Know what, Patti Ann is right about the swirly thing-a-ma-bob. I mean, what’s the hold up? I know when I went in for the kidney test a few weeks ago it would have been a lot better to have been scanned by one of those things, right out of Star Trek, than to have to put on 2 gowns (I didn’t have a breezy back) and climb up on that x-ray table. I would have had faster results too, rather than having to wait almost a week. Probably cheaper for the insurance company also - they should be lobbying for those things to be developed.

Whoo Hoo! “Making the Band” returns on June 8th. Just saw a commercial for it. Yeah! I wondered what was going on - they did first episode of this new season back in April, but then nothing. I don’t watch Survivor or any of the other “reality” shows, but I really got into Making the Band last year. Glad it’s finally back! Kymberlie told me today that “Sex in the City” will be back on this Sunday. Could my life be any better?

Speaking of life being better … I had that second interview today & it was *great*. They told me they will be giving me an official offer letter on Friday, but already discussed figures (gooood figures) and so forth with me, including a start date. I am pumped. I am sooooo excited. Man. I am trying to keep myself from getting too excited though until it is formally official. But it is good as done, the VP just has to wait for the CEO to come back into town tomorrow and they will roll! KICK ASS!!! Oops, sorry, trying to remain calm. I still have to weigh out all of my options though, and I am still going on my other interviews already scheduled this week.

Went and had lunch with Kymberlie today at “the usual place” (we go to Olive Garden for the breadsticks and toasted ravioli) and then we went to her fish shop to pick up medicine for her sick fish. Poor fish. On the way back to get her car we witnessed an accident. This pickup truck next to us was bouncing up & down while stopped for the red light - tapping on his breaks to make the truck bounce. When the light turned green the dark car in front of the silver car in front of the truck didn’t move - so the silver car didn’t move - but the truck did! Right into the rear bumper of the silver car. We saw the whole thing, so we pulled over and I gave the lady driving the car my phone number. She called me later to thank me for stopping, and I gave her Kymberlie’s number too in case her insurance company needed it. Sad thing is that we were the only car that stopped. Why don’t people stop when they see an accident? Granted, I wouldn’t stop if I was in a bad part of town & alone. Or if I was on my way to work and my boss would give me hell for being late. But how many of those people could have taken the 10 minutes tops that it took us to stop? I guess I am sensitive about it because I have been in accidents where having a witness really helped. Same with Kymberlie. So stopping, for us, was only natural. Fortunately she wasn’t hurt at all, and the only damage to her car was her bumper and a chipped light.

I just saw a hysterical commercial for Southwestern Bell DSL. (which I can’t get in my area, sad considering where I live at in Houston) This lady is looking out her window and sees her new neighbors moving in. The mother neighbor is signing to her son and says out loud, “Don’t worry, I am sure the new neighbors are nice.” The lady then goes in & gets online using her slow dial-up connection and watches a horrible streaming feed on American Sign Language. She then bakes a pie and takes it out to the kid, who is now shooting hoops. She hands hime the pie and then says to him, “I baked this pie for you.” Meanwhile, the subtitles are showing that she signs, “I baked your dog for you.” The poor kid drops the pie & runs. I was amused. I can’t stop laughing. (Ok, it’s sick, but it was funny!)

And a side note - latest product find. I bought some of the new LipFinity by Max Factor. It’s this cool lip stain stuff that lasts on your lips forever and comes with a gloss that you put over it for a nice shine. For the interview today I had to get “Sassy” (#60) - a nice mauve colored shade. I will admit, the lipstain part feels a bit weird when you put it on at first while you wait for it to dry. But once it’s dry it lasts forever! Doesn’t blot off at all - I tried rubbing it off on a napkin (like you would wipe your mouth after you eat) and not a bit of color came off. I bought a tester size before I bought the full size product - don’t bother with the tester. It seems to be a different consistency and doesn’t feel the same as the full size product. Good stuff, and on sale at my Target for $7.99! Now I just need to remember to pick up refills for the Venus razor when I go to the store tomorrow.

