Mom's Day....

I have more pics from the weekend, so the rest can wait.. but Mom's day was good yesterday! Eric and I went to dinner with my mamma before he and I headed to "space, the final frontier..."

My mom and I on my law school graduation day...

As you can tell, I'm a little taller, a little blonder...and a LOT more of a ham..haha.. My mom hates having her picture taken. Just a few things about my mamma...

* She taught me to be incredibly independent...
* She yells answers to Jeopardy....at least 1/4 are wrong and she goes "Oh.. huh.. "
* She swam in an Olympics qualifier...aka she's where I get my preference for all things summer-beach, water, etc...
* She used to read old school series to me... the Bobsey Twins (?) for example....They were kinda like the babysitters club for her when she was a kid...
* She sings a little off key...loudly...but it's come to be charming instead of embarrassing
* She hates to eat pretty much anything good for her *shaking head like I'm HER mother here*
* I definitely get my stubborness from her....
* She says funny things like "Pretty is as pretty does" and "I wouldnt kick him outta bed for eating cookies."

Anyhoo... we have tons of differences...which can get in the way...but we have similarities, too...which can get in the way sometimes as well...haha... She's awesomesauce, though! :)

I hope all of you mammas: Kat, Sarah, Sarah, Stacia, Joy, Bethany... and mammas to be: Jenny bug, Emily.... had a fabulous Mothers Day!!

I would like to go back to sleep. And not wake up til it's sunny.. which at this rate may be never. Arg! Rain, rain go away!!!!

Beam Me Up, Scotty...

More updates tomorrow... Eric and I went to see Star Trek and I feel a leetle under the weather. Bed is calling my name....

Hope you had a great weekend! Oh and PS..Star Trek was awesomesauce. 

Winston

Okay, I'm getting G's hair cut off b/c it's summer and the shedding has gotten out of control...haha! So, I was looking for what I wanted to tell the groomers to do and found these vids of Winston on youtube! hahaha! He looks and acts like Gracie.. it's hilarious... You have to check this out... and click on any of the other ones to the side too..."devil in disguise" is HI.larious! I love Cavaliers!!!! 

Oh, and speaking of, Cooper and Tex (my friend's doggies) have both found homes! I helped Cooper find one and my friend was able to get Tex somewhere. I was waiting to make sure both new owners worked out before posting, but it seems they are! I'm so happy! :) And thank you thank you thank you for everyone who commented, emailed, or otherwise expressed interest!! :) 

Watch Winston here. 

Friday meetings=boooooo... :)

It's Friday. I traveled yesterday. I have a headache. And no one is here. Aka. I'm going to blog. About television. Yeah. I know.

Lost Diary favs:
9:13 -- Eloise seems very open to the idea ... wait, scratch that. Eloise seems very open to the truth and therefore seems willing to help Jack and Kate. Kate doesn't really like the idea that Jack, essentially, wants to erase her from his life. She always looooooves Jack ... when she can't have Sawyer. I'd erase her too.

9:14 -- The bomb is back at the Dharma Initiative, which Jack and Kate are now excommunicated from. Good luck with that.

9:23 -- Dr. Chang is able to trip up Hurley with a very complicated series of mathematical questions -- or, rather, by simply asking him, "What year were you born?" That's like being asked "What year did you graduate high school?" when you're using a fake ID to buy beer. You have to know this stuff, Hurley!

9:26 -- When Locke continuously points out that he's "the leader" to Ben and Richard, he comes off like kind of a dick. Right?

And uh, if you dont watch Grey's, please ask yourself WHY with stuff like this! haha! My fav part was that Alex's vows. An SUV full of college seniors was hit by a semi. Seven of the 8 died-the valedictorian survived, who was questioning her ever-devotion to school instead of other life experiences as she lay there... Alex had her recite her speech to keep her calm b/c she didn't know everyone else was dying... And it started "Today's the day my life begins..." and what do his vows say? Oh yeah.. he used that girl's speech!! Heart.melting.now. Sheesh! Good job, Shonda (writer), good job indeed!


