WARNING: MUSE ON VACATION

luvukbye

2008-09-09T07:35:00.002-05:00

I think most of us have our checklists in the morning--things we need to do or need to pack before heading out for the day. Beyond basic hygiene and not being naked, my routine is to give the dogs their meds, grab some breakfast, snacks and lunch and pack up my water bottle.

D has a different kind of checklist. First, he really only has to take care of himself in the morning (which will soon change!) except for the rare occasions that he feeds the dogs or lets them in or out (that is like second nature to me, so I don't feel the need to include it in my To Do list). Second, he doesn't really need to think about what to do in the morning because I constantly question if he remembered to grab lunch or if he has his cell phone or if he has tried the new bars or trail mix I bought. So, D's checklist doesn't really happen until we're in the car--or more precisely--until I start to get out of the car.

You see, we carpool to work on a fairly regular basis and at least half the time that we ride together we are rushed and he needs to drop me off and get to the office in under 10 minutes (which is very doable most mornings, but traffic does happen). This morning was one of those mornings and as I exited the car he said, "Have a good day. I'll call you when I'm leaving. Love you. Bye." I looked at him and replied, "Did you get everything?" He nodded and we kissed (because we ALWAYS kiss goodbye).

Anyway, I thought it was cute and it goes to show that I'm not the only crazy one in this relationship.

Weekend of Labor

2008-09-02T10:17:00.004-05:00

No. I was not in labor, nor was I in the hospital for anything preterm labor related. But it was Labor Day weekend and all, and although I had Monday off from my job, the work was never ending.

My very pregnant self (T minus 9 weeks!) and D worked around the house ALL WEEKEND. No rest for the weary. We made at least two trips to the local home improvement store (because we can never get everything we need all at once) and then went out to dinner twice. The rest of the weekend was spent indoors slaving away on self-imposed projects. And oh, it would have been a beautiful weekend to have been outside.

Anyway...we were quite successful in completing our project lists and although I am still freaking out about everything we have left to do before we bring a baby home, we are both happy with the progress we made. AND we didn't kill each other! We worked at home together, on home improvement projects no less, and we didn't kill each other or file for divorce! We have truly matured.

Here are the things we have checked off our project list:

Paint nursery - CHECK
Pull carpet up in family room - CHECK
Lay tile in basement - CHECK
Clean laundry room - half check: all the laundry is done (except for the clothes and bath towels from the weekend) but I haven't organized the boxes yet and the tile for the foyer still lives in there
Fold and put away all clean laundry - CHECK All eight (8) baskets full of clothes
Organize closets - CHECK

We still have a lot left to do, but once the carpeting is installed (we should hear from them sometime this week) the rest of the list isn't urgent. At least I don't think it's urgent right now--I might feel differently tomorrow, or in 15 minutes.

And as I mentioned above, we also went out to dinner twice (one involving the most delectable of all desserts), both times with my parents. It was their 35th anniversary yesterday and we tried to take them out for dinner on Sunday, but they insisted on paying and then invited us out to dinner again last night and insisted on paying again. We obviously need to sharpen up on our 'grab the check' skills; but they did tell us to put that money towards baby items, so I guess it all works out. (?)

Oh, and D also made me scrambled eggs with ham and cheese on both Sunday and Monday. Love.

I hope you all had lovely weekends and found time to RELAX!

Comparing Baby Bumps

2008-08-18T08:08:00.006-05:00

Zimm and I went out for dinner (with our husbands) on Friday night. We hadn't seen each other since early June, so it was fun to gawk at each other's pregnant bellies. Zimm is due October 15--only 2 1/2 weeks before me! Awww...aren't we cute?
We'll have to pose for this picture again in a few weeks.

And this is me back at around 20 weeks (I'm about 29 weeks in the pictures above)--I couldn't imagine getting any bigger than that and now I can barely see the bump at all!

Recently Out Of My Mouth

2008-08-14T13:25:00.002-05:00

I actually said "nucking futs" the other day. It was in the context of telling Q she was driving me crazy.

D and I recently had a conversation about my ever-changing body. I told him that he needed to tell me once I started to waddle--I need to be aware of this--and that he should try to make it a compliment. Something along the lines of, "Wow, I've never seen a sexier walk in my life!" would do just fine.

A piece of black licorice taffy went from my mouth into the garbage. Why is black licorice taffy white? I thought it was coconut or something sweet, I was not expecting licorice. Yuck!

Nesting And Such

2008-08-12T14:00:00.005-05:00

I'm just over 28 weeks pregnant (less than 12 weeks to go!)--seems like the perfect time to rip our house apart, doesn't it?

We've known for a long time that once we were expecting we would need to re-carpet the (former wedding room turned dog kennel) nursery and decided it would be the perfect time to also re-carpet our bedroom. We also knew that with two large dogs and a muddy/sandy backyard, the longer we waited the cleaner the carpet would ultimately be for BP08's homecoming.

Well, now it's time. We picked out carpeting for our bedroom and Audrey's room last week. After much conversation and budget review (and finding AWESOME top of the line carpeting at a great price) we decided to also re-carpet the family room in the basement. But along with that project comes other projects.

We always wanted to tile the 'entry' to the family room as it is directly off the stairs from our foyer and we traipse up and down those stairs and in and out of the bowling closet and laundry room with our shoes on most of the time. We would like to have an easy clean surface because of this. We decided long ago that we would tile that area at the same time we re-carpeted the family room. Awesome--that time is NOW. Plus, we already have tile in the foyer and we want the tile to match. (The existing foyer tile is UG-LY.) OK, add that to the list. And we want heated tile. I mean, if we're going to tile in this day and age, it might as well make use of current technology/modern conveniences, right? (Oh, and D can get the heating elements at discount.) Besides, we're already ripping up the carpeting and existing tile, so putting down the heat coils won't be that much more work when laying tile. Add that to the list too.

But what about the other projects that (kind of) need to get done before all of this carpeting and tile laying and oh yeah, BRINGING HOME THE BABY happens? The walls in the once dog kennel room need to be repainted. (We picked out Behr Song of Summer.) They also need to be patched as apparently the dogs thought they could dig out and had they been successful it would have been bad since the room is on the second floor. I also started painting our nasty dark baseboards on the first floor and need to finish that up in nursery and in our bedroom (once the carpeting is removed).

Over the weekend we washed walls in the nursery, hallways and basement. That is actually quite a work out! I also worked on clearing out the laundry room to make way for our line-drying set up for clothing and cloth diapers. D cleaned out the garage and filled up our huge garbage can with crap and dumped another load off at BIL's house. He also started pulling up carpeting in the basement as we will add that to our trash for weeks to come.

My mom asked what she could do to be helpful as we work on the house and prepare for the baby and I think my answer kind of shocked her. I asked if she could come over to deep clean our bathroom and kitchen since the strong cleaners make me sick (I've been keeping up with soap & water and Method on occasion, but I'd love to have the surfaces bleached and scrubbed). I also requested that she and my dad pull the refrigerator and oven away from the wall to clean behind them and around them as things seem to spill between the countertops and appliances. They are planning to come over a Saturday in September when I have to work to get this done. Is it weird that I'm excited about it?

Oh, and more exciting than cleaning and ordering carpet and painting and buying tile for a DIY job--we FINALLY ordered our bed frame that my parents bought us for Christmas. The delivery time should be perfect as we'll only need to take apart our Sleep Number once for both the carpeting and bed frame set up.

I think we have our work cut out for us over the next 12 weeks. And after that (or maybe before that) we'll have a BABY! Even with all of this housework, we ain't seen nothing yet when it comes to the work involved for the rest of our lives!

ABCs Of My Morning

2008-08-06T13:37:00.003-05:00

Appalling: Did you know a website exists to hook up people looking to have extramarital affairs? I guess a few TV networks had run ads for them and either because they received complaints from viewers or their execs poo-pooed the idea, the ads have now been cut. I won't link to this site or give you the name, but just think of a Simpson sister and Wisconsin city and you've got it.

Brilliant: So as I was listening to the above story on the radio in horror, I drove to my old office building and parked in my old ramp. Apparently I was a bit distracted. I moved office buildings last week. I'm now several blocks away from the old location in a completely different ramp. I did make it to the right office though, just a little late.

Crunchy: We registered for cloth diapers last night. (OK, I know the post title clearly states 'morning' but whatever. I sent the link to people this morning; does that count?) We are going to give it our best shot because the thought of throwing out all of those diapers makes me sick. D has agreed based on the financial aspect of it. I think we can make it work. Check out all the cute styles at PinStripes and PolkaDots.

Blubbering Mess

2008-07-23T07:22:00.002-05:00

You've probably seen it elsewhere, but I just had to post it here as well. Here is the video of Christian - the lion that reunites with his humans years after living wild in Africa.

Do you remember Born Free? Turns out that George Adamson, husband of Joy Adamson, introduced Christian into the wild. Perhaps that's him in the video? You can read the Today Show blurb here.

Up To Speed

2008-07-18T10:53:00.002-05:00

So it's been awhile since I've updated. I have a really good reason, I promise! Oh, wait--no I don't, I'm just a slacker. But, the anonyposter below saved my blog from becoming a ghost town with that hilarious contribution--THANK YOU!

What have I been up to? Hmmm...I feel like all I do is work, but in truth there is a lot going on. For instance, my brother recently turned 25. He's my younger brother--I feel old. We celebrated at Texas Roadhouse, but we did not make him get on the saddle. We found out that BP08 is 100% girl and also has LONG legs. I guess she will take after D. He believes she will be taller than me by 5th grade. Sheesh! Oh, and her heart (the real reason for the extra ultrasound) looks healthy. Yay! D also tried out muscle relaxers and heavy-duty pain meds for the first time. No worries, it was not by choice and he's off them now, but he hurt his back and couldn't move the entire weekend of the 4th of July. Um, no fireworks for us:( We also completed a baby registry. This went much better than when we registered for our wedding and we both came out of the store alive. Don't get me wrong, baby registries still completely confuse and overwhelm me, but I think we figured most of it out! What else? Oh, we're going to the 3M Championship this weekend!

It appears that I have done more than just work.

Blog Share: July Edition

2008-07-16T08:22:00.004-05:00

Today's post is part of Blog Share--a great and wonderful anonymous posting project organized by -R-! While this post was written by an anonymous blogger, I have a post out on the Internet somewhere as well. Enjoy!

The spam-catching program has caught many emails on my behalf. In quotes are some of the more interesting subject lines. Beneath them are my responses.

"We caught you naked in the shower."
Yes, you did. Well played sirs, well played. After assaulting the manager at your Subway franchise for not cleaning the jalapeno peppers properly, I attempted to flee. Unfortunately, I stowed some of the offending veggies in my pants during my hasty retreat. The "heat"caught up with me mere blocks from my home. I thought I could wash the oils from my clothing and body by remaining dressed during the shower, but had to discard my clothing on 1st avenue. You found me. You win.

"Say No to ED!"
I will! I can't stand that he demands that his entire name be spelled in capital letters. How pretentious!

"Reasons for falling hard and fast?"

Losing consciousness when diving into a pool.
Tying a boulder to your leg and jumping off an overpass when testing whether two objects of different weights will descend at the same rate.
Jumping out of a girlfriend's window when aroused and being pursued by her husband.

"Free tickets to Mariah Carey concert."
Please remove from envelope and discard into trash.

"Want to beat your neighbours in love marathon?"
Do you mean my Canadian neighbors? If the marathon is in Toronto, no. Montreal? Absolutely. Moosejaw? I'll get back to you.

Blog Share Participants

2008-07-16T07:32:00.000-05:00

Vent Vox
Turn On The Stars
Trudie - Life After AC
Swimming With Sharks
Stefanie Says
Shhh! Librarian-In-Training
Sauntering Soul
Sass Attack
Reflections in the Snow Covered Hills
Red Red Whine
Our Simplicity
One New Duck
Oh My Seven
The Occasional Truth
No Lady
Nancy Pearl Wannabe
Muse On Vacation
Messing With Texas
Melliferous Pants
Lizland
Live Work Dream
Just Below 63
Jonniker
Java Literally
Heidikins
Full of Snark
Face Down
Ex Everything
Everything I Like Causes Cancer
Did I Say That Outloud?
The Daily Tannenbaum
The Coconut Diaries
Citystreams
Catheroominations
Bright Yellow World
Breath Smiles Tears
And You Know What Else
Alyndabear
3 Carnations

Four & Nine

2008-07-02T13:14:00.005-05:00

On this day in

1999: D and I were on our first date. I wore a black tank with jeans and D had on a sweater vest--BY ITSELF! He really needed my help. We ate deep dish at Davanni's and drove around the rest of the night talking. I didn't get home until 3 a.m.

2000: I bowled in a junior tournament and we went to the Lynx game (D won court side seats earlier in the week). We shared Papa John's pizza (when it was still served in the Target Center) with Steve-O and Jay.

2004: We tied the knot!
2005: D convinced me to cancel our reservation to Saji Ya in favor of "authentic Italian cuisine", or Olive Garden. We enjoyed our favorite dessert (Raspberry Cream Torte) at Cafe Latte and enjoyed the gorgeous weather walking up and down Summit Avenue. We ended the evening watching fireworks from Cathedral Hill. 2006 & 2007: We both worked. Our romantic evening consisted of ordering in pizza and watching movies. I think we fell asleep on the couch both years.

2008: We are both working today. Tonight we will eat out, but probably some place casual with tasty food.

Next year will be our 5 and 10, so we're hoping to be able to find a babysitter (gasp! we'll be parents!) and enjoy a nice evening together.

Because I Won't Actually Spend The Money

2008-07-01T13:05:00.000-05:00

If I had cash burning a hole in my pocket, I would probably pick up a few of these, but I do not, and I really don't wear T-shirts all that often, so I guess I will just keep them in my blog closet for now. All Ts available at CafePress.

Thanks For Sharing

2008-06-24T12:07:00.004-05:00

D and I are hoping to get away for a long weekend this summer. In preparation for that yet-to-be-determined date and destination, I'm looking at hotel reviews for some of our options. People write the most interesting things in their reviews; I hope that the Internet really does provide some of them anonymity. Here are just a few examples:

"NameOfHotel is magical. My wife and girlfriend enjoy the comfy beds. Thanks NameOfHotel for recognizing me with two aliases!"

"When we asked where we could find a postage stamp the person at the front desk said she did not have a clue."

"Not a place to go if you want to be alone and sex."

"The staff was awesome anything you needed they could help you with, my eyeglasses were broken and I asked them where I could repair them. One of the persons working at the front desk said he could repair them, and he did! Wow! That was very impressive."

"How anyone considers this a family or romantic vacation destination is beyond me."

"When I explained that the place was discriminating against people with vision impairments, the manager stated: 'We aren't concerned with that. We care about the safety of our other guests.'"

"The initial impression walking into the door was a smell of 30 years of cigarettes and three-week-old beer cans."

"The towel are always warm."

Thank you, Reviewers! I will take your comments into consideration. Or not. Hopefully D and I will decide on a time and place--a little vacay would be nice right now.

Everything Is So Dang Cute

2008-06-20T10:27:00.004-05:00

My first baby purchase:

What? You thought it would be something practical?

I love the lavender and the flowers and the little ribbon tags. Of course, I could have made it for a 1/3 of the cost, but it was an impulse buy and I don't have any regrets.

Don't Judge - We're Hungry

2008-06-19T11:39:00.003-05:00

Yay KG!

2008-06-18T09:55:00.004-05:00

I am so happy for Garnett I can't even stand it. I'm sorry that KG needed to leave the T-wolves to win, but I'm so excited that he finally has a Championship of his own.

While I didn't see the game last night, D filled me in on everything this morning. KG and Ray are his two favorite players in the league, so he was amped up for this season from the beginning; he even contemplated putting down money on the Celtics when we were in Vegas for Thanksgiving (he did not). I enjoyed the Celtics-Lakers playoffs this year and thought it was interesting that those two teams have won half the NBA Championships to date. Seeing the replay of KG thanking Minnesota this morning made me a little teary, but I'll chalk that up to hormones.

In his recap, D told me that the "Boston Three Party" (not his words, but I always liked the commercial) accomplished their goal; he thought KG was an instrumental piece and that Ray will probably go down as the best 3-point shooter of all time. I think Ray will also have a yearbook entry for "Best Calves".

Great year. Great series. Congrats, KG!

BP08 is a

2008-06-17T08:49:00.003-05:00

GIRL!

Dad and Grandpa Roy were right; they never wavered in their belief that there first grandchild and great grandchild would be a girl. So, while they were right, they don't get a prize (other than a beautiful granddaughter) because they didn't vote!

And the winner by drawing is -R- who will win something 'real nice.'

So onto some more details about the living being formerly known as BP08:

D and I agreed on a name, so as promised I'm announcing it to the world so that he doesn't change his mind! Our daughter--that is still baking--has a name, and it is Audrey. Awww.
We were able to see her kick and move around during the ultrasound yesterday, and that was pretty cool. In fact, the tech found her leg first and right away she kicked and it was one that I could feel. I discovered I'm only feeling about half of her movements at this point, though.
D was able to feel her kick on Sunday!
Audrey is currently weighing in at 11 ounces and that does not at all explain the weight that I have put on. I had to remind myself that I'm carrying around a lot of extra fluid; also, I'm trying not to think about my extra trips to Noodles and Taco Bell.
Estimated due date is still November 2.

