An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

It's a beautiful day in Key West. The Street Festival should be great! Something to file under "I do this every year - when will I learn?" I got done working registration by 9:15 last night and dropped our car off at the condo. I've felt pretty special driving it; it's a Sebring convertible. All the kids were at Schooner Wharf Bar so I decided to walk down. It's frakking far. I'm going to guess 2 miles. After working nearly 13 hours, it feels like 20. How do I forget that every year? I could have caught the shuttle or the Pirate Captain would have come get me on the scooter but, noooo, I somehow think a little stroll will be good for me. BTW, the host hotel ran out of Miller Lite last night. It is my curse.

I'm 9 hours into my registration shift for the convention and it's actually slowed down enough that I could read my email and do a quick post. No drunk chicks kissing attacks yet. Unless you count me. I've been stalking Brent Burns and making sure I get a kiss every time I see him. He's so adorable. Unruly Julie is off seeing John Frinzi . She reported that he saw her from the stage, flinched then asked for his sunglasses. Interpret that as you wish.

Tony Hale is guest starring on Chuck . I can't wait to see next week's episode.

I'm out of here early tomorrow morning for my annual Key West trip. It's Meeting of the Minds, our national convention. There are 2,500 people registered and I'll get a chance to meet a lot of them since I'm working as the Registration Assistant. The Pirate Captain and Unruly Julie are already there. Julie tortured me by sending a picture of the rooster that is living right outside our condo. I'm sure that frakking bird will be waking me up at 3 AM every morning. Since I plan on going to bed around 2, that's going to tick me off. However, you legally can't do anything to the chickens and roosters in Key West so my threat of making chicken soup would only get me in jail if I actually carried it out. That frakking rooster knows it, too, I'm sure.

Back before college football started, ASU was ranked and everything looked swell. So, The Rocket Scientist and I decided to pick a football game. I scoped out tickets and picked second best available. The top tickets were in the loge and pretty pricey. The ones I got were just off the endzone and still cost us $50 each. No small chunk of change but for a top 25 team, it would be worth it, right? Well, by the time the game rolled around ASU had crashed and burned and the top 25 ranking was but a distant dream. The first sign that it wasn't going to be a perfect evening was when we discovered that our seats were one section away from the Oregon band. Apparently, our seats were available because they were near the visitor's section. We were surrounded by people in green...blowing duck calls. Annoying! The second sign was that ASU could not do one thing right. Literally. The offensive line couldn't protect Carpenter, Carpenter didn't seem to have any composure ...

I'm sure if I asked her, George would say she hasn't been near the fireplace.

I may not have been a Blackjack winner last weekend but I think I've got winning a Parrot Head raffle down. Step 1: I buy the tickets. Step 2: I hand the tickets to The Rocket Scientist. Step 3: TRS says at some point, "Want to check your tickets?" Which means, "Want me to check your tickets?" The answer is always yes. Step 4: TRS returns from checking the tickets with my prize. It worked well this weekend. I scored a nice sized metal beer sign. Unfortunately for me, it was a Landshark Lager one. Ick . Fortunately for Scott who looooooooves Landshark , I gave it to him.

I am a drunk chick magnet. And I mean that as in I am a magnet for drunk chicks not that I am the drunk chick. Take Parrot Grande on Saturday night. The boys wandered away from the party and found some new friends in the bar. The new friends consisted of this really, really drunk girl and her alleged Father and Step-Mother. I say alleged because he didn't act like a Father. He was more like a pimp. He kept saying, "Hey, isn't she hot? Doesn't she have a great body?" Apparently, our guys thought she was and she did. They also thought she was 25. I got a fairly good glimpse of her and she looked about as close to 25 as I do. Maybe her actual age is closer but the miles? Not so much. We took the party to the 8th floor and guess who showed up? Drunk chick and her "parents". I tried to avoid her because I'd already had an encounter where she hung all over me but, somehow, I got trapped in her orbit when I was on my to talk to Carol. Next th...

