By the way...

I am SO glad America finally put us out of our misery and voted Constantine "I make love to the camera and wear lots of eyeliner" Maroulis off the show.

Oh the memories!

Among the buried treasures that I found in the attic, I came across my journal from the 9th grade. We had to write in it everyday in English class. Below are some of the excerpts that I found amusing:

When asked to write about a fist fight that I had:
"4/10/96-I got in a fight with Audrey because she threw my stuffed lion, and I started the fight because I thought the lion had feelings, and here she was throwing it across the room beating its head against the wall. I sat on her and started beating her face. No one won because she started screaming and my mom ran into my room and broke it up."
I was out of control as a child...WHO was it that convinced me that stuffed animals had feelings?! I can assure you that no one was severly injured--I still remember that incident to this day.

"11/3/95-I spent the night with Audrey last night and when we got in to bed, the bed closed up on us. It was FUNNY! It was a couch bed and when we sat on the head end, it would close up. We put Katy (her dog) on the feet end and made a slide out of it. We couldn't stop laughing."
Cheap entertainment...We often found ourselves amused by torturing her pets. Sick children, I tell you!

"12/1/95-In typing yesterday, one of our sentences was 'Pamela gave Nick some exquisite old jewelry,' or something and so Nick decides to slip in: 'Pamela gave Nick a kiss, and he gave her a hicky!!' So I typed: 'Pamela Anderson can kiss my butt!!' If Mrs. Oldham says anything, I'll tell her Pamela and I have been having personal, confidential problems that can't be revealed at this time, because her and I just don't get along!!"
Need I comment on this entry?!

Doug, this one is for you:
"12/11/95-I am so mad at Doug! First of all, he wrote on all his desks: 'Amy Bookout loves Nick.' Wait a minute, NO! Who does he think he is, he seems to think I like Nick! Whoa Buddy! Then he told his 4th hour I liked him! Now everyone thinks I like him! Don't you hate rumors?"
Funny thing is, Doug was right. :) Tee hee hee

"1/2/96-'Woo hoo! He said Woo Hoo! He said Woo Hoo? Yeah, when was the last time you said Woo Hoo?' I got that off a cartoon when I was channel surfing."
I still say Woo Hoo! Some things never change...

They are all out to get me!

There's nothing like going outside in the beautiful weather during your lunch to do your cardio workout (aka walking around in the nearest neighborhood), completely minding your own business when BAM! You look down and see a big splotch of white on your arm. What the?! I know it isn't what I think it is....oh...oh...you've got to be kidding me! Some nice little bird flittering around in the open blue sky decided to crap on my arm. Do I LOOK like a toilet to you? It is official--I hate all things with feathers...turkeys, chickens, birds--ALL of you suckers!

Needless to say, my cardio workout was cut short. I rushed back to the office building as fast as my legs could carry me to clean off the crap on my arm. :(

Mental note 2

Note to self: Do not wear cute, pink strappy sandals for increments longer than 3 hours. If you do wear said pink shoes, remember to bring bandaids along. Your co-workers do not enjoy watching you waddle around like a duck and watching you wince in pain every time you waddle across the building. It does not make for a pleasant, businesslike environment.

Lord have mercy!!!

I just smashed my ring finger in a swinging door. Not only did it smash it once--it smashed it about 3 times before I could get it out of the door. :( Pretty sure if I wasn't a Christian girl, my whole office would have heard a 30 second string of profanities. The scream I let out was enough to make a few people come running. This. Officially. Sucks.

Buried treasure

What started out as a small, focused task turned in to a full-blown treasure hunt last night in my attic. It all started when I saw a girl I graduated from high school with at Wal-Mart and I couldn't for the life of me remember her name. This was nearly two weeks ago, and I was still bothered by not knowing her name, so I set out on a quest to climb in the attic and dig for my yearbook. :)

I'll be the first to admit that thick dust and the possibility of running into a rat are not my cup of tea. But I endured. After moving all the wedding tubs and Christmas decoration tubs out of the main aisle I opened a box towards the back of the attic and to my delight I found all sorts of treasures that I used to play with as a child!

