goof.

One day last week I got to work and talked to one of my friends for a few minutes, went and said good morning to my boss, talked with her for a few minutes then went back to work in my office. 

I went back in her office around 9:30 that morning.

She looked at me all funny, cocked her head to the side and asked....

"Do you realize you've got two different earrings on?"

I ran over to the mirror, and sure enough.

Two different earrings.

I go back to my friend and beg to know why in the world she didn't tell me?!?

Her response? 

Well, I just thought I was getting old and didn't know that was in style.

Nope, last time I checked - I still look like an idiot with two different earrings in.

[My boss could've just as easily looked at me funny and said, do you realize your hair looks terrible?  because, ahem, it.looks.terrible.  AND apparently when I take my picture with my phone in the sweet work bathroom - my left eye spazzes out.  What is that all about?  Sheesh.]

elongated.

My friend, Julie, came in my office on Monday afternoon around 3 p.m. cracking up.

She said that she had gone to Costco to buy food for an office event and she was carrying it in to work that morning and everyone was giving her strange looks.

She couldn't figure it out. 

And on top of the strange looks, everyone seemed to be wanting a peak into the box as she walked through the building.

Then around 3 on Monday she turned around and happened to look at the side of the box.

No wonder everyone was giving her strange looks.

spice it up.

Is anyone else out there addicted to school supplies?


As a kid I would choose walking through the school supply aisles instead of the toys anytime we went to Walmart.


I love them!


Every year as the school year gets ready to start back up I spend at least an extra 20 minutes every time we are in Walmart or Target to browse the school supplies.    


Well, this past week at the beach we went to Walmart and I couldn't leave without some new school supplies.  I finished the last page of my legal pad at work the day before I left for the beach and I wanted to spice it up a little with a cute notebook.


[How sad is this?  I'm talking about spicing up my life with a new notebook.  It's the little things I tell ya.]


Soooo, I got a new notebook, pack of pens and pack of mechanical pencils.

And all week at the beach I couldn't wait to open my notebook.  But I waited until Monday morning.  And let me tell you, it made my day!


You should try it really.

For just $3, a new, uber cute notebook will make your day.


Promise.
Satisfaction guaranteed :)

constant entertainment.

One of my coworkers/friends and I always have 'bathroom stories'. 
It can be a little awkward sometimes when you're in a two stall bathroom beside someone you work with.  So...we always share our funny stories.


Well, yesterday afternoon I got this e-mail:

"As I sit in the bathroom writing this, here's my grownup tip for the day. If you want to be discrete, don't wear hot pink shoes to the bathroom."

Sent from my iPhone

She was wearing hot pink flats.


--- 


And then today she showed up with a stolen velcro, preggo belly from the med student's training rooms.
 
 
Constant entertainment.
For realz.

sneak peek.

last friday i took some pictures of jordan and morgan.  they were headed to jordan's junior/senior formal so we met at old salem to take some pictures before hand.

they made this photoshoot uber easy.
as soon as i pulled my camera out they were all smiles.
the entire time.


oh and jordan mentioned to me at one point, "yeah...i don't mind being on graham crakas".
so here they are!

and of course i had to take a few of jordan with his family.
here's one of my favorites.

inlaws.

hi!

i hope you all had a beautiful weeked.  ours was fabulous.  tons of time was spent with beautiful people.  over food. and games. and bonfires.  it was so refreshing.


and then i had to work - on saturday morning :)

i was a teller my senior year of college and i've stayed on with the bank to help out random saturdays.  just a little extra money [and by little, i mean little] .  but it's no fun. 

so i woke up and left in time to stop by starbucks on my way.
[a latte and new magazine always help make those saturday mornings a little better].

but i got on the highway and realized i forgot my phone at home.
which i had to have because i was meeting a friend after i got off work. [too much detail].

so i went all the way back home to get it. and mentioned to worker man that i was not going to be able to stop at starbucks now because i would be late.

thinking that maybe, just maybe he'd get the hint to bring me some to work.


well....that went right over his head.
or maybe he just ignored it.

so by 9:15 i was really wanting some starbucks so what did i do??

sent a  text  to fmil.

