**Edit** Just had to share....Change.

This is an actual billboard in my town.....seriously. It needs no explanation!

He's balancing on a piece of what??

So, I have no idea why I thought this was so funny. But I guess it is because I like Dirty Dancing. Or maybe it is because it has Channing Tatum. Or maybe because he says he is balancing on shit. Or maybe because nobody puts Baby in the corner.

Enjoy.

Just sayin....

Well, today is Wednesday, it is the middle of the week and by the end of the day, we will be on the down slide to the weekend! Finally! I love my weekends. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself, because it is still only Wednesday. So, last night, after I got home, I decided that I was in a cleaning mood. I got home and opened the porch door so I could enjoy the rain and so Scout would go out and lay on the porch so he wouldn't be scared when I got out the vacuum. I didn't waste any time getting down to business (I had to be done with everything by 9 so I could watch the "After the Final Rose").I even looked like a 50's housewife with the apron and pearls cooking and cleaning, only 1. this isn't the 50's and 2. I am not a wife. I did the mountain of dishes, cleaned the kitchen, living room, bathroom and my bedroom (I even put on fresh, clean sheets). I had the movie "The Breakup" playing in the background, and I forgot that I actually kinda liked this movie. Oh well, I am getting off track. I meant to tell you that after I did the dishes, I cooked myself a healthy dinner: grilled chicken and hearts of palm salad. I saw this recipe in Rachael Ray and was curious, so I decided to make it, and it was actually good. I added a few of my own twists like instead of lime juice, I used freshly squeezed lemons (only because I didn't have limes) and added a few capers. Then I finished cleaning. Now that I have said all of this, I will tell you the real reason I took to my blog was to complain. I don't like doing dishes without gloves! I don't like my hands to be wrinkly when I am done with the dishes. With that said, I always wear gloves. (I don't have a dishwasher, so everything is done by hand) Now, I am a petite girl and I have small hands. I KNOW I am not the only one with small hands. But when I buy gloves at the store to do dishes I have to find the ones that come in S, M or L because they are the only ones that come close to fitting. They should make them in super small for people like me so my hands won't still get wet because my gloves are too big! Also, having small hands and having to squeeze a bottle of dish soap is difficult. Last time I went shopping I got "green" soap. The only one they had was in a cool bottle however, it lost all of its "cool points" last night when I had to literally use two hand because the bottle was too big for just one!

Dear people who make dish washing supplies:
Usually people who wash the dishes are either women and/or kids. It would be nice if you would make things smaller to accommodate these two demographics when thinking about your products. I would buy more gloves and more dish soap if I could actually use them. Sure, your bottle is pretty, and the gloves are pink, but it would be better if the gloves fit properly and the bottle was easier to use. Just sayin.... K? Thanks.

Until this situation is remedied or I grow bigger hands, I guess I will just have to deal. Have a great Wednesday!

P.S. For the After the Final Rose show, I was only a tad disgusted that they could not stop kissing each other and that they couldn't get enough of each other "in the bedroom". This is ABC and Jillian needs a filter. I hate when they bring the rejected people back to "confront" the one that let them go. Seriously, is this needed. The person didn't like you, you were rejected, please move on. There is no explanation besides the fact that you signed up for it, they were dating multiple people and you weren't the one that she/he picked. Sorry to be mean, but I don't want to see that, and there is nothing to say. I felt bad for Kip because he wouldn't stop looking at her ring (he was probably thinking, the one I picked out was much prettier). But like I said, had he not been there, he wouldn't have had to face that. Again, just sayin....

Your name is what???

Well, it is now Tuesday and I didn't update you yesterday on my weekend...I was just really busy yesterday! But before I begin, please pray for baby Stellan (or click on the button on my sidebar)!! If you haven't already heard, he isn't doing very well, and he and his family needs all the prayers they can get.

On to my weekend.....my step-dad has been in Rome (Italy, not Georgia) for work the past week, so my mom has had the house to herself all week. Well, I decided to go to Huntsville and keep her company for the weekend. I went to Huntsville on Friday and we ended up going to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Phil Sandivals, and ate, drank, and laughed our butts off at each other. We decided to then go get one more drink before we went home. We were funny, sitting in the corner of the place people watching and looking at what some of the people were wearing. Wow, some people must not own mirrors, because if I wore some of the things that these people had on, I can't imagine what would happen!

Saturday, we decided to get up and go to a few places we wanted to visit. (But not before a trip to the Farmer's Market, I think I do this every Saturday no matter what city I find myself in) We wanted to go to this place in Mooresville for lunch. It is the cutest place ever, they even rent the whole town out for weddings! It is just so cute and pretty! Well, we actually talked to the man outside (owner) who said they were getting ready for a wedding that night. He introduced himself and I think I choked on my breath and laughed out loud at the poor man. He introduced himself as J.G. His name was the same as J!! First and Last! Then, the man said, well, at least he doesn't live in Nashville, because that is where I work. I said, funny you say that because, he does. It was very funny! Then, we left and drove over to Decatur and found this shop that my mom was looking for to get a new purse (that was the goal of the weekend, and it never happened). We didn't get a purse, but we found a new shop we liked! We also went to this place in Decatur called CF Penn. It is a hamburger place downtown. They have been open for over 80 years, so we assumed they must be good. Well, the burger wasn't what we thought it was going to be and we just couldn't bring ourselves to eat much of them. The onion rings were good, but they didn't have a single napkin in the place! And we basically had grease dripping down our arms, it was an experience. But I must say, not that I have been, once is probably enough for me. We left Decatur and drove back to Huntsville and went to Bridgestreet for some shopping. I got some cute stuff from a new shop called Papaya. Then we went to my grandparents to shuck corn and shell peas for our lunch the next day. We ended the night with people watching, sushi and martinis. And lots of laughter!

