Hello, Vicky?

So, a while ago, as in some time in October or November, I received a comment from a lady named Vicky; at least, I'm assuming she's a lady. At any rate, Vicky commented on a post from 2011 about my trip to France. As it turns out, she is planning a trip with Custom Getaways and she wanted to ask me about my experience and asked me to contact her. However, she did not leave an email address or any other way in which I could reach out to her. So, Vicky, if you are stopping by here, please contact me via email and I will happily answer any questions you have about your upcoming trip to le Tour de France and I may I also add I'm crazy jealous. I think half of my heart will forever be in France and I get a little "homesick" for the motherland every July. 

Since there's nothing overly exciting going on in January, I thought I would update you on my knee because I'm sure you've been sitting there wondering to yourself how my knee is doing. The answer is great! Coming back to work after having two and a half weeks off was a little bit of an adjustment (in more than one way) and so it probably goes without saying that my knee has been a little sore in the evenings. I have walked a lot more since starting back to work and so there's been some swelling and soreness which is easily remedied with Aleve and a cold pack. There's still quite a bit of tenderness which feels like bruising which I'm sure will go away at some point. This tenderness is even worse when you hit your knee on a table, theoretically speaking of course. 

We finally got a dose of some decent weather over the weekend, but unfortunately, I didn't really get to enjoy it much. Saturday I spent the day inside waiting on the guys from Lowe's to deliver my washer. Plus, I was feeling really rotten and didn't want to do much other than lie around on the couch. I did let  in some fresh air along with lots of mud on Saturday afternoon when I left the back door open for a little while so Pip could go in and out freely. I also managed to finally take down the outside Christmas lights. Yes, that's right, I still had not taken them down. The weather has either been super cold or super rainy or a combination of the two and since I was trying not to get sick (funny how that didn't work out too well) I decided to wait until the weather warmed up to take down the lights. I have not turned them on since January 1 though, so that's my redeeming grace for leaving them up too long. I am glad to finally have them all put away. 

Downton Abbey started back about three weeks ago and it's about all I can do to not read message boards or episode recaps to find out what happens next. I have already pre-ordered the current season which will arrive next week and I'm afraid I will have no restraint when it comes to sitting down and just finishing up the season. So far, the season has been really good and the zingers from the Dowager Countess get better with each episode. It's certainly one of the highlights of my week. 

In other random and unrelated news, my dad and I are planning our next trip which will be this coming April. This time around we are heading to Washington, DC and plan to take in all the monuments, museums, etc. We went there when I was a kid, in 5th grade if I am remembering correctly, and it was one of the best vacations of my childhood. Since it's been almost 30 years since I've really visited and enjoyed the city, I thought we should go back and take it all in and I'm really looking forward to it. I think I will appreciate it all the more now that I am an adult and love history. 

Well, since I probably lost your attention a long time ago, I think I'll wrap things up here. I realize none of these things even remotely flow together, but I wanted to try and get something posted and try to get back in the habit of writing something lest this blog fall by the wayside and Erika has nothing to read on her lunch break. Hopefully more interesting days are ahead. Have a good evening, y'all! 

Updates and Other Random Thoughts

Someone asked recently in the comments (I think it was Melissa) about the car rider I had back in the fall and what had become of her and so I thought I would fill you in on those details. W's car was finally repaired after about four or five weeks of me and T picking her up and taking her home from work and to my knowledge, she has not had any car troubles since there. She also gave both me and T $10 (or maybe it was $15) for gas for the weeks that we gave her a ride. T, perhaps a better person than me, gave the money back to W; I, however, kept it and I think used it to buy Justin's entrance into a football game or maybe I just bought us a bunch of junk food from the concession stand, either way it went to a good cause.

