Rain Rain Go Away!

Well, I have not floated away yet, but if this heavy rain continues all weekend, getting to work Monday morning could get a little interesting.

Work continues on the scarf. The yarn that I am using is the Plymouth Boku, in color 1. Color 1 can basically be described as a mix of purples, blues and greens in the jewel tone range. I have finally started ball two, so I am excited about that.

Yesterday, I spent most of the evening running around like a chicken with its head cut off. When it is raining like crazy it is really hard to get chores and errands done. It was not fun having to go outside to the garage to do laundry in the rain, but i didn't have any cute clothes left and I wanted to wash the new stuff I bought at the GAP. I love dressing preppy, but my personality in general is not preppy. I can best be described as ecclectic.

the best part about today is that Sunshine is coming to visit! I hope the rain holds off for a little while. Too much rain is bad for the farmers and the people that live in flood plains.

Crochet, Clues and Cleaning

This afternoon my sis and I went to see the new Nancy Drew movie. Yay! It was so awesome, I think they did a great job and Emma Roberts is great as Nancy. I even was startled a couple of times (big surprise, I know).

I made a lot of progress crocheting the scarf. I have almost completed one ball of yarn so there is one more left. One of my holds at the library came in and it was Knit 2 Together by Mel Clark and Tracey Ullman. It has some funny stories and some cute patterns I would actually make if I was more profient at hand knitting.

since I am a clean freak and Sunshine is coming to visit, I decided to tackle this mystery spot on the carpet in the library entrance. It is now gone thanks to some help from Simple Green. That stuff is awesome. My sister and I think this spot is from a previous renter because we haven't really spilled anything on the carpet and we are both anal about carpet stains. It was bugging me for awhile but I finally had some motivation to tackle it. I know it doesn't really matter to Sunshine, but I do want the house to look all clean and shiny when he gets here because it will be the first time he has seen it in person. My sister is supposed to be cleaning up her piles of crap Friday that are covering the whole house. i told her to do it on Friday so it would stay clean. LOL...

Home Again

I am finally back from the Summer Conference. That was one long drive and one tiny mini van. I could go on and on but I will just feel crabbier. I did enjoy the conference itself. I met a lot of cool people and did a lot of networking. I am in the process of washing the pile of laundry I created while I was gone.

On the crochet front, I am making slow but steady progress on my scarf. i did a lot of driving on the trip so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. I also bought the Mr. Funky crochet book. Not only does it have amigurumi patterns but it has some really cute hats and scarves patterns in it that I would like to try as well.

My adorable and sturdy, laptop/crochet bag has arrived. I bought it from Lands End and it is even more wonderful than it was online. It has the perfect amount of pockets, it hangs on my shoulder without hurting or sticking out two feet and it REPELS WATER. It is the prettiest shade of blue, it makes me happy just looking at it.

I bought Miss Potter on dvd today. It is so good. I love period films.

I would like to personally thank Bon Jovi, Lifehouse, Fergie, Mat Kearney, and the White Stripes for providing me with wonderful music to crochet to and listen to while in the company of annoying people.

I am also excited because Sunshine is FINALLY COMING TO VISIT. YAY!!! I can't wait, we are going to have so much fun.

Boring Conferences

So tomorrow I drive up with the other 6 interns for the big intern summer conference at HQ. We will be learning very important things like "impressive presentations skills" and how not to fall alseep during seminars. We are taking two vans because the conference is like 9 hours away and we don't get done until late Friday afternoon. Half the group wants to drive straight through and the other half wants to stay the night in KC. I am staying in KC because the company is paying and I really don't want to get home at 3 am saturday night because I have an additional 40 minute drive once I pick up my car at work.

We have to share rooms at the hotel with other interns and I have never met my roommate so I hope we can get along because that would suck otherwise. I don't really know the other interns from my unit because most of them are all engineering so hopefully we will survive the 9 hour drive to HQ. I get antsy about traveling with people that I don't really know, but I think I will be okay once we get on the road. I am hoping to get some crocheting done too. Wooo hooo!

