It's that time of year again...

It's getting colder, so it's time to bust out my socklettes.

I love these things!

Baby Elephant Walk

I really want a baby elephant.

That is all.

Rumor Has It

Marcus and I are a pretty boring couple. I love to read and he likes Star Trek. We spend most of our time together just hanging out at home. We’re just not that interesting.

Or so I thought.

Last week, one of Marcus’ coworkers came into his office, shut the door, and sat down. He said he was concerned about something and wanted to talk to Marcus about it. This coworker’s wife was at the hair dresser the day before and another woman heard her mention that her husband works for Toro. The other woman said “My neighbor works for Toro too.” The wife asked who the neighbor was, and it turns out it was Marcus. Then the woman said “You know he and his wife have been separated for about 6 weeks and she just recently moved back home.”

Seriously!

When the husband heard the story he thought it sounded odd, so he wanted to check with Marcus to see if it was true, and just in case it was to offer him some support. Of course Marcus told him that it wasn’t true.

I just can’t even imagine people sitting around and talking about us. It’s even crazier to think that someone came up with a totally baseless rumor about our marriage. Weird.

I guess I need to start using our front door more often instead of parking in our detached garage and entering the house through the back door!

A Long Time Coming

Here is link to Richard Beck's blog about ACU's changes to opening chapel this year. (Dr. Beck is a Psychology professor at ACU and a member of our church). He explains what changed and why much better than I could.

While it was fun to play The Battle Hymn of the Republic in the Big Purple every year and the huge American flag was pretty cool looking when it was dramatically released, it was all very innapropriate during a worship service. It bothered me both as a student and an instructor and I am so thankful that President Money and the Board of Trustees finally had the courage to do away with it.

Apparently they have taken quite a bit of flack for it, so if you are a former ACU student and you are glad they made this change please contact President Money or the Alumi Assoication to state your support.

You can mail letters to:

Dr. Royce Money

Abilene Christian University
Abilene, Texas 79699

Or contact or call our alumni association:

Toll free: 800-373-4220

Fax: 325-674-6679

E-mail: jae08a@acu.edu

Congratulations Marcus!

Marcus completed the coursework for his Master’s of Science degree in Information Systems this month and graduated last Saturday. I’m very proud of him for getting this degree since he did it all while working full time and while taking care of me. (I’ve been kinda high maintenance since, oh, late 2004 or so).

So, congratulations to my sweet and super s-m-r-t husband!

Oh, and since he now has a degree in what he actually does, it’s probably time for a career change. ;-)

Surprise!

Marcus graduated with his Master’s Degree in Information Systems today, but this post isn’t really about that. (I’m waiting for pictures from my personal photographer before telling y’all about graduation).

Anyhooo….We got to Stephenville last night and stayed in the local Best Western. This morning, after Marcus got ready for graduation, he went to grab us breakfast and to pick up the cake (poor guy had to pick up his own cake) while I was showering and getting ready. I locked the hotel door, but I left the dead bolt unlocked since I really didn’t know when he’d be back. That was a BIG mistake.

I had just stepped out of the shower and was drying off while facing into the main part of the room when all of the sudden the front door opens.

It wasn’t Marcus.

Fortunately, I happened to have the towel in front of me at that moment. Unfortunately I was standing in front of the huge bathroom mirror. A very surprised cleaning lady got a great view of my entire backside. I doubt she’ll open another door without knocking, at least for awhile.

Nothing like starting your day with a little accidental exhibitionism!

Eep...

It's no secret that I dislike, nay, am incapacitatingly fearful of, spiders (see). Well, just now, I saw an unfinished coke of mine from last night that I left out on the coffee table. I thought to myself, "Self, there's no need to let that go to waste," so I proceeded to pick up the can, bring it to my lips, and finish off the last little bit in one big gulp.

Now, I don't know why, but in the 2 or 3 seconds it took me to finish the flattened Coke, I started thinking, "you know, this can was left here open to the elements, just inviting any number of sweet-seeking insects and other creepy-crawlies to come for a sip. How do I know that there's not some sort of bug floating in this little bit that I'm drinking right now?"

