Sunday, December 03, 2006
engaged :-)
last night ross came over to my house and gave me 2 roses: one yellow and one red, because "we are 2 very different people, both roses but 2 different kinds." and then we went to Milanos, a fancy little Italian restaurant near where we live. There was live music there and some people were dancing. We had a great dinner together and then we drove into downtown San Antonio (in ross's red camaro, which always boosts the mood!) to the Tower of Americas, where he mentioned that he'd like to spend the rest of his life with me and would i marry him. so i said yes.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
yay for fall
the cool front that came through last nite for us here in san antonio was most welcomed by me. its been cool enough for me to turn off the a/c the last week or so and just have the windows open in the evening, but his morning when i got up it was downright chilly. translation: hi 50s. tonite we had volleyball game and flag football game and the weather was amazing to play in. vball team lost (no surprise there) and in my flag football game we managed to knockoff the previously undefeated 1st place team before we head into the playoffs next week.
monday nite ross and i both carved a jackolantern for the first time, it was pretty fun. on tuesday we drove up to meet his parents for dinner in austin. and i'm happy tomorrow is friday. i get to see lauren play volleyball this weekend against 2 san antonio schools and probably listen to a&m on the radio and hang out with some friends from work.
monday nite ross and i both carved a jackolantern for the first time, it was pretty fun. on tuesday we drove up to meet his parents for dinner in austin. and i'm happy tomorrow is friday. i get to see lauren play volleyball this weekend against 2 san antonio schools and probably listen to a&m on the radio and hang out with some friends from work.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
this one's for freda
well hello. it seems i've taken a hiatus from blogging. sincere apologies.
i've eclipsed my one year anniversary of working at USAA as of Sept 12th. i can remember as an elementary school and high school student and even to some extent a college student wishing that i could be older. not necessarily old, but just that my peer group would be more mature, less self absorbed. i had some sort of notion that adults stopped comparing themself to their friends and that adults didn't talk about each other behind their back and that adults knew who they wanted to be and what they wanted to do. oops.
additionally, i've decided that the greatest stifling of creativity seems to come from people who are 'experts' in any given field. i think this comes from the fact that 'experts' necessarily have spent a lot of time doing whatever it is that they do. meanwhile they have become jaded, bored, and content with the status quo. 'this is the way we've always done it.' oddly, this occurs while at the same time 'experts' are dictating that things must change, meanwhile holding onto certain 'sacred cows' that must remain the same, when in fact these are the very same things that need to change. corporations, churches, families--i think they all experience this.
i would venture to say this was the most difficult year of my life, except for perhaps my freshman year of high school. but i think 2006 wins out. also though 2006 has held some of the best memories of my life. so ya gotta take the tough times with the good i suppose. at any rate i learned alot about computers, God, people, business, myself, my faith, and a certain young man. i also learned how to park my car on a campus that holds 2x as many people as live in my parent's town and find it again, with minimal diversions.
in other news: a visit to College Station for one rainy football game and some good family times, a trip to Missouri for Labor Day to visit ross's family, an unvictorious volleyball team, a fun flag football team, an undefeated tennis league record, a new project at work, a new fall tv season, a great football season, a new condo to move in to, a night out on the riverwalk and at the san antonio symphony, an a&m game here in san antonio, trying to cook new things, a night out at the movies, 1 happy betta fish, 2 happy water frogs, and 1 happy sharon.
i've eclipsed my one year anniversary of working at USAA as of Sept 12th. i can remember as an elementary school and high school student and even to some extent a college student wishing that i could be older. not necessarily old, but just that my peer group would be more mature, less self absorbed. i had some sort of notion that adults stopped comparing themself to their friends and that adults didn't talk about each other behind their back and that adults knew who they wanted to be and what they wanted to do. oops.
additionally, i've decided that the greatest stifling of creativity seems to come from people who are 'experts' in any given field. i think this comes from the fact that 'experts' necessarily have spent a lot of time doing whatever it is that they do. meanwhile they have become jaded, bored, and content with the status quo. 'this is the way we've always done it.' oddly, this occurs while at the same time 'experts' are dictating that things must change, meanwhile holding onto certain 'sacred cows' that must remain the same, when in fact these are the very same things that need to change. corporations, churches, families--i think they all experience this.
i would venture to say this was the most difficult year of my life, except for perhaps my freshman year of high school. but i think 2006 wins out. also though 2006 has held some of the best memories of my life. so ya gotta take the tough times with the good i suppose. at any rate i learned alot about computers, God, people, business, myself, my faith, and a certain young man. i also learned how to park my car on a campus that holds 2x as many people as live in my parent's town and find it again, with minimal diversions.
in other news: a visit to College Station for one rainy football game and some good family times, a trip to Missouri for Labor Day to visit ross's family, an unvictorious volleyball team, a fun flag football team, an undefeated tennis league record, a new project at work, a new fall tv season, a great football season, a new condo to move in to, a night out on the riverwalk and at the san antonio symphony, an a&m game here in san antonio, trying to cook new things, a night out at the movies, 1 happy betta fish, 2 happy water frogs, and 1 happy sharon.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
august visitors
i'm still here in case you were wondering.
i have had privilege of 2 sets of visitors to SA this month. the first was m&r & little L. we had grand fun, and L stayed the nite with me. ross came over and we ate pizza, played video games, and....watched dora the explorer. it was fun times. the next days we all hung out together, swimming, eating out, and such...i think little L was a little perturbed at his parents leaving him with me, because though he behaved extremely well, he gave them quite a stern talking to upon their return.
my other visitor came all the way from london...my brother matt. he was making the texas round and made his way down to SA for an evening. we went to texas land & cattle, celebrated matts bday, visited usaa, ate freebirds, and then made the long drive up to graham to see the fam. we ate good food, hung out, and played tennis. fun times fun times.
so those were the hi-lites of the month so far. in my normal boring life, kickball ended and the end of sand volleyball draws close. we are occasionally victorious and always competitive in sand volleyball, but we were just miserable at kickball, never winning a game. starting in september i will be playing tennis, court volleyball, and flag football. o, and working. thats about it.
i have had privilege of 2 sets of visitors to SA this month. the first was m&r & little L. we had grand fun, and L stayed the nite with me. ross came over and we ate pizza, played video games, and....watched dora the explorer. it was fun times. the next days we all hung out together, swimming, eating out, and such...i think little L was a little perturbed at his parents leaving him with me, because though he behaved extremely well, he gave them quite a stern talking to upon their return.
my other visitor came all the way from london...my brother matt. he was making the texas round and made his way down to SA for an evening. we went to texas land & cattle, celebrated matts bday, visited usaa, ate freebirds, and then made the long drive up to graham to see the fam. we ate good food, hung out, and played tennis. fun times fun times.
so those were the hi-lites of the month so far. in my normal boring life, kickball ended and the end of sand volleyball draws close. we are occasionally victorious and always competitive in sand volleyball, but we were just miserable at kickball, never winning a game. starting in september i will be playing tennis, court volleyball, and flag football. o, and working. thats about it.
Friday, August 04, 2006
sport humor
so this week during a hard fought, back-and-forth sand volleyball game this guy on the other team dove backwards for a ball and we all heard this awful noise that sounded like something in his body had just been crushed. i quickly turned around and saw his...well his shorts were ripped wiiiide open. we were all quite glad to know he was okay and that none of his bones were cracked, but it was .....slightly awkward.
geek humor
so ross was trying to help his friend in germany download this dvd. so ross broke the dvd files up into little pieces for the guy. ross thought he would make 60MB files so there'd be about 70 files. only problem is he set them up for 60KB and then took me to the movie. when he got home, he had 69,334 files on his desktop. nice.
