In New York I...

realized that everything truly is bigger in New York City.
won a bet that it wouldn't take us two hours to get to our hotel once our plane landed...enjoyed myself a nice cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks for winning.
rode around Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage.
walked around aimlessly looking for a restaurant in Central Park that unknowingly was $100 a person. (No we didn't eat there.)
woke up early to watch "The Today Show" being taped live.
saw Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera, Al Roker, Kevin Bacon, and a quick glance of Harry Connick Jr.
went up to the top of the Empire State Building.
walked around NYC a LOT.
watched "Phantom of the Opera" and LOVED it!
rode 15 feet in a Town Car and then got out when he told us how much he was going to charge us to take us back to our hotel. Ha ha ha
saw the Big piano in FAO Schwarz.
got lost on the Subway.
walked around in the coolest Apple store I've ever seen in my life.
spent some time in the Museum of Natural History, which was the layout basis for the movie "Night at the Museum."
half expected the people and animals to come to life after having watched the movie.
was extrememly surprised at how difficult it was to catch a cab in a city with 13,000 taxis driving around.
ate New York Sirloin at Uncle Jack's.
learned quickly that restaurants in NYC do NOT give free refills for soda.
took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
froze my buns off everyday.
shopped in China Town and Little Italy.
saw the Brooklyn Bridge.
tried a piece of New York style pizza-YUM!
finally conquered the Subway.
walked through Grand Central Station.
waited two hours to eat lunch at the extremely over-rated Serendipity from the movie "Serendipity."
shopped at the largest Forever 21 I've ever seen in my life.
saw the lighted Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.
walked smack dab into a pole on the sidewalk because I was talking instead of watching where I was going. Yes, it hurt. BAD.
saw a TON of dogs walking around the city.
ate a vendor hot dog.
used the bathroom in the Charmin sponsored bathrooms in Times Square, where "the goin' is always good."
drank a ton of hot chocolate.
spent all of our money.
sat in the airport 3 hours waiting for a delayed flight.
nearly read an entire book in one day.
ran like a sprinter trying to win first place in a race trying to make a connecting flight.
decided the only thing I would have changed about this wonderful trip to NY was to come back when it wasn't 29 degrees everyday.

Pictures to be posted soon.

Guys beware

Fellas, as the holiday season is approaching, I have some advice:

Beware of the Doghouse.

In Vegas I...

ate at House of Blues for the first time.
was too tired to eat dessert...TWICE.
struggled a lot with the two hour time change, immediately following daylight savings.
spoke with a woman named Apple, who was mean.
got chauffeured around a golf course on a golf cart.
had someone in our golf tournament get a hole in one--the one year we don't have a HIO prize. Oops.
got yelled at. More than once.
saw some showgirls and acrobats.
learned all about the backstage life of a showgirl in "The Jubilee Show."
saw lion dancers.
celebrated a couple of birthdays.
witnessed my boss win $1100 on a $20 bill on video poker with a royal flush.
high fived and celebrated the big win!
lost every time I gambled...so I quit.
saw the fountains in front of the Bellagio.
walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at NY NY.
realized that Vegas brings out the worst in some people.
decided that I wouldn't give two hoots if I never went back to Vegas again.

Happy Halloween!

In the next several days I will...

go to the dentist and get my teeth cleaned. Ugh.
see Carrie Underwood in concert-woo stinkin' hoo!
see some ghost and goblin kiddos running around.
eat lots of candy.
probably leave my light off on Halloween and go out on a date instead.
clean out my garage (it needs it desperately!).
go to yet another baby shower--I have too many pregnant friends right now.
eat cake...several times.
study, study, study.
TRY to take some time to scrapbook.
spend lots of money buying last minute things for my Vegas trip (I need new luggage).
pull my hair out from being so busy.
leave for Las Vegas.
start getting excited for my trip to New York in December.

Happy Wedding Day

This weekend was a whirlwind. My sister got married on Saturday and even though Saturday feels like ages ago now, it was a really great day. Once the ceremony started everything fell into place and she just looked beautiful. I'm really happy for her and Brad and I am counting down the days until she gets back from Ireland so I can talk to her again. Usually when I travel I have some form of communication whether it's email or phone, so I can always sneak in a quick "hey how's your day." Not this time...I think this may be the first time ever that I will have to go this long without talking to her at all. :( I know she's having fun, but I will still miss her.

At the fair I...

drove around for 40 minutes looking for a parking spot.
almost got in a fist fight with a car full of grannies when we finally DID find a parking spot.
toured a modular home.
saw a horse sculpted from butter.
got peed on by a sugar glider. Ugh.
did not buy something over $4000 this year...finally. :)
people-watched on the midway.
found a shower head that sold for $90! (No, I didn't buy it)
decided that the fair is basically a live version of "As Seen On TV."
watched some pre-schoolers tap dance.
saw some very "white-trash" people.
ate cheese-on-a-stick, an Indian taco, a fudge newberg, potato stack, roasted corn on the cob, a strawberry newberg, and a partridge in a pear tree. (This was over a two day period, btw-I'm not that much of a pig.)