I have two meetings today which required me to dress up (dress for your day). Note my enthusiasm.

This weekend: swimsuit and vacay clothes shopping!! YEEHAW!! (I really like saying yeehaw lately. Leave me alone about it.) :)

Oh and...I'm NOT a plane talker. Thanks for answering the poll! I'm with the majority...I wont be rude, but still... :) Even when I fly next to people I know, I'm comforted to have them there and point out things in magazines, etc, but really dont engage in too much convo...AND thank you for your comments about True Blood and Dexter!! :) I will SO be watching one of those for SURE now!!

I want to see Star Trek. I know. But, I do. Happy weekend, peeps! Hope for sun!

Traveling randomness...

I subscribe to Glamour, but haven't received it yet...even though I saw the airport had it. Ugh. So, I bypassed it and went for Cosmo... b/c hello.. BLAIR was on the cover!!! :) (Fast fact: I used to want to name my daughter Emerson Blair. I have no idea why. I was like 12. But yeah. There ya go.)

Things I learned from my Cosmo on the plane:

* You can now treat dogs and cats for OCD.

* A guy had a girlfriend who was obsessed with how her feet smelled. So, she used to stick her fingers in between her toes and sniff them periodically. WHOA. *cringe*

* how to at home wax myself.. (no, I dont plan on trying this)

* the yoga plank position is one of the best things you can do for your abs and core. (Note: it's really hard to type this while in the plank position..haha.. kidding. ;) )

* how to get Michelle Obama's arms

* sweet potato fries are GOOD for you! Hellllo McNellies!

* put a little vaseline on your lashes in lieu of mascara on casual, no makeup days. Good tip!

* Drew Barrymore is more liked with a boyfriend while Kate Walsh is more well received without one. Yes, they devoted a page to this. 

* Jessica Alba's pretty... *sorry, pause at Revlon ad*

* statement necklaces are IN

* how to get, please, tease, keep, torture whatever else a guy.

I usually don't love Cosmo for how focused it is on the very last bullet point above. Get some new stories, people! haha! But, this month wasn't bad. Anyway, more about traveling and my a-type personality which comes out during flights... 

1. If the flight attendant says raise your seatbacks to the upright position, DO IT. If she says turn off wireless devices, DO IT. Store traytables? Guess what.. DO IT. For some reason, I get miffed when I see people totally on planet moron ignore all those things before we land. 

2. When deplaning, unless you're about to seriously miss a connection, let the people in the rows ahead get out first. Dont be a jerk.  

3 My favorite line today was something about being able to open the emergency exit door without panicking. Newsflash, I'd be panicking.. hahaha... 

And b/c I'm curious, a poll!

Tonight, I watched Grey's and BAWLED. When Alex gave the vows.. and they were the speech....tears, people. Lots of tears. Then, I watched Lost and am liking Doctor Dharma a little more. Kate is still bugging the hell out of me... Very good ep tonight in my opinion. Trust Ellie? Not trust her? hmmm...I'm still so confused by it all... and I love that. 

Ooh! Ooooh! Another opinion! My co workers who like the same shows up my alley (Lost, Grey's, House, Scrubs, 24, etc...) recommended True Blood and Dexter. I said I wanted a show to watch this summer or on the plane to vacation. Thoughts on either one of those series?

And finally, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

I'm from the Lou and I'm proud...

Okay, I'm really not.. but I'm in the lou... :) Meeting in STL alllllll day today. Back tomorrow. :) I tried to comment on most of your WBW bloggage, but I'm kinda sleeeeeepy, so if I didn't make sense, sorry about that... haha.. But, I have to admit, Stacia gets major kudos b/c I've definitely come to LOVE me some WBW! :)

Took me forever to get online. Really quickly...why do companies outsource their internet providers through India? Seriously...I had to call for help and was like "I need to launch my VPN.." followed by something I didn't understand in response to that statement. *sigh* Whatev. I dont mean that offensively, but more out of sleepy efforts to login to my email through frustration and being put on hold a ton....

