Peace & Quiet

Ahhh.....I love when the office is like this...no one is here but me and the phones are not ringing.  Just a little morning me time with my Pandora radio in the background!  Perfect for blogging!

I've had a lot on my mind lately.  Still fighting this endless battle to be a nicer person.  Also still trying to figure out when I got so incredibly mean and why.  I know, some of you are like, "mean?  she is nuts"  but others of you know...you have seen it....and I am not talking about people thinking I am mean because I am willing you tell you the truth...I am not going to stop being honest because you don't like what I say.   Sometimes the truth hurts and it is necessary.  I am talking about just being mean.  Period.  I am not sure completely how to put it in to words.  Anyway...I am getting much better and feeling more like my old self but I have a ways to go!!!

I have been doing GREAT with my exercise routine!  Especially this week jumping back into it post vaca.  Someone even noticed....apparently my legs are looking thinner and more muscly....I don't know if I can tell they thinner part but I will gladly take that compliment!   It is amazing to me how much better I feel as a whole person when I am working out regularly.  I wake up earlier and with energy.  I am happier (and you all know where I work so that is a big deal).  I have more energy though the whole day and tend to get so much more accomplished than I would if I hadn't worked out.  Seriously.  If you are feeling bad and depressed and blah...GO WORKOUT!   You will feel infinitely better and I bet your friends and family will notice your mood improvement.   Plus it's just good for you!  Get the most out of life friends!  It requires a little work but I bet you will find it's worth it!!!

Okay, well someone just walked in and interrupted my quiet...I guess I better get with it!

~B

Cheers!

So...here's Vegas...in Pictures...with a light review of some moments at the end!  Enjoy!

So....here is a short recap...If Katelyn has a glass in her hand she MUST cheers before life can go on...really funny!  Had amazing food at Bartolotta....seriously worth every penny you have to pay for it...EVERY single penny.

Food highlights from Bartolotta:

**cappesante dorate con porcini:  seared sea scallops with porcini mushrooms
penne con scorfano e melanzane: penne with Mediterranean scorpion fish, eggplant, tomato, basil
**ravioli di ricot ta con caciot ta Toscana: sheep’s milk ricotta ravioli, Tuscana pecorino cheese, Marsala with glaze
semifreddo di vaniglia Tahitiana, fichi secchi sciroppati al vino rosso, salsa di
cioccolato amaro: Tahitian vanilla bean semifreddo, dried figs in red wine syrup, bitter chocolate sauce
**budino di cioccolato e banana, gelato di banana:  warm chocolate-banana custard, passion fruit pearls, banana gelato

Ok so that is almost everything we ate...but that's just how good it was!!!!!!

The pool was awesome!   So relaxing, I finished almost 3 books while I was gone!  We went to one buffet for breakfast at the Paris...it was delicious.  We also went to Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris for a second breakfast...also delicious!  We saw Vegas' rendition of Phantom.  Most of the singing was great, the special effects were out of this world...but as a musical lover...I was less than impressed overall...they skipped scenes and that Phantom had this nasal quality that was well....annoying.

We also met our friend Nick Olivas, Bartolotta executive sous chef extraordinaire, and caught up on 8 years!  Well mostly caught up!  We had seen him at dinner, when he so wonderfully spoiled us, but he was working so we got together the next day to really chat!  I remember him being adorable, he was so funny and very sweet, I think that just multiplied with age!  Great man, that fellow!   Anywho!  We went to Emeril's Table 10 for dinner, the Caprese Salad was awesome....the Shrimp wrapped in pancetta...though they look AMAZING...were less than impressive!  How sad.  I expected more Emeril.....following dinner we wnt to Illy and got amazing Italian espresso drinks!  SOOO good...I will have some at my house always...yes I will!

So that's it friends!  Vegas, relaxing and full of food madness.....and Katelyn saying "Cheers!"

Cheers!

~B

I'm BAAAAACK!!!!

...and as usual I have forgotten my camera.  Don't ask what my deal is because I really don't know.  Tomorrow I will have my camera in hand or I will go home and get it!

Vegas was AWESOME!   Pool, Food, pool, food...yeah that's about how it went!  Oh and I have some glorious pics!!!!  Tomorrow.

