Off the Grid, Baby!

I've been in Dallas and electronically disconnected since Friday morning, and it's really been sort of nice. I did text back and forth with Lauren a few times, but that's about it. My personal catchphrase all weekend was "I'm off the grid!" Yeah, I know "off the grid" has to do with power companies and green living, but it sounded so awesomely appropriate, that I usurped it for my own misuse. No one questioned it. They did question why on earth I would choose to remove myself from e-communications... like... EVER. Jeff asked if I was sick. However, the inaccurate catchphrase didn't raise any eyebrows. Maybe I need to hang out with a more environmentally conscious crowd.

This was our big 20th anniversary weekend at the Gaylord Texan Resort! Lauren hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. They went to see Wicked and shopped at the Galleria and stuff.

Jeff and I got an amazing room at the hotel. We had dinner at their Old Hickory Steakhouse Friday night. It was very good, but extremely expensive. Austin Land and Cattle is at least as good, and more reasonably priced for the same type of restaurant. Of course, Austin Land and Cattle is quite a drive from Dallas.

The Gaylord has an Alice in Wonderland Summerfest event going on, so everything is Alice-themed. So fun! The characters that were hanging around in the beautiful atrium were amazing. They have various activities for all ages.

Here's the Gaylord Texan atrium. It's enormous, and looks and feels like being outside- well, minus the searing May heat.

Saturday we had brunch at the Old West Cafe in Grapevine. Next, we hit the Delaney Vineyards. Then we hung out at the Fort Worth Stockyards, which I had never seen in all my years of visiting DFW.

Saturday night we saw Pete Correale at the Improv. He was fantastic. I was dying laughing the whole time. LOVED IT! A girl named Chris opened for him (cannot remember her last name to save my life), and she was hysterical. She'll be on the next "Last Comic Standing" season, which starts June 7. She did a whole bit on how if you have a common name, you have to really take care of yourself. If your name is unusual, everyone knows they're talking about you when they mention it. If it's common, like Jennifer, when people refer to you, someone always says, "Which Jennifer?"

"Mustache Jennifer."

"Oh yeah! And her sister, fat Tina."

LOL

Jeff gave me a totally pimped out HP Mini Netbook as an anniversary gift. Awesome!! I've been wanting a netbook forever. I loathe the laptop and its annoying sluggishness. This thing is screamin' fast and has a cool hi-res screen. (Yeah, I ventured back into cyberspace briefly to check out the equipment.) Remarkably, the thing gets 10 hours on a charge.

He also got me a fancy "upgraded" diamond to replace the center diamond in my engagement ring. It's beauuuutiful! A perfect gift idea for me, since I'd like to keep my original rings. Mine is one of those puzzle-piece fit-together wedding/engagement ring sets that were soldered together after we got married. We're crossing our fingers they can work the new diamond into the setting. The jeweler has only seen a photo of my ring, but they think they can do it.

On our tenth anniversary, I bought a bottle of Italian red wine (we accidentally left the empty bottle at the in-laws, so Gene is going to have to let me know the name of it...). It was one of the wines in a wine mag article listed at the time as being perfect for storing to drink in another ten years. Gene kept it in his wine fridge since then for our 20th anniversary. We had it Saturday night at the hotel. It was a 1995 vintage. Really good. Tasted very smooth, almost like a liqueur actually, with a dry finish.

We hung out at the hotel yesterday and then went back to Jeff's parents' for the afternoon. My bro-in-law came over, too. Managed our way home last night through about zero traffic on I-35, which rocked. A very nice weekend, and now... a holiday!

Happy Memorial Day, especially to those who have lost loved ones in service, to my friends/family who served, and to those currently serving in the military.

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Do You Hear the Drums, Fernando?

No, I do not really go by the nickname "Two-Step McGee." Just clearing that up.

The Foundation luncheon yesterday was cool. We had an adorable waiter named Fernando, and the girls kept singing the ABBA song whenever he left the room. There was something in the air that night, the stars so bright, Fernando... There! Now it's stuck in your head, too. You're welcome.

While we were eating I asked one of our staff members where he's from. He said Houston. I asked where in Houston. He grinned and started giving me that "I'm from this teensy weensy town you've never heard of" sort of thing...

"It's a town called Pearland."

Ahaha! I lived in League City, which is the same area of Houston suburbia. He went to Clear Brook High, which was built after I left there. I told him I went to Clear Creek, which he identified along with Clear Lake as "the old schools." That's right, man. Kickin' it old skool. Where's my walker?

Just a side note... there's something that sets me all aglow inside, hearing someone call Lake an old school. Back in the day, when there were just two high schools in the district, Creek was the "old school" and had the role of the "lesser" of the two, partially because Lake was newer and prettier. Take that, Lake! :p

Also had a wonderful chat with our Chairman of the Board about using/not using your degree, following your heart in your career, and how one can end up in a highly successful but seemingly random place in their job by coincidence, hard work and passion. His son was one semester away from completing his Bachelor's degree when he got the job offer of a lifetime, and it came down to a choice between the school and work. He took the job, and never has finished the degree, because he doesn't need it. In the software industry, where he's doing exceptionally well, his experience is now much more valuable than any degree. His daughter got a psych BA and went to work as a bartender and is now the manager of six restaurants, enjoying it and making more money than she would have made in her field.

Have a fabulous holiday weekend, friends!

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Meme, Myself and I

I suddenly cannot stay logged into Twitter. It started a few days ago and it's driving me crazy. *shakes fist @Twitter*

Long Meme

ARE YOU:

1. A Cuddler? definitely

2. A morning person? yep

3. Are you a perfectionist? I can be, but not always

4. An only child?  yes! Well, I have a half-brother, but we didn't grow up together.

5. Catholic? sort of

6. In your pajamas? yes

7. Currently suffering from a broken heart? nope

8. Okay styling other people's hair? sure

9. Left handed? no

10. Addicted to MySpace? never was

11. Shy around the opposite gender? nope

DO YOU:

12. Bite your nails? no

13. Get paranoid at times? why? have you heard something?

14. Currently regret something that you have said? nah

15. Curse when you get mad? sometimes

16. Enjoy country music? not really

17. Enjoy jazz music? occasionally

18. Enjoy smoothies? yes

19. Enjoy talking on the phone? oh yes

20. Have a lot to learn? always

21. Have a pet?  not at the moment. We're probably getting a kitten this summer.

22. Have a tendency to fall for the "wrong" person?  no

23. Have all your grandparents? no. I still have my mom's dad and my dad's mom.

24. Have at least one sibling? Nope, just a half. Heh.

25. Have been told that you are smart? yes, because I "get" The Matrix

26. Have a broken bone? no

27. Have Caller I.D. on your phone?  yes

HAVE YOU:

28. Changed a diaper?  I have changed a helluva lot of diapers

29. Had friends who have never seen your natural hair colour? no. I've only used temporary colors a few times on my hair.

