Oh, Yuck...

Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Friday night my stomach started feeling kind of funny around dinnertime. I hadn't eaten lunch, so I figured I was just hungry. So I proceeded to gorge on chips, queso, quesadillas, refried beans, and sopapillas at Poblano's. I'm sure you can all guess what happened next.

Around 11:00 I was in the throes of a full-on 24-hour stomach flu. It's one of those things that comes around every 10 years or so, but when it visits it's mean and nasty and relentless. I finally fell into a light sleep around 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

Lo and behold, we get a call from our realtor at 8:30. For the first time since the ice storm, someone wants to come look at our house in an hour. Well, considering I'd lost every fluid in my body, had less than 2 hours sleep, and was too weak to walk we had to decline. Plus, we needed to disinfect the house--I wouldn't wish this on anyone, and certainly not a potential buyer! Luckily, they understood and are coming this afternoon.

I felt much better yesterday, especially after some Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup, a few saltines, and gallons of Gatorade. Today I feel even better. I went to bed around 8:00 last night and woke up at 9:00 this morning. After a little disinfecting of the house, I think I'm even ready to get out and about.

I have to tell you, though...I love my husband. And it's very obvious that he loves me. He was so good to me that night, and I'm surprised he is still attracted to me after all the disgustingness. I have the best husband in the whole wide world!

So, the Anderson's are a couple of sad, sick, broken old people. After this week of neck injuries and stomach flus, added to the time spent in the house during the bad weather we are ready to LEAVE!! We may not come back to this house for a while...

What do you get for being a Good Samaritan?

When the storm hit, a lady in our neighborhood ended up getting her car stuck in the ice. John went to help her get it out and apparently slipped and took a pretty bad fall. I didn't see it, but our neighbor did and he was laughing pretty hard.

Anyway....John was pretty sore after it happened, but figured it would pass. It didn't. Monday night we went out to eat and he was so out of it. By the time we got home, he was ready to go to the hospital. He was in so much pain he couldn't even wait to get into the doctor. He couldn't move his head, couldn't lay down, couldn't stand up. So, at around 9:00 we headed to the ER.

We spent several agonizing hours waiting for the nurse practitioner to tell him his muscles were just tight, give him a shot, and send him home. We went to Walgreens and filled some pretty awesome prescriptions for Lortab and a strong muscle relaxer. So, John's pretty much been asleep in the recliner for 3 days now. He feels better, but still very sore. That's what you get for being a good Samaritan. :)

So obviously we are not very exciting this week. It's actually been ok because I've had a busy week at work and have spent most evenings at home working. So, sorry for few updates this week....hope to have more fun things to say soon!

Oh! One thing we did do was start Financial Peace University this week. I'm impressed already....it's not any new information, just a better way to think about things. It looks like we'll be able to pay off our credit card debt by the time we finish this class in 12 weeks, and then we can start chipping away at the car loans. We're totally pumped....I'll keep you updated!

On a topic a little more serious

I have wanted to post a special request on here for a while, and I just haven't. Probably because many of you who read this already know the situation and are already praying. But for those of you who don't know....please read this and say a little prayer.

I grew up with a girl named Haley Price-Hawley. And when I say grew up, I mean I have pictures from 5-year-old birthday parties of the two of us! We went to church and youth group together until we graduated, and our families still keep up with each other.

Haley and her husband, Zach, were fortunate enough to welcome a baby girl into their family last year. And from what I can tell, Harper is the light of their lives. But Harper is very sick, and needs as many prayers as she can get.

Yesterday Zach, Haley, and Harper headed home from Cook Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth, after 46 days in the OKC and TX hospitals. I am so encouraged and filled with hope after reading Zach's blog entry from today. While they don't know what the future holds, they are now home with Harper and have taken her off medication. I know their prayer is for healing and for comfort.

Please take a moment and read Harper's blog. Learn a little about this unbelievable family, their strength, hope, and trust in God and their very strong little girl. And if you can, please say a prayer.