Then (unfortunately) my mind expanded it to, "what if a spider went down the can hole for a swim, and is about to take a dive down my esophagus?!" And of course, I started to picture it. My mind's eye saw the spider there (it started small, but as my mind raced, it got ginormous!), comically scampering to the bottom of the can away from my gaping maw...

I may have freaked myself out.

It could only have been worse if I was floating in the ocean surrounded by toddlers and the elderly...

Sorry to post on the same day that Amanda did (don't miss her post from this morning) ... but I'm apparently trying to avoid the last little bit of homework I have.

-Marcus, SGB

Joyful!

Since over 17 million people have viewed this on You Tube, I know I am waaaaaaay late on this, but it's great.



They just all seem so happy and full of joy. It's too bad it's a Chris Brown song though.

I wonder what their grandparents thought? Both of my grandmothers balked at wearing black to my wedding. I don't think they would've been to keen on this idea.

Also, I am sooo thankful this happened 13 years after my cousin Tiffany's wedding. She's the only person I know that I could picture doing this at their own wedding, and I just don't know if I could've done it!

Hmmm...

What about this is compact?

-Marcus, SGB

I love this cat!

Ok I know I’ve posted about this before, but much as I am still soooo excited about Marcus, President Obama, and snorkeling, I am still excited about my cat. Gus is really the sweetest cat I’ve ever had, and I’ve had about a million and a half cats (so far). The best part about Gus is that he really really loves me, way more than a cat normally loves a person. If I have 100 more cats, none of them will love me as much as Gus does.

I also love my dogs (and Charlie) and of course they love me, but being loved by your cat is so different than being loved by your dog. No matter who ended up being Bailey and Emma’s humans, they would have loved them just as much as they love Marcus and me. Dogs are just like that, as evidenced in this clip from Disney’s Up

If your cat loves you, you know it’s because of you and not their natural inclination to love just any old human. Even Gus, who is super sweet, just recently started to kinda like Marcus, after 5 years of being fed by him. He loved me from the start though.

Update

I haven’t blogged in awhile. Nothing super duper exciting has been going on, but here is an update on my life anyway.

I’m continuing to do well with the weight loss. As of today I’ve lost 25 pounds this year so far. I also hit on a great reward...James Avery earrings. They’re something I like, but not something I would typically buy for myself. And since Marcus and I only exchange cards on holidays, they’re not something I’m likely to get as a gift either. Plus, they never go on sale, so no worries about seeing them cheaper later. And, well, they're just so pretty!

Also along the lines of the weight loss….I started working out again a few weeks ago, and after some initial protesting by my stupid ankle, I’ve got a good little routine going. I do yoga about 4 times a week, and Marcus and I do different Walk Away The Pounds DVDs about 4 times a week. (Not sure how he feels about me telling the world that, but oh well).

On Monday I got my new heart rate monitor in the mail and I am enjoying working out with that A LOT. It accurately calculates how many calories you burn by measuring your heart rate. It’s very helpful on weight watchers, because as you start losing more weight, you start losing eating points, which makes the plan harder to stick to. You can earn activity points by exercising (which you can use to eat more), but you could accidentally overeat and sabotage your weight loss efforts if you aren’t accurately calculating your activity points. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had been underestimating my activity points!

I just booked a 7 day Caribbean cruise with 2 girlfriends for early January. I’m super excited about that! Although I did realize I will need to pack all at once for Christmas in Houston, a family reunion in Denver, and then a Caribbean cruise. Should be interesting!

My India/Pakistan novel kick is still going strong. I recently discovered that our library participates in the inter library loan program, so I may never have to buy another book again!

Oh, one interesting thing did happen last week. I woke up from a nap and then sat on the couch. I felt something scratchy on the back of my arm. I looked back to check and didn’t see anything. A little later I still felt something scratchy, so I looked back again. This time I saw something. A giant lizard! Now, at that moment my brain didn’t have the time to actually register this thing as a lizard, just a reptile in general, so I freaked out, screamed, and jumped up, which sent my lap top flying.

