A good day

It’s amazing how the little things can change the course of your day. It makes me so happy to wake up to the aroma of fresh coffee percolating, waiting for me to enjoy the first cup. And then a second. Maybe with a little touch of milk.

I really should set up my coffee maker the night before, so that every morning I can wake up to this little piece of happiness. But I get too busy sometimes. It seems that I get preoccupied doing things that don’t matter, and neglect to take care of things that do. Even something as small as preparing my coffee.

So in honor of my coffee (I’m even trying a new flavor tomorrow… French Vanilla instead of my typical Hazlenut), I’ve made a list of silly things that make me really happy.

  • Watering my flowers in the morning.
  • The smell of books.
  • When my dog cuddles up next to me while watching TV.
  • Pay day.
  • A fire in my fireplace.
  • The smell of barbecue.
  • A day with no appointments.
  • Pedicures with girlfriends.
  • Dinner with girlfriends.
  • Sunday afternoon naps.
  • Saturday afternoon naps are good too.
  • March… when the media starts covering spring training.
  • Baseball games.
  • Taking my dog for walks around the lake in my neighborhood.
  • Knitting.
  • The way I feel after I run. Or lift weights.
  • Getting a strawberry milkshake on my way home from working out.
  • Hot tea.
  • Donuts. Kolaches.
  • Warm chocolate chip cookies, straight from the oven.
  • Knowing that a new episode of my favorite TV show is waiting for me on my Tivo. And I get to skip the commercials.
  • A warm day after a string of cold, rainy ones.

I’m off to bed. My coffee will be brewing in just a few hours.

Grammys = Strange, Unstable People

I’m not big on awards shows, but my mom called to say she was cooking dinner tonight and watching the Grammy’s, and that was all I needed to hear. I hopped in my car and headed over for a home-cooked meal and more bonding time with the family.

This year’s Grammy’s have been great… mainly because they didn’t waste time handing out awards. Acceptance speeches bore me. Just show me cool musical performances by Tina Turner, Beyonce, Josh Grobin, Alicia Keys, and Frank Sanatra. Oh, and Carrie Underwood is just so darn cute. I hope Tony Romo realizes what he’s missing!

As I watched tonight’s red carpet show, it reminded me of just how screwed up all of these people really are. If I saw one of those famous rappers walking down the street, I would hold my purse close or lock my car doors, because they just look scary. And some of those female performers are so dirty looking… I bet they smell bad. I don’t get the whole celebration of Amy Winehouse. She can barely speak in complete sentences. It’s very sad. We celebrate these performers, and yet, I want to be nothing like them.

Except maybe Carrie Underwood. I wonder if my hair could ever look like hers? Mine is as long and blonde as hers, but I could never get it to do that Texas-size bounce. I should call my hairdresser…

I survived

I survived those junior high kiddos yesterday. Career day went fine, although I have come to the conclusion that my job is only interesting to somebody in college or older. Before that, I don’t think these kids really have a grasp on what my job really entails or why it’s so much fun. All those kids took away from yesterday is that I get a bunch of free tickets to sporting events, and I get to watch surgeries whenever I want. I always think they’ll enjoy the idea of designing advertising, but their little eyes just glaze over.

But I brought gifts, so they loved me anyway. One girl told me afterward that she wanted to be just like me when she grew up. Ahh, what a smart girl (just kidding).

My news interview with Kristi Nelson also went great. Our story is going to run next Tuesday or Wednesday… I’ll let you know when. I think we did a great job, and the reporter said she would definitely call me again for future health care stories. Let’s hope she does.

Today I have to tackle all of that homework I put off all week. But if I finish it all today, I’m going to reward myself by going shopping for some new furniture! It’s my absolute favorite thing to shop for, and I have been needing an extra arm chair for my living room, so today just might be the big day! I’m hosting a party next week for my Sunday School class and could use the extra seating. Plus, I’m just sort of in the mood to buy something big. It’s either this, or I’ll need to book a trip to Europe or something. And surprisingly enough, the chair would be much less expensive.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be a fun day. I love my job, but every once in awhile I sit back and think about what a cool job I have. I get paid to do things that I would probably do for free. Tomorrow is one of those days.

