Workshop Weekend

Went to Tulsa this past weekend to hang out with Mr.T and some old friends. Had a good time catching up with all. I had lunch with some friends from church that I grew up with. Also our youth minister from the day.

This is Ericka and I. She and I have been friends since 4th grade. We used to live by eachother and walked to school together every day until 8th grade when I moved. We have stayed in contact off and on since then.

This is another friend from youth group days Jeff. His wife Cheri & their almost 1 year old twin girls. They have had a rough year with the girls but they are doing great now & looking so cute!! This was my first time to see them & they are adorable!!

Random

I have poison ivy again. 2nd time in my life & I hate it. I tried to just wait it out, but I went & got a shot today & oral shots. I asked the doctor when I should & should not go to the doctor. He said based on my condition that I should always go to the doctor. Mine is really bad, blisters and leaking and gross.

But for a more random story, I was heading to Tulsa today for the workshop. I tried to make it to Joplin to get gas, but I did not. I had to exit 19 exits from the one that I wanted to, because my light came on. So I had to stop at this random small gas station/town. The gas was really expensive. So I decided just to get $10 worth. As I am leaving I see my dad sitting in the car. My mom apparently was using the restroom. They had just left Joplin. So bizarre.

One time when Cody was a baby, I locked him in the car with my keys. I was at a Target in Tulsa. Cody was on a heart monitor too. I was freaking out & starting to run back into the store. As I was running in, I was thinking that I wish my mom was there because she would know what to do & she's locked her keys in her car several times. And who comes walking out of the store? My mom. I will never forget that. I was so happy to see her!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá 'le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially Paddy's Day or St. Patty's Day, is the feast day which annually celebrates Saint Patrick (385-461), the patron saint of Ireland, on March 17, the day on which Saint Patrick died.
The day is the national holiday of the Irish people. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In Great Britain, the United States, Australia and the rest of Canada, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.
It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding, as a member of the commission for the reform of the Breviary [1] in the early part of the 17th century.

Wedding Extra

This picture is up by the request of Katie. This is the man with the hawk. NOT falcon - HAWK. He was very nice & let the boys hold the hawk.

He even sang a special song for the Lord & Lady.

Bridal Party

Introducing Lord & Lady

My brother got married this weekend. This is his Medieval Wedding. Many things taken from Lord of the Rings to my understanding. The first picture is of me with my cute little nephew (my brother's baby). Then a picture of my parents with their grandkids. The top right picture is groom and baby. The bottom two show some customs of the time. The first, the best man is laying down the sword for the bride & groom to cross over. The 2nd is the groom/Lord cutting the bread with his sword for his Lady.

Although themed, the wedding was very nice. The weather was great & everyone did a really fab job putting the wedding together. My new sister-in-law's mom made all the bride's maids' dresses & the wedding dress. She did a fab job.

The reception was really great too. We had a 9 course meal. The 9 courses included:
1. Veggies - carrots & celery
2. Deviled eggs
3. Bread & cheese
4. Salad
5. Rabbit Stew
6. Main course of Pork Loin & barley
7. Fruit
8. Cake
9. Mead & sparkling cider

Mead is a wine of the times made out of honey apprently. Kind of tasted like sweet beer.

After the reception, we did pictures & then there were Bride's "games". Most of the family left before the festivities which included me. I am sorry now that I left. I should have stayed for the sword fighting.

Happenings

The boys started Spring Break today. And on their first official day of SB 2007 we headed south to Oklahoma for my brother's wedding. His medieval wedding that is. The boys will be in the wedding, so they will be dressed in theme. I made their pants and Sara (my soon to be sister-in-law) made the cloaks. I the "conformist" sister that I am, will not be dressed in theme, but instead will go in my current century White House Black Market dress.

We will be heading home after the wedding feast tomorrow, so we came into Tulsa early enough today to meet with my friend Sommer, she has the pictures. We went to the park, did some shopping and ate at PF Changs. All in all a good day. Made it an early night so the boys are plenty rested for the festivities tomorrow.

The Suiter Revealed???

I love to download ringtones on my cell phone. I love music so I like to hear my fav tunes when people are calling. My top 5 people have their own ringtones. Starting with the Suiter. His ringtone is My Love by JT.

