The girls hit up KC

So last week the girls painted the town red in Kansas City. Here are just two photos for your enjoyment. More after San Antonio....

Yes, my sister has the bull by the horns.

Here we are in Australia. It was exciting.

And the Cubs win 2-0...

So...the slacker that I have become urged me to take the afternoon off for an Iowa Cubs game. The weather was great - sunny and hot. The Cubs won. There's not much better for a summer afternoon than a Triple-A ball game!!

Look - how pretty! Can you find me??

Fun-filled weekend

Dan came and visited last weekend. Fun times all around. Baseball game, hanging out, and just spending some quality time arguing over who won the word game. Of course I did!! But anyway...without going into great detail, here's what he brought me from the wild state of Minnesota...

Except that my copy of this wonderful new CD is personally autographed just for me by Mr. Dierks Bentley himself. How cool!!

Also this past weekend, I finished Gilmore Girls Season Two (thanks Jed) and ... ok that was it.

Beef. It's What's for Dinner...STILL

It's a great day for the beef industry.

In a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court ruled that a controversial program that requires cattle ranchers to contribute to a general marketing fund is constitutional, rejecting an argument by some ranchers that it violated their 1st Amendment rights. The money raised by the "checkoff" program, as it is known, was used to create the popular "Beef: It's What's for Dinner" advertising campaign.

Beef. It's What's For Dinner.

Look out world....

Here are photos from the Fabulous Ladies lunch held in honor of Laura and Mel!

From left: Laura, Krysta, Melanie, and Allison. Very Fabulous indeed!

Aren't I just precious?

Laura...aka...Mrs. Timberlake

Hip Hop I don't stop

So...I lost my bet about Gilmore Girls and decided that Kansas City was just right for a few days. Oh and why is the Lorelai/Luke thing just painful to watch? Aggravating. Seriously people - they have always belonged together.

Anyway...spent three days on with mom and sister. Great fun. Saw lots of stuff including a prostitute, the zoo, a few museums, some serious shopping malls and the wonderful plaza. There are stories to be told and photos to share, but since I am currently sunburned (90 degrees and top down the whole time), that'll just have to wait. Great time, great BBQ and great beer. Can't beat a weekend in the big city - especially if it's during the week and I don't have to go to work or take my cell phone with.

However, no trip is without its downfalls. Came home tonight - the puppy had eaten my pink flip flop. I am so not excited about that and now I need to go find myself a new pair of fabulous pink flippy flops.

But...let's look on the bright side. We were in Missouri so we came home with some fabulous fireworks to be set off this summer. Probably at a beer fest or late night. Do trailer parks let you set off fireworks in the park??

D's coming into town this weekend - probably hitting the ball game and finding some trouble to get into. Must do laundry so I don't stink when he gets here tomorrow.

2 miles and 25 minutes

Last night I completed the New York Times Crossword in 25 minutes!! And...I didn't even use random words - they were all correct! However, after a few celebratory calls, I realized that I am the only person who was thrilled by this and amazed. Is it really too much to ask for a few cheers? Come on people.

Also walked about 2 miles last night - enjoyed the air, the birds and ... wait I didn't enjoy the birds. One attempted to take me out. Guess I looked an awful lot like bird seed. Must remember not to wear the bird seed shirt anymore.

The home has been saved from the bugs and life is swell. Even the skunk smell has almost left. Oh the joys of spring.

Tonight - Gilmore Girls - who will get proposed to? Big evening all wrapped into one single hour show. Must get wine, chips, and a fly swatter (to hit my roommate in case she tries to change the channel). I have already placed my bets in Vegas ... if I win, I'm headed out there to collect in person. If I lose, I'm going to Kansas City.

Fabulous ladies

Yesterday = eventful.

Fabulous ladies' lunch was convened at the Taste of Thai on Walnut in Des Moines. Looks like a total dive, inside and out, but food was tasty and the wait staff wasn't ugly or bad. We got a lot of attention from our little waiter, but it may have been the wild assortment of fabulous clothes we had on. Pictures yet to come ...

On to the bar ... last night Mark (Mel's most wonderful husband) arranged a get-together to celebrate Mel becoming Melanie Ellison, M.A. Isn't that thrilling. Met at Cab - in Johnston - smoke free bar - highly recommend it for people looking for a small, clean, friendly bar. The only issue was the lady behind me was trying to sit in my lap so she could hear our conversation better. She got an earful!!!

On to a weekend of family, lots o'drinks, Gilmore Girls and ... that's probably it. Ahhhhh who needs an exciting life?

Bugs...they are everywhere

So there I was...trying to conserve energy. Instead of cranking up the air conditioner in my tin can of a home, I opened my window - the window without the screen (we're all about safety here). After a few hours, I decided my brain had shut down and it was time for bed. It was then I realized...my room had been overcome with ... BUGS ...

Now...you see these cute little bugs. They can't hurt anyone - YES THEY CAN. Take the green bug on the right bottom, put it on crack and steroids for approximately three weeks and you will have an idea of the bugs that invaded my poor living space. I hate bugs. They are one of the few things that creep me out and make me want to cry and sing showtunes while curled in a ball under my desk. So...I drowned a few of them while they were alive. Sweet justice. The others suffered the wrath of one of my black and white wedge sandals.

