Lickable List

I have always had strange taste in men. About 2 years ago I was attending a trade show in Florida with my then sales manager and sales colleague. One night at dinner we decided to play "if you could sleep with anyone who would it be"? We decided to keep the game quick and you could only name 3 people. My list consisted of James Spader, Conan O'Brien, and Angelina Jolie. Agreed, it’s a very strange trio and includes a woman (a very good looking woman). Don't get me wrong I love to look at the George Clooney's and Brad Pitt's of the world but I seem to be more attracted to bad boys or comedians. Here are a few from my lickable list. Feel free to share your lickable list even if they may taste like cat litter its OK! I won't judge you.

1. Pete Doherty - my friend Jeremy just told me I was crazy for putting Pete on my lickable list. During that conversation he proceeded to also tell me that if I ever licked Pete it would taste like a litter box.

2. Brandon Flowers - only when he wears eyeliner

3. Conan O'Brien - I would lick him anytime

4. James Spader - I prefer 80's James Spader but '08 James will do too

5. Matt Damon - in Bourne movies only because he is a badass

6. Chris Martin - badass piano player and killer voice (accent) and just all around HOT

7. Amy Winehouse - no explanation necessary

Whores of Skype

I deal with international partners and customers at work on a daily basis so I use Skype quite a bit. Skype makes it easier because it allows for me to cut and paste into Babelfish for translation as well as allow my customers to do the same. I do have a few close friends on Skype that I chat with on occasion but I get random requests every once in a while from people all over the world who want to chat and be my friend. I find it flattering and also very educational because I talk with people all over the globe from Asia to South America. Being an American I find thinking that the way we/I do things is the only and right way but being able to learn and talk with new people every day has allowed me to know different. Yes, I agree it’s very sad that I just made this realization in my 30's. The requests for new friends was few and far between, like I mentioned random. However, in the last week or so I have been getting bombarded with requests to be friends with people (and BTW these are all men). Let me ask; is there such thing as 'Whores of Skype'? If so I think I have been added to that list. Do I look like a mail order bride? Or do I look easy? Seriously, it is the most ridiculous thing. Who uses instant messaging to pick up a girl? No, I don't want to visit Egypt and allow you to pay for everything. No, I won't tell you what I'm wearing. If I did tell you it surely would be disappointing (sweatpants and an oversized fleece with tennis shoes). See told you it would be disappointing. Whoever added me to this list is on my short list. Take me off or I will be forced to take off my earrings and kick your arse!

Boise or Bust!

I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend in Charlotte with two great friends; Wendy and Heather. My friend Heather had a beautiful baby girl this summer and this was the first time I was able to meet Katie. Also, my friend Wendy is moving to Boise in a few weeks....(insert record scratching noise)Boise? Yes, I said Boise. When I think of Boise the only two things that pop in my head are potatoes and the cheesy side of the road, circuseseque stop 'largest ball of twine in the world'. Now, I really don't know and I don't think the largest ball of twine is in Boise but its just a stereotype that has been ingrained in my mind about states that are out west. For example, when most think of North Carolina its normally NASCAR, mullets (not the fish), and the KKK (please see a more recent episode of Family Guy to see the stereotypes most have of NC). I am not going to deny the existence of the preceding in North Carolina but its definitely not the norm. I went to college with both Heather and Wendy and to reminisce about days gone by we decided to visit our alma mater Appalachian State University on Saturday. I have to insert this tidbit of information, unfortunately ASU is not my alma mater. The only things I learned in college were how to play spades, drink lots of cheap beer, roll a joint, and eat cheap food. Nonetheless, I still occasionally attended my classes at ASU hence it being one of the many colleges in NC I attended. One of the first things Heather said when we got to Boone was how she thought we 'all looked the same' and 'haven't gotten a day older.' Believe me, I like to think I am still young looking and do get a little giddy inside when I get carded for a beer (which by the way we did get carded for our pitcher at Macado's - woohoo!). Here are two things I learned from being in Boone this weekend with my girlfriends.

1. Its the most fabulous thing to have girlfriends. Its even better to know that no matter what happens or how much time passes we can always pick up where we left off.

2. I am getting older every day, hour, minute, and second. The first thing I did when I got home from Charlotte last night was search the web for the best wrinkle serum available and order it. Those girls at ASU were looking fierce. I have alot of work to do. Carpe diem!

Here is the other thing I just learned from Wikipedia.

1. There are actually 2 places that claim to have the largest ball of twine: Darwin, MN and Cawker, KS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biggest_ball_of_twine

Damn Bourne Movies

This blog was created to allow myself to outpour my thoughts and feelings. More of a journal if you will. I think the content and my intent has changed over the past few months. I am glad to see there are people enjoying it for more than a journal (because I do happen to find myself to be pretty funny) so I hope this abnormal blog entry is not a buzz kill but its something I felt I needed to talk about.

