Its the End of the World as We Know It...

Lately, I've been in on an old movie kick.  Years ago I bought this book (circa. 2000) called 1001 Best Movies Ever.  I love books like this-- lists of things-- because I like to see how many on the list I've seen and make a goal of seeing more.  At the time I bought the book, I think I'd seen like 85 of them.  I'm too lazy to get off the couch and see the actual number.  But I went through the book and highlighted the ones I'd seen, and then, as I saw new ones, I'd mark those and put the date I saw them on the page as well.  I've not watched maybe 125?  Every year or so, I get into a movie kick and I'll go through and DVR as many of those movies as I can and watch them.  I've gotten a wild hair here recently and have been watching lots of movies on the American Movie Channel.

A couple weeks ago, I watched The Alphabet Murders, starring Tony Randall, and written by Agatha Christie.  It was funny and I liked it a lot better than I thought I would.  The main character, of course, is Poirot, an answer that came in handy during trivia that same week, so now all my trivia people think I'm super smart.

Today Parker and I watched The History of the World, Part 1.  This was written by and stars Mel Brooks, and has lots of other people-- Gregory Hines, Bea Arthur, and lots of others.  I will admit that the French Revolution part of the movie kinda bored me and I wound up getting distracted and basically missed the ending of that particular segment, but the "Coming Attractions" for "Part 2" (which does not exist, Arrested Development style) were really funny.   Another admission-- it starts Madeline Kahn, whom at first I thought was the new star of ABC's Revenge.  But its not.  That's her:

Madeline Stowe-- Also, if you aren't watching Revenge, you are a flat out terrible person.  That show is awesome.  I don't even want you reading this blog.  Seriously, get off here.  NOW.  

But this is Madeline Kahn:

She's been in a bunch of stuff too, but I've been mixing those two women up for many years.  But the kicker?  Both of whom I've in all actuality been mixing up with this lady:

 

For years, I watched La Femme Nikita on USA and I loved that show.  This lady was one of the main characters and for years, when I would see the name Madeline Kahn or Madeline Stowe, I would think of her and look for her on the screen.  Up and until... today.  About 15 minutes ago.  Even when I watched The History of the World, Part 1, and I saw the name "Madeline Kahn" in the credits, I thought this person would be in there.  I looked for her.  I couldn't find her.  I decided that since this movie was older, I just didn't recognize her.  Until 15 minutes ago when I looked this up on imdb.com for my blog (you have no idea how much research goes into these blogs.).  Then I realized exactly who Madeline Kahn is, and then I looked up Madeline Stowe.  Imagine my surprise that the woman whom I've been thinking of all these years, is in fact...

Alberta Watson.  Yeah, not even Madeline.  She did, however, play Madeline in La Femme Nikita.  See how smart you get when you read my blog?  Imagine how smart you'd be if you WROTE my blog. 

Confessions of a blogger....

Readers, I have a confession.  It's probably fairly obvious to avid readers of this blog that my blogs have been a bit, er, sporadic lately.  And if you are a regular reader of this blog and you have not noticed this, you have more serious problems that the fact that reading this blog is the highlight of you day!

Anyway, those who know me well can often tell if I'm in a bad mood, or if I'm going through a tough time because I tend to zone out-- ignore the things I love, avoid my issues, and stick to myself and my couch (which is sometimes quite a mess to clean up all that stickiness).

So, here's the confession.  I've found myself going through a tough time lately and its due to one thing-- I'm in an unhealthy relationship.  I've tried to ignore this.  I've tried to make it better.  I've tried to pull away and take some time to myself.  But nothing works.  Its with this person:

These pictures above were of us in a happier time.  Back then, we spent time together, we went out and did fun things.  For example, the second picture was after I'd had dinner in Oxford and Parker had spent the day hanging out with her sweet Uncle Nick.  Back then we had a good time together.  She was sweet, she was fun, she was adorable.

But eventually, we settled into a a more boring routine, and then, right before my eyes, Parker turned into this:

 

 

A lazy bum.  She lays on the couch all day long, sometimes moving into other places such as underneath the bedside table, or behind the pink chair in the living room.  Every morning I used to ask her if, while I was at  work, she would clean up around the house a little bit, or get stuff together for dinner, or at least pick up her toys around the room.  Everyday I return home and... nothing.  She's done nothing.

