Christmas Carols

Even though I ranted about the commercialization of Christmas, I do love it. Some aspects at least. I love going to church to sing Christmas carols. There is just something inspiring and humbling to hear songs about the birth of Jesus sung by hundreds of voices that can utterly make me speechless ergo emotional. Every year I have a "favorite" carol. It's hard to pick from. I think this year is Carol of the Bells. Lots of different versions can be found and I like them all from the classical to the Mannheim Steamroller version. Doesn't Trans-Siberian Orchestra have a cool rock version of it? Anyway, that's my Christmas story of the day. Heh Heh, A Christmas Story...now that's one of my favorite Christmas movies. But that's a story for another day...

Moviepalooza

Well the weekend proved to be a regular weekend with some entertainment. Friday afternoon I skipped out of work early because I had to work on Saturday so I went to the matinee showing of Apocalypto. Pretty good, pretty gory and violent. Thought provoking if you let it be. Did some final purchasing of odd n ends for Christmas and bought some groceries too. Saturday I worked and then went home for a nap and then went to the dollar twenty-five theater to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It was good, again. Next I went for a walk on the treadmill at the YMCA starting about 6:30pm and realized ESPN was showing the Heisman trophy winner at 7pm and thought I would just walk until they announced the winner. But I realized they weren't going to come out and say it until the end so I went home and watched some Buffy. The ONLY reason I even considered watching the Heisman thing is because Darren McFadden (a Razorback) was nominated and in the top three. Well it didn't matter anyway, he lost. Maybe next year!!!

Sunday went to church, went to lunch, went to nap and then went to see The Holiday with Mary Beth and Jennie and then to eat dinner. It was a cute movie but totally unrealistic. It was very chick flick. The only possible way for any of that to happen is to have tons of money and fortunately for the people in the movie, they did.

I did a little cleaning but vegged in between everything else.

Looking forward this weekend! I finally get to see my sweetie! It seems so long ago that Thanksgiving ocurred. Well that's about it...for now.

Later taters.

Brrrrr.....I like it!!!

Ok, so my last blog was a complaint and I ain't complaining any mo! It DEFINITELY feels like Christmas FINALLY! There's even been some ice which was a nice touch, especially down here in Texas. This weekend was slightly uneventful but was nice. Did some grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating and gift wrapping. I'm officially done with Christmas gifts. It's a miracle for a procrastinating girl like moui. Well, to be honest, most of my shopping I did in July in China.

Other things I did: Picked out recipes for the annual baking frenzy I do for family, friends and coworkers. I bought a fire log and preceeded to burn it without checking to make sure the flew was open. It wasn't. So I had smoke and my annoying fire alarm go off. I aired out the apt. and took the battery out of the alarm. All good. Went out with Anita and watched the downtown Christams parade at night. That was fun. Kids going crazy and grabbing for the candy. Cute...there were about five Santas. It confused me, I can only imagine the other kids were confused too.

Before we left to go to the parade, though, I noticed my left rear passenger tire was low, but I forgot about it until after church the next morning. By that time it was REALLY low! I slowly made it to a gas station and saw that it was $.50 for air. FIFTY CENTS FOR AIR!!! I remember a time when you could get it for free. Well I didn't think I had any cash on me so, great, I was going to have to buy a soda to get cash back. But thankfully when I was getting my air pressure gauge I found...wait for it....exactly fifty cents. Praise be! So I aired up that tire and checked the front driver tire and it was slightly low so I aired that one up as well. The other two were just fine. Similar thing happened to Jason last week. I think it's the weather. I hope it's the weather and not a nail in the tire. Eeeek!!! I've been monitoring it and it seems to be ok, for now.

Saturday evening I watched the Razorbacks lose. WHHHAAAA!!! Sigh. Maybe next year. But Florida was tough and I don't think we were doing our best. So I switched back and forth between the Hogs and the Sooners. At least they won. But I'm not sure which bowl game the Hogs got...let me check...CAPITOL ONE BOWL? It doesn't sound very presitgous but at least we got one. Oklahoma is in the Fiesta Bowl...at least that one sounds...festive.

I also watched that all time Christmas classic: Ace Venture Pet Detective. Yeah, that's what you get when you don't have cable.

That about wraps up my weekend. In the Christmas spirit, enjoying the weather, missing my sweetie (big time), and preparing for all the Christmas baking in the next coupld of weeks. YAY!!!

It's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Ugh!!! This is just a complaint that it is way too hot for Christams... It's November for goodness sake!!!! It's not supposed to be freakin' 80 degrees!!!

Ok...I'm better...it will be a-ok.

Thanksgiving Week/end

Happy Thanksgiving people. Are you turkeyed out yet? I'm not. I didn't get any turkey sandwiches, but that's my fault.

ANYWHO!!!

I had a wonderful week/end spending time with family. Let's just start on Wednesday: My plan was to leave work at 12:30pm and arrive at Jason's parents at 5pm. Well that didn't work. There must have been a huge wreck about 50 miles north of Waco because cars crawled at no speed - snail pace for about 2 hours and we barely got 3 miles. THAT was fun. But I made it in one piece to McAlester, OK. Funny that Jason and his Dad got stuck in traffic going to pick up deer meat. Hee hee... Had a relaxing Thanksgiving Day with Jason's parents and his sister Ruth and Cliff (her husband). I think I've watched enough football to last me for about two years now.

I drove us to Fayetteville on Friday and had no problems getting there. Baked a pie and waited until the bro, sis-in-law and nieces came over. Fun times! Turkey...goood! Arkansas losing to LSU....BAD!!! We'll survive...somehow... Saturday was a lazy day...it was great. Showed Mom what I wanted for Christmas and went over to Drew and Mandy's for hamburgers with Dad and Grandma. Good to see them. Drew took me for a spin in his new Mustang...laid some rubber on the road too.

Now the trip back to Waco wasn't all that bad because I had the fore thought to pick some alternate routes that saved me some time. Except for the wreck that held up traffic outside of Waco. Fortunately I was at a place where I knew some back roads to get to the apartment. Yeah! I got home about 7pm. All in all the trip was excellent...now I can't wait for Christmas. I'm thinking of taking a whole week off, which will be really nice. I got to get crackin' Christmas is around the corner!!! Which leads me to a dilemma. Should I get the tree out and decorate or no b/c no one but me will see it? It's always a quandary. Below are a few pics of the fam:

Ok, this isn't of the family.
I took a picture of the grass waving in the wind while I was stuck on N-I35E.



Jason's Dad carving the turkey!

Awww...Jason and Emma



Alex and Drew



Princess Alex

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!!!

Don't get me wrong, Christmas is very important too. But the commercialization of Christmas has gotten out of control. I love Christmas music but for goodness sakes, don't start playing it until AFTER Thanksgiving, please! I confess I have listened to a little bit but after hearing the same song three times in one day, that's when I gotta listen to the iPod! Anyway, I wonder what people in other countries think Chirstmas is supposed to be when they observe us. I can't imagine! This is how I see it. Instead of the birth of Chirst being the center of the season, it seems to be Santa Claus, reindeer and how many lights you can put on your house. It looks like we worship the wrong gift giver. Santa Claus. Based on a true person, giving gifts to the poor? Maybe, and honorable but it seems we are on the wrong side of the worshipping. We beg and plead to get what we want, especially when we're kids. Do you realize we live in a society today that we can get what we want whenever we want it? Several decades ago it wasn't like that. It was all people could do to save enough to buy something special at Christmas. I love to give gifts. It's fun. I like to receive gifts but not half as much as giving. Seriously!! In reality this is the time to be thankful again to God who gave us the ultimate gift of redemption through his own son. I think that's why we are supposed to give gifts to one another. Almost like a mini sacrifice of money for family, friends and those less fortunate than ourselves.

WOW what a tirade!!! and I haven't even got to Thanksgiving yet!

Why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday....by Jessica Harris; Grade ?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because the air is cooler and the leaves turn different colors (alas, not so much in Texas). It's a time to gather with your family and just be with them. Food is always involved and I like to cook too, so that's a bonus. It just gives me an excuse. I love leftover turkey. I also love to lay on the couch and snooze or watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Not all of it because it's too long...just another excuse to snooze on the couch. Granted some of the time I help with the meal, but that really should be left to the matriarch of family, shouldn't it? At my house, it's tradition to go see a movie on Thanksgiving day and if there's enough of us, we play Trivial Pursuit (guys against girls). Anyway, I love that Thanksgiving is a time where we can be thankful with out all of the hullabaloo during Christmas. That's probably what I like best. The end.

Ya'll, be thankful for what you have and don't take it for granted! Ever! We don't know how lucky we truly are.

God bless...

PS: I'm also thankful that FOX has decided to cancel the TV Special with OJ Simpson!!! Thank GOODNESS!!!

Stupid, stupid, stupid....

Ok there are two things I just HAD to blog about...

1) OJ Simpson.


