Vote For Pedro

Artsy Fartsy

2008-01-17T12:10:00.001-06:00

We had arts and crafts time at our house last weekend. A certain coffee shop where a certain someone works was going to throw out a table so we "helped" by throwing it away to our apartment. The pieces have been sitting in our living room for a couple of weeks now so we finally made it pretty and put it all together.

The four shelves were the four legs of the table and the back was the table top. We covered it in coffee stickers and used the table's original hardware to put everything in it's place. The one with the back is in our living room over the desk and the shelves that are backless are in our kitchen. You should come see it- it looks wicked awesome!

Any chance you all will quit giving me a hard time?

2008-01-04T12:46:00.000-06:00

I didn't think so.

We moved back to Portland... but you knew that.
I have a new job... but you knew that.
We are working with a church plant... but you knew that.

Aren't you glad we had this little chat?

It has only been...

2006-09-16T11:42:00.000-05:00

... Almost 2 months. It hasn't been THAT long. Okay, maybe it has been a long time. I have missed my friends out here in the wild wild web.

Quick update- I have a job that I am still getting used to. We are still unpacking from the move. And I have to carpool to work with a smoker *cough* *cough*.

A month or so ago James and I went out to California to visit family. We were going to see my mom, brothers, grandma and some friends. While we were in the airport on the way there, I talked with my mom and found out that my aunt had a heart attack. During our layover we found out that she had died. So it was the best timing and the worst timing. We switched around the days that we were doing things and going places so that we would be in the right place at the time of the funeral. That was a weird week. It was our vacation, so we wanted to have fun but at the same time, I felt guilty about having fun while my mom was helping to plan a funeral and dealing with family drama.

We did end up going down to San Diego to see friends and had a much needed walk on the beach (it had been WAY too long since I had seen the ocean!). We went to the San Diego Zoo wich was awesome- I highly recommend it! We also went to Bakersfield, which I do not recommend quite so highly unless you just love the sight (and smell) of oil fields.

We only briefly got to see two of my brothers and one sweet little girl (our neice Reagan).

Last weekend my friend, Kristen and I went out to Abilene TX. for a dedication of my uncle's statue. Not a statue of my uncle but a statue that he has been working on for 5 years now. It is huge and it is gorgeous! You can see what it has taken to create by goinghere.

Now I need to do some of that unpacking that I was talking about. Don't expect me to be on here everyday like I was when I had the crappy job where I surfed all day but hopefully, I'll be slightly more consistent. We'll see.

Hooray for No Job!!!

2006-07-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

I wrote this right after it happened (July 25th- I think).

As some or all of you might know or have figured out, I have hated my job as an apartment manager for quite some time now. Well, now I don't have to do it anymore. I was fired.

This is the first time I have ever been fired. It really bothered me for the first day (Thursday) but then once I let it sink in that I don't have to do this crappy job anymore, I don't have to screen the calls at my house, I don't have to be afraid to see my neighbors, I don't have to live next to a gas station and loud music and I don't have to put up with the morons that live in these apartments anymore, I though: You know, this might actually be really good. I have been in such a good mood since then.

Today I have an interview and I have my resume out to several other places and I expect to hear from them in the next day or so. Since we are only going to be here for one more year, I am looking for something to get us through. All I want is a job with a much better enviornment and to work with people that are half-way intelligent. I don't think that is too much to ask.

Update:

I now have a job. I verify worker's comp claims. Exciting- I know!

The great thing about this job is that I work with nice people and it isn't stressful.

We have also moved into the apartments that are on the Harding Grad campus. It is great to want to talk to my neighbors and to not be afraid that they might try to jump me! We don't really have much internet connection at the new place but we will soon.

That is why I we have been gone and what we are doing now. Sorry that I have been out without any explanation. I'm going to try to get caught up some this next week.

Good to be back!

Smart = Not Racist

2006-07-14T11:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was talking with one of the few non-racist people that I've met here in Memphis. I have had a lot of people say to me "I'm not racist or anything BUT there sure are a lot of Blacks/Mexicans around here and that is really bringing down the neighborhood". Just because you put the disclaimer at the begining does not prove that you are not a bastard. It is like saying, "Well, bless her heart- she is just as dumb as a doorknob".

Back to my point- Racism is stupid- literally!

It was our anniversary Wednesday and we went out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner. If you are unfamiliar with the place it is probably because they are quite pricey (this was the first time I had ever gone). It was there that I noticed that a large majority of the people were wearing expensive clothing. The men were in nice suits and the women had real Louis Vuitton bags- not the knock offs you can get at the mall. It is safe to say that most of them had money and that probably came from have good jobs and that came from being well educated.

It was then that I also noticed that there were more multi-race tables at that restaurant then I have seen anywhere else in Memphis. It is sad but true.

My conclusion is this; People with an education know that being predjudice against someone becasue of their race makes no sense.

The person that I was talking to (remember, from the beginning of the post) said that he is friends with people of all races and I know it is true because I see him hanging out with all types of people. I was telling him that I like or dislike people based on their character. There are people of all colors that are wicked cool and people of just as many colors that are jerks.

I think I have told a story before about how I think racism is dumb.

You must understand that I am not saying that we are all the same, because we are not. I just think that differences like this shouldn't be seperating us. Carlos Mencia does a much better (and funnier) job explaining what I mean. Check it out.

Man, that was not fluid at all but you get the point.

Do You Love What You Do?

2006-07-12T14:04:00.000-05:00

How many of you have a job that you absolutely love? Do you like your job? Do you tolerate your job? Do you hate your job?

If you have a job that you love- how did you find it? How did you know that this would be the perfect place for you. Did it come to you in a vision? Did you play policeman, construction worker or indian as a little kid?

If you hate your job- why do you do it? Is the money just that good? Is it a family business that you have to be in or your family will disown you?

