1-4-3, 1-4-3, 1-4-3

I was thinking last night, while text messaging one of my friends, about how things are constantly changing with technology. Who would have dreamed 10 years ago, that we would be able to send pictures and emails via cell phone? Not I.
Who would have dreamed 10 years before that that we would have pagers the size of a quarter where you could send coded messages?
The pager era was the best...everybody had codes that we sent via pager: 1-4-3 meant "I love you," 1-8-7 was a message of hatred, 9-1-1 meant "call me back ASAP," etc.
I used 9-1-1 for everything. When I saw one of my friends' boyfriends at the mall with another girl, when I got braces and had to borrow silver jewelry from my friends to make sure that my jewelry matched my braces, when I accidentally singed my hair with my overheated blowdryer. Those were clearly 9-1-1 level emergencies!
Things were so much simpler then, and I'm now on a mission to bring back those trends...heads up for the 9-1-1 text messages coming soon to a cell phone near you!

PO'd at SSA

I'm a complete sucker.
Was supposed to be off of work today, but got conned into coming in anyway.
I'm a workaholic at a job that I don't even love. That blows!

Seriously, somebody email me. I'm pissed off and bored at work today. I should be sleeping right now, for the love.
court_wade@yahoo.com

Sookie Sookie Now!

I've been thinking about the television media in general, and what a piece of crap they are collectively. I hate the jargon that they use, and it seems to me that they get together to decide what terminology is "in." Think about it. When we first went to war with Iraq, we used the shock and awe campaign of bombing targets non-stop for hours and hours. Following the incident, it was like the media simply forgot how to use any other words. "The campaign was shocking and awesome, Jim." "It was awesome, and yet shocking, Bob." I got so sick of the words "shocking" and "awesome" that I vowed never to use them in general conversation again.
And recently, during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the term "hunker down" was all the rage. "Those who have not left should hunker down in their homes." "People here are hunkering down instead of leaving." And so on...
I want to email Fox news a list of synonyms for "hunker down": shelter in place, take refuge from the storm, stay home, take cover, don't leave...
Maybe that would help them, hmm?
But doesn't the term "hunker down" seem like such a fun piece of lingo. You could totally use it in place of "sookie sookie." Can't you just picture reporters being like, "Aww Hunka Down now!"
That would be good stuff...

The "L" Word

How it is that there aren't more lesbians out there, I'll never know.
Men can be so difficult to deal with!
And that's all I have to say about that.

Yippee!!!!

We're home! What a week we've had. Traffic was not nearly as bad coming in as it was going out, thank goodness. With just a few minor glitches (i.e. trouble coordinating our potty trips, one minor truck overheating incident, etc.), we actually made it back in about 7 hours. Our area wasn't hurt very badly - one neighbor and my grandparents had trees uprooted, there were a few fast food signs and street signs that had been blown away/over, and there was minor debris throughout our neighborhood. Nothing like we thought it would be. I was honestly not expecting to have a house to come back to, so it was very exciting that we didn't get any damage.
I've learned that traveling with cats is NO FUN! Mo finally got so sick of his cage that he learned to lay on his back and kick the roof while grabbing the cage door with his paws and teeth and shaking with all his might. I'm convinced he was trying to get Sasha on board for a cat riot in my car, but alas, Sasha's too mature for that. Plus, she was busy cursing my name from the back seat. She's still not acknowledging my presence...
Other than that and the traffic, the experience was not so bad. Our hotel was cool, and it was filled with people who were running from the hurricane, and who were evidently in the mood to party. The first night, they had a fish fry. The second, a barbecue. And the third night was poker night. My dad, being the social butterfly that he is, spent half of Saturday night playing poker. We met some really cool people, and had a good time. I think we made the law enforcement officials in Brownwood a bit nervous. They kept sending police cars to circle the hotel...those damn Gulf Coast people always stirring up trouble!!!
Brownwood was neat. It has everything you need in life: a mall, a movie theatre, a Schlotzsky's deli, a TCBY, Long John Silver's and an indoor, tropical themed sno-cone place. It actually had a lot more than just that, but everything else was just icing on the cake...I'd live there.
But yeah, it's good to be home. It's good to have a home! And my bed was heaven last night!

Oh, and also, I'd like to take this opportunity to curse Wal-Mart, who actually saw a community in need (my community) of water and other hurricane supplies, and took the opportunity as one in which to raise their prices of water to $10.97 per 24-pack of water. I'm sending them a death ray! And that just supports my theory that Wal-Mart is the spawn of satan, planning to take over the world, one vulnerable community at a time....

The Worst Traffic Ever!

