I Love My Job

Ok, that's a lie. I don't love it. But sometimes, I have moments here that make it worth coming to work every day. (and others, I wish I never had to come back!!!)

Anyway, today I come back from lunch, and see one of our more vocal tenants in the parking lot, decked out with some serious rouge and very very red lips... a bright colorful patchwork sweater, and a GIGANTIC amber pendant, that kind of reminded me of the little knob at the top of John Hammond's cane in Jurassic Park... you know, the one with the little mosquito frozen inside?

Anyway... this woman (whose name is not coming to me right now... ) is slowly meandering to down the hill to her car... but when she gets to the spot where she is certain her car was, she begins yelling, "SOMEONE STOLE MY CAR? WHO THE HELL STOLE MY CAR?!" I'm standing there, sorta dumbfounded... who would steal a car from the parking lot of a senior low-income apartment building? She walks over to a champagne colored Ford Taurus which has been backed into a spot, and goes, "No, that isn't my car. It was right there. But I'm CERTAIN I parked there! Someone stole my car!"

So I say to her, "Well, what kind of car do you drive?" thinking maybe I can help locate the missing vehicle... she kind of stumbles and says, "I drive a... uhh... a...." but never quite answers me. So I'm still unable to assist. Yet I remain by her side, acting like I'm on the hunt for the stolen car.

Then another resident whose name is Tom comes around the corner, walking his little dog Alex. And this woman yells to Tom, "Tom! Someone stole my goddamned car! I think I'm going to pass out! Come with me while I try to find it! I'm SURE I parked it down there, but MAYBE it's up top!"

uhhhh....

Meanwhile I guess I should add that there are two parts to our parking lot, split by the driveway that encircles our flagpole and leads up to the door. So this woman and Tom and myself begin walking up the little hill to the "upper" parking lot... the whole time, she is whimpering and complaining about how she cannot believe people are so dishonest, and, why would they pick hers, of all cars?! Sure enough, she walks 10 steps beyond the edge of the lot and spots her car and gives a hollar of relief. I have to turn and practically sprint for the front door because I am desperately supressing a giggle...

I realize that many of the people who live here at Trinity House are elderly, many with physical and mental disabilities. It's not uncommon for someone to be diagnosed with the onset of demensia, or Alzheimers, but this woman seems, for the most part, all together with it. However, it raises the question... if this lady cannot remember where she parked her car in a relatively small parking lot (probably room for 40 cars total here) then should she really be operating a motor vehicle and being allowed out on the roads? I mean, I've forgotten where I parked my car at the King of Prussia mall at Christmastime when there are ten zillion other cars there... but usually I end up in the right area, just maybe not the right row. And a simple click of my fob will set my taillights a'blinkin and I find my ride.

But today was just a very amusing situation, especially beacuse I was more than certain that her car had not been stolen, but was indeed parked elsewhere in the lot... but how do you tell a senior that, who is so certain they know what they're talking about? Answer: you don't. You just humor them, offer to help, and turn and laugh once you're out of their earshot. Which, as awful as this sounds, here at Trinity House, is only a few steps in most cases. ;-)

Three Names

What is it with famous people (or people wishing they could be famous) and having three names? I mean, I was given a middle name at birth, but I don't go around introducing myself as Rosalind Beth or Lindy Beth McCord. That is just strange. Yet... there are so many of them: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Neil Patrick Harris, Lou Diamond Phillips, Richard Dean Anderson, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe... I could go on and on...

(the funny thing I'm realizing as I typd out this list is that I cannot stand ANY of the aforementioned three-named celebrities... coincidence?)

In any case, why is it that they feel it's necessary to use that middle name? Does it make them more special? She can't be Sarah Gellar, she has to be Sarah MICHELLE Gellar. And of COURSE, Jennifer LOVE Hewitt... wouldn't be the same without the Love, right? Ugh. I guess, to each his or her own, but still, it is kind of irritating to me.

But one thing I've noticed, is that, a lot of people who gain notoriety from committing a heinous crime or at least being convicted of one, use three names. Example, John Mark Carr, the guy who admitted (and was later acquitted of) killing Jon-Benet Ramsey (oh wait, look, another 3 named person!!!). Another example, Lee Boyd Malvo, convicted DC sniper... three names.

It's just a strange phenomenon to me. Maybe I'm just being overly critical. People can have as many names as they want. After all, in my youth, when I had an obsession with Kiefer Sutherland, I found out that his full name was: Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland.

That is a lot more than 3.

...this is Lindy Beth McCord, signing off.

S-T-D's and other wedding related things...

Well, I finally feel as though this wedding is real. I know I may have said that to some when I picked out my dress... but we are now going to formally announce to the world (or rather, the guests who we are intending to invite to this wedding) that it's happening and that they must "Save The Date" for the affair!

It's kinda strange... all this time, it's been a thing, in the future, that just seemed so far away. And now, as we round the corner to the holidays... it is becoming more and more evident that I have to put away my "I've got plenty of time" motto and use one more along the lines of, "wow, I have a lot to do to start pulling this thing together."

Granted, there still is a "lot" of time, 7 months. That's 28 weeks. But I've watched my dear friend Lauren's wedding unfold for the past 7 months... and I have to say, once she hit about 5.5 months... that is when the chaos ensued.

So last night Mom and I decided to go forward with the Save The Date magnets. And I'm psyched because I think they're really cool, and since we're debating on non-personalized favors, at least this is something a little more personal. So, I'm going to order them within the next few days, and hopefully have them out by Thanksgiving. So it will be official! No turning back! Haha!

