I got an XBox 360!

Happy Turkey Day

Stop the remake!

How not to discover an allergy...

Yesterday at work I ate about 4 cashews and within 5 minutes my throat was getting itchy and I told my boss "I think I'm allergic to cashews". He thought I was kidding around, it was just a little itchy so I didn't really do anything about it.

About 5 minutes later it felt as if my throat was closing up so I ran out to the medicine aisle and grabbed a box of Benedryl, took 2 tablets and drank a bottle of water and said to my boss "No shit... I really think I'm allergic to cashews!"

About 5 minutes later when I couldn't swallow anything my boss took off down the street with me headed to the Fire Department... it's only a block or two from the store so we figured we could be over there quicker than if we called them to come to me.

I got a shot of epinephrine, they hooked me up to a BP monitor, heart monitor and some oxygen and made me sit there for about 30 minutes. I had about 10 of the fire-rescue guys hovering over me. Which was a bit embarrassing... did it really take that many guys to do what they were doing?

They wanted me to go to the hospital, but by then I was already feeling MUCH better. The throat was opening up some and I was getting really sleepy from the Benedryl. So I promised them if there was a secondary reaction later I'd head straight for the emergency room.

I called Tom on my way back to the store and asked him to come pick me up...

The rest of the evening was miserable... when we got back to the house my entire body was covered in hives... I was itching like I've never itched before... like I was itching in my bones! I couldn't stand for anything to touch me... it was like my skin was on fire. Like a really bad itchy sunburn.

I went to bed, but was afraid to go to sleep. I had some serious chills... chattery teeth and all. Not fun.

I didn't get out of bed again until it was time to go to work this morning... I have been fine since, except for a bit of a sore throat.

This was the first time I have had an allergy reaction that has had an effect on my breathing... scary stuff! Usually I just break out in a rash or sneeze alot...

I'm going to be making an appointment with an allergist soon and have some tests. I don't want to discover another allergy this way ever again.

---

Today at work my assistant manager told me that he had let our Store Manager know what happened after I went home because the Fire-Rescue guys said they'd be sending him a letter. His response...


"Did she pay for the cashews?"

Bills vs. Dolphins

On Friday, my boss gave me tickets to Sunday's Dolphins game...

It was fun... though I drank a little too much. If I get tickets to another game someday, I think I'll pass on the frozen sangria...

:)

HHN 2008

Halloween Horror Nights was not at all boring. It was great! I'm already planning for next year, and this time Vera's going with me... with or without Steven, or so she says.

I had a lot of fun, and a great 2 days at Universal and Islands... there were hardly any crowds... I hardly had to wait in any lines at all.

The trip was over before I knew it, and I was back in Miami... back at work... putting up with the same old bullshit I'd left behind 10 days earlier...

New Orleans 10/10/08

We had lots of fun during our weekend trip to New Orleans.

I flew there from Ft. Lauderdale on Friday afternoon, got to the Hotel Villa Convento at around 5:00 and after checking in, went to Margaritaville for dinner.

Vera, Steven and Lauren hadn't arrived yet so after dinner I walked around a little and then went to the Tropical Isle for a Hand Grenade.

The sun was beginning to set when they arrived, and after circling the block a few times they finally found a spot to park, right out front... which we thought was the 10 minute hotel drop-off parking.

After getting them settled in, we went back to Margaritaville so they could eat dinner. When they were just about finished I remembered that in our rush to get out and do something we forgot to move the car to the hotel's parking garage. Thinking for sure her car would be towed, we paid the bill and ran back to the hotel... when we got there the guy working the front desk said we didn't have to move the car at all, we were in a legal spot and could stay there as long as we wanted. Whew!

So we went back out and walked around for a while, and even saw a movie being filmed... starring James Gandolfini. Kinda cool, actually! After getting back to the hotel Vera couldn't find her credit card. We were in such a rush to get back to the car earlier that she had left it on the table at Margaritaville. I called, told them we'd pick it up in the morning, and went to bed.

I got an early start the next morning, my first stop was Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets. I spent a couple hours walking around the French Quarter waiting for the rest of the group to wake up. Around 11:00 they were out and wanted to go to Cafe du Monde too... so more coffee, and more beignets! We had an early dinner at the House of Blues, and then took a buggy ride through the French Quarter. We had reservations for a ghost tour at 8:00, and went back to the hotel to get ready.

