Hey there, remember me?

Sorry I've been a little light on the blogging lately. Work is picking up, as is usual this time of year, and I just haven't been able to spend a lot of time on the blog. So here's an update for you of recent happenings. Enjoy!

• Amar had a birthday!
• I got a raise
• ...and a promotion
• We only have 1 more membership class until we're official
• We unpacked/decorated some more
• We took our first trip to Costco as a married couple. Exciting!?
• We saw The Illusionist
• Amar chopped his hair off
• We had two dinners with two different sets of friends. Yay!
• I finally signed the lease
• I got my new drivers license
• We sorted the mail....is this really list-worthy?
• We celebrated an engagement!
• I'm still making my way through The Chronicles...I'm all the way to "Prince Caspian"
• We used our new waffle maker...sort of
• We got tickets to the A&M/Nebraska game - whoop
• We each drove to and from work several times
• I ordered a new cell phone!

So yes. Now you're all caught up. What list-worthy things have you been up to?

The big 3-0

I'm married to a thirty-year-old ;) Happy birthday, sweetie!

Happy Anniversary

Happy 1 month anniversary to us!

Yes, we've made it this far. Why not celebrate?

Sufjan: A review, of sorts

As promised, here is my review of the Sufjan Stevens concert from Friday night.

Incredible.

Before the concert, I had only heard the little iTunes snippet of a few Sufjan songs, so I didn't really know what to expect. I only knew that a few of my friends were really excited about seeing him live. That was enough for us to sign up for the show.

The opening act: My Brightest Diamond
I had a hard time with it. I really thought the lead singer had a great voice. Crisp, clear, sweet. But the lyrics and general feel of the music were not for me at all. I think someone in the group described it as "musical torture" but I won't go that far. I'm just glad I kept my dinner down (ok, maybe I will go that far...)

The big show: Sufjan Stevens
The show began with several instrumentalists filing onto stage wearing scrubs/military jackets and big butterfly wings. The back curtains parted to reveal shiny silver decorations from floor to ceiling, parting in the middle for a projector screen.

The music started, along with a psychedelic kaleidoscope-type visual on the screen, matching the tone of the instruments. It was a bright sound, if that makes sense, which was a great contrast to what we had just sat through with the opening act.

Then Sufjan entered, wearing a similar uniform, but with much bigger wings. The crowd cheered. It was shaping up to be magical.

If you're not familiar with some of his more recent music, it'll be hard for me to describe. You've got violins, trumpets, pianos, guitars, trombones, drums and a xylophone all going at once. But rather than sounding like a train wreck, it all comes together and soothes you.

He sung with a light, almost falsetto, but it was great. The lead singer of My Brightest Diamond sung backup for most of the show, and it was a great pairing. The videos changed to match the various songs, and it was a great touch.

Personally, I love instruments. I love music. I love sitting there in the audience soaking it all in. And this was a great chance to do just that. Trina reported that the band occasionally donned sunglasses, but apparently that was only for the Saturday night show. Bummer. But to echo her review, this was definitely one of the best live shows I've seen.

All in all, it was a great show. Pleasing to the ears and the eye. If you get the chance, go check it out. Odds are that you won't be disappointed.

The hot (and cold?) topic

Well, it seems like everyone is talking about the office AC:

Things you should know

I'm easily entertained, and am currently really enjoying these. Really, enjoying anything to give my cubicle some spunk. What's more fun than turning your stapler into a whale? Awesome.

After fighting a bit with my Outlook spell check, I've decided that there are just a few words that I need to add to my dictionary:

• Muwhahahahahahaha
• Yay!
• My new last name...it's apparently not recognized by Microsoft. Boy are they are missing out.
• asap
• Eh?
• Thnaks. I always seem to have a typo when typing "thanks" so I'm just inventing the word "thnaks" - spread the word.
• Yo
• Blog. Can someone please tell my why Blogger doesn't recognize "blog" as a word? Right.

And yes, all of these are used frequently in an office setting in which I'm a valuable member. Or at least that's what the tell me :)

Oh, that reminds me. My mid-year review is coming up next week. Wish me luck. I < heart > corporate America ;)

Tonight we're off to the Sufjan Stevens concert via the ACL festival. I'm not incredibly familiar with his music, but I'm excited nonetheless. Should be a good show. I'll give a review next week. Other than that, you kids have a great weekend! What are your plans?

**Updated to add:
I think I just found a solution to the previously described issue with the office AC unit: USB-heated gloves. Are these the coolest things you've ever seen or what? And yes, before you say it, I am fully aware that I am a complete DORK! What would be even cooler of them, in my opinion, is to actually put the "home row" keys on the fingers, instead of "ABCD." That, my friends, is what I offer you: Nerdery at it's finest.

First round of pictures :)

I promise that this blog will not inundate you with wedding stuff for much longer. Please, will you hang in there? Dear, sweet, lovely readers that you are?

Seriously though, we got our "official" pictures back from our photographer Stephanie on Tuesday night. It took us awhile to get through them all, but we really liked them! They should be available on-line in a few days, but in the mean time, we wanted to treat you to some other pictures that our friend Krista took.

Krista is good people. If you don't know her yet, you should. Enough said.

We got together with Krista a few months ago to do some engagement pictures. Here are some of the fabulous results.




Then, she kindly agreed to be the unofficial photographer for our rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception. Here is some of her handiwork:





The rest of Krista's pictures are viewable on our SmugMug page.

Fast-forward catching up

I've recently been a little wary of blogging. It's not that life isn't happening, it's just that after a 2 week break, it almost seems a little intimidating to have to catch up on life that I've already experienced.

I know I have pictures to post.

But I want them to be perfectly edited before I post them.

I know I have stories to write.

But I just can't bring my hands to type it all out.

So here it is, short and sweet.

Honeymoon: Aspen
Was great! Pampering like crazy in a 5 star hotel. Hanging out at the top of Mt. Aspen every day. Countless cute eateries. Countless cute houses. Countless cute dogs. Beautiful scenery. Perfect weather. Some great hikes and some great relaxing. Highly recommend it.


First week back at work: Challenging
It's great the first 10-20 times that people come by and shout "Mrs. Rama!!" I turn around and do a slight little wave and smile, and then make small talk. The inbox wasn't as daunting as I thought it would be. Motivation is hard to come by.

Mini-vacation: San Francisco

So neat. Really short trip, but really neat. Flew over the Grand Canyon - very pretty. Scenery was foggy, but beautiful. We stayed in San Jose, drove around Stanford and super-nifty Palo Alto. We trekked the bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate park. We took a scenic drive up Hwy 1. All in all, a lovely little getaway...

Let's see...what else?

Amar and I are settling into our apartment. Unpacking, organizing, decorating...all that good stuff. We're staying in town for awhile, which we're both thankful for. We both love traveling, but it's nice to stay put as well.

We got our official wedding pictures back last night and enjoyed looking through them, remembering the big day. Once they're on-line, I'll post a link.

Now that I'm mostly caught up, I can start posting on more timely events. But don't get your hopes up :)

My story

Today, as you know, is the 5 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Folks around the internet are sharing their stories of where they were that day, so I thought I'd share mine. Find out more from rocksinmydryer.typepad.com. That's where I got the note about it all...

So here's my story:

I was a senior at Texas A&M University during that fall semester in 2001. I woke up that Tuesday in time to bike to campus for my 8AM class. It was Anthropology (or something like that), and we were watching a documentary about a tribe in the Amazon.

Once class was over, I headed to the business school for my next class, on the other side of campus. I made it over there with time to spare, so I stopped by the computer lab to check my email before class started. The lab was packed, but I managed to find an open computer next to a guy from Puerto Rico.

I logged on and tried to get to my email, but the computer was really slow. After waiting for a bit for the page to load, I gave up and then tried to get to CNNs page. That gave me errors. I glanced at the computer screen next to me, and the Puerto Rican guy pointed at the screen and just said "fire." I couldn't tell what he was pointing at, but we really weren't able to communicate with each other very well. Turns out he was trying to tell me what was happening in New York. It was just before 9AM CST.

It was about time for class, so I excused myself and left the lab. I walked over to the building in which my next class was supposed to be, and found that the hallways were jammed with people, at lease more so than usual. There were TVs on in the building, and people seemed to be crowding around them. I still had no idea what was going on, but I was starting to suspect something strange was happening.

