Birthday Rundown

The highlights of my birthday actually started the evening before when I got a package in the mail from Tonna. Her package containing what she referred to as “ooh-la-la pajamas” really made my day. Now I must say, they’re not THAT “ooh-la-la” but they’re red and super cute and I guess if you’re 7 ½ months pregnant, you probably would consider that “ooh-la-la”. (Love ya T!)

Birthday morning – my brother called while I was in the shower. I guess he thought he was going to be sly and wake me up early for my birthday. Maybe he should have tired calling before 6:30 a.m. I didn’t hear the phone, so instead I got a “happy birthday” voicemail. I’m just impressed he remembered to call at all! Also got really good news later that day that it doesn’t look like he’s going to have to have surgery on his heart after all! As long as he does everything the doctor says, things should be fine.

After I got to work, Nancy (our events coordinator) and Janice (one of our volunteer receptionists) sang “Happy Birthday” to me in the lobby and gave me a hug. This was followed by a VERY cute little 2-year-old who came into my office and brought me a balloon and a “treat bag” filled with Chewy SweeTarts, Reese’s cups and a Diet Coke. She knows me well (at least her mom does). Couldn’t get her to sing to me (too early in the morning I think) but I did get a hug. I also received several entertaining e-cards (by the way, Suzy, I finally pinned the tail on the donkey!) The afternoon was kind of slow, so I also finished my taxes (paying a little out to federal, but getting some back from state).

At 4:30, I got a call from Randy wanting to see if I wanted to go to dinner. He remembered my birthday was the 26th (which actually surprised me since he claims he has a difficult time remembering his own family’s birthdays), but didn’t realize that Thursday was the 26th. I didn’t really expect him to remember anyway, but was thrilled that my “birthday dinner” didn’t require the eating of PB&J or going to the grocery store.

Friday night, my friend Rachel took me to get a pedicure (I’ve never had a real one since the beauty school in Chickasha doesn’t count – nightmare day). I now have pretty pink toes! After that, we had dinner with a couple of friends and then went back to my house to eat cake (which was awesome!). We had the intention of watching a movie, but we were too tired, so instead we talked and watched HGTV (I know Jason was thoroughly educated).

Saturday I went out to eat with my friend, Jenn. We were going to try to go see a movie, but there really wasn’t anything we wanted to see that evening, so we went shopping instead. I still want to open a booth in The Market someday. Anyone wanting to give me interest free start up money?

Sunday night Suzy, Rachel & Randy came over and watched Flight Plan and helped me put a bigger dent in the birthday cake. The movie was good till the very end. Very corny last 5 minutes. But the rest of the movie was good. Oh, and I must give props to Suzy for the Lowe’s gift card! It’s becoming my new hangout and I’m definitely excited to use it. Just have to decide on what. I also have Pottery Barn and Target gift cards to use too. I’m one of those people who likes to put my gift cards to good use and not spend them frivolously!

So, that was the birthday in a nut shell. I’m just thankful that I wasn’t sick this year!

Garmin Nuvi

I just have to give props to my friend, Jonathan! I got an email from him today telling us that this project he's been working on this last year has been nominated as the Top GPS Device of 2005. Check it out. It's pretty cool. You can even go here to nominate it to win this award. Way to go J.T.!

Birthday Observations

I got this email from Shelleye this morning and it just seemed appropriate. =)

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Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life .. .. you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!! (Actually I didn't do anything at 21 that I couldn't have done at 18. Now 25, that was monumental - my car insurance went down! YESSS!!!)

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away.

Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there.

Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them". (My theory: I'm only as old as YOU think I am!)

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's. (Does pocket Tetris count?)

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets,keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Good Point!

My aunt sent me this email about why the U.S. Navy is better than the Iraqi Navy. This made me laugh!

US Navy

Iraqi Navy

Final Eviction – I Hope

Well, on Friday I finally gave in and got a trap from Jay (our maintenance supervisor) in hopes to catch our non-rent paying resident. The big question from everyone at work was what we were going to do when we caught it. We resolved this by offering to make Randy dinner if he would come get it (I think by Saturday night, I had guilted him enough he finally gave in).

By time I got home on Friday, it was dark, so decided to wait to Saturday to catch us a squirrel. Now this was a chore in itself. First, we had to figure out how to set the trap (which we finally did), then we had to put it up in the attic. When I say “we” I mean Melissa. I was not going up there for anything as long as there was something living up there. Putting it up there was not as easy as we thought it would be. Turns out our step ladders were not tall enough for anyone to actually climb up there and the crawl space was too small to actually lift the trap directly up into the attic, so Melissa had to turn it on end, feel around to find a good spot to put the trap and then set it up there. THEN we had to get the bait in there. Since the bait had to be put in the back of the trap, this was really tricky. We didn’t want to set the trap off in the process, but since our ladder wasn’t tall enough, there was no way for her to reach all the way to the back of the trap. She ended up having to stick her fingers through the holes in the trap and working the bowl of bait towards the back (very impressive I must say). Once everything was in place, we closed up the hole and waited.

I got home before Melissa on Saturday night, and I didn’t hear anything when I got home, but by time she got home, she could definitely tell we had caught our non-rent paying resident. I didn’t know this till after church Sunday morning. I guess it had kept her up all night trying to get out of the cage. When I got home, she opened the crawl space back up and tried to see if she could see anything. Her first comment was “I see fur.” Then she looked again and said something I didn’t expect – “it’s NOT a squirrel.” She saw ears and at first thought it might be a cat and then looked a third time and concluded it was a raccoon! She even stuck her digital camera up there to confirm it.

