Monday, I got up and finished my laundry. I was super happy that I sent the frozen items home with Jerry the night before. I got bundled up and headed out to Jerry's place to cook him dinner. :)

I bought a tasty steak for him to eat, and had some portabella mushrooms with a white onion to fry up. The butcher told me to cook the steak five minutes on each side. I had Jerry stop in after I did that to check in on it so I didn't mess it up. He added some salt and pepper, as well as some steak sauce. The response was positive, which I thought was good for never having cooked a steak before. :P I also bought an angel food cake, made homemade whipped cream, and had frozen blueberries on hand for dessert.

The suspense was about killing me before the guests began to show up for Jerry's party. Evan called, a few people texted me, and I was SO READY for everyone to arrive. Jerry was setting us up to watch LOST when the doorbell rang. Thad, Dan and Kari were the first ones to come and yell surprise. :) I think he was pretty surprised. The gin-a-thon was a rousing success. Many different gins showed up, and many awesome people came, too. Nate brought ice (awesome!) and Eric brought cucumbers and limes. Amanda even made an appearance, which was so cool. We <3 us some Amanda! A little over a week later, I can *finally* think about gin again.

Tuesday was Jerry's actual birthday. I woke up SO entirely hung over it wasn't even funny. I spent most of the day in bed, except for the hour or so where I was up and made him breakfast. I baked a popover pancake and cooked up some bacon. Best. Girlfriend. Ever. :) I assisted with cleaning up as much as I could...being awake hurt too much. :P

We had dinner with Jerry's family. Ham, broccoli and cheesy potatoes, per his birthday request. His Mom baked apple pie and brownies, too. We headed to Psycho Suzi's for weekly beers. The waitress brought me olives and pickles. That helped a lot with my hangover. :P

Wednesday night was so super fun! People convened at Jerry's house for a night of game playing and drinks. Off the top of my head, it was Brian, Amanda and Chris, Brandy and JD, Wifey, Crystal, Carmen and Anna, Asian Dan, Erin, Spike, Nate...and that's about all I can come up with this second. I'm sure there were more of you, and I sincerely apologise to anyone I may have forgotten. :( Good times were had by all! The stragglers left around 1 or so. Quite a successful hangout at the Arden B Casa de Jerry. :)

Thursday, we got up and ambled about the house for a bit. Got on the road to Stillwater around 1 and arrived before 2. It's only a 20 mile drive from Arden Hills to StilH20! We walked up and down the main drag in an effort to kill a little time, and to find a suitable place for lunch. We ended up at a cute little restaurant with a retro arcade theme. Jerry played about five free games of pinball. He is (very rightly) convinced that his super power is to get free pinball wherever he goes. As soon as I touched the machine, it stopped giving him free games. He even got a quarter out of the return slot! Wacky. The place had great sandwiches, too. :)

It was finally close enough to 4pm so we could check in to our hotel. Cute little place! Of course, we got in the elevator with an older couple who had just checked in and was staying down the hall from us. Awkward conversation ensued. :P I've never gotten why it's considered weird or impolite to not make pointless conversation in situations like that...

We found our room--it was beautiful! It was really spacious, with super high ceilings. The bed was nice, but Jerry kept hitting himself on it. First, his head on the decorative carved headboard, and then his knee on the bed frame. Poor guy! We hung out in the room for a bit. Got some ice to keep our beer cold, then hit the road to see the sights.

For those of you who have never been to Stillwater, it's a touristy town. Nothing is open on a Thursday after 5pm. Probably rightly so, but it makes for a slow night for anyone who is there on a weeknight. :P We walked down by the river. Got some good shots of the water, birds and spiders. We tried in earnest to work off our late lunch so that we would be hungry for dinner later. The last place we checked out before heading back to the hotel for dinner was kind of on a lark. They advertised buy one get one free t-shirts. As we walked by, a really pretty dress caught my eye, so we stopped in. I ended up buying a couple of Kariza Wraps. They are super pretty and now I have two gorgeous dresses that fit well and I like the style. :D I wore one to dinner. :)

As we got ready for dinner, Jerry popped the cork on the champagne. It shot pretty far and ricocheted several times. I am always too scared to open champagne. :P We ended up taking the rest of the bottle with us to dinner, which was nice. Dinner was so fancy! We had the choice of an appetizer to share, soup or salad each, an entree each and dessert each. WAAAAAY too much food, if you ask me! We shared the artichoke dip and each had chicken noodle soup. He had fancy kebabs with steak, sausage and shrimp. I had a cream sauce pasta with smoked chicken. I could only eat about five bites of my meal by the time I was through with the first two courses. Dessert (Bailey's cheesecake for me, caramel apple pie for him) had to be boxed up. We couldn't eat another bite!