I just had to have a moment of silence for the stupidity of this man. I might sound harsh (for me) but give me break. How stupid IS this guy? Honestly, have you heard the latest? Yeah, he's gonna be on TV to discuss the latest. Here's a quote from CNN, just because I can't bring myself to write down:

Fox, which plans to air an interview with Simpson Nov. 27 and 29, said Simpson describes how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, "if he were the one responsible."

There aren't any words to describe the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Fox must really hard up for things to air AND/OR OJ must be feeling pretty lonely to get this kind of attention. My Dad said he thought OJ couldn't profit off his ex-wife's death according to the court ruling. So I'm wondering about OJ's motivation. Bored? All I can say is.....DEE DEE DEEEEEEE!

The other sad thing about this is that a lot of people are going to watch this and buy the stupid book... BOYCOTT IT!!!! Why are we so fascinated with this crap?

2)Playstation 3.

No, I wasn't in line. Did you hear some teenagers held up a line of people who were waiting to purchase the PS3 and shot someone who refused to give them money? I know people do very strange/stupid things, but I'm sorry, when did a game box become so important that you need to rob and shoot someone to buy it (I'm assuming that's what they were going to do). Why does it cost so much freakin' money? Ok, it's the latest in graphic technology....yada yada yada. But don't we better things to spend our money on than something that can cause us to ignore the world around us? I can say this because I've been caught up in the gaming world. I've spent hours and hours on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (love that game) and computer games when I could have been doing so much other productive stuff, like, I don't know, cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, being outside, getting an education...

Watch the episode of South Park where Warcraft is the storyline. I think it's a pretty accurate picture of what part of our society is coming to. Just to further convince you we are going the way of the Dodo bird, here are a few more articles on the wonderful actions of crazy people after a game box:

Launch-Day Frenzy

• Customer shot while waiting outside a Connecticut Walmart. (Article - ABCNews.com)

• Three PS3 campers robbed at gunpoint outside Springfield, OR Circuit City. (Article - KMTR.com, Oregon)

• Two gunmen rob a GameStop store in Elk Grove, CA, steal several PS3's. (Article - CBS13.com, Sacramento, CA)

• Several customers shot with BB guns while waiting outside a Central Kentucky Best Buy. (Article - WKYT.com, Kentucky)

• A dentist in Columbus, GA hired 60 temp workers to wait inline for 15 systems for his grandchildren. He later ditches plan after complaints from other customers. (Article - ledger-enquirer.com)

• One customer quits job to wait in line. Another postpones buying engagement ring for his girlfriend in order to afford PS3. (Article - TGDaily.com)

• Pregnant mother ignores contractions while camping outside a Secaucus, NJ Best Buy. (Article - NJ.com)

• Various Stories (Article - Newsday.com)

P.S. on the Razorback Game...

Top Five Tips while attending a Razorback Football Game:

• Check the weather, it could be cold.
• Sub tip - wear warm clothes when cold
  
• If you do get a chance to sit down, bring something to sit on.
  
• Check the best possible and easy accessible parking spots (and alternate routes to get to them).
• Leave in plenty of time...you never know how long it will take you to climb the ramp to get to your seats in the nose bleed section.
• MOST IMPORTANT TIP: Try not to wear the opposing team's colors...you could get your head smashed in...when in doubt...wear red.

These tips are brought to you by people who have experienced the weather, sitting arrangements, parking, climbing and wearing of inappropriate colors. (Jason was most unfortunate to have in his possession a Norman Tigers coat, which happens to be orange, which happened to be the color of the Tennessee Vols, who we happened to be playing at the time.)

How 'bout them HOGS!!!!!

Well what can I say...I think they won because we were screaming at the top of our lungs. Yup, my sibilings and their significant others, as well as my own, all went with two other cousins to the Arkansas (ranked #7) vs. Tennessee (ranked #22) game last Saturday. It was awesome! Maybe not the fact that we were probably 5 rows from the very top of the stadium and way on the end, but hey, you can't really quibble with free tickets to a huge game! We were fortunate enough to get a decent parking space. Thanks to the Daggets.

It was a short but excellent trip. Jason and I met in Indianola at Jason's parents and spent the night before going to Fayetteville on Saturday. I got to see where Jason grew up and went to school. Very cool. We dropped by Dad's and said hey and then went on to Mom's where Aunt Becky and Robin were showing off their shopping purchases. Got to see the brother, which was great.

It was really fun to be there with the bros and Mandy and Alex. I think we all had a good time. It's been fun being adults talking and joking around. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. I have a wonderful family and there just isn't enough time in the day to visit as long as I would like without going insane. I'm also looking forward to spending time with Jason's family too.

OHHH!!! Jason called me early yesterday morning letting me know he was in a car accident. Not his fault but did do some damage to his car. He's ok, a little sore, but sad about his baby. Pray that he'll feel better and that everything goes smoothly with his car insurance and getting his car fixed.

Check out the pictures from the game. We rock...HOGS all the way, baby!

"A" is for Arkansas



Go Hogs!!!

J & J

Mandy & Drew



Patrick & Alex



Becky & Robin



The Arkansas Razorback Marching Band!!!



Patrick, Alex, Drew, Mandy, Jason, Jessica, Becky and Robin

NASCAR is.........LOUD!!!!

Well, I had an eventful weekend. It really was a FUN weekend...I don't know why I'm surprised by it. Everything went well, which I was nervous about. For Jason's birthday, November 1st, I got tickets to see the NASCAR race yesterday....Let me back up a little... I have never been in to stock car racing...ever. There are some sports I will watch, like football and really only when the Razorbacks are playing. And of course, it's always better when you are there live. Now Jason loves sports and NASCAR and I have grown to understand it and actually there is a lot to it. It's also funny because it's like a soap opera...seriously.... You just have to be there and see it to believe it. Boos and cheers. I think people like Dale Earnhardt Jr. because his main sponsor is Bud. (Nah, it's probably because of his Dad.) Anyway! Jeff Gordon is Jason's favorite and I asked him who his second favorite was and he said Tony Stewart. Cool.

The thing I was nervous about was the weather. It was already raining when we got there and then it was sporadic. I bet I looked good in my 86 cent poncho. Woot woot! (By the time the race was over I was pretty much damp and everything I had.) We walked around looking at everything. And then lo and behold there was Ricky Bobby's trailer!!! It was awesome!! I got my picture with a gianormous Ricky Bobby. We found our seats (on the second row on the 1st turn) around 11am and waited. It wasn't too bad because there was so much to see. Dr. Phil was there! We watched the jet engine dryers mounted on trucks drying the track off. We were still wondering if there was even going to be a race. Well it looked like it was a go. The race was delayed about an hour but they did race. It was awesome and very loud. Thank goodness we brought earplugs. There were several wrecks, but the two major ones I missed because I was either 1) in the bathroom, 2) waiting in line at the ATM machine, 3) souveniers or 4) getting a subway sandwich. It's ok, I'll live. :D

Well it was pretty dramatic at the end with a checkered green flag and a restart. Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson were almost neck in neck but Jimmie Johnson couldn't catch Tony Stewart and he won!! It was pretty exciting. There were over 150,000 people there. The population of Waco. That is NUTS!!! The race was over around 7pm and then the heavens opened up and let the water spill out. It thunderstormed like you wouldn't believe. I've heard horror stories about exiting the race but it wasn't too bad really. I took Hwy 156 all the way to I-820 and then to I35W to Ft. Worth. The traffic on the Interstate wasn't bad either. I got home about 9:30pm and was asleep by 10:15. Gosh I was tired. Jason wasn't so lucky. He hit some construction just 12 miles outside of Norman...he didn't get home until 11pm. He texted me and I replied but barely remember it. Poor guy. But hey, he got free tix to something he likes and a pretty darn good blackberry pie, if I do say so myself.

Trying to park the cars at 9am.



One of Tony Stewart's cars.



Me and Ricky Bobby.



Jeff Gordon's car is the one on the right. Neon orange.



Awwww...two NASCAR fans...and earplugs.



Blackberry pie...yeah, I'm pretty proud of it.

Long Time, No Blog...

Whoa, it seems forever since I've blogged!!! I need to catch ya'll up on stuff! Let's see, what has happened? On the weekend of October 21st I went to Jason's sister's wedding. It was beautiful. She was definitely a princess! The wedding was between Comanche and Duncan on Highway 81. The drive was great. It was nice to see different scenery and drive with no one else on the road. Sweet! I met a lot of Jason's family, including his Grandmother, and a lot of Cliff's family too. Cliff was the groom. All in all, a good time was had by everybody!

So that was the weekend. What else has happened? On 10-24 was our third annual Dr Pepper oUT oF tHE oRDINARY gOLF tOURNAMENT. The turnout was ok but we made basically the same amount of money as last year. We need more players...if you are interested in golfing, our next tournament is on 10-24-07. It's always on 10-24 (weekday permitting). Because, of course, you drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4!

ANYWAY!!! What else...ummmm well my Mom is scheduled to have surgery on November 6th. It's outpatient surgery indirectly related to her cancer treatments. Her next BIG surgery in on December 20th.

