Living the Dream

Home Happiness Projects: Wine and Coffee Bar

2012-02-02T08:52:00.000-06:00

I've been on this weird kick where I've disliked our home the past few months. I went as far to start looking for new homes and had convinced myself that we didn't need to live on a lake to be happy.

But then we refinanced at a ridiculously low rate, and I'm getting closer to nursing school. So reality set in, and I redirected my energy on things that I could do to the existing home to make it more likeable.

Complaint: I don't have enough freaking storage space in our kitchen
Resolution: Move the table out of the kitchen and create a wine and coffee bar that will provide extra storage and free up the cluttered counter.

We moved the table back in December but I've been slow to pick what exactly I wanted to do with the space. For a while, the kitchen looked like this (that's a random end table that I haven't found a home for with all the other rearranging):

It took some time to figure out the best approach (buy v build.) but ultimately we spent Sunday afternoon with three trips to Home Depot and around $200 to create this beauty:

I moved all the coffee accessories (seriously, we look like the freaking Starbucks with our K-cup maker, espresso maker, coffee maker, coffee grinder, coffee cups....) AND relocated several bottles of wine and wine accessories (electric opener, chiller....).

The cabinet started as an unfinished oak cabinet without a counter. We created that counter and tiled it with these lovely glasses tiles (using grout and everything).

I love it.

The existing kitchen counter is less cluttered. I don't have to dig to get to my coffee maker or spices. And I have a can say I have a "wine and coffee bar" in my house :)

Next up: the guest bathroom project.

Back to It

2012-02-01T09:10:00.000-06:00

I go through running spurts, and this year is no exception. I decided last night that since it's been 10 months since I ran my first 10k and I've barely gone a mile since then, it's time to get back on the horse.

Actually, it was my friend A. Jill telling me last weekend while we drank an entire boot of beer, "I run because I like to eat pizza" that made me do it. Her common sense approach to life and health makes too much sense.

I kicked off my running the Couch to 5K podcast that started it all three years ago. I started at Week 1, which is only 60 seconds of running at any given time. I was genuinely shocked that this wasn't hard for me. And I even did 10 minutes on the elliptical after my run. Maybe running is like riding a bike. Once you train your body, you don't really forget?

I've downloaded Version 3 of the podcast. The music is getting better, so that's an added bonus: http://chubbyjones.libsyn.com/

Tonight, on to Week 2.

Things That Are Hard But I'm Going To Try To Do Them More Anyways

2012-01-23T18:17:00.000-06:00

1. Dinner alone: When I travel for work, I find myself being a creature of habit (or the Marriott). I literally hole up in my hotel room and eat only Subway or whatever weirdness they are serving in the lounge. Tonight, I was in a new town, had a restaurant recommendation from a coworker who loves this area, and went out to dinner alone. And I was served the very best fried okra ever. So when I travel for work, I'm going to try to see more and do more. Less turkey sandwiches, more fried okra.
2. Prioritize work over life: I had to forgo this semester in school because travel was just too much. The clients were asking for me, and I couldn't let them down. Financially, we are trying very hard to get everything paid off so I can go to school full time and cut my family's income in half. So putting work first was something that had to be done. I am still hopeful I can start a nursing program in the fall of 2013 despite the setback.
3. Be a patient friend: We are trying to plan our annual girls trip. Everyone has a lot of different opinions...and some don't respond at all. The weekend is still 4 months out so I am just going to sit back and see how this all plays out.
4. Be a patient wife: TG bought a new truck and has spent an unreasonable amount of time enhancing it, taking it for "check ups" and talking about truck projects. It actually got to the point where I had to tell him I was tired of talking about the truck. He's just excited so I need to be a better wife and let him be happy...even if that means spending an unreasonable amount of my day discussing window tinting and trailer hitches.
5. Step away from the computer: There are some weeks that pass when I don't check my work email at least once a day. I either have my computer connected or my phone with me. It's a bad habit and makes it hard to separate work and life. But it's also unhealthy. This weekend, I vow to go at least one day without looking at email.

Let's make a deal

2012-01-20T19:07:00.002-06:00

Dear 2011

Remember when I bid you farewell? Well, the first 20 days in 2012 have been subpar so I wanted to give you another shot.

One grandpa, one grandma, one miscarriage, and one divorce later I am not convinced we are in agreement.

Let's try to get off on a better foot. cool?

SG

Stuff American People Like

2012-01-08T23:29:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite blogs is Stuff White People Like. The past few days in Doha has felt like a blog worthy of being called Stuff American People Like.

1. Michael Jackson – The first morning I was taken by a private driver to the office. This is basically a person hired by the hotel to take you in a nice Audi to your destination (instead of a metered taxi). When I got in the car, the driver asked if I’d like to hear music so I said “Sure, why not?” He then asked what kind of music. I wasn’t sure how to respond with “country and western or gangster rap” so he asked “Sentimental?” I indicated I had no preference so he went to the navigation screen and found a playlist titled English and browsed to a song called Speechless. When the song first came on, I had no idea who was singing but it became very apparent it was MJ. Sentimental Americans enjoy Michael Jackson. Of course.

2. Camels – Doha is a fairly large city with massive sky scrapers. Sure, there’s an ocean (I think technically it’s a gulf), and there’s areas of the city that are barren and desolate like the desert, but I haven’t seen a single sand dune and most of the desolate areas just look like foliage cannot grow due to rain. It doesn’t look like the kind of place you’ve seen in Arabian Nights and those other old black and white movies. And it certainly doesn’t look like the recent portrayals of the Middle East on CNN with army tanks and warfare. So I was fairly amused to go into the mall this weekend and see that the souvenirs included camels. There were plush camels. There were camel snow globes (there’s some irony in that one). There were camels made of porcelain. But I’m not actually sure you could see a live camel in the entire city (or maybe even the country). I sure didn’t…and if I could have, I’m pissed no one invited me to do that.

3. Arabic sterotypes – In addition to the camels, some of my other favorite tokens you could purchase in the shops were miniature lamps….like the kind on Aladdin that the genie comes out of. I’m not sure what those things are actually used for, but I can tell you there isn’t one in the hotel, nor have I seen this used in the office where I work. Just sayin’.

4. Bad Chain Restaurants – I’m not sure if this one of Stuff American People Like or Stuff American People Like That Has Unfortunately Spread To Other Countries but there are a lot of chain fast food places (McDonalds, Papa Johns, Starbucks, Burger King, Pizza Hut). But the sad thing is to see places like Chilis and Applebees have found a place in the Middle East. I was told that the locals love eating at places like this, which is both amusing and disgusting. I really prefer to avoid those places when I’m in the States so I certainly want to avoid them when I’m traveling abroad. Unless I get a hankerin’ for chicken nuggets. Then I’m grateful to have McDonalds worldwide.

5. Artificial Sweetener – The coffee here is intense. It’s dark and bitter and requires an insane amount of milk or cream to make it even drinkable. And I admit that I’m also a huge fan of artificial sweeteners (sorry, Jackie). My chemical of choice is Splenda but I’ll use the pink stuff or the blue stuff if it’s all that’s available. What’s interesting here, is brown and white sugar is more common and in hotels and restaurants you will only see one or two packets of Sweet and Low available. It’s pretty much the opposite of the States where you usually see all of the variety of artificial sweeteners with one or two regular sugars. Yum.

It’s been a fairly uneventful week in Doha. I’m not even that upset if I have to come back. While I’m not looking forward to the flights home, I am looking forward to being back with my friends and family (and on my body’s regulated sleeping schedule). And bring on the Mexican food. If there’s one thing American people like that hasn’t been figured out here, it’s Mexican food.

Bean tostadas and America, here I come.

A New Year, A Fresh Start

2012-01-04T09:31:00.000-06:00

Good riddance, 2011.

Last year was so full of emotional highs and lows, I’m not even that disappointed I slacked at blogging through most of it. But it’s a new year, and I’m starting it off in one of the most unexpected places on Earth so I thought it’d be a good time to start again.

This is me, saying hello from Doha, Qatar.

While I haven’t been excited to come to the Middle East and have been pretty much terrified since the moment I left Kansas City, I have been pleasantly surprised. The flight was uneventful (although the movie selection was really sub-par, and I was forced to watch not one but two movies with Betty White and an episode of Golden Girls), the layover in Frankfurt was fascinating (smoking huts sponsored by Camel every 200 yards is not an exaggeration), and I made it through customs, my first taxi ride, and checked into the hotel in an Arabic country…..alone.

And while I don’t consider myself a racist person, I’ve been having these terribly frightening thoughts of being by myself as a White American woman in Doha. I have lived with gals from both India and Pakistan, have a very good friend who is of Iranian descent, and could care less when I see Muslim/Islam/Arabic people in the United States but this feels different. Being the minority is both scary and eye-opening all at the same time.

However, everyone here has been nothing but nice to me, and the hotel is probably one of the very nicest I’ve ever stayed at. The water front views and pleasant weather are making this a fairly enjoyable trip. And today’s bonus was my first experience with an office tea boy, which is exactly what it sounds like: a boy who works in your office whose only duty is to bring you tea, coffee, and water all day long.

So here’s to 2012: to new opportunities, cultural experiences, and appreciations for those who are different from me.

Cheers.

Surf's Up

2011-08-22T20:31:00.000-05:00

We spent the last weekend at Table Rock on vacation. We went out on the jet ski, shopped at the outlet mall, slept in late, and (most importantly) wakeboarded our faces off. I'd trade my first born to have the awesome water we had all week.

Here's an awesome pic from a surf session we did on Friday.

I'm going to work on being a better blogger. Until then, here's a video of my closest wake to wake jump yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKYZcRFFfYk

Warriors: if it were easy, everyone would do it

2011-07-26T13:32:00.001-05:00

You may remember when A. Jill and I signed up for the Warrior Dash earlier this month.

There were a few things I was specifically looking forward to, including:
1. a free viking helmet
2. a free beer
3. tetanus from junkyard cars
4. pain

Now that we have successfully completed the Dash, I thought I’d recap some additional things I didn’t expect to get:
1. A sweet t-shirt and medal proclaiming our finishing victory
2. Shin splints from wearing crappy running shoes (because I didn’t want to ruin my good ones)
3. A lesson in why researching the terrain before a race is important
4. A weird recreational water rash

This is a photo of A. Jill and I before we started the race. Note the enthusiasm and cleanliness.

This is a photo of us after. Note the mud and pain (although not visible, the pain is quickly developing and still lingering two days later).

There is truly nothing we could have done to prepare for this race. While 3.2 miles with some obstacles doesn’t sound that grueling---3.2. miles up a legitimate ski hill with some obstacles is.

You’ve got that right. The entire race was up hill.

It started innocently enough. A. Jill and I are trotting along at what she referred to as an “enjoyable pace” when we got to the foot of our first hill. I really tried to keep jogging but after about 100 yards, gave up and walked (along with 100s of other warriors around me). The pace of up a hill, flatten off for obstacle, down a hall, flatten off for obstacle, and up a hill continued the entire 3.2 miles. I’m grateful I didn’t have a heart attack. I’m mad at myself for not even trying to get in one run before this race. Or for even trying to run on a trail (I’m a road running machine all the way).

Further proof this is hard: me crossing the finish line with my hands in the air and yelling, “This is terrible!”

Despite it all, I genuinely believe we would have done much better had the race not been entirely up hill. At one point I told A. Jill to “save herself” and we finished separately. But I did things in this race that I’ve never done, nor did I think I’d have the strength to do. We scaled a 20 foot net wall, a 10 foot wall with a rope, jumped over a pit of fire, and swam belly first through a pit of mud under barbed wire (note the wicked rash….).

I’m proud of us. A. Jill finished about 10 minutes ahead of me but we both finished. And that’s what racing’s all about. Because if it were easy, everyone would do it.

Reaffirming

2011-07-21T23:52:00.000-05:00

The events from the past two weeks have left my heart heavy and my mind full. I’ve reaffirmed several things:

1. I believe in the power of prayer and relying on faith to find comfort during difficult times.
2. I believe in the ability to have sisters who you don’t share genes with.
3. I believe in friendships that run so deep, you can cry and laugh in the same conversation. And will drive all night to be together.
4. I believe in the ability of church ladies to take charge of a meal, from set up to tear down. Including the ability to wash a crock pot that belongs to a total stranger.

I’ll miss you, Susan. Thank you for everything, especially for sharing your love for Jesus Christ and loving everyone so freely. You are an inspiration to us all.

We’re not old enough for this

2011-07-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

My close friends and I range in age from 27 to 32. We have been through some tough times together, and this week is no exception. JE’s mom had a massive stroke Sunday night and is currently recovering in the ICU at a local hospital.

For such a young group of gals, we’ve seen our share of hard times with close family:

• I lost my dad to a heart attack

• MG lost her dad to a heart attack

• AA’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer – but kicked cancer’s butt and is doing great. Those were some scary times though

• KT’s dad was diagnosed with cancer – he’s also kicking cancer in the butt and doing better

I never thought at this age, I’d be dealing with such tough situations. Heart attacks, cancer, and stroke seem like “old people” problems.

It’s hard to think that we’re old enough to have parents who are old enough to have these ailments.

In my eyes, none of us are old enough for this.

Warriors

2011-07-07T15:31:00.002-05:00

A. Jill, Megan, and I just signed up for the Warrior Dash in Minneapolis. If you aren’t familiar with the race, check this out:

http://warriordash.com/

There are so many cool things that we are going to get from this deal:

1. a free viking helmet

2. a free beer

3. tetanus from junkyard cars

4. pain

Bring it.

Gone Fishin'

2011-07-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

Ben had his first adventure in fishing that involved actually catching a fish! Using his very own Lightening McQueen fishing pole, he caught this gem:

In all honesty, we were lucky this little guy survived. After they trolled 100 yards with him on the pole, and Ben repeatedly jerked him out of the water because we were yelling from the shore, “Bean, hold up your fish so we can take a picture!” it wasn’t 100 percent clear the fish was still alive once they released him. He floated on the top of the water (most likely playing dead so they’d stop torturing him) but eventually swam away.

We were telling the fishing story to a friend who is an avid fisherman at the lake. He asked what we were fishing for. TG responded: Perch.

This photo of TG, Chuck, and Ben is too good to not share. Mostly because TG looks like Hank Hill and Chuck looks like Boomhauer from King of the Hill.

I’m a Big Sister!

