Weekend Review

I’m taking a little break from the Sunday standard post- the Monday Music Review- because my weekend was too much fun to wait until tomorrow to tell you about.

I went back to my hometown to work the Toughman competition on Friday and Saturday nights. If you’ve never been to a Toughman, there really are no words to do it justice. People come in from off the street, training is not required and the skill levels range from “I hit the bag in the gym every day” to “I’ve watched some fights on TV” and cover everything in between. Friday night, there were 32 fighters, in four weight classes. The winners came back on Saturday to continue the eliminations and to fight in “championship” fights for cash. I’m still not sure what possesses anyone to want to participate in a Toughman but the guys in the competition seemed to really be enjoying themselves and they were as nice and friendly as they could be. I may or may not have made some friends… that’s another story for another day.

And guess who else really enjoyed himself? My dad! Now before you go and get all excited, no, he wasn’t IN the fights. He came to the fights with the Rescue Squad as medical support. And since he’s been on the Rescue Squad for as long as I can remember, I knew almost everyone who was with him. It felt like old times, when I used to run into “chaperones” everywhere I went. Apparently, there’s a brotherhood in the Rescue Squad (and Fire Department too) that the guys look after each others’ kids so growing up, I knew no matter where I went, there was someone there if I needed anything (and someone there to report any of my misbehaviors back to dad!) I’m sure dad doesn’t know how many times his roles on the Rescue Squad and Fire Department kept me out of trouble… or maybe he does. Regardless, I wouldn’t change my continually chaperoned upbringing for anything in the world.

After the fight, Dad made some world famous grilled cheese sandwiches (yeah, we let Mom have one too!) and it felt like the good old days when he’d make late night cheese sandwiches and we’d stay up talking. I wonder if parents and kids talk these days like we did back then. If they don’t, they surely should.

And, we went to the firing range and wreaked some havoc on some paper targets. And, in true dad fashion, he took the targets to the fight to show my mad skill set to his buddies. I’m thinking he’s just a smidgen proud of his baby girl. J

And, no worries, Mom wasn’t left out of this fun family weekend! She and I did a little shopping and the saleslady thought we were sisters. I think that made Mom’s day! And, when the fifth person told me, “You look just like your mom”, I decided that perhaps I don’t need a crystal ball to tell me what I’ll look like in the future.

So, today I left the hometown and headed back to the big city and there may or may not have been tears. Maybe it was all the quality time with Mom and Dad that did it (but don’t tell them that, they like to think I’m doing just fine in the big city.) We’ll just say that there’s something about a 32 man brawl that makes me miss home. J

Clean Plate Club

When you’re little, everyone encourages you to be a member of the Clean Plate Club. Eat all your veggies, try it and you might like it, and so on. And, as we know, ‘membership has it’s privileges’ so if you’re successfully initiated into the Club, you get a fantastic reward, which is usually a fun, yummy dessert or an extra few minutes of television time before bed.

Fast forward twenty-five years or so… for me, the Plate Club is now something entirely different.

I’m a busy gal. I don’t think anyone would argue with me on that. My boss has been heard more than once remarking, “You have more than you can say grace over.” I often wonder if there’s a desk under all the papers piled up in my office. I question how I’ll finish all the projects and tasks that are on my work to-do list. Outside of the office, I’m trying all sorts of new things, and I’m having a great time but a lengthy night’s sleep has become the exception rather than the rule. I am, without a doubt, a card-carrying, office-holding, founding-member of the FULL Plate Club. And most days, I believe my full plate needs a salad plate, and a dessert plate, and a soup bowl to hold all of my activities and commitments. But, to be quite candid, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I think I’d lose my mind if I actually had a clean plate again.

As I venture outside my box, I discover new things yet I’m not willing to give up any of the old things I love so my tastes just become more varied and diverse as time goes on. As I’ve said before, maybe I’m finding myself or maybe I’ve already found myself in a million tiny places. But now that I have so much going on, inevitably things overlap and I struggle to decide what to do and what to skip. If anyone can tell me how to be in two places at once, I’m all ears!

On the drive home tonight, while I was thinking through my plan for the evening and the weekend, I thought about how many things are on my calendar in the upcoming months. It’s a little overwhelming but it’s also very exciting. Today, I added three more fantastically exciting adventures to the list. I won’t spoil the surprises but buckle up tight, blogbuddies, you’re in for quite a few surprises! (There is absolutely no doubt that 2011 is going to be Something More!)

Leopards and Lightening Sand

When I started this blog, I vowed to make it a happy little place and for the most part, I’ve stood by that commitment. I did say that sooner or later, this little-engine-that-could would inevitably jump the tracks and get stuck in the mud or lost in the tall weeds. I promised myself that I would not stay stuck long (my mom says pity parties have a shelf life of about 24 hours before they get annoying to those around us) and that I would try to find something useful in the midst of the muck.

Lately, I’ve heard a lot of people saying they were disappointed in this or that. Truth be told, I might actually be one of those people. My weekend went as far off the rails as I could imagine and I had more than a few opportunities for disappointment. By Monday morning, to be honest, I was stuck in a quagmire of disappointment and couldn’t quite figure out how to get out. I felt like Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride when she fell into the lightening sand in the fire swamp and disappeared. I needed a Westley to grab a vine, dive in, and rescue me. Sadly, there was no Westley in sight so I was on my own to save myself.

Monday night, I did what I do when I’m stressed or my feelings are hurt. I donned my boxing gloves and pounded out what felt like 100 rounds on the punching bag in my garage. I got temporarily lost in the rhythm of the jab, cross, hook, uppercut but when my arms turned to jell-o and the gloves suddenly seemed to have gained about twenty pounds, I quit, feeling no closer to my normal state of bliss than when I’d started.

I then ruined all that frenzied exercise by spending some time with a spoon and a bucket of butter pecan. That didn’t do much except give me a belly ache. If Ben & Jerry can’t fix it, it’s time to officially declare it a crisis and take drastic measures.

