So, slept came

and had me under its spell for FOURTEEN hours. Oh my. I got up at 12:45pm today. I woke up once when Mr. P was getting ready for work and I was so disoriented I thought our house was flooding...it was raining and I could hear it just pouring in, but really it was Mr. P in the shower. I did take a generic sleep aid, but I think my lack of good sleep the last few nights contributed as well.

That meant my day was severly cut short. I ran and took 6 minutes off my 1.5 mile time from Monday. I think it was because today sucked ass weather wise, and I just wanted to get my butt home. I went to my office because I have to get my stuff for my conference which starts tomorrow, and I have yet to finalize my presentation...but that isn't until Saturday morning. I have to go by myself tomorrow, so I will have tomorrow afternoon and night to work in the hotel room. Mr. P will join me on Friday so we can watch the Cotton Bowl together with some friends at the conference. Would it interest you to know that my presentation is on procra$tination and its effect on tech.nology use in the workplace? (I put that $ and . in there because people in my field are known to google titles, and I really, really, don't need them to find this blog.) OH, that isn't interesting? mm.

So today was such a bummer weather wise, that I counted the days until it is officially spring. 75 days. Damn. To combat my rainy day blues, I made this:

It is Texas Caviar that Mr. P and I are going to eat on spring mix with some rotisserie chicken for dinner tonight. Isn't it bright and cheerful? Yes, it is about 16 cups, because I don't really know how to make less than that. My kids will finish it off while dog sitting this weekend, I am sure.

Oh, and if you like Sonic Cherry Limeaids, Diet Cherry 7-Up is a pretty tasty subsitute.

Wordless Wednesday, but with words

I am going to try the every other day approach so I don't completely scare everyone off. Yesterday I shared with how I am kind of dead inside, SO today I will share some pictures I have taken with my phone over the last couple of weeks.

First, the Poltergeist doppelganger lady that was spotted at our favorite pizza place.

Next, a claw game where you can pay $2.00 to grab a lobster that you can then have cooked for free. Penny was not amused by this.

We went to Orange Beach, Alabama and this was the view I had on my morning walk. It really helped get me centered so I could get to dead inside as opposed to raging to the point of boiling my innards. (oh, is that still a bit dark?....okay, I will try to lighten up.)

Ahh, pretty....

Mr. P thought this guy was SO cool, so we had to have his picture taken with this guy. (9-0, baby. Football has been FUN this year.)

At the same restaurant with the claw game, this tiny guy was hiding out by the trash can. (It is a tiny crab.) In deference to the bizarre issues with shellfish, we stuck to burgers and fries.

Since our move, we walk downtown for pizza/beers, work, yogurt, what have you a couple nights a week. We pass this tree everytime and we always wonder...."What the...."

Have you seen anything interesting lately?

OH, and Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus and pretzels? ADDICTING....so I call bullshit on TEN servings in the container. I think it is more like 2.

another decision MADE

Remember last year when I almost was VERY neighborly with my sister, but then the super flaky ballroom dance teacher decided not to rent to us? (By the way, her house is STILL on the market. ha.) And then I got all flummoxed and decided to stay in our house for another year?

Well, here we are, round the sun once more and we are officially going to be semi-neighbors with my sister, a mere 1/2 mile! I have already signed the lease on a little house, with many weird amenities like a bathroom with yellow and black tile (a la a bumble bee), washer and dryer in a line NEXT to the stove, NO dishwasher and NO fenced in yard. BUT it is a great location, perfect for walking to football games, my office, outings for pizza and frozen yogurt, and feeding the turtles. Another big plus is that we will be paying about half for our living expenses as we are now (we are starting to save for a down payment on our very own house, yikes), so I just have to learn to be more efficient with my dishes and really suck up to Mr. P so that he is willing to take the dog out at 3am since he will have to be watched...oh, and we have to buy our own refrigerator, but I am kind of excited about that...I am thinking stainless steel with an ice-dispenser!

Now we just have to figure out what we are going to do about the slight (35 day) gap between leases in our current and new abodes....but none of this will even happen for 3 months, ahh, the joys of living in a college town!

And so the holidays are right.up.on.us

So my Dad shows up for Thanksgiving tomorrow. He may or may not be bringing his girlfriend. You know, the one that is TWO years older than I am. I don't really get why she would come because she has a 14 year old child of her own that it seems like she might want to see at some point over the weekend. AND even though my sister is not thrilled at the prospect of her joining us, I don't even really believe she will come. There have been two other potential sightings and both times weird stuff (READ: Stuff she lied about) happened so she couldn't come. I hope that happens again.

