have them come over today. Lo and behold, I come home and there's brand new drywall and spackle over a three foot section of my ceiling. Turns out the drain pipe for the apartment above had busted and was leaking. Since it was in their floor, they had no symptoms of leaks but the woman's toilet had recently been replaced so I guess they didn't realize the pipe might've needed replacing too. The paint guy is apparently supposed to come to fix the wall up and stuff.

I couldn't imagine if I had to fix that stuff myself! I mean, I could do it if I had to but I mean, who really wants to? I think I want to stay in an apartment for the rest of my life. *grins*

I've been organizing everything like crazy lately. I think the spring cleaning bug has hit me early. I've been really good about trying to stay on a cleaning schedule for the apartment so I don't kill myself cleaning on weekends. I've also been trying to keep my checkbook balanced and my finances a bit more organized (another reason to resign as an adult - BILLS!). The finances have been slacking a little. I went through all my piles of paperwork last night and threw out stuff I didn't need. I organized my all my favorites on my computer tonight.

Tonight I was able to get motivated somewhat (after laying around for an hour or so after getting home) because there was nothing on TV. I know, I know - the State of the Union. *yawn* No, I didn't watch it. Stop gasping and giving me the evil eye. I don't care. And that's not because I'm a Democratic, or because I don't like George Bush. I just couldn't be bothered to watch it when I can read about it on the Internet tomorrow. If I sound apathetic, I apologize but there are certain things I care about and get worked up over and that's not one of them.

I did get to see one of my favorite commercials though, which made my night. It's that Starburst commercial, where the guy makes the bust of the girl using the Starburst and "Hello" by Lionel Richie is playing in the background. And he starts chewing on the nose. I don't know why it cracks me up, but I think it's partly the song playing because everytime I see that video or hear that song, it makes me laugh because it's so stalker-ish. Even funnier is that I hear it and I find myself singing that song as I'm doing dishes or something. :-) Yes, it's weird, I know, but that's me.

I want a Maltese so bad. I think they are adorable dogs and even better is that they have the kind of hair/fur that doesn't bother people who are allergic to dogs. If Steve and I ever lived together, or even if I had a place where he visited, it'd be really difficult for him to tolerate if I had a cat or a dog because he's so allergic that he starts sniffling as soon as we get in the house. Amazingly enough, he's even allergic to his Chihuahuas, which surprises me because I would've thought the wiry hair would've been allergy free. Ah well, I love the Malteses. A customer came into work with one and she was just adorable. And I've been watching Newlyweds and Jessica's dog Daisy is such a cute little mop of a dog. I think it's be perfect for me.

Now I just have to find an apartment that takes dogs. Or find a mute Maltese.

I can't believe we're already into February. Hey, and I've posted every day this month so far! February's exciting though because Valentine's Day is coming up and I have a three day weekend for President's Day. The last three day weekend I had was for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I was in a bar and then down in Atlantic City until 6:00am. Amazingly enough, in the bar at midnight, they played excerpts of the I Have A Dream speech over one of the newer rap songs that I haven't heard anywhere else yet. I was a bit appalled because it just seemed so disrespectful and sounded so horrible but I don't expect much else from the area I live in. I would just be interested to see what they'd do for Black History Month.

So wht's on the agenda for this weekend? I've got six birthdays from Thursday to Monday - one on Thursday, one on Friday, one on Saturday, two on Sunday and one on Monday. Friday is a girlfriend's 21st birthday so I'd like to see if they all want to go out for her first "officially" legal drink. Saturday night is going to be a toughie because three different groups have plans for three different birthdays and I feel obligated to be at all of them. So I have to juggle that schedule. And then Sunday, is the Superbowl, which you know I'll be watching because the Eagles are playing! Go Birds! I've gotta go get one of the pink Eagles shirts. I have other Eagles gear but I want one of the pink ones. :-)

Anywho, it's going to be a busy weekend but it should make for fun times. I think I'll spend tomorrow night picking up the apartment so that I have free time on Saturday to do whatever I WANT, not whatever I NEED to do. I can sit and play video games all day and not worry about anyone telling me I can't.

Maybe this adult thing isn't so bad after all.

I think I've finally found a better solution to the damn comment spam, thanks to her suggestion to close previous comments. I implemented it tonight so we shall see how it works.

I'm poor, as usual but I filed my taxes and I only have to pay $91 as opposed to the $213 I thought I was going to have to pay. And I found a tail light for my car on Ebay for $85, which is about seventy dollars cheaper than from the dealership. I've had a hard time finding the replacement OEM tail light for my car for cheap because it's so new, no one really has them yet. So I just need to scrape the money together now and then I'll be fairly okay.

I just need to stop spending money. Or budget better.

I don't want to be an adult anymore!