Lindsay and Golf -- an exciting mix!

Saturday was the golf tournament I was invited to play in with the guys from work and I must say, even though I played horribly, I had a terrific day!!! I can't imagine having any more fun than I did with SS, M and MK. It turns out that TL was unable to play due to family commitments and M was elected to take his place. You know that when you put the two of us together for anything it turns into an extravaganza and Saturday was no different. We joked around and got lost going to the first hole and had to drive in reverse to make it back to the tee box. Mind you, we didn't just drive ahead a few feet, no we were nearly an entire hole ahead of where we should have been before I got a phone call asking "where the heck are you two going?" and then being told to turn around and come back so we could actually start on the first hole. Then we find out that we were actually starting on the other 9 hole course and the boys getting a bit annoyed by our driving antics decided that they had to split us up. So by hole #2, I was paired with SS, while M was paired with MK. All I can say is that SS is nearly as crazy in a golf cart as S was in his tournament last year, maybe even crazier, but it was so much fun! M and I did find time for more joking and goofing off and by hole #3, we had our golf carts named and were giggling like school girls. (Note to everyone: the name of my cart shall remain anonymous unless by chance you happen to see the picture, then I'm sure you can guess what name it got!)

As a team we did not play that badly -- we were 5 under par for the entire round, which in my book is fabulous, especially since I only contributed one good drive and one good putt for 18 holes of golf! By the end, I was frozen to the core from the windy conditions and my arms were tired from swinging so much and I was ready to come home and put on my sweats and just relax on my couch. I heard there was quite the parking lot party when everyone got back to their cars at work--too bad I missed that, but I'm definitely glad I came home!!

I spent most of Sunday at my parents house doing laundry and watching some of the football games. There is something about Sunday though that brings me down...I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that it is usually the day that I have so little planned that I get bored or if I just don't know how to relax properly but the last few Sundays have been down days for me. After I got home, I called my awesome Bro and he did help cheer me up and get me through my evening. Thanks again Bro for listening to my worries, complaints, accomplishments and my joys...I do appreciate all of the time you spent with me on the phone. I do feel much better today!

Of course, with today brought a whole new week at work. Not to sound any weirder than I already am, but with work, I know I have a purpose to my life. I get up every morning knowing I'm going in to do something meaningful and goal-oriented. Sure, it is not always easy and there are some days that I can't make any headway with my daily tasks, but for the most part I enjoy every minute I am there and I look at my position as being productive with my life. I explained that to my immediate boss and the President of the Company on Friday when they gave me my annual review. I also told them that even though I am not supposed to rule my life around work, I do take my position to heart. I ended up getting an excellent review as well and I'm extremely happy with the outcome. I know it is partially deserved but I am also grateful that they think so highly of me and the job I do. As for the rest of my week, I will be preparing for month-end on Friday. They come around so quickly!!

Halloween is also on Friday. I have been trying to round up a few friends and plan something since I don't want to sit at home by myself another Friday night (2 weeks in a row is enough for me). So we'll see what I come up with by Friday. If anything, I might try my luck over at the casino. I've been itching to get back over there since my little visit a few weeks ago and watching Texas Hold'em on tv doesn't help, it just makes me want to go even more. In any case, I'm sure I'll have fun with whatever I decide to do.

Hope you have a great week and I'll check back in soon!

What a Friday night...

I made it through Jury Duty on Tuesday and the minute I was there on Wednesday before I was told I was released and also made it through the rest of my week at work. Needless to say though, I'm exhausted and ready for a few days off to regain some sanity. I've finished a dinner of frozen pizza and a Smirnoff Ice (both of which have been in my fridge and freezer for numerous months) and now I'm ready to just kick back and spend the night watching tv and finishing my book on my couch. Exciting Friday night for a 25 year old, I know....but that's the best I can do right now.

At some point this weekend, I'm heading out to see my dad and celebrate his birthday a week late. Other than that, I'm not sure what's going on yet. Hope you have a great weekend!

Ahhh....jury duty!

Tomorrow is the day I have been dreading and trying to get out of for weeks...the first day of jury duty. Absolutely wonderful!!! I don't think I would have a problem going if I didn't love my job so much, but as my luck would have it, I'm stuck going and sitting and waiting to be called in a room full of people who I don't know. Why oh why can't I just go to work and get through my normally busy day with my friends/co-workers? Yes, I know I'm crazy. I'll be fine though.

So today, I spent my day trying to write out notes of what absolutely needs to get done tomorrow during the day and what can wait until I can make it in sometime later in the evening when I go in to follow through on a few things. Hopefully that will help while I'm gone!

In other news, last Friday, M and I were invited to go to lunch with the President of the Company. I had won the lunch as part of the Christmas giveaways last year and finally got around to redeeming it. M, being my partner in crime, was the co-worker I chose to go with me. Really though, I did have a hard time choosing just one person to go with me, there were a handful of friends that I wish could have joined us. Overall though, lunch was a success! We had fun talking and joking around and also learning more about the Company, while telling him about some of our antics over the years. I will say though, it was kinda weird knowing that we were able to leave work a few hours early on Friday afternoon - I felt like I was playing hooky and could get in trouble for it at any time.

My weekend went fairly well. I had a good day Saturday and a fun Saturday night and I took it easy most of Sunday, which was something that I needed to do.
I'm not sure how the rest of the week looks yet. It should be alright. I just have to get myself over this little obstacle tomorrow and we'll see what each day brings.

