I Was in Bed by 8:30....
This is no joke.

Last night, I was in bed by 8:30 p.m.. I was, in a word, exhausted.

Why is that you ask? Did I exercise my tail off? Do mega amounts of hard, physical, labor? Chase cute kiddos around all day?

I wish. At least then I wouldn't feel so guilty eating that muffin this morning.

Come closer. I want to fill you in on a little secret.

I'm an introvert.

I said, I'm an introvert.

Oh....for crying out loud....I'M AN INTROVERT!

Yes. Yes it's true. I'm a big, ol' introvert. On the Meyers Briggs scale....I don't even come close to hugging the middle of the line between extrovert and introvert.

So, how does being an introvert make me tired? Oh. Let me tell you. You see...I often times have to put on my big girl panties, slap a smile on my face and fake it all day. I have to be in a decent mood, excited to work with my students, helpful to my co-workers, etc. etc. etc.

When you do that all day, it gets tiring. I call it, being "on".

In fact, when I get home, I often have to ask the Big Guy for just 10 minutes of peace and quiet. While I'm happy he asks me, "...how are you? How was your day? What's for dinner?", I can't deal with that when I walk in the door.

Yesterday was no exception. I had to do a training session with my fellow senior academic advisors about facilitation--or being a leader of a group. I have planned this thing for 3 weeks. I wasn't nervous--I can speak in front of a large crowd with no problem--but just wanted it to go well. We won't even go into the computer issues that this conference room had and how that about threw me over the edge.

But after a 2 hour training, dealing with a student drama, advising appointments, and the like--I was worn out.

I got home and told the Big Guy--you're on your own for dinner. I sat down on the couch and didn't move for an hour. I made myself a little whole wheat pasta with fresh tomatoes and a touch of olive oil and crawled into bed at 8:30.

I felt like I was a 2nd grader all over again.

I loved it.

Anyone Need a Box?
I cannot believe it. Our Breast Cancer 3-day walk is a month away. A month.


As you know, Amy and I are driving a sweep van for the event. It really should be a lot of fun. We are having a baseball theme and we need to decorate our van. After a little brainstorming and scouring the internet, I found items on the popular site, Oriental Trading Company.


I placed an order for a package of baseball car magnets and some streamer-type things to hang in the van. We have to be able to clean our van quickly at the end of the 3-days, so these items were perfect.


The other day I got home and saw a box on the couch. I thought in my head, "how big are these magnets and streamers?"



So, I opened the box.



After digging through the 12 foot string of air packing pillows, I found my items.




One gigantic box for something that could fit into a mailing envelope. Makes you wonder what the people at Oriental Trading Company were thinking when they put these two items into that big box!

For Hula & Tater Mama....
This weekend after running errands, what should I find on my little cherry tomato plants?

It has been unseasonably cool this summer, so my little cherry tomatoes have been on the vine, but yet to ripen to red or yellow. But this weekend....they started to ripen.


YEAH!!!

So, girls...these are for you. I don't know two people who love home grown, summer tomatoes like I do. If I lived close by, I'd share my small, little bounty. For those who are close by? As soon as these little buggers ripen, they'll be coming out of my ears...so be prepared.

Go by and check out their blogs: Hula can be found here, Tater Mama can be found here.

You'll love them as much as southern sweet tea and red velvet cake. Ummmmm......

Updated to add: As you may remember, I was thrilled beyond belief that my wedding photographer was going to be MckMama from the blog My Charming Kids. Her youngest, Stellan, is back in the hospital and is in serious condition. You can follow her updates on her blog. If you have a prayer in you--please say it for this family. If you're not a prayer type--please keep them in your thoughts. While I'm not a parent I cannot imagine what they are having to go through right now.

Think We Should?
While we can't have amplified music at our wedding venue, THIS is different!




You have to admit--this is one hell of a way to make an entrance into your wedding!

If you want to see the couple on the Today Show, click here

The Latest Wedding Idea....
This weekend I went to try on wedding dresses. Let me just say that the girlie-girl in me (if there is such a thing) was a little giddy. The Kelley you see on the outside, though, a little put off by the whole idea.

I imagined myself like Carrie Bradshaw when she was engaged to Aidan. She tried on a dress, got a rash and had to have it ripped off her body. Thankfully, that wasn't me. I was quite surprised at how "fun" it was.

I see you smiling. I even see that thought bubble above you head--it says, "I knew it...."

For the record I found a dress that is so completely opposite of what I wanted. It was a little surprising. But as they say, "...you just know when you found THE dress...."

Sorry...can't post it here. The Big Guy does read the ol' bloggy, ya' know.

After the wedding dress viewing, trying on, and deciding, Julie and I went back to her place to chat more about dresses, to-do lists, etc. While we were talking about catering the reception, I got an idea.

Why not have a beer & wine tasting at the reception?

How fun would that be? The Big Guy has a cousin who is a buyer for Serdyk's. The Big Guy's best friend (and Best Man) is in the restaurant business and knows distributors. We could have a really fun event at our reception!

What do you think? Good idea? Crazy idea?

And while we're at it--what was the best thing you ever saw at a wedding that was fun for the guests? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Ask Jake, I Play the Piggy Bank Role Well...
I saw this on YouTube tonight....




For the record, when moving happens, I play the role of "supervisor" very, very well. Ask my friend, Jake. When I helped him move from one apartment to another, I was the kitchen packer, box marker and door holder.

I'm no dummy....I left the heavy lifting to cute boys.

Someone has to make sure everything is in the right place, right?

I Was Robbed!