Last weekend was fabulous. Friday I took in a matinee. The Prestige. Pretty good! About two magicians duking it out to be the best. On Saturday I got to sleep in for once in a great while. I slept probably until 9 and then read in bed until noon. It was great. Then I went to see the movie The Departed. Pretty good, people! Based on one of my favorite films from Hong Kong, Infernal Affairs. If you get a chance to see it, do so.

Sunday started a week of busyness. Sunday was the Chili/Gumbo cookoff, which we helped set up and take down for...Monday I worked and then represented Cottey College at the HOT College Fair that night....Tuesday night was Fall Festival at Church. (Not Halloween, mind you, but you could still dress up and get candy...what's the logic behind that?) I helped serve pizzas in the concession stand...Wednesday night I represented the country China at church for Mission emphasis week and then helped Angie cook a chicken casserole for a family with an illness. Thursday for lunch I ate at La Fiesta and listened to women talk about their mission experiences. It was good but I'm TIRED!!! So tonight I'm not gonna do much...maybe pick up a few things here and there in the apartment and watch Pride and Prejudice. Gosh, I love that movie.

The next two weekend are going to be action packed, so look for a blog posting next week on NASCAR...yeah, that's right, NASCAR!

Signing off....J

Jessica the Pirate (at work)


Work gang at lunch...on Halloween...duh!
It's not usually how we dress...usually....

Carlos Mencia

Ok. So I had to write another blog about last night.

A couple of coworkers and friends and I went to see Carlos Mencia last night. If you don't know who he is, you should look him up. He's a comedian who has a potty mouth but is freaking hilarious. There were two other comedians before him who were also very funny. Carlos is Latino and let's just say the Waco Hippodrome hasn't seen such as diverse and young audience in a long time. (My opinion anyway). It was great. I had floor seats and had a great view. We did have an obnoxious guy in the row in front of me who kept on yelling at Carlos...but Carlos used it to his advantage. He even cracked himself up because it was so easy to come up with a come back for him. He kept on saying: "I can't even make this stuff up." There's no way I can even describe what his routine is like except to say that everyone gets ragged on. EVERYONE! including Latinos and mentally slow people. I took some pictures and will put some in my pics space. Take a gander....

Beautiful Weekend

Yawn!!!! Good grief! Why can't I get enough sleep? Even though I got more than eight hours of sleep last night? It will always be a mystery to me. Oh well.

I glanced at my last blog entry and it looks like I was having a mental break down or something. And I may have had a slight one, but for now, I'm doing pretty ok. Thanks for asking! I'm still sleepy, though. I had a pretty good week last week. It seemed to fly by and go slow at the same time. OOOOHHHH!!!! Mary Beth and I finally got new monitors at work. It's a miracle. Flat screen that weighs about 3lbs whereas my old monitor weighed about 25 (that's no joke, folks). Anyway, I'm amazed when I sit down and am able to see everything on the screen. It's marvelous. Who knew a monitor could be so entertaining. I'm pretty sure it's the White N' Nerdy coming out of me.

So Friday couldn't have gotten here any sooner. It finally did and after work a group of friends and I trekked on over to Meridian State Park to be a part of nature. We had good fajitas thanks to Lewis....thanks Lewis and just a grand ole time in general. I came back that night because Jason was driving down after his football game. He arrived just after 2am. Yawn!! But I got a lot of cleaning done before he got there, so that was good. An aside: I love when I have company over because when they leave, the apartment is generally clean and I don't have to do anything for a couple of days afterward. Yay!

Anyway he arrived and we promptly fell dead asleep. The next day we headed up to Ft. Worth to catch a train into Dallas. It was great! It only cost $4.50 each and that was an all day pass to come back and/or ride the Light Rail or bus system, which we used. The bus took us directly to the Fair. It was very practical and fun. It was hard to find the train terminal though but we found it with 10 minutes to spare. Hmmmm.....sounds like a trip I took in China! Barely making the train!!!! Soooo we got to the fair and listened to some bag pipers. "We've got a piper down!" (said in a Scottish accent). They were very good. We also spent an exorbitant amount of money on food. Everything was good except maybe the fried coke...we were pretty hungry when we got there. We took a look at all the new cars in the Auto show section and I showed Jason the exhibit I helped with on Dr Pepper. There were a ridiculous amount of people, so that took a little away from the experience. We also listened to the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps (not band).

We hopped the train back to Ft. Worth and made it home around 9:30. Tired!

The next day we ate lunch with my friends and watched a little football. About 2 o'clock I received a knock on my door and found the police looking back at me. I swear I didn't do it!!! Actually he was there to tell me that someone had stolen my mail, but couldn't figure out how the perp (yeah, I used the word perp) got into my mailbox. After trying to figure out the details, we finally figured someone went through the dumpster trash and found some unopened junk mail of mine. Usually I tear it up, but obviously this time I didn't. So the moral of the story is: SHRED YOUR MAIL, PEOPLE!!!

So I titled the blog a beautiful weekend because it was. There may have been a few rain drops here and there but it added to the beauty. We need the rain and we need beauty in our lives. There's too much ugly out there.

That's about it for now....still sleepy. Must...wake...up...

Utterly Alone

Well, that's the way I feel. I know it's not the truth. But knowing one thing and feeling the opposite seems to go hand in hand. It seems that my closest friends are drifting away. And that's not really it, it's just that most of them are preoccupied with other people, namely their significant others. I know I can still talk to them but only when their time permits. I don't blame them at all and I am happy for them.

I do know, however, that God is there just waiting for me to talk to Him. He's my ultimate friend and it was ironic this morning when I thought to myself, "He can't make me feel unlonely." Of course He can!!! He is the provider of all things. I just take it for granted that He's always there, always waiting on me. I want everything right now without having to do anything. It's up to me to get out of bed and ask for His strength. OR it's up to me to ask Him to give me the strength to get out of bed.

See, I know what to do...sometimes I just don't want to do it. I think that's how it is for most everybody. It's not a generalization. We are of a society that tells us we can do it on our own and don't need anybody to help us. That's a LIE! We are built to be social people and to be dependant on others. So, as my mom always said, to have a friend, be a friend. Goodness, I hated that saying, but I understand. I can't wait for it to just fall in my lap. If I don't want to work or sacrifice myself for others, I shouldn't expect others do the same for me.

I'm tired of not wanting to get out of bed and being on the verge of tears. God give me the strength to make it one more day out here! Help me be a friend to others even when I don't feel like I have any!

Anyway, this soliloquy has gone on long enough. I'm off to be a friend to someone!

Bloggin' Blahs

I really haven't felt like blogging lately, but I have updated my China Blog...so check it out. Which is sorta ironic, but it's already written out.

http://chinatrip2006-jessica.blogspot.com/

Wednesday!!! Tomorrow's Pay Day, YAY!!

Well, the past weekend and this week has been interesting for me anyways. It's sorta been like a roller coaster. Some slow parts, some very fast runaway parts!! I stayed in Waco last weekend because the museum was having a block party for the area businesses. I was in charge of the 50 foot inflatible can. That was fun!! I also was coordinating the display of a 1905 Cadillac. It was very cool. Thanks Mr. Lane!!! The party went off without a hitch, and as always, we served sausages off the grill. Mmmm, mmmm good. Saturday the museum celebrated the 100th birthday of the building we are housed in. It was a free day and that means a lot more local people come and that's good! YAY!!! Check out the museum's blog to see pictures from the two days' events: http://drpeppermuseum.blogspot.com

After the day was over, Jennie and I got cleaned up and cruised up to Dallas for another birthday party. It was for a friend of Jennie's, Tim. His house is GORGEOUS! Just what my dream house would be like...not kidding. ANYWAY! There were about 70 great looking guys and about 10 women. Did I mention that about 99% of the guys were gay?

Well Jennie and I got back into Waco about 1ish....I had no problem getting to sleep. I did have trouble getting up to go to church though. I did go but came home and took a nap and did laundry. Then a strange thing happened. Something started falling from the sky and made the air cooler. Whoa! It was rain! It rained off and on again the whole entire night. YAY! I went over to Chris' house for our home groups. It was me, Angie, Chris, Lewis and Mark. Good group, good discussion, good prayer time...oh and yeah, good food too!

Monday I found myself in a terrible mood. It was wierd, though. I actually had my quiet time with God for the first time in a very long time. And when someone wants to let God work in her life, that's when Satan attacks her and I think that's why my mood was foul (besides the female hormones). There are some things I've been struggling with for awhile now. The main thing is that I have been justifying my selfish actions by less than acceptable standards. Basically, I've been compromising my morals to get what I want...or think what I need/want/deserve? I don't like it and everytime I hang out with my friends and go to church...the Holy Spirit reminds me of who I ought to be in Christ. I want to be who God wants me to be and not what the world says I deserve to be. Who does God want me to be? An example for others to live by. Well I can tell you right now, I've failed miserably on several (HA! No. More than several) occasions. Thank goodness God knows that I can't ever be perfection. No one can achieve that...it's impossible. That's why He gives us His forgiveness, grace and strength to rely on. So I have adopted a friend's motto: "Progress, not perfection." Life is work, no one (not even God) says it's gonna be easy. It's how we react to life's curve balls that make us who we are. How will you react? Fatalistically? Optimistically? "I can make it on my own?" mentality? If you think you can fix things on your own, think again. It usually ends up becoming a worse situation than when it started. I speak from experience. I (try to) rely on a power greater than myself. It just usually takes me hitting rock bottom first before I do. SO! My prayer is that I will continually rely on God's strength to get me through the day and not my own. And if you are in to praying, please pray that for me too. Shoot...if there's anything you want me to pray for, ask!