I found my friend Kristi, and she asked if I had heard. "Heard what?" I said, really having no idea what was going on. She told me that planes had flown into the Trade Center towers, and then pointed to the TV screens. All I could see was billowing smoke from the two buildings. We all just stood there, mouths hanging open in disbelief, staring up at the screen, hoping that it wasn't true.

I think at this point, the first tower had collapsed.

I don't think any of us processed it all right then.

After watching for a few more minutes, I noticed that people were slowly going to their respective classrooms, so I did the same, hoping that the prof could shed some light on the situation. She just sat there. Out of a 500 person class, there were about 100 people there. We were all dumbfounded, not really knowing if we should stay glued to the TV, try to go about normal life, panic, pray, or what. She thanked us for coming, and then said that she couldn't go on. She dismissed us and we all went back to watching the TVs in the hallway.

The second tower collapsed shortly after that.

We watched for about an hour, shocked and horrified.

My next class started and I went down the hall. My prof was a Christian, and there were about 50 people there, out of 150. We had a time of prayer. Everyone was talking about what had happened and what they thought might happen next. I thought I was going to throw up.

I stayed around for a few more minutes and watched TV. Then, I think I went home and watched for the rest of the day. My roommates and I couldn't do anything else.

What's your story?

Updates, as promised: Part 1

As I alluded to the other day, I owe you, my much beloved audience, some updates. So much has happened over the past few weeks, and you, patient readers, deserve to know :)

So Amar and I got married about 3 weeks ago, August 19 to be exact. All in all, everything went so well. From friends helping out, providing support and extra hands, to family coming into town to attend...everything seemed to fall into place quite nicely. To be honest, I thought it would be crazier than it was. I thought it would be more stressful than it turned out to be. That's a surprise I'll take any day. To give credit where credit is due, we are surrounded by some incredibly amazing friends. You know who you are, and we are so thankful to have you in our lives.

Play-by-play
We had the rehearsal (pretty much) on time, and everyone was in attendance. Things went smoothly, and Amar and I really enjoyed it. The building anticipation was fun, but it was a little surreal. It went by quickly, as Noell got people where they needed to be and informed them of their various responsibilities.

Then we were off to the Clay Pit for the rehearsal dinner. A few more friends joined us and we ate some tasty Indian food. It was a bit overwhelming to hear the various toasts from friends and family. Amar and I had to keep wiping tears from our eyes, but all in all, it was great.

Afterwards, the girls then headed out for the lingerie shower at my house, which was fun. You really can't go wrong with ice cream and cupcakes as snacks, ya know? After some games and gifts, we all headed to bed at a reasonable hour. I didn't have much trouble sleeping, so that was nice.

The wedding day started early, as the girls headed to the bridesmaids brunch. It was great to have a fancy breakfast with everyone, but it still all felt like it wasn't entirely real. After a quick bite to eat, Karen and I headed down to do hair and makeup. Both of the ladies that worked on me did a fabulous job.*

Karen and I were a bit late coming out of the appointment and then we hit traffic on the way to chapel, so I started to stress out a bit. Once we arrived at the church, I wound up injuring myself with the car door, and Julie had to put makeup on my shoulder to cover it up. Nice :)

After a few pictures, a word with the pastor, and a time of prayer, we were ready. I could hear the piano and harp music, so I knew it was time to get on with the show. Everything turned out so wonderfully, and went by so quickly. Amar and I were expecting the ceremony to take 45 minutes, and it wound up taking 20. I guess that's a good thing? People thanked us for it afterwards :)

The families and wedding party stuck around for a few more pictures, and then Amar and I loaded ourselves into Tollie's car to head to the reception. I had a total blood sugar crash on the way out there and thought I might toss the few cookies that I'd eaten that day, but was able to avoid doing so...

We arrived at the reception, took some pictures, had a snack, and then joined our guests and had our first dance. We had been practicing our dance quite a bit before the wedding, but when we stepped on the dance floor, the DJ had a different version of the song than we were used to. No one seemed to notice, though, and we had a great time.

It was a great day, all in all, and we are so thankful for those who were able to be there and celebrate with us. Thanks so much for your love and support!

Coming up next: the honeymoon update :)

*The woman who did my hair was about 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. I found out that she had her baby 4 days after the wedding. Crazy!

Updates are coming, I promise

Hey folks,
I know I 'owe' you a smattering of updates, and I do promise that they're coming. But it's like this, folks...there's almost too much to write. So I'm taking the procrastinating approach to it, apparently. It's a bit daunting, but I'm trying to set some goals :)

So I will write, hopefully within the next week, updates about the wedding, the honeymoon, the trip to San Francisco, the adjustment back to cubicle land, and other stuff that I feel like tossing in.

Until then, I must say that I was a bit shocked to hear the news about the Crocodile Hunter's passing. It made me sad. Am I alone in that? For some reason, when celebrities pass on, depending on who they are and what their work was, it kind of hits close to home for some reason.

Anyhow, Amar and I were watching the news last night and it showed footage of the barb that killed him. That thing must have been almost a foot long. I can't quite believe that, but it's real nonetheless. Thoughts?

What have you been up to lately?

Return of the Rama!!

I'm back. I'm alive (barely). And I have many a story to tell you. So, I'll probably start blogging for real come Monday, as the husband and I are jetsetting (any PR fans?) to San Jose this weekend.

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!!

What a let down

Aaahhhhrrrgghhh!!

Why is this not in English!

Actually, I was kind of looking forward to reading it, mainly because I wanted to crawl inside the head of a complete deranged person every now and then. But alas, my own head will have to suffice for now.

Close call

You know, there really isn't anything better than stepping out of the shower, hearing the garbage men coming down the road, scrambling to put clothes on and wrap a towel around your head, grab all of the random trash in the house, snatch up the recycling bin, sprint outside to the curb and then discover that they were one street over from yours.

Smooth.

Blog forecast: 10 day look-ahead

Hey folks,
Just wanted to give you a heads up that my blogging may lighten up until the end of August. Yes, I know you're all wondering how you will waste countless minutes of your internet-surfing days if I go on a hiatus.

Well, check out these other fine blogs in case you get bored, in list format, of course:

• Bread and Circuses
• Jim's blog
• Katie's blog
• Trina's blog
• Malita's blog
• Alexia's blog
• Heather W's blog
• John's blog
• Krista's blog
• Noell's blog
• Heather L's blog
• Amanda's blog
• Tiffany's blog
• Adriel's blog
• Jonathan's blog

If I didn't list your link here, don't panic (because I know you're panicking...). I probably didn't have your URL handy, or I just don't like you. Except for you, Amar. I figured you would also be a bit too busy to blog for the next few days/weeks.

*Blogs are listed in no particular order*

Happy reading!

Open letter to the fine folks over at Bear Naked

Dear Bear Naked,
I love you. I really love you. Amar introduced me to you through some weird connections via Trilogy, and I'm so glad that he did.

You make some fine, healthy products, my friend. I'm currently munching on the Peak Protein granola, and yes, I'm loving it. Does a more perfect post-workout snack exist? I think not.

Thanks for making my day. I love the food. I love the site. I love the name. I love the concept.

Keep it up.

Open letter to the office AC unit

Hi there,
It's me. You know, the skinny white girl who can never feel her feet because of how cold you keep it around here. Yeah, me. How are you? You seem to be having a great day today, as usual.

I wanted to confront you about something. You seem to be a bit of a workaholic. I know, I know. It's 105 degrees outside so you feel obligated to keep us nice and cool while we're inside. You want to create for us a bit of an oasis. A refuge from the heat.

Well, I think you accomplished that awhile back. Pace yourself. Slow it down a bit. We work in cubicles, not meat lockers. We have refrigerators on each floor to store our food. You don't have to keep it cold enough at our desks to actually keep our lunches from going bad.

Please understand me here, I think you're great. But you can seriously take a break every now and then. Honestly, it's August and I'm wearing two sweaters at my desk. Something just isn't right about that.

An open letter to my chin

I see what you are trying to pull here, and you will not get away with it.

You very well know that the wedding is less than 3 weeks away. And yet you have the audacity to behave like a collection of pores that just took a week of work and headed to Vegas.

