I'm An Idiot

Michael and I began summer hours last Tuesday, which means we work from 7a-4:30p Monday through Thursday and 7-11a on Friday (woohoo)! Considering I used to wake up at 7:15a when we lived at the apartments, it is going to take some time to adjust to the 6a alarm. But! All I have to do is think about the 4-hour work day on Friday and I suddenly find the extra energy to keep it up. :)

A few days this week I brought my makeup to work and put it on at my desk. It only takes about 5 minutes but that is 5 extra minutes of beautiful, treasured sleep. I drive to work each day, drop off Michael at Samson and then keep the car at the church in case I need to run errands. As I got out of my car I reached to the backseat for my makeup bag. Aaaand it wasn't there. Now I've never been one to wear a ton of makeup but it is my security face blanket so my self-confidence plummeted as I drug my naked, sleepy eyes into work. I halfway think I could have pulled it off without anyone noticing but every time someone walked in the door I immediately blurted out, "I forgot to put on makeup this morning! I'm so embarrassed (touches face, darts eyes, fake cough)!" Atrocious.

Picked Michael up at 11a, we actually cheered in the car as we drove home for the day while others were just beginning to contemplate lunch. We had a simple lunch and then I headed to the pool. My first big swim of 2008. I don't have terrible body issues but I am always TERRIFIED the first time I lay out each summer. My appendages have been covered for many months and I'm very aware that a 2-piece bathing suit leaves little to the imagination (and no, dad, I'm not switching to a 1-piece turtleneck-style swimsuit, thank you very much). I get to the pool, sit down, and start putting on my sunscreen. In August, I take my coverup off as I'm walking to my chair, but in May I put on the suncreen with my coverup still on (like I said, first time is a wee bit intimidating). I also forgot the cardinal rule that my friend Emily shared with me once: put sunscreen on BEFORE you put on your bathing suit. I am now sporting THE most ridiculous burn. I look like I have a red birthmark on both shoulders that is a painful reminder of my lack of skill when it comes to applying sunscreen. The tops of my legs are also red because I chose to wear shorts as I applied the sunscreen to my legs. STUPID! But the worst is my face. I use an spf 15 face lotion every morning (that I actually BRAG about to people: "I wear spf on my face because I care about my skin") so I didn't think I would need to put on anything else. Well apparently SPF stands for "Stupid, Pathetic Farce" because my face is FRIED! Good thing I wore my uber huge sunglasses so I am now a member of the raccoon family. Gah.

Even though I began the day with no makeup and ended the day with a red face, I consider my first half-day Friday an enormous success. It is Saturday evening and I keep thinking it should be Sunday. What a great feeling when I realize I still have another full day of the glorious weekend.

Tonite Michael and I read outside for a bit since the weather was so nice. Thumbs joined us and was acting a little sassy. She kept going to the side of the patio and hunching down. I thought she was trying to eat the grass and kept shooing her away but she kept going back to that spot. I looked at her eyes and noticed they were concentrated on one very specific thing so I followed the stare and looked north. Calmly sitting in our neighbor's window was a cat. It was one of those blurred windows (I'm guessing their bathroom) so you couldn't tell much but it was definitely the outline of a cat. It was so funny, they had quite the stare-down before the other cat got bored and left. As soon as she/he took off, Thumbs became brave and started walking towards the window. That's my kind of kid, wait until there is NO chance of a fight and then exert authority. I took a few pictures but unfortunately the other feline had left the premises by the time I grabbed my camera.





Yikes, another long post from me. 2 quick things. I went bridesmaid dress shopping with Kait this morning and we found a beautiful dress! I know she is excited to have one more item to check off the grand wedding list. It was fun catching up with her. And last, Michael and I are attempting to turn over a new leaf. We have replaced twinkies with bananas, cookies with apples, chips with pears... you get the point. Anywho, here is our new centerpiece. Taste the rainbow:

The News We've All Been Waiting To Hear...

I heard a bit of good news this weekend that could be written 3 ways...

JUSTIN AND MICHELLE ARE HAVING A BABY!

or...

MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS!

or...

MICHAEL AND I ARE GOING TO BE AN UNCLE AND AN AUNT!

Any way you look at it, it is fantastic news and we are all so thrilled. Justin and Michelle were very sneaky and kept it a secret for almost 4 months so they could tell us in person!!


So about the weekend....