Do you think that if everyone did what they loved to do, anything would ever get done? Is it possible for us to all have "dream jobs"? If all of us do what we love, will there be anyone to pick up our garbage? I'm sure some people love being garbagemen but do enough people love it?

I want to do something that I love. I just wish I knew what that would be!

Are you excited?

2006-06-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

High Five

I thought this was kind of fun (Don't worry there is something for those of you that are lefties and those of you that have had industrial accidents).

What do you say?

2006-06-28T11:43:00.000-05:00

I know I don't usually talk about things that matter on my blog so I thought I would give it a try, you know, just to do something different.

Today I sent out a sympathy card to a high school boyfriend because I just found out that his mother past away. While looking through the card selection at Walgreens, I had a hard time finding a card that didn't mention God or have a scripture quote. The reason I was looking for one is because I know that he is not just non-christian but anti-christian. I didn't want to seem like I was exploiting the opportunity to mention prayer and God because that certainly was not my intention. Even after all of that looking, in the card I wrote that we are praying for him and his family (just because he doesn't believe that it will do anything doesn't mean we aren't praying).

It is hard enough to find something comforting to say to someone that has hope of seeing loved ones again in Heaven but what do you say to someone with no hope? I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through my father's death (and I am still going through it) without that hope and comfort from God.

The card has already been sent but I want to know if any of you have gone through anything like this. Have you ever had to congratulate or console someone that doesn't believe and if so, what did you say? I felt like mine sounded so lame.

What do I Really Want?

2006-06-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

Can you see it? Focus your eyes as if you are looking at something far away and stare at it. If you need to, click on the picture and you can see it bigger then cross your eyes until they hurt.

My Butt Hurts

2006-06-15T10:42:00.000-05:00

ANDREA

+
Roller skates

=

I have to sit on a pillow.

It was our friend's birthday last week and she thought it would be fun to have all of us dress up in our best 80s styles and go roller skating. It sounded like fun at the time.

I remembered clinging to the sides of the rink when I was a child at the Golden Skate for birthday parties and I remembered that I had fallen a few times. The part that I didn't put together before going this last weekend is that when you are young, you are smaller, you are closer to the ground and you weigh nothing. Things have changed- oh how they have changed.

I was on my second lap around the rink and of course I have been gripping the side the whole time but you know how they have those openings for people to come on and off the floor? Yeah- the areas with no place to grip- that is where I fell and I fell hard. I had to sort of scoot myself off the floor so as not to be run over by the little kids (or the big kids). From there on out my sweet husband and I played Skee ball and that police shooter game and watched people go flying by painlessly.

You could say I had fun. You could not say that I had a painless night but you could say I had a fun night.

No Freakin' Way!

2006-06-15T10:24:00.000-05:00

This HAS to be a joke!
Genpets

I Feel Sick

2006-06-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

I know I have been gone for a while. Please forgive me.

Why do jobs have to suck so much? Right now I feel like crap. My job does not require that I stay busy all day. Mostly, I need to be available to answer the phones and show the apartments, order some supplies and schedule people to come and fix what needs fixing.

But then- Then everything happens at once. All of the sudden, I am forced to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. I have been doing my job the way "they" told me to and using what little resources I have been provided to get the job done. Now "they" are all pissed faced because things are not exactly the way "they" want it. "They" need to either give me more resources to get things done or be happy with the way things are.

The pressure is so bad right now that I feel physically ill. I am waiting for "them" to come and judge. In the mean time, I am rushing around trying to pull in those resources so that they can rush around before "they" get here.

Oh yeah- the dog. That is how I feel right now- like the ugly dog.

Concepts

2006-05-04T11:44:00.000-05:00

Origami Cell phone

Toast

Milk

These are concept ideas and part of what I like about them are the descriptions; like when it says "some day this application may be possible" but not now.

Fun With Office Supplies

2006-04-20T14:37:00.000-05:00

Is it art?
Is it functional?

Who knows- could be both.

Or could be boredom.

I do recommend making the chain of binder clips. I think that it is a lot like what I imagine a spine to be like. Try it! It'll be fun! Better yet, make your own office art and put it up on your blog. We'll start a whole "thing".

No Links

2006-04-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

So I couldn't get rid of the (naughty) links around the videos clips but I was able to remove this picture from the links.

Things That I Found

2006-04-12T14:37:00.000-05:00

Instead of wasting my time surfing blogs, I have been watching ridiculous videos. So here they are:

Hot Dogs for Homophobes
White Man Can Jump
Robot Dancer
Pimpstar Rims
The Yes Job

Waste some additional time.

He's Home!

2006-03-29T10:12:00.000-06:00

Do you like how I have been keeping a play-by-play?

James finally came home last night but that was only after his flight was delayed. I was originally supposed to pick him up at 10:30pm and be home by 12:30am and asleep by 1:00am. That would have left me tired but it would have been manageable. As my dad used to say "You are young and on your first set of legs". It turned out that I could not pick him up until almost 1:00am and didn't get home until just after 3:00am. I am not that young.

I am one tired monkey!

He is Coming Home!

2006-03-28T07:38:00.000-06:00

You know how I said I was so lonely without James? It was true and still is. But tonight he is coming home. Hooray! I am excited about seeing him- I am not so excited about the 2 hour drive to Little Rock Arkansas to go get him. He had to fly in and out of there because it was $800 dollars cheaper. The Memphis "International" Airport (it has the occassional flight to Canada or Mexico or something to make it technically international) doesn't have Southwest. Do you know why? Because Memphis is such a stupid city that they figure that a good way to bring money into the city is by having a ridiculously high airport tax. That would force a great and inexpensive airline such as Southwest to no longer be great and inexpensive so the airline just refuse to come here. I don't blame Southwest but that sucks for the rest of us. And Memphis government wonders why they are short on money- it is because everyone goes to Little Rock or Nashville.

Well, I'm still excited that James is coming home.

