Pay to wear jeans

My company has been trying innovative techniques to raise money for United Way. Raffles, paying to have pie thrown in executive's faces, and allowing you to wear jeans on Fridays. Now, I am all for donating to charity and I am all for wearing jeans to work, but I just can't see coughing up $5 to wear jeans. And I see my fellow engineers agree.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

The Olympics are over, I'm losing the battle against getting sick, and it's Monday. Blech.

Olympic ratings

The ratings are higher for this Olympics than 4 years ago in Sydney Olympics. What is it about watching athletes swim, run, bike, shoot hoops, bump, set, that draws so many fans? Why are more people watching now than ever before?

I have several theories. One is the pure escapism. With all the politics playing out right now, it's nice to take a 2 week break from the mud slinging. Also, our world in the US has changed from the past 4 years. It is reassuring to envelope yourself in something historic and predictable. The athletes representing their countries are competing in harmony and allows us to imagine a world without terror. The Olympics also give us hope. And we witness real human emotion hour after hour, joy, elation, despair, without having to think of our own problems.

Or maybe it's the hard bods in skimpy attire.

Memories

Michael, at Chasing the Wind, has a touching story today of sorting through his son's room after leaving for college. It makes me think of this morning when my daughter woke up really early. I picked her up out of her crib and rocked in her the glider for a few minutes. And I was having flashbacks to when she was a tiny little infant and I would rock her in that chair. I was trying to remember every detail of the moment realizing that with just a blink she'll be starting kindergarten, middle school, high school, getting her driver's license, going to prom, leaving for college. The reason behind our actions as parents is to prepare our children for these life events; to become independent. And yet when that time comes, it bittersweet. And the time we've had nurturing and caring for our children and witnessing their firsts is all too short.

Shout Out

To a swimmer at the Olympic games, Scott Goldblatt, who is blogging his experiences in Athens. I just can't get enough of the olympics and I am still struggling with why these 16 days are not considered a national holiday. Summer games come only every 4 years, you'd think the least they could do is close down the office for us so we can watch 24/7. I could handle working through the winter olympics. Being a native Houstonian, it's hard for me to relate to snow and ice.

On the cusp

Butterflies in my stomach, pounding headache, my breathing is rapid. Life is getting ready to make a huge turn and I'm excited. I need to calm down because I know it will be slow to change, but I can feel the changes happening. The confidence is slowly starting to build. I am in control of my own destiny which is as terrifying as it is exhilarating. For the stable, safe engineer these changes are slow, methodical, yet still revolutionary. For once, I am allowing myself to float among the clouds and dream big. I see the future, I am planning for the future, have already determined the steps necessary and I believe in myself. This journey will not be easy, will have many forks in the road, will most likely be filled with sleepless nights, but the rewards are big. And I will not take this journey alone, I have a teammate, a partner, a perfect compliment to myself. And together we will make our dream a reality.

History of the marathon

It's an inside joke among marathon runners- "how far was the marathon you ran?" It's a joke because everyone asks it and a marathon is always 26.2 miles. The distance is the same as between Marathon and Athens. Here's a link to more history than you ever cared to read.

I'm training for the half marathon this year. The pain of the full 26 miles is still too fresh in my mind.

4 yr old computer whiz

I went to the computer at home last night and noticed the defrag was running. I thought to myself, I've been needing to do that and in fact searched for it a few months ago, but couldn't find it. I asked my husband where he found it and he answered- the what? The defrag program. Huh? You're defragging the hard drive, right? No, must have been 'the boy'....

Thanks, son. Keep up the good work!

Glued to the Olympics

It's funny how the Olympics can turn active, athletic people into complete couch potatoes. It does my family anyway. I have been glued every spare moment since Friday night. I love watching the women's gymnastics because the flips and turns are unbelievable. I have a love/hate relationship with watching swimming. Seeing the athletes messing with their goggles, adjusting their caps, swinging their arms around to loosen up the muscles, stepping on the blocks, waiting for the start...it brings back floods of memories. I was on a swim team from the age of 6 all through my high school years.

Then my mind starts to wander. I remember consciously making a decision that I didn't want to be the best swimmer. In order to be the best swimmer, I would have to give up everything else and join the USS swim team. They had practice after the school's practice. I had more important things to do with my time- like chase that Junior stud swimmer (who now happens to be my hubby). That sums up how I live my life, always trying to maintain a balance. Which means I'm not the best at anything. But that's okay; I'm happy with my life.