For those of you that haven’t seen it, here is “the end of the whole mess” by Randall van der Woning (aka BWG). Poor guy. I feel sorry for him - out of everyone he just might have been hurt the most by this situation. I can see how it happened - I can see how it could happen to me quite easily. He is such a nice, helpful guy - he helped me out a few months ago when I was having problems with the “Soul” button over there on the sidebar. *sigh* My heart goes out to him & everyone else effected by this mess. Like so many others, I leave this behind as a reminder that life online isn’t always what you think it is, that people - while normally good, kind & loving - can be quite cruel and malicious. Not that different than “real life” I guess, because I have been taken advantage of by people that I met face to face too. I refuse to live life on the defensive though - I will keep believing in the goodness of people. That is the other lesson I am walking away from this with - witnessing that people can pull together and truly care about someone - even if they have only ever met through the internet.

If you want another take on the story, you can visit ABCNews.com and read their article about it.

Well, Nicole, I poked the bunny over & over - but nothing happened. Was something supposed to happen? Bummer.

Went to the beach last Thursday - it was a gorgeous day, really wonderful. Well, if you overlooked the lovely brown surf. Yep, brown. It’s that time of year where the tide is murky and full of sand. Otherwise it was great. Jason built sandcastles, I read a good book. On the way back home we stopped at Chelsey’s mall (Baybrook - by her house) and I bought a jacket for my interview on Friday. We got home at 10pm and got all that sand off of us. Put Jason to bed & then I worked on coloring my hair - I couldn’t take the gray any longer. I am ok with the color it came out, wasn’t thrilled with it at first but it has been fading out & mellowing, so now it’s ok. I’ll probably like it more in a week or so.

Friday I had the interview I was really hoping to get - and it went *really* well. You know it’s a good sign when the CEO tells you, “I am really glad I got to meet you.” I was thrilled. (They called me back today for a second interview tomorrow. Yeah!!!) Then I went to Fuddrucker’s for Jason’s lunch with his teacher - he got a 98 on his TAAS test, and they went out to celebrate. Afterwards he went to his friend Kevin’s house to play, and I ran some errands. Went to pick him up at 5, and his mom & I chatted until 6. Then it was home for dinner, followed by going to my parent’s house to see my cousin Jeanette who was in town from Beaumont with her 2 kids for the night. They had to leave at 5am for the airport, so it was a pretty short visit. Hopefully we can get together in the next few weeks though.

Saturday morning Jason had a swim meet here at the subdivision pool. We had to be there at (ugh) 7am. After the meet we came home and both took a nap! Two “late” nights in a row caught up with us. The cable was out when we first got home, which meant the cable modem was out too. Again. Cable TV came back on - but the modem didn’t. So, I just stayed offline. Didn’t do much of anything Saturday night. Watched Shanghai Noon on Starz. Went to bed early.

Sunday, another lazy day. I finally went to tan and go to the gym at 5, only to discover that the tanning place closes at 5 on Sunday - not 6 like I thought. Oops. I went to the gym though and worked out. Called Naomi first to see if she was up for a movie later; we went to see Bridget Jones’ Diary at 10:30 Sunday night. It was good, I am glad I finally got to see it. I was quite amused and picked up some good British slang to use too.

Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart to buy flowers for the patio (hopefully the damn squirrels won’t eat these - anyone have suggestions to keep them out?) and then to the pool. Kristie, my neighbor that used to live upstairs, called while we were at Wal-Mart and commented that the only bad thing about the house she is renting is that there isn’t a pool … I told her to come on over! So she came by late in the afternoon and we sat around the pool and chatted while Jason swam. Ordered a pizza and had it delivered poolside. Finally came in at about 8:30 or so. It was a really nice way to wind up the weekend. Got Jason off to bed and finally broke down & called RoadRunner - the cable modem still wasn’t getting a strong enough signal. I worked with them for a little bit - and it’s back on now! Yeah!