This blog is pretty bold for me, especially to those of you who know I can be very shy about who I am. This blog may surprise a lot of people too. That's another thing. I want to be me to everybody, not one person to some and a completely different person to others. It can be very tiring at times. What I need is some friendly encouragement. I will take what I can get. Thanks for listening...or reading, as the case may be. Peace to you and I will catch you up on my progress every now and again.

It's Thursday already?

Wow the week has flown by it seems. I have been busy with work and life. Last weekend was eventful. I arrived in OKC late Friday and pretty much went to bed. Jason and I got up really early to get his windows of his new car tinted so we would have enough time to get to Drew's hotel so we could make it into Tinker AFB. As always (it seems) the army or airforce messed up the passes and we had to go through another checkpoint. While Drew was fixing that, Jason, Mandy, the girls and I were sitting in the van. The girls became unhappy, especially Emma, she ate something that upset her stomach. Ok, so we got on to the base and headed over to our designated area to have, as Drew calls it, mandatory food and fun. Tug of war and lunch was schedueled down to the minute. Ha! To make a long story short (too late!) the girls and Jason left early b/c of Emma not feeling well, but of course when we got to the hotel she was fine and playful. Oh well!!! At least I got to see my family!!

Jason and I rested up a bit and then headed out to Oktoberfest...that's right Oktoberfest in September (who am I to argue when to drink beer?) It was a lot of fun listening to music, eating strudel and bratwurst and drinking wine and beer! Sunday, I probably watched enough football to last me the season...HA!!! and helped with laundry.

Monday I got up early to find my way to the Jim Thorpe building and take a merit test for a state job working for the OK Historical Society. Everything was easy EXCEPT the part on OK History. Pretty sure I screwed that part up. What gets me is that the kinds of questions they asked me were pretty trivial and something I could have looked up on the internet within 10 seconds. Oh well, we'll see what happens. I had a couple of minutes to spare before heading to Ardmore so I roamed around the state capitol right next to where I took the test. It really is a beautiful building. After taking some pics, I headed down the interstate to Ardmore to interview for a job there. It was a pretty good interview. We'll see what happens.

So I got home and just crashed. I was a tired girl. I was tired the next day too and thank goodness Anita suggested going to IHOP rather than swimming! Had enough leftover for lunch too. Double score! I still was pretty tired and then started to feel icky. Later that afternoon I remembered I had a meeting that night and had to be there because I'm an officer. It ran long and I didn't get home until 9:15. So tired and icky!! Jason called and told me about seeing Carlos Mencia and that lifted my spirits. Ok, Wednesday...ouch! I pretty much knew what was wrong with me and I knew that must go see a doctor. Didn't do much at work except go to another meeting and then to the doctor. Yup, he confirmed it...I have a bladder infection or UTI (to sound more professional). He gave me some drugs for the pain and antibiotics for the infection. Now I feel a whole heck of a lot better! I'm not very hungry though and still tired, but that could be due to swimming this morning and doing a little butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke....maybe...I don't know So that's it for this week in a nutshell "Help! I'm in a nutshell!" (said with a British accent). Toodles and I'll check you later...

Jess

I labored yesterday....

Happy Belated Labor Day everyone! I was sooo happy to have a day to do what ever I wanted. I slept in until a big whopping 8ish and laid there until 10ish. It was nice but wish I could have slept a little longer. Oh well. I had a whole list of "chores" to do this weekend and I about finished the list. Just have to dust and vacuum. Now what do I do after that? I will come home to a clean apartment and then.....?!?!? I need to do something contructive, so if anyone knows me well enough and has any ideas, feel free to let me know...

Sunday was Mary Beth's wedding and it was wonderful!! We had a lot of fun. It's always good to know the bride or groom really well and some of there friends and family because you actually feel a part of it. Jennie, Carrie and I rode together. Jack, Linda and Dr. Ellie and Al were there too. So you know it was a hoot (if you know who I'm talking about (and most Texas museum people do)).

What else...a friend of mine and I went and saw Cars at the dollar theater. It really was a good funny movie. And let's just say you get what you pay for. I love the dollar theater but let's face it, it's dirty and it smelled. My shoes were sliding all over the floor because it hadn't been cleaned in awhile. Not that I'm complaining but there were a lot of kids, which is totally to be expected, but I forgot how...what's the word...irritating they can be when they aren't your own. There were no seats so we sat on the third row and I swear, my neck still has a tendancy to look up. Overall it was an enjoyable time. Other than that, I did have a restful time and my apartment is clean! Whoot woot!

Got a call from my brother yesterday. He traded in his Ford Ranger for a 2006 Ford Mustang GT. It's a standard and fire engine red. He's really excited and so is my Dad (mixed with a little jealousy, I imagine). I told Drew he can teach me to drive a standard and he said....hmmmm...maybe...which I translated to maybe over my dead body. Ha! Dad and I have a bet on how long it will take him to get a ticket. Speaking of new cars, Jason also traded his Ford Ranger yesterday for a 2007 Saturn Aura. It's the kind of car we test drove last weekend. It's a really nice car and will last a long time. It also has some very cool features. Check it out!!! I'm very happy for everyone who has a new car!!!

PS: The Dr Pepper Museum is now on MySpace...check it out and be its friend!

Whassup????

Nothing much, Buttercup, nothing much... No that's not true. Just doing my thang... It seems the week is just blah, but the weekends...busy, busy, busy!!! Last weekend I trekked up to OKC to see my sweetie, J, AND see Pat Benetar in concert. How cool! That was a great B-Day present. I loved it! What else did we do. Cruised around town looking at cars, played in the rain...well not really but did get a little wet. That's about it but it was just enough!

I headed back a tad bit early to make the evening church service. I thought I was going to be speaking about China but they changed it up on me. That's ok, I enjoyed listening to the others. Mary Beth called right as I got into town and asked to borrow my drill and she came by later with the DeeeJ. So cute!!! (DJ is MB's cute Pomeranian puff ball!!!)

Monday I was determined to hear back from a museum where I sent in an application for a position. Lo and behold, I got an interview. Yay! So while I was talking to my mom on the way home from work, I also checked my snail mail and lo and behold I got approved for an OK state job (a job I was told I wasn't qualified for). HA! So the next step for me for that job is to take a merit test...whatever that may be. So in a couple of weeks, please be praying for me. We shall see what happens with both these opportunities. I'm not too excited yet, but I don't want to be too pessimistic either. Guess what else was in my snail mail. Lo and behold my brother, Patrick, wrote me a letter! If you knew my brother, you know it was a miracle. I didn't even know he had my address. So sweet!!!

Other than that, nothing much else is going on. This weekend will be spent sleeping....a lot. Yay for Labor Day! Also, Mary Beth is getting married on Sunday, so kudos to her!!!

Buh dee Buh dee Buh dee...That's all folks...fer now.
Jessica

Ice Cream, Hair and Storms...

Where to start. I'm not sure, so I'll just tell you about my weekend. I decided to go home and see my family since I was missing them an awful lot. Friday I had a major event at the museum I was in charge of and that went off without a hitch AND we got out earlier than I expected so I got to leave early for home (around 3:30). That put me in Arkansas at 10:30. I hit 5 o'clock traffic in Dallas but there were no major wrecks so the traffic was steady but slow, which is fine with me. Now if we hadn't been moving...that's a different story...it drives me crazy, which is ironic because if traffic is at a dead stop, I can't drive anyway! HA!

ANYWAY! I arrived home and knew I was in Arkansas because the locusts where in full symphonic orchestra. I promptly went to bed. Slept good and got an early start. Mom and I went and dropped off some stuff at Salvation Army and then went to Sears to pick up a mini-fridge for her room at school.

Insert tangent here... When we went around the back of Sears to have the mini-fridge put in our car, I walked in with the reciept and looked around for a person. No one, except another customer. All of a sudden I hear: "Welcome to Sears merchandise pick up, please scan your reciept!" Hello? Who is that? Where are you? Oh! It's the computer talking to me. Cool. I walk over and scan the barcode printed on the reciept. Then a voice says: "Please observe the monitor overhead. It will indicate your wait time and who is taking care of your order." Sure enough I'm next "in line", Matt is picking up the order and the timer starts. Average wait time of 2 minutes and 47 seconds. Cool. I sit down and wait with the other person for her merchandise. Then I got to thinking. No wonder we have an employment problem. It cost too much to have people work for us. It's much easier to have a computer do it. It's so much more efficient! People cause too many problems and employers don't have the "time" to deal with it. Time is money and if you can cut out the middleman, then do it. What happened to the human touch? Remember service with a smile? Who does that anymore? You can upload your own pictures to your computer and then order the ones you want and have them mailed to you or print them out yourself. You can check your own groceries out, mail your own packages, check your credit card balance over the phone and online...We are sacrificing humans for a little speed. Have we gotten so cold? Is this the path we are headed for? Are we to be drones who eventually will not have to have any contact with another human being to get anything done? (We won't even have to touch each other to procreate...wait...we don't now!) It won't be the robots or machines that destroy us. It will be our independence from each other.