At work this month we are doing some fun activities to break the every day work flow. Massages, pot lucks, treats and much more. Admit it. You're jealous that my company does fun stuff for their employees.


Every day there are trivia questions about different things where you can win a Caribou Coffee Gift Card. Hello? Free Caribou? I'm all over that! Today's question was:


In 1970’s teen idol had a major hit in Europe with the single "Morning Girl." Who is this superstar that made young girls go crazy?


I so knew this! After all, I may have only been 6 but I was a fan.....


I had this album. Loved it. Wore it out.

Even had the Shaun Cassidy poster on my wall, big as can be.

I answered that question and was beat out by someone who typed faster than me (is that even possible?). To top it off....it was a guy. Who was probably born in 1980 and has no idea that Shaun Cassidy even had an album or much less was part of the Hardy Boys!

I’m not bitter or anything…

To make it better, here's a little 70's disco action with a little Da Doo Run Run

Is That Donnie Osmond?
On MSN today, I saw this picture on their web page, regarding fun things to do with your family...

Is it just me, or does this kid look like young Donnie Osmond?




What's worse, the kid in the first picture sorta looks like he's wearing face paint to look like a puppy (I know it's ice-cream...but work with me here). Donnie Osmond sang a song called Puppy Love.

Just sayin'.....

Did I Really Sign Up For This?
Yesterday I got an e-mail from our Crew Captain for the 3-day Walk about what to expect as a crew member on the Sweep team.

We interrupt this blog post for some 3-day lingo...
Sweep Van: (definition): Driving a van during the 3-day walk and picking people up along the route who need to be taken to the next pit stop.

Pit Stop: (definition): A stop along the 3-day route with porta potties, water, sports drink, snacks, and medical help.
We now return to our regularly scheduled blog post....

Anyway, I'm reading the e-mail and thinking of our theme, Save 2nd Base, decorating the van and getting to cruise through the 3-day in air conditioned comfort. Then I get to the "what to expect part". Here is what it said:

We are up early every day (5AM)

Team meeting at 5:45 or 6:00 depending on the day.

Out on the route between 6:15 and 6:30.

Stalk the walkers from 6:30 until 8:00PM (we start sending vans in between 5 and 8 PM. We try to rotate who gets to go in early each day).

You really don't get a break during the day. Although we try to give each van a quick 15 minute lunch break usually we end up eating in our vans because mid day is usually our busiest time of day.

We take care of the walkers obviously, but sometimes this can be a challenge. Be prepared to deal with walkers throwing up in your van, walkers with diarrhea, extremely emotional walkers, walkers jumping out of your moving van, etc. We'll cover what to do in these different situations so don't panic.

Just know that you will have to be mentally pretty tough to get through the weekend!

We also end up with a lot of misc duties. Some of the past things we've had to deal with are covering up a dead deer with a tarp that was along the route, setting up cones near a bee hive, fixing errant route signs, sitting with a walker that was bit by a dog until the police shows up, etc. We've also had to call in weird things on the route such as a streaker a few years ago, and last year we had to call in a monkey on the route.


SAY WHAT?!?!?

OK. I can deal with getting up early. Drinking lots of water and sports drink is part of the 3-day. I can deal with short lunch breaks and even going to bed late (hello...advil PM...). I can even deal with an odd stalker. And yes, I can deal with a dead deer and a monkey on the route where was that last year? I would have been all about a monkey on the route!

However. I cannot....repeat....cannot deal with vomit. Seriously. This is no joke. I do not deal well with vomit. I know they said, "...don't panic..." but I'm sorry lady! TOO LATE!

Amy, if you're reading this--we will need to stalk up on Target bags and place them throughout the van. Please add this to the list.

Updated to add: Amy left this comment on the post: It will be fine. I'll bring some ice cream buckets...guess I'll have to eat some ice cream. I'm low on Target bags because I give them to students to clean out their lockers. We'll put up a sign that says, "This is a non-puking van" and that will take care of it.

Oh, to be Fair Skinned....
I'm a fair skinned kid. It's true. When you look up "Fair Skinned Norwegian" in the dictionary, you'll see me. (minus the blue eyes and blonde hair)

I'm one of those people who "burn" rather than "tan". I can ride in a car for 10 minutes, or simply water my tomato plants and come out rosie pink. I've also been burned terribly in my childhood/teen/early adult years. Once when I was at camp (summer 1998) I went out on the dock at session break. It was a cloudy day and forgetting that a lake + cloudy day = strong sun action, I got burned to a crisp.

Literally.

I was so burnt that my mom had to come to camp to get me when my contract ended because I could not have anything touching my back.

I won't even go into detail about the blisters. You're welcome.

Anyway, because of my fair skin, I'm one large freckle from head to toe. I'm also a mole's paradise. This Thursday I'm off to have a mole looked at and possibly removed. When they remove moles, they also check for skin cancer.

More and more signs are pointing me to get this checked. From blog posts from Boo Mama and Big Mama, to those television commercials from law offices saying you may have a law suit, I can't ignore them any longer.

So, keep me in your thoughts and let's just hope my mole is a mole with a freckle on top.

Is that possible? A mole with a freckle on top?

Let's hope so.

Oh. Really?
I was cleaning the shower this weekend and came across this.

Now, the Big Guy may not have paid attention to what he was buying (I mean, do they really pay attention to soap scents?). It wasn't the fact that he's using a body wash. He's been using a body wash for as long as I can remember.

Yes. He uses a "poof" too.

But I couldn't help it. I got a serious case of the giggles over the phrase attraction enhancing.

Bless his heart.