Creep Alert!

I have to talk to a lot of customers on a daily basis, which I have absolutely no problem with. It's fairly easy to strike up a small conversation with someone in my type of work environment. However, sometimes it's the customer that catches me off-guard rather than vice versa. Here's what happened:

I was finishing up with another customer and filing away some paperwork when a late 40s-ish man randomly walks up. He's dressed almost too casually in his jeans, flannel shirt (hello! It's 80 degrees outside!) and fishing-type floppy hat for the day. He walks right up to me and says "Hey there!" like he knew me well. I politely said "Hi" because I thought maybe he did know me. Maybe I had sold him something before and my memory failed me. After all, I'm not exactly well-known for remembering names. I thought I'd stick around to see if I could jog my memory. So then he begins talking to me about everything from the weather to politics to global warming. I kid you not. He left no room for me to say a word other than the occasional "uh huh" and "yeah". There was no escape! And then he dropped a bombshell on me:

He said to me, in a distinctly confident way, "You're a natural blonde."

I replied, "Yes.....". I mean, what else am I supposed to say here? Where did this question even COME FROM???

Then he said, "Want to know how I know?"

Oh God, no I don't. I have no idea what the look on my face was. I didn't want to know how this question was going to be answered. Can you guess what I was even THINKING? The first thing that went through my head was that he hadn't seen me naked and he wasn't going to. Gross! After the initial shock in my head, I cautiously asked, "How?"

He simply pointed to his eyebrows, indicating that my eyebrows are naturally blonde and that I hadn't colored them.

Seriously, what the hell? You can't imagine how relieved I was at that point to have another customer ask me for help. After answering that person's questions, I hauled booty to the other side of my department and wouldn't go back until he was gone. Normally I might have called security, but his wife and daughter were in the department and they were normal. (Or so it seemed.) I guess he was bored. Geez, can you say creep alert? I was never so happy to see anyone leave in my life!

Read more...

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Did anyone get a chance to see that show? I forgot it was on and forgot to set the DVR. Fortunately, I was able to catch a piece of it online. It looks so informative and I hope that it gives the general public a wake-up call in regards to what they put in their mouth. So much of our food is over-processed and packed with crap. I think if people really knew what they were putting in their bodies, they would think twice. You can see the first episode HERE but there are a few commercials. The second half of the episode is also on that page. I hope that everyone finds this show interesting. Although I am nowhere near perfect in my eating habits, I like to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible. What do you think?

It's on Fridays on ABC at 8 Central time. 

Read more...

New Moon

I finally read New Moon. And I watched the movie. And I was disappointed in both. Let's start with the book.

image credit

Where do I even begin? When I read Twilight, I was amazed at how much I actually liked the book. I thought it would be kind of young and teenager-y, but it was a quick and interesting read. I couldn't put the book down. New Moon was also a quick read, but it wasn't all that interesting. Let me just summarize the entire book in bullets:

• Bella and Edward are in love, but Edward wants to keep Bella safe so he leaves her alone and leaves town along with the entire Cullen clan.
• Bella then does stupid things like riding motorcycles and cliff-diving so she can hear Edward's voice in her crazy head.
• Bella plays with poor Jacob's emotions by spending time with him and leading him on.
• Oh dear, Jacob is a werewolf. How do these things happen?
• Edward things Bella died, so now he has to go off himself. Nevermind the fact that he doesn't really try to find out the truth himself.
• Bella saves the day and is promised that someday she will become a vampire.
• Edward asks Bella to marry him.

That's about it folks. There's not a whole lot of content to read in that book. Lame, lame, lame. Edward is absent throughout most of the book. Bella comes off as whiney and weak which is highly annoying. The rest of the Cullen clan is also noticeably absent from the storyline and Victoria makes an appearance. What's annoying is that while Victoria is mentioned, there's nothing more to the story than just that. At the end, Jacob is left hanging and Edward promises to never leave Bella again. Frickin' bite her already dude! Geez, this is getting drawn out.

So after reading the book, I decided I would spend a whole dollar at Redbox to rent New Moon. Knowing that the book was pretty lame, I didn't expect much from the movie and I wasn't disappointed. The pluses to this movie are:

• The make-up was much better this time. No overly pasty white vampires. 

Oh wait. That's the only plus because the storyline was LAME. This won't stop me from finishing the series, though. I keep hearing that the last two books are better, so I guess I'll put a hold on them in the library. We'll see. Does reviewing the Twilight series make me sound like a reminiscent teenager? I sure don't want to go back to those days..........

Read more...

Bad, bad blogger!

Well, we knew this would happen. I got a job and left the blog in the dust. Where to begin?