2011-06-13T21:09:00.000-05:00

After 30 years as an only child and 18 months on the waiting list for a Little Sister, I have finally been paired up. She’s 16, wants to be schooled in neurology at MU, and is from the heart of Independence (just like me).

A girl after my own heart…..she loves adventure. She has tried wakeboarding, likes to run, and has “live life” tagged at the end of every text message she sends.

A girl who will be a challenge for me….she is a picky eater. When I asked her if she could pick any place in the entire city for dinner, where would she go. Her answer was Ryan’s (yes, the terrible buffet place).

We spent our first outing eating pepperoni pizza on the Independence Square and picking out her summer reading books. Our second outing was supposed to be to the cable park this weekend, but weather pushed our trip. I have a feeling it will happen soon.

In the spirit of anonymity, I will call her Little J. I look forward to sharing our adventures.

Smarty Pants

2011-05-29T08:20:00.000-05:00

The year we were engaged, TG started a Master’s program at a major university in the KC area. Four years later, not too far from our fourth wedding anniversary, he completed the program.

It’s been four long years of planning around nights he’s in class, weeks I’m traveling for work, hours of studying, and lots of stressful projects. But I can very proudly say that I have a husband with a Master’s degree in computer science….or information technology.

That’s right. He isn’t sure what his degree is in.

As we watched graduates from the School of Engineering receive their degrees in chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, aerospace technology, and a bunch of other things I’d never want to have as degrees, TG’s sister and I realized his name wasn’t in the program with the other computer science people.

After a brief panic moment, we realized he was filed neatly with the information technology majors.

We watched with pride as TG walked across the stage and accepted his commemorative paper weight, commencing his accomplishments. And then immediately bombarded him with questions after the ceremony about what exactly he’s accomplished.

Us: So, what exactly is your degree in? Is it computer science or information technology?

TG: I think computer science. But if it says information technology, maybe that’s it. I guess we’ll find out in July when the diploma is mailed.

Here’s to my smarty pants husband. Congrats on four years of very hard work. May you have many years of a successful career in.....whatever your degree is.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2011-05-25T19:15:00.002-05:00

I’m shamefully overdue on my very latest addition to Living the Dream – a welcome to the world post to the very adorable Susanna June!

You may recognize little Susanna’s features, as she looks strikingly similar to her big brother Ben. And even though I lost the “name this baby” vote again (I was really rooting for Joy), I did win out on her birth date.

Since the day JE told me she was expecting on May 7, I wished and hoped and even prayed a little that she would be born on one of the greatest dates of the year…Cinco de Mayo. And despite her mom’s Braxton Hicks contractions and her great grandma’s wish for her birthday to be in June, she was brought into the world on May 5.

So this is a great big welcome to Susanna. You’re going to be an awesome gal like your mom, and I can’t wait to see you grow up and celebrate many Spanish-themed birthdays. You probably won’t remember, but I brought your brother some really great maracas to shake in the hospital room to celebrate your arrival…you’re so chill you slept through the entire thing.

And even though I didn’t win in the baby name pool, be grateful you weren’t named Pippa. Or Baby Girl Enderle #1. Both were really starting to catch on.
Love,
SG

Some people are lucky I don’t work at the DMV

2011-05-06T08:07:00.002-05:00

Dear girl in the Altima driving on 470 West this morning,

You are an idiot. You are not only an idiot but the worst driver I’ve ever seen. I’m unclear why you were flailing your arms around for nearly two miles and then spent another mile trying to attach your GPS to its holder on the windshield while driving 18 MPH in stop and go traffic. And was it really necessary to switch lanes 20 feet before your exit, coming to a dead stop in front of me to merge?

Because you are such a terrible driver, I feel like it’s my citizenly duty to tell you that you are an idiot (and because I’m pretty sure you didn’t hear me scream it at you when you were doing that poor merge to the other lane).

You are also lucky that I don’t work at the DMV or hold some other position of authority that would allow me to revoke your driving privileges. You and many others have developed some pretty terrible driving habits that have lead me to believe that we need to create a law that ensures when you driver’s license expires you not only have to go to the DMV to have it renewed, you also need to re-take the driving test.

That’s right. Just because you managed to trick some under-paid DMV worker into giving you a license to drive when you were 16 should not automatically mean you get to drive the rest of your life. You were probably a terrible driver then and you are still a terrible driver (despite the hundreds of hours and thousands of miles you must have accumulated in the past 10 years).

For the record, I’m not claiming to be the best driver in the world. I’m definitely an aggressive driver and pretty much always drive too fast. But there are some pretty critical things that I have observed in you and other drivers that leads me to believe re-taking the driver’s exam ever decade isn’t such a shabby idea:

1. Driving too slow – Seriously, if you are driving under 10 MPH on the freeway, you are not being a safe driver. You are making it more dangerous for other drivers.

2. Driving at or under the speed limit in the left lane – They call it the passing lane for a reason. You are supposed to go faster than the people in the other lanes. Duh.

3. Not using a turn signal – Those crazy car manufacturers have made it so convenient to reach your little finger up there and let the people around you know your next maneuver. Shocking.

4. Not being able to parallel park – Again, you don’t have to be an “expert” at this but having the basic skills to park your car along a curb should be a prerequisite to driving. And life.

5. Parking lots - Is it really necessary to not give pedestrians the right of way when driving through a parking lot? Especially when it's raining, snowing, blowing cold air or scorching heat (i.e. most of the year in Kansas City)? You are in your car protected by the elements. I am on foot. Why must you plow through the parking lot like you're playing a wicked game of Duck, Duck, Goose?

6. Hitting an animal and not stopping or calling someone – okay, this is a personal one that tugs at my heart strings. I saw a cat hit by a car the other day…that was still alive but clearly struggling. If you have run someone’s pet over and don’t have the courtesy to stop or at least call animal control, you are a jack ass. How do they measure that in a driving test?

Once again, I don’t claim to be the world’s greatest driver (or even a mediocre driver) but I really do put forth an effort to not piss off the people around me. I don’t enjoy driving and just want to get from Point A to Point B. Anything that can be done to make that as painless as possible is much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Girl in the Acura who screamed at you that “You are an idiot!” Because you are.

Flute Hiatus

2011-05-01T16:57:00.002-05:00

After a very successful spring concert with the studio, I'm going to be taking a mini flute hiatus for the summer. This is the time of year I like to focus on wakeboarding and, against my will, summer school.

Enjoy:

It's Real Simple?

2011-04-28T10:17:00.002-05:00

Slowly but surely I'm loosing. This week, .8. I haven't had a week where I've gone over a pound in a while now.

But if you ask Real Simple, there are secrets for skinny people. Maybe I can try some of these tips?

Recipe for Success

2011-04-22T15:26:00.001-05:00

8 Cool Girls
5 Colorado breweries
1 Champaign brunch with drag queens
9 excellent innings of baseball
=
0 pounds gained or lost this week.

Boo ya.

More to come on the trip later!

Just in Time

2011-04-13T13:41:00.001-05:00

I hit my 5% weight loss goal today. Which I’m pretty stoked about because it’s just in time for Bearcat girls weekend 2011.

The 8th edition of this trip will be held in Denver this weekend. You may remember us from other popular girls trips such as:

2004 – Austin
2005 – Chicago
2006 – Las Vegas
2007 – Hermann, MO
2008 – Minneapolis
2009 – Memphis
2010 – Eureka Springs

Shit’s about to get crazy. Look out, Colorado.

Flute o'clock!

2011-04-12T10:27:00.001-05:00

My first performance with the flute choir was amazing. We broke into small groups also, and TG captured this gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlXNnaJm86g

The Unspoken Non-Disclosure Agreement

2011-04-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of smart friends with cool talents. When I don’t have the ability to do something (usually crafty, technical, or related to cooking or raising a baby), I have a basket of tricks I can reference to get the job done.

But smart friends with cool talents often generate business ideas. We’ll sit around having lunch or beers (or both) and will come up with something that we see as the next great business opportunity. It usually follows a great discussion about what each of us brings to the table for the business and then fizzles after the meal is over or the beer is gone.

Pretty recently six of us piled into a van for a three-hour trek to Omaha. At one point in the terrible drive (somewhere between St. Joseph and Nebraska City), TG and I wanted to share our most recent business idea to get feedback.

Me: Hey, we have an idea that we want to run by you all. But remember, there’s an un-spoken non-disclosure agreement between us all.
Sid: Yeah. That includes cat food robot.

Turns out, I can tell you about cat food robot because someone else already pulled the trigger. But I am confident the next big idea is coming.

Stay tuned.

Cruise damage officially reversed

2011-04-06T08:12:00.001-05:00

Down .6 this week, which puts me to the point where I’ve officially un-done the damage of 7 days of eating and drinking on vacation. This is also a little below where I started before I left for vacation so I’d say I’m officially back on track.

Crappy thing…I ran nearly 14 miles this week. To only loose .6 is sort of a joke when you work that hard. I guess you can’t win ‘em all.

My first 6.2 miles – luckily, I was a little lighter….

2011-04-05T11:59:00.003-05:00

I don’t really like running. I had this conversation with A. Jill not too long ago. She doesn’t like it either. But what it comes down to is while running isn’t the greatest thing in the world, the sheer force of moving my own ass forward seems to help me get in shape.

So there you have it. I hate running, but I do it to make my pants fit. Luckily, I pretty much un-did the damage from the cruise and lost 2.4 lb loss last week because I ran my first 10K on Saturday.

I have to give a special shout out to my SIL for being the coolest. She pushed me to do my last 5K this year, and then encouraged me to make myself accountable for a 10K this spring.

So we Rocked the Parkway Saturday morning and finished the entire 6.2 miles without walking once. I did stop at two of the three water stations to pound my ¼ cup of water (because I nearly chocked at the first station when I tried to run and drink). But otherwise, for good or bad, I finished the race in just over one hour, 8 minutes.

And that is why I propose they change the name of these things from 10K RACE to 10K FINISH.

Blam.

Spring Break 2011!

2011-03-30T11:57:00.002-05:00

The great thing about spring break when you're going back to school is that you actually have money to take a real vacation. When I was in undergrad, spring break meant going home to work. This year, we did things a little different.

We spent 11 glorious days away from Kansas City…7 of those on the Carnival Valor with 8 of our friends from Springfield. TG and his childhood friends Ethan and Trung all turned 30 in the month of March so the vacation was organized in their honor.

Highlights of the trip:

1. Wakeboarding in Fort Myers prior to boarding the ship. You don’t think we’d go to Florida and not wakeboard, did you?!?!
2. Sneaking a bottle of wine, a fifth of vodka, and a fifth of rum on board. We also carried on two bottles of Champaign, 12 Gatorades, and 12 Monster energy drinks. Our bar tab was $36. Ask me how if you’re cruising soon.
3. Eating fancy dinners with our friends every night.
4. Eating way too many hot dogs during the day.
5. Watching M Banks take advantage of the free portrait sittings. We didn’t buy a single one but visiting the photo gallery and looking at the prints was pretty much the funniest part of most of my evenings. In fact, I enjoyed looking at pictures of other people even more (you’d be surprised at some of the things people will wear/do in formal photos).
6. Napping every day so we could stay up late every night at party at the cruise bars. I didn’t even know what the Douggie was prior to this trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnPJmDc0b_M
7. Reading 4 books on my Nook. Each of them free (from the internet or library). Life changing.
8. Watching M Banks collected “specimens”: coconuts, star fish, hermit crabs, shells….
9. Seeing Ryan every day with an H sunburn line on his stomach. The guy can fly helicopters in the Navy but can’t apply sunblock properly?
10. Learning that a cruise is a “marathon, not a sprint” from ODB. I’d call this a life lesson, actually. If you drink too much too fast, you miss out on fun stuff at night (like the B-list magician).
11. Being with Dae in Honduras. As we were driving around the island, he didn’t hold back his thoughts on the conditions: “Look at all that poverty…”
12. Paying the club DJ $10 and giving him a list of songs to play…and hearing almost every single one of them in a row.
13. Champaign night – you can bring a bottle of Champaign on board with you. So we did. Times 10. Good thing I had my beat lab so we could listen to some hot dance beats while we drank a few of them down.
14. Paddleboarding in Honduras. I’d had way too many drinks prior to this and the guy didn’t ask my name or have me sign a release or waiver. I told him I knew how to wakeboard and would probably be “really good at this”…and then fell off 8 times. The good news is I know how to swim because I also wasn’t offered a life jacket before being sent into the open waters.
15. Seeing a lot of the same cruise goers every day – including Lips ‘n Tits and Pocket John Stamos. For a giant floating city with 3,000 people, it’s surprising how you’ll see a lot of the same faces.
16. Wakeboarding in Orlando after the cruise. Seriously, we were in Florida!

We won’t be going on vacation again until Christmas so I’m glad this was a long one. The next 7 months are going to rough.

3.2 lbs of Awesome

2011-03-28T12:01:00.003-05:00

I was waiting to report my latest WW update until I retrieved my photos from my camera this weekend.

Because I gained 3.2 pounds…and I don’t even regret it.

We went on a 7-day cruise with 8 of our friends and had an amazing time on various beaches napping, reading, eating, and drinking. I hoped to pictures but there’s some issue with the uploader right now.

So you'll have to trust me until I have time to troubleshoot that problem. The 3.2 pounds were totally worth it :)

Going down…needing motivation

2011-03-09T13:30:00.000-06:00

I’m .2 lbs away from losing 5% of my body weight since starting WW. All I needed was a little something extra (maybe go to the bathroom?!), and I could have been there.

SO CLOSE.

This morning I was inspired to keep on keeping on when I read about my friend Abby’s 35 pound loss last year. I knew she lost a lot of weight but I was 100% impressed when I heard the final number: http://hotlips4784.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/aim-for-progress-not-perfection/

This is what keeps me motivated. Today I weighed in at 1.4 pounds lighter than last week. I’m getting ready to head out for an 11 day vacation, 7 of those on a cruise ship.

I’m anxious about this vacation and potentially being derailed. I don’t want to reverse all the hard work from the past 6 weeks.

Here goes nothing.

Marley and Me – the cat lady version

2011-03-03T18:20:00.002-06:00

The best part about blogging is reading what other people are up to. I find that casual bloggers (i.e. most of my friends, like myself, who use their blogs to document about their families, personal achievements, and everyday musings) don’t really think their lives are that interesting. But I’m a big proponent of blogging as a way to archive your life and find myself trying to convince others to start a blog (mostly so I have something to do when I’m bored at work).

