Monday, September 29, 2008

Case of the Mondays?

So today I started out my Monday with a staff meeting. Usually, staff meetings consists of ideas of grandeur; someone gets the bug to change the world and hence our 9 am to 12 pm staff meeting. I did manage to type 3 pages of notes during the whole meeting so I would say that I was able to take something away from it all.

The next phase of my day was at 1 pm at the dentist office. I detest this place the most. I had a horrible experience when I was a young child and have never forgotten it. I am slowly regaining the strength to face this necessary place but it has been a rough road. As I am taken back to my chair I realize that I can't do the appointment. They want to perform whitening today and prep me for a crown tomorrow! Um...just a little problem. I had to leave today for Thare, MO. Anyone ever heard of such a place? I surely haven't. So I ended up rescheduling (whew, off the hook for now).

I have made arrangements to have our sitter come over to watch hun bee so that my husband can drive me to a meeting place. My co-worker is driving us so we have to load all my stuff in her car.

My packing list:
- 1 large suitcase
- 1 large bag full of supplies
- 2 laptops
- 5 hangers worth of hanging clothes


Yeah...its a little overwhelming.

We (and I mean we as in my husband) load everything up and I realize that I only have 1 laptop!! So my co-worker and I turn around and head back to my place. Before we head out, we stopped to get some frozen cokes at this one gas station-- it apparently is the only gas station around that sells them. We got held up because this rude man was completely out of line with the only gas station attendant. He was wanting some Skoal pockets. Who knew that dipping could be so much more acceptable if you use a pocket??!! He actually held up the all the customers in the store and was just awful towards this poor woman.He finally said that he would come back later the line started to move. Well guess who came back...like 2 minutes later? So this guy says "I know the manager pretty well. Is it okay if I just come back behind the counter and find what I'm looking for?"

Lets just stop here. I would consider myself a reasonable person. I would have thought that a reasonable person would say no. What happened next wasn't exactly what I expected. The attendant motioned him over and before you knew it this guy was behind the counter searching for his Skoal. Unbelievable!! Some people really ought to evaluate things a little more. Whatever. We are running behind at this point and need to hit the road! We have a 3 hour drive ahead of us!!

I eventually reunite with my laptop and we are on our way. The first hour or so goes pretty well and we hit a small town. Very small. I noticed a police car pull behind us but didn't think too much of it. Boy was I wrong!

Here we are, sitting in an empty parking lot with a cop's blue lights flashing and spot light on us. Geez. My co-worker was given a ticket for going 20 over. She probably needed it but come on! We are from out of town and obviously looked like it. In fact, the sheriff asked if we were moving!

We finally arrived to our hotel room at 10:30 pm or so. What would have been a 3 hour trip took almost 6 hours!!

Here are a few things that happened along the way that I just can't muster the energy tonight to go into great depths:

- my button fell off my vest and I had to sew it back on (I bypassed home ec and took careers in high school)
- I spit out my gum and my hubby stepped in it while loading up my stuff
- I left my bar of soap at home
- I was exposed to non stop chatter ALL THE WAY HERE! my head hurts


I'm here now and ready to hit the sack. I haven't had a Monday quite like this before. Goodnight.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Date Night

As I was typing the words "date night" I found myself facing a new reality; my life will never be the same. No need to feel the sadness of losing my selfish, "me and only me" ways. In fact, I have come to the decision that my life is so much better!

So let me get back to the point here. My hubs and I went out last night. I somehow enticed my Dad to stop by and sit in our living room for three hours. Our little one was sound asleep so I felt relieved that he wouldn't have to really do anything for her. (I love my Dad immensely but he has been out of practice for years! One time I left Honey bee-- our daughter-- with my Dad and I heard a knock on my neighbor's door and there they were; Honey bee was screaming and Dad was holding her straight out in front of him with a panic-stricken face that I hadn't seen on him in looong time. Hence my relief...)

