What some people won't do for love.

I read an article this morning about a man in Florida who had apparently done something that had warranted his wife to leaving him. He must have tried apologizing several times, and when that didn't work, he sent her 5 dozen roses. Aww, how sweet. That alone would have made me smile if it were my husband (of course I don't know the extent of what he did). Apparently, the 5 dozen roses were not enough of an apology and she did not take him back. So this guy buys a one-page ad in the Florida Times-Union that read, "Please believe the words in my letter, they are true and from my heart. I can only hope you will give me the chance to prove my unending love for you. Life without you is empty and meaningless." Almost brings you to tears, doesn't it? It did me, until I continued reading the article and realized this guy paid not $50, not $100, not $1,000 for this ad, but he paid 17,000 buckaroos for this heart-felt ad! $17,000!!!!!

This speaks volumes to me. It tells me that he must REALLY love his wife and wants his marriage to work for him to spend that kind of money to win her back. It also tells me that it must have been something MAJOR that he did for him to feel the need to spend that much money on an apology. The comments that I have heard on the radio about this have all been logical inquiring questions about the situation: Did she even see the article? (According to her relative she has.) Has she taken him back? (There still is no word on that.) What on earth did he do to make her leave in the first place?

But the only question that keeps running through my mind as I think about this story is what the heck does this guy DO for a living that he could afford a $17,000 apology ad?! Wouldn't it be nice to have $17,000 just laying around for such an occasion? "Oh no, I screwed things up with the wife today. I better dip into the 'Apology Fund.'" Sheesh.

Well, I hope this poor guy gets his wife back. If he doesn't, I'm sure he won't have any problems getting calls from all the money-hungry females out there just looking for a guy to throw down 17 Grand at the drop of a hat. His wife is probably at her mother's sitting on the couch, stuffing her face with mint chocolate chip ice cream and smiling because she knows the ball is now in her court.

For all the trouble he's gone through, I hope she takes him back.

For the full article, click here.

Grrr...

I HATE snow!!! It always ruins my plans. :(

One more day!

Tomorrow is the big day...the day I have waited an entire year for, every year. My favorite day of the whole year--my Birthday. I don't know why my Birthday is such a big deal to me, but it is. I often wonder if I will still have this same excitement when I am turning 50, or even 60. I mean, I was the kid who always liked to go to school on her birthday so that I could wear the "Happy Birthday" sticker and have all the kids sing to me in class. The more people that remembered my Birthday, the happier I was. I start my big countdown on my wall like a month and a half before the actual big day.

My mom and dad always made birthdays special in our home. Mom would make us our favorite cake and if we had our party early, she always made sure we had at least one present to open on our actual Birthday. Then the day of our Birthday, we got to choose anywhere we wanted to go eat dinner. Looking back, I gotta say that I am glad that I am over the days of Chuck-E-Cheese and McDonald's (though those were two of my favorites growing up). It was a rule in our home that no one could complain about the Birthday dinner destination. Now that my sister and I have grown up, it is a lot easier to enjoy everyone's selection to celebrate their big day.

Mike asked me several times what I wanted for my Birthday and surprisingly, I didn't know. I'm not as picky anymore and will enjoy almost anything. But the question alone got me thinking about what I'd really like, and although Mike probably can't get me anything on this list (well, maybe a couple of things), it was fun just to think about it and write down the things that I would love to get for my Birthday:

1) For www.tvshowsondvd.com to finally announce the release date of Season 5 of the Dawson's Creek DVDs.

2) The sun to shine.

3) Gas prices to go down (my tank is nearly empty and it is currently $1.89!).

4) Meet someone famous.

5) "Peace and harmony" for one day (oh wait....that's what my mom always asks for...nevermind on that one).

6) All my bills paid for one month...wait a minute--if I'm asking for bills to be paid, might as well make that for an indefinite period of time. The sky is the limit, right?

7) A rose.

8) The remaining amount of money I owe for my wedding picture album so I can pick it up (she finally called and said it was ready yesterday). Well, I guess if I'm asking for my bills to be paid indefinitely, I shouldn't be so selfish and ask for more money...I guess I'll scratch this one. I'll have enough money to pick them up on Monday when I get paid. It wouldn't hurt me to have to wait two extra days...I mean, I have already waited 7 months!

