Twas a Blog Before Christmas

I've already finished my Christmas shopping, I've sent out my cards, I've watched some holiday movies, and I've even opened up some presents.

We celebrated Christmas with my siblings last weekend, because on real Christmas they will be celebrating with their in-laws. Only my sister and I will be home for the holidays.

Normally on Christmas Eve we go to church, have our meal, open up our new pajamas, play some games, watch a movie or two, then read "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

When Christmas morning arrives (no earlier than 6am...that's a rule in our house) we get up and see what Santa left us under our tree. Even at the age of 23 Santa still gives me a gift or two ;)

A couple hours later my parents wake up and we open up our gifts from each other. The rest of the day is spent much like the night before - playing games (Scrabble is our favorite), watching old holiday tv episodes, movies, and snacking on leftovers.

And because I've had this week off from work (yes, I'm very lucky) I've been waiting patiently for Christmas Day to arrive. When I was little I wished for it to come as fast as it could, but now that I'm older I wish for it to last a little longer. For it is the waiting that really makes Christmas special to me.

Merry Christmas to all my blog followers. I hope you all have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday and a wonderful new year!!!

Old News: Black Friday is the Blackest of Fridays...Especially at Walmart

Walmart people are the worst. That was my Facebook status on the day after Thanksgiving at about 2 o'clock in the AM!! And ya know what! They truly are the WORST! Let me start from the beginning.

Wednesday while I was visiting my bestie Andrea, she asked me to go Black Friday shopping with her. Aaaand since I had a few too many drinks I said yes! Later, I tried to get out of it, but I think I'm kind of a people pleaser so I just agreed (again) to shop with her on the darkest day of the year.

Thursday came with a wallop of turkey, potatoes, stuffing (YUM), and other good food. My siblings and I searched through the flyers of "must have deals and doorbusters" when my sister, Tyne, said, "Let's get dad a TV." Target had an awesome deal, and I agreed that I would stand in line with her. So I promised Andrea that I would shop with her and then my sister too. Knowing that Andrea would understand, I was able to work out my shopping plans so that I could do Target with Tyne and then meet up with Andrea for the rest of the morning.

As I searched the flyers for the umpteenth time, I figured that I could run to Walmart and grab a few DVDs too. Might as well, right? Wrong.

Friday morning came faster than ever. I dropped Tyne off at Target so she could stand in line. The time was 1:00 AM. I dashed off to Walmart to get those cheap DVDs. Well, all the ones I wanted/needed were gone except for one. So I grabbed it, dialed Tyne's cell to tell her that I would probably be awhile since the lines are disgustingly long at Walmart, and then got in line. Thinking I was at the end of the line I shut my cell phone. The lady in front of me turned around with a nasty wicked witch of the west look and said, "Ya' know...it's not nice to cut!"

I apologized immediately and said that I didn't even realize I cut. She didn't care. She just turned around to her heaping cart full of Walmartness, and I politely moved to find a new line. I felt bad, yes, but I didn't know I was cutting. I swear! I never even cut in the lunch line when it was tater-tot hotdish day!!

After I found a new line, I stood there with my DVD for 20 minutes. The line didn't budge once!! So I left the DVD in the greeting card aisle and went back to my sister empty-handed.

Yes, Walmart people are the worst. The store was a mess on Black Friday. The lines were atrocious. There was no order or method to the check-out lanes and they didn't even have all of the lanes open. Plus, that lady was mean to me, and she made me feel bad.

After Target opened at 4:00 AM, I got the TV, grabbed a couple of DVDs and other things and was checked out in about 15 minutes. Target was well prepared with everything. Therefore, Target people are the best.

The rest of the morning went well when I met up with Andrea. All the other stores did a good job with all the madness of shopping too. Props to Sam's Club, Younkers, Menards, and Target.

But Walmart, shame on you!

**Honestly, I have nothing against Walmart on the other days of the year. In fact, I shop there a lot. But I will never Black Friday shop there again**

Come on baby, light my...sign

On the way home from my nephew's first birthday last weekend, I couldn't help but notice numerous signs that needed fixing.

Bake Squa - I'm just thankful Bakers Square doesn't have a "w" instead of an "r" in their name.

Flee Farm - I don't think this is the kind of marketing Fleet Farm is looking for when trying to attract customers.

Texas Roadho - ummmm, inappropriate. Yes, inappropriate. But I shouldn't judge, the Roadho's in Texas might be some classy ladies who serve up delectable dishes.

So to all the Minnesota companies and to companies everywhere with lighted signs, keep an eye on your signs. You don't want to send out the wrong message.



And on a completely different note: I saw HARRY POTTER and the Deathly Hallows last night at MIDNIGHT!!! It was amazing. I think it's by far the best one yet. Since I haven't read the books past the second one, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. I can't wait for part 2 to come out this summer. After that one though, I'm going to read all the books. If you're a Harry Potter fan, this is a must-see.

Paranoid

Sometimes I feel paranoid about things. I think everyone has paranoid moments. It's normal. Everyone can probably think of a time where they thought somebody or everybody was out to get them, or something else...What? Stop looking at me like that.

I can seriously get myself worked up or freaked out about tiny little things. Minuscule things, sounds, looks, whatever. Like this one time on Halloween:

I prepped myself for being alone on Halloween by watching a couple scary movies - mistake number one. Then I looked up the history of Halloween on the internet as it started to get dark outside - mistake number two. When I went outside to check to see if my jack-0-lantern was shining brightly and not on fire, I heard a rustling in the woods. My paranoid mind went straight to "OMG there's a serial killer in the woods, and he knows I'm alone, and the reason why I haven't had any trick-or-treaters yet is because they are scared to trick-0r-treat at the house where the scary man is lurking!!!" So I stood outside for a couple of minutes and just stared into the woods, half hoping to not see something, but still kind of hoping that a gigantic squirrel will jump out with a mouth full of acorns.

Nothing was there, but my mind went straight to the worst possible thought, instead of thinking that a branch could have easily fell from a tree, or a chipmunk ran through the leaves, or the wind blew. No, I had to think of a serial killer.

Another time, just recently actually, had me awake in my bed at 3 o'clock in the morning. The weather outside was frightful, but the fire was sure delightful....oh boy. The weather was bad outside, and I kept hearing noises above me in our "attic." (I air quote attic, because it's not your typical attic. It's rafters) So, I heard a boom, bang, crash, pitter patter noises, and I thought, "OMG someone or something is up in our rafters!!" Then I listened closer and I swear that I heard my car door open. Then I thought, "SOMEONE IS STEALING MY CAR!" And the next thought - "Well, then I'll get a new car."

The more I listened, the more random the noises sounded. I couldn't differentiate what bang was outside or what boom was above my head. I grabbed my cell phone and looked up local news stories on the web, and what did I find??? "Armed Robbery in Altoona, Suspects on the Loose." AHHHHHH, Altoona isn't far from my town, and two men are on the loose! One with a bat and one with a long gun. (Reporter's words, not mine) Que paranoid self and this is what came out: "The two men are robbing our house, very slowly (because now it's almost 5 am, so they've been at it for 2 hours now), they are going to steal my car, and for some reason they are making a lot of noise up in our "attic." OMG, they're stealing our deck furniture that we keep stored up there!!"

Finally I fell asleep, and when I asked my parents about the noise, they convinced me it was snow falling off the trees and blowing on our roof. Then my dad said that it could have been a squirrel stuck in our rafters.

Those darn squirrels.

A Cougar Jingle...who knew?

Would you like to have a commercial jingle stuck in your head?

Me either, but I did have one in my head, and I still do. Here's how it goes..."I'm a cougar. She's a cougar. We're all cougars. Men love cougars. Don't you want to date a cougar tooooooooooo?"

All day I've been singing about cougars!

Have you seen this commercial? The only channel I've seen it on has been FX when I watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League. It's a commercial about a dating website for men who LOVE cougars...which is all men, because the jingle says so. Apparently, there are enough women in the world who think of themselves as "cougars" that a website is actually successful...or is it? I don't know, and I don't have any interest in knowing.

The women in the commercial do NOT look like cougars. They look like they're in the twenties. So the only way these women can be labeled as "cougars" is if they are also pedophiles. Gross. Unless they are really in their forties....then what the heck, I want to be a cougar too - if my body looks like that and if I'm still single in twenty years. Wow, I hope I'm not single in twenty years.