AND, my Dad is also planning a get-together for my house tomorrow evening...he wants us to grill steak and sit outside around the fire pit having adult beverages under twinkling white lights. He had this whole plan for said twinkly lights that included some lumber and maybe a nail gun...we shall see. JUST IN CASE though, I did buy some marshmallows that are chocolate/vanilla swirl.

Then Thursday we have planned out every minute of the day beginning with pumpkin bread and "Thanksgiving" coffee (I don't know exactly about that, but check with Penny if you are curious), followed by some outdoor sporting activity (I hope for football this year), then sausage balls, then dinner, then fancy drinks, or maybe vice versa, then a block party downtown.

Block party? Downtown? On Thanksgiving? YES. Because while Thanksgiving is big, it isn't the BIGGEST thing happening this weekend in our neck of the woods. It is the Iron Bowl. Auburn verus Alabama. and I made a bet. A very, very scary bet. Jen, from Hey Y'all* is a die hard Bama girl. I am NOT. Loser will display themselves on their blog for all to see wearing a SNUGGIE from the other team. Mr. P is NOT pleased and swears he won't take the photo. So, on Friday afternoon, if you happen across CBS cheer for the orange and blue. That lunatic in the 13th row wearing orange and screaming her face off?

That will be me.

Last weekend was great. This weekend will be greatER.

War Eagle.

*I originally did the weblink wrong because I thought Jen used Wordpress. She doesn't. But, the chick at the other address was supposed to get asked out by some guy after he dumped his girlfriend but didn't. In case you were curious.

My favorite player of last weekend: On the OTHER team.

I am a HUGE football fan, and is it quite often I find myself yelling, "Rip his legs off !" or some equal sportsman like comment at the television...whether it be college kids or the professional players. On Saturday morning, we were watching our football against another school within our same division...a win was important. We had lost 3 in a row, plus we always want to beat the schools in our division. We did not start out very well, so the house was filled with "sportsmanship".

During the game, one of our defensive players was tackling the opposing running back, and after the play was whistled dead both players were motionless. The crowd went silent. Yes, you want them limping off the field because your guys are more hardcore than their guys, but you never. ever. want to see players laying so so still on the field.

After awhile of coaches, doctors, players huddling around the injured players, come to find out it was our guy that was hurt. Really hurt. And the guy he tackled, the OPPOSING running back stayed perfectly still UNDERNEATH him until the doctors and emergency crew got our guy on the stretcher. That running back could have pushed our guy off of him and popped up like they do every other play, and no one would have thought a thing about it. But he didn't. He laid there with an opposing player on top of him. And by doing that, doctors say he saved our player from permanent paralysis.

Even though we won, that kid on the other team? He made the best play of the game in my book. I hope that I can remember his actions (or inaction) next time I am in a position where I can help someone out, just.to.do.it.

Saturdays as they were meant to be...

I am LOVING today.

Mr. P and I got up early and completed a 5K trail run. I have never really done a trail run, let alone a timed trail run. It was fun, but sort of sad because I didn't get to enjoy any of the scenery, I could only look down, look down, look down and try not to trip over tree roots or roll my ankles on rocks. I had to grin because as I came around the final corner I could see Mr. P checking me out for dirt...he admitted it awhile later. My time was a little over 42 minutes, and I was sort of disappointed because I thought I might beat my old time, but then Mr. P told me he was 5 minutes off his normal pace, so that made me feel a bit better.

Then we went to the grocery store to pick up fresh jalapenos for the TRIPLE batch of chili we just made...it took 2 hours just to get it to simmer, but it is SO SO SO worth it in the end. It is NOT point friendly, but considering this is the first Saturday in probably 6 months that I still have weeklies, plus all my activity points, I don't.even.care.

We also went and picked up supplies for our Halloween costumes, Mr. P and I are going to try to replicate these dudes (we have purchased hula hoops, clear shower curtains, duct tape and silver spray paint):

I just popped in some jalapeno-cheese corn bread and have caught up on some farming while we snuggle on the couch and watch football. I think after some chili and corn bread I will be having a nap, then out tonight with friends to watch our game.

THEN, if that wasn't good enough, last night we had dinner with the family, then browsed the mall a bit where I got Mr. P this ornament

and then we went on a movie date to Couples Retreat. Plus, tomorrow, we are going to the same pumpkin farm as last year and then working on pumpkins and costumes tomorrow afternoon. (I think I might spray paint my pumpkin silver.)

Interestingly (to me) when I was looking back for the post about the pumpkin farm from last year, I read the few posts around it, and I made chili the same weekend. We are definitely suckers for tradition!

Oranges are not the same as nachos.

This new, healthier lifestyle sucks monkeys. Well, not monkeys, because they probably have too many calories without enough fiber, so perhaps this lifestyle change sucks apples.

