Halloween at Work

Happy Halloween!!! My work had a costume contest today and if you dressed up, you got to eat lunch for free! Who am I to pass up a free lunch?? I dressed up as Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin. Only TWO people guessed right, everyone else guessed that I was Sarah Palin. Dummies. Here are a few pictures of today's festivities--please note in the group picture, I am next to Obama--and it was a female friend of mine! I did let them think I was Sarah Palin for a second so they could get their cute little picture of Obama and 'Palin' in a compromising position (see below!).
The Group:

My Walk in front of the Judges:

Tina-Fey-Impersonating-Sarah-Palin and Obama:

100 Things About Me

I have prepared a list of 100 things about me (Jaimie) that you were unaware that you were dying to know. Until now. If you have never taken the time to compose a list like this, it is a lot harder than it sounds!!! So...I begin:
1. I am 28 years old
2. I am a Gemini born in the year of the Monkey
3. I love monkeys
4. I have a wonderful husband, beautiful daughter and amazing stepson
5. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English
6. I went to Oklahoma State University for the first two years of my education and graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma
7. I am an avid Oklahoma State Cowboys fan!
8. I became a mother four months after my 20th birthday
9. I went to the same school from 5th to 12th grade
10. I love to eat sweets!
11. I have only had one cavity in my entire life (knock on wood!)
12. I weigh more right now than I did on my final day of pregnancy (yikes!)
13. I love to read
14. I love to watch television/movies
15. I am deathly afraid of spiders (yes, deathly)
16. I think Adriana Lima is the most beautiful woman in the world
17. I have a not-so-secret crush on Ryan Phillippe
18. I have a not-so-secret crush on Ewan McGregor
19. My all time favorite movie is Party Girl
20. I played field hockey in grade school and high school
21. I love celebrity gossip
22. I have been sent to the principal's office twice in my lifetime
23. I am guilty of watching - and loving - The Hills
24. I used to work at a pigeon museum
25. I am on a kickball team
26. I love the Beatles
27. I love Stone Temple Pilots
28. I love Eminem
29. I used the word loquacious the night I met my husband and he's never let me forget it.
30. I got married 13 days after my 22nd birthday
31. I am afraid of flying
32. My aunt and uncle were killed in a plane crash when I was 14 years old
33. I was a total nerd in high school (still am!)
34. I've been friends with my BFF for 17 years
35. I want to be an English teacher one day
36. My first pet was a dog named Bo-Bo
37. I've been to almost every state in the continental U.S.
38. My parents sent me to Las Vegas for my 21st birthday
39. Family is very important to me
40. My favorite book is Catcher in the Rye
41. One time I went outside to find a neighbor I had never met so he could come into my house and kill a spider. It was big.
42. My favorite color is purple
43. If I could be reincarnated, I would want to be an elephant. Or a tree.
44. I am intimidated by large groups
45. I took piano lessons for five years, but cannot play anything more complex than chopstix
46. Some days, I hate my job
47. I kickASS at Scrabble
48. I am super-competitive
49. I had kidney stones when I was 23 years old
50. I've had pre-cancerous moles removed within the past month
51. My favorite television shows are currently Big Bang Theory and Ghost Hunters
52. Growing up, my family drove from Oklahoma City to Mission Viejo, CA every Christmas break
53. I wanted to be 17 years old forever
54. I was basketball manager in 8th grade
55. I want to travel to London before I pass on
56. Christina Aguilera is my favorite female vocalist
57. I LOVE LUCY!
58. I was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut
60. My first car was a 1996 green Mitsubishi Eclipse
61. I have shoplifted before--and I am not proud of it!
62. My ethnicity is Mexican, Indian, Swedish and Russian
63. I get terrible road rage
64. My favorite candy is Peanut M&M's
65. I hate okra
66. I was a latch-key kid when I was 8 years old and my sister was 6
67. I have to wash my hair every day or it gets greasy and gross
68. I love to watch my daughter play soccer
69. I recently discovered that I'm a Democrat
70. I love to gamble, I love casinos
71. When I was 13, I caught meningitis and almost died. I strongly believe a man that came to visit me, Les Hunt, said a prayer that saved my life
72. I love to walk through cemeteries
73. The first movie my husband took me to see was 'There's Something About Mary'
74. I am the most average person ever - just like Bella in the Twilight Series, which means I'd make an exceptional vampire!
75. I have perfect feet
76. I love playing games, all sorts
77. My husband and I have been together for more than 10 years, married for more than 6
78. I hate minivans and station wagons
79. I was a nanny in highschool and my first two years of college
80. The only bone I've ever broken is my big toe
81. White Chocolate Mocha is the only coffee I will drink
82. I tend to get bored easily
83. I despise fruit flavored candy (exception: Twizzlers)
84. I cannot swim in public bodies of water
85. I love Haunted Houses/Forests
86. I am a control freak and that quality is imprinted in my daughter
87. I worked as a carhop and fountain girl at Sonic in highschool
88. I was raised Episcopalian
89. My favorite holidays are Halloween and Valentines Day
90. I have one nephew and I love him to death!
91. I have only one living grandparent that I love dearly
92. I've lived in Connecticut, California and Oklahoma, respectively
93. I love to play pinochle (the card game)
94. My favorite summer was in 1994 when my sister and I got to spend 3 weeks in Connectictut with our grandparents
95. I hate bad grammar
96. I love the PINK line at Victoria's Secret
97. I recycle. I recycle HARD
98. I brush my teeth 2x/day. No Exceptions.
99. Our honeymoon was spent on a cruise in Mexico. We visited Carmen de la Playa and Cozumel
100. I am voting for Obama

