I LOVE THURSDAYS!!!!!

I love Thursdays! I think they are my second favorite day (next to Saturday). Here's what I did today and why I loved it so much.

I got up a little after my usual time which felt like I got to sleep in. :)

Then, I went to take Rachel to Kids Day Out at church, which she loves, and that makes Mommy feel like not such a heel for enjoying my time alone.

I then came back home and met with a lady and gave her a brand new look for her day! She liked it, I thought it looked great, a fun time was had. I filled my travel coffee mug and set out to do a little shopping.

I went to Sam's and with no child, I was in and out of there in under 8 minutes!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!! Man, I love that.

I was off to meet one of my girlfriends at Target and we browsed around the whole store looking for clearance items! I LOVE that!! A side note to that is that I'm seriously the cheapest person I know and I barely ever by anything other than groceries that isn't on sale. Every once in a while I will, but not often.

After shopping at Target, my girlfriend and I went to eat lunch at Olive Garden. I love that place. We sat up at the bar because the wait was gonna be several minutes and with the time we spent in Target, time was of the essence in Olive Garden. The waiter at the bar knew my friend so well from her VERY frequent visits there that he didn't even so much as ask what she wanted to eat and even remembered that she liked extra dressing for the salad?! I mean, you hear of places like that in small towns, but my goodness! We live in a VERY populated area of Northwest Arkansas where you don't just know everybody, so that was really impressive! We had great conversation and then her husband, who I think is ultra cool, stopped by for a few minutes just to make sure she was ok after she hurt her back yesterday - he wanted to make sure she was ok to go get their daughters...... aaawwwww!!! Gosh, that man is sweet!! So we left Olive Garden and parted ways.

I went to the mall and shopped a little at the Disney Store and wished they had the beautiful Cinderella dress up costumes in adult sizes. After my trip to 'yeah right' land, I went to another couple of trendy shops and found that I won't be joining the Goucho trend - my butt is WAY too big for that.

I left the mall and headed across the way to my adopted mom's house for a minute and learned that one of my best friends who is getting married in a month has just been offered a honeymoon trip to either Hawaii, Paris, or Costa Rica!!! HOLY CRAP!!

After hearing that envious news, I went to get my baby girl. I LOOOOOOVE going to get her because she is so excited to see me and that just melts my heart!

We came home and I left shortly after that to get my hair cut - which I needed oh so badly.

Once my hair was cute again, we did a little more shopping and met Daddy for supper at Steak N' Shake - YUM!! The furniture store was right around the corner and of course, we had to stop by there because a few new pieces for our living room might be in our near future. Rachel decided to pitch a huge fit after being dragged away from the kids play area, so we knew then we had seen all the furniture we needed to see for the day.

Now we are home for the evening. The temperature is SO cool tonight and I think I need my long sleeve pj's for tonight. I'm planning on cracking my bedroom window and letting the cold breeze flow through and snuggling with Buff Daddy under the covers........ mmmmmmm......

I Wonder What Would Happen If:

I was sitting at lunch yesterday and something was mentioned that made me think of doing this on my blog and I said "I've GOT to blog about this" and everyone looked at me like I was a freak. Nerds. :) haha

Last night on Desperate Housewives, Brie totally proved why I had to write about this. She stood up in the middle of her husband's funeral and yells "WAIT!!!" She had to change the hideous tie he was wearing, but that's beside the point. There are so many times when I'm in a situation like a funeral or wedding or some other event where I'm expected to be proper and all the while I'm sitting there wondering "What would happen if I....". I'll give you examples.

Sitting at a funeral (since this is fresh on my mind from last night's show), I wonder what would happen if I just went into a maniacal screaming episode and stormed all around the room?

At a wedding when the minister asks if there's anyone who objects, speak now... what if I objected? Just for the heck of it. Not because I have an objection, I just wonder what people would think? (don't worry, April. I'm SO not gonna do this to you... probably not).

Sitting at the doctor's office waiting room, I wonder what would happen if I flopped down on the floor in convulsions or something and then immediately got back up and sat in my chair as if nothing ever happened?

What if I screamed at the top of my lungs in the middle of Wal-Mart, just because?