But really, all that I care about is getting the jingle out of my head. The only good part about the commercial is when a sound clip of a cougar (the animal) roars! It's so funny that I actually laughed out loud. I'm sure cougars everywhere laughed until they peed their Depends.

Here's the commercial for you to watch. Now all of you will have the jingle stuck in your head. It's hard to catch the cougar roar on YouTube, but it's at the 23rd second. Believe me, the roar is more prominent on TV.

When did Frosty the Snowman become Evil?

I've decided that I'm going to start critiquing commercials, because I watch them so much and I need to talk about them. I need to talk about them.

Have you all seen the Droid commercial with the snowman? If not, let me recap it for you...

Open on a winter evening scene. A couple of children run into the house (probably for supper). Then the snowman comes to life...MUAHAHAHAA!!

Zoom in on the snowman (let's call him Droidy the Motorolaman). Droidy's stick arm falls off. Oh no! Then Droidy's eyes light up like evil laser-beams of red death. His head starts to melt, because it's obviously so frickin' hot outside - I would understand if he was standing in a greenhouse, but he's not. That's a different snowman. What is wrong with this snowman?

Here's the zinger - his eyes are actually cell phones! Whowouldathunkit! This isn't the good ole commercial days when ad men used snowmen to sell soup. Like the snowman who shuffles inside and then melts down to a little boy eating a bowl of Campells. Oh no, this is not that kind of commercial.

The eye, I mean Droid X or whatever new Droid is out now, turns and subliminally tells me that this phone can do anything. For example:

It is waterproof. It has to be - it's been inside a snowman's head for probably a good 30 minutes to an hour. I have a feeling those kids worked really hard on it. That's probably why they ran into the house for supper. (Man, I hope there actually were kids at the beginning of the commercial...it's kind of fuzzy right now, and I can't find the commercial on the internet). Anyway, for the sake of being safe, "whoever" built the snowman didn't do a shotty job.

It can perform Jedi Mind tricks. They should be calling this phone YODA. Hey, if George Lucas had to give them the rights to use the term "Droid" then he can hand over "Yoda" too. How perform mind tricks does it, hmm? For starters, Droidy snapped his own arms off to get your attention. Plus, these robot arms emerged to replace the stick arms!! SCARY! Then he melted his own face!! This phone is crazy! And you know what the biggest mind trick is? Millions of people are going to go buy Droid X and Droid 2...because if they don't, Droidy the Motorolaman will put you in a Darth Vader choke hold.

That's my recap.

Here's the critique: Not too bad of a commercial. I get all the George Lucas...I mean Droid Lucas...crap, I mean DROID comparisons to an actual "I-can-do-anything-cell-phone-of-the-future." And I like how they chose a snowman to deconstruct instead of Santa or a reindeer or an elf for their holiday commercial. I don't want to see a reindeer's head blow up to uncover two Droid phones. I don't like seeing alive deer, so I definitely don't want to see a dead one.

Secondly, I'm sort of a Star Wars fan, if you couldn't already tell :) So, hats off to making the snowman like Darth Vader. Yes, his head looks like Lord Vader's with his helmet off - the pale skin, the dark set eyes, the sympathy I start feeling for him even though he is evil and bad, but he can't help it because he's on the Dark Side, just like a snowman doesn't choose to be a snowman - someone has to make him into a snowman, and a snowman can't go back because he will melt, and Vader can't go back either. WHOA! Epiphany! Symbolism, I tell ya, too bad this commercial didn't come out when I was still in college. I feel like I have a good term paper here.

And let's not forget the robotic arms which coincide with Luke Skywalker's robotic hand. Honestly, I think George Lucas should be getting paid BIG TIME for this commercial.

Halloween is mine. Oh yes, it will be mine

And it was!!! Halloween was a ton of fun. As you know, I was Wayne Campbell and Andrea was Garth Algar from Wayne's World. Here are some pictures from the night. By the way, I had to put on extra make-up, because I looked too much like a boy. Good thing I have boobs, haha.

All I want to do...

All I want to do is watch scary movies. I'm so happy AMC has been playing Friday the 13th and Halloween, even though I've seen a lot of them already.

But I can't watch them alone. I can watch them alone in my room, but not alone in the house...no way. I would love to write a scary movie, because I have some pretty good ideas in my head right now.

Here's the problem with that though, you would never associate Wes Craven with a romantic comedy, would you? The same goes with Nancy Meyers...can you picture her writing a role for Meryl Streep as a serial killer who gives you nightmares...on Elm Street, makes you scream because the last house on the left is the only place to go, because the hills look like they have eyes?

How's that for some movie title name-dropping?

But anyway, I love Halloween so much I want it to occur everyday. I'm serious. The decorations are incredible, the weather is decent to fair, it's football season, my favorite tv shows do Halloween specials, Saw Infinity would be closer to ending it's horrible sequels, and people get to dress up and act like children when in reality they are 35. I know I talked about Halloween before, but it's just so AWESOME!

I don't know if I'll be posting tomorrow, so have a safe and happy Halloween. Hopefully the Groundhog Day gods have heard my cry and Monday will be Halloween too, and Tuesday, and Wednesday, and...

Food=Bad. Well, for me at least

Wondering why I haven't blogged since last week? Not wondering? I'm going to tell you anyway.

I was lucky enough to get food poisoning. I felt like crap for three days! Was I going to die...maybe. I could barely move. Probably because I was so frickin' weak. Which is because I couldn't eat anything, because I couldn't keep anything down!! I moaned and groaned on the couch hoping that my outbursts of pain would make me feel better. It only made me feel the tiniest bit better.

On Monday, I only inhabited my bedroom, bathroom, and living room. I almost forgot what my kitchen looked like. When Tuesday came around, I finally was able to put some food in my stomach - a piece of toast, about a cup of noodle soup, and later some mashed potatoes.

I even went to the doctor since my back and stomach hurt. When I say hurt, what I truly mean is "felt like Jason Voorhees was trying to stab me in the abdomen with a dull machete he pulled from a barn." (AMC has been having a Friday the 13th marathon) Watch it. Or are you scared? Don't be. It's very predictable and cheesy. I think the new Friday the 13th (maybe it's a couple or three years old) is pretty scary though, but watch the classics too. Wow, I'm way off track here. Anyway...

The doctor found nothing, which was slightly discouraging because at the time I wanted relief. I wanted something to free me from this pain. Well, a little heat on my back for about 2 hours Tuesday night really relaxed everything. You see, this pain I felt was a combination of me laying around all day on the couch and bed, not eating enough, and the typical food poisoning cramps.

Today though, I feel so much better. I'm not back to my regular eating habits, but it will happen.

Oh, and to my parents: Thank you for taking care of me. I promise to try my hardest to take care of you guys when you come down with some sort of illness. It's going to be hard, but I'll try. (I don't do well around others who are sick...it scares me) Ha!

Kinsey's World!

WAYNE'S WORLD!!! Party time!! Excellent!

Anyone else really excited about Halloween? I mean, every single year I look forward to this magical holiday night. It's my second favorite holiday. Christmas is first...presents, duh...and Jesus.

So my bff (Andrea), her hubby (Jeremy), and I are dressing up as Wayne-me, Garth-Andrea, and Jeremy will be Terry the cameraman.

NO WAY!!!
WAY!!

Yes, this will be an excellent night. Let the countdown begin...

But first, let me show you a picture of Andrea, Jeremy, and me. Picture us in Wayne's World gear. Use your imagination people.

Okay, really use your imagination because blogger won't let me upload a picture at this time.

All I have to say about that is "asphinctersayswhat."

Exactly.

Softballin' for a good cause

I've been walking like an old man with really bad knees today. Saturday night I woke up in the middle of the morning, tried to turn over and realized my legs weren't moving easily with my body. Plus they hurt like a son of a mother. My left leg is scraped up, both my knees are bruised with scrapes on them...I look and feel like I got beat with a rusty board in a ditch.

But really, I'm okay. It's nothing serious. You see, I played softball at a Memorial/Scholarship fundraiser this past Saturday. Since I haven't played serious ball since 2006, these aches and pains are normal. In fact, if I wasn't hurting I think I would be more worried, because I stole bases (safe every time), dove for a ball (caught it), and got slid into (I played short-stop).