My BF Jackie has a blog that I enjoy because:

1. I think she has a real talent for writing and storytelling.
2. She has a real knack for taking an ordinary event and making it extraordinary.

Her recent blog was no exception. And I was actually gut laughing throughout the entire blog until Step 22. Which is when the story of catching a stray cat that you’ve learned to know and love turns to sorrow.

It’s basically the Marley and Me of stray cat catching.

So as you click the link to read the blog below, please consider your reaction to Marley and Me. For me, I’ve made a pact to never watch Marley and Me again. But, if by some freak of nature I do, I’ll stop at the part where they move to the new house.

Please don't misinterpret this. I do encourage you to read the blog below. But, if by some freak of nature you do it again, stop at Step 21.

Please, stop at Step 21.

http://jackieenderle.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-catch-stray-cat-in-24-easy-steps.html

A little lighter

2011-03-02T15:00:00.001-06:00

I went into WW today with some pretty high expectations. Given my recent loses I was really on the 2-pound track and slated to hit my 5% loss goal. Imagine my disappointment when I only lost .4 pounds.

I blame some of that on three days of traveling the past week, including some wicked delays due to freak snow storms and a broken toilet seat.

No joke. Last night on a connection between Chicago and Kansas City, my plane was delayed 45 minutes due to “seat maintenance”. It came to light that the “seat” in question was, in fact, the toilet seat.

When I got home (45 minutes later than expected), TG and I were talking about the seat in question and the delay. My thought was, “Seriously, people, you can hold it for the one hour flight between Chicago and Kansas City.”

TG’s thought was even better.

Seeing that this is America and we believe in democracy, TG proposed that the airline allow passengers sitting at the gate to take a vote on what to do in this situation. Here are your choices:

1. Continue to wait while maintenance repairs the toilet on this plane that you will only be on for a maximum of 60 minutes, 25 of which you cannot be out of your seat due to take off and landing.

2. Go to the bathroom before you get on the plane and hold out until we get to Missouri where the plane will sit overnight and can receive proper maintenance.

Unfortunately, democracy doesn’t apply to flight delays so we waited the 45 minutes and then listened while the crew made fun of the poor soul who broke the toilet seat.

Here’s to being .4 pounds lighter.

6 pound WIN!

2011-02-23T14:05:00.001-06:00

Down 2.6 lbs this week for a total of 6 pounds lost. I almost stayed for the 5-pound award ceremony at the WW meeting.

Almost.

Birthday Binge

2011-02-16T12:36:00.000-06:00

I successful ate and drank my way through my 30th birthday…and was rewarded by not gaining or losing a single pound this week.

Birthday Binge…WIN!

More to come on my 30th birthday extravaganza soon. Until then, I decided on Feb. 13 to get back on the wagon for the next 30 days. We leave for a 7-day cruise on March 13, and I want to focus on weight loss between now and then. Beer and wine is my weakness (in life and weight loss) so I think this is a good kick start.

Cheers.

10k kickoff and -3.4

2011-02-09T13:43:00.001-06:00

I officially kicked off my 10k training last night and am also happy to report I’m down 3.4 pounds.

This week won’t be easy. I know this for a fact because it’s my birthday weekend where I’m planning to do a lot of social activities that include boozing and eating delicious foods.

Weight goal for next week: none. Just maintain.

Let the Games Begin

2011-02-01T16:47:00.004-06:00

After I successfully trained to run 3 miles without stopping last winter, I’ve committed to a larger, potentially crazier, goal – 6 miles.

My SIL has convinced me to run a 10k with her the first weekend in April (http://www.rocktheparkway.com/). Since snow is dumping on the entire city and I’m trapped at home with nothing to do except work, watch reruns of SATC, or eat, I decided to check out a training schedule.

Turns out, I better start ASAP if I want to be on a 8 week schedule and not have a heart attack while training. I have decided to start next Tuesday, Feb. 8, which happens to be the same week of my 30th birthday.

A special thanks for http://running.about.com/od/racetraining/a/10Kbeginner.htm.

Mondays and Fridays: Mondays and Fridays are rest days. Rest is critical to your recovery and injury prevention efforts, so don't ignore rest days. Your muscles actually build and repair themselves during your rest days. So if you run every day without taking days off, you won't see much improvement.

Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays: After you warm up, run at a comfortable pace for the designated mileage. Make sure you cool down and stretch after your run.

Wednesdays: Do a cross-training (CT) activity (biking, swimming, elliptical trainer) at easy to moderate effort for 30 to 40 minutes. If you're feeling very sluggish or sore, take a rest day.

Sundays: This is an active recovery day. Your run should be at an easy (EZ), comfortable pace, which helps loosen up your muscles. Or, you can do a run/walk combination.

Here goes nothing.

Week 1 – Bad Choice #1

2011-01-28T09:19:00.001-06:00

WW week 1 and I already made a bad choice – Thursday: 13 points in food, 18 points in beer/wine.

To my defense, the new system makes booze super high point values. Two beers and two glasses of wine are most of my daily point values. So I went to bed on a stomach void of food and woke up a little snippy this morning because of it.

This was an actual conversation at our house as I got ready for work:

Me to TG: Can you bring me a Diet Sprite from the garage?

TG: There isn’t any Diet Sprite.

Me: What do you mean there isn’t any Diet Sprite? (Loosely translated, “THIS IS A 0 POINT FOOD AND IT MAKES ME FEEL FULL WHY ARE YOU RUINING MY LIFE?!?!)

TG: There isn’t any Diet Sprite. It’s Sprite Zero.

Me: I almost flipped my shit on you. That’s not funny. That’s a 0 point food, and I need all of them that I can get.

TG: Oh great. Now you’re going to be skinny and bitchy.

I often say I’d rather be chubby and happy than skinny and bitchy but when I can’t fit into my pants, the choice is obvious.

So bad choice #1 of choosing booze over food wasn’t one of my best ideas….I think I’ll work on making better choices in the next few days.

Back to It

2011-01-26T13:45:00.001-06:00

I had to go back in my blog archive to find out the last time I made a proclamation of this magnitude...it was May 2009.

So here it goes: I’m ready to lose weight.

Again.

After losing 13 or so pounds on Weight Watchers almost two years ago, I’ve successfully gained it all back. So I’ve decided that before I have to go back to my old chubby jeans (which I still have, btw), I’m going to drop some pounds.
Today officially marks Day 1 of my (second) weight loss journey. I look forward to providing updates each week of how I’m doing.

Snow Crazy

2011-01-20T17:09:00.000-06:00

I’m not crazy about snow. The snow makes me crazy.

I realized this as I was shoveling 20 yards of my inclined driveway covered in 6 inches of the white powder. I’m huffing and puffing when I hear the kids across the street screaming and playing.

This is the second week in a row we’ve had snow days. Last week, the schools were closed for four days (three for snow, one for teacher meetings) and this week they were closed for three (MLK day and two snow days).

Here’s where I get crazy.

I want my money back. For every day those schools aren’t open because of inclement weather, I want a tax refund. Especially on days like Tuesday where a little bit of freezing rain canceled classes in my area.

Let me get a couple things straight. First, I don’t want your kids standing in the bus stop in sub zero temperatures. But I’ve also seen your kids standing at the bus stop in 50 degree weather wearing shorts and a tank top because it’s going to be 65 at 4 p.m. when school lets out.

But technology is changing the world. Instead of standing outside waiting for the bus, why can’t the bus send text alerts when its 2 minutes from your house. Almost every kid over 9 in America has a cell phone now (most of them nicer than my cell phone, btw) so how about we use it for something practical (and not 17,000 text messages a month)?

Second, I loved school days as much as anyone when I was younger but can’t we have a “backup learning plan” for snow days? Something that doesn’t even involve technology like a web classroom (that’d be really cool but I’m hip to the socioeconomics of America). I’m talking something really basic like a READING ASSIGNMENT. Books. Remember those? The hardback things that have printed text. You can even get them from free at those places called the library. Instead of 8 hours of Wii, how about these kids read something and discuss the next time they’re in class?

Finally, if neither of those ideas fly, I’m all for good, old-fashioned, manual labor. How about instead of sitting in your house not learning you come shovel my driveway. Let me get something out of those tax dollars.

I told you the snow makes me crazy.

Hot Dance Beats

2011-01-20T10:46:00.002-06:00

When we were married 3.5 years ago, one of our groomsmen put together this dance mix for the wedding party to walk into the reception. He posted it as a revival on Facebook today, and I enjoyed it so much I'm considering making it my ringtone:

http://www.myspace.com/djgreent/music/songs/gravlin-wedding-mixx-25396885

Yea right. Like I'd ever get ride of the Sex and the City ringtone I've had for two years.

Things to do in 2011: Learn to Lie

2011-01-17T20:03:00.002-06:00

Today was MLK day and since TG was off with the rest of his government-working friends I used one of my coveted vacation days. We had some pretty grand plans to go snowboarding but they were derailed by a very sick doggie.

To cut to the really interesting part of my day (or at least the part that didn’t involve dog vomit) we ended up dropping the dog off at the vet early and were killing some time until she was done. I was at Marshalls while TG looked at everything in the Best Buy. While I was walking through the purse section, picking through a bin of scarves (my new favorite thing), I hear a woman’s voice say, “Tell me it’s too big or ugly.”

I look up and, sure enough, she’s talking to me. This 50ish year old woman with short gray hair has a red hobo-style bag with turquoise buttons and what appear to be patches that look like old-fashioned post cards thrown over her shoulder.

My response, “It definitely isn’t too big.”

I realize almost instantly that wasn’t the right thing to say. So I immediately follow with, “Turn it over so I can see the other side.”

Then I see the turquoise flowers on the bottom of the purse.

I can’t even lie at this point. So I tell her I like the size and suddenly become very interested in a blue cotton scarf.

I probably need to work on “niceties” or at least just learn that it’s okay to lie to a total stranger. If she wants to buy a heinous bag, it’s not like I’ll have to go out with her and be seen with the purse.

Happy Monday.

I Swear I’m Still Living the Dream

2011-01-16T21:47:00.002-06:00

The trouble without blogging is you actually need to make time to blog. I generally do my best writing when I’m at my place of employment and need five minutes to stop thinking about whatever it is they’ve paid me to do for the day.

Unfortunately, I’ve been so stinking busy at work that I don’t have five minutes to blog. I guess that's why it's called work.

But I swear I am still living the dream.

TG and I have had some pretty great events the past few weeks, including a trip to Key West for Christmas with the family, a weekend in Winter Park snowboarding with our friends who recently relocated to Colorado, and a movie night where he reluctantly agreed to watch Easy A (I sort of am reluctant to mention that I have been jonesin’ to watch that movie for some time now. Especially since it wasn't that good).

With my 30th birthday just three short weeks away, I have lots to catch up on. But I thought I’d start with something easy since this is my first post of 2011. Here’s some recent books that I’ve read and forgot to informally blog about (and I’ve pretty much already forgot what they were about so this is pretty much a bust):

Little Bee – Chris Cleave: Really strange story about a young girl who immigrates illegally to Britain and into the life of a family that doesn’t open her with open arms. Don’t be tricked by the summary on the back of the book.

Safe Haven – Nicholas Sparks: As predictable as Sparks novels are, this one didn’t have the usual depression-educing ending but definitely involves spousal abuse, a love story, and a tragic ending to people who are unsuspecting.

Fly Away Home – Jennifer Weiner: Like most Weiner books, this is a good beach (or airplane) read. Man has affair, family moves on without him, all live happily ever after.

Certain Girls – Jennifer Weiner: Same comments above apply here…read it on an airplane and you’ll be entertained. Mom writes seedy novel, daughter reads seedy novel and rebels.

Nanny Returns – Emma McLaughlin: This is a follow up to a story about a nanny who watched a spoiled little boy and the little boy has grown up. Good airplane read.

My Name is Memory – Ann Brashares:Oddly enough, I can’t remember what this story was about.

More to come soon.

Rockin’ 2010 – sort of

2010-12-16T08:55:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite holiday traditions is an annual music exchange with G and MM. We get together for lunch in December, put together a mix CD of our favorite tunes, and talk about why we are so lucky to have great musical taste (mostly kidding about that last part).
When I went to put together my list for this year, I realized two things:

1. My neighbor has had my music hard drive for about 2 months now, and I need to get that back.
2. I listened to a lot of weird stuff this year. Most of which I wouldn’t put on a CD titled Sarah Rocks 2010.

But using the resources I had available to me, I was able to put together a pretty okay CD. Not my best work, but think it nicely sums up 2010 for me (musically):

1. Escape Me – Tiesto: I hate techno. Or at least I used to. But I’ve found that if I’m selective about my techno, it actually sounds pretty good. So this particular tune played on TG’s iPhone alarm clock every morning until I realized I wanted to listen the entire song, not just the 30 seconds I heard before he got out of bed to turn the damn thing off.
2. Ready to Start – Arcade Fire: Arguably one of the best albums of the year. Enough said.
3. Kings and Queens – 30 Seconds to Mars: I must have really been into this band for 2010 because I put two of their songs on my CD. I attribute some of that to satellite radio, as it influences a lot of what I listen to.
4. Lights Out – Breaking Benjamin: A little bit more rocker than I normally listen to but I dig this song. Hopefully it isn’t too hard core for my album.
5. Silver and Cold – AFI: This song isn’t even a little bit new but I used my Shazam iPhone app one day when in the car and have been hooked ever since (to both the song and Shazam).
6. Gold Guns Girls – Metric: Chick band that rocks. No album is complete without one.
7. This is War – 30 Seconds to Mars: See #3.
8. No Stress – Laurent Wolf: Remember when I said I hated techno? This song is seriously hard to hate with lyrics like, “I don’t wanna work today. Maybe I just wanna stay. Just take it easy cause there is no stress.”

There you have it – My music year for 2010. While this doesn’t include any of the country or hip hop music I rocked out to, you have to know your audience when creating a CD like this. And I know G and MM would flog me if I put those tunes on my CD.

Happy Holidays!

Learning to Love Winter

2010-12-07T09:25:00.002-06:00

I hate winter.

That’s probably not a shock to those who know me. But since I live in Missouri, a long, cold, dreary winter is inevitable. So I’ve taken measures to try and enjoy the crummiest time of the year.

Last winter I decided to take my love for wakeboarding to the snow. I went snowboarding three times and had a killer time each one (except maybe that first one where I spent most of the time on my bum). After spending $40 to rent equipment each day, I decide enough was enough and picked up my own gear for this winter.

