Same story, new tune

I Love My Job!

Yeah, yeah. I know you all are sooooo tired of hearing about this but I really do. Today was no exception. Actually, today was an exception because it was an exceptional day.

We had a VIP guest today and this one was awesome. In our organization there's always some skeptical feelings about bigwigs - are they snobby? do they actually care? will they listen? This guy broke all those thoughts.

Not only was he not snobby, but he was so down-to-earth it made the day phenomenal. He actually listened to the questions and concerns from my co-workers, asked pertinent questions of others he met, and made promises to look into issues we asked about. And if he's anything like he was the last trip, he'll have started working on those tonight and we'll start getting emails this week.

I got to hang out with his aide all day which was a lot of fun. It by no means was a perfect visit - plane problems, luggage problems, scheduling shifts (leading to a very late lunch - but so worth the time), and a sped up version of everything we had planned. But we took it all in stride and kept laughing our way through.

We really kept it clipping along. I had worked with the aide over the last week, setting up the meetings and tour, arranging and setting up lunch and attendees, and rolling with all the punches. Boss1 came in today after traveling all last week and everything was set up ready to go. We picked them up, headed to lunch, went on the tour, went to briefings and back to the airport - all in the space of 3-hours. It was great.

I have so many emotions right now, that I'm not sure how to state them all. Plus I'm not sure all that I can state - security issues and all. I got a thank you gift from the bigwig and I really want to show it here but I have to check if I can or not first. It's really awesome and I'll treasure it forever.

Sooooo let me just say - today was freaking awesome and proof once again why I totally love my job. Despite waking at 3:20 this morning, I'm still so ecstatic about today. So I'm going to have the Guinness that I had intended to drink yesterday and downshift. It's going to take a little bit though... *sigh* :)

Early morning

This is starting to get annoying. Last week I kept waking up at 3 or 3:30. I'd lie in bed trying to fall back asleep or at least nap until I had to get up. I'd end up falling dead asleep around 4:30 or 5 only to oversleep my alarm and be late for work.

This weekend I took advantage of not having any appointments, per se, and slept until I woke up. It was nice. I felt rested and ready to go for the day.

Well, this morning it happened again. I kind of knew it would happen because today I have a lot going on at work that I don't want to mess up, but because of that I really need my rest.

I woke up at 3:18. Finally about 10 minutes ago I said screw it and got up. Tossing and turning in bed isn't going to help. But now I'm yawning and could really use a nap, but I don't dare go back to bed now. Crap. I guess it's a chai and diet coke day.

List 17

Things I thought about today:

1. Napkins! - crap
2. Lemons
3. Cardstock paper
4. Running
5. Knitting
6. Cake
7. Cupcakes?
8. Ironing
9. Laundry
10. Dishes
11. Guinness! mmmm
    

Exciting life, no?

Let them eat cake!

It's not surprise to those who know and love me, and even a few of those who don't, that I'm not a big fan of cake. That is, of course, except for Angel Food Cake. I loves me some Angel Food Cake - with confetti candy sprinkles.

I only have AFC once or twice a year but my pan has got rusty throughout the years of use and the multiple moves where it stayed in a box for the last 8 years. So I bought a new one.

Charles & Marie had this cake mold on their site a few weeks ago. I've never tried a silicone pan of any kind but this one intrigued me. It came in the mail last week and today I attempted an AFC in it. It turned out surprisingly well - though I should have baked it a bit longer.

This pic is what my cake looked like coming out of the oven. I love that it's wider than a normal AFC pan. My favorite part is this part here - the crunchy part. Again, I should have baked it a bit longer but it turned out okay. And it only flowed over the middle section which wasn't too bad.

This is what the cake pan looks like. Don't you love that it's portioned out into different size slices? I love this concept! Plus, I don't have an electric knife so this helped a lot with my little serrated knife that I do have. You can see here how it kind of flowed over in the middle.

Here's what it looks like out of the pan. Now, here's the difference. The pan directions say to let it cool for 5 minutes before twisting the cake out. The AFC directions say to let it cool on a pop bottle until it's completely cooled. I'll have to play with this one a bit. I went with the pan option so we'll see how it settles. I don't think I could balance this on a pop bottle, but I could let it sit upside down longer. I don't know how that will play with the removal from the pan.

Anyway, it's still tasty. Yay, cake!

Guinness is Good

And today is a good day. Not only is it a Guinness Day, but the 5K was postponed until Saturday due to snow.

You have to love this state. Yesterday it was 36, sunny, a little wind, but clear skies and felt a little like spring was looming. Then today we have 2 inches of snow, it's still 34 degrees, but it's foggy and cold. As we say here, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." It's so true.

So because of this quirk of the state, I don't have to run today and I have a few days to prepare. YAY! I can also drink Guinness without feeling too guilty. It's a good day.

List 16

More of my favorite t-shirts. I really do love these. :) Again, no links, but feel free to type them in!

From superherodesigns.comFrom dietdetective.com "Stalker"

From dietdetective.com "Spicy"

From threadless.com "War and Peas"

Yes, I wear t-shirts a lot nowadays. I used to wear them on rare occasions because my main job required me to dress nice all the time and I worked 5-7 days a week. Now that my job has a uniform and is only 4 days a week, my nights and weekends consist of jeans and t-shirts. Truly a more comfortable method of living, if you ask me.

Remember the Sabbath

Maybe God rested on Saturday, not Sunday. And God started building the world on Sunday. Hmmm...At least in my world it feels that way. It seems my Saturday's are the days I do nothing. I sleep late, I read, I knit, I watch movies...but doing actual errands or work - nada.

Not that this is a bad thing. With the 3-day weekends I still have two days to complete my weekend tasks (as long as I don't stretch the Sabbath into a 2-day event) so vegging for one day is okay in my book. Though, I should have ran today. I really should have dragged my ass out to the trail and ran.