All the time, I tell her "you're so pretty", and "sweetest girl" and "did you get prettier while I was gone?" and she ignores me.  She's never once told me that I was pretty or sweet or anything.  She's never thanked me for anything I do for her-- not for getting her the cute outfits that she loves so much, not for anything.  

I even bought a fancy new queen-sized bed so she'd have more room.  How did she thank me?  She started going into the guest room and sleeping on the old bed.  

Every night I try not to disturb her when I'm getting up to go to the bathroom, or turning out the light.  She sighs and turns away from me.  

Every morning I wake up, sideways, falling off the bed, while she lays stretched out across the majority of the bed, with her feet in my face.  

I give her treats all the time and sometimes, when she's feeling a bit fine-haired, she ignores them as though they are not good enough for her, even though they are the most expensive treats I can buy at Walgreens.   But when she is interested in eating them, she doesn't just eat them-- no, first I have to throw them on the ground for her and if I don't throw it close enough to her, she just looks at me.  And looks at me.  And looks at me.  Until I kick it closer.  And closer.  And closer.  When its close enough, she will grab it, and run like crazy into the other room.  If I happen to follow behind her and go into the same room, she will stop where she is, and what she is doing, and stare at me, until I leave the room at which point she will resume eating.  Several times, we've had a battle of wills over there and she will always win-- its as though she doesn't trust me to let her keep her food.  As though I'm going to steal back the jerky treat I just gave her. 

I try to snuggle with her all the time and she immediately gets up and goes somewhere else.  The only time she's interested in snuggling?  In the morning when I'm getting ready for work (and usually wearing black so her fur gets all over me).  And then, I have to push her off of me to get up.  

She never says thank you.  She never says she loves me.  She never tells me I'm pretty.  She basically lays around all day and occasionally sits beside me, and stretches out on her back which means she wants a belly rub.

On the weekends, when we watch tv, she always gets most of the couch and I am forced to lay on the very edge, with her behind me, between my back and the back of the couch, where I'm about to fall off the couch.  Sometimes, she gets up, steps all over me, and proceeds to sit in one of her favorite places-- at the end of the couch, right beside the arm.  Which is, as you might can imagine, where my head usually is.  So then I cannot see the tv.  She does this a lot when she doesn't like the show I'm watching.  She prefers Gilmore Girls and Stargate Atlantis over Sister Wives and Hawaii 5-O.
 

Its something I've been denying for a long time-- perhaps out of embarrassment.  But now, I'm trying to be honest and open with my issues and trying to make our relationship healthier.  Its not going to be an easy process, and, unfortunately, my insurance doesn't seem to cover owner-pet counseling session (At least I don't think they cover those-- it was hard to tell over the laughter coming from the lady on the other side of the phone when I asked).  Now, I must get off the computer and go buy some new treats for Parker.  She's decided she no longer likes the kind I've been buying, so I better hurry before she gets mad.  

Ghost of Halloween Past...

This year I did Halloween cards.  Some of you readers got them already.  Some of you might get them this week if I ever get a chance to finish addressing them.  Its the thought that counts, people.  I took some pictures of Parker to put on my card.  This is what happens when you have a compressed schedule and you have a Monday off and you are super bored.  Parker officially hates me.  Here's why:

 I made her dress up and take a bunch of obnoxious pictures for Halloween!!!

For each picture you see here, there were literally 15 other ones where she wasn't looking at the camera or walking away or rolling over or ignoring me.  Its hard to get a puppy dog to focus on the camera.  I was exhausted by the end of the photo shoot!

Happy Halloween!!!

Trick or Treat!  Happy Halloween!  Yep, I've been tricking all you folks lately with no blogs.  But now, I'm treating you to a good one!!!  Sorry for the lack of blog posting.  If you didn't already know, I have an incredibly busy schedule of working, driving to work, snuggling with Parker, watching Project Runway, reading my magazines, sleeping, eating, trying not to have bad dreams about the zombies in The Walking Dead, driving to Cracker Barrel to meet my brother, taking Parker for long walks in the park, practicing my beauty pageant poses for Toddlers and Tiaras, driving home from work, decorating for Halloween, ignoring the many emails and texts I get about why I haven't posted a blog lately, etc.

