STRESSED OUT!!!!!

Ah, life! You go through periods where everything is calm and mundane, and then suddenly EVERYTHING STARTS TO HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE!!!!!!! Why couldn't all these things be spaced out in a manner that I could mentally and emotionally handle?! Let me just list for you some of the things that are happening in my life this week:

- Moving! On Saturday, we're moving across town to a new apartment complex, where we will have a much bigger place! This is very exciting and will be a wonderful change. However, trying to get the house packed up and all the details worked out is not exactly stress-free.

- Justin's finals. It just so happens that this week is Justin's last week of class for this summer session, and he has 2 finals... Can anybody guess when his finals are? Oh yes, they're on Saturday! What kind of school has finals on Saturdays?! I guess only this one does. But that means I'm packing up the house and trying to gather people to help us move, while he's stressed out over final papers and studying. We both wish we could be there for the other, but we have so much to do ourselves! Stress!

- Car issues. We have 3 cars at the moment and we're trying to sell one of them. That is already enough to cause worry. However, last week Justin's car (the GOOD one in the family!) broke down and needed work. Thankfully, it turned out to be minor. But then when showing the Mustang to a prospective buyer, he discovered other things that were wrong with it. So then we had to put that one in the shop too! We have 3 cars, but 2 of them were in the shop the same day. I think this one was stressful enough that Justin was losing sleep over it. I think, though, that this issue is just about resolved, so that's good news.

- Family vacation. This one is thoroughly exciting, but it was just a little overwhelming that it all came about on the same week as all the above-mentioned things. My parents, my sister and her family, and Justin and me are all planning to take a vacation to Gulf Shores, AL together in mid-August. Yippee and Hip-Hip-Hooray!

So anyways, I'm done whining about my stressful life. It should all be pretty much done with by this weekend, so I just need to hang in there until then!!! Pray for us!!

It's a Boy!!

My sister had her sonogram yesterday, and her baby is definitely, indisputably a BOY! So that's 2 boys for the McKees. She said there's no chance she's going to try again for a girl - she'd just end up with 3 stinkin' boys! :) They're debating names, trying to find one that is just as unique as Patriot, their first son. I'll let you know when one is settled on. But in the meantime, congrats to the McKees for another baby boy, coming in November!

Visit from the In-Laws

Now that it's been more than 2 weeks since my in-laws came to visit, I'm finally getting the pictures on my computer! We had a WONDERFUL visit, and I'm very thankful for their visit! Over Memorial Day weekend, Justin's parents came to visit us, and they also brought his Uncle Emmit and Aunt Linda. It was such a precious time to get to know people that I don't know very well. Justin's dad, John, brought us a special surprise. He had applied for us and gotten us both the distinction of Kentucky Colonels! Embarrassingly enough, I didn't know what that was, but the more I read and learn about it, the more I realize what a special honor that is!!! Thank you, John!Justin's mom, JoBeth, has a lot of extended family in Central Texas and Oklahoma, so they were kind of making it a family reunion tour. On that Saturday, the 6 of us traveled to College Station to meet up with some of JoBeth's cousins who live in Austin. JoBeth hasn't seen these cousins since before Justin was born, so it was certain a long-time reunion! We met to eat lunch at FreeBird's Burrito World. Yes, thank you Justin for that special Texas experience. :) Then we went to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library that is on A&M's campus. It was a REALLY cool museum, and I'm very glad we did that - I learned a lot! Here is a picture of the whole family out front of the museum. Left to right: Rex (Ruth's husband), Ruth (JoBeth's cousin), Aunt Linda, me, Justin, JoBeth, John, Thomas Ray (in stroller, Judy's grandson), and Judy (JoBeth's cousin)Outside the library there was a really neat sculpture about George H.W. Bush's life and presidency. He loved horses and the way they symbolized freedom, so this sculpture is of them jumping over a portion of the Berlin Wall, which came down during his presidency. Neat stuff.So to sum it all up, we had a wonderful visit with the family, and I'd love for them to come back anytime!

