Your never too old

Once upon a time in my younger, slightly more nerdy days, I used to collect things--amoung the many things, character/cool design bandaids was one of them (unused, mind you). Up until recently, my bandaid collection of about 50-60 styles had gone unused. As of late, I have decided that the bandaid collection is one childhood memory that isn't necessarily worth keeping--I mean, I still have my pencil collection...who needs the bandaids?!

So Mike and I (okay, mostly me) have slowly been using them as deemed appropriate. For about three weeks now, I have had a small patch of poison ivy on my arm...right where my bangle watch usually falls and sits. So, I have been keeping a bandaid over it to keep it from spreading while I have been patiently waiting (for three weeks, mind you!) for Mom or Dad to find their long lasting bar of lye soap.

This morning, I reached into the cabinet and pulled out the lucky winner for today's display: Toy Story with Woody and Buzz Light Year all over it. :) It made me smile to put it on, and I knew that my "boo boo" would be all better.

However, I was slightly offended when I went to Sonic for lunch, and as I handed my money to the chick who brought out my food, she says with a scoff, "Nice bandaid."

She only WISHES she were as cool as me.

One should listen to her mother

So my momma always told me to never put metal in the microwave...found out this morning why she always told me that: I stuck a small dish of apple sauce in the microwave and apparently I didn't quite pull off all of the foil lid. Large sparks flew. Simon ran and hid. I jumped. Then I laughed. Oh the things that amuse me. :)

Lurkers?

I've been guilty of this on many occasions, but I never realized that I am a victim of my own medicine until this week...oh yes, I'm talking about being a "lurker"--you know where you "quietly" view someone's blog, never posting any kind of comment, so as just to remain "anonymous?" There are millions of us out there. It's something that happens quite often, and everyday. So, why does it bug me that I have found out, just this week, that I have a lurker...someone who is close to me, and who does not know that I know about them reading my blog.

When I found out about my lurker, I fully admit that I frantically scanned my memory to recall what I had written on my blog. But alas, I am relieved-I've never even mentioned this person's name on my blog. Nor have I said anything on here that I wouldn't say to anyone publicly (obviously). I am free to breathe easy. ;)

I just want you to know....that. I. know. Feel free to comment now, because your cover is blown. You can come out of the "lurker's" closet.

Or. You can remain anonymous with the guilt of knowing. That I know. :)

Today I...

passed an old man with a hairy back and no shirt on running on the side of the road.
laughed maliciously at a bug that was stuck on my wind shield wipers as I mischieviously put them in the "on" position.
watched a child about the age of 5 pick his nose in his car, then smile victoriously as he looked at me and ate it.
tiptoed around the office looking for any abandoned snacks someone might have forgotten about.
found a bag of animal crackers.
made said animal crackers dance and play together just before I ate them.

And it's only 10:00 in the morning. It's going to be a good, busy day!

Haircut for meetings

If I did this to my hair, our once a month All-Staff meetings at work wouldn't be so long. :)

Through the eyes of a child

Mike and I lead praise and worship at our church (okay, he leads, I just sing). We've been doing this at our church for a couple of years. Last night at church, a little boy about the age of 6 or 7 came up to Mike with such honest sincerity and a piece of paper and asked, "Can I have your autograph?" Talk about melting your heart! It just goes to show that you never know just how many people are watching you and looking up to as a role model. You have to be somebody important if a child views you as someone worthy of getting your autograph. Bless his heart.

Quirky vs. OCD Pt. 2

For Part 1, please check here.

1. When eating any type of cereal (Kix, Froot Loops, Cap'n Crunch Berries, etc) I must eat the colors separately. . . one color at a time.

2. The display on Mike's car radio must show the time--not the song title, the radio station, the volume level--the time.

3. I flip my head over 10 times before towel drying my hair after getting out of the shower.

4. I must push every programmed radio station in my car, even if I find a song I like, in case there is a better one on another station.

5. The clock next to my bed and the clock in my car must be set 10 minutes fast...not to keep me on time (b/c I obviously know its set 10 fast)...just because I'm weird like that.

6. I cannot go into Blockbuster to rent a movie without buying one.

7. I must calculate our grocery total as we shop for groceries, even though it makes no difference in how much we spend.

8. I must coverup with a blanket when watching TV, even if it is stinkin hot in the room.

9. I must play a "C" chord every time I sit down to a piano.

10. I rub my hands up and down my steering wheel whenever I get in my car.

11. I must get ready in the same order every day, otherwise I will be late.

12. Feet freak me out. They cannot touch me.

13. I snort when I see a cop...every time.

Coincidence? I think not.

As I was sitting in my car at lunch today listening to the Gwen Stefani song "Cool," it dawned on me who her voice always makes me think of...I'm convinced in a past life, one slightly more 90s and completely UNcool, Gwen Stefani was the lead female vocalist in the band Aqua...you know, the group that sang, "Barbie Girl."

Oh to be young again...

