Oh, my! It's been awhile...

So, I was contemplating not writing here anymore. The truth is, my sister is really the only one who reads this, i think, or at least the only person who has any interest in what I ate for lunch two wednesdays ago, so I could just email her everyday. But, here I am. Because...well, I don't really know why.

So, because I'm a little lazy, and because I spent TWO WHOLE DAYS on this, I'll just list this thing I did for Facebook:

25 Random (and seemingly unimportant) facts about me:

I like to count down instead of up. (I guess that's number 25.)
24. I hate squirrels. The whole country's popluation of squirrels lives on the campus where I work and people (namely those who work with me) feed the squirrels right outside my office and thus they are not afraid of people and LOVE to sit at my window and STARE at me. And did I mention that they're the same size as the miniature dachshund that lives at my house????
23. I miss College Football and being in the south during the football season. People out here only care about Pro Ball (Broncos) and it makes me very sad.
22. Along the same line as squirrels...I hate the meerkat species. Long story. But I will tell you this: if I ever see a meerkat injured on the side of the road...I'll keep walking.
21. I am very weird about stuff touching my ears. I don't like other people to touch my ears and I'll get furiously mad if you give me a wet-willie. If i get water in my ears I sort of freak out.
20. Two things give me panic attacks. The first is something I've known about for years and that's the Ocean. I can be near it...see it...and even stand with my tip-toes in teh water...but if I have to get in the water for any reason I will FREAK. And the second I just recently learned about: driving in the snow. It's much scarier than you think when you live in a climate where everyone driving isn't scared and you ARE!
19. I work in an Eye Clinic for type I diabetics. We dilate peoples eyes and then use several different methods to look at the retina for signs of Diabetic Retinopathy. The best method we use is called Retinal Photography. I am in training to learn Retinal Photography. Most people who go through Optometry school don't learn retinal photograpy. I'm very blessed to be here and to be learning so much!
18. I used to fight so much with my brother and sister. A LOT! But now...I can't imagine my life without them. I also love my nieces and nephew more than I ever though I could love little kids with sometimes-snotty noses.
17. I have been so blessed to find the most wonderful church! It's a "me too" community like I've never experienced! www.flatironschurch.com And because of that church Jules and I have had the change to make such wonderful friends (the commUNITY group)! :)
16. I wear long johns almost every day. (under my clothes, of course)
15. I cry at almost anything to do with the military. At ballgames where they have fly-overs, when I see young soldiers at the airport, when there's a military-related song on the radio...i cry and cry. I'm so thankful for the sacrifice all military personnel make. I have friends in the military and I cannot tell you how proud they make me. It never fails--i cry.
14. I have a very real fear of getting breast cancer.
13. When I read books I actually see the story play out in my head...so vividly sometimes that I cannot remember if a story was a book I read or a movie I saw.
12. I have almost died each time I've tried skiing. Therefore, even though I live in CO, I do not ski.
11. I am thinking about being a flight attendant someday. Not as my forever career, but for a while.
10. I tend to smack my gum. I cannot help it. I try to make a conscious effort not to, but I still do it without realizing. I'm sure it's pretty annoying.
9. I crack my knuckles almost constantly. All day long. I do it without even realizing. I'm sure it's pretty annoying.
8. I make the dumbest jokes. I laugh at my own jokes. I seriously think I'm hilarious! Most of the time Jules is the only one who thinks my jokes are funny too. That's why we're best friends. Sometimes other people laugh. That's okay too.
7. When I shop I look at little decoration things and crafty things, and instead of buying it I think, "I can make that! I'm not buying that when I can make it." And sometimes I do actually make it. For the most part I say, "I'm not buying that because I can make it!!" and then I do one of two things: 1. I make it, but spend double what I could have bought it for. 2. I don't buy it and then never make it. :(
6. I learned how to swim correctly, you know, with all the strokes and all, about a two years ago...and I'm actually pretty good...but I still look like I'm drowning if thrown/pushed into a pool. I'm told it's one of the funniest things you've ever seen.
5. I sneeze about 100 or more times a day. My boss can account for this. He doesn't even say "bless you" anymore.
4. I have only bought one cell phone in my life. All my others have been hand-me-downs (mostly from my sister.)
3. I drive like a maniac (except when it's snowy, of course). Seriously, i get really aggravated at other drivers. I don't ever make hand gestures or yell obscenities, but i do yell...and I've been known to honk on occasion.
2. I am so un-interesting that it has taken me TWO DAYS to think of this many things...
1. I love post-its. I write everything on post-its. I've been known to walk around with post-its stuck to me so i can remember something.
Well, there we go. None of this was all that interesting, but they were at least random. :) I Hope you enjoyed


