Weekend Recap

So, here is a recap of my Memorial Day Weekend…

Went to Kansas to help my mom sort through some stuff for her garage sale, INSTEAD, my grandma (dad’s mom that some of you have heard stories about) fell and broke her hip, so we spent a lot of time at the hospital. She was lucky that it only required 3 pins instead of a hip replacement, but I foresee a big family weekend of moving her to a house without stairs before the year is up.

Got outbid at the LAST second, literally, on some software I really needed for work on ebay (who ever out bid me, I hope you’re happy. I REALLY needed that software!)

Chipped my tooth eating salad, so now I have to go to the dentist on Wednesday to get it fixed. Hopefully my night guard will still fit when they’re done because I don’t want to pay to replace it.

Didn’t get the job I applied for. Not so bummed about the job, just bummed that I still haven’t found anything. I’m sure there is a reason, but I’m really anxious for a change.

So, this wasn’t the worst Memorial Day I’ve ever had (that would be either be the one where Billy & I broke up or the following year when my other grandma died), but definitely could have been at least a lot more fun.

To Cut or Not to Cut…

That is the question of the moment. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was planning on growing my hair out for Locks of Love. This decision was mainly spurred on because I can’t afford to cut my hair all that often these days. I made an appointment for this coming Tuesday to get my hair trimmed and shaped up a bit (I have to keep it healthy at least). I haven’t done anything to it other than cutting my own bangs since February 6. That’s quite a while for me.

The problem is, my hair has been driving me crazy lately. The longer it gets, the frumpier it gets and well…I’ve never been content with bad hair. I measured it last night and I’m only half way there (and that’s if I cut my hair off around my chin). I figure my hair grows about 2” in 3 months, so I’m looking at another nine months at least.

My dilemma came watching the American Idol Finale last night? Did anyone see Kellie Pickler’s hair? She cut it and it’s super cute.















I’ve had the cutting bug ever since. So now I have to decide between sticking with my goal and keep growing my hair out (which is cheaper) or cut it off, which might actually look better and would offer a much needed change. I need feedback people!!!

Don’t Mess With Me!

USDirectory.com (a.k.a YP.com, YP.net, Web Pages.com) will rue the day they ever messed me! We have been dealing with this company for years. They inundate you with checks that if you deposit them, you sign up for their web directory service in which they charge you $50 a month for something we already get for free. Generally, we just watch for their checks and then I shred them when they come in, BUT the company keeps changing their name, and inevitably, one will slip through the cracks and will be given to our Teresa (who works for our accountant) and it will get deposited.

We used to get bills from them and I would have to call and cancel the service – which is annoying in itself. But NOW they have started taking the tracking number off the back of your check and auto-debiting your bank account without you knowing it. A person should not go to so much effort to avoid signing up for something you don’t want. And yesterday, was the straw the broke the camel’s back.

After so much work, I discovered that yet another check had slipped past us, so I called the company not only to cancel our service, but to also to once again tell them to take us off their mailing list. This is when it all blew up. I went to close my door so that anyone in our reception area wouldn’t hear me yelling at them, but I was a little angrier than I thought and accidentally slammed my door. I have had it with this company and I told them it is my goal in life to shut them down, and today, I took steps to do just that.

I called the Better Business Bureau this morning in Florida. They took my complaint and then gave me a list of other places to contact because it seems there is an ongoing investigation into this company. I have talked the Attorney General’s Office in Florida, I’ve talked to the Consumer Affairs Office in Florida, I have filed a complaint with the US Postal Services Criminal Investigation Department, and have contacted the Direct Marketing Organization.

I’m sure that places like this will always find a way to operate, but you better bet I’m going to do my best to make it really difficult for them. I’m really a pretty docile person, but don’t cross me too many times or you will be sorry. So be warned! =o)

Jenny Doll

This is a picture of my favorite doll when I was little. Her name was Jenny. This isn't exactly my doll - this one is a picture off of ebay. MY Jenny doll has screwed up hair and her head is barely attached to her body, probably because I carried her around by her hair all the time. I still have my Jenny doll. She's at my mom's house somewhere. I thought about buying this one, but not sure if it's really the same if it's not MY Jenny doll. Anyway, this was a walk down memory lane.