WHAT?????

This is apparently the new look in men's fashion. This is wrong on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin. I love how they added a nice briefcase, and shiny shoes. Thank goodness he's not wearing a crazy pair of socks....that would totally detract from the overall look. And when did sweater jackets come in style for guys?

I should let you know that I'm against all leggings, even on 13-year old girls. But on men...I don't think I need to say anything more.

Roommates...

Seriously....how did I NOT know about crockpot bags? What a dream...I don't care how expensive they are, I'm buying them. Thanks for the suggestion, everyone!

I wanted to tell you about my really fun day yesterday. It all started back in November, when I was working in Tulsa. We had an early morning Saturday event, so we went up the night before to stay in this really shady motel (Microtel...do not stay there). But, they had free WiFi so I was game. I had time to kill, so I started exploring MySpace like I always do.

All of a sudden, as I was perusing my friend Liz's blog, I saw a familiar face on her Friends list. It was Jenny, my freshman dorm roommate! Which was so strange, because Liz is a friend from my after-college life. We met just a few years ago, so it's not like she knew Jenny from OU or that I could have missed meeting Liz while I was there.

Turns out Liz and Jenny work together...the same department and everything. It is a lot weirder than it sounds, just go with me.

Anyway, I couldn't call Liz at that moment because she was on vacation in Maine...so I messaged Jenny and found out what she was up to. It was so cool! We hadn't seen each other in years, but that is the power of the internet for you. All this time, Liz and I were hanging out and I never knew...

Apparently, when Liz got back to work from vacation, Jenny told her "what did Jessica tell you about me? Because I could tell you a lot about her, too..." Yikes! One of only 3 people other than family who has ever had the fortune of living with me!

So, my fun day was finally going to lunch with Jenny and Liz yesterday. We just chatted and caught up...it was so cool. Jenny and I both went "potluck" our freshman year, and ended up with each other. Thank goodness I ended up with someone cool, that didn't smell (like our suitemate) or bring random guys home and tie a scarf on the door or something (which our suitemate did). She's just a nice, smart, clean, funny person...

Anyway, Jenny...I had fun! Let's do lunch again soon...

I'm such a Hater

Things I hate:

1) Cleaning the crockpot

2) "Treating yourself" to $150 on facial products and makeup only to have it backfire on you, causing breakouts like you've NEVER had before, and ending up with a dermatologist tell you to suspend use of those expensive products. Then to have the dermatologist ($35 copay) prescribe you an oral ($25 copay) and topical ($25 copay) medication to take care of it "in 3-4 weeks". Then to tell you what OTC product to use to wash your face ($8) and moisturizer to use ($10). Then realize you have to change several pieces of makeup back to Walgreens version, which will probably be another $20. Add that up, and I've spent over $250 since December 26th and all I have to show for it is a face not even a mother could love. I hate Clinique.

3) Driving behind another car after the ice has melted, and having the road water kick up on your windshield. Only, it's not just water. It's dirty, muddy, oil-filled slush that sticks to your windshield and when you try to use your wipers to get it off, it only spreads thicker and causes you not to be able to see. So, then every single time you use your windshield wipers you have to use the wiper fluid just to be able to see. How ironic it would be to spend your week going an extra-careful 15 mph on the highway because there is 5 inches of solid ice on the roads, only to get into an accident in 40-degree weather with completely melted roads because the ice you so carefully avoided ended up on your windshield in the form of incredibly dirty water.

4) Real Estate. Leave it to us to put our house on the market at the exact time "Snowstorm 2006" and "Ice Storm 2007" decide to hit Oklahoma. Even if a prospective buyer could make it across town on icy streets to see our house, our front door is practically frozen shut.

5) American Idol. I do not watch this show, and yet I know everything that goes on. That's all anybody can talk about. Amish guy tryouts, Paula fully loaded, Simon a bigger jerk than ever. Ugh. I hate that show. I like the music that comes out of it (have plenty of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood albums and HELLO the Daughtry CD is awesome) but I don't enjoy the whole process of getting there.