We made it to Brownwood...following a 25 hour commute out of Houston. And we were one of the lucky ones to get out that quickly. It took us 13 hours to get to College Station. It normally takes two. We were literally going 6 miles an hour when we did get to move, and we were happy to do that. The worst part was that not one gas station in the entire Houston area had gasoline, which sucked because you tend to waste lots of gas while sitting for hours in traffic. It was a horrid, horrid day.
Some of the highlights of the trip were as follows:
-Traveling with my cats, Mo and Sasha. Mo sat shivering and crying in my lap, hugging me all the time. Sasha wasn't having that. She refused to leave her cage and instead growled at me whenever I talked to her. Our conversations went something like this: Courtney: "I love you Sasha Roo." Sasha: "errrrrrrr." Courtney: "You're being such a good girl, Sasha!" Sasha: "errrrrrr." It was really a nice series of conversations.
- Showing my butt to the entire city of Houston. Let me put it like this - you sit in your car for 25 hours and you're going to have to use the restroom. There are no restrooms, so you make due. Long story short, many Houstonians saw my ass. Classy.
- Felicia getting felt up by her flying squirrel, Pyrup. Turns out that little guy is handsy. While she was napping, he insisted on reaching out of his cage and grabbing her boobs with his tiny little hands. I'm sorry, but that's awesome. Pyrup's a total perv.
-Renegade cars. There was evidently a group of cars that decided to take matters into their own hands during the evacuation and jump the median on I-10 to head westward on the eastbound lanes. Can't you just picture them being like, "screw this, I'm going on that road..."

It's been an experience...

Outta Here...Europe or Bust

I know I've been a total downer for the past few weeks. Things have definitely not been upbeat lately, and this hurricane business is not breaking that mold.
I'll probably be out of touch for awhile, as we're under mandatory evacuation orders set for tomorrow. Nice. That means hours and hours of sitting in traffic. My favorite.
It's been horrible trying to figure out what to take with me. So far I've picked sentimental things: quilts that my grandma made, wooden things that my grandpa made, pictures that could never be replaced, bibles and wedding memorabilia. Oh, and of course, my Sex and the City DVD's and laptop. I will not be without Carrie and Miranda, if I'm in danger of losing everything else, damn it!
In true boy fashion, Kevin's picked clothes and shoes to take with him. He's such a woman, I swear! The boy does have more shoes than anybody I know, though.
The news just reported that this thing might be a Category 5 when it hits here, meaning that we will, at the very least, get new carpet and a new roof out of this deal. SWEET.
I keep reminding myself that the material things can be replaced. They totally can. So why does it suck so bad to pick out what goes and what stays? This blows...

SHITE

I'm scared.
Just checked KHOU.com and Hurricane Rita's projected path is headed right toward Galveston.
That's no good.

Should I Be Pissed Over This?

The title to this post is not a rhetorical question.
I'd seriously like to know what you think about this:
A few weeks ago, Kevin and I decided we were going to throw a costume party on the Saturday before Halloween. I've been all excited because I'm thinking about going as Foxy Cleopatra, so I'm picturing myself in big Beyonce hair! YES!
But I digress...
Anyway, so we've been telling our friends who live around here and our family, just to give everybody time to get their costumes together. I told my cousin about it last Monday, and she seemed happy about it, and was like, "Oh, I'll have to get a babysitter...BLAH BLAH BLAH." Keep in mind that we all hang out with the same group of people for the most part. So today we go walking, and while we're in mid-stride she turns to me and says, "Did I tell you we're having a Halloween party on the Saturday before Halloween...oh no, is that the same day you're having your party?" I'm taken aback by the whole thing because she obviously knows the answer to that question, and before I could say anything, she goes, "You could just cancel your party and bring everybody over to our house and we could have one BIG party if you want."
I wasn't that upset about it at first, because I'm thinking that it could still be a fun time and it would be nice not to have to go to the trouble of planning the party and decorating, etc. But when I told Kevin, he was a bit upset. See, this was not an isolated incident...it actually happened another time back in May:
It was Memorial Day, and our friends Jeff and Tracy were planning a barbecue. They had spent a lot of money on the meat, and had been cooking briskets all night in preparation for the grand event, so of course they were really excited about it. Anyway, long story short, my cousin decides that everybody would have more fun at her house, and she calls Tracy and is like, "So there must have been some sort of miscommunication, because I was under the impression that we were all meeting at my house." Tracy was not a happy camper, but she graciously packed up the $60 worth of briskets that they had cooked over night, and took them with her to my cousin's house to help feed everybody. The party ended up being stuffy and a bit boring, but again, I digress...
So anyway, I'm not sure if we should go on with the costume party as originally intended, or if we should cancel it so as not to interfere with Stacie's party...