Good times, can't wait til next year!

Dumb

Is David Blaine so bored with his life that he has to keep thinking up dumb things to do to set records? He seriously needs something better to do with his time...

Busy busy busy

Saying "it's that time of year" really doesn't mean anything anymore because it seems to me that my life is always "that time of year" when things are really hectic and slowing down is not in my line of sight anytime soon. It hit me yesterday that September is already half way over. I told Mike the other day that I always forget how much I love fall until it gets here. The weather is cooler but still nice, the fair comes to town (and I LOVE fair food!!), leaves change colors, Halloween festivities/decor, pumpkins...

Traveling for me has taken a rest until November and I admit, it's been nice to be grounded for a bit before my next couple of big trips. My sister is getting married in only three short weeks, so I have been keeping busy trying to organize her bachelorette party and find shoes and jewelry to wear for her big day. I know my worries of finding the right shoes seem trivial compared to all the details she gets to work on. ha! :)

I'm doing my first 5K Run this weekend with my sister. One of our high school teachers passed away from cancer a couple of years ago, so we are participating with a team in her honor. I am looking forward to it. Then, the next two weekends will be full of wedding festivities for my sister. And you better believe I'm going to squeeze in some time to go to the fair. My list of fair food I want to consume always exhausts the number of days I have available to go and eat.

One of my most favorite times of the year starts this week: FALL TV!! I am so excited about the new seasons of some of my favorite shows. Mike and I spent a couple of evenings re-watching the Heroes Season 2 DVDs so we could get a refresher before the premiere airs next week. Really pumped about my fall TV lineup, but a little bummed that Lost doesn't start back up until January.

Mike finished another level of ministry with the Assemblies of God, so as of October 25th he will be a licensed minister instead of just a certified minister. :) I'm really proud of him for completing another year's worth of classes. I am anxious to see what doors the Lord will open for us in music ministry now that he has his license. He is so ready to be doing music full time, and to be honest I am ready for him to be doing music full time too.

We are planning to put our house on the market next spring and move into something a little bigger. We always said that we wanted to move after 5 years, and come December we will have been paying on the house for 5 years. We have a lot of work to do in the coming months to get our house ready. We started doing some of the smaller things over the summer and will work to have everything ready come February/March. It would be wonderful to do a buy/sell simultaneously. ;) I know the odds for that are not great, but we have favor, so I am not worried about it. When the time is right, I know everything will fall into place. I'm so ready to move now it's driving me crazy!! Ha ha

November and December are always busy with the holidays but this year will bring a lot of travel for me: two weeks in Las Vegas for work and an additional week in New York for vacation the first week of December. Can't wait.

I know it's not good to wish my life away, but keeping myself busy gives me extra motivation to look forward to the different activities I have planned in the coming months.

Busy, busy, busy!

100,000 T-shirts

My friend Jerrod Murr is a cool guy. And Jerrod Murr has cool ideas. This weekend he and his wife came over and I learned just how cool my friend Jerrod Murr really is. Recently he went on a mission trip to Haiti. After returning, he was inspired to raise $500,000 to build Hope Villages for the children in Haiti through the "Mission of Hope Haiti" organization. How does he plan to do this? By selling 100,000 t-shirts of course!

After listening to him talk about how the vision came about and how he has already sold hundreds of t-shirts through events that our church organization hosts, I feel compelled to help him out any way I can. He brings a message of unity and a vision to believe in a better way...and YOU can help be a part of that. Each shirt has its own unique number on the back and is only $15. To help support his goal, be the next person to buy a t-shirt!

Broken

I know it's Murphy's law that everything must break at the same time, but honestly, it's getting really old and frustrating. In less than three months, these are the things that have broken at our house:

Surround sound
DVD player
Answering machine and phone
Garage door
One of Mike's tires
Mike's three month old guitar
Now our washing machine

For the love of all things good, please tell our stuff to quit breaking!!!!

Today

Marks ten years that Mike and I have been together. I remember that first year we were together back in high school like it was yesterday. Even with the ups and downs spread over ten years, it has been a wonderful adventure together and I am so happy to be with the one I have loved for ten years!

Two things I learned this weekend:

1) Batman is a super cool guy (and Christian Bale is hot, but I already knew that part), but the Joker is even cooler.
2) Going to the zoo on a "free day" is not as fun if it's 100+ degrees outside. In fact, it's pretty brutal.