Monday, July 24, 2006
new pet & a crazy evening
so last night i made one of those late night runs to walmart that are so prominent in college years and still fun to make even when in the working world. i decided i needed another frog to go with my water frog and betta. so the guy got one of them out for me and i noticed where one of its eyes should be was simply a gouged out socket. i asked for a different one. you may think i should have kept it and loved it, but i already have a frog with gimp arms so i opted for a healthy frog this time. the fun part is he is super tiny. he is about 1/8 the size of my current frog. i'm not sure i'm my frog has just grown that much....after all he is super fat now, or if this new guy is just ultra tiny. at any rate, there's a new frog in the hizzouse
tonite was the one night our kickball team should have won b/c we were playing the other worst team. oneproblem: not enough people bothered to show up for the game. most disappointing.
some friends came over after the game for burgers and swimming but in the meantime while they were on their way over from picking up their gear at their house, ross and i managed to catch my kitchen stove on fire and as i tried to open patio door to get smoke detectors to stop beeping a birds nest fell on my head because thats apparently how often i go out on my porch and then a wasp flew in my door and so i ran into the bathroom and hid while ross killed the thing like the man that he is.
tonite was the one night our kickball team should have won b/c we were playing the other worst team. oneproblem: not enough people bothered to show up for the game. most disappointing.
some friends came over after the game for burgers and swimming but in the meantime while they were on their way over from picking up their gear at their house, ross and i managed to catch my kitchen stove on fire and as i tried to open patio door to get smoke detectors to stop beeping a birds nest fell on my head because thats apparently how often i go out on my porch and then a wasp flew in my door and so i ran into the bathroom and hid while ross killed the thing like the man that he is.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
summer happenings
work is going pretty ok right now...for work. keeping busy and leading a project effort, so fun times. meanwhile, usaa intramurals and other happenings are keeping me entertained.
monday nites-- chuck norris is awesome kickball games. chuck norris may be awesome, and indeed he is, but his kickball team sucks.
tuesday nites -- sand volleyball games. slightly better than chuck norris kickball in the winning games effort but only slightly so. at any rate its fun to get out in the sun and get...sandy.
wednesday nites -- golf nite. current best on 9 holes is 49. workin on it.
thursday nites -- backup golf nite should i need to run media screens at church on wednesday nites. otherwise, hang out at the pool nite.
weekends -- media screens at church, hanging out at the pool, additional fun with friends and trips to the beach, etc. last weekend i had ross and some other friends from work over to participant in the apartment pool luau and a rousing game of CSI: the board game. this game is nice if you have a bazillion hours and no idea what true fun is. otherwise its slightly boring. similar to Clue, but not quite as cool. currently looking forward to some august visitors and maybe some road trips.
additionally, we have seen pirates of the caribbean and you, me & dupree, both of which left something to be desired.
i hope your summer is going well and that the national heat wave will end soon. that is all.
monday nites-- chuck norris is awesome kickball games. chuck norris may be awesome, and indeed he is, but his kickball team sucks.
tuesday nites -- sand volleyball games. slightly better than chuck norris kickball in the winning games effort but only slightly so. at any rate its fun to get out in the sun and get...sandy.
wednesday nites -- golf nite. current best on 9 holes is 49. workin on it.
thursday nites -- backup golf nite should i need to run media screens at church on wednesday nites. otherwise, hang out at the pool nite.
weekends -- media screens at church, hanging out at the pool, additional fun with friends and trips to the beach, etc. last weekend i had ross and some other friends from work over to participant in the apartment pool luau and a rousing game of CSI: the board game. this game is nice if you have a bazillion hours and no idea what true fun is. otherwise its slightly boring. similar to Clue, but not quite as cool. currently looking forward to some august visitors and maybe some road trips.
additionally, we have seen pirates of the caribbean and you, me & dupree, both of which left something to be desired.
i hope your summer is going well and that the national heat wave will end soon. that is all.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
the football incident: childhood revealed part 2
matt and i had a lot of fun playing outside when we were young. there was the time he fell out of the tree while my mom was gone and got in trouble for crying where the neighbors could hear. we had quite a few tournament basketball games, complete with brackets and championships. also there was our favorite imaginary baseball game, in which one person pitched and the other caught, and the rest was all in our heads. i think matt mostly won....always.
at any rate, when we were much younger i had a 'heavy coat' that i really enjoyed that was blue and pink. it had a detachable hood and a hidden pocket and was overall quite cool. matt and i were in the front yard in big spring enjoying a wonderful game of imaginary football when i went long for a pass and tripped and fell on my face in the grass near the curb. naturally, i feigned injury as this player was clearly going to need to come out of the game. it was rather cold outside so i had my hood on and so i just lay flat on my face staring at the ground. matt sauntered over to check on me, but meanwhile an older man drove by and felt compelled to stop. he saw matt leaning over me and me not budging and feared i'd been seriously injured. it took us nearly 5minutes to convince him that we really were just pretending and finally he drove off.
there was also that time matt and i picked milked weeds out of the backyard for several days for $2, a deal we'd made with our dad. i'm pretty sure matt complained because he'd gone out an extra time and picked for awhile and so he ended up getting $3.50. this of course made my $2 seem rather small so i was bitter. but thats a story for another day...
at any rate, when we were much younger i had a 'heavy coat' that i really enjoyed that was blue and pink. it had a detachable hood and a hidden pocket and was overall quite cool. matt and i were in the front yard in big spring enjoying a wonderful game of imaginary football when i went long for a pass and tripped and fell on my face in the grass near the curb. naturally, i feigned injury as this player was clearly going to need to come out of the game. it was rather cold outside so i had my hood on and so i just lay flat on my face staring at the ground. matt sauntered over to check on me, but meanwhile an older man drove by and felt compelled to stop. he saw matt leaning over me and me not budging and feared i'd been seriously injured. it took us nearly 5minutes to convince him that we really were just pretending and finally he drove off.
there was also that time matt and i picked milked weeds out of the backyard for several days for $2, a deal we'd made with our dad. i'm pretty sure matt complained because he'd gone out an extra time and picked for awhile and so he ended up getting $3.50. this of course made my $2 seem rather small so i was bitter. but thats a story for another day...
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
sea world adventure
my parents and bekah, jared, and rachel came down for a san antonio visit this weekend. friday was rachel's 10th bday so we went out to eat at clear springs cafe and had birthday cake and stuff. saturday my parents and bekah went to austin for a wedding (after watching portugal defeat england) so it was up to ross and me to entertain jared and rachel. we hit up barnes & noble, baskin robbins, church, my swimming pool, and blockbuster, all just biding the time for sunday morning to hit so we could go to....sea world. for my 5th or 6th bday my family made a well remembered trip to sea world which i still remember, with the sea lion show (still playing the same show) being my favorite. second time around, it is still the favorite, of everyone that went i think. rachel was quite determined to ride 'the steel eel', a roller coaster with 3700 ft of track, with speeds of up to 65miles per hour with a g-force of 3.5, and an initial 150ft drop. i was unsure of her dedication (and my own) but she never wavered, even as we buckled in. it was on the initial ascent that she whispered to jared her first signs of fear, and i began to regret my decision the minute our descent started as she began to scream things like 'make it stop! make it stop!' and i began to fear what my parents might do to me, as you can see below. but, props to the kid on her 10th bday, she did it and had a great time. though we did sit out the great white shark roller coaster, which is inverted, and left the boys to their own on that one. 2nd favorite was feeding and petting the atlantic bottlenose dolphins at dolphin cove. we also went to see the new shamu show, and rachel thought she might like to sit close enough to be splasehd. so we marched right on down to the front row (which didnt lead to very good viewing) and laughed as the other side was playfully splashed by shamu. when it was our side's turn to be splashed, much to our surprise, 4 killer whales were sent out to heave i dunno about 500 gallons of water over our heads. lets just say we were slightly wet. thunderstorms prevented us from enjoying the water park portion, but we did see the dolphin & beluga whale show, the sea lion show, the clydesdale horses, the sharks & sting rays, penguins, etc, and we also rode the log ride. at any rate, it was a fun day. best part is, ross and i opted to get season passes...whoop!happy 10th year, rachel!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
the wood glue saga: childhood revealed part 1
there was this one time my brother matt got a little tool set with wood and nails and sand paper and such to create little crafts with. i was insanely jealous of this. and i'm not sure if he was coerced or just felt sorry for me, but at any rate he would let me build some stuff with it sometimes. but not too much stuff. and i was limited on which pieces of wood of i could use: if matt thought he might need that particular piece for a later project, i was forbidden to use it. also, i was only allowed to use small tiny pieces of sand paper (conservation people...lets not even get started on the easter candy issues), while i craved to use the entire big sheet. if only i'd had my own set, i could have done things my way. but as it is, i guess i'm pretty lucky he shared at all.
i dont remember the exact argument. i'm pretty sure it had something to do with either conserving particular pieces of wood or that darn sand paper, but one day matt infuriated me. and i apologize for not remembering the exact sequence of events but i do know they ended in me taking his wood glue and squirting it out viciously in a nice little decoration on our back patio concrete. muwahaha. if i couldnt be wasteful with the sand paper, i was going to waste as much of his kit as i could. matt was devastated, as i had planned. but he also threw a wrench in my plan by announcing (news to me) that this was not going to come off the concrete. i was just trying to show him what true wastefulness was so he could agree that i could use more parts of his tool kit, i didnt mean to permanently affix a whole bottle of wood glue to our porch.
matt assured me that i was going to be in great trouble because it would be impossible to get that up. my dad inevitably noticed my artwork and asked how it got there. i honestly can't remember if i said it was an accident and matt covered for me, or if i said it was an accident and my dad said that such a design could not have happened 'by accident', or if i confessed my belligerent act and got in trouble for it, or if this is complete news to my dad. at any rate, the wood glue, as matt foretold, was impossible to get up, though i think my dad tried several times, and probably can still be seen there on that porch on vicky street in big spring. i just wanted to make something out of wood, the way i wanted to make it, being as wasteful as i desired. instead i made a different kind of craft: concrete wood glue painting. sigh.