My new Salomon snowboard came in the mail yesterday. The slopes at Snow Creek open this weekend (even though we haven’t had an official snow fall, fake snow is a glorious thing). I can’t wait until Sunday when I get to shred my face off!

'Tis the Season - for Music!

2010-11-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

Friday, Dec. 3: 6:30-7:15 p.m. at Crown Center - Instead of our traditional flute recital, the studio will be performing at Crown Center this year! We will only be performing in groups (no solos). We will be at the Level 1 Atrium, just to the side of the Grand Blvd. entrance.

Sunday, Dec. 5: 2:30 at Community of Chris auditorium - the community band will be performing at the Mayor's Christmas concert, which is a pretty insane event because a million 4th graders from the Independence school district will also be singing. I hear this is also on public access TV, which seems like a much more enjoyable way to see the concert because parking is definitely at a premium in downtown Independence.

Sunday, Dec. 19: 3 p.m. - Waldo Restoration Branch Church of Christ (819 West Waldo in Independence) - this is the community band's traditional holiday concert. Come sing along to your favorite Christmas jam.

As if you needed further proof that I'm crazy

2010-11-19T21:07:00.002-06:00

Original email sent to a restaurant in Kansas City regarding a dining experience:

Good Morning-

Last night I dined at Cafe Trio and wanted to send you feedback regarding my experience.

First, our service was fantastic. We were a birthday party of 9 people and the woman who took care of us did a phenomenal job. However, I was highly disappointed in my meal.

I'd heard great things about Cafe Trio (including earlier in the day from my hair dresser!), and my friend selected it for her birthday passed on previous experiences so I was pretty excited to try the restaurant out. I started my meal with the spinach salad with almonds and strawberries. This was one of the worst salads I've ever had. While the salad lacked in strawberries and almonds, it certainly made up for it in onions. Not having a goat or gorgonzola cheese on the salad also made it pretty dismal, and I ended up eating basically spinach covered in warm dressing. Not delightful.

For my main dish, I had the crab cakes. While I would have expected Chipotle aioli sauce to be a little spicy, the sauce on those crab cakes was literally one of the spiciest things I've ever put in my mouth. One of my fellow dinners had the same experience and had the chance to scrape off most of the goo to enjoy her dinner. I was not so lucky and had spread it all around. I actually woke up in the middle of the night with a burning stomach and am still feeling it this morning.

I didn't want to make a big deal regarding these items at dinner last night because most everyone else seemed pleased with their food and it was my friend's birthday. I feel like before I post a dining review on a public web site, brining awareness to you directly is much more effective.

Thank you for your time.
Sarah G.

Response received from restaurant:

Dear Ms. G

Thank you for sending such a detailed response following your visit to Café Trio this past Saturday. Your thoughtful feedback is extremely helpful and important in helping us deliver the highest level of quality and service to our valued customers.

Providing our guests with delicious and exceptional food is one of our highest priorities; as a restaurant it is clearly why we are in business and why your email is so concerning. I am very sorry that our spinach salad and crab cakes did not live up to the quality that you expected. I do very much appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns and your comments will help to allow us to improve our menu offerings.

While I cannot change the past, I would very much like to invite you back as my personal guest in hopes of showing you that we can do a much better job than what you previously experienced. Please come back to enjoy a complimentary meal for two, all food and non alcoholic beverages included. Simply bring this letter with you whenever you return and ask to see a manager or owner (Owners - Chris or Tai preferably) and we’ll check in with you and take care of the bill.

I sincerely appreciate your business and thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns.

Best regards,

Christopher M. Youngers, Owner

Unbelievable

2010-11-08T14:00:00.002-06:00

This weekend was a series of events that left me in shock. I even had to take photographic evidence so you’d believe that Friday night actually happened.

Incident #1: Naked Sushi
Friday night started off harmless enough. A college friend was coming into town so we met up for dinner. She picked this sushi place downtown that I’d never eaten at, but immediately took a liking to when we were offered samples of apple martinis. It wasn’t until we sat down for dinner and our waitress explained there was going to be complimentary sushi served off a person that I started to question our choice of restaurant.

Pump the breaks. Naked sushi? In KANSAS CITY?!

Sure enough, a girl in a white robe came into the dining area, laid on a bar-converted-table and was “prepared” for the buffet. They had to remove her robe without totally exposing her but also drape her in banana leafs (because we wouldn’t want to eat sushi directly off her skin). She was then stocked with a variety of sushi and sashimi pieces for all to enjoy.

I took a chance and snapped this photo with my cell phone. It’s not the best photo but you’ll get the gist. They were totally cool with me taking the picture and even convinced me to take a piece of tofu off the girl. As A. Jill reminded me though, tofu isn’t sushi, and I should stop being a sissy. As I reminded A. Jill, she’s from Stormy River, Iowa where the sushi would taste like carp and popcorn.

Unbelievable.

Incident #2: Extended Warranty for the Win
On our first anniversary, TG gave me a really sweet camera. It’s red and awesome, and I loved it…until it stopped taking picture a few months ago.

Early this summer, the camera started acting like a jerk and turning off when I’d press the button to take a photo or video. I had come to terms with the fact that I was going to need a new camera and started thinking about what I wanted. And this weekend TG remembered he bought the extended warranty on the camera.

Sure enough, we dug up the paperwork and there was the replacement warranty good through 2012.

So I called Sony, sent in the old camera, and am expecting a replacement in the next couple weeks. If they don’t have my exact model, I’ll get to choose between a comparable model or cash for the value of the camera.

Unbelievable.

Incident #3: Culture Shock
Sunday afternoon, TG and I decided to get some takeout for lunch. I went down the road to the Thai place, and when I walked in there was a woman standing in the lobby. I heard her ask loudly, “What kind of food do you serve here??? Chinese??”

Unbelievable.

Incident #4: Concert Going Rage
Sunday night we went to see Zac Brown Band in concert with the Enderles. Our seats were on the top tier of Sprint Center in what can only be described as the Heathen Section.
When the band started a Sprint Center employee went to the front row of our section and stood there for an unreasonable amount of time. There seemed to be a lot of confusion regarding seating arrangements in the front of our section. It wasn’t until 20 minutes, the assistance of another usher, and 23 people standing up and down and checking their tickets that it was all figured out.

A very drunk middle-aged woman starts walking up the stairs. The section applauds at the site of this (because she’s leaving?), and she stops before she gets to the top. She begins dancing “seductively” and throwing her hands in the air. Everyone is gawking at her (and the man with her who is letting her do all of this?!). She suddenly becomes belligerent, cursing and yelling at people in our section, including: Praise Jesus, Eff You, and Glory to God.

The last thing I heard before she was forced out was something that sounded like, “God will save you in my brain.”

Unbelievable

D Day

2010-11-01T07:44:00.001-05:00

I generally don’t like to declare myself “on a diet” but in order to focus on loosing 10 percent of my body weight in the upcoming months, that’s officially what I need to do.

Work has declared a weight loss challenge to all the employees, encourage groups of 10-15 people to get together to collective loose a high percentage of body weight. The group that looses the most wins a vacation to St. Thomas or Disneyland…the next 31 groups after that get an extra week of vacation.

It almost seems dumb to NOT participate. While my odds of being in a group that looses the most are slim (no pun intended), the odds of getting an extra week of vacation are pretty good. So I’ve hopped on a team that has committed to a 10 percent decrease in body weight per person.

While I’m not super excited about weight loss, I am super excited about an extra week of vacation. So I’m kicking off my track to weight loss this week. I’m going to commit to running at least once this week (baby steps), drink 90 ounces of water a day, and counting WW points again.

Here goes nothin'....

Socially Acceptable Drinking

2010-10-03T15:08:00.001-05:00

The past two weekends have been fun-filled events. Last weekend, a bachelorette party to celebrate MG’s upcoming nuptials. This weekend, hanging in Augusta with Lisa enjoying good wine and beer. (pumpkin beer! Where have you been all my life??!!)

But, I’m not going to lie. More than once over the hours of these events, I’ve become Judgey Judgerson. I look around at the people who are 6 to 8 years younger than I am and think, “I sure hope I wasn’t as big of a jack hole as those people.”

Instance one: During MG’s bachelorette party, we took the party trolley from Brookside to Westport. We get on the bus with another bachelorette party of girls who were super thin, wearing tight black dresses when it’s 60 degrees and raining, and drinking rum out of a bottle they have been sneaking around in their giant purses. In short, they were my friends 6 years ago. But when I look at these friends sitting next to me on the trolley in jeans and sweaters and carrying umbrellas, it makes me think that riding a party trolley around KC is probably not a socially acceptable thing for a person who’s nearly 30.

Instance two: While I was hanging out with Lisa in Saint Charles, we went to a bar that was playing a lot of gangster rap. A group of guys in nearly matching plaid J. Crew shirts are hopping around maniacally, (or, as I like to say, “dancing like they LOVE this song.”). The girls near them were having an equally good time in their equally trendy clothes. As soon as one song came on that they didn’t LOVE, they moved in herd-like form to the front door and left while Lisa and I stood next to the bar trying to identify what could possibly have caused the bar floor to be THAT sticky. Going to bars that play gangster is probably not a socially acceptable thing for a person my age to do.

So, that leaves me thinking: What the hell is socially acceptable to do when you’re in your 30s? And I’m not talking movies and board games. If you enjoy drinking and socializing, there has to be places you can go where you aren’t sharing the bathroom line with someone who can’t imagine how I survived junior high and high school without a cell phone or Facebook.

AA let me know that I’m on the right track because I enjoy wine. What she actually means by that is when we go to JP Wine Bar for some drinks, we aren’t going to hear gangster rap and probably won’t see a bachelorette party of 21-year-olds with a flask in their purse. That’s a fair statement. And leads me to compile the following list:

Socially Acceptable Places to Drink and Socialize When You’re 30:
1. Wine bars – this can also be extended to wineries. The best part of this is wineries are a day drinking activity, which is basically the best kind of drinking to do when you’re 30 and prone to the after affects of a day of boozing. First, you get to enjoy some drinks during the day when the weather is nice, still get home to bed at a decent hour, and have finished drinking well in advance of the next day that the potentially for a hangover is null and void. Second, 21-year-old bachelorettes and Ludacris are generally not invited to these types of venues.

2. Fire pits – if you’re more of an evening drinking, fire pits are the best kind of investment a person can make. Sitting around a warm pile of branches, sipping your favorite brew, and enjoying the company and music YOU like. When it’s at your place, the price is always right, the iPod is always playing good tunes, and the drive home is easy.

3. The lake – The people at Lotawana, at least, are always up for a good time on the water. It’s the same principle as the fire pit, but you get the added elements of swimming and not having to go inside to pee.

4. Sporting events – when I think of baseball games and tailgating, I never feel as though I’m too old. I do, however, start to feel old when the guys in the tailgate next to us ask if we want a hit off their beer bong.

5. Festivals – this was can be a little tricky because selecting a good festival can take some extra effort (and planning) but there’s always age appropriate fun to be had at the Plaza Art Fair, Weston Irish Fest, and Santa-Cali-Gon.
I’ve definitely open for other suggestions, but feel like this is a pretty good start. As we’ve gotten older and my friends have started to grow their families, the times we spend together haven’t been as much about partying (although Ben’s second birth is coming up, and I did offer to be in charge of the foam machine and/or DJ).

Cheers.

Episode 4 is #1?!

2010-09-24T08:24:00.001-05:00

Star Wars is officially off the list.

My manager gave me this movie in August to watch when I was on sabbatical. When I returned in September, I gave it back to him unwatched and let him know he gave me the wrong movie.

Me: I didn’t watch this because it’s not the right movie. I’m supposed to watch the original Star Wars and this says Episode 4?
Him: Episode 4 is the original movie.
Me: Number 4 is Number 1?
Him: Yes.
Me: silence

So we watched the #4 Star Wars, which is actually #1 Star Wars. Next up: Rocky.

This Anniversary is Brought to you by Groupon

2010-09-23T15:17:00.002-05:00

I can’t take any credit for the title of this blog. AA came up with it. But it accurately describes how TG and I spent our third anniversary yesterday.

If you don’t know about Groupon, stop reading this and go to Groupon.com now. Immediately sign up for the daily emails and start saving oodles of money on cool stuff. I’ve been participating for several months now and yesterday it really paid off. We had an entire day of anniversary fun, including professional photography and a fancy dinner, for less than one hundred bones.

We had brunch at Succotash, one of my favorite places in KC. They’ve relocated from the Rivermarket but the food is still great. Our cost: $1.49. We had a $15 gift certificate (that I paid $7 for) so we only had to cover the sales tax. Boo Ya.

After brunch we headed to the Nelson Atkins Museum. It’d been years since either of us had been to the art gallery and we wanted to check out the Bloch building. The building itself is beautiful on the outside but the art isn’t really our thing (very modern). TG loves the European paintings (especially Monet) and I’m a fan of the Greek and Egyptian art (especially the mummy!). Our cost: $5 for parking.

Following the art gallery we headed to the Federal Reserve. They have a money museum that you can tour for free. It was actually super cool to see coins from every presidency and also watch actual federal employees managing money (sort of like watching animals in a zoo but they were humans working). Our cost: free. In fact, we got $165 in shredded currency just for attending.

Our fourth stop was at the Boulevard Brewery for the tour. We hadn’t done the tour in a while and it’s actually changed quite a bit with their expansion. We spent 40 minutes on a tour and got several tasters of Boulevard brew. Our cost: free.

After that, we headed to Case Park in downtown KC for professional photos a la Groupon. For $40, I picked up my first Groupon in March for a professional photography session by Christina Lundeen photography. I’ll get three prints and a DVD slide show set to music. Whoop!

Finally, we used our last Groupon at Pierponts. We enjoyed some very delicious filets, crab cakes, and wine for $40. If you’ve been to Pierponts, you’ll know $40 isn’t enough for dinner. That’s because we had a $50 Groupon to apply (that I actually paid nothing for because I’d earned Groupon bucks for recommending other people!).

While at dinner, we were reminiscing about what we did on our first two anniversaries. The first year we spent the evening at a bed and breakfast near the Plaza and had dinner at Brio. The second year is a total blank to us (we honestly cannot remember). So hopefully with year three being action packed, we won’t forget :)

Here’s to 3 solid years of marriage and to 50 more to come.