In Ireland I...

unknowingly took the longest route from the Dublin airport to Galway.
saw a leprechaun...for reals.
dropped the top of my ice cream cone onto the ground accidentally. It totally sucked.
went into the Kylemore Abby Castle.
saw some killer sheep.
heard a dude playing bagpipes.
got my sixth sinus infection this year.
learned what 4D was.
saw the Spanish Arch.
watched the coolest parade ever.
missed my doggie.
ate croissants for breakfast. Everyday.

was told I couldn't enter the swimming pool area because I had street shoes on (flip flops) and I didn't have a swim cap on. Ugh.

saw a man so drunk he tripped down the stairs and fell face first into the concrete road.

tried to impersonate the Irish accent and sucked hardcore.
was flabbergasted at the wimpyness of the US dollar.
rode a train.
saw the hotel that U2 owns in Dublin.
took naps as often as I could because I couldn't get over the jet lag.
had hot tea with nearly every meal.
was challenged to find Dr Pepper for Mike.
stayed in a hotel that used to be the ambassador's home in Dublin.
took a city bus for the first time.
spent all of my money...and then some.
had a delayed flight coming home.
had to endure a two hour flight with a screaming kid the last stretch of the trip.

The trip was wonderful, but there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed after being away for 12 days. It's good to be home.

It's Time

With only two days remaining, the time has come for me to start thinking about packing for our trip to Ireland! YAY! This meeting has been the works for about year and I have been looking forward to this trip for quite some time.

We will be leaving Wednesday for Ireland and won't be returning to the States until the 26th. Woo hoo.

I am excited about the pictures and the beautiful scenery, and from what I hear, there is no shortage of castles over there, which is the one thing Mike is really looking forward to seeing. :)

Talk to ye soon Laddies!

Holiday and stuff

My extended holiday weekend wasn't long enough. They never are. :) I spent the majority of the long weekend relaxing, swimming, spending time with family, avoiding all responsibility, and riding my new bike.

Mike and I received some surprise money and have been planning to buy bikes all summer, so we thought it was a perfect excuse to go get some. We love them! We rode them everyday since we got them...it's my new favorite thing to do. YAY for fun exercise.

Now it's back to the grindstone and back to responsibility...the only thing keeping me motivated this week is knowing that next week I will be in Ireland. Woo. Stinkin. Hoo.

Happy

Four years ago today I married my soul mate and best friend. I couldn't image my life without him in it, and I'm so blessed to have someone who loves me as much as he does. For many years we have laughed together, cried together, and loved together.

Happy Anniversary to the only one who gets me. I love you.

On the St Louis trip I...

got started 3 hours late because the van rental company rented us a piece of crap van.
went to Bass Pro in Springfield.
posed with a bear...like a bear.
went up in the Arch.
saw the Mississippi River so high it touched the base of the white trim on the STOP sign below the Arch.
went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner in Union Station.
got a free shirt from Hard Rock because the waitress splashed BBQ sauce on my white shirt.
got free dessert because Hard Rock was out of bacon.
went to Six Flags.
rode all the roller coasters.
had the crap beat out of my back on "The Boss" roller coaster.
rode "Evil Knievel" the first day it opened.
came in 1st place twice on the go-karts.
creamed two people accidentally on said go-karts.
watched hundreds of people running a 5K for the Race for the Cure outside our hotel.
went to the zoo.
watched the sea lion show.
saw the three day old baby giraffe.
rented paddle boats.
got soaked in the torrential downpour about 20 minutes after leaving the dock.
ate the best frozen custard EVER at Ted Drewes.
got two bruises on my knees, bruised my palms, hit my head hard enough to draw blood, scraped my back and my ankle all for a good time at the City Museum.
went shopping at the St Louis Mills Mall.
ate lots of candy on the drive home.
went straight to bed after arriving home.


It was an exhausting but really fun trip.

I hate PSO

Ever since the ice storm (or around that time), if there is a droplet of rain or a slightly windy day, our power goes out. It's really annoying. So it is almost a guarantee that if we get a full blown thunderstorm that there's a good possibility that our power will be out for more than an hour or two. Sunday night was no different.

We were sound asleep in the wees hours of Monday morning (2:30 am to be exact) when a very loud thunderclap rolled through...loud enough to scare the bajeezus out of anyone. A bright orange light followed and then our house went dark. Mike and I have never moved so quickly in our lives. We ran to the front door to see what had caught fire-we were sure something outside had been struck by lightning. No fire. Thank you Lord. We looked to the end of our street and both perpendicular streets had power. Not us. Ugh.

We finally go back to sleep in the pitch black and awaken in the morning for work only to be greeted by continuous rain and no electricity. I ended up fixing my hair at work because I was so annoyed by the candle light. By 4:30 Monday afternoon we still didn't have power and they were estimating an 11:00 pm completion time. So we ate dinner. In the dark. Twiddled our thumbs and stared at each other. In the dark. Then decided to just go to bed. By 11:00 or a little after the power finally came back on.

So yesterday we discovered that when the transformer blew, it killed our surround sound, our DVR box, all of our phones, and our garage door. As a note of gratitude to PSO, we want to send them a "You suck" card. And Mike wants to add some creativity to the inside of the card, which will remain unsaid.

We hate PSO.

Signs of the times

So you know there's a good chance there's been a change in the economy when instead of cash prize giveaways, radio stations start advertising free gas for a year as the current prize.

The surprise weekend

I love surprises. A lot. And just as much as I love being surprised, I love surprising other people. For two months I have been scheming on a surprise weekend trip for Mike this past weekend. Two months! Do you know how hard this was, or how stressed I was about it slipping?

