you should try it

I added search capabilities to my blog.

You should check it out if you haven't already. It's pretty fancy-pants.

For instance, if you remembered me talking about shoes some time or other and you want to re-read that particular post you just type "shoes" in the search box and about twenty bazillion posts will pop up.

I talk about shoes a lot, apparently.

Or say you wanted to read any post where I mentioned food.

I don't recommend it. It would be quite a list.

Sometimes I use the search to link a past post to a current post. It's way easier than looking through my nearly 300 previous posts.

You should try it.

Edge of Darkness

Darren and I went and saw Edge of Darkness last night.

I'd give it a B.

If you like predictable mysteries this is the one for you. Of course it was full of action, killing, and swearing. But the story line was okay.

Also, everyone speaks with annoying east coast accents and it's a little hard to understand what's happening. I'd say I missed about 10% of the movie.

Overall, it's a rental.

The First of Many

I get my first paycheck today!

WOOOOO-HOOOOO!

After not earning a cent since August, this is really nice.

Decision

I've decided to take the CPA exam.

(Feel free to refresh your memory of the CPA exam here.)

I know, I know. I swore I would never do it.

But those OSA people, they're pushy.

Nice, but pushy. The CPA is highly recommended. And I've heard rumors they ask how far along employees are in the "process." I think that's a very apt term. It really is less like a test and more like a process. Everyone at OSA is taking it. And when I say everyone, I don't mean everyone, but I mean a lot. Clearly.

Plus, I really, really, really want to say, "Um, yeah, I'm a CPA."

Because wouldn't that be, like, so cool?

Also, and probably the most convincing factor, the section called Financial Accounting and Reporting is going International next year.

Which quadruples the amount of knowledge one would need to know to pass.

And I don't want to do that. So I'm thinking I'll be taking that one first, probably in April or May when the next testing section opens. Which means I probably should register in February. Ugh.

Wish me luck; I'm going to need it.


Also, if you don't hear from me for the next year, no worries. I'll either be sitting at home with my head in a book or dead from exhaustion.

Why I Love...

My alarm clock.

Four years ago in my sophomore year of college I went up to Duluth to visit my good friend and former roommate Alli.

She was also in my wedding, for those of you who were there.

We had a lot of fun hanging out, eating, and watching movies.

I know you're wondering what this has to do with an alarm clock. Just hold your horses; I'll get there.

Alli and I love Target. Always have, always will. We once went to Target three times in one day. I'm almost sure it wasn't a day we had classes, but you can never be too certain.

Well that weekend, as was tradition, we went to Target. I saw this alarm clock and fell in love. It is the most amazing alarm clock in the entire world.

It doesn't buzz. It plays a melody. For real. And it has, get this, FOUR alarm settings. Two in its regular mode, and two in weekend mode. You can believe me I took advantage of that. As someone who is obsessive about things like being on time, I usually set my alarms five minutes apart in the morning, just to make sure I don't sleep in too long. Well, what a pain it was to change it for weekends all the time.

Anyway, so my clock was awesome and all that.

And I loved it and all that.

And I got married and all that.

And my husband stole my alarm clock.

He STOLE it.

So for the past year I've been using this rickety thing that just won't give up the ghost so I can get a new one.

It's way old school, with the red digital numbers and the annoying BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!

You understand, I'm sure.

And then, last week, wonder of wonders, my husband bought me a new alarm clock. And not just any new alarm clock. He bought me the exact same one he stole from me.

Life is good again.

Update 5:27 p.m.

So this morning I didn't set two alarms; I only set one.

I bet you can see where this is going.

I set my alarm for 5:45 pm instead of am. Fortunately Darren had his set for 6:30 so I had enough time to actually put on clothes and makeup before I left for work. No shower though.

I just thought it was sort of ironic.

a new use

I discovered a new use for my Kindle today.

Okay, not really a new use. More like a new way to use it.

I use it at the gym.

It's so incredibly amazing you wouldn't believe it unless you experienced it yourself.

Let me tell you how it happened...


This week at OSA is Annual Staff Training, which is secret code for "sit-on-your-butt-all-day-long-and-listen-to-someone-talk-about-things-you-don't-understand." At least in my case. I am, however, meeting a lot of my coworkers and learning a little bit. Also, eating a lot.

