Duhnuh...duhnuh..duhnuhduhnuhduhnuh...

-(my feeble attempt at the Jaws theme).

Hey folks.. what starts next week that I go completely ape-sh*t nerdy for?

SHARK WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I may have already set the dvr for an "I might be a freak" amount of shows... Now that my fear has dissipated after having seen one (at least I think I did) on vacation, I would like to re-commit to diving in a shark cage...maybe... Or at least watching a lot of shark week. Yeah.

And alright.. I typically dont go nuts for complete romancy-smancy movies. I just don't. Usually they need some humor for me (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? AWESOME! You've Got Mail? Helllllooooo!) b/c I hate bawling in the theater. I haven't even seen the Notebook. (I know I know). But, dangit if I dont want to see this movie really badly. *sigh* I dont know why. Well.. I do. I love Rachel. And I also may start drooling uncontrollably for like Eric Bana. Hey.. he shares a first name with my boyfriend.. That makes it okay...er...or something??

And hey.. let's just keep with the entertainment randomness. Did you watch Alias? Ya know.. before it got stupid? Well, I did. And I find myself watching shows the actors from it are in NOW like a loyal follower. It's weird. Whatever. That said, guess who has a new show I knew about but didn't latch onto?! Yup! Vartan! YAY! And he seems like a cool dude. Just sayin. Check him out. I'm usually opposed to watching too many interviews with people I really like b/c I'm afraid they'll ruin it...but he didn't! And he went on Chelsea. Anyone who goes on Chelsea is awesome b/c she's awesome. Just sayin.

Umm...and I also found out one of my FAV friends from high school is coming to the reunion!! YAY! That makes like 5 people I'm excited to see!!!

Annnnnd... remember me mentioning my friend's "Tool Academy of Love" birthday party? Yeah.. well.. I think I know where I'm getting my outfit! YES! I cant spoil it yet. I'll post it when I buy it. There's a store in Promenade that will be taking a minimal amount of my money so I can adequately mimic a Flava of Love girl's image. Wow. OOh ooh! And along these lines, have you ever mystic tanned? Have you? I may have gotten a mole and totally freaked out and ceased tanning by a LOT and wear makeup with spf now...and bronzer :) ...and use jergens natural glow when I can (patting self on back here) but for my ahem...costume, I need to be tan. I would like to try it. Thoughts appreciated.

Annnd.. happy Friday!!! I usually blog a lot, but this week I've been extra blog happy for some reason. *shrug*

Random Thursday Things...

Traveling doesn't motivate you to work upon your return. Just sayin. So.. I'm taking a bloggy break really quickly...

I have a meeting tonight with someone from TU Alum Assn to discuss TU on T*p...aka the event I unknowingly signed up to chair. :/ It's actually sounding kinda cool this year.. being hosted by a local bar instead of the dance club it used to be held at. I hate to complain.. but wow am I kinda over having a commitment practically every day for the past few weeks. If it's not traveling, it's for an organization, etc... I totally LOVE having stuff to do, but do you ever book yourself on Sunday for an activity on Thurs when you know your week is already busy? Then Thurs arrives and you think "for real? Why did I do that?" That's me today. And all I'd love to do is go chill and have wine with the girls in a non-event-planned way... or rent a movie with Eric....or something. Just sayin.

I did, however, have time to go and get a dress to wear to Wicked this weekend! I had a credit at the Limited and ended up getting a dress that came out almost even with the credit! And...*lowering head in shame...* I now own TWO...yes two.. long black maxi dresses. I know I said I wanted one.. soo... I found one at Express on sale last weekend and bought it. I didnt LOVE it and it's a size bigger than I normally wear..but those things are supposed to be baggy, right? Right. Limited had ANOTHER one on sale for the same price in my size.. and I liked it more. So I bought it too. *sheesh* Tonight you can count on me modeling for my dog and determining which dress is getting the boot b/c the one that fits me better is semi boobalicious. That's not what I wanted..but the dress fits better all-around. Whatever. The girls might just be a little on display. It is what it is. And yes, this now makes TWO dresses I have to take back (still have that red Ann Taylor one from weeks ago). So.. that all comes out even! The only thing I really purchased-purchased was a pair of work pants b/c all their dress pants are on sale for 39 dollars. Yes. ALL of them. (Go now!)

