Friday, Baby!!

TGIF! It's been a really busy week with work, so I am glad the weekend is here. And I am extra glad because David comes home tomorrow and I am making a special dinner for him. If this recalls any memories of my chicken debacle last November, I have three words for you: Don't go there! This dinner is going to be so good I am not even going to make a backup dinner! I found a recipe for Coq au Vin (Chicken in Red Wine) off of the Food Network tv show "How To Boil Water". It looks like an easy recipe, and I am making a salad to go with it. I anticipate good things! Also, I am making it before I pick him up from the airport so if it sucks, we're ordering in and he won't have to be subjected to it. But it's going to be awesome so no worries!!

It's payday, too, so that helps make it a good day! Christy was going to cut my hair tonight but she isn't feeling well at all, so she is staying home and recovering. I am going to spend the evening cleaning and making everything look nice for when David gets in tomorrow. I have been sorting through things and getting rid of stuff and I have garbage bags and throw-away piles all over the apartment. It's a mess! So I am going to do a super cleaning on the casa tonight so that I don't have to do it tomorrow. I am going to go grocery shopping tomorrow and run a few errands, and then cook and get ready for the love of my life to come home. :) His flight arrives around 6pm, so I have plenty of time. I know me...I will be ready early, go to Starbucks for my Passion Tea/Lemonade and head to the airport. It seems to be my little tradition for when I am picking him up. I do that every time. :) If you haven't tried that at Starbucks, it's very yummy and refreshing. A nice change from my usual "grande non-fat sugar-free vanilla latte". (If it's late I also throw in the "decaf" as well. I'm a pain the tushie!)

Anyhow, that's it for today. I'm outta here in 3.5 hours and then it's countdown to David time!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Considerably More Cheerful Today!

It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do for you!

I ended up cancelling dinner with Grampa because I felt so lousy. I suggested dinner tonight but he already has plans! (I love it!) He goes to an exercise class three days a week (He's almost 87, mind you!) and has lots of friends there and he goes to lunch or dinner with some of them. So he and I will have dinner next week at our usual time. It makes me so happy that he has a social life!

Tonight I am having dinner with Mom and Dad. I am looking forward to an uneventful evening!

So that's it for today. Nothing too exciting. Send David good thoughts...he's driving to Tulsa tonight!

Stirring the Pot

I don't generally think of myself as being controversial, but I have managed to stir up some trouble in my new class. In my Critical Thinking class I made the following post in response to the assigned question of "Describe a situation you are familiar with in which people based their actions or opinions on false information. How would the situation have changed if the facts were researched and presented more carefully? "

Here was my post:

The first situation that comes to mind when I think of people acting on incorrect information is the president making decisions to go to war in Iraq with the understanding that Iraq had been producing weapons of mass destruction. He was acting on information given to him by the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, which turned out to be false information (as admitted by Mr. Powell himself later on). Although it is purely speculation, the American public is left to wonder if the actions taken by the president would have been the same if the correct intelligence had been presented to him to begin with. I don't know that the course of action would have changed greatly had the president been different information, as it seems he was eager to send U.S. troops over to Iraq, but it is possible that he might have given the situation more time and been more willing to work with the United Nations and not sent troops to Iraq so quickly, which could potentially have resulted in a more peaceful solution with Iraq.

So let's think about why I posted this. I chose this because it was the first example of someone acting on false information that came to mind. And who said the information was false? Colin Powell. Not me. However, I have some classmates who wanted to remind me that I sleep safely every night because of our soldiers and that I need to be grateful.

Where in there did I say I wasn't grateful to our soldiers? I love them all and am proud of our troops! I answered a discussion question and now I am getting hammered. I knew it was a touchy subject, but I thought it was a good example. I really don't know how it would have changed if he had different information. I can't even really venture a guess. All I know is that I answered a discussion question for class. Sheesh! There are uptight lefties and righties in my class. I was gracious and responded to my harsh critics by saying how neat it was that we had the opportunity for an open forum, and that I appreciated their thoughts on the discussion question. Anyone that knows me knows that I would never disrespect our soldiers. UGH!!!

