Merry Christmas

I subscribe to this website that emails you an inspriational quote every day (well, with my work email filter it's more like 2x a month...), and today the below message actually made it through. I figured, of all the things to not be filtered out, this one was a pretty good one. i thought i'd share...it puts things into perspective i think.

Merry christmas everyone...

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow
Stood puzzling and puzzling: 'How could it be so?'
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
And he puzzled three hours, 'till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"
-----------Dr. Seuss, 1904-1991Beloved Cartoonist and Children's Book Author

Deep down inside we know
that the best gifts
don't come from catalogs
or shopping malls
They don't come in brightly-colored packages
or fancy envelopes
and they're not sitting under a tree somewhere...
The best gifts come from the heart.
They come when we look at each other
REALLY look at each other
and say 'You mean a lot to me'
or 'I'm so glad you're a part of my life'
A gift like that will never go out of style
or be forgotten
or be returned for a different size.
A gift like that can change the world.
----------Ron Atchison Inspiration Peak

Woot!

Hey everyone! Woot! This is a term that has somehow made its way into my vocabulary as of late...not exactly sure when it arrived, probably around the same time I started using the word "ginormous." :) Usually when people ask me what it means I tell them it is an expression of joy & excitement, but i found a website that defines it further. Even if not informative, i thought they were at least entertaining! Here are the best of what's listed on the site (i believe theres like 60 definitions on there...):

WOOT
Pronunciation: 'wüt (similar to "hoot!" but with a 'w' instead.)
1) An interjection similar to "YAY!" or "Woohoo!" used to express joy or excitement, usually about some kind of accomplishment. Primarily used by gamers, spreading rapidly to anyone who chats online. Gaming origins: We Owned the Other Team or Wonderful Loot (Everquest gaming slang) Example: "Woot! I got an A on this test!
2) To express agreement. Example: Robyn: Eric is such a dork. Let's put packing peanuts in his desk. Stefanie: woot!
3) As an acronym, can mean Waste of Our Time or Way Out of Topic (online forums) Less common.
4.) The Canadian way to say "What." Example: "Woots that aboot??"
5). A greeting, for close friends or people you have been expecting. Special note: When the person you are awaiting appears, it is customary to offer a long "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!" The only appropriate response to said Woot is two short, emphatic "WOOT WOOT!"
6.) The name of an internet website that sells an item a day. Getting really popular, and has some really great deals at times. Website: www.woot.com


Next topic...lots has happened since i blogged last! Lets see...last wednesday night it snowed gangbusters...friday i took the day off from work and traveled to Chicagotown with my friend Denise Deniserson. (Woot!) :) It was a crazy & interesting trip up there to say the least...the bad weather we had on wed nite traveled to Chicago thursday evening, and one of the Southwest planes landing at midway slid off the end of the runway, through the wall at the end and into an intersection on Central, i believe. Scary! Same airline we were flying...same airport...within like 12 hrs of when we were sposed to be there. Yikes. Anywho, our flight out of KC was delayed like 2hrs because of the accident, also b/c the runways were bad enough that only one runway was open....talk about congestion! So yes, 2hrs late, we arrived...and spent the weekend relaxing, shopping (YAY IKEA!!!) & shopping some more. If youre interested, ask me & i'll email you about the life-changing bra-fitting i had at a lingerie store Oprah recommended (i mean, if Oprah recommends it, you have to go there, right?) on Michigan Ave...yikes! But i digress...the trip was just loads of fun! Underlined how much I still really like the town, and still would love to live there...even in spite of the insanely cold weather...

So now i'm back...yesterday was monday...blah...and my first day of the south beach diet. The 1st 2 weeks of this diet i pretty much have to cut out all sugar from my diet. Well not all, but like 99%....being that i get so crabby when my blood sugar gets low, i was a little, shall we say, less than chipper yesterday. Today was better, and i'm sure tomorrow will be better still, but this is tough! When i was in the grocery store & walking past the orange juice, my mouth just started to water...i could almost taste it!! But no, i was strong, no sugar-laden OJ for me. I did cave and get a case of Coke Zero tho...tastes just like Coke, but with no sugar. I will have to write to the company thanking them for their life-saving invention. :)

P.S. some of my friends are coming to kc to visit this weekend...i am SOOOO excited! I feel like it's christmas or something, just absolutely can't wait. WOOT!!! :)

Winter Wonderland!

