"must-do" fridays

I love Fridays, I really do. But there is always a moment on Friday mornings after I come into work, buy my coffee and get some water, and then take a multi-vitamin (taking it at work is the only way I remember to take it) that I realize there are lots of things I need to do before the weekend. And I realized this morning that it has become routine in those moments to make a “must-do” list before I leave for the weekend. I think it actually makes me more productive… and I sleep better on Friday night.

On the list for today? Too many things to get done in nine hours. But I’ll give it my best shot…

maybe you should buy two tickets?

Have you guys been waiting for my traumatic story about my trip back from Houston? I think I can finally talk about it -- or at least write about it -- without getting too angry.

So, Sunday morning in Houston started out splendidly. I got up early, checked out of the hotel, drove to Katy to see Paula and co., grabbed coffee at Starbucks, went for a walk and then left around 10:30 a.m. to get to the airport. I made it to the airport with a comfortable amount of time to drop off the rental car, get checked in and then get through security. But then, the plane was about a half an hour late. We finally did get on the plane (and I was one of the last on because I'm not a fan of waiting in line), and as I was walking back to my seat, I saw a huge man. I thought, "With my luck, I'll end up in the seat next to him." Guess what? My seat was right next to him.

So, I got sat down and was smooshed against the wall, only to find out that something was wrong with the fueling mechanism and we didn't have air conditioning. We sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes without AC, me sweating up a storm, feeling the man's leg sweat on my leg and having his arm rest on my rib cage. I think my spine is curved from sitting for so long at the angle I was at. Worst thing is, every seat on the plane was full so I had to stay that way for the whole trip. Ick.

This doesn't sound as horrible on "paper" as it was in real life.

I realize I'm risking sounding snotty, and I felt sorta bad for the guy, but come on. Give me a break and don't make both of us miserable on the flight. Next time, get two seats. I'll take a later flight.

home again, home again...

I spent the last couple of days in Houston, Texas for work, but also had the joy of spending some time with my sister-in-law and her family. It was all most enjoyable. The training session went well, and I met some interesting people there, and was thoroughly entertained.

My grandma left after her six-day stay with us on Thursday evening, and I was back at the MSP airport to fly out a mere eight hours later. When I got to Houston, the temps were cooler, and I kicked myself for not bringing warmer clothes! We went to the Katy, TX rodeo on Friday night but left disappointed at the extra-winded announcer and rodeo clowns. Only in the rodeo can you pray before the event and then tell off-color jokes about your fat wife. We did get to see the kids do a stickhorse race and mutton-bustin'. It got too cold for our underdressed selves, so we left before the good stuff got going. I am happy to report, though, that a Montana cowboy kicked all the Texas cowboys' butts at calf-tying. Gotta love that.

Saturday was spent working, and then I went back to the hotel room with a horrible headache. Slept the rest of the day, and got up early this morning to spend a little more time with family... Which included a NASCAR race with matchbox cars with my nephew and a walk with my sis-in-law and Cookie the dog. All very fun.

Here are some things I learned on my Texas trek:

E-85 isn't the only kind of fuel that can go in an E-85 gas tank (thankfully, or I would have missed my flight).
Not everything is bigger in Texas. I paid over $4 for a latte that didn't have more than eight ounces of liquid. Un.real.
It's not always warm in Texas. Sometimes it's downright cold.
When you leave your husband home for a few days, he sometimes commandeers items of values. The item this time around? A free 52-inch flat screen HDTV. Nice work, Ryan.

I shall write of my traumatizing airplane ride home at a later date. It’s still too fresh to re-live at the moment.

Oh, and as for the answer to my last blog -- I just let the phone in the elevator ring. I'm boring like that. ;o)

if a phone rings, should you answer it?

When I got in the elevator in the parking garage this morning, one of the phone in the elevator was ringing. I had several thoughts about what it could be, and what my course of action would be. Here they are:

1. Look suspiciously around the elevator at the other business people, pick up the phone and whisper, “Not now. Too many people.”
2. Assume it’s a bomb, get out immediately and take the stairs.
3. OR assume it’s a bomb, throw open the case where the phone is, and tell everyone to stand back! (John McClain-esque)
4. Ignore it.

