Sunday, August 5, 2012

Happy National Best Friends Day!!

In honor of National Best Friends' Day--honestly, guys, I heard on the radio it was TODAY, August 5th, but now that I've googled it, the interwebs is saying it's June 8th, August 1st, or August 15, but whatev, I heard today, so here goes--I'm going to give shout outs to my OSOs. I'm thinking about honoring each of these awesome people in a post this week, so I've confined myself to one line each. (Update: I can't do that. I'll just try to keep it brief.)

*In no particular order*

Leslie and Shannon--these girls are essentially one person. They finish each other's sentences and speak a secret language. But, I know when I need a girls' night, these girls are on it. And that we'll have more fun and laugh more than any other night of our silly lives.

Megan and Brandi--again, we were a three gal show. These girls stood in my office and helped me not go crazy for two and a half years. Somehow when we worked at the worst place ever, we made the best friends ever.

Elizabeth--she's someone I can talk to about everything that's going on--good or bad. She identifies with my ups and downs like no one else can. I am so lucky to have this beautiful person in my life.

Erin--E used to live down the street from me, and we spent the better part of a winter and her first year of marriage sitting on her couch eating cheese balls, chocolate chip cookies, and drinking red wine while watching TV. Sometimes, she's the only one who gets it.

Sharla--Few people in this world have shot up so quickly on the best friends list. I met her and knew right away we would be part of each other's lives forever. She does more for others than most people I know. And we can freaking party like rock stars when we have the energy.

Trina--I remember seeing her for the first time and thinking, "there's a cute girl in a fashionable dress living in Owensboro, and I don't know her, how'd that happen?" Whether it's impromptu weekend trips, coffee breaks, long walks, or just sitting on her couch with our faces in our phones checking our facebooks, just being around her makes me happy.


Jo--when I need a real, honest, no-nonsense perspective, I call Jo. She'll tell me like it is and even make me laugh while she does it. Sometimes til I pee my pants. She's basically a certified therapist without the office. And one word about this girl: perfect. 

Destiny--this girl is my sister from another mister. She knows my inner-workings and loves me anyway. She makes me laugh and motivates me in ways no one else does. I can talk to her about anything, literally anything, and if we need each other, the hour between Owensboro and Bowling Green feels like a ten minute drive. 

Carrie--I have known this girl since I was 11, and as an icebreaker, she hit me in the back of the head with her cello bow. She is the one person who knows everything about me and never needs a back-story to what's going on. When my parents got divorced, she laid in bed and cried as hard as I did. She's been there through it all.

Jamie--I never know where to start with Jamie, because our friendship means everything. She's known me since I was born, but in the last four years has known me better than anyone else. We're each other's non-marital soul mates. Like we have some sort of unspoken connection, we know when each other is hurting, we feel each other's pain, and can count on each other to listen when no one else can. We stay up all night talking, laughing, and crying when we're together. And God is smart enough to not put us in the same city, because together, we are the perfect woman.


CD--Not just a man's best friend, but mine. He will recharge me and comfort me unlike anyone else. And there's something heart-warming about someone who is so excited to see you when you get home. 

My bros--what can I say? I love those boys.

My Grannie Annie--the woman can listen for hours. And never once judges that I haven't asked how she's doing. She thinks I'm her "poor baby, poor baby" when I need it, and her "beautiful, smart, loving" granddaughter when I need it. And I'll always, always need her.

My mom--always a girls' best friend. She's completely irreplaceable and, although I make fun of her all the time, I can't imagine my life without her and never want to know what that's like. Because, sometimes, a girl just needs her mommy. And when I do, she never lets me down. 

Joel--the love of my life. The man who surprises me with the ability to help me keep everything in perspective when I'm falling apart. He is the one person who I can tell my deepest thoughts to as I'm falling asleep, and he'll still love me unconditionally when we wake up. I love this man with everything I have, and although he knows I need my time with the girls, could spend every single second with him. 


Casi--everyone needs someone in their corner, and I'm smart enough to think I deserve to be my own biggest supporter. Luckily, I have amazing friends and family, but when all else fails, I have me. And, I gotta tell you, that Casi Clark girl is really something. 

Week in Flashback

Because I spent the last week flashing back to moments in my life, I haven't been able to update you on the things that were happening in real time, except this. And because it's Sunday and time for long, ridiculous ramblings, I'll tell you all about my week. Lots of blogalicious things happened this week! (That's a term Dee made up, and it's amazing.)

--I worked A LOT. Like so many hours that I'll probably get in trouble, because that's what happens in my job, but that's okay. And it's boring so I won't tell you about it.

--We had a meeting in Frankfort. You know how those go. I, of course, had to get up at 4am, and had to do it again yesterday, and have to do it again Tuesday. Three times in seven days. So if I sound crazy, I am it's because I haven't slept in a week.

--During the meeting, we were given a chip that we now have to carry around so that we can securely use our work laptops. I was going to tell you all about it, but it turned into its own post. So I'll publish that soon. It's really quite hilarious. And scary.