It was the first year doing this fundraiser so only three softball teams signed up to play. Hopefully, in years to come there will be more teams. Our team, Y2K Plus, consisted of graduates from 2006-2009 (or 2010...), then there was a team of 8th graders called Future Stars, then there was a team from the graduating classes of late 1980s and early 1990s. Their team name was Golden Girls. Betty White was unable to make it...she's just sooooo darn busy these days :)

It was really fun to play both teams, but I enjoyed playing against the Golden Girls more since the competition and skill level was near equivalency.

Our team, Y2K plus, beat both teams. YAY! We only won by one run against the Golden Girls, and we beat Future Stars by 10 or something.

It felt like old times and it really made me realize how much I miss organized sports. I felt like I stepped in a time capsule. My skill level was still up to par (I haven't lost much athleticism...which I am very thankful for), besides the fact that I was huffing and puffing after I rounded the bases, but that's due to my lack of running lately.

I wish the day lasted longer. The sun shined, the temperature was beautiful (albeit hot), and the company was nostalgic. It was a perfect day. Perfect.

Wednesday Musings: Take Thirteen (8 Questions)

Jill from Life After College tagged me in a questionnaire where I answer 8 questions. Since I was lucky enough to be tagged, I figured I would let it take my Wednesday Musings' place.

1. Female-Thongs or boyshorts?
This is a hard one. On one hand, thongthongthongthongthongthong. On the other hand, boyshorts are so cute and comfortable. So both. I'm wearing both right now...I mean, I pick BOTH!! Yes, I pick both, and I wear them both, but not at the same time...that would be weird.

2. What's your favorite kind of ice-cream?
Anything with peanut butter in it :) But at Culver's (custard instead of ice cream) I pick chocolate custard with Andes Mints...my nephew introduced me to it. He has good taste.

3. What's your most embarrassing moment?
Uhhh, gosh I can't think of any particular moment. I have stupid moments that are slightly embarrassing, but not omigod-I-CAN'T-live-another-day-embarrassing moments. I have a pretty good humor about these things, so I brush embarrassing moments off with a smile. Like today, I brushed off about three moments with my smile.

4. What age was your first kiss?
I was in 7th or 8th grade. I kissed a boy who played the trumpet. We were in one of the band practice rooms during recess. If we had a "pass" we could stay in from recess and practice our instrument. (I swear I wasn't a band geek) I played the trumpet too, so this boy and I practiced and then I gave him a kiss on the cheek. Hahaha, then I ran out and told my friend who was practicing in another room. I didn't abide by the "kiss and don't tell" rule. I was a rebel. A rebel who played the trumpet.

5. Do you prefer cats, dogs, or neither?
Cats, but I have a sister-in-law who is allergic. So if I ever get a pet, I would love to get a small dog for an apartment, but then when I get my own house someday I will have an outside cat ;) My whole life is now planned out.

6. Do you have any tattoos?
Yes. I look like Kat Von D. I'm all inked up ;) Haha, not.

7. What do you hope has changed in this world by 3010?
I hope we have cars like in the movie I, Robot where they drive themselves. Why am I saying "I hope..." I won't be around. Ooooh, but I hope that people will be studying my works in English class or watching my films and saying: "That Kinsey - she must have been pretty awesome back in the day."

8. What's your favorite book?
Hmmmm, I really enjoy all the Chelsea Handler books, but to be literary (as I studied the subject)...The Handmaid's Tale is really good. Margaret Atwood is brilliant! But my favorite, favorite, favorite book takes me back to the 5th grade - Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Makes me want to get lost in the woods and eat berries and throw up from eating too many berries. What an adventure.

Caffeine

I drank about two or three cups of coffee today. I don't think it has an effect on me. Uh oh. I was still tired at noon, two, and five. Waking up at 5:45am may have played a role in my tiredness, but making my coffee strong and black this morning should have made me feel more awake!

Am I too used to caffeine that now it doesn't phase me? I hope not.

On the other hand, I wasn't CRAZY, yawning every five minutes tired today. So maybe I shouldn't over-analyze this caffeine dilemma.

Ya know what's going to happen? I'll have trouble sleeping tonight because of the coffee I drank today and the Coke I'm having right now. Good thing I don't have a dentist appointment until January.

The "Shart" Confusion

At work today I overheard the funniest comment. One of my co-workers was having a discussion with another co-worker.

She said, "I sharted."

My eyes were wide with intrigue. Omigosh, did she just say what I thought she just just said?? Did she actually shart herself? Why is she sharing this embarrassing and disgusting act of flatulence/pooping herself?

Then she repeated herself to another co-worker who didn't hear her. So again she said, "I just sorted it."

I looked back to my work and smiled. She didn't shart herself...thank goodness. She was sorting out her order.

Bahahaha, I laughed inside until I sharted myself.

The New Adventures of Old Kinsey

:)

Who doesn't love Julia Louis-Dreyfuss? She was hilarious as Elaine, and she's just as good (some say better) as Christine on The New Adventures of Old Christine. Too bad the show got canceled. Boo CBS! Shame on you!

Good thing Lifetime shows reruns during the week.

So now it's time for new adventures with ME!!!! It's October 1st and I'm ready. I have a clear outlook on my future and I'm totally ready to grab life my the horns.

Ew, I hate how cliche I just sounded, but I need to get my point across. Watch out people, Kinsey is grabbing the horns of life, seizing the day, shooting for the moon, because there is light at the end of the tunnel, I'm upping the ante, because time is money, and I'm ready to hit it out of the ballpark.

First things first, I'm getting tired of my blog theme - so I'll work on that tonight and hopefully set it up this weekend.

Secondly, I'm super excited to say that I'm going to attend a Screenwriter's Summit this December for two days!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! I'm so excited that I could burst. I'm happy as a clam or a lark or a pig in the mud. Let's just say I'm a happy camper :)

My new adventures are beginning.

Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, and Me

Julie and Julia is a good movie. Yes, I probably should've seen this movie when it first came out, but I didn't. I'm the type of person who likes to talk about movies like they're new when in actuality, they are old or not fresh to hit the cinemas.

Speaking of Meryl Streep...have you seen Kramer vs. Kramer???

Anyway, for those of you who have seen Julie and Julia, I'm not going to bore you with the details. Basically, to refresh some people, it's about a woman - Amy Adams, cooking her way through Julia Child's cookbook and blogging about it. While Meryl Streep portrays Julia Child as she takes cooking classes and writes a cookbook.

If you haven't seen it, please rent it, or catch it on tv like me.

To get to my point, as there should always be a point, this movie not only inspired to keep on blogging, but it reiterated why I started blogging in the first place. To keep writing.

Sometimes, most of the time, it's difficult to tell people what I want to do with my life. On top of which, it's hard to tell people that "Yes, I have a job, but it has nothing to do with my college degree." And although I love, love, love my job, I can't help but think about writing everyday...or writing as a living. But how do you write for a living without any experience and expect to get paid? Believe it or not, but I need money. So I might as well work at a place that treats me wonderfully and flowers me with respect and "gifts" for a job well done. Plus, I truly look forward to going to work each day. (If you're wondering why I'm not working at this moment, but I have a day off...it's a slow day at my company. Lucky for me, I get to watch my little nephew Alec! Who smiled about a dozen times at me already.)

So to everyone who thinks that I need a job in my "major" right out of college is crazy. If I were a teacher or a nurse, and was working at Burger King...this would be another story. You see, teachers get jobs at schools, and nurses work in a facility where people need care. Writers don't work that way. Unless you're a writer for a television show and you work in the writers' room. Or if you work for a published magazine or newspaper. But I don't want to be a journalist.

I want to be a screenwriter.

I said it. And after the invisible eye rolls from people I've told, it hurts a bit inside to see people who I thought believed in me all this time, scoff it off as a joke. Well my friends, soon I'm going to be taking a big next step to further my dream career as a screenwriter. (Details in another post...hopefully soon!)

And there was a quote in the movie that really resonated with me, but I can't remember it word for word. It was about being able to be "published" without being published. This is done by blogging. Sure, anyone can do it, but I feel special enough to have a blog and have followers, so in a way, I'm a "published writer."

This blog may not be Casablanca or even Julie and Julia, but it is...something.

My 111th Post

One, one, one.

Guess where I'm blogging from???

