Viva Las Vegas…

Well my week up here in Small Mountain Town is coming to a close. Just as soon as I can motivate myself to close the laptop and carry my bag out to my car I will be on my way back to Vegas.

No word from the job on working next week, which is freaking me out a bit quite frankly. I really need to get in at least 20 hour next week to make it work. (Oh how Tim Gunn of me, eh?) And those 20 hours need to be Mon-Tues-Wed or else I will have made exactly $0 in this pay period.

Those of you in AZ and CA and WA and OR and other points West should be receiving your CD’s today.

Sigh, I am not fond of the hours before I embark on a road trip back home. Convincing myself to get in the car and knowing I have a lead foot and this week was speeding related expensive enough…well, I’m sure you understand. Plus there is literally NOTHING between here and Las Vegas, so why not drive 100mph, right?

I have a sorority alumnae event tomorrow or I’d probably stay until Sunday.

That’s all for now my friends!

to the d to e to the licious…

To the 24 of you who requested CDs, they are finally on their way. I am sorry it took longer than expected, I’ve never tried to do a mass burning with Itunes and WOW only 7 copies Itunes, really? I guess I will have to rethink my whole 40th Birthday massive party DVD invite. LOL Which btw, if you are on facebook, friend me and I’ll add you to the “Countdown to Amy’s 40th Group.” Don’t know where yet, but somewhere in Las Vegas on April 11th there will be a huge party. My birthday is the 12th, but that is Easter. LOL

I got another Text from SM this morning: How about the weekend inbetween?

You know what? I didn’t even respond. Does it matter? Even if he plans it, 99% of the time he doesn’t show. So if he flies in great. We’ll have dinner, some wine (for me) and vodka (for him). We’ll laugh. He’ll show me baby pictures. I’ll talk about all the cool things happening in my world (Details next week when the site I am a part of officially launches and I am allowed to talk about it. Female sports fans, ALL sports fans: It’s gonna be HUGE). What we won’t be having is TEH SEX. Even if I have now been celibate for longer than any time since I started having sex. Which would be a year for those keeping count.

At the risk of being too TMI: I don’t miss it. At all. Well, sometimes for about 3 minutes. And then it passes. HA HA HA HA This formerly “Promiscuous Girl” (Nelly Furtado would be so proud) has gone all “don’t wanna unless it MEANS something.” And that feels like the right place for me as much as my carefree freewheeling “if I wanna I wanna” days did at the time. Maybe it’s age. Maybe its living a clean alcohol only life. Probably it’s both as who I am at the core is probably somewhere inbetween free wheeling and celibate. LOL I am a relationship girl, let’s face it. I like them, I am good in them, I am a good, thoughful, ever ready girlfriend.

I just don’t want a relationship right now.

I definitely don’t want the wrong relationship.

And since I tend to like as well as attract “crazy,” I am just not playing the game.

There is a happy medium for everything and over time I will figure it out. Right now, I’m in the right place for what I am doing and what I need to get done.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint–if we’re lucky.

This post brought to you by a mind addled by 6 hours of Pac 10 football research and 3 generous glasses of wine.

And now I am going to say goodnight before I start spewing more esoteric stream of consciousness BS!

Goodnight! Sweet Dreams my friends!

i’m not that chained up little person still in love with you…

Text: I’m coming to visit you in August

My text reply: I have friends in town Aug 9-14, will be out of town for my niece’s 16th birthday the 19-21st, in Salt Lake City the 27th-29th.

I speak, of course, of SM who continues to think my life revolves around him, or at least that I am waiting with baited breath for him to grace me with his presence.

Um, no.

His next text: So did you meet a guy or something?

HA HA HA HA Notice how it all revolves around him and I’m not sup to be happy w/o a man?

Some things, some PEOPLE, never change.

But I’m sure glad I have.

let the music play part 2

ALL CDs are burned and will go in the mail in the morning!

3 AGDs and 1 DG @ the Melting Pot, May 2007

We love our food!

your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOA…

Oh man people. I know life isn’t supposed to be all easy all the time, but my level of frustration has been running so high for so long with very few breaks and I need it to STOP now and let everything work out, OK? So if you know any of the Various Powers That Be can you take care of that for me? KTHXBI.

On June 27th I started my fabulous new job as Senior Copywriter and Editor at a new dot-com here in town. Everything was going swimmingly. I loved the people and the mission of the company and enjoyed the work. I got my first full two week pay period check on Wednesday of last week and it was less than $200 shy of what I used to make when I lived in Los Angeles. I WAS STOKED!!!! I felt, hey, final-fucking-ly, after 9 months of unemployment and a year and a half before that of general chaos, my life was getting back on track.

Well hmmmm, what’s the old adage? “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch?”

Last Tuesday all the writers were told to take Wednesday off. Then Thursday and Friday. Now Monday and Tuesday and possibly Wednesday.

Last night I was told: “I can’t promise you anything more than part time.”

Well gee, thanks, I’m so glad I quit one of my other paying writing gigs to focus on the new day job. I’m so glad I did him the favor of editing a document in disarray for a straight 5 hour rate when it took me 12 hours.— But that’s just me feeling like a chump.