Back to my weekend...I helped Mom set up her classroom. She still isn't able to lift a lot of weight, so I did all the physical stuff like hanging the solar system and putting things on the top shelf, helping empty the catfish tank, etc... (she's a science teacher by the way...) After that we went over to Roger's who was cooking up some soup (cooking experiment with a pressure cooker and we were the guinea pigs). It was actually quite good. I showed off Hong Kong pictures. We had to go because Mandy and the girls were coming to play at 3:00. YAY!!! We played and I took pictures and all was right with the world. We ate a little BBQ and went up to Dickson street to the Headquarters house during the Civil War for a little bit of ice cream and cake. The annual Ice Cream Social was going on. Fun!!! Good ice cream...

After the girls were packed up in the van and Mom and I were dropped off at the house, I trekked over to Dad's and gave him and Alison a tour of Hong Kong and China until about 11:00pm. Went to sleep...got up and went to Sunday School with Dad and Alsion. Wow! Hadn't done that in awhile. It was good. Went back to Dad's and made a detour to visit Grandma. She's doing real well just doesn't get to get out much. She's on oxygen and it can be a hassle to get out of the house. She calls her oxygen tube her leash. HA HA, only my Grandma! Went back over to Dad's and ate lunch. Went back over to Mom's to finish up China pictures and then left around 3pm. I took a break in McAlester to visit with Jason's Mom at the Western Sizzlin. Good times! Got back on the road and bypassed several storms and made it to Waco at 11pm... WHEW!!! Talk about pressed for time. It was a very short weekend but I needed to go home. Someone told me every moment is precious...and he was right. Take time out and spend it with someone you love, even if it is calling them on the phone and talking to them for a few minutes...we need that human touch.

Oh! I didn't explain the hair reference in the title! Mom has hair! Not much, but enough to not have to wear a wig!! YAY!!!! I told her she would be the coolest teacher with the coolest hair (figuratively and literally).

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Mom called last night and let me know she had to put down our cocker spaniel of 16 years, Oliver yesterday. I was soooo sorry she had to do that by herself. She's had so much to deal with lately, so we cried on the phone together. She had him creamated. He was old and deaf as a doornail and was having some respiratory problems. All dogs go to heaven, according to the movie of the same name. I don't know, but it'd be nice. We had some good memories of him. I nicknamed him Ollie, Aloe Vera and Chewbacca (man, he had a lot of fur). I'm gonna miss him. Rest in peace, Ollie.

Cruising at 55mph with bumps in the road...

Ok. So, I'm getting tired of being tired and coughing. Therefore, after the encouragment of several people, I went to the Dr. yesterday and I'm glad I did. He said if I let it get worse, it could develop into pneumonia. Great! Wonderful! What I've always wanted!! I got some anitbiotics @ $6/pill. Thank goodness I only needed five. Crazy how a pill can knock out almost pneumonia!

My father called to check on how I was doing and then I called Mom to tell her. She then proceeded to tell me she has lymphedema, which is is an abnormal buildup of fluid that causes swelling, most often in the arms or legs (in her case her left arm). The condition develops when lymph vessels or lymph nodes are missing, impaired, damaged, or removed. This is a direct cause of her surgery and her radiation. So that me feel wonderful knowing I'm here and have no time to take off to go help her. On the up side she said the doctor may cut her radiation treatments by a week. Yay! Just in time for school to start.

On an absolutely positively happy note, Jason came down for the weekend! Yay! It was very nice to see my sweetie and hang out. He gave me my b-day present, which were tickets to see Pat Benatar in concert! Invincible! (love that song). That's about it for this last week. Still trying to recover from China. Still seems surreal that I went (and back again). Keep checking out my China blog. I try to update it everyday with an entry and more pictures.

Later gaters...

Rolling the eyes...

Ok. I have an irritance (is that a word?) that needs to be scratched. Everybody caught up on the latest news about Mel Gibson? Good. I hate Hollywood and the media. Why do we focus so much on them? Do you realize how many people act like Mel everyday who are not celebrities? Please. We flock to Hollywood and the media because we don't have to look at ourselves when we screw up. We can always criticize someone else who has screwed up royally, but don't show everybody what we've done ourselves...that would be invasion of our privacy! Don't pass judgement on public figures unless you're ready to pass judgement on yourself publically. I'm not excusing what celebrities do. They have consequences for their actions and so do we. We just don't have ours flaunted in everyone's face...well sometimes we do.

Along the same lines....it's sad to see how much money we contribute, i.e. magazines and TV shows, to pursuing those famous people...they're people too. We should be concentrating more on how we conduct ourselves rather than gossiping over the latest marriage of J-Lo. Is she called that anymore? What she doing now? Is she still married to Marc Antony? Whoops...got sidetracked a little.

I am totally guilty of looking at the entertainment section on the internet. I admit it, but cringe and reprimand myself too. There are more important matters at hand...aren't there?

Good luck Mel.

Check out my new blog....

I just started posting my journal about my trip to China on a new blog... check it out here.

I'm back and better than ever...?

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

After a 2.5 week hiatis I am back from traveling to exotic places. I'm not yet at 100% (jet lag, ya know) but I'm feeling pretty good. I had an awesome time in China and I am going to create a blog just for it...stay tuned. What else...I'm tired, even though I slept 16 hours from 7pm on Saturday til Sunday (not straight, mind you, but in increments...) I'm at work and trying to catch up. I did get something very nice today...flowers from Jason.... how sweet!!! Pretty pink roses with tiny purple flowers mixed in.
By the by...I didn't get that job I applied for in OKC :( Found out while I was in China. Boy was that a bummer!!! Oh well...I'm sure I'll find something else!!!!

Later...after a few more zzzz's... J

HOLY MOLY!!!

Holy Moly! I'm down to one full day before I go to China. I'm not even packed yet!!! AAAAaaaahhhhh! Granted I have the essentials laid out ready to be put into the luggage. AND I have my list of things to take ready to be checked off. I'm not nervous yet, but will probably get that way on the way up to the airport. I've travelled overseas before with a group of people but not by myself. There's always a first time!!! Can't back out of it now.

Well Friday was a friend's birthday and he requested that we all go see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It was good and a little more scary than last time. The frustrating thing is that it left you hanging and now we have to wait for the third installment. It WAS good though!!!

Saturday I got up and drove to OKC not just to see my sweetie but also for a job interview!! (which was actually on Monday but why not drive up early if you've got someone to be with!!!). Hopefully the job will come through, but if not, there will be other opportunities...hopefully :-)

Sunday we went to church, then to IHOP and watched a woman get arrested in the parking lot. That day I also did some reconissance work on the museum I interviewed at. It's pretty awesome. The Chihuly exhibit is spectacular. Also Thomas Moran's Sea at Sunset is beautiful.

What else....I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get things at work in order before I leave. I've just now had time to type up something real quick. That's about it! Let me get back to work!

Zaijian! (Until I see you again)
Jessi

Happy Fourth and other happenings...

Happy 4th of July everyone!!! I'm actually working today and I have no problem with that actually. None of the senior staff is here, so that leaves me in charge of the museum...which could be a bad thing, really HA HA! Nah, we'll see how it goes. I chose to work today and take off yesterday so I could spend an extra day with my sweetie in OKC - southside.

Well let's see....what's been going on since my last posting... oh yeah! I bought new luggage for the China trip, woot woot...I love it. I've used it too. Good stuff.

Praise the Lord, the wagons are finished! I (actually we) have been working non-stop on the Dr Pepper wagons and we moved them to the courtyard last Friday so the weekend visitors can see them! I must say they look pretty darn good!!! I never thought I'd say yay, I don't have to wear jeans to work!! I can dress normal now!

I hot footed it over to OKC on Friday to see Jason and his new apartment and just spend as much time with him as possible because in a few weeks we are either going to be out of town or working on the weekends... Maybe that will change soon... Jason's parents came down as well as his sister, the nephews and the sister's boyfriend! A full house!! It was good though. Some of us went to see Sue the T. Rex at the Sam Noble...very cool. Had din-din and then saw the fireworks at Tinker AFB. Fun! Sunday was spent laying around and swimming in the pool. Monday it was almost time to leave when I received a phone call about a possible job. We'll see how that goes. Cross your fingers!

8 days to go to China (not counting today or the day I leave). :-D

Have a crack-a-lackin' time today and tonight! Be safe!
Jessi

Another week down and 2.5 weeks to gooooo.....

