summer fading into fall

Every summer it seems like I run around like crazy. That has not been the case this year. While summer seems to be going by quickly, I haven't done a whole lot of notable things. With the exception of the short trip out to Western South Dakota over the 4th, I haven't gone anywhere. My fall schedule was looking similar to my summer – not a whole lot of anything was going down. A couple of weddings, but that's about it.

That all changed a couple of days ago. Between September and October, here are the things that have been added to my calendar:
Girl's night at the Dome
An Aerosmith concert
A pajama party
A Ben Folds concert
A Halloween party

Having things to look forward to makes the week a little easier for me to get through. Busy is good for me I guess. I also hope to make it out to Colorado to visit my brother in October but I don't know if that will happen yet. Add all of that to the two weddings which are both out of state, I'm going to be running around like crazy. I love it!

Anyone else have upcoming plans that they're looking forward to?

crazy weekend

Friday

Post work happy hour for a 50th birthday celebration. It was held @ Santorini in Eden Prairie. If you haven't been there, they have a GREAT deck. Happy hour was a good time – there were probably 60 people in and out over the course of a few hours.

Saturday

The day started with a hair cut & highlights. Then it was off to the Laundromat, Leann Chin and Cub with Rachel. Saturday night brought a grill out & game night in Farmington. A very competitive game of kickball was played and was so intense that it went into extra innings J

Sunday

It was an early morning road trip to the southern part of the state. Rachel and I left around 7:15. She met her mom and sister in Worthington and I rode along and got dropped off at my parents' house. Once Rachel got back, we hung out for a while and stayed for dinner. On the way home, we made a quick stop by the Jolly Green Giant statue. Of course there are pictures but they're on Rach's camera.

And now it's Monday and I wish it were still the weekend.

I just couldn't resist

Idea stolen from Rach and courtesy of the Lazy Bloggers Post Generator

Peter Pan! I just got slapped with a wet salmon - really - I have not updated this since Hammertime was in the charts... You would not believe that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. I'm sorry you'll just have to take my word for it..

I am hopped up on caffeine with finding Jesus (after someone told me he was lost), watching Dexter, just generally being a nuisance to every man and his dog. My day is a nightmare I would like to wake up from the first cockadoodledoo from the rooster to 11pm at which point I fall asleep on the couch. I am avoiding recapture. it will be fun fun fun till they take my TBird away.

I go, my lords and ladies; I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. You have my word! Don't hold your breath though, you're likely to turn blue..

purple people eaters

No, this post has nothing to do with the Vikings. It especially has nothing to do with the Brett Favre's "to become or not to become a Viking" decision.

It just has to do with the color purple. I've been going through a purple phase and I'm not sure why.

Here's what one website had to say about purple:
Purple represents royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning. Purple is considered an exotic color.

Purple dye was made from the mucous gland of a snail. It required thousands of snails to yield 1 gram of dye causing it to be a color only nobles could afford. Today purple is a trendy color targeting creative types.

I don't know if any of that really applies to me but I found it interesting.

Purple things that I've acquired within the past few months:
-six (yes, six) purple shirts
-a water bottle
-a wallet
-flip flops

Does any one else go through "color phases"? If so, what's your color of choice right now?

countdown

I have a calendar that hangs at my desk. Every day, the first thing I do is put an "X" through the previous day. I do it so I know what the date is. Also, a part of me likes being able to cross off three days after a weekend. I'm not sure why.

Anyway, today one of my co-workers asked me if I was counting down to something. The answer was no. I don't have any big trips coming up. In fact, I only have one mini trip scheduled between now and the end of the year. I am taking a tour of South Dakota over the 4th of July weekend with a one night stay in Sioux falls and a 2-3 night stay in Kadoka(out by the Badlands).

Now I have an even bigger urge to plan a big trip. Too bad my checking account tells me no.

I've got a hunch

Ever needed help making a decision? Wanted to find something out about yourself that you didn't already know? Addicted to questionnaires or surveys?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, give this website a try:

www.hunch.com

I'm not sure why, but I've wasted a lot of time there today.

be nice to me

I gave blood today.

So far, I have the quickest time of the day. 5 minutes 7 seconds.

Here are some interesting blood facts (courtesy of the American Red Cross website):
-Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood
-More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day
-One out of every 10 people admitted in a hospital needs blood
-Total blood transfusions in a given year: 14 million (2001)
-The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 pints
-The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O
-The blood used in an emergency is already on the shelves before the event occurs
-More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.
-A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.
-The actual blood donation typically takes less than 10-12 minutes. The entire process, from the time you arrive to the time you leave, takes about an hour
-The average adult has about 10 to 12 pints of blood in his body. Roughly 1 pint is given during a donation
-The #1 reason donors say they give blood is because they "want to help others"
-Two most common reasons cited by people who don't give blood are: "Never thought about it" and "I don't like needles"
-One donation can help save the lives of up to 3 people
-If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save over 1,000 lives!
-People with O- type blood are universal donors. Their blood can be given to people of all blood types. Only 7% of people in the U.S. have O- blood type
-Type O- blood is often used in emergencies before the patient's blood type is known, and with newborns who need blood.
-45% of people in the U.S. have type O (+/-) blood. This percentage is higher among Hispanics — 57%, and among African Americans — 51%
-People with AB+ type blood are universal donors of plasma, the liquid portion of blood. AB+ plasma is often used in emergencies, for newborns and for patients requiring massive transfusions

So give blood. It's important!