The Mullet

The Mullet baffles me (as do 'rat tails', but I don't have all day to compose a novel of the ridiculous hair styles that baffle me!). I was at the movie theater with my daughter the other day and there were a bunch of little boys (ages 5 - 7) in line to buy tickets and they ALL had mullets. At this age, these boys really have no say on how their hair is cut, which means an adult chose to cut their son's hair like this and let him parade it around in public. There are actually people out there in this world, in this city who think mullets are awesome and I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. As I searched the internet for a picture to go along with this blog, I found something even better: A chart that demonstrates the procedure to cut the perfect mullet. ENJOY.

Book Club: Twilight

Our group choice for the month of October is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, the first book in a captivating saga about a vampire (Edward Cullen) and a human (Isabella Swan) who fall in love. My sister brought this book to my attention a couple of months ago and warned me that the series would be addicting...she has never been more correct. I swiftly conquered Twilight and moved onto the second book, New Moon and the third book, Eclipse in one week's time. I began the fourth, and final, book Breaking Dawn over the weekend and found myself reading it more slowly, as I know when it's over--there is no more. I've even broken one of my book rules for this series: All of the books on my bookshelf must match in terms of hardback and paperback. The first two books in this series are already in paperback, but the last two are not. In fact, Eclipse doesn't make it in paperback until May 2009 and I needed to satisfy my vampire/werewolf cravings immediately!!

What could be better than losing yourself in a series of incredible books? A movie!!! Twilight the movie will be out in theaters on November 21, 2008 and that cannot come fast enough for me. I watch the trailer, on average, 10 times a day (much more sometimes)...over and over to see if I missed something the first time! The characters they have picked for Edward and Bella are PERFECT. This is definitely an opening night Must-See for me. If you'd like to see the trailer, go here: www.twilightthemovie.com but it may not be as appealing if you haven't read the book.

Here are the covers of each book in the series (in order, of course):

Happy 8th Birthday, Jadyn!!!!

TODAY is Jadyn's 8th Birthday!!! Our baby is getting so old!!! Jadyn's birthday party this year was yesterday at The Science Museum of Oklahoma (f/k/a The Omniplex). It was a pretty big crowd--and I was exhausted by the end of the day. The kids got to go play on the playground for about 30 minutes and then they returned to our designated party room for a liquid nitrogen demonstration. Our party host dipped many fun items in to the stuff and showed the kids how everything turned as hard as rock--including a banana that broke like glass when Jadyn threw it to the ground. At the end of the demo, Jadyn went up front and helped our party host make some sub-zero ice cream (that was apparently very tasty!) All in all, I believe that the kids had very much fun. Below are a couple of pictures from the party.

The Cake. As you can see, Jadyn is on the front of this cake made by her grandmother Anna (AK Bakes)--and she is with all three of her boyfriends: The Jonas Brothers!! (This also resembles the front of her invites, too--sans Jade's picture!)