9) A big ole snuggle-bunny hug and a smoocharoonie from my niece. :) Haven't gotten one of those in over a week. :(

That should be enough. I'm not asking for too much....am I?

Murphy's law

"Everything will take longer than you think." Because of this, my dad always taught me to allow extra time--leave a few minutes early for an appointment, because there may be traffic on the way; quit your project 30 minutes earlier than you planned, because something will inevitably go wrong that you will need to fix; don't pack your schedule too full, because something is bound to come up that will alter your plans.

I stay in a constant state of rush. I am always on the go and always like to keep my schedule packed. I am a Planner, therefore I plan my schedule to the smallest details for months ahead at a time. Mom always laughs at me when I call her up and ask her what her plans are for some random date 3 months away. I, of course, am busy working on plans that I need her help with. She always pencils me in on her calendar and reiterrates several times that her plans will probably change and for me not to be upset if they do. (She is probably the only person close to me that stays busier than I...even though sometimes it seems like all she does is read, I know that is not true.)

I can always guarantee when I go to the grocery store and I only have one or two items in hand and I go to the shortest line, it will always no doubtedly take longer to go through that line than the longest line in the store. The person in front of me will either have an item that wasn't coded correctly and the cashier will have to call a price check, or the check that the customer writes can't be processed because the cash register breaks, or the customer in front of me forgot to grab that second bag of potatoes and has to run over to produce to get another. And there I stand, patiently waiting for the shortest line to move forward. And I can certainly guarantee that if after seeing the short line taking longer I move to another line, the same problems previously mentioned will start again and I will be stuck waiting just as long. Then I will end up wishing I had just stayed in the first short line to begin with.

It's never just one thing that causes you to run behind...it's always a combination of several things. Your alarm conventiently forgets to go off on time, then as you are racing to get ready on time, you get lipstick on your shirt and have to change--at least three times. You get all the fixings for a bowl of cereal ready and realize you don't have any spoons clean, so you have to stop and get breakfast on your way in. But when you go to start your car, it just grunts at you and refuses to wake from its nightly slumber. After several minutes of pleading with your car not to do this to you today and begging God to help you out, it coughs and then starts. And it never fails, as you are running late for work, every single car in front of you has time to spare before theirs! It's almost creepy how even the signal lights seem to taunt you as just prior to pulling up to go through them, they casually turn amber then red. When you finally arrive 20 minutes late, you quietly sneak into your office, sit down at your desk, and then realize that today was your day off.

Who is Murphy anyway? Why does he get to be so famous (or infamous rather) just for stating the obvious? Everyone knows that Murphy's laws exist. It's part of life. I guess now, we just know what to call them. Grrr...

We're going downhill.

Well, we made it to day 6. Mike had his wisdom teeth removed on Friday, and we have finally made it to day 6. It has been the longest 6 days of my life...even more so for Mike. Poor guy--he's still stuck at home on the blasted couch that he has been laying on for 6 whole days. We did finally move to the bed Monday night. I have never missed my bed so much.

It has been quite the battle...for both of us, but definately more so for him. Only being able to eat soft stuff (yogurt, pudding, ice cream, etc), popping 800 mg of Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours, bleeding, swallowing blood which later results in throwing everything up, packing gauze every other hour, staying quiet and still. You can only eat yogurt and chicken noodle soup so many times before the thought alone of eating it again makes you want to throw up. No wonder Mike never drinks 7-Up on a regular basis...he says it always makes him think that he's sick. I see why now. We have nearly 100 movies (no lie) that I have bought, and this week the selection has never looked so bleak. I LOVE watching movies, and right now I'm pretty sure that I don't want to see another movie again for a long time!....okay, so maybe like a week, then I'll be ready to watch another one.

My heart just breaks to see him like this...I feel like I should suffer all that he is. I don't like eating in front of him because I feel guilty. Why should I get a big juicy cheeseburger while he is slowly eating ANOTHER cup of pudding? Doesn't seem fair. And of course I wanted to sleep on the sectional at night with him in case he needed me. Well, I say sleep, but I really just closed my eyes. My brain wouldn't shut off because I kept worrying about if it was time to redo the gauze or give him more pills. Our muscles feel like we just ran a 5 mile marathon. They are so achey just from staying in the same spot for 6 days...does this mean that I shouldn't feel bad for not getting my regularly scheduled workouts in this week? :) My body feels like I haven't missed them...

