tales from the mucinex dm

this stuff really works.

for 18 bucks a bottle, i guess it had better. snot quotas for march have been met. on february 28.

yes, i have been told i am an overachiever. i even prove it in sickness.

i hope your life is great. not only are my sinuses and throat deeply unhappy, i am suffering from a case of the fuckits. the outlook is grim, but i expect a full recovery on the weekend after i have a beer or two.

next week: a road trip to ass, montana. i am sure i will have delicious details to share with you. it'll be me, a pack of camels and justin timberlake for a 5 hour drive. i'll be bringin' sexyback!

xoxo (really i'm sick of it all)

edit **i am tempted to delete this entire post, but have not in the interest of full disclosure. i sure as hell don't want you thinking my entire life is roses and sunshine. nope...i am just like you.**

weekend update...hosted by jess

soooo... i made it through the weekend. my daughter turned 6! yay! we had like, 18 5-and 6-year-old girls in my 900 sq. foot house. it freakin' rocked!

party supplies (plates, treat sacks, crafty project,) = $23
barbie 12 dancing princesses birthday cake = $20
my daughter feeling like a princess alllll weekend = priceless!
everyone finally leaving after 1.5 hours = EXTRA priceless bonus!

good friends to help me clean up = i am truly blessed. thanks to you both. you know who you are. and thank you thank you thank you to my wonderful man. he put up with all of this in spite of having a horrible cold. (i may or may not have slipped him a mickey. i'll never tell!)

i got her a new bike. she was stoked. my son almost ruined the surprise by loudly exclaiming, "OHHHHHHHHHHH!" as i walked in. her dad sent her some toys that require no less than ten double AA batteries. doesn't he KNOW that batteries aren't included!! /shakes fist!! oh well, he DID send great gifts...and i DO appreciate that.

**all of the links below will open in a new window when you click them**

tonight i have been watching the oscars. i thought about making this a separate post, but it's easier to put it all in one. what this really means is i am lazy. get over it. first of all, why did no one mention to me that these are not the oscars any more, but the algores? this puffy guy just won't go away. i am soooo over him and his ridiculously-named wife. we all have our own beliefs about global warming... but that doesn't make want to like this guy. i just cannot do it. just for the record, i abhor most, if not all, politicians. except the dead ones. may they R.I.P.

ellen de generes: simply fabulous. this should be a permanent gig for her as she is a natural

cameron diaz: loooks soo damn old

gwyneth paltrow: i hate this stuffy bitch. she was all trying to talk with a british accent and she hates america. plus her dress sucked. not the cut, but the color was yuk

tom cruise: also looked old. where the hell was his snaggle-toothed wife??

j.lo and her husband: ok...this guy always just looks weird. he is well-dressed, but does anyone else think he looks like skeletor?

jack nicholson: ok, so we KNOW this guy is a bad ass. why did he have to go and shave his head? doesn't he know that, thanks to britney, this look is NOT so in??

the first three point five hours: laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame. NO disrespect to the awards given out for best documentary, best costumes, best makeup or best cinematography and all of the REST of the crap they hand out, BUT NO ONE CARES. we want to see what everyone is wearing and want to know who wins best actor/actress, best movie and best director. period. get on with it. the best parts of these hours included the creative dancers as they portrayed several of the movies which were nominated and the bits with ellen.

reese witherspoon: meow. great dress! love it!!

penelope cruz: sorry if you are a fan. i am sooo NOT. first she dumped top gun, then she dumped one of the hottest men ever: matthew mcconaughey. hello? is this bitch loco??

celine dion: seriously needs a sandwich. anything. she. needs. some. food. and let's get real. i am probably just jealous.

and because the saint is one of my most favorite movies: elisabeth shue. i know it's off-topic, but i loved the saint. loved it!!

i heart will smith and jada pinkett smith. what a cute family!

martin scorsese calls the departed "his only movie with a plot." LMAO

ok, ok, ok! no more star trash for a long, long time! mwah, love y'all...thanks for reading.

xoxo
~jess....out...