Steven and Lauren went for a walk, and I didn't want to sit around so I went out for a drink... then I got a call from Steven, he wanted crawfish and wanted me to go with him to get them... we had NO time to spare, but we took off to the restaurant, so he could eat... finished up and got back to the hotel as quickly as we could to pick up Vera and Lauren and meet our tour.

After the ghost tour we were hungry... they had gelato, and then we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for appetizers. Our waiter looked like Nikki Sixx Jr... Vera tipped him 10.00 because "he's pretty".

We went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Another early start for me on Sunday... back to Cafe du Monde and one last walk through the Quarter... I watched the Raiders fans meet up on Bourbon Street and start their march to the Superdome. I looked around in a few stores and snapped a few more pictures before going back to the hotel to load up the car.

After checking out of the hotel we went to the French Market (where they had breakfast) and Riverwalk Marketplace (where I had lunch). Back to the Quarter for one last walk through... Vera, Steven and Lauren went to St. Louis Cathedral. I was thirsty and went to Pat O's for a Hurricane... didn't taste like it had any alcohol in it... suppose they water down the drinks during football games? They are usually pretty strong...

It's 5:00 and we're still shopping... why can't we ever leave New Orleans?

Our adventure was not quite over yet... we got back to Vera's house before midnight... Steven couldn't find his phone anywhere... earlier in the day it had been put in a shopping bag... along the way home we had stopped for gas and that bag had been thrown away. Uh-oh... we Googled the gas station, called the store, called Steven's phone and sure enough the cashier could hear it ringing in the dumpster. She told him she couldn't get it out... she wasn't climbing in the dumpster... (can you blame her?).

I went to bed thinking we'd be going to the mall to buy a new phone the next day... and when I woke up Vera said we'd be leaving in about an hour. So I got ready, got in the car and after heading down the road I found out that we were going to get his phone... the cashier had gotten it out of the dumpster. 136 miles later, he had his phone back.

I got a short concert from part of Steven's band last night... :)

I spent most of the day today curled up with Miss Kitty... she's asleep at my feet as I type this. :)

I leave tomorrow evening... heading to Orlando and Halloween Horror Nights. I wish they could go with me... I think it might be a bit boring going alone... but I wanted something fun to do in between leaving here and going back to Miami.

Avast!

Drink up me hearties... and be talkin' like a pirate!

Arrrr!

My kitty can be LOLcat too...

I can has 5 moar minitz?

Another day, another storm...

another of my favorite cities in it's path.

This time Key West is looking pretty good to get hit by Hurricane Ike.

Good luck y'all!

Get out and stay safe...

I love New Orleans.

And I am very sad today because of what is headed their way again... just 3 years after Katrina devastated my favorite city.

Hurricane Gustav is expected to make landfall near New Orleans tomorrow morning. The city is being evacuated, and I really hope more people leave this time.

I don't want them on their rooftops begging to be rescued.. I don't want them lying dead in the streets...

I have a ticket to New Orleans on October 10th. I want everyone to be OK... I want New Orleans to be OK... I want to see her again soon...

I love New Orleans.

A new toy for my laptop...

Today I bought a mouse for my laptop.



A Logitech V220 Cordless Optical Mouse for Notebooks

It's red. It's pretty. And now I can play Sims 2 on my laptop!

I'm also going to be getting Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 soon... so we can use the laptop as a GPS. It's gonna be awesome on roadtrips...

Beef!

It's what's for dinner...

Today I smoked a chuck roast and it was awesome.

I combined a few recipes I found online, made a few substitutions for ingredients I didn't have in the kitchen and gave it a shot... literally!

I started by making a dry rub.

1 T pepper
1 T kosher salt
1 t garlic powder
1 t paprika
1 T Chef Paul's Barbecue Magic

I coated the outside with that mixture and then got started on the marinade...

I injected the roast with a 50/50 mix of Dale's Steak Seasoning and apple juice.

Next I recreated a fat cap for the roast, since it didn't have one of it's own... I covered the top of the roast with bacon.

