Hold Your Horses!!

Okay, so I dropped off the face of the blogging planet for a couple of months. Sorry, I'm back.

I don't know if anyone would remember when I posted my "Before I Die" list, but I stated that one of things I would like to do before I die is learn how to ride a horse comfortably.

I got a chance to practice a couple of months ago! My awesome boss has horses and invited all of us to come out to her place for a work party. She had a couple of her horses saddled up and ready to ride.

I didn't get up to a trot or gallop because the horse I rode is still being trained. They just wanted to make sure she didn't buck me off or try to run away with me on her back. I guess I can appreciate that. She said we can come back and ride whenever we want. I'm totally taking her up on that!

 Doc loves doing his favorite trick. Too bad we didn't have any treats to give him.

 This is Sunny, the horse I rode. She's still pretty young, but she's pretty sweet.

 Tracy enjoyed being around the horses too!

 This is Bug. He's the largest and the leader of the group.

I love horses!!!

Quick Friday Thought: Princesses

If I had time, I'd post pictures of the Royal Wedding and comment on how much I would have loved to be there (or live there really), how beautiful Kate's dress was, how amazing it would be to live in a palace. However, I'll just post this little thought.

"I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us. Didn't your father ever tell you that?" --The Little Princess.

How Is NASCAR Still Around?

Shhhhh . . . Don't let my hardcore Southern acquaintances know I said this. I just might get lynched for saying this.

NASCAR is definitely on my list of the top ten dumbest, most wasteful forms of entertainment in America today. 

I don't see why NASCAR has fans or how it is fun or enjoyable. Honestly, after watching Olympic runners turn about four laps around the track, I start to get bored, and with runners I can see their inspiring perseverance in their faces. There is human drama and personal determination in those races. How can people sit and watch 35+ cars drive 500 laps around a track? We can't see the drivers. We just see crashes, cars getting lapped and never getting even close to the top ten spots, and wasted gas and tires. Maybe driving around the track is more fun than watching it, but even then after probably 10 laps, I would get tired of the repetitive scenery.

As in other sports, if NASCAR should even be considered a sport, the 'athletes' are overpaid. Having no power steering certainly can be challenging, but when they have crew chiefs to give them strategies, do we really need to pay the talented drivers roughly $3.5 million annually to steer a car in one direction? I'd like to see if or how uneven the drivers' arm sizes and strength are.

I can see the entertainment in racing in the old days when cars were new or started to become more classy and chic in addition to more powerful. I admit I liked watching the Love Bug when I was a kid (but even Herbie raced on roads, not a bland track). These days, we all know how to drive, and I don't know anyone who wants to have Wonderbread stickers plastered all over their car. Let's face it--racing has become trashy and is logically outdated. I don't see why people keep wasting their money to see it.

I realize that in a year NASCAR doesn't use even one-tenth of the gas consumed by the nation every day. However, aren't we encouraged to carpool, to ride our bikes, to walk, to use public transportation more often to conserve energy resources and reduce cost? Aren't we told that we each should do our part to protect our planet? Well, I wonder what NASCAR is contributing to social responsibility. They supply 500 laps around an oval in 40 races a year. And don't even get me started on the fans who travel hundreds of miles to get to these races. Brilliant.

I understand that NASCAR is a profitable industry (although I'll never understand why). I understand that as long as people are willing to pay for tickets, NASCAR will continue to provide races. But couldn't we push drivers to use more urgent strategic methods in 250 laps or, heaven forbid, 100 laps? Couldn't we save some X number of tires and gallons of gas per race if we reduce the number of laps? Couldn't we limit the number of cars in each race to ensure that those in the race will actually have a chance to possibly win the race?

I'll let you know if I find the word "Yankee" graffiti-ed on the outside of my apartment. 

My Favorite Kind of Weather

Most people love the summer sun. I'm a fair-skinned redhead. The sun and I have a delicate relationship.

Don't get me wrong; I like the bright, warm sun, but I like a partly or mostly cloudy day just as much as I like a sunny day. Plus, I'm more of a temperate weather girl. I can't seem to escape hellish hot summers, much to my dismay. What makes it a good day weatherwise? Wind! (Maybe I like italics because they look like they are being blown . . .)

Most people don't like wind. If you have about two minutes, watch this. It makes me so sorry for him and yet giggle shamelessly at the same time.

I love wind. I love a cool breeze on a toasty summer day. I love a crisp fall wind that spins leaves in the air.

Besides, that messy hairstyle is what people are going for these days anyway, right?

My First Repurposing Project

I love websites like Etsy, Make It and Love It, and my cousin's blog, where they give ideas to repurpose old clothes into new ones.

I probably will copy their ideas eventually, and might have already with this one unknowingly, but I came up with this idea all by myself. I'm so big!

Please excuse the crudity of this project. My sewing skills are pretty elementary. I gotta start somewhere!
I started out with this shirt with really long, obnoxious sleeves. So I cut them off!
They have this fun striped pattern on them, and I thought of making a baby girl skirt.

I cut a strip out of the sleeve to make the belt loops. I have only one button at the top to allow the baby to still move around her little legs and show off the striped pattern on the inside.

A ribbon or an actual belt completes this skirt. Not bad, eh? (Note: there is a reason I haven't shown the back. But the front looks pretty cute!!) Like I said, I've got to start somewhere!

A Buffet of Laughter

Tracy got back from his exhausting ten-day trip in Washington state on Tuesday. For the last five days he was there, he got a total of eleven hours of sleep.

Eleven hours of sleep for five days . . .

Basically: two-hour time change+tedious thesis work=one tired Tracy

He slept for sixteen hours on Wednesday and twelve hours on Thursday. Even today, Monday, he is still adjusting to our normal schedule.

We wanted to go out to eat to celebrate another milestone in his thesis work (and to avoid cooking). Tracy sometimes likes going to buffet places like Golden Corral because he can have all the kinds of meat he wants. (Plus, the Golden Corral here has Bluebell ice cream--Yum!!) They are not our favorite places to eat, but every once in a great while it's not bad. Tracy chose Golden Corral this time.

So we're there eating and chatting when we hear what sounds like the product of a moan, a scream, and a cry. Somewhere in the restaurant, a man obviously was experiencing something very difficult, indeed. Initially, Tracy and I looked around us, wondering if he was anywhere close by or if others heard what we did. Nope and nope.

We then proceeded to have several imaginary conversations with this guy. "You all right there, buddy?" "It's a buffet, but you don't have to eat all of it, you know." "I told you to stop at that last plate." "Put the roll down, and step away." "This potato salad is so good--I can't stop eating it!!!" "I have eaten too much, woe is me!!!" "Curse you, buffet food!!"

Good times at Golden Corral.

Overall morals of this story:
1. Eating at a buffet doesn't have to mean eating so much that you let out painful, exasperated cries.
2. True, when you go to a buffet, you want to eat your money's worth, but remember, you have to drive home afterward. Friends don't let friends drive stuffed. You don't want to get a DWS (driving while stuffed).
3. Marry someone you can laugh and do silly things with. :)

Double the Fun

My sister finally had her twins!!! She and the babies are doing fine. They are healthy and beautiful. Yay!!!

Meet Jace Bryan, 5 lbs 4 oz, and Allie, 5 lbs 1 oz.

So cute! Great! Now I have two more reasons to visit family!