Reaching a sad realization

AFter reading the last few posts by my good, good buddies, I (like the PC) am reaching a sad realization that I'm not nearly as cool as those two bitches!
Either that, or my life is 500 times more boring. I'm not quite sure yet but my guess is it's a combination of the two. But mostly the first. Granted, I have my funny moments but they are few and far between compared to Jess and Bridge. And, my moments usually include some sort of self-inflicted pain (e.g., answering my phone while drunken bicycle riding). I guess I'll get over it. I really don't have a choice, now do I.
Looking back, one of my best moments was coming up with my new rating scale for men. T and I still use it and I am trying to convince others to do the same but most people just look at me like I'm a complete and utter idiot. I have no choice but to concede their point.
If I could have one wish for my upcoming birthday, it would be to be funnier than both Jess and Bridge combined. I may be asking for too much from the birthday fairy here but that hobag owes me for all the years of birthday wishes and birthday dreams that have gone unanswered and unfulfilled. So this seems to be my year. J and B, watch out!

www.thinkgeek.com

Have you ever seen something that you just wanted to buy? You realize you have no place to actually put it. It's not something you would even really want to use in the function that it was made for.

Yeah, I found my something.

R2D2 baby!

R2D2... as a trash can? I really LOVE Star Wars, and this is just funny. You too can purchase this amazing garbage can. The website states, "Step on R2's center "foot" and his dome swings wide to collect your expired TPS reports and leftover wookie dung."

Alright, if you not laughing out loud now... you are a zombie, or at least a non Office Space or Star Wars fan. I found this amazing product on one of my favorite websites.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/

I love this site. If I could own every shirt from them I would be in geek heaven. I especially LOVE this hoodie. I think I am going to ask for it for my bday that is coming up soon.

This is a great little quote that the website says about the hoodie... "For the non-Latin-inclined, the motto translates to "Stop Talking Now."


I really need this shirt. If you do NOT know what it means... even better. /wink

I really need all their shirts. I do have a few items from them. A WTF t-shirt, and some panties. Yeah, some PANTIES. I AM A GEEK AFTER ALL!

Go check them out if you haven't already been to their site.

Like this movie is totally radical dude!

You HAVE to go see the movie

MUSIC and LYRICS

If you lived in the 80's you MUST see at least the beginning of this movie. I laughed so hard I cried. Hugh Grant singing a pop song from the 80's was great. Seeing him in "their" music video was perfect. You remember the MTV videos from the 80's?

Yeah...

I do not need to say more. Watch for yourself.

Pop goes my heart too Hugh!

the tooth fairy fuggs it up... AGAIN?!

yeah. can you even believe it's possible?

well it IS, i assure you.

so...rewind to this morning. well... let's go all the way back to last night for full effect. the kids go to bed. we carefully tuck the tooth under my daughter's pillow.i nicely remind them to fall asleep soon...it's getting late, etc. blah blah blah - several times. finally i resort to yelling and death threats. kidding!!

this is the second tooth she has lost and this is definitely a big deal for her. so, i think to myself, "jess...do NOT forget about the tooth fairy."

so i am talking to al (who i should add i totally blame for this) and kinda watching lost at the same time. somewhere here i popped a tylenol pm (thanks bridge for getting me addicted to nighttime sleep aids). so...then criminal minds comes on...and i wrap up my conversation with al and sack out for the night.

fast forward about 8 hours. i am in the bathroom brushing my teeth and my baby comes in. holding her tooth.

"mommy? the tooth fairy forgot to come!!!"

yeah. i suck ten miles of @$$.

in my defense i think i had a rather good comeback. i told her she had stayed up too late and the toothfairy had stopped by when she was awake and didn't have time to get back around to her before the sun came up.

in retrospect... i have probably ruined my child by lying to her.

needless to say, the tooth fairy visited tonight. and she paid interest for her late payment.

The "other" V word...

