Randomness

So, I have not posted anything *real* since Monday! Work has been busy. Even though we are working more regular hours, the hours I am there are pretty crazy! I also had two board meetings this week on top of work. Friday, we had the last in the series of three shots for the rabies vaccine and now, we are DONE. Well, until we go to Asia anyway. There is some vaccine for that part of the world that we do not have yet. I cannot believe Africa is getting so close! It's crazy. Friday night, Kurt and went to dinner to relax.

Saturday, we did a lot of stuff around the house, me--cleaning and laundry, Kurt--working on tile in one of the downstairs bathrooms. That night, Val, Larry, Val's boyfriend Dan, and Larry's friend Mike, came over to go to dinner. We have not seen Larry in forEVER, and he seemed so TALL. I think he is like 6'3 now. He wants to go to law school and will prob start in Fall 2011. His friend, Mike, is in law school now, and really wanted to ask Kurt and I questions about having our own firm and stuff like that. He is only 22, married, has a 3 year old and is in law school. It's pretty incredible how much he has accomplished so far. Anyway, dinner was really good and it was a really fun night.

Today, we chilled at home again. I did some grocery shopping (and saved $47 with coupons, whoot), and Kurt and I ran some errands at Lowe's and Petsmart. Bought Gretel two new sweaters. She looks adorable. Kurt did some more tile work in the basement and we shopped for tile for the other basement bathroom. We also stopped and looked at kitchen stuff and I found an awesome cabinet set I really liked. I cannot wait unti we redo the kitchen someday.

The black coat I ordered from Ideeli was delivered this week, and the watch. The coat was cute, but not exactly what I want, so I sent it back. It was kinda more fitted than I wanted. I need something that is kinda baggy to wear over suits at work. The watch though, I love. I need to take it in to get links taken out, but it is really cute.

Oh, and the ring I ordered that was too big when it came? The right size was delivered this week! Super yay. I love it.
Made two recipes for dinner tonight from my Kraft magazine. The first, a peanut butter cup pie, and the second, a cheese-lover's pasta roll-ups. Both were super yummy and I highly recommend. The pie is really rich though, so I suggest small slices when eating. With the rollups, I made the whole recipe, but I froze most of it. I would much rather warm that up for kurty than storebought stuff.

Finally took a pic of the ceiling fans we bought, here is a close up of one of them (there are two, right next to one another, on the ceiling in the great room):

Anyway, hope everyone has been doing well. I cannot believe it is almost Thanksgiving. Trying to decide what I want to do for that holiday this year. :).

Busy Times

So, I had a pretty busy Saturday and weekend in general.

Saturday morning, I got up, took a shower, and headed to Rebecca's to hang out before my hair appointment. She massaged me some, which I apparently needed since I was in pain. Thanks Rebecca! After that, we went to Trader Joe's, and I discovered the best workout bar ever. I read on a blog previously about this bar, and have been looking for it since. It is a new one by Clif, and I have not seen it in any store yet. Well, Trader Joe's came through for me. I bought a bunch, and OMG, Yum. I highly recommend. It seriously tastes like a condensed blueberry muffin. I am def going to buy these in bulk. Oh, it is called Blueberry Crisp Clif. After that, got my hair done with Marnie. I actually got about 3 inches cut off, new highlights and some sideswept bangs, which is totally not like me. I dont change things with my hair often. Kurt can't really tell a difference, but I def can.

Then, drove home, changed, and left for dinner with Cliff and Lisa in Detroit at Pegasus. What a pain it was getting to Detroit. This winter blast thing is going on down there, and traffic and parking was a total chore. Pegasus was OK. The food was very good--I had a grilled shrimp meal with green beans and rice and diet coke, kurt has a greek salad. But, the service was horrible. The staff was rude--all of them. They practically kicked us out when we were done because they wanted our booth for others. I wont go back there. I can get Greek food elsewhere. But, it was nice to see Cliff and Lisa......Kurt and I headed to the Windsor casino after that, where I played some poker and blackjack and did not win. But thats OK, I had a good time.

