Getting myself ready for the Violent Femmes concert by queuing up some of their songs on Rhapsody, I clicked on a link for a related artist, Jonathan Richman. I never heard of him before but I am finding that I really like his music. It is similar to the Femmes.

Here’s a couple videos of him on Youtube:
New England

Dancing at the Lebanese Bar

Yesterday I posted a link to a black leather tote bag I have been coveting. As soon as I ordered it, my mom emailed me asking me what color I wanted so she could get it for me. Later in the evening, after I wrote about ordering it, Audra wrote me telling me to cancel my order because she had ordered it for me earlier! Goodness gracious, people are generous right around my birthday!

So let’s give this a go:

I REALLY WANT THIS
and THIS
and THIS
and THIS
and THIS

I took a vacation day this Friday! That means an even extra extra long weekend! Rob and I plan on seeing the Violent Femmes perform at the Ram’s Head Live on Friday night. I am a little concerned about seeing them in person. In my mind they are still a young rebellous band and not a bunch of paunchy middle-aged men. I look at their recent photos and I just can’t come to terms with how they look. What happened?!?!!? Oh yeah, they grew up. I guess that happens to everyone.

even me

I have been pining for that LLBean bag for months! A girl at work has the exact one in brown and black and everytime I see her with it, my heart breaks a little bit. I WANT IT! In the back of my mind, I figured one day I would drive to Flemington, NJ to the LLBean outlet store and see if they have it. STUPID IDEA! I realize that now. So with Eric‘s words ringing in my ears, I bought the bag online. I am so happy and I can hardly wait for it to arrive. I can use it to haul my laptop, my sales literature, clothes on overnight trips, items I want to show my mom when I visit, etc…

The weather has been so rainy and ugly. I completely forgot my umbrella and I got rained on at lunch and then again on my way home. The train going to NYC was about 20 minutes late but on time going home. I got in about a half hour ago at 6:45. My mom sent some stuffed shells the other day and that’s what I had for dinner. So yummy! Then for some weird reason I decided to bake Cranberry and Orange Bread. It’s baking right now. I can’t wait to have a slice with a cup of tea.

Must continue to work on the Mike Nesmith hat for Michael!

I am dressed and almost ready to walk out of the house. Today I am working from the NYC office. A roadblock arrived yesterday regarding the Philly office. Apparently the data plugs haven’t been “dropped” yet. I am beginning to wonder if it will ever be ready.

Last night I knitted as I listened to Prison Break. I completely missed most of the action because I was concentrating on knit and purling. I finally put away the Mike Nesmith hat and flipped on my favorite channel, TCM. Ecstacy starring Hedy Lamar was on! I could hardly believe it! I watched about an hour of it. It was a great movie but I had to turn it off in order to get enough sleep so I could be a functioning human being today.

I am going to microwave a couple eggs and get everything packed up. I really need a new computer bag. The bag I use is ergonomically dangerous. When I am 75 and sporting a hunchback, I will wonder why I just didn’t go to LLBean and buy a new bag.

THIS IS THE BAG I WANT!

Southwest reissues Awards so if I really want to go somewhere, I could spend 50.00 and get an Award reissued:

Q: If I am unable to use my Award within 12 months, is it possible to have my Award reissued?
A: Yes, an Award may be reissued for a $50 fee. You can simply mail an informal note including the expiration date and certificate numbers of the Award(s) you would like to have reissued, along with your account number and a check or money order for the appropriate amount to:

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
P.O. Box 972739
Dallas, TX 75397-2739

Please allow 4-6 weeks to process your request. Awards are reissued with a new, 12-month validity period that begins on the date that the request is processed. Only requests from the original Member who earned the Award will be considered.

ATA is not as accomodating:

Awards must be ticketed for a selected ATA scheduled flight before the expiration date of the Travel Awards Points. No extensions are permitted. Travel Awards Points expire twelve (12) months from the date earned.

Hell’s Bells!

I was thinking about all the frequent flier miles/points I accumulated during the time I was traveling to Chicago every week. I had so many free trips they were coming out the wazoo! I never gave it too much thought, I worked so much I never had any time to go anywhere on my own. Thinking about it, I wondered exactly how many points/flights I had earned. Well, I logged in to my Southwest and ATA accounts and ALL MY POINTS HAVE EXPIRED! I could have traveled the world, or at least the continental United States. They are now all gone. Every single one. Expired. Sad.

I actually have one Southwest trip that is still active but it expires on Wednesday. Doubt that one will get used.

ATA
Available Points 0
Earned 26000
Redeemed 3000
Expired 23000

On Friday, Rob and I went to see the movie Invincible. The theater was crowded and a large portion of the audience wore Eagles shirts. It’s the story of some Philly guy who is down on his luck and he tries out for a sports team. He makes the team and everyone loves him. Rob thought the movie was great. Apparently he remembered the whole incident. The only thing that I remember from the 70’s is a couple episodes of Fantasy Island. I would caution girls against seeing this movie. It’s really a guy’s movie but it is tolerable.

Saturday we went shopping and visited with Barbara. I helped her with her computer and she gave us a bottle of Leonard Kreusch Qualitatswein Liebfraumilch 2004. We went back to the donnavilla and I gave Rob a choice of movies to watch. “We can watch Steve McQueen in The Getaway, the original Wicker Man or Fellini’s City of Women.” Rob opted for City of Women but as I was about to put it in the DVD, I said, “We can also watch Viva Las Vegas, what do you think?” Viva Las Vegas won out. As Ann Margret shook her booty, we drank the entire bottle of Liebfraumilch! It was so good! Sadly, I think I might have passed out because I have very little memory of the movie.

This afternoon we went back to On the Border, the restaurant where we met! We had lunch. I ordered fish tacos and they were really very good. They tasted like Fish and Chips without the chips and wrapped in a tortilla. After lunch we shopped a little at the mall right next to the restaurant. We also went to Target. That’s about it. The weather has been very dreary and not at all cooperative to outside activities.

I think this is the last week I will be working from home. The Philly office should be ready by next week! Hooray!

The phone won’t power up in my car either! I cannot find the regular charger that just plugs into the wall outlet. I have no clue where it is located! I have too many plugs and cables, they are everywhere and I don’t know what half of them do. The last time I remember using the charger was back when I traveled to NYC for a couple overnight stays when I first started to work for my company. Grrrrrrr! What did I do with it? I think I am going to have to go to visit my parents and borrow my Dad’s charger. At least to get the phone to hold a little charge and then I can bring it back and charge it the rest of the way on my computer.