30. Changed a lot over the past year? not really

31. Had surgery? yep- 9 times

32. Killed another person? uh... no

33. Had your hair cut within the last week?  no

34. Had the cops called on you?  no

LAST PERSON WHO

1. Slept in your bed beside you?  Jeff

2. Saw you cry?  Lauren, while we were watching something on TV, probably a commercial

3. Went to the movies with you? Jeff

4. You went to the mall with? Lauren

5. You went to out to a restaurant dinner with? Lauren, JeffC and Jeff

6. You talked on the phone? Laura

7. Made you laugh? Jeff

WOULD YOU RATHER?

1. Pierce your nose or tongue? nose

2. Be serious or be funny?  definitely funny

3. Drink whole or skim milk? skim

4. McDonald's or Wendy's? McDonald's

5. Punk or Goth?  punk

ARE YOU..

1. Simple or complicated? complicated

2. Gay? no

3. Hardcore? Hmm. I'm not sure what this means, so I'll say no.

DO YOU PREFER. .

1. Flowers or candy? candy, especially something small and heavenly

2. Grey or black? black. Grey is so wishy-washy.

3. Color or Black and white photos? color

4. Lust or love?  both together

5. Sunrise or sunset? sunset

6. M&Ms or Skittles? M&Ms

8. Staying up late or waking up early? staying up late

DO YOU PREFER...

1. Sun or moon? moon

2. Winter or Fall? fall

3. Left or right? right (I wasn't sure on this one, but by golly, I went with my initial feeling on it.)

4. 10 acquaintances or having two best friends? 2 best friends

5. Sun or rain? rain, unless I'm doing something outside that day

6. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream? chocolate

7. Vodka or Jack? vodka

ABOUT YOU!

1. What time is it? 6:52 am

2. Name? Kathy

3. Nickname(s):  Two-Step McGee

4. Where are you? upstairs at my desk

5. What is your birthdate? early April

6. What do you want? a new stovetop

7. Where do you want to live? anywhere with lots of entertainment options and temperate Texas-ish weather

8. How many kids do you want? one, so I'm good there

9. What would you want to name a girl? my girl name other than Lauren was Ashley

10. What would you want to name a boy? Ethan or Ian

11. You want to get married? already married


1. Nervous Habits: hmm. If I'm nervous, I tend to run my fingers through my hair. If I'm sitting at the time, I'll bounce my leg, which I'm certain drives people up a wall.

2. Are you double jointed?  no but I'm pretty flexible

3. Can you roll your tongue? yes

4. Can you raise one eyebrow? yes

5. Can you cross your eyes? yes

6. Do you make your bed daily? no

8. Which shoe goes on first? usually the left

9. Ever thrown a shoe at someone? wow. no. Did I mention I've never killed anyone either?

10. On the average, how much money do you carry with you? $10

11. What jewelry do you wear? wedding ring, anniversary ring, earrings and a necklace


1. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? twirl

2. Have you ever ate a pound of SPAM? eww, no

3. Favorite ice cream? chocolate

4. How many kinds cereal are in your cabinet? 5

IN THE LAST MONTH, HAVE YOU? (YES OR NO)

1. Had a bf/gf? no, I'm married, remember?

2. Bought something you didn't need?  probably

3. Sang in front of people? I sang a little bit of a song in front of Lauren's friends, but not as dinner entertainment or anything

5. Been kissed: yep

6. Been hugged: yes

7. Felt stupid:  oh yeah

8. Missed someone: yes

9. Got drunk: no

10. Got high: nope

11. Danced Crazy: yes

13. Cried: yes

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20th Wedding Anniversary!

Because it turned out so cute, I have to share the card I made for Jeff!

Outside----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hee! "Google logo" references- We met at A&M. The Texas capitol building is in there, because we moved to Austin after school. We went to Cancún for our honeymoon. Our wedding cake topper was the Precious Moments couple. Incidentally, I did the whole "freeze the top layer of wedding cake and eat it on your first anniversary" thing. It was really gross. That thing took up half our dinky apartment-freezer's space for 12 months. Just go back to your wedding bakery and get a fresh little cake on your anniversary instead.

Song Lyrics du Jour

Look at this face
I know the years are showing
Look at this life
I still don't know where it's going

I don't know much
But I know I love you
And that may be all I need to know

Look at these eyes
They've never seen what mattered
Look at these dreams
So beaten and so battered

I don't know much
But I know I love you
That may be all I need to know

So many questions still left unanswered
So much I've never broken through
But when I feel you near me
Sometimes I see so clearly
The only truth I've ever known is me and you

Look at this man
So blessed with inspiration
Look at this soul
Still searching for salvation

I don't know much
But I know I love you
And that may be all I need to know

"Don't Know Much" Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville (our first dance at our wedding reception)

:)

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Bret!!11!!!!1!!!

Bret won Celeb Apprentice! YAY! He did such a fantastic job on his Snapple commercial. Very impressive. And I don't think he needed any sort of sympathy vote for winning. He won fair and square.

I finally had the sports medicine follow-up for my knee injury which still hasn't completely healed. After a wonderful massage session, the doc came in and examined it. He heard the cracking I've been hearing up and down the stairs and said, "Let me go and get 'the tool.'" Before I could ask what this mysterious "tool" is, he was gone, leaving me to imagine a large, chrome sort of deal... with sharp spikes and a clamp.

He returned with a rather innocuous appearing, hard plastic spatula head. He lubed up my knee with massage lotion and lay the edge of that thing into where the most tender area is (did you know one of your hamstring muscles attaches on the front inner corner of the bottom of your knee? me neither. I sure do now). Then he pulled the plastic thing, hard, along the skin to smooth out the crinkly muscle scar tissue underneath. Holy wow, did that suck. He did it all around my knee and then announced that I have two choices:

1) schedule a session for him to use the tool to get rid of the muscle scarring (um, that wasn't what he just did? yikes!), resulting in serious bruising but a definite improvement in the flexibility and feel of the joint, then start rehab exercises

2) just jump right into the rehab exercises and see if that works without the removal of the scar tissue

I chose #2. He said I have 4 weeks to see improvement or he's busting out The Tool. If that ain't motivation, I don't know what is.


