TequilaCon and Life

I’m feeling much better now that I’ve had a full night of sleep but now I’ve got a lot to do! Tonight is TequilaCon which is being held here in Philadelphia. There are so many bloggers I just can’t wait to meet! You can keep up with the happenings too! Just follow me on Twitter or check for updates on the right sidebar all day and night!

Now I have to thank Tug for sending me this video this morning…just when I really needed a shot in the arm too. Randy Paush has it so incredibly right. I’ve had so many failures through out my life but I thank God that I’ve always turned them into opportunities…every single one of them.

Please enjoy and learn something from the video.

Sleep

I’m mentally exhausted and physically ill.  All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep…so that’s what I’m going to do…

Flying Toasters

Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. ~Michael Leunig

Dude and I met each other in 1995 when we started working for the same company. He had been working there for 20 years, since the age of 18 and was in the IT department. I was only 27 and in customer service.

I hated him instantly…

Every time we had our quarterly meeting Dude won the top employee award for his outstanding performance. Blech, gag, cough. It infuriated me because he was always giving me a hard time about my computer. If I installed something that I wanted then he’d inevitably come to uninstall it. I also hated how much everyone loved him.

One morning I came into work at 6:30 am to get some extra work done. Dude showed up at my desk and told me he needed to install something new on my computer. When he told me it would take 30 minutes I became indignant and gave him a hard time. You would have thought that would have been a warning signal for him of what the future would hold…

Then there were the Flying Toasters. I decided it would be so much fun to install the Flying Toasters screen saver on my computer. When my co-workers saw my new screen saver they wanted a piece of the “Toaster” action too…so I installed it on everyone’s computer.

About six hours later Dude came to my desk and said, “Your screen saver has to go.”

He tried to tell me that it was bogging down the entire network and we argued about it for 10 minutes before I let him uninstall my coveted Flying Toasters. Everyone else lost their Toasters too. That’s when I knew without any doubt that I hated Dude.

Something changed after I was out of work for a few weeks during the summer of 1996. When I came back I ran into Dude and saw him in a whole different light…

See, one of my managers had asked me where I went to high school. When I told him the name town where the school was located he said, “Dude lives there.”

I instantly had Dude pegged for marriage with three kids and a pickup truck. So, I asked a co-worker if my instincts were correct and watched her laugh hysterically. At the time Dude was extremely single and drove a sports car.

Later I ran into to Dude and struck up a conversation about living in the same town I went to high school in and I think he was shocked I was nice to him. A week later there was a post-it note on my calendar, which had cows on it. The cow had a bubble saying, “Moooo….Hi Lisa, see you in XXXXtown”

My co-workers and I decided to plan a Happy Hour and invite Dude so that it would put us in a social setting without any pressure. Plus, we loved any excuse for Happy Hour. So, every Friday we planned Happy Hour and invited Dude. Dude would accept our invitation and at the last minute back out. We thought it was hopeless.

When our co-worker Paris received a promotion we planned a real Happy Hour and invited Dude once again. I didn’t think he was going to show up so when I got to the bar I was hanging out with the boys and showing off my beer chugging abilities. I can chug a bottle of beer less than 15 seconds.

Dude walked in to find the guys circled around me cheering, “Lisa! Lisa! Lisa!” Great first impression, except it really did impress him. He still tells me today it’s one of the things he was most impressed with.

We finally had the chance to talk and get to know each other at Paris’ Happy Hour. I told Dude that my mom lived in the same town as he did and that I’d be visiting her that weekend so he invited me to his house.

Later that weekend I stopped by Dude’s house, watched an Eagle’s game and he grilled some burgers.

We started dating and about three months later I got pregnant with our first daughter. At the time I found out I was pregnant I was actually thinking about breaking up with Dude. It wasn’t that I didn’t like him but I was actually afraid of how I felt about him. Finding out that I was pregnant complicated every thing.

Dude and I decided to take a leap of faith just four months after we started dating. We were married on December 28, 1996…my 30th birthday. Three months later our first daughter was born four months prematurely. That was the beginning of crisis after crisis to hit our marriage but 11 years later here we are still together. We’ve had our share of problems but we are probably one of the strongest couples I know.

We still joke that “we’ll always have Paris” but that’s the story of how Dude and I came to be…

Thanks for asking Kate!

By the way, After Dark made the screen saver Flying Toasters which you can download for free here.

Game On

I asked if you were game and you played pretty well by asking some great questions.

Diana from Of The Princess and The Pea thought she has an “unoriginal” question but this is the first time anyone has ever asked me this question:

“Do people say you look like Bette Midler a lot? I think there’s a striking resemblance.”