The other wedding-related thing about which I am ECSTATIC is that I put down a deposit on our honeymoon!!! We are going to Sandals Regency St. Lucia, for 6 nights. I am so excited... everything I've heard about this resort is positive, and everyone who has been to St. Lucia says it's fantastic. I was debating between Antigua and St. Lucia (mostly because of $) but ultimately decided that St. Lucia seemed like more fun. And our resort is just awesome. Check it out:

http://www.sandals.com/main/lucia/lu-home.cfm


Other than that, I'm taking the 'maids to The Wedding Touch in Malvern in a few weeks so we can make a final (!!!!!) decision on their dresses. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time... I mean they're all beautiful, so it's just a matter of figuring out what will look best on everyone, and what goes best with the decor of the day.

So slowly but surely, these decisions are presenting themselves and I'm dealing with them. And I feel like I'm on a good pace... I have all of the big stuff out of the way, more or less, and have been accumulating ideas for the smaller stuff as I go along. We're getting married, YAY!!!! ;)

Closed Captioned by the Gramatically Impaired?

This morning, I'm at Boot Camp at the Y, sweating it out on the ArcTrainer (which is my new favorite machine in the gym, I love it!) and I'm plugged into the little audio theater system they have going, watching the morning news. Well, since not everyone is lucky enough to have headphones on hand (or on ear, as it may be...) each television has the closed captioning on.
Anyway, I'm watching as Matt O'Donnell gives the latest and greatest on world news, and he refers to something regarding the "Venezuelan" government...

Only the closed captioning says, "Vein as whale."

Now, I understand that it is probably rather difficult to keep up with how fast the anchors speak, however... WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? I myself am a lightning fast typist, averaging about 85 WPM without mistakes, and I can get close to 100 wpm with errors... I too find it very hard to keep up with dictation, even when it's coming from my boss in the next room. But "vein as whale?" Come on now. it probably took just as much time to type that, as it would have to figure out Venezuelan, even if it wasn't spelled properly... (I say this because I just tried typing Venezuelan and found myself questioning the order of the letters!)

So as I'm wrapping up my workout, finding myself picking up each and every last mistake I can see... and I'm thinking to myself, I can do this! How does one go about getting a job as a closed captioning translator/reporter/person? Is this a high paying job? (I'm guessing not...) Is there room for growth? But it sure seems like it might be fun, to translate everything the people on TV are saying for those who don't have the luxury of hearing. I'm sure that someone who is seasoned in the job and has their margin of error down significantly can sneak in the occasional joke or spoof of a word, but VEIN AS WHALE? What language are these people hearing? And why on earth would the VEIN AS WHALE government be doing anything that anyone cares about? LOL

I just found it rather amusing. And quite honestly, I'm looking forward to my 6:30 am cardio sessions at the Y, just so I can observe the closed captioning mishaps!

And I shall now begin my campaign to become a closed captioning artiste.

260 days, divided by 30 pounds = WTF?!

Well, here goes. I am going to throw myself headfirst into this process... and I have to admit, I'm scared.

Let's back up... in January of 2005, I was the heaviest I think I'd ever been, and Jen Rudolph (nee Ford) was getting married in April of that year. I was her Maid Of Honor. The dress had been ordered in "my size" which I vowed would NOT be "my size" by the time I had to wear it for real. So I started doing Weight Watchers with my Mom, and increasing my exercise (from very little to a lot!). Because of this dramatic change to my metabolism, I was able to shed the weight very quickly, and happily! I didn't feel as though I was changing my habits TOO much but enough that it was making a pleasant difference. By her wedding, I had lost about 18 pounds and the dress was pretty much sliding off me. I had to run around all night with my arms at my sides to keep it up! But it didn't stop at Jen's wedding. I continued to go to the gym, play soccer, and eat right, and by July when I went to the Jersey Shore with my family, I was the lightest and trimmest I'd been since high school, having lost approximately 29 lbs total. I felt alive. I felt great! I felt sexy! And the most important thing to me... people noticed. I know it should be more important for you to feel it yourself, but I liked the feeling of hearing, "oh Lindy, have you lost weight?" or "wow, have you been working out?" repeatedly. It helped make me want to work harder, you know?

But I got too comfortable, and too confident. As summer melted into Fall, I began falling off the wagon. I stopped going to WW meetings as frequently. I went on vacation a few times and stuffed myself silly (which is what you're supposed to do on vacation, right?!) but then, instead of being careful once I got home, I continued eating poorly. As fall gradually transitioned to winter, I wasn't outdoors exercising as much (outdoor soccer ends in November) and by December, I had put about half of the weight I'd lost back on. And of course, the celebration continued even beyond the holidays, because right after we'd returned from a wonderful vacation to Disneyworld, Dave asked me to marry him! And as you can imagine, that gave way to celebratory dinners, parties, and other events that included things that are detrimental to a diet. :) Ultimately, I realized, I am NOT one of those people that can lose weight easily. It takes a lot of determination and discipline and it was not something that I was willing to upkeep... I sorta took it for granted, and it came back to bite me in the ass.

So anyway, we set our wedding date, for June 9, 2007. This gave me approximately 18 months to figure out how to get myself into primo wedding shape. I kept saying to myself, ok, come January, I'll start. Ok, February.

Ok March.

And so on, and so forth. By the spring, I'd promised myself that I would be back to my same bikini bod size from the previous summer, for our second annual trip to the shore together. Didn't happen. Not even close. I had gone back to WW again with Mom in May, but found myself not taking it seriously, skipping meetings for stupid reasons... and just not "into it."

So here I am, September of 2006, just under nine months away from my wedding. And I'm about 30-35 lbs away from where I want to be. Now... since I did it last time, in less than 6 months, I know I can do it again. However, it won't be as easy this time. My body is already used to a certain level of exercise, a certain diet, and a certain maintenance. So I have to really find ways to motivate, to challenge, and to kickstart myself into weight loss and a healthy habit readjustment.