Today, slept in a little bit. I needed it after the long day on Saturday. Got up and did some stuff around the house, stopped at the grocery store. I was feeling guilty for not working out yesterday, so I did one of the videos that Rebecca loaned me. Loved it. It kicked my butt. It was like cardio Pilates. I will be doing this one again. It hurt. Then, tonight, I did another workout in the gym.
Oh, went to Lowes today with Kurt to pick out the flooring for one of the upstairs bathrooms. Him and Kory pretty much finished it today, except for the grouting. It looks SOOO good. they also finally hung the mirror I bought forever ago from zGallerie in the other bathroom. It needs to be cleaned (they got stuff all over it hanging it, but it looks so kewl. I love that mirror.

Nothing New in Newport

So, today was a pretty standard day, really. Nothing ultra-exciting to post about.

I was pretty tired when we got home, so I made dinner, and sat down to watch Beauty and the Geek. I totally did not want to work out, but I made myself. Yay. I always am glad once I get done.

I ordered a kickboxing bag on Amazon tonight. Yay. I have always wanted one, and now that we have the gym, I see no reason why I should not have it. Now, I need to put together some program for it. My old instructor told me he would help me out, but I feel kinda guilty asking him. I will try to find something online first.

I finally made my hair appointment today. I kept forgetting. So, I am going on Sunday and will prob meet up with Rebecca beforehand. I am going to get a massage from her and try to pay her, but she always just wants food, so I guess we will see. She always makes me feel better, and with all this working out, I really need it, I think! ;). I can't wait to get my hair cut. I really want something different, but always end up chickening out and getting the same sort of style. I don't like short hair for me, so my options are fairly limited.

Cold in Michigan

It is so cold in Michigan right now. Almost record cold temps.

Current temp? 0 degrees Farenheit. Feels like? -15 degrees Farenheit. Not even kidding. And the rest of the week is not much better. It is not going to be over 23 degrees all week. Nice. Today, I went outside to the grocery store briefly and I could barely stand it getting into the car in the garage, it was to cold. Ugh. I can't stand this.

So, got to sleep in this morning. This working out crap annoys me sometimes, because I get fairly anal with what I am eating and doing. Bec, Kory and Britton went for pizza for lunch and I did not go, because I don't want to be counter productive with the working out. So, I just need to stay away from those kind of eating establishments...........Rebecca said the pizza place they went to was not that good anyway, so I am kinda glad I did not go.

The rest of the day, I just tried to get some things done around here. It is so cold though, I dont even want to get off the couch with my blanket. I did some laundry, did some dishes, picked up the house......My husband, the pseudo-plumber, fixed some things in my bathroom today that I have been begging him to fix for months. My sink and my shower had clogged pipes, so the water was taking longer to drain than normal, which in turn made the sink/shower get dirty more quickly, which drives me insane. He took eveything apart and now everything works. Yay.

Oh. Rebecca brought over a small refrigerator for the basement and I put water in it today. It will be nice to have it down there. I tend to forget it and have to run back upstairs to grab some.

The Colts won the Super Bowl. I did not really care who won, but I was rooting for the Bears since they were the underdog. So many turnovers in the game, it was crazy. Prince was the half time show, and I actually really liked it. Kewl lighting and fireworks effects.

Kurt's Birthday--Part 2

Today, we celebrated Kurt's birthday again. Went to Fishbones in Detroit for dinner with Kory, Rebecca, Britton and Gary. It was really good. I had gumbo soup and sushi. Afterwards, Kurt, Gary and I went to the casino in Windsor. Kurt and I won $102.50. My portion was only $2.50. I played Texas Hold Em. Kurt played blackjack and craps. It was a lot of fun, but nothing beats Vegas........

This morning, Kurt and I went to work for a short time, had a meeting with a new client. We then went to a couple stores.....One, this place Kurt likes for paintings and furniture....We bought a painting for the basement once it is done. Stopped for lunch at Zoup, and then at the Pier One Clearance Store. It was fun. Then, he hung all the posters in the gym. I really need to take pics....