Well, what happens on the chin does not say on the chin.

You need to get your act together and start behaving more like the cheek, or the forehead. Get with the program here!

Open letter to my computer

This week I'll be posting a series of open letters to various entities/people in my life. Let's begin with an open letter to my computer.

Computer,
We've been together for quite some time now, going on about two years. It seems that in your old age, you have gotten a little moody. Know this, computer, that behavior will not be tolerated over the next four weeks.

It's crunch time, baby. I will have none of your random blue screens of death. There will be no poor performance. There will be a zero tolerance policy for data loss and/or hard drive crashes.

And that new motherboard of yours? You better get to know it really well, because that's all you're getting. I get you a spiffy new hard drive last month, and then you have the audacity to start complaining about your motherboard? I've had it! You, my friend, will make due with what you have.

You will open spreadsheets when I ask you to, especially if they are work or wedding related. You will display web pages promptly when asked. You will dock/undock when asked. You will recognize that you have a touchpad mouse, and it will function properly at all times. You will not lock up. Period. And you will clean your room!

If you fail to comply with any of these, your health and well-being are at stake. This is war, my friend, and you're either with me or against me.

Sincerely,
The person on whom your existence is totally dependent

It is Monday

Thanks for joining us.

First, let me start off by saying that I never expected to generate such high volumes expectation around this here blog. This all started out with a random idea I had last week, and I wanted to make sure I 1) didn't forget to write about it and 2) generated at least some interest in reading the post.

So, here goes.

I'm formally declaring that this day be officially known as "De-lurking Day."

Lurking, according to me, is scanning and/or reading blogs without formally participating in the discussion via comments. I lurk on about 80 or so blogs, via the wonderful world of Bloglines. I keep up with tons of people through their blogs. People I don't know, nor have I ever met. They don't even know I exist.

And I'm guessing that many of you do the same.

Now, there may be other folks out there that consider lurking to be different from what I have described above. But for now, let's just agree that if you're reading this blog, or any other blog for that matter, and you're just consuming information without the author knowing that you are out there, you are lurking. It's not a good or bad thing. It's just lurking.

So out of the closet with you! And with me! Make your presence known!

I'm challenging myself to de-lurk on 5-10 blogs today. I'm going to make my presence known to the authors, not for my notoriety, but for their information. You should do the same. Comment on 5-10 blogs you've never commented on before. And suggest that your readers do the same. It's a movement that's sweeping this corner of the internet, so you should be a part of it.

For example, I had no idea that the good doctor read my blog until he commented last week. Voila! A new reader! Yipee! Welcome to the club, doctor!

For those of you who write blogs, don't you want to know who's out there? Encourage your audience to speak up. Threaten them with a nasty note...wait, no. I take that back. Just stick with the encouragement. That'll probably work better :)

Are you in?

Don't hate me because I'm anticlimactic

I've never been so afraid of potentially being hated than I am now.

Please, when Monday comes, promise me, dear sweet Internet, that you will not hate me.

In other news, I'm currently addicted to the following things (in list form, of course):

• Life Savers Wint-o-green mints
• Project Runway
• Checking Evite for RSVPs
• Checking mailbox for other RSVPs
• Snooze button
• Chapstick
• Plucking my eyebrows
• Picking at my fingers (PLEASE STOP ME!!! [<-Shameless cry for help])
• Puppies

Monday is the big day people

Oh yes, you heard me right. Monday will be hoppin'

:)

Big news....coming soon

Big news coming soon, folks. Stay tuned. You won't want to miss this.

Pilates 101

Yesterday, I tried my first Pilates class. Let's just say, it was interesting and I laughed. Then I doubled over in pain. Then I laughed again.

Have you ever taken Pilates? Yeah, good for you. Me? Not so much. I can barely even touch my toes, let alone roll around in a ball and focus on my "core" and "scooping in my tailbone." Needless to say, it was fun.

At one point, we were sitting on the mat, facing the folks on the other side of the room and clapping our feet together like a bunch of seals. I thought to myself, "this has got to be the most bizarre thing I have ever done" but hey, who doesn't like seals?

I strongly recommend going with a buddy. My buddy happened to be my friend/ex-roommate/personal trainer Lindsay. I basically just copied what she did when I had no idea what the instructor was talking about...which was pretty much every instruction she gave.

One thing to note: don't do Pilates right after you do a leg workout. You will hurt. A lot. And then part of your body will die later that day. That part would be the part south of your belly button.

Another thing to note: your feet cramp. Like a mother! With the flexing and the pointing and the lifting. I had to take a break and go uncramp my feet several times. I could flex my feet with no problem. It was the pointing I couldn't do. Bummer. But it happened to someone else in the class too, so I didn't feel alone.

If you're interested in Pilates, or just want to see the various ways in which I tortured myself yesterday, check out learningpilates.com

Here's the exercises that we did yesterday:

• Crisscross
• Modified hundred
• Open leg rocker
• Rolling like a ball
• Single leg kick
• Single leg stretch

And many, many more.

The cure-all

Yesterday I said that I was in a funk. A funk which required me to administer several "comfort foods" to myself during the afternoon. A computer-induced funk.

Well, last night I was in the presence of something great. Something which, without fail, will pull anyone out of any funk, no matter how bad said funk is.

Puppies.

PUPPIES!!

Yay for puppies!

A couple in our Bible study brought their 3 week old puppies to the group last night. They were literally the cutest things I'd seen in awhile. They were tiny, soft, black, and sleepy. They were just learning to walk, but basically, they sat on you for extended periods of time and slept.

Oh happy day!

Who doesn't like puppies? Seriously, they were so fun. Several of the girls shared puppy duty last night, taking turns passing them around and remarking about their cuteness. Distracting? A little, especially when they would make adorable little puppy noises. But other than that, a warm welcome to Bible study.

I ask you, my dear friends, if we can clone a sheep, why can we not come up with something that makes puppies stay like puppies for a long time? That would just be the best thing since sliced bread, in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong here - I'm no fan of small dogs. Can't stand 'em. I love big dogs, and really want one whenever Amar and I have the means with which to take care of one (i.e. house + yard). Medium-sized dogs are ok, depending on the breed. But dogs that fit in your purse? Creepy.

Unless!

Unless they were puppies!

Puppies in your purse would be fantastic!

Well, maybe not fantastic, but more fun than a little rat-dog in your purse.

So I started thinking last night...if we really could prolong the puppy stage, you'd have to have some way to take them around with you. Preferrably, not in your handbag. And then it hit me (like many of my other life-changing ideas that I'll share with you later): cuppies*!!



*This idea is patented, trademarked, and is offically creative property of the author. How sad would it be if someone actually tried to steal the idea of cuppies...

For more cuteness, check out cuteoverload.com

List! List! Get your list!

So apparently there's a "list-off" among several of my friends. I had a recent entry in list form here, and then a few other folks joined the list world as well.

Why not continue the fun?

I was a bit grumpy earlier today, so I decided to opt for some "comfort food" which got me thinking about food in general. I'm not normally a person who eats when stressed. I kind of do the opposite. In fact, during the first year in my "real" job after college, I lost 15 pounds. No bueno.

But there's the occasional craving that I have. Thus, a list of foods which I often crave:

• Ice cream, all sorts
• BLT sandwiches*
• Chocolate milk
• Orange juice
• Diet Dr. Pepper*
• Coffee
• Dark chocolate (see previous entries about Dove)
• Big Wint-o-green Lifesavers**
• Fortune cookies

*These foods happen to be on today's "Get me out of my funk" menu for lunch.
**I can go through a big bag of these in an afternoon. Easy.

I'm noticing that a majority of these are liquids. Interesting.

What's on your list?



Note: Honorable mention to Krista for her list of questions.

Two posts in one day

Call me crazy - call me bored. But yes, two posts in one day. And for this, the second installment, I'll spare you the strikeouts.

Anderson Cooper, famed CNN correspondent, keeps a blog. I subscribe to it, and occasionally, it catches my eye. Especially when he (and/or his co-authors) brings to light the same debate that I had 24 hours previously.

