The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Watching highlights of OU football never, ever gets old.

Boomer Sooner!!!!!

American Idols Live

I got a call from my mom yesterday about 4:30...she'd come upon 4 FREE tickets to the American Idol Live concert last night, did I know anyone who'd want them? WHAT?! Yes! I want them!

I thought of the many people that might want to go, but the first people that popped up were my friends in the office. I got 2 on-board and left to get the tickets. It was 5:00 and the concert started at 7:00! I didn't end up getting anyone for the fourth seat (I would have called, but I know so many of you are busy and can't just drop your kids even for the chance to see David Cook in person!).

We had a fabulous time...I will say we were at the young end of the average age. I would say 70% of the crowd was over 40. And, believe it or not, there were lots of men there! Oh, sure, there were plenty of screaming Archuleta fans. But there were plenty of families and older couples enjoying the show.

Worst part? Definitely Kristy Lee Cook who did not smile or have any energy on stage. Everyone else was great. Michael Johns and the two Davids were definitely my favorites. Syesha was A-MA-ZING in person, Carly is super skinny now, Brooke is just fun. I don't really like Jason Castro but his last song was awesome. Chikezie was really good, too.

Pics below: Top Ten together, David Cook (3 pics), David Archuleta (3 pics), Michael Johns, Syesha, Carly, Brooke, and 4 of the girls. It was so fun, especially because it was free. I would say now more than ever...I'm officially an American idol fan.

I love David Cook!

Things I do that embarrass my husband

Some of the things I do that embarrass my husband:

1.) Sing loudly and proudly all the words to 'Gangsta's Paradise'...especially when I sing "fool" really loud at the end. I love that song...who doesn't love a little 90s rap?

2.) Follow up 'Gangsta's Paradise' with all the words to Montell Jordan's 'This is How We Do It'. Favorite line? "You see the hood's been good to me, ever since I was a lower-case g. But now I'm a big G, all the girls see I got the money, hundred dollar bills y'all".

3.) I will watch anything with Mark-Paul Gosselaar in it. He'll always be Zack Morris to me.

4.) I can name all 6 Brangelina kids in order of their ages (Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, Vivienne) and in the order they became part of the Jolie-Pitt family (Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh, Pax, Knox, Vivienne)...and the countries they were born in (Cambodia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Namibia, France). Y'all, I did that off the top of my head...now you know why John gets embarrassed.

5.) One of my favorite t-shirts says "I only drum naked".

Just a few things that I know make him roll his eyes and die of embarrassment...I love that guy!

Michael Phelps: The Early Years

It's the little things

Today I went to the grocery store and spent almost 2 hours there. Because I haven't been in 3 months. We haven't eaten at home in 3 months. Do you know how expensive that is?

Then we filled up almost two trashbags of empty or expired grocery items (didn't want another syrup incident...in fact, I threw out a bottle of syrup). Now I have all new groceries and a plan to eat at home for a while. I can't wait!

Then when I got home, I cleaned the kitchen sink and the garbage disposal. You know how every once in a while there is a smell that comes from deep in the sink? Usually I just run water or bleach through and it fades. But I read how to really clean it. Now I have a very shiny, citrusy kitchen sink!

It's the little things...

(BTW, one of my favorite bloggers is back from her blogging hiatus! She also happened to be a friend IRL, too.)

Prince

If I had Twitter, my tweet right now would be:

I do not understand Prince. He was slightly before my time and I just don't understand. Please someone explain to me why he is the epitome of sex?

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No...I'm not going to Twitter because I don't want to take the time to understand it. But every once in a while I have a thought that needs to be shared. I NEED to understand this.

Puppets

Every couple of months our class leads Children's Bible Hour at our church. This includes singing, drama/skits, puppets, memory verses, prayers, Bible stories and review. When it works, it's great and a lot of fun. When it doesn't...well, we learn a lot.

Recently several new puppets have been introduced. New girl puppets. Which is good because the old ones need a serious dose of "Shear Genius". But we noticed something recently about the new puppets. They are....anatomically correct. They are supposed to be little girl puppets but they have gigantic knockers. And earrings. And we all know what boobs and earrings mean...

I thought about taking a picture so you could see, but this is not that kind of website.

I don't really have anything to say about them. It just makes me laugh. Why would anyone go to the trouble of putting boobs on puppets? Especially when it makes them even more stacked than most of the nursing mothers in our church.

I'm glad I don't Twitter because a lot my tweets would be filled with questions about anatomically correct puppets.

Overheard at a local Applebee's

"So, Jenna's a vegetarian now."

"Oh, really? What brought that on?"

"She likes cows."

"What?"

"She likes cows. That's what she said. She likes cows and doesn't think it's fair to eat them."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I like cows. Everyone likes cows, it doesn't mean we can't eat them."

"I'm just telling you what she said. She likes cows too much to eat them."

"Isn't it a sign of favor to eat them? I mean, we like them so much it's only natural to eat them. It's God's plan. He made cows to be eaten."

Amen, Sir. Amen.

So, it's one of those days when things catch up with me

Last year around this time my traveling season was well under way. One week in particular was extremely difficult...I believe I flew from OK to Pittsburgh to L.A. to Sacramento in a span of 5 days and I can vividly remember feeling like I could not even get on the plane to fly back home. It was just too much.

But, as always I made it through and went on to travel on many more trips that year, learning travel tips and seeing new cities all along the way. It is natural, with the way my client does annual planning, that the early part of the year is generally Oklahoma-based. But beginning in July of each year, it is certain that I will live in the airport and various hotels.

