Oh, The Fun...

I don't know how I forgot, but Banana will be in San Antonio too!

Which reminds me, I told you all about the time the fire alarm went off in Denver.

What I left out of that night was Banana.

After a night at the piano bar, we were going to walk back to the hotel, but decided to take one of those bike taxis instead.

When we got off of the bike at the hotel Banana decided that she would give the "driver" a tip for the nice ride. Her "tip" was two band-aids.

I don't think he appreciated it.

Empty Promises

Diddy, don't you sing a song about empty promises?

Either way, I'm trying really hard not to be a liar, but it is getting really difficult to post every day.

If you knew what was involved in writing one of these posts, you would understand the difficulty in creating one every day.

Some days lots happens that is worthy of a post, and others (like the last three) nothing happens.

I really wish that I had a story to tell.

I promise that I will make up for it at the end of the week - I'm going to San Antonio with Diddy and Dirty. And Match.mom and PapaBear. And Honker will be there.

Lots of stories are sure to follow.

Stay tuned, readers. Good things are coming!

Oh, The Pressure...

Gosh, I did so good for a week.

Posting some entertaining material everyday.

And then, the bottom fell out of the whole thing.

I was saving a video of BiggieSmalls riding a sheep for times like these.

But then my camera was stolen out of my car and that is where the video lived.

Did I ever tell you about the time that BFL* and I went to see Clay Walker in concert and it turned out to be in a high school auditorium?

We saw on his website that he would be at a "Performing Arts Center" in a small town on the other side of our metro area. The tickets were a reasonable price, so the two of us and one other friend decided to make a girls' night out of it.

We drove and drove and drove. And then we drove some more.

Then when we were at the place where Mapquest led us, we looked up to find a high school.

Sometimes I wish I was making this stuff up.

So we parked next to the bus.

I'm not kidding.

We were in the next parking space over.

We could have climbed up on the bus if we wanted to.

I actually think we took pictures with it.

Always prepared, we had packed a small cooler with some beer, and it was a good thing we did. Did you know they don't sell alcohol on high school campuses?

They do, however, set up a makeshift snack bar outside and sell cans of soda. And the security isn't real tight at the high school auditorium concerts so if you buy a can of diet coke, you can take it out to your truck in the parking lot, dump out the soda, and fill it with beer. And you really only have to buy one soda.

It turned out to be a great show.

And a much better story if you were there to witness it.

Red, Red Wine

I LOVE red wine!

A lot!

Pretty much all red wine makes me happy!

And I'm sure there is a story to go along with it, but I can't remember it.

I've had too much red wine.

Bonus!

Ok - I'm making up for yesterday here!

As many of you know, I have naturally curly hair.

As some of you may not know, I got my hair cut last week. I thought it was drastic - apparently no one else in the world did.

However, it is much shorter, especially in the back, so I'm not sure I can style it naturally without looking a little crazy.

But after four days of pretty much constant rain...

(I'm not complaining, I'm still a rancher's daughter.

Plus, rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whiskey makes my baby get a little frisky.

So rain is a good thing.)

...my naturally curly hair has had enough of the moisture and is starting to rebel!

I can see it trying to curl.

Looks like my independent streak runs all the way through me.

Running Out of Things To Say

My brain is fried.

I'm sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, but I had a really hard time focusing all day.

I think that the break-in rocked me to the core. Even though it could have been worse, I just kept thinking of what was missing and what I needed to do to replace it, and my mind was spinning.

I know that there are more storied to be told. I just can't think of them.

Here's a kind of funny one:

Last weekend, Diddy and I were at a meeting and we encountered a guy who needed his picture taken for the Face Punch Blog. I was trying to be sneaky and get the picture without having him see me.

As I walked back to Diddy to show him the picture a woman who was standing near the man asked if I got the picture. I was so embarrassed! I couldn't believe that she had caught me.

About five minutes later, she walks up to Diddy and I with another gentleman, who happens to be running for Governor this year. Then she asks me for my phone and makes us get our picture taken with him.

