Coffee or Hot Chocolate?

How about both?

Last week/weekend was horrible. In fact, it wasn't like an actual weekend, but an extension to the work week. Here is how things went.

Thursday

Work 7-6
Work 7-12
Sleep

Friday

Work 7-6
Dinner with friends 7-10
Sleep

Saturday

Move 7-2X
Work 3X-12
Sleep

Sunday

Move 8-3X
Visit with friends 3X-7
Sleep

I barely had time to eat, let alone sleep this weekend. I am still worn out. For the first time, I smelled coffee and wanted some! I don't even like coffee. I poured myself a cup and was debating over regular or hazelnut creamer. I came to the conclusion it didn't matter which I choose I would still be gagging this shit down. That's when I saw it. The box of hot chocolate. Hot chocolate? Hot chocolate! But that was too sweet! So, I did what anyone would do. I used the packet of hot chocolate as creamer so now I have a yummy coffee that tastes like it could have came from Starbucks, only it didn't cost me $6.89!!!!

YAY! I know I've said it before. I'm a genius! They should promote me!

Weddings are STUPID!

Weddings. Are. Stupid.

Let me explain...

I work weddings ALL the time, I bartend for them. I LOVE weddings. I make LOTS of money at weddings.

I would rather WORK a wedding than be A PART of the wedding.

Lover's best friend is getting married in April and he is one of two groomsmen and the best man. A few weeks ago, they all went out looking for a suit/tux to wear. They didn't really find anything, BUT there was this awesome deal for a tux. It would be like $75 for everything. Isn't that great? It's a wonderful deal and it saves EVERYONE money! YAY! So... They decide they will go back closer to the wedding date and get those...

What happens today?

Ring ring.... ring... ring ring...

"Hi, Baby!"

"Hey, so did you redue the budget?"

I have our finances budgeted out for a year and I am updating it daily or when major things change.

"Yup."

"Where is it?"

Where the hell is this conversation going? I don't know why Lover is so worried about it, it's not like he has ANY access to spend money. I took that away from him. "I forgot it at work yesterday, why?"

"Well, Jeff*, Joe's* best man, got us suits."

"Oh wow, that's great! I mean, he bought them for you guys."

"Well, he bought them, but we have to pay him back."

Now, I didn't even know the amount. Frankly, how much Jeff paid for the suits is irrelevant, because JEFF never should have gone out and made a financial decision without consulting the rest of the group. JEFF needs to take a Business 101 class on how things are handled in the REAL world. Because in the real World, if I don't tell you that I want something, you don't get it for me. AND if you do get it for me, you don't ask me to pay you for it. I didn't want it. If I wanted it, I would have told you. Did I tell you I wanted it? No. Well?

"Oh?"

"Yea, it uhhh..." (I always know when Lover is going to tell me something I don't want to hear because he says uhhhh, well, ummm a lot) "it came out to about $600 so we owe him about $216."

"My ass! We can't afford that. Who the hell does Jeff think he is? He can't just go out and make a financial decision for everyone. I thought you guys all agreed on getting the tux's"

"So did I."

"Well, you need to call Joe and tell him we can't afford it. You need to tell him that Jeff had no right make that decision and if anyone decided to wear suits, then we could have RENTED yours. We don't have the money. I swear if we have to buy this suit, then Joe doesn't get a wedding present. We. Can't. Afford. It. You need to fix this."

"I'll call Joe and just tell him we weren't expecting this."

"Yea, and make sure he knows we CANNOT afford it. And that Jeff had no right doing this."

"Okay, Babe. I am sure he is at work right now, but I'll call him."

I'm still PISSED! It's things like this that make me want to take up smoking again.

* Names changed just in case the rest of the World knows who they are, I want to protect them from being publicly flogged for stupidity! Well, maybe I don't want to protect them from it, but I certainly don't want to be sued for their flogging, if you know what I mean ;)

A Mattress DOUBLES In Weight Over 10 Years...

Look it up. It's gross! Find a good mattress cover, and I don't mean those cloth ones either. You need a good mattress cover!

Slasher Dreams

Fair warning now... This one is dousey (i.e. long)!

