Shape-ups ... Get In Shape Without the Gym!!!

I love DSW! They really have the BEST selection of shoes and its almost impossible for me to go into one of their stores without finding something that I like (or that i "need"). I also somehow got on their e-mail list and they send me updates on their latest specials, or whatever. I rarely ever open emails like this from companies that I know just want to sell me something, but I do open DSW's because they usually have pictures of cute shoes in the latest styles.

Sadly, today, that wasn't the case. I opened the e-mail to find this picture:

(sorry, I can't get the photos to fuse together)

WOW. There are so many problems with this picture that I don't really know where to even begin.

For one thing, these shoes are absolutely hideous. (I am very sorry if you own a pair and I have offended you. You probably don't like everything that I wear, so let's call it even?) I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually buy and wear these shoes but if you do I'd have to suggest you go for the grey ones as they are the least obnoxious of the three. Secondly, are these things even comfortable? Where I come from you wear sneakers for two reasons: comfort and/or athletic activities. I highly doubt these bad boys are comfortable with those wedges so you certainly wouldn't be donning them for a workout. And as for the whole "skip the gym and just wear these shoes" ... that is asinine! Mainly because isn't that one of the major problems with Americans? Aren't we like the most obese country in the world? With things like this it is really no wonder. I hate to work out probably more than anyone, but even I wouldn't fall for this. Maybe I would believe that these shoes improve your posture (as stated in the picture) but the reality is the ONLY way to lose wieght and tone your muscles is by exercise.

FAIL, Sketchers. And FAIL, DSW for featuring these heinous shoes in your weekly email. Do better next time. How about a nice fall bootie? Or a pump? Even a ballet flat ... just don't try to trick me into buying any awful looking shoes!!

Jessica, Jessica ....

I'm sure by now everyone has heard about Jessica Simpson's latest little blunder? In case you haven't, here is the scoop: Jessica and Tony Romo broke up (a few weeks ago) but not before Jessica was able to gift Tony a $100,000 boat for his birthday. I guess Jess hasn't really been out in public much since the breakup because she was out the other day and the paparazzi were following her and asking her tons of questions. I only heard the audio, but from what I could tell, it seemed like she was trying to be polite and ignore the questions the best she could. Eventually they start asking about the boat and whether or not she she was asking for Tony to return it to her now that they've broken up.

Now, based on the audio it seems like Jessica is getting annoyed. So she responds "I'm not an Indian Giver" The papper responds "oh, not an Indian Giver, huh, Jessica?". End of audio.

Of course now, she is getting flack from the Native-Indian community for her comment. This is, I'm sure, fueled by our loverly news media. And now, of course I have a few thoughts on the matter. (Let me preface by stating that I do not particularly like JSimp. She's okay and all, but I just don't really think she's brought anything to the table since her Newlywed days and I'm just over her.) First, I think this is a classic case of a celebrity letting their guard down when they are being inundated by paparazzi. She was annoyed, and said the first thing that came to her mind. Who cares? It was clear that she didn't mean anything offensive by the statement. Secondly, the phrase 'Indian Giver' is a fairly common phrase. Maybe in these days of insane political correctness it isn't, but its certainly something she grew up saying. (I know I certainly did). Also, isn't Jessica known for her little gaffes? "Chicken of the Sea", "I Don't Eat Buffalo". So, really, for someone who is known to say things without thinking, can they really be accused of being racially insensitive? No. I think not.

The celebrity bloggers need to find someone else to pick on. She didn't mean to be offensive and this is a typical case of the media making a big deal out of something so ridiculously minor.

The Shred and Book Reccomendations

I finally broke down the other day and bought Jillian Micheals' 30 day shred. It was just time to mix up my workout routine and I'm simply not creative enough to do it myself. Also, I just don't have the time to commit an hour or more to each workout and the thought of getting a good workout in 20 minutes sounded like something I should try. It arrived in my mailbox on Saturday and yesterday was my first day. IT. WAS. HARD. I'm not even kidding ... I just wanted to die while I was doing it but I pushed through and will be back for more this afternoon. I'll keep yall posted on my progress, but I'm going out of town next week so it will be more like a 10 day shred and then I'll start over with the full 30 days once I return.

After my workout and dinner, I was sooooo tired and felt like doing nothing so I decided to watch a movie that I had DVR'd a few weeks back. I chose Fool's Gold and now I feel like I've lost two hours of my life that I'll never get back. Anyone seen that? Its Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, so it wasn't like I was expecting anything great but just a good light-hearted comedy. I guess it served its purpose though in getting my mind off these sore muscles of mine!!

I'm totally rambling here. I still don't have much blog inspiration. Ugh. Hate that. Anyway, I do need your help, readers. I'm in need of some book suggestions. I typically like easy, chick-lit type reads like Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin, etc but I'm really open to anything. What are some good reads you've found recently?