Maybe I am cranky today because I am cramping and feeling rather blah. David must be happy to be out of town!! So really I don't have much news. If I don't start to feel better I may call Grampa and reschedule our dinner. I don't want to take my attitude out to dinner with us tonight. Hopefully it will pass, though!

Oh, I have one of my official grades back, and I got an A in my IT class. Now I am waiting for my grade from my persuasive writing class. Maybe I should write a persuasive essay on getting my grades back faster!!

Okay, that's it. I am logging off until I am my happy funny self again! Damn cramps!

Twister!

So David has had an exciting stay in OKC with all the tornados. He wasn't in the line of fire, but he could step outside and watch the twisters as they tore through town. I was a nervous wreck worrying about him, but he is totally fine and in the clear, now. It was scary to think of him in the middle of all that!

Yesterday at work was so busy I was absolutely worn out by the time I left. I came home with the intention of working out, but instead I ate dinner and then began cleaning things out. It's different when you think about getting rid of stuff because you will at some point be combining stuff with someone else. But it's a happy feeling and I liked doing it.

Tonight Mom and I are running errands. I am delivering some Avon goodies to Jen and Mom has some stuff to return to another store, so we're going to be a little busy and I won't really get to do more cleaning out tonight. Joseph and Dima may be coming over on Friday to help me for a little bit, and then we will go have a drink and play a little bit of pool. (All work and no play, etc)

David comes home on Saturday and I am going to make dinner. Yes, I know the last time I tried to do this I made a big disaster (undercooked chicken, etc), but I am trying again. I am making Coq au Vin and a salad. We saw it on the Food Network Sunday and I thought it looked easy and very tasty. If it's awful I will know beforehand because I am going to make it and then pick David up, so worst case scenario is that it will be awful and he will never know and we will just order pizza. :)

So that's it for me. Nothing earth shattering. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

The Next Phase of My Life

I had a wonderful weekend! I spent it all with David and although we didn't do a whole lot, it was wonderful. Friday night we went to Fish City Grill and had dinner-YUM! We did some window shopping and had a lovely evening. We also talked a lot about our future together, and we both agree on how we see our lives together going. I haven't outlined a lot of our discussions here because some things should stay between us, but we are definitely planning our future. His lease is up at the end of July, and he is going to move into my apartment then. I am moving back home because I am still old fashioned about some things. I want to wait until I am married to officially combine residences, and thankfully, David understands and loves me for that. So this will save us both a very large sum of money each month and I can pay off my credit cards and save up for a special event that will be happening next year. (Nope. Not sharing any details until we have made things official, so don't ask!!) We have talked in detail about our finances and how to wipe out our debt, which isn't much for two people really! We want to work together and save money like crazy so that we have the means to enjoy our lives and not be under any debt if we don't have to be.

I need to give a shout out to Stephanie who is getting married on Saturday in a private ceremony with her family by her side. She is excited and happy, and her husband-to-be sounds wonderful. (He is a farmer, which is perfect given Steph's love of animals!) So Best wishes to Stephanie!!

I hope everyone has a great day! Please send David good thoughts. He has to go to OKC today, and they are predicting some scary weather, and his anxiety is a little high. Be safe, David!!

Hooray for Friday!

It started out as a long week, but it ended up just flying by! I had dinner with Christy last night and we had a blast. It has been tough with our crazy schedules, but I was glad we made the time to catch up. We had dinner at Lava Grill, and had some very tasty sushi! :) She and Rich are looking at buying a house. Wow...my friends are all grown up! Buying houses, getting married, having babies, earning Masters Degrees...I can't believe I am old enough that these are the things we're all doing these days! (I'm going to be 34 in two months! Holy cow!)

I was bummed to find that I don't have the week off in between classes like I thought I did. I don't know where I got that, but you can imagine my disappointment. But I'll keep plugging away and working on school. If it gets to be too much I can always take a semester off, but I think I would really like to get this done ASAP. I am still headed towards straight "A"s in both of my classes, so that's a good thing. :) I should have my associates degree finished by July of 2007. I may take a little time off between that and starting the downhill run to my bachelor's degree. (There may be a lot going on in the fall of 2007...)

