Chicago Sheri: 12/01/2003

Website Weds

Best Buy receipt checkers
Neat online game
Offensive baby clothes
Smoke kills

Saw the dogs today.
Sugar (the sweet old coon hound), Tanner (the little fat sausage), and D-O-G got adopted!! I knew D-O-G would get snatched up but I was super happy for Sugar, and the fat little guy.

All the dogs had stockings hung on their kennels filled with dog treats. :)
While we were still in the front room signing in, one dog kept making noises and sounded like a monkey. Kept making me laugh. Ooooh-Ooooh-Ooooh-Ooooh-Ooooh! I went back to see who the monkey was, and it was Zoe. So I took her out first. Kind of a Snuffleupagus looking dog. More fuzzy than furry. She was happy outside, no more monkey noises.

Next I took out Lucky. Lucky is the dog that shit in his kennel last time, that I was cleaning up. He is described on their website as "a very affectionate guy". Translation...likes to hump a lot. When I first went to take him out he was fine. We walked over to the grass and he peed. Then just went hump crazy! He is a boxy lab and was trying to knock me over, and his claws kept digging into me. So I sat down, grabbed his collar in a tight fist pulling him down so he couldnt jump. Maybe he just needs attention, so instead of getting mad/grossed out. I just held him down while I petted him. I rubbed his face, and scratched him, but just wouldnt let him get on his feet. I mean look at his picture!!! You can see it in his eyes!! I imagine him talking in a French accent like Pepe Le Pew. "Ah, my little darling, it is love at first sight, is it not, no?" After that he was a bit better when it was time to take him back.

Next I took out 2 rat terrier puppies. They were so active I could only get a few shots of the white one. They were really funny. We went over to the building next door. They started barking and chasing leaves. Then they saw their reflection in the window of the building and both stood on their hind legs and barked at their reflections. Funny little guys. I sat down with them. They were so sweet, kissy and cuddly. The white one started jumping up and climbing me. Jumped up on my shoulder like a parrot. I was holding my arm out to give him more to hold onto, so then he started walking out on my arm, balanced his little self and just sat down. (I tried to get a pic of him sitting on my arm, but couldnt hold the camera far enough away to get it...the second shot of him, he is on my arm smirking)

Brad was coming outside with Nala and came over. He got to see the dog sitting on my arm as I held it out. Then he jumped off to go over and tell Nala who is boss since his little friend was scared of Nala. He was shaking and wanted me to hold him. Little spit fire that other one!

Rusty was the last that needed to go out. He's a bit older. When I sat down to play with him, he looked so surprised. "For me!!" And was so thrilled, backing up into me showing me what spots to scratch.

After I put Rusty back, I went to look for Brad, He was in a kennel sitting down with 3 puppies jumping all over him. At the end of the day we all need a puppy moment. I think back to the first Daily Show after 9/11, and the "moment of zen" was a puppy.

After that we ran some errands, rented Charlies Angels (fun movie), and ate steaks.

Doing better sick-wise, but still wake up coughing.
Last night we stayed up until 4am.
I took a bath at 2am, and then started watching the John Waters movie my sister gave me.
Woke up and 7, ordered prescription refills, then back to bed, then got up at 9:30 or 10ish.
We watched the original version of The Italian Job, and picked on cheese and strawberry cake, then time for an afternoon nap from 3 to 5.
We were crazy hungry when we woke up and went out to a Chinese buffet, one of the only places open. Came back home and drank coffee and played the Trivial Pursuit game I got for about 3 hours while we watched World Idol and then the Animal House DVD Brad got for Christmas as background.
I am loving this time off at home with no obligations.

We slept in until noon today. Felt great!
Drove out to pick up some grass-fed beef for us to try from Wallace Farms. It's frozen, so we will eat it tomorrow.
Had a snack at White Castle for lunch, and I made spinach pies w/feta cheese for dinner, and a strawberry cake. We have Terminator III to watch tonight while we eat our cake.

