Late night gumbo

Wow... it seems like years since my last post. Probably not for all of you, but for me, because I've been all over the state since Tuesday.

I'm exhausted from staying up 'til at least midnight four nights in a row, but I've had a fabulous five days, hanging out with some great new friends and getting to see some great old friends as well.

I won't bore you with too many details about my trip to the state capitol since some of it was dull and some of it not fit to print, but it was memorable both personally and professionally. I got the chance to tour the Clinton library for the first time, and after witnessing my second legislative session ever, I have less confidence in my state government than before. Somebody with a clue please run for office.

Here are some pics of two of my favorite new friends, Terri and Tony (and yes, I have more chins than a Chinese phone book in that second pic... what's up with that?)





Thankfully Schluter was also in the Rock on Thursday, so we got to hang out at the Supreme Court for a bit and then got to visit because we skipped out on the committee meeting we were supposed to attend.

On Friday I got to see my good pals Alisa and Shauna at Tech, as well as my great love, Feltner's Whattaburger.

My friend Paige's husband Bryan made me french toast yesterday morning and we happily ate it while watching Paige do tae bo in the living room. I then had a very rough day of getting a massage, a pedicure, eating cheese dip from Stoby's, going to see Alisa, Grey and Scott at Mount Nebo, and then taking a nap.

Last night I emceed the Miss Lake Dardanelle pageant, after which we went back to Paige and Bryan's and stayed up talking until 3 a.m.

Now I need to be catching up on work because I was gone for three days, but I don't wanna.

Oh, and congratulations to the Hackett Hornets, who won their conference tournament last night 50-29. Taylor et al will be playing in the regional tournament in Danville next week.

Ashleigh vs. Ashley

I am officially tired. Thankfully I only have to make it through a day and 3/4, then I'm on vacay 'til Monday.

The pageant was over a bit after 11 p.m. last night which, when you think about it, was a pretty fast event considering there were 25 contestants and four reigning queens. Have you ever heard four farewell speeches in a row? How many times can a chick say "amazing" before you want to put her out of her rhinestoned misery? I wanted to stand up and scream, "We know. You thank God. You thank your parents. You thank your directors. Let's move on..."

My pal Ashleigh was first runner-up, so she did great. (In the interest of fending off questions from my family [i.e., Dad], this is the Ashleigh who's currently Miss UAFS who I worked with last year. Not the Ashley who helped me move. Moving Ashley is married and pregnant and the Miss America folks frown on that. Pageant Ashleigh's from Bentonville. I don't know what street she lives on or who lived there before her parents. I also don't know her grandparents' names.)

So it was after midnight by the time that I finally got into bed. Between the 5 a.m. garage sale and the midnight pageant, I feel really old.

All I've done today is go to Wal-Mart and watch TV. Now I'm trying to do a bit of laundry and get ready to go "home" on Tuesday.

Another sign that I'm losing my mind

Not only did I get up at 5 a.m. to barter with rednecks, now I'm choosing to spend my Saturday night at the Miss Conway pageant, where there are 25 friggin' contestants. We should crown a winner by Tuesday. Ugh. I'm such a glutton for punishment.