gigglechick.com

hey everyone it's 01.02.03 !!! cool - it's always nice to wake up and have one's mother say to them "you should have gotten married today"

that stumped me. here i am - it's 5:30am - and i was still down the shore waiting to drive up here... mom springs that on me.

eh... well, if i had an opportunity to wed someone, sure... 01.02.03 would have been a neat day... looking more like 08.09.10 nowadays.

anyway, i digress... how was everyone's new year's eve/day?

mine was really keen. went to a party at my aunt's and had a good time... then around 4am i get a phone call on my cell phone - i was still awake...

it was eric. ex-eric. the one i yap about a lot. he was up in maine for the holidays... and called me. i hadn't chatted with him in a couple of months. i missed a call from him on december 4th... he'd called me from las vegas at 10pm - he was going to a bachelor party and called me before he went out (the next day i had the first date with the brooklyn lawyer)

apparently, later that week, eric was introduced to a step-daughter of a friend of his from where he used to work. i found this out on new year's early morning. so they've been dating for about 3 or 4 weeks. said he spoke with her on new year's eve early evening... but who did he call and talk to for about 45 minutes on the first day of the new year???

yep.

me.

damn my heart fluttering around in my rib cage. it got bruised when it heard that he was dating someone new... the ol' ticker slammed itself into one of my ribs and has sort of been limping around a tiny bit since hearing this.

i joked around and said "when's the wedding?" and he got all flustered and said "oh no way it's nothing like that"

a layer of krazy glue wrapped around my heart and i felt better... sure we broke up 5 years ago... and he lives in michigan, but still..... ya' know?

what else?

oh the night that i left you on the 20th... folks from work and i went to a pub in ridgewood... my boss has been telling me since september that he wants to set me up with this guy "robbie mcmurphy" -- over and over, saying "mcmurphy, when are you going to meet robbie mcmurphy... he's got red hair... blah blah blah"

so finally, our paths cross at this pub. cute guy, red hair... and i say, "well, hello, robbie mcmurphy..." and he looks at me and says "my last name's not mcmurphy... it's [insert completely different name... not even close...]"

and i look at my boss - who is at this point saying he'll pay for a wedding if we get married that night - and he says "well, i had forgotten his last name and by the time i remembered it, i didn't want to lose my credibility..."

god love him.

so he called me on christmas day - i was down at mom's i just got the message today... so i have to call him back... wouldn't be opposed to meeting up with him.

what else?

ah, was at leggett's on monday night celebrating my cousin's new teaching job... and i ran into a guy that i knew many moons ago... used to call me molly ringwald, back in the day... he lives up north. nice guy.

was yapping with a guy later that night who turned out to be a cousin of a guy that is best friends with an ex of mine, jeff

saw another ex earlier in the evening... didn't recognize him at first - kerry and i were eyeing him up and all of a sudden he walks over to me and says "hey erin, how've you been?" turned out it was this guy rich that i was with back in 86 or 87...

leggett's - you can't swing a dead cat without running into an ex of mine.

the worst was about 6 years ago i was there and in one fell swoop, i counted 13 guys i had dated at one point or another.

what else?

eh... that's all for now.

***wait - neat... a collection of blogger's wishlists -- although i sort of wish they had spelled "GiggleChic" with a K... ***

i must tell you that i want this...

by the way - i walked into work today and they handed me $140 because i won the pool here during xmas week... wheee!!! life is grand i tells ya'!

i nearly forgot to post some resolutions...

1] lose weight (that's a given and always on the list. shouldn't even have to say)

2] date more (actually it should read "date less... freaks")

3] start walking UP and DOWN the 9 flights to my office (we'll see if this is the rule that really is broken... just made it up now, so i haven't started it yet)

4] go back to Curves

5] curse less... use more "effings" and "mother scratchers" rather than the real terms.

6] hang out online a little less *gasp* yes. i really want to try my hand at that sewing thing. once again... we'll see

7] clean up credit

8] file my insurance papers from my october accident - no. still haven't done so.

9] dust off my treadmill at home

10] organize organize organize my apartment!

oh my dear secret santa, sarcasmo... i absolutely LOVE it!

quinn... thanks so much for the cd and the books!!

see, i just got home tonight after being away from my apartment since the 20th... great to be back and even cooler to have gifts!!!!

vote gigglechick.com for the 2003 bloggies... because no one else will!

go to the bloggies now!

just post the following code to your blog... please!!???

(throw me a bone, friends...)

time for the friday five (yes. i know i do them once every blue moon)

1. Do you wear any jewelry? What kind?
claddagh ring - silver - heart facing out... on my right ring finger. sometimes i wear a celtic cross necklace.