Amar and I were talking yesterday about the situation Middle East. I've virtually been captivated by it since it started intensifying a few days back. I'm not sure why, but if there's a website with an article about it, I'm reading. If there's a news update on tv, I'm watching.

I'm not going to go into the whole Biblical dynamic at work here. A different post for a different time. But I do have thoughts on that which I'm sure will make for a great discussion in the comments :)

What Amar and I were discussing the other day was the idea about evacuating Americans from Lebanon. Who pays for it? The evacuees? The US government? To be honest with you, I'm not sure what side I'm on. It originally struck me as quite odd that the evacuees were required to pay in the end. But Amar pointed out that they chose to go to a risky area. Tourists are very different from government employees. Employees have to be there. Tourists do not.

The blog explores this a bit as well in the article here. I have a few thoughts about the points that the author makes. He states that this debate is similar to, or even the same one, that crops up when hikers are rescued from mountains, or when boats are pulled from rough seas.

I don't know that I'd say it's the same debate. Am I uninformed? Likely. What happens when someone leaves a candle lit at their house, and then needs to be rescued after flames engulf the structure? Does that home owner get a bill from the fire department? Honestly, I have no idea if they do get a bill or not. If you know, please leave a comment.

Or what happens when people are rescued from a hostage situation? Do they have to pay in full for their safe return? Maybe?

All this to say, I really don't know who pays for getting Americans out of harms way. But honestly, why are we bickering about finances when there are far more important things to be done (in my humble opinion)?

And please, don't get me started on this Bush/Blair expletive story. How in the world is that a headline when people are literally tossing rockets at each other for weeks at a time?

P.S. For some reason, my gut feel is that the US should care for its citizens no matter where they are. But I really have no grounds for that stance. Just an opinion.

And now for something completely different

I consider myself to be a rather decent speller. Nonetheless, I still use spell check. I even have people proof read things for me occasionally. But I got to thinking what a blog post would look like if I avoided the "ABC" button that I so frequently use. What would it look like if I just let the typos speak for themselves?

So here goes - for the remainder of this post, I will not use spell check. I will not correct typos. I will try my best to let the post prove to you just how easily my mind gets ahead of my fingers :) and just what a moron I might be.

The rules:
1) I will not use spell check
2) I will not use the backspace or delete button if at all possible
3) I will only correct typos that may hinder site functionality
4) I will type at normal speed
5) I will make liberal use of the "del" tag, most likely
6) Wish me luck!

*******Line of Spelling Demarcation*********

I wanted to write about the Middle East, but I started to do ta= that and realized f that for such an a lighthearted expirement that probably was not the best topoi topic to try this out on.

So I'll talk abotu food. I'll embarass myself infront of the blog-reading world and just let it be oknown that I cannot cook NOR can I type well. I can beake, yeas. (Woah, carried away with the ea's there for a bit). But for the lif of me, I cannot cook. No matter what I try to prepare, I typically wind up with some sort of plain, bakedn chicken, and some side side dish like rice or souscous couscous.

Something magically happens in my kicthen. I could quite literally have a pot fulll of noodles and an oven full of fish, and wind up with chicken and rice. This is much to the dissapointment of my dear fiance, Amar. He is quite a patient mad man, but we wind up eating out a lot!

Lat year, I was in a Bible study going through Titus 2 with a group of girls. We got a to a certain point in the study where it stated started to discuss the "fi "gifts of mai marriage" an dI laughed out loud. I was more than a little critical of the author at this point in the study. He started listing home-making tasks: cooing cooking, cleaning, swe sewing, etc. Based on the author's assessment, I was doomed to be a spinster.

Apparently, I'm provid proving him/her wrong, in that I'm gettting married in 30 days, figted or no.

BUT

We still have a problem, my friends. My future mother-in-law arrives in the ares area Sunday, and she is a fabulous cook. Shell She'll likely take one look at my kitchen and forbit Amar from marryingme. On the other hand, the more optimistic hand, the happier hand, she may just take me under her wing and teach me how to cook some mean Indian food.

Oh yes, my friends, home cooked Indian food. If you're interested, please let em me. Whoops, I dont' eve know how to correct tat sentence. Let's try again, shall we? If you are interested in home cooked Indian food, and you redise reside r nearby, please let m eknow. We'd love to have you over so that you can partake in the feast.

So, in conclusion, not only have I given you evidence of my pook ungiftedness in the cooking department, I have also given you evidence that I am completely incabable of typing coherent thoughts without using the backspace key.

In my defense, I really think that it's not a problemn with my reading comprehension or my general understanding of the English language. The poblem is two-fols:

• I really am trying hard to not make mistakes today and therefore, I"M MAKING A LOT!
• My fingers can't keep up with my mind. Te minute I start typing a thought, I'm thinking another thought, and then I can't keep them straight and the keyboard gets in the way. Please forgive man me and please don't think I'm a total idiot n the next time we speak. That would really mean a lot to me :)

Personal Finance: rant?

So I read a few personal finance blogs here and there. It's always been a topic that has interested me for some reason. Probably because it fits in beautifully with my somewhat scary attachment to all things Excel related.

Anyhow, I was catching up on some blog postings this morning and came across a post titled something like "Cut corners today and retire early and rich" or something like that. The gist of the article was that if you choose to pack your own lunch a few days a week, and take less trips to the local coffee shop, over time, you'll save a billion dollars.

The concept is true enough. But it's the execution of it that really matters. Let's say that you do decide to brown bag it to work a few days a week. And let's say that over a week you have "saved" $20 doing so. And let's say that you cut back on the americanos and lattes for that week, "saving" $10. For the week you have spent about $30 less that you spent the previous week. So you're up $30. In a month you're up $120.

Now if you're anything like the typical consumer, at the end of the month you peek at your bank statement and think, "Wow! Extra money! Let's go see a movie, honey! Or how about a new pair of shoes?"

There a big difference between 1) saving money and 2) not spending money. If you avoid the coffees and the dining out, but you do nothing with the money you didn't spend except for keep it around and spend it later on something else, then you haven't gained much.

The key to the article isn't "cut corners and save money" it's "cut corners, save money, and put your saved money to work." Pick a mutual fund to invest in. Put it in an ING account. Just don't put it in your change jar.

I don't know why this struck me this morning...how are you? Anything you want to rant about?

My list

It's been awhile since I've posted. I think I was 1) waiting for something post-worthy to happen and 2) reeling from all of the post-worthy happenings. So here it is, in random list form. I'll write more about a few of these in more detail, but I hope this will suffice for now.

The count, over the last week:

• Total car breakdowns: 1
• Car loans applied for: 1
• Nifty friends who have helped with car situation: 10+
• Used car searches on the internet: 50+
• Fireworks observed from a moving car: 97
• Days off from work in a row: 4
• Days I slept in: 4
• Days I worked from home due to car situation: 1
• Cup cakes baked: 20
• Cup cakes consumed for breakfast: 5
• Times I hijacked a car without the owner knowing: 1
• Random people staying in our house over the past 10 days: 4
• Days until the wedding: 43
• Days until the future in-laws arrive: 16
• Boy band sing-alongs attended: 1
• Celebrity sightings: 2
• Press-related photo shoots: 1
• Tow trucks hired: 2
• Weddings attended: 1
• Invitations stuffed: 125
• Long lost friends found through MySpace: 1
• Random friends spotted about town: 3
• Random friends assisting with car loan: 1
• Pages read in children's fiction book: 75
• Good friends leaving work permanently: 3
• Burst into tears: 3
• Burst into wild laughter: 13

Caution: Patient shows mild aggression in her sleep

So last night I went to sleep a little later than normal. No biggie. I was out pretty quickly after my head hit the pillow. Typically, I do dream, but I don't always remember what the dreams are about. Last night was an exception.

Last night, I succinctly remember dreaming that I told someone off. And I don't mean in a wimpy "You're not my friend" kind of way. I really let loose. I had my finger shaking in their face, I had excellent delivery and a superb choice of vocabulary. I did not use any profanities, but I did get my point across that not only was I very disappointed in this persons behavior, I was hurt by it and by golly, they were either going to apologize for it or further face my wrath.

Said person just sat back and laughed while I resisted the urge to shake them by their shoulders.

Then I woke up. I realized that my heart was racing, and that I felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off my shoulders. I wondered if I had actually said any of my dream out loud as I was dreaming, as I have been known to talk in my sleep.

