2011 Reading List

I love lists and goals. I'm a sick, boring person and they are possibly two of my favorite things. So when I decided to make a New Year's Resolution (ie goal) to "read some really good books" naturally this meant I needed to create a reading list. Ta-da! A goal and a list. As we hunker down into 2011, here, in no particular order, is my reading list:

From Amazon.com



• The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It's been on my reading list for at least a year and I swear, now I'm really going to read it.
• A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain. A Christmas gift from my honey.
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Neils Arden Oplev. Highly reccommended by Erin and my mother-in-law, Nancy.
• Decision Points by George W. Bush. Ross is reading this right now and really likes it. Even though we don't see eye to eye politically, I think I'll enjoy the insight as to why President Bush thinks the way he does.
• The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It was on the BBC Book List and I've heard good things so why not. I think Jane and her bro love this book - Jane, is that right?
• 33 Million People in the Room by Juliette Powell. A marketing selection on social media. Seems relevant.
• The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. I loved the movie a million years ago and it was actually the first book from Oprah's Book Club. Pretty good endorsement I'd say.
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. We've all heard of it but I've not read it. Good enough reason for me.
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett. A somewhat misc pick off Amazon's best-seller's list.
• The Confession by John Grisham. I'm a Grisham-aholic and this is Sunday's number 2 best-seller according to the New York Times. (Odd since Sunday hasn't happened yet. I feel like a fortune teller.)
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. And then, of course, the movie.
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis. I started this book about three years ago because Ross swears by it but I never did finish it. In 2011, I will finish it. Maybe before/around baseball season. Maybe it will help me with a fantasy team...yes, that sounds good.

I know some people (cough cough, Jane) have reading lists that are 50+ books long but I have to admit, for what my 2011 will be, I think a 12 book reading list is good for me. And by the end of the year, I'll be a better read person (and you'll get reviews). Woohoo! Do you have any other book suggestions for when I knock out this dozen?

PS Two blog posts in one day; crazy I know. But consider - this post took me no less than three days to write! Book research is intense!

Goals, Revisited

Many moons ago I wrote some goals for this month. I've done OK.

• Keep up 200 minutes of cardio per week.
• Start Christmas vacation on December 18.
• Send out the cutest Christmas cards ever.
• Reach our savings goal. Well we knew this one would be tough. But I'm still pleased with where we'll be starting from for 2011.
• Wine tasting.  Specically this was my GroupOn.com wine date with Brittany. We didn't make it due to schedules and wine classes being canceled for two Saturdays due to holidays. We did however definitely drink our fair share of wine, we just had to pay for it the old fashioned way.
• Read at least two fun books.
• Complete all of my Women of Distinction proposals.

5 out of 7 is (findins calculator...) 71%. So I got a D for the month of December. But if I tell you that I had a (at that time) secret career goal that I have since achieved and of course that I did taste much wine with Brittany, can that count as extra credit? Maybe bring me up a letter grade?

The Book is ALWAYS Better than the Movie

Earlier this fall I read My Sister's Keeper which I really enjoyed and today Nichole and I watched the movie. Now admittedly we were also chatting a little and barcoding merchandise for her shop but we watched it more than we did the other things.


From InformationTypes.blogspot.com



I like Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin and Abigail Breslin. And I loved the storyline. But I have to tell you - I did not love the movie. It was OK and if I hadn't read the book I probably would have really liked the movie.

Here are the sins committed by the flick:

• Dramatic changing of the end. Imagine if a movie about the 2004 Red Sox included just a 5 game series against the Yankees instead of a nail-biting 7 game series. I mean...what? That's not even the same story.
• Missing romance. Actually the least sinful of the sins but they did leave out an entire character and the love story revolving around her. The love story wasn't critical to the plot but to entirely leave it out, well, that's a bit much.
• Big bro was all messed up. In the book he's a very troubled teen. Always drunk or high and with a tendency toward arson, which is especially poignant since the dad is a firefighter. In the movie he's just a sad kid with a stressed family and a sick sister.
• Again, the ending. Just not OK.