2. How often do you wear it?
the claddagh is every day (the necklace used to be daily til the stone fell out of it)

3. Do you have any piercings? If so, where?
ears. and the attempted belly ring (in the dormant stage)

4. Do you have any tattoos? If so, where?
nope.

5. What are your plans for the weekend?
relax after being at mom's for 2 weeks... and then saturday i have to trek back down there again... another family function on sunday. christmas with the 2nd cousins... the other twin got engaged to the effed up freako jackass she's been dating for a while. can you tell i don't care for him? whatever. as long as i am not marrying a schmuck, i am fine.

ah... there was a 50 car pile-up last night on the road i take to and from work. luckily, i decided to get the hell out of work at 5:45pm

see... i take the turnpike extension - 14c to the turnpike... get on what's called the eastern spur... which turns into 95.... and then get off on route 80 - all of which had mayhem and devastation on them last night and that was before any snow... that was only light icy drizzle.... wish me luck this morning when i have to deal with schmucks in the SUV's that think they are invincible and go about 90 mph in the snow....

(click here to get updates on the *%!@#'s on the road)

as i look out the extra-wide window of my darkened office overlooking route 80... seeing cars skid below me and brake lights flicker in the distance, cutting into the gray and charcoal coloring the scene, i am daydreaming of my couch... thinking wistfully of my old fireplace in the house where i grew up... a monster of a hearth with a black walnut mantle made from a tree on my family's former golfcourse.

now i live in jersey city. 26.2 miles from where i am now. route 80 to 95 to the turnpike to downtown jersey city where people walk out in front of you without looking... and when you step on your brakes they just stop in the middle of the street...look at you with a cold stare as if they own the world.

i digress.

it's gray out. terribly gray and it's only 2:30pm...the monochromatic tones are causing my body to ache for my afghan and a hot cocoa in an oversized mug which makes me feel like i am five again sans marshmallows.

slop. freezing rain. slush.

what's a girl to do while it's like this outside?

well... leave work at 4:30 with her boss and co-worker to go across the street to the saddle club lounge in the marriott and have a couple of beers and appys...

4 hours (and only 2 beers i swear! a lot of seltzers) later i was headed home.... there were hardly any cars on the road and the "wintery mix" had calmed down

was good yapping and doing the girl talk thing.

so i am home and as i stepped out of my car it began sleeting again. lovely. perfect timing! the couch is beckoning me.

i want to go to the salon tomorrow and get a tune-up... but that probably won't happen. debating on staying up here until sunday morning and then going down to the shore (party with 2nd cousins) or head down tomorrow and shop for their gifts there.

have i mentioned that i really don't want to go? i can't stand the one cousin's husband... and it's all about the "baby baby baby" (the kid is 4 or something. they send me photos of him all the time... the envelopes, besides having the photo in it, are usually filled with confetti that flies all around my apartment and i wind up cursing them instead of laughing at the poor attempt at "cutesy")

the other cousin (they are twins) just got engaged... to a schmuck who's been out of work about 3 of the 4 years they've been together...

flashback: they just started dating and he'd moved in with her after 3 weeks... my poppy just died and my mom asked me to call her to tell her the funeral arrangements...

the schmuck answers the phone. it's my first time dealing with him

i ask to speak to her.

he says: "who is this and whaddya want?"

me: "this is her cousin erin, i am calling to talk to her about my grandfather's funeral arrangements."

schmuck: "she ain't here"

me: "could you take a message please?"

ass-schmuck: "no. i'm watching t.v."

[click]

well, i am off, heading down the shore once more for the last of the holiday parties with the family.

well, i thought after last year's shindig with the loopy twin cousins, things might be different.

no.

asses.

i didn't want to get them gifts. they forgot me last year - even though i bought them and their boyfriend & husband gifts...

but - once again - i got them stuff because i didn't want to "embarrass" my mother...

$20 kick ass really unique candles. yeah. candles. it's not the most unique gift in the world, but it's something and they were really neat looking and the different scents i picked out for them i chose wisely and different for the both of them.

okay. that said...

they hand my mother 2 gifts.

they are made out to "aunt maureen and erin"

one... from the married twin and her husband - is a door knocker engraved with Bennett.

the other from the newly engaged (and sweet jeezuz, if she shoves that ring into one more face without them asking to see it...) and her skeezball fiance was a small photo album for dogs...

so apparently - even though they send me effing xmas cards at my apartment in jersey city - i have to SHARE a door knocker and a doggy photo album with my mother even though i haven't lived AT HOME FOR SIX YEARS.

god, they make me sick.

the only one that i was happy to see was my cousin chrissy and her husband rich - and their 2 kids who rock! they are normal - all four of them.

back to the asses... they make me cringe.

it's not the fact that i didn't get a gift really - it's the fact that apparently, since i don't LIVE with a guy or am not MARRIED to one, i don't warrant an individual gift...

i - over the past 3 years - have gotten the one cousin an engagement gift, a bridal shower gift, a wedding gift - 3 months after the wedding gift, i had to splurge on the baby shower gift (oh, did you do the math? yes.)

oh... and then... THEN one of them actually said "well, it must be nice to still be out in the dating scene, although i am sure since you are that old, that you need to start looking for guys on the clearance rack."

