Do a little dance

Okay, I know I said I was going to use the other blog to record stories here, but this one's just too funny not to blog about. I was brought up Southern Baptist, but this morning I got in touch with my pentecostal roots.
South African voltage runs on a 220 voltage system, versus the American 120. The plug shapes are different as well, so in order to use your curling irons and other hair appliances, one must use an adapter. Things were going fine and good this morning, my hair was dried, my curling iron was plugged in. I quickly turned the ends of my hair under and got ready to unplug my iron in order for the next person to be able to use the adapter, and low and behold I got the shock of a lifetime! I felt the jolt of electricity (or the Holy Sprirt perhaps) run through my body and I quickly dropped the offensive curling iron. "yall didn't know you were gonna get to see me dance this morning, did you?" I asked. We all had a good laugh and joked about my apparent Pentecostal roots. Trust me, I'm fine, but my left hand does still feel funny.

The eagle has landed

Hey kids, this is your resident diva, blogging all the way from the southern hempisphere! We are just now settling in at the Team House (check out the site, we are SO suffering for Jesus!) and I wanted to write a quick note to let my faithful readers know that I will be blogging from a sister site while I'm in Cape Town- our team's blog, www.bbcsouthafrica.blogspot.com
I wish I could say I'm exhausted from all the travel- I am in a way, but I slept so much on the flights that I am wide awake now! oopsy I didn't even watch a single movie on the flights over- I read (I finally read that No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book, and it was wonderful!) and started Tom Sawyer and continued reading Raggamuffin Gospel. I think I am too delerious to write anything of substance- I haven't taken any pictures yet worth posting, but I promise I'll get right on that!
Love you all, thanks for your continued prayers!

Not just a basketball school

The Big Blue Nation is ecstatic today- the polls came out and Kentucky Football is ranked! Yes, you read that correctly- UK, a perpetual bottom-dweller in the powerhouse SEC conference, is listed as 21 in the AP top 25 and 23rd in the US Today poll.

I was giddy as a school girl on Saturday that I was able to watch the UK- U of L game. Afterwards for the rest of the night, and even the next day I would randomly exclaim to Brian, "We beat Louisville!!" allowing the reality to sink in happily.

Some things to note about the outcome of this game:

• This was the first time in 30 years that UK beat a top-10-ranked opponent
• This is the first time Kentucky has scored 40-or-more points in three consecutive games since 1950.
• This is the Cats first appearance in either poll since 1985.
• UK's first win over Louisville since 2002
• Crowd of 70,857 was the fourth-largest in Commonwealth Stadium history.
• Woodson became the SEC's all-time leader in consecutive passes (257) without an interception.
• UK awaits an announcement from the SEC office, but expects to be fined $25,000 as a result of the students rushing the field after the game.

Bored beyond belief

I think I'd be more entertained watching paint dry today. Nothing about my job today is engaging me, and all I can do is count the hours down till I can hit the road, jack. We're just under 2 hours! Woo hoo!

Anyways- we all have those days where we would rather do anything BUT work, so I thought I'd share my favorite ways to waste time, and make this an interactive game by asking you readers, and perhaps even you silent lurkers, to join in the fun and list your own favorite ways to waste time during the work day! You might know of some things I hadn't thought of, and could desperately use on a day like today!

Ok, I'll go first:

1. check myspace/facebook
2. check my email
3. get up and talk to co-workers and distract them from working
4. rinse out my dirty dishes from breakfast and refill my water bottle
5. check my email again
6. read the headlines on my yahoo homepage
7. check my other friends' blogs
8. my guilty pleasures- pinkisthenewblog and thebeautyaddict
9. take a bathroom break
10. check my email... again

Now your turn! What are your best vices to cure boredom?

six years later

One of the defining moments in my college years came 6 years ago today. It's a day that haunts every American, though I feel my generation had a unique experience to be away at school during the September 11th tragedy that struck our nation in 2001. It is eerie to me that today is a Tuesday, just like it was 6 years ago. Then we were so dumbfounded that we didn't know how to respond. We held candlelight vigils. We tied yellow ribbons around trees supporting our troops. The sororities painted patriotic banners and hung them from our houses. Our UK Chorale sang at the memorial service that Friday that followed. Many gave blood.