First Snowfall of Newport

So.....Saturday, I slept in, then got up and went into the office for most of the afternoon. Rebecca met me there around I think 430 p.m. and we ran some errands I needed to run. I picked up my new can opener (with 20% off coupon) from Bed Bath and Beyond, and we went to two Dunham's to look for this flooring Kurt needed to finish the basement. He needed 3 packages and we only found two. Boo. But, today, Kurt and I stopped at a Dunham's in Canton and found the last one. Yay.

Kurt and Kory worked on the gym basement most of the day yesterday and part of the night today. And, tada, it's done! I will take pics another time and post. It's awesome. It looks like a real gym! No, it does not have the luxuries of Rebecca's gym, but to me, it's better because it's in my basement, I can watch what I want on TV, and it has everything I need. Kurt ended up putting in a closet, where he is storing my medicine and other workout balls. We bought a TV today at Rex in Monroe and hooked it up to our satellite. So, tomorrow, I will be starting my workouts and keeping track of those and my progress. Can't wait.

Today, we went to lunch for my Grama's birthday, which is tomorrow. We went to this place in Livonia called O'Charley's. I had soup and salad and I bought my Grama a really kewl ring from Kohl's. She loved it. My two aunts were at dinner, my Dad, Grama, and me and Kurt. It was fun.

Saturday night, we had a fun dinner. We went to Dolce Vita, which now has sushi, YAY. There are no sushi places in Monroe, so I was psyhced to find out that they are now serving it. And, it was super good, especially considering they are serving it at an Italian place. We started to watch a movie, John Tucker Must Die, but Kurt thought it was stupid, so we ended up turning it off. Speaking of movies, Rebecca and I watched Little Black Book before dinner, and it was hilarious. I loved it. Really lighthearted, cute movie.

I went outside and took some pics of the snow. We had our first major snowfall here today. Which only equates to about 2 inches, but still. Click here to see them, they are the first nine pictures. I am shocked I went out in that weather, but, for a picture, I will do just about anything. ;). I hate to admit snow is pretty, because I can't stand winter, but it is the one, and only positive thing I can say about snow.

Where Did the Weekend Go?

I did so much this weekend, but still feel like I did not get a weekend. I can't wait until this workweek is over so I can relax next weekend.

Saturday, I went grocery shopping. I bought so much. Our house was pretty much, umm, empty, and I bought stuff to fill it and bought double so I dont have to go back for a while. I hate grocery shopping......Got home, helped Kurt clean the rest of the afternoon, and then everyone got here. Kendra, my niece; Keith my brother in law, and Kellie, my sister in law. Kory was at the auto show all day and got back right before they did. We had a fun night. They looked at my Costa Rica pics and then we went to dinner at Quatro's. Dinner was really nice, and Kurt taught Kellie how to play Keno. LOL. Came home and we bought a movie on Pay Per View called The Little Man. Kurt and Kendra picked it out. It was really idiotic, but our family will have fun watching anything, so we made it amusing. After that, we all talked and went to bed.

Today, we woke up and Kendra and I headed to Briarwood Mall, while everyone else headed to Cabela's (which is where Kory works). Kendra and I walked the mall, then headed downtown to go to Urban Outfitters. I had never been there before and loved it. Then we had Chinese for lunch, and walked the mall some more. Everyone met us later in the day, and they headed home, while Kory and I headed back to our house. Rebecca was here when we got there, and her and I headed to get pedicures. She wanted one for her cruise, and I just really needed one. I don't get them as much in the winter, but I like to every once in a while. Went to a new place at the mall, and I did not really like it as much as my normal place (which is not open on Sunday). Came home and went to dinner at Red Lobster, and then watched our normal Sunday night TV (i.e. Desperate Housewives, Intervention). Rebecca then left, because she has a plane to catch in the morning.

