The Distant Land of My Father

Have you ever read a book or watched movie that touched you so deeply you couldn't really talk about it? That's how I felt after reading this book. I believe I have a new #1 favorite book, and I'll forever wonder how Bo Caldwell was able to capture the emotions so perfectly.

Heavy Sleeper

Before I get into the meat of my post, I would like to announce that the honeymoon of my new position is over. Remember how much I love my new boss? She's no longer with the company. Big sigh.

On a happier note, I had a nice weekend with my family. It was far too long since visiting my mama--and my puppy who is no longer a puppy at 13 years old. He slept with his head on my leg and I couldn't have been happier. Speaking of naps . . .

The lady next to me on the airplane fell asleep. We had some really nasty turbulence, and they weren't even able to finish the drink service. The lady slept on. Well, when the flight attendants felt confident enough to brave the rocking plane aisles to pick up the trash, they had only a few minutes before landing. As they rushed through, the woman on the other side of me tried to hand over her peanuts wrapper but dropped it . . . directly onto the sleeping lady. The flight attendant looked at the trash for half a second then walked away. The other woman (I'll refer to her as the litterer) hardly batted an eye before returning to her book.

Seriously people? Who leaves garbage on the sleeping lady?

One of the Family?

Ryan's brother was in town this weekend, and we really enjoyed spending time with him. I found out that he reads my blog from time to time so I can't share all of the embarrassing stories I was planning on telling.

In all seriousness he was probably the one embarrassed of us. We got to meet his new "lady friend" and I will be shocked if we didn't scare her off. Apparently she told him later that we are all the same.

I have to say this has really made me think. Ryan's brothers do all have similar humors, but I never thought of grouping myself with them. We've been married 5 1/2 years, so am I one of them now?

If the answer's yes, then I think I can live with that. And maybe feel secretly pleased.

Too Morose?

I just can't seem to get this song out of my head:



Does that make me morbid? Or is it just the fact that it gets me thinking about my own funeral that makes me morbid?

New Recipes

We all go through phases of dinner slumps, and I felt like I'd been in one for months. Part of the problem was being so busy at work that we were eating out far too much. Anyway, I've been working harder at getting a meal on the table at least five nights a week, and I've been trying new recipes like these:

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
Guacamole (look, I don't even like avocados and I could eat this with a spoon)
Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Simple Sesame Noodles (sooo easy, but so delicious! also, great leftovers)
Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies
Asian Lettuce Wraps

We've also had some failures, but I won't report on those. We both feel refreshed, I think to try some new things. Not to mention we have more to try this week. Someday I will get brave enough to cook a whole chicken and try the recipe my mother-in-law sent me that sounds super good but intimidating to someone without roasting experience.

Have you tried anything good lately?

Better Than the CIA

Did I mention my new position was the position Sam was let go from? It makes me feel awkward in all kinds of ways. I inherited some of her office supplies (like a personalized mouse pad), and I ended up getting rid of it all. Even though it's not my fault that she's gone, I still feel a little guilty using her old stuff. However, it has reminded me of another impressive fact about her. We were having a political discussion once and somehow it turned to the government knowing where Bin Laden was hiding but intentionally not acting on it. I tend to tune out the conversation about the point it goes into conspiracy theory, so I almost missed an important piece of info. Not only does the government know, but she knows. Yup, Sam knows where Bin Laden is hiding. In case you're wondering, he's in Canada, near Niagra Falls. If ever he's caught and that's where he's found, remember you heard it here first.

Thoughts for the Weekend

I have a lot of thoughts floating around this morning, so this post is going to be in a different format than usual (a thought list).

 1 - I lost half of my 4th of July decorations. They are nowhere to be found. Thus I will not be celebrating.

 2 - Just kidding. We will be quietly celebrating at home by relaxing with the half of decorations I have.

 3 - Monday is my grandpa's birthday. The last birthday/4th of July we spent together was two years ago at an assisted living facility. They gave us patriotic ribbons to wear. It was so good to see him and yet he was in so much pain. He passed away three weeks later. I still have the ribbon in my medicine cabinet.

 4 - We are planning a trip! Ryan's parents invited us to go on an Alaskan cruise with them and Ryan's aunts and uncles. We are VERY excited. It's good to have something to look forward to.

 5 - My new boss is great and I love my new job. Who knew internal audit was so much pleasanter than accounting?

 6 - They merged departments at work and now the accounting department of 14 people and financial planning & analysis group of 1 person are together. They're calling it the "finance" department and the 14 people in accounting are annoyed. Understandably.

 7 - Have you ever had a coworker that got really mad at you and you didn't know why, but then the coworker acted like nothing ever happened? What did you do? Were you just grateful the drama was over, or were you worried you might set her off again since you still don't know what set her off in the first place?

 8 - One time the guy I was dating (this one) shot me with a BB gun. He didn't know it was loaded but laughed for approximately 20 minutes after it happened. I was considerably irritated by both the wound and the reaction.

 9 - When it's over 106 degrees, I am tired all of the time.

10 - Ryan told me that I could have an alternative title for my blog called "Sometimes I Care about Really Dumb Things."

11 - Ryan has NEVER shot me with a BB and definitely wouldn't have laughed about it. So I forgive him for #10. Actually it made me laugh.