McPuky in McCall, Idaho

So it seems that calamity doesn't just happen to me in Missouri...it follows me wherever I go! I spent a week's vacation in McCall, Idaho, to go skiing and let me just say, who would have thought that Idaho, of all places, was beautiful!?!? They have more than just potatoes in Idaho! Such as Mountain Men, lots and lots and lots of snow (it snowed 2 ft on Friday, which really didn't impress the locals!!!), breweries and Rockchucks (Like a Woodchuck, but apparently Rockchucks chuck rock...who knew!).

I flew up to Idaho last Monday, and I woke up feeling a little qweezy. I figured I was just nervous about flying, but the qweeziness turned into puking, puking turned into...need I say more! Yep, I was sick the ENTIRE week!!! I did attempt to ski 2 out of the 4 times, though. While everyone else was having a brewskie at the local brewery, I was pounding the Vitamin Waters trying to up my electrolytes!

On top of the stomach flu, we ended the trip with a rollover car accident! What is up with me and cars!? We were on our way to the airport and we hit a patch of ice, lost control, swerved into the ditch and flipped the car upside down....I had my eyes closed the whole time, so I wasn't really aware of all that was happening, but when I opened my eyes, I was hanging upside down like a bat. While the car was flipping, Blake fell out of the seatbelt and was tumbling around in the car. I told him he should lay off the Ben n' Jerry's...he didn't laugh.

The Ambulance showed up, but the EMT was worthless. I showed her my bruised and swollen knee, and her response was "Do you have a doctor? You may want to get that checked out!" When she took a look at Blake, she put the stethescope in backwards!

We're all ok, thankfully. It really could have turned out to be a lot worse. When I told my mom about the wreck, her response was "You need to change the name of your blog. I think its cursing you!" She may be onto something...

*Note: My mom then went on to inform me that Mexico has baby blue cowboy boots for $30. I feel the love, really:)

The whole week wasn't bad, though. Like I said, Idaho is gorgeous with all the snow, pine trees, log cabins, and outdoorsy activities. I got to play in the 8 ft. high snow, ski a little, drive a snow mobile, watch "Into the Wild" (great movie, p.s.) and hang out with good friends. I didn't fair so well on my first attempt at skiing, but on my second attempt, you can bet I was jumping hills...seriously, I am not joking!! I am a BA:)

I will post pics soon...I've got some good ones, but please ignore my lack of color...I was running on Pepto, Tums, Emetrol, Vitamin Water and Chicken Noodle Soup...yuck!

Moral of the Story: Don't let your sickly nephew stick his germy little hands in your mouth before you go on a week vacation to the Mountains, where the hospitals don't have insurance coverage.

I could have been a Cowgirl!

Ok, so I'm on a bit of a kick right now with the Wild West. I saw the movie "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and it was AWESOME! Love me some Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.

Also, I played Annie Oakley in my high school musical "Annie Get Your Gun," which I rocked! So ever since then, I've been attached to cowboy boots and all things wild west. Being that time of year, Easter, I thought I would educate all you readers out there with 2 of my favorite Cowgirls: Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane...really, there is no relation between Easter and Cowgirls...that I am aware of, but I just love the wild west!

Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley, the poor back-country orphan girl who made her way to world-wide fame, was the very spirit of personal independence. She could handle a rifle or a six-gun with an artistry unsurpassed by that of any human being before her time or, probably, since. And when she appeared with Sitting Bull and other notables in Colonel Cody's Wild West Show, she thrilled the audience - not as Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses but as "Little Sure Shot," the immortal Annie Oakley.

Calamity Jane

She was born Martha Jane Canary in Princeton, Missouri. This hard drinking woman wore men's clothing, used their bawdy language, chewed tobacco and was handy with a gun.

Her old nickname was received in 1872 in a peculiar way. She was at that time at Goose Creek Camp, S.D., where Captain Egan and a small body of men were stationed. The Indians were giving a lot of trouble, and there was much fighting.

One day Captain Egan was surrounded by a large band. They were fighting desperately for their lives, but were being steadily, but surely slaughtered. Captain Egan was wounded and had fallen off his horse.