Yes, it was Valentines Day. A word I maintain is a swear word. I love a lot of family and friends, but having to go buy stuff on a certain day of the year is annoying. Expensive too. Jess and Al... consider this post a Valentine Card. /wink

Alone? Kinda. I did have my two kids with me almost all day. Then I had Loralee and Karen show up for a fun filled night of games. More on this at the end of the post.

Where was my husband?

Australia.

I did get to web cam with him today finally. The kids LOVED that. He is all nice and tan. Lucky guy. I am glad I made him go. He really needed to go. He doesn't realize how important he is to me. It has been easier than I would have thought having him far away, but I really do miss him. I have been lucky that my kids have behaved. It really is a new development. My husband does a lot of stuff for me. Changes lightbulbs, takes out the trash, wakes up and tries to stay awake with me when I have a terrible nightmare. You get the picture. With all we have been through I really do still love him.

In case he ever reads this blog... I LOVE YOU.

K, now to the anoying part of my day.

1. I almost got hit by a HUGE truck today. A semi in fact. It ran a red light, and it ran it fast. Luckily I was somewhat awake and hit the brakes hard. I am also lucky I didn't get rear ended. The car behind me was also awake.
2. I had TWO valentine parties to go to for my kids. Was late to the first one, and was late to the second one too. Once again, I was lucky I made it at all.
3. My son called me from school. He was sick. Poor guy. Poor me. Poor my daughter. I had to leave her during her Valentine party at preschool to go pick her brother up.
4. Both of my kids were invited to bday parties on Saturday. Both parties are at the same time. Which one do I take them to?

It really was just that type of day.

Now this evening I had a very good laugh. Did you know that "but I am still a virgin" could be used as an excuse for almost anything? I didn't. I am going to start using it. I might have to use, "but I still wish I was a virgin," as my excuse. Who knows. I'll see if it works. I played Rumikube tonight, then we read tarot cards. That was FUN. I really need to get more into that.

Well off to bed I go. I wish a Happy V Day to all of you out there. Thank you to all my friends, I love you all!

love sees no color

well. i don't know how to make the timer work on my digital camera so ~ until i figure that little tidbit out, you are stuck of pictures that i can take of myself. the art comes in when i digitally alter them. perhaps if i keep telling myself that, then it will be true?

it's the big day of love tomorrow. i am not planning on getting my man anything. i just want to go on a date with him. i have really been craving crab legs lately so we are going out for CRAB. mmmm...

isn't time spent together...enjoying each other's company... better than a gift?

well maybe not. LOL. i hope he gets me something good. HA HA HA!!!

here's my pic. these are paving a verrry cool SPC path to somewhere. when i get there, i will let you know. hopefully i will figure out that @$%!ing timer thing very soon, too.


i heart you all.
xoxo

A bicycler's story (kindof)

I got some news today about a girl I went to undergrad with that kindof makes me nervous. She got hit by a car this weekend while out riding her bike. If you'll be kind enough to think back a few months, you might remember that yours truly has shared this experience.

This is a photo of my leg a few hours after being hit by a car. I, however, was lucky enough to have been hit by someone who had been completely stopped and therefore, only slid across 3 1/2 lanes of road.

My friend was not so lucky. Granted, she survived and is conscious but she's pretty torn up. She had to have her spleen removed, has a collapsed lung, a broken pelvis, broken ribs and had surgery on her elbow.

I know she's a responsible girl and was wearing her helmet but I can't help but think how much worse things would be if she wasn't. I guess if I was the prayin' type I'd include her but I'll just keep her in my thoughts and go for a visit later this week.

I also can't help thinking that it's only a matter of time until the same sort of thing happens to me. In fact, I was telling T the other day that I couldn't wait to start riding my bike to work again.

While this nervous realization doesn't change my mind one iota, it will make a very cautious road biker more so. I guess that's never a bad thing.

