Wind It Up...

Remember that one time where I once stated that 2009 could and never be beaten? Well I'm afraid it has. How so? Let me explain.
     As I entered 2011, I had written down a list goals for myself. While making these goals, one wise woman suggested I write 75 blogs. Yea right. Between training for the mini, school, and work, I wouldn't have time. I wrote it down anyway, but pretty much ignored it. Guess who has successfully completed that goal and has now written 96 blogs. Ol' girl right here. I must say, while writing these blogs brought back so many good memories, I was able to see how far my writing has come. #Soproud.
     Another goal that I completed and to this day I'm still not sure how I did, was training and running the mini marathon. When I set my mind out to do it, I knew I had gotten over my head. I know that my beloved followers were there with me every step of the way, but as I think back, how was I going to achieve this goal if I got off the treadmill six times because I felt like I was going to pass out? Yes, there were some days that the last thing I wanted to do was run, but if I wanted to keep my goal within reach, I was determined to train. Run the mini marathon? CHECK.
     2011 also brought me the goal of pushing my fears out of the way, and trying new things. Yes, I found myself panicked at times, but really? Going to a Lady Gaga concert? Zip-lining? Who would have thunk?
     The biggest thing that 2011 allowed me to experience was facing the fact that I was no longer a child, and became an adult. Yikes. While there were some fun moments, (see We Were Out Of Postage Stamps) there were a handful of not so fun moments, #GetWellTaylor that made me truly believe that I, was no longer a child.
     2011 also taught me at moments that at times it is time for me to move on. Included in that? I have slowly started to accept the fact Mer/Der will not be returning for Grey's Anatomy season 9, and with that, I do not watch my Grey's Anatomy DVD every night. But for those of you who care, I have already pre-ordered Season 8. Hey it was on sale. I couldn't help it. It's gonna be a long nine months. Talk about moving on. I'll leave it at that.
     With the thought of doomsday (12-21-12) looming over my head, I must say that I am very much looking forward to the New Year. 2012? I have two words for you; Bring. It.

-Sara-

Dance With Your Heart...

It's December and we all know what that means... FINALS. Since I'm currently averaging an A in the art of procrastinating, I'll go ahead and practice some more.

In the latest overnight Hollywood gossip: In an attempt of staying out of jail trouble, my friend Lilo has gotten her life together and has completed her first stint of probation duty, and is already in progress on her second stint. To be rewarded, she was granted permission to take herself, and her sister to the land of lei's and hula dancers, or more commonly known as Hawaii. After being there a mere 48 hours, her $5,000 Chanel purse was stolen along with her passport, a wad of $10,000, credit cards, and her documents from the court granting her to travel while at a party. BREAKING NEWS: The purse has been found, but the money? Nope.  Probation check-in on Wednesday.

"Sara, you have to run this set of races with me. It will get me in shape for the IRONMAN." Yes, one of my fellow co-workers and his wife are competing in next years IRONMAN, and as  part of his training, he found a set of races he wanted me to do with him. Of course I would. "It's called the Polar Bear Grand Prix. A race in December, January and February." Sure no problem. That was September when were in the midst of high 60° to the low 70°'s. Getting his dates mixed up, he was unable to participate with me, and I am now forced to complete these by myself. I didn't mention I ran in 25° did I? And on top of that HILLS? We'll put it this way; glad I got out there and ran, but not my personal best.

"Hey Mom, when I drive at night, especially rainy nights, sometimes I'm not sure if I'm over the stripes on the road." Her response? I'll get right on that and make you an eye appointment. "Do you remember the last time you got your eyes checked?" Sure do. Eleven years ago/5th grade.  Except for the night driving part, I figured my eyes were good, and I would just be told you're getting old. I could deal. "Okay Sara, we're gonna dilate your eyes, and you probably won't be able to see for a little bit." There were two things I was dreading, having my eyes dilated, and hearing I needed glasses. "You're left eye is slower than your right eye, so I am gonna go ahead and write you a prescription for glasses." Awesome. Glasses, and I only needed a prescription for one eye. No wonder I'm the driver of the short bus. #islandofmisfittoys.