i dont remember the exact argument. i'm pretty sure it had something to do with either conserving particular pieces of wood or that darn sand paper, but one day matt infuriated me. and i apologize for not remembering the exact sequence of events but i do know they ended in me taking his wood glue and squirting it out viciously in a nice little decoration on our back patio concrete. muwahaha. if i couldnt be wasteful with the sand paper, i was going to waste as much of his kit as i could. matt was devastated, as i had planned. but he also threw a wrench in my plan by announcing (news to me) that this was not going to come off the concrete. i was just trying to show him what true wastefulness was so he could agree that i could use more parts of his tool kit, i didnt mean to permanently affix a whole bottle of wood glue to our porch.
matt assured me that i was going to be in great trouble because it would be impossible to get that up. my dad inevitably noticed my artwork and asked how it got there. i honestly can't remember if i said it was an accident and matt covered for me, or if i said it was an accident and my dad said that such a design could not have happened 'by accident', or if i confessed my belligerent act and got in trouble for it, or if this is complete news to my dad. at any rate, the wood glue, as matt foretold, was impossible to get up, though i think my dad tried several times, and probably can still be seen there on that porch on vicky street in big spring. i just wanted to make something out of wood, the way i wanted to make it, being as wasteful as i desired. instead i made a different kind of craft: concrete wood glue painting. sigh.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
summertime
so far the summer has been pretty busy down here in s.a. now that there are no more tv shows to watch i've invested my time elsewhere. lots of tennis playing. the last lesson was yesterday evening, but they hope to start up a doubles league next month and also i play wednesdays at lunch with a group of friends. but kickball is just beginning. first game was last nite...and we got demolished. better luck next game i hope. sand volleyball starts next week. also trying to get some golfing in as well. that is all for those sorts of activities at work. also, sometimes, i actually work while i'm at work. that is going pretty well.
also sometimes i do things not at work, aka the compound. several wkends ago i went up to graham to watch jfer graduate. it was fun times, as lots of the family came up. the following weekend i went to team awesome reunion at markum's wedding. this was fun as i got to stay with m&r&l and eat wings n more and hang with lisa. also, team awesome was....awesome. hilite of the wedding: hearing 'lost' secrets from the bride's uncle who works for abc. if your nice i might fill you in.
also during that time ross had a bday. then i had a bday. for ross's bday i cooked dinner here and we had fun times celebrating.
for my bday we went a little crazy. friday ross and i had off work and we drove down to the beach at corpus (mustang island) and went swimming. we also made a campfire and cooked dinner. it was at this point we were attacked by vicious mosquito bug things as we rapidly loaded the car and got the heck out of there. saturday nite i had friends from work over and ross made fajitas for us and then we all swam at my apt. pool and had a blast. then, to close out the marathon weekend, sunday after church, ross, todd and i went tubing on the guadalupe and then ate bday dinner at the gristmill there in gruene.
also sometimes i do things not at work, aka the compound. several wkends ago i went up to graham to watch jfer graduate. it was fun times, as lots of the family came up. the following weekend i went to team awesome reunion at markum's wedding. this was fun as i got to stay with m&r&l and eat wings n more and hang with lisa. also, team awesome was....awesome. hilite of the wedding: hearing 'lost' secrets from the bride's uncle who works for abc. if your nice i might fill you in.
also during that time ross had a bday. then i had a bday. for ross's bday i cooked dinner here and we had fun times celebrating.
for my bday we went a little crazy. friday ross and i had off work and we drove down to the beach at corpus (mustang island) and went swimming. we also made a campfire and cooked dinner. it was at this point we were attacked by vicious mosquito bug things as we rapidly loaded the car and got the heck out of there. saturday nite i had friends from work over and ross made fajitas for us and then we all swam at my apt. pool and had a blast. then, to close out the marathon weekend, sunday after church, ross, todd and i went tubing on the guadalupe and then ate bday dinner at the gristmill there in gruene.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
and so it ends
stupid mavericks. the spurs season ended last night, but not without one huge battle. i think i will have a lot more free time in the evenings now because i will not be so busy watching the spurs. san antonio is really crazy like that, everyone is so intense about their spurs. it was kind of fun to get in the spirit though. went to several games and had fun at all of them. also enjoyed going out with friends to eat wings, play pool, and cheer with the crowd at hooligans, as well as watching the game at my place with friends too. basically spurs games are great excuses for way fun hang out times. summer is really a pretty lame time for sports.
also this week signals the very end of alias. saaaad day. and also the season finale of 24, and almost every other show i watch. i'm not entirely sure what to do with my evenings anymore. i AM still taking tennis lessons on monday nights which is, obviously, fun times.
i won a computer from work...occasionally they have PC giveaways from their inventory that they have upgraded from. last week i was delighted to see that i had indeed been selected a winner! this involved going to work to pick it up at 8am on saturday morning, so it was a mixed blessing, but we already had a great game of doubles tennis slated for 10am that same morning, so it worked out quite well. additionally, summertime at work means kickball league time. watch out, here comes one fun time of playing in a kickball league!
everyone is like graduating from high school or college, or going away for their summer plans, and i'm starting to get that 3 month itch. you know, the one where after one semester you get a month or 3 months off to revamp and try something different and probably live in a new place and enjoy a new schedule. then there's where i find myself now. where its just the same. my first summer without summer break. soooo sad. and so, just like the spurs and my tv shows, my love of the summertime has ended. no breaks, no oregonian fab-o times, just work. and its hot.
also this week signals the very end of alias. saaaad day. and also the season finale of 24, and almost every other show i watch. i'm not entirely sure what to do with my evenings anymore. i AM still taking tennis lessons on monday nights which is, obviously, fun times.
i won a computer from work...occasionally they have PC giveaways from their inventory that they have upgraded from. last week i was delighted to see that i had indeed been selected a winner! this involved going to work to pick it up at 8am on saturday morning, so it was a mixed blessing, but we already had a great game of doubles tennis slated for 10am that same morning, so it worked out quite well. additionally, summertime at work means kickball league time. watch out, here comes one fun time of playing in a kickball league!
everyone is like graduating from high school or college, or going away for their summer plans, and i'm starting to get that 3 month itch. you know, the one where after one semester you get a month or 3 months off to revamp and try something different and probably live in a new place and enjoy a new schedule. then there's where i find myself now. where its just the same. my first summer without summer break. soooo sad. and so, just like the spurs and my tv shows, my love of the summertime has ended. no breaks, no oregonian fab-o times, just work. and its hot.
Friday, May 19, 2006
a spot of rain
earlier this month we had a couple big rain storms complete with hail, wind, and all that jazz. several car dealerships are trying to cut deals getting people to buy the hail damaged cars. the texaco station across the street from my apartment is painfully aware of the storm as you can see below. i dont feel particularly sorry for them because they were not customer friendly, nor did they ever seem to have any gas. what good is a gas station that runs out of gas?
Sunday, May 14, 2006
how dare they
so on thursday nite ross and i decided to celebrate the almost weekend with the wonderful invention that is the $1.50 movie theatre. i wanted him to see the pink panther so we loaded up with soda and greasy popcorn and walked down the sticky hallway to the theatre with the hard seats and ancient wooden cupholders that are too small for todays gynormous cups....but the tix were only 1.50!! at any rate it was at this point that we were accosted by....her. she was probably about 67 or so and had large glasses with my favorite: the flip up sunglass shades. and they were flipped straight up looking pretty dang fancy.
crazy woman: excuse me, do you all have children in yalls familys that would see curious george?
ross: no.
sharon: takes 2 steps backwards
crazy woman: breathes heavily . well i saw it and there's this one part where he is looking at the sun and saying i cant see i cant see and then he looks away, rubs his eyes and opens them and then yells yay i can see again i can see. but thats not true! in real life if you do that then you cant see again because your retina's been fried. now why would they teach kids to do that its just crazy.
ross: yeah thats not good.
sharon: makes mental notes of nearest exits/escape routes
crazy woman: i'm just so upset right now. i cant believe they would try to teach kids to do this. dont let anyone you know see it.
after she walked to the front of our theatre and sat on the 2nd row i debated discussing with her the damage this might cause her ears due to the large number of decibels, but instead stayed a safe distance away, including hiding in a bathroom stall when i heard her approaching after the movie. so, readers, be advised: avoid curious george like the plague. and dont you dare look at the sun and expect to ever see again.
best quote of the week, from the food network's special on 'deep fried treats':
"corndogs. the perfect marriage between haste and taste."
and from our expedition to double daves last nite for pizza and spurs game:
"the refs should call a foul on his hair...for being foul." --thesharester
"o my ugly" --dj
crazy woman: excuse me, do you all have children in yalls familys that would see curious george?
ross: no.
sharon: takes 2 steps backwards
crazy woman: breathes heavily . well i saw it and there's this one part where he is looking at the sun and saying i cant see i cant see and then he looks away, rubs his eyes and opens them and then yells yay i can see again i can see. but thats not true! in real life if you do that then you cant see again because your retina's been fried. now why would they teach kids to do that its just crazy.
ross: yeah thats not good.
