Dear OK Chick...

Dear OK Chick,

So I met her waaaay back in the day when she went to my friend’s church. It was when I lived here the summer of 04’. She had moved into the room I was renting when I left. We went out to grab a bite (not a date, just hanging out) and I had one of those jaw on the floor moments when she said she was a teacher, and she has this amazing faith. I had just gotten dumped and was moving to simi so I didn't ask for her number or anything. Fast forward a few years and she pops up on my friend’s facebook. I befriend her and say hola, let her know I'm moving down to s.d. and see if she wants to grab some rolled tacos again (I remember she really liked those). She says that sounds cool, and then the next day sends me a message saying she's taking a break from talking to guys, but appreciates the thought. It's been like 3 months now and I'm not sure how to approach her again.

Sincerely,
Your CA friend


Dear CA friend,

Thanks for the email! First off CA Friend, I would like to give you props for making the first move; for this I applaud you. Seriously, I would say 55% of guys just sit back and wait for God to smack them over the head. Another 20% wait for God to actually speak to them- Son, ask out that poor girl! However, you are in the rare 25% that are actually proactive and not creepy proactive. You asked her to join you in a meal of rolled tacos, which I don’t know what that is but it sounds great!

Here are my thoughts:

#1- She really is taking a break from guys. Her reasoning could be; religion, traveling a lot, recently was hurt by a male, or just hates guys in general. I think 3 months is a suitable break. I believe you could send her a quick message- how about some rolled tacos? Be breezy in your message, but not breezy like Monica on Friends. Monica actually tells Richard’s answering machine that she’s being breezy. Don’t do that. But let her know that you still want to share some rolled tacos with her when she’s done with her “No Guys Sabbatical."

#2- Her taste buds have changed. She might not be into rolled tacos anymore. I know it’s a weak point, but valid one. You might see about another type of food. Perhaps Chinese is her thing now?

#3- She might not be into you. I’m sorry, but I’m calling it like I see it. No one said dating was easy. Girls have to go through this crap all the time, and it appears guys have to go through it too. I’m talking about the whole- are they blowing me off or giving me a ligament reason. It’s a fine line. CA Friend, you are a cool dude, and funny as all get out. I can say this because…well I know you in person. If this girl can't see that an evening out with you would be an enjoyable one, then you might need to send her packing. Move on brother. I got a girl out in WI who's looking. She wouldn't turn down a rolled taco. Heck, I wouldn't turn down a rolled taco! I hope this helps.

Your OK Friend,
OK Chick

Running Thoughts...

Yesterday, my great state witnessed a rare occurrence. The wind was not blowing, the sun was shining, it was 70 degrees, and there wasn’t a tornado in sight. Usually when it’s sunny, 70 degrees, and no wind; an F4 tornado is getting ready to demolish a poor unexpected town. No joke. Since mother-nature was in a good mood, I figured it would be the perfect day to run a few miles, or four and half miles-whatever. As I was running I had lots of thoughts…so once again here are Ok Chick’s Running Thoughts….

I’m an awesome matchmaker. I knew they would be good together. Ah, just call me Yenta. Wait, is that her name? Yenta, that doesn’t sound right? Is Yenta what I like to eat at Zorba’s? Ummm, I’ll have to Google that when I finish.

I wonder if Justin Timberlake every thought to himself- Some day I’m going to sing a song about saving the world with Madonna- THE MADONNA. I bet he didn’t.

Lady, go. Please, move your piece of crap Buick out of my way. I could run faster than you’re driving. Oh wait, I am running faster than you are driving. HA! Oh crap she’s looking at me. Do I know her? No, I don’t think so.

I can’t wait to eat pancakes. I’m getting hungry.

Oh boy, college baseball players!

CRAP! I didn’t set my watch. I don’t know how many calories I’ve burn. I can’t believe I didn’t set my watch. AHHH, OK Chick you are losing it.

Is that Guy #1? I don’t want to see him. It will be that awkward- I haven’t talked to you in over a week because you called me bitter -type thing. I’m so not in the mood to mess with that stuff.

Is it, is it, is it…not Guy #1.

