help!

My sister is throwing a welcome home party when my brother-in-law comes home from Iraq later in the year. I have agreed to help and have been "enlisted" as far as invitations go. It just so happens that the party will also be on his birthday.

What I need help with:
I want to come up with a clever title for the party. Operation: _________________

Help fill in the blank. I want it to be reflective of a soldier returing home but a birthday celebration at the same thing. Thanks to the Austin Powers movies, the best thing I can come up with is "Operation Bananarama" and that just won't do.

new haircut

I, like Rachel, should have taken a before picture.

That's all.

two posts, one day

This is the funniest news story I've read in a long time. Enjoy!

An online beauty pageant...for nuns

the penguin waddles at midnight

I had a good and somewhat busy weekend.

Thursday night I went and saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with some girls from work. It was ok. I saw the first movie but have never read the books. From what I've heard, the movie was very different from the book. I definitely liked the first movie better.

Friday night, I hit up the movie scene for the second night in a row (this time with Rachel) and saw Pineapple Express. If you're looking for crazy, silly, chaotic fun, this is the movie for you. We giggled the whole time. And James Franco as a stoner? He totally pulls it off.

Saturday morning I went and got my haircut. It seems haircuts were the thing to do this weekend. Rach got hers cut and several people from my office did the same. I now have 4 inches less and a lot of layers. I think I like it but I'm not sure yet. That evening I went to a farewell party on Lake Minnetonka for one of my friends from work that is moving to Denver. I didn't realize how much I would miss her until I said goodbye at the party.

Sunday I sat around in the morning and did a little bit of cleaning. In the afternoon, my sister and I went to the pool and I'm now sporting a rockin' sunburn. We picked up dinner from Cosi and headed back to my sister's house. On the way home I stopped at the grocery store.

The upcoming week will be pretty uneventful. I plan to spend next weekend with my mom in Rochester.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

-Mark Twain

I'm in minor panic mode right now. The office newsletter came out a couple of days ago and announced that we are having an office golf outing next Thursday. Back in my high school days, I golfed a lot. In fact, I was not too bad. I wouldn't go as far as saying that I was good…just decent. Not going to this work event doesn't seem like an option for me. Of course, I don't have to go but if someone else is paying for me to play 18 holes and have some fun, I feel like I should go.

It's been a few years since I've even picked up a golf club. As such, I feel like I need to practice so I won't make a total fool out of myself. I plan to make a trip to the driving range this weekend and maybe play a few holes sometime early next week. Luckily, my clubs are in town but I don't have a clue where any of my other stuff is…shoes, glove, etc. I need to get some golf balls for sure. It sounds like a trip to the local sports store may be in order.

We've been a little spoiled at work lately. Last night we took a 2 hour "happy hour" cruise around Lake Minnetonka. It was a good time. For those of you familiar with The Office, it was somewhat similar to the booze cruise episode. Someone should win an award for the open bar concept!

What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't reread a phone call.

Liz Carpenter

I'm generally not one who loves phone conversations. I usually prefer face to face conversations or emails. Normally my 450 minute cell phone plan is more than enough. However, this month I have already gone past my 450 minutes and my billing cycle doesn't end until Thursday. It's odd because all of a sudden I feel like I can't go for the next 4 days without talking to someone not on the Verizon network (IN minutes are free).

So for those of you not using Verizon, don't call me until Friday :)