sharon: makes mental notes of nearest exits/escape routes
crazy woman: i'm just so upset right now. i cant believe they would try to teach kids to do this. dont let anyone you know see it.
after she walked to the front of our theatre and sat on the 2nd row i debated discussing with her the damage this might cause her ears due to the large number of decibels, but instead stayed a safe distance away, including hiding in a bathroom stall when i heard her approaching after the movie. so, readers, be advised: avoid curious george like the plague. and dont you dare look at the sun and expect to ever see again.
best quote of the week, from the food network's special on 'deep fried treats':
"corndogs. the perfect marriage between haste and taste."
and from our expedition to double daves last nite for pizza and spurs game:
"the refs should call a foul on his hair...for being foul." --thesharester
"o my ugly" --dj
Monday, May 08, 2006
say what?
perhaps you didnt know (or have forgotten) that this blog, a day from the eighties, started out as an avenue for me to post quotes from my professors which i found humorous in their original context, or made them humorous by taking them absurdly out of context. i thought of returning to this line of posting, but it is much harder as i don't listen to professors lecture daily (those of you who know me well are probably thinking that i didn't listen to professors lecture daily in college either, but this is beside the point) and much of what is said at work is either A. not able to be repeated B. not funny to the general public without a lot of background information or C. incredibly nerdy. however i think its a worth a shot. i shall begin to retrain my mind to listen for excellent quotes that are blog worthy. so beware.
a small sampling:
slightly bald guy: ah wow if this works i will wash you guys feet with my hair
the brit: well that would take a long time
slightly bald guy: dont make me open up a can of chuck norris.
the brit: thats absurd. chuck norris cant be fit in a caaan.
hey listen, i've had a lot of time to think over the last 15yrs
ooo i wish i could help you but......... i dont want to.
a small sampling:
slightly bald guy: ah wow if this works i will wash you guys feet with my hair
the brit: well that would take a long time
slightly bald guy: dont make me open up a can of chuck norris.
the brit: thats absurd. chuck norris cant be fit in a caaan.
hey listen, i've had a lot of time to think over the last 15yrs
ooo i wish i could help you but......... i dont want to.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
the numbers
2- spurs playoff games i went to this past week.
2-playoff games the spurs have won.
8-months i've been in san antonio.
1-girl on my team at work
5-contestants left on american idol...here's hoping for katharine mcphee
24-best show on tv
7-times i've read the Bible thru
4-times i've left the country this century
4-of my upstream freshmen who are engaged
10-blogs i read
3-dvds i owned when i moved to san antonio
10-dvds i own
78-books on my shelf
17-books i've read in 2006
0-doctor visits in 2005
7-doctor visits in 2006
340-songs in my itunes
8-hours of sleep i'm gonna get tonite
1-more day of work til the weekend
9-times i tried to think of something better to post
9-times i failed to think of something better to post
better to have posted poorly than not to have posted at all. or is it?
truthfully, all i wanted to say is that i've gone to both the spurs home playoff games thus far. the first one was amazing in that they scored 73 points in the first half. insane. the second game was amazing because things weren't looking pretty and then barry hit a 3 that bounced insanely high off the rim and dropped in to send it to overtime, and then we crushed them. the only uncool part of that game was the playing poorly the whole game and that it didnt start till 9 and went into overtime and i had to be at work the next morning. i shall endeavor to consider more interesting blog topics to share with you shortly.
2-playoff games the spurs have won.
8-months i've been in san antonio.
1-girl on my team at work
5-contestants left on american idol...here's hoping for katharine mcphee
24-best show on tv
7-times i've read the Bible thru
4-times i've left the country this century
4-of my upstream freshmen who are engaged
10-blogs i read
3-dvds i owned when i moved to san antonio
10-dvds i own
78-books on my shelf
17-books i've read in 2006
0-doctor visits in 2005
7-doctor visits in 2006
340-songs in my itunes
8-hours of sleep i'm gonna get tonite
1-more day of work til the weekend
9-times i tried to think of something better to post
9-times i failed to think of something better to post
better to have posted poorly than not to have posted at all. or is it?
truthfully, all i wanted to say is that i've gone to both the spurs home playoff games thus far. the first one was amazing in that they scored 73 points in the first half. insane. the second game was amazing because things weren't looking pretty and then barry hit a 3 that bounced insanely high off the rim and dropped in to send it to overtime, and then we crushed them. the only uncool part of that game was the playing poorly the whole game and that it didnt start till 9 and went into overtime and i had to be at work the next morning. i shall endeavor to consider more interesting blog topics to share with you shortly.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
i hate daily writing
i'm not sure which is the most daunting, a blank piece of notebook paper, an empty Word document, or a blank create post page on blogger.
my sophomore year of high school i had the privilege of having mrs. woods as my honors english teacher. this was a privilege because one could see firsthand that the legends were true. you could indeed watch in a real time a perfectly good pencil disappear into her fro never to be seen again. you could also see the veins in her throat and wonder if you would be the lucky class in which they burst once for all as she emphatically encouraged us to discuss a separate peace, catcher & the rye, lord of the flies, and whatever else one reads during sophomore english class.
one of the aspects that separated mrs. wood's honors class from the regular class was the dreaded, the awful, "daily writing". this is where for the first 15minutes of class there was no talking and you were forced to write continuously, no stopping for thought or breathing, until time was up about whatever topic mrs. woods happened to pull out of her fro. generally it related to the chapter of the book that you didn't read the night before even though you were directed to do so. every fifth time or so, (or 2 days in a row to keep you on your toes) she would collect the daily writing and grade them. other times the efforts were just swallowed up into one's personal daily writing folder.
dreadful as this honors english class may or may not be sounding, it was actually one of my breaking out moments that defined my high school career. it was in this class that i fashioned my ever popular "I hate daily writing" sign that would become well known and admired throughout the rest of my tenure at mhs. it was a simple piece of notebook paper on which i'd scratched, rather carved the words, I hate daily writing, so largely that this one sentence took up the whole paper. i know the words were carved because if you turned the paper over you could see the paper pushed up where i'd applied so much pressure with the pen due to the intense emotions i had towards daily writing. each day i'd pull out the sign, gleefully really, and put it on my desk, next to my normal actual paper. if i could think of nothing to write, but still needing to appear as though i was writing something, i would trace over the letters "I hate daily writing" over and over again. when mrs. wood's came around monitoring i would slyly slide it under my essay. sometimes i would forget or mrs. woods would sneak up on me and everyone would begin to look at me wondering if this was going to be the last of my I hate daily writing sign. but she never saw it. and i became quite popular in my sophomore honors english class.
sometimes i wonder if she did see it and really didn't care. or maybe she too, secretly hated daily writing. or maybe she knew inside, and laughed secretly to herself, that i would one day engage in voluntary daily writing hoping somehow to entertain my friends in a more positive way than an I hate daily writing sign. or maybe, just maybe, she never noticed because of all those pencils in her hair weighed her head down so much that she was afraid to look down and try to read what i was writing. perhaps she'd be pleasantly surprised at all the things i've written since then.
my sophomore year of high school i had the privilege of having mrs. woods as my honors english teacher. this was a privilege because one could see firsthand that the legends were true. you could indeed watch in a real time a perfectly good pencil disappear into her fro never to be seen again. you could also see the veins in her throat and wonder if you would be the lucky class in which they burst once for all as she emphatically encouraged us to discuss a separate peace, catcher & the rye, lord of the flies, and whatever else one reads during sophomore english class.
one of the aspects that separated mrs. wood's honors class from the regular class was the dreaded, the awful, "daily writing". this is where for the first 15minutes of class there was no talking and you were forced to write continuously, no stopping for thought or breathing, until time was up about whatever topic mrs. woods happened to pull out of her fro. generally it related to the chapter of the book that you didn't read the night before even though you were directed to do so. every fifth time or so, (or 2 days in a row to keep you on your toes) she would collect the daily writing and grade them. other times the efforts were just swallowed up into one's personal daily writing folder.
dreadful as this honors english class may or may not be sounding, it was actually one of my breaking out moments that defined my high school career. it was in this class that i fashioned my ever popular "I hate daily writing" sign that would become well known and admired throughout the rest of my tenure at mhs. it was a simple piece of notebook paper on which i'd scratched, rather carved the words, I hate daily writing, so largely that this one sentence took up the whole paper. i know the words were carved because if you turned the paper over you could see the paper pushed up where i'd applied so much pressure with the pen due to the intense emotions i had towards daily writing. each day i'd pull out the sign, gleefully really, and put it on my desk, next to my normal actual paper. if i could think of nothing to write, but still needing to appear as though i was writing something, i would trace over the letters "I hate daily writing" over and over again. when mrs. wood's came around monitoring i would slyly slide it under my essay. sometimes i would forget or mrs. woods would sneak up on me and everyone would begin to look at me wondering if this was going to be the last of my I hate daily writing sign. but she never saw it. and i became quite popular in my sophomore honors english class.
