Saturday, November 27, 2010

needed: time machine. will accept time pauser machine.

This week has FLOWN by. I was so excited to get out of school on Friday, then the next thing I know- its Saturday night and I am desperately trying to suck time back into my watch.....to no avail. One way of doing this: stay up late and wake up early...get the most out of the day. Recently, I have been in recovery mode.
Let me start from the beginning. Friday was reserved for being excited about not being in school for 9 days straight. Saturday and Sunday....who am I kidding. I don't remember what happened back that far. I can tell you what I did...ish. I spent MUCH needed time with Zachary Bragg (we played video games, watched movies, ate sushi at Sho Gun, and ate breakfast together), watched Dead Like Me, The Office, The Taking of Pelham 123, Unstoppable, walked Maebe at all hours of the night, went to a birthday party for a 1 year old and get a fancy camera on loan to take pictures at that party, cleaned (kind of....not *really* cleaned, like I had planned), ate candy canes, ate breakfast with my MIL- Tammy, shopped with Tammy and my SIL- Whitni, played Super Mario Brothers and Mariokart on my Wii alone and with Mindy-Emily-Erin-and Adam, stayed awake all night on Friday night to buy an LCD screen tv from walmart (success!), skyped with my mom and dad, skyped with Katrina, called old friends to talk, decorated for Thanksgiving, went to Ed and Carolyn's to spend delightful time with the family, peed my pants because of laughing so hard, made new friends, spent time with old ones, watched MSU win the Egg Bowl, I didn't eat too much, but that will happen when we visit his parents for Christmas, planned on starting the "Couch to 5K program" to start running again, stayed up way late every night, never once slept past 8:30 (well....technically, when I woke up at 8:00 on Thursday morning, then I went to sleep at 8:00 on Friday morning, I didn't wake up until 3:00 that afternoon...but it was still only 5 hours of sleep- which by no means constitutes sleeping in), loved my dog, I didn't take ANY pictures ( just realizing this), bought tickets to attend Prairie Home Companion at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN for our anniversary in March, drank hot cocoa, DVRed the Macy's Day Parade then watched it with Mindy until 3 am, and used the "homesharing" feature with iTunes to get all of my music from our old computer to our new computer.
*sigh* if only all of our days could be so careless.
I do realize I could quickly tire of that, but for now, I daydream.
JKB.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

a break.

Zach called me on my way to work this morning, this is how our conversation went:

J: what are you doing?
Z: Just leaving work to go home, what are you doing?
J: Just leaving home to go to work.

such is life at the Bragg house.....but not next week.
Next week, I will sleep until 7:30, when he comes home to wake me up and we will spend all morning together until he has to go to sleep and I can clean the house and cook dinner to send off with him to work that night. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and since he has to work, I will be spending the day with Ed and Carolyn eating delicious turkey and spending some much needed time with the Earnest family. I will stay up late. I will go to the mall. I will browse the crochet section of Barnes and Nobel. I will rest. I will clean...like, *reeaaallllyyy* clean. and I will play with my dog.

What am I thankful for? Thanksgiving break.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

rambling. (with a happy ending)

