it's the little things...

Back to 10 on Tuesday . 10 Greatest Accomplishments in My Life Being Salutatorian of my high school graduating class. Probably more exciting than putting in all that hard work that actually paid off in a life that was still reasonably fair was getting to tell the snarky school counselor that she had been calculating our grades incorrectly (thus moving me from 3rd to 2nd). Graduating college. Twice. Once with honors and once with a 4.0 GPA. Buying a house. On my own. Without going completely crazy (only slightly and it was transient). And the house? Remains awesome. My relationship with my brother. Sometimes I think that this is a relationship that just happened and that was forced to happen because of our past circumstances. We grew up in the same house for Pete's sake. But then I look around at all these people who aren't best friends with their siblings and I realize it takes a little effort. All my friendships. These take some work, too. I feel very fortunate for having kept

Yes, God's name in vain but I left out the numerous curse words I've uttered this morning. I've been out of town a lot lately (home only one day between last Friday and this Wednesday). Being the sole homeowner, every chore is my responsibility. I'm not complaining. You know, whatever...that's part of it. I have today off due to reaching the 40-hour mark sometime on Wednesday. That's nice--long weekend, can get work done, blah blah blah. I wake up this morning and am forced to work a little bit despite my day off. The people who come to me with issues can sense my freedom. Like swarming sharks, I struggle to escape them. At about 9:30 I go out to start mowing the yard. I can't start the mower. It's brand new. It has a key start that refuses to cooperate. The battery was charged. Gas was in it. Refuses to turn over. Because my arms are not 10 feet long (nor do I have the forearms of Popeye), I cannot start the alleged back-up pull start. Cursing, frustrat

Check out Bubba's Sis' blog for the 10 on Tuesday. I've got nothin' this week due to my much publicized computer ailments. Maybe one day I'll revisit the topic. The whirlwind that is work continues so I don't have much in me today. I did run across this anonymous quote and thought I'd share: "You are younger today than you ever will be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow." Back in the day when a few of us were doing a weekly yoga class I heard a little story that I've carried along with me since. One of the guy's mentioned that he had a co-worker (or friend, I can't remember now) who was thinking about going back to college but was hesitant because she'd be something like 50 when she finished. The guy said, "You'll be 50 anyway." Touche.

I was in Scottsdale on Friday and Saturday for what work called a rejuvenation meeting. As corny as it sounds, it was very fun and, even more, it was very needed. Flying first class. That never ceases to be exciting. Better yet, there wasn't even anyone in the seat next to me. I got to spend the entire flight reading magazines and thinking about/planning house projects. What I wasn't doing? Working. What better way to start the trip? That work even has something called a "rejuvenation meeting." Can I say again how much I like this company? Having a meeting titled that means that they recognize (a) that we have feelings, (b) that we maybe could be in better spirits (even though we aren't really in bad ones), (c) that our spirits are important, and (d) they are willing to do something about it. Shocking really. "It's a dry heat." I know the humidity makes a difference--I have spent most of my life in coastal Texas for Pete's sake. I hate it when pe

I have owned four cars in my life. Only the first one was purchased for me. We grew up poor but not as bad off as others. I think I was fairly aware of that as a teenager. But like every teenager, I wanted what it seemed everyone else had. A sweet ride. My first car was an '89 Ford Probe . It was April '93. Yes, that's right. I had to wait two whole months of my 16th year without a car of my own. The horror. I'm not quite sure how I ended up with that car. We were looking at used Hondas because they were safe and reliable. I think I ended up with the Probe primarily because my mother--with her one, small income--could get credit at that dealership. I loved that car. It had a digital readout that told you mystical things like your gas mileage. It had a CD player. I didn't even have any CDs yet. And it just seemed cool. Oh, and had pop-up headlights. In April '97, I decided to send the Probe on its way. Mom had died months before so I had the money to buy a car. S

10 Songs That Make Me Sad I guess I'm taking a little liberty with this topic. All of these songs have made me tear up (or really cry depending on the day). I guess I'd rather the topic be "songs that make me emotional." Here goes: Dixie Lullaby by Pat Green--This song came out about when this was happening. Add to that my own personal story and you get a tearjerker of a song. I love it, though. I'll Wait for You by Joe Nichols--This song was apparently sung by Joe at Anna Nicole's funeral. Try to get beyond that. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol--Yes, it's because of Grey's Anatomy . When all that was happening with Denny...oh my gosh, sobbing. I don't cry when I hear it anymore but it always sends me back to Izzie coming down in the elevator, looking beautiful , with the future in her eyes. Almost anything by Johnny Cash in his later years. He just had such a soulful voice. Not soul like the genre. Soul like he was a man of God (I'm not even a

I bought this: No more CR-V. And then my horoscope (which the brother read while we were waiting for them to bring my new convertible around) said something about spontaneity leading me in the right direction. Mmmhmmm. I hope so.