A friend of mine does cake decorating as a hobby and went to a class on Sunday in some town about an hour from here. When she got back her husband was so excited. It was really cute and they were trying to get my sympathy which did not come because she had been gone for 12 hours and James had been gone (at that point) 5 days. After talking to them I found that in their nearly 10 years of marriage, they have never spent the night apart. The longest they had gone was a long work day that lasted about 18 hours. I don't really know what to think about that. It is cute and they are sweet but I wonder. If their intention is to never spend a night apart, that means that he can never go on an all men's retreat and she can never go spend a weekend at the spa with girlfriends. Am I a bad person for enjoying some time away from my husband? It sounds so bad.

So Lonely

2006-03-24T10:26:00.000-06:00

I am so lonely with my husband gone.

My friends have been great and come to my rescue. In fact, I hardly have a moment to sit down (figuratively- I mostly sit all day at work). I had to google map my day for tomorrow and it added up to 52 miles I have to drive. 52! I'm not sure I can afford to have friends- the gas is too expensive.

Happy Mother's Day...Eventually

2006-03-17T11:13:00.000-06:00

I bet you never knew how much Mr.T cared. The very end is the best (and by "best" I mean, the weirdest) part.
"Treat Her Right"

Myspace is not for me

2006-02-23T13:45:00.000-06:00

If you were to go to my myspace you would see that I link back to my blog here because as you all know, I am bad enough at keeping up with this blog. There is nothing that makes me think that I would be able to stay on top of two blogs!

Part of why I keep this one and don't just switch over to the other is more than just the momentum I have here. The real reason is because apparently, I am not part of their demographic. Of course I mean no offense to any of you that are out there (I am on there too)! But I don't have 3 dozen pictures of me and all my friends flipping of the camera, standing around a table of half empty liquor bottles while provocatively pushing my boobs out! And it seems that this is some sort of prerequisite that I simply do not meet.

James Isn't The Only One

2006-02-20T11:02:00.000-06:00

I can find things online too!

Come one come all! You may be shocked and amazed. Gentlemen, you may want to shield the eyes of the women and children. Are brave enough to view the sandwich of the future? Tomorrow's advances are here today! Come and see!

50% off!

2006-02-16T13:42:00.000-06:00

I love the post Valentine's sales! I get my Whitman sampler for half price.

What I don't like is when I decide that I am just going to have one piece right now and the one that I grab is- coconut- blek! But I already told myself I was only going to have one piece. Sad.

I'll be PC, if that is OK with you

2006-02-14T10:45:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, a friend of mine apologized for a comment made that he later realized may have offended me. It didn't, in fact when he said it, I thought nothing of except that it was his opinion.

When he apologized he wanted to make sure that I knew that it wasn't that he didn't like what he said he didn't like but that he liked something else better. That is fine but it got me thinking... are we so PC that we change our opinions because it may offend someone? I'm not saying that this is what he did but that it got me thinking about this idea.

There is a difference between tactfully expressing our opinions and being dishonest about them. I don't like radishes. I am not going to tell a radish farmer that I like them just because that is what he does. I hope that I would be tactful and not go on and on about how disgusting I think radishes are and how only people with no tastebuds or no brain eat radishes.

Do you know what I mean? Have you ever done anything like that?

Children are the Future

2006-01-31T11:03:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of things to consider when discussing the planning for children. There is, of course, when to have them, how many to have and boys or girls (not that I have a lot of control over that). But recently we found that there is one more option- whether to have them now, later or... NEVER! For a long time that never even crossed my mind. I assumed that we would get married and have babies because that is just what people do.

We have become friends with a couple that have made the decision to not have children. I don't think that it is for everyone but if anyone is going to not have kids, I think they are suited for it. Being friends with them and talking about their decision is what brought that option to light for us.

Oh and just so that I don't end up in trouble here- I do NOT mean any of this to be offensive to those with kids or without them. I can most definitely understand both sides of the argument. And Blah Blah Blah!

James is in school right now and we don't have great jobs nor do we have a home so the point is pretty well moot for the time being. What we have decided is that we are not deciding yet. Who knows, we may get to Portland, have an awesome house, lots of money and say "I want a baby!". But right now my biological clock is not ticking at all.

Hair today...Gone tomorrow (or last Saturday)

2006-01-17T09:57:00.000-06:00

Those of you that know me have probably become familiar me looking like this.

Now after a little bit of this...

I look like this.

Yes, that is about 18 inches that were cut off (plus styling).

So, waddaya think?

Man- I Suck at Blogging

2006-01-12T14:49:00.000-06:00

I do not do magic although I have disappeared.

I wish I could catch you all up on my oh-so-exciting life but really, I have been doing a lot of the same things. I guess I have done somethings since the last time I posted which does not mean that it was recent.

For Christmas, James and I flew out to Washington to visit with family. We got to see parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles (am I the only one that finds it odd that there is not one word that encompasses the aunt and uncle pair?) and of course the beautiful new niece and the blur of a nephew. There was food, visiting, food, looking at Christmas lights and then more food! It was great and as usual, too short. Eventually they made us come back to Memphis.

And here we are.

No Wonder Germans are weird!

2005-12-06T09:48:00.000-06:00

There is a German book about where babies come from and it freaked me out a little. Now, I have never had a baby but still, I don't think that babies come out exactly the way that it is shown in the book.

http://www.planetdan.net/pics/babies/index.htm

Be sure to look through to the very last page.

A Sewer & A Racial Slur

2005-11-16T14:16:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, I am an apartment manager. Last week we were having trouble with the sewer line that is connected to the building I live in, along with the two next to it. I called out the man from the sewer maintenance company and he was a sewer man so already you know that life was not ideal for him.

He was not one to voluntarily say any more words than absolutely necessary. There was no "Hi, how are you doing?" mostly it was, "Where is the problem?". I told him which buildings were having trouble and he began to walk away without saying whether he understood what I said or even acknowledge that I had said anything.

