You Know "They" Say

"You know they say..." has to be one of my least favorite phrases of all time. Who in the heck is "they"? And what are "they's" credentials?

A little background...

I grew up doing science fair and research papers...you know, before the internet. When you had to actually go, heaven forbid, to the LIBRARY and read through encyclopedias, journal articles, books, etc. to find all of the data you needed for your work. It was pure Hell on Earth, and I think I hate creating works cited pages worse than almost anything (does it really flippin' matter that I put the title of the article before the journal's name and put an extra space after that comma? I think not)...BUT what it did teach me, was that there are various sources of information, and you can't come to a good conclusion until you evaluate a good majority of them. 

On top of that, I'm a little skeptical in nature anyway, and given the technological and media outlets we currently have, anyone can say anything at anytime and claim it to be the truth. Unless you follow up with your own research, you can choose to believe anything. Or, you can do like me and combine both "truths" and call it good. "They" say sugar is going to kill me, "they" say Splenda is going to kill me. So, I use half sugar and half Splenda in my coffee. They cancel each other out. 

See? 

Problem solved. 

I'm also a firm believer that anyone over the age of 60 should not be allowed to watch The Doctors or Dr. Oz. The majority of people over that age are retired and typically don't have a ton to do anyway...so why not convince them that the lethargy their experiencing is really a symptom of a rare form of melanoma. No no, the lethargy can't be because you're 68 and have been working for the past 45 years of your life, there must be something wrong with you! That's not to say that these shows don't have their place because I'm sure they have helped people seek guidance/treatment for something they thought was just normal, but was really something very serious. But for the most part, I think it just fuels the elderly's already paranoid persona. 

For instance, my grandmother, God bless her, heard on one of these shows that peanuts help people with ADD. Since then, she has been buying jars of peanuts for my cousin's 18 year old son who has ADD. Poor kid. It was sweet of her to think of and want to help him, but I'm afraid for Christmas we're either going to have to buy him a Vitamix so he can make peanut butter (more useful than peanuts in whole form), or get him a year long pass to the zoo so he can feed the elephants. 

So, I suppose this is just my little PSA. If you hear, see, or read something that you're not 100% certain of...take the time to do a little digging before you act on it or repeat it. It will save you, and the rest of us, a lot of trouble. 

And it begins...

Well, we've started packing...again. We close on our house on Monday, and the moving truck is scheduled for Tuesday!! We were able to leave about 65% of our things packed from our move to Texas in October, but we still need to do the rest.   

The good thing that has come from two moves in less than a year, is the purging that has taken place. I am not a hoarder by any means, but I have a bad habit of thinking..."I better keep that, I'll use it at some point". And I never use/need it. Before we left Tulsa, I took two car-fulls of stuff to Goodwill.  This time, since we're doing the packing ourselves (versus the moving company), it's given me even more incentive to throw away stuff that I don't use, won't miss, and that no one else would want. I suppose some of that has come from living kind of simply for the past 8 months...I've learned what I really need and what's just taking up space unnecessarily.


The other positive thing regarding this move versus our last, is that it's a lot easier to transfer services/utilities than to discontinue them in one state, and start them in another. The bad thing, however, is that our community is new and doesn't technically exist in some regards. Actually, our street doesn't even show up on Google Maps yet. This could be tricky for a while. 


.....................................


Morning side note: I dropped my hair dryer two days ago (I wash my hair every other day unless I work out). I've dropped my hair dryer numerous times, so I didn't think much of it, until I went to dry my hair THIS morning. Of course I was already running late when I turned the sucker (or blower, rather) on only to hear what I would describe as nails going down a chalkboard times 100. I wore my hair up yesterday, and didn't really want to again today... I said, screw it. So, after letting it air dry during my commute, I have sort of a beachy look going on today. It complements my lack of make-up as well. Yeah, that's what I'm going with...beachy. It's a good thing I don't work in a customer-relations type job.

Heeeeeey! {say it with two syllables}

So, I have this habit...bad or good is yet to be determined...of picking up accents and slang/regional verbage. 