That is my news. Have a great day!

Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

2008-06-10T10:55:00.004-05:00

Is it a boy or a girl? Hopefully we'll get to find out next Monday--unless his or her legs are crossed. :-/

So, it's a contest! Leave your guess in the comments and next Tuesday I'll give you all the answer and will draw for a winner out of the correct guesses. And you'll win something 'real nice.'

If any of you believe in old wives' tales, or have a different way of guessing the sex of in utero babes, here is some information you might like:

Heart rate: 6w4d = 155 bpm, 16w4d = 147 bpm
Due date: November 2, 2008
My age at conception: 28
Baby kicks/movement: first movement detected at 15w4d, now most active in the evening hours and seems to like (or dislike) Mexican food
Skin/hair: normal/dry (once normal/oily) and I'm breaking out like crazy
Food Cravings: Green beans, mac & cheese, Arby's, Noodles, Chipotle, Sprite/Fresca, fruit roll-ups, hot dogs, strawberry milk
Food Aversions: (early on) hamburgers, pizza, grapes
Belly: at 19w3d round and all in front

Stay tuned to find out the sex and the winner of a (to be determined) prize! All guesses must be logged in comments for this post by Sunday, June 15.

This, That & Hormones

2008-06-09T16:31:00.004-05:00

I really had a great weekend and it started early by making full use of my summer hours on Friday by driving to St. Cloud to see Zimm. Since we are both pregnant, we scheduled pre-natal massages and enjoyed an Italian lunch. We also stopped by a baby consignment shop, but we were a little too overwhelmed to purchase anything. We enjoyed our afternoon of relaxation and had fun comparing notes on our pregnancies so far. I found out that she and her husband do not plan to share the name of their little girl, so since she is due a few weeks before me I told her that if my upcoming ultrasound indicates that we are having a girl as well that she would need to take a look at my name list and let me know if there are any I should stop considering. I realize this means she is basically telling me the name of her future daughter, but I promise I will promptly forget it--or at least not mention it to anyone and act completely surprised when it is officially announced. ;)

Friday night I just slept. Apparently relaxation is very draining.

Saturday was a day of work in our house. D and Dad worked hard in the backyard cutting down trees and removing the random wetland vegetation that made its way into our yard. D's uncle worked on our air conditioner because this pregnant lady does not want to suffer through Minnesota's humid summers without some good AC. I did laundry, ran some errands and provided sustenance for the men. It's kind of nice not be able to do heavy lifting. At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted, but the progress was evident. After a LONG nap, D and I watched some TV and went to bed.

Saturday night, out of no where, I started crying. I think it was after the 4th time I got out of bed to pee and then had a hard time trying to get comfortable again with all of the pillows that needed to be rearranged and the dogs that were in the way--and I don't know, I just started crying. Initially I tried to hide that from D. He is not one of those sensitive guys. "Girly" emotions tend to freak him out and I didn't want to argue--I was tired and sore and thirsty and angry that I was thirsty for that would make me have to get up yet again to use the bathroom--but he heard me and asked what was wrong. I told him all of the above and he gently kissed my forehead and rubbed my belly. Aw. He was so sweet during a hormonal breakdown! Who is this guy?

I've generally been in good spirits lately, but this entire weekend was filled with body hating--things just aren't they way they should be; however that is. My skin hates me more than usual. My last pair of jeans are too small (which D thought was kind of cute but made me want to curl up into a ball in cry--see, hormones). I am whiter than white and there is nothing I can do about it as self-tanners are a no-no and the last time I was out in the sun I got horribly blotchy and the doc said I was lucky it faded and didn't last the entire pregnancy. The funny thing is, Thursday night I was completely in love with my baby bump and my entire figure, actually. I felt so feminine, not sexy, but very much like a woman and how for that fleeting moment, how I loved being pregnant. I don't really like it so much when all of the hormones kick in and send me in one of two directions: hopelessly crying or into psychotic rage (followed by hopelessly crying). In all fairness, my dad did warn D.

Sunday was also productive, but not nearly as productive as Saturday--we were both way too wiped out to continue at that pace! We brought the dogs to the groomer and then my psycho bitch kicked in when D refused to go buy sheets with me. Did I mention the hormones? And this kid must be going through a growth spurt as I could.not.stop.eating all day. But I did manage to read Belly Laughs in between bites. It was cute, and an easy read. After some light housework we settled in to watch the Celtics beat the Lakers: 2 and 0 Baby! I also cried during piece on Celtics power forward, Powe. And the hormones, they continue to give.

Sunday was also a good day because D had come around to my way of thinking and has started to like one of my top baby girl names! He prefers a different middle name, but at least I still have time to work on that. And because we have almost agreed on a girl name (I hope it's not Zimm's name!), it will definitely be a boy. I don't have any mother's intuition on this one, so we'll both be surprised at our ultrasound next week!

PUPPIES!

2008-06-03T14:27:00.010-05:00

Last night was quite possibly the most fun I have ever had volunteering at the Animal Humane Society--I arrived at 6 p.m. and was surprised that there were FIVE puppies for me to play with!

Rayna

Mona

Heidi

Hank

Frilly

When Summer Hours Are A Bad Thing

2008-06-02T14:51:00.003-05:00

Today is my first day of summer hours, meaning half day Fridays--Yay! Some people shudder when thinking of 9 hour work days, but honestly, I'm here almost 9 hours on a regular work day because D and I carpool so at least this way I get a little reward each week.

With two hours left of my first elongated work day, I went off to the student union for some good old Sbux. Ummm...you know when summer hours suck? When it's 2:30 p.m. and you need a little pick-me-up and the Sbux at the student union is closed. Summer hours for Sbux: 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. Hello!?! Pregnant lady here! Craving tall, nonfat, half-caff vanilla latte! WTF?

Instead of indulging my craving, I headed over to the book store for a Cherry Coke, animal crackers and a grape fruit leather. This is not as exciting--or HOT--as my originally intended treat, but frosted animal crackers sure are tasty!

Liar

2008-05-29T11:13:00.004-05:00

I had the best of intentions--Really! I was going to post about my birthday and the lovely four day weekend and random baby related things, and then...and then I got sidetracked.

D surprised me on my b-day and brought me breakfast in bed. Aw. After watching something on DVR, we went to work out. We also saw Harrison's new blockbuster and I simply cannot wait until July 18 to see the other big movie of the summer. (And I know there are other big movies, but that is the one I am waiting for.) Because our new favorite movie theater is at a mall, we did some shopping to let the nachos digest before heading to Big Bowl for dinner. Yum. Once home, we collapsed in bed because apparently that is a really big day for us.

And my four days off: Fantastic. I spent most of the time being a lazy bum, but also got out of the house to shop for maternity clothes. I can't find anything I like. Plus, most of them are still too big for me even though my clothes are too small. I need a happy medium. So I've resorted to wearing empire waist dresses and T-shirts that are too tight. I simply adore my Bella Band, though.

Oh, and I found out that Zimm is having a girl! She is due October 15. And my friend Lisha is due December 2. And -R-, of course, is due about the same time that I am! I know so many pregnant ladies!

I think that wraps up this update.

The Big Announcement

2008-05-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Internet: I'm pregnant.

So, those of you that knew, you can now admit to knowing what you know. Those of you that didn't know, sorry, I had to get around to telling some people before I could let you know--and I might have tried to tell some of you IRL, but you cancelled plans on me to, you know, find a place to live since you need to vacate your SOLD home in a few weeks. You know who you are.

So, on with the news:

I'm 16 weeks along. For those of you that don't count your life in weeks, that means 4 months.
Estimated Due Date = November 2
D and I are both very excited.
Yes, we were trying. No, we didn't tell anyone that we were trying--so if you're surprised, you're not alone.
I found out the day that I started my new job.
I told D .23 seconds later by calling him into the bathroom to look at a pee stick by the sink. It was tres romantique.
I only had 1 or 2 days of nausea. That sounds wonderful and all, but I was constantly convinced that something was wrong because I was without symptoms. I did, however, get every virus that family, co-workers and strangers on the street had, so that was tons of fun.
We plan to find out the gender of the baby and to share that information. That appointment will most likely be in the middle of June.
We plan to share the name of the baby once we decide on it. We will not ask for input on the name and your opinion will not change our minds.
This weekend I started to look more pregnant and less lumpy.
I felt the first official movement last Wednesday night (5/14) but didn't believe it until I felt it again on Sunday (5/18). BP08 likes (or doesn't like?) Mexican food!
We are referring to the baby as BP08; you may or may not get where that comes from but it is of absolutely no importance so don't worry. :)
Not only have I been neglecting this dear blog because I have been busy with work and sick, but also because every time I had the opportunity to write, all I could think to write about was the baby that I had not yet told you about. I will work hard to continue updating and not become only a baby blog, but no promises and hey--aren't baby posts better than no posts at all?

Four Monday

2008-05-19T11:15:00.005-05:00

Ummm...today I find last Friday's flower picture a bit disturbing and scary. Just FYI.

And today--today I am shamelessly steeling the idea of a four-themed-meme from L Sass (although it is a slightly different one I received via email from Mom):

Four things I did 10 years ago (1998):
1. Won my first MJBT (scratch singles bowling tournament).
2. Saw the end of my first real relationship that started when I was 16. It ended in the fall of 1997, but the heartbreak continued well into 1998, as did the transition into friendship. The friendship later had to end because it became unhealthy on all sides, but I still treasure the lessons learned from the entire experience.
3. Had 11 shots of cheap vodka, attempted to prove I was sober by counting to 10 (went something like 1-2-3...major time delay...7-8-9...), woke up puking and chugged 2 liters of water, went back to sleep and awoke to have eggs for breakfast. Looking back, I feel somewhat lucky to be alive and also very stupid.
4. Took a job at Dayton's and proceeded to accrue tons of credit card debt.

Four things I did 5 years ago (2003):
1. Got engaged!!! (May 16, to be exact)
2. Quit LTF (so glad to be back now!) but was still in the best shape of my adult life thanks to daily lunch hour walks and my now discontinued orange/pineapple lactose free SlimFast. (Now I work out and actually eat healthy and still cannot get back to that fitness level--getting old really does suck.)
3. Attended at least 7 weddings between spring and fall.
4. Bought a house with D and spent 2 months fixing it up before moving in.

Four things I did 1 year ago (2007):
1. Celebrated a new promotion in Development (May 14).
2. Had a surprise party for D's 30th birthday.
3. Missed my 10 year reunion for high school, but attended D's and decided missing mine wasn't all bad.
4. Spend a week in Paris with Mom. It was a fantastic vacation that I had wanted to take for years and all the pieces finally fell into place. I'm glad to have shared that experience with my mom and hope that next time we can convince D and Dad to come along.

Four things I did yesterday:
1. Watched my dad compete in a bowling tournament because that's what we do--if one of us isn't bowling, we watch whichever family member is. At least the bowling centers are smoke free now.
2. Went shopping for sundresses and discovered that summer dresses are really not office-appropriate.
3. Put clean sheets on the bed--we do this often, but how I love sleeping wrapped in clean sheets.
4. Ate dinner with my family in early celebration of my first 29th birthday. And I'm excited to have my leftovers for lunch today!

Needed Some Color

2008-05-16T09:25:00.005-05:00

Because it's Friday and it's Spring.

I really don't care how digitally altered this picture is--it's kind of pretty and certainly unique.

I promise I will start posting more next week.

**picture courtesy of a forwarded email

Working On Saturday Sucks

2008-05-03T17:01:00.003-05:00

I am preparing for a two day fundraising event that happens next weekend. I have been working long hours for weeks now with my two co-workers and I can tell you that although getting to the office when it's dark and leaving the office when it's dark sucks, it also really sucks when you have to come to the office on a weekend and it's sunny out. Boo! to long hours of work, but Yay! to comp time!

The Crud

2008-04-08T17:58:00.002-05:00

I just need to whine. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. (Is that how the saying goes?)
I've been sick off and on for 5 weeks and I've had enough. I know there is some terrible stuff going around and a lot of people are in the same boat, but I just want to be done with it. I want to sleep through the night without coughing. I want to function with a clear head. I want my normal energy level back. I've been to the doctor 3 times; it's just a virus--a cold, the crud. I hope you're not suffering from it, but if you are, I hope we all recover soon!

Truce

2008-04-01T07:53:00.004-05:00

In 7th grade I thought I was quite the prankster. No, I never did the saran wrap on the toilet or rubber band around the kitchen sink sprayer, but I did play a mighty fine April Fools' Day joke on my dad; and from this I gained first hand experience as to why you never pick a fight with someone bigger, smarter or more ruthless than you.

It all started with a mid-day phone call to Dad's office. Jan, his secretary, told me that he was out to lunch but that he had his cell phone on him (yes, my dad had a cell phone--a huge, lug it around in a suit case cell phone--in 1991). I had built up the courage to make the initial phone call, so I wasn't about to stop there...I dialed his cell phone from the main office at my middle school. When he answered, I delivered the news that I had been expelled or suspended (I can't remember which as neither of them seems at all believable to me know) and that he needed to pick me up from school immediately. I must have been fairly convincing as he said he was on his way.

I hung up and had a hardy laugh with a friend who was planning to play the same trick on her mom. I don't really know where we came up with this idea or why we thought it was funny, but at the time it was hilarious. After the laugh, I called my dad back to say "April Fools!" He was not laughing. He just left a client at lunch. I was in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Nothing really came of my prank. I think he said that I had him and he was glad I called back within a short time frame. I think he also said something along the lines of 'pay back is a bitch' but he may or may not have actually said 'bitch'; I can't recall.

A year went by.

In 8th grade I got braces. I actually liked having braces as it made me feel older--and got me out of school for check-ups. In March my mom took me to the orthodontist and my next appointment happened to be scheduled on April 1. My mom scheduled it; I thought nothing of it. As April Fools' Day drew nearer, I asked my dad if he had planned his revenge--he said he had a few things he was thinking about, but nothing was planned yet.

The morning on my ortho appointment, my mom could no longer take me and my dad took me to the office instead. The whole way there I was skeptical, I kept questioning him about what he was going to have them do to me. His response was that my orthodontist was a busy person and it was a professional office--how would he ever convince them to help him play a joke on me? He's in sales--he's very convincing.

My appointment was very routine: assistants coming in and out and changing my bands and tightening brackets and then the orthodontist came in. It was an X-ray appointment. He reviewed them and said that I wasn't making the kind of progress he had hoped for. The assistant came in with some kind of contraption...he explained that it was Reverse-Pull Head Gear and that I needed to wear it 24 hours a day for a month and then we would re-evaluate my progress. As the assistant fitted me I tried to negotiate: only at night for 2 months--3 months--an entire year! No. No. No.

They handed me a mirror and tears were streaming down my face. The office was silent. My dad leaned over and said, "April Fools' Day." My jaw dropped (well, as far as it could with the face mask on) and I was immediately relieved. He put out his hand and offered, "Truce."

Now you may think that my dad is horrible and mean and evil and 'how could he do that to his daughter--watch her cry?' and all of that. I get it, but really, I don't think it was any worse than me calling him out of a client lunch pretending that I was in massive trouble at school. He said he didn't have this planned all along, but when the opportunity arose that morning he called the ortho office and asked if they could help him out. He didn't know what was in store, only that it would be something mortifying to a teenage girl.

So now we have a truce and a funny story. I'm glad I can let April Fools' Day come and go without worry. Any pranks you care to share?

Jour du Musee

2008-03-16T16:18:00.004-05:00

On this day we see how truly art-stupid we are, but how it is possible to still appreciate the beauty and take too many pictures without documenting what they are pictures of.

Our first stop of the morning was at Musee du Louvre. Of course, we came in from the nearest metro stop and so did not enter from the outside world, but rather through a tunnel. This picture was taken in the entry way under the large pyramid.

The ceiling in one of the halls. I just like it.
And more wall detail.

La Venus de Milo. I really cannot take pictures.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace. It is really awe inspiring in real life. Again, a photo just will not do.

My first glimpse of outside the Louvre.

I really like this sculpture, but apparently I didn't like it enough to capture who created it or what it was...

Viewing Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

And really, I do not mind looking like a dork in front of other tourists. See above Psyche picture if you need more proof. It was cool to see the Monna Lisa, though.

More sculpture/carvings/architecture that we enjoyed without care as to the who and what.

In Musee de l'Orangerie with one of Monet's water-lily paintings. I was surprised they allowed photographs in here, but did not object.

Mom outside Musee d'Orsay

And me outside with a an exhibit ad to date our time at the attraction. The artwork of Bastien-Lepage was really not my style, but we enjoyed the sculptures in the museum.

From rail-way station to museum; more architecture to love.

How could this not make you happy?

And obviously I liked him enough to document the who and what! Thank you Duret for putting a smile on my face at the end of a long, but wonderful day.

Tomorrow: A day of review--revisiting our favorites and taking in a few new sites.