Side note... Have you read the book Wicked? One thing I find totally interesting are all the other meanings behind things in Wicked.. They've (meaning more important people than myself) even said that it's one of the most overtly political musicals-ever. I love this. So, go watch it for the singing and dancing and feel good times... but pay attn to the other stuff if you're interesed in that sort of thing.

I need a pedicure. This is a problem b/c I dont like people touching my feet..especially people who dont speak English and are likely insulting my feet while filing my nails. (C'mon..you've thought that too.. I know you have). And I pretty much reflexively drop kick anyone who accidentally tickles my foot. AND if there's a way to hurt, bruise, whatever my toes.. I do it. So, they're usually not in shape to be messed with. *sigh* But I really do need one. Maybe I'll give myself one. I don't speak another language to coworkers while I do it anyway.

In "one more accident waiting to happen" news, Oklahoma has a new spider! Get excited, folks!

Happy Thursday!

Landing in Branson

Or the Branson Landing. Whatever. :) It's actually a cute little area. Case in point the below photo with the main mall area and fountain (designed by the same peeps who did the Bellagio fountain). Ate dinner at a Mexican place in the low right corner by fountain. :)

Okay, so I'm back from my work meeting!! We have meetings...a lot of them..but summer is a big one.. and as a writer for some of the execs, I'm a big part of all the meetings, especially this one. Given my role, I'm on a committee consisting of: myself, event planner(s), vp's assistant, hr, development, and and equipment guys. We all have our roles, but we also have each others backs to make sure the whole thing goes off without a hitch. Summer meetings are a big deal.. Each market area has one and it's a big 'en with all the sales people, etc. Anyhoo, ours was in Branson. I make fun of Branson for being cheesy, but the landing is actually pretty nice.

But, man I'm tired... I may have just tried to turn up my tv... and uh.. it was off. This was after my USB cord for my camera (that I use all the time) nearly stumped me. Bedtime... very very close. (After SYTYCD. Duh.)

Okay, soooo... thought I'd give you a glimpse as to what I kinda do! :) B/c sometimes I feel like Chandler from Friends with the "I cant explain it all" job. hahaha!

Soooo... here's the pre-decorated room where our meeting was held! (We decorate it too...hence the "committee" part). It was too big to get all in one shot. See those little heads in the back? Those are our a/v guys...and where I sit during the meeting!

Here's where those little heads were sitting in the above photo.. and my purse is where I sit. :)

I took this with my phone camera b/c uh.. it's awesome.

So, here's that whole "we needed to help with the golf" thing...when in fact they really didn't us. This pic was before we got hot and our cart broke down (it did.. lol). But, these carts are cool, right?! (We didn't get to drive these..totally just a photo op) This is our learning specialist, me, and the vp's asst.

I met with the external guest speaker (another part of my gig), made sure he was prepped and jazz. Went over his presentation with him, etc...then got done in time to go to dinner with the peeps for our event planner's bday!! (at that Mexican restaurant I referenced above). This pic features our hr person, event planners, learning specialists, exec assistant, media guy, and me! :)

Today, the second half of the two day meeting went well! :) Hooray! No balls were dropped here.. no sir-ee! But, I am SO not the 5:30 am wake up call type.. wow.. sleeptastic is me right now.

On another note, so sad about some cancelled plans! I got Eric and me tix to see one of his favs, Michael Franti, here on Friday and he cancelled the show with a ruptured appendix! No bueno. *sigh* I know Eric is bummed too.. This guy doesn't usually come anywhere NEAR the midwest on tours, so...blah. BUT, still super excited to see Wicked on Saturday night!!!!!! (and have my reunion in between.. Sheesh).

A funny from my meetings to leave you with.... Hotel dude finds our event planner to say "Hi, the dairy farmers next door are complaining about your loud music." LOL!!!! What?!

Totally gratuitous pic of Gracie from this evening.. Whatever. I love her. haha! Hope you're having a great week, lovelies!! :)

Live from Branson!