I do want to take this moment, though, to remind everyone to PLEASE pay attention and share the road. I know that you all do and are very observant people but there's no harm in a little reminder now, is there?

the importance of doing things in the right order

rant warning... I am going to RANT.

first, a little background. i would include links to the soon-to-be mentioned stories, but newspaper websites, recognizing that newsprint is DYING now charge to read from the archives, so it would be pointless. i will fill you in as best as i can with my ethical journalism background portraying both sides.

here's the gist: college students at Utah State really wish they had more options when it comes to affordable child care for their children so they can go to school.

translation: someone else should pay for it.

my rant: wait...before i get to that, i feel i should preface my rant with some background. some of you may not know my personal history and i don't want to leave you going, "HUH?" so i will do my best to fill in the gaps.

today, in our local newspaper (AKA the ward relief society newsletter) there was a story about how there is now free daycare provided one night a week so parents can "study" and assistance for low-income students to pay for off-campus daycare.

i am glad there is assistance available for those people out there who really need it. but people make choices, ADULT choices to boot...and then they want a hand out...they want someone else to pay for this, that and the other. the sense of entitlement some people have makes me nauseous.

now, onto my rant. when i was 19, i quit college (was too busy partying), got married at 20 and had my son when i was 22 and my daughter when i was 24. to make a long story short, when my marriage showed signs of failure, i knew i had to go back to school to ensure my long-term financial stability. i knew it wouldn't be easy, but i wanted to go back. i knew having my degree would be critical to my future success.

i also was working full-time. i had a job that paid very well for this area. this job had great health insurance and also offered tuition reimbursement. i didn't qualify for ANY government assistance at ALL and initially i wasn't getting any child support. about 50-60% of my weekly income went directly to my day care provider. i went to the state offices and asked if i could apply for day care assistance for JUST the hours i was to be in class. i was told no.

i checked into federal programs for single moms, pell grants, etc. but i made "too much money," by literally, $299 a year. so, i took out student loans. these loans paid for my day care, my books and for the fees and extra classes my tuition reimbursement didn't. and i am paying them back today. every cent. i didn't have options. i didn't have a night where i could go dump my kids off and "study." i bet these people who do this go eat dinner and take in a movie. i studied after work until 3 a.m. I wrote papers right here on this computer while my kids played next to me on the floor. i can't believe i got A's in my classes. i graduated right before my 29th birthday. i was on what i called the 12-year plan. it made my much younger classmates laugh.

the bottom line is this: i got married. i had kids. i made sure i had a job WITH health insurance. i CHOSE to go to school. and i had to pay the price for that choice. why is it that people think they should get married, pump out some kids without having any way to pay for them and then expect society to dole out cash so they can finish up their degree?

i expect i might make some moms out there angry.. whatever. i totally think women should be educated if they choose to be. but don't get pregnant by CHOICE, then cry because your husband works at borders making 8 bucks an hour and you are both going to school and you can't afford to pay your bills. when did that become MY problem?? (no offense to borders employees. it's a great store.) so you'll accept the state subsidized handout, you'll live on medicaid for health insurance (that i subsidize with my taxes), and you'll get Pell grants that you don't have to pay back all to get a degree, then you'll stay home while your husband goes to work.

nothing wrong with staying at home. i wish i could. maybe that is where my bitterness comes in. i worked hard and paid my own way for my degree. WITH kids.

with that all said, i think someone (mom or dad, it doesn't really matter) SHOULD stay home with the kids. kids need that. families need it. it's better for everyone. but i made choices and for now, it isn't in my cards.

i cannot stress enough how important it is to do things in the right order.

thanks for letting me blow off some steam. i will accept donations to pay off my student loan, too. HA HA HA. and i am really not bitter. i am happy. i love my life. i love my $18k piece of paper that says i did it. i love my kids.

and i love you for listening.

xoxo

I'm no Bridge...

Ok, so after driving through Colorado City, AZ (home of the elusive Mr. Jeffers and his crazy polygamist society) I'm really pissed that they chose such an amazingly gorgeous place to settle. Seriously, if not for those bastards, I'd buy retirement land there.