I sort of get his POV as CEO. (and also I am used to playing a bigger role in a company than just copywriter, so I think the lack of power I have is not something I am used to) But from my POV, well…best I not mouth off here, we never know who is reading, right? I just feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me with no warning. Sure there was a lot of shitty copy written by writers who were let go. I didn’t write it, I tried to clean up the mess, within the restrictions I was given. Now I feel like I am being punished for the bad work of other writers.

But I am probably (DEFINITELY! LOL) taking it WAY too personally and being WAY too dramatic. That wouldn’t be new. I like this job, I want this job, I am frustrated with this job — that is the bottom line.

So the drive up here to Small Mountain Town NV cost me $600 plus gas. Now I’m only working part time, if that? Hell to the N O, knowwhatImean? That is not going to work for my life. Not right now.

There is an upside to all of this my friends…bear with me.

Last night I’m sitting out on my parents’ patio and just feeling totally bereft. The economy sucks, there aren’t a ton of jobs for content writers in Las Vegas (compared to LA, for instance) and the ones there, by and large seem to pay CRAP ($13 an hour? I have 16 years experience, I want to tell those jobs to sit and spin, you know?).

All of a sudden I get the urge to call the California Unemployment 800#. So I did. And what did I find out? CA is in an extended benefits period as of July 6th. I CAN GO BACK ON U/E for anywhere from 3-6 months.

U/E plus part time equals full time LA salary type money.

It’s just gonna take a couple weeks to get it coming in, but when it does, it should be $1800 pretty quick, since 2 weeks of July have already passed and I’m still within my open claim period.

So yes, the new job going part time and all erratic and who the f knows what’s gonna happen there sucks. But having U/E coming in again helps. If I can just make enough at the job in the next 6 weeks to pay off Aruba and a loan my parents gave me last year, I’ll be fine.

As for my love life being DOA - ask me if I care. HA HA HA I just don’t. Life is simpler single. I’ve had enough drama and chaos (and mentally ill boyfriends) for one lifetime.

i fought the law…

and the law won!

So, yeah, a funny thing happened on my way up to Small Mountain Town, NV. I got pulled over for speeding. 91 in a 70, cop said he’d write it for 85. I considered myself LUCKY as a few miles earlier I’d been driving, no joke, 140mph. (SAAB: BORN FROM JETS!)

So he goes back to his car to write my ticket and a few minutes later comes over and asks me to get out of the car.

I had an unpaid speeding ticket from Christmastime. It had become a warrant for my arrest.

When he told me this and pulled out the handcuffs I started laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. Rural NV has a HUGE Meth problem. But my $60 unpaid ticket is getting my juicy sweatpants wearing (shut up, they are old and they are comfortable–perfect road trip pants), flip flop wearing, Matchbox 20 blasting, Saab driving, Prada bag having self hauled off to the Small Mountain Town NV jail.

I did not stop laughing the entire way to the jail. (I was about 30 miles from town when I got popped.)

All in all the fine was not huge at all and I paid the new ticket on the spot. My parents had to come down with cash and spring me. The Sheriff–he might have a bit of a crush. My mug shot? OMG I have to scan my paperwork in when I get home tomorrow and show you guys–I look like I’m smiling for my Homecoming Queen photo.

I so thought the whole thing was ridiculously entertaining.

It stopped being entertaining the next day when I went to the impound lot to pick up my car. $210. Where does this guy think he is, L.A.? From his “we don’t see many of these cars round these parts” comment, I am taking it to mean I was charged a “Saab tax.”

Oh well. At least the ticket(s) are paid and taken care of and I didn’t have to, you know, spend the night there.

ARRESTED! I am so fucking amused!!!! I am a CONVICT, people!

let the music play…

Hello!

An update on the CDs…I am still burning them and plan to mail most of them tomorrow.

I’ll check in later with my story of adventure in the high desert.

rocky mountain high…

Hey there!

I’m up in the mountains visiting my parents. Will write more later…Have a funny story to tell you all.

“A funny thing happened on my way up to Small Mountain Town NV…”

if i could escape and recreate a place as my own world…

hee hee Hello! I thought you all might enjoy this old AOL IM convo between 2 of the 3 AGDs and myself on Halloween 2006. It originally ran on my old blogger blog back then. And as THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: Project Runway premiers tonight and Maria and I are nothing if not supreme lovers of all things Michael Kors and Tim Gunn… and yeah this is the run on sentence from hell…anyway, read on…

Nic: What are you for Halloween?

Amy: ME with bed head and red shoes. My office doesn’t dress up.

Nic: I thought about dressing up as you as well! I was just going to walk around holding a bunch of shoe boxes.

——————-

Maria: I wore a brown pinstripe pantsuit and an orange shirt. Which is something I never could have done at the prison, so yay for me!!!

Nic: I think the important question is, is it orange or tangerine??

Amy: And is it KORS?

Maria: Sadly, it is neither Kors nor tangerine. It is orange and a button up shirt. But its the forbidden color nevertheless.

PS: I’ll give you guys a good safety tip for Halloween and everyday.
If you are ever for some reason at a Greyhound station, avoid the men in jeans, a denim shirt, and tennis shoes. They are the men just released from prison a few hours ago.