But I have extremely different circumstances surrounding me now. The most important being Dave. We live together, and our bodies do not react the same way to food. While he can eat a quart of ice cream and think nothing of it, I'll be paying for it for a month. Luckily, I'm the shopper in the family so I can select healthier choices and "light" alternatives of the things we like to eat. But it's still going to be a struggle. Mr. "I like to clean my plate and then some" doesn't really understand the concept of watching weight vs. portion control! Hmmm... so here I sit, ready to make this committment to myself. Ready to drink the water. Ready to get my lazy ass to the gym four days a week instead two or three.

And my first step has been accomplished... I joined the YMCA in Phoenixville, and enrolled in several classes, including a very intense cardio and weight training "Boot Camp" class, that meets twice a week from 5:30 am-7 am. It's TOUGH... but it's worthwhile and I like my classmates and my instructor. It will go until early December... hopefully I'll make it through! I'm also taking a spinning class... which I found, is ridiculously harder than it looks, and you really get a solid workout from it. So these are good steps in the right direction, right?

I am setting some mini-goals weight loss goals. The first being, I want to look good and feel good in my bikini by the time Mo and I set sail for Jamaica and Grand Cayman this December 9th (for our 2nd annual girls trip! YAY!). I'm probably about 10-15 lbs away from that. My second mini-goal will be shortly thereafter... my first wedding dress fitting. It'll come in, in my "current" size, in January or thereabouts. And I'd imagine I'll go in and try it on at that point, see what alternations have to be made. My hope is that it's too big, even at that point, and even bigger by the time my last fitting rolls around in May!

After all... the thought of standing up in front of 200 of your closest friends and family and having all eyes on you should be enough for me to want to make this happen! But not just for the wedding, for good!!!!!! Wish me luck, everyone... I know I can do it... can't I???

Footy Football

Well, today was a day of firsts. The first Eagles game of the season (nice win, Birds!), and my team's first fall soccer game. We actually did really well out of the gates, scoring 3 goals in the first 25 minutes of the game... and keeping the other team at zero in that time. But as the clock ticked on, we began to grow tired. By the last 20 minutes, it was evident that most of our team had given up, and we ended up losing 4-3. Now, we do have several new players this season (which is awesome!) and we were all trying to work out the kinks, and get used to playing together. But nonetheless it was frustrating to have gone from such a significant lead to a disappointing loss. And I'm just as much to blame as the other 10 people on that field (and the 4 we had on the sideline).

Anyway, it felt good to get out there and run again... and I personally thought I had a good game, scoring 1/3 of our team's goals. I am eager to see how my performance improves throughout the season (or at least, my endurance) since my fitness boot camp and self-induced weight loss program has now officially begun. I had dinner with Jami after the game, and I told her, just watch, 3-4 weeks from now I'll be 100% BEYOND where I was today.

Here's to getting in shape and owning up to that!

Who's Your Daddy?

Ok, so the prodigal daughter has finally been revealed to the world. And I, like everyone else who even remotely follows Hollywood Gossip, am pleased to see that she's real. Quite honestly, I don't know why I care, it's not my child, nor a child that belongs to anyone even remotely important to me... but I guess I just wanted to see her. Not to mention, she is a very cute little baby. But consider the sources... she got awesome genes. As much as a Tom Cruise fan as I am NOT... I still think he's very attractive, esp in his younger years, and Suri's mom isn't so bad herself.

Part of my fascination, too, was the whole Scientology thing, how Tom got Katie to "convert" and they are raising Suri in the tradition of Scientologists. It's all very wacky and crazy to me, and while I respect all people's forms of beliefs and religions, this one is so commercialized, so popularized by Hollywood... (think Kaballah a few years back... thanks Madonna and DemiAshton) And because it is sorta kooky, waiting for the spaceship to come and everything... (forgive me any readers who are Scientologists, if my musing is insulting to your practices and beliefs!!!!) I can't help but find myself watching in awe as one of Hollywood's greatest actors brings a child into this world, raising her in the ways of this very "different" belief system. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. R


So yes, I did dedicate an entire blog entry to a Hollywood baby. I admit it. I'm a Hollywood gossip whore. I won't deny it. But hey... something's gotta get you through the day, right?

I GOT IT!

My wedding dress! Unbelievable, but I'm now officially going to be a bride, and in a few months I'll have the dress to prove it!!! (In the meantime, I have the receipt!)
Mom and I had gone to Monique's Bridal up near Pottstown a few weeks ago... and I'd tried on several, finding one that I did indeed like... but I wasn't entirely convinced.

Reason being, I had seen a dress online in early August, which is what inspired me to start shopping in the first place. I called around, and there were only a few bridal shops around that carried that particular.
Arielle Bridal, in Ambler, happened to not only carry my designer, but they had the actual dress of interest in store for me to try on! So, before committing to something that I wasn't crazy about at the first bridal salon, I decided to hold off until we could get an appointment at Arielle, so I could at least try the original dress that set my wedding dress wheels in motion.

Well, lo and behold, we arrived at Arielle at 12:35, and by 12:45 I had pretty much made my mind up. Although the store model of the dress was not the right length or color, it didn't matter to me. This was my dress. I didn't want to take it off. It just felt right. While very very very different from the one I'd admired two weeks prior at Monique's... this was it. I just envisioning everything, with me and Dave smack dab in the middle, and me wearing this dress. And it's what I wanted.

YAY!!!! What an exciting, exhilarating feeling. To have the dress in which you are going to marry your love. Wow.

Now comes the hard part, however. The dress will not come in until January or February. And it is my goal to get my lazy fat ass in shape before then... so I'm shooting to be 20 lbs lighter by the time I get that phone call telling me my dress has come in. (or for some strange reason, if it comes in sooner, then my goal is to lose it by February 9th!)

