WOMAN IS CONFUSED BY FACEBOOK 'FRIEND' STATUS

Abigail Van Buren

Dear Abby,
Recently I received a Facebook 'friend request' from a coworker who I don't know very well and I accepted it on the basis that maybe she wanted to actually get to know me better.  Two days later at work, I passed her in the aisle of our cubicles and I was ready to put on my 'Hey how's it going?' passing line, and she just looked hard at the ground, avoiding me all together.  Was I wrong in thinking that she wanted to be acquaintances but instead she just wanted to snoop on my info?  I understand if she is shy (I've been there), but obviously she isn't so shy that she didn't want to request me in the first place.  And to top it off, she is the girlfriend of one of my friends and it's hard for me to restrain myself from asking him "wtf's up with your girl?"

Should I 'de-friend' her since I don't want unfriendlies snooping on my stuff?  Or should I smother her with niceness and force her to acknowledge my presence while squeezing through the aisles?

What should I do?

Sincerely,
Frustrated by Facebook 'friends' in New Mexico

Grown up boys, have grown up toys

David surprised me with a beautiful "state-of-the-art" "first-of-its-kind" Sony camera.  He bought me my old camera three or four years ago and it was perfect for me, Canon and I knew each other inside and out.  But Canon recently got smashed between my butt and a sharp rock and still takes pictures, you just can't see what you're taking pictures of :).  Now I'm starting all over, slowly falling in love, and definitely clueless about half the things my new Sony is capable of.  It'll take time...

JD - this glasses shot is for you.  Holla

But gosh, it sure does look bonified. And for a person who doesn't know what she is doing, my pictures also look pretty bonified.  Here are some shots from the bday weekend:

Favorite Things - October Edition

Fall is a bit delayed this year and I have a feeling the green leaves might just freeze right off the trees instead of turning yellow first.  Bummer.  Regardless, fall is my favorite time of year.  Time slows down, the air gets crisp, hoodies and sweaters come out, I drive with the windows down, and now that the heat is gone, I feel like I have tons of energy. 

Favorite #1:  Fall of course!  Every year I judge the season's progress by my birthday.  When I was in middle school and high school and had to walk home, I remember always paying attention to the weather during the week of my birthday.  Sometimes by Oct. 22 the leaves had already fallen weeks earlier, sometimes the leaves were at their peak and about to fall, sometimes it was still the end of summer, and other times we already had our first snow and it was the beginning of winter.  It was a pretty rudimentary way to study the effects of global warming.

Favorite #2:  Jackass 3D.  Go see it.  It's totally worth it and despite how disgusting the Jackass guys can be, you will laugh for two straight hours.  Also, how much fun is it to be in a theater with a bunch of laughing, booing, groaning, gagging people?  Answer:  so much fun.

Favorite #3:  Television programming in October.  I'm not big into Halloween, but boy do I love all the Halloween/scary/cheesy movies on tv.  Witches, Night of the Living Dead, Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Friday the 13th, Aliens, Bride of Frankenstien, Creature From the Black Lagoon, etc.

Favorite #4:  Martha Stewart's Everday Food cookbook.  It has BEAUTIFUL appetizing pictures, simple recipes, AND it is all organized by season.  Granted you don't have to choose recipes from your current season, but I DO and they ARE categorized that way for a reason.  Yesterday I planned some meals for the next few weeks and went to the store to gather ingredients for Pureed Butternut Squash Soup, Braised Chicken with mushrooms and Oven-baked Polenta, Chicken Stir-Fry Wraps, Parmesan-Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Tomato and Olive Penne, roasted veggies, etc.  Also, I'm back in the cooking game with some recent successes:  Slow-cooker beef stew, Chicken Parmigiana, and homemade/homegrown marinara sauce.  Nothing says fall-time like home-cooked meals (D is especially pleased).

Favorite #5:  Halloween costume craft time.  Again, I don't partake, but every year I end up doing all the work on David's last minute costumes and I love it.  It's a challenge. I get him all dressed up and send him out the door, and the next day I have to do repairs before the next costume party.  Here are some masterpieces from years past:

He has not yet decided if he wants to be Tron...or Luigi this year.

Favorite #6:  Birthday!  coming up here on Friday, Oct. 22, I will again celebrate the day of my birth, and as my dad says, "Another revolution around the sun."  I'm always much more excited about the months leading up to my bday, and then turn kinda bla the week before, but this year is different and I'm trying to stay positive.  Plus, there is always the guessing game of 'What will David get me this year?'  Of course he is last minute, but there is $600 with my name on it in his 'bedside Becca savings drawer' so I'm pretty sure I'll like whatever it is. (sorry I sound like a schmuck).  I will be celebrating by taking the day off work and seeing the Bodies Exhibit with my dad, then dinner at night with D, and BBQ on Saturday with the family (organized by D, thank god).

Happy October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay-cation, Day 2-3

I am definitely going to take more days off to stay at home.  I feel happy and refreshed and like I can conquer the world...it helps that I only have to work two days this week and four days next week.  With a staycation, you get all the relaxation of vacation, without the chaos of leaving town. 