Vegas was not so kind to some of us gamblers. The Rocket Scientist dropped some money at Blackjack on Friday night. I don't remember playing...so, I might not have. Saturday morning, we sat down for a while and he dropped some more money but I managed to play for a while. When we left the table, I had $110 in chips in my pocket and was happy to have it. I played for a while and I got to tip the dealer and the cocktail server so it was all good. We hooked up with Dawnie and headed down to O'Shea's for some more gambling. Small problem. I hadn't cashed in my Hooters chips and I only had $40 in my pocket and my ATM card was in the hotel room. Dang the fact that I forgot my usual travel purse! TRS pulled some money out and said, "How much do you want?" I gave him my most winsome smile and said "A hundred." I did give him my $40 in exchange. The kids didn't do too well. Dawnie only won one hand before busting out. TRS lasted a little ...

Not all of our group's hotel rooms were ready when we got to Hooter's but The Rocket Scientist's and mine was so Rick and Julie walked up with us to store some gear while they waited for theirs. We were on the 15th floor and our room was completely at the end of the hall. As we were taking the long journey, two guys came out of the room two doors down from us and headed towards us. One was Jim Morris of Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band. We exchanged heys and continued on our way. Then, the room right next to us opened up and out walked John Frinzi. John Frinzi of "OMG, he's so cute!" John Frinzi. Did I mention he was RIGHT NEXT DOOR? We stopped to say hey and I introduced us all to the guy with John. Rick and I both shook hands with him but Julie and TRS did not. John said, "Julie and TRS don't shake hands." Julie responded with, "No, we hug" and headed towards John. He flinched and stepped very quickly into his room. Apparent...

I have been having a heck of a time with my Internet connection. Not the usual slowness that I constantly fight but consistent disconnects. First, I blamed Vista. Then, I thought it was my router. Last night I must have reset the router a half dozen times. This morning, I still couldn't connect. The diagnostic showed I was connected to the router but the router wasn't connected to the Internet . Just to prove that it wasn't my new laptop I brought out my old one and fired it up. That couldn't connect either. So, I was down to suspecting either the router or the cable modem. Since I've suspected some of my slowness would be resolved with a new modem I decided to go ahead and get a new one. As usual, I took advantage of The Rocket Scientist's good nature to go shopping tonight and then got him to set it up for me. So far, so good. I haven't disconnected and things actually seem to be working a little faster. Time will tell, though.

Well, we survived another Jello Shot Express without too much liver damage. Well, one guy may have had some since he ended up flying home on Saturday because he was hurting too much from Friday. Rookie! It's a marathon, not a sprint! The day started bright and early. Too bright and early since Thursday was a very late night. Dawnie did, indeed, make it to Margaritaville . In fact, we stayed there for quite a while. Poor Steven was our driver and he really, really wanted to go home so he could go to bed. We had closed out our bill and were sitting around BSing when I said, "I'm thirsty. Dawnie , are you thirsty?" Of course, she said yes so we sent him to the bar to fetch us a round. We finished that one off and I said, "I'm still thirsty." Steven cried out, "No!" But, to no avail as Dawnie went up this time for some more brewskis . We didn't get home until nearly 11 then Dawnie and I had one more beer at home before hitting the sack at 1...

George gave me quite the scolding when I got home from Vegas last night. Then, she ran around like a lunatic for hours. She jumped from floor to couch to chair to table to kitchen counter then started all over again. I tried to wear her out with the laser light but that didn't seem to decrease her energy level at all. I worked late tonight and it's more of the same insanity. She spent 1/2 hour jumping on some invisible creature that she saw crawling on the wall and she's been on the table and counter so many times that my floor is completely wet from water bottle residue. I could tell that she missed me, though. This morning, she woke me up four times for lovin's . Then three more times for gnawin's . I missed her, too. I really like our early morning lovin's despite the early start to my day. The Rocket Scientist is willing to do lots of things for me but I think he would draw the line at letting me scratch behind his ears while he purrs at the crack of dawn s...