I had a really weird dream the other night. Well, I had two dreams; one more stranger than the other.

This is what I remember of the dream:

- It took place in a house, that I had never been in, but it was a nice house, one that I could see myself living it.

- There were a lot of people, maybe 8 or 9 or 10. I think I knew who they were in my dream, but I don't remember any faces to know who they were or if I know them in real life.

- I have no idea why they were there.

- We somehow got into playing a "game." I know what you are thinking, maybe a little role playing, or S & M. Nope, I assure you it was nothing fun like that. Maybe it started off as hide and seek, but somehow it turned into a massacre.

- Everyone was cutting off everyone's limbs. Yea, like killing people. I remember I cut off some limbs. Someone was hiding in the kitchen, and for some reason decided to jump on the island (you know how some kitchens have islands). This particular island had that thing dangling from the ceiling that you can hang your pots and pans on. CRASH! It made a loud noise. It was the perfect amount of noise for me (the one hiding in the hallway) to jump out and so this Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon move and slash off said individuals legs with my butcher knife at the knees. YEA! I sliced through this persons legs!

- I remember "sharpening" my knife and saying something like it uses less energy the sharper the knife was. I am pretty sure I felt remorse through this whole thing. Like, I didn't want to kill and chop off everyone's limbs, but if I didn't they would do it to me. So you see? I was in this battle, kind of like the Saw movies, but without the creepy guy who puts all the strangers in the house.

- The dream was cut off by my abrupt awake-ness (I think someone killed me, because I never finished the dream. and you know they say if you see yourself killed during a dream, then you die in real life) through a fight with 2 other people from the house, where we were throwing around butcher knives like swords. I karate hacked off someone’s arm.

What the hell does all of this mean??? I finally decided to go to The Curious Dreamer to "analyze" my dream. You all know how those free analysis works? They take all the "important" words and give you what those words could mean. Then, it is up to you and your personal experiences/life to determine what the dream really means; I guess you do get what you paid for.

This is what I told the dreamer guys my dream was about: "Myself and a bunch of strangers were in house. We started to play a game where we killed each other with butcher knives and chopped off each others limbs."

This is what I get:

Being Killed

* The idea that some person or situation is attempting to take power from you or victimize you, especially mentally or emotionally. For example, dreaming that a co-worker kills you may represent when she got assigned the project you wanted last week, and you're blaming her for your not getting that opportunity.
*A fear of ill will, being taken advantage of, manipulation, or victimization

Branch (came from my word limbs)

*A branch or offshoot, or the branching out of something, can represent:
- Variation
- A divergence or diversification
- Proliferation or multiplication
- A decision or choice
- The idea of things getting more complicated
- Cause and effect
- A tangent
- A closely related topic or matter

Breaking an object (came from my word chopped)

* Breaking an object in anger can mean your emotions about whatever is represented by the object feel extreme or out of control.
* Breaking an object on purpose when not feeling angry could represent a desire or decision to be free of or finished with whatever that object represents in your life.
* Accidentally breaking an object can represent a feeling or fear of making a mistake or making a mess of a certain situation in real life.

Game

* Play, social interaction, competition, dialog. Pay attention to the type of activity, the dynamics between you and other players, and how you feel about what's going on. A game can represent a real-life activity (past, expected future, imagined, etc.) or the dynamics of a real-life situation (such as the dynamics between you and your teammates on a project at work).

Group

* A group of things or people in your real or imagined life
* Belonging or acceptance
* Abundance
* Plurality
* Pay attention to what is symbolized by whatever makes up the group.

House

* A house, apartment, flat, or any place of residence often represents you or your life, even if the dream residence does not resemble your actual residence. The events in the dream residence may represent events in your life. A house can also represent security, comfort, protection, familiarity, or belonging.
* Also consider the mood and condition of the house (a dreary house might represent depression or sadness, a house with missing windows might represent personal boundary issues, etc.) and anything that particularly stands out about the house.