There's really only one reason for this - I'm running the St. Patty's 5K on Monday. The bad thing is that at last count there were less than a dozen signed up (they didn't open up registration until Thursday this week) and I'm feeling heavy and slow so I know I'll finish DAL. Not a good thing. The other bad thing is that I haven't been running much lately. I'm not afraid that I won't finish. I have enough determination and stubbornness to complete the run, I think I proved that with the marathon, but it won't be pretty. For that reason alone I wish it would be a packed crowd. But I suppose since it's an actual workday for most of the world that's why it's not as busy. We'll see.

So tomorrow I must run. It's Palm Sunday so I'll do the church thang, then head out for a good run. I have to pick up my packet with my bib and chip and maybe run some errands. And I have to prepare for our VIP visit that's coming faster than I would like.

Tomorrow should be a good day. After all, it's a brand new week.

List 15

Okay, here are a few of my favorite T-shirts which I wear all the time. I'm not putting links here, so if you're interested in these I encourage you to open a new tab and type these in. More tees to come. :)

From Despair.com

From Dooce.com

From shorthandpress.com

From Despair.com

From fussy.org

Sap

Do you have any movies that you watch when you just need a good cry?

Well, I'm a sap so I cry at most anything, whether a drama or a comedy. Tonight mom and I went to see P.S. I Love You. Holy crap...I'm totally adding this to my list of movies I must watch when I need a release.

Sarah had forewarned me and in hindsight I probably should have waited to watch it until I could buy it so I could make a fool of myself in private. But no, we sat in the middle of the theatre and I did my best to just let the tears roll instead of sobbing (at points) like I wanted to.

This was truly a movie for me to sob along with. I just wanted to let go. But I didn't. Have you ever done this? I get headaches when I hold back. And on top of it my head fills up and I have to downshift for at least an hour before I try to sleep it off or I'll not sleep well.

Anyway...I'm just rambling. It was such a good movie. And it probably didn't help that I'm exhausted and emotions running high with everything going on at work. But it's all good. Once I can settle my head I should sleep tonight.

List 14

126-150...

• I love math games, brain teasers, logic problems, Mensa and IQ tests. I don't always do well on them but I love the challenge.

• I taught beginning band and middle school band for one year. I loved the students! Hated the administration.

• When I was a teacher I had the only 5^th grade beginner playing bari sax in the state. He was awesome. (I know you shouldn't start a student on that, but he rocked the gym!)

• I hate being in debt – whether via money or favors or whatever.

• I hadn't subscribed to cable since 1998, until I was forced to because the town I now live has zero antennae quality.

• My TV is a 13 inch from 1993.

• My favorite Christmas was the year my oldest older brother bought dad a big box full of brown jersey gloves and I got dad a nose hair clipper.

• I used to line up all my gifts from Christmas and take a picture of them to keep.

• I love taking pictures, and finally bought a good SLR digital camera last summer.

• I like journals – those ones that are really pretty that you can buy at small funky stores – but I never buy them because if I bought them I’d have to write in them and that would ruin the prettiness of the journal itself.

• I have never smoked pot though I sometimes wish I would have before I joined the military just to try it.

• I used to smoke clove cigarettes – but only on rare occasions.

• I don’t like giving things up for Lent – though it is a time of sacrifice I feel people make too light of it, giving up only chocolate or swearing or whatever. So I just don't give up anything.

• I don’t like to pray out loud in public.

• I am training for another marathon. I'm insane.

• Maybe I’ll change my mind on the praying out loud in public when I’m running the marathon again. The last time it was all I could do to breathe since the humidity was so high.

• I used to want a real globe. I finally got one as my 3-year anniversary gift at LS.

• I like Salvador Dali's works.

• I also like Didier Lourenco.

• I want to take Biblical Hebrew again to learn it.

• I love popcorn. Of course every time I eat it I can't help but think of E's favorite SB saying, “No popcorn. Eat cheese!”

• I have Jonathan Adler sheets. :)

• I want to learn yoga.

• I often wish for the impossible.

• My favorite baseball team is the Cleveland Indians. It's not because of Major League.

I think I'll stop now.

List 13

I'm super tired today so you're getting the next installment of 100 things about me - it's been extended - the super deluxe director's cut version. Enjoy.

101-125...

• I once thought about becoming an architect after a drafting class in high school.

• I learned how to type when I was 8.

• I used to memorize the line we were testing on in my HS typing class (yes, I'm old enough to have actually taken a real typing class – with typewriters and everything!) and then I'd just focus on typing it.

• I still do typing tests for fun.

• I took Adv. Chem in high school with 2 other people. We made a hovercraft out of a board, canister vacuum/blower, plastic and duct tape (it’s the cure all!). And it worked.

• In college I started off on the wrong foot with the dean by insisting that I take Algebra&Trig versus College Algebra. (5 credit course vs. the 3 credit course – I got a B). He didn't want me to take it because I “didn't need the credits.” It didn't matter to him that I wanted to be challenged.

• I continued to buck the system by insisting on taking Philosophy and numerous history courses and working toward a drama minor. I was constantly told to not waste my time with the ‘extra’ courses as they wouldn’t help me when I was teaching string lessons at some small school in Michigan (a myth they continued to teach us).

• I dream in color and vividly.

• I love playing with a guy’s hair. I love it more when he plays with mine, esp. on the back of my neck.

• I love the smell of fresh grass, gasoline (not a lot of it), fresh snow, rain, popcorn, cookies baking, sawdust and sweat, smoke (cigar, fireplace, occ. even cigarette), clean skin, and other stuff.

• I’m a procrastinator. And indecisive – but only when it comes to my own stuff.