After looking around for a bit he banged on my back door (the one that has a sign reading "Please use the front door. Thank you."). He asked me if the people were home in the building next to me. I looked and saw that their lights were all out and commented, "Well, since all of their lights are out, they are probably not home. Did you knock?" and guess what!? He hadn't knocked. I informed him that he has a much better chance of finding out if someone is home by knocking. He needed to plug something in and for some reason didn't think that the electricity from my apartment was going to be good enough for him so he wanted into the other place.

Finally he opened the line and came back to tell me he was done and retrieve the rest of his extension cord from my place. He told me that there was a leak in the line and roots from a tree had found it. He also told me that there were a bunch of tampons that were blocking the line. By the way, I REALLY don't want to know how sewer guys find out what was blocking the line. In regard to the tampons he said, and I quote "Well you know these panchos- they'll flush anything". Can you believe that he actually said "panchos"!?! I then made some comment about how it doesn't matter what race they are, no one should be flushing anything except toilet paper and human waste. He looked at me and asked, "Why? You're not Mexican are you?" to which I responded, "Yes as a matter of fact, I am". Which, for those of you that don't know, is (mostly) true. My grandmother was Mexican.

He was quick to stop talking to me and quick to leave after that.

I've been called a lot of things but this was a first. Does it still count even though he didn't know at the time that I am Mexican?

Gold Caps and Missing Digits

2005-09-30T10:46:00.000-05:00

For the last few days, I have been trying to figure out why it is that I have seen more gold capped teeth and missing digits in the last year than I had seen in my entire life prior. So far, all I have come up with is that I live in the dirty south.

But what is it about the south that makes it prone toward the capping of teeth in gold? What is that makes living here so dangerous for fingers?

If I were a much more brave (or stupid) person, I would simply walk up and ask them what happened that caused them to lose a finger or ask what hit you in the head to make you stupid enough to cover your teeth in gold? But I am not that brave or that stupid. So guess the mystery will go unsolved.

Busy Doing Nothing

2005-09-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one that feels busy but like nothing is really being accomplished? The way I am built is this: I want to do something once and have it be done. That is not the way things work- at all! Everything always needs a refill, maintenance and updates. I hate that.

There are lots of plates spinning but none of them are going anywhere.

I know that I have been busy. We have wanted to be involved in a fellowship group at church but every time that they call us, we can't meet on the night that they want to because we are already filled up. The nights when I don't have something planned, the house needs to be cleaned. That is one of those things that I wish that I could do once and never have to clean again!

My job is such that I am constantly doing the same things and re-doing those things. It drives me nuts! Especially because I derive no joy from this job, I don't work with cool people and it doesn't pay big bucks so that I can at least do cool things on the weekends.

At least we stay busy and not bored. Quite a few of the things that keep us busy are enjoyable, I suppose. We have spent a lot of time with friends lately and that makes me very happy!

I guess I don't really have a point or a question for you. Thanks for reading.

Seven- I win!

2005-09-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

Tabs tagged

7 Things I plan to do before I die
1. Travel to every continent (except Antarctica- I don't so much care about that one)
2. Have a beautiful and welcoming home (with a pool).
3. Fall more in love with my husband.
4. Move out of Memphis to some place cool (like Portland!)
5. Work hard enough to make Mary Kay my full-time job.
6. Grow to feel confident in my spiritual walk.
7. Become comfortable in my own skin (this is where the pool comes in handy).

7 Things I can do
1. Roll my tongue.
2. Use my energy to help with the relief for Katrina refugees.
3. Accessorize.
4. Empathize (blessing and curse)
5. Sing (not as well as Breanna but really, who can?)
6. Come up with organizational systems.
7. Talk openly about sex.

7 Things I cannot do
1. Cook
2. Sculpt
3. Move like Shakira (Man do I want to!!)
4. Wait to get back to the West Coast
5. Create in myself self-control
6. Fix electronics
7. Remember anything.

7 Things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. Velocity- the cologne my husband wears (Yummy)
2. Being so S-M-R-T ... I mean S-M-A-R-T
3. Flattering hair cut.
4. Lots of laughter.
5. Tenderness.
6. Politeness.
7. Walk with God.

7 Things that I say most often
1. "James- I broke it!"
2. "I love you"
3. "Memphis sucks"
4. "Good girl Rizzo"
5. "Thank you for calling Cherry Garden. This is Andrea, how may I help you?"
6. "We don't have any money"
7. "Thank you" (at least I hope I say that often)

7 Celebrity crushes
1. George Clooney- Ocean's Eleven handsome guy look
2. Brad Pitt- When he is cleaned up he is so dreamy!
3. Angelina Jolie - I want to be her when I grow up
4. Katherine Zeta Jones - Can I also be her when I grow up?
5. John Cusack - Left over high school crush
6. Ewan McGregor - I love him singing in Moulin Rouge!
7. Chandler Bing- The character

And Here We Go...

2005-08-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

For reals and trulies- I painstakingly finished this whole thing but then it told me to log in and I lost it ALL! All but the first memory! I nearly cried.
Instead of spending another 2 days rewriting the whole thing, I have picked out those that I actually wanted to answer. And here they are:

First Memory:
I remember a couple of things and I don't know which came first. I distinctly remember the layout of the house we lived in when I was 4 yrs old. There was Honeysuckle that grew outside our sliding glass door and one of my brothers taught me how to take the back off of it and suck the "honey" out. I also remember being in our pool (in one of those floater things) and there was a dead bee in the water. Not knowing that it was there, I came up and the thing stung me on my shoulder. My brothers told me to pack mud on it and I thought they were just trying to get me dirty (I was wise to their ways early on)- turns out they were right.

First Kiss:
His name is Steve Worthy and we grew up going to church together. I am quite certain that he did not know nor does he now know that he was my first kiss. I believe it was the summer after my 6th grade year. It was in the hallway in the church building during some youth event. As I mentioned, we were in junior high which of course means that as everything is at that time, it was awkward.
He was a cool kid and still is a great guy. We stayed friends all the way through high school and lost touch after leaving for college.

