I Was Tagged

 I was tagged by Shauna.  

 

8 Things I am Looking Forward To…

- July trip to Thailand

- Going swimming this weekend

- Seeing Joanie this afternoon

- U2 concert in October

- My date tonight ;-)

- Downloading Green Day’s new CD

- Ordering Disney photos of Luke

- Chris Kubinski’s b-day party tomorrow

 

 8 things I did yesterday... 
- Flew home from Orlando

- Watched 2-hour season finale of LOST

- Picked up Molly from Dawn’s

- Watched American Idol finale (last 5 mins only)

-  Caved and checked work email

- Went to bed early (new habit)

- Introduced my parents to a new restaurant (Elsi’s)

- Agreed to house sit my next door neighbor’s cat (Mr. Puss Jackson) while she’s on vacation

 

8 things I wish I could do... 
- See my kids in Africa this year

- Live in the now. (Be more present.)

- Be more giving with my time

- Live in Africa for an extended period of time working with poverty/HIV-stricken families

- Play one song (preferably Foo Fighters) on the electric guitar

- Compete in a triathlon

- Did I mention Africa?

- Read a good fiction book and not get bored with it.

 

8 shows I watch... 
- LOST

- 30 Rock

- Intervention

- The Daily Show

- Anderson Cooper 360 

- Oprah

- Meet the Press

- This Old House

 

8 people I tag... 
- Mark

- William

- Suzanne

- Jake

- Shauna

- Cristi

- Dawn

- Jeff

Where to Find Me

In case you can't tell, I have pretty much given up on blogging.  Most of my updates these days are on Twitter and Facebook. I update both several times a day so send me a tweet or friend request if you are on either of these sites.  

Here's a brief update on what I've been doing since my last post on January 28. I'm embarrassed just typing that.

Work:  Convergys is great.  I love working from home, and Molly loves sleeping at my feet all day.  My travel is very minimal these days (hooray!).  I've gone to Dallas a few times, but most of my travel planning these days is for fun.

Play:  I switched gyms.  I now go to LifeTime Fitness at Parmer and 620.  I enjoy everything about this place and have a great trainer.  I compare it to a cruise ship without the slot machines. They have a full restaurant, spa, salon, pools, water slides, exercise equipment, climbing walls, kids camps, basketball and raquetball.  I've been to three Texas Longhorns baseball games these past few weeks.  Mark and I took in the Texas-Kansas State game last week.

Travel:  Mark, Suzanne, Luke, Mom, Dad and I are heading to Disney World in two weeks.  Woo-hoo.  In July, I'm heading to Thailand for two weeks.  Doing an REI Adventures trip through Chang Mai (hiking, biking, kayaking) villages, tea plantations, elephant sanctuaries and Buddhist temples, and then a week at the beaches.  Staying on the string of islands where Leonardo DiCaprio filmed "The Beach."

Music: U2's "No Line on the Horizon" and "Medium, Rare and Remastered." Planning to download Bob Dylan's new "Together Through Life" and then Wilco's new album next month.  Got tickets to the U2 show this fall at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.  

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Did You Know?

Music: Fatboy Slim's "Right Here Right Now"

Cable for Old People

Cable PSA For Old People - For more funny videos, click here

The Year Formerly Known as 2008

1. Was 2008 good for you? Absolutely.
2. What was your favorite moment of the year? Two stick out: 1.) Seeing my 15 Zambian boys run up to me with open arms yelling "Uncle David." 2.) Witnessing the election of Barack Obama in November.
3. What was your worst moment of the year? The Beijing parasite that lived in my gut for two weeks.
4. Where were you when 2008 began? James and Val's living room
5. Where will you be when 2008 ends? James and Val's living room (I never left!)
6. Did you keep your new years resolution of 2008? Most of them. 1.) I ate red meat only four times in 2008. The first time was in September. I had a weak moment and was spotted at Arby's in Temple in November. 2.) I made it back to Africa for a missions trip. 3.) I organized our HOA online community group and moderate the bulletin board. 4.) I lost some weight but not 14 pounds.
7. Do you have a new years resolution for 2009? I have several. Some are themes; some are actual goals. 1.) Be willing to fail at something. 2.) Go back to Africa. Kenya is looking promising. 3.) Continue to see a personal trainer. I've been seeing him for the past 8 weeks at least 2x a week plus a boot camp.
8. Did you fall in love in 2008? This is the only question I refuse to answer.
9. Did you make any new friends in 2008? Yes.
10. What was your favorite month of 2008? August
11. Why this month? I saw my 15 boys in Zambia and decided to leave Oracle after 5 years for Convergys.
12. How many different places did you travel to in 2008? Too many. That's partly why I changed jobs. Too much travel. Let's see: San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York City, Minneapolis, Denver. Internationally: Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, Beijing, China; London, England; Zambia; Botswana and 20 minutes in Zimbabwe
13. What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2008? #1 Slumdog Millionaire, #2 Young at Heart, #3 Frost/Nixon
14. What was your favorite song from 2008? "Rise up with Fists" by Jenny Lewis Video
"Human" by The Killers
15. How many concerts or plays did you see in 2008? Does U23D at the IMAX count? How about if I saw it two times?
16. What was your favorite book in 2008? Red Letters by Tom Davis and Bono: In Converstation by Michka Assayas
17. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year? Okay, that's two things I won't answer.
18. Did you treat somebody badly in 2008? Yes
19. Did somebody treat you badly in 2008? Probably
20. What was your proudest moment of 2008? Hearing Luke say he loves "Uncle David."
21. Where did you work in 2008? I worked at Oracle and then moved over to Convergys.
22. Favorite TV shows(s) of 2008? LOST, Worst Week and Intervention
23. Favorite Band(s) of 2008? Jenny Lewis, The Killers, Ryan Adams
24. Favorite Food in 2008? Enchiladas Verdes at Vivo's
25. Favorite Place in 2008? Zambezi River
26. Favorite person(s) to be with in 2008? My nephew Luke hands down.
27. Favorite person(s) to talk to in 2008? Dawn.  Laughter is guaranteed.
28. Favorite stores in 2008? Apple Store
29. Hardest thing you had to go through in 2008? A break-up
30. Most exciting moment(s) in 2008? 1.) Getting charged by a hippo while canoeing the Zambezi. 2.) Seeing Barack Obama and his family on stage on election night.

This Never Gets Old

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

U2: I Believe in Father Christmas

ABC's "Person of the Year"

Update: I posted a story about Kristin Elliott back in April. Turns out she was named one of ABC's "Persons of the Year." Since the story aired more than eight months ago, more than $200,000 has been donated by friends, family and complete strangers who saw her story on TV and felt compelled to give.

Word Cloud

I created a "word cloud" using a site called Wordle. It takes anything -- a blog, an e-mail, random writings -- and creates a graphical image based on the frequency of the words used. Here's my blog's word cloud. Not quite sure what to make of the word "pancake" being used so frequently. Does wonders for one's body image.