Where have I been?

I have been here, there & everywhere. We were looking at moving, now we aren't. I think. Other personal things have been going on and I have been in a funk. I'm trying to get back on the "writing" train. (sigh)

I had a discussion with some people the other day about gifts. Giving and receiving them. Here is my personal take on it: I love to get cash. I'll even take gift cards. I do not think it is a non-heartfelt (is that even a word) idea. Why? Well, my absolute favorite thing to do is shop. I love the art of shopping. Is it really an art? I would much much much rather get cash from somebody than a gift I don't like. I got something from a relative once and it is sitting in my closet collecting dust. Why? Well, because I didn't like it and I don't have the heart to throw it away. I really do appreciate the fact that this relative thought about me. That in itself is sweet. But I feel like that person said "I don't know what to get you, so I'll get you what I think you'll want". My parents learned a long time ago to give me cash or gift cards so I can pick it out myself. Even if it's something simple like earrings.

Where am I going with this? Well, I'm glad you asked. Since my birthday is around the corner (JUNE 25th) I am going to have a very detailed list of items ready - just in case you are that person that thinks giving cash isn't thoughtful. Again, if you know me, I appreciate cash. I appreciate it way better than some figurine that I have put in a corner of my closet. You could put a card in the mail & I would be ok with that too. Just make sure it's something I told you that I want.

On another note, I am bummed because The Office is now over for the summer. Didn't the writers strike just end? I don't know. Yes, I realize that in my last post, I showed a clip from The Office. Get over it. It was a very funny episode; however, I'm hoping over the summer that Jim is able to propose to Pam. More important, I LOVE how Michael's hate for Toby was able to consume most of the episode. In order for me to show the clip from the season finale, you need a little glimpse of Michael displaying his hate for Toby:



Now, here is the clip from the finale. Be on the lookout for Neal...err. Dwight jamming out. I think it's my favorite part:

By the way, Michael loves to re-make songs. Two of his songs are "Beers in Heaven" and "Total Eclipse of the Fart". Oh, I would love to hear them.

Dwight Rules!!

I am alive. I have been busy and at the same time in a funk. Dealing with some personal things that I'm not going to put on the internet. However, these Neal...err I mean Dwight moments from last weeks episode of The Office really cheered me up. Leave it to The Office to put me in a much better mood and realize that live isn't so bad.

JUNIOR!!!!

I’ve been busy but I’m back. I did something yesterday that secretly, I’ve always wanted to do. I went to Talladega. Oh yes, I went to a NASCAR event. It was a very long & exhausting weekend. That picture is one that I took from my own seat, with my phone. I didn’t upload it from any website. Yes it’s blurry, but at the time, it was hard to see through the phone.

Aside from a brief moment when A) I lost my driver’s license (which was found by some stranger and put on the windshield of the camper-thank you) and B) got upset with my husband for not being considerate of me (which we later squashed away from the group because they didn’t need to be in the situation) I had an AWESOME TIME!!! I mean like insanely awesome & I’ll go again.

I can’t even begin to go into the event that opened the door for my ticket. But knowing that I went is going to be shocking to many people. I didn’t camp over the weekend, nor do I think I ever could. I need my own bed, I need to blow dry my hair while I watch America’s Next Top Model. Ya’ll, I felt like I was straight from Beverly Hills when I showed up to the race.

I don’t care anything about NASCAR, but I care about seeing mullets in the year 2008. It’s all about the “clientele” for me. I’m a people person. And by that, I mean I like to sit and watch people as they go by. That’s what I thought before I got to the race. I thought it would be like baseball where I would just stare at fans. I can’t believe I didn’t bring my binoculars. Oh well. When the race started, that all changed. We were right in front of Pit Row. SO AWESOME!! When they started their engines, it was the coolest sound I think I’ve ever heard. I don’t even know how to describe it.

Even cooler than that, was when the cars are going full speed and they pass by & the stands shake and the sound you hear is something that is just cool. I didn’t care who won or lost. I didn’t care who was in first or taking over. I pretty much didn’t even know who any of the driver’s were except for Tony “Smoke” Stewart (I just learned about that yesterday) or Dale Earnhardt Jr (JUNIOR- WHOOOOOOOOO).

The whole “bumper-draft” thing was neat too. One driver would get his hood under the back bumper and use the “draft” to sort of push him. I don’t know the technical terms, nor do I care. It’s just cool to see a car pushing another & the police/ambulance aren’t involved.

I was the only person among what, 200,000 that was excited how the race finished. You know how you watch ice skating and while it is boring, but the jumps & moves are cool, you get excited when someone falls? Maybe I’m the only one. But that’s how it felt. There was a bad wreck on the last lap that led to Kyle Bush’s win. He won by default, I’ll say that much.

This is the wreck at the end, where I was cheering and going “YES!!!” and everybody else was ticked off:








It is something to experience, that’s all I can tell you. If you do it right, you’ll enjoy yourself as much as I did.

Oh and one more thing, NASCAR isn't a sport.

Publicity Stunt? Yes! Truth? No!

I love Pop Culture. I mean I am obsessed with it. When people start talking about things, you really have to consider the source. Many times, I’ll ask someone “Where did you read that?” It’s all about the source.