So for today since I ruined my own blogging experience as well as yours....here's the skinny...

Totally got the teaching job and calling HR this afternoon see when I get to sign contacts and be orientated and such!  I have a CRAZY weekend coming up which I am iffy about but we will see...Friday and Saturday promise to rock however.  Friday I have a wedding reception and Saturday I get to go cook!!  These are both things I can get behind and am anxiously awaiting!   It's Sunday that could be the problem...I might have to drive to TX...AGAIN!   Only this time further and for reasons that don't make my heart as happy as mini road trips with my cousins do!!!

If I go to TX this weekend it will be to hopefully stop in and see the parents house in Lubbock (WOOO!!!  MAMA!!!!!!!!  I miss my Mama!)  and then to head back to Dallas to pick up a dog.  Trey's aunt's schnauzer, Kuper, to be exact.   She is really sick and he and his brother, Kacey, may be too much for her together while she recoups...so naturally we get the naughty one....I will train him into submission....maybe I can get Cesar to come train him!  Haha!  Right.

Still don't have a clue if I have to do this or not....but I need to know SOOOON so my work doesn't have a heart attack!


Alrighty...that's all I got.  The much anticipated Vegas post will be up tomorrow!  PROMISE!!!

~B

Viva Las Vegas

Bling BLING!!!!!

So, over the weekend my brother proposed AND my cousin Skyler got proposed to!   WOOO!!!!  Here are the results, they are good:

Skylie:

Claire:

YEA!!!!!!!!!!  Happy heart!!!!!!!!

That's pretty much the big news....I was a little sad that my bling isn't new anymore so I took a couple pics of it with the hubby's ring.... 

Awe!  just about 5 years later and it's STILL blinging!!!  hehe!


I have to be a little selfish....my brother was in my wedding and even though Claire has like 28 sisters (by 28 I really mean 3) I hope he wants me in his wedding!!!!  I sorta hope the same thing for my Skylie too.  Her wedding is going to be next September so I am sure I will be hearing all about it soon!  Jordan and Claire are a little slower with the date picking.....

Going to Vegas on Thursday with my Katelyn!  So excited!   I need a vacation and this week is looking like it could hold some pretty exciting news so I will be updating you on all of that soon!


God has been working on my patience and I think it is about to pay off!!!!!!!!  Thank you!!!!!!!!

Alright, its a short one today!  Love well!

~B

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I find that as every day passes and I wait and wait for someone to love me and want to hire me to teach in the fall....I am growing more impatient and weary....I have told you all about my current job right?  Well in case you missed it...here are the highlights:

-There is Jon our "computer guy" (I use that term loosely as my husband, the ACTUAL computer guy, spends a lot of his time fixing what Jon breaks)....he looks and porn and cusses a lot....my ears hurt on a daily basis

-There is our creepy skeezy accountant who srambled his brain with alcohol and now even though he isn't drunk (good for him) he still acts drunk.....and he has no personal space....and no people skills....he is just...ew.

-There is our head technician who feels the need to tell me every time his mother's dog takes a crap and spreads his smoke smell ALLL over the office.

-There is Rick, another technician, he is an ex cop and super nice guy, I really have no gripe with him, HOWEVER the last girl who sat in my chair accused him of stalking and sexually harassing her...so....

-There is also my boss' father, he is 75 and grouchy and mean....I guess I would be too if I was 75 and I had to work with these morons...oh wait...

-Lastly, there is my boss who lets all the madness happen in his office...and then he wonders why those yahoos are the only people he can keep around....

....and that is just a nutshell....oh the stories I could tell...I will spare you, you would cry!

With all of this plus their shenanigans to deal with on a daily basis, I am just done.  I am trying to be patient I really am but it does get harder daily as the summer creeps by and I have to give them enough time to hire someone when I leave so I can train them....although if it doesn't happen they sorta deserve to be left high and dry.

I do have to say...my boss, though lacking any management skills and though he has an inability to control things, has been good to me.  He is kind and thoughtful and while I think he has terrible taste in people (he didn't find me his business partner did...his partner should do all the hiring...he has good taste, I used to work with him) he is in general an easy person to work for.

Okay, I am feeling much better about Friday now that I have typed all that! So, I know you are wondering....what is on the schedule for the weekend?

