Last Weekend of May and Today

Shew!  May is almost over and I am nearly worn out let me tell you!  It has been bunches of fun though, vacation, parties, a wedding, and a TON of food.  This weekend was Rachael's wedding and Erica's bachelorette party. 

This is me with the bride.  Forgive the glistening on my face, I was a little warm.  If you don't live in the South, it is HOT, like abnormally crazy hot down here right now.  Back to the wedding.  I've known Rachael forever, since kindergarten and now that I'm old, kindergarten is a very long time ago.

The happy couple.  Best wishes you guys!

We were in charge of punch.  Mom and I are great punch servers, we barely spilled any on those nice white linen table clothes!  Don't we look nice?  The dress I'm wearing isn't nearly as boring as it looks.  It has a great big cut out in the back that shows my birth mark.  The wedding was a success, the couple was married and the punch was served.

After the wedding I went back to the apartment and changed and headed over to my friend Kristen's house for her best friend's, Erica's, bachelorette party. This is the two of them at my bachelorette party.  I don't have any pictures of her party because it was a passion party.  Do you know those?  It's an "intimate" type of party if you catch my drift.  I was surprised at how much fun I had cause, well, I'm basically a little bit of a prude.  I was glad I was invited and I had a great time!

Totally new topic.  Are you changing gears in your mind?  Good.

My mother taught me that if you clean something and no one knows about it, it isn't really clean.  Here is what I accomplished today:  I went to work for nine hours and got a Ton done, not to toot my own horn but I was Productive today!  My favorite thing in the world to hear is Josh telling me that the house looks/smells nice, but my boss calling to tell me to add a couple of more tests and me getting to tell him I predicted that and I had already done the tests, is a pretty good thing too :).  Then I came home and threw on supper before Josh had to head to work.  I loaded and started the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, went to the library, went to the grocery, got gas, tossed in a load of clothes, and am now watching a vacation planning dvd while I write to all you awesome peeps!  When I haul my big ol' bum up off the couch I'm going to fold clothes and exercise because seriously my butt is going to get it's own zip code soon.  Now that I told you all I did it is "officially" done!  Hooray! 

Sigh.  Okay!  Here I go!  More to do.

A Super Great Read!

I love to read.  I'm sure you already knew this.  I read this while I was at the beach.  It was so good!  I don't usually read a lot of Christian fiction because it is very predictable.  You can almost look at the cover of a book and know what it's going to be about, and I don't like to judge books by their covers.  Liz Curtis Higgs is such a good author.  This a second series set in 1700s Scotland.  I LOVE period books.  You can just sink into the time and ignore your ringing phone and noisy traffic.  This series is a more "modern" version of Ruth.  The first series she did about Scotland was a more "modern" version of Leah and Rachel.  Modern is a really relative term when you are comparing Biblical times, with 18th century Scotland, with the present day.  I like to read Liz Curtis Higgs because many years ago when I was transitioning from childhood books like Sweet Valley High to adult fiction, I wrote to her and told her how much I admired her writing.  She sent me a postcard back!  In purple marker!  I don't know why I remember that part, I just do.  It made me feel special that someone, even if it was just her publicist, read my letter and responded.  Moral of the story:  go to the library and check out this book, or borrow Thorn in My Heart which is the first in the first Scottish series, or go buy both and curl up to read all Memorial Day Weekend.

I'm Baaack!!

Yes, unfortunately I am home from the beach.  I love the beach.  It was so incredibly relaxing.  Definitely the best trip since I hit puberty and started worrying about what all the cute boys thought of me.  Now I have Josh and I don't care what anyone else thinks so I was able to relax a lot better.  Here are some pics.  If you are my facebook friend you may have seen them, but you love me so much I know you'll look again lol.

This is my momma.  Her beach mantra is "Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen."  I think she was getting ready to apply some just as I took this picture.  We searched high and low for that bathing suit last season.  Before she got it she was wearing the same one she had had when I was still in a wading pool.

This is Eli with a pirate and parrot.  For some reason totally unbeknowst to me he was very excited about having his picture taken with him.  I kind of hate I didn't line up the photo better because this man looked JUST like Santa Claus.  I wanted to sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas.