Let me preface this post by saying that I had planned for a really big surprise for Mike for Christmas: concert tickets to go see Michael Buble in the City. Only the surprise was ruined because Mike found out he was coming to the City and wanted to buy tickets. Sigh. So ever since then I've wanted to do something else for him. Two months ago, I had the perfect idea...if only I could work the logistics out and make sure no one spilled the beans.

The prep work:
I had two free airline tickets to use before the end of the year, and Mike and I hadn't really discussed how we wanted to use them, so I took it upon myself to make that decision for us. :) I booked our flights, made our hotel reservations, made a few phone calls and then waited....for a month and a half. Since last Friday was my day off, my plan was to pack our suitcases, take care of some errands for the church, and clean house while Mike was at work so our trip would go undetected until the next morning when I would tell him. However, I came home from work Thursday to a lovely note from the electric company that our power would be turned off Friday from 9-2:30. Ugh. So I set my alarm to get up at 7:45 so I could do the things I needed to on the computer and to pack as much as I could before the lights went out. It was a busy day! Mike got home from work and we went to his sister's surprise birthday party that night. I was so on edge that someone would spill the beans, I never left his side the entire night. I had only told a handful of people (and only those that I had to)...since we would be missing church Sunday, I had to get approval and find someone to do the music for us. We survived the night with no bean-spillage. Whew.

The surprise:
Saturday morning, it was my turn to take Simon outside, so at 5:00 that morning, I took him outside, then moved our luggage (which I had hid in the guest room) into the living room with the card I had made for him laying on top. Then I went back to bed and TRIED to fall asleep. I was so excited it took forever to finally fall back asleep. When my alarm went off at 7:45, Mike rolled over and gave me that "why in the world is your alarm going off at 7:45 in the morning on my only day to sleep in?!" To which I replied, "Happy Surprise Day!! I have a surprise for you, but it's in the living room." He agrees to get out of bed to go see what the surprise was. He opened the card and read that we were leaving at 9:00 to fly to Dallas (well, our final destination being Lindale, TX). When he looked at me very confused, I proceeded to tell him that we were going to Paul Baloche's church on Sunday in Texas. (Side note: Paul Baloche is a fantastic worship leader who has been in the industry 20+ years. At our church we sing nearly every song he's written that is available on CCLI; Mike has purchased and watched his entire worship leaders training DVD series, and completely looks up to and admires Paul and the ministry that he has shared...so to Mike, this was a BIG deal.)

We make the flight to Dallas and since I knew ahead of time that the list of things available to do in Lindale, TX are slim to none, we spent the majority of the day in Dallas shopping until we dropped. Mike looked at a few guitars that he's had his eye on and we spent some time at Guitar Center playing the instruments. It was fun. After we'd spent our money shopping, we drove on to Lindale for the night.

The next morning we get up and get ready for church. We decided to go to the morning service. Paul was leading the music when we came in, and since church had already started when we arrived, we just took a seat towards the back. It was such a blessing to sit under Paul's ministry and hear him sing songs that have become so familiar to us back home. The sermon was really inspiring also. After the service ended, we went up to the stage and introduced ourselves to Paul. He was so humbled that we would travel all that way just to attend a service at their church. He was so personable and down to earth. It was so encouraging visiting with him. He sat down and chatted with us for about an hour! He was so interested in us and our ministry back home. I really appreciate how genuine he was with us. He wrote a passage for Mike in Mike's song-writing journal, which meant a lot to Mike. It was so awesome to see this surprise coming to life before my eyes. It made hiding secrets from Mike for 2 months all worth-while. After visiting with us, he went back up on stage to prepare for the second service, which we ended up staying for.

Mike and I decided that even if we'd gone to the national worship conference (which we will miss b/c we will be in Ireland), we wouldn't have been able to spend the one-on-one time with Paul like we were able to this weekend. :) I am so thankful the Lord worked it out for us to be there this past weekend. Paul travels a lot and it was a blessing alone that he wasn't out of town this weekend.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and resting. Then that night, we went to the drive-in movie and watched "Prince Caspian." Neither Mike nor I had ever been to a drive-in, so we wanted to try it out. It was so much fun...and a great movie!

The next morning we slept in and took our time getting around, then headed back to Dallas. We ended up going back to Guitar Center so Mike could buy the guitar he'd been eying for so long. We flew home and spend the rest of the evening at the house.

I couldn't have planned a better weekend surprise if I'd tried. It turned out so perfectly. I am so thankful that everything fell into place the way it was supposed to. I love surprises and this weekend was a much-needed refreshment.

I've already told Mike that I'm not going to be able to top this weekend, so he shouldn't expect anything better from me for a long time. :) ha ha At least I'm covering my bases. :)

Murphy's Law

Why is it when you really really really want the time to fly by quickly it merely drags on in agony? It's like it knows how excited I am about the upcoming, long holiday weekend.

Okay, that is all.