To be objective, and to invoke the TriDelta tradition of "pro-con-con-pro" and attempt to end on a pro, here is what the movie did well.

• Playing up a romance. The love tryst of Kate (the sick sister) and her also sick boyfriend, Taylor, had many more legs in the movie. I think this worked well.

• Casting. The lawyer (Alec Baldwin), mom (Cameron Diaz), Anna (Abigail Breslin) and the dad (actor non remembered) were all cast really well. I wonder if Cameron Diaz is bummed out that she is now being cast for mom roles and not hot girl-next-door roles. Oh well, she did a good job.

Verdict: Read the book, don't bother with the movie.

The Time Traveler's Wife

From PaperbackSwap.com

Knocking out my December goal to read two fun books, I finished The Time Traveler's Wife this morning. Now my first observation is that this is a funny name for the book; it's way more about the actual time traveler than his wife. But odd title aside, it was a REALLY good book.

Given the nature of the character, the book switches narrators, times and locations frequently. When you begin it, be sure you can actually sit down and read; don't have the TV on in the background or anything. I found once I got used to the structure though I could still stay with the story and ignore distractions.

Without giving away the whole story, I'll give you the 30-second synopsis. Henry travels in time but has no control over when it happens and to what other time he'll go to. For example, he meets his future wife, Clare, when she is six and he is 30-something. The book follows their relationship, how time travel affects it and the many strange situations (and conflicts) that arise as a result.

Besides an interesting concept, the book is really well written. The characters are all very intelligent and witty, making even the most mundane conversation interesting and fun to read.

Verdict: Absolutely read.

Batting Next: The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain, a Christmas gift from my honey. I love Anthony Bourdain, especially now that he's the newest judge on Top Chef.

On deck: The film versions of The Time Traveler's Wife, My Sister's Keeper (tomorrow with Nichole) and Shutter Island (hopefully this week or next with Ross).

Merry Christmas!

A few days post-Christmas and I finally have a second to share our holiday with you.

Christmas Eve we slept in late and were lazy around the house. Then out of seemingly nowhere, a tsunami arrived in Pflugerville. We were going to wait until later in the afternoon to head down to Westlake but when Ross checked the radar it appeared that this tsunami would be hanging around for a while so we decided to head out before roads flooded. (Since it hasn't rained here in months, the ground was too dry to actually soak up the rain hence a little bigger chance of minor flooding.) We spent the afternoon and evening in Westlake with Ross' side of the family and enjoyed opening many many gifts. If there's one thing the Turner/Black clan can do, it's buy gifts!

Nancy and Jack got Ross a PSP among other things. I got him a new wallet and games for the PSP. He got me a new digital camera (but you knew that) and earrings to match the necklace he gave me for our anniversary.

Christmas Day  I packed up the car and myself and drove to Houston. Since Ross had to work at 7 a.m. the following morning, he stayed in Austin with Lexi to hold down the fort. I started my drive by visiting my favorite barista, Chantal. She usually works at the Starbucks at the entrance to our neighborhood but this being Christmas, she was helping cover shifts at one of the few open locations a little further into Pflugerville. I love her - she usually has my drink order ready before I can even pay - so I made a point of visiting her and giving her a small Christmas gift (wine).

I made it to Houston by 12:30 and while I wasn't the first to Mom & Dad's house, not far behind either. A quick clean up and change of clothes and I was ready to let the holiday begin! We had a good crowd - Mom, Dad, Kev, me, Mike, Brenda (though they had to cattch a flight and could only stay for a brief time), Bryanna, Uncle Larry, Aunt Sandy, Megan, Rhoda, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Fran, Uncle Bob, Isaak and of course, Grandma. I think that makes 16 in all throughout the course of the afternoon. And as we've done for the past few years, we had a themed gift exchange. This year's theme was board games so everyone brought one and then we traded. Ross and I got Farkle, which I've never played but will be trying soon.