It was really nice to be there on a weekday. There was one other couple in the dining area when we arrived, and they left fairly early on in our meal. There were two dining rooms, as well as a patio outside. It was starting to cool off, so we opted for the inner dining room. It was nice to have a big table with lots of room to spread out. We had some lovely chats over dinner, and then sauntered back up to our room. On the way back up, Jerry wanted to stop by the scotch tasting event that was going on. The guy who was running it had chatted with Jerry earlier about scotches and liquors and whatnot. Jerry was totally right that we would be able to get a taste of a very fine scotch when the event was over. I didn't know thing one about it, other than it tasted better than I anticipated scotch would, and that it cleared my sinuses rather well. :)

We had a great night in Stillwater. We hung out in the room's hot tub for goodness only knows how many hours. I'm really wishing I had a hot tub in my room right about now. I don't think I would ever leave it in this kind of weather! :P Drank some Two Hearted...I spilled some Two Hearted on the bed and on Jerry. Whoops! I fell asleep while Jerry was watching crazy public access TV. All in all, a very successful trip...that was only half over!

Tuesday, we went our separate ways. Jerry, off to physical therapy, and me, staying home and keeping busy. I worked again. An early shift, which was nice. I spent a lot of time cleaning and NOT waiting tables. There were none to be had! I stayed for an hour after work to do the schedule, and left it unfinished. There were too many time off requests, and I wasn't 100% sure what to do with the shifts that needed filling. Based on how god awful SLOW we've been as of late, I'm not even 100% sure we need all of those shifts filled! :( I had a fancy drink that Dominic made me, some dinner, and hit the road.

Met up with everyone at Suzi's. We had a really good turnout. Nate and I ordered tots. So tasty! Everyone paid for my beer since it was my birthday on Wednesday. We have such sweet friends! :) Jerry and I headed back to his place. We headed to bed early so that I could get up early.

Wednesday, I got up sooooo painfully early. Something like 8am. Gross! I chatted with Amanda on the gmails, and generally tried to wake myself up. I double checked the map and headed out to Mom and Doug's place. What a beautiful ride from Arden Hills to Elk River! The sky had been cloudy, but on my way out there, it cleared up and the sun came out. Less than an hour TO the house, including a stop for gas. :)

Mom and I did lunch with Darin, and brought treats for his class since it was my birthday. The kids were all SUPER cute, and said thank you about a hundred times over. :) It was really cool to see how much they all like my little brother. He's cute, funny, and sociable. I'm really happy to see that he's well liked. :)

After school lunch, Mom and I found *real* lunch. We didn't eat with Darin, just hung out with him and his friends. We had hand made Mexican food at this tiny place in Monticello. So great! We went home and baked a cake. My prescription strength Sudafed kicked in and knocked me out. I slept until Darin and Doug got home from school and work, respectively.

We went to dinner at a tasty Chinese buffet place in Big Lake. Mom and Doug gave me a super nice set of knives. I'm so spoiled! We bought birthday treats for Darin at the grocery, and then I had to head home. My scooter left a giant hole in Mom and Doug's newly paved driveway. Whoops! :( I felt bad about that.

The ride back to Jerry's took longer, due to a nasty accident AND increased traffic in general. I stopped for gas again just to be sure, since we were leaving for Stillwater the next morning. Then I wouldn't have to stop right away, as is my usual. :P

**********

I'll update on the b-day party later. Now, being Monday, I have to take a shower and get on the road. :)

We left off on Monday of last week! How does the time get by me so quickly?!