But I felt so good! Is that weird? It felt weird.

And no, I completely promise that this post is not about you. I am 100% certain that the person in my dreams does not read this blog, nor will they ever. And no, that's not why I was mad at them :)

How about you? Any weird dreams lately?

Helpful tips when shopping

Like how NOT to get the plague.

I occasionally peruse this personal finance blog for interesting financial tidbits, etc. Today's post gives users some tips for saving money at the grocery store.

10 things your supermarket won't tell you

Well, after perusing their list, one of their tips stood out to me:

"#4: Our stores might make you sick - Insects, rats, and other vermin are a problem for any place that handles a large quantity of food."

Say it with me, folk: ewwww!!

Until recently, I would not have believed that.

That is, until my friend Kim told me about her neighborhood grocery store. You see, Kim was in the dairy section of said store, grabbing some yogurt. She saw something out of the corner of her eye. And behold - a giant rat. GIANT!! It scampered around the yogurt section, then hopped right in and disappeared behind the merchandise.

She just stared at it. When recounting the story, she described the rat as "comfortable with its surroundings....like it was at home in the yogurt section." Yeah, it probably has a little two bedroom condo back there.

Sick.

When nature attacks

Ok, so I really wanted to title this post, "Snakes on a plane" in honor of the sure-to-be-classic movie that is coming out soon. But then there would have been all sorts of legal craziness, because the sheer volume that this site gets would indeed draw traffic away from the real site for the movie, and I just didn't want to mess with that.

Then I thought, what about "Snakes on a geometric plane" (because technically, that's what happened) but decided against it, namely so that Amar wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment that comes along with marrying a total nerd like me.

So, what's the big deal, you ask?

I was attacked again last night. Nature has unleashed itself on me with all of its fury. And when nature decides that you're going down, there ain't nothin' you can do to fight back.

Please pray for me. Nature, my friends, takes no prisoners.

Last night, as Amar and I were about to commence invitation printing round deux, I was almost killed by a cursed, legless creature as it slithered around on the sidewalk (the aforementioned 'geometric plane') in front of Amar's office. We were entering the building when I paused to look back at a sign. When I turned around, I looked down to see a GIANT SNAKE between my feet, writhing back and forth. Apparently, snake etiquette says that you're supposed to freeze if and when this happens to you.

Whatever.

I screamed bloody murder and started hopping around trying 1) to get the heck outta dodge, 2) trying not to get bitten by this potentially venomous creature and 3) trying not to step on it.

After a few moments of screaming and flailing, I hauled it back to the parking lot, away from the sidewalk, only to see it slither off into the bushes.

CREEPY!!

What.is.going.on?

Oh, and this morning when I left for work, a brownish-green lizard was peeking at me from the window next to our front door.

I think he was a spy.

He just looked at me with his creepy little eyes, watching my every move. I have no doubt that after he saw me get into my car, he pulled out his little walkie-talkie and messaged out to his cronies, "She's on the move" at which point a whole army of creepy, crawly lifeforms moved into position for their next onslaught.

This is going to get ugly.

The best week ever

For bugs.

I think I picked up some nasty karma from that grasshopper I killed earlier this week. The next day, we were attacked by a killer fly during our staff meeting, and then yesterday, yet another incident.

The scene: I'm sitting in a meeting room with three other people. We are all seated at a large conference room talking about work stuff.

The incident: About halfway through the meeting, I see something fall from the ceiling onto the table, landing with a noticeable "smack."

Could it be a leaf?

Maybe.

What about a piece of a ceiling tile?

Possibly.

So I turned my head ever so slightly to see what it was. It was a big, hairy brown ROACH!! In less than half a second. I had screamed, shut my laptop, shut my bag, pulled them into my lap and stood on my chair. Serious cat-like reflexes here, my friends.

No one else in the room saw it until I was standing, screaming and flailing in the general direction of the roach. I was finally coherent enough to tell the others that there was a roach in our room, and it was on the offensive. It was taking no prisoners.

Finally, one of the guys in the room tracked it down and killed it. I plugged my ears so I couldn't hear the crunch.

What is the deal? Is my life going to end up like that one part in the Indiana Jones movie (Temple of Doom?) where they're trapped in a room full of bugs and they have to reach into a bug-laden crevice to turn the knob and set them free? Folks, I'd die. I'd just keel over right there and eventually, the bugs would eat my body, because there's no way in heck I'm surviving anything like that.

Another day, another list

Well, maybe not a list, per se, more like a summary of a collection of thoughts/instances/happenings/oddities. You get the idea. And since I like bulleted lists so much, allow me to treat you to...

• Today feels like I've been in one constant meeting from 7:30 AM until now. Ick. Productive? Not so much...
• About 2/3 of our staff meeting today was consumed by the team trying to catch and kill a fly. I told them that since I had been involved in the recent death of an ill-fated grasshopper, I couldn't participate. Their loss.
• I have worn a skirt every day for 5 out of the last 6 days. People are starting to talk.
• Amar and I are trying out a new Bible study tonight. We are very excited.
• Last night I watched what was potentially the scariest thing I've ever seen. Have you heard about Connie Chung's farewell to her weekend newscast? Oy vey! Malita posted about it. Check it out here. Pay careful attention to the grunt when she slides off the piano.
• The other day I really wanted to show Amar the old SNL skits of Celebrity Jeopardy. Well, after some significant Googling, we discovered that NBC had scrounged up all the web postings of said videos. Such a shame. They publish snippits of them on NBC, but they cut off right as "Final Jeopardy" starts. Seriously some of the funniest stuff I've seen in awhile, of course, with the exception of Connie Chung. Anyone know where I can find the full skits?

Well, that's all for now. Peace out, homies.

Things you should know

-OR-

Confessions of a lanky, red-headed, soon-to-be-changing-her-last-name, I/T professional:

• Re-heated naan bread is NOT the same as fresh naan bread
  Not even close
• Everything in life can be made into a spreadsheet, in my humble opinion
• This morning I saw a grasshopper in the house and my first instinct was to throw my shoe at it. I missed. So I grabbed a magazine and dropped it onto the floor, directly on top of said hopper. I then promptly left for work, afraid to look under the magazine.
• I get married in 60 days
• I am not going to Brazil anytime soon
• Last week I spent about 2 hours with old high school friends looking at the MySpace pages of people we used to go to school with. And it was fun!
• I had my 4 year anniversary at work last week. Yay?
• Bloglines will change your life. As in - you will be able to read so many stinkin' blogs with such ease that you will have no life left in you to live
• Everyone is having babies!! And they are ridiculously cute!!
• I took a cupcake from the breakroom today, and I didn't feel guilty about it. It's now taunting me from my desk...
• I'm going to a Boy Band Sing-along next week, and I couldn't BE more excited!!!
• I woke up this morning, well-rested mind you, at 1:30 AM, sweating like a dog. What's the deal with that?
• Occasionally I make boring lists of things that are going on in my life

An update, of sorts

Hey kids - I hope you're all having a smashing week so far. My sincere apologies for the lack of posting over the past week. I could give you the "it's been crazy around here" speech, but rather than lie, I'll just admit that I haven't had much to write about.

So, in the event of bloggers block, I will entertain you with my list of newly made-up words.*

• Wi-fi: not the traditional designation of various wireless internet activities, but rather, used as a verb. For example, "I love the coffee shop down the street. I can wi-fi from there."


• Bruncheon: just like a luncheon, but earlier in the day, and sometimes related to weddings.


• Calligraphize: as in, to write something in calligraphy. For example, "I'm hoping to find some friends to help calligraphize my wedding invitations before I send them out."


• Google: aww jeez, that's already been taken.(sigh)

*While these are not necessarily copywrited, I do ask that in the event of their use, you give credit where credit is due....and that would be to me. Voila!

So the general gist is that yes, wedding things are happening around these parts. Invites and showers. Ribbon and tulle. Tastings and fatigue-induced collapsing. (Ok, well, maybe some of those are happening, but not all. I am in no way associated with anything pertaining to tulle....not that there's anything wrong with that...)

Also, yeah. Not much else....hmmm...really...nothing much to report. Oh! Wait! I cleaned my room! And I'm now realizing that I've sunk to a new low. But - at least I'm not reporting about Brangelina. Good gosh people - is that really news?!?!

