The reason explained...

If there is one thing that truly irritates me, it is using a public restroom. Above all of the obvious unsanitary reasons, like actually sitting on the same toilet that an unlimited number of strangers has shared or watching the numerous amount of folks walk out of the restroom without washing their hands, it's just such an aggrivating process. Keep in mind that this is strictly from a female perspective--don't get me started on a men's restroom...

First of all you go into the restroom and the stinch in nearly unbearable. You open the door to the first stall, and what a nice surprise someone left for you...to gag yourself. (HOW HARD IS IT TO FLUSH THE DANG TOILET?!?!) Moving on to the next available stall. You open the door and some little old grandma is sitting on the stall and she screams, "HEY! Someone's in here!" Yeah...you should have LOCKED the door--now I'm scarred for life. Note to self: look under stalls for feet before entering. You move to the third stall, this time leaning down to look for feet. . . there are none. You push open the door. Ahhh! At last, a vacant stall with an empty toilet. You close the door. GRRRR....no lock. Now you have to start the process again. You move to the fourth and final stall--no feet, a working lock. Yes! You close the door and lock it and hang your purse and coat on the door. Clearly these stalls were made by a man--your standing in what seems like a 2 foot by 2 foot cubicle, which has now been reduced to a 1 foot by 2 foot cubicle since you hung your coat and purse on the door. Now the decision comes--do you put layers of toilet paper onto the toilet or do you squat? There is no way you are touching your bare skin to that germ infested seat. (ugh!) You decide to squat although you start wishing you had chose the former as it becomes increasingly difficult to balance with only 1 foot of space. After you have relieved yourself, you flush the toilet with your foot (still conscious of the large amount of grime on the toilet), put your coat back on and try to escape. For crying out loud--WHY do they make the doors open INTO the already molecularly small cubicle?! You fight with everything in you just to stay standing and not fall into the toilet! At last, you release a sigh of relief...you have beaten the toilet cubicle and escaped.

You move to the sink to wash your hands. How nice--they have the automatic water release so you don't have to touch the sink with your germy hands. Only thing is, it takes you five minutes to wash your hands as you patiently wait for it turn on then turn off enough times to rinse the blasted soap off of your hands! You grab the two 6 inch paper towels that you are alotted from the machine and try desparately to soak up as much water from your hands that you can. Forget it--you wipe them on your jeans. Then you walk over to the door and open it taking with you all of the nasty germs that you just spent this entire time trying to avoid.

And THAT is why it takes women 30 minutes to use the restroom.

Are pets really worth all the trouble?

For several months now Mike has really been begging for a dog. I keep telling him that we aren't ready for one and that they are SO much work--no matter how cute they really are. They are needy--they are as much responsibility as having children. It's not like they have pet insurance, so they are expensive. They make messes...messes I would have to clean up. I have a hard enough time cleaning up after Mike and myself without having an animal to add to that. We would have to find a babysitter for it when we traveled. We couldn't get an outside dog because we don't have a fenced backyard--AND I would feel sorry for it when its cold. Dogs (pets for that matter) are just so much work!

Don't get me wrong, I think they are adorable...most of them anyway...and I always loved having Curly and Sugar around--well, Sugar was mean. But they were really Mom's dogs--they always favored her. Maybe thats because I put Curly in a small trash can and bounced her around on my knees when we were both little. I sure loved that little dog...

It is difficult to continue driving when I see "Free puppies" on the street corner. How could anyone not want one of these?


They are cute, but my mind always goes back to the logistics of having a dog and I just can't bring myself to get one. Maybe I'm just hard-hearted...I like to think of myself as cautious and responsible.

On a final note, I got some good news driving to work this morning...They found Patches:


Oh wait...that can't be good news...

The bug

I was going through my saved personal email and stumbled upon an email from my dad that he sent over a year ago. It immediately brought a smile to my face and I suddenly began to remember how this email came about a couple of years ago. My friend Doug sent this to me originally, and it was quite fitting for him to do so. Although Doug and I get along really well, he has a knack for finding the things that really "bug" me and playing on those.

I hope you get as much laughter from this bug as me and family have. (You will need sound.) It's been passed around and passed around, and I would like to pass it around one more time...for old time's sake.

If I had my way...

The sun would always shine.
Chocolate (or any sweets for that matter) would not make you fat.
Everyone would make the same very high salary.
Reruns of "Second Noah" would air on PrimeTime.
Everyone would have manners.
I would have a pet panda bear, and it would not eat me.
Terrorism would not exist.
Cute shoes would actually be comfortable.
Past friendships would not be forgotten.
We would not pay taxes.
Marriage would actually mean something to society.
Technology would slow down a little so we could actually enjoy the latest invention.
Pet peeves were non-existant.
Car accidents never happened.
Dancing would be fun for everyone.
Everyday was a celebrated holiday.
I could blink my eyes and be somewhere or do something.
My house would clean itself.
Bills would not be necessary.
Dreams would be realized and fairy tale endings would come true.