It seems like a very long time ago I told y'all that I was not a fan of Greek yogurt, and I'm here today to inform you that I apparently lied. When this Greek yogurt faze hit the US I tried some kind (I cannot recall the brand) and thought it had a terrible taste. Now I'm wondering if perhaps it was expired or something. Late last year I was watching Rock Center with Brian Williams and Harry Smith did a piece on Chobani yogurt - that is Chobani Greek yogurt. I don't think they make any other kind really. I found the piece to be quite interesting and at the end, Harry tried some fresh off the line yogurt and raved about how good it was. So, being swayed by television as I so often am, I bought some Chobani on my next trip to the grocery store and I haven't stopped eating it yet! I love this stuff. Since Dannon discontinued my beloved French yogurt, I've been searching for something almost as good and Chobani is about as close as it gets. The strawberry is my favorite, although the banana is quite remarkable.

I'm training someone at work this week (hi Meri). That's right, my friend Meri, winner of the most recent giveaway has moved into the same department as me at work and I have been training her, or yelling at her she might say. Hopefully I'm not being too mean or short but I don't have a great deal of patience and I'm not even sure if I'm explaining things well - probably not. It's a good thing I never became a teacher I guess. Hopefully Meri isn't too traumatized and once she learns the bazillion Excel shortcuts I've showed her and she learns what exactly it is that we do at work and why we do it, then perhaps it will be easier for her. In the meantime, you may want to pray for both of us.

Have y'all been watching "The Bible" on The History Channel? I thought the first couple of episodes were pretty good and believe it or not, it was the TV ratings winner last Sunday night (a big positive if you ask me). I'm looking forward to seeing how the remainder of the series will play out. It's interesting to see which stories are included and which are left out. It would be quite difficult to tell every single story in the Bible in just a few hours on TV. The series continues this coming Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Central and if you missed the first two episodes which aired last Sunday, check your History Channel listings or On Demand. I think it's worth a watch.

I haven't been to any movies since January but am thinking about seeing "Oz the Great and Powerful" this coming up weekend if I have the time. It looks kind of interesting. I have always loved The Wizard of Oz and have watched it hundreds of times, including two or three times each weekend when my cousin Sydney stays, and so I'm curious to see this new spin on the books/movie. Speaking of which, has anyone every read the books? I have them on my Kindle but have not read them yet. I think this is all the rambling I'll do for today. I've got to save something for tomorrow! Until then!

The Mouse Has Met the Maker

I’ve had a lot going on the past few days and have lots to tell you about. It just amazes me how quickly things pick up when September rolls around. It seems like it was just yesterday that Jackie and I were buying concert tickets for the month of September and talking about how awesome it was going to be and now… here we are!

I wanted to update you on some things that I mentioned last week. First –the mouse. As you may recall, I saw a mouse scurry down the aisle at work last Thursday. Friday morning when I came in someone had placed a plastic bag under my filing cabinet and tried to convince me they had caught the mouse but had left it in that bag under my filing cabinet. I didn’t buy it. As it turns out, they did catch the mouse, but the mouse met its demise and was disposed of before I arrived. Apparently the lady who sits on the other side of the wall from me keeps food in her drawers and that mouse was over there eating a chocolate bar when he was found. I wouldn’t be surprised if another one showed up some time soon, but here’s to hoping not.

I also mentioned last week that I had election training. It actually was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. My dad had complained to me the week before that it took about two hours and lots of people had questions and he didn’t think they were ever going to get out of there. My group must have been more attentive because our session only lasted about an hour and a half and there were only about five questions from the group. The information they reviewed was interesting and including scenarios I had never even considered. This training was for the September 18 vote for the special amendment to the constitution and I will have another training session in October for the November election.

In other news, a few times this summer there has been fresh dog poop out by my car. Clearly someone has been walking their dog and letting it poop in my yard without cleaning it up. To say this perturbs me is quite an understatement. It happened again last Friday and of course when I walk out to my car in the morning I am ready to leave and don’t have time to scoop poop. If I ever catch the culprit, you can rest assured I’ll be giving that owner a piece of my mind.

And So It Continues

I don’t have much to write about this week. I was planning on putting together another list of seven tonight but I’ve just got home from church and I want to be a lazy bum and watch television shows from the DVR (I love you, DVR!).

