Addicted

I just got this book yesterday and for some reason I just can't put it down. I made the mistake of bringing it to work, but I guess, as I mentioned in my previous post, it's not like I don't have the time to sit and read anyway.

I'm only a little over 1/3rd of the way in, but it's really addicting 'cause I have to know what happens! It's basically real-life survivor. They take 24 people and plop in one big area where they not only have to survive the elements, but each other as well. They have to kill each other, and the last one alive is the winner and they televise it to everyone for entertainment. Basically if Survivor and Gladiator mated and made a reality show, this would be it. Sounds brutal, I know. The killing hasn't actually started yet where I'm at, so who knows-I could come back saying it absolutely sucks, but so far I definitely recommend it.

The sucky/enticing thing about it is I'm pretty confident one of the other "tributes" or contestants loves the main character. So, the problem is how the heck can they be together if they're forced into killing each other to survive? Well, that's why I keep turning the pages 'cause I have to find out!

Here's a link to the first chapter on amazon.com, and you can be as addicted as me.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/promotions/HungerGames_Ch1.pdf

I will probably be finished soon so if you wanna borrow just let me know.

Work sucks!

So, I have a half an hour left at work and it couldn't go by any slower. I have done practically nothing all day; I listened to half an audio book, I played two intense games of Settlers, I checked my email an absurd amount of times, took an extra long lunch, cleaned my computer monitors, checked my bank account, read every blog of every soul I know that has a blog, wrote a blog and then deleted it 'cause it was lame, stressed my stress ball until it split, thought mean thoughts about my coworkers, updated my survivor fantasy league and stared into space. Oh, and I sent (get this) a whopping 17 emails.

"Bre- you are so lazy!" You must be thinking. "They pay you to work, not to ponder on who you think will read tree mail!"

You would be right. About the second part though- you shouldn't call me lazy, it's rude. There is nothing for me to do; we are so caught up that we are answering emails as they come in at a slow trickle. Which brings me to my main vent:

My stupid coworker is so anal and thinks that he has to do everything at top speed. Heaven forbid we stretch the work out all day, but no. I'm fairly confident he thinks that the his eyeballs will melt if everything isn't done by 9:00am. It would be awesome if that was the case, but it is not. SO, since I try to stretch the work out to last, and he's furiously typing away for fear of eye meltage two things happen. 1. He does most of the work and I look like I'm just not doing anything (ironically it's true, but it's not my fault) and 2. I spend the next 6-7 hours of my work day desperate for entertainment, work to do, or my coworker to suddenly get gout (what's gout? I just saw it on House the other day).

Side note, but on subject. This same coworker offered to trade me beds yesterday. Yeah, I'm not joking. Me and a friend were talking about bed sizes and I had mentioned that I have a full and the eavesdropper that he is joins the conversation and offers this: "You know, I recently got divorced, and I have a king size bed to myself that's only 7 years old. If yours isn't too bad, we could just trade." I almost threw up in my mouth. That was the nastiest offer I think I have had my entire life.

Gross.

Kitastrophe!

Yes, I spelled catastrophe wrong. You really don't need to tell me. You'll get it in a second, just let it soak in.


Anyway, So two days ago a little bit before I got off work Jordan texted me and asked if I had locked the door. He said he had just gotten home and the door was wide open. Jordan had left for work before me and I racked my brain to try to replay the morning in my head as I had left for work. I was running late for work 'cause the kitties had climbed into and behind my dresser drawer (I leave a drawer open and unwatched for more than three minutes and they're both in there) so it took a while to coax them out. In my hurry I had obviously not locked the door.

So, of course my first thought was that the Kea & Kloe had made a mad dash out the door, since that's what they do anytime we open the door after we've been gone for a while. And who know how long the door was open. Jordan guessed (and I agree) that I had shut the door, but it didn't catch and with the strong wind storm we had that day, Wednesday, the wind blew the door open.

I was terrified, I was losing my mind waiting for Jordan to tell me if the kitties were ok, if he found them or if they were long gone. I was so happy that we had decided to put those collars on them with our phone number even though they are inside cats, just in case they got out and ran away. Of course that all depends entirely on the honesty of whoever found them. Let's all be honest, they're adorable little critters and someone might keep them, or worse they could be hit by a car or something.

