A Week of Birthdays

So this post is going to be chronologically out of order. The post that is still in my head comes before the one I'm writing, but this one is shorter, so it's coming out of my head first.

I know it's silly, but Sunday was my 1/2 birthday. I don't know why I even "observe" my 1/2 birthday. I think, as an August baby I may have been sensitive to the fact that I was always the youngest in my class, so I was so proud of my 1/2 birthday because it meant I was almost as old as the other kids!! I guess my nerdy 1/2 celebration could also be from my mom letting us eat dinner on the "special plate" when I was little on our birthdays and half birthdays. It was just a blue plate with confetti and "Celebrate!" written on it. It still makes me feel special to eat dinner on it :) But I didn't get to on Sunday :(

Today (what's left of it) is Texas' birthday. The grand, great, beautiful state of Texas became the Republic of Texas March 2, 1836!

Texas was an independent nation for a short 9 years (we're still holding out hope that one day we'll regain our independence). While the Republic of Texas, they established an embassy in London which is now a Tex-Mex restaurant called the Texas Embassy (creative, huh?)

When I studied in London for a semester, a group of us went to eat at the embassy to get a tex-mex fix. Emily (on the right) was the other Texan with me in our London group.

Today was also a coworker's birthday. He didn't tell anyone about, but Facebook isn't good at keeping secrets, so we made a big deal of it. Well...as big of a deal as saying "Happy Birthday" and eating lunch at Cane's.

My coworker/friend since birth (Liz) and I decided to bake cupcakes. I think we both crave baking but have no one to bake for (unless we want to bake for ourselves and blow up like blimps). At first, I thought we'd do this collaboratively, but it turned into a bake-off. I'll probably get my tail handed to me because she took a cake decorating class at Hobby Lobby and I don't have cake decorating skills. We asked the birthday boy what his favorite color was and he didn't give a straight answer. The conversation led to tie-dye, which is the inspiration of my cupcakes!!!

I got some white cake mix and NEON food coloring, mixed up the batter and then split it up into 4 bowls (see pic #1). I made deep purple, neon green, turquoise and hot pink! (Perfect boy colors, right!? I know he'll love it!)

So, next picture...I dropped the different colors in random order into the cups and swirled and stirred them with a knife. I completely forgot to take a picture of what they looked like when they got out of the oven, but they basically look like the did when they were uncooked, just a little bigger and...well, more cooked.

Now for the icing...I don't have professional-grade cake decorating tools like my competition, but I split the icing up into 3 bowls and colored them Green Apple, Smoky Blue, and Neon Blue. I put the icing into a ziplock bag, cut the corner and made my own piping bag! The swirled icing didn't look fabulous so I swirled the icing with a spoon and topped with fabulous silver sprinkles!

We'll be operating on a sugar high in the morning.

Rhet Crit

I'm a nerd, I know.

My favorite class in college was Rhetorical Criticism. I loved analyzing ad campaigns and researching what made them work or not work. I actually like watching commercials more than I like watching tv...especially during the Super Bowl!!! There were some fabulous commercials and some not so fabulous commercials. I think the fact that the most popular commercials were the Doritos commercial with the dog knocking the door down and the Bud commercial with the dogs serving beer goes to show that the average American loves dogs and is stupid.

I did laugh out loud at the resurrected grandpa Doritos commercial.

I love ambiguity in advertising (wrote a nerdy paper about it my Junior year if you'd never like to read it...) I personally think the Hundai Elantra ad is fabulous (this one and this one too). They use subliminal messaging to make you think you're buying into some subliminal compact car conspiracy. The Reliant Energy ad that is (not) endorsed by Troy Aikman works really really well too- you can hardly tell Troy is endorsing Reliant.

The Kia Optima and Carmax are growing on me. They're thinkers too- the flow from one scene to the next works a lot like my brain does but I find that normal people in normal conversation don't really follow me there, so I wonder how many people get lost in these ads.