• I hate it when people won’t make decisions. (That includes occasionally hating myself.)

• I once dressed up as the Mirror from Snow White for Halloween. No one knew who I was.

• I have a hard time articulating aloud what I feel or what I want – I am much better on paper this way.

• This list was really hard to do until I decided not to stick to just the 100 items.

• I have been friends with Tre since the first day or so of college. She came to my room to get my number to figure out Gail’s number next door and ended up staying for 3 hours talking. Instant click. We have been close ever since.

• I love to kiss, even just for fun, though it is best with someone you care about. :)

• I love toy stores like this one.

• I like to go into expensive stores of distinction and pet the clothes. Feel me up clothes are my favorite.

• I have very dry skin and am often applying lotion or lip balm.

• I own hundreds of CD’s but a lot of my favorite music is still on cassette.

• My first introduction to Bill Cosby’s comedy was via 8-track.

• When I was very young, I traded my oldest older brother two 8-tracks for my blanket. When I tried to trade back I discovered he had thrown it away and it had all been a ploy for me to be rid of my blankie. I still own both 8-tracks (the aforementioned Bill Cosby and the original Broadway cast of Grease – Lord, help).

• I chew gum when I’m getting a massage because I hate having bad breath when I get up.

• I like to think I’m wise with my money but lately I’ve been feeling like I’m not.
  

Maybe tomorrow I'll be back to normal...sleep and running would help.

Sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away

I do love this weather. (Don't worry, Karen, I will still move to a rainy, dreary place with you - my favorite days are gray ones.) After months of cold, wind and more cold and wind, finally Mother Nature is being nice to us and giving us warm weather. In fact we even had a spring shower today! It actually smelled like spring!

But soon, MN will bring back the crappy cold because we're just not worthy of sun yet, apparently. Ah, it's okay. Soon it'll be here and life will be fine.

I don't really know what to write tonight. I've been having weird dreams, waking up in the morning and thinking that Quinton told me that the photo credit had to be 9.5 points so it could be seen and I was saying it's supposed to be 6 so that it's more attached to the photo than a stand alone. I shouldn't be dreaming about these things!

And then seeing that we had a huge photo faux pas in our recent issue (that's at print right now) and I'm pissed we missed it. UGH. We even had people proofing it other than the two of us putting it together and I just saw it today. Sheeit. That's all I'm going to say. We'll have to re-run the photo in the next issue which messes things up. I hate simple mistakes like that. Those are avoidable. But getting pressed for time and wanting to get it done just messed it up.

So despite the beautiful weather, I'm not entirely happy. I do get to have lunch with RA tomorrow which will be fun. And my car is washed and filled with fuel, so that's good. There are good things in the world. Focus on the good, right? Tomorrow is another day.

List 12

Continuing...76-100

• I am a baker (a GREAT one) :) – cookies, pies, bars, flat bread, krumkake, etc. I can cook to a point – but I have to follow a recipe, I can’t just fly by the seat of my pants though I'm working on that too.

• My hands are always cold. I can warm them up and in 5 minutes they’ll be cold again. In fact, there have been times where I've had gloves on and when I take them off my hands are cold and my fingers are bordering on white. So I also like to keep my hands in my pockets a lot.
  

• I sometimes try to put myself into the heads of others (not literally) and look at me and try to figure out how they see me. Maybe this stems from my paranoia of wanting people to like me and needing to know what they thought about me.

• It took me 10 years to finish a cross-stitching project.

• I long to find my passion.

• Brisk, fall days that are slightly gray are my favorite.

• I love thunderstorms.

• I collect quotes.

• I order like Sally. “I’d like the BBQ burger but with no bun and I’d like the sauce on the side. I’d like a side salad without croutons, onions or olives and I’d like the dressing on the side.” On the side is very important to me.

• I feel self-conscious when I eat in front of other people and no one else is eating – especially if I’m eating crunchy food like lettuce or chips or celery.

• I hate it when people are eating and talking on the phone with me – or even drinking water. Ugh.

• I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled at once. I got Novocain and the gas – they had to wake me up to pull my teeth.

• My favorite ice cream is Baskin Robbin’s Daiquiri Ice.

• The most I ever weighed was 170 pounds. It scared me.

• The lowest my adult weight ever was, was 136. I long for those days. *sigh*
  

• I love the power I feel when I run, even when I’m tripping over my feet or out of breath – there is a power in my body that is just phenomenal.

• If she were alive, I would stand in line for as long as it took to get tickets to hear Ella Fitzgerald sing.

• I would love to be the next Ella.

• I love warm sheets, but a cool pillow case.

• I have to be on my back to fall asleep, but wake up sprawled all over the bed, often doing the scissor cut with my legs.

• I love my bed.

• I love to flirt.

• If I would have been born a boy my name would have been Christopher Paul.

• I once picked out the names for my future children and my sister used both for her kids. So now I don't know what I'll do.

• I had a huge crush on the elementary principal in my hometown when I was in high school. Keep in mind he was only 28.

Well...I'm at 100 but I still have more to go. I may continue and bore you some more. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

List 11

...continuing...50-75 (I messed up yesterday by only going through 49)

• I’m addicted to Friends and CSI and Prison Break.

• I love watching and re-watching movies.

• Unless challenged, I prefer to drink everything cold with a straw. Seriously. Sometimes even warm things – like soup.

• I hate having my dinner paid for by someone else. Either I need to pay or we all go Dutch. I’m weird, I know, but I feel really weird about people, especially my friends, buying me food. (I’m working on this.)

• I love Halloween and Christmas – my two favorite decorating holidays.

• I hate celebrating my birthday in public – i.e. public displays of celebration. Small private celebrations are okay, but I can even do without those. But then again, if you read this blog you already know that.
  

