Some people...

I work with a few people whose goal in life seems to be making everyone else work a little harder so they can just take it easy... Poor Derek hears the brunt of my complaints about said co-workers, so I just want to complain to someone else for a change... So read on if you care, if not, it's off my chest...

I just get really tired of doing other people's work for them. I wouldn't mind if there was an actual need for it, but here I am actually doing what's asked of me plus what's asked of them just because essentially I'm a proficient worker and they don't want to do it.

All of the people I'm referring to have the same lazy work ethic that gives state employees a bad reputation. I feel like sometimes my sole purpose is to defy that stereotype. Some of these people actually think they deserve a break because they work for the state. They think that their job is safe and guaranteed regardless. I actually heard one such person say, "Well, in this economy, I'm just glad I'm not the last person hired because you know what they say - last one hired is the first one fired, so I don't have anything to worry about." Seriously... THAT's what I get to deal with everyday.

I'm thankful every day that I have a job, much less a job that I enjoy most of the time. And you better believe I try to improve myself and learn everyday. Imagine that!

I despise poor work ethic. I don't think any job should be guaranteed. I feel like it should be deserved. With layoffs left and right these days, I guess I would just assume people wouldn't take their jobs for granted and would actually try to prove their worth, but I guess that's asking too much. And you know what happens when you assume...

Busy Weekend

My parents came up for the day yesterday and brought my grandparents for a quick visit. It was our "Easter" get-together since we won't be able to make it to Hattiesburg next weekend. We grilled some burgers and sat out on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather. After lunch, my parents were curious to try out Rock Band, so we played a few songs. My mom thinks she was a drummer in a previous life, so of course she couldn't wait to rock out. I got a short video on my camera of Derek and my parents playing "Eye of the Tiger." Derek is usually the guitarist while I sing, but I think he did pretty good for his first time. This cracks me up... :)

We even got Granny in on the action with some Wii Bowling. Here's an action shot...

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun, and Mom and Dad loved the Wii so much that they bought one when they got back to Hattiesburg yesterday. Yes, that's right... it will be party time at the Bice house from now on. :)

Last night I went to Vicksburg for Lauchlin's 30th birthday party at the Ware House downtown. It was great! Her mom the eternal English teacher wrote a sweet poem about the day she was born and recited it with total professionalism. Here's a pic. So sweet...

And here's a pic of me with some old Vicksburg friends, Lauchlin, Olivia, Cortney and Kathleen.

And of course, knowing Lauchlin, there was karaoke involved as the night wore on. Here's Lauchstar herself singing some Britney...

It was a fun party and a great way for Lauchlin to ring in the big 3-0. Happy birthday, Lauchy!

Today has been a lazy day for me, and I've totally enjoyed it. It's breakfast-for-dinner night tonight, so I'm off to make some omelets. One busy weekend down, one more to go!

It's April already??

Wow... I don't know where the month of March went... or even February for that matter. Almost every Monday night for the past two months I've spent meeting with other volunteers to get ready for the Taste of Mississippi fundraiser for Stewpot Community Services. This year's event has now come and gone, and I can't believe another year has passed!

This was my second year to help coordinate the marketing of the event, and I totally enjoyed it. As always, I got a little stressed in the midst of it all to say the least, but it's always worth it in the end. It's just hard to fully devote yourself to a project when you work full time, but I did my best. I even started a blog about it because I'm dorky like that! But it did help spread the word, which is all that matters. :)

It's definitely for a great cause... last year the event raised $112,000 for Stewpot, and the money went to support the organization's 17 ministries for the homeless in Jackson ranging from the community kitchen where anyone can show up to eat the noon mean with no questions asked to family counseling, a job center, after-school enrichment and more. I know I sound like a I should be a spokesman for this, and in some ways, I am. I believe in what this organization does, and I'm very happy to help in any way possible.

I even recruited some friends to serve on the planning committee this year, which made a bit more fun for me, and I think they enjoyed it, too. I hope they all agree to do it again next year!

We couldn't have asked for better weather for Monday night's event. We had a great time and stuffed ourselves silly with good food. My friend Katherine even won a few things in the silent auction. It was a lot of fun! And it's always nice to see your hard work pay off in a big way.

Our marketing committee will meet next week to start working on next year's event, and the planning committee meets the week after for a post-event debriefing with suggestions for improvements for next year. And then we'll actually get our Monday nights back for a while until January, when it will all start back up again.

Phew... just thinking about it makes me tired. But I can sacrifice a couple of months' worth of Monday nights if it means being able to give and do what I can to help this charity. They do good work. I can only hope to do the same. :)

A little R & R

I need more weekends like this past one... We did a whole lot of NOTHING, and it was fabulous. Friday night we spent trying to console the dog during the bad weather. We even gave him two benadryls, but he was still just as anxious as could be until he finally fell asleep.