just to see if she was in the area.
and i found out she wasn't.

in fact she and ffil were in another town on the opposite side of where i was.


but look who appeared an hour later.

are those good inlaws, or what?


i think i've got any of you beat!

mess.

would this drive you crazy?




oh my word.  i was at a conference yesterday and this is what i came back to this morning.




and the worst part is that i didn't even have time to go through it all when i got back.  i just had to dig out a spot so i could work on the most pressing things.  




the good news is that from march - july, it's 5 pm before i know it :)

triplets.

apparently there was a memo about a uniform everyone should wear to work today.


black pants, cardigan, flats and tank [color of your choice].

there were a few others that got the memo as well.  but we didn't realize it till we had already taken the picture :)


[and no, i'm not preggo.  i apparently need to stop slacking off on the ab workouts.  don't judge.]

friday favorite.

i don't know if anyone else has this same problem, but i am always looking for something to take for lunch.  i eat the same thing for two months straight and then i'm totally over it.

for the first few months i brought a salad each day.
then i moved on to corn.  i ate a can of niblet corn every day.  for at least two months.
then i moved to lentils.  wonderful, but not everyday.

so i've started trying to switch it up a little.
i have also started stalking everyone in the breakroom to see what they are eating for lunch.

two weeks ago i smelled something fabulous coming from the breakroom.  so i asked what it was and my coworker told me about amy's.

it's a company that makes all natural meals.  they make lots of frozen meals and she was eating the vegetable lasagna. 

well, i hate frozen meals.  just as much as i hate airplane food.  honestly, it's all i can do to swallow it without gagging.


but, because it smelled so good and was organic, i thought  i'd at least give it a try.


and, oh.my.word.

it's wonderful!


you should try it.
really.

gift.

when i started my new job last year, the current dean of admissions was about to retire.

so, as his retirement gift to each person that worked in student admissions [i know, that's completely backwards - but true], he offered to build something of their choice.

he has a hobby of being a carpenter. and a fabulous one.
since i was only going to be working for a few months before he retired, i assumed that i was not included in this offer.  especially since everyone here has worked in this department anywhere from ten to twenty-four years. 

but, he graciously offered to build little ol' three month employee [me] something too.


he asked me to find something that i liked and send him a picture.


i immediately knew what i would ask for.


i have been wanting this chest from pottery barn since before we got married.
[we being me and worker man, not me and mr. dean :)]

i mean, everytime we walked into pottery barn i would go and drool over it.


isn't it fabulous?



well, i showed him the pictures above and he said he would be glad to make this for me.

i had only seen pictures of his previous work and heard from my coworkers how amazing their piece of furniture was.  so i had my hopes high.


but let me just tell you,  when i got to go pick this thing up last week....i was in awe.


words can't explain how incredible this thing is.



the quality and design is so much better than the chest i would have paid $600 for at pottery barn!



he even put a tray in the top to put our remotes in.  which is an extra that he thought of.

because we couldn't find any hardware that looked similar, he handmade the hardware to look even better than the ones at pottery barn.



and he thought to put child-proof hinges so that in the future [the far away future] our kids won't smash their fingers in the chest.

he also handmade the center latch.  which is actually a real latch.  much better than the pottery barn imitation latch!

hands down, the nicest piece of furniture in my house.








isn't it fabulous?!?

lots of words and finally a project.

So I'm sitting in the airport [waaaay too early for my flight since Worker Man had to drop me off] and can I just tell you, I love airports.  I love all the craziness of checking in.  And walking to my gate watching all the people and browsing through the ridiculously overpriced stores.  I love picking out a new book or magazine [yes, even though they are insanely more expensive than at the Borders right down the street].  And then sitting and listening to the people beside me and across from me and behind me.  Talking about the most random stuff.


Yes, I'm stalkerish.


Lesson to you, be careful what you talk about in the airport.  I'm sure there are more stalkerish/people watchin'/listening people other than just myself.  


Well, maybe not...but I'm okay with that.


So anyways, I'm in the airport about to leave for a conference and figured I might as well utilize this time to entertain y'all with an absolutely random and boring post. [okay, so maybe entertaining is the wrong word.  but you get my point.]




