Goodbye, Papa Guy.

November 1, 1919 - December 30, 2007

Happy Birthday to Me; I just turned 30!

Well, the day I've been dreading since turning 25 has finally arrived. I've crossed into a new decade. And I'm still breathing. It helps that I had my mom's infamous coffee cake to help ease me into it. But I'm still not happy about it.

Here's hoping this year I'll be "thirty, flirty, and thriving" just like the movie says.

I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

At my 2 jobs, I run into a variety of signs. Some informative; some not. The following are my favorites.

1. At the Prosecutor's office at my local Courthouse the sign reads:
Donate your old, unused phones here.
Hmm. Are they wanting old new phones?

2. At the parking lot for 2nd job:
Parking violations will be strictly enforced.
Parking restrictions are enforced. How do you enforce a violation?

3. My favorite requires a little context. At the 2nd job, there's a security area we go through and there are a couple of TVs mounted that give you some informative information. One of the tidbits says:
There's no better time to quit than now.
They're talking about quitting smoking, but at 5:00 a.m. after a rough night on the line, if I'm thinking about quitting anything, it's the job.

A Gift to be Simple

I asked my niece on the phone last night what she wants for Christmas. Her response? "A present." Ok. Well what kind of present? "A pink one." A pink one what? "A pink present." After a little more back and forth I let it drop. I have no idea what she means by that at all.

She also wants an airplane. I'm pretty sure though that she doesn't want a model airplane, but in fact wants one of the actual airplanes she sees in the sky all of the time and loves so much. I do tend to spend more than I should on her, but $30 million or so is definitely out of my price range.

Things I've learned in the last month that I'm sure will be as surprising to you as they were to me.

AKA: I make really dumb mistakes all of the time.

1. Green bean casserole does not stay as fresh on the counter overnight as it would in the fridge. In fact, if it's in a sealed Pyrex dish, when you find it the next morning and open it, chances are high that it will smell like death. Against my better judgment, I gaggingly cleaned it out instead of scrapping the whole thing and spending another 11 dollars to just replace it.

2. A recorked bottle of wine is not leak proof. When it falls over in the fridge it will slowly leak through the corkscrew hole onto everything you own in the fridge. Even if it's on the bottom shelf, it will somehow waft up to the upper shelves just to make your life even more annoying.

3. A shirt does not protect from heat as well as an oven mitt. Also, burning your nipple on a hot pan on the stovetop is the most searing pain you've ever felt in your life. Please trust me on this one and don't try it out for yourself.