After the big Lowe family shin-dig we had small family Christmas. Thanks to Mom and Dad, I'll be going on a shopping spree in the next couple weeks.

That about wraps up the holidays. I also saw Melissa while I was in Houston and had brunch with Grandma. I got to see Kevin off to the airport this morning, fully decked out in his dress blues. Today begins about five months of A School training (ie Navy techy training) for him in Pensacola.

All in all, a super holiday(s) and looking forward to two weeks of relaxation now.

Top Stories of 2010

At the gym today I saw a story about the AP's Top Rated News Stories of 2010. (Spoiler Alert: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill took home the prize.) It got me thinking, what have the Black family top stories of 2010 been? The game-changers if you will.

• Tie for First: Georgetown Fire Department Ross getting his job there was definitely a game-changer for our family. Now we have a set schedule on a three-day rotation, health insurance for him and a kick ass retirement plan. And of course, he has career satisfaction.
• Tie for First: US Navy Kevin announcing in May that he would be enlisting in the Navy caught more than a few of us by surprise and has been one of the best decisions of his life. Possibly the absolute best. In October he went to boot camp in Illinois and now that he's home for the holidays, I can confidently say he made the right choice.
• Second: Gramma Her declining health and eventual passing was definitely a milestone for the family. This is our first Christmas without her and I know it will be tough. From a very selfish perspective, in addition to supporting Ross through it all, losing his Gramma made me appreciate mine even more.
• Third: My job Suffice it to say, 2010 was a more interesting year career-wise than I would have ever anticipated.

Honorable Mention

• Break In Mostly this just brought a crap-storm into our lives for a month but even the crap-storm cloud had a silver lining: my new TriDelta pin a la my sisters.
• New Babies Blake, Taygan, Adele and Layla are coloring our lives a little more youthful. For where we are right now, having new babies who belong to someone else is the perfect situation :)
• Relocation Nichole and her hubby moved to P-ville from South Austin and Brittany and Ken came back from DFW. Hurray! My social life got a big bump from both.
• Engagements Win & Megan, Jane & Chris, Cason & Page and Brittney & Chad - so much love in the air!

Your top stories of 2010?

Holidays at our House

Christmas Eve is reserved for the Turners and Christmas Day for the Lowes but this week has been holiday happenings at the Black house.

Saturday, Dec. 18: Christmas party! You've already seen the pictures and you know Kevin and Bryanna came to visit and joint he party. Ross and I guesstimate that we had about 30-35 people over that night. The hot cider I made (spiked with bourbon) was a huge success. Two batches of 12ish cups each flew off the stove. The tortilla pinwheels also disappeared quickly...we think before Kev and Bry even arrived so I'm talking FAST.

This bone is easily 2 ft

Sunday, Dec. 19: Lunch from Chipolte/Freebirds, a disappointing Texans game but lots of relaxing. I think most of my home slept most of the day.

Monday, Dec. 20:  Ross headed out to work and I spent the day with Kev and Bry. It started with our present to Kevin: an hour massage. While he indulged in that, Bry and I finished Christmas shopping, took Lexi for a pedicure and rewarded her good behaviour with the biggest bone sold at Petsmart. Then with Lexi returned to the house and Kevin done being pampered, we headed out for lunch at Hula Hut and window shopping on South Congress. Hence the fun pics from that day. Kev caught a 5 p.m. flight back to Houston to spend some time with the rest of the family and Bry and I had a lazy evening with Love Actually.

Tuesday, Dec. 21: Bryanna, Nichole and I had lunch at the Melting Pot. Yum! The spinach artichoke cheese fondue is delish. We burned off lunch with a walk around Town Lake and stopped into Whole Foods downtown.