It makes me giggle when I'm in these situations and start thinking of what might happen. People already probably think I'm a little nuts for laughing to myself for no apparent reason. I really never would do any of these things. I just wonder what would happen if I did.

Technology SUCKS!

I have a headache right now because of technology. Ironic that I'm typing this out on something that was a benefit of technology, but anyway.....

One day my printer worked fine. It ran out of black ink and we replaced the cartridge. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? WRONG! I have no idea what happened or if my printer just decided to all the sudden get PMS, but it just completely stopped printing black ink - even with the new ink cartridge and the other new one I bought just in case the first new one was a lemon. Nothing worked. That is so dang frustrating when you do everything you normally do and then it just all the sudden, for no apparent reason, starts hating you and stops working. Now I have to send it to the company to have them look at it and try to fix it.

My dear computer guru friend is being gracious enough to loan me a printer while the other one is in the shop. The only problem with that is he gave me two to try out and up until this point, neither of them want to cooperate either.

Here's what I think: I think it's me. The equipment senses my dependance and all of the sudden it decides to get an attitude and put me in my place for using it so much. I just really want things to work when I plug them in. I don't want to figure out how something works or how to fix something, I just expect it to work like it says it should. Is that really too much to ask?

My day is definitely not going like I planned. I wanted to organize my 'office' and get a lot of stuff done. I haven't gotten to do that yet. And my legs REALLY need to be shaved.

I'm off to get my hammer.......

Sometimes I Wish...

Sometimes I wish for these things:

* No responsibility - this is a big one. Sometimes I get really overwhelmed at all that I have to do as an adult and everything I have to remember.

* Long hair again - I look at ladies with longer hair and kick myself on occasion for having cut mine off.

* Eating freedom - I wish I could just eat every bit of ice cream, donuts, sweet whatever, chips, Big Macs, you name it, without gaining an ounce. I don't really want to exercise to help out in this matter, either. My brother and dad both have this type of metabolism and it's really disgusting that I didn't get it! Why couldn't my brother have been the one to gain a pound by looking at a piece of chocolate cake? What would it have mattered to him?!

* A bigger closet - doesn't every woman?

* To be more organized - I like keeping things organized, but sometimes it just overwhelms me to think about getting things organized in the first place. Then I just let things pile up too long and then say "forget it".

* To be able to read faster - I read so slowly and yet I love to read. I wish I could read really fast and thus be able to read more because of it.

* To be clever - I admire people who are funny and clever with their thoughts - my husband being on the top of my list of those people. He can come up with anything right off the cuff and I so can't do that. I admire that and wish I had that quality.

There's so much more, but that's all I have time for. OH! That's another thing I wish. I wish I had more time to do whatever I want to do. I guess that falls under the responsibility thing, huh? Better go get those responsibilities taken care of so I can not feel guilty about blogging. :)

Football Saturdays

This will be the place my family will be sitting every Saturday from now til the end of Kansas State's football season. As you can see by the attire, my husband, and thus my dauther (and step-daughter, not pictured) are big K-State fans. Hubby is a grad from there and one of the biggest football fans I've come in contact with. You really can't hold any sort of conversation with him during a game because you'll be interupted by "GET IN THAT ENDZONE! GET IN THAT ENDZONE!!!!!" or "FUMBLE!!FUMBLE!!FUMBLE!!". So, for the remainder of the football season, this will be my life. Once the weather cools, it will be chili and pumpkin pie at my house to go along with the game!! I do enjoy that!

Nightmares

I'm in the middle of a book right now that I'm really enjoying. It's not a thriller exactly, but it is suspenseful. The main character has a bit of ESP - kinda like the chick on Medium on NBC - and has a way of 'seeing' things. Her best friend was murdered in a small town in South Carolina when she was 8 and now, at 26, this girl is back and wants to find the killer.