I wish now I'd kept track of where all I've been and how many hotels I've slept in. There are few major airlines that I have not flown on. I've mastered airport security, I pack a great carry-on suitcase and can even lift it myself in the overhead bin. I can read gate information faster than most, ride in a taxi like a pro. And I've learned a very valuable lesson the hard way about checking to make sure you get ALL your personal items off the plane (ahem, like an iPod).

But despite all this, I haven't figured out how to not feel completely, totally exhausted. For 8 weeks in a row I will be away from home at least one night a week. I'm in week 5 right now. 3 more to go, including a trip to West Virginia that will be three nights away from home guaranteed, and that's IF the flights are all on time. I will have 2 weeks of no travel (well, nothing planned YET) and then another 3 weeks of being gone at least two nights a week.

I am completely exhausted. I'm tired and the ironic thing about it all is that being gone so much and away from friends and family turns me into a hermit, a total homebody. The mere thought of being away from the house in the evenings makes me panicky. I hesitate to socialize, the thought of taking on extra responsibility terrifies me. I just want to curl up and sleep.

Today it has caught up with me. I have been in my current career position for over a year now (responsibility-wise, title-wise for a couple of months), so the work load is not unexpected. And it's not like I'm afraid I can't do it. I can do it. I'm just so tired. I wonder why waiting in an airport is so tiring?

So, I'm a little emotional today. Not in an airport, rather in the back of a car on my way back from Dallas. So, I just thought I'd whine a little bit here at my blog. Because I love to whine and feel sorry for myself.

It's at times like this that I think Jewel can be really helpful. Ok, so I'm being funny, but not really. I'm serious...I remember being 15 and thinking about how Jewel "got me". Like Claire Danes on "My So-Called Life" and Leonardo DiCaprio in everything. I felt like Jewel was someone I could sit and drink Clearly Canadian's with while wrapped in flannel and angst. She made sense to me.

In all seriousness, she sings a song called "My Hands" and the first verse goes like this:

If I could tell the world just one thing it would be: we're all ok.
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these.
I won't be made useless, I won't be idle with despair.
I'll wrap myself around my faith, for the light the darkness most fears.

She totally gets me. No worries, just a little sleep (and maybe some time with my husband who I MISS) will bring me back!

Guilty

I bought two new books this weekend: The Shack and Stuff White People Like.

What do you think that says about me?

Anyway, "Stuff" is hilarious. Some examples of stuff white people like: coffee, international travel, organic food, natural childbirth, Dave Chapelle, Apple products, NetFlix, hardwood floors, not owning a TV, and adopting children from foreign countries.

Trust me...it's funny.
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John and I were talking tonight about the upcoming football season. We talked about how the only three games we lost last year were games where he wasn't watching it with his friend Andrew.

Then, we realized that the only year since we met that we weren't together in some form or fashion was 2000. The year we won the National Championship.

Hhhhmmm...does that mean we're bad luck together? John said maybe we should legally separate until after bowl season. Because that's what true fans do.
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YES! Ok, it's true. I watch Swingtown. And NO, I'm not proud of it. I blame it on the summer. First step in any healing process is admitting there's a problem.

I also watch The Secret Life of the American Teenager and I want to claw my eyes out every time. But I can't. stop. watching.
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The more I look at this list, the more I feel a little bad about myself...

Makes me sick

I don't know why this story bothers me so much. It's not like it's surprising, like it never happens. It's not like I even thought of him as a good person or anything more than your average politician.

I guess I had always admired his wife and all they'd been through together. I admired her for being so strong and moving forward with her life instead of bowing down to incurable cancer. I admired her for supporting other women and for being a great example of having it all: kids, a career, a driven husband, and grace to handle it all.

When I read this story, I just felt sick. So typical. I just don't understand. She's lived a public life, given birth to four children, buried a child, and battled cancer numerous times. She's going to die from the cancer she has now. They have two very young children. Why? Why can he not keep it in his pants? Why is marriage and a history together and children and a reputation to uphold not enough for men like him?

Not that our choices are that much better these days, but thank heavens we didn't elect him president.

Ok...stepping off soapbox. I don't know why, but it really just got to me.

Twitter posts are actually called "tweets" and that makes me giggle!

Thanks, Brooke for inviting me to Twitter. You're not the first person to ask me to do it...my work has actually recommended all their employees twitter.

I would be awesome at Twittering...I could update people on very important things like:

"I like coffee in the mornings, and I never knew that about myself."
"I'm having grilled cheese for lunch because you can never have too many grilled cheese."
"Gosh, summer TV is so boring except for SWINGTOWN."
"If I'm a subscriber to People magazine, when is my Brangelina twins edition arriving in my mailbox?"
"I think I could be BFF with Ben Stiller. He's definitely my kind of people, I could tell from the back of the room."
"Do I want a cheeseburger or a hamburger for dinner?"
"I wonder how hard it would be to Twitter while driving?"
"How many times can you wear these dress pants before taking them to the cleaners?"
"Is my newfound obsession with Neil Patrick Harris a problem? Do I need therapy because he's AWESOME!"
"I'm using kitchen tongs to pick up John's sweaty mowing shirt and transfer it to the washer."

See...I would be awesome at Twitter. Not boring at all.

I think Twitter would only make me feel more pathetic and boring. This blog is already a reflection of how little I do besides work, sleep, drink coffee and watch borderline questionable television!

Thoughts on Twitter? Would you follow me?

Same pose, very different babies

I think you can tell who's who...

A first time for everything

I had my first canceled flight this week. I knew it was coming. Pretty amazing, actually, that I went this long without ever experiencing a canceled flight. I've been delayed before, but never canceled.

Anyway...I'll save you a long boring story. It was long, exhausting, but I made it home and that's all that matters!