The worst ones by far that really rub me wrong are the Groupon commercials that take actual problems with humanity or the environment and belittle them. The whole thing with Tibet was ridiculous and uncalled for. I'd say the Groupon commercials are actually worse than the Old Navy mannequin commercials. That's why I get my deals from Daily Social, not Groupon.

On the flip side...I LOVE Toyota's commercials "Ideas for Good"- it sort of makes up for Groupon, but not really.

You know who made a smart move?....Crystal Light.

Ocean Spray marked on their box (on the top and the front) that their flavor packets were only 5 calories per serving. Crystal Light's were 10 calories a serving. What did they do? They cut their serving in half. Now, the back says a serving is 1/2 a packet, but so does Ocean Spray's...so they're the same, but stupid shoppers couldn't figure that out before so Crystal Light had to step up their game to compete with Ocean Spray. Good move Crystal Light.

SUPER STORM MMXI

Yesterday I woke up in a slight panic- the "worst case scenario" had happened.

It was the coldest night in Dallas in 15 years and I woke up at 6:00 am to no power. I immediately called my mom, because that's always what you should do when you're panicking. My throat was killing me and my apartment was getting colder by the minute. I closed my sheer curtains as if that was actually going to help keep the cold out. A ton of cold air was coming in through my fireplace, but I didn't have wood. For about 8 seconds I actually contemplated burning old books or clothes that are too big...luckily I snapped out of it.

After layering on clothes and snuggling up in bed, I realized...this is what cavemen went through! Except they didn't have candles to light, or matches to light them with, or a soft bed or a secure apartment. I have some serious respect for prehistoric humans! I was so thankful to at least have my iPhone so I could stay in contact with the rest of humanity.

I feel so awful for the homebound elderly and disabled during this "SUPER STORM 2011." I saw Meals on Wheels wasn't delivering yesterday, and I doubt they're delivering today. I'm quickly running out of food (probably have enough to last me until Saturday, but then again, I live within walking distance of a gas station), but I can't imagine what those who depend on others for their food are going through! I hope they either have kind neighbors or their food providers delivered extra before the storm hit.

Most of North Texas experienced some power outage as they did rolling blackouts. I don't understand the whole power system enough to really know why, but they said each outage would only last about 15 minutes. Mine was out at least 2 hours, and another friends was out 3 hours and 20 minutes. Do you know how fast a house can get cold when it's 18 degrees outside?! No fear though, every building associated with the Super Bowl had full power all day- you know...for security reasons.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow. You know you're officially "grown up" when the word "snow" doesn't get you excited anymore. I don't want to go throw snowballs or make snow angels. I just want it to be warm, I want the roads to be clear, and I want to go to work. I'm working from home again but there's just something about getting dressed up and going into the office. I like it and I miss it.

I'm alive...with a case of cabin fever

I have an excuse....okay, many excuses....I did try to post a new blog entry at some point in January but it just didn't work.

Other excuses:
- I'm a workaholic

I think that covers everything.

North Texas is in a state of emergency. Current temperature= 18 degrees, but it feels like 1 degree (straight off weather.com...that's not me being exaggerative). It rained most of the night, started sleeting about 4 am and it started snowing soon after.

I knew conditions would be rough, and I woke up to the news/talk radio show saying, "If you possibly can, stay home today." No way dude! I'm still a glorified intern. I have to show dedication and determination (and stupidity). A friend said I am a rare combination of a defiant and stubborn 12-year old and a 35-year old workaholic dad. That's a fair assessment. I woke up at 5:25 am and got ready for work. Mom texted just as I was about to step out the door and said, "I hope you're planning to work from home today!" I ventured outside. The complex was a ghost town. The sidewalk was solid ice, the parking lot was solid ice....my car was solid ice. I tried scrapping the little snow off the car and it wouldn't go anywhere. I started defrosting the car, and not much happened. I could tell 1 car had made it out of the lot successfully, but I had visions of me sliding out of the lot hitting every car on my way. I don't think my insurance would cover that much damage....my boss would understand.