Anyway, you’re probably wondering what me having nothing to write about has to do with the title of this post. Well, if you’ve followed along for any length of time here then you probably know that my Jim Brickman post gets the most hits every day, week, month and year – no kidding. Apparently there are a lot of Jim Brickman fans out there – who knew? I, however, do not count myself among them.

Occasionally I’ll still get a comment on that post; in fact, it’s the most commented on post. Well, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten a comment until today! And y’all, it is the best Jim Brickman comment ever! I loved it. Here is what it said, “Hi Nat, I haven't been to a Jim Brickman show in several years but I have attended a number of them in the past because I used to work for Jim and I can vouch for what you said about Jim being full of himself. That's actually putting it mildly. I'd be willing to bet that most of the people who described Jim as "warm," "a sweetheart" or whatever haven't actually known him personally. As is the case with many entertainers, what Jim shows the public is VERY different from what he shows you in private. In fact, they're pretty much polar opposites. Most of us who worked for Jim when I did were not fans of his (or fans of his music, for that matter). The phrase "drama queen" is probably the first one that comes to mind when I think of Jim. For what it's worth, I've worked with other musicians since Jim and most of them have been very nice people -- even the ones who are more famous than he is. So it's not a matter of fame. I think that there are well-known people who are nice and well-known people who aren't nice, as with pretty much any category of people.”

BEST. COMMENT. EVER.

Whoever left it did so anonymously, but anonymous is my new friend – I love you, former worker of Jim Brickman! Seriously, this comment made my day. Hopefully you will get a kick out of it as well!

Yet Another Update

It seems as though every time I post an update about Justin, something else happens to change the update I just posted. The day I posted that he was going to rehab, he managed to open that smart mouth of his and his chance of going rehab was revoked and now it seems as though he will be going to prison after all. He will have a court date and a sentencing date, etc. etc. So, it will be a while yet before we know what his exact fate will be. At any rate, just please keep him in your prayers because no matter what happens, he clearly needs all the prayers he can get.

As for me, I have walking pneumonia, as opposed to sitting pneumonia I guess. I went to the clinic on Saturday and got some medication and am already feeling some better. Hopefully I will be even better as the week goes on as I have some dishes to make for Thanksgiving, not to mention Black Friday shopping and a football game on Friday night.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Movie review coming up tomorrow (Monday) morning!

Updates

Happy Friday ya’ll! Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week? I don’t know about you, but 2011 has flown by for me! Christmas will be here before you know it! I hope you’ve all got a big jump on your Christmas shopping. I’ve got most of mine done but still have a few things yet to buy and some gifts to get which I have no idea yet what the gift will be – yikes! Hopefully I will come up with something good. I need to get started on wrapping and with any luck will get some of that knocked out this weekend.

I wanted to give everyone an update on Justin’s situation. I’m happy to report that Justin was given an opportunity to go to a rehab facility rather than straight to prison. Every time I think he’s used his last chance, he seems to get another one. I’m glad he was given this opportunity and pray that he will use it to his advantage. I hope you will also remember him in your prayers as every day is a battle for him against his addiction. He will be back in time for Christmas, which is great because I am most excited about the gifts I got for him. I think he will really like them. Here’s to wishing for a drama free Christmas!

The Black Lung has improved somewhat over the course of the past couple of days thanks to high dosages of nighttime cold medicine and Nyquil. I take it around 5:00 so that I’ll have a good 12 ½ hours to sleep it off before I have to go to work. So far it’s working out well. I sure hope it continues!

I thought there would be another thing or two to update everyone on, but I really can’t think of anything at the moment. Next week I should have some book reviews and most likely a movie review of Breaking Dawn. Jackie and I have already bought our tickets! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Back In The Saddle

I know some of you are probably wondering how things went yesterday and so today I’ll give you another update and then tomorrow we will move on to a fun topic – Troy and Ashlyn’s birthday party.