The other day when I was at the cleaners. The Suiter called me. The girl at the counter commented that she liked my ring tone. I told her, "thanks, that's my boyfriend." Her response was a very perkie, "HE'S MY BOYFRIEND TOO!!" Her reaction caught me TOTALLY off guard. It took me a minute to figure out what on earth she was talking about. When I did, I gave her a puzzled look, smiled & shook my head yeah as I left.

Do you know me?

I mean really know me - find out, take the quiz on myspace.

V Day

The Suiter and I celebrated Valentine's Day the weekend before. I know for many people, Valentine's Day has become too commercialized. I agree, but it does not take away from the day for me. I still like Valentine's Day.

So we spent Sunday celebrating by getting a couple's massage. The idea started with the Suiter wanting to get me a pedi & mani. Well I went online and saw that this spa did couple's massages. The Suiter was NOT happy about this idea. He had never had a massage and never really wanted one.

Needless to say, he really enjoyed it. He thought the time went by WAY too fast. Did is mention that he enjoyed it? He really did. As much grief that I got over the idea, I then got thank over the idea. So many people thought that it was such a great idea, that he started taking credit for it. Which I was ok with I found it very funny & ironic!

The Receptionist

A couple of weeks ago, Brayden asked me why he had not lost any teeth yet. Which it is not uncommon for 6 year-old boys not to have lost any teeth yet; however, but I decided to look in his mouth anyway. And to my surprise I saw two adult teeth coming in on the bottom. But sure enough the bottom baby teeth were still not budging. So I made an appointment with the dentist. Well last week one of his bottom teeth started to come loose. And over that weekend he lost his first tooth.

Well, he still had his appointment Tuesday with the dentist and we found out that he has a cavity. A cavity on a baby tooth, but the dentist said it was on a back tooth that he would have for awhile, so he wanted to fill it. So I looked at Brayden and told him that he was going to get a shot next week when we come back for the follow up appointment. He got a little scared & said that he didn’t want a shot. The receptionist gave me a dirty look and told him that it would not hurt. 1st of all, why the dirty look & 2nd of all, yeah – it does hurt. So then, I told him see, you need to brush more. The receptionist gave me ANOTHER dirty look and told me that sometimes it is not the kids’ fault! What is this lady’s problem??? I told Brayden’s teacher this story just to see her reaction & she agreed with my tactics (thank goodness). She agreed that sometimes you just have to scare them a bit. And yeah it probably is Brayden’s fault since I will tell him to brush his teeth & he says but I did a couple of days ago!

Wonderful World of Winter Weather

For the most part we missed the last two big snow/ice storms that hit the area. They have both hit Springfield harder than us. This last big ice storm didn’t even bring us anything but rain.

But today we did get snow, earlier than they anticipated. They estimated around 5 for Springfield. It hit around 11:30 here. They canceled school earlier. And they already called off school for tomorrow and it is only 5:00. I love the snow. I like snow days.

The only problem is that one of the three of us has been sick every day for the past two weeks. I have had enough “home” time. I had just convinced myself it is time to get back to work!

I'm on detox

A fruit detox that is. I try to be healthy person, I exercise and I try to eat right. I like to try some of the latest diets to see if they work. Not necessarily because I need to but it becomes a challenge for me. I did the Atkins - hated it. But I did lose 10 lbs on it. I've done Weight Watcher (through friends), Slim Fast, etc... So now I am doing the fruit detox. I like it. I like it because you only do it 3 days a week. For someone trying to lose weight you do this 3 days a week for 12 weeks. Then you do it 3day a week for 1 week every month for maintenance. Another reason I like it is because I like fruit. So eatting fruit all day is cool with me. But I have felt better every time that I have done it. Not just weight wise but I lose all my water retention & helps with my other female issues. So there you have it. Due to the fact that I tend to eat pretty poorly on the weekends I do this Mon - Wed, eat ok on Thur & Friday. And cheat all weekend. So I do not lose weight with this, but I do feel better.

Most Depressing Day of the Year

Not says me, but that is what today has been declared! I won't agree to that 100%, after all the year just started. But I will agree that it started out to be a pretty depressing day.

I woke up early and started dreading the day and all of the stresses that I had coming up. So I could not get back to sleep! GREAT! Not only stressed and depressed but tired too. But I managed to get out of bed, make it to my appointment on time, study for an exam, pass my practice exam and get some encouraging words from the Suitor. So I guess it's not so bad after all.