I pulled out my go-to guide for emotional balance, a handy dandy book I picked up years ago but that now has more highlights and ink marks than original type. Iyanla Vanzant’s One Day My Soul Opened Up. In the matter of disappointment, Iyanla says this:

           

“The only thing people can do is what they can do. They may say they can do something else. They may want to do something else. We go along, believing what they say even when their track record tells us otherwise. In the end, we say they disappointed us. No. We are disappointed that we put our faith in this person despite our better judgment. People will always show you who they are.”

Oh, thank you, Iyanla, how right you are! I’ve heard Oprah say that too, “People will always show you who they are. You should listen the first time.” Smart ladies, Iyanla and Oprah! I believe, like me, they’ve doled out a few too many second chances in their days to have learned this lesson and to be able to speak to it with such authority.

As I looked back over the downfalls of my weekend, I realized that 1. The object of my disappointment had done exactly what their nature dictated and 2. I was really more annoyed with myself for choosing to believe what I knew all along was not true, accurate, or even possible.

It’s sort of like the saying, “A leopard can’t change his spots.” You can’t fault a leopard for doing what leopards do; they don’t mean anything by it, they’re just doing what they were created to do. You also can’t blame a leopard for not being born a zebra; it wasn’t meant to be anything but a leopard and it’s not anyone's fault.

According to Iyanla, the cure for disappointment is to forgive yourself for choosing not to clearly see the information that was right in front of you. Given that I like me (I’ve said more than once ‘If I weren’t me, I’d be friends with me.’), forgiving myself is well within my range and something I'm more than willing to do. I picked myself up, brushed myself off, apologized to Ben & Jerry for scarfing and not savoring their morsels of frozen delight, and made a new commitment to myself to keep my arms, legs, and especially my heart inside the train at all times, especially when the tracks wander into those tall weed territories where the leopards (and other “wild animals”) like to hide. And, if anyone sees a Westley, send him my way; there's bound to be more lightening sand around here somewhere...

Any Given Sunday

Yesterday marked the beginning of one of my favorite seasons of the year- NASCAR season! And wow, did we start it off RIGHT with the Daytona 500. If you missed it, there were tears and cheers, then a bit of yelling at the television, some more cheers, and it ended with tears through cheers when it all came together for a green-white-checkered finish that left me saying, “that’s why I love NASCAR… because anything can happen on any given Sunday.”

Let’s recap for those of you who spent your sunny Sunday out in the clear blue yonder or under a rock somewhere.

With 31 degree banking, a resurfaced track, and the penchant to race three-wide, we knew the Great American Race would not disappoint. And it certainly did not. With 74 lead changes between 22 drivers and 16 cautions sprinkled throughout the 200 (errr, 206, I think) laps, records were set left and right (or maybe left and left since racing is a bunch of left turns). 

The highlights began as early as lap 3 with the tribute to the legendary Dale Earnhardt, Sr. The fans gave a tremendous standing ovation and held up three fingers while soaking in the beautiful and unmistakable sound of NASCAR’s horses. On the tenth anniversary of NASCAR and America losing The Intimidator, it was a fitting memorial. And rumor has it that in the celebration of Dale’s life and legacy earlier in the week, fans were given stick-on moustaches. I think Dale would have liked that. J

By lap 22, Kevin Harvick was out of the race and I was forced to cheer for one of my other favorites. And no sooner than my guy was finished with his garage interview about the cracked engine block that ruined his day, “The Big One”, the crash that takes out what seems like half the field, took 17 cars out of contention in the Great American Race.

On lap 79, Little E, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., took the lead and I’m pretty sure the fans at the speedway could be heard somewhere on the other side of South Dakota. I’m told it was deafening. I don’t doubt it.

There was lead changing and bump drafting and more partner-swapping than a junior high dance and before we knew it, we were on lap 196 when Regan Smith and Kurt Busch got tangled up and sent us into a caution with four tiny little laps to go. Four tiny laps that probably felt like 400 miles to the ten or so guys who had a chance to take the checkered flag.

On the restart, David Ragan and Trevor Bayne had a plan but that plan blew up when Ragan was black flagged for changing lanes before crossing the Start-Finish line. An elementary mistake, true, but that’s what happens when the Daytona pressure gets to you. This is a purse of more than 1.4 million dollars. People tend to get in a hurry when racing for bucks that big. So, Trevor Bayne was left in the front, with no partner, and with Big Boys the likes of Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, and Bobby Labonte, nipping at his heels. Would the 20 year old rookie in just his second Sprint Cup start cave to the pressure?

Not a chance. Bobby Labonte gave the newcomer some drafting help and Bayne was able to block a hard-charging Carl Edwards to take the win.

I’m pretty sure there will NEVER be another birthday gift in the history of Trevor Bayne’s life to rival the Daytona 500 trophy he got this year. He was an unlikely bet yesterday; he was, after all, only contracted to drive a few races this season. He was working with NASCAR’s oldest team but a team that hadn’t won the Daytona 500 since 1976 (folks, I wasn’t even born then so you know that’s a long time to go on a winless streak) and hadn’t won a Sprint Cup race since 2001. The odds were against him, no doubt, but that’s why we love NASCAR. Because you never know what will happen; you never know when “The Big One” will take out your favorite driver or the driver you love to hate; and that’s why I’ve already got my schedule blocked for next Sunday’s race in Phoenix. And, by the standard set yesterday, Phoenix better bring it because the boys surely will. They’ll be non-stop, full throttle, pedal to the metal, race it till it blows up; and watching it won’t just be fun, it’ll be NASCARFUN.

