new drink at starbucks...

i just received an email from starbucks... the new drink for summer is the mint mocha chip frappucino... yum... it sounds so good to me right now...

anyway - on their website, there is a store locator... i can find out where starbucks is located - all the stores within a certian mile radius from my apartment... so - within 5 miles of my apartment, there are 7 starbucks locations... 10 miles - 24 starbucks locs, 50 miles - 178 starbucks locs...

to put this in proper perspective... i just did the same search for my mom's address in arkansas and amy's address in kentucky...

within a 50 mile radius of amy's house, there are 13 starbucks locations... my mom's house - 6 starbucks locations...

then i also did a check for 50 miles away from the main campus of my seminary (san francisco) - 375 starbucks...

isn't that insane? that's just my randomness for the day... and i think i'm going to stop in at one of the 6 starbucks locations that i pass on the way home and try a new mint mocha chip frappucino...

***to add a little bit more - that doesn't count barnes and noble cafe's - only retail locations... i'm not anti-small coffee shops... but i do love starbucks... the mint mocha chip frap was okay - but it's not going to be my drink o' the summer... oh - amy, i did a search, and it's not looking good... but i don't know about b&n's...

happy mother's day...

so this morning, pastor rob asked us to share stories about our moms... things that were meaningful to us about our moms... and while i'm sure there are many stories of devotion and love from my mom... (because she's the best)... one story kept popping in my head...

feeling it was to irreverent to share in church, i share it on my blog...

one time when my brother and i were small... i don't know how old we were - old enough for me to remember this... but too young to for me to remember when it took place...

first, one of my mom's favorite sayings (when we were having a screaming fight) was "if you two don't be quiet, i'm going to _________ in a minute..." - it worked when we were threatening to hit each other or something else violent...

anyway, we were having a "shut up" fight... it went something like this...

me: SHUT UP!!!
brother: NO! YOU SHUT UP!
me: YOU SHUT UP!!!
brother: SHUT UP!!!
me: MOM, TELL LOUIS TO STOP SAYING SHUT UP!!!
mom: IF YOU TWO DON'T BE QUIET, I'M GOING TO SHUT UP IN A MINUTE!!!

it was one of those moment when, as much as you want to be serious, you just have to laugh... and i think i'll remember it as long as i live...

thanks mom, for everything... i love you!!!

friend mary is engaged!!!

i got a phone call this week... it was a surprise in one sense, but it's been a while coming... friend mary moved to pittsburgh in december... her boyfriend (now fiance) had just started a job in pittsburgh... and so she moved, too... she's been living with her sister and brother-in-law and working at the march of dimes as an event planner... (or something along those lines...)

so we thought he was going to propose at christmas time? no... maybe new year's? no... maybe valentine's day? no... i had kind of put it out of my mind... but her birthday was tuesday and he proposed, as she stood over the sink, washing dishes... they haven't set a date yet...

i couldn't be more happy for friend mary and her fiance rob... they deserve the best and i'm thankful for God putting them together (twice) and for the ministry they will have together... plus, they're really cute together... see pictures below... :)

this is the happy couple... engaged on may 2, 2005... congrats! 

this is the ring... imagine this, but a lot more sparkle... isn't it beautiful? - for the specifics... it's a 1.36 total carat wt. from Tiffany & Co. set in white gold...  

little bits o' stuff... and 5 questions...

so evidently i'm the supernanny... it's okay.... i guess there are worse people to resemble from tv... let's start a list... i, as a for instance (i like that expression), would not want to resemble star jones or joan rivers (i don't know why - i just wouldn't...) ... who would you not ever want to resemble from tv?

amy also talked about superpowers... interesting stuff... if i could have any superpower, i think it would be to be a chameleon... but more than that... to not only be able to physically disquise myself, but to be able to play any part... sort of like in quantum leap - which is different, because he didn't really fit the part... but he learned how to... but better than that... like - to be able to look completely different - however i needed to and star in a broadway musical... then, the next day, to be able to look completely different and play on a little league team... or be a teacher or a ph.d. student... or an astronaut or firefighter... or a factory worker, if i wanted... what superpower would you want to have?

this is staff week - it's one of my favorite times at work... it's the first wednesday of the month - when everyone is in meetings and the office is quiet - except for the rumbling of the press in the other room - but that means richard is busy (happy) and the buzz of the lights and the computer screen... it's also one of my favorite times to blog... i'm not sure why... but i didn't really have anything of worth to write about - so it's all random stuff... but that's okay... today my new boss is taking the support staff (that includes me!) out to lunch... i figure we'll probably go to applebee's, which sounds so good right now... i'm hungry... so... if you could go anywhere for lunch today, where would it be?

last night we watched the first part of bridget jones's diary to show red-haired friend erin one of the best scenes in movie history for single women... i can't find an image of the scene... but she's sitting on the couch... playing the air guitar and air drums, complete with a kick... priceless... what is one scene of a movie or a tv show that you've watched that, when you watch it, you say... "that is so me...?"

okay - last little paragraph... this morning, i talked to one of our "clients" - that seems a weird word... the director of communications (or something like that) from golden gate called... and he said, "i overnighted that to you yesterday... you should get it today..." - i've never had anything overnighted to me before!! i got so excited... the people in my office will see that it has been overnighted to me... it's only for their print order (graduation programs), but it's still exciting... it's the thing i'm looking most forward to today... getting the package that was shipped to me overnight... what thing are you looking most forward to today?

if singleness is a state, i think i am the governor... or at least one of the state representatives...

so i've written a couple of times about this guy at school... and today i wondered how things would be - at school... when i saw him this week, would things be different for some reason? there are less than 3 weeks left in school... i figure - something needs to happen if it's going to... and i've given all the hints i know how to give...

so hinted out this morning, i showed up for work and then school... i've gotten into a bad place where, when i see him, i get really excited that i get to see him or when he says hi... don't get me wrong... i've been surprisingly normal about this one... more normal than i've EVER been about any guy EVER in my life... i've been mature about it - haven't really gone into 7th grade girl mode...

so today is graduate luncheon... there are a lot of people running around... and there are a few kids... and after everything was over, i see him, talking to one of the kids... but he's not just talking, but down at the boy's level, talking to him... and i realized i had let it happen... i had become really interested... darn it... (i kind of mostly was... but this is like icing on the cake...) i am a sucker for that kind of junk... the guys who will go out of their way to talk to a child, on the child's level and not just walk by...

and i want to say something to him today... i want to be frank and honest and open... even ask him out... but i won't do it...

and i think, because i have been normal about this one, that there must be something different this time... like it's automatically going to turn into something more, just because i haven't gone jr. high about it... i didn't get upset when he didn't talk to me or cry into my pillow because i was so heart-broken... so that must mean something, right?

wrong... i walked into the computer lab a few minutes ago... he is the only other person in the room... we exchanged a friendly "hi." and he resumed his game playing, and i checked blogs... and i realized... as much as i wanted something to happen, and just because i was normal doesn't make it happen...

i'm quite sure that he'll go on about his life and he may remember me as a classmate from seminary... a kind-of half acquaintance who really liked movies and could make pretty good cinnamon rolls... but that's probably the extent of it...

and i'll have to be okay with that...

sometimes i think, with all the guy friends in my life... "what about this one? or that one?" - and i always think... i'm going to get married someday... maybe it will be one of my good guy friends... but the thing about it is - it never is... and i'm not saying it's not ever going to happen... today i just realized that i can't expect it to right now... regardless of how "ready" i think i am...