But 6 years later are we any safer? We still don't have Al-quaida under control, we still don't know where Osama Bin Laden is, and what am I doing to cope with this in present times? Absolutely nothing. I blindly trust my government that surely nothing like September 11th can happen again.... just like I blindly trusted them before when we all thought an attack on American soil wasn't ever a possibility.

They say time heals all wounds, but instead of our country healing I fear we have forgotten. We have forgotten the urgency of seeking a solution to the problem, we have forgotten the necessity of neighbors helping neighbors, and even strangers helping strangers, and that Great Awakening surge of people who flocked to the churches for answers, may we who follow Christ not forget that we are still being looked to for answers, and may we also not forget the urgency of turning to Christ ourselves and sharing that urgent truth with those who don't know.

Labor Day weekend 07

It was back to reality today, but this past weekend Roommate Natalie and I drove down to Florida to visit our respective Air Force boyfriends (stationed conveniently at the same base for next 11 months!). Natalie picked me up from work on Friday afternoon in her car Gertie, and we headed for the beach. It gave us a good chance to catch up on life, since even though we live together, we rarely see each other. We sang at the top of our lungs to our favorite cds- a particularly raucous moment occurred during Marc Broussard's Home- you know the part I mean if you know this song! We also decided to memorize the lyrics to Jeffrey Steele's song Chrome, and we practiced on the way down and back in the car until we were satisfied with our memorization skills.

Natalie dropped me off at Brian's place around 12:30 am, and I was greeted with beautiful flowers, wine, and a sleepy boyfriend! Saturday we hung out with Brian's mom, her boyfriend Jim, and his son Jesse. The 5 of us went to Olive Garden for lunch and I had my first embarrassing moment of the weekend. I was nervous of course, meeting Brian's mom, and was trying to be natural and make conversation. At one point she let Brian have a taste of her wine, and after trying it, his mom looked at the lip gloss mark on the glass, a different shade from hers, and asked Brian where it came from! We couldn't very well deny that we had kissed in the car before entering the restaurant, so all we could do was laugh it off! After lunch we waited the rain out by watching football at B-dubs (we were there for the end of the Michigan- Appalachian State game!) and then when the sun came back out, went to ride go-karts and play miniature golf. Brian and I each got a hole in one on the same hole, one right after the other, which was pretty neat.

After our golf game (I have no idea who even won!) we said goodbye to Jim, Jesse, and Ann, and Brian and I made our requisite stop for pizza on our way home before getting ready to go out with his friends that night to the Howl at the Moon piano bar. We had a slight moment of tension when Brian informed me that we would be leaving at 8pm instead of 8:30 pm, and mind you, this was after I had just gotten out of the shower and was in the early stages of getting ready. I sort of flipped out on him a little bit, explaining passionately that it would not be physically possible for me to be ready by 8 o'clock and that it would take me at least that long just to get my hair dried and fixed, and did he realize how long it would take me to put on my makeup and you said 8:30 why did it change, and I'm just trying to look nice for when I meet your friends! Needless to say, Brian picked up his jaw from the floor and handled the situation basically with a yes dear, and we were out the door at 8:23pm, a whole 7 minutes ahead of schedule I reminded him. Howl at the Moon was a blast, and we sang and danced the night away.

Being out too late Saturday night, we overslept and missed church, but we made it into Destin in time for lunch at Cracker Barrel with his grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. More family to meet, but we relaxed and had a nice meal together. Meeting the family hasn't scared me off yet, but Brian's uncle (who married into the family) warned me that I hadn't met everyone yet, and not to speak too soon!