I have no idea what this means

But I'm sure it was something I was supposed to blog. So, here goes. I'm reviewing the notes in my palm, which has completely changed my life. In a good way, like TIVO. But anyway, I digress. The note was jotted down Saturday August 7th at 8:18 pm. That would have been while playing pool at Fox and Hound. And all it says is "Mike swinger".

I really wish I knew what that meant.

Christmas in August

I went to Garden Ridge to buy a simple black shelf that was on sale. After wandering around aimlessly, I finally found an employee and asked where I could find them. She pointed me first in the craft area. No, I want the ones that are prefinished. Oh, those will be in furniture. After roaming furniture for several minutes, I finally locate another employee. This one's walking fast and is hard to catch. Excuse me! Where can I find the wall shelves? Oh, they're in the craft section. No, I want the prefinished ones. I'm not sure where those are located. I locate someone new because third time's a charm, right? Where can I find the wall shelves that were advertised for $9.99 that are normally $19.99 and come in three different finishes? (I'm getting wiser, can you tell?) Oh, we're out of those.

Now what does any of this have to do with Christmas? When I first walk in to Garden Ridge, I'm bombarded by Halloween decorations. Panic sets in because I haven't bought the kid's costumes yet. I calm down when I realize it's only the beginning of August. The next section I come to is Christmas decorations!! In August. That's just wrong, whatever way you look at it.

Just waiting

So, Mike and Jo and Jo's husband and my husband had a mini-blog party this weekend. We met at Fox and Hound, which seems to be a little confused about it's identity. They claim to be an English Pub, but the menu contains: nachos, pizza, philly cheesesteak, quesadillas, burgers, etc. After dinner (and continually harassing our waiter) we headed to the pool tables. I was thoroughly embarrassed with my skills, or lack thereof. Joe and her husband are great fun and it was so pleasant to have an entire conversation without being interrupted by "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..."

But anyway, I really want to talk about it but I'm waiting for Mike to get in gear and put up the pics that I gave him this morning.

Boys

Last night, my son was super tired during dinner and was therefore uncooperative. Normally, he'll eat what I fix, but last night he would not even put a bite in his mouth. My dad and my husband were trying to convince him to eat his asparagus because it would make his pee stink. Don't you want your pee to stink? Yes, that was their argument.

Did you know that some people don't have the gene necessary to smell their stinky pee? In case you need more information about the sulfur containing compounds that are actually causing this, go here.

I must be insane

What would happen if we all decided to stop pointing fingers and blaming everyone else and instead directed that energy to working together? You know what, it doesn't matter who's right or who's wrong, let's just figure out a way to make it better. I get so sick and tired of the mud slinging election years. Everyone acts like a bunch of 5 year olds.


I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony....

Yeah, I've lost it. I know.

Mellencamp for Kerry

Mamamontezz wrote a fitting tribute for Kerry sung to the tune of Jack and Diane. Here's an excerpt:

Little ditty 'bout John and T'ray-za
2 priv'leged kids politic-ing cross the heartland.
John, he wants to be a big Lib'ral Star
T'ray-za's dillitante-medicated Dill Pickle Czar.

See the rest here.

Mother-in-laws

I really feel for people who do not get along with their in-laws. My mother in law was in San Francisco visiting her mother and she came back with gifts. She always has gifts for the kids, but this time she had a gift for me. My favorite snack in the whole world that I can't get here- Trader Joe's chocolate covered soy nuts. I completely forgot she would be in Trader Joe country, but she didn't :)

Ug

If you ever have the stupid idea of 'I know I just ate dinner and am still a little tipsy from the glass of wine, but I am sure jogging would be a great idea' then

Just Step Away from the Running Shoes

Apparently, the stomach gets mighty upset when you try to divert blood flow to your extremities.

Everyone's waiting

Finally, a pic of me and Dale Jr. and the kids. Ain't we cute?

It's from Christmas several years ago. Alas, I can't remember the last time Dale has seen the kids :(

Nonstop entertainment

Some days I think I'm nothing more than a firefighter, putting out fires. Always on emergency mode. My plan for this weekend was to go into the office and get caught up. Saturday morning, hubby went running early and when he got back, I was going in. Only I couldn't get into the bedroom to get dressed. We were locked out. And one would think this a minor problem. However, this is no simple lock. This is a keyed lock and low and behold, we did not have the key. Multiple phone calls to a locksmith, both our dads and my grandfather, a pipe wrench, needlenose pliers, 20 minutes of drilling later, metal shavings everywhere- success! Only by this time it was already the afternoon.