The boys and I did have a good weekend. Saturday they both had a basketball game. Then we went to see Arthur and the Invisibles (really liked it). We ended the night with pizza. Then yesterday we spent the whole day in. I enjoyed it more than the boys. Cody stayed in his PJs all day though. So not so bad for him either!

Journey to Oprah

My journey to Oprah was pretty nerve racking. I was supposed to fly out on Saturday to Chicago. Well with the weather forcast not looking too promising, I headed out on Thursday. No problem getting on the flight. I ended up on a 1:30 flight that left Springfield at 3:30 pm. We flew to Chicago, which at the most takes 1 hour & 15 minutes. After about 1 1/2 hours, I realized that there must be a problem. Sure enough the pilot comes on & announces that we have been circling O'hare due to bad wind & they want us to circle for another 20 minutes but we are out of fuel. So we are diverting to Rockford, IL.

So after landing in Rockford for a "quick fuel up and then off again." We sat on the runway for 1 hour waiting for clearance to leave. The flight from Rockford to O'hare is only 20 minutes. Well once in the air, we circled O'hare still for another 30 minutes. So by 8:00 PM we finally landed.

Thank goodness for me because bad weather came after that. The flight that I left on was the last flight to leave Springfield until Monday morning! Holly made it Tuesday night with little problems.

Once to Chicago the Oprah show called me 2 times. Once to tell me that taping time had changed. We got the 2nd taping of the day (which ended up being the first day taping of the new year) 11-3. Then they called again to tell me that the topic had changed. But we still had tickets.

So due to the relevance of the show topic, we taped yesterday & it airs TODAY!! To make the experience even more amazing, we got really good seats. We are 2nd row center!!! So watch the show today & I will give you more about the experience tomorrow!

OPRAH

I’m going to be an audience member on Oprah!!! There it’s out. I’m so excited. As many of you know I travel to Chicago on a regular basis. Well every time I go, I look to see if there are tickets or this last minute ticket thing that Oprah does. The put topics online for last minute tapings and you write in to be on the show or in the audience. I have written in on several. On Tuesday they had one about working moms. Are you a working mom that wishes you could stay home, or a stay at home mom that wishes you could work, or do you have the best of both worlds and work from home? So I wrote in about working from home. They called me yesterday to say that they had a spot for me in the audience. The taping is next Wednesday. I get to bring a guest, has to be a working mom, so my bff Holly will be joining me. We are both SUPER thrilled. I will post more when I know when the show will be airing!!!

Present pics

Since I have had some questions about my ring. Here is a picture of it.

Also here is a picture of my purse. I do not think that you want to see a picture of the waffle maker or wine set.

Post Christmas Post

I'm not being very organized with my posts these days. So you get what you get.

I spent Christmas Eve at the hospital. Volunteering.

I spent Christmas with the family at mom's house. We had a good time. The boys got a lot of great gifts. I got a lot of great things too. From the family I got mostly money/gift certificates. Which is perfect for me.

From the Suitor I got a Coach purse, ring from Tiffany's, my fav tea, a waffle maker (I asked for) and a wine set. All of which were perfect & exactly what I wanted. The only gift that I asked him for was the waffle maker. More to give permission to give me such a practical gift. The rest he picked out himself. AWESOME!!!!

For New Year's we spent family time at a friend's house. We played games and had a good time. I plan to post a year in review list next. I did not make a New Year's resolution. Since my last year's one was a total bust. Did you make a resolution??

Merry Christmas

Click here for my holiday greeting to you:

I'm an Elf

Wii

So, this post consists of 2 important facts. First of all, I found a Wii. I, like hundreds of other crazy people, have been hunting one of these things down for weeks. I happened to be walking through the electronic department when I saw the lady stocking the Wiis. So not only did I buy one, I bought 2. That is pretty exciting shopping right there!!! I really thought it was a miracle.

2nd, I tried to sell the 2nd Wii on ebay. That was my first selling ebay experience. I have purchased plenty. But this is my first time selling. Well the experience went unfulfilled. I ended up selling the Wii privately before the auction ended. I had 3 private offers. One at a premium. But I ended up selling it to a member of the family. I sold it to my 2nd cousin. When she found out that I had an extra one, she was so excited. And that is why I bought 2. Not to sell at a premium on ebay but so I could share the joy of such a great purchase with someone else close to me. She thought it was a miracle too.

