It's over. :(

So it's the 30th and my birthday has come and gone...it's sad, I know. It was an enjoyable weekend. Had a few friends over Saturday for a cookout. Mike and I made yummy sish kabobs and grilled corn on the cob. For dessert, I made dessert kabobs with bananas, pineapples, pound cake, and a cinnamon butter glaze. It's making me hungry thinking about it. :) YUM!

Yesterday I didn't do a whole lot out of the ordinary for my usual Sunday routine. We went to church then met my family for lunch (which was also yummy!). Then went to mom and dad's for home made cobbler and presents. Then to church again.

So, I'm finally 25. Woo hoo! Only 364 more days til my birthday!!

I've been leaving you stranded long enough.

So I apologize for being a little out of sorts lately. I forgot to mention that I was leaving for a trip to Charlotte, NC last Saturday...January is always a busy month. Quite frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm too busy to keep up with a blog anymore...

Charlotte was beautiful, even though it rained the first 3 days we (my co-worker and I) were there. We went for a conference for Meeting Planners. The conference was great-fun and educational. I always enjoy learning things about other nationwide planners. They had a trade show one of the days, so I got a lot of free goodies. Meeting professionals give some great gifts at their booths, btw. :) Mike and I have decided that we want to go to Hawaii for vacation this fall, so I stopped by all the Hawaii booths to get some information. Got some fun goodies there too. :)

My co-worker and I ended up flying home a day early. She was getting sick and couldn't stay the last night...she just wanted to be home, and quite frankly I don't blame her. There is nothing worse than being away from home when you are sick. I was planning to stay the extra night by myself, but got a call from my mom and sister that one of our friends from high school passed away and her funeral is today. I hate it when young people die...I hate it when anyone dies, but she was only 25. It's so sad.

On a side note, Mike and I finally got our hot tub. We love it!! Mike has been working so hard to get everything ready for it. He finished putting in some lights in the back to help light up the deck. Now he is working on putting in a radio out there. This hot tub was the best decision we have made. :) LOL! I can't believe how much work we (mostly Mike) have put into this house. It's like it is a completely different place than what I lived in the 20 years before Mike moved in.

Well, in case anyone else is keeping count, including today, there are only 4 days until the best holiday in the year...that's right...I'm finally going to be 25 on Sunday! Woo hoo!! I can't wait.

Until next time...

Just when you think you've seen it all

I've seen a lot of things while driving in my car: people on their cell phones, women putting on make-up, parents yelling at their kids, dogs belted up in a seatbelt, kids making funny faces...but today I think I've decided I've finally seen it all.

Sitting beside me at a traffic light was a man, probably a business man of some sort, not only sitting in the driver seat, but SHAVING HIS FACE. Shaving Cream. Razor. Water. The whole bit. You would think in the amount of time it took him to prepare the water and gather all of his shaving gear, he would have had plenty of time to just shave at home.

It's official. I've seen it all when it comes to strange things in cars.

All hail the orange and white

I hate construction, and I'm convinced that because of my lack of enthusiasm for the orange and white tape, Tulsa has decided that the major intersection right by my work needed a make-over of sorts. And it shouldn't surprise me that this long-awaited widening of the streets will take the full year of 2006 to complete...I've seen entire neighborhoods built in less time than it takes for the city to patch up one hole in the road. I had come to terms with the fact that I would have to get up a little earlier to account for the extra time it would take for the now one-lane traffic to filter through the intersection, until this morning...when I made it up to the intersection ready to make my left hand turn to go one block to my work entrace when I saw it and it hit me--like a fly being sqaushed flat by an angry woman in the kitchen who has had her can-full of the insect landing on her freshly baked pies. NO. LEFT. TURN. Ugh. So, not only was I running a little behind schedule, I know had to go out of my way to turn back around and go right just to make it that one block to our entrance. I'm going to have to completely redo my drive into work to avoid this intersection.

So, here's to orange and white barrels for the REST OF THE YEAR!

Happy Day Off

No matter if I leave for work 10 minutes early, on time, or 10 minutes late, the traffic is always thick and I always get to work at the same time. As I was making the drive this morning, I kept thinking to myself how easy the drive was, with very little cars on the roads and highways. Then it hit me, everyone is off for MLK Day...except me.

So while everyone else was sleeping in, dreaming about their day off to do absolutely nothing or something fun-filled, I was truckin it to work thinking about how my next official holiday isn't until February...hmph.

Why?!

Why, Why, Why

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

And my FAVORITE......
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

Interesting Irony...

Never forget: You reap what you sow.

Everybody's Free

I stumbled upon these lyrics from our Class of '99 song last night in my own music notebook. I enjoyed reading them again, so I thought I'd post, as it contains some good advice.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99... wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Yesterday I...

did a slight jig when I re-read that they finally decided on a date for the final season of Dawson's Creek to be released.
ate a half a bag of Hershey's almond kisses...by myself.
saw the blasted turkeys on the other side of the road at a Real Estate office and secretly hoped they would move in there.
smiled when I looked at my calendar and saw that I only had 25 days until my favorite holiday of the year.
accidentally snorted while laughing during a work meeting.
hung up the phone on a guy when he answered and I realized I'd dialed the wrong number.
felt embarrassed when the same guy called me back to see why I'd hung up (blasted caller ID).
forgot a line in a song I sang at church.
decided Mike and I should join a fitness center and start working out together.
called Simon a punk when he bit me while we were playing with his toys.
was relieved when I remembered that today would be my "Friday."

If it isn't snow, it's a fire...

Last year my birthday celebration was nearly cancelled thanks to the downpour of snow that decided to hit on the day of my get together. This year, just as I make the decision to have a cookout at my house to celebrate my birthday, I get word that thanks to all the fires in Oklahoma and the lack of rain, they have increased the burn ban to include outdoor grilling. Hmph.

I'm nearly convinced that I should pick a new favorite holiday so that my birthday won't be so disappointing.

Fingernail Fun

I saw this image online and thought it was hilarious. Next time I go get my nails done, I'll be sure to take this photo so I can have a similar masterpiece created on mine. Fantabulous!

Happy New Year!

Alas, my vacation days are over...time to get back in the swing of things: routine, schedules, deadlines. I can't say as I did anything significant over my much anticipated holiday vacation in December, but the time off was much needed. The rest was welcomed even though my house suffered from my time off. To be honest, as hard as it was for me to get out of bed this morning, I am glad to get back to all things normal again.

I will post a couple of pictures from the holidays soon...have to get them off the camera and onto the computer first.

Hope you had a Happy New Year!