Now I just have to figure out what to wear for this second interview tomorrow. Don’t you hate it when you wear your great interview outfit to the first interview … then you have nothing to wear for the second one? I may just have to go shopping later. Off to raid the closet and see what I can come up with…

I forgot to post this. I discovered all the whoo-ha on Sunday night over at Metafilter about Kaycee not even being a real person. (I would link to Kaycee’s former site, but poor BWG has a bandwidth overload as it is and the Living Colors site as it once was is gone anyways.) What a bizarre twist. How sad. So many people (including me) found the her writing to be so uplifting, so moving. To find out it was all a lie was a shock. Brings you back to the reality of things not always being what they seem in this world. Sad fact, but true. I still trust in the basic good of man though.

I don’t have a kidney stone - or at least not by the time they did my test last Friday. He said more than likely it was a small stone (based on his other test) and it “took care of itself naturally.” I was dehydrated so now I am being good about drinking more lemonade or water. I have been feeling better since Saturday, so I figured that would be the result.

Today is the first day that school is out. I can’t believe Jason is done with third grade. WOW. We are off to Galveston to go play in the sand and the sun. More later about the whole job situation. Lots of options & decisions to make.

Just for Sabby (and anyone else who cares) - links to sites with Copycat recipes. You know, things like how to make the Broccoli Cheese soup from Black Eyed Pea. Yummmm… and all sorts of other goodies. The site I have always used is CopyKat.com - Your home for recipes you’d normally find AWAY from home. But in my search I also found TopSecretRecipes.com and KitchenLink.com Copycat recipes. Have fun, Sabby!

Sabby had me laughing sooooo hard tonight. She was telling me about her poor impotent Sims. She can’t get the Sabby Sim to have a baby. (See her 5/21 9:48pm entry) Naomi said that she has done it before, but hers were in the kitchen kissing and “whammo” the stork delivered.

I haven’t ever played the Sims, but after this I just have to check it out. Too funny.

Erma Bombeck wrote this when she was diagnosed with cancer:

If I Had My Life to Live Over.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the ‘good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television-and more while watching life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”
There would have been more “I love you’s”.. more “I’m sorry’s” … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute…look at it and really see it … live it…and never give it back.

Stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what. Instead, let’s cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let’s think about what God has blessed us with and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually. Life is too short to let it pass you by.

We only have one shot at this life and then it’s gone.

- Erma Bombeck

I went in for the IVP test today so they could scan my kidneys to check out this kidney stone situation. I don’t know the results yet, the radiologist had to read the scans and then my doctor’s office will call with the results. I hope to know by early next week - the end of May is coming up fast! (That’s when my insurance coverage ends unless I pick up Cobra.) I forgot to ask about that “no red or purple” issue. It must react somehow with the test. I may just go by and ask next week. Anyways, I hate waiting on test results. It doesn’t seem like I had to wait last time I had a kidney stone like this. I am wondering if I should go to a specialist to get this speeded up.

And there is another wait now too. I have been doing some job hunting & networking. Made some calls, sent out some resumes today, now I have to wait for them to set up interviews. Have I mentioned lately that I have no patience? Trying not to get my hopes up yet though. But there is one prospect that would be quite ideal. I hope it works out!

Yippee! I found one of the mystery readers. Thanks for letting me know that you have been visiting, Sherry! I really enjoyed her site - SherLonKah. Sherry - do you live in Killeen or Copperas Cove? I lived in Killeen for 3 months back in 1990, right after I was married, before we left for Germany. So long ago… I remember those weekend trips between Killeen & Houston while I was here working and the ex was there in the Army. Best of luck to the three of you on your future together!

Ok, so who else is out there reading?

Wh4t’5 your h4nd13?: from this day forward I will be known to the elite as: Mighty Matrix.

Kaycee will be missed by so many. Reading her writing was always a great joy, and with all that has gone on this week with me, it once again put matters into perspective. I thank God daily that I have the life that I have. To Debbie and the rest of her family, my most sincere condolences. I am glad they are leaving her site up, I will be back to read it again - when I need a smile, a bit of sunshine, and some perspective.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way…