Have you ever sold anything on ebay?

Who's Listening?

I listen to a lot of hip hop. Well a lot of times we listen to our music, listen to the beat and pretty much ignore the words. The other day Mr. T told me he liked this song, and I repeated some of the words to him, his response was, "I don't know I just like the beat." I'm the same way.

But try listening to hip hop with a 5/6 year-old and you will learn quickly what the words are & you will start listening to them more.

Thanks to Brayden and him listening to some of the songs, I know pay attention to the words in a song. Thus not listening to hip hop as much. After being told, "we aren't supposed to have secrets" and then being asked, "what is a dirty little secret", "why would you want a girlfriend that is wrong" and "why is she a murderer?" I'm pretty leary of the music we listen to. Even with the Christmas music. So far, I've gotten "how can there be 12 days of Christmas?" I'm waiting for why was the mommy kissing Santa Clause?

Deck the Halls

This past weekend, we finally put up the tree. We did a bunch of shopping including getting our ornaments for this year.

I also went to a Home Interior Party on Friday night. Home Interior is not typically my style of decor, but I went with a friend. They had a ton of really cute Christmas stuff. So I bought and I bought a lot. Too much. Then they had this center piece, which I liked. The lady said that whoever booked a show for January would win that center piece. So I ended up booking my own party for January & I got this beautiful center piece.

I thought I had it bad...

While I was in the airport waiting for my flight to Chicago this past weekend, I met a lady from Alaska. She came to Springfield for jaw surgery. So she had been here for 6 weeks. That day she had her flight from Springfield cancelled & missed her connection at O’Hare to Chicago. Then she could not get another flight out of Springfield for 3 more days to go to Alaska.

But prior to her coming to Springfield, she said that she had a flood at home and was without power for 9 days. She was not able to be at her house for 9 days, went home for 1 day and then headed for Springfield.

After her surgery, she went fishing, got stuck in mud, fell & hit her face. She had to have her surgery redone. I felt so bad for her. And she was doing this all alone because her husband had to stay home and work.

THEN she tells me that on a separate flight she said that the nose gear of the plane came off. And they were skidding on the nose of the plane down the run way. This made me think of a time in Memphis when this guy called me the jinx of the flight. Well I wanted to pass this title on to this lady in the airport.

The Break / Up

I feel like I’m living Jennifer Aniston shows/movies. The Suitor and I were on “a break”. We were on a break to contemplate our future.
When I think about being on a “break”, I think of Ross & Rachel and what Ross did on their “break”. Luckily this did not turn into a Ross & Rachel break.

Then there is the Break Up. Where the break up snow balls due to two stubborn people not saying how they really feel. In an effort avoid a scene like that, I try to tell how I feel also because I am not one to keep my mouth shut. But there were times that I thought that I should not say how I feel because what difference would it make? And I knew that he was not saying things that he felt. So I had put this in God’s hands. I had decided that I want to be with him and continue our “future” together. But I cannot control what happens between us, no matter how much I want to. Because for some reason the Suitor will not let me control him, how dare he!

But I made another trip to Chicago to see him this past weekend. We talked & had a really good weekend. He said the sweetest things to me & things that I have waited my whole life to hear. He said that he wanted to be with me too. Me and my boys. I could go on, but it is a lot of mushy stuff & like I said we had a really good talk and decided to continue seeing each other.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

These are some of things that I am thankful for and not so thankful for during the past weekend and holiday season. You decide which is which…

1. My family especially my boys
2. My job
3. The family web site
4. My health & the good health of my family
5. The woman that cut in front of me at lunch on Friday
6. The man that cut in front of me & that I had to push off of me
7. The short lines at SDC, when we went on Thursday
8. Happy Feet that I went to see with the boys that helped lift my spirits
9. Saving money on Black Friday by shopping at 4 PM when everything was sold out
10. Losing my voice over the weekend (that is what the family is thankful for)
11. And stressing out over the weekend about my Series 6 exam (to sell securities) that I passed yesterday!

