Reverend Clara

Hey Web friends! Did your August go as fast as mine? I just noticed it was August 26 and couldn't believe it.

This month started off fast with my brother J's wedding. He and his wife wanted a very small, immediate-family-only kind of wedding. I was totally down with that because I actually hate weddings. The kicker was that I was the celebrant of their wedding! I got ordained online and became a reverend. I performed their ceremony, sent in their marriage license and it's totally legal. How funny is that!? A pic from the ceremony is below.

The middle of August was jam-packed with work stuff. I had a full two weeks of super busy days and nights of work. We were preparing for some upcoming training events that we lead. We were also unpacking and getting settled into our new offices. I got a new corner spot with lots of window views which totally makes up for the summer I spent in "The Dungeon."

In the middle of all the August craziness, I got sick. Maybe it was because of all that stuff with work... or maybe it was hormones... or maybe I should not have spent so much time preparing to start my own church. :) Either way, being sick sucks and after 2 doctor visits I'm finally better. Here's hoping for a slower, healthier September.

Crappy Week

I must admit I have not been having a good week so far. I've been sick on and off. Not sure what's wrong with me but if another migraine comes my way, I just might jump off Reunion Tower. There have been some stressful, busy days at work and that doesn't make it any better. I need a slow, lazy weekend where I do nothing. Maybe I'll try to squeeze that in soon. In the meantime, I will use these few online things that always make me smile:

Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg received an Emmy nomination for their "Dick In A Box" skit/song from Saturday Night Live. It always makes me laugh. You can check it out here: Dick In A Box .

It's not news, it's Fark. Fark is a site that lists its news stories in various categories. My favorite category is "Not News." When I'm having a bad day, it's nice to read some funny news instead of the otherwise depressing stuff.

Blogs that belong to my friends/family. My favorites are:
Braden's -he's my cutiepie nephew
Susie's -she's my buddy in Round Rock and she rocks!
Jenn's -she's got some sweet and funny kid stories
Perez Hilton's -so I don't actually know Perez Hilton, but my mom comes from a Perez family so maybe we are distant relatives...plus his blog is such a great guilty pleasure!

Mike Coolbaugh

My heart goes out to the family of Mike Coolbaugh. I work with his sister, Lisa.

On Monday, July 23, we got word from Lisa that her brother had died on the baseball field. Mike was the batting coach for the Tulsa Drillers. Mike was positioned at first base while his team was hitting. Tino Sanchez, a left-handed hitter, hit a foul ball and it headed towards Mike. He raised a hand to block it but it was too late. The ball ruptured Mike's carotid artery and he died.

It truly is such a rare kind of accident and it was so awful to hear of that happening to such an outstanding man. Mike leaves behind a growing family: Joey age 5, Jake age 3, and his wife, Mandy, who is pregnant with their third child. She said that if her unborn child is a boy she will name him Mike.

On Sunday, July 29, some coworkers and I traveled to San Antonio to visit Lisa and pay our respects to Mike. It broke our hearts to see Lisa because, like Mandy, she is pregnant also. They both have a hard time eating and the emotional stress effects your entire body. Seeing the two of them grieve so deeply while trying to maintain a healthy pregancy was so hard.

The media swarmed the Coolbaugh house in San Antonio after word of this rare accident got out. But after a family press conference they backed off and gave the family their privacy. Some of them did write beautiful stories about Mike. Here are a few of my favorites:

Brian Anderson

ESPN

Fox Sports

The Tulsa Drillers

Please keep the Coolbaugh family and the Sanchez family in your thoughts and praryers.

Tales from the Dungeon

First of all, Happy Belated 4th of July. I didn't do anything wild and crazy for the holiday. I just provided my own body as a smorgasbord for all the mosquitos that are a result of the Biblical Rains.

Anyway... my office is getting remodeled so our entire department has been moved to a high school across the street from our building. Normally, this would be no big deal. Except the high school has limited, if any, air conditioning. And it's going through renovations so I have to smell that smell that happens when old carpet comes up and new carpet goes down. Icky!