Sunday, we did the mountain of laundry I brought home, and cooked for our lunch with my grandparents. On the menu: ham, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, corn, peas, and homemade peanut butter ice cream!! I also got to see my new baby cousin, Abbie and play with Gracie! It was a great Sunday! Then, we picked up my dad from the airport, home from Rome. (But not before murdering a bird with the Tahoe on the way....HAHA) We had such a great weekend with just the two of us! We needed that! Here's to a great week!

Side note: I am very glad that the Bachelorette is finally over. I don't think Jill and Ed will stay together. And I think ABC needs to make the people who leave or get sent home stay gone. Don't come back people, you only make yourself look like an idiot. And the thousands of people who were going to seek you out since you were single, aren't going to anymore! I am anxious to hear about the "After the Final Rose" tonight.

Remembering

Well, this morning, Jessica tagged me in a blog award where you have to name 7 things about yourself, and I can't think of 7 things that I haven't already told you. (I will post and participate when I think of some) Until my brain starts working I will tell you about my day!

It has been a day of remembering. It has been kind of weird.
1. Some guy in my building at work got on the elevator with Abercrombie and Fitch cologne. I really don't like this smell, and it brought back memories from my high school days!
2. There is a cute little man and his grandson that have a hot dog stand at the corner of my street where I work and I decided since I didn't have much time I stop by and get a hot dog (I am not a big fan of hot dogs BTW, I have to be in the mood, but it was close, cheap and I had no other real option). Anyway, it reminded me of living in DC when we would get hot dogs on the weekends when we would go out and about exploring.
3. La Grange by ZZ Top just came on my Pandora mix. When I was in college, my roommate Heather and I had this deer that she bought and we hung on the wall (first in the sorority house, secondly in our apartment) and it was the kind that sang and talked and moved its head. Yeah, it was funny. So, he sang that song and I laughed out loud thinking of all the fun we had with that thing!!
4. The lobby of my building has a funny smell. It is a familiar song and I could never remember what it reminded me of. Well, today, it came to me! It smells like my friend's apartment (on-campus) from college. No matter how much spray, cleaning stuff or anything we used, it always smelled the same, weird. Like the lobby of my building. Great.

Well, it is Friday! I hope you all have a great weekend! I will report back on Monday with some sort of adventure, I am sure!!!

Dr. Seuss was a wise man

Who doesn't recall something Dr. Seuss gave us? You have either learned to read by way of The Cat in the Hat, you know The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, how about red fish and blue fish. Anyone ever had Green Eggs and Ham or received/given Oh the Places You'll go to a recent graduate? Even if you are hidden under a rock and never read a single book, surely you have seen the obnoxious hats that are sold at amusement parks and worn at sporting events in a variety of colors that were inspired by the cat in red and white?

Anyway, with all of that said, one of my favorite things that came from the Dr. was this quote:
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

That quote is truer than I used to imagine. But lately, I have realized that remembering this, in a variety of situations, can be very beneficial. Now, I have always been a pretty outspoken person, and usually when you asked my opinion, you would get a pretty straightforward answer. But since I have entered the workplace and grown up a little, I think that proves to be truer than ever. No matter if someone agrees with you or not, it is important to let your voice be heard, if someone doesn't want to hear it, they either a. shouldn't have asked or b. don't matter anyway. So, I think this little quote, that has always been one of my favorites, is going to become some sort of a mantra for my day to day. It is Friday eve finally, so here's to holding out for the weekend for one more day!

Inspiration

Have you ever had someone in your life that really made an impact? Well, I have. And the most impact I have had from someone (not related to me) is a teacher I had in high school. Now, my brother and I are 6 years apart, but we graduated from the same high school and had a lot of the same teachers. One teacher that he had that influenced him a lot was Mrs. S. He LOVED her and her classes and all of the fun stuff he got to experience while in her classes. I couldn't wait to get to be a high school senior so I could have her as well.

When I was a senior, I got to be in her class both semesters (we had a 4 period schedule, so classes were different each semester). I had her for AP Government and Economics. We had a very competitive government team that participated in We the People, which is an academic competition based on the US Constitution and court cases that have been decided based on interpretation of the Constitution. I have NEVER learned as much in another class through out every level of education I have had (including undergrad and grad school). I have always used what I have learned in her class. She is a perpetually positive person, and even though we may have given her some trouble when she took us to Washington, DC for a government team competition, there was never a dull moment and I never saw her lose her patience with us. She is the main reason I do what I do today! She got me involved in politics and helped foster my passion for political science, government, and civil service. When I got to college, I changed majors from Communications to Political Science because I couldn't let go of the huge impact her classes had on me. Then, I interned on Capitol Hill just so I could get back to Washington, DC and be right in the middle of everything that I had grown to love. She even let her students have a hands on experience when she ran for office and was elected. Even though it has been over 6 years since I graduated from high school, she still asks about me and remembers exactly what I am doing. (I work in politics now too!) Although the fate of her future lies in the hands of a judge today because she was convicted of using her political connections to obtain a job with Alabama's two-year college system and then rarely showing up for work, her character, to me, has never been compromised. I am forever in debt to her for helping give me the drive to get to where I am today! Thanks Mrs. S! You are one great lady, no matter what anyone says! (Just ask her students, I don't know any of them who would have one bad thing to say!) See for yourself at this! And now, they just handed down her sentence, 30 months in prison, which I disagree with.