I'm a cheese head

Last weekend I went to WI. My first time to WI. It was The Suitor's birthday. He wanted to go to Lake Geneva, WI and go to an Italian food restaraunt there that he likes. So we did. I wanted to go on a tour of a cheese factory, but I could not find a cheese factory before hand. So I figured that we could stop at the information area and find a cheese factory. When we stopped the lady told us that there was not a factory for over 100 miles and that cheese is made in the morning so all tours take place in the morning. She gave us a map of all the factories & I saw one that looked pretty close. I asked her how far that one was, she replied "90 miles." Then I saw another & asked how far that one was, she replied "60 miles." And never skipped a beat. Oh well, 60 miles was further than we wanted to travel for just our day trip. She was right about the AM tours though.

We did go to a cheese store & tried several samples of cheese. Bought some for gifts & bought some salami too. We had a really good day in WI.

Sweetest Day

Last Saturday was Sweetest Day. To find out more about Sweetest Day, click here http://www.theromantic.com/sweetestday.htm

So anyway, The Suitor informed me that it was Sweetest Day the Thursday before. Which gave me time to get a card, get it in the mail, and he would get it ON Saturday. Well when he found out that evening that I got a card and he did not, he was rushed to try to figure something out. I also informed him that I would be in OKC at MrT's house on Saturday too.

He decided that he could get me a gift & a card and send it overnight for Saturday delivery. As to not let me out do him. He was so upset that he even told me about Sweetest Day. Then he could have gotten me a card & I would have not gotten him anything and then he would have something to hold over me, "Remember when YOU forgot about Sweetest Day?".

Well, Sat no delivery, Monday I was back home so FedEx, missed the Sat delivery portion of the Airbill. The Suitor had it re-routed to my house. But FedEx delivered it to Mr. T on Monday, picked it up and let it sit in there office until Wednesday. Well I was heading back out of town on Friday. So the Suitor called FedEx AGAIN, and had it re-re-routed to HIS house. So a week later, the package ends up full circle back to him and I opened up the semi dead flowers almost a week later at his place.

It was the thought that counted. What a great memory of our first Sweetest Day.

The joys of getting older

The boys & I are in OKC this weekend. We are going for a wedding and to visit some family & friends.

On the trip there, Cody wanted to pump gas, so I let him. Fun for him nice for me. So I will continue to take advantage of his services while he still enjoys doing them.

A Decade

WOW, a lot can happen in 10 years. I went to Tulsa for my 10 year high school reunion last weekend. It was ok. I saw 3 of my really close friends. Saw a lot of people that I had forgotten about and did not see some that I wanted to catch up with, oh well.

It was a little weird for The Suiter, who joined me. But he had a good time all in all. Minus the hotel room problems that we had.

Everyone kept saying how much I looked the same. Well they all looked the same too. Some had put on some weight, but I was amazed how 10 years had not changed most.

So here are 2 of my senior pictures - mind you I had my hair permed a week before pictures and then straightened again 3 weeks later before school started back up. So no one even saw me with permed hair.

Are you or did you go to your high school reunion? Who changed the most? You or someone else?

Back to my roots

2 weekends ago, I was back in Chicago and the Suitor and I went to eat Korean food. He has been wanting to take me for Korean food for a long time. I was not impressed. He said that it was not good Korean food. I just kept thinking no wonder I never missed this stuff.

When I told Mr. T about the experience he asked if I felt at home.

Then later, the Suitor said that he realized that he said 2 negative things about my Korean background, but then he said that he knew more about Korean culture than I do.

How politically incorrect are these people??

The Suitor

Mr. T and I had decided several months ago that if I were to discuss my boyfriend on my blog that I would take a page from Stephanie’s blog & refer to him as The Suitor. But due to the nature of our relationship, I decided not to blog about him. But now it is time. But due to the nature of his business, things will remain pretty vague.

So The Suitor came for a visit for Labor Day weekend. It was a pretty lazy weekend. We did a bunch of family stuff, went on the wooden go carts, played putt-putt, went to see Talladega Nights and of course did the lake thing. We really enjoyed our time together. Met tons of family, including the boys for the first time. It went great.

I almost titled this Guys are Guys. Because no matter what The Suitor is a guy. He is a great guy. I can talk to him about things that I have never been able to talk to anyone else about. He is easy to talk to about anything and everything. He likes to talk/communicate just as much as I do. We have a ton of stuff in common. He is anal about most things and I thought that he was very observant about things. BUT I went to get my hair cut on Friday. He knew I went to get it cut. When I got back, I just raved about how well my hair lady did on my hair. I have been going to her for years. But she did the best job ever on my hair this time. I just was so happy and kept talking about it. And what does The Suitor say? “I guess I’ll sound like a typical guy, but it looks the same to me. No different.”