So, today, we had a teambuilding exercise/peer recognition. First, lemme begin with a story. It was junior year in high school. I was at BASIC student coucil camp...aka the mecca of student council camps. Kids come from allllll over the area to attend. My roomie was awesome..She was from Blackwell and her biggest aspiration of the year was to be the homecoming queen. I dont mean to discount her, but it was high school and back then, I found her (extremely detailed) plan of action somewhat fascinating..haha! Priorities were different. Duh. Anyway, the biggest achievements I recall are karate hitting through a board (yeah, I did) and doing a trust fall. I was so nervous I had to leave the room and return to do the fall...haha.. Anyway, it was a fun week. I definitely wasn't the loudest, but I wasn't the quietest by any means. At the end of the week, we all (the whole camp) did an activity with our "group" where we each filled out a plus sign with someone's name and why that single person had postively impacted our week. The hot guy in our group got like 8 plus signs...(the groups had like 20ppl)...one of which was given by my roomie...hahaha.. The quiet girl got one or two for coming out of her shell. Anyway, I was upset...b/c I didn't get any. Yup, that's right. None. To this day, I think that's bullsh*t. hahahaha... I mean... I wasnt the loudest. I wasn't the one in your face. I was a leader and liked to give other people credit. That said, I was sad. I mean I was really sad. And it put a damper in my memory regarding the entire experience even to this day.

Later on, I realized that was such a dumb activity to do with a bunch of self absorbed high schoolers, but still...it had hurt my feelers.

Today, we did something similar. Take three index cards and write positive things about three people on the team anonymously. My head went back to that high school activity and I got nervous for leaving someone out. So, I wrote things about people that may or may not otherwise be left out. Not that they didnt benefit the team and deserve recognition, but just that they weren't the quietest OR the loudest...soo...yeah. Well, sure enough, one girl got left out. NOTHING was said about her. I felt so badly. She's really chill, but the look on her face said it all. Ah..activities like that are stupid. If you are ever in a managerial role, please don't do something like that unless you have stuff prepared to toss in for anyone who gets left out. Tonight, some of us sat down in the bar and had a drink after dinner. She went to her room. I dunno...I'm likely overreacting, but my little oversensitive high schooler just came out a little... haha..

In other news....
Did you hear about Oprah getting the NATION KFC?! How do you know you have too much money? Just sayin...

And what do you think about the body scanners as the Tulsa airport? Not gonna go into detail, but I'm one of those "whatever" people.. I mean.. yada yada privacy.. But, a coworker had a male security worker snicker along with another male worker as she went through a month ago. It was to the point that the guy behind her said "Ma'am, I'd advise you to go to another line.." Today was the first day I've flown out of Tulsa and I didn't think about it. However, the woman checking boarding passes and id's ushered the three men before me to the body scanner and said "you should go to the other line" to me..aka without the scanner...which creeped me out even more that the security is actually interested in our naughty bits! *nervous* I mean.. I'm not modest...at all really. But, uh, I don't need some pervo checking out my goods at an AIRPORT. Sick.

Ah, I'm ranting instead of sleeping. I need to be doing the latter.. *sigh* Have a good day, everyone!

Way Back Wednesday (WBW) :)

I didn't want to pack for my trip...so I found pictures...and MAY have dug my college lapboard out of my closet...er...out of a tub in the back of my closet... May have. 

This is how I'm beginning to feel...haha..sleeepy. Oh, and this is also proof that my mom used to tape bows to.my.head. For those of you who don't know, my dad was a photag...mainly children. As you can tell, I  didn't always cooperate, especially when tired. So, I guess that's not a new thing. ;)

Sarah: Kim commemorated our bathroom photo on my lapboard...haha.. Awesome. This pic (even though you can barely see it) was from freshman year. 
And b/c my big sis was older, she had more important things on her mind...say...graduation...than lapboard-making. So, my lil sis, Kim, made me one to study on. :) Cute! I even used it some in law school... She picked out a couple words I use to say all the time and added them.. Funny to look at now.. :) And uh pretty sure mod-podge was must have in college. *yikes* 

I've been catching up on some itunes downloads and got this song.. b/c I love it! Once you get past this dude chatting, you'll like it too...if you like jazz-type stuff. And uh...also a WBW fact.. I used to play the clarinet. Yup. I did. Andrea, care for some Chariots of Fire, Foster Middle School style?! hahaha! ;) (We were in band together and we were good dangit!) 