Sleep Aid Mishap

About a year ago, my mom’s doctor put her on a sleep-aid to help her…well, sleep. She didn’t take them regularly, but we started to notice when she did take them, she would do some weird things. She was IM my aunt one night really late saying some really random things. She’d also been known to have conversations on the phone she was unaware of. This really started to freak her out, so she stopped taking them.

I found out this weekend that a while back, she got phone calls from two different online dating services about her account. Obviously my mom’s first response was “I don’t have an online dating account.” She told them that she didn’t know who signed her up, but it was against her will and she wanted to be removed. That’s when they told her SHE signed up. Of course, she didn’t believe this because there was no way she would do something like that. In the course of their conversation, she discovered that they had information about her that no one else could have possibly given them (not even information they could have found online). This had her pretty freaked out. Seems she signed up around the same time she was having all of her other sleep issues and it appears this was another one of her sleeping escapades.

Maybe Stacey’s Mom does have it going on. (Ewww…why did I just go there?)

Wildlife Cam

My friend forwarded me this link today. Our office has been enthralled by it all day. It's funny to hear someone yell out "there's an adult in the nest...look!" It's actually really facinating and addicting. I've kept it up on my computer all day and take a peek now and then to see what's going on. Though, feeding time isn't alway pleasant. At one point, the adult was de-feathering a smaller bird which was a little gross. Anyway, it's interesting to watch and should be fun watching them grow.

Sometimes It's Just Fun to Mess With People

Instructions for messing with peoples minds while driving...

Step 1. Tie balloons to car.
Step 2. Drive like a bat out of hell
Step 3. Watch people freak out !!!!

I Almost Feel Bad For Laughing

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that when my brother tried to help me rid my attic of raccoons and snakes, he had a little run in with a squirrel. Well, it seems he had another little mishap a few days ago.

I'm not sure what lead to the excursion up to the roof, but I guess my brother had reason to believe he had a squirrel issue of his own. Rumor has it he climbed up on the roof to resolve the issue. Once he was up there, he leaned over the edge to measure how big the hole was he needed to cover when (and I'm laughing just thinking about it) the squirrel came running out at him! As a result, he proceeded to fall off the roof of their two-story home. Luckily the only thing he did was dislocate his shoulder, but the fact that the squirrels seems to have it out for him makes me laugh!

The New Man in My Life

Oh yes, believe it or not, there is a new man in my life. His name is Zaine and he's not too tall, and one day his hair might be dark, but he's very handsome. After much too much waiting, we finally got to meet for the first time this weekend. He is super precious and I look forward to watching him grow up. He's a good baby and really did quite well this weekend despite his stuffy nose. And even though he had a diaper mishap and peed on me Saturday morning, I still think he's pretty special (actually, it was pretty funny because I was unaware of the mishap until I handed him to Tonna).

It was a really great to spend time with the whole family this weekend (I needed to get away), and look forward to many more visits in the future!

Nashville Star

I know that most people reading this could care less about today’s topic, but well, I don’t care. It’s my blog and I’ll write about Nashville Star if I want to!

I have never been ashamed to admit that I love Nashville Star. It’s the only reality show I regularly watch. Last night was the season finale and well, my boy Chris Young is the new Nashville Star. I had him predicted to win from pretty early on. Actually, I think he will probably be the most successful Nashville Star to ever win the show. Actually, Buddy Jewel (season 1) is the only other Nashville Star to actually find any level of success following the show (nothing huge, but he’s still out there – I haven’t heard squat from his to predecessors).

So anyway, back to last night. I actually predicted it quite well. Nicole Jamrose (who I think is okay, but not great) came in third and then it was down to Casey Rivers and Chris Young. I really hope that Casey ends up with a record deal because of this show too because he has an AWESOME singing voice, but Chris really did have the over-all “star” quality. It’s definitely the first time that I would actually pay to see a Nashville Star winner in concert or buy their CD. I’m anxious to see what the future holds for both of them.