I will say that the other day, three friends of mine from high school got together and clicked our way through My Space looking for people we used to know. Scary! But also, very addictive. Yes, I think we must have spent about 2 hours doing that. Sad? Possibly. Entertaining? You bet.

Nothing much going on. Promise. You'll be the first to know.

Shock and awe

Amar and I went to the movies last night. It was a spur-of-the-moment type of decision. We pulled into the parking lot of the theater and hopped out to see if anything was starting that very minute...and it turned out that we were in for a treat.

We settled into a showing of the new Al Gore documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth".

It was funny - as I was parking the car, I noticed an "Al Gore 2008" bumper sticker on the car next to me. It made me chuckle a bit on my way into the movie. On my way out of the movie, however, I almost wanted to put one on my car.

Stop reading this now and go see this movie.

I don't consider myself a tree-hugger. I don't necessarily consider myself a Democrat (or a Republican). And when I think of Al Gore, I remember that he once claimed that he invented the internet awhile back.

All of that aside, I will say that during the movie, I gasped. My jaw dropped. I applauded. I laughed. I was appalled. I was surprised. And more than anything, I wanted to change things about the way that I lived my life.

A bit of an overreaction? Probably so.

Before we went to see the movie, Amar had been telling me about Al Gore's slide show, and how it was rumored to be quite a good presentation. What the movie does is kind of take you through that presentation, and take you through Al's journey to research it, compile it, and pitch it to the world.

Throughout the movie, Al (yes, he and I are on a first name basis now) presents you (or "smacks you in the face") with tons of graphs, charts, pictures, quotes and trendlines all related to global warming. But it doesn't get boring. It doesn't get dry or overly scientific. What shows through it all is that this man is supremely motivated about helping to literally save the planet.

[Here is where my family, if they are reading this, will likely disown me...we'll allow for a brief intermission for them to find their way to the exits.]

When Amar and I got out of the movie, we immediately went to the website, www.climatecrisis.net and started clicking away. We talked about how we wanted to work for Al Gore (seriously!), about how we wanted to change our lightbulbs to use less energy, about how we wanted to be a one-car family after we got married...and on, and on, and on.

This movie may not change your life. You may actually hate it. Fine by me - you do what you've got to do. As for me, Al Gore was in my dream last night. And scarier still, it wasn't a nightmare. I was on the road with him, helping him pitch his ideas to the world. Helping take care of the planet that God has so graciously given to us.

Go see the movie. And then come back and tell me what you thought of it.

Does size matter?

I subscribe to a handful of blogs ranging from technology tips, to thoughts on marketing. Blogs of people I know, blogs of folks I don't know. The occasional random photography or financial blog are also on the list. Today, as I was catching up from things that were posted over the weekend, I found this article linked from Church Marketing Sucks, yet another one of my subscriptions. The article is about the "Top 50 most influential churches" (in America).

I'm really not trying to rant here. I'll be totally honest and say that when I became a Christian several years ago (woah, more like over a decade ago!!), I experienced some numbers-driven practices at what was then my home church. Those events left some bitterness, and I'm now very wary of any numbers-driven activities. Not to say that all numbers-driven activities are inherently bad. But seeing things that I saw as a 16 year-old, it kind of taints them a bit.

Click the link on the article and read it. I'll give you a few minutes....


Waiting....


Hope you're reading....


Whew! Glad you made it. Now, back to the "discussion."

So, can someone tell me when "influential" started to mean "fast growing"? Or even "huge"? I don't recall that memo from Miriam Webster. In fact, MW, in all its finery, defines "influential" as: "exerting or possessing influence"

After reading this article, it seems that every other sentence was laden with numbers. From Sunday school attendance, to growth per year, to ages of pastors, and on and on...and the point? The point, it seems, is that to be influential, you must be gargantuan.

To me, that's like saying the world's biggest cookie is the best-tasting cookie, simply because it's the biggest.

But I disagree. I'm trying to be objective about this.

Do big churches accomplish great things and influence many lives? Sure they do. All the time and in many nations. There are people attending mega-churches that are making huge strides in spreading the Gospel.

But so do smaller churches.

Does having the opportunity to influence the masses mean that you actually influence the masses? Not necessarily.

Per the article:
"It is a high privilege to be able to share these few ministries as examples of faithful churches committed to making a Great Commission kind of difference in today's world."

If so, then why not highlight some of the smaller churches that are making a difference in today's world? Heck, why not highlight individuals that are choosing to do the same?

Take my friend Kaitlan, for example. She just got back from Kenya where she spent several months living in a slum outside of Nairobi. She worked with local believers there to tell people about Jesus. Did 10,000 people attend their gatherings every Sunday? Not quite. Did they influence people in Kenya? You bet.

Or my friends Heather and Alexia. They are each choosing to spend the next months/years of their lives in foreign countries teaching kids. And in that span of time, they are hoping to get the chance to tell about their faith in Christ. Influential? Yep.

Please don't get me wrong: I'm sure the article means well. It just makes me crazy when we start focusing on quantity rather than quality. Are these churches teaching quality doctrine? I have no idea. They might be, or they might not be. But who says that numbers are a great indication of that?

Just wanted to get the ball rolling. Smack me down in the comments if you'd like to. But please be nice :)

How is this even possible?

I heard about this while I was at the gym this morning. At first, I thought that it was a joke. But no, this was an actual ruling in a U.S. court of law.

This man attacks children. This man is now getting probation because "[the judge] said she believed the 5-foot-1 [criminal] would not survive in a state prison because he was too small."

Other favorite sound bites from this story include:

"[the judge] believed the man's short stature would cause him harm in prison."

Cause him harm?!?!? Gee, wouldn't that be tragic?

Additionally, "a spokesman for the National Organization of Short Statured Adults - a group that represents men 5-foot-7 and below and women 5-foot-2 and below - applauded the ruling."

Am I missing something here? There is actually an organization that represents "short people" and they are glad that the judge is letting a person like this out on probation BECAUSE HE IS TOO SHORT TO SURVIVE IN PRISON?

...

Reality check. We have height requirements foroller coastersrs - NOT JAILS!! At this point, it seems like if I were a "short statured adult" (which I'm not), I'd be going on a crime spree right about now. I mean, heck, what is there to lose? The precedent has been set, my friend. Go, therefore, and crime away!

Short statured adults - please don't get me wrong. You are great, at least those of you who don't go out and commit crimes. And you tall people, y'all are great too! Way to go tall and short adults! I'm all for you! And no - I am not advocating that we beat up short people in prison. I'm just saying that at what point do we draw the line, folks?

I'm 5'10" which is several inches above the national average for women. Do I get out of tickets because I'm tall? Not so much.

I'm trapped

I had a party going on Tuesday night.
I had a conference going on Wednesday night.

THUS

I have not yet watched the American Idol final performance show, the American Idol final results show OR the Lost season finale.

I opted to listen to CDs on the way to the office today to avoid any potential radio mention of the winners or the plot twists. In my first meetings, I rapidly "shusshed" anyone who even mentioned either show.

And now I am avoiding certain areas of the web that I would normally turn to during lulls in the cubicle because they might divulge something.

But how long can this last? How long can I live in my little bubble before someone comes along and pops it? Or before I accidentally pop it myself?

(Wow...it's starting to sound like my life is a giant pimple...ick)

So please, I beg you, kind people of the internet and real life, don't spoil this for me.

Noell - I blame you for my Idol addiction. That being said, please leave it on the DVR until I can watch it :)

As always, y'all are great. That being said, I don't necessarily trust
some of you, so I won't be checking comments on this site until I've "caught up" on my shows. I'm sure you'll understand...

Why they have a store on every corner

There is a Walgreens just across the street from my office. Yesterday I had to develop some pictures, so I took a few minutes to walk over there and do just that.

I left the store with a photo claim ticket, eye makeup remover, hair bands and a bag of Lifesaver wint-o-green mints.

What the heck?

All I needed to do was drop off pictures to be developed. But instead, I wound up coming back to the office with a bag full of impulse purchases. And it's not just me. I was telling this to a co-worker of mine, and she recounted a similar story. She went into the store for flip flops and wound up leaving with a water gun.

