Do You Remember

"Do you remember when we first met? I sure do.
It was some time in early September
You were lazy about it, you made me wait around
I was so crazy about you I didn't mind

I was late for class, I locked my bike to yours
It wasn't hard to find ‒ you painted flowers on it
I guess that I was afraid that if you rolled away
You might not roll back my direction real soon.

I was crazy about you then and now
The craziest thing of all,
Over ten years have gone by
And you're still mine,
We're locked in time
Let's rewind

Do you remember When we first moved in together?
The piano took up the living room
You'd play me boogie woogie, I played you love songs
You'd say we're playing house, now you still say we are.

We built our get away up in a tree we found.
We felt so far away but we were still in town.
Now I remember watching that old tree burn down
I took a picture that I don't like to look at.

Well, all these times they come and go
And alone don't seem so long
Over ten years have gone by
We can't rewind,
We're locked in time
But you're still mine

Do you remember?"

Jack Johnson

Mixed Bag

Lots going on this weekend!  On Friday night, we were invited to a dinner party at the house of our friends, Jonathan and Rose.  The food was uh-maze-ing.  The main course was leg of lamb, and much to my surprise, I loved it.  Rose made flan for dessert, and I was a happy camper!  That's one of my most favorite desserts, but it can be hit or miss depending on the restaurant.  Lucky for us, she nailed it.

On Saturday, we spent most of the day shopping for a new bed.  We didn't have any luck then, but we did pick up a couple of new chairs for the office.  Can you believe these were only $37 each??  I thought for sure they were quoting us an incorrect price, but we didn't complain and gobbled them up!  They were the last two of their kind in the clearance section, so maybe they were just ready to get rid of them.  Either way, we came out on the winning end of that deal.   

I had grown tired of the rugs in our kitchen, so I shopped around for a new set after I picked up the chairs.  I tried Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target, but nothing really jumped out at me.  My last resort was Walmart, and I actually found some that I really loved!  The colors in my kitchen are mostly neutral (beige, tan, brown, etc), but I have some hints of green and blue.  I thought these would match very well, and the touch of green makes them more fun.  I got a small one, a medium-sized one, and a runner for $63.

On Saturday night, a bunch of us ladies went out to Victor Tango's to celebrate our friend Ericka's upcoming nuptials.  We had a great time chit-chatting and joking around as she opened her gifts.  I won't go into detail about some of the items she received, but you can take a guess!  After dinner, as we were standing around waiting for our cars to be brought up, a guy walked by and caught my eye.  It took me a second, but I realized I was looking at Jason Kidd!  Holy crap!  He walked right by us and into the restaurant we had just come out of.  Dang!  If only we had taken a little longer to eat!  Haha.  It was cool to see one of the Dallas Mavericks out and about in the city.  I just wish I could've snapped a pic before he went inside!

On Sunday, I ventured out again in search of a bed.  My first stop was Stacy Furniture in Allen, and fortunately it was my last stop too!  The first bed I looked at in their store ended up being the one I bought.  It is made by Bernhardt and seemed to be a reasonable price compared to what I had seen the previous day. Meezy and I wanted a solid wood bed, with a sturdy, substantial footboard and headboard, for less than an arm and a leg.  We kept finding cheaply made beds at great prices, or very sturdy, nice beds at exorbitant prices.  I think we found a winner in this one:

 

With that decided, I then focused my attention on side tables.  The ones in the same collection with the bed really weren't calling out to me.  I figured the shade of the wood in the bed was pretty common, so I walked around the store in search of tables that could potentially match.  I ventured into the living room area of the store and spotted some that I liked, made by Kincaid.  The sales associate helped me carry one over to put beside the bed, so that I could be sure it would match!  It was perfect.  The scrollwork on the legs of the table looks very similar to the scrollwork on the bed.  I think they're going to look great.  I can't wait for everything to be delivered so that I can finally feel good about the furniture in every room of our house!  (The tables are actually a little darker than what is depicted in the picture below).