And in other news, David comes home today! I get to see him this weekend and then I won't see him for a couple of weeks. I am going to have to get the address of his hotels so I can be silly and send him cards wherever he is. Or I could plan ahead and pack a bunch of cards in his suitcase. Who knows what I will do! But I want to do something fun for him. It's hard for him to be on the road like that I would imagine.

I am hoping we have a chance to get to the Main Street Arts Festival this weekend. I like going to that. Kevin and I went last year and meandered around for a while. It was kind of late and most of the vendors were packing up, so there wasn't too much to see but there was a lot of food and music, so that's always fun. We're going to see Robin Hackett Saturday night. She's a favorite of mine...she plays great music and I have seen her many times. She probably thinks that Kevin and I are stalkers, but her music is so good I just can't miss an opportunity to hear her. I think she is on the cusp of her big break and I am hoping that if this is the case that she doesn't forget her fan base here!

That's about it for now. Oh yeah-please send Kevin good thoughts at 9am this morning. He has an interview here and I am really hoping it goes well. Mia and Kevin and I are having lunch afterwards, so I am sure he can give us the good news that it went well. He is perfect for this position and it really is his time for something good to come along job-wise.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

This Time, I Swear!

I know you all must be sick and tired of hearing about me joining and rejoining Weight Watchers. I have been struggling with joining (again) and looking for some sort of sign that I am ready to really commit to it again. I got it when I opened my mail yesterday. I got a coupon for free registration for me and a friend, and then I got my WW magazine. So I am taking it as a sign and rejoining tonight. There is a 6:15pm meeting that Mom and I are going to attend, and I am going to do this. I have had to pack away some of the clothes I was so excited that I got into last year, so I am going to get back into them soon. So I am seriously going to do this. I am just going to start from square one and get on track beginning right now.

So next Thursday you can expect a weigh in report. I haven't been very good about it since last September, but I am going to be really good about it now!

In other news, I overslept because the storms knocked out my power in the middle of the night. We had a lot of thunder and lightening, a little rain, and no power. I think I need to start setting the alarm on my phone as a backup!

David comes home tomorrow from Houston, and then after this weekend I am not sure when I will see him again. He'll be on the road doing his store events for a few weeks and I am sure going to miss him! So aside from going to see one of my favorite local artists this weekend, we will probably be spending the weekend together since I won't see him for a couple of weeks. The upside to this is that I will be losing weight and when he comes back I will be smaller! :)

Big shout-out to Kim who has gotten a new job offer! Now that she has her Masters Degree she is off and running! Congrats, Kim!

And one other big piece of news...as we speak, Jessica is being induced so she and Joe should have their new baby today! And I know she is VERY ready! I can't wait to hear the good news and see ths pictures!

Everyone have a great day! :)

(And David, if you read this...I love you!)

The Home Stretch

I am in the last week of my first semester of school, and I still have As in both my classes! Looks like it's a success! I am so proud of myself. I've worked hard for this and it's paying off. I think the online learning thing is just the way for me to go. :)

David is off to Houston today and he'll be back on Friday. I will sure miss him while he's gone, but I have lots to finish with the last week of school, so by the time he comes home I will be ready to kick back and relax! After this weekend I won't see him but just a couple of days over the following four weeks. He has a lot of travel and won't be home but just one or two days throughout May. That's going to be tough! I am going to miss that man! But it's all in the name of shoes, and I guess I have to let Born have him for a few weeks since I got 6 new pairs of shoes!

Easter was nice. We went to church with Mom and Dad then the four of us grabbed a nice lunch at PF Changs and then David and I dashed off to his side of town for dinner with his family. They are all so very nice to me! I was a little nervous because I want them to really like me. After all, I plan to be around for a long time!