OH NO SHE DIDN'T JUST SAY THAT... did she?!?!?!?

(click more for the ideas for thank you notes)

okay... i already love this show... fricking gold diggers...

i think it's a good premise - even if it is crappy to lie to them (oh well)...

the thing is, i wish they had made the guy sort of "normal" looking - instead of this guy who i am ready to say:

"hell! $19,000 a year is fine, i'll be your sugarmama as long as you show me your dimples and open up stuck jars of peanut butter!"

there are a couple of girls that i am glad he picked (yep. already getting wrapped up in this thing - see, i didn't watch "the bachelor", so this is giving me the 'fix' for the crazy dating reality show thing)... but the one girl, Heidi, has got to go...

remind me to clean my bed off. i have been sleeping on my couch since before xmas.

last night i had a headache for 4 hours - no matter what i took for it - excedrin...alka selzter cold meds.... nothing. and i NEVER get headaches. very rarely.

this morning it's blossomed into sniffles and feels like i have a sleestak living in the back of my throat

have a meeting at 9:30 in the city today - of course i am running a tad late (and should be in the shower instead of on here)

and tonight i am re-registering at ww with a friend from work. she's getting married in a month, so, i will hop on her "extra-incentive to lose weight" bandwagon - even though she so doesn't need to lose a pound ( i swear - but i am not dissing her - am saying that as a compliment)

okay - time for me to slather on the lather...

why kids move out

signed up for weight watchers (again) tonight with a girl from work...

on the way home i picked up my "last supper" of chicken mcnuggets and a small fry from the big M

oh. dear. i really didn't need to see ozzy walking downstairs in his underwear (black jockey shorts)

well, for the past few days i have been fending off the light symptoms of a cold... a guy at work has been sick, my mom is ill, and one of the effing cousins was sick - or actually the fiance was - on sunday....

• i have sneezed constantly for the past 5 hours.
• i have a sore throat.
• my cough has moved from being slightly annoying in the back of my throat to being a shock of pain in my chest/lungs and very "hacky" loud.

• have i mentioned the constant headache that i've had for 3 days now? i NEVER get headaches....

*whine*

what's a girl to do when she doesn't have the makings for chicken dumpling soup on hand????

enn-why-BIG EFFING Q -uil (cherry flavoured, my dears)

i should be passed out in about 4 minutes - although the expiration date was september 2002... so it may kill me altogether.

may you all stay well and healthy...

take your vitamin C!!!

i am a slug.

stayed home....

of course i set my alarm for 9:55am because i have to move my car to the other side of the street at 10am for the street cleaner...

so i struggled to remove myself from between the sheets... and slapped on some jeans, no bra, a big ol' hat to disguise my bedhead... and pulled on my warmest coat to meander out into the living world...

it snowed last night so once i made it to my car - a block away - i had to scrape it off...

then i did a spectacular job of moving it across the street... i was curious to see that there were still a number of unmoved cars on the side that i had been on... didn't these people care about getting a ticket?

and the fact that there were spots open on the opposite side of the street was strange, too.

i get out of the car, go to the coffee stand on the corner... noticing they were giving me funny looks...

was it my hat? my coat? my lack of make-up? good god! could they tell that my "girls" were footloose and fancy free through my coat!?

no.

one of them reminded me it's wednesday and that i didn't need to move my car.... dammit! wednesday is a free day! i thought it was tuesday

*@&#!*%#

so i bought my coffee and trudged back home in the snow.

by the fan-damn-tastic Loudon Wainwright III

Happy birthday, Elvis;
You're not really dead.
It's a lie, it's just a crock,
Something some people said.
I heard a cassette of you speaking
On a telephone;
From a bunker beneath Graceland,
The king sits on his throne.

i really am feeling sick... and i am outta nyQuil....

*whine*

okay... i flicked back and forth between the west wing and the bachelorette...

i am ready to hand my rose to.....

child. upstairs. hardwood. running.

erin. downstairs. headache. throbbing.

child. stomping. clomping. screaming.

erin. meditating. growling. screaming.

((groan))

stayed home from work again.

ugh.

have i mentioned that i have been taking alka-seltzer cold medicine that's expired?

oh, did i mention that it's also on that list of drugs that've been recalled?

"taking PPA increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding into the brain or into tissue surrounding the brain) in women."

well, at least my headache will have subsided

my mom just called to tell me that the best lawyer in the world died on tuesday. smart, funny and he got me a good settlement from my accident in 1987 - as well as being my family's lawyer for as far back as i can remember...