All that and I've had a pretty good week!

Sidenote: When I did spellcheck, the suggested word for "crockpot" came up as "crackpot". That, my friends, is funny!

You could figure skate in our back yard if you wanted...

In case you were wondering...we both came out unscathed from our weekend of Ice Storm 2007. I managed to get out once, to eat at one of the only open restaurants in town. But other than that I stayed inside. It was really bad outside! The roads are still not "safe" to drive....we have to be extra careful. But I was ready to come back to work.

Things I managed to do while locked in the house for 4 days:
-watched lots of random TV
-read a magazine
-explored "Shine Happy" by Clairol in my hair. It's like hair dye without the color that makes your hair shiny. I'm glad it was only $8.
-mountains of laundry washed and put away
-scrubbed the bathtub
-slept
-mopped the kitchen floor
-watched "The Da Vinci Code" (love that movie)
-did not check e-mail, since we had no internet service over the weekend
-listened to John go on and on about Guitar Hero (his copy should be arriving today in the mail)
-slept
-called Melissa just to talk and watch TV over the phone like we used to do in 9th grade
-watched "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Clueless" on TV all 623 times they were on this weekend
-cried over my sudden turn as "Breakout Queen"....it's so bad
-tried to finish my book, but kept falling asleep
-ate home-cooked meals
-did not get annoyed with John (he really wasn't that bad!)

Whoa...that's it? Where did my time go? Four days and I don't have much to report on! Weight Watchers is not going to be pretty this week, since all there is to do on an icy weekend is sit at home and eat. But that's ok....tomorrow begins another week.

Pray for my grandparents. They live in Springfield, MO and have been without power since Friday night. And while you're at it, pray for the other hundreds of thousands without power for many days now. There are many people that are very cold with no end in sight...it's been quite a week in weather.

Ice Storm 2007

I've been home for 9 hours. John has been home for 8 and a half. The ice storm is not only expected to continue through the weekend, but get worse. And John's computer fried today so he can't work. And our wireless signal is very weak so it's hard to even surf the internet on my computer. And I'm not so afraid of losing power, but I'm VERY afraid of losing cable.

We may not make it out alive. And when I say that, I mean we might kill each other.

What's Your Sign?

I had a really nice cab ride to the airport this morning. Great cab driver. His name was Davon, he's originally from Washington D.C. Came to Los Angeles because he majored in film in college. Then he got married and had a kid, the film thing wasn't taking off like he hoped so he started driving a cab.

Unfortunately he's going through a divorce. But this cab thing is a great way to meet people, apparently. Then the conversation began to take a turn for the weird:

"I get to meet people and have great conversations, just like the one I'm having with you."

"I bet....what interesting experiences you must have."

"Yeah...this has been great. So, what's your sign?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your sign...you know, your birth sign?"

"Uummm....aries."

"Really? Wow! Aries are supposed to be the perfect match for me. I'm a scorpio. We work best with aries. What's your husband's sign?"

"Uh...um...I think a virgo."

"Aaahh...well, you're lucky. Virgo's pretty much get along with anyone. If he was a capricorn you'd be in trouble."

"(weak, uncomfortable laughter) I guess that's a good thing."

"Man, I hope you come back to L.A. sometime. Maybe I'll be your cab driver then."

"Wow...there's the Southwest gate. Guess I better be on my way."

Reason number 216 I don't want to live in L.A.: cab drivers that use astrology to pick up girls. Remember what I said about cab drivers killing people? I may not be too far off...

Sweet Potatoes

Ok...where do sweet potatoes come from? Because if they come from Idaho then I've broken my boycott. I had sweet potato fries....but in my defense it's been 10 days since I decided to boycot potatoes and I've done it! I've passed on french fries almost every day...maybe sweet potatoes don't count??

That, my friends, is the extent of excitement for Jessica's first trip to California.

