OH.MY.GOD.

The title/picture says it all. Tonight while working, a man came into the hotel with a hand grenade. He pulled the pin. And this is how it all went down:

So a couple of workers (who were not actually working, just visiting in the bar), and a couple of guests and I were just hanging out in the bar. We were laughing, joking around ..just having a good time! Things were running smoothly. Then from outside comes running in our manager, Mikki. She's screaming, " GET OUT!!! GET OUT NOW!! ". We are all pretty shocked so we stood there with a look on our faces like, " Are you for real? " She starts screaming, " A MAN HAS A GRENADE!! GET OUT NOW!!!!! THIS ISN'T A JOKE!!!" The next thing I remember is running down the hallway towards the front desk hearing Micki saying, " WRONG WAY TIANNA! HE'S RIGHT THERE! TURN AROUND!!! ". So I BOLT back the other way and run across the street. (while thinking that my smokes are inside. Great, Tianna. Way to have your head in the game.) After waiting for about five minutes and watching the man exit the building, we then walked to the valet area and saw all the cop cars swarming in and watched them pull their guns screaming, " Put your hands up!!! " He then went into the Hilton and I'm not quite sure what happened in there, but they got him.

Poor Micki. Apparently he had walked in to our front desk guy, Tim, and said, " Give me your money and nobody will get hurt. " Tim was confused and was like, " Wait, what? " He repeated it again and showed him the grenade. Tim said he couldn't get into the register without a manager and the man said he would wait while he called the manager. So Tim went into the back office and called the Restaurant and told Chris to call 911. Chris, a server, got the call and ran to get Micki. Mikki and Willie (a cook) then walked up to the front desk to see what was going on. At that point, when Mikki got up to the front desk, the man repeated what he had said and then pulled the pin from the grenade right in front of Mikki. (DEAR LORD!!!!!) She then bolts out the sliding doors and runs around to the other side of the hotel to come tell us to get out.

I'm still just in awe of what happened. We had detectives coming in and out, interviewing everyone. Apparently the man had gone to two other places and pulled the same thing. I'm just glad that everyone is ok. The front desk guy was pretty shaken up about it all. He couldn't stop crying...but who can blame him!?!? He just saw someone pull a hand grenade ....which you can only assume is live.

Wow.

Just.....wow.

Question

So why is it that Britney Spears is always on the verge of a total breakdown? Seems to me that she's having it right now, right?




And yes, I did just do a post on Britney Spears.

IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!!!

THE DAY HAS COME!!!

Got my hair did ....again

And I will get pictures. It's darker. It says "fall", I think. Perhaps after this weekends festivities (WOOOT!) I will post some pictures.

Did I just really do a post about how I will be posting later?

le sigh.

I did.

Hahahaha!

Sorry Lori and Andrea, but you have to admit this is hilarious!

*gasp*

I may or may not have a slight panic attack.

I just got my hair chopped off!!!!!

3 years

I'm not going to write some long, weepy blog about how much I feel my family has been wronged about my Dad's death. So I shall take a cue from Andrea . . . .

Three years ago today (October 29th, 2004), my father passed away. Sad as it was, it wouldn't have lead me to where I am today. Not that my life is any better or worse than it was then, but I'm here aren't I?

I never wanted to ever live in Milwaukee (or surrounding areas). Moving down here was almost a constant reminder of WHY I was here. But I didn't get real comfortable living here until August of last year. I had taken a vacation with all my stuff (ha.), and realized what I had down here. I have family down here. I have a place I can always run to when I want to feel comfort. I have my life here. I wanted to escape this area because I felt that there was nothing left for me here. But I was SO wrong.

I firmly believe that everything in life happens for a reason. While I don't want to agree with that reasoning 100% of the time...I still think it rings true. There is something to be taken away from every situation. Whether the lesson shows its face 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years down the line...something is to be learned from three years ago today. Now I don't know what the lesson is just yet...or maybe I have learned from it already, but whatever it is, its only for the better.

But I still miss him terribly, as anyone would. I get glimpses of him through other males all the time. (Sounds strange, I know) It could be a gesture, a sound, a laugh, a point ...whatever it is. Since I can't have him, I am happy to see him through other people. Perhaps that's the "big man upstairs" way of still letting me see/remember him.

Zzzz....

16 hour work day. Its building character, right?

Stop!

More and more lately I am finding the urge to quit smoking. Until not too recently, I've never really wanted to quit. I understood/understand that smoking is not good for you (how many times has everyone on the planet heard this?) But when does it really start to sink in?