I do have to admit that Chris Young has made my “crush list”. He’s young and I’m not really into cradle robbing, but he would be worth reconsidering that policy for. On the surface, he has a lot of the qualities of my idea of the “Perfect Guy”. Attractive, but not so good looking that he acts like he knows it. Driven, but has a playful side (I’m finding that is a really important quality to me). He can sing (seriously ladies, who wouldn’t melt if some guy you were dating serenaded you with a song he wrote about you?) Confident in his abilities, but not cocky. And most important loves his family.

Over-all, this was my favorite year of Nashville Star. Next year will have a hard time toping it.

Props to the "Cousin-in-Law"

I don't know if any of you saw this story on the news last night, but you can imagine my surprise to find out the state trooper was my cousin's husband, Shawn (this would be the same person who kind of tricked me into attending the rattle snake festival last year). We're all really proud of him, though I promise you he would really rather not have the attention - that's just the kind of person he is. He is just the nicest, down-to-earth, always do the right thing kind of person that you could ever meet. And he is so great to my cousin and their kids. Even though he can be really onry at times, we'll still claim him.

I HATE Tornado Season

Okay, I know this is going to sound petty, but I was really irritated last night. I was watching 7th Heaven (yes, I watch 7th Heaven) – which is down to its final episodes EVER and what should happen, but it get’s interrupted by Fox News because of a tornado. Now, I know that this information was important to people in its path, but the guy who just kept telling you the same information over and over (I think I referred to him at one point as a “Weatherman Wannabe”). I was annoyed. I wanted to see what was happening on 7th Heaven. I’ve even emailed the local station to see if it will be re-broadcast. But, like I said, I did understand that this information was important to some people.

But here is where I got REALLY annoyed. Later in the evening, after the storm had pretty much died down, I was watching Medium on NBC and stupid Mike Morgan kept interrupting the show to give more updates. Now this is why I was really annoyed – he didn’t give these updated during commercials. They weren’t even critical, just an update to what had already happened (which could have been covered during the 10 o’clock news). And it never failed, you’d watch 10 minutes of commercials and as soon as it was time to go back to the show, he would break in, spend 10 minutes telling you information that wasn’t even important, and by time they’d get back to the show, it was almost time to go to commercials again.

Maybe Grant Johnston and I wouldn’t make a good match. I don’t think he would appreciate my view on this matter. Oh, well. Like that was ever going to happen anyway.

Sometimes A Girl Just Can't Get A Break!

I’m trying to be good. I don’t go out to eat much at all (generally lunch once a week with Jenn and maybe a fast food run through if I get desperate). I’ve not been “shopping” in a long time. I have only spent $29 on stuff to wear since December (that’s 1 pair of shoes and two shirts). I pay all my bills on time. I have seen VERY few movies (4 I think, and one was free) since the first of the year. I have been very careful in my spending. I’ve put everything extra in my savings account for emergencies (including my tax refund). I have made every attempt to not add to any debt that I already have. I’ve been GOOD!!! Why is it then that I am still being punished! If it’s not paying to remove a varmint from my attic, it’s my car. Most recently it’s my car. I do everything required to keep my car in good running condition, but it never fails. Since February, I’ve replaced spark plugs, rotors, and effective today, a catalytic converter. Oh, and it couldn’t be the cheaper and easier to replace catalytic converter. NOOOOO, it has to be the expensive one that is harder to get to. 30 minutes labor verses 4 hours. I feel like I need to start my own Save Karyn website. I’m on the verge of having as much debt that she did and very little of mine was on fun stuff! I’m just PRAYING nothing major happens at my house any time soon or I’m screwed!

The Truth About Hiccups

So I found this article on MSN today and thought it was very educational...
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Hi Bill,
Why do we get hiccups? And can we cure them? (Can't--hiccup--stop--hiccup--hiccupping--hiccup!) --Diaphragm Hammer

Dear (heek!) Diaphragm Hammer,

Notice how often you swallow. Try making tally marks on a piece of paper while you're watching a TV show, for example. Most of us swallow every few seconds. Even when we're nowhere near food or something to drink, we're gulping away. Your mouth is continuously producing saliva, and it has to end up somewhere. So, down it goes. Meanwhile, as you may realize, you have to keep breathing. If you don't, well, you'll probably miss the rest of this column.