So then last night I read until I fell asleep, as is my usual routine. I don't know if it was something about the book or what, but I woke this morning at 5:30 to my husband saying "it's ok! I'm right here! It's ok!" and I was whimpering. I very rarely ever wake up like that, but when I do, it scares the pee out of me. I had been having a nightmare of sorts. In my dream, I walked into my daughters room. She was in our living room with one of my friends who had come to visit. It was early in the morning and the sun was just starting to shine - beautiful. I thought it odd that her window was wide open. We normally have screens on our windows, but where was her screen? And what was that box doing under her window? It was wet with dew. Strange. I picked it up and started to walk out of her room, but between me and the door, through the slats of her baby bed, a man was crouched on the floor. He reminded me of the Donnie Wahlberg in "The Sixth Sense", but scarier - if that's possible. I yelled for my friend to get my daugther and get out. He grabbed me and began to drag me back toward the window. Rachel!! I've got to get to Rachel!! I began screaming, or trying to, at the man. My voice caught in my throat and nothing would come out. I couldn't yell. I couldn't scream. I couldn't speak. Run!! RUN!! Get Rachel out of here!!! It was all in my head, but nothing was coming out of my mouth.

And that's when I woke to my husband's consoling. Peace rushed over me to know it was all a dream - a nightmare.

Is it bad...

My husband and I had a conversation over the weekend about our household duties and how he was going to make up a schedule of things we'd do each day so that we could be 'organized' with our housecleaning. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed because of having to pick up after children all day and then sometimes pick up after Hubby at days end - not to mention pick up my own things. Now, I'm not saying that Hubby doesn't do anything around the house. That simply isn't the case. He really does help out quite a bit, but there are moments when I wonder "if I just left those dishes there, I wonder how long it would be until he realized there was mold growing and then pick them up himself?". So, after our conversation, we have this color coded cleaning chart hanging on our fridge (which is great for me because I take well to lists like that). Now this was all done so that I could do what I had time for during the day amidst caring for the kids and working my business and then whatever I didn't have time for, Hubby will take care of in the evenings after he gets home. My question now is, since I have all the things done that are on the list for today, is it bad that I don't want to work? That was the whole reason this was done is so I could have more time to work and now I don't want to. I just want to sit down at watch 30 Minute Meals or...eeek! Oprah!..... or read my book that's due back at the library in a couple days or really anything other than work. Is that just terrible?

Advice on Forwards

Ok, I'm all fine and dandy with those people who want to send me some sweet story on a forward, but if it's some kind of a deal where we can earn money from Microsoft if we forward it to everyone in our address book.............COME ON PEOPLE! All I have to say is before you forward anything to anyone, if it's any kind of a deal where there's one iota of a possiblity that it is maybe NOT true, please go to www.snopes.com and search for it. I guarantee you that 99% of everything you see on forwards is on this webpage and the majority of that is false.

Whew. I feel a lot better now that I've gotten that said. :)

Today I'm Thankful For.... (2nd Edition)

I know I have posted on this topic very recently, but today I feel like I need to do this again.

Today, I am thankful for:

*My husband. He truely is the most wonderful man in the world. Even though dirty clothes may lay in the floor and lights are left on after he leaves the room and the things he does to help sometimes don't meet my 'standards' as far as housework is concerned, I could never ask for a better partner in life. I don't tell him that enough.

*My daughter. She is my joy. Everything she does is precious. My favorite things she does now is when I ask her a question and she answers "yeah" and when I ask her where something is, she says "Um...." It's SO cute!

*My step-daughter, Tanner. She is so funny and smart. I'm blessed to have her as a part of my life.

*Understanding People. Sometimes when I screw up royally, I'm thankful for people who can forgive and not hate me because of it.

*My friends. God has a way of putting those people in my life who I need at just the right moments. I don't have just one best friend. I have many bestest friends. I have those friends who are so different from me and yet provide me with such blessing. To those of you reading this blog, I love you and thank God for you!

*My church. I'm thankful that I don't attend a 'feel good' church but one that can present the word of God in all its truth, no matter how much my Pastor steps on my toes because of it.

*My home. After watching several episodes of Little House on the Prairie this weekend, I'm very proud of the home I have. Not that I wasn't happy with it before, but it just made me realize all the more that I don't NEED a lot of fancy things or a big house to be happy. I'm so blessed by what I have and I SURE don't say that enough.

