To work, or not to work, that is the question...

At the beginning of the summer, I complained endlessly about not getting enough hours at work. I barely had enough money to pay my bills and definitely didn't have any "fun money." The whole thing was very frustrating for me, because in my world, summer is a time to work hard and make money.

Now, for the past couple weeks, I haven't had a day off. I've been working 6 or 7 days a week at the hotel, working between a couple departments. I was also helping Aaron while his dad was gone, although that seemed the least like work, because I got to spend the day with the man I love :-) Now that I've gotten my wish, and I have more hours, I wish I had a day when I didn't have to work.

Thinking about it though, what I really want is to have a life. A grown-up life. I doubt there are too many people my age who would say that, but I wish that I was done with school and I could find a job, preferably an 8-5 job, and really establish my life. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I'm an organizer and a planner. I'm also kind of lazy sometimes, and I like to have free time, which means I'm sick of working all weekend, every weekend, while going to school and working all week.

I've found the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with. We have a nice little house and a few pets to keep us busy. We're figuring out where we want our lives to go, the most important part being that our futures are together. I think I'm just ready for the next step in my life and I'm ready for my life to slow down a little. The first step to slowing down is being planned for next weekend. I have a nice, relaxing surprise planned for Aaron. That is, if I can manage to keep it a secret... But in the meantime, I hope to peak his curiosity by mentioning it all the time, including in this current blog entry. Tee-hee!!

Harry Potter

I've read the first 5 Harry Potter books and liked all of them. I mooched off my brother for the first 4 and my host family in Germany bought me the 5th for my birthday. So, thus far I haven't had to buy any of them and I was hoping to continue the tradition this time around. Does anybody have a copy of the 6th book that they're done with already?? I would love to borrow it if anybody has a copy up for grabs!! Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know one way or another. Comments in our blog are allowed :-)

My favorite Spice Girl is "Sporty Spice"

Tonight Aaron and I had dinner at my parent's house. Joining us were my brother's fiance, Becky, and my cousin, Susan. Somehow, the conversation turned to Susan's attendance at her stepson's sporting events and the seasons that they take place. At this point, my mom started making fun of me and my knowledge of sports, or what she thought was my lack of knowledge. Little did she know that I've become quite the sports fanatic!! Let me give you the run-down.

My favorite NFL team: Atlanta Falcons
My favorite MLB team: Atlanta Braves
When I was about 2 (approximately 1987) David Archer, a former ISU quarterback, was drafted to the falcons. This was the first ISU player that I knew of that was playing on a pro-team. Sharing the same hometown is one of the reasons why I like the Braves, but also because one of my favorite players, Deion Sanders played for both the Falcons and the Braves at the same time. One time, he played a World Series game and a football game in the same time. He had to be flown from one to another in a helicopter. And, he scored a homerun and a touchdown in the same day!!
My favorite NHL team: Until recently, I didn't have one, because they're in a lockout, but not it's the Redwings.
My favorite NBA team: I don't have one, because they don't play enough "D" (aka-defense) in pro-basketball. I am a big ISU Cyclones basketball fan though!!

This is a summary of all of the information that I spouted out during the conversation of my sports knowledge. By the end, my mom was laughing hysterically. But, if you know me, you know that I'm really not very knowledgeable about sports or even interested in them. Aaron is a sports fan though, and I love doing things with/talking to him about things he likes, so I've acquired all of this knowledge. All except the hockey part, that's just how I'm going to suck up to the general manager of the Hotel, because he's a MAJOR hockey fan!!

I spose this was all funnier when I was spouting it all out, basically as fast as I could, with a few pit-stops along the way to whisper to Aaron, asking for a little reminder about one of my favorites!! Thinking back, I realize that my family spent about 20 minutes making fun of me, but it really is funny and a good ending to a stressful day at work, but that's a whole 'nother story...

Our oh-so-spoiled puppy!!

Last week I decided to wash the slipcovers off our couches. I think our animals have gotten close to being done massively shedding for the summer, although I wouldn't bet any money on it!! Now, normally, our dog Steve has his own couch (yes, I realize that's enough to consider him spoiled.) He also has a body pillow and a normal pillow on his couch. Below is a picture of him, annoyed and ignoring us, because his pillows are missing.

This night was yet another reminder that I should always have my camera handy. Less than 10 minutes before this picture was taken, Steve was laying on the floor with his head on his pillow. (The pillow is seen in the lower right hand corner.) I must say, it was a very cute thing to see!!

One might accuse Aaron and I of being 'crazy' or 'childish' because we like to narrate possible thoughts inside our pets' heads. On this night, we were quite sure that Steve was thinking "Ok, seriously guys. Do you really expect me to watch TV without my pillow?!? You're going to feel really dumb when you realize that you forgot to put my pillows back on the couch." The good news, for all of you worried readers out there, is that we quickly rectified the situation and his pillows are back in place.

My question is, is there something wrong with me (us), because I'm this obsessed with my pet's comfort?? Or does it just mean that I'm a wonderful, caring person??

Optimism Comes Back With Avengeance

My parents have spent about the last 8 months remodeling their kitchen. Towards the end, they asked Aaron to make a custom island. I had the pleasure of helping him out and started referring to myself as "The Cabinet Makers Wife." This weekend I got to become "The Construction Workers Wife." Since Aaron's parents are in Mexico (directly in the path of Hurrican Emily...eeek!!) I became his assistant. I spackled and painted a little bit on Thursday night and tore the carpet tiles out of a small office. I knew we had a big room to tear the carpet out of today, but I wasn't worried, because it had been pretty easy on Thursday. After today, though, I feel like I have scraped enough carpet and glue to last me a lifetime. I have a ginormous blister on my thumb and my hands are cracked and sore. My arms, back, and legs (so basically everything from my chin down) are tense and achy.

It went something like this...The first half of the big room went about the same as the little rooms. A few tiles took a little extra finaggling with, but pretty easy overall. I was taking some carpet out to the dumpster when I made the mistake of turning to Aaron and saying, "We should be able to get this done in no time!!" When I came back in the room, Aaron was working on the same carpet tile as when I left. The last half of the room took every ounce of energy we had and there were several close calls with injury. (Imagine a sharp carpet scraper flying at Aaron's leg or a hammer claw nearing his hand at high speeds...) When we finally got the room done, we were relieved, to say the least. Unforunately, we both had to work at the Hotel tonight.

I made the error of being optimistic, yet again, when I got to work. I was going to be working a small wedding and the meal was a buffet, so I thought it would be a cinch. Wrong again!! We had staff call in sick and we ended up having to serve more tables than is standard and I had to serve the head table in addition!! Talk about stress!! Then, to top it all off, I was the tattle-tale in a case of underage drinking and the guests were not happy with me!!

Today was one of those days that makes me happy to curl up and cuddle at night, so that I can wake up the next day and have a more successful day!!

Lately I've started reading the blogs of a few friends. Generally, there's nothing extraordinarily exciting (or even intelligent--no offense) in the entries. It's amazing to me, though, how reading the everyday thoughts of others can keep me so amused. Well, Aaron and I decided to give it a shot ourselves. Our lives aren't very interesting and I won't venture to say we have anything intelligent to say, but we've decided to share it anyways, so enjoy!!

I should have been cleaning our house today, because there's no doubt that's it's a disaster area right now. But instead, I started messing around on the internet creating our new website and blog. It's been frustrating at times, but fun overall. Too much time off from work has made me lazy. Hopefully I can kick it into gear tonight, otherwise I think we'll go crazy soon from the chaos. (And yes, I just got done saying that hopefully I can get some good cleaning done on a Friday night!!)