For instance, I went on a two-week trip a couple of years ago with a group from grad school. One of the guys was Canadian. I came back adding "eh?" to the end of questions, periodically. I'd previously never said "eh?" in my life. 

Don't worry, I don't do that anymore.

With my Dad having grown up in Mississippi, and all of his side of the family still living there, I have a STRONG tendency to take on a Southern accent instantaneously upon being around any of them. The other night, Kyle came home from running some errands and after talking for a moment, he said "who from Miss. have you been talking to?". I had been talking to my Dad.

This weekend, my cousin and her husband (from Miss.) are coming for a visit. All that to say...if you run into me over the next week and I sound like I'm trying to get into character for a production of Gone with the Wind...you'll understand that that is not the case. I'm just channeling my inner Paula Deen.

17 Years....

Seventeen years ago today, I was in sixth grade. During second hour, in Mrs. McDougal's class, we started hearing about a bomb that went off near a business building in downtown Oklahoma City. The Murrah Building. Although we were shocked and a bit frightened, I think we were naive to the reality of its impact. Partly because we were so young, and partly because nothing like that had really happened in our lifetime. It wasn't like today when you hear of a school shooting or a homemade bomb in a backpack left somewhere...almost weekly. 


Throughout the day, we would exchange information in the halls about who knew what and what the death toll was. During our last hour, our teacher let us listen to the radio. The number of the dead kept climbing. Unfortunately, Oklahoma isn't densely populated and most don't move too far from where they grew up...all that to say, there are very few degrees of separation between Oklahomans. It seemed that everyone knew of someone else who had a family member or friend that was killed that day. 


This is an image that is engraved in all of our minds. 

Through all of the tragedy, however, there was a resiliency and hope that permeated everything. It made me proud to be an Oklahoman, and it still does. 

Perspiration and Precipitation

So...exactly two weeks from today, Kyle and I will be packing the last little bit of our things while waiting for the moving truck and men to arrive. And by packing I mean, throwing all of the miscellaneous stuff into random boxes and/or trash bags and putting them in our car. I'm so ready to have a place for everything. Even in our house in Tulsa, a lot of our things were in the attic simply because we didn't have enough storage. There are a lot of wedding presents I'm certain I will see for the first time since opening them at our showers. I'm also ready to have a good, working kitchen again. The one in our rent house is smaller than the one I had in my studio apartment in college. I love to cook in general, but this kitchen makes it so difficult. BUT ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!!


I've been pretty proud of myself and my workout regimen. I've been going to spin class at least twice a week, and then either doing a weight lifting class or doing cardio and weights on my own one or two nights. I love spin, but man is it hard. About twenty minutes in I look at the clock and think "oh crap, 40 more minutes? There is absolutely no way that is happening" But when I'm done...I feel like I just conquered some demons. When I went this past Saturday morning, I didn't realize that I was congested until about half way through the class when my heart was racing on some of the easier stuff and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. What's that brain and heart? You need oxygen? My bad. Note to self, take a decongestant before going to morning classes. 


Also, I saw someone mention something about girls that wear their hair down to workout on FB yesterday, and how odd that is. Hair down and full-on going out make-up just makes me feel gross. There's a chick in my spin class that is really petite, but she has thick hair to her waist that she leaves down, and more black eye shadow than I will use in a year's time. I don't even want my pony tail touching my back when I'm going to sweat that much...it gets pulled back in a tight, sloppy chignon. And if I have make-up on...it's left over from what I put on at 6 a.m. and didn't get a chance to wash off before going to the gym. If you like wearing your hair down to workout, I suppose it's whatever floats your boat...but I just don't get it.


Now that I live south of the Red River, and south of DFW for that matter...I don't mind the unpredictability of Spring weather. This past weekend, I watched the weather maps and coverage of everything going on in Oklahoma. The thing is, with hurricanes, meteorologists can at least give people warning of the path that it might take. Tornadoes are a whole other ballgame. The only thing meteorologists can really predict regarding tornadoes is when the conditions will be "right" for them to form. The only thing fun about Spring weather in Oklahoma are the meteorologists themselves. The ones on the major networks are quite charismatic, and take their job very seriously...to the point that people have created games out of their broadcasts and weather updates. Games you ask? Yes, games. Like bingo and drinking games. Every time Gary England says a certain county, that's a dot or a drink. See someone with out a shirt and minus some teeth getting interviewed about the trailer they saw get tossed? (an equivalent would be a woman in a house dress, no bra and desperately needs one, and rollers in her hair) That's three drinks and at least four dots on your bingo card. If the cross-street nearest you is mentioned, time to toss the bingo card, finish your drink and head down to the storm shelter or interior closet or bath tub.

