Good-bye Old Friend

I'm taking my Cavalier to the auction Tuesday. After three years of semi-faithful service to me, it has run it's final course with me. Poor thing-I just can't afford to keep fixing things that go wrong with it. I wanted a Cavalier for many years, and now I have had one. It's time to move on to something else...something that isn't a decade old.

As Mike was detailing the Cavalier this weekend, I started thinking about the past three years that I have had it. It's really been a good car to me most of the time. I guess I can't blame it for user error, such as the two times it ran out of gas.

So today I am wishing my old car farewell...may it find a home far better than mine. Maybe it will beat me to Mexico.

Language barriers

For those of you that know me well, know that I love the hispanic culture. I've been to Mexico five times in my life and absolutely loved it there. I love the people, I love the food, I love the music, I just love the culture. I honestly think if I wasn't so happy here in Sand Springs, America, my heart would be just as happy living in Mexico.

However, there are a few things that I would do before moving there...namely-LEARN SPANISH fluently. I would not expect to live there and never learn to speak the native language. That would be...well, selfish on my part. Even on my five trips to the deep southern part of Mexico, I did my very best to speak Spanish to the vendors, the people on the street, everyone except the Americans traveling with me. It's just respectful.

So, tell me why I have a hard time reading this article and feeling sorry for them. I just can't. If you are going to move to America (which I have no problem with), be respectful enough to learn English. It's one thing to visit and speak your native tongue...it's another to MOVE HERE and expect us to change everything for you.

*Steps down off soapbox*

Fashion what??

Hot of the presses, ladies and gentlemen...the new fall preview from the Victoria's Secret catelog.


Never mind the trendy crop pants in this picture...all I can see are the RED SOCKS she is wearing with SANDALS. All of my life I have been told that is a HUGE fashion no-no. Sigh. I will not be caught dead wearing socks with sandals. I won't do it. You can't make me.















And this picture...where do I begin on this picture? Should I start with the bubble butt poof skirt or with the hooker black laced leggings? Oh leggings. My stomach hurts. I think I need to go throw up.

Have some trees.

There's nothing like coming home after a long day of work to a hot house with no electricity and a group of men that speak no English working away in your backyard cutting down your trees.

Some of the trees in our backyard run up against the power line, and about a month ago we came home to a note on our door and several trees in our backyard tagged with orange spraypaint. Basically, they were giving us fair warning that they were free to dismantle those trees whenever they made time whether or not we agreed to it.

A month came and went and to be honest, I had completely forgotten about it...until yesterday. Apparently, one of them cut the electric line when they were cutting trees, so not only did we come home to a house with no electricity, we had been without it for eight hours and counting.

Came home from church last night with the remains of their work: a huge pile of tree limbs sitting in our front yard.

Now, I can deal with the no electricity for 8+ hours, no A/C, and a stash of trees in the front yard. What I had a problem dealing with today was sitting down to a nice big bowl of cereal for breakfast, only to cover it with a nice surprise: nice chunks of milk curds. I nearly tossed my cookies.

I'm totally sending the electric company a bill for $1.86...they owe me some fresh milk. Ugh.

This week I...

went to New Orleans for a business trip. On my trip I...
attempted to go on a walking tour of the city with my boss, but had to change the plans when it started pouring down rain on us.
vowed never to wear sandals with short heels on them any day I would be walking more than 4 hours.
ate at Emeril's and got a little sad that he wasn't actually there.
got very excited to recognize a few places on Bourbon Street that were used in the filming of "Double Jeopardy" (my all-time fave movie).
tried my very first beignet.
feared for my life when the cab driver rolled down his window and proceeded to yell and scream at the driver next to us for trying to pass us (pretty sure the phrase "You are STUPID!" was used at least 15 times).
pretended the airplane shaped crackers we got on the plane were real airplanes and practiced "taking off" and "landing."
successfully completed 5 sudokus on paper.

This week I...

made home-made ice cream for the very first time.
caught some rays on the air mattress in the pool.
called Simon a wuss when he hid in the closet for 2 days hiding from the fireworks.
ate cotton candy and snow cones.
talked for like 6 hours in a row (I am training a new co-worker this week).
went to Champions on Ice and waited for one of them to fall...they didn't.
started getting excited about my trip to New Orleans next week.
ate lemon meringe pie for breakfast.
only worked 2.5 days (woo woo!).
watched "The Lake House" in a very small, stinky theater room.
celebrated the fourth of July on the top of a hill with about 150 other people.
saw about 10 Tulsa firework displays simultaneously on top of that hill.
ooohed and aaahhhed with the best of 'em.
found it very difficult to go back to work after the holiday.
felt like it was already turning fall in my backyard when I went to water my flowers and saw a ton of dry leaves already on the ground b/c it's been so hot.
jammed out to some cool songs with my dad after the Ice Capades.
jumped in a jupiter jump. Alone.

Hope you all had a great holiday!