We're having a team meeting tomorrow to discuss the first 6 chapters of Crucial Conversations. I loaned my book to another manager in the company so I borrowed someone else's copy last Thursday. And left it at work all weekend. Not that I would have gotten much reading done until last night but still. Grr . Five minutes before I left tonight, I put the borrowed copy on the middle of my desk with my keys on top of it so I wouldn't forget it. Five minutes after I left the office, I realized that the book was still on my desk. Double Grr . I decided to go in about 20 minutes early tomorrow to skim and refresh my memory for our 9 AM discussion instead of turning around and going back to retrieve the book. Clearly, working a 10 hour day after a long Vegas weekend didn't leave my brain functioning fully.

My friends The O'Malley Babes are big fans of Barenaked Ladies and have gone on several BNL cruises. The cruises are pretty neat because the band is on the ship and actually hangs out with the fans. They are doing a video contest and the winner gets an upgraded cabin for next year. The Babes made it in to the final round of 10 videos - woo who! To see the videos and vote for the Babes, go here and their video is called Kitty Kruiser High Five by Kathy O. You have to register to vote first and it's a bit confusing. You have to click on our video on the main page and then on the next screen click on the Vote button on the far right side. Then it should prompt you to log in. On the first log in - At the bottom right side of the log in box is a `register now''. If you click this – and fill in the info – it will then send you an email saying you've been registered and a link to click to confirm registration.When you go in the email and click the link it will take you to...

The Rocket Scientist, Unruly Julie and Pirate Captain Rick, Crime Dog and TFMCD and I went to dinner last night. (I really do seem to have an inordinate number of friends with nicknames). On the way to the restaurant, I started a text conversation with Dawnie in Des Moines. That continued while we were at the table. Then, TRS got in on the action and started texting with Dawnie (and me, story below). Crime Dog sent me a text, I replied to him then he started with Dawnie. Oh, we did talk to the other side of the table (the other three were sitting facing us), ate our food and we listened to the singer but mostly we were involved with texting. Kinda like those crazy kids today that text each other when they're riding in the same car. So, the story. TRS thought he was sending rebuttal texts to Dawnie in response to what I was sending her (that I always let him read but he doesn't let me read his texts, hmmm). I thought he was sending them to both of us as I was getting th...

In between work and going to dinner last night, I packed the Jello-Shot contest prizes. It was a constant challenge thanks to my little "helper". I had a box to pile the finished bags in and set up an assembly line to fill them. Of course, you can't expect a cat to stay out of a box...even if it's on the dining room table that the cat isn't supposed to be on. Oh, were you going to use this box? She was in and out of the box, in and out of the bags and chewing on the bags and the handles. I repeatedly took her off the table and put her on the living room chair. One minute later, she was back on the table sticking her nose in to my work. That cycle repeated (too) many times before I decided to lock her in her room. Really, I'm helping! Fatal flaw in that plan: I told her, "Do you want a time-out?" She must know what time-out means now because after that she jumped off the table and ran away each time before I could pick her up and put her in he...

Too funny .

October 15, 2008 Taurus (4/20-5/20) You have become quite a trendsetter in your group, haven't you noticed? Your friends are starting to emulate the way you talk, the way you dress, even the way you laugh! You have been feeling good, and when you feel good you look good. And when you look good -- people want to follow your example! They think you have the secret to looking good and being happy. And whether you realize it or not, you do have it. Be as social as you possibly can, today.

So, I had one open night this week to get all my crap done before Vegas. Will I take advantage of that and be super productive? Nooooo . Going out to to dinner with some of the kids instead. Who needs sleep? I'll just do everything later tonight. Much later, no doubt.

