Blarney Girl

How to spend $119,000 really fast!

2010-09-29T11:37:00.002-05:00

Most of you know, via Facebook, that I've been in the process of buying a house. Well, here she is. Granted, she's not mine yet; I go to closing sometime next week..........unless I just jinxed myself with this post!

Shakespeare Anyone?

2010-04-23T20:35:00.001-05:00

Miller Outdoor Theatre’s Shakespeare Festival is putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. Anyone want to go with me? Here’s their full summer schedule.

A Midsummer Night's Dream
July 30, August 1, 3, 5 & 7, 8:30 pm
(Captioned performance July 30)
One of Shakespeare's most popular and frequently produced plays. There is a strong belief that Shakespeare wrote Midsummer for a wedding feast. But its mixture of fairies and mortals with some of Shakespeare's most memorable verse makes this classic a universal favorite.
Presented by Houston Shakespeare Festival

Much Ado About Nothing
July 31, August 4, 6 & 8, 8:30 pm
Perhaps Shakespeare's sunniest comedy, audiences continue to be dazzled by the verbal dexterity of Benedick and Beatrice as they battle and charm each other and finally discover their mutual love.
Presented by Houston Shakespeare Festival

Dear Prudence: UPDATE

2010-04-21T18:48:00.001-05:00

WOOHOO!! I got my earphones back! I think it’s funny he spent money to ship them to me, but I’m not complaining.

One Of These Things (Is Not Like The Other)

2010-03-19T10:07:00.001-05:00

Not sure if Big Bird still sings this song on Sesame Street, but he did when I was a kid and I loved it. I really enjoyed taking in all the details and figuring out which item(s) didn’t belong. Attention to detail was what probably got me through boot camp fairly unscathed; that and the fact that my mother drilled it into me that you always acknowledge your elders/superiors as Ma’am or Sir (that helped a LOT!).

Well, as of yesterday, I’ve officially lost my touch. This is what my offices has looked like for the past year or so.

This past Wednesday I got an email telling me that I would be moving offices and that crates would be sent over to pack my stuff in. I’ve known about this move for MONTHS now, but due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control it was delayed several times.

Anyway, yesterday morning I get to work and my office looks normal, nothing out of the ordinary. It was a busy day and I was in and out of my office all morning. Around 11:00 I forced myself to slow down and have lunch and that’s when I noticed…

THIS!

Sadly, I remember sitting at my desk earlier in the morning (obviously, completely out of it) and “seeing” something green in front of me, but I was so caught up in what I was doing that it never clicked in my brain what I was looking at.

Side note: That move I was suppose to do this morning?? Yeah, delayed….AGAIN! My whole stinkin’ office is packed into those stupid green crates sitting in my office ready to be moved and I get to go back Monday (took today off to go to go make peanut butter) and at least unpack my computers so I can work until they decide to try and move me again.

Dear Prudence:

2010-03-14T13:14:00.001-05:00

If you loaned something to your boyfriend, but now you’re not dating, is it ok to ask him to give that item back? It’s nothing like jewelry or anything expensive like that. In fact, it’s pretty insignificant in the whole scheme of things. Ok, fine, it’s a pair of headphones. I know, stupid. Go buy another pair, but darn it, I want them back. They’re really nice ones and I miss having them. I did finally buy another pair a few weeks back, but they are no where near the quality.

Is it ok to ask for them back or am I just being petty? I was thinking of making it easy for him and just putting a self addressed stamped envelope on his windshield with a quick note requesting the item.

Second question. Would it be mean spirited if I put a quick line on the above said note asking him to please treat his new girl friend better than he treated me??? HAHAHA! Just kidding! (kind of)

Hope For The Lonely..."Shot" Down

2010-01-05T15:11:00.002-06:00

As I was walking out of the Randalls last week my eye cought this sign and for a split second I thought it said, Singles Shots Available Here. And for that split second my world turned sunny with the prospect of being vacinated against eternal (ok, lifelong but it feels like eternity) singleness! If only it were that easy!! HA!

A Little Leisurely Learning

2009-11-24T20:47:00.001-06:00

I consider myself a fairly ok amateur photographer. Nothing spectacular, but I love landscape photography and occasionally I produce something that’s pretty good. I’m a firm believer in taking loads of pictures in order to get at least one good shot!

Anyway, for years I’ve wanted to be better; I’ve wanted to know what all those buttons and settings mean and how they would help me to take better pictures. Today I took that step and went out on the internet to see if HCC had any classes and found this company, Leisure Learning Unlimited, Inc. I’ve never heard of them, but the price seemed pretty reasonable so I decided to give them a try and signed up. I’m pretty excited!!

I’ve always loved film photography, but for many years I’ve just done the point and shoot digital thing because of the ease of it. Two years ago I bought a Canon EOS ELAN 7 with a standard 28-90mm lens and a 75-300mm telephoto lens from a co-worker and since then have used it a little with pretty good results, but it has so many different settings I was pretty much lost if I wasn’t outside with good lighting.

Anyway, beginning Jan 18 I’ll be on my way to mastering my camera and taking gorgeous landscape photography!! And yes, I’ve already checked and they do have a Landscape Photography class. :)

I’m wondering if I should also bring my Canon S5 IS with me to the class. That’s the current digital camera I use.

Mini Vacation in L.A.

2009-09-27T17:10:00.001-05:00

This past Wednesday Wendell took Brandon out to CalTech in Pasadena, CA to get settled in to his dorm. I flew out that evening and Wendell and I went sight seeing Thursday and Friday while Brandon attended his orientation classes.

Griffith Observatory – you have to go here if you’re ever in the Hollywood/L.A. area.

Wendell sitting next to Einstein at the observatory.

Cool display of the planets at the observatory.

Random 50’s cafe off of Santa Monica Blvd where Wendell and I ate one night.

Los Angeles Temple. Wendell and I did a session there on Thursday.

Afterwards we drove to Santa Monica and up the Pacific Coast Highway. We got there just as the sun set.

Cool bridge off of Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, CA.

Stupid traffic in L.A. This was taken as we were trying desperately to get to the airport Saturday. Took us two hours to get from Pasadena to LAX (approx 20 miles). Thankfully we had allowed ourselves a lot of time to get there or we would have been in trouble. Our flight was at 4:45, so we had reserved the car until 2pm so we could be at the airport the requisite 2 hours early. We left around 12:45 to give ourselves what we thought was plenty of time. When Wendell picked me up from the airport Wednesday night it only took 35 minutes and that was with what I would consider normal rush hour traffic in Houston (except that it was 9pm!!). Anyway, we got there about an hour before the flight. Just enough time to sit down, de-stress and then board the plane. The flight wasn’t full so we got the row to ourselves!

Labor Day Weekend – a little late

2009-09-27T14:38:00.001-05:00

My dad called me the week before Labor Day and invited me to come down to Galveston. My Aunt Sharlet, who I haven’t seen since I was 6, was in town and had rented a beach house on Jamaica Beach and wanted to see me. So, Wendell and I packed a few things and headed out after church.

We had a good time. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it had been 30 years since I saw her and my dad and I don’t really talk on a regular basis, but it all turned out well.

My Aunt Sharlet and her husband Wesley.

Random pictures taken from the beach house deck. The one on the right is of a little sand crab. You can’t see him here since he’s so well camouflaged, but if you click on the pic you’ll see him just below and a little to the left of his hole. The pic on the left is the sunrise Monday morning.

Sunday night after the beach cleared out myself, Wendell and my dad went down to the beach to go swimming. Dad and I were talking about our time in the Navy and found out both of us, when out to sea, had seen waves that glowed. We were trying to explain it to Wendell when all of a sudden he was like, “hey, what is that! I see something glowing in the water.” I thought for sure he was just seeing things, but after a few seconds you could see it everywhere when you moved your hands through the water. It was pretty cool that one moment we’re talking about it and the next we’re surrounded by it! Sorry, no picture. I tried to find one in Google images, but no luck. I imagine it would take a special camera and a lot of luck to get a pic of it.

Side Effects

2009-08-21T09:40:00.002-05:00

I got hives a few weeks ago and the doctor prescribed a steroid (prednisone) to get rid of it. If I never take another dose of that stuff again, it will be too soon. The list below may not sound like much, but have them ALL at the same time and you too will live the nightmare!!

Difficulty Sleeping - check
Feeling of Whirling Motion - check
Increased Appetite - check
Increased Sweating - check
Indigestion - check
Mood Changes - CHECK
Nervousness - check
Elevated Blood Pressure - check
Muscle Soreness - check
Body Shakes - check
Racing/Confused Thoughts - check

Good news though, my hives are gone!! Bad news is that the battery of allergy testing they did on 4 viles of my blood came up with absolutely nothing that I'm allergic to. Go figure! Doc says it was probably just something transient I came in contact with. How do my boobs and stomach transiently come into contact with something??? :D

No new cloths/garments
No new laundry detergent
No new fabric softener
No new foods
No new medications

For My Friend Shelly

2009-08-14T15:03:00.003-05:00

She believes I've been on hiatus long enough and should at least leave a line or two about how I am. So, here goes.

Life is wonderful.

Wendell and I are still dating.

Things are progressing.

Well, there you go! Until next month! :)

Why I Haven’t Been Blogging

2009-06-25T20:14:00.001-05:00

I’m turning into the person I told myself I’d never become! I probably know more of these people than most of you by virtue of the fact that I’ve been single for so long. I’ve become the person that ignores her friends because she’s dating (and or is getting married). I always swore that when I dated and got married I wouldn’t throw over my friends for a guy no matter how much I liked him. Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind, but just to be clear, I’m not throwing you over forever; I’ll be back. It may be months down the road, but I will be back. Please be patient and know that I still love you!!

As a side note: My reference to and use of the word “marriage” was not meant to imply an impending engagement. Rest assured, most of you will get a phone call letting you know when that happens before you read it here! :)

As a side side note: Please do not be offended if you do read it here before getting a phone call. I’m older now and the brain ain’t what it used to be!

No Laughing Matter

2009-05-28T18:51:00.001-05:00

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to find a little SUV for my mom. She’s needing to get back and forth to doctors appointments and her old truck just isn’t reliable anymore. It broke down on the way to Austen a few weeks ago so I began looking. As I’m on the computer all day pretty much every day, I’ve been looking online. A few days ago I found what I thought was a great deal, so I called the guy and made an appointment for a test drive today at 11:45. The salesman said Ok and I hung up excited thinking I had found a good deal.

My good friend Jonathan (who I work with) agreed to go with me. He knows cars and adds the male factor to what would otherwise be a, “Look here boys, we got ourselves a sucker/girl looking for a car!!” situation. We got there right at 11:45 only to find out that the salesman I had spoken to earlier wasn’t due to come in until noon and the person who met us initially, upon finding out I had spoken to someone else already, decided he was going to go back inside and not help us. No matter how much I asked, he flat refused.

By this time I’m getting a little hot under the collar. The salesman I spoke to on the phone wasn’t there, the car he told me was available for a test drive was not on the lot and the jerkwod of a salesman we spoke to refused to help us. Is that normal? I can understand not wanting to snake someone else’s commission, but to flatly refuse any help whatsoever was astounding to me.

But wait, it only got worse. Jonathan and I found another truck we thought was a good deal and requested the keys for it so that we could check it out while we waited. Again, Mr. Jerkwod refused telling us that our salesman would “be here in a minute.” I decided to wait in the car with the air on while we awaited the arrival of the other salesman. A few “new” guys walk into the office while we sat there and when one of them came out I decided to get out and go see if he was the guy we needed to talk to. He and Jerkwod were standing together outside the door when I walked up. I asked if he was the salesman I was waiting for only to find that he wasn’t. I asked them if he had arrived and was told that he had. I then asked if one of them would go inside and ask him to come out only to be told he wasn’t there and that he was probably out on a test drive.

