Bon Voyage!

To complete our 2008 travels, John and I leave tomorrow for our majestic Alaskan cruise. We will spend the night in Seattle, hit the Pike Place Market on Sunday morning and then board our ship for 7 glorious days of cool weather and maximum gluttony.

I don't have any guest bloggers lined up this time (though they still have my login information if they so choose to step in). And I will be forced to be away from the computer the entire time (what's the wireless rate for the middle of the ocean?).

So, don't expect any posts for at least the next 8 days! We will enjoy every minute of it, as we won't be going anywhere else for a while!

I will return soon enough with photos from the trip, and even a few "those were the days" photos of me and John as children. A friend is scanning in A LOT of pictures for our adoption profile book and I can't wait to share some of these with you guys!

Have a great week while we're gone!

P.S.--as if I needed ANOTHER reason to love David Cook, I found this tidbit of info from him at People.com:

David Cook is "an expert television watcher," he said on American Idol. "I'm also fantastic at sleeping and eating…They're not talents so much as skills."

I'm telling you, it's like we're soulmates!

AI

WOOO-HOOO!!!!

Now I know, you guys. Now I know why so many people LOVE American Idol.

It's too bad John was not that excited when David Cook won tonight. I was, and I'm pretty sure I called him "my man".

I love that guy...

HS Sweetheart

Tonight I was flipping radio stations in the car and came across "The River" by Garth Brooks and HELLO I was immediately transported to high school and every talent show audition ever. Someone always auditioned with that song, just like they did with "More Than Words". And it may have been one of the songs sung to me by HS boyfriend.

Other songs included "Right Here Waiting", "I'll Be" and "No One Else Knows it But Me". What can I say? We were choir nerds and I inspired a lot of songs.

I also recall another HS date who sang "Sweet Child of Mine" during a school talent show and I thought it was the coolest song EVER.

If you can't admit you were a nerd, then you probably haven't moved past it, right?

Bargain Hunters

I forget how much I love GREAT DEALS!!!

But I also remember how much I don't love hunting to find the good deals. So if someone else tells me about it, I can go get the great deal and claim it as my own.

One store I've known about for a long time is Steve and Barry's. But it's like 30 minutes away on the opposite side of town so I forget about it or I don't want feel driving down there. But Robin alerted me to the fact that they had windbreakers there, so I thought a $9 waterproof windbreaker was reason enough to drive on down there. I needed something waterproof for Alaska.

Not only did I find the PERFECT black, waterproof, hooded windbreaker but I also found an adorable pair of dark purple Wellies by SJP's Bitten line. For $9. I know...awesome, right? AND the perfect brown and pink polo for only $5. I was pumped up, the adrenaline was flowing.

Matt had mentioned CVS had binoculars on sale for $10 so I headed there and got an awesome pair of Vivitar binoculars for whale watching and eagle watching in Alaska!!

You know it was a big deal for me since I skipped out on a "Law and Order" marathon in favor of shopping.

John and I booked our excursions in Ketchikan and Skagway, I emptied the DVR (first time in around 9 months that's happened), I went through hundreds of old photos at my mom's house for our profile book (I promise...will be posted soon! I was too cute!), and saw the people we adopted Faith from 2 years ago and caught up with them. It was a great weekend!

Now I have a looooooooong week ahead of me, trying to get everything done at work before we leave on Saturday. I can't wait (especially with my cute new Wellies and jacket!).

Acronyms

FYI, I should let you know I'm now speaking in acronyms. Not texting, but speaking.

BTW (by the way)
FYI (for your information)
OMG (oh my gosh)
WTF (what the....)
BFF (best friend forever)
LOL (laugh out loud)
JIC (just in case)
IDK (I don't know)

It's really for convenience...to help me get through my conversations faster. If you have any other speech shortcuts, let me know and I'll incorporate them. It's what all the kids are doing.

Hello, Lover

Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino.

OMG.

That's CHOCOLATE whipped cream on top, people. CHOCOLATE. WHIPPED. CREAM.

"Uh, hi, I'd like a tall chocolate whipped cream please." It's like topping your chocolate mint shake with chocolate mousse.

Oh, yeah, rest of the drink is delish, too.

My new best friend!

Gross fact for the day

You want to hear something really gross?

