There is a Very Good Reason for My Lack of Posting

I must apologize for not updating lately, but I have been Miss Cranky Pants lately and it wouldn’t make for conducive blogging. Here are the top 4 reasons I’ve been cranky…

#1 – Sick due to the current ragweed count. I just finished an allergy study today (which is part of the reason I’m sick due to lack of necessary preventative measures) so things should get better b/c I can start taking meds I know will work AND I’m $350 richer.

#2 – Major Burnout…I am in serious need of a job change (yes, I know I keep saying that, but nothing has panned out so far).

#3 – In serious need of some time off (I’ve finally found a way I can take the remainder of my vacation time, but I’m not scheduled for my first day off till the end of the month.)

#4 – Really tired of unsolicited advice/input from people lately on various circumstances that they know very little about. Trust me, if I want your advice, I’ll ask for it (and I don’t do that very often). Stop trying to fix something that ain’t broke, don't judge if you don't know the entire story, and don’t tell me to change something if you don’t have a PRACTICAL way for ME to do it. I would understand if I were doing something that might cause physical, emotional, or spiritual harm, but I'm not. Trust me, other than being annoyed, I'm good.

See, there is a reason why I haven’t posted in a while. =o)

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

The longer I live in my neighborhood, the more observations I make about the people that live in it.

There is the man that owns the maroon old lady car that used to sit in his driveway and now sits in the street across from his house. What is so weird about this is that 90% of the time, the hood is up. I never see him working on it, but the hood is always up. This has baffled me for a while and then this week, I had a thought. I bet something died in his engine and he’s trying to air it out. This happened to a friend of mine at the beginning of the summer and it’s the only logical explanation I can come up with.

Then there are my Asian neighbors (Chinese speaking but not from China). There are all kinds of funny stuff about them. They’re very nice, but run through the house all the time and the weirdest thing of all is that I often find them sitting on the curb reading the paper or something. Not sure why this is. Some might say it’s weird that they are always outside talking on the phone, but the truth is, cell reception in my neighborhood stinks. I always have to find strange places to talk on the phone.

THEN there is the couple who don’t actually live in my neighborhood, but live close by and I drive by them regularly. Their house backs up to the major street my neighborhood is off of. They appear to have a decent size yard, BUT for some reason, they have planted a vegetable garden on the other side of their fence (not in their actual yard). What is even stranger is that they have to walk half away around the block to get to it because their fence doesn’t have a gate and they’re house isn’t on the corner. This might be hard to follow without seeing it for yourself, but it really baffles me every time I drive past them.

Saga Continues

Now these people are just plain stupid.

And here is more on Tuesday's ordeal.

Excitement in my Home Town

What is this world coming too? Read this!

Blast From the Past

I was working on loading photos onto our SmugMug account at work today and ran across some pictures from my "College Days". There is on person on here a lot of you should recognize but probably don't (and it's not me!) Ah how time changes us all. ;o)

Bobby

Loving Shelleye & Jill's hair!

Shon, Mike, Darren & Ronny, Scott & Blake

This isn't actually from MY college days (shortly after) but I love this picture of Tyson.

Can you figure out who the guy is in the picture below?

Maybe this one will help.

Me, Jill & "A"

Jill, Denise, "A", Kelly, and I don't know who that person is w/ the "stylin" sun glasses is.

My Mom Rocks!

My mom called last night and she found a grocery store back home that carries Starburst Jelly Beans! She's sending me 3 bags. She may have just found a way to get me to come home more often!!! ;o)

Favorite Song Right Now

Casting Crowns - East To West
From the album The Altar And The Door

Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me

Jesus can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

Just how far, east is from the west
Just how far, one scarred hand to the other
You know just how far, just how far east is from west
Just how far, from one scarred hand to the other

Analyze This!

I’ve not really had time to post much lately, but I had this dream recently (either last week or the week before that…I don’t remember) and the dream is still sticking with me. I dreamed I was Ugly Betty and someone cut my feet off. And not in a hospital amputation kind of way, but in a hack saw no pain killer kind of way. And the whole dream was in a very flash back kind of way…where you see what happens and then you get snippets about how it all came about (which I couldn’t clearly tell you). But I can’t seem to get the fact that my feet were cut off out of my head. So all you Freud wannabes have at it!

Side note: How many times can one person use "kind of way" in on paragraph? Obviously at least 3...but I'm not changing it.

The Random Game

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

_________________________

1. I eat salad, but don’t like lettuce on my tacos, sandwiches or burgers. I will eat it in taco salad and occasional will eat it on a sub sandwhich…but only if I feel the need to be healthy. You should see the way waiters or waitresses look at me when I order a sandwich without lettuce and a side salad.

2. I like regular Reese’s cups, but not a fan of the mini ones. Also prefer orange Smarties, and white conversation hearts (the chalky kind). I will separate them out and eat them last.

3. Shirts in my closet are arranged as such…Winter shirts are kept separate from Summer shirts. Shirts are grouped by color and in order of shade (yellow, off-white, white, black, grey, dark blue, light blue, green, purple, pink, then red).

4. I’ve done the same thing as in #3 with my crayons/markers since I was a child. But those follow the color order of the rainbow (ROY G BIV) and by shade.

5. I’m terrified of Ferris Wheels. My knees get weak just looking at one.

6. I got a blood blister on my finger the other day by closing a re-sealable package of lunchmeat.

7. I almost got kicked out of kindergarten. The teacher didn’t think I was ready because I was always doing things my own way and not her way (well there was also the time I “colored” in a red headed classmates hair with a red crayon...like that was going to do any damage; and the time I crossed out the “-1” and drew a happy face on my paper). It took me till 6th Grade to figure out if I didn’t talk in class, I wouldn’t get in trouble.

8. I never saw any of the original Star Wars movies till last year and still have one more Indiana Jones movie to watch (don’t ask me which one…it’s the last one). I’m trying to remain a card carrying child of the 80’s.


Please don’t hate me, Luke started it! Suzy, Lindsy, Karen, Eric & Jeanie, Liz, Joy, and Krista…consider yourselves tagged!

Weekend Happenings

The lizard has not been seen since it’s original appearance. I am hoping it found it’s way out of my house…or at the very least out of my bedroom. I don’t know if this is true or not, but the roommate told me lizards are timid and it probably won’t come anywhere near me…awake or asleep. This tidbit of information is the only thing that is allowing me to get sleep at night (which I didn’t for 3 days.) If this is just a story she was telling me, please don’t tell me any differently.

The plus side is that this inspired me to clean my room…finally. I had Relay piles, I had camp piles, I had “I don’t know what to do with this” piles. The latter is still there, but the rest has been taken care of. I still need to clean off my desk, but I’m in no hurry to do that. Though, it’s amazing what I find when I clean off my desk.

Another area that needed some attention is my “to be shredded” pile. It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate that needs to be disposed of properly to avoid identity theft. What happened to the good old days when you could just throw away your junk mail and other stuff? Anyway, the “to be shredded” pile had gotten out of control and I really didn’t want to spend an entire day shredding stuff, so I got this BRIGHT idea. Since I was grilling dinner that night on my charcoal grill, I thought I would just go ahead and burn my bills instead of shredding them – thinking it would be faster. It might have been if I hadn’t put ALL of them in there at one time.

Before you say it, yes I know that it was probably illegal, but since I don’t personally know any fire fighters (sadly enough) I figure I’m safe telling this story. I was being VERY careful in my endeavor. I hosed down the yard, kept the hose on as I stood right by the grill. I even closed the lid on the grill at first to keep the ash from flying out (even though it was not windy). Closing the grill just made it smoke really bad. A few minutes into it, I started to hear fire trucks and feared that one of my neighbors called the fire department because they could smell the smoke. But when the fire department didn’t show up at my house, I figured I was safe.

Really, there was no major incident – but it was still smoking on Sunday afternoon and it didn’t cool off enough till last night for me to clean up the mess. I don’t recommend doing it, but I did manage to destroy all of my old bills and what not, so I guess I accomplished my mission.