For example, this weekend was a wild one here in the Delta.  First, Parker and I watched The Alphabet Murders, a mystery written by Agatha Christie and starring Tony Randall.  Was really funny.  I'm into watching old movies lately and I spent a good portion of Saturday morning tivoing upcoming movies that look good.  Then we made Rice Krispie treats with candy corn in them.  Well, I made them and Parker watched me and occasionally ate any krispies that fell on the floor.  Its nice not having to clean up after myself when I cook.

Then the real fun began.  We loaded up, Candy Corn Rice Krispy Treats in hand, and headed up to another, close by, podunck County, for a Halloween bonfire!  My friend, Madeline (names and places have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent) invited me to come to her house, meet her husband and her cute kiddos and some of her friends to roast hotdogs and smores and hang out.  I was really excited-- I love doing stuff like that so I had been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time!

We got there about dark on Saturday night and the bonfire was already in full swing.  I got to meet a lot of Madeline's friends, most of whom I'd heard stories about previously, so it was nice to put a face with the name.  There were lots of kids there and several of them took a liking to Parker.  Unfortunately for Parker, she has an excited bladder, meaning that she goes to the bathroom, on purpose, when she's excited.  So Parker and her bladder got to hang out in the sunroom and watch all the fun from a distance.

After eating a huge bowl of deer meat chili, and getting to hang out with all Madeline's friends and family, the real fun began.  And by real fun, I mean, we decided to roll yards.  There were several young teenager/upper elementary kids that were there and at some point, it was determined that we needed to go roll yards.  Now, I grew up in Newton.  I've rolled many, many a yard.  And I'm entirely not afraid of getting pulled over by the cops while rolling yards.  But I was in a different county, different town, many, many hours from my town.  So I was a bit apprehensive about this.  My concerns seemed to be merited when Big Bird, the driver of our getaway vehicle (and local bank executive) asked me if I was up on my criminal law.

First we went climbed into the world's tallest blazer, where Madeline and I sat in the front.  It was so tall that it was necessary for us to literally crawl up on our knees and then pull ourselves up onto the seat.  We did that like a dozen times to let people in and out before we were smart enough to climb into the back for the rest of the night!

Down the road from Madeline lives some Teach For America people.  TFA is a really big deal in this area-- they are trained at Delta State and many wind up living in the Delta, teaching in local schools.  And while I'm sure they are a fantastic lot of kids, ready to save the world and all, sometimes, they come across, well, a bit snobby.  TFA deserves its own post another day.  Anyway, apparently, last year, Madeline and her crew went to roll a friends yard, and they actually messaged him to let him know, and he was totally fine with it.  However, these TFA people, who lived next door, called the cops.  So, this year was payback.  We hop out of the car, and I hop out as well, and I get to rolling.  And I'm doing a GREAT job.  I mean, really fantastic.  I'm standing near the vehicle and everyone else goes onto the other side of the house.  And then, all the sudden, someone says, "um, Jessica, that's not their house.  That's someone else's yard".  Whoops-a-daisy!  They gave me an "A" for effort, a "D" for "Follows Directions Well".  That's the point when I retired my toliet paper rolls.

After we left that place, we went over to another house-- Madeline's friend Mitzi has a brother named Neil .  Well, Neil lives nearby with his wife, and so we headed over to his house to roll it.  At this point, we've really lost all ability to even pretend that we are decent yard-rollers, so we literally pull into his driveway without our really loud blazer truck and 6 really loud women and 2 loud kids.  This isn't a long driveway, either.  I jump out, put out some Halloween decorations that we'd picked up along the way (sorta like the Robin Hood of ghost windsocks and carved pumpkins) onto the porch, while a couple people attempt to roll the super tall tree in his yard.  About 3 minutes later, Neil comes to the door, eating his dinner and laughing at us.  We continue.  He tells us we are really terrible yard-rollers and then goes back inside.  We "finish" wrapping the tree since we'd given up trying to throw high enough to hit the branches, and we get back in the car.  Which will no longer start.

So we have to call Neil back outside and he backs his car back up to jump us off.  Now, the wheels have fallen off the wagon and the kids we've brought along are beginning to realize that we aren't super cool, fun adults who are going to take them rolling, but are instead a bunch of weird, super loud annoying people!  We got a few other places, including to some dirt road where I accidentally almost slammed Madeline's leg in the door to avoid a dog that was apparently about half a mile away.  Madeline was laughing too hard to actually explain that I was closing her leg in the door.  Sorry about that, Madi!