My theory...(probably needs a little polishing): they engineer the store for impulse buying:

• Most everything in the store is about $10 or less
• People generally go to the store for random stuff anyway
• Since shoppers don't have a shopping list at Walgreens, they are less likely to stick to buying only what they originally intended to buy

Check out this list about "Why we buy" and see just how nicely Walgreens breaks about every tenet: Shopping lessons

Better luck next time...

Confessions

When you eat Nerds, do you pour out a small handful and then pick out the bigger ones and eat those first?






Um, yeah. . . . I don't either.

A rant about us

< rant >

I jumped on the bandwagon recently.

I just finished "The Da Vinci Code" about two weeks ago. And you know what? I liked it.

I also recently read CNN. And then I listened to some AM radio news snippets, and saw some newspaper articles. And frankly, I just don't get it.

I do not understand why all of this is such a big deal!!

Do I believe that some of the things in Dan Brown's book are false? Yep, sure do. Have I heard them talked about before? Yep, sure have. Have other false things been said about Christ in the last 2000 years? Yep, indeed they have.

So why are people freaking out about this? What's up with the boycotts and the riots? The combative interviews and the oddly-worded press statements?

I get that things about Jesus are being said that aren't true. I understand that we, the church, could provide proof of this both using scripture and other historical references. So why the heck are we running scared?

Seems to me that we should welcome the opportunity to talk about faith. We should welcome the opportunity to talk about Truth. People - it's OK.

I guess I'm just frustrated by the fact that it seems that some folks seem to be more scared of a work of fiction than they ought to be. Put down the picket sign and sit down and have a conversation with someone.

< /rant >

Sorry - just had to get that off my chest. And I'll probably go see the movie soon. Ooooh, scary.

Muwhahahahaha....

Corporate motivation at its finest

My company has "All Hands" meetings every so often. Today, all 200+ of us in my department gathered together for 90 minutes to see what our VP had to say. Our VP has a way of putting things, well, uh, plainly. No sugar-coating. No dancing around issues. He just comes out and says what's on his mind.

After reviewing some things with us, he moved on to the next topic by saying:

"Now here is where we truly, truly suck."

And a little part of me giggled inside.

Forgive me?

Dear internet,
I've been neglecting you. I thought maybe just posting a few words here and there might make up for it. But I know that's not good enough. You deserve more from me. You deserve more than just surfing a few sites here and there, more than just reading occasional blogs, and more than just buying stuff that I don't need.

You deserve quality, well-written posts from me. Honest, sometimes funny or even entertaining stories or thoughts. Genuine sarcasm and wit.

But I've given you none of it.

Can you ever forgive me?

I can offer no good excuses. Things like, "I'm working 40+ hours a week" or "I'm trying to plan a wedding" or even "Sometimes it's good to get more than 6 hours of sleep a night" ...none of those fully explain the extent of my neglect for you.

Humbly accept my apologies.

Sincerely,
kimmie

P.S. I read one whole book in one whole week last week. Could I be any cooler?

P.P.S. I'm reading another book this week! Woah!

P.P.P.S. Seems like I might be actually making progress on this. Wow.

Just like I was saying...

I really did think this same thing just the other day. It's a shame. Not that I'm super-huge into baseball, but you have to recognize talent. And I'm sorry, but I just can't seem to put the Babe and Barry Bonds on a level playing field.

Work and play

My team at work had an "offsite" yesterday. We typically have these every few months, and they range from being really painful to being really fun. I've helped plan a few, and let me tell you, the ones I plan are of the "really fun" variety.

Or, at least, that's what I've been told.

Hmm, I'll look into that.

Anyhow, yesterday we went to lunch and then went bowling. Now, you see, I took bowling in college. As a class. For credit. Am I an even bigger dork than you imagined me being? You betcha.

But, it was fun, and I didn't have to change clothes in the middle of a day full of classes back then, so it worked for me. And I got an "A" so there!

My co-workers found out that I had been trained in the art of bowling, and thus, the teasing commenced early yesterday morning. I kept telling them that I wasn't very good. That I hadn't bowled in ages. That I had no idea how to bowl. But they didn't buy it. They kept calling me a "ringer" and telling me that I was going to kick their collective butts.

Well, I did.

At least a little bit :)

I bowled my all-time highest game ever! You should know that I'm fiercely competitive, even about stuff that doesn't even matter. Stuff that's supposed to be light-hearted and fun? Yeah, I'd better win. Stuff that I've never even attempted to do before in my life, but the winner gets a cool ribbon? Sure, I expect myself to finish among the top few. So when the teasing started around the office, my secret desire to show off my skillzz started to heighten. But I played it cool. A strike, here, a spare there. And tada! I finished well above my average on both games.

Though my team didn't win (we averaged everyone's scores), I was still pleased with our performance. Sure, it did sting a little to not be awarded the top prize. And yes, I know it's all about being a team player. Though I was heckled, no insults came out of my mouth. Though I was mistreated, I showed kindness to the folks on the other team :) I was a good girl.

So here's to bowling. I guess my time and tuition in college finally paid off.

This internet thing is exhausting!

We all know that there is a wealth of information on-line ranging from aardvarks to zoology. There are "how to" articles on bar-be-que and vacuums. You can google pretty much anything and get a minimum of a million hits.

But, when a consumer, let's just say it's me for now, is trying to research a product for a potential purchase, where does she start? Let's say I'm trying to buy a washer and dryer. I do a little search on-line.

BAM!

13,800 results.

Thank you, Google.

I'm the kind of person who wants all the facts before I make a major purchase. I want to know what Consumer Reports says about the last 4 generations of the appliance. I want to know which store has the best price out of the 1,000 out there that sell the thing.

Are there any rebates? Any financing offers? Any delivery charges? Any scratch and dent discounts? I need to know before I hand over money.

But at some point I have to draw the line. I have to admit that I can only know so much before I really need to make a decision. I can only make so many spread sheets before the clear winner starts to emerge.

With such a vast body of knowledge available with relative ease, I feel at some level that it's irresponsible of me to not do all the research possible. I feel a burden of guilt if I don't walk out of the store with the absolute best appliance and the absolute best price.

Geez. That's a lot of pressure.

When did an asset turn into a liability?




But y'all, if you do know of a good washer and dryer out there, I'd love to hear about it :)

A brief little glimpse into my world:

Them: Build me a house.

Me: Ok, we can do that. Let's talk about the details.

Them: When will it be done?

Me: Again, let's talk about the details.

Them: How much will it cost?

Me: I can't give you a good estimate until I know what you want the house to be like.

Them: I want it to have a kitchen. When will it be ready?

Me: That's a good start. I have a few other questions for you about
the details.

Them: Look, I need this done in 15 days.

Me: (muffled laughter/panic)

Them: What? You're telling me you can't finish it in 15 days? When
will it be done? How much will it cost.

Me: Like I said earlier, I can't give you those numbers until we
know the specifics of the house you'd like us to build you. We have people working on other houses right now, and unless yours is more important that the others that are already in the process of being built, you'll have to wait.

Them: All I want is a small house! You're telling me that you can't just put together a house for me real quick?!?!

Me: That's correct.

Them: This is insane....when can you get my house done?

Me: Let's get some more of the details pulled together and I'll let you know what the estimates will be. What else do you need in your house? Where do you want it? Do you care about school districts, proximity to neighbors, size of the lawn, number of bedrooms?

Them: I want 3 bedrooms.

Me: Ok. Where do you want the bedrooms? What size should they be? Do you want them to have closets? Bathrooms? Carpet?

Them: I want them on the third floor.

Me: Oh, so you want a multiple-level house?

Them: Heck yeah! I thought you knew that already!!!

Me: You hadn't mentioned that detail yet.

Them: Well what's wrong with you?!

Me: I can't tell you what you want. I can help guide you through the process of figuring out what the details are. I can help form the team to build the house, and I can do everything possible to stick to the schedule and budget. But you have to fill in the details so that we can know exactly how long it will take to build it, and how much it will cost.

Them: There is so much red tape around here!

Me: I understand it's a lengthy process, but we have to know what we're building before we start building it.

Them: You people are crazy. I hate working with builders!

Me: Can we get back to the details of the house?