In all seriousness, though, tornadoes are very scary and can obviously do a lot of damage. We saw one go through our front pasture when I was a kid. It's pretty incredible to see a tree trunk fly horizontally across your front yard. We lost an old cinder block shed in our back pasture, but that was it...and we were lucky that was it. There are a lot of people who have lost everything due to tornadoes. That, I can't imagine. 


Here's to feeling blessed to live in a tornado-free zone, and heartfelt prayers for those who have lost so much. 

Monday Morning Motivation

Probably one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes...

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” 
― C.S. Lewis

Morning Sanity

The one complaint I have about Houston is, of course, the traffic. There's simply no way around it, unless you leave for work at 5:00 a.m....and that's not even a guarantee. The traffic report during the morning news programs take up as much time as the weather and other news segments. It's serious stuff. 


So every morning when I go to my car, I kind of give myself a pep talk. "hurrry, hurry, oh crap you're 2 minutes behind...ooh the bus hasn't come by yet, maybe I have a chance!...how does my traffic map app look? Still green!...go, go!" Or something like that. 


I then spend about 30-40 minutes hanging out on the tollway with my fellow commuters. For the most part, it's a carefree drive because it's only two lanes with very few entrances and exits. People just get on, stay in their lane, and go. But, there's always that one guy that thinks he's Mario Andretti, and that weaving around will get him where he's going a little faster. Unfortunately for him, there is such a thing as road Karma. What's that Mr. Andretti? You need over now? Oops, sorry!


Yes, I am that driver. I'll forgive, but I don't forget. 


Anyway, the best part of my drive is at the end...and not just because the commute is over. The last part of my route includes an over-pass that takes me directly East towards downtown. Around 7:00 a.m. this time of year, as I come around the over-pass high above everything else...I get to see the most perfect sunrises. This morning it was an awesome array of pinks and purples with the glow of a big orange sun coming from the horizon, and silvery, glittery clouds strewn among all the color. I wish I could have taken a picture.


It's by far the thump in the head I need to forget about the stressful drive behind me, and remember what's important in life. It reminds that God is so much bigger than I can even imagine. 


This past week, the cherry on top has been the parking garage. Yes, the parking garage. Ours is about 8 stories high, and it has these massive trellises running up the sides. I had always thought it was just a type of ivy growing up the metal frame...that was until it bloomed this past week. Turns out the greenery is actually Jasmine, and while it's blooming, the smell of exhaust, engine oil, and cigarette smoke is completely dispelled. I always hated Jasmine-scented things and didn't really understand the big deal about it, but now that I've been engulfed by the real thing, I get it. I'd bottle it too, if I could.


Happy Hump Day everyone!

Week(s) Update

I've been a little negligent. My apologies.


It's not that we've been terribly busy, but just busy enough that I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and blog. But that's sort of a good thing.


So what have we been up to...


For starters, I've really gotten into a good workout regimen again...and it feels really good! I'm not using a personal trainer this time around, but there are enough classes like "bodypump" that push me further than I what I would do on my own, and that's all I'm really looking for. I also really like spin/cycling. It's aggressive and you burn a ton of calories in an hour...somewhere between 550-700 typically. I actually got Kyle to go with me to spin class this past Saturday. He actually enjoyed it more than I thought he would, but one thing is for certain...we are both going to need to buy some cycling shorts with the butt pads! With all of Kyle's recent injuries, he's taking it a little at a time to make sure his body can handle it, and so far, he's doing really well!


