random impulse buy

i read on slickdeals that the pixar movies were on sale on amazon, so without thinking twice, i bought this:

and it makes no sense. i don't even own the darjeeling limited yet.  but i bought toy story because it was on sale.  i needed something else to fill the cart so i could qualify for free shipping, so i also got the new karl pilkington book.  beware of slickdeals, or you may just buy something that you don't really want!  

*toy story came out in 1995, the year i graduated high school. then i took a trip to columbus, ohio with my dad, courtney, lara, and brandon to see r.e.m.  we borrowed lara's dad's van and the windshield wipers broke.  and brandon insisted we stop at gold star chili in cincinnati. it seems like a really, really, really long time ago.  

-itis's

first, it was laryngitis on saturday. i started to lose my voice at the 5 spot, so i had some whiskey. (i thought it would help. it did not.)  yesterday i got checked out by a fine nurse practitioner at the walgreen's walk-in clinic. sinusitis and bronchitis.  she gave me an antibiotic and some steroids for the bronchitis. they must be working, because i slowly started to feel a bit better today. my voice is kinda back, but i am still hoarse.  i worked from home today & after my shift, i had a random burst of energy (or 'roid rage?) and cleaned up the computer room and organized files and stuff (atypical post-work behavior. i should have been resting!) i am afraid i won't be able to sleep tonight, and tomorrow's a 5:15am wake-up-call day AND i have four meeting to attend...must.rest.  sorry for the complaints. but at least this is happening before my island adventure.

and speaking of island adventures: courtney's off to japan!  how rad is that?!?!

ps: is it kosher to steal other people's flickr photos? i did a search for "sick bear" and got the above photo. 

passport problems

back when we first talked about taking a caribbean vacation, i realized that i never got an updated passport with my fancy new last name.  should've taken care of it along with ss card, drivers license, etc. but i never got around to it.  i think i sent everything off last summer and got the new passport 2 or 3 months later.  and that was that.

i was working from home on thursday and saw my passport on my desk, so i decided to look at it. you know that part that says "sex / sexe / sexo" ?  and if you're a boy you get M and if you're a girl you get F?  MINE SAYS M.  according to my united states passport, I AM A MAN.  and of course i noticed this after my plane tickets are booked and i'm set to leave the country in 20 days. 

i frantically looked on the website and it has info about what to do if there's a mistake.  but i couldn't take care of it because i was about to leave for atlanta.  here's the dilemma:  should i pay to get a corrected passport expideted and run the risk that it won't be back in time?  should i pretend that i didn't notice it and run the risk that they won't let me back in to the US of A after the vacation?  what should i do?  HELP!  

Going to...

...from May 28-June 2.  It all came about spur-of-the-momently, and of course I went through my post-big-purchase panic attack, but the plane tickets have been purchased and I CANNOT WAIT TO GO.  Because of Rollum's flights to-and-fro London, and we actually had enough frequent flyer miles to get 2 tickets.  We only had to pay for taxes.   Now i just need to find a place to stay.  I've been doing lots of research, but i still haven't committed to anything yet.   The fancy hotels and resorts are way out of our price range, and it's been harder than i thought to find something affordable.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to see Radiohead in Atlanta.  Carrie & I decided to stay overnight & do some shopping on Friday.  Woo woo!   I did "name your own price" on priceline and came up with a great deal.  then i got cocky and tried to "name my own price" for a 4-star barbados resort, but i was rejected.  and rejected once again for a 3-star hotel. 

i'm doing overtime at work, so it'll be nice to have this vacation to look forward to.