Jesus was a chick?

Had a crazy day at work, then drove down for Taylor's baccalaureate service tonight. They had some students pray, and the girl doing the invocation said, "... most of all, we're thankful for Your Son, who was born as a woman... I mean, born from a woman..." Hahahaha! Is it irreverent to laugh out loud during a prayer?

Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with Alisa, Shauna and Amy for a bit at ATU, then head to NLR for a meeting. Hope the tornadoes stay far, far away from my hotel room tonight.

Oh, and a disclaimer about my blog: it's purely for entertainment. Most of it is accurate, but I have been known to embellish the truth a bit for both humor and story flow. So please stop taking me so seriously, k? I am my mother's daughter. If a true story is funny, adding details that didn't happen might make it funnier.

Rest of the pics from tonight are here.

Weekend update

First of all, Happy belated Mother's Day to all of the special women in my life. Yesterday was a sad day for me because I've really, really been missing my Mom lately. Mostly when I need to vent. Or when I need someone to tell me I'm really special, even if I don't feel special. So yesterday I was bummed because I miss Mom, but I was also grateful for all of the outstanding women God's given me to pick up the slack. My grandmother, who tells me to take care of myself (and makes me crazy). My aunt Kathy, who tells me what to do, but only when I ask. My surrogate Mom Estella, who teaches me how to cook and gives me work advice. Even friends like Sorne, Kelly, Alisa and Shauna, who are loyal to me, even when I'm a jerk. I am supremely blessed!

LB and I haven't kissed, but we did make up. We're making our way back to being really good friends and figuring out what that means for us. He's really an amazing, wonderful person and I'm lucky to have him in my life in any capacity. I mean that. (Of course, that doesn't mean I'm ready to go to his wedding, but I'll get there.) If nothing else, this past week has proven to me how much I mean to him, which is flattering.

Work continues to be a big struggle, but I'm trying to learn my lessons. I've made a lot of mistakes these past few months and some of the things I've had to do haven't been easy. But sometimes you have to speak out, even if it's hard. Sometimes you have to be silent, even when you don't want to be. And sometimes you have to take the blame for things that aren't your fault. I suppose that's part of being an adult.

Ugh. I can't believe it's Monday. Long week ahead! And five days of more rain is really gonna suck.

Russ-vegas

Today was a great day in many ways because I got to see three of my favorite people in the whole wide world: Alisa, Amy and Shauna. We enjoyed lunch at our favorite place, Italian Gardens, and we ordered the same things we always do. We talked for two hours (we did do some work, in case you were wondering), and our waitress quickly crossed the line from attentive to annoying.

It was the first time I've seen them in months, so we had a lot of catching up to do. About work. About family. About LB.

Shauna and Alisa have recommended that I profess my like for the boy by sticking my tongue in his ear Saturday night. Yeah, I don't see that happening, but I am gearing up for an opportunity this weekend, and I hope I'll have the courage to take it.

So here's your task for the day... I'm soliciting advice about what to say, how to say it, and where. Post some comments, please. I'm totally serious. Obviously I can't be trusted.

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.

The long way home

Jen's probably the only one who cares, but I'll try to update my blog for the rest of the masses who might care about what's going on in my life.

I've been in Central Arkansas since Friday, and I got the brilliant idea to go home north by northwest this morning rather than my normal west then north route, which showcased the beautiful fall foliage but made my trip 4.5 hours from Little Rock to Siloam. It was a gorgeous drive, but by the time I got back to my beloved NWA, I napped through the entire Cowboys game. Turns out that wasn't such a tragedy.

To catch you up, I was a moron who gave myself a mere 24 hours to recover from anesthesia and being sliced open with a large knife, so I presided over a day-long meeting on Wednesday and marched into the very large home office of the world's largest retailer on Thursday to pretend that I'm a big girl with marketing prowess. Luckily both meetings went well and were very productive, but I was in pain for the whole two days that I pretended to be invincible. Sometimes the Superwoman cape feels a bit snug.

On Friday I stopped in Russellville to say hello to Alisa and Shauna before meeting my friend Erin for coffee in Conway to discuss politics, violence on college campuses and the need for responsible choices. Oh, and world peace. When you're getting ready for a pageant interview you have to work that in, right? Joe and I had dinner at Kobe on Friday evening (he brought me some gorgeous pink roses because he's amazing).

Yesterday I spent six hours talking to people from all over the state who want to be teachers. Okay, I talked to two. So it was a very long day, saved by the fact that two pals from the Center of Learning were there to catch me up on my former coworkers and eat lunch with me so I didn't look like such a loser. Then, last night, I went to dinner with my good friends Dave and Brent at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Sonny Williams.

Now I'm home, punch drunk from the long nap and needing to do laundry. But at least inquiring minds no longer need to wonder what's new with me. Not much.

Mountain party

Yesterday Scott and Alisa hosted a party on Nebo for Mike and Shauna, Thomas and Amy, and me (plus everyones' kids). Scooter made some fantastic gumbo and we sat out by the fire and talked. It was so much fun!

Isn't Madison precious?!?



Scott and Alisa



Preston, Madison and Joe

Perfect weather, perfect friends

It's been a very long day and I'm tired, so I don't have much to say tonight. I do want to report, however, that my weekend at Nebo was about as perfect as it could have been. I don't get to see my Tech friends as much as I'd like, but it's great to know that I've been gone for over eight years and we still hang out and visit and have a great time, no matter how much time has passed.

Scott and Alisa put out quite the spread all weekend, making homemade sushi for dinner on Saturday night, and hosting a shrimp boil for my birthday last night. Thomas and Amy and Mike and Shauna were able to join us with their families, and we had a fabulous time. The weather was perfect, the food amazing, and the company was flawless.

Everyone's kids are growing way too fast, and this is the first time I've ever seen Madison, who is one of the cutest little girls ever. I'll write more tomorrow about the weekend, but for now, please watch the video of the party.

Thanks for a great time!

Where everybody knows your name

God has truly blessed me with amazing friends. And you know you have good friends when months or even years can go by without seeing them and when you finally sit down, it's as if nothing ever changed.

I was lucky enough to have the greatest job of my life right out of college. Granted, I wasn't making a fortune, but I got to travel all the time and work with three fabulous women. Shauna, my boss at the time, was only a couple of years older than me, but I learned so much from her about having high standards and holding people accountable.

Amy, Alisa and I used to travel together, laugh together, and sing Jimmy Buffett songs to the top of our lungs in the car on the way to eating lunch together nearly every day. In the three years that the three of us worked together, we formed a lasting friendship.

It's been eight years since I worked with those three, and although there are three new children since then (none of whom belong to me), so much is the same. I still talk to Alisa three or four times a week, but I don't talk to Shauna that often, and I haven't seen Amy in over two years.

Today we ate lunch at Italian Gardens, one of our old favorite lunch places. We all ordered exactly the same thing as we did eight years ago, and we talked about mostly the same stuff.

Sometimes you do want to go where everybody knows your name. Or at least the people who matter. Those who knew you when, loved you then, and love you now.

Girls... thanks for the fantastic day!

{There you go, Amy... your first shout-out on the 'Drivel.' If we hung out more often, I could talk about you more!}