Maybe it's genetic

This one is really silly, but it's truly one of my favorite things and it got my Monday off to a good start this morning....
I am addicted to caffeine. I gave it up cold turkey for about 5 years but picked up the bottle of coke and fell off the wagon (everyone has to have an addiction....at least it only caffeine, right). So part of my morning ritual is to drink a coke or dr. pepper. I'm not a coffee drinker so that's my caffeine fix. From a very young age I learned from my wise father that the very best way to drink a dr pepper is when it's semi frozen right out of the freezer. I wish I had a better digital camera so I could take a picture to illustrate....but essentially, the soda of your choice isn't frozen solid...it's just slushy...not all the way through, just about the top two inches. It is the best!!!
I actually remembered to put my dr pepper in the freezer this morning. Yum! I have to remember to do this every morning. Thanks to my dad for the tip.
A couple others from dad...
Put a pixie stick in a coke icee (never done this one)
peanut butter and pickles on a cracker
always cut a grilled cheese diagnally, it just tastes better that way
you can never have too much chocolate and white chocolate doesn't count (except in emergencies).

On the road again...

Well good friends, I apparently have not improved my posting schedule. Which is really pretty bad considering that I even have one post that's already written and just waiting to be uploaded. One reason for my delinquency has been my recent schedule. I have been travelling a lot lately. This is not a bad thing (other than the fact that I'm not posting). I love to travel. Most of my favorite memories stem from a trip to somewhere or another. In less than a month I've been to Washington DC twice, a spa town nearby, and am currently sitting in the airport waiting on a flight out west. It's wonderful. Give me a ticket anywhere and I'll go. However, I do miss my house, pets, family, and friends (not necessarily in that order).
I am very excited about this trip. It is to California. I've never been to CA and am excited to be some place new.
So to everyone out there (I guess this means Charlotte and my office mate) have a great week and do something new this week.

Random Observations

Again I must apologize for being remiss in my writing duties. I am once again in our nation's capital (unless you're reading this from another country, which would be really cool). I have several snippets to write about but not much time so tonight we'll do a bullet point version...

• life long reminders of great friendships, in this case in the form of a star tattoo
• truly enjoying your work
• great food with great people
• chocolate
• new experiences
• people watching in airports (sorry cute dude in the ATL airport, but you look stupid carrying a toy shih szu)

All for tonight

Best Mom Ever

Your author has been under the weather this week. She, however, drug herself to work for a day of meetings and coordinating very important things. By lunch, I was hungy and just didn't have enough energy to go get lunch. It was a very sad situation. I called my wonderful mother who was dining with my father and brother. She agreed to bring me some lunch after a minimal amount of begging. This alone made my day, but the very best part was the six random corn chips that she put in the container with my chicken strips. It was so sweet and unexpected and it made me laugh.

Dragonflies: Part 1

I never thought I’d write anything about dragonflies. I don’t particularly care for anything with more than four legs, especially if they have wings and lots of eyes. There are, however, a few exceptions to this general rule, those being butterflies and lady bugs. It’s hard to be scared of a lady bug.
I enjoyed a beautiful day at the lake with some good friends and one of the best things about that day besides the company was the small dragonflies that were flying around us in the lake. We were lounging in floats in the lake and the dragonflies would land on your leg or arm and just look at you. One sat with me for a while and I was able to get him(?) to land on my finger. I had never seen a dragonfly that close up before. It’s truly amazing they are able to fly at all. Their wings look like lace and these little guys were the most incredible shade of metallic blue. My buddy the dragonfly was so beautiful (even with the lots of legs and eyes). I never thought that I would make friends with any creepy crawly. But now dragonflies join the ranks of butterflies and ladybugs…welcome.


Dragonfly Habitat

Nasty irritating weeds grew with might
They grew gigantically to knee height
A garden annoyance…they must be removed
Their presence is unanimously disapproved

Firm hearty tugs should suffice
Gloved hands pulling once then twice…
The stubborn spiky weeds nettled
Resisting… as a small dragonfly settled

Causing me to reconsider my intentions
The rare visitor stirred admiration…
The iridescent winged beauty stared
Invoking feelings…as though it cared

We looked at one another…greeting
What’s the reason for this meeting?
Only wonder can explain this delight
Swift wings lifted it into flight

Saddened as the marvel jets and darts
Suspended in the atmosphere… then it departs
Thoughts of pulling rascal weeds are retracted
If they stay, more dragonflies may be attracted
7/21/09 Theresa Moore

Urban Wildlife

My hotel in the city I recently visited looked out over a small park. Just one block square surrounded by traffic and tall buildings. Over the course of my visit I had observed people walking quickly to catch the metro or the bus, homeless men lounging on the park benches, and pigeons gracing the head of a statue of a long dead war hero, but I had not seen any animals, in particular, no squirrels. In my opinion, any park with a tree needs squirrels. They’re funny. It made me sad that despite how pretty the park was, there wasn’t any wildlife to make it truly a little slice of nature in the city. On the last day of my visit I was watching the people scurry to their important appointments when I saw one lone squirrel dash from the middle of the park across the sidewalk and up the nearest tree. Maybe living in a big city wouldn’t be so bad after all…

Big Scary Grates

So, I'm currently in DC. I love DC, all the hustle and bustle without the claustrophobic feeling of NYC and a better metro system. A colleague and I are walking down the street and this little boy, about 4 years old is walking by himself. (he had an action figure in his hand) His dad is about 10 feet ahead of him. What separates them? One of those metal grates in the sidewalk you find in big cities. The kid is just staring down into the grate like he can see to the bottom. Not afraid, just completely absorbed by this big metal thing in the sidewalk. The dad did good, just let him look and figure it out. It was adorable. Ah, to be curious instead of irritated that it ate the heel of your shoe.