Clueless Trauma

So, I'm stumped. We have our final assignment for my photography class. We have to create a story told through photographs. The key is, I have to be the star. Huh? Me? A story to tell. I don't have any stories to tell. I'm totally stumped. Part of the problem is that I want to be so incredibly creative that the little bit of creativity I have is sucked right out of me. Clueless.

Last night, we had trauma. Chris was at poker. I was at home scrapping and chatting with Ms. Lin over email. All was well with the world. Then, I noticed Mimi messing with the covers on the bed. She loves to lay on the bed when she's tired, so I went to fix them for her. And what do I find? Not one, but two pee spots on the bed. OMG! That dog is lucky she is otherwise so sweet and cute, because she almost went to another home. And I'm 100% not kiding. So, now, I'm pretty sure she wasn't messing with the sheets to try to lie down. Oh no, miss smarty-pants was trying to cover up what she'd done. I've seen her do that before. And, she knew it was bad. I could tell by her demeanor as soon as I found it. I didn't even yell, and she knew how much trouble she was in. And, if that wasn't enough, it got on the comforter, which someone who shall remain nameless has insisted go without it's duvet (still not sure why). So, I haul all of the sheets and the comforter down to the laundry and put the comforter in to wash. Yes, we have a king, but our washer can handle it - we've done it before. So in it goes, and a-spinning it starts, and off I go. After a while, I notice this horrible noise, and when I go to investigate, the washer is SMOKING and leaking water. I open it up to get it to stop and feathers go everywhere. I'm totally freaking out. We're going to Vegas in 3 weeks. All disposable income is to be spent on fun! Not a new washer. In case I haven't mentioned, I'm freaking out. I called Chris and told him he HAD to come home from poker (it was after midnight anway and he turns into a pumpkin at 10). He was totally cool about it and rushed home. He even called me on the way to reassure me that it would all be okay. He got home and checked it all out, and lo and behold! the washer is OK (we think). Apparently the comforter got stuck somehow (I'm thinking the zipper) and that's what was causing the smoking (there are burn marks on it), and the sticking is what caused the ripping. I don't care, I'm just happy we don't need a new washer. And, we had a couple of king blankets so we weren't even cold last night.

Lazy Blogger...

That's me. So, lots of days have passed. Some interesting things have happened. Here's an interesting story Bob (my mom) told me today. She went into Panera Bread the other day, and the guy that works there say, "I knew it was you!" He received a resounding, "Huh?" from Bob. Turns out, he and his family were on the way home from vacation in NC and got routed through Newark (sounds convenient, huh?) and saw us in the airport. He didn't come say hi 'cuz he thought we were with a guy. Nah, we were just giving him the skinny on where to eat in 'ole Tulsey Town. He didn't say anything, but my repeated running trips to the Women's Room may have scared him off also!

I've been taking a digital photography class with Laquita at Apertures, a local camera store.  Laquita is totally fab. She's the one who sold me my awesome lens that allowed me to take the totally illegal pics in St. Mark's in Venice. I've learned a lot. Yeah, I already knew a lot of it, and could have figured most of what we've learned out on my own, but I'm so glad I didn't try it that way. The tips and tricks and ins and outs.....100% worth it! She really made me understand White Balance, which is something I was midly clueless about, but knew it could make a serious difference for me. Oh boy! I'm actually getting pics inside my house with true color without having to Photoshop them. Yippee!!!

I've also started scrapbooking again. I'm having so much fun. I'm totally lifting layouts from Jamie Waters' article in the recent Creating Keepsakes magazine. Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten the actual magazine in the mail yet ( I think the Postman is reading it), so I can only do the five that are online. It's almost like waiting for Christmas.....Hurry up and get here!!! I'll share a couple of the layouts:

a realization....

I realized a couple of things. First, I have a LOT of clothes. No, I mean tons. Second, my wardrobe is boring. Sunday afternoon, Chris and I spent a lot of time cleaning out our closets, getting rid of stuff. In the end, we had like 3 boxes to take to Goodwill. But then, as I was putting everything back in my closet, I realized how boring everything inside of it was. Lots of polos and tees from Gap and Old Navy. Sure, I like the colors, but why are those the only things in my closet? And then it hit me like a Mack truck. I've been hiding. For the last few years, every addition to my wardrobe has been something to tide me over. Clothes that fit for now until I get my body where I want it to be. How boring is that? Even though I said it was never going to happen, I've gained weight from the wedding. Now, a large part of my wardrobe doesn't fit, so Sunday I packed most of the clothes that don't fit away. I can't believe how little clothing there is in my closet. This is ridiculous! I should be able to wear fun, bright, wild (okay, not too wild, 'cuz as we all know, I am rather squarish). So, I will. I've embarked upon a new workout and eating regime, and already I feel good. It will involve the aforementioned swimming, some running (I want to do a marathon in Nov. and someday I'd like to do a triathlon...I even bought the book Slow Fat Triathlete), and some workout videos. I actually just broke down and bought the Turbo Jam videos. Can you believe? I bought something off of an infomercial! But, in my defense, I did a lot of research before making the purchase. Once I get that, I'll intersperse it along with some other DVDs (when they're workout related, they totally should still be called videos/tapes) I already have. One of them is the Biggest Loser workout. Yep, they suckered me into that one too. I did it yesterday for the first time. HOLY COW!! That Bob gave me a good workout. My gluteus maximus is a little on the sore side today. And, the workout is just a smidge easier 'cuz boy, is Bob easy on the eyes. A little cheesy, but such a cutie! So, I'm on my way. And I like it.