So, what I got at the mall. I actually bought myself a few things, which is rare. At Urban Outfitters, I bought an adorable t-shirt that says "Vegetarians Have More Fun". I then bought a little book called Pug Mugs, which is freaking hilariously cute. Also bought this great air freshener for my car that has an anti-Bush little saying on it. So me. Can't find a pic of that though. Let's see.....then, Bath and Body Works was having a sale, so I bought three body sprays, and Victoria's Secret was having a sale, so I bought some body sprays and two new bras--one black and one white. Really cheap. Oh, I got this great new nail polish (which I put on tonight) at the MAC counter in Macy's called Sacred White. Also bought a make-up brush for eye shadow and some brush cleaner. I think that's it..........It was a fun day, and I love spending time with Kendra when I can, because I rarely get to see her. It's hard to believe she is 18 now!

Holiday Shopping Drama

so, on the way home from work today, I realized that TOMORROW is Friday. Why does that matter, you may ask? Well, Friday is the night we are celebrating Xmas late with some of my family, because Kurt and I were out of town. My sister and her fiance and his two kids will be there, as well as my Aunt, Dad, and Grama, and me, Kurt and Kory.

Next. Ask me how many gifts I have purchased? One. For my Aunt.

Fast forward to Lori heading to the mall after work to buy all the gifts. Ugh. besides the fact that I detest shopping, I really hate shopping under pressure. The reason I go away for the holidays is to avoid this crap. Ugh. I would have shopped earlier, but this cold took over my world and I could not leave the house, literally.

Well, got the shopping done. Thank God my sister loves gift cards because that was easy. My Grama is the hardest person ever to shop for. She rarely leaves her house as she does not drive, and really needs nothing. The things she *does* need, she refuses, like maid service (she does not want the maid to see how messy her house is), etc. Aargh. Ended up getting her two things she requested as well as a frame for my graduation picture, a really nice blanket (to cuddle up with while watching her fav Suzy Orman) and a necklace. She loves jewelry (maybe that is who I got it from, LOL).

I am a little bit nervous about tomorrow. My sister (who is 2 years younger than me) and my Dad, have not spoken in like 10 years. They got in an argument about 10 years ago, which was partially about my stepMom who my Dad is in the process of divorcing, and both are so stubborn, they have not spoken. Well, my Aunt asked my sister if she cared if my Dad came, and Christie said no (really meaning yes). So, my Aunt invited my Dad. It had been set up that we were doing two Xmases, one with my Dad, and one with my sister. I just have no idea how this is going to go.......

Came home and did some laundry and tried to clean that room up a little bit. I had clothing that really needed to be bagged up for the salvation army. Finally did some of that. Yay.

Off to bed........

The Weekend

So, this weekend was both good and bad.

Good, because I had three days off instead of two.

Bad, because besides Friday night, I have been sick with a horrible cold that appears to only get progressively worse. Thank God my plans for NYE were to stay in, because I felt like doing nothing on Sunday night other than sitting on my couch and chilling.

Friday night, I stayed in and finished my trip report and pictures from our vacay. That was nice to get done. I was too busy during the week and Friday night was perfect for finishing that. Saturday, I worked part of the morning and early afternoon, then came home and cleaned some while waiting for rebecca to get over here....We headed to the mall and went to a few stores, trying to see if there were any good after holiday sales. We both got some hair product from a local salon, and some stuff at Bath and Body Works. After that, we came home to wait for Kory to get off of work so we could eat. We instead got a call from Kory that his car broke down. So, Rebecca and I headed off to find him, and while there I called AAA to get his car towed to our local auto mechanic. Then, we all went to dinner at Pete's, which was yummy, as usual. Sunday, I was still sick, but managed to kinda grocery shop with rebecca. I forgot some things, but I think it's mostly because I was sick and not thinking straight. Reminder to self: need to pick up milk, pasta sauce, cereal.........

Sunday night, we had a kinda Haskell NYE party with rebecca, kory and britton who came back from up north just in time for the party. The three of them drank quite a bit, but kurt and I refrained since we were both sick and on cold pills. We ordered pizza for dinner and stayed in. I ended up falling asleep on the couch at like 11 p.m. and went to bed before midnight. Boy, I am fun! Ha. I was sick, so it's OK.

Today, I stayed in again since I am sick. We mostly watched college bowl games and were lazy. Hopefully being lazy has helped my sickness, but we will see tomorrow.

Just One

One vacation + no computer obviously equals my lack of interest in the computer......

