Because I Like To Do What the In-Crowd Does

Well, I have an hour before I go to the airport, and I'm all packed and ready to go. And I needed something to distract me from the eternity that an hour can be sometimes, so I've decided to do what the cool blog kids are doing and put together a little list of things I'm thankful for right now.

And when I say right now, I really do mean exactly right now - a lot of my thoughts are tied directly to my travel plans...But anyway, here goes my 2011 "Thankful" list:

• Air travel and modern travel conveniences
• Really, really great parents
• Family in general - because I sure lucked out on that front
• Crossword puzzles
• Beautiful Fall weather (I will miss you, cool DC Autumn - I will not enjoy you, freezing Utah Fall)
• Good books
• scarves and mittens
• 3 hour workdays
• Considerate friends
• hot water & long showers
• A free country
• A strong faith
• Warm winds during leisurely walks
• Getting to see 3 really great little nieces this weekend
• Cheering for a great football team - GO PACK GO
• Being able to celebrate a holiday purely through delicious food

Oh, there are so many more things for this list, but those seemed most important today.

I hope you have as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I plan on having! It's a holiday I'm a huge advocate for - any reason to fill my tummy to the brim with mashed potatoes and homemade rolls is welcomed by me!

Color Me Impatient

ohmygoodnessihaveneverbeenmoreanxiousforthanksgivingtocomethaniamrightnow.

3 more days, people.

2 more days until I'm flying the coop.

1 more day until I'm down to one more day until I'm flying the coop.

We're taking it one day at a time over here.

One anxious, impatient day at a time.

A Talent I'll Never Have

I had a memory pop up in my mind tonight, and I decided to write a personal essay about it - you know, keep up those writing skills I worked 4 years to acquire. I recalled seeing a project online that collected essays with specific themes, and I thought this memory and accompanying essay would be perfect for it.

So I started writing.

And then I had another memory pop up - I remembered how I suck at concluding paragraphs.

What can I say? I'm a rambler, I don't know how to wrap up. I either keep going until I've repeated myself 10 times and my voice just trails off....

Or I skip concluding altogether and just suddenly

STOP.

22 Unconnected Thoughts While Traveling Home on a Wednesday Evening

1. Sometimes I have curly-ish hair. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I hate it.
2. My biggest pet peeve is when people chew gum really loudly, or with their mouth open. Can't. Stand. It.
3. Armageddon is the only movie that consistently works my tear ducts. Liv Tyler's hand on the screen where her martyr father was just talking to her for the last time, her head hanging down. Gets me every time.
4. Autumn is my favorite season (though my fondness for Spring always returns with the warmer temperatures after Winter). I particularly like warm Autumns, like the one I'm getting this year. 68 degrees in November!
5. I love when I catch a surprise whiff of fabric softener while I'm walking outside.
6. I get the giggles more often when I'm alone than when I'm with a group of people.
7. I like the idea of bubble baths, but I never take them. I actually find them to be more hassle than relaxing, in the end.
8. The only good thing about losing daylight time is the look of the city lights reflecting off the dark Potomac river on my way home from work. Beautiful.
9. I've kind of always wanted to have just boys, when I have a family, but I only have girls' names picked out for my future children. Eleanor and Olivia. Apparently I'm only having 2 kids.
10. A sturdy umbrella = pure happiness in a wet environment.
11. Ever since my first job, I've had a constant fear of inadequacy in the workplace. Every three months or so, I get anxious that I'm going to get fired.
12. I've never really understood the whole vampire/werewolf/zombie craze. Give me a normal person over a strange, morphed, non-person any day.
13. I love hand-written letters to friends and lovers. I wish I'd actually write them sometimes.
14. I like saying the word "lover" sometimes. It makes me giggle (see #7).
15. I wish I had a better voice than I do. I'd love to be a good singer.
16. I think I was meant to be British. Or some sort of United Kingdom native.
17. I used to think that, as far as the Love Languages are concerned, I was definitely an "acts of service" girl - but I'm totally appreciating my need for "words of affirmation" and "quality time" these days.
18. I like a good, old-fashioned dance party when I'm getting ready for bed. It's a great way to get rid of any excess energy before bedtime.
19. When I get nervous, I get itchy.
20. I wish I liked working out more than I do.
21. I'm an old soul - I love crossword puzzles, looking up the weather forecast, and Jeopardy.
22. Slow dancing with a cute boy is one of my favorite activities.

Sunny Tulips On a Cloudy Day

It's Intern Joe's last day today. We always have a little party for an intern's last day, to say thanks and find out how they enjoyed their few months with us in our terribly awesome office.

Intern Joe, though, set a new standard for outgoing interns - he brought the ladies tulips and chocolate bars (luckily, there are only 3 of us here). My bouquet is radiant in the picture above. One girl got orange tulips, and the other girl got red tulips ( I like mine best, obviously). He also brought cupcakes for the entire office. Like, really good cupcakes.

This is the first time I've received flowers at this job. I sure do like it; this should happen more often, in my opinion. Not much raises one's spirits like walking into the office and seeing flowers sitting on your desk, waiting for you to enjoy their company.

Well done, Intern Joe - you ladies man, you. You will do great things.

Unfortunately, I don't have high hopes that we'll get such good treatment when the other two interns leave.

Daylight Savings Time Should Be the Norm

It is currently 4:30pm EST, and I am watching through the window what looks to be something akin to a sunset.

The sun is setting.

At 4:30pm.

It will be dark by 5pm, and I will still have another hour of work after that.

It will have been nighttime for one hour before I even leave to go home.

I truly dislike standard time.

My Holiday Countdown

Pull out the advent calendars, folks - the Holidays have officially begun.

