On Meeting My Twin

They say everyone has a twin out there.

Mine is a cosmic twin....... not necessarily in looks, but everything else.

Marianne and I found one another's blogs and quickly formed a friendship. We are so weirdly similar..... we continuously email each other with "cue the Twilight Zone music." I can't even start to tell you all the ways we're alike.

We've been dying to meet one another for close to a year, now. When the chance finally arrived in early February, I was giddy with excitement.

After weeks of emails and texts, we formulated a plan and were able to meet face-to-face!!!

An added bonus was getting to meet another blogger who is good friends with Marianne and whose blog I've followed for a while now (before I even "met" Marianne..... again, weirdly similar).

Marianne and her family were everything I thought they'd be.... absolutely wonderful. Warm, funny, sarcastic (I love me some sarcasm), and soooooo easy to talk with.

Jenna is a doll. I want to hate her, but I can't. Beyond the fact that she's probably one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, she's drop-dead gorgeous...... and a mother to quads. Yes, quads. She's had four humans in her little body, at one time, and has a better body than 99%  of the people I know.

We enjoyed a yummy brunch, great conversation, and a nice walk around downtown St. Petersburg.

 

When the time to leave was upon us, we hugged, promised to see one another "soon", and grabbed pictures like any good Bloggers would.

My afternoon was further proof that Bloggers just plain rock.

Marianne, me, and Jenna

Twins

Jenna and I





Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

17. Who would you like to show up at your door to say they love you?

This answer should be fairly obvious. Just because I'm not hoping, doesn't mean I wouldn't like it.

18. Last furry thing you touched?

A blanket..... It's one of those super soft and fuzzy blankets.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?

Illegal.... none.

And, despite being ill, I haven't taken anything but Vitamins and Emergen-C.

20. Do you miss film or does digital work for you?

Digital works for me.

21. Favorite age you have been so far?

25...... 25 was truly my Golden Year, so far. My birthday is August 25th, so I should have seen the goodness coming. It was an excellent year.

22. Your worst enemy?

I don't want to call her my enemy, because I'm truly working on letting my ugly feelings go. There is a girl I used to work with that slept her way around our building. Then, when certain males lost respect for her (and got kind of nasty about it), I became the bad guy. Since she moved onto another job, we've had some interesting run-ins.

It's interesting because my dislike for her was actually retrograde. I tried to like her and attempted to be friends. Then, I found out a lot of stuff that was going on behind the scenes and distanced myself from her. At one point, I tried to warn her that people were talking.......... from then on, I was the bad guy. Since she's left, I've found out a few other things that made me like her even less.

Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that even though I hate that her behavior hurts people, she's not actually hurting me. It's none of my business, really. And, my dislike for her was only hurting me. Over the past few months, I've been letting it go. I can't say that we'll ever be friends, but I don't need to harbor ugliness.

23. What is your current desktop picture?

On my laptop, it's just a pink background that came with the computer.

On my work computer, it's a pretty purple flower.

24. What was the last thing you said that was funny?

I don't know. I haven't been funny, lately.

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?

A million bucks.

26. Who can't you say “no” to?

I have a hard time saying "no" period. I'm definitely a "yes girl."

I'm working on it.

27. The last song you bought or downloaded?

I downloaded a bunch of Katy Perry songs, during the Grammy's.

Not Like The Movies makes me cry.

28. What time of day were you born?

Like 2am, I think.

29. What’s your favorite number? Why?

14 - I don't know why, I've just always liked it.

25 - I always associate it with good dates and things.

30. Where did you live in 1987?

Same city I live in now.

31. Are you jealous of anyone?

Skinny girls.

Cute couples.

32. Is anyone jealous of you?

I don't think so, lol.

33. It's been almost a decade. Where were you when 9/11 happened?

Soooooo hard to believe it's been almost ten years.

I was at school (college) and had just left Freshman Seminar. I was in the mailroom and heard women talking about a plane hitting the WTC, so I walked over to the building that had the Commuter's Lounge. I entered it right as the 2nd plane was hitting. About 15-20 of us just sat there for hours, watching everything happen.

Saturday Blurbs

• I currently have SO many posts to post. However, I have NO motivation to do it. I don't know why, because it's fun stuff to talk about. Just no motivation. So, you're stuck with these crappy posts.

• The pile of drafts in my folder remind me of my Lenten challenge. It's been a slow start to decluttering, I'll admit. My goal for today is to move a few storage boxes that are sitting in my room to a proper place (not on the shelves). That way, I can eventually move the piles of books on my floor to the shelves. Not today, though. My goal for today is to just clear the shelves.

• The creepy crud had been moving through my office and house over the past couple weeks. Our pollen count has been ridiculous, so people are quickly dropping like flies. My mom was even in the hospital over it, for five days, last week. I, however, thought I'd escaped it. Nope. I awoke on Thursday sounding like Demi Moore. After skipping the gym and resting on Thursday, I still felt like crap on Friday. So, I skipped the gym and rested last night. I woke up several times throughout the night with a painful cough and still feel like crap, today. My evening plans have now been scrapped and I've officially done nothing but sit on the couch, watch movies, and sleep, today.

• I'm hoping for a quick turnaround. Not only do I not want to miss church tomorrow, but I have a date with Lady Antebellum, tomorrow night. I've been looking forward to this for months. Any suggestions? It's not upper respiratory. I'm breathing through my nose, just fine. It's all in my chest.... which is weird because it usually starts upper and moves lower. This time, it went straight to lower. So, again, any suggestions?