I was in a horrible car accident in November of 2006. I flipped my SUV 3 times on I-40 going around 60 mph. It was a very scary thing. It was very life changing. By life changing it made me consider the existence of god and also to re-evaluate my relationships with friends and family. You never think at the age of 29 you would be considering writing a will or worrying about what type of life insurance you have. There are so many what ifs to consider. It makes you think about taking the lives of others without intent. I hit two other people and only caused damage to their cars which is a miracle in itself. There are things you wish you would have said and now have time to say. I was lucky. I walked away from that accident with a few cuts and bruises (as well as a very large monthly insurance payment and some very nice doctor bills). The other thing I came away with was a bad case of PTSD (posttraumatic stress syndrome). For over 6 months following my accident I would shake as I had to enter a car. I had nightmares about car accidents. I would not get on main interstates or highways to go anywhere. This made my 30 minute commute to work an hour and 30 minutes. The stress from this accident ruled my body. It made decisions for me and made my home a prison. I have worked very hard over the past year to ultimately deal with my PTSD and think I have done pretty well.

Here is why I am telling this whole story. I wanted to talk about my obsession with the Bourne movies. I love conspiracy theories, action movies, and Matt Damon very buff with tight T-shirts kicking some ass. The Bourne Ultimatum recently came out on DVD and I have been really excited to rent it. It was just as good as I expected it to be but near the end there is a extremely long and drawn out car chase (which by the way one of the best parts of the movie). Before I knew it I was in a full blown, put that bitch in a straightjacket, panic attack. I couldn't breathe, it was hot, my heart was racing, and it was really just awful. Just a classic case scenario. I could literally feel and hear my accident. I was reliving it all over again. My point is, it’s been over a year and this just hit me out of the blue. It makes me really mad in a sense because I thought I had it beat and felt all of my hard work had been put to shame. But it brought me back to down to earth a bit. Things happen for a reason and you always have to learn something from an experience. I think I just needed my ass kicked a little and The Bourne Ultimatum surely did that. Thanks Matt, I like a good spanking every once in a while (damn this was only in my dreams). Also, I think I just realized I may be dealing with this for the rest of my life and need to accept it.

What I Like About Me

Here are 10 things I like and why. Just thought you needed to know. And if you didn't want to, that is just too bad.

1. I enjoy listening to the radio and hearing songs I have not heard in years. This may be a sign of getting old! For example, I just heard The Eels 'Novocaine for the Soul' and it gave me goosebumps.

2. I like sleeping in. My idea of sleeping in is probably different than yours. I don't want to be waken up by an alarm. So if I get to sleep 'til 7am and the alarm did not wake me up that is considered 'sleeping in'. I don't quite understand why I can wake up at 7am on Saturday morning without the alarm but tend to hit snooze on my alarm 'til 7:30 on the weekdays. Maybe its a sign I hate to work.

3. I like 'punking' out. This is when you make plans to do something and then cancel. Its also even better when you are planning on punking out and the person you are punking on was planning to do the same. I will not punk on important things and require my friends to tell me if the event is punkable or not. This keeps everyone happy.

4. I like that the writers are on strike because I get to watch alot of reality TV (I know this is a shitty statement because lots of people have lost their jobs so don't hate- at least I know its a shitty statement). Hello!!!! Big Brother 9 is slated to start in February. I am not having to wait til summertime.

5. I like wintertime for one reason only. I get to wear Ugg boots all the time. Ok, thought of one more reason. I like snow too.

6. I like reading Playboy. I do enjoy the pictures too. Not going to lie. Those women are just incredibly beautiful. Bitches!

7. I like going to the salon and getting my hair cut and dyed. Don't know why. Guess its just an indulgence.

8. I like to read celebrity gossip. Its a sickness. I am constantly checking www.perezhilton.com and reading US Weekly.

9. I like chapstick, particularly Burts Bees.

10. I like to make lists. No explanation necessary.

Time's Up

Do you ever feel things happen for a reason? This time of the year makes me think about the people that I love and those I miss. Because my life is so busy I don't normally take the time to appreciate my feelings for someone. I think everyone does this one time or another. There is always an excuse. My time is up. No more excuses.

I grew up in a military town on the east coast of NC. It was hard to keep friends there because one of the 'perks' of being in the military is moving from base to base and once you got to know someone they were gone. I am laughing to myself right now thinking of the things my best friend Tracy Baker and I used to do in middle school. I was lucky enough to find a friend in Jacksonville that hung around for a while. We would save every penny we could from doing summer chores and go school shopping together. We would buy the same exact outfits down the the accessories and would plan which days we would wear that outfit. I drank my first beer in Tracy's bedroom and believe me we had more than one. I got caught drinking for the first time with Tracy. Not in the actual act, but we were both so sick the next day my parents knew what we had done. We would play dress up and do before and after pictures. As we got older we shared stories about boyfriends and cried on each other's shoulders. In college we kept in touch the best we could but we had the type of relationship that time didn't matter. We were able to pick right back up from the last time we talked. She moved to Washington State to be with her then husband and landed a great job. I would hear from her occasionally and then for some reason we lost touch. One day I checked my Yahoo mail (which I hardly do) and I had an email from her. She had found me on classmates.com. We chatted for a few days and got back up to speed. That is the part that happened for a reason. About a week later I came to work and found an email in my inbox from Tracy's sister asking if I was the Rachel that Tracy went to school with. She asked if it was me to email her back immediately because she had important news. Tracy was gone, she died suddenly of heart failure. If it wasn't for Tracy finding me the couple weeks before I probably would of never known she was gone. I would of never talked to her again. Can you imagine? I guess my point is... If you love someone, tell them you do! If you are mad at someone, reconcile those feelings! If you haven't talked to your best friend in a long time, call!