Recent Reads

2010-09-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

13. House Rules, Jodi Piccoult – The latest book by Piccoult, she does what she’s good at: taking a health issue and using that as the base for controversy. This particular book is about a boy with autism who is charged with murdering a teacher who is helping him with social skills. I think I’ve read too much Piccoult though because this one didn’t surprise me with a twist at the end.

14. While My Sister Sleeps, Barbara Delinsky – A good summer read about a girl who is hit by a car while running and the things her sister does to keep her memory alive while she’s in a coma.

15. Nicholas Sparks, The Lucky One – There’s a formula to Sparks’ novels: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, tragic ending (not necessarily to boy or girl but a tragic ending nonetheless). This book was no different but I bought it in a pinch at an airport between flights. You don’t have the tragic ending until the last two pages but it’s still there.

16-19. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (the entire series), Ann Brashares – Yes, I read the entire series. Yes, I realize this is designed for 12-year-old-girls. No, I’m not embarrassed. Four girls, some magic pants that fit them all, and the summers they spend apart from one another. That’s all you really need to know.

25% Done!!!

2010-09-14T08:19:00.003-05:00

I watched Jaws over the weekend, making my way to the 25% mark on the list!

Holy crap, I have 75 movies to watch in the next five months....I better spend less time watching reruns of Mean Girls on TV and more time focusing on this list.

30 Before 30 – this isn’t Nazi Germany

2010-09-10T13:22:00.001-05:00

When I turned 29 ½ in August, I reviewed my list of the things I need to accomplish. I’m not going to lie; I was a little worried about getting some things done.

This was compounded while on sabbatical because whenever I told people about the list they immediately ask, “What’s left?” During one of these conversations, I admitted that are things I’ve done that I wish were on the list because I was really proud (for example, running my first 5K. I can run for 3 miles without stopping. This was a huge accomplishment for me).

And then it hit me. This is MY list. I have the right to change it and celebrate the things I’ve accomplished recently or want to accomplish in the next 5 months.

So I did it. I changed the list.

Below is the final 30 before 30. And, in the spirit of meeting goals, I’ve moved those thing I know I won’t get done in time to the new 40 before 40 (smart, huh?).

30 Before 30

1. See Radiohead in concert again. -DONE
2. Drink tequila with a worm. -DONE
3. Run a 5K. -DONE
4. Get a tattoo of a tiara.-DONE
5. Travel to Ireland.-DONE
6. Run a 10k
7. Own a dog.-DONE
8. Visit the Sarah Winchester mansion and Alcatraz.
9. Ride in a hot air balloon. -DONE
10. Do something totally crazy with my hair.-DONE
11. Rent a houseboat. -DONE
12. Be entirely credit card/school loan free! -DONE
13. Play $100 per hand blackjack.
14. Submit an article for a Midwest travel magazine.
15. Watch every movie on the AFI Top 100 movies list.
16. Own a dwelling.-DONE
17. Tie a cherry stem with my tongue.-DONE
18. Take golf lessons.
19. Learn to cook. -DONE
20. Get laser hair removal on my underarms.-DONE
21. Eat some place from Man v Food.
22. Host a dinner party.
23. Make an appearance on the jumbotron at the K.-DONE
24. Watch every episode of Sex and the City.-DONE
25. ROADTRIP!!!!!-DONE
26. Catch a throwed roll.-DONE
27. Own a new car. -DONE
28. Take a beginning conversational Spanish class.
29. Take a wine class.
30. Begin furthering my education. -DONE

40 Before 40

1. Go to Coachella or Austin City Limits.
2. Take a cruise around the Greek isles.
3. Go to a basketball game during March Madness.
4. Meet and/or listen to Dave Barry read.

A Lot of Livin’ the Dream

2010-09-09T08:38:00.016-05:00

You’d think that while I was not working for four glorious weeks I would have been a blogging machine. I’m not sure how I managed to fill every single day up and not find 15 minutes to write, but I did it. I probably could have shortened my naptime or skipped one episode of the Golden Girls marathon that played every afternoon on WE. Instead, I saved up all of my sabbatical adventures for one glorious blog post that I wrote after I went back to work. Weird, I know.

The first week of sabbatical I had two major activities: wakeboarding and a day trip to Nebraska:
1. You’ll notice a reoccurring them of wakeboarding throughout this post so I’ll spare the details and summarize by saying the inaugural Girls Ride Lotawana was a success. Six girls, a pile of wakeboards, and a day of shredding behind a very awesome wakeboarding boat. We had a great time and it was super fun to be out on the water without the pressure of a bunch of guys who are “better than you”. I should also note here that we were at the cable park in Guthrie, OK the previous Saturday and I had what can only be described as an “incident” that ended with severe stabbing pain in my lower back. I sucked it up on Girls Ride day and did some riding despite my injuries. I eventually ended up at a chiropractor with a pretty intense hip issue. One of my legs was 1/3 of an inch shorter than the other. Fortunately, we got that resolved.

2. The second activity of the week was piling into a minivan with J and Benjamin Franklenstein and driving to Seward, Nebraska….home of nothing famous except my very cool college friend Amber and her daughter Emerson. We spent the day eating lunch at Runza, swimming in the public pool, visiting the county fair, and enjoying dinner at the Green Gateau, which is the restaurant in Lincoln where Amber’s husband Aaron is a super chef.

The second week of sabbatical I had two major activities: napping and riding in a hot air balloon:
1. Sometime during the first week or two I discovered the glory of napping. It seriously changed my life. I started sleeping for an hour or two in the afternoon and felt like a new person at night. Loved it.
2. On Wednesday, Aug. 18, KT and I packed up and made the road trip to the very exotic Columbia (Missouri, not the country). We had reserved a hot air balloon ride with my sister-in-law and had an absolute blast. This was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, and I’d highly recommend it. Next time I go on an exotic vacation I’m going to see if this is an option because the views from the balloon were amazing (even over Columbia!). We only had one incident, which involved not being able to find a place to land and then crashing into the corner of an abandoned Ethan Allen. But we totally defied death and lived to tell about it.

We got to help inflate the balloon:

They called our balloon the gay pride balloon. Pretty!

We cruised around Columbia (over I-70!)

And after the near-death landing, participated in a traditional hot air ballooner champaign toast and ceremony (it involved sitting on the bag we rolled the balloon into, some grass, and a bottle of bubbly):

The third week of sabbatical I had one major activity: a lot of wakeboarding:
1. Tim and I headed to Orlando for what I like to call the Florida Wakeboarding Trifecta of 2010. We had an opportunity to ride at two cable parks while we were in central Florida, taking our cable park count up to five (which is sort of a big deal because there are only 12 in America: http://www.cablewake.com/PARKS/Usa/USA.html) .
On Saturday we hit up Revolution in Ft. Myers.

On Sunday we were at McCormick’s outside of Tampa.

2. Sunday evening we headed for what was the pinnacle of my sabbatical – wakeboard camp. I have been booked up for several weeks now to spend five glorious days wakeboarding with girls from all over the country (remember this video?). Tim wasn’t scheduled to fly out of Orlando until Monday night and was going to take a lesson at the camp with me on Monday morning. So Sunday night, we packed up our gear and headed towards Clermont, FL.

Our GPS guided us through a very strange downtown area (where we didn’t see any real bodies of water) but we eventually popped out at the camp. I was instructed to arrive by 6 p.m. for dinner with the other campers so at 5:45 I expected to find the place hopping. Instead, we found one guy surfing Facebook and eating spaghetti.

Pump the brakes. What have I gotten myself into?

It turns out, girls week didn’t go exactly as planned. They were working around the pro schedule and didn’t have as many girls sign up this year because schools had started. So there were a very limited number of people at the camp, and those who were there came from Australia and Mexico. I guess they don’t go to school in those countries.

After some discussion, TG and I decided that we’d like to stay at the camp and wakeboard together. Instead of me staying five glorious days, we both stayed for 2 ½ (and I honestly don’t think I could have stayed any longer…riding three times a day for 20 minutes was a killer). TG called in to work and we shredded our faces off. We had a really good time, met some cool people, and learned some tricks. I was a little disappointed that the girls weekend wasn’t everything the video built it up to be, but was happy to share that experience with the husband.

Amber Wing's Supra:

Inside TWC:

The fourth (and final) week I had one major activity: living on a houseboat.
1. This was probably the easiest thing I had to do while on sabbatical. We rented a 50 foot houseboat at Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas, packed up the Malibu, and headed down for a day of lake living. We had limited technology (except a 13 inch TV with DVD/VCR combo) so our days were spent doing really relaxing things like swimming, reading, napping, and wakeboarding (of course).

Some pics of the boat:

Some pics of fun things to do on the boat:

So there you have it. That was my month of sabbatical. You’d think after all that wakeboarding, I’d be pro or something but I’m not. But I did learn a lot about board control and learned how to do some pretty neat surface tricks.

I also have gotten much better at my wake jumps. Still not the pop I want, but a heck of a lot better than I’ve done in the past.

Cheers.

Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska.

2010-08-17T08:18:00.003-05:00

Another one down: #68 - Unforgiven.

If Platoon is the ultimate war movie, Unforgiven gets the ultimate cowboy movie. It's a very watchable film (made in the past 15 years, which is a bonus). And I can officially say I've seen a movie with Clint Eastwood.

My favorite quote from the movie: Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska.

It's even funnier to me because I spent one day in Nebraska last week (more on that later).

Cheers.

Half Way Point!

2010-08-10T09:02:00.003-05:00

Today is an epic day - it's my half birthday! And not just any half birthday....my half way to 30 birthday.

I did the right thing last night and watched an AFI movie - Platoon. I would easily call this the ultimate war movie (note to AA that she should never watch it because it's super bloody).

Here's a quick update on the list:

30 Before 30 - planning for sabbatical
T-2 months until I go on sabbatical (officially Aug. 7-Sept. 6). I’m hoping to get quite a few of these items knocked out during that time so I went back to review the list and see where I am. I'm not feeling so good about the things in bold getting done in the next six months:

3. Go to Coachella or Austin City Limits
6. Meet and/or listen to Dave Barry read.
8. Visit the Sarah Winchester mansion and Alcatraz – found out I'm going to San Jose for work in November so I'll be able to knock these out at that time.
9. Ride in a hot air balloon – SCHEDULED for Aug. 18!
11. Rent a houseboat – SCHEDULED for Aug. 30-Sept. 3!
13. Play $100 per hand blackjack
14. Write for a Midwest travel magazine (freelance counts).
15. Watch every movie on the AFI Top 100 movies list.
18. Take a cruise around the Greek isles.
21. Eat The Slinger.
22. Host a dinner party.
28. Take a beginning conversational Spanish class.
29. Take a wine class.
30. Go to a game during March Madness.

Update – Getting Serious

2010-08-09T15:07:00.001-05:00

The good news: I’m officially on sabbatical!

The bad news: I’ve been terrible at blogging lately.

I’ve been super busy getting ready to take four weeks off work but I am hopeful I will get back in the groove over the next few weeks. I’ve got some great things coming up (and some great things under my belt) but I can only think of one thing: I turn 29 ½ tomorrow and holy crap do I have a lot of movies to watch before February 10.

With only 6 months to complete everything on my 30 before 30 list, I’m freaking out the most about watching the AFI movies. Fortunately, I took some advice and switched to the most recent version of the list, which added about a half dozen newer movies (Titanic, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan….all movies I haven’t seen but am more excited to watch than Spartacus).

So I’ve updated my movie list on the right side of the blog. I’ve got the very best intentions to watch a few films in August so I can knock some off the list. And then I think the only thing I can do after that is committing to one movie a week to get them all done by the big 30.

Update on The Incident

2010-07-19T13:50:00.001-05:00

It’s been one full week since the incident so I thought I’d provide an update.

Monday afternoon – Went to get a rental car. Lady tried to give me an Explorer and then a PT Cruiser. I denied both. Got an Impala instead.

Monday afternoon, 15 minutes later – Drove Impala one mile, called rental car lady and told her I hated it. She offered me the PT Cruiser. Told her I’d call back Tuesday and see what my other choices were.

Tuesday afternoon – Still hate Impala. Call rental car lady. There are no rental cars available. Call three of rental car places in the city. Apparently there’s a shortage and I have to wait until later in the week when cars are returned. Still hate Impala.

Wednesday afternoon – get estimate on the Acura. It’s gonna cost $6200 and take until July 28 to fix. Getting rid of the Impala suddenly becomes mission critical. No way am I driving that thing for almost three weeks.

Thursday afternoon – Call rental car lady. Ask for the PT Cruiser. It’s not available but she has an Accord she’ll set aside for me. SCORE!

Thursday evening – Excited to get rid of Impala and love the Accord. It’s basically like driving a Mercedes.

So I’ve been driving the Accord around ever since. I was really grateful to get rid of the Impala because it was so gigantic and was the car of 1,000 blind spots. I had to do calf stretches before driving because pressing the gas pedal didn’t actually make the car go anywhere…it just strained your leg.

Fortunately, the Accord is a lot like the Acura, minus the satellite radio, which I really miss…is that considered pain and suffering?

60

2010-07-13T07:52:00.002-05:00

I'm still having a heck of a time watching the AFI top 100 movie list (see the side bar inside the blog for details).

I had the very best intentions before Fourth of July and picked up four different movies from the library. I thought if it rained or if we needed some downtime after many hours in the sun, we could catch up on a movie.

What actually happened is I watched the first 15 minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark three times before falling asleep.

But over the weekend I actually did it. I watched the entire movie. It was pretty good, and there was one part where AA and I actually screamed out loud (when they get into the crypt inside the ark and a giant snake slithers out of a skeleton's mouth). But the end took a turn for the worst with the spirits and melting faces.

It was also a little odd to see the movie on AA's super high-quality TV. It was disturbingly realistic looking but the special affects were terrible. I have a feeling a movie like this is better watched on a TV that's not going to enhance the flaws.

One down, a whole bunch more (like 70) to go....

The Incident

2010-07-12T08:11:00.002-05:00

Saturday was shaping up to be a pretty fantastic day.

I went to get pedicures at my new favorite place with AA, hit up the cable park with the wakegirls, and then planned to get all cleaned up and head to the wedding reception of the newly married Cook couple.

Everything was going splendidly. After a wicked run at the cable park, I was heading home. It was 5:15, I was 4 miles from home, and then it happened - the “incident”.

I was traveling east on Colbern Road when I saw her. I saw her in a black SUV not looking at me. I even thought to myself, “That girl isn’t looking at me.” And then she turned in front of me. Despite my efforts to stop, our cars collided.

