My Unfavorite Holiday Game

I have decided that the famous ‘gift exchange’ at holiday parties is my least favorite game of the season. I’m not talking about your casual gift exchange among family and friends. I am talking about the gift exchange where you pile all of the gifts in front of the group and everyone takes a number to see in what order everyone chooses a gift from the pile. This is the exchange where you may choose to steal someone else’s present or open a new gift when it comes to your number. One gift can only be stolen up to three times. There are a couple of reasons why I don’t like this game. The first one being, I think the spirit of the season should be more about giving and sharing rather then stealing and choosing the ‘biggest, shiniest gift under the tree’. When I think of Christmas I think of the birth of Christ, spending time with my family and giving to my loved ones. I don’t like the constant ‘it’s all about me’ theme that seems to surround Christmas. Now granted, it may seem like I am blowing the idea of this game out of proportion. I realize that it’s all in good fun. However, this is just one reason why I personally don’t like it. The second reason I am not a fan of this game is that it takes FOREVER to get through it. Last night I went to an IAAP meeting (International Association of Administrative Professionals). We played the ‘Exchange Game’ at the party. There were over 40 people at this party. So that meant that we had to get through over 40 people selecting AND opening a present, or stealing a present. I found that at the beginning we went through the numbers at a fairly quick pace. But as we approached number 25, the game got progressively slower and slower until we were almost at a complete stand still. The problems arose when a person decided to steal a present. After someone steals a present, the person they stole it from can either steal someone else’s present or choose a new one for them self to open. Most of them were choosing to steal someone else’s present, therefore setting off the snowball cycle of stolen presents. Meaning we could never get to the next number because everyone who got ‘stolen’ from kept stealing right back. It was endless! I think it took us upwards of TWO HOURS to get through this game! So be forewarned…if you are looking for the ‘Gift Exchange Game’, you probably don’t want to come to any of my Christmas parties.

Black is the New Blonde.

I dyed my hair jet black today. I have been wanting to do this for quite a while now but have been scared to. I finally took the plunge...and discovered that I actually like it! I have a few friends who will probably kill me for doing it (you know who you are). I just had highlights put in a few weeks ago when I got my hair cut, but I didn't really like them that much. I couldn't really tell any difference from what my hair color looked like before.

So now I am the black haired woman. :)

Modern Technology...Not So Helpful

When I was at the airport this weekend I came across an interesting dilemma. Have you ever tried to use the restroom with your carry-on luggage in tow? Let’s just say….it’s not an experience I enjoy. I will begin by saying that modern technology is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Automatic flushing toilets are Satan. Let’s look at this scenario. I am trying to stuff myself in to this tiny bathroom stall with BOTH my carry-on bags in tow. So basically once me and my bags are inside, there is sitting room only. I discover that my lock, of course, is broken. So I assume the position with one arm holding the door shut, with my feet on top of the bags that are piled directly in front of me. I go to sit down and do my business and in mid-pee I get an unexpected shower from the oh-so-helpful automatic toilet flush….that likes to flush whenever it darn well pleases. So not only do I get the spray of joy, but when I AM finished it doesn’t flush and I have to find that little button thing that you push to flush in manually. Then comes the task of getting myself OUT of the stall with the luggage. Not so useful that the doors open INTO the stall that is already packed with the toilet, your body, and your two carry-ons. I finally squeeze myself out with the luggage in tow to get to the ‘automatic sinks’. The sinks do come on on command; however, your two choices of water temperature are scalding, or boiling. I go to stick my hand under the ‘automatic soap dispenser’ and there is no soap in any of them. So I go back to boiling my hands in hopes that the millions of nasty germs I’m sure to have picked up in the disgusting bathroom will have been burned off. Then I proceed to go to a café in the airport to get my $10.00 turkey sandwich. As I sit there eating I am pondering all of these things, and just how ‘useful’ modern technology has turned out to be.

Can I Extend My Vacation?

If I had it my way, I would be on vacation forever. I am coming back to the Springs tomorrow. I have been in Indiana the past 5 days and enjoying every minute of it. :) I have been able to spend some amazingly wonderful time with my dad and aunts and uncles and even a little time with my grandparents. It's been a whirlwind, but relaxing at the same time. I needed a break so badly. I have been pushing myself really hard with this new job and stressing myself out with so many other things lately too...this vacation came at a perfect time! I am just not ready to go back yet! That whole being a responsible adult thing gets in the way too much, so alas, I will be back late tomorrow night. :) I will give a little recap of my trip so far.