While I should have been paying attention to my fellow peers as they gave speeches on their papers, I was catching up on the latest gossip. Included in that gossip? Coldplay. Summer 2012. Touring the continent of North America. Oh. Dear. God. I may have performed a little Justin Bieber squeal. In the middle of a speech. It's a good thing I'm a workaholic. Because I will be attending.

In sports news, Indiana University beat the number one team in the nation, the University of Kentucky Wildcats. UK was up by one with five seconds left in the game, and as time ran out, IU shot a ridiclious three pointer, and won the game at the buzzer. I still can't watch the clip. Hey, at least, UL is undefeated, and there's a strong possibility that UL could be #2 in the polls as THE Ohio State lost this weekend. That ranking makes me incredibly nervous.

Working my shift in my beloved Christmas Room at the PFM, both of my bosses were out there with me, and we happened to get on the subject of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. "Sara, have you seen it?" "No." I mean you are talking to the reigning champion of not finishing movies. "Really?! I can't believe that." I mean I've seen clips of it, but have never seen it from beginning to end. "You need to RedBox it tonight and watch it." It just happened to be my luck Saturday night, and it was on T.V. Of the parts that I watched, I just didn't get the fascination or the humor.  A Christmas Story is better.

Three shifts of work, and two trips to school to take finals, Sara will officially be on Christmas break. I'm not usually one to rush the days, but I'm so ready. Reading, sleeping, and lots and lots of family time. Bring it.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've got ourselves a crisis Tuesday night. This week, NBC is having an one hour special "catch up" with Prince William and Catherine. At 8:00. FOX is then showing their hit T.V. show called gLee. At 8:00. Get real. Rude.

Remember the saying, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"? In my case, ya kinda have to. Our soon to be 14 year old dog Tucker, has gone blind, and can't jump up to boss Joker around. Being the loving master she is, Mom went out and got a set of three stairs for Tucker to access Joker. Training him to do this should be fun to watch.

I've done all the Pinteresting I can do, I've cleaned my room, (yea, I'm that desperate) I'm caught up on laundry, and I've blogged. I'm guessing the art of procrastinating is over. So long fun life, see ya Thursday afternoon.

-Sara-

2,280 Hours...

The amount of time Internet dating (or should I say computer-mediated relationships) consumed my life. Here's a break down of what I did during those hours.

29: Blogs I wrote in the midst of all the madness. A+ procrastinating right there. 

12: Long weeks of having the honor to learn about this once fun and interesting topic. 

11: Diet Cokes consumed throughout this process. 

10: Pages of written material. At one point, I actually understood it all. Today, not so much. 

9: Sources I used for my scholarly paper. 

8: The number of minutes I got up and spoke about computer mediated relationships. Did I mention I got an A on that too? Didn't think so. #miracle. 

7: DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS BREAK. 'Nuff said. 

6: Day of SEPTEMBER I took on this project. Did I mention it's now December 7th? 

5: The number of drafts I have printed, turned in, and handed back for editing. 

4: The number of pages of my speech outline I had to type up and then somehow make them in to an A speech. 

3: Books I had to buy, read, and understand to perfect the art of American Psychological Association writing and editing. 

2: The time I went to bed at the height of the paper. I actually enjoyed that time of night. Weird. I know, but that's for another blog. 

1: HAPPY and RELIEVED GIRL who has turned in her FINAL copy of "Internet Dating: Finding Mr./Mrs. Right". Wait. Did I just say that I turned in my final copy? What am I supposed to do with myself? Oh yea, that's right. I have finals next week. 

Nerd Alert: This is something I'm kinda sorta proud of. And I really wish I could figure out how to attach it so those who are interested could read it. So for those of you who actually care and want to read it, please let me know, and I will somehow get it to you. 

-Sara-

From This... 

To This. #soproud.

Two And Thru...

After weeks of whispers of my class, my teacher has announced that we will be having a final in his class. In case you're wondering this is the class that I've spent the last 3 months on my internet dating paper. One would think that if we've worked this hard, we don't deserve a final. Apparently we do. Bah humbug.