Monday Music Review- Nathan Lienard

Monday Music Review on Sunday? Yes, because Monday comes quickly and I want you to be prepared in the morning when you roll out of bed in need of coffee and a good tune to get you moving. So, for this blog, the Monday Music Review comes a day early because it’s my party. And that’s the way I want it.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the fact that most of the MMR artists thus far have been artists you didn’t know but now wonder how you ever lived without. Today we have another of those artists who makes me want to call my local radio station and say “How is it that you don’t know this phenomenal artist?” Welcome to my playlist, Nathan Lienard.

I was perusing the internet on Friday and saw that a great friend from college, Melissa, had posted a facebook status about Nathan’s new single. They are friends and any friend of Melissa’s is a friend of mine so I checked it out and knew immediately, if not sooner, that Nathan Lienard had to be this week’s MMR.

Toward the end of his college career, Nathan traded his baseball bat for a guitar and has been playing, singing, and songwriting ever since. And my biggest complaint about that is that I didn’t know it before now. Nathan describes himself as having a “chilled out coffeehouse style”. I would agree; Nathan’s sound is rich and mellow, his lyrics clear and beautifully simple. He truly has a way with words and if you ever need a romantic line, Nathan should be your go-to guy. He has a sound that would easily carry you through a day at the office, and songs that have a similar vibe but aren’t cookie cutter so you could replay his 2009 CD The Road is Long over and over without getting bored.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a zillion times, I love lyrics. I learn them, write them down, repeat them. I want them to matter to me, to be words I might use, to be lines that make me think, “that’s just what I meant to say but didn’t know how to say it.” Nathan Lienard must be in my head somewhere because he understands this to a degree not found in many of today’s artists. I love the sentiment of “I can’t see two days from now, tomorrow’s in the way” in the song Dear Friend. It’s a gentle reminder to focus on the present and to cherish each moment. “No time for details, got the big picture on my mind. No need for who, what, when, how, or why” in The Road is Long reminds me not to sweat the small stuff. For this type-A personality who often gets sidetracked by the details, this is a reminder I need often.

Nathan Lienard has a newly released song, Time Machine, which seems to be a bit of a detour from his previous album. This song is a bit more peppy, a little flirty, and just downright fun. It tells me that Nathan Lienard is using his second musical project to stretch and to grow, to see where his always-reaching musical wings will take him. I believe (and there are lots of Williamsburg, Virginia fans who will agree with me) that Nathan Lienard is taking flight in the contemporary easy listening musical world and that his journey will be that of a rising star.

A kind word of advice for you, friends: before you listen to his songs, make some room on your iPod because after you hear Nathan Lienard, there will be no doubt that you’ll want to download the album. Happy listening, friends!

What's a Girl to Do?

As most of you know, I’m a single gal trying to navigate the super scary realm known as “dating after 30”. It’s an absolute nightmare, this mission of trying to find the right guy with the right priorities and the right agenda. Most days, I choose to laugh because the alternative would completely ruin my make-up but I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m frustrated that there seems to be no end in sight to this quest that I’ve been on for what seems like 82 eternities. Tonight, I’m a bit down in the dumps about the whole crazy mixed-up thing and since the words are bouncing around in my head, I’m going to take a minute to vent. (It’s my blog; I can do that!)

I tried a popular internet site, you know the one with the “free communication weekend” and I must have done something wrong when I filled out my profile because the people I met didn’t match me on one level, much less the 27 levels of compatibility touted on the commercials. I was starting to think I didn’t know myself as well as I thought. It crossed my mind to have someone else fill out my profile because it occurs to me that sometimes other people see you differently than you see yourself.

I then tried a free internet site but it’s true that sometimes, you get what you pay for. Not to mention the completely embarrassing story of how I inadvertently made my screen name a little too similar to a lunatic trash website (that apparently everyone knew about but me; I guess I really was raised in a bubble) and couldn’t figure out why I was getting all grades of requests and comments from people who were all too willing to let their freak flags fly. I have since remedied this dreadful but enlightening situation and am now getting matches from seemingly ‘normal’ men. And my self-esteem has almost recovered. Almost. Maybe.

I’ve had some fantastic friends set me up with great people but, for whatever reason, those things just haven’t worked out to become anything more than buddies. I’m OK with that and I love my friends for trying.

And then there have been a few nights dating at the speed of blur with a popular speed dating company in the area. Most people think speed dating is strange; I thought it was fun. And for the amount of time invested, I met some people who kept me entertained for several months. And, truth be told, I still keep up with a few guys I met in the blurry haze of names and faces. I also met some characters who will likely take center stage if I ever write a book about the trials and tribulations of dating.

So here I am, still searching for the guy to be the last chapter of my dating book, the one guy who brings me to my Happily Ever After.

A few nights ago, a great friend said, “Have you tried…” and she mentioned a company who sets professionals up on lunch dates. You submit a profile and show up for lunch; they do all the rest. Sounded pretty good. What did I have to lose?

Well, let me just tell you what I had to lose. Six hundred dollars for a membership AND one hundred dollars per month. I’m not sure what your financial situation is but to me, that’s a lot of cash, especially when the dating director (now that would be a fun job, or at least a fun job title) couldn’t tell me how many dates would be guaranteed per month. Their system sounded like a great program but I just couldn’t bring myself to even try to find a way to fund this love-seeking endeavor. In my humble little opinion, being single over thirty with jobs and bills and responsibilities is difficult enough without adding the extra pressure of trying to justify a 100 dollar lunch. (Oh, and by the way, the 100 dollars doesn't even cover your lunch; you pay for that separately.)

And so the quest continues, and I’ll keep you posted. Now that I’ve pretty much given up on the internet, speed dating, and set-ups from family and friends, I guess I’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way… I’m planning to run my cart into the next cute boy I see at Wal-Mart. J

Super Wednesday

Every now and then a Wednesday isn’t just a Wednesday; it’s a super Wednesday! And just what makes it a super Wednesday? Super Doubles at Harris Teeter! I normally don’t “do” math but in the case of a coupon, I’ll make an exception every time.