But I am SO HAPPY! I got my wedding dress. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday @ 5:13 am

So, our air conditioning decided to shit the bed. It was happily cranking along in the high sixties for several weeks, but in the past two days I've come home to realize our house is unpleasantly warm, despite the rapidly falling thermometers... it's still humid and AC is still a necessity.

Unfortunately I've been plagued with a disorder... I can't sleep if I'm hot. So I fell asleep right around midnight, woke up again at 2 am, and have been completely restless since. I have, however, been able to catch up on a few back episodes of "Saved," so I guess I'm using my time wisely? I dunno. Most normal people would be lying in bed trying to get back to sleep, but here I am, blogging at 5:16 am. I'm so tired right now that delirium has set in, but yet, because I'm so hot (despite the fan blowing away steadily two feet from my pillow) that I can't fall back asleep. Ugh. And here I was hoping to get a nice solid 8-9 hours of sleep tonight. I'll be lucky if I pull of 5 or 6 at this point I guess.

I think I'm going to go stay at Mom and Dad's tomorrow night. Because the maintenance guys here won't be around (without charging us an obnoxious fee) until Monday to check our AC. And I can't deal with another sleepless night.

I just thank God that it's 68 and humid out, and this did not happen a month ago when it was 98 and humid. Lord have mercy.

Oliver the Humanzee

The other night, Dave was watching the Science channel. I'm finding myself more and more intrigued by this channel; it has lots of cool shows on space and evolution and stuff... so right after the "Neanderthal: The Rebirth" show (which was totally weird and creepy in itself), this program, "Humanzees," comes on.

It's about the possibility of human-chimpanzee hybrids. And it featured Oliver.

Oliver is this strange creature from Africa that came to the USA in the 70s, and scientists were questioning whether or not he was half human, half chimpanzee. They hinted that by the end of the show, DNA test results would be revealed to explain the truth behind dear Oliver.

Oliver looks more like a human than any monkey I've ever seen. In addition, he walked upright, liked to mix drinks and smoke cigars, enjoyed suspenders to hold up his pants, and preferred the company of humans to chimps. Especially female humans (consequently Oliver had to be sold from his first owners because he basically tried to rape his first owner's wife).

So, as tired as I am, I wait around while they show some crazy dude rolling around on the grass with a fullly grown lion and tiger, and it's ridiculously huge offspring, the Liger... and certainly not wait while they kill time explaining mules (a hybrid of donkeys and horses), while coming to the conclusion (duh) that there is no scientific reason that Humanzees cannot also exsit. Yet I find myself fascinated. Intrigued. Totally into this program. I can't stop watching. Not to mention that my darling fiance is dancing around the room like a monkey (come to think of it, he looks strangely like Oliver... bald head and such...) and saying, "is it a monkey? is it a human? is it a monkey?" and so on and so forth. So we're hooked.

Unfortunately, I fell asleep before the program ended. So I don't know if Oliver is indeed a human, a chimpanzee, or a humanzee. I guess I'll never know. (or I could certainly google it and find out, but what fun would that be?!)

However last night at dinner, I'm trying to explain this show to Jami and Mo, and they are in absolute hysterics. But I guess you'd have to see it to believe it. They start asking lots of questions, and I'm having trouble answering them with a straight face, so I promise them that as soon as I can, I will enlighten them about Oliver with some solid info.

Well today I came into work to find some links for Jami and Mo about Oliver, and I came across this:

http://cecimoz.co.uk/portal.php?page=3

Apparently I'm not the only person who found Oliver so interesting.

Long Live The King!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060810/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_ireland_goat

Bestest and Favorite

Well we are two weeks shy of what Dave and I are calling our 2 year "anniversary," at least until we get married. And I'm trying to think of something really special for us to do. I think, given both of our situations, we'll forego gift giving, but a nice night out to celebrate is a necessity! :)

Ok, so for those of you who feel like being technical and reminding me that it's not REALLY two years, first of all, fuck off. Second of all, who cares? So we took a 90 day break in the beginning... but why is anyone else worried about it? It's not your life, so why bother bothering? I am calling it two years, and I do not feel as though I should have to shorten it because of what happened. We're calling that a mulligan in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway... I was just thinking this morning on my way into work, about how vastly my life has changed in just 24 months. This time, two summers ago, I was working 10-12 hour days at Banyan, playing a lot less soccer, drinking a lot more alcohol, singing a lot more karaoke (which I will admit I miss...), and wondering if I'd ever find someone to love me again. And I was very depressed.

And then, that fateful night at Beth's apartment, everything changed. Two years later, I have a husband-to-be who makes me smile more than anyone in the world. Despite the struggles we've faced in the past year or so, I know we're going to make it. We both possess strengths and weaknesses that truly make it work... without them, we'd be goners. But it works, and I couldn't imagine it any other way!

Dave's Mom told me recently that he said to her, one of his reasons for wanting to marry me was because, "I don't bug him." And I sorta chuckled, but I know exactly what she means. Dave could be viewed by some women as a very difficult partner. I, personally, think he's fantastic. A woman who requires a ton of attention, constant accompaniment everywhere she goes, and wants to be pampered and babied would NOT find those qualities in my Fiance. He is very independent, and yes, while he gives me all the attention I could possibly ask for, we maintain our separate lives, interests, and worlds. And those worlds come together quite nicely. But Dave requires his alone time, and I give him that. I play soccer a million nights a week, and I am always running here and there to have dinner with this friend, catch a drink with that one... so it makes coming home to him even more exciting, because we AREN'T inundated with eachother.

