busy, busy, busy

As many of you know, the summer was stupidly busy for me. My mom continues to progress. There were a few hang-ups along the way, but I think they're over at this point. She is doing so well in fact, there is a possibility of her being home by the weekend. We're all excited at the idea, no one more so than her. We're trying not to get our hopes up too much in case it doesn't happen but it's difficult not to be a little excited.

In addition to the crazy family stuff, I've also taken on a big project for work. I am currently studying for the General Securities Representative Exam (aka the Series 7). It is a pre-requisite to do almost anything in the investments industry. It's a huge undertaking and I can't wait to be done with it. Last night I finished reading the textbook. It was 22 chapters of painful reading & question answering. Now I can move on to the practice tests which are supposed to be the most important part of the study process. With any luck, I will be able to take and pass the test next month. It's a 260 question, 6 hour test. Good times!!

I got new work toys yesterday:

Shiny!

weekend recap

*pictures to be added later*

Thursday
Thursday evening was really the beginning of my weekend. It was my first night back at my apartment after being gone a week to Rochester and Eden Prairie.

Friday
Claussen, my friend Becky, my sister, and I went to a taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in St. Paul. We waited in line for the better part of 4 hours but it was totally worth it. We had great seats on the left hand side of the stage…6 rows up. There was a warm up comedian, a little Q&A time with Jon and the show taping. We left around 6:30 and then it was off to Granite City. Sadly, the fries were a disappointment. On the way home, there was a quick stop at Target to pick up Season 4 of The Office.

Saturday
The morning involved sleeping in. Yay! Then it was off to Boournsville for Fire Muster days. Claussen was helping with the event sponsored by his curling club. Then it was off to Tropic Thunder at the Burnsville CineMagic Atlantis 16. If you want to see this movie but haven't yet, wait until it comes out on DVD. It's not worth your $8 in the theater. Some parts were funny but overall, meh. The rest of the night consisted of pizza, alcohol and The Office. Good times!

Sunday
Claussen headed home around noon. Shortly after he left, I found out that I had free HBO all weekend and I hadn't been exploiting it for everything it's worth. So after setting the DVR to record a few things, I headed to on demand and watched almost all of the 4th season of Entourage. I have two episodes left and the season premier that aired last night. I also did some studying for my Series 7 exam. Only 8 more chapters left in the book. Believe me when I tell you that Options transactions are tricky. No really, just believe me…you don't want to find out for yourself!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

tomorrow is only a day away!

Tomorrow I'm going to see one of my TV boyfriends, Jon Stewart, and his team of awesome.

I can't wait!

help!

My sister is throwing a welcome home party when my brother-in-law comes home from Iraq later in the year. I have agreed to help and have been "enlisted" as far as invitations go. It just so happens that the party will also be on his birthday.

What I need help with:
I want to come up with a clever title for the party. Operation: _________________

Help fill in the blank. I want it to be reflective of a soldier returing home but a birthday celebration at the same thing. Thanks to the Austin Powers movies, the best thing I can come up with is "Operation Bananarama" and that just won't do.

new haircut

I, like Rachel, should have taken a before picture.

That's all.

two posts, one day

This is the funniest news story I've read in a long time. Enjoy!

An online beauty pageant...for nuns

the penguin waddles at midnight

I had a good and somewhat busy weekend.

Thursday night I went and saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with some girls from work. It was ok. I saw the first movie but have never read the books. From what I've heard, the movie was very different from the book. I definitely liked the first movie better.

Friday night, I hit up the movie scene for the second night in a row (this time with Rachel) and saw Pineapple Express. If you're looking for crazy, silly, chaotic fun, this is the movie for you. We giggled the whole time. And James Franco as a stoner? He totally pulls it off.

Saturday morning I went and got my haircut. It seems haircuts were the thing to do this weekend. Rach got hers cut and several people from my office did the same. I now have 4 inches less and a lot of layers. I think I like it but I'm not sure yet. That evening I went to a farewell party on Lake Minnetonka for one of my friends from work that is moving to Denver. I didn't realize how much I would miss her until I said goodbye at the party.

Sunday I sat around in the morning and did a little bit of cleaning. In the afternoon, my sister and I went to the pool and I'm now sporting a rockin' sunburn. We picked up dinner from Cosi and headed back to my sister's house. On the way home I stopped at the grocery store.

The upcoming week will be pretty uneventful. I plan to spend next weekend with my mom in Rochester.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!