Song Lyrics of the Day

...So tired of the straight life
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lies
that you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference
escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness
oh this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees...

from one of the best songs ever written- music and lyrics... "Angel" Sarah McLachlan

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Get a Room... or Not

Every time we go to Hyde Park Bar & Grill with JeffC, some couple is all over each other making out outside the restaurant. Last time they were in a car outside the window by which we were sitting. Jeff gave them a big thumbs up when they came up for air at some point. The girl waved. Last night the people were between a couple of cars at the end of a parking lot row while we were driving out. JeffC honked and the girl looked. He gave her the thumbs-up. She and all of us in the car thought it was hilarious, but the boyfriend was just irritated she stopped kissing him. I would have assumed the guy would be the one who thought it was funny, but it's always the girl. Ha!

"Modern Family" has a survey every week to choose your favorite quote from that week's show. They never have my favorite quote as a choice. Not sure what that says about my sense of humor.

Well, here's an example of my sense of humor. Almost fell out of my chair reading this on one of The Bloggess's blogs that I can't link to from here or I'll get an adult blog badge slapped on mine: "Vaginas and eyes are self-cleaning. Also? Ovens." Awesomeness, I tell ya'.

I haven't been able to watch the "Apprentice" finale yet, so I am tiptoeing carefully around the internet trying to avoid spoilers. So far so good.

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Weird Al 'n Stuff

Went to the Weird Al Yankovic UHF screening and audience Q&A yesterday at the Paramount with Melissa and Tracy. It was a lot of fun! Thanks Tracy! There was a sing-along before the movie. Loved it.

Julie had the biggest cake ever at her big ol' grad party last night. I did my best to avoid the burnt orange icing all over my piece.

Here are my most recent musical observations, for your Sunday enjoyment:

Listen to the chorus here at :47...



Now this at :27...



And listen to chorus from :58



And this chorus at :08...



Hmm!

Here's another, just because I'm on a roll this week... This verse at :11



And this verse at :12...



Forget those Nickelback song similarities. At least they're copying their own songs. ;)


Sunday Stealing: The Voice Post Meme

1) What's your middle name?
Marguerite (my mother's mother's name)

2) How old are you?
43

3) Where are you from? Are you living there right now?
Houston. Nope!

4) Is it cold where you are?
I wish.

5) What's the time?
7:06 am

6) What are you wearing?
a new, cute, dark blue, short nightgown from The Gap. Soooooo soooooft. I need to get another one in a different color.

7) What was the last thing you listened to?
Taylor Swift "Our Song" up there ^^

8) What was the last thing you ate?
Sunkist Fruit Snacks

9) What was the last thing you watched on TV?
a few minutes of SNL

10) What's your favorite tv show? Why?
At the moment, "Celebrity Apprentice." We can all watch together and enjoy it. The high-intensity personal interactions and task drama spark a lot of interesting and serious conversation while we're watching. We'll even pause the show to discuss what's going on. Big finale tonight! Bret will be there!

11) Quick! Find a book, or something with text on it! Flip to a random page and post the second paragraph's first sentence.
Vector layers are layers with only vector objects (lines and shapes), vector text, or vector groups.

12) What was the last movie you saw? How was it?
Iron Man 2. It was good, but not spectacular like the first one.

13) Do YOU think you have an accent? Where in your country do people speak with strong accents? 
I can really lay on the Texas accent when I want to, but normally I don't have an accent at all. When I was working, I regularly interacted with folks from the northeastern US and in our Belgium office. Both groups at one point or another asked where I am from, because they didn't hear an accent. I said "y'all" one time in front of one of our Boston clients, which cracked her up, because she finally caught me "speaking Texan." I think the east coasters, north and south, have the strongest accents in the US.

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Super Saturday

What sort of things are Facebookers posting with the privacy set to be viewable by "Only Me"?  *ponders*

Through this season of "Celebrity Apprentice" we've seen Bret Michaels is a super-nice guy with a heart of gold. He's a fun and positive person, and I just adore him on the show. My favorite scene with him was the fitness club episode, when he met the woman with the "celebrity pass" from her husband for her top five celebs, of which he was one. He was all over it.

Well, he has Type I diabetes and his nine-year-old was recently diagnosed, which just devastated him. He had an emergency appendectomy, then a brain bleed last month. Now he's had a pre-stroke as a complication of a newly diagnosed hole in his heart that will require surgery. So awful. My heart goes out to him and his family. He's against Holly in the live "Apprentice" finale tomorrow night. I really hope he's able to make it to the show. GO BRET!

Last time Jeff and I were driving home from Dallas, we saw this car with the word DICK in giant letters on the back window. (Nice of the guy to warn us from a distance. Heh.) I took a picture of it. When we got home I told Lauren about it and said I would show her the photo, but I forgot for a few days. When I finally thought of it, I said, "Oh yeah! I need to show you my 'Dick' picture!" Cue the priceless confusion on her face.

You know what? He can't be that bad. He's using his blinker.

We're going to Julie's PhD grad party tonight. So happy for her!!

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Misleading Census Worker Story

Let's get this census worker sex offender story straight, because many news outlets would at least initially have you believe this guy was not a census taker, but actually a sex offender posing as one, trying to gain access to people's houses for nefarious purposes. ("She opened the door to someone she thought was a census taker, but it was a convicted sex offender!") That is a totally different thing, and it's not what happened. Not that I usually take a stand on behalf of criminals, but this is a misleading sound bite.

They don't allow sex offenders to be census takers, but he had used an alias to apply. He was employed by the US government at the time he talked to this lady. I don't understand how he can be charged with impersonating a public official, since he was one. I assume the false representation charge relates to his job application. I'm thinking that is his only crime here.

If the government is taking fingerprints and running checks, they need to complete that process before sending people out. It is ridiculous to say that because there are 600,000 people applying for these positions, it is expected that the process won't work well. Allow time for the checks. So simple. They've known the census was coming up for at least ten years now.

While this lady is being lauded as a hero, she and people like her are actually the reason we have census takers at all. She didn't mail in hers. ("I lost it," she says. Right.) She would rather someone come to her home and ask her the questions than fill out a form and drop it in the mail. For all intents and purposes, she invited a census taker to come to her house. Thanks to people like her, we have to spend millions on these workers.

From the Census Bureau:

It costs just 42 cents to mail back the census form in a postage paid envelope. It costs taxpayers $57 per person to send a census taker door-to-door to collect the same information if they didn’t mail it back... For every one percentage point increase in the national participation rate by mail, taxpayers can help the Census Bureau save about $85 million in operational costs.

Friends who didn't send theirs in- I love ya', but please don't tell me about it or I'll be compelled to fork your lawn.

