Birthday Wishes Come True

I wanted to say thanks to the people who were sending out happy wishes to me for my 36th birthday on Monday.  Whew!  I made it to 36...and I'm still alive. 

I shopped my little heart out and got some good bargains at an outlet mall, and I am gonna look GOOOOD this fall.  You just gotta love buying a pair of pants at the Gap for less than $13.

I also visited the South Bend Chocolate Cafe and had the biggest slice of Chocolate Layer Cake you have ever seen, so one of my many birthday wishes came true.  Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting was on my list of "must haves" for my birthday.

Not only did I have a birthday, but I also just passed a special anniversary in my spiritual life.  I'll be back later to tell you about it.

So... I'm Having a Birthday

Do you know what?  I'm having a birthday tomorrow.  I've never been one to hide or lie about my age, so I'll just tell you.  I'm going to be 36.  Yes, 36!  I can barely fathom that, although the root job I need to cover my gray right now is a pretty good indicator that I may actually and truly turn 36.  It just seems like a strange number to me, and I'll explain that in a moment.

I am of the opinion that after I turned 30, anything older than that is just extra.  You see, when I was in the 6th grade I got it into my head that Jesus would be coming soon at the Rapture, and I would never see 30.  I'd be in Heaven way before that.  I also never thought I would see the year 2000.  But here I am, it's 2008, and I'm going to turn 36.  That's w-e-i-r-d.

I don't feel 36.  What does a 36-year-old feel like anyway?  Yes, it's getting more difficult to get out of bed in the morning.  I assume that's part of the aging process.  But I do think that because I don't have kids it makes it hard for me to gauge how old I'm becoming.  I just don't have milestones that mark the years or children rolling their eyes at me for saying something lame because I'm just "so old".

Okay, now getting back to the reason 36 is a strange number.  I found that 35 was perfect in that it was directly between 30 and 40.  A gal of 35 is considered pretty experienced and has been around the block a time or two.  She's got some wisdom under her belt.  So 35 is a pretty cool year.  But as I turn this corner to embark on 36, I'm suddenly faced with 40 looming down the next street.  I'm only 4 years shy of the big 4-0.  Do you know how fast 4 years can fly?  Fast!  And I must say... 40 LOOKS MIGHTY SCARY. 

Please don't misunderstand me, all you 40+ readers.  I'm not knockin' your 40 years.  I know it's just a number.  I just don't know what to imagine I'll be at 40 years.  I guess it's a fear of the unknown.  And you know what else?  They make 40-year-olds get mammograms.  Oooh, something to look forward to.  Uh, NOT!  Next thing they'll be wanting to schedule me for a colonoscopy, and we all know how well I cope with that.

Alright, so I know what you all are thinking.  Liz, why can't you just enjoy 36 and not worry about what might be 4 years from now?  Yeah, I know.  You're right.  I should do that.  I'll work on that.

But I'm pretty sure Jesus is coming back any day, though, and I'm planning to spend 40 in Heaven.

And Now My Dog Will Do A Trick

I don't know if any of you dog lovers watched that reality series "Greatest American Dog", but we did and loved it. I hope they bring it back again in a few months. We enjoyed watching the dogs and their owners compete in various tasks and challenges. Those dogs were amazing.

On the finale, one of the judges did a "leave it" command with a Boxer by placing the treat right on his paw, and it intrigued me. Ever since then, we've been practicing "leave it" with Dixie. It's crazy the way she does it. We set the treat in front of her, tell her leave it, and she gets up and walks away, all the while looking at the treat out of the corner of her eye. It seems to be such a great temptation that she feels like she has to walk away from it.

So I tried to capture that on video for you, but with my hand full of treats and the camera on, she was quite distracted and didn't perform exactly as she usually does. Here's what I was able to get out of her, and you'll notice she quickly reverts to her old standby trick of roll over. She may not be the smartest dog, but she is so stinkin cute!

 

Dixie - "Leave It" from Liz on Vimeo.

If you're reading this in a feed reader, you may need to go to my blog in order to view the video.

I Missed Out!

I am so disappointed that I did not get in on the I See What You're Saying carnival over at 2nd Cup of Coffee on Tuesday.  I just didn't have time to get my own video recorded, although I tried.  I have had webcam issues*.  I love doing videos, so this would've been the perfect carnival for me to get involved in.

Well, even though I didn't get to make my own video, I have been checking out all the other videos that entered.  You have GOT to go check them out for yourselves.  They're HILARIOUS! 

There wasn't a theme or anything.  It was basically introducing yourself and talking about anything you wanted to.  I didn't know there were so many funny bloggers out there...you know...besides Big Mama, Ministry So Fabulous, and Discovering Liz.  {Oh, I jest!  That's my blog.  And I'm not that funny.}

So if you're ready to meet some new bloggers and laugh a lot, go over there right now and then tell me which one is your favorite.  I have only seen a handful, but right now my favorite is His Girl's Blog.

*Webcam Issue - If anyone knows how to get the sound to record at the correct level on the Cyberlink Youcam software on my HP Pavilion dv2000, I'd be ever so grateful for the knowledge.  It records muffled, no matter how high the volume is up.  Stinky!

Wondering...

Has anyone ever died from being too tired?

I stayed up too late last night, and then I overslept this morning.  Woke right up out of a dream, looked at the clock, and I saw my radio had been on for 8 minutes and never heard it.  And THAT'S a pleasant way to awake, let me tell ya.  I crawled out of bed, looked into the mirror through half-open eyelids, and decided that "yes, I do need to wash my hair this morning or else I won't be able to do a thing with it."  Ugh!

Okay, so I admit to being overly dramatic with my "dying" comment.  I'm nowhere near dying, but I do feel yucky, which makes sitting here at the computer at the office a less-than-enjoyable experience.  I'm pretty sure it's a tiredness thing.  I've already had coffee, but I feel no effects of the caffeine.  I took a Tylenol and feel no effects from that either.

Oh, how my pillow is calling to me.  We definitely have a date this afternoon.

{Yaaaawn}