After riding through the world's longest "shortcut" through the woods and mudpuddles at about 3 miles an hour, the kids lost all patience with us, and demanded to be taken home.   I felt so sorry for them!  But before we could head home, we decided to go roll the Hastings!  Don't know the Hastings?  Neither do I!  But they live close to Madeline in a pretty nice house and, apparently have like 13 kids, all of whom have alphabetical names, beginning I and going through Q or something.  By this time, Madeline and I have moved to the back with her friend Mitzi, and when we get to their house, the other three women jump out with the kids and start rolling.  They were doing a great job when... the police car comes by.  And stops.  Big Bird, our driver, gets out to talk to the police officer.  The police officer, whom apparently everyone knows.  In fact, several people go over to talk to the officer!  Who is parked in the middle of the road!

A few minutes later, some of the Hastings turn a light on or something, so the kids and a couple others jump into the car, and Madeline's friend, Grover, (who is the only adult dressed up-- as an oompa loompa, complete with orange face paint and green hair) jumps in the driver's seat and we take off, with one door still open.  And three people still standing in the street by the police car.  I'm like, "oh, um, should we go back and get them?"  And the consensus is that no, the cop will bring them back.  Sure enough, a few minutes after we get back to Madeline's the police car pulls up with our friends.  And the officer says, "they told me to talk to the attorney".  And I was like, "um, officer, can I help you?"  And he's like, "yeah, get these idiots out of my car!"  After a few complaints at the lack of leg room in the back, we were all safe and sound and un-arrested!  We had a great time!  I headed to bed soon thereafter and I think Madeline and her husband were right behind me.  It was a super fun time!


(BLOGGER'S NOTE:  This blog was edited, at Madeline's request, since she wants to keep her internet presence to a minimum when it comes to blogs about breaking the law.  After a short argument wherein I tried to convince her that the only people who read my blog are my mom and my siblings, I relented and changed the names.)

Goal-Setting...

Right now, I'm sitting on 9,973 views since I started this blog, whenever that was!  I'm smart enough to realize a correlation between how often I post a blog and how many readers I have, so I'm hoping to trick you people into reading this rather lackluster blog so I can hit 10,000!!!!  Come on, people-- 10,000!!  That's exciting!  It says a lot about how fun my blog is and even more about how boring the lives of my friends are.  Regardless, it says something and I promise to be a better blogger in the future, once we hit 10,000 together. 

I'm home this weekend after a wild and crazy week in Bay St. Louis for a Mississippi Child Support Association Conference with all my DHS colleagues.  It was super fun and I was really glad to meet some of the people whom I've heard their names or spoke with them on the phone.  An old friend from law school was there and we had a lot of fun hanging out, plus I got to meet a few new, fun people.  The conference was for DHS workers and the staff attorneys-- so we had separate meetings, which wasn't very fun.  It was especially unfun the last session when us lawyers were having a "roundtable" discussion about youth court and summons and contempt procedures and across the hall, the workers were having a "Family Feud" game-show thing where they could win prizes if they answered questions correctly.  Since they were across the hall, we could hear them cheering and clapping and laughing, all while we discussed the civil v. criminal contempt.  I was super jealous. 

Now I'm back in Laurel, and I got to go eat at Mi Casita last night with my family-- Aunt Ju, Mom, and Em and Em's boyfriend Joel.  We had a great time!  Mi Casita is THE BEST Mexican food there is.  And that's not IMHO (in my humble opinion for you non-texters), that's F.  Fact.  Cleveland is great.  Has lots of fabulous, fun places to eat.  And two Mexican places.  I've been to both and both are perfectly fine.  But they are no Mi Casita.  Laurel has a very high number of Mexicans in the area (thanks Howard Industries) and they know how to eat.  So, one of the things I miss the most is Mexican food and I got my fix last night! 

 

Friends are Friends Forever...

Last Sunday, Cleveland and the Delta had some major bad weather.  All sorts of tornadoes and lightning storms and power outages and such.  Rumor has it that the Wal-Mart Tire Shop got hit, but since I despite Wal-Mart and avoid it at all costs, I'm not sure if this is true.  I do know that a house down the block from mine, owned by a guy I went to law school with, was destroyed by a tree that literally cut the house in half-- its really awful.  And its a cute house, so that's even worse. 