I kind of like Lady Gaga’s music. Actually, I just like her name. Maybe I can get people to start calling me Lady Maga. I can’t copy off of Lady Gage, because that would be stupid.

Man, my toe hurts. If I screw up my new pedicure I will be so pissed. OK Chick, this is why you do not get pedicures during running season.

OH MY GOSH! If I keep setting up all these guys I won’t have anyone to date. What in the world am I thinking? WHO I am I suppose to date? Well, I don’t really want to date any of these guys. However, I do believe I need to start charging people for my expertise. Maybe I could be the OK Millionaire Matchmaker. I wonder if Bravo or Lifetime would give me a show. I guess I’d need to find some single millionaire friends first; one obstacle, a big obstacle but not an impossible obstacle.
WOO HOO! I just ran 4.5 miles. Go me!

I never said my thoughts were exciting. They just get me through an hour of running.

Get your pancakes on...

Today, is International Pancake Day. What better way to celebrate International Pancake Day than by eating free pancakes! IHOP is serving pancakes from 7am-10pm, and did I mention they are for free? I believe I will be having pancakes for dinner. I missed out on Denny's Free Grand Slams, so I am not missing out on the free pancakes. Folks, we are in a recession. I need all the free food I can get.

Ramblings...

Ok, so it’s been a bit busy the past few days. I’m sorry there was no Weekend Update. Folks, there just wasn’t time for me to sit down to post. I will say I had a great weekend and a wonderful Valentine’s Day. I spent my VDay doing a lot of “me” things. For instance, I ran a race, went to aerobics, ate brunch with my family, and then went to the movies. See, all things I like to do! Since I couldn’t give you your weekly dose of Weekend Update, I thought I’d give you some Ramblings.

Last night OKC Thunder, formerly Seattle Super Sonics, unveiled our mascot. It’s a Bison. I don’t really understand why a bison is our mascot. How does that go with Thunder? It doesn’t. I guess I should be happy it’s not something silly like Lily the Lighting. I mean, that would totally make us the laughing stock of the NBA. OH wait, we already are the laughing stock of the NBA.

As I mentioned earlier I ran a race on Saturday. It was not pretty. Sometimes I go to these races and feel like the most out of shape in shape person. The race was five miles, which should have been doable. However, I forgot that this park has random huge hills throughout the whole park. When I hit the half way mark I thought to myself…..I hate to run, and this is stupid. I don’t think I’m going to run the race next year. I hate this particular race, but every year I sign up. I blame it on the fact that they give out great shirts and have good food after the race. But I did win a $25 gift card to a local running store. SOOO the race wasn’t a total waste.

This weekend I discovered a new show, The Millionaire Matchmaker. It’s on Bravo. I’m telling you, Bravo has some great shows. Now true; they only have about three shows on their network but its pretty good stuff. I guess that just goes to show you that quality is more important than quantity.

Friday night I had great plans. I was going to eat dinner and watch a movie. I invited a new recipe that I was excited to try. I combined pasta, chicken, fresh tomatoes, some spices, and oil. I thought it was going to be a successful recipe. However, it was a recipe that was pretty bland. I was upset about the whole ordeal. First, I was starving and banking on the meal to be wonderful. Second, I was pissed I’d wasted chicken and pasta on a horrible dish. But since I’m a pretty stubborn person, I ate the bland meal. I hate wasting food, so it was a given that I was going to eat the stuff. Oh and the movie, Becoming Jane. It was good, it’s about Jane Austin. Did you guys know that Jane Austin never got married? I know! I guess if Jane Austin can go through life as a bachelorette, than so can I.

Well folks, sadly my Ramblings must come to an end. My stomach is growling and I need some breakfast. It’s time for some oatmeal!

Dear OK Chick...

Sometimes readers send me an email asking for my advice. I guess they sense that I know a thing or two about life, and feel that I can offer a solid response that will help them. Sometimes the question is over healthy eating, and sometimes the question is over matters of the heart. Ok fine! So maybe The Cousin is the only reader who sends me an email asking for my help. But either way, The Cousin is a reader and is asking my opinion; which is why I’m posting my first (and maybe last) ever- Dear OK Chick…..


