Speaking of...

Have I ever mentioned how much I love getting my hair blow dried? Maybe it's the heat, the droning of the dryer, or the slight tugging at my hair, but I almost always close my eyes and drift off.

Speaking of hair...I found a new salon in the Dallas Galleria and got my hair did last night.

Speaking of getting my hair did...I had 2 people working on it. One person does the cut and and another person does the coloring. This was new to me but very cool.

Speaking of coloring...I had my first ever gay male stylist. He was a hoot and a half and told me he was going to dress up as a "Slutty Eskimo" for Halloween. Don't ask.

Speaking of Halloween...I've been mulling over the idea of going as the BP oil spill. Maybe I'll wear a blue shirt and put brown or black felt patches on it, and make a rig headband.

Speaking of oil...I'm still rocking my new gig. I love it here and this company is the BEST.

Speaking of the company...our CFO "dabbles" in investing and owns a huge liquor store chain here in Tejas. This means that all employees here at corporate get a "preferred member" discount card on all purchases. Jackpot!

Speaking of liquor...one of my favorite beverages of all time is Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante. Regardless of the alcohol content, I could/can drink an entire bottle in one sitting.

Speaking of Asti...I think my love for this glorious nectar stems from the holidays growing up when my parents would let us have a little glass at dinner (during which I usually got silly and was once even asked by Mom to leave the table because I mentioned the word "poop"--Mom does NOT like bathroom humor at any time).

Speaking of holidays...this year marks the first time I will ever host Thanksgiving dinner for the family.

Speaking of Thanksgiving...it will also be the first one without Grandma.

Speaking of Grandma...she called me "Dollbaby" from about the first week I was born until the last time I saw her. And she was the only one in the family to call me that.

Speaking of family...I'm flying out to OKC on Thursday to attend Grandma's memorial service and celebrate her long, beautiful life.

Speaking of flying...I'm headed to the library today to pick out a good book for the airport/plane.

Speaking of good books...I started The Time Traveler's Wife on Saturday afternoon and didn't put it down until I finished it at 2:30 am. [Review coming soon but let's just say it was EPIC]

Speaking of Saturday...I was so engrossed in the book that I missed most of the football games on TV. That means the book had to be THAT good.

Speaking of football...this weekend brings the ever-so-crucial game between Texas and Oklahoma. The Sooners need to pull out a win this year.

On that note, BOOMER SOONER and have a nice day!

Yours Truly

Grandma Ruby's Tribute

Ruby Lawhorn Hopkins died on September 19, 2010, at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, at the age of 98. Burial will be Wednesday, September 22, at 10:00 a.m., at Bixby Cemetery in Bixby, Oklahoma, with a memorial service scheduled for Friday, October 1, 2010, at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.

Ruby was born in Pryor, Oklahoma on July 31, 1912 to Sam and Lula Mae Mitchell. Following her mother’s death when Ruby was a baby, she was raised by her Aunt Elzada and Uncle Dan Mitchell on a farm in Hartville, Missouri. Upon graduation from Hartville High School, she taught school in a one-room schoolhouse. On a trip to Oklahoma she met the love of her life, Everet Lawhorn, whom she married in 1935.

Ruby and Everet raised two sons and one daughter in Bixby, Oklahoma, and they were active in Bixby United Methodist Church. In her role as president of Women’s Society of Christian Service (now United Methodist Women) she took part in ground-breaking ceremonies for the new sanctuary in 1955. She loved to visit “shut-ins” and the elderly and often baked cakes and cookies to give them when she visited.

When Everet died, she moved to Texas to be near family, and a few years later Ruby married her childhood sweetheart Woodrow “Woody” Hopkins. With Woody, Ruby enjoyed a new life and family in California and was active in a United Methodist Church there before going to live with her daughter following the death of Woody. Until illness forced her to slow down, Ruby remained active and enjoyed life with her beloved family. Ruby was a lady of great faith, compassion, and humor who cared deeply about others and touched the lives of everyone who knew her.