Yay! Another week is gone and, as the title suggests, 2.5 weeks to go until I leave for China!! I'm totally stoked...I have my passport, Visa, tickets and new luggage ready to go. Unfortunately I can't pack yet, cause I gotta use the stuff I need to pack! Last night there was a China meeting for all the people going. It was more of learning a little of the language. I've started learning a few phrases so it was entertaining listening to the others learn how to say hello in Mandarin. After the meeting I came home and printed out itineraries to send to family and friends and then made of list of things to do before I go and what to pack. If you know me a little bit you know that 1) I like pockets (we've already discussed that) and 2) I love to make lists...LOVE IT!!! Grocery lists, work lists, goals, to do lists, what to pack, etc. Just visit my office and you'll see lists posted everywhere. There's just something about crossing off something you've accomplished. So satisfying...(even if it is peanut butter on your grocery list...).

I did not have the pleasure of company this weekend, but Jason moved to new digs and got it done with the help of his sister and her boyfriend. For consolation on not being able to see Jason, I watched the end of the NASCAR race and Jason's favorite driver won...Jeff Gordon!

Saturday I went up to Dallas to visit a friend who was in town for a wedding. In fact, I'm going to see his sister and parents in Hong Kong. We went out for real Chinese food and then to the Dallas Museum of Art. There was a wicked storm that only lasted a few minutes around 5pm...lots of lightening. Then we went over to the bride and groom's house for a post wedding BBQ. Good grilling by the way...wow. As you might imagine, there were a lot of Chinese there. A lot of Cantonese spoken, while the white girl is sitting quietly watching, of all things, the broadcast of who's going to be on Big Brother...good grief. Once I was introduced to Roger's friend Douglas...things picked up. He told me lots of funny stories about Roger...kept me in stitches the whole time. Douglas is the brother of the bride (Dominque, btw). Not much else happened this weekend.

I seem to be random on the days here but Friday I left work around 2:30 and went straight home for a nap...so tired from working on the wagons. Don't remember what I did after that...

Sunday I went to church and then swam with my swim bud...I'm up to 2300 yards! Yay! Afterwards, started some laundry then took a nap, watched NASCAR, read a book, went to church and went to the China meeting...the rest you know.

Random thoughts: I never thought I'd watch NASCAR voluntarily (or understand it for that matter).
Dale Chihuly rawks... (glass artist whose work is at the Dallas Museum of Art) check him out... www.chihuly.com

Have an excellent week, people!

Until next time
-Jessica

Hmmmm.....

Hmmmmm....just thinking about the weekend. Jason came down and we had a good time. His Dad's birthday was Friday, so he spent it with him, as well he should have. Kudos for him...then J came down on Saturday afternoon and we got duded up to have a nice dinner. I didn't get a compliment about what I was wearing right off the bat, so later on that evening I went fishing for one. He said, "You look great no matter what you wear." Ok, that was a very good compliment, however, not exactly what I was looking for. Guys need to know that women need to be affirmed every now and again, especially when they get dressed up!!!! (and be specific too....ie, I like your shoes, that color looks good on you...) Anyhooo, that was Saturday night.

Sunday we went to church and met some of my friends and ate lunch with them too. Afterwards J & I went to do a little shopping at JC Penny's who is having a great sale by the way. J needed some dress shirts and belts for work and I was just browsing when lo & behold, luggage was on sale!!! WHHOOO HOOOOO!!!! I need some new luggage for China and have been looking for some. Boy was there a deal (and I'm leaving in a few minutes to go pick it up!!). Anybody who knows me, knows I love things with lots of pockets. This luggage was made for me and it's a six piece set! Awesome! Yes, I'm a dork and a little neurotic that way, but hey, that's me. If I was any character on Friends, I'd have to be Monica...but I'm not that bad...at least I hope I'm not!!!! I'm sure someone would let me know if I was....

Later that day we watched a little NASCAR but it got rained out. Took a nap and then got supper. We watched So I Married An Axe Murderer, which is a hilarious movie with Mike Myers. If you haven't seen it...GO RENT IT!!! or borrow it from me.

I decided not to go to work today until 11 so we could sleep in a little. We got up, got breakfast and then I dragged Jason to meet my other friends from work. Then he left town . Our schedules are so hectic that I'm not sure when I'll get to see him again.

So I'm sitting hear listening to romantic songs thinking of my sweetie and the great time we had together this weekend wondering when we'll get to do it again...Long distance relationships suck by the way...but when you've found the one...you make it work, gosh darnit!!!!!! It's hard, but it's toally worth it!

Well I must boogie...I got to go get some luggage!

Promised Pictures

All right, here are some of the pictures I promised. Some of Memorial Day Weekend and some from New Orleans:


Alex


Emma, Drew and Mandy


My Sweetie, Jason


Mom at Cafe du Mond


St. Louis Cathedral among pansies


Our room at Omega Hospital

Trying To Be PATIENT!!!!!

This is not one of my strong suits but when I can't do something about a situation, it leaves me with frustration.

My frustration for today? I'm trying to patiently wait for a job opening up in Norman so I can apply and move up there. I feel like I'm an airplane in a holding pattern who can't land at her final destination. I haven't run out of fuel yet, but I can see that happening if I don't rely on God and friends to lift me up. Funny though, there are airplanes that can refuel in the air. So right now I'm cruising at an altitude of about 30,000 feet waiting for mission control to say I can land. So please pray for patience and strength to endure the flight.

What else has been going on? Of course my Mom's surgery. I haven't posted anything since the surgery, but it went really really well and she should be on her way to the airport to fly home right about now (8:30 am). The doctors took out two of the four drains yesterday and I'm sure that is a relief for Mom. She has to wear a little belt to hold the drains and they look like gernades, so I call it her ammo belt. Ha! Since I left on Sunday, Aunt Paula has taken over and run/walked Mom all over the French Quarter. Good! The more Mom walks, the faster she heals!

What else? I'm trying to get back into the routine of things here in Waco and at the museum. So far so good. I actually unpacked my suitcase and did laundry a day after I got back. (That's unheard of at the Jessica household. It usually takes about a week for me to unpack and another week to do laundry.) I guess I'm ready for some stability in my life and for things to get back to "normal" whatever that may be.

Not much else but painting wagons at work:



Yesterday it got up to 100 degrees and where we are painting there is no AC and not really any good ventilation. That's why my face is red.

That's about it for now. Back to the wagons!!!

Is It Only Wednesday?

Ok, well here I am sitting in probably what I can say the coolest hospital room ever. I'll post pictures later. It's about 7am and Mom is having surgery as I type. I'll just write the highlights of this past weekend and first part of the week.

Pause: I'm also watching Katie Couric's last Today's show...

Ok, where was I...Friday:

It seems like a month ago that I went up to Norman to see Jason! I got there just a couple of minutes before Jason did. He had a busy day and night. He is now officially the voice of Norman High School. That entails announcing the names of the graduating seniors across the stage. All 400 and something...! When Jason arrived he freshened up and then we went to Coaches's where many of the faculty got together for celebratory end of the year thing. Jason got many compliments on his performance and I got to meet many of his coworkers. It was fun.

Saturday we got up early and headed to Fayetteville. I love the drive on I540. It's beautiful. Unfortunately Jason insides were acting up a little so he had to concentrate on driving and getting there instead of enjoying the scenery. We had lunch with Mom and then went grocery shopping while Jason took a nap. About 4ish Drew, Mandy and the girls arrived. They were soooo cute in their Hawaiian outfits that I got them last October!!! Pictures later. The whole other crew came about 5pm for a cookout for Drewser's 26th birthday...so old!! After that shindig, Jason and I went to see X-Men 3, which was good but a little less than what I was expecting. There were a lot of new characters and some old characters that departed... What happened to Nightcrawler? He's so cool!

The next morning we got up and went to church with Mom and then went to Denny's for breakfast/lunch. Then went to gas up, see Dad and get back on the road again to Norman. We headed straight to his friend's house for a cookout. It was good to meet his friends I've been hearing and reading about. Good luck with the government Eric! HA! Later that night Jason and I just hung out and watched a little NASCAR...

Monday Jason drove me to the airport so I could get to New Orleans for Mom's surgery. I thought he would just drop me off, but nooooo, he parked and walked me in, checked my luggage and hung around the security gate until I disappeared around the corner. I've been nervous about Mom's surgery and Jason could tell, so he cheered me up and made me laugh. Such a sweet guy!

51 minutes into the surgery...

Ok so I got to NO with no problem and caught a ride on the shuttle to the Bienville House in the French Quarter. I've been to NO several times but this is Mom's first so I sorta showed her around. Monday night we strolled the Quarter and found a place to eat. The Red Fish Grill. It was good, yum. I had fish. Mom brought her laptop, which this blog is being typed on and has a DVD player, so I brought some movies and we watched Pride and Prejudice then went to bed.