Guess which one I did?

strange moment of the day... yesterday

Yesterday was Sunday, and my grandma, Nana, is here visiting so we decided to head down to Minneapolis to show here the bridge that collapsed. We say it, and some of the new construction they're starting to rebuild it, and then headed back home.

A few hours later, we heard on the news that there was a car-to-car shooting on the same road we had been on. If we had been just a little later, we could have been close. That's too close for me... yikes!

things i love.... frivolous and non

What better day than Valentine's Day to make a list of things I love; it's not exhaustive or in any particular order.

My husband.
My job.
New shoes.
Visitors.
Country Music.
Disney Movies.
My in-laws.
Patrick Warburton.
Traveling.
Rodeos.
Tina Turner.
My family.
Live theatre.
History.
Montana.
Dave Barry.
Friends.
Christmas.
Frosted animal cookies (of the pink and white variety).

this is not a good sign...

My apologies. I haven't blogged in awhile. As I mentioned in my title, this is not a good sign. I promise (should I really be promising this?) to be better.

Speaking of not good signs, has anyone else read or heard about the worst Valentine's Day gift ever? First, Ryan informed me that one of top Valentine's gifts is plastic surgery. I don't know where he read it, but apparently he read it somewhere. I was skeptical at first, but while driving home last night, I heard a similar ad on the radio. It said something along the lines of (and I'm not exaggerating), "Not sure what to give your Valentine this year? Get her a gift certificate to the dermatologist. She'll feel as sexy as she did when you started dating."

Uh, okay. Really? The dermatologist? I would KILL Ryan if that's what he got me for Valentine's Day. There's nothing that says, "I love you just the way you are," like pointing out a person's skin flaws. On Valentine's Day.

Men, a word of advice. Don't give your girlfriend/fiance/wife/mother/sister/grandma/niece/aunt/basically anyone plastic surgery, a trip to the dermatologist or anything that may point out certain... er... less-than-perfect body issues.

And don't install this, even if it does bring you closer together. It's not a good sign.

Nothing better...

In my opinion, there is nothing better than riding on the back of a horse. Something about it just makes life better. I found this quote online, and I think it says it all.

"All I pay my psychiatrist is the cost of feed and hay, and he'll listen to me any day."

Horses keep me sane.

friday niceties…

I drive underneath approximately four overpasses on my way to work everyday. It’s not uncommon to see people holding signs or signs tacked up with messages about various causes – usually the war, politics, civil rights, etc. I usually find these somewhat obnoxious, because I’m not sure what they really expect the signs to accomplish – but whatev.

Anyway, today there was a sign that had to be the best one I’ve seen. It read, “You look nice today.”

I smiled and decided it was going to be a good day. Thanks to whoever posted the sign; I’m sure you brightened several days. And to the readers of this blog, I'm certain you look nice today, too.

addendum

I was watching Eli Manning last night on Letterman, and he was asked about Bill Belichick's quick and early exit from the field for the SuperBowl. Eli's take on the matter? He must've wanted to beat traffic. Eli = classy.

Did you know Brady and Moss have pulled out of the ProBowl this weekend?

if love was a plane...

NOTE: This post may be a little serious in nature.

Has anybody heard the song "If Love Was a Plane" by Brad Paisley? (If you're on my page, it's playing right now.) It's one of my new favorites, and if you listen carefully (for those of you who hate country, you may be better off just reading the lyrics) it's pretty much a statement about the way love works. There's this incredible optimism of beating the odds in the beginning, and somewhere along the way, people tend to lose the optimism and fall out of love. IMO, people don't take commitment with enough seriousness...

Ry, I'm glad we got on the plane.

If Love Was a Plane

She’s 98 pounds workin down at the Dairy Queen,
With an Ogilvie home perm and braces.
And he’s long haired, no job and just 19.
They’ve got a baby on the way;
They’re off to the races...