I know you do, so here goes...

I don't have a huge amount of wax buildup in my ears very often, so I clean them out every couple of weeks. I'm sorry if that grosses you out, but I just have no need to except for every few weeks.

After Hawaii, I cleaned my ears out pretty well (I thought) because, well, there was sand EVERYWHERE. I was cleaning my ears for several days in a row getting sand out. I think there is still sand in my shoes and clothes.

Anyway, so I go to clean my ears out this morning and there is STILL sand in my ears. I went to Hawaii a month ago, and there is still sand in my ears. How does that even happen?

That's the real stuff, people. We're here at Anderson Happenings--keepin' it real. You're welcome.

Name Change

This guy was born Buffalo Bill Hawkins and changed his name to Yisrayl Hawkins.

Let me repeat. He was born Buffalo Bill. He changed his name from Buffalo Bill to Yisrayl.

I mean, obviously he's crazy. But perhaps it has something to do with that fact that his name is really BUFFALO BILL?!

Paparazzi

I have found the ultimate gift.

Imagine your favorite part of People magazine. And be honest...it's not the human interest stories. No, it's the Star Tracks. Your favorite part of US Weekly? The "stars, they're just like us" section. We all think it's sick, but we eat up paparazzi reporting.

I cannot think of anything better to do for myself than hire my own paparazzi!! And now I can!

For $250 I can get the "A-List Package" which would include 4 personal paparazzi following me for 30 minutes, shouting personal questions and snapping me getting in and out of my car.

But, really, I'm better than A-List. I would go for the "Megastar" package. Because for $1500 I can not only get 6 photographers following me around for 2 hours with personal questions, but I would also get my own personal publicist, limo service AND a bodyguard. Because that's what I really deserve.

So if you're going out with me anytime soon, don't be surprised to be bombarded by paparazzi. Maybe after a couple of hires, they'll realize I am a star and go all Lohan on me!

Currently

I'm here, I'm here.

Work has been so busy this week, some (temporary) changes going on that will keep me occupied for a while. I've been working every night at home, but it's ok. I like being busy!

Unfortunately it's not great for blogging. I don't even have time to check blogs during the day and I'm very behind in Bloglines.

But I'm here. Currently wishing for the next 20 minutes that Jason Castro gets voted off on "Idol". Last night I voted for the very first time....it was nerdily (is that a word) exciting. I voted for, of course, David Cook. I may have voted twice....

I'm also currently beyond uninterested in Mariah Carey's marriage, Jamie Lynn Spears' baby shower, Barbara Walters anything, and Cher's 1980s crush on Tom Cruise--yet that is all that seems to be on the entertainment news circuit.

Currently wishing I was my sister and in Hawaii right now.

Anyway...that's it for now. I miss you guys, but I will be better tuned in soon.

UPDATE: SWEET!! Jason's gone...I can continue to finally enjoy this show!!!

The Wedding

Just a few pictures, one week later, from my mom's beautiful wedding. Very small and intimate, but perfect nonetheless. The weather was seriously perfect. I didn't want to go inside to eat! That never happens in Oklahoma. Not cold, not hot, not WINDY.

By the way, my sister and I did not even PLAN our dresses being so similar. She showed up at my house to ride together, and we happened to be in these dresses! Great minds think alike...

We're so happy Bill is part of our family now, and thrilled Mom is so very happy. It was a great day!

Visitors

Remember when I said I removed the site meter from my blog, because I was too obsessed with it? Well, a while back I reinstalled it. Great fun, that thing is.

What brings people to this site? Well, mostly it's the loved ones I know. This isn't an overly exciting site, especially lately with all the writer's block and vacation and work. But still...there are some people that end up here from fun web searches.

Recent faves?
"tater tot casserole duggar's"
"kailua beach sex pictures"
"pain in the butt husbands"

I'm not sure what to think about all that, especially since I'm quite certain I didn't post any sex pictures from Kailua Beach. I didn't, right? HA! You guys are all questioning now!!!!

Seriously, no pictures to post. Promise.

And I'm pretty sure I've referred to my husband as a lot of things, but "pain in the butt" has never escaped this keyboard. Except maybe in a private e-mail when he forgets to take the trash out...

This is fun! What crazy things have brought people to your website?