I know it sounds cheesy, but honestly, I just want to be happy. I'm not saying that I'm not happy now, because I am. I just want to continue to be happy and live my life to the fullest. I don't want any regrets. I want to be the woman God intended me to be.
This will once again be a short post my friends. I'm heading out of town to help out with a niece and two nephews for a few days. Not sure if I'll be able to post from there, I'll do my best. If I can't, I'll continue on with my travel Thursday Thirteen next week!! Until next time...
Eleven years ago today, my brother-in-law Jack lost his battle with cancer at the age of 38.
Dear Jack:
I miss your laugh. I miss your bear hugs. I miss you constantly flipping through the channels even though you knew you would end up on the Weather Channel. I miss the way you would yell at the Cowboys games (FYI, your sons have picked up on your yelling at sporting events). I miss how you could sleep soundly in a room with 8 screaming kids, the TV blaring and people talking all around you. I miss you trying to convince me the noise I heard was a "barking spider". I miss being called "your favorite blonde". I miss your constant opinions about my dating life. I miss you making fun of me for liking the Braves (and Steve Avery). I even miss you rolling your eyes. I miss the way you loved my sister unconditionally. I miss the prideful look on your face when someone complimented your children. I miss your smile of courage and faith the last time I saw you. I miss not being able to say goodbye.
I'm forever grateful for the years we had you. I'll cherish the memories always but I'll miss the ones we never got to have. I love you and miss you daily.
Day 29: Hope, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
I plan to keep on living, laughing and loving to the best of my ability. I'm hoping that a vacation to Hollywood or Chicago is in my schedule for the next year as well. ;)
Just one more day for this 30 Day Blog Journal adventure. I've actually had fun with it. Thank you for humoring me with my answers! :)
I'm going to try and post later today or tonight if I can!! Thanks for hanging in there with me!
I promise to get back to my regular blogging soon, it's just been crazy lately and I seem to be updating my blog later in the day than usual (so I don't have much time to put into it). I'm determined to keep up with my 30 straight days of this blog journal. Just two more to go after this!
Day 28: What's in my handbag/purse?
I have the typical stuff: wallet, makeup bag, Chick Fil-A coupons, hairbrush, Ibuprofen, gum, taser (just kidding. I was making sure you were paying attention!) ;) I also usually have a book in my bag (you never know when you are going to get stuck somewhere and need a book to read.) I like to be prepared! :) This is the bag I've been using for the past few months (I know, you are shocked!) :)
I don't know if it's my WORST habit, but I do have a bad habit of waiting until my gas light comes on before I fill up my gas tank. I know, I know, you are supposed to fill up when you get to a quarter of a tank. I'm a rebel, I push it to the very end.
I'll try and post some more interesting stuff later, I'm just kinda pressed for time today!! :)
I'm assuming this means last week. As I mentioned a few days ago, it was a rough week work wise. Besides work, I had an unusually "slow" week. I guess I'll start with last Sunday. I spent all day reading. I think I started reading about 1 or 2 in the afternoon and read until almost 9. My friend Martha gave me eight new books to read, so I started on that pile. A group of friends and I have our own personal "library" between all of us. We loan out books to each other all the time. One of my best friends has a key to my apartment and she'll email me to let me know she came by to borrow a book.
I discovered a new show on Monday night called The Event. It comes on NBC. Trust me, it's worth checking out! Tuesday night my friend Art and I went to a Stars preseason game. He has awesome season tickets. I'm spoiled for life! :) Just over two weeks until hockey season kicks off!!
Wednesday and Thursday I went home after work and just "chilled", watching TV (I know, pretty boring, huh). Friday was my "half" day at work and after a 1:30 doctor's appointment, I spent most of the afternoon reading (yes, again). :) I had been good about eating dinner at home every night (yes, I actually cooked), so I treated myself to Chick Fil-A for dinner Friday night. I then watched the Rangers beat up on the A's 10-3. If you read my post from yesterday you can see what I did on Saturday (I'm too lazy to retype it). Today I have enjoyed the "cooler" temperatures (it was only 75 today). When I left church at noon it was still cloudy (and windy) and it felt really nice. When the sun came out, it warmed up some, but I've still had my window opened all day. It's been a lot nicer than the 90 plus temperatures we've been experiencing since May. Welcome Fall!