Dave once swore to his friends and family that he'd be a bachelor for life. After he and his last girlfriend parted, ways about five or six years ago, he decided he was done with women. Every relationship he was in, the woman expected more of him than he was willing to give, and demanded things of him that he was incapable of doing. But then I came along, and suddenly, Dave found himself WANTING to do the things that I asked of him, and making the sacrifices necessary to make a relationship work, because "I didn't bug him."

He tells the story quite often of one of his previous girlfriends, whom he dated for several years, and how on Sundays she used to pull the advertisement section out of the paper, and (not so) casually drop the jewerly store inserts into his lap... I guess this woman thought this was a perfectly subtle way to hint at what she wanted. But Dave said it used to drive him crazy.
I, on the other hand, told the poor guy right before he proposed that "I wasn't ready to look at rings yet, because it was too big of a committment." Well, that was a really big lie because of COURSE I was ready, but knowing the situation he was in, I didn't want him to feel any undue pressure so I sorta brushed it off to help lessen any stress he might be feeling about it.

So behold... the two year mark is fast approaching. And I look back on every single day of that two years (ok, for those of you who are counting, minus those 90 days, sorry...) and thank God that Dave and I were brought together, and that we don't "bug" eachother, and that we are in this for the long haul. I couldn't imagine a better partner in life. You are my bestest, and my favorite, and don't you forget that!

I love you, David! Happy (almost) two years together!!!!

PURPLE!!!!

I found this on theknot.com today. For anyone out there who feels as though purple is not a good wedding color choice, think again! It was listed as one of the top 10 wedding trends of 2006!

Think Purple:

Last year it was teal; this year a more royal shade, purple, is in vogue in every tone -- from the lightest lavender to a deep eggplant. What better way to take your aubergine palette up a notch? With a great pattern. Think starbursts, swirls, and playful dots on anything from the invite to the bridesmaid dresses, wedding cake, and cocktail napkins.

Internet Scams... don't fall for them!

Today I'm sitting at work thinking, hmmm, what would be a good way to make some quick, extra cash on the side? With the summer just around the corner and several foreseeable vacations in my future, I thought, I'd check out some stuff. So I went on Craigslist, and checked out their Job postings, namely, the "ETC" section.

There are a lot of things on there that seem interesting... but the ones that caught my eye were, of course, the "work from home, make your own hours!" opportunities listed. Why not? Be lazy, hang out at home, do a few hours of work after hours, and make a few bucks... sign me up! So I follow the links to some of the sites, and on average, here is what I find:


"Easily Make $10 for each online data entry form filled out..and takes only minutes per form!"
*Use your own home computer or laptop on the go
*Get paid instantly each day by check mailed to you
*Only work when there's spare time
*Take 10 minutes per form..daily income adds up fast

(Sounds good, right? I'm thinking... yeah I can do this! Then I scroll down further...)

Ok. Ready to Get Started -- Right Now?
one-time investment of only $19.95!

Not only do you have to PAY THEM to do this, but you have to provide a credit card number or your paypal account! This seemed fishy, so I referred to a friend who I know had mentioned that she'd looked into some of these "get rich quick" ventures before. And she suggested I look them up on the Better Business Bureau before investing. Well... since that search turned up squat, I then googled the name of the company, and here is what I found!

pay pal thieves online, beware!
Reply to: job-xxxxxxx@craigslist.org Date: 2006-04-05, 3:05PM EDT
If a company or person is asking for a payment to get started in a clerical position processing orders, beware this is a scheme to increase pay pal accounts! These are all individuals who are deceiving us by selling the opportunity to come online and and deceive others the same way we were tricked into paying. This is a horrible way to make a living, and these people should be ashamed of themselves.

No shit! Here I am, Jane Consumer, thinking I'm about to get a good thing going, and I find out I would have been ripped off. When I went back and checked out this illegitimate website again, I realized, there is VERY little information provided about the task at hand, and there is NO contact information. I had overlooked that factor at first. Well, DUH. Of course they're not going to give you a way to contact them. They'd rather steal your money anonymously!!! There a bunch of these out there... so don't let yourself get fooled. They really do paint a lovely picture, and sound like a good way to make a buck. *sigh*

What a fucking dishonest society we live in.

And what a fucking moron I am, thinking there is ANY way to make money easily. Hehe

Wedding Planning 101

Well, it finally happened. The reality of 13 months hit me, and thus, launched my wedding planning campaign. Until now, it seemed sorta painful, and more of a pain in the ass than anything... a ton of shit to figure out... making sure everyone is happy, everyone agrees on everything. But as time wore on, I realized... as long as Dave and I are happy with the decisions being made, then that's all that matters. And Dave could care less on most of the issues at hand. But I couldn't help but think, with 16 months to go, that concerning myself with what kind of chair covers we wanted in the ballroom just seemed absolutely ridiculous.

(But, to be honest, even worrying about that the day of the wedding seems ridiculous too. Who cares?! Well apparently these are things that you need to very meticulously plan out in order to make your day perfect. Or at least that's what they tell me. There will undoubtedly be details that really do not concern me or Dave, but the powers-that-be will have a strong opinion, and they will be honored, regardless...)

I have several friends who have already planned, or are in the process of planning weddings, and I am definitely seeking their expertise and advise on certain things, but a lot of this I am sorta hoping to discover and have fun with on my own (with the help of my one and only wedding planner... Mom).

I've actually been criticized, twice now, for planning "too far in advance." People have told me, "you have plenty of time, why are you worrying about this now?"
I didn't realize there was a time frame? I mean, yeah, a lot of websites and bridal books propose suggested timelines and checklists for the who, what, when, where, and why of things, but I they're simply that... suggested. And anyone who knows me knows... I am a busy little bee. So the time I have free, I like to dedicate it to the important things... one of which being planning our wedding. :)

For anyone concerned that I'm planning too far in advance - rest assured, I've got it under control. I figure, the more stuff I have figured out now, the less I'll have to worry about as time rolls on. And I have a feeling that 13 months is going to sneak up on me a lot sooner than I think. I mean, it feels like just yesterday that we got engaged... and that was almost five months ago!