Google has a new mail feature called Mail Goggles. You can read a quick blurb about it here . It's supposed to stop you from sending emails when you're inebriated. I could use something like that for blogging. And talking. And flirting. And, heck, maybe I just need to stop drinking.

It's October Madness around here, thanks to Jimmy Buffett. I spent an hour Sunday dividing up the Vegas concert tickets for this Saturday and next. Tonight, I'm hanging out in the bar at a local restaurant to hand out tickets to people. I know, it's really not unusual nor a burden for me to hang out in a bar. Nor for my friends since several are coming to keep my company. But, I've got tons of other things to do. I need to clean my house since I'm having company on Thursday. I'm going straight from work to the airport Thursday afternoon then a bunch of us are going to Margaritaville for dinner. Friday morning will find us at the Babes' house getting ready to ride the Jello-Shot Express bus to Vegas. That will be an early morning since the bus is supposed to get there at 7 AM and we're picking up The Rocket Scientist and getting McDonalds before we get there. Sometime before Friday, I need to assemble the Jello-Shot Contest prize bags, make something...

October 13, 2008 Taurus (4/20-5/20) Things between you and a new cutie are just getting started, but don't rush out and make any commitments in regards to this relationship -- don't even make dinner reservations just yet! You need to take it slow unless you want to get in over your head. Right now you need to leave things set on a low heat, and let the boil come naturally. Before things get any deeper, you should spend more time alone. Reconnect with yourself before you give part of who you are away to another person.

I played Chick Poker tonight and the whole gang was there. I can't remember the last time when so many of them yapped so much and forgot to ante, put in their blinds or even knew when the action was on them. They were also almost all tired and ready to call it a night after a short time in. Wimps. I took advantage of them as much as I could and turned my $20 into $36. I think I could have done better if they'd had more staying power. As it was, we probably only played about 2 hours. It's funny that some of them think I never bluff and the others think that I always do. I feel like Phil Helmuth because I think I have them right where I want them but then they do something crazy and get lucky. The difference between Phil and me is that I don't go on a bleep filled tirade when I lose a hand.

The club had its annual evening at Phoenix Greyhound Park last night. It's always a fun time and I usually win some money. I say usually because last night I tanked it, had no wins and gave up early. I should have followed the lead of the Young Prince. We asked him which number he liked and he had a good streak of picking at least a show dog. Of course, he gave us the same number for most of the races. But, hey, you can't argue with success. Pick number 5! Who would have thought that the Jello-Shot Prince would have such a savant for an offspring? He must take after his Mom. Cute couple! I've been working on lining up my boys since they keep getting older while I do not. I've got to wait 19 years for this one. I'm sure he'll be worth it. ;-)

Except for the shaved belly, you'd have no idea that George went under the knife this week. She's back to pre-crack of down wakeups, chasing the laser, jumping on the table, trying to get between my food and my mouth and shadowing my every move. So, it's back to demon mode. But, I did buy two water bottles at the store today so we're working on staying off the table and the counter. The vet said to keep her from jumping up on things anyway so it's really all for her own good.

Got this quiz from The Fetching Mrs. Crime Dog. Your Parrothead Name is: Kathy 'The Pirate' Hemingway About You: Arr! You love to party and pillage! Other Parrotheads know the party is going to be wild when you show up, a drink in each hand and ready for trouble! You’re the one standing on top of the cars screaming at the meeker party goers, the first one to shotgun a beer and head on a roadtrip. You don’t stop partying until you’re the last one standing, and you’re the first one for a taste of the ol’ hair of the dog the next morning. When its all said and done, you leave behind a wake of destruction. PS. We know you like to live and party hard... just be careful with those firearms, okay? Your Drink of Choice: Whatever the guy next to you WAS drinking before you plundered it!! Yo ho yo ho . . .