First Love:
Singing.
That probably isn't what you were asking, is it?
The first boy I said that to is Timmy McKee. He was my first actual boyfriend. I didn't really say it to him until after we broke up. He was one awesome kid!

First Book You Remember Loving:
I'm sure my husband will tell you that I don't do a lot of reading. Not because I can't but because I like real things better than pages of someone telling me about things.
The first time that I loved a book was "Like Water for Chocolate". I was kind of surprised that I liked it because it is a little mushy romantic. But it also has recipes- how can that be bad?

First Pet:
I know that you will all make fun of me mercilessly but it was a toy poodle. Not the kind that is stuffed and thrown on the bed, just a tiny real poodle. She had red hair so we named her Lucy after Lucille Ball. She was mean and cranky. Later, I got a little boy poodle to mate with her so of course his name was Ricky and he was the coolest dog! You can ask James and Tim.

First Place You Think of When You Hear the Word "Vacation":
Lake Shasta. Up until last year my family went on vacation every summer to Lake Shasta. We rented houseboats and went out with several other familes. A couple of them had ski boats and we could do just about anything we wanted and all I wanted was to be in the water.

Last Time You Dressed Up:
Just this last Saturday night. We received tickets to a benefit reception and Steven Curtis Chapman concert. It was for AGAPE which is an organization that works to help put and keep together familes. In addition, they work with adopting families and foster care.
They really know how to make people want to run right out and adopt all the babies!

Last Time You Cried:
It is embarassing! There is a commercial for Chase credit card where a bride is getting ready for her wedding and the dad is watching her. Everything she does reminds him of some time when she was little.
I didn't sob or anything but I did leak a little.

Last Thing You Watched on TV?
Gilmore Girls. Friends of mine have gotten me totally addicted! I am currently trying to catch up to this season.

Last Concert Attended:
The previously mentioned Steven Curtis Chapman. I am not usually a big fan of most Christian music but I enjoyed the concert a lot more than I thought I would.

That is it- that is all you get. If there is a question that you have been burning to know and I have omitted, please just ask individually. For right now, I'm tired.

2005-08-23T10:53:00.000-05:00

Maybe I have been gone for awhile but please, don't think that I havn't been thinking about all of you. I have missed you all tremendously!

Most of you have probably read on my husband's blog and read that we were gone on vacation. We are back now and trying to catch up on everything.

In California we went out to hear music in the park. There was a Steely Dan cover band. It was so nice out. It was great to be outside in the evening without humidity and without bugs!

Monday we drove down to Monterey. We had breakfast and dinner at The Plaza Hotel (very shwanky) and looked through an art gallery and did some wine tasting. It was beautiful and a lot of fun. Tuesday we went into San Francisco to the Golden Gate Park and the Conservatory of Flowers.

Wednesday we came through Portland and saw family in the morning and got to have lunch with friends (some of you bloggers were there) and then we jumped on the train to get up to Tacoma, Washington.

We spent time with James' family up in Washington. We went to a place called Point Defiance and it was gorgeous. I didn't know that there was such a pretty place in Tacoma.

Over all it was exhausting but so much fun. I still have not recovered from all the traveling. It did make me more home sick and more anxious to move back to Portland.

I actually won something!

2005-07-29T14:37:00.000-05:00

In reality, James won me something. James has been entering us in the contest on Papa John's website trying to win a new Ford Mustang. Before getting too excited, I will let you know that I did not win the car. There is still much excitement- I get 50 free downloads on Musicmatch.

Here is the dilemma- I love music and when I hear things on the radio that are good, I think "I would like to have that song". When I get onto Musicmatch to find music- I can't think of anything! I think about CDs that I already have or things that I like but I know that there is other music that I like better out there.

What is a girl to do!?!

The correct answer is ask her blogger friends. What recommendations do you all have for what I should download? I don't like country and I hear enough "dirty south"/"gangsta" rap from the cars blaring it from the gas station across the street from us. Other than that, I am pretty open.

Thanks!

My office in a closet

2005-07-20T08:57:00.000-05:00

I promise, I didn't disappear. My office has been uninhabitable. As some of you know, I am an apartment manager at a small complex. So small infact, the office is my apartment.

So, the other day I noticed that there was a funk coming out of the room but we thought maybe it was just lack of air circulating through there so I turned on the window air conditioner- that had almost no affect on the smell which became rank! Then I noticed that the carpet was getting wet and there was moisture under that plastic thing you put on the carpet so that your desk chair can roll, you know? Then my whole office smelled like amonia- trust me, that is NOT good.

We had to have the carpet people come and pull up the carpet and tear out the padding under there and have it dry out over a weekend and that meant that all of the furniture that we could carry had to be out of the office which included a desk and my chair. So I have been running my office out of a closet for over a week now. The carpet guys came back to put in new padding and spray it so that we can breath in our house again.

I missed you all so much. Go visit my husband's blog to hear about the awesome anniversary gift he had made for me!!

Weekend of Fireworks

2005-07-05T08:49:00.000-05:00

I assume that all of you had a fun and safe 4th of July. I hope that there are no missing body parts or permanent ringing in ears. But if there are, please tell me all about it!

Did other cities (your city) do what Memphis did and have fireworks every weekend night? There were fireworks here on Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday night. If it were only up to me, we would have gone to every show we could fit in but it is not just up to me so instead we went to the best one (Saturday night).

On the actual 4th there was this big storm that came through. We went outside and watched as lightening lit up the sky, thunder rumbled, it rained really hard and the wind blew. God said "I'll show you REAL fireworks". Then we went out to our car and found that it was flooded inside. I had to take a cup and scoop out the water. The car is mostly dry now but it stinks like you wouldn't believe!!!