From Hill to Island

2008-03-15T15:13:00.022-05:00

On our third morning in the Paris, we boarded the metro and took off for the sacred hill. With clear skies we were allowed to truly be in awe of how beautiful la Basilique du Sacre Couer de Montmartre. Pictures cannot capture how breath-taking the basilica and the view are.

From atop the hill after leaving the metro station.

After climbing the first set of stairs, which in comparison to the second set are nothing. Had we done this on day one it would not have been bad at all; after two full days of walking and climbing and walking some more, the stairs were a bit more daunting.

Sorry! No cameras allowed in the basilica!

Place du Tertre. I regret not buying anything here. I found so many wonderful things, but the thought of carrying them around with me for the rest of the day did not sound appealing. Had we stayed in Paris and not at DLP (in the city next time, definitely) I would have most likely purchased something and then only had to lug it around Montmartre.

More sandwiches! This time Mom enjoyed brie and tomato, I believe I had yet another ham and provolone.

If we were truly cool, we would have bought the bottle of Absinthe on display in the window. Since I am not a drinker, and Mom enjoys only a handful of girly drinks a year, we opted not to spend the money; but we needed a picture! Also, seeing Absinthe reminded me of the Green Fairy from Moulin Rouge-the movie, and I became even more excited as we headed down to check it out for ourselves.

And here we are! It was completely different than I had imagined; but since I only had a cinema-level education, that should come as no surprise.

We did not see a show, but next time I would be interested in checking it out.

We did enjoy the paintings in the entry, though.

And to tell you that Yes! this is an official tourist stop, a helpful sign!

View from across the street. I'm next to the sign. Moulin Rouge is in D's Top Ten for movies, so I thought I should let his see the real life place in pictures.

And again, this is nothing like what I imagined, but I really knew nothing about this tourist attraction before we got there. I didn't expect that it would be on such a busy street.

I must also note that as you look down the street, at the next intersection on the left, there is a bakery that makes the most wonderful almond pastries. I regret that I did not take note of the name or snap a photo to help future travellers, but seriously, awesome pastries. Every once in awhile I get a hankering for an almond pastry and after much trial and error of local shoppes, I discovered that Bread & Chocolate makes a decent representation of the real deal. It's a jaunt across town, but when the craving strikes at least it satisfies.

After a bit of a train ride back into the city and some more walking around as the metro did not stop at Cite as it said it would, we finally reached our (supposed) final destination of the day: Notre Dame de Paris.

Mom stood on Point Zero (the center of Paris) to ensure that she would return, and although there is not photographic evidence--I did the same. There will be a next time.

On the side of Notre Dame, a great photo-op minus the crowds.

Ahhh, French Gothic architecture.

As we walked around Ile de la Cite a bit more, we came upon a highly recommended ice cream shoppe. Berthillon is one of the best ice creams in Paris, or so I've been told by previous visitors and travel guides. It is sold in many restaurants, but I believe this is the original store (I could be completely wrong on this, though). I had a caramel ice cream cone, it was OK. I'm not much of an ice cream person and it was too rich for me. My mom enjoyed praline, chocolate and some-kind-of-nut ice cream very much.

After our late afternoon sugar pick-me-up, we continued walking around aimlessly. We eventually saw tourist signs pointing us toward the Pantheon. The grounds were closed when we arrived in preparation for...

A Garden for Life, A Daffodil for Curie
My quick internet search did not return results, but it was an event happening the next few days after our evening visit.

And many pools of daffodils lined the grounds.

Tomorrow: Museum Day!

Into the City

2008-03-14T14:37:00.018-05:00

And then we took the metro into Paris. Forty-five minutes of wondering if my on-a-whim trip was really worth it. Forty-five minutes of telling myself that "Paris will indeed be great." Forty-five minutes of doubting that Paris could live up to my expectations--I had gotten my hopes too high; surely it will be great but not amazing...and then we stepped off the metro at le Trocadero. I was apprehensive. We walked out into daylight, tourists all around us, and I still doubted. We walked up the steps and there, there it was:

la Tour Eiffel

looking back at our metro stop and the landing of Place de Trocadero

On our way...

We're there! But first a quick phone call to D. (We had scheduled phone times so that we could talk each day even with the time change...and it could not have been more appropriate that my first call of the day came from underneath the Eiffel Tower.)

On the 2nd level. We walked the stairs all the way until the 3rd level which requires an elevator ride. It was great exercise, especially after our complimentary breakfast and whole milk lattes.

Ah, beautiful.

I'm not a good photographer, and the professional photography of the Eiffel Tower is amazing, but I do like a few of the snap shots I got.

About 6 blocks away from the Eiffel Tower, we found this bakery--it was great, but we soon learned that really, they all are great in Paris. We enjoyed our first of many ham and cheese sandwiches with BUTTER on fresh baked bread. Fantastic.

The bakery is on the left...a view of the street. It was vastly different from the area directly surrounding the Eiffel Tower and it was fun to attempt communicating with my high school French language skills. I was mostly successful, although I forgot how to conjugate and spoke only in the present tense.

A picture to convince Dad that Paris is a worthwhile destination. Produce stands like this were everywhere and that's all he needs (in addition to a comfortable bed) to enjoy a vacation.

After enjoying our sandwiches and wandering a Parisian neighborhood, we hopped back on the metro and stepped off at Charles de Gaulle - Etoile to find ourselves staring at l'Arc de Triomphe. In fact, we had arrived just before 6pm and the procession to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Across the way, also on the Champs-Elysees, we window-shopped at Cartier. Had Dad been there, he could have participated in yet another of his favorite vacation activities: shopping. Mom will just have to bring him there next time.

After stopping at another cafe/bakery for yet another ham and cheese sandwich (seriously, I had never had one until Paris and on my first day I ate two!) we headed back to the metro and passed by the Arc one more time.

And I was able to convince Mom to stop yet again at the Trocadero for a photo of the Tower all lit up. My love of the Eiffel Tower is now stronger than ever. I am such a tourist.

Tomorrow: Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame and Pantheon

Remembering Paris

2008-03-13T16:23:00.008-05:00

One year ago today, my mom and I were checking into Hotel New York at Disneyland Paris. As I sit in my cubeoffice, I try to imagine myself back in the hotel room looking forward to the 4 days ahead. Since I can't take another Paris vacation right now, I'll just share my trip with you and savor the memories.

The hotel did not have the Hidden Mickey's I was expecting from previous trips to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, but they certainly tried to incorporate the Big Apple and the Statue of Liberty into the decor.

Belle's Castle was absolutely beautiful.

And my mom got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow. The picture doesn't do him justice; his gestures were dead on.

While we didn't spend much time at DLP--we enjoyed having the opportunity to go--we certainly enjoyed our hotel accommodations and individual jars of jam and pudding for breakfast.

Tomorrow: Tour Eiffel and Arc de Triomphe!

Maybe A Picture Will Help Get Things Rolling

2008-03-11T07:36:00.003-05:00

So, yeah, I've been busy. Who hasn't? I started my new job and it doesn't allow much blogging time. What's that? I'm not suppose to blog at work? Come again? Anyway...I can't think of much to write, so I'm hoping that a picture really is worth a 1000 words--or at least makes a decent substitute for a good blog entry.

Meet KM and D:

This was taken in October of 2007. In general, we both like this picture. If asked, D would say that he is slouching and is really not that skinny, and I would say that I need more powder and I really do have cleavage--it's just a bad angle. But this is us, and now you can tell me if I really do (I don't) look like any of these lovely ladies.

Blog Share: Excess Baggage

2008-02-27T08:14:00.002-06:00

Today’s post is part of Blog Share and was written by an anonymous writer. To see the other anonymous posts today, see the previous post for a list of links.

There's a topic that I've wanted to blog about for the longest time, because it's something that I think would be healthy for me to write about and put out there. Unfortunately I've not been able to do so for a number of reasons; they all come back to the fact that I've chosen to make my blog a public one. Enter -R-'s Blog Share, and I've now been presented the perfect opportunity.

So here's my secret: When I was seventeen years old, I was raped.

You would not believe how hard it was for me to type that out, because seeing it up there on the screen for people to read is terrifying. There are a whopping two people in this world who I have disclosed this to in real life, and now here I am pronouncing it for the world - albeit a small segment of the world - to see. Thank heavens for remaining nameless.
The person I was seeing at the time was no stranger to me and was someone I cared for deeply. They were older than I was, though not by much. Old enough to make a difference. Old enough to know better. And apparently old enough to deem their wants and needs as being greater than my own.

I'd always been open about my thoughts on sex and the fact that I was not ready. Not once did I ever budge in that respect, and this person was well aware of the fact. Despite it sometimes becoming a quite obvious barrier between us, I fully believed that we were on the same page with it all. One night changed all of that, when the choice was taken away from me. In a way, the ordeal was even harder to deal with because my trust was shattered in one single blow. I don't think I have ever felt quite so empty before in my entire life, and would not wish the feeling on anybody.

There is no way that anyone should have had to go through all of that emotional wreckage, and do it alone. For years I didn't tell a soul, and even now it's not something I choose to put out there and make known. I'm one of the lucky ones though, because shortly after I was able to sever all ties and get away from this person. My heart aches for the people who are not so lucky, and who suffer in silence, alone. It's so easy to feel alone with that burden on your shoulders.

Looking back now, I know I shouldn't have bottled things up, but the stakes were too great. There would have been too much explaining to do, too much awkwardness with friends and family, too many things to deal with that to be honest? At seventeen years old, I simply could not deal with it all. All these years later though, it's still excess baggage that I carry inside of me, always lurking in the back of mind. Despite moving on and being able to trust again, I'm still wary of being taken advantage of - not in a physical sense, but in all aspects of my life.

My secret is out now; and I trust that you will be able to keep it that way for me.

It's About Time For Some Good News

2008-02-25T08:35:00.003-06:00

I got a new job! It's kind of a promotion, kind of a lateral move, but most definitely something that I'm more excited to do. I start next Monday. Yay!

Here is a modified staff announcement regarding my new position:

Most recently, KM has served as development assistant on the SME team, where she has coordinated stewardship events and partnered closely with the events team on the annual SME events. Previously, KM held positions with the central development and gift planning teams, where she coordinated intimate fund-raising, cultivation, stewardship, and outreach events. KM has been a tireless supporter of our events; in her new role, KM will manage projects for New Xtina related to our annual Drinking Gala and Cartoon Chaos. As one of our new event coordinators, she will coordinate stewardship and cultivation events and provide consultation to volunteers hosting fund-raisers on our behalf.

Thank You

2008-02-21T07:52:00.003-06:00

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words regarding D's father. D is...OK. He and BIL are doing a good job making arrangements and supporting their aunts, uncles and their mom--people who all had a longer and closer relationship with D's father.

Tomorrow it is up north to collect his belongings and close accounts and fill out paperwork. The plan is to have a service next Saturday in his home town. D and BIL said that their emotions are flipping between sadness and anger; that may or may not change tomorrow and over the next week. I'm just glad they've been able to handle the details and let the rest of the family take time to mourn.

Waiting for Emotion

2008-02-19T16:06:00.002-06:00

Last night D received word that his father died. He relayed the information to me via cell phone-with little emotion-shortly after hearing the news. His feelings toward his father have always been ambivalent in nature; they did not have a bad relationship, rather not much of a relationship at all. In the nine years I've known D, he has seen his father twice. After his father declined an invitation to our wedding, D lost touch. I'm not really sure how D feels about all of this right now. I'm not sure he knows how he feels or what to expect in the coming days, months or possibly even years. He never had much of a relationship with his father, and now he never will.

The Prettiest Q Ever

2008-02-14T11:05:00.009-06:00

Unfortunately, the only digital puppy picture I have of Q makes her look fat and ugly. She was a cute puppy, I swear!! This was taken when she was about 9 weeks old in the bed Bro bought for her. The bed was later destroyed in what appeared to be a foam explosion (with tooth marks) but the tug lives on.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Q. She is so pretty and lovely and shiny. And look at those ears!

This is how I wish Q would sleep at night--all curled up in a ball. She looks so tiny, you'd hardly believe she's 65lbs.

Q in the trunk. No, we don't put her in the trunk; she loves the car and will do whatever it takes to get in.

Aw, Pretty Q!

I do love this picture of Q--she really is a good looking dog.

We brought Q home on Valentine's Day 2004. Adopting a puppy wasn't really the plan for the day, but as with all the great things in life, it happened all at once. It all started in 2000 when we made our own Valentine's Day tradition: we would take turns planning a Valentine's Day meal and/or excursion for just the two of us. In 2004, it was my year to plan. I intended to surprise D with a night at GameWorks, pizza and maybe a movie. I thought it would be fun and maybe he could teach me to play a video game or two. As we headed to Block E, he figured out where we were going and protested, saying that it wasn't fair that I planned the night out just for him and it wasn't something that I would usually do. Umm...that was the point...and I don't think that Anthony and Cleopatra at the Guthrie the year before was really for him.

So, my plan was foiled. As to still do something on Valentine's Day and not just go home to watch a rental, or worse, TV in separate rooms, I had to think on the fly of something that we would both enjoy doing. I came up with a visit to the Humane Society (we were close) and then making a nice dinner at home. Three hours later we had a puppy and were showing off our newest member of the family to my parents.

Q is our Humane Society Pedigree. She is mostly black with white tips on her toes and a slash on her chest. We adopted her at 8 weeks old, weighing in at 8 pounds. She was bow-legged and her ears were tipped just enough to give her attitude. We let that little girl rule our house with her puppy breath and wagging tail. Her name is derived from Cupid, for Valentine's Day. She had a slew of nicknames early on (Q-girl, Q-dog, Pretty Q, Snotty Q, Qt P2T, etc.) but now she goes by Q, Snot or Pretty. And she is just as snotty as she is pretty. Seriously.

Q now weighs in at 65 pounds and has the look of a black, smooth coated German Shepherd, if ever one existed. To see her run is something: she has a beautiful gate and a muscular build. We have no idea what breeds she is; vets, trainers and friends have guessed everything from the general Lab mix to Border Collie to Basenji. Q climbs trees, loves fish and only recently discovered the joys of belly rubs. She is a great cuddler, awesome jumper and a smart little devil with a truck load of crazy. We've been to our wits end and back with her, but we've enjoyed the ride and are glad to share our lives and our bed with her.

Happy Gotcha Day, Q!

Because I'm Posting About January In February

2008-02-12T10:58:00.000-06:00

First: Apologies for being AWOL for so long. And for leaving you with lame posts. I have to work on that. I'll update you later on where I've been, also known as My Latest Excuse As To Why I Can't Update My Blog.

Second: I'm going to pat myself on the back for finishing in the Top 5 for GaGA January! I'm not nearly as AWESOME as OPH, but my local gym is not nearly as awesome as Barcelona, either. Congrats on crushing us all with your Awesome Activity and on your recent engagement! Congrats also to Kat, Erin and Nic!

Third: Here is my super cool badge for placing in the Top 5. I cannot, for the life of me, get it to appear correctly in my sidebar--even with all of Audrey's help. I'm html stupid, folks.

Third and a half: Audrey, ohmygod your dogs are cute!

Wandering

2008-01-28T13:52:00.000-06:00

In lieu of an actual post, I have randomness for you.

Our CEO has a runner in her pantyhose. I am embarrassed for her but loving that she is human at the same time.

D and I went to a dinner party with some of his higher-ups on Friday night. It was much better than I thought, but still nerve-wracking. On the way home, D asked both if he was professional enough and funny enough. Guys need affirmations too!

Today I told a co-worker how Scotch Guard was invented. She laughed at me. I thought everyone had heard that story in science class somewhere along the way; but perhaps I really heard it from all of my family members that work at 3M. Don't worry, I did not tell her about hymnals and Post-it Notes.

Q likes to chew her fish oil pills; this morning she squirted Carter on the nose and quickly licked it off.

Last Thursday a soon-to-be ex co-worker committed a major sin when talking to a woman. A certain director here has gained a bit of weight since starting last spring, she also carries that weight in her mid-section. (Do you see where I'm going with this?) Almost ex co-worker walked up to her with her hand reaching for her belly and asked if she was pregnant. The answer was a royally pissed off and insulted, "No." !!!

I had a facial on Saturday morning. My skin was glowing the rest of the day; I was actually in love with my skin...for about 10 hours. When I woke up on Sunday morning I had small zits all over my face. I've heard of this happening before, but it has never happened to me.

I was pleasantly surprised that Victorya was auf'd and nearly died of shock when Ricky won.

Success! Previous non-post has been replaced by current non-post.

You Get 10 Bucks, I Get 10 Bucks, We All Get 10 Bucks

2008-01-23T12:00:00.000-06:00

Sign up for Ebates through the above link before February 14, 2008 and receive a $10 sign up bonus--and I'll get a $10 referral bonus!

I signed up for Ebates just before Christmas and I'll receive my first Big Fat Check in a few weeks. After that, I'm changing over my payment option to the Animal Humane Society--so all of the referral bonuses will benefit shelter animals.

So do the same shopping you already do, and get some money back too!

If asked for the referring party's email address, please enter: museonvacation@gmail.com

If the link above isn't working, try this or copy & paste this:
www.ebates.com/doublebonusoffer/index.htm?id=33970198

Cheeky

2008-01-17T16:36:00.000-06:00

My skin hates January. Every year the unrelenting Minnesota winter brings freezing temperatures and my skin cries. My skin care routine that only rates 6 out of 10 the rest of the year completely crumbles when faced with the added challenge of preventing dryness and redness on top of all of the other demands I make.