Hubs and I get to our first stop, a sports bar, you know there were a ton of football games on and we need to catch all 50 of them. We order our drinks and find that I don't quite enjoy my Coors Light. I asked the bartender for some tomato juice and made a red beer. Much better!!

I'm kind of bored. I keep getting distracted by baby cries (shouldn't they be at bed?!). I then remember our little one and start talking to hubs about her. Mind you we are out on date night. Isn't the point of this night to get away from our daily regime? Anyways, Hubs starts drinking more and he gets a little goofy.

Definition of goofy behavior:
- Random outbursts of song (that he can only hear)
- Sudden rants of anger towards play calls (mind you there are 50 tvs going)
- PDA <- don't get me wrong, I love to show my affection for hubs but all in good taste
- "Let's party" yelled at the top of his lungs

Okay, so I decided that I had to be the responsible one for the night. Let me say that we had been out for an hour...can you see the trend the evening is going here?

After a few rounds we decide to hit the tables--pool tables that is. I was up two games after winning by default and then hubs came back and was in the lead. The last game I actually won based on legit skills. So we ended up tying it up when all was said and done.

10:30 P.M. - We have decided to call it a night.

Funny to think that we once and not too long ago, would stay up til 3 A.M. On the bright side I have avoided the dreaded hangover, I still got enough sleep in order to wake up at 5:30 A.M. this morning to answer to Honey bee, and I don't feel like my work out yesterday was negated by extreme calorie consumption.

I did enjoy our date night and look forward to the next one.

P.S. Hubs had to sleep in this morning. Someone had a hangover ;D

Thursday, September 25, 2008

ABCs of ME!!!

Before I catch a 'train to sleepy town' as my husband puts it, I want to share a little more about me. I took this from Jessica's blog and thought it would be fun to do for my own.

A. Attached or Single? Attached but I don't care for that word. I would say living my life with my best friend forever

B. Best Friend? Beaner and Puffin Boo (yes, you have probably heard this before if you watch a certain show)

C. Cake or pie? Neither. I'm not a sweets person

D. Day of choice? Thursday --I have Friday to look forward to and the idea of a long work week seems well worth the stress on this day

E. Essential item? currently, dental floss

F. Favorite color? Blue - always has been

G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms!!

H. Hometown? Northwest Arkansas - yes, we wear shoes and have electricity (I had a pen pal in third grade and she actually asked me those questions)

I. Favorite indulgence? A day of pampering - manicure and pedicure- I absolutely love it!

J. January or July? July - what a fabulous month

K. Kids? Love them! I have one of my own! Only one, and possibly just the one ;)

L. Life isn’t complete without? Laughter! Most definitely!

M. Marriage date? December 26, 2007

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 sister- Lisa

O. Oranges or Apples? It was oranges when I was pregnant but I love Fuji apples

P. Phobias? Heights, deep water, dark water, moving water

Q. Quotes? "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Looks who's here!" <-- not really but I read it
on a welcome mat at a client's office today --I died laughing and came back to life to eat a ton of Mexican food

R. Reasons to smile? Franci (my daughter), John's (my hubby) dance recitals, Richard and Sal's pranks calls

S. Season of choice? Fall

T. Tag 5 people: Bailey, Adrea, Jeff, Tina, Rachel, and John

U. Unknown fact? I'm a Choctaw Indian (if you just looked at my outer appearance you probably couldn't tell-- I burn like a lobster!)

V. Vegetable? I love tomatoes!! Yummy! Home-grown please.

W. Worst habit? worrying- which leads to the nail biting which is the worst habit ever!

X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound but I don't like either..something fishy about all the technological instruments that bothers me

Y. Your favorite food? Home-cookin' (I genuinely like all food)

Z. Zodiac sign? Sagittarius! Go Centaurs!

Please excuse me, I need to go throw up

I should start out by saying that too much Mexican food (including chips and salsa, that crazy white queso that seems to ALWAYS find itself on my shirt, the main entree, glass of water and margarita and lets not forget the flan) will always lead to bad things.