These are the cutest little set abouts in the world.  I don't usually things that serve no purpose but these are adorable and I want every one of them.  I want to decorate my kitchen in them.  I'm including the link cause you should go look.
http://www.enescousa.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=100&category_id=68&page=shop.browse&limit=20&limitstart=0&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1000

I think this is how we see our inner self.  Snort.  Yeah right.  We just having fun.  Mine almost matches my shirt.

I loved this magnet.  Basically it says more quipily (why yes that is a word, at least it is in my world) what I think all the time. 

I had thought of two soapboxes I wanted to write on, if I can think of them again then I will definitely let you know!

Know What I'm Doing Today?

Going to the beach!!!  I love the beach.  My family is going and they invited me.  I wasn't going to go because my dear friend Bev is having her graduation party, I had a coupon class to go to, and I didn't want to take too much vacation at once.  But then...I got a text from Eli. 

He hates having his picture taken so this is what he looks like in the presence of a camera.  Well, actually he looks like that a lot.  He wrote and said it would be just like old times if I went.  I can't say no to that kid.  So I'm going to the beach!  Woo hoo!  Excited!  I'm glad he texted and asked/guilted me into going.  :)

Grumble Grumble Toil and Trouble

I’m irritable today.  Nothing is really wrong; I’m just in a little bit of a bad mood.  Wanna hear my reasons?

-Something is biting me at night (no, smart alecks, it isn’t Josh).  I’ve had six bites.  They itch like Crazy!!!  I actually scratched one so long that it formed a blister and then popped.  L  The one that made a blister is on my middle finger.  I was scratching it when my boss’s boss came in the room.  I think he thought I was flipping him off.  Great (note sarcasm).

-I have a truly annoying song stuck in my head.  Over and over and over it plays on the gramophone of my mind (wasn’t that a lovely comparison?)

-I have tons of stuff that need to be done at home but I still have hours left here at work.  I need a clone of me to send to the apt. to work.

-The fluorescent light in my office is strobing.  I am either going to have a seizure or go crazy and start beating on it with my stapler.  My stapler is one of those three inch pink ones.  My light doesn’t feel threatened and just strobed some to mock my pretty stapler and me.  

-I HATE when people are supposed to be at a meeting and they are late.  It is sooooo much worse when it is a meeting they scheduled.  Obviously they chose a convenient time for themselves or they would have scheduled for a different time, so WHY are they late???  I have had this happen not once, nor twice, but FOUR times this month.  Seriously?  Show up on time to the meeting you scheduled!  Once the person just didn’t show up at all, once they missed half the meeting, once it was scheduled for my office so I couldn’t even leave and I really really had to pee.  

I think I’m going to have a TWIX bar and the world will hopefully be less annoying when I’m done.

Weekends Are Delicious

I love weekends.  I mean this isn't really news, who doesn't love weekends.  May is the new December in that May is pretty much as busy as December.  This May I have graduation, two graduation parties/get togethers, a wedding, a class, and a bachelorette party.  Shew.  This is from the girl who is the equivalent of a social ostrich (instead of a social butterfly, ya see?  The whole head in the sand thing?).  This was our "free" weekend.  Josh is off for a week, lucky dog so we actually got to spend time together!  First we did Chop House with my family to celebrate Josh's graduation.  They got him six seasons of House, MD.  We've already watched an entire season.  I keep having to backspace and retype cause I'm distracted by watching.

After dinner we went shopping.  I had a coupon to Bed, Bath & Beyond that was going to expire soon.  I love coupons. I love BB&B.  It's a great time.  I got a pizza cutter, four martini glasses, and a tart (you know the smell good kind) for $13!  Not only did I have a coupon, every single one of those things was on sale.  AND I found a gift card left over from wedding gifts so everything was actually free.  AND the gift card was for more than I thought.  Happy Day!!!  Then we went to PetSmart to see if there was anything softy to pet.  There wasn't.  Then we went to Barnes and Noble where I got the above pink leather bound Alice in Wonderland.  Josh made margaritas to fill up our new glasses lol.  That's the stack of books I wanted to read this weekend.  So far I haven't made much progress because Gregory House needs my impressive diagnostic skills.

