Goodbye 2007!

Well, the year is coming to a close. Lots has happened here at CCLIFEORSOMETHINGLIKEIT Blog. Most of it in the past 6 or 7 months: a new niece, a new job, a new apartment, and of course the bad along with the good: "The Pink Eye", some health scares/issues and a fling gone bad...but I am now happy as a clam...can clams be happy? I always wondered about that!

I think this year will be even better than the last. Of course we all like to say that because it has to be, right? But seriously, even tho I am starting out on a quiet note (a pesky chest cold is keeping me at home alone tonight :( ), I feel as tho I am finally on the right track, doing something worthwhile with my work days and accomplishing something to better myself and my financial picture. It's about freakin' time!!!

You have to be optimistic if you can! Especially when a mysterious stranger brushes all the snow (3 inches or so) off your car in the morning... Yea. I didn't see who did it b/c it was before I got up, but they saved me 5 minutes this morning and how nice was that?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Be safe and have fun!!

Christmas Fun

I had a wonderful holiday with my family! The photos went well, the parties were great, and my new neice Caitlin is so sweet. I thought I would share some photos from the various festivities:

Here is my introduction to Caitlin who is now 7 months old! She really studies your face and takes it all in!

Erin and I: the Ladies in Red!

Caitlin having fun with the Santa hat.

Alysa and I on Christmas Eve, taking a break from Champagne and Shrimp!!

Dad got the GIANT UNDERPANTS in the Grab Bag Christmas Eve!!! The possibilities are endless!

Mark and I enjoying the Grab Bag.

The Boys got me an awesome Chili Pepper spoon rest and a beautiful serving platter for Christmas! I am hoping to hang with them on New Year's Eve this year and play soem games!

Annie, Katie and I laughing about something...I just LOVE this picture!

More pics to come. I am not sure who took them, but I did get a pic with all the grandkids at som point. hopefully I will get that one to post soon. Lamby might have it.

It was so great to get everyone together, even for just the day on saturday. I wish we could all get together someplace and spend an entire 3 day weekend hanging out. Maybe someday soon we can figure that out!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

I received the BEST Christmas card this week. Yes, it's from Pee-Wee Herman! I signed up for the Pee-Wee Herman webpage newsletter and updates, so every year I get a card! What's that you say? I am a geek? Well, I know YOU are but what am I???! HAHA!

I get one from Sting as well, but this year I got a video one from The Police. They sang a lovely rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas! It was pretty funny and very pretentious...as only Sting can be!:)

Anyway, I wanted to send Christmas greetings to everyone, and share this hysterical Holiday Card from Pee-Wee! Merry Christmas and have a wonderful holiday!

TomFoolery Thursday!

Ahhh, Thursday. A day to reflect on the past week and tell you of my excellent adventures!

I will start with last Friday night. I headed over to Tammy's after work for a Rock Band party. It was a riot! We played from 6:30 p.m. until 4:30 a.m.!!! I sang Dani California on Hard and got 100%...then at 3 a.m. I sang it on Expert and got 93%!!! Not too bad for being buzzed and tired, eh? I especially liked singing a song by Garbage because the lead singer is in my range. I played some drums and guitar too but I really like being lead singer! We even played online and did pretty well! We are such geeks, but we have a BLAST!

Saturday I was home by 1:30 p.m. after getting up and tackling the mall and the grocery store. I was so wiped I slept after I ate lunch and didn't wake up until almost 5 p.m.! I totally missed Mary's tree set up gathering, and felt terrible, but I was so tired and annoyed by my mall experience I just had to chill out.

Monday I traveled to do a press proof of our company catalog. The drive was three hours away, we had to stay over and press proof at 7 p.m., 4 a.m. and then we got a call at 8 a.m. that 5 of our paper rolls were water damamaged! Exciting, right? I got home to pick up my car at work at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night and totally crashed when I got home.

This week has been sort of crazy. I am trying like hell to put to bed a few projects so I can leave here early on Friday. I think I will be all set by the end of the day today. That trip at the beginning of the week definately extends me a short day on Friday, so i am looking to leave by 12 noon! :)

Anywho...that's it for an update. Now, how about some TomFoolery?

I think I posted this before, but WHY NOT AGAIN!!!! The KING of TomFoolery! Pee-Wee Herman and his GIANT underpants!

The Joke's On Me!

Talk about weird. I opened my email this morning when I got to work and I had TWO emails from TWO people about the SAME THING! My Niece Erin and my friend Chantal had both sent me the newest picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker! Obviously, I make no secret of my love affair with all things BATMAN. (still!)

You may recall that I had posted the first trailer (where you can hear his voice) and first pic of him a while back in this post. Thanks you guys!!! I have been so busy, I haven't had time to check up on my Most Favorite Super Hero and the next installment: "The Dark Knight"

The amazing core cast returns with Christian Bale (BEST Batman EVER! Sorry Michael Keaton!), Morgan Freeman (You ALWAYS rock), Gary Oldman (You are my HERO!), and Michael Caine (The PERFECT Alfred!).

Lookin' Creepy!! I LOVE IT!!!

Check out this article from the Chicago Sun Times which discusses filming in the city with IMAX camera! Sounds pretty cool! Excuse me while I freak out here: NATE!!! WE ARE GOING TO SEE THIS AT AN IMAX NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!!

"Rock Band" Pretty Much Rocks

Well, the anticiapation was killing me, and when I got a chance to play Rock Band this weekend I was so psyched!