I have been out of town for 5 days now. I've been all over God's green earth in Southwest Arkansas. Besides the occasional gas station and road-side church, I haven't seen many signs of bustling life around these parts.

So this leads to the fact that you can always count on not eating healthy. I have to say that I have noticed that in every town I have been through have a few things in common:

1. Sonic Drive-Ins --- found in ALL rural towns in Arkansas
2. a Mexican restaurant -- which I absolutely love hence the misery I am going through now
3. Wal-Mart retail stores
4. local "dive" restaurants -- kind of sketchy places that you think you had just not go near..just to be on the safe side


There isn't much choice out there. Although, my co-workers and I have been blessed with some pretty notable BBQ joints around this area. We have eaten BBQ two days this week and that's enough for me for six months! I don't necessarily dislike BBQ, I just don't love it enough to consume on a regular basis. We had a choice of BBQ or Mexican tonight and there was no way I was stepping foot in a restaurant with pork and beans as its main entree.

After tonight, I am officially laying off the chips and salsa....for a while.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Late Reflection

I must add that after reading my previous post, I can't help but think, "Wow..I certainly stepped on my soap box tonight".

It happens.

A Day in the Life of an Auditor

I just got back to my hotel room from a client that I have been working on today. I am sitting on my bed writing this and taking in the tasks I have ahead of me this week. My brain has been pumped full of compliance publications and policies and I don't think I can shove another ounce of information in there at this moment.

I have to look at the big picture here. My job apparently is a big deal. I have never really stepped back to look at, but it is. Have you ever heard of an unemployed accountant? (The few exceptions out there are more than likely extreme and brought on by those who are in fact unemployed). Do you really care about this? You should.

My profession is the basis of all business in this country. You name it, an accountant is right behind it. I might add that I'm in public accounting. I have to say this that is a totally different beast all its own. Not only do we need to know our industry we are working for, we have to know how each one operates; this includes all the accounting systems (imagine you work on 15 clients all year- each one has a different accounting system and I have to know how to use it! I should be an IT expert by the time I retire), the laws and regulations residing over each client, accounting treatments established by FASB and GASB (for those who meddle with not-for profit and governmental entities---I would be included in this group) and not to mention all the personnel at each client!

My fellow co-workers and I are exhausted with what we have ahead of us this week. The thing is next week won't make it go away. I do have a responsibility to get things done on time with top of the line accuracy.

Pressure is the game and I play it all the time but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Funny Girl

As I am writing this I am looking upon my beautiful daughter. She seriously makes me laugh. This girl has all the toys in the world to play with and doesn't want anything to do with them! Here are a few things she grabs regularly:

-ribbons
-tags (all of her stuffed animals and toys have tags and she loves them!)
-lotion bottles
-baby wipe packages (anything that is crunchy sounding--she loves)
-magazines (and let me add that any magazine will do and it will be demolished!)


As you can see this list all has something in common. I'm sure that Mattel and Fisher Price weren't expecting this. I told my Dad that the perfect gift for her would be a box wrapped in paper. Seriously. Well besides a trust fund but we can't have it all now can we?

It is quite amazing how the little things are so funny. I love it. It has made me a better person. When I become caught up in this busy world I find my sense of reality from this little person. She is a funny girl and she makes me laugh.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I have to get up in 5 hours...what am I doing up?

After watching Nightline while switching back and forth to AETN's Celine Dion telethon, I have managed to squeeze in one more tv show...the Weather Channel. I suppose this isn't a show but I find myself extremely fascinated with hurricane Ike. In fact, come to think of it, I have been addicted to the Weather Channel because of all the hurricanes hitting our shores this season.

Now I have somehow found myself signing up to do a little blogging. I have NEVER blogged in my life. It is the thing to do now..? Right? Well, I've managed to do something to keep me from having to fall asleep, again.

Suppose I'll see how this blogging thing goes.

Goodnight...but not until I look around this site for a while.