From Cracker Barrel we said goodbye to the rest of the family and picked up some wine, grapes and a cooler, and headed over to Juana's where Brian had arranged to take a sailboat out to a private area of the beach and watch the sun set. It was very romantic and his way of celebrating our 3 month anniversary. I told Brian to watch out because he was spoiling me too much, and I might get used to it! It was about a 30 minute sail from point A to point B, and just as we were nearing the shore, the wind completely died on us. Brian had to paddle us in while I steered, and all I could think of was the tune, "Michael row your boat ashore Alleluia!" The clouds overhead pointed to a storm heading in our direction, and the wind picked up just as we came to the beach. All I could think of was, we're stranded over here, and we don't even have our shoes (we left them at the hut at Juana's), how are we going to get back, and how are we going to get the boat back? The sky was cloudy and gray, the wind was whipping around us, but fortunately a nice man came down and helped Brian take the sail off the boat and secure the vessel on the beach. I stood there and watched like a helpless girl. The man even pointed out his (pink!) beach house and told us we could wait out the storm at his place if we needed to. Luckily, the wind died down a few minutes later, and it never did rain where we were, so we spread out the towels and enjoyed our wine, and what part of the sunset we could see.

As the sun sank further into the clouds, and Brian apologized over and over for not being able to control the weather and have a better sunset, he put the sail back up and we pushed the boat back into the water heading back to Juana's. As the sky got darker and darker as we sailed through the calm waters I came to a stark realization: I was not going to make it back to shore without going to the bathroom somewhere, and in front of Brian no less! He suggested I hop into the water and go but somehow jumping into the murky sound after the sun had set was not the most appealing choice to me. Instead I opted to scooch my rear over the back of the boat and go off the side. It was both horrifying and hilarious at the same time.

We hung out at Juana's that night, and the next day, Monday, had breakfast with Brian's friend Kirsten, then went to the ocean for a few minutes before the rain started. This was also after Brian decided to take me out on a jet-ski and scare the living daylights out of me. I thought I was pretty clear when I said, go slow, and please don't go fast, but apparently he thought I was kidding and having a blast as I squeezed my arms around him tightly, screamed and fought back tears through my shut-tight eyes! mmm, not so much.

Nat picked me up that afternoon, and we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Firehouse subs- I am obsessed with this place- why there isn't a franchise here in Nashville I just don't understand- and then we sat through 8 1/2 hours of solid trafic back to Nashville- an extra 2 hours and a 30 minute stop at the gas station due to the influx of cars. It was pure craziness. But luckily Natalie and I got to talk about our weekends, and text our boyfriends back and forth the entire trip, while singing at the tops of our lungs (hey, we got Chrome down pat) to distract ourselves from the terrible traffic.

It was a wonderful long weekend, and I can't wait to return- hopefully to sunnier weather, and slower jet-skis.

donut laugh... or do

Here is an amusing anecdote about work and breakfast pastries, and the witty comments that accompany them:

This morning there was a test of my willpower, and I passed the test. I was a good girl and refused the Dunkin Donuts that were placed before me, even though they are my favorite. My coworker Todd however, reached for a cream filled donut but grimaced when he took the first bite.
What is it? I asked him.
It's lemon, he said.
Do you not like lemon? I asked.
No, he said.

I looked at another co-worker, laughed and said, he picked a lemon- literally!

Hey- if I can't eat the donuts, at least I can laugh at those who do!

Wear that White!

Today marks the one week countdown to the official end of that special fashion season where one is permitted to wear white. In an effort to squeeze them into my wardrobe rotation one more time this season, I have on my white strappy heels and white pleated skirt today. I know there are the naysayers out there (This is for you Ari & Tadd: Nay. I say it. I say Nay. I'm a naysayer) who scoff and say that the old no-white-after-Labor-Day is positively prosaic and not a rule to be upheld any longer, but I'm a staunch traditionalist and thus will dutifully be packing up the aforementioned clothes after next Monday.

A Stardust is born

I had a date with Fashionista Mama B last night- we enjoyed a nice dinner and went to see the movie Stardust. With an all-star cast including Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiiffer, and Robert De Niro, I have no idea why this film hasn't gotten more hype. The only theater in Nashville that I know of that is showing the movie is Green Hills Regal Cinemas, but it's worth the drive (maybe not worth the drive if you're out of state though, so find it someplace local)!