I often wonder if good ole' Brigham Young (the Mormon 'prophet' who lead his crew to Salt Lake for those of you who are unfamiliar) knew how nice the southern parts of UT were because if he did, why in the eff did he choose a great big salty lake to settle down in?

Maybe I'm just extremely partial to the browns, faded greens, pinks, yellows and reds found in the southwest. It is my adopted home, you know.

I drove home through Zion National Park and I'm kindof mad at myself for not taking more time there. It just means that I have to go back (there you go T) to camp and hike. I think part of the problem is that I'm a wanna-be geologist and since I like to pretend that I know a thing or two (I hope none of my previous Physical Geology students EVER find and read this particular post cuz I'll be in deep shit...) all of the geology in Zion and through the Four Corners area almost brings me to tears. Seriously, I found myself almost crying on my drive out to St. George. The landscape was heart achingly beautiful and left me speechless. A few examples are below.













On the left is a photo of some old ass sandstone (likely sand dunes) and on the left is the same except multi-colored (with my car in the right hand corner...)

I LOVE this picture. You can definitely see the different phases of dune building and evidence of erosional forces in the interim.













More to come, I think. Either way, I had a GREAT time and look forward to more trips.

On a totally different note. I've kindof decided to join the ranks of internet 'dating' personnel. Ok, only kindof. My 'profile' is mostly bullshit but I wanted to see what kind of guys are "looking for love" (/puke, gag) in the ABQ area. I didn't include a picture and think that my title "Beer drinker seeks same" has grabbed the attention of some guys because a few sent emails or winks saying that they'd "read my entire profile" and were "interested" or "intrigued" and etc. I tend to think it's just because I was talking about beer (and not shit beer, mind you but the good microbrew stuff- more so if it's organic!). T thinks I should talk to them but I'm still finding it absolutely hilarious.
What do you all think? I guess there's always the chance to get some free food and beer out of it, right?

ever been tagged before?

yeah, well, good for you! this is a first for me, so here goes. i was tagged by mi amiga Karen, a lovely lady whom i have only had the pleasure of meeting once, but i love her. i am supposed to write six weird things about me. i hope i can do it.

1. i absolutely hate to clean. now, i loooove having a clean house, a clean car, clean folded laundry, a clean bathroom, ETC. but the cleaning part sucks, like ten miles of butt. i guess i should clarify by saying that once i get started...i am fine. but starting? shizzle my nizzle i think i would rather pull out my own toenails. leading me to number 2...

2. i am addicted to pedicures. if i could afford it, i would get one every week. turns out they can be kind of expensive and so i limit myself to less than one a month. i splurge in the summer...every 3 weeks. i am obsessed with nice cuticles on my toenails and i can't stand to have any dry, hard or rough patches anywhere on my feet. i shave the hairs on my big toe b/c even tho i am NOT a hairy person at all, i have hairy big toes. probably b/c i shave them. what a vicious, vicious cycle. oh well, i can't stop now. i can't stand to leave my toenails unpainted, either. they always have to look nice. this leads me to the next topic...

3. i am a shoe freak. now, in the years past, i have been able to control myself with this b/c of the kids. i just don't have the money to blow on shoes. but i am always shopping for them, always looking, always surfing sites like zappos, ebay or wherever to look for SHOES. when my son was a tiny baby..he had a pair of size one nikes! hell yeah! he also had some little lugz boots (so did my daughter) and because his feet were sooo fat, i found baby Vans. yeeeeeeeeah. Vans! he has been wearing them ever since he was 9 months old. not the same pair, mind you, but VANS. Jenna has some phat little black n pink Vans right now. Jake is into the Etnies... I can't get enough shoes. Love them, love them, love them.

4. Ok, this one is weird. And I don't do it anymore, but I used to make brown gravy (like from a mix) and eat it like cup a soup. I don't think ANYONE knows this... and I would only eat it when I was alone... Did anyone notice I started using capital letters halfway thru the last number? WTF? Anyway, I would whip up the brown gravy and eat it out of a mug. Don't tell anyone, ok? They might think I am weird.