My friend Stacey always has smart ass Out Of Office replies in her email. They are so bad, I think I would get reprimanded if I used one. I thought of her when I got this email from Norene today. It's probably gone around the interwebs a gazillion times but it's the first I read it. Best 'Out of Office' Automatic Email Replies 1. I am currently out of the office at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. 2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all. 3. Sorry to have missed you, but I'm at the doctor's having my brain and heart removed so I can be promoted to our management team. 4. I will be unable to delete all the emails you send me until I return from vacation. Please be patient, and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received. 5. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first 1...

George was still pretty out of it this morning. She wouldn't eat her kitten food or drink any water but she would eat her treats out of my hand. I felt bad leaving her for work but it's hard to call in sick for your baby when your boss knows your baby is a four legged hairy demon. I came home at lunch and she was a little perkier. She actually met me at the door but still wasn't interested in eating or drinking. The Vet's office called to check up on her and they didn't seem to think she was behaving in an extraordinary manner. Steven came over around 5 to check up on her. I was stuck at work until 6 then I had to head over to The Rocket Scientist's to feed his cats. Yep, I'm cat juggling this weekend. Steven reported in that she was eating and drinking a bit and had the energy to hide from him. When I got home, she was almost playful. She drank some water for me and scarfed down a bunch of treats. I knew she was really feeling better when she tried...

George has moved from under the bed to a towel on the living room floor. I keep going over to make sure she's still breathing. What can I say? I'm a worrier.

I feel like the meanest Mommy alive. My poor baby had a very, very bad day. It started out nice enough. We had lovins at 5:30 and 6:00 this morning then she spent a good half hour dismantling her new toy. She was quite perky considering that I took her food dish away from her at 8 last night. The first sign that it was going to be a bad day was when I put in her in her carrier. The second sign was the long (to her) car ride. She cried the whole way over. I told her, "You're going to be wishing you were back riding in this car in a little while." That didn't stop the crying but walking into the Vet's office did. She was suddenly mute and tried to curl herself up into the smallest furball ever. I wonder if she thinks they won't be able to find her if she's quiet and tiny? They saw me coming when they made out the price list for her spaying. They asked me if I wanted to add an IV that they would use to put her under and have in there "in case s...

I took Sugar Daddy out for dinner for his birthday tonight. It was actually his birthday dinner for two years ago. I owe him a dinner for last year, too. His restaurant of choice is Donovan's so I need to save my pennies for the bills. SD sent me an IM today about enjoying a $50 steak. I told him no sides for him at that price but he said they are now included. Well then, it's certainly worth it. It's a pretty fancy schmancy place. The kind where you have three or four people waiting on you and they refill your water glass after each sip. Not our usual kind of eating out by any means. Oh, and you have to valet your car. The waiter recited the specials and there was a bone in Porterhouse that I decided sounded good. SD ordered a Rib eye . The food was excellent. My steak might actually have been too rare for me which is saying something. Since it was his birthday, they gave us a complimentary Creme Brulee to share. That was yummy. Possibly one of the best I...

For the second night in a row, they've closed down McClintock to one lane each way at the intersection with University. I got stuck in it last night and I was annoyed and amazed by the number of people who refuse to just wait their turn in the single lane. There were several people who used the center lane to get to the head of the traffic jam then forced their way in. Like they're just more important than everyone else? I forgot about it tonight and got stuck again. As I was waiting, I noticed a new addition to the getting ahead technique. Some people were actually moving to the left and driving in the oncoming traffic lane. Can you think of anything more stupid? It was inevitable. About three car lengths behind me, one car stopped in the middle lane then tried to pull out to the left (again, into the oncoming traffic lane) while another car decided to go right to that same lane. Crunch! Fortunately, they weren't going very fast and it looked like just a few crumple...

I sent out an email today to our technical staff. It said: I want to make sure our phone list is up to date. Please take a minute to go to the link below, click on your name and check that we have the right contact numbers for you. If not, please email corrections to Employee X. Link... Thanks! Kathy Of the 21 people I sent it to, 5 of them didn't get the part about clicking on your name and/or sending corrections to X. They came back with, "I don't see my number" or gave me the correction or asked how to get the data changed. I should say, 5 so far. Probably, half of them haven't even taken the time to look yet. Sigh.

