Category: Life-condensed

I did something really stupid yesterday.

I went and voted.

No. That wasn’t the stupid part. The stupid part was when I sat down to vote and realized I had NO IDEA who the people on the ballot even were.

I had never heard of them. But here I was, getting ready to vote them into office.

Shame on me!

I think I was so focused on voting for the stupid smoking ban – ON PRIVATE PROPERTY – that I failed to pay attention to the rest of the ballot.

After I voted, I went to my office. When I walked in and told Kevin that I had voted, he was surprised.

“What?? I had planned on talking to you about the people running for office. Have you looked at their websites? Do you even know where they stand on these issues?”

I blushed and shook my head.

And then I felt like a slug.

He had spent an hour looking at the candidates’ websites and when he told me that one dude explicitly claimed that he had “nothing to do with the Tea Party,” and that he was the one I voted for (because I liked his name – I KNOW, I’M SO PATHETIC!!!), I died a little inside.

Shame on me!

To me, when people distance themselves from the Tea Party, that means that they’re for more government and more spending. (Because the Tea Party is for less government and less spending, in case you didn’t know that).

And just so we’re clear? I am NOT FOR BIGGER GOVERNMENT ON ANY LEVEL.

Sorry to shout, but I feel strongly about this.

So yeah, I voted for the dude. *SIGH* Bad Karen.

Then Kevin pointed out another candidate who wouldn’t commit to any sort of opinion, in essence he said he would vote for whatever was popular. Which to ME says, “I’ll do whatever it takes to stay in office.”

My point is … I should have taken the time to look these candidates up before voting for them. I wonder how many people do the same thing? Go in to vote and have no idea who the people are? Who just pick a name out of the hat and vote for him/her.

I know better. I was ill-informed and lazy. If we ALL don’t take the time to research the people we’re voting into office and then things go to crap, we have no one to blame but ourselves because we put them there.

I’m lumping myself into this chastisement.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I voted people into office that if I had done my homework on, would NOT have gotten my vote.

Lesson learned.

(Payless Shoes – $17.00. I KNOW, RIGHT?!)

These shoes have about a 2 1/2 inch heel.

That’s a big deal. Mainly because I’m 5’10 WITHOUT heels, so whenever I wear heels, I’m over six feet tall.

Which spells AWKWARD if you’re a female.

And when your husband is shorter than you are.

My height used to really bother me. I’ve always hated being tall. The only time I’ve ever been GLAD I was tall was when I gave birth to my sons because I knew they would probably inherit my tallness … and I’m right: Dude is now taller than I am, Jazz isn’t far behind.

Being tall sucks. Especially when you’re the tallest in your class up until Junior year in high school. There’s just something … demeaning having to always look down on people. (Both literally and figuratively. *ahem*)

But I love heels. What girl doesn’t? They make you feel sexy and women’s legs look so hot in heels. I would totally wear heels more often, if I wasn’t so tall to begin with. As a result, I’ve avoided heels my entire life.

I even got married in ballet slippers because I didn’t want to be taller than Kevin.

True story.

But now? Pfft. I don’t care. I dig these types of shoes and they’re surprisingly comfortable. And Kevin ASSURES me that it doesn’t bother him that I’m taller than he is.

So, I’m going to start wearing more heels. Because I’m getting older and it’s true what they say, you simply stop caring so much what other people think when you get older.

Suddenly, I’m looking forward to getting older. *grin*

And no, I don’t normally talk to my teenage boys like they’re three, but I think, for just a moment, I was picturing this boy, this young man, as a young boy with white hair and an infectious smile who always loved to ham it up during birthday songs.

Actually, the hamming part still applies, apparently. 🙂

*sigh* Time is moving too quickly.

Here is another nephew showing off his talents. He’s a great singer, in fact, his whole family is musically talented.

He’s currently living in New Zealand trying to get on as an extra for The Hobbit movie. How fun would that be?? How brave does one have to be for to go on that adventure?? Can you imagine traveling to a strange country to pursue your dream?

He has my utmost respect.