Parking Garage Etiquette

Do people forget common sense when they enter a parking garage, or do they just normally drive like assholes all the time?  I don't understand why it's so hard to follow a few easy rules in these situations.  I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they just don't know any better.  In that case, take note:

1) Drive on the right side of the road.  Just because you're in a parking garage, doesn't mean you've been transplanted to London and it's suddenly okay to drive on the left side (or in the middle).

2) When making a turn around a corner, do it so that you end up on the right side of the road.  If you're turning left, why would you cut it so close that you're on the wrong side after making the turn?  You're just asking to be t-boned. 

3) Drive slowly.  There aren't cops with radar guns in the garage, but that doesn't mean you should speed.  People do have to walk (or hobble) to their cars, you know. 

4) When you get to an "intersection," slow down and look both ways.  You don't automatically have the right of way, and sometimes other drivers are having a hard time seeing around parked cars.

5) Only take up one space.  I don't care how expensive or shiny your car is, it can still fit in one space.   In other words, this is not appropriate:

 (I bet they can't color inside the lines either)

It Was Bound to Happen

Sometimes when I mention an injury I sustained playing sports, people accuse me of being injury-prone.  I don't necessarily think that's the case.  I think it has more to do with the fact that I play sports four nights a week, which greatly increases the probability of injury!  It seems also that my recent injuries were only sustained during flag football games, even though I play three sports in total, so there might be a connection there....  It's not supposed to be a contact sport, but it has turned out that way!  My latest escapade involved a receiver running a route, but turning his head back to look at the quarterback instead of where he was going, resulting in a full-speed collision with me.  It was a guy that was taller than me, so my outer thigh took a direct hit from his knee.  It was quite alarming at the time, but apparently my adrenaline was pumping enough that I played the rest of the game without paying much attention to the pain.  Afterwards was a different story!  My drive home was about 25 minutes, so my leg was in the same bent position for that long.  When I got home and tried to get out of my car by stretching my leg out into the upright position, I thought it was going to buckle!  The severity of the collision was finally kicking in, and I guess the muscle had gotten tight from being in the seated position.  It's been a tender couple of days since then, and I have to say my leg is not a pretty sight.  Take a look for yourself:

   Day One

Day Two

This is a Lovely Room of Death

This is me last night at Cabela's:



I had never been to that store before, so I had no idea how extensive their collection of "stuffed" animals was.  It started making me sick to my stomach.  I don't know if these animals were hunted, died of natural causes, died in captivity, etc, etc, but just the thought of any of them being killed simply so someone could put them on display in a retail store was rather disheartening.  I've got hunters in the family, but that doesn't mean I have to be thrilled when I see a stuffed dead elephant or baboon or lion or polar bear or moose or musk ox or brown bear (I could go on and on and on).  There had to have been hundreds of them.  Their photo gallery online shows some of what I'm talking about, here.   

It's hard to know exactly how I feel about that, because I do waver back and forth.  I mean, the killing of animals as a food source is a very routine part of our daily lives.  I know this.  I partake in the output of this.  But, the killing of animals for sport or so we can walk by them and say, "Oh cool!  Check that out!"....that doesn't sit as well with me.  I know it sounds hypocritical.  I'm not trying to deny that.  I'm just trying to say that the nauseating feeling I got in my stomach when walking in and seeing the "lovely room of death" was hard to ignore. 

I told you so! I told you so!

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day, which reminded me how much I love spring and summer.  If I can wear capris, short sleeves, and flip flops, I'm a happy girl.  But I digress.  The real reason I'm writing is because Jer just started streaming The Cable Guy on Netflix, and it reminded me of a funny story.  Having grown up in Dallas, I had been to Medieval Times as a child.  It seems to be a place for schools or community groups to bring kids on field trips, or as an outing for families with small kids.  I remember it being mildly entertaining, but nothing I'd care to make a second visit to.  Since Jer grew up in Amarillo, he had no idea what Medieval Times was until he watched The Cable Guy.  In that movie, it makes it out to be a pretty fun place with lots of yummy food, fighting knights, and exciting competitions.