We decided to open gifts tonight.
Brad gave me his gift first. He told me to get naked, put one of his robes on me, and I put on my slippers and then led me to the basement.
He had brought a heater down there so it was nice and cozy. Incense burning, a bunch of candles all over, a big glass of fresh brewed ice tea for me, this thing where water trickles over a rock formation, and on the CD player a thunderstorm CD for ambiance.
He had cleaned off his work bench, laid down cushions from our patio chairs over it, and a white draping sheet over that. He had a blanket and towels, to finish off my very own massage table with him as my masseuse! I was so thrilled that he put that all together for me, I got all weepy, it was just so romantic and sweet.

He helped me up the step ladder on the side of the table and pulled the blanket up over my legs. Warmed up some massage oil in his hands and gave me a fabulous massage. It was so special, and loving. He would stop every now and then and bring me the tea to sip on. When he was done I laid there for a bit, slowly sitting up, and gushing more about it and enjoying the candles.

After we both cleaned up and got in pj's, we went to open gifts. We got a lot of really cool stuff. I got a beautiful bracelet from my nephews and neice. I'm wearing it now. Red glass hearts. I got the latest Trivial Pursuit game, pj's with super soft fuzzy socks, candles, a zen garden for my desk at work, a pooping santa ( I love pooping toys...last year I got a pooping moose that pooped cola candy), a label maker, christmas socks, Harley Davidson t-shirt, wall calendar, a 22 piece rubbermaid set, and John Water's - Multiple Maniacs.

Now for some cake and movies!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Website Weds

I like this kid
The Cheese Band - I Like Cheese
Kozo
Foamys Thoughts

I have the rest of the week off from work.
One of the days as a comp day since I worked most of Sunday.
I brought my camera to work today to take a pic of the huge wreath and christmas tree they have.
After I took a shot of the wreath a security guard told me I couldn't take pictures inside the building, "Of the wreath?", I asked. No pictures. Ok. So of course that just made me want to take more pictures. And I still got the shot of the tree too.
Had lunch with Brent. Took pictures of him, his Aunt Loretta doesnt like the pics he has of himself and said he looked sick. The color, angle and lighting were just bad I think. This is the Brent I know in the shots I took, just so adorable with his giddy smile!
Also took a shot of the bridge I walk across going to Union Station and one in the train while it was empty.
It's snowing right now!

Note from me

After work, walking to Union Station I saw something happening. I'm really nosey. One guy was rolling around the ground and another guy was mad at him telling him to get up. I couldnt figure out if the guy was "special" (retarded) or drunk. It was only 5pm on a Friday. So I walked past them, down a ways, so I could still watch without being too obvious. Another guy came up, and at one point the rolling around guy starting thrashing around and the 2 guys were trying to hold him down and make phone calls. A woman came up to me and said "Holiday party." "Wow, that drunk, and this early?". The worst I had ever seen was a woman that fell into the hosts christmas tree, she went to rehab right after that. The guy did it to himself, but I felt bad for him, ruining his work record and any respect he had at the place like that. He got up and took off running, the guys he worked with decided to let him go and were tired of dealing with him. They worked with him and he kept knocking them over and stuff. I think the woman was nosey like me, so we both lied to each other and said we were waiting on our husbands to explain why were standing around being nosey.

Brad was so sweet to me when I got home, he bought Vicks vapo rub to baby me with, and some hand warmer stuff. He took me out to eat Indian food, total comfort food. Eating spicy Indian food just makes me feel good inside and out. Healthy, perked up, euphoric a bit. Then we went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for him to make me some soup today with. Last night when I was in bed, he smeared a bunch of the Vicks on me, and then pulled the covers over my head and told me to stay in my little tent for awhile and breath it in. That's what his grandmother had him do when she took care of him. It was good...I love Vicks. And I love being babied!

But of course at 2:30 my on-call pager went off, for something lame, and then again at 3:30 at which point I got up and logged into work, and it took me an hour to work it all out. I was freezing sitting in the office in my t-shirt. Went back to bed and woke Brad up with my cold hands and feet and he helped warm me back up so I could go to sleep. I need to put my winter comforter and blanket on the bed this weekend.

