what a long, eventful weekend and its only nye afternoon.

friday: we had our annual G(Y)NO christmas. tasted gourmet appetizers; poured drinks; exchanged gifts; enjoyed more drinks; partied with my co-workers at mix; chowed down at burrito house.
...pictures coming soon...

sat: i hung out with fatima and sharon all day -- it was a nice change of pace. we went to the burbs to get more clothes; picked up a couple bottles of moscato at binny's; braved the crowds at woodfield while sipping some caribou; carbed up at olive garden; drank at sharon's with arlene and juvy; met everyone else up at ontourage; reconnected with the true alumni from college; ate leftovers; watched paul eat hot taquitos; feel asleep on inflatable rafts.

sun: woke up to paul's rancid smell; brunch with smelly-smellerton and fatima at orange; watched ufc dvr at chris'; wii tennis with mean pj. now im just resting up at a&m's...sigh.

what a great way to end the last weekend of the new year.
im smiling on the inside as well as on the outside.

dang...i think i have a cold...this sucks.

a few weeks ago, i was talking to one of my good friends and he was listening to my current life story. since he has ADD, he blurted out that i should look up the lyrics to beyoncé's new song, irreplaceable. i just looked up the lyrics and he was dead on. good call, chris.

just came back from the christkindlmarket with my teammates.
bratwurst w/ sauerkraut, potato pancakes w/ sour cream, hot apple cider?

tonight: taking my close girl cousins out to kampai.
christmas eve: waking up early and serving meals at the salvation army with jeff.
christmas day: midnight mass with the immediate family then huge family party.

...i love the holidays...

happy hour turned into happy 4-hour.
who was i kidding especially with good company? good times chris.

i love fadó. i cant believe i found my snakebite again.

that makes 3 times this week. 1 more time tonight and that'll guarantee beer shits for a week.

...i love the holidays...

you can't resist, can you?
you are soooo pathetic.

"the best way to get over someone is to get under someone new" -- my boys.

what can be better than fosters? blue moon.

another night of drinks and eats.
thanks jeff.
fun times.
:)

reconnecting...

what can be better than fosters, b-dubs and good conversation with a friend? nada.
what happens when you do this on a mon PM? you can't wake up tues AM.
what else happens? you wake up still buzzing from the night before. :)

last night, junior picked me up and we headed over to the new bw3's over in hoffman -- pretty sweet. gawsh...i dont think ive seen/spoken to him in over a year. as we ate our wings (i LOVE teriyaki!) and cheddar buffalo chips, we talked and talked about what we've gone through and what we're currently up to.

hes still the exact same and so am i. im still the optimistic, "things will turn out for the best". hes still the realistic, "set your expectations low" type. its so funny how i told him who ive met this past year and he'll blurt out "you sure know how to pick the winners!". ive realized that im the type to give anyone a chance but then i get placed in a position where im the one that gets burned in the end. its weird but it has consistently happened with all the dudes that ive dated.

its just so funny how some things change and how other things stay the same. maybe "funny" is the wrong word. "comforting and exciting" might be a better fit. in regards to all of my friendships, im most grately that we can pick up where we left off. we dont even skip a beat. hanging out with junior last night is a perfect example.

funny moment #1...there was a hockey team outing at bw3s last night so it was really loud. there were times where junior was talking and, if you know me, im hard of hearing. he said something about a dude named ben wallace and im like "what? william wallace? isnt that the star of braveheart?" and junior just looks at me and slowly shakes his head like he always does when i say something so completely idiotic. granted, he was laughing but at the same time he looked sorry that he was having this conversation with me. haha. i love the fact that my friends make me feel at home, they let me be abby, no filters, no secrets. i can just be myself.

funny moment #2...junior was talking about how he was playing catch with his little cousin and that she has aspirations to play highschool ball. then i tell him "dude, i think i have your mitt. why do i have your mitt?" junior was like "ive been looking for that mitt! dont you remember we played in a softball league with andrew two summers ago?". god, i totally forgot...haha. then he goes on to talk about how he doesnt really have a set position but that he prefers center even though hes really bad at judging pop-ups. gawsh, that was the stupidest thing he said...too funny.

we got naked ... mmmMMM.

new word for today: double-entendre
new word from yesterday: rendezvous

P.J.'s pictures from John's Birthday Weekend @ St. Louis -- December 8-10, 2006.

let the drinking begin...
...pj, john, me, bobby, paul


the aftermath...
...fatima, john, me, pj, paul


passed out on the amtrak...
...not pictured: dumb and dumber (pj and paul)

Jeff's pictures from the 2006 Ricebowl Tournament -- Saturday, November 18th.
P.J.'s pictures.

walking off the field...
...after getting a mild concussion


U of I Alumni Girls...
...(b) thara, antoinette, fatima, joni, (t) vanessa, christine, karla, rachel, me, jenny

so many things going on right now...
my heads starting to hurt again...

i just gotta focus on work and meet my deadline.
everything else will just fall into place
-- or better yet --
the unimportant things will just be swept under the rug and be forgotten.

gawsh...
...what an eventful weekend.
...what a disgusting day.

i cant wait to get out of here already.
an out of town weekend trip with friends is medicine for the heart.

snow...

...pros & cons:
pure ... molested
untouched ... muddy
white ... yellow-colored
beautiful ... jaded

snow will eventually...
...have your footprints after you've walked through it
...turn muddy after you've tracked dirt into it
...be ignored after you've thrown it aside into a pile

but, snow will fall again and replace what was once ruined.
after a few months, all the snow will evaporate.
soon, all will be forgotten once the next season comes along and flowers start to bloom.

theres a possibility for a fresh start to everything.
but, you have to decide if you'll try again or just be left behind thinking about the past.

when are you going to smell the tulips?
[i know its supposed to be "roses", but i dont like roses -- a) thorny, b) typical, c) boring].