My couponing motto is: “The more I save on necessities, the more I can spend on accessories.” And today, in just a few minutes, I saved enough money for at least one pair of shoes or that super cute ring I’ve had my eye on in the Premiere catalog.

I spent 10 minutes during my lunch hour comparing the HT sales flier to the coupons in my organizer. I spent 15 minutes after work shopping.

In today’s shopping spree, I bought:

3 bags of yellow rice

1 box of brown rice

3 boxes granola bars

2 boxes of scalloped potatoes

1 bag of banana chips

1 pack of cheese slices

1 pie

1 roll of mints

5 tubes of toothpaste

Bill on this purchase: 45.42

Saved with sales and coupons: 32.31

I paid: 13.11

That, my friends, is a 72% savings! And if you figure I ‘made’ 32 dollars in less than half an hour of work, you could rationalize that I made 64 dollars an hour. If I actually made 64 dollars an hour, my salary would be somewhere around 133,000 per year. Now that’s a shoe salary that could allow me to kick up my Minolo Blahniks!

To answer the questions I get most often: Yes, people laugh at my three-ring binder with the baseball card inserts coupon organizer (that is, until they are in line behind me at the register and see what I pay). No, I don't buy something just because it's economical or free UNLESS I have a friend or family member who will use those items (and no, I would never charge those friends and family, like some people I know. That, to me, is just greedy). No, couponing isn't difficult once you find an organization system that works for you. Yes, now that I know what I can do with a coupon, it irks me when I have to pay full price. and Yes, couponing is absolutely worth the few minutes a week I put into the clipping and organizing effort.

I strongly encourage you to consider couponing as a way to stretch your dollars, to help you ensure that you don't have more month than money, and to allow you to have some WAM (walkin' around money). I may look like a nerd on a mission when I go into Harris Teeter armed with my organizer, list, and calculator but I know that buying shoes is much more fun than buying toothpaste and if saving on one gets me the other, it's worth all the quizzical looks in the world thrown at me by those full-price-paying shoppers who just don't get it. yet.

On a Mission

So, here we are, February 15 and I’ve spent the first six weeks of the year working and working and playing and did I mention working? There have been late nights, early mornings, and more than a few McFlurries to get me through my part-time weekend job. In short, I’ve been doing everything except eating right and working out as I should. I think I accidentally packed my motivation in my attic with my Christmas decorations. But last week, I ran into one of my brutally honest “friends” that I hadn’t seen in six or eight months and he suggested that perhaps I’d packed a little bit of holiday junk in the trunk… and forgot to take it back out. Well, thank you so much, I could have gone all day without knowing that. You sure know how to flatter a girl.

So now I’m on a mission to dejunk my trunk and get the jiggle out of my middle.

I have options… a veritable library of workout DVDs. I have P90X, Zumba, Insanity and some old school Tae-Bo on VHS. I’ve used them all. They all work. It’s clearly not an issue of doubting the results. And since it’s now been implied that Sir Mix-a-Lot had me in mind with his 1993 Grammy Award-winning song (you know the one; you know ALL the words, don’t even try to deny it), it’s clearly no longer an issue of motivation. It’s an issue of energy.

That’s the funny thing about exercise, the more you do it, the more energy you have but finding the energy to do it can often derail you before you even get started. But start I must…

So, tonight I’m going to pop Tony, Beto, or Shawn T into my DVD player, crank Nickelback loud enough to drown out the sound of the brownie mix calling from the pantry, and find the bikini body that is hiding underneath this holiday insulation.  And, if I don’t show up for work tomorrow, can someone come over to help me get out of bed? Thanks J    

'Round and 'Round

For most gals, today is a day for pink hearts and red roses, Godiva chocolates and sentimental cards that use phrases no one since Shakespeare has uttered. You should know by now that I’m not one of “those” girls. At the risk of offending anyone, I must say that I don’t like Valentine’s Day and I don’t celebrate it. Instead of red and pink, I’m wearing black and green today and I’d rather have a regular Hershey bar than a Godiva anything any day.

In elementary school, February 14 becomes a popularity contest of who can get the most cards or the most balloons delivered to the school. By the time high school rolls around, it’s a competition of who got the most expensive jewelry and/or clothes. When you’re an adult, it becomes a quest to receive perfect flowers and a perfectly worded card. And we all know what happens when it doesn’t turn out perfectly.

Contrary to popular belief, my opinion on Valentine’s Day isn’t based on the fact that I’m currently single. It’s not even based on the fact that for one Valentine’s Day, I received a handy, dandy vegetable steamer. I like that steamer but I haven’t liked Valentine’s Day since, well, since as far back as I can remember. I believe, and it has been proven to be correct from both my observations and from conversations with the men in my life, that Valentine’s Day is full of obligation, pressure, and expectation. None of these things for a good romance make.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love getting flowers as much as anyone; I just don’t want them on a day where EVERYBODY is getting flowers. Maybe I’m just being selfish but I want my own day, not a day I have to share and compare. I want to be told “I love you” on a regular old Tuesday, when the thought crossed your mind and burned so brightly that the words had to spill out, not on a day where Hallmark (no offense Hallmark, you know I love you and your gold seals) told you to tell me. If you have to be told what to say, maybe you ought not be saying it.

I happened to be at a mall this weekend and saw countless numbers of men searching for perfect Valentine’s gifts. I truly felt sorry for them. You could tell they were struggling. And while the argument could be made that if the guy loves his girl, he should know just what to buy, the fact remains that reading minds and picking gifts are not typically high on the list of any man’s favorite pastimes. In a world where relationships are already complicated enough, I see no reason to add this extra hoop through which to jump. To save everyone the trouble of trying to create a perfectly magical Valentine’s Day, I simply prefer to celebrate something else on this day...

Several years ago, I stumbled onto a calendar of alternate holidays. It was there that I discovered that February 14 is Ferris Wheel Day in honor of George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr, the civil engineer who introduced the world to the Wheel in 1893. Since that day, February 14 has been Ferris Wheel Day in my corner of the world… and I like it that way because is there anyone out there who doesn’t love a Ferris Wheel?

