The Glories of Youth

About the middle of the day last Friday, my friend Brooke asked me if I wanted to drive to Oklahoma City for a Shiny Toy Guns concert that night. It was supposed to start at 8:00pm, and I didn't get off work until 7:30pm, and it's a 1.5 hour drive. Anyone see a problem?!? We didn't either!!

So we ended up getting down to OKC around 9:20...which was actually pretty good. We figured both the opening acts would take about an hour anyway, so at most we'd miss a few songs. Perfect timing, right?! WRONG! What we failed to realize is that the directions we got from Google excluded a vital interchange. We drove around downtown for about 45 minutes before a friend finally called to give us better directions. It was actually a few miles OUT of town.

So by the time we got to the concert, they were playing the encore and we weren't going to be allowed in the door. The friend had apparently flirted enough with the lady at the door that she sent him to the back door to hear the end of the concert and told him he could come in when everyone was leaving to buy cds and what not. We met him at the back door...which put us backstage in time to hear two of my favorite songs (and see the back of the band). It was also just enough time to allow my clothing to soak in the smoke/beer smell. If nothing else, at least I would SMELL like I'd been to a rock concert.

We ran in afterwards, bought a cd (that we could have gotten at Wal-Mart), took a few pictures to prove we'd made it, grabbed some burgers and headed for home around 1:30am. Time of my freakin' life!!

No-Snow Snow Days

Today began like any other. My alarm went off at 4:53am, waking me from my dream about riding dragons while playing quidditch. (Not joking.) Took a hot shower. Drank a glass of pomegranate juice. Pulled my hair back. Brushed the ice off my car. Drove at a glacial pace to work....and heard on the radio on the way there that the area schools were closed for the day.

**Interjection**
There was no snow. The roads were covered with ice that fell in pellets all night. It was 75 degrees yesterday. Ridiculous.

Typically, as I later found out, we would not be open on days that school is cancelled. Had I known, I could have slept in in my wonderfully warm bed. Instead I spent 7 lonely hours in an empty fitness center with only a vacuum and duster for company. Needless to say, the place was spotless by the time I left.

I had nearly made it home with no problems until the final turn onto my street when I gently slid into the ditch. My neighbor who was just in front of me when it happened didn't seem all that worried about me. I'd like to think it's because he didn't see... although I could've sworn I saw him laugh in his rearview mirror. Anyway, I worked my way out after 5 minutes of maneuvering and approached my driveway in time to see my nephews riding off down the road on a sled being pulled by...not kidding...a lawnmower. Welcome to the Heartland.

The rest of the day was filled with treasures such as watching Jeopardy in front of my space heater, doing butt crunches with my sister, and trying desperately to find something interesting to write on my blog. (Obviously nothing came of that last one.) It was supposed to be filled with running errands and finding a Christmas gift for my "secret santa" person for our Christmas dinner at work tomorrow. The good news is that school is cancelled tomorrow which means there's a chance the party will be postponed. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The morals of my story are two fold:
#1 - You don't need snow to have a wonderfully eventful snow day as long as someone in the neighborhood has a sled and a lawnmower.
#2 - Don't procrastinate. Things could get icy.

Give the Gift

I was asking my family what they wanted to Christmas the other evening when I encountered three different approaches to answering. My sister April said, "I don't know. Whatever." My dad said, "Check my list." My sister Brenda said, "A Jason Mraz cd." You can guess which of them has a gift from me under the tree.

Response #1 - "I don't know"
When you use this one, you really put yourself in a tricky spot. You are guaranteed something you either don't want, don't need, or both. In my personal opinion, when you say "I don't know" to someone who asks what you want, you forfeit your right to a Christmas gift from that person.

Response #2 - "Check my list"
This is a better reply than the first, but still leaves some problems. There's always the chance that two people could choose the same item from the list to buy, for one. When this happens, both feel dumb... and there's some strange guilt you feel with having to choose which to return.

Response #3
Perfect. Flawless. You are guaranteed to get exactly what you want... and assuming you tell everyone something different to buy, there will be no duplications! Sure it may remove some of the element of surprise, but who likes surprises anyway!?

Go ahead...ask me what I want.