Package acceptance service

In addition to my roles as wife and engineer, I have decided to add the position of person you can send your packages to so that your spouse doesn't see what you got them. For some reason, this week I was contacted multiple times to play this role. I absolutely don't mind doing it at all.... I know how hard it can be to surprise a spouse. If you are single then I want you to step into a married role for a second so you can fully understand the challenges....

~ You live with this person so----> You cannot have things mailed to the house that come in any packaging that might give away the contents.... that's if they don't just see a package on the front door and open in anyway. You also have to forbid your spouse to look in certain closets or enter certain rooms where said goods are being stashed.

~ You more than likely have only one credit card so-----> You must forbid the person to look at the charges until they are no longer on the active statement which may cause you to track your budget that month in creative ways. You may be saying, just use a check! Well, now the banks scan every check you use so that you can remember where you spent money and there will be a copy of the check in the checkbook which you probably share.

Anyhoo, it gets a little hairy. Because of that I am currently open for business as girl who accepts your spouses packages. My current clients include my dad and my next door neighbor.... and I've only been open for a week!

Bubbles

There is a lady I share a cube wall with and someone seriously needs to wash her mouth out with soap. If she cusses one more time today then I may not be able to help myself. Doesn't Zest get you "zestfully clean?".

Sleepy

I'm tired... that's all I've got today. It's gonna be a rough day (at least tomorrow is Friday.... why couldn't that be today?)

Ah, I know.... perhaps a little sales pitch? In case it has been awhile for any of you, I suggest you take a trip to Crate and Barrel. Why? Because it is AWESOME and PRETTY and believe it or not AFFORDABLE. I also suggest you register there when the time comes because of the aforementioned reasons as well as one other one...... I went to the Crate and Barrel outlet in October with my mom and do you know what I saw?? At least half the stuff from my registry exactly one year before at incredible (sometimes 50-75%) discounts. I was glad I hadn't paid for the stuff myself so that I could have no regrets and use the opportunity to get some dish towels I never got off the registry along with a few other things. Anyhoo... that's my sales pitch and it has taken all my energy to write that so I think I'm done now :P

Mmmmmmmmm

All of my Christmas decorations are up and I gotta say, it's coming back to me why I like this time of year so much. The smell of the tree greets me every time I open the door and my light-up stars and icicle lights smile down on people as they walk/ride/drive past our windows. I have happy little berry garlands draped almost anywhere I could (which adds up to 3 places in such a compact condo) The stockings are hung on my makeshift mantle (ie. our side table) and I am ready to go!! It's too bad Christmas is still 4 weeks away :P But hey, I've got numerous parties, a week long cruise and other such things to make the time go by more quickly :) Merry Christmas is four weeks away ya'll ;)

Is it cheating to post pictures of my niece and nephew? Is it better if I just post one of my nephew? The pic below was just too darn cute to pass up plus Evan (who is 6 weeks old) looks 6 months old..... He is a BIG boy!!

How Sweet It Is

Two years in a row, TWO YEARS IN A ROW...... when was the last time the Aggie football team could say that they had beaten Texas two years in a row? Well, I would tell you the answer to that, but it is surprisingly difficult to find that stat on the Internet. Anyways, it's been awhile.... let's just put it that way. Friday's victory was a beautiful sight to behold. A game where A&M dominated the entirety of the match-up and nobody can argue that they got lucky or didn't deserve to win. It felt good.... It felt REALLY good. It was also sorely needed to cheer my dad up after LSU dropped their chance at another championship this year. Anyhoo, I suppose all I really want to say is GIG EM AGGIES!!!

Example

Further proof that the Thanksgiving gods are smiling (see post below if confused)

YAY!

Ok peeps... it appears that Thanksgiving gods have smiled upon me today and Blogger is working at my office!! I have NO IDEA how that works, but I'm not going to question the motives of the Thanksgiving gods! Their other specialties, in case you were wondering, are making traffic freakishly light in the morning, removing 50% of the cars in office parking lots, and causing mere mortals to gain 10 pounds in one weekend. They are quite amazing truly :P

Wow, my posts have been SO LAME recently. I apologize for the lameness and choose to blame it on the fact that I am simply not as creative at 9pm as I am at 7 am... maybe I AM a morning person after all. Hmmmmm. Anyhoo, to try to make up for the lameness and perhaps as a sort of offering to appease the Thanksgiving gods and not have them regret their decision to grant me blog access, I offer a personal confession.... I am scared to drink out of Nalgene bottles. It's true, they scare the mess outta me. Every time I see one I think, "Wow, I want to be cool like that girl and carry around a Nalgene everywhere I go." Then I think about drinking from one and receive the instant mental picture of me spilling liquid all over myself. Now, I'm not someone prone to clumsiness or spills, but I do recognize one fundamental truth: Nalgene bottle have very large openings and my mouth is midget sized. This, my friends, is an equation for disaster.