Speaking of government jobs, I'm in the process of getting all the paperwork squared away for mine. There are three things I have to do:

1) take clerical proficiency tests (done!)
2) fill out employment paperwork
3) get fingerprinted

While all these tasks occur in the same place, it is required that there be a day between each. I'm guessing that's to make it as complicated and wasteful as possible. I won't complain too much, though. I would have been working all along for the government if I had gone into nuke-E twenty years ago. Or as Scotty calls it- nookie, which would be really fun to get paid for! Oh, perhaps that would be illegal. :/

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Librarian Attire 101

Z and I were talking about my new library wardrobe yesterday. Gotta get some twinsets and a cute pair of scholarly glasses. Tight, dark gray skirts with the slit up the back. Spiky heels. Okay, maybe one denim jumper with an owl appliqued to the pocket. I also have to work on the bun. I picture something a la Sarah Palin. She may not be that smart, but I have to admit, the girl rocks a bun.

For two hours yesterday, I designed a graphic that ended up being a completely different color than I thought it was. It had to match something else on an existing page. I re-did the whole thing from scratch in 10 minutes, using an entirely different method. Always learning. Thanks, background eraser! (If I really wanted to do graphics design I would get a Mac. Just sayin'. This would have taken me 5 minutes from the get-go.)

In other news... How long can these bajillions of gallons of oil can continue to spill out of the ocean floor? I'm guessing until the Gulf is full. Seriously, WTF? There has been a lot more done in the name of a lot less on the environmental front. This seems a disaster of epic proportions and few people are at the appropriate level of freaking out.

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Congressional Shake-Up?

Voters back anti-DC, anti-establishment candidates

Could it be true? Are people finally voting out these long-term nonthinking party-line politicians? Wooooohooooo!! There's been talk of this for years, but no one wanted to vote their own guy out. They just wanted you to vote YOUR guy out. Heck, if they can get rid of Specter, anything is possible! Maybe we'll get some new people in there who aren't mired in owed favors and who aren't kissing up to the Republican or Democratic parties. We just need some common sense up there.

I hate when I get my morning routine going out-of-order for some reason, and I forget things. I end up without my rings or even worse- brushing my teeth after I put my lipstick on, which basically involves starting that process over again. And here I am at the computer at 7:42 am, during the morning household rush, rather than during the typical pre-dawn quiet.

Also in the morning schedule shake-up, I was zipping through Mafia Wars and accidentally clicked a button and gave away my very best vehicle to a friend. I guess it would be bad manners to ask for it back. Grr. :-)

Happy hump day, y'all!

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Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose

I have one word for my fellow Twitterers, Tweeters, Twits... whatever we're called: @TheBloggess. I have not laughed this much in weeks. Of course she has the blogs, too. I read her last couple of blog posts to Jeff. Out loud. He wasn't as impressed. Perhaps he was distracted by all my giggling.

I want to share something she posted on her blog that is of particular relevance to me these days. (Well, plus the video is so cool!) Her comment was, "I sent this to everyone who doesn’t understand why I blog even though there’s no real money in. They still don’t understand but I feel slightly more validated." Rock on, Jenny.

In my particular situation, it's not about blogging, because my little space on the web isn't at all a global endeavor like hers. It does relate to doing things in my life that mean something to me and contribute to the community or society at large, where I learn and experience new things, regardless of financial concerns above having our family needs/wants covered. Being motivated by "autonomy, mastery and purpose" instead of prestige and a big salary. You can definitely have all those things together, which would be fantastic, but the real motivators are the first three. It's why I spend so much time doing website work for free. As I make the move from volunteer to full-time career mode over the next few years, I am striving to keep this in mind.




Song Lyrics del Dia

...The touch of your hand inspires
The taste of you, my favorite song
A lifetime in your gallery
Tell me, would that be wrong?
Would that be too long?...

Tony Lucca "Happily Ever After"

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Oil Spill Photograph

Yahoo News' master photojournalism... Is anyone really looking at the buoy in this photo?

(Yes ladies, there's a buoy in the photo.)

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Hello Monday

Lauren got some gorgeous black suede stilettos when we were at the outlet mall this weekend- her first pair of super-high heels, to go with a beautiful, long purple formal gown she just got. She's practicing walking in them. I got some stuff at the Gap. The boys went off to man stores and didn't end up going home with anything. Aww.

So I saw the story of the seven-year-olds doing very sexy dance moves in very tiny outfits... When Lauren was doing cheer, there were little girls that age (and younger) from other gyms who flipped up the backs of their skirts to show their sparkly-shorts-covered rear ends to the crowd, and those types of moves. Our gym was always very against that sort of choreography, and the parents appreciated it. By conscious decision of the staff, our teams didn't use cheer outfits with bare midriffs, even for the teenagers. I don't necessarily have a problem with bare midriffs, as long as the skirts aren't being worn too low (most cheer skirts are fairly high on the waist), but it was nice not to even have to deal with that.

The age of kids who display this type of behavior gets younger and younger, and in the end it's really about the parents and their encouragement of it. The children are just doing what their dance instructor taught them, and what their parents obviously think is alright. Ever been to a dance or cheer facility? The parents are always there. This stuff isn't created in a vacuum and shown on performance day to the shock of the moms and dads. Eww, I hadn't even thought of the dads here. They are encouraging this with their 2nd-grade daughters? Jeff cringes when our sixteen-year-old wears short shorts.

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Iron Man 2

It's good, but not as good as the first film, of course. My favorite line was Tony, the ultimate player, saying to Pepper, "I'm making progress. I knew there was a correlation!" after he bought her strawberries, the single thing to which she is allergic. Tony and Rhodey destroyed Stark's amazing house during a fight. That really broke my heart.

Um, am I the only person who thinks Skechers Shape-Ups are a good way to twist your ankle? And they say they don't work anyway.



Sunday Stealing: The Speed Dating Meme, Part 2

26. Have you ever been stung by a bee?
Just once. When I was around 10 and I was swinging, I jumped out of my swing into some clover, right onto a bee who stung the bottom of my foot.

27. What's the sickest you've ever been?
During chemo at MD Anderson, I was throwing up about every 10 minutes or so for a week out of each month. No exaggeration. It was ridiculous, really. The only time I didn't throw up was when I was asleep, so they gave me medication to keep me sleeping most of the time.

28. What's your favorite form of exercise?
cardio kickboxing or step aerobics

29. What's your favorite Cyndi Lauper song?
"True Colors"

30. What did you do for your 13th birthday?
Had a roller skating party.

31. Are you afraid of heights?
Somewhat

32. Have you ever taken dance lessons?
Ballet, tap, jazz and... disco.

33. What's your favorite newspaper?
I don't read the newspaper.

34. What's your favorite Broadway / West End musical?
RENT

35. What's the most memorable class you've ever taken?
US History my freshman year at college. Hottest professor ever. Longish hair and glasses. Wore a suit. When he talked about history he got all wound up and paced around. He would put his hands in his hair and at some point he would loosen his tie. When the glasses came off, you could almost hear all us girls gasp. Yep. Pretty memorable.

