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April 8th, 2006
08:27 am
Oh my goodness, I haven't been on livejournal in a very long time. Things have been a little nuts lately, in a good way. Orlando and I decided that since we were already paying so much in rent and heat that we could afford to buy a house. We've spent the last month or so researching and seeing homes n' stuff.
So good news--we had our offer accepted yesterday! YIPPPEE! We're really excited about it. It's a 4 bedroom cape cod on 77th in the Burleigh area....there are 2 bedrooms upstairs, 2 on the main level. The kitchen is a huge eat in kitchen with brand new appliances included...there is a 3 seasons porch and a cute fenced in backyard and 2 car garage...the basement is completely dry and would be relatively easy to finish off...it's pretty cute especially for two poor college students buying their first home. :)
So we close on May 3rd. We tried to close on April 27th and got countered with May 15th which would be a horrible scenario since that is basically finals week and that would only give us about 15 days to be out of our current place. Since we're trying to close in less than a month things are a little crazy, but exciting. Thank god for having a laid back weekend to get this place cleaned up and start to pack!
Also, i've recently been sucked in to the abyss that is Myspace, so if you don't have one, you should get one--they're really fun. My link is http://www.myspace.com/mirandabanana3.
See ya later! Hope everyone is having a super great weekend! :)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/cheerful.gif) chipper
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March 18th, 2006
01:27 pm
Why today is a dumb, stupid day--
*It's Saturday and I have two dumb, stupid midterms.
*One of them is for dumb, stupid Quantitative Analysis.
*My dumb, stupid professor scheduled our exam during the Panthers NCAA game.
Hence, today is a bad, stupid day.
Current Mood: cheerful
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February 20th, 2006
09:01 pm - David's Bridal can DIE
David's Bridal sucks a lot. I'm going to write them a mean letter.
If you go there they tell you that you have to register. They ask for your name, phone number, address etc. What they don't tell you is that they are going to give your information to EVERY wedding vendor in the state to stalk you. What they don't tell you is that they are going to call your friends five times a week to see how their search for a wedding dress is going. What they don't tell you is that even if you don't return their phone call for three months, they will still stalk you.
DO NOT REGISTER THERE EVER EVER EVER. In fact, don't even go there ever ever ever. It's a bad place. A bad bad bad place. I love my dress, but I hate them. Like a lot.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/angry.gif) aggravated
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08:48 pm - Why I win
A while back I made a post about my review at work and how it didn't go all that well. My manager docked me bigtime points for not showing the initiative or desire to move up at the bank. As a side note--I thought that trying to do my job well was one of the biggest indicators, but whatever. I was determined not to let them ever say that about me ever again..(especially since it affected my bonus)...
So I started pursuing my promotion like mad. I had a meeting with my supervisor and manager and gave them an outline to demonstrate how i'd mastered my current position. They agreed that in less than six months I was ready for a promotion and that I had completely mastered my job. Great, right?
They wanted to put me into training at the next level, but the position (and the pay raise) hadn't formally been offered yet. I've been in way too many jobs where i've done the work without getting the pay and I was not going to let that happen again. So I was very assertive and told them that I really want to move to the next level and when they feel I am worthy of the position I will be thrilled to train for it, but until then I will continue to master my current position. Either i'm qualified and you move me up or i'm not and you don't. Don't try to give me some bull-shit story. With WSB just recently becoming a publically traded company, the steps to advancement were being re-worked and I seemed to be trapped. I was worthy of promotion, but HR didn't want to move anyone up since they knew the steps would be changing soon. That, my friends, was not my problem. If I am promotable now, promote me. Either way--the meeting with my superiors was good. For once in my life, I asserted myself when I would have rather stuck a fork in my eye. I put myself in as much of a win/win as possible--either I would get the ball rolling on my promotion (which means more money) or I would completely safeguard myself against the one thing I was downgraded on in my last review (and get more money).
I got my promotion this week. :)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/working.gif) accomplished
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February 15th, 2006
08:20 pm - This article was in yesterday's journal and it's about my dad. :)
When does he decorate? Let us count the days By SHEILA B. LALWANI
Jimmy Moberg puts his heart into his work and onto windows at El Greco restaurant in Milwaukee last week.
