Return Of Damn You Friday, with additional I Love you Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Since I have more followers and bloggy friends, I thought I would bring back "Damn You Friday" to the blog. Since I've been told that I need to be more positive (I'm a glass is almost empty since someone drank all of my shit kind of girl). So to bring myself some good karma, I've added "I <3 You Friday." How does this all work? Just add what is pissing you off this week for the damn you part. Don't forget to tell me what you are loving this week too for the love you part.

Here's mine for the week:

Damn you to the migraines that are starting to plague me with increasing regularity again. I really, really don't want to go back on topamax.

I <3 the sneak peaks of New Moon scenes that are coming out. I really can't wait for November 20 now.

Have a good weekend everyone and see you on Twitter (when we actually have time LOL).

OMG-What we looked like back in the day

Thanks everyone for being brave enough to share a few pictures of yourselves from high school. Sending in real life pics was just a crazy idea that I and Tasha had. This has been fun gathering these pics and emailing you back and forth, getting to know you a little bit better. It will be nice seeing what everyone looks like in real life. If you didn't send in your pics, you still can. I'll just add the pics to the bottom.

So, without further ado, I give you our bloggy and twitter friends (in random order of how they were in my photobucket account). The comments in italics by the pics are straight from the subjects mouth, not mine. (Well, except for my pics!)

Bex (website: Today I Feel Infinite, twitter: Becky_Boodles)

I turned 16 in the April and this was taken in the back of the limo on our way to Prom in the July 2000. My date got the crop treatment! ;)

Bitches (website: We Bite Pretty Hard, twitter: WPBHBitches)

I was probably about 16, and as you can see, had some bad bangage going on.

Call of Duty Widow (Website: Call Of Duty Widow, twitter: hmmille )


My fave pic is the one from the musical I was in. I remember that dress was super tight, it was hard to sing with it on! I had a blond phase my Sophomore/Junior year, but dyed it back right before senior pics. And I was rockin some high bangs there for a while! Man I miss that body!






Erikasbuddy (twitter: Erikasbuddy)
1991 -7th Grade Intermediate Middle School Band - I was a Clarinet player. I played for 2 years. Art Class 10th Grade = was taken in the winter of 1993 in my Art Class during my sophomore year. I am holding a SPIN MAGAZINE with NIRVANA showing through the pages. Can you guess the downward spiral that I took in April? Copy of 1996 Senior Talent Show - Erikasbuddy = was taken in 1996 at my senior talent show. I am singing DISARM by Smashing Pumpkins with my bff Erika. She signed us up to do this one day when I was skipping school. She was a sneaky little bugger lol!! I agreed to do it only if she did it with me. Copy of Art and Drama Banquet - Junior Year - 1994 = was taken in 1994 during the fall of my Junior Year. That was one of my favorite high school memories. I had a blast. I even had my first dance there. It was with a boy who had just broken his leg. He couldn't stand dance so we sat indian style on the floor and swayed to Cotton Eye Joe. I loved it!! Copy of Spring Fling 3-l3gged race 1996 = was taken during the last week of school in 1996 of my senior year. My bff ERIKA is who is attached to me. WE WON!! I think... at least that's how I remember it ;)

FireCrotch (Website: We Bite Pretty Hard, twitter: FireCr0tch)

Me at graduation. Check out those gross looking shoes. What the heck was I thinking?
Me and my senior prom date…my mom made my dress and cut my hair like 20 minutes before my date showed up. Previous to this pic my hair was down past my shoulder blades.
Ahh…more summer camp memories. I am the fatty in the pic (third from the right). I like how the mud nicely outlined my boobs. We had even more fun in the showers afterward…
My girlfriends and I were pretty geeky and so we stayed in on Friday nights and played games. And no, this was not strip poker. But check out the flannel shirt…I was rockin’ it before RPattz. Plus I totally love that green watch.
Doing the age old fun chicken dance at the senior prom. Who the heck had full length gloves on next to me?