In Lieu of Something Interesting...

OK, I'm totally biting off of Linny...
Here's 100 things about me: read at your own risk!

1) I'm a generally loud person
2) I'm opinionated...especially about politics
3) I'm pretty liberal, but I don't think that either Republicans or Democrats really represent us very well
4) I try to seek out the good in everybody...but I get easily annoyed when people let me down
5) I'm sensitive
6) And bitchy at times
7) I love to work out
8) There are times in life that seem so perfect that I just want to stop and take everything in
9) And then there are times when I can only see the bad...I hate that about myself
10) I'm totally not artistic or musical at all
11) I belt out tunes in my car like I'm Tina Turner or something. But I'm clearly not Tina Turner
12) The fact that my friends/husband/family might be around to hear me doesn't deter my singing in the least
13) I'm not traditionally religious, but I do pray every day, and I thank God for my family and friends
14) I'm a touchy person. I need to be hugged a lot.
15) I once met the actual, real-life Rudy, from the movie, "Rudy." He was this totally short and stocky Italian man, and he was really easy to talk to. My husband, however, was unable to enunciate words in his presence, so I had to ask for his autograph on behalf of Kevin. So funny.
16) One night, during college, my friend Ryan dressed up in boxer shorts and a tobaggon and we drove around College Station and took pictures of him humping random things: statues, trucks, yard ornaments. We were totally sober that night.
17) I'm obsessed with my weight. I weigh myself three times a day. Would like to change that.
18) I believe this is due to the fact that I was a fat kid...and my aunt totally called me on it throughout my childhood.
19) I think it's easier to blame others for our problems (See above) than to try to change things for ourselves
20) I have the coolest family ever.
21) And the best friends ever.
22) I have my own booty shake dance that I do in the presence of family and friends, and sometimes on stage at random clubs. I've perfected and trademarked that dance.
23) I like to play sports, but I hate to watch most sports on TV.
24) I talk to myself when I'm alone in my car. I've made some of my wittiest comments when I was alone.
25) I dance by myself in my room
26) Anytime I make a big purchase, I totally suffer from buyer's remorse. I almost went into a depression after I bought myself a laptop for my birthday.
27) I believe completely in a quote that I saw on Lisa's blog. "Our lives no longer belong to us alone." I think it's our responsibility to help those in need / those less fortunate than ourselves.
28) Along those lines, I think it's irresponsible to have more than is necessary in life, when some people have nothing at all
29) That doesn't mean I'm not guilty of living in excess in certain aspects of life, but I'm trying to change that
30) I believe in ghosts...but not aliens.
31) I keep a Bonnie Rait c.d. hidden in my car, and sometimes I listen to it and sing along to "I Can't Make You Love Me"
32) My first car was a 1986 Tempo that only went to 15 mph before you had to let off of the gas and push on it again so that it would go up to 30 mph. It was pretty obvious, so I would pretend that I had a standard car and that I was shifting gears so the outside world wouldn't know I had a hooptie.
33) I love kids, but I'm petrified of being a mother
34) I'm afraid I'd royally mess up a kid right now
35) My little brother became my idol somewhere along the way. I love his artistic abilities and go-after-what-you-want attitude
36) My parents have a relationship that I admire so much. They've been married for 30 years and they still find a way to be best friends. I think that's cool
37) My mom thinks that God made sun rays just for her. So cute.
38) The only piece of gold jewelry that I own is my Aggie Ring
39) I once drank a pitcher of beer in 47 seconds...with my dad cheering me on.
40) I did it because it's a tradition at A&M that once you get your Aggie Ring, you have to dunk it in a pitcher of beer and drink the pitcher.
41) When I finished the pitcher, my dad actually shouted the words, "That's my girl! I didn't know you were my daughter until just now! Yeah!" (He was totally kidding...)
42) I like to eat salads sans salad dressing. Especially McDonald's California Cobb Salads
43) I eat parmesan cheese on popcorn
44) And cajun seasoning on pizza
45) I'm finding this list extremely hard to do...
46) It pisses me off that I'm 25 years old and still get occasional skin break-outs
47) I love talking about politics as much as any other subject
48) Kevin and I are closet-geeks. We totally watch the History Channel together
49) And then the next minute, it's not beyond me to turn it to E and watch random "True Hollywood Stories"
50) I'm also a reality TV junkie
51) I've never traveled outside of the U.S.
52) I'm both intrigued and disgusted by the people on "My Super Sweet Sixteen." The people that pay $250,000 on birthday parties should be ashamed of themselves and yet, I can't stop watching. WHY?!?
53) Whiny bitches piss me off.
54) I think guys in general are much nicer and easier to deal with than girls in general
55) I'm still pissed off at Eve for eating the effing apple
56) I love to plan trips, but I then feel guilty for spending so much money to travel
57) I still don't know what I want to do with my life. This is how government workers are formed, I swear!
58) But somewhere along the way, I started to like my job, and for now I'm happy in it
59) I'm sure this will change next week
60) I will be paying off student loans until I'm 42 years old.
61) I once made a poster for the Ag Extension Service, where I used to work, that was given out to colleges across Texas. Last year, I got a call from my brother who was laughing because he ran across the poster at his school. I felt like a celebrity! Ha!
62) The poster was made to look like an old-timey horror movie poster, so I was green-tinted and shrieking, with bulging eyes. Not a good look for me at all...
63) I like to go camping, but I'm petrified of the wilderness
64) I take fans with me to put in my tent so that I don't have to rough it too much
65) Anytime I'm in water where I can't see the bottom (even if it's a pool), I'm absolutely convinced that there are creatures that are after me, and I freak out
66) I have masculine features: I like to play sports and I'm totally comfortable being one of the guys
67) But I'm also a total girly girl: I need makeup and perfume, bubble baths and jewelry
68) I bite my nails when I get nervous
69) Even while I'm doing it, I'm thinking to myself that it's so disgusting to bite your nails
70) I have recurring dreams that my teeth are falling out
71) And also that I rented a hotel room and forgot to check out of it...bizarre
72) I hate the idea of things changing
73) I love black and white pictures...especially prints by Ansel Adams
74) I could sit for hours and watch the waves crash in at the beach
75) I feel most creative when I'm surrounded by water
76) I've never seen a mountain in real life
77) Of any place in the U.S., I'd most like to visit Washington DC
78) I also want to see a play on Broadway in New York before I die
79) I eat my toast plain - no cheese, butter or jelly - just bread
80) I love rollercoasters
81) And water parks
82) But not bungee-swing trampolines. I once got stuck upside down on one, and it was not pretty
83) I flash my brother's girlfriend for fun...just because I can, and I know it annoys her
84) I would love to have totally straight or totally curly hair, but I ended up with annoyingly wavy hair
85) I have to pluck my eyebrows daily
86) If I didn't, I'd look like a Russian man!
87) I hate when people make racial slurs more than anything in life
88) My first impressions of people are usually totally off. Some of my best friends now are people that I didn't like at first
89) I love to go dancing
90) I was originally attracted to my husband because he was fun to dance with. He did the sprinkler and the lawnmower, and it cracked me up.
91) I had a fish that tried to commit suicide by jumping out of it's bowl
92) I think I'm sexy when I lose my voice...it's totally the sexy phlegm. EWW!
93) I can quote Friends, Sex and the City, Dirty Dancing, Father of the Bride and Friday
94) I love to sing karaoke
95) I once sang "U Can't Touch This" in a total redneck bar
96) And I did the MC Hammer dance while I was singing
97) I don't have to be drinking to act completely stupid...
98) I think Patrick Swayze is ever so hot
99) I talk to my cats like they're human and I think they know what I'm saying
100) I can't believe I had that much to say...