Stardust was a surprise hit with me. I liken it to a Pirates of the Carribean or a Princess Bride- a great cast, and wonderful feel-good fairy tale type movie. I went in not knowing much about the movie, but I would recommend it to anyone... which I guess is why I'm blogging about it- so go see this movie and let me know what you think! Bradley & Bradley give it two thumbs up!

Weather you like it or not

Whether or not you are a Weather nerd like I am, you might find this Hurricane blog fascinating. I stumbled upon it through weather.com after reading some reports on Hurricane Dean- the 3rd strongest storm ever to make landfall, I might add. The senior meteorologist's blog discusses the storms' paths and progress in detail, and spells it out for you in layman's terms, even providing pictures labeled with important things to note. I may have just stumbled upon my new favorite website!

Mad about Plaid

I'm here to give mad fashion props out to Mama B, who recently purchased an inexpensive, trendy pair of shoes from none other than my favorite store in the world, and the center of my other blog today, Target! Mom is obsessive about wearing her Ravenwood Red & Black religiously the way I am devoted to the color pink. She scours the shelves and shoe racks and has quite the collection of red kicks. Mama B was particularly smug about this new plaid pair, featured here on the left in this week's Target ad:

She strutted down the halls of Ravenwood High School today and just waited for someone to stop and compliment her on her School-spirited shoes. And she walked, and she waited, and the compliments never came. So here's your public affirmation, Mom. The shoes are adorable and very YOU. Even though no one at school seemed to notice, I think you're adorable!

Blogging Blahs

One hour and $143 later, I am back at work. For my lunch break today I treated myself to some much needed Retail Therapy, aka Target, and I have 2 measely bags to show for it. How the heck does that stuff add up so quickly?!

I also allowed myself to run for the Border for a quick bite (the shopping wore me out) since Miss Borders mentioned Taco Bell yesterday. I felt guilty mid-burrito but finished it all anyways, and now I am back for what is hopefulyl to be a stress-free afternoon.

Recently work has got me stressed. The Man has got me down. But I came to the stark realization this morning that stress is not a necessity or a bi-product of my job or life- stress is brought on by how I react to my environment, and it is a choice I can make. I am not a victim of stress, and for crying out loud, I'm 26 years old and my life is pretty darn good right now. I have no room for complaining, and no room for stress. So I came up with a new mantra for work this morning. Say it with me:

It's not life or death, it's just choral music.

Whenever I start to get overwhelmed I am reminding myself that all I can do is to do my job to the best of my ability. I can't control what comes out of my customers mouths. I can't control UPS's shipping errors. I will not worry that my voicemail light has been on for an hour without me checking. the Soprano rehearsal track cd can wait. It's not life or death, it's just choral music.

Does the Man have you down? Are you feeling overwhelmed with life? Do yourself a favor and remember that all you can do, is all you can do (thanks Jeffrey Steele for that great song!). Stress is a choice, and you can refuse not to partake. It's freeing.

Remember the Titans?

Ahh, Football season is here again! I was fortunate enough to get to attend last night's home opener (albeit a preseason game) of the Tennessee Titans versus the Washington Redskins. Dad and I had great seats on the 50-yard line, club level, which makes for a great view of the game. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see last night.

NFL rookie of the year and Titans starting QB Vince Young was suspended for breaking an unspecified team rule so he didn't play. What a great way to start the season- your best player and team leader has disciplinary problems. Let's hope Jeff Fisher & the rest of the coaching staff can nip this in the bud before we have another PacMan Jones on our hands. Although... we could just continue the trend of misbhavin' players and form our own Titans wrestling team... hmmm...

Former American Idol contestant Elliot Yamin sang the national anthem- to tell you how much cosmetic work the singer has had done post-AI, I didn't recognize him until the end of the song, and then had to wait for the announcer to verify for me that he was indeed who I thought he was. Also the poor kid messed up the opening line of the national anthem- whoops!