This whole conversation lasted a total of a minute during which Jerkwod and Jerkwod Jr. are snickering while we speak. By this time I’m so mad I want to spit, but I keep it to myself, turn around and start for my car to leave. As I turned they both busted out laughing.

All my life I’ve had people make rude comments to me about my weight calling me fat a— or mooing as I walked by. I can’t prove it, but the first thing my mind did was imagine they were laughing at the fat chick and the black guy driving up together to buy a used car. Lucky for me Jonathan is an awesome Christian guy and on our way back to work he talked me out of being mad at them for laughing at us. I was so mad at them disrespecting him and me.

And in case you’re wondering it was Joe Myers used car lot on 290 at Beltway 8.

TMI, But You Know You’re Going to Read It Anyway

2009-05-16T13:32:00.001-05:00

News Flash!! I'm fat and for the most part I'm fairly OK with it. I'd love to weigh what I did in High School when being fat meant I was 20lbs overweight (oh, to have those days back!), but I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that those days are done and dusted. I think I'd be a seriously happy camper if I could lose 40lbs and get to an even 200.

Anyway, this post actually isn't about me losing weight, but about my weight in general and how I see others and their weight.

When I was a teenager I loved to go to the mall. No big surprise there, but while I was walking around I'd people watch. For the most part I was watching how people interacted with each other; friends with friends, parents with children, husbands and wives, etc.

Where this goes downhill fast is when I would see fat people. Now remember, at the time I was 20lbs overweight and sadly I thought I was HUGE!! I would see these fat people and I would say to myself, hey, they've got someone who loves them so there's hope for me to find love.

In the years since it's morphed into something a bit different. Maybe something a bit less destructive to my self image?? I see people who are considerably larger than me and I wonder if they wish they were my "fat." Does that make sense? I've (almost) moved away from the "no one loves me cuz I'm fat" mind set and replaced it with being grateful I'm not as fat as the lady across from me at Curves. It's a weird kind of "things can always be worse, so stop complaining" way of thinking.

And just so you don't think I'm completely crazy, I have better body self image now at 36 than I ever did at 18 and I've added 60lbs to that original 20 (see body language pics below). It's amazing what Faith, friends and a little therapy can do for a girl! :)

Resorting to Drastic Measures

2009-05-07T10:05:00.003-05:00

Much to my surprise my office building re-opened Monday. ConocoPhillips decided to hold off moving their employees back in until we (IT and Tcom) verified that the network was up and running and that all printers were working properly, so my co-workers (the remote team and IT at the temp office location) and I walked each of my 9 floors Monday morning to verify. It was a little eerie being there with no one else on the floors.

With everything up and running employees began moving back in Tuesday and it has been nonstop chaos since! Overall it's been pretty seemless with only roughly 10 pc related problems that required fixing or replacing. Considering there are approximately 450 people in the building, I'm counting myself lucky!

But that's not to say working that many issues was a cake walk. My co-worker (actual guy who works with me at the office) and I have been BUSY --- hence the Mtn Dew! It's helped a little to wake me up, but I'm so ready for a day off and not just Saturday and Sunday. I need a vacation!!!

Did I mention my co-worker went on vacation with his fiance most of last week and Monday?? Yeah, he basically missed EVERYTHING! Ok, so he got back in time to help with the move in, but he got to miss all the stress of getting everyone setup at their temp location. The next disaster I'm taking vacation and he can deal with it! :)

Office Refugee

2009-05-01T23:03:00.002-05:00

Ever had one of those days? Well, I’ve had one of those weeks!

That’s the below ground loading dock at the building where I work – four hours after it stopped raining Tuesday morning. Initially it was up over the road, in the parking garage and over the road behind the garage. The basement was completely flooded destroying all the electrical and HVAC in the building. I’ve spent the past 4 days relocating roughly 350 people to the building next door where 350 extra people don’t really fit! Lets just say there’s a lot of wiring running across a lot of floor space (taped down for safety).

Thankfully the IT guys had a little extra room in their area for me to pop a squat! Not that I’ve had much time to use it.

Oh, and my coworker (from the flooded building) went on vacation this week. I really hope he’s having a good time in San Francisco!!!!!!

Random pics of the flooding aftermath. The first is of Mayde Creek Bayou over by the house. It was up over the bridge until around 7 Tuesday morning. The rest are from Westheimer Parkway through George Bush Park as I was driving home today.

My Birthday – A Little Late

2009-04-26T15:12:00.001-05:00

Well, the birthday wasn’t late; I’m just late posting about it.

I can’t believe I didn’t get pics from the party (except the cake)! DER! My dear friend Jeanette was totally awesome! She sent out the invites, and made my cake (seriously the yummiest cake and icing ever)!

The pic above is of my awesome friend Ginny and her husband Drew. I’ve known Ginny for forever! Well, since Junior High anyway! Ginny was planning on being at the party, but her boss had other plans so she and Drew took me out for lunch at the new 59 Diner that’s in the old Bennigan’s. If you haven’t been, I suggest trying it. We had breakfast and it was good!

The party was awesome. I borrowed a projector from work, hooked my DVD player and computer speakers up to it and watched Mama Mia “widescreen” style while eating pizza. Afterwards we dug into J’s gorgeous cake and made pigs of ourselves. Oh wait, that was just me! :)

Thank you everyone for the gift of friendship you give me every day (and for the gifts you brought)!

Downtown Tea Party

2009-04-26T14:49:00.001-05:00

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I’ve been a bit reluctant to post my pics from the Tea Party I attended on the 15th. I uploaded a handful of them to my Facebook account and got hammered by a friend. For years we haven’t seen eye to eye politically, but I thought they were tolerant enough to allow me my beliefs without calling me a hypocrite. Guess I was wrong!

Anyway, whichever way your political pendulum swings, here are a few pics for your enjoyment and or ridicule.

Memo To Me

2009-03-23T10:51:00.002-05:00

After three months of pretty much no caffeine (3 Cokes in 3 months), don't drink two Mountain Dew's after 5pm on a Sunday evening. Unless of course the goal is to lie awake until 2am. Then it's a great plan!

Side note: With only 4 (fairly lousy) hours of sleep, I'm surprised I'm as awake as I am. Two thirty this afternoon could bring a whole other story!

Mother Nature Is Awesome!

2009-03-19T21:53:00.002-05:00

Link to AP article.

I was watching a show the other day called How The Earth Was Made and it was talking about Krakatoa and how when it erupted in 1883 that it was so massive it imploded on itself only leaving a small portion still visible above sea level. (As a side note: the eruption of Krakatoa is the loudest sound ever recorded) In December 1928 the volcano (then undersea) erupted in the same way as the volacano above. I tried finding the video online, but to no avail (seriously cool!). Since 1928, Anak Krakatau (Baby Krakatoa), has risen to almost 500ft. That's an average of 6 inches a year!! That is just amazing to me.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this random bit of news with you.

Memo to me: I need to call my friend to see if she's heard anything from her family in Tonga.

{{UPDATE}} - Does This Mean I Get To Stay?

2009-03-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but never got around to publishing.

Well, yesterday was the day we found out who was getting laid off in our department. Not that we went home Friday knowing that Monday morning some of us wouldn't have a job....THANKFULLY!! That would have been a crappy weekend.

All in all we lost 6 technicians, a supervisor and my bosses boss (that was a huge shocker!!) Last month our CEO told us that the company would be laying off 4% of it's workforce, but it didn't mean that each dept would lose that percent. Some departments did 4%, some didn't have to do any; my department lost 20%.

In Houston we have a huge Main Complex and two satellite offices. The majority of the techs work at the main complex and they got hit the hardest with 4 techs being laid off. The two satellite sites (one of which I work at) lost a technician each so now we're down to just two at each location. At my site we'll be OK, but the other site is probably going to feel the pinch.

Since the layoff announcement was made last month I never felt like my job was on the chopping block, but when Monday afternoon rolled around and it was announced that all the cuts had been made (my dept) it was like this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was tough to watch my friends get walked out of the building. Two of the people let go over at the complex are really good friends of mine and it feels weird that I can't just call them up and meet for lunch on a Friday.

I'm so thankful I still have my job!

Does This Mean I Get To Stay?

2009-03-06T16:08:00.003-06:00

I came home yesterday to find this sitting on my doorstep. Well, it was in a box, but this is what was inside. Next month marks the 5th anniversary of my working for ConocoPhillips. I've actually worked for them for 6 years, but the first year I was contract.

In recognition of this the company has a brochure of items you can get as an anniversary gift. There was a whole ranged of things from rings, watches, wall mounted clocks, cheesy digital cameras, etc. ...

...to this!!! That's right boys and girls, I chose the 3 in 1 Black & Decker Cordless Drill! It comes with a stud finder, so I should be able to find a husband pretty soon!!

MMMMMMMM! Power tools!

The company is smack in the middle of layoffs, so hopefully the fact that they bothered to send me my certificate of recognition means they plan on keeping me around. Fingers crossed!

It Always Works Out On The Hallmark Channel

2009-03-06T15:40:00.003-06:00

Come on, admit it! You've watched a movie on the Hallmark Channel. I do it all the time. Well, mostly because Arlene loves it, but I'll be honest, I've watched and enjoyed my fair share of shows. Usually it's during the Christmas season. For about four weeks out of the year I get all sappy and want to watch feel good movies about people who's lives aren't exactly stellar. I always find it rather gratifying (and a bit fake) that by the end of the two hours, everyone loves each other and it's as though no bad feelings ever existed.

Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma'am!

I need a two hour special on the Hallmark Channel. It would fit right in with their Christmas lineup.

Trailer Park Tinsel
or
Doublewide Christmas

Young girls world turns topsy turvy when a fight breaks out between her mom and youngest brother on Christmas day. What ensues is a hair-raising divorce, a dad who dives off the deap end leaving his kids to live in the twilight zone, years of every other weekend at his house, three stepmoms and loads of therapy. Can she forgive and love again or is she destined to always feel weird about her dad?

I think I should sell them the rights to the story! HA!

But seriously, my dad definitely went off the deep end after he and my mom seperated. Combine that with never really being around much when we were growing up and it's turned me into someone with a severe case of apathy. I use to dislike him a great deal, but I think I've pretty much gotten over that. I'm now to the point of not caring one way or the other.

About four or five months ago he called me out of the blue. I was at work and didn't recognize the number. Going completely out of character, I answered the phone. Since then we've talked about 5 times and have met for lunch and dinner. I'm ok with it, but I definitely don't go out of my way to call him or suggest meeting.

I think it would be nice to have the Hallmark ending where everyone lives happily ever after, but my apathy keeps getting in the way!

Now the question is, who would play me in the movie? I was thinking they could take some liberties with the timing and my age and have Camryn Manheim play me. I could see someone who looks like Stephen King play my dad. Stephen has more hair, but looks just amost as dorky as my dad! Vicki Lawrence would be perfect for my mom with all her red hair.

Pride & Prejudice at Comic Con?

2009-02-26T18:09:00.006-06:00

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PRIDE & PREJUDICE #1 (of 5) (FEB092473)
Written by NANCY BUTLER
Penciled by HUGO PETRUS
Cover by SONNY LIEW

In March Marvel Comics will be offering Pride & Prejudice in comic book form. There will be 5 books published and I for one will be buying copies of them all if only for the originality factor. You can tell a man is the illustrator; all the sisters are gorgeous, including Mary!

According to the site, the adaptation is faithful to the book.