I am hoping that one of the guys will want to drive a bunch so that I don't because I would love to be able to get some homework done or read one of the books I borrowed from my sister. We will have a lot of down time on tuesday and friday nights so I am coming prepared. I am not planning on partying because my legs are really sore and bruised from the canoe incident. Yeah. it sucks but tylenol is my friend and nothing was broken or sprained, just a little purple because i broke a lot of blood vessels when i wiped out in the water trying to help A my co worker lodge our canoe from the buried tree limb that it got stuck on. I didn't even know i had bruises until sunday morning when I woke up to go shopping.

Anyhoo, I promise a big fat update when i get back Saturday afternoon.

The Canoe Trip

Okay, so I should be in bed asleep but I am having some sinus issues and my right leg is really sore so i can't sleep on my right side which seems to be throwing the whole sleep thing off, so I thought I would post long enough to drink a cherry coke. Coke helps with sinus drainage (sorry, I know that sounds gross) and caffeine helps me sleep.

The weather was completely perfect. It was not boiling hot, the water was cool and the river was just high enough that the canoes didn't drag and for the most part, i could see the river bottom which I though was reassuring. Normally, I do not go for outdoorsy activities, especially water ones. I have historically had a lot of ear issues, epecially inner ear problems that usually make water activities not fun. However, I decided that since this was a float trip in a big canoe, I decided that I wouldn't have too many problems. I did not get a single bug bite! That shocked my sister because she has been eaten alive this summer but she refuses to put on bug spray and I sprayed myself with Avon Skin So Soft bug spray before I got on the river and I was fine. it really wasn't buggy either, so that helped. Those of you that know that I am pale like Emily Dickinson might be wondering how come I didn't get a lobster tan. This is because I virtually took a bath in Neutrogena sunscreen SPF 70. This stuff is not greasy, doesn't clog your pores, moisturizes and doesn't smell like a bad pina colada. Reapply every couple of hours and you're fine. I am damn proud to be pale, and I think looking pale looks better then having skin that looks like tough beef jerky (i saw alot of this on the river).

As for wild life, I saw a river otter, some silver fish, a lot of dragon flies and a lot of drunk rednecks. Three drunk guys in rafts tried to convince me to flash them for Mardi Gras beads, but I don't flash for plastic beads especially when I am with a group of people from the place I work and the other half of the group was from the big Southern Baptist church that a lot of the same work people go to. It was sort of flattering in a demented way. It's just part of the experience, and I did have the biggest boobs out of all the girls that were on the canoe trip with me. LOL.

The funniest story of the whole trip was when we spotted the river otter. It was swimming close to the shore and there was this big group of drunk people on a raft,and they saw the river otter and started shouting "look ya'll, it's a fucking ferret!!" This a direct quote. Then this one guy, gets off the raft, and is like "i have to take a picture of the ferret!" and proudly submerges HIS DIGITAL CAMERA into THE RIVER to take a picture of the "ferret". He takes the picture and then proudly exclaims, "oh shit, I can't see the picture, cause my camera isn't working!" Like duh, electronics that are submerged in the water, don't tend to work afterwards. We got a big laugh out of it though. Drunk people are really dumb.

Anyways, I had a really good time. we had a good mix of people in my group. there was 21 of us that went, and we stuck together the whole time, so there was a lot of laughter and giggling had by all. I think I would do this again, even if I was with a smaller group. There was just something really peaceful and relaxing about being on the river. Tee hee, it was especially nice to have a day off from my sister's PMS rage. Sometimes, I have a hard time believing that we actually share DNA.

Well, I think I can go back to bed now. Just remember to always wear sunscreen and to hold on to your paddle when canoeing and to wear swimwear that it appropriately sized for your body type and size. It's a beautiful thing.

Rollin on the River

twas the night before the canoe trip and the Shoegirl was half-assed packed. who knew that the outdoors required so much crap? Snacks, bottled water, sunscreen, bug spray, change of clothes...It took forever to get it all ready. This is a prime example of why I don't do this very often. Anyways, it has rained all week but the sun did come out today so I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow.