Since I have been back, I have been a blogging slacker. This must stop. I have several other friends who have started blogs since I have been gone, and I must not let others outblog me! Ha.

Anyway, been soo tired since we returned. The time difference was only an hour, so I am unsure of what my problem is, but I am tired. I think it's just because I packed SOO much into one trip this time around. Speaking of which, yes, I am working on my photos and trip report. I downloaded my photos and have been slowly weeding through them, deleting excessive shots, manipulating others......

Yesterday after work, I headed to Best Buy to take my laptop in, which is not working. I then went to the mall to buy calendars. You may not know this, but in Lori's Church of Shopping, one must NEVER pay full price for calendars. I always go as soon after Xmas as I can and purchase the three I always purchase for the office....one wall calendar with pugs, one daily one of pugs and one other daily one that I change each year. This year I wanted Persian kittens, but could not find one so I settled for kittens. Stopped into VS, but the lines were so long, there was not a deal worth waiting for. Also sauntered through Macy's, but nothing really caught my eye. Stopped in BN to look at Spanish books/software and a girl was there looking at LSAT books, so of course, I had to interrupt her shopping to talk to her about the test and law school....:). I normally don't talk to random people in public, but there is an unwritten rule that lawyers must help law students beginning the process. Ok, maybe it's *my* unwritten rule, but still. I have many of those.....

Came home and we all (me, Kurt, his brother Scott and Kory) went to dinner at Red Lobster. Red Lobster is not quite the same without Rebecca. The perverted jokes just seem to flow better while she is there....

"I Put the R in Rad"

So, the rest of the weekend was fun after the "hunter idiots" fiasco....

Rebecca came over and we ran out to Target and to a couple stores in the mall. I bought Gretel a new little outfit...I can't resist. Now that I know she likes clothes, she has to have more than one outfit....I don't want her doggie friends to make fun of her when she goes out.....haha. The little outfit says "rockstar" on it, and it is so appropriate for her personality.....After Target, we headed to Old Navy and I bought a totally "Lori" shirt, that says "I Put the R in Rad." Which, like, I totally do. Right? LOL. I also got a couple t-shirts for our trip on clearance, and a Black fleece because I liked it! And it was on sale.

While at the mall, Kurt called us to see if we wanted to see Borat. He has been wanting to, and Rebecca has not been wanting to, but she decided she was game...so we picked up Kurt and headed back to the theatre.....I am SO GLAD Kurt talked us into it because I have not laughed that hard in ages. I was laughing so hard in parts, I had tears streaming down my face. The movie was very nonpolitically correct, but I loved it anyway. It was so stupid, so stupid, it was funny. After that, we met Kory up at Pete's Garage after he got out of work. After dinner, we came home and watched a Dave Chapelle video Rebecca brought over, then I was off to bed. It was a tiring day dealing with the stress of those hunters being in our yard....

Today, we got up and went to the office until about 730 p.m. Ugh. At least I got a lot of paperwork done. And have been home the rest of the night. I love being home. Threw some laundry in, got some more Xmas cards done, and wrestled with the doggies. Currently, Oscar is lying by me snoring really loudly, it's hilarious.

Challenge Being Over

Gosh. Now that the posting every day challenge thing is over, I certainly am slacking! Ha. I made it though. I posted every day for the month of November. I am not even trying for the month of December as Decembers are crazy and I don't want that kind of pressure.....

So, updates. Let's start with Friday. Friday work was craziness. I spent all morning preparing documents for a trial we have on Monday. Got that done just in time to leave for court. Was in court from 2 p.m. until almost 4:00 p.m. Came back to the office to appointments and finally got to eat Subway at 4:30 p.m. I was famished. Worked until 6 p.m. when Hollie and Jim came to pick me up for the concert--Aerosmith with opening act, Hinder. The concert was awesome. They performed my fav song, Love in an Elevator......We had amazing seats in the 8th row next to the stage and there were points when Steven Tyler was literally 8 feet away from me. Awesome show.