Paris, France...you guessed it! Hahaha, NO. I wish. I'm blogging from my couch. A couch in my house. Upstairs too. Not downstairs. Not in my cold basement. Not plugged in at all.

We have wireless :)

So I'm beginning again. I will now blog everyday (well like about 4 or 5 times a week). Who's excited???

I bet you would be more excited if you were in Paris, France. Right?? I don't know why I'm on this Paris kick.

But I am eating Cracker Jacks. Question: When did the prizes start sucking? Seriously, I want Cracker Jack rings, little figurines, stuff like that. This is what I got. A "Can You Guess Who I Grow Up To Be?" paper picture puzzle.

Here's what it looks like...
So apparently, David Duchovny grows up to Abe Lincoln.

Well, Abe, thank you for your early years with "The X-Files." I never would of thought that you went from Mulder to Honest Abe. I guess The Truth was Out There.

O Tetris! My Tetris!

I was playing Tetris today on a really old school Nintendo Game Boy. Not the huge gray old school ones, but the ones just before Game Boy Color came out. BTW, I have one of those :) I got Donkey Kong Country for Christmas one year and had the game beat by New Years.

The thing with Tetris is that I'm always waiting for the long cube. The skinny, long four cube one (I think the technical term is the "I shape"). I seem to get myself into a Tetris rut and the only way to knock out four rows to get more points is all up the skinny, tall one. I'm naming this few and far between block "Skinny B!*@#"...because truly, that is what it is.

My favorite block is the one that can go in all directions - the "T Shape." This one is the best!!! Seriously, I can use it anywhere. Whenever I'm in trouble and the "T" is on deck, I know it will hit one out of the park for me. I see good things for "Mr. T."

Now, the "O Shape" seems to come at all the wrong times. Like when I just placed Skinny B!*@# somewhere because I had no place else to put it, then all of sudden "Oprah" comes sailing down WAY too fast and I'm out of luck. Thus, a difficult situation has occurred and now my whole game is screwed up. Oprah...this is the only time when I'm not a big fan. You may take up a lot of space, and you really do change people's lives, but you're giving me one helluva run for survival.

The "Z, S, J, and L" shapes give me trouble too. Whenever I need the "Z" I get the "S" - and vice versa. Same goes for the "J" and the "L." It's like when I'm watching "Saved by the Bell" and I really want to watch Zach, but Screech comes in with a doofy look on his face. Or when I'm looking for comic relief and I actually prefer Screech to be on tv, but Zach Morris starts one of his monologues. And with J. Lo...I like her music, but "Gigli," really? Really????

Tetris is like life. You get what you get. Sometimes a fastball, sometimes a slider. Sometimes Screech and Jennifer Lopez are slamming you with their bricks, and Oprah and Zach are nowhere in sight. You want to "Pity the fool" more times than not, but the Skinny B!*@# always squeezes her way in and either makes your life a living hell, or saves you.

HairS cut

Why is it called a haircut? Most people get hairs cut from their head...not just one hair.

Do you like my hairdo? How does my hair look? I'm going to pull my hair up in a ponytail.

Why not hairs?

Your hair is all over the bathroom floor! Pick out your long hair in the sink, gross!

Again, why not hairs??

People do say: I have a few stubborn hairs here.

But they don't say: I just got my hairS cut.

Well, I got my hairS cut last Thursday.

EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!!

Since I was so curious about the subject of hair vs. hairs, I looked it up. According to Wikipedia, "The word hair is usually used without article in singular number when it refers to all the hairs on one's head in general. But if it refers to a single hair, it takes the indefinite article (a hair), or if it refers to more than one hair, a few hairs, then it takes the plural form without an article, and needs a plural verb."

There you have it. I love you Wikipedia. But I also like saying "I just got my hairs cut."

Especially when I say it with a hillbilly twang. Yee haw!

Wednesday Musings: Take Twelve

On the first day of Musings my true love sent to me...a severely asleep left leg.
(if you sing it right, it works, so...sing it right)

On the second day of Musings my true love sent to me...two choc.chip cookies.
(for lunch - yum!)

On the third day of Musings my true love sent to me...three cute kids.
(not mine. definitely not mine. My mom is watching my new baby nephew Alec, plus the regular Billy and Caitlyn. Yay for my sis-in-law getting a job)

On the fourth day of Musings my true love sent to me...four yawns at work.
(I'm so frickin' tired in the morning, it's unbelievable, since I go to bed at 9:30)

On the fifth day of Musings my true love sent to me...FIVE STRETCHED FINGERS!!!
(we stretch before work to limber up our limbs for all the assembling we do. Technically it's ten fingers that are stretched, but whatever)

On the sixth day of Musings my true love sent to me...six movies a watchin'.
(last Saturday, I spent my day in front of the TV watching movies ranging from Severance to Moonlight Mile)

On the seventh day of Musings my true love sent to me...seven bird poop droppings.
(a little redundant, but why are they pooping and dropping their droppings on my car? Thank goodness my car is white)

On the eighth day of Musings my true love sent to me...eight non-suitors wooing.
("true love"....not yet. I wish I had eight. At the wedding I had one guy who tried to woo me, but that didn't work out so well. He was really drunk)

On the ninth day of Musings my true love sent to me...nine ounces hurting.
(I really like Coke. I do. I love it, but after about 9oz of the stuff, I'm ready for my relationship with the cola to back off. At least until the next day)

On the tenth day of Musings my true love sent to me...ten minutes of resting.
(that's what I get at work. A break at lunch and then a 10 minute break to recoup. I like it)

On the eleventh day of Musings my true love sent to me...eleven days to bday.
(then I'll be 23. September 5th!!!)

On the twelfth day of Musings my true love sent to me...twelve safe eggs to eat.
(salmonella, gross. Not in my house! Plus, chickens are nasty. But I do love their eggs. Be safe everyone!)

So that was a little cheesy, and really challenging to think of stuff. Really challenging...especially when I can smell the bacon upstairs and when I've been holding in my pee for about ten minutes. That can't be good for my kidney.

And to clear up the Coke part. Coca Cola. Not cocaine. After I re-read it, the ounces might confuse people, but I capitalized the C in Coke.

**I Don't Know Why I Laugh Sometimes is a drug free blog**

OMG...MIA

I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that I haven't posted in almost 20 days. I feel really bad, but I've also been really busy.

I checked my phone this morning and I saw that I had a comment on my last blog. One of my followers was checking up on me. So of course, I had to blog right away. It means a lot to me that my followers are still thinking about me even though my blogging days have gone from everyday to once or twice every month. Seriously, if I had wireless in my house, I would still be blogging almost every single day, and that's a Kinsey Promise.

So what have I been up to??? Let me tell you.

My best friend Andrea got married on August 14th, so that whole was full of things for me to do :)

Speaking of that week (wow, my transitions are a little rusty) I got offered a job!! WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I was on the computer looking for jobs, as usual, on Friday the 7th. I noticed that a temp agency was looking to place someone as an order assembler in Menomonie. I emailed the agency my resume and within 5 minutes - no joke, 5 minutes - they called me saying that they were interested. So I did an interview with them on the 10th, they called me the same day saying that the company wanted to do an interview with me. I had an interview with Big Dot of Happiness in Menomonie on Wednesday, and they wanted to hire me. Everything happened really fast and I was so happy that someone wanted to hire me...so happy!! Finally :)

Anyway, on Friday the 13th (cue eerie music) I drove into Eau Claire with the bride and the bridesmaids and we all got our nails done. Then we had rehearsal in this beautiful Catholic church. After, of course, we had the dinner. It was a dark and stormy night, and the dinner was at a park. Luckily, I left before the torrential rains came down.

On Saturday, the 14th, I woke up bright and early to get my hair done. Then we spent our morning and afternoon at the church getting ready and walking down the aisle - strictly wedding stuff :)

Bridesmaids and Andrea

I was the maid-of-honor, and very honored to be in Andrea's wedding. You see, we've been friends since kindergarten. I remember the first day of school when Andrea held tight to her mother's legs. Ever since that day or the day after, we've been really good friends.

Putting earrings in! My sister made Andrea's jewelry :)

The wedding was beautiful, Andrea looked gorgeous, and the entire bridal party looked stunning together.Me and Andrea

So on Sunday, after a night of drinking and dancing and partying like a rock star, I rode up with my parents to my sister's house for my goddaughter's 2nd birthday. Little Addie!!! She is such a cutie pie :) I took her outside for a little bit and as we were walking around the yard barefoot I stepped in some mud...or poop. Fearing that it was the latter, I sat down on the deck stairs and wiped off this brown substance with a leaf. But no worries, it was mud. Addie looked at me, bent down to grab some grass, and then proceeded to wipe off her little toes with it.