Anyway... so far, we've only made a few decisions, but some of the most important ones. For example, we've decided to have both the ceremony and the reception at The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, which both Dave and I really like, and my parents are very happy with. There are definitely a lot of details to work out, but knowing that place is ours the night we want it is definitely a comfort. We also have our DJ secured... my friend Cisco, of MoonLiteSound Entertainment. Many people have expressed their opinions about DJs versus bands, and before I was really taking them to heart. But ultimately I decided... why spend all that money on a band just so people show up with shiny saxophones? This is by no means saying that bands are not an excellent addition to a wedding experience. I've been to several weddings that have had bands, and yes, they are cool. I mean, bands can be a lot of fun; they get people up and dancing, they look pretty and, in some people's opinion, add class to an event. But I am really excited to have Cisco be a part of our special day, because he knows me, and will put on a show that suits me and Dave. Plus, we won't have to worry that any songs that are important to us are not played the way we'd like them to be... I can't imagine our proposed wedding song being played by anyone but the original artist... it would do it no justice!

So the adventure has begun. My Mom and I have had several sit-downs to date, and our next big step will be picking a photographer. Stuff like bridesmaids dresses, and flowers and cakes, and my gown will come together over the next 4 or 5 months, I'm sure - there is no rush for those. But the ultimate realization I've come to is this: I am going to keep my ideas and thoughts and opinions of how this day should be between me, Dave, and my parents, because I really want to make sure this is exactly how we want it... although I value my friends and family's opinions, I really feel as though this needs to be done by us, for us!

So there you have it. The McCord-Rolston wedding saga begins...

Legs 'n' Breasts

This was a sign I saw when in Tasmania, Australia with my family in 2004. I couldn't help but chuckle... what a great marketing tactic for this restaurant, huh?

Just thought I'd share.


Brought to you by Lindy's warped sense of humor. ;)

Lindy's Crying

Well, the inevitable has finally happened.
Diamond Dave has been kicked off the airwaves. I can't say I'm at all surprised but I am definitely disappointed.
I think everyone, including DLR, knew it was coming... because ever since that stupid program manager made him get rid of Animal, and limited how much B Young and Sasha could be on the air, the show lost some of its flavor. I mean, I'm not going to sit here and tell anyone that it was the best program ever to hit the airwaves; I'm aware that it was not. But I did enjoy it. Maybe it was just the fact that it was David Lee Roth? I don't know.
But farewell, Diamond Dave... you provided me with 3 months of an entertaining drive to work.
*sigh*

Surprise!!!!!!!

Last Thursday marked the momentous 33rd birthday for my darling fiance. I gave him a few small gifts to throw him off from the idea that I might possibly have something bigger coming... but luckily he didn't have a CLUE. And being the skeptic I am, I was sure he had caught on. He is a lot smarter than he looks! ;)

On Saturday, when I finally managed to get him out of the house to run his errands, my father met me at Best Buy to help transport David's dream come true... a 42" plasma HDTV. I managed to get all my shopping and running around done in time to prepare baskets of chips and pretzels, displays of cheese, crackers, and veggies, only to throw them in random cabinets to hide them from his sight. (and as I realized the next day when reaching for my breakfast cereal, I forgot about some of them! Oops!)

About 10 of his friends had arrived by 4:30, and as I stepped outside to help direct traffic, I panicked when I saw his Tiburon parked outside and him standing there, talking to my parents!!!! Shit!!!!!

And then here comes Trapper and Tasha, hauling a case of beer. And Shane, Dave's brother Rob, and Rob's friend John were due to walk up to the house any second... So I'm thinking, Goddamn it, the surprise is ruined. But Dave really just looked more confused than surprised. I led him into the house, and it was only after a few emphatic directional nods of my head that he noticed the gigantic television sitting in the corner. Before he could get too mesmerized, I insisted that he follow me to the basement, where we recently had a less-than-pleasant encounter with a less-than-pleasant tarantula-sized spider (ok fine maybe it wasn't THAT big, but nonetheless... I needed him to accompany me to the basement!). As soon as we got downstairs, I flicked on the light and an assortment of his friends stood there, not yelling "Surprise," but screaming, "DAT! DAT! DAT!" It was quite amusing.

So the surprise went over well, despite the fact that it wasn't as flawlessly orchestrated as I'd hoped. Moral of the story: don't rely on Jason Jones to keep Dave occupied next time you have a surprise party planned!

The most exciting moment of the evening, save for the TV unveiling, was Dave seeing his friend Jim "Freak Boy" Munster from college. Jim and Tammy drove down from Pottsville, and Dave had not seen them in over 5 years. They were not there in time for the surprise, and foolishly, I told Dave they were coming. (He did not believe me at first) I should have just let them show up and shock the hell out of him. But oh well, he was so excited to see them... it was just really fun to watch Dave sit back and enjoy the attention and affection he was receiving from his nearest and dearest. He's not a big people person, but I think having 20 of his closet friends gathered in his honor was very fun for him, and I enjoyed watching every second of it!

P.S. The above pic is of Dave, Freak Boy, and Diamond (Dave Weirick)

Even bathroom materials have names...

Last weekend, I went out to dinner with Dave, his good friend Pete (nickname, Gator) and Pete's brother Blaine... to a restaurant called Casablanca. It is a Moroccan-themed experience, complete with 7 courses and belly dancers. So cool!!!!