Arbonne Anyone?

Signed up for Arbonne yesterday. Needed to place an order for myself - so I signed up to get a discount. I thought that I would save some money.



Still doing Pampered Chef too. I actually did a party last week. May do another one in September. September is a busy month for Pampered Chef because they have their stones on sale. PLUS they came out with new stuff for September. I realized that I have been "doing" Pampered Chef now for almost 4 years. AND I am still getting more and more of their stuff & still loving it.

Oh... besides those I still have my "regular" jobs too. Still working for Downey in the mortgage department. And I am still working on getting my Series 6 & 63 licenses so I can sell mutual funds. But right now I am still doing some financial services with New York Life.

I did decide to take a semester off from school. Hopefully start up again in the spring, once I have obtained my 6 & 63 license. Yeah, I guess I'm staying pretty busy.

First Day of School

The boys starte school on Thursday. This is Bray's first day of real school. This is his teacher Mrs. Boyer. He was not too excited, but said that he did have fun.

Cody was excited about school and enjoyed his first day of 6th grade!

Happy Birthday Brayden

Another Spiderman birthday at Chuck E Cheese.

Happy Birthday Brayden

I've been extra busy this week at work, so here is a cute pic of Bray in honor of his 6th birthday today!! I will post pics from his Chuck E Cheese party that we are having on Sat next week.

When Inspiration Strikes...

I was looking at a Crate & Barrel book this Friday night and saw a room on one of the pages that I really liked. Then I realized that I had a can of paint downstairs the exact same color. (Paint meant for another project, not yet started) I've been sick of my current living room look for awhile now, I just did not know what to do with it or if I even wanted to spend the time & money doing anything with it. But the moment hit, so I decided at 11:30 PM Friday night that I would start painting my living room. And I did. I finished yesterday. I love it.

Now I am off shopping for accent pieces. After all, I need accent pieces. I only had the paint on hand.

The walls are a chocolate brown. But I think there is a hint of purple in there (I am not too fond of that). Previously the room was a faux paint of tan, ivory & sage green. I am over the sage green. I have orange in the kitchen, I may accent the living room in orange too to bring it all together. Have not decided yet, or maybe just not inspired yet.

Update

First of all, my poison ivy is getting worse. I will spare you all the nasty pictures. But that spot on my leg is 10 times worse right now & it looks good compared to a couple of days ago. It has also spread to the top of my let, all over my other leg and on my arm. And my leg is swollen up. It has been miserable to say the least. I am on the verge of going to see a doctor about it & I never go to the doctor. I will see how it does this week and decide from there.

I went to Chicago this weekend. Pretty relaxing and fun. Went to Michigan Avenue. It was ok. I got down there pretty late on Saturday and apparently all the stores close at 6 PM. I was pretty bummed about that. I saw You, Me & Dupree. It was funny. I would not say one of my favorite movies. But funny enough. Saturday night I stayed downtown and went to Navy Pier to watch the fireworks. They were pretty good. It was crazy crowded there.

I ate sushi again this past weekend. I do not really eat sushi. I have had it 3 times previously and all within the last 6 months. We went to one of my favorite places to eat in the city called Shine Morida. I ate so much sushi (which was not a lot) that I thought I was going to be sick. The final straw was the last Maki Roll (some spicy tuna/shrimp thing) that was so huge I could hardly close my mouth & I was already pretty full that I really did not think that I was going to make it. So here is to eating sushi until you explode!

First Time for Everything

So far this summer, I have had a couple of funky skin things going on. Every year I get the typical bug bites and bothersome chigger bites. But this year is a first. I believe that I have gotten poison ivy. I have never had poison ivy. But as BJ said, there's a first time for everything.

Since I have never had poison ivy, I do not typically pay too close of attention for the plant. And then I have never really known what it would look like on my skin. I had these bumps that I thought was some kind of rash. It itched, so I scratched it... Then it got a nasty and spread. I still had no clue what was going on with my skin, until today when I showed BJ and Gma. They informed me that it was poison ivy & to quit scratching it. WHICH I had already planned to do since I had been yelled already about it by someone else.