• I hate when people challenge my hatred of it. Just let it go, people. This is my issue, not yours and you’re pissing me off by asking about it.

• To aid in aging, I actually celebrate turning the next year of age on New Year’s instead of on the actual date. It makes the transition over the next four months go smoothly and if I’m lucky I actually get to kiss a boy on my ‘birthday’ (this has really only worked a couple times).

• I celebrated my actual 22^nd by shooting an M-16 for the first time. I have also shot a .38; a .45; and a .44 Magnum (it shoots through schools).

• I know all the lines to the movie which has the line “It shoots through schools” in it.

• I prefer to celebrate my baptismal day – May 11, 1975.

• I love organization, I just can’t seem to get it done.

• I like being outdoors, I just don’t have a big desire to sleep outdoors (i.e. camping). Not that I can't, I'd have to be properly motivated and with someone I really cared about to do it. :)
  

• I save all my change, except quarters (laundry money!). Then I cash it in at the end of the year, either for a trip or to help buy Christmas presents.

• I love buying and giving presents. Did I mention that yet?

• I am a Harry Potter fan, and not afraid to admit it.

• I played the clarinet in my youth and miss it now. I also miss playing the flute and I'd actually like to take that up again to get better.

• I took 5 years of piano and quit so I could be the student manager of the HS girls basketball team. I was told I would regret it. I thought they were kidding, until I went to college and majored in music. Then I regretted quitting more than ever.

• I thrive on stress, but I hate being stressed.

• I bite my fingernails, but I’m trying to quit.

• I paint my toenails – light blue or light purple.

• I wore white cotton underwear until I went to seminary. Then I went to colors, but still cotton.

• I hate mushrooms.

• I’m not a fan of slimey food either – so raw fish = icky. Though I'm working on that too.

• I just tried sushi for the first time ever most recently. It was okay; it's growing on me. I survived which was key and edamame helped me through.

• I love taking hot bubble-baths or long hot showers.

to be continued...again...

Ah, sweet necter of the gods

Have you ever given anything up (like maybe for Lent?) and then when you reintroduced it back into your life it was just as good, if not better, than the first time?

That was my feeling today. I haven't been really running or focused on running and training for awhile (much to my detriment since the Brookings Marathon is 59 days away and probably too close to really train for anymore but we'll see how I do). "Today it's creeping into the 40s and I can't not go run at lunch," I thought to myself. So I planned accordingly. I needed to open the windows in my apartment (need.fresh.air!) so I drove to my apartment, opened the windows, changed to run and went out for a short one.

But before that...yes, before that moment I prepped as I used to last year.

I drank Accelerade.

*sigh*

Now, I know I'm weird to get all excited about a sports performance drink, especially one that some say is chalky and others gritty (I've never really found that to be true). But this drink took me back to last summer where I'd down this before heading out to run. I'd be shaking it up in prep for my lunch run and Larry would laugh and call me Lance as I headed out. It was also what I had in my fuel belt during the marathon and truly the only reason I made it to the end. The orange taste got me excited to go run, even though I was going alone (this not having a running buddy anymore really sucks), and adding the sweet fresh air of spring was invigorating. And what's even better, is I got to follow it up with fruit punch Endurox. Much needed since my muscles were sore from not having run much lately.

*sigh* again

It's crazy the little things that can take you back. And of all things - orange Accelerade. Maybe I'm the one who's crazy.

And maybe, just maybe I can push myself hard enough to make the Brookings marathon. I hope so. It's one I want to run, but I'm a little nervous.

Sometimes people don't really listen

The always fabulous Bethany wrote about birthdays today. She reminds me so much of me. I, too, hate surprise birthday parties - or any surprise party in general. I like to plan for others. I like to celebrate others but maybe it's my lack of self-esteem or something that makes me cringe when the spotlight comes on me.

Well, I thought maybe this year I would change that. A few of my friends have spent time in Europe - two of them in Denmark where if you wanted a birthday party you threw it yourself, with invitations, asking or not asking for presents, etc. I've always liked this concept. Then the party is what I would want, not what others think I would want.

So I (stupidly) told my sister that I was thinking of having a b-day party for me this year - since it's my double golden birthday and my golden year. But, in looking at my calendar, my birthday falls on a Thursday and the weekend following I have to work. So I thought about doing it Sunday after work, but the local theatre is showing an encore of the Met Opera production of La Boheme that afternoon. So I emailed my sister and told her that I decided not to have a party and to just forget it and to not even mention it because I didn't want mom to feel like she was obligated.

Well, my mistake was in trying to set up another family day (since I seem to be the family planner) and I thought it would be prudent to do it on the weekend where my BIL, Mom and SIL all have their b-days (seriously, they are all in a row). My sister decides to bring it up on Friday and in front of our mom says over and over that I'm the one who wants the party. Uh, no. I decided not to. I just thought it would be good if we all got together since otherwise it seems that we go months without seeing each other and that's not why I moved back here. I could have stayed in the cities if we're going to stick with that plan.

So now I'm on to damage control. I need to resend the email and see if we can get together for Easter instead and skip the whole b-day thing. And then not answer my phone or emails on my actual natal day.

I love my sister, but I really wish she would have just kept quiet. I hate making a big deal over my birthday but if it has to be done then I want it done on my terms. Maybe I'll just ditch and disappear for awhile.

List 10

100 things about me continued...
26-49.

• I like to send people flowers for no reason.

• That said, I wish people would send me flowers sometimes. Just not super smelly ones. They give me a headache.

• I like pink roses and white daisies but am happy to receive anything – except super smelly ones.

• In college my friend Tre and I had a secret code to describe people. This code drove people nuts, especially when we’d say, “Oh Tim, you’re such a 3!” with no explanation as to what a 3 meant. But we knew. Ah yes, we knew. With this code there was ONE, and only ever will be ONE, 14.

