It's been a long day

Today was a long day. I left the house at 7:15 - a miracle - to meet a coworker for coffee. From there it was like boom, whack, watch out, slaaaammm, all day long. I was sweating by the end. Like actually sweating at work. From the stress of it all. Who does that?

And as I was pulling into my driveway at 7:15 tonight I thought...
Well, it's been a long day!
Well it's,
been a long,
been a long,
been a long,
Been-a-long daaaaayy!

You don't know that one? I first heard it in junior high when a friend made me a CD titled "Jigga J." It was full of showtunes and I loved it! This particular song is from a show called "How to Succeed in Buiness Without Really Trying." Kind of ironic in the context of my day come to think of it..

In honor of the fact that tomorrow is Thursday. And mostly in honor of the fact that tomorrow I will get my roommate back, I thought I'd share this little ditty with you.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdGuje6Vrxg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(Ps- Link isn't working. Just copy and paste for now.)

2pts to the person that can guess the name of the male singer!

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when I was in Oklahoma

One time, way back when, my tall friend said something about Oklahoma. I told her I'd never been to Oklahoma. Later on I said "when I was in Oklahoma..." and she got really confused. Actually she just called me a liar, but who's counting? She's an accountant. Pun intended :-) The truth is, I was in the play Oklahoma in high school, but had never been to fine state. Confusing, huh?

Well this weekend I decided to finally make the trek. Hubs is still working redic hours, so I decided to pick up and head out of town to see a great friend. One of my bridesmaids to be exact. There were only two that weren't family so you know she must be cool. We never went to school together, haven't lived in the same city since high school, and only talk a few times a year. Even with odds against us, we always seem to just pick up where we left off. I knew the quick trip would be worth it so I drove down Saturday morning and back Sunday afternoon. I was only there for 24.5 hours, but we had a great time.

The skies were blue the whole way there and the fields were a rich green as things are just starting to grow for the spring.
"The skies were blue and everything was so green and fragrant I just had to be a part of it!" Not from Oklahoma. That's from SoM. 
It was so pretty! Yes, you just heard me refer to the drive through Kansas and Oklahoma as pretty. Am I imagining things? Have my standards gone down? I need to get to Europe, or at least Colorado, stat. Regardless, I had a good time.


What did we do? Nothing. We ate fabulous bagel sandwiches and caught up on life. We went shopping but I was completely distracted by the KU game.

I ended up watching the play by play on ESPN mobile. I quite literally jumped up and down and might have been potentially obnoxious when Taylor made the final point for the win. Then I thought to myself  I just watched the play-by-play of a college basketball game on my phone for the last hour and a half and didn't look at any of the beautiful trinkets all around. What has my husband done to me?! Oh dear sweet alma mater, I love thee. Within 15 minutes of the winning shot I walked out of a store with $100 worth of clothes. I must shop when I'm happy.

The next morning I got coffee with an old friend from church. Remember the reasons why I love coffee? Yep, still true. It was a great time :-)

Other highlights from the weekend:
Painting my nails lilac
Eating watered down instant rice
Introducing my friend to The Help
Sixty five degree weather
Walking across a wooden bridge and fearing we might blow off
Getting 33MPG there and back

All in all, a great way to spend 24.5 spare hours.

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Today was one of those days. Actually, yesterday was too. And the day before. The kind of day where nothing you put on looks decent. So you end up changing 17-22 times each morning, leaving a trail of clothes in your wake, and walking out the door in slippers because you were so focused on your shirts.

When you finally get around to making your morning coffee you pour it into your mug and realize the dredges are more than dredges. They are full on grounds. The filter fell over again. For shame.

Make another pot. Put on legit shoes. Not "legit" in the social sense of the word. More like an abbreviation for legitimate. Get to work at 9am because it took you 35 minutes to get dressed and 10 minutes to make coffee, and you're automatically behind on the day. Then you feel obligated to blog about it because it is your life. My life. In a nutshell.