In my last post, I left off on the day I got really sick. Damn you Oak Pollen! So the allergy problems made for a crappy first few days at work. I was constantly excusing myself to go blow my nose behind the scenes and stuffing peppermints in my mouth so I could quit coughing for a few minutes. It was not fun at all. Despite that, I did pretty well. My feet believe otherwise as they have major blisters on them. I don't own any really comfortable shoes that are cute and will allow me to be on my feet all day. Where do I find such things? Oh, did I mention I have a narrow foot and I walk out of any shoe that doesn't have a strap? Yeah, this will be fun.

After those first few days at work, Jason & I got a sad phone call. Our friend's father passed away and the funeral was in a few days. Luckily for me, I was off of work. I didn't know how I was going to get off work for a non-family member. Especially since I had just gotten off work for a funeral two weeks beforehand. Unlike the last person to pass away, this person got to live a long, full life. He was known as "Grandpa" to everyone. Jason served as a pallbearer in the funeral because he was pretty close. I'm going to tell a funny story about Grandpa that Jason once told me. But first, a little background. Grandpa lost most of his hearing years and years ago. He can hear low voices sometimes, but in places where there is a lot of background noise, like restaurants, he can't hear a thing. Keeping that in mind, Grandpa and several other people (including J) decided to go to dinner at a steakhouse. Everyone knows that when a waiter/waitress comes to your table, he/she pretty much asks the same thing in the same order. So here's how that conversation went down:

Waitress: What will you be having?
Grandpa: Steak.
Waitress: And how would you like that cooked?
Grandpa: Baked potato. Cole slaw. Iced tea.

And that was it. The waitress had a confused look on her face and Grandpa never knew that he missed anything. Isn't that hilarious?

Aside from that, it's been work, work, work. I'll try and get better at this. I'll have a book and movie review up tomorrow, too!

Read more...

What a freaking week......

I started my new job this week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were to be training days. Oh, Tuesday was such a long day. There were five of us in a room learning all about our company's values, our expectations and such. I wondered why I took the time to read the employee rules online beforehand since we went over each one in detail. After sitting in a classroom for 5 and half hours, I was ready to go home. I get so antsy when I'm supposed to sit still!

Wednesday was another training day which wasn't quite so bad. Except for the girl next to me who knew it all. She had worked for the company many years ago and recently came back. Therefore, she felt the need to get ahead of our "teacher" and talk to me while he's talking. It was a tad annoying, but at least I made a friend in another department. That will come in handy one of these days.

Wednesday morning, before I left for work, Jason told me about an email I received the night before. A friend of mine had lost a 5 and a half year-long battle with breast cancer. It was devastating news. My friend was so young. She was always full of life and hope. Her faith was so strong that it inspired me. Twelve years ago, I caught the bouquet at her wedding. Now, she was being laid to rest in that very same church that she got married in. It was such a sad, final moment. I skipped my third day of training (with permission, of course) to go to her memorial. Wednesday and Thursday were pretty rough for me. Seeing a friend leave this world always makes me contemplative. Hug those you love now because you never know what could happen tomorrow.

Friday was my first day in the new job. I think I did pretty good. I still have some on-the-floor training to do, but I didn't do too bad for my first day. I came home feeling kind of yucky and I had feet that hurt so freaking bad! I'm not used to being on my feet all day anymore. Then, I woke up with a bad sinus headache on Saturday. Not good. Luckily, I didn't have to be at work until 3, so I laid around the house and tried to get some rest while Jason and his Dad worked outside on a water line.

I got to work feeling a little better, but definitely not myself. I finally got to meet all the girls in my department and they are all so nice and helpful! From what I hear through the grapevine, I got into a very good department. Thank goodness! Saturday went pretty well, but I came home with two new blisters on my feet. I've got to find some flats to wear to work! I came home sneezing, sniffling, coughing and expecting to fall asleep fast. I got to bed about 11:30 and was still awake at 2am. My darn nose wouldn't stop running, so I couldn't breathe. My throat hurt too bad to sleep with my mouth open. It wasn't such a good night for me.

So here I am on Sunday, my day off, and I feel miserable. Seriously, what the hell? I think I may have to dose up on some Benadryl on top of the Zyrtec I've already taken. I also think a nap is in order for this afternoon. Hopefully, next week is better!

Read more...

Ten on Tuesday

1. Of your current hobbies, which would you choose to spend more time, money, and effort on? Why?
I think I'd spend more time/money on gardening. There's tons of flowers and landscaping type things I could spend a lot of money on!


2. List the two other hobbies/habitual activies (not chores) besides the one listed above that you regularly do now and didn’t choose in question one.
I guess working out would be my only other hobby. Unless you call home improvement a hobby. I don't. I call it a chore.

3. Why are you spending time on the above two hobbies/habitual activies at all if you really wanted to spend your time on the first one you chose?  …or to put it another way, what are these two hobbies/habitual activities fullfilling that the first one doesn’t if you don’t want to put all your effort into the first hobby?
I think it's pretty obvious what working out fulfills. Gardening just doesn't do the same thing. I think there's way more money that I could spend on gardening rather than working out, which is why I made the above choices.