We get no cell phone reception and only one bathroom has running water. Also, since we are used to packing a lunch, we were ticked to find out we have no refrigerator, no microwave and no kitchen-type area in which to eat our lunch. The computer lab we are sitting in at the high school is called The Dungeon because it has brown cinderblock walls and no windows. And somehow it has become infested with flies and gnats.

Hot, muggy, stinky, no cell phone, only 1 bathroom, insects and packing lunches that need no refrigeration or heating. So it's kinda like camping... but indoors with Internet.

My "indoor camping" did include a hike through the halls of the school. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything interesting... just a McGruff The Crime Dog puppet and 17 yearbooks from 1989. I hope my new office gets done quickly.

I Don't Like The Cell Phone Lady

I have a very observant boyfriend who said that in the early part of our relationship he noticed I was very picky and sensitive. But it is just now beginning to surface in our conversations. And I guess I am picky... or maybe I just have a ton of pet peeves. Here are some examples:

• I went to Las Vegas with M and I only wanted to use the restroom in the Paris casino because they had the softest toilet paper.
  


• If I sleep in any bed other than my own, I wake up with severe back pain because I need a feather bed.
  


• When I call a cell phone and get voicemail, I hate having to wait for the "lady" to say "To leave a message press 1 or press pound for more options...blah, blah, blah" I had it removed on my phone. You should do the same.
  


• After 2 alcoholic drinks I immediately vomit...unless it's wine then I can drink a whole bottle.
  


• I do not touch door handles, elevator buttons, public pens, etc... because I am terrified of germs.
  


• At a recent family get-together I didn't eat 90% of the stuff because I don't like it. Watermelon, beef fajitas, menudo, steak, etc... None of it was going near me. My sister, A, did try to force feed me and I have have proof.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  So, maybe I am picky. Are you picky? What are your sensitive spots?

Gmail = Junkmail

I rarely use my Gmail account. I logged in yesterday, cleaned out the junk and today I logged back in. This is what I found...207 junk e-mails in ONE day:

















And this is a brief clip of what the junk e-mails look like:















Does your Gmail junkmail look like that after one day also? It should not be this way. Especially after they arrested this guy. Ugh!

Maybe Flies Are Good

If you have ever shared a meal with me in a restaurant, then you know I'm picky and I ask a lot of questions... but I'm always nice to the wait staff. So you can only imagine my shock and horror brought on by these two events:

El Fenix - 05.01.2007
My boss decided to take our group out to lunch to honor the administrative professionals in our office. It was a week after the official week...but better late than never. They decided to go to El Fenix. I looked through the menu and was surprised to see their lunch specials were around ten bucks each! Ten bucks for tacos...are you kidding me?? Anyway, I went with the flautas and hoped for the best. The rest of my group got their food and our waiter informed me that mine was still cooking. When it arrived, it was still pink and cold in the middle. I didn't want to cause a stink so I just kept quiet. Good thing I wasn't paying.

Scotty P.'s - 05-02.2007
After the mess at El Fenix, I didn't have a good feeling about attending a birthday lunch for a co-worker at Scotty P.'s. I took a leap of faith and ordered the greek salad. I took 3 bites. On the 4th bite, I discovered a HUGE nasty fly in my salad. He probably drowned in greek dressing. There was a long line of hungy people waiting for a hamburger and I didn't want to gross them out. So I quietly approached the register and whispered, "There's a fly in my salad." The employees blurted out, "WHAT? A FLY IN YOUR SALAD? WHERE??" I showed them the fly, they called a manager and he said to me, "Would you like another salad without the flies?" I said no. He said the only thing he could do for me was a refund or a gift certificate for a free meal. I took the gift certificate. So if I don't like you, please be expecting a Scotty P.'s gift certificate on your birthday. Maybe flies are good!