Saturday, I had to do a conference call in the morning on a case, what a fabulous way to wake up. Or not. After that, had to work part of the day, and then we had the Xmas dinner for the school board. It was at the Toledo Raceway Park. It was SO MUCH FUN. Dinner was salad, shrimp and chocolate mousse. We got to watch the horse races and eat dinner. It was a great Xmas party. During one of the races, the board got to go down on the field and get our picture taken with the winning horse. That was pretty kewl.

Today was kinda a lazy day. I slept in, then watched the Lions game. I was cheering for them to lose, as I want them to get a high draft pick since their season has been shot for some time. After that, I went to Target and Kroger's and have been doing nothing the rest of the night. I really need to do laundry, Xmas cards, etc., but I don't feel like it, so I am not. I bought Gretel an adorable sweater at Target today.....She is ALWAYS cold, and I thought it might help. She seems to love it and seems more warm. I am not a dressing your animals up kinda person, but she looks super cute and seems happier.

Oh, I almost forgot! I booked our trip today! Finally. We kept goiing back and forth between different places, and finally settled on Costa Rica. We will be going there the 16th and coming back on Xmas. I can't freaking wait. The hotel we are staying at is so *us*, it is run by 26 people who are vegetarian animal lovers. I think it was made for us, really. Rented us an SUV and can't wait to leave. I can't even describe how much I need a vacation.

Rest of the Holiday

So, after I cooled off, the rest of the night was fine. My sister and fam left shortly after that, as she had to get up early for work. After she left, we all watched Grey's Anatomy and Survivor, then the movie Mission Impossible 3. I thought I would hate it, I, in fact, loved it. I don't normally like "action" type movies, and I detest Tom Cruise in real life, but for whatever reason, I like his movies. Passed out after that, I was so tired. It was so much fun to watch Grey's with my Mom--we talk about it every week after watching on the phone, but in person was better......

Today, we got up and went to K-Mart and Fashion Bug. My Mom wanted some boots at Kmart that were marked down until 11 a.m., and we both had $10 gift cards to use at Fashion Bug. I ended up getting a new black wool coat at K-Mart which my Mom bought me on Xmas. It was marked down half off, so it was a really good deal and really cute. I was shocked, because I normally don't like clothing there. At Fashion Bug, I got a cute tank to wear under my suits, and some new earrings. We picked up Ronnie, R.J., and Liz after that and went downtown. Went to Glik's (clothing store), where I bought Kurt some new jeans and myself a cute black dress shirt, both 50% off. Went to Outpost after that and got a really cute winter hat by North Face. Marla will be proud, that's one of her fav brands. I got $20 off the hat with a coupon my Mom had. I heart coupons and deals. Had lunch afterwards at a local place--we ordered pizza, one thin crust, one deep dish. Yummy. After that, went back to the house and watched a couple episodes on DVD of Gilmore Girls and then I became my long journey home. Made record time. Have been on the couch since, chilling out. Am really tired and looking forward to getting a good night's sleep before dinner tomorrow at my Aunt's.

OH!!!! I almost forgot. My new iron I bought on eBay came in the mail. It looks so kewl and I can't wait to try it out! But, I need to buy a new ironing board cover. Ours died......

You Are Now Free to *Leave* the Country

So, finally, today. After endless years of saying, I am going to get one, I finally ordered it! A passport. Woo hoo. We are running out of places to go that don't require one, so we finally broke down and went to the post office today. Everything done and ordered, expedited. Two weeks and we can go anywhere...we....want. Hooray! We are thinking Costa Rica for our December trip. It looks like Hawaii to me, with more wildlife. So, of course, I will love it! Camera heaven for me.....

Finally, went grocery shopping after work. We had like, ummm, nothing? in the house. Whoops. Well, now we are stocked for a while. I had this awesome $14 off purchase at Kroger's that I got to use. Freaking love Kroger's coupons.

Tomorrow morning should be fun. I am doing a tour of the local schools with the superintendent. I can't wait to see what I get to be a part of. I am beyond excited to get to *do* something that I *want* to do with my spare time. The last 4 years, make that, 7 years of my life, have been so much about studying and school.....

Anyway, off to bed.....