So, the minutes ticked by ever so slowly as I waited to get off work, it was really only about four minutes, but Jordan finally got back to me that they were ok. I about peed my pants with relief.

He said that Kea was just sitting by the door when he came home, and it took a while to find Kloe (which worried him really bad becuase she's the one that really likes to bolt out the door) but he finally found her hiding behind the computer desk in the spare room.

Relief doesn't begin to describe what I was feeling. The door couldn't have been open for too terribly long, especially because the wind storm didn't start until a little bit before we got off. We can really only guess. I was just so incredibly happy that they didn't take off and they had stayed inside. . . or at least came back.

Bre's Golden Years

So I was thinking about how incredible all the changes are that take place in just one lifetime. For example; my grandma, the lovely Grandma Hillhouse, is 95 years old and as I was growing up she would tell fascinating stories of the stuff that has happened in her life and I am amazed at how different the world was when she was a child. I would ask with wide eyes "Cars weren't invented yet?" as she told a story of how her dad would hook up the horse drawn sleigh in the winter and take the kids for sleigh rides. Growing up in this day and age where everyone has a couple cars it was so strange to hear that they simply weren't around, mostly because cars have practically become a necessity in our way of life. My grandma has lived though The Great Depression, both Word Wars, and many other wars, but she has also seen the inventions of the television, watched on as commercial airplanes were created, and then as we sent men to the moon. That is so incredible to me that through one person's eyes you could see so much that has happened in our world.

This makes me wonder what my grandchildren will be saying; "You never owned your own airplane? You weren't able to take a vacation on Mars? You still used a telephone?!" Who knows what advances mankind will make in my own lifetime? It baffles me to see what has happened in my grandma's lifetime, with all the leaps and bounds made in technology, I'm stupefied to think what will happen in mine. I'm only 23, but already thinking back to when I was a kid I would never have imagined that everybody would own a phone that wasn't attached to a cord (or didn't have to be used in a certain general area when cordless phones came along) and that every single soul would have one attached to their hip at all times where ever they go.

I've also been thinking about how people are terrified of slipping into old age, and while your body slowly breaking down sounds less than appealing, there are certain aspects that I'm kind of excited about. I have put a lot of thought into the type of old lady I want to be:

I have considered being a crazy old lady, the kind where kids run past your house 'cause they're scared and think you might be a witch. I think I will wait until school gets out, and sit in the upstairs window petting my black cat, who for these purposes must be named Lucifer, and point to the little girls and boys walking past my house while muttering as though I am putting a curse on them. Then when Halloween comes along and all the kids are double dog daring each other to run up and touch my front door I will dress in a tattered black dress with a shabby black veil and wait till the kids creep cautiously to my door and just before they get the nerve to touch the doorframe I will run out with my cat shouting Latin (which I will learn for just this purpose) and chase all the kids down the street as they wet themselves. That would be very fun, but most likely very lonely.

Or, I could be the old lady who doesn't quite realize that she's old. I could wear bright lime green stretch pants, and a gold sequined shirt. I will hit on all the 20 yrs olds and go dancing every night. I would have a little white Maltese poodle which I have dyed bright pink, and my entire house would be covered in shag carpet. Although there are a couple problems with this one; I'm not much a fan of sequins, stretchy pants or lime green, but mostly I just can't see Jordan taking me dancing every night, let alone ever.

SO, my last scenario, and I think my favorite, is the young at heart old lady, who doesn't give a crap about much 'cause I'm gonna die at any second so I may as well live my life to it's fullest. I plan on hyping all the grandkids up on pixie stix and brownies and staying up all night to play night games and kicking butt in "shot in the dark" because I'm old and everyone lets me win. I will travel all over the world, and see everything I possibly can. This is 'cause I'm annoyed that when you're young, have no responsibilities to hold you down and have the time you just don't have the money to travel, or you're just too young, but when you actually have the money, you don't have the time, too many responsibilities or you're just too old. So, forget that, I'm going to go everywhere.

Yes, that definitely sounds the best, though I regret the fun missed being the crazy lady.

Official Day

I'm a little behind on sharing the news, 'cause this actually happened about two weeks ago. BUT I will share anyway and you will love it!

After being married for four months I have finally changed my name. Officially I am BreAnn Celese Day. Weird, I know. After so long being BreAnn Hillhouse, it's strange to hear something different after my first name. Especially since Hillhouse is so long and Day is a whopping 3 letters long.