Georgetown Courthouse

Wednesday, Dec 22: Bryanna and I explored downtown Georgetown. Cute cute cute! I had no idea how charming that area was. It is a huge pro in the "should we move to Georgetown?" debate. Even their courthouse was cute...a nice perk if you are being dragged there for something that probably isn't too fun (why else do people go to courthouses really?). And I thoroughly hope to frequent the Georgetown Winery. We didn't try any wines but it definitely had the atmosphere that could suck you and a girlfriend in for hours. Finally, after visiting the Georgetown square, I'm vowing to do significantly more gift shopping in that local area and less at the mall. Before heading back home, Bry and I did visit corporate America again though...but for really cute shoes at DSW which I know even the biggest advocate for shopping local would understand if they saw these pumps. Finally, dinner and cheering Boise State to victory! Woohoo!

Today: Bry headed out this morning back to Houston. Ross is at work. Lexi is being rambunctious. It's a housewife day for me. I've been to the gym, mopped every moppable surface at the house, got the car inspected (in record time; I love Austin's Choice Auto Repair) and am about to settle in for some holiday baking while I indulge in a little guacamole.

The whole family really enjoyed our holiday guests, possibly most especially Lexi. She can never have too much attention. We'll have a little downtime and then tomorrow afternoon the holidays re-arrive in full force! Yay Christmas season!

Christmas Cocktails

Photos from our Christmas party...I only orchestrated one (but apparently posed for another). Thank you to the person who made sure we got a few more.

All dressed for the holiday

Megan (Rick's lady) and Ross

Brit and me...late in the night

Fun with Fam

It's a fun week with family and faux-family! Kevin and Bryanna arrived Saturday night for our Christmas party. We had a great time! Pictures of that to follow.

Right now I want to show off the photos from the sweet new camera Ross got me for Christmas. He decided to give it to me early so I got to open it yesterday. And today while Kevin, Bry and I were exploring in Austin, I took lots of photos. See?

Hot boots at Allen Boots, yours for a cool $1300

Kev & Bry, hanging out on SoCo

Happy Holidays

The holidays are officially here! I'm on vacation for three weeks and tonight little brother and Bryanna come into town. We're hosting our annual Christmas party and there's tons of excitment in the air. I love the holidays :)

Hello Convio!

I can finally blog/Facebook note write about it, and let's face it, we all know nothing's official until you blog/Facebook note post about it.

I'm soon to be leaving the world of professional Girl Scouting for a new gig at Convio.

What's Convio you ask? A super freakin' cool software and services company here in Austin. They - oops I mean we - create the software and provide the consulting to help nonprofits fundraise online and communicate online in an effective, streamlined, connected manner.

If you aren't a tech or nonprofit geek, that might not mean a whole lot to you. But for a nonprofit geek like me, that's like the holy grail of online nonprofit world.

But what is this new gig you ask? Oh right, I guess I should tell you that.

Social Media Marketing Specialist. Yup, that's right, I will Facebook, tweet, blog, youtube and more for a living. Pretty awesome right? Starting in January you'll be able to follow my Convio tweets at @Convio.

Now that you know the background, here's why I am jazzed about my new gig:

• I can help millions. Because Convio clients are all nonprofits, our work helps all their causes. I'm not just helping one group anymore, I'm helping more than a thousand groups do their jobs better and that rocks.
• I love marketing. Plain and simple. It's been beckoning to me.
• It's warm and fuzzy meets biz savvy. A huge benefit of having nonprofit clients and roots is the intrinsic investment in the community and warm, fuzzy causes. We even have allotted days off to volunteer! But it's a publicly owned company with clear financial goals and a need to get business done.
• Best place to work in Austin! The Austin Business Journal just named Convio Austin's best place to work and the more I learn, the more I see why.

I'm so thankful for the great experience I got at Girl Scouts - both as a wee little Brownie many moons ago and as a professional. I think both have prepared me well for this next chapter in my career.

And now, with great joy, I say...

Hello Convio! So nice to meet you! I think we'll be best friends.

Ring in the Holidays

One of the must fun things about being in your 20s at the holidays is all the engagements that occur. Yay! I once read that more engagement occur Thanksgiving-Valentine's Day than any other time of year. Fun huh?

