Black Friday 2008

Kristen and I continued our tradition of Black Friday shopping this year. We weren't sure how she was going to feel about it being pregnant and all but the adrenaline kicked in and she was sitting in my driveway at 4:00a.m. A mother's dedication to getting Christmas gifts at a bargain knows no ends!

We started out at Walmart again this year. Last year we were in and out in forty minutes. This year....it took us three hours! I've never seen it this bad before. You couldn't walk through the isles. It took us an hour to grab everything we needed and two hours to get through the lines. If only the prices weren't so good!!

Next we headed to Kohl's in Jeffersonville. It was like a ghost town compared to Walmart.....it was so nice! We did have to wait about ten minutes in line to check out but the experience there was so much more pleasant. You could walk freely around wherever you wanted to go. We also both earned enough Kohl's cash to come back on Sunday and shop a little bit more!

I got 95% of our shopping done so it still makes it all worth it. Jonathon and I bought a new TV on Wednesday so we are counting that as our Christmas gift to each other this year. We love it! No more squinting from across the room to watch TV anymore.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I hope everyone is able to stop and think about things they can be thankful for no matter what life has brought their way. I'm most thankful for my health, my husband, Jesus, my friends, and my family. (Not necessarily in that order.)

We ran the Fast Freddie's Five Miler this morning. It has become my Thanksgiving Day routine for several years now. Jonathon has been training well so he took off and finished way ahead of me today. I ran with Carrie and Travis. We had a good time. Travis has always been good at talking non-stop to keep our minds off of what we are doing.

I ran into Leigh Ann and Tamara. Congrats to Tamara for finishing her first five miler!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. It's time to go catch up on all those calories we burned this morning. It should be yummy.

Jonathon is Home!

The homecoming sure makes the being gone more bearable. We've had the best day together. I haven't taken any phone calls and we have been hanging out all day. We went for a run, grabbed some Pizza King, shopped for our joint Christmas gift this year (a tv!!) and I think we may top if off later with a trip for ice cream. How could this day get any better?!?! I love him so much!

Things...

Things this week are GREAT! I've decided to limit my school time. I've given myself a cut-off time for school work. What gets done will be great. What doesn't will have to wait until tomorrow. For this, I have been much less stressed this week. It feels good to let go!

Coaching two squads at one time is proving to be...exciting. I'm loving it so much. I'm also learning that I have so much to learn...

I also started a running schedule again. I forgot how much running helps my stress level. Jonathon and I are running the Fast Freddie's Five Miler on Thanksgiving Day so I decided I should probably run a couple times between now and then. It should be interesting...

Jonathon and I have been texting, calling, emailing, and talking so much more this week. It's like the closer it gets to him coming home, the more we can't stand it! He will arrive at some point in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning. We are counting down the hours.

It's almost Friday!!

Five Days to Go...

Jonathon comes home in five day...Just thought I would put that out there...

Sweating the Small Stuff

I totally sweat the small stuff. There are two things I struggle with on a daily basis with the small stuff...

Worry: I can find anything to worry about. When I was in college I would worry over the small details of every little thing. I remember asking my friend, Nora, once about the details of a trip we were going to take. She was so laid back and said, "You worry enough for the both of us." I remember liking the fact that I tried to take care of so many little details that she knew she could count on me, but now looking back it was the beginning of a very bad habit. In the past week I've caught myself worrying about things that I shouldn't even be thinking about yet. Once I solve one thing, it's like I have to find something else to worry about. Why do I do that?

Guilt: I'm not talking about deep, dark guilt over sinful things. I'm talking about silly guilt when I think I've hurt someone's feelings or spoken too sharply. Nine times out of ten when I apologize for things I think I've done, the other person doesn't even remember what I'm talking about. Last week my step sister Jill told me, "Karen, your rude is everyone else's normal." This was after I apologized like seven times because I thought I had been rude. The thing is if I didn't apologize I would have felt guilty for days so it was better for me to just make the attempt. I need to just let things go.

I have a copy of Max Lucado's Traveling Light on my nightstand that I read several years ago. I think it's time to revisit it...

Why so angry?

I've noticed that a lot of people seem to just be angry in general. I feel sorry for them. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like be sad or angry. I love when everyone just gets along and I don't like negative energy at all.

Today I had pulled up next to Kristen in a parking lot to tell her something. I wasn't blocking any traffic behind me so I knew it would just take a minute. I was going the correct way so I wasn't breaking any kind of direction rule either. When we finished I turned my head to take off again and there were two pedestrian girls walking near my car. I had started rolling forward slightly but when I saw the girls approaching I stopped quickly. My mistake. Let me tell you first that the girls were at least two feet away from my car so there was no chance I was actually going to hit them.

