I would really like to FFwd to the weekend

I am whiling away hours at the office doing small documents that fail to eat up much time. I cleared all the big stuff out of the way and grow increasingly bored as the afternoon stretches on. It looks like the Blue Light may be in my future, which also means I'll be coming in late tomorrow. I'm counting down to a little Idaho preview with the Motorcars this weekend. :)

I can't wait to leave the office next Tuesday and board a plane for Dallas. Then, onto Idaho early the next morning!

Last night, my niece talked me into watching a few minutes of the Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers concert in 3-D that she had saved on the DVR. How do I get that time back? Sitting in mom and dad's living room, wearing 3-D glasses? LOL Lauryn, though, loved every second of it.

Today, I learned that the public library has audiobooks and videos available for download through their site. How great is that? You don't even have to go to the library...you just need your PIN and can access it all from wherever you are. Awesome.

I've become addicted to the spreeder.com application. I read all the big BBC stories this morning with this thing in record time. I figured reading comprehension would suffer and I'd end up having to read it again...but the human brain's capability surprised me. I would never use the application when reading books that I enjoy. I like going back and reading my favorite parts, or taking weeks to finish the last few chapters of a book. It's great for reading news and the like, though.

weekend wrap-up

Friday night, I crashed. I did absolutely nothing. There wasn't really much I had planned for the weekend. I thought about going to see Step-Brothers, but never made it to the theater. I think I just ended up watching a few episodes of Spaced that were on the DVR. Oh, I was also entertained by text messages from Nikki and her run in with a Knight look-a-like at the bar, and Kathy V's call for "Snake Farm".

Saturday, I worked on an Order that has to be sent in for review Monday morning. That ate up much of the day. I spent much of the remaining afternoon looking for the phone charger to my old cellphone. My cousin, Josh, lost his and was looking for a replacement. I told him he was welcome to the phone, but I had no luck finding the charger. I hope he can find one at best buy or something, if not he's out of luck.

Jessica and I ended up heading out early to the marina at Buffalo Springs to see Charlie. We called ahead and were told that the show would begin at 8:00. Okay, we always take these start times with a grain of salt. This time we should have listened. (oops) Anyway, we got there maybe 1/2 an hour later than they went on...and stuck out like sore thumbs. We were the only people there who hadn't just come off a boat. (Not many people wearing jeans in the crowd...) It was a nice little place, and I would go see them there again. The sound wasn't the best, but I wasn't expecting it to be top-notch at an outdoor venue. Highlight for Charlie: his dog got to see him play for the first time. He said, "He always sees us packing up our things and then we head out, leaving him behind. Now, he sees where we go and what we're doing." LOL

The venue didn't live up to my Spongebob expectations (no crabby patties, Maureen). However, if I'd been thinking, I would have snapped some pictures of the menu. They had these bizarre/hilarious cartoon depictions of some of the items. The baked potato was CLASSIC.

I slept in this morning and went back to work on the Order. I think I only have a few more hours to put in on the brief this week, and I'm done with the big things before leaving to Idaho. I cannot wait, and I know this week will drag on and on and on and on.

Things I need to do this week:

Finish this damn brief;

Listen to more RRB ("Black Rose" just came up on the ipod...);

Try to find out what the h-e-double hockey sticks a client was thinking the night of his arrest... I refuse to believe someone can be this clueless; and

Go see Charlie 2, maybe 3 times... Two of the shows are this weekend at the Krusty Krab. I can only surmise the owners are big fans of Spongebob.

Last weekend did not go according to plan. I was to drive down to Dallas and meet up with Lori, Dawn, Deidre, and Tracey (and potentially Sarah) to see the Motorcars. None of that happened. The main reason I was headed that way was to take Becky her car in exchange for my parents' car. Well, I find out the dealership won't have the car ready until Tuesday. So, I decided to just hold off. I'm sorry I missed out, though. Based solely on the calls and pictures, it looks like I missed out on a good time...and Campisi's. LOL

I did go see The Dark Knight, and it was just as good as I hoped. No let down here.

At what point does a "nap" just turn into sleeping. I just woke from a 3 1/2 hour "nap". Oops...that'll come back to bite me in a few hours.

I blame the rain...it's like having a huge white noise machine outside my window. I'm amazed I stayed awake today at the office. I found myself reading the same passages over and over again.

Best Message I got all day: "Charlie at the BL tomorrow night!"
I can't wait...I feel like it's been ages. I know it's only been since movie night...but we were cheated out of some songs then.

I am really looking forward a quick trip to DFW Saturday. A drive will be fun and I'll be seeing Lori (and I hope a few others) at Gilley's for the Motorcars.

I would be leaving Friday, but I've already promised to take my cousin to see The Dark Knight. We've been planning this since May. I hope the hype is more than just that... (side note: I do love the Comcast commercial about the family that just moved to Gotham City. Hilarious.)

For Sara...

