Can't believe Memorial Day has come and gone already.
The first half of my long weekend was spent at the services for Mandy.
It was really weird. I mean, I kept thinking that it wasn't really real. It was uncommon for me to go a day or so without seeing her, so I think that is where my head was at. Not to mention that the casket for the visitation was closed.
I do have to say, I have never been a fan of open casket viewings. It always struck me as weird, gross and generally never looked like the person that we were saying good bye to. That being said, having now been to one that was closed, I get it. I just felt like there could have been anyone in there. Didn't really sink in until the funeral on Saturday. That was tough.
Her grandfather performed the service and he is a baptist minister, so we got a little ole' timey religion preached to us.
That was, um, interesting. And we will leave it at that.
The rest of the weekend was spent in pursuit of happier pursuits. My cousin Jack graduated from high school, so went up to Cedar Falls for the graduation party. We had a good time, great turn out and saw lots of family I hadn't seen a quite a few months.
One downer, the weather.
Don't get me wrong, I live in Iowa. I expect a certain amount of severe weather this time of year. Basically, the whole summer can give rise to some exceptional thunderstorms. You will even get the occasional tornado warning thrown in for good measure. But Sunday.
Wow.
Now, keep in mind, we are talking somewhere between 100 & 150 people at my Aunt and Uncle's house. They have a large house, but still needed the outside for overflow. So the storms start rolling in and people start moving inside. Lights flickered a few times. And then the down pour started and the power went out. Followed shortly by the announcement that we needed to get to the basement.
To recap, power out (no AC or ceiling fans for circulation) 100/150 people pouring into the basement and its dark.
So the storm worked through and I didn't think that it was a basement worthy storm.
Seems I was wrong.
Really wrong. Read about how wrong I was here
As a point of reference, Parkersburg is only about 10 miles west of where we were.
Finally got the all clear, and still no power. So that is ok. Except all the food etc is being kept cold in the fridge that now cannot be opened. Oh, and since they live out of the city limits, the water and septic systems need power. Translation: you can't flush the toilet.
We went about 2-3 hours sans power and had actually gone up the street and were getting 5 gallon buckets of pool water to dump into the toilet tanks when the power came back on.
Fair to say, it was a graduation party to remember.
Made it home yeaterday in time to hit Nate and Martine's pool and chill out for a bit.
So, all said, it was a good weekend.
Not looking forward to this week. Short weeks tend to have a habit of becoming nasty weeks.
Stay tuned.
Now Listening: Dirty Vegas by Dirty Vegas
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Ultimate Disappointment
I have been known to be a tad dramatic at times, but I have come to a conclusion.
There is nothing, I repeat nothing, more disappointing than going through all the work of peeling an orange, smelling it all that and then...
the orange sucks.
Its the really kinda, dry icky orange.
And here you were, all worked up for some citrus explosion and nada.
Yeah. Its that kind of a day.
Now Listening: Caring is Creepy by The Shins
There is nothing, I repeat nothing, more disappointing than going through all the work of peeling an orange, smelling it all that and then...
the orange sucks.
Its the really kinda, dry icky orange.
And here you were, all worked up for some citrus explosion and nada.
Yeah. Its that kind of a day.
Now Listening: Caring is Creepy by The Shins
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
sad day
I am so sorry to have to say that yesterday, my co-worker, fellow bowling teammate and most importantly, my friend Mandy was killed in a car accident.
Still seems unreal.
My thoughts go out to her family and her two little girls.
Still seems unreal.
My thoughts go out to her family and her two little girls.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Aah spring...
Hi there happy readers in the blogosphere!!
Hope that spring fever has caught you all and you are sitting on a patio somewhere with appropriate cocktail in hand enjoying the soothing breezes of spring.
Damn - I should be a writer or something.
Kidding.
What's new you ask? Well, let me tell you.
First big Dirty 30 shout out to my girl Liz G. She rang in the new decade in total style on Saturday with a darn close to perfect score at pub golf. Yep. We started at 3 Pm -- and I believe the party went on into the wee hours of the morning. There were coozies, faux-tattoos and a party bus that was janky as shit, but awesome. Oh, and for those of you that didn't know - Des Moines IS FunCapital USA.
That's right.
I did however, have to bow out of the festivities before the end due to the fact that I had to be on the road no later than 6:30 AM on Sunday. I would like to say, that up to the 4th hole -- I was right up there on the leader board.
For those of you that have never played Pub Golf - it goes something like this. Each "hole" is a bar. Each bar has a Par associated with it (naturally) and certain combinations of drinks will get you Eagles, Holes In One, Par, Bogies and the dreaded snowman. We even had score cards. And I was able to find, possibly the most hysterical bit of bathroom graffiti I have seen in recent memory. 
Oh yeah - that took some thinking.
But back to my previous comment, yes, you read that right -- I was up at 5:30 AM on Sunday to head back home for Mother's Day. I figured it was going to be a pretty crappy day anyway, so might as well be crappy with family. They did Mass for my mom and then we did dinner at the house.
And as expected it was a rather bitter-sweet day. For the record, my TV almost took a flying leap out of the window several times in the days preceding Mother's Day. Why? Concern over the switch to digital? Fed up with the liberal/conservative bias in the news? Not enough Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert in my life?
No - it was the overwhelming surplus of mother's day commercials.
I shall say no more.
Nothing new to report on the dating scene. Remains the same ole' same ole'. And by same ole' same ole' I mean the vast dessert like abyss that is Des Moines single person scene.
Good times. Good single times.
I feel I should have way more to share with the group -- but I am drawing a blank. Probably because of the raging headache I have.
So -- get back to that patio and have Raul bring you another cocktail.
Now Listening: World Without Tears by Lucinda Williams
Friday, May 09, 2008
I feel pretty
See now that I am back on the horse, I am full of goodness to post about.
Here is the scoop today.
This week I had a wellness assessment at work. In a nutshell, this is a program that the company I work for has started to basically incent us to be more well -- therefore saving the company all sorts of $$ down the road in insurance costs.
Please don't fool yourself into thinking this is really about the wellness of us -- the employees. No, its really about the wellness of the company's bottom line.
Yes - I am just that bitter.
The scoop is, you register to be part of the program, go through this whole wellness assessment and then they start throwing you $20 a paycheck to assist in "wellness". I figure $40 a month is pretty darn close to a gym membership for one, so there is that.
I sign up for the first appointment I could get into, followed all the rules prior to my assessment like:
No alcohol for 48 hours before
Fasting for 12 hours prior to the assessment.
Filling out the online health & wellness forms -- that could be a whole other entry
No extensive physical activity for 24 hours prior to the assessment - that one was REALLY hard.
I show up at 7:45 AM for my meeting. Keeping in mind that I have been fasting, so no coffee, which always makes for a happy, sunny Meghan.
Where I am greeted by freakin' Elizabeth the walking, talking Barbie. I mean it. Tall, blond, skinny (like, 4 layers of shirts on and she still was tiny) and just so damn chipper I could barely stand it.
Get weighed, poked for cholesterol. measured, blood pressured -- the whole thing.
Wait about 10 minutes for them to drop all this into ye olde' computer and then I get a full wellness assessment.
Full of nuggets like:
Don't drink and drive.
Wear your seat belt
Oh, and you need to eat better (no kidding), exercise more (shocker) and lose 20 lbs just to be on the high end of your recommended weight (like my closet hadn't already clued me into that).
Keep in mind Barbie is delivering all this key information.
Loved it.
Every minute of it.
Who needs to blame the media on women's body images issues when you have Barbie telling you that you are obese?
good times.
Then adding insult to injury we have the following X factors further boosting my morale:
1. I am totally PMS'y and bloated, so I feel about as skinny as a beached whale.
2. I have a cold sore. Nothing like face fungus to really make that glace in the mirror fulfilling.
3. My sunburn from last week is peeling on my forehead, so I look like I have dandruff.
Pretty.
PRETTY
FREAKIN' PRETTY!!!!
Yep.
Now Listening: Night Ripper by Girl Talk
Here is the scoop today.
This week I had a wellness assessment at work. In a nutshell, this is a program that the company I work for has started to basically incent us to be more well -- therefore saving the company all sorts of $$ down the road in insurance costs.
Please don't fool yourself into thinking this is really about the wellness of us -- the employees. No, its really about the wellness of the company's bottom line.
Yes - I am just that bitter.
The scoop is, you register to be part of the program, go through this whole wellness assessment and then they start throwing you $20 a paycheck to assist in "wellness". I figure $40 a month is pretty darn close to a gym membership for one, so there is that.
I sign up for the first appointment I could get into, followed all the rules prior to my assessment like:
No alcohol for 48 hours before
Fasting for 12 hours prior to the assessment.
Filling out the online health & wellness forms -- that could be a whole other entry
No extensive physical activity for 24 hours prior to the assessment - that one was REALLY hard.
I show up at 7:45 AM for my meeting. Keeping in mind that I have been fasting, so no coffee, which always makes for a happy, sunny Meghan.
Where I am greeted by freakin' Elizabeth the walking, talking Barbie. I mean it. Tall, blond, skinny (like, 4 layers of shirts on and she still was tiny) and just so damn chipper I could barely stand it.
Get weighed, poked for cholesterol. measured, blood pressured -- the whole thing.
Wait about 10 minutes for them to drop all this into ye olde' computer and then I get a full wellness assessment.
Full of nuggets like:
Don't drink and drive.
Wear your seat belt
Oh, and you need to eat better (no kidding), exercise more (shocker) and lose 20 lbs just to be on the high end of your recommended weight (like my closet hadn't already clued me into that).
Keep in mind Barbie is delivering all this key information.
Loved it.
Every minute of it.
Who needs to blame the media on women's body images issues when you have Barbie telling you that you are obese?
good times.
Then adding insult to injury we have the following X factors further boosting my morale:
1. I am totally PMS'y and bloated, so I feel about as skinny as a beached whale.
2. I have a cold sore. Nothing like face fungus to really make that glace in the mirror fulfilling.
3. My sunburn from last week is peeling on my forehead, so I look like I have dandruff.
Pretty.
PRETTY
FREAKIN' PRETTY!!!!
Yep.
Now Listening: Night Ripper by Girl Talk
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Um. Excuses anyone?
Crickets Chirping.
Grass growing.
The low rumble of tumbleweeds blowing across the plain.
Yes, that is the sound of silence. Or lack of my posting.
And I have received more than a few reminders that I am long (ok - WAY LONG) overdue on getting the latest and greatest out to you, my few faithful readers that haven't abandoned me and moved on to greener pastures.
So lets all grab the floaties, and dive head first back into the crazy, dysfunctional and somewhat drama filled life of Meghan
**deep breath**
Pleased to start with the good news. Patrick is home. Safe. And currently making up for lost time in the getting-into-trouble-because-I-am-24-and-male category. But good on him, he has deserved it.
He will be making a little trip up here to in a few weeks to get some new ink -- I know, I know. I shouldn't encourage. But for the record, of the 4 of us wacky Smith kids, we fall into 2 very distinct categories of teenage rebellion; we are either pierced or tattooed. Patrick and I fall into the later category. It was a constant area of disgust for my mother - but hey, we move on.
He is going to get some new ink and I have a design all picked out for my next one. Just need to get the time scheduled. This will be the new design that I am going to get. I had wanted to do something for my mom and looked all over for something that was still me and wasn't say -- a crying angel on a lotus leaf or something.
Memorial tattoos have a certain cheese factor that I was hoping to avoid-- no offense to those that have them, but I really wanted something that fits me. So there it is. Stayed tuned for the actual commitment of ink to skin, but it will happen some time soon.
Patrick and I will bond over our apparent addiction to ink. Good times.
In the boy category.
Oh, the boy category. One would think at some point I would stop being so damn optimistic and just accept that I do in fact live in a cess-pool, bottomless mire of a dating pool.
Self-loathing aside.
As I mentioned last time - I know, it was a while ago, dust off the cobwebs of your noggin' -- I joined a new online dating service.
No More Dates.
Well, I had set my preferences to no children. As in, I don't want to date anyone with kids. Nothing personal, but I want my kids to be my kids. And somehow the step-girlfriend (is that right?) role, is not one I am looking to take on. Relationships are hard enough without that issue.
