Back in the Saddle

It's been so long since I've posted.  Almost 20 days.  Which is just 10 days short of a month.  Just one day short of 3 weeks.  It's a been awhile!

A lot has gone on in the last 18 days since I posted, so I figured out I'd tell you where I've been and what I've been doing...
- My boss at work retired, as did several others at my place of work.  There were lots of "activities" to attend to.
- I got a new boss at work, so again, there are lots of "activities" to attend to.  I'm also a model employee, so I don't blog at work (just kidding, I don't blog at work because I know my luck, and if anyone were to get in trouble, it would be me).
- Grad school started back up, so that means lots of reading and less blogging.
- It was my mom's and my birthdays.  Birthdays are a big deal in my family, which is why....
- Mr. Nation surprised me with a weekend trip to Kansas City:

We stayed at the Plaza and had a blast with one of my best friends who lives there.  (Mr. Nation and her planned out the entire weekend).
- Seems that all of the organizations I'm a part of had at least one meeting in the last 18 days.  I think I only had one or two free nights.  And I spent those watching my shows or catching up on the DVR.  And I have a lot of shows.
- It was just a busy month in general, we also had several friends birthdays, an engagement party, and a going-away party.

I hope to be better about blogging in the future, but it will just take some time for me to get used to all these new changes and transitions.  Hope you all have a wonderful week!  Until next time...

Random Wednesday

This is a true Random Wednesday.  Because it's Friday.  It's been a long week...   Give me a break.

1. If I had a nickel for every time I left a paper in the printer before I left for a meeting (at which I needed that paper left in the printer), I'd have quite a few nickels.  

2. I hate ESPN.  Except when they have good stories.  Then I like to watch.  Don't tell Mr. Nation.

3. I have no motivation to work out.  Like none.  If there was a contest in making up excuses as to why you can't/won't go work out, I'd win.  We have an elliptical machine upstairs for goodness sakes.  I continue to donate money to our local gym, but pretty soon something's got to give...  I hope.  

4. I hope that tights and leggings and "maternity shirts for non-maternity girls" never go out of style.  They are glorious, especially in reference to #3.  What was I thinking when I wore "lingerie tops" in college?  I wasn't thinking because I was too busy working out apparently.  

5. My favorite feature on my Mac is the spell check on EVERYTHING.  It's amazing for people like me who can't spell, but also have a pet peeve of incorrect grammar on the internet.

6. Speaking of pet peeves...  People who have a big destination wedding with lots of family members and friends but then also have a big reception back "home."  I can see if your destination wedding was just immediate family or just you and your spouse, but I feel lately I've seen large destination weddings plus a large reception.  What was the point?  You saved no money and basically had two weddings.  If you have that much money to burn, maybe we should be better friends and I should stop dogging on your two weddings.

7. I love weddings.  I still secretly look at wedding blogs every now and then.  I'm trying to stop because it only makes me want to go back and change everything.  There's too many good ideas out there.  I think I would be a really good wedding planner.  I wouldn't like the drama or the hours, though.  

8.  School is starting back next week.  I'm working on my doctorate.  I don't think I mentioned that before now on the blog.  I'm not looking forward to it starting again...  I wanted to quit every week last semester, my goal is to cut that down to every other week this semester.  We'll see...

9. I don't like change.  I would go as far to say I hate change.  But I guess it's not necessary to change.  Survival's not mandatory, right??

That's all for now.  Again, it bugs me that there's only 9 thoughts, but like I said, it's been a long week.  Have a lovely, relaxing weekend, gentle readers!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year from the Nations!  May 2011 bring you joy, happiness, and laughter!!

Keep Calm and....

I made a post yesterday for our big Bowl Game and I happened to stumble across the history of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters.  Basically, the posters were created by the British government to "raise the morale of the British public under the threat of impending invasion" at the beginning of World War II.  But it wasn't used and was re-discovered in 2000 and now I see them EVERYWHERE (especially on blogs). 

I was really surprised by the reaction of the poster I made yesterday.  One true domestic diva, suggested I create free downloads of the posters for others to print.  I made some edits to my original poster, and I feel the ones below are more true to the original "Keep Calm" poster. 

I tried to create some that were just white letters so you could print them on colored paper, but that didn't work.  So I apologize in advance for all of the ink you may use up. 

Cowboys:

Sooners:  (because I'm such a good friend)

Razorbacks:

How to print them out: Click on the image once and it will take you to another screen where the image is by itself. Click on it again to get it at full resolution. Right-click and save it to your computer. It is an 8 x 10 document that you can print at home or through your favorite photo-printing website.

Hope you enjoy!!

And if you have have an idea of another sign, please let me know and I will do my best to create it for you!  That's just how we roll at "A State of a Nation." 

Keep Calm and Cowboy On

Our Cowboys have a big Bowl game this evening...  So it got me thinking about my Alma mater.  What I love most about Oklahoma State is our fans.  We are not fair-weather or band-wagon.  Cowboys are in it for the long-haul.  Loyal and true to the very end.  Do we lose?  Sure.  Do we still booze?  You bet!

Go Pokes!! 

Random Wednesday

It's another Wednesday, gentle readers!  Time for Random Wednesday...

1. I don't have patience for anything.  I often read the last pages of books and go to movie spoiler websites.  I just don't want to wait and find out.

2. The thing I have the least patience for would have to be food.  Mr. Nation says I become a different person when I'm hungry.  I can only imagine it's something like this to an outsider:



3. I am constantly craving Chili's queso.  When I was in high school, I was convinced they put something in it to make you crave it.  I'm now convinced that "something" is crack.  I can't imagine wanting something more.

4.  I'm just kidding.  Crack is whack.  But I'm not kidding about the queso.  It's so darn good!  (ps Chili's is NOT paying me to make these comments.  They are from the heart and stomach).

5. I have a weird thing with odd numbers.  I like to eat things in do numbers, do things in odd numbers, etc.  For instance, it's still bothering me that last week's Random Wednesday only had 4 items.  I had a 5th, but inserting the video messed it up.  I'm still learning this blog stuff...

That's all for this Wednesday!  Have a great rest of your day!!

Yes, No, Please, Thank You

Reading Miss Holliday's blog, I got to thinking today about manners.  Manners are more than just saying "yes," "no," "please," and "thank you."  It's being a nail tech and not asking your client "when she has baby?"  It makes that client feel fat for not being "with child" at the present time and old for some reason.  It's walking out of an office building and not letting the door slam in the person behind you's face.  ("behind you's face" -- is that even correct grammar??  I can't think of another way to say it, so we're leaving it as is)

Because everyone's had hurt feelings...


Hurt Feelings from Brian Kessler on Vimeo.

That was a silly song, but everyone has felt that way at one time or another.  Manners are more than just words.  It's being a considerate person.  Realizing that you are not the only one on this planet.  So just think next time, because it's always important to "be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle."

Or you can just stop being a jerk.  That works too.