OnePushyFox (twitter: onepushyfox)


OK, so I'm feeling brave (or stupid from the lack of sleep) and I've decided to send in some pics of me from HS. One's from my graduation in '93 (I'm with my baby sister) the other is from the early freshman year ('89) turnabout dance. I honestly can't tell which is more embarrassing: the wicked 80's perm from freshman year or the crazy Tracy Gold glasses from senior year. Sheesh! Why didn't someone slap me??

SmuttierThanYou (Website: Jackassery In The House, twitter: SmuttierThanYou)

Here is the one from my senior year (1999), Homecoming Princess, I was hammered and grinning like a Cheshire Cat! Taken the summer before my senior year. This was my first 4X4 and my step dad helped me completely rebuild it. Lots of good memories *sigh*

Tasha (Website: Something Less Productive, twitter: um_natalie)

UhYesPlease (twitter: uhyesplease)

Ok - the show choir pic - obvious! I was also a band nerd. (Drum major) And a theatre nerd (I'm Glinda!) And then my senior prom pic. Just cause I loved the dress! All are from 1995! When I graduated from HS......

Bierbeck (twitter: bierbeck)

I always get lots of laughs with this picture. It is from my freshman year I think which is circa 1989.













Mrs_Robward (website: Peace Love Twilight, twitter: Mrs_Robward)

1st pic is me & my mom, Jr year, I was going to the ROTC *gag* dance.

2nd pic is me & my DH b4 senior Prom. Ooo, if only I was that skinny again!










Betti (website: Betti Music Twilight, twitter: Bettigefecht)


I know I'm late, but I finally found a pic from 1978. I was in the schoolband. Best I can do...

Getting to know your bloggy friends

Last night was an interesting night on twitter. @Bettigefecht was getting irritated with @fragilehuman and @FireCr0tch 's Glee discussion while @um_natalie and I (@hmmille) were trying to not be force fed the Glee kool aid. (You know you tried to make her drink it @WPBHBitches lol). I commented that I'd had enough of the glee club stuff in high school to Natalie and she insisted on seeing pictures. I missed a new South Park to hunt down the elusive high school year books, then fought with my $20 scanner from 2001 to get some pics on the computer.

After further discussion, we decided that we want all of our bloggy friends to be embarrassed with us and for us. Now taking your high school photos at callofdutywidow@gmail.com. We want to see you "The Way You Were", any photo from high school is fine. Please include a short explanation of the picture and you're website/twitter name by 5 pm CST Sunday, October 18. I'll post all of them here Sunday night hopefully. It will be nice to put a name with a face, even if it was from so many years ago.

Since Tasha requested a pic from my poms/dance team days, here's a gem from my freshman year in 1989. We're all lined up for the National Anthem at a basketball game and of course, the 80s hair is in full effect. Plus my skirt is shorter than everyone else's since I was so tall and skinny back then. I think I actually had a perm (oh the horror) back then. {{{shudder}}}

Come on, you know you want to see all of us, email away! I promise an actually photo from my Show Choir days and my basketball days! Please include your twitter screenname and/or blog/website so we can all follow each other. This is a good way to expand all of our follower lists and make some new bloggy/twitter friends ;) .

How Twilight and other vampire novels ruined regular novels for me

Let's start this up with a dream I had last week that I've been meaning to share. I was in a grocery store with Sam and Dean from Supernatural. The guy in line immediately before us bought porno mags and some shamwows. That last episode of Supernatural gave me weird dreams. I would throw those shamwows out after that guy's done if he knows what's good for him. Anyway, on to today's topic.

Last night I tried to read John Updike’s Widows of Eastwicke. I lasted through exactly 3 pages before I gave up. I haven’t read any of his other works, but this was just paragraph after paragraph of run on sentences. What’s happened to me? Have all these years of chick lit, vampire books, and chemistry texts/journals killed my ability to read regular literature and enjoy it?

I started my love affair with vampire novels a little over a year ago. I started with Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series after watching a few episodes of True Blood. I was hooked instantly. Once I finished all available books in two weeks, I immediately started over. Rereading these books at a much more leisurely pace allowed me to catch some things I missed the first time around. I read several more non-paranormal books before Christmas before I stopped reading novels all together. My pregnancy addled mind couldn’t focus on novels, so I read magazines and surfed the net on my crackberry to keep me from maiming the freaks on the train. Thinking ahead, I told my sister to buy Twilight as my Christmas gift since I had heard good things about the series. She bought me Twilight and New Moon. These two books were shelved away for the future when I could focus on a novel.