Congrats to our friends, Cason & Paige and Brittney & Chad, the two newest happily engaged couples out there. Both boys popped the question on vacations: Cason took Paige to San Antonio to see the Transiberian Orchestra and Chad proposed while they were on a birthday-Xmas gift to selves cruise. Don't ya just love love?

Starting to look a lot like Christmas

This is what the holiday season is supposed to be like. New England can have its white Christmas. I'll take 75 and sunny!

Ross put a screen door on the back door yesterday so I'm cleaning house and fixing lunch to Christmas music while a wonderful breeze blows through the open back door and front window. It's great! The tree is lit, Frank Sinatra is singing to me and I'm wearing a skirt and tank top.

Suspect #1 in chocolate eating

Another indicator of a good holiday season: this afternoon Brittany and I are going out for a wine tasting (not the coupon we have from groupon.com, scheduling didn't work) and tonight Nichole and I are going to a holiday party. I love holiday parties.

Oh and I get to do a little extra Christmas shopping, courtesy of Lexi, the $15 Godiva chocolate eating, present un-wrapping reindeer puppy. Yup, she unwrapped and ate Grandma's Christmas gift. But this means I have another excuse to go to the Godiva store and yet another gift to wrap, which for me is a joy, not a chore by any means. So perhaps I should thank Lexi? (Really I'm just glad that the very expensive chocolate didn't make her sick. See it is a good holiday season.)

How are you holidays? Shaping up nicely?

What do you read?

Sarah Palin doesn't inspire much in me (oops! politics; bad Cheryl. Things to avoid: politics, money and religion.) but her interview with Barbara Walters included the famous "what do you read" question. She said CS Lewis, Wall Street Journal, local Alaskan newspapers. I have my opinion about what that says about her but it got me thinking, what do all of us read and what does it say about us?

From magazine.org

I read...

• Mashable.com
• RosettaThurman.com
• Many Delta blogs
• Texas Monthly
• Fluffy girly fiction books
• Professional advice books like Raising More Money, though I'll admit, those are the least read

I think/hope that the list of things I read says I'm a nonprofit techy with interests in my community, friends and profession.

What do you read and what do you think it says about you?

Deficit & Taxes - SOLVED

This weekend a local paper, Community Impact, published a nifty little chart detailing the Bush tax cuts, Obama's tax cut plans and the pre-cut tax world. And while I'm normally way into social policy and bored by economic policy, I gotta say, that chart got my attention hardcore.

Currently, under the Bush tax cuts, Ross and I are in a tax bracket that takes 15% of our taxable income. I'm cool with that. However, if nothing happens with the potential extension of the tax cuts that will jump to - are you ready - 28% of our income!

No obviously this just ticks me off. I work hard for that money and I would really prefer to keep it, thankyouverymuch. But as I'm looking at this chart, in addition to being ticked about my current tax bracket (in the non-tax cut world), I start to get ticked about my future tax brackets. I knew that it was a graduated index and in theory, back when I had zero dollars, I wasn't too bugged by this. Now that I have a few dollars though, it really ticks me off. Why do you get to take more of my money when I'm working harder to make more of it? At the end of the day, am I taking on more stress and hours so that the government can have the difference in my income? Hello, talk about no good deed goes unpunished.

So this is what I'm proposing:

• Flat tax rate...roughly 20% which I think from the 10 minutes I spent reading this chart in the newspaper, might have a shot at meeting our federal expenses. I figure if you make $20,000, then 20% (or $4,000) hurts you just the same as someone making $100,000 (and paying $20,000 in taxes). Thus nobody is punished for working their butts off to make a good wage. That said I'm also open to there being an income level at or below which you pay no taxes. Maybe under $10,000? I'm not sure but I bet some economists out there have an idea or two about that.
• Base unemployment on minimum wage. I realize this isn't directly related to taxes but in the blog title I promised to solve the deficit too. Hear me out. Current unemployment benefits are related to your income when you lost your gig. Employers have to pay into a fund to help support those benefits. So if Joe was making $100,000 his unemployment benefits would be costly. And Joe would have no reason to take a significantly lower paying gig because it would very likely be less than the unemployment benefits he was receiving. I'm not faulting Joe. At the end of the day, you have to do what's best for you and yours. But why should our system encourage Joe not to work? But if unemployment benefits had a closer relationship to minimum wage, then anything over minimum wage would be a step up for Joe, thus encouraging him to start working sooner and relieving the stress on the unemployment system. Further, Org X (Joe's old employer) would be paying less into unemployment, thus freeing up more of their resources to invest in capital.

I'm not an economist. Heck, I had to cheat off my high school sweetheart to pass economics. But we keep trying what the economists suggest and bad news y'all, it isn't working. So I vote we go with this plan and see how things shape up.

Thoughts? Ideas? Votes for president?

PS I fear I may be tip toeing on the line of Republicanism! But I still firmly believe in same-sex marriage and am pro-choice. That's enough to remain a registered Democrat right??

Et cetera

I feel like I have neglected to update you on a few misc.-etc. type things.

• December Goals: One down and great progress on another! My boss approved my vacation time so Christmas break officially begins December 18. Woohoo! Also, I've written $65,000 in fundraising proposals for Women of Distincion. Just another $10,000 to knock out before the holidays.
• Happy Birthday Ross: No his birthday isn't quite yet. It's in April and it's the big three-oh. To celebrate the milestone we just booked a place on Lake Travis. It sleeps 16 and is lakefront. We're super jazzed to have everyone out for rip-roaring good time. Note: Between his birthday celebration and our South Carolina trip, April is looking pretty dang fabulous.
• My Sister's Keeper: Just finished this book and it is so good. I can't wait to watch the movie soon. I'm not really in a review mood but trust me, you should read it. It's a page-turner.
• Lexi: Have you ever heard the theory that dogs are the manifestation of their owners? We joke that Lexi is this. She's very playful like Ross and a cuddle-bug like me. Well the vet confirmed that she is the puppy version of us when at her annual visit last week he said that she's not fat...oh but her belly has a little extra. She's healthy, no need for a diet, but she does carry her little extra in her belly. Just. Like. Us.
• Happy Birthday Jack & Nichole!: They are birthday twinkies both with December 4 birthdays. Though they are a few decades apart in age.

Day with Blue Dog Rescue

Today Ross and I helped Blue Dog Rescue with their Puppy Pictures with Santa fundraiser. I helped with the paper work and picture orders. And Ross helped dress the puppies in holiday gear.

Little did we know, he has a second career in puppy costuming. The photographer, board member, Santa and pet owners all raved about the cute cute outfits he picked out and helped dress the dogs in. Here is a picture of him and Millie who is moonlighting as Mrs. Claus.

Millie is actually a "Blue Dog," as in she's in their program at the moment. Blue Dog Rescue takes pups from all over but often shelters that aren't getting much foot traffic or families who for whatever sad circumstance can't provide a home any more (death of owner was said to be the more common in family situations). Blue Dog Rescue places them with a foster family that makes sure they are up to date on vaccines, flea treatments, etc and then brings the dogs to adoption events. If a potential forever-family is interested in the pup, the Blue Dog foster family helps evaluate whether it is a good match and ultimately helps place teh pup in a forever home. Blue Dog Rescue's budget helps relieve the foster families of the expense related to taking in a pup.

From a professional standpoint, I was really impressed with the group. They are all volunteer run and have only a five person board. With those sparse resources they help about 200 dogs per year find new homes. They've been doing it for ten years now. As a member of an all-volunteer board/organization, I know what a challenge the administrative side can be when there is no staff. So I'm very impressed with how big an impact Blue Dog Rescue is making with such limited resources.

We really liked everyone and I think we'll keep volunteering with them. Volunteer verdict: Success!

