If I get one more e-mail asking me if I wanna hook up tonight, be like Ron Jeremy or letting me know I won a free Wii, I’m gonna hurt someone. Seriously. I HATE SPAM! I know we all do, but it’s ridiculous. Yes, silly me actually checks the Spam/Junk mail folder occasionally to see if something slipped in there that shouldn’t have. Usually not, but since I am job hunting and all I have to check. (Jen, should there be a comma after ‘all’? I was the worse about extra commas in my writing while in school. For those of you who want to know yourselves, check it out here.)

Anyway, that’s my beef for today. Freakin’ spamalot.

That title just popped into my head. It could be because I am in the middle of a Dawson’s Creek episode where Joey is staging a student protest against the Board of Superintendents or something like that. But don’t tell anyone. That’s my little secret every morning at 9 (or Tivo’d and watched that night).

Well, I have recently returned from a whirlwind, wonderful vacation back in ‘Bama. It was jam packed with friends, family, hairdressers, dogs and THE GIRLS’ BEACH TRIP! Whew! I didn’t get to see everyone that I wanted to, but I saw a lot of people in the week or so that I was there. To recap a bit, I drove 12 hours to Montgomery two Mondays ago. Tuesday was spent seeing my dad and visiting Liz in the hospital. Wednesday I watched Dad, Marcus and Jeff play golf, had lunch and then stopped by the hospital to see Liz. She was in labor, waiting on that little baby to make her appearance. At 2:42 (I believe), she did. And she’s a beaut! Wednesday night I went to visit her and meet her daughter. Liz was a little out of it, so it was nice to chat with Tomma and company when she came up. Thursday we left for the beach! It was sooo nice to see all the girls again..some I hadn’t seen since last year, some I had never seen before. lol. We had a great 4 days in Destin, FL and Tomma couldn’t have planned a better trip. The girls were awesome, I made some new friends, we ate good food, and they partied like rock stars. I was a wuss pretty much every night and went back to the hotel to read my book. Ah, such is the life of an old fart. 😉 I loved every minute of it! Monday was spent seeing Liz’s new house, playing with baby and then heading back to have dinner with Anna. We ate at Salsarita’s and the food and company was excellent! Tuesday I was off to Birmingham for the day…to visit the old work place, get my hair done by my favorite hairdresser in all the world (her name is Gabi, she’s at DL Salon in Vestavia City Center, she’s GREAT, she’s reasonably priced and you should check her out: 205-823-9993) and have dinner with Lee. I visited all my friends at Hubbard and got to have lunch with Mary Beth and Darin. After my hair appt, I had dinner with Lee, Kelly, Jenny and Adam. That was TOO much fun! I miss my Bham peeps in a big way. Wednesday I had lunch with Virgie and Jennifer back in Montgomery, stopped by to say Bye to Tomma and got a new cell phone. Well, as it turns out, Tomma and I went out that night and had a blast at The Keys. I hadn’t been there in forever and we rocked the house. Brenda and Sabrina came out to visit for a while and we sang and danced until the wee hours of morning. Tomma had me sing a bunch of karaoke songs that I had never done before and it was HILARIOUS! It was a good thing that there weren’t many people in there. Who knew I could do the Jamaican accent on “It Wasn’t Me”? Thursday I went to watch Dad, Jeff and Marcus play golf again and then I got on the road. I stopped for the night somewhere in TN (I think) and got home Friday afternoon. Ashley and I went to the Indigo Girls concert Sunday night at Wolf Trap and that was great! I’ve never really listened to them, but they were amazing. It was just them with their guitars.

I didn’t take any pics at the beach (uh, not sure why), but here are a few pics from the past few weeks (WI, AL, DC). I didn’t want to put too many on here, so I am going to upload most to a picture hosting site. I’ll let you know when I get those done. The first pics are of McKenna Reese, the next one is the Library of Congress here in D.C. and the last is an old church in Milwaukee, WI. I’m fascinated with old buildings…esp. churches. And for a cheap camera, I think those pics came out very nice. I’m gonna postcard them babies up! j/k

More to come. I have a CRAPLOAD of pictures to get off my camera from my going away parties 3 months ago(!!!) and more. I swear I’m going to get them off. I’m pretty much spending my time job hunting so if you have any leads in D.C., please send them my way. lol.

Also, I want to send a very special congrats out to Jen and Liz. Beautiful babies from those two!