Lizard - Day 2

Well, I never caught the lizard yesterday, so it is still somewhere loose in my house (hopefully not my bedroom...but chances are good it's still in there). There are definitely too many places for my newest, non-rent paying, resident to hide.

Last night I decided to bite the bullet and actually sleep in my bedroom. It took me for ever to get the courage to actually get in bed (after much investigation of my bed area). Needless to say, I didn't sleep much last night. I kept waking up thinking something was crawling on me. At around 2 a.m. when I awoke for about the 3rd or 4th time, there was a HUGE spider in the middle of my bedroom floor. I debated whether or not to sit and wait and see if the lizard would be baited by the spider, but then decided that could take hours and I didn't want that spider loose in my room too.

I have come up with a potential game plan to catch it, I just have to find something to bait it with that won't run loose in my home as well. I'll keep you posted.

Stow-Away

I ran home at lunch, went up to my bedroom and low and behold, there is a LIZARD in my bedroom! I will not be sleeping in that room until I catch it...then again it could move throughout the house. Anyone know how to catch a lizard? I don't want to kill it, but if I'm going to wake up to something on the pillow beside me in the morning, it WILL NOT be a lizard! I'll keep you posted.

Update: I was advised by our resident nature man to Google it. This wasn't much help...it was already my game plan!

Reflections on the Week:

Good Moments:
The book I had been waiting on from Amazon finally came in. Might just have to take it to camp.

Coupon came in the mail today for something I needed to buy before I left for camp.

Found a runner for my entry way on Pottery Barn clearance – very cheap. Just hope it’s the colors it appears to be. Not that I couldn’t sell it on eBay, but I really like this one, so I want it to be the right colors.

Murphy’s Law Moments:
Gas tank was on empty last night so I went to get gas. Since gas prices had been rising and it was predicted they would be $3.50 by next week, I opted to fill up completely then instead of waiting before I left town. Today, gas prices were down 10 cents!

Inevitably it will start pouring down rain the second I get ready to go outside and stop as soon as I am in some sort of shelter (office, car, or home)

Ugh! Moment:
My brakes have squealed ever since I got them replaced a couple of years ago. Recently it had gotten worse. Monday, I had them worked on…new pads. Tuesday, still squealing (though not as bad). Wednesday they worked on them again…replaced the pads (under warranty), turned rotors, and oiled “stuff”. Today, still squealing. After $200, I’m just going to learn to deal with the squeal (ooh, that rhymed).

“Are You Kidding Me?” Moment:
Followed a girl in a car on my way to the post office yesterday that seemed to be quite “impressed” with herself. She had her rear-view mirror turned in such a way that she could always see herself. No baby in the back seat. Not trying to put on make-up while she was driving (thankfully). Mirror didn’t seem to be broken. She did though appear to take every opportunity to admire herself in the mirror. Vain much? It made me laugh.

What Goes Around Comes Around

I got the results back on my MRI and everything looked “relatively normal,” so the doctor thinks it’s probably stress. But that’s not exactly what this post is about. The following are some excerpts from and email exchange with a friend today. For reasons not important, I decided it would be kind of funny to try to catch this person off guard. It sort of came back to bite me in the butt…in a funny way. Names have been omitted to protect the "not so innocent."

Me: I got the results back from my MRI. I have a tumor in my frontal lobe. Not really, and this probably would have been funnier if I could see your face. Actually, everything is fine.

Friend: Did they find anything in your frontal lobe??? =o)

Me: Well, they told me everything looked normal, so obviously they didn’t read it well enough. =o) Then again, the chiropractor told me it looked “relatively normal.” His account might be more accurate. =o) My “news” didn’t faze you at all, did it?

Friend: Well, I saw the “not really” part below the first sentence when I was reading it, so when I got to that part I already knew you were going to say “not really.” Other wise, I would have freaked out. I promise.

I forgot to tell you about [roommate] almost killing me. The ceiling in the kitchen has been leaking every time it rains. I have been to the maintenance people about it three different times already. They are getting tired of me. Anyhow, the kitchen floor was all wet yesterday morning when I got up. Why [roommate] didn’t dry it up, I don’t know. [Roommate] was in there ironing his pants. He keeps setting up the ironing board wrong and it falls down when he is ironing. I went in there to make some toast and while I was standing there putting some peanut butter on it, the ironing board fell down again. The iron landed in the water on the floor and shocked the you-know-what out of me. I let out an involuntary yelp that was kind of embarrassing while I was jumping up in the air. Every time I landed I got shocked again. Eventually I got up on the cabinet and saved myself. It was quite an experience. If you believe any of this story, you need to get a second opinion on that frontal lobe! =o)

I totally bought his story. I’m not talking to this person anymore (even if I did deserve it just a little)! =o)

In Search Of

I mentioned a while back that Hot Tamales are my new chocolate now that I have to watch my cholesterol intake. Well, I have sense found a problem with this new found addiction and it’s not weight gain. Seems if you eat too many Hot Tamales in one sitting or in one day, the ingredient that makes them hot, causes a negative side affect in the “mouthal” region. At first I couldn’t figure out why my lips were sore (especially since I hadn’t been doing anything “fun”) and I had what seemed to be cold sores in the creases of both sides of my mouth. I found myself doing a process of elimination…only to discover it was the Hot Tamales.

This doesn’t mean that I have to cut them out of my diet completely, but I did decide that I needed something new to snack on. Sweet Pickles were coming in a close second, but I knew too many of those would not be a good thing. So after much pondering, I decided that Starburst Jelly Beans would be a good replacement. Only problem…couldn’t find them anywhere anymore.

So today I got online to see if they still make Starburst Jelly Beans, and they do. Their website even had this great little Product Locator. I put in my zip code and would you know that no where within an 75 mile radius of my zip code carries Starburst Jelly Beans. I even tried putting in my mom’s zip code…no such luck. So, now I’m in search of Starburst Jelly Beans. Then again, do I really want to feed an addiction that requires so much effort? Hmmm…

It's Pretty Much Confirmed

I haven't gotten the results of today's MRI of my head yet, but I think it is safe to say that they won't be finding a thing. Twice as people were leaving work and said "good-bye" I responded with "hello". Hmmm...

My Vacation

Of course, after you read this, you’re going to think I have a warped way of “vacationing,” but when you don’t have much money, you got to do the best with what you got.

My First MRI
On Thursday, I went to the doctor because of some pains I had been having in my arms, shoulder blades and chest. Considering the blood pressure issues I had earlier, I thought it would be wise to FINALLY have this checked out (it’s had been going on for weeks). She said it wasn’t my heart, but thought that I had a pinched or damaged nerve in my neck, so she scheduled me for my first MRI ever! I’ve heard horror stories and was given some advice from previous MRI survivors. Much to my relief, it wasn’t the tube kind, but the open kind. This is where I have to tell on myself. The place was called Edmond Open MRI. This should have clued me in to the type of MRI machine they used, but I just thought that meant that anyone could come in to get an MRI. I didn’t clue in till last night when Suzy said “oh, so you had an open MRI.” I’m a little slow sometimes. As for results, well they didn’t find anything in the neck, so I get to go back in and have another one done of my head (and yes, I’ve already been told by several people that they won’t find anything.)

Painting Project
It has been a few months since I’ve taken on any major home improvement projects. On Friday/Saturday, I finally finished painting the downstairs hallway. I started the paneling last fall, and finally got to the walls. I even painted the door (thanks goes out to the roommate for prompting me to paint the door red.) Actually, this project isn’t completely done because I didn’t have anyway to paint the entire stairwell, so that will have to wait till I can hire someone to come finish it (hopefully by the end of the year). I have this great mirror I plan to hang on the wall, but I didn’t know how heavy it was and I needed to get drywall support screws that would handle the weight (since of course the studs don’t line up where I need them to.) I hope to have that hung this week. There is still some touch up work that needs to be done, but the major part is over. All I have left downstairs is to tile the hallway, kitchen, guest bath and laundry room (sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t). I also want to paint the downstairs bathroom eventually, but I don’t want to move the toilet twice, so that will get done when the tiling does (whenever that is).