For the past week or so, I've been picturing my life without the addiction. I am fearful of putting on weight (lame excuse, I know) and I'm also fearful of going out to a bar and drinking. While I rarely go out, I can see how I would light up while drinking and try to justify it. I'm not good with addictions and I seem to find the ones that are most detrimental to my health.

I also see that both my parents smoked. While I can only remember seeing my Dad smoke once, it echos through my head. I'm super glad they quit (they just don't seem to be the type of people who were smokers?) ....but I can't help but wonder if it was something I unconsciously picked up when I was younger?

While I was working at Disney, I had stopped for three days. (I did put "quit" instead of stopped, but that wouldn't be correct). One of the guys who lived upstairs from me said his Mom gave him a bunch of patches so that he could stop smoking. Didn't work for him, but it did for me! I didn't have an urge to smoke at all. I started up again because I was just bored. I lived with three Mormons. Enough said.

I guess the next step is figuring out how I want to go about this. I took a quiz online and this is what it said:

You do not have a strong physical dependence on nicotine, so you could consider quitting cold turkey—or without a medication to help you manage withdrawal symptoms. You can pick a day convenient for you to stop smoking on your own. Even without a physical need, you could still have strong urges to smoke. That’s because smoking is both an addiction and a habit.

*sigh*

FIRE!!!!!!!!!!

Hrm. The fire alarm here has been going off for about 10 minutes now. We heard some emergency vehicles come this way.....So there may be a fire in the building....


*grabs glass of wine and bolts*




***Edit**** There was no fire. Apparently the alarms go off quite often due to kids who like to touch things.

Taken from an e-mail.....

....between Andrea and I today about changing my hair color:

Me: Darker? Maybe with some red low lights? Not "red head" color ...but a deep deep red?

Andrea: i don't know why people keep thinking they should go redder. red heads are going to be extinct for a reason, keep it that way.

Blue October

I'm here at work (DoubleTree) a little bit early today. I met with Andrea for lunch today at Guss's downtown. Great food. But I haven't seen Andrea in over a week (ACK!) and it was nice to finally catch up. I've been super busy with working both places. I guess I should feel blessed with the hours I'm getting because I do need the money. I'll be working 10 straight days here before I have a day off from here. And even then I'm not going to even really have it "off". We're heading to Kentucky for the TEAM seminar.

As I was driving by the DoubleTree on my way to meet Andrea, I noticed a bus. I love seeing a bus here and wondering exactly who is staying here. When I got in here I, of course, had to ask. And it was just the group I was hoping for.......Blue October. Nice. The front desk was like, " They're sleeping right now ....but if you catch them, I'm sure they'll put you on the list for the show tonight. " Hahaha. If only.

Well, its 2:27 right now and the "business center" here is getting a bit warm and a little full. I shouldn't really be on here anyway, but they were nice enough to let me....so I shouldn't take advantage of it. I can atleast go outside and cool off and take my sweet time getting ready.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys the cool weather!

Prostitution

Ha. Totally saw a bust go down tonight. 4 undercover cops and a sting "girl". Totally worth going to work tonight. Totally.

Tomorrow I work 12 hours. 12hrs!!!! I close the bar and then I'm up 4 hours later. Oi. Can't wait! ............NOT! (Trying to bring back "not!"...is it working?)


PS. No misspelled words! Not that it was incredibly arduous to spell what I did....but whatever.

So here is a question

Alright. We all agree I need money, correct? Let's just say that its a known fact across the board. So I have two jobs right now and they are both going really well. I have the steady, mindless job at National Premium that is part time mornings. Then I have the night job at Double Tree. We recently had a bartender quit, leaving 3 bartenders which means more hours for me. I have been on the schedule at Double Tree as just opening shifts on the weekdays since I have to get up early. But that just leaves the other two bartenders (Nick and Corey) with pretty much all closing shifts. So I'm getting a lot of pressure to quit my morning job at National Premium so that I can work more closing and relieve Nick and Corey. I guess I'm just in a pickle. What do I do? Do I quit my morning job so that when I work the closing shifts and I get home at 1:30am, I'm not waking up 5 hours later to go to my part time job? Or do I pick up those closing shifts and quit my other job and hope that the tips involved in closing makes up for my pay at National Premium?

I hope this all makes sense and ANY advice will be welcomed!!

The battle

So I weigh myself today and the scale hasn't moved. While I'm glad it hasn't moved in one direction, I am saddened that it hasn't moved in the other direction. I've been really good lately by eating smaller portions and just less food period. But what gives? My clothes are fitting a lot better (I think?), but the scale isn't saying so. Why is the scale not showing my 2 months of eating less?