• I think this makes us arithmomaniacs.

• I don’t like eating ribs because they make my hands get icky. I’m generally not a fan of messy eating.

• BUT I will eat wingy, only because it makes me think of fond memories with K&E, aka ellipsis boy.

• And I love edamame! (also thanks to K&E)
  

• In college, Tre and I once faked a MAJOR fight in front of our friends. Many thought we were drunk. In fact, we were both completely sober, staged the whole thing, then feigned innocence and blamed our friend's drunkenness that they would think such a stupid thing.

• The first and only time I got pass-out, throw-up drunk was Dec. 3, 1994. I did it matching shots with Dan after eating my famous meatloaf for supper at Ernie’s and Bean’s. That was an interesting night. I also made it to 4 that night...but that's another story.

• My father died when I was 19. I still miss him.

• I have been a member of the Air National Guard since 1996. I am now a Master Sgt.

• I love driving on long car trips. As long as I have Ella in the car, and other music, I can drive forever.

• I am way too romantic. I want to be wooed.

• My sister is very dear to me but for many years we barely spoke. In fact, at one point I thought she hated me. We’re finally at a stage where we can hang out and not annoy one another. I'm sure it's an age difference thing, and I'm glad we've gotten beyond that.

• I’m a pack rat in so many ways. I hate to throw away my old papers, books, gifts. I have boxes in my storage I haven’t opened since I moved. I don’t even know what is in some of them. (I also have empty boxes in my storage that I save just in case.) I save many, many more emails than I would need to. I have them filed in folders in my email accounts.

• I used to have at least 7 email accounts I checked each day, 5 for work. Now, I have only 4. I'm getting better, no?

• Once I felt an instant connection with a man, a connection like you see in the movies. It would have been great…but he was already involved with someone. I wonder if I’ll ever feel that way again.

• Sometimes I feel like I have no depth, that I am just a shallow person with no life outside of work.

• I long for more responsibility yet I fear it at the same time.

• I fear failure.

• I have a fear of falling. Not heights…falling.

• My drink of choice: Captain Morgan and Diet Coke with Splenda.

• I have a strong faith in God, am baptized and practice ELCA Lutheran, but I love the traditions of some other denominations.

to be continued...

List 9

This is something I've never done. Bloggers seem to have the standard "100 things about me" post. Well, I've been working on my for about three years and I have more than 100 items right now. I decided that I'm going to post a few at a time here (for my lists) and then you all can really see what a freak I am...I know some of you are really wanting to know.

These will be in no particular order, just random thoughts I had as I wrote them down. Here are 1-25:

1. I’m a natural redhead – well auburn at least, though people swear it is just brown. The bright red hair of my youth has finally faded out and I’ve never dyed my hair.
2. When I was in kindergarten my mother made me get perm (my first of many perm disasters). I seriously had a fro. They called me Annie. I hated it. It didn't help when the movie came out either.
3. I love strawberries.
4. I collect Trixie Belden books – like Nancy Drew, but better.
5. I also have the Great Brain series – if you’ve never heard of it, look it up. It’s great.
6. I read magazines backwards. I actually start at the end of the magazine and work my way forward. I then dog-ear the pages of articles I want to reread until I’ve gotten all the way to the front. Then I start all over. (No wonder it takes me forever to read them!)
7. Pistachios are evil, but I love them.
8. I own a Mini Cooper. His name is Morty.
9. I reread books because I love the storylines and because I tend to read too quickly and I miss parts of the plot line – and rather go back and try to find it the first time around, I finish the book so I know what happens and then read it again.
10. Every year at Christmas I read “It” by Stephen King – not the whimpy paperback but the big ass hard cover I’ve had since, well, forever.
11. I have never read Kirkegaard or Bonhoffer, though I’m told I should.
12. I had never heard of #11 until I went to LS.
13. I began knitting when I was 26, I think, and have been doing it since. Yet, I still can only do basic knitting – purl, knit, maybe a yarn over, or a knit together, but that’s it.
14. I wear a green army-like bracelet my brother made me with parachute rope when he was on leave from Kuwait. I’ve had it on for almost 5 years and won’t take it off until this Iraq thing is done or until it falls off, whichever comes first.
15. I have a spinning ring with my name in Arabic I bought when I was in Turkey. I would have preferred it to be in Hebrew but they didn’t know what Hebrew was.
16. To truly wake up and be alert in the morning, I must shower.
17. I think I’m a workaholic.
18. I have 3 adorable nieces.
19. I have 5 fabulous nephews.
20. Patterns weird me out – for example: my sister married someone 2 years younger; my oldest brother married someone 2 years older; my younger older brother married someone 6 years younger…does this mean I’ll marry someone 6 years older? Or since he married someone 1 year younger than me will my husband be 1 year younger or older than him?
21. Cats make me sneeze and my eyes itch (if I touch my eye) but I still love to cuddle and pet one.
22. I would rather have a puppy I could cuddle with, it’s just too bad they are so high maintenance
23. If I ever have a cat or dog I will refuse to talk to it in a baby voice.
24. I have successfully kept a plant alive for 3 years (I have a black thumb and usually kill them). I'm surprised it still is alive. I'm waiting for it to die.
25. I know all the lines to “My Blue Heaven.

To be continued...

Weeeeeeeee

I'm not usually a WE TV watcher, but yesterday they had some good movies playing so I kind of got sucked in (as I usually do on Saturday's with TV and movies). Throughout the day they kept showing ads for High School Confidential. This show looks really interesting to me.

I was talking with a co-worker the other day and we got on the topic of how different things are for kids these days. He helps with some high school kids at church and the things they are dealing with - gangs, drugs, stress, etc. - are nothing like what we had to deal with when we grew up.