We had a Board Of Directors meeting on Sunday. I very carefully took notes of my action items and have been working my way through the list. Just checking up on your to-do list. I hope I'm done with what I need to do because my notes are quite incomplete now. Yummy! About a third of the page has been ingested or chewed down to small pieces of pulp. Right after taking this picture, I rescued the notes and zipped them up in my purse for safekeeping. (Had to get the pic, right?)

Deja Demon: The Days and Nights of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner My review rating: 3 of 5 stars I picked this up at the library somewhat by whim. I like the series but I'm not in love with it so I don't breathlessly wait for the next book to come out. Deja Demon finds Kate facing the return of two demons from her past who are out for revenge. She also has her daughter jonesing to become a Demon Hunter, her first husband returned from the grave and wanting his family back and, because her new life is in suburbia, she has to put together the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Oh, and she's still trying to keep her Hunter life a secret from her current husband who's still in the midst of his campaign for political office. This was good. I did get a bit frustrated that Kate didn't seem to put the clues together fast enough. However, there were some twists that I didn't foresee. View all my reviews.

The DBacks couldn't even hold it together to make the playoffs. The Cubs are horrible. They lost the first two games of the series AT HOME! I guess I'll have plenty of time for NASCAR and football very, very soon.

I took Amy's advice and went to Petsmart and bought George a toy that, in theory, should keep her entertained when I'm not around. The feather moves around in a random pattern and can be set to go all the time or in 15 minute increments up to two hours. We brought it home last night and she did play for it for a while. But, then she got bored and ignored it. I was hoping I could set it to start at a certain time like 3 in the afternoon. Then, she would be tired by the time I got home and not so into attacking me. However, you're apparently not allowed to leave your cat unattended with these toys. It says it on the label. If they won't play with you watching, you're supposed to go stand behind a corner to be out of eyesight and still keep an eye out. You've got to be kidding me! What person sued the cat toy company that they have to put that warning on there? Like you don't leave your cat home alone all day when he or she could eat anything in the house? It d...

Bitter, table for one! I had our Biggest Loser side bet well in hand. As of Sunday morning, I'd lost 5 pounds since our last weigh in and I was ahead of everyone else. Just to be on the safe side, I was really good all week. I only drank one night and I rode that stupid bike twice. Twice! So, what happened? I woke up Thursday morning up 1.2 pounds since Sunday. How many pounds did I lose the side bet by? 1 stupid gained for no reason pound! That just goes to show you. Exercise and alcohol abstention gains you absolutely nothing in your path to trying to be healthy. I've learned that lesson, believe you me! There was some good out of the whole contest. Sugar Daddy lost 30 pounds, I lost 21.5 and Dave lost 17.5. T was our slacker team member. I'm not sure he lost anything at all. He blames throwing his back out several times but I'm not sure he modified his diet all that much to compensate for lack of exercising.

How would you interpret this statement from a grown man? "I was drunk only once in my life before I met you." A. You've driven me to heavy drinking. B. I used to live in a cave. C. I feel free to just be myself now. D. ?

We ran into the team that's leading Biggest Loser today at lunch. They weighed in today because one of them is going out of town tomorrow when the official weigh in is happening. I think they should forfeit but I guess that's not in the spirit of the contest. Since they were done with the contest, they were celebrating and eating lots of Mexican food. I don't blame them for that. Barring someone cutting off a limb before tomorrow, they have the field smoked and they'll each be pocketing $500. What I do blame them for is that one of them was carrying out a to-go carton with sopapillas and she waved the open container in front of me. Oh, they smelled fantastic! My mouth is still watering 8 hours later. Of course, I couldn't have one because I need to watch it until tomorrow. That bites. Plus, I rode my bike again tonight and that double bites.