Here is how it looked before going into the smoker:


And here is how it looked 3 1/2 hours later:


We're going to play around a bit with the cooking time when we do it again. It was probably done 30 minutes before we took it out, but it wasn't dried out at all...

and that was the most awesome bacon I've ever tasted...

Fall vacation countdown...

In 61 days I'll be on my way...

My vacation will begin in New Orleans, LA. I'm meeting Vera and Steven... and maybe Steven's girlfriend Lauren... and maybe Steven's friend Matt... we've got a couple of rooms at the Hotel Villa Convento. One loft, and one single...

We plan to go to the Preservation Hall, and maybe do another ghost or vampire tour. I've also made a list of some daytime activities... French Quarter tour, cemetery tour, and maybe a buggy ride... stuff like that.

After spending the weekend there I'll be riding back to Alabama with them. I'll spend a couple nights at their house. Since they'll both be working or in school during the week I decided not to stay the whole week.

On Wednesday evening I'll be flying to Orlando. I'm going to Halloween Horror Nights on Thursday night. Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday I'll be doing my favorite thing... Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure! Saturday night I fly back to Ft. Lauderdale... head back here to Miami and have Sunday to recover from the trip before I go back to work on Monday.

Then I start the countdown to the next trip!

Coaster death at Six Flags

I've been thinking quite a bit about the boy that was decapitated by the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia and I just don't get it...

WHY would anyone go into a restricted area near a speeding roller coaster???

AP: Ga. ride that killed teen to remain closed

I am just in total disbelief that anyone could do something that wreckless and stupid.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my birthday and after waiting 2 weeks I finally got to see the most awesome zombie picture that Tom had made for me at ZombieMe.com.

This guy is great!

He started out with this:



And turned it into this:




I am the coolest zombie ever!

Orlando for my B'day...

As a pre-birthday present to myself, I took a quick trip to Orlando.

I went in early to work on Thursday (3:00 am) and had planned to stay until 11:00, but the weather started to look ugly so I left at 10:00. I had hoped to make it to the Tri-Rail station before the storm hit, but I didn't quite make it. By the time the train arrived it had stopped raining though and I was on my way to Ft Lauderdale at 11:00 instead of noon like I had originally planned.

When I was in line for the security check I heard an announcement about passengers waiting for my flight needing to proceed immediately to the gate for an important announcement. Is that ever a good sign?

The gate agent told us that our 1:50 flight had been delayed and our new departure time was 3:15. I gave Tom a call to let him know that I had rushed up there for nothing and I would be stuck at the airport for a while. I settled in and turned on my laptop to find something to do for 3 hours...

An email check informed me that the new new departure time was now 3:25

Oh joy!

I played around online for a bit and a final 2:00 email update said the even newer departure time was 3:20... yay, going in the right direction at least!

More sitting and waiting until finally they start boarding the flight. I arrive in Orlando, catch my shuttle to the hotel, check-in and am walking through City Walk on my way to Universal by 6:00. I was really looking forward to the new Simpsons ride that moved into the old Back to the Future ride building. A sign at the entrance showed a wait time of 70 minutes. The park closes at 8:00, so I figured this one ride might be the only thing I got done that evening, but I was determined to ride it anyway. I had all day Friday and part of Saturday to do everything else.

When I got to the ride entrance, the wait time showed 50 minutes. The actual time I was in line was only 30 though... not too bad. The ride is pretty awesome. I don't want to give away any details, but I really did enjoy it. I still had plenty of time before the park closed so I got in a ride on MIB Alien Attack, The Revenge of the Mummy, and Jaws.

Before heading back to the hotel I had dinner at Margaritaville... a BBQ Bacon Burger and a beer... I did a little shopping, bought a couple Tees for me and Tom and grabbed a cab back to the hotel for a shower and a sleep.

Friday morning I was up and gone at 8:00, heading straight for Islands of Adventure and the Incredible Hulk. My favorite way to start the day... front row on Hulk!



