goodbye Lawrence

I start my new job early Monday morning at 7:15. While I am so grateful to have found a job I wanted, in the field I wanted, in the state I wanted, I'm still feeling really sad to be leaving Lawrence. Even though it took me awhile I did make some really great friends here.
I also hate the awkwardness of goodbyes. It's so weird to say goodbye to someone knowing that you very well may never see them again. Do we know each other well enough to give a goodbye hug? A handshake? A nod of the head and then go our separate directions? It's awkward and sad, and bittersweet to say goodbye. Lawrence is an awesome place to live and I'll miss it.

romance

My cheap read of the summer is Chelsea Handler's "My Horizontal Life." I don't think I ever realized how funny she is! I was LOL-ing at this - literally - the whole way through. Although for her sake I do hope some of it is made up!
There's one section of the book that I just have to share because it's so true and the story of my life:

"At some point during almost every romantic comedy, the female lead suddenly trips and falls, stumbling helplessly over something ridiculous like a leaf, and then some Matthew McConaughey type either whips around the corner just in the nick of time to save her or is clumsily pulled down along with her. That event predictably leads to the magical moment of their first kiss. Please. I fall all the time. You know who comes and gets me? The bouncer.

Then, within the two hour time frame of the movie, the couple meet, fall in love, fall out of love, break up, and then just before the end of the movie they bump into each other by "coincidence" somewhere absolutely absurd, like by the river. This never happens in real life. The last time I bumped into an ex-boyfriend was at three o'clock in the morning at Rite Aid. I was ringing up Gas-X and corn removers."

Hilarious!!

While on the topic of romance, I'm curious to see what other people think about girls asking guys out. I had a conversation with someone about this recently and I'm eager to know what other people think. I've always been under the impression that guys always make the first move and they don't like it when the girl asks them out. Is this true? While I've believed this, it doesn't mean I agree and everything in me says this is bull and if we really are for equality, it shouldn't matter who moves first. Please help a girl out and let me know your thoughts. If you post anonymously please tell me who you are in your post!

weekend fun

I had an amazing time in Austin this weekend! It helped me get a little bit out of the "funk" I've been in lately, feeling depressed over the job hunt and guy drama. We got dressed up on Saturday night and went out for dinner, drinks, and dancing. I had the most fun I've had in a while and it was just what I needed!

birthdays!

My weekend has started and it's insanely busy! I'm going to Stillwater tomorrow evening for a dinner to celebrate both my mom and mine's birthdays (is that the right grammar?), and then I'm headed to Tulsa to spend the night before Kendra and I leave early Friday morning for Austin, TX to visit Jess! We come back on Sunday, and then I leave Tulsa on Monday morning to head to OKC for another job interview. I still haven't heard back from the other job I applied for, so I was so grateful when I got a call today for an interview in another hospital. After the interview it's back to Stillwater on Monday night to pick up Chap, and then headed to Lawrence on Tuesday. Then on Thursday I take my licensing exam! Whew!

I turn 26 on Sunday....and if you don't know, I LOVE BIRTHDAYS. I think I love them so much because I spend 364 days out of the year thinking about other people and on July 5th every year I can think about me and only me. Maybe a little selfish, but who cares?? It's my birthday, dangit! :) I think they are also special because growing up my brother and I always had great birthday celebrations. I would spend months planning and thinking about the 'theme' I wanted, even if it was yet another swimsuit party where we pulled out the slip-in-slide in the backyard and the baby pool. Just for fun, I'm thinking of a few of the themes I had:

age 9?? -- American Girl party -- I had the "Samantha" doll so we had petit fours as dessert, just as Samantha had, and a tea party, just like Samantha did.

age 10: "bike hike" -- the invitations were in the shape of a bicycle wheel and we all went on a bike scavenger hunt with my mom, looking for clues that eventually led back to the house.

age 11?? "flower power" -- my mom made a chocolate cake and put it in a flower window box to look like dirt, complete with gummy worms and fake flowers

age 13: scrapbook -- I copied from my cousin Hannah's birthday and had a Creative Memories consultant come and each girl got to design her own scrapbook page, which was collected together into a book for me. This was the beginning of my love of scrapbooking!

age 14: surprise birthday party -- my mom and dad took me to the movies and at the theater I was surprised by all my friends. After the movie we went to Mexico Joe's and my birthday cake was chocolate of course, with the message "Happy Birthday from Isaac, Taylor, and Zac" written in icing (I was in LOVE with the band Hanson). haha!

age 16: my first boy/girl party, haha. I had many new friends whom I had met through band and they all came - I had so much fun!

age 18: my mom and I had a joint birthday party with the family

I'm sure there are others but I can't remember them all. I hope to make the best birthdays ever for my kids and/or nieces/nephews someday.

job hunt

I had an interview last Monday for a job I really want, and they told me they'd notify me either at the end of last week or the beginning of this week. This waiting period totally sucks! It's hard to keep looking and applying for more jobs because I'm hoping that this job is the one for me. But at the same time I could have wasted 2 weeks of potential job hunting.
While I'm grateful for my job at the library I have this feeling of uselessness because I'm only working part-time. It's kind of depressing to still be looking for a job a month after graduation and the scary part is I know I could still be looking for one 3 months from now.

Here's hoping I get a call today . . .

More dog pics

Last night Chap was sprawled across the middle of my bed and would not move. This is his "dead sleep" where I have to put my finger under his nose to make sure he's still breathing. I wanted to read in bed so I had to pull the sheet up around him....he didn't notice.

Ruby Stella Day Lily

I have been waiting a long time for this day lily shrub to blossom and it did today. I love the color - and the color name: Ruby Stella. Chap and I could only stand to be outside for 10 minutes before we got too hot - it was 93 degrees today. Whew!

Random Library Story of the Day: A patron came up to me today to check out her books and she had the weirdest look on her face. She said, "Um, there's someone smoking cigarettes in the stacks." Sure enough, right after she said that I smelled the smoke! Security went to see who it was but he must have put out the cig by the time he got back there. Honestly, what would give a person the idea that it's okay to smoke amongst the stacks of a public library? I'm more and more amazed by people all the time.













Isn't it beautiful??? It's my new favorite flower in my yard. Chap got hot while we were outside though!