A couple years ago Jer and I attended an event that featured a silent auction.  We were perusing the items up for bid, when Jer noticed two tickets to Medieval Times.  They usually go for $60 apiece, but I think the highest bid was only $40 or so.  He said, "Oh!  We should totally bid on that.  I think that place is really cool!"  I was like, "Umm, no.  That place is for kids, and it's not that cool."  He didn't believe me, because he had seen The Cable Guy and it looked pretty sweet on there.  I tried to tell him that I had been there before, and it really wasn't going to impress a 25 year old guy.  Jer wouldn't take my word for it, and we ended up bidding on and winning the tickets.  Great.  So we get home and I throw the tickets in a drawer, figuring he'll forget about them.  A few months go by and he stumbles across the tickets and realizes they're about to expire.  I try again to tell him that his expectations are probably WAY too high, but he thinks I'm exaggerating. 

So we attend a performance and it goes as I expected.  We're surrounded by kids, the food is gross, the storyline is super cheesy, and the fighting is not even close to believable.  Halfway through Jer leans over and says, "They normally charge $60 each for THIS?"  Yeah.  I told you so!  I told you so!  At least he admitted I was right.  Those two hours were pretty unbearable, but we can joke about it now.  The good thing that came from that experience is that whenever Jer mentions something that I know isn't fun, all I have to say is "Medieval Times" and he gets the picture.  

The Bacon Explosion

Jer and I and a few other couples meet every other month or so for "Supper Club."  (Yeah, we're trying to come up with a cooler name!) We always have a different theme and rotate which couple will be hosting, and each couple attending contributes to the meal.  Since I've joined, we've had Mexican, Greek, and Italian-themed nights.  Last night's theme was Bacon Bonanza.  A couple members of the group might have what you call a little bit of a bacon fetish.  Haha.  Every dish brought to the dinner needed to incorporate bacon somehow.  Jer and I threw around a couple of ideas, and finally decided on "The Bacon Explosion."  I think our friend Haydel gets credit for sending us the recipe.  When I first saw it, I thought it was a joke!  It's actually relatively easy to make, but probably a little heavy on the heart to eat.  :)

You need two pounds of thick-sliced bacon, two pounds of loose sausage, some barbecue sauce, and some barbecue seasoning.  We used spicy sausage to give it more kick.  You start by laying out a 5x5 (or bigger) square grid of bacon, and basket-weave it.  Then you douse it with seasoning.  Next you lay out a layer of the sausage, making sure it reaches the edges and is uniform in thickness.  Then you fry up a couple pieces of bacon, let them dry, chop them up, and sprinkle them over the sausage layer.  Follow this up with a drizzled layer of barbecue sauce and some more seasoning.  Now it's time to assemble!  Grab the sausage layer (while leaving the bacon basket weave), and roll it on itself.  It's easiest when someone else is helping!  Once you're done rolling, pinch off the sides to seal it up.  Then, starting from the end of your sausage roll, take the basket weave and roll it back over the roll in the other direction.  Sprinkle some more barbecue seasoning on it and the preparation is done!  Here's what it will look like at this stage:

 

Now it's ready to be cooked in a cloud of hickory smoke at 225 degrees.  You can always brush another layer of barbecue sauce on it to keep it intact during cooking.  When the internal temperature hits 165 degrees, you are good to go!  It can take a few hours, so don't rush it!  I think ours took a little over 3 hours.  Here's what it looks like, sliced and ready to serve:

 

As weird as it sounded, it actually tasted amazing!  The spicy sausage was a good choice, and the barbecue flavoring topped it off nicely.  I recommend giving it a shot at your next barbecue.  The link to the full recipe was included above, and here it is again: Enjoy!