We humans breathe through our nose or mouth. For a short way, the air moves down or up the same passage that we use for swallowing--our throat*. We have a muscular trapdoor in our throat that keeps the stuff intended for our stomach from going down our trachea, the windpipe connected to our lungs. This vital valve is our good ol' epiglottis*. To keep inhaled air from going down your esophagus (your stomach tube), and to keep food and saliva from going down your trachea, your epiglottis is working all the time. It's a swinging door that's always moving and always closing pretty hard one way or the other.

Because all of this action is connected to breathing, your diaphragm* (the big breathing muscle below your lungs) gets into the act, as well. You can't be inhaling or exhaling and swallowing at the same time, even if you breathe through your nose. The diaphragm can't be pulling air down or pushing air up while saliva or food is coming down your throat. All of the actions of all these muscles have to be coordinated by your brain.

Also in your throat, you'll find your voice box, or larynx*. On top of the larynx is a somewhat different expandable and contractible gizmo called the glottis. It's a long, narrow, muscular opening that lets only air pass over your vocal chords. (Both epiglottis and glottis come from the Latin word for "tongue.")

Once in a while, often when you find yourself eating a bit too quickly, your brain sends conflicting signals to your diaphragm and epiglottis: "Close the esophagus and open the trachea--no, wait. I mean, pull the diaphragm and open the--hold it--I mean the food tube--no, the windpipe. Wait. Now, swallow and breathe. Yikes!" Once in a while your diaphragm contracts and forces air through your glottis, and you feel a bump and often hear that "heek" sound. That's when you have the hiccups.

Your nerve fibers have produced too many charged calcium ions near the muscles of your glottis and your diaphragm. They spasm; your brain triggers your nervous system to send a correcting signal, but it's too late or not quite of the right strength, and you hiccup again. Often there's an imbalance that is like a resonance. The signals build up and let go at regular intervals, like a sign flapping in a breeze.The way to stop the hiccups seems to be to provide a new clear signal to your body--either a signal for swallowing or breathing. That's why for some people, it helps to hold a breath. For others, swallowing several sips of water in succession does the trick. You have to clear or overwhelm the confusing diaphragm-glottal-epiglottal noise. You can do it. Just swallow; I mean, hold your breath. Hiccup--I mean...
------------------

Hiccups can be quite a nusense sometimes. I once almost got kicked out if a Bible Class in college (by Lindsy's neighbor) because I had the hiccups. He told me to make them stop or leave (uh, don't you think I would if I could?). It is pretty funny when you think of all the ways people use to get rid of hiccups. Here are just a few I've tried:

1) Eat a spoon full of sugar. This is what my mom always told us to do. Actually, I think this was Mary Poppins' idea, and it was to make the medicine go down, but I wasn't telling my mom that.

2) Drink a glass of water upside down. Yes, it can be done. I'm actually quite good at it, but it takes talent and practice.

3) Have them scared out of you. I got paid in ice cream once to scare our intern, Kody, when he had the hiccups (not by him, by another secretary). He jumped and screamed like a girl!

4) Lay on the floor and put several heavy books on your stomach and raise them using your diaphram until your hiccups go away.

5) Distract yourself. Focusing on something else is the best way to get them to go away.

Whatcha got?

Give Me A Break!

Post Office Man
Over my lunch hour, I ran to the post office to mail a package. Big mistake, since everyone was trying to mail in their taxes. I’m standing in line waiting to use the do-it-yourself machine (which was a long wait). I finally get up there, and start going through the process. Now, let me say that I have done this SEVERAL times before, so I knew what I was doing.

All of sudden I had this feeling of someone looking over my shoulder. I was reading through the “does your package…” list when I hear this man say, “it’s none of these”. How the heck does he know what is in my package in the first place. But more important, can we say “PERSONAL SPACE?” There was absolutely no reason for that man to be standing so close and he was seriously invading not only my personal space, but my comfort zone as well! I felt like I was in Poland all over again. Matter of fact, he was so close that when I went to pick up my package, I hit him with my elbow and dropped my box. To this man I would like to again say “DUDE! BACK UP!”