While watching my beloved Entertainment Tonight, they reported their 125 story on the Kardashians. What's the latest on them you ask? Khole and Lamar are filming season 2 of their spin-off, Kris Humphries is filing for separation and not divorce from Kim, and Kortney is pregnant with Baby number 2. I would love to see another baby Mason. 

I made a pan of brownies during the Victoria Secret Fashion show. 

As much as I'm not a fan of them, the UK Wildcats are the number one basketball team in Amuurica. 

This time next week, I will be hours away from being finished with my internet dating paper/speech. It's about time. 

After 26 loooooonnnnnnng years, the UK Football team beat the streak and beat the Tennessee Volunteers. The amazing thing about that? Something about a running back making a touchdown and winning the game? Shows just how much I pay attention to sports. 

Mom's homemade Chicken vegetable soup. Winter can officially commence. I have to somehow make this batch last until after finals since the last of the homemade noodles went into this batch. As she said, I can make you more chicken soup, but not with those noodles. 

In case you're looking for something new to try, hit up the Peppermint Oreos. Addicting. 

If any of you happened to catch NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Tuesday night, I'm sure you got a good laugh out of it. For those of you who didn't, I'm sorry. Because it was kinda sorta halarious. The fire alarm sounded through most of the broadcast, and being the professional he is, he held his composure, and did the broadcast as if nothing happened. 

Fruit baskets galore at the PFM? Don't mind if I do. 

It's official. I can not drive in the dark, never the less pouring down rain. 

We have big news here at Sara Spills. On a cold, rainy and just plain gross Sunday afternoon, Sara ventured out to Orange Leaf frozen yogurt. Was it worth the gas? Yes. Would I go again? Yes. Am I glad that we don't have one near mi casa? Bingo. Although, I am glad I finally got to see what all the hype was about. At an outrage shocking (jokingly) cheap price of 45 cents an ounce, I got peanut butter and cheesecake, and topped with cookies, and Reeeses Cup. The only slight problem? The cup doesn't fit in my cup holder. 

UL football miraculously won their final regular season game against University of South Florida. What does that mean? One step closer to a BCS bowl. We need Cincinnati to lose Saturday and West Virginia to beat South Florida tomorrow night. This will be the one night that I cheer for them 'neers. 

I spent my first Saturday off since August sick. It's a sensitive subject, I'd rather not talk about it. 

I will be running the first of three races next weekend. It sounded like a great idea in September. So to clarify, I'll be running in 30°. Running foul number one of many. 

Embarassing fact of the night. Sara has 154 gLee songs in her iTunes library. After next week, I'll be adding 12 more. 

After 142 days, the NBA labor talks have come to a close and we can get back to our normal lives. 

Bob Seger's rendition of Little Drummer Boy? Wonderful. 

Can you tell I'm procrastinating? I have a speech outline due Thursday afternoon. I've yet to touch it. 

Sixteen days until Christmas Break. I can so do this. 

-Sara- 

I'm Thankful For...

