it's the little things...

Last night was Journey/Def Leppard. To make it from this part of town to the far other side it takes about an hour and 15 minutes on a good day. There was, of course, one accident that slowed us down. Then it seems everyone in the city was going to the concert. We were backed up on the exit. Understandable. We were backed up waiting for parking. Somewhat understandable. For something like 30 minutes. Not so understandable. Come on people...how hard is it to park? How hard is it to direct traffic? This wasn't your first show. Then the real journey (yeah, yeah, no pun intended) begins...the trek from the parking lot to the actual venue. The concert was great. We missed the beginning of Journey, which was even more disappointing after we saw the end of Journey. They were pretty good. I had never seen them before. We did hear several good tunes including the one referenced in the title up there. Def Leppard. Also great. I saw them two (I think--maybe 3?) years ago. ...

I have no real topic today. I'm just glad it's Friday. I didn't go anywhere this week. It seems that no traveling typically makes the week go by more slowly. This week it actually felt like I really started my job. There were tasks to do, letters to write, problems to solve (and not just IT ones). It felt good. I have phone service thru AT&T. I still just have one inside line working. Someone is coming on Tuesday to get the fax line in the house. I love AT&T. It's like finding your soulmate after an abusive relationship (or so I would imagine). :o) They are so nice. They communicate. It's a dream... Anyone have big plans for the weekend? Tonight I'm going here with some lady friends. Still undecided about Saturday. I'd like to get some sun. I'm tired of all the rain lately (although there are plants flowering in the backyard I didn't even know could flower). Then on Sunday it's time for Def Leppard and Journey. Rock ...

The Andrea Yates thing. It's an emotionally charged topic. I think most people have an opinion and it seems to be a pretty strong one. If you haven't heard, she was deemed not guilty in the re-trial by reason of insanity. Read Bubba's Sis's post on this one. It got me thinking. I definitely think Rusty (the ex-husband) shouldn't have walked away with no punishment of any kind. I had a classmate at the time who was interning at the jail where Andrea was kept. The classmate knew more about Rusty and the situation than she could share due to confidentiality reasons. She led us to believe (as I already suspected on my own) that there were some fishy things going on there. I was interning at Houston Area Women's Center at the time. When you work there you can get into a different frame of mind. You see and hear a lot. Many people there were suspicious of Rusty, too. Regardless, I think there's more to it related to him than we've seen in the me...

I have a poll. Look! Over there --> a poll. I feel so cool. So I've always been responsible. I think maybe since birth. I've always done what one is "supposed to do." Despite the fact that I'm younger than my brother, I am the more responsible one. It does not feel like being responsible is getting me anywhere. I'm single. I have no children. I have access to a truck. I don't particularly love my reasonably new vehicle. Here's what I've been pondering trading up for: Pontiac Solstice: Saturn Sky: Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder: None are practical. Not at all. But how cute are they?! Seriously, how cute? Vote in that little poll over there. You can only pick one. For those of you who don't like to comment on a regular basis here's your opportunity to just click anonymously. I think the poll may become a permanent fixture. Maybe a different one on a weekly basis or something.

I'm jumping on it. You can now find a list of books I've read this year down there on the bottom right. Given that it is the end of July and I'm getting older, I can't remember all that I've read. It doesn't help that when I'm finished with books I pass them along to one of the people who lists herself as Anonymous. When Anonymous gets back from vacation she'll have to help me make the list more complete. Just thought I'd acknowledge the change. Oh, and there's a new link under "blog heroes" for Geek. Visit her, too. And I spiffed up the hit counter down there. We're getting fancy around here. More later...

Every now and then a song comes on the radio that I love. I mean really love. I'm talking let's-listen-to-it-40-times-in-a-row love. Even-though-I-should-get-out-of-the-car-now-that-I'm-here-I-can't-because-the-song's-not-over love. Sometimes it's by someone I know. Sometimes by a person or group I never knew existed. The last one was James Blunt's You're Beautiful . Here's the current one: Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars . Trapped inside this snarky exterior lies a romantic. How can you not love these lyrics?! All that I am All that I ever was Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see I don't know where Confused about how as well Just know that these things will never change for us at all If I lay here If I just lay here Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I haven't looked this one up. I just thought I'd poll the masses. How do you feel about someone telling you what to wear to his/her wedding? I'm not talking dressing for the occasion (which I try to always do). I'm not talking bridesmaids. I'm talking guests. Guests are requested to wear black. Why? I don't know. I've been in my fair share of weddings. I have no problem wearing crazy things or going to crazy events or handling crazy relatives in those instances. You love the bride- or groom-to-be. It is their day. You do what they want you to do. Luckily, I've had very reasonable friends and no ugly dresses. Well, if you don't count the pink taffeta one--in all fairness it was the '80s and I think I even liked it back then. I don't really like people telling me what to do. It makes me want to do the opposite (i.e., wear white and maybe a veil, carry some flowers. Or wear black but look like a hooker or maybe go Goth.). But I...

