What a difference two years can make...

Cookie gathered the girls tonight at her place for some good food and good company. Unfortunately, I took no pictures but hopefully Marcy will send some of hers my way. A gal was there that I hadn't seen or kept in contact with since I moved away from Denton, nearly two years ago. This was how the conversation went:

Friend: Hey Peggy! It's great to see you! How's your grandma doing?

Peggy: Oh, um...she died.

Friend: OMG, I'm so sorry. When? Are you okay?

Peggy: Yeah, it was pretty natural. She kind of went downhill the last year and was living with relatives...I'm doing better now.

Friend: Wow...so how's your dad?

Peggy: Um, he died too.

Friend: WHAT?

Peggy: Yeah, freak accident from a routine surgery last September, pretty crazy.

Friend: Whoa. Well, do you still have your dog?

Peggy: (bursts out laughing) No...I had to give him away.

Seriously. What kind of 2 minute conversation is that? It was a little awkward. I kind of tried to deflect, but really in the end...I had to see the humorous side in having to answer each question that way.

In the end, it was a good night of girl talk and way too many calories.

Adventures of the LDR: Episode 2

This past weekend was the second visit Jesse & I had as a couple in an LDR (long distance relationship, if you recall).

Here are some nibbles:

On Saturday, we went to the apartment pool for a swim. Upon arriving, we discovered the complex was hosting a pool party, and giving away free stuff every 15 minutes. In two hours, we won a gift card to Chili's and another to Wal-Mart. Thanks to this, Jesse has now experienced the glory of Chili's skillet queso. We then meandered Wal-Mart trying to decide what we could buy to share while 2700 miles apart. Then my eye caught the perfect thing...aqua socks for the water park the next day! Let me tell you...we looked C-O-O-L.

On Saturday night, we went to Improv Comedy Club in Addison, TX. The featured comedienne was Iliza Shlesinger, the winner of last season's Last Comic Standing. This was the 3rd attempt at professional comedy for Jesse and I, and we were pinning our hopes on Iliza to redeem the lousy acts we had seen before. She was, in a word, kick-tail. I highly recommend googling her (or clicking on her name above) to see for yourself.

We went to Hurricane Harbor on Monday, the perfect day since all the normal folks are working and lines are very short. We decided to go to "Boogie Beach" where you can basically surf on boogie boards. There was a beginner beach and an advanced beach. We decided to try each. On the beginner beach, Jesse flashed approximately 20 men & women when his trunks came down. On the advanced beach, I flashed approximately 20 men when my bottom fell...as I grabbed my bottom to pull up, my top flapped to the left, completely exposing both of the girls. Humiliating! Far worse is the fact that I thought only the left lady was revealed and while putting her back in place, Jesse ran over and covered me, whispering in my ear as 20 men went "Woohoo!" that my right lady was also showing off for the crowd. O.M.G.

At the airport, we bid a very sad adieu for our longest time apart...2.5 months until Labor Day. I cried. Yep, I was that girl.

Addendum: Jesse saw (and stalked) Carrot Top through the Las Vegas airport on his way home.

I watch So You Think You Can Dance. I cried last night when Max got sent home. Not because I care so much about Max, but because the camera shot his partner, Kayla, crying because her partner was sent home. Bummer.

I haven't done much lately, so that has been reflected on the blog. Let's see, what can I scrape from the bottom of the blog possibilities barrel to share with you?

Jesse arrives in Dallas in 7 hours. Yay! Bella is excited to meet him...Uyen has warned me that Bella will insist on sitting between us at all times. We'll see who wins that fight.

Work has been crazy this week. Crazy, I tell you. Our admin assistant has been on vacation, so we've been doing our jobs and hers. Every phone call. Every walk-in. Every second. Of every day. We will be oh-so-glad to have Susan back in the office!

I have not returned to yoga class since my first endeavor; however, it is only a matter of time before I "OMMMM" once again.

My boyfriend is so romantic. While we have a mere 3 days together, he REALLY wants to...go see the new Pixar movie, "Up." Seriously.

Other Planned Activities List:
-Stare at each other the first hour once again acclimating to actually being in each other's presence
-Move Bella to one side of us instead of in the middle
-Hugs
-Hurricane Harbor, the water park next to Six Flags
-Babe's Chicken Dinner House
-Billy Bob's
-Kissses
-More hugs
-More kisses

On Oklahoma Adventures

This past weekend, I went to Tulsa, OK, to visit my friend Melissa for her birthday. Something extraordinary (and by "extraordinary" I literally mean out of the ordinary and do not necessarily make a positive or negative connotation) always happens when I go to Oklahoma.

In 2006, I was in a wedding in Norman. The designer of my bridesmaid dress finished 3rd on Project Runway that year (Kane) and I met him personally for a fitting.

Also in 2006, I went to Oklahoma for something and met a guy from my online classes for the first time. We had expressed interest in each other throughout our classroom interactions, so it was almost like online dating, except instead of eHarmony or match.com being the platform, it was DBU's Blackboard. Slightly less impressive than the typical online dating venues...but only slightly.