Addie and me (this summer)

We arrived back home around 10:00pm and with the new job on my brain, I barely got a wink of sleep before waking up at 6:30 the next day. Monday, the 16th, was my first day at Big Dot of Happiness, and boy was I tired. I pushed through it though, and had a pretty darn good day.

I had a pretty darn good week, for that matter. I work with wonderful people who are polite and friendly to give me a hand or answer a question I might have. Basically what I do is put together invitations and party supplies (like favor boxes, stickers, thank you cards, candle favor tins, and other party favor things...I've been doing favor boxes all week just to get used to everything). You can check out their website if you're curious about the company.

All week I've been coming home from work, putting my feet up, and going to bed around 9:00. I think I've gotten used to waking up and working from 9-5 now, so bring on next week!

MIA...yes, but you see that I've had one helluva month so far. I'll try to keep up as best as I can with all of your blogs and writing on my own. Again, I apologize for not keeping you all in the loop.

And before I forget, I got my haircut on Thursday. I'll post of picture of that next week.

De'ja Favre??

Yes, again I find myself staring at a newspaper filled with Brett Favre's sad, old face. Excuse me, ma'am, what year is it? Ohh, thank you, 2010, not 2008. I feel like I'm reliving my summers over and over, since this story about Favre hasn't changed.

Seriously, he needs to retire and stay retired. He should not, I repeat, he should NOT, say he's going to retire, miss training camp (on purpose...I honestly think that's what he's doing) and then make a public announcement saying, "I'M BAAAAACK!!!"

Now, to clear up how I feel about Favre, (if I'm hard to read, already) I should tell you my history with him. Back when he was playing with the Packers, I loved him. I wanted to marry him, or at least have his babies, so my babies could grow up and play professional football and make their mother lots of money. Needless to say, he was like a god in Wisconsin. Then he said he was retiring (the first time, not to be confused with the second or the third), and I cried. I cried over a professional football player.

After he said he was returning, I was all happy again, but a little peeved. When the Packers didn't really have a place for him, I understood the position they were in. Then I grew to love Aaron Rodgers and now I want to have his babies. Brett Favre played for the Jets, and it didn't bother me, because well, the Packers and the Jets never played each other.

Then, Favre called it quits again, but later caught the eyes of the Purple People Eaters - the Vikings...ick. Excuse me while I throw up. And that's how Favre became a Viking. I was spitting angry!!!!!!! I almost cried again, for why would Brett do such a thing? In the name of FOOTBALL, why would Favre (a once beloved Packer, turn away from the team that gave him life, the team that made him great, and become a Viking? Why? Why?) So after I grieved for his ignorance to all of Wisconsin, I began to dislike Favre.

Sure, he played one helluva season with the Vikes, but stick a fork in him-he's done.

Well, for now at least.

But just think, the Packers are really gaining ground here. They had a pretty good season last year, and with Favre out of the picture for the Vikings, I'm expecting great things for Rodgers' and company.

And Brett or Aaron, if you're reading this, I guess...ya know...if you're up to it, that "baby offer" will never expire :)

Wednesday Musings: Take Eleven

My new favorite shows are The Closer, Rizzoli and Isles, and Hot in Cleveland. Granted, The Closer isn't a "new" series, but it's the first I've watched it...and let me tell you, "It's Kinsey Approved!"

I applied for an administrative assistant position for a chiropractic office last Sunday, and last Monday they called me, but I was asleep (as it was 9 am and I had no reason to start my day early), so my niece picked up the phone and told them that I was asleep. She took the message like a young Pam Beasley and when I woke up about 15 minutes later I returned the call. The secretary answered and had no idea that I was called, but said she would find out who called me and then have them call me back. I waited and waited and waited and waited. I waited for a couple more days and then I called them back, thinking that they were probably really busy. So I explained to this dude on the phone who I was and asked them what the situation was on my call back, he said he would figure it out and have someone call me. Well, no one called me back and I don't care if they hired someone else, but at least have the decency to tell me. GOSH!

That was a long musing, but I had to get it out there. I feel better now.

I got caught in a storm again. Just my luck, right? I went to River Falls to visit a friend and I had just left her place when it started to rain cats and dogs. I made it about 5 miles down the road when I had to turn back after getting a call from my mom and then my friend saying the sirens were going off. So I stayed in River Falls for another hour waiting for the storm to pass. Is God trying to send me some sort of message via storms??

I got a new phone!! It's a Palm Pre Plus, and it rocks! It totally rocks! I'm in love with it. I thought about doing a blog from it, but it would take me a really long time, so I'm not going to. Maybe someday...when I master, of course, the little keypad of abc's.

On the way to see Ramona and Beezus with my niece who takes messages for me while I'm sleeping, I told Caitlyn that I'm like Beezus and she's like Ramona - since she doesn't have a big sister, only and older brother, and I don't think he's the Selena Gomez type. But after the movie (which was really good!) I told her that I could be her "Aunt Bea" and she can still be Ramona. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, Aunt Bea, is Aunt Beatrice, Ramona's mom's sister...even though I'm Caitlyn's dad's sister...man, this is falling apart in front of my eyes.

Here's a still from the movie. Aunt Bea, Beezus, Ramona, and Dorothy Quimby

I'm sitting downstairs with my hood up. It's that kind of night. Plus my hair is wet from swimming, and I don't want to freeze down here.

Why Facebook, Why?

I haven't been on Facebook in awhile. The sparkle that was once in my eye for that special networking site has faded. I've been a Facebook member since high school, and I used to waste away my day looking at pictures, searching for new buttons that expressed who I am, and adding more information to an already jam-packed profile.

Now, as a 22 (almost 23 year old) the last thing I did was post pictures from this summer. I had to...you see, my newest nephew was born on the 17th, and I had the Facebook urge to show my friends and relatives his cute, little baby face. His name, if you would like to know is Alec Boyd Bodenburg. And I have a feeling I will love him just as much as I love Alec Baldwin.

The day he was born I traveled to the nearest computer to write in my status a congratulatory statement to my brother and his wife. My sister, Tyne, had already written one, and so had my brother (the father of Alec) - earlier in the morning after Alec was born. Then I realized that this information on my six hour old nephew had already gone viral!

Back in the day, when dinosaurs weren't able to chat with their prehistoric buddies via Facebook chat, since it was down (as it almost always is), they had to telephone people, send letters, walk to their neighbor's house to deliver news of any sort. Now, I can go on my laptop and type in a simple sentence and have hundreds of friends know instantly.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it seems like not long ago, we were a more connected society. And through physical contact we achieved this.

Likewise, I can go on Facebook and find out in about ten minutes of browsing, who is pregnant, who is single, who got laid-off, and who got drunk the weekend before. I can see who got a new tattoo, who scored the highest in the racing game, who would "rather be enjoying the nice weather instead of working," and who is putting their child down for a nap and will be back to Facebook shortly. This social network is more of a private network seen socially by anyone who is "friends" with someone else.

But this isn't all bad. On the contrary, word spreads fast on Facebook and you can learn a lot about someone or something that is going on. I agree that Facebook is a nice way to massively spread information and share good news - like my nephew, Alec.

But I also think that maybe we should step back a bit, and not share anything and everything that happens to us the moment it happens. I don't want to know about the hair clog in your sink drain. I don't need to know that (Pet name here) peed all over the carpet, and I definitely don't want to know when you woke up, went to bed, or when you are eating.

If you would send out a public announcement about an engagement, wedding, baby arrival, and/or change of address to your friends and family, then it is okay to post that on Facebook.

If you call up your mother every time you take a bite out of your sandwich...then I would think twice about letting your Facebook friends know, because, honestly, we don't care.

(I've been subject to writing useless Facebook status updates in the past...I think we all have)

The Pool

No one floated a Baby Ruth in the pool today...darn. That would have added more excitement to my day at the pool with my two little nephews - Tate and Easton.