See if I conserve energy anymore. Maybe it's time to put the screen back in my window.

On to a happier note.

This is Nobilo Icon - Savignon Blanc - an extremely good wine. We sampled it at wine club last night and it's worth the $17 price tag. Smooth, rich, and a sweet citrus flavor. A new favorite.

Undergrads are out of my league

This morning was shaping up nicely - once the headache subsided, I discovered a web design that fit my needs given a few modifications, and my friends emailed me warm wishes for Tuesday. However, then I realized that Kenny Chesney married Renee Zellweger recently on a beach somewhere warm in the Caribbean. Disappointing at best - did we all see the faces she made in "Cold Mountain"? Not real pretty.

Then...I got an email from an old supervising professor from my teaching days. It appears that a student of my earned a very poor grade in his speech class in the Spring of 2004 and has now realized that D's do NOT get degrees. So, he's arguing his grade in hopes that I have moved to Somalia and the supervising professor will bend to his persuasiveness and whining and give him a passing grade. Lucky for him, my Somalia trip fell through.

Ahhh the sun is shining and it's wine night tonight. Oh and ... as we hear from Damfino, the Weezer CD has arrived in stores this morning (and he's addicted to Green Day) in addition to the new Dierks Bentley CD. What a happy day!

Is this up for discussion?

Wow - a weekend of nothing-ness.

First of all, let's get the bad news out of the way. My professor who believes that she is from a third-world country, yet has lived in America for over 20 years, decided she didn't like my project at 6 p.m. on Friday night. Not a lot that can be done at that point except take the grade. I am exceptionally ecstatic about my committee meetings this summer.

On a high note, I accomplished the following fun things this weekend:
1. Ran errands (Target, Hy-Vee, etc.)
2. Ate lunch with Mom
3. Mopped the floors, vacuumed, and cleaned the whole house
4. Did my own laundry (no ironing though)
5. Took Cheyenne for a 3 mile walk
6. Made chicken salad, banana bars, and pasta salad
7. Watched the whole first season of Gilmore
8. Went to the farm for Mother's Day
9. Saw my sister
10. Proofed my friend's paper

After the Gilmore Girls marathon, I have decided the perfect man would have to be 1 half 1st season Dean and 1/2 Luke.

Before I sign off...Happy Birthday Jen!

Another beautiful weekend

Ahhhh the weather's wonderful and my bike is itching to get out into the wild blue yonder. Plans for the weekend include extending the cinco de mayo celebration with margaritas, tequila shots and beer, riding my bike all over, picking up my contacts (so I am not blind anymore), celebrating mom's day with good farm food, and catching all the gilmore episodes I can.

Since my weekend started yesterday at 4 p.m., I think it's high time for another beer.

Who is that masked man?

Damfino dear...this is a nice sweet innocent blog - you simply must remember that. Or...I am going to have to show you my mad skills (that attract all men...aren't men attracted to women with skills??). Remember...I did take kung fu until I had to drop it for fear of...oh that's embarrassing. Never mind.

ps. it's infidel maybe.

evil... EVIL!!!!

THE POWER HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME.

I NOW CONTROL THE WORD.

SUFFER YE INFEDELLS!!!!

... er... wait. How do you spell infedell...infidell.. infudell?





crap

Sad...yet happy news

One of my favorite concert artists is coming to Des Moines on June 2. Where will I be? Not at the concert, instead, I'll be cowboy-hunting in San Antonio. Well...something like that anyway. At least his new CD comes out in a week.

They killed Kenny!

Ok actually in last night's oh-so-entertaining episode of South Park, they actually did not kill Kenny. Pretty much the story line was the same as every week, but the fellowship was good and the beer was cold.

Happy Cinco de Mayo by the way! Is it margarita time yet?

So my friend and I were discussing the trials and tribulations of dating last night. I think he posed an interesting question, "should we, as adults, tell others when their dating skills are lacking? And...if so, how do we go about doing that without hurting their feelings?" We've all seen our friends have problems with dating, and lord knows we have all been on bad dates, and most likely, we have all probably also committed dating faux pas. But really...where is the responsibility?

After much consideration, conversation, and a few glasses of beer, I have decided that it really isn't fair it point out people's faux pas in dating situations. Just because I think that my weirdo date has done something unacceptable does not mean that there isn't someone out there who would find that amusing and even cute. So...faux pas really are little ways of just telling us that a particular person isn't right for us. They're not really mistakes or "pukey moments," but more like little red flags ... or on the right person ... they may just be that endearing attribute that makes you stick around.

Weather's warming up...maybe an I-Cubs game soon? As of now, I have really high goals of being lazy all weekend and celebrating Mom's Day.

New World of Blogging

This new toy is most likely against my better judgement, but where else am I going to leave all kinds of random thoughts and comments?

Description of the day (as heard on the radio this morning) ... "A gun dealer in Arkansas"

Finals are over, there's still more Gilmore Girls to watch, and the I-Cubs are playing frequently in Des Moines - summer is finally here!

The only words of wisdom I have for today is to always check the power source when your email fails to work, don't assume the tech guy knows what he is talking about.