With Young out, our offense was lackluster, although I will say it seemed to be more the fault of the O-line than the quarterbacks. We scored no touchdowns, and settled for a measly 2 field goals.

The loudest LP field got was when the Wave was started in the 3rd quarter- pretty sad for the fans who used to be notorious for making so much noise during games.

The one high point in the game for me personally was seeing an old UK player in the game for the Titans. Glen Pakulak is a punter who broke all kinds of records at Kentucky, and was our Mr. UK one year for Delta Zeta's Mr. UK pageant, and yours truly has a pic with the Kentucky cutie. He's bounced around from a few teams since being drafted initially in 2002, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Titans will keep him on their roster.

Big Brother is Watching

I've been at work an hour and 23 minutes this morning, and the phones have been down, and are still down. For a company who makes its livelihood taking and making calls this gives us very little to do. We were sent an email this morning to handle whatever work-related stuff we could find to do that didn't require use of the phone till the issue was resolved. I think I can find plenty to keep me busy, I thought to myself.

Things at work have been off-kilter recently. My boss was asked politely to leave, the Big Boss (the one I am scared of, ever since that dreaded Solitaire episode a few years ago) has stepped in and decided to implement some changes and try and whip us into shape, and all during our busiest part of the year. Yesterday the bomb they dropped on us was to hand us work sheets to fill out daily with information detailing exactly how we spent our work day, what products we sold, and how much. Besides being micro-managed, which I hate, the information they are requesting I fill out manually is duplicated on our electronic log sheet we fill out after every call. These sheets were passed out to us without any explanation as to why they are necessary, and how they are beneficial. To a person like me, who knows they are good at what they do, and doesn't appreciate feeling like someone is watching my every move over my shoulder, it angered me to no end. So I emailed the powers that be, and in no uncertain terms, politely asked that there be explanation given before I would be filling out a single sheet.

Sure she may look sweet and innocent, and Compliant, but that could not be further from the truth. Nothing gets me fired up like unjust action from an authority figure, and so I make it my personal cause for me and everyone around me to stand up for our rights. I could get in trouble for this ordeal. I could even lose my job over this worksheet business, judging by how many people have been fired in the past year, but I can't sit idly by and be a company yes woman.

Cliche a Day: August 2nd

Ok, I know, I know- it's not the Chicago recap! Nor is it the obligatory family blog recap detailing Michael & Missy's visit to the new and improved Chateau Bradley, seeing Garrick and Braedon, and my first encounter with baby cousin Addison Grace... but this post should be quick and painless to post at work, and thought it would be worth sharing for the restless readers tired of looking at my Chicago Hopes and wondering if they panned out. (Some did, some didn't.)

So here it is. Today's Cliche A Day calendar enlightenment. Enjoy.

Smart Aleck
someone who us very or "too" clever

In the 1840's, New York City fraudster Aleck Hoag and his wife, posing as a prostitute, robbed her would-be customers. Hoag bribed the police to escape prosecution, but ultimately paid the price for being too clever when he tried to cut the police out of the deal, leading to the pair's arrest. In describing Hoag, the police were supposedly the first to use the expression "smart aleck."

In a semi-unrelated note, The Cliche A Day calendar was a Christmas present from fellow DIVA Ariana, who just happens to be having a birthday today. So Happy Birthday Ari! I hope you have a fabulous day, and a wonderful birthday weekend with yo' hurrrsband. (I'm still not used to that!)

Harry Hysteria

I finished the last Harry Potter book last Tuesday night. It was all I could do to not carry the thick volume with me to the Cubs game when it arrived at Jeff & Ali's condo on that Saturday in an owl-stamped book-shaped box that read: Attention Muggles, do not ship till Saturday July 21st. Almost as a taunt, a girl was reading her book at a nearby table at the neighborhood restaurant where we were enjoying our breakfast just minutes later.