As you might have guessed, I have been searching the Internet to find the magic combination of products to transform my problem skin into a dewy, peaches ‘n cream complexion. Although I have not yet found the perfect product (although many samples have been requested with high hopes), I have discovered that cosmetics companies have awesome marketing teams. I am quite certain that Philosophy’s Makeup Optional set will completely clear up my skin, even though every review at MUA begs to differ; and that the packaging of Shiseido’s Pureness just deserves to be caressed as it cleanses my aura as well as my face.

I have not yet spent a fortune on skin care products (Oh how I miss my high school skin! Crazy, right? But really, I had nice skin with just a simple routine of Noxema and Oil of Olay and don’t think for a second that I didn’t try to switch right back to that last year when all of the skin issues began!) as I am patiently waiting for my samples to arrive: Arbonne, Aveda and a few others including Pureness (could not resist the pretty blue bottles!). And as I waded through oceans of information on beauty forums and blogs, I came across this Newsweek article which made me laugh out loud as it preached the virtues of sunblock: Wonder what your skin would look like if you'd kept it protected from the sun? "Look at your butt."

Oh, I’m Supposed to Blog Here

2008-01-17T15:51:00.000-06:00

That is enough of a break for you; I’m back and I’m posting. Let the nonsense begin!

Some of you noticed that I was not around; it makes me feel good to be missed. Some days I feel like the Internet redirects my rambling to a black hole somewhere. Oh yes, Pity Party for one, please—at a table near a fireplace lest I freeze to death in January rendering me unable to continue whining. (I did the whole Cut & Paste dance with this paragraph too many times to count until I figured that I should leave it in as it accurately represents my current mood: full of self pity with a huge helping of disgust from said self pity.)

So, where have I been? Work has been uncharacteristically busy for January. (Shhhh…I mostly blog at work.) Also, I’ve been practicing (bowling) a lot and working out a lot and all of this effort is bound to pay off at some point, right? Like maybe with a strike or five and a visible waistline? But mostly I’ve been avoiding my blog because I’ve been less than chipper recently and I didn’t want a post like this to happen. But, I’m here. People emailed. And Books said it was OK if I got fired for blogging at work as long as she was entertained.

Luckily, I ignored my blog when a decent post was left on the main screen. Had it been one of my less than stellar posts, perhaps I wouldn’t have stayed away for quite as long, though. And I completely thought about updating you all on how antioxidants almost killed me: I challenged pomegranate seeds to a cage match and those little tarty-sweet seeds kicked my arse but were disqualified for causing an allergic reaction, making my digestive system revolt. The lesson in all of this: enjoy new foods, but eat them with caution!

I really didn’t intend to take 10 days off, but this week has just gone by so quickly. (see Busy At Work above) I have a couple of articles to use as writing prompts (no worries, they are not time sensitive at all, in fact I’m certain they are both old) and some pictures I intend to post as soon as I find my camera. And I am not as crabby in person as I am in black and white. I’m fine—really. In fact, my cute pearl earrings arrived today from Blue Nile and they look great with the pearl pendant necklace from D and the combo perfectly compliments my light blue cashmere turtleneck today. That and a new coffee mug are certainly enough to make this girl smile!

A Page Full of Hearts

2008-01-07T16:59:00.000-06:00

Growing up I had a lot of male friends. I always had a female best friend, but seemed to connect better with the boys. Perhaps this was because I had 10 male cousins growing up and I tried to fit in, or maybe it was that I bowled, golfed and took karate lessons (mostly boys), or it could just be that I got along better with the boys from an early age and that’s it.

I did many of the typical girly things like passing notes in class, talking on the phone and hanging out at the mall, but I tended to share my secrets with the boys. Luckily this never backfired on me (until I was 19 or 20 anyway) but it did make some situations a little sticky. For instance, in 7th grade I had a crush on my best male friend, Phill. I met him in 5th grade through our church youth group; and even at a young age we clicked almost immediately. In 7th grade we began talking on the phone quite often and hanging out on Sundays after church. We were often teased by classmates, but it didn’t matter—we were just friends.

In the middle of the year I developed a super duty crush on Phill. Every time a youth group gathering came up I would imagine that it would be the night he would ask me to go out (you know, like dating—we probably wouldn’t go anywhere). I wanted to tell him about my crush, but I couldn’t for fear that he would laugh at me. Finally, it was a page full hearts that did me in. During a particularly boring sermon--when we were all supposed to be taking notes--I was drawing hearts all over my notebook paper and filling them with “K + P”. I had not told anyone of my crush at this point in time, yet I was scribbling it everywhere for the world to see. All of a sudden, my best female friend, Belle, grabbed my paper and announced that I had a crush on Peter—another boy in our Sunday School class. Teasing ensued. Quick thinker that I was, I said emphatically, “P is for Pedro.” Yeah, because I knew someone named Pedro. Riiight.

Peter was awkward to be around the rest of the day, but by the following Sunday it all seemed to be smoothed over. As for Phill, we ditched sermon the next Sunday so he could tell me a big secret. He had a crush on Belle. All of my drawn hearts broke simultaneously. I ached in silence as I encouraged him to call her. They ‘went out’ for 3 months, an eternity by junior high standards. Phill and I remained friends during their ‘relationship’ and beyond. As did he and Belle. But he longed after Belle well into high school.

By 10th grade Phill had dated 3 more of my friends but also found the time to escort me to a Homecoming dance, and be a blind date for one of my friends for that year’s Sno Daze. He was a great friend, but my crush had not died—nor had I ever confessed it to anyone. It wasn’t until yet another one of my friends had a crush on him and followed through, only to be rejected, that I shared my story with her. For months we crushed in private, and then they dated. She told him EVERYTHING. Because Phill was a cool guy, we talked about it and continued to be friends; albeit friends with a huge elephant in the room with broken hearts drawn all over it.

To make light of the situation, I made my crush public knowledge. I put myself out there to be laughed at, probably so that I didn’t feel so alone or marked. In what seemed like no time at all, it just became part of our shared history and our friendship continued to strengthen. I had dated during my crush on Phill, but I dated more after the initial rejection wore off. I began to think of him as almost a brother; he had moved from the Prospect pile to the Friend pile.

After high school we drifted, only talking on the phone occasionally and seeing each other once or twice a year. After my sophomore year in college I received a hand written letter from Phill. He poured out his heart, writing about how his feelings for me had changed—grown. It was a sweet letter. I still remember reading it on the floor of my kitchen, sitting cross-legged leaning on a lower cupboard. It was everything I had wanted to hear—seven years ago—and I couldn't get over how sincere and vulnerable he was being, but I really couldn't get over that at that moment I knew he was certainly, unmistakably, a Friend. I called. We met for coffee. We chatted and hugged good bye. Months later he met the woman that is now his wife.

I don’t know how our paths would have changed had I said “Phill” instead of “Pedro” but I know that we had a great friendship and that I would still welcome him with open arms back into my life (as a Friend) if we were to ever cross paths again.

In Search of Ideas

2008-01-04T07:48:00.000-06:00

I swear that I have all of these great ideas for posts. I think of them on my tunnel walks to Sbux. I think of them while I'm in the third step of my approach (bowling lingo). Ideas come at me from all directions. I have so many ideas!

So why don't I post?

I can't ever remember what I was thinking about!

I've taken to writing myself little notes in the hopes that they will jog my memory. It isn't really working. Well, sometimes it works; but then I start typing things out and I've lost all of my inspiration. It's like my muse is on vacation. Heh.

Since I don't have a lot to say, but felt the need to post, I will share with you some of my notes (they may just turn into posts someday).

Stolen cat
Red dress--drawing from high school French class, prom
Crazy ex-boyfriend, Epiphany, brown dress, 4th of July
Engagement story
Bro--Carla, glasses, etc

2007 In Review

2007-12-31T09:57:00.000-06:00

Year End Survey

What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? Touched ground in a foreign land

Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any for 2007...I'm just working on things: swearing less, not crossing my legs, the whole Golden Rule thing, and rededicating myself to health and fitness.

What countries did you visit? France!!

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? A huge savings account.

What date(s) from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 23: D's Surprise 30th Birthday Party (and he was very, very surprised!), August 29: We found out Q tore her ACL, and today might be a memorable day as well...

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Starting a home improvement project and finishing it?? No, but I am proud of that. I think that D and I had a very difficult but overall good year. We certainly had our moments but came through them together and strengthened our relationship.

What was your biggest failure? Giving up on working out.

Did you suffer illness or injury? Luckily nothing major, but I pulled my tendons (again) in early September; bowling has not been as much fun this fall/winter because of it.

What was the best thing you bought? Plane tickets to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving for my dad's bowling tournament, again.

Where did most of your money go? Living expenses, mostly our house

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Probably a lot of things as they happened, I'm overly dramatic that way, but mostly my promotion in May and then end of my brother's relationship with a bad girlfriend.

What song(s) will always remind you of 2007? Crank That -- Soulja Boy, but mostly because of this video and More Than A Memory -- Garth Brooks (The return of Garth Brooks. Love.)

Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Happier. Thinner or fatter? Fatter Richer or poorer? richer

What do you wish you'd done more of? Working out, I got off to a really good start again, but I started to slack off in September.

What do you wish you'd done less of? Sitting on my ass in front of the TV

Did you fall in love in 2007? In May, but with D again. We're trying to make that a daily thing. It's getting easier again.

What was your favorite TV program? Tough decision, to name one I have to say The Biggest Loser. My favorite new program in Pushing Daisies.

What was the best book you read? Reading. I'm supposed to do that? I was an English major, I read All. The. Time. in college. Ugh. I did read this year, though not as much as I would have liked. Favorite: Technical Hitch by Jane Sigaloff

What did you want and get? Jewelry that D picked out himself for my Christmas gift.

What was your favorite film of this year? Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 28. I got a massage and went to a bowling banquet.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Going for the job I really wanted when it was open. I did get a promotion and I enjoy it for the most part, but I'm upset that I didn't put it all out there for the 'at this stage in my life' dream job.

What kept you sane? My co-worker who likes to walk over to Sbux as much as I do.

Who did you miss? BMW and Zimm--the ladies that are like sisters to me. I need to stay in touch with them as neither are just down the street. I know they are only a phone call away, but I'm not very good at that.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007: That the adage "Everything happens for a reason" is true. Some things just fell into place this year and I'm hoping that some of the difficult times and disappointing outcomes will bring about more positive changes in 2008.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

We call them weak

Who are unable to resist

The slightest chance love might exist

And for that forsake it all

Garth Brooks

Repost of "Good bye, 2006" from the Old Blog That We Don't Discuss

2007-12-31T09:52:00.000-06:00

Year End Survey
A meme, of sorts, received through email:

What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Win an adult singles bowling tournament

Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any for 2006...I'm not sure if I'm going to make any for 2007, either.

What countries did you visit? I've never been out of the country. I'm hoping to remedy that in 2007.

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? A huge savings account.

What date(s) from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Jan 8: won local Queen's Qualifying, July 5: bought Lars, Oct 7: aunt remarried, Dec 10: won 2nd women's singles title.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? probably my winningest bowling year since going adult.

What was your biggest failure? being lazy at work and at home when things needed to get done.

Did you suffer illness or injury? I was very sick this year. I was out of work the first part of January and then on and off until June. After several doctor appts, they finally figured out why I kept getting sick; and although there is nothing that can 'cure' me, now that I am aware of it I can try to keep myself in good health. I also hurt my neck pretty severely on August 11 and spent a lot of time passed out from all of the pain meds.

What was the best thing you bought? Plane tickets to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving for my dad's bowling tournament.

Where did most of your money go? Living expenses

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Probably a lot of things as they happened, I'm overly dramatic that way, but I think most of my excitement was around bowling successes: Queens, MWST and my dad's big victory in Las Vegas.

What song(s) will always remind you of 2006? Honky Tonk Badonkadonk - Trace Adkins

Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? about the same, but I'll say happier. thinner or fatter? hmmm...thinner, but still working on it. richer or poorer? poorer; we bought Lars.

What do you wish you'd done more of? working out, I got off to a really good start, but everything came so easily that I thought I could slack off.

What do you wish you'd done less of? sitting on my ass in front of the TV

Did you fall in love in 2006? I fell in love in 1999. I try to fall in love every day with D, but some days are easier than others.

How many one-night stands? None

What was your favorite TV program? My favorite new show was Psych on USA.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No

What was the best book you read? Emily Giffin's "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" I know, it's crap chick lit, but I enjoy it.

What did you want and get? A membership to LTF

What was your favorite film of this year? The Departed, I guess. We didn't see a lot of movies, but this one sticks out.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27. I went to yoga and then worked out. We did a family dinner and movie a few nights before.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Having the job I have now--same title, but now I have better things to do. I wish it would have happened earlier in the year.

What kept you sane? My co-worker who likes to walk over to Sbux as much as I do.

Who did you miss? Uncle Bill

Who was the best new person you met? My new boss

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006: Things happen for a reason and it may not be the reason you thought it would be. You can try to plan your life, but ultimately, all you can do is roll with the punches.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "But the good news is there's angels everywhere out on the street, holding out a hand to pull you back upon your feet" Rodney Atkins

Recipes of Christmas

2007-12-27T09:16:00.000-06:00

KM's Christmas Baking

Peppermint Bark (So easy. A great office treat.)
Sugar Mint Cookies (I made this up last year because I made too much Peppermint Bark and left over sugar cookie ingredients. It's especially good for those that don't like chocolate but love mint.)
Peppermint Patty Cookies (Credited to RA)
Easy Turtle Candies (Credited to ex-Director who first brought them in to the office)
Oatmeal Scotchies
Baked French Toast
Brown Sugar Bacon (The recipe request that inspired this post.)

Friends & Family Christmas Baking

My aunt makes Swedish Toast every year along with Jifta (Great for the Scandahoovians!) She swears Swedish Toast is easier than biscotti, but I think it's just as time consuming to prep and bake. It's great for dunking, though!
D's aunt long ago started bringing Tequilaberry's Salad to Christmas and Easter, now holiday meals just aren't the same without it.
SIL made a pretty batch of Holiday Wreaths for others; I just asked for a huge blob of the stuff since these are some of my favorites and four wreaths just won't do.
Another aunt of mine makes Russian Tea for all of the families each year. Although it's not really tea, it's a tasty hot drink. She would not give me her secret recipe, but said that the link is close.

KM's New Year's Baking

Two years ago I started making homemade caramels to add to my goody baskets; this year however, the multiple snow storms and bad driving conditions did not allow me to buy the necessary ingredients. My dad made a little pouty face after opening the caramel-free tin so I promised to make them for NYE.
Biscotti is the last on my list but the first in my heart, saving the best for last, if you will. My love of biscotti started at a young age when I would accompany my mom to the Grand Ave Dunn Bros as she held volunteer meetings and interviews. When I took my current job with the ever so convenient tunnel to Sbux, my love of biscotti hurt my checkbook. After learning to make Swedish Toast, I decided I could handle biscotti and set out to find my favorite twice baked cookie recipe. Along with a variation of Vanilla Almond Biscotti that lives only in my kitchen cupboard and not on my computer, this Vanilla Bean Biscotti is a treat that my mom and I both treasure. It is such a pity that D's family had never even heard of biscotti until I first made it, and even then did not delight in the crunchy, crumbly cookie that longed to be dipped and dunked in latte. Oh well, more for me.

Christmas Recap

2007-12-26T08:25:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday spent with family--LOTS of family. And we're not done yet!

Here are just a few of the highlights:

Biggest Ooh-aah gift: Pearl pendant necklace from D
Goofiest moment: D and BIL telling stories from their childhood at MIL's family dinner--these stories are ridiculous and almost seem fictional, but everyone remembers them so unless it's a conspiracy I think they're true.
Most wonderful/useful gift: Wrought iron bed from my parents--we are so excited for it to arrive!
Yummiest food: Ham at D's aunt's on Christmas Day, wreath cookies by SIL and brown sugar bacon with my parents.
Best gift given: iPod to my mom with pink ear buds

And yes, I did finish all of my holiday baking--well, the revised list of holiday baking after the snow storms prevented me from making it to the grocery story for more ingredients on Sunday night. What? I shouldn't procrastinate? Whatever. I made Oatmeal Scotchies, Peppermint Patty cookies, Sugar Mint cookies, baked French toast and baked brown sugar bacon. I plan to make vanilla bean biscotti and caramels for New Year's as those are mostly for my family anyway and we will likely spend the evening with them.

Only a Memory

2007-12-20T11:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I posted about my success in limiting my caffeine and pop intake. Well, that worked for 3 days. I needed a diet cherry last night before bowling (not that it helped) and that 12 oz can sure did pack a punch--I was up until midnight!

Oh, and that skinny day? Yeah, that is so past tense as well. I devoured 1/2 a bag of homemade caramel puff corn while catching up on Pushing Daisies. (Um, where was PR last night?) We reasoned that if we consumed the entire bag in one sitting then we could go back to eating healthy without the temptation of caramel goodness calling us from the cupboard. Our logic is flawless, don't you think?