I think I'm dating my brother's girlfriend. Last night we went to dinner and to the symphony. I know how to treat 'em, huh? Dinner was very good. It had been awhile since I had a reasonably fancy dinner with wine and dessert. Yumm. Then we went to the symphony to see The Baseball Concert . It was very cool. If "The Baseball Music Project" comes to your area, you should check it out. You may not know all the tunes but they are all lighthearted and fun. The music is accompanied by projected photographs of Hall of Famers and some nice shots of ballparks, etc. You get to learn the real story behind "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." You get to cheer and clap and sing at the symphony . You get to hear Dave Winfield narrate "Casey At the Bat." If you hate baseball (shame on you), you know nothing of which I speak. It was a lot of fun. There were people of all ages and most were smiling as we left. How often does that happen?

Ah, Nashville...how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 2. I really do love Nashville. It's one of the few places I could see myself living if I were to get out of Texas. So just being there ranks on the list. 3. Elevation. Most of the places I've gone lately have had rolling hills. I like seeing that. And it's green despite the heat. And it was freakin' hot there. 4. Actually doing work. This was technically a training trip. I was supposed to just sit there and watch someone do my job. Right. I did work both days but it was nice. I felt productive. I felt like I was learning but that I was also giving back a little. 5. The chocolate chip cookies you get when you check into the DoubleTree. 6. Down (or down-ish) comforters. It doesn't matter that it's hot outside because you can crank down the A/C. After all, I wasn't paying the bill. And, because my co-worker is kind, I got to sleep in a little. 7. The Green Hills mall. This is my Nashv...

I'm currently in Nashville and don't get home until tomorrow. The "10 Things" post will come then. Well, 2-10 will come then because I can't wait to share number one. Ready? Today I saw my very first Elvis impersonator. How fun is that!!! We even exchanged pleasantries. :o) I didn't realize how entertained I would be on this occasion. The best part was the he wasn't actually supposed to be entertaining anyone at that moment. Just sitting on a bench. It was like "Everyday Elvis." And he was kind of old. Still too young to be the real Elvis (who would probably be dead by now anyway). So yea for him.

Like Bubba's Sis, I am now bothered by a few things but will ignore them to write about The Devil Wears Prada . (You can read about the flag stuff by clicking on the link for her blog that's over there on the side). I have now both read the book and seen the movie. Most often I like to read the book first as I did with this one. TDWP is a quick read. Some people didn't like all the details the author used regarding the grunt work. It helped me feel bogged down for Andy. I can also relate to feeling bogged down with my own job. And with the job consuming me at times. That's one of the down sides of traveling for work. You miss out on things that you wouldn't otherwise. You feel tired once you get home and picking up the phone to check in on a friend can seem like too much effort. This, because I was raised Catholic, brings a lot of guilt. I guess that's why I liked the book. In some weird way it made me feel like someone could relate. Thumbs up for...

Update: The dog mentioned yesterday seems to be doing well. Other than being really swollen (and somewhat embarrassed about that), he's pretty close to his normal self. He was wagging his tail to see me and his mother, he was sneakily trying to eat people food, he was playing with toys. Yea for him! The MCI people are all spawns of Satan. I hate them all. I don't recommend them to anyone even if they are your only option of carrier. Use smoke signals, send pigeons. Your odds of communicating are better that way. I had someone from AT&T visit yesterday to do the work on the outside of the house (at around 2:30). He said someone from MCI would be coming to do the inside stuff. OMG So I called MCI since I love talking to them. They said someone from there would come out within 48 hours. Really? It's Friday afternoon. I highly doubt it. Do you think someone could call before they come out or am I now expected to be under house arrest for 3 straight days? Oh...

I'm going to take a brief moment to whine. I had to set the alarm this morning. I know, poor me. And it was only for 7:50. Again, I know no one is feeling my pain but I'm tired (one day I will write about the pros and cons of working from home and traveling on business). Last night one of my favorite dogs in the world (whom I do not own, just visit) got bitten by a snake. We're pretty sure a cottonmouth. He was swollen and hurting. I haven't gotten any updates yet this morning. I went to bed late and didn't sleep well. I'm sure his parents are in worse shape this morning. Hope he's ok. The reason I'm getting up early is because of the phone people. They are finally coming to install my work lines. Hallelujah! It has taken twice as long as promised. So sometime between 8am and 5pm today I should be in business. This would indeed be a miracle. I didn't think the guy would actually come at 8am but figured if I slept later he would certa...