I bought Fergie's cd today. YAY! It is like so good. I like all of the songs on the album, which is really rare for me.

Work was really boring again. Fridays are the worst because I'm usually eagerly anticipating the weekend because I don't really go out much during the week. We also had three different salad luncheons this week which was really annoying.

Today was also pay day. I got paid sooner than I thought I would which is a very good thing. I am going shopping on Sunday since I have no idea when we will get back from the canoe trip on Saturday. I desparately need to get new shirts for work. My polos are worn looking and I am tired of them. I bought them like last summer if that gives you a clue. I also need new shoes for work.

I promise a much more exciting post on Sunday when I get back from the canoe trip and shopping.

Stay glamorous ya'll!

The Flood of '07?

So we received over five inches of rain over night. That made my morning commute really exciting. Normally I get to work around 7:30 because I like to take advantage of the fact that most of my co-workers roll in about 8 am so there's peace and quiet. Today, I got to work at 9:40 am!! Why, well, all this rain caused this section of the highway to flood out in two spots that i take to work so I had to take two massive detours and was seriously wonder if I was ever going to get to Kansas. The highway was blocked off with at least four state troopers and there was still idiots trying to drive around the troops down into a foot of water! People are dumb. The lack of road blocks and detour signs was great, and it was raining really hard and visibility really sucked. Once I finally crossed the border, I was fine and it was just your typical rain.

All the ponds and creeks and rivers around me through are either overflowing or one more rainstorm away from overflowing. It is really stinking humid right now too. I wish I could have taken pictures but unfortunately I had to drive. The town that runs into my town is on a flood plain and the highway is closed going through that down due to the fact that there is a whole shitload of sandbagging going on right now. Apparently my area hasn't experienced a good flood since 86 or 87, which was nothing compared to the flood of 93 back in Iowa and on the ole Miss. I might have to buy one of those kayaks in the LL Bean catalog for my morning commute because a puddle jumper plane is not in the budget.

I just realized that I sound like an old timer! LOL... In other news, today is my dad and my Aunt E's b-days. they were born on the same day just four years apart. The canoe trip might be postponed due to the heavy rains. We are going to check on Friday and see if they are letting anyone go out on the river because if it is over a certain mark they won't let you take the canoes out.

The funny thing is that our landlord called last night to say that the roofers would be coming out this week to put on our new roof. It is not leaking though which is good, it's just old. They did drop off two pallets of shingles and stuff that is sitting out in the mud puddle front lawn of ours. Luckily, our garage has a slight slope, so it is not flooded. I made sure all our stuff was up on blocks through. everything on the "first level" is in hefty thick plastic tubs so they should be fine. If it's raining that hard to flood, you can guarantee I will be home rescuing my yarn and books and my mac and my ipods. Lol.

So anyways, since I had plenty of drama today, I am kicking back with a nice beer and a book. The duck pond is flooded too so I can't do my laps there. I had been doing three miles a day with my sister when I got home from work. I am hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow too otherwise I will be stuck mall walking.

On the upside, I just wanted to send a quick shout out to Sunshine. I just wanted to let you know HOW PROUD I AM OF YOU!!!!!! I think you have done an awesome job on the website and it looks really professional. I think the band is going to have an awesome season too and I look forward to seeing them perform this fall. I just thought I should tell you that.

That is all for now. I must consume mass amounts of decongestant so that my head will unclog. Rain sucks.

Cleaning Frenzy

I'm not sure why, but I sort of went on a cleaning frenzy this weekend. Yesterday I decided to reorganize my books. They are all finally unboxed now and shelved. I have a stash in my bedroom, the stash in the office/library, and a stash in the living room. I'm not sure if I like how I arranged them yet but we'll see. I also scrubbed down the entire bathroom, vaccumed my bedroom, did a load of dishes and like five loads of laundry because my sister hadn't done laundry all week and she uses two new towels a day. I also trimmed back my ivy plants because they were growing out of control and I was afraid they would start choking each other. I would love to be able to stick them outside but there is too much sun here and they would wilt.