*Mary Kay. I'm thankful that I'm a part of a business that seeks to support and encourage women and one that will give me an opportunity to do something I really love (play in makeup and make women look and feel beautiful) while I make money to help my family.

That certainly is just the tip of the iceburg, but today I just wanted to say I'm thankful.

Hobby Lobby

Ok, can I just say that Hobby Lobby is one of the coolest stores ever, yet somewhat overwhelming. I went there today with one project in mind and left the store wishing I had a million dollars so I could go back and buy anything I wanted to and craft all the rest of the days of my life. And the really sad thing is, I don't care for crafts too much. I mean, I like some thing, like classy crafts (wait - is that an oxymoron?), but I'm not much for just crafty things like this soapbar accessory thing that I created in high school that was wrapped in a washcloth and pipe cleaners. It was really cute, but very garage sale-ish. Not that I'm at all against purchasing things at garage sales............ shut up, I know - total tangent. Anyway, back to Hobby Lobby - that place is just incredible. I really think I need a day to just walk around in there and get some ideas of things I'd like to do - WAIT! THAT could be my vacation that I so desperately need!!!!! Walking around in a store and NOT having a baby that's frustrated because she has no more juice and I won't let her have my keys after the 5th time she's thrown them down........ ahhhhh..... that sounds heavenly right now. Top all that off with a Venti White Chocolate Mocha...... oh my gosh!!!

Hot Tamales

I'm sitting here at my desk eating Hot Tamales. There has never been a better candy in my opinion - or a worse candy if it's based on how addictive they are. I'm not normally a candy type girl. I like candybars and anything chocolate like that, but not so much just the hard candy/jolly rancher/gummy bear candy. However, Hot Tamales are the best! I've already eaten nearly the whole package. I have my reasons, today, though:

I'm bummed about the whole Katrina thing. There are people that have come to the Red Cross shelter in my town from New Orleans. That's hitting a little too close to home, Ladies and Gentlemen! I have a friend who had to leave his house and head across to the neighbor state because of the promise of disaster around his home. It was sad enough when all the mess around 9-11 happened, but I didn't know anyone directly affected by that. I felt for everyone involved and sympothized for them, but it just didn't effect me like this disaster has. This has just made me sad.

Also, I've been run ragged, I feel, over the past few days with my munchkins running around and my responsibility of taking care of my new 8 week old boxer puppy, Copper. (Pictured with Zoe). It's enough watching 3 children under 3 years of age during the day and trying, most of the time in vain, to keep my house from looking like a total disaster, but to add a potty training puppy to the mix and it makes for some tiring days. Plus, the little guy I babysit spent the weekend with Grandma 'Cat Owner' and we think the little dude is allergic to cats. He's been a complete fuss-bucket this week and I am now suffering from a very large headache, mostly due I believe to the constant whining.

Add all that on top of regular life and there you have me. I really need a day of vacation. Not one where I spend it running around and going and doing. I need a day to get a massage. I need to just relax. I need to not think or worry about any of my responsibilities. I need........peace.

Ok, all the Hot Tamales are gone now. Should I feel better? Or worse that I've sat here and ate and entire bag of candy? (it was only a 4 oz bag, but still...)

Deciding on Date Plans

The following is excerpts from Friday's conversation between 4 friends trying to decide what we'd do for our double date that night:

Mike,
I heard you were planning the date Friday night and Jeremy has told me what you have planned. Dukes of Hazzard is out of the question--you guys just want to see Jessica Simpson……what about the Wedding Crashers--I've heard it's funny from several people.
Michelle

(Mike's response - Jill's response to Mike in purple)
Jessica Simpson is in the Dukes of Hazard? Yes. What? You knew that. Why would anyone want to see Jessica Simpson in really short shorts? Cause some weridos think extremely dumb blonds are hot. I am simply interested in the car being as Jill and I both own Dodge vehicles. That’s a big bunch of horse $#!+! Jessica Simpson is just a silly interruption in great action packed car chase scenes. Yet more horse $#!+.

I was planning a theme night. Go Kart racing and a movie where the central theme is cars. Unfortunately Herbie Fully Loaded is already out of theaters so that left Dukes of Hazard. You are creative. Think of something else.