Yesterday morning I had my interview with the other division at the company from which I was laid off. The interview lasted only about 15 minutes and was basically just a brief formality as I was offered the job during the interview. HR got in touch with me later in the day to give me all the details and I formally accepted the job. HR and I are in the process of completing all the paperwork and what have you and once that is all complete, I will be able to start work. It may be as soon as Thursday or it may be next week depending on how long it takes everything to work out.

So, today and tomorrow I’m going to enjoy a few days off. I’m having lunch with my Aunt Linda today and afterwards plan to come home and decorate for Halloween. That was actually my plan for yesterday but I was lazy and didn’t get it done. Tomorrow I am having lunch with my dad. I plan to clear out the DVR and do some reading as well. Basically, I’m just going to do a lot of nothing in particular without the stress of worrying about a job.

I wanted to send a big THANK YOU to all of you who remembered me in your prayers during the past few days. It really meant a lot to me to know you were praying on my behalf. Thanks also for your kind comments. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways and I am very pleased with how things have worked out in this situation. The economy in our great country continues to decline and I feel very blessed and fortunate to have been awarded this opportunity. Thanks again for everything !

Monday Morning Update

Hi readers! Hope everyone is doing well this Monday morning and enjoyed the weekend of cool fall weather. I thought I would give you all an update on the events from Friday and let you know how I am doing.

Layoffs had been rumored for a couple of weeks and I felt pretty confident that I would be one of the people to be let go this time. Work has been really slow for a while and while I always get paranoid that I will be let go during a layoff, this time I had an overwhelming feeling that it would be me and obviously I was right.

I got into work around 7:15 and by 7:45 I was given the news, packed up my things and was out the door by 8:15; a quick morning to say the least. I spent the rest of the day emailing people about being a reference for me, applying for jobs and talking to recruiters. For some strange reason I am not yet worried, although maybe I should be.

I have been praying for a long time that the Lord would bless me with the privilege of keeping my job for as long as I need it and the way I see, the Lord is telling me I don’t need that particular job anymore. Obviously, I need a job, just not that one. So, I feel like my faith has given me a sense of calm that I haven’t had in the past when I’ve been in this situation.

On a positive note, the company from which I was laid off has given me an opportunity to interview for another position in a different division. The position is a lower one than the position I was just in, but if I am offered the position, I will definitely take it because unfortunately my bills don’t stop just because I am without employment, and as I’m sure you may have guessed, with my trip to France, repairs on my car, dental work, and a home repair all in this calendar year, my savings account has been drained.

I’ve also been asked about doing some baking by a friend of Jackie’s mom Jan. (Thanks, Christa!) I hope to take her up on the offer and hopefully I can make a little money doing that. I’m still writing for the newspaper as well, which is not much, but still something.

So, I ask for your continued prayers as I go for my interview this morning and if that’s not what God has in mind for me, then I ask for your prayers that the Lord will bless me with new employment quickly because I think we all know there are few jobs out there and a lot of people who need them.

Matthew 6:25-34 tell us, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Very comforting verses in this time of uncertainty. I know that I am more valuable than the birds of the air and as long as I put my trust in God, everything will turn out okay.

Thanks for your continued prayers and I will keep you posted on how things are going. Have a great Monday!

The Mattress and the Mower

I’ve had a busy day today. I’ve had a steady week at work which is a nice and welcome surprise and I also ran an errand earlier this morning that took about an hour. Errands always make the day go by quicker. So, I just now have had the opportunity to sit down and write a little bit.

I thought I would update you all on the new mattress and the new mower because I’m sure you’ve been sitting around wondering how those two recent purchases have been working out for me. I’m here to tell you, they have been serving me well.

The mattress arrived last Saturday. I had taken the old (26 year old) mattress and box spring off the bed so I could clean under the bed before the new paring arrived. So, when the delivery guys showed up, they didn’t have to take the old one off, they just had to put the new one on. They did haul the old one off to wherever it is mattresses go to die. I’m telling myself it’s someplace that’s environmentally friendly, but who really knows for sure.