Variety

I had a relatively good weekend.
Worked Saturday. As is the case every weekend recently. Came home, got in pajama pants and watched chick flicks on Saturday night. It was exactly what I needed. I ended up watching "Sweet Home Alabama" which reminded me of my friends, Lisa and Allison, with whom I went to watch the movie. It was so funny, because Allison and I are both from relatively small towns, and Lisa grew up in Dallas, so our ideas on life were completely different at that point. At the end of the movie, when Reece went back to Alabama to be with her first love, Allison and I were crying and celebrating her choice. We found it sweet that she gave up her life in the city to go back and be with her true love. But Lisa was completely repulsed at the thought of it. I can remember her going, "NO - pick the politician!" It cracked me up.
Same thing happened the night before my wedding. Allison and I were in my kitchen listening to the songs that I was going to dance to with Kevin and my Dad. Both of us were crying, no sobbing, listening to the sentimental lyrics. Meanwhile, Amy and Lisa were in the living room watching "Sex and the City," and at one point, I heard one of them say, "Oh God, are they crying again?" It always amazes me just how different my friends are from each other. I like that. It's nice to have variety in my life. It's much like a Lay's potato chip variety box. Much better than a uniform box of Frito's grab bags, don't you think?

And Many More!

Happy Birthday, Shibbie!!!
If you want to post birthday wishes to Lisa's blog, go here.

My Favorite Shirt Ever Said...