Finally, if you're not doing Way Back Wednesday, join in! It's fun, slightly embarrassing and hilarious all at the same time... Just sayin. It is. Hope you enjoyed a corona for Cinco de Mayo..or tequila..whatever. ;) Eric and I hit up El Rio Verde which is another little local hole in the wall I recommend. Happy Hump Day, everyone! 

"THAT is a Carrie Underwood song, not a life choice..."

Blair on GG tonight... following Georgina's statement "I let Jesus take the wheel." bahahaha...It's funny if you know Georgina, but not if you think I'm just being offensive. *nervous* And just b/c....some classic Blair moments to entertain your (likely) rainy Tuesday.  Ah, how I love GG...

Annnnnnd... Happy CINCO DE MAYO!! (*said like a sports announcer*). I don't know who Paco is, but the picture is awesome and I couldn't get Gracie to wear a sombrero. Well, I don't own one, but I bet she wouldn't wear it anyway... If a Santa hat was too much for her liking....yeah. 

Plan: Mexican food and/or Corona. Yum! 

I was watching the news and they had a segment about a new law in OK that I didn't know about.. Oklahoma passed a law that allows judges to assign a gps tracking bracelet to domestic abusers?! I think that's outstanding! If they come too close to the victim's house, work, etc, they get arrested. However, I don't think any have been assigned and the law has been on the books awhile. *sigh* BUT, Oklahoma was at least helping lead the way in adopting legislation like this...I didn't look at possible flaws in the legislation or limitations however.. the intent behind the law is pretty darn good if you ask me.  Anyway, if you didn't know either, you now have a new wrinkle in your brain. Enjoy. 

I'm feeling bloggy this week. I apologize in advance for my (likely) randomness. XOXO. 

Sleepless Sundays and Working for a Living...

I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to watch some story about teen pregnancies on E! Mind you, these all involved teens being kidnapped, killed, etc etc for the most part. Right. It's like one of those damn A&E specials you can't turn off but KNOW it's going to scare the crap out of you. *sigh* And if any of you watch Private Practice, you know the season finale will have the viewers on the edge of their seats about Violet's baby and the murderess wanting to "remove" it (ew). Combine me watching these shows with dancing homeless man and I was determined (1) dancing man was going to figure out a way to get inside (2) someone was coming to kidnap me and steal my baby...which consists of Gracie the dog. But whatever. It was very traumatic people. Gracie watched as I opened closets and moved clothes around with a furious swipe back and forth. No more tv for me late at night.

Sad to let you know, but the job is almost filled. No, I didn't apply but how cool would that be?! And they're pretty smart b/c with all this attn, I will SO be reading that person's blog when they start working on the island...

Speaking of jobs...Every 1st of the month, I'm reminded of the socratic method, the mock court rooms, the color-coded highlighted by my own hand books...I click that magic button that says "pay today" on the student loan website and watch my money leave my account. My brain is apparently worth a lot of accumulated interest. ;) haha... I'm glad I got my degree, mind you. I like having "JD" behind my name...and all that it symbolizes. But dude...salliemae and I aren't good friends on the first of the month. Those loans feel like baggage that I loathe carrying in many ways and often don't like discussing...

For some reason, it always makes me question "where do I want to be in 5 years?" or even less....I think that's probably the WORST interview question ever btw...b/c the real answer I think is "happy. fulfilled. challenged. successful." in whatever facet those words can describe (career, family, etc). But, yeah.. I guess I just start to wonder all this when I pay those loans every month. I used to have everything alllll planned out. I'd practice law. I'd help people. I'd love it. I'd become a partner or start my own firm. Then, I'd retire and travel the globe. *shrug* Made sense to me. I mean.. it wasn't that simple, but you get it. Then, I practiced law and hated it...which came as a huge suprise to me. My plans were all up in the air all of the sudden and I found this job...that I like :) The people are great. The work is a great balance of challenging/stressful and manageable/chill. I'm not necessarily practicing law, but find myself using my degree in many capacities from speechwriting for VPs to everyday analytical skills to legislative functions. I also feel like people here see potential in me to move up. :) But the thing is.. I like being in public affairs and am not sure yet about some of the other areas...which kiiiiinda limits things. I also know I'll start feeling stagnet in what I'm doing at some point..like anyone would...and then...what? Will there be an opportunity to move up? What if there's not?

People ask me..."would you ever practice law again?" I suppose the answer is I dont know. There are things about the law that I love...which is why I went to law school (duh). But there are plenty of other things I didn't so much love. I realize I wasn't at the best place to realize my "legal potential" but while I'm not interested in going back into law right now anyway, there's also a small part of me that is terrified of going back into it for fear of being just as unhappy as I was. There was a huge part of me that felt like I'd failed in terms of being completely off base with what I should be doing with my life...Like I said, I'm sure a ton of that had to do with where I practiced law, but still...

The point of all this is I'm happy and I'm lucky to be so happy in my job...especially today. Do I want to do 'bigger' things? Sure! Do I have plans to do them? Yup. But is that a plan that's extremely rigid? Nope, not at all. I've learned my lesson there. And this, my friends, is what the simple click of a button makes me think about almost every month...Thanks a lot, salliemae. Hmph. haha! Monday rainy day rantings, I suppose... :)

Back to changing the world. Speaking of, I just gave an interview for our COMPANY WIDE intranet site that pops up when you sign in every morning. Nervous. Lord help us all. I hope I don't sound as rambly as this blog entry is... yikes. haha! Peace. ;)

Weekend Recap :)

Happy Sunday, peeps! The weekend was fairly uneventful and I was super good with that. I'm seriously someone who hibernates when the weather is bad. I like rain.. I especially like waking up to thunder on the weekends...but.. dude. This is getting ridic.  I think I've worn my new sunglasses a total of 20 minutes this week...and even then it was really just b/c I wanted to wear them... haha.. 

Saturday night, Eric and I headed to Stillwater for his friend's wedding. :) They were supposed to get married outside, but it was like a friggin lake out there, sooooo plans were adjusted for an indoor ceremony. The guy who got married grew up near where Eric did and one of their other childhood friends is now an ordained minister so he married them! It was kinda cool. :) We didn't stay too late at the reception b/c we were heading back to T town, but there was some cha cha sliding during the evening. Yes, yes there was. 

Thanks for all the tips on shoes! What's hilarious is...with the craptastic weather, I borrowed a bright yellow sweater from Sara like an hour before we left b/c I knew I'd freeze my coral-wearing arse off! So, I ditched the turquoise earrings I'd bought for pearl studs and just wore some tan, strappy heels. Too much blue, yellow and coral made me sing "Under the Sea" when I had it all on together for some reason..haha... 

Yeah, I didn't take enough pics.. blah blah. But, really, they were Eric's friends and stalking them with my camera would have been a little weird. I did, however, capture the wedding car b/c the couple is honeymooning in Mexico. I'd like for you to check out the decor on the windshield wipers....hahahahahaha! Awesome. 
This morning, Eric and I hit up the fabulous Blue Dome Diner for breakfast. So unhealthy. I know I know.. but it beats the hell out of other places I used to love. The potatoes are sooooo good and everything comes with french toast (or biscuits and gravy). If you don't like hole-in-the-wall-diner-type places, don't go, but if you do, you must try it. Must. 

Wont you be my neighbor? (story) 

I got home from yoga on Saturday early afternoon only to approach my door and see a man standing in the path between my building and the building next door. Before I get started, let me reiterate, I live in a bar-type district, but I blog about this stuff b/c it's unusual. (In other words, I promise you shouldn't fear for my safety..haha). Okay, so I see this man looking at his reflection in one of the glass doors to the building. I started fumbling for my keys rapidly as I saw him talking to his reflection, dancing to see his reflection, grunting, making monkey sounds and gestures, etc.. I made it inside without him even noticing I was there (a mere 3 feet from him)...likely b/c he was higher than a friggin kite. 

My neighbor met me at the door laughing hysterically telling me he'd been watching this dude for like 20 minutes but was just making sure I got in okay. As I turned around, the "performer" was splashing about the bird bath and parading around like a ballerina. The whole thing was hilarious, weird, scary and sad all at the same time.. The best part was the dog behind the glass door he was dancing in front of. It was looking at him like "What the HELL is going on?" with it's head tilted to one side...bahahaha...

In more seriousness, I really feel badly for the folks I see wandering around sometimes so I'm definitely not making light of any of this... There's one thing I love about my area regarding this stuff-some ppl that live nearby leave fast food outside weekly, I'll leave nonexpired stuff or leftovers sitting on the top of the dumpster in their own bag, other people leave blankets neatly folded over the sides of the dumpsters... I dunno. I guess it's a little "love thy neighbor" in some ways...It's kinda heartwarming...and a big dose of perspective. 

And that, in a nutshell, was my weekend. I hope yours was fabutastic! 

MAYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First things first, it's May.. and therefore, it's Sarah's birthday!!!!! I opted to devote 15 minutes to going through my fbook and finding photos of her. In other words, no, I am not slammed at work today.

We played some game with a wedding ring and a hair strand..Anyway, it was supposed to tell you how many kids you'll have and what sex they'll be. Yes, this is what girls do at bachelorette parties (before all the arms-raised-over-head-dancing-and-singing-madonna happens). Now that she's had Landen, I'm curious whether our game was accurate...;)

At Lawson's wedding..

Dinnering at Los Cabos....

Toward the latter part of the night at Jenny's bachelorette...during a stop at Jewel's TU on Tap 2007. I saw this and started laughing uncontrollably. Between Sarah, Alove and myself, our bathroom photos are absolutely hilarious from that night! (no, I dont know why we took photos in the bathroom. Whatever. It was funny).

Happy Bday, lovely!! :)

Off to grab lunch. Maybe blog more later! I'm taking the break in the rain and making a run for a sandwich. This weather is RIDIC!

Thursday Random

Okay, so...we have a meeting in another city next week. I'm not going to minimize the flu.. Afterall, it's a threat level 5 or whatever. Blah blah. But, really... I mean... people are freaking out a little too much if you ask me. (Granted, I'm washing my hands like a crazy person). My work is cancelling large scale meetings left.and.right. while my little random meeting remains scheduled. Okay, people, when I went to Costa Rica, I sat next to a man who drank himself silly, talked about prostitutes and proceeded to pee himself. On the way back, I sat next to an adorable little girl and her dad. Midway through the flight, little miss adorable started puking all over the place and I had to be moved. Let's just say luck isn't in my favor with the swine and flying next week. *nervous* hahaha...

I was even a little nervous at my gym last night. There's a coughing lady in my butts n guts class who hacks up a lung with every other crunch. Speaking of, my abs are so.freaking.sore today. My teacher is getting married in like 30 days.. In other words, she's doing what brides do and freaking out about looking HAUTE. She's got all these new, intense crunch moves n jazz. I like that her her motivation to kick ass falls around the same time my vaca does... yeehaw.

Earlier, I attempted to look at a swimsuit online at work. I got a "content filter" message. *nervous* I've been tagged as the office perv. Great. It was like the time I went to what I thought was In the Raw sushi online...and uh..it wasn't. Oops.

Today, my friends, is the last day for my monthly parking spot. *sigh* It's been a good little parking spot and I'll miss it. I'd better get to work on impressing some folks so I can get it again..

Oh, and I havent read Lost Diary today yet.. but what did you think of last night?! I was SO hacked at the end! If Locke can live, I want him to live too. (trying not to ruin anything). I bet he will. Overall, a decent ep, I suppose..especially the "He's my son, too!" but we kinda saw that coming. I dunno...there weren't any real surprises. The Losties deciding to flee is a little weird. But, shooting Horace was kinda good. I dont like him..he's a creeper.