She thought I was trying to get a picture of him.

It was quite hilarious!

It Could Be Worse

My car was broken into tonight.

At the gym.

My passenger window is gone.

So is my work bag.

With my color-coded calendar.

And my camera.

So is my lunch box.

But a nice guy who works at the gym covered my window in styrofoam and plastic.

And my purse was returned to the front desk by a witness.

And everything was in it.

And my iPod is still there.

And my GPS.

And my Sirius.

And my car.

So, when the nice kid fixing my window told me that I was in a surprisingly good mood considering the circumstances, I told him, "it could be worse."

But that doesn't mean I didn't curl into the fetal position and cry when I got home.

And I think I sat on a piece of glass on the way home and cut my butt.

But it could be worse.

T-Shirts

I want a screen printing machine.

More than anything.

Well, maybe not anything, but I want one REAL bad!

I have so many great ideas for t-shirts.

Anyway, I saw two great shirts at the race on Sunday.

The first one was kind of popular, I saw it at least three times.

On the back it said:

Dear God,
Please let there be
someone behind me
to read this.


The other one said:

The truth is
you can always run faster
but sometimes
the truth hurts.


So funny.

I'm still laughing!

Yesterday

I'm sorry about the lack of a post yesterday.

I ran a half-marathon.

And then went to a concert.

Honestly.

Let's talk about that race though.

For about three years now I have been wanting to participate in the PF Chang's Rock'N'Roll Half Marathon, but kept finding reasons not to.

This year, I did it.

And I finished in under three hours! (Which was my goal.)

Actually, it was 2:43:21.

That's a 12:28 minute mile.

And the experience was AWESOME!

I will admit to all of you that I did not train as well as I should have. I kind of started with a plan, and then abandoned it. I ran some mornings, but not all. And I certainly didn't run a set amount of miles. On the weekends, I would try to up my mileage, but ended up walking more than I should have.

Needless to say, I was REALLY nervous about the race. Every time I would look at my calendar and see the date coming up, my stomach would turn into mush.

So many people knew that I was doing this, what if I didn't finish. Or what if I was super slow?

I was a wreck!

But everyone kept telling me that race day was different. That there were so many different variables at work and so many changes from training runs, you wouldn't even notice. And you know what?

They were right.

I kept a pretty steady pace and ran a majority of it.

It really feels good to set a goal and accomplish it!

So, here is the updated list of 25

1. See a baseball game in every Major League Stadium. (I've done Colorado, Boston, and Arizona so far. BodyBuilder* has talked about doing this with me, in which case I would have to start over with her)
2. Go to Mount Rushmore.
3. Master a signature dish.
4. Eat pizza in Italy.
5. Flamenco dance in Spain.
6. Drink in Ireland.
7. See the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.
8. Get married.
9. Become proficient in Spanish.
10. Write a book.
11. Publish that book.
12. Give birth.
13. Learn to surf.
14. Visit all 50 states.
15. Learn to ballroom dance.
16. Go to the Summer Olympic Games.
17. Attend the Kentucky Derby. (or one of the other races that makes up the Triple Crown.)
18. Run a 1/2 Marathon in under 3 hours.


Ok, I'm still looking for 19 through 25, but I'm working on it.

Enough About Me

Enough about me. Let's talk about you...What do YOU think about me?

(Great movie!!)

But seriously, what do you think about me?

I post these stories, and I know that I am entertained by them. I even go back and read them from time to time and laugh to myself.

But what do you think of them?

Leave me some comments!

Just so I know that you're actually reading.

And so my middle child needs can be satisfied.

Thanks in advance!

The Principal's Office

This morning I was having a coffee meeting at the cutest little market and they had Valentine's candy out already.

Looking at the candy made me yearn for the days of elementary school when things were so easy.

When everyone got a card, and you made special ones for your friends. When NECCO hearts were all you needed to be happy.

Then it made me think of my most traumatic Valentine's day experience ever.