So, here was our dilemma. Though Randy offered to take the squirrel out of our attic, wasn’t sure that offer would apply to a raccoon AND he was in Enid and I didn’t want to leave that thing up there any longer than necessary. So I called Jay since he’s all about anything that has to do with wildlife. As you can see, we weren’t exaggerating. We really did have a raccoon in our attic. It was really pretty tame for a wild raccoon. Jay said he kept trying to play with his shoe laces when he took him out to Lake Arcadia to let him go. Tame or not, I did not want him (or her) living in my attic.

So far, I think we’re resident free, but not 100% sure yet. We need to get a taller ladder so we can peek up there and see if we can tell where it was getting in at. THEN I’m hoping my brother will come visit me and patch up the entry spot it it’s on my end of the unit (if it’s not, the land lord for the other three units will be getting a phone call.)

Oh, and I must apologize to the squirrel that I blamed for living in my attic. I'm sorry Mr. Squirrel, but let this be a lesson to you -- you move into my attic, you will get re-located.

The Squirrel Has GOT to Go!

I’m sorry, but it’s either that furry woodland creature or me! This waking me up at 4 a.m. thing has got to stop. And this morning was the final straw. I swear he’s (or she most likely) trying to make a nest ABOVE MY BED! I laid there for a good half hour or more just hoping it didn’t fall through the ceiling. I could hear the plaster making these cracking noises and all I could picture was the panic and chaos that would take place if that thing came through my ceiling and landed in my room – or worse, on my BED! I mean, picture it… that thing running in circles, trying to get away and me SCREAMING and trying to get the thing out.

I’m sure you’re reading this and laughing, but seriously, this is a quandary for me. If it was just a matter of putting a trap in the attic – I could handle that. But as Suzy pointed out, it won’t do any good unless I know how it’s getting in and fix the situation. As I have mentioned before, I’m scared of the attic. The thought of doing anything more than poking my head through the opening in Melissa’s closet (which I would have to psych myself up for), freaks me out. I’m pretty self-sufficient and getting good and fixing things myself, but I don’t do attics. It’s times like this that I miss my dad the most. He would be down here in a second and would repair the situation for me. I could ask my brother, but it would be a few weeks before he could make it down and I’m afraid of what kind of damage that “thing” might do between now and then. I seriously need a knight in shinning armor!

Regardless of when and how the removal of the squirrel takes place, I’m getting it on tape because I have a feeling it won’t be without incident!

Close But No Cigar

Yes, it did snow this morning, BUT it has seriously fallen short of giving me the snow day I requested. Snow Day means that it snows enough that I don't have to go to work. Nice try, though.

Word of the Day

The word for today is STOP!

This goes out to every customer service person I talk to who doesn’t actually take the time to look at the account I’m calling about to realize that yes, there is a problem.

This goes out to the people at ONG who still have yet to send me my gas bill!

This goes out to ever person who walks into my office wanting me to do something that they’re too lazy to do themselves.

This goes out to the postage meter people who failed to mail us our postage meter update, even though I called them last Tuesday to tell them we still hadn’t received it.

This goes out to everyone out there who likes to grip about the way something is being done, even though they didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to put in their input.

This goes out to every person who thinks they are more important than they really are.

This goes out to the wildlife creature who is trying to become a non-rent paying resident. You’re not being sneaky. I can hear you tapping loudly on my wall and I can see where you’re trying to make a hole. STOP! I don’t want to hurt you. Please make your abode in the many trees I have provided for you in my back yard. They are all yours!

Yes, I’m cranky. Yes I’m tired of playing nice only to get slimed in the end! I NEED A SNOW DAY – CHANGE THAT A SNOW “WEEK”! And is a 16 oz cup too much to ask for?!?

The Song of the Day

I've decided this is my theme song for the day - well, the "I wanna go home" part at least. By the way, my birthday is coming up and I would live to have this CD ;-)

"Home" Michael Buble

Another summer day

Has come and gone away

In Paris and Rome

But I wanna go home

Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by

A million people I

Still feel all alone

I just wanna go home

Oh I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you

Each one a line or two

“I’m fine baby, how are you?”

Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough

My words were cold and flat

And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane

Another sunny place

I’m lucky I know

But I wanna go home

Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home

I’m just too far from where you are

I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life

It’s like I just stepped outside

When everything was going right

And I know just why you could not

Come along with me

But this was not your dream

But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come

And gone away

And even Paris and Rome

And I wanna go home

Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by

A million people I

Still feel alone

Oh, let me go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home

I’ve had my run

Baby, I’m done

I gotta go home

Let me go home

It will all be allright

I’ll be home tonight

I’m coming back home.

Snow Day Please!

I need a snow day, maybe even 2! I’d be happy with a good ice storm. Just something that allows me to keep power, but keeps me from being able to go to work for a day or two. I’m having trouble getting everything situated in my house and there just isn’t enough time in one weekend.

I was thinking yesterday that I would like to have powers like Samantha on “Bewitched” or Jeannie on “I Dream of Jeannie.” After discussing this in depth with a friend, I think Jeannie won out. 1) I can blink and nod my head easier than I can twitch my nose and 2) Samantha’s husbands (there were two Darrin’s you know) had issues. One was a drug addict (though not his fault) and the other one played for the other team. Now my friend pointed out, Jeannie lived with a man that she had to call “Master” and he never married her, but I have since learned, he did eventually marry her. Some guys just don’t know a good thing when they see it and it takes them a while to clue in.

Totally random side thought: I find it very funny that when I pulled up my MSN home page today, the very top bar said “Find: engagement rings”. Sure I can find one, but buying one for myself just isn’t the same. It needs to say “Find: man to buy you an engagement ring.” MSN is kind of jumping the gun here! Now how’s that for random?!?