We went to the Ft Worth Zoo Friday afternoon and it was a blast! I hadn't been out there for years and it was so much fun to go together. A lovely way to spend a couple of hours together.

That's about it for me. No big news. I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. And to my Jewish friends, I hope Passover was nice, too!

Everyone have a good Tuesday!

Good Friday

It's a good Friday for many reasons! (Most important being the religious observance of the crucifixion, as I am a Christian)

Other reasons it's a good day? I get off work at 11am, I got my paycheck AND my bonus, and David and I are going to the zoo this afternoon after I get off work! So it's a great day for me!

My seminar yesterday was good. The best part was when I got home and ran into the UPS driver who was delivering my SIX PAIRS OF SHOES! Let me tell you how cool it is to sit in the living room and try on shoes! One pair was so cute but it just didn't look good on my foot so I am shipping it back to exchange it for a really cool pair of red clogs. But everything else is AWESOME! I am so lucky! I really do think that Born shoes are the best. I thought that even before David was working there. :)

So that's about it for me today. I'm off work in 3 hours!

Everyone have a wonderful Easter Sunday!!

Wednesday Wonderfulness

I am so glad it's one day closer to Friday! Friday is the day we get our bonuses, so I am VERY excited about that! The other great thing about today? I have dinner with Grampa tonight. As always, I am looking forward to it.

I got to see David last night. He went to visit his sister who lives close to me, and then he came on over and took me to dinner. What a nice surprise!

School is still going really well. I think this is the first time I have ever felt like a star student! (Straight As in college! Go me!)

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I have a seminar all day so I get to be out of the office, I have an eye doctor appointment after that, and when I get home I will have 6 new pair of Born shoes waiting for me!! I can hardly wait!

So it will be a great day!

Monday Again

It gets hard to come back to work after a good weekend, doesn't it? I had a nice one. I had dinner with mom and dad Friday night. Saturday Mom and I went to go visit my Gran's grave. We cleaned up the headstone and pulled a few weeds around the area. I miss her terribly!

Saturday night I spent watching Sopranos DVDs with David. We made homemade burgers-YUM! And Sunday we went to Scarborough Faire. We had so much fun, but I am VERY sunburned! Ouchie!

So that's it in a nutshell. I am feeling tired and my face, chest, and arms hurt from my day in the sun so I am keeping this short.

Have a good Monday!

Just when I thought my life was good...

It gets better!!! David got his shoe cards last night, so he let me order a whole bunch of shoes!! :) So now I am waiting for my 6 new pairs of shoes to arrive!!! I am so excited! I got some super cute shoes! FREE!!! David likes to remind me that when we first met I told him he needed to work for Born. And now he does!!! You know, even without the perk of new shoes he is the most amazing man ever...the shoes are the icing on the very perfect cake!

No real news today. David is driving to Tyler to do a store event out there and he has an event at a local mall tomorrow, so I am going to have dinner with my parents tonight. David gave me cards for them to each get two pair of shoes...isn't that incredibly thoughtful? He's wonderful! I really feel lucky because not only do my parents like him but he really likes my parents, too. It's such a perfect situation! :)

Oh...everyone send my good friend Kevin some great vibes...he's got a phone interview with my company on Monday for a position he would seriously be perfect for, so please say a prayer for him!!

That's it for today...TGIF!

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Shoes

I forgot to post pics of my awesome Born shoes!!!

And...

Thank you for the new shoes, David!!! :)

Everyone Needs A Little Break

Sorry I haven't posted...just taking a little blog break. It's been busy with work and school, so I just took a little time off from something that I wasn't trying to get a grade for!

Nothing to report here. It was a good weekend. David and I had our six month celebration on Sunday and we went to Pappadeaux and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! We ate very well and were pretty stuffed the rest of the day. We are planning to go to Scarborough Faire next weekend and I am looking forward to it. I haven't been in forever and I really enjoy it!

I got my two new pair of shoes, and I am loving them! Born rocks! (Thanks, Dave!!) They arrived on Friday and I was super excited to wear them to pick up David at the airport. :)

That's about it for today. Have a good Wednesday!