After Baby C was born in March, I found myself with three months of maternity leave ahead of me (Well, 10 weeks actually since Baby C was stubborn and came out a week late). On a baby supply run to Target, I bought Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I hate to start a novel series and not be able to read them all in a row. I once spent two months reading through 13 of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. I don’t like having to think about what the hell happened in the last book that I read months ago (I never said I wasn’t OCD about anything!). The next books that I was due to read out of the authors I follow weren’t going to be released until the beginning of May (Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series Book Nine – Dead and Gone and Jennifer Lancaster’s fourth memoir Pretty in Plaid). I was recovering from an emergency c-section so what better way to rest than to sit stiffly with a good book and the cutest baby in the world in your lap? Then the wheels were put into motion for my fascination. Hey, I needed something to occupy my time while the hubs was playing Call of Duty nonstop.

I started Twilight and was done in two days. There is something about Stephenie Meyer’s writing that just sucks you in. I still maintain that there are subliminal messages in the text. How else could so many people of all ages love these books? I continued on to New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Breaking Dawn nearly broke my psyche, but I finished it after taking a break to read the books I had been waiting for above. I did watch the Twilight movie on DVD with my sister. She was totally in love with it and I made fun of it the first time I watched it. Now I don’t have much of an excuse, I’ve watched it about 10 times now. It gets less hokey upon repeat viewings. There are still some scenes that make me cringe, which I’m sure will come up in MrsVanquish and Betti’s movie vs. book discussion on their blogs. Bottom line, I read these books quickly and probably missed some key points. I plan on rereading these before New Moon comes out in the theater to refresh my memory.

Through various True Blood websites like sookiestackhouse.com and Twilight websites, I found out about other vampire series. The first set I read was the Queen Betsey series by MaryJanice Davidson. These books follow the life of the Queen of the Vampires whose main hobbies are shoes and cussing. These are very comedic but also contain some lovely lemons. Seven books are available in this series. The next set I finished was the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. There are four books currently available, featuring a half-human half-vampire woman named Cat who fights bad vampires with her vampire husband Bones. This series is also funny but more serious than the Queen Betsey series and also contains serious lemony goodness. I can’t wait for a new release in this series to come out in 2010.

In between some of these books I’ve attempted to read non-vampire books without much success. I read Stephenie Meyer’s The Host with difficulty. The book was pretty unbearable from about 100 pages in until around page 450. Several of my friends have read this and it’s a pretty even split among those who loved it and those who loathed it. I’ve never forced myself to finish reading a book like I had to do with this one. I had borrowed it from a friend and didn’t want to buy it for myself. I finished it, gave it back, and am now on the fence about reading any future non-Twilight Saga books from this author. I read the seventh book in the Andy Carpenter Lawyer series by David Rosenfelt I had been waiting for (New Tricks). David Rosenfelt's books feature a reluctant lawyer and always have dogs in the story. In real life, his foundation has rescued over 4000 dogs from shelters and death. Then I read a book featuring a woman prophet and demons called Every Demon Has Its Day by Cara Lockwood. That book also took a little getting into even though it was supernatural. I never had a problem getting right into books before like I do now. If the subject is vampires, I’m right into it. If the subject is something else, blah. All of these vampire series has ruined me on regular fiction.

So what’s a girl to do that has free time on her commute to help her ignore the mutants that ride the train? I think I’m going to start the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith. Next I’ll reread Twilight and New Moon. Maybe a little Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I still haven’t gotten around to reading the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton or the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. The covers of those book seriously embarrass me, but who cares? I don’t ride on the train with anyone I know anyway.

I guess I might as well continue my vampire book obsession. I do have the new Patricia Cornwell book, The Scarpetta Factor, coming out in a few weeks. That will be my only non vampire book to read in the near future. Any suggestions to what I should read? I need to start compiling my Christmas wish lists...