I don't know....

I just don't know what to say. I want to blog. I read other people's blogs and think, I should post on mine. But, I don't. Does it really matter? I mean really, who really cares if I post on my blog?

Okay, enough blog-pression....Spring in OK has definitely hit. No doubt about it. We had tornado warnings (which yes, are worse than watches) yesterday afternoon with crazy rain and the sirens going off, and according to Bob (who was on an airplane during the craziness), there were three small tornadoes that touched down in the area. What? I had no idea! Never know, though....she could be makin' it up!

I suddenly realized that IF I'm going to do the water work this summer that I'll have to take a lifeguarding class in less than 3 weeks and I haven't been working out at ALL! For the class, you have to do a 500 meter swim of breaststroke and freestyle, and I haven't been swimming in forever. So, we ran over to Academy Sports night before last and got me a suit and last night I went and swam some laps. Got in and just busted out the 500 (or there abouts because I always loose count) without much problem whatsover. I'm just hoping there's no time limit! The plan is to swim just about every day until I have to "perform" so that it's what you might call easy and I don't have performance anxiety.

So, We're Home

We've been home a couple of days, actually. New York City wore me out. Totally wore me out. Part of the problem was the crappy beds. Plus, our room in Manhattan was incredibly hot at night. So much so that I'd wake up out of overheatedness and then of course couldn't go back to sleep. Regardless, we had an awesome trip. Just a wonderful time. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in New Jersey (only had 1 rude encounter!), and Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning in Manhattan. We got daily passes for the subway and went all over the city. Well, all over the island, actually. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and took the ferry around the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island (and bought totally illegal fake bags in Battery Park. When Mom first saw all the bag seller, she thought they were all homeless, I had to explain that they were schlepping their wares). We saw Times Square a bunch of times. We went to Ground Zero. I had a really hard time there. I went to the Intrepid Museum (aircraft carrier). We just did so much, I'm having a hard time remembering it all! I had the most amazing piece of cheesecake from Maxie's Deli. The price, however...not so awesome. $8.52 with tax. For ONE piece! But, it was certainly to die for.

So, we had a wonderful trip and can't wait to go again, hopefully in the winter and see the Christmas Windows along 5th Ave. But, then we had to come home. And home hit me between the eyes. First, someone who shall remain nameless did nothing while I was gone. No groceries bought, no things promised got done. Serious frustration on my end. The nameless one did work really hard while I was gone, though, and thank goodness because said work pretty much funded my whole trip, but readily admits to doing not much else.

Yesterday, Chris' company announced they will likely be outsourcing their IT department. Fabulous. I was extremely upset last night, as we he (but he tried valliantly to hide it), but we remember that God is in his Heaven and has a plan for us, and all the worrying in the world won't change the big whigs minds. So, we'll just wait and see. Thank goodness Chris is highly employable. Hopefully they'll decide not to outsource his group of 2.

Also on the employment front, I may be doing swimming lessons again. I've been talking to Miller Swim School and may work with them over the summer and then continue on into the fall. I'm actually excited about it. I'll have to get my lifeguard certification again and learn how they do things, but I think it'll be fun!

taking New York by storm

we made it! And relatively uneventfully too. Here's a surprise - Bob made friends in the Tulsa airport bathroom. Somehow she figured out this gal was her friend's Arbonne upline. Only Bob! In another classic Bob moment, she kept switching seats as our flight descended so she could see Manhattan and eventually the Statue of Liberty. I just knew the barely-English-speaking stewardes was going to yell at her, but nothing! Alex the Armenian drove us from Newark to our hotel @ the Meadowlands - next door to Giant stadium (incidently, I would hate playing home games at Giant stadium if I were a jet. Just seems wrong.). He was cracking us up. He gave us a full on tour on our way. I'd never had one quite like it. The largest beer plant in NJ, hotel row (including a prison), and a five mile long bridge. The best part was, "Newark is a beautiful, beautiful city. Very beautiful. The surrounding area......not so beautiful. Our hotel must be part of that "area." It's not a bad hotel, but they're doing $17 million renovation. Right now, there's a jackhammer running on the floor above us. So, we went into the city yesterday. we had the absolute best time. We felt pretty silly on the bus- not knowing if we were at the end or not. We got off and bam! We were in Times Square. Mom was so loving it.

and we're off

Bob and I are in the Tulsa airport waiting for our airlane to whisk us off to beautiful, sunny.......Newark. Yep, Newark. We're staying in East Rutherford for a couple of nights while Bob does training and I "help." She's going to work for three days and I'm going into the city. Well, I'll help one day. I'm not totally self-involved!