Memphianisms

2005-06-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

We moved from Portland Orgeon to Memphis Tennessee (we intend to move back) and we have had to make more than a few adjustments. We have had to learn that people here have no clue how to drive, there is no such thing as customer service and not the least of which is that we have had to learn a new language, ebonics.

In our daily interactions with strangers we have listened for our favorite ebonic sayings. Last week we went to the fast food place, Wendy's. We have learned not to expect customer service and of course, did not receive it. There was a man in the line ahead of us. He had already ordered his food and was waiting for it. One of the "to go" bags was sitting in front of him but none of the employees had said who the food was for or even just what was inside. The man wanted to know if that food belonged to him so he asked the woman behind the counter. She obviously didn't know what was in the bag, so she turned to one of her colleagues and asked (here is the Memphianism) "What dis is?". Yes, that was a question, "What dis is?"

It almost made my ears bleed. There are so many things wrong with that! What is amazing to me is that two ebonics speakers can hold a conversation. If both of them are speaking jibberish- how can anything be communicated, much less accomplished!?!?

I was telling a friend about our new favorite saying and she told us about a time in Costco when the woman in front of her had been rung up and the total came out to $115. The woman actually said the following; "Eleventy-five dolla. Good Lord, that is a lot uh money!"

It's not like I was an English major or that I always speak properly and I occassionally say "fur" instead of "for", but at least I try. Besides, last time I checked, the language of this country is English, this shouldn't be that foreign to most people.

Am I being too judgemental? Because, I really don't think that it is too much to expect that people make attempts to speak their own language in a way that is some what comprehensable.

A Fatherless Father's Day

2005-06-20T15:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was not a good day for me. It was my first father's day without my father.

I wasn't even thinking about it until we got into church and they were doing a presentation honoring fathers. It was very sweet and all of these fathers deserved recognition- I don't want to take away from that. I had a hard time (I cried and cried) and that is not their fault.

Those of you that are close enough to your father (geographically), I hope you gave him a big hug. Those of you not close to your father, I hope you sent a card and called. If you didn't- do it now! No matter what has happened, he is your father and nothing will change that so please, love him and know him.

I miss my dad. He was one of the best people I have ever known. If you met him, he is one of the best people you have ever known (just trust me on this).

One of my brothers just called and the verdict has come back on the man that ran into my dad and killed him. They are going down to the courthouse now to find out. PLEASE pray for me and my family. I should know within about an hour.

Father's Day

2005-06-16T14:31:00.000-05:00

No joke- On our way home from church last night I saw a billboard. It had a picture of a happy father lifting his little girl up in the air and they were laughing and having fun. WWWEEEEE!!!!!!!

What the billboard said is completely different! This is a direct quote "Mark this father's day with your yearly prostate exam" and the little girl was supposedly saying "Get your check, Daddy".

I don't know about any of the rest of you but I NEVER would have told my dad to go get a prostate exam. And I certainly wouldn't be that excited about it. This is not something that directly affects me so, I have not had such an exam but I can imagine that it is not pleasant. Because of that, I would think that most men would not want to celebrate a happy day that honors them with something so uncomfortable.

Weird.

Ear Candles

2005-06-13T14:48:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I was at the Thomases' house and they had people staying with them. Those people are Dorn and his sister Melanie (very cool people). Melanie had gone to Wild Oats and purchased these things called "ear candles". I had never heard of such a thing. Kristen and Dorn were willing to try these things- I think I will wait until I am in the privacy of my own home thanks.

Here is what you do:
step 1- put the little end of this hollow gausey thing in your ear
step 2- light the other end on fire
step 3- wait
step 4- have someone else make sure that the ashes don't fall on you by cutting them off
step 5- keep waiting
step 6- pull candle thing out of ear and place burning end into water to put it out
step 7- unroll what is left of the candle thing
step 8- be totally grossed out by what came out of your ear
step 9- show everyone
step 10- compare the amount of nasty wax that came out of your ears to the amount that came out of everyone else's ears.

If you thought that Q-tips did anything- You thought wrong!

2005-06-08T10:15:00.000-05:00

Rizzo

Being "Altered"

2005-06-08T09:59:00.000-05:00

Our dog, Rizzo is going in to be "altered" today. I am excited because now she can go to the dog park and we don't have to be afraid of little baby Rizzos.

I also feel like a mean person because before going in for major surgery, she couldn't eat. Last night we played with her but had to put her to bed without her evening tricks and snacks. Then this morning we got her up and put her in the car without letting her go past her dish so that she wouldn't realize that she wasn't being fed. I'm still not sure that it worked.

You know how it is common for dogs to get excited and when they are excited, they pee on the floor? Well, luckily for us our dog doesn't do that. Instead she poops- right there, wherever that might be. So, when we walked in the door to the vet's this morning, she got excited because of the other dog that was there and proceeded to poop on the floor. The lady at the office was really nice about it (I'm sure that this is not the first time that they have had poop in their office) but then I end up being the lady with the office pooping dog. Lucky me.

I'm sure she will be fine but, pray for my dog. Thanks.

I know you were worried

2005-06-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

I know that all of you were on pins and needles wanting to know how poor Snickers (the dog) has been. She is doing much better.

She went to the vet and had her staples removed. They figured that since she was there they would have her shots updated as well so that they would only have to pay for one doctor's visit. Needless to say when they brought her over right after leaving the vet's, she was grumpy! I don't blame her. She had one metal taken out of her only to have different metal put into her. Ouch!

She tries to run but it is this quick little gimpy limp (I wish I could show you a video clip- it is kinda cute in that "aww, poor thing" kind of way). That certainly does not stop her from getting around. But now you can all sleep soundly knowing that Snickers is going to be just fine.

We Are Bad Dog Sitters!

2005-05-23T09:38:00.000-05:00

Snickers after being hit by a car.