How To Irritate Your Fellow Commuters

You can gather from my previous post that riding Metra into Chicago every work day is a challenge. The older I get the less tolerant I’ve become, so it’s very easy to annoy the crap out of me. The following is a list of train sins that one can commit with real life examples I’ve observed in my six and a half years of commuting via train.

The first sin and most common one that people make is talking loudly. Whether you’re talking on your cell phone or to someone next to you doesn’t matter. I don’t care to hear how your daughter’s day care check bounced and now no one will watch her. There are two construction workers who ride my train home at night once every couple of weeks. They are obviously drunk and feel the need to yell when they talk to each other. Apparently they don’t care that there is only 6 inches separating their heads and they don’t need to yell. If I can hear you over my iPod, you should just STFU and heed those daggers I’m staring at you.

Next up, seat misuse. The common seat misuse instances are putting your feet on the seats, jammed knees into the back of the seat in front of you, and taking up a free seat with your bags. I’ve witnessed King Douche Bag move people’s items without asking. People will touch your stuff whether you want them to or not. On a disgusting note, I have seen people with their bare feet or even socked feet on seats. That totally grosses me out every time I see it. Why would you even want your bare feet to touch those seats let alone leave you foot funk behind?

Commuters can eat and drink on Metra trains. Not only does this create a garbage problem sometimes, but gives people ample opportunity to eat and drink strange things while they ride the train. I saw someone eat cereal with milk on the way in to Chicago last month. They actually lugged all the cereal fixings with them. Seriously, just eat at home. I’ve seen someone eat an entire pizza by themselves. Eating pizza on a crowded train is just rude. You know damn well the rest of us want to eat it too. There are quite a few people who will drink a six pack of beer, leave the empties in the aisle of the train, and proceed to hop in their cars at the train station and drive home. I really don’t think this is very responsible. The stench of beer in a confined space really makes you sick if you’re scent sensitive like I am. I really couldn’t stand the smell of beer when I was pregnant, so the ride home was really challenging some days.

This leads us to inappropriate odors. You don’t know how many train rides I’ve been stuck next to someone who has a bad case of gas the whole ride. The stench just gets recirculated until it finally goes away. People who wear too much perfume are also a problem. I’m allergic to most perfumes and colognes so I have spent many rides itching like crazy and praying my throat doesn’t close up. Twice in the past I’ve seen someone taking their fingernail polish off with remover (which is acetone) and applying new polish. Hello, chemical sensitive here! This behavior is really more appropriate for the home, right?

Where do most people groom themselves? At home you say? I can prove you wrong. Women put on makeup on the train; I don’t know how they don’t poke their eye out with the mascara wand when we hit a bump. I’ve seen people clipping their fingernails on the train. I cringe every time I hear the distinctive high pitched “clip clip” through my iPod. I wonder if these are the same people polishing their fingernails?

Touching other people is a big no no in my book. Eyebrow Lady routinely has a female friend that sits with her on the commute home. The female friend will sit sideways in her seat so she doesn’t have to turn her head when she talks. I’ve seen her ass on someone else’s thigh several times while the person she is sitting on tries to hold it together. If she sits next to me she’ll be taking a page from Spread Eagle Man and getting the elbow. Overweight people need to make sure they will fit in the seat before they sit there. I had some dude sit on me before and I didn’t even get an “Excuse me for putting my ass on your lap.” He got the elbow too. If I don’t know you, don’t touch me. Even if I know you, still don’t touch me. That goes for your bags too. Please don’t side swipe me with your huge ass purse that is holding your entire life. It’s not nice to wake up because someone whipped you with their belongings.

Hang in there, we’re almost to the end. What’s the next annoying thing someone can do? Please don’t look over my shoulder to read my computer, book, magazine, or newspaper. If you do, I’m going to ask you for some money since I had to pay for this myself. Nobody likes nosy pricks who can’t quit trying to see what you’re watching on your iPod either. Odds are I’m watching Twilight or True Blood so don’t make me be embarrassed on the train by staring at it.

The second most disgusting thing I’ve witnessed on the train arises from the no smoking policy of the train. Five times I’ve sat next to someone who chews tobacco and spits into a clear colorless bottle. One time the guy left the bottle there for someone else to pick up. You seriously can’t wait an hour at most before you can smoke again. Better buy some nicorette gum or some nicotine patches buddy.