Jadyn and her best friend tetter-tottering at the Museum's playground:

Jadyn assisting in the preparation of sub-zero ice cream!

The Gift. Jadyn has been begging for a hamster for the past six months, so her dad and I bent the 'no pets' rule and surprised her with one. Here is her new hamster--and his name has gone from 'Harry' to 'Chocolate' to 'Goober' to 'Goofer'...so I guess he doesn't have a name right now, but he did bite Jadyn twice, so we're off to a good start!

Finally, here is a bonus picture of our kids before the party. Aren't they just precious??

Mommy-Brag-Alert

This is definitely a brag-blog: Jadyn's soccer team had tough competition during Saturday's game and only managed to score three goals total...and how many did Jadyn score? Three. All three were scored by Jadyn...she had some help from her teammates, of course...but our hearts were swelling with pride! Way to go, Jade!!!

...and the FUN begins!!!

Jadyn had her very first sleepover on Friday night (October 3rd). She has been to other houses for spend-the-nights, but this was monumental for her...and her parents--it was at OUR home! The little girl that spent the night is her soccer coach's daughter, so the night started following Friday night practice. Once Andy got home from work, we took the kids to Johnnie's (friend's choice), where both kids wanted to sit at their own table and scarfed their chicken fried steak down faster than they could spell it! After dinner, it was really late so we came home and the girls played all over the house...and once the parents went to bed, they had their own dance party and coke bar. Yes...I said coke bar--the girls downed all but one coke in the fridge and were apparently guzzling it...but they were out by 1:30 am, so no worries there! The next morning, they woke up bright and early, played and then suited up for their soccer game! Here is a picture of the girls, on Jadyn's first sleepover:

Book Club: Leap of Faith - Queen Noor

Our book club choice for the month of September was Leap of Faith by Queen Noor. I am not that into autobiograpies - although I do admit, I have appreciated most that I have read - nor am I into history (this is just a plain fact)...so Queen Noor's book does not go to the top of my list; however, if you do like the genres listed above, you may enjoy this book. Queen Noor's life (or rather, the life of her husband, King Hussein of Jordan, through her eyes) was interesting, but the historical facts of the middle east made this book a very slow read for me. There were a few people in my book club that liked this book a lot, though--one of whom is a hisory major. I do have certain gripes about this book, which I will not divulge here for the main fact that it was not a BAD book. So--with that said, here is a picture of the cover, in case you want a book that will make you feel a little bit smarter (on certain one-sided facts of the middle east in the late 70's, 80's and 90's):

Li'l Divas - September 27-28, 2008

Jadyn has been playing soccer since Fall '04 and the team she currently plays with is called Li'l Divas! It is so exciting to watch them play--I'm very competitive, so I really get into it! This past weekend, the girls played in their very first tournament and placed 3rd and we are SO PROUD of them! (They were up against some pretty tough teams, too!) Here is a picture of our baby girl with the other little divas:


(Yes, their jerseys do look like they have a picture of a stripper on it...or maybe something you would picture on the mudflap of an eighteen-wheeler!)

1998 Heritage Hall Reunion

Saturday night was my highschool reunion, which was located at The Skirvin Hotel. Ten Years, wow, we are getting old…FAST!!! It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be--it was nice to see everyone. We are all so grown up now!! After meet and greet and the slide show, the party was taken to the downstairs bar and after five shots, two of straight vodka, I was totally wasted. Not drunk, wasted. This happens to me maybe once every two years and has probably happened three or four times in my whole life. Yesterday was no fun and I'm not 100% convinced that I am completely cured today! I apparently made some nice phone calls that night, too. I remember calling Kaitlyn…but I called Andrea…and I do not remember that at all. So…that shows you how much fun I had! ;o) Here are some pictures from our reunion:
Julie and Me:

Julie, Kelly and Me:

Kelly and Andy:

Our 1998 Graduating Class:

Surprise!!!