If I had my way, life would be more enjoyable.

Staying movitated is key

One of my New Year's goals (I don't like the term Resolution b/c I never keep those) is to get back into my workout routine. Before our Annual Meeting, I was doing really well at keeping the routine, but I basically took a long vacation from it "for the holidays." :) I decided not to start out hardcore because I knew making myself workout for 5 days out of the week would only cause burnout. So, I made it three times a week.

Monday was my first day back into the routine...well, I guess technically I can't call it a routine just yet. It takes 30 days to become a habit. After 30 days, I can call it a routine. Anyway, I decided that since Monday was the first day that I wouldn't do anything too strenuous or I would really pay for it the next day. I did an ab workout then jogged on the treadmill for about 15 minutes...not too strenuous at all, right?

WRONG! I woke up Tuesday morning and thought I was going to die! The muscles in my stomach and underneath my rib cage where streaming out in pain when I rolled over in bed. Not to mention all the times I sneezed, or laughed, or coughed--oh the agony! I knew the smart thing to do was to rest the muscles on Tuesday and not workout again until Wednesday.

As my alarm went off Wednesday morning and I reached over to turn it off, I immediately thought of my health teacher in college telling the class that it is always the second day after a workout that was the worst. She was so right! It was complete torture getting ready for work. But I survived and continued my workout that afternoon.

I guess it's going to be this way for a while...at least until I do it often enough that my poor muscles are used to getting this much exercise. I hope I last that long.

I know I can never look like this, but it makes for some good motivation.

Well, apparently not enough, because I still am a die-hard fan for sweets and junk food. Oh well...we can't give up everything we love...

Oh, such waiting...

Yesterday the talk began to float around the office that the freezing rain and ice was headed our way this week. Of course that always gets me excited for the possibility that the office might close early or not open at all. Imagine the joy that came over me when I received an email from one of the Directors that explained the "Inclement Weather Policy" thats conveniently located on page 14 of our Employee Handbook. What a disappointment when I dialed the voicemail in the office bright and early this morning only to discover that the email was just for tormenting me...the office was definately open.

You know that I love my job, and being really busy this week has helped me stay focused, but when the weather is dreary and cold, I have no motivation to do anything except stay at home in a warm, fuzzy blanket and watch movies and eat snacks all day. It doesn't help that Amber Frey is on Oprah today...good thing I am taping it.

So, here I am at work staring out the window as the sleet pours down all around the building...constantly checking the weather on our local news site hoping to get the victorious email from the Director telling everyone to go home and be careful...it probably won't come until 4:30, if it comes at all.

Moms are so funny when weather like this hits. . . and so predictable. At least mine is. I called my mom to ask her something completely unweather related, and as I predicted she turned the conversation to how icy it was outside. Like clockwork, she began to tell me that the roads were getting slick and that I needed to be very careful when I drive home today. It's almost as if she truly believes that for the past 23 years that she has told me that "when it snows and ices, the roads get dangerous" that I haven't been listening to her or that I have somehow forgotten that. Maybe she has forgotten that one of my office walls is a full size window and that I can see all of the traffic below sliding around on the streets. I know that she is doing it out of the best of intentions, but still...

So, here I wait...peering out the window as the snow flurries begin to fall. Thinking. Waiting. Hoping that the relieving email will come soon. Oh, how I hope it comes soon...

All Things Audrey

Well, upon reading a fellow bloggers entry, I started thinking about my 2004 year end review. Other than the obvious things such as getting married, buying a house, and becoming a grownup all in one year, I started thinking about the fun things that I enjoyed this year.
For those that know me well, know that I have a very small interest in Audrey Hepburn...okay, okay, so its slightly more than just a "small" interest--there are pictures of her in my office at work, a picture of her on my cell phone, my guest bedroom is done up with some of her best pics...so you might say I have an insanely great interest in her.
So thinking back this year to some of my more fond Audrey moments, I remember getting my very first (and favorite) Audrey movie--"My Fair Lady"--as a prize for winning a contest at work...people have noticed my fascination with her...it's starting to spread.
Then, of course, I can't forget Halloween, where I dressed up as her and ended up winning the costume contest at work. Got four free movies at the theater out of that one. ;)


Finally, for Christmas, I got the Audrey Hepburn DVD trilogy box set with three of her best movies, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Sabrina," and "Roman Holiday," and an Audrey wall calendar. This was a good Christmas.
So, I guess it would be safe to say that looking back this year, the little things made me the happiest. Who else gets this excited about someone who passed away close to 12 years ago?