The biggest thing I can remember is drinking and sex – and that wasn't my issue because I wasn't popular enough to have it as a problem. But other girls in mine and surrounding classes really had this as a problem. In fact one (who later became our Homecoming Queen, but that's another rant all together) found out she was pregnant winter of her sophomore year, intentionally got extremely drunk one night trying to get rid of the baby and in the end had the child who has so many health and mental challenges it was sad. This was maybe the most traumatic thing I had to deal with (I was fairly shelthered, though I did know a lot of death).

I hope people watch this show to get a little insight into the HS world of young women these days. I'm sure I'll learn something. The show premiere's tomorrow (Monday) at 9 p.m. CDT.

List 8

Some of my favorite quotes from the movie Working Girl:

1) Whaddya need speech class for, ya talk fine! (pronounced foine)

2) It needs some bows or somethin'.

3) Six thousand dollars? It's not even leather! (pronounced "letha")

4) Valium...in the convenient economy size.

Of course those are all Cyn's lines but they are just perfect. I know it's cheesy but I really do like this movie. Joan Cusack is awesome, Harrison Ford is freakin' attractive, and although Melanie Griffith is somewhat annoying her ability to take charge of her life and step forward makes me feel all giddy.

The other line is Tess' "If you want to be taken seriously, you need serious hair." Maybe that's my problem. I'm 32 with a 12-yr-old's hair cut. I want bangs but I don't want to have to pull the back and pin them every day. I thought about short bangs but all that comes to my head is Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I don't know. That's not bad...think I could pull it off?

Or should I go for something completely shorter everywhere...not like the famous Halle Berry cut (though I did love that and wish I could do that - but my hair doesn't have natural curl - do you know how many times I was told that?).. but maybe something like Jennifer Aniston's when she had shorter lengthed hair?

Yes, I'm back on the "I need new hair" kick. I hate paying for it but I may just have to. This make-shift bun for work and pony-tails or a pathetic braid are getting old.

PIF and T-shirts

Okay, folks. Today I finally put one of my PIFs in a box and I just need to put an address on it to mail. AND I finally put the t-shirts from the contest in boxes to mail too. Again, I need to put addresses on them. I'm hoping to get this done this weekend and mail Monday. I'm so sorry to the winners. I suck.

For the PIFs I only have one done. Because I hate making everyone wait, I'm going to draw a name from the winners and I'll send them out as I finish them. So someone will get one this week; another will get one soon (hopefully before the end of March); and the other two may have to wait a little longer - I do have until November but I promise I won't make you wait that long.

I'm sorry I've been making everyone wait. I feel like a heel. Hopefully the items will make up for my patheticness.

List 7

There will be no list today. Here's why:

1) I don't have to.
2) The point of NaBloPoMo was to write every day, the list thing was just a way to keep us going.
3) I don't really have a list to write.
4) I don't have time to try to come up with a list.
5) And #5...wait a minute. Dammit. never mind. List 7 is complete.

I'm a little sad today

My job is still great, but my lunch plans got canceled (hopefully just postponed) with a good friend I haven't seen in a long time. So my afternoon drug on because I was disappointed we hadn't met up. So I left early. Why not start the long depressing weekend early, I thought to myself. Besides, it's Friday and that means I don't get to go back to work (legitimately) until Tuesday. sheesh.

I do get to see my niece and nephew tonight. That'll be fun! It's spring concert time and my niece has hers tonight.

And last night, mom and I went to a local college and saw "The Complete History of America (abridged)". It's an awesome play and the college kids did a good job. When we had gone to London we saw the first play by these writers, "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)" which was phenomenal. Of course we got to see the actual writers play the roles so it added a lot more to it.

So I should go get ready to hear 1st graders sing their hearts out. Uffda. Of course the next concert will involve recorders. I have to work my way up to those. :)

List 6

List of ideas for list ideas for NaBloPoMo List month

1) favorite tee shirts
2) favorite music
3) roles played in theatrical performances
4) latest typing test scores (I'm a geek. I do these nightly.)
5) the steps for finishing my puzzle (provided I finish the puzzle)
6) favorites in general
7) types of cheese in my refrigerator
8) poster/painting names from my wall
9) people who have influenced me in life
10) any random meme I may come across or get sent.

Any requests? Or suggestions? I'm open to suggestions!

My job is awesome

My funny thought at the end of the day when I noticed it was three minutes to quitting time.

"Oh shit, I actually have to go home today, don't I?"

Yeah, this was my actual thought (well, to be honest - I did say it out loud and neither of my bosses were anywhere near my office.)

My day was awesome. I got a bunch of work done this morning, got only mildly irritated with one person and it's now become this big joke - which still continues and occasionally starts to grate again, but then I laugh it off because it's so ridiculous that the situation is even an issue that I have to laugh, and then started planning a VIP visit.

I'm really stoked about the latter. I get to use my so-called event planning skills to put together this visit. It's been a lot of fun. I'm delegating and trying to figure out the schedule. It's been fun. But the end of the day came way too quickly.

Last night I stayed until 7:15 or 7:30 (It all blends together after 6) cleaning out my emails. I didn't finish but I made a helluva dent, deleting over 500. Today I cleaned up another 200. I have a ways to go, especially since I'm a pack rat and save everything AND I'm just not sure what I'm allowed to lose and what I have to keep via regulations. But I'm feeling less...well, full.

So yes, my job is awesome. My tummy hurts from laughing so hard this afternoon. I'm excited to go back tomorrow. My only sadness is that tomorrow is Friday and I'll have another three days before I can go back (legitimately).

Feeling like Linda Richman

I'm all verklempt! I just got asked the greatest honor ever! YAY! I'm so excited, and teary, and excited again.

I get to be a Godmother to a sure-to-be awesome child.

