Grown men and hand puppets do not mix.

Ok, so I've been dating this guy G since January. He seems like an ok guy, pretty interesting at times, holds open doors, likes music even more than I do. We have a nice time together on the weekends when we can see each other. But today, something changed. We spent the day digging for treasures at the local Goodwills, checking out the local places I've been hearing about for a year, and just kind of hanging out together. He decides we should go walk around a mall (cuz you know me, I'm an avid mall walker...or not) and so we do. A few stores and laps later, I'm bored and ready to leave, but decide I want to take a quick peek at Crate and Barrel. So, in we go, and I'm instantly enamored by all of the cool, fun gadgets they have. I'm strolling along, doing my own thing, when I hear him say "Hey, check this out!" I turn towards him, expecting him to be holding some great serving dish that will be perfect for the business I just finished telling him about. To my surprise, he was holding two oven mitts. To my horror, he started to put on a puppet show and talk really really loud. I am dying of embarrassment at this point, feeling all eyes in the store piercing my back like laser beams. As if that wasn't embarrassing enough, some snotty, preppy, middle class yuppy blurts out "Excuse me, I'd like to see the dish towels while you do your puppet show somewhere else." It's official, I can never show my face in this store again. I flashed the "you-better-put-those-things-away-right-this-second" look and quickly scurried to another section while Mr. Julia Childs was neatly hanging up his puppet friends. Needless to say, that was about an hour ago and I am now comfortably resting at home...very much alone. Probably the way it should be, for honest to blog, grown men and hand puppets just don't mix.

I'm hooked and I can't stop staring...

Oh baby, I wanna get with ya...you know how the song goes! But that's not what this post is about. I am hooked on reality TV...well all TV if we're being honest to blog. My interests vary from American Idol to Jericho to One Tree Hill to Grey's Anatomy to Top Chef to Biggest Loser to Heroes to pretty much anything TLC or Bravo. Sometimes these shows have been known to consume me...and that's where the problem lies! Tonight I found myself fretting over the AI outcome and predicting what Simon would have said had things not turned out as they did....wait, what, seriously!?! It hit me on the phone...I am all too consumed with television. What the heck is wrong with me??? Oh wait, I'm not alone in this battle? Good. Cuz I know somedays you feel like Meredith is your person. And occassionally you find yourself yelling unimaginable phrases at your innocent tvs or computer screens, right? I thought so. And you see qualities in men who can fly that you'd like to find in...ahem, a real man whose sole super hero power is being able to put the toilet seat down or remembering your birthday? So what is it about tv that is so consuming? For me, it's a sense of routine, familiarity, escape. I'll freely admit, I love coming home for certain shows, like an eager pet who is just waiting for you to get home to love it and play with it. And I find myself wishing that the men and women on my screen would walk into my life and things would be grand. And sometimes I just don't want to deal with the crap going on in my life, but I'm overly antsy to stick my nose into Claire's latest death defying drama. And each time Jake gets himself into trouble, I laugh because I remeber how he got out of the last pickle. I remember who he's kissed and who crushes on him and know who he belongs with. Because for 40 some odd minutes (stupid commercials) I can forget that I had a bad day or that I've got a relationship to figure out and I can focus on someone else's "life." But in the end, I realize the one thing that trumps the BFFs and the drama and the McDreamys...that the people in my life are truthfully far better than any character I could ever find on tv. And that, my friends, is worth coming home to every night.

Sick. And then some.

I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it seems to go straight for my lungs. For the second time in six months, I have an upper respiratory infection, which apparently is concerning to the doctors. So, I'm on a strong steroid with lots of fluids and rest. And I'm Vitamin D deficient, along with most of America apparently. Vitamin D is produced in our skin when we are exposed to the sun and helps our immune systems, bones, joints, and more. Research has shown it is also effective at reducing the risks for many different cancers. Sign me up! My doctor shared his personal experience with the vitamin to me yesterday...two years ago he read a study on the benefits of Vitamin D and decided to try it out for himself. With hundreds of people coughing, sneezing, and sniffling on him daily, you'd think he'd get sick all the time, right? Wrong! Notsomuch as a cold in over two years! Sold. Your doctor can check your blood levels to see where you're at (32 is the goal, his was at 54 a couple of weeks ago). So, starting yesterday, I'm taking 2000 i.u. of Vitamin D daily. Worth a shot I figure! In the meantime, I have to follow up with a new doctor in 1-2 weeks, who will probably refer me to someone else to get this respiratory thing figured out. The funniest part to me is when they ask if I'm a smoker and I reply "never," to which they always seem surprised, haha!