5. if diet mountain dew was available intravenously, i would probably push around one of those little bags on a tall cart everywhere. i would be permanently plugged into a pepsi product 24-7. think i am kidding? i ain't.

6. i love to waste time watching tv. i am hopelessly addicted to a barrage of shows like the girls next door (I love those trashy bitches), heroes, lost, criminal minds, csi (the las vegas one), survivor, grey's anatomy, shark, ghost whisperer, close to home, desperate housewives, the apprentice, the sopranos, american idol, and the list goes on and on and ON. i also totally love the food network, E!, and HGTV. now, keep in mind that i don't sit on my @$$ and watch all that tv. but if i could, i probably would. let's not forget i am a huge nascar fan and a football fan. some might consider that stuff weird.

please, if you haven't yet, take a moment to read the february recipes on the right-hand column. although this is a shared blogaroo, i am the self-proclaimed recipe moderator. and this month's recipes really highlight some of my best literary work. for those of you who know bridge, al and me personally, you will laugh. for those of you who don't, you may still laugh. and you'll get to know us even a litte bit more...

peace out. leave comments. i love to read what you have to say. xoxo

Self Portrait Challenge... Black and White

...there are two pics here... the first is of Bridge...the second is of Jess...

This is my entry for the Self Portrait Challenge. You can get to their site by going to http://www.selfportraitchallenge.net/ . Or you can always check our sidebar.

When I think of black & white portraits I always think of graphic lines and texture. I tried to incorporate both in this one. Plus you have to have wicked lighting.

You need to really represent 5 colors of black to white.

Very Black

Kinda Black or Dark Grey

Grey

Light Grey

White

Okay, Okay... I realize these are NOT necessarily the technical terms, but I figured they would help you understand.

Then it is all about the eyes. ESPECIALLY in black & white. The eyes show all emotion, and they are the window to your soul.

If you have a soul. Some people I really wonder about.

A portrait can be shown without the eyes as the main focus, but to do it well it is hard. The eyes lock the viewer in. I rarely see a portrait I like without the eyes telling me something. It really IS possible though. I do take them all the time, it is just REALLY hard. I know this is hard to explain, but in another post I'll show examples. Doesn't mean it isn't a great picture, just not a great portrait. /shrugs...


these are my favorite glasses. i should point out that they are really my only pair of glasses, however, that doesn't make them any less fabulous!

i do have a pair of prescription sunglasses, ray bans they are. but they don't even come close to this pair.

i need new ones, says my opthamologist. pshaw.

i like these ones.

i had a terrible, horrible, very bad week

Where do I start? So many shitty things happened to me this week. So many.

1. My memory in my computer went out. Not my hard drives thank god, but my memory. My husband and Loralee's husband fixed it. I REALLY appreciated it.
2. My pressure regulator that regulates the pressure of water coming into my house went bad. I have very high pressure where I live. Fire hydrant strength actually. This caused my water heater to spew water all over my floor in my basement. The good news is that it didn't get to the sheet rock wall, or the carpet. Small miracle. Great floor drain. I got to pay to fix it. Yeah.
3. Next up was my washing machine. Motor and control panel. Luckily it was still under warranty. I spent Saturday night washing clothes in a scary laundry mat. Scary meaning bullet hole in the window scary. Flickering light. My clothes were clean though. This was fixed today. I got to pay for this too. Double yeah!
4. On to my dishwasher. The clips on the top rack broke. Just annoying. Plus I get to pay for that too.
5. Now to my phone. Stupid antenna. Who needs one anyways? Oh, I do. I keep losing signal because of it. Hear that Al? I lost my freaking antenna last night. No wonder I kept dropping.

I guess I should mention that all of this stuff is not that old. My house is only 7 years old. /sigh My washing machine only 5, and my phone 1.