So, here is a picture of my pretty leg. That is just one spot. It is all around the other side of my shin too!! And I still do not even know what that funky stuff on my other ankle was that I had last week.

New Ride

This is my new ride. It is a 2004 Toyota Highlander. It is really nice. It has 45,000 miles, a third row, power windows, cd, air, cruise and it is 4 wheel drive. Are you sold yet? Other than that it is pretty basic.

Salesman beware, I think I did a pretty good job negotiating, if I do say so myself. Thanks to some advice from an ex-car salesman. I first saw this one last Wednesday. I said that I would buy that day for one price. They said no & I said ok, I like the car but do not want to pay that much for it. So I bought it Monday for $600 less than I said on Wednesday. I guess patience does pay off. But I hated negotiating and playing that game. Glad it is all done. Have you ever had to negotiate for a car, if so how do you think that you did?

Week In Review

What a super crazy week. It all started last Friday night...

I went to see Fire, the Hawaii experience or something like that. It was a show by the Polynesian Cultural Center. Went with some family. Then went to grandma's to meet up with Terra, Mike, Matt & Krista. We hit the town, did some sight seeing, visited & headed to bed around 3 am.

Sat we were all up bright and early around 8. I drug Matt out for a walk, then the girls & I went for pedicures, we went to lunch, went to Uncle Phil's house to meet up with Ted & Emily, did reunion business, played Dominos with Aunt Ev, went to dinner and then headed to the lake for fireworks and a night swim. Headed to bed earlier, around 2 am.

Sunday went to church and then back to the lake for the afternoon. Rode the jet ski and did the diet coke experiment. If I could figure out how to put a video on here, I would show our mini fountain. Then I headed back to Oklahoma City with Matt's group. Stayed there until Wed.

Wednesday I came home, worked, car shopped and went to see the boys' last baseball games.

Friday I headed to St. Louis to work. Worked and spent the weekend with my cousin Ted & Emily. Crazy busy weekend!!!

Here are some pics, for more check out Krista's blog ... http://www.happyredhead.blogspot.com/

Fear of Pickles is Ruining My Life

This is from ifilm (link on blog) from the Maury Povich Show. Pretty weird stuff. I love pickles!

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2748349

Addictions

I was reading a post from my friend's blog today and she was talking about how she did not realize how addicted she is to her cell phone. Do not worry this post is not going to be any kind of confession about any addictions nearly as serious as in A Million Little Pieces. But it made me think about my so-called-addictions. So here they are in list form:

1. My cell phone
2. My laptop/internet connection
3. (Future addiction) my new GPS & maps & trips software
4. Network marketing (Longaberger, Team National, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Home Interior, etc...)
5. ebay
6. Blogging
7. Panera/Starbucks (Like Starbucks coffee & cakes better, but like internet access from Panera)
8. Shopping
9. My soaps
10. working out

So mostly gadgets and anything related to shopping. What are you addicted to?

Survey

Name: Kira
Birthdate: January
Birthplace: Korea
Current Location: Missouri
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 110
Piercings: Ears only - for now
Tatoos: not yet
Boyfriend/Girlfriend: no
Overused Phraze: retarded & jacked up

FAVORITES
Food: Gyros & all fruit
Candy: gummy bears, sour patch kids & red vines
Number: none
Color: silver, pink & purple - for now
Animal: none
Drink: water
Alcohol Drink: none
Bagel: asiago cheese
Letter: never thought about it
Body Part on Opposite sex: abs, arms, face

THIS or THAT
Pepsi or Coke: Diet Pepsi (but I do not drink soda)
McDonalds or BurgerKing: McDonalds
Strawberry or Watermelon: Strawberry
Hot tea or Ice tea: Hot
Chocolate or Vanilla: Choc
Hot Chocolate or Coffee: Mocha
Kiss or Hug: both
Dog or Cat: neither
Rap or Punk: rap Summer or Winter: spring/fall
Scary Movies or Funny Movies: funny
Love or Money: love and money

YOUR...
Bedtime: random
Most Missed Memory: Senior year of high school
Best phyiscal feature: hair & teeth/smile, I guess
First Thought Waking Up: random
Goal for this year: Too many to name
Best Friends: Holly & Matt
Weakness: shopping
Fears: no $$$$
Heritage: Korean
Longest relationship: 8 years