36. What's your favorite knock-knock joke?
Me: I heard the best knock-knock joke! Okay, you start.
You: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
You: ...

37. What's your least favorite commercial?
Any Geico commercial with the cavemen

38. If you could go to Disney World with any celebrity alive today, who would it be?
George Clooney. Or Robert Downey, Jr.

39. Do you prefer baths or showers?
Showers

40. What's your favourite newspaper comic strip?
Remember, I don't read the newspaper. If Far Side is in the newspaper, I like that one.

41. What's your favorite breakfast food?
soft-boiled eggs on toast, with lots of salt and pepper

42. Who's your favorite game show host?
I could cheat and say Anderson Cooper, because he did host "The Mole" for two seasons, but I've always liked Chuck Woolery. He seems like a genuinely nice guy.

43. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Invisibility

44. Do you like guacamole?
love it

45. Have you ever been in a food fight?
nope

46. Name five songs to which you know all the lyrics.
"I Know You Won't" Carrie Underwood
"Belief" Gavin DeGraw
"Breathe No More" Evanescence
"Innocent" Our Lady Peace
"Always Midnight" Pat Monahan
(I know all the lyrics to most songs I like.)

47. What's your favorite infomercial?
None. I avoid them at all costs.

48. What's the longest you've ever waited in line?
We used to frequently do the overnight lines to get concert tickets at the record store, back in the day. So, I'd say 12 hours.

49. What's on the cover of your address book or day planner?
flowers

50. Have you ever taken a picture in one of those little booths?
Yes! Fun!

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Working Girl

I got the library job! Yay!! Great hours. Great working environment. I'll get to stop by and harass Laura's husband, who also works there. He's gonna love that. I have to take a typing test next week. They require 35 wpm. Yeah, not a problem.

Jeff and I went to Melting Pot last night. We got a pretty private table, which is unusual there. I think we've finally hit upon the perfect ordering plan. Share one entree and salad. Full orders of cheese and chocolate, because face it... that is why we're all there, right? An even better option might be to have a pb&j before you leave and skip the meat and salad courses altogether. Or skip the pb&j and the entree and just order double cheese. Hmm. Maybe we haven't found the perfect plan yet. Jeff came up with a genius chocolate fondue creation- milk chocolate and amaretto. It was reeeeeally awesome.


Patrick's Saturday Six

1. Assuming you’re single and available, you find yourself really attracted to someone, but in the back of your mind, something tells you that this is definitely someone to avoid. If you can’t put your finger on anything specific that would be a warning sign, would you pursue anything?
No way. You have to trust your inner voice on that kind of thing.

2. Who tends to be “higher maintenance,” you or the people you date?
Luckily I never dated a "high maintenance" guy. While I'm not high maintenance per se, I was probably always higher maintenance than them.

3. Are you more likely to be too quick or too slow to apologize when you realize you’re wrong?
Too slow. Matter-of-fact, I can usually smooth things over and admit the other person was right without apologizing at all. It's an art. ;)

4. Take the quiz: Do You Follow Your Head or Your Heart?
(This description of people who follow their hearts really bites. I wouldn't disagree that I follow my heart, but I was never fickle when I was dating, and my intentions didn't change with the wind. So... :p)

You Follow Your Heart
You're romantic, sentimental, and emotional.
You tend to fall in (and out of) love very quickly.
Some may call you fickle, but you can't help where your emotions take you.
You've definitely broken a few hearts, but you're not a heartbreaker by nature.
Your intentions are always good, even if they change with the wind

5. You have feelings for a lost love but you know that the relationship would have been a disaster had it continued. How easy is it for you to set aside those feelings?
Feelings for a lost love arise out of the possibility of what a great relationship it might have been if it had continued. If I know it would have been a disaster (as is usually the case with someone you're no longer dating), it would be pretty easy for me to set those feelings aside.

6. How sentimental are you when it comes to love notes or personal letters that meant a lot to you from people you were once close to, even if you’re no longer close to them?
Very. I have a whole bunch of them in the next room.

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friday

The weather is positively creeping me out. It's a weird orange color outside, and there's a wispy layer of super-dark rain clouds here and there. The rain comes down like crazy and then stops. Then starts again in a few minutes. The news always blames these things on "Mexican agricultural fires." Uh huh. I'm beginning to wonder.

Fake Science. Go! Giggle!

Laura pulled up my blog at work yesterday and the spot where the Carrie Underwood video is, below, was blank. When I asked why it was blank, she asked if I posted something pornographic that might have been blocked by the school. She was disappointed when I said they must just block any YouTube videos.

Watch this one at home, L... *wink wink*




Friday Five: Cooookieeeee!

1. What is absolutely the best cookie you’ve ever had?
we call them Hello Dolly bars- those layered chocolate-chip/butterscotch-chip/coconut/sweetened condensed milk things

2. What is a cookie you really don’t care for?
white chocolate macadamia

3. What are some other cookies you are rather fond of?
Russian tea cakes

4. Grocery-store cookies are, of course, never as good as anything that comes out of someone’s kitchen, but what’s a packaged cookie that’s still pretty good?
Pepperidge Farm Geneva

5. In general, do you think cookies should be chewy and gooey, or should they be crispy and crunchy?
crispy and crunchy

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Happy Birthday Laura!!

Is it just me, or are you guys afraid that one day you'll type a search into your status bar in Facebook and press 'Share' before you realize what you typed in the wrong space? Then your status will be "Mary Beth Schubert" or "Daughtry" or some other randomness. I'm telling you, those two boxes are way too close together.

Speaking of Daughtry (oh! a segue!)... They were evidently on Idol last night singing "September." I caught it this morning on YouTube. He really should have won his season. We haven't watched AI this year, so I have no clue what's going on there. I'm pretty sure my Idol disengagement has thrown the universe out of alignment.

We saw Idol winner Carrie Underwood last night at the Erwin Center. (Seamless blog subject transition #2. Thanks.) She always puts on a beauuuutiful show. One of my favorite moments was at the end of "Jesus Take the Wheel" when she broke into an amazing rendition of "How Great Thou Art." Very moving. She has a flawless voice. She has this fantastic electronic dress... hold on. You HAVE to see it...



I don't think it's actually electronic. It looks like metal mesh and they're somehow projecting the images onto it. Super cool. Great song, too.