Dear OK Chick,

My friend recently met a young man over the internet. After three months of phone calls and visits, they decided to move in together and get married. After he moved in with my friend, I started hearing stories about this guy. For instance, his car was broken, which meant he had to use my friends. He is on parole, and he couldn't legally get a job until they get married.
Recently my friend and this guy were married. At the wedding he had no family or friends attend. Not even his mom. OK Chick, my question is there something missing here??!! Would you not be skeptic about this guy? What do you do in this situation?

Sincerely,
The Cousin

Dear The Cousin,

Thank you for the email. Ok, what would I do in this situation? Well, I’m all for people changing their lives and making a better live for themselves. Maybe this guy needs positive vibes to reach his full potential. He could be a wonderful man that hit some bad luck. This marriage might just be the thing he needs.
But on the other hand, as a friend you cannot sit back and not voice your concern. I would confront your friend. Have you tried telling her that the man she loves is a loser? If not, start there. I’m reminded of a movie that was recently on Lifetime. The movie was about abusive boyfriends. Candice Cameron was in the movie and she was getting beat up by her boyfriend, he was played that Wonder Years guy. All her friends knew that he was hitting her; but her friends looked the other way. And you know what happen? She died. She got beat to death, by that Wonder Years guy. You need to voice your opinion so your friend does not end up like Candice Cameron and a Lifetime Movie. Honey, if your friend is dating someone like this, she might have a few screws loose and not realized what she hasn’t gotten herself into- unless this friend is you? Cousin, this better not be you! If I get invited to a wedding where the groom is a wacked out parole loser so help me I will beat you with a stupid stick! But if this isn’t you, I suggest you talk to your friend about her marriage. Good luck!

XOXO,
OK Chick

A Gift to You

Last year someone bought me flowers for VDay. However, this year it's just me, myself, and I for the holiday. Not wanting to break the new VDay tradition, I plan to by myself flowers. Stop laughing! I have you to know, there's an exciting VDay planned for my Saturday. A five mile race is involved. I know, nothing says love like running five miles. Anyway, in honor of The Love Holiday, I thought I would pass along these beautiful flowers to everyone in Blogger World. Enjoy and have a great VDay!

What a day...

Blogger World, I need a day off to recover from yesterday. I know! You are right, I did just get back from a nice vacation with the fam. HOWEVER, after mother-nature about killed me…I think I’m entitled to another vacation! Folks, let me give you the break down of my day.

6:30am- Enter my office with a nonfat Chai.
8:45am- Leave me office because the terminate people are coming to treat my residence. Yeah, I was way pumped about terminates living rent free at my house!
11:45am- Enter my office after kicking terminates out of my house.
1:30pm- Meeting
2:45pm- Announcement was made that a tornado was headed towards the office building and we needed to get to the 1st floor, quickly.
3:15pm- Watch grown men run because glass windows shattered when the storm/tornado hit the building.
3:25pm- Go back up to my office-walking lots of stairs.
3:30pm- Turn around and go back down to the first floor, again walking lots of stairs, because storm/tornado #2 is headed towards my office.
4:30pm- Finally dismissed from my office. I had twenty minutes to get home before next storm hit.
4:35pm- Home and watched my weather peeps.

SEE, that was a busy day! I tell you what; a few tornados in your town will really get the adrenalin pumping! Thankfully, everyone in my family (that was in the path) was safe yesterday. My mom was in a closet with her classroom; Sister #2 was in lockdown at school. Oh yes, here at OK we don’t screw with tornados. If Lord Gary says JUMP BACK, we get our butts in gear!

Hey Black Diamond, who's your daddy?

You know I had a good weekend when I title Weekend Update something besides Weekend Update. The weekend was so good that I had to take Monday off to recover. Yup I’m typing this from the comfort of my kitchen chair, not my office chair. Ok, I’ll get on with my weekend before you leave my blog and see what The Undomestic Goddess did with her kids this weekend.