 

See these beauties?  I got them all at the farmer's market.  Less than $5.  Woo hoo!  I'm going to grill the cabbage and onion and saute the peppers.  The oregano will go in lots of stuff.  I'm pretty darn excited!  Then Josh and I went walking and got caught in the rain, played Monopoly and Rummy, and watched more House (that poor man just can't diagnose anything without our help).  Josh beat me in Monopoly which was a great sadness cause well I love to win.  Oh well.  Next time I'll get him :)  By the way for those of you who don't know, I collect Monopolies. I have more than thirty kinds.  This was Monopoly Connect where you connect the pieces (clever name huh?) to make the board.  In a green effort, the game has environmental hazards and bonus buildings to help combat the hazards.  A little weird.  Not my favorite version, but that could be because I lost, blush.  It was pretty much an awesome weekend.  I'm glad it was restful.  

I hope your weekend was equally as good!

Graduation and Assorted Other Stuff

 

These are the beautiful tulips that Josh got me and a card, cause, well that man loves me.  The card says "Get Well Soon.  Until you do, enjoy the things you see on medication."  Pretty much perfect for the way I feel lol!  Aren't the flowers gorgeous???

 This is us at Thor.  Josh had never seen a 3D movie so we have these super amazing glasses.  We are sexy, not gonna lie :)  We wanted to celebrate his graduation just the two of us, it was mucho fun!  O'Charley's with a gift card first (doesn't food that's free taste better?) then a movie.  Plus me watching 3D movie is a constant trip since my depth perception is so bad it's only 3D from one direction which means I spend half the movie going "I don't see the difference from 2D" and half the movie ducking from flying hammers. 

 Do ya think he's proud to be graduating?  Haha

Josh walking toward the stage!  Almost done!  Woo hoo!!  He's so smart.  I actually missed a shot of him walking past so I had to run like a duck (which was a hoot to see) so that I could get this picture.

This is my bestest friend Bekah.  We've been bestest friends since 2nd grade, geez that's a really long time!  She's super smart too.  She's also super tall so all of our pictures look like this, her stooping, me leaning.  Yay for her being done!

These are the appetizers that I made for supper today.  It's a beef roast cut as thin as possible and marinated overnight in taco seasoning.  This morning I seared both sides of the slivers for just a few seconds.  Put a piece or two into a phyllo pastry cup, covered the meat slightly with picante sauce, and garnished with parsley flakes.  Yeah they were great (at least in my opinion).

End of story:  It has been a great weekend!  'Nuff said.

Strong Meds Should Come With a Muzzle

I spent the better part of my evening in the ER on Tuesday trying to get some headache relief.  After waiting three forevers in the gross chairs they finally did a CT scan which showed I don't have a brain tumor, hooray!!  Then Josh and I waited one more forever and a nurse can me a shot with some really strong medicine.  I was flying high as a kite.  There is a reason I never did drugs in high school in college.  Yeah, there is that whole illegal thing and jail time, and I am REALLY not suited for jail let me tell you, but aside from those small things I don't handle unnatural chemicals well; I get silly and ditzy.  It is soooooo much fun when other people are like that and I am in charge of taking care of them but when it's me it isn't as fun.  So here is my experience and a couple others I happen to know.

Tuesday night Josh asked how I was doing what with my excruitaing pain and all, and I replied that I felt okay but I really wanted a cheeseburger.  I talked about all the weird things the curtains seemed to be doing.  Told Josh (I hope that was the only person I actually Told) that if I were drinking, it would definitely be time to stop.  And asked Josh to get the nurse's name because I really wanted to send her flowers because she helped me.  Josh said he didn't catch her name so the poor unnamed nurse never did get the edible flower arrangement I had settled on sending her.