The new set is A LOT taller than the old one. I have to put a little pep in my step to even get on the bed. I also moved my ottoman into the bedroom so The Tide can use it as a step. She actually can jump up there by herself, but it’s a bit of a struggle. It takes some extra oomph to get that booty of hers on the bed. So, the ottoman works well. During the day, I move it away from the bed and so far it has worked in keeping her off the bed. I hope it continues to work because she loves to scratch holes in the sheets and if she stays off the bed during the day then I may be able to keep a set of sheets for more than a couple of weeks. The mattress sleeps really well. I hardly move at all during the night and my back isn’t hurting in the morning anymore, which is awesome.

As for the mower, it is also working out really well. I used it for the first time this past Tuesday afternoon/evening. The grass had not been mowed in about a week and a half and so I had my work cut out for me. The bagger on the mower worked beautifully and the mower started up quickly which was a welcome blessing as I hate pulling and pulling and pulling to get a mower to start. It handles really well and the wheels actually work like they are intended to work which is a lot more than I can say for the old mower.

Needless to say, I am thrilled with both of these purchases. Well worth the money spent/to be spent (I financed the mattress) and I look forward to many years of use out of the both of them.

I guess that’s about it for today. Not really all that interesting, but I didn’t want to leave you heading into the weekend without a post. I’m going to the lake with Jackie and the kids and her family tomorrow and I’m so excited! It’s been about four years since we’ve had a chance to get together at her aunt and uncle’s lake house and we always have a grand time when we go. I’m sure I’ll be sore from riding on water rafts being pulled by the boat, but it will be well worth the pain. Hope you all have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Some Updates and Links for You

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted any updates on here. Things have been rather busy, can you tell? Busy is good, but it can also be tiring – I’m sure you all know what I mean.

Charlie’s fire pit has returned to his back yard – As you may recall, my neighbor Charlie has a fire pit and earlier this year when he moved in, he would sit outside and smoke cigars and drink wine while sitting out at the fire pit all by his lonesome. The fire pit disappeared over the summer, and quite frankly so did Charlie. He was scarce to be found and rumor has it that he has a lake house. I assume the fire pit accompanied Charlie at the lake, but now that the weather has cooled off, the fire pit has returned and so has Charlie. He’s already had it burning strong one night this week. The man wastes no time!

Blue – My car, Blue, is at the shop being repaired this week. When I first took her in for an estimate, it looked like she might be totaled, but alas, she is not, and she is being repaired as I type. I will be driving that turquoise accident magnet again before long. In the mean time, I am driving a silver Volkswagen Jetta, which is one of the cars I have always wanted. It’s been a lot of fun driving the Jetta and I’m hoping it takes a few more days before Blue is retuned to me – no offense, Blue!

This week and next is our United Way campaign at work. You may recall that last year, Erika helped me bake and decorate an award winning cake. Tomorrow is this year’s cake contest and I will spend this evening decorating my cake for the contest. I baked it this morning while I was getting ready for work. So, it should be ready to go this evening when I get home. I just hope it turns out like I’ve got it pictured in my mind.

For those of you wondering, my college roommate, Melissa, finished her 3-day 60-mile walk for breast cancer. You can read about her adventures here (day one), here (day two) and here (day three). I’m really proud of her for making it the entire three days and 60 miles! I’m not sure I could have done it.

My friend Kimberly and her husband Gary spent a few days in India recently and they helped convert a lot of souls to Christ while they were there, which is no small feat! These two are living in Malaysia for a few months and Kimberly always has something interesting to write about on her blog. I especially loved this post about a recent dining experience she and Gary had. Right now she is trying to encourage Gary to write a blog of his own. Check out this post and then send Gary and email with some word of encouragement.

My friend Caroline and her Hero Hubs, Mark, recently had their Canon stolen. You can read about how it came to be stolen here. They are asking friends to email Canon, asking Canon to donate a new camera to them. Here’s Caroline’s post to Canon. Read it and send Canon an email. These two are doing great work for the Lord and extra money for a nice camera is hard to come by.

Speaking of people in the mission field, Allison and Barton have been in Peru now for over a year, which is hard to believe because it seems just like yesterday that they moved from the States. You can read about their work in Peru here.