Moberg was a young painter then who was struggling to find meaningful work that also would support his wife and two daughters.
Nearly 20 years after Moberg's brush glided across glass, the landscape of his personal life has changed. But his passion for painting holiday images on windows in the Milwaukee area remains as steady as the meditative stance he takes when turning a clear window into a valentine complete with hearts and snowflakes.
"He does amazing things," says Gus Gliatis, a longtime client and owner of El Greco in Milwaukee. "(Painters) like him are born and never born again."
By using windows at restaurants, car dealerships or small businesses as his canvas, Moberg, 53, has created a career of turning glass panes into holiday art beginning each year with Valentine's Day and ending with Christmas.
There aren't many artists like Moberg around anymore. With advances in technology and graphic arts, the demand for hand-made window decoration has waned. While Moberg handles as many as 70 restaurants and businesses on Valentine's Day, he has no successor or assistant. And with each year that passes, he moves a little slower, paints feel a little heavier and the weather seems a little frostier.
"There is very little demand for hand-done art," says Larry Stultz, chair of Graphics Design Department at the Art Institute of Atlanta. "This guy is a Puritan."
Moberg, a bearded man with a crusty painter's cap, long navy blue corduroy overalls and paint-stained fingers, thinks about his life spent in art in less artistic terms.
"I don't know what I would do if I retired," he says.
Moberg says he became inspired to launch a one-man company in the 1980s after watching "Holiday Inn," the movie about a place open only on holidays. Until then, Moberg remembers working odd jobs at auto body shops around town, dabbling in graphics art and contract paint jobs a few times.He says the idea of starting his business, being his own boss and setting his hours appealed to him.
Luck smiled on him one St. Patrick's Day when he landed his first job as a holiday painter for a local restaurant. From that job, he got a referral to another. Then, another, and another and another. No business card. No Web site. But the phone was starting to ring.
"The work always came," Moberg says. "It just sort of landed in my life."
Over time, Moberg says, he collected enough clients to paint full-time. In Moberg's family, he says, nobody painted or had artistic inclinations. He graduated from Custer High School in 1970 without having taken one painting class.
When he thinks about why he likes painting, he's at a loss. He likes watching paint roll off the brush, he says after thinking a bit.His schedule can be tight. During the weeks before holidays, he sometimes works through the night. Other times, he may work until 3 a.m. Restaurants get most of his work, and he begins painting weeks in advance. During the Christmas season, for example, he begins painting Nov. 1.
"I work like a dog for two weeks, and then I take a few weeks off," Moberg says.
Valentine's Day is the first major holiday of the year for Moberg. The decorations are relatively simple - hearts, snowflakes, but no images of Cupid. He thinks Cupid is hokey.
He lugs paint out of his West Allis home and journeys to as many as 70 restaurants from Sheboygan to Milwaukee to Oconomowoc to Racine. Moberg paints for Greek restaurants, 24-hour American grills and burger joints. His clients know him by his first name.
"More coffee, Jim?" El Greco waitress Denise Koceja asks one morning. Moberg pushes his coffee cup forward.
"We've been watching him paint for years," Koceja says.
Unlike many other artists, Moberg paints from his head. No sketches. No drawings.
He uses sign enamel paint, which doesn't wear off easily and is often used by businesses for promotional lettering. An average job takes him a couple of hours.
He charges from $60 to $600 per job. He doesn't want to hire additional staff.
"He's very good at what he does," says Jim Katravas, owner of Sunset Family Restaurant in Waukesha.
Determining the number of artists like Moberg can be hard. Many painters work on contract and aren't unionized. Figures from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, based in Washington, D.C., show that 140,000 painters belong to the union. Most of the members are commercial painters. Only a handful are specialty painters, and even fewer make a living from holiday work.
In Wisconsin, storefront holiday painters number in the single digits, says Art Cadilli of Racine, another window painter. Cadilli and Moberg collaborate on different projects around Milwaukee and share trade secrets like brush strokes, technique and color.
"There are very few people doing this type of art on a larger scale," Cadilli says.
Changes in technology are a major reason for shifts in the industry. Highway billboard signs were done by hand, says Stultz at the Art Institute of Atlanta. Now, graphic art like Moberg's has become computerized.