This isn't the actual lizard, but it looked kinda like this one

I would also like to point out that we have 2 cats and 2 dogs, and none of them prevented this lizard from strolling into our house and sitting on the couch. In fact, Gus and Emma were actually sitting on the couch when the incident occurred.

Useless animals!

That's about it. Now you're all updated.

I Wish We Had Cable

Following Michael Jackson's sudden death MTV played a marathon of his videos. I would have enjoyed seeing that. I did watch several, of very poor quality, on youtube though.

I was 4 when the Thriller album came out, but I remember listening to it over and over at my cousin Tiffany's house. Tiffany also forced me to perform dance routines with her to Michael Jackson and Madonna's music on a pretty regular basis at family gatherings.

I also distinctly remember the Billie Jean video from the early years of MTV. I think they played that video and the Beat It video all the time. And of course, I was completely terrified of the Thriller video. I got to show that video to my 11 year old sister this past weekend. How had she never seen it?

All that to say, his death was sad for me because his music was a big part of my early childhood.

Cousin Tiffany, Cousin Meredith, Me

In the other picture Tiffany and I are at Hanna Barbara Land. I don't know why we were sharing that stuffed animal.

Random Vacation Tidbits

Here are just a few things that I forgot to mention in my earlier vacation posts.

1. When we got on the first ship the Delcambres’ room smelled like a bar. It was horrible. In trying to deal with that and hopefully get them moved to another room, Marcus was told that the ship was overbooked. Huh? How do you overbook a cruise ship? Where do the extra people sleep?

2. Marcus, the Delcambres, and I played games in one of the restaurants most nights of the cruise, and most nights the ship played some sort of Michael Bolton’s greatest hits DVD. I Said I Loved You But I Lied is the dumbest, sappiest song ever written. If I didn’t hate Michael Bolton before, I certainly do now.

3. During our 2 weeks in the Caribbean/Bahamas, we saw a whole lot of people in swimsuits. Now, I am all for people of all shapes and sizes wearing whatever swimsuits they want, with two exceptions: First, speedo wearers. I don’t care if you’re George Clooney or Brad Pitt (attention older gentleman with a beer belly and middle aged gentleman with Robin Williams level hairiness, you are neither) no one wants to see you in a speedo. No. One.

Second, thong wearers. While we are very impressed with the 23 hours a day you spend on the stair master at the gym, we don’t want to see your bare bottom. We really, really don't. We especially don’t want to see it when you bend over (repeatedly) to pick up your golf ball while playing putt putt.

Seriously, wouldn't the world be a better place if speedos and thongs were banned everywhere swimsuits are worn?

So there you go, now you are all filled in on our cruises.

P.S. I found lots of pictures of people in speedos that I could have added to this post. I chose not to. You're Welcome.

Should..Should..Should...

I haven’t seen my therapist since February because she retired. We both agreed that I didn’t need to see her regularly anymore (I’m cured ;-), but she is available if/when I need her.

Anyway, just because I’m not in therapy anymore doesn’t mean I’m not still learning stuff about myself. Recently, I realized another area in which I “should” myself constantly.

I suppose some people might envy those who are traveling across Europe, like my friend Irene; raising super cool little kids, like too many of my friends to even count (you know who you are); writing some pithy, hilarious, and popular blog like my blogger friend Kristina; trying to improve Non Muslim/Muslim relations in the U.S. like Marcus’ friend Kara; living a super fun life in New York City like my cousin Meredith; but not me.

Instead, I compare whatever interesting thing they’re doing with whatever uninteresting thing I’m doing, and immediately think something along the lines of “Why aren’t I doing something that interesting (or important or fun or active or cool or whatever)? I should be doing something that interesting.”

Should, should, should. It’s very tiring constantly thinking of all the things you should be doing. I suspect that it is more tiring than actually doing any of those things. (Ok, well maybe not parenting).