Michael and I picked up Justin and Michelle late Friday night. We caught up for several hours and finally went to bed a little after 1a. It was very odd, Thumbs usually ignores Michelle but as soon as Michelle sat down, Thumbs jumped in her lap and stayed there for most of the evening. Those cats know their stuff--Michael and I will never have to take a pregnancy test, we'll just wait for the cat to tell us! On Saturday we spent the day at Utica Square and Zieglers (Justin and Michelle brought a picture they wanted matted and framed) and then came home for dinner. Michael and I prepared quite the feast: shrimp cocktail, salmon, a potato dish, green beans, rolls, and banana pudding for dessert. I was a little stressed while I was cooking but it turned out pretty well and we had a blast preparing the meal. Afterwards we watched Stranger than Fiction (one of our favorite movies) and they both became fans. Michelle wore Justin's University of Tulsa t-shirt all day and there was no way you could tell she had a baby under the Golden Hurricane.

Sunday morning we went to the 9:30 worship service and then mom and dad met us at home shortly afterwards. Justin and Michelle brought out a gift for the parents and of course I immediately thought, "Where's my gift?!" :) They opened the present and there were 2 brightly colored books. THEN all I could think was, "Those books are so bright and tacky, where are mom and dad going to put them?" Little did I know they were "The Grandma Book" and "The Grandad Book." I couldn't see the titles but I heard Michelle say, "We're expecting!" It didn't sink in for another 5 seconds (I'm a quick one...) and then I started jumping up and down and screaming. She is due October 31 and we are all so excited. We went to Gina and Guiseppe's to celebrate and spent the entire lunch talking about babies. It was fantastic.

The rest of the afternoon was great, it is always nice to have all 6 of us together. Michael made the comment that this is the first piece of really exciting news announced in our new home. I can safely say we will remember it forever. The girls took off for Babies R us so Michelle could introduce mom and I to the world of babies in the 21st century. It is absolutely crazy how many things they have now--I was surprised but mom was in total shock. And of course we had to look at all of the clothes. Mom and I tended to look at the girl clothes but Michelle went straight to the boys section. Sunday night Michael was a master chef at the grill and we enjoyed a big meal around the table. We were all sad when mom and dad left that evening, it was such a fun day.

On Monday we lounged around and had lunch at Chilis before we took the soon-to-be parents to the airport. Next time I see them they will be a family of 3! I can't believe it! I kept trying to convince them to move to Tulsa but they wouldn't have any of it. I do believe we will be visiting Chicago more than we ever did before. :)

As soon as we got back to the house we started cleaning and getting ready for some friends to come over at 7p for another cookout. Everyone brought a ton of food and it was all delicious. Most of Steve's (Kait's fiance) friends live very close to us but we had never had a chance to invite everyone over. We met Randy's girlfriend, Gina, for the first time and really liked her. Other guests were: Steve, Kait, Emily, Ryan, (Randy, Gina), and Adam. The guys spent a lot of time outside and the girls stayed (where else) in the kitchen.

What a fantastically wonderful weekend! I'm sure I missed things but as you can tell it was a pretty full weekend! Below are some pictures from the past several days--unfortunately we forgot to take some of the group last night.

Is there anything better than hearing wonderful news and then following it up with a 4-day week? I didn't think so either...











(Notice Thumbs next to Baby B...)


Soon-to-be proud parents...


Future Uncle Mikee and Aunt Merdi

Thumbs, Birds, and Turtles (oh my...)

We have created a monster. The weather was beautiful the other day so Thumbs and I played on the driveway while Michael mowed our hideous excuse for a yard. I thought it'd be good for the massive feline to get some fresh air but little did I know she would fall in love with the great outdoors. Michael and I now have to be extra careful when we open the front or back doors because she is quite the escape artist. Yes folks, Thumbs has actually used her legs for more than pillows. Last night we were watching tv and heard pitiful meows and an occasional tap-tap-tapping on our door. (Rap-rap-rapping? But we don't have a chamber door...) I look up to see her impatiently waiting at the front entrance with her paw frozen on the door. What have I done?!

I took her out for a bit yesterday and got some cute pictures (we love our new camera):



Her face in the picture below is hilarious!!


We also have new housemates. I find it quite rude that they didn't call and ask before they added another square foot to our home but I suppose it will help when it's time to sell ($100 a square foot, right?)! We don't mind the nest but we DO mind the mess they leave on our front patio. I took a picture of it but realized you are creative enough to visualize it yourself. I want to keep this blog G-rated.