So the other day, co-worker A said at lunch “You know Ashlee Simpson is pregnant!” and co-worker B said “I don’t think so. I read she is engaged, but maybe you’re confusing the story?” Co-worker A said “Nope. It was in US Weekly.” Oh ok well if that’s your source, I’m a size 2. I let the whole thing go because co-worker A is as smart as a sack of hammers. She, seriously, wants to raise live chickens in her house in Mountain Brook. She even called the City of Birmingham Business License office about it. When I heard that, I laughed so hard that I had tears. Anyway, being the obsessed person of pop culture that I am, I looked into this story and found this from my favorite website ever and I couldn’t agree more!!!

I am Not Obsessed

I am very much into the whole publicity stunt thing. I don’t have anything to prove it, just theories in my mind. Think about how many people get together or break up around the time of album or movie releases. The best PR is when two movie stars get together. Like Ashton Kutcher (Scott Cooter??) and Brittany Murphy did when Just Married came out. Amazingly, they broke up shortly after the movie was released. Jessica & Nick were all about PR baby! (Side note: I like to talk about celebrities like we are friends & they know me) Think about it. They got “married” and had a TV show. The SAME time his album was released and she was working on the soon to be released Dukes of Hazzard, they started having problems & then got divorced. I mean, I do not buy it.

So next time you read about somebody famous breaking up or getting together, be on the lookout for a movie, album or TV show in the works. Otherwise, you may be telling stories to an obsessed Pop Culture fan that knows your wrong.

What happened to Sunday?

I have been trying hard to get back on this journey I started years ago. I used to weigh 236 lbs. That is no exaggeration. I was a Fatty McGee. I remember sitting on the front steps and crying my eyes out. I mean sobbing like crazy. Then I realized that sitting around & doing nothing wasn’t going to solve the problem. I was going to lose 100lbs. I got up & walked up & down the street. I threw away my junk food. I lost about 80lbs. That was YEARS ago. I got to the point where I was 15 to 20 lbs away from my goal. I got married and then I put on some weight. Within the past few weeks, I’ve stared a new workout routine, eating much healthier and am back on track to getting to my goal. My friend ended up hiring a trainer for us (FOR FREE). So I’m just very focused.

Friday night we had crazy bad weather. A tree fell right in front of our apartment complex & we didn’t have power. So Chris & I decided to eat dinner at a local buffet restaurant. Keep in mind, I’ve been eating healthy. I did very good. Normally, I eat small plate worth of food & then gorge on desserts. But this time, I was ok….or so I thought. I had one spicy chicken finger. It was tiny enough yet greasy enough to haunt me the next day.

Saturday, I felt very blah all day. That night, I went to my parents house for dinner while Chris visited some friends. My mom wanted me to ride to the store with her. Well right after dinner, I got sick. (Side note: whenever you tell somebody you’re sick, please don’t go into details.) I knew it was that chicken because I felt bad all day. I took some over the counter medicine & then went home. Chris had a prescription for nausea so I took one tablet. I had no idea that it was Phenergran. (It was the generic version) It knocked me out! I slept for 14 hours straight!! I got up & took Bear out and then slept for another 2 hours!! I made myself stay up so that I would be able to sleep last night. Which was hard. I did laundry & my arms & legs just felt so heavy. I hated it. I’ll never take it again!!!

On another note, The Office was new on Thursday and it was classic. This scene was the heart of the episode. Oh I just laughed hysterically.

This is brief

Had a great weekend. I watched American Gangster, Casablanca and Bee Movie. Bee movie was just too precious. I watched it three times and I laughed every time at this scene (more importantly, watch around 40 seconds)

Other than that, it was quiet. I met mom & dad for lunch on Saturday & then took a nap. Sunday was laundry/movie day. Anyway, busy week ahead.

Oh & Amy, yes we are going to NKOTB and yes you can be honest. However, may I point out that until the other night, you were fake about Will & Grace. I was shocked to find out that you don't like it. All these years, I was under the impression that you did. Oh well, what can you do? Nonetheless, I was in a very bad mood on Friday when I wrote that, so my sincerest apologies.

What a week...

My week has been insane. Not a good insane either. It's all work related and I'll leave it at that. My highlight this week has been all of the New Kids madness. If I had been on the Today Show, I would've been screaming like I was 13 again. I even got out my "Greatest Hits" CD and I've put it by my keys to jam in my car. Oh, I'm not afraid to ride down the road and blast "Please Don't Go Girl". Not at all. I know that Donnie said "limited" tour dates but surely they will at least come to Atlanta. If so, I'm there. Here is a video where they talk about it.

On another note, I'm about to make a prediction. I could be wrong and I just might be. HOWEVER, if I'm not, I can do the "Told Ya So!" dance, Will & Grace style. Have you seen the show Pop Fiction on E!? Well, it's a new show where they make up stories in pop culture and see how far the Internet/magazines/news take it. It is very awesome. Mostly because now whenever I read a story, I find myself wondering if it's just that show. A few weeks ago, Paris Hilton had some spiritual guru. Turns out, it was just a biker dude from L.A. Anyway here is my prediction. All of a sudden, Beyonce and Jay Z are supposedly getting married. I kind of think, and hope, it's a part of Pop Fiction, but I could be wrong. We'll just see.

Finally, I am very much disappointed in a certain someone. Recently, I found out that said person finally confessed their true feelings. I felt like I knew everything. But no. Evidently "they" don't like Will & Grace. I mean I was flabbergasted. In fact, I turned my chair around at the dinner table and wouldn't speak to the group. I had fallen down the stairs that day. It wasn't funny AND I still have a huge knot on my arm and am considering going to the doctor. So to injure myself and find out that "they" don't like Will & Grace, well I don't know what to say. I regret doing research to find this clip, especially knowing you don't like the show.