Jesus is a Perennial

As many of you know, gardening is one of my new hobbies. I'd love to someday have a house where I can put in a real garden, but seeing as those days are in the far, indefinite future, I'll have to be satisfied with my potted plants. However, when putting in a full garden, you're working with basically 2 kinds of plants - annuals and perennials. Annuals last only one year, you'll have to buy new plants and replant next season. Perennials last longer than that, simply going dormant through the winter and reviving when spring comes again. God used this concept to really speak to me about Himself yesterday, and I'd like to share it with you. For several years now, I've been going through a winter in my soul. It began sometime while I was living in West Africa. I'd have warm days every now and then, but basically it just felt like everything inside me was cold and dead. I began to forget what it was ever like to feel fully alive spiritually. I began to wonder if I could ever feel alive again, or if I was just doomed to this surviving-but-not-really-living existence. During this winter of my soul, God blessed my life immeasurably by giving me my precious husband, and now looking back I think it was His way of letting me know that He hadn't given up on me, His way of keeping me from losing hope. He allowed my winter to last as long as it needed to to accomplish His purpose in me, and now for the first time in a long time, I'm beginning to feel the warmth of the sun (Son?!) again. Spring is coming! So the lesson that God gave me in this is that Jesus is a perennial! Our spiritual seasons don't follow the calendar year like those in gardening, so most of us don't know our winter is coming until we find ourselves cold and dead, devoid of passion, unable to conjure up the energy to care. But the seed of life that Jesus placed in us when we received His grace and became His children does not die. It's a perennial. It simply goes dormant - it loses its fruit and leaves, turns black, for all intents and purposes looks dead. But He doesn't let it die. He just waits patiently for Spring to come again. No matter how cold or harsh your winter is, no matter how long it lasts, He is still alive, waiting patiently for your bitter frost to thaw under His loving warmth. Then, when the time is right, He blossoms it forth into new life again, spreading it even larger than it was before. Those of you in a dark and cold season of your soul, don't give up hope! Jesus in you doesn't die when those harsh seasons come. He is a perennial!

To Love and To Cherish

Justin and I had the privilege of going to a wedding this weekend in Fort Worth. My friend, Faith, who was a missionary with me in West Africa, was marrying Andrew, a Peace Corps volunteer she met there. There was a bachelorette slumber party on Friday night, which was a blast getting to see old friends, and then the wedding was Saturday afternoon. It was far and away the most unusual wedding I've ever seen! It was in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, just out in the garden. All the guests were seated on blankets in the shade of surrounding trees. Faith and Andrew are both strong Christians, and they wanted their wedding to be a testament not only to their love, but also to God's love for His Bride, the church. Faith has quite a flair for the dramatic, so I knew it was going to be quite a show. They did a drama based on the Scripture Ezekiel 16. Faith came out dressed in dirty clothes and torn jeans, with her hair in a ponytail and dirt on her face, while the reader read this:

"As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil." (v.4-9)

Once Faith reached the middle of the garden, Andrew came out carrying a beautiful white dress. He went to her, draped the dress over her shoulders, and then led her to a chair where she sat down and he washed her feet. Then he said his vows to her and put his ring on her finger. She got up and carried the dress out of the garden. Then the minister taught for about 15 minutes, but I didn't get to hear it because I was helping Faith change. But then after the message, Faith came back out as a beautiful, radiant bride dressed in white, with her hair and makeup done. It was really amazing. Then, the reader read the rest of the passage from Ezekiel:

"'I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,' declares the Lord GOD." (v. 10-14)

She went to Andrew, led him to the chair where he sat down and she washed his feet. Then she said her vows and put her ring on his finger. Then the minister came out, pronounced them man and wife, and they kissed. The end. It was really a beautiful visual of the marvelous love and grace of God toward his children, and it was very impressive seeing Faith able to make that transformation in just 15 minutes! Here is a picture of her with me and Charity, the three girls who went to West Africa together. What a great weekend!

Spider Mites! Ugh!