So, here I am back at work (although I only came in for half a day) and all I can do is think about Mike. I want to be at home with him...sitting on the couch in that same spot, watching the same court TV shows with no sunshine coming into the living room, hovering over the telephone in case it rings while he is napping...

He is looking and feeling much better today. We are finally starting to go downhill--thank you Lord! And deep down as we take one day at a time, I know in the back of my mind that I am next. It will be my turn in the next couple of months. :(

I went to the dentist today and talked to him about having mine removed. I only have two lower ones (thank goodness!), but here's what is strange...both of my lower wisdom teeth are growing horizontally! I looked at the X-ray in disbelief. Only I would have two teeth growing the wrong direction! Oh geez...

So, as we come downhill from Mike's surgery, we look forward...a couple of months when it will be my turn. My turn to go through this all again. Poor Mike...once should have been enough for him. :(

Amidst all this drama, I nearly forgot (notice I said nearly) that my birthday is only 3 days away. . .

I'm still here...

Well, I haven't been neglecting my blog on purpose. Mike had his wisdom teeth removed on Friday, so I have been busy taking care of him. I wanted to let my faithful readers know so they wouldn't think I had quit blogging. ;) I will return with another entry later in the week. Please pray for him--it's been a battle.

Until next time...

Are you a winner?

I never have been a very lucky person. I'm sure that if my life depended on me winning the lottery, I would surely die. I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I have "won" something in my lifetime. Even following all the tricks of the trade-wadding up my ticket or name card before throwing it into the pot of other contestants to increase my chances of them grabbing on to the one with the different texture has only proven successful once.

Even calling in to the radio station to win whatever daily prize they are giving away. When I worked at Allstate, there was a contest on one of the local stations where they were giving away $1,000 to caller number 10. The three ladies in the office (myself included) made a decision that we would all try to win the thousand bucks and if one of us won, we would split it three ways. We tried for a month straight to win that blasted contest every time they played the cued signal. Like trained dogs we would put everything on hold while we viciously dialed the same phone number for three minutes straight. After the first minute of getting a busy signal we knew that the winner had already gotten through, but we were each determined to keep trying for another pointless two minutes. It was so frustrating--such disappointment. Then finally, it happened...Trish's line actually started ringing instead of the usual busy tone. Not only did she get through, she won the thousand dollars! It was the best day of our lives. We were so excited we didn't work the rest of the day...we just sat around and talked about what we were going to spend our 200 bucks (after taxes) on. That was one of the few times I actually won something...and it wasn't even me who won it.

I could be in a contest between me and one other person and if it is a contest that is a luck of the draw I would lose every time. Sigh.

This frustration is brought on today because not only did I enter another contest hoping with everything inside me that I would win...I lost the stinkin contest. I should have known...I think deep down I did know, but just like the contest for the thousand dollars where I instinctively kept trying no matter how much I knew I was going to lose, I kept checking the website for the posted winners. The answer finally came this morning. My name was not on the list. :( I think the winner should have been whoever wanted it the most. I would have definately won it if that were the case.

So, whoever started the quote, "We are all winners," was definately a liar.

The reason explained...

If there is one thing that truly irritates me, it is using a public restroom. Above all of the obvious unsanitary reasons, like actually sitting on the same toilet that an unlimited number of strangers has shared or watching the numerous amount of folks walk out of the restroom without washing their hands, it's just such an aggrivating process. Keep in mind that this is strictly from a female perspective--don't get me started on a men's restroom...