The irony, however, is not lost on me that the day intended to celebrate love is also the day intended to celebrate a fair amusement that goes around in circles. Or, maybe it’s not so ironic after all… love has had me going around in circles more than a few times.

Whatever you’re celebrating (or not celebrating) today, I hope you had a day that was... Something More.

Monday Music Review... The Band of Horses

Monday Music Review on Sunday? Yes, because Monday comes quickly and I want you to be prepared in the morning when you roll out of bed in need of coffee and a good tune to get you moving. So, for this blog, the Monday Music Review comes a day early because it’s my party. And that’s the way I want it.

Band of Horses is a continually evolving group that was formed in Seattle but now calls South Carolina home. They’ve had more member changes than I could track but it seems they’ve found their niche and are currently touring their third album, Infinite Arms, in Europe. From their sound to their cover art and their website layout, there isn’t anything about Band of Horses that I don’t like; they are original, fresh, and have tunes that get stuck in my head.

The album cover above reminds me of what the stars look like if you spin around really fast, with your arms open and your head tipped back, when you get swallowed up in the night and feel invincible and insignificant in the same moment. The Band of Horses' songs make me feel the same way, capturing the minutia of the details and the grand scheme of things simultaneously. I'm not quite sure how they do it but they do it well.

I don't really have the words to describe BoH's unique sound, it makes you want to sway and it has a twang that's not bluegrassy. More than the music, it's the lyrics that grab and hold me. I'm not sure the backstory that led to the lyric "we're wheeling through an endless fog; we are the everliving ghost of what once was", but I can feel the confusion, melancholy, and struggle. And I so desperately want whoever wrote that lyric to find a daisy in a field somewhere. I would teleflora him some flowers if I had an address.

As my friend Rebecca reminded me (before I came back and updated the blog because I realized I missed the mark on doing BoH justice), perhaps the best lyric EVER is the classic Band of Horses' line, "I'd like to think I'm a mess you wear with pride, like some empty dress on the bed you've laid out for tonight. Maybe I'll tell you sometime... you were right." While I don't get why that song is titled I Like to Go to the Barn, I do completely understand expectation and hindsight and all the twists and turns it takes to get from one to the other. I don't know what drama has fueled the Horses' lyrics but I'm glad they've found a creative outlet for the angst; the heartbreakingly beautiful ballads remind me that their is life after loss, whatever your loss may be. 

The first two songs are from the album Cease to Begin (2007) and the last is from their 2010 release, Infinite Arms. Enjoy!

I Like to Go to the Barn

No one's Gonna Love You Like I Do

On My Way Back Home

Customer Service Epic Fail

If you’ve been keeping up (and speaking of keeping up, I’ve missed a few days and I apologize, I’ve been a little under the weather), you know I just switched to DirecTV and am saving 50 dollars a month. This excites me. What does not excite me is the headache I’m getting from the television service provider I was previously using.

Once I knew my DirecTV was working perfectly, I called to cancel my former service. I was immediately thrown into the pits of automated menu hell. After punching more digits than my social security number squared, I got a live person, Eric, who asked me for my account number, address, and phone number to verify my account and then told me he had the authority to add services but not delete them. Geez, but OK, fine. “Please connect me with someone who can help me.” And back into the pits I went. Enter Ryan. Ryan, who also made me provide my account number, phone number, address, and my first pet’s name to verify my account and then he told me he couldn’t delete services but had apparently picked up my call by accident. Lovely. “Please connect me with someone who can actually help me.” And it occurs to me that “actually” is one of those words I use when I’m annoyed.

So, off we go, trip three down the red hot path of automated menu dungeons and dragons... where we meet Connie.  Connie gets all of the aforementioned numbers and tells me she can cancel my service but then she tells me she can give me six months at the “introductory” rate, if that will keep my business. Now, please tell me, if I could have had that rate all along, why didn’t I have that rate all along? I’d been a customer of this company for over ten years; the decision to cancel did not come lightly and it would not be undone that easily either. As Connie tried to convince me to keep this overpriced service, it became apparent that she did not tuck in her horns before coming to the office. When I asked if someone needed to be home for the technician’s visit to pull the plug, a simple question or so I thought, Little Miss Customer Service said, “Did I tell you someone needed to be there? No, I don’t think I did.” Wow. I had no more words fit to use. I also had no more dollars fit to spend with this company.

And today, I get a phone call recording that says I need to be at home at a specific time on a specific day to meet the technician. What? Connie Customer Service said, in her Queen of the Dungeons & Dragons way, I didn’t. So, here we go again, through the swirling vortex that is the automated menu to figure out if I need to be home or not. Grrr.

And, in the course of the last few hours, I’ve had three, count them, one, two, three phone calls from this television provider asking me what they can do to keep my business. By the third call, my patience was non-existent. What I really wanted to say was: “If your company didn’t employee people who can add but not delete services, AND people who can delete services but can’t politely answer a question, AND people who get paid to regain customers that you’ve already lost, you might not have to charge quite so much in the first place.” But, I, unlike Connie, did tuck my horns in this morning so I simply told them I was content in my decision. And, with that, I became a full-fledged DirecTV girl saving 50 dollars a month...  

Customer Service Kudos... DirecTV

I've had cable forever but recently, they started cancelling channels. In the last few months, I've lost SoapNet and Oxygen, and rumor has it that Lifetime is on the chopping block. Now, you tell me, what kind of girl can live without the three major feminine networks? Don't get me wrong, I love Spike, ESPN, and Versus as much as the next girl but with all the fights and sports I watch, I have to balance it out with some chick flicks and "the stories" which is what my great grandmother called soap operas when we used to stay with her in the summers. Today, I abandoned cable and switched to DirecTV. This was a big step for me because as much as I'm not a fan of change, I'm less of a fan of change when it comes to technology. I am one of those people who can find the only bug in a system, gets the blue screen of death on her computer more often than anyone in the office, and can never remember which way the paper goes in the fax machine. Not only do I have a computer wizard on speed dial, I also do my best to keep him within shouting distance all day long for those days he stops taking my calls :-).