So until I get to claim the Godmother-like status I'm just going to be Linda without all the gaudiness. :)

List 5

K called and said the law is ... crap ... what was it again? Entrapping me, I think she said. My book list is too long, she thought and I think she's right so I'm going to trim it. I don't think I can just pick three so I'm going to pick 4. That's somewhat better.

1) The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training, by Dawn Dais. This one should be number 2 on this list...actually number 1 because I'm so behind on my marathon training. I just haven't been in the mood to run at all. what is wrong with me?

2) How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O Clifton PhD. I've been skimming this again with an idea in progress for work. No more details yet...still working those out. Not sure if it's worth the effort but I think it'd be nice.

3) Dreams of My Father, by Barack Obama. I borrowed this from JB eons ago. Must read!

4) The Alto Wore Tweed, by Mark Schweizer.

The good thing is that the even numbers are short and easy to read. The odd ones are a little longer but I think they'll be very good.

This does make me feel better...less of a list to deal with. I don't know why I was thinking I'd be okay with 14 books. sheesh. What was I thinking? Thanks for the reality check, K!

List 4

Books I should be reading (they are scattered all over my apartment just waiting for me.)

1) Dreams of My Father, by Barack Obama. I borrowed this from JB eons ago. Must read!

2) The Complete Book of Running for Women, by Claire Kowalchik.

3) A Feast For Crows, by George RR Martin. I need to finish this part of the series since A Dance with Dragons comes out this fall. YAY! Of course the paperback won't probably come out for another year so I may have some extra time on this one. And yes, I have to wait for the paperback because I'm just that weird. It's a long story. I have blogged about it before but I don't want to search to find it here. You'll just have to trust me on this.

4) Emma, by Jane Austen. I've been reading this off and on for about 3 months. Not a big deal, I just want to get back to Pride and Prejudice again. Not that I couldn't just put Emma away but I can't just yet.

5) How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O Clifton PhD. I've been skimming this again with an idea in progress for work. No more details yet...still working those out. Not sure if it's worth the effort but I think it'd be nice.

6) The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training, by Dawn Dais. This one should be number 2 on this list...actually number 1 because I'm so behind on my marathon training. I just haven't been in the mood to run at all. what is wrong with me?

7) Run Less, Run Faster by Bill Pierce, Scott Muir, and Ray Moss. Runner's World book.

8-13) The Soprano Wore Falsettos, by Mark Schweizer. But to do that I need to start that series over again and start with The Alto Wore Tweed, then The Baritone Wore Chiffon and The Tenor Wore Tapshoes. And then I'd need to continue with The Bass Wore Scales and then The Mezzo Wore Mink. Maybe those should wait for this summer.

14) Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips by Kris Carr. I really need to read this because...well, I'm getting old or something. Two people I know personally have recently been diagnosed with cancer (of differing kinds) and Debbie's friend has also been diagnosed. It sucks. Cancer sucks.

So that's my reading list so far. I'm done with my main CBT's so you'd think I'd be reading but I'm not. I also need to be knitting. I haven't done that in over a week. My second PIF is patiently awaiting me to finish it. Soon, oh project, soon.

Second thoughts

Do you ever feel out of your element? I'm planning a trip with Debbie and I'm starting to be worried about it. It's months away but I'm starting to worry a lot. We'll be hanging with a couple of our friends who are really way out of my league. Debbie can fit in better...she at least can speak the language. I have very little knowledge about the subject or similar ones. I'm starting to wonder if this plan is a mistake.

It's not easy being green

Found this via a link on another NaBloPoMo-er: Itchy Bits.

Watch this if you have 20 minutes. Another step in my attempt to be green.

The Story of Stuff

Then read this on another way to begin to help.

So much to say

Channeling Dave Matthews here, I guess. I have so much I want to tell about. Bear with me here.

My boss had given me permission to leave early yesterday, which was awesome, so I spent the morning running around trying to finish up things as quickly as possible. I did mail the letter for the guy and then, because they hadn't contacted me about it, I sent an email between my runnings asking what they wanted done with the money I had from the Prayer Breakfast (it's basically a fund raiser for a local charity - last year they had contacted me that afternoon and we wrote out checks and fun; this year I had to call them on it. grrr). Anyway, I ended up not getting connected with them so hopefully they've sent me an email with the information. I'm so tired of playing secretary to other people.

Anyway...sorry there was the rant. So I left for the cities because I had a show at the Guthrie last night, which I'll get to. The wind yesterday was wicked and cold. I was lamenting to myself about how it could be 40 degrees one day and then the next so cold and bitter. I was kind of complaining to myself when I see a bird in a field fly up to take off, get spun around in the wind and then end up flying backwards (well, flying is being nice - it was like its wings were a parachute and the wind was just propelling it away). Ah, Mother Nature is rearing her head and reminding us who's in charge around these parts. Now it makes sense.

The show was awesome. Third by Wendy Wasserstein was about a college professor who accuses one of her students of plagiarism because she doesn't believe he could have written the paper because he's a jock. She categorized him and it ended up being a life lesson for them both. I'm being very simplistic here because I don't want to give it away. There were also a couple other story lines, all wonderfully powerful. I laughed, I cried, I ovated (standing O for those questioning my English skills - yes, I have none). And most importantly, I want to go again. And I want to see more of her plays (or at the very least - read them. Though my theatre prof in college would kill me if he heard me say that - "Plays are to be seen, experienced...not read.").

As the mass was walking out I ended up behind a trio of ladies. One said, "I think we should all be forced to reinvent ourselves every ten years. Otherwise we get into a rut."

That got me thinking. I don't know that we need to reinvent ourselves, rather re-evaluate ourselves. Why do we believe what we do? Why do we think what we do? Are our reasons for thinking these things still valid? How do we look at others? Do we categorize them right away (of course we do - that's human nature) but do we stick to those categories or do we open up our mind and really learn who the person is?