Oh and...

...last night Aaron and I were doing laundry (12 loads. No joke.) and we counted how many towels we have for the both of us.



18 towels.




*sigh*

Since when...

Since when did The Today Show run until noon?

Anyshaboo, Andrea so kindly reminded me that I should probably post a new blog. So here it goes:

This past weekend was a lot of fun! I worked Friday night but got off pretty eerily since we don't have a huge weekend crowd at the hotel. When I got home I went to the liqour store to get fixings for a Ro-Jo (Raspberry Stoli, Tonic, Orange Juice) and some beer for Beaky. Ended up having to take two trips to my car due to the two boxes of alcohol. I'm just glad I was lazy enough to not walk over to Discount Liquor. I don't know what I would have done.

Anyhoo, called Kary to see if she wanted to come over and meet Mikey, who flew in at 10PM. She came over and we managed to play a half a game of Uno because we were chatting for the longest time. Around 10:30 Mikey and Andrea finally came here and Aaron and Tivis shortly followed. (They were playing video games at Tivis's place).

Managed to get pretty drunk that night. I guess I was making Ro-Jo's for Andrea, Mikey, and myself ...but I only remember making one for Andrea and one for Mikey. (They said that had at least 4 each.) *scratches head*. Whatever. It was fun.

Saturday I had to work. I got off again pretty early. Went to Andrea's straight after work and she said that they were going to go to Port Washington to Beanie's. So I called Aaron to tell him and he arrived to Andrea's just as Harry, Brooke, and Tina arrived. Perfect timing. So we caravan up to Port Washington and meet Ryan Harrigan up there as well. It was a nice little restaurant (poor service, though).

Sunday we all met over at Kathie's for lunch. She had made ribs and BBQ chicken with all the fixings. Its was SO.GOOD. I'm sorry, but I just haven't tasted a better set of ribs than Kathie's. I challenge anyone to make them better!!! Anyhoo, after the ice cream cake I had to head off to work. I thought that it was going to be SUPER busy in there due to the Packer game, but alas, I didn't get anyone in there until around 6 o'clock. I was there at 2PM. Oi. But I pretty much came home and passed out. I guess working two jobs is a lot more tiring than I thought it would be.

But that's about all she wrote. Not the most exciting posts ever...but it's fulfilling the wants of Andrea.

So.tired.

I figured I should update since I haven't in awhile. Not that my life is terribly exciting, because its not. But alas, things have happened since my last post.

Well, I started back up at National Premium this Monday. I decided to take on a part time job in the mornings, Monday through Friday, so that I can earn extra cash. I wasn't getting any closing shifts at work, which is where you make the money. So I figured I could off set that a little bit. But since doing that, I've been asked to work closing shifts twice now. Damn the luck! If I knew I didn't have to be up at the butt crack of dawn, I would be ALL over that. Of course...Murphy's Law. So now I just open at the bar and work mornings at National Premium. But of course, I'll most likely be working every weekend at the bar as well. (Working 7 days a week? Me?!?!)

The computer has been down for about two weeks now....but its back up and running like new!! Needed a new video card. But, I feel better now that I don't have to use Beaky's computer to do my surfing. I can now wake up and check PerezHilton.com (Its addicting!!!) I am saddened that I have to re-download 2,000 songs again. le sigh.

Other than that, not much else is new here. OH! Mikey is coming to town this weekend!!! I tried taking off on Saturday, but they had none of that. So I work the opening shift and hopefully I'll get to see him sometime Saturday night!!

Prangstgrup - Reach! A Lecture Musical Prank!!

japanese tv prank

These are HILARIOUS!!! LOL!!!

Japanese Pranks

This is some funny stuff!!! I can't stop laughing!!!

Hrm.

You know how sometimes you go through your day to day life thinking that you know exactly what you want...but in the end you know that you actually know nothing of what you want/need?

I'm starting to separate wants from needs. I'm starting to figure out what will be good for me in the long run and what will I just be satisfied with at the moment. I used to think decisions that affected other people in my life were so easy. But they are the worst ones to make. Sometimes it's easier than others (such as when Aaron and I got back together this last time....I couldn't NOT have him in my life which was a sure sign of how I really felt. Our relationship since then has been wonderfully awesome!) So that decision was the biggest easiest decision. But from there, its grasping what I need to do to better myself and the people around me.