My sister and I were definitely not deprived of books, stuffed animals, or baby dolls. Box after box that I opened were filled with toys that we had played with as children. And what is funny--I actually remember all the names of the animals and babies I stumbled across. After a while it became a game to me--each box I opened had to be one of the three things listed above. The end to all the toys stored up in that very cram-packed attic was far from being seen. I thought about the rap music video back in the early 90's when all the people kept coming out of the guy's trunk and you wonder how many more people were going to come crawling out.

The treasures that I found were endless--scripts from plays I had once been in, letters from old friends, poems and stories I had written as a child, pictures from memories past, diaries from when I was 9 or 10, knick knacks that I once thought of throwing away, but was glad to see had survived through the years.

I pulled a few things down and Mike and I enjoyed reading through my findings. My diaries were hilarious. It was wonderful to take a walk down Memory Lane.

And after all that, I never found the yearbooks.

A sport still unconquered

I am a weinie. I stink at basketball, and I know it. But yesterday something happened that has NEVER (in all my recollection of my 24 years of living) happened before...I.Got.Picked.First!!! Nevermind that the reason I got picked first was b/c the team captain's were picking each other's teams for them. Nothing else matters. I got picked first!

I'm pretty sure the only thing that I was allowed to do was check the ball after the other team made a score--probably b/c that was the only thing I could do and not screw things up for the team (although I did screw it up once and gave the ball to my sister, who was on the other team, when I wasn't supposed to--it was strictly a miscommunication). My only assignment was to block Jeff, who was about my height. I failed many times. See, my problem is that I get easily distracted when I play something like basketball. I like to watch what's going on instead of thinking of my task of guarding the guy who has the ball. He sure gave me a run for my money too.

Several times I stepped to the side to get a drink--I can assure you, no one missed me. I even tried skipping around the court a few times to provide some excitement to my area of the game. I encouraged my teammates NOT to throw me the ball and for some reason THEY STILL DID!! I don't think they really comprehended just how lousy I am at basketball. They told me to shoot it. I shot it...and missed--Every.Stinkin.Time.

I got a little tan out of the whole thing and a good cardio workout, so I can't say as the game was entirely disappointing. I don't know who won b/c no one bothered to keep score. Just some good, energetic fun on a Sunday afternoon. I could do that more often.

Maybe they'll even pick me first again!

Green thumb

Most of you that know me, know that I am a true girly-girl...one that doesn't like to sweat or get dirty when I don't have to. Well, last night you would have been surprised to see me. I was filthy--AND sweaty. All for the sake of my newly planted flowers.

Mike thought that some impatients would look really pretty around some of the bases of the trees in our backyard, so I went with Mom and bought all that Wal-Mart had left (which didn't seem like much) last Saturday. She and I planted enough to go around one tree base and ran out of top soil. I was completely unbalanced--waaaay to many flowers....waaaay under the amount of top soil I needed. So we took them inside and left them in my living room floor until yesterday...my first opportunity to buy more top soil.

I asked Mike to put the bricks around the bases of the trees that he wanted flowers under, and he came up with a lovely idea to connect two trees, that were about 5 feet apart, with the flowers. While he brought bricks around from the side of the house, I got on my knees and started pulling grass and weeds. Oh the critters that I stumbled upon. At one point, I saw something scurry through the dirt and into a hole in the tree. I mumbled to myself that I better not see that thing again or I might have to go inside. After about thirty minutes and only a few feet of weeds/grass removed I was sweating like a pig! (Do pigs sweat?) My knees were dirty and were aching. "Oh for the joy of the final product," I kept saying to myself. I chuckled when Mike mentioned that he didn't know if it was worth all this work. It WAS his idea.

An hour and a half, 8 bags of top soil, and 75 plants later, I finished the bases of the two trees. Today my body aches, but my yard is coming along. Maybe by the end of the weekend I will have finished planting those stinkin' impatients. I feel like I haven't even made a dent in the amount I bought...and I'm already out of soil again.

When they finally blossom, the work will have been worth it. Mike says I may have a green thumb afterall.