I went to WI a few weeks ago and took a few pics and some videos. Here’s my niece Lily (Bean) letting me know where the cat (Tweaker) is and trying not to make a mess with her cereal (which I fixed for her…I’m SO mom material…yes, just because I fixed her breakfast….and babysat her until mom got up….and watched mom change a diaper – not hers….from afar….and I know CPR….sorta). Surprisingly, I can understand every word she’s saying, although it took me a few days to learn her language.

Enjoy!

I have decided what my favorite sound is. It has taken me 32 years and I wasn’t privy to it for most of those years, but now that I’ve heard it I love it. I giggle every time I hear it…and it’s not a song! (surprise, surprise)

If you get prescriptions from CVS and have refilled them over the phone via their automated system then you’ve heard my favorite sound. Once you punch in your RX number the automated attendant (male in this case..a nice change) tells you to hold on while they find that prescription. Then you hear the cutest sound ever. It’s hard to describe, but here’s an idea: a small suction cup that is being constantly pulled off of something. It’s just a cute “boing, boing boing, boing” but the sort of noise I imagine blowfish making.

So that’s my sound. If you haven’t heard it, transfer a med over to CVS or refill one on the telephone sometime and pay close attention. It’ll make you smile.

It doesn’t take much to entertain me. Or make me happy (in this case).

Name that movie!

Hello to everyone out there in Bloggerville! How the heck ARE you? Me, I’m still alive (as you can tell). I know some of you were wondering and I apologize for the wait. I’m finally back – in a new house, a new state, and a new state of mind.

I moved to Virginia at the beginning of June. The move was a bit stressful, but went pretty smoothly nonetheless. On top of all that, we got a new addition to the family the night before I left. Lucy, a lab mix, needed a new home and we took her. Here’s a pic of our cute new daughter. She’s a little younger than Millie (my 3 year-old Chihuahua) and a lot bigger (Millie is 7 lbs., Lucy is about 25). They adjusted nicely to each other and Millie loves having a sister to play with now. I think they both like their new home. Mark and Sarah – thank you. She misses you all.

So, what have I been doing since here? Exploring. Getting familiar with my surroundings. Trying to find the grocery store, CVS, Home Depot, Lowe’s, post office, library, DMV…you know, all the essential stuff. You have to do A LOT to get your driver’s license here and to register and title your car. You also have to register your dogs (????). I have yet to do that one. We live about 20 minutes from D.C. in a beautiful 3-level townhouse that Ashley bought. We’re still unpacking and getting stuff set up. Our stuff came a week after we did and I’ve spent the last week in Wisconsin, so it’s been slow going in getting everything unpacked. But it’s getting there.

I’ve done some cool things since being here (totally touristy, but who cares? lol). We went on an Odyssey dinner cruise and saw the sights of D.C. aboard a beautiful boat with GREAT food, went to Adams Morgan (think New Orleans but cleaner and safer) and Madams Organ one weekend, headed to Baltimore one weekend and ended up going to an Orioles game on the fly (too much fun!), went to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, but got pulled toward the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Reflecting Pool and the White House. I couldn’t stop gawking. The Monument is amazing…especially for just being a tall, ordinary structure. It’s breathtaking to stare straight up at it with the sun behind it. Trust me…try it. While I was wandering around the Mall that day I saw a guy with a “Free Hugs” sign – part of the Free Hugs Campaign. I believe my friend Jen C. was the first place I saw the video and I believe I have it on my MySpace. Here is the link again if you missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

You know I went up and got a free hug! It was so inspiring. I am seriously thinking of doing the same one weekend at the Mall. It’s just a wonderful idea and campaign.

Now that I’m back from WI and settling in again, it’s time to find a job. If you want to keep an eye/ear out for me for jobs in D.C., VA, MD, I would appreciate it so much. And if you feel like throwing any names/companies my way, I’ll be glad to take them.

I’m heading back to AL next month to visit with friends, family and go on the girls’ beach trip. I can’t wait! It will be so nice to see the old gang again. I miss you all so much, but am enjoying this part of the country. Being here just makes you want to get active in something/for something – I’ve seen quite a few rallies and protests at the Capitol already. Amazing.

I should be on here more often now that I’m back and online at home. Once I find that elusive job I may not be on as much, but you know I’ll be back. Thank you for all the support, the calls, the e-mails and the inquiries as to my whereabouts. lol.

Until next time….