No Fun Latte

2007-12-19T09:48:00.000-06:00

I love today. I've told you all before about my love of Wednesdays; so what makes this Wednesday stand out from the rest, you ask. For starters, I'm having the skinniest day I've had in months, I'll credit that to the sweat and tears I left on the elliptical last night and the lack of pop for several days. I'm also wearing a simple yet fantastic outfit, if I do say so myself: lovely ivory cashmere with just a bit of holiday bling and my favorite BCBG pumps (the ones you like Books). So basically, I feel like a million bucks and that's enough to make any one's day I'd wager. So the secret of today's marvelousness lies again in simplicity: I came in to work to find a Sbux gift card on my desk from a generous office Secret Santa. (We do not do Secret Santa in our office, but there are a few people that leave gifts around all the major holidays so I've narrowed it down to a few possibilities.)

Upon finding the gift card, I immediately planned out my day with a trip through the tunnels to the nearby Sbux. Not only are delicious goodies awaiting me at my destination, but just the break from the office is a treat in itself. As always, the barista was just the right amount of flirty and professional and prepared my Tall Decaf, Sugar Free Vanilla, Nonfat, No Foam Latte without mentioning that what I'm drinking is very far removed from actual coffee. Oh, I'm trying to give up caffeine by the way, or limit it at least. My favorite chai lattes are now going to be a rare treat.

On my way back to work with my No Fun Latte, I cherished the elevator ride up. The few moments of solitude--eyes closed, fingers laced around the cup, palms soaking in the heat--resting my body lightly on the hand rail were (and are always) completely rejuvenating. I might not have the caffeine buzz, but just the act of going to get coffee is sometimes all I need to feel relaxed and energized all at once.

Even though I love my 'coffee' drink, the Oracle does not agree. Behold the Oracle's wisdom:

Personality type: Freak
No person of sound mind would go to an EXPENSIVE COFFEE SHOP to get a drink WITHOUT CAFFEINE. Your hobbies include going to ski resorts in the summer and flushing $5 bills down the toilet. You are a menace to society.

Also drinks: Non-alcoholic beer

Can also be found at: Pools with no water

Not really accurate, but funny.

H-O-T

2007-12-17T15:48:00.001-06:00

We went to the Timberwolves game on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Twolves are not that great and lost; but we enjoyed the game for the most part. The added bonus for me was that Wally Szczerbiak now plays for the SuperSonics and I was able to stare at him during our time at the Target Center. He is one hot man.
D thinks Wally is funny looking. He spent the night making fun of his ears.
We are definitely going to one more game this year, although it is not really to support the Timberwolves as much as it is to see KG and Ray Allen--D's favorite two players. Actually, it has nothing to do with the Timberwolves at all, except that they are nothing without KG.
This was a boring post, but it contained eye candy, so I don't feel too guilty.

Remember Those Whom Others Have Forgotten

2007-12-14T08:16:00.000-06:00

As you are out wrapping up (or just starting, no judgement here) your holiday shopping this weekend, I would like to let you know of a local MN charity that is still in need of holiday support.

Gifts for Seniors started as a winter holiday program in 1994 and was the brain child of two wonderful women--one of them my mother. This gift program, along with supporting and identifying agencies, provides gifts to some of the most vulnerable and isolated senior citizens in the metro area. Many of these folks have little to no contact with family or friends, and often only have contact with agency staff on a regular basis. With a small donation, you could help a senior citizen who feels alone to feel remembered.

Gift ideas include:

Large font books, calendars and crosswords/word finds
Warm blankets, sweaters and mittens
Gift cards/certificates for grocery and drug stores
Cassette tapes/CDs--music or recorded books
Postage stamps

View the full Wish List here.

Gifts are matched to senior citizens by case workers/agency staff based on their personal wish lists and needs. Monetary donations go directly towards the purchase of gifts as operating expenses are covered by the county, partners, supporters and sponsors.

Enjoy your weekend!

"Bad 3 O'clock Decisions"

2007-12-13T11:58:00.000-06:00

First, I have to say that the title of the post has nothing to do with the content because I am a loser…and a prude. The worst 3 a.m. decisions I’ve made have included being too wordy in an analytical paper and being overly snotty to a friend due to being overly tired because I DO NOT STAY UP THAT LATE. But if you have a ‘bad 3 o’clock decision’ to share, leave a comment or take it as a writing prompt! Anyway, I love Tim Gunn and I love that he is a self proclaimed old fart for not taking that to the gutter. Did you watch Project Runway last night? Oh I will miss the auft contestant, but I would have missed any of the bottom three designers. On with the post then…

UPDATE: Titan has a home! He was gone yesterday when I checked the site. Yea! I hope he is happy with his new family.

This week has not been my favorite week ever.

Our water was off on Sunday. I still don’t know why.
It wasn’t back on by Monday morning. That was annoying, but we had water Monday night.
Tuesday was a stupid crazy day at work; I didn’t get to do any of my work because I was completing tasks for our support staff and my boss and I ended up doing a mailing because said support staff was too busy. It’s one thing for me to do a mailing, but my boss should not ever have to do a mailing—and I didn’t ask her to, she insisted. And then I had a huge coffee and was up until 1 a.m. (still not 3 a.m.!).
Wednesday wasn’t noteworthy, so not bad.
Today our alarm didn’t go off. D woke up at 7:30 a.m. and was understandably upset, but taking it out on me. I told him he could apologize to me later. Oh, I start work at 7 o’clock and he starts at 7:30 a.m. We live 30 minutes from work. Awesome.

But tomorrow we are going to the Timberwolves game (Thanks Kris!) so that gives me hope that the week will be better. Saturday I hope to make loads of chili and burrito components and do laundry—not exciting, but not bad.

And now you can see the reason I haven’t written this week: I’ve been in a less than stellar mood. But someone just brought me a pumpkin bar, this day is looking better already!

A Night of Puppy Breath and Wagging Tails

2007-12-07T09:11:00.000-06:00

Last night I had my second volunteer training session at the humane society; it was so much fun. I was the only trainee there, so the instructor and I basically played with the dogs all night. Time well spent.
Meet Titan, a 5 year-old lab mix and a sweet boy. He knows "sit", "down" and "shake" and doesn't jump to greet. He is house trained (bell trained, actually--he rings a bell to go out, read more about this here and here) and of good temperment. I haven't actually walked him, but he was good with a Gentle Leader going through the loud and distracting dog kennel.
If I didn't have two of my own already, he'd have gone home with me last night. He enjoyed playing a bit of fetch and getting his belly rubbed. I enjoyed twirling his soft ears and getting kisses. If you or someone you know in in the Minneapolis metropolitan area and looking for a great dog, check out Titan.
Other than Titan, I also visited with Foxy and Cooper. Fun dogs. Foxy has the same personality as Q--demanding Velcro dog with energy. And I spent time with two black lab mix puppies. The sweet smell of puppy breath. The little wrinkles of loose skin. So endearing. They will find a home soon. I just hope whoever adopts them knows that they will be HUGE and energetic. That's part of my job though--educating potential adopters. Reminding them that a well behaved dog doesn't happen by chance and that the 8lb puppy they are in love with will grow to be an 80lb dog all too soon.
As much as I wanted to stay and play with the dogs all night, the humane society staff wanted to go home. I thought about Titan all the way home. I want him to get a good home. I want his family to be as excited to see him at night as he will be to see them; to be as excited as I was to see my dogs. I spent the rest of the night with Q and Carter--rubbing bellies and getting kisses.

Belinda Warned Me

2007-12-04T14:22:00.000-06:00

I knew it was going to snow today. I knew it was going to start in the morning and not end until after rush hour. Why is it that weather forecasts are only true when you least want them to be?

Without thinking this morning, I put on my new 4" heel boots. I normally go to work in my Merrells and pick a pair of shoes from the stash I have hidden under my desk. But this morning? Noooo, I made the decision to wear the pretty shoes to work.

Also this morning, I agreed to rush home after work and pick up a package. The office closes at 5 p.m. I get off 4 p.m. but by the time I get out of the parking ramp it's 4:15 and then it takes me 35 minutes to get home under normal driving conditions.

Why did I decide to do these things knowing full well that it would snow? Idiot.

I ended up forgetting my lunch today. The lunch I prepared last night because I knew it was going to snow today and I didn't want to have to leave the building. Normally this would not be a big deal, I would throw on my Merrells and run across the street. Not today. I had a quick prayer session before leaving and uttered, "Please God, don't let me fall" many a time as I crossed the street to Noodles.

I have not yet had to deal with the package thing yet. I'm hoping beyond hope that the roads are fine when I leave work. If not, I will easily be able to get it tomorrow afternoon; but that's not what I promised to do. In the words of Tim Gunn, I'll have to "make it work."

So it's snowing in December in Minnesota. I should have been prepared.

I'm Still Here

2007-11-29T07:31:00.001-06:00

No, I have not completely abandoned ship. It's been entirely too long since I've posted, so I'll give you a few excuses as to why that is.

First, I was in Las Vegas for an extended Thanksgiving holiday with my family. It was a nice trip, although an extra day would have made it even better. While I was there I didn't have a computer to post. And I still haven't received the photos from my mom, so those will have to be posted much later. I have some great shots though!

Second, I returned to a full inbox at work on Monday. I miss one workday and apparently it was the most productive workday ever. Well, I guess that's job security.

Third, I had some kind of stomach bug. I was at home for two days and have finally left my house. Being sick sucks. It sucks even more when your husband is much sicker than you are and so he cannot take care of you. And D is a bad sick person. He gets really crabby. So the last two days have not been fun at all. So far today it's actually nice to get out of the house, even though I'm exhausted from being awake for two hours.

I'll try to be interesting later.

All Over the Place: Went to California for a Coke

2007-11-19T13:25:00.000-06:00

I have yet another cold. I'm pretty sure it's a new rhino virus all together, but I suppose it could be the same one and it just took a brief vacation. I don't know why I'm telling you this except to say that I super pink puffy heart the new Puffs Plus [lotion] with the Scent of Vicks. (Word to the wise, avoid contact with your eyes. (My rhymes ROCK.)) I offered one to a co-worker with a cold and she said that the idea scared her, I then offered her a regular Puffs, but said Kleenex instead of tissue. That got me thinking, how many items do I call by a brand name? And then I remembered The McDonald's Incident.

When I was 14, my mom sent me and my then 10-year-old brother to California. One might ask why in the world she would do this, and I have no good reason for you, but I'll tell you the story anyway. (Why not make an already boring and pointless post even longer?)

Shortly before spring break of my freshman year of high school I came home and started to complain that all my friends were going on vacation and would come back tan and I would still be pale. I then demanded that my mom buy me a tanning package so that once my friends returned from their tropical family vacations I would not blind them with my pasty-whiteness. My mother scoffed at that idea. She thought it was insane to send her 14 year-old daughter to a tanning salon and dismissed the idea completely. A few hours later she was on the phone with her cousin in California. As it turned out, my brother and I both had spring break at the same time and my mom's cousin was willing to let us stay at her place. See what a little whining will do? I just wanted a tanning package and my mom sent me on a vacation!

Bro and I were headed to CA all alone. We stayed with my mom's cousin and her husband, and they took us everywhere. We went to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. We went boogie boarding in the Pacific and learned to shoot a BB gun (at the time I thought it was fun, looking at pictures of it makes me cringe). It was a great vacation and I did come home with a tan, and bangs--my mom's cousin owned (still owns) a hair salon. It was an all around great trip with plenty of stories to tell, but the story that sticks will me and lives on is a humorous little happening--in McDonald's of all places.

After a day of boogie boarding and bicycling, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. It was my turn to order and I said something like, "Can I please get (yes, that is how I order--my mother taught me well) two plain hamburgers and a small pop." The teenage girl taking my order turned white in the face and said, "I'm sorry, we're all out of that." Shocked, I stood frozen, glancing around the room. The pop machine was in the dining area, so I just needed a glass. I was sure I hadn't specified a type of pop, and McDonald's couldn't really be out of hamburgers, could they? Coming to the realization that we weren't in Minnesota, I quickly blurted out, "Soda! Coke! A small beverage!" Her face turned from white to bright red and she handed me a small cup. Bro thought that was hilarious. Of course, he was 10, but he still won't let me live it down. He'll randomly bust out "Soda! Coke! A small beverage!" with a sense of urgency when I order a drink even now. I have no idea how he managed to remember that but forget about me holding a BB gun.

And just think, all it took to bring this memory to the forefront of my mind (and make me post about it nonetheless) was saying 'Kleenex' went I meant tissue. I also say 'Chap Stick' for lip balm, but I don't say 'Coke' unless I'm ordering a diet with grenadine.

New and Exciting but Mostly Random

2007-11-16T12:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's Blog Share (marvelous idea, -R-) was a success, and I was productive at work in spite of all the intriguing mystery posts. It was certainly a first for me--I'm still new to the world of blogs and all--but I thoroughly enjoyed participating. I had a few other firsts this week that I'd like to share with you:

D confessed to checking my blog. I never really told him I had a blog. I wasn't necessarily hiding it from him, but I didn't necessarily want him to know either. I've made entries in his presence and even talked about presents from bloggy friends, but I never really said, "I have a blog. It's called Muse on Vacation. You should check it out." Well, I guess I didn't really need to tell him, he knew, he checked it out. I don't think he'll be back often, but it might make me rethink some of my future entries.
I'm wearing a gray wool blazer today with a great pair of jeans. This is a first for me and I'm really proud of myself. I didn't think I could pull off this look and so far I'm very happy with it. It's Casual Friday and I've embraced that concept while still looking polished and pulled together. (Thanks, Mom, for letting me shop in your closet!)
I had my first volunteer training at the Animal Humane Society last night. I'm really excited to actually start volunteering so that I can accrue hours and move into different volunteer positions. I will start out on the Adoption Floor, which will be fun, but I'd really like to work with the obedience classes and especially with the dogs that have not yet been adopted. Beyond just dog walking, volunteers can go through additional training and start obedience training with dogs that are on the adoption floor and looking for homes. The thought is that the more well behaved the animal is, the easier it will be to place them in a forever home. This is something that I am very passionate about and I cannot wait to get to work!
Last night I also tried Garden Salsa Sun Chips for the first time. These are amazing. I highly recommend them. I mean, it's not so good for my Healthy Eating Plan, but it could be worse. And they are soooooo good. "It's a fiesta in your mouth. With a Mariachi band!" Who can resist that?
Lastly, I received the fabulous gold bubble necklace from BR in the mail. It's a bit larger than I thought (I was picturing it as the size of a quarter. It's bigger than that. A lot bigger than that.) but I do like it. As it is slightly flashier than I had imagined, I wasn't prepared to wear it today. I think I have an outfit in mind that could use a little flair (well, more than one, but one in particular for this accessory) and plan to wear it next week. Quite possibly I will post a picture.

Am I Anonymous Yet?

2007-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today's guest poster will remain anonymous.

When I first saw -R-'s post about the Blog Share my immediate thought was, "Oh, hell no. No one will be writing on my blog but ME." But eventually (and perhaps inevitably) I started ruminating on how it could be fun to write in someone else's space, and how if they were willing to let me post my crazy and ridiculous thoughts for their readers then I should not feel badly about reciprocating. For me, the hardest part about letting go of a post is the feeling that somehow I have been negligent in my duties, that I am not keeping up my end of the bargain. And how many people are actually concerned when I do not post? Excluding myself, probably a big fat zero. So I am choosing to view this as an exercise in FUN, in capital letters- and here we go! Are you excited yet?

I thought for sure with the list of blogs lined up for the Blog Share that I would definitely find myself writing for someone whose blog I already frequented, someone that I felt I already knew fairly well, someone that I ~~stalked~~ read on an almost daily basis. But lo and behold, there was at least one blog that I had not yet discovered, and I found myself poring through archived posts trying to get a feel for who this KM person is. I found lots of great stuff: she is funny and sweet and intelligent. She is a bowler (I am the worst bowler ever, in real life and on the Wii) and she admires Julia Stiles's hair (so do I!). And while I found all this reading enlightening and enjoyable it made me realize that I am not here to compare our similarities and differences. What is this, Introduction to Critical Analysis 101? No. I am here to write an anonymous post, and dammit, that is what I'm going to do.

I've always found the idea of posting anonymously a bit absurd, possibly because I am narcissistic and believe that everyone should be as fascinated by my life as I am, possibly because I don't have many deep, dark secrets hiding in my soul that I need to share. It seems counterintutive to me to have a blog and yet not want people to know about you, yet I, too, am frequently drawn the sweet and dark anonymity of blogs like Post Secret. But there are definitely a few things that I would not be comfortable publishing on my own blog and this seems like a good place to store those thoughts.