• This week is perhaps going to be one of the craziest, yet. I have two HUGE events, for two different stations. One on Thursday and one on Saturday. Both of them are my creations..... and, I'm freaking out. Literally having nightmares about what could go wrong. Radiothon is intense, but it's clockwork. We've been there and done that so many times that it's just the workload that gets me. These two events, however, are stressing me out. Please, please, please pray for me over the next week. I'm praying that everything goes off without a hitch, that the events are successful, that everyone has a good time, and that I can go home at 2am on Sunday (yep) knowing I pulled it off. Otherwise, Monday may not be so fun, lol.

• I need to get back into my exercise groove. I was doing just that when I woke up ill on Thursday. It irritates me.

• Florida just won against Vandy. YAY!

• Is anyone watching Off the Map? I like it. Apparently, I like anything Shonda Rimes creates. Although, I was like 5 episodes into it before I found out that the blond chick is Meryl Streep's daughter. I always thought she looked familiar, but couldn't place it. Now, it seems so obvious.

• I'm not sure how I feel about American Idol, this season. I just don't feel connected to any of the contestants, so far.

• I just recently found out that Emily from The Bachelor once dated Jerrod Niemann. That girl has really good taste in men. I'm kind of jealous, actually.

• TV and work. This is what I talk about. Clearly, I have an exciting life, lol.

I Give Thee Up

Today is the beginning of Lent.

If you're Catholic, like my lunch buddies are, that means not eating meat and the start of a 40 day fast from something.

If you're Protestant (like me), then Lent is a little more optional. And, I certainly ate chicken, today.

Truthfully, I don't always give something up. I haven't in a really long time, actually.

This year, however, my Sunday School teacher is doing a study on Lent and prayer. He challenged us all to find something in our lives that we need to give up, in order to gain better. The idea is that if you spend 40 concentrated days out of each year to become a better person.... the person God wants you to be.... then imagine what you could do in 20 years of practicing. Anyone can take 40 days to focus..... it's just over a 12th of the year.

His main point was that we not just give up a food item, etc. That if we're giving up a food item or something material then we need to recognize what Spiritual goal we're trying to accomplish.

So, I'm participating.

It got me thinking about what I need to alter.

 

In the past, giving up soda (which my brother does every year - and this year he's adding FB to the list) would have been major. However, I've gradually done that over the years and pretty much finished off this summer. I went from regular sodas to diet. Then, this summer, I basically cut that out except for rare occasions. Now? I may have a soda once or twice a month. I'm comfortable with that.

 

I could try to give up sweets, but I'm already trying a modified version of that. I mean, I count every calorie that goes into my body, as it is.

 

I can't really give up FB, because part of my job is to maintain our stations' pages.

 

Then, I started thinking about the past month or so. I've been super overwhelmed.

 

Too busy, too stressed, too distracted, too frazzled.

 

I then attributed it to one thing.......... clutter.

 

We've talked about this before. I'm a messy organizer. I started my process of decluttering in the Fall (and did well), but have fallen off the wagon since the Holidays.

 

Really, I need to straighten up my physical space.

 

Too often, lately, I've been misplacing things (so unlike me), spending too much time searching through my piles (another anomaly), and basically just not focusing. It tends to make me short with the people around me, too.

 

So, I'm giving up clutter. I'm going to spend the next 40 days going through every area that is mine to clear it out. Each day, I will take the opportunity to declutter something.

 

I hope to gain some clarity, peace, time, and most of all pleasantness with other people.

 

What about you? What are you giving up and hoping to gain in the next 40 days?

Creature of Habit

I am a creature of habit.

I drive the same routes.

I put certain things in the exact same place, always (so much so that if other people lose theirs, they know where to steal borrow mine).

I shower in the same order, every shower.

You get the idea.

Most importantly, I eat the same things off the menu, every time I go to a restaurant. There are very few places in which I have more than one or two dishes that I'll eat. And, even if something sounds good, I'll usually try to convince someone else to eat it first, for fear that I won't like it as much as my standard favorite.

What can I say? I know what I like and I stick with it.

Some people call it boring. I call it stable.

Some people call it a rut. I call it loyalty.

This morning, my favorite frozen yogurt place texted me a code to get 20% off my purchase for Fat Tuesday. I really don't need much convincing to go there, so after lunch, I walked over.

Much to my dismay, my favorite wasn't working. Every single time I go in there, I'll taste-test the newer flavors and then get my standard.......... Original Tart with either Fresh Fruit or Frosted Flakes.

This not being an option, I had a choice to make. Get something different or just leave. Not wanting to give up my 20% discount or treat for the day, I went with something different.

Ladies and gentlemen................ I walked back into work kind of sad. It wasn't the same. At all. It didn't taste horrible. It just wasn't my Original Tart.

So, to those of you who encourage those of us to "try something new"..... "shake it up a little"..... "you never know, you may like it better."

I assure you, we won't.

We like what we like. We're confident in that.

Some of us in this world know what we want. We get it. We like it. We have no desire to branch out, because we're pretty sure that what we have is the best.

Then, there's another sect that need to go searching to make sure that there's not something better.

It takes all kinds.

Me? I'll stick with my Original Tart.

I like him better with thet short hair...........

While I'm working on my recaps of the past couple weeks, let me tell you about something that happened in January. January 19th, to be exact.

Michael Bolton was set to be in town, so I scored my mom and I tickets, as a Christmas present for her. I grew up listening to him (thanks to her), so it was neat to see him live.

Not only do I prefer his hair short, but I definitely prefer him live. His voice is amazing!!!

After the show, we had the opportunity to meet him!

Me and Mom, waiting to meet Michael Bolton.

Mom, Michael, and Me!

Still Alive

I cannot believe I've gone two weeks without blogging.

Insane.

Just checking in to let you know I'm alive and well. I just had the best two weeks, filled with my favorite events and people :)

Lots to blog about, but until then, I'll leave you with this..........

Sometimes Dreams Do Come True