As you know, my miniature rose plant has taken the place of a pet in my life, since the dern apartment complex won't let me have a pet. So I love it, nurture it, feed and water it, talk to it, and basically do whatever I can to keep it alive. However, it hasn't been cooperating very much. Yes, it is growing and it is blooming, but it just doesn't look to be very happy about it. Just as soon as I get some hope that maybe it will turn around and flourish, the leaves turn yellow and fall off, and we're back to square one. But yesterday, I finally discovered the culprit. SPIDER MITES! Yuck! In my research about miniature roses, I found that they are especially susceptible to spider mites, and even more so in hot dry climates. Hello! Waco, Texas! So the whole time I've had the rose, I've been half-heartedly spraying it with water, which is supposed to help keep these particular pests at bay. But yesterday, I was finally able to see the signs of a full-blown infestation. These critters live on the underside of leaves and suck all the nutrients out until the leaves turn yellow and fall off. So flipping over the leaves, you can see tiny black specks, looks like someone has doused them with pepper. When your infestation gets really large, you can actually see webs between the leaves. And that's what I saw yesterday. So it was time to go on the attack. I took my spray bottle out there and thoroughly washed BOTH sides of EVERY INDIVIDUAL LEAF. No more half-hearted spraying for me and my beloved rose! So we'll see how quickly it rebounds from this particular attack. From what I read, I'll have to spray it pretty thoroughly every day to keep the mites away. If that turns out to be too hard, I may resort to some kind of pesticide, we'll see. No matter what, though, I am determined to have a lovely, flourishing rose if it's the last thing I do!!!

Things are Heating Up in The Office

I don't say much about TV shows on my blog, even though I usually have a lot to say about them. I guess I prefer to talk about real life instead of fiction. But last night's season finale of The Office was just too good to leave alone! Are there any other Office fans out there who know what I'm talking about?! For those of you who who don't watch The Office, Jim and Pam work together, are very good friends, and are clearly perfect for each other. However, there's one thing standing in the way of their relationship: Pam is engaged to someone else. So for the past 2 seasons, we've been on pins and needles waiting to find out if anything would happen between them! And now look at this shot from last night's episode:
As Pam's wedding drew nearer, Jim began to get more and more uncomfortable hearing about it, and finally last night he had had enough. He pulled Pam aside in the parking lot and declared his love for her. Oh, but the agony of it all! Pam got angry, told him that he had misread her friendship, and that she resented his ruining their friendship by trying to take it further! A devastated Jim walks away. However, minutes later, he comes back to the office, where he finds her on the phone with her mom discussing the situation. She hangs up. Without a word, he grabs her and kisses her. And miracle of miracles, she kisses him back!!! And that's the end of the episode. What?! What will happen from here?! Sadly enough, this was the season finale and we don't get to find out where that kiss will take them until next season. Oh, I hope they get together! But how will Pam's fiance, Roy, react? And what will that do to Office dynamics? I can't wait for next season, where my questions will be answered!

Romancing the Blog

My precious, wonderful husband, being the sweetest man on earth, wrote a lovely tribute to me on his blog yesterday. It was incredibly sweet and I'm very thankful to have a husband who's not afraid to express his affection for me in a public format. It's like his own personal Jumbotron. :) So for anybody who hasn't seen it yet, go over and read it. It's great!

His overture was partly inspired by the fun surprise I had for him on Friday evening. I alluded to it in my last blog, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise in case he read my blog before he came home! We drove to Temple (about 40 minutes away), and went to the Central Texas Airshow! It was really neat, and I was quite relieved. Something in as remote a location as Temple had the potential to be really lame. But it was good! We got there after the show had already started. (I let us be late on purpose - I think that 3 1/2 hours of airshow is a little over the top!) As we were walking in, we saw several different kinds of planes sitting on display. Justin could tell you what they were - I don't have a clue. But then we got to the airstrip and the first thing we saw was this tiny little red airplane doing stunt tricks! This was cool enough all on its own - the loops and rolls and heart-stopping dives - but then we heard the announcer say that it was piloted by a 70-year-old man! He'd been flying for 50 years and loved it so much he wouldn't quit! I think that is perfectly adorable. Then there was another stunt pilot, followed by several demonstrations of historical WWII airplanes. Then there was about a half hour break before the Grand Finale Night Act, that they were definitely hyping up a lot. So we wandered around, scrounged 2 dollars in change so Justin could get an ice cream cone (neither of us carry cash!), and then settled in the grass for a good view of the Grand Finale. To start the Night Show, there was a guy in a "jet-powered glider" who used his jets to get up to 4,000 feet, and then glided back and forth down to the ground while streaming sparks and fireworks out of his wings. That was much cooler than it sounds. Then there was a pretty good fireworks show. But they kept telling us to hold on because it was going to get much better with the Final Act, a group called The Blastards. So the fireworks show is over, and they tell us here come the Blastards. It was pitch dark, so I don't know what they actually did, but all it looked like was about 7 atomic bombs going off in a row. These huge fireballs erupted from the airstrip, it was terrifying. I was sure something had gone terribly wrong and there were people dying at that very moment. We were probably 500 yards away from the explosions, but we still felt the intense heat wave roll off them. Then we were covered in ash. But none of the people involved with the show acted as if any of that was unexpected. The announcer just said "How did you like that?!" and then the show was over. What?! Huh?! Was that what was supposed to happen?! Oh well. The rest of the show was cool. Justin really enjoyed getting to see the vintage WWII planes, and we both really enjoyed the stunt shows. So it was definitely a fun evening, and I was thrilled to be able to surprise Justin with something he enjoyed so much.