“I've tried to keep the flavor and sly humor of the story, and modernized the language only for better understanding," explains Butler. "Wherever space allowed, I've used Jane Austen's own words. This is your grandmother's PRIDE & PREJUDICE, and your mother's and your own."

David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice President of Sales, adds, "…, we're presenting these classic stories by staying as close to the originals as possible while still putting that unique Marvel spin on them. I think Jane Austen fans will be thrilled when they sample Nancy's work."

Don’t you love the cover? “Bingleys Bring Bling to Britain” HA! I’m excited to get my copies.

Where to order your copies.

Guess He Couldn't Wait For The Bailout

2009-02-24T15:26:00.002-06:00

Just after lunch I heard helicopters and cop cars outside. I didn't think anything of it until my co-worker came in and said that the credit union downstairs had been robbed. It feels a bit weird to know I was that close to a major crime being committed. The perpetrator took off and the police were in persuit, but I haven't heard if they caught him or not.

This guy must have been seriuosly hard up for money to hit this place. It's not exactly situated for easy access or a quick getaway! Not to mention that it's a small credit union only used by BP employees and it's not even payday. How much money could they have possible had on hand?

The $400 Plastic Cup or Why Am I So Freakin' Stupid?

2009-02-19T08:11:00.005-06:00

I'm convinced I have some sort of stupid driver homing beacon on my car. For two mornings in a row now I've had someone change lanes in front of me and I've had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting them. Both times my morning cup of ice water has gone flying.

In my effort to keep my New Year's resolution, I refrained from thinking or speaking an appropriate curse word or flashing the single finger salute. What I did do was lay on the horn! In fairness to me, I think I stayed pretty calm during yesterdays incident. Well, except for when he drove up next to me, rolled down his window and proceeded to yell at me. YELL...AT ME! Like I was the one who cut him off and spilled his morning cup of whatever. I rolled my window down, yelled that it was his fault and told him to shut up! :)

Well, this morning, in the process of slamming on my breaks, I grabbed my cup as it was tipping over. I wasn't able to keep the contents from emptying all over my radio/ac and floor boards and I wasn't very good at not getting mad. I decided to show my anger by throwing the cup into the dashboard.

Yeah, that was smart. I busted my windshield! I now have a lovely dinner plate sized star burst shaped crack in the middle of my windshield.

AAARGH!!!

Why am I so freakin' stupid? As if I didn't have a million other things to spend $400 on.

Jane Austen Week Feb 23rd - 28th

2009-02-18T09:18:00.006-06:00

JANE AUSTEN WEEK at The Barefoot Mama!

Stop in daily for your dose of Jane, including challenges and other fun stuff. There will be a special culmination celebration on Saturday, February 28, so stay tuned!

Join Barefoot Mama in celebrating JANE AUSTEN WEEK, February 23-28, by displaying the banner above (right-click to save). It promises to be a most diverting experience.

HAPPY SINGLE'S AWARENESS DAY!

2009-02-13T23:06:00.001-06:00

;)

Black Cats & Ladders

2009-02-13T07:53:00.003-06:00

I'm fighting through my vicodin induced haze to wish you all a very happy Friday 13th. Be bold! Walk under that ladder! :)

Earlier this week I had a whole post written in my head. It's kinda weird, if I stop typing and close my eyes I can "see" it in my mind, but I can't get it to relay down to my fingers! :)

Nevermind, I'm going back to bed!

Pride & Prejudice Facebook Style

2009-02-04T09:08:00.003-06:00

Stumbled upon this during my morning blog reading ritual and thought I'd share.

For those of us who find Pride & Prejudice and Facebook excessively diverting, this is for your reading pleasure!

P&P - Facebook

Sick Kitty Update

2009-02-03T15:01:00.007-06:00

I took Reilly back to the vet yesterday to find out the blood work results. She does indeed have diabetes. The special diet the vet put her on helped a great deal to lower her blood glucose, but it's was still really high. The normal BG range for a cat is 80-150. On Friday Reilly had a BG of 419! After a weekend of eating the new diet and taking an antibiotic for her bladder infection, it was down to 281. Still very high, but a huge improvement from Friday.

Below is her insulin, antibiotics and new food. The funny looking think on top of the food is called a "piller". You pull the plunger back and put a pill in the blue rubber area at the other end. Then softly pry their mouth open from the side with the piller and push the plunger, sending the pill to the back of the mouth! Much easier than trying to put it in her mouth or disguising it in her food.

I'm actually pretty proud of myself. When I found out she would more than likely need insulin shots, I FREAKED OUT! I hate needles. I hate getting shots. I can't watch someone get a shot. Anything syringe related makes me queasy. Until now. (I did a lot of praying from Friday evening to Monday afternoon.) Part of yesterday's office visit was to teach me how to give Reilly her shot. We practiced with saline first. The vet showed me how to hold her skin between my fingers and how to handle the syringe. After that it was my turn. The vet remarked on how flushed I was. Had she taken my pulse and felt my sweaty palms, I think she would have been a bit more concerned! :) I took a deep breath, told the vet I was OK and went for it. I don't quite know what I was expecting, but it was waaaaay easier than I thought it would be. All my prayers paid off!! I gave Reilly her first unsupervised injection this morning and she acted like nothing was happening. I petted her for a minute before the injection and she never stopped purring while I did it. HUGE load off my mind!

Below is my sharps container which comes with 100 syringes. That should last me almost 4 months.

I promise I won't make this blog into a blow-by-blow account of Reilly's diabetic care, but she is part of my life and the noteworthy stuff that happens in my life gets recorded here.

To everyone who has shown their support I would like to say thank you! It feels good that I have the support of my friends. My note at the beginning was to ward off blog lurkers who leave inappropriate comments, not to my wonderful friends. I think most people I know, if they didn't agree with me, would simply not comment.

Sickness in the Family

2009-02-02T13:45:00.005-06:00

A quick note before I begin this entry. If you're not an animal lover and in particular don't like cats, you might as well stop reading now.

A couple of weeks ago Reilly began drinking A LOT of water and eating her food a lot quicker than normal. My first thought was diabetes because of her drinking so much water, but I didn't know if cats could get it so I talked myself out of it. I was in denial and waited hoping that she would normal out.

Last Friday I finally took her in to see the vet. Sure enough, cats do get diabetes and it's actually quite common. It's only a preliminary diagnosis, but she has all the classic signs. The vet took a blood and urine sample and today we go back for the results. She also had a bladder infection and the doctor put her on antibiotics. Since being on the meds her water intake has normalized. I also started feeding her a special diet for diabetic cats to help get the sugar levels in her system down. It's a long shot, but I'm hoping it can be regulated by diet. If not, she's going to have to have insulin injections twice a day.

I know a lot of you are reading this and wondering why I would even bother. It's only a cat. It's not a human, it's not a child. For those of you who may think that, think on this. There's a good chance you've been blessed with children and so your days are filled with the love and concerns that go along with that. I, on the other hand, have not, but I have been blessed with the companionship of a gorgeous little orange kitty cat. I know that the love for a pet can't compare to the love for a child, but it's what I have right now and I will take love where I can find it.

Twice in Two Weeks

2009-02-01T14:32:00.001-06:00

Two weeks ago I was at a stop light on Memorial and Beltway 8 when the white Jaguar behind me rear ended me. We were both stopped, but he said his foot slipped off the brake and BAM, he hit me. It was a pretty solid thud, but didn’t do any damage. Good ol’ German engineering!!

Well, on the way home from church today I got rear ended AGAIN! It happened at the blinking light at Katy Fort Bend Rd. The car in front of me went and I rolled up to the light and came to a stop. No sooner did I stop then BAM!, I got hit. AGAIN! There was damage this time, but nothing huge. There’s a pretty deep 8” horizontal gouge where I think his license plate frame must have hit. There wasn’t any damage to his car.

I got his insurance info but we also spoke of him “knowing someone” and paying to get it done without going the insurance route. Since I already had his insurance info I told him I’d be OK with getting it done that way. Nothing is getting done until I meet this person and visit their shop, though.

I think I need a nap. When something like this happens my adrenaline gets pumping and when I finally come down from it I crash pretty hard.

I’m now waiting for the third person to rear end me. Everything comes in three’s, yes? Third hit, third week! Maybe I should hold off until next week to get it fixed!! LOL

Things That Make You Go, HMMMMM!

2009-01-30T11:43:00.002-06:00

Some of you have probably heard that PETA has launched a campaign against the hunting and killing of Sea Kittens (better known as fish). They are trying to change the publics opinion of fish to reflect how we feel about animals such as dogs and cats.

Anyway, blah blah blah. I'm not writing to say this is right or wrong. I just wanted to point out the advertising banner at the top of the web page!!

Someone at PETA needs to check with their advertising department!! LOL

Heathcliff – He’s Everywhere!!

2009-01-29T22:45:00.001-06:00

Have you ever read, heard or seen something and for the next few weeks whatever it was you read, heard or saw seemed to be everywhere? It’s been happening to me for the past month.

Back a couple of months ago Good Friends Book Club chose their reading list for 2009 and one of the books we’ll be reading is Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. I have to be honest with you, I was not overjoyed when I found out. I have avoided that book like the plague. I like happy endings, not torment and obsessive love and hate. It’s just not my shtick. I’m a Jane Austen girl and in my mind for years Emily Bronte was her antithesis.

Anyway, just after finding out we were reading WH for book club I came across PBS’s new lineup for their Masterpiece Classics series and what book do you suppose they were adapting and showing in January? That’s right, Wuthering Heights!

I told myself then that I would go ahead and read the book and then watch the movie afterwards. I set it to record on my DVR, but I couldn’t bring myself to crack open the book. Weeks went by and the air date got closer and closer, but still I had not started to read. I got to the point that I had talked myself out of reading the book or watching the movie, but last Sunday I was looking for something good to watch on TV and decided to give WH a try. Why not? I wasn’t going to read the book and by watching the movie I might be able to keep up a bit with the discussion at book club.

I loved it and I’ve been inspired to read the book. I started Monday and I can hardly put it down.

Ok, so the first place I encountered WH was on PBS (watch online here). I also have it on my DVR if you want to come over and watch.

The second place has been the blogosphere. All of my Jane Austen/Regency/costume drama blogs I follow have been awash in reviews. Some liked it, most tolerated it. Here’s a few for your enjoyment.

Laurel Ann – Austenprose
Lady A. Byron – Factual Imagining, Review Part 1 and Part 2
Vic – Jane Austen’s World, Bats in Heathcliff’s Belfry

The third place I found it was again in a blog, but not in the form of a review. Someone had posted a Youtube video from the original WH and used The Puppini Sisters cover of Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights. Up until that moment I had never heard of The Puppini Sisters or Kate Bush or a song called Wuthering Heights. Boy was I in for a treat!

Thanks in part to all these WH sightings, I’m halfway through the book and I’m actually enjoying it. I don’t recommend watching a movie before reading the book, but in this instance it helped move me to pull the book off it’s shelf and crack it open. This book is meaty and I can’t wait for our discussion!

Ten Years Ago Today

2009-01-29T18:11:00.001-06:00

It was ten years ago today I returned home from my mission. The photo below was taken just outside the front doors to the Salt Lake Temple the Monday before I left. Sister Tipton and I were the only two going home that month. On one hand it feels like a lifetime ago and on the other as though I just stepped off the plane. I will definitely serve another mission in my old age. Probably not proselyting, but a mission of some sort nonetheless. A service mission sounds cool or maybe genealogy. Anyway, that’s a few years off.

You can make fun of the perm if you want.

Threw this one in so you could see the mood swings my hair went through!!