Why the heck did it take you so long, you may be asking. Well, the Social Security Administration Office is only open mon-fri 9am to 4pm, and because I work mon-fri 8am to 4pm that did present a challenge, and after taking a week and a half off for the wedding, then another week just a month after that to go to Havasupai, and then I was promoted and had all sorts of trainings, it was difficult to get some time off work.

Then . . . the one program I absolutley need to do my job freaks out and won't let me in, and not a soul could figure out why, and the estimated time frame to have that fixed wasn't until the next day. So what's a girl to do? I started out playing around on the internet and getting paid for it, but that got old quickly, so I took an hour lunch break and took lunch to Jordan. After that was done there wasn't a whole lot to take my time... until I realized that I had the perfect excuse to leave early and finally get the name change done. Which Jordan was pretty thrilled about.

Phew, that I've finally got that behind me I have to change my name at my work, bank and who knows what else is floating around with my maiden name. What a pain. I don't suggest the process, it's entirely inconvenient.

Until next time, you be careful now- I hear it's a crazy world out there.

P.S.
I had a toothache and all my dentist did was (after a good four minutes in the chair) prescribe me Lortab. I'm kinda pissed, what kind of a dentist does that? I sure hope my insurance covers ALL the work he's going to bill me for!

Kea & Kloe Day!

Ok, now that I've had this blog for a little bit, it's about time to actually post something on here.

For the past year and a half or so I have really been wanting a puppy, but none of my apartments allowed pets, which super sucked. When Jordan & I bought our condo I was so excited 'cause I was finally going to be able to get my puppy! So, we began the search for the right puppy, and we went to several pet stores, and of course checked out some pet shelters. We were hit with the sad realization of just how much pets really costs, which I was really bummed about. We had decided to try and save so that way we could afford the puppy, and not totally break ourselves becuase of it.

I got really impatient.

We had decided that a kitty would be much cheaper, and since we really wanted a pet, we would just get a kitty instead of waiting until we could get a puppy.

We waited for Saturday and said let's just go to a couple store and look around, and not feel like we have to get one that day if we didn't absolutely love the one we were going to get. Saying it out loud it made perfect sense, but inside I knew there was no way I was going to see any kitty that I wasn't going to absolutely love. So, we go to PetsMart, and within the first five minutes i fall in love with this little brown and black kitten, who loved me too and kept rubbing up against the cage to rub on my fingers poking through. It was so adorable, but Jordan liked an older cat that was absolutely gorgeous, she was gray and had these beautiful blue eyes, which I learned Jordan is a sucker for on cats. I said we could get both 'cause I wasn't going to leave the store without my new found friend. He said there was no way we could get both, so I said ok, then we're getting this kitty. He wasn't so sure.

Then, this guy walked in with a cardboard box, and inside were these two half siamese kittens that were so adorable in every way. I held one, and Jordan held the other and I really wanted the one I was holding and he really wanted the one he was holding, so immediately Jordan said, let's just get both! Which was interesting since five minutes before he said we couldn't get two! But believe me, I am the last one to complain 'cause I loved them both, and they were sisters and it made sense to keep them together that way they would have a companion that they already knew and got along with, which I found out later was Jordan's reasoning to getting two. We absolutely love having them, and they are as different as night and day, so seeing their different personalities is a lot of fun.

Kea (above) has blue eyes and has light stripes on her forhead and legs. We call her our little bobcat 'cause well she just looks a lot like a tiny little mountain lion or a bobcat. She's more timid and loves to be held more and compared to her sister is very laid back (most of the time).

Kloe (right) has greenish eyes and light and dark brown spots all over (including her nose, toes and gums) We call her our little racoon becuase of the dark spots around her eyes (they don't show up as dark in the photo). She is a little crazier than Kea and has a lot more energy. She more brave to try new things and while she likes to be held when she's tired, likes to be active and playing even more.

I'm glad we got them both because they love to be together, playing or sleeping. They're usually glued to one another's side eating, drinking, playing/play fighting, exploring and sleeping always together. As you can see in the pic below as they take their nap.

Ok, so that's probably more than you cared to know, and sorry this is so long, but I wanted to introduce our babies to the world!

Until next post, you stay awesome.