Okay, so now, after a ridiculous preface, I'll tell you what I'm really talking about today:

For some reason I have been all about making scarves lately.

 So, this week I plan to show you the scarves that I've made!  I made these over the weekend for two of my friends at work.  One had a birthday yesterday and the other had a birthday over the holidays.  Since I broke my sewing machine, I haven't been able to make them.  That is, until this weekend, when FMIL let me borrow hers.  I followed this tutorial (via One Pretty Thing).




So, I made this for one of the gals.

I'm thinking I was kinda excited about this one.

What do you think?

And clearly I am so done with me having to model it.

Sadly, I don't have a random girl that hangs around to take pictures when I need them for my blog.  If only Worker Man would volunteer.  But let me tell you, that would fly over like a lead balloon.  I can barely get him to take the pictures of me in all the contraptions I come up with.  Much less model them while I take pictures of him and post them on the internet.

Here's an upclose.

And then, because I liked the first one so much...

I decided to make a second one.

Here's an upclose of the ends.

I was so excited and I think they liked them pretty good!

[note:  no scarves were harmed in the making of the post.  but i can't promise that the green one wasn't worn to church this past sunday before i gave it as a gift on monday.]

unknown.

yesterday i had the book, the sacred romance sitting on my desk.

the dean of my department walked into my office and just started talking about the book, the authors, the author's wife's books [who wrote captivating] and all about some great christian books that she has read lately. 

later in the day we talked about another book, what's so amazing about grace by philip yancey.  i was telling her that my sister-in-law recommended it and she said that she was going to go buy it tonight.

seriously, such an awesome thing to learn about her.

squuueeeaallll.

twins.

today i was sitting in my office and kate [a coworker - with fabulous taste...i must say] walked by.  all the sudden i hear her say "oh nooo, are you serious?"

and she walks in to show me that we are twins.
like for real.
exact same dress [on sale at old navy] and black boots.

i think everyone else at the office was super jealous.
 

open mouth, insert foot.

have you ever said something really stupid to someone higher than you?  

for example: open your mouth, say one word, then realize that you shouldn't have said anything?

but by then you're already opened your mouth and said the first word, so you can't turn back.

well, about my post on friday.

like i said, i had decided not to tell anyone.
just to see if someone would figure it out.

well, on thursday of that week, i was in the break room when the dean of students walked in.


let me repeat.  


the dean.of.students.
as in, in charge of all of the medical students at the med school where i work.

yeah, so anyways...he walks in and says 'oh, well, you look dressed up today'.


right there, i should have said 'yes sir' and that been it.


instead, i opened my mouth.  and said, 'my husband and i are house-sitting for dr. n'.

{yes, the dean from this story}

and as soon as i did, i knew i needed to turn back.  but there was no way out.  i was already in too deep to just end the conversation.


so, my entire story about seeing this girl doing this little, black dress thing on a blog and deciding that i should do that while i was house-sitting so i wouldn't have to pack so much and not telling anyone to see if anyone noticed, etc all came spilling out.


throughout this entire story, dr. k just stood there with his mouth open.
when i finished telling him all this, he just kinda turned his head to the side, mouth still slightly open, and just said..."uhhh".


my response?


i promptly did a one-hundred and eighty degree turn and walked back to my office.


we have not spoken since.



oh yeah, did i mention i've only exchanged about seven words with him ever?



two deans down, quite a few left to go.

aware.

i work at a medical school that is attached to a hospital.

thankfully, i have not spent a lot of time in hospitals. especially not in recent years. but, anytime i am walking through the hospital for a random reason i become aware of how much sickness there is out there. just today i walked down through the hospital and i saw three extremely sick people.

one with cancer. she had no hair. she was sitting in the lobby hooked to an iv with all kinds of bags hanging from it. i assume she was there, in the lobby, as an escape from the four walls she has probably been confined to for some time.

one man with tubes coming out of his nose. probably weighed eighty pounds, max. he was slowly walking down the hall in sock feet. no look of joy. no look of anything. just a blank stare.

and the third. another man with a hospital gown on. barely able to walk even with the help of a cane. carrying a bag of medicines. again, no joy. just a longing desire to be out of this place.