Them: I've had enough.

Me: We can still help you if you'll talk through some of this with us.

Them: I'm going to build it myself.

Me: I wouldn't advise that. Building a house is quite a complicated activity. It's best to get people on the team who have experience in this field.

Them: I'm outta here.

Me: Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.

***1 year later***

Them: My house is broken, can you fix it?

Me: We didn't build this house, so I'm not sure that we can fix it.

Them: But the house is in a neighborhood surrounded by other houses you've built. Can't you do something!?!?! This is an emergency!!

Me: I understand that there is a problem, but none of my builders have any idea of how this house was built. You built it yourself. We'll do what we can to help, but I can't guarantee that we can fix it.

Them: I'm suing your company.

Me: Please understand - we had nothing to do with the construction or maintenance of this property. You supplied the materials, the builders, the blueprint, the plans, the budget, etc. Our company is in no way related to the existence of this house.

Them: Blueprint?

And scene.

why? Why? WHY?!?

City of Austin,
I thought that you had come up with every possible way to thwart my commute home from work.

School zones? Check.
Ill-timed lights? Check.
Overcrowding of poorly-maintained streets? Check.

But this is just too much.

Why on EARTH would you schedule "rolling blackouts" that impact traffic lights during evening rush hour? Sidestreets? Clogged. Major intersections? Clogged. Exit ramps and cut-throughs? Clogged.

Yes, we know it's hot. It's been getting increasingly hot for the last 2 weeks. You knew this. You saw this coming. Why is this an emergency? And seriously - do traffic lights really use up that much energy?

The definition of an emergency.

(note the flagrant use of the word "unexpected"...)

Need we spell it out for you? Apparently...yes.

I paid my electricity bill today. Maybe you could take some of that money and put it to use beefing up the infrastructure around here? Just a thought.

Now, if you really need to save some energy, I can give you the name and address of my place of business. Feel free to make cuts there anytime tomorrow between 8-5. Believe me, it's fine with me and the rest of my co-workers. Have at it.

Thank you.

Adults say the darndest things

As I settled into work this morning with my cuppa coffee, I started catching up on some of the other blogs that I read. I don't remember how I started reading Finslippy, but she cracks me up. I think she was nominated for "best blog writing" for last year's bloggies, which is likely where I picked up her link.

Anyhow:

I was reading this post and really trying hard to keep my laughter to myself as I read through the comments.

I don't have kids. I want them eventually, but I do not currently have any of my own. However, if and when I do, I cannot wait to keep a journal of funny things that 1) I say to them and 2) they say to me and/or others.

It reminds me of one of my jobs in college. I worked at a campus library at A&M. Our office was situated right inside the main entrance, and though it was not our primary job role, we served as a makeshift help desk for the library. What do you get when you combine some sassy, bored college kids and a bunch of random patrons asking dumb questions all day?

A little black book.

We constantly kept track of the dumb questions/weird conversations/general hilarity that happened at the front desk. That black book served us well for years. It was the backbone of the camaraderie we felt with our co-workers. We would hand it off between shifts, everyone adding their own two cents.

Here, my friend Michael recounts one of the stories. It just so happens to be a story about me being stalked - very poorly.

Anyhow:

We had this supervisor that was _not_a_fan_whatsoever_ of the book. He lectured us that if any patron ever found it and started reading through it, all heck would break loose. But we were smarter than that. We changed the names to protect the *innocent* and just referenced people in our own special way. Characters like "British guy", "Creepy stalker guy" and "Flaky grad student" were the only "patron names" that anyone would ever find in there.

The battle was on. It was now our duty to protect our turf and our sanity. That black book kept us going on many occasions. Bringing life and humor to the darkest corners of the library. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but we didn't want to lose the book. We still have little reunions where we recount the silly tales of the library. Fun stuff.

Anyhow:
I'd like to keep a book like that when I have kids. Just to remember the fun times.

I can quit anytime. Just not today.

I'm not one to be obsessed with celebrities.

Sure, when I have some downtime in the cubicle, I read up on the MSN Gossip every now and then. And yes, I peruse the front pages of the "magazines" in the checkout line at the grocery store, but who doesn't?

But today, I've stumbled upon a couple of links that just crack me up. I have no idea why I keep clicking "next" on this site, but I do.

And then there's this one, which isn't so much a celebrity site, but is still funny, especially if you read it with a Spanish accent in your head.

And last but not least, there's this one. Somewhat sketchy, yes. Somewhat funny, also yes.

Enjoy!

Afternoon snack

I'm eating cranberries that have been dried and flavored to taste like strawberries.

What is this world coming to?

What I'm up to...notable, and not so much

• I'm back in the U.S.
• I'm still taking malaria medicine. Yuck.
• I'm spending quality time in my cubicle.
• I also spent quality time with my DVR last night.
• I'm caught up with Lost.
• I'm going to two weddings on Saturday. Crazy.
• I turn 26 in 8 days. Also crazy.
• I still have henna on my extremities, and it's staring to look like I have a skin condition.
• I'm caught up on sleep...or so I think.
• I'm once again thankful for U.S. bathrooms.
• My car is making a seriously scary squealing noise.
• I got a new hairdryer. Complete with ions. Fancy.
• I still fully enjoy MS Excel. A little too much.
• My bamboo plant is still alive after 2 weeks of neglect.
• I haven't worked out in 2 weeks. I'm scared to go back.
• I haven't been to church in way too long. I miss it.
• I get married in 135 days. Wow.
• I'm caught up on work email. A (small) victory.
• I still have unpacking left to do from India.
• Amar moves into our future apartment next week.
• I'm spending 8 hours at a golf course on Friday. For work.

That's all for now folks. Still alive. Still breathing. Ready to retire. You know, the usual.

Travel journal

For those of you who want to keep tabs on us while we're in India, try this on for size:

My Trip Journal

Mmmmm

I (heart) bacon.

Updates

1) We're going to India in 3 days. 3 days!!
2) I bought a wedding dress!! Crazy.
3) I start taking malaria pills tomorrow - wish me luck.
4) God is really stinkin' good. I have to re-learn that every day.
5) Everyone is having babies, and those babies are exceptionally cute.

And you? How are things?

Nose to the grindstone

Totally getting a kick out of this.

For an afternoon of fun after downloading Bullfighter:
1) Open your work email
2) Select an email from a high-ranking co-worker
3) Ctrl + A
4) Ctrl + C
5) Open a document (MS Word, or other)
6) Ctrl + V
7) Click the magic bull and voila - fun for the whole family.

Still alive, I think

I promise I haven't been hiding. It's just been crazy lately, and that means that after I prioritize all that I can do in one day, blogging falls off the list quickly. So, I figure that I owe you a new post. After all, it's been awhile.

I'm recovering from a long weekend, filled mostly with work. My job sometimes requires me to work some pretty icky hours, and this weekend was no exception. I woke up at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning ready to go to brunch with my fiance and a bunch of his friends at 9:30. The brunch got pushed to 10:30, so I cleaned the bathroom - yes, very glamorous indeed.

Brunch was good, but for some reason, I could barely eat anything on my plate. After some fun conversation, making funny faces at baby Xavier, and downing a few gallons of coffee, to the mall we went.

Amar and I are leaving for India in a little less than two weeks, so we figured it was about time to stock up on some clothes, since my closet has been a little thin lately. And shop we did! Keeping in mind that it will be crazy hot and humid in Madras when we're there, we selected some things that would be conservative, but would still be comfy and cool. I think we succeeded.

We then sat down to watch Monsoon Wedding. It was my first "Indian" movie and I really enjoyed it. Though we won't be getting married in India, Amar's parents are throwing a party for us, so it was good to be exposed to a little of the culture. I seriously can't wait for the trip!

Then it was off to work :( We started around 5:30 PM on Saturday, and I didn't walk out of there until 1:30 PM the next day. Yeah, much more time than I would normally like to spend at the office on a weekend...but after a lot of work, we were successful and were able to leave and go sleep. A lot. I wound up staying awake for about 32 hours. I am not good at that kind of thing, so in the end, I wound up acting like a cranky 4 year old. Yes, I know, real mature of me. But I think I've recovered now.

And the countdown to India begins :)

How was your weekend? I know some people got to go see David Gray.