Good things

I feel like I never have anything worthwhile to post! So I'm just going to post a random compilation of the good things in my life at the moment and hope they add up to something that's worth reading!

1. My rose bush has 2 buds!!! I'll post a pic whenever they bloom. But I'm pretty thrilled that it's actually blooming again. I had my doubts that it ever would, but I must be such a master gardener that I can coax it into a second bloom.
2. I just got $250 worth of stuff from Pampered Chef, and I only paid $50 for it! That's awesome! I'm most excited about the pizza stone (I'm going to start making whole wheat pizzas!) and the Ultimate Slice-N-Grate (a contraption that will chop and slice my veggies MUCH faster than I can with a knife).
3. My sweetheart has taken 2 of his finals, and he has just one more on Monday! Then, he'll have about a month break before he starts summer school. Tonight I'm taking him on a "Let's Forget the Stress of Finals" date, as long as it isn't cancelled due to inclement weather. (We have severe weather on the forecast, but right now it's sunny and beautiful.) I won't post what it is yet because it's still a surprise for him! But hopefully I'll have fun pics to commemorate the occasion.
4. My in-laws are planning a trip down to visit over Memorial Day weekend. I'm very excited about them coming! I like having people come visit me because it's like a vacation for me, too, but I don't have to pay to go anywhere!
5. Allergies had me in their evil grip for about a week, but I seem to be gaining some sort of victory over them. Alavert is the key! Now if I could just shake this cough, I'd be rolling.

*Sigh* Looking at it, that's a pretty pathetic list. I'll have to think up something earth-shattering to post soon. In the meantime, try not to die of boredom whenever you think about my life!

Pampered Chef Party!

Last night I had the privilege of hosting my first Pampered Chef party. It was a BLAST!!!! I was blessed with 12 people in attendace - THANK YOU to all who came! Silly me didn't bring a camera, though, so I don't have any photos of the great time. It was a cooking show, so we actually got to watch Terri, the consultant, fix a dish using Pampered Chef products. She made a Spinach & Strawberry Salad, which was DIVINE!!! We saw some really neat products and had a really good time! I'm looking forward to getting my new products so I can start using them! If there's anybody out there reading this that I haven't told about the party, I'm so sorry I missed you. If you'd like to order any products, it's still not too late! Just go to this website, click "Order Products," and punch in my name as the host! That way I'll get the credit for your order! But all in all it was a delightful experience, and I may just do it again next year!!

The Family Just Keeps Growing!

Over the weekend, we got the fantastic news that Justin's older sister is expecting her first baby! This is incredibly wonderful, yet unexpected news! Nicole and David have been married for more than 10 years, so everyone was used to them not having any kids. Well, that's all changing in the blink of an eye! She's due around the first of December. So when you take that fact into consideration, along with the fact that my sister is due with her second child at the beginning of November, I think going home this Christmas is going to be REALLY FUN!!!! I can't wait to see my precious husband holding his darling little neice or nephew! Brings a tear to the eye just thinking about it... Another funny thing is that both of these couples are really wanting girls! We'll see if either of them get their wish!

Aaaaaaah, SPRING!

