Shopping for shoes sucks!

let me begin this post by telling you all that i have been to 3 malls today. one of them twice. i leave tomorrow for bloomington, mn (ironically the home of the mall of america) and needed to finish a couple of last minute errands. my fleece doesn't fit in my shell (the dangers of purchasing the north face off of ebay), i bought the wrong size of a pair of pants, and i needed to return a shirt. when i got home from my first set of errands, i had received my eddie bauer christmas present in the mail, but the boots (the only shoes i would have that matched the two new kick ass outfights i got) didn't fit. of course, the stores i needed were spread out across the three malls and an REI. none of them are anywhere near each other.
so, at about 7pm i went to brookfield square, the mall closest to our apartment (really, it's about 2 blocks away). i searched every shoe store in that mall for a pair of shoes that would look equally good with a new skirt and a new suit. such a task is not simple. i asked the nice shoe man at boston store (equivalent to younkers) for about 4 different pairs of shoes before i finally found a pair that worked.
i then bought some pantyhose and sunglasses and set off for my house and bed at about 8pm. as i walked through the door, the security buzzers sounded.
first off, let me explain that i used to work at younkers when i was in high school. their customer relations is ridiculous. they refuse to announce that the store is closing in 10 minutes because some of the customers might feel rushed. so the poor clueless customers wander around aimlessly as the sales associates get more and more frustrated. and they require their sales associates to speak to people by name. which i hate. if you don't know me, don't use my name. it freaks me out. i don't like it.
so, the buzzer goes off. instead of just beeping, it goes into a monologue about how it seems that one of their sales associates forgot to remove a security tag from one of my items and asking me to wait patiently for assistance. there are about 10 people standing around staring at me as this buzzer goes off. one of them suggests i just leave. i decide, being the mostly law abiding citizen that i am, that i would wait.
i see a sales associate walking towards me and figure she's coming to help me.
she turned and walked away from me.
so i decided to leave.
of course, at this point i had moved back into the store, thus causing the buzzer to go off again as i exited. and no one seemed to care, except the 10 people standing around, who i suspect found the whole thing quite entertaining.
moral of the story - if you're going to install security systems that embarass customers, at least check their bags before they leave the store and clear any doubt in the watcherby people's minds.

My Goodness....

ok, so i'm disappointed in us all. first, it is a new year. our motivations are supposed to be fresh and strong. yet, despite the fact that we are all having very exciting lives, there is little posting going on (scott excepted)! i myself have not posted since i can't remeber when (i would check, but then i would have to navigate away from this page and according to the internet explorer gods, that would mean that all of this exceptional knowledge would be lost and gone forever).
ok, so here it goes (in no particular order).

today is my third to last day at work. thank the lord.

i spent the day with the three interns, who i have brainwashed into loving me. i suspect it is because everyone else that works there is crazy in a bad way instead of entertaining crazy like me.

i ate at my first mexican restaurant in Milwaukee today. it ruled. i missed denver mexican food.

we bought a new car this past weekend. it's a 2003 silver hyundai elantra. we negotiated them down $1200. i was impressed, despite the fact that $300 of that was because i figured the sales tax on the wrong number. it scares me that i will soon be working for the IRS....

scott got engaged. i still randomly smile when i think of this.

paula is having a baby. we're throwing a shower on feb. 25th. i'm pumped. it's my first event planning since the weddings, so i feel at home.

my friend jessie got a job at a kick ass denver law firm. she rules. jessie has also purchased a house and got a new car.

jessie was the first of my friends (before scott) to get engaged outside of the country, therefore leaving me screaming at the computer with no way to contact them! such things make me happy.

i go to bloomington, mn on sunday for a week of IRS orientation. the form for my background check was 28 pages long and included every place i have ever worked, lived, or gone to school. complete with the name and current contact information of someone i knew while there, still know, and still lives in that area. suffice it so say, that was difficult.

on feb. 9th, i go to Philadelphia for a month. i'm actually sort of excited. sure, i'll miss the husband and dog, but philly sounds sort of cool too. and it means i have a new job. which makes me happy.

it's butler's birthday on feb. 4th.

it's mike's birthday today!

my mom goes to jamaica for a week tomorrow. i'll miss talking to her on the phone in the morning, but i'm psyched that she gets to go. she deserves a vacation (even though she can't get a tan and looks really funny in a swim suit because of all the marks on her side because of radiation).

i'm angry at fox because they cancelled and stopped playing episodes of reunion. grrr.... but, american idol (this is my first season of watching) last night was freaking hilarious. if i ever get it into my head that i can sing and decide to audition, i would hope that one of you would tell me if i sounded like 6 cats in a small bag dropped in boiling water.

i think that's about enough for now. i think that just about catches everyone up. at least for now. now, onto resolving to post more often....

Wow...what a LONG year.....

This year finished up just as it started. Busy as all get out. And I apologize for the delay in posting. Rest assured all of your emails and questions will soon be answered! First, a quick recap and analysis of the year 2005....
It started out normal. Third year of law school. Bored out of my mind except for that part where we were fighting with the dean....
Second semester of third year of law school. Wow, I actually can become more apathetic and bored....
Graduation. Mom and Dad and Dixie and Denny attended. I don't think the actual gravity of the situation hit me until I was wearing my funny purple hat and walking in to another rendition of Pomp and Circumstance, a song I have hated for as long as I can remember because we had to play it at nausea at graduation in high school. I had finally accomplished my third grade goals and had no idea where I was to go from there, but, it was great to be done.
From there on, life has been a blur. Here are the hightlights...
- Moving from Denver to Milwaukee. Living closer to family and some friends is definitely cool.
- Bar study. Yuck.
- Starting a new job.
- Taking the bar. More yuck.
- My grandma passing away in the middle of the bar exam. Are you kidding me?
- Danielle getting married. Damn that kid is beautiful!
- Me getting married!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckate
- Starting to look for a new job. Which is a lot less stressful when you already have a job, regardless of how much it sucks!
- Passing the bar exam! If anyone needs a lawyer, let me know....
- Mom being diagnosed with breast cancer.
- Mom having a partial mastectomy. What a trooper!
- Mom being declared free of cancer and more or less in the clear. Thank God!
- Getting a new job with the good 'ol IRS!
- Going to Jamaica with my not so new husband on our honeymoon. Which was perfect. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckate
- A wonderful christmas with a whole new family. and another family, and another, and another, and another. And 41 presents to give away under the tree!
- An awesome new years weekend with Danielle and Eric and Tony and Sara in Iowa City!

So all in all, it has been an absolutely crazy year. I'm looking forward to just hanging out this year. No major life events, no major family emergencies, nothing. And maybe even staying home at our apartment in Milwaukee every once in awhile! I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and family and seeing at least two new additions to my "family" (yea baby Maddy and baby Schmitz!). And making sure to update this blog more often!