For instance food. Is it important? Yes. Do I need to continue killing myself over it? No. Heck no. It's easier to eat out but in the end, is it doing me ANY good? No. I need to lose weight so I must start eating better. Its like I constantly tell myself that people will love me the way I am ..... which is true. But is it right for me to keep eating this way? NO. NO. NO. I'm overweight and SOMETHING needs to be done. I can't just throw my arms up and say, " Well, this is how I am. Take it or leave it ". I'm not healthy and I don't want to become a statistic.

I haven't been watching TV for the past 3 months. I think that's a good start. I haven't sat down at a TV and watched it until it was time for bed. I'm always up and doing something at least a tad bit better than turning my brain into even more mush. With so many trails and fun things to do around here, there should never be a time where I actually have time to watch it. (apple picking...pumpkin carving)

So I guess here is my New Years (Life?) Resolution. Here is to not just a year of bettering Tianna...but to a life time of taking baby steps to a me who makes better choices. Here is to a new beginning of loving who I am ...but continuing to improve myself. Here is to taking care of the ONE thing I should REALLY care about: my body, whether I like it or not, that I am forced to live with for the rest of my life.

Weekend recap

Hello, folks!

Just thought I would put out a weekend update! It wasn't a busy busy weekend...but had fun, nonetheless!

Friday was an awesome day. The weather was perfect. It was probably about 65 and sunny. The air had a crispness about it that only brings great memories. I love this time of year for just that. I can wear jeans, a sweatshirt, and flip flops and be comfortable. But anyway, mostly it reminds me of apple picking and taking a Sunday drive along the Mississippi with my family. So, to me, it was the perfect day.

Friday night we decided to go to Ryan's house. We had no alcohol so about quarter of nine we walked to the liquor store. (Literally a 3 minute walk. We are RIGHT next to it). We spent a lot of time deciding on what to get. We went there with a mindset of Malibu and Pineapple ...but left with Vodka Cranberry. Not bad, though. Aaron had never had it before and really liked it!

We then drove to Ryan's condo around 9:30. We didn't get there until about ten after ten. Let me tell you....that was a long long long long drive. He's on like 60th and Calumet....and we're in Waukesha. Wowsa. Anyhoo, we got there made drinks and Aaron helped Ryan move a couch into the living room while Beaky and I attacked the taco dip!! After several rounds of taco dip and refilling our drinks, we decided to watch a movie. Ryan has a projection TV (SO COOL!) so it was neat watching it on there!! They had rented Wild Hogs and Blades of Glory. Since Aaron and I had already seen Blades of Glory, we decided on Wild Hogs. There are some really funny moments in that movie! But once it was over, we decided that it was time to go. It was two o'clock in the morning!

Saturday I had to work. I was the opening shift so I got out of there at a decent time. Andrea had called and asked if we wanted to go to Boomers (bar in Pewaukee) .....why not!? We hadn't been there since we moved to Waukesha! So Aaron and I meet up with Andrea and later Jo Jo and her friend. It was a good night. Drank a Ro-Jo (Raspberry Stoli, tonic, and a splash of orange juice). So. Good. But the funniest part of the evening was when I was in the bathroom. Overheard a conversation:

Girl One: What does it mean to find yourself?
Girl Two: I don't know. I think it means when you figure out how many kids you want!
Girl One: Oh, ok. I get it.

*slaps head*

Sunday was a bit exciting. Not much happened, but the anticipation was all there. I had gotten to work around noon and saw a tour bus sitting outside. I was thinking, " What rock star is staying here?!?! " I get in and ask the front desk girl who that bus belongs to and ever so happily she says, " Carlton!!!!...You know, Alfonzo!! " How COOL is that!?!?!? So I was hoping that at one point I was going to run into him....but I never did. I missed him when I was outside smoking. STUPID STUPID HABBIT!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone was kind of stressed out yesterday. We had a wedding going on and we had our number one client in there, Harley. Harley Davidson has been with us for YEARS apparently and they are our number one client. And these guys were the "guys who signed the checks". So since we had two big things going on, everyone was just freaking out. They anticipated that the bar was going to be super busy so I, of course, start feaking out. Turns out that it was incredibly slow. We had Harley in the bar, but not everyone was drinking. Everything was calm and under control. So I left around 8:00PM. Nice solid 8 hours of work in ....but I only made $68 dollars. =(

Well, that's about all she wrote. Nothing terribly exciting happened ...but the anticipation for something extremely exciting was all there!! Which, I guess, at times can be just as good!

I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather!!

Christmas Commercial

I can't wait for Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Today would have been my Mom's 51st birthday. Its almost as if there is a hush around me. Things are quite and peaceful right now.