Nic: you’re just filled with all kinds of advice. we are soooooo lucky to have you as a friend!

Amy: Um, why would any of us be in a Greyhound station in the first place? Or talking to someone in a denim tuxedo?

Nic: I’ve always called it the Texas Tuxedo and it’s always scared me.

Maria: See, you probably never knew why it scared you and now you know why!
And how does one dress as a sexy ZOMBIE? This concept intrigues me.

Amy: Its all about THE BOOBS!

Nic: Too bad Maria doesn’t have any!

Amy: That is why God made the Wonderbra.

Maria: HEY! I have boobs, I just can’t poke someone’s eye out with them.

Amy: Our boobs are weapons Nic, did you hear that?

Nic: weapons of mass seduction?

Maria: Weapons of mass destruction!

Nic: I think I prefer seduction.

Amy: That would depend on my mood.

Maria: I have swift Kicking Feet of Injury that I can use if necessary.

Amy: ZOMBIES!

———————–
Nic: so I can’t determine yet if the maintenance guy doing work in our space is cute. He kinda looks like he may be.

Amy: Don’t you hate that? That’s how I feel about DJ.

Nic: I think this needs further investigation but I have yet to figure out how to go about that!

Maria: Check out the tush. Usually the tush is a good indicator.

Amy: You could ask him if he is afraid of ZOMBIES or if he’s ever worn a Texas Tuxedo.

Nic: ahahahahahah and then he will probably be like ok what a freak!

Amy: And your point is?

Nic: I don’t really have one… i was just stating the obvious…

Maria: ZOMBIES!

————————

Aren’t friends the best?!

I am busy trying to get these CDs burned for all y’all. I am having issues with ITunes saying I’ve burned too many (7? 7 is too many? WTF) so am trying to copy the CD in my car to Windows Media Player and copy that way. ETA: 1-7 are done. Am basically re-importing the disc after each 7 burns. So am done for tonight–will finish them tomorrow night. Mailing them to everyone on Friday.

I am also gearing up for the 2nd time I’ve made my new recipie: Herbed Chicken Vinagrette over Baby Spinach. For those of you who’ve been over to myrealname.com, you’ve seen 1 of my recipies so far. My upcoming novel COLD FEET is set in a restaurant and the menu will be an intergral part of the story and provided in the book. So basically, I need to come up with a whole menu worth of original recipies.

I also need to finish writing my Pac-10 Preview for gridiron goddess dot net. I’m giving serious thought/am 90% decided to withdraw from the about dot com guide training program. I just am spread entirely too thin and I need to focus on, in no particular order: My book(s), My day job and Gridiron Goddess/other sports writing gigs. About dot com would have been fantastic before I got my copy writing job. Now, well, let’s face it, I sort of thought (and by sort of I mean totally) that I could phone it in based on superior writing skills. And that would be a wrong assumption. It’s a lot of work.

Once I get the three priorities mentioned above out of the way I have precious little time left. And with the time left I want to focus on 1. Losing Weight/Getting in Shape and 2. Hello, Social life, where are you, I’ve misplaced you.

I hired a trainer today. We meet tomorrow night at 7pm. He thinks he’s in for a 3X a month per my gym membership deal. He will be happy to know I want 3X a WEEK kick my fat ass into shape for Aruba and so that I feel like leaving the house and not hiding my fat self away from the public.

(And yes, I know, am being dramatic and exaggerating. But still.)

I was in such amazing shape when I met the ex-SG in 2002. I had been working out with a trainer for 3X a week for 4 or 5 months by that point. Apparently it is the only way I can motivate myself. So I’m gonna do it. Four hours of pay a week (at my current rate) go to project get my body back/training fees. I can live with that.

27 days until INSANITY 2008 VEGAS STYLE, this time with less MONKEYS.

(3AGDs and 1DG during INSANITY 2006: Hollywood)

OH man, I can’t wait! Those 3 women are 3 of my favorite people in the entire world. Plus, Marissa is getting married by Elvis!

the beat that I’m bangin’ is delicious…

Hey! Guess what? I have tomorrow off! Boss came in and told the copywriters not to come in tomorrow. WOO HOO! Well, sort of. I like my job, I need the money, but you guys saw the list of things I’m working on - I could sure use a day to get some of it done!

And… Marissa, one of the AGDs of the 3 AGDs and 1 DG mix, is getting married next month here in Vegas. Maria (AGD) is driving in with her husband (BRING THE DOGS MARIA) Well today, Nicole, another of the AGDs, bought her ticket out! WOO HOO REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!

LOOK FOR A NEW MIX NEXT MONTH based on whatever silliness (and silliness is always guaranteed) goes on.

Alright, I’ve got to dash - I have my writer’s group tonight where they are sure to ask me the status of my book proposal. And… it is not done. But. I have tomorrow off! I can work on it!

3 AGD’s and 1 DG in Sedona, AZ May 2007 doing “sorority girl pose”

(INSANITY 2007: Arizona Edition)

Oh and that silliness I referred to? Well, here’s an example: