>Son Volt, Steve Zahn and other things I miss out on…

Posted on February 7, 2006 by Katie

>My friend and co-worker, Rob, just popped in my cube to tell me that he was at The Dame for a Son Volt concert last night and Steve Zahn was there. WHAT? Why do I miss out on all this fun stuff? I totally knew that Son Volt was coming to town, yet I didn’t buy tickets. Am I completely repelled by fun? I love Steve Zahn. He’s so funny! He’s totally a guy I would have wanted to date in my former life. Rob says he’s short though, so maybe not. No offense to short guys, but for someone as tall as me, it’s weird to think about dating someone shorter. There are a handful of guys I probably would have dated in high school had I not been so shallow. I won’t name them though – they may show up here someday! All of this to say that I’m really bummed I missed that show. Oh well…

I am glad that I stayed home last night though. I made some yummy spaghetti sauce, balanced my checkbook, folded laundry and (best of all) got to talk with my friend Jaime. It’s been forever since we’ve really talked on the phone, so it was really great to catch up with her (even if we were on the phone for almost 2 hours!). She’s honestly one of my best friends ever, and talking to her last night made me feel 10 years younger. She’s a blast…
Last night I also worked out to a new video called “Belly Dancing for Wimps”. It was so silly, but it was a lot of fun! I had to turn it off about halfway through though because I was laughing so hard at myself….

So – Asbury College (across the street from the seminary where I work and where Matt is a student) has chapel services Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10:00 am. Yesterday’s chapel service is still going on! Apparently there is a revival stewing over there. I wonder how long it will go on? I’m hoping to go over there for a little bit today. Be praying for the Asbury students involved, as well as for the Wilmore community as a whole. This could turn out to be a pretty major event!

Speaking of major events – I got my hair cut this weekend! I know, not as major as a revival, but still pretty cool. I cut about 7 inches off, and it feels GREAT!

Anyway – now I’m at work, and all I really want to do is go home and get some sleep. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and I’m not really sure why. I hope you all are having a great day!

>I’m allergic to the phone…

Posted on February 4, 2006 by Katie

>I have formed a new theory today. Hear me out – it’s a good one.

I believe that each person is born with a set amount of phone time. Some people plan their time wisely and stretch it out over years to last until death. I, on the other hand, blew my entire phone allowance when I was a teenager. Therefore, I am no allergic to the telephone.
When I was in high school, I would spend all moments not in school either sleeping or on the telephone – sometimes both at the same time. I would spend HOURS on the phone with whatever boyfriend I might have at the time and then call my best friends to tell them everything I had just discussed with the boyfriend. I would take a small break to do trivial things like shower, eat or homework, then I would be right back on the phone with said boyfriend to “say goodnight”. Ridiculous…

Now I CAN’T STAND THE PHONE!!! Every time it rings at work, I cringe. And let me tell you what: I strongly believe that Caller ID is the best invention of our time. Seriously. If it’s not my mother, I’M NOT PICKING UP! It’s like I have forgotten how to talk on the phone. Obviously that’s not the case, so the only other logical explanation is that I have used my lifetime phone allowance and am now rendered allergic to using the telephone.

Now, there are a few of you who are reading this and thinking, “What a witch! She’s been avoiding my calls!” That’s not entirely true. I have not singled you out – I am avoiding EVERYONE’s calls! I love you – really I do. I just don’t have the energy to talk on the phone anymore. I’m way too busy working and cleaning and running errands and grown-up crap like that. I would rather just get together with you in person…let’s make a date! 🙂

That said, I had a fun day today. Matt had to work, so rather than being stuck at home all day (We only have one car. My office is seriously not even a mile away. I walk a lot.), I decided to take him in and use the car for errands. I piddled around Target for a while (one of my favorite stores), went to the mall for a while and then decided to get my hair cut. Now, let me tell you, my hair hasn’t really been cut since September of 2003. I have had it trimmed a couple times, but other than that, it has just grown and grown and grown. Plus, I have been taking pre-natal vitamins lately (we’re not pregnant – it’s just in case…) and they make my hair and nails grow FAST! So, this morning I woke up with hair half-way down my back. Tonight my hair just hits my shoulders (and flips out just a smidge – very cute!). I love it! Anyway – after the haircut I decided that I didn’t want to drive the 20 miles back to Wilmore, so I went to see a movie. I really wanted to see Brokeback Mountain, but no one was showing it around the time I wanted, so ended up seeing Dreamer. If you have a heart at all, you will love this movie! I thought it was great. I don’t know what it is – maybe I’ve just lived in the Lexington area for too long – but I’m really beginning to love horses! They’re just beautiful animals. Plus, the horse farms around here are fab-you-luss. Gorgeous, lush, green, rolling hills with white fences as far as you can see. It’s awesome. Dreamer was filmed near my house in Versailles, KY, so it was fun watching it and thinking, “I know that farm! I drive by that place all the time!” Cute movie. After the movie I went to Joseph Beth Booksellers, and had a reall nice 2 hours to myself. Joe-Beth is a HUGE bookstore/music store/cafe that has some of the most amazingly comfortable chairs you will ever find. I went in, headed straight to the “Staff Picks” shelf (my favorite place to find new books) and picked up “Cash” by Johnny Cash. I don’t know why I was interested in that. Usually I like fiction, but something about that book just called to me. Once I picked out the book, I headed to a comfy chair near a fireplace and read for a few hours. GREAT BOOK. I’m totally going to buy it – just not from Joe-Beth. They’re so expensive. After my reading, I went to listen to some music and ended up buying Marc Broussard’s “Carencro” CD. LOVE IT. I then went to the mall to get Matt, came home and ate veggies and homemade hummus for dinner. It’s been a full day. Do you even care? If you have read this far, God bless you…you are one patient person! I don’t know why I feel like I need to share every bit of my day with you…

Tomorrow is Sunday, and I’m feeling like skipping church. We had some really funky weather here today. It kept switching from rain to snow and back and forth. Now we have slushy roads and it’s cold. I love my church, but it’s all the way in Lexington, and the roads around here just aren’t safe in the snow and ice. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Maybe it will be sunny and 60 degrees. It wouldn’t suprise me…

I’ve bored you long enough. I won’t even tell you about “The Office” party I had last night. Suffice it to say, I had my co-workers over and we had a great time. I love that show…is Jim not the hottest guy on TV? Really – I could eat him up… 🙂

Have a good night y’all!

>$$$TAXES$$$

Posted on January 31, 2006 by Katie

HOORAY! We just finished our taxes…I’m so glad to have that done. I am frustrated though. The stupid government is still making changes to form 8893 (for education credits), and it could take until March to finish it! That means we can’t e-file this year. I’m so bummed…I want my money! Oh well. We’re hoping that since we got them done so early they’ll do us the same favor and give us our refund quicker.

Taxes suck. Don’t get me wrong – I love getting all this money back, but why do they even take it in the first place? The refund forms are so simple, yet so complicated. It’s just crazy. Next year will be our last simple tax return too, since Matt is going to be a pastor in 2007. Clergy taxes are a beast that I don’t even want to think about. Our friends who are pastors now don’t even try to do their own taxes. “Hire an accountant!” is the advice they all give us. Duely noted…

This week has been fun. It’s a little crazy at work with Ministry Conference on campus and spring semester starting on Monday. You wouldn’t believe how many people wait until this week to apply for classes that start on Monday. Then they’re just appalled that they can’t be admitted in one day. Come on! The background check takes a week – sometimes more! And no, we cannot hold a spot in the class for you. I don’t care who your pastor is. Ridiculous…..My Orlando MySpace friends know what I’m talking about. They’re feeling the pain with me.
We were in Indianapolis this weekend for the Pacer game. My grandma bought my entire family tickets for Christmas, so we all went and took up like half of a section. I hear it was a good game. I didn’t really pay much attention. I spent most of the game watching this crazy girl with some wicked huge pom-poms cheer all night. She was nuts! She didn’t stop moving once. My cousins and I just laughed and made up stories about what she could possibly be doing. We are sure she was getting paid. The Pacers lost (not by much) and we ended up having dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory afterwards. I love that place! It was nice to be in familiar surroundings again.

We were waiting for our table at the OSF when my aunt Becky called. Becky is my dad’s younger sister, and is the caretaker of my great-grandma Jordan (who is 96 years old). Grandma fell and broke her hip Friday, and when they took her to the hospital the doctors found that she had a urinary tract infection as well. Top that off with the fact that they couldn’t operate because her blood was too thin, and well, it was a crappy day for grandma. God love her – she’s amazing. They were finally able to operate on Sunday morning, and we went to see her at the hospital. She was just laying there sleeping, and it hit me how old she was. It didn’t even look like her! The biggest difference is that she didn’t have her teeth in. I almost laughed to see her that way! She woke up a little and mumbled some nonsense about going home later that day, and then went back to sleep. She’s so sweet and so funny. My dad was really torn up though. His parents and grandparents are all gone except for Grandma Jordan, so he’s not exactly ready to let her go. (Not that any of us are.) My dad is unstable enough the way it is. I don’t want to know what will happen when she goes Home. Just a few things for you guys to pray about…

Well – I’m going to go cuddle with the hubby. We’ve had a rough night doing math and wearing out our No. 2 pencils, so we’re just going to relax together. It’s my favorite part of the day. 🙂 You know what I love? I love snuggling up to his chest as we’re laying down to sleep. His cologne is still faintly present and I love to fall asleep just breathing in his smell. Maybe that’s weird – who cares! I love it anyway. He’s the best…

Set it and forget it,
~Katie~

P.S. Thanks to all of you who sent me little notes of encouragement as I recovered from my oral surgery. After talking with my cousin’s wife, I realize I had a pretty smooth go of it. She had dry socket and was in misery for a week! All I have to bitch about is not being able to eat pizza (which I shouldn’t really eat anyway). Thanks anyway – I’m all better now! 🙂