Topping Out

I spent the day yesterday in Athens at Ben's topping out party for the church his company is building. The church happens to be the home of CMR, so I was really hoping he would be there at this topper party (as I call it), but he had prior engagements so he couldn't be there. Really though, I was looking forward to seeing the project that Ben has spent the last year or so working on. I got there right before lunch was served, and was able to meet a few of the people that Ben works with each day. I had met some of them before, but in many cases it was nice to be able to put a face with a name. We enjoyed an excellent barbecue lunch, and then learned a bit about the church from the building committee and the pastor.

After lunch it was back to work for everyone but I still wanted a tour of the building, so I had to put on a hard hat. I made Ben take this picture to show you just how much I looked like a fish out of water!


I wasn't going to wear heels but that morning when I was getting dressed, Ben decided that I looked too short and requested that I put on heels. I obliged his request, and only looked semi-ridiculous at his construction site!


The building is ginormous, and really is shaping up to be a beautiful church. I can't wait to see the finished product. I really enjoyed the day, and seeing Ben in his work environment -- he spends a lot of time telling me stories about the people he works with (all good ones, I swear) and about his actual job so it was a really fun experience for me. I also learned that his boss has a nickname for me .... "Evil Oil Lady". Ha!! Awesome.

Yoinked!

'Yoink' is the word that Ben likes to use when you take something away from someone. For example, say we're having dessert and he reaches over and takes the last bite of my ice cream ... he would say 'yoink' and that makes it okay for him to take it from me. Or suppose you're at a crowded party and someone takes your seat after you get up. As long as the person says "yoink" its all okay. Those are the rules.

Now, you need to understand something here. The whole yoink thing really only applies to someone when they actually SEE you take something from them. Or when they are at least in earshot. Otherwise it is STEALING.

So it seems that we have a little problem in our office with someone not knowing the difference between 'yoinking' and 'stealing'. You see, we had these two cheap-o knives in the kitchen at our office for the longest time. I'm not sure whose they were originally, but someone brought them in so that people would have something to use when they needed to cut a piece of fruit or something. Then, they both went missing a few months ago. At the same time. Strange, huh? I thought so too, but really it wasn't a terribly big deal. I figured they got thrown away or something, so I went out and bought a new one and brought it into the office. It wasn't expensive, but it was a GREAT knife and I used it all the time to cut my apples and stuff. Then, a few weeks ago ... it went missing.

SO. ANNOYING.

Theeeeennnnn, someone in our office brought in a bunch of coffee filters that she had bought for use in the office. A week later, they were gone as well.

What gives? I mean none of this stuff is really anything of any consequence. And it isn't like someone is stealing from any one person. Just taking things that aren't theirs. And it is really frustrating. Have you ever had a problem with an office klepto? What did you do about it?

(For the record, we don't really know who the klepto is, BUT it is a small company so its fairly easy to do the whole process of elimination thing. As I said earlier, the things that are stolen are inconsequential things but still it is stealing and it is bothersome. And also for the record, I've put several little booby traps throughout the office for the taking. We'll see what happens)

Tuesday Randomness

I've been slacking on the ole' blogarino lately -- mostly just because I haven't really had any inspiration to blog about one particular topic. And then I feel torn because on one hand I absolutley can't stand it when my favorite bloggers don't update regularly and on the other I hate when people blog just to blog. (You really can tell a difference). So I don't know .... I guess I just need to write for myself, and whenever I feel like it. But thats so hard for many, many, many reasons. Anyway. I don't feel like going into that rant right at the moment.

I have a lot of thoughts going through my head today, none of which are worthy of a full blog post so here is some randomness for you:

1) I'm going to the topping out party at the church Ben is building on Thursday and don't have a clue what to wear. The event is obviously at a construction site, so that is where the problem comes in -- see, I have to wear something 'professional' looking but the majority of my work clothes require me to wear heels. I could wear a skirt with flats or something, but then I think I'd really look like a fish out of water at a construction site wearing a skirt. I guess I can do capri pants, but the more I think about it I don't really have very many work-appropriate shoes that are not heels .... so ... any suggestions? In fact, anyone just want to come look in my closet and pick out an outfit for me?

2) My favorite thing about summertime, more specificially, late summer is the fact that its Peach season!! We have this great orchard near our lake house and my parents usually make a point to go over there each weekend to get fresh peaches. Anyway, I had a bunch here at my house that needed to be used, so I made the BEST peach-blueberry cobbler last night. I ate half of it by myself and will probably eat the other half tonight.

3) We're leaving for vacay in a few weeks and I've got to be honest --- that is the only thing I can really think about right now! I can't wait. I've spent so much time researching resturants, things to do, etc. Its a little pathetic but luckilly Ben is just going with it.