the third glanced at me as i walked by. and in that split second i was overwhelmed with emotion. just so incredibly thankful to be able to work. to be able to walk. to be able to find joy in the small things. the things i so quickly take for granted.

so today i am aware.

aware that i am healthy.
aware that i am able.

aware that i am blessed.

my goods.

so i have a little story to tell.
but let me just set the scene first.

worker man and i were house sitting last week for the dean of my department at work.
the dean.
also known as a sixty-eight year old surgeon.

well, when we left his house to go back home this past weekend, i locked the keys inside the house, set the alarm and was on my merry way.

i got home, unpacked and then took a shower to get ready to hang out with some friends. when i got out of the shower i started looking for one of my bras and couldn't find it anywhere.

all the sudden it hit me...

i left two bras and two thongs in the top dresser drawer of the room that worker man and i slept in at the dean's house.

{did i mentioned that he and his wife are in their late sixties?!?}
{and, did i mention that we locked ourselves out of the house when we left?!?}

so immediately i call my best friend, my boss, and teeter to let them know what i've done.
none of them could offer any advice between all the hysterical laughing.

so on sunday, i decide on my game plan.

i e-mailed the dean's wife and let her know that i had forgotten some clothes and i needed to stop by at lunch on monday and pick them up.

on monday morning, when i got to work, i had an e-mail from her.

the e-mail stated:

"i will not be here at lunch on monday. i have placed your things in a box and dr. n {ahem, the dean} will deliver the goods sometime on monday."

yes, you read that correct.

the goods.

let that sink in for a moment.

the dean of my department will deliver my goods (i.e. my bras and thongs i left at his house) to my office.

okay, moving on.

well, i had told everyone at work on monday morning the events of the past 48 hours and of course everyone was on the lookout for him to come in. they kept poking their heads in my office asking if he had come in yet.

when he finally came in, he walked into my office, thrust this box of my goods in my face, said "here, this is from nancy (his wife)" and walked out without another word.

sweet life.

yes, i know you're jealous.

metro.

i'm sure all of you...

{ahem, all 15 of you}

...heard about the metro wreck in d.c. on monday.

when i was working at elon university, i worked with a guy named jamarl. during my time there, our whole staff became really close. jamarl moved to d.c. one month before i left elon.

i received this e-mail from him yesterday:

Good Morning,

I am so overjoyed this morning! Yesterday I left the office which is located in Takoma Park to get on the metro. I was running so fast trying to make the 5 o’clock red line train that goes to Fort Totten metro station. I recall running and seeing the train go pass me and thinking to myself I was a minute late from getting on that train. The train I almost boarded was the train that had the collision that you all have heard about on the news. I was one minute away from taking that train, God kept me! It’s something how a minute can make a difference. Let us keep the family of those that lost love ones and those that are injured. Please don’t take life for granted. Have a blessed day! When I saw the sun come up this morning a tear came down my face because I got to see a new day!

https://owa.wfubmc.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/23/washington.metro.crash/index.html

God is so good.

busy bee.

so i'm totally OCD.
i need everything to be organized before I can get anything done.
i'm the girl that has to make up the bed before i get in it to go to bed.

welllll....at my new job, this isn't really an option.

it's crazy busy. people are coming in and out. i'm trying to get 20 things done at once.

busy enough that at the end of the day i had to make a post-it note for the next day.


just so i could find where i left off in the pile of stuff.

needless to say....
i need a plan.

FiberOne.

do any of you eat fiber one bars?

well, i love them!

but, there is a slight side effect that seems to be bothering some of my coworkers and my supervisor.

they give you gas. and i don't mean just gas....i mean gas

{by the way, for some reason this has not happened to me but for the first couple of days....just didn't want you to think that i loved them for this reason}

this morning my supervisor vowed that she was never eating them again.

her reasoning?

"I'm tellin' ya, you could fill up a hot air balloon three hours after eating one of these"

she's not eating any more unless she plans to be home alone for a few days.

or plans to take a hot air balloon ride soon.

Worker Man??

How 'bout Worker WOMAN?!?


Sweet boots, I know.