* I have finally decided that I do want a marriage and children. It took a long time for me to get to that place and sometimes it makes me nervous to think about wanting something that might not ever happen. My life as it is is happy and content, I would hate to have something so important to me throw a monkey wrench into the works. I want him to want what I want. I want us to be on the same page. I don't know what I'll do if we don't end up there together.
* I feel as though I have to work harder than most people to overcome obstacles. I am sometimes feel resentful that I was born with my genetic makeup, a propensity towards being overweight, heart disease, high blood pressure, a quick temper, and stubbornness. I keep telling myself I do not have to be any of those things. I am better than that. I can change things. Most days it works. Some days it does not.
* I wish I could tell my parents I love them more frequently without them thinking it was because I was on my deathbed.
* I do not believe I am that great of a writer. I wish I was.
* Lately I have been considering a large shift in the nature of my work. There are many aspects of this that need to be weighed out: money, vacation, feeling as though I am doing good works, etc. Thankfully, I am in no rush to change, but it has been on my mind.

Wow. I feel surprisingly great that I could share some of these things and not have to answer to a flurry of concerned or surprised emails from people I know. Maybe I'll do this more often! Or you know, not. Because it is kind of stressful writing for someone else. And I already miss posting on my own blog.

A very big thank you to KM for hosting today. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.

The Real Gunn Show

2007-11-14T08:16:00.000-06:00

PROJECT RUNWAY PREMIERS TONIGHT! I am so excited I cannot contain myself. I cannot wait to see all of the designs and my beloved Tim Gunn.

While I did watch a few episodes of Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, it just wasn't the same. There was no "Make it work" and Veronica just got on my nerves. But tonight, I will gleefully watch PR and then whine and pout that I have to wait so long for the next episode.

Although I am only allowed 1 hour blocks of fashion frenzy at a time, I will use the down time wisely--by catching up on the snark at Television Without Pity and Pink Navy.

Confessions of a TV Junkie

2007-11-13T14:16:00.000-06:00

Being home sick yesterday gave me the opportunity to do something that I haven't done in quite some time: watch random TV shows for no other reason than the fact that they are on and I'm sitting on my arse. Since investing in DVR (yes, it is an investment--I might not make money on it, but it gives me more time while still allowing me to be a TV Junkie) I have not tuned in to hours of L&O reruns or flipped through the channels before landing on some random movie that I wasn't really in to, but had seen a million times and therefore had a connection to--Bring It On comes to mind.

Yesterday I watched said L&O reruns and also found time to watch the lovely Julia Stiles and yummy Matt Damon in Bourne Identity. I really do love her. I think it's because of 10 Things I Hate About You. She was also the inspiration for my hair cut. (Which I'm getting trimmed tomorrow, so Books we'll have to get together!) My DVR is currently 33% full, but everything on there needs to be watched later, with D.

D and I watch Heroes together every Monday night. Not when it airs, we have to watch it later so we can fast forward through all the commercials. Also, we usually work out on Monday nights. That did not really happen last night, though we didn't watch Heroes until 11:30pm. I should mention that my bedtime is 10 o'clock. We both napped in the evening, so after watching Heroes we watched My Name is Earl and the first part of CSI: Miami. I am not quite awake today. I am also still feeling sick. It would have been lovely to relive my at home day yesterday today--but to wake up tomorrow feeling better. Or just to feel better now, but still be at home.

Heroes is really the only show D watches with any regularity. I actually didn't want to watch it at all, but I love the idea of D and I watching TV together and sharing that. I really have no idea why I think it's that great of an idea to be TV Junkies together, but I blame my parents for this. Anyway, I had no desire to watch Heroes, but set it to record on my DVR so we could watch it together. Now I'm hooked.

While Heroes is a great show and all, that is not the point of this post. What I'm really trying to say is that I watch a lot of TV. I mean A LOT. I also blame that on my parents, actually my dad. It's All. His. Fault. I currently have 27 season passes set on my DVR. Not all of the shows are on right now, but still--that's a lot. I know it. I own it. Without much further ado, here are the shows I record. I'll admit I'm addicted to most of them. I'm not giving them links because seriously, what's the point? And I'm not putting them in order of favorites--do you know how hard it is for me to answer that question? I can't even narrow it down to five! So, in alpha order, this is what I'm watching when I could be cooking, cleaning or working out:

Back to You
Biggest Loser (TBL)
Bones
Brothers & Sisters
Chuck
Criminal Minds
CSI
CSI: Miami
ER
Heroes
House
Law & Order
Law & Order Criminal Intent
Law & Order SVU
Monk
My Name is Earl
Nip/Tuck
Numbers
Project Runway (PR)
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Scrubs
Shark
Side Order of Life
The Closer
The Office
Top Chef

There are a few, like Back to You, that I could take or leave. I probably wouldn't watch My Name is Earl anymore if D didn't like it. I haven't gotten to Chuck or Pushing Daisies yet, as D and I are saving those for when Heroes takes a break. Project Runway starts TOMORROW and I couldn't be more excited. Some of my shows were cancelled. Some I had to stop watching because of scheduling conflicts (my DVR can only record two shows at once--that is not enough, people) and some I set up but then deleted (ie: Dirty Sexy Money) because I just really don't have the time. I also recorded random 'flip' shows, but I recently deleted them because we just weren't watching them like we did.

As you can tell from my list, detective shows are kind of my thing. Medical dramas are also up there. I used to not watch reality TV, but that was before TBL, PR and Top Chef. I justify it by saying that these are all life altering shows--and not just in a money kind of way. But whatever, it's reality TV. I'm hooked. Anything on this list you watch? What am I missing out on?

Throwing In The Towel

2007-11-13T10:13:00.000-06:00

***First, I need to admit that I did fail miserably at NaBloPoMo. I was home sick yesterday and could not get the frickin' computer to work. Granted, I only tried twice, but I was sick. So, I slept yesterday instead of posting. I have no idea what I would have posted, so perhaps you are all the better for not having to read through it.***

It's Tuesday. I missed posting on Monday. Sorry. I need to say that I am giving this my best effort. Also, I'm going to be in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving. Yea! But, we do not have a laptop. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to post from Las Vegas. I might need to amend my commitment to NaBloPoMo to days that I am at work.

I need to catch up on work today, but hopefully later I will be able to catch up on your blogs and possibly write another inspired post of my own. It's been awhile, so maybe the Muse's holiday is over and she will return so I can redeem myself.

9 Hours Of Bowling Sucks

2007-11-12T01:20:00.000-06:00

I realize that most of you don't bowl and have no desire to read about bowling, but after spending a long day in one of the worst Family Fun Centers I don't have anything else to write about.

Also, I realize that it's technically Monday, but I fell asleep after bowling and just woke up to post. It's the middle of the night, so let's just pretend.

Today was tough for me on the lanes and I really could have used a remote controlled bowling ball.

A Day Of Work And Bowling

2007-11-10T23:38:00.000-06:00

You can tell it's November when I'm bowling all the time and also have to work on the weekends. This month is short on workdays and weekends, but apparently that makes it appealing for organizations to cram everything into.

This morning I was at work. We had a luncheon for donors and students. It's an easy event to work and it went incredibly well--it just took up time. At least I was served delicious pot roast for my efforts.

After changing out of my snazzy pink tweed suit (That's right, pink tweed. Oh yeah.) I put on my cute black and white bowling shirt. I didn't think it was possible to be in two such extremely different venues in one day. Although when I'm bowling with my tournament team it is rarely the 'bowling alley' you imagine or see on TV. These are mostly women's tournaments and even when we're bowling with/against the men, people there are competitive--not wearing wife beaters or My Drinking Team has a Bowling Problem T-shirts. Bowling is an odd thing as it is both a recreational activity and a competitive sport.

The center was not as kind to us as it could have been today. For starters, it was hot. My Degree was activated. Also, it took forever to get my food. And we just didn't score as well as we would have liked. We'll do better tomorrow. Yes, another full day in a bowling center. But, this time I don't have to go into work as well; and we're wearing teal.

Looking Famous And Beautiful

2007-11-09T07:34:00.000-06:00

If you have time to kill or need a writing prompt for NaBloPoMo, head on over to My Heritage and see which celebrities you look like. I'm still on Cloud 9 because Vanessa Marcil was deemed "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" by Prince for his video. I think she is lovely. I take it as a compliment to look 84.5% like her. (But I don't. Look like her, that is.) Or to resemble any of these ladies by as much as 10%.

I used 5 pictures of myself and then tracked the top 5 celebrities that appeared for each photo and the percentage of resemblance. After a little easy math (my brain can't handle any other kind of math) I came up with these stats. So, I look like this...according to a computer.

Kate Bosworth 86.5%

Eva Longoria 85%

Vanessa Marcil 84.5%

Kate Hudson 84%

Portia Derossi 83%

If you know me in real life, I won't be at all offended if you disagree with the face recognition software. Really. If you say, "I just don't see it," I'll reply with, "I don't see it either." Plus, I don't have blonde hair. But, I've dreamed of looking like Kate Hudson, so maybe my dreams are coming true?

Day 8 And It's Getting To Me

2007-11-08T13:22:00.000-06:00

I often admit to being under inspired for blog entries. Why I thought I could do NaBloPoMo is beyond me; but here I am, posting nothingness.
Well, that was an incredibly negative way to start this post.
It often happens that I have tons of great ideas that come to me when I am no where near my computer.
My cathartic walks to Sbux often leave me feeling creative; something which rarely happens at my desk.
The great ideas never seem to stick, though, or the humor and/or insight is lost as it runs the course from my right brain to my fingertips.
What I need is a digital voice recorder, then I could dictate my blog entries on my walks and just type it up--or hook it up to specialized software and be done with it.
I actually did this my senior year in high school for a poetry contest. I borrowed my teacher's recorder and as I would run errands for her during my TA hour I would work out the lines of my poems. It really worked; the creativity just flowed. Two of my three poems won in two different categories. (Unnecessary pat on the back for something done 10 years ago.)
I guess this means I'm not the type of person who can harness the creativity, or I just haven't learned how to yet. I'm guessing it takes work for most.
The last thought made me imagine lightning bugs in a jar.
Do you say lightning bugs or fireflies? Is it regional?
Back to not being able to come up with inspired blog entries from my desk, this shouldn't shock me. In college I hand wrote all of my papers in a local coffee shop on a red velvet couch and then would type them up back in my dorm room. A laptop would have helped me out greatly, Mom and Dad.
What all of this means to me is that I really need to blog someplace other than work.
Also, online shopping does not cure writer's block, but I did buy the Banana Republic bubble necklace. Score!

Some Gold & Wool Will Make It All Better

2007-11-07T11:12:00.001-06:00

As I continue on the Quest to Create an Interesting Wardrobe, I become more and more frustrated and confused. The set above is from Banana Republic. Not that I would wear these pieces all together, but maybe the necklace on its own when a neckline calls for it or just the earrings or the earrings and the cuff bracelet on occasion. I'm trying to find accessories, but I really want diamond earrings and a diamond necklace. (Interesting? Not really. Beautiful, timeless and functional? Absolutely.) Also, diamonds are a bit out of my budget right now. I wear gold, not silver, so this further complicates things; so many gold/golden things look tacky to me and I'm afraid that all of the above just might fit in that category. I want something interesting, but I'm just not sure if these pieces (even on their own) will work for me. If you have any ideas, please send them my way!!!

On to the next. I feel pretty confident, in general, about picking sweaters, but I would appreciate some advice. Please give me honest opinions about the below styles and colors. The first two are from Ann Taylor and the third is from Gap.

I LOVE the red buckle sweater, my only concern is that it will look frumpy on me. Also, I have a great red zip sweater, but it is a bit more casual. What do you think of the red one?

The oatmeal shawl collar sweater is OK. I think I like it, but I also think it looks a little old lady for me. (Not actually like a 'little old lady' but a little like something an old lady would wear.) They also have it in black, but do I really need another black cardigan? Quite possibly I do, but I'd like to branch out in the colors just a bit, even if I'm still in the neutrals.

The oatmeal crew collar sweater is, I don't know. It's just calling me. I feel like I need it. I obviously don't need two new oatmeal cardigans, so which would you choose if you had to pick one?

Do you like any of these sweaters at all? If not, I usually have better taste--I swear! For proof, I offer you my word that I have received two compliments on my sweater dress/calf boot outfit today. And no, I do not look like a hooker.

Better Than A Radio Station T-shirt

2007-11-06T07:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was just an average day, just like any other day in the life of KM & D until we arrived home and D went to get the mail. He came in the house and said, "Who is Lastname from Somecity, MN?" To be honest, I wasn't quite sure, but then I turned around and saw that he had a package for me. "That's my prize from my blogger friend!" (Thirty before 30)

A huge eye roll followed.

D: Why did you get a prize?

KM: I won her Tuesday Tunes contest.

After a short explanation of blogs and the contest...

D: But you suck at that.

KM: Well, yes. But I named the song and someone else named the artist so we both got something "Real Nice".

But D is right; knowing artists names is not my strong suit. For the first 4 years that I listened to country I didn't know that Garth Brooks sang more than half of my favorite songs. I knew I liked Garth Brooks, but I didn't know how much I liked him until D gave me the box set of all of his albums. Apparently he knew how much I liked Garth Brooks. Coincidentally, Garth Brooks has a new album out called Ultimate Hits--it hits shelves today.

Anyway, I did win the contest. (I won! I won! I really, really won!) and Thirty sent me a great package full of prizes (pictured above). I do have a crush on Jim from "The Office" so I really appreciate the I Heart Jim notepad. And who wouldn't love hot chocolate and Lip Smackers? Thank you, Thirty! I love my prize(s) and I will continue to play; but now you know that it was a complete fluke that I won!

How I Will One Day Embarrass My Hypothetical Future Children

2007-11-05T14:25:00.000-06:00

When I was 14 my family packed into the minivan to travel from MN to Jackson Hole, WY. We were on our way to a family reunion. It can't get more exciting than that, people. This was a gathering of my mom's family and more specifically, of my mom's mom's family. (I could just of easily have said "My maternal grandmother" but I always chuckle when people go through the relationship tree: my dad's sister's crazy daughter's husband vs. my cousin's husband.) And let me tell you, while my mom's sisters (I did it again just for you) are crazier than she is, she is definitely less inhibited and more likely to make a complete fool of herself.

On with the story: One afternoon we (me, my mom, and a few of my aunts) were walking through a grocery store and saw a crate full of fruit with a sign reading: MANGOES. My mother loudly and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Ooh, mangoes! I hate mangoes." On the same shopping 'adventure' she wondered off on her own down an aisle of boxed foods and began to clipitty-clop in her cowboy boots. She then ran around to find us in the next aisle over and excitedly asked, "Did I sound like a horse? Did I? Did I?" Did I mention I was 14? OH MY GOD; I was mortified. So, that is the story of My Mom, the Grocery Store and the Cowboy Boots.

It's A Bird. It's A Plane.

2007-11-04T22:55:00.000-06:00

Yes, I spent the entire day in a bowling center. Again. I swear there is a world where people think this is cool, though. Or at least not completely lame. Anyway, there was a big local tournament this weekend and both my dad and my brother did well enough on Saturday to make it to Sunday. Whoo hoo! I started my morning with yet another Grande Nonfat Chai and later had to supplement my caffeine intake with a Diet Dr. Pepper. (While I do love bowling and like to watch it, I'll admit that it does get a little slow.) My brother finished 8th. That is quite a good showing. My dad, however, has become some crazy good bowler (again) in the last few years and decided to make me stay at the bowling center for a total of 8.5 hours yesterday. A handful of people stayed to watch the final matches and when it was all said and done my dad was probably the underdog going in to the final match. While my dad is quite good, and called Superman on occasion by his peers, his opponent is still in his prime--my dad is on the senior circuit. In order to win, my dad would need to beat the hot younger player twice. He did it. He won. It was awesome. My dad rocks.

***I wrote this at about 6:00 pm on Sunday. My poor Internet connection at home would not let me post as it always timed out. I tried to publish a few more times, but eventually I needed to go to bed. So, I kept the time stamp from the last time I saved it. I hate to have the appearance of cheating so early in NaBloPoMo, but I tried, and tried, and tried.***

Good Shots

2007-11-03T16:36:00.000-05:00

Yes, I spend pretty much every weekend in the bowling alley regardless if I'm bowling or not. And yes, I still say 'bowling alley' most of the time even though I know I am supposed to say 'bowling center.' I'm working on it.

Today both my dad and my brother were bowling in a big tournament and I enjoyed watching, pseudo-coaching and cheering them on. I basically grew up in a bowling center, so I know most of the guys there, and it was fun to chat with everyone and see my friends do well. My dad and my brother both bowled well enough to make the cut, so they get to bowl tomorrow. I was reminded of the start time and that I even get an extra hour of sleep tonight (Remember, it's Day Light Savings--set your clocks back!) so that there is no excuse for me not to show up on time.

Lest you think I'm a social loser, I do have plans tonight with friends and we will not be bowling. I do expect that food and laughter will be involved though, and maybe even some shopping. Perhaps I'll find a few of the accessories I so desperately need.

Mystery To Me

2007-11-02T23:38:00.000-05:00

Supposedly a little mystery is good for a marriage, but I often thought of that as meaning the beauty secrets of women and not the mind boggling actions of men. D is wonderful, but here are a few things that I don't understand and some of them just drive me crazy.