Mike's sister is now 16. She has her license and got her first job at a small pharmacy/gift shop. She told me about the job and how excited she was to finally have money to buy clothes and stuff, and I just chuckled. "Well, Tammy, you just had your last free summer for the rest of your life. I hope you enjoyed it...." {Insert picture of deer looking into headlights.} "What do you mean," she asked me. I told her now that she has gotten a job and her license she was going to be working for the rest of her life to pay for all the hobbies and bills she would soon have (well, truck payments...she really doesn't have any other bills). It was almost as if she couldn't comprehend not ever having a free summer again and I wished with all my heart I could take back what I'd said. Poor girl. Not only did she get the realization that she would now be working all the live long day through what was once her sun-filled, pool-sided summer, she opened up her first paycheck to discover that the $200 she was expecting had quickly dwindled down to like 130 after Mr. Sam had taken his portion. Ahh, the joys of growing up. Welcome to adulthood, Tammy. :) It only gets better...

Happy Anniversary to me!

Today is my two year Anniversary with my company! Seems like a lot longer, but I have enjoyed every minute of it...well, nearly every minute!

It is also my mom and dad's 33rd Anniversary, so Happy Anniversary to them too! :)

We should celebrate...where's the cake and ice cream? Pretty sure I'm going to treat myself to Freckles today. :)

Shoes

According to some statistics I heard on the radio this morning, 2/3 of women own more than 25 pairs of shoes, and 86% of woman buy at least one pair of shoes a month. I fall into these two statistics, as I currently own close to 25 pairs of flip flops alone! I'm really bad in the summer time when all the fun flippies and sandals come out. I've always said I am a sucker for movies and shoes. In my opinion, a woman can never have too many shoes. :) The average woman spends $54,000 on shoes in her lifetime! Wow! What a great investment!

Motocop

Maybe if the squirrels on the grounds here at my work took after this guy, they wouldn't get run over so often. :)

No doubt

I've been PUNK'd...by my email server

Okay, so if you have an email account with a server, aren't they supposed to send some kind of notification that they are no longer going to be servicing email after such-n-such date?! For my personal email, I have had an account with www.myownemail.com since my freshman year in college--6 years ago!! I had all sorts of saved emails from long time friends and family, email addresses for friends from way back, all kinds of archives...(yes, I am a pack rat, so if you can only imagine how much I had saved in this account).

I check that account every single day (excluding weekends) and not once did I get any sort of notification that the site would be no longer effective any kind of date. :( I typed in the URL yesterday morning, like always, and BAM! It took me to the "Future Home of a Dotster Registered Domain." What the heck?! I thought I had mistyped the URL, so I retried typing it like 50 times...all with the same result. I have lost, with no way of retrieving, so many files. I feel like the kid who just got beat up in school for no reason. I. Am. Very. Sad.

Pretty sure I'm having a breakdown. *Sigh*

Effective immediately, my sunshine81@smileyface.com email address is no longer. :( Sniff. Sniff.

An addition to the family

Many of you know that Mike and I have been looking for the right dog for about 4-6 months now. Well, we finally found him! Meet Simon. Simon is a 15 month old Yorkie, with one floppy ear, and a lot of personality. He loves to play and chew on his bone. He is the sweetest little dog--just what we have been waiting for...the perfect addition to our family.

Credit, anyone?

I did a good deed today. I shredded up two pre-approved credit card applications I got in the mail today, crammed the shreddings into the pre-paid envelopes provided by the company, and sent it back to them. If that doesn't spell out "I'M NOT INTERESTED!" I don't know what will.

Mental note 4

Note to self: Today is Thursday. Not Friday. Therefore, you cannot pack up your things and leave an hour early like you are scheduled to do on Fridays. Please also note that the disappointment that you feel after getting all the way to the elevator to go home, then realizing you still have an hour left of work is coincidentally a lot like the feeling you get when the ice cream store tells you they are out of the only flavor you have been craving all day. It. Sucks. Now get back to work.

Houston, we have a problem

I'm a lot luckier than I originally thought...the apparent "thunderstorm" that sent my scheduled flight back to Houston actually turned out to be a large bird that had flown into one of the airplane's engines causing it to shut down (according to the Houston 10 o' clock news). There were also thunderstorms which delayed flights, etc., but this particular situation was caused by a fluff of feathers who was either blind or stupid. I rest my case about birds and bugs being idiots.

Open your eyes, or slow down!

Bugs and birds amuse me, especially as of late. Throughout the six hours that I have been here at work, I'm pretty sure I've heard at least 10 or more "THUDS" against my window....My very darkly tinted window.

Either they are blind or stupid, either way they've hit the wall hard enough to knock themselves unconscious, I'm certain of it. A couple of times I've managed to turn my head in time to see the slow motion effect of the bug plummeting to the concrete below after being forcefully conked in the face.

I have finally turned my radio on to mute the bumping noise, as it was becoming slightly distracting.

God is always watching out for us...

I went with three co-workers to Houston yesterday for a one day trip Business Meeting. We were meeting my supervisors down there to do a walk through of the Convention Center and what will be our headquarter hotel for our Annual Meeting. We were scheduled to fly back to Tulsa on the 7:50 pm flight and arrive back in Tulsa at 9:15.