Ruby was preceded in death by her two husbands, her two sons, Danny Lawhorn and Jerry Lawhorn, and is survived by her daughter, Linda Rush, son-in-law, Randy Rush, daughters-in-law, Jo Lawhorn of Sand Springs and Judy Lawhorn of Denton, TX; five grandchildren – Gary Lawhorn and wife Shelli of Sand Springs, Debbie Lawhorn of Klamath Falls, OR, Tommy Lawhorn and wife Wendy of Bixby, Jeff Rush and wife Susan of The Woodlands, TX, and Jenni Rush of Dallas; and 10 great-grandchildren – Kari Smith of Anna, TX, Tyler Lawhorn of Bixby, Cory Lawhorn and Hannah Lawhorn of Sand Springs, Brandon Lawhorn of AZ, Emily Lawhorn and Hunter Lawhorn of Bixby, and Brandon Rush, Sydney Rush, and Samantha Rush of The Woodlands and her niece, Judy Moore of Southaven, MS.

Arrangements are with Corbett Funeral Service in Oklahoma City. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ruby’s name to Lifecare Foundation, c/o Lifecare Oklahoma Hospice, 226 W Gray, Suite 200, Norman, OK 73069.

Fly away home...

Ruby Maude Mitchell Lawhorn Hopkins

7.31.1912 ~ 9.19.2010

Running Humor

I'll be hitting up a new trail tonight for an easy 3-miler. Actually, it's not a NEW trail but I'll be running a different leg. I've mostly stayed within the Valley View/Park Central area but tonight I'm driving to a spot further south for some new scenery. I think the entire trail is about 7 miles. That would be a great distance but it's basically impossible to run the whole thing (if I park my car up north then run to White Rock Lake, how will I get back????). Maybe someday I'll be able to run 14 miles :)

I had a 5:30 training session this morning...it's only 9:00 now and I am already tired! But I'm enjoying a cup of Tazo Awake tea and it's yummy.

Tomorrow will bring another 5:30 am session...it's certainly tough for me to get up early but the gym is practically deserted and quiet so it's nice. Plus, I've found that I eat more mindfully on days I work out early. AND it leaves plenty of room for evening runs, especially as Fall weather heads this way!

More Tuesday tunes

One of my favorite Elton John songs...great for late-night drives and singing out loud in the car.

Tunes & Trails

Best. Running. Playlist. Ever.

I went for my Monday run last night after being so sick last week...it was tough to say the least. I was glad to get out and enjoy the local trails, but it is still too dang hot to enjoy a nice evening run. Plus I was constantly clearing my throat of crud! I only managed 2 miles but at least I'm back out there. Sometimes a good playlist is all it takes to get me through a tiring run. Since moving to Dallas I've started listening to Top 40 songs...and this is not usually my bag. But I'll admit I'm liking a lot of today's new pop music. It's what I like to refer to as "feel good" music and what's not to like about that??!!

Tonight is my first workout with Mike in 10 days! I'm actually looking forward to it...it's the first time I've ever really felt comfortable and welcome in a gym.

Happy Tuesday! ♥

19 years ago...

I looked like this:

For the record, my Sweet Mother actually paid someone a lot of money to make my hair look like that. Why we thought I needed a perm...I'm not suggesting I'm not totally adorable, but the hair is a bit much!

What I wouldn't give to have that youthful skin again...

A holiday weekend, football, The Crud, and Texas tornadoes

I am back to the land of the living. But let's start at the beginning...my last post was 9/3. Here are some highlights since then...

Labor Day weekend: I thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend with family in Oklahoma, complete with excellent food, wine, beer, football, pooltime, and a painful sunburn. The drive up there was hellish as the entire world seemed to be on the highway. And no one seemed to want to go faster than 60 mph. What normally takes 2.5-3 hours took FOUR hours. Lucky for me, Mom had a home-cooked meal just waiting for me when I pulled up. It was awesome!! Mom and I did some shopping on Saturday before the football games and it was a blast. She is really getting into crafts and sewing and is making me a quilt and all kinds of neat stuff (more on that later). We went to a fabric store and I had no idea it could be so much fun! So many fabulous fabrics, so little time, and so little talent with which to utilize them...(that would be me, not Mom).