Back to the topic - so I had it set for no kids. And that meant no matches. So, on the advice of my friend Beth, I switched it up -- just to see.
And low and behold - I got two right out of the gate. Neither of which I felt would have been a good match, so I closed them out and switched back to the no kids checkbox. And guess what -- nothing. Not a single match. So apparently, if I want to date someone in Des Moines -- or the surrounding metropolitan area - I need to accept children into my life.
Whatever.
And besides, why would I when I have drunk Irishmen calling me every 3-4 days at all hours of the night? I mean, what girl wouldn't be flattered by that?
Although in true Joe fashion, he cracked me up the other night. So he called. And guess what, he wanted me to come over. It was 1 AM on a Wednesday night people. My message was a resounding NO.
(Arguments about why I answered the phone in the first place are a separate issue - we will get to those later)
So after a series of back and forth conversation that went something like this
Me: Joe, its 1 AM. My alarm goes off in 5.5 hours and I am not coming over, good night.
Joe: Oh come on, just come over. I want to see you.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Till finally he says to me " you know you want to come over". And I responded, "What is that your Jedi mind trick or something?"
He responds with a yes -- and again "You know you want to come over".
I was like, yeah -- Jedi powers notwithstanding no --. So then he says -- hold on.
Pause.
"You know you want to come over"
Pause.
I was like, what was that --to which he told me that time he was waving his hand.
Yes kids, waving his hand over the phone to get me to come over. I pretty much lost it right there. Hysterical.
When I told this story to Lisa, she was like, at least he still makes you laugh.
Yeah -- making me laugh has never been an issue with him. Its all the times he makes me want to cry that we need to work on.
At that point, I told him good night (again), turned the phone to vibrate and went to bed.
There have been subsequent conversations and I really don't know when this is all going to end. Who knows?
And in the boy category trifecta -- I got another match from the Executive dating service -- which is currently batting .000 for me. This match is named, Joe and is 27. That kids, is where the similarities end. In fact, he had me thinking I really have turned into a hardened, caustic, bitter woman. And why, you ask would an email cause such feelings?
Here are a few of the quips from his self statement or whatever they call them:
I believe in the Golden Rule and do my absolute best to practice this
philosophy in my interactions.
I try to help out people less fortunate than myself and volunteer.
I try to treat a girlfriend as both a princess and an equal partner.
So, yes. They have decided that I need to date an Eagle Scout. I of course,
sent this to Martine to confirm that in fact, the cheese factor was indeed
high. And she agreed, but said I still needed to contact him. So stay
tuned on that one.
And I have further proof that blogging is probably what is keeping me sane -- which might account for my recent questions of my own sanity and the lack of
blogging.
This CNN article basically confirms for me the truth. I need to keep all this
craziness out of my head is to keep it out on the Intertron where it can be disseminated, discussed and deconstructed.
All the babies are good. Growing and cute as hell. I can't keep up with them. They need to stop growing so I can see them more often in the assorted, OMG - so cute - stages.
And so, I promise to be better. Really. I swear it.
Now Listening: Sea Change by Beck
Grass growing.
The low rumble of tumbleweeds blowing across the plain.
Yes, that is the sound of silence. Or lack of my posting.
And I have received more than a few reminders that I am long (ok - WAY LONG) overdue on getting the latest and greatest out to you, my few faithful readers that haven't abandoned me and moved on to greener pastures.
So lets all grab the floaties, and dive head first back into the crazy, dysfunctional and somewhat drama filled life of Meghan
**deep breath**
Pleased to start with the good news. Patrick is home. Safe. And currently making up for lost time in the getting-into-trouble-because-I-am-24-and-male category. But good on him, he has deserved it.
He will be making a little trip up here to in a few weeks to get some new ink -- I know, I know. I shouldn't encourage. But for the record, of the 4 of us wacky Smith kids, we fall into 2 very distinct categories of teenage rebellion; we are either pierced or tattooed. Patrick and I fall into the later category. It was a constant area of disgust for my mother - but hey, we move on.
