i totally forgot to mention: my parents have a turtle now! actually it's likely a tortoise (although i haven't keyed her out or anything), but she's old old old. she used to live at my grandma's house in southern california, and had been subsisting down there for several years on her own, eating shrubbery in the backyard. evidently she's about 40 years old, which i hadn't known. i mean, i knew she was around from the time i was little (in fact, there used to be *three* tortoises living there) but i didn't realize she was that old. anyway, my dad and uncle brought her up from the house last week and now she's living in my parents' backyard. my mom is somewhat excited about having her, she kept going to check on her and give her lettuce and stuff. see, she *does* miss having a pet! and this one is extremely low-maintenance as long as there is stuff in the yard for her to eat (and considering the state of our backyard, i don't think she'll have a problem). i'm a bit concerned about what she'll do when the weather gets colder, but i'm sure that can be dealt with at a later date. maybe we can create a den or something for her in the garage, or over near the laundry room ventilation (where it's warm).

so, my friend jeff from indianapolis is getting married the first weekend in june. jeff is a buddy of mine who i sort of dated some years ago (but not really), and he's one of randy's best buddies. randy is, of course, in the wedding. this weekend is the bachelor party up in indy (the wedding is in jersey), and randy and the other groomsmen (including rj, the best man, who i also know) have planned a seriously killer bash. i would *love* to be a fly on the wall for that party, just because they're all hilarious when they're together, and they'll be letting loose like no other. randy refuses to have photographic evidence of the event though to protect the identities of all involved. oh well. anyway, randy is pretty excited about the whole thing. and what guy wouldn't be? there will be plenty of beer, porn, cigars, strippers, the works. he and rj were in charge of a lot of the details, and they're getting twin redheaded strippers (although i saw pictures of them, and they're definitely not natural redheads. oh well).

the thing is, i keep expecting myself to be bothered by the fact that he's going to be revelling in strippers tonight.... but i'm not concerned about it. i'm actually fairly amused by it. i guess i'm not really the type to get jealous about stuff like that, plus i'm pretty certain about how he feels about me.... but isn't it innate for women to be pissed when their men go off and enjoy strippers? it just seems like one of those things, you know? but i guess it would be a different story if he stopped by the strip club on his way home from work everyday. i mean, this is a bachelor party. you expect strippers at a bachelor party, because what's a bachelor party without them? :) i'm looking forward to hearing the stories, though.

vickie is going to the wedding in june, as well... she bought her plane ticket the other day. it should be a good time, i know jeff and vicki will do well together. i'm a little disappointed that i can't go, but family is much more important in this case. besides, i really can't afford the plane ticket for a two-day trip to a place i don't particularly have a desire to visit.

much to do, much to do. projects are being presented to the board of directors soon, so we have to have our project write-ups done this week. claire has been out of the office for two weeks now, a week for the project/directors' meeting and a week with her mom in the hospital in philadelphia. the mom of one of the other regional directors is in the hospital right now, too. what the heck is going on?