We finished our walk through and meeting early and made it to the airport in enough time to catch the 4:45 flight to Tulsa. My supervisor (who stayed in Houston another night for more meetings) called at about 9:00 to let us know that the flight we were supposed to be on at 7:50 had to turn around in Dallas and go back to Houston because of nasty weather. All flights leaving Dallas and Houston were cancelled for the night. We would have had to stay in Houston overnight with only the clothes on our backs...that would have been interesting.

Vacation Recap

So it's been a while, eh? Did you miss me? :) Mike and I had a great time in St. Louis, although we are glad to be back to our own home sleeping on our highly overpriced, but certainly worth it mattresses. Here is the vacation recap:

After my sister forgot that she was supposed to take us to the airport (yes, I know she has apologized sincerely, but it wouldn't be a good recap without reiterating it), and decided to take a nap instead, Mom and Dad came to our rescue and sent us off on time. We arrived in STL and went to pick up our rent-an-Easter-egg...i mean, car (an Aveo). The guy gave us a free upgrade b/c he agreed that the Aveo was too embarrassing to drive around for an entire week in a town that we were already clearly out of our league. So instead, we got a bright blue Cobalt...yeah, that'll help us blend in. :)

We did the usual touristy stuff, with quite a few detours and U-turns, I might add. I think we covered the entire area of Saint Louis and all its surrounding cities the whole week we were there...and it wasn't on purpose.

We went up in the Arch, went to the zoo, took the Anheuser Busch tour, went to the Botanical Gardens, Grant's Farm, 6 Flags...we pretty much hit every tourist location available in STL.

We did get two front row (okay second, by choice) seats to the Switchfoot concert for free! That was the highlight of our trip. The tickets were given to us by some random passerby--come to find out, they were 50 bucks a pop! What a blessing...and a VERY good concert! The fireworks that followed were amazing! Sure beats Tulsa's puny display.

I made Mike go through his first White Castle dining experience, which he hated. He even thought that Ted Drewes, the famous Frozen Custard stop, wasn't worth the drive to find it--BOTH traditions in my family...what a disappointment. Each to his own, I guess.

Here are a few pics to highlight the trip:

Us at the zoo in the monkey house.


This was taken especially for Cheri' and Terry in honor of our penguin suit wearing extravaganza that we experienced together at ORU. This little guy has little yellow fuzz coming out of his head that blew like feathers, as he stood in front of a fan...quite entertaining, and very hilarious to watch.


Probably the only form of a sumo wrestler that I could actually come close to beating. :)


Us at the top of the Arch.


YAY! Switchfoot!!!


The Arch, and the tallest building downtown. :)


This is Mr. Freeze, a 40 second ride at 6 Flags. It travels 0-70 in 4 seconds, has a 130 degree rap around turn and shoots 226 feet straight up....Then you fall back down and go through it backwards...Yes, I actually rode it.


Mike thoroughly enjoying his first White Castle dining experience. I will note that this is the second time this picture was taken. I think I can see a little bit of the embarrassment on his face in this one...I do appreciate his willingness to stand in front of the castle twice--the entire time wondering if he might get shot at. We were definitely in the not-so-good-part of town.


Pimping Kangaroo napping at Grant's Farm.

It is good to be home, although I will travel again tomorrow. Destination: Houston.

The time has come!!!

Wow! It's been a busy week--going back to school during the day, having revival every night at church, celebrating my mother in law's birthday, packing for our trip, etc. etc...

Mike and I are leaving for a vacation in Saint Louis today--FINALLY! I thought vacation time would never get here. :) Last night was my only night to pack for our trip, so I went straight home from work and started my process...do you have a process to getting ready for a vacation, or is that just my anal retentive organization side rearing its ugly head again? I made my list of things to pack--just my luck I would forget to pack something vital like shoes or something. I layed all my stuff on the bed and had Mike lay everything he wanted to wear the entire week on the bed. It didn't surprise me when I came back into the bedroom after he had told me was finished and found only a handful of things laying on the bed. I called him back into the bedroom and told him he didn't have enough shirts (no, that isn't the girl in me thinking he needed 3 outfits a day...he really didn't have enough shirts--not even enough for one each day). He came back in and threw a few more on the bed and walked out. What is it about packing that guys hate so much?! I love it!! Next to food and celebrating my birthday, its one of my favorite things!

I always feel like I don't ever pack enough stuff. Okay THAT IS the girl in me, but who cares...its vacation! You never know what you're going to need. I neatly organized Mike's stuff into one suitcase and actually managed to get my stuff into ONE, yes ONE, suitcase...okay, so I had to put some of my shoes into Mike's suitcase...

I finished up the last of the laundry so I wouldn't have to come back to a messy house and double the laundry load. There's nothing worse than coming home from vacation to a messy house and then the process of unpacking and cleaning everything that you wore on your vacation...oooo, I better not think about that now...it might burst my "YAY! I'm going on vacation today!" bubble.

So, we're off...We'll be gone until the end of next week, so for all of you whose lives revolve around reading my blog (alright, so I'm sure that's no one), don't miss me too much while I'm gone...enjoy doing real life stuff like working, paying bills, etc. etc....