Change

In a few short weeks my life will change once again. After a few interviews and lots of himming and hawwing, Midas accepted a new job in a new place.

The organization has a very long name and goes by a crazy acronym. As such, I renamed it with my own moniker, C3PO.

C3PO will pay Midas lots of money, give him a nice signing bonus, many vacation days, and long term job security. However, C3PO is located in a big city. *sparkles* likes to visit big cities but has no desire to live in one. In fact, I am confident that I will have to live in a small cardboard box in the ghetto, be mugged while riding public transportation since traffic will be horrendous, and not be able to get a decent job. I will probably make $3 per hour and have to sell my plasma to keep up with my shoe addiction.

This is one change to which I am not looking forward.

To make things even more spicy, I need to stay put in my current job until the end of August (at the earliest). So, in order to have more time together, we have to geo-bachelor again.

Great. Oh joy. Hip-hip-hooray.

Anybody wanna come to my pity party?

Inspired

On Saturday after a late breakfast, Midas turned on the television and found that Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was playing. What a stupid yet addictive movie. I haven't watched that trashy movie in years and Midas has only seen bits and pieces of it underway so of course we hunkered down on a rainy/snowy afternoon to be entertained.


During the first commerical break, we saw an ad for the Country Steak & Egg Toaster Sandwich at America's Drive-In, Sonic. We both commented that it looked very yummy. To placate this craving, Midas went to the pantry and grabbed some chips for us to munch on.


A few commercial breaks later, Sonic was on the screen again tempting us with their new Java Chillers. All the while, Harold and Kumar kept talking about how satisfying it would be when they were able to eat at White Castle.


Another Sonic advertisement came on dangling Apple Caramel Bites in front of our impressionable minds. At this point, Midas and I both said that we wanted Sonic for dinner.


Finally, Harold and Kumar's quest was over and we were left hungry yet inspired. When Midas asked me what we should do for the rest of the day, I responded with the only reasonable answer possible. Let's go to Sonic.


Sounds easy enough, right? However, not unlike our stoner-buddies, we would be in for quite a trip should we embark upon this journey. Of course, me being the planner I am grabbed my computer and hopped on Sonic's website to find out where the nearest restaurant is.


The nearest Sonic is three states away and over 160 miles from our abode. This is ridiculous. How could anyone in good faith air commericials for tasty junk food during a movie about a quest for tasty junk food and then not have their dang restuarant within a reasonable driving distance. Extremely disappointing.

Now, out of sheer principle alone I will never be able to eat at a Sonic and enjoy a super sonic burger, a slush, or extra-long chili cheese coney. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I am the queen of holding grudges.

What is your favorite fast food treat?

Seven

So Stacie has tagged me to list with Seven Weird Things about myself.

Here goes...

1. I eat the same thing every day for lunch at work.

• carrots
• piece of fruit (75% of the time this is a pear. Every now and then I jazz it up with a banana or apple)
• toast (plain bread if I haven't made it to the toaster by 1:30)
• granola bar
• Lindt truffle

2. After dinner I must "chase" my main meal with something chocolate, then something salty, and finally something chewy. I become cranky and think of nothing until the "food chain" this ritual is complete. It doesn't matter if I'm full or out to eat. This still must occur.

3. I will not wear the same pair of shoes to work during the week. Perhaps this explains why I have so many shoes.

4. I cannot sleep beside a window. If you face my bed, I sleep on the right side. When we are sleeping in a different place, if the right side is next to a window, I make Midas switch me places.

5. I am an email pack-rat. It is so hard for me to delete an email. I keep thinking, what if I need to refer back to it and it is gone? This causes a big problem for me as I am almost always at the maximum limit for the email box.

6. Stacie is not the only one who has a hankering for carrots. I too love carrots. One friend even nicknamed me "baby carrots". At times I have consumed so many carrots that my hands turned orange. Other things have turned orange as well but I'd rather not talk about that.

7. Words beginning with "r" or have an "ro" in them are very hard for me to pronounce. I have to make a conscious effort to say them correctly. For example, I will say that a lion growls rather than roars. I say bunny rather than rabbit. It is a very good thing that I did not marry a man named "Roy" or "Troy". I don't think it would have lasted long.

I've Been Robbed

I took a trip to see my sister over Thanksgiving. Since she and I share the bargain shopping gene, she was the best pick for my black Friday adventure. Now, visiting my sister involved quite a trek so I stayed a few days and got to know my niece a little bit better.