Spent a short time with the dogs this morning since I wasn't feeling well and also because I had a Dr. appt to go to at 11am. Marco got adopted!!! YAY!!! D-O-G is on hold, so might get adopted today. The volunteers at the shelter were happy to see us, and missed us last weekend. That was nice to hear. They are used to seeing us around now and can count on us for walking the dogs. They had just cleaned out the dogs cages when I got there, and the dogs were busy eating breakfast and not interested in walking. Nala was the first one to finish his food and very eager for attention. So I took him out. He has lots of energy, like to hop around like a bunny, we played in the snow, he liked kicking it around. When I brought him back in, his neighbor Lucky, was pooping diarrhea all over his just cleaned kennel. So I went to go get stuff to clean it up with so he didn't get it all over himself. It was really messy, I got the bulk up, and then had to mop and wipe up the rest. He kept jumping up on me wrapping his paws around my arms trying to pull me down, so I had to put him over on the other side so I could clean. I got a little warm from the cleaning, and the sinus pressure in my head, it made me a little light headed. So after I finished and went and sat in the cage with Sugar. She had just finished her breakfast and was ready for a nap. So I sat down and took off my coat and scarf to cool down and hang out with her. She looks great, she is all trimmed up, and happy now. She put her head in my lap. I pet her head and ears while I rested my head back on the wall and cooled down for a bit. It was about time for me to go to my Dr. appt but I still wanted to just see D-O-G for a bit, so I went in her kennel just for a few hugs and kisses. On my way out Brad was bringing a dog named Tanner back in from his walk. Tanner is a fat little sausage. Not just fat...but super fat, like he could die from it fat. Brad said he heard that they had a picture of Tanner from a year ago looking great and thin, and someone adopted him, and in one year he got this deathly fat, and then the people that did that to him brought him back. That pissed me off so much. Thats abuse. The dog was so fat, his little body and little heart really cant take that. I'm just so mad someone could do that to him, and let it go so far, like that.

Then off to my Dr. appt. Turns out I am infected. Its a bacterial infection in my ears, nose and throat. He wrote out a script for antibiotics, and said if Im not just about better in a week to come back in for another checkup. He also told me to take Sudafed during the day for the congestion and to ease the pressure in my head, and take Nyquil at night, so I can sleep better and it will help with the coughing. So I went to the grocery store and got everything he told me to. Then went to the video store. Got Tomb Raider for Brad & I to watch together, Sinbad (the cartoon movie), and 2 Weeks Notice (a chick flick). Gonna get in my Pj's, layer them on, and claim the downstairs sofa and watch movies.

Navin gave me my Christmas gift.
A gift certificate for a 1 hour table massage at a place around the corner from us at work! TOOOoooo much!!
I just hope my gift gets shipped in time to him.....

Still coughing up pus. I have my camera today, I will try to take a picture of one...I'm sure you are dying to see it! But I have a Dr appt tomorrow after I see the dogs. And then bed the rest of the weekend. And lots of babying from Brad.

I had lunch with Richard, Shishie, her brother, and Navin. Elephant and Castle for some fish & chips.
Shishie gets very upset if any condiments are on her plate, she said its all her brothers fault. They don't look anything alike. I took pics and will post them later tonight from home. Richard video taped some of it too, since I hadn't been in one of his video diaries before. Of course he held the camera under my face so I looked really gross. I told him to not make me look fat so for fun he might stretch some of it out to like that Paul Abdul video Promise Of A New Day.
Richard wouldnt touch my thyroid scar, he was all grossed out and cringed. I kept trying to make him. It was funny, Shishie and her brother touched it.
I hadn't seen Richard since May, during his Miss New Town pageant, and Shishie since last November. So I got to get all kissy and huggy with both of them. Oh yeah!! She gave me a t-shirt that says someting very foul in Chinese. I think I should wear it in Chinatown. Instead of being offended they would probably just laugh at me thinking I am too stupid to know what the shirt really says. I heard about people doing that with those Chinese symbol tattoos. Wanting one that said strength or something like that, and really getting one that says something raunchy, and not knowing till some Chinese versed person told them. HAHA!! Yay for the Chinese!!