In the midst of the fighting, it is said, the woman rode into the very center of the trouble, dismounted, lifted the captain in front of her on her saddle, and dashed out. They got through untouched, but every other man in the gallant company was slaughtered.

When he recovered, Captain Egan laughingly spoke of Miss Canary as 'Calamity Jane,' and the name has clung to her ever since.

Happy Easter Weekend:)

Confession

I am in love with these cowboy boots. I know, I know...my boyfriend thinks they are hideous, but I am just really excited to wear dresses this spring/summer and sass it up with a pair of cowboy boots.

A week later...

It has been a week since my car breakin and the stolen lunch escapade. So far so good. And really, nothing to report as far as mishaps, calamities and misfortunes for me! But, I'm going on a ski trip next week, so I'm sure I will have more material in 2 weeks...haha!

Throw Me a Frickin' Bone!

Wednesday (aka The Day of Hell) was possibly the worst day yet in 2008 for me. I actually had contemplated taking a half day because I am fighting a cold that just won't go away, but I decided to suck it up and go to work...bad idea...should have just stayed home.

All was fine until lunch time. I had just put my lunch in the microwave when I overheard some women talking about a car break-in. Here is a little snippet of the conversation that took place:

Lady 1: "Hey Barb, do you drive a black Saturn?"
Lady 2: "Nope."
Me: "Hey! I drive a black Saturn!"
Lady 1: "Are your plates blah, blah, blah, blah?"
Me: "Yes, how did you know that?"
Lady 1: "Welp, your car just got broken into."
Me: "What the..."

I go down to my car and sure enough, the back passenger window was broken. They didn't take anything because I have nothing worth taking, but for about a half hour, I thought they had taken my spare car keys that I had stupidly left, under my mom's recommendations, in a "secret" compartment...But they culprits found the keys. I couldn't find them in the "secret" compartment, so I went upstairs to call insurance and Saturn to find out what to do. Insurance told me it would cost $200 to get my window fixed and Saturn said it would cost $400+ to re-key my car. I went back down to see if my keys were maybe on the floor...praise the Lord, they were on the floor, but why didn't the culprits take them? They could have easily stolen my car!!! Thank you Lord for not letting that happen!!!

Then, here's the kicker...I go back up stairs to my desk and realize my lunch is still in the microwave. So, I go to the microwave to get my lunch, but someone had TAKEN my lunch!!! No, it wasn't placed back into the fridge and NO it wasn't in the trash...somebody ate my Lean Cuisine Panini!!!

So not only did my car get broken into, which sucked, BUT someone also had stolen my lunch!!! I think there is a conspiracy out there against me.

Someone told me today that a lot of bad things happen to me in one week then what happens to a person in a year...so true. Things gotta start looking up soon.

Moral of the Story: My life is exhausting.

Gehzunteit!

I can totally relate. I have been sneezing all day long. My head is fuzzy. Aaaaachooooo!

Walk it out

I am insane and decided to enroll in a Hip Hop Class taught by none other than the fabulous Bobby Ray. We've been taking the class now for about 6 weeks, and I still look pretty white and not cool. I really feel like we need to have a class on how to be cool like in "Save the Last Dance." I think it would be extremely beneficial and give me some street cred...could I BE any cooler!?

I have come to the conclusion that I cannot dance Hip Hop, althougth I definitely try, and that I should embrace all that is white and begin teaching Interpretive Dance. That's my real style of dancing. If I were to teach Interpretive Dance, I would say that there are a few key elements to this style of dance: theatrics, skill and loss of inhibitions. You really just gotta get lost in the music and let yourself go...it's the only way to get this style down! But dance with caution because if too ecentric, you can end up looking like a hippie. Think Napoleon Dynamite/Sign Language/"Annie" the Musical and I think you've got a great start to all that is interpretive dancing.

I have found that there are 3 great songs to interpretive dance too and they are the following:

1. Like a Prayer
2. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
3. Dancing Queen

I'm sure there are a lot of other great songs, but those are definitely my faves to interpret.

Moral of the Story: Stick to what you know and get your groove on.