Football: My Sooners looked shakey during their first game, allowing too many penalties and barely scraping by for a win. This had me VERY nervous all week for last Saturday's game against FSU. OU's season opener-performance was less than stellar and FSU was obviously expecting a win. Thankfully, the Sooners pulled out a can of whoop-ass and laid it down...the smack down that is. Final score? 47-17. Wahoo!!!! We've moved up a few notches in the rankings and are a team to be reckoned with this season, baby! This Saturday we're up against Air Force which should be an easy win. I will be flying back to Oklahoma to go to an Oklahoma State game with an old coworker, Jane. It's the one time of year I turn into a Cowboy fan! :)

The Crud: Aptly named for how it makes me feel. It seems I come down with this ailment at least 2-3 times a year, usually when I travel, and almost always in September. The Crud consists of a sore throat, ear infection, sinus infection, fever, aches, chills, coughing, drowsiness, grouchiness, and basically me feeling sorry for myself and missing my Mommy and Daddy. God forbid I have to take care of myself, right??!! :)

I started feeling bad on Sunday before the drive back to Dallas from OKC. By Monday (an office holiday thankfully) I was miserable. Thinking it was just a sinus infection that would go away, I prepared to go into the office Tuesday. No dice. Tuesday was probably the worst, with a fever that just made me feel rotten. My whole body hurt, and the sunburn from the weekend was making me even more miserable. [It was a BAD sunburn because I fell asleep outside and then proceeded to wake up and chat with Mom while in the sun. At one point Dad was like, "Little Girl, you really need to get out of the sun because your back is getting red." Cut to my face, arms, shoulders, back, and legs being burned and almost purple. The ONE time I forget sunscreen, people!!] Okay, back to being sick...I was so cold from the fever/chills and tried to take a warm shower, but the hot water was literally stinging the sunburn. Poor, pathetic little me. Wednesday morning I get up and head to work, determined to show the boss my dedication. I don't even sound like myself, and my cough is causing heads to turn it's so full of the crud. Colleagues are shielding themselves from me, telling me to go home. The boss himself says I should go to a doctor. "But I don't have one yet since I moved here..." to which he responds, "There is a clinic near here and you need to go." (Note: Dear Mother had already urged me numerous times to go to the clinic but I didn't listen to her...big mistake). Turns out the clinic is right across from where I live, AND you can make an appointment online, AND they call you when it's time to come in. I leave work and head to the clinic during a virtual downpour. Sure, we needed rain, but 5-8 inches in one day was overkill. I was soaked by the time I got there. So it turns out I have an upper respiratory infection that could be viral or bacterial ("50/50 chance" the doctor tells me, which was of absolutey no help at all). I pay my $50 (yes, even with insurance it was $50--damn emergency clinics), take my Rx for antibiotics and head to Walgreen's when all I really want to do is shower and go to bed. I get further soaked running into the store and have to wait 10 minutes for it to be filled. So I did what any young, sick, single person does and stocked up on Ramen (at $0.39 a pop), as well as juice, cough syrup, and a decongestant. Thursday I get up and head into work again, only to practically fall asleep at my desk and continually wipe my sore, runny nose. I make it through an early afternoon meeting, coughing into my  kleenex, trying to avert the paranoid glares of coworkers, and then head back home. I finally worked a full day on Friday and started to feel back to normal. I continued to hack and cough all weekend, barely getting any of the long list of chores done. I did however get my sense of taste and smell back somewhat. I think The Crud is finally going away. I had to cancel all 3 personal training sessions last week and Mike even called to make sure I was doing okay. This week's sessions will be tough for sure.

Texas tornadoes: When I moved here from Oklahoma, I figured I was leaving most of the bad weather behind me. But not only did we receive buku amounts of rain last week (up to 10 inches in some areas), apparently 3 tornadoes touched down. One of those was too close to my neck of the woods.

To say the very least, it was a strange week indeed. But it's Monday, time to start fresh and hit the ground running!!

I ♥ 3-day weekends

I'm headed up to the Okie State this afternoon...can't wait to see the family!! This will be my first trip back since I moved to Dallas a month ago.

Things are going...fantastic, actually! Work has been nuts with more meetings and seminars then I've ever had but I love the people and the atmosphere. I've been running and working out with Mike (I had a 5:30 AM appointment this morning and as of 9:00 AM I cannot lift my arms above my head). The weather has finally cooled off a bit and we've gotten some much-needed rain. I filled out my application for graduation and will receive my diploma on December 18!! Life is good...and I can't help but find myself glancing around for that Mack truck to come careening around the corner... :)

On another note:

♪  "It's the most wonderful time of the year..."  ♫

The college football season officially kicked off last night--finally! I'm sporting a new OU shirt today at the office with pride and have already talked smack with some Aggie and Cowboy colleagues. I can't wait to watch the games tomorrow with some of my favorite peeps!!

For now I'm just waiting for the big boss to blow the horn early and let us outta here...

Have a safe and fun holiday weekend!