As we began our wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving brunch of Panera bagels, grits, ham and mimosas with the PFM's freshly squeezed orange juice and my last can (yes, I said can) of champagne, I was approached with the question, Sara, what are you thankful for? "The Pilgrims and Native Americans that became friends, ate a meal together and gave me the day off." I wasn't kidding either. I love me a day off. I would now like to present you tales of Thanksgiving 2011, Sara Spills style.
    Knowing that I had Thursday off, and hoping to maybe sleep in till at least 10:00, I hunkered down in our dark, and cozy basement Wednesday night where I would fall asleep to the background noise of an all night FRIENDS marathon on Nick-At-Nite. I had set myself up for success. A warm blanket, a dark room, and my cell phone alarm on silent. Promptly at 8:30, I awoke to the excitement of the TODAY Show staff getting ready to anchor the 85th annual Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade. Maybe, just maybe, I could convince myself to go back to sleep until 10:55 where I was due to make an appearance for our 11:00 brunch. Epic fail. At 8:30, I was officially up for the day.
     After a wonderful and intimate brunch with Mom and Dad, it was time to hang around and watch Lauren Alaina of American Idol fame flub the National Anthem at the Detroit Lions versus the Green Bay Packers football game. Totes Awk. The Packers did their work, and maintained their perfect season. Miami Dolphins for life.
   Promptly at 2:30 I began to get ready for the Thanksgiving we had all been waiting for. With the bus leaving the station at 4:15, I figured 90 minutes to get ready outta do it. Impeccable timing if I say so myself. By now I'm sure you're saying, "Man, she sounds high maintenance".First off, I'm not. Second of all, I don't like to be rushed as I actually enjoy getting all gussied up. And for a holiday like this, I had to build in extra time to look my best. Needless to say those 90 minutes paid off. Don't worry, you'll see a picture later. Just hold your horses.
    Finally! The moment we had all been waiting for had arrived and it was time to sit back, mingle, and take some serious blog notes. We had been told to arrive promptly at 5:00. Did that mean 5:00 for a thirty minute happy hour or 5:00 to introduce ourselves, and then sit down and eat. I was really hoping for option two, but I was okay with option one. I'll take option one for 1,000 Alex. Wait. Did I say a 30 minute happy hour? What I really meant to say was a 90 minute happy hour. That could be another blog in itself. But I'll give you some highlights. Open the door, and BAM! Within ten seconds of my arrival, I was greeted by two well known PFM customers. This honestly made me want to cry. I can't have a simple holiday meal with my family without any customers? Thank goodness for Christmas. Among the family, one of Mom and Dad's college buddies happened to be dining with us. Of course I "just happened to be walking by" and I was introduced to the individual as the youngest daughter. His response? "Oh wow, so you must be what? 19?" Uh no.  I just turned 23 two weeks ago. Nice try though. But the real highlight of the happy hour or should I say night, was this story I'm about to tell you.
     Earlier in the week, I had seen this "cousin" of mine come into Paul's to do his weekly shopping. This shopping trip is where I would discover what was on the menu for Thursday night. Both of my bosses had become rather invested with my cousin in helping him trying to figure out what would be good on a meat and cheese tray, what the best tomatoes were to serve in salad, and helping him get bushels of green beans that would serve 48 people. If there's one thing we fight for at work, its the large orders. I know it's odd, but maybe it's the adrenaline rush of so many items. Who knows. As the shopping trip came to a close, it was time to check out, and of course, I was the one available while the other girls were busy. With a big order like this, and my boss being invested, she would come and help me bag. Making conversation, she said, I wanna come to his house. The relative promptly replied, come on over. What's one more person when I'm cooking for 48? Let's just go ahead and make things even more awkward when I jumped in and said, "I'll be there!" He quickly laughed, but little did he realize I wasn't joking. Back at Thanksgiving happy hour, mom was making her rounds, and one of her stops was the cousin who I had checked out. "Sara, come here, I want you to meet someone." Please I beg of you, please don't tell the story. It's already weird enough that I checked out Thanksgiving dinner.  Insert face palm number one. "Oh, now I see how this is all coming together. You certainly were bold to say you were coming. And now you really are here."
     After the awkward run in, it was time to go preview dinner, and there were three things that caught my eye: A REAL TURKEY, signs that said "watch for steel shots" (meaning someone went out and shot the dove,venison, and quail) and homemade Macaroni and cheese. "Sara writes a blog so she is taking notes for it." Insert face palm number 2. It would be the cherry on top if he had asked for my blog address. Crisis averted. That was a close one.
     Following 90 minutes of "and you belong to... or how do I know you" introductions, dinner had been presented and it was time to get my grub on. On the menu? Turdunken, Dove, Venison, duck, quail, Turkey, Ham, Green Beans, Greek salad, macaroni and cheese, broccoli, wild rice, sweet potatoes with apples, mashed potatoes, and bread. I'm sure I'm missing something, but you get the gist of it.
     In an attempt to keep families together, they placed our family at one table. Yay for semi normalcy. Of course, it can't be a holiday without ridiculous conversations, and a rousing rendition of "He's A Jolly Good Fellow".  