Wedding Crashers is a rated R movie Dukes of Hazard is pG13 And you point being……..?

I think the Dukes of Hazard with its positive theme of never letting the Man keep you down would be a great choice. Don’t you mean theme of “seeing dumb blonde girl strut around in nearly nothing” being a great choice? You know that’s what you were thinking.

(Mike's repsonse to Jill's comments in green - Jill's retort in blue - Mike's comebacks in dark green)
First off, if I thought Jessica Simpson was attractive (and I'm not admitting that I do) it wouldn't have anything to do with her mind. Her huge pair of HOOHA's possibly but definitely not her mind. Talk about something your WIFE will never be able to live up to… HELLO?! We can get you a new pair of HOOHA's if you want.

Second, what is the difference between going to see a movie about an impossibly romantic guy that husbands will never be able to live up to...And going to see a movie about fast cars, battling against the oppression of a ruthless tyrant interrupted, ever so briefly, by a scantly clad woman? The difference is getting wife into romantic mood for possible CPB (crunchy peanut butter = sex) after arrival back at home or……NOT. What about getting your husband in the mood for...nevermind stupid argument.

C, I am totally willing to compromise. Race Go-Karts, play violent first person shooter video games, watch Fantastic 4. I'm cool with that. Are we negotiating now? Shall I enter my 2 cents? Ok, great. I can do the go-cart thing. Afterwards, I like Michelle’s idea - you boys can go watch your sleazy hooha film I can just see the Dukes of Hazard Marketing group talking to the sensors now "We can't put sleazy HOOHA film in the trailer? That's what this movie is!!!" and Michelle and I can go watch something a little more mature. Or, we can completely compromise by seeing something we can all agree on. There’s a movie with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger coming out on Friday…..Matt Damon and Heath Ledger!!! Just admit that you want to see these two dumb as a wet sack of hammers because they will have tight fitting outfits on and you want to see their butts!!!

(Jeremy, Michelle's husband, adds his 2 cents)
I would like it stated for the record that I had absolutely nothing to do with that comment about the huge HOOHA’s. That was tasteless and inappropriate. If we can’t admire a woman for any reason other than her body, what does that make us? Personally, I think that there are other admirable qualities to Jessica. For instance, I just happen to admire her for the big melons she has in her fruit garden. I also am impressed by the large jugs she has in her kitchen. I have also noted that she has a nice set of bongos to play in her band. Obviously, there are many other admirable qualities to Jessica than her body – like her perky hooters (I’ve heard that she has some pet owls).

(Jill's response to Jeremy)
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Mike's retarded response)
If God didn't love hooters he would have had Noah leave them off the Ark.

As The dogWorld Turns

We've just rid ourselves of our beagle and now we're looking at other dogs. Madness, you think. Why, yes it is. The insane thing is that now some people in my family have changed their wantings from a boxer, which I could do, to a....... GREAT DANE!!! Jiminy Christmas, ya'll! Those things are bigger than me! Seriously!!! We called on some last night and let me just say that the daddy of the pups we'll see tomorrow weighs 175LBS!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!!! I'm not real sure I could deal with a dog that big! I mean, that's just HUGE!! It's like the second biggest dog ever! Actually, it may be the tallest dog. I don't know..... I would like another dog. Zoe seems lonely this week without her friend and I'm kinda used to having 2 dogs around, but I just don't know if I could handle one as big as a dane. I think I might could do a Mastiff. Those are the ancestors of great danes, but not quite as tall. They are still well over 100 lbs in average weight, but they're shorter than the danes. I'm all for the big dogs, mind you. I do NOT want a little squirly looking dog like the uglier than ugly Chinese Crested. These little dudes are UGLY! I'm sorry, but it's the truth! Any advice?