Sons of Sylvia were really good. Mostly rock with just a tad of country sprinkled in. Craig Morgan is heavy-duty country, which is great if you like that sort of thing. Lauren happened to see me text Laura "Craig Morgan is too country for me." Not five minutes later, Craig Morgan says, "Is this country enough for you??!!!" We were cracking up. "This ain't that bubble-gum country!" he adds. (...like Carrie Underwood?? Heh.)

I'm a bubblegum-country sort of girl myself. One of the only styles of music I don't care for is "real" country. If it hasn't crossed over to another radio format, I definitely haven't heard it. Brad Paisley is the absolute borderline of country music I like. I appreciate a few of the neat stories some traditional country songs tell, or any lyrics that make me giggle. It's the sound of those twangy instruments and the nasal voice tone I can't take. And any songs about tractors.

The Bloggess has an item for bid on eBay. ROFL. Did I mention how much I am enjoying her blog? She's from Pearland. How awesome is that. (I had to end my post with a random comment, or you'd think someone had hacked this thing.)

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The Office

The entire Foundation staff was out of town yesterday for a meeting, so I babysat the office by myself for several hours. Another volunteer left me with instructions on how to transfer people to voice mail, but also mentioned that she hadn't been able to get it to work. So, of course it wasn't working for me either.

I found some written notes on how to operate the phone, and proceeded to call the office phone from my cell phone over and over until I figured it out. Glad no one was there to see that.

There were several phone calls, but only two visitors, both of whom I chatted up, so they would stay and keep me company. The donor hung out for a few minutes, but the UPS guy had to get back to work. Eh.

Overall, no disasters, and I got caught up on Mafia Wars!


20 Firsts

1. Who was your first love? John H

2. Who was your first kiss and when? Frankie B when we were 8. It was definitely a real kiss, but not a REAL kiss. First REAL one was John when I was 15.

3. Who was your first prom date? Evans R

4. Who was your first roommate? Never had a roommate.

5. What was your first job? Gallagher's hostess

6. What was your first car? maroon Mazda GLC

7. When did you go to your first funeral? My great-grandma died when I was 8.

8. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown? 18 when I moved from Houston to College Station

9. Who was your first grade teacher? Miss Cacioppo

10. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? When I was 3 and we flew from Germany to the US.

11. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with? John took me to see Young Frankenstein

12. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with? I've never sneaked out. I did leave the house way too late on occasion, but my mom usually said it was okay as long as she knew exactly where I was going, what I was doing and when I would be home.

13. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them? Kristen D in 1st grade- nope

14. Who was the first person to send you flowers? hmm. I don't have a clue.

15. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents' house? in a garage apartment at my grandparents' at school

16. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day? lately, Cathy. (I can see her nodding now.) Lucky her!

17. Whose wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsman? Kathy L

18. What is the first thing you do in the morning? brush my teeth

19. What was your first career choice? doctor

20. What was your first sport? basketball team in middle school. Before that, it was all about performing arts... I was into dance and was a twirling team captain in elementary school. :)

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Late Night

Evangeline Lilly may have been the worst guest ever on David Letterman. Ever. In all the years he's been on. Including the daytime show. She was very ditzy and well... a bit weird. At one point she up and almost left, as a joke. At another, she invited Dave to feel the fabric of her dress.

David asked what is going to happen on the final episode of "Lost" and she went into this big thing about how many bloggers think they know exactly how it will end, and how some of them are actually pretty smart, etc.

"Has somebody posted the correct theory?" he asked.

"I've never looked at the blogs -- I don't know."

:|

At one point Dave said that after writing his 400-600 words per day in the morning, Hemingway would start drinking gin.

"...which is the ultimate panty remover," she added.

:\

Mmmmkay then. Weirdo.

Last night after my shower, I oh so reveled in the heat of a bath towel fresh from the dryer. Yes, I just remodeled my bathroom and even thought of putting a towel warmer in, but evidently I decided not to. Sad. Day.

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Doppelgänger Weekend

In the past two days, I've had not just one, but TWO suggestions that I look like someone. Gib said I look like Laura Linney these days.

Cathy's boy toy... ahem... new friend said I look like Ellie Kemper from "The Office."

I can actually see the resemblances there. Too funny!

I Facebook-messaged Jerry O from elementary school. He friended CJ and I had to tell him my Jerry Story:

One day at lunch in third grade, he announced there was no Santa Claus. I got very angry with him and said there WAS SO a Santa Claus. Thus ensued a very animated class-wide argument over the issue, most kids siding with him. That night, after I indignantly relayed the whole lunchtime story to my mom, she told me he was right.

His Facebook reply: "...What a funny story! By the way, the Easter Bunny isn't real either..." LOL

Supposedly they are going to cancel "FlashForward!" Whyyyy? It's so good! One of my very favorite shows. I'm betting a lot of people just don't understand it. Yeah, I'm looking at you, people who don't "get" The Matrix.

We saw Babies yesterday. Awwwwww. So cute! It's a documentary about four babies growing through their first year, in different parts of the world. They are in Japan, Africa, the US and Mongolia. My favorite is the Mongolian boy, Bayar. He is such a happy little guy. Always smiling and giggling, like Lauren was at that age. A critic's review said that the film tries to push the idea that children in Western culture are overstimulated and unhappy while the children in less developed parts of the world are living a joyful, simple existence. I don't think it was that pushy. It just looked to me like a comparing and contrasting, without an in-your-face agenda. One of my favorite parts was the baby from San Francisco trying desperately to escape a New Age gymboree-style baby class. Hilarious. The film was really interesting. I recommend it!

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Happy Mothers Day

Had a full-circle moment in the car. Years ago, my sweet little girl would occasionally sing along with songs like "Digital Getdown" or "Hot in Herre." *cringe* Now I can give her the heebie jeebies when I sing along with "Rude Boy." Giddy up, giddy up...


Sunday Stealing: The Speed Dating Meme

1. What's your favorite Dr. Seuss book?
Green Eggs and Ham

2. If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be?
the house on "The Bachelor"

3. What's the longest you've gone without sleep?
about 30 hours, when Lauren was born

4. What's your favorite Barry Manilow song?
Who doesn't love "Copacabana"

5. Who's your favorite Muppet?
Grover

6. What's the habit you're proudest of breaking?
leaving the garage door unlocked

7. What's your favorite website?
AllRecipes.com

8. What's your favorite school supply?
pretty or unusual paper clips

9. Who's your favorite TV attorney?
Denny Crane from "Boston Legal"

10. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?
to Dallas for Bon Jovi

11. What's the best bargain you've ever found at a garage sale or junk shop?
I got a silk potted tree at a garage sale for $10.

