101 Reasons I HATE Winter

Okay so I couldn't come up with 101 but I did come up with 38. Not bad. Just not bad at all. I'm so glad that spring is soon approaching!!!

1.) Darkness. Getting off work at 5:00 in the dark is one of the most depressing things.
2.) Dry Skin. I go through lotion like nobody's business
3.) Wearing Bulky Winter Clothes
4.) Slipping on Ice
5.) Being cold even when indoors
6.) Dirty/Black Snow
7.) Chapped Lips
8.) Nature Dies
9.) Dirty snow mounds that last for weeks in shopping mall parking lots
10.) Dangerous Road Conditions
11.) Winterizing Your Car
12.) Having to scrape ice off of the car in the morning
13.) Shoveling the Driveway
14.) Having snow but not a snow day - Work must go on.
15.) Having a constant runny nose when outdoors.
16.) Static Electricity – Getting Shocked is the worst
17.) Being Pale – I refuse to go tanning so I’m stuck with looking like a ghost all winter
18.) Weight gain – This tends to happen more in the winter since I am not as active.
19.) Can’t go swim in the lake after work unless I want to freeze my butt off
20.) Cannot read outside in the park
21.) Can only do indoor picnics and not ones outside in the sunshine
22.) Can’t drive with the windows down
23.) Comfy summer clothes (flip-flops, sundresses, shorts, etc.) cannot be worn
24.) Outdoor walks or runs can’t be down comfortably
25.) The sky is ALWAYS gray
26.) Freezing Rain
27.) Salt crusts to the car
28.) 18-Wheelers fling crud on the car when driving (dirty snow, ice, salt water, etc.)
29.) Electric bill is higher due to heating costs
30.) Dangerous walk ways
31.) Windburn
32.) Have to buy more expensive winter apparel
33.) Lack of color – everything seems gray
34.) Wet feet when suede boots are worn
35.) Getting into a freezing car
36.) Waiting for the car to warm up
37.) Flu Season
38.) Increase in laundry due to bigger clothes – take up more space in the washer

I Have a Dream

It's January...not that anything too exciting happens in January. It's actually my least favorite month out of the entire year. Although January can be dreary, one holiday of note that takes place within the cold, gray month is Martin Luther King Jr. day. This holiday occurs on every third Monday in January to honor the spokesman who made a huge impact on the Civil Rights movement. I never really thought much of this day. It was more of a "black person" holiday. Not to sound racist, but it was. Getting back to the main point . . . I came to realize just how important this day meant. One of King's most famous lines to any one of his speeches was "I have a dream." Four simple words that placed beside one another in a sentence invoke a sense of hope and freedom. Dreams are something that I can't seem to get away from. I just watched the new Disney movie "Tangled" the other night where Rapunzel sings about her dream to see the floating lights. I can't seem to get the Mamma Mia song, "I have a dream" out of my head either. I guess it got me thinking about what real dreams I have. Of course I have my dreams to travel and see the world. The only problem with that is it takes an extreme amount of money. Dr. Falwell would always say, "what would you try to accomplish if you knew you could not fail?" I have a hard time trying to answer that question. Start my own business maybe? For some reason I feel like I don't have the drive for that and after watching the government pretty much steal my father's self-owned businesses money I'm not sure I could handle the responsibility. What would I try if I knew I would succeed? Travel the world one country at a time.

The Leg Warmers

Leg Warmers. What era do most Americans associate with leg warmers? If you guessed the 80's then you are like most Americans. This weekend I had the opportunity to head to Richmond and experience a band like none other. Let me give you a little background information . . . Jessica, a girl I a work with, was turning 25 this weekend. We have become pretty close at work, since we are in an office full of nerdy guys. The situation only lends itself for us to get to know each other well. She invited me to her birthday party where it would be 8 other girls including Jessica of which I didn't know any of them except for her and one other girl. I graciously accepted and asked if my best friend Jessica C. could also come along. I needed a wingman. We'll call Jessica C. J Carn because it might get confusing if I don't. I hadn't decided what concert I was going to go to in January, so this seemed to work out perfectly. We left work at 4:00pm on Friday and hopped in a car headed to Richmond with Kellie, Jessica, J. Carn, and Mandi. We got dressed up in some pretty awesome 80's gear that we found at Rugged Warehouse a couple days before which did include leg warmers. I spent over 40 bucks on stuff I will never wear again including bright pink Apple Bottom High top sneakers. Yipes! We got two rooms at the Double Tree which was pretty sweet. There were a total of ten girls. Kim, the planner and leader of this whole escapade, called The National (The venue where the concert was) two days before and tried to get tickets purchased in advance. The guy laughed at her and said, "This show will not sell out." So we thought we were in the clear. We take a shuttle from the hotel to the venue and come to find out Mr. Rude Phone Guy was wrong. It was sold out. Kellie and Kim had been on the street corner in 14 degree temperatures without a jacket scalping tickets to this band no one has ever heard of. We were fortunate to get 8 tickets before the second group got there. But we were short 2. J Carn and I hit the streets asking people for tickets like little beggars. It's funny how crappy people will treat you when you're asking them for something. It's like we were asking them to cut off one of their limbs and give it to us for 20 bucks. I asked a skeevy guy for tickets and he tells me to follow him to a parking garage so I did like an idiot. Then I see these nice women walking across the street before I get to the garage and accost them for tickets. She said she had one extra so I follow her and pay her 20 bucks for a complimentary ticket that she got for free. My job was done...and I scored my ticket. We just needed one more. We walk from corner to corner asking people with no luck. Finally we cross this little old lady whose as sweet as sweet can be and she sells us her ticket for twenty bucks. EUREKA! We've got them! We went from zero to 10 tickets in an hour and 1/2. We were on top of the world. Now for the band. Boy do I have stories to tell! The band was freakin awesome. They did every 80's song you could ask for in a span of 3 1/2 hours of which we danced our hearts out the entire time. We made new friends, danced in the aisles, head banged, made idiots of ourselves and had an amazing night. After the ridiculously awesome concert we went back to the hotel. I ordered two pizzas because I was starving and pizza is always amazing at 2 in the morning. We talked till three about life, love and happiness and poured out our souls. The next morning we went to Trader Joe's of which I've never been and Dave and Buster's for lunch where I won 696 tickets with the help of some guy who handed me about 400 just cause. It was a great weekend. I think I need to do this more often.

2011 - A New Year, A Fresh Start

January 1st always marks the beginning of a new year. Resolutions are made that tend to be broken within the first week of the new year. I have always been one to make a new year's resolution come December 31st at 11:59 pm. This year I wanted to make it a little different. I made a list of 5 specific goals I want to keep. If I don't meet those goals, then I guess I can consider 2011 a failure. Here's my list:

5 Things to Accomplish in 2011

1. Move out of my Hometown – I’ve lived here for 23 years….it’s time to get out

2. Lose weight – 20 lbs. perhaps. What New Year’s resolution would be complete without having some kind of weight loss goal?

3. Finish my Master’s Degree – I got this far, I might as well finish it.

4. Make the trek to the Emerald Isle – Ireland. I wanna go. I’m gonna do it.

5. Land a job I actually enjoy – I’ve been stuck in a job I highly dislike
for almost two years, and I’d rather be doing something I actually like.