How is it that I came to know so many people in the mission field? Is this a sign of being old?

My foot has not been getting any better and so I am having surgery on Thursday, December 2. Hopefully the surgery will correct the problem and I will be able to walk without pain in a few months time.

I suppose that’s it for now, or at least all I can think of at the moment. As always, thanks for your comments. It’s always nice to hear what you have to say! Have a good day!

MCHS - Revisted

This past Friday I covered the Madison County High School game. This was my second time to Tiger Stadium and since I’ve already reviewed their concession stand, there won’t be an in-depth review this week. I know, I know.

On this occasion, I only got a Diet Coke before the game, and then at half time I got a hot dog and a Diet Coke. Instead of the seven minutes and 20 seconds it took me last time, it took eight minutes and 54 seconds to get these two items. They obviously need more help at halftime. They also didn’t have some of the items people were ordering and those people had to wait on things to cook, which I’m sure was annoying for those people. They added a menu item this week – baked potatoes; which I thought was odd, but whatever. The butter and sour cream was sitting out in a large tub on the condiment table and I’m here to tell you I would not have used either of those if I had gotten a potato. I may have to down grade their grade.

I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about some of the things I do like about covering games at Madison County because you see, sometimes it’s tough being a female reporter in a man’s world. Guys in the press box are not always keen about having a female around.

The number one thing I love about the press box at MCHS is that it’s large! Instead of a one deck press box, they have two. The press box is fairly new and the first deck is where the clock official sits along with the scoreboard operator, announcer, and other MCHS personnel. In the second deck, there are two small rooms to each side and a large opening in the middle. Each of the small rooms is for the assistant coaches, which is awesome because I don’t have them yelling in my ear and I don’t have to literally rub elbows with them while trying to type on my computer.

They have fans! In case ya’ll haven’t noticed, the weather is still hot right now. When I went to church last night, it was 98 degrees and I’m not talking about the boy bands from the 1990s. At MCHS they have box fans blowing which circulates the air and actually makes things a little cool, or at least cooler than anywhere else I’ve been this season. Without the fans the air would be hot and stagnant and sweltering and the experience would be less than enjoyable, but with the fans going, it is actually quite nice.

Chairs! I cannot even begin to tell you how much a chair means to me. With my feet hurting as they have been recently, I relish the thought of being able to sit at a game rather than stand for three plus hours. At MCHS, they have not only chairs, but comfortable, bar chairs so that you can actually see out of the press box window. I can sit the whole game and still see every play. A lot of schools don’t even have chairs at all. In fact, I’ve been known to carry my own bag chair to some schools, namely Hazel Green, because they have no chairs whatsoever in the press box. The schools that do have chairs have ones that are usually broken down and when you take a look at them you’re thankful your tetanus shot is up-to-date; not to mention the fact that they sit low to the ground and there’s no way on earth you could sit there and watch the game. When at MCHS, at the end of the night, my feet don’t hurt neither does my back! It’s the greatest!

The people at MCHS are also nice. A lot of times, assistant coaches will boot me from my spot – I once had this happen right at the kickoff, which means I missed some of the first plays of the game. It’s as though I am an inconvenience to them. Well, hey buddy, if you don’t want coverage in the newspaper, no problem, I’ve got plenty of other things I could be doing instead. There are a couple of guys who shoot video for MCHS who are always at the game and they are always nice when they talk to me and they leave me alone during the game – both of these are great. I’m not too eager to talk to someone during the game because I usually end up missing something and more often than not, it’s going to be something I shouldn’t have missed – that’s just the way my luck goes.

One of my most favorite things about games at MCHS is the train. There is a set of train tracks that run beside the football stadium and usually at each game two different trains pass by. I don’t know why, but I have always found that to be an interesting characteristic about this stadium and I always love it when the train rolls by. I find myself paying more attention to it than the game.

So, there you have it, some of the things I really enjoy about covering games at this particular school.