Since we're on an animal kick, Michael and I found this turtle especially funny at the North Park Mall in Dallas. All of his friends were by the heat lamp and he was in his own world with his feet hanging off into the water. Have I mentioned that Michael and I have discussed getting a turtle? We both love them and it'd be nice to have a pet that actually moves slower than Thumbs.... we hope.




And to end this post, we finally found a toy that Thumbs enjoys. It's a mini soccer ball--Michael is so proud. :) I came in this morning to find her nesting on the soccer ball and tried to get her to actually play with it. She'd paw at it for a second and then stretch, kick it a bit and then yawn. Soooo active, I tell you. She eventually left it for a piece of paper....








Happy Memorial Day weekend to you! Justin and Michelle arrive tonight and I cannot wait to see them!!

Hwy 75 Brings Bad Luck

Michael and I drove to Coppell this weekend for Amy and Anthony's wedding, Craig and Jessie's wedding shower, and to spend some time with his parents. The trip started and ended pretty terribly but the middle part was great!

My boss was kind enough to let me leave early on Friday so we could get on the road at a decent time. We were all packed up and on our merry way at 3:45p with an ETA of 8:00p. We decided to forego mapquest due to the simplicity of the directions: Stay on Hwy 75. I'm not sure where things took a turn for a worse, but I believe it happened while the following conversation took place:

Me: Michael, these fries are GOOD!
Michael: Really? How so?
Me: They have so much salt on them!

It would be nice to think we missed the turn because we were discussing politics, religion, or heck, even sports would have been acceptable. But no, we were discussing sodium chloride on a fried potato. How embarrassing. Diet starts ASAP!

We continued driving with an occasional statement of, "this doesn't look familiar" from Michael and a "I don't remember all of this construction!" from me but did we stop? Noooo. It wasn't until we were about 30 minutes from Arkansas (I am not kidding) that Michael finally called his dad and learned we were in the middle of nowhere. Argh! We stopped at a gas station and I asked the guy in front of me where we were. His answer? "Uh.... I'm not really sure." Awesome. I bought a $6 map and got back in the car. Our 4 hour trip turned into a 6-hour nightmare and boy were we happy to see his parents' home at 10p!

We went to North Park Mall on Saturday and had a great time window shopping. I found a lovely dress that was a mere $1300. I literally pulled my hands back from the price tag and lifted them above my head so I wouldn't harm the fabric. What made it even worse was all dresses thereafter paled in comparison. Oh well.

Saturday evening was Amy and Anthony's wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL! She looked gorgeous, the flowers were so pretty and most importantly, there was a potatotini bar (you thought I was going to say "they were married and so happy" didn't you?)! If you have not experienced a potatotini bar, I truly feel sorry for you. It is GLOOOOORIOUS. Michael and I had a good time catching up with all of his high school friends--I am still amazed at how many of them are still very good friends and keep in touch regularly.










We "slept in" until 8:45a on Sunday, had lunch at Mi Cocina with his parents and spent the afternoon with Karen and Myers. Craig and Jessie's shower began at 7:30p and was a lot of fun. They had a ton of food and it was a very similar crowd to the one at Amy's wedding the evening before. I am so excited for Craig and Jessie's wedding--it is going to be a blast and they are such a fantastic couple! Craig also let me know that he occasionally reads the ol' blog to catch up on our lives so here is my first formal "shout-out": Hellooo Craig! You should be studying for the bar right now!! :)





We'd originally planned on waking up uber early on Monday and driving in for a half-day of work but after 3 nights of staying up past 1a we changed plans. After a quick stop at West Elm, we were on the road (the correct road) and on our way home. I was the driver and sped for the second time in my ENTIRE LIFE (ha). A cop pulled us over and clocked us doing 85. I pulled out my insurance card and noticed the expiration date was January 5, 2008. What?! So I started looking through my glove compartment, etc. Found 5 more insurance cards, all expired! The guy must have thought I was an idiot. Michael laughs when he's nervous so we were quite the team of him half-laughing and me with my deck of expired cards. I promised the officer I did indeed have insurance. He took the expired card (ugh) and my license and was gone for several minutes. Ended up just giving me a warning, I was so surprised! I called our insurance place this morning and asked that they send me a new card ASAP and am thinking about mailing a copy of it to the officer with a big "THANK YOU" card once I receive it in the mail. Very thankful for nice cops.