So today was the day to switch. I was told the installation person would be at my house sometime between 1 and 6. Geez, that means one wasted afternoon waiting for a guy who will show up at the last minute. Or so I thought...

Jay called at 1:10 and promised to be at my house by 1:30... and he was. He was polite, professional, and funny. He gave me all kinds of IDs to prove he was who he said and he made sure all the blinds were open in every room he was in, "so the neighbors could see in, for safety sake." Some people might find that odd; I found it very comforting. Jay installed all the boxes and bells and whistles and even went into the attic to look for a cable AND under the house to drill a hole. And, don't tell his manager, but he didn't charge me for it (because, he said, having to pay extra would have defeated the point of switching to a more economical system in the first place. That's logic I can totally get behind.). Jay was apparently also a little OCD and made sure all my cords and cables were neatly secured together in little bundles and tucked in so that visitors wouldn't notice them. I appreciated that about him. He left my house as neat as he found it and even took his boots off at the door so as to not track dirt in from outside.

Jay didn't leave until I showed him I knew how to work my remotes and when there was a goof up in my internet connection while he was here, he fixed that too. That Jay, he was one handy fella! And he said he'd call me in a few days to make sure everything's still working correctly. That's customer service I could get used to.

All in all, between the professionalism of my interaction a few nights ago with Hunter, the professionalism of Jay today, and the 10 dollar a month discount I will now get for referring a friend to DirecTV, I'm overwhelmingly pleased with my switch from cable to DirecTV. If anyone else is interested, let me know; I'd be happy to share a discount with you too! When all is said and done, if my math is correct, I should save about 55 dollars a month by switching. That's a lot of new shoes that I will happily wear while I'm watching Lifetime movies.

Celebrity Weekend

I missed yesterday’s Monday Music Review because I was happily stuck in the memory of Friday night and wasn’t ready to move on. Surely you understand; it’s not every day that I get up close and personal with the likes of Christian Kane, Steve Carlson, and Bill Gentry. But did my weekend of fun, yummy celebrities end on Friday night?

Absolutely NOT.

Saturday night, I worked as the timekeeper for a mixed martial arts event and the referee was none other than UFC veteran Dan Mirogliotta. If you’ve seen Dan, you know he’s larger than life; if you spend any time with him, you’ll quickly realize he’s as friendly of a character as you’ll ever meet. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be passing notes with Dan Mirogliotta during a heavy metal concert, I would have laughed. But that’s just what happened. There was a mini-concert before the fights and kid you not, in the 45 minutes of “music”, I couldn’t tell you one word that was said, err, screamed. As fantastic as Friday night’s concert at Johnny & June’s was, the band (who will remain nameless because my mama tried to teach me if I can’t say something nice to not say anything) on Saturday night was equally horrible. And Dan thought so too. We even contemplated taking them out. I had pepper spray; he had guns, I’m pretty sure they’re fully automatic. Check out the photo, you decide. We contemplated it on paper because we couldn’t hear a darn thing. I saved the paper; sometimes I’m so junior high. At the end of the night, we snapped a photo and night two of my wonderful meet and greet weekend came to a very happy ending.

 

And then there was Sunday, when I got a friend request on facebook from Riley Smith. Who? I didn’t know either but the message said, “I’m a friend of Christian Kane...” It said more than that but it didn’t really matter; any friend of Christian Kane is a friend of mine. Has anyone else figured out that CK is the center of the universe? Anyway, I don’t know how he did it but I was super excited that he found me. I was feeling a little special (yeah, I know, it’s the little things!) As it turns out Riley Smith is the lead singer of a band, Life of Riley, and he’s great. He’ll be the music review next week but I have to do a little more research on him first. As luck would have it, someone on Riley’s page posted that we should wish him well because he’d injured himself. As an eager and caring new fan, I posted a ‘Get Well Soon, Riley!’ on his facebook page and a friend I haven’t met yet asked me what happened to him. Wouldn’t you know it, Riley Smith actually wrote back with a thank you and an explanation of what happened (he ruptured a disc while playing basketball, in case you wondered). I was feeling a little more special. Friend of Riley Smith is a pretty cool thing to be.

And then we move on to today. I was jammin’ out to Bill Gentry’s six pack of songs from his website in my office but I was craving a song I’d heard him perform on Friday night. I couldn’t remember the name of it so I went to the holy grail of information- facebook. I left a message on Bill’s page asking anyone who’d been at the concert to send me a link to the song. Guess who responded?? Bill himself! Although I was disappointed to learn the song isn’t out yet, he did say I’d have to come back to his shows to hear it again and then I got an emoticon wink! Oooohhhhhh, a wink from Bill Gentry. We’ve now arrived at feeling beyond special! Friend of Bill Gentry is a very cool thing to be.

 

So, there you have it; four days of close encounters with fun yummies. This is a pretty good streak I’ve got going. I wonder what tomorrow will hold…  

Best. Night. EVER

In the first music review, I introduced you to Christian Kane. In the weeks since, he’s been touring the country and last night, I was front and center (well, really second row and a little to his right) for my first Kane concert. My biggest fear at this moment is that I do not have words to do it justice.

It was AMAZING. FANTASTIC. PHENOMENAL. I would say perfect but I did not get a squeeze from the man himself so I can’t go quite that far. But if there were a cloud 10 today, I’d be on it!