I'm not sure if that is the "great" detail it was asking for, but honestly last week was pretty slow for me (I needed a slow week, I tend to overdo it way too much!) :)
Well, I woke up at 7am thanks to thunder and heavy rainfall. After tossing and turning for an hour, I turned on my TV about 8 or so, thinking I was awake for the day. I don't know when I fell back asleep, but when I woke up again, it was almost 1:30pm. Yeah, so much for getting everything done that I needed to. I had lunch at Taco Cabana (they have good chips and queso). I then watched the first part of the Rangers game on TV and ran a few errands (while listening to the Rangers game on the radio). After my errands, I headed to my friend Shondell's birthday dinner.
Me and my friend Shondell!
For those wondering, I was sitting in my car listening to the game when the Rangers became the American League West Champions. It was so exciting! :) I immediately called my Bubba, who answered the phone, "How did I know it would be you." He was running late to go to a party because he was determined to watch the end of the game. Now we can use those playoff tickets that Chuck Greenberg helped me get! Wahoo!! This is the first time in 11 years that the Rangers have made the playoffs. There is a lot of excitement here in the Dallas area. I have a friend that just texted me that he's still excited (it's 10:30pm.) :)
Anyways, back to my day. After a wonderful birthday dinner for Shondell, I headed out to meet up with my friend Monica. We went to an Academy Sports and Outdoors store because we heard they already had Rangers championship shirts on sale. Yes, we are nerds. I couldn't decide which one to get, so I bought two:
We are now hanging out at my friend's apartment, watching TV shows she recorded this week (her DVR is getting full). Right now we are watching NCIS: Los Angeles. Man, Chris O'Donnell keeps getting better looking the older he gets! :) Oh, and I'm pretty sure LL Cool J's arms are bigger than my legs. Oh, sorry, got off track, a little distracted. :) Oh, one other part of my day. I was attacked by a bird. Well, not really attacked, but Monica's bird Kappy decided that jumping on "Aunt Rachel's" head, was a fun game. I didn't think so. I fear that bird.
You can't really see the look of fear on my face here. Kappy and Aunt Rachel.
I'm so glad that it's Friday. It's my half day at work, so I'm outta here at 11:30. Besides a doctor's appointment at 1:30, I can relax at home and do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day/evening. Yippee! I'm looking forward to the weekend and hoping it can erase this awful week that I've had.
1. If you could speak with a different accent, what would it be? (British, Australian, Scottish, etc?)
I've never thought about it. I like the Australian accent (I could listen to Hugh Jackman talk all day long. Okay, I could also look at him talk all day long). ;) Maybe I would go with that one!
2. Can you fall asleep anywhere?
Yes. When I was working for a newspaper, I had to cover city council meetings. Anyone who has ever been to a city council meeting knows how boring those can get. One time I fell asleep in my chair. THANKFULLY, I was sitting in the back, so I don't think anyone really noticed. I was maybe asleep 15 or 20 minutes before I woke up. Also, one time when I was younger, I was at my best friend Mandy's house and I fell asleep on her floor.
3. Do you use public restrooms?
Obviously there are times when I have to use them (especially since I go to a lot of sporting events). But I'm very picky about ones I will use. The ones at The Ballpark and the American Airlines Center (home of the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks) are pretty clean (for a public restroom). If I'm on a road trip, I prefer to stop at a fast food place instead of a gas station. I just feel that fast food places clean their restrooms more often than a gas station. I am a firm believer in never touching the door handle of a public bathroom though. I've seen too many people walk out without washing their hands (I know, it's gross). I always use a paper towel to open it!
4. If you were stuck in an elevator for 24 hours, what celebrity would you most want to be stuck with?
Oh my. I would say Shemar Moore, but I can't swear that I would behave myself! ;)
I think I'll go with Zachary Levi. Maybe 24 hours would be enough time to convince him he's my soul mate. If all else fails, at least he could make me laugh and forget that I was stuck on an elevator!