Do I live in a money pit? Should I mention that was one of my favorite movies of all time? Should I just go to bed? I am scared my bed will break next.*

*worked out hard today so this doesn't happen

sparkpeople

well, happy freakin weekend to ya.

i need to take a quick moment and share a wonderful website with you. it's called SparkPeople.

i was turned on to this by a client in North Dakota, and i have been using ever since! you track all the food you eat every day and it counts your calories, fat, protein and carbs. yes, it has turned me into a person obsessed with food.

i read labels. i count calories. i measure portion sizes (yes, with measuring spoons and cups) and yes, it is a giant pain in the ass.

did i mention that sparkpeople is 100% free? i didn't even realize the site had ads until 3 days after i had been using it. they are placed in a way that you don't even seem to notice them. i LOVE THIS WEBSITE! and if you are looking to lose weight, or just to monitor what you eat, YOU SHOULD JOIN TOO!! and if you join, please, put that i referred you! my member name is triplej2676 and i think i get spark people points when friends join.

i don't really over eat, but i didn't realize how big of portions that i would eat sometimes. i didn't realize how many calories are in certain foods and how many foods are really healthy for you.

there are message boards, recipes (you can even calculate your own recipes) and more. this is a site you should check out.

i hope i lose 20 pounds. wish me luck, all.

Jesus Saves Sinners and other thoughts from SW Utah

So this weekend I drove up to visit a friend (the illustrious T) in St. George, UT.

What can I say? I have 4 days off and I'm not very good at staying home (unless of course, I'm in Albuquerque, then I rarely leave the house) so off I drove.

When I get back, I'll post about the drive and share some photos. Sorry, no polygamist complexes or families but I hauled ass through Colorado City, AZ and kept my doors locked just in case...

I did, however, get ahold of some pictures T and I took while at a crappy little county fair in Sioux Falls, SD earlier this year. Why in the eff would we pay to fly to the fair, you ask? Alice in Chains (sans Layne) was playing and we HAD to go.

This great sign at a church was happened upon totally by chance and we took pictures as quick as possible. The neighborhood was a bit on the scary side.

But it's not like we could pass up the chance of such a photogenic advertisement and obvious attempt to save our sinning selves. The biggest issue we had was that it was too dark to get a picture of either of us with the sign. /sigh

We had much better luck with the "Welcome to South Dakota" signs. T happens to love SD because of a little bike rally held yearly in a place called Sturgis. Maybe you've heard of it?

Anyway. Last night T and I went to the Fraternal Order of the Eagles bar in good ole' St. George. It was definately an experience. I got hit on by a kid. Seriously, I think this guy was 21- at most. I say this not only because he looked young but because his "lines" were unrefined and obviously not tried and tested (nowhere near the bluntness and magnitude of 'nice shoes, wanna fuck'). So, he asked me how old I was and my name.

Of course I lied about both (FYI- my new bar name is Amber). When I told him I was 25 he informed me that I was older than he (ya think!?) but that he swore I had sneaked in on a fake ID (yeah right, kid. you really think I'm dumb enough to buy that shit?). Are you freaking kidding me?

While it was a nice compliment, he was so full of shit his eyes were brown- as the saying goes.

And what's worse, he didn't even offer to buy me a beer. WTF and WTF? What kind of kid (oops, guy) expects to take a chick home from the bar if he doesn't even offer to buy a gal a drink?! SERIOUSLY?

On a good note. I was told that even though I was new meat I was definately 'hot' meat and that's why all the dudes were checking out yours truly and her very slappable ass. But only one, T's co-worker, purchased me a drink. What's that about? These guys are either extremely shy or just not down with buying a new girl a drink.

Anywho- enough of that. Today we went to the salon and I got a pedicure (which RULED!!!) and a haircut. While I was waiting for T to get her hair colored, I had mine styled. Yep. You read that correctly. I actually let this woman blow dry and put product in my hair. T took pictures, which I'll have to show at some other time cuz they're on her camera.

All in all, the trip has been great thus far and I look forward to our bar night, with picture scavenger hunt, tomorrow night. As for now, Miller Lite and 3000 Miles to Graceland are calling.

And remember, Jesus saves sinners. At least in SD...