I couldn’t find anyone local whose schedule allowed them to go to Winston-Salem last night but not wanting to skip it just because I wouldn’t know anyone, I reached out to the Christian Kane fans on facebook and found several new friends to meet when I got there. And what a fun group they were! In true Kaniac fashion, we grabbed prime viewing, singing, cheering, and photo-taking spots right up front and waited patiently for Bill Gentry. Within 20 seconds of his first song, we realized we had been missing something great by not knowing him before now. He was, in a word, ELECTRIC. I’ve heard people say that about artists but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one up close and personal before. From his covers of Alan Jackson, Def Leppard, Lynard Skynard, to his own original material, he was, as the lyrics in his song Drive say, “hotter than a July blacktop road”. By the time Christian came on, my hands and feet were sore from clapping and stomping, and my voice was nearly gone from screaming.

Then, the moment I’ve waited for arrived! I felt like those girls on the videos of the Beatles, with everyone crying. I was beyond excited; I probably could have cried but a Kaniac is too cool for that. Christian Kane threw it into DRIVE and never hit the brakes. He rocked the country out of a lot of songs from the recently released album, The House Rules, but also did some of his classics which had become my YouTube favorites including Blaze, Middle American Saturday Night, and an amazing cover of Waylon Jennings’ Luckenbach, Texas. I am sure it’s blasphemy to say but Christian Kane did Waylon Jennings better than Waylon Jennings did Waylon Jennings. And, yes, I am willing to risk having to revoke my Country Music Lover card for that statement. Much too soon, I heard him say, “We’re Kane. Good night!” Noooo! It’s not over, it can’t be over yet. And, it wasn’t! An encore!!! A no-stopping, completely-rockin’ Rattlesnake Smile (and yes, there were plenty of hands raised at the “come over here and give me a kiss” line- yours truly among them, of course!)

After the concert, we were scrolling through photos on my group members’ phones, I looked over and saw Bill Gentry standing near the corner, watching the crowd. I made my move; we can’t leave a man like that unattended, now can we? I was just the gal for the job and several minutes later, I was apparently still just the gal for the job. We talked and tried my best to remember that I do know how to speak and that I know how to put words together to make actual sentences. I scored an autographed CD, a facebook friend request, a photo AND a few hugs, and not the ‘nice to meet you and tomorrow I won't remember your name’ hugs, the ‘so great to see you, favorite person in the whole world, when will I see you again?’ hugs that left my shirt smelling yummy enough that it might never get washed again. Fan for life, I am indeed. I'm pretty sure they'll let a Kaniac be a member of the Gentry Nation!

All in all, it was a perfect night (with the exception of my lost invitation to run away with Christian Kane; it’s ok though, I’m not giving up on that one!). I wouldn’t change one thing about it and I don’t think I would have enjoyed it more with anyone else. So, thanks Christian, Steve, Jason, Will, & Ryan; Bill & his band; Phillip at the door who carded me (gotta love that when you passed 21 eons ago); and especially Kaniacs Patsy, Blane, Donna, & Kris for making my first Kane experience a night that will go down in history as the Best. Night. EVER!

The Next Challenge

A few weeks ago, I encouraged you all to join me in the Krispy Kreme Challenge, a four mile run sandwiched around 12 donuts to benefit the North Carolina Children’s Hospital. Some of you must have listened because not too long after I blogged that post, the K2C sold out. So tomorrow, I’ll rise and shine way too early and happily ply myself with enough caffeine to propel me from the belltower at NC State University to the Krispy Kreme on Person Street and with enough sugar to get me back again. I hope you signed up in time. If you didn’t, mark your calendar for next year’s run- it’s always the first Saturday in February. The benefits to the hospital by far outweigh the one hour you will spend trying to run and trying harder not to see those donuts again.

If you didn’t sign up for this charity event, don’t fret! Your next big opportunity to make a difference is just around the corner…  

There’s an animal inside each of us. Inside you, I believe there might just be a polar bear!

Why don't you find out??? Join us on Saturday, March 26, at 10:00 a.m. at the first annual Parking Lot Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics North Carolina!!

This event is presented by the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (Sorry, Karen, I had to put my Division first J!) and will be held at the Chick-fil-A on Timber Drive in Garner.

For the low, low bargain price of 50 dollars (more if you feel so inclined), you and/or a team of your friends, can cannonball, belly flop, or ease your way into a pool of icy cold water. Once you’ve had all the freezing fun you can stand, climb on out and change out of your polar apparel in one of our heated tents. There will be games, food and prizes in several categories including best costume and oldest & youngest plungers! I’m sure there will be some special guests around too. And, guaranteed, there will be laughter and fun (and a free t-shirt with registration)!

In a few moments of your time, you will be supporting a lifetime of memories for Special Olympics athletes. I hope you will consider freezin’ for a reason and jumpin’ in to this worthy event .  If you can’t attend, please consider sponsoring me (or one of the other proud plungers) here. We hope to see you there!

There's a Fine Line

Call me crazy but when my doorbell rings, the thoughts “home invasion” and “serial killer” cross my mind. I guess I watch too much television. And then I call myself silly and open the door to find either friendly people inviting me to try their church, the Terminix guy, the boy scouts selling popcorn, girl scouts with their cookies, or the like. Tonight, the doorbell rang and it was Hunter, a friendly-looking friend I hadn't met yet interested in talking me out of my current television service provider.  When Hunter said the magic words, “this will save you money”, he had my attention.

I know you’re wondering why this is a problem. So, here we go. And I haven’t figured out the right answer so feel free to weigh in with what I should have done.

When Hunter rang my doorbell, it was 43 degrees out, which is cold in it’s own right, but somehow feels colder after the heatwave that was yesterday’s high in the 70s, . Hunter had on dress pants and loafers, gloves and a fairly fluffy coat. I was in sock feet and my standard work wear of black pants and a sweater. It was cold out. I felt sorry for him, walking around the neighborhood trying to make a living. Should I invite him into my warm and toasty house? Should I talk to him on the porch? I wasn’t sure what to do.