White Tops
I spent some of my time off shopping for a white top to go with a pair of shorts that I bought. If I had paid close enough attention to the style of the shorts, I probably would have just returned them, but I didn’t and washed them…hence the need for the RIGHT shirt to go with them. My thought was that a baby doll top that was longer would probably work, but all the tops I bought made me look pregnant. I know the argument – those tops make most women look pregnant – but something about me seems to scream “soccer mom” (we’ll get to that in a minute) and people are always asking me how many children I have, so I would just prefer not to add to that line of questioning. Anyway, after buying (and returning) three different tops, I ended up settling on a combination that was totally unexpected, but works (and doesn’t make me look like I have a “bun in the oven”).

Haircut
So I got my hair cut again on Thursday. I liked the lady that cut it, but not thrilled about the cut. I don’t know why 1) almost every hair stylist I’ve gone to in the last two years insists on cutting my top layers too short and 2) cut my hair in such a way that I look like a soccer mom (I told you we’d get back to this discussion). It’s not bad really, just hard to style. I keep trying to find pictures of cuts I like, but everything is so weird or so ancient looking. I constantly see people that have cute hair, but I can’t seem to end up with that on my head. Maybe I just need a camera phone and start taking pictures of people I see on the street. Hopefully they won’t think I’m some stalker.

So, that was my vacation. I only got to sleep in twice, but I guess that’s better than not at all.

Laugh-ables for the Day

This morning, when I was getting out of my car, it was raining so hard that I was trying to get my umbrella open. Somehow in the process, I dropped my breakfast in a puddle. It was only toast, but still, it was my breakfast.

A woman came into our office this afternoon looking for help. When Wanda asked her how she could help her, the woman started crying and said she was lost. At first, Wanda thought she meant spiritually lost…they lady was only trying to find Quail Springs Mall.

Value of the Complaint Letter

For those of you who know me WELL, this is not going to surprise you one bit.

A while back, I purchased an edge roller at Lowe’s from Sure-Line to paint around the base boards and ceiling in Kim’s room. The concept was great. It had this edge on it that was supposed to help you paint clean edges (supposedly no tape needed). I started to use it and 1) I had to press so hard to get the roller pad to make contact with the wall that it caused my hand to cramp quickly and 2) the pressure needed was causing the guide to cut into the wall.

The booklet said if you weren’t satisfied, to return it to the company, and eventually I did. I sent them a very polite letter telling them that though the concept was great, the design itself was not. I explained my problems, enclosed a copy of my receipt, and mailed it back last Friday.

Today when I checked my mail, there was a package from them in my mailbox. My first thought was “great, they sent it back.” But I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package. Inside was an edge painting kit, a replacement roller pad for a regular size paint roller, a 3 pack of Rubbermaid paint brushes (nice ones), and a letter apologizing for my unpleasant experience explaining there was defect with the product I had and that they would be sending me a check to cover the purchase price, taxes, and shipping charges. So I would like to give props to the Sure-Line company for their more than fair handling of my complaint.

I have to say, I’m finding lately that writing polite complaint letters to companies with products that do not live up to standard is not a bad thing. First of all it makes them aware that improvements need to be made, and they usually compensate you for your trouble. I also sent a letter to Neutrogena regarding a product of theirs that I was not pleased with suggesting they make some changes. They sent me a check refunding my money and thanked me for my suggestions.

So the next time you purchase a bad product…don’t assume its money lost. Contact the company and they might just make it worth your while.

Mmmmm!

I have one real weakness when it comes to men…a man that smells good. I guys attractiveness level goes up considerably in my book if he smells good. I don’t know what man was just outside my office (I promise you not one that is normally here because none of them ever smell like anything), but who ever he was, he smelled GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD!!! Gotta find me that man!!! (Actually, I kind of suspect it’s the one here to fix the fire detector…which coincidentally, went off this morning at work and stupid me told the fire department not to come!) =o)

Unbelievable

Actually there are two “unbelievable” events this week. The first on is that I wore new white pants to work and church on Wednesday and didn’t get a thing on them. That is unheard of for me!

The second I still can’t believe happened…yet I can. I was at Ulta on my lunch hour buying shampoo. An older woman (70’s probably) was looking for hairspray. She find a bottle, reads it for a bit and then I kid you not…proceeded to spray it on her hair (and me thank you very much!) She then sits the bottle down and picks up the one BEHIND it and puts it in her basket! Yes, that’s correct…she didn’t even buy the one she used!!! And employee was stocking shelves when all of this was taking place and she looked as stunned as I did. About a minute later I see the employee talking to a manager about what just happened and the manager seemed to be somewhat stunned too (though I doubt this is the first time she’s seen someone do that). They didn’t appear to confront the woman, which is probably store policy. But seriously…she shouldn’t have been testing it out in the first place, but the least she could have done is taken the one she tested from!

Dating

Yeah, don't get excited...I'm not announcing anything.

I found this article on a link that Vicki sent me. I think there is some good information here, but it goes both ways. Not that I have ever been the type to ask a guy out, but I have gotten this speech during a break up. And to her comment "But you don't honor him (her) by using affirming language that conveys a message different than what you actually mean" I say "Amen". I will spare you my feelings on the "it's not you, it's me" speech.

The Food War

I had opted not to post this, but in light of many of the posts I have read today, I changed my mind.

Today, it's all about trans fats. I have had to start watching my cholesterol intake, which also means watching my saturated fat and trans fat intake. Here is what I have learned thus far...

- You have to read ALL the nutrition facts. They have ways of sneaking things in.

- There is both good and bad cholesterol. You might have known this, I kind of think I did, but never paid much attention till now. The trick is figuring out what has what.

- Trans fat and Partially Hydrogenated Oils are basically the same thing. Just because your label says "No Trans fats" keep reading. If there Partially Hydrogenated Oils are listed in the ingredients list, you're getting trans fats...it just means there is less than 0.5 grams in it. But if you eat enough items thinking you're not eating Trans fats, it will add up and then you defeated your purpose.

- Trans fats are BAD!

- KFC's "No Trans fat Chicken" still isn't good for you.

- Having to constantly think about what you're eating takes the fun out of eating.

- Hot Tamales have no fat and no cholesterol. They've become my new chocolate!

- I don't like skim milk. I was a 1% drinker and liked it, so I didn't think the switch would be that big of a deal. I can't drink it. It works on cereal though.

We Need to Have a Chat

My man Grant and I need to have a chat because this is not going to do...


He's about to get demoted from his Random "Celebrity" Crush status. (There is a post about this somewhere, but I don't feel like looking for it to link to it. You can search if you're curious enough).

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day. Saturday afternoon would be fine. Relay for Life is this weekend and the forecast is questionable. I REALLY need it to stop raining today and not start again till after the event wraps up on Saturday. We have a back up plan…but I don’t want to use it. I’ve put a lot of work into the way things are this year and I REALLY want to change things. I mean, seriously. We’ve had plenty of rain. Everyone agrees they would like a rain-free weekend, so I don’t feel that my request is selfish. So if everyone would just pray for no rain for a few days, I would really appreciate it.

Not One of My “Brighter” Weekends

I do some dumb stuff sometimes. Mainly because I just get it too big of a hurry and don’t take time to think things completely through. This weekend I had three of those moments (normally they don’t happen so frequently).

First…I needed to go to the bank Saturday morning. It was a busy morning and I was trying to get a lot done. As the teller was sending my receipts back, I got a phone call so I took the receipts out of the tub and left (still on the phone and trying to quickly not be one of those people who annoy me…the ones who talk on the phone while driving.) I get about a mile from the bank when I look at my passenger seat and realize that I drove off with the bank tube. I starting laughing because I felt like such a moron. I turn around, go back to the bank and opt to go inside instead of wait in line again. I’m laughing the entire way into the bank lobby (which was FULL of people). I looked at the teller, she holds out her hand to take the tube, I tell her “I’m such a moron” and she tells me “that’s okay, lots of people do it.” But her face said “you are a moron!” She probably wanted to tell me that, but it probably wasn’t worth the trouble she might get into.