2009-01-21T09:28:00.003-06:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
Dedicated Reader
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Found this on Jane Austen Today. Nice to know I'm an OCB and a Book Snob!

If you love Austen and other writers from the Regency and Victorian eras, you'll probably like Vic and Laurel Ann's Jane Austen Today ("This blog explores Jane Austen as we see her today in movies, print, sequels, web sites, and other modern day media"). Vic has another blog called Jane Austen's World that you may also find excessively diverting.

Third Times a Charm

2009-01-20T14:01:00.004-06:00

I had my yearly review this morning and lets just say I was seriously surprised. For the third year in a row I've received the highest marks one can get on their review. We're "graded" on a scale of 1 -4 with 2 being the standard "way to go, you did good this year" mark. One is for individuals who worked above and beyond the normal scope of their job description. I felt that I had done a great job this year, but having gotten a one for the past two years I was certain I wouldn't get it again this year. In this instance, I'm happy to admit I was wrong.

I'm feeling pretty stinkin' awesome!!

Seriously Random

2009-01-15T19:27:00.001-06:00

A blog I follow did a review today on a book called A Broken Vessel by Kate Ross. Her review made it sound awesome, but I wanted a few other opinions so I went out to B&N and read the reader reviews.

All the reviews were positive, so I started checking out the author’s other books and the reviews they received. Below is the synopsis page of the fourth and final book with one reader review.

Look at the date! Who in their right mind writes a nice fluffy reader review on that day??? Maybe they posted the review at 7am before turning on the TV?

Donuts for Depression

2009-01-14T13:53:00.003-06:00

I highly recommend a half dozen Shipley’s donuts when feeling a bit down. They don’t do much except add a few more dimples to your butt, but they taste great nonetheless and the time it takes to eat them takes your mind off of things.

I’m definitely not looking forward to the sugar crash later. Anyone have an extra Prozac I can take?

Brownies work well, too.

A Kinder Aunt Dallas

2009-01-10T16:10:00.001-06:00

For the past several months I have been pondering my life and how I live it and a couple of things have come to mind that I want to work on. Since it is now the new year, I'll call them resolutions.

Be Kind - Be kind didn't make it on President Hinckley's "Be" list, but I think it would fit in nicely; especially in my life. I don't necessarily think I'm an unkind person in general, but I'm definitely not the nicest person sometimes.

I think unkind thoughts of people who I feel don't drive as well as they should. I've glared at them as they drove by, thrown my arms in the air knowing they can see me in their rear view mirror, given the single finger salute on a couple of occasions, yelled out loud, cut folks off and purposefully kept someone from getting in front of me in my lane. I have become the driver I rail against while driving.
I like rules and boundaries. They help me understand my role in whatever it is I'm doing. At work I know the rules (processes/procedures) but, when someone works outside of those rules I can get upset. I really need to lighten up and realize for every rule, there is sometimes a very good reason why someone is going around it and to work with them, not against. I have a horrible habit of ignoring phone calls from customers who I know are going out of process.
I get too emotional about things. Not weepy emotional, but ticked off emotional, adrenaline emotional. I'm one of the easiest people to get riled up about something. Couple of examples: Religion - best way to get chucked off my Christmas card list is to tell me I'm going to hell because I'm a Mormon. Had this happen to me a couple of years ago at work and after a few minutes of her mouthing off to me, I told her I'd sick HR on her if she didn't shut her pie hole! That was very Christian of me! Don't patronize me - I know I'm too emotional and when I get that way, there's nothing worse than being laughed at about it and told to calm down. Telling me to calm down brings out my sharp stick tendencies. If I happen to get this way around you, just let me talk it out and know that I’m not mad at you. I’ve just allowed circumstances to work me up. This particular fault is the biggest reason I’m working on being kinder. Without working on this, the rest of what I want to do can’t be accomplished.

There are more items I could list under Be Kind that I should work on, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with too much change!

A desire to become a better person has been the driving force behind my musings. Several times a year I'll read an article in the Ensign about a sister who the whole ward loves. She's the aunt or the grandma of the ward. Well, since I'm not old enough to be the grandma, I think I'd like to be the aunt.

Let me explain. A large reason for pondering my life lately is that sometimes I'm not happy with how life has turned out for me. I know I should be grateful "for all my many blessings", but most of the time I'm not. I'm a paradox even to myself. I play an inner game of tug-of-war between the life that I have and the life that I want, but I'm a realist, I accept my world as it literally is and deal with it accordingly. Most of the time that works for me, but then my emotional monster rears it’s ugly head.

So this is how I want to deal with it. If I'm going to be The Westlake Ward Spinster (you can call me TWWS for short!!), I want to be the best one I can. I am poking fun at myself by saying this, but it's how I feel. Not just the spinster part, but my whole life in general. I want to be a better person. I want to be happy with who I am RIGHT NOW and not waste time on what I wish I had.

I want to let my light shine and in doing so, glorify my Heavenly Father. Guess it really boils down to my desire to be more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I doubt I'll have fully achieved all this by the end of the year, but if I'm even a bit kinder today than I was yesterday, I will have achieved my goal and will be on my way to being a better person.

Ensign article that touched me deeply.

You Know Enough by Elder Neil L. Anderson (Oct ‘08 General Conference)

Every One Gets A Bailout

2009-01-10T12:31:00.003-06:00

This was just too cute, so I thought I'd share. The blog post is from my friends Jason and Shelly.

What Would They Think?

2009-01-05T16:29:00.002-06:00

Ever wondered how the person being written about in a biography feels about it?

How would I feel about someone riffling through every personal detail of my life and then publishing it for all the world to read?

My letters, emails, text messages, financials, homes, friends, religion; all used to convey the type of person I was.

What compels a person to write a biography?

What compels someone (like me) to read a biography?

If the person written about could look down from heaven, how would they feel about me reading their personal information, private letters?

Do some of them wish they could have chosen their biographer instead of being relegated to the pages of history by an inept researcher?

Yes, I'm reading a biography right now and I'm loving it.

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire

Biographies aren't my favorite, but I've read several before and each time I feel as though I'm snooping and should hide the book as if it were a copy of National Enquirer.

It feels intrusive to know so much about someone I've never met.

With a tinge of guilt I'll confess to being enthralled by this woman who was born 216 years before me.

But with all of that said, I'm going to press the Publish Post button and get back to reading!

Mom and Me

2009-01-04T23:53:00.002-06:00

There's no real reason why I uploaded this photo except that it's a good picture of me and my mom. I was probably a teenager the last time I was in a photo with her. The grave marker is of my great-great grandfather and gg grandmother. My mom loves to do genealogy and a few months back found some long lost relatives that only live about 2 hours north of her. She contacted them and we went for a visit back in November. It's all very confusing. The people we visited were half uncles/aunts/cousins. My great grandfather (son of gg grandpa Bjorge) married three times. My mother's line comes through the second wife. The relatives we visited come down through the third wife. There are no living descendants from the first wife. The third wife is still living (98 years old), but has alzheimer's and we didn't have a chance to meet her.

Alaska Update

2009-01-04T18:19:00.003-06:00

Many of you have asked me what's going on with the Alaska trip. Did I get chosen? When will I know? Well, here's the skinny. The trip is off indefinitely. Every one's department is feeling the pinch of this bad economy and it's being reflected in budgets. I think IT feels it the most because we're overhead; we don't generate money, we spend it. Granted, it's all for the good of the company, but when it comes to budget cuts, IT takes a wallop.

Anyway, because of budget cuts the IT group in Alaska can't afford to pay the salary, travel and expenses of the person they would be bringing up. I offered to stay in Alaska for the three months, without coming home, if they would provide a place to stay. I also said I would pay my own expenses on my two weeks off. Normally, when traveling like that, food and entertainment would be expensed back to the company.

Now that the holidays are over, I plan to speak with my supervisor again and remind him of what I'd be willing to do. Maybe they'll go for it, maybe not. Guess it'll all depend on how badly they need someone.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Musical Offices

2008-12-30T10:49:00.002-06:00

Across the street from my office building BP is building a child care facility. A small crew of men was out yesterday with their backhoe and ditch witch laying the phone and data cables for the building. Someone got a little overzealous with the backhoe and cut through the underground conduit and completely severed the fiber cables we, ConocoPhillips and BP, use for our internet and phones. Thankfully it happened late in the afternoon. My co-worker and I made a quick tour of our floors to let folks know what was going on and then left for the day. Nothing much you can do when most of the software applications we use only work if there is network (intranet and internet) connectivity.

As I drove in this morning, the "small" crew from yesterday had swelled to a small army of men and trucks with more backhoe's, ditch witch's and cable pullers blocking most of the road. I would hate to be the guy operating the backhoe yesterday. You don't cut off internet and phone service to the #4 (BP) and #10 (COP) companies on the Fortune 500 list and not have any backlash. Poor guy! Hopefully he already got his yearly bonus, cuz I doubt there's going to be one next year.

Anyway, network was still out this morning so after helping a few people out here at my office, my boss told me to go over to the main complex across the highway and work from there until all was fixed. No sooner had I fired up my laptop than I got an email saying network connectivity had been restored.

Murphy's Law!! Had I stayed here and waited it out, the network would still be down!

It wasn't a completely wasted trip. I spoke with a few co-workers and got some interesting information.

One of my co-workers also does credit counseling and he's been helping me for a while get my credit rating up. I want to be able to buy a house in the next 12-18 months while housing prices are down. So we were able to get some business done in that area. Not related to work, but still useful!

I also found out good news regarding my job. A few months ago management was telling us we were going to have to downsize our department by two positions. They were trying their hardest to find internal jobs that two of us could transfer into. No one ever said "layoffs", but in these economic times, the writing was definitely on the wall. Anyway, through the genius of a co-worker, we now (at this point) don't need to downsize. He manages all the printers and plotters in the Houston area and economised our use of them. It would be a bunch of blah blah blah to you to explain exactly what he did, but suffice it to say it's saving the company around 200k. More than enough to cover 2 employee salaries for a year!

Thank you Heavenly Father for inspiring this man to do what he did!!! The stress of possible layoffs can be postponed for at little while longer!!!

The Tale of Despereaux (movie)

2008-12-26T20:28:00.003-06:00

My friend Kathie and I went to see The Tale of Despereaux this afternoon. Can you really like a movie and be seriously disappointed in it at the same time? Had I not read the book, I probably would have come out of the theater with a huge smile on my face. As it was, I came out wishing desperately that the film makers had been truer to the book.

I'm no good at reviewing books or movies, so for a really good one of the book, check out Stacey's old book review blog.

A few notes I will make:

- The artwork is absolutely beautiful and in my mind, that alone made it worth seeing.
- I think the actors they chose to voice each character were superb.
- It's rated G, but I would be hesitant about bringing really young children or children who are sensitive to intense images/sequences. This is part of why I'm disappointed. (Scarey cat and skeleton of soldier in the dungeon).
- Over all the story in the movie is wonderful, but doesn't hold a candle to the book.

If you've read the book, watch at your own risk! :)

If you haven't read the book, go watch the movie and enjoy, but on your way home, stop and buy this book!! If the post Christmas cash flow is down to a trickle, I'll loan you my copy.

This is a book you and your kids will want to read over and over again.

Am I Speaking English?

2008-12-16T14:30:00.002-06:00

I think EVERYONE needs to take a course on how to listen.

Twice today at work I asked a question about processes and procedures on how to do something. BOTH times I got a 15 minute "answer" that didn't answer my question.

Basically I wanted to know what I should do if X happens. Both times the answer I was given was how to not let X happen. DUH!! That's all well and good in hindsight, but what do I do now that it has happened???