Killing

* Killing or wanting to kill often represents a desire for power or control, often based in feelings of powerlessness. Killing someone can mean:
* You'd like to take power from whomever or whatever that person represents in your real life, perhaps so you can feel less powerless
* You are angry at them in real life
* You're feeling unwilling to deal with the problems or hassles you feel they cause you
* Killing someone in self defense can mean you're feeling attacked somehow (mentally, emotionally, physically) or that you need to defend yourself or stand up for yourself somehow.
* Killing someone accidentally can mean you're afraid you'll accidentally hurt that person, that something you do may be detrimental to them somehow, or that your subconscious mind is thinking things through to make sure this doesn't happen.

Knife (as a weapon)

* Someone threatening you with a knife can represent:
* A feeling or fear of persecution, hostility, aggression, criticism, etc. from by another person or by "people in general"
* A current or recent situation where you feel your boundaries have been crossed or your integrity has been compromised by someone else

Okay, so being killed, I get it. But, they are strangers. So, somehow I feel vulnerable to the people of the World being that they are taking something from me or trying to. Like work taking away my overtime. That is a possibility. Either way, someone(s) are trying to take something from me and that’s not cool.

Branch? Irrelevant! Wait. The idea of things getting more complicated. Maybe those people are making things more complicated for me in an effort to try and take something from me. I see. So, I chop off their limbs in order to stop the complications. It’s kind of like being faced with a wall, and instead trying to break the wall down, you just walk around. Yes, walking around the wall equals chopping of human limbs. Got it!

I definitely chopped off their limbs on purpose. So, that means the desire or decision is free. That’s what I said. I eliminated the wall, and can go back to whatever it is that the people were trying to take from me.

Game. Dynamics. Hmm… Let’s see? I’m lost. This is getting tough.

Group. OH I get it! I am trying to socialize with the people in the game. Maybe they don’t want to, thus they are taking away my socialism (not to mistaken for the political term socialism). So, I hack them to get it back? No that can’t be it.

Yes, the house; the one thing I can’t stop thinking about. It felt to familiar. Like it was my house in the dream. Even though I have never seen it before. Someone might have been trying to take away my home, my security. The house was new. I don’t know I think this might have something to do with the house Lover and I are trying to buy/build. Hmm… Let’s move on.

Killing. Keeping the theme of the house, I must want to control it. Maybe, I am too anxious, and since I am also impatient, so I feel like things are out of my control, like they are playing a game with me. That means the builders are trying to take away my power and sense on controllability. They are throwing is limbs, like money and time and supplies, and instead of excepting this, I chop off those limbs (via giving them what they want, money and time to buy supplies and labor). And well, the knife, the knife must represent my anger and aggression towards them.

*sigh* Glad THAT one is settled.



I went back to sleep, thinking that when I get to work I NEED to write a blog about this! Thus giving me, Dream #2 - Coming Soon to a blog near you (I know, I'm a dork).

...But I Don't Wanna!

Trying to explain the entire U.O.P online classroom environment is pointless, because no one cares. Each week you have assignments, usually due by day 7 or Monday. It's day 7. I have 2 assignments to do. I don't want to.

I forgot this is what school was about. The professor giving assignments, and me complaining all week and waiting until the last minute to do the assignments. So, why am I back in school working on my Masters? Oh yea! I remember. It's because I can't pay back my loans for my Bachelors. Also, because I need the "extra" financial aid in order to continue paying my bills. Isn't that sad? OH and did I mention that my work reimburses? I could use that money too! Because if you think I am going to take the yearly $5,250 my work gives me to pay BACK the loans, you haven't been following along very closely.

Oh and for an added bonus. Instead of following the 18 month program it would take for me to get my degree, I am stretching it out over 3 years, so that is $5,250 EACH year! YAY for me! That is if I stay with this company, which I am trying desperately hard NOT to do.

What Are You? Stupid?

I am the first person to admit that I love plastic. Not plastic girls or guys, because they are just lame! I like the plastic that has my finger tips at one end and a bank at the other. You know? Credit cards. Plastic allows me to purchase things, sometimes big things, or as of late little things (like groceries) even though I don't have the money to buy them. Then, I get to pay the money back in monthly payments for a small monthly fee.

So, you might be saying, "Hold your horses, Christie! WHY exactly do you like plastic?"