12. Where were you on September 11, 2001?
With several other school moms at someone's house, assembling wrapping paper fundraiser orders. Jeff called me after the first plane and told us to turn on the TV. We watched the rest unfold live.

13. What's your favorite tree?
crape myrtle

14. What's the most interesting biography you've read?
Anderson Cooper Dispatches from the Edge

15. What do you order when you eat Chinese food?
sesame chicken or cashew chicken

16. What's the best costume you've ever worn?
flasher

17. What's your least favorite word?
the C word

18. If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be?
Florida

19. Who's your favorite bear?
Winnie the Pooh

20. Describe something that's happened to you for which you have no explanation.
that preliminary cancer diagnosis that never panned out several years ago, despite mountains of initial evidence to support it

21. If you could travel anywhere in Africa, where would it be?
Egypt- to see the pyramids.

22. What did you have for lunch yesterday?
Sonic. Hamburger and onion rings. You're supposed to have tator tots there, but I'm a rebel.

23. Where do you go for advice?
friends

24. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?
I use both a lot, but I use the dictionary more.

25. Have you ever been snorkeling? Scuba diving?
I have been snorkeling. I'm not great at it though. I can't get over feeling like I shouldn't be able to breathe under water, so I tend to hold my breath. Yeah, it's probably best that I don't attempt to scuba dive.

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Ahh. Newsagent!

I had to brush up on my European, because Eva told me she has to do her post office activities "at the newsagent's" since they are closing all the post offices. I'm thinking she's downtown at a Belgian counterpart of the Austin American-Statesman building, trying to purchase stamps (or sending me an awesome mix tape) whilst the printing presses are running. But no. A newsagent is... a guy who runs a newsstand! I like it. I would much rather buy my magazines at a "newsagent's shop" than a "newsstand."


Saturday 9: Hey Jealousy

1. When was the last time that you got jealous?
I was very jealous last year when Scotty vacationed at the beach in a freakin' fabulous house. :)

2. At what point do you finally decide it's time to move forward with your life (like, major changes)? How do you know? What do you do?
I usually make major changes after months of contemplation. The bathroom remodel is a great example. At some point, I basically get sick of pondering it, and then I need to either pull the trigger or let it go. Once that decision is made, I move at lightning speed to make the change.

3. When is it time to just let it ('it' can be whatever you choose) go? How do you know? What do you do?
There always seems to come a moment of clarity, when you can see what the situation must look like to someone outside of it... how obvious it is to an uninvolved party that whatever you're holding on to is hurting you. I just have to make a very conscious decision to let it go. The longer it's gone, the easier it gets.

4. How many times must someone push your buttons before you've just had enough? Why?
Usually twice. I almost always laugh off the first push as teasing, but if it continues, I figure it's an attack.

5. If a S/O were to cheat on you, could you ever see yourself giving them a second chance? Or a third?
A second- perhaps, depending on the circumstances. A third? No way. Like the Facebook group says, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I'm kicking your ass.

6. What was the last thing that someone did that you were very grateful for?
Zonia recommended me for this perfect part-time job gig!

7. How much time do you spend online in a given weekday? What about the weekends?
Too much. I probably spend 6-7 hours online on a weekday and maybe 3 on weekends. About half of that is actual work and the other half is fluff. Some people read. I blast my iTunes and hang out online.

8. How many online journals/blogs do you read regularly? What are some of your favorites and why?
I read Jack's triathalon blog, but he hasn't updated in a hundred years. *sigh* He's even training for an event! :) I just found a gem of a blog last night through Twitter- The Bloggess. She's a writer for the Houston Chronicle, and has other entertaining blogs as well. I was in TEARS giggling at some of her posts.

9. What was the last major purchase that you made?
A dishwasher that I hate. Blah.

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Good Morning

Jeff's a Jenn fan. Maybe she can motivate him?

The interview went pretty well. I did have two simple things I absolutely wanted to say at some point, and of course I neglected to mention either of them. I hate that! I should hear one way or the other the week after next.

So many people are traveling this week. Kathy is in Washington DC. Laura is in Wisconsin. Tracy is on a road trip. I... am here in the ATX, where the weather is kinda eh.

Are the Savages selfless or what? It's obviously the "correct" way to handle a terrible mix-up, but omg how devastating for the pregnant mom. :(

Yesterday was one of the crappiest days ever. Hoping today is the start of a wonderful weekend!

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Campaign for Longer Hair

I am officially beginning a campaign to get my dear husband to grow his hair out. Not like a rock star, just a little, so I can see those gorgeous waves. He's practically got it shaved at the moment.

Several years ago I was trying to get him to really grow it out, like a certain singer, who at the time had his just long enough to go down his neck, like this:

I thought Jeff would look great with his hair like that. He said, "Hell no."

Jeff isn't a fan of his own curls/waves, but I so like them. So anytime you see him, let him know how much you would loooooove to see him with his hair grown out... even just a little. He's joked that he would be willing to grow a soul patch instead. Yikes. Longer hair is hardly as ridiculous as that.

We saw Stomp last night! (No, I've never seen it in aaaaaaall the years it's been around, thankyouverymuch. :p) I had no idea it was going to be funny. It was hilarious! So much fun. Audience participation, too. Those people have amazing talent and crazy energy. Definitely see it... those three of you out there who haven't...

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New Bob Video

Bob Schneider was on MIX 94.7 yesterday morning. The 94.7 website has an exclusive preview of the new video for "Like Romeo and Juliet," which was directed by Robert Rodriguez and filmed around Austin. Too cool! Very cute vignette. I guess our Bob is all grown up and going mainstream. *wipes tear*

We're taking care of JeffC's two kitties while he's out of town. They are the most skittish cats ever. Lauren has gotten one of them to come out from under the bed once, but neither Jeff nor I can get them out. Don't they know we miss having a kitty? Let's play!!


Wednesday Wickedness: Taylor Swift Quotes

1. "I never want to change so much that people can't recognize me." Do you believe people can truly change?
Very rarely. People are who they are. We can definitely change individual behaviors, but core things are pretty set, I think.

2. "People haven't always been there for me but music always has." Do you have people in your life you could always count on?
Several. And any one of them would kill me if I neglected to mention them by name here, so I won't. :D

3. "I’m intimidated by the fear of being average." Do you think there is anything wrong with being average?
Not at all. Most people are.

4. "Never believe anyone who says you don't deserve what you want." Do you believe you deserve everything you want?
Depends on what you want, if it infringes on someone else's desires, if you have the money to buy it, if you did the work for it... so many things. I guess she's talking about boyfriends/relationships here? No matter how much you "deserve" everything you want from a relationship, you're probably going to have to make some concessions. There is another person to consider.