Lady in Car Who Needed A Chill Pill
On my way back to work, there was this lady in the car behind me. She was tailing me really close, so I was trying to be cautious and not to stop too fast. There wasn’t much I could do because there was a trash truck in front of me. Knowing that I was getting close to my turn and strongly sensing that she was already in such a hurry, I turned on my turn signal a little sooner than I needed to and started slowing down. When I finally stopped to turn, she throws her hands up in the air as in to say “what are you doing idiot!” Hey, lady, don’t throw your hand in the air at me, I gave you plenty of warning I was about to turn, why didn’t you just change lanes when you had the chance and go around me?

Phone Book Advertising Sales Guy
There is this man that has been coming by our office A LOT lately trying to get us to run advertising in his phone book. He’s bugged me in the past when he just worked for Fiest, but now Fiest has bought out another phone book and he’s doing double duty and being double annoying. He stopped by two weeks ago when I was out sick for the day. He stopped by again the next day. I told him I would have to run it by my boss and I told him he would be out the rest of the week. But in addition, I really didn’t think it was something we would do. He then came by again on Friday (uh, I told you I wouldn’t have an answer for you yet). Then I was out sick the first two days of last week, and he came by then too. And today, I was in a meeting and he came by yet AGAIN. GO AWAY!!!

Someone needs to warn this man that when you bug me too much and don’t take no for an answer, I get irritated and I’m bound to tell you exactly what I think. Despite rumors, I’m really not a mean person, but I do have personal space issues.

The Great Paint Caper

Well, this weekend didn’t exactly go as planned. I was thinking about going to Missouri to FINALLY get to see baby Zaine, but because I’ve been sick and craziness with their schedule, we decided to postpone the trip for a couple of weeks. Since I now had a free weekend and a gift card to Lowes, I decided to finally finish painting my kitchen (you know, that project I started back in February!)

If you recall from previous posts, there was an issue with the color I originally chose. I liked the color, but it was not quite the right shade of blue. So Friday night, I went to Lowe’s in search of a different shade of blue. I found a paint sample that looked like it was what I wanted – at least under their light (you know where I’m going with this, don’t you.) So I get the paint and head home. By time I got home, the paint dab on the top of the can had dried and it was not looking like the right color AT ALL. I tried not to panic. I just rolled a small amount on the wall and decided to let it dry over night and see what it looked like in the morning.

Saturday morning, I got up and went into the kitchen. DEFINITELY the wrong color! I called Lowe’s and they said to bring it back in and maybe they could adjust the color. After several attempts, it became obvious it was not going to be the right color. I took my new “custom designed” paint home and started trying to work on Plan B.

I really didn’t have the money to be spending on paint, but at the same time, I REALLY wanted to get the kitchen done. It was getting on my nerves. So I decided to ignore my rule about not using the credit card and went looking for new paint. I honestly went to every paint store in Edmond. One of the places I went, the guy offered to take the bowl I was using to try to match the paint and see what he could come up with. By this point I was about ready to take him up on the offer. I decided to go back to Home Depot in hopes of maybe miraculously finding the right color. My hopes weren’t high since I had already looked through ever paint sample they had when I was originally started this process, but I really wanted to finish my painting and didn’t want to put it off another week.

I walked into Home Depot and start looking at different colors. My best bet was looking like a color from the Disney collecting, when I found it. Granted it’s hard to tell under their lights, but to the best of my knowledge, it looked like I had maybe found the perfect color. Not exact, but so much closer than what I had used originally and I was happy with that. I don’t know if they were out of that sample the last time or if it was a new one…frankly I didn’t care, because I had it now the there was light at the end of the tunnel.

When I got home and started putting it on the walls, it was definitely the right color. I was so happy! I spent the rest of my Saturday painting my kitchen and was actually done at a pretty decent hour.

Sunday evening, I went to start taking the tape off. I had to use a knife to cut through the edges since the paint stuck to the tape. When I started taking it off, to my horror, the paint and seeped through the edges and now there was blue pain on my ceiling and cabinets. This was the ONE thing I was trying to avoid which is why I taped everything so well. I’m now going to have to go back over the edges of my white cabinets and white ceiling with Kilz to cover up the blue and then repaint the trim. I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to be done.