Okay...well, that's enough for today. I'm going to try to get back in the habit of posting (for you Heather!!) :)

Babies don't like me

Last night we had our commUNITY group over...and one of the "members" (or whatever) had to babysit so she asked if she could bring the baby. I said sure. I figured there's no reason she can't come just because she has this one baby. Now, bring over a toddler and it becomes a dangerous situation. Our house is puppy-proofed but not toddler-proofed. You know...toddlers have thumbs and can open things...whereas dogs just paw or nuzzle things. Anyway. She brings the baby over and as soon as it crossed the threshold of our house it started crying. I said..."Babies generally don't like me." and they just laughed. Y'ALL! That stinkin baby cried the entire time. We tried everything to get it to stop. Nothing worked. They changed her diaper, they fed her milk...everything. She just kept on crying. I felt very glad that I was not caring for this child. I even found myself thinking..."for heaven's sake, kid...will you STOP crying??" and then I thought, my goodness...it's a good thing I'm nowhere near ready to have kids.
Then, because we were talking about babies, M and E, who are engaged to be married in April 09 started discussing babies. E said, "I think we're going to try to have a baby in September 2009." and I thought for a minute...then I said, "Well, you had better get started on that now, because you have about 9 months and a couple weeks to get that going." and everyone laughed a lot. E meant to say 2010, and so she was like ?????? but it was really funny!

Today I called an English Muffin a "McMuffin" about 453 times. Fatty is as fatty does.

And Heather finally posted again! I was so glad to read it, except the parts about how she got pregnant. Thankyouverymuch. But Anyway, it's a sweet post about how much she loves her children. They are sweet children. :)

OK...I'm doing better today. I didn't get any more sleep than I was getting, but today I had some coffee and it's really helping me!

At First I was Afraid...I was petrified...

I'm embarking on a journey that is Weight Watchers. YAY! And I don't want to talk about it much yet, because I'm just starting and I'm just getting into the "making smarter choices" mindset...(and I'm not there yet!!!). So, I don't want to talk about it yet...but I do want to say that this morning I had a comment on my previous post about WW and it was from the woman who inspired me to start WW. She helped me believe that I CAN do it and I've felt inspired by her. She left me a comment that said She was proud of me and that she was rooting for me. Now I know that I don't know her personally. But I read about her everyday. I hear about her struggles and her smart kids and her funny life and her dog that barfs and her husband who brushes his beard and her job that doesn't care about her. The thing is, she's such a REAL person. She's friendly and funny and she cares about people. She talks about life and love and God, but not in such a oh-so-holy-you-can't-breathe-in-the-same-room kind of way. She's fun and loyal and I don't even know her personally. I know it sounds weird, but I really look up to her. I think she's great. So when she's shown the world that she can do WW...and succeed, I think I can do it too! And she left me a comment saying she was proud of me and she was rooting for me. It really meant a lot. Because I have been afraid to let go completely. I have been afraid of starting to try to lose weight, because what if I fail?? What if I can't do it?? What if it's too hard?? And so it's been easier to not try than to try and fail. But I feel like me and Jules can do this. I feel like WW is the most realistic way to lose weight. And so...at least for this moment, that comment has empowered me.