After dinner, we continued on to the Franklin Institute, to see the very interesting exhibit BodyWorlds, and before entering the gallery, I decided to take a quick pit stop.
And it was during this pit stop that I was rather amused to find that the "solid plastic toilet partitions" in the ladies room there were called "Hiny Hiders." What a funny little name for something that you'd never imagine would have a name at all... other than, perhaps, a "solid plastic toilet partition." Their logo is quite funny too... it is the letter "H" which is serving as the toilet partition, with a little head sticking up in between the walls.

Yes, I am a child, I know.

I went so far as to look up this clever moniker on the internet, and they're manufactured by a company called Santana... www.hinyhider.com. And I quote:

"We take pride in our highly engineered line of products which are used in schools, stadiums, prisons, retail locations, and other high-traffic, high-abuse environments. "

There is even a company store link... "With a trade name like Hiny Hiders, we have received many requests from customers and others for hats, t-shirts and other products and apparel imprinted, embossed or emblazoned with the distinctive name."

Well, kudos to you, Hiny Hider engineers. Your logo and advertisement of your product kept me smiling, and now I'm spreading the good word. And apparently I'm not the only one, because you sell hats, shirts, and underwear with it as well!

So for those of you out there reading my blog who are looking to build a prison, school, or stadium, I highly recommend this vendor to you! ;)

Not ok

I'm having one of those days were I'm just not feeling right. I'm uncomfortable in my own skin.
I just feel icky. I feel "off."
I don't know why, there is really no reason why I should. But I do. And it sucks.
All I want to do is go home and curl up on my couch and sleep. Which I pretty much did all weekend. Perhaps I got too much sleep this weekend? Who knows.
It's one of those days where nothing sounds appealing. I'm hungry, but I don't know what I want. I'm thirsty, but nothing can quench my thirst.
I'm trying to submerge myself in work to take my mind off the ickiness, but it's not working. Any suggestions?

The weekend is a long way away.

Diamond Dave in the mornings...

When Howard left to go to the Dark Side, I found myself still tuning in to 94.1 WYSP in the mornings... and I got caught up in David Lee Roth's morning show.

Now, this show is NOTHING like Howard... and I've been a Howard listener for probably 7 or 8 years now, if not longer. However, mornings without DLR are just not right. He is my soothing voice in the morning. He talks about really boring shit most of the time... and I don't find myself laughing out loud like I used to with Howard. But I love him. I absolutely love David Lee Roth and his morning show.

The only things I do NOT like are those STUPIDLY REPETATIVE prime rib sub commercials from Quiznos.

Ok. We get it. Prime rib sub is toast. I got it the first time. And the second. Now shut the f*ck up!

Anyway... I'm sitting here at work listening to my iPod, (I figured out a way to hook it into my desktop speakers, YAY!) and I selected David Lee Roth's playlist... and as he sings about 'Big Trouble," I can't help but marvel at his career. This guy has done more drugs, women, and God only knows what else in his 50-odd years on this planet... and now I listen to him, day in and day out, talking about everything and nothing of any remote interest, yet, I listen.
Religiously.
A few weeks ago, he was on vacation. And one of the other 94.1 deejays, Kidd Chris, was doing the morning show on DLR's behalf. And, even though Kidd Chris is popular, and very silly, and talks about all sorts of crazy stuff, I found myself totally uninterested and actually listened to, EUREKA!, music in the morning! Now there's a novel concept.

Anyway, I felt the need to give a fond shout-out to this washed up rocker who now has become an essential part of my ever-important daily routine. Thanks Diamond Dave, you rock.

But grow your hair. You were way sexier with long hair.

A new pic...

By popular demand, I've posted a more recent picture of myself and Dave. :)


I'm still working on getting the photos of our new house edited and resized, but they're still coming!

our house is a very very very fine house

Well Dave and I are finally moved in!!!! It took almost 2 full weeks from start to finish (not including packing time) but it's totally worth it! It's so cute and cozy and we're both really happy to be there. I will definitely miss the days of Fatty and Fatti and 420 Village Walk, and the memories will follow us down the line, but this is a fun and exciting step towards Dave's and my new life together!!! I will be really glad when we're unpacked fully and settled into the new place, but it feels good to call it home finally.

Otherwise, things are status quo. We went to the Duke-Temple basketball game last weekend, and Dave was ecstatic to see his favorite player, JJ Redick, break the all-time conference record for scoring. We were actually afraid it wasn't going to happen... there were only 6 minutes left in the second half and he'd only scored 5 of the 9 he needed, but then he sunk a sweet 3 pointer, and took a foul shot to tie and then break the esteemed record. Go JJ! I was so glad Dave got to be there to see it!!!! We had great seats too, which made the experience all the better.

Speaking of great seats, last night I was at the Flyers-Rangers game...
talk about shitting the bed! My God. The Flyers came out strong, played a great first period... but no one is really quite sure what happened after that. By the end of the game, it was 6-1 and basically the entire arena had left... and with good reason. Apparently the Flyers didn't know they had a game last night because they certainly did not show up to play.
And supposedly we have Silver AND Gold medalists on the team... they must have sent stunt doubles... they were still in Torino hanging out with the Italian babes.
Anyway, it was a really really really sucky game. And everyone was so fired up, first home game after the Olympics... what a let down.
BOOOOOOOOOO.

Chocolate Fountains...

I forgot to mention- Dave and I went to Jen Launi and Michael Dell'Aquila's wedding on January 21st...
it was absolutely gorgeous. She chose to do the black-and-white thing, which I thought was really excuted elegantly... her flowers were simple but beautiful and the whole atmosphere was just awesome.

The chocolate fountain... now THAT was the best part of the whole damned thing. A multi-tiered molten milk-chocolate cascading stream... with dozens of goodies surrounding it that you skewer and bathe in the delicious brown lava. MMMMMMMM.
We are DEFINITELY having one of those at our wedding! However, I will not get near it without a full body suit of armor; with my luck I'll get chocolate on my dress without even getting near the damned thing.