Life lessons from a 6 year old

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law were in town this weekend visiting/moving back, so we went out for a family lunch, and I sat next to my 6 year old niece. After a little while, the conversation went like this:

Her: Amy, what is your favorite thing to do?
Me: (without stopping to think) Scrapbooking.
Her: Hmmm
Me: What about you? What's your favorite thing to do?
Her: Hmmm, probably playing.
Me: What do you like to play?
Her: Anything. I just like playing.
Me: Do you like playing outside or inside better?
Her: That's tough...but probably outside because you can run around and be active.
Me: Of fun! Me too...do you like to roller skate?
Her: I don't know how.
Me: Well, why don't you have someone teach you?
Her: Who should I ask?
Me: How about your mom and dad?
Her: They don't know how to skate!

Then a few minutes later she asks:
Her: Amy, what is your favorite thing to eat?
Me: (Thinking) Wow, that's tough...there's a lot to choose from...how about cheesecake.
Her: What is your favorite HEALTHY thing to eat?
Me: (dumbfounded) OH! Um, fruit?
Her: I like fruit too. It's good for you.

Oh to go back to the days where "playing" is my favorite thing to do...and I guess I need to be more conscious about what I eat. Yikes...a six year old is putting me in check.

This is home.

Typically when I pick a song for my MySpace profile, I don't pay much attention to the lyrics...I look for one with a good beat or a pretty melody. Since my favorite band (Switchfoot) just put out a new song from the Narnia soundtrack, naturally I added it to my page without even listening closely to it. A week later I actually listened to the song and read the lyrics and I was surprised at my discovery. It was the perfect song to describe my life right now. After a long struggle through a difficult journey, I finally feel like I've found home again. Many months ago this place seemed so far away, and yet here I am...at the end of a long road, at my comfort place, home. Life is good again. And for the first time in a very long time, the smile on my face is authentic. I'm so happy to finally be here. To be home.


This Is Home
by Switchfoot

I've got my memories
They're always
Inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was
I believe now
I've come too far
No I can't go back
Back to how it was
Created for a place
I've never known

Chorus:
This is home
Now I'm finally
Where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching
For a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home
Yeah, this is home

Belief over misery
I've seen the enemy
And I won't go back

Back to how it was
And I got my heart
Set on
What happens next
I got my eyes wide
It's not over yet
We are miracles
And we're not alone

(Chorus)

And now after all
My searching
After all my questions
I'm gonna call it home
I got a brand new mindset
I can finally see
The sunset
I'm gonna call it home

(Chorus)

Now I know
Yeah, this is home

I've come too far
Now I won't go back
This is home

Travel

It's official...I'm going to Ireland. I received the flight itinerary in the mail today. I can officially start to get excited (not that I wasn't already). I don't know what it is lately, but I have been in this funk where all I want to do is get away. From work, from responsibility, from life. Luckily my next trip will be one of leisure and not business, so hopefully I will get refreshed. I'm tired of this funk. Traveling here I come!

This must be the year of traveling for me. By the end of 2008, I will have traveled out of Oklahoma 8 times: Houston, Springfield, St Louis, Ireland, Vegas a handful of times, and New York City.

Sunburnt and rambling

First of all, I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot because Saturday I wore a tank top out in the heat of the day with no sun screen for the first time this season...and my very pasty skin is now the color of a lobster. And it hurts. Bad.

Now that we've established I'm an idiot, let's move on to something less exciting. Despite the fact that life just continues to rush on by and every time I really think about the fact that it's already close to the FIFTH month of this year I get overwhelmed, I really haven't had much excitement in my life to blog about. I've been enjoying the new episodes of "Lost" and "The Office" and have pretty much been counting down the days until the next time I go somewhere other than Sand Springs, America.

Work has been crammed full of mandatory fun meetings, and if we aren't at the mandatory fun meetings, then they are sending mass emails about the fun meetings. It's loads of fun, I tell ya. They (they meaning not my work people, but someone else) are currently knocking down and burning trees behind our parking lot, for what will probably be the 56th bank on this side of town, so we've had quite the smoke-filled odor floating through our building.

Mike and I are thinking about getting a new house. Wait. Let me rephrase: Mike and I are thinking about getting to the point where we think about getting a new house...next year is the goal. We always said we would live in our current house for 5 years, then move into something a little bigger (no that is not a plug to say we are planning to expand our family). Yes, we are only two people and a dog and we want more space. Sharing the scrapbook room with the guest room/catch all is not my idea of fun. I need more space for all the scrap stuff I am accumulating. :) I'm getting "new house fever" in the worst way. I try not to really think about it a whole lot because I know we won't be ready to move until next year, but I can't help it. It's so close I can taste it. I don't think my obsession would be so bad, but I have lived in this house for 21 years people!! (we bought my parents house when we got married in case you didn't know that) We've done a LOT to the house to make it our own, but I'm ready for a change. Like yesterday.

All that to say, I really have nothing new going on in my life. Just living life and having fun. Hopefully I'll get some more good blogging material soon. Blogger's block sucks. Hard core.