One afternoon, the family decided to go to the gym. My sister and her husband like to go on the treadmills while my 4-year old niece enjoys the massive indoor swimming pool complete with 3 story water slides. I said that I would go to the pool with my niece so that my sister could have some down time. Oh did we ever have fun in the pool! We splashed, went down the slides, dove under the water, and just had some good times. At 6:00, the lifeguard blew his whistle signaling that the pool was closed.

We got out and headed over to our towels. At first, I thought I just went up to the wrong chair but after a minute of scanning the side of the pool I couldn't find my pile of stuff. I asked my niece if she saw it anywhere but she said no. I looked up and down the row of chairs and even asked the lifeguard if he had taken anything into the lost and found. Nothing.

I couldn't believe that someone had taken my stuff. I didn't loose anything of great value but I'm a little skeeved out at what the thief had taken. Some romper-room-reject stole my $1.99 swim dress, ratty-old (yet sparkly) flip flops, and a half empty water bottle. I mean who would want someone else's nasty old flip flops and back-washed water? Yuck!

I totally forgot about this incident until I stumbled upon a pair of replacement sparkly flip flops this morning at T*arget.

Have you ever been robbed?

Goodbye 2007

Last week Poop and Boogies recapped his 2007. Now, my friends and I enjoy a good recap. In fact, I don't feel that my day is complete unless I have reviewed at least two events with a friend or family member. Therefore, I like the idea of revisiting 2007 in preparation of putting a tough year behind me.

Travel:

I visited the following places in 2007-

• The Poconos
• State College
• Boston
• New York City
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Phoenix
• Memphis
• Las Vegas

Relationships:

Many of my friends moved in 2007 leaving me lonely enough to start a blog. I said till next time to-

• Stacie
• Scarlett
• Damay
• Jennifer (OK, she didn't move out of the state but she did move out of my office)

Luckily, I was able to meet a few new folks-

• Miranda
• Sarah

Career:

It was a busy year on this side of the house. While some of these accomplishments were long overdue, at least they are now on my "been there, done that" list.

• Earned my Master's degree
• Promoted to a new position and "in charge" of two troubled areas
• Supervising 4 more people
• Selected for and attended a leadership program
• Working more hours than ever in hopes of keeping my head above water and to forget that Midas' head is below water

Struggles:

It was a tough year for me but I made it through. Here are a few of the challenges I dealt with.

• Learning that Midas would go on yet another deployment
• The basement flood
• Locking myself out of the house on a chilly night
• Supporting Midas' decision to resign even though he is on the down slope to retirement
• Loosing the physical presence of key people in my support network
• Dealing with a nasty leak in the ceiling
• 2 big snowfalls with no snow removal plans
• Figuring out what to do with my time once I was done with my Master's degree and Midas being away

I'm anxious to see what 2008 will bring as there will be so many changes. What is your favorite memory of 2007?

Best Day After Christmas Shopping Ever

And, I shopped from home in my pjs and robe:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SKU NAME QTY PRICE SUBTOTAL

59103036 Coconut Cream Santa, 4 cases of 36 bars $8.64 $34.56-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Total = $44.58

For those of you who have math issues, yes you are reading that correctly, I ordered 144 coconut creme Santas. If you add this to the Santas already purchased at local stores, I should be well stocked until summer.

Hmmmm, coconut creme Santa!

Can I Get Fries With That?

My mother isn't the only one with a sense of humor in my family. My dad is known as a prankster too. However, his jokes are well planned.

At the rehearsal dinner the night before my wedding we ate at a very fancy restaurant. The menu included such dishes as Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb and Seared Sushi Quality Ahi Tuna. As the waiter took every one's order he asked what side the person wanted. Sauteed Mushrooms, Garlicky Spinach, and Mediterranean Rice were heard over and over again round the table. As the waiter went to leave the room to put in our orders, Matt, a groomsman called him back and said: "excuse me but could I get french fries instead". The waiter made a face and responded, "of course sir". Then simultaneously about half of the wedding party (myself included) said "change mine to fries too".

We all had a good chuckle over this for the rest of the evening. Here we are in a fancy-schmancy restaurant eating foo-foo food with fries.

The next evening at my wedding reception, my father grabbed the microphone to make an announcement. I don't remember his words exactly but he complimented Midas' choice of friends and said that he had a special present for one of them.






In case you can't make it out, that's my Dad on the left and Matt on the right with a plate of french fries. I just love my dad!