4) Its no secret that I LOVE cupcakes. I have a hard time passing by a bakery without stopping in to buy one (or several) so I've decided that I'm going to do a cupcake tour of Atlanta. It seems like I'm always hearing about a new cupcakery around town, so I've decided that I need to start trying them all out. I'll have to spread out the tour over several months I think, mostly because of time and diet constraints. Anyways, stay tuned for that.

5) I love Katherine Heigl's new hair. Anyone else? OH! And I just heard on Regis & Kelly that she's back on Grey's for the whole season.

Sorry for the random/forced post. Hopefully I'll get inspired at some point to actually make an effort to blog.

Obama

I will more than likely get some flack for this post, but when has that ever stopped me? This is my blog and therefore my place to speak my innermost thoughts and feelings.

I came home from my HOA meeting tonight to find Ben watching the All Star game and guess who was in the booth with the announcers?

President Obama.

My initial reaction to this was pretty much the same as it was when I saw him filling out his basketball brackets on ESPN. But then I stopped and watched him for a bit. He was wearing his White Sox jacket, and just having a normal baseball conversation with the two announcers. He was being an all-American guy. But, I actually appreciated it this time. And it got me thinkng, that I kinda want to like the man. 'One of the things that I always liked about about President Bush (43), and of course he caught hell for this, was that he was a down-to-earth person. He could throw out a pitch at a baseball game, relax on his ranch, or mis-pronounce the word nuclear (nuk-u-lar) and it just proved that he was a normal person even though he was the most powerful man in the world.

So, I've changed my stance on Obama - I think he's a cool guy. He is personable and hip and I really do like that about him. That isn't to say that I agree with his policy, but I can see the appeal to him as a person.

That's all I've got for you tonight. I need to recap Ben's golf tourney from the weekend. I don't want to give any details away until I can fully flesh out my thoughts, but I will say that it was a good day!

Cha-Cha-Cha CHIA!!!

First, I'd like to tell everyone thanks for your comments on my post yesterday! I blog for my own entertainment, obviously, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get just a teeny tiny bit of gratification from people reading and commenting.

So I saw this commercial tonight while I was watching the ultimate trainwreck ... I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant. The one story I watched tonight was a woman who already had 3 children. Her boyfriend was out of town for the weekend and my girl started having abdominal and lower back pains. She screamed throughout the night and the pain was so awful the next morning that all she could do was lay on her bedroom floor and scream. Finally her 10 year old son woke up and came into her room where she instructed him to call 911. He did, and came back in to the room to find his mother on the floor with a baby. SHE DELIVERED A BABY!!! How do you think that 10 year old felt when he walked into the room to find his mother had just birthed a child? Poor dude is probably pretty messed up for life. And what about the boyfriend when he walked in from his business trip to find a brand new baby in the house? I can't make this shit up!

Oops! I think I got off topic there. Where was I? Oh. The commercial. So yeah, I saw this chia pet commercial. I guess I should start by asking a few questions.

1) weren't those a big huge thing in like 1999?

2) were they actually even 'popular' ... i thought they were more of a white elephant type gift?

Anyway, the ole' Chia pet is back and badder than ever.

No, you are not seeing things ... there is now an Obama Chia pet.

SERIOUSLY??

I need to know who buys these things?

I mean, I can kindof understand buying an Obama bumper sticker or t-shirt if you're a fan but why would you want an Obama chia pet?

I really don't have the time or energy to get into a full-on rant about this, but I really do need to know why someone would ever be inclined to buy something so asinine?

*** Update: Ben just came home and I re-winded my DVR to show him the commercial. Apparently they've been out for quite a while now.

They Can't Be Trusted!

I opened my mail yesterday to find a little surprise on my credit card statement. Not a good surprise. I opened it up to find out that last month's balance wasn't paid so they attached a nice little late fee as well as finance charges. And they don't just leave it at that. To add insult to injury they print little notes aaaalllll over the statement basically calling you a no-count. But then in the next sentence they of course say "you are a valued customer". Now, I know you're probably thinking that I'm some a) deadbeat who doesn't pay bills or b) dumbass who forgets to pay bills. I am neither. I ALWAYS pay my credit cards each month, on time, in full. Always have, always will. So I was baffled to find out that my payment hadn't been posted. I knew for a fact that I had mailed a check.

Soooooo, I went to work this morning and immediately looked in my check register to confirm my suspicions. Sure enough, I had written and mailed the check about 10 days prior to the due date. I figured I could just go to my bank account online, find out that payment was actually credited on time, and call them up to get the fees waived. After all, I figured it was their mistake and not mine.