Last item I'll mention before I end War and Peace part II... I received a postcard from Save the Manatee Club (my parents adopted a manatee for me when I was much younger). It was addressed to my maiden name but had our correct address! I have no idea how they received my address but I went to the website and caught up on the latest information. Apparently there was a proposed budget cut of rescue and emergency treatment programs in Florida, which would be terrible for the manatees. The website had updated news that was fantastic: "On May 1st, the vessel fee adjustment bill was passed by both the Florida House and Senate. Upon being signed by Governor Charlie Crist, this bill will provide funding for the manatee rescue and rehabilitation program, University of Florida Marine Mammal Veterinary program, and retention of 66 law enforcement positions for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)." Hooray! I found the manatee my parents adopted for me on the website. Her name is Dana and she is still alive and kicking (born in 1988)! I think we're going to adopt again--not sure if it will be Dana or another manatee I found especially cute--his name is Floyd. Maybe we'll go crazy and adopt both. Anywho, a shameless plug for my favorite gentle giants--go adopt one yourself or donate to a great cause: www.savethemanatee.org/donation.htm. It's only $25, which is 1/2 tank of gas or one lunch at Panera. You'll be so glad you did! :)

Bring Me Another!!!

A delicious dinner at Melting Pot and an entire bottle of wine leads to excessive happiness. And yes, this is one of those pictures I mentioned in an earlier post. Thank you TV stand (or in this case, bookcase). :)

Thank You :)

Today is my birthday. I wish I could say it's not a big deal to me but (sadly) it still is. I love birthdays, cards in the mail, cakes with my name on them... I love attention. But for this post, I'd like to move to a much more important event that happens in the month of May.

Mother's Day.

My parents came to visit this weekend and Michael's and my measly gift to mom was a card and lunch at Queenies, one of her favorite spots in Tulsa. In an attempt at frugality, Michael and I decided that this year we would only buy Christmas gifts for our parents. I broke last week and said the least we could do was buy her lunch, and so that was what we did. A lunch. Here's a quiche Mom, thanks for spending hours upon hours taking care of me, laughing with me, crying with me, moving me to Tulsa, moving me back to Fort Smith, moving me once again to Tulsa, the list goes on and on.

I'm not trying to say "money buys happiness" or that an expensive gift would have been a better token of our love because there isn't a gift out there that would ever be good enough for her. She's priceless.

Some of my favorite mom memories...

1. When I was much younger (and much shorter), I would put on her shirts and belt the waist so I would be wearing a gorgeous dress. It wasn't complete without size 6 heels on child-sized feet.

2. Laying out by the pool in the summer. For the longest time I hated laying out (I'd much rather be in the pool) but I would try so hard to sit still in my chair so she and I could talk. Most of the time that lasted 5 minutes, but it was worth it.

3. Driving to Tulsa to shop when I was in junior high. We would make an entire weekend of it and I always had a blast.

4. Seeing her every day in high school. Most kids couldn't wait to get away from their parents, I couldn't wait to be near mine.

5. Packing up my freshman year dorm room into one car. I will never forget opening the sun roof and throwing the last bit of things through it (if we opened any of the doors we would have had a massacre).

There are so, so many more. Mom, I can't thank you enough for always being there for me. Your optimism and wisdom have helped me through some of my darkest times and your constant encouragement has allowed me to see that I am so lucky, and so blessed. You are always finding that silver lining, even when it is far away.

Your heart is so big--I've never understood how it could fit in such a tiny person. Thanks for giving me life and showing me how great this life can be. I love you.

No Really, The Grass IS Greener On The Other Side...

2 posts in 2 days--I believe that is a record!

I actually went to Sonic yesterday and picked up an order (er... two) of the macaroni bites. First order was delicious. Second order made me realize that even fried goodness has its limits. I might have to wait a week or so before I return.

This past weekend Michael and I went with his friends to an O.A.R. concert. I wasn't super excited about going but I actually had a really fun time. His work friends are great and so friendly to me. I sometimes wonder if that is because I'm so much older than them and I remind them of their mom. Yikes! We went to McNellies and had a few drinks before we went to the concert. The girls wanted to take an "easy shot" so I dug back to my college memory bank and pulled out what I remembered to be quite easy and quite tasty: the kamikaze. Well folks, I was WRONG. It was not good and I received several looks of, "last time we trust YOU again, mom."