Santa Ross

While I was at work this morning Santa Ross and his little elf (Lexi) bought and wrapped my Christmas presents!

Santa Ross is an excellent gift giver. He thinks on it long and hard. He even gets a little competitive - he wants to be sure that you like the gift he got you best of all. This works out great for those of us on the receiving end.

What Santa Ross is not so awesome at is wrapping gifts. Knowing this, I was very impressed by the clean, tidy wrapping job of these gifts. I complimented him on it.

He told me to look in the kitchen.

As you can see, there are pieces of wrapping paper all over the counter and what you cannot see is that there's more on the kitchen table. He told me that while he was wrapping the presents he got so frustrated and started cursing that he scared Lexi. She ran outside and wouldn't come back in until he was done.

But she's the elf, right? Shouldn't she be wrapping the presents??

Kudos to Santa Ross though. The pieces of wrapping paper that currently decorate the kitchen are so large, I think I can use most of them to wrap other people's gifts.

Wrapping paper aside...I can't wait to see what he got me. He's also really good about not letting on as to what the gift is. I have no idea. Here's what I do know though. See if you can help me guess.

• The lady at the store told him I was very lucky.
• The big box is VERY light. I asked him if he got me air.
• The smaller gift is heavier. It feels sturdy.

I got nothing else though. But I'm sure Santa Ross came through. He's a gift-giving champ.

Texts From Last Night, Part 2

After watching the best episode of Top Chef EVER and having lots of other things on my mind, I am far too wound up to sleep. (Bummer since tomorrow is an early morning at the office.)

So I am reading from the website textsfromlastnight.com. And laughing. A. LOT. I want to share some of the more appropriate ones with you and encourage you to go read the inappropriate ones...so long as you are old enough and think that kinda thing is humorous.

Ahem, appropriate texts from last night (.com):

• i am too hungover to go to class can you just call me and put it on speaker phone
• There's a pair of socks on the bar. No-one's questioned this.
• Hey they cleaned all the blood out of the elevator. Also could you pick up some nachos?
• I just want to let you know it was a unanimous decision that we would eat you first if we ever turned into cannibals, we figured with all the bacon you eat you may taste like it. It's a chance we are willing to take with your life...don't forget that we love you
• Lauren she was gnawing on a dresser. Gnawing. On. A. Dresser.
• The toilet started ringing, I think I just found your phone.
• We decided to go to McDs, but we only had a few minutes to make it to breakfast. We were sprinting full speed ahead when she tripped and you just yelled 'LEAVE HER' and kept your course.

Does anyone else have flashbacks to college when they read these?

December Goals

Anna and Emal have inspired this post. Congrats Anna on checking off many things on you November list and good luck Emal with your December list.

My December goals are...

• Keep up 200 minutes of cardio per week. Hit the nail on the head in November!
• Start Christmas vacation on December 18. Vacation request is in. Fingers crossed!
• Send out the cutest Christmas cards ever. I won't give it all away but rest assured, they will include Lexi as she is definitely the cutest thing in our home.
• Reach our savings goal. In July we set a goal for how much we want to save up this year. We reached that last month and then used some of it for Anna and Ben's wedding and some of it for Ross' birthday celebration. But that's what it was for. Now though, we're fairly close to still making that goal after those expenses. It's a stretch but here's to hoping! (Feel free to make a deposit into our savings account as a Christmas gift.)
• Wine tasting. Brittany and I bought a groupon.com special for a wine tasting in the downtown-ish area and I am determined that we'll actually go this month. Tentative girls' wine date is the 11th.
• Read at least two fun books. I just started a new one this weekend. I think I'll probably have that finished by Christmas break (haha love that I still have Christmas break) and I'd like to read another over the holidays.
• Complete all of my Women of Distinction proposals. I have about six sponsor proposals to send out before the holidays...about $75,000 worth of funding. I really need/want to finish them all.
• Fix Flash. My computer tells me Flash is installed but things that should show in Flash do not. I will get this sorted out and fixed.