Addictions

Have you ever played Tetris so much that when you lay down to sleep at night and close your eyes, your mind is still putting the falling pieces together? I have...many times.

I have an addictive personality. I get "hooked" on stuff really easily. If I find a new TV show that I am interested in, I can't just watch every episode ever created from the series nonstop with no sleep, food, or interaction with civilization. I can't stop there. I have to go online and research the show, research the actors, the characters, and everything in between. I get obsessed until I'm convinced I know more about the show than the ones who created and wrote it. No lie. Then I have to get my sister into the show and all my friends and people I know, so that I won't feel quite so guilty about spending so much time obsessing over something that's not real.

But it's not just TV--it can be anything. If I read a book I really like, I can't stop until I've read every book written by that author. Or if I find a game I like, I can't stop playing it until I've mastered it. Or even a new website, that has my mind thinking of suggestions and scenarios to offer to the blogger to write about even when I'm laying awake at night. My mind won't shut off. So much so that I start to dream about the things I'm obsessing about.

I'm so thankful that I never tried drugs or alcohol because I'm sure that I would be an addict to all of it. I'd be in rehab for the 8th or 9th time...I'd probably be addicted to rehab. Thank goodness I'm not, or else I'd had to move to Hollywood.

My current obsession is a trial that's been in the headlines for a couple of weeks. It's a pretty gruesome trial, so I'm not entirely sure what drew me to it in the first place, but it did. And I have been obsessed with it for a week. I can't stop watching it. The jury is in deliberation right now, and I am anxiously waiting to here the verdict-whenever that will be. I'm hoping after they make their decision that I can go back to lead a normal life again...that is, until I find something else to obsess about. I need help. :)

Cops

People are afraid of cops. It's in their nature. They can't help it. You are driving down the road minding your own business and you see a cop...your immediate reaction is to press on the break. Even if you aren't speeding.

Unlucky for me, there's a cop in my town that seems to have the same arrival time to work as me because I always seem to follow him into Tulsa when I'm running late. The police precinct is about 5 minutes from my job, so for practically the entire 30 minute drive to work I follow him.

Here's what I find annoying: If I'm running late, the last thing I want is to follow a group of cars going 10 miles UNDER the limit because there is a cop in front of them and they are scared to pass him. There is no written law that you can't pass a cop if you are not speeding. So instead of herding like cattle in all lanes BEHIND the cop, please go the speed limit and pass him!! He can't write you a ticket for going the limit. Seriously people. Get out of my way so I can get to work on time.

Thank you. That is all.

Life changing seasons

Right out of college I went through a season in my life where all of my friends were getting married...including myself. It was a lot of fun-I love weddings, especially when it's a close friend or family member. I did find it ironic though, that the only conversation that a person could hold with me was to ask me about the wedding plans. The conversation was so predictable and would always go something like this:

Person: Hey how's it going?
Me: Pretty good...you?
Person: Good...
(long pause)
Person: So, how are the wedding plans coming along?
Me: Pretty good.
(long pause)

And then they go on their merry way. I thought that after a few years wedding season would stop...or at least slow down. But the truth is, it will never stop. Someone I know will always be getting married. But now I've found, that on top of wedding season, I've now entered baby season. Right now, 8 out of my 100 MySpace friends are pregnant. And that doesn't even include the "dad" friends that I have whose wifes are preggers. That's 8%, which seams like a lot to me. And now the predictable conversation has now transformed into the following:

Me: Hey, congrats on the baby! That's so exciting. Happy for you.
Person: Hey, thanks. We're excited. So...when are you going to have a baby?

It's like word vomit...they can't help it. They have to ask. So it makes me wonder--why do we do that? Why do we feel the need to ask the same question to every newly engaged couple and to every newly married couple? Why can't we just let them offer the information if they choose to? It's not like we really want to know. We just have to ask because we can't help it.

Duh!

My friend bought a new flat iron to take on her trip out of the country and noticed on the safety instructions that says, "Do not use while asleep." While normal human beings like you or I would recognize that to be somewhat obvious...some idiot had to attempt such a feat in order for them to include that on the instruction sheet, right? Which only leads me to believe that there are too many idiots in the world.

This week I

went to Stillwater for a business luncheon.
sang at a funeral for a woman who was a blessing to my family in many ways.
sat inside my car at the car wash while Mike washed it (I'm not lazy-he volunteered so I could keep Simon company in the car...ish).
had dinner with two of my greatest friends!
booked our non-refundable flight to New York City 9 months before we are leaving (ahhh, that makes me nervous).
attempted and successfully made three new recipes. (what an accomplishment for someone who can't really cook-ha)
schemed with my sister's boyfriend to help with the arrangements of his proposal. YAY!!
did NOT get pinched on St Paddy's Day.
finally broke down and bought Guitar Hero for Mike for his birthday.
bought Easter eggs and candy to get excited about Easter.
told Simon if he was a good boy the Easter bunny would visit him...he likes bunnies....and cats...not really, he hates cats.
was thankful the "skunk" got the boot on Idol.
got super excited when I realized there's only three weeks until a new episode of "The Office!!"