Headache-free and Happy Now!

About three months ago I started getting debilitating headaches daily. They would almost always hit in the afternoon, and they'd last a few hours at a time. Some days they made working (or any other activity) pretty unbearable. A few times they would last longer than a few hours and I'd just go straight to bed after work because I couldn't handle them. In the beginning I would take two Excedrin migraine, and that would help. As one month of this turned into two, however, the Excedrin stopped being effective. Some days I had to resort to Hydrocodone to bear the pain. It was a miserable feeling knowing that every single afternoon I was probably going to get a headache. A couple times I actually had to miss an important event or activity because of my horrible headaches.

I first thought it might have to do with staring at a computer screen for hours every day at work, but I was getting the headaches on the weekends too. I had heard before that some people would get headaches if they went a couple hours without caffeine because they had built up an "addiction" to it. I didn't think this applied to me, because I was drinking sodas constantly and doubted it was withdrawal. But, this did raise another possibilty - maybe my constant caffeine intake was causing the headaches. I had increased my Sonic visits over the past few months, either stopping for a drink before work or during lunch most every day. I decided it was worth a shot to give up caffeinated drinks to see what would happen. The first few days were typical - still headaches in the afternoon. I was taking Excedrin to alleviate them, before realizing that Excedrin has a pretty high level of caffeine also. I stopped doing that and switched to a pain reliever without caffeine. A couple more days went by and the headaches were still pretty bad. I think those days might've been me experiencing withdrawal. After about 9 days of this, I had a day without a headache. It was amazing!  I had forgotten what those days felt like.  And then, another day and another day. After 5 days in a row of no headaches, I almost cried from joy. I can't believe I suffered through months of  unnecessary pain, but I'm so thankful it was an "easy" fix. Now I strictly drink decaffeinated sodas, or water if none are available. It's kinda crazy to think about the harmful effects I was experiencing from something as "tame" as a diet soda. I'm just glad I figured this out and cured myself!

Just a Reminder

Life can change in an instant. Cherish the time you have with the ones you love. Don't put off something you've always wanted to do.  Take that trip, run that marathon, paint that picture. 

Various people around me have received unsettling news lately, and while I am very hopeful and positive they will overcome their setbacks, I am reminded to not take anything for granted.  This is your friendly reminder to do the same. :)

 

Those Three Little Letters Are Expensive!

Someone was telling me recently how much money they had spent on the CPA exam. It's reached the thousands for them because they have had to take a couple sections multiple times. It got me thinking about how much I've spent over the past couple of years on gaining my certification and keeping it. The process starts with an Application of Intent, $50. Then there's an Eligibility Application for each section at $15 a pop, or $60. Then there's an exam fee per Section, as follows:

AUD - $226.28
BEC - $178.58
FAR - $214.35
REG - $190.50

If you passed every section on the first try, you've now invested $919.71. That assumes you didn't use any study materials along the way. The likelihood of that is slim! At a minimum, you can buy self-study books from Gleim for $45/each. This is the route I took, so I invested about $180 in preparatory materials. Most people prefer to also use audio CDs, online resources, and/or classroom instruction due to the level of difficulty of the exam. You can buy a packaged set of written, audio, and online materials from Gleim for $989.95, or use the popular Becker program for $2,825. That's quite a bit of dough. Depending on your choice, your total investment now ranges from $1100 to $3700.

I passed each section on the first try, so my investment is probably pretty close to the minimum mandatory amount it takes. If you consider passing rates for each section, there aren't many folks who got off as "easy" as I did. In 2008, the passing rates were LESS THAN 50% on each section. So now add again the cost of the Eligibility Application and exam fee for each part that you failed and must re-take. Yes, you have to pay those fees again for every attempt. There's really no limit to the potential cost now! In addition, this whole process has to be completed in 18 months or less, or you start losing credit for parts you've already passed.