5. Where did you and your significant other go on your first date?
Since I'm single right now, this doesn't apply to me. But if I ever get stuck on an elevator with Zachary Levi, I might have a more interesting answer next time! ;)
Day 24: Where I live
I live in Dallas, Texas. I LOVE it here. I've only been here for 6 years and feel more at "home" here than where I grew up. No matter what your interests are (sports, art, theater, history, good food, etc), we have it all!! :) We are also home to the great State Fair of Texas (which kicked off today!) :)
The Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers
The American Airlines Center (aka the AAC), home of the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks
A view of downtown
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Aquarium
The Ferris Wheel at the State Fair is the largest one in North America!
Fair Park Music Hall
Winspear Opera House
House of Blues
Hard Rock Cafe (the new one)
The Dallas Zoo
The Sixth Floor Museum (formerly the Texas School Book Depository)
This Italian restaurant is so good! I ate there for the first time on Tuesday!
The salsa here is pretty awesome!!
Serving Dallas for almost 30 years!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!! Happy Friday!!
Last week my Thursday Thirteen was 13 places in Texas I would like to visit. This week I am going to continue the travel theme and list 13 places in the United States I'd like to visit. There are A LOT of places I want to visit so it was hard picking only 13. FYI, I'm NOT including the baseball ballparks/stadiums I want to visit on this list. I figured that was a given! ;)
My friends and I have been talking about going there for 2 years now. It's only about a 6 or 7 hour drive from Dallas to Memphis. We are thinking about making a long weekend trip up there. We just gotta make plans and actually go. Come on, who isn't an Elvis fan? This one is on my bucket list! ;)
2. Washington D.C.
There is so much I want to see here: The Capitol, the White House, the National World War II Memorial, the National Archives, the Smithsonian, etc. The list goes on and on. I think I have about a week's worth of site seeing to do there!
3. Chicago, IL
Again, I think I have about a week's worth of sightseeing to do here: It includes a tour of the home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Chicago Gangster Tour, the Sears Tower (although I think it's called something else now), and a ride on the famous "L"!
I have a friend from South Dakota. She said whenever I decide to visit, I can stay with her family. I think they live close to Mount Rushmore. It is something I've always wanted to see in person!
5. Hollywood, CA
A friend and I are HOPEFULLY making this trip next year. They film the TV show The Big Bang Theory in Burbank, CA. We figured we would try and go to a taping of the show (it's filmed in front of a live audience). Of course while are out there, we will hit up all the famous sight seeing locations, including the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sunset Strip, etc. We both tend to get a little "star struck" so maybe we will run into some famous people while we are out there! :)
I've been to several national parks and have always wanted to go to this one. Plus, I want to see Old Faithful in person!
7. Hawaii
Really, do I have to give my reasons for wanting to go there? I just have to prepare myself for the 8 hour flight (remember, I'm not a fan of flying!) :) Maybe I could take a Tylenol PM or something and sleep the whole flight?
8. San Francisco, CA
The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz are at the top of my "must sees" here.
9. Philadelphia, PA
The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site (I'm a big Poe fan), Gettysburg National Military Park, Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, Betsy Ross House...I could go on and on...
If you aren't familiar with this, it's the location where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Yes, you can stand in all four states at once! :)
Now, I said I wouldn't list the ballparks/stadiums on this list, I didn't say anything about Cooperstown! Part of the Hall of Fame went on tour and made a stop in Dallas a few years ago. It was awesome, I can't wait to see the whole collection. I'm hoping that I can convince my Bubba to go with me. Since he started my baseball obsession, I think it's appropriate that he go with me to the Hall of Fame!
13. Okay, if I don't put North Carolina and Florida on this list, I'm going to have some sweet friends upset with me. :) So, #13 is a trip to North Carolina and Florida to meet up with some new friends that I've met while blogging! I'm thinking a concert and shopping spree would be included in the trip!! :) Y'all rock!!
Head over to Freckles and Fudge and participate in Thirsty Thursday! Tell Vic that I sent ya! ;)
This week I've been dealing with allergies. Now, I'm not a fan of hot tea, but when I'm not feeling good, I drink it (something about the hot drink soothes me). So today, I think my Thirsty Thursday drink will be a cup of hot tea.
Thanks for hanging in here with me, almost done!!
Day 23: A Youtube video
This one is a classic. The little boys in this video are so adorable!!