HAVE YOU...
Ever Drank: yes
Ever been beaten up: no
Ever beaten someone up: no
Ever Skinny Dipped: I do not think so
Ever Kissed Opposite sex: yeah
Been Dumped Lately: yeah
Been on a blind date: not yet

IN A GUY/GIRL
Favorite Eye Color: green
Favorite Hair Color: any - not red so much
Short or Long: short
Height: 6'
Style: trendy/prep
Looks or Personality: both
Hot or Cute: either
Drugs and Alcohol: no
Muscular or Really Skinny: in between

RANDOMS
Number of Regrets in the Past: ??
What country do you want to Visit: Europe
How do you want to Die: In my sleep
Been to the Mall Lately: YEAH
Do you like Thunderstorms: yes
Get along with your Parents: yes
Health Freak: yes
Do you think your Attractive: I'm told that others think that I am
Believe in Yourself: yes
Want to go to College: going
Do you Smoke: no
Shower Daily: yeah
Been in Love: yes and I'm not sure that it is all it is cracked up to be
Do you Sing: not very well
Hate anyone: no

Cars

I took the boys to see cars last night. We had a good time. The movie is around 2 hours. A little over with previews and the mini movie that Pixar has been known to do.

I liked the movie, but I would not call it a "funny" movie or one of my favorites. I was expecting more, so I was a bit disappointed. I do not think that the boys were disappointed but I could tell by the lack of chatter after the movie that they did not think it was too fantastic.

The movie had more of a "serious" storyline to it. Somewhat thought provoking. Just the pure animation is good enough for Brayden but I think the more in depth story was good for Cody and myself. I liked the storyline.

Have you seen cars? If so what did you think of it? What is the best movie that you have seen recently?

I saw The Break Up last weekend. I liked it. Probably one of the better movies that I've seen (I've seen Failure to Launch, MI3, and Ice Age 2 recently in the theaters).

Interesting...

Next month, a company called Atech Flash Technology will release the iCarta, designed to let users listen to music while in the bathroom and features a toilet-paper holder.

The $99.95 iCarta's four speakers are designed to resist moisture, and the device uses AC power to charge the iPod while it's playing. Atech says the toilet paper holder can be folded in if the user would rather not employ this unique implementation of multitasking.

When contacted for comment by gadget Web site iPodObserver.com, Atech sales manager Eric Liu said: "We want to create something that is different and brings people joy for buying such products. The product is even protected by our own patent worldwide."

Life

So I have been back from Chicago for a couple of days or more and things have not slowed down one bit.

My grandma had a heart attack on Sunday. She is doing fine now but just came home from the hospital today.

Marvin and my Aunt Teri have been taking care of Grandpa while mom & I have been watching over Grandma.

She had 2 stints put in and she does have heart failure. About 35% of her heart is functioning at this time. But they put her on medication to help. I guess her and grandpa are on the same medication for their hearts now.

Things have been picking up for me with work. Which is good. I need the business. It takes a while and persistance helps.

That's all I have time for right now. Sounds more like a generic email than a blog posting, but that's how it goes some times.

Walking Around Town

I am in the Chicago area this week for work. Instead of driving and parking we tend to do a lot of walking. There are a lot of things within walking distance, which make it nice. So today as I was out walking about I saw some interesting things…

I saw that an Ethiopian Restaurant is opening soon – so I wondered what Ethiopians eat. Here is what I found online – http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/dining_suggestions.html#first

I saw a man with a very large belly sitting on a park bench, with his button up shirt unbuttoned, in order to sun that belly.

I saw a truck stuck under the train bridge.

I saw a man who had been to the grocery store. He had about 6 bags. He was stopped in the middle of the sidewalk eating his groceries.

I love walking!

Theoden

This is my new nephew Theoden. He is SOOOOOOOOOOOO adorable. And I am not biased in anyway. He is just so sweet and cute. Yes, my brother’s son is sweet. He is just a baby after all. He makes the cutest faces. Did I mention how adorable he is??? And I gave him LOTS of kisses!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Here are some pictures of our Memorial Day Weekend. We had a big lake day on Sunday with a cook out at my mom’s house. She had a house full of friends and family.

Monday I went out to the lake again with Holly and Carter.