Am I speaking in some unknown dialect of English? Did I lapse into some female language that males find hard to understand?

GAAAAAAA!!

And then to add insult to injury, they chuckled at me when I got frustrated trying to explain exactly what it was I was needing to figure out.

Few things in this world *&$% me off more than to be laughed at because I'm upset or frustrated. Something about it brings out this primal urge to poke the person with a sharp stick!

Thankfully I resisted the urge (no sharp sticks available) and instead grumbled to you about it.

Snide Remarks by Eric D. Snider

2008-12-12T15:02:00.003-06:00

I came across a new (to me) website today while reading other peoples blogs instead of trying to write an entry of my own (or working, which is what I should be doing between 7:30 and 4:30 M-F). The owner of the site is Eric D. Snider and it's a veritable smorgasbord of highly entertaining "stuff." He has a blog, he reviews movies and has a column called "Snide Remarks."

Some of you may have heard of Eric. For the rest of you, let me introduce you.

My Rejected 'Twilight' Screenplay
Clash of the Titanic
A Message From Claus Inc.

Enjoy!!

My Two Latest Projects

2008-12-10T20:40:00.006-06:00

I think a lot of you know this about me, but some may not; I love to do cross stitch. Next to reading, it's my most favorite thing to do. If there was a way to read and cross stitch at the same time, I'd be all over that!

Both of the projects below are presents for friends. I love to cross stitch for no reason at all, but it's way more enjoyable when I'm doing it for someone in particular.

The Sampler below is for my friend Kathie. In times past samplers were used as teaching devices. Kathie, to me, is the best example of teaching and learning. I can't wait 'til she gets here for Christmas and we can go pick out a frame.

Kathie hasn't seen it yet, so I guess I'll see if she likes it or not by the comment she leaves! :)

Some of you will remember Nicki Shores who lived in the ward a little while ago. I saw this and HAD to do it for her!! LOL I tried my darndest to get it done for Halloween, but it proved to be a bit more time consuming than the three weeks I allotted.

Nicki - That's Ghetto Kitty riding on the broom!! ROFL

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Passes Away

2008-12-02T10:49:00.005-06:00

Elder Wirthlin was a favorite of mine. There was something about his way of speaking that always kept my attention. I loved the stories he told of when he was young and played sports. I understood his analogies and was better able to understand the gospel because of it.

One of my favorite talks is Come What May, and Love It.

Further information:
LDS Newsroom

The Moon, Venus and Jupiter

2008-12-01T19:55:00.004-06:00

The picture isn't all that great, but you can see the Moon, Venus (L) and Jupiter (R). If you get a chance, go outside tonight and take a look. It's much brighter and easier to see than what can be made out in my pic.

Here's a couple of links to explain the phenomenon better.

Houston Chronical
Space.com

In Australia, the configuration is flip flopped and it looks like a smiley face. Pretty stinkin' cool!

The Daring Young Man

2008-11-24T15:33:00.004-06:00

This daring young man washed my office windows last Friday.

I'll brave -24f temps and polar bears, but don't ask me to dangle off the side of a building with little more than a couple of ropes and a two foot long piece of wood to sit on!

Like my red hard hat, clip board and flashlight? Last week I volunteered to be a Fire Warden on my floor at work. I'm now certified to get you out of my burning office building! Should you ever come by for a visit. :)

North to Alaska

2008-11-21T13:39:00.004-06:00

This past week I was presented with an opportunity. The IT group for ConocoPhillips in Alaska is going to be short one person during the first quarter of 2009 and are asking if anyone would like to volunteer to fill in while the budget gets approved for them to hire someone.

I jumped on it and I really hope they choose to send me. I know of two others who volunteered, but that's just in Houston. I'm not sure if anyone in any of our other offices in the states have volunteered. I spoke to my supervisor today about it, asking all kinds of questions and generally making it known that I WANT IT!

Here's part of what I'm getting into.

Home office for ConocoPhillips Alaska is in Anchorage, but I'd be working in Kuparuk (The North Slope). As you can kinda see on the map above, Kuparuk is on the very edge of nowhere! The only way to get there is by plane. There are no roads, even when there's not 10ft of snow on the ground.
I'll be there from Jan-Mar. The 3 coldest and darkest months. Average minimum temp is -25f (without windchill factored in). See chart below.
Most of the time I'm there, I won't see daylight (24 hour darkness).
I have to take an 8 hour cold weather survival course in Anchorage before they fly me to Kuparuk and they'll issue me cold weather gear. The vast amount of my work will be done inside, but there will be times that I have to make my way to other buildings not attached to mine.
I'd work two weeks on two weeks off with 12 hour days.
During my two weeks off they'll fly me home, but I'm hoping they'll at least let me spend one of those two weeks off in Anchorage. That would be awesome!!

Now if they'll just pick me!!! I want this so bad I can taste it!

If you were unsure of my sanity up to this point, you now know for sure that I'm absolutely crazy! HA!

Uniformity

2008-11-19T10:24:00.003-06:00

Why is it that not all toilets are the same height? Can't there be some sort of OSHA standard that states toilets must be such and such height so that unsuspecting users don't think their falling into the toilet abyss when they unsuspectingly come across a shorter than normal toilet?

Just today I was working on a different floor than where my normal toi-let is located and found that a quick pit stop was required. No problem! The bathrooms on each floor of my building are uniformly located just to the left of the elevators. In my brain I figured that since someone had the bright idea to put the bathrooms in the same spot on each floor, they must have had another bright idea and used the same model toilet in each one.

Right??

WRONG!!

The toilets on the 14th floor (where I was working) are shorter than the toilets on the 11th floor (where my home toilet is). It is not a good feeling when you're in mid-squat position with pants around your knees and the toilet isn't where it's suppose to be! Several muscles clinch and arms fling out for steadying support.

Yes, I did squeek out a muted but high pitched, HOLY CRAP!

Appropriate, don't you think?

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened to me.

December 27, 2000 - Shannon Ireland Airport: Local time was 11am, but my bio clock was still on 4am Houston time. It was my very first trans-atlantic flight, the complete trip took around 16 hours and I was JET LAGGED!! I was so shaky and exhausted from the jet lag and then it took an hour to get through customs and baggage claim. And then mixed in with all this is an absolute adrenaline rush of getting to see my best friend again. ShakyJetLagExhaustion + Adrenaline = Body and Mind not in top form. And on top of all that, I had to pee like a bear in June!

At that moment I was an unsuspecting tourist. I had read my Fodor's Travel Guide, I knew pretty much what to expect in this country, but nothing prepared me for what happened next.

I niavely walked into that bathroom with nothing more on my mind than to empty my bladder as fast as I could. It was one of those situations where you gotta pee so bad you can't hardly get your pants down without having an accident. So here I am, lots of luggage, small stall, gotta pee really bad, trying to get pants down, start the squat and CONFOUND IT, the toilet has got to be a good 3 inches shorter than it's American counterpart!! Muscles clinch, arms flail! To this day, I'm not sure how I managed to walk out of that stall without having to change everything from the waist down.

Tuesday Tag - Bookworm Meme

2008-11-18T09:52:00.004-06:00

This mornings tag is brought to you by, book:thirty (thanks Stacey).

Here are the rules:Open the closest book to you—not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment. Turn to page 56 and write out the fifth sentence as well as the next two to five sentences. Pass this on to five blogging friends.

My “closest” book is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. I say “closest” because I’m at work and a few days ago I downloaded .pdf version from Google Books so I could read during my breaks.

Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens

Much impressed by this family circumstance, and also by the friendly disposition of Mr. Wegg, as exemplified in his so soon dropping into poetry, Mr. Boffin again shook hands with that ligneous sharper, and besought him to name his hour. Mr. Wegg named eight.

“Where I live,” said Mr. Boffin, “is called The Bower. Boffin’s Bower is the name Mrs. Boffin christened it when we came into it as a property. If you should meet with anybody that don’t know it by that name (which hardly anybody does), when you’ve got nigh upon about a odd mile, or say and a quarter if you like, up Maiden Lane, Battle Bridge, ask for Harmony Jail, and you’ll be put right.”

I’m about a third of the way through this book and I am loving it! I’ve always loved the stage and screen adaptations of Dickens’ works, but I was always a bit intimiated by him when it came to reading.

I tag:
Mortensens
A Student for Life
The Adelman Family Adventures
The cORRner
The Hunt Family

Tag

2008-11-14T19:47:00.004-06:00

I was tagged by my friend Kathie (Thanks Dr. Ball!!).

5 Joys
1. Family and friends
2. The temple
3. Reading
4. My religion
5. Sleep

5 Fears
1. Failure
2. Being alone
3. Wearing out my welcome
4. Needles
5. Abandonment

5 Obsessions – I don’t think I obsess over things, but here are 5 things I like to do a lot.
1. Landscape photography
2. Cross Stitch
3. Traveling
4. Reading
5. Doing as little as possible!! :)

5 Surprising Facts
1. I was in the Navy for 5 years (many of you know this, but maybe not all)
2. I’ve broken more bones and had more stitches than both my brothers combined
3. I absolutely love Spam (canned meat, not junk email)
4. I would love to live overseas (Ireland, England, Italy)
5. I wish I had more patience

Happy Veteran's Day

2008-11-11T07:51:00.005-06:00

This is my favorite pic of me while I was in the Navy. I was in my grungiest uniform that day, but it didn't matter! I pulled duty the first night we were in port and I was about to have 4 days of shore leave in The Bahamas!! One of my friends had already been ashore that day and bought the hat that I was modeling.

To all the men and women who have served, are serving or are about to serve our great nation:

THANK YOU!

Casual Monday

2008-11-10T09:27:00.004-06:00

My Sunday evening routine isn't what the majority of the LDS community would consider appropriate Sabbath day activity. More often than not, I wash about two loads of cloths - whites and darks. I, personally, don't consider laundry a chore. In my no child or husband world, laundry is a non-chore. It's almost as if I'm really not doing anything. The washer and dryer do all the work, I just show up after 30 minutes or so to throw the first load into the dryer and start a new one.

Anyway, yesterday around 6pm (prime laundry time) I got a call from my friend Jenna and we spoke for 2 1/2 hours. I was so excited that she called and getting to talk to her for so long was HEAVEN!!

Well, needless to say, when we finally did hang up at 8:30pm my brain was not thinking about laundry and whether or not I had any "work" cloths for Monday. All I thought about was doing a quick blog post and then winding down for the night.

BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!

Yeah, I'm at work in jeans and the blouse I wore to church yesterday!

My Friend Jenna

2008-11-09T20:23:00.009-06:00

Once upon a time, in a land far far away (Utah), there lived a girl named Jenna. She was the nicest, most kindest person in the land and everyone wanted to be her friend; even the meanies (my trainer - hehehe!).

Seriously, there's something about her that draws people in and I was no exception.

We met while serving in the same mission. I had only been on my mission 6 weeks and I was having a rough time. My trainer, for reasons beyond my comprehension, didn't want to train me and just flat out told me so. I also felt like she didn't like me all that much, but to her credit, she never came out and said that.

Anyway, by some means or other, the Mission President got wind of this and decided to transfer me to a different area and different companion.

HALLELUJAH!!

When I found out Jenna was my new companion, instantly my stress and fear melted away. The very next day I was packed and on my way to meet her.

There are no words that would convey to you how much I love this woman. She gave me friendship when my little heart needed it the most; she loved me for who I was; she laughed at my funny haha's and let me just.be.me.

We spoke on the phone tonight after being out of touch the past 10 years. She's married, awesome husband, several kids. It was such a joy to hear her voice and feel her love again.