Sadie Is Gone :(

My dear little beagle, Sadie, has been taken to another home. Our back yard has holes all in it from her ventures throughout the day and my husband was beginning to get miffed. We had some ugly trees in our back yard and decided to cut those down and when we did, they became Sadie's escape to the other side of the fence. It was a way she could get close enough to the top of the chain link fence at the back of our property so that she could CLIMB the rest of the way over the wood fence to the neighbor's yard. She liked to visit our neighbor and usually every day, about the same time, our neighbor would come ring our doorbell with Sadie in tow. Nice. Dumb dog. I really think it's because they have a pool and we don't. Either that or they have better treats for their dog. So we removed the tree from the yard and hence removed her escape path. Dumb though she may be, she was determined to find a way over to the 'cool house' and thus began her digging spree. My husband had enough at this point. An ad went into the classifieds at his work and as of yesterday afternoon, Sadie's new home is on a farm somewhere. We got an email this morning saying she did great last night and enjoyed her new surroundings. However, the farm family has cows and apparently she was unsure about these creatures and barked at one of them. WHAT?! Barked?! Are we sure they have the right dog? Maybe the farm is just what she needed to release her true self because that dog has never barked!!
Now I'm wondering if I ever really had an attachment to the dog. I'm not really sad she's gone.

I still have Zoe, who's my lovely lab/collie/shephard/mut dog. I really think she's just a cat clothed in a dog's body. She'd much rather lay around and cuddle than to do normal dog type things. I love that about her. The only thing is that when my daughter came over to the computer and saw the picture of Sadie, she said "Sadie?". That makes me kinda sad.

And this is what I feel like doing.....

Since I'm sad, I feel like sitting down with a big bag of powdered donuts and a pot of coffee and wollowing in my misery for a while. Rachel seems to be enjoying doing that (except without the joe).

Yep, it's settled. I'm a crier!!

... as if there was any question. I just finished reading yet another book by my now favorite author, Karen Kingsbury. This woman has a way of writing that makes the story she's telling come to life in my mind and grips me until I put it down..... and then sometimes way beyond my reading the last words. This, I can tell, will be one of those stories. It was an escape from reality for me. I got involved in the world of these characters and they became real to me, if only for a few days or hours. In the end, it's a tragedy. I was crying through every word of the last few chapters and even now, tears well up in my eyes as I remember these people and all they shared and lost. Years have past in a matter of just minutes this morning as I read the last pages. I'm sad now because I feel like I've lost a friend all over again.

Today I'm Thankful For....

Yesterday was a weird day. I listened to a tape that was given to me that had some readings of journal entries from one of my friends that passed away last year. It was over a span of about 3 years. It wasn't readings from every day, of course, but selected days over the years. It made me sad that my friend isn't with me anymore. But more than that, it made me realize even more what a beautiful person she was, not only on the outside, but in her heart. She listed the most simple things to be thankful for. Therefore today, I shall follow in her footsteps and list some things I'm thankful for:

* Today, I'm thankful for my daughter. I'm thankful that she pee peed on the potty the other day!
*I'm thankful that Mike called me from work this morning and cared what I had to say.
* I'm thankful for my friends.
* I'm thankful for email since I don't talk on the phone much.
* I'm thankful for the Wiggles and Barney that keep Rachel entertained while she learns cute little songs.
* I'm thankful that I can sleep in tomorrow morning.
* I'm thankful for Mary Kay and the sales I made yesterday.
* I'm thankful that it's sunny outside and I got some good coffee this morning.

Anyone else thankful today?

AAAHHHH The Agony!!!