Tuesday morning we got up, went to Cafe du Mond for some beingets. We also went to St. Louis Cathedral, which is beautiful. Headed back to the hotel and rested, ate lunch and waited for our driver. That's right our own driver. The Center, where all of Mom's arrangements have been made, has a limo service that picks up patients for their appointments and the day of the surgery. Everything. It's great. No worries...this has probably been the most worry free experience I have had logistics wise... So we met with the surgeon doing the mastectomy at Omega Hospital and then went to the Center on St. Charles and met with the plastic surgeon doing the reconstruction who marked her up with a permanent marker. After that we went back to the hotel and trekked out to Bourbon St. We wanted to go to Preservation Hall but it was closed. Even though the French Quarter is open for business, there are a lot of places still closed and needing employees. Fortunately Bourbon House Seafood restaurant was open and we had a good meal. I had fish. So, then we went back to the hotel and turned in a little earlier because we had to get up at 3:45am to be picked up at 4:30 to make it to the hospital at 5am. We've been admitted and Mom's now been in surgery for 70 minutes. I will update ya'll probably tomorrow. I'm gonna get some sleep cause that's all I can do right about now.

Later taters...love,
Jessi

Whirlwind weekend and week coming up!

Well I feel much better at the end of this week than I did at the beginning. It's probably because I get to see my sweetie this evening and then we are gonna trek up to Fayetteville to meet my family and have a birthday shindig for my brother, Drew. He'll be 26. (Oh, how the sibilings grow up so fast...) Did I mention he has a wife and two girls? He'll always be my little brother even though he's bigger now and could beat me up. (It's only fair, he got his share of beatings when we were young). So we're gonna do some grillin' which is only proper on Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully we'll get to see X-Men 3 that night too!!! Then on Sunday Jason and I'll head back to Norman for a get together with his friends. I'm looking forward to it...I'd like to meet his friends. Monday I'm flying from OKC to New Orleans. Mom's surgery is on Wednesday and so I'll be there all next week. It should be interesting. Already the logistics of flights, hotels, hospitals and such have been and will be a headache. It will turn out all right though. It usually does!!! Mom's bringing her laptop, which plays DVDs and I'm bringing a plethora of DVDs to keep us occupodo. Keep Mom in your prayers and pray we get enough rest and recoop time! If I don't check in next week, look for me the week after!

I don't know what to title this...

Well...I have no idea what to post so I guess I'll just write whatever comes out... I'm frustrated...and yesterday I was depressed. I'm always depressed on Mondays because that's the day after I have to come back from seeing Jason. He's big time busy and stressed, I think, because of school. His last day is Friday though! That's a big Hallelujah. I'm sorta blah today...had a good lunch and now I'm sleepy. Don't want to do anything. I guess I can tell you about my weekend, which was really excellent. Last weekend I went up to Norman to see Jason and meet the parents. They were so sweet. There was some talk of going to the Bass Pro Shop and I mentioned that I had never been, it was a definite yes! I think Jason's Dad was pleased. He found the lure he was looking for. If you haven't been to the Bass Pro Shop before, you should at least go once. It's pretty amazing. It has all your hunting and fishing and clothing needs (except underwear, but maybe boxershorts). We also went to Wal-Mart and hunted for some soda and waffle irons... :-D About 15 minutes after we got back to the apartment, Jason's sis and nephews dropped in! Fun!!! It was a full house, let me tell you! After a little bit of wrasslin' we all went to Red Lobster. It was very fun hangin' with the family. I may have been a little quieter than normal but that's just because 1) I can be shy and 2) I was observing.

Sunday we went to church. I think we surprised Mrs. McMullen. It's quite an experience; like going to a rock concert. Afterwards we went to lunch and then back home to wave the parents goodbye and then to take a nap before trekking back to Wacko.

So I was pretty much useless yesterday and sorta today because of various reasons but I'll survive, I think. It's been getting harder and harder to return to Waco, so now I think it's time for someone to start taking some trips down here, so my friends can meet the fella who has taken such an interest in me. This weekend should be interesting as well. We're going to my home to meet mi madre and brother, sister-in-law and adorable nieces. Hopefully we can squeeze X-Men 3 in there as well.

That's about it...I'll go back to my depression and try to make it through the day...

Later taters,
Kitty

I need a vacation...

Doesn't it seem that after a "vacation" you need a vacation to recoop? I'm tired!!!

Lots of stuff happened this past weekend. The original plan was to go home for my Mom's surgery but that didn't work out. The surgical consultation was pushed back to today. But her MRI came back and there is almost no trace of the tumor!!! This is most excellent news and requires less surgery and less recoop time, which is wonderful. SOOOO the original plan was to scoot up to Norman, say hi to my guy and go home Friday through Tuesday. That way I could be there for the surgery and for Pat's going away/birthday party (he's headed out to MO for boot camp in the Army Reserves and won't be here for his 21st birthday). Well I decided to still take off Thursday and Friday because I've pretty much reached my limit on accruing vacation hours (for China). I still planned on going up to Norman to see Jason. Dad called Thursday morning and asked if I was still coming and I said no and it made him really sad. So then I felt sad. Then while I was driving to Norman, Mom called me with the MRI results and we were happy and she asked if I was still coming? and I said....ok, I'll come home, but don't tell anyone. It'll be a surprise. I'll just come back Sunday.

So I went to Norman and hung out with my favorite person and got up at the crack of dawn to trek to Fayetteville. By the way, did you know it seems there is a LOVE's station every other mile or two? It was funny, but I had plenty of options to stop for gas or a break. I got home about 11:30 and woke up Pat who was surprised. I took him to lunch and then picked up his birthday cake. A huge sheet cake decorated in camoflauge. Funny!!! That evening was his party and we had a great time with family and his friends. The nieces came early which was fabulous. And Drew said he did a triple take when he saw me. That was good and then Dad just stared and called me a sneak. Grandma didn't know I was there either. Good stuff. I just want to thank Jason for understanding about my abrubt visit. My family needed me.

Saturday was great. Mom and I went horseback riding on gaited horses. They were so smooth and beautiful. Afterwards we went over to Drew's in Siloam to rescue him from the girls since Mandy was in Russelville. We had a good time, but then I was tuckered. We jumped on the trampoline until we couldn't do it anyore. Then I went over to Dad's. Alison's whole crew was over there because her daughter Beverly graduated from the UofA. Man, it was crowded!!! But good to see them all.

Sunday I went to church with Mom and then went over to another cousin's house real quick to say hi. She was having brunch for her mom and Dad and Grandma. So about 1:30 I left Fayetteville and got to Waco about 8pm. I'm not sick of driving, but it's taking it's toll. Pat breathed on me when he wasn't feeling well and I think I'm coming down with it. Thanks Pat! I'll make though!

I'm very happy right now. Almost bursting with happiness...is that possible? Everything seems brighter and clearer and just wonderfuller. :-D It amazing what being with someone can do to you. I guess since Jason put it on his blog I can put it on mine...we're offically a couple. Ha! A couple!! I like it. Such a sweetie. My friends maybe sick of my gushing about him, but I'm not. Well enough about that...for now...here are some pics I took this weekend:

Alex looking adorable.

Pat with his camo cake.

Me with Emma.

Lucy the Missouri Fox Trotter with owner Ann (Mom's coworker).

Adrenilne Rush and the Aftermath

Well someone told me that if I washed my car, it was bound to rain this weekend. Well it did. Not only did it rain, it poured and hailed and scattered debris all over Waco. Friday night, I'm home alone just chillin' watchin' a movie and the credits roll. Then I hear the tornado sirens go off and I thought to myself, "maybe I should check the TV to see what's going on." Sure enough when I turned it on ABC the first thing I see is DUCK. get Downstairs. (Well that's not happening cause I live on the second floor of an apartment building). get Under something like a mattress. take Cover and I totally don't know what K stood for cause I went over to the sliding glass doors to see what I could see and at that point I saw the pool chairs fly across the pool area. The rain started coming down sideways and then the lights started to flicker. (I didn't like that at all). This is about the time I heard glass break somewhere outside. I thought to myself, "I have a bad feeling about this," and then I went into high panic mode. Running around like a crazy person, I found my flashlight and got matches for candles in the bathroom. Grabbed my iPod, radio, socks and tennis shoes, Bible, purse and comforters and shut my bedroom door. Didn't want glass coming through the bedroom and then into the bathroom. I also made some ice tea and filled another pitcher full of water and stuck it in the freezer (at the time there was no electricity). I had no idea if the pipes would be effected. Then the hail came. That was scary too, slamming into the roof and onto my balcony. It's amazing the effect pea-sized hail can have on your psyche. So for about an hour I was running back and forth from my kitchen to the bathroom, hovering in the hall and watching the weather outside all the while decked out in my comforter. It was scary but exciting at the same time.

About 2am it was just raining and I figured it was pretty much over so I crawled into bed (no covers cause there was no AC). I woke up around 5:20 and saw the electricty was on so I turned off all the lights and got back into bed but set my phone alarm for 8am so I could see what happened.