Maybe it's time I re-evaluate my life. But then again, maybe I did that a year ago when I left my other job and started this one. I don't know. That's one to continue to ponder.

List 3

Items I have to buy at the cities Targets because they don't carry them here:

1) Diet Coke with Splenda - don't ask me why, but this town won't carry it anymore. My brother had talked to a distribution person and he was told that they had to dispose of so much of it in this area because people weren't buying it. Funny, my brother said, because every week my wife and I would look for it here (he lives in a different town than I do) and my sister looks for it down south and we can never find it. Hmmm... So I've taken to cleaning off the shelves when I go to the cities - except this time. The sale was 2 for $8.38. Uh...that's not a sale people. 4 for $11 is a sale. 4 for $10 is even better. 2 for $8.38? Not a sale.

2) Sugar Free Red Vines. *sigh* I saw these again today and had to buy them. I love them. Life is good again with a SF Red Vine in your hand.

3) Dropps. I found these via some link somewhere. I can't remember. But I have grown to love these. Very easy to use for laundry - just drop it in and you're done. You don't need dryer sheets because they soften while they wash. And the plastic around the detergent dissolves in the water. It's sweet. How green! :)

List 2

I'm heading on an overnighter today after work. So here's my list on what to pack:

1) toothbrush and paste
2) hair brush and spray
3) contact cleaner and cleanser
4) eyeliner and mascara
5) underwear and socks
6) jeans and shirts
7) shoes and jacket
8) presents for debbie
9) ticket!
10) cell phone and money

That should get me by. I have a show at the Guthrie tonight. I can't wait to see how it is.

List 1

So the fabulous Mrs. Kennedy decided to start up NaBloPoMo for each month now. It's like Blog365, which I also signed up for, but this one is more like the original.

This month's theme is Lists. Now if you know me at all, I am the queen of lists. I make lists about making lists. I love lists! I just don't often post them because that's like walking up to someone and flashing them (in my book). My lists are sacred. They define who I am and what I do. So I'm a little scared to start out this monthly NaBloPoMo with such a list.

However for you, dear readers and stalkers, I will because one must face their fears.

But bear with me...I'm going to start small.

Magazines I subscribe to:
1) Paste
2) Women's Health
3) Runner's World
4) Glamour*
5) Cosmo*
6) Meatpaper

*These two I am not renewing so when they stop coming, they stop coming.
I also used to subscribe to Real Simple and one called Body & something (I can't quite remember that title). Again, these are two I've let go. I didn't read them so it seemed stupid to keep getting them.

Notice that all my magazines could be found online (with the exception of meatpaper - I don't think all those articles are there). So why do I even subscribe to these? Because I like mail.

When did that happen?

It's March? Seriously? Wow...I didn't see that coming.

Today was a nice work day. We had a prayer breakfast this morning and the area bishop came to speak. He was pretty cool - former military, former protestant, Vietnam vet. He had a story about a guy who was always happy and someone asked him why he wasn't ever stressed. He said that when he was in one of the world wars and bullets were flying over his head - then his stress was at a 10...day to day, it's barely a 2.

That made me think about situations in my life. The last few days have felt pretty stressful, but when you put it that respect - getting shot at versus having to write articles/layout the paper/do all my other tasks and apparently other peoples tasks since they can't (or won't) - it makes my life seem pretty pathetic when I stress out over things.

I try not to. I try to keep things in perspective. Most things in life are not life-threatening, so why do I make so much about all these things. Why can't I just be happy and do it?

Again, it's a perspective thing.

After the prayer breakfast, I hung out with a lawyer talking about different situations and problems going on at work. Then I got to revert to my past for awhile and worked in PA. At one point I got a little annoyed. I was trying to work on an article with the head dude and one of the co-workers came in and they started talking about nonsense...in fact I completely missed what they were talking about but it was clearly not work related. I muttered to the girl next to me, "And this is why the paper doesn't get finished on weekends." Suddenly the head dude realized what they were doing and wisely said, "You're right. We'll talk about that at lunch." Thank you!

The rest of the day flowed by pretty effortlessly and stress free - until the end when another co-worker in a smaller section asked me about a letter he had asked me to format for him 3 weeks ago. I had sent it back to him then both to his home and his work address. He sends me an email today, "Where are we with the letter?" uh, hello - I sent it to you! So I found it again, luckily, and sent it back. He immediately calls me and says this:

Him: I'm going to add one line and then it'll be good to go.
Me: okay...(in my head: whatever)
Him: So you'll print it and get your boss to sign it and then I'll come over and sign it.
Me: Yes, I can do that but not right now. I have to go to a meeting.
Him: That's fine, just so it gets done this weekend. But then you'll send that on for us?
Me: Uh, no. That's up to you to mail it.
Him: Well, don't you have the address for it?
Me: (I don't even know what this letter is for!) No, I don't. I don't know who gets this. It's your nomination letter. Don't you have it?
Him: Well, I guess I'll do some searching for it.
Me: (yeah, dumbass you do that) Okay.

So I think it's all taken care of. I'll get the letter, print it, get my boss to sign it and I'll hand it over to the guy tomorrow. Well I get back from my meeting and the guy had sent me not only the new letter, but the address as well. GRRRR. I know he's expecting that I'll mail it. But when did I become secretary for this guy? He already has two assistants and the nomination is for one of them. Why doesn't he mail it? Don't they know how to type up their own envelope?

My only consolation in all of this is that he'll soon be gone and I won't have to deal with him anymore. This isn't the first time he's handed me things he should be doing and expecting me to do them. It drives me nuts because I have enough to do!

Here we go back to the stress thing, and matters of perspective. ugh.