Hospitality says, “Invite the poor boy into the house before he freezes to death.” Safety says, “Don’t let a stranger into the house; you'll wind up dead.” I honestly didn’t know what to do. I struggled with it. I wanted to be nice but I also wanted to live to be nice another day. Hunter had a nice smile. I hear that Ted Bundy did too.

I stepped out on the porch to talk with him. I debated several times through our conversation about whether to invite him in or not. In the end, I stayed on the porch, in my sock feet, in the cold, feeling like I was overreacting to a threat that probably didn’t even exist.

Before he left, I tried to make it right by apologizing for not inviting him in. I told him that part of me felt like I was being rude and the other part felt like I needed to put safety first. He laughed and said he was from the South too and completely understood the fine line between Southern hospitality and personal protection. Then he said he wouldn’t have come in even if I had invited him. I didn’t ask if that was a company rule, his personal policy, or if he just decided that I have a Ted Bundy smile too.

Midweek Movie Reviews... Christian Kane

At this exact moment, I am less than 48 tiny little hours away from an event I’ve looked forward to for weeks… the Christian Kane concert!!!! This will be my fourth attempt to see Christian and I couldn’t be more excited. I am holding my breath and crossing my fingers and toes that the fourth time will be the charm. So, in a concerted effort to channel all of the Kaniac karma that I’ve been stockpiling, I feel compelled and privileged to review a few Kane movies this week.

Keep Your Distance: In this edgy film, Christian plays Sean Voight, a trust fund baby trying to make it as a singer and not used to hearing no. As Sean’s ex-girlfriend, Melody, develops a friendship with David (played by Gil Bellows- remember him in Allie McBeal?), Sean’s jealous side comes out and he concocts a devious plan to win her back. This movie is a little complicated and a little risque but worth watching. And, for the record, if Christian Kane was standing on my porch in the pouring rain, I would probably ogle for a while before I opened the door and let him in J

Her Minor Thing: Jeana has a secret, a secret that Tom (Michael Weatherly of NCIS fame), her cocky news reporter boyfriend, spills all over the small screen during a newscast. You can imagine that Tom quickly becomes the ex-boyfriend. As Jeana tries to get revenge and Tom tries to get her back, Paul (Christian Kane), Tom’s cameraman and new-to-town good guy who befriends Jeana without realizing she’s Tom’s girlfriend, is stuck in the middle.

Her Minor Thing is a pretty standard love triangle movie but worth watching, even if you only watch the scene in the fitness center.

Just Married: In this comedy, Christian plays Peter Prentiss, a rich has-it-all-together guy who goes to Europe to break up his ex-girlfriend Sarah’s (played by Brittany Murphy) recent marriage to never-quite-gets-it-right Tom (Ashton Kutcher). This movie will have you laughing the entire way through!

And finally (although this short doesn’t begin to cover the list of Christian’s movies)

Not Since You: Amy and Sam dated through high school and beyond but then he left to backpack Europe and feeling abandoned, she married Ryan (Christian Kane) while he was gone. When Sam shows up to a wedding of a mutual high school friend, Amy (Kathleen Robertson, you might remember her as Claire from Beverly Hills 90210) is torn between her past and her future.

Not Since You is a sweet movie with a few twists you probably won’t see coming. And, be warned, you’ll probably need a tissue or two.

That’s just a sneak peak of all you’re missing if you don’t have Christian Kane in your Netflix queue. And, rest assured, there will be a blog of the concert this weekend at some point because if you couldn’t tell, I’m proud to be a Kaniac.

Pull Up a Chair at... Noodles & Company

Every now and then, as I’m flipping channels, I land on that TV show that shows you what and where the Food Network stars like to eat, The Best Thing I Ever Ate. I usually watch for a little while and make mental notes about where to eat if I’m ever in the cities they’re promoting. 

I thought for the longest time that the chicken burrito with queso sauce from On the Border was my favorite meal of all time. I’m sure OTB has other tasty dishes but I wouldn’t know. I got the chicken burrito on my first visit and have not strayed since. Not once. When something works for me, I tend to stick with it. Creature of habit, I guess. The chicken burrito with queso was the meal I’d choose if I could choose anything in the world to eat… or it used to be anyway.

Move over chicken burrito, you’ve been replaced.

Noodles & Company in Cameron Village offers a wide range of noodle dishes with flavors from all over the world. The dishes come in two sizes so if you order the “regular”, come hungry. Today, like always, I got the small Penne Rosa which is perfectly cooked penne pasta with mushrooms and spinach, topped with parmesan cheese-crusted chicken. I was full, but not miserable, and I skipped dinner because I was just not hungry.  There will probably be a bowl of ice cream in my future though; Penne Rosa is good but it can’t replace a bedtime snack. J

(Apologies for the photo, this was mid-eat. It was much prettier {but the same amount of tasty} when it arrived at the table, before I stirred it all up.)

The fun thing about Noodles & Company is that they offer noodle combinations you wouldn’t normally imagine: they suggest you get meatballs in your macaroni and cheese and while that sounds odd to me, the people who get it swear that meatballs no longer belong “On Top of Spaghetti” (does anyone remember that song from elementary school?). If you’re adventurous, you can go off the menu to mix and match noodles and sauces to make a signature dish of your own. The prices are a tiny bit high for lunch but are very much worth it for a mid-week treat. I believe my penne with chicken and a drink cost eight dollars.

Another thing I like about Noodles & Company is that you order at the counter but they bring your food and utensils to your table. Call me strange or whatever but there’s just something I don’t enjoy about carrying a tray to the table. It’s not that I’m above the manual labor of carrying my own tray, it’s that the trays make lunch feel like I’m back in the junior high cafeteria and let’s just be honest, no one wants to relive those awkward days.

Noodles & Company tends to get crowded so come early (they open at 11a.m.) and if it’s nice weather, you can grab a table outside under one of their huge red umbrellas. If you see us there, you're more than welcome to pull up a chair... but keep your fork far far away from my Penne Rosa.