The ultimate sin in my opinion is leaving part of yourself behind when your commute is over. If you have a tendency to be greasy even though you just showered, do not touch the window next to you. In my previous post you will see a greasy face print on the window of my morning train. I took this picture last week and the spot is still there. Now I’m stuck sitting in a seat with less leg room since I refuse to sit next to anyone’s skanky body leftovers. Wash already!

Why can’t I have an Edward Cullen drive me to work in a Volvo? Oh right, my Edward drives me to the train station in an Explorer and tells me to “Be safe, stay away from the crackheads!” Gotta love the husband and his worries. Got to go, King Douche Bag is trying to block my way off the train…again. FML!

Update: They finally cleaned the giant greasy face print, I got my seat back! This will hopefully last for a couple of days (or not).

Fellow Commuters Annoy Me

I’ve been commuting to my work in downtown Chicago from the south suburbs for six and a half years. To get to the Loop I take Metra, a commuter train system. After riding the same trains for years I’ve developed a routine for my commute. I always have my iPod, Blackberry, and a sweatshirt (lately my super cute Hurley hoodie) since you’ll freeze to death without it. The trains have two temperatures: boiling hot in winter and sub arctic in summer. When I get on the train, I look for my favorite seats that have extra leg room and scope out the window for greasy face prints. Yes, you read that right, GREASY FACE PRINTS. I can’t bring myself to sit next to one of those and the Metra cleaning crew isn’t so fastidious about cleaning the windows every night. I saw the same greasy face print for a whole month last year. Seriously, get some Windex already.

Yes, that giant smudge is from someone's face and hair. See that in person and not want to puke.

Once I’ve sat down, I immediately put my Bose in ear headphones (they sound way better than the crappy ones that come with your iPod) in and start the iPod playlist entitled “No Iron Maiden” on shuffle. My husband likes Iron Maiden and since we share the same iPod library I have to block them out. Sometimes I say hello to people that say hi to me, but I’m usually mute and slightly angry looking. That’s the only way to get anyone to leave you alone. In the morning I take a nap for an hour and in the afternoon I read a book or magazine, or I catch up on Twitter. Some days are worry free. Other days I see some things that make you go “WTF.” Last week I saw a guy talking on his cell phone. Common occurrence right? His cell phone was encased in a zip lock bag and he didn’t take it off to talk on his phone. I really don’t want to know what was on that phone that he was afraid of. Did it fall in the toilet, a pile of manure?

Some of you have heard me complain on Twitter and Facebook about the annoying people on the train. The following people annoy the crap out of me on a routine basis. I’ve included the nicknames I’ve given them and photographic evidence of their sins (if I was brave enough to catch a pic). The list is in order of increasing annoyance level, from mildly irritating to “I want to kick their face in everyday” anger.

1. Fat Armband Guy: I actually have photographic evidence of this guy. His arms are so big he wears an iPod armband on his forearm since it won’t fit anywhere else. He also talks on his cell phone really loud about his trashy life. I’ve heard way too many conversations over my iPod about someone trying to beat him up. This is the only guy who actually lets you walk out ahead of him. Chivalry is alive and well in this larger and louder than life commuter.

2. Weird Eyebrow Lady: I’ve never been able to snap a picture of this chick due to her staring off into space in my general direction, so a description will have to do. I’ve never seen the arch of anyone’s eyebrows fall so far towards the sides of their face. Instead of the arch being towards the nose, it's almost to the outsides of her eyes. They look like evil cartoon eyebrows. I will admit to being mesmerized by them. She’s always in formal business wear so I do feel sorry for her while I get to look like a bum and wear t-shirts and jeans everyday.

3. Spread Eagle Man: As you can see from the picture below, he must air his junk out at all times. Plus he wears the same dirty, beat up White Sox World Series hat everyday. Wash that thing! He used to sit by me and instantly his thigh would be touching mine. After many elbows being stuck out by me into his ribs, he finally got the hint and won’t sit anywhere near me. He still sits spread eagle wherever he does park his ass, but at least it isn’t next to me anymore.That's actually a smaller angle of leg spread than usual if you can believe it.