I can't remember what grade I was in, but Match.mom had purchased me cards for all of my classmates along with those heart suckers that come in the long string of packaging. So I worked diligently on writing a nice card out to each member of my class (probably paying special attention to a boy or two...) and put the cards and suckers into a paper grocery bag to take to school.

Sometime between getting to school and distributing the goodies, the bag was stolen. I was devastated!

I'm pretty sure I cried.

Either way, when it was determined who had stolen the bag, we both had to go to the principal's office. I can remember how scared I was. (This was back in the day's of paddling.)

I vividly remember the feeling of my stomach being in knots. Sitting in the chair, on the verge of tears while I waited for my turn to talk to the principal.

I hadn't done anything wrong, so I don't know why I was so nervous, but I will never forget that feeling.

I actually don't remember anything about my actual discussion with the principal. And it was the last time I had  to visit a principal until my freshman year of high school.

But that's another story for another day.

I think, in the end, the cards and suckers were returned to me. Or maybe one of the playground aides bought me more suckers.

Either way, the sight of that Valentine candy in that little market this morning made me think of that for the first time in a long time.

Weird.

Would You Like A Drink?

When we were sophomores in college, IT and I were RA's. Looking back now, I think it is hilarious that anyone chose us to fulfill this duty. For a lot of reasons.

Midway through the first semester, IT got reprimanded for some dumb thing and had to leave her post as an RA. In a show of solidarity, I stepped down from mine as well.

And we moved out of the dorms late one night before Christmas break.

The process of moving was HILARIOUS!

For some reason, they allowed IT to keep her room at her dorm for like a week longer than me. And her dorm was a block down the road from mine. And we only had one dolly. So we would drive one of our cars up onto the sidewalk at my dorm. Ride the elevator up to the eighth floor, load up the dolly, ride the elevator down, and transfer the boxes to the car. And we would repeat this process until the car was full.

Then we would get into the car, with the passenger holding on to the handle of the dolly hanging out the door, and drive to her dorm. Where we would proceed to unload the contents of the car. This continued over and over until my room was empty. And we only got questioned by the police once.

Then we showered, I slept for like two hours, and then went to work at Old Navy. (Which, for the record, was the worst job on the planet. Ok, maybe Quebedeaux was the worst job on the planet, but they were both during this time in my life...)

We had found a VERY small apartment to move into for the remainder of the school year and summer and once we moved in, IT's parents came to visit us.

When describing the apartment her dad said, "I'm touching a wall, then I turn around and I'm touching a wall, then I turn around and I'm touching a wall..." I think you get the picture.

So, being typical college students, we had some alcohol in our fridge. As I was heading out the door to work at Old Navy (the God forsaken place), IT's mom opened the fridge and very dramatically asked if we were alcoholics because we had so much alcohol.

I quickly responded, "No, we're drunks. Alcoholics go to meetings." And left, closing the door behind me.

She has never gotten over that statement. To this day, she tells everyone she meets that she was so worried about us in college because I told her we were drunks.

If You're Going To Love Me

You should know a few things:

I am sometimes irrational.

I often laugh too loud.

I often talk louder.

I think that I am hilarious.

And I laugh at myself a lot.

Sometimes I can't get through a story because I'm laughing too hard.

I remember everything!

Maybe not everything, but a lot.

I am a typical middle child.

And a gemini.

I have big fears about little things.

And big things too.

I love to dance.

Sometimes in uncommon places.

Often around my house.

It doesn't concern me if I'm good or not.

I hate doing laundry.

I am impatient.

I am a small town girl.

And I love it.

I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

I am not comfortable sitting on the sidelines.

I am not interested in what people I don't know say about me.

I am super sensitive to the things that people I care about say about me.

I talk a big game.

But I'm a lover.

Though I'll throw down if the need arises.

I love to cook.

I love schedules.

And my color-coded calendar.

They are my life blood.

My nephews mean the world to me.

I miss them every day that I'm not with them.

I sing very loudly in my car.

And I know I'm not good at that.

I have very few secrets.

I wear my heart on my sleeve.

And it has been ripped off before.