Unloading the dishwasher: D is very helpful in the kitchen in general. He doesn't even mind unloading the dishwasher, which is something I hate to do. He puts away the glasses, bowls, plates, and even the Tupperware-esque pieces in their proper places--but then he leaves the silverware in the dishwasher and begins to load the dirty dishes! I can't tell you how many times we've had cupboards full of dishes but no silverware.
Vacuuming and scrubbing: D loves our Dyson. He vacuums all the time. He will even use the carpet cleaner on occasion without being asked. D also likes to scrub out the sink and wipe down the counters. This is wonderful. The only thing I don't understand is why he will not move the paper and clutter to a reasonable place before his surface cleaning begins. No, he doesn't clean around it, he just puts everything in a bag or box and puts it somewhere.
Adding to the grocery list: I grocery shop every two weeks, more frequently on occasion. Starting a few days before I go, I ask D what he would like me to buy. He can never answer because he 'isn't hungry.' Ummm, what does that have to do with the next two weeks? So he always gets the same things (I keep a list of random things he likes and requests) and then I try to update the list every month or so.
Things don't get low, they are all of a sudden GONE: As part of my inquiry before shopping trips, I ask if he needs any body wash, shaving cream, etc (we have our own bathrooms) and he never needs any of the above. A few days after I have gone grocery shopping, however, he is out of every hygiene product imaginable. There must be a metro sexual gremlin in his bathroom.
The tan that lasts forever: D golfs a lot in the summer and he gets quite tan from that and the yard work. I understand that. What I don't understand is that he is still tan until March. MARCH! And then he starts to golf again in April or early May, so we have the same skin tone for all of 5 weeks. It's not fair. I hope our hypothetical future children get his complexion instead of my pasty white skin.

How D Plans Ahead For Potlucks

2007-11-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night, 10:46 pm (I just checked my cell phone log), D calls.

D, in a slight panic: What do I need to make broccoli salad?

KM: Broccoli florets, apples; I don't know, a whole bunch of stuff. Why?

D: I need to bring a dish to work tomorrow and I signed up for salad.

KM, tired and a little annoyed: Why don't you just bring an easy salad then?

D: I promised everyone I would bring your salad because they really liked it last time.

KM, flattered and no longer annoyed (Good job, D!), rattled off the ingredients stating the ones that were in the refrigerator at home.

D comes home to find the recipe on the kitchen counter with the large Tupperware bowl rinsed and ready for use. Instead of following the directions on how to make the salad, he yells for KM to help. KM is not pleased but chops two apples anyway, and pulls the rest of the ingredients from the cupboards. She returns to bed. It is now almost midnight. D doubles the recipe for the salad and goes to bed.

KM awakes in the morning to find a mess in the kitchen. She is not a clean freak, but a messy kitchen she does not like.

D brings the salad to work.

D calls KM after lunch asking for the recipe to give to his coworkers. KM smiles that she has a recipe that people like.

KM’s Broccoli Salad

Dressing

1 cup Miracle Whip (or mayo if that’s your preference)
½ cup & 2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Salad Base

~5 cups broccoli florets (I used one 16oz bag of precut broccoli florets and chop them into more bite size pieces)
1 small/medium apple, chopped
½ cup Craisins
¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup slivered almonds

Preparation

Mix all dressing ingredients together
Mix dressing with salad base
Chill
Serve

Jumping On The Bandwagon

2007-11-01T10:38:00.000-05:00

OK, so I just joined NaBloPoMo as a way to keep me on track with the whole blog thing. This will indeed be a challenge for me as I've been known to go weeks without updating and have never successfully updated everyday in a work week.

I have developed a plan to help me be successful over the next month. I have several small goals I would like to reach or at least work on before December 1st, so I will post on my progress as it relates to these projects and goals. Exciting, isn't it? I realize that this might get boring for you all to read, so maybe on a few slow days at work, or days where the inspiration just keeps coming, I will have additional posts. So, here are the things I hope to blog about:

Fashion: I'm working on the whole accessory thing. Maybe I'll post pictures of...something. (Way to start of with something exciting!)
Working out: I go through cycles on my commitment to work out and get in shape. Usually I come within 3lbs of my goal and then all of my dedication goes out the window and I binge on caramel corn and frou frou lattes. I'm hoping to hit my goal weight by December 1st and stay committed to the Healthy Eating Plan and weight training/yoga/cardio schedule.
Recipes: I would like to start making more meals at home and I have several great recipes that are tried and true and a few more that I would like to experiment with.

This is just titillating, isn't it? I hope I don't bore you all to death.

Pillowcases Full Of Butterfingers

2007-10-31T08:35:00.000-05:00

First off, no, I am not wearing a costume today. I thought about purchasing a pair of spider web like tights, but I really didn't want to spend the $8. Cheap? Yes I am. I'm in all black, though. I'll pretend it's for Halloween.

I don't remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween. Last year we went to a costume party but D didn't tell me it was a costume party until about 10 minutes before we were leaving--I had just returned home from bowling and was racing around the house trying to find something decent to wear, I didn't notice his overalls and straw hat...anyway, I ended up wearing a black turtleneck with great jeans and my glasses. I called myself a 'city girl' to contrast his 'country boy' although I'm not sure what he was really supposed to be. Yes, I realize it wasn't really a costume and that there was nothing innately 'city' about my outfit. Whatever.

I'm going to assume that the last time I dressed up for Halloween was in 7th grade. It was during the Halloween Blizzard of 1991 (And why is the news still talking about this? The last 3 mornings all I've heard from the morning news is about the weather patterns back in 1991 and how this year Halloween will be nothing like it. Is that really news?) and my costume actually worked for the weather quite nicely. I was a baby. Lame, I know; but my pastel pink footy pajamas actually allowed for long underwear and I put on a silly ghost hat. I was like a baby on Halloween--even more creative! Or lame. Again, whatever.

Tonight I am bowling. I think I will dress up as a bowler since I've been so bad lately that I can't really call myself a bowler. It will be an awesome costume complete with bowling shirt, shoes and ball(s). I even have a wrist brace.

I remember having a lot of fun on Halloween with all of my friends going door to door, saying the traditional 'Trick or Treat' and then returning home with my pillowcase full of candy. The only thing I like better now is that I don't have to sort out all of the chocolate and try to trade for Smarties, Sprees and Starburst--now I can just buy the candy I like. And tonight one of my teammates promised me a bag of candy corn, so I'm set.

Snap Shots Of Who I Am

2007-10-26T14:51:00.000-05:00

Alternate Title: Me/Not Me

Giving credit where credit is due: Sorry, I can't. I saw this in some one's blog a long time ago; I can't remember for the life of me whose blog it was. Thanks for the great idea, though!

Medical Drama
Me: House

Not Me: Grey's Anatomy

Vacation Destinations
Me: Active--site seeing somewhere
Not Me: Relaxing on the beach

Bedroom Furniture (We're shopping for beds now so it's on my mind.)
Me: Wrought Iron
Not Me: Heavy, overbearing wood

Local Brews (before they franchised)

Me: Dunn Bros (on Grand Ave!)

Not Me: Caribou Coffee

Random Celebrity Crush

Me: Luke Wilson (I know, I could have gone with Matt Damon, George Clooney or Matthew McConaughey, but none of them seemed 'random' enough.)

Not Me: Johnny Depp (I liked him in Pirates, but I've never found him attractive.)

Eye Candy: Calorie Free, Dentist Approved

2007-10-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the dentist shot me up with Novocain so he could fix my bite. (This is due to a recent filling which I’m still upset about.)
While my mouth was paralyzed and I felt like I was drooling (although friends constantly reassured me that I wasn’t) I ran up to the bowling center and saw an old high school crush.
Normally I wouldn’t care what I looked like at said bowling center (which is why I went directly after the dentist) but I would have probably made an extra effort had I known I was going to run into said high school crush (this goes back to me wanting to look pulled together for the ‘just in case’ moments life throws out).
He was engrossed in the arcade video games so I wasn’t terribly worried that he would see me in my expressionless, thick tongued state. And he wasn’t as cute as I remembered him either.
On Saturday I potentially get to see another crush.
It isn’t actually a crush, it’s more that he’s really good looking and many of the other men around him are not, and since he’s nice but quiet, it’s fun to over exaggerate and act giddy with a select group of women about the slightest bit of attention.
It’s kind of like a random cute guy at a coffee shop—you don’t want anything to happen, but it’s nice to be noticed. It’s the same thing; we just take it to a high school crush level.
In more tooth-related and less crush-worthy news, my teeth are very sensitive to cold right now and even though the cavities and recent fillings are NOT MY FAULT, I’m feeling guilty about eating anything sugary-sweet.
(I also have a thing for misusing parentheses and hyphens—just look at this entry!)
No, I’m not going to edit it; it’s the way I type. It’s my style.
So because of the guilt factor and also the fear of finding out that yet another tooth that is ‘sealed’ is not really sealed and that a cavity is really forming under there no matter how often I brush and floss and rinse, I’m going back on the Healthy Eating Plan and to the boards at SparkPeople.
I’m also going to start eating better because the last several weeks of drinking frou frou coffees and eating pastries like they’re going out of style have taken their toll. Not only can I feel it (sluggish from the sugar high and crash) but I can now see it.
I’m going to do my best to resist the waxy goodness of candy corn for the benefit of my waist and molars!

I'm Too Sexy For This Song

2007-10-22T15:23:00.000-05:00

I was caught singing 'Comin' To Your City' by Big & Rich last weekend. Granted, I was in my car and the guy couldn't hear me (Thank God!) but he totally gave me the Crazy Lady Singing In Her Car look. I was really embarrassed, so I let him pass me and then I continued singing. And gesturing. Oh yes, I dance in the car too. It's a modified shoulder dance. It's awesome. My moves to 'Save A Horse, Ride a Cowboy' are much better, though. Too bad he wasn't around for that one.

But yes, I sing in the car. All the time. Unless there is someone else in the car with me. I don't sing in the shower, though. If I sang in the shower, my dogs would be howling. Not good. Also, singing in the shower leaves me vulnerable--D might hear me. He busted me belting out 'Ain't Going Down" by Garth Brooks early on in our relationship. I think he was as embarrassed as I was. Good times. I really only let loose to country--with the exception of 'Baby Got Back' but that is a must sing song. That is actually one of the only songs I will voluntarily dance to as well. It's just that good. If you don't agree, you are wrong.

I cannot sing or dance. I was once in choir. I did duets. I must have been decent, right? Not so much anymore. D and I both agree that if we were to be given one natural talent we would want it to be singing--you know, a really nice voice to sing well, with perfect pitch and such. Neither of us were so blessed. (Sorry to out you D!) Neither of us can dance either. (Sorry again!) So last weekend both my singing and dancing 'skills' were on display when my friend made us all go out. For most of the night I was just sitting at the table mouthing along the words and shoulder dancing at the table--this consists of me pretending to sing to someone and then making up awkward motions to go along with the song. Later that night we were forced on the dance floor. (I love dancing, but I'm not any good at it for the third time--and I didn't have any bridal attire to hide my sad attempts.) My hope is that by last call people were too drunk to remember that I danced at all.

On another note, one that has relatively little to do with singing or dancing--but is about a song, dm just got a new car with built in navigation. She and another friend named it Alice. Who The F*** Is Alice? Oh come on, laugh. It's funny.

A Fashionista I'm Not

2007-10-19T11:15:00.000-05:00

I look presentable most days. Actually, I think I have nice clothes, I just go for comfort more often than fashion. And I'm an accessory virgin. I often day dream about going out (anywhere) looking fashionable and put together, like I purposefully put on each article knowing that they complimented each other and worked together to create the perfect look--but the effort it must take to actually DO that. Thinking about the effort stops me every time.

What I actually do, is roll out of bed and select a pair of black or gray or sometimes pinstriped pants and pair them with a solid sweater of some kind--I like to mix it up with short sleeves and long sleeves and sometimes a cardigan. (So daring, I know!) I do all of that after showering and towel drying my hair. Then I put on my wedding ring to complete the look. On Fridays and weekends I do the same thing with jeans, and sometimes a T-shirt (tanks in the summer).

This week I'm going through a Let's Try To Get Ready phase, so I've worn skirts and dresses and button up shirts (can one even say 'blouse' anymore?) and even earrings one day. Everyone at work kept asking if I had interviews scheduled. And by 'everyone' I mean two people and I wish that I did have interviews scheduled, I need to get back on that. I've felt pretty good about my outfits this week, but I know that I will eventually slide back into my favorite sweater, and then the Ugly Sweater once it gets colder. I'm trying to guard against this, but it seems inevitable.

My goal is to not only look work appropriate (which I really think that I do most every day) but to look professional and pulled together. It would be nice to pass the Ex Test (you know, the one where if you ran into an ex you would just know you looked good and wouldn't give a second thought to saying "Hi" because you're not dressed in an old T-shirt with Crocs on) or maybe more appropriate for this post, the Impromptu Executive Meeting Test--not that I wear old T-shirts and Crocs to work, but you get the idea. I'm working on it. I'll probably never be a fashionista, but maybe someday soon I'll own an accessory or two and know how to wear them.

80085

2007-10-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

This morning, like every Wednesday morning, I was driving in to work listening to K102 and trying not to spill chai on myself. Yes, Wednesday mornings are my favorite mornings during the work week. I get to drive myself in to work as opposed to carpooling with D (which I actually do love, by the way, but a woman needs her space and her own music!) and that means I get to stop at Dunn Bros before work (or else I'm actually going to Sbux, which is fine, but it's no Dunn's) and also, I get to leave work early. I know the last thing has nothing to do with Wednesday mornings, but just knowing I get to leave early makes my morning better.

So, back on topic...This morning on K102 they were starting some new Ask The Experts thing, and today they had 2 women from Macy's on air who were certified bra fitters. (Log that under a job I do not want.) Right now Macy's is doing the Wacoal Fit For The Cure as it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month--so go get fitted! Eight in ten women are still wearing the wrong size bra, even after the Oprah special a year or two ago. All of these women were calling in with fit questions and Muss and Fish were trying very hard to stay professional. It was an OK show, but it still amazes me that more women don't get fitted properly. Bras are expensive. If I'm going to spend that kind of money I would want to make sure I was buying the right size. And that is exactly what I did.

I didn't know about the whole Macy's Fit For The Cure thing, or else I maybe would have waited a week and gone there. But I went to Nordstrom last week to get fitted, and I don't think it would ever dawn on me to get fitted for bras at Macy's. Nordstrom is known for that, not Macy's. Just like Marshall Field's was known for bridal registry. In Minnesota you just registered at Marshall Field's, or at least you used to. I'm glad I was married a few years ago, if I had to register now I don't know where I would go. Would I go to Macy's by default? I really don't like Macy's. Sad. Back on point...I went to Nordstrom last week and spent gobs of money on my ever shrinking chest to lift and separate 'the girls'. (Ugh. I really hate that phrase, but it just seemed so appropriate and Peg Bundy right there. (Hmmm, 'appropriate' and 'Peg Bundy' don't really work together, do they? Oh well.)) So now my bras all fit and they are so comfortable I could probably wear them to bed. Let's ignore the fact that I measured out to be one size and ended up buying a size that was completely different--this is where 'bra fitting is more of an art than a science' as the certified bra fitter said this morning, but I just think bra sizes are meaningless.

I think that's all I have to say about boobs. (Did you get that from the post title? Pretend you're a pre-teen boy. Do you get it now? OK then, whip out your calculator. You better get it now.) Get fitted at Macy's so Wacoal donates money to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. If you don't get fitted there, get fitted somewhere. And support Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Lastly, my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, went through treatment, and is now in remission. She is doing well and made us go out on Saturday night to let loose. It was more fun than I would have thought and as good of a reason as any to celebrate. In fact, Saturday was so much fun that I'm still recovering (and I didn't even drink!) and I plan to take a nap this afternoon because I GET TO LEAVE EARLY TODAY! I love Wednesdays.

Happiness Is...

2007-10-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Things that make me happy:

Stop Requested

2007-09-27T08:28:00.001-05:00

I took the bus all the way home from work yesterday. Yes, this is a big deal. I don't usually take the bus--I get door to door service in a carpool with D, but sometimes I have to wait insane amounts of time for him to pick me up. Yesterday was one of those days. And I had a free bus pass from Metro Transit. Score!

Anyway, that actual getting home part was fine--it was much easier than I thought it would be: I made it to my transfer and everything. Yea me! So, I got on the correct bus twice and made it home without incident. I won't go as far as saying that the bus is awesome, but my new found knowledge might come in handy every once in awhile.

While the process was easier, the experience was my worst [logical] fear of what would happen on a bus ride. (Although I would have loved to meet Sandra Bullock, Keannu Reeves not so much.) Gross, smelly, wife-beater-wearing guy sat next to me AND WANTED TO TALK! His initial line was, "Can you turn that around so we can talk?" He was referring to my wedding ring. Nice. He then went on to tell me that he is really stressed out and that he finally went to see a "psycho doc" who gave him medication of some kind, "but that won't go well with [his] sobriety." What the...? Why was he sharing this with me? I could have told him my life story, but I didn't. I could have told him that we watched Knocked Up the other night and I was laughing so hard, but then I freaked out because I now laugh like my mother. I could have told him that everyday I feel guilty because my dog is in pain and D and I can't make a decision, which is to say we've made a decision by not making one, but we feel awful about it. I could have told him that I didn't care and that he should take his stale cigarette and B.O. stench somewhere else, but I didn't. I'm not mean, people. I didn't really talk to him, only nodded on occasion and prayed that each stop was his. No luck, he was with me for the duration.