4. King Douche bag: This guy is the ultimate douche of the commute. He moves your bag without asking if he wants to sit next to you. He will get up and block the aisle so you can’t get off the train before he does. He won’t pull his foot in since he insists on sitting cross legged with one of his feet in the aisle. I’ve pushed his foot away with my body so many times I’ve lost count. Nothing fazes this guy. Do you want to know what the ultimate assbag behavior out of this guy is? He picks at his head and eats it. I don’t know what he’s picking off of there, but I can’t even look in his general direction without wanting to vomit.

Most of the commuters on my train route are like me, just trying to get to and from work with as little frustration and annoyance as possible. The four little gems above are really in the minority of train riders thankfully. Hey, my work actually pays for my entire train ticket. I guess I shouldn’t bitch since I’m not out $150 each month. When you hear some girl yell into her phone “Who you yelling at Bitch?” 5 minutes into the trip home, I bet you’d bitch about everything too. And wish that you sat in another train car instead of your usual one. Coming up on this blog, “Widow’s top things that piss me off on the train” or “Get some train etiquette A-holes” tomorrow.

The worst thing to happen, for some people...

Once upon a time there was a girl, happy and free with no responsibilities except for work and home. She could laugh and play with her two precious kitties and fulfill her nosiness and need to keep busy in technological ways whenever she wanted. Then a precious little boy came into the world, and everything changed. For the better, of course. When she was on leave enjoying her three months off with the precious one, she joined Facebook to talk to old friends and be nosy about who her husband was talking to (Hey, I told you I'm nosy…it’s genetic). But then some activities that were taken for granted have fallen to the wayside. Activities like reading a book at home at night, surfing the internet, checking her email, going to movies without feeling guilty for leaving the little one at home for a few hours with grandma. (Even though the elephant house theater is where she would have to suffer through the movie) You get the point. Then everything changed when she joined Twitter and had to go back to work.

I used to be really good at keeping on top of my email. I would only have about 40 or so waiting in my inbox maximum. Want to take a guess what my email backlog is at now? It's at 1152. You would think having a crackberry would help me keep on top of the bulk, right? Thanks to Ubertwitter I'm constantly emailing myself tweets that have internet links that I want to check out. Now my inbox just keeps expanding and expanding.

When Twitter went down last month, I didn't panic. I'm sure some people were curled up in the fetal position rocking back and forth. I actually used the extra time to my advantage and worked without interruptions. Well, except for the email interruption from FireCrotch about the Twitter outage. It was actually pretty nice to not check my crackberry for several hours. The outage even allowed me to finish Stephenie Meyer's book The Host, which had been kicking my ass for two weeks. I swear that book didn't get "can't stop reading it" until 450 pages in. Boo.

When FireCrotch emailed me, I had to look twice at the name. She has the same first name as I do as well as my best friend. Let’s just say we need a Veronica and our little group is all set. And maybe Christian Slater, the young version, not bloated old version. My BFF never emails me during the day since her federal job is even stricter than mine is about email, so I had to read the email before I knew who it is. It was really great and unexpected hearing from her during the day.

While Twitter has been very entertaining for me, getting sick and a long holiday weekend has left me ignoring tweets. I’ve found that I just don’t have the patience to keep up with hours of tweets, take care of baby C, and do all the other stuff I need to do. So reading tweets and posting on this blog has been the first things dropped to compensate. Plus work has demanded all of my attention these past few weeks. I have missed talking to all of my twitter and twibloggy friends.

On another note, I’ve been reading Fragile Little Human’s Twilight/Moonlight crossover fanfic Breathe Me. The story is awesome! Mrs Robward, your fic is next on my list. I hope to read that this week. I’ve been reading the Night Huntress Novels by Jeaniene Frost. These books feature a half human-half vampire named Cat who fights other vampires with her vampire husband Bones. I’ve really enjoyed these books and I am starting book 3 of 4 today. The stories are gripping and there is also much lemony goodness in each book. You should check these out. I’m also planning a blog about the freaks on my train line, complete with pics. Hopefully I can post that later this week.