Let's begin with some poop instead then, real poop. Baby Easton's poop. Let me emphasize baby, since it was green - GREEN - and mushy. Very, very, very mushy. Why am I telling you this? Because, his fecal material, if you can even call it that, spread like a wildfire through his diaper and out of his diaper, and onto his pretty blue outfit - now with accents of green.

Luckily, this was the worst part of the whole day. And guess what, Aunt Kinsey didn't even think to bring another outfit. She's so smart. I'm talking about myself in the 3rd person, this needs to stop.

After I changed him and washed out his clothes the best I could with a bottle of water and baby wipes, Easton wore his Little Swimmers with style.

Tate was very easy to watch at the pool. All he did was jump in the pool, climb the ladder out, jump in, climb out, jump in, climb out, and jump in continuously for three hours. Easy as pie. No poop in Tate's pants, that's for sure.

At this public pool, the lifeguards whistle on the hour so the kids get a "safety break." Now this is a good idea. Tate came back for some water drinking and relaxation for ten minutes. He even told me, "If I wasn't sitting here for my break, then I'd be doing cannonballs right now."

We all had a snack - Tate had a corndog, Easton and I shared Dippin' Dots with Tate after he scarfed down his corndoggie. Then it was back to swimming and a Little Swimmer change for Easton. He was sagging a bit.

Easton enjoyed the water for a little bit longer then I tried to feed him his bottle, but he fell asleep in about five minutes. So I sat with him as he slept. That was about it for our pool day.

When I read this to Tate before I posted it, he wanted to add a little more, so this is what he told me to type:

Tate and another boy and Alex jumped the waves when everybody went in the water. - Spoken from the mouths of babes ;)

It was the perfect day to go to the pool and spend time with my Minnesota nephews (even though Tate has enough good sense to wear a Brewers shirt today).

Wednesday Musings: Take Ten

Twenty minutes and this is no longer a Wednesday Musings, but a Thursday Mistakes.

I drove my mom's boat...I mean Buick all the way to St. Francis, MN to visit my brother and his family. I drove through a storm (tornado like), almost hydroplaned, screamed after the radio told me that a tornado has been spotted, and then drove like a short old woman who has to sit really close to the steering wheel to see out the windshield about 20 minutes after "the storm" passed.

Despicable Me is really funny.

Why is the Northern Wisconsin State Fair called the Northern Wisconsin State Fair? It's in Chippewa Falls, WI...and that isn't in Northern Wisconsin - it's 20 some minutes from my house.

My brother gave me a Spiderman blanket to sleep with tonight. I'm almost too excited to fall asleep.

Blogger thinks Spiderman is spelled wrong, because it's showing red squiggly lines underneath it. Doesn't blogger know who Spiderman is? I mean, he's no Batman, but come on.

My nephew, Tate, was watching Ghost Hunters on Syfy tonight. He's not even eight yet and he's watching Ghost Hunters...alone...in his basement. He is so BRAVE!!!

I laid in a hammock tonight, and I really, really, really, really want one. Maybe when I'm older.

Why did Casey Schuler have to Die???

All hands on deck! Let's kill that little monkey from Outbreak. His virus just killed Kevin Spacey's character.

Bummer...too late, if only I posted this sooner.

Anywho, if I'm not a slacker in the blogging world than my name is Fraulein Sausage Fingers.

I almost hate myself for not posting all week, then I think, "Hey, I've been enjoying the sunshine and the pool, and this is summer and I don't really like sitting in the cold basement anyway (since we don't have wireless, I have to plug my computer in downstairs)."

So let me do a quick review with you all:

I almost died three times this week. Yup...three.

First almost deadly occurrence: 4th of July - A rocket firework that is supposed to shoot thirty feet in the air didn't. The stick that was holding it upright burned off, my dad tried to stomp it out, but he couldn't, so he ran, my brother ran, my nephew almost ran, and we all watched as it shot off at us. Okay, so it wasn't as "deadly" as I thought, and if I was outside and really close to it I might have burned myself. This one was a stretch. What can I say...I'm an exaggerater.

Second occurrence: Yesterday - in the parking lot of WalMart. Let me paint the picture for you. My mom drove around the parking lot with my older sister, Kyrstin, in the front seat. I sat in the back behind my mom. "There's a spot!" someone shouted. Yay, we all thought to ourselves, nice and close. So my mom drove down the lane, but had to back up. She put the car in PARK. Then my sister says, "That car is backing up, it's going to hit us!" I look to my left and a jeep/suv/bigger than our vehicle is backing up towards us as my mom is trying to figure out why our car isn't backing up. Kyrstin starts banging on her window with her fist (thinking the idiot who is backing up will hear her), my mom doesn't realize the car is still in PARK, so she is wondering what the heck is wrong with the car, I'm just staring as the back of the green vehicle approaches us (I don't know why I didn't go into panic mode), all the while Kyrstin is still SCREAMING and still BANGING on the window!!!! Finally my mom lays on the horn. The green vehicle stops, we finally pull forward as my mom shifts into DRIVE, and then we all laughed for about five minutes straight.

Third and final occurrence: Aldi - it's the first time I've ever been in that store, and I come home and I get sick. I now have a stuffy nose and an off and on sore throat. I should've never went to the bathroom there...they had no soap. Ick. I will never set foot in that store again (at least not the Eau Claire one).

Alright, fine, so I never really ever came close to dying in those stories...but I could have. I now know what Kevin Spacey's character went through - poor guy.

A New Lady??

Now this really irks me. I was watching tv the other day, as I had nothing better to do - I applied for a job, ate lunch, went swimming, got my tan on, wrestled with the kiddos - ya know...everyday stuff, and the Orbit Gum commercial came on.

Oh how excited I was. These commercials are great! "Who are you calling a cootie queen, you LINT licKER?" Joy!

So as I sat on the couch thinking of my future days as a wealthy person, the blonde in the commercial was not the blonde I was used to seeing.

What in the world? I looked around the living and saw my niece, Addie, running around with my mom's hair pick screaming, "Mine, Aaaddie, mine, mine, mama, mine." Surely, Addie was not to be bothered with my dilemma.

Then I thought, maybe I saw her wrong. So I rewound the commercial (thanks to the almighty DVR) and watched the commercial again. This time, though, about a foot away from the tv - I was not to be fooled. I prayed a quick prayer before pushing Play.

To my disappointment, I was proved wrong. The commercial gods did a number on me and switched the Orbit Gum Lady with a poser gum actress. And I know they tried to trick me by finding a "look-a-like," but I think I would have been happier if they switched the original and awesome Orbit Lady with an old red-headed woman. Don't try to fool me commercial people (some may call you advertisers, but I call you adverTEASERS). We are not as dumb as you may think. I do not approve.

Do you hear me? Kinsey Bodenburg does not approve. Please bring back the original Orbit Lady. I mean really, "What the french toast?"

Stone Hands, Monsters, and Baseball

On the two-hour trip to watch my nephew, Tate play baseball, I sat between an almost two year old squawk box and a five year old that talks until your ear falls off.

Here are some highlights from the trip...

- I told a "scary" story about a brother and sister that thought Frankenstein was in their attic.

- Connor turned my hands into stone hands and ice hands.

- At one point all three of us were reading magazines. Fitness for me, Playmobile for Connor, and Fisher Price for Addie.

- After a drive-thru run at McDonalds, Connor plugged his nose and said, "It SMELLS!!" He was referring to my cheeseburger. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't eat it. He told me to throw it out the window, because it smelled so bad.

- Later Connor asked us what monsters we wanted to be. He was the Headless Horseman, Addie was a witch, I was a vampire, Grandma was a mummy, and Grandpa was a zombie.

- On the way home we played the no talking game. The silence lasted for about ten minutes, then Connor whispered to me, "When is it over?"

The baseball game: Tate did a wonderful job playing ball. It was his last game of the season, so he received a medal too! He looked pretty proud. I watched him play catcher and complete two outs, hit the ball and run the bases, and play defense in the field. Pretty basic baseball stuff ;) I've watched a lot of kids play baseball in my years, and I have to say that Tate is a pretty good ballplayer. He listens to his coaches and really pays attention to the game.

Tate batting

Me and my little nephew Easton (I think he's going to be a ballplayer too)

It was like a Beach Boys song

I played sand volleyball last night. A friend of ours needed two players to fill in and luckily both my sister Kyrstin and I were able to help out. We played three games and had a lot of fun.