This is my oldest nephew. And this is a commercial for the Gowalla app he, and his co-workers, developed for the iPhone.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(RSS readers, you’ll have to click over to see the video – sorry!)

Yes Gowalla lovers – my nephew is THE Keegan Jones from Gowalla. 😀 And the guy is only 23!! Actually, he’s 23 TODAY!

Happy birthday, Keegan!

They are constantly doing creative things like this with the company he works with. Wouldn’t that be a FUN job?

I want a job at his company!

I came on the scene when this dude was like one. In fact, me, Kevin and Dude were at Keegan’s seventh birthday party when I was pregnant with Jazz and I remember feeling really weird at his birthday party – just out of sorts. Not in pain, but something felt “off.” My mother-in-law said, “I bet you have that baby soon.”

Jazz was born the next day. (Meaning, Jazz will be 16 tomorrow!!)

We’re so proud of Keegan. He’s turning out to be quite the successful young man.

Do you use Gowalla? Or some other location app on your phone?

I don’t have a fancy phone, so I don’t use anything like this, but I know the programs are quite popular.

(P.S. Ugh. It’s laggy – you might hit the pause button and let it load before watching it. But please watch it – it’s worth it!)

(Sorry RSS readers. I keep forgetting to tell you there is a video. Vimeo videos don’t transfer into feeds for some reason. My apologizes!)

This is one of my beautiful nieces. *puffs up with pride* She had to write a persuasive essay for a Speech and Debate tournament for her school.

She has food issues herself – she’s allergic to a lot of common ingredients in food, so it’s been a real challenge for her to find her new normal. This would be one of the biggest reasons she chose this specific topic, I think, but it’s definitely a topic that people need to talk more about.

I love how organized she is! She’s very concise and she does a spectacular job at keeping eye contact with her audience. She seems relaxed and very confident, which goes a long way toward persuading an audience, I think.

She went on and won an award for this speech. I can definitely see why!

She’s right you know – eating healthy IS a choice.

(I especially liked the part where she talks about eating healthy being a priority. I think she nailed that point home!)

Did I mention that Kevin’s parents sell Reliv? And that they sort of, um, talked us into being distributors?

*charming smile*

Would you like to buy 24K from us?

*charming smile*

24K is an energy drink. No caffeine. No sugar. It’s chock full of B vitamins and it’s supposed to not only give you energy, but mental clarity, too.

Here’s Reliv’s blurb:

Our daily activities zap our energy and can leave us feeling worn out, unfocused and stressed. Turning to high-sugar caffeine drinks only brings an artificial lift — and a hard crash. But now there’s a healthy way to keep your edge: 24K™, Reliv’s first ever ready-to-drink product. Formulated with a synergistic blend of 24 active ingredients, 24K taps into your body’s natural vitality to provide energy, focus and stress relief. And with no caffeine and only 5 calories per serving, it’s healthy energy for body, mind and spirit. Available in a multi-serving 28-ounce bottle and in two-ounce “double-shots” for when you’re on the go.

I’ve tried it. In fact, I drank half of one today. (The little shots are two ounces and you’re supposed to drink one ounce at a time, twice a day). One ounce is all I can handle. Any more and I get a headache. I think it’s the B vitamins that does it to me because I’ve had the 5-Hour Energy drinks before and they do the same thing to me.

I’ll be honest – it’s not the greatest tasting energy drink out there (probably because it doesn’t have any sugar), but it seems to do the trick. I DO feel more mentally alert after drinking it. It sort of tastes like bubblegum when you first drink it, but the after taste is not that great. Kevin thinks it tastes like the medicine dentists give you to numb your gums.

Are you tempted? HA!

But seriously. It’s not the best tasting thing out there, but it does seem to work. At least, I think so. And it DEFINITELY gives Kevin more energy. (Like the man NEEDS more energy). And the best part? You don’t crash like you do when you come off an energy drink.

At any rate, if you would like to try the little two ounce bottles, I’m your go-to gal. Just give me a holler and I’ll set you up.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go wash some dishes, mop the floors, clean the bathrooms, finish the laundry, chase the neighbor’s dog, write a book, run a marathon, direct traffic, achieve world peace …