Umm...let's try this again...

Well, for the millions of people out there who followed my blog on a daily basis, I owe you an official apology. My bad. I guess I got caught up in the day-to-day life, and decided I didn't have much to write about. Anywhoo, rather than trying to sum up the past15(!) months, I'll just jump right back in to where I am now...

Still in Texas. Married now. No kids. New job on the horizon (like, immediate horizon...I start on March 1). Yep...that's about it.

Oh...and we got a roommate.

What's the one thing every newly-married couple needs? A roommate! One of the husband's friends got a job down here, and moved in "temporarily" while his wife wrapped things up back in the Frozen Tundra to join him down here. One thing led to another, and due to job uncertainties, he's still with us (4 months later).

Don't get me wrong...he's fun to have around, especially when we gang up on the husband. I'm also highly respectful of his ability to stump even me on movie trivia (not an easy feat). In fact, I think I'm more accustomed to him being there than the husband is. Husband is borderline OCD, especially when it comes to cleanliness...and, well, roommate's a typical guy. I've lived with guys before, so I know what to expect (and, admittedly, I'm not the cleanest kid on the block). Bottom line...it makes for some entertaining conversation when husband confronts roommate about cleaning (or not cleaning) something. Ask me sometime about the Chili Microwave Debate of November 09. It's classic.

So there it is, folks. The last 15 months can be summed up in a few short paragraphs. I'll try to be a little more consistent when it comes to blogging...but, well, I can't even come close to making a guarantee on that.

Now, to move on to the next major dilemma of the day: get my hair highlighted, or not? Oh, my life is so hard.

Things I'm thankful for

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, which often gets the shaft, being so close to Christmas (I feel your pain, Thanksgiving. My birthday's right around Christmas, too), I'm going to devote this blog post to things that I'm thankful for. But, rather than list the same old boring stuff (friends, family, health, blah blah blah), I'm going to concentrate on the little things I'm thankful for. After all, shouldn't we be thankful for the little things, too?

So, here we go...in no particular order (other than the order of my stream of consciousness):

1. "The Office" TV show. It provides me with a little laugh-out-loud time every week. And I have a crush on Jim Halpert.

2. Maui Onion potato chips from Target. I could (and have) eat a whole bag in one sitting. The perfect combination of salty and sweet...they're my one MAJOR food vice.

3. Skim Mint Conditions from Caribou Coffee. Oh, how I miss you!

4. My car -- aka The Old Man, aka The Beast, aka The Green Monster. I know I whine about it, but it gets me where I need to go, and I can take on Texas traffic with it. It rocks.

5. www.woot.com. Provides me with a daily dose of clever writing...essential in my job.

6. Purses, sunglasses, & jewlery from Chinatown. Without them, I'd never be able to pretend like I fit in here. Plus, they're so PRETTY!

7. The Dallas Parkway. Gets me to work and back, and for $0! Yippee!

8. No Income Tax in the state of Texas. I actually get to KEEP the money I earn! What a concept!

9. Burt's Bees lip balm. Makes my lips feel goooood.

10. My step-cat. Even though she hates me, she's still entertaining as hell.

11. My personal trainer. Without him, I may never go to the gym!!

12. Mama's cookies. They're happiness on a plate.

13. Facebook. Yes, I'm addicted. And I don't care.

14. NY bagels. Oh, how I miss them!

15. Pandora Radio. Now I can listen to songs I like online for FREE!

16. Chips & salsa. I could eat meals of it.

17. Protien cookies from apex. I never thought I'd actually like something that was good for me!

18. Shoes. Well, I'll always be thankful for shoes. That'll never change.

19. Holidays with my family. Can't get enough of 'em.

20. Christmas decorations. I'd keep them up year-round if there wasn't a major stigma attached to it.

See, I couldn't even make it through a Thanksgiving list without mentioning Christmas. It's everywhere!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Zen and the art of software marketing

My office mate put together a mini Zen garden today. It's kinda fun. It looks like this, except hers came with a sailboat, some dolphins, starfish and seahorses. Aparrently, these all thrive on sand now, instead of water. We contemplated adding a mini-ocean to provide life-sustaining water for these creatures...but decided that would create quite a muddy mess.

We popped in the accompanying CD to watch our chi levels restore back to normal, and start putting all our troubles in a box and pushing them away (yes, sadly, those are some of the meditative exercises one can do...ahh, bliss). Then, a frustrated co-worker TOTALLY killed our Zen buzz by having a mini-meltdown about a project. We tried to keep our cool, but we knew the fun was over.

Which brings me to my mini-moral for the day: Chill. Getting stressed out about something that's completely out of your control is not worth it. It's taken me a loooooong time to finally put this preaching into practice, but I like to think I'm doing an ok job at it. Sometimes, it takes a major crisis to bring perspective to your life...but let's hope nobody has to have it come to that.

There you go, kids. That's my lesson for the day. Oh, and also: if Dr. Pepper makes you belch, it's best not to drink it at work. I think I'll pop in that CD again...let's hope I don't start drooling when it makes me fall asleep at my desk...

Shallow to the end...