Jim Felgate, a professor of graphic design at The Art Institutes International Minnesota in Minneapolis, says even with advancements in technology, creativity rests on the artist.
"You still need people that can do the thinking," Felgate says.
As for Moberg, he finished his last window for Valentine's Day about a week ago. He plans to spend his Valentine's Day at home with his girlfriend. He got divorced years ago, and his children are grown.
After that he'll begin gearing up for St. Patrick's Day, for which he'll be painting dozens of windows alone again.
"The older I get, the harder it gets," he says.
From the Feb. 14, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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February 5th, 2006
10:28 am
Happy Superbowl Sunday everyone! I'm sure you're bursting with joy as I am...Since everyone and their damn mother appears to be rooting for the Steelers, i'm going to be a little deviant and cheer my ass off for the Seahawks. We all need a little someone in our corner...
Erika made me watch Seinfeld with her last night, something I swore I'd never do. Okay, so parts of it were a little funny. Or maybe I was just happy because I was eating these amazing tomato basil chips and eating ice cream...or because I was still on a high from a little Target spree...not sure. But it was relatively harmless...
I found out that Adam and Allison are getting married THIS August! They were originally talking about doing it in 2007 or 2008 even, so to hear they're getting married in 6 months is a huge shock. They're doing it at the Golden Mast which should be amazing, and getting a good discount for doing it on a Sunday night...I hear that place is really extravagant! I'm happy for them. I know it will be just gorgeous, and Orlando is standing up in their wedding which should be really neat. :) I just can't imagine having less than 6 months to plan a wedding!
GO SEAHAWKS!
Current Mood: cheerful
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February 3rd, 2006
08:38 am
Long day ahead, but at least i'm not at work. I've got three advising appointments today. Thought it would be a good idea after 5 years to declare some majors and try to graduate n' stuff. Should be a productive day. Off I go! Just pray they tell me I graduate next semester...
And why does this computer keep beeping? That can't be good...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/scared.gif) anxious
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February 2nd, 2006
06:02 pm
Hope everyone is having a lovely Groundhog Day. I have this friend who is absolutely OBSESSED with groundhog day. So being a good friend, I agreed to celebrate by watching Ground Day. (Anti-climatic I know). I freaking hate that movie. GOD. But she's letting me crash so I don't have to get up early to get to my advising appointment tommorrow which is a good thing. Boo to early mornings.
So here's to groundhogs. The only animal more stupid than a badger. Hope you have a day full of lots and lots of groundhogs!
Current Mood: filled with groundhog GLEE!
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February 1st, 2006
08:00 pm
I CANNOT believe the Pistons lost to the Nets. What complete, ridiculous garbage. Rrrrrr....
Oh and for anyone who is curious--I learned what a topic sentence is today in CJ Research.
Brilliant, aren't I?
Current Mood: slightly suicidal
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January 28th, 2006
09:29 am - I heart Greeny
Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN is the newest object of my affection. Thank the good lord for the televised radio show...Greeny is too damn hot to be confined to radio. A self-professed metrosexual. Thick black-rimmed glasses. An avid sports lover. I even find his desperate love of the god awful New York Jets to be stangely charming...
Welcome to my top ten list of hottest guys ever (also known as the guys I would rape in .05 seconds if given the chance list). Here's to Greeny--Rrrrrr...
:)
Picture of Greenie and his defense of his metrosexuality:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimages%26imgsz%3Dall%26imgc%3D%26vf%3Dall%26va%3Dmike%2Bgreenberg%2Bespn%26fr%3DFP-tab-web-t%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=275&h=200&imgurl=sportsmed.starwave.com%2Fmedia%2Fother%2F2001%2F0731%2Fphoto%2Fradio17.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fespn.go.com%2Fpage2%2Fs%2F030923%2Fgreenberg.html&size=9.1kB&name=radio17.jpg&p=mike+greenberg+espn&type=jpeg&no=2&tt=30&ei=UTF-8
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/loved.gif) enthralled
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08:37 am
I'm such an idiot. I was in the bathroom at work putting on a little makeup, when I have the scariest onset of back spasms ever. It felt like 5 were hitting me at once, and I was doubled over in pain.