I love talking with Richard and Shishie. It's funny watching the other tables look our way and listen in while we act retarded and take pictures of each other.

I am still ill. I think its become an infection, so I have a Dr. appt on Saturday to get antibiotics to kill the infection, and in the mean time I went out and bought a bottle of Zicam nasal spray that a friend of mine recommended.

Hard time getting out of bed in the mornings, since I cough and wake myself up. I sleep with Fisherman's Friends in my mouth. That sounds so vulgar doesn't it? But they are super strong and really do help.

Been busy at work.

Bumped into Chris the other day at lunch. He is another Naperville guy Brad and I know. He just happened to be in the area doing some consulting work that day. It had been awhile since I got a chance to talk and catch up with him.

Having lunch tomorrow with Shishie (a friend from NY), her brother (a local comedian), and Richard (a mutal friend and sometimes drag queen friend of ours) is gonna try and make it out too. Last time I saw her was when she was in town last year for the marathon.

Today I had an appointment with my waxanatrix. I brought her a christmas card with a little note in it, and a holiday bonus. As usual she talked about Catholics and Jews, and how if Jews only read the Isaiah section in the bible they would become Catholics too. I don't argue the point with someone ripping my pubic hairs out.....

Website Weds

Snow sculpting
Japan 2003 yo-yo championships
Fuse of Flashdance with MC Hammer
Ugly Christmas lights
The donuts hate you
Oh Aicha

I'm tired, getting over my snotty cold.
Brad and I just got back from visiting family over the weekend.
Saw Bette Midler and her great cleavage, but boring show.
I had a good time, especially with the kids.
I love watching Brad with them and how they look up to him.
They are really great kids.
It was a short visit, but I felt I got in some quality time with my mom and sister.
Brad is talking about being a bone marrow transplant volunteer, he is such a great guy, I'm so proud of him.
Feeling good.
Happy.

Website Weds

Bought the wrong bananas
Stomping Laibach kittens
Naughty hedgehogs
Turtle TV
Snowglobe
Kid Show (long but really worth it)

Hennah, Marge, Spirit, Cleo, Lucy and Lady all got adopted this week!
Turns out Marco likes Sugar. Sugar is quiet, sweet girl that wont compete with him. So he can dig her. I heard they both got to hang out up by the front desk most of the week.
Marco was curled up asleep in his little bed, when I got there. Another volunteer, said that Marco was his favorite, and took him out for a walk. People love Marco. Of course I still stopped in with him to say hi.

I took Sugar out first. She has trimmed up even more from just last week. She is such a mama. There is a group of 5 puppies across the kennel from her and she has been just dying to touch them and mama them. It's been driving her crazy. When I took her out one of the puppies was out with another volunteer so I brought her over. The puppy jumped on her face and she was just thrilled. She smelled the puppy from top to bottom and got all excited like she wanted to play too. She wants to mama those pups so bad. She is such a sweetheart!

There is a new dog I was imediately drawn to, I even told Brad (he was studying today) that he has got to come see this dog sometime this week. Stupid name D-O-G is the name (pronounced Dee-Oh-Gee)...yes someone just thinks they are so clever....whatever! Doberman mix, size of a small pony. Looks to be part Great Dane, he has a super deep deep chest. You cant tell how huge he is in these pictures. Just a big teddy bear lap dog! Soon as I sat on the curb he was so happy and covered me in kisses had his "happy ears" on. Then sat with his back to me and scooched as far back into me as he could...looking over his shoulder at me giving me the "Go ahead....you know you want to...pet me...pet me...pet me!!!" look. I hugged him and buried my face in his neck. I love the smell of dog.

I miss the energy of excitement everytime I come home and my dog looking for just the perfect ball for each situation.