Tuesday--my wrist was still sore when I got up. Major bummer when you work in the serving industry, I can tell you that! :( Werk was fine--I just made Corey do the brunt of the heavy lifting. :P I was actually supposed to work dinner, but got my schedule all jacked up in my brain. I got up, packed, took the bus across town, and got to werk before anyone else showed up. By the time I realised that I wasn't supposed to be there, the girl who WAS had arrived. She agreed to come in for dinner for me. That was so great! I took the bus up to Elk River after werk. Mom, Darin and I went to the Chinese buffet in Elk River, even though I wanted to go to Monticello. It was still tasty. I spent the night at home and did some last minute packing and hammering of details before Mom's birfday party. I think I managed to go to bed at a reasonable hour (before 3am, anyhow) since I knew I was getting up early the next morning.

Wednesday--got up around 9, I think. Took a shower, ran some errands with Mom. We had an AWESOME ADVENTURE at the furniture store in ER. :D We ate Taco Bell for lunch, yet still stopped in for milk with Darin at school. So great! Mom brought me home in the early afternoon. The Wifey and I were supposed to go to Costco, but my timing was poor. I checked in on Crystal and Jessica B. to make sure they didn't need anything. I still have beans and oil for Jessica! Our schedules will work out one of these days, I promise! We had a successful SPW, complete with Church Basement potluck foods. So great, I tell ya!

Thursday--I had to get up FAR too early to go to werk. That's the only downer to SPW, is working the next morning at the ungodly hour of 10:30am. :P I worked my tail off all day, despite a severe lack of sleep. Stopped in to see my good friend, Jeneane (sp?) at Ragstock with dinner in tow. She spoiled me with tidings of a cute wallet and two reusable bags. I have the bestest friends! I also hit the bank and the grocery. I replaced Crystal's three year old condiments. :P I hit up Powderhorn Park with Meeeeeguel, Dave, Bertine, Ryan, mah Wifey, and E-Man. SO GREAT, was the sledding! We went to Crystal's afterward for cocoa and treats. Tofu lo-mein, butterscotch schnapps, and an unflattering nap later, I had a great night. :)

Friday--After sleeping in extremely late, I eventually dragged my bum ass out of bed and hit up Costco with mah Wifey and Meeeeeguel. We procured many goods for Mom's b-day party. We went to Bertine's for Raving Rabbids and pizza before she and Crystal went to a concert. The Wifey and I weren't feeling up to a concert on a Friday night. I'm just not much of a 'let's go out on Friday night' kind of person. Meh. I'm too cheap and get easily overstimulated. I loaded up many party goods into Grimace (Wifey's car) and called it a night...or, at least, I tried to. Seeing as I slept in half the day, I wasn't able to fall asleep till well after 4am. BUMMER. Oh, I was also having a hard time falling asleep due to the fact that there were ANTS crawling all over my ceiling. Plunkett's was called in to inspect the damages--the lady "laid some traps" in hopes that they would eat the bait and take it back to the nest. I bought a shiny can of RAID and killed every last one of the bastards. I haven't seen an ant since. :D

Saturday--got up just in the nick of time to finish packing, get dressed and RUN to the bus with my little old lady cart in tow. :P I spent the day at Tiff's--worked out with the Wifey, baked two cakes for the party, set the party room up, took a shower...bleh. The party was a rousing success, save for the fact that Mom was the FIRST PERSON TO SHOW UP. :P Usually, when she says she'll be somewhere at 5pm, that means 5:30 or 6. She got there at 4:30. Whoops. :P A bunch of family members came, as well as a lot of my friends. I think Mom had a really good time. I know Darin did! We had lots of Nerf and Nerf-esque guns to play with, and lots of camo was worn. SO GREAT! Mom and Darin ducked out around midnight, but the rest of us partied till nearly 4am! I got so tanked...

Sunday--I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and got over to Tiff's around noon thirty. She headed off to breakfast, and I stayed to clean her place up. Thankfully, Meeeeeguel lent me a hand and packed up the party remnants into his van to bring back to my place. I thanked him in the form of lunch at Los Ocampo. OMG, I <3 Mexican food after a night of heavy drinking. I came home with the intention of taking a nap. I got here after 3pm, spent a solid half hour unpacking leftovers from the party and finding new homes for them. I laid down to take a nap, and then Amanda and Chris showed up! This is why I am off to bed as soon as I finish typing this goofy thing. I'm wiped! Ann bought lots of awesome new animal hats to go with the Frog Hat that Bertine gave me. We lost a guitar due to a broken spring. We had many technical difficulties with the webcam, so we called it quits on that front for the evening. Everyone hit the road fairly early--Amanda and Chris first, around 9 or so (so awesome to see them again!), and people slowly filtered out after that. I think Asian Dan was the last to go, and that was around midnight.