So, we settle in to watch the Sugar Bowl and for my football snack, I have an orange. Now, I like oranges, and in actuality it was a fine orange. I mean citrus no disrespect, but COME ON. Football needs nachos. Requires the consumption of wings. At the very least, a few chips to get the edge off.

All I am saying is that this healthier body better be good.

Total and UTTER thievery

So my sister did an awesome post last night about her pretend celebrity/character boyfriends. I am totally piggybacking, stealing, copying, plagiarizing, you name it, I am totally thieving her very cool post. I did ask in her comments if I could do my own post, but then I am totally writing this write right now before I even know if she said yes. (Isn't that an interesting misuse of a homophone?)

After reading her list I was relieved that we aren't going to start a sister feud over pretend boyfriends...none of her dudes made my list, and really the only ones that I thought about were Matthew Fox and Luke from Gilmore Girls. (Oh, side note to Tracy: Where is Jack from Missing Persons?) I love that she likes the dad from the football show...you could have asked me to list 300 shows that she would like, and I would have put the Texas football show dead last.

Okay, so my pretend boyfriends: (Oh, and no stealing.)

Peyton Manning. Dude can totally play some football. Mr. P got me an official Peyton Manning jersey for Christmas last year. I couldn't officially love him until he graduated from college (he went to a rival school), but as soon as he did I declared my love for all the world to hear. I even think he was kind of funny on SNL.

Elliot Stabler. (SVU). Mr. P always gets disturbed when I mention how hot I think Christopher Meloni is...apparently he did some weird stuff on Oz. I never saw that show so my image of him remains untainted.

Patrick Dempsey. When I was an undergrad the first time, the only video I owned was "Can't Buy Me Love". McDreamy for sure.

Josh Lyman/Danny Tripp . Both are characters played by Bradley Whitford. (West Wing and Studio 60). He is not your typical "hot", but the characters are always smart, funny, and flawed pretty seriously.

Tom Colicchio. Head judge from Top Chef. I don't know if its the eyes, the baldness, or the chefy swagger.

ETA: I had a totally inappropriate American Idol crush on David Cook. I even bought his CD from iTunes. I watch Idol every year. The kid in high school, Mr. P, and I every night. We sit. We criticize. Then this year, I fell hard. I voted. Every time. I am such a loser. This probably should have been my BlogSecret secret.

Okay, now I want to list my pretend friends...same concept, just maybe no sexual tension...TV/Movie characters that I want to know in real life and be their friends. I know this is bizarre and I like tv too much, and feel free to laugh...this is something that I KNOW is embarrassing, and I just don't care.

Ross Gellar. I also have a PhD and like to pretend it means alot more than it does. We could sit around and talk about abstracts and conferences and regression and call each other Dr.

House. I love the sarcasm and the brilliance. Except he probably would call me fat since he is brutally honest that way, so I probably need to lose weight first.

Christine. and Barb. and Matthew. and Richard. and even New Christine. I think I just want to move next door to that show. (New Adventures of Old Christine).

And my all time favorite new BFF? Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.




Someday maybe I will tell you about the celebrities I am enemies with (Billy Bob Thornton don't act like you don't know what you did).

I do it for love. Love. LOVE.

I am a pretty happy person (parent issues aside) and I attribute that to my having a huge variety of "likes"...as in, I like television, most kinds of music, movies, playing games, reading, chatting, dogs, horses, my iPod, text messaging, sports, computers, food...and it is one of those likes that is the topic of this post...

I love. LOVE. extra love. college football. I graduated from a football school, and happily for me, the same school as my husband, and our daughter attends this school currently. My son will attend (hopefully) next year. As an aside, my sister and her husband graduated from the same school, however, they do not share the same obsessive love we do for this school and its football team. I love the way the RVs start showing up on Wednesday waving the school flags, I love running into old friends while walking across campus...this weekend I ran into a great friend from highschool that I hadn't seen in 15 years...it is my true idea of fellowship. I haven't talked about my views on religion, but from my religious friends they always talk about church and say its more than Jesus, its the fellowship of it all. (I wasn't sure if I misunderstood the term fellowship, so I googled, and found this definition.) As I watched the happenings on campus yesterday I kept thinking...this is 90,000 people gathering for the same purpose...love of their school and of college football, and I like being part of something that big. I know that it isn't some grand noble thing, like being in the armed forces or the peace corps, but I love the feeling just the same.

I also really love professional football...a few years ago I started playing fantasy football, and now Mr.P and I both play and we spend all day on Sundays together talking about football and our players and our opponents.

I hadn't really thought too much about it until this post, but I wonder if my love of football boils down to spending lots of time, and having lots of fun with Mr. P every weekend in the Fall.... who wouldn't want to spend time with this face?