Good question, Jacob! (I have no idea who Jacob is). I love plastic because it eliminates my need/ability to save money. Why would I save $100 a month for 12 months to buy tires/wheels; WHEN, I could charge $1,200 to a credit card and pay it off monthly for the next 18 months? Do you see where I am going here?

There is a point, I promise, I just needed to give you some background first.

Now, the credit cards I have don't have high balances on them. Actually, I guess high balances would require high limits (which I don't have). Oh, no! Don't worry. I don't have high balances, because I don't have high limits. :D I never pay late (well with the exception of a few times but it wasn't more than a week late and attributed to the fact that I forgot it was due) and consider myself a "responsible" borrower. [insert sarcasm here].

But, I would NEVER, EVER, in a million light years, INCREASE my limits. So tell me why my credit card company took me from a $900 limit to a $2,400 limit. I'm no Einstein, but that is a big leap! I know my credit is good, because I just bought a car and stuff and I saw my score. But still. What are they? Stupid, that's what they are. No bank, in their right mind, would do that! I bet a blonde authorized that move. Not just any blonde, the sleazy, slept her way through management blonde. Go back to Hoe School!

I guess I am kind of excited that my limit was increased, because it lowers my debit to income ratio and I'm trying to by a house. So, that's good. I'm still trying to pay off the debit that I have, and now with $2,400 limit on one card I can help but fantasize about all the groceries, gas, and cell phone bills I can charge to the card; while having "extra money" in my bank account to purchase... Oh I don't know... Shoes, a new wardrobe, new wheels for car, because I have totally wanted to get some since I bought it! OH! And I could darken the tint on my car, get my oil changed (wait that would be a charge) or have a couple fun nights out drinking.

*sigh* The reality of the matter, is now I am going to have to remove ALL credit cards from my wallet to not be tempted into spending more money that I don't have.

Why I Should...

Lately (meaning the last 2 months or so), I have not, under any circumstances wanted to go to work. Getting out of bed to get ready for work has become a chore instead of routine. This is precisely why I had compiled this list of the top 20 reasons why I, of all people, should win the big one. Yes, I am referring to the lottery. I am not, however, referring to just the million dollar jackpot. I want the jackpot of jackpots, the big cojones!

*clears throat* So, to begin.

1. My job sucks.
2. I don't get paid enough money to do my job.
3. They took away my overtime. Thus, they took away my grocery money.
4. Number three means they LITERALLY took food from my table.
5. I am a good person.
6. I would give a lot of it away to charity/use the money for good causes.
7. I could be a stay at home Mom. This means my kids would get the love and guidance they need/deserve preventing from being a common criminals (saving tax dollars) and allowing them to be successful (giving more tax dollars).
8. I would be less cranky.
9. I could pay off my student loans.
10. Number 9 means I would be giving money BACK to the government; thus, helping the USA get out of debit.
11. Number 9 means I would no longer be taking money from the government; thus, helping USA stay out debit.
12. I could open my own business.
13. I could open my own business without taking grants from the government.
14. Another business means more money to the government.
15. I would travel within the US.
16. Number 15 would stimulate the economies of all the states.
17. I would travel internationally.
18. Number 18 would contribute positively to foreign affairs.
19. I'd give my family/close friends money to get them out of debt; giving them more disposable income. We all know the positive effects of disposable income.
20. The cosmetic products, clothing, and shoes alone that I'd buy would be enough to keep the area booming for many centuries to come.

As you can see, the economy, government, and general public would be much better off through my winning the lottery.

The Season

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

The bartending season has finally begun and who better to ring in the season with then non-other-than Tom Cruise himself!

This summer was horribly slow, and I barely worked. Now, it is cooling off, turning to fall, and love is in the air. Literally, it's time for weddings, divorce parties, company parties, holiday parties, it's just time for PARTIES!

And time for you to hire ME as your bartender at your event!

If you are in Phoenix (or in the general vasinity) and need one, contact Dave Foreman, 602.505.7293, and ask for Christie A.K.A. Love and Booze, as your bartender. He knows me as love and booze trust me... He follows me on Twitter and you should too - @LoveAndBooze

Now, I can pay off all those credit card bills I accumulated during the summer due to not having any money.