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was just out of undergrad, and I was trying to figure out where I would like to go to law school the next fall. I took a year off to visit schools and find out what I did/didn't like about the different class environments. Basically, I enjoyed a year off doing whatever, whenever.

Five snacks I enjoy in a perfect, non-weight gaining world:

Victoria's Pasta Shop!!! I miss Norman and Campus Corner...but Victoria's cheese lasagna is at the top of the list. I'm positive there's crack in the sauce.

Campisi's Pizza (As Sara said, I love Campisi's! Her old place was right down the road from your choice of the restaurant or the Kroger's site.)

Margaritas! Flavored, frozen or on the rocks...I don't care.

Cookies & Cream Milkshake from Chick-fil-A

Melted Mozzarella on anything

Five snacks I enjoy in the real world:

Cereal (with milk or without)
Oranges
Bananas/banana chips
Bagel Crisps
Fuji apples

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Take care of family
Travel, Travel, Travel
Buy every book I want, when I want
Not sure what else...I'd like to think I'd do something altruistic

Five jobs I have had:

Private Tutor
Big Brothers Big Sisters Assistant
Research Assistant
Staff Attorney
Associate Attorney

Five habits:

Cursing myself for not going to bed early
Always carrying Blistex - Complete Moisture
Visiting the BBC News site at least 3 times a day
Watching tons of TV...good and bad
Procrastinating

Five places I have lived:

Levelland
Norman
Dallas
Amarillo
Lubbock

Five people I’d like to get to know better:
(Blogger/Wordpress/Xanga/Myspace blogs...whatever)

Dawn
Nikki
Sarah
Maureen
Suzy

wall-e, weekend, & wimbledon...

I left the office Thursday a little after lunch and headed over to catch a matinée showing of Wall-E. I wasn't really interested in seeing the movie based on the trailers. However, the reviews were so good across the board, I thought I'd give it a shot. I really liked it. I don't think it's the best Pixar film ever, that's still Toy Story for me.

I figured out that the filmmakers had their hands tied when it came to enticing people to see the movie. There's not exactly a lot of dialogue...a significant part of the movie is "silent." I think that's one of the strengths of the movie, though. I have talked to one person who absolutely HATED it. In fact, they fell asleep about 45 minutes in. I'm on the other side of the spectrum, I'd recommend it to any one.

I had absolutely no plans for the weekend. I knew there would likely be a family gathering at some point, but I didn't have any great plans. I ended up spending much of the weekend looking for birthday gifts for twin 5 year olds and watching Weeds. (I'm going to hate not knowing what's going on during the 4th season!)

I woke this morning ready to watch the men's final of Wimbledon. The rain hit and the delay was on. I lost interest in watching the coverage and tuned out. I didn't check back in until the 5th set...they were tied at 5-5. I really thought Federer would win in the end. It was not meant to be this year. What a sports year for Spain, though...the Euro and now, Nadal winning Wimbledon.

This week doesn't hold much, work-related. I do have two birthday parties on Saturday; the twins and then an adult outing which will probably end with galaxy bowling. hahaha

well, it's been a hard week(end)...

Prep for the shower was a bit hectic, but everything was done and I think Becky had a good time. I had to dash out of the house to head to the event I've been dreading since I learned of Ismael's death. I came to handle the written messages, but seeing everyone in his family and the school friends would be rough. If you'll indulge me...

I walked across the lawn and the first faces I saw were Robby and Billy. None of us spoke, just gave each other a hug hello and headed indoors. Jordan and his mom, Nancy, came straight to the door and at that time I think I just started to block out the real reason we were all there. Nancy asked about the family and chastised me for not going to visit enough. Jordan asked how I was and, truthfully, I was much more concerned about him. I know he was torn up inside. I turned and saw a familiar and comforting face starting towards me. Blake had decided to come in after all. He, I and his dad talked for a while as we greeted others from our class that began to fill the foyer of the church.

I followed Jordan inside and sat with Billy and Robby. Blake and his dad joined us. I've been through this before with Robby and hate that he has to go through it again with a close friend. After all the time that's passed, he's the boy that could always make me laugh and kept things light. The entire thing was just too much, completely surreal. Blake and I sat there in a daze through the entire service. I couldn't make eye contact with Robby for fear of losing it completely. A pat on the leg and holding his arm was all I could do. We had all been through this once before, during our senior year, but that didn't make saying goodbye any easier.

It was a simple and fitting service. A book of recent photographs showed us what we had missed out on, and the old pictures from our time in school and trips we'd taken brought back memories of why we all felt the need to come back. I don't think Mimo knew how loved he was by everyone and that hurts the most. Although you couldn't call Texas his home anymore, it was obvious he carried a piece of home with him. All you had to do was look at his production company's name, Highway 114 Pictures. In recent photos, he still had that infectious smile and bit of swagger and arrogance that I found irritating to no end when I first met him...and truth be told, from third grade all the way through our college years. However, I knew that if I needed something and asked, he would give his all to help. He loved giving friends a hard time, always knowing that he'd come through in the end. I don't like knowing he'll no longer be around.