Oh the joys of sand volleyball...the list is endless:

1. You can sport a nice tan or work on one.

2. Beer...need I say more? (I just drank water though)

3. The competition is always fun.

4. Taking your frustrations out on the volleyball.

5. Diving for a ball just feels really good.

Okay, so the list is not "endless."

So last night as we played this team of middle aged people, I noticed this lady in a pink shirt who would only use one arm to hit the ball. There was nothing wrong with her other arm, she just used the one arm to bump the ball. Oddly enough, the ball would go over almost every time. I couldn't help but laugh when she successfully got the ball over the net with this one-arm technique.

Then it started to frustrate me when the other team, as poor as their volleyball skills were, would score on us. I mean, our team consisted of four previous Elk Mound High School Volleyball teammates and two guys who actually knew how to hit the ball. Hmmmph! We should've killed them with our awesome talent ;)

We did end up winning all three games and I think we beat them by a pretty good margin each time, so that made me feel good about myself. But if I hit like One-Arm Pinkerbell, my hits would've went sailing left or right into the other court, since I was properly trained to hit a volleyball the right way.

Let me end on this note: Although I had a great time playing, I didn't appreciate the sand in my face, hair, crevices, and holes. And get your head out of the gutter - EAR holes .

Just Keep Swimming

Today is the first day that we are using our pool this year. We've had some pretty crappy weather up to this point. Also, we had to put in a new liner, since ours has weathered for about 20 years.

It's supposed to be 88 degrees and sunny! Yes!!! HOT WEATHER! I love it.

I remember as a kid swimming with my brothers and sisters. Oftentimes, we would set up a volleyball net and have friends over to play. Then we got a slide. That was a very exciting time for us.

We found that we would slide down faster if we put my kickboard under us as we went down the slide. Surprisingly, no one got hurt.

When I was really young, I remember being thrown into the pool by my older brothers - Blake more than Boyd. This resulted in time-outs for Blake, and me crying (of course!).

Luckily for me, I grew up with two pools to play in. My neighbor, Dusty, also had a pool. Dusty and I spent most of our summer afternoons in the pool playing "Shark" with his older brother Derek. Then Dusty and I would get tired of swimming, so we would build forts on the deck out of lawn chairs, towels, and pool toys. That was my favorite.

As far back as I can remember, swimming has always meant summer to me. It's sad that I've grown away from being thrown in the pool and playing "Shark" with Dusty, but we all have to grow up...that doesn't mean I have to stop from forever playing those games though - I have young nieces and nephews!

Surprise!

I decided to wake up early this morning. Well, I didn't really "decide" to, but I couldn't fall back asleep. It was 6:30 AM.

This is early for me.

So I tossed and turned for a twenty minutes or so and then finally decided that falling back asleep and sleeping until 10:00 AM was a lost cause.

After a thinking about what my plans were going to be for the rest of the day...since I now have the WHOLE day to do things, I got out of bed, made my bed (this is also a first in a long time), and went upstairs.

The first person I saw - my mom. "What are you doing up so early?" she said.

I told her my dilemma about not being able to fall back asleep. Her conclusion: "You're finally on a normal sleep schedule."

The next person I saw - my sister-in-law. She gave me a funny look- "You're up early."

"Yep," I said.

My niece Caitlyn and my nephew Billy were the only ones not to give me grief this morning.

I decided to start my day early. I know this is really out of character for me, but in the realm of things, this is not the weirdest thing that I've done.

Then I went on my run, came back and stretched and stuff, saw my sister - "Did you already run?" she asked me.

I sat on the floor with my shirt pooled with sweat and my hair looking like I dunked my head in water, and thought to myself No, this is what I look like when I wake up in the morning. "Yeah," I said. (Kyrstin was pretty groggy this morning, so I felt my sarcasm would only make her crabby)

After my shower I went back downstairs and my nephew Connor screamed, because I was in a towel. Little does he know that he will soon love ladies in only towels. (Just not his relatives).

I ran into my dad and he said, "Super Kinsey's awake."

Yes, yes, yes, Super Kinsey is awake and ready to take on whatever this Monday is going to bring her.

"Tell it to me in Star Wars"

I asked my five year old nephew, Connor, what I should blog about today.
Connor: "Star Wars."

Me: "What about Star Wars?"

Connor: "It's AWESOME!!"

So in honor of Connor, that is all I'm saying about Star Wars in this blog post. I agree that it is awesome, and I don't want to ruin a good thing by talking anymore about it.

Instead, I'll show you all pictures from my wonderful Brewers weekend! Enjoy :)The whole family

Courtesy of my sister-in-law, April, is me with my Farfrompuken sticker.
Also, the necklace I'm wearing was made by sister, Tyne.

Tailgating

"Juuuust a bit outside!"

I know that's a quote from Major League, but it's all things baseball to me.

Here's the shirt I made for the Brewers game on Saturday. I decorated it with fabric paint. The logos are from 1970 to present. I hand drew them all...outside...while getting a tan (burn, actually, but now it's a tan).

Front


Back

Wednesday Musings: Take Niner

A Salute to Wednesday Musings: Take Nine...here is a quote.
"Two, four, niner, five, six, seven."
"I can't hear you, you're trailing off and did I catch a niner in there?" - Tommy Boy

I was watching The View this morning and I could NEVER be a guest co-host. Too much interrupting.

On the same note: I think Joy Behar's hair is getting bigger every year.

It's full of secrets...

I made my own shirt for the Brewers game on Saturday! It's really awesome, if I do say so myself. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.

Last night I taught my almost 2 year old niece how to "pound it." Our fists explode and everything.

My five year old nephew plays T-Ball and he constantly wants to be the one who gets the ball. At his game on Monday, he was playing shortstop and was cheering for the other team to "HIT THE BALL!" over and over. Then he went up to his teammate and asked him "Do you know any Star Wars people?" Needless to say, I laughed throughout the entire game.

My sister, Tyne, did a giveaway last week for one of her necklaces. Now she is taking orders. If you would like her to make you one or buy one that is custom made, drop by at TyneBoden Necklaces. She made one for me. It's a wishbone one and it's really cool!!

In movie news: I'm seeing Sex and the City 2 tomorrow with my sisters. I'm taking my oldest nephew to The Karate Kid sometime next week. And last, but definitely not least, I'll be seeing Toy Story 3 the week it comes out!!!

It's weird that all the movies I'm about to see are remakes or sequels.

Have a happy Wednesday!

It's on Playboy Radio, Sirius XM

I was baffled to hear that some Playboy Bunnies actually have a talk show on the radio. I guess anyone can get a radio show these days. Where do I sign up?

Seriously, these girls were about as smart as their plastic boobies. I was on the road with my best friend Andrea and her fiance Jeremy. He recently bought her an awesome new car. So as we were driving, Jeremy turned on Playboy Radio. At first Andrea and I couldn't stop laughing and making fun of the ladies.

They were talking about how big or small their heads were. Really??? Really??? Then one lady dropped the word "cranium" into her sentence. I think she did this so her listeners would think she had some sort of brain in her large head. Or was she the one with the small head?

One of the other ladies thought she said "cranial" - this was probably the first time she heard the word. After about 2 minutes of gabbing back and forth about her large "cranial" the first lady (haha, not Mrs. Obama) corrected the other Past Her Prime Playboy by saying that it was "cranium" and not "cranial."

Oh, how they thought that was funny. Andrea and I laughed too, and then sighed with relief that we are not those women.

Later in the show they were giving away panties.

Their own panties.

The panties that they were wearing.

Scandalous.

So there the three of us sat listening to them pull down their pants and describe to the listeners what their panties looked like.

One pantie had a string hanging from it. The lady said that this pantie was five years old and the string represents the wear from it.

EWW! Throw those away! If you've been keeping and wearing underwear for five years...it's time to go to Vickie's Secret and buy some more!

A lot more things of little substance were said, and soon we arrived at our destination.

My conclusion: I feel A LOT better about myself after listening to those Booby Bunnies talk about, well, underwear.

Avatar

Not the movie. Sorry, I haven't seen it. I really shouldn't be apologizing, but I feel the need to since it seems like I'm the only person in the world who hasn't seen it.

I can never get to the point of my post fast enough...

I was creating a Guitar Hero avatar "Rock Star" and realized that no one would create an avatar that looked just like them. I mean, mine has the same hair color as me, but that's about it.