Sunday evening, I took Parker outside to potty in the most incredible lightning storm I've ever witnessed.  No rain, no thunder.  Just lots and lots of lightning.  And some wind.  It was actually quite beautiful and a bit scary.  How someone can see that type of thing (along with many, many other of nature's beautiful creations) and not believe in God is beyond me.  But then again, so is the fact that 20 million people watch Two and a Half Men, so obviously, not everyone is as smart as yours truly.

Right after we came inside, the rain began and didn't end for a really long time.  About 8 the power went out and I lit some candles and laid on the couch with nothing to do.  Its really super boring when you have nothing to read or watch or anything.  I went to bed quite early but the raging storm outside did keep both Parker and I awake for a while.  I generally don't freak out too badly at bad weather, but even I was a bit scared.

Early the next morning, the lights popped back on and of course, I'd forgotten which ones were actually on when I'd gone to bed, so I mostly likely turned a bunch on instead of off, and then at 2 am when they came back on, I had to get up and turn the back off.  The next morning I realized my internet was still out, but I didn't have time to worry about it because of work.  It was still out Tuesday when I talked to my neighbor about it-- his had been out as well, so we both decided it was still a problem with the storm.  It wasn't until Thursday that I realized that, in fact, his had gone back to working late Tuesday night but mine was still down.  So Thursday night is when this story takes a Reader's Digest Human Interest Story-type vibe.

Thursday after talking with my neighbor and a discussion with my friend Katherine who wanted me to look at her on-line pictures, I decided to call Cable One.  Of course, they make you go through the automated system directions of giving your account information, checking the phone number associated with your account, unplugging your modem, taking out the battery, waiting 2 minutes, adjusting the antenna, typing in some different stuff, etc.  And then, finally, when the robot lady voice is convinced that you actually do have a problem and not just calling her because you are bored, she will transfer you to the next available customer service representative.  That's when the story gets good (finally, you say...)

I get transferred to this guy, I'm pretty sure his name was Glen, but to be honest, I didn't know the journey our lives would take over the next few minutes, so I don't really remember.  Let's say Glen for blogging purposes.  Glen, of course, has to get my account information because apparently the robot lady voice doesn't give out that information.  Then, of course, we get to go through all the steps that me and robot lady voice JUST DID.  First, Glen tells me to unplug the modem and take out the battery and wait two minutes.  So, after I move the telephone table beside the plug-in and knock over a picture frame and start giggling, and then finally get to unplug the modem, and Glen and I listen to each other breathe for a minute, he says, "So, how was your day today?"

And I say, "It was actually quite good. Now if I can just get this modem on-line, it will be great.  How was your day?"  Glen replies that it was a pretty good day, except obviously, that he's now at work (and I think the unspoken part of that sentence ended with "dealing with idiots like yourself" but he was kind enough not to say that.  So then Glen starts asking me how long the internet has been down, and I tell him about the storm and my neighbor and his internet issues, and Glen suggests it could possibly be that the storm hit my modem and that is why its not working.  Then I say, "well, I'm sure that all my blog readers (shout-out to you guys!!) will be ready for me to get my internet back working."  And he says, "oh you have a blog?  What kind of blog?"    And I tell him all about my blog and all about you guys and how many of you fuss at me when I don't post and how I actually sometimes have 50 or so hits a day and he seems impressed.  And asks me the title.  And I tell him.

And then its time to plug the modem back in, so I think our time together is almost over.  But as fate would have it, we have to wait for a bunch of the little green lights to come on and then see what order they are flashing and what lights are not on and a bunch of other really technical stuff like that.  So while we are waiting for the green flashing lights to come back on, I decide to continue the conversation.  "So, Glen, where are you from?"  Glen's from Arizona.  Its really nice there.  Like 90 degrees even as he speaks.  And I say, oh well, its probably about 90 degrees here too, but that's not unusual in Mississippi.  He then says he's never been to Mississippi, have I been to Arizona?  And he thinks I'd really like it there.  Its beautiful.  Beautiful sunsets and lots of hiking and outdoorsy things to do and I should totally go there sometime.  Obviously, Glen and I aren't best friends yet or else he'd know that the closest I get to outdoorsy is walking Parker and watching my Rebels lose on Saturdays.  But its still nice that he's telling me all about it.

And we go on to talk about our jobs and traveling and the weather and how excited I am for fall cause I love to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Glen, unfortunately, didn't seem to share my love of decorating.  I tell him about my home phone that came with my internet and tv, and how I never use it and he agrees that its funny that I even have one.  He tells me about his new cell phone thats already broken.  He asks if I have any fun plans for the rest of the evening and I tell him that I've got Project Runway DVRing even as we speak.  He has to work the rest of the evening. 