Andy and I had a pretty eventful weekend--so much is the case that we need a weekend to recoup from our weekend! It started off on Friday night with Andy's Surprise birthday party! His birthday is October 15th, so it was a super surprise having it in September! Andrea and I used the ruse of meeting her and Kevin at Hey Day in Norman for a fun game of Laser Tag. The whole gang was there waiting to surprise Andy: Andrea, Kevin, Jeff, Kaitlyn, Drew, Christina, Kyle and Rahme…and Kit came later. It was a lot of fun: Beer, Pizza, Cookie Cake, Laser Tag and Arcade games! (We even let the psuedo-birthday boy win Laser Tag! ha ha!) Then we took the party to our house for more drinking and fun games of catchphrase. Jeff and Kaitlyn had so much fun that they decided to sleep over with their son, Aidan! Fun stuff! here are some fun pictures from that night!
The Cake:

The Group Reading Game Results:

The Sweaty Birthday Boy after laster tag:

Book Club: First To Die

Our book club book for the month of August was First to Die by James Patterson. We chose something light (a 'non-thinker') to conclude our summer reading. This is the first book in a 7-book series of The Women's Murder Club, which happens to be a new tv series (which I am very anxious to see!). Lindsay Boxer is the main character and she's a detective who solves crimes with her department--and on the side with her girls! Once I start a series, I have to finish it out of principle, so I went ahead and read books 1 - 6 and am waiting for 7 to come out in paperback (so that it matches the rest of the books in my set!) I swear...if reading made you thin, I would be branded an anorexic!!! Ha! Anyway...if you want a light, fun read, I recommend that you pick this book up! Here's a picture of the first book in the series for reference:

The Rental Car

Mr. Pilot, as mentioned in my car accident post, decided to go ahead and file through insurance--which means that the shop gets to keep my car longer, but I get a rental car. Enterprise was out of standard sized cars, so my options were "minivan" and "truck". I took the truck and as soon as I left I handed it over to Andy and took his Accord. I am NOT driving around in a miniture truck, I don't care if it's a 2009!! It happens to be bright red, too. Lovely. Enterprise told me they would call me when a standard car became available...26 hours later, Andy is still sportin' the truck. Here's a picture of the very-embarrassing-to-Jaimie vehicle!

Congratulations, Daniel Eduardo!!!

The news broke this morning: Daniel Eduardo Gomez is now officially an attorney! Congratulations from your In-Laws! We heart You!!!

My First Car Accident!!

It took 28 years (12 of them as a driver myself), and I had my very first car accident on Wednesday! It was rainy and there was mucho construction on the highway and those two things are a recipe for disaster during rush hour. My car was at a full stop and BAM! a 19-year old OU student rams the back of my car. (Another reason to hate crimson and crème if you ask me)…so, the girl gets out of her car - on the highway - and gets into mine and we exchange information. I didn't even get out to look at my damage because we were on the highway--and I'm not dumb enough to get out of my car, but I could see her car in my rear view mirror - hood pushed straight up, so I was worried. She called her dad (who she was talking to on the phone…in the rain…during rush hour…on the highway with construction…when she hit me)…and he didn't want to get the police involved - just make it quick and simple. I wasn't worried, the girl was driving an Acura. She calls me later in the evening and tells me her dad doesn't want to go through insurance, but rather pay out of pocket and that I could choose any body shop I wanted. Fine...
So…the next morning, I take an hour off of work to get an estimate and I scan and email it to her. I have to get the entire bumper replaced, which is over $800, and if the retainer bar is broken as well, that needs to be replaced, which is $200 on top of that. Her dad didn't like that estimate, so he asked for two more. I was irate at the inconvenience of taking time off of work in the first place, so now he's asking me to do it twice more. I went straight to my attorney. She said if I don't have a check in hand that day, then to just go through his insurance. Insurance only requires one estimate and the body shop takes care of EVERYTHING. So, the nice person I am, I went ahead and got another estimate at lunch and it was slightly less than the first (not to mention 15 miles away from where I work!), so the 'dad' agreed to that one. Next the complication of the Body shop comes in. They said that they can only accept cashier's check or money order…and if they pay by credit card, the guy needs to come in himself to sign it. He lives in Heavner, Oklahoma…where the hell is that place anyway?? Then he won't return her calls--his voicemail says "I'm either flying or asleep"…so he's a pilot?? I don't feel sorry for this guy…and I didn't ask for a rental car either, he should just pay up! Before I left work yesterday, I sent him a long, angry email. No more Mrs. Nice-Woman! He called the body shop less than an hour after that email and everything is all set. I’m out of a car for two days…but it's worth it, I'm getting it put back together. Here is a picture of the damage (minor for all of the trouble and stress these people have put me through!!!):