We have now entered that scrumptious time of year when the weather is warm and sunny, there's just enough rain to keep it cool, the flowers are blooming, and if you're lucky you can catch a glimpse of baby animals about! We have a little family of killdeer (That's a bird for those of you who have never heard of it before, like me until a week ago!) that are nesting right outside our office building at work, and the babies hatched last week. Killdeer can walk as soon as they hatch, so we had 4 little fluffy, baby killdeer running around, closely supervised by a squawking mama! Somehow at the beginning of this week, we were down to only 3 - we don't want to speculate too closely about what happened to the fourth one! Kristy, Rebecca, and I decided that since they were going to be hanging around the office, we should name them. So the three remaining babies are Frank, Frankie, and Frankster. Now admittedly, that's not incredibly creative. But we have no possible way to tell them apart, so we thought any of those names could apply to any of them, so we were ok no matter which one we called them. (I call them all Frankster...) I noted with some dismay, however, that today I've only seen 2 babies about. We decided that Daddy Killdeer must've taken little Frankie out to see a movie, which is why we haven't seen him all day. Surely there's nothing else that would've happened to him!!! RIGHT?!?!?!?!!?? Now if you're thinking that all this is slightly absurd, well, it is. But you've got to do something to keep your mind occupied when you're bored at work all day!! And when my apartment building won't let me have a pet, I just form an emotional attachment to whatever animal is about... DISCLAIMER: This is not my picture - there's no chance the grass around here is that lush and green. However, this is exactly what the little family we have around here looked like, so I thought it might give a good idea of what I'm talking about! Aren't they precious?!

My Dear Friend

My dear friend Charity came to visit me last weekend, and I've finally downloaded the picture to my computer so I can blog about it! Charity goes to grad school in Dallas, and since she had a break last weekend, she took a mini-"vacation" to come to Waco! Waco's not all that hot of a place, but she seemed to enjoy herself. We played Phase 10, watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and talked about boys (EEEEEEE!) - all of which are blasts from the past for us. We only go back about 3 1/2 years, but those were some of the most intense years of our lives (as missionaries in Africa!), and so we have a really strong friendship because of it. So even though we don't live close to each other, she's still dear to my heart and I cherish the time we can actually spend face to face! I love ya, girl!

Grad School Blues

My husband is definitely inflicted with a case of the Grad School Blues. We're now in the last month of his first semester, so it's CRUNCH TIME for all the projects, papers, and exams. Yuck. He lives at the library. This is in no way intended to sound like I'm complaining about him having to be at the library so much. I understand that he has to, and I'm proud of him for being such a hard worker and good student. But it still stinks for him and I wish there was something I could do. I was able to help him gather data for a project this weekend, and that was infinitely fun for me. Not necessarily the time spent on the computer, but just the fact that I could actually participate in and help with the things he spends such long hours on at the library. We're a TEAM in this grad school thing, just like we are in all of life. So with my help this weekend, he actually got all the data that he needed to turn in today, and that was a brilliant success, in my opinion. If the dern professor looks at all his hard work and tells him he still needs to change something else, I'm going to be really mad. He's got some good stuff and it's going to be an awesome project. So at our house, we're in survival mode until May 11th, that blessed last day of class for my precious husband! I look forward to seeing you then, dear! :)

The Land of the Living

I've finally recovered from strep throat (Amoxicillin is a wonderful thing!), and back to life as usual. This weekend was pretty crazy, with not only all the drugs and trying to recover from strep, but also with my mom's visit at the same time! It was a great time, though, and I'm bummed that I forgot to get any pics to post here. I feel like I didn't do a very good job of entertaining her, but she said all she came down for was to share my life! So we went grocery shopping and did laundry. You ask for it, Mom, you got it! We did make it to the Cameron Park Zoo, which I think was lovely. One of the best zoos I've been to, especially for such a small town. I love the way they keep several different kinds of animals all in the same enclosure... That's fun stuff. We also ate at several Waco specialties, including Bush's and George's. I was pretty impressed with George's. Very tasty and inexpensive! So altogether my weekend was great, and it was a combination of antibiotics and Mom's TLC that have me feeling better now!

On an entirely unrelated note, The Big Dance has finally reached its conclusion. I'm very pleased that Florida won it all, they were who I was rooting for after Gonzaga got beat. This is the first year, however, that I've actually watched the championship game and all the hoopla that goes on afterwards. It was all fine, I think it's great that they get to keep a piece of the net. But one tradition that I do not in any way understand is "One Shining Moment." I've been hearing lots of Justin's friends talking about this song that is played after the final game, and how it's always an emotional thing for them. Several guys have posts on their blogs about it, and several of them talk about how they always get teary-eyed during that last video montage. Well, last night was the first time I've ever experienced "One Shining Moment." I would've been in bed, but my husband insisted it was something I couldn't miss. I hate to admit it, but I thought it was stupid. (Don't tell him I said so!) In the first place, the song wasn't even good. But then there was just a silly video montage of random clips of the tournament. I just didn't get how that could be emotional for so many guys. I guess it's not necessarily the song or the video itself, but what it represents. Another college basketball season comes to a close, seven months until the next one. Maybe that's why they're sad. I think they'll be fine with pro basketball until then. And before we have another basketball season, we get to have MY favorite season, which is FOOTBALL!!!!!