She's back!!!

and a whole new person...well, just a person without wisdom teeth. :)

Three words: PIECE-O-CAKE!

Granted I was not eating steak on the first night (or tacos, like my boss did) I felt great. Nine days later and I am almost back to my normal diet of junkfood and hamburgers. Still can't do chips, but I'll get there.

Mike got off easy with me--he didn't have to baby me or anything. He did wash my car for me on Sunday though. :)

I am glad that battle is finally over.

P.S. Thank you April for the sweet e-card. :)

Going under the knife...

This will be my last post for a few days. I'm having oral surgery tomorrow--it's my turn to get my wisdom teeth removed. :(

Please pray for me. I am trusting this will not be a battle like we faced with Mike's. :)

Annoying

This past Saturday was the last day of my classes in Norman. My co-worker and I were scheduled to go for the afternoon elective class only, but we got permission to attend the morning elective at no charge. She and I had to take separate cars this weekend because she was planning to spend the night in the City with a friend.

So I set my alarm for 5 AM and got ready--the entire time congratulating myself that it was the last Saturday morning I would have to get up at 5 AM. I was very excited about that. I left my house around 6:15 and headed toward the City. For the past four trips we have stopped at McDonald's half way there for breakfast and continue driving. After I got my breakfast, I called my co-worker just to see if we were anywhere near each other on the road (we weren't following one another). She didn't answer, so I figured she couldn't hear her phone ringing in the car, or she couldn't reach it.

I finally made it to Norman 20 minutes before the class was supposed to start, so I dug out my schedule notebook to have something to read while I waited for my co-worker to get there and go inside with me. To my dismay--the morning class that we were wanting to go to wasn't until NEXT Saturday!! Panic struck me and I started getting irritated! I did NOT want to drive all the way back here another weekend. It's a two hour drive. Luckily there was another morning elective that I was able to attend, and I ended up skipping out on the afternoon session. I was READY to get home. My co-worker never showed up. She called me back during my morning break and said she knew the class wasn't until next Saturday, so she had slept in. Grrrr....

I was very annoyed. Not at her, or the class, but with myself. Oh well, at least I got it over with and don't have to go back this Saturday like she does. :)

We have a dog, we had a dog.

His name is Wednesday. Wednesday showed up at our church last Wednesday (hence the name Wednesday) and Mike immediately fell in love with him...of course. I told him we didn't have a fenced yard, so we really couldn't have him. Plus, he was everything in a dog that I told him I didn't want. So we left him at the church Wednesday. He was still there on Sunday, so we decided we would go ahead and take him home. Mike was so excited--it really made his day. This little dog was so active--he ran Mike's legs off two and three times over.

But when we got him home, it was clear he was not an inside dog. The poor guy sat at our front door and whimpered the entire afternoon. When we took him outside he ran around and played--he loved it outside. It was clear we couldn't keep this dog, so we took him back to church Sunday night and a lady in the church took him home with her.

So now we can say we once had a dog. We even bought him all the luxuries of home--a bed, food, toys, etc. Oh well...maybe this will buy me some time before Mike starts wanting another one.

Meet Wednesday...

Update

P.S. I got third in the basketball bracket at work--not bad for knowing nothing about the teams. :)

A thankful heart

I can't remember if I blogged about it back in January when our staff had Red Cross training to be certified to perform CPR, but today was a continuation course on using the AED (defibrillator--or shock machine) if someone's heart stops. They divided us into groups so that we could take turns doing "hands on" exercises on the test dummies.

Suddenly I became nervous and fidgety as the first two groups got down to practice and none of the four people could remember anything they had learned only 3 short months ago--rescue breathing, CPR, nada. These people were carrying around certification cards to perform this stuff and they didn't know what they heck they were doing?! Now, I know that in times of stress and emergency it might be common to forget what you have learned, but this was just practice--no pressure, no real emergencies, just calm, layed back scenarios the instructor had made up. It was obvious to her that these people needed refresher instructions on the basics of saving lives.