Second…I decided Saturday that my bang were getting too long and I didn’t want to take the time to go get them cut since I’m trying to grow my hair out a little since it was cut too short the last time. It’s just bangs, so I could do it myself. Now, those who know me WELL are probably thinking I cut them too short again. Oh no, wrong you are. I didn’t cut them too short at all. I did though cut myself. I cut right into my hand. I have a nice little “V” shaped cut below my middle finger. It still hurts.

Finally…Sunday morning I was in a hurry to leave for church and had a ton of things going on in my head because of everything that I had going on Sunday afternoon/evening. I grabbed some earrings, put them in and left. Sunday night when I was getting ready for bed, I looked in the mirror and realized I had two different earrings in all day. Both approximately the same size and both required the same kind of posts, but very different earrings. Luckily my hair disguised it most of the day because to my knowledge, no one noticed.

There is a ton of dumber (dumber?) stuff I could have done, but these were the things that made me stop and think…man I’m an idiot.

Lizard People

Last night I didn’t sleep too well. I kept having dreams that I was being chased by Lizard People. They were trying to turn me into one of them. The only way I could hide was to hide under beds (they didn’t seem to be smart enough to look under there.) At one point they caught me and were going to try to turn me into one of them by cutting a small hole in my arm, but I out smarted them and showed them the scar where I had a mole removed and told them they had already gotten to me (I just hadn’t morphed yet).

I kept waking up thinking if I laid there long enough and went back to sleep, I would dream something new…but no luck. Just more Lizard People. I was so tired when I got up this morning from a night full of interrupted sleep. And no, I did not eat anything weird and haven’t watched anything that would inspire this dream.

One friend said he’d pay to see the movie and a co-worker found this after my telling him about my dream last night.

I Need Something New to Post

Nothing that has been going on lately is worth writing about. Here have been the highlights:

1) Visit from my cousin and her kids. A lot of fun for me, boring to read about for anyone who doesn't know them. An audio recording of them talking would be entertaining. Very hick. I'll have to work on that.

2) I need new genes. My blood pressure went up all of a sudden two weeks ago, so I'm temporarily on blood pressure meds to get it back down. The doctor thinks a lot of it is stress but ran labs. I got them back last week and my cholesterol is high. It's quite frustrating b/c 95% of what they suggest I do to lower it I already do b/c of my family history. I was hoping I would have a few more years before this would be an issue. Guess I'm going to have to be stricter about it than I've been.

3) I hate buying clothes. This used to be something I loved, but it's just getting more and more frustrating for several reasons A) very limited financial resources; B) can't find pants that fit b/c I'm built weird; and C) can't find skirts that aren't either too short, that fit, or that don't look like hideous on me. Shopping for clothes is just overall frustrating. So for those of you that question my fashion sense lately...get used to it because I've given up.

4) I planted flowers recently and something is trying to dig them up and has killed over half. The same thing happened last year. I tried sprinkling "Critter Rid" but I think I was a little too late...the damage had been done. I've planted these flowers before when I lived in the condo and they were so easy to take care of, but ever since I moved into my house, something keeps killing them. With all the things living out behind my house, it could be anything.

5) Relay for Life is only about 2 1/2 weeks away. Funny how it sneaks up on you. I'm just praying it doesn't rain. We're suppose to have a back up plan (though I'm having difficulty getting that confirmed at the moment), but I don't want to go to the back up plan. Things have actually been going fairly smooth on my end, which has me nervous that it's about to all blow up. Things would go a lot smoother if people would return my phone calls/emails...of course, it might not be them. For some reason this year, UCO keeps marking me as Spam and so I never know if they're aren't getting my message or just ignoring me.

So, that's it for the day (likely for the rest of the week.) Have a good one!

Just Wondering

What does a girl have to do to go to the bathroom around here? I had to go to three different parts of the building before I could find one that wasn't "closed." Sheesh! =o)

Seriously...

If you're going to talk badly about someone via instant messenger, make sure you're not sending it to the person you're talking about. Yes, it's happened again, and the same person. You would think she'd learn.

Add "Electrician" to the List

Cheryl, if you’re reading this…I’m still alive.

Last night, I decided to play electrician. It all started when I went to clean all the paint off of my hands before church last night. I walked into my bathroom and the lights wouldn’t come on. You could tell they would get brief momentary electricity, but nothing permanent. Because I have been trying to get so many other things done in my house, the bedroom has been neglected, so I didn’t want to call anyone for help. This has happened before in another room in the house and I watched Jay fix it, so I decided I could do this myself.

I went to Lowe’s, bought a new switch and cover, went home and proceeded to replace it myself (and yes, I turned off the power in the bathroom). I was doing okay until it came time to take the wires out of the existing switch. I couldn’t get them out and couldn’t figure out how…so once again I made a call and it was Roger to the rescue (at least over the phone). I was going about it the right way, I just needed to put a little more UMPH into it. Of course the old switch was nothing like the new one, but we got that figured out too. Thirty minutes later, I had light!

I’ve been wanting (in some cases “needing”) to replace all the switches and outlets in the house. Now I have the confidence I need to do it (that could be dangerous).

The Fun Never Ends

A comment from Tams made me realize I need to write an update to the dryer and the painting.

First the dryer…

I guess the fact that I was brave enough to attempt to take the dryer apart counts for something, but I wasn’t too successful. First I managed to get the top off with a little bit of effort. Getting the front off proved to be a little more difficult. There were these two sets of wires plugged into each other and I had to unplug them before I could remove the front panel. They were not made to unplug easily. This would count for the first phone call for help. Eventually, I figured out how to get them apart and got the front panel off without incident.

Now comes the fun part. I had to figure out exactly what I had to oil. Hence the second and third phone calls for help. I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to motors, so I wasn’t sure what the shaft was. After doing some entertaining descriptions of what I was looking at, my brother managed to help me figure out what to oil (even gave me some helpful tips to make sure I didn’t get any oil in the motor.)

I then proceeded to put the front cover back on. Problem was, I didn’t pay close enough attention to how the drum fit around the door, so I made the fifth phone call for help to my Uncle Roger. Though quite mechanical, he had never taken a dryer apart before, so he wasn’t sure how the drum was supposed to attach either. I decided to do what looked logical and put the dryer back together and turned it on. The squeak was gone, but there were now two new sounds that sounded worse than the squeak! This resulted in call for help number six. I held the phone up to the dryer so that Roger could hear it. Thankfully, he offered to come over later in the week and look at it.

On Thursday when Roger came over, I began to take the dryer apart (showing off my VAST new knowledge). I took the first screw out, laid it in the cabinet above the dryer and then proceeded to take the next screw out. Not sure how, but some how I dropped it and it went down the lint trap (to which Mgam & Randy both later suggested I turn it upside down and shake it. Thanks guys.) I looked at Roger and said, “I did NOT just do that.” To which he replied (laughing), “yes, you did.”

So we got the rest of the dryer apart. The belt had slipped out of place when I was putting it back together. Roger fixed that and we also discovered that I had put the cover back on wrong…but it did take two of us to get it back on correctly – so I didn’t feel to bad about that.

So far, the dryer seems to be working – even though I’m a little paranoid about every noise I hear now, not knowing if it’s normal or not.

Now the painting…

This really didn’t go too badly. It was a fun bonding experience with the new roommate.
We got it done pretty quickly (probably would have gotten done faster if we hadn’t spent so much time talking). At first the color looked really good. It was supposed to be a warm yellow color…something neutral. By Monday night when the paint had a chance to dry good, it became evident that what is on the wall does not look like the sample or what is on top of the can. Part of the problem is you can still see shadows of the blue that was underneath (despite to layers of Kilz). The color now looks more like a flesh tone crayon than what I desired it to be. It definitely needs another coat, but there really isn’t time to do that before the new roommate moves in, so it will be fine for now (with furniture, you won’t even be able to tell). I’ll probably try a different color when I try painting it again.