I guess that's the reason why people want to make avatars, so that they can "live" through them in some way, or in my case party like a rock star with one.

If people are overweight, they make a skinnier avatar. If people are tattooless, then they put a tattoo on their avatar's arm. I did. A spiderweb tattoo. It's pretty bomb.

Short people make themselves taller, blondes become brunette and vice versa, and some avatars look a ton sluttier or muscular than the avatar creator.

Why don't we want to be ourselves?

My answer...because the real Kinsey would hardly be a rock star in the real world, so my avatar "Kins" will have to rock out for me.

Disconnected and still alive

I'm surprised I still know how to blog. Ever since I moved back home I barely keep my cell phone on (because I sleep in the basement and it eats up my battery), I'm hardly ever on the computer, and my ears aren't plugged into any iPod.

I'm disconnected and still alive. Amazing, isn't it?

When I was in school I was almost always on the computer or checking my cell phone. I had a soundtrack for my walk to and from classes.

Which do I prefer?

That's a hard one.

"That's what she said!" Hahahahahaha!!!!!

But really though, I like being unplugged from all the technology around me. On the other hand, I'm not completely "unplugged" - I've been playing Guitar Hero on my Wii :) So, I guess I'm unplugged in the wireless sense, but not in the technological sense.

I also miss reading all the blogs and blogging myself.

So, I'm a little bit halfsies on this one. I like keeping up with my facebook friends, talking/texting on my cell, downloading music, and watching hilarious youtube videos, but it's summer now. I spend most of my days outdoors and keeping busy.

Is anyone else struggling with the balance of summer-time and blogging-time??

Top Ten Signs That You've Been Impatiently Waiting for Summer

1. You agreed that it was swim-suit season in February, and have been swimming in hotel pools since.

2. That you just go to the tanning bed to feel the warmth.

3. You've been wearing flip flips since last summer ended.

4. You grill all year round...even when the big snowstorm came through.

5. Your office is plastered with pictures of Hawaii beaches and palm trees.

6. You listen to The Beach Boys and/or Kenny Chesney everyday.

7. You think proper attire for Casual Friday is a bikini with a towel wrapped around your waist.

8. You sip margaritas with a beach hat on while watching Oprah in the afternoon.

9. You don't mind it when your kids track in sand from outside, because you like the feeling of it between your toes.

10. You have or are thinking about packing up and leaving for the Middle East just so you can get some sun.

Summer is nearing and the temperatures are up in Wisconsin!!! Have a happy weekend! I won't be updating until Monday since I'm moving my sister and her family. (Sorry I've been slack this week. It's been really hard to find the time to blog and read all of your blogs). I promise that I will be more on track next week.

I just call her Fergie

Today I was baking cookies and my mom came in the kitchen. This is how our conversation went:

Mom: "Did you hear the latest about Fergie? Princess Fergie...whatever she's being called."

Kinsey: "I just call her Fergie."

Mom: "Not the singer Fergie."

Both of us: "HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Kinsey: (thinking) I feel stupid. "I thought you meant the singer. You mean Wales Fergie or wherever she is from???"

Mom: "England, yeah. She is having people pay to see Prince Andrew for like $10,000.00!"

Kinsey: "That's a pretty good idea."

Mom: "No, Kinsey, that's really bad."

Kinsey: "Oh, haha...I just call her Fergie."

Both of us: (more laughs)

I sort of felt like the dumb girls off the street when Jay Leno does his segment "Jaywalking."

Shame On You!

High school sports. Ahhhh, those were the good ole days, right? Eh, I suppose.

Don't get me wrong, I love sports. I LOVE athletics! I really do, but sometimes the politics or something else got in the way of the game.

Let's take a look at my junior year of volleyball. That year, the coach's daughter was a freshman. She was a great athlete and so were a couple of her freshmen friends, but they weren't quite ready for the varsity level - or at least that's what the varsity team thought. Our coach felt different. Needless to say, the coach's daughter and her friends played varsity with us.

After we voiced our opinions on the matter of the younger girls' little experience, we had a "meeting" after one of our away games in our high school locker room. Here, our coach yelled at us. We took it in stride and some of the girls cried and some talked about it and some (me) just sat and took it all in. At one point, my friend Hayley accidentally knocked a table over and us girls giggled about it (because it was funny...and really late at night). Our coach thought we weren't taking the meeting seriously and stormed out. When she came back she yelled at us some more and said, "SHAME ON YOU!" This is an example of politics getting in the way of my love for volleyball.

I'm not saying that my coach was mean or anything, because she was a very good coach. At the time though, I just wanted to play the game without any drama.

Next came softball. Not so much politics in this sport, but other things. Like the year I was in a "slump" with another girl. Our coach moved us down in the batting order, instead of giving us a chance to hit. We never got to practice improving out hitting game during practice...so how were we supposed to get better? Magic? I don't think so. To top it off, my coach printed off an article on hitting slumps and handed them out before a game, where she announced that me and this other girl were both struggling and should really take this article seriously.

If Derek Jeter can go 0-a lot, then so can I. DJ and I had a slump going on at the same time. Except, he was still getting paid thousands and thousands of dollars and I was, well, wasn't.

Another softball moment. It was a windy day one game. I played center field. I had about three or four hits out to me one inning, and the wind would take the ball a lot further than expected. Naturally, because of this wind thing, I couldn't get to the ball in time. So my coach yells from the dugout, "KINSEY! CATCH THE BALL!!!"

I thought to myself, you come out here and try and catch the ball. It's not as easy as it looks. I have a lot of field to cover on top of this frickin' wind blowing the ball every which way. Does it look like I'm trying not to catch the ball??.

So anyway, this post probably sounds like a rant, but I loved high school sports...really, I did. It was just those few moments (which as I look back on them, have made me a better player) that weren't about the game so much as about politics or just about winning.

To me, that's not what sports are all about. It's about love for the game, diving for a ball on the gym floor, getting an ACE and celebrating in the middle of the court, hitting a double, throwing out the runner at home, and (as weird as this sounds) getting hit by a pitch and running down the line to first base where the assistant coach would say, "Pain is temporary, Pride is forever."

Then I would think, yeah, but that really hurt.

I'm Promoting My Sister

My sister, Tyne, has always had an eye for fashion. Recently, she's taken up necklace making.

Tyne and me (a couple of years ago)

And she's really good at it! She made me a necklace for graduation and I love it.

Check out her website: http://tynebodennecklaces.blogspot.com/

You won't be disappointed.

P.S. I created her logo ;)

Wednesday Musings: Take Eight

Have you ever felt needed so much that you want to scream? I had that feeling today, but now I'm okay :)

Slams the Door turned 22 yesterday. I wasn't able to provide her with a proper cake, so I took out a couple of Fudge Rounds and stuck two matches in them. I wasn't able to provide proper birthday candles either.

Slams the Door and her Fudge Round "Cake"

I dyed my hair yesterday. It's darker than my original hair color, but I reallyreallyreally like it :) I'll post a picture of it next week sometime.

I'm very independent, VERY independent. I don't know why either.

Did anyone see the season finale of House on Monday??? It was amazing!!! I think I'm in love with Hugh Laurie.

On Sunday, I went and saw A Nightmare on Elm Street in theaters. Wow, job well done my friends. I give that movie a standing ovation for recreating a classic horror film in good taste. (Sidenote: This was the first time I went and saw an actual "scary" movie in the theater. I was nervous that I was going to scream, but I didn't) I jumped and threw my hands in the air instead.

I want to lay down in the grass

As I ran this afternoon in the hot sun of 72 degree Minnesota weather, I yearned to take a break and lay down in the soft green grass of a white house on the corner of 7th of Olmstead. How nice it would be to have a yard right now. My apartment "yard" is trimmed too short with sticks and weeds and empty beer cans. I do not yearn to lay in that grass.

So I ran to the beat of Katrina and the Waves, Carrie Underwood, and Foreigner until I reached the park. There I sat and watched the turtle and crane statues shoot water out of their mouths into the pool. I pulled out my pink earphones and listened to the water splash, the cars on the street, and the birds sing. If I had a penny with me, I would've tossed it in and made a wish.

Music Monday - Wrong Baby Wrong

"Wrong Baby Wrong" by the lovely Martina McBride.

I've never participated in Music Monday before, but I couldn't really think of anything to write today, so I thought I'd let this song do it for me ;)