My online biology textbook arrived yesterday. my textbook for high school biology II AP is much more harder than this one. This one is in full color large print with lots of pictures of bugs and candy. I think it is written at an 8th grade level, but since this class is a state requirement and it's what the non-science majors are supposed to take, I will just sail through this class. yes, i did check the ISBN and it is the correct textbook.

Tv has been total crap this weekend, so my sister and I have been watching a lot of Gilmore Girls Season 1. thank God for DVDs. I also went to the library yesterday and checked out a lot of books. I have been reading a lot of young adult fiction because they are easy reads and i find them to be more interesting then some adult books. I also checked out Book Lust and More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl, so i have been flipping through her catagories and adding to my list of books i want to check out when i get back from all my trips.

We are having another damn salad luncheon at work. This time it's for a chick in Marketing that is getting married this weekend. We are all supposed to bring recipes so that we can make a recipe scrapbook for her. So I am contributing some recipes that I cut out of the coupon booklets this weekend because they all know I hate cooking and I don't feel like giving her any of our family recipes. LOL. Plus, these are printed on full color glossy paper with pictures of the food.

I did work on my stuff for the Craftster swap this weekend. I also have been working on this scarf that I am crocheting from the yarn my mom mailed out to me. I like all the blues and purples and aquas in it.

Hello Boring

So all the supervisors in my dept. were gone today and two of the people that annoy me were also gone on vacation, so I had the whole day to work on whatever projects I wanted to and I was bored to tears. I thrive on chaos and since my boss was gone there was a lot of things I couldn't do because I am waiting on the info from her first. LOL. In a little over a week I will be going up to HQ for a very lame conference, but we are staying in the nice hotel and it is free, so I figure I can sit through a few seminars and ice breakers.

This is my R and R weekend. No trips planned. which is good and bad. Bad because I am bored. Good because my wallet and my car need a rest. I should be doing my online biology homework but it is really easy so I am not motivated at all to do it. Maybe I will do it in the morning. i am the most productive in the morning. I also need to work on stuff for a Craftster swap that I am participating in.

next weekend is the float trip. it is on the "mardi gras" river--I will let you know if I see any flashers. I hope we don't just because there are a lot of people from work that will be going and that would be a little weird.

The Big Top Adventure has Ended.

So i am back from the road trip. I feel like I just got back from a music tour or something. I think I am going to make some lists of things I did for ya'll cause I'm still kind of tired, because I had a very busy day at work today.

The Carolinas:
1. Shopped!
2. Went to a Charlotte Knights baseball game
3. spent time with my adorable Yorkies.
4. Frogged the Slouchy Purse and started over. It no longer has a ratty edge.
5. Went to an awesome yarn shop, bought a big skein of Noro and made a scarf

Missouri/Arkansas:

1. Drank way too much chick wine. White Zin will be my downfall
2. discovered how good Starbucks Liquor tastes
3. Started a new scarf with the yarn my mom had sent out
4. Went to Barnes and Noble in Arkansas and added things to my list of things that I will buy in July when I am allowed to shop again.
5. Watched Half Nelson, Music and Lyrics, Sideways, and The Lake House
6. Spent some much needed time with Sunshine!!! Yay. I got to help him organize stuff--i love that. next time I am bringing the label maker...yum...

Today:

1. Started my summer online classes. Homework sux.
2. Went to work and started my new position
3. Discovered that I had 117 e-mails to answer.
4. Walked three miles around the duck pond with my sister/drill sargent/trainer. I am happy to report that I am still alive and planning to continue this torture. i heart my shuffle.

Anyways, I am back to life in the real world now. the big top adventure is over and vacation is exhausting. I would especially like to thank Sunshine for like the bazillionth time. He is has this way of making you smile when you feel like crap and he does provide a lot of much needed encouragement in my life. Oh and he got this mushy Britney Spears song stuck in my head. LOL.