We were watching our friends' dog while they were gone working and visiting family in Florida. Her name is Snickers and she is awesome. She taught our dog, Rizzo how to play and now our dog knows that she is allowed to do something when she sees Snickers do it. The two are very cute together.

The day after she was dropped off to stay with us, we took her, our dog and an other dog we were watching out to the house of a family from church. This family has 25 acres, horses, peacocks and chickens. It is great! We thought that this would be perfect for the two dogs to have a chance to go run around and play. I was mostly nervous that they would spook the horses but we were assured that the only horse that didn't like dogs had been put away in the back barn. So we rode horses and let the dogs run around. Every 5-10 minutes we would call them back in to make sure they didn't get too far and get lost.

It was about time for them to come back again so I called to them a few times and our dog came bounding over the hill to me but there was no Snickers so I told Rizzo to go get her but she didn't do anything. I kept yelling to her, heard something from the street and kept yelling. Well, a neighbor from over the hill and through the forrest yelled "Are you looking for your dog?" I yelled back "Yes" and she had to tell me "She has just been hit by a car". Apparently I had heard the squeal of the tires of the person that hit her. They tried not to hit her but when they did, they drove off.

I went into a sprint out to the road to find our friends' dog on her side, not moving. I thought for sure that she was dead so I was so happy to see her try to hobble up when I said her name. James got the car and luckily we had a friend there that works at vets office and knew of an emergency vet open on the weekends. It felt like it toook forever to get there.

I thought for sure that she had broken her leg and had a cracked rib and possibly internal bleeding or something. They took her and looked at her and found out that none of those things were true. She got a few staples in her face under her eye as you can see in the picture and one in her shoulder.

Poor James was forced to call our friends to let them know what happened and they were really nice about it. We treated their dog the same way we treated our own and probably the same way they would have. I thought that they would hate us forever and I wouldn't have blamed them if they did.

I am just so happy that they don't hate us! And that Snickers is going to be fine.

Star Wars

2005-05-19T11:05:00.000-05:00

So, we went to see Episode III last night/this morning. It started at 12:10am, that means I wasn't in bed until 3:15 this morning. I am one tired little kid!

It was an awesome movie though! I won't tell you too much about it because I know that all of you are going to go see it tonight during a decent hour, right? I will tell you about the most intense light-saber fight I have ever seen. We all sat in wonder as we saw the duel begin. The two advosaries came toward each other with sabers out and right from the beginning there was a blow to the side, but the fight continued. After much fancy foot work and a cartwheel, there were injuries on both sides. At last the saber was knocked from the hands of our hero but his equal could not finish him off, offered a hand up only to receive a light saber to the belly!

I can't keep it to myself, our hero's name is "Guy that showed up in a Jedi costume" and his enemy was the "Kid in T-shirt and jeans with puffy hair". With two nerds, so unaware of reality, a duel was inevitable. I laughed, I cried, I cheered- it was a sight to be seen.

It was beautifully choreographed and one could tell that the two had been working at their craft and both were masters of their art. It can only be assumed that they learned from the greatest- Master "Star Wars Kid".

The Barbeque Contest

2005-05-16T10:50:00.000-05:00

The terrible city that I live in has something called Memphis in May. It is supposed to get people to come to Memphis from surrounding areas and spend money. It is a month long and there is something going on every weekend.

We went out on the first weekend to their Irish celebration and watched the jig dancers, saw Irish sheep dogs and saw these weird oversized puppet things (like the walking Mickey Mouse at Disneyland but creepier). That was great and inexpensive.

So this last weekend we thought we would continue to take part in the festivities. We wanted to get real barbeque. "What better place than the international Barbeque Contest Festival?", we thought. It took place over Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We didn't have time to go on the first two days so we went Saturday early evening. We parked about a mile away and walked down to the park where it was being held and paid our $14 to get in and it smelled like it was going to be SOOOO worth it!

We walked in to find all of these booths set up and they were in sections for ribs, pork, shoulder and so on. The strange thing was that at these booths, there weren't that many people eating. But we soon saw signs that said that in order to try the food, we had to be judges (they can't sell or give away food because the contestants are not inspected by the health inspector). So we followed the signs that pointed us toward the judging tent. We got there to find it empty and a sign that said that judging takes place from 3pm-6pm on Thursday and Friday.

So... it's over?

There is no Barbeque?

Surely, they wouldn't let us pay to get in to a barbeque festival that has no barbeque!

So, we kept walking thinking maybe they were hiding it from us. Finally we stopped and ask a nice man that had barbequed for the contest. He informed us that there is no barbeque to be had on Saturday. He also thought that it was ridiculous. He couldn't give us barbeque or he would be disqualified for the next year (that and he was all out) so instead he gave us a piece of fudge. It was nice of him but that did NOT change my feeling about the whole thing.

To say that I was mad is to say that I kinda like my husband (I am crazy in love with him). I left fuming!

How do you have a barbeque festival on a day where there is NO BARBEQUE!?!?!?!?!

Needless to say, we are currently in the process of finding out who needs a good shake and getting our money back for the barbeque festival that turned out to be not a festival and have no barbeque and you don't find out that there is no barbeque until you are in the barbeque festival. That is a scam!

Mary Kay

2005-05-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

As my profile mentions, I am a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. I need to grow my Mary Kay business and so I would like to request that you visit my website. This sounds like a girly thing, but I would like input from anyone that has online experience and that includes you guys out there.

You don't have to buy anything but I would like your input on how it looks, selection and navigatablility. And you guys that think that this is weird, you have wives, daughters, mothers, sisters and girl(-)friends and you never know what you might find!

Thanks!

Ya Mama's Pink Gator shoes!

