My weekend, in photos (and video)

It was a perfect weekend.

A year ago today, two things happened.

1.) This gorgeous little boy was born

2.) And his mother nearly died (technically she did, twice, but they were able to save her)

I’ve been fortunate enough this past year to get to see my little squishy about 5 times. Which is pretty good considering I’m in Tulsa and they live in Dallas. I look forward to visiting again this weekend where we will celebrate life and birthdays and family and love. And even as I type this I’m getting a little bit choked up. You see, they are about to move even further away, to Austin. It’s a big exciting thing for them, but it means double the distance for us here.

So to those at the party tomorrow who are getting annoyed at the thirty-something childless woman who won’t stop hogging the baby…. I’m sorry. But can you blame me?

all photos courtesy of my cousin and stolen without apology by me

questions unanswered from
she who used to light up my world

regret and worry, but mostly sadness
nestled down in the hollows of my heart

I put them there
so that I won’t search for what really belongs

afraid of what I will find

and as life goes on around me
I smile and pretend not to notice

that she’s not there

****************

This is in response to Kerri’s post titled. The Things I Carry.

I’m thinking of printing this off and framing it to hang in my bedroom.
Lyrics from the downhere song My Last Amen.

Yesterday was a wonderful day because my BFF Isabel had her baby. (photo of new baby up on her site) He may not have a name yet, but he sure is cute. And lucky him, he gets to share a birthday with my Grandma! (and also River Phoenix, Gene Kelly, Kobe Bryant and others)

Today is a wonderful day because it is my daddy’s birthday. I bet my grandma breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to share her birthday with her first born. Although really that would have been a cool birthday gift. (today is also Steve Guttenberg’s birthday. I may or may not have a crush on him. don’t judge)

So happy birthdays all around!

and ok, I’ll go ahead and throw in one embarrassing one just for fun…

You’re welcome.

****Updated****

I was just informed that my Grandmother’s birthday is tomorrow… the day after my dad’s. Granddaughter FAIL! (hey I was close right?)

This post is going to be a vent/rant. Please do not read any further if you are not in the mood for something like that.

Facebook.

I stayed away from it for a long time. Even after I joined it I didn’t really see the need for it. It was great for reuniting me with people I’d gone to school with or had lost touch with, but I was not interested in updating my status daily. Or hourly. Or sharing a lot of personal information with those people. I still don’t link my blog to it.

Over time and through mass quantities of boredom I’ve spent more time on the site. I love looking at pictures of my cousin’s fast growing baby. It’s also how I find out things about family members I wouldn’t otherwise know. So while I don’t totally hate Facebook anymore, I’m still not about to be on it all day.

I recently discovered Lamebook.com. Oh the joy this site has brought me. It’s a potpourri pot of all the worst things out there on Facebook. And by worst I mean funny, ridiculous, stupid, and well… more stupid.

So I find myself looking at my own Facebook, searching for a little gem I could forward on to the site. So far nothing has really popped up that would be worthy. What does pop up? Let’s just say if your English teacher was reading your Facebook you would get a big fat F on your spelling test.

Facebook is not a text message.* It’s also not Twitter. You are not limited to 140 characters to say what you want to say. Also, since when did punctuation become a thing of the past? I understand that we get in a hurry or we make mistakes. Or like me, I throw grammar out the window often because I choose to blog the way I talk and not the way my English professor would have wanted me to turn in a paper. No one expects you to be perfect. But is it too much to expect a period now and then? Or maybe a comma so that things like this don’t sound so, um, inappropriate?

image from lamebook.com

And don’t even get me started on the run on sentences.

im gunna go see my bf this weeknd bcuz hes been outta town an i miss hm and were gunna go 2 the movies and eat popcorn and then maybe go see his mom and dad and then who nows luv u bebe!!!!!1

That was a mild example. (also, it seems the exclamation point is the only punctuation that actually gets MORE action on facebook.)

I also can’t decide if it bothers me more when it’s adults or kids/teeens/tweens.
On the one hand, when it’s an adult I want to tell them that they should know better.
However, when it’s a kid… specifically one who is in junior high or high school I want to shake them and ask them if they do know better. You know, to make sure the public (or private) school system isn’t failing them.

I know this doesn’t bother most people the way it bothers me. And maybe this means I need to relax and not let it bother me so much. Or maybe it just means that I should go back to not being on Facebook.

*I realize that a lot of you do send updates to Facebook via texting. This should still not be an excuse to cheat on proper spelling.

You all remember my recent post on kismet right?

Well I figured I owed it to you all to give you an update.

1) sister finds him on facebook and messages him
2) she leaves out all the stalker-ish lingo and the parts about me begging her to talk to him
3) she simply tells him she’s seen him three times in a week and she just felt she had to say something

His response?

“Wow, what a coincidence.”

!!!