That’s how the Acura lost a battle against a Ford Explorer.

As soon as I stopped, I looked right at her and threw my hands in the air (in a WTF sort of fashion). I got out of the car, but she stayed in her car. She pointed at the gas station she was turning into, and I followed her there.

The Acura instantly died during the collision and when I started it again, started flashing like a Christmas tree to check ABS, check break system, check oil (okay, the check oil light was on for a couple days…I still had 15% life before I needed to make an appointment this week!).

The first thing I said when I got out of the car was, “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU LOOKING AT?!?!”

She didn’t know. She started crying.

The next thing I said was, “Why are you crying? We’re fine. It’s fine.”

She said she cries when she’s upset.

She started asking if there was someone in front of her when she turned. She said she didn’t know why she stopped.

I called the police. She called her mom.

If I learned anything from the last incident, always call the police.

She was cited for failure to yield and drove away with a barely-dented front bumper.

I had to be towed away and will probably be without a car for a week or two (most likely will be rewarded with a sweet rental car like a PT Cruiser.). I will also have an accident listed with the Acura so when I go to re-sell it, will lose money. Fortunately, I love that car and want to drive it until it dies. But it’s still annoying.

Today will be the day of awesomeness when I get to start dealing with the entire situation. I have already called the insurance company and made the claim and my car is at the repair shop. I’m just highly annoyed with everything else that’s going to have to be dealt with because she wasn’t looking.

Seriously. What the hell was she looking at?!

Killin' It

2010-07-08T10:46:00.004-05:00

We spent the Fourth of July weekend at Table Rock lake. Since you don't have to wake up at 6 a.m. to partake in watersports, we goofed around Monday and did some water skiing.

This was my first time ever. I killed it.

Reality check: I did get up on my second pull but only rode about 100 yards before I let go....that's how I roll. I accomplish something and then quit.

What actually happened is I was pretty nervous about going 25 mph behind the boat (I wakeboard at about 19 mph). I kept thinking about how much it was going to hurt when I crashed. My father-in-law had also reminded me that I wanted to make sure my skiis weren't too tight or else when I crashed they wouldn't come off....and "that's how you get a ski to the chin."

Despite my fear, I had a good time. I'm glad I finally gave water skiing a chance.

Unbelievable

2010-07-07T08:23:00.005-05:00

I’m still in shock that this actually worked. Back in May, I planted a raised garden bed. Three months later, things are actually still growing!
Garden in May:

Garden in July:

In retrospect, I probably didn’t do the right amount of “research” to get the garden going. I planted way too much in such a small spot, but I genuinely thought I’d have a 50% success rate so I overplanted to account for my failure. I ended up having to remove four tomato plants (which I planned to give to JE, but instead killed). And two of the zucchini plants were moved to the side of the house…where they are doing surprisingly well.

My tomato plants appear to be doing really well (they are roma tomatoes, which is why they are a funny shape). I even had one turn red on me over the weekend but I think some other critters got to it before I did because there was a huge hole in the side. Gross.

The one crop that I fought but am actually really proud of now is the corn. TG wanted corn more than anything. And despite my argument that you can buy corn for about 10 cents an ear in the summer, he really wanted to grow his own. And, as we learned from Luke Bryan, rain is a good thing. It’s been pouring here almost every day and now we are sprouting actual ears!

The only things I’ve really “enjoyed” from the garden so far are the jalapeno peppers, cilantro, and basil. The mint plant has really sprouted as tall as almost everything else (mojitos anyone?). I’m really hoping any day now I’ll be able to have fresh tomatoes. I’ve sort of given up on the red/green/orange pepper plants. They haven’t really gotten any taller at all.
Being a farmer isn’t easy. But I’m still pretty stoked to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

KC, BBQ, Tech

2010-06-23T16:20:00.003-05:00

If you love KC, barbecue, or Tech N9ne, you have to watch this video: http://www.liquid9.tv/ (note: you might need to click on the Entertainment>Video link to get to the video).

Quote-a-Rific

2010-06-22T20:57:00.004-05:00

It's been nearly a month since the 7th Annual Bearcat Girls Weekend in Eureka Springs. I've been a bad blogger these days (I blame work...it sucks the life out of me and the thought of being at the computer any longer than necessary makes me cringe).

Fortunately, Arti did a great job telling her version of the story when we returned home. Since I've waited so long, I'd rather share the collection of quotes I kept in a small notebook and in my iPhone.

The concept of writing down quotes isn't something that's new to the Bearcat girls. It's probably because many of us were journalism majors and we lived and died by the "spoken word". We had two pieces of poster board on the living room wall of our house (referred to as The Stain) and kept a running list of funny things said at any given time. I also was recently cleaning out some boxes and found a paper plate from my bachelorette party that was filled with quotes (when we're in a pinch and want something portable, we get crafty).

So without further ado, here's some of my favorite quotes from Bearcat Girls Weekend 2010:

On Friday night when we were at the intuitive reading (a combination of psychic and cards), I decided a case of Busch Light would be a good addition to the evening. We were in a small shop, surrounded by crystals and incenses and candles.
Amber: "Can you tweet Spencer and let him know we're here?" (As in Spencer Pratt...if you follow The Hills, this will be funny. If you know Amber, this will be hilarious).

After the first intuitive reading, we decided that a drinking game would help spruce up the night. We started with words like "cards" (as in "the cards are showing you will have a gaggle of kids next month..."). After the second round, we had quite the list. So we took suggestions for round three.
Jackie: "Drink anytime you hear 'spirit' or 'energy' or anything you like…."

During AA's intellectual reading, she was told she was going to have kids in 2013. This is a little later than she originally thought, as she's been planning a major trip to Italy and/or Greece before she reproduces.
Arti: "Well, I'm going to Greece in 2011. I mean, it'll be the gestation period of an elephant if it waits until 2013."

The side commentary was probably the best part of the entire evening. And then Amber let out a loud burp in the middle of one of the readings.
Jackie: "Amber, get a grip."

Shortly after, KT let out an equally loud burb.
"KT, get some manners."

Friday night on the way home, we had a hard time getting a minivan full of 9 girls up the treacherous hill outside our cabin. Many of the girls got out and walked up the driveway. Abby had to pee so bad that she actually stopped 20 feet from the cabin to use the bathroom.
Abby: "Well, that's a healthy stream."

On Saturday we took it easy and spent the day on a rented pontoon on Beaver Lake. We came home and made dinner and started a nice bonfire. The bonfire was about 30 yards from the cabin and I had to pee. I asked if I could just go in the woods, and if I did, could I put the toilet paper in the fire.
Abby: "We don't want your weird pee paper on the fire."

While we were sitting around the bonfire, we were texting a couple people who were inside, telling them to come outside and join our fun.
Jackie: "Did you tell those bitches they be trifling yet?"

On Sunday afternoon on our way home, we stopped into the downtown area. There was a group of girls who were about our same age walking around downtown.
Abby: "Hey look, it's a rivaling girls’ weekend. I bet they're from Mo West." (Missouri Western is the rival of our college)

On the way home, we passed time by playing fun car games like Would You Rather (do it to).
Arti: "I'd rather eff Hitler than Spencer Pratt."

I really love girls’ weekend, and always look forward to the time in early January when we start picking our destination and weekend. I would honestly be really happy if we went to Eureka Springs again next year…it was a perfect amount of driving and our cabin was so spacious and reasonably priced for everyone. There was a ton to do in Eureka (and lots we didn’t even get to).

We are the type of girls who can make our own fun anywhere so a small town like ES is perfect. I think this photo pretty much illustrates that:

Cheers.

100% Official

2010-06-16T08:29:00.001-05:00

I'm signed up for girls wakeboard camp. I've put down the deposit and everything!

http://www.wakeboardcamp.com/2010/05/girls-week-is-back/

30 Before 30 - planning for sabbatical

2010-06-10T09:17:00.000-05:00

T-2 months until I go on sabbatical (officially Aug. 7-Sept. 6). I’m hoping to get quite a few of these items knocked out during that time so I went back to review the list and see where I am.

3. Go to Coachella or Austin City Limits
6. Meet and/or listen to Dave Barry read.
8. Visit the Sarah Winchester mansion and Alcatraz – SO CLOSE to being planned! If Cec is still going to California for work in August, I’m doing this during my sabbatical!
9. Ride in a hot air balloon – SCHEDULED for Aug. 18! After the Bearcat girls gave me a very awesome birthday gift of going in the balloon, all I had to do was pick a date! KT and my SIL are both going with me so it should be a very awesome time!
11. Rent a houseboat – PLANNED for Aug. 23-27. We haven’t reserved the boat yet but have at least picked the week we want to do it. The plan is to hit up Bull Shoals in Arkansas. Whoop!
12. Be entirely credit card/school loan free – DONE! We got this taken care of a couple months ago. Blam.
13. Play $100 per hand blackjack – Nearly planned. I’m thinking about celebrating my 30th in Omaha. I’ve heard the Old Market is pretty great and it would be an easy getaway for most people. The best part is there are casinos so I might play the blackjack there. If I don’t, I’ll plan to do it in KC before we go. I better save a couple hundred for this event…I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to go in without some warm up hands and just put down a hundred bones.
14. Write for a Midwest trave magazine (freelance counts).
15. Watch every movie on the AFI Top 100 movies list. – 1 more closer….I am an epic FAIL at watching movies. But I think about it a lot so that must count for something. After trying very hard to watch Lawrence of Arabia, I sort of lost my hope.
18. Take a cruise around the Greek isles.
21. Eat The Slinger.
22. Host a dinner party.
28. Take a beginning conversational Spanish class.
29. Take a wine class.
30. Go to a game during March Madness.

Get a Grip

2010-06-04T15:03:00.005-05:00

I’ve had one of those weeks where more than once I’ve wanted to tell someone to “get a grip”.

Some of the highlights:
• Being told that only $24,500 was factored into the budget for my project. Not the actual amount that was approved for the project – $473,875.
• A breast cancer scare with one of my favorite people in the whole world. I’m not sure who would have been the victim of “get a grip” for that one (although, “Get a Grip, Cancer” has a nice ring to it). After four days of panic, it turns out she’s fine and the lump they found was scar tissue and not cancer.
• Coming down with a wicked hive/rash thing on my torso. After several days of blaming TG (for spreading it to me because he had it first), the pets (for potentially having fleas), and the Richmond Marriott (for having bed bugs), we figured out it’s actually hot tub rash. And we not only got it, but gave it to two of our friends who spent Memorial Day weekend with us. Google it. It’s not pretty.
• A co-worker gave her notice because she’s going back to school this fall. She is quitting the end of June to prepare for the ONE CLASS she’s taking in the fall semester. It doesn’t really affect me that she’s leaving but the idea of taking two months off to prepare to take one class is really almost too much for me to comprehend.
• We had to replace the propeller on the boat to the tune of $500. This didn’t happen this week (maybe two weekends ago) but I’m still stewing about it.

Good grief. And it was only a four-day work week. What the heck would I have done if we would have factored Monday into this?

I’m done complaining. To make this Friday a little more manageable, I spent some time combing my external hard drive and building what I think is one of the greatest playlists ever created and have been rocking out. I’m looking forward to a weekend at wakeboarding, riding the cable park, playing with the band, and Summit Days (Poison tribute band!? Yes, please).

Enjoy.

Shamefully Good

2010-06-03T08:54:00.000-05:00

13. Dear John, Christopher Sparks – I was the girl who couldn’t read The Notebook because it was so terrible. So when AA gave me Dear John, I was a skeptic. But this would make a great read if you are trapped on a plane with nothing else to do (or even a beach). Plot: boy and girl fall in love, boy goes off to war, tragic ending. I think that’s how most of Sparks books read…except replace “war” with another stereotypical location. Overall, this was a little predictable but a good read. Check it out.

14. The Last Song, Christopher Sparks – I’m not proud to admit that I enjoyed this book. Miley Cyrus was in the movie, for crying out loud. But for another Sparks novel, it was a good read. Plot: boy and girl fall in love, boy goes off to college, tragic ending.

Two new summer reads...to avoid

2010-06-03T08:48:00.000-05:00

11. Precious, Sandra Novack – I found this randomly at the library while looking for Push (the next book on my list). The story itself was okay, but that’s what I expect when I don’t pick books from recommendations. A little girl is kidnapped in the first chapter and the book tries to tell the story of the things that happened while she was missing. I would call this a plot FAIL though, as the characters and story is pretty much half developed. I wouldn’t recommend this book at all.

12. Push, Sapphire – If you saw the movie Precious, you would recognize this story. You may not recognize it immediately because it’s incredibly hard to read but the story is there. Precious is a young girl who is growing up in the hood of New York. She gets kicked out of school when her school finds out she’s pregnant with her second child….and her father is the baby daddy. Through the muddled language there’s a lot of disturbing details of Precious’ stolen childhood. I’d recommend sparing yourself the details and watch the movie.

Wild Thing

2010-06-02T10:28:00.002-05:00

I've been letting Holly go outside. She only goes out when we're on the patio but it's turned her into a wild beast. When she can't be outside she sits at the door and meows as loud as possible.

Monday morning, I left for a band gig while TG was sleeping. The weather was nice so I left the patio screen door open. When TG woke up, Holly had let herself outside and was sunning on the patio.

She's so smart. She should go to college.

Because of her new-found freedom, TG is forcing me to put a collar on her. Holly has never worn a collar so I'm sure she'll hate it. But I love it because it gave me an opportunity to make my first purchase on Etsy. Check out this cute name tag!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48573292/pretty-in-pink

Strawberry Festival!

2010-06-01T07:55:00.003-05:00

This Saturday (June 5), the Independence Community Band will be performing at the strawberry festival at Vaile Mansion in Independence: http://www.vailemansion.org/Welcome.html

The festival is free and word on the street is the shortcake and ice cream (with strawberries, of course) are delicioius.

The band starts at noon (although the festival goes through most of the day).

Productivity Ruiner

2010-05-27T09:22:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4

Fabulosity

2010-05-18T18:03:00.006-05:00

Once upon a time there was an office. It served multiple purposes such as a place to work, study, make music, iron clothes, and collect junk. But it was an eye sore and was unloved.

Until one day, when magic and a lot of hard work happened, transforming the office from a karate explosion to what can only be described as fabulosity.

This past weekend, AA and I had a lot of free time. Our husbands had tickets to an all-day music festival so we wanted to do something super fun with our time. We did some brainstorming throughout the week and decided that we’d renovate my home office – without telling the husband.