sometimes i wonder if she did see it and really didn't care. or maybe she too, secretly hated daily writing. or maybe she knew inside, and laughed secretly to herself, that i would one day engage in voluntary daily writing hoping somehow to entertain my friends in a more positive way than an I hate daily writing sign. or maybe, just maybe, she never noticed because of all those pencils in her hair weighed her head down so much that she was afraid to look down and try to read what i was writing. perhaps she'd be pleasantly surprised at all the things i've written since then.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
xtreme water sport
yesterday ross and i ventured up to lake buchanan for a day of kayaking. if only we'd known what lay ahead, perhaps we'd have made other plans. at any rate, we made the 100mile trip up to a resort on lake buchanan only to find that it was kinda windy for kayaking. we went up to a place 5miles down the road to investigating renting a sea doo for the day. but it was not to be, as the available sea doo was not working. so we went back to the kayaking place and decided to brave the elements. we headed out and made our way (perceived effort level 4.5) to some cliffs that i spied in the distance. about 1.5hrs later we were delighted to discover the cliffs were quite cool and there were some waterfalls there too. we got out and walked around some for a break, then rode our kayaks gleefully under the waterfall, leaning over so as not to swamp the kayak. sorry i do not have pics of this beauty, but i didnt trust my camera in the kayak. at that point, though we wanted to keep on going, we decided we ought to head back. three excruciating hours later, we pulled wearily up to shore. at times i felt as if i was paddling so hard only to drift backwards because of the wind and the current. truly, i cant think of anything that i've done that was more difficult. when we made it back to the boathouse we discovered (to my horror) that we'd just made an 8mile round trip, in some pretty adverse weather conditions. i dont even like to think of walking 8miles really, and when biking, 8miles doesnt seem so long, but kayaking is pretty much like going 8miles using only your arms. i love kayaking so much, right up next to white water rafting, but i think thats the last time for me on lake buchanan. next time i think i'll hit up a river instead. more excitement for the pain, plus you can usually catch a bus back up the river. all in all, a great time, but i was pretty much awfully sick all day today, a little sunburned, a lot fatigued, and extremely dehydrated. but hey, i made it. and it felt good.
2 weekends ago i refilled my fish tank with life once again. i bought a very pretty betta (which are only aggressive towards other bettas, supposedly, fyi), 3 tetras, a pink kissing fish, and a crab. i ditched walmart and bought these from a bonafide pet store. early this week i arrived home to discover one of my tetras missing. i was trying to figure out if the crab or the betta was to blame, when to my horror i watched the kissing fish attack and eat the other two tetras like corn on the cob in a matter of 15minutes. i was quite annoyed at this agressiveness. so, i made a trip to walmart, and bought thaddeaus jr (named after my late frog). and so the battle begins. who will win? the frog or the kissing fish? currently there is rivalry between the betta and kissing fish for the coveted spot near the filter. they face off and glare at each other and then chase each other most of the day. the frog also chases them around, and the crab just kinda chills and climbs anywhere and everywhere. i've started feeding them 3x as often as i had been previously, hoping this could alleviate further aggressiveness. but really i think of it more as brinkmanship, like the u.s. and russia during the cold war. always near death, but no one willing to take the first bite. hopefully.
2 weekends ago i refilled my fish tank with life once again. i bought a very pretty betta (which are only aggressive towards other bettas, supposedly, fyi), 3 tetras, a pink kissing fish, and a crab. i ditched walmart and bought these from a bonafide pet store. early this week i arrived home to discover one of my tetras missing. i was trying to figure out if the crab or the betta was to blame, when to my horror i watched the kissing fish attack and eat the other two tetras like corn on the cob in a matter of 15minutes. i was quite annoyed at this agressiveness. so, i made a trip to walmart, and bought thaddeaus jr (named after my late frog). and so the battle begins. who will win? the frog or the kissing fish? currently there is rivalry between the betta and kissing fish for the coveted spot near the filter. they face off and glare at each other and then chase each other most of the day. the frog also chases them around, and the crab just kinda chills and climbs anywhere and everywhere. i've started feeding them 3x as often as i had been previously, hoping this could alleviate further aggressiveness. but really i think of it more as brinkmanship, like the u.s. and russia during the cold war. always near death, but no one willing to take the first bite. hopefully.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
camping in the hill country
last saturday i took the day to go with some pals from work to go camping at a place near leaky/kerrville/etc called lost maples. we spent the day hiking a lot, and cooked over a stove (no campfire, sad day) and basically just had a good relaxing time.
this is the mountain we hiked up, and if you look closely, you can see our tents waaaay down there.
here's everybody, hiking to our campsite.
here's ross looking all hiking geared up. we stayed at the primitive camp site, which means we had to park and then hike to our site, carrying everything we would need.
here's veronica sporting one of 2 uber cool green light sticks that i brought along. they last for 12hrs and we used them to light our card game, and they were overall quite useful, and merely needed to be hidden in a bag when it was time to sleep.
also you can see a leaf with a spider web on it, and the dew made water droplets, kinda cool.
pretty much had a great time, barring the scene where i went to the giant port-a-potty late at night and there was a mouse chillin in there. not too cool. but overall, fun times, fun times.
Monday, April 03, 2006
the ipod flea
haha this is funny. i post it here for your entertainment.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5783370061401851458&pl=true
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5783370061401851458&pl=true
Monday, March 27, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
just shoot me now
ok so some lady apparently felt pity on me for not having anything to post about. and whether out of spite that has grown from a lack of updating this blog or out of sheer stupidity, this lady --my hairstylist--check that, former hairstylist, and i do use the term lightly--murdered my hair today. while i do recall multiple occasions when a haircut caused me to burst into tears as a child, it had been a long time. i do confess to shedding a tear or two today when i got home. i like to chalk it up to a tough week and venture back into the bathroom to convince myself it really wasnt all that bad. and no, it wasnt really so bad...it was worse than i'd thought. after about 4yrs of going to the same hairstylist person in midland i'd gotten to a place where i only semi-dreaded getting a haircut. it is situations such as today that i think my haircutophobia is not unfounded.
haircut lady person: yes let me just ignore what you asked for and cut your hair however the heck i feel like and while i'm doing that let me just butcher it beyond repair and pretend like i did go to school for this.
me: yeah i'm pretty sure a 2yr old with plastic scissors could have done a better job. let me just pay you for this wonderful service you have provided me...
while i'm relating stories, here's another one from today, a phone conversation:
me: um yeah, about that, i'm going to need to find out some results, can someone please call me back?
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok what is your last name
me: josefy. j-o-s-e-(slows down)-F-y
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok josephine. but what is your LAAAST name
me: that IS my last name. josefy. j-o-s-e-f-y. but my first name is sharon. s-h-a-r-o-n.
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok so its sharon j-o-s-e-p....what?
me: my name is sharon josefy. j-o-s-eeee-fffffffff-yyyyyyyyyyyyy
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok and your date of birth?
it is no small wonder to me that i have not received a call back.
haircut lady person: yes let me just ignore what you asked for and cut your hair however the heck i feel like and while i'm doing that let me just butcher it beyond repair and pretend like i did go to school for this.
me: yeah i'm pretty sure a 2yr old with plastic scissors could have done a better job. let me just pay you for this wonderful service you have provided me...
while i'm relating stories, here's another one from today, a phone conversation:
me: um yeah, about that, i'm going to need to find out some results, can someone please call me back?
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok what is your last name
me: josefy. j-o-s-e-(slows down)-F-y
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok josephine. but what is your LAAAST name
me: that IS my last name. josefy. j-o-s-e-f-y. but my first name is sharon. s-h-a-r-o-n.
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok so its sharon j-o-s-e-p....what?
me: my name is sharon josefy. j-o-s-eeee-fffffffff-yyyyyyyyyyyyy
idiot, i mean, person on phone: ok and your date of birth?
it is no small wonder to me that i have not received a call back.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
a very un-post
sunflower seeds are awesome when driving
hope is a terrible thing to lose
all telemarketing calls should be banned due to the hi availability of the internet
remember when everyone had dialup modems? hahaha
old friends are like the coolest
newfound discovery in san antonio: clear springs cafe, ahhh yeah
i hope duke wins, naturally, because reddick is pretty fiiine
some people should not be allowed to drive
please tell me tony hasnt truly joined in vaughn's fate
other? or innocent balloon rider....i'm thinking other
surely you heard the brits defeated india in cricket last nite?
to have friends, be a friend
loooove it: the Northwest
everyone should be required to visit a 3rd world country sometime
so high...current fave song
stinkin awful post is finally concluded, better luck next time
hope is a terrible thing to lose
all telemarketing calls should be banned due to the hi availability of the internet
remember when everyone had dialup modems? hahaha
old friends are like the coolest
newfound discovery in san antonio: clear springs cafe, ahhh yeah
i hope duke wins, naturally, because reddick is pretty fiiine
some people should not be allowed to drive
please tell me tony hasnt truly joined in vaughn's fate
other? or innocent balloon rider....i'm thinking other
surely you heard the brits defeated india in cricket last nite?
