UNATTRACTIVE QUALITIES

For some strange reason, I find these qualities to be very unattractive:
1) Horrible spelling
2) Unwilling to share food at a restaurant. (I mean, come on, that's what makes it more fun is when you take a bite of something tasty and then say to your friends, "Ah, you've gotta try this!" and share.
3) Showing crack
4) Stuffing food in your face while driving (I don't know...there is just something about seeing a Big Mac being inhaled by the person next to me in traffic that totally grosses me out).
5) Arguing...about EVERYTHING. You aren't always going to be right; no one is. And if you're wrong, it's OK to admit it.
That's my list so far.

BAGEL ME

Once upon a time, a young girl worked at a small bagel shop in Utah. She loved her bagels. In fact, she only ate bagels from this shop and refused to eat crappy Einstein Bagels, mostly due to their inferiority in taste (except the asiago) and high price, but also mostly because of her loyalty to her bagel shop. Then one day, the owners came in while the girl was hard at work, put a closed sign in the window, and the shop was gone. RIP Bruegger's Bagels of Orem, UT.

As fate would have it, 10 years later (don't do the math), this still young girl was driving down University Ave in Madison, WI, and to her surprise saw a magnificent building with the words Bruegger's written in that oh-so-tacky font she once adored.
She carefully changed lanes, walked in the door, and left with some honey walnut cream cheese and a bag of boiled, baked, and round happiness. Mmm...bagel me, WI.

COWBOY VS FARMER

I've learned there are many differences between cowboys and farmers. #1 difference that drives me crazy is that farmers don't dance. I feel like I'm in a place where people should be listening to (then that obviously leads to dancing to) country music. But, I'll be darned if I can find a place to scoot my boots around here.

The Farmer and the Cowman

Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends.
One man likes to push a plough, the other likes to chase a cow,
But that's no reason why they can't be friends.

Territory folks should stick together,
Territory folks should all be pals.
Cowboys dance with farmer's daughters,
Farmers dance with the ranchers' gals. (but they don't!)

Farmer:
I'd like to say a word for the farmer,
He come out west and made a lot of changes
He came out west and built a lot of fences,

Rancher:
And built them right across our cattle ranges!

Rancher:
I'd like to say a word for the cowboy,
The road he treds is difficult and stony.
He rides for days on end with jist a pony for a friend,

Farmer:
I sure am feelin' sorry for the pony!

From Oklahoma, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

THANKS: GIVEN

I am thankful for you.
And for me
Maybe even for you & me
And all the stuff that is in between.
And ice cream.
I am REALLY thankful for ice cream.

YOUR DUTY

I was sitting behind a girl yesterday who had a loose hair on her shirt. With my ninja-like skills, I gently removed it without her noticing. I then glanced over at the boy next to her and saw he had a string on the back pocket of his pants. Not sure if that was appropriate for me to remove for him, I dared the girl next to me (who was actually closer to him) to grab it off. I mean she'd be doing him a favor after all. She declined. Then I felt bad letting him walk around possibly for the rest of the day with a white string attached to his black pants.

I absolutely DO NOT find it creepy when someone grabs a fuzz off my shirt, tucks in my tag, or tells me I stuffed my skirt into my pantyhose when I leave the bathroom. In fact, I expect people to tell me if they notice any of those to avoid embarrassment for myself.

OK everybody reading this blog, promise me this...

Raise your right hand and repeat after me (come on...do it...even if you're a dude):
I, (state your name), promise to do my best to do my duty to help other people, whenever and wherever I may see fit, to aid them in looking their best and avoid any potential clothing disasters.
Done and done. Duty served.

ATHENS MARATHON 2010

In 490 BC, the outnumbered Greeks defeated the invading Persians on the fields of Marathon. Legend has it that a soldier named Phidippides ran 24.85 miles from Marathon to Athens to bring news of the shocking victory. His heroic effort was memorialized in 1896 when the first modern Olympics, held in Athens, recreated the run officially dubbed the Marathon. During the 1908 London Olympics, the British changed the course to 26.2 miles.

2500 years after the original Marathon, we have the opportunity to re-trace the legendary route. Had the Greeks not stymied the Persians from conquering the mainland, the glory of ancient Greece as the cradle of Western Civilization might never have come to pass. The 2010 Athens Classic Marathon offers an occasion to honor the roots of a culture whose accomplishments continue to inspire greatness in each of us today.


So I remember when I used to be a good runner girl and thought 'I'll run a marathon at least once in my life just to do it...when I find the right one.' Well, this might be it! How cool would it be to run in Greece?! This is going on my list to Santa for sure. Anyone interested in joining me?

**And maybe to warm up for this I can do the Great Wall half marathon in CHINA. I better dust off my running shoes.

PREDICTIVE TEXT

My name is deanna and I use predictive text option when typing text messages. Theoretically, the number of keystrokes per character, provided that all words used are in the dictionary and that no spelling or typing mistakes are made, should allow your cellular device to type the word you desire when writing your message. ie. pushing 8398 should form the word TEXT. In practice, however, these factors are found to be crucial to speed and accuracy, as has been demonstrated in experiments with real users like myself:

I invited someone to come along to have dinner with me and the local Wisconsin morons last night.

Oh wait...actually there's another M in there...it's the Mormons!

Thank you predictive text and my lazy fingers for that laugh.
deanna: world's most professional text messager.

LOOKING FOR LOVE

Looking for love in all the wrong places. The evolution of the number on the mens bathroom wall:

attempt #1

#2 making sure not to get any DIFFERENT kind of cowboys texting...

final attempt

PS If anybody asks, I don't know who wrote this at Kleeman's!

H&M

New purchase and I totally rocked this dress!

H&M: meet my closet;
closet: welcome to paradise.

AMERICA'S DAIRYLAND

Besides seeing dogs wearing blinking collars at night so the owners know if they get stolen by owls, being told fondue can NOT be made without wine, and finding this at the local Farm and Fleet store (wish I would've bought it),

my new favorite part of this week is seeing a sign at church that said everyone was welcome to help themselves to the fridge to take home some cheese and yogurt dip. I love Wisconsin...it is America's Dairyland after all.

CHEESE FUDGE

I like cheese and I like fudge...so why wouldn't I like cheese fudge?! It has the same ingredients as cheddar cheese, but in fudge form with nuts. OK...So since I'm in Wisconsin, I had to try it. Surprisingly enough, even though it looks like a packaged cow patty when you buy it, it doesn't taste that bad.

LIFE IS GOOD

Sometimes I look at what I have or what I've done/seen and think: life is good to me. I'm blessed...maybe my bank account isn't as blessed as others, but I've got a lot in life. I have super friends and a wonderful family and the sun is shining. Yeah, life is good today.

FARVE AND AWAY

I tried to find the local Mormon church in Madison this morning. After driving to a couple different meeting houses and finding the parking lots empty and doors locked, it was ruled that church was cancelled for the Vikings vs Packers game today. What else could be the reason?! Mr. Favre playing is a big deal here, dontcha know.

So I went to the house and watched it. I came to the conclusion that I need a football-playing boyfriend. He can walk around the house wearing those uniform pants. And to make him feel comfortable in it, I would good game every time he does something cool. We could even drink gatorade for every meal. I'm willing to make this work.