Imagine if you will, a snowglobe, with kansas city in the middle of it....now imagine that snowglobe being 1/2 filled with snow (much more than the average snow globe), and then being turned upside down & shaken. That's us right now!! We're getting TONS of snow, and it's just swirling around, just like in a snow globe. It's beautiful!! :)

So far we have around 5 inches, but they're calling for something around 8 by the time it's said and done...and all i can think of is, wonder if they'll have any sleds left by the time i get to the store? I know, I'm 27 and maybe sledding may be a bit juvenile...but darnit! there are some good hills around this place (i know, because i've had to run up them in my training runs!!), and with 8 inches of snow they most definitely should not go to waste!

La, la, la, let it snow! let it snow! let it snow! :)

**Sigh**

You are reading the post of a very tired girl...the last 4 workdays have been H-E-L-L...loong days at work, being busy nonstop from the time i get in till i leave, not getting to eat lunch until 4pm on a regular basis, guaranteed stress headache by 3:00 everyday. Booo....yes, this is me whining.... I want one day, just one, when i'm not asked to do 10 million things with the clear expectation that i will have time to do those 10million things when really there's only time to reasonably to 1 million of those things. no no no more!!! i would also like a day when i can comfortably get my job done and still have time to leave my desk to use the restroom or get lunch without someone standing at my desk when i get back with SOMETHING ELSE for me to do!! NO MORE!!! AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Have you ever seen that cartoon with the duck standing over his computer with a big sledge hammer? That's me, only its not just my computer, its the whole desk...computer (complete with zillion unread emails), phone (complete with blaring red light of voicemail doom), and papers strewn about. The whole kit & caboodle.

Ok...i'm done whining now...i think i got it out of my system...

On another note, happy st nicholas day everyone! I brought in cookies & fudge to work today to celebrate, although i believe i may be the only person in my group, possibly the whole company, who celebrates the day. heathens... ;) j/k.

On another note as well, I am taking a long weekend and going to Chicago this friday for a little R& R with my friend Denise. Cant wait!! Even though i know it is going to be INSANELY cold there, i'm so excited to have a weekend where it is my job to relax, spend some money christmas shopping, drink some margaritas and have some fun. Woohoo!! i seriously cannot wait...less than 72 hours!! Once we get there i may just hide in the Marshall Fields and not come back. It's a big department store...surely it wouldnt be THAT bad to live in...

christmas time!

Ok. I confess...I have finally succumbed to the christmas fever! (if you are a grinch, probably would be less painful to stop reading after paragraph 2...)

Now that it is finally december (actually i should be saying, it's december? already?) I feel like yes, we can now sing christmas songs with a clear conscience! It seems like every month has its holiday, so it's just wrong to celebrate a holiday before its date is due...kindof like celebrating your birthday a month early, there's something just not right about it! :) I started seeing christmas stuff out as early as September (sigh...it's going to be a long season...), and one of the KC radio stations started playing christmas music as early as october (scandal! it's not even halloween yet!), and then of course putting up the christmas decorations on thanksgiving in november (what?? I'm still drowsy from the turkey!!). BUT it is now december...so...deck the halls!

I've changed the ringer on my phone to the dance of the sugar plum fairies, put the few christmas decorations I have up in my apartment (it is a-dazzle with blue & silver-gorgeous!), started writing christmas cards, and am starting to accumulate christmas gifts for the chosen few I can afford to buy/make for. Plus, as if we need another reason to enjoy the season, how can you NOT get excited about all the great christmas movies out there!!! A Christmas Story ("you'll shoot your eye out!"), Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Its a Charlie Brown Christmas, aand...my all time absolute favorite (no matter what season)...Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase & Randy Quaid. Just thinking of that movie makes me laugh!! I can't even choose my favorite scene, every part of that movie just makes me giggle and laugh like i was 10 again & watching the 3 stooges...pure happiness...

So...grinchy people of the world beware...24 days & counting till the big day!!
Ho Ho Ho!! *<:D
(that's supposed to be santa btw...)