So, closing thoughts........ Have a great Thanksgiving. And remember; Drink (from Nalgenes) Responsibly.

So You Think You Can Dance

Nate and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance tour a few days ago with Tim and Kim and it was AWESOME! Well, let me qualify that, what I could see was awesome. We got floor seats and at first I thought we were golden, but then the shortish girl sitting in front of me decided she could see better if she sat on her foot and added some extra padding. Welllllll, her doing that made her literally 7 inches taller and blocked my view of the entire center of the stage. I spent the whole first half of the show straining to see around her and hoping for the dancers to prefer the left side of the stage.

Luckily for me, there was nobody sitting behind me or Nate so I didn't have to feel guilty about sitting on both of our jackets in order to see the show :) Anyhoo, the show was AMAZING and the dancers were so cool to watch. I wish I could move that way :)

BRRRR

OH MY GOSH, I am SOOOOOOOO cold right now!! It's amazing how pitifully thin blooded I am. I am a Texan through and through in that when the temperature goes below 60, I am grabbing for my jacket and putting on my thick socks :)

At the same time, the cold weather really makes me feel like the holidays are coming. I love the smell of cold (as long as I don't have to feel it too :) Of course it'll be back to 80 degrees before you know it. Anyhoo, happy cold front day ya'll :)

Project Runway

As I type this I am watching the season premier of Project Runway. I discovered this Bravo show by way of one of their many Saturday marathons. I gotta say.... LOVE IT!!! It is a reality show, but I try not to hold that against it :) I think my tolerance for it comes from the fact that the contestants are so incredibly talented. Not only that, but Bravo does a good job spending more time covering the actual clothes designing and sewing part of the show than they do on the drama. I won't claim that it is completely un-dramatized, but at least you are watching truly talented people being allowed to show what they can do. Anyhoo, I don't have much else to say except if you have a chance, give Project Runway (and Top Chef which is the cooking equivalent) a shot :)

One cup, Two cup, Red cup, Blue cup

I'm glad I have a blog so that nobody can stone me when I say this......

Why are Starbucks red cups such a big deal? It is amazing to me how much joy rings out among the throng because Starbucks has different cups. Does the coffee still cost an arm in a leg when it comes in a red cup? Does it somehow taste better? Does the cup turn everything you put into it into gold? And why have so many people allowed the marketing department at the 'Bucks to decide when they should "officially kick off the holiday season" just by changing the color of the cup? I have a lot of friends who have said the previous statement declaring with exuberant joy that they are ready for the holidays now that they can clutch 5 dollars of coffee in a RED cup instead of a cream cup. There are quite a few things I "miss" not being a coffee drinker, but I'm pretty happy to leave everyone else to this insanity :P

A Star is Born

Ok, for those of you that are Aggies, I am willing to bet that you have probably heard of Rick Larson's Star of Bethlehem presentation. If you went to Grace, than I am almost positive that you know exactly what I am talking about. It is a truly mind blowing presentation that uses astronomy to give credence to the biblical account of Jesus' birth.

After years of prayer on Dr. Larson's part, retail chains have finally agreed to pick up and sell a DVD version of the presentation this holiday season. It is an amazing opportunity for the gospel to go into the world in a season when people seem to be more open than normal to the message. I encourage you to buy a copy of the dvd, it's on sale at Wal Mart, Target, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, etc. I bought one to show my non-christian relatives, I know that the presentation can be a very powerful witnessing tool. I ask you guys if you think about it to pray for the success of this dvd. Pray that it would win lives for Christ and that lives would be changed by seeing it. Oh, and watch it for yourself... you'll love it :)

http://thestarofbethlehemmovie.com/

Beware the Hungover Man

Sooooo, i've been in training the past two days at work (hence the lack of blog-spiration.. Jen :P) The training was to teach us a software called Geopak. On the first day of training, I did most of the work in the program for the pair I was in just because it was easier for me to use the mouse from where I was sitting. It wasn't too bad once I learned to tune out the incessant Houston rodeo/hunting/when I was in the army stories told by my partner. It was even better once I started ignoring his comments about things I would understand when I got older.