On a side note, here’s one thing I really hate about working high school athletics – rosters and newscasters. So far, this hasn’t happened to me this year, but almost every time I’ve covered a game the past two years this has happened and it drives me nuts. The newscasters will come to shoot the game so they will have some highlights for the 10:00 news then they will come up to the press box looking for rosters. More often than not, no one in the press box and I mean no one with the occasional exception of the announcer will have a roster for either school. Then someone will realize, hey this girl from the newspaper has both rosters and the newscaster will come over and shoot video of the rosters as I turn the pages. It’s annoying.

First of all, I guess this is the fault of each school. I mean, how hard is it to print off a few copies of a roster to hand over to the media. This is actually another great thing about MCHS because they always have extra copies of their own roster to hand out. Once I had to fork over a copy of the opponent’s roster to the announcer so that he would be able to announce the name of players. So, here is my (unheard) plea to the coaches and newscasters: Coaches – please bring a copy, preferably multiple copies of your roster to each game so that you can pass these out to the media should they need them. Newscasters – have you heard of the internet? It’s an amazing tool. In fact one web site, AHSAA, has the roster of every single school in the state, LOOK IT UP! Don’t depend on someone else to do your work for you.

Maybe this is also a guy/girl thing. Once when I was working a basketball game, the announcer made a comment that he was impressed I brought my own rosters and stats that no one else from the newspaper did that – hello, I’m the only female sports reporter at the newspaper, are you really that surprised that I’m also the only one not relying on someone else to spoon feed me information? Whatever the reason for the roster snafu, it really bothers me because it doesn’t take a genius to print out some rosters or look up information on the internet, I don’t know why I’m the only one that seems to do it.

Thank you and good day.

Updates Galore!

I figured it was time for some updates since I’m sure you’re wondering about this or that and well, there’s not all that much else to write about these days, so here you go…

The 7th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run is coming up on October 16. Last year Jackie and I walked in the Ribbon Run and I am planning to do it again this year. I haven’t talked with Jackie about it so I’m not sure if she is planning to come along or not. I plan to walk again this year because I can’t do much running with my feet the way they are or else I’ll be in pain for days afterwards. The cost to sign-up is $20 and you can do that here. Let me know if you sign up!

Speaking of breast cancer fundraising, my college roommate, Melissa is raising money to participate in a three day 60-mile walk in honor of her sister who was diagnosed with and beat breast cancer. If you would like to donate, check out her blog here.

I haven’t seen much of Charlie the neighbor lately. Apparently (or so I heard and may have mentioned here) he has a lake house and is gone every weekend to that little getaway of his. He does manage to make it home during the week where he will proceed to mow his lawn, but not the weed eating. This is really strange, especially considering he has taken time to water the front lawn. You’d think that someone who spent time water the yard would also want it to look nice and would therefore edge/weed eat; but not Charlie. I think Charlie has a lady friend too. I have seen a woman come over from time to time and they usually end up leaving together – I assume for a hot date (at least someone in the neighborhood has a hot date). This past week, the lady came over and Charlie came out wearing a hat that looked like a chicken. I guess it was some sort of inside joke because she was laughing up a storm. I saw all of this take place because I was walking outside to go pick my brother up from work. I assure you I am not keeping watch out the window.

I just read that there was a home invasion at gunpoint a few streets over from mine. That’s kind of scary!

The bug situation at work is getting a little better. Thanks to all the bug traps the bug folks put out, the population seems to be decreasing. I’ve only had one bug fall on my head in the past couple of weeks; so, that’s an improvement. They were supposed to have fumigated our offices over the weekend but that ended up not happening because some people had to work over the weekend and others complained. I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to seeing how many bugs were going to be lying around; maybe they will do it another time.

My friend Kimberly has now moved to Malaysia! Keep her in your prayers as she and her husband spend the next six months there. I’m sure she will be posting updates on her blog so check it out from time to time. I have no doubt her humor will shine through!

An official congrats to my dear friend Candy who is pregnant with bambino number three!