Maybe I'll drive to another state tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. Or maybe I won't go at all.

Either way. I should start working now since it's 9:25. Oops.

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Is this real life?

You know the David After the Dentist video? One of my all time favorites :-)

But seriously, what you are about to read is real life.

Yesterday I got a work email announcing a bake-off.
My thought logic:
FUN!
Wait, that's scary. Other people are way better than me. I'll pass.
Whatever. I don't bake to be awesome. I bake cause I'm a sugar-aholic.
So that means I need to bring something.
Well I can't just make my go-to Chocolate Cherry Heart Smarts. Lame. Need to do something more impressive.
No no no. I'm not trying to impress anyone, remember?

So today I'm telling a female friend at my client (women are hard to come by) about the stich-u-ation and the guy next to her chimes in...

"You know what you should definitely NOT bring? Those cupcakes you made last week! Did anyone actually eat one anyway?" *snide laugh*"

Kid. You. Not.

Is this real life? Why yes. It is.
Have I told you lately how much I love working with [pretty much] all men? Cause I do.
Maybe I should make him a chocolate pie. Minny Jackson style.

Oh and for the record, these are said terrible cupcakes. Admittedly could be way better, but also could be way worse.

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rainy night

It's a rainy day, It's a rainy day
Its raining outside and I can't go out to play
Why do we need the rain, anyway?

We need rain because my tulips and daffodils started coming up the first weekend in February. Saturday I bought 8 or so packets of seeds to start the garden. They haven't gone down yet, but the rain is just preparing the ground.

I also love rainy days and nights because it just makes for coziness.

Last night I wanted to have a night in with pizza, a glass of wine, and a chick flick- Pride and Prejudice specifically- but all o' my friends were busy tonight and I couldn't find Pride and Predjuice andywhere. Womp womp. So pup and I ended up cuddling on the couch with banana pancakes and hot tea. This is his "can we go plaaaaay nooooww???" face. I thought about opening the bottle of wine for myself, but decided that might be too pathetic.

Then I started in on the Hunger Games. I had to give up on Water for Elephants halfway through. It was just not for me. I read the Kindle "sample" (first 20 pages) and ordered it in the mail. The paperback was cheaper than the eBook so I'll be waiting for the mail man tomorrow.

Missing my bestie...

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chicken curry in a hurry

When we were growing up my mom occasionally made Chicken Curry in a Hurry. My sister was not a fan of curry so we didn't have it often, but we had it. Always introduce funky flavors to your kids at a young age; it helps them/us acquire the taste later down the road. 

Then when we were sampling food for our wedding the restaurant made a warm chicken curry salad. It was surprisingly tasty. We had it for the big day. Well, I didn't eat it, but it was served. There was a small mishap with the food I was supposed to eat on my wedding day. Another story for another day.

Our neighbors love curry. They had us over once and made this super tasty green curry. At least I think it was green... Either way, it was tasty curry.

Slowly but surely I've been developing a taste for curry. So when I saw this recipe for Curried Chicken Salad with Apples and Raisins on CookingLight.com I decided I needed to try it. Besides, hubs is MIA this week so I can use raisins in my food without being chastised. Not that he does that, but whatever.  

Last night, somewhere between 10:00 and10:30, I made it. 

This morning somewhere between 11:30 and 12:00 I ate it. 

Tasty. Healthly. Filling. Recommended. 

Note: This recipe only makes enough for 2 servings if you're eating it by its lonesome. 4 servings if you're putting it on a sandwich. This is just the right amount for a trial run. 

Coming Soon: DIY art project by yours truly. Hard to imagine, but true. 

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Integrity 101

I just got off the phone a vendor. The short version of the story is that they have a technical issue that has created a loophole for fraudsters. One of our employees discovered it and wants to know what to tell clients. This is what the vendor said:

"Try to be as vague as possible. Just use a little smoke and mirrors."