That leaves me where I am now. Calm, cool, collected. Tired as all get out. I don't have a copy of the schedule for this week...I hope I don't work tomorrow. :P

Pantsmom's 45th b-day from the comfort of your own living room!

:D

As if five days of partying in Denver and a welcome home/birfday party on the 23rd weren't enough, we had to celebrate again at Tiff's rockin' condo party room. Good times and many adult beverages were had by all. Who's up for a rematch with the cards? :)

When I got home from Denver, a birfday party at the Manfort was waiting for me! I had an awesome time with Crystal, Jess W., Dan, Ryan, Karl, and other assorted friends. Those are just the ones who come to mind as having been there. :)

We had a rockin' good time at the arcade/mini-golf/bowling alley/sports bar in Monticello on Sunday to celebrate Darin's 10th birfday. A good time was had by all, including arcade tokens, beer and pizza.

Oh yes, I can has. :)

Denver was a trip and a half! I can't wait to hear from everyone when you get your postcards. :) I need to make an address book, srsly.

The lovely Dani picked me up from the airport and brought me to mah birfday party. :)

Dan and Ryan hosted mah birfday party. Highlights:

* Homemade cake, compliments of damncutekitty
* Cider, compliments of lisianthia
* Pants cake, Guitar Hero and Red Stripe, compliments of that_dan
* Manfort use, compliments of goobermaster
* Lots of awesome friends invited, compliments of khammerschmidt
* Awesome partay atmosphere, compliments of anyone I failed to mention. :)

ILU, friends! Can't wait to see you all tomorrow! :)

Broadcasting loud and clear from DENVER, BABY!

I'll be needing a chaperon from the airport to Ryan's on Tuesday...I land at 5pm...anyone free? :)

I have to say that this was probably the best birthday I've ever had. We got up WAY too early--went to bed at 1, got up at 7--and spent a good majority of the day cooking and eating. Woo, eating!

I have to say that my little brother needs a swift kick to the pants. He's greedy and ungrateful. I didn't even get him a birthday present, because last year he said, "UGH. Why did she get me THAT?! I didn't want THAT." WTF nine year old BRAT!!!

His party went mercifully fast, and then it was time for the adult party. Darin opened his presents (ripped through and didn't say thanks to anyone) and then went out to ride his four wheeler. I wish I had a four wheeler when I was a kid. I wish I had one now! Not really, but something of that nature in niceness as a TOY. SRSLY.

I got a VERY NICE pair of crocodile boots from Damian, which surprisingly, nobody in my family made fun of. They were actually all impressed and my mom was even jealous! Woo! Damian took the cake with his second surprise--he got me a VERY beautiful gold necklace with JYD 2007 engraved on the back. I was seriously surprised. :D Yay for a great birthday dinner and day. :D

PICT0592, originally uploaded by jesspantsphoto.

SBj

I remember this kid being born like it was yesterday...

PICT0140, originally uploaded by jesspantsphoto.

...and he's turning NINE on Monday. ACK.

In other news, I'll be 25 on Sunday. ACK AGAIN!!!

SBj

For those of you who have been asking, here is a wishlist of mine. Have at! Whoever gets me a Canon Digital Rebel wins at life.



SBj

Mom is having a birfday party for me and my little brother Darin on Sunday, September 23rd, up at the house. This should be fun!

I'm so old...

SBj

It was Grandpa's 80th birthday today. Damian took the week off from Chipotle (night job) and Friday off from his day job so we could go. I just about fell over! Plus, he gave Grandpa a bottle of Cognac. FANCY! I was very surprised, and everyone was happy to see us.

It was also Damian's dad's 50th birthday today. Unfortunately, Grandpa's was in South Dakota (four hours northwest), and his dad's was in Mexico (twenty or so hours south), so we were forced to choose Grandpa's birthday party. I bet his dad's party was a good time, too. There was a festival in his town this weekend, too, so BONUS!

