When it is all said and done...

Oh how the runner in me loves a good finish line and ladies and gentlemen, we have received the finish line! The Blog-a-Day in May challenge ends today! Whew!

This silly little challenge has actually taught me a pretty big lesson. Life is just a series of little moments all worthy of notice, appreciation and reflection. I had become so conditioned to focus on the big moments in life (the graduations, the moves, the new jobs that I have had and the husband and the kids that I don't have) that I consistently felt like I was missing out on something. But the funny thing is that when you are trying to coming up with material to post on a blog every single day, you begin to look at your life in a very different way. Those little moments in the day suddenly moved to centerstage in my life. I found a new appreciation for everything from a day of childish antics at Adventure Island to the day when Edub and I had really terrible service at BW3's. I just keep thinking... wait until this goes on my blog! I never did post that story, but it involves a server who couldn't get anything right. We honestly tried to think of one thing that she did right... and nada! But the best part of that experience was that I didn't get angry or storm out of the restaurant. I just laughed in disbelief and thought "oh, just wait until my blog friends hear about this one!"

I have also really enjoyed learning from others. Reading your daily posts is such a highlight for me. Oh and Adam, I believe that you have consumed approximately 6,432 extra calories this month. But, who's counting? And I am still waiting for my shiskaberry....

And as the contest draws to a close, I would like to thank my sponsors: Red Eye Coffee Shop, Sony Vaio, Lea Marshall's photos, the Division of Student Affairs, EDub, and my mom (for her phone calls to remind me to blog).

I love lunch

I always have and always will.

And at one point in my life, I didn't eat lunch at my desk. I actually took a lunch every single day. Some days I was even gone for 2 hours. Or the rare but oh so delightful all day lunch. What made those lunches so enjoyable? It was the people. My lunch crew. Monday-Friday from 11:30-? we could be found in The Caf. What? You have never heard of "The Caf"? Well then, you must not be from Wingate University.

Because if you have been to Wingate University, you would know that the place to be at lunch is the W.T. Harris Dining Hall (also known as The Caf). And the best day to be there is Wednesday. Oh, how I miss fried chicken Wednesdays.

Well, our little lunch crew formed when these two lovely ladies decided....

that they should eat lunch with these guys....
well, not ALL of them.... just suits #1, #2, #5 (L-R).

That one little lunch meeting morphed into a full year of daily lunches. The five of us found that while we all came from very different backgrounds (from the son of an NBA coach to the daughter of a single mother, from New England to Florida), we all had a lot in common and really enjoyed spending time together. We quickly learned that if you gave Gray chocolate cake, he would say whatever was on his mind (appropriate or not). We teased Dunn about all of his girlfriends. We talked sports, politics, fashion, and a LOT of pop culture. The students knew that the table in the far right corner by the windows (and dessert table) was ours. And without fail we were there every day. We were all together the day that Stacey announced she was having a baby and we spent the following months coming up with fake baby names. Lil' Andre never really took off.

One of my favorite lunch crew moments was when Gray proposed that everyone in the group have nicknames. And the immediately proclaimed himself "the sexy one". Oh how I miss that confidence!

I also secretly love that in the ONLY picture that I have of Stacey and me, I am wearing an outfit that the fellas totally mocked.... Oh and to the blog world, Stacey is preggo in that pic... she isn't fat...

The lunch crew dissolved in the spring of 2007 when Stacey, Dunn and Gray left the university. Clearly, Dooley and I couldn't make it without them, as we both left the following year.

Dear lunch crew,

I propose a reunion. Say Wingate Homecoming 2009?

Miss you,
Laptop

One simple request

Note to all: When planning events for the Fall...
For...the...love.
Check the football schedule!

Failing to do a little research could result in this:

FSU v. USF and the SPS Class of '99 Reunion on the same day.
September 26th.

How will I ever choose?



In other news:
Only 2 more days left in the "Blog every WEEKday in May Challenge". Whew. My brain is a bloggy mess.

AND

Only 2 more days left until the Annual "School is OUT for the summer and we are going to Barnaby's" Celebration.

Where we will recreate this photo from 2008:Or this one from 2007:
Or this one from 2006:

Want to skip church and go to Adventure Island?

YES.

How Sarah, Jeffrey and Meghan spent their Sunday Morning:



Well, technically speaking, only Sarah and Jeffrey played on those slides. I have a weird thing about being in enclosed tubes. AND after watching a little "yellow" run down a little boy's leg... they developed a little thing against the blue slides.


Here is what I rocked:

Oh yeah, I am SO good on the monkey bar rope thang. The lifeguard even complimented my mad monkey skills. (I think that he was just excited that there was someone over the age of 10 there for him to talk to...)

I beat Jeffrey racing down these slides. Well, technically we tied- but this is my blog.... so there.

Our little morning at the happiest place of earth, well the happiest place with chlorine, was SO good. Lots of carefree gallivanting, water splashing, 90's music flashbacking, french fry eating and we got to see our Dad's new office. (Did I forget to mention that this is where he hangs out EVERYday! He is so lucky.)

But...

Here is how Meghan spent Sunday Evening (and all day Monday and some of Tuesday):

It's too late to....

As I am going to be with my family for the next 5 days, I might need to fine tune my mad apologizing skills. Just sayin'.

Make it stop...

I hear that confession is good for the soul. So, here goes...

I have a very destructive habit. It leaves me with feelings of anger, frustration, embarrassment and the strong desire to shake someone or something. Surely, that can't be good.

And while I am fully aware that the above is my typical response to my own indulgence, I just can't seem to stop. It is like that flipped car on the interstate, as much as I KNOW that I should focus ahead and keep driving, I cannot help but stare.

I have been suffering with this compulsive behavior for about a year now. (Ever since I moved back to the 'hassee.) There is a small part of me thinks that maybe others will change their behavior and then I won't have to. But for some unknown reason, I just cannot bring myself to stop reading the Tallahassee Democrat online. Where with every poorly written article there are even more disgraceful comments. And those comments indeed make me ashamed to be a part of this community.

But wait... there is a silver lining... I just learned that I am not alone. Liz (who will soon be my best friend) wrote a perfect commentary on this very matter. It was as if she took the thoughts out of my head. And since she is a MUCH better writer than I am, I thank her!

My hope is that the Democrat will one day remove the comment option. Please, I beg you. It makes our community look utterly ridiculous. Clearly people are unable to provide constructive comments that are relevant to the issues at hand.

Students, Faculty, Families and Distinguished Guests....

Question: What do Emily Greene, Michelle Obama and Carrie Underwood all have in common?

Answer: Great biceps and they were all the Salutatorian of their high school class.

Emily's thoughts on the matter:
"I really wish that Steven kid would have beat me. Then I wouldn't have to write this speech."

In less than 3 days, Greene Girl 3 will be giving her speech to her graduating class and as the "oh so helpful" big sister that I am, I provided her with a little inspiration....