SICK!!!

After spending all winter healthy as a horse, I've finally succumbed to a dreaded illness. I went to bed Sunday evening with a little bit of a sore throat, and woke up Monday with a REALLY sore throat. Then as the day went on, I could feel a fever rising. Not good. I made it through the day at work on Monday, and went home and CRASHED. Slept for 1 1/2 hours. My precious husband got me some Wendy's chili (one of my favorite foods of all time!), so I got up to eat that and to watch The Apprentice. After that, back to bed. My fever rose throughout the night, topped out at about 100.5, and my throat felt like it was on fire! But sadly enough, I have a deadline at work today that I just can't skip out on. So I did go ahead and come to work, and the more I'm up and about the better I'm doing. I'm MAD, though, that right now is when I go and get sick, when my mom's coming to visit in 2 days! So in the hopes that I might be feeling better by Thursday, I went to the doctor this morning. I was just about sure I had strep throat, because I had the painful sore throat and fever, but no other cold/flu symptoms, and strep throat went around here at work a week or 2 ago. However, the doctor (who was an Aggie, by the way, very nice guy) did a culture and it wasn't strep. He said it was pharyngitis, which is a big name for a virus that attacks your throat. Being a virus, there's nothing really I can do except wait for my body to heal itself. So he just recommended a fairly high dose of Aleve and an analgesic throat spray to make eating/sleeping easier. Said I should be better in 7-10 days. So sorry, Mom! I'm going to be pathetic while you're here!!! So the good news is that I'm really not very contagious anymore. The bad news is that he said I was most contagious on Saturday and Sunday before my symptoms showed up. Sorry, Lifegroup!!! I hope none of you come down with this! If you do, just down some Aleve, and you'll feel better in 7-10 days...

Down in Flames

Last night Gonzaga's dreams of victory in the NCAA Tournament went down in flames, and my brackets went with them. I had them picked to win it all. Sadly enough, when it all went down, I was sound asleep snug in my bed. Who would've thought it wouldn't be safe to turn off the TV when they have a 17-point lead at halftime?! I feel your pain, Adam Morrison.

You gotta feel bad for a guy who'll cry like a little girl right there on the basketball court. Ah well. There's always next year - for me to make some new brackets and Morrison to break into the NBA. Life goes on.

A Necessary Evil?!

I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with Qwyzzle, but I have excellent news that together Kristy and I finally finished all 100 levels! Yes! We are the champions, my friend!!! We were a little bit disappointed that there wasn't any kind of reward at the end, just a note that you MAY get added to the hall of fame, but probably not. What's that about?! But it's still pretty satisfying to have figured out all 100 levels without cheating (unlike SOME people I know who shall remain nameless!!!). So we finished Qwyzzle on Tuesday, and then the next 2 days I've been working feverishly trying to catch up on all the work that I didn't do last week because of Qwyzzle! But now I have a moment to breathe so I'll post something before Kristy ends up biting her own wrists out of boredom. So having to actually DO the work that I'm getting paid for is the first necessary evil that I was referring to in the title of this post.

The second necessary evil is actually in reference to myself, apparently. One of Justin's friends posted on his blog a little quiz you can do to find out what kind of soft drink you are. Here's what it told me:

You Are Diet Coke

You are energy in its purest form. No need to complicate things with sweetness. And while people may hate your aftertaste, you are seen as a necessary evil. Your best soda match: 7 Up Stay away from: Coke

What Kind of Soda Are You?

What?! I'm too busy to be sweet, I leave a bad aftertaste, and people see me as a necessary evil?! Obviously these results are in no way accurate (I hope!), but I'm a little alarmed at how long and loud my husband laughed at these results. He spent the rest of the evening saying, "A necessary evil!" and laughing uncontrollably. He was a little sobered by the fact that his result was Coke, which is the kind they say I should stay away from. But I feel pretty sure that our marriage is still ok regardless of what this quiz says. There are some pretty funny quizzes on this website, though, so you all may want to check it out.