...in love; look at 'em go.
Now what in the world could go wrong?
Don’t tell them the odds,
It's best they don’t know.
If love was a plane, nobody’d get on.

At The Ivy at lunchtime in Beverly Hills,
The paparazzi are gathered outside.
'Cause an actor and an actress are havin' lunch,
And according to Extra and Entertainment Tonight...

...they’re in love, look at em go.
Now what in the world could go wrong?
Don’t tell them the odds,
It's best they don’t know.
If love was a plane, nobody’d get on.

Imagine now the pilot's voice on the intercom
Right before we leave the ground,
Saying, "Folks thanks for flying with us,
But theres a six in ten chance we’re goin down."

But that’s the strangest thing about this emotion;
Even knowing our chances are small,
We line up at the gate with our tickets,
Thinking somehow were different

I mean, after all,
We're in love, look at us go.
Now what in the world could go wrong?
To hell with the odds; we'd rather not know.
If love was a plane, nobody'd get on.


Just a sidenote now. I googled the lyrics to the song, and each place I looked had the perm spelled "Oval-V". Seriously? Has no one heard of an Ogilvie home perm? I must be a hick from Montana.

and thank you, giants

Wow. That's all I can say. One of THE best SuperBowls I have ever seen. Ever. Thanks to Eli, Plaxico, Steve, David Tyree and the rest of the gang for putting the Patriots away by three points... too bad the Pats were too arrogant to go for a field goal on 4th down in the second quarter and instead missed the touchdown. Nice. And how classless of Bill Belichick to leave the field before the end of the game. I know it was just one second, but come on.

All in all: what an entertaining game. The Giants' defense was amazing, and Eli delivered.

Cheaters don't always win, and when they lose, everyone cheers.

thank you, starbucks

I am a fan of customer service. I think it comes from my years of working various customer service jobs. IMO, it's an artform.... not many can do it well. I hated working the customer service jobs, but I now have no patience for poor service.

Three or four weeks ago, I stopped into the old Starbucks downtown where I used to work. I asked for my usual drink -- a double tall non-fat latte. I was informed (rather rudely) that they were out of skim milk. Not a big deal, but if I'm going to be paying more than $3.50 for a 12 oz. beverage, it better be exactly the way I like it or be at least 5.2. (Note: When I worked at Starbucks, we would have given a free drink to someone if we didn't have skim milk when they ordered it.) I settled for a tall coffee light frappacino. Which was disgusting. And the barista had some serious attitude.

Since the customer service had been poor at best and my drink was something I wouldn't pay $1 for, much less $4, I sent a brief email to Starbucks. I got a response that evening, and then a couple of days later, I got two free drink coupons. A decent consolation.

As Ryan and I sit and drink our delicious, free lattes this morning, I'd like to take a moment to thank Starbucks for being one of the few companies that still understands the artform that is customer service. (And I've come to grips with the fact that I'm grossly overpaying for ground beans and milk.)

i was on the radio...

I drive a few miles to work. It usually takes around a half an hour, give or take 10 minutes. I’ve tried taking public transportation (and I realize how spoiled I am to be able to say this), but it just takes too much time. Especially when it’s cold… I have to warm up the car, drive to the lightrail, park the car, walk in the cold to the train and from that point it still takes about 40 minutes to actually get to my stop downtown.

I enjoy driving, so it’s not a big deal. And I love the radio. I’ve tried listening to my iPod through the car stereo, and I have some CDs, but the radio still wins. I even prefer it to my satellite radio. Today, they were doing a poll on funny commercials. I rarely call in (and NEVER get through, unless you count the time I called late in the evening and a creepy DJ hit on me), but today, two commercials immediately came to mind. Imagine my surprise when I actually got through to the DJs! Here’s my question, though. When calling a radio station, does it usually ring forever? I guess I assumed they always put people on hold once they called, but apparently not… the line rang for at least two minutes. Good thing I’m patient. I’m sure the Twin Cities were waiting on baited breath for my pick of funny commercials.

Curious about which commercials I mentioned? Check out the videos below...