One final note, a huge CONGRATULATIONS to my awesome Bro!!! He was accepted to SIUE's School of Business today! Bro, I am so proud of you! You have done so many great things in your life so far, but in my eyes, this is the absolute best thing you have accomplished academically to date. I know you've stressed about getting into the program, but like I told you before, you had nothing to worry about, your grades and academic performance speaks volumes about your work ethic. You're a chip off of this older block! :) Congrats again and we'll celebrate when you have some free time!!!

My dear friend S

As most of you know, I try to keep some anonymity with my blog. I don't use the real names of my work friends and other people that I know because I don't want to put their business out on the internet for all to see, especially because I understand how things can get twisted around and it can create more problems than it is worth. I also don't post pictures for the same reason. And besides that, some things are better left being private and I'm learning this more and more every day.

Today though, for the sake of my healing and so that everyone else can see what a special person she was and how much of a good friend we all lost, I am posting a picture of S and I from SS's golf tournament last year.

S lost her battle with breast cancer early Friday morning and I can not tell you how much I miss her already. We knew it was close all week long as her health continued to decline and Thursday afternoon, M received a call from some of S's other friends and family that were at the hospital saying that she was no longer responding and was pretty much in her own world, no longer talking or trying to communicate with them. M left as fast as she could that afternoon and raced over to the hospital to spend a little time with everyone. As much as I didn't want to think that she was dying, I knew in my heart that she couldn't live with the pain and suffering and deep down I was expecting a phone call from M at any time saying that S had finally found peace. I stayed home all of Thursday night, keeping myself busy by talking to friends and family who were trying to comfort me through this difficult time. Ironically, M did not call me Thursday night, so I figured S had somewhat stabilized and while I knew she was in bad shape, she would hang in there and make a bit of a recovery like she had done so many other times. I didn't sleep very well Thursday night though. I tossed and turned most of the night and finally decided that at 5 am, I would get up and get ready for work and head in for another busy day. It was on my way in, the phone ringtone that I had been dreading to hear loudly rang. While I had to keep myself together while driving, I got to work and broke down. It became real that I lost a very dear friend. I looked over at her desk, which is right across the Accounting room from mine and cried. What made it so much worse also was the fact that the men in my office, the grown men that never really show emotion, were a mess as well.

Perhaps the greatest comfort for me though was knowing that S would not want us upset or sad. She'd say, like she had so many times before while fighting on, "It's alright. I'm fine. Think of all the fun stuff we've done." And I began thinking of those times and had to smile.

-Our trips to C-town in the very beginning and going to MK's hotel room asking if we could borrow a few beers for a hotel party.
- Her introducing MK as her "partner" rather than her co-worker everywhere we all went together. She always got a bunch of funny looks especially when she would then introduce her husband too.
- Her first few months at work in EC and the time she accidentally spit a Tic Tac at C while she was talking to him and felt completely embarrassed since he's the VP.
- The visit to the Coastal and her asking innocently, "M, I thought you said they had BBQ grills with hotdogs here?" and realizing that the hotdogs M was talking about were on the rollers in the actual gas station.
- The numerous visits to the Coastal after that and the time she introduced herself as SJ to one of the regulars.
- The "One Margarita Happy Hour" to Casa that turned into M, S and I going to see spaghetti wrestling at a biker bar. We ended up not getting home until really late and then tried to go into work the next day, a bit hungover and extremely tired.
- SS's golf tournament last year where we were cart partners and we did donuts around the course.
- The girls' weekends down at the Lake the last two years.
- Walking in the Komen Race for the Cure and knowing that we were making a difference for her and so many other women.
- The baseball game last year with the work crowd, where the infamous "Cup Game" was invented and S gave it her all to be the champion. She was too!!
- And all of the other stuff we laughed about when everyone else thought we were just plain crazy.

She was much too young to be taken from us, but I know I am a much better person for having her in my life these last 3 years. She greatly influenced me and made me realize that with good friends you can get through anything. She also taught me to always live life to the fullest because its much too short to be unhappy all of the time. I hope everyone else is as lucky as I have been to have a friend like S.

My personality...

So I decided to take an online personality test, just to see if it could figure me out and believe it or not, it was right on.

Your personality type:

Serious and quiet, interested in security and peaceful living. Extremely thorough, responsible and dependable. Well-developed powers of concentration. Usually interested in supporting and promoting traditions and establishments. Well-organized and hard working, they work steadily towards identified goals. They can usually accomplish any task once they have set their mind to it.

Careers that could fit you includes:

Business executives, administrators and managers, accountants, police, detectives, judges, lawyers, medical doctors, dentists, computer programmers, systems analysts, computer specialists, auditors, electricians, math teachers, mechanical engineers, steelworkers, technicians.

Try it out for yourself and see if you get accurate results: www.41q.com.

Everything else is going fairly well. I've stayed busy as usual the last few weeks with work and all of the other things going on and I've tried to find a bit of time to just sit back and enjoy my life. Hope you're all doing fantastic and I'll put together another update soon.

P.S. Please keep S in your thoughts and prayers. She's taken a turn for the worst while trying to battle breast cancer and has been in the hospital for almost a week. She's a fighter though and we're all hoping for the best. Without sounding like I'm on a soapbox, please remember how important donating to breast cancer research is. Any little thing you can do helps all of the women fighting and surviving this battle. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month too.