Fun In the Sun

Well, at noon today we will be off to Florida. The trip there and back should be interesting. We are flying Delta on Friends and Family passes. Great concept because we are saving hundreds of dollars. Big drawback - we are on standby and it is 4th of July weekend. Originally we were flying out of Springfield. Now, we have to drive to Tulsa because there is a better chance that we will get seats. Luckily, we are now flying into Atlanta (which is where Christians aunt lives) So, if by chance we can't get on a flight to FL, we can spend the night with her. Gotta love traveling.

At least once we get there it will be nothing but sun and sand. Yipppeee!

PSA

Rub your belly at least once a day to promote happiness.

I think that a blog offers the opportunity to have great debates on interesting and controversial topics. That being said, I think I will start introducing discussion topics. Hopefully it will get responses. If not, you are all boring.

In the movie Napolean Dynamite, the llama was named Tina. Also, the actress who played Deb is named Tina in real life. Tina means river in Old English and Hindu. What was the significance of giving the llama this name?

Discuss

Updated Blog

Okay, so I haven't updated my blog in two and a half weeks. Actually, it is for the best because nothing exciting has happened around here. I wouldn't want to write a bunch of nonsense just to have an updated blog.

I have mainly been working. Not too hard, but enough to keep me busy during the day. Oh, I finally spoke with my client (who I thought had been avoiding me because she owes us money). We are designing a Ramada Inn for her. She was at a RI conference last week. Evidently the president of Ramada has seen the drawings and all of the Ramada bigwigs love it. Yes, I designed it all by myself. Pretty cool, I'd say. The pres. is supposed to be at the grand opening (next year). I will make sure that I introduce myself. Corporate architecture? It could be fun. Especially if I get to influence the prototypes and make them more concious of design and place instead of making every friggin building look the same no matter where it is built. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to get the drawings out to bid first, and get this project built. Then I'll save the world.

My husband and I went to a friends baby shower yesterday afternoon. Luckily it was not the typical shower with stupid games. Why would anyone want to look at a candy bar smushed into a diaper and guess what it is. Stupid. Anyway, no games were played. Instead we each brought an item to tie-dye for ourselves and one for the baby. I have never tie-dyed anything before, but the t-shirt I did for myself turned out awesome!!!! I will actually wear it. Maybe I have an inherent talent for tie-dye.

We will be off to sunny Florida Thursday evening. Lots of beach and pool time in my weekend. Yeah!!! It has been a couple of years since we've been down there. I am really looking forward to relaxing and getting a tan.

Oh, speaking of tan. Always check clothing sizes on the rack. Do not rely on the size on the hanger. I went to Target to get an new bathing suit. After searching through all of the suits, I found one that I like with the top and bottom in my size. So I buy it, take it home and start to put it in the laundry to be washed. After I pull off the tags I notice the top is a size larger than I thought I bought. I call Target and they say they have my size and will put it up front to be exchanged. The next morning I drive to Target, pick up a couple of items and go to exchange the top. They can't find the one that was supposed to be set aside! I was furious. I would not have even driven there if I knew that. So, I go to the mall to see if Old Navy has something. Well, it is 11:10 Sunday morning. Old Navy doesn't open until noon. What is up with that???? So, this evening I get to go to the mall and hope that Old Navy or American Eagle has a bathing suit I like in my size. The way things are going, I am not counting on it.

Well, that's all I have.

Stupid Tears

So, I just read my sister's blog, and she was talking about our mom. I don't seem to remember as many of her physical characteristics and quirks (although I know she had many) as I do her personality. It is impossible to say what type of advice she would have given each of us as we continued to mature. She would have changed as much as we have over the past nine years. I am not entirely sure that it is important to try to think about what mom would have told us. Dad gives great advice, so I don't want to try to guess otherwise. What I do remember is how she lived her life. That speaks more to me than any words she might have spoken.

She sacrificed.

I am just beginning to get it. She had to sacrifice things growing up. She didn't get to go to college because of her evil stepfather. Did she complain about it? I never heard her. She raised her family and did what jobs she could get with her experience. She was always great at them. Everyone loved her. But, I don't think she knew that. I know I certainly did not do a good job of telling her.

That is what I regret most about not having a mom now. I never got the chance to grow into an adult relationship with her. I was still selfish and self-centered when she died. Now I could tell her how important of a person she was. How so many of my characteristics are shaped by how she raised me.