Yesterday, my dear husband left for a few days of Kids Camp so my precious friends invited me over to their house for a sympathy dinner so I wouldn't be alone. Little did I know, it was all a scheme to kill me - or for me to kill myself! You see, I cannot get away from friends who own homes on a ridiculous incline and these are no exception. This home is built on a hill overlooking the lake. Beautiful, you think. Yes, it is. However, the trek from their home down the hill to the water is retarded!! Stupid me decided I was going to be cool and stylish by wearing some flip flops instead of tennis shoes. Mistake #1. Then I decided that since every adult there besides me was covered in dirt from laying sod that I would carry my child down the hill myself (there's no way she could have walked herself). Mistake #2. As we were 'walking' down the hill, I averted a couple of disastrous falls by clinging to inch thick 'trees' for dear life. Needless to say, I was cursing my choice of shoes at this point. We finally reached the water and as I stayed on shore, the others went in for a little dip and all was well. It was hotter than Hades, but fun. Then.......dear God, it was time to CLIMB that mountain back up to the house. I came to my senses this time and let someone else carry Rachel so I didn't have her to contend with. And traveling down hill in flip flops was one thing; trying to climb UP the mountain in said shoes is another thing entirely. Now, you have to get this picture - I HATE exercise!! I mean, hate is really not a strong enough word. Loath might come close, but still, doesn't do my feeling justice. So, here you have me - totally out of shape and climbing a 60 degree mountainous incline. Thankfully, the people traveling behind me were taking their time as well and someone 'lost their shoe' so they had to take time to put it back on. I patiently waited for them as any good, totally out of breath friend would do. Then, my exercise freak friend who runs a few miles every day was walking up the hill like it was nothing and I thought, "I can't let her show me up that badly"...... you guessed it - mistake #3. By the time I reached the top of the hill, I really thought about sitting down and crying. I caught my breath finally and we went into the blessed air conditioning. But the agony wasn't over yet. These dear friends have 3 stories to their home. The kitchen is on the main floor, the TV where Dora was playing and where my daughter wanted to be was on the bottom, and the bathtub where the girls had to get cleaned up was on the top floor. Dear Jesus, when will it end?! So, after a lovely dinner and some visiting, Rachel and I headed home. I entered a very deep sleep and was really ticked when my alarm went off this morning - but the ticked feeling was replaced with agony as soon as I stood from my bed......... HOLY CRAP!!!! There are places that are sore today that really shouldn't ever be exposed to exercise, I believe. I can only imagine that this will get worse as the day goes on and heaven help me on what tomorrow will feel like. Bottom line and lesson learned - I will NEVER wear flip flops to their house again, never carry my child down the hill again, and their Christmas gift this year is a lift that will carry innocent, non-exercisers down to the lake and back.

Rachel LOVES for me to sing to her. She goes from her request of "Jzsz Uvs Me" to "B I B I" pretty much in the same breath. In this picture, she was sitting with 'Sissy', who she loves dearly, and they were singing "Jzsz Uvs Me". Rachel has her 'bankie' and 'doose' (aka - juice) with her as well. If Minnie were in the chair as well, she would have been in absolute ecstasy! And around her left eye........yeah......... that was the result of her getting a little to excited to play Ring Around The Rosey by herself and then meeting the coffee table in an unpleasant moment of truth.

A Busy But Fullfilling Time

Man, have I ever been busy since my last post! Holy cow!! I went to my 11 year class reunion.... yes, I said 11 year.... a week ago Saturday. My high school buddies in charge of coordinating the reunion didn't get on the ball enough around our 10 year anniversary of graduation, so we postponed it until this year. Selfishly, I really was wishing that everyone would have gained more weight than me since graduation and for the most part, they had!! Isn't that terrible that I was thinking that? And even worse that I'm glad everyone was a little more pudgy? Anyway, it was a good time visiting with those who I hadn't seen in YEARS! The plan is to do a reunion again in another 4 years to get us back on the 10-15-20 reunions and so on. We shall see.

Last week, I was in Dallas for the Mary Kay Seminar. There are 5 groups all together that each have their own seminar. I am in the Sapphire seminar and then there is the Diamond, Pearl, Ruby, and Emerald seminars. Each group gets together in Dallas at different times to have their annual meetings. I definitely got pumped up and ready to hit some new goals this year! The picture I've posted is one with my director (on the left), our National director Rena Tarbet, me, and April. We had an awards dinner that night and had a fantastic dinner with filet minon and then for dessert, some decedant chocolate feast! It was so wonderful and such a treat! The entertainment during the seminar was outstanding - I felt like I was at a Broadway production! And hearing so many women give such glory to the Lord so unashamedly was beyond anything I'd imagined. One lady put it so well "It gives me such joy to be affiliated with a company in which I've not ever been pulled into the HR office and reprimanded for sharing my faith". Now that is wonderful! It really helped me to see what a Christlike woman Mary Kay was and how blessed I am to be a part of a company that encourages everyone that is a part to put their priorities in order: God first, family second, career third..... and that is the essence of Mary Kay.