It took some covert work to obtain a used desk before the project started but after TG left the house Saturday, we started our work….and continued until 1 a.m. that night.

After a lot of measuring, laser leveling, and overall hard work, the finished product is pretty great. AA is the real brains behind all of the creativity. I mostly shelled out the money and the trust that she’d do something awesome.

Here’s what we ended up with:

Workspace before

Workspace after

Photo collage from our trip to Australia

Wall art and our diplomas

The inspiration for the paint colors (which guided the decision to frame photos from Australia)

And even though AA’s version of the story ended a little dramatically, all’s well that ends well. The room looks awesome, and TG loved it. We’re going to move in a sleeper chair or small futon so we’ll have an additional sleeping space for guests, and the room that no one loved is now the coolest-looking place in the house.

The End.

5K numero tres – real improvement

2010-05-17T19:33:00.001-05:00

Saturday I went out to Lakewood in Lee’s Summit for the Heart of America Humane Society run/walk.

I’m not going to sugar coat it. The weather was terrible. It’s been raining in Kansas City for about 12 days straight (that’s border line arc-building long) but I braved the cold and the early morning rain regardless.

I will admit this particular run was busch league compared to the other two runs I’ve done. I don’t want to be a 5K snob but this is the 10th year they’ve done this particular run and they haven’t figured out they need to use those plastic timing chip things on the runners?

Rip off.

Cec told me a couple days before the race that she was going to try to run a less than 10 minute mile and that maybe her challenging me would help improve my time. I was a skeptic and didn’t get discouraged when she started after me and still managed to pass me, but when I finished at the end of my 5K (according to Nike, of course), I was at 30 minutes and 1 second.

That’s shaving about 3 minutes off my previous times. I consider that win. I know I’m not setting any records here but I was the girl who couldn’t run 60 seconds without getting winded four months ago. So running half an hour without having a heart attack is pretty awesome, in my book.

I will say this particular run was hilly (seriously, there was a hill to the finish line…what sort of cruel punishment is that?). But I had a good run, got to see some sweet dogs dressed up like their owners, and am making improvement.

Next run: Lee’s Summit Night Flight on June 11. It starts at 9 p.m. and includes awesomeness like luminaries and glow sticks. I can’t wait.

And the beast was grateful

2010-05-14T08:50:00.004-05:00

TG and I are probably a little strange because this is the sort of stuff we like to do to our pets:

Trap the cat in the shower like a caged animal:

Note: In case an animal cruelty advocate reads this, it's important to know that she got in the shower on her own, we just shut the door.

But she enhanced the humor of the situation by pacing back and fourth:

Wow, I look miserable

2010-05-13T13:05:00.003-05:00

I received this really nice link to some photos of me running last Saturday.

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_event.asp?PID=bp%18yG&EVENTID=64965&BIB=1094&S=230&PWD=

I look really miserable. I hope this is close to the end and not when I first started...

WAKEBOARD CAMP!

2010-05-12T14:58:00.002-05:00

I got an email that a girls-only week is going to happy Aug.23-27 at the Wakeboard Camp in Orlando: http://www.wakeboardcamp.com/

I'm so stoked and can't think of a better way to spend my month off.

Wagon Check – Week 3

2010-05-12T08:38:00.001-05:00

In 7 short days I’ll have completed my goal of 30 days booze free. Honestly, it hasn’t been that bad. I mean, I planned my social life accordingly to make it easier on myself, but I did go to a housewarming party over the weekend where I would have liked a glass of wine or a beer and instead enjoyed an ice cold rootbeer.

Ahhh…refreshing.

It was a little easier to avoid the alcohol at the party though because I was getting up early Sunday for a 5K. So I justified not drinking with that motivation. It pretty much worked.

However, there have been a series of interesting conversations (mostly with TG) regarding not drinking. Here are some of my favorites:

#1: I’M NOT DRINKING
I’ve probably yelled “I’M NOT DRINKING” at TG more than three times in the past 21 days. I’m not sure if he doesn’t get it, thinks I can’t do it, or just forgets. On Saturday, I’d just gone to the store and picked up a bottle of champagne for our friend’s housewarming. It was sitting on the table when TG came out of the shower.
TG: You want to have a drink?
Me: I’M NOT DRINKING.
TG: Woh, I was just joking. You bought that champagne so I thought maybe you wanted a drink.

#2: Are you not drinking the whole summer?
At the housewarming, I was chatting with MB, who is doing some intense workouts that includes a restricted diet and no booze. Honestly, MB is almost always doing some sort of training/workout/dieting thing and very rarely drinks. She keeps reminding me, “Your liver can process food or alcohol.” I guess she picks “food”.
MB: So are you going to try to go all summer without drinking?
Me: Why would I punish myself like that?

#3: Tequila shots for breakfast
TG: So next Wednesday, do you want to do a beer bong to celebrate not drinking?
Me: Well, technically I shouldn’t have a drink until Thursday.
TG: All right…tequila shots for breakfast!
Me: Uh, I’m pretty sure I’d be drunk the whole day. After not having a drink for 30 days, drinking tequila before work sounds like a bad idea.
TG: Nah. You used to be one of the best drinkers I know.

Sigh. If I can make it through this weekend, I’ll be on the home stretch to Bearcat Girls’ Weekend 2010. I’ll have plenty of celebrating to do then, with 8 of the coolest chicks I know.

I don’t believe you

2010-05-10T08:24:00.003-05:00

Sunday morning I went out to Corporate Woods for a 5K race with 3400 of my closest female friends.

Okay, I didn’t know any other person there (or at least see anyone I knew) but this race was big and there were A LOT of women there. This particular 5K is put on by women for women so I was pretty stoked.

They did a lot of "girlie" things for the race, which included decorating the portable toilets, giving away flower-covered t-shirts cut especially for women, providing a "finishers" prize necklace for everyone who crossed the finish line and tiaras for the first-time 5Kers and girls under 12.

It'd been a while since my last run so I clocked over 15 miles last week gearing up. I did 4 3-mile runs to prepare and then the actual race. I didn’t have a lot of expectations for Sunday (except to do the entire thing without walking) but when I hit my Nike+ at the starting line and couldn’t even SEE the finish line when the shoe said I was done with 5K, I was pretty disappointed.

If I listen to Nike, I finished my race in just over 30 minutes, which is a new personal best for me.

If I listen to the timing device in my shoe, I finished in the exact same time as my first race:

Place Name Gun Tim Div/Tot Net Tim Pace
687 Sarah 34:36 77/274 33:29 10:47

If I understand this, I finished 687 out of 3400…and 77th in my “division”…I’m guessing girls age 24-29.

I know that a 10+ minute mile isn't that great but considering I struggled to run 60 seconds without passing out when I started C25K in January, I'm pretty pleased.

However, I’m a little skeptical of the race numbers...only because I believe the course was longer than 5K. But I’m glad I did it, and I’m gearing up for another race this Saturday.

See you there.

Guest blog post about a great restaurant find!

2010-05-05T17:27:00.002-05:00

http://blog.atlakelotawana.com/2010/05/discovered-cinco-de-mayo-lotawana-style.html

Settin’ Sail

2010-05-04T09:45:00.005-05:00

This weekend was our annual boat launch weekend, which turns out to be the best and worst day of the year.

Best: the boat is officially on the water and summer can begin!
Worst: it’s a lot of freaking work.

We start boat launch day in the cave, picking up the beast. We store the boat in a cave because it (allegedly) stays cool and dry year-round. I’m going to beg to differ on that “dry” part after TG and I spent three hours detailing the boat from top to bottom because of the mold spores that started to grow on every surface.

But we did it. The boat is officially launched (without incident) and on the lift (and clean).

Picking her up from the cave. This is usually my favorite part because the two old guys who own the cave usually cruise around in their golf cart and yell at TG to "Cut It Harder!" the entire time we're trying to maneuver around the tiny space. Harold and Jerry must of been on vacation this week though because they weren't around. Sad.

At the boat launch. I wish I could photograph people without them trying to jump me. I watched two guys in a Camero pull a Bayliner out of the water. They had dreadlocks and looked high. It was awesome.

Ready to rock! The moment when you have the boat in the water is exciting and terrifying....you never really can predict if there will be "issues" with the engine or battery...and there's always the fear of forgetting to put the plug in. Fortunately, she started right up and we were on our way!

After the detailing on Sunday, all that’s left to do now is sit back and enjoy it. We didn’t do any wakeboarding this weekend. This picture will explain why.

Sick Chicks

2010-05-04T08:15:00.001-05:00

From the Wake Games: http://wakegirls.com/videos/?v=57

Wagon Check – Week 2: Close One

2010-04-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

Although Week 2 isn’t over (I’ve just started the hard part…the weekend), I thought I’d congratulate myself on not one but two close calls with a sober person’s worst enemy – the open bar.

I was at a conference for work the last part of this week and during two separate evening events they had an open bar. I get to pay myself on the back for just sayin’ no to booze and enjoying an ice-cold Sprite instead.

Cheers.

Discovered: A New Blog

2010-04-30T15:57:00.001-05:00

Maybe it's cheating since a friend started this blog, but I wanted to introduce everyone to what I'm sure will be the next biggest thing in the world of blogging: http://ampersanddesignstudio.blogspot.com/

Informal Book Review – One Good, One Bad

2010-04-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

9. A Change in Altitude, Anita Shreve – I’ve been a big Shreve fan since I listened to Testimony on CD. She’s become one of my favorite go-to audio books. This particular story was interesting, about an American husband and wife who move to Africa so he can pursue research work as a doctor. After some misfortunate house burglaries, they move in with a British couple and end up climbing a mountain together. The book has a fair amount of drama, and I don’t want to ruin it but I would definitely recommend this one for pretty much anyone (even, JE, who generally thinks the books I like are “depressing”).

10. Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella – Whatever you do, please don’t read this book. I picked it up for the plane thinking it’d give me something to pass the time. I basically had to force myself to keep reading because this was one of the most ridiculous stories I’ve ever read. In the book, the main character’s great aunt passes away at 105 years old. She then comes back as a 20-something ghost to help guide her great niece through the trials and tribulations of life. Puke.

Wagon Check – Week 1

2010-04-27T08:23:00.000-05:00

It’s easy to stay booze-free when you have bronchitis.

I had a particularly crazy travel schedule last week that included going from Cancun to Kansas City on Monday and then immediately leaving Kansas City for Richmond on a 5:45 a.m. flight Tuesday.

Seriously. Flights before 6 a.m. should be outlawed.

On Wednesday, the travel and/or the re-circulated plane air caught up with me. It all started as a seemingly innocent sort throat and manifested into something much worse.

So much worse.

So much worse that I thought I was going to be the girl they find dead in the bed in the Richmond Marriott.

I ran a fever all of Wednesday night (at least, I *think* I did. I didn’t have a thermometer and actually contemplated searching for an iPhone app to take my temperature). I was achy and restless and miserable.

I stayed sick through Thursday and flew home Friday feeling crummy. I immediately headed to the local WalGreens clinic Friday night where a nurse practitioner ridiculed me for going to Mexico and then diagnosed me with bronchitis.

I only told her I went to Mexico because I thought I might have had H1N1. Instead, she treated me like an idiot for going there and actually said, “Aren’t people being killed there? Isn’t that like going to Iraq for vacation during the war?”

As my chum CW rebutted, “That’s like telling your family not to visit Maryville because of the violence in Harlem or Compton.”

So to make a long story short, I nursed myself back to health with a lot of bad television and laying on the couch this weekend. I didn’t even want a glass of wine. And who needs booze when you have prescription cough medicine?

Countdown to 5K #2

2010-04-20T18:54:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning I’m running my second 5K (also known as “my first official 5K until I ran that other 5K Easter weekend”).

After a whirl-wind weekend in Mexico (to be documented soon) running three miles has been hard. But I did it yesterday in KC and again tonight in Richmond. Since I loathe the treadmill, I hit the city streets and ran around the block next to the hotel over and over again. I felt really silly (because I know I look miserable running) but a girl working in the parking garage stopped me about half way through my race and asked, “Are you running the entire block?!”

She was totally in awe.

I was totally proud of myself. Bring on Saturday morning.

We're #4!

2010-04-14T15:45:00.002-05:00

Way to go Kansas City!

http://www.livability.com/top-10/foodie-finds/10-surprising-food-cities

I've never even heard of the crepe place but I'm 100 percent sure I'd love it and should go there STAT. Some of my favorite meals have been banana and Nutella crepes from street vendors in Paris and Thailand.

Y.U.M.

March Slipped Away

2010-04-13T15:37:00.010-05:00

I was clearing the photos off my camera to get ready for our trip to Mexico this weekend and realized there were several events that I missed blogging about. I’m probably being a little lazy but instead of blogging about each one, I’m going to provide the highlights:

Minneapolis – the last weekend in February we headed to Minnesota to visit A. Jill. We had a weekend of brewery fun (two brewery tours, in fact), snowboarding, and the sculpture park. The first picture is our group with the owner of Surly Brewing and the second is a Cherry and Spoon WIN with me and TG. A. Jill always shows us a killer time and is really easy going about letting 4-12 people stay in her 1-bedroom apartment. We punished her by taking her snowboarding for the first time. After one run down the bunny slope she took the board off, cursed a lot, and switched to skis.

Orlando – the first weekend in March I traveled with the wakeboarding girls to Orlando. We planned the trip back in November before we had the world’s coldest winter, and the 65 degree weather wasn’t exactly what we bargained for. But we rented some wet suits, hit the cable both Friday and Saturday, and had two great days of riding the cable. Friday night we hung out at the Universal City Walk, which is this really cool restaurant/entertainment district near Universal Studios. We ate dinner at Bubba Gump and then hit the clubs. We saw some pretty awesome dancers in the club (it was like being on So You Think You Can Dance) and stayed out so late we needed iHop the next morning. I hope we can make this trip annual (but maybe later in the season when it’s a little warmer…jerk winter!).

Holly’s first haircut – I got a little crazy and decided Holly needed a haircut. Her hair was really long and unmanageable so I wanted to have her shaved, with a clean start. I took her to the Barkery in Lee’s Summit for her trim and the lady advised me she probably wouldn’t be ready until late afternoon (I dropped her off around 7:30 a.m.). I got a call at 11 a.m. with this message from the Barkery, “So we got Holly shaved without any problem and then went to give her a bath, and, well, that didn’t happen. So you can come get her.” Despite the trauma she endured from the near-bath experience, she’s already forgiven me. I really think she loves the new ‘do (although it’s been kinda cold and she’s had to sleep under the covers). It’s already starting to grow out a little, which makes me sad. But I think we’ll make this an annual Spring haircut and enjoy it while it’s gone!