I really started to freak out because my dad's back went out on him years ago and I spent most of my childhood years at the hospital for his many back surgeries and watched to see how a back injury can completely ruin your life. My dad is disabled from it now...there are months when I don't see him because his back hurts too much to go out...there are days when he has to go to get Morphine shots because it hurts so much...it's just a scary, scary thing to me.
The spasms have stopped, but i'm still having really bad pains on my left side. Anytime I make any kind of reaching, bending or twisting motion it kills. Just moving in bed is a real chore, and it hurts too much to lay on my left side which is how I usually sleep. I just hope it gets better soon, because it's really scary. :(
Current Mood: scared
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January 16th, 2006
09:42 pm
Had an awesome birthday dinner. Went out to Gengis Khan Mongolian BBQ and it was really yummy. They had an awesome buffet where you pick out all your meats, veggies and sauces and they cook up your dish however you want it. It was 100% rocktastic.
I also finally asked Allison to be my last bridesmaid and she said yes! She seemed really happy and i'm so happy to have her be a part of our special day. It was really cool to have everyone who is going to be in the wedding get along so well. :) It's going to make our wedding that much more fun.
It was such a great, great day and I had the best birthday ever. :) Maybe 25 isn't so bad afterall....
YAY! (And thanks Shannon for the neatest scrapbook kit EVER!)
Current Mood: chipper
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January 13th, 2006
10:12 pm
So...I went with two of my best friends and bridesmaids Kate and Erika to David's Bridal in Brookfield. I called ahead to set up an appointment for 6:30 and I told them we were all engaged and would be trying on wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses. Everything seemed fine.
We get there and they start grilling us like we stole something. Not friendly at all. When I told them I had an appointment, they basically ignored me while I stood there for about 15 minutes with no one helping me and them acting like I couldn't even go look at dresses. Finally, I was like screw it...i'm not standing here...and went to go look. About 45 minutes later, no one helping us. After about 45 minutes some dumb girl gives us a tour of her favorite dresses. It's clear she knows nothing.
So I pick out two dresses, as do Kate and Erika and stand there for another 20 minutes while girls walk by, but won't help us. (Keep in mind, I have an appointment and there are about 10 open dressing rooms). Finally, some woman comes up to us and says they can't try on dresses because they're not registered. Well why didn't someone mention that to me on the phone, or before we've been looking for over an hour?
Enter Keri. My saving grace and new best friend. She told us to forget everything that had happened because we with her and she would take care of us. She told us to pick out whatever dresses we wanted and she would make it happen. She pulled bras, slips, zipped us, pulled veils, took pictures...she was amazing. And she made my night. I'll be writing a seething letter about David's Bridal and how she is the one beacon of light in a very dark tunnel this weekend...:)
So I bought my dress. I love it. It was the first one I tried on and I knew it was it. It is ivory, but with some light champagne hues...and it feels very Victorian and antique to me. I adore it. I'd sleep in it if I could. I bought a tiara with matching crystals and champagne colored gold tones, a simple pearl choker, the bra that crushes my ribs but keeps my boobs in place, and two veils. One is a floor length champagne colored veil with small pearls that sweeps the floor...and the other is the more common veil (same color with some edging and small pearls) that falls just below my shoulders. I got everything for less than $1500 which was in my budget. And I couldn't be happier.
It was so great to have the girls with me. It was like a cheesy episode of Friends...with us all standing on the pedastals in front of the mirrors wearing our wedding dresses. I had a blast.
....Now I just gotta hit the gym to make that dress go POP! :)
Current Mood: cheerful
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06:37 am
It's my BIRDDAY! HAPPY HAPPY BIRDDAY TO ME!
OH MY GOD I'M 25...i'm going to die.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/silly.gif) Old and CRAZY!
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January 12th, 2006
11:39 pm
....and the Pistons beat the Spurs. What else could a girl want?
Current Mood: enthralled
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11:32 pm
I bought my wedding dress tonight. I'm so excited I can't even write right now. It's perfect. I'll write a whole long, emotional spiel about it later. But I bought the dress. And it is THE dress.
http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=1716&prodgroup=92
Current Mood: giddy
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January 2nd, 2006
11:36 am
It's official. Mike Sherman is gone. Green Bay is HARSH. One losing season where your team is DECIMATED with injuries the likes of which have rarely been seen, your team loses a bajillion gut-wrenching games in the last few minutes of the game and despite all that the team stays positive and plays their asses off week in and week out, and he gets rewarded with a pink slip. I'll really be disgruntled if Jim Bates goes too...that man could get a troop of Girl Scouts to the Superbowl...