First of all you go into the restroom and the stinch in nearly unbearable. You open the door to the first stall, and what a nice surprise someone left for you...to gag yourself. (HOW HARD IS IT TO FLUSH THE DANG TOILET?!?!) Moving on to the next available stall. You open the door and some little old grandma is sitting on the stall and she screams, "HEY! Someone's in here!" Yeah...you should have LOCKED the door--now I'm scarred for life. Note to self: look under stalls for feet before entering. You move to the third stall, this time leaning down to look for feet. . . there are none. You push open the door. Ahhh! At last, a vacant stall with an empty toilet. You close the door. GRRRR....no lock. Now you have to start the process again. You move to the fourth and final stall--no feet, a working lock. Yes! You close the door and lock it and hang your purse and coat on the door. Clearly these stalls were made by a man--your standing in what seems like a 2 foot by 2 foot cubicle, which has now been reduced to a 1 foot by 2 foot cubicle since you hung your coat and purse on the door. Now the decision comes--do you put layers of toilet paper onto the toilet or do you squat? There is no way you are touching your bare skin to that germ infested seat. (ugh!) You decide to squat although you start wishing you had chose the former as it becomes increasingly difficult to balance with only 1 foot of space. After you have relieved yourself, you flush the toilet with your foot (still conscious of the large amount of grime on the toilet), put your coat back on and try to escape. For crying out loud--WHY do they make the doors open INTO the already molecularly small cubicle?! You fight with everything in you just to stay standing and not fall into the toilet! At last, you release a sigh of relief...you have beaten the toilet cubicle and escaped.

You move to the sink to wash your hands. How nice--they have the automatic water release so you don't have to touch the sink with your germy hands. Only thing is, it takes you five minutes to wash your hands as you patiently wait for it turn on then turn off enough times to rinse the blasted soap off of your hands! You grab the two 6 inch paper towels that you are alotted from the machine and try desparately to soak up as much water from your hands that you can. Forget it--you wipe them on your jeans. Then you walk over to the door and open it taking with you all of the nasty germs that you just spent this entire time trying to avoid.

And THAT is why it takes women 30 minutes to use the restroom.

Are pets really worth all the trouble?

For several months now Mike has really been begging for a dog. I keep telling him that we aren't ready for one and that they are SO much work--no matter how cute they really are. They are needy--they are as much responsibility as having children. It's not like they have pet insurance, so they are expensive. They make messes...messes I would have to clean up. I have a hard enough time cleaning up after Mike and myself without having an animal to add to that. We would have to find a babysitter for it when we traveled. We couldn't get an outside dog because we don't have a fenced backyard--AND I would feel sorry for it when its cold. Dogs (pets for that matter) are just so much work!

Don't get me wrong, I think they are adorable...most of them anyway...and I always loved having Curly and Sugar around--well, Sugar was mean. But they were really Mom's dogs--they always favored her. Maybe thats because I put Curly in a small trash can and bounced her around on my knees when we were both little. I sure loved that little dog...

It is difficult to continue driving when I see "Free puppies" on the street corner. How could anyone not want one of these?


They are cute, but my mind always goes back to the logistics of having a dog and I just can't bring myself to get one. Maybe I'm just hard-hearted...I like to think of myself as cautious and responsible.

On a final note, I got some good news driving to work this morning...They found Patches:


Oh wait...that can't be good news...

The bug

I was going through my saved personal email and stumbled upon an email from my dad that he sent over a year ago. It immediately brought a smile to my face and I suddenly began to remember how this email came about a couple of years ago. My friend Doug sent this to me originally, and it was quite fitting for him to do so. Although Doug and I get along really well, he has a knack for finding the things that really "bug" me and playing on those.

I hope you get as much laughter from this bug as me and family have. (You will need sound.) It's been passed around and passed around, and I would like to pass it around one more time...for old time's sake.

If I had my way...

The sun would always shine.
Chocolate (or any sweets for that matter) would not make you fat.
Everyone would make the same very high salary.
Reruns of "Second Noah" would air on PrimeTime.
Everyone would have manners.
I would have a pet panda bear, and it would not eat me.
Terrorism would not exist.
Cute shoes would actually be comfortable.
Past friendships would not be forgotten.
We would not pay taxes.
Marriage would actually mean something to society.
Technology would slow down a little so we could actually enjoy the latest invention.
Pet peeves were non-existant.
Car accidents never happened.
Dancing would be fun for everyone.
Everyday was a celebrated holiday.
I could blink my eyes and be somewhere or do something.
My house would clean itself.
Bills would not be necessary.
Dreams would be realized and fairy tale endings would come true.

If I had my way, life would be more enjoyable.

Staying movitated is key

One of my New Year's goals (I don't like the term Resolution b/c I never keep those) is to get back into my workout routine. Before our Annual Meeting, I was doing really well at keeping the routine, but I basically took a long vacation from it "for the holidays." :) I decided not to start out hardcore because I knew making myself workout for 5 days out of the week would only cause burnout. So, I made it three times a week.