Snake Saturday – My favorite parade of the year is the annual Snake Saturday parade in North Kansas City. TG and I met up with KT and MG at about 9 a.m. the morning of the parade for some breakfast and beers. We then found the Enderles…Ben was wearing his mom’s gloves. I think he looks a little like Edward Scissorhands in this photo.

Concert Week – The week of St. Patrick’s Day I was a concert-going machine. On SPD I flew to Dallas to see Muse (my second favorite band ever) in concert. It was an uber-quick trip so I was glad the entire plane ticket only cost $75. Take that Southwest ding fares! Later that week (on Friday), we saw Manchester Orchestra at the Beaumont. They were awesome. TG thinks the lead singer looks like JE’s brother Joseph. There really is a lot of resemblance, except this guy wasn’t wearing anything made out of Duct tape.

TG’s Birthday – For TG’s 29th birthday I surprised him with a Segway tour from www.segwayexperience.com. It was one of the very coolest things we’ve ever done in KC and I’d highly recommend it...in fact, they do a zoo tour by Segway that I want to do this summer! The best part is I was showing these photos to some people and a guy I don’t know so well asked, “Is that the Washington Monument?” (In case you aren’t up on KC landmarks, the Washington Monument is not located in KC. This is the Liberty Memorial.)

AA and Sid in Springfield – AA has never had the pleasure of visiting Springfield so we took her there for a weekend to remember over Easter. She got to see glorious sights such as Branson (where we had lunch on the water at Branson Landing and rode go karts) and Table Rock Lake. We took her out on the town Saturday night, where she saw Ty spin at the club and was seen in the DJ booth with the man himself. Baller.

Royals Opening Day – This is one of my favorite days of the year. We had standing room only tickets but still had a ton of fun. Chuck wore his Royals formalwear to the tailgate and then we met up with KT and Jami.

I'm going to try hard to not let the next few fun activities get away from me. Mass blogging is hard.

Addictions

2010-04-12T12:28:00.002-05:00

My friend LB has started blogging but is keeping her topics hush hush. She described her blog as, “Just stuff i'm addicted to on a daily basis, so I can look back over time and see what has stayed a constant addiction in my life, and what is just a passing fad!”

I like it.

It made me start thinking of things I’ve been addicted to in the past and things I’m addicted to now. For example, I used to love Red Robin. So much so that every time I went there I filled out a comment card that said SS+RR inside of a heart. The bonus was that if you filled out the comment card they’d send you a coupon for a discount. Although this coupon was great (and fueled my addiction), I had higher hopes that someone at the Red Robin customer service center received my cards and collected them because they were awesome.

But that was just a fad. I no longer love Red Robin. I will eat there if someone suggests it, but I don’t crave it the way I used to. This also holds true for Chipotle, hot and sour soup at PF Changs, birthday cake remix ice cream at Cold Stone, Harry Potter, cows, and Grey’s Anatomy.

I have a whole new list of things I’m addicted to, including:
• sushi
• red wine (especially cabernet)
• wakeboarding
• my iPhone
• reality TV – 19 Kids and Counting, John and Kate Plus 8, 16 and Pregnant, The Little Couple, House Hunters
• fiber bars
• blogging

I’m also proud to say that I have a list of things that have consistently been addictions:
• Victoria’s Secret Beauty Rush lip balm (previous known as Balmy Nights)
• any gum with “new” on the package
• cheap beer during happy hour
• summer
• girls weekend with the Bearcat girls
• reading

I’m excited when I can convince others to blog, no matter how silly they think it is (especially because it gives me great ideas for things to blog about!). So to LB, enjoy your addictions and keep your blog private as long as you want. When you’re ready to go public, you’ll have some loyal readers who will enjoy your writing…so much so that’ll they’ll get addicted.

The Wagon

2010-04-09T10:28:00.001-05:00

I’ve had three friends recently tell me they are “off the wagon” in alcohol consumption. For various reasons and lengths of time, they’ve decided to cut booze out of their life.

I’ve been contemplating this for a while now. In February, I thought I’d stop drinking the month of March. But then there were really important things like a trip to Orlando, St. Patrick’s Day, and TG’s birthday that immediately put that out of my head.

Then I thought I’d stop in April. But we’re going to Mexico in a couple weeks. Are you telling me I can’t have a Corona in Mexico?! No way.

Then last night at the gym I saw a sign for a seminar about getting rid of those “pesky 10 pounds”. I feel fairly confident I don’t need a seminar to tell me how to drop a few extra pounds. I need a break from the booze.

Now I don’t want my dear readers to think I’m in need of AA or something more intense. But I love me a glass of wine (or two…or a bottle some nights). But I know that every time I drink, it takes my body a good day or two to get properly rehydrated and rid of all the sodium and extra crap.

So I’ve officially decided. Starting Monday, April 19 (the day we return from Mexico) until Wednesday, May 19 (the day before we leave for Bearcat girls weekend), I’m going to go without booze.

Honestly, I don’t think this will be a big deal. But even more honestly, it will be the longest I’ve ever gone without a drink since my sophomore year of college.
I’m looking forward to filling my weekends with running, yard work, and boating. My plan is if I work hard, I’ll be too exhausted to miss a glass of wine.

Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

MGMT!

2010-04-08T11:31:00.001-05:00

June 13.
Uptown.
Awesomeness.

You heard it here first. Or maybe you heard it on the radio or read in the in Pitch. Regardless, I'm stoked.

http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2010/04/mgmt_at_the_uptown_june_13.php

Persistent

2010-04-08T09:02:00.001-05:00

Cec has been on me to sign up for a 5K with her now that I’ve officially done one on my own, signed up for another the end of April, and chickened out of the Trolley Run.

She’s got three on her radar for us:

KC Express Mother's Day 5K Run/Walk for Women, Sunday May 9th
http://www.sportkc.org/sportkc.aspx?pgID=866&event_id=351

Hospital Hill Run, Saturday June 5th
http://www.sportkc.org/sportkc.aspx?pgID=866&event_id=313

Paint the Pavement Sunday June 13th
http://www.stevenbanefoundation.org/5k.html

I’m leaning towards the Mother’s Day run. Any run with “hill” in the name sounds terrible.

Beware, friends. She’s going to come after you too, even if it's just to walk 5K.you know who you are.

C25K – I’m an official graduate!

2010-04-06T10:42:00.004-05:00

Last week I boasted that I signed up for my first official 5K on April 24. I was a little anxious to finish the C25K program by the end of April (I’d technically only made it to week 8, which was 28-minutes of running), and then Thursday night I got a call from my sister-in-law asking if I wanted to run a 5K with her while we were in Springfield for Easter.

I told her I’d pack my running gear but wouldn’t run if it was raining.

It didn’t rain. And I ran a 5K!

I didn’t know exactly how I’d do but woke up at 7 a.m. Saturday after a restless night of sleep (a little anxiety…I actually had a dream Thursday night that the race was all hills and I finished dead last). I’d barely run 2 miles Thursday night with the dog (who is a terrible running partner, btw), and the week before I boycotted running in Richmond because I hate the treadmill (but I did hit the elliptical a couple times).

Add all that together, and I had no idea how the run would go Saturday. My SIL promised me she wasn’t a fast runner and this was for charity not competition so when we started the race I was hoping to keep up with her.

When we took off, I kept her pace for about a block and then pushed ahead of her and never looked back.

I finished in just over 34 minutes. I ran the entire time. Both my best time for a 5K and the only time I’d run the entire thing.

Only 18 days until my next 5K. I’ve got one trip to Richmond and a long weekend in Mexico planned between now and then so I better get crackin’ and do some running. I would love to beat my time, although I’m not going to be disappointed if I don’t (or even do worse). The accomplishment of running 3.1 miles without stopping is reward enough for this graduate.

Thanks to my SIL for encouraging and supporting me this whole time. She's the coolest.

Guest blogging - discovered foods AT Lotawana

2010-04-02T15:21:00.004-05:00

I finally found my inspiration for guest blogging about Lake Lotawana and made my first post. Enjoy!

http://blog.atlakelotawana.com/2010/04/discovered-food-edition.html

It’s Official

2010-04-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

I’ve signed up for my first 5K run on April 24 in Oak Grove.

EEK.

My wakeboarding friend, LB, is a teacher at a local elementary school and this run benefits the Hope House. So here goes nothing.

I haven’t even officially finished the C25K program. I am on Week 8 and need to do one more run before Week 9. I’ve decided I hate tread mill running so much that I won’t do it while I’m traveling so last week I hit the elliptical instead. So tonight I’ll get back on the horse and finish Week 8 so I can get through Week 9 and be an official graduate of the C25K program.

Cec, please don’t be offended that I opted for this 3.2 mile run before the Trolley Run with you. 4 miles is sort of a big deal…I gotta crawl before I can walk :)

En Fuego

2010-03-29T08:39:00.005-05:00

I have been begging TG to let us build a fire pit for at least two summers now and this weekend we actually made it happen!

I was so excited. We decided to go down in the ground instead of building up with a lot of rocks….mainly because all those rocks really start to add up. We aren’t looking to break the bank here, just contain any incidents so we don’t start the Great Fire of Lotawana.

So the day after TG’s birthday, I let him dig a hole in the back yard:

Then we went to Lowe’s for the rocks. Two teenage workers saw us wandering around lawn and garden and asked if we needed help. We let them help us load up 22 rocks and went to check out. Teen 1 was waiting with TG at the checkout while Teen 2 and I got the back of the Acura ready for the rocks (i.e. we laid down some plastic in the trunk). I was making small talk with Teen 2 regarding how business was picking up with the weather:

Teen 2: Yeah, this is my Wednesday (it’s Sunday) so I’m pretty excited for my weekend.
Me: That sounds good.
Teen 2: Yeah.

And then in a high-pitched, sing-song voice, he starts belting out the 1980s hit by Loverboy, “Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend….”

Back at home, we finished digging the hole and then laid the rocks around the pit. We had some good intentions of having two rows of rocks but didn't actually measure the hole before going to Lowe's. So we ended up with only one:

Then it was time for the great fire. I had spent part of the afternoon digging leaves out of the flower beds and basically made a giant pile that I was unexcited to pick up. So we decided to rake all of the leaves into the fire pit and just burn them.

In a series of seemingly bad choices, I raked the leaves into the pit while TG got the gas can. My phone rang right before the burning, and it was my friend M. Banks, who incidentally is a nurse in the burn unit at a local children’s hospital. I was telling her about the fire pit and how we decided to kick it off in a very WT way by burning leaves.

Her advice, “Don’t throw aerosol cans into the fire. They’ll just come back out and hit you.”

At the end of the evening, we had a pretty good fire going. We got some (not all) of the leaves burnt and are looking forward to our first bonfire in a couple weeks. I think this is going to prove to be a great addition to our backyard.

Cute Giveaway

2010-03-29T08:23:00.002-05:00

Sandy and I worked together at the big C and did some traveling together to North Carolina back in the day. She's uber crafty and has started a giveaway for some of her goods (I can think of a few other friends who should do this...I wonder how I can politely nudge them...).

http://www.sandyalamode.com/2010/03/29/fabric-wallet-giveaway/

It seems so easy

2010-03-26T08:17:00.003-05:00

I don't know if I've gotten sensitive or if people are ruder but the past couple weeks I’ve wanted to give one of those very rude You’re Welcome to a few people.

For example, when coming into work we have to scan our badge. I think that if I scan my badge and then open the door and you come in behind me, it’s only polite to say thank you. A hole.

Getting off planes has always been one of my biggest pet peeves. The socially acceptable thing to do is to let the person in the seats in front of you deplane and not push your way to the front. Seriously, we all want off of this thing. You crowding other people or pushing to the front isn’t going to make this process any smoother. When people crowd me before I’ve had a chance to get up, I give them the stink eye. I’d like to think it’s an effective tactic.

Merging into traffic – I never claimed to be a good drive (TG says I’m a very aggressive driver, in fact) but if I slow down to let you merge or even if you rudely push your way in front of me, give a little wave. And not with the middle finger. I honked at a guy last night for merging so poorly he nearly hit me…and he actually waved to apologize. I’d like to think that’s one lesson learned.

As a pedestrian, if I’m crossing the street or walking through a parking lot please stop for me and don’t try to drive faster to “beat me”….especially in the winter (you’re in your car while I’m out in the cold!). If you stop, I’ll usually even give a little wave of thanks for not plowing me down.

In all seriousness, I’m not asking for everyone to love one another and give hugs. And I never claimed to be a “nice” person. But I think that a little respect and graciousness can go a long way. Think about it.

Expressing Myself

2010-03-26T07:59:00.000-05:00

Blogger sent me an email encouraging me to use their new templates and change the look of my blog. So I did. And I love it.

Thanks, Blogger.

Informal Book Review - books on a plane

2010-03-25T09:26:00.001-05:00

I’ve decided to start counting over for 2010 with my informal book reviews. Now that I’m traveling more for work, I think I’ll see these numbers go up. I think last year I read about 35 books.

7. Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger – I had little to no expectations for this book except to be mildly entertained while flying. It fit the bill. The story is about three college girlfriends who are living in NYC and their romantic escapades. Not a lot of substance, but this would be a good beach read. Or a plane read.

8. Dear John, Nicholas Sparks – I may be the only female in America who hated The Notebook. It was so terrible, in fact, I didn’t even finish it. So when I asked AA to bring me a book to read on the plane she brought me Dear John with the caveat, “You’ll probably hate it.” Surprisingly, I didn’t. The story is about a misfit teenage boy who ends up joining the Army. While on leave at home one summer he meets a girl and falls in love with her (in about 2 days). He goes back to the Army, with promises of coming back to marry her and then ends up re-enlisting after 9/11. I don’t want to ruin the end (or maybe you saw the movie and already know what happens), but it was pretty predictable but a quick, enjoyable read – perfect for being trapped on an airplane.

Chicks being awesome

2010-03-24T10:12:00.001-05:00

Dallas Friday is a very cool girl wakeboarder. This is her in Florida getting ready for the season: http://www.thewakeplace.com/?p=824

It's so cold in Florida they have to wear wet suits. I can't imagine what we'll have to wear in KC when we put the boat in the water the first weekend in May.