Derek watched a movie while I made some significant progress in my book. I'm reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It's a book about a dog told from the dog's point of view at the end of his life. It's really interesting so far... my parents both read it and then Derek read it, so he's ready for me to finish it so we can "discuss." I usually read really, really girly books, so it's a pretty rare occasion when we both read the same book. :)

Anyways... Saturday we slept in and woke up to a beautiful but chilly day outside. We headed to Lowe's to pick out some flowers and spent the afternoon bundled up planting flowers in the backyard. They're so pretty! It actually looks like spring at our house now. We watched two movies Saturday night - one Quentin Tarantino movie, "Death Proof", and then "Knocked Up," which I've seen three or four times now and still think it's as funny as the first time I watched it.

Then Sunday morning I watched two Lifetime movies I had DVR'd earlier in the week - "The Party Never Stops" about binge drinking and "Stand Against Fear: A Moment of Truth Movie" about football players molesting the cheerleading squad. Yes, they were as bad as they sound, and it was a total waste of a good four hours of my weekend, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. :)

We were feeling a bit stir crazy by Sunday afternoon, so we headed over to Katherine's house to sit outside in the sunshine and catch up with her. A few more of our friends came over and we cooked chicken spaghetti for dinner with key lime pie for dessert. It was a great way to end the weekend.

I must say, knowing we have a couple of busy weekends coming up, it was so nice to just stay home and get some rest... it was a well-deserved, relaxing weekend. I hate that it's already over, but at least I feel rested and ready for the week rather than a little hungover and worn out. :)

Rain, rain, go away...

I'm so sick of the rain! It was pretty weather only for the weekend (not that I'm complaining), but it rained all day yesterday and is supposed to start raining again tonight through Saturday. I'm just read for some nice spring weather so we can get out in the yard and make it look like springtime... plant some flowers, clean up some pinestraw, etc. That was my whole plan for this weekend, and now it's looking more and more like a dreary few days. But at least maybe this way the pollen will be gone for good.

Hopefully the rain will come and go without anymore serious storms. We got lucky with the weather last night, although I don't think the dog slept a wink. He gets so nervous during thunderstorms, and it was about this time last year that the tornado came down Pine Lane. Fingers crossed that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I know Bentley hopes so, too. He's as ready for the sunshine as I am! And I know he's as tired as I am of leaving pollen-covered paw prints on my wood floors. :)

Spring is here!

It's officially spring, and for once, the Mississippi weather actually matched the season this past weekend, so we enjoyed it to the fullest.

Friday night we had some friends over to play Rock Band and Jenga. Long story short... a few years ago Derek and I bought a Jenga game at a garage sale across the street for a quarter and turned it into a world-renown (or something like that) Drunk Jenga game by writing on the blocks. We definitely got our quarters-worth over the years, but I'm sad to say the game has "disappeared." There's no telling where it might be these days, but wherever it is, I'm sure it's having a good time with its new owners. Anyways... on a recent trip to Hattiesburg we convinced my parents to let us have their Jenga game, and Friday night we made the second version of our beloved game. This one's even better, so watch out! :)

Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed downtown for the St. Paddy's Day parade. Fun, fun, fun... and what a beautiful day to watch a parade! My sunburn speaks for itself as the first real sun of the season. Gotta love some sunshine on a nice, spring day! Here are a few pics from the parade...

Me with Jenny and Katie...

Derek and Nathan...

Us with Drew and Kristin...

After the parade we changed clothes and headed to Vicksburg for Jennifer Lynne and Stephen's engagement party... It made for a LONG day, trust me, but we had a great time. We went out to The Biscuit Company after the party and spent the last few hours of the night just catching up with everyone. If you've never been to that bar, it's one of the coolest bars ever. I had a few fun memories (and even one not-so-fun one) of that place when Derek and I first started dating. It flooded shortly after I moved to Vicksburg in 2003 and has been closed every since. It just recently reopened, and now it's just as good as new! The Biscuit Company definitely ranks right on up there with Daquiri World (Ha!) as far as legendary bars go, so I know everyone's glad it's back. :)

Here's a picture of the girls out Saturday night...

We ate lunch with Katherine and her parents Sunday before heading back home. It was a busy, busy weekend, but I'm so glad spring is officially here! Knowing Mississippi weather, it'll only be nice like this for a couple of weeks, so we might as well enjoy it while it lasts. :)

My big baby boy is four years old!

Sir Bentley Warren Christopher Lamar Bice Grey turns four years old today. It seems like only yesterday Derek greeted me at the door with this precious furball in his arms. I fell in love... now 100 pounds later, he still has my heart.

Happy Birthday, Bent! Our world wouldn't be the same without your unconditional love, blonde tumbleweeds of fur and slobber. We love you, dog. :)