Amy Bookout is a bad girl!

When I was younger, coloring used to be one of my favorite things to do. My sister and I would take huge plastic boxes filled with crayons on all of our long family road trips, and I remember how we loved to doodle on the outside (and inside) of the crayon box. We would write words on there that were inside jokes between the two of us. Then we start saying the words under our breath in the car and start giggling like little school girls.

Imagine my surprise and my delight when my sister sent me an email this week of two pictures that she'd taken to show me what my niece had discovered while playing in the nursery at my dad's church:

I'm not real sure what I'm more surprised about...the fact that she found these after so many years...or that I wrote in my own handwriting that I was a bad girl. It does make me wonder what the heck I did that was so bad I felt the need to document it in writing.

I'm how old??

This weekend a group from our church went to "Winter Jam" at the Maybee Center, which included a full line up of Christian artists ranging from mellow and mediocre to full-blown head banging rock. I wasn't real crazy about any of the bands, but went more to socialize than anything else. We waited in line with thousands of other church groups and finally got in only to find a section that would hold us up in the nose bleeds...not ideal, but we'll took it.

Another couple in our church rode over there with us and we ended up sitting by each other on the end of our row. Looking around the Maybee Center, I realized that the majority of the attendees were junior high/high school-aged with the exception of some college students and the group chaperones.

It didn't become clear to me how out of place I felt until halfway through the first sets when the hard rock band took the stage and nearly all of the kids around me were head-banging. Picture this: me trying to be cool and clever and joining in with them. No scratch that...that's a bad thought and I'd like to not be reminded how silly I actually looked, when all it did was give me a headache in the end. I finally excused myself to go to the restroom to get any sort of relief from the noise and it was at that moment that I realized how "old" I really was. I was clearly out of place.

Mike, me and the other couple finally dismissed ourselves after the intermission and the second half began-it was all we could handle. I'm pretty sure we lost major cool points with the kids...if we even had any to start with.

I remember when I was their age, I would have thoroughly enjoyed a band that hard core and would have dove right in on the fun...maybe I would have blended in a little bit more...but then again, maybe not.

Leave it to me to say dumb stuff

I seriously considered not posting this, as I don't really need more proof that I am indeed, a ditz, and why should I really exploit the fact that I say and do dumb stuff, but my friend talked me into it, as she needed more good blogging material to read. Maybe I should re-evaluate my friendships. :)

We got an email last week at work announcing a few upcoming events that are guaranteed to make the staff have FUN...a good "bonding" experience where we do team building excersises and fun stuff like that. But, the catch of the email was that the "funtivities" were a SECRET. Each month we are going to have a "funtivity" that will build up to the major "funtivity" this summer. I swear, we should have the writers of "The Office" come evaluate our office for some good TV show material for next season.

So, some co-workers and I were discussing the secret excitement that will be mandatory fun, had by all, and one of them said, "Are they going to tell us at our first 'secret' fun-filled meeting what the last event is actually going to be?" to which I blindly replied, "Uh, no....they are building up the suspension."

Woo hoo. Can't wait to see what sort of FUN will be had by all this suspension.

Cookie cake-I Heart You.

For the record, I have been trying to be good and get back in my workout/eating healthy routine to get geared up for summer (which has been temporarily suspended since I've been sick), which has absolutely nothing to do with this blog, I just thought you should know that since I'm going to be blogging about cookie cake.

It was a surprise to me when I came to work today and saw a large cookie cake sitting on the counter with some congratulatory remarks etched in icing for a co-worker who has superceded his current goal for the company. That's what we do around here to congratulate people...we eat. And cookie cake happens to be one of my favorite desserts in the world, especially the white icing that is placed on the outer edge of the circle. It's so delicious.

So when the time came for the cake to be divied up amongst our group, I was reminded of my desire to cut back on junk to start getting back into shape for swimsuit season. So even though I was handed a full pie shaped piece, I made up my mind I would only eat half and save the other half for later..after lunch or something.

I held on tightly to my enticing piece and savored the moment as I ran my fingers around the edge of the plate while my other co-workers scarfed their pieces down. I finally dug into my "half" after a few minutes and then walked the other half back to my desk for after lunch. It sat there for all of two minutes taunting me, rubbing it in my face that the best half, the one with the yummy white icing, was still on the plate just calling out to be eaten.

Before I knew it, I was IMing my co-worker that the other half of my cookie cake didn't make it. I'd scarfed it down. :( Mike is right...I have no self control.

Sigh.

Ugh

I have totally been a blogging slacker lately. I know this. And it really frustrates me because I really haven't had any good blogging material lately.

I sat down twice to blog about the recent battle I had with all this sickness floating around, and it only annoyed me, so I deleted the blog...both times.

Then there's my birthday, which I celebrated for a week long and enjoyed every minute of it. But by the time I got around to blogging about it, it was yesterday's news and of interest to no one but myself.