Yup, that was her
--After the meeting, I got to go hang out with Jo and Dee for a bit. En route to get some wine--duh--we saw who I dubbed Homeless Barbie. She was walking in the median of a highway, blonde ponytail swinging in the wind, hot pink back-pack, shorty short denim shorts, and high-top tennis shoes. I think I owned this Barbie as a child, before she lost her flight attendant job and had to hitch hike to get around. No sooner than we saw her, though, a car pulled onto the median, presumably to help her, but also maybe to kidnap her. Also maybe it was the start of a porn movie. We weren't sure, but there was wine to be purchased so we said a quiet prayer that the man pulling up was just Homeless Ken and proceeded with our plans.

--Jo and Dee and I solved all the problems of the world over a glass of wine.

Who can't finish a bottle?
--Several days later, I got to have dinner with my friend/hair expert, Leslie. I knew this was going to be a great night before I even saw her, because she called and asked if I pick her up. She did a little pre-gaming and wanted me to drive. At dinner, Leslie and I realized we both love Apothic Red wine, and so we ordered a bottle of it. The server commented that she could cork that for us, because she'd never been able to finish an entire bottle of wine, even with a friend. Apparently, this girl doesn't have the right friends. Leslie and I saw her challenge by finishing the bottle...and half of another. At one point, I asked another server to please send Tammy over, pointing to our server. Then when she arrived and I started calling her Tammy, she said, "who's Tammy?" I said, "um, you." "My name is Asia," she countered. Oops. People love it when you make up names to call them which is clearly what I did. And it couldn't even be blamed on my wine intake, because I could still figure out that she charged me and Leslie $32 for our bottles of wine instead of $23. Or maybe Tammy thought my blunder was worth $22 to her.

--On Friday, I FINALLY got to meet my friend Sharla for lunch even though we've been trying to get together without success for a while. It was great to get to see her again, and we experienced Bill's at lunch, which was incredible, and Sharla blogged about it!!

I could take this kid too.
--Joel and I had lots of good time together this weekend. I decided Friday night that Joel was a worthy opponent and challenged him to a wrestling match. Now, I'm not using wrestling as a euphemism or a code word for anything. I mean, seriously, a fierce competition where I was determined to kick his ass. However, at one point, he had both my arms and legs pinned, and I'm pretty sure I pulled every muscle in my neck trying to head butt him.

--After we made up, I was so happy to be home spending quality time with him after such a long week that I whispered into his ear, "Baby, you're all that I need, when I'm lying here in your arms, I'm finding it hard to believe, we're in heaven." And told him that wasn't that romantic how I'd just made that up. He said I didn't make it up, that, in fact, it was a song lyric. WRONG.

Here's to best friends
--Then, when we were spending quality time together Saturday evening, I was cracking him up with my awesome antics, and he meant to say I was hilarious, but it accidentally came out sounding like irritating. So weird how those two words sound alike.

--Saturday, I worked in Lexington and Destiny and I got to have lunch to celebrate National Best Friends' Day. Not only did we do a little boutique shopping (whoa, I can blow some moola!), but then we ate one of everything on the menu at Ramsey's!





Thanks for earning me a buck, folks.
--This weekend was a free weekend at Sam's Club. I've really been wanting to go, because I have problem with food hoarding, so I make the trek this morning. I spent WAY too much money and probably got more food than we can eat in 6 months but I was drunk off of the gigantic sizes of the food. But I realized Sam's tragic flaw. NO GROCERY BAGS. I didn't realize this until the sweet lady at the checkout was loading my cart, and then went into a panic. You see, I knew that I would get home and not only would I have to carry all of these individual groceries into the house, but also then up the stairs to the refrigerator. I began to panic. I knew that I would have to make no fewer than 70 trips in with the groceries, but also that I have a lazy streak that stretches from here to Fiji. So I will inevitably leave things in my car thinking I'll just bring them in when I need them. Then I started to get terrified that I'd find an 80 ounce bottle of Ranch dressing in my floorboard in six months or that some day everything will be covered in sticky, and then I will realize a huge bottle of sugar-free vanilla syrup will have burst under the weight of all the other sh*t I keep in my car. I just might write to Sam's and tell them what an inconvenience this is for me. It doesn't matter, though, I can't get a membership to Sam's because my fridge isn't big enough we simply don't need to buy trail mix in bulk and then sit and eat it mindlessly.

My favorite of Dad's many doggies
--Also, today, I got to spend good time with my momma, Grannie Annie, Pa, and my daddy. Pa coughed up the $1 he owed to me and Grannie Annie because a year ago, we made a bet that Ashley and JP from last year's Bachelorette would remain together for  a year, while he argued they'd break up way before then. I told him to please write on it "Casi was right." And then sign it so I could frame it. He wouldn't do that, but I'm going to forge his concession and frame it. Then wrap it up and give it to him for Christmas.

--I got three whole hours to hang out with my daddy, just me and him. This may not seem like a big deal, but there are always a million things going on when Dad and I are hanging out. I love love love my stepmom and brothers, but it was so nice to have all that time, just me and Daddy, hanging out, talking about life. I even convinced him to pause his movie and talk. I loved it.

--We're having pizza for dinner!!! And, in our house, that makes for a GREAT week!