4. Ready John 3:16 in the bible… In what way does this passage affect you?  What are your feelings towards these words, positively or negatively?
This passage is the very essence of Christianity. It's what I completely, wholly, absolutely believe. The passage makes me sad to know that Jesus gave His life for us, but happy because I know that I will have eternal life through Him one day.

5. M&M’s: nuts, no nuts, or peanut butter?
No nuts, but I'm willing to give those coconut ones a try.

6. Putting away the feeling of pride being a bad thing; what secretly/openly are you proud about yourself?
The rate at which my fingernails grow. It used to annoy me when I was a kid, but now I'm happy to flaunt how long they get. Most of the time I'm just too lazy to trim them down!

7. Given one room in the house to do with what you want, not changing the actual size of the room and with all the money you would need, what would you do, and be specific?  (this can range from bouncy floor,walls & ceilings; to hard wood floor with wood paneling and purple ceiling with a chair; to nothing)
So many possibilities! What I'd really like to do would be to build an outdoor room! I really want a covered back porch with furniture so that I can sit outside without squinting and dying of heat.

8. What’s the next movie you’re going to see?  Not what you’d LIKE to GO see, but the next movie you realistically are going to watch.
In the theater? I haven't a clue. The next movie I want to rent is The Blind Side as soon as it comes out. I really would like to see it.....especially after seeing Sandra Bullock's speech after winning Best Actress.

9. Use the keyboard only and make your best smiley/funny/cool face –> like this! 8^)
I seriously don't get past :). I'm just a little too boring I suppose.

10. What makes you cry? What makes you pray? What makes you laugh?
Apparently, Oscar winner speeches make me cry. And sad movies. And sometimes sad commercials. And a few songs. Nothing makes me pray except myself. I try to pray every night before bed and let God work. Sometimes, it's hard to put all my trust in Him, but he hasn't failed me yet. The hardest part is knowing that sometimes the answer to my prayers is no. Jason makes me laugh every day. He just cracks me up! 

Read more...

News

Well, this is my 200th post! I never thought I would have lasted this long in the blogging world! So, I've been saving up this post so that I could hopefully post some good news. I'm not unemployed anymore! I'm not making what I really want to make and the commute is long, but I'm excited about the opportunity anyway! Now we just have to get Jason employed, too..........

Read more...

Book Review: Freakonomics

So, I'm a little late to the game in reading this book, but I finally read Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.

 

Image credit

Now, don't stop reading. I know that this book sounds remarkably like that evil class in college, Economics. And yes, this book is written by - *shudder* - an economist! However, this book was far from boring and really.....far from economics. It's about a lot of random situations in America and the things that caused them to happen. Does this sound interesting? No? Well, you are missing out. I don't necessarily agree with everything the authors write, but I do find their viewpoints very interesting. They look at situations, such as the falling crime rate in America, then talk about possible reasons for the outcome. The reasons are not really what you would expect and will probably surprise you! It's kind of similar to the whole butterfly wings can cause a hurricane theory. The point of the book is not to change your beliefs, but rather to look at things from a different perspective. It's a fast, easy read and I highly recommend it!

Read more...

Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday from Roots & Rings!

1. If you were given an hour to use a $200 Amazon gift card, what would you buy?


Probably a random list of books. My taste is pretty eclectic. No, I can't name any one in particular because I'm sure it would be totally different knowing I only had an hour to choose.

2. Are there any fairly common foods that you’ve never had?

Probably not.

3. What was your favorite way to use your imagination as a kid?
I'm not really sure how to answer this one. I remember playing Barbies and making up home stories. I also remember playing "pirates" with my sister and brother. We would each stake claim to a tree which became our "ship" and would pretend to shoot canons at each other.

4. What’s your favorite state? Why?
Texas. Duh. Must you ask why? Well, because we've got everything we need here. Beach, mountains, grasslands, woods.......

5. If it was our culture to have our parents choose our spouses, do you think yours would make a good choice?
Yes. They both love Jason, so obviously they have great taste!

6. What’s your favorite herb?
That's a toss-up between basil (fresh) and rosemary.

7. If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would you choose?
Right now, I'd pick Chelsea Handler. I could use the laughs!

8. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
The Little Mermaid. Hands down. I could probably still recite half the dialog correctly.

9. If you had to listen to the same song over and over for 24 hours, what song would you choose?
That's painful! For some reason, the first song that pops into my head for this is "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan. It's soft, jazzy and melodic. I'd still be sick of it by the end of 24 hours, but at least it's nice enough to sleep through. Yes, I'm aware that was a pretty random song to choose. Bonus points if you can name the lead singer. (Click here to hear it on Lala- will be a  pop-up window)

10. How do you order your steak?
Medium rare mostly. I really do like it pink/a little red in the middle. Yum. Pure deliciousness.

Read more...