I am fiercely independent.

And sometimes intimidating.

And if you're going to love me...

You're going to love me for me.

Posting Promises

Ok - I am really going to try to post every day for you, my dear readers!

I think if you take the time to type in my blog address (or click your favorites) every day, it is only fair that I take the time to post for you.

Since my life isn't always interesting, I may start posting stories from the past.

I hope that you enjoy!

Starting tomorrow... :)

Things I Love At This Exact Moment

1. My red fingernails. I just LOVE having my fingernails painted - it makes me feel so fancy! And to quote Dirty from a couple of months back, "I'm making red the new french." (She may have been making pink the new french, but that's just a minor detail...)

2. Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds. Holy Deliciousness!!!

3. The fact that when Mark Ingram's calf muscles were cramping during the BCS Championship game last night, the announcer said, "They have tried hydrating him using gatorade, pickle juice, etc." See, O'Connor - pickle juice is good for you!

Music Is What Feelings Sound Like

The title of this post is a little cheesy, but true.

Two things you should know about me:

1. I spend A LOT of time in my car. At least one hour each way to and from the office. It's not quite as much time as I used to spend in a car, but it's still a lot.

2. I L-O-V-E music! I believe that I have mentioned it before, but I really do yearn for the ability to make music because it makes me so happy. I once had a mild nervous breakdown when my iPod died. (It's true - ask Match.mom.)

So, A+B=I listen to a lot of music. Tonight, on my way to dinner with Diddy, my iPod was tuned to a new favorite Texas musician when the lyrics of a song caught my attention. I often just listen without thinking or paying much attention, but tonight this song made me stop. And restart.

Enjoy the lyrics. And if you want to download the song - Aaron Watson sings it. I highly recommend it!

The Heart Of Life

Girl I hate to see you cry
Lying there in that position
There’s things you need to hear
So turn off your tears and listen

CHORUS

Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No it won’t all go the way that it should
But I know the heart of life is good

Now you know it’s nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
There in the circle of your friends
We’ll defend the silver lining

CHORUS

Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who is misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good

I know it’s good

(John Mayer) © 2006 Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, Specific Harm Music (ASCAP)

Let It Go

I was cleaning out my office today and I found this. I thought that it was worthy of a post.

By T.D. Jakes

There are people who can walk away from you.

And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk.

I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone.

When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.

The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]

People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay.

Let them go.

And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead.

You've got to know when it's dead.

You've got to know when it's over.

Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay.

Let them go!!

If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains...

LET IT GO!!!

If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth...

LET IT GO!!!

If someone has angered you...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are involved in a wrong relationship of addiction...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents...

LET IT GO!!!

If you have a bad attitude...

LET IT GO!!!

If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better...

LET IT GO!!!

If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in HIM...

LET IT GO!!!

If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship...

LET IT GO!!!

If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves...

LET IT GO!!!

If you're feeling depressed and stressed...

LET IT GO!!!

If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying, "take your hands off of it," then you need to...

LET IT GO!!!

Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is doing a new thing for 2010!!!

LET IT GO!!!

Get right or get left. Think about it, and then...

LET IT GO!!!

Happy New Year!

Today is Granny B's birthday.

This morning, Match.mom and I were talking about what we would be having for birthday lunch. I asked what the dessert would be and Match said that Granny B was making two cakes.

We decided that it was a toss up on whether or not the cakes would be good. Granny B has a tendency to overcook cakes and dry them out. But she also has a history of making good food and desserts. You just never know what you are going to get.

For example, one time Granny B called up Match.mom and me to come to the house to try a pie that she had made. She found a new recipe and wanted us to tell her if it was good.

We had just had lunch (thank the Teeny Tiny Baby Jesus) so we decided that we would share a small piece of pie.

It was a lemon pie.

We each took a bite and could barely swallow it. I could have sworn I was eating lemon rind.

Then Match.mom asked Granny B about the recipe and she said, "Oh, it's so easy. You take a whole lemon and put it in the blender..."

Luckily, she lost that recipe.