Anyhoo, today my partner shows up and the first thing he says to me is that he is SOOOOOO hungover. (from a Wednesday) While I am processing this, the instructor comes in and tells us that the person who did less yesterday should "drive" today. Hmmm, sooooooo... we're letting the hungover man drive? Fantastic. Basically the first two hours of my day went something like this...

me- "He's asking you to open the file."
him- "huh?"
me- "You need to open the file."
him- "What file?"
me- Pointing directly at the screen.."that one"
him- Blank stare

2 minutes and 3 random pauses later he gets the file open. Anyhoo, he was so slow I almost jumped out of my skin. When the instructor asked if we were ready for the next step, I had to stop myself from telling him that due to my partner's current state of sobriety, we would be consistently 5 minutes behind the other groups. I'm so glad I don't drink.... it was just sad watching him today.

Spicy

I made Jambalaya tonight.... YUM :)

The Christmas Hypocracy

A few things before I start~

1) This post is not even close to as controversial as the title would imply.
2) I probably don't have the right to be outraged at this, but there you go.
3) I am part of the problem.

Ok, here's the deal... some background info. I finished my Christmas shopping a few weeks ago and I couldn't wait to wrap them. I went to Target and they didn't have their paper out yet. I have to admit, I was frustrated. I went to the Container Store and bought paper a few days later and began wrapping. I was one roll short so I went back to Target 3 days after Halloween and they only had out half of their Christmas stuff... I was mad!! I ended up buying some Christmas dish towels and other items.

Ok, fast forward. I noticed something this weekend.. all of the shopping centers are totally decked out for Christmas. I mean, giant wreaths, ornaments and banners proclaiming "Happy Holidays!!" and it isn't just one place. I went to Meyerland, Uptown and the MarqE and every single one is decorated full on.. I mean, really?? C'mon people!! I realize this might sound a little hypocritical from the girl who wanted wrapping paper on November 1st, but allow me to point out the subtle difference. Sure, I have already wrapped all my gifts and I have bought decorations and towels and so on and so forth... BUT, I'm not putting them out right now. I'm just planning ahead so that I don't have to go shopping later with the maddening crowds... I very much dislike Christmas crowds. So, although I have no right to be angry, I have to say that it is certifiably INSANE to put up Christmas decorations on November 1st! Phew, and there it is :)

Fall Back

It's official.... I am anti daylight savings time. That's right folks. I would rather wake up in the dark and then have some (if even only a little) bit of remaining light after I get home from work than how it is now. It totally depresses me to wake up and experience only 10 minutes of daylight as I drive to work and then to come home experiencing 10 more minutes from the safety of my driver's seat only to have it be almost dark when I get home. If I ruled the world, there would be no more daylight savings. I mean, what are we saving the daylight for anyhow?

I'm too old for this

Nate and I went to a concert last night... I FINALLY saw Yellowcard live!!! It was so incredibly worth the wait and lived up to every expectation that I had. They were AWESOME and I sang every word of every song that they played at the top of my lungs right along with them. We traded our general admission tickets with some girls that had the assigned seating upstairs in the Verizon Wireless Theater... they wanted to be on the floor and we wanted to be able to sit :) They had front row tickets for the balcony and the view was fantastic.

I was getting pumped when the band that was on before YC came on stage. I knew we were in trouble immediately. Ummmmm, I'm sorry... can someone turn the volume down?? If we could put it just a notch below earsplitting, that'd be great... thanks :) I am now convinced that in order to be a music lover, you must be willing to sacrifice your sense of hearing to the concert gods. While I was excited about Yellowcard, I was not willing to lay down this most valuable sense for the likes of Shiny Toy Guns. So Nate and I made my momma proud and stuffed napkin bits in our ears until they took the edge off. We were still able to hear the band, we just avoided finding out what it is like to have your ears bleed. We took them out prior to YC and my boys didn't let me down... I never once wondered whether my eardrums were gonna explode :P

me vs. my desk... round 4

Soooo, I walked into work today and headed towards my desk. I pulled my yogurt out of my bag and prepared to eat my breakfast. I pulled my chair into my desk, began to cross my legs and.... WHAM!! I smacked my knee. You see, under my desk is one of those swing out keyboard platforms that is on a track.... a metal track.....a metal track that hangs about 1 inch lower than the top of my knee when I cross my legs. Today constituted the 20-30th time I banged my knee on that thing in only 4 short days of working at that desk. I was (understandably) afraid that the track would continue it's reign of terror if nothing was done to prevent it from doing so. So I did the only thing I could do. I called a handyman to come and rip that thing OUT! HA! Take THAT, weird track thingy! Anyway, I've decided to celebrate small victories, so there you go :)