Sunday With Friends

What does someone who spends one third of her life in airports and airplanes do on her day off? I go to an airshow and take pictures of airplanes, of course!

At least I wasn't alone this time. I went with these three yay-hoos.


That's Aimee and Sean. You may have seen them before. We like them, they're good eggs.

Our local Airforce Base was hosting an airshow over the weekend. On Saturday I actually had trouble getting home because the show ran long. The air traffic was closed off until they finished which left us no choice but to circle around for 45 minutes.

On Sunday we met up with Aimee and Sean for a little fun and sightseeing.

We toured, we walked, we sweated, we laughed, we walked, we sweated. Is sweated a word? If not, then we perspired grotesquely, especially those 10 minutes we were trapped inside the back of a 200 degree airplane with sixty of our closest friends.

My favorite part had to be the flight simulator. I am always up for eating nachos and a frozen lemonade then spinning upside down over and over. Lucky for Jim I have a stomach of steel.

We ended the night with a movie where Sean was repeatedly harassed by the security person who comes in every twenty minutes with a portable nightlight. Either he looked sketchy or she was suspicious of us looking at each other and laughing every time she came over.

Today At Work

I rode a unicycle for the first time ever. Kind of. I sat on it and fell off of it a couple times but never really got around to riding it per say.

I arrived at one of my stores this afternoon and after loads of work, tons of phone calls, and gobs of reports and really official work stuff (just in case my bosses ever get wind of this) one of the guys says to me out of the blue "Do you want to ride a unicycle?" And I was all "Um... YEAH!" So off he went and came back with the first unicycle I've ever had the pleasure of meeting face to face.

I fully expected to hop on up and start peddling my way around like a circus clown, but the unicycle is much trickier than I thought and I am far less coordinated than I like to admit. Eventually the guy who started this whole thing felt bad that I couldn't even move forward an inch so he suggested I hold onto his shoulder while he walked alongside me. Even that only got me about 2 feet. Disappointed in my lack of sideshow talent, I handed it back over.

Then he zipped around and I was jealous.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Chickens. It is a much sought after dream to own some one day (I even know what I want to name them already).

2. Office supply stores.

3. Stormy weather with lots of thunder and lightning (assuming all my loved ones are safe).

4. Pretty paper.

5. Those rare and precious times that my computer doesn't freeze up on me.

6. Any episode whatsoever of Mr. Bean.

7. People with real individuality.

8. That I have a piano in my home again and that I actually played it tonight.

9. The quilt on my bed that my Grandma Lillie handstitched.

10. Dainty floral teapots with matching teacups.

Technology Overload

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I won an iPad. I was so excited because I'm kind of dorky in that way. But as I sat on the sofa surrounded by my laptop, my iPad, iPhone and Blackberry, I realized I need a technology intervention.

The first step of the official program is tough. Deactivate your Facebook {sigh}. I have nothing against Facebook, and it enabled me to reconnect with people I haven't talked to in 15 years, but do I really need to know that someone I never talk to is eating the worst burrito they've ever had, or that someone I used to work with is stuck in traffic in a city I don't even live in? Yes, I do, which is why I was on Facebook all the freaking time.

Really, I felt the need to step back from a lot of things. Reevaluate what I do with my time. And maybe, JUST MAYBE, I will actually start doing all the things I've been wanting to do with all that extra time.

June - At a Glance

My Life On July 12, 2010

Outside my window... It looks cool and breezy. It's been hot the last several days but today and tomorrow are supposed to be in the 70's (phew!).

I am thinking... I have tons of work to do today.

I am thankful for... My new FREE iPad. Got it Saturday night so I'm still very much learning about it.

I am creating... I absolutely know that I'm one of those people that goes through phases. Right now is not a very creative phase but I do miss it so I've been project hunting.

I am going... to get off my butt and go jogging as soon as this is done. You heard right. I have been (semi) regularly jogging. There is school about a half mile from my house that I go to and run the track. The way I see it, I am never going to be able to stay away from fried foods and sweets, so my body and I have reached a compromise. You go ahead and eat crap in moderation, and I will try to counteract your deposits of fat with my blood, sweat and tears.

I am reading...

I am hearing... Jim is watching Ice Road Truckers. I think it's that epsiode where the road is slippery and the truck slides off the road. Not sure though. {read: sarcasm}

On my mind... On Friday and Saturday I was in SLC. By now I think I qualify as a professional packer, but somehow I packed a see-through(ish) shirt without a tank or cami to wear underneath. Of course, I was wearing a black bra. All day long I was wondering if people saw me and thought I was totally being avant garde (like Carrie Bradshaw) or if they just thought I was trashy. Probably the latter.

From the kitchen... Hmmm. Not entirely sure. Something with scallops I think.

The rest of the week... This week is all about Montana.

Pondering these words... "I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited."
- Sylvia Plath

A picture to share...



At first glance this may just look like some old guy on an airplane, but what you may not be able to see is the cover of that book in front of him. It's a smutty romance novel and that just amuses me.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. A good (but not too strong) cup of coffee.

2. Compliments from strangers.

3. Laughing until you cry.

4.

5. Successfully completed projects.

6. Acoustical music.

7. Tigi hair products.

8. Good smelling soap.

9. Dark Chocolate.

10. Dogwood trees.

[picture sources here and here]

Avoiding Adulthood

The downside to being an adult is that you have silly little things called "responsibilities" that often get in the way of fun. They force you to make decisions that you know are for the best, even though it isn't want you want at all. The upside to being an adult is that occasionally you can choose to ignore them.

This morning I went to the doctor for a thing and they weighed me. I weighed 10 freaking pounds more than I did at my lowest point earlier this year. CRAP! I handled it in the most adult, responsible way I possibly could. I bought these new pretzel M&M's (still not as good as the peanut butter ones) and went home to make some cupcakes (eating at minimum 1/2 cup of raw batter).


After baking said cupcakes, Jim and I went for lunch at Applebee's. I had a moment of cupcake batter guilt and ordered a salad with shrimp. That was my only true adult moment today.

After lunch we went to Toys R Us where I bought a hula hoop and some alphabet refrigerator magnets. I had been jonesing for both items for a while now. Jim was after something called Stompers but came up empty handed.

On the way out Jim was pulled in by one of these claw machines.


It took 3 chances, but he hit the jackpot on the last try with a triple victory.


We named them Barry, Pinchy, and Gill.

As soon as we got home I started putting my new magnets on the fridge. Jim immediately did this.


Then we did this.


And this.



PS. I kick butt at hula hooping.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

In no particular order at all I am going to start listing 10 things that make me happy each week. A sort of gratitude journal to keep myself focused on all things happy and beautiful.


1. Making lists

2. Childhood memories

3. Eating with chopsticks

4. Photographs of anything

5. VW buses

6. Daydreaming

7. Porch swings

8. Opening a new book for the first time.

9. Waking up very early.

10. A brand new Sharpie marker.

[image sources]