So, what did I do with the gallon of paint I now can’t use? Well, when I was rinsing out the roller, I noticed that it was actually a pretty color when it was lightened, so my mom might mix it with a can of white and paint her bedroom. She wants to redo it anyway.

I still have a door to the pantry and baseboards to paint, but I’m hoping to have that all done really soon and when I do, I will post an after picture.

Missing Shoes

I’m so frustrated. I was getting ready to leave for church Sunday morning and went to get my only pair of white dress shoes, and much to my disappointment, they were GONE. I tried searching my closet because they had to be there and should be easy to find because I keep them in a shoe box, but they were no where to be found. Since I was running late for church by this point, I just put on a different skirt and found a different pair of shoes.

When I got home from church, I had a “hunt” of my own…not for eggs but for my shoes! They had to be there somewhere. I hadn’t worn them since last summer and when I moved, I packed all of my shoe boxes together. And they’re in a shoe box. They can’t be that hard to miss. Since I’ve already unpacked all of my boxes (not necessarily put everything away yet, but they’re all unpacked) I was at a loss. I checked my suitcases, I checked under my bed. I checked my closet AGAIN, and I checked the closet in the spare room. No where to be found.

There are only two places that I haven’t checked yet…the holiday decoration boxes and the garage sale box. If they are in either of those two places, someone else put them there. I can’t imagine that they fell out in the moving process because surely I would have found them in one of my many trips back to the house. And if by some mishap they ended up with Jeana’s stuff, she would have noticed by now because we have a little bit of a size difference when it comes to our shoes.

So if you find a pair of short heeled, white open-toed sandals running around without an owner, please bring them home. They’re too young to be out running around on their own (even in shoe life). Thank you!

Road Rage is the Least of My Problems

Today I am suffering from a serious case of Road Rage. I went to go run errands during my lunch hour. One of those errands, the most important I mind you, was finding some place to drop off my ONG bill. Normally I mail it, but I had to wait to pay this one till my roommate got paid this month and it is due Monday. So I get online to find an ONG drop location. Homeland was the closest, so I went there first. Can I just say I hate Homeland (but that's a whole other post). Anyway, there were way too many people in line and a sign that said something about it taking their bill pay service five days…blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I left to go find a drop box location.

I couldn’t remember most of the drop off locations from the website, but did notice that you could drop it off at various bank locations (now I thought the website said BankOne, but we’ll come back to that in a little bit). I knew where all the banks were on Bryant, so I decided to try to find a BankOne. No luck. So this begins my search for a BankOne location. I some how remembered the address for the one on Broadway, so I started heading that way. Here is where the road rage comes into play.

Traffic was already bad when I was heading to Homeland, but it was even worse up by UCO. HOLY COW, I think every human being who has today off was in their car today. It was ridicules, plus I was running out of time to get back to work. I found myself wanting to pound my hands on the horn and just yell at everyone to get out of my way. I don’t like crowds, they make me Closter phobic, so I think bumper to bumper traffic has the same effect on me. My frustrations were irrational because everyone was in bumper to bumper traffic, but I just wanted breathing room and driving space. I just wanted the cars to part like the Red Sea!

I was finally able to find my way out of the abyss of cars and head for 1515 S. Broadway. Since I wasn’t exactly sure where this was, I was still a little frustrated with the number of vehicles because it’s hard to look for an address – on a building mind you – with a SUV on your tail. After a parking lot turn around, I finally made it to 1515 S. Broadway…or at least what used to be 1515 S. Broadway. It had been torn down – recently. Bulldozers were still there clearing the debris. Ugh!!!! I’m now late to work and still haven’t found any place to drop off my ONG payment. I gave up, came back to work, begged for a stamp (did I mention I have not a dime in my wallet…I never made it to an ATM), and I am now praying that my payment isn’t late!