Since this is my blog, I'd like to make two rants. I'll keep them short and sweet. The first: Our yard looks like crap. We are not sure if we have dead sod or what (a lawn professional is coming by tomorrow to see if the sod is still on life support or if we indeed need to call the time of death) but it is by far the worst yard on the block. If you squint your eyes and stand back 100 feet or so, it looks like we have a somewhat green yard. And then you walk closer and realize all of that green? Yea, it's all weeds. Apparently sod is not under warranty so if it is indeed dead, we are in charge of re-seeding it. I find that a little hard to accept since we closed on this home in January--dormant season--and if it died, it died long before we took over. Hold your breath people, this is not pretty...



Even Thumbs wouldn't step foot in our yard. (Can you blame her? The girl has standards...)





And here are some pictures of the backyard. It is CLEARLY impossible to tell where our yard ends and our neighbors yards begin. :)




What we do NOT have in our front yard is a horrid, ridiculous contraption that reminds me of my darkest days. Yes, my friends, I am referring to Gigantor, aka the Jenks trash can. I could fit 4 Michaels, 6 Merediths, or even 2 Thumbs in this beast. And for some unknown reason all of our neighbors think it adds to their property value--they will NOT put the thing out of site. I've already read through our neighborhood covenant TWICE trying to find the rule of "you must keep Gigantor from showing his face" but have yet to come across it. Normally my non-confrontational self would have put an anonymous note in each of their mailboxes letting them know their laziness and lack of pride was astounding but Lord knows I have no right to complain at the moment.





Rant is over. Will keep you posted on our "mostly dead" sod (thank you, Princess Bride).

GLOOOOOORIOUS!

They. Are. BACK.



I actually cheered last night when the Sonic commercial aired, announcing the return of greatness (Macaroni Bites). If you can't find me for the next few months, check the Sonic parking lot. I'll be the fat one in the corner with a HUGE smile on my face.

Hooray for May!

I realize I might be a bit biased, but I just love the month of May. Temperature is perfect, flowers are in bloom, and it just happens to be the birth month of one of my favorite people... (ha!)

This past weekend we drove with Steve and Kait to Kansas City for Summer's wedding!! It was a beautiful weekend, she was a fantastic bride, and it was another great reunion for the TU kids. Weird to think that Summer and I were roommates almost 8 years ago. It is so nice to still be friends with someone so many years later.

We took a ton of pictures but they start to get a little repetitive--I've posted a few below.












Before we left for the wedding Michael laid out some of his shoes for packing purposes. The next morning he was brushing his teeth and noticed one of his shoes in our bedroom was staring back at him. Good ol' Thumbs wanted so badly to belong! Thank goodness Michael's foot is not that wide!




Last night Michael and I went to see one of our J-Life students in her middle school play. It was a modern version of Midsummer Night's Dream. The kids did a really great job and we were both impressed. It was weird to be sitting in an audience surrounded by middle schoolers who all wore more makeup than me and were texting on their cell phones throughout the evening. I definitely felt old. Michael and I discussed whether we would have been the kids in the play or the kids in the audience and both decided we would have been up on the stage. (Believe it or not, Michael used to be the young actor--took drama A and B and had a few leads in school plays. He told me this last night after I doubted his decision that he would indeed be on stage with me.)

I almost don't want to say (type) this because I'm so terrified of jinxing the beautiful moment, but Michael and I have a FREE weekend this weekend. No wedding, no traveling, nothing! I am going to savor every second of it since we go back to busy weekends immediately afterwards.

Last but certaintly not least, Michael gave me my birthday present a few weeks early. In our 3 years of being together, we have NEVER waited until the appropriate day and this was no exception. Last Friday as we were getting ready to leave for KC he said, "I think I want to give you your gift now so you can take it with you this weekend." It is a beautiful purse that I spotted several months ago! He bought it before Valentine's Day so it even had the Valentine's Day wrapping (talk about thinking ahead)! I immediately switched all of my stuff to the new purse and carried it all weekend. What a great gift!!



I believe that is it for now. Tonight is the grand line-up of television: Office, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost. 3 great shows, 3 totally different story lines, 1 perfect night of television. Happy May Day to you!