RICHARD HAROLD MILLS, 59, of WALL

okay... THIS time i was awake... effing "UNAVAILABLE" phone calls... that don't serve any purpose. this time i didn't answer it when it rang at 7:44AM... AM!

i have gotten them at 12:05AM, 12:15AM, 6:10AM... about 6 different days over the past month.

and when i answer it, all it does is either beep once and hang up or there's a whir and then it hangs up.

and when i don't answer it, it doesn't leave a recorded message....

ARRRRGH!!!!

they (whoever THEY are) are lucky i was awake and showered -- yep i am heading into work.

ah.. the joy of the co-worker emails

viking kittens!!!! ahhh--ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

so, i am home tonight still on the disabled list. resting up for the jaunt into the city tomorrow.

i have been dying to read this book for a year now. finally i got off my arse and bought it at barnes and noble. and i can't put it down (except to tell you to read it)

go.

now.

read:

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

in my right eye! oh jeezuz!

ow!

get burt's bees lip balm on my finger and absent-mindedly rubbed my eye...

ow ow ow ow ow!!!

ow...eh... wait a second... hey... it's calming down.... hmmmm.... that feels kinda nice and cool on my cornea....

well, mom, aunt judy and kerry should be here around 11:15am.... aunt judy got us all tickets to see les miz for xmas...

then we are heading down to our (kerry and me) restaurant in little italy that we always migrate to... caffe napoli

should be fun... although with the new smoking bill taking effect, we can expect a nicotine fit or two...

plus... it's effing freezing!

i just woke up and have to do my dishes, that's why i am whining... it'll be a fun day

so tonight mom, aunt judy, kerry and i went to Les Mis at 2pm - seen it. love it. cried (again)...then went to the MacDougal Ale House where i COULD very well be in love with the bartender (ANDY) -- then went to ye ol' caffe napoli... where i was hit on hy every single waiter and host (*prinscepessa, bella, bellisima, you are the most beautiful woman ever...) okay buddy... i know that is BS... but i will accept it and give you a 25% tip - gpd bless you.

they remembered kerry and i from previous visits...

i hjave had to spellchec k this post a few times and i am sick of spellchicking to msake you think i ain;t tipsy....

okay i am stinking at spelling......

photowhore - i mean photographer - walked around and we got him to take some pics...
me foreground, mom next to me, aunt judy on the right and kerry in the far right

all consuming

good site for all you book lovers!

i knew the face was familiar, yet i didn't really recognize it...

joey lawrence has a weekly role on american dreams on nbc

----

darned jets lost tonight. looks like i am rooting for a philadelphia v. tennessee superbowl... hopefully philly will come out on top.

ah.... so, i succumbed to the ink blot emode test...

another call from ex-eric...

wow... for some reason i woke up at 6am without my alarm... that NEVER happens... got up... relaxed... drank a cup of earl grey... and am 1/2 an hour ahead of schedule...

this feels strange not rushing

got this email (below) from match.com

um... is it me, or does it sound like a "swingers" party?!?!?!?!

hey all... mother of pearl... you KNOW it's been a while since you've been to the gym when you get LOST for an hour and a half trying to find it... then you give up, call them and transfer your membership to a branch closer to home.

hey... anyone watching a&e's story about my great-great-great-granduncle?

JUST weighed in... lost 5.4 pounds!!!!

for the past 2 and a half weeks, i have been getting headaches.

they usually start around 3pm... sometimes 4pm.

it's not from having caffeine and it's not a sign of caffeine withdrawal, as i've gotten them on days when i have had coffee, and days with just water intake.

it's not from not eating... believe me... i HAVE been eating...

it happens when i am AT home.

it happens when i am AT work.

it happened when i was walking around NYC

and it's always from 3 or 4 pm on... and lasts til i go to bed.

maybe i have seasonal affective disorder... i haven't searched for symptoms. i know that in the past i used to get depressed in the winters but i don't remember anything about getting headaches... nor do i remember hearing about that as a symptom.

*sigh*

have i mentioned that i RARELY get headaches? maybe, just maybe, 3 times a year on average... and now it's been every stinking day.

stress? possible. quite possible.

[[ i just looked S.A.D. up and yes. it does list headaches as a symptom... maybe it's time to go to tanning again!!! ]]

woo!!! i want this for my birthday!!!

thank you J.K. for releasing it on that kick ass day!!!!

off of one fat bitchy poo:


combining golf with weight loss....

thanks to all who expressed their concerns about the headaches!

actually, today i didn't get one.... see there was a little stress that i can't really talk about right now that may have been taken care of yesterday...

although i DO plan to make an appointment with both the eye doctor to see if i need a prescription... and the dentist... i DO have two cavities in my teeth that i haven't had taken care of since i found out about them last june... have been too chicken, not to mention the $$$ thing

or maybe i just have to sleep more... speaking of which...