to have friends, be a friend
loooove it: the Northwest
everyone should be required to visit a 3rd world country sometime
so high...current fave song
stinkin awful post is finally concluded, better luck next time
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
what a week
last thursday was: exciting. i travelled to oregon and hung out with my pals.
last friday was: fun. i helped set up for fuel youth retreat up in the mountains. there was snow.
last saturday was: amazing. kids accepted Christ. it doesn't get better than this.
last sunday was: awesome. fuel wrapped up. jenn and i laughed. i hung out with some cool peeps.
monday was: long. i flew home from oregon. my flights kept being delayed. ug.
tuesday was: weird like whoa. i found out i've gotten transferred to a new team at work. i'm no longer have to be on call!!!!! now instead of all the craziness i did before, i will be coding in java. huh? yeah, i dunno. not a big deal. but i'm pretty stoked nonetheless.
today was: blah. i wrapped up everything on my old team at work. kinda sad.
tomorrow is: a new day. on my new team. and i'm playing bunco tomorrow nite with ladies from church. haha. fun times.
so yeah seriously, this weekend was incredible. and, as Will pointed out, how awesome that i could fly to portland for the weekend. much love friendsies, much love. and say hey to joe for me. i'm excited about the new things going on at work. i'll keep ya posted.
last friday was: fun. i helped set up for fuel youth retreat up in the mountains. there was snow.
last saturday was: amazing. kids accepted Christ. it doesn't get better than this.
last sunday was: awesome. fuel wrapped up. jenn and i laughed. i hung out with some cool peeps.
monday was: long. i flew home from oregon. my flights kept being delayed. ug.
tuesday was: weird like whoa. i found out i've gotten transferred to a new team at work. i'm no longer have to be on call!!!!! now instead of all the craziness i did before, i will be coding in java. huh? yeah, i dunno. not a big deal. but i'm pretty stoked nonetheless.
today was: blah. i wrapped up everything on my old team at work. kinda sad.
tomorrow is: a new day. on my new team. and i'm playing bunco tomorrow nite with ladies from church. haha. fun times.
so yeah seriously, this weekend was incredible. and, as Will pointed out, how awesome that i could fly to portland for the weekend. much love friendsies, much love. and say hey to joe for me. i'm excited about the new things going on at work. i'll keep ya posted.
the truth
i've got so many questions,
but for now i'll stick with pilate's
the timeless question
what is truth
the pain in my heart
and the sadness in my bones
are not easily satisfied
and i'm tormented
and i'm seeking to know
what is truth
"call to me and i will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
--jeremiah 33.3
"I am coming to you now, but i say these things while i am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. i have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than i am of the world. my prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. they are not of the world, even as i am not of it. sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. as you sent me into the world, i have sent them into the world." --john 17.13-18
but for now i'll stick with pilate's
the timeless question
what is truth
the pain in my heart
and the sadness in my bones
are not easily satisfied
and i'm tormented
and i'm seeking to know
what is truth
"call to me and i will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
--jeremiah 33.3
"I am coming to you now, but i say these things while i am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. i have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than i am of the world. my prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. they are not of the world, even as i am not of it. sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. as you sent me into the world, i have sent them into the world." --john 17.13-18
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
me, my fam, the alamo, and tim duncan
well my mom and j-rod and rachel came down for a lil visit on their winter break. we had a blast this weekend: we got pedicures (well, not jared), ate chick-fil-a, watched olympics, played scrabble, cooked yummy food, went to the movies, went to my new church, worked out, played pool, took a cruise on the riverwalk, watched part of the mardi gras parade, toured the alamo and followed the mission trail to other missions, checked out usaa, got a treat from shakes, and topped everything off with the spurs vs. knicks game. the apt. seems very quiet now.
Monday, February 20, 2006
thoughts from the weekend
you know you're asking for trouble when you're in college station and dont go to wings 'n more. here's a hint: dont pick outback.
how many tom cruise movies can you name?
you know you're an alumni when you actually buy something other than a scantron at the MSC bookstore rather than CC Creations
it sure is good to hang out with old college friends
it sure is good to hang out with the fam.
the pink panther remake with steve martin is very very humorous. would you like to buy a hamburger?
you know you're at a good church when the pastor uses your oft used phrase big ol honkin in his sermon without cracking a smile.
how many tom cruise movies can you name?
you know you're an alumni when you actually buy something other than a scantron at the MSC bookstore rather than CC Creations
it sure is good to hang out with old college friends
it sure is good to hang out with the fam.
the pink panther remake with steve martin is very very humorous. would you like to buy a hamburger?
you know you're at a good church when the pastor uses your oft used phrase big ol honkin in his sermon without cracking a smile.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
happy valentines day
if you are searching for a spark to make your valentines day happy, i've provided a few tips:
1. watch bob costas in HD. this is not for the faint of heart. but its funny. and the skiing and snowboarding look pretty tight.
2. reference my blog posting from last valentines day and recall elementary valentines day past. o the happiness.
3. plan a vacation
4. relax on the couch
5. eat chocolate
6. go to h-e-b and buy lots of little kids valentines and give them to your friends at work. share the love.
for valentines day 2006, i worked 9hrs rather than the 13 i posted yesterday. i came home and did #4. and by relax i do mean passed out for 2hrs. then i proceeded to contine to do #4 with a little #1 mixed in.
before i close, can i just say that curling is the funniest thing ever. it reminds me of mr. estes calculus class 2002 because we all talked about it so much, but i still get a kick out of it. more than that, i get a kick out of the poor guys that are the commentators for curling. umm yeah its going its going, they're sweeping, they're sweeping....ooo its in the circle yay.
i think thats all i've got for you dear blog reader. here's hoping your valentines day was quite splendid.
1. watch bob costas in HD. this is not for the faint of heart. but its funny. and the skiing and snowboarding look pretty tight.
2. reference my blog posting from last valentines day and recall elementary valentines day past. o the happiness.
3. plan a vacation
4. relax on the couch
5. eat chocolate
6. go to h-e-b and buy lots of little kids valentines and give them to your friends at work. share the love.
for valentines day 2006, i worked 9hrs rather than the 13 i posted yesterday. i came home and did #4. and by relax i do mean passed out for 2hrs. then i proceeded to contine to do #4 with a little #1 mixed in.
before i close, can i just say that curling is the funniest thing ever. it reminds me of mr. estes calculus class 2002 because we all talked about it so much, but i still get a kick out of it. more than that, i get a kick out of the poor guys that are the commentators for curling. umm yeah its going its going, they're sweeping, they're sweeping....ooo its in the circle yay.
i think thats all i've got for you dear blog reader. here's hoping your valentines day was quite splendid.
why customer service has gone the way of hymns in a church service
it has become increasingly clear to me as i deal with issues that one must deal with in 'the real world' that customer service is becoming rather non-existent in our culture.
case A:
last weekend when i traded in my 'normal' dvr for one that is 'HD ready'. first note that they did NOT deliver it, nor OFFER it to me, though it is standard service. once i uncovered this dirty little trick, that i was indeed paying for something that i was not currently enjoying, i drove over to pick up a new cable box. never mind that i had to wait in line for a long time, then drove home to realize they had not given me the correct box at all, but rather the same box i'd just 'traded in.' i called the customer service. let me clarify that i tried to call customer service from the very phone they bill me for and it could only get a busy signal. i got through on my cell phone and waited on hold for 45 min before being told...yeah we gave you the wrong box. with no apology. so again i DROVE back over and waited in line for 1 HOUR, and got the new box. i was alarmed that they were not in the least bit surprised they'd given me the wrong box. again, no apology. when i complained they offered me 10 dollars. i explained to them that they'd wasted over 3hrs of my time, and that i was accustomed to making more than $3.33 an hour. 'thats the best we can do.' yes....but are you SORRY?!
case B:
tonite i broke my rule of eating out for dinner during the week by ordering a pizza. it was valentines day after all, cut some slack. i went online to order, which they encourage you to do. then i proceeded to wait 30 min. then i got a call that my order had been placed at the wrong store. never mind that the internet chooses the store. also disregard that i've ordered from the same store in the past. not only does he not apologize that it will take 30 more minutes because the 'internet sometimes thinks one store is actually closer', it is going to cost more at this store. i cancelled that puppy. (that was for you, team awesome)
these are 2 minor cases of poor customer service that i've experienced this week and not really a big deal. but i am convinced this is an epidemic in our society. they teach that business is all about the consumer so the customer is always right. this is no longer practiced. i think it has to do with our self-service driven economy because of enabling technology and high cost of labor. i also think it has to do with, again, technology that makes it possible to say...dont like us? fine, go somewhere else. see if we care.