In my feeble attempt to think of something to blog about today, I started thinking of my favorite TV shows, hoping it would provide some good blog fodder. As I was listing the shows, USA Network's "The Starter Wife" popped in there. I have to admit, I'm becmoing slightly addicted to the show. I've even gone so far as to check out the website (a true sign that I'm a wee bit obsessed). It's a good show, cleverly written...but I think the thing I like the most about it is the "glamorous" Hollywood lifestyle. I have to admit, I drool over the fashion on the show. My cheap Chinatown knock-offs of Chanel and Prada are no match for the real thing...and I guess, somewhere waaayyyyy down deep, my altruism fails me, and I dream of nothing but fancy cars and shoes and "lunching" with other trophy wives. In fact, when I saw the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," a film built entirely around the sham that is the fashion industry, whose message is that "money cannot buy happiness"...I was enamored by the fashions. Those shoes! The dresses! The labels!! Gimmegimmegimme!! I think I may have lost sight of the moral of the story...

So what is the moral of THIS story? For as much as I wax poetic about changing the world, there's still a sizeable part of me that wants nothing more than a pair of Christian Louboutin heels and a Gucci dress. Guess I'm no better than the rest...and speaking of Guess, I saw the CUTEST shoes the other day...

I wish I was witty

Perhaps I'm just in a self-deprecating mood, but I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be truly witty. Not just your typical blog-wit, but honest-to-goodness witty (I also wonder if I would be able to write more than 3 sentences without using a hyphen. I'm so hyphen-happy).

I often check out editorial articles (it's "Market Research", people) and blogs, and think to myself, "Self, why can't you write like that? That is just freakin funny." The way that some of these writers come up with the funniest ways to write things...well, my little green monster gets the best of me.

Maybe someday I'll be the next real-life Carrie Bradshaw (except better)...or at least the next Perez Hilton. Hell, I'd even settle for the MSN Entertainment Hot Gossip writer. That's just good stuff.

Then again, maybe someday I'll be able to write without so many ridiculous-looking hyphenated sentences. Although, I think the odds of me being the next Oprah are better than me letting go of the hyphens (and if I do let go, it's gonna be epic -- Titanic-style! See, I did it again! Curse you, useful hyphen!!).

For now, I'll just pay homage to one of my favorite well-written bloggity websites: www.woot.com. I don't even care if they're selling behind-the-ear earmuffs (like they were today)...I read it religiously. Woot, I'll follow you to the ends of the earth. Wait a tic...their office is located in the Dallas area. Hmmm...freelance, here I come!

VOTE!!

I'm voting today. Are YOU??

If I find out you didn't vote...you will not be allowed to bitch about politics anywhere in my vicinity for the next 4 years. So there.

Everything's bigger in Texas...except, aparrently, my blogging skills...

I know, I know....I've been quite the slacker lately when it comes to blogging...ok, so it's been over 2 months. My bad. Rather than recap the past 2 months (move, adjusting to live-in fiance, new job, new state, blah blah blah), I think I'll start with a few observations I've found out about Texas. So here goes...

1. Everything IS bigger in Texas (including my waistline). I've never seen so many churches the size of football stadiums before. Giant trucks, giant signs, giant stores...even my gym is ridiculously massive.

2. Texans are old-school...and I kinda like it. I guess it's rather anti-feminist of me to appreciate the fact that I never have to open doors myself anymore, or even pay for drinks or lunch. The lunch thing, well that's just nice for my wallet...but I really like the gentleman approach most of the Texas men have down here. It's just good manners.

3. I could visit a different restaurant every day, and not run out of places to eat until I'm 45. They sure do loooove their food here. The next stop on my list is one of the Brazillian steakhouses they have here....meat on a stick, here I come!!

4. Nobody who lives in Dallas is actually from Dallas. Everyone here is a transplant.

5. If you thought Minnesota drivers were crazy...try driving in Texas. I had to put rocket launchers on my '99 Plymouth Breeze just to merge onto the freeway with the flow of traffic.

6. Did I mention the food yet? It rocks. As seen by the 90 pounds I've gained since I got here.

7. I've said "y'all" in a sentence without thinking already. Twice. Shit.

8. If you're not a football fan in Texas, you have absolutely nothing to talk about until January. It helps to be a Cowboys/Longhorns fan, too. And the movie/show "Friday Night Lights?" Yep. Totally accurate.

9. Seriously, the food. Yumm.

10. "Minnesota Nice" looks like New York Rude compared to Texans. I had a lovely conversation about good restaurants in the area with my checkout clerk at Whole Foods yesterday. The gentleman who tested my car for its emissions test offered to get me in touch with his friend in the banking industry to get me a job (keep in mind, this was back in August, so a job in the banking industry wasn't as much of an insult as it is now). Nice, nice, nice.

11. I still miss New York.

12. If there's a forecast of a snow/ice storm, the state shuts down.

13. It's currently 80 degrees here. In November.

14. I have never seen so many people that are sooooo proud of their state. Every car has a bumper sticker. Every store has a "Texas" section (I could buy a Tony Romo jersey in 6 different colors at my local grocery store). Bronzed longhorn statues surround shopping malls. Texans suuure do love Texas.

15. I have never seen so many exotic cars in my life. The little "shopping center" (aka strip of boutique shops with things I could never afford) near my office has streets lined with Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Mercedes...I saw a brand-new Sebring parked there once. It looked out of place.

16. I pass 6 Starbucks coffee shops on the way to work. I work 5 miles from home.

17. If the country's in a recession, somebody forgot to tell the city of Plano, TX. It's a refuge of American consumerism.

18. Have I mentioned the food lately?

19. Not everyone drives a big truck and carries a rifle all the time. Most do, but not everyone...

20. I think I'm gonna like it here.

Now, all this talk about food is making me hungry...I better go grab some barbecue...