Vocal Stress...

Yes, my friends, I am a total freak! I couldn't contain my excitement last night at the Idols concert and was screaming and shrieking like a hormonal teenager when Taylor finally appeared at the end of an entertaining show. I actually may have hurt myself yelling "Soul Patrol! Soul Patrol!!!" I was so hyper I couldn't sleep well at all and have been working through the Monday tasks in a complete fog. So worth every penny! (And I am NOT a concert-goer...) From his wacky dancing, great singing, guitar and harmonica playing... Taylor Hicks is the whole package. Sometimes I regret that I'm already married.

Anyway! I'll turn to another topic before I get myself too nutty for work.

Yesterday I had a few moments of success during my softball game in the afternoon. I actually caught a ball thrown in from the outfield and got the key 3rd out at home, preventing a runner from scoring. It was amazing. Right after that, I was up at bat and hat a legitimate hit! In fact, I was advised to run to 2nd base! Given that I never make it to 1st, let alone anything beyond, I had run quite far past the base and then hesitated before making an absurd loop toward 2nd. So, after my glorious hit, I managed to find myself out at 1st anyway when I tried to scramble back there. Still, I felt super cool for a few moments. Despite my idiocy (since I fully knew I wasn't fast enough to try for another base), our team won and will wrap up the season next Sunday. I suppose after that, Jeremy and I will return to being Christians.

5 o'clock... and all is... Well, I get to head home at any rate.

Friday Funk

What a week it has been...

The Sloppy Joes lost all 3 games Tuesday night to a team that hadn't won any games before challenging us. To add insult to injury, this may be the end of the Joes since everyone has generously offered to be a sub for indoor fall ball, but no one will hand over any money or commit to playing on a weekly basis. Hopefully we can find some new volleyball pals before the registration time expires but I am not feeling too hopeful.

At least we have one team sport to look forward to in September- softball. We have been playing in the brutal heat every weekend this summer but had decided not to continue with our current team. We were hoping to find a team closer to home and play during the week and, not only does this team satisfy these requirements, it's absolutely FREE!

Last night we played tennis with Mark and Elle. By the time all 4 of us were finally at the court, we had about 30 minutes of light; despite that, we played for almost an hour. There is something to be said for the adrenaline rush of a tennis ball flying by your head in semi-darkness! I am happy to report I have no new bruises. *Playing against Mark, this is noteworthy!

Tonight we will be entertaining Jeremy's parents and youngest brother. Jason is going to spend the night and Jeremy will have one last chance to impart some brotherly words of advice before Jason is off to college. I will have to hold my tongue and continue to hope that he ends up proving my predictions wrong! The boys are going fishing tomorrow- something I will avoid only by going to a baby shower I had seriously considered skipping. *sigh*

The invitation actually instructs us not to buy clothes... which would have robbed me of my only enjoyment with respect to this little party. I just didn't enjoy being told what to buy and where to buy it so I bought the cutest little outfit and am including the gift receipt. What she does with my gift is fine with me.

The highlight of my weekend, by far, will be... the American Idols concert Sunday! I cannot wait!!! I am still fostering a sick hope that I will get to meet Taylor Hicks. MMMMMMM...... So anyway, Sunday feels like a lifetime away, but I will keep myself as busy as possible until it is finally here.

Yikes- the evil work eyes landed on me. 4 hours left of my work week- better get to it!

Photo Journal

Dear Blog:

Aha! She's back...

Poor Jer's job search continues and I am quite frustrated with the lack of progress. This has been going on since December! I want to believe there is a great opportunity just around the corner, but there is no basis for this belief. In the meantime, we have been able to take a few significant steps with respect to our house goals. For instance, we have finally purchased bedroom furniture. We are so excited!! We had to laugh, though, when we realized that our bedroom furniture is the exact style as our dining room furniture. Apparently we only like one look? Then, in looking at pictures of the other pieces offered in the same style, we were amused/disturbed to see that our living room looks very similar to the one in the brochure. Ah, yes. We really went out on a limb!

In other news, I may be posting updates more regularly soon. We are going to (gasp!) get the internet at HOME. At the end of the month we will be buying a laptop. Who knows what will come next?

We recently went to a family reunion in Pennsylvania and managed to visit 3 State Capitols on that trip, the most impressive of which was Charleston, W.V. (Sorry Indy and Columbus!) Unfortunately, the crazy storms that ripped through St. Louis the night before we left prevented my family from joining us on the trip... They were without power for 5 days and had to use our house as a cooling center. Ill-timed storms considering the 100+ temps! When we returned, I was rather delighted to discover my office had been without power so I didn't have to use any vacation days for the trip. Not only that, the power did not come back on for 4 more days; in total, I ended up with an extra 6 days of paid time off! Yay, storms!

I removed an enormous stack of papers from one of the attorney's offices without her knowledge or express permission... so I should probably get to organizing that before she realizes how much is missing. I would rather get "caught" helping her than blogging.

Good bye for now, my long-lost friend...