For now, I’m just focused on getting the woodwork painted white in that room (half way there) and getting the cabinet doors and the door to the laundry room painted and put back up (also half way there). I feel like all I do is paint right now and I REALLY need to clean up my room. Maybe this weekend. =o)

Oh, and by the way, the edge paint roller from Shure Line is a big waste of money. Way too frustrating!

Strange Day

I am having the weirdest day so far. To start out with, my clock on my computer is on warp speed. It is currently 1:54 p.m., my clock says its 3:38. It is basically adding a minute about every 20-30 seconds. VERY bizarre, but my theory is when my clock says 5:00, I get to go home!

Then I ran home at lunch and when I got ready to leave, there was fire truck blocking my driveway! In my world, that’s better than winning a million dollars on Deal or No Deal (well maybe tie)! I’m not exactly sure why they were there, and they were just getting ready to leave when I opened my garage door. Not sure what was going on, but there was also a paramedic and a police car (oh, and a Channel 5 news truck). No one seemed to be in a hurry to leave, so I think it was a false alarm.

And if it couldn’t get any weirder, I’ve been on the phone off and on all day with Jayna who is a procrastinator and needed my assistance with her taxes =o)

I have a feeling there is still more strangeness to come before the day is over.

My Kind of Humor

I got this in an email today from a friend. You have to take time to do it. I'm even giving you a short cut to Google to help you out...

Follow these directions exactly:

--Go to Google.com

--Click on Maps.

--Click on get Directions.

--From New York, New York

--To Paris, France.

--And read line # 23.

Me vs. Power Roller (And I Think It Won)

Sometimes you just can’t win! This weekend I had all these things I needed to get done at home and only partially accomplished one of them. This coming weekend, the new roommate and I are supposed to get together and re-paint her room. This was going to require putting Kilz on the walls to cover up the previous color. So on Saturday, I pulled out the power roller and started priming.

The process started out well, but two walls into it the paint started dripping terribly which slowed down the process considerably. Three-Fourths of the way through, I stopped getting any primer on the roller and since the can was now considerably light, I decided it was time to purchase another can of Kilz. So I cleaned up, changed clothes, and went to Lowe’s (my home away from home). When I got home, I was tired and sore, so decided to put off finishing till the next day.

Sunday afternoon, the last thing I wanted to do was finish, but I knew I needed to. So after a brief nap, I put on my painting clothes and got ready to start working again. When I went and pushed the button on the power roller, it wouldn’t work. Since it runs on batteries, I figured they were dead (this was the 2nd room I had painted since I put the batteries in). I put the roller back in the Ziploc bag (to keep it from drying out), changed clothes, and ran to Walgreen’s to get some batteries.

When I got home 15 minutes later, I heard this strange noise. I ran upstairs and the power roller had started working on its own and the bag was full of primer (at least it wasn’t all over the carpet.) So I took a break to call my mom and whine (and cry a little because I’m just sick of everything that has been going on), and took the roller apart and cleaned it up a little so that I could actually use it.

I would like to say this is where our story ends, but it doesn’t. Once I finished with the big stuff (I still have trim work to do), I took the power roller downstairs to clean it up (this is the down side to the power roller…the clean up). This didn’t go as planned either. First, some part came loose and started dripping water from the base. So I fixed that, but I couldn’t get it to work properly after that. I finally decided to forget it and opted to throw away the attachment hose and just buy a replacement hose the next time I go to use it. This meant that the clean up process was a lot more difficult and took longer than normal.

I learned today from someone who is a lot more experienced with repainting over darker colors that I’m going to have to do yet another coat of primer if I don’t want the new color to come out with a blue tint. Yeah! I think I’m going to be taking off on Thursday just to get some stuff (including this) done at home.

Stay tuned for our next episode when I try to repair my dryer myself…

Just Info

Annoyed

First and foremost, I am SOOO annoyed right now with the girl that cut my hair. I wanted some of the length taken off, but still long enough that I could pull most of it up. I can barely pull any of it back. I guess it’s not bad and it will grow, but I really didn’t want it this short and with as humid as it is today, it looks…well, not good.

Frankly what it came down to was that she was in too big of a hurry to get started and really didn’t take that time to listen to what I wanted. By time she took her first snip with the scissors, I knew I needed to start preparing myself for a shorter than desired hair cut. At first I just thought it was because it was a change and it wasn’t as short as I thought it was. By time I did it myself on Saturday, I realized it WAS as short as I thought it was.

I have decided that has been my frustration with hair stylists since Leslie (the lady that cut my hair for about 10 years) left. None of them listen. I’ve done okay if I just want a trim, but if I want any change what so ever, I never get what I went it wanting and then 1) spend the next few months trying to get it to grow FASTER and 2) dreading getting it cut again for fear of what I will come home with. It would be so much better if they would cut less and then cut more if I want it shorter than to cut it too short. That was the funny thing this stylist said when she was done “do you want me to cut it shorter?” Uh, no.


Home Improvement Update

Yesterday I took the day off work (because I had to work most of the weekend) and put up the base boards in my living room. I still need to put up the quarter round around the fireplace and one other location (I would have done it yesterday, but changed my mind about what I wanted to do and didn’t have enough stuff to complete the job and didn’t want to spend any more money till I get paid again). I also have a little quandary about what do with both entry ways. I bought a riser to put between the living room and dining room, but I haven’t decided how to attach it. The ideal way would be pretty permanent and since I still plan on putting tile in there and the riser was pretty expensive, I don’t want to have to purchase another one later on. I also have the same problem with the entry way into the living room. It will require purchasing two risers and splicing them together and I don’t want to spend the money at this point. I’m thinking about just getting a long carpet runner and putting that in the entry way to cover up the space between the laminate and the carpet till I have the money to purchase the tile. Decisions, decisions!

I also had my first major home improvement physical injury yesterday. No, I didn’t cut anything off with a saw (though the land lord for the place next door came walking around the corner of my house and scared me to death as I was using the miter saw). I actually injured myself with a hammer. I was nailing the base board to the wall in an awkward corner and I guess my middle finger got in the way and I hit it hard. Really hard. So hard I split my finger open on the side. I debated about whether or not I should go get stitches (especially since it was gushing blood), but didn’t want to get there and find out that stitches wouldn’t do much good and be out the co-pay. So I cleaned it really good and have been keeping a band aid on it tightly. I’d take a picture, but it’s pretty gross and it is my middle finger, so I’ll spare you. Can I say it’s hard to type or wash your hair with a band aid on the tip of your finger.

Can I Just Say...

I hate shoes that fart! If you've ever owned a pair, you know what I'm talking about. We have a volunteer receptionist that is up there in years that "passes gas" when she walks and the shoes I'm wearing today make me feel like her. The easy answer would be to stop wearing the shoes, but the are really comfortable. That's really all I have this topic.

Lost

I have always had a pretty good sense of direction. I don’t get lost too easily – and when I do, I usually find my way back pretty quick. Not last night.

I was a Bible study at a friend’s house who lives in The Village. As I was leaving his house, I made the mistake of checking my voicemail on my phone. Instead of turning around in his driveway and going back the way I came, I opted to just go around the block. BIG mistake. I was so distracted by the message on my voicemail that I wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was going. I spent the next 15-20 minutes trying to get out of The Village.

Since it was dark and cloudy, I had no idea what direction I was going. I think I went past the same school at least three times. All I needed to do was find May Avenue or Hefner Road and I was golden. Could not find either of them to save my life. I was starting to panic that I might spend the rest of the night trapped in The Village. I couldn’t even find my way back from where I had been to try and back track. I would find streets that I would recognize as having direct access to one of those major streets, but I guess since I was turned around, I was going the wrong direction because I would end up no where.