case A:
last weekend when i traded in my 'normal' dvr for one that is 'HD ready'. first note that they did NOT deliver it, nor OFFER it to me, though it is standard service. once i uncovered this dirty little trick, that i was indeed paying for something that i was not currently enjoying, i drove over to pick up a new cable box. never mind that i had to wait in line for a long time, then drove home to realize they had not given me the correct box at all, but rather the same box i'd just 'traded in.' i called the customer service. let me clarify that i tried to call customer service from the very phone they bill me for and it could only get a busy signal. i got through on my cell phone and waited on hold for 45 min before being told...yeah we gave you the wrong box. with no apology. so again i DROVE back over and waited in line for 1 HOUR, and got the new box. i was alarmed that they were not in the least bit surprised they'd given me the wrong box. again, no apology. when i complained they offered me 10 dollars. i explained to them that they'd wasted over 3hrs of my time, and that i was accustomed to making more than $3.33 an hour. 'thats the best we can do.' yes....but are you SORRY?!
case B:
tonite i broke my rule of eating out for dinner during the week by ordering a pizza. it was valentines day after all, cut some slack. i went online to order, which they encourage you to do. then i proceeded to wait 30 min. then i got a call that my order had been placed at the wrong store. never mind that the internet chooses the store. also disregard that i've ordered from the same store in the past. not only does he not apologize that it will take 30 more minutes because the 'internet sometimes thinks one store is actually closer', it is going to cost more at this store. i cancelled that puppy. (that was for you, team awesome)
these are 2 minor cases of poor customer service that i've experienced this week and not really a big deal. but i am convinced this is an epidemic in our society. they teach that business is all about the consumer so the customer is always right. this is no longer practiced. i think it has to do with our self-service driven economy because of enabling technology and high cost of labor. i also think it has to do with, again, technology that makes it possible to say...dont like us? fine, go somewhere else. see if we care.
Friday, February 10, 2006
ah, soy excellent
a taste i'd been craving on some level since my childhood was finally satiated (is that a word? i think it is. i think it sounds good, so i'm gonna leave it there) yesterday evening. on one level i dont miss peanut butter at all because the mere thought of it brings up repulsive feelings. however, on some other level everyone needs that satisfaction that comes from eating a pbj every once in awhile. i had done some research for peanut butter alternatives...i.e. peanut butter without the peanuts. contrary to what it sounds like, this is not like going to sonic and ordering a cheeseburger, hold the cheese, as i can recall gleefully doing on occasions with childhood friends. for some reason it was funny. anyway, turns out they do, in fact, make peanut butter without the peanuts. after 2 strikes at my h-e-b, i stumbled across it at super target: soynut butter. yes, friends, thats right, soynut butter. it looks like peanut butter, but it is peanut free. it tastes like peanut butter...well, i wouldnt go thaaat far, but it wasnt bad at all. it did the trick, just a little pasty i guess. now, i chose the creamy kind, though i do remember enjoying crunchy peanut butter. but i couldnt help but ask myself, what are the chunks in chunky soynut butter? soynuts? what do soynuts taste like? dunno. but this is the 2nd time this month that soy has done me a favor...earlier this month i investigated soy milk, and am now able to enjoy drinking a glass of milk. so, if you can eat peanut butter, i say definitely stay away from soynut butter, but if its your only option, i'm saying its not bad. not bad at all.
thoughts from thesharester
- living outside of one's passion is frustrating.
- all the feelings in the world should not replace convictions. or dreams.
- pepsi's new slogan 'brown and bubbly' is perhaps the worst slogan in marketing history.
- love is....patient.
- showers of blessing can sometimes be mistaken for torrents of despair.
- soy milk is actually not so bad.
this twisted path
keeps turning the wrong way.
this sick rollercoaster
has too many valleys
and not enough peaks.
i'm holding on
but i'm not sure where i am.
in this choose your own adventure,
i picked the wrong option.
my only hope
is that it wasnt me
that chose this way.
and that somehow
someway
you have a plan here too.
"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He
chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall
inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and
He will show them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the
Lord..." --psalms 25.12-15
Monday, February 06, 2006
i'm glad my life isn't on 24 because...
1. if chloe spoke like that to me, i think i'd cry
2. cant we all just love each other and be friends?
3. stress eats away at one's lifespan
4. i value sleep entirely too much
5. the pressure of knowing something awful would happen every hour a couple minutes before the hour, that would get to me.
also, honestly, 24 is a really great show, but can we say....predictable?
2. cant we all just love each other and be friends?
3. stress eats away at one's lifespan
4. i value sleep entirely too much
5. the pressure of knowing something awful would happen every hour a couple minutes before the hour, that would get to me.
also, honestly, 24 is a really great show, but can we say....predictable?
Saturday, February 04, 2006
mold, jalapenos, and resolutions
tonite i was making a fajita for dinner. let me qualify that by explaining i was warming up pre-cooked h-e-b fajita chicken and plopping it on a tortilla with cheese. it was at this point that i was mortified to notice a seemingly dark spot on my newly purchased cheese. was this mold i spotted?
now, i will be honest and humbly admit that i am no stranger to mold on things in my refrigerator. i think this gene comes from somewhere in my family or perhaps just the fact that i live alone and think putting leftovers in the fridge seems rational but never feel like eating them. my most interesting personal experience with this involved a fruit salad that was extremely fun to make and tasted awesome the first 3 or so times i had it. then it became the neglected salad. when i finally investigated it later, it seemed to be alive. or, as ross stated, something that God looked down at and said, what is that living creature? i certainly didn't create that.
anyway, as i was saying, i had just bought this h-e-b finely shredded mexican cheese so i was quite disturbed it would have black spots on it. i picked up the package and learned that this mexican cheese included jalapenos. despite the fact that i cant stand jalapenos, i figured this would be ok for my fajita, i simply poured a lot of salsa on the thing so i couldnt taste the cheese. however, sadly, my main purpose for the cheese was for a dish i was going to make tomorrow that would not appreciate the added cheese flavor. so frustrating. not to mention the stuff tastes nasty. thus, i lament the fact that i did not pay more attention to the cheese i was purchasing. also, it leads me to share some things i've resolved to do this year:
1. maintain the refrigerator so that it has current food/beverage and ONLY current food/beverage.
2. drink far fewer cokes.
3. get a car wash more than once every 6months
4. play my guitar more....as a friend recently reminded me: a girl needs her guitar.
5. write down the stuff that i'm learning
6. visit somewhere i've never been before
7. stay more in tune with world events
8. sing freely while driving in the car, not caring that other drivers might laugh
9. go to the dentist of my own freewill, not my parents predetermination
10. write blog postings more frequently
now, i will be honest and humbly admit that i am no stranger to mold on things in my refrigerator. i think this gene comes from somewhere in my family or perhaps just the fact that i live alone and think putting leftovers in the fridge seems rational but never feel like eating them. my most interesting personal experience with this involved a fruit salad that was extremely fun to make and tasted awesome the first 3 or so times i had it. then it became the neglected salad. when i finally investigated it later, it seemed to be alive. or, as ross stated, something that God looked down at and said, what is that living creature? i certainly didn't create that.
anyway, as i was saying, i had just bought this h-e-b finely shredded mexican cheese so i was quite disturbed it would have black spots on it. i picked up the package and learned that this mexican cheese included jalapenos. despite the fact that i cant stand jalapenos, i figured this would be ok for my fajita, i simply poured a lot of salsa on the thing so i couldnt taste the cheese. however, sadly, my main purpose for the cheese was for a dish i was going to make tomorrow that would not appreciate the added cheese flavor. so frustrating. not to mention the stuff tastes nasty. thus, i lament the fact that i did not pay more attention to the cheese i was purchasing. also, it leads me to share some things i've resolved to do this year:
1. maintain the refrigerator so that it has current food/beverage and ONLY current food/beverage.
2. drink far fewer cokes.
3. get a car wash more than once every 6months
4. play my guitar more....as a friend recently reminded me: a girl needs her guitar.