Happy New Year Mike Sherman and fellow Packer fans. Let the Dark Age of the Green Bay Packers begin.
...On the upside, I hear Mike Tice is available...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/bears/sad.gif) in mourning for Mike Sherman
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January 1st, 2006
07:41 pm - Why 2005 was so good to me--
2005 was a rockstar year for me. Bear with me--
*I realized that I was a bad person.I was bitter, gossiping, and angry and was a toxic person to be around. I spewed so much fire at other people without looking at myself and realizing that even if I didn't like a situation, I had so much power to make things better by changing myself. I like to think I have a much more subtle and calm energy than I did a year ago.
*Orlando. I love him more than ever. Love isn't always easy, and god knows we've both made mistakes. But at the end of the day, we really do love each other. He is my best friend in the world and I couldn't be happier to try to make it through this life with him. Planning our wedding and our future as well as enjoying all the blessings we already have been given has been the single greatest joy of my life.
*FRIDAY! 2005 was the year that Orlando and I got our first dog together. We were a little intimidated by him at first, but he has brought us so much joy. Our firstborn son--a four legged FURRY!
*I found a great job working at WSB. It's not my career choice, but it feeds into the calm. Backoffice banking is great. I'm busy, i'm comfortable, I have insurance and make enough money to get by. And I don't have to deal with customers, or pressure to sell. It's nice to come home from work and not be stressed out. 2005 is also the year I quit Bank Mutual and Boston Store. :)
*Spirituality. Confirmation and wedding prep with Orlando was food for my soul. In talking with Fr. Mike, I really opened up about my issues with the Catholic church and met a lot of people who feel like me. That being a "liberal Catholic," isn't a dirty phrase and shouldn't keep me away from God.
*I've gotten my financials together. I got both of my credit cards back into good standing, and with Orlando, managed to save over $5000 in less than 6 months. I haven't had a creditor call in over a year!
*LOVE. It seems like the love bug bit hard in 2005. Chris and Monica got married, Adam and Al got engaged, my sister and Dana got engaged as did Kate and Matt. I am overjoyed for them all! :)
*Family. I've been closer to my family than ever. Jen and Robert are two of my best friends, and my mom and I are closer than ever. She stopped drinking in 2005 and it is so nice to have her back.
*I finally feel like i've grown into my own skin. I joined Bally's. I'm slimmer and determined to keep it up. I've grown my hair out long and realized that my natural hair color wasn't so bad to begin with. I've broken out of my tomboyness with a bang and embraced the power of a cute little pair of heels and a pretty skirt. I feel beautiful for the first time in so long. I feel like me.
*School. I'm back in school this semester and have less than 2 full time semesters until I graduate. It's been a real struggle, but i'm back in the fight with a light at the end of the tunnel! :)
*Last but not least--my friends. I love you dearly. I was an awful friend. I was distant, and selfish and ran away when my friends were honest enough to tell me the truth. I have never had a closer group of friends and I am so grateful for your presence in my life. I've lost some of the best friendships I had ever had, and it opened my eyes to appreciate the people around me. I've also been fortunate enough to start mending two of the best friendships i've ever had. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me when I made it really, really tough.
I've had the time of my life. Thank you all for helping me turn it around. Love.
P.S--The Pistons are on pace to have an AMAZING season this year! :)
Current Mood: appreciative
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07:25 pm
HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR! WHEEEE!
So I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year...New Years was pretty fun this year. We had a little get together with some friends at our place which was rad. We were trying to make a dent in our massive alcohol stash which didn't happen of course, and somehow we ended up with even more than we started with which is a bit odd, and I ate way too much DAMN DIP....but it was so so much fun. And amazingly, no one even puked. Good job everyone, way to hold your liquor.
We took some hilarious pictures that I will hopefully have up by tommorrow morning, so go check them out at http://public.fotki.com/MirandaBanana903/
Current Mood: cheerful
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December 25th, 2005
11:03 am
HAPPY HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!
YAY! :)
Current Mood: JOLLY, like Santa!
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