So then I started cruising the internet trying to find something entertaining or interesting to post, but Britney Spears has taken over all things internet and well, to be honest, I just need a Britney Spears break.

So, here I am with a major blogger's block...with absolutely nothing of value or interest to say...just saying that I'm still alive and I'm still here waiting on something entertaining to happen in my life so the world can be normal again. The only thing that really keeps me motivated is the fact that my blogging subscribers have been somewhat quiet lately too, so perhaps it's not just me. Perhaps there's a whole world of bloggers out there with blogger's block who can empathize with me. Sigh. This is boring. I need some entertainment again.

"Lost" laggers

Sweet!

I don't know whether to do a victory dance...or to cry...maybe I will do both. :) FINALLY!

Early present

So I got an early Birthday present from the City today...a big fat speeding ticket! :( Generally speaking I almost always watch my speed and try to be conscious of the limit...so much so that the last time I got a ticket was 10 years ago...after my 16th birthday. It's so frustrating. What a waste of money. I would rather set my $120 on fire than to pay it to the City.

At least the cop was nice. He bumped my speed down so it wouldn't go on my record or my insurance and so it would be the lowest ticket cost. Still doesn't help this annoyed feeling of disgust for myself go away any faster.

Happy early Birthday to me.

Self-Loving Bride

The fact that this bride's dress looks like she threw up on it isn't enough, but she had to go and replicate herself into her wedding cake:

Read about it here.

Simon is spoiled

Mike and I have a rule in our house that Simon is not allowed to have any form of people food. Growing up, our dogs only ate people food, which played a part in their deaths, so I made a conscious decision not to make the same mistake with Simey. Even on holidays, he only gets a "bite" of ham. Even my mom has to be reminded that she can't spoil her granddog with food like she does my niece.

A couple of months ago, I was finishing up a bowl of cereal when I looked down at my feet to see Simon looking up with me with his sweet little eyes like he does every other time we are eating. Funny how even after two years of us not giving him anything from our plates, he still begs and expects to get something. As I started to take my bowl of milk to the sink to pour out, Simey caught me in a weak moment. I bent down, held out the bowl, and let him take a few licks out of the bowl. He was in heaven. After about 5 licks (a tease mostly), I took the bowl from him, quickly toweled off his chin so as not to give me away, rinsed out my bowl and went on with my day.

To my surprise, the next morning when I started eating my bowl of cereal, Simon had jumped out of bed (he sleeps in with Mike until I leave), crawled into the kitchen and sat at my feet. He wanted more milk. Little stinker! What had I started??

So for a couple of months, this has been a daily routine when I eat cereal for breakfast. Even if he is dead asleep or looking out the window intently or playing with a toy (which is rarely the case since I get up at 5:15), the moment I stand up to walk my bowl to the sink, he stops what he is doing and comes running. It's actually gotten pretty cute to watch him sit at my feet patiently waiting for me to finish so he can have his dose of pleasure for the day.

This morning was no different. I got my bowl out of the cabinet, fixed it with cereal and sat down to eat. As I looked over into the living room, there he sat: cute as a bug watching me, the fur on his face smashed from sleeping on it funny, and his eyes so sleepy he can barely keep them open. But he sat there and waited. When I finished, he ran over got his 5 or 6 licks in and then ran straight back to bed. He is spoiled rotten. But I love him dearly!

Oops-someone lost their job...

2008

Things I am most looking forward to in 2008:
My trip to Ireland
My birthday
The new shopping center opening up on Hwy 75 and 71st Street
My trip to New York
Our annual meeting in Vegas (wow, I'm going to be traveling a lot!)
Writing more music
Seeing Michael Buble in concert
My 5 year employment anniversary with SEG (more vacation ha ha)
Weddings
A year full of change

Things I am least looking forward to in 2008:
The presidential election...political campaign ads only annoy me
Seeing a good friend move east
The drama of the holidays
Bad weather
A year full of change
Did I mention the election??

The 12 Days of Vacation

On the first day of vacation, this is what I did: finished my "Lost" puzzle.
On the second day of vacation, this is what I did: went to two scheduled appointments.
On the third day of vacation, this is what I did: finished three scrapbook projects.
On the fourth day of vacation, this is what I did: cleaned four rooms in my house.
On the fifth day of vacation, this is what I did: watched FIVE DVDs from Blockbuster.
On the sixth day of vacation, this is what I did: went to six family functions.
On the seventh day of vacation, this is what I did: tried on seven new outfits.
On the eighth day of vacation, this is what I did: took eighty-something pictures.
On the ninth day of vacation, this is what I did: got my hair cut.
On the tenth day of vacation, this is what I did: ten loads of laundry.
On the eleventh day of vacation, this is what I did: slept in until eleven.
On the twelveth day of vacation, this is what I did: ate twelve dozen cookies!

Vacation was great and I did not want to come back to work. My time off was pleasant and I got a lot done. Now since it is the New Year and we're already two days into January, I can officially start the countdown until my birthday at the end of the month!! Woo hoo!!