Ft. Lauderdale has done so much better in the last few weeks!! I am very pleased. this weekend is the ft. lauderdale anniversary. Either 3 or 4 years. There is a new GM Lyzette! I am excited to go there.
A call out to Daniel. Daniel is one of the regional managers. He was probably away last year more then he was home. " Daniel , you are doing a good job."
We have quite a few new bars in the pipeline! Oklahoma, Toronto, Indianapolis, Milwaukee ( no freaking clue how to spell), Cancun, and a possible Harrah's deal in San Diego!
Kyle and I are going to do a little research into women's motorcross. Who knows you may see a Coyote Ugly women's motorcross team.
We have decided to sponsor Kristin Bumbera in the Nascar Drive to Diversity Driver's search. Lee created a new trading card for her. I will have him post it.
Very exciting stuff!
Yesterday I picked Jackson up from school. When I arrived Jackson told me that someone had stolen his Bakugon ( magnetic weird balls that seem to be the craze) out of his bag. One of his friends claimed to have seen a younger kid riffling through Jackson's knapsack while jackson was in class. I decided to leave a note for the principle about this, with the disclaimer that it was all hearsay but I would like her to look into it. I just received a call from his principle who had done a little investigation of her own. It seems that jackson's friend fabricated the story and stole the backugon himself from Jackson's bag. " What tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive!"

OK I am back at work.
The tentative date for the Oklahoma City Girl search is February 28th and march 1st. The opening date , fingers crossed, will be march 11th. ( Jacqui's and my sister's birthday).
I was very pleased with New year's eve at the bars. Thank god we had one good night because the two weeks prior to that were god awful at most of the bars.
Very scary world events going on.
I feel so bad for John Travolta and kelly Preston. The idea of losing a child is so incredibly horrible. The holidays will never be the same for them.
Looks like Toronto is back in the picture

Painful! All the bars have been doing horribly!! No big incidents other then catching some fake IDs.
One of the girl's mom's died in Denver. She was so young. Life is short. It would be nice to die happy and at peace.
I am obsessed with the Caylee Anthony case. I'm still unsure of the timeline. If Casey, the mom, lived with her parents, how did she hide the disappearance of her daughter for 1 month? So sad for the grandparents as well. I am sure they doubt their daughter's innocence but they still must hold out some faith that she was not capable of killing her own daughter.

I am so freaked out. My next door neighbor's house was broken into today. What creeps me out is that the person seemed to lauder around the house. Whoever this was actually ate food and riffled through his stuff. I hate that. I called my security company and did a test. So at least I know my alarm is working well. There are sometimes that I miss apartment living. Some spaces seem more secure.
Now I am hearing my son screaming to his friend " You are a grubby candy stealer" He is livid about his friend taking a reeces cup. I said to Jackson " You don't even like chocolate." " Mom he is a grubby candy stealer!!!!" ( I didn't tell him about robbery next door) The punishment imposed by my son is a wedgey! Wouldn't that be great if a wedgey was a true detterent.

What a slow few days for the bars. It's painful.
I know other parents can empathize with this. Jackson has been home the last few days with a fever and congestion. NO SCHOOL. Painful. He has been up in my bedroom watching movies and playing on the computer. My son is 9 , hence we are limited to children's shows. The code for being sick is that Mom let's you watch TV all day. Painful to watch kids' shows all day. I went downstairs to cook dinner and sneak a peak at " House" the only adult show I DVR . About 5 minutes into the episode, my son comes down to see a patient with a bloody rag in his mouth. " Mom that scares me change it!" " How about we watch " The Grinch who stole Christmas for the 3rd time today!!! Awesome!"
I know I will miss these times but there is part of me that can't wait for a few adult moments.
I am laying the groundwork to hit the road running come January. Think Nascar. Think Motorcross and think Ultimate fighting. In the next year when I am old and grey I would like to forget about 2008. Bad year!! I am excited for 2009!.
My boyfriend can't keep presents a secret so I found out yesterday, without asking that he got me a cruise for Christmas. I almost cried! So sweet!!! I really dig this guy. Cross my fingers!!! No Jinx

The Nashville Anniversary was awesome. The theme of the party was " a night at the oscars". When you walked in they had a red carpet and lined the red carpet with posters from famous movies with our staff posing for the various shots. Jacqui and I did not know the theme and when we walked down the red carpet they all had flash cameras taking out picture. Very funny. Then the girls performed a couple vignets. The first one was a replication of a Beyonce video. So cute. The next was a choreographed number from the play Chicago. I woke up with the song in my head " He had it coming. He had it coming." So well done. The next item on the agenda was a mock awards ceremony where we won the Coyote Ugly " Drunky" Award. They even created video images of us against mock competitors. It was such a fun idea. The whole staff did an excellent job. ( The bouncers wore pink).
Thanks Nashville. You raised the bar for anniversary parties!!!!

One of the cooks in Nashville recently quit. The reason that he quit was because one of the managers left him a note and was offended by the "tone" of the note. Kyle read the note . The note was " You need to do this...every week and this.... every week. That was it. Kyle, Jimbo , and I have been laughing so hard about the supposed harsh tone . My god, I had a boss throw a knife at me and I didn't quit my job. Fucking prissy jackass.
Jeff has been trying to deal with one of the employee's child support deductions. 5 kids !!!!! ( 4 different woman)
Big anniversary party in Nashville tonight. I can't believe it's snowing in New Orleans!

The news is fascinating. I am mesmerized by the situation with the Illinois Governor. CNN is my home page and the only other story that caught my eye was " First pictures of Ricky Martin's twins". Yes of course I had to read and see the pictures for one reason " Isn't he gay?" In reading the article I found out that he used a surragate to have the twins. OK now I get it. And no I don't think he is officially "out". The kids are cute and he looks happy that is all that matters.
Back to work

It's time to tighten those purse strings!! The concept " save for a rainy day" seems a very difficult concept to teach some of the managers. The rain is here!
The stress level today is off the charts. Man we have got ti get more organized with the calendar. I still don't have a copy yet.
I could very easily blow up today. Just a cautious reminder to everyone. On a good note, Jackson is doing great in school and is the love of my life. I think I am going to ask my boyfriend for tango lessons as my christmas present. The hard part about this is that he must attend!!
I am boarding my dogs at the vet for the next 3 days!! ( Nashville anniversary!) I have had dogs my whole life and never was told that I didn't express their anal glands enough. I have no idea how to express anal glands so this will now be left to a professional.

What a freaking day!!! It's been a rough week. We are doing across the board budget cuts in anticipation of the depressed economy. Everyone is stressed out. Jeff and I have spoken a dozen times today about various things. You either cry or laugh. I haven't figured out which direction I will go in. At about 1:30 this afternoon I needed to get my assistant Judy a check. Well her and her husband were at the fairgrounds. I had only been to the Fairgrounds once for Jazzfest so I went to meet her there and conduct my business. I stayed for 1 hour and only lost $25. Judy bets according to the color of the horse or the color of their silks. I tried to actually use some reason and read the program. B= bleeder B1= bleeder that is on medication for the first time. That sounds so horrible. Then I would look at the odds. Needless to say that neither one of us fared well.
At least a bit of a distraction from the day.