In 2007, I joined my friend on her trip to Miami, OK, to pick up the new poodle she was adopting. Wilbert and her original poodle (whose name has completely left me) were also in, so the 2 gals and 3 dogs road-tripped. We were screamed at by a turnpike attendant and honked at by numerous other drivers because we were stupid Texans who didn't know that Oklahoma charges people $3.50 to drive on the interstate and all we had were debit cards--no cash.

In 2009, a new story joins the ranks of such fine adventures. Mels and I stayed at her co-worker's house to make the trip to float the river that much shorter in the morning (it wasn't that much shorter, turns out, but that's another blog post). Said co-worker went on a date that evening, so Mels & I had the place to ourselves. I decided to have a glass of milk before going to bed. The only milk I could find was in an odd-sized container, but I poured a glass anyway and settled on the couch.

I took my first swig, a nice big one, and OH.MY. It was the worst taste I have EVER had in my mouth. I couldn't dream of swallowing so I ran to the kitchen and spit it in the sink. I yelled to Mels how awful it was and she said, "Ohhhh. I bet it was buttermilk." A check of the container confirmed the horrible truth that I had indeed allowed buttermilk to touch my lips.

The next morning, Co-worker told Mels that she had to run to the store for some milk to cook breakfast. Mels relayed the buttermilk story, so Co-worker went to the fridge and took out the container.

The buttermilk was not only buttermilk, but EXPIRED buttermilk. Expired. April. 6. 2009. A full two months to the day that I drank it.

O.M.G.

National Champs!...OMMM.

My University of Washington Huskies women's softball team defeated the Florida Gators 2 games in a row to win the first ever national championship at the Women's College World Series! It was really fun to cheer on the team even though I'm far away in Texas now. Bella slept while I yelled at the dramatic plays that led to the win.

I also experienced a sense of nostalgia remembering my own high school softball days...facts you may not know:
1) I played varsity softball my junior & senior years (the program started my junior year) and earned the prized letter for my letterman jacket my senior year.
B) I was born to be an outfielder; however, because I am 5'7" and left-handed my coach tried to make me a first baseman. When I earned a busted chin that even the big bad baseball players gawked at by missing a ball at first base, he put me back in the outfield. Good choice. And, I told you so.
D) I earned all-district honorable mention for defense my senior year.
4) My # was 10. Who knows why.
Q) My favorite softball moment was a diving catch I made to end a game. Yay me!
Z) My other favorite moment was when our team won the district during our first year having a program. We had about 8 seniors that graduated, and virtually had to start with a new team the next year.

Not that most of my readers are going to give two hoots about this, but here is a link to more if you want to read up on UW win.

In other news, I went to my first ever yoga class on Monday night. Work was particularly insane on Monday, so I planned to just veg on my couch and watch the Bachelorette (yes, I'm THAT girl). At 7:05, Jesse convinced me that my extreme fatigue was exactly why I should participate in the invigorating activity that is yoga.

The 90 minute class began with Becky, the instructor, introducing me. She loved that I wrote "just curious" on my form as to why I was there, and let everyone know that I was a yoga virgin. Then, class commenced with a group chorus of three "OOMMMMM"'s.

I was pretty proud of myself. Despite the fact that Becky came over to me and literally pushed my body in some way or another 3 or so times, I never had to stop and take a break...did I mention the class was 90 minutes? So it took a lot of stamina (but nothing compared to the spinning class I tried a few years ago...I was surprised I still had a rear end when that was over).

The wierd thing about yoga is that while I was simultaneously feeling the slight pain of muscles being stretched in new ways, I was so relaxed that I almost fell asleep a couple of times. Becky talked to us while we did the different poses and I felt a renewed sense of "I'm awesome"-ness upon leaving that evening.

So, to all of you faithful blog readers I bless you with a great big "OOOMMMMMM."

Brownwood = Sleep 'n' Eat

Literally all I do when I go to Great Aunt Gayle & Uncle Lynn's place is sleep and eat. Don't believe me? Here was my schedule on Saturday:

10:15 am-wake up
10:30 am-breakfast (served on a silver platter)
11:00 am-chat in the living room, sprawled on the couch
12:00 pm-watch the 3 pooches play outside and talk with Lynn on the porch
1:00 pm-fall asleep on the couch
4:00 pm-wake up from 3 hour nap
4:10 pm-eat "chocolate layered thing" Gayle made for the weekend
5:00 pm-offer to help Gayle with dinner, set the table (the extent of my activity)
5:05 pm-watch Lynn grill ribeye steaks
5:30 pm-eat my weight in steak 'n' taters
6:15 pm-lounge on the couch
7:00 pm-watch the pooches play outside
7:30 pm-lounge on the couch
10:30 pm-go to bed

Too bad that's not everyday life!

Gayle & me

Lynn grilling the steaks

Beautiful Bella

Beautiful Bella again

Gayle & Lynn's mini schnauzer, Frankie...in a yoga pose

Lynn spoils the dogs--looks like Bella is beating the boys!