Sometimes I still think its just a dream. She's/they're still alive and I will be able to call her up and go to Denny's. (One of her favorite places to go). I remember in the hopsital the day before she passed away ....I remember looking at her thinking, " This is the best she's looked in years! " She was for once relaxed. I mean, all due to the stroke ....but still.

I remember before she went in for that last surgery I was coming back from Minneapolis. I stopped in Madison to see her and she wanted me to bring Culvers. She was SO happy to see me and I was SO annoyed being there. I was short, rude, and didn't stay very long. I feel so guilty. I couldn't even spend that last night there with her talking about how afraid she was of the surgery....because I had something better to do???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!! I needed to be there for my Mom when she was scared. I needed her there because I was scared!

The next day was her surgery. The doctors came up and said that the surgery went well. We were all relieved. He said that she would be up in her room in 10 minutes and we can go visit her then. That 10 minutes turned into 20....which turned into an hour. Something was wrong. We all knew it. We sat there, though, waiting for someone to tell us something.

The doctor came in and asked to speak with my grandparents. This wasn't going to be good. There was a stroke.

The next time I saw her, her head was wrapped up and she had a tube (that is supposed to be running clear fluids out of her head) but it was blood. She layed there motionless. She had a couple good days here and there, but never did return her speech.

The decision to cut life support was the worst. It was in the Will that they set up...and she even told the doctors this before her surgery. So we obeyed her wants.

We one on one said our goodbyes. I remember holding her hand, telling her I love her and feeling her squeeze my hand when I would say it. I knew she was still in there ...but she would never be able to walk, talk, or even possibly open her eyes again. I guess that's what the hardest part was. Knowing she could hear me and not do anything but squeeze my hand!!! I told her to squeeze my hand according to what I was saying, " Squeeze my hand if you...." or " don't squeeze my hand if..." I asked her if she understood what was going on. She squeezed my hand as to say "yes, I understand". I asked her if she wanted to be with Dad.....she squeezed.




I guess I just miss them terribly. I would say 90% of the time I don't believe its true. None of it. I believe that one day I will be able to drive up the hill in Durand, turn onto our street and pull up next to the house. I believe that I will be able to walk up the vertical driveway, open our front door and have my parents drinking coffee in their chairs, just happy to have me home.

1, 2, 3 awwwwwww!

I was bored today on the internet...so I looked up videos of kittens. (shush!). But I came across this cute video of two little kittens. But now I want another cat. I can't help but wonder if this is how Moms react to babies. They see a baby and want another one. ?

The funniest part about this video happens at 5 seconds into it. The white kitty kind of hops around. Its hilarious!

Ok, enough with the adorable post.

Bobby Mcferrin improvisation with Richard Bona

ho hum.

Ok, ok. I *may* have overstressed tonight a bit....... Ok, a lot.

When I got to work I noticed the bar PACKED. I mean, wall to wall people over flowing into the restaurant area. Noticed that I was not the only bartender working. Ryan was scheduled at 1PM (Whoops! Failed to notice that on the schedule!!). But it dramatically shifted from steady to ghost town USA. So he left around 7PM and we both made a dismal $50 each during that time.

The rest of the evening was worse. It was incredibly slow!!! Nobody was drinking at all. Which is good and bad. Left the place making an even $100. Booooo. =( BUT, bright side, I did make the best Chocolate Martini EVER. Dang that thing was goooooood!!!!! (I tried the left over from the shaker). Oh, and I got a bunch of compliments on my bartending tonight. Phew.

Anyhoo, long story short: I overstress things too much. I just need to take it slow, take it easy, take a rest. (Where is my Aunt Kathie for that one?) Haha!

Annnnndd....I'm out.



PS. Hi to Linda!!!

OH.MY.GOLLY

Miss Molly.....Ha!

I am so nervous for tonight. (read: one hour from now). I am the sole bartender for the bar tonight, as we have 5 or 6 banquets going on at the Double Tree tonight. Every other bartender is busy with a banquet....so I have the bar. By myself. All night. I will be swamped tonight with drunkoids and I just hope (REALLY HOPE) that I can do well for them. Please let this night pass quickly!!!!!

T minus 8 minutes until I leave....

ACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Kitchen: 90% done.

Alright. Here are some updated photos of Andrea's kitchen. We were able to clean a lot yesterday and by 8PM, she was hosting game night. Clearly the walls need to be painted again (actually.... sanded down, primed, blah blah blah blah) But here you can see the new counter tops that were put in, the cabinets, new hardware for the cabinets....Its truly a different kitchen. (Oh, and the floors look fantastic!!!!

Oh, and here is her living room: