Panera Laptop Party!

Whoo-hoo! Melinda J, two laptops, 4+ hours, and a restaurant with FREE wi-fi!

From a Recent Collage Project

Elliott & Morgen - January 5, 2008

So, two of my favorite stubborn people got married to each other on Saturday. As with any wedding, it had its miniature disasters (now I have a KT Tunstall song in my head!), but it was beautiful and joyful all the same. And now, they are off skiing on some excruciatingly high mountain somewhere for the next week.

Cheers!

So, where are my keys?

First day of the new year, and I've already lost my keys.

Little Miss Smarty Pants

What does one do when experiencing the longest, most uneventful, most boring day in your work history?

Why, take an online IQ test, of course. I scored 130, aka "Gifted."

Mensa won't be calling anytime soon (Their cutoff is 132), but then, according to the "test" I took, I'm still in the 97.5 percentile of the population, brain-wise. Not too shabby.

Moving Forward

I got my "Welcome Grad Student" letter from MTSU today. That was quick, considering it was only Thursday afternoon when I took a half day to go and push myself through all the red tape. I've registered for 3 classes ... need to find one more to go ahead and select.

In two weeks, Elliott and Morgen are getting married! I've been looking for an appropriate dress to wear. Man, that's hard to do. However, I did go today and got a much-needed haircut and I changed up my hair color while I was at it. The blondish highlights from the summer were getting old.

So I took a goofy pix of myself with my phone ... in case you were wondering what I look like now. ;^)

Stressed?

Go plant a virtual flower garden. It's oddly soothing and a little bit addictive. I couldn't stop until my garden was a field of wildflowers ...

It's Official!

For those of you who haven't heard ... my bosses have all OK'd my taking grad school classes while working at the agency. I'm taking a half day sometime next week to take care of all the administration stuff at MTSU. Now, I just need to get a Pipeline account so I can register, and my financial aid has to go through, and I need my classes to fit around my work schedule so that I am not reducing my hours by too much.

I'm too excited for words right now!!!

My Favorite Christmas Song This Year

When I first heard this song, I teared up a little bit. It really hit me the truth they are singing about ... I hope it blesses you, too, and I hope you have a chance to hear the beautiful music on your own ...

How Many Kings?
by Downhere


Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

'Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
(It’s who we’ve waited for)

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me

All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you

OK Folks, It's Officially Christmas!

The tree is up. The lights are on.

And, even better? My bedroom is almost set up. Crystal helped me put my bed on its frame at last, and I rearranged, and it looks so cute and grown up in there.

Ah, inspiration.

And now? Bedtime. I'm pooped.

For Elliott

Christmas Party '07

Have a mentioned how fabulous my friends are? Dave can rock a tacky Christmas sweater, Jackie knows the three nutrients plants need to survive, MJ has tons of self-esteem, Ricky listens to the married men and got the gift his fiancee asked for ... PLUS he accessorizes with ease by turning leftover Easter Eggs into a fashionable bracelet, Rachel makes heaven-flavored pineapple dip, Karen is devious, DEVIOUS I tell you (pig's feet! disgusting!), John is (almost) smarter than a 5th grader, Crystal walked my dog when I was cooking, Ali cracks me up (the pinwheel/Easter Egg re-gift? GENIUS!), and ... if I haven't mentioned the others, it's only because there is simply to much to write.

What a great Christmas Party.

A Few More Baby Steps!

My friends, you who know me well know of my life goals.

Well, I am two steps closer to achieving one today. Yesterday, I took the first. Today, I took the second. Hopefully soon, I will take the third and fourth steps, and then I will be on the brink of walking into my new future.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have to be a little secretive, but it's terribly exciting. You should ask me about it!

Melinda J + Franklin + Antiques + Christmas Shopping = GOOD TIMES!

Oh what fun it is to shop on warm December day ...

Melinda J and I hit up downtown Franklin for some girl's day out fun on Saturday. We've both decided to skip the mall scene and do all our shopping at small boutiques and online. We both scored some finds, but half the fun was the people we met and the odd antiques that cracked us up.

We met several babies who LOVE Melinda. Love her. They smile and coo and make funny faces whenever she walks by. It's like magic. We also met a fabulous lady from Austria who owned a shop in the Factory at Franklin. We met a lady who was telling a friend how she had scolded Miley Cyrus in Target for walking around without shoes on (only in Franklin! Oh how Nashvillians love their celebrity sitings ...), and we met an adorable older shop keeper who was wearing an oh-so-fashionable jacket and just beamed when we told her it looked great on her. We met a three year-old who tried to practice his kung fu skills on us with his beads for the Christmas parade.