Payday, Friday, DaveDay!

It's three great things rolled into one day! It's payday, it Friday, and David comes home today! Yay! Boo that I have to spend a chunk of my weekend writing my paper, though. It's the rough draft, but still...not fun!

So I did it. I rejoined WW last night! The damage was pretty much what I expected, but even though I am not starting at square one, I am going wipe the slate clean and start as if it was all new. I didn't much care for the leader...she wasn't very friendly. I need someone who has more of a warm fuzzy personality. So I will try a meeting at a different location next week and see how it goes. I used to have a leader named Sally who was the most amazing person. Right about the time I lost my Gran, her husband was diagnosed with a form of cancer and she had to stop being a WW leader. I haven't been able to find someone as wonderful as her since then. You don't realize just how important a nurturing leader really is. But I am planning to have a great week and I'll report in next week how well my first week goes. After all, I am working to get 25 pounds off by the time David and I go to San Francisco.

Speaking of vacations, 2/3 of my vacations with David have fizzled. Las Vegas got cancelled because his travel schedule got moved around, and NY got cancelled because he won't be going to that meeting. So we decided that we'll spend more time in SF and enjoy the vacation. I think this is better for us because the SF trip is one where he won't have to be working part of the time. So this will give us time to relax and enjoy each other. I can't wait!

So it's going to be a good day. I hope everyone else has a great Friday, too!

Quick Update

Thanks again to all of you! Joseph's good news is that his job is safe. Sadly though, 80 of his co-workers' jobs are not. The company he works for is moving production jobs to Mexico, but administrative jobs are safe. So thanks to those of you who sent good thoughts his way...it worked!!

Rally the Troops!

If you haven't noticed, I am all about my friends and family. When someone I care about is in trouble, you all know that I appeal to each of you to send good toughts or prayers. (I hope you know that I do the same for you, too!!)

So I am asking you again to send good thoughts to a friend. Joseph called me this morning to say that there is something big shaking down at his job and he is afraid he may get laid off. He may not, but this guy needs a break! He was a victim of all the WorldCom stuff (he lost his entire savings, not to mention his job!), and has had crummy luck with jobs ever since. He likes this job and it was good for him to have something stable that he could depend upon. So now I am asking that you take just a few minutes and send him good vibes. He's a good friend and I don't want to see him have to go through this again.

So on to me. I absolutely exhausted myself yesterday. It was a long, mentally draining day at work, and then I went to Grampa's for dinner. Then I went to Mom and Dad's to do homework (I am sponging off their DSL connection), and finally got home around 10-10:30. I felt terrible when David called...I wasn't good conversation. He'd had a pretty good day and had lots of news to share, but I was so tired I wasn't able to focus very clearly on what he was saying. I had to end the call and get myself to bed. I was so tired that after I got into bed I got a little tearful...for no reason other than just being so drained! I realized on my way to work I have been forgetting to take my vitamins, so I need to make sure I take one as soon as I get home tonight. I think that will help a lot. I need to be as energetic as possible, as I have got to get the rough draft of my paper finished since I have to turn it in on Sunday. I have a full sentence outline completed, but I need to fill it in and get a few more sources. So much to do! But the nice thing is that David comes home tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier! I have missed him so much! But it's always nice when he comes back. When I fed Angela's dogs last weekend, she and her husband were so sweet and gave me a gift card to the Pappas chain of restaurants, so David and I will put it toward a nice dinner to celebrate our six months together.

Hey, I get my two new pairs of shoes tomorrow! Yay! Will show them off here as soon as I get them!

One more thing...I am going to Weight Watchers tonight, so I am going to get back into full swing with my weight loss. Enough of the gaining and maintaing...I am going to have 25 pounds off by June 22!! So this is a good thing and I am ready to get to it!

Everyone have a great Thursday!!

Middle of the Week!

I am so glad it's Wednesday! It's dinner with Grampa tonight, and I am looking forward to it as always! I really can't stay too long because I do have a lot of homework to get done. My rough draft is due on my paper Sunday, and I need to get that done.