It's the 7th inning stretch of the work week. Stand up, sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", and get your "last call" drink from the concession stand. Let's get excited, the weekend is in sight!! Can I get an Amen?? AMEN!! Oh, real quick. I am now convinced that the Rangers read my blog. They were sensing my wrath yesterday. They won in 12 innings last night. And the Chicago White Sox did us a favor and beat the A's. Magic number to clinch is 4. I'm still not getting excited until it happens, but I feel better about it today than I did yesterday!! It's time!!!
I'm going to be honest. I haven't had the best week. Work has been, well, quite a bear to tell you the truth. I try not to complain too much about work issues (because let's face it, in this economy, I'm happy to have a job). But seriously, the past week it just seems like everyday has been a "Monday". Thankfully, it's not just me (I know, it's a horrible thing to say, but I'm glad that I'm not alone in my suffering of a bad week). Through Facebook and Twitter status updates, it seems a lot of my friends are having a week of "The Mondays". I'm hoping it ends soon. I'm starting to feel like Eeyore!
On top of the bad week, my allergies have gone haywire (again). I have a doctor's appointment on Friday afternoon, so hopefully I can get something then that will help me out. Benadryl is nice, but I can only take it a night. Does anyone else get the Benadryl hangover the next day? I have some friends that get really hyper off of Benadryl. Not me. It knocks me out. Then the next day I'm in a "fog". **sigh**
Now to be fair, my week hasn't been all bad. A friend of mine had preseason tickets to the Stars hockey game last night, so we went to that. And he was very sweet and treated me to dinner first. We ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant (have I mentioned I love Italian food?) I'm pretty sure I gained 20 pounds, between the appetizer, spaghetti AND pizza. Oh yes, I was quite the little piggy). The food was amazing (and I had leftovers for lunch today). My friend's season tickets are three rows back from the ice, so we had the following view. I'm spoiled for life now! My regular nose bleed section tickets will never measure up! :)
Number 10 is Brenden Morrow, he's the Stars team captain.One of my hockey crushes- just don't tell my friend Bekah! ;)
Yes, I like hockey too. I promise I won't talk about it as much as I do baseball, but I might mention it here and there. Speaking of baseball, the Rangers sure know how to toy with my emotions. Sheesh, they've lost three in a row and are only 7 games up in first place now in the AL West. Can we please just clinch this bad boy and get it over with so I can get some sleep at night? Hopefully C.J. Wilson will show me tonight that he does love me and pitch a good game. And hopefully the team will give him some run support. Their hitting/scoring the past few games has been P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. And we still won't know for another day or two if Josh Hamilton will be 100% by the end of the season or not. I don't even want to think about it. I'm too nervous. Yes, I get too emotionally involved in baseball, I can't help it. Blame my Bubba! :)
C.J. Wilson, pitcher for the Rangers. He's my on-again-off-again baseball crush, I can't make up my mind! :) I seem to have a "thing" for pitchers though! ;) (See past posts about Steve Avery)
Josh Hamilton- the Rangers MVP (most valuable player). He's one of my favorites!Love him!
Oh wait, I was concentrating on the positive stuff from my week. Sorry about that! My A.D.D. kicked in. :) Another "pick me up" this week has been from you guys. No, I'm serious! I absolutely love the sweet comments (or emails) y'all leave me. Is it sad that I get all giddy when I see I have a new comment? I'm like, "oh, they love me enough to comment! I feel so special!" :) Thanks guys, seriously, y'all have made my bad week better by showing me some love! : ) Love you guys! Hugs to all of you!! :)
I'm hoping the next two days can go by fast. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend (yes, can you believe it. I'm not overbooked). Besides a birthday dinner for a sweet friend on Saturday night, and then a movie afterwards, my weekend is going to be pretty lazy. I think I've earned it! ;) My next few weekends are packed so I need to rest up! :)
Day 22: A website
I was trying to think of a funny website to lighten up the week some (and one that wasn't sports related, I'm sure some of you get tired of the sports talk). I'm going to list two. These always have pictures that make me laugh. They are called Stuff on My Mutt and Stuff on My Cat (click on the name to go to the link). You will see the cutest/funniest pictures that people have uploaded of their pets. I know some people are more of a "dog person" than "cat person" or vice versa, so I wanted to be fair. I'm listing both of them!
Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings. As always, we are halfway through the work week (can I get an AMEN??) Make it a good one friends!