This past Friday I worked my first high school football game of the 2010 season. I was out at New Hope and OH MY WORD it was hot in the press box – I mean sweltering. The air was stagnant and I was sweating like nobody’s business. Being a connoisseur of concession stands, I ate a hot dog before the game and popcorn at the half. I love concession stand food, in case you didn’t know that. I’m not sure why, but it is so yummy! I was thinking about concession stands throughout the game and after I got home and I decided that I’m going to rank the concession stands of the stadiums I visit this season and post the reviews here. I know you are probably going to be waiting with baited breath to hear about what I ate and what each stand had to offer. If I can get around to it, I’ll post the first review up here today or tomorrow. Maybe in the weeks ahead I can take some photos of the menu and prices. I am actually going to really enjoy this – see how sad my life has become!

College football season starts on Thursday! I really don’t even have the words to describe how happy this makes me.

Yesterday was our first full day of worship in our new church building and it was a really good day! We had 649 people in attendance and the overflow area was full and we had to bring in more chairs! It was awesome! After months of not having individual Bible classes (we all met together), we were finally able to get together in a small Bible class environment, which was also very uplifting. I am so thankful that we have this new building – it already feels like home.

I’m officially registered for the 2011 Tour de France trip:

Hello Natasha,
Pursuant to our previous correspondence, we have charged your credit card $500 as deposit toward your 2011 Tour de France trip.
You will receive a separate email shortly to keep for your records showing the transaction on your credit card.
As we get closer to the official Tour de France announcement in October, we will keep you posted about our trip line up and you will have priority once our packages are published.
In the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any questions.
We look forward to having you along next summer!!
Sincerely,
Geraldine

Can you believe it?! I’m so excited!

Thanks to all of you who have left comments recently. I love to read what you have to say. I was looking at my profile not to long ago and noticed it had over 600 views. Who are all these people reading my profile and why don’t they comment? I want to know who they are because I didn’t even think 600 people knew about this little corner of the web.

If I missed anything you are just dying to know about, let me know in the comments and I’ll post an update. Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Updates and Memorial Day Weekend

Here are a few updates I know you are just waiting with baited breath to hear about…

Charlie – apparently Charlie has a lake house! I found this out through my neighbor Jeff. Tony says I (why not we?) need to cozy up to Charlie so we can get an invite to this mysterious lake house.

Daily Bible Reading – I am still keeping up with my daily Bible reading and have only missed five days so far this year. I am really proud of myself for keeping this going.

Gym – I’m still going to the gym four to five times a week and have not lost one pound, which can be a little discouraging. I have lost some inches because I can tell my pants are a bit looser and also some of my friends have been kind enough to tell me they can see a difference, which is nice.

Garden – The garden is coming along quite nicely. I actually took some photos, but haven’t uploaded them from the camera yet. The tomato plants are to the top of the cages and already have some blooms. It always amazes me how fast these things grow! Speaking of gardens, Tony planted a garden this year too. I think his has corn, watermelon, pumpkin, okra and one tomato plant. Not sure if there’s anything else there or not and I’m also not sure what it looks like since I haven’t seen it. If I ever make it past the locked gates, I’ll take a photo and share it with you all.

Feet – I was able to skip the shots at my latest doctor appointment even though I’m still having pain. The feet were taped up again, which is annoying, but I do think it helps. I don’t have to go back to the doctor until the end of June. So, keep your fingers crossed for good results.

I think that’s all the updates for now. You can now go about your day without wondering about all these things. Don’t you feel better already?

This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and it’s sure to bring a lot of fun along with it. I plan on seeing some movies this weekend and also watching the Cotton Row runners – that’s right, watching. I am not participating this year. There’s also a Memorial Day ceremony at Maple Hill Cemetery that I went to a couple of years ago and I may check that out this year too. I’ll be off work starting tomorrow (Friday); so, no more updates until after the holiday weekend. I hope you all have a nice Memorial Day and that you are able to enjoy it with your friends and family; and remember the reason for Memorial Day – to honor those who died for our freedom. Buckle up and be safe!