Currently listening to some guy stroke his own ego on msnbc in my hotel room. Today, we had a meeting this morning then golf this afternoon. Well, I didn't have golf...haha...let's not kid ourselves. I had rehearsals for tomorrow then went to help at the course for awhile...and am now back working more on the script changes. (I still fully intend on learning to play golf...er...someday).

The course from today is called Murder Rock and I'm fairly certain it's b/c you could easily kill someone and they'd never find the body. Came to this conclusion when driving the cart and getting somewhat lost in the woods. And....mind you...three of us were supposed to go around and help out the golfers with whatever.. We were originally going to be beer girls, but that got nixed. Soo...we just (unintentionally) annoyed the hell out of the golfers as we beeped and zoomed our way past the holes in our noisy carts. After feeling useless and perturbed that we could have been working, we came back.. haha...

Two of our speakers come in tonight so I'm meeting with them to rehearse. I'm realllllllly hoping they (1) arrive on time and (2) rehearsal goes well b/c I selfishly want to attend my co worker's birthday dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant with four of the girls. :)

haha.. The annoying guy stroking his own ego ("I wrote a book on that topic." "I spoke at this conference..") is gone! And the story immediately following him? Sumo Olympics. LOL! What?! Enjoy. Yes, this is the kind of stuff I find funny. I realize I'm 12 years old sometimes.



And another site cracking me up lately, Awkward Family Photos. Peruse. Enjoy.

Anyway, I have the big meeting tomorrow then get to head home! (with a planned stop with my vp's assistant to the outlet mall for an hour). :)

I think I like this posting later thing. Just sayin.

For a final thought (who remembers that from Jerry Springer? lol!), the gray haired, business suit wearing msn reporter guy just said "a shout out to all our cops out there..." This is where we're getting our news, people.

A year...ish... :)

So...this weekend marked something kinda fun! Eric and I have officially been "talking" a year-ish. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking if you know me well... and no, he and I didn't really get "serious" til the fall, but this was the day we first both kinda admitted we liked each other, I suppose. We just didn't know what to do with that.. lol! Hence the "ish" :).

You see, we'd been friends and had been hanging out...and then I realized he wasn't shady (I thought he was shady..lol!) and he realized I wasn't well...I dunno. haha... But somewhere along the way, we kinda started to fall for each other. And we (admittedly I more so) kinda felt that deserved some sort of acknowledgment (again, hence the "ish") haha.

So, yeah we took things slow...and made sure we were both in a good place so as not to royally mess it up. So...yeah it's not formal or anything in terms of a year, but it's fun. And wanted to post some pics! :) And some of you who dont talk to me regularly were so confused!! It was kinda funny b/c I really didn't post anything. Out of nowhere, it became "Jackie and Eric"...haha... But, it really wasn't out of nowhere.. so...

So...in a year-ish............we....

...hung out for the first time. Sara and I met up with a birthday party Eric was at. This is comedy..but I originally planned to hook him up with Sara...til everyone involved realized that didn't make any sense.. haha... We (all three of us) also went to Whataburger this night and had to wake up the dude in front of us in the drive through line who'd fallen asleep in his car. Really.

...danced at Oscars a year ago this weekend for the Sat night dj-dance party (a typical occurrence last summer)... :) It stormed really badly that night.
....started to hang out a little more...I don't remember when this was...but I do remember him walking me to my car and a sorority sister seeing us hugging a little too long and we got all high school flustered... LOL!
....went to White Party in a way-too-huge-to-keep-track-of group. It was Eric's bday! His hat made it in about 2350 pics that night...haha...
....went to Homecoming! He got to meet some of my friends...and everyone saw him walking up like "uh...who is Jackie with?" b/c they'd never met him. It was truly comedy. Anyway, Eric had good seats. He shared. (What a nice guy...aw...haha) :)
.... partook in Oktoberfest-chicken dancing brings people closer together. Fact.
...took a ton of silly photos....This one was at Leon's. (and I cut my hair)
...got a little more serious (can you tell? likely not..haha)...but this is around then. :) (around in here is where I broke my back, too...boo)
...braved the winter...and supported TU in our fake fur...
...celebrated the holidays!! Yeah, we're definitely official here. :) Woohoo New Years at Oscars! :)
....went to Dallas to Ikea...Then he built the stuff he bought. I watched.
...took a cooking class together for my v-day present and vowed to make the stuff on our own. Hasn't happened yet but it will. We'll share. You'll like it. Promise.
....went to Nascar... and I actually liked it! :)
....built more things... haha...
...volunteered together...Okay okay we sold beer. But, it was a volunteer thing.
....went to a wedding....
...went on VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!