      To help contribute with dinner, our family was asked to bring two pies. Derby pie and a pecan pie. Don't get me wrong, I love Derby Pie. It's delicious, and something totally different from the Pumpkin pie, but while surveying what was for dessert, the heavens must have opened up, and some genius had brought a dozen of Panera Mint Krinkle cookies. You don't understand how good these things are. Just around for the holidays, these are filled with chocolate chips, mint flavoring and powdered sugar. Whoever brought these, I thank you. 

      Don't think I forgot about my picture. Because I didn't.

Thankgiving 2011. 

-Sara-

Are You Busy?...

Hahahahahaha. Best joke I've heard all day. It's that time of year, and we all know what that means; ol' girl survived another Thanksgiving week at the PFM. You know how much I love and adore my job, but when someone calls and asks if we're busy, that's when I want to reply to them and say, no, we're not busy. It's not like it's the DAY BEFORE THE NUMBER ONE FOOD HOLIDAY. Let me drop what I'm doing and cater to your needs.

If I see another sprig of Rosemary, Thyme, and Sage, I might scream.

Same goes for corn, potatoes, and asparagus.

My cookie oreo brownie surprise does a world of good come lunch time.

Today, our boss told me the greatest seven words I will hear all year. It's time to turn on the CHRISTMAS music. And of course, what's the first song that pops on, the Bieb's "Mistletoe".  I know this is supposed to be the season of thanks, but as a customer witnessed, and as I promptly announced, I can't stand him or his music. I know. It's mean, and not nice. Her reply? "You're funny." Uh, I wasn't kidding.

The one thing I like about our Christmas music? No commercials. Love me some satellite radio.

I was fortunate enough to find out what's on the menu for Thursday's dinner. A meat and cheese tray for happy hour, green beans, stuffing, and a turducken. What happened to the simple all American Thanksgiving staple called Turkey? Oh thats right... A turkey can't feed 48 people. Yeesh.

To the four people that called and asked if we were open Thanksgiving? No. We're not. This is one of four days a year that we are closed, and get to spend time with our families. Sorry if you're bummed that we can't serve you, but we re-open Friday morning at 8:00.

During the first part of the month, I wrote down my schedule for days that I would not be able to work/close. Included in those days, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I figured that if I had Saturday off, I would be working Sunday morning. Guess who has the entire weekend off starting at noon Friday? I don't know what to do with myself.

As much as I don't support the Black Friday sales starting at midnight Thanksgiving night, I'm seriously considering going and standing in line just to say I was one of those freaks. And yes, I know I talk a really, really, really, really, good story.

I'm 90% finished with my Christmas shopping. This might be a first for me.

In other related news, there's a slight chance, and I mean slight, that the UL Football team could be headed back to the Orange Bowl of the BCS. This is pretty big and exciting news considering where we were this time two years ago. And on the basketball front, the Butler University Basketball Coach, also one of my boyfriaaaaands Brad Stevens, recently said, that if UL can get our team back to health (we have at least 4 players out with injuries) he said we could be an "April" team. #winning.

Paper updates: Halfway through my PTSD paper, have yet to touch my internet dating paper, and oh yea, totes forgot that I have a 250 point speech to plan and execute. no biggie. It's not like I'm superwoman or anything.

-Sara-

The Animal Kingdom...

 According to Mr. Webster himself, he defines the word obsessed as the following: "to think about something unceasingly or persistently; dwell obsessively upon something." Care to see my latest obsession? I know you love looking at my amazing talent of taking picture of inanimate objects. The following pictures I'm about to share will not do justice until you go see this local gem for yourself. 

Breathtakingly GORGEOUS. 

Stunning.

Finish Line Under The Lights.

Thanks Dad. 

In case you're wondering what I was up to this weekend, Churchill Downs has made one of their best investments and installing lights to provide night racing. In fact, the World Championship Breeders Cup Race was held under the lights and absolutely stunning to watch on television. While Down's After Dark is the social event of the summer, it has become something different to do during the Fall meet. What an amazing way to end Christmas Week.

     Christmas Week: 1 Sara: 0

-Sara-