Finally, I saw several cars pass by up ahead and decided to head that direction. It appeared to be a multi-lane road, so that was a good thing. Sure enough, I found myself on Hefner Road, FAAAARRR from where I started, but that was okay because I knew how to get to where I needed to go from there.

After last night’s experience, I’m thinking that at the very least, I need to invest in a compass!

Hmmm...

I have to take an iron suppliment and recently ran out and had to go get a new bottle. I noticed this morning on the box a banner with the following statement "New easy to carry bottle." I'm confused. 1) I can't really tell there is any difference in the bottle than in the ones I have purchased in the past; 2) it's a bottle of 40 caplets...it's never been a big bottle (easily fits in my purse); 3) their not heavy in the least. What in the world ever made the bottle hard to carry? I could understand if it said "new easy to open bottle" but "easy to carry?" I think I might have to mail this one to Jay Leno because I don't get it.

Happy Birthday, Zaine

My favorite little man turned 1 yesterday. I guess he had cake three times over the weekend and has come to be quite a fan of cake. I do have a bone to pick with whoever it was that bought him a John Deer! Green...YUCK! =o)

Why is it...

Why is it when you taste something bad that you thought would taste good, you still keep going back and tasting it, some how thinking it will get better. Or maybe I’m the only one that does that.

Today I ran by Sonic and ordered a peach ice tea. I had debated the Sonic run thinking that I would just get a Diet Coke out of the machine at work, but I really needed to break a $20 and Peach Ice Tea just sounded good. And I’ve ordered Peach Tea from Sonic in the past and always liked it – but today, it is just down right NASTY (by the way, I’m starting to realize that “nasty” is the word of the week – I’ve used it a lot in several different contexts.) I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly was wrong with it and I’ve come to this conclusion…they used 10 times the legal limit of artificial sweetener. I’m not opposed to artificial sweetener (as earlier noted, I am a diet soda drinker), but this is way too much. It’s like dumping 10 packets of NutraSweet or Sweet & Low directly into your mouth. Such a disappointment when I was so looking forward to this beverage. But I still keep taking a sip of it, thinking that it will somehow get better. That maybe the ice will melt and balance out the artificial sweetness. Blaahack!

Watch Out Extreme Make-Over (Okay, So Maybe Not)

Okay, I've added another "skill" to my repertoire. This weekend I FINALLY replaced the floor in my living room. We started at 2 p.m. Friday and finished around 3 p.m. Sunday. Of course we did take time to sleep and occasionally eat...but not much. We worked HARD. I have not been that tired in a long time. I didn't do too bad. I'm sure a professional could have done it better, but my mistakes will be easy to hide. I managed to only smash my finger 3 times (but it was 3 times in a row). I didn't cut any fingers off, and I only made one major boo boo cutting, but it wasn't significant. And it took EXACTLY 16 boxes with very little waste at the end. I still need to get the baseboards up and do some trim work before it's completely finished. I don't see myself quitting my day job anytime soon to do this for a living. I'm glad I did it because I feel a great deal of accomplishment, BUT it was so much work that it will be a while before I'll want to take on another task like that. Next major project (minus painting) will be tile...but it will be a long while before that happens.

Anyway, the pictures are the "before," "during," and "ALMOST after."

It's Time to GO!!!

I'm doing something this year I've never done before...I'm following American Idol from beginning to end (man, I bet you were expecting something more prophetic than that, weren't you?)

I think there are some good contenders this year. Several I would like to do well, but at this point, I really want Melinda Doolittle to do well. I think I just love how timid she was from the very beginning and how humble she still is and I love watching her start to realize that she is GOOD!!! But this isn't what this post is about.

The real issue today is Antonella Barba. She has GOT TO GO!!! I was kind of rooting for her in the beginning because she seemed to be in the shadow of her very obnoxious best friend and I wanted to see her make it and her watch her friend get a dose of reality. But really. The girl isn't that good. She's "high school talent show" good, but not American Idol good. Last week I was mad to see that she didn't get sent home. She sounded awful. And I think the judges were too because they kept saying "this is a singing competition."

There are a lot of reasons why she probably hasn't been voted off...but it's not because she can sing. She's had her 15 minutes, she has enough scandal surrounding her to give her a ticket into the Paris Hilton crowd...so give it to her because that's where she's going to end up eventually anyway. Fame for who you are and not because of what you do annoys me.

So that's it. Just had to share my opinion with people who probably don't care. But that's fine. It's my blog. =0)

Sleeping Booty

Every heard of Sleeping Booty? She was hurt by the MEEEAN Queen, but the prince came and woke her up. Hear I always thought Sleeping Booty was what happened when I sat too long, but according to a co-worker’s daughter, she was a princess.

I Don't Think So!!!

I got an email from one of those cutesy home decor places today and normally I delete it, but they had these metal garden daisy's that I thought would be fun for my flower bed. As I was searching their site, I found this item. HELLO! I am not buying anything to put in my yard that welcomes racoons. I had a hard enough time getting them to leave. I don't want to give them the idea that they have an open invitation to return!!!

Thought for the Day

I took a CPR “Friends and Family” course this morning. Basically it teaches you the CPR without the testing (so you’re not certified). It also teaches you how to use a defibrillator (AED). Anyway, this thought crossed my mind today during my training…why do I always find myself getting lip action from dummies? That’s it. Have a nice day.

Fried Chicken

One of my favorite foods is friend chicken – but I never was a big fan of the way my mom fixed it (it was okay, just not my favorite). Last week I found a recipe in the Willams-Sonoma catalogue I got in the mail, so I decided to give it a try. Knowing this might not turn out as well as I hoped, I only bought 4 chicken thighs (decided to keep it as cheap as possible). I must say, the process went really well until I got to the deep frying part. I was having trouble keeping the oil at the right temperature. The first piece was BLACK because the oil was too hot and cooked the outside much faster than the inside. The second piece was okay, but still a little over done and that was also the case with pieces three and four. I’m thinking unless I get a Fry Daddy or something, KFC might have market on fried chicken in my household. PLUS my house smells awful. I cannot get rid of the smell. It might have to be a spring-time, open the house up, kind of meal. =o)

P.S. This is the way mine was supposed to look...it didn't!!!

Laugh for the Day

This cartoon cracked (no pun intended) me up for some odd reason. Enjoy!

Love is in the Air

At least if you’re three it is. There was some serious flirting going on in my Bible class yesterday. The most obvious was Chase and Meg. They kept going off by themselves in the classroom, holding hands, whispering in each other’s ear. My favorite was when I heard Chase say “I like your dress. It’s very pretty.” It was too cute (too bad they grow out of that by time they’re actually old enough to date.) Oh to be three and in love again. Of course, when I was three, the only boys in my bible class were my cousins (though I was convinced I would marry Aaron someday.). Kindergarten expanded my horizons considerably.

Creepy

This is somewhat creepy, but when the wind blows outside, the rafters in our building (like most buildings) creak a lot. Thing is, its louder in my office than anywhere for some reason. It’s kind of creepy sometimes because it sounds like the ceiling is going to fall in on top of me, but I’ve gotten used to it and don’t usually notice it. But today, Andy was in my office and was really thrown by it. Because he noticed it, I’m noticing it more today and it’s making me nervous.

Though I don’t really remember it happening, I’m told that as a child, twice I had near misses with the ceiling falling in on me. It was the house my parents bought when I was little. The first time, it happened in my bedroom – right before my mom took me in to lay me down for my nap. The second time it was my parent’s bedroom just a few days later. I had just been in there (and they thought I still was) when it happened. You know how there are those people who just randomly have the same accident numerous times in their lives (like being struck by lightning). I hope ceilings crashing in isn’t the “random accident” attracted to me.