.....celebrated my birthday!!
...went to another wedding...haha..
....and held a bbq. :)
So, in (very) abbreviated form, there ya go. I'm not gonna write anything stupid or cheesy b/c you guys already have seen a zillion pics. But, I am going to say....I'm happy. And I'm happy we found each other when the timing was oddly crazy...and perfect...all at the same time. I feel really lucky to be this happy with someone. Dangit.. I got cheesy on you guys. Sorry. Done. Cheers to the "ish" in our talking-iversary!! :) (I hate saying "talking" but it fits. Deal. ha!) :)

And if you're reading this, I'm in Branson right now and my "future posting" worked! Hooray! I know I've done this once, but I always feel like I've messed it up...haha!

Weekend Recap!!!

How was your weekend?! Mine-gooooooodstuff! Friday, Eric and I ran some errands for Sat's bbq-Michaels, Target, his parents' house (where we ended up borrowing most everything....haha), and ate at Mexico Lindo. It's where the very first Los Cabos used to be in a shopping center on 71st. Random, but yummy Mexican food without the wait of the bigger places. :)

Saturday, a few errands and then met back at Eric's to start decorating!! Between the two of us, we kept trying to go overboard for this shindig... for real. Case in point: Eric bought and installed a misting system for his patio...yeah. We had the bbq in his front yard b/c the patio's larger. :)

Here's Eric turning on the misters!

Annnnd here he is trying them out... lol!! I have to admit...they were awesome!
We got some paper lanterns to hang from the tree with some little fake (LED) candles inside. I amuse myself sometimes... hahahahahahahaha...

Putting the candles in and giggling b/c they kept rolling off the truck and down the sidewalk. I really wish I'd gotten a pic of Eric running after them b/c it was comedy, people.
I got a lesson in tying an "8 knot" to hang the lanterns...courtesy of your neighborhood boy scout, Eric. :) (I was stupid-proud of myself when I accomplished one. Just FYI.)
Eric "monkeying around" hanging the twine for the lanterns... ;) (Yes I really said that. By now you already know we're easily entertained. I'm alright with that.)
After setting up the food, getting the grill going, and setting up a sitting area, people arrived. :) I didn't get a pic of the food, but it was good, people. I ran by Lambrusco'z and picked up their fabulous dill dip (my fav) and a broccoli salad... If you haven't been there, I highly recommend. :) Eric's house is so cute...makes certain people (*cough ME*) want a house even more...

YAY-look at the lanterns all hung and festive! And the torches! And the misters! You want us to do your party; admit it.
Grillmasters Eric and Chris (and Brian in blue, but he wasn't really helping) being manly and standing near the grill handling the food ;)
The party got cuhrazy!! Or Eric is just adjusting the misters.. either way... ;)
I have no idea... but it makes me laugh...
This was from the misters!! LOL! It looks like it's snowing!!
The birthday boy, Chris, and his fiance Carrie :)
Someone (Eric) went all strobe light with the light switch to the beat of the music at one point...
Why do all parties end up in the kitchen? That's so funny to me.. Anyway, this one ended up with us sitting on the counters, laughing etc before people headed home. All was clean and party was over by around 1am. Not bad! I made him take pictures to celebrate our party victory. :) I was feeling cheesy. Eric was feeling goofy. The result-comedy.

Friends=happy. Food=good. Decor=uh.awesome. ;) Overall, had a blast helping prep for and throwing the bbq... And Eric gets points in the hosting dept b/c it really was quite a success. :)

I got plenty of sleep this weekend, too, which is a major bonus going into a fullllll week. Out of town meetings feeding right into my reunion, a concert and Wicked this week!! :) I still can't get over my 10 year reunion happening this year! I'm young for my school year and Eric's semi older for his. It works. Whatev! hah!