Anyway, I don’t have a solution to this particular should problem. I just find it interesting. The really funny thing is that I'm pretty sure I thought that way on occasion even when I was teaching full-time at a university at the age of 23. That in and of itself is pretty interesting.

The Emperor Can't Kill Jack Bauer

A while back I mentioned that I was on an Indian/Pakistani novel kick. I still am. I’m also on a 24 kick. Marcus and I began watching season one about 6 weeks ago. We are now halfway through season 6. Jack Bauer rocks.

What do these two things have in common you ask? Well, very little except in my dreams. Lately my dreams are a mixture of the current novel I’m reading and the latest episode of 24. It’s really weird.

Most of the novels I read are contemporary, set in the 1970s or later, so in my dreams it kinda works with Jack Bauer there. The most recent books I’ve read were set in the late 1500s/early 1600s at the height of the Mughal Empire in India. (The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan constructed the Taj Majal for his late wife, Empress Mumtaz Mahal)

This setting is a little weirder. Jack Bauer doesn’t make quite as much sense in the 17th century as he does in the 21st. Although, he can still kick anyone's bottom. Even the emperor's.

I Dreamed a Dream

If you haven't seen this yet. You HAVE got to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Ms. Boyle has an amazing voice. One that you would definitely not expect her to have. It makes me think of all the times we miss someone's God given gifts and talents because they look "funny" or act a little "different."

Thanks to Shannon for posting this on facebook.

Honey, hold my beer...

I bought an antenna for our TV and as I was putting it together, I was reading the warnings (I'm such a dweeb). All the normal warnings were there. You know, "Be careful while you're on the roof" and "watch out for power lines".

But then my eye caught this one:

What's that about?! If you're drunk AND pregnant, why would you be up on the roof....oh wait, why would you be drunk and pregnant? Let's face it, if you're in that condition you probably should have spent your $40 on something else...

Now, I'm sure this was added by some technical writer to be funny...or then again, maybe there's a town somewhere that has a police blotter full of domestic violence cases with antenna wounds?

Comical.

-Marcus, SGB

Too dependent?

Here's a sign that I'm too dependent on our DVR: The other day I was sitting on the couch watching Emma chase Charlie. Charlie ran into the coffee table, which was super funny. I immediatley pointed my hand at her as if I had a remote so that I could rewind it and watch it again. That's when I realized that you can't rewind real life. Sigh..

Life Altering Technology

For a long time now I’ve seen all sorts of people with Bluetooth thingies in their ears, and they look so cool. People are wearing them everywhere, and they always appear so important and desired. I even sat in an interview with someone where the guy trying to get the job wore one all the way through the interview.

I’m really impressed when someone keeps the thing in while talking to me…I guess that’s because at any moment someone more important than me will call and there simply won’t be time for the ear bud to be placed in the ear…the call will have to be answered immediately. I would probably do that when I’m speaking to Jack Bauer, but that almost never happens.

Even the Bluetooth people tell me that these things will make

 me cooler, more 

active, and

 have better sex. I especially like the one that transports me into the Matrix.

Well, on the recommendation of the Bluetooth people, and all their promises (including the fact that this would make me a better father), I decided to take the plunge and bought one for work.

What do you think…am I sexier?

-Marcus, SGB

It's not what you think...

I've been hearing some accusations that I'm trying to take over Amanda's blog. I want to state publicly that this is false, and that in reality it's just a result of me figuring out how to blog from my phone. Seriously, now that I can blog directly from my phone, I can now share all the unimportant random things that pop into my head as I go about my day.

Good for me, bad for you.

Now I can't stop thinking about things to put on the blog, and I can do it from ANYWHERE! Exciting, really...sharing with you all the exotic and fabulous adventures I have every day. In fact, I had some people take pictures of me blogging wherever I could:

Here's me at work (not doing work obviously)

Me in Paris...

...and at the Taj-Mahal.

See, it's just so easy. Now leave me alone, I need to blog about this.

-Marcus, SGB