Hollywood

Well, I arrived in one piece with all my luggage to L.A. yesterday. That was a feat and I spent most of the morning thinking LAX would lose my luggage or I would get robbed. I think my expectations for Californians was lower than it was for New Yorkers! But, I have thankfully been proven wrong. It's been a great experience, all 24 hours I've spent here.

I have a conference meeting in Hollywood today, so I came in a little earlier to get settled and to see what little sights I could. I spent a few hours bumming around town, checking out the Kodak Theatre and the "Walk of Fame" stars. You can see the Hollywood sign from the hotel, and my room view includes downtown LA and Hollywood Hills....it's pretty nice! Today will be spent wrapped up in a meeting, but I've got the evening open to see what I can see. I was kind of ticked, because I couldn't figure out where the People's Choice Awards were being held last night. The Oscars and such are usually held at the Kodak Theatre, which is right next door to my hotel. But obviously the PCAs were not there, because it certainly wasn't a madhouse last night!

Have you ever seen "Kiss the Girls" with Ashley Judd before? You know the crazy cab diver that locks people in and then kills them on their way home from the airport? Every time I get into a cab that's what I think about. I don't worry about the swerving in and out of lanes and the honking (and boy was there honking yesterday) or the lightning-fast speed. No, I worry he's taking me down some backroads to a torture chamber and I'm never getting out. And let me tell you, my cab driver yesterday looked like he could do that. So that was one more sigh of relief when I arrived at the hotel: the plane didn't crash, my bags arrived, and the cab driver didn't kill me. I was so relaxed after all that I didn't know what to do with myself.

This morning has been so nice. Since we're two hours behind OK time, I slept until 7:15, which was really 9:15. Then I have been sitting in bed working on my laptop, enjoying the view of downtown LA through the huge picture window in my room, and munching on room service. It's fun...I don't often take time to enjoy the travel opportunities I get with this job so a morning like this helps me realize how fortunate I am and how fun it really can be. Tonight my friend, Beletra, and I are going out on the town...ok, maybe we're just going next door shopping and out to eat with her friend that lives here, but it's fun to think we're going out on the town. I can pretend all I want that I like to stay out late and party, but what I really want to do is pack my suitcase and crawl in bed. I'm so boring!

Prepare yourself: this week the Sooners lost, I went on a diet, and I'm learning about Saddam Hussein

Random thoughts as I'm almost finished with the first week of 2007:

There are low-fat, sugar-free, and lite versions of just about everything. But I refuse to sacrifice on three things: maple syrup, 2% milk, and peanut butter. There just is no substitute....

I just watched a video about something called "Cringe Night", where a huge group of people get together once a month at a bar in Brooklyn and read from their teenage diaries. WHAT?! Why would anyone want to do that? I might want to read OTHER people's diaries, but I would never want anyone to read mine! I think I still have them, tucked away in a memory box probably in my attic. Anyway, that sounds like a very embarrassing experience and I'm blushing just thinking about it....

My sister brought me a present last night. It's my discontinued Bath and Body Works lip balm....5 tubes of it! And apparently there might be more, ON SALE, at the mall. Maybe I can find enough to last me 10 more years. I love that stuff...

John traded in every last Xbox thing he has for a Playstation 2 and a backordered copy of Guitar Hero. I told him we have to get Karaoke Revolution now, for me. I rock at Ashlee Simpson like you wouldn't believe. It's going to be a party at our house! Also, I told him not to bother with Dance, Dance Revolution since I suck at it and only played it twice. It's pretty bad when you're embarrassed in your own home....by yourself...

There is a fantastic website called www.dwlz.com where a lady has over 500 restaurant menus listed and the Weight Watcher points for many of their items. I say fantastic because it's a wealth of information, though you may want to stab a pen in your eye when you see how much chicken crispers at Chili's are...

I'm still holding strong on the potato boycott. Four days and counting. Makes WW a lot easier...

