MEMORIAL DAY! (yay)

I feel like I have been neglectful in my postings of late. Probably b/c these days I seem to be spending my breaks at work looking at other-type things that will be useful to me in the next 60 days. So close, and yet so far away....

Monday was fabulous. I LOVE DAYS OFF!!! Actually, the whole weekend was pretty cool. Friday I took the afternoon off and went to Wilmore. Helped my dad rearrange his office, talked to a few good people... then went back to lex and had dinner with my parents. But apparently I'm having a mental block as to where. Oh yeah! Joe Bologna's. Good food, WAY too many calories. And then I sat with Amanda and didn't do much else. But we talked. And looked at her herb garden. Coolness :-) Saturday... I don't remember that either. hmm... oh yeah! Spinning at 9am. Pretty much killed myself. Then Amanda & I went to Panera for breakfast to reward all our hard work. Then I took a long nap........................ And then babysat all night. I'll miss my kids :-( We had a good time. Sunday was craziness at church, and then the 'rents came over for dinner. MMMM!!!! Grilled bbq pork steak!! and other foodly goodnesses. They hung out for awhile. Did some massive grocery shopping... all to prepare for..... MONDAY!

Got up early, had breakfast with the parents (I did a lot with them this weekend...) at McDonald's :-) Then a bit more quick-shopping and then went home to prepare and cook... Ryan & Amanda come over around 10:30, and he started doing his awesome chef thing. And Amanda helped me do my dessert thing. JR & Bethany came over sometime around noon, which called for good times. For our little cook-out party, Ryan fixed: grilled hamburgers, grilled bratwurst, grilled corn on the cob with southwest butter, potato salad, cole slaw, homemade salsa (what am I saying?! it was ALL homemade), grilled spinach and portabella mushrooms... and I think something else, but I don't remember. It was SOOOO fabulously good. And then I made blueberry torte and homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert... We sat around and talked and ate all day long. We had a really good time :-) YAY!!

And then the boys ran off to go places, and we girls went shopping. I bought a quilt that will actually fit my bed (YAY!) but I have to see if I can find some sheets to go with it, or else I'm gonna have to take it back :( I like it, though. YAY!

Okay. Enough about my fun weekend. Gotta run... duties call....

Day... by Day... by Day... by Day...

So much to do, so little time.........

Recap of the last week:
Last Tuesday: Wisler family stayed the night at my house. Fun, good times, but tiring.
Wednesday: Church/Choir
Thursday: Praise Band Practice (sound things)
Friday: Uh, don't remember. Felt dead. Watched 2nd Pirates Movie :-)
Saturday: Slept in, took naps, stayed up till 1:30 baking and cooking and whatnot.
Sunday: Church, lunch at parents, stuff outside......
Monday: Ad Council meeting at church
Tuesday: TBD (but I voted! :) )
Wednesday: Church/Choir/Hsin & Chris come to stay the night
Thursday: Get up in order to leave for airport at 4:45. Yes, me. You'll be proud when I actually do it, huh?! Work, Praise Band Practice (if I don't bail to do something with amanda. or to take a nap...)
Friday: Work, take Bethany to the airport.
HOLIDAY WEEKEND!! WOOHOO!!!
Which will most likely be spent doing things I don't wanna do..... like cleaning and such. and getting ready....
The big question is, do I take off half a day on Friday? JUST BECAUSE I CAN!?

I know you probably don't care about my weekly itinerary. But I told you anyway. And if you read this far, you obviously cared enough to finish the post. So ha. Oh yeah, and I love you!
:-)

the Eclectic Beaver

THINGS I'VE LEARNED TODAY:

• Never run all the reports until you check to make sure the numbers work.
• How to tell if I'm having a heart attack. (Women's symptoms are different than men's... it's all about jaw pain)
• Snickers ice cream bars have 300 calories. And knowing that makes them taste that much better.
• There is always a but. Sometimes it's big. Sometimes it's felt. (I didn't really get that one)
• Edie the Lightening Bug throws well, but my aim isn't as good as it used to be.
• Warm Diet Dr. Pepper = yuck.
• Pact plans are necessary.
• Pop can + MP3 player with FM Stereo = good antenna
• Some days should have a fast forward button.

And now something interesting to leave you with:

I Wake to Sleep

So I took a little trip back home this weekend... I got to see lots of peoples :-) YAY for me! I had expected to see Hsinny and Chris, but I was ever so pleasantly surprised to see Leah & her hubby, too! And Freddy and Cassie's little guy is so adorable.... looks just like Freddy, bless his heart :) And Jay & Amber's kids are soooo cute... Good times, good talks, lots of memories. It was also great to see some of the *older folks*, like Neihofs and Cundiffs and Miss Leach and Aunt Ruby and all. I started thinking about how much each of these people have helped mold me into the person I am today... and then I started to get teary-eyed and stopped thinking :-) There would never be enough words to say how much these dear people mean to me, and how much they have been a part of making me who I am. I love each of them like family, and thank God for their presence in my life at an age where I needed that kind of support and love and even challenge.

Okay, that's enough sappyness for today.

It's such a tasty sight...

Sleepy today. I would like a nap. Or a week off from work. Or better yet, a lifetime. That's how I feel today.

Amanda & I have been very good at exercising and eating healthily and all. There have been only a few small setbacks, but overall we're both doing quite well. YAY for us! Since it's been so beautiful outside, we've been taking advantage of the Arboretum a lot. Once it starts to really get hot and summerish, I'm sure we'll start hitting the gym again, but until then, the weather has been just too wonderful to ignore :-) And besides, you see a lot more interesting people (and animals) at the Arboretum. Like, the albino great dane and the *fattest dog I've ever seen* (that's his new name).

Bethany came walking with us last night... I don't think she was quite prepared for our walkingness. By the second lap we had slowed down enough that she was okay again, and we could carry on normal conversations :-) I learned some things last night, about trees and such, but I won't go into that right now. Just be proud I learned something.

Anyway, I'm proud of myself and of Amanda for our success so far. Hopefully we can keep it up just a few more months.....