I always feel like Halloween is more like the opening ceremonies of Holiday season - October 31-January 1. It ushers in all the festive, holiday spirit that gets us through 1.5 months of Winter.

And I don't think I've ever been more ready for the holidays and holiday trips than I am this year.

Like, right now.

I have got to get on a plane and go somewhere. ASAP!

As Mother and I reminded each other last night, it's only 2.4 more weeks until I'm on a plane bound for sunny (cold) Utah! I've got a good 4 days there, plus 2 travel days, and I'm ready to get 'em going NOW.

You wanna know why? Because here's what's in store:

• Nightly Family Party Time - that means late night card games with Ma and Pa, who are particularly funny when the late-night friskies hit
• Dance Parties with the nieces - I'm hoping the Bug, the Bean, and the Bear are practicing their dance moves, because I'm ready to bust a move. At least once a day. Every day.
  (*Side note - I love the nicknames the Barlows Des Moines have got going - lemme break it down for you: Emilee - Bug bug; Claire - Bear; Gracie - Bean. 3 points for sweet nickname alliteration at the Barlow, DM house!)
• THANKSGIVING - I've been excited about this holiday for, oh, maybe the last 3 months...
• THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL - can't wait to watch the GB Pack tear up those Lions like they're a deep-fried, beer-battered turkey. It's going to be one awesome game. That the Pack will win.
• Thanksgiving Day 5k Turkey Trot - I've already discussed my excitement about this, but I'm ready to dominate. I'm grateful for holiday races that let me feel justified in buying new running gear - gotta stay warm!
• Black Friday Shopping - actually, this terrifies me. But I'm taking one for the team. Laura, I apologize ahead of time for my uselessness to you during this. Please remember me in my better moments - not when I'm paralyzed with fear of the chaos all around me.
• Christmas Lights at Temple Square - Temple Square in Salt Lake City may just be one of the prettiest places ever around the holiday season (and let's face it, even when it's not Christmas, that place is pretty gorgeous). We're going Friday night, the first night the lights are on, so it'll be a wee bit crowded, but that should add to the fun atmosphere. Plus, we'll be outside, so the agoraphobia that will threaten to rip me apart during the aforementioned shopping will be a little less powerful over my poor self, with the relief of fresh air and less amounts of crazy people shoved all around me.

I also have a feeling sister-in-law Laura and I may take another almost-ill-fated trip to grab some frozen custard for the family one night, where we, amazingly, won't spill custard everywhere, but that's just a hunch. A hunch I'd like to make a truth, but we've got 2.4 weeks until we'll find out whether it's fact - or fiction.

I'm really feeling the love with random idioms and catchphrases right now, it seems - in that last sentence (above) alone, a good 5 of them ran through my brain before I finally gave in to end the sentence with something stupid.

Anyway...

3.5 weeks after I return from Utah, and I've {maybe} worked off the mounds of mashed potatoes, rolls, and jello that I had to eat to really understand how the Pilgrims felt so many years ago, I'm on my way to the 3rd Annual Barlow Sisters Christmas Gathering, in Little Rock, Arkansas! I told dear sister Abby that this year, we were going to actually go and do things - like leave her house. I don't know why that seemed important to me, but I figured maybe it'd be good to change things up a bit this year. Maybe not my best idea...

I started to do some research about what to do in Little Rock, because in all the times I've gone to visit her, we've only once explored the state's one city that has any name-recognition. And it was awesome, but we were only there for maybe 2.5 hours, before I had to fly home, and I didn't feel like I saw enough of it.

Turns out, though, I pretty much saw the whole city. I looked at their website for tourists/visitors, and I gotta say, there's really nothing to see in Little Rock. At least, not according to the Tourism department. Yikes.

Where are the Holiday lights, LR? Where are the fun Holiday attractions?! Please tell me you recently fired your website editor, and you're in the slow process of hiring a replacement, and as soon as that's over, you will let me know all the fun things going on during Christmas in Little Rock. Because right now, your lack of Holiday Spirit disgusts me.

Also, I'm not the best at researching fun things in fun places, so that could explain it as well.

Anyway. Halloween has come and gone; the Holidays are in full swing. Time for While You Were Sleeping marathons on TBS and a ridiculous number of A Christmas Carol remakes (the Muppets will always be my favorite version).

I hope you all have wonderful holiday plans to look forward to, as well! I'm quite giddy with excitement about mine!

On {Not} Meeting Bob Barker

We got a meeting request last week from a group hoping to meet with my boss for a few minutes today. The list mentioned that Bob Barker would be joining the group to discuss its issues. I squeaked giddily when I read that, and promptly told Derek, "Bob Barker wants a meeting!!!!"

Derek laughed and said we'd have to fit him into the schedule.

I responded to the group and worked out a time for them to come in today - it was a super busy day, side note. The last response I got from the group, confirming the time, was that Bob may or may not be able to join the meeting, because he had some other meetings around that same time.

Disappointment washed over me.

"May or may not" almost always means "we just did a little name-dropping to intrigue you enough to work this meeting out. But he has no intention of joining this particular meeting."

I still held out hope, though. Fingers were crossed. Lucky rabbit's foot was rubbed. Lucky underwear was worn. Things of that nature. All in hopes that Bob would find it in his heart to bless the life of a young woman in love with game shows and make an appearance in the office.

And then the group came into our office...

They filed in, one at a time. 4, 5, 6 people.

And once they all came in, I re-scanned the faces, in case I missed one.

No Bob.

Heartbroken, I welcomed them into the office, then sat dejectedly in my seat, holding back the question of "where's Bob?!" with all my might.

But I did get a consolatory meeting with someone who holds some face-recognition:

Yup, I met Jorja, from CSI and the West Wing. I shook her hand and then directed her to the nearest ladies' room. So we're pretty tight now.

Which I guess counts for something.