Now excuse me while I go eat a small palm-full of nuts. :)

Just kidding. I'll do that after I finish this post.
In other news...

I am going home this weekend. Jules works for Southwest Airlines so I got a free flight to take home. YAY! I'm going on Thursday night so I can see the kids on Friday and then I'm spending the whole weekend with mom and heather! yay!!!! I'm very excited!!!

OK...now I'm going eat some nuts!

A new level of "dummy"...

So, my poor little niece broke her arm. See:

At least she gets to rock that pink for 6-8 weeks.

And for those (one) of you who are wondering about the title of this post...it refers to her dad. Catie Grace fell out of a truck, from what I understand, and tried to catch herself, hence the broken arm. Although they didn't know it was broken (mostly because none of them have x-rays built into their brains) and so her dad asked her (the 7-year old who has never broken a bone before) if she needed to go to the ER. He says she said no, she says she said yes. Regardless of what she said, he didn't take her and she had to go two days with a broken arm before my sister got her back and saw in 3 MINUTES that something was wrong with her arm! Oh man! So, he's not on my top 10 list of smart people at the moment....but he DOES make a different list. ;-)

And to think...I used to be "most dependable"...

I know.

I did a terrible job of blogging while I was gone.

The truth is, I had the BEST time. I really got to spend a lot of time with my sister this time, and that made it such a special trip. I really wasn't ready to leave, and that is still causing me grief. I love my sister--I haven't kept that a secret. But to get to spend SO much time with her was just heavenly!! I can't wait to go back to do it again!

The bad news is that I am sick. I resisted the illness that my sister, mother, niece and nephew had the WHOLE time I was there. I came home and Jules was sick too. I'm not sure which one I ended up with, but I'm not doing so great.

I stayed out of work on Tuesday and Wednesday and today I'm leaving early to go to the doctor. I'm taking off tomorrow too. The thing is, I don't get sick very often, usually. I have been sick three times in the past 3 months. I just think that's too much. So, today, I'm expecting to get some answers. :) I have a wonderful doctor anyway, after I fired the first one...so I'm really anticipating a pleasant visit.

Anyway, I'm freeeeeeezing right now in my office. The other girls here swear it isn't cold...but i just checked my temperature and it's normal. I think there's a draft over where I sit. Oh well, I'm leaving in a bit anyway.

So, this is why I haven't been blogging. I miss my sister terribly. I wish my family would move here...then we could all be together. Besides, we ALL know that they'd love Colorado more than Alabama. They are just afraid of the snow...but we could work with that, right? :)

Anyway, I'm sure it'll be a few days before I post again. I am going to try to go to fusion this weekend...it's been a LONG long time since I've been. But, anyway...

Pray for Heather

Hi Y'all

I don't have much time...but please pray for Heather. She just had little Sarah Beth on Friday and now heather is back in the hospital for some sort of infection. They're not giving much info right now, but i'll post more when i can.

I know there are like 2 of you who read this, but please, if you are praying people please ask God to take care of her. I have no idea how serious it is...and if i had an extra 300 dollars i'd fly there to see her. I am so worried. I am just so far away!

So, please...pray for Heather. I need her to be okay. Please.

Sarah Beth

OHHHH! Guess who's here!! (in the world, not literally HERE)...





Sarah Beth was born on Friday afternoon, weighing about 7lbs and 2 ounces, i think. She's about 19.5 inches long! oh and she's so cute!!! LOOK:

OH, she's so cute! And she has this dark hair under that little pink hat, and it's so cute! I am so glad to finally have my 2nd niece here with us!! I can't wait to go see her and sqeeze her and love on her and hug her! And I can't wait to hug my sister and tell her i'm glad she's okay! I was really freaked about this birthing process. It was a very hard pregnancy for heather and the other two were very easy and so i just KNEW something was going to go wrong! But it didn't! YAY!

In just about 12 days i'll be going home to see them! Sweet Home Alabama!