I got in Thursday afternoon (Thanksgiving) and dad and I went over and had Thannksgiving dinner with my Uncle Brian, Aunt Missy, my 4 cousins, and my Uncle David and Aunt Dana. Then we went and visited Dad's best friend Tony and his wife and 2 year old son. (Tony is like my 3rd dad, he is WONDERFUL). Friday we woke up, and dad took me to his 2 different office locations. This guy names Leonard who has worked in for the family business for like 40 years cooked dad and I this amazing lunch at the office. Then dad and I cruised around and did some site seeing all over the place. Later Friday night dad and I went bowling. I bowled a 114 the first game and a steadt 90 the next two. Dad totally smoked me. :) Saturday Dad and I got up and he took me to see my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle on my mom's side. They live about an hour away from Dad in Shelbyville. We were there most of the morning then headed back to Anderson and took a WONDERFUL 2 hour nap before having a nice dinner in Indianapolis with my aunt and uncle. Sunday (today) we got up and went to church then went out to lunch with Tony and and another friend of dad's. Then we went to visit my dad's uncle pat and my dad's other friends Barney and Sandy that I remeber from when I was a really little kid. We also stopped by my uncle David's house for a while after that. Then we headed over to Tony's house where he and his wife made us dinner and their two year old son Landon entertained us for about an hour afterward with his sweet dance moves. :) It was great!

It has been a wonderful time of visiting with wonderful family and friends. And not having to work for a few days has been great. I know I have an extremely busy next few weeks coming up at work so I am prepping myself for work mode again. But I sure am thankful for the great time I've had on this trip. I miss family so much living in Colorado. Colorado is wonderful, but it's tough having no family around. Luckily I have super close friends out there who are just like family to me who get me through until my visits. :) Coming home tomorrow Colorado. :)

Gobble Gobble!

SOOOOOOOO....it's almost Thanksgiving! At 6am tomorrow morning my airplane leaves Colorado Springs to head to Indiana to see my dad for about 5 days. I can't wait! Although, I am not looking forward to the 3:30am wake up. But it will be worth it! I haven't been to Indiana in a while. It will be good to see Dad and aunts and uncles and grandparents. I am hoping I don't stuff my face too much this year however, as I cannot afford to gain any turkey pounds. I am already getting a lot 'fluffier' then I would like to be. :)

I think it would be nice for me to list the things I am thankful for since that is what Thanksgiving is all about....and I don't know that I will blog again until after I get back. Where to start? I am thankful for so many thing! First and foremost I am thankful for my large and wonderful family. I am thankful for the closess we all share and that everyone for the most part is happy and healthy. I am very greatful for the wonderful friendships I have made since moving to Colorado. I have some amazing people in my life that I just couldn't live without! I am thankful for a roof over my head and food in my mouth and a car that gets me to work every day. I'm thankful for a wonderful job that helps kids all over the world. I'm thankful for life's small lessons, even the hard ones. I'm thankful that God always loves me even when I don't always understand what He's doing with me. There is just so much to be thankful for! I know that for me, it is so easy to get caught up in the stressful things in life and what I don't have. It is good to step back and just see how good God has been and how much He has truly blessed me. :) I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! Have fun with family and friends and eat lots of wonderful food!

A Favorite Friend

So tomorrow is a very special friend of mine's birthday. I was going to write this tomorrow on her actual birthday, but since I know I have a full work load tomorrow...tonight is the night! But I wanted to take some time to be sure and acknowledge a very special friend in my life Mrs. Jessica Worster. :) My friend has been there for me through thick and thin. She has helped me in so many ways and has helped me grow so much since I have moved to the Springs. Her and her husband Dale are two of my best friends in this world and I feel to priveledged to have them in my life. :) There are so many things I admire about Jess. I think the top of the list is her ability to almost always have a cheery disposition no matter what is going on in life. She is an encourager and almost ALWAYS has a positive outlook on life. She is a super funny girl and always has me rolling. :) She is also very beautiful and talented in many ways. I know that when I am an old lady with my false teeth and my bad wig scooting my walker, she will be in a moo moo and curlers right next to me with her cain and purple hair. :) I love you so much my friend! Happy Birthday!

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