Problem was, I logged onto my online banking and did a little search for the check that I had written but IT WASN'T THERE! I was so pissed! Mainly at myself for not noticing that my check hadn't been cashed, but also at the post office for losing the check in the mail. I was also mortified because I really did pay my bill. But, I knew with this terrible economy the customer service rep wouldn't likely believe my story. Whatevs. I decided to call anyway. I was either going to talk them into reversing the charges or tell them to suck it. (By suck it, I mean that I was going to pay the stupid fees and cancel my card).

I had my speech all ready, called up customer service and explained the situation. I gave the lady the check number and everything. Her response?

"Oh, yeah. Do you send your payments to our center in Dallas? You do? Yeah, there was a whole batch of payments that came in and were sent to our shredder on accident"

WHAAAAAAT? Obviously she continued and explained to me that they were aware of the situation and had a team investigating and that it was their mistake so I would therefore not be charged any fees and they wouldn't put me on their Official Shit List. So, that's all good ... glad I got it worked out and that they realize I'm not worthless. But, it begs the question .... what if I hadn't happened to call? Would they have just continued to consider me a derelict customer????

Lesson learned: don't trust those damn credit card companies, they're out to getcha. Even if you are a good customer.

Also, what is up with the lack of comments lately? Espesh when I blog about my personal life. Guess Longmired in Life bores yall to tears? Haters be hatin'.

4th of July Weekend / Ben's Birthday

First of all, a programming note for those of you who care. If you'll notice on my righthand sidebar, there is a little Flickr icon that flashes up my recent picture uploads. This is where I will be posting all pictures from now on that aren't on the blog. If you click on one of the pictures, it will take you into my photostream and you can view all my photos. But add comments there if you do ... please please. I like comments!

Okay, back to the weekend recap. So if you read my blog on Thursday, you already know that was Ben's 31st birthday. We, along with a group of our friends, celebrated by going to the Braves game on Thursday night! (Thanks to everyone who came out to spend the evening with Ben) The night ended up with a W from the Bravos and a fireworks show that we watched from the parking lot! I think everyone had a good time and I know Ben enjoyed his day.

I got up early on Friday morning to head up to the lake while Ben was scheduled to play golf for the afternoon before meeting my family up at the lake that evening. We got there around lunchtime, and immediately went outside to enjoy the sun. We were so lucky because the weather was perfect -- sunny but not terribly hot. Ben arrived up there early enough to fish off the dock with Dave (brother-in-law) while the rest of us relaxed a bit. Because Ben's birthday was Thursday, we all went out to dinner to celebrate that night.

Ben gets to see Ellie fairly often, but this is the first weekend he has really spent with her in a while. Because of this, he spent lots of time playing with her and making her laugh ... we took a few pictures of the two of them this weekend as well.

On Saturday, we spent the day on the lake -- swimming, riding SeaDoos, listening to JackAss neighbor cuss out his grandchildren, fishing, and boating. Before we left to go up to the lake, Ben made me promise to ride Big Mable with him. The first time I rode on Mable, I fell off and seriously thought I was going to lose my vision. I had a headache for 3 days after my big fall! I think the expression on my face in this photo shows you how terrified I was.

Sooooo, after I screamed my head off, Ben let me get off and was able to talk Dave into riding with him. They had fun .....

until .....

they were thrown off!!!!!! Ben is still hurting from that fall, so I think its safe to say he now understands my hatred for the thing.

Oh, and I don't want to forget to show you this badassery that I saw out on the lake. How awesome is this houseboat!! Multi-colored vinyl siding? Check! SuperSweet palm tree art on the outside? Check! Man wearing jorts inside the floating trailer? Check! Plastic slide attached to the boat? Check!

Who wouldn't love a beaut like this???

That night, we grilled out at the house and went down to the dock to watch the fireworks. Our lake neighbor (not JackAss ... another neighbor) has this awesome point lot, and does a huge fireworks show every 4th of July. You can sorta see it in this photo, but there were probably 100 boats parked out in the cove to see the show.

We capped off the night by shooting some flaming balls of our own ....

Sunday was a little overcast in the morning, but we still got in a few more hours on the lake before paking up to head home. Of course when we were about to leave the sun came out and it turned out to be a gorgeous day! Isn't that how it always happens though? I just love these lake weekends. Sad that the summer is ending so quickly!!

That's about it. All in all, a great weekend!

Ben

Ben. There is so much that can be said about him, and unfortunately my words cannot possibly do him justice. I think this selection of pictures provides some insight into his wonderful personality though. Ben is honest, hardworking, generous, kind, loving, funny, supportive, smart, and there are probably a million other adjectives that I am forgetting so for that I'm sorry. He is a loving and devoted husband and I am so thankful to call him MY husband! I am blessed beyond words to have him in my life.

Happy 31st Birthday! I love you very much!!