Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Numbers...

1 The number of cookies I ate at lunch today
2 The number of cookies I wish I could have eaten today
3 The number of kids in our family
4 The number of nieces I have
5 The number of people in my family (while growing up)
6 The number of corduroys I currently own
7 The total number of nieces and nephews I have
8 The number of photos in my England 2008 set on Flickr
9 The number of hours I like to sleep sometimes
10 The number of years I’ve been married (as of Aug ’08)
13 The amount of Victoria Secret Pink dogs I currently own
14 One of my favorite teen years; 1984 was definitely a good year!
16 The number of years I’ve known my husband (in August)
21 The number of years since I graduated from high school (in June)
22 The age I was when I met my first serious boyfriend
24 The age I was when I went to Great Britain for the first time
28 The age I was when I married my husband
30 The maximum amount of minutes I usually exercise (at least twice a week)
40 The number of years my parents will have been married (in August)
50 The number of years my great aunt & uncle will have been married (in July)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Notes to Past Self...

Try not to fall too hard (in love) your first time. It’s hard advice to take, but it will hurt less if you remember that it’s just puppy love.

Be your own person with your own interests. It’s fine to explore new hobbies in the interest of a man, but you don’t have to fake enthusiasm just to please them.

Maybe re-think your selection of college courses to minimize the amount of classes that either won’t transfer or you’ll have to drop later. Choose a different teacher for your English 300 class! She goes on sick leave halfway through the class; you never finish your paper and end up flunking (which creates problems down the line when you transfer to Kent State).

Try to choose a more definite career to avoid all the dead-end jobs you’ll be stuck with for what is now going on 15 years (although some of the jobs have at least been somewhat interesting).

Buy Microsoft stock while it’s still cheap!

Take more notes. You’ll thank me later when you go to write that first book.

6/10/07 Either skip your ice skating class or go a different way to avoid your car accident.

That's all the advice I can think of for now.

Monday, March 9, 2009

It's the Thought that Counts...

As an Obama fan and supporter, I am frankly embarrassed by the huge inequity in the recent gift exchange.

I could maybe understand if the Prime Minister had just sprung the gifts on the Obamas as a complete surprise, and all they had time to do was send a poor aide to the White House gift shop (which is where you can apparently buy the toy helicopters which were purchased for the PM’s sons).

I can understand men not knowing how to buy an appropriate gift, since this isn’t usually their field of expertise, which is why they often delegate such tasks to their secretary or personal assistant.

What I am even more ashamed about is the fact that all the articles say Michelle Obama was the one to choose the toy helicopters. Since Mrs. Brown is credited with choosing books and outfits for the girls, how did Michelle so badly drop the proverbial ball? Was she too busy with PTA meetings and helping the girls with their homework that this little task just snuck up on her facilitating a last minute dash out?

In Obama’s defense, I thought the dvds were a nice touch (at least they were special editions!), even if they were movies everyone has seen a million times. Perhaps a better choice would have been a box set of “West Wing” or “W,” though my two favorite presidential movies are “Dave” and “The American President.” I also like “All the President’s Men,” but that might not set the right tone.

I’m not sure what I’d suggest as a gift for the prime minister’s sons not knowing their ages, but if they’re tweens, then maybe something autographed by either the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus?

If the Obamas are reading this, if the situation should ever arise again, don’t hesitate to call. I promise to buy top-rated gifts that won’t embarrass you or bankrupt the economy. After all, what price do you put on good diplomatic relations? We don’t have too many friends out there, so we can hardly afford to lose one who has always been there for us.