When you finally receive word that you've passed all four parts and can officially put the worry of the exam behind you, there's still more to do! You next have to submit an Application for Issuance of the CPA Certificate ($55). Once that's approved, and you're certified, your licensing fee is $240 (and has to be paid yearly). If only that were the end of it! In order to keep your license, you have to complete 40 hours of CPE a year. Of course, each CPE credit costs something. Expect to spend anywhere between $200 and $1000 each year to fulfill this requirement. And don't forget to join a professional organization! Membership in the AICPA costs about $200/year.

As you can tell, becoming and staying a CPA requires a very large monetary (and time) commitment. In most cases, if you are currently employed during this process, your employer will reimburse these costs. But, that's usually only after you're completely finished, and usually only for one attempt at everything. It makes me wonder if any potential CPAs shy away from the process for strictly monetary reasons.

A Little Too Much Excitement for Me

I'm not sure why this event popped up in my memory recently, but I figured it was an interesting enough story to share, even this far after the fact. While I was attending Texas Tech in Lubbock, I worked at a mortgage company. It was located on the outskirts of town, near 82nd & Ave F. It was a pretty industrial area, so each building was like a mini-warehouse. Next door to us was a paging/answering service company, and next door to them was Wylie Propane. My coworkers and I always joked about how it probably wasn't safe working near a propane plant. Boy, were we right!

I was sitting in my office one day, when my boss came charging through the back door of the building. He flew down the hallway, and as he passed by my office he yelled, "Get out now! The propane plant is on fire!" I remember sitting there for one second, as his words sunk in, and then the rush of panic I felt when I realized what he said. As I started to get up, I saw my coworker Amanda running after him. I grabbed my purse and followed suit.

As I ran out the front door of the building, I immediately felt the heat of the fire. The sound was pretty deafening too. I, along with my coworkers and other people from the buildings nearby, sprinted as fast as we could through the vacant field that was across from our offices. Everytime we stopped to look back, someone would yell that we were still too close. When we got to a distance that we felt was safe, all we could do was sit and watch.

Wylie is a propane distributor, so this location had pallet after pallet of personal sized 5 gallon propane tanks. There had to be thousands of them. They also had two enormous 18,000 gallon tanks on-site that stored propane. Their entire building was engulfed in flames, along with everything else on their property. The small canisters would catch fire and explode, and become dangerous projectiles. We could see them flying through the air, hitting neighborhood businesses, with some landing in the field not too far from us. We all just sat there in disbelief, as the fire became massive. It was incredible.

Considering how large and dangerous the fire was, we didn't hold out much hope that the fire fighters could extinguish it before it spread to nearby buildings. We just really hoped the huge storage tanks wouldn't explode, or the damage would've been exponentially greater. To get an idea of how massive this fire was, check out this video. The fire reached this magnitude very quickly. The building adjacent to the fire is the communications company (with the red roof), and I was in the building next to that one. Here's another video that shows the vantage point I had as I ran from the building. The center building in the shot is the one I was in, and parked out front you can see a Gray Ford Escape (next to the white truck). That was my car! I thought for sure it was dunzo! haha.

After my coworkers and I sat there in disbelief for a while, we figured we might as well head home. They had already battled the blaze for about an hour, and evacuated the nearby residents. So we got friends to take us home (since our cars were being held hostage!) and watched the news and waited. Firefighters battled the blaze for almost 3 hours before finally getting it under control. The wind was blowing strongly towards the east during the fire, so the businesses behind Wylie were in the path of it. Since our building was to the south of the fire, we were untouched. When all was said and done, we were incredibly lucky. It's hard to believe we didn't suffer any damage considering our proximity to the fire. Some other folks weren't so fortunate. The Wylie plant was completely destroyed and 23 cars and 7 other businesses were damaged. While I was able to return to my car and building unscathed, it was a little too much excitement for me.