When I was much younger, like 20 years younger people told me I looked a lot like Tracey Gold in the 80’s…hair and all but Bette Midler? She is gorgeous, I am not. In this picture we have similar hair but other than that…she is way prettier.

Meg of Historic Moment wanted to know:

“How do you deal with the Hannah Montana craze?”

Well Meg, fortunately my 11 year old has no interest in HM so I only have the 8 year old to contend with. Last evening we had a conversation about the photo that was taken for Vanity Fair. I decided it was better that she heard about if from me instead of her 2nd grade friends at school or 5th grade kids on the bus. Sure, it was probably a risky parenting move but she’s an intelligent kid and rather than insult that intelligence I embraced it.

Occasionally Teenie has a meltdown when she wants some Hannah Montana stickers or a new poster and I say “no”. She’s very persistent and thinks she can wear me down by asking me, “Mom can I have them? Mom can I have them? Mom can I have them?” However, she is getting a Hannah Montana bedroom. I’m hoping this will stop the arguments every time we go out.

Used To Be Me of Why Are You Stalking Me? wants to know:

“What ride are you looking forward to at Disney?”

I’m terrified of roller coasters…TERRIFIED! I’m also petrified of heights. The first time and last time I went to Disney the first ride I went on was the Tower of Terror. I had no idea what it was and damn, was I pissed after it was over. It scared the living crap out of me. All I wanted to do was go on the Tea Cup ride the rest of the time I was there.

This time I’ve promised Dude, the girls and myself that I will go on the Rock N’ Rollercoaster. Dude told me it goes from 0 to 60 mph in like 2 seconds. I’ll have to go on it alone because Dude will have to stay with the girls so this will be HUGE if I can do it.

I’m a big chicken so if anyone wants to go on this ride with me please let me know.

Chatty of Whatchu Tawkin Bout asks:

“When is your favorite time to blog and what is your favorite part of blogging?”

My favorite time to blog is when I can find time to think clearly, when the house is quiet and no one is disturbing me. I also have to have something to say. I’d rather not blog if I don’t have anything I need or want to write about and since I’m as genuine as possible I’ll delete a post instead of publishing it if it seems forced or not like me.

When I started blogging it was to start a diary and that was my favorite thing, except I didn’t expect that anyone would read it. Over the years I’ve met some very great, caring, funny and giving people and that’s what’s become my favorite thing about blogging. That and all the lessons I’ve learned from other people.

One last question for this post and then I have to get ready for work!

Sister D, who does not have a blog, but should really consider writing one asks:

“Who’s your favorite sister?”

Most of my childhood memories are filled with physical and emotional abuse from my mother. However the good times I remember are with my sister…

Sister D is my real sister and my only sister. We share the same father so she’s actually my half sister but I would never consider her anything less that my entire sister. We are 12 years apart…I am the older sister, she is the younger one.

So in answer to her question…she is my favorite sister only because she introduced me to sushi, likes to go to Starbucks with me, took care of me when I had a broken leg and because I love her very much!

Now I’m late for work!

I’m Game, Are You?

I’ve spent the last 24 hours on the couch because I’m sick. Either I ate some bad sushi, I have a bad sinus infection or I completely over did the wall papering. Based on my luck I’ll go with all three for $500, Alex.

So, I spent the day contemplating what I really wanted to write about. I’m completely twisted about Miley Cyrus and the news about her pictures in Vanity Fair, as well as the ones I saw on the Internet. Especially since I’m busting my sick-cancer-ass to give my eight year old a Hannah Montanna bedroom. Miley was my last hope and damn if she didn’t let me down.

Yet she’s embarrassed? Miley Cyrus shouldn’t just apologize to her very, very young fan base but also to the parents who are shelling out the bucks to support her billionaire butt. Where the hell does she think her fans are getting the money??? Just saying.

Then I thought about discussing food rationing and my urge to by rice by the 20 pound bag just because Sam’s Club is putting limits on it. Dude and I got into a screaming match over what foods to buy, what to stock up on and what crap to stop buying. A delightful time to be had at our homestead for sure.

The truth is my brain has already left the building and has gone to Disney. My body, on the other hand isn’t sure if it’s going to make it. I’ll be dragging it along for the ride whether it likes it or not…

I realize that there are a lot of new readers here at Clusterfook so I thought I’d open the comments up to your questions because I’ve been blogging since August 2005, however much of the history of this blog is gone. So feel free to rummage around the posts that are here including the pages listed on the left sidebar and ask me whatever you want to know…no matter what it is! I will answer all your questions by Wednesday’s post.

I’m game, are you?