5. write down the stuff that i'm learning
6. visit somewhere i've never been before
7. stay more in tune with world events
8. sing freely while driving in the car, not caring that other drivers might laugh
9. go to the dentist of my own freewill, not my parents predetermination
10. write blog postings more frequently
Monday, January 30, 2006
a concert, a frog, a visit, and a phonecall
so last week i went to my first rock concert. it was to be aerosmith & lenny kravitz, but lenny was sick. i wonder how sick one has to be to alienate all of san antonio by failing to appear. i was slightly annoyed at grown adults acting so crazy, but the music was decent. at one point a guitarist took of his shirt and began slinging it down on his guitar repeatedly, making 'music'. it was at this point that i thought to myself, yes, now i have heard music at its finest.
the other night i was doing a bit of cleaning, putting things away in my closet. my eye caught on a piece of fuzz near my shoes. what a strange shape for fuzz i thought. then i thought, wow, i hope thats not a big ol spider. i bent down for a closer look, but only briefly, because in about 1/2 of a second i realized that fuzz was frog shaped. and thus, the mystery was solved...thaddeaus was found....about as far away from his little home as he could have gotten while remaining inside my apartment. he never did smell, which i found to be strange, but he was most certainly dead and crusty. i was most grossed out. i expressed this by repeatedly saying ewwwwwww and shuddering. but i am glad to know there is no longer a killer frog on the loose in my apartment. so, lolly, you are free to come visit now!!
my nana paid me a visit this weekend and we had a grand time enjoying board games, shopping, laundry, eating out, and the botanical gardens in san antonio.
this morning i received a call from work because i was....oncall. i went off oncall at 7am. the call came about 6.30am, unfortunately for me. it was from someone on the east coast, having difficulties. my vpn was not working so i grudgingly realized i was going to have to go into work asap. i wondered if the lady's coworkers were having the same problem she was? she condescendingly explained to me that it was really early and of course no one else was at work yet. ah, really? if its that early on the east coast, why then are you bugging me in the central time zone? the solution to this problem is: go home. lay down on the bed for awhile. then come back to work at a decent hour. if the problem is still occurring, call whoever is oncall now. thanks and have a great day.
the other night i was doing a bit of cleaning, putting things away in my closet. my eye caught on a piece of fuzz near my shoes. what a strange shape for fuzz i thought. then i thought, wow, i hope thats not a big ol spider. i bent down for a closer look, but only briefly, because in about 1/2 of a second i realized that fuzz was frog shaped. and thus, the mystery was solved...thaddeaus was found....about as far away from his little home as he could have gotten while remaining inside my apartment. he never did smell, which i found to be strange, but he was most certainly dead and crusty. i was most grossed out. i expressed this by repeatedly saying ewwwwwww and shuddering. but i am glad to know there is no longer a killer frog on the loose in my apartment. so, lolly, you are free to come visit now!!
my nana paid me a visit this weekend and we had a grand time enjoying board games, shopping, laundry, eating out, and the botanical gardens in san antonio.
this morning i received a call from work because i was....oncall. i went off oncall at 7am. the call came about 6.30am, unfortunately for me. it was from someone on the east coast, having difficulties. my vpn was not working so i grudgingly realized i was going to have to go into work asap. i wondered if the lady's coworkers were having the same problem she was? she condescendingly explained to me that it was really early and of course no one else was at work yet. ah, really? if its that early on the east coast, why then are you bugging me in the central time zone? the solution to this problem is: go home. lay down on the bed for awhile. then come back to work at a decent hour. if the problem is still occurring, call whoever is oncall now. thanks and have a great day.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
agenda for the evening
there are a few things i need to consider accomplishing this evening:
1. go to the grocery store. i actually alread accomplished this a few minutes ago. but i do belong to that personality type that i still write it down, just so i can cross it off. besides, i thought it was worth documenting my first trip to the grocery store of 2006.
2. wash the dishes. my starving stomach was not the reason i finally ventured to the store, but rather my need for diswasher soap. of course i totally forgot to buy this at the store. i suppose i'll have to wash the dishes with my hands. what?!?! who does that????
3. do some studying and work on the computer, and get some stuff ready to mail
4. finish a book. i have 3 of them going. make that 4. i'm trying to make up for all the lost time in college when you cant read books just for the heck of it because you are so busy reading other stuff.
5. visit the workout room downstairs, just to say hey
6. laundry and other assorted household chores
7. put away the christmas tree. stop judging. on second thought, maybe i'll leave it up until next christmas. actually i probably would except my nana coming to visit this weekend shall provide the motivation to take it down sometime before friday. maybe.
8. post something on my poor neglected blah blog............check!
1. go to the grocery store. i actually alread accomplished this a few minutes ago. but i do belong to that personality type that i still write it down, just so i can cross it off. besides, i thought it was worth documenting my first trip to the grocery store of 2006.
2. wash the dishes. my starving stomach was not the reason i finally ventured to the store, but rather my need for diswasher soap. of course i totally forgot to buy this at the store. i suppose i'll have to wash the dishes with my hands. what?!?! who does that????
3. do some studying and work on the computer, and get some stuff ready to mail
4. finish a book. i have 3 of them going. make that 4. i'm trying to make up for all the lost time in college when you cant read books just for the heck of it because you are so busy reading other stuff.
5. visit the workout room downstairs, just to say hey
6. laundry and other assorted household chores
7. put away the christmas tree. stop judging. on second thought, maybe i'll leave it up until next christmas. actually i probably would except my nana coming to visit this weekend shall provide the motivation to take it down sometime before friday. maybe.
8. post something on my poor neglected blah blog............check!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
You raise me up
When I am down, and oh my soul, so weary.
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be.
Then I am still and wait here in the silence.
Until You come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains.
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas.
I am strong when I am on your shoulders.
You raise me up to more than I can be.
--Brendon Joseph Graham, Rolf U. Loevland
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be.
Then I am still and wait here in the silence.
Until You come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains.
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas.
I am strong when I am on your shoulders.
You raise me up to more than I can be.
--Brendon Joseph Graham, Rolf U. Loevland
Monday, January 16, 2006
boring, oregon and the fate of thaddeaus
well i've returned and survived one post-vacation day at work. i find it humorous there is in fact a town called boring, oregon. you may find it humorous that i chose to vacation there. each is entitled to their own opinion i suppose. at any rate, my vacation was quite nice and most relaxful. ross and i did manage to take in some sites, including the waterfalls along the historic columbia river highway, traipsing around in the snow on mt. hood, and checking out the oregon museum of science and industry...and taking a naval submarine tour, though we were quite disappointed to discover this meant a tour of the sub, not a tour in the sub. at any rate we had a blast. it was also awesome to see my boring, oregon friends and the gresham and troutdale ones too. we played scrabble, skip bo, and went to see glory road at the movies (most excellent). hung out at youth group and with friends. all in all, a most excellent and most needed vacation. props to my oregonian friends, miss all you guys.
o yeah. i neglected to mention the fate of thaddeaus. when i left to go to north texas for new years i bought an automatic fish feeder to feed the frog. when i came back the frog seemed fine. the next morning i got up and went to look at thaddeaus. and he was gone. i know what you're thinking, how could a frog get out? half the lid of the aquarium was off so the automatic fish feeder could be attached. still, you are probably still thinking, how could a frog get out? its a question i still have of my own. at any rate he was gone. evelyn was visiting and i think we both found it quite unnerving to know there was a frog somewhere in the apartment other than the aquarium. still, almost 2 weeks later, no sign of thaddeaus.....
o yeah. i neglected to mention the fate of thaddeaus. when i left to go to north texas for new years i bought an automatic fish feeder to feed the frog. when i came back the frog seemed fine. the next morning i got up and went to look at thaddeaus. and he was gone. i know what you're thinking, how could a frog get out? half the lid of the aquarium was off so the automatic fish feeder could be attached. still, you are probably still thinking, how could a frog get out? its a question i still have of my own. at any rate he was gone. evelyn was visiting and i think we both found it quite unnerving to know there was a frog somewhere in the apartment other than the aquarium. still, almost 2 weeks later, no sign of thaddeaus.....
Friday, January 06, 2006
blogging in the new year
well i was able to go to my parents house for the christmas weekend and have a grand time, along with m&b who were in from london. our family chose to show the christmas spirit by driving 9 people to weatherford to watch the chronicles of narnia in a 7 passenger suburban.
my dad shared 2 quotes with us to treasure
1. if i were to begin commenting on people's clothing, we'd be here for a long time.
2. you havent lived a complete life unless you've vomited up a brussel sprout.
after a nice visit with the H-crew, my first overnite guests, i made a return trip to north texas for the new years, this time i had company as ross came along. m&b had rented out a lake house and invited the families out on friday, then on saturday we were able to just hang out and play enough board games to last for the entire year of 2006.
this week eveyln has been in town, whoop! we had a blast hanging out (when i wasnt working) and playing games. sequence has become the new game of choice (thanks nana).
in a few hours ross and i are going to catch a plane to one of my most favoritest places ever...gresham, oregon to hang out with some of my most favoritest people in the world. its my first extended break from work, and i'm quite stoked about it. hope you guys all have a great week...i'm off to enjoy some actual winter weather. this 88 degrees on new years day just does not cut it for me.
my dad shared 2 quotes with us to treasure
1. if i were to begin commenting on people's clothing, we'd be here for a long time.
2. you havent lived a complete life unless you've vomited up a brussel sprout.
after a nice visit with the H-crew, my first overnite guests, i made a return trip to north texas for the new years, this time i had company as ross came along. m&b had rented out a lake house and invited the families out on friday, then on saturday we were able to just hang out and play enough board games to last for the entire year of 2006.
this week eveyln has been in town, whoop! we had a blast hanging out (when i wasnt working) and playing games. sequence has become the new game of choice (thanks nana).
in a few hours ross and i are going to catch a plane to one of my most favoritest places ever...gresham, oregon to hang out with some of my most favoritest people in the world. its my first extended break from work, and i'm quite stoked about it. hope you guys all have a great week...i'm off to enjoy some actual winter weather. this 88 degrees on new years day just does not cut it for me.
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