The real reason for this addendum to my earlier entry was because I had to say just how amazingly awesome Dave is, and how evident that was, visibly, at Jen's wedding. Jen, as most of you who are likely reading this know, is my exboyfriend Todd's sister. She and I have maintained a relatively close friendship even since the disaster formerly known as Todd was a part of my life... and I value every second spent with her. But going to her wedding was making me nervous. I wanted, more than anything, to watch her and Michael exchange their vows and celebrate their love for one another, but I did not want to have ANY confrontations with Todd whatsoever. Well, go figure... the Tuesday before the wedding I ran into Todd and Andrea at Appetites on Main... he was there playing cards, and she was there, in all her four month pregnant glory, slogging Coronas and smoking Newports. It made me sick. I asked her if she was going to quit... and she said it was "too hard for her." I tried to gently remind her that she wouldn't be quitting for her... but realized it was really a moot point.

Anyway- she and I were friendly enough to one another, and we parted ways saying, "see you at the wedding on Saturday!" Sure enough, Saturday rolls around, and Dave and I, looking QUITE dapper I might add, roll up to the church with only a few minutes to spare. And, ever so ironically fittingly... Todd extends his arm to me to walk me to an available pew. We exchanged a bland, friendly, "hi how are you," but that was really it. Ugh.

So Todd then proceeds to seat Andrea next to Dave and myself. And it was then that I looked at the relieved, almost smug look on Dave's face. The poor guy had been DREADING the moment where he'd come face to face with my nemesis... and realized as soon as he set eyes on all 5 foot nothing of Todd that it had all been for naught.

Anyway, the afternoon goes on, Andrea sticks to me and Dave like glue because she doesn't really know anyone else that isn't involved in the wedding itself, and and she admits, because "at least I know you guys won't give me shit for drinking... everyone else in the family and bridal party will." WHAT?! Of course they'll give you shit! You're carrying their future grandchild/niece/nephew/brother/sister/etc... I swear the girl had a glass of wine, of a different color, mind you, every single time I saw her the entire night. I'm not even going to mention the other things I know in which she was indulging that night... it's just too digusting to even say.

At one point, when the bridal party convened at the Dell'Aquila's house before the reception commenced, Todd and Andrea were standing outside smoking a cigarette, and I was listening to the way he was talking to her... some things just absolutely never change. He is still always right about EVERYTHING, he is still ignorant and a smart-ass and snappy... and thinks the world of himself. I have not had doubts for years about breaking up with him... in fact, it was only during the initial healing process that I ever shed a tear for that fuckface. I think I was just sad to be alone- I would have dated Big Bird at that point if he was available... my self esteem was so shot and I was convinced that I'd never ever meet someone again, and Todd was my only and last hope. And that the fighting and bullshit and all the heartache he caused me was simply a price you had to pay to be in a relationship.

BOY was I wrong.

As I watched Todd skulk back to the bridal party bus, his shirt untucked and sucking down the last of his grimy nasty Newport, I just squeezed Dave's hand tighter, and looked at him so proudly and so affectionately... he is 1000000 times the man Todd Launi will ever be, or could ever even try to be. He is magnificent, and I am just so excited that, out of all of the people in the world, Dave chose me to be his partner in crime. And what a wise wise decision he has made. I don't think he has any idea just how smart that was on his part!

Not that I needed to see Todd for my mind to be made up... my mind was made up in August of 2004, even before any of this ever became a reality! But any confidence I was still lacking because of how that asshole treated me for so long was gone as soon as I was able to spend five minutes in the same room as both of them... Dave is nicer to me in five minutes than Todd ever was... and I can't believe I put up with that shit for so long. And it's the most comforting, overwhelmingly uplifting feeling to know I'll never ever have to worry about that again as long as I live, because Dave treats me like a Princess! David, I love you! You are the BEST!!!!!!!

All things February...

It's been over a month since I've last blogged (and, EUREKA! I didn't begin my post with So... !!!) and I decided it was about time to check in again.

Things are better than ever now, save for the fact that I'm broke. But that too shall pass.
I started my new job at Pennrose Management Company... I've been here almost 5 weeks, and I really am enjoying it! It makes me think, and keeps me busy, which is nice because the days fly by.

Dave and I are moving into Phoenixville in a little over 3 weeks, and we're very excited about it. we've since bought a couch and a bedroom set, so we have the beginnings of what will be a very lovely home, I'm sure! We're both so psyched... as much as the legacy of Fatti and Fatty will be sorely missed, it'll be really nice to live together officially. We even have a phone number now! Granted it won't be working until February 18th, but it exists!

The whole being engaged thing has been a lot of fun and very exciting, but reality has sunk in. As a matter of fact, I'm really not all that excited about planning this wedding right now- with everything else going on, it seems like a hassle. I mean I'm sure it'll be wonderful and fun and a great bonding experience for me and my mom, but I'll give it a few months before I really worry about it at this point. Lin and Pete are having an engagement party for us in April, so maybe by then I'll be a little more wedding-minded. The first month was blissful, but now it's time to face reality and realize that we're not getting married for 17 months, so maybe we should focus on some other stuff! (and by we, I mean me... because Dave could hardly care less about the details! Ha!)

He just started his new job this week at ING, and so far, loves it! He's excited because for the first time in a very long time he's using his skills in math and his brain, and he feels confident working for a big company that hopefully will allow him to go places eventually. That, and his real estate classes are great and he is just so excited about the whole process. I am just so unbelievably proud of him, watching his life turn around like this. I never would have imagined I'd live to see the day that David Rolston motivated so much and got his life together, and now he's working so hard to get where he wants to be. He took his real estate class midterm and kicked its ass, so that helped to boost his confidence and self-esteem. Yay for David!