I started out singing "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys b/c Tammy was having trouble getting thru it. That is a hard song y'all!! But it was fun! I got thru it! Tammy decided that I should continue to be lead singer so we did another set of songs including "Vasoline" by STP, "Creep" by Radiohead and "Should I stay or Should I Go" by the Clash.

Then it was time for THE song..."Dani California" by RHCP. Seriously folks, I was so amped to sing this song I couldn't even stand myself! Like a kid on Christmas morning I rocked out and scored 100%!!! It was on Easy, however for my first day at the races I was so thrilled. I now need to sing it on Medium, Hard and Expert to see how I do!

Of course you have to play drums at some point too, and I actually did really well on easy and tried Medium and didn't do too badly. A few of the songs I played on drums were "Here it Goes Again" by OK Go, "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult (MORE COWBELL!!!) and "Detroit Rock City" by Kiss.

I also played Guitar for Dani California later in the evening and on a few other songs, but since I play Guitar Hero, that wasn't as exciting as drums or singing. Well, playing John Frusciante's part of Dani California while singing like Anthony Keidis did work out well for me, so I can't complain! Next time I need to play that song twice so I can be Chad on drums and Flea on bass.

We need to work on opening more songs, I was not really impressed with the choices so far, they were fun, but there are so many great rock anthems and some of the choices were less than stellar. PS3 will be allowing downloadable songs in addition to what is on the game so I hope that way there will be more to choose from. Check out the List of Songs from Rock Band.

It was a blast and I can't wait to purchase this game for my PS2! It comes out Dec 18th, and hello!! I know that is the one bauble I am allowing myself to purchase with some of my Christmas bonus money. ROCK ON!!

OH! And apparently I passed the test of coolness because Tammy's 14 year old nephew Corey told her that I was really funny and that I got really into it. My nephews already know this about me. I can have fun and be silly because that is what life is all about! I don't care, I just want to have fun! And I do!!! It was a blast!

I am hoping next time that I will have some pics to share of us all rockin' out!

The Office of a Marketing Manager:

I did have a request for a pic of my office a while back. Even tho I have a management position I still have a cubicle. That is not a bad thing because it is larger than the others, and it does have a small meeting space table in it attached to the desk...tho it is a bit covered with files in this pic. I love it. I stood in front of my window to take this shot:


My desk is a shambles!! Artwork versions and press releases posted about, boxes of samples and files from the previous Marketing Manager. I have so many high priority projects going on right now that it's just a 'Splosion of paperwork! So much for going green huh? :) Once it calms in mid January/early February I will get this paperwork under control and post a new pic to compare to!!

Actually today it looks much better because last night I stayed late to organize a bit! I am located between Sales and IT, and they are a riot so there is never a dull moment here!

I have to say, tho skeptical at first, I am really enjoying this new position!!!! I am settling in pretty well, and getting acclimated to how to work with certain personalities. I have learned a lot and continue to learn every day. Things are working out well so far!

CC's Helpful Workplace Hints: Remember, swearing at work is not acceptable. My solution? Replace swear words or phrases with Holiday references. My favorite? "Son of a Nutcracker!!" courtesy of the movie "Elf". It's clean, and it might even make you or others in your office area laugh...I know, I did it today and what a great stess-reliever it was!!

IN OTHER NEWS:
I might have the chance to play ROCK BAND this weekend (possibly tonight) at my friend Tammy's house! I am so excited because I can sing Dani California by the RHCP and we can download other songs (preferably RHCP songs!!!!) Tammy is a good sport and likes to have fun so I am sure she will oblige!
See the singer in the back to the right? That will be me rockin' out... "Gettin' born in the state of Mississippi, Papa was a copper and Mamma was a hippie..."

Saturday night I am heading over to Big Geek's house for her annual Christmas party. This will be my third one and it's a great group. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. I always have fun with Big Geek's family and friends! I have to figure out what snacky thing to bring along...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Weekend Excitement!

Saturday my Mom turned 75 YEARS OLD! You wouldn't know it, she is young looking and young at heart! We thought it would be nice to have a blowout in honor of this very important birthday. 75!!! That calls for a Limo and dinner and something fun!! So we made reservations for a limo and dinner at one of her favorite restaurants: Grimaldi's...
(Erin, Me and the Birthday Girl before dinner.)

Then after dinner we decided it would be fun to have the limo take us for a ride through the Wonderland of Lights! This is a charity drive through holiday light show and it was really pretty. We popped open the champagne and began our adventure!

(Mom and Dad clutching their champagne as the driver takes a corner! Her face expression is priceless!!!)

(Gettin' crazy in the limo: Dad, Mom and Anne brace themselves as Linny enters the pic!)

The excitement of a sun roof! Everyone took turns sticking their heads out to see the lights from a different view:
(Me and my Mommy, The Birthday Girl!)

(Linda and Evan: How cute are they?? I spy a festive reindeer to the right!)

(Erin and CC, a bit blurry , but havin' fun!)

(Linny and CC taking in the sights and bein' silly! I believe those reindeer to the left are taking flight y'all!)

The entire gang in front of the Limo. Our Driver, Dick, was happy to take a picture for us:
(Back: Dad, Wade, Mom, CC and Annie. Middle: Kathy, Linda and Erin. Front Evan!)


Mom really enjoyed herself and we all had a great time! The weather was clear, the dinner was wonderful, and the Christmas lights were a hit!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Something fun

Stemming from a lovely nickname my brother gave me a long time ago...Click on me. I sound like Vince Vaughn.