I am just sitting here waiting for my wonderful friend neighbor, Mindy, to finish her nursing school paper that she has been working on for M-O-N-T-H-S now so that we can go roll a friends house...nothing personal, just revenge. I was just at this particular friend's house watching the State game and (as it became clear that State was NOT going to pull out of the nose dive they were in) we began playing Bananagrams- (a lovely game that resembles the ever so popular "Words With Friends" for iPod, iPad, and iPhone). Basically, you make your own little scrabble board in front of you with letter tiles and as you (or another player) uses up the letters you drew originally (21 or 15 depending on the amount of players), you-one tile at a time- draw from the pile of letters to ultimately finish an entire scrabble board of your very own...if you're lucky (that's the best explaining I can do without the visual aid of the actual game). SO, the rules in Scrabble apply: you can't just ask "is this a word?" because that would defeat the purpose of even playing the game. we might as well just give you a dictionary and let you have at it. ONE girl in the whole game *constantly* asked "is this a word? is this how you spell this? is this right? can this count???"- oh.my.back. Even after repeatedly stating my position on the whole asking questions thing, she kept on. So what did I do? I quit. I feigned exhaustion and flipped my tiles over to put them into the draw pile and quit. Was I being childish? I don't think so.....I was only helping myself hold on to my value of self control. Under other circumstances, I might think this would be a childish move, but if you only knew the girl....my,my,my. Not that being home schooled is such an awful thing (because its not...if you do it right), but I think she may have been, which could account for all lack of regard for social cues. This isn't going to turn into a bash this girl blog, just something I had to release.
While on a subject.....any subject, really- that just seems like a good transition...I wonder how much marriage affects how one interacts with colleagues, friends, co-workers, administration, or otherwise. I would like to think it has a positive effect- not just because I'm married, but because I have seen evidence of my position on this issue. I have met single person after single person (sometimes young single, but mostly older single) that have not yet learned the ebb and flow of life...if that makes sense. The natural give and take that comes with your day to day relating with other people- not just a spouse, but a friend or co-worker. People that don't *have* to be sensitive to the needs of another so that they can live happily in a marriage...simply aren't. Since they don't have to put it into practice every day with someone they love and want to make happy, they don't see the value of it in other aspects of their lives. I am not saying that every single person ends up a curmudgeon, cursing the world for not sending their prince charming sailing in to save the day, and despising every married person for the happiness they have in life....but this does seem to be the trend in older single women. As for older single men, you just don't see many of them out there anymore, so they don't count...but if they did, I don't think this would apply as much for them.
Having said all of that, I DO know some very pleasant older single people (by single, know that I mean never been married...or briefly previously married) - and I love them dearly. I'm sure its not easy being older (by older, I mean my age) and single...it gets lonely and such- I am not going to pretend to understand all that goes on in a situation like that, but for the sake of every relationship that you should hold dear : learn how to relate, socialize, give/take, converse- all without feeling the need to dominate, be right, or especially look at me or talk to me like I am a total idiot that isn't smitten with every word that falls out of your mouth. Help me help you....be kind, rewind. wait...maybe that last one doesn't apply, but you get the basic gist. To end on a happy note:
something else I love about cold weather:
-this is when pomegranates come out to play...mmmm...I will never forget tasting one for the first time in Mrs. Squire's history class in 3rd grade...that's a big thing, because I don't remember much, but I remember those pomegranates every year when its time to buy one.
I really enjoy having a blog...even if I am the only one who will ever read it (with the exception of my wonderful bff, Pat E. and maybe a few lucky others-yes, I said lucky with a sarcastic tone..blast this expressionless text.)
jkb

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

As my favorite things come to mind, they will be added as new posts.

-Warm socks, corduroy pants, and hooded sweatshirts.

Monday, November 8, 2010

things I love...

about the cold winter months.

There aren't many things I don't like about this time of year, so I will get those out of the way:
-my nose hurts when it gets too dry (but that's what aquafor is for)
-I don't like to *be* cold
-when I sign, my fingers stay exposed to whatever the temp is and usually stay cold
-scraping my window in the AM (always making me late)
-fighting crowds in driving/shopping/eating/etc..
-the constant rain that always drowns my yard thus making mowing the Spring grass quite the arduous task.