So, I'm working from home against my will. It's Mother Nature's way of forcing me to update my blog. Like the new layout?! I took the background pic with my dad's old black and white film camera (and had the film put on a cd before I developed them myself in class...so fun!)

I have cabin fever already. Temperatures are supposed to stay below freezing until Friday. FRIDAY. That's 4 days I could be trapped in my apartment. (P.S. my electricity just flickered, so this could become an interesting week).

I just want to go outside. I'll walk around the neighborhood in the freezing cold, I don't care. Last January, when I was the student assistant for Jan Term in London, I had lots of free time to explore the city. One day I went on a solo adventure up to a Northern London neighborhood, Hampstead Health, and walked around a HUGE park. I walked miles and miles in the snow, taking baby steps on the ice. I might be crazy, but how many free days do you have in London? Take advantage! I saw some pretty cool stuff and got some cool pics.

This is the Kenwood house where the last scene of Notting Hill was filmed.

Maybe I'll actually finish working on my scrapbook from my semester abroad that I did 3 years ago! Or I can do like 5 workout DVDs a day and read 20 books. I mean....I'm working from home. I have work to do.

I've gotten some really interesting calls while at work recently. First, I've gotten calls from Clearwater, FL nearly every day for the past 3 weeks. I usually ignore them or miss them, but I've been 'chosen' for a million dollar prize, maybe a free cruise too. I don't really listen, I just say, "I'm not interested in a million dollars, thanks." Boy, is that weird to say! I got a call from my cable company last week and they were offering me this amazing deal where I could get my internet, cable and a land line for only $107. That's great, but I only pay $39 now and I don't need a land line. *click*

My favorite calls are when the caller asks to speak to the owner of my company. Hmmmm....let's see. In the 9 months I've worked here, I've seen Michael Dell once, and that was kind of a big deal. I've never spoken to him, so no, I don't think you can either. Who do these people think they're calling?

My next favorite was a lady who called for a Mr. Hamilton. I told her she had the wrong phone number. She apologized but asked if there was a veteran in the home. I said no, but a coworker said I should've said, "Well...actually, yes. Mr. Perot."

I might choose to be stupid and go into work for a 1pm meeting. We'll see. I just can't stay inside forever!

My return to the blogosphere

Sorry for my absence. I know I'm probably the Ginch-iest Christian there is so I avoided blogging over Christmas. I know I'd go off on some rant about commercializing a sacred day and how I don't see any significance in Christmas trees or ornaments and that would just have ruined everyone's Christmas.


The UPS man came to visit yesterday and I was stupid enough to answer the door looking like a mess and a half! SO EMBARRASSING! I thought I could hide behind the door and just take the package, but nope...I had to sign for it! UGH...I won't even describe how awful I looked. You'd be scarred.

Tomorrow is NYE. Last NYE I was standing directly under Big Ben with my buddies Hannah and Andrew...in the cold...for 3 hours. Then we floated (yes....floated because our feet never touched the ground) in a crowd in the snow 1.25 miles to Victoria Station. That was a year to remember. 2010 was a year to remember in genearl. Graduation...sister getting married...moving to a new city, starting a new job, living by myself for the first time. Big changes. Can't wait to see what 2011 brings! (I'll try not to let the fact that I hate odd numbers get to me this year!)

Best tip I learned this week...

My dad told me about this MSN article: 8 Surprising Habits Ruining Your Health. #1 is pretty disgusting...dust mites and nast inside your pillows! GROSS! I threw my pillows in the dryer this week and now they're all fluffy and dust mite free! I can sleep in peace!

Memoirs of a Knee

I'm writing a book. Not necessarily now. It might happen when I'm 80. Actually, it'll probably be funniest when I'm 80....maybe when I'm recovering from a knee replacement. The book will be a memoir of my knee's life experiences told from my right knee's point of view. I can already see it on the bestseller list.