"If you had a dollar for every time somebody called you ugly, you'd be a millionaire. An ugly, ugly millionaire."
Classic.

In True Eminem Fashion...

Sometimes I wonder if it would be frowned upon if I were to just start yelling out random expletives at work. Because some days (like today), that's exactly what I feel like doing.
Today we dealt with this really mean lady and I would have given anything (short of my career) to just yell out a string of curse words at her. Plus, think of how people would react following that incident. They would think me crazy, and nobody wants to mess with crazy folks, right?
I'd never have to deal with crap from random claimants again...
But alas, I do have bills to pay. So instead, I shut my mouth and picked violently at my fingernail under my desk. Former fingernail, I guess. There's not much there now. Which makes me want to scream at her even more.
HO!

Several of the people from my job have spent the last few days working with the hurricane survivors at the Astrodome. These are a few things about the entire experience that really touched me:
1) The relatively calm mood in the atmosphere there. With so many people packed so tightly into one place, I honestly expected total and complete chaos. But it's not like that at all. I was so happy to see people playing music and singing along, people napping on cots, people rocking and feeding their babies. It's so touching to see these people really trying to make the best of things, although I know they must be hurting so badly right now.
2) The striking differences in the Astrodome of old, where I went to watch baseball games, concerts and rodeos, versus the Astrodome of today, which is basically a life-saving shelter for so many of the victims who lost everything. Doesn't it make the concerts and sporting events seem so trivial now? And it really makes me realize what a difference a day/month/year can make.
3) The spirit of the people I've met. One of the ladies that I spoke to made me promise to go to New Orleans for the first post-Katrina Mardi Gras. There's not a doubt in her mind that they will rebuild that city bigger and better than it was before, and she's ready to welcome visitors back into her home town with open arms. She seemed to be strictly dealing with the present and not dwelling on it, but rather looking forward to the future. Amazing.

Riddle Me This...

How in the hell is it possible that it's already football time again? Didn't Ashlee Simpson just get booed off the stage at the Sugar Bowl like two weeks ago or something? Because it sure doesn't seem like that long ago. And yet here we are, tuned to ESPN, watching guys pound on each other while fat men wearing body paint observe from the stands. Classy.
The best part about football season for me is going to Aggie football games. The worst part about that is that Aggies don't sit down during the game, which is brutal if you're not prepared for it. And it's not like you can sit down if you want to. No, no. Because some crazy guy in body paint is always lurking about ready to call you out if you sit down...or if you leave the game early, come to think of it. Crazy Aggie football fans do not play, nor do they tolerate those who do.
I once dated a guy who was a crazy Aggie football fan. He's a really cool guy, and we're actually still friends, but get that boy near a football field, and watch out. I can still remember the shame as I stood next to him while he violently yelled, "GET ON THAT PIG SKIN!" I don't even know what it means, but he just kept shouting it over and over throughout the game. It was so embarrassing. And it did not go unnoticed. People were staring at us, and I just kept watching the clock, praying that the time would go quickly. It did NOT.
Needless to say, I opted to pass on the next opportunity to attend the game with him.
Kevin is a closet crazy, when it comes to football. He'll sit at home and scream at the TV, curse the coaches and referees, and cheer when his team scores, but he's generally not so bad in public. I appreciate that about him. Nobody wants to be the crazy guy's significant other...

Where to even begin on today? I'm not generally a very serious blogger, but today's circumstances don't leave much room for sarcasm and humor.
We've dealt with so many of the hurricane victims, it's not even funny. People without homes, without money, without any certainty of what the future holds for them. It's just heart breaking. I talked to a lady whose mom died on her 80th birthday in her attic in New Orleans on Monday, a guy who had no clue whatsoever whether or not his parents were alive, one who got separated from her family at the Superdome and still has not been able to find them again, countless others who had lost everything they owned in the world but were so thankful just to be alive. All of them have lost something; most have lost everything but the clothes on their backs.
I keep praying to God just to give me the words to console these people, but seriously, what do you say? I'm so sorry just doesn't seem to cut it in a situation like this, ya know? I try to put myself in their shoes to get some perspective, but I don't think I can even fathom the tragedy that they've been through, and what is still yet to come. Thousands dead in New Orleans alone; hundreds dead in Mississippi. Total destruction throughout. Disease beginning to spread throughout the water. It's like a scene from a sci-fi movie or something...definitely not the same place where we drank hurricanes while walking the streets, listening to jazz music and watching street shows. Bizarre. That place used to be larger than life, and now it's a war zone with looters actually shooting at relief hellicopters today.
I guess times like these bring out the best as well as the worst in people, huh...