But here is where the story gets oh so much better…when I got back to the office, I started writing my blog post. I went to add a link to BankOne and noticed that it had changed to Chase. I saw plenty of Chase locations while I was out. I was also curious if maybe I had remembered the address correctly for the place that had been torn down, so I went back to the ONG website. The address was correct, the bank wasn’t. I was supposed to be looking for a Bank of Oklahoma, not a BankOne! So I drove all over town, looking for the wrong bank which happened to be a bank that doesn’t even exist anymore! I give up!!!

Random Pictures

There really hasn't been anything exciting going on in my life lately (never thought I would miss the raccoons). Everything else going on either isn't worth posting or shouldn't be posted, but since I felt the need to post something (plus I'm bored) I decided to post some pictures I found on my computer.

This would be my family group from camp about three years ago. I'd point everyone out, but I don't remember some of the kids names (oops). This was a pretty cool family though. I had great co-leaders. This would be the only time all year I ever get called "mom". Of course a couple of these kids I would have gladly given up for adoption! Can I just say that I am so glad that I"m no longer a teenager!

This is my friend, Rachel, dressed like an Oompa Loompa (how do you spell that) at a Halloween party Lindsy and I organized two years ago. She and Carol are counting candy. Lindsy and I had all these people and we didn't know what to do with them, so we sent them out trick-or-treating. The team with the most candy won a prize. This party was much more successsful than last years. I think after last year, we're taking a break from hosting Halloween Parties (right, Lindsy?) =o)

This is more pictures of baby Zaine. Isn't he the cutest!!! I'm still waiting to get to see him in person, so these are going to have to do till then.


This is from the Rattle Snake festival in Mangum last year. I think it's coming up here soon, and NO, I will not be attending again. That was a once in a lifetime experience. It wasn't only the snakes that scared me. ;o)

This is my last Christmas tree. I didn't get to put one up last year because I was still unpacking from my move. I'm looking forward to decorating this year!!!!

This is from our float trip a few years ago (2002 I think). I I added the caption after we got this picture back. I love float trips. =o)

And finally, one of my favorites. I feel like saying this quite often.

Insight On The Weekend

This will definately be a bitter-sweet weekend. First of all, it's April Fool's Day tomorrow, which is one of my favorite days of the year. I used to pull some great ones on my family and friends. The best was the year I called my dad and told him that my car (which I had just gotten at Christmas) had been stolen out of the mall parking lot. I was laughing so hard that my dad thought I was crying and really fell for it. He was always so easy to get (which is funny since he was the one who introduced me to April Fool's Day when he told me at age 3 or 4 to go tell my mom that I threw up on the floor and then say April Fool's. It was all down hill from there).

Anyway, I found an article on MSN today about pranks pulled on co-workers. Here is an exerpt:

If you want to commit an act of April Foolery at work and need some inspiration, here are the top 10 work gags from CareerBuilder.com's survey:

1. Changed the caller ID on a co-worker's phone to read "Mr. Kitten" every time he called someone.

2. Placed random objects from people's desks in the vending machine.

3. Placed a live goldfish in an IV bag in a clinic.

4. Snuck onto someone else's computer and sent out an "I love you" e-mail to the entire office.

5. Wall papered someone's entire cube with headshots of his co-workers.

6. Pulled the shelves out of the break room refrigerator, hid inside and jumped out at co-workers as they opened the door. (wouldn't that get cold?)

7. Sat on the copier and placed the copies back in the paper bin. Anytime co-workers made copies, they had the image of the prankster's backside in the background.

8. Turned all the clocks in the office one hour back to make the work day seem longer. (This might not be a bad idea for one of my co-workers who shows up 30 minutes to an hour late all the time anyway.)

9. Locked all the doors, shut off the lights and put a "Closed" sign in the window when the boss went out for lunch.

10. Placed fake rubber chocolates in the break room and watched as co-workers tried to chew them.

The part that makes it bitter-sweet is Time Change this weekend. I like the one in Spring because the days are longer, but I hate trying to adjust to getting up an hour earlier. I'm already exhausted, so this one is going to be even worse. I might have to go to bed at 8 p.m. Saturday night to make up for it. On the plus side, I will now be in sync with the bird who finds it necessary to start singing outside my window at 5:30 a.m.