Josh is even funnier on drugs though.  He got his wisdom teeth out right before we got married and I went with him.  When he came out of surgery, he told me about the wonderful nurse he met who gave him his meds.  He said he loved her...repeatedly.  I kept mildly replying that that was nice and that I was sure she was indeed a wonderful woman.  Then he took me by the arm and looked deeply in my eyes and said "No, Sierra, I Really love her!  She is the most tender woman I've ever met"  Fortunately his feelings for her waned before the wedding but I think he is still harboring some deep seated love for that woman.  It was mid-January and we were in the middle of a snow apocalypse.  We were at the drug store to get his pain meds after the surgery and I told him to not get out of the car because it was slick and I didn't want him to fall.  He said he fine.  We went back and forth and I finally said "Just wait a sec, don't get out of the car, I'm coming to help."  By the time I got around to the passenger side he was out of the car.  "Josh, you're out of the car (slightly exasperated tone)."  He looks right and left and back at the car and says "Oh!  I am!"  I nearly rolled with laughter right in the parking lot.  Then we went in and I tried to get him to sit down but he headed straight for the feminine product aisle loudly declaring that he needed Vagisil.  I had to hide and call Mom to tell her it was so funny. 

I know a few other people who have professed deep and abiding love for their doctors.  I have an aunt who insisted that the doctors were all incredibly handsome, to the point she kept interrupting their instructions to tell them how good looking they were and how they made her feel just like family.  I also know people who have the drunk thoughts along the lines of my "if I were drinking, I'd quit".  People who don't drink at all insist that they drive drunker than however out of it they are, even as their driver is shaking their head no this person doesn't drink.  Of course, no doctor believes that the person isn't an actual drunkard so you hope you never meet again in social situations. 

If you're brave enough, tell me the best "I was on some serious (prescribed) drugs and I said...." story.  I love going to the hospital with loopy people, just hope it isn't me again for awhile!

I'm Supposed to Be Reading About Fungi...

but I'm not.  I cannot begin to tell you how many papers I have read about fungi in the past few weeks.  I can now tentatively identify the mold on my deck.  I stand there and look at it and think of taking samples.  My brain is fried.  My brain is odd at the best of times but it is just more random when fried, so I thought I'd tell you about all the wonderful things I saw at the bookstore on Saturday.  Basically I'm killing time. 

My head hurt the most it has ever hurt in my entire life on Saturday which (hopefully) contributed to my abnormally random thoughts.

Enter bookstore:

-Wonder if my purse will set off the alarm?  That nice man tried to disarm it last time I was here.  Walk thru beeper things, um the actual name left me...you know what I mean.  No beeping!  Score!
-If I were the craft section where would I be?  Walks into bookshelf  I think I'll pretend I meant to do that and just planned to look at these books.  Oooooh, Wicked and Son of a Witch together in hardbound.  I want it.  But do I want it for that price?  Nah.
-Crafts, crafts, crafts, where are you?  Found you!! 
-Good grief that is a woman!  So glad I didn't just say excuse me sir! 
-Sits crossed legged in floor. Hmm...I think I'm too dumb to knit.  There are lots of steps.  Yep. Can't think on this now.  Gets up and runs into another bookshelf.  CRAP!  That hurt like a beast.  I think that man is laughing at me.
-I need coffee.  Wow.  New desserts at Starbucks.  I want all of those.  I can't decide which I want, that means I shouldn't have any of them (hindsight that was Horrible logic).  That is the Coolest mug!  (A profile shot of a victorian lady in black).  It's a zombie cup.  Hmm...whoa!  You can see her skeleton.
-Look discount books!  I want you and you and you and you....(this goes on for some time).  Oh look a bread book!  Sits down in floor again.  I think I'm gonna be sick.  Too many food pictures with a headache.  But I really want to make bread and Josh would like this.  Nope.  Nope.  Gotta leave this book.
-Should I get my mother something from here for Mother's Day?  Man that's soon.  What will I get? 
-I better leave I'm not able to settle on anything today!

Soon I will return to the bookstore and get at least one of the desserts and possibly the Wicked book since this is the second time I've looked at it.  My policy is if you look at it four times and still want it you should buy it.  Two more times to go.  I have no idea why you needed to know any of this.  You didn't.  Maybe you're bored too.