They say there are humans on this earth masquerading as angels.

Jenna, thank you for being mine when I needed one the most.

Can It Be Tomorrow Already?

2008-11-04T09:39:00.005-06:00

I'm so tired of hearing about this candidate doing this or that candidate doing that.

The Democrats caused this or the Republicans caused that (cuz you know EVERYTHING is GW's fault, right?).

For good or maybe not so good, we find out who our new President is tomorrow and I'm feeling a mix of excitment and dread. Neither one of the candidates is who I voted for in the primaries. Both have ideas or agendas I do not agree with.

Anyway, I'm biting my nails and trying hard not to just sit on the internet trying to find early polling data! :)

Here's some early data for you. The town of Dixville Notch, NH has 100% of it's voting done and counted. Here are the results.

Democrats:
Obama 7
Edwards 2
Richardson 1

Republicans:
McCain 4
Romney 2
Giuliani 1

Just my observation: I find it interesting that yes, Obama got the most individual votes, but that 10 of the 17 people didn't vote for him.

Must let go of mouse and push away from the desk! :)

I'll probably have to take a sleep aid tonight so I can at least get a couple of hours. LOL

Popcorn Balls

2008-10-30T21:57:00.004-05:00

Ok, seriously, someone has got to figure out that putting ethanol in gas makes your car get bad mpg and causes popcorn to be outrageously expensive.

IT'S POPCORN!!!

It shouldn't cost almost $7 to make 2 dozen popcorn balls! Granted, I went to Randall's and paid my *don't have to drive to Walmart and stand in line for 20 minutes* convenience tax, so that probably added a buck or two to the total - maybe.

See you at Trunk or Treat tomorrow night! My PB's will be the peach colored ones. I made the sugar mixture orange, but when I poored it on the popcorn, it turned out peach! LOL

Oh well! :)

My New Favorite Movie

2008-10-24T18:46:00.006-05:00

Ok, so I'm a bit late in discovering the movie Dan In Real Life. I knew about it and remember seeing the trailer, but it didn't catch my fancy. In watching the trailer, I came away feeling like it was going to be just a goofy movie about a bungling dad. Nothing against bungling dads, but I felt I had better things to spend my money and time on. I also knew Steve Carell was the main character and the last thing I knew he had done was The 40 Year Old Virgin; not exactly my favorite genre of movie. Lets just say I had a couple of preconceived ideas of what this movie was going to be like.

How wrong I was! For the past few months I heard people make reference to it and how much they loved it, so the other day I decided to breakdown and watch it and I'm so glad I did!

This movie is nothing like I thought it would be. I was expecting a funny haha movie, but instead was treated to a gorgeous, real story of a man raising his three daughters, his wonderful extended family, a beautiful house and his finding love again. The superb soundtrack was a character unto itself and I'll be buying it soon (music by Sondre Lerche).

If you haven't seen this movie, go straight out and rent it. If you're on a budget, you can borrow my copy.

I LOVED IT!

Sign Language

2008-10-23T15:46:00.010-05:00

The wonderful things you can stumble across while surfing the internet!

Could someone direct me to the Pro's bathroom?

Is that what's going on inside the car on the family road trip or the conditions outside?

Could I launch a nuclear missile in front of that point?

Why settle for subtly??

Hopefully that's for the adult babies of the house!

Why Is It?

2008-10-22T15:26:00.005-05:00

Why is it that 95% of the time I get along famously with my friends, but then along comes a day where they say something and it gets me so riled up that I want to yell at them and cry at the same time?

Why is it that just about everyday I drive in cruddy traffic and it doesn't bother me, but along comes a day where I'm not about to let the guy next to me into my lane even if he has had his blinker on for a while? Most days I just let it roll off me like water off a ducks back when someone cuts me off, but then comes the day where I want to scream at the top of my lungs and smack the steering wheel as if that's going to make everything better.

Why is it that most days I'm happy and content with who I am, but then along comes the day where no matter how good my hair looks, no matter how much weight I've lost, no matter who smiles and says hi in the elevator, it's going to be the day that my friend gets on my nerves and I day dream of rear ending the guy who just cut me off?

UPDATED - Early Voting

2008-10-21T13:25:00.008-05:00

So, I thought I'd do my civic duty today during lunch and go vote. Great idea in theory. Bad idea when I showed up. There were at least 40 people standing outside the building waiting to go in.

I only had an hour so I saved my early voting for later and had lunch instead!

I'll stop by on the way home and see how things look.

For anyone interested, the Early Voting station is the Sheriff's office on Franz Rd. (link to map below).

Katy Early Voting station

Update: Who knew that Early Voting meant they closed the polling station early?!? I show up after work only to be told, "Sorry ma'am, we closed at 4:30." GRRRRR!!!

What the...?!?

2008-10-20T15:50:00.005-05:00

I came across this contraption while working on a different floor last week and had to take a pic with my Blackberry.

My only guess is that it's a manual bidet.

I've come across bidet's in my travels, but never any of the "hose and nozzle" variety.

Bursting My (gas) Bubble

2008-10-19T16:09:00.006-05:00

I went in to work for a few hours Saturday morning and on my way I was checking gas prices. I knew I needed to fill up that day, but could wait to see what prices looked like on the way there and back before making a decision on where to fill up.

At the time, all the stations on Fry were around $2.79, but as I drove past the Volero at Eldridge and I10 they had it advertised for $2.69. I hadn't seen it cheaper than that anywhere, so I deteremined to look no further and make my purchase there. I pumped the gas and was pleasantly surprised that it cost less than $40 to fill up. I felt great! I had found the bargain and saved a little money. WOOHOO!

After working until 2, my co-worker and I decided to go to lunch at Chili's on Hwy 6.

Confound it if the VERY first gas station I drove past didn't have gas for $2.49!!!!!

Not 5c cheaper, not 10c cheaper.

A full 20c cheaper!!! I could have saved another $3!!

{{{POP}}}

AAARRGH!!

2008-10-19T15:45:00.004-05:00

It's only happened three times, but it's seriously annoying! Random people leaving anonymous comments on my blog that have nothing to do with my post.

Case in point is a comment posted by "Mike Knight" on my Hurricane Ike - Galveston post.

Mike Knight said...
I disagree, HEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!! DONT do things like this because it hurts the feelings of the innocent bystanders like myself. I am deeply hurt and plan on suing if I do not get an immediate and resounding apology.I am just sick of people treating others like this, with a complete disregard for their feelings.
18 October, 2008 13:47

Um.....what?? Who? Why? Huh?

At first I thought he must have made a mistake, but how do you mistakenly leave a comment like that on a blog?

How did he find my blog?
Why was he reading it?
Is he just a troll out in bloggerland who's only goal is to leave stupid comments on strangers blogs?

Does anyone else get spam comments?

Hurricane Ike - Galveston

2008-10-13T15:07:00.014-05:00

I'm a little late, but here are the pics from the work party that went to Galveston back in late September.

Here we are gathered around waiting to see where they are going to send us. We had a Sacrament Meeting a little earlier. It was awesome.

This was our first house. Holy cow!! This pic was taken early in our quest to muck out the house. The piles got a little bit higher by the time we stopped for lunch. Good thing for you they haven't invented smell-o-vision!!

Sister Allen in the kitchen.

The road where the first house was located.

Lunchtime on the seawall.

Here's our second house. It was WAY easier than the first. The people who owned this house had already taken everything out. All we did was go in and pull sheetrock out. Not that that is especially easy, but at the least the smell didn't want to knock you over every time you stepped inside.

A little down time before we left.

Just before you leave the island there is a huge lot of land off to right where they bring all the trash and flooded out cars. You can't tell from the picture, but this place was massive!

Another angle of the trash lot. People mucked out their houses and large dump trucks and front end loaders would go down the road loading up all the trash. This is where the trash wound up. Mounds and mounds and mounds of what used to be people's treasured belongings.

Joke of the Day

2008-10-09T09:29:00.004-05:00

Why do chicken coupes only have two doors?

Because if they had four doors they'd be chicken sedans!!

Ok, so it's a bad joke, but you know you're going to tell it to everyone in the house! :)

Agree to Disagree

2008-10-02T14:23:00.003-05:00

I'm seriously not happy right this second. During lunch I was personally attacked by a fellow co-worker for my political beliefs and I'm so pissed off about it I feel like I want to hit something. Why can't we all just live and let live? Why can't we just agree to disagree? I don't go around telling folks they're an idiot if they vote a certain way, why can't that same deference be shown to me?

I don't know why I'm surprised. I've been personally attacked because of my religion, so why not my political views???

Mission Reunion a la Facebook

2008-10-01T15:31:00.017-05:00

I have a Facebook profile and a few days ago, out of the blue, I got a friend invite from one of the sisters on my mission. We were never companions, but we knew each other and were friends. With that one invite, I have begun finding many of my old companions and friends from the mission.

President Christensen!! The BEST Mission President EVER!! You can tell from the picture that he was fun loving. :) The picture was taken July 24, 1997 at the This Is The Place Monument during the sesquicentennial celebrations while waiting for the wagon trains to arrive.

Sister Tipton and I at the Salt Lake Temple two days before we went home. Each missionary, the Tuesday before we went home, would go to the Temple. It just happened to only be the two of us going home that month. (Don't laugh to loudly about the hair!! I thought it was a good idea at the time.)

This was taken the P-day before I went home. We hung out at the bowling alley on State Street. We loved that place. They owners gave us a huge discount. One of the cool things about being in Salt Lake were all the places that members owned and would give us huge discounts or free stuff. One of my areas had a cool little restaurant that would feed us whatever we wanted for $1 and a Subway that gave us free subs. We would go to Subway Saturday evening, get a sandwich, chips and drink, drink the drink and save the sandwich and chips for lunch on Sunday.

I'm not sure what possessed me to wear my hair in a pony tail that day!! It's not the best look for me! President Christensen wanted to have a mission photo, but with 180 missionaries, there was no way to get us all in one picture. So we broke it up into 6 group photos. Sister Yamanita (left) was my companion at the time and we were serving in Magna. Sister Hall (right) and I would become companions the next month and be together for 6 months; until the day I went home.

I have no idea what was going through the mind of the guy on the front row!!

Sister Connor (left) was my second companion. If not for her, I probably would have seriously considered going home!! My trainer and I never really meshed. I didn't dislike her and I don't believe she disliked me, but she made it very clear that she did not want to train me. It was definitely a strained relationshipt!! Sister Latu (right) was my sixth companion. We got on great. I'm glad I stuck around just so I could be companions with her!

It's been so awesome to reconnect with old friends and to see how well they are doing. It reminds me of the scripture, Alma 17:2.

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-09-24T15:03:00.003-05:00

I'm one of those folks who puts furniture in a room and never thinks to move it around, but I've been inspired by others who have undertaken the task of updating the look of their blogs and thought I'd at least give it a try.

If you have comments or suggestions, please don't hesitate to express them. I have only a small amount of creativity in me and it's quite painful when I try to use it!! :)

2008-09-23T22:44:00.003-05:00

When I got home this evening from book club I was talking to Arlene and I was telling her about the swarm of mosquitoes that came into Stacey's house as we were all leaving. I was telling her how huge they were.

We spoke of a few other things, but then a few minutes later Stephanie walks in the house moaning and groaning about the mosquitoes and how huge they are!

We laughed cuz Arlene and I were just talking about it.

Stephanie proceeds to tell us that the lady she was just babysitting for says that the large mosquitoes are called coastal mosquitoes.

Arlene pops up and says...

"Dang!, even the mosquitoes evacuated!!"

