Road Trip

Tomorrow I'm heading out of town, once again. Time for the brother to go back to school. We'll make it to La Crosse, WI for the night and then be at the dorm when it opens on Friday at noon. Even though I was off on Monday, I am really looking forward to being out of the office!

I met the former lady of my house last Saturday night. Jeremy and I had already met the man who used to live in our house but this past weekend was the first chance to meet his (better) half. She, too, is obsessed with all things U.K., so we got along famously. The next door neighbor's house is up for sale and there is no fence dividing our yard from theirs... We are a bit nervous about who may end up buying the house but will just have to hope for the best. We looked into the cost of a fence (chain link- nothing fancy, mind you!) and have decided not to spend nearly $2,000 to separate ourselves from the newbies before we even meet them. Does everything have to be so freaking expensive??!

Waiting for a phone call from a friend in the rental car biz to tell me how to handle my situation with the van for this trip... Wasn't planning to honestly share with the company where I intend to take it... but might have to amend that plan based on what he says. Fingers crossed that any last minute change won't increase the cost by more than $50. (GULP!)

So- nothing exciting. Just saying hi! Must do some work now since it is my Friday!!

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...

Countdown...

Random thoughts- Just typing the title of this blog has me reminiscing about one of my favorite shows by that name. I watched that gameshow religiously when I lived in U.K. It was one of the top things I missed when I was forced to return... Not at all the same, I have been playing online Scrabble and finally trying to puzzle out some Sudoku in the Post. Countdown is a lovely balance between words and numbers... but I never could figure out the conundrum!

So... recently on Administrative Professional's Day, my office gave me flowers, a nice card and a $5 gift card for Maggie Moo's. At my earliest opportunity, I walked to MM's for an ice cream float, which made me very happy. I read an interesting article on food addiction and how binging on sugar actually reshapes one's brain and creates a dependency on sugar and need for more and more... I can personally attest to this vicious cycle. I was doing so well, too, about going regularly to work out and I had wonderful plans... that have since fallen by the wayside while I sit on my couch eating Mud Pies every evening (an ice cream Starbucks treat straight from the gods). I can see how what I do could fall under the addiction category... but I don't know if pursuing a healthy lifestyle is as exciting as Mud Pie.

I went to see one of my pregnant friends last night- she'll only last about 2 more weeks before her twins are born. Crazy!! Makes my life feel a tiny bit lonely and empty, although I haven't had any time to even think these thoughts lately as I have been rushing about! My sand volleyball team, the Sloppy Joes, have lost all but the very first game and last night were completely annihilated, which was frustrating. Regardless, we are signing up for the next session to continue the losing streak. It is, after all, fun to get out there and yell at people. How else am I to unleash my frustrations? Besides, all of my shows are ending so I won't have much else to do.

Go Taylor Hicks! All the people who say he can't sing are simply jealous of his talent!

So... the countdown to our next American Idol, our next America's Next Top Model, the return of Jack on DOOL, our next win in volleyball, 5 p.m. today... is ON!

And the countdown for you all until my fabulous return has come to a satisfying end. 'Til next time...

Friday, at long last...

I have just a moment before my weekend officially begins... but I didn't want to allow 2 months to pass with no update. So, on that note: we had a blast in New York City last month at Katherine's wedding. Really, it was fantastic. And to show her appreciation for my assistance (and boy, did I NOT do much at all), we were sent Tiffany candlesticks! If anyone else would like to hire me to be the official "bow girl" for a special event, please let me know!! I survived my firm's outing to Miami... Story for April, though. Have a great one!

Rhasaan Orange from Days of Our Lives 

Rhasaan, a.k.a. T.E.K., the ladies' man! 

Marty Amiott from Thunder 

Thunder From Down Under 

Vegas Delights and Delays

We survived another trip to Sin City. Jeremy and Chad flew gliders while the girls went to a Women's Fair at South Coast Casino where we saw a preview of Thunder From Down Under and met Rhasaan Orange who plays T.E.K. on Days of Our Lives. It was an eventful Saturday! Marty Amiott, from Thunder, was very nice. He spoke with us a couple times at the casino and actually remembered us when we saw him after the show that night.

We should have flown out at 7:45 p.m. Monday evening, but our flight was delayed and we didn't actually start boarding until 9:15 or so. Instead of arriving home at 1 a.m., we didn't get in until closer to 3. We barely made it to bed by 4 a.m. and then had to be up a couple hours later for work. Yesterday was not the definition of production on my end!

That should be the last of our Vegas experiences for quite a while now. Next time we see Chad, Elena and Daniella, they will live in California.