Tomorrow morning I am speaking at a junior high career day. I’ll be speaking to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders about the importance of going to college, and letting them know about careers in advertising. I did this two years ago and my kids were completely unimpressed. I thought they would be fascinated about the thought of shooting TV commercials, designing advertising, going to cool events or working with the media. But 6th graders are different, and all they wanted to hear about was blood and guts. Unfortunately, my job doesn’t involve many blood or guts (although I see that occasionally).

If I survive career day (which I should, since I’m bringing gifts for the kiddos… whatever it takes to win their love), then after lunch I’ll get to work with reporter Kristi Nelson from NBC Channel 5 on a news story that involves one of our doctors. It’s always fun to work with a news crew… it’s not nearly as glamorous as you’d think, but it’s exciting nonetheless. I enjoy coaching people before they speak on camera, looking for a cool place for them to shoot, talking with reporters (or even more interesting, the cameraman). I’m fascinated by the whole process.

So wish me luck. It will be a full day!

Movie

Tonight I saw Juno, and it was adorable. Juno is the dark, moody heroine who gets pregnant at 16 and yet is mature beyond her years. I love Juno’s sarcastic, dry sense of humor. I’m drawn to characters like her, and yet there’s nothing dark or moody about me. I’m the kind of person Juno wouldn’t like… perky and upbeat.

But, my life is a lot more fun being perky and upbeat. Plus, I drink a lot of coffee.

Angry post

Today was a long day, filled with nothing overtly bad, but it was tiring (plus I didn’t sleep well) and weird things happened that required a lot of energy to fix. I had school after work, and was happy that I got finished an hour early (yipee!). I celebrated to myself as I walked back to my car, only to find…

A PARKING TICKET!

This is my fourth semester of grad school (yeah, I know, I’ll be here forever). I was told when I first started that grad students who only park on campus at night don’t need parking permits. I actually checked with someone. So imagine my surprise that in my fourth semester, my fourth class (so approximately my 54th time to park on campus) I came back to a parking ticket! For $75! It’s ridiculous!

Plus, I sort of ran one of those red lights with the cameras on Friday night, so I’m waiting for another $75 ticket in the mail. I’m a good driver, I promise. Very responsible. And under normal circumstances, I think very highly of police officers (one of my very favorite people is a cop!). But tonight, after my long, hard day, when I was already cranky and hungry and a bit hormonal, I must say that I really don’t like police officer #15. Whoever he is, I wish he would have shown me and Snowflake (my car) a little extra grace. Because we needed it tonight.

I’m going to bed early, to cuddle up with my TIME Magazine and forget about that stupid ticket. Tomorrow will be a better day.

My first love remembered

Tonight I ran into Hobby Lobby to pick up a little girl’s birthday present (what do you get a 9-year-old?). I had forgotten just how wonderful Hobby Lobby is. Everywhere I turn are cute decorations, most at 50% off, all calling my name. I don’t know why I never go there anymore.

Oh wait, now I do. As I paid for my two candle sticks, my cute shelf decoration that says “smile,” some candles and my gift, I remember why I never shop there. Because if I don’t go, I won’t be tempted to spend my money!

Oh… and I got a really cool art set. Hopefully she will like it. Or at least not think it’s stupid.

The News

For the past few days I have been working with Deborah Ferguson, morning anchor for NBC 5 News, on stories to promote the Cowtown Marathon (coming February 23… dust off those old running shoes!). Even though I work with the media on a daily basis, it’s always fun to share a few phone calls with someone I watch every morning on TV as I debate whether or not I really want to get out of bed and face my day.

Stay tuned… you may be hearing about a lady who’s running the Ultra Marathon to raise money for her friend who had a double-lung transplant. Or maybe the team of 13 ladies who are running the Half Marathon who had never run before in their lives, and who have all lost at least 50 pounds training for their 13-mile race. Or maybe the heartwarming story of a dad and his disabled daugther who will be running their first marathon together.

Sometimes my job is really fun!

What I really want is…

It’s 9:00 p.m. and I have been doing homework since I walked in the door after work. I’m tired of reading about media convergence and the diffusion of innovations theory… what I really want to do is tear open my new US Weekly magazine and read all about my favorite celebrities, enjoy the pictures, and experience some mindless entertainment. If I could do that while soaking in a bubble bath, that would even be better.

But, I’m almost done with my paper/critique of this riveting journal article, so I might as well hunker down and finish it. If I do, it means I can play all weekend and not worry about stinky old homework.

Maybe I can sneak in a few pages of US tonight as I huddle under my electric blanket and hide from the cold wind that’s howling at my window.