Stopped off to have a look at my picture... bought it and stuck it in a locker. I'll have to get my scanner working so I can post it. Next I was off to the Lost Continent and front row on the Ice Dragon! By this time they had the single rider line open for Spider-man... I took a ride on the Bilge Rat Barges at noon, got soaked, changed clothes and went over to Universal. I made the rounds of all my favorite rides, even got to do a solo ride on ET. I really wish I had remembered that I had my camera with me during that ride so I could have video taped him saying goodbye to me. Usually he's calling out a string of 12 names and sometimes it's hard to even hear him when he says it. There was no missing it this time. "Goodbye Melissa!" he said... "Goodbye ET!" I replied... :)

At around 4:00 the sky turned dark and it started to rain. I happened to be walking by the Jaws ride, so I figured that would be a good place to take shelter from the coming storm. I was surprised that the ride was actually still running, but that didn't stop me from climbing aboard. I'm so glad I did. This had to be the most hilarious ride of my life. Everyone had the same idea... the boat is covered, so we'll ride and stay dry... WRONG! Our poor skipper was just getting soaked in the front of the boat... and it was a cold rain too. The wind was blowing it in on all of us. Towards the end of the ride, when Jaws makes his final lunge at the boat, a small tidal wave came over the left side of the boat and soaked everyone from row 2 back. I have never seen that much water on that ride... everyone was laughing, except the guy that got a direct hit. He was sitting in the exact seat I had been in the night before...

Our skipper was great. He asked if the man's camera was OK. He said he wasn't sure, and that he'd come on the boat to stay dry. Our skipper told him there would be no extra charge for the drink... "The water is on me." To which I replied "It's on me too!" *High Fives*

I ducked in under an awning at Nathan's Hot Dog Stand just outside the boat house and called Steven and Tom to tell them about my adventure. I was soaked... I made my way from awning to doorway on my way to Finnigan's Bar & Grill for an early dinner. I was really cold from all the rain so I ordered a Bailey's and coffee and a bowl of their Guinness Beef Stew. Both were really good and just hit the spot.

I needed to make my way back to Islands for the end of the night, and to get a change of socks out of the locker. I'd been slopping around in wet socks for far too long... I'm still paying the price for that one too... ow! I have blisters in places I didn't even know existed.

I did a little more shopping as the park was closing and went back to the hotel to check out the damage on my feet... I'm definitely getting my $$ worth out of the podiatrist on Tuesday.

My flight wasn't until 6:00 on Saturday so the hotel kept my suitcase for me after check-out so I could go back to the parks for a few hours in the morning. I'm SO glad I did... I broke my old record on MIB by scoring 601,000 points!



GO ME!

I had planned to stay until 1:00, but by noon I was in quite a bit of pain from the combination of my heel spur and all my new blisters. I was back at the hotel by 12:30 and arranged for an earlier pick-up to the airport. I got there around 2:15 and my 6:00 flight was already delayed until 7:15. I had another long day ahead of me... I'm so glad I have this laptop. I spent most of the afternoon chatting with a friend...

Thanks for hanging out with me Sue!!!

I had a very bumpy flight back to Ft Lauderdale... and finally made it back to Miami around 10:30...

I'm pooped!

But I had an awesome time! I'd do it again tomorrow if I had the money for one of those scooter rentals! :)

Can't wait to get back there in October...

Let's see... where to begin...

When I last updated the blog I'd just gotten over being sick twice... today I am sick again. It's becoming a habit now, and one I'm not happy to have.

Since I was sick all weekend and not really paying attention to much of what's going on in the world, I just found out today that Steven Tyler checked into rehab last Thursday. I have very mixed emotions about this. I hate that he's going through whatever it is that he's rehabbing from... but I'd much rather find out that he's been in rehab for 3 days than find out he'd been dead for 3 days... so rehab is the bright side... right?

*sigh*

I don't want to let go of my Aerosmith yet... I know that band will not go on forever, but damnit... I'm not ready yet!!! I suppose I never will really be ready though... I'll always want that one more show.

I've been in zombie mode for about 2 weeks. I bought a couple zombie books: The Zombie Survival Guide & World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War... both by Max Brooks. We've been watching a few George A Romero movies this week too... I spent yesterday afternoon watching the special features on my Shaun of the Dead DVD, and spent this afternoon watching the movie. I love it... it's awesome!