Today as I was sitting there learning about A-133 (don't ask...I don't know the answer) and eating my M&Ms and popcorn I thought about how much I needed to go to the gym tonight.

So I gained a couple pounds in Florida, btw. Don't ask how I went the whole month of Christmas without gaining a single pound but gained two in one week in Florida.

I don't know the answer to that, either.

I knew the gym was going to be boring. It always is now that I don't exercise with my friend Krista anymore. There's no one to talk to while I'm on the elliptical, although I suppose tonight I could have chatted with the two large African-American men on the ellipticals next to me. Although, come to think of it, they were pretty busy figuring out what they needed to pick up at Cub.

"How on earth am I going to get through an hour on the elliptical tonight?" I moaned to myself during a (not) heated discussion on compliance testing for major programs.

All of a sudden I was struck by a stroke of brilliance.

Struck by a stroke, I say.

"I can bring my Kindle to the gym!"

I must admit, I am partially inspired by the girl on the elliptical next to me last night. She had a book with a clothespin-type clip on one side and a weird band on the other. It seemed to work for her, but why should I use such a contraption when I already have the perfect solution?

It worked like a charm. For the most part. Granted, it was a little difficult to read the small words when I was bouncing up and down. I was a little afraid I would make myself sick. Also, my machine gave three annoying beeps every time I took my hand off the heart rate sensor to push the "next page" button, which was about every 45 seconds. It got old.

Note to self: use a different machine next time.

All in all, a good experience. So happy with my Kindle. That hour flew by and I almost didn't want to go home.

I said almost.

my favorite books

One of my favorite books since 1997.

Maybe 1998. I can't be sure when I first read this book. But believe me when I tell you it was a long time ago.

Yes, I realize I was only, like, ten years old. I started early.

Quick side note: A friend and I were once talking about the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It's a book about this prostitute and this man, and how he falls in love with her and marries her but she never believes she's good enough for him and keeps trying to return to her sinful ways. She liked it; I didn't. (I pretty much don't like any Francine Rivers, though. I also don't like books about prostitutes, and I'm not exactly sure why that is.) Anyway, we were talking about why I didn't like it and I said something along the lines of it had been a long time since I had read it and I might like it more if I read it again. She said something about how I was probably too young for it at the time. I got the impression she was thinking I was about fifteen or sixteen. I didn't dare tell her I was probably more twelve or thirteen. Twelve years old and reading books about prostitutes. It's a wonder I turned out okay.

But yes, I was about ten or eleven when I graduated from my Babysitter's Club Books and started reading Christian romance for adults. So believe me when I tell you I've been reading in this market for a while.

Anyway, Pretense was one of my first few books. I started out with some (very) tame Janette Oke (if you've ever read the Love Comes Softly series you know what I mean) and moved on to Lori Wick, who is still one of my favorite authors. Although her recent books aren't as interesting as her first, in my opinion.

At 708 pages Pretense is a whopper for a ten-year-old, but I loved it. I read that book so many times you wouldn't even believe it if I told you. I used to have my sister read a paragraph from the book, close it, hand it to me, and I would be able to find it within two minutes.

Perhaps I was slightly obsessed.

I lost my copy of Pretense a couple years ago. I miss my old beat up copy. At the time I had been lending books to several people, and I'm not sure what ever happened to it.

For those of you who borrow books from me now, I keep a list.

I'm weird like that.

Anyway, after about a year I bought another copy with the new cover. It's not the same.

From the back cover:

Meet the Bishop sisters--Two women at the crossroads of life.

On the outside, the Bishop girls appear as different as sisters can be. Mackenzie is a mahogany-haired beauty who inherited the determined nature of her Army-officer father. Her infectious sense of humor and rare gift of imagination are often hidden by a reserved manner.

Radiant, blond Delancey views the world through an artist's eyes, drawing what she sees with wide sweeps of emotions. Her charming and trusting personality easily wins friends and admirers, but also leaves her sensitive heart vulnerable to hurt.

As the girls grow, unexpected difficulties threaten their world. Will their life-changing experiences bring them together or tear them apart? Where will they find the love they seek?

Like I said, one of my all-time favorites. Enjoy!