Yesterday I had to drive to a mandatory meeting in Jefferson City, MO,
which is about two hours from where I live.  It was at the state
health department, and a requirement for me to keep my job.  
I was so paranoid about missing it that although the meeting didn't
start until 1pm, I left a little after 7am , with the thought process
that even if the car blew up on the way there, I for sure could find a
way to still get there with that four hour padding.

Well, the car did not explode, and I was there before 9:30, which meant
that I had several hours to kill.  Fortunately for me, right down
the street there was a Barnes and Noble [one of my favorite places to
go and get lost btw].  So I hung out there and looked at a
bajillion books [totally restrained and did not buy any however] until
it was time to head back down the street to the health department.

The meeting lasted all of forty five minutes tops.   Yep - that was definitely worth my time.

I headed home, and even with stops, was home before five.  Ten
minutes before I got home though, my boss called my cell and asked if I
had plans for the night - she had a pair of box seats to the St Louis
Cardinals game against the SF Giants that she couldn't use, and offered
them to me.  I called my brother Joe [who like me was not able to
go with the family to the Gulf] to see if he had plans and if he wanted
to go with me.  He promptly cancelled his plans.   

I thought that it would be a good diversion - the family was supposed
to be leaving at 11pm to drive through the night - [better that way
with little ones involved], and I wouldn't have to say goodbye to them
yet again...so off we went.

What a great game - I am by no means a sports fan, but this was my
first time in the new stadium, and there is something super fun about
just being surrounded by tons of people having a good time and enjoying
a game that is infectious...the Cardinals won by a whopping 14-4. 
It is even better when 'your' team wins.

We got home just as the family was leaving....ugh.  Dad and mom
hopped out of the vehicle to hug me one last time, and my sweet sister
called me from the road which left me a mess by the time she finished
saying goodbye.  double ugh.  Good grief.  What an
emotional mess I am.

Today is better.   Worked all day and am now home - intended
to go for a run/walk when I got home, but it was already pretty dark,
and as you already know, I am a big fat scaredy cat.  So I ordered
pizza instead and am settled in listening to my new CD.  [don't
judge me too harshly on this one folks - I promise there is a very
good, nostalgic reason for me to be listening to AC/DC.  ]  (Am I sinking further into 'heathen-dom' Tracy? )

Not only am I NOT going because of work, but this would be only the
SECOND family vacation that my family has ever taken IN MY LIFE. 
And I am missing it. 

I am trying very hard not to have the worlds biggest pity party for
myself.  Sometimes it stinks to be a grown up. I know, I
know...put on my big girl panties and deal with it, right?

Adding to my misery is the fact that I will be alone.  Call me a
wimp [I already have], but I do not prefer to stay all by myself. 
If given an option, I will always, every single time, choose to be
around other people.  Now - that does not mean that I do not at
times enjoy a bit of down time - but with someone in near proximity -
if that makes any sense at all.  Like to be alone in my room, but
knowing that there are others in the house...

I would not call it fear - but it is certainly close enough to that to
be uncomfortable....[and in my own defense, because I need to say it
for myself - those feelings are not unwarrented or unfounded]

So - I was trying to figure out what to do with myself...granted, I
will be working massive hours with our inventory date a mere 13 days
away and counting...but still....

HARK!!!  LIGHT SHINING AHEAD!!! 

Enter my dear friend Wendy...who heard my plight [from my own bemoaning lips ]
and offered to let me stay with her family 'whenever' over the next
week. 

Deep breath. 

While it does indeed feel silly to be
thirty years old and to not want to be alone, it is a HUGE relief to know that
there is a family who wants me around [or at least will put up with me!] and who are just comfortable to be around...you know?

AND THE CLOUDS PARTED AND THE ANGELS SANG...

I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I am.  Plus, I'm
looking forward to knowing the Mucci clan a LOT better by the end of
next week...

Work is crazy and exhausting - we inventory in 20 days and are starting
to feel the pressure of preparing 6 million dollars worth of crap to be
counted in an eight hour period...I will be grateful when it is over.

Have been consistently walking/running every night for the last
week...have a specific goal [mileage wise] to reach by my birthday in
seven weeks [thanks Wendy for the chart idea]...I am hoping to build my
endurance enough to run the 'Jingle Bell Run' 5K here in St Louis in
November.  Why?  Because you get to wear bells on your shoes
and I think that is totally fun!

Yesterday was my brother Sam's birthday - if I could upload pictures
without my computer crashing, I would - but I can't, so I'll stop
talking about it now as it totally hacks me off to even think
about.  When the issue is resolved I will try to post them then...

Ummmmm....what else?  My friend Laura is home from Turkey for a
while...I got a voice mail from her the other day - she and her husband
came 'home' to the States to have baby Nathan - who incidentally is due
on my birthday.  I would love to share a birthday with him...that
would be special.

I am really missing my 'girls' these days [and you know who you
are]...sometimes it sucks [pardon my french for those of you offended -
the most applicable word right now] being so far away..

Tonight my two youngest brothers are going to boy scouts for the first
time - I am interested to see what they think about it when they come
home...should be fun to listen to. 

Do you all remember the diversity meeting that I went to in AR two
weeks ago?  Well - apparently while there I not only picked up
some useless information, but also an admirerer/stalker to boot! 
There is much more to the story, but I will save that for a later
time...or maybe [as a friend who shall remain nameless has said]
perhaps you will see my story on a Lifetime movie.  gulp. 
Okay - maybe we shouldn't joke about it...but it helps sometimes, you
know?  At any rate, I upped my life insurance at work today and
made sure I had the correct beneficiary information saved. 