One more thing...happy birthday to this incredible lady and welcome home to this guy:

Spring is in the air!

Ahhh, I love this time of year! The warmth of the sun permeating the layers of ice and chill covering my bones. The robins flitting around. The bullfrogs and crickets harmonizing as the sun goes down. Me outrunning the cops.

Wait, what!?! Yes, call me Thelma or Louise, today was my day to skirt the law! Maybe there was something in the air. Ok, so let me explain. The morning started out like any other...I did not want to get up for work, but begrudgingly dragged my butt out of bed and got ready. I, for whatever reason (maybe just so I could blog about it, who knows!) decided to take an alternate route to work. Twenty minutes and two miles of progress later, I quickly scrapped my plans and turned around to take my normal route. At this point I knew I would be late or at the very least cutting it extremely close, so I might have had a bit of a lead foot. Seriously, I never see a cop on my new route, so I thought nothing of it. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dreaded blue and red flashing lights flicker to life at the top of an entrance ramp. Crap. I panicked, not gonna lie. I quickly merged into the middle lane, keeping a watchful eye on the SUV no doubt barrelling in my direction. I decided to abruptly take the upcoming exit...smooth, huh? Like that doesn't scream "HERE I AM!". Seriously. As I inched up the ramp, my hands were trembling and I prayed that the red and blue flecks would not become massive globes of doom in my rear view mirror. And just as I came to a halt at the top of the ramp, I glanced to my left only to have one of those slow motion movie moments....the brief flash of the sheriff in the far right lane, slowed down...but passing the exit! I half expected to see the sheriff shaking his fist in disgust at me as he crept by. Oh thank you Lord! I was relieved....no, beyond relieved. I felt...alive! Like I had just pulled off the biggest heist in history and gotten away with it. Like I could be the star of Oceans 14. Haha, can you tell I walk on the wild side? Ha! Ok really I was just glad I wouldn't have to shell out a Sure, some may say that he might not have even been after me, but that really doesn't make a good story, now does it? So someday I'll sit my kids down and tell them the story of the day their mom outran the law. Has a nice ring to it, don't you agree???

Moral of the story though: karma will get ya in the end. It's not all glory and deviance, I ended up being late for work and am now getting sick. AND the exit I took only had a westbound ramp, so I had to go back a mile in order to turn around and head the right way. There's a slight possibility I might have slumped down in my seat each time I passed the 6 freakin cops I saw on the rest of the drive, totally looking like an idiot in case there was an APB out on me. Sheesh. I fought the law...but the law won. Oh well.

Beautiful Disaster

I figure this is an appropriate title, in many ways, for my first official post. Hang in there, we'll have this down in no time! Welcome to the first installation of my lil' ol' blog. This will either be a beautiful thing or a complete disaster (it's all coming together now, isn't it!?!), but if you dare to join me on the adventure, it could be fun.

To my friends, welcome! I hope to be able to share little bits and pieces of my life with all of you, no matter where you are...and you are scattered throughout the country! To anyone else whom I have not had the pleasure of encountering yet, I hope you get something out of my blog...laughter, kindness, inspiration, amusement, boredom, perplexity, disdain, happiness...whatever it may be, I welcome you with open arms...and nimble fingers!

Ok, so basic recap of....well, me. I am a 27 year old, Midwest living, working, dating, music loving, kind, funny, intelligent, generous, creative, moody, traveling, roller coaster hating, stubborn, compassionate, Kelly Clarkson loving, outgoing...woman. Sometimes. Other times I feel like a lost little girl, trying to find a place in this world (thanks T. Swift). You'll probably come to know more about me than you ever care to, but take it or leave it, that's up to you. If you want to know something, all you have to do is ask and you shall receive.

So now brace yourself for the ride, if you'll join me. The good, the bad, and the ugly, you're gonna get it all. Have a great day, one and all!

Peace out girl scouts!
JR