My trip to Orlando is coming up fast... just a little over 3 weeks and I'll be there. Yay! I can't wait to try out the new Simpsons ride... it looks great. It won't be a very long trip, but it should be enough to hold me over until my vacation in October. I'll be flying to New Orleans to meet up with Vera and Steven for the weekend. I reserved a loft at the Villa Convento... it's supposed to be haunted, but aren't all New Orleans hotels supposed to be haunted? Then I'll stay at their house for a couple days before heading back to Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights and 2 days at the parks. Yay again!

I have decided that the only shoes I can wear pain-free are Crocs. I don't care what people think of them... if they had ever gone through the pain I go through every day they wouldn't care either. I've worn my old "Professional" style Crocs all weekend and MY FEET DON'T HURT!



My 1st pair - Professional in Black.

They're awesome! So on Friday I ordered 3 new pair of Crocs. I can't wait for them to arrive...

My new Crocs:



Off Road in Khaki.




Professional in Chocolate.




Specialist in Black.


I really hope to be able to wear the Specialist style to work... because that's where I spend the majority of my time on my feet. Ugh! Don't even let me get started on work... that is an extremely sore subject for me these days...

My laptop...

I don't think I mentioned how awesome it was having that laptop with me on vacation.

That is the best purchase I have ever made.

It was SO heavy though... after carrying it around all day through 2 different airports I knew something had to be done before my return trip.

So I bought a cool little rolling laptop case... coming back to Miami was a breeze! It has space for clothes too... to double as a weekend bag. So I think that may be the only bag I take with me to Orlando in June.

I've already got the ticket and the room... I can't wait!

Bleh...

The week leading up to Valentine's Day I was sick... REALLY sick, with the flu, which after about 5 days turned to bronchitis. I went to the doctor, had the chest X-rays... got prescriptions for antibiotics, steroids, a new Albuterol inhaler and had to use a nebulizer while I was there. Bleh.

I had that annoying and lingering cough for a couple weeks. I went on vacation on February 28 and had to use my inhaler quite a bit while I was gone. So I don't think the bronchitis ever fully went away.

I flew back to Miami on March 9th... March 11th I was sick again... starting with a sore throat. I missed work on the 12th because I couldn't stop sneezing and I just don't think that mixes with food. I felt a bit better on the 13th so I went back to work... around noon I really started to feel bad again. That evening I had a fever so I was back at the doctor again yesterday... yep... bronchitis again. So now I'm on Advair indefinitely. Singulair too. And another round of antibiotics... oh joy! Luckily he gave me samples of all of it this time... he's also ordering a nebulizer for me so next time this happens I can treat myself and save a trip to his office.

Did I say "Bleh"?

Bleh.

Home Sweet New Orleans

We spent last weekend in New Orleans. Our first trip since Hurricane Katrina. We had a really good time. Driving in to town was a bit emotional for all of us... there are still a lot of areas that have damaged buildings, or places where everything is just gone.

When I get back to Miami I'm going to donate some money towards the rebuilding of one of my favorite cities. A place that years ago I wanted to move to. My home away from home...

New Orleans is a beautiful old city, and she deserves more help than she's getting.

Brad Pitt Launches The Pink Project

This is a project that Brad Pitt has launched to help the people of New Orleans the Right way. It is set to build one of the most "Green" Communities in the U.S. So it is a great investment in America. He is asking for the support of the people of the U.S. We all know our government will do nothing. But "We the People" will make a difference

read more | digg story

My new baby...

Sheba, the Toshiba Satellite Laptop.

I can't wait to take a trip and really try this thing out. I love it so far.

As an added bonus, I can finally play games at Pogo again! I hadn't been able to do that in at least a year on any of our desktop computers.

I'll be getting a plane ticket for a trip home soon. I'm planning to leave February 28th and I'll be gone about 10 days. The trip to Orlando was NOT long enough!

Later...

Happy New Year!

The first post of the new year...

I'm going to try to get more into updating this thing... I think I said the same thing last year, but this time it's true.

I just got back from a weekend in Orlando with Vera, Steven, Tammy, Tabitha, Tara, Teresa and Bobby. It was great!

I bought a laptop yesterday. It's awesome!

More later...