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!!!