Monday was my first day back into the routine...well, I guess technically I can't call it a routine just yet. It takes 30 days to become a habit. After 30 days, I can call it a routine. Anyway, I decided that since Monday was the first day that I wouldn't do anything too strenuous or I would really pay for it the next day. I did an ab workout then jogged on the treadmill for about 15 minutes...not too strenuous at all, right?

WRONG! I woke up Tuesday morning and thought I was going to die! The muscles in my stomach and underneath my rib cage where streaming out in pain when I rolled over in bed. Not to mention all the times I sneezed, or laughed, or coughed--oh the agony! I knew the smart thing to do was to rest the muscles on Tuesday and not workout again until Wednesday.

As my alarm went off Wednesday morning and I reached over to turn it off, I immediately thought of my health teacher in college telling the class that it is always the second day after a workout that was the worst. She was so right! It was complete torture getting ready for work. But I survived and continued my workout that afternoon.

I guess it's going to be this way for a while...at least until I do it often enough that my poor muscles are used to getting this much exercise. I hope I last that long.

I know I can never look like this, but it makes for some good motivation.

Well, apparently not enough, because I still am a die-hard fan for sweets and junk food. Oh well...we can't give up everything we love...

Oh, such waiting...

Yesterday the talk began to float around the office that the freezing rain and ice was headed our way this week. Of course that always gets me excited for the possibility that the office might close early or not open at all. Imagine the joy that came over me when I received an email from one of the Directors that explained the "Inclement Weather Policy" thats conveniently located on page 14 of our Employee Handbook. What a disappointment when I dialed the voicemail in the office bright and early this morning only to discover that the email was just for tormenting me...the office was definately open.

You know that I love my job, and being really busy this week has helped me stay focused, but when the weather is dreary and cold, I have no motivation to do anything except stay at home in a warm, fuzzy blanket and watch movies and eat snacks all day. It doesn't help that Amber Frey is on Oprah today...good thing I am taping it.

So, here I am at work staring out the window as the sleet pours down all around the building...constantly checking the weather on our local news site hoping to get the victorious email from the Director telling everyone to go home and be careful...it probably won't come until 4:30, if it comes at all.

Moms are so funny when weather like this hits. . . and so predictable. At least mine is. I called my mom to ask her something completely unweather related, and as I predicted she turned the conversation to how icy it was outside. Like clockwork, she began to tell me that the roads were getting slick and that I needed to be very careful when I drive home today. It's almost as if she truly believes that for the past 23 years that she has told me that "when it snows and ices, the roads get dangerous" that I haven't been listening to her or that I have somehow forgotten that. Maybe she has forgotten that one of my office walls is a full size window and that I can see all of the traffic below sliding around on the streets. I know that she is doing it out of the best of intentions, but still...

So, here I wait...peering out the window as the snow flurries begin to fall. Thinking. Waiting. Hoping that the relieving email will come soon. Oh, how I hope it comes soon...

All Things Audrey

Well, upon reading a fellow bloggers entry, I started thinking about my 2004 year end review. Other than the obvious things such as getting married, buying a house, and becoming a grownup all in one year, I started thinking about the fun things that I enjoyed this year.
For those that know me well, know that I have a very small interest in Audrey Hepburn...okay, okay, so its slightly more than just a "small" interest--there are pictures of her in my office at work, a picture of her on my cell phone, my guest bedroom is done up with some of her best pics...so you might say I have an insanely great interest in her.
So thinking back this year to some of my more fond Audrey moments, I remember getting my very first (and favorite) Audrey movie--"My Fair Lady"--as a prize for winning a contest at work...people have noticed my fascination with her...it's starting to spread.
Then, of course, I can't forget Halloween, where I dressed up as her and ended up winning the costume contest at work. Got four free movies at the theater out of that one. ;)


Finally, for Christmas, I got the Audrey Hepburn DVD trilogy box set with three of her best movies, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Sabrina," and "Roman Holiday," and an Audrey wall calendar. This was a good Christmas.
So, I guess it would be safe to say that looking back this year, the little things made me the happiest. Who else gets this excited about someone who passed away close to 12 years ago?