Ok, yes, in addition to taking in the Astros game this past weekend I also went to the Poison/Cinderella concert downtown. Secret's out. Yes, I occasionally take in a nice little rock concert featuring bands with members who looked more like women in the mid-80s to early 90s than I did. Yes, I enjoy them. And, yes, there's good people watching. I think even the hearing-impaired could enjoy the concerts. (And there were actually tiny fireworks there, too.) So most of the people there dig out their concert t-shirts that they've collected over the past 20 years. This is, in fact, the perfect time to parade your Dokken, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Ratt, etc. garb. No one at this venue will look at you strange or laugh behind your back because you are wearing this beat up shirt. In fact, many see them as badges of honor. You know what, I should have my brother guest blog on the subject. I'll see about that later. But the special treats are the ones who go the extr...

Flew there on Monday. Back late last night. 1. Only having to drive 30 minutes to the airport. While Hobby is the ghetto airport it's closer and sometimes worthwhile. 2. Hearing some little girl screaming Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in the airport. Ok, later I realized it was on one of the TVs. I have never seen that commercial before but now have seen it twice. In two different airports. Makes me think yet again how things that are perfectly normal, cute even, coming from a small child is scary if not mentally ill in an adult. 3. Making it to Kansas. Never been there before. 4. Staying in a relatively posh hotel. The travel budget at this job is much better than at the old. This is weird for me. Like Reba's "Fancy," I might have been born just plain white trash... Well, I don't think we were trashy but we were poor. I don't see why people need such fancy places to stay. I'm not a high end kind of girl. It makes me uncomfortable and I feel l...

Seriously, no comments about the pirate character? Maybe it's more common than I think. More later...

1. Seeing a rainbow from the plane. It never gets old. I love it. On the 4th of July there was a plane flying while we were watching fireworks. I love fireworks. Would love to see what those look like from the plane, too. 2. Getting bumped up to 1st class on the way there. Oh, the perks of frequent flying. 3. Eating pasta at Babymoon's. Great little Italian place we stumbled onto the last time I was there. Good salad dressing, too. And there's a half-wall with pictures colored by kids who eat there. One of them said "Emo kids love Babymoon." 4. That the Hilton people decided to put rocking chairs on the porches. 5. The inability to escape the rain. This is entertaining in a please-can-it-stop kind of way. I do love how green North Cakalaki is, though. 6. When on the road, I tend to watch strange TV shows. This seems to be common amongst people who travel a lot. When I say strange, I mean stuff you'd never watch at home. Maybe never tell people you ...

Sorry, Joel (the toe conversation continues briefly). Apparently people have strong opinions about toenail art. After living with it for almost a week I have decided that I don't think it's for me. I don't mind it on some people. On some people it's not trashy. However, when I glance down at my feet my first thought is that a hunk of polish came off instead of thinking how cute the flower is. So the week has been busy. Things are picking up with the job. I traveled briefly (North Carolina) and will again next week (Kansas City). I've found out that most of my traveling will be in Texas for at least about 6-9 months. Hopefully I won't get too bored with that. Hey, maybe I'll even want to travel for leisure... When I travel I try to remember to write down at least 10 things that went well or were entertaining about the trip. I think I'll include them here, too (tomorrow maybe). It's off to bed for me (or to watch some mindless TV). I too...

I have given in to peer pressure (again?). My toenails are painted (which is always the case). But now I have included nail art. I'm undecided about nail art. Just a subtle white flower with a sparkly diamond (I got them at Wal-Mart after all) center. One on each big toe on the coral background (I hear it's the "totally now" color). Any thoughts on nail art? Any thoughts on anything? Shameless request for comments here. I like reading them. I like knowing that I'm not writing into a void. You can use them to make requests, too. As in, "please, no more writing about toes." Or "your posts are boring; please make up lies/stories."

One of my favorite sites for wallpapers is kate.net. You can have pretty pictures for each holiday and she puts up a new calendar every month. I like the calendars. Just thought I'd share.

or, maybe, "reasons why I'm single." Regardless, here's how my day went down yesterday. I slept in (hallelujah!), read some magazines, and went to Wal-Mart. I hate Wal-Mart. I could write paragraphs on why but the reason I went is that sometimes saving money just wins out over getting joy from shopping. I guess it's a different kind of joy. Anyway, so after Wal-Mart I cooked dinner (a new recipe from Real Simple). Then my brother and I ended up watching Gone With the Wind . Now, a little history...this was Mom's favorite movie and book. How often does that happen these days? The movie versions are often terrible. Or, like Forrest Gump, you wonder how they pulled anything redeeming from so crappy a book. But Gone With the Wind, sigh, it's dreamy. I love the soft lens. Not that Vivien Leigh wasn't amazingly beautiful anyway. I wish we could all be shot on a day-to-day basis with the soft lens. As we were growing up we watched this movie w...