Oh! We finally got word that we can close on our house at the end of this month. WooHoo!!! Meanwhile, we're still chilling in the rent house. It's better now that there's a contract on the house and people have stopped requesting showings, but it was rather awkward last week when the inspector came to inspect the house (which I was informed of at 9:30 the evening before mind you). Not only did he show up 45 minutes late, but if Kyle hadn't been home, he couldn't have gotten in the home because the realtor wasn't with him. Oh, then the buyers showed up. So Kyle and I just chilled in the living room while they went through everything. Then she asked us if we were wanting to sell any of our furnishings. So, so awkward.


What else...I'm slowly going blonde! I haven't had any real blonde in my hair since I graduated high school. New place, new house, new hair! I don't think it really suits me as well as dark chestnut, but it's fun none the less. I mean, it's just hair dye.


Easter weekend was nice. The weather was absolutely perfect. I wish it would stay like this all year long. It was also nice to have Friday off. We got a lot done around the house so we were able to actually enjoy the rest of the weekend. Friday night we went out for sushi and then to see American Reunion. It was disgusting and hilarious...about what I expected. Some friends from church invited us to have Easter lunch with their family, and that was really enjoyable as well. And yes, Kyle couldn't keep himself from "helping" the little kids find eggs. I'm glad I wasn't in an egg hunt with him as a kid. 


We capped off the weekend by watching the final round of the Masters Sunday evening. After having played a little golf, I can appreciate the difficulty of what those guys are able to do. It actually restored my faith in the world a little...a guy named Bubba, who's never had a lesson, won one of the most prestigious tournaments on the tour. Not to mention the fact that his driver is hot pink. Way to go Bubba! In case you haven't seen this video yet, you need to. Bubba is, of course, in the overalls.


The next few weeks are going to be busy as well...dinners, church activities, local festival, cousins coming to visit, horse show going on down the street, and of course packing and getting things set up to move!

Half a Billion

I'm sure you all saw the calamity that was the Mega Million lottery. For half a billion dollars, I would cause a calamity too...probably. 


Yes, we bought a few tickets. We're not regular lottery players, but a couple of times a year we go "eh, why not?". So of course that got me thinking, seriously, what would I/we do if we had won?


If we won that kind of money, yes, we would quit our jobs. One reason being, although you hire a money manager and financial adviser, managing that kind of money can be a full time job on its own...one of us needs to be free to do so. Secondly, with the economy still somewhat in the toilet...we need to be creating jobs with that money, not taking up two. Third, because we could.


Now what you're really wanting to know...what I'd blow some cash on.


The first thing I'd do, and I think Kyle would agree, would be to rent out the best restaurant in Houston and fly all of our family and friends down to celebrate. Heck, we could rent out a few restaurants and do a progressive dinner. And I'd change outfits in between each restaurant. 


As far as the house goes, we'd live in the one we're building. I absolutely love the house and we don't really need anything bigger or more elaborate. It's perfect for us. That being said, I would probably purchase another one...either a lake house or a ranch somewhere in Texas. A country, outdoorsy getaway somewhere. 


Speaking of ranches...I don't know that I'd have my own full-blown ranch. Mainly because ranches are a lot like a restaurant, yes, you can hire someone to run it for you, but unless the owner is intimately involved in the day to day activities and decisions...it's just not run the same. So, I'd simply buy an awesome horse (or five) and board them at a trainer's. Being that I wouldn't work anymore, I'd be free to travel and show all over the country. 


I would, however, purchase some miniature donkeys and pygmy goats to put on my little country retreat. Because I love them.


I'm fairly positive we'd also buy a plane. We like to travel and our immediate families don't live close, so that would be a fantastic way to see everyone on a whim. I could also easily spend a year traveling around the world, staying several weeks in a country at a time. Being that we don't have kids, this would be the perfect time to do so.


I'm sure somewhere in there Kyle would like to be a partner in a professional football or basketball team. Believe it or not...the only type of sports team you could buy outright with the lottery winnings would be a hockey team. We grew up in Oklahoma...hockey, although fun to watch, just doesn't really resonate with us.


So, that's a little glimpse into what multi-millionaire retail therapy would look like for me.  Kind of make my steals at Ross and Marshall's look a bit puny now. Oh well, back to work I go.