Friday
Friday morning my family minus Sister #1 headed to Land of Lobos, which is New Mexico if you don’t keep up with college sports. Ever since I was six years old my family has been trucking it to Angel Fire for a nice affordable family ski vacation. Last year I didn’t get to go skiing because I was in school, but this year I’m making up for it with two ski trips. This was trip #1- family ski trip.
Angel Fire is 8-9 hours away from Hometown, USA, hence when we ski at Angel Fire. Most of Friday was my family driving. Actually, all of Friday was driving- nothing really exciting happened on the way up to Angel Fire. Oh, I did read an entire book. This is huge! Usually on road trips I sleep. I am the worst copilot when it comes to road trips. I can’t read maps and I sleep. See, this is why I like traveling by plane.

Saturday
The first and possible the only day of skiing.
A couple years ago I went skiing and realized that I might be over skiing. Like I said earlier, I’ve been skiing since I was six years old; that’s 22 years of hitting the slops. It’s been a good run. No other hobby has been in my life for 22 years, so there’s no harm in retiring skiing from –My Favorite Things to Do List. When I was little I loved skiing, but as I got older I started to feel the pain of the ski boot. I mean, seriously, if we can get a man to walk on the moon why in the world have we not developed better ski boots? Anyway, first day of skiing. I was kind of dreading skiing. At breakfast all I could think of was- 30 layers of clothes makes me look fat, SKI BOOTS, carrying all the ski gear to the lifts, SKI BOOTS, cold weather, SKI BOOTS, and the fact that I was out of breath just from getting dressed. Ok, so I thought about a lot during breakfast. All these things were the reason why I believed Saturday would be my only day to ski. BUT, the minute I snapped my right boot in the ski I realized that there is still love in my heart for skiing.
Saturday turned out to be one of the best ski days. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining bright, no wind, 47 degrees, and hardly any lines. As my mom said to Sister #2- it’s almost legal to stop skiing when there are no lines. So we didn’t stop until we couldn’t ski anymore, which was 3:30. I could have kept skiing, but the thought of eat at my favorite pizza place-Pizza Stop- and getting a nonfat Chai was more appealing.

Sunday
I was a bit more excited to get up and ski. Sadly, Sunday was our last day to ski. Sister #2 had school on Monday. Sister #2 and I squeezed in 2 ½ hours of skiing before our parents drug us off the mountain. It was time to say bye to Angel Fire.

I have to say, it was a fun weekend of skiing. I’m looking forward to my next ski trip, which is next week. Single life is good!

The Way I See It #26

This morning I went to Starbucks. It's the first time I've been in three weeks. I know! For the past three weeks, I've been making my own Chais. I decided I'd been lazy enough, and I was very capable of making my own Chai. But with all that said, sometimes it's nice to be lazy. Ok not really. I went this morning because: A) I was out of my Oregon Chai; and B) Sister #1 gave me one of her Starbucks giftcards. I think she only thought there was $5 on the card. Boy was she wrong, there's $20. HA! I do not have to tell you people how much this excites me.

In the spirit of Starbucks, I thought I'd share some of their wisdom. Starbucks has brought back The Way I See It. Again, excites me to know end. You know, it's the little things in life.
Wisdom from Starbucks....

Failure's hard, but success is far more dangerous. If you're successful at the wrong thing, the mix of praise and money and opportunity can lock you in forever.
-Po Bronson (Author of What Should I Do with My Life)

PS- This morning I tried an Apple Chai. LOVE IT!

Anonymous Truths

I am alive! Please, do not send out a search party. I’m sure you were all scared and worried about my well being, right?

Today, I thought I’d do another Anonymous Truths. I saw this question a few weeks ago, and thought it was a good one. Here are the rules before I post the question….

1. All comments should be left anonymously.
2. Just because the comments are anonymous is NOT an excuse to leave an inappropriate or judgmental remark.
3. It is fine for a healthy dialog to take place in the comments section, but keep it clean, impersonal, and on track.
4. If you recognize someone’s answer, please keep it to yourself.
5. This is in NO WAY intended to be offensive or hurtful to anyone.

The Question:
What is one thing you need/want to tell a good friend-i.e. advice, secrets about yourself, or just things that bug you about them.

Better Luck Next Time

This post is dedicated to the Lady Sooners. Last night the team put it to Tennessee. Pat Summitt (T's head coach) came to Oklahoma trying to achieve something huge. She was going for her 1,000th win. However, our Rock Star Sooners shut her down! Congrats to the Sooners.