When we finally got back to the AED machines and doing the hands on exercises again, it was mine and my partner's turn to do the exercise with the dummy. I got into my little zone and completed the exercise, trying to stay focused. I overheard one of my co-workers say, "Man, if I'm dying I want Amy to save me, she's fast," but all I could think about was how I hope I never have to use this machine on anyone--ever.

This sort of thing just gets to me. I admit that I even teared up some as I watched the training video and the actors went through "an emergency scene." This incident was not real--it was a completely made up scenario, but here I found myself having to look away from the TV to keep from crying. I think what bothered me the most was that I realize that this actually happens to real people. People go into cardiac arrest everyday and these procedures are done to save their lives.

Today I am thankful. I am thankful for many things, but today I am truly thankful for the paramedics that do this for a living. They save people's lives everday.

I am thankful for the miracles.

Promotion

I am very excited about the movie "Sahara" that is coming out this Friday starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz. First of all, Matthew is just plain hot and I could listen to his sultry southern accent all day, so I always look forward to his movies. While doing some reading about the upcoming movie, I stumbled upon a blog that he kept throughout his 39 day journey around the states in his RV to promote the movie. (I guess even celebrities do the blogging thing.) Seems to me he has quite a sense of humor, especially in his last entry of the trip. Check it out.

Mental note

Note to self: Do not try to RUN up a 60 degree angle hill cold turkey. It. Will. Overtake. You. It will overtake you and then laugh at you.

A trip wasted

For some time now Mike and I have been wanting to put in French doors to replace our moisture-filled back patio doors. We were really just waiting on Uncle Sam to give us back the money that was rightfully ours in the first place. We've had the money for quite a few weeks now, but seeing as how this is definitely a big project, we had to wait for the right time and all the logistics to play out (a truck to borrow from his dad's car lot, help to unload it at the house, help from his brother to install it, etc). Finally this past Saturday evening, everything was ready, so we made our trip to Home Depot and purchased the beautiful glass doors.

I started snickering when the lot guy helped Mike load the doors into the 6 foot bed truck, and he proceded to lay them flat across the top of the bed--not INSIDE, but on top...with no rope...nothing. Then he said, "Well, that should do it. Ya'll drive slow now." Mike and I exchanged "what the heck is this guy thinking?!" looks and I tried hard not laugh out loud. This guy was serious. Could he not see that the doors were going to slide right off the top of the bed?! Mike was like, "I think we should tilt the doors and lay them inside the bed so they won't slide off." The guy looked at Mike like this was the first time he had thought of such a thing. We finally got the doors loaded correctly and made a safe drive home.

Dad came over and helped us unload them, casually mentioning how nice the doors looked, but how he thought they might be a bit bigger than what we have in our back patio doorway now. After looking at the area a second time after Dad left, we realized he was probably right...so we dug out the measuring tape. It was indeed too big for the area--substantially larger. Mike had measured from the outside. Home Depot had measured from the inside. So, there we were--stuck with beautiful French doors that wouldn't fit. We decided we would have his brother come over after church the next day and have him help load them back into the truck and we'd take them back before our evening service.

His brother got tied up and by 5:00 we were desparate to get the doors back to Home Depot before church started at 6:00. Mike suggested that he and I lift it into the truck. Now, I've been working out--going on 8 consecutive weeks now, but I KNOW that I cannot lift the 250+ pound doors. I'm doing good to do my weight sets with 5-10 lb. weights. I chuckled at the thought, but agreed to give it a try. After several attempts at maneuvering the doors under the garage door and into the truck bed, we finally got them in there--unharmed! We drove all the way to Home Depot on the side roads, got our refund, unloaded the doors, and made it to church by 6:02.

Home Depot doesn't even sell the doors small enough to fit our back patio area. We have to special order them, which is going to cost us $250 more. That stinks.

I guess things could have been worse--Mike and his brother could have had the current back patio doors pulled out, then realized they were going to have to special order them b/c they wouldn't fit. It can always be worse.

What's the lesson here? Make light of a crappy situation--what else could we do but laugh? Okay, so I was the only one laughing...Mike was just mad.