2005-05-04T08:40:00.001-05:00

Ya Mama's Pink Gator Shoes

I'm not sure how to put more than one picture in a blog at a time (I know, I know- I'm an idiot, whatever). So there is this picture and the one of me with Amber in New Orleans is the next one down. This was a painting done by one of the street vendors and I thought it was hilarious and so I thought I would share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Nawlins' (New Orleans)

2005-05-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

Me and My friend, Amber in New Orleans

I went to New Orleans this weekend and got to visit my dear friend, Amber. I drove 6 hours on Saturday afternoon and we went out to the French Quarter that night. It was pretty much like I imagined it would be but it smelled worse.
We ate alligator bits and rabbit & sausage jambalaya. I do not recommend the alligator- too chewy! We went dancing and fun was had by all.
The next day we went down to the river (the Mississippi) and rode a steamboat down the river and learned a lot about the history of New Orleans. Unfortunately, my memory sucks so I don't remember most of the tid bits shared with us but I know that at the time I was interested. I do remember one thing and that is that there was a guy who was very important to the city back in the day- a mayor maybe anyway, he had four daughters and the city named four streets after his four daughters. Did I mention that my memory is horrible, because I don't remember the daughters' names except for the one that is important to the story and that is Desiree. Some time along the way through city corruption, her name was changed on the street sign and the last "e" was dropped. No one paid any attention until there was a little something with the title, "A Street Car Named Desire". I don't think it would have been so successful if it had been called "A Street Car Named Desiree".
After that we walked through the French Quarter and during the day it doesn't smell as bad and the number of drunks is seriously reduced. In fact, in some places is was quite nice.

I hate the train!

2005-04-25T11:36:00.000-05:00

Have you ever lived in a city where there is a train that runs right through the middle of it? If so, I feel sorry for you because I know that you had to endure the pain and inconvenience that I am currently suffering through.
So many people hear the train and say "Oh, how quaint. I hear a train in the distance". It is the "in the distance" part that makes it so quaint. When you have to live next to it, it is not nearly so cute!
"I hate the train!" is a common grumble for me. This is because there is a train that runs right through the middle of this retarded city I live in. That means that 6-8 times a day- traffic stops! Unless you are moving parallel to the train, you are not moving. And for some reason the train conductor is under the impression that Memphians are stupid enough to plow through the RXR sign and out onto the tracks. Don't get me wrong, they are that stupid but that does not mean that he has to keep a pull on his whistle from the time he enters the city to the time he leaves. Besides, if someone is dumb enough to challenge the train, I think that he is dumb enough to lose their rights and privileges as a live person.
The train also does this amazingly stupid thing every now and then- it comes to a complete stop, blocking miles of traffic. And if you are lucky, you can even see it go backward before starting up the correct direction again. It is infuriating!
In short- I hate the train!

Garage Sale-ing

2005-04-20T10:30:00.000-05:00

This last weekend we went to Nashville for this HUGE community garage sale. Some friends of mine live out there and told us about it so that we could work our visiting with them around this huge sale (We really do like them a lot even though it sounds like we were just using them for their garage sale). What makes it even better is that it is in the rich part of town so this was no janky stuff either.
I was on a mission! I was determined to find an entertainment center with doors on the front that go back into the entertainment center. I know, that is a little specific for garage sales but I was not about to give up hope. As it was our TV has been sitting on a coffee table with all the wires and everything hanging out and it looked too much like we belonged in the ghetto neighborhood we live in.
We walked up to an open garage and saw it- It was "the one" and there were people looking at it! They were making an offer on MY entertainment center! The nerve of some people. Fortunately for me, the offer was not accepted. I tried to keep my composure but I was doing little dances in my head. So, I went and made my offer and after using my powers of persuasion, I convinced her to come down $75. Am I the master or what?
Now it sits in our livingroom looking so grand. As soon as James shows me how to put up pictures, I will show you all because I think everyone should see how beautiful it is.
By the way, we also got a bigger TV and a tuner. Don't ask me what the second does. All I know is that we got a great deal on it (according to James) and now there are more ugly black boxes with wires.

2005-04-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

So pretty

2005-04-20T10:21:00.000-05:00

My pretty TV armoire

How is it?

2005-04-13T17:48:00.000-05:00

How is it that I am always so busy yet there are times... like right now, when I have nothing better to do than sit around and post on my blog? Does that make any sense to anyone? NO! I waste a lot of time and most of it is at work- imagine that. By the way, does anyone know of any really great time wasting web pages I could visit during my day at work?
I am curious to hear how other people waste their time and if it is done during or after work. And don't pretend like you don't waste time. A "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" marathon does not count as time well spent either. As much as you might like to think that it inspires you to think on your feet, I'm pretty sure it rots your brain like anything else.

Memphis & Me

2005-04-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

My husband and I have moved to Memphis. You know you really love someone if you are willing to move to Memphis for them. It is a terrible place with strange creatures referred to as red-necks and ghetto thugs. And this is not the cute south that you see in the movies where people move slowly, have manners and that adorable southern accent. Oh no- this is the "dirty south" where you can't understand what people are saying! They call it country but it is the most urban and incomprehensible ebonics you have ever heard.

I had thought that being surrounded by hippies sucked but now that I am here I am finding that I miss hippies. Not direct contact with them so much... but it was nice to know that they were around. They made it so that people couldn't smoke into your face, you couldn't litter everywhere and there were trees. Red-necks and ghetto thugs just don't care like a hippy would.

Currently, my main source of income is from my job as an apartment manager. Here I am asked one question more than any other and that is, "Does y'all gots any free beh-rooms?". It turns out that they are inquiring about the vacancies for apartments that contain three bedrooms. If you rent- go home and send a card to your manager and tell them that things are great and you love your home. We are not the devil- I promise.

Well, I have managed to start off on a negative note. We have met some decent people here too. In fact there are several that don't constantly use double negatives and actually pronounce most of the letters in their words. They don't count because most of them are from out of town too. I'm sure they will come up more in the future.

When there is more to tell, trust me you will be the first to know (by that I mean that I might actually get around to writing in here again some time and you might here about what I've been doing but don't fear because it probably isn't anything terribly exciting anyway).