David is in Atlanta today and tomorrow. He is meeting up with a couple of colleagues, and they will be taken to dinner by one of their managers, so David will get to have a nice dinner out tonight, and I am happy for him. It will be nice for him to have dinner with people he knows! Sometimes I worry that he might get lonely out there by himself. (But he's a big boy and has done this many times, so I should worry about him...but I love him and just can't help it!)

I got to see Joseph and Dima last night. It was nice to see them for a bit. We've got to get together on the weekend when we have more time!

So that's all my news for now. I hope everyone has a good Wednesday!

One Day Closer to Friday

Not that it's a bad week, but I am counting down the days until David comes home! :) He is in Georgia right now and will be driving to Atlanta tonight. He is doing so well with Born, and I am so proud of how hard he works. He has such a strong work ethic, and I hope Born recognizes what kind of talent they have! (Oh, I got to order two pair of shoes and I get them this week! I can't wait!!)

Generally speaking, things are going well. I am looking forward to getting to see Joseph tonight. I feel like we haven't gotten to sit and talk in forever, so it will be nice to see him. Things seem to be going well with him and that makes me very happy. I am slowly getting the chance to get caught up with friends. We have all been so busy that it has taken a while. One of the best bits of news I have is Christy and Rich's official wedding date! October 28th of this year, and Christy has asked me to be her Maid of Honor...what a great honor for me! I am so flattered, and I am looking forward to making it a wonderful experience for her. I want to start thinking about her bridal shower now so that it goes off without a hitch! I love weddings so much, and there are so many wonderful things to look forward to as we plan her very special day. She has several bridesmaids, so we can all work together to ensure everything is perfect! :)

In other news, I am still down 1.8 pounds! Kim, I saw on your blog that you gained a pound, but I am positive that it's muscle so don't be down about it!! I had decided to make losing 1-2 pounds my goal for the week, but I didn't actually weigh myself until last Wednesday so I will weigh in officially tomorrow morning and post the results. I am retaining some water, so hopefully that won't be an issue in the morning, but we shall see! Mom and I have decided to re-join WW (again!) but are trying out a Thursday night meeting this week. Sundays are just difficult days for me, and I think she and I are both ready to re-commit to WW. I want to have 25 pounds off by my birthday, and I can do it but it will take some real dedication. I think I'm ready! I'll let you know how it goes.

David and I celebrate our 6 month anniversary on Sunday! Now, I don't have to celebrate every month, but I think 6 months is special! Actually, more than celebrating the amount of time together, I just want to celebrate how happy I am with David. He is so special, and he makes me feel very special. I was talking to my cousin Jennifer last night, and she told me that even though she hasn't met David yet, she already knows he's the one for me just by hearing how I talk about him. I thank God every day for helping us find each other! :)

So I am having a good day, as you can probably tell. Nothing in particular, just feeling happy. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

One more thing...thanks to everyone who helped me to remember my friend Karen by either reading about her a few posts below, or by doing something good for someone else. She had a very big heart for animals, and so I am going to donate some time and money to a local animal shelter in remembrance of her.

Have a great day everyone!

3 Day Weekend = LONG Monday!

I took Friday off to relax, and I certainly did just that! I lounged, got schoolwork done, and just enjoyed my day! David came over that evening and my parents took us to dinner and a movie. We saw Failure to Launch, which I thought was VERY funny! After that, we took care of Angela's doggies and then headed back to my place. We headed back to David's side of town on Saturday so he could get some work done and get packed for his trip. After getting his stuff done, we made dinner and watched Capote. It was a really intense movie, but David fell asleep and missed about 2/3 of it. (It's usually me that does that!) Sunday the poor boy had to work some more, and then we went to visit his parents for a bit. Then we went to the store and came back and made dinner and watched all our favorite Sunday night shows.

David called me this morning from the airport to tell me that he comes back Friday night instead of Saturday, so I am one happy girl!! :) It will probably be kind of late, but I don't mind one bit!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!