I relayed all of this to D and he couldn't help but to laugh at the thought of me on a city bus. What does that mean? Anyway, I have another free pass that I'll probably use tomorrow. And now that I know the route, I might actually be able to signal for my transfer stop instead of silently praying that my stop is a popular one and another passenger will need to get off as well.

Luv U

2007-09-25T08:52:00.000-05:00

How is it that people will call and email and even text me about my blog, but they won't comment? Just silly. That's okay though; at least I know someone checks in every now and then. And really, no guilt about not commenting. Really. I did get several calls and emails regarding my hair cut though, so that was fun. For the record, I am starting to like it a lot more now. I won't go shorter, but I might keep it at this length for awhile.

So, what is it with all of the texting and such? My brother rarely answers his phone, but if you text him he replies instantly. And the abbreviations--I always thought the texting commercials on TV were kind of humorous (It would be so cool if I knew the company name to insert here, but you know, the commercials where the mom is all crazy over the wireless bill because of the excessive text messaging? You know that one, right?) and completely exaggerated until I received a text from a friend that was down right laughable with all of the NBD and IDK talk. And she's a professional woman! I swear she's not 16. Although, as I type this I feel as though I'm a bubble gum blowing, head-tilting, 16 year old Valley Girl. Gawd! The tone of this entry is so teenager-y.

Moving on. Texting reminds me of the days of pagers and typing out messages with the numbers. Or 9-1-1-ing people over completely stupid things. (I never had a pager. I wasn't cool like that.) And the upside down number/word thing reminds me of 6th grade prank of writing PEN15 on some one's hand.

Anyway...I'm glad that we have all sorts of ways to keep in touch, so whatever way you choose, I'm just happy that we're connected.

luvyakbye

Here I Am. Love Me.

2007-09-18T11:49:00.000-05:00

Here is Cooper, the Second Cutest Puppy in the World. I had the pleasure of meeting him on Saturday and he is so sweet and roly poly and has puppy breath and everything.

I know my friend will disagree with me on his runner-up title because he is obviously adorable and she has photographic evidence to back up her argument, but I am ever so slightly biased.

Here is the official M.O.V. Cutest Puppy in the World title holder, Carter:

Awwww! Isn't he cute!?! He's WAY BIG now and moves like a deer with all of his uber long legs, but he's definitely a cutie.

After spending the afternoon with Cooper, I decided that I definitely wanted another puppy. (Don't tell D!!!) I even said it out loud. As my friend rightly stated, "If you get another puppy you'll never have kids." And I do want kids (someday--don't ask me when), so no more puppies for me...yet.

:-)

2007-09-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

Happy 25th Birthday Smiley! Read the article Digital 'smiley face' turns 25.

A little known fact: my nickname when I was 16 was Smiley; I got it from a friend's boyfriend at her Sweet Sixteen birthday party--we were the only two people there who didn't know anyone else. Later, friend's boyfriend's friend asked me out. We dated. It was a huge drama that is for another post...if I get really bored someday.

A spin off from that nickname was my first ever screen name/user name: SmileyK79.

Also, I prefer :) to :-)
I'm just lazy, but it really means that my smileys don't have noses. :(

Sneak Peek

2007-09-17T23:37:00.000-05:00

Before

After

Yes, I cut my hair off. At least 10 inches of it. I donated it to Locks of Love on Saturday.

So, if you want to see my new 'do, we'll have to find a time to go out for coffee or lunch or maybe walking or something so I'm not eating all the time. Wait--did I just dream that I was popular?

Steeerike!

2007-09-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

Bowling season is now officially here once again. Last night was my first night of league and it was everything I expected. That's just not nice. Why can't it be better than I remembered? Why can't it be fun? Why can't it only take an hour? Sheesh. I didn't get home until 10:30 AT NIGHT! That's just crazy.

Anyway, it was nice to see a few of the people that I hadn't seen all summer long. And it was a nice reminder that even when things change they tend to stay the same, for example this is a conversation I overheard between two guys at bowling last year:

Roy: I see you got some new jeans there, Jonny.

Jon: Yeah, I just bought ‘em.

Roy: Next time you should see about buying a butt to put in them.

Me to Jon: Tell him, ‘you can’t buy ass in Minnesota.’ (I just had to add that in for you all since I thought it was funny. You can all laugh now. No, not at me, at the excellent joke I made.)

Last night Roy said to Jon, "Hey Jonny, I thought I told you last year to get a butt for those jeans." Yes, he really thinks he's funny. This comment resulted in an uproar of laughter from his teammates. Don't judge me by the league company I keep; there aren't very many options.

Also on the topics of strikes--my friend is on strike right now. I'm not sure about all the issues, but I'm glad she's supporting what she believes in.

And I need to write about Q, but later; it's a sensitive subject right now.

We Breed TV Junkies

2007-08-20T08:08:00.001-05:00

Wow, it's been entirely too long since I've posted! I'd like to say it was because of something fun, but really, I was busy with an event for work, then I was sick, and then I was busy because of the event and being out sick. It's a vicious cycle. But, I'm back, less busy, and feeling much better. Thank you.

Right now it's incredibly gray and rainy in Minnesota. Yuck. D and I sat inside much of the weekend and watched TV. And rented a movie. And watched movies that were on TV. It was really exciting. I watched some pre-season Vikings and a bit of the Twins game with D on Friday night--that is love, people. We rented Vacancy--I couldn't watch it, it was a bit too scary for me, and also not very good. D gave me the CliffsNotes, and I'm glad I didn't stick around to see the whole movie--all of the eye-covering and ear-plugging would not have been worth it in the end.

A Time to Kill was on TV this weekend. I love that movie! I did get a little analytical during the trial though--like how did Mr. Brigance seemingly get to argue jury nullification? And how did he get to introduce evidence in his closing? (Well, maybe because he posed it as a hypothetical it wasn't actually introducing evidence...) Anyway, I still enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) watching the movie for entertainment purposes. Also, I realize that I asked uneducated law questions; I'll try to refrain from that in the future. Now enough about my L&O degree and back to me being a TV Junkie.

Home Improvement shows. There are so many of them! And D and I have become avid watchers of so many of the HGTV, A&E and TLC series that it's ridiculous. When do we find the time to actually do the projects we learn about if we can't stop watching the dang TV?!? As some of you know, we recently finished putting in new flooring and painting the trim of our living room. It looks beautiful. Thank you very much. Well, we need to paint the trim on the rest of the main floor now--progress has not been great on that. And watching all of these DIY shows only makes me want to tackle more and more projects around the house--that 70's kitchen? we can totally transform that into a gorgeous modern kitchen with a new tile backsplash and countertop, not to mention painting (or replacing) the cupboards and buying all new stainless steel appliances! Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, not only would doing this hurt our budget, but I've learned that home improvement projects are bad for my marriage. So, I will continue to plant myself on the couch and leave the big projects to the professional house flippers.

Oh, and about the picture of Carter. Yes, even he watches TV. And if you come to visit us, you can say, "Carter, go watch TV!" and he will run to the bedroom and stare at the television. Seriously. This provides us much entertainment and we end up watching strange Animal Planet shows because we get a kick out of watching Carter watch TV. I'm glad we're not tracking anything for Nielsen ratings.

Get Over It Already

2007-08-08T09:01:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time KM and D met, fell in love and decided to get married. And then KM became a raging lunatic, known today as a bridezilla [n: a bride-to-be who focuses so much on the event that she becomes difficult and obnoxious]. (Just in case you haven't heard that overused term.) Actually, I don't think I was a bridezilla at all. I knew what I wanted, and I had a few moments of panic and crabbiness, but I don't think I made outlandish demands of anyone or pouted ridiculously about anything. But, the point of this is, we were married three years ago (this will be important later) and did many of the traditional wedding things--even arguing over the guest list.

I found a lot of good advice and ways to save money on the knot when I was planning our wedding, but I also found out a lot about peer pressure and how vulnerable brides really are. All of the new bridal trends are chatted about constantly and advertisements litter the screen--it's hard not to get swept away in it all and start to believe that you absolutely must have Swarovski crystal favors to match your Swarovski crystal center pieces and cake topper that were necessary because of the Swarovski crystals in your tiara that was hand strung to coordinate with the gown and jewelry. Really. It's true. Of course there are the strong women that know exactly what they want and don't get sucked into the trend of the day; and there are the budget brides who 'really, really, really wish they could do that, but will have to settle for the favors they decided on before becoming a knottie.' (Yes, a knottie.)

So, without further ado, here is the latest trend of the day and the point of this post: Trash the Dress. Really, there is a new kind of post-wedding photography happening and a real demand for it. Check it out here. While I am not anywhere near being a new bride and beyond the reaches of the knot and it's magical powers of making me need an 18 layer cake with different flavors of cake and filling to appease every guest I've invited, I did do a Trash the Dress shoot. A few years after my wedding, but whatever. (And just so you all don't think I'm even crazier than you previously thought--I did not seek this out, it found me by luck. And it was free--she was building her portfolio. And it was FUN.)

Here are a few pictures taken by Sally Gruman, an up-and-coming photographer:

Weekend Ramblings

2007-08-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

I had so many things I wanted to write about over the weekend, but did I bother to make a list? No! So I'm just going to shoot from the hip and we'll see what happens.

My weekend included watching old guys golf, seeing Matt Damon look less hot than usual, teaching my dogs "Back" and buying some of the cutest and some of the ugliest shoes. Sounds fun, huh?

D got golf tickets from a client for the 3M Championship at TPC this weekend. We went on Friday and Saturday, and then he went with friends on Sunday. We had a lot of fun walking the course and hanging out in the 3M tent. We ate entirely too much, and despite covering ourselves in sunscreen, we both got burned. We followed Thorpe, Irwin, Watson, Jenkins, etc. We also saw Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez. Oh, and I almost walked into Tom Watson in the 3M tent! I was highly embarrassed, but I don't think he knew that I was inches away from colliding with him as I headed to the ice cream cooler. I'm so awesome.

Oh, and I bought a new pair of Crocs at TPC. This is my third pair. Yes, I'm a bit obsessed. And no, these were not 'some of the cutest shoes'. I know they're ugly.

Saturday morning we had our first training lesson for the dogs. Q and Carter were quick to let her know just what they needed to work on as they were jumping so much she couldn't even get in the door. It was like Greeting Olympics! Who can jump the highest? Who can whine the loudest? Who can kiss her face first? I believe Q was the gold medalist in all of these competitions, but Carter really stepped it up from previous visitor greetings to show Maureen just how much obedience training he really needs. We made progress. D and I were trained (and you thought dog training was for the dogs--it's really for the owners!) and we think we can work on a few things before our next lesson. Do we have any volunteers to visit us as we're working on greeting? No? That's a surprise. We had our participants on Sunday. They had no idea what they were in for. Thank God we have 3 more lessons.

Oh, I also bought a pair of black leather, peep toe wedge slingbacks (that was a mouthful), so I think that redeems me for my Crocs purchase. And we saw Bourne Ultimatum. I liked it, but it wasn't as good as the first two. Parts of the movie seemed more like a comedy of errors than the Action/Adventure/Drama that it's being billed as--but I still found it enjoyable and if they make another Bourne, I'll definitely see it.

On a final note; we drove on University Ave this morning on the way to work. This was our first in-person look at 35W since the bridge collapsed last week. It was exactly the same and completely different from how I imagined it. While the news footage has captured all the angles and covered the tragedy non-stop, seeing it for myself impacted me in a whole new way.

No Kiss, No Leave

2007-08-03T07:33:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I implemented a new rule: we will always kiss before we say goodbye or leave the house. (Don't worry--this rule is just for D and me! No kissing required from the rest of you!) I believe this all started once we bought our house and we lived together for the first time, so that was 2003. Before that we had carpooled on occasion and there was always a goodbye kiss, so I decided it should be a regular thing whenever one of us was leaving.

Does anyone else make up random rules? Seriously, this was a rule. We discussed it and agreed upon it. It was not something that just started happening, although D will probably remember this much differently and say that he always did it or something like that.

One day we were moving things into our new house with the help of BIL #1, and once we finished D and BIL were going golfing. They went to leave and I stood on the stairs and just stared and D. He looked at me for a moment and wondered what was going on--then it hit him. He ran up the stairs, gave me a quick kiss and ran out the door. BIL was a little weirded out (It was just a peck! No room-getting required!) but neither of them said anything. We have, without hesitation, kissed goodbye ever since.

A couple of weeks ago D and I were arguing about something stupid--I'm sure it had to do with a purchase he was about to make or maybe had just made--anyway, he needed to go back to the store and I was mad and he was angry that I was upset, and so on and so forth. It was one of the spiralling out of control fights where all we really needed was for someone to sit us down and ask "Is it even worth it to be angry about this?" So, D grabbed his keys and came over to kiss me good bye. (Not a scary or dramatic good bye--he was going to the store.) And I just looked at him like he was crazy. I might have even said, "I don't want to kiss you now." D bent down to kiss me and said, "It's the rule."

I LOVE it! Seriously, that was really cool. Not only does he kiss me goodbye whenever he leaves (even if we're mad at each other) but he remembers my crazy rules!

Thirty-five Double U

2007-08-01T07:54:00.000-05:00

Last night D came running upstairs and turned on the TV. 35W collapsed. Into the river. During rush hour.

I still cannot completely wrap my head around what is going on. It's just so surreal. I cannot believe this happened. I cannot believe it happened so close to me--near where I work, on a bridge I travel on constantly.

I rushed to the phone to call my mom. She takes 35W home from work, and although I knew she tended to leave around 5pm, I wanted to be sure. My family is fine. I spoke with many of my friends and they are fine. Emails are flying this morning with people checking in--checking on everyone else. It seems that my loved ones are all safe. I hope it stays that way.

Our HR Director is checking who is and who is not at work right now. She's going to start calling those who are missing.

Read the full story here: Star Tribune

Doughnut vs. Donut

2007-07-31T12:32:00.000-05:00

First, let me say that I really miss Mister Donut. I used to have doughnuts with my grandparents all the time, and on my birthday we would get a box from Mister Donut--chocolate cake doughnuts with coconut--YUM. (And yes, you read correctly--chocolate cake doughnuts. I do not like chocolate, but I really loved this particular chocolate cake doughnut.)

Moving on. Kind of. I prefer donut to doughnut. I think it looks better. I like it's simplicity. My fingers would also prefer to type it. But, as an English major I must insist on doughnut.

So, the reason this is my chosen topic of the day is simply that one of my coworkers proclaimed, and others immediately agreed, that I am not a doughnut person. Some well-meaning-but-healthy-eating-plan-screwer-upper brought in doughnuts today. As I walked over to survey my options and try to decide whether or not any of them looked appealing enough, Mr. Coworker said, "KM! You're going to eat a doughnut? You're not a doughnut person." In shock, I asked, "Then what kind of person am I?" No answer. So I posed the question to Google and it brought me to a quiz.

What Donut Are You?

You Are a Glazed Donut

Okay, you know that you're plain - and you're cool with that.

You prefer not to let anything distract from your sweetness.

Your appeal is understated yet universal. Everyone digs you.

And in a pinch, you'll probably get eaten.

Oh no! I put a blogthing in my blog! I've become that blogger. Way to get off on the wrong foot. Oh well. The topic really called for it. Really. Oh well, I hope you come back anyway!

By the way, I did end up eating a doughnut. It was a plain cake doughnut. And it was delicious. Now I'm off to ponder what kind of pastry person I am.

Who I'm Not

2007-07-31T12:11:00.000-05:00

I'm not single or tall.
I'm not a man or a parent or even a godparent.
I'm not a cat lover or chocolate lover.
I don't like Caribou Coffee or Red Lobster.
I'm not a vegetarian.
I'm not funny, but I try to be.
I’ve never lived by myself.
I'm not self-employed, unemployed or a homemaker.
I don't wear navy, orange or brown, or a lot of green or yellow.
I don't bite my nails or get manicures.
I don't like socks.
I don't mind being considered 'the girl next door.'
I'm not a republican, singer, 'cake-eater' or bus rider.
I’m not big-breasted or flat-chested.
I don't own a SUV.
I'm not sad, flakey or tight-lipped.
I’m neither rich nor poor.
I don’t watch the local news.
I don’t really watch the news at all.
I still don’t like Macy’s. (RIP Marshall Field's.)
I don’t use my home phone.
I don’t have blue eyes or wear contacts.
I’ve never been to Mexico, cheated on a partner or watched Dawson’s Creek.
I don’t carry cash or wear a watch.
I don’t work out as much as I’d like to.
I don’t initiate conversation very often or very well.

So who am I? Ask me a question.
I don’t hide much.

Attempt Number Two

2007-07-30T15:48:00.000-05:00

This is a fresh start with only a few lingering thoughts from my first blog. No, you can't see the old one. It's a FRESH start. OK, now that that's out of the way.

I'm here because I usually have a lot to say about nothing. But really, everything I have to say is fascinating. Sometimes I'm funny, and I'll usually tell you when that is.

Oh, and I'm actually going to tell people about this blog. Maybe that will inspire me to keep up with the entries. Stick around and find out!