Happy Birthday to Leej!

Tyler turns three today!

I think this picture of him wearing my mom's glasses looks like Chicken Little.





Also, I cannot wait for his 'Cars' birthday party tonight. Happy birthday, Chicken Little Leej!

Why Did I Open my Usually Closed Mouth?

Now that I am more familiar with customers who frequent my Starbucks and I am becoming a little more confident at what I do, I have been trying to come out of my shell and make small conversations with them. The rest of the baristas can do it, so why not me too?

It is tough enough to try and appear confident and/or awake in the morning with people who may or may not be receptive to your efforts. But after two such attempts, I am reconsidering conversing all together.

The first conversation took place on Mother's Day.

Me: Hey, are you getting your Venti soy no water chai today?
Customer: Yes, I am. Great memory!
Me: Oh, I am slowly remembering people's drinks. I got lucky this time I guess.
Customer: Did you call your mom today?
Me: Well, I live with her. So I guess that's even better. But I haven't seen her yet.
Customer: Ah, I see.
Me: What about you? Did you call your mom?
Customer: No, she's in heaven. But that's ok. (and he walks away).

GAH! WHY???

The second conversation took place yesterday with another regular.

Customer: Hey, Rebecca (got to love being called by your full name when you never even go by it)
Me: Hey! How are you doing?
Customer: Oh, pretty good.
Me: Which size of latte do you want today?
Customer: Tall.
Me: Ok, we'll get that right out to you. (feeling the need to further our interaction since he did not walk away, I scraped for something to talk about) Did you have a nice day off yesterday? (Memorial Day)
Customer: Oh, they've given me a nice two week break now. (my face (and heart) crumbles) I worked for Sprint.
Me: Ohh...I'm really sorry.

And then, thankfully one of the other baristas jumped in to save me.

But seriously? Does this kind of thing happen to other people too, or am I just Captainess Awkward?

Love/Hate

I don't have a story to tell. So instead, I am going to just list the things that I love right now, and the things that I don't like. Not in that order. Because I want to end on the good things.

I do not like:
- This sucky, sucky, humidity. (I bet you could not guess I was going to say that)
- The sucky, sucky gas prices (I know, ride a bike and shut up, Becca.)
- People who for some reason feel they are entitled to royal treatment at Starbucks. Srsly. Get over yourselves.
- The way my mouth and teeth feel after drinking coffee. For real, even after one cup, I want nothing more than a toothbrush and Crest.
- Zits. No further comment.
- The song that goes 'I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars.' SOOO overplayed.

I love:
- Grande iced soy lattes with a pump of peppermint
- The nap I took today
- Watching my good friends be so happy at their wedding yesterday
- Having my whole fammy together (I think I just made up a new nick name for the word 'family')
- Having Hoonash live here
- Watching a car pull off of the road on Highway 50 East to save a forlorn turtle who was trying to cross
- Getting paid time and a half tomorrow for working on a holiday
- Gabe. He's going to be in my wedding someday I decided. If you're scoffing, shut up. You're just jealous of his awesomeness. (This is contingent upon if/when I get married.)
- How blessed me and my family are. (my family and I? My family and me? Please help. I like to mostly have proper grammar.)

If you have current rants and raves of likes and dislikes, feel free to tell me about them. Because I am curious to know.

Here are some pictures from the wedding. I'm not a pro.


Driving...


More driving.


Our group. Sorry Karlie, you only get half a face :o|


I was too afraid to use a flash, so this picture is pretty blurry. That is what the back of Jeff and Laura looked like at the wedding.


Waiting to blow bubbles


She's a sissy. My sissy.


Rachel has talons, and Karlie is busting a move.

okbye.

Truck For Sale

It really happened. I got my Subaru Forester!! It doesn't have heated seats, but I can certainly deal with that. Oh, ESPECIALLY with the season we are about to enter. It is such a great car! I love how much head room it has, the way it doesn't guzzle gas, the fact that it has a compass in it, the low miles, and how it has a CD AND tape player! Gabe loves it too. He now has a whole back seat to stretch out on instead of a bucket seat (or half of a bucket seat in the extended cab). People will no longer have to cringe at the lack of leg room when riding with me. And what could be more 'Colorado'?

Of course, this means I will now have to kiss my pretty Tacoma goodbye. And guys, it makes me more sad than you might think. He's been a good and faithful friend, a steadfast transporter over the last five years. I will now have to be much more careful when rounding corners and going over speed bumps. I will no longer be able to help people move furniture. And, let's face it. The sex appeal of a truck versus a station wagon is pretty skewed. I kid. But seriously.

All things considered, I am excited to have a new car to grow attached to, and I don't think it will be difficult. Come for a ride in the Sube sometime. We can listen to tapes OR CDs, smell the clean cotton air freshener, and not get lost because it has a compass.