Final Thoughts for the Week

It's Friday (thank goodness) and here are are my two biggest epiphanies for the end of week:

First, if it weren't for Anna Nicole Smith, Entertainment Tonight would have absolutely nothing to run on their show. For weeks (if not months) they have done nothing but talk about all the scandal following the death of her son, the birth of her daughter, and now the death of her. The did an interview with her recently and they have gotten more mileage out of that interview. For someone who respectively did nothing of value with her life, she sure is getting a lot media coverage.

Second, men are pigs. I know this isn't news to many of you, but I was reminded of this fact in a major way twice this week. First incident was the guy from Quill Office Supply who came to try to get us to start using their company. The entire time I was explaining why we could not use their company, he kept staring at my chest. He's look me in the eye for a few seconds at a time and that was it. I wanted to tell him "seriously dude, there's nothing there." I was starting to get paranoid that there was something on my shirt...there wasn't. Second incident was today in the Arby's drive-thru. The man in front of me kept staring at me through his mirror. At first I just thought it looked that way, then I thought maybe it was someone I know (it wasn't), then he started doing the Joey from "Friends" head nod how you doing thing. I might have been flattered if it wasn't for the wedding ring. Plllleeeaaassseee!

So, that's all I have this fine Friday afternoon. Seven more minutes and I get to go HOME!

Really?

I’ve always been taught it is wrong to stereotype people, yet it’s been happening to me a lot lately. Recently some comments have been made to me that just make me shake my head. Here are just a few examples…

The other day, one of the guys I work with was helping me take something out to my car. My lock on my trunk has been having issues and he was making fun of the fact that I had to pop the trunk from the inside of the car. I told him it really just needed some graphite, but I just hadn’t had time to take care of it. His comment... “I didn’t know girls knew what graphite was and what to do with it.” He genuinely looked surprised.

This last weekend when I had people over to my house for dinner, some of the guys saw my flooring sitting in a corner of the dining room and asked who was going to install it. I told them I was and you would have thought I dropped some sort of bomb shell. I told them I put up my own chair rail, the flooring couldn’t be any more difficult. One of the guys had to get up and go inspect my chair rail like he somehow doubted I did it (he was impressed by the way). Figuring out how to take the safety pin out of the miter saw was the hardest part (That was pretty funny!)

Then Monday, I was carrying a big container into the office and our office manager made some comment about my ability to carry it. It really wasn’t THAT heavy and I didn’t feel like waiting around for someone else to do it for me. And the women in my office are just as bad. All freaked out that Jamie and I were moving directory boxes by ourselves (there was no one else around to do it).

So here is my response to such comments (and I actually told the guy who made the “graphite” comment this). I am a single female, who has lived on her own for the last twelve years, now owns a house, who doesn’t have a dad to call on for such repairs, and all male relatives live too far away for day to day assistance. If I don’t do it myself, it probably won’t get done. But even I know my limitations and will call on assistance when necessary. But I have to say, you can learn a lot from the Internet. Do-it-Yourself.com has become my best friend.

This is by no means one of those women’s lib, who-needs-a-man, type posts. I just got a crash course in “you're on your own if you want things done” several years ago and frankly, it’s been liberating. It gives you a great sense of accomplishment to sit back and realize you’ve accomplished something you never thought you could. I highly recommend everyone (male and female) give it a try. Start small and work your way up. The key is to read the directions (hard for some men – and even me more often than I should admit), and take your time.

Now get out there and do something productive!!!!

My Sentiments Exactly!

I could not have said this better myself. Go here and read this article. I'm not bitter about the holiday, I just have issue with a holiday that has the tendency (in one way or another) to make people feel rejected. Why should you wait for a particular day to show someone how much you care or feel pressured into celebrating sentiments that may not exist yet (if at all).

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today, I have been at my current job for nine years. Amazing since I only planned to be here for 6 months. Oh well. As many know, I have been looking to make a career change for quite a while, but I’m starting to reconsider that. I found out yesterday that according to our policy book, when you’ve been here for 10 years, you get 3 weeks vacation instead of 2!!! That might be worth holding out for (then again a job that paid enough that I could do something fun with the two weeks I already have would be better.) I might have to save up and take a two week vacation somewhere to celebrate my 10 years. Since my 10 years is during the winter months, a tropical island might be fun. Okay, I better stop there. I’m just going to get my hopes up.

The Good Ol' Days

It's a little embarrassing to admit that I used to work here. The concept was good, but the minds behind it even eventually admitted that the building of Enterprise Square was more of a PR move and not much thought was given to renovations. When I started working there as a tour guide, it was in it's 11th year and already out of date. One of the displays mentioned "and one day people might even have computers in their homes." By this point, laptops had been on the market for a while. It's really sad actually that they were unable to keep up with the changing technology because I did actually learn something practical while working there.

As for this website, I have to admit, I find it humorous. BUT the copyright they have on the pictures is bogus. They did not take these pictures. Not exactly sure how they got their hands on them in the first place. The pictures were taken for a brochure we were producing and I was there helping the photographer the night we did the shoot. They did not take those pictures.

All in all, there were some fun times had at Enterprise Square (probably part of the reason why it closed).

I've Had Enough!

I’m tired of the cold weather.

Please bring me SPRING!!!

Seriously, I can’t take it anymore.

I Need an Intervention

I am starting to acknowledge that I have a problem. Possibly even an addiction, and if I'm not careful, it will become my demise. I seem to be developing an addiction to EBay...specifically and addiction to buying jeans on EBay.

It started when the seat ripped out of my favorite pair of jeans. Not wanting to pay full price for them in the store, I turned to EBay. In the last 3 weeks, I have bought 3 pairs of jeans. Two of them the same style as my favorite pair and one a very similar style. They all fit (the "similar style" is a little tight...but it's a feasible goal to fit into them before spring), BUT none of them as great as my favorite pair. And I haven't paid more than $18 for any one pair (got one pair for $9). Even as I speak...there is another pair up for auction, ending today, that I am so tempted to bid on, but I'm trying to fight the urge.

I wish I could say it's just jeans that I've bought lately. I also bought some prints for my bedroom (super cheap). But all of my "super great deals" are adding up. I have to stop the madness!!! But it's so addicting to find something for an awesome price, and then see how well you can out-smart the other bidders. I get excited just thinking about it.

I wonder if they offer an EBay Addiction support group at Celebrate Recovery?

Turning the Other Cheek

Sorry, this won't be an funny or entertaining post today - but instead a true confession. Don't like it, tough. It's my blog and I can be serious if I want to.

I’m having a hard time turning the other cheek lately. I’ve always been taught to treat others the way I wanted to be treated, so I often do things I really don’t want to do, just because it’s the “polite” thing to do. But I’m getting tired of having to be “polite” to people who treat me badly. I’m tired of doing things to “keep the peace” when I know that when these people are in my shoes, the same wouldn’t happen and my feelings wouldn’t even be considered. As much as I don’t WANT to do what is going to keep the peace right now, I also know that I probably will just because I’m wired that way. It's really annoying.

Mall Observations

Every smelled someone with BO so bad that it stays with you long after you have left their presence? Someone in the customer service line at Penny’s today had BO so bad that two hours later, I can still smell it. I would think it was me if I hadn’t started smelling it till I got there. I don’t know if it was the employee helping me or the woman next to me…but it was burn your nose like acid bad!!!

Speaking of the customer service guy, here is the most irritating experience so far today. I got some pillow shams for Christmas to go with the day bed cover my brother and sister-in-law got me for my spare room. When I opened one of the shams to iron it, I noticed it was coming apart, so I took it back to the store to return it. Would you believe that unless I had it delivered to the store, they were going to make me pay shipping AGAIN!?! It’s not like I changed my mind. The item was damaged. I think if anyone else had been helping me, I could have gotten around that, but it was very obvious by watching this man that he was really short tempered and I wasn’t going to get anywhere.

I did buy a dress today. I got an awesome deal…80% off by time it was all over. It was already 50% off plus I had and extra 30% store coupon. Jury is still out. I liked the dress from what I could tell in the dressing room, but dresses are hard for me to buy because it didn’t look quite right with my white legs and red and white socks. I’ll have to try it on as I would wear it out before I decide whether or not to keep it. I hope it works though…it has cuteness potential for spring.