THINGS I LOVE :
-celebrating the birth of sweet baby Jesus- maybe that sounds cliche, but its such a special time and celebrating it every year makes more and more real this time every year
-December 2nd, 1999, I took the life I had-turned upside down and backwards as it was- and gave it to Jesus to fix and he did- and he continues to on a daily basis
-wearing my sock monkey footie pajamas over my real pajamas to keep me toasty
-a warm fire (since I am without a fireplace, the fire pit will do, I suppose)
-hot chocolate
-candy canes (I reeeeeeally love candy canes...)
-the smell of pine that comes with a real tree in the house
-the smell of the dark green glade candle oil thing I have that I put out this time of year
-the way the end of my nose and my cheeks get pink if I go outside even for just a minute
-being able to see my breath
-making soup or any other delicious crockpot meal-potato soup, taco soup, chicken and dumplings, 7 can soup, chicken curry, Chicken Tortilla soup...the list could really go on for pages.
-running in the afternoon when its not too cold to hurt my lungs (like it would be in the early morning/late evening)
-picking out the Christmas tree
-setting up the Christmas tree
-getting a new ornament for the Christmas tree
-finding the perfect gift to buy for special people
-opening presents....I just like to tear into the paper...not so much on the wrapping part
-putting my clothes in the dryer, not just to fluff them before I leave for work, but to warm them before I put them on
-sometimes, if Zach is home and awake, he will put my towel in the dryer and give it to me before I get out
-keeping a space heater on in the bathroom
-bumping up the water heater temp
-did I say hot cocoa and candy canes? because those SO make the list.
-the peppermint milkshake at Chick-Fil-A
-snow flurries
-sitting outside at the quietest time of the day while it is snowing so that I can hear every snowflake fall around me (also my favorite sound)
-while I am sitting outside enjoying the sound of snow falling, the only thing to go with that to make it a perfect time : a tall mug of hot cocoa. Last year, I waited up until well after midnight just to see and hear the snow fall. When it finally did, I enjoyed my hot cocoa in a chair under the carport, twirled around in the flurries for a few, and slept peacefully.
-snowflakes landing on my eyelashes (not just because of the song..)
-the BIG snowflakes
-the crispness in the air
-Aquafor
-homemade lotion
-camping (before it gets frigid or after the frigid has passed)
-how could I forget Christmas music

I know there are more things I like about the winter months, but that just gives me an excuse to blog more because I have a girl's night appointment to get to.

these are just a few of my favorite things...
for now
jkb

Friday, October 15, 2010

not the best.

I am not the greatest at updating things like this. I can do Twitter (which only requires 140 characters or less), I can sometimes do Facebook (status updates aren't always hard), but a blog? I have to think, plan, write, rewrite, edit, and - finally - publish. Here I am, doing all and making myself proud. Especially since it is 1:40 in the morning.

I guess I should start off my first blog on a positive note- I had some killer chili cheese fries this evening at a Tupelo High School football game against South Panola. The crowd was great- I got to hang out and have fun with April while we sat behind the student section and made sure nothing bad happened (and we did a good job, because nothing bad happened...that we know of), and I even got to visit with my friend Jamie and her 2 kids for about an hour and a half before the game.

The whole reason for the game was to watch Tupelo wipe the floor with South Panola. Did this happen? not so much. final score : 62-6, South Panola as the winner. I don't feel too bad, they are number 1 or something like that. Its okay, I never go to a game for the football, anyway. While I enjoy a good play as much as the rest...or not...I really go for the atmosphere. The chill in the air, the yelling, the pom-poms, the company, the whistling, and (when it gets just a little colder) the hot cocoa. I enjoy the history aspect of the game, I could listen and retain all kinds of facts about football, but the rules? no. I have had numerous people attempt explaining the ins and outs of football to me- to no avail. I still don't understand. I know there are downs- 1st down, 2nd down, 3rd down, 4th down...there are touchdowns for 6 points and the extra kick for one more point...there is tackling, running, kicking, punting, and sometimes dancing (that you might get a flag for). My brain can't always pick things apart when they are so far away on a big field together. It wouldn't be such a problem except for the fact that the people are all wadded up chasing after one ball and I just can't seem to keep things straight.

Well, it is now 2 in the morning. I have successfully gotten to the point of my evening where I really can't keep my eyes open anymore...this hasn't happened in quite some time. I ama ctually typing with my eyes closed now. I hope when I open they, I won't be in a classsroom with a whole room full of kids staring at me.

nope. goodnight.
jkb

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

why.

So really I just have this blog so that I can comment on the blogging of my family. I have had a blog in the past but since I lost the email address, password, and web address, I had to make a new one. So...here we are together...who knows, maybe i'll find things to blog about.
The end.