So, here's what we took pictures of:

1) A real bronzed Adonis. Who wouldn't want this "antique" Greek god
to display hats and scarves so handsomely? (I laughed until my sides hurt and
I cried when I turned the corner and found this fella in an antique store).

2) A hat. Yes, this is a hat. Not a flower pot filled with silk flowers.

3) A ... I'm not even sure what to call this. But it's "antique" too.

Good times. Good times.

I'm Supposed to be Cleaning Right Now

But I'm not. 'Cause I'm tired. Okay, in just a few minutes I will do my laundry, wash the dishes, and unpack some more boxes. I also need to prop my bed up on its frame, instead of it being directly on the floor like it is now.

Tomorrow is the first non-crazy work day. I wonder what I'm going to do, outside of prep image files of the catalog pages for use in websites. When the web guy and I get done doing that ... I am not sure WHAT I'll do.

But that's tomorrow. For now, I'm sitting on my bed and being lazy. Huh? What's that. Ummm ... the answer to that smart-alec question is, "because I can."

Feed the Hungry. Feed Your Mind.

Amazing. For every word you get right in this fun, educational, self-paced vocabulary quiz, a sponsoring company donates 10 grains of rice. Not that much, perhaps, but keep playing and you've filled a bowl, and added new words to your everyday life!

WE'RE DONE!!!!!

The last catalog just went out the doors to the printer about 30 minutes ago. I'm FREEEEEE!

And now ... only 9 months until our next ones begin to print.

And We're Slowin' Down

Well, as is the normal way for the company where I work, we have gone from mind-numblingly slammed to almost (but not quite yet) mind-numbingly slow. Actually, I was working at a normal pace today, which to me felt like I was going at the speed of a tortoise. I'm going home at 5 o'clock on the dot on a MONDAY.

This is cause for some serious celebration.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

After three long months. Wait. Is it November already? Make that FOUR long months, the busy season is finally winding down at the catalog company. Now it's panic time as we MUST have those lovely catalogs sent to their appropriate areas of the nation no later than Christmas. Factor in printing and binding and ink-jetting addresses and shipping and mailing and delivery times.

Yeah, we're pretty much going insane right now.

It's been a weird insane this week. Slow all morning, busy after lunch, and slammed by 4 o'clock, just in time to remind me I'm still not my own woman, I still don't get to go home and have a life, and I still have to stay past 5 or 6 or 7 to get it done. I'm not whining, am I? Why would I do that? I've only given my company 1/3 of my year.

And then, by Christmas, we'll be so bored out of our minds that I will beg for work to do.
Somebody please remind me to slow down and take the time to fill out my FAFSA before this month is over?

And to my dear, patient friends and family, I promise I'll hang out more again. Ali, I might actually make it to one of your hang-out-after-Sunday-night-church times at your place. Melinda_J, we should most definitely do another Starbucks, conversation, and prayer night. Crystal, you've seen me through most of this and bossed me lovingly back into sanity. THANK YOU! John and Aaron ... thanks for the laughs. Those wigs at the Murder Mystery were AWESOME! Mom (yes, I know you read this), I'll be home by this time next week. I LOVE YOU! And don't stress out over Thanksgiving. I'll help as much as possible, so you can rest and recoup.

So, guess what, everyone? Fun, not-so-stressed me is about to return! Hooray! (Who knew diamond rings, pearl necklaces, and extravagant bangles could be so exhausting?)

Talex is a really BAD breakdancer!

So, I totally tried to bust a move tonight at the 80's Murder Mystery Dinner Party, but I kept falling asleep, so it didn't work out that well. My boyfriend, Shaggy-Goo Oxide, was jealous that Moe Jontana was so interested in me and my dancing. I swear, I was only talking to Moe because he knew Hollywood agents he could introduce me to.

Anyways, when Moe turned up dead, and I was found asleep not too far away, people thought I had done it. Even I thought I had done it. But I didn't murder Moe. It was that silly Samantha Pinkman. The Rubiks' cube gave it away, but still nobody accused her of it. Huh.

Well, after the perfectly marvelous murder during Maqua-Net's Hair Aid fundraiser, Jeven, Patty, Gladdona, and myself went out to grab a bite at everybody's favorite late-night place to crash ... IHOP. Patty's tulle skirt and Jeven's hair band 'do had people staring and even laughing. I, in my leg warmers, tights, cut-off sweatshirt and teased hair, looked fairly normal compared to those two. It was very amusing.

See why I love my friends? We can do crazy stuff like that, even though we're all twenty or thirtysomethings (some of us are even fortysomethings).

The only bummer was that I couldn't find my digital camera because of the move, so I have to rely on other people's pictures in order to have memories of the night. I wanted to show you my fab outfit!