Happy First Day of Fall, Y'all

2008-09-22T10:23:00.004-05:00

Fall is my favorite season. And yeah, it won't ever look like this here in South East Texas, but at least we know cooler weather is just around the corner and winter is on it's way (bust out the wind breakers!!).

I don't know about you, but I'm excited!

A Nonpartisan Message From Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton

2008-09-18T15:40:00.007-05:00

I thought the SNL skit Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did was pretty darn funny.

FYI - If you decide to watch it, I give it a PG-13 rating for some crude humor.

Weird, But I Like It

2008-09-14T12:21:00.005-05:00

The worst is finally over and freakishly good weather is on its way.

I have now lived through two hurricanes and volunteered to help others during the aftermath of both Rita and Katrina and after each of these storms, the weather was horrendous. The storms pass, the sun comes out and the August/Sept heat creates unbearable conditions exacerbated by the lack of electricity and a/c.

Yes, we had some scary thunderstorms roll through the area this morning, many of us lost electricity for a second time in as many days, and many streets flooded again, but with that bad weather has come some seriously abnormal weather.

The thunderstorms this morning were caused by a cold front that's moving through.

A COLD FRONT!!

By the grace of God, we have a cold front that's blowing out the humidity in the air and bringing "cool" weather to the area.

I feel blessed to have weathered the storm without much damage to my home or car, but I know there are MANY in my town that are not as fortunate and the next few days/weeks are going to be spent without electricity or water. If there can be bright spots, it will be the opportunities we'll have to volunteer our time and talents to help our fellow friends and neighbors while they recover.

Thankfully we'll have good weather to do this.

Anyone know of any volunteer opportunities? Let me know.

The Aftermath - Part II

2008-09-13T16:57:00.005-05:00

Here's a couple of pictures of the damage in the backyard. You can't tell it, but the tree in the middle of the pic was uprooted and is leaning over the back portion of the house. Paul Thomas and one of the Torbit boys came over and cut off the biggest limbs that were sitting on the roof.

Here's Arlene (and me) cleaning up and working off our "Ike 15." You can see where the fence was knocked down in a few places.

The Aftermath - Part I

2008-09-13T15:07:00.005-05:00

Arlene and I faired pretty well. I was awake until around 4:30 this morning when I finally fell into bed completely exhausted. I had my windows open and listened to the wind and rain lash against the house and through the trees.

For the 2.5 of you who are just chomping-at-the-bit to see some exciting video, here you go. :)

Make sure you're sitting down before watching; they're pretty boring and you may fall asleep while watching!

This is the backyard at about 7am Saturday.

This is the frontyard after about 8am Saturday.

Our power was restored at 1:30pm this afternoon.

Guess Its Time For Bed

2008-09-13T00:08:00.000-05:00

Electricity went off at 11:30pm. A few minutes prior I had let Arlene's dog, Bonnie, in from the backyard. She's a quiet dog, but she came in whining and paced the living room for several minutes. It wasn't until the electricity stopped flickering and went off for good that she calmed down and went to sleep.

Did she sense what was about to happen or was it a coincidence?? Who knows.

See ya on the flip-side!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY

2008-09-12T21:32:00.002-05:00

Ok, so the day is basically over, but I wanted to wish my friend Stacey a happy birthday. She's one of the coolest people I know.

It kinda sucks that she's having to celebrate it from the safety of her home as Hurricane Ike comes ashore.

Good or bad, bet she'll never forget this one!

Maybe we can go to lunch sometime soon.

Love you!!

Hunkering Down

2008-09-12T18:41:00.005-05:00

I was reading my friend Stacey's blog earlier. She was talking about the new phrases she's been learning thanks to Hurrican Ike.

"Run from water, Hide from wind."

She has coined, "The Ike 15." It's the weight gained from eating all the comfort food during this weekend. I went to the store this afternoon to get a few "essentials" to carry me over during the storm.

Bread
Soda
Oreos
Crackers

____________

The video below was taken around 6:30 this evening. Since Arlene and I are hunkering down, I thought I would try and chronicle the storm somehow. We'll see how well I do.

So Much For That

2008-09-10T21:12:00.003-05:00

Here I thought I'd have all this extra time on my hands while sitting in my hotel room these past couple of nights. Um...yeah, right.

It's 9:16pm Wednesday evening and I'm just getting in.

Last night it was after 8 when I finally got in for the night.

On the plus side, I have learned a great deal from the meeting I've been attending these past few days and I'm actually excited to get back to work and implement the knowledge I've gained.

Granted, with Ike barrelling down on the Houston area, it could be a couple of days before that happens. ConocoPhillips put out an email this evening stating that the Houston offices would be closing at noon on Thursday with the plan to re-open on Monday. We'll see how that goes.

You all will probably think I'm certifiable, but I'm pretty excited for our impending weather. I wish we could enjoy it without all the destruction.

Hit or Miss?

2008-09-08T13:22:00.006-05:00

It's still way to early to determine where Ike will go, but for now they've got it coming to us.

Jeff Masters, at Weather Underground, predicts a western LA landfall.

Track Forecast for Ike - third paragraph (Jeff Masters' blog)

As Ike moves approaches within 300 miles of the Louisiana coast on Friday, there will be another trough of low pressure capable of turning the storm to the north. The GFS, GFDL, HWRF, NOGAPS, and Canadian models all predict that this trough will be strong enough to turn Ike northwards into central or western Louisiana. The UKMET and ECMWF models disagree, and think high pressure will dominate enough to force Ike westwards into Texas, between Corpus Christi and the Louisiana border. These two models have been trending too far south with Ike so far, so I would lean towards a landfall in western Louisiana at this point.

Off to Oklahoma

2008-09-08T13:05:00.004-05:00

I still can't seem to get anything out of my brain and into my blog, but I'll be away on business this week with several nights on my own and plenty of time to blog. Maybe I'll be able to dislodge some posts (I don't count weather updates as real posts).

I'm taking my camera on the off chance that Ponca City, OK has some pretty landscape.

I'm scheduled to return home Friday morning. Just in time for Ike??

Brain Constipation

2008-08-28T08:31:00.003-05:00

I have quite a number of blogs jamming up my brain right now, but for the life of me I can't seem to purge them. Even when I try concentrating really hard, all I seem to get are a few brain farts here and there!

Translation: You're Too Fat

2008-08-19T14:58:00.005-05:00

I was daydreaming at work today (knock on wood, it's been a little slow) and was remembering our trip through The Badlands last week.

We were only a couple miles in and there was a place you could stop and hike, so we decided to hop out and see what we could see. Kathie and I were walking toward the trailhead when this woman and her kids stopped to talk to us.

She was about 5'3" and maybe 120lbs soaking wet. I honestly don't remember all of the conversation (it was pretty short), but basically the last thing she says to us is, It'll be rough for you two. She didn't say, it's a rough hike; no, she said "you two" would have a rough time with it.

I don't remember if I said anything to Kathie right then, but I remember thinking it was pretty funny that Miss Skinny Chick was concerned enough about us Fat Chicks to let us know we would have trouble with the hike.

I know we had a pretty good laugh about it once Kathie had made the hike (I stayed below to take pics) and we were back in the car.

If you click on the picture, you can see Kathie on her way up (center right).

To you skinny folks out there: Thank you for your concern, but keep it to yourself!!

I would never go up to a skinny person at the pool and tell them to avoid the deep end cuz they're going to have a hard time floating!!

HE HE HE!!!

Profiting From Others Misfortunes

2008-08-16T19:25:00.005-05:00

Our flight out of Rapid City, SD was delayed this morning. Denver was having severe thunderstorms that delayed the plane getting to us and those same storms kept the plane grounded for another hour before we could take off. Our original flight time was 11:40am; we finally took off at 1:45.

I stepped off the plane from South Dakota at 3:15 and tried in vain to get clear across Denver Int'l Airport in less than 5 minutes to make my 3:20 connection, but to no avail! It was off to the Customer Service Desk I went.

They had me flying standby on the 9:05pm flight, but just a few minutes a go they confirmed a seat for me on the flight.

Come to find out, there are 5 individuals on a flight from San Francisco who won't arrive in time to make their connection to Houston. I feel kinda bad that these folks travel plans are about to go haywire, but I'm very grateful to know I'll be on my way home in a few hours. The next available flight with a confirmed seat was for Monday at 9:55am!

I hope the folks from San Francisco are able to get booked on other flights soon. I was told the next available standby flight was tomorrow morning!

Deadwood, SD

2008-08-15T22:01:00.010-05:00

Deadwood is a town steeped in history and there are few things I like more than history. Here’s a short list of some of Deadwood’s history.

Martha Jane Canary (Calamity Jane) and James Butler Hickok (Wild Bill) are buried side by side at the local boot hill, Mount Moriah.
Gold was discovered here in 1876, thus the reason for Deadwood’s existence.
Wild Bill Hickok only lived here 6 weeks before he was shot to death by Jack McCall at the #10 Saloon.
Each of the plots that minors bought were laid out along the river and numbered. The person who owned #10 built a house on his site. It later became a saloon; hence the name, the #10 Saloon.
Deadwood got its name because of all the dead wood throughout the forest and along the river.

Wild Bill Hickok's tombstone. The original was made of stone, but people would chip pieces off as a souvenir. This bronze tombstone is a replica of the original.

Over looking the town of Deadwood from Mount Moriah.

One of the many colorful old houses. I liked the bear carving.

This has to be THE MOST colorful house in Deadwood. The house is called Raspberry Hill. The picture makes it look purple, but in real life it's definitely a bright raspberry color.

In 1898 the last wagon trains bringing goods and people from Pierre to Deadwood stopped. The railroad was faster and cheaper. To commemorate the 100th anniversary, a wagon train of about 200 people, horses, wagons, etc., set out from Pierre on July 29th and followed the original route the wagon trains took. They arrived today, Friday August 15th, at noon. I'm glad we just happened to be here to see it.

Devil's Tower

2008-08-15T17:58:00.006-05:00

Anyone remember the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind? I absolutely loved it as a kid. I haven't watched it in many years, but one of the scenes I remember is when Richard Dryfus recreates the mountainlike vision he's having by piling the mashed potatoes on his plate into the shape of the mountain.

Well, what to my surprise should be just up the road from Deadwood??? That’s right, Devil’s Tower; the mountainlike structure in Richard’s visions.

Kathie has never seen the movie, but she was a good sport and went along for the ride. I say it’s just around the corner. It’s actually about a 50 mile drive over into Wyoming.

I have to say, it’s pretty stinkin’ awesome to see up close and personal.

The pictures don’t do it any justice.

The visitor center is right at the base of it, so it’s pretty easy to hike up to and around it. We went about half way around and came back down.

Wild Bill Pickup

2008-08-15T17:17:00.008-05:00

One of the attractions of Deadwood are the re-enactments they do of Wild Bill Hickok's murder and the trial of Jack McCall, the man who shot him. There are loads of people dressed in period clothing walking up and down the street, ready with a smile to have their picture taken with you.

Kathie and I had been walking up and down the main street of Deadwood and had stopped to eat some ice cream. We were sitting on a bench outside the shop when along came one of the men dressed in costume.

He walked up to us and said hello. I asked if he was Jack McCall and he smiled and said, "No ma'am. I'm Wild Bill Hickok." He told us about the re-enactments, what time they started and where they would be. According to Kathie, he was flirting with me. You can read her account of the conversation here. She gave me a hard time about it the rest of the day! :)

If you could see beyond his really bad, long hair wig and period clothing, he was a pretty good looking guy. I mean hey, he said I was purdy and called me love. What more could a girl want?!? :)

For some strange reason, I didn't have my camera with me when all this happened. So, the picture above is from a different day.