My sister got into OU!!!!! The Sooner blood runs rampant through our household. Another Stoops convert. Boomer Sooner, Julia...

I love how Rosie O'Donnell is expressing her moral authority for Donald Trump about expressing his moral authority, and now Nick Saban is supposed to represent the moral authority for the coaching profession. My moral authority simply says "who cares", but then again I can't stop reading article after article about all of it...

Someone told me today that Bob Stoops has a chance of being fired and I laughed in their face. No really....laughed IN their face. Please, people...when we start firing Bob Stoops for a season like this we're no better than Miami. And I promise--we're better than Miami...

I have been having nightmares and really crappy nights of sleep because I keep staying up to watch documentaries on the History channel about Saddam Hussein, Nazi Germany, and cults. Who said learning was good for you??

I will sign off now. I actually have an exciting Friday night planned for the first time in a long time. We're going out to dinner and I have to prepare myself for conversation that doesn't involve WW, Boise State, or realtors. And I'm pretty sure the Iraq nerve gas attacks are probably not appropriate dinner conversation for Steve's Rib...but you never know!

Happy New Year from the Anderson's

We hope everyone has a fantastic 2007. Though the year started on a sour note with the Fiesta Bowl, we're sure it is going to be a great year! Boomer Sooner, we'll be in the hunt for a Championship in the fall!

Our 2007 resolutions include:
-Being wiser with our financial decisions. (We will be attending Financial Peace University for 13 weeks beginning January 15th)
-Getting healthier. (We're both joining Weight Watchers again, because we can be very successful at it when we try and because it's a great long-term lifestyle change)
-Watching our language and controlling what comes out of our mouths. We're both better than what we let slip a lot of times! We're not sailors by any means, but we don't always think before talking especially when we're angry! I should mention that neither one of our mother's raised us to talk that way....it just happened.

And that's it....those are the resolutions. Oh, and my resolution to not eat potatoes from Idaho for at least a week. We'll see how it goes!

New Year's Eve

This was the first time in a long time John and I had something to do on New Year's Eve. It's not the most exciting time for us. I'm sure the prospect of a New Year would be a lot more exciting if we lived on the East Coast and didn't celebrate the ball dropping twice because of time zones. And if we drank a lot....

Anyway, we were invited to a small get-together at Liz and Nathan's house. I want her house to be mine because it photographs so well....they have a beautiful home. The best part was that we actually made it until midnight! I couldn't believe it...I figured we would head home around 10 and I'd be asleep before the clock struck 12. But we stayed the entire time. And while the company was fabulous, the food and drink delicious, and the atmosphere fun (there were hats! and crowns! and noisemakers!)....it was really the Guitar Hero that kept us there until midnight. John is hooked...




















Brooke and I go way back...and this is my first photo with Baby Adcox! He/She is really starting to make it's presence known...can't wait until April!















The New Year's Resolution boards. All guests had to fill one out and post it for all to see. I have several resolutions but the ones I listed were to be wiser with my money and stop swearing. John's were to succeed at Weight Watchers and stop swearing.













These two girls (Brooke--left, Liz--right) have been my lifeline for a long time. We're all in book club together, so we do the girl bonding thing. But, fortunately, our husbands love getting together, too. So we take advantage of that quite often!















Here's Nathan rocking to Guitar Hero...















Hey, look--it's John rocking to Guitar Hero!

I had another picture of Derek rocking to Guitar Hero, but blogger won't let me post it....Darn it (notice the non-swear word?).

Anyway....you can see a theme. It was all about Guitar Hero all night long. Liz--what a great party!

It TOTALLY Sucks

To be a loser....totally sucks.

I am officially boycotting potatoes for AT LEAST a week. I'm not kidding....no french fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes....I'm done. Any potato that has a chance of coming from Idaho will not be consumed by me.

Now I'm tired from the emotional rollercoaster that was the Fiesta Bowl and I'm going to bed.

Boomer Sooner!