That’s it? That’s all he has to say about fate? And love? And stories to tell the grandbabies?

So I pretty much told her he was gay and that’s the only possible reason for that reaction.

He shows up at her work again yesterday. And pretty much just says the same thing he already said. No sign of flirting or chatting or wanting to know anymore about her.

After he leaves another co-worker agrees… he’s gay.

I mean that’s the only possible answer right? What straight guy would turn away a chance at this?

• Two and a half days is not enough time to properly see New York City. I purposely did not buy a full conference pass because I wanted to see New York. And I still managed to not see the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building or Central Park.
• This year there were three of us in the room. I asked for a roll-a-way bed because I’m a terrible sleeper, especially when I travel. I slept great all three nights. Roll-a-way bed for president!
• My two roommates were great, although we sadly did not get a photo of the three of us together.
• The Pink Twitter was my drink of choice the whole time I was there. It was called different things at different parties, but it was so good. Ketel Orange vodka, lemonade, soda, grenadine, and mint. Make it. And drink one for me.
• I did not get to see everyone I wanted to see. And several people I did want to see, I only got to see them for 5 minutes. I don’t like this.
• I did such a great job of packing that I did not have to check my bag on the way there.
• I did an even better job of selecting what swag to bring home. I didn’t have to check my bag on the way home either which shocked me. And I still came home with lots of stuff!
• Free shapewear is amazeballs. (thank you Yummie Tummie and Spanx)
• The NBC store and 30 Rock might have been the highlight for me. (you can see where my priorities are)
• The Sparklecorn and CheeseburgHer parties were off the hook this year.
• I got to see Padma Lakshmi from Top Chef. She’s so gorgeous and classy.
• I laughed at the commercials for the PH Balance tampons. Well guess what? I got a free box while I was there and thanks to Mother Nature was able to try them out right away. Without going into any gross details, I will say that I really like these and as long as they aren’t a lot more expensive than the ones I buy, I will totally switch.
• I totally scored a free Scentsy warmer. This excited me way more than it should have.
• I ate a Magnolia cupcake, and lo, it was good.
• I really wish I would have planned ahead to see a show. Specifically Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. (did you know she’s from Oklahoma?)
• I was able to eat a hot dog, a pretzel, a bagel, and authentic NY pizza while I was there. I like carbs.
• The scale today was still down 6lbs from last week. Yay for exercise!
• I really missed my friends who couldn’t make it this year.
• God bless Kelly and Maura who made the trip so fantastic for me.
• I was all set not to go to BlogHer next year and then they announced it will be in San Diego. I should have known they wouldn’t pick a place I didn’t want to go.
• I guess we’ll just see if I make it for a fifth year.
• I got my first henna tattoo and I love it.
• The people at the Hilton hotel were very friendly and accommodating.
• I did not see a single hobo while I was there. We must have been on the nice side of town.
• NYC cab and shuttle drivers scared the cheeses out of me. Driving in Tulsa is such bliss.
• I rode the subway all by myself!
• All of my planes took off and arrived on time or early.

My brain is fried and that’s all I can think of now. But if you would like to view my entire set of flickr photos you may do so here.

Of course the magical menstruation pony* would show up the day before BlogHer. You couldn’t come during your regularly scheduled programming time of oh say, last week. No you had to pick today. As if I have all this extra room in my suitcase for things like tampons.

I suppose if not today it would have happened the moment I stepped foot in the Hilton hotel with the other 2000+ women who will be at BlogHer.

BlogHer: syncing women’s periods since 2005.

Maybe instead of Go Girl, I can get Diva Cup to throw me some swag.

*the magical menstruation pony is in no way affiliated with sparklecorn, the also magical but less offensive unicorn.

Saturday morning my sister and I went to breakfast as we usually do. We noticed a guy dining alone at the counter and reading. He was one of those nerdy cute guys. I told her she should introduce herself. She said no, that she wasn’t that kind of girl. (she’s really shy) So we stared at him a bit and went on with our day.

Tuesday evening she comes over for dinner after doing some grocery shopping. Guess who she saw at the store? The same guy! I asked her if she talked to him. Again she did not. She merely followed him down an aisle or two and went on about her business.

I told her that she was crazy for not talking to him. What if this was some kind of sign?

You mean like karma? she says.
Um, I don’t think karma is the word you’re looking for. I think you mean kismet.

I made her promise that if she saw him a third time that she would say hi and introduce herself in the least stalkerish way possible.

Um, guess who showed up at her place of employment today? THE GUY.

Did she talk to him? NO. She ran and hid and freaked out. And then she called me.

We have it on good authority that this guy will show up at her place of employment again. However, I fear that my chicken butt sister is going to wimp out again.

Oh and did I mention that he has our last name? Our maiden name? So I come to thee internets so that you can help me push my sister in the right direction.

Help me out internets. I know you’ll make me proud.