I think the most influential moment surrounding her death was at her funeral. The service was packed. There were people standing out in the lobby because there wasn't an empty seat. The funeral procession was amazing. You would have thought a dignitary had died. I realized at that moment how important mom was to so many people. She touched everyone in some way. She made everyone feel important. And she made it seem so easy.

I hope I can be half the woman she was.

yard sales are great

It is great to have friends who have yard sales.

A couple of my friends are having a yard sale today. Earlier in the week they had me over to look at their house (they want to do an addition, and are asking for my expertise), and they said I could look through the clothes and see if there was anything I wanted. Let me just say that she used to work at Express, and we have much of the same taste in clothing. Needless to say, I scored! So, when I went to drop off the two items that did not fit, they had everything set up. I noticed an old vanity with mirror and drawers. After I got to work, I called them back and asked them to reserve it for me. Yeah! No more fixing my hair sitting on the floor. I also have drawers to put my "stuff" in. I am very excited.

I am doing very well with my YAF (young architects forum) group. We had a great discussion last night on starting your own firm. A lot of good questions.

I think I am going to have McDonalds for lunch. I know. I saw Supersize Me. It was disgusting, but it is oh, so good. Once every one to two months won't hurt me, right? I do eat a lot of sushi and veggies otherwise.

I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so ....

Twinkle Twinkle Sparkle Butt

If I were something other than human, I would like to be a firefly. How cool to be able to make your butt glow. I mean, really, glowing butts make everyone happy.

We are almost finished with the front porch. We put the second coat of stain on Sunday, and it did a great job of evening everything out. Tomorrow evening I will put the finishing touches on the trim. Hopefully, this weekend, I will be able to buy some plants and look at benches. I am really trying to make this an outdoor room. Maybe even a rug? We'll see.

Our next project is extending the built in bookshelves in our living room up about four feet. They are currently about four feet high (there are two on either side of the front window), and they are full. I need a lot more shelf space, so up we go. I am also going to work on refinishing our dining room set. It is pecan and kind of old fashioned looking, so I am going to put a black stain on it to give it an updated look.

Somewhere in all of this I will be studying for my last four exams. Blah. Summertime is so difficult to have study time.

Movie reviews:
Madagascar - Great!
Team America - Crap, guy movie
The Forgotten - Very good

Tonight I get to go over to some friends and give them advice on adding on to their house. That's always fun.

I Retract

Well, I am not physically retracting, but I am retracting statements made in a previous blog. I was wrong.

I learned a good lesson about karma this weekend.

We spent the entire weekend tearing up our 105 year old front porch floor and replacing it with newly sanded and stained tongue and groove. It looks 100% better. In rebuilding the porch floor, I also rebuilt my faith in the human race. Without my husband or I asking, we had our neighbor, her two kids, and three other friends help us with all of the work. It was amazing. Friday night we started demo. Of course this is always fun for kids to tear stuff up. Our neighbor came over, sat down in the yard and started pulling nails out of the boards that we had pulled up. We worked for about two hours. The next morning, we were all up and working by 9:00. We finished demo and started cleaning out all of the debris under the porch, raking the dirt and preparing the ground for a vapor barrier and gravel. Again, our neighbor pitched right in without our asking. That afternoon I started sanding all 126 boards. We took her and her daughter out for sushi that night to thank them for all of their hard work. The next morning we started staining. Mid-morning a couple of other friends brought over a bunch of tools and some gatorade and started right in - helping wherever was needed. Same thing happened Monday.

We never asked for any help. This was all voluntary.

So, I have learned a lot about giving. I learned that I am no where near as giving as I should be. It is not about giving to others and getting repaid. You will always be repaid. Often tenfold. It is about doing what you feel is the right thing to do. Giving of yourself selflessly. Not looking for the reward. The sacrifices you make should be enough.

I grew up in the church, but cannot say that I "believe". However, I can see many parallels between Desiree's last blog and the lessons I have learned. God asks you to sacrifice of yourself and do things that are hard. However, if you follow his way, you will be repaid. It just may not be in this lifetime. That should be good enough. Sure, we all like immediate returns on what we give. It is the human way. The key is patience. We can all become better people if we think less about what we are going to get out of an action and think more about how it will affect others. It is hard to put into words, but I feel that I have just undergone a life changing lesson. I feel that I have a deeper understanding of how life needs to be lived. I think I have just witnessed another step in my maturity.