And lest you freak out over that last statement - I should clarify that
at present I do not feel threatened at all - just cautious - I am just
fine - really...the talk of stalkers however, along with some other
things made me think that I should just make sure that all the
insurance things were covered, 'cause you just never know what will
happen, and I like to have my ducks all in a row.

If you get the chance, check them out - they are worth listening to - the name of the band is 'Circleslide'.

So, for those of you who don't know - I am the oldest of ten children -
and of the ten of us, eight have been born at home.  Suffice it to
say, my mom has always been HUGE into homebirth and the whole natural
childbirth approach.

[That was just background, btw]

Anyway - now that our youngest is almost ten, she has spent the last
couple of years educating others about home birth, and has become a
doula [which is a fancy schmancy word for birth attendant/labor coach]
- assisting women with natural childbirth both at the hospital and at
home. 

So - for the last TWENTY days, she has been waiting for her latest mom
to give her a call - yes, you read that right - twenty days overdue,
thank you very much...and finally the call came this morning at 6am.

Mom arrived at their house at 6:40, before the doctor - and promptly delivered/caught the baby at 6:45am.    [This was the family's ninth baby - apparenty things can happen pretty quickly when you get to that many ]

Doctor arrived soon after, mom and baby are great, and dad and all the siblings are thrilled.

Which brings me back to my mom.

She is the coolest.

Tuesday - spent the day with my friend Geri - she TiVo's 'Stargate:
SG-1' for me, and then when I have a bajillion to catch up on I go over
and we veg on the couch for hours and catch up while we eat take
out.  So fun and relaxing.  This day had an extra bit of fun
in that I got to help her with a 'project' - I smashed a porcelain
toilet to smithereens with a hammer...it was awesome to smash something
up like that and NOT get in trouble!  
A word to the wise, however - wear gloves, do NOT wear flip flops, and
make sure you wear safety glasses before attempting to demolish a large
glass item...I had safety glasses on, but lets just say I also have a
couple of cuts from flying glass and exposed skin.

Wednesday I went back to work - this is what the day looked like:
9:00am - drop my stuff in the office - go sign paperwork and check in with the morning CSM/front end.
9:30am - store meeting
10:00am - management meeting
10:30am - my boss tells me that I need to attend a diversity event still this year - to sign up asap for an event.
10:45am - In looking for an event, I quickly realize that there are NO
events left for the year closer than a 7 or 8 hour drive with the
exception of a 'Minorities in Leadership' seminar THE NEXT DAY in
Bentonville at the home office.
11:00am - talk to Sabrina and Dayna [two other female members of
management who also needed to fulfill their requirements for the year]
and we all decide that if we are allowed, we are willing to make the
spur of the moment trip to AR.
11:15am - our boss gives the thumbs up on us leaving for AR.
11:30am - I call and register us for aforementioned seminar.
12pm to 4pm - the three of us travel home, pack, and gather back
together at work to wrap up  loose ends there before leaving....
4:30pm - we hit the road for AR.
7ish pm - I make a gajillion calls in the Bentonville area for a hotel
room - finally find one at the Econo Lodge [aka - the 'hooker hotel'
shudder]
11pm - check into the hotel.

Thursday we didn't have to be at the seminar until 1pm, so I took
advantage of the morning, and saw my friend Kelly S for a brief
time...then she brought me back to the hotel just in time for KK and
Rex to pick me up for an early lunch.  I have some great pictures
on my camera - but they are going to have to wait...anyway - Aundrea
met us about half an hour before I had to go - then we took a group
shot [of course - it HAS to be documented for posterity], and KK took
me to the seminar [A BIG thank you to KK for being the 'drive around'
girl ].  About 15 minutes after she
dropped me off, I realized that I had left ALL of my crap in her
backseat.  What the heck was I thinking?  [the answer to that
is that I obviously wasn't]  Good thing that I am going back next week and that I didn't have a ton of stuff with me!

Anyway - the seminar was okay [read YAWN blah, blah, blah] - we hit the
road again at 4:15pm, and got back to the store at 10:30pm.  Ugh -
I had to run in and get a couple of things since all of my crap was in
KK's car [I still say 'CRAP' in my head everytime I think of it]...and
made it home around 11:30 pm.

Which brings me to today...and that is a whole other post, so I will leave you with this for now.

Apparently, I did not apply the sunscreen liberally enough.  The entire front of my body now has a lovely lobster hue...

The shade of red will fade, but the memories made already more than make up for a little sunburn.

Have I mentioned lately how good it is for my heart having a friend
like Wendy so close in proximity?  So good.  While I am aware
that there are many who love me - so many who are dear to my heart -
they are all so far away...and I did not realize how much I was missing
someone to just hang out with and spend time with.  Someone to sit
and drink coffee with and to talk about nothing and everything - and
for it not to matter if the subject matters or not - to know that you
are being heard - face to face.  Thanks Wendy
[and A for the hook up! ].  mtyek.

No pictures from today [ummmmm - not so secure that I will post
pictures of people - myself included - in swimsuits.  I shudder at
the thought actually]....

I do have some pictures to share however...Friday was my nephew Alex's
[my brother Caleb and his wife Joannas third] one year birthday, and
the family came out in full force to celebrate.

I have put off putting up these pictures in hopes that I could figure
out how to use the new photo editing program on the computer - to at
least get the red eye out, but to no avail.  Sigh.  Please
ignore the red eye...

My dad with two of my redneck [but so handsome] brothers.
L to R - Joe, Caleb [birthday boy's daddy], and my Dad...

Cake time...