It was a nice weekend. On Friday I got to hang out with Geek and her mom. We did a little prepping for Geek's baby shower and a lot of gabbing. I was also able to find out what some of my mystery plants are...and have forgotten some already. Saturday included more prepping and then the shower itself. I think everything went really smoothly. Food was good, people were friendly, decorations were nice, games were fun, gifts were aplenty. One of the things we did was paint onesies and bibs for the new baby. I obviously love the crafting but everyone else seemed to enjoy it, too. It was very exciting for me to see crafting in my own home. It was also nice to host a shower for one of my bestest friends. I can't wait to meet little baby Bertha (that's not really her name...it's a secret). After the shower we went to the Astros game. Woohoo! We won! I love the ballpark. Feels like home. Since my schedule has been a bit nuts lately, this was my first game this se

I'm sticking with the official topic today even though I think it will be hard given my 100 things list . 10 Things Most People Don't Know About Me I spent the summer when I was 7 with very little adult supervision. My dad was dying and my brother, two male cousins, and I spent a lot of time together. They were 5-7 years my elder. I was forced to watch lots of horror movies, the worst of which was Basketcase . I am a pretty rational person. I continue to watch horror movies at times. However, I am freaked out in direct correlation to how unrealistic the movie is. Chucky ? Freaks me out the most. The name my birth mother gave me was Karen. I'm not a Karen. One day when I was driving home from college, it was such a beautiful sunny day that I drove without my shirt on and the sunroof open. That's probably illegal. When I was in high school my band director's wife hated me. She talked bad about me to ladies at church. She thought I was after her husband. I was not aft

Oh my gosh. I was watching VH1 and they showed this clip. I was laughing so hard I was crying. I looked it up and here it is for your enjoyment. I don't know why I think it's so funny but I've been crying for several minutes over here. (Oh, and I enjoy it more without the sound.)

That corresponds with the previous (comprised primarily of words) post .

So here's my latest project. I'm a huge dork because it really made me giddy. You see, I have the world's smallest walk-in closet. I don't mind it even though it is really weird. It's only about 6' tall (if that) and maybe about 30 square feet of floor space. Small but oddly functional. The thing is, it had this really ugly floor. What's worse is that there is ugly green and white tile in what I'm now creatively calling "the ugly bathroom." This same tile? Nope. Different ugly green and white tile. That means someone had to go out and buy two different types of similar-looking tile. On purpose. I know it's not a big deal in a closet. No one sees it except me (and everyone who comes to an open house--seriously, people look at everything . At one point I was having a conversation in the bathroom. No one had to potty. Just chatting in a bathroom.) Still, I didn't want to live with it. Here's a better picture to get the scale of th

I realize that many of you have now seen my house in person. That may make this post a bit anticlimactic. This shows where the dining room came from and helps you appreciate it a bit more. This is the "before." Green, embossed wallpaper on top, plain white paint on bottom. Crazy octopus light fixture (not to mention the red leading in from the living room). Yuck. I haven't looked at this picture in awhile. It's funny how accustomed you can become to your surroundings. Or maybe my take on the rooms makes me feel more at home. The one thing the room up there did have (in addition to the great floors) was the table. Duh, you're thinking. It's empty except for the table. But it's a special table. It belonged to my grandfather. My brother stripped and re-stained it and built a new leaf. It looks so good. Here's another look at that light fixture. It was the first thing to go. Here's what I replaced it with: Then I tackled getting some chairs to go w

Apparently I'm taking this 10 on Tuesday thing as just a suggestion. The topic this week was something about political figures, and I don't really have it in me to make that list. I'm making my own topic (inspired by Geek ). 10 Movies That Make Me Cry The Notebook Pay It Forward (This one had me sobbing even after it was over--never good.) Stepmom Garden State (both because of grief and happiness) Titanic (I know, I can hear the collective groan.) My Girl Steel Magnolias (Why do so many movies kill people off?) Schindler's List (I have no desire to see this movie a second time...) The Pianist (but yet can't get away from the Holocaust.) City of Angels (Who thought going to see that would be better than studying for finals?!?!?) Some of these will make me cry even though I've seen them a million times (like Stepmom ). I love it when movies or television shows make me feel , whether it's elated or stressed or melancholic. Sign of a good writer (or an