SBj

Or at least, why I don't have very many. I don't think most women realise what a good friend I am. Seriously. I don't mean to bitch, but people always wonder why I'm not friends with more girls. It's because I do things like send you boxes of Godiva when you're having a bad day. It's because I send you fun stuff when you're a million miles from home. It's because I send you care packages. It's because I stay up till 1:30 in the morning baking you a cake because it's your birfday.

Most people just don't appreciate things like that. Now, I know that the things I've done for people that I've mentioned here, that these girls appreciate it. Don't you four girls get me wrong. I'm just saying that this is why I'm not friends with a whole bunch of air headed bimbos just so I can be surrounded by friends all the freakin' time.

That is all.

Jess

Now that I have teh intarwebs for about five minutes, I'm gonna update real quick. It's been nothing but work, work, work since I got back in town. :( Tomorrow/today (Tuesday) is my first day off since coming home. The only reason I've got it off is because I have a dentist appointment. I have Saturday off, too, so that makes me happy. :) I close for pretty much the next week straight. That makes me happy, too. I don't necessarily dislike my morning crew, but the night crew is so much easier to get along with. I guess that means I should buck it up and ask to open every freakin' day. Bite the bullet and make myself stronger, right? :P

Tonight, i wanted to go midnight grocery shopping with my hubby, but he's passed out on the couch. Bummer! It just seemed like the thing to do. I even skipped out on hangin' with Michelle to grocery shop with my sleeping husband. FUcker. :P

My birfday was SO SO fun! I got really trashed, flashed some boobs around, and in general, had a good time. Got some fantastic gifts, including iPod accessories (Thanks Fred), caramel apples and a kazoo (thanks Chris and Jasmine) and Pee Wee's Playhouse 1 & 2 on DVD (Thanks Dani and Jon!). Luckily, since Dani and Jon got me the same thing, we were able to return one set at Best Buy, so I now have some spending cash for a later date. :) On a shibby note, I was informed that somehow the bill got skipped out on by people, and we didn't have enough $$ to cover it all. Fred, bless his heart, took care of what was not taken care of. Fred, we owe you dinner and drinks SO SO badly! To all who skipped out (and I have no idea who), YOU SUCK. That is NOT COOL. The next time it's a birfday party, we're going to the bar and paying drink by drink, no more waitresses.

That's all I've got. The battery in the cpu is dying and I'm headed to crash with the husband. God, I'm so old. 24 and married. Darin is 8. Grandma is prolly 70 by now. (Her b-day was the day before mine, Darin's was the day after) And I'm fucking married!!! How messed up is that? I never thought I'd do it, but I did. :P

I miss Steph and Kairi and Chewie!!

SBj

In the event that you can't be in town for my birfday, leave me some love! I closed last night (even tho I asked if I could open), and got here at 7am, staying till 4... On top of having a wonderful pre-birfday fete with eagon, scorpi084, Michelle and Jon, that lasted until 2 with company, till 3 without, I'm tired! For those of you on my friends list that I feel strangely compelled to trust, here's my cell. Send well wishes via text or voice. It will help make the day worthwhile!

612.396.8086

Jess

Happy birfday to teh SBj! What a way to start the day, by staying up till all hours with Jon, Michelle, eagon, and scorpi084, then sleeping for three hours and going straight to work. Bleh, I love my lappy top. ;) As Winnie at my old store would say, "It's my happy birthday. Da me un abraso." Again, I never claimed to be able to spell in Spanish, only understand it and [sometimes] speak it. ;)

Don't forget, Psycho Suzi's this afternoon. I'm thinking around 5:30 still. Marshall Avenue in Nordeast MPLS is where it's at. You can text me through my userinfo page if you have any questions. :)

PS-this song is totally going to be me and Jon's theme song while he's on tour this winter. I <3 the Postal Service!

I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes like
Puzzle pieces from the clay
And true, it may seem like a stretch, but
Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled
Head when you're away when I am missing you to death
When you are out there on the road for
Several weeks of shows and when you scan
The radio, I hope this song will guide you home

They will see us waving from such great
Heights, 'come down now,' they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
'come down now,' but we'll stay...

I tried my best to leave this all on your
Machine but the persistent beat it sounded
Thin upon listening
And that frankly will not fly. You will hear
The shrillest highs and lowest lows with
The windows down when this is guiding you home

SBj

I want one of these for my birthday. September 23rd, by the way. Send presents, whether it's one of these or not. ;)

SBj