Well, the girl in front stopped suddenly and shot me a dirty look. Inside I thought, "Oh no I'm so sorry, please go ahead and cross. I notice you now and I will not hit you. Very sorry." I know my facial expression had to be saying the same thing. I mean, it was an accident.

She obviously didn't feel my thoughts because she proceeded to shout a bad word at me. Why are people so angry? I mean did I ruin her existence by making her pause for one second before proceeding forward? I realize she may have just been having a bad day already but come on!

I shouldn't care but in my mind that girl hates me. She doesn't know me. I made a mistake. Nobody got hurt. I told her I was sorry....

Why are people so angry?

Is it Friday yet?

It's almost Friday! Jonathon asked me last night why I haven't updated my blog in a while. I had no answer besides being busy.

First of all, the weekend in Cincinnati was awesome. Carrie, Nora, and I don't even do very much besides grab some food, shop a little, and watch movies but I love spending time with them. They are my forever friends from college. I know we may not get to keep each other up-to-date on a daily basis anymore (oh how I miss those days) but every time we're together it's like we never skipped a beat. I love those girls!

The rest of the week has nothing good to talk about. I've been really stressed out and making a bigger deal out of a lot of things things this week. I've been unsatisfied with lots of things going on in my life and I finally came to the conclusion that I MISS MY HUSBAND!

I don't think anything is as bad as I've loaded it on myself to be...I think I'm just missing my husband and that's put me in a foul mood. I've had to apologize twice this week for being snippy and I'm never like that.

Honey, you have to hurry up and get home so I can stop being rude to people! I don't like the rude version of myself.

Update

This week has been a roller coaster to say the least...the election, cheer practice every day this week, feeling like a failure, feeling like the greatest, missing my husband, wanting to get up early, wanting to get more sleep, getting some sister time in, not having enough time for friends, cleaning up, making more of a mess, getting organized in one area, piling things up in another, pants getting tighter, can't make time for working out, eating on the run, no time for blogging...

I'm glad this week is over!

It has a happy ending though...I celebrated Jesse's birthday tonight. It was just Aimee, Adam, BD, Jesse and I but we had the best time. We started out trying to go to Lucky Strike but they were all booked up. We had dinner at The Pub (mmm fish n'chips) then heading back across the river to go bowling here. First stop: the alley on Eastern Blvd. They were booked too! We did stay long enough to absorb smoke into our clothes and to witness a man hooked to an oxygen tank holding a cigarette. Nice.

We ended up at Blakiston Mill. It was a great time bowling with all the high school kids on a Friday night...Add in a stop at Steak N Shake on the way home and it was a perfectly unhealthy, wholesome night of fun! Happy Birthday to Jesse!

Of course I had to complete my night with a phone call to Jonathon. My night wouldn't be complete without it...(love you, babe)

I will be in Cincy the rest of the weekend living it up with Carrie and Nora. It's shopping time!! I'm hoping to get a jump on the Christmas thing and maybe find a little something for my own closet. :)

Happy Weekend...

Halloween Season Over

This year my Halloween lasted about a week. It started with a costume party at Aimee and Adam's last weekend. I went as Sarah Palin. I didn't have my camera so as soon as I get a picture from some friends I'll have to put in a post. I had the hair fixed, a tiara, a black suit, and I carried a rifle with me. Ha!

I stopped by to see my nieces trick or treat at their aunt's house close by on Thursday. Here are some pics:

I spent the official Halloween celebrating Travis Dunn's wedding at The Grand. It was lovely. I'm so happy for him and his new bride, Megan! (Again...no camera.)

Last night I went to another costume party but I just wore JOnathon's army uniform. I wasn't feeling like wearing a skirt. Tim and Lindsey hosted the part at Tim's dad's house. It was so much fun. We played games, sang karaoke, and I even won a pool game!

Good times...

Cornhole Tournament

MISSION TO MALAWI
CORN HOLE TOURNAMENT
NOVEMBER 15, 2008
Located in the Charlestown Jay C Food Store Parking Lot
Check-in/Registration: 10:00a.m.
Rules Meeting: 10:30a.m.
Tournament Begins: 11:00a.m.
Proceeds will benefit the mission team from Charlestown Independent Church planning a mission trip to Malawi, Africa in June 2009.

Email kmhooser@msn.com for a registration form.