Here is what days 2 and 3 consisted of:
-- went to the BioPark with my sister and nephew
-- watched movies and painted all day on Tuesday
-- went on a lady date with Amity to see 'Life as We Know It' and then afterwards crashed boy night at Coaches
-- on Wednesday Dave played hooky and stayed home with me :)
-- we ate a nice late breakfast at The Range with my mom (who ended up calling into work and also playing hooky :)  )
-- Dave and I spent the beautiful Fall afternoon at the zoo, very romantic
-- Walked Luka to the park and played ball
-- Ate some yummy Los Cuates
-- Mom came over and we watched 'The Princess and the Frog'

Especially going into crazy work mode for the next couple of weeks, I wish I could make this great fall season / relaxed care-free attitude last longer.  I afraid I'm going to come out of work in two weeks to find I missed the rest of fall and it will be dark at 5pm again.....need to travel south like the birds I guess.

Stay-cation, Day 1

There is a lot to be said about taking time off to do absolutely nothing / anything you want.  Definitely not regretting the Stay-cation as of Day 1.  Here is how it went down:

1.  Didn't sleep good last night / slept in late
2.  Watched a movie on tv
3.  David and my Dad came home for lunch / made sandwiches
4.  Got some artsy fartsy painting done while catching up on Mad Men and sang along while watching 'A Hard Days Night'
5.  Did some dishes from yesterday's BBQ and mopped the floors
6.  Watched some 'Teen Mom'
7.  Took a bath and read my book 'Packing for Mars'

8.  David came home and we took old Luksters to the park for some ball action
9.  Battled the grocery and came home and made my first Chicken Parmigiana with a nicely paired Pinot Noir

10.  Gonna chill with Mr. D and watch last night's 'Dexter'

Thank you PRNewswire for giving me so much time off I don't know what to do with myself!!!!!!!!!!

Looking forward to the BioPark tomorrow with my sister....  :)

Triple D, I Double T

I am so sooo proud of David today.  He is out in Las Vegas, NV for some conference and had to give a presentation in front of medical industry people and his bosses about the future of accessing medical information on mobile devices and how, as a manager, to implement policy and procedure into your company to protect electronic patient health information (if I sound like I know what I'm talking about, it's because we spent some late nights this past weekend researching, writing, and smoothing out this darn powerpoint presentation). 

Poor guy had little direction or instruction from his bosses and when they told him he only had to talk for ten mins, keep it basic, and not answer questions, he turned a deaf ear and instead listenend to his amazing girlfriend who knows that watching a schmuck talk about something you already know for ten minutes sucks.  We put together a very comprehensive, well thought-out presentation (which the bosses thought was too wordy -- of course) and filled it with lots of beautiful graphics.  I want him to look bonified up there, and seriously bosses?!  don't you want the rep from your company to look credible and bring interested foot traffic to your booth?!  gosh!

So, step one:  write a bangin power point -- accomplished

Step two:  present said power point -- easier said than done

Poor Dave has been fretting about this for a month, and in the last few days his anxiety has reached its max.  Last night I talked to him for like ten mins and he was sitting in his hotel room with his nerves in a bundle, wondering "what if I sound stupid?  what if i forget my words?  what if the audience already knows all of this stuff?  or I can't make it last longer than 10 mins?"  We said goodnight and I felt terrible for him, god knows I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. 

He called back half an hour later and said he was getting hives....It was time to break out the motivational speech of the century. 

I told him that he is amazing and charming and if he went up there and just talked to the audience like real human beings and related to them, and stood up tall and smiled, and made it a conversation backed by slides...they would all be so convinced that he is bonified that he could talk all kinds of bull shit and they would eat it up, all because he is so likeable.  It lasted 13 mins, 45 secs, and when we said goodbye, he sounded like he was gonna live.



Today I went to the balloon fiesta and came home afterwards and took a nap.  I knew if I slept through his presentation I would be less nervous for him and would be able to project my positive thoughts accross the Continental Divide, to a conference room in the Monte Carlo.  When I woke up, I texted him a gentle 'How did it go?' and received a "I feel much better! It went great love! Thank you for everything"

Glad this is over, but seemed like a nice reminder of some things: 

-- Bosses are always wrong, but when things go right, they love reaping the rewards
-- Survived the stressed, late-night studying / paper writing sessions = we are definately capable of going back to grad school (I've been doubtful)
-- Another step to adulthood for D - In twenty years this stupid presentation will be a blip compared to all the presentations he is bound to give.  He is a real grown up who is teaching other older adults?!
-- He is a smart and talented guy - I tend to rag on him quite a bit about how Highland Highschool was for 'special' kids, how sometimes it is 'just bridge under the water,' how he didn't know pediatricians only took children as patients, etc., etc., etc., But he knows what is going on and he deserves due credit.
-- It is really great to have a copy of yourself to balance you out - I lack in the schmoozy dept., but it's always been the case that when he is down, I am down, and it feels really great when I can pick him up and vice versa and I guess this is how it's going to be for the rest of forever, grown up style.  We've been together for 5 1/2 years and (again) I'm just now feeling like an adult who is in an adult relationship (I need to seriously get over this). 

Hope that he doesn't celebrate in any Las Vegas strip clubs and can't wait to see him come home tomrrow. That is all.

Ann Palmer

Those close to me know I have a stern stare.  It's really just my face, but is often mistaken for being mean or mad or stuck up or stand offish.  Ever wonder where it comes from?  Ann Palmer.

Ann Palmer on the left +/- 18 yrs. old

My grandma is my middle name namesake.  She died when I was about ten.  Of course I was always her favorite granddaughter and my uncles swear to it that I am her spitting image and have somewhat of the same temperament (bad thing?) 

all pics of my grandma or at her house