Am I imagining things? I'm dreaming, right? Oh I'm not? Well then my standard of integrity must be higher than yours. My bad.

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Sandra

My patience today is very thin. 

At any moment I could open a can of sass on your tail. 

This is what I feel like in my head.

(Minus the hot bod)

Stay. Out. Of. My. Way. 

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Capturing moments

I like to read the The Pioneer Woman, you know. I love to watch her cook- but Lord help my husband and I if I ever start cooking her recipes. We'd gain 15 pounds within a week I think. But I love her writing and I love her photography. *Sigh*

Photography is such a wonderful thing. It gives you the ability to capture moments like nothing else can. Writing is a close second, but takes much longer :-) One thing that Ree said on her blog that has stuck with me is that you have to do things worth capturing. In other words, how many worthwhile pictures could I get of my desk, my car, dishes, and laundry? Maybe a few worth blogging, but definitely none worth framing. You have to get out there and do wonderful things with wonderful people! My aunt always said that it's not worth taking a picture without people in it. Now I don't totally subscribe to that, but I do believe pictures of characters are way better than pictures of objects.

So to be able to get a picture of Mack smiling at the dog park, a picture of hubs cheering on his Hawkies (as occasionally calls them), a picture of my sister-in-laws face when she gets near sushi- those moments are worth capturing. And I definitely need to use more than just my cell phone camera when we have chillins someday.

So I need to learn photography. That's all there is to it. Who is gonna teach me? I'm not gonna learn by myself!

Now accepting applications.

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Valentines Day

What is the best part about Valentine's Day?

So many wonderful things to choose from!

Time with my bestie

Chocolate

Flowers

Love songs

And as if those four things don't make me giddy enough...

Heart shaped everything 

Donuts for breakfast

I didn't eat any though

Yes I did. But only one.

Okay fine maybe I had one and a half.

The color pink

But this year I don't get to spend time with my bestie. 

It's hard to be an auditor's wife, I tell ya. 

But you know what? 

It's harder to be an auditor so I'll keep my mouth shut and be supportive.

What happens when you don't get time with your bestie? 

You replace it with equal proportions of chocolate, flowers, and love songs. 

This weekend I made some delicious brownies. 

But only baked them about halfway.
Serious fail. 

They are still good with a spoon though.

Last night I tried to make shortbread. 

I couldn't get the dough to form a ball.
Had to throw it out altogether.
Epic fail. 

 Then I tried to make "Bleeding Heart Cupcakes"

(Read: Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry filling and a strawberry buttercream frosting)

I didn't have the coupler I needed to put in the filling. 

It kinda went everywhere other than the center of the cupcakes. 

But I forged through.

Then I ran out of sugar halfway through the frosting. 

But I had worked too hard and couldn't give up 

so I went to the store and bought more sugar at 11pm on a Monday. 

Don't judge. 

The consistency of the icing suffered because of the time gap. 

Whatever. It still went on top. 

In summary, the cupcakes survived. 

They could be way better, but they could also be worse I guess. 

Either way, they satisfy my need for chocolate and other sugar on V-Day. 

And the donuts didn't hurt either...

So let's get to the point already:

1. What is YOUR favorite thing about valentines day?

2. What is your favorite love song?

("Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx is currently tickling my fancy)

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Glee

OH BOISE!

There are few things I love more than a fantastic song.

Did you watch Glee's tribute to Michael Jackson this week?

I didn't think so.

Stop what you're doing and watch this.

Smooth Criminal

Glee music is flat out amazing.

Allow me to share another.

What is better than Lea Michele? Lea and Idina.

I Dreamed A Dream

Last, but not least

We Are Young

I hope you're grinning ear to ear like I am :-)

Ok okay... you need an encore?

Try "Valerie" or anything with Mercedes

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Isaiah 53

It's helpful to remember the truth.


Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

(Isaiah 53 ESV)

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