It Really IS A Madness!

I grew up knowing about March Madness. In high school and college I made my brackets and watched to see how well I did. In college, I watched some games and cheered desperately for KY. But my whole experience of March Madness so far in my life has been through the eyes of a single girl. Until this year... Now I'm married to a basketball fanatic, and I'm learning to discover that in March there really is a Madness that takes over the vast majority of the male population of America.

I guess I was just outside its realm of influence before. But now it's like I'm seeing March Madness with fresh eyes. College basketball is everywhere you turn, in every thought, every breath. While we were in San Antonio, we had complete strangers strike up long basketball conversations with us just because of Justin's Kentucky t-shirt. These guys knew all about Kentucky's stats, their history, their prospects for this year's tournaments... And they weren't even Kentucky fans!

Then I got home on my lunch break yesterday, and I couldn't even watch "As the World Turns" because they've replaced it with basketball! Since when is daytime TV supposed to be sports?! And not only was Justin watching the games on TV and flipping back and forth between several games, but he also had another game streaming live on his computer!! Now this really cracks me up - the website where he can watch all the live games has something called a "Boss Button," where if you're watching the game at work, and your boss suddenly comes in, just click the "Boss Button" and an Excel Spreadsheet will pop up and look like you've been working.

A friend of ours has even subscribed to the March Madness Network on TV, so he can simultaneously watch 3 games at once. Needless to say, Justin will spending a lot of time at his house for the next couple of weeks!!

Now please don't hear me complaining or saying that any of this is bad. It's not. In fact, it's great! (I'm slightly relieved to learn that it's not only MY husband who has this Madness!) I'm just commenting about how overwhelmed I am that all this exists! Before this year, I thought March Madness was only a cute name they came up with to call the tournament season. Now I realize they were being perfectly serious! These guys, and some women too, have a fever... And the only prescription is more basketball!!

So I say, if there's something that so many people are getting so desperately passionate about, including my precious husband, I better get in on it too! So today I'm wearing my Kentucky shirt, Kentucky socks, and I'm even wearing my blue underwear! (Sorry if that's TMI! I'm afraid the poor Wildcats need all the help they can get in this year's tournament!) Go get 'em, Wildcats! And bring on the Madness!!!!

Qwyzzle: The Scourge of Office Productivity

Some friends on a discussion board told me about an online quiz game that is a lot of fun. So innocently, without knowing what I was getting myself into, I started playing Qwyzzle 100. Now, I'm hooked and I've inadvertently gotten my whole office hooked too. None of us are getting any work done! It's an online game that has 100 levels. On each level, you're given a picture and a clue, and you have to use logic and lots of Google searches to reason out what the answer is. Upon entering the correct answer, you're taken to the next level and given a new, harder puzzle to work out. It is SOO ADDICTIVE!!! You find yourself obsessing over what the answer to your level is... You can't concentrate on getting any other work done because you're thinking about the level you haven't solved yet! And then when you finally get it, you know you should work on something else, but the thrill of solving just carries you into starting the next level! It's a vicious cycle that you just can't stop until you've solved all 100!!!! I started out working on it only at home, but then one day I was bored at work so I started working on them there. Then, Kristy told me she was bored, so I told her about it and she got hooked. Then Meredith heard us talking about it, so we told her about it and now she's hooked. Now Tracy came back from vacation and heard us all talking about, so she's going to start them too... Yet another person falls victim to Qwyzzle, the scourge of workplace productivity!! Meredith, who is still a good worker and only does them at home, said "Last night I was up til midnight working on Qwyzzle... Then even when I went to bed, I couldn't stop thinking about what the answer might be!!!" Kristy said, "These are hard and I can't concentrate on anything else... I think I'll stop at Level 50." Well, right now she's on Level 61. She got caught in the Qwyzzle trap!!! I'm also on Level 61, so I've made significant progress. But there are still 39 LOOOOOOOONG levels until I reach 100. We'll see how long it takes! Ah, but to imagine the thrill of victory when I get there! So if you're brave and have some time on your hands, try Qwyzzle 100... IF YOU DARE!!!!