I went outside in my PJs and a jacket to check my car and it was unscathed. There was debris everywhere. I decided to call some friends to see how they fared but nothing was coming in or out. Yikes! I also wanted to check on the museum to see if there was any damage so I took a shower and drove downtown. Everything was great. It looked as if it just rained. It was open and there were visitors. Wow! They didn't even know there was a storm. Called Jennie from the office to see how everything was there and she told me about her cousin's house. I HUGE tree fell right on top of the middle of their house. Went over there to the house for moral support and played with Brooks to entertain him while the adults were trying to organize the removal of the tree. Then I went to the church cause I heard there was some damage but the guys were gone so I just took pictures of the trees uprooted like dandelions. Then I went over to Chris' house to check on him but I got no answer from Angie's phone who was also over there. Didn't want to bother them. They probably were napping (as was the case, as I found out later). That sounded good to me so I went home and took a nap. I was tuckered. Finally got a hold of my mom and dad. They said they knew nothing about it and was glad I called before they saw it on TV. Mom actually used the words "freaked out." I got more news later that the Coca-Cola bottling plant (which is literally 2 streets down from where I live) was totally ruined. Trucks over turned and the roof gone.

Rain, puddles and queso...

Well another weekend has come and gone and I'm already going through withdrawals. However, I won't miss driving through torrential rain at night while semi's are passing me at 70mph, while my knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel because I'm hydroplaning all over the place. Not fun! Well, even still, I made it in one piece for another great weekend in Norman, Oklahoma. I also missed what was sure to be a fun soccer game but it was rained out. :-( The good news is I got to sleep in. Whoo hoo! My friend is/was looking to move to a different apartment for various reasons, so we did that instead of the game. He found one that suited him I think.

Here's something I've noticed: No matter what age "men" are, they are still little boys at heart. How can you not be a little boy when you drive through puddles just so you can see the splash! Ha! Very cute... This is also very evident if you have ever seen the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. I had never seen it before and therefore "made" to watch it, so now I know some one liners. "Here's yur sign." I like 2.5 of the guys. Everyone was funny but I think Ron White is sorta sleazy and that's probably what he wants us to think too. Larry the Cable Guy is funny too but I liked Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall the best. So between apartment hunting and grocery shopping we we watched both DVDs. I enjoyed it.

By the way my friend makes great queso. Some people know that I can be a picky eater, but it's mainly for dramatic purposes. He put black olives in his recipe and I ate it with no complaints. Velveeta, salsa, JC Potter's hot sausage (which isn't really all that hot btw), and of course black olives. Yummy.

Back to work all of you who are reading this during office hours (this includes me)! And to all of you who are reading this after hours, have a great evening. That goes for you too, oh procrastinators of productivity! Have a good one!

-Jessica

Museums, Weekends and Toliets...

Well this might be an interesting post!!!

Depends on who reads it. I think my museum life is calming down slightly. Nothing major going on this week or next that I'm aware or not aware of. It seems we've been going non-stop here and I have finally am getting back to the "normal" routine. I might be doing some painting next week, though. That could be interesting. Let's see: installing exhibits, 10-2-4 Collector's Club, Grad Students researching, fabricating and installing exhibits, Texas Association of Museums in Beaumont, exhibit design interviews, traveling to OK. I've been busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Life is boring when you don't do anything. Now, when I come home, I'm probably the most boring person on earth. I just lay around hoping the laundry will fold itself. Man, I hate laundry!

However, laundry must be done, otherwise I wouldn't have any traveling clothes. I love to travel, as many of you know, and recently I cruised up to the great state of OK. See my last post about what I did last weekend. This past weekend my friend traveled down to the humid state of Texas (ha, he hasn't felt nuttin' yet!!!) Unfortunately I had to work in the morning on Saturday but that didn't stop us from having a great weekend. Watched Up in Smoke for the first time. Funny... La Migra!!!

My Dad was "in town" or rather in McKinney visiting his wife's son, so we met in Waxahachie for dinner. It was nice. Haven't seen him since January. Gonna go home mid May so I'll get to spend more time with the family. Yeah! I get to see nieces!!!!

Saturday evening the toliet went haywire. Drained slowly and then not at all. As Ernest would say: "Eeeeeeeeewwwuuuuuuu!" Hopefully it will have been fixed when I get home today!!! Sunday I slept in and it felt GREAT!!!!! Ate at the IHOP for breakfast/lunch and was pleasantly suprised when the waitress mentioned how happy we looked. So it shows, huh? Nice... I could get used to this...

That's it for now. Mom is doing ok, tired but only has one more chemo treatment this Friday!!! Surgery to be scheduled mid-May. Keep praying for her!!!

Hugs and Best Wishes,
Kitty, a.k.a Jessica

"I have a smile stretched from ear to ear..."

Hee Hee...well what can I say. I've had a most wonderful weekend. It's fun to just hang out with someone you enjoy being with. None of the awkwardness that comes with learning about someone the first time. Sure, I've learned some new stuff but it was very laid back and enjoyable. You know what I mean? :D If you haven't guessed, I spent some time with my new friend over the weekend. We didn't do anything fancy or adventurous (unless you count getting in a pool that was 50 degrees!), but that was fine with me! We did go to a museum with lots of interesting stuff. Of course, the dinosaurs were the highlight. Pretty spectacular. The bugs? Not so much. Interesting but gross. I have a hate relationship with bugs. I duck and run at the sight of a moth. (Bad experience in the 8th grade). We also drove around town and saw OU campus and Norman High School and went to Lifechurch.tv in South OKC. Very cool! Check it out: www.lifechurch.tv

This next weekend, my friend may come down so I can show him around my town and the Dr Pepper Museum!!

La Migra!

Adios!
Jessica

Inspiration

(Note: This blog was started on Tuesday and finished the next Monday)

Aaahhh ! I feel inspired but not sure what to write. I'll just do a little free writing and see what comes out, then I'll go back and edit. Hah! I think I've been inspired to not exactly write again but to express feelings and worries and junk that I keep bottled up inside. I don't know if this is a normal thing for people but it's a roller coaster ride for me. I'm open and honest about everything in my life (or try to be more or less) and then on a dime I can close up. Writing allows me express things that I normally wouldn't or couldn't.

It's also amazing what happens when you share your thoughts and feelings with someone else. Either they aren't interested and you feel dejected OR you find someone who is and wants to understand you and encourage you. How awesome is that? I also find it amazing that we as human beings basically have the same fears, hopes and dreams, we just express or don't express them in different and sometimes unhealthy ways. I wonder how much we would accomplish if we helped each other out. Utopia? Maybe. But I have also found that what drives most of us is selfishness. (My observation only, you can debate with me in the comment section.) Media tells us what we want, need and deserve because "you're worth it." Go ahead! Kill someone for their Nike Air Jordans! Just do it!! No wonder the world is in such a state. We are focused more on ourselves than how to help each other.

So let me tell you what I want: I want to have relationships with people that will benefit me as well as the other person/s. I want to be in love!!! I want to get married someday!!! I want to have kids!!! I want to change the world in whatever capacity I can!!! There is a lot I want, but I want it to be right and in God's time.

It's funny how God works (but not really cause he tells you what he wants for you and how to go about doing it). I asked for all these things and lo and behold he's blessing me with them! Granted, I'm not married or have kids or in love? for that matter, but I can see the beginnings of something that could turn into all the above. It's exciting and scary at the same time. Am I ready, is anybody ever ready for this?

So with that in mind, let me tell you about last week and weekend.

Went to the Texas Association of Museums (TAM) annual conference in the great city of Beaumont. Saw the world's largest fire hydrant. Not joking folks. Check it out here. Went to seminars and "learned" more about my profession and basically took a little vacation. However, sleeping on a fold out couch is not my idea of vacation. There was a trade off, however. My coworker and I got to sleep at the conference hotel for free while Jack and Brian slept at the "branch" hotel. :D It was so much more convenient for us girls. Thank you Sarah!!!!! I also talked to a new friend every night that week, which was fun and exciting.

Saturday I participated in the Race for the Cure in downtown Waco. I got a little emotional because of all the people there and how breast cancer effects so many people. I walked the mile but could have jogged it. Next time!! Then I trekked up to Hillsboro to meet a friend for a short period of time. Too short, if you ask me. I got off to a later start than intended and so I was late, but I didn't want to seem too eager either, so I kept speeding up and then slowing down and getting stuck behind slow people!!! AAAHHHH! While I was driving back to Waco and thinking about the visit, I realized I totally missed my exit! How goofy am I? Sometimes I crack myself up. After gathering my wits, I had to get ready for BUNCO night at Poppa Rollos. We had a blast!!! It was hilarious. I got to be Games Master, so I was in charge. I like being in charge! I just walked around and watched everybody have a great time, so much fun. If you've never played Bunco, it's a very addictive dice game. Check it out: BUNCO!

Well I've wasted enough time a work. Will post later? this week. Definitely next week. Looking forward to a great weekend! Only 3.5 days left (not counting today and I leave on Friday after work).

Later taters!
Hugs!

Kitty