He is going to get some new ink and I have a design all picked out for my next one. Just need to get the time scheduled. This will be the new design that I am going to get. I had wanted to do something for my mom and looked all over for something that was still me and wasn't say -- a crying angel on a lotus leaf or something.
Memorial tattoos have a certain cheese factor that I was hoping to avoid-- no offense to those that have them, but I really wanted something that fits me. So there it is. Stayed tuned for the actual commitment of ink to skin, but it will happen some time soon.
Patrick and I will bond over our apparent addiction to ink. Good times.
In the boy category.
Oh, the boy category. One would think at some point I would stop being so damn optimistic and just accept that I do in fact live in a cess-pool, bottomless mire of a dating pool.
Self-loathing aside.
As I mentioned last time - I know, it was a while ago, dust off the cobwebs of your noggin' -- I joined a new online dating service.
No More Dates.
Well, I had set my preferences to no children. As in, I don't want to date anyone with kids. Nothing personal, but I want my kids to be my kids. And somehow the step-girlfriend (is that right?) role, is not one I am looking to take on. Relationships are hard enough without that issue.
Back to the topic - so I had it set for no kids. And that meant no matches. So, on the advice of my friend Beth, I switched it up -- just to see.
And low and behold - I got two right out of the gate. Neither of which I felt would have been a good match, so I closed them out and switched back to the no kids checkbox. And guess what -- nothing. Not a single match. So apparently, if I want to date someone in Des Moines -- or the surrounding metropolitan area - I need to accept children into my life.
Whatever.
And besides, why would I when I have drunk Irishmen calling me every 3-4 days at all hours of the night? I mean, what girl wouldn't be flattered by that?
Although in true Joe fashion, he cracked me up the other night. So he called. And guess what, he wanted me to come over. It was 1 AM on a Wednesday night people. My message was a resounding NO.
(Arguments about why I answered the phone in the first place are a separate issue - we will get to those later)
So after a series of back and forth conversation that went something like this
Me: Joe, its 1 AM. My alarm goes off in 5.5 hours and I am not coming over, good night.
Joe: Oh come on, just come over. I want to see you.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Till finally he says to me " you know you want to come over". And I responded, "What is that your Jedi mind trick or something?"
He responds with a yes -- and again "You know you want to come over".
I was like, yeah -- Jedi powers notwithstanding no --. So then he says -- hold on.
Pause.
"You know you want to come over"
Pause.
I was like, what was that --to which he told me that time he was waving his hand.
Yes kids, waving his hand over the phone to get me to come over. I pretty much lost it right there. Hysterical.
When I told this story to Lisa, she was like, at least he still makes you laugh.
Yeah -- making me laugh has never been an issue with him. Its all the times he makes me want to cry that we need to work on.
At that point, I told him good night (again), turned the phone to vibrate and went to bed.
There have been subsequent conversations and I really don't know when this is all going to end. Who knows?
And in the boy category trifecta -- I got another match from the Executive dating service -- which is currently batting .000 for me. This match is named, Joe and is 27. That kids, is where the similarities end. In fact, he had me thinking I really have turned into a hardened, caustic, bitter woman. And why, you ask would an email cause such feelings?
Here are a few of the quips from his self statement or whatever they call them:
I believe in the Golden Rule and do my absolute best to practice this
philosophy in my interactions.
I try to help out people less fortunate than myself and volunteer.
I try to treat a girlfriend as both a princess and an equal partner.
So, yes. They have decided that I need to date an Eagle Scout. I of course,
sent this to Martine to confirm that in fact, the cheese factor was indeed
high. And she agreed, but said I still needed to contact him. So stay
tuned on that one.
And I have further proof that blogging is probably what is keeping me sane -- which might account for my recent questions of my own sanity and the lack of
blogging.
This CNN article basically confirms for me the truth. I need to keep all this
craziness out of my head is to keep it out on the Intertron where it can be disseminated, discussed and deconstructed.
All the babies are good. Growing and cute as hell. I can't keep up with them. They need to stop growing so I can see them more often in the assorted, OMG - so cute - stages.
And so, I promise to be better. Really. I swear it.
Now Listening: Sea Change by Beck
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