Today, spent about 3 hours at the office printing stuff and finishing stuff for my meetings I'm leaving for bright and early tomorrow. My brain is not all-engines-go first thing in the am, soooo.... preferred to knock stuff out today. Oh...so weird but my LLs called and were sweetie mcsweet asking about how the new a/c unit was working. Um. Weird? Yeah. *shrug* I'm gonna set up another post to post while I'm gone. Lets hope I do it right!

Hope you had a great weekend, everyone! When did it become the end of July?!

I can see the weekend!!

You all ROCK.MY.SOCKS. Thank you so much for your support and encouraging comments for my last post. I needed them every bit as much as I needed to vent about the whole thing. You guys are awesome. :) I'm out of town next week, but decided I'll talk to a lender when I get back and hopefully figure it out! I'm not going to rush into buying a house just to move, but still... The thought of Gracie having a yard...and having more space...and..and.. yeah, I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up yet...

Some Funnies.. So.. In all my stress I didnt mention that (1) I asked to paint my bathroom and change out the shelf, etc.. Mind you, I put up the shelf. And I think a new one would look better b/c it's not very big, etc... My LL actually told me no! hah! He has NO idea I'm the one who put it up. Fine. Keep the stupid shelf, weirdo. (2) AND I went to get a bowl of cereal today and noticed my woolite furniture scrubber thing was in the sink. And my Dawn Lemon Scent (mmmm...lemons...) was UNDER the sink. I was like "Um.. huh?" I smelled my three dishes she washed...and they smelled like it! LOL!! I had dish soap right.there. and she got under the sink and used..um.. woolite? (granted it doesnt look like woolite, but it's comical). She also put took some tupperware containers I had under the sink for cleaning supplies (sponges, etc) and washed them..put them WITH my dishes. Sooo.. basically I had to rewash everything near them bc my LL is an idiot. But I still laughed. Not so perfect, are we, LL? ha! (3) Finally, they left the stove on.. like three burners were on. Way to go...Burn down your own building. Sheez. ha!

Today was so.much.better. I had your comments which made me smile.. and Gracie was feeling better...and I got tons done at work...But most importantly, I got some Jackie-time tonight!! I feel very lucky to have stuff going on and be involved in things and have a great job that is pretty darn busy during the summer...but man alive, I've needed some quality Jackie time...I scanned in some high school photos for my reunion (see fbook-haha), went to the gym and took out some aggression, and did a load of laundry! *happy sigh* :)

Sooo...Saturday night, I'll be sitting near these....

...while sitting on these....

...and sipping some of these...

...at Eric's! He's hosting a bbq for his friend, Chris' bday! It's going to be a small thing, but I LOVE bbqs! And I love being able to help since it's at Eric's!! (Another reason I want a house.. so I can have people OVER more!!). I'm so excited!!! If anyone has any fun drink recipes, send my way! I was also thinking of making cookies or something else fun to bring so your thoughts are welcome on a tasty treat I could bring to the bbq! :)

Okay, and in reference to the benches above, I have to give kudos to my Bob the Builder boyfriend here! He made those benches! He had some wood left from another project (wait for it) and so he got to planning, cutting, hammering...and after some stain today, ta-da!!! They look pretty good, right?! Mine would have turned out looking less like benches and more like...well..not benches.

Anyway, while I'm bragging on him, here's where the other wood came from.. The shed. Okay..he's got this shed in his backyard..and it was nothing to write home about. So, Eric decided to re-frame inside the entire shed and make new doors. Right. (You're seeing why we get along so well...he has a lot of patience..haha). Anyway, it took quite a hunk of time for the whole thing, but now, I'm fairly certain his shed might be safer than his house if a storm comes through...haha.. kidding.. er...kinda...

Eric is awesome. He builds things. I like that my boyfriend builds things. For real! haha! :)

On a completely and totally random note, have you guys seen the new vibrating mascara? Um.. I dont know about this.. Just sayin. Hope you have plans for a fabulous and/or relaxing weekend!