5. "I have to believe in fairy tales and I have to believe in love." Do you believe in fairy tale love?
Well, no. It would be lovely for everything to be rainbows and unicorns all the time, but in the end you love someone during the rainbow and unicorn times and also through your differences and disagreements.

6. "I wouldn't want to date a pushover who would let me make all the plans and have all the control." Do you believe in sharing the control in your relationships?
Yep. I am neither a person who desires to control someone else, nor a person wants to be controlled. Ideally we give and take control of different things at different times.

7. "Sometimes [finding new friends] is the best thing about dating. I've met so many friends through guys that I've dated. And now, the guys are gone but the girls are still around." Did you ever make a close friend from someone that you've dated?
Okay, I misunderstood this question... Yes! I've met a couple of people through guys I've dated, who have ended up being close friends.

8. "There are a lot of rumors out there that you just have to ignore." Has anyone ever spread something malicious about you?
Not that I recall.

9. "I set goals that are just a little bit out of reach, but not totally out of reach." How do you go about setting your goals?
I like to think of what I would "probably" be able to accomplish and in what timeframe, and then shorten the time and ramp up the accomplishment just a bit.

10. " I remember seeing girls crying in the bathroom every Monday about what they did at a party that weekend. I never wanted to be that girl." Have you ever done something at a party that you've ever regretted?
The only thing I regret is getting way over-served at Kathy and Tiff's one time- the infamous "Screwdriver Party" that ruined screwdrivers forever for several of us. I ended up asleep on the bed where the coats were. I woke up with a drunk guy on me. Had he been a little more sober, I may have had something to worry about. As it was, he was just slurring something in my ear and falling asleep. Luckily someone came in to get their coat about then and some guys showed up to retrieve him.

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:(

My grandfather's wife (my grandma died when I was 11) has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, or "pre-leukemia." Other than Type II diabetes, which she manages with diet, she's a pretty healthy lady, and about 15 years younger than my grandpa. We're all shocked. MDS is a fatal disease, usually within a few years, whether or not it develops into AML. I just feel so bad for her. She hates to take medicine, and she's in for a lot of it. She's already started chemo.

Grandpa told me they've never put their wedding photos in a scrapbook, and asked if I would make one. So he's sending the pics to me and I'm going to make a scrapbook for them. Their 30th anniversary is next January.

I'm participating in a study being done by St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital on survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers. It's a survey. It's supposed to take 45 minutes, but I've already taken over an hour and I'm not anywhere near finished. I'm thinking too hard about my answers, I think.

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Beautiful Weekend

Busy and fun weekend, too! One of the best parts- pinot wine flight and chocolate cake at Truluck's. omg.

Saturday was our big event day. I met quite a few wonderful people. It was a lot of work. We laughed, we cried... ahaha. Actually... we did.

I also learned some floral skills, as I was assigned for most of the set-up time to a group helping the florist create some centerpieces on site. A secret I can share- the simple way to take roses and make rose petals out of them. It's much easier than just pulling the petals off, and especially handy when you're doing 16 dozen. You squeeze the base of the flower very hard in one direction, and then  move 90 degrees and squeeze again, and the whole rose comes off, with the petals already separated. Sprinkle wherever you want them. You know you want to do it! The petals are soft and cool in your fingers, so it's a very pleasant, relaxing task.

Sunday Seven

They precede some of the most famous motion pictures ever made, and though they rarely last more than 20 seconds, they bring back plenty of memories every time they play. I’m talking about the studio logos we’ve grown up with, from MGM’s Leo the Lion to 20th Century Fox’s famous spotlights. Name your seven favorite movie studio logos.

Pixar Studios



Twisted Pictures



Lionsgate



Jerry Bruckheimer Films




Dreamworks




New Line Cinema



And of course... 20th Century Fox

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The Rielle Hunter Interview

I finally watched Oprah Winfrey's Rielle Hunter interview from Thursday. I've said this before, but I honestly don't have anything against her for being "the other woman" in John Edwards' situation. She thinks people hate her because she is what they fear in their own marriages. I don't. Actually, I wholeheartedly agree with her that no third person breaks up a marriage. Even if fifty people are coming on to someone in a given day, it is the choice of the person in the committed relationship whether or not to participate. Placing blame on the external person is just a way to shift responsibility from a wandering partner. Completely understandable. It helps when you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your significant other, to focus your anger on someone outside the relationship.

I just think she's a jerk for oh so many other reasons. He, too, of course.

They weren't using birth control. She says he knew. That is irresponsible and unforgivable. Now we see what happens when a child is born into that situation. That innocent little girl was denied by her father. Everyone in the Edwards campaign pretended that she was Andrew Young's baby for political purposes, so his precious reputation wouldn't be tarnished. Despicable. His daughter will eventually know all of that. Hunter says she is always motivated by protecting her daughter. Right.

She continually spoke of Edwards living a life of truth and how she always lives a life of truth and integrity. Probably the most ridiculous thing she said. She's a woman in love. Good for her, but those rose-colored glasses need to come off eventually. The guy came off as charming and gracious for years in campaigns where he was calling his own constituents and supporters nasty names behind their backs. We know the lengths he went to to publicly deny paternity of his child. The man is a fake, with a capital F.

The GQ photos. She says she wanted to do the article and photos to show people who she "really" is, but when the mag came out, she was shocked that the half-naked photos made her look slutty. She cried. Aww. Don't take your pants off next time, honey.

The sex tape. Dumb idea for a man running for President. She claims it was made in the heat of the moment. She worked for the campaign. Between the two of them, neither thought of the possible ramifications, political or otherwise? I'm glad a person with no common sense didn't make it to the White House.

She comes off as someone who has thought a whole lot about how to make herself look good in the face of so much evidence that she is a selfish bubble-head.

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May Day

Good mornin', all. :)

Friday Five: Red

1. What is your favorite red food?
grape tomatoes

2. When were you last caught red-handed?
I honestly can't think of any time I've been caught red-handed. So have I not done anything or have I just never been caught? Mwahaha. The world may never know.

3. What’s your nicest red article of clothing?
A crispy, bright red cotton, casual jacket

4. Who’s got the loveliest red hair?
Real red- Amy Adams. Fake red- Maria Kanellis. I really do have a thing for her, don't I.

5. What are your thoughts on the 2002 Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge!?
When we saw the film at the theater, I almost literally walked out during the opening song. It was so loud and crazy, and so very bizarre and different from anything I'd seen. I am incredibly happy we stayed. Not only do I adore the music, but I'm completely in love with the love story. I cry every time I watch. You can just feel the chemistry between the two characters. And oh my GOSH, can Ewan McGregor sing or what?! Who knew. One of my very favorite films ever.

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