Alas, the Chicago trip activities prevented me from starting the book until I was waiting to board the plane last Monday morning to head back to Nashville. In a fit and fury of reading though, I managed not to discover the details of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before I could finish it for myself, save one teensy little status quote from a facebook Friend that alluded to the kind of ending I might expect. The final saga of the Harry Potter epic however, did not fail to disappoint.

Though I had plenty to keep me busy in Chitown, I managed to talk about Harry Potter all weekend long and even befriended the turban-wearing Cabbie talking to him about the 7th HP book. It became a joke among Jeff, Ali, and Mary Anna how obsessed I had become with J.K. Rowling's fantasy literature. All I'm sayin is, don't knock it till you've tried it. I know nare a person who has picked up book one, and been able to put it down without devouring it and the now other 7 books.

Chicago Hopes

In an effort to maintain what little self-dignity I have left after MA's recent blog, I will just post on here that I am going to be out of the office on Friday, and leave the boring out of office email reply for everyone else. But in case you'd like to know where I'm going, and I suppose you do because you're reading this, I am taking a weekend jaunt to Chicago with Mary Anna.

I've never been to Chicago, and as a proclaimed lover of all things metropolitan, this city has been on my must-see list. I imagine I'll eat my share of hot dogs and pizza this weekend, and do plenty of Harry Caray/Will Ferrell impersonations to entertain those around me for a lifetime. I guesstimate that I will shop till I drop, and stare in disbelief at viewing Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte in person. I propose that I will walk many many miles and curse myself for wearing heels in a vain effort to look cute in a city where I know virtually no one. I suspect that I will get very little sleep and that Mary Anna and I will take many dumb pictures and laugh a lot. I predict that the Cubbies will win and we will celebrate with the city. I trust that Jeff and Ali will not be too glad to be rid of us come Monday morning, and I am certain that I will drag myself unwillingly to work after having such a wonderful weekend.

These are my Chicago hopes. Let's see if they turn out to be true.

Just dial it

Pick up your phone right now and dial 1-800-5HOCKEY. You won't be disapointed.*

*Ok, maybe you will, but it's still amusing.

Acting on Acts

I started reading through the book of Acts last night with Brian. We each read chapter one on our own and then talked about what we had learned last night on the phone. It spawned a great conversation where I shared with him my discontent with the modern church, and how I do not understand how we got from Acts chapter one, the first century church, to the Mega churches of today. Brian also brought up the phenomenon of reading a passage of scripture that you've read a million times before, but discovering something new every time. Today I experienced that very thing.

I read Acts chapter 2 on my lunch break with what I feel are fresh eyes, and an open heart. I read about God pouring out his Holy Spirit on us, and how God's timing was perfect, saving Pentecost for a time when many foreigners were already in Jerusalem for a feast, so that they were able to witness God working and take the gospel back to their countries. I read the final verses of Chapter 2, and cherished them, about how the first century believers lived together, ate together, prayed together, gave everything they had to one another, and "the Lord added to their numbers daily." Where was that model in today's churches?

With those words fresh in my mind, I then began my book club book called Irresistible Revolution, about a guy who became disillusioned with the modern church and set off to form his own grassroots ministry, sharing Jesus with people on the streets of Philadelphia, and living out his faith practically. From the few pages I've read in the author's introduction it sounds like he is taking seriously the command to share the gospel and does it in a way reminiscent in the book of Acts. I am so anxious to go home from work today and dive further in this book because I think it's just what God has meant me to read right now!

Friday the 13th

Here's how I remembered that it was Friday the 13th this morning. After finally climbing out of bed and washing my face, I turned on my tv and recoiled in horror. ESPN was blank. The screen was black. There was no Sportscenter to be had. Panicked, I flipped the channel to CNN, 2 channels over, and it worked. So it wasn't my tv, and it wasn't my cable. I flipped back to ESPN, and still the black screen of death stared back at me. Oh no. It's Friday the 13th, I thought to myself. Of all the unlucky days for ESPN to be out! I made one more last ditch effort switching channels and then back to ESPN to no avail. I was stuck watching CNN this morning instead. What a terrible way to start the day! Hopefully your Friday the 13th goes a little better!