Eventually the lights came back on, though apparently not in the correct order of flashiness cause my internet never went back up.  Glen sadly tells me that it seems like I might really need to have someone come out to my house to check it.  But after telling him my work schedule and how it doesn't fit well with home visits, he suggests that since I have Monday off, I should call back Saturday and ask them to come out for an "emergency visit".  He'll put in the computer that its an "emergency visit" since it will be over a week since I'd had internet and it was probably due to the storm.  He'll also make a note that we've already done all of the automated stuff and done together all of the "turn off your modem" stuff.  He doesn't usually do that, but he will for me.  Then we talk about our plans for the rest of the weekend and how he hopes that I will get my internet up soon cause my blog readers probably miss me (that Glen, always thinking of other people, you know).  We promise to come visit our respective states one day and then, we say goodbye. 

And then, just like that, our friendship ends.  I'll probably never talk to him again.  But I love being a part of a world where two strangers, separated by miles of rugged terrain (Texas?) can form a bond over a phone and a broken internet service.  Its really wonderful, if not heartbreakingly sad.

I'll never talk to Glen again.  I'll never find out if he fixed his phone and he won't ever know if I was able to get all my Halloween decorations from my mom's house this weekend.  But we'll always have that Thursday night.

The next day, just when I thought the story was over, and, worse, when I thought I'd have to call back and go through all the steps again to get my internet working and get a service repairman out to the house, I walk through the hallway where the modem is, and I look up, and there, underneath the framed photo of my friends from college, I see the modem, with all the correct flashing lights that Glen told me to look for.  Working perfectly.  I know somehow, someway, Glen gave me the greatest gift of all-- the ability to write this blog.  Thanks, old buddy.  You're the best.  

Even more partying...

At my new job, paternity's the word.  Seriously.  Its the word.  We are all about paternity.  We want to get as many kids with father's as possible.  And get those father's to pay child support!  We have all sorts of cases we are to file, but paternity is the "big push"-- we have been trying to get a statewide paternity rate of 90%-- some counties made this goal a long time ago, and other counties (ahem, Hinds) probably never will.  Our deadline is the end of September and its something that's always in the back of our minds.  I personally love having goals like this and every single time I get a paternity order signed by the judge, I love taking it to Ginni (the supervisor) and getting her to enter it into the computer.  I love checking each week to see the steady, albeit slow, progress.  Coahoma County is a great county but they didn't have a full-time attorney or supervisor there for a long time and, as to be expected, a lot of things feel through the cracks.  So Ginni and I are trying really hard to get things back into shape and she especially, has done a great job. 

So, we've been talking about this 90% paternity rate ever since I got here.  And finally, a few weeks ago, we did it!  Sooner than our deadline too!  We were all so happy!  Our office had decided to celebrate by going to the Stone Pony (local pizza place).  In one of my conversations with the Chancery Clerk Ed Peacock, I'd told him all about our goal and how hard the workers were trying to get there and about our little "Reward".  And he said that when we made our goal, he'd treat us to lunch at the Stone Pony!  Isn't that awesome?  He's so super nice. 
Once we met our goal, we were all about taking him up on his offer, but we decided to order in since otherwise, someone would be left at the office answering the phones.  In yet another example of how I've turned into my mother, I took lots of pictures and made everyone smile (between rolling their eyes at me).  I love this office and, its my opinion that if you have to work with people, you might as well enjoy it as best you can.  So I'm all for some office bonding.  This was a good example. 
The proof is in the pudding...

 Doretha, Fran and Jerome.  Doretha and I have bonded over this 90% thing-- she would come into my office all the time and tell me how much our percentage went up!

 Our supervisor, Ginni.  She posed for this picture just like this!  And then she said "this better not go on your blog!".  Whoops, sorry, Ginni!

A couple other of my co-workers didn't get their pictures taken.  And Vanessa was sick that day, which was so sad since Stone Pony was her idea to begin with!  But Ginni and I made it up to her the next week and the three of us ordered Stone Pony again and sat in my office and ate.  Seriously, I'm such a good person to work with that I will literally try to make other people happy by ordering pizza and eating it with them.  I really try to put other people first, you know.  Don't you all wish you worked with me!!!