The said knee has been through some traumatic experiences in it's short life so far. I can't remember what it went through as a child, I'm sure it had rough days when I fell off my bike or fell rollerblading or when it had it's first encounter with hydrogen peroxide.

College was probably even rougher on my knee. One fine day my Freshmen year on the quad, I borrowed a friend's shoes to go inside the student center to use the loo, but these shoes were too small, so when I was returning to my circle of friends, I tripped on some gravel and my knee took a hit for the rest of me. I tried to play it cool like any Freshmen would, but the blood oozing down my shin blew the cover of all my lies "I'm okay, really, I'm fine." (hint....when I say that I never mean it).

I'm honestly getting tired of people asking, "What's wrong with your leg (or knee)?"! Okay, I get it! I have an ugly knee! This traumatic experience my Freshmen year has scarred me. The wound didn't heal (I probably needed stitches in the first place). A few weeks later, I was home chasing my little brother around the dining room table, dove for him, and the wound reopened with carpet burn (leaving a little blood on my mom's white carpet...no worries, rubbing alcohol does miracles!). I can't remember every time I've fallen since then, but let's just say I'm a pretty regular klutz. My knee wound has had rough days. Sometimes it would swell up really big, then other days it would be "fine".

Junior year was a rough year for it. I went skiing over Jan term (let's just say skiing won't be my key to getting to the Olympics). I got back to the cabin after a long day of skiing (and falling) and found my long johns all bloody from my poor knee! Weeks later Step Sing practice began. The crazy dances of step sing require you to kneel or fall suddenly to your knees...not okay. I also took Karate that semester (again...another activity I'm not skilled in). In Karate we had to sit on our knees and bow before and after every class and do some stretches on our knees. All this made me develop fluid in my knee (aka, it swelled up so big I had kiwi stuck in my knee!). I went to "MedHelp" because I hate making appointments and waiting in waiting rooms (yeah, I know, I'm a spoiled doctor's kid). I'm not so sure if the doctor there made a good call in draining my knee and stuffing it. He essentially opened a wound that will never heal.

It's been ugly and purple every since, and my leg modeling career has gone down the drain. Senior year I got bad tendonitis in this knee and could've sworn it was connected to the ugly scar. X-rays and MRIs thought otherwise...actually, they couldn't see anything! I went to plastic surgeon (something I never thought I'd do). He said if I had surgery I'd have to keep my right leg straight (PERFECTLY straight) for 6 weeks. That means no driving, no climbing stairs, no jumping, swimming, running, no fun or independence for 6 weeks. Nah, I'm good.

Friday night I was walking down the street with my friends, stepped off the curb the wrong way, and I knew it was coming...the slow-mo fall. There was nothing to grab on to except the ground beneath my feet, so I did. In perfect slow-mo fashion, I dropped to my knees as if to say a prayer to Mary in the middle of the Dallas streets, then caught myself with my hands. "I'm okay, I'm okay," I laughed as I popped back up! "Whew, I knew that was coming. It's been a few months since I've fallen so I should've seen it coming." "MONTHS?" The girls I was with said?! "More like years since I've fallen down!" What can I say? I'm clumsy. I need to go to finishing school...I'm not finished yet. My main concern was that my jeans had ripped...nope! Great! Next, was I bleeding? The left knee was great....but surprise surprise, the right knee was gushing! Some strangers walking by (who luckily hadn't seen me fall) offered a pack of Kleenex. We didn't have any band-aid so the Kleenex worked until we got home. This fall was exactly like the fall at Cinque Terra (minus the gorgeous scenery). I have a nice pic of me and my friends with the cute little village of Vernazza in the background and blood running down my leg. That's one for the scrapbook.

So, to answer the question of what's wrong with my knee....read the book when it comes out in 60 years, written by a poor old battered replaced knee. (It'll be a tear jerker).