I feel as though I don't have a lot to say lately.

I have not been taking finals.
I have not been on any big trips.
I do not have a summer internship in a far off place.
I mostly just go to Starbucks to work, and then the kennel.
Which are not bad things. It's just that you can only blog so much about those topics.

Maybe there are a few things on the verge for me:

I am test driving a Subaru Forester tomorrow(!)
Plans for a trip to Colorado next month seem to be falling into place?

BUT. ONE VERY GOOD THING IS THAT:
One of our bestest friends in the WHOLE wide world is COMING TO LIVE IN KC THIS SUMMER!!! And I couldn't be happier about that. So get ready to meet Hannah. Some people call her Hoonash.

It's a long story. But it just so happens that, after attending four days of high-school in Kansas, I moved back to Colorado. And who did I live with? Hannah's family. For a whole 9 months! And who did Sarah live with when she worked as a summer intern last summer in Montrose? Hannah's family. And who does my family stay with every time we go back to visit? Hannah's family. So, we are excited to return the favor for once, and to hog Hannah all to ourselves for as long as she will stay.

Political Correctness. Kind of.

It is high time that I feature one of the most significant contributions humans have made to the world since its creation by the good Lord.

Some of you already know what I am talking about. Some of you don't. The common denominator here is that all of you need one, be it for yourself or a special lady in your life. Confused? The contribution I speak of is none other than a shewee.

A brief description from the website:

Shewee is a moulded plastic funnel that provides women with a simple, private and hygienic method of urinating without removing clothes whilst standing ANDsitting.



Now, I'm not going to get into how-to's here. That's what the website is for, in the comfort of your own home. But I have some suggested uses, especially for the blogging ladies of my family.

Annie: For walkers (every day at lunch), joggers, mountain climbers (June 27th, man).

Sarah: For women giving urine samples (once you are a nurse), emergency service workers, and festival and concert goers.


Ashley: Women confined to bed (in case you get influenza A again), in the car (destination weddings), bird watchers ('twocan'!)

In closing, I apologize for this post. It was too amazing to pass up though.

Peer Pressure

Well, I finally have succumbed to the ways of this darned blog survey. Forgive me if you find yourself 'above' this kind of thing. But, blogging friends that I have respect for did it, so why not me too?

Here are the rules:

1. the rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. each player answers the questions about himself or herself.
3. at the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. ten years ago I was doing...
I was 12. So...what WAS I doing? I was homeschooled. Probably wearing some kind of unbelievably cool outfit, like Winnie the Pooh overalls or stretch pants with an over-sized t-shirt adorned with puppies or something. Braces were in full force, and I am pretty sure I was sporting a bowl cut with bangs. (tangent: In 9th grade, a fellow classmate took a look at my 7th grade school ID and told me I looked like a boy. Not exactly the words a girl loves to hear. But let's just be honest, I was a late bloomer. Maybe too late.) Anyway, my activities consisted of dance classes, 4-H dog classes, and maybe some art lessons and of course playing a role in every church musical that came about. I have the videos to prove it.


2. five things on today’s to do list...
1. Go to the bank. (too late)
2. Clean up my aforementioned room. (I think I say that every day)
3. Write my FORTY TWO HOUR WORK SCHEDULE for next week into my planner. (Holy...)
4. Catch up on emails.
5. Complete this survey. (so I can at least accomplish SOMETHING on my list)

3. things I’d do if I were a billionaire...
I would donate a whole lot to good causes. I would spoil my friends and family with surprises. I would buy land in Colorado and build a kennel and a house on it so I could train from home. And I would get myself a Subaru Forester with heated seats.

4. three bad habits...
1. Washing clothes, drying them, and then forgetting about them in the dryer. Ok the first two things are probably good habits, but the third one is not.
2. Not dusting. Ever.
3. Staying up too late when I should obviously be asleep

5. five places i’ve lived...
1. San Jose, California
2. Montrose, Colorado
3. Greeley, Colorado
4. Hutto, Texas
5. The OP, Kansas

I would like to note that I have lived exactly five places in my life.

6. five jobs i’ve had in life...
1. Kennel help at a vet clinic
2. Paper filer at an Insurance Office
3. Front desk attendant in my dorm
4. Ice cream server
5. Waitresshostessbaristababysitterdogtrainerkennelhelpagain

I have clearly had more than five jobs.

7. 5 tagged people
Everyone who reads this.

Final remarks: I saw the Swell Season last night. I am in love with them. In addition to being musically incredible, they had the best stage presence ever! Get your listen on with them as soon as possible.

I Need me Some Cottage Care

You know there is a good chance your room needs to be cleaned when:

You lose your camera, and it's not until weeks later that you find it. In your bed.