It goes like this...I have to clean my house and weed our garden before I get to do anything else.  I am going on vacation next week and the house will be enough of a wreck with the hubs home alone that if I don't clean I will cry when I get home.  Anywho...then there will be some lounging and book club!  Yea!!!!

Going to see the A-Team this afternoon.  Very excited!  Holler at you later!

~B

A Beautiful Mess

On the way to work this morning I heard the new Amy Grant Song and I just want to share some lyrics:

"The tears of shame for what's been done
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah"

I just love this song.  When I am driving to work and running late or I have had just a rotten day and I am a mess and I have done everything wrong I could possibly do in a day...I just stop and think, "Thank heavens God knows I am a wreck and still loves me!"

I have been doing a lot of reflecting as I prepare to journey down the road as a teacher...of teenagers no less...I want to be a good example for them because for some I may be the best example they ever have.  I might have said that in an earlier blog but it really does stick with me.  I am trying to be more kind and thoughtful...less gossipy.  I never used to be a big gossiper but I find that lately the mouth flapping has been a little over board.  I shouldn't be so mean....sometimes I wonder if I am being mean because I am upset with me and I want others to focus elsewhere....who knows.  I just know I am thankful that I can ask forgiveness for being a jerk everyday and everyday I am forgiven.

Just feeling a little reflective this morning friends of mine.  Reflection is good.  It cleans out your insides.  This is different than obsessing or whining...those things just make you feel worse.  Don't obsess friends or make excuses, accept your reality and trek onward.  You will feel much better!

In other less reflective news, I LOVE Jen Lancaster.  That's right Jen you make my workouts and other various activities hysterical!  I was on the elliptical yesterday with "Pretty in Plaid" (for the second time) and I just laughed and laughed...out loud....people at the gym now hate me...  Oh that awful food you had to eat...I had to eat it too...enough said!  Please keep writing books filled with such hilarity.  I have "My Fair Lazy" ready for my vacation next week...let me tell you how hard it has been to save it...I have had it since the day after it came out!!!!!!!!

Ladies, if you haven't read my friend Jen's (in my head we are great friends...she understands me!) books please stop what you are doing and go get "Bitter is the New BLack"  I guarantee laughter.  110%.

In other book news:  I am just about down with our book club book, "Sex Murder and a Double Latte" by the fabulous Kyra Davis.   I like it.  Funny, a little romance, a good mystery and lots of girl stuff...yes please!

 Alright that's all she wrote!

~B

 

Whoop!

  Bullet point blogging:

• So I am excited (for myself) to report that after a week of eating terribly and doing practically no working out....I have not gained a lb back!  PHEW!!!!   That's my kind of a bad week!

• The long weekend was great, I was exhausted at the end of it and I am ready for this weekend which will be filled with weeding the front garden and attempting to make it beautious...cause it sorta looks awful right now...

• Princess Penelope and Nellie have been playing like crazy...although Nellie is grounded because she tore a hole in the lining under the couch (which I don't REALLY care about because the couch is older than me) and now Penni Pie can get into the couch where the springs are....I hope she doesn't accidentally get squished!

• Made the mistake yesterday of commenting on someone's facebook and giving an opinion about marriage....then some moron who doesn't know me from Adam tried to start a commenting war...people are retarded (sorry, it's true and I in no way mean it in a mean way towards anyone with a disability...wow...teacher properness coming out there)...and I stand by my point which is that people play "married" and when they are bored or done trying they just bail because divorce is no big deal either....SHAME SHAME SHAME.   Don't get married if you don't understand what you are committing to and don't even let divorce be an option!!!!!!   Ok...putting the soapbox away....

• Super excited, my interview with Tipton County schools is on Monday!  I hope it's a real interview and not a courtesy interview.  It would be an awful drive everyday but it would be fun if I got a job at Covington so I could be at school with my cousin for her Senior year!!!

Last but not least LUCA BERENGI MEREDITH joined the world last night at about 9pm and he weighed in right at a perfect 6 lbs!

Luca and his beautiful mama!!!!!

Ok, gotta go get ready to learn how to use the new fancy phone system I just HAD to have at the office!  Haha!   

Happy Wednesday!

~B