This one's for you, Stacey. He's no Horatio, but...

This is my 100th post!

Back to The Blackhills

2008-08-15T10:10:00.015-05:00

Wednesday morning we left The Badlands and headed back to The Blackhills; Deadwood to be exact.

Kathie needed to get some work done on her grant, so I put $20 in the tank and went for a drive. I had read in one of our (many!!) brochures that there was a scenic drive close to Deadwood, so I found a map, charted my course and set off.

You may notice that most of the pictures are a little "fuzzy." No, my camera wasn't acting up. It was actually raining quite heavily and the clouds were pretty low. Needless to say, I was a bit damp when I got back to the kabin (KOA spelling!).

Below is a map of the drive I took. Even from a topographical map I could tell it was going to be a long and winding road. I left from Deadwood and made my way to Spearfish and then backtracked. It was about two hours there and back.

This is Highway 85 just south of Lead. Even on the big roads, the view is stunning!

The scenic road "started" once I turned onto SR 14A at Cheyenne Corner. The map doesn't show it because it's just that, a corner with a small convenience store.

I never did see a sign giving the name of this river. The road basically followed it all the way to Spearfish. All of the pics below are of the same river.

The massive cliffs and gorgeous pine trees were my only company. They were quite friendly and allowed me to take their picture quite a number of times.

Bridal Veil Falls - it's about halfway between Cheyenne Corner and Spearfish. There's a good size shoulder area here where you can park. Had it not been pooring rain, I would have ventured across the street and hiked about for a bit to get different angles of the falls.

The Badlands

2008-08-13T21:04:00.010-05:00

Monday morning we left The Blackhills/Mount Rushmore area and headed east to The Badlands. It's only a few hours away and we made it by early afternoon, but both of us were exhausted and we spent Monday doing absolutely nothing. Unless you count napping and blogging as something.

I don't sleep well in places other than my own bed and according to Kathie, I snore really loud, so neither of us got much sleep the first two nights. I don't know if she's telling the truth or not since I've never heard myself snore!! We stopped at the Wal-Mart on the way to The Badlands and she bought earplugs! Problem solved for her!

Tuesday we were up and on our way to The Badlands. I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard of The Badlands before and had this vague idea that it was kinda like the Grand Canyon meets Death Valley. Well, it is kinda like The Grand Canyon, but instead of a river slicing through it, The Badlands were once covered by an inland sea. This inland sea eroded The Blackhills and the sediment from this settled in the area. As the sea receded, the water eroded the sediment left behind into what can be seen today.

There you go, my unscientific explanation of how this beautiful landscape came to be. The pictures may portray it as a stark and barren world, but take my word for it, it was teeming with life.
Yep, that's me on the edge of the abyss!

I think these were my favorite. They were this golden yellow on the bottom, vibrant red in the middle and this dark ash grey on the top. Absolutely gorgeous!!

We had an awesome thunderstorm coming in from the west. We managed to miss the rain, but were treated to a lovely showing of lightening and thunder.

Here's some of the life I was telling you about. I was lucky I even saw this guy. The photo makes it seem like he was pretty close, when in reality he was at least 300 yards away. Thank goodness for the zoom on my camera! I have a picture of him without the zoom that gives a better perspective, but I didn't want to send you guys into a picture overdose.

The prairie dogs were everywhere there was a flat grassy area. One of them "barked" at us when she thought we had strayed a little too close to her den. It was a funny little high-pitched chihuahua sounding bark.

We also saw rabbits and other small rodents, but they were too quick for pics. There were signs everywhere warning us of rattlesnakes. Thankfully we didn't see any of those!!

The Badlands National Park

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD

2008-08-13T20:31:00.008-05:00

This was a pretty cool site. Back in 1974 a man by the name of Phil Anderson bought the land and was preparing to build houses on it, when earth moving equipment unearthed what later was discovered to be mammoth teeth.

Since then a total of 55 mammoths have been found in this one area. Scientists believe it was a huge local watering hole created by a sink hole in the land. Bad thing about it were the steep sides; mammoths would fall in, but then were unable to climb back out. As a funny side note, all of the mammoths found were males. Hmmmm....

Visit the Mammoth Site website for more information and history.

Upper right corner is a skull with both tusks. Bottom left are leg bones, spine and ribs.

This is the most complete skeleton they've found so far. Starting at the bottom of the picture are the back legs, then the pelvis, spine, ribs, front legs and the head is underneath the front portion of the body.

Where The Deer and Antelope Play

2008-08-11T22:28:00.009-05:00

Sunday was also spent driving through some of the most gorgeous country. A lot of our driving that day took us through Custer State Park where we were treated to tons of wildlife.

Most of what we saw were antelopes; tons and tons of antelope!

We finally happened upon deer. If you look closely you can see that the doe has a collar on. They must be doing conservation studies in the park.

Last, but not least, we saw buffalo. Not very many, but oddly enough, most of the ones we saw were just sitting or standing along the side of the road by themselves. After this guy crossed the road and we could pass, it hit me that I should have taken video of it. As we came upon him, he was walking across the road to the right. As we stopped to take the pic, he decided that the other side of the road was where he wanted to be. It was his road and he didn't care who had to stop while he made up his mind!!

Crazy Horse

2008-08-11T17:11:00.006-05:00

Sunday we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial. It was way more interesting than I had thought it would be. I've known about it for years and knew that it's what could be called the neverending sculpture. So I wasn't really sure why I wanted to visit a place that looked like it hadn't changed in 20 years.

Well, lets just say, a lot has been accomplished. The sculpture was started in 1948 and in the museum they have pictures throughout the decades of the work that's been done. When you see the pics, it's very clear just how much has been done.

When all is said and done, the sculpture will be 641ft long by 563ft high. It is massive!! To give you a visual of just how big that is, Mount Rushmore would easily fit in the area just behind Crazy Horse's face.

This is a scale model inside the museum.

Mount Rushmore

2008-08-10T22:44:00.007-05:00

Or as I like to call it, Rount Mushmore. I've said it twice now, so Rount Mushmore it is. I was dead tired yesterday when we went, and my brain doesn't function that well on a full nights sleep!

This pic was taken just around the corner from Mount Rushmore. There's a break in the trees as you come around and right there in front of you is George Washington's profile! It was too stinking cool!!!

They have an evening show where the Ranger gives a twenty minute speech on why these four presidents were chosen and what they stand for in American History.

George Washington - Birth: Revolutionary War General

Thomas Jefferson - Expansion: Louisiana Purchase

Abraham Lincoln - Preservation: Saved the Union during the Civil War

Teddy Roosevelt - Development: Conservation of natural wonders

They then show a 20 minute video done by the Discovery Channel about Mount Rushmore and once it's good and dark, they begin the lighting ceremony. It's really pretty cool. I got it on video, but it's pretty grainy. In real life it was awesome. It's so dark outside, but then slowly the monument lights up.

It was really cool! I highly recommend making the trip here just to see it!

On My Way

2008-08-09T10:02:00.003-05:00

I’m on my way to South Dakota to spend a week with my friend Kathie Ball. We’re going to visit Mount Rushmore, The Badlands, Deadwood and Sturgis. The visit to Sturgis is for my brother Beau. The yearly motorcycle rally is there and I promised him I would stop and get him a shirt. From what I understand, we’ll be there right in the middle of 100,000+ motorcyclists. Not exactly my idea of fun, but I think I can endure long enough to make the purchase!

I’m not sure what our schedule will be. We’re “camping” at KOA campsites. They have cabins you can rent and the one we have sleeps 4. It’s actually pretty cool. There’s a set of bunk beds, and a full size futon, a table, small counter area and a bathroom with a shower. It’s pretty stinking small, but big enough for the two of us. I found out the other day that it has a/c and heat. I was a little worried about this as I wasn’t sure what kind of blanket to try and pack. The lows while we’re up there are supposed to be in the upper 50’s and for a girl from Houston, that’s a tad bit on the chilly side. That’s winter weather where I’m from!!! Yes, laugh out loud and make fun. I can take it! :D I decided on my little Navy fleece blanket that Arlene made for me for Christmas a few years ago. That and the sheets I brought will hopefully keep me warm enough. If not, I’ve budgeted for a few trips to Wal-Mart!! I have to go there anyway to get a pillow. I tried packing as lightly as possible, but still didn’t have the room for a pillow.

As I type this, I’m on the plane heading to Denver for a layover. I’m typing this up in Word first and then will post when I get to a hotspot. There’s gotta be wireless somewhere in South Dakota!! :) I’ll try the airport in Denver, but my experience with airport wireless is that it’s pretty dang expensive. Granted, it’s usually good for a month, so maybe I’ll splurge and be able to access it on the layover back home.

I meet Kathie in Denver and we’ll travel together from there in Rapid City, SD. From there we rent a car, drive to our first campsite, settle in a bit (make our bed) and take a nap!! We both are on EARLY flights. Mine took off at 6:30am. On a good day, I’m up at 6:30 to get ready for work. This morning I woke up at 4:36 – THANKFULLY!! I’m not sure what I was thinking when I set my alarm clock for 4:45. I should have left the house at 4:45. As it turned out, I left at 4:54, parked my car at around 5:30, caught the shuttle to the airport, stood in a long security line, made my way to the gate by 6:15, boarded and took off a few minutes later.

Can I just interject here my *love* of airport security and metal detectors? Because of my hurried departure from the house this morning, I got dressed without really thinking. I made sure I knew last night what I was going to wear and had it out and ready, but for some reason I forgot about which bra I should wear. You may be asking yourself, why does it matter which bra you wear when you travel. Well, in my case, it makes a lot of difference. I buy my bras from Omar the Tent Maker because he carries my size (none of your business!! LOL) and uses plenty of rebar, I mean underwire, to keep the twins somewhat stationary. This steel reinforcement affords me a great amount of stability, but sets off metal detectors. I’ve grown accustomed to having my boobs patted down by a TSA worker.

The flight so far as been uneventful. Each seat has a TV you can pay to watch and I was willing to shell out the money, but the card swipe wasn’t working. Guess it worked out anyway, I wasn’t really all that excited about the selection of movies. The previews showed Prince Caspian and I was all set to watch that, but it wound up not being available.

The guy sitting next to me is very nice. Talkative, but not overly so and he shared his breakfast with me! :)

---------------------------

I'm at the Denver airport waiting on my connecting flight into Rapid City. I bumped into Kathie at the arrival/departure monitors. We're both exhausted from the early flights. Both of us can't wait to get to the KOA and nap!! At this point, I don't care if the rest of the day is spent sleeping!! Hello!, this is vacation after all!

No pics yet. The Denver airport looks much like any other airport. I thought I would try getting a pic of the mountains, but much to my surprise, they are pretty far off in the distance and shrouded in haze.

One funny note: The airplane had individual little TVs that displayed a map of the US, current speed and altitude. As we descended into Denver I was watching our speed and alt, but couldn't see much out the window. All of a sudden at 5336ft the airplane touched down. For almost a minute I thought the map/altitude thing was broke. Um hello, we touched down, we should be at 0 elevation.

Yeah, took me a second to realize Denver isn't called the mile high city for no reason.

Yes, go ahead, laugh at me! I come from a particularly flat part of the world!!

Edouard from the 11th Floor

2008-08-05T15:08:00.008-05:00

These were taken from my office windows around lunchtime today.

It's been *breezy* all day with quite a bit of, as Forrest Gump would call it, sideways rain.

Honestly, I was expecting a lot more drama. I haven't seen one bolt of lightening or heard one crash of thunder all day long! Ummmm, where did the storm part of this Tropical Storm go???

Oh well, at least we're getting some much needed rain.