Another mall observation. Have you ever seen a couple in the mall that just didn’t quite look like they went together? I noticed yet another one of those as I was walking through the mall. I see this guy and think “what in the world is he doing with her?” Of course I’m sure guys I’ve dated in the past have had the same thoughts directed at them. Can’t judge on appearances…but sometimes you still can’t help but wonder what attracted them to each other in the first place.

Look At Me, I'm an M&M

And I think my M&M has better hair than I do. You can be an M&M too by going here. Oh, by the way, her name is "The One, The Only Cupcake Supreme."

New Experience

Today I went in for an adjustment on my teeth (I can pronounce it, just can’t spell it). They went in and filed down my teeth so that they would hit more even. As the doctor explained it, it’s like filing down the leg of a table so that the table won’t wobble. He said that by filing down my teeth in spots, it would make my teeth hit more even when I close my mouth and would take the stress of the muscles of my jaw (the reason behind this whole thing in the first place.)

To look at me, you can’t tell a difference. But when I eat, I can REALLY tell a difference. After so many years of your life (chances are the last 29 of mine) you get used to chewing a certain way and then all of a sudden, it’s different. My teeth touch together differently. It’s probably normal for most of you, but for me it’s a whole new experience.

The procedure itself wasn’t bad. No Novocain necessary. The sound of the drill and the tastes of my own teeth weren’t pleasant though. It was more annoying than anything. Oh, and his assistant today had never done one of these procedures before, so that slowed things down since he kept having to show her what he needed next and explain to her what he needed her to do. I have to go back in 2 weeks for a follow-up appointment and may need to have a little bit more filed down then (but I hope not).

On another note, have you ever had one of those projects that needs to be done, but its so mind numbing, that you just can't tolerate doing it another second, so you find yourself putting it off and finding other things to do (like post on your blog) just to avoid doing it. I have one of those at the moment. There is no "deadline" but it does need to be done "soon". I think I'll have a hard time getting inspired till I have an actual due date.

Snow Days

Or shall I say “Ice Days”. At first I was loving that this unusual storm system brought us enough ice that I got over 1 ½ days off work and didn’t have to leave my house. But by yesterday, I had run out of supplies to finish any other projects around the house and was getting some serious cabin fever. The plus side to having to come in to work today was that I got out of the house. The down side is that I probably will not be able to get back into the garage till this melts off (which could be a while since my driveway doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. I have kitty litter for traction, but I’m not sure it’s going to do a lot of good. The driveway is so solid that our cars don’t even leave tracks. This is nuts.

So, while I was off, I accomplished the following:

-- Made pillow shams for bedroom (didn’t turn out half bad either)
-- Painted door frames in hallway and doors down stairs (this wasn’t the most productive since I painted the wrong side of one of the doors so the inside is white and the outside is brown instead of the other way around.)
-- Dusted and vacuumed the downstairs.
-- Finished taking down most of the red gingham stuff in my bedroom. The bulletin board is the only thing left and I’m putting that off because it’s going to be a pain in the butt.
-- Did some laundry.
-- Made porcupine meatballs (the hamburger was intended to be for the tacos I’m supposed to make Randy for helping pick up my new flooring…yes, I finally bought flooring for the living room, just haven’t been able to pick it up due to the weather.)
-- Cleaned my shower (I HATE cleaning the shower).
-- Balanced my checkbook.

The only thing that needs to be done that I haven’t done is shred the stuff in my shredder pile…but I haven’t been that bored yet – though need to get on the ball and do that soon. And if I get brave enough to make the drive, I need to go to Hobby Lobby to get trim for my other throw pillows and more Kilz so that I can paint the correct side of the door.

I am thinking about sledding down my driveway this evening…just to say I did. I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe I’ll use my recycle bin. Hmmm…

Update:
I got brave enough to make the drive and well…people are STUPID. That’s about all I have to say. And to the woman driving a brand new SUV…someone probably should have told you that driving a SUV doesn’t make you invincible on ice before you almost ended up in the Lions Fun Park Pond (no joke, she came seriously close).

A Day in the Life of Me

Actually, today’s post started Sunday. I was trying to have a productive Sunday afternoon – getting a head start on cleaning my house before I have a group from church over to my house this weekend. I was coming upstairs and miss-judged the turn a little bit and caught my toes on the corner of the wall. It hurt – but I didn’t think it was any big deal. Turns out to be a bigger deal than I thought. It’s still swollen, it’s turning black and blue, and still hurts some (though much easier to walk on today). This would be the same foot that I dropped the ice cream container on last fall. I don’t know for sure if it’s broken (I’m not paying to be told there is nothing they can do), but if it is, it’s the third toe I’ve broken on that foot (and the fourth time).

Yesterday at lunch, I ran to Hobby Lobby to get some fabric and took a walk down their 66% off isle where I found a large square frame just slightly larger (like ½ and inch) than what I needed to frame this picture I’ve had forever for my kitchen. Granted the frame was black and I needed it to be white, but for that price I would paint it! Well, the clearance price was mis-marked and so I actually was supposed to get the frame for less than what I paid for it. So when I get home, I go upstairs to check the size of the frame against my picture and call Hobby Lobby about the price difference. They told me to bring it back and they would credit the amount.

After I ate some lunch, I grabbed the frame to put it in my car so I could run to Hobby Lobby after work, went and checked the mail before I left and put the mail in the kitchen, and locked the door from the house to the garage. I went to get in my car and you guessed it…no keys! I thought I had put a spare one in the garage, but I guess I hadn’t because I couldn’t find it. I was so mad at myself.

I had to call someone at work to come get me and had to call my roommate who graciously brought me her key so I could get back into my house after work. I will now be making sure there is a spare key hidden somewhere in the garage.

I thought the story ended there…till last night. When I was home last night, I went to get something out of the deep freeze and found a bag of pine cones in the freezer. I guess I accidentally put them in there earlier when I was looking for something else. I’m sure you had to be there, but I had just about decided to commit myself at that point.

I’m Getting a Horse

I have been way too busy to post anything in a while, plus not much exciting has been going on, but I do have to vent about this.

In November, I paid off my car. My WONDERFUL friends (i.e. Suzy & Randy) sat there one night telling me all the things that would go wrong with my car once it was paid off. I’m not sure if they’re my friends anymore after today.

Reader’s Digest Version:

Last April, I spent over $600 having a new catalytic converter put in my car. A week and a half before Christmas my check engine light came on. I took it to the shop. They told me it was a catalytic code and to take it back to the shop that put in the catalytic converter (which they sent me to because they don’t do exhaust work).

So, I took my car into the other shop to have them look at it. They said that the catalytic converter was working properly and that even if it wasn’t they wouldn’t be able to warranty out the part. They also said they had never seen that code before, so they suggested turning the check engine light off and see if comes back on. I drove it for two weeks before it came back on again.

So yesterday, I took it back into the first shop. They still have it and cannot figure out what the problem is. They think I got a bad catalytic converter – which is bad since the other shop said they can’t warranty it out (which I think is a load of crap). The mechanic at the first shop offered to call the mechanic at the second shop to see what he can get them to do since it hasn’t even been a year – and frankly, I can’t afford to put another one in so soon (especially since it’s supposed to last up to 90,000 miles).

So at this point, I have no car. I’m relying on EVERYONE to take me everywhere (I can’t begin to tell you the number of rides I’ve had to bum and cars I’ve had to borrow. One of my co-workers did offer to loan me their extra “grandma” car if I needed it. I might have take them up on it.) Plus, I can’t even begin to afford a new car right now – especially since I’m having to have MORE work done on my jaw.

So, here is my solution…I’m getting a horse. I don’t have to pay for fuel – it can graze in my back yard. Plus, I can make money if I save the “fertilizer” and sell it. Even better, I just thought, I live next to stables. Hmmm…this is getting more and more feasible the more I think about it.