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Vol. 1, Issue 14: The final countdown

Here it is! As of today, Tuesday, March 8 – I am 39 weeks pregnant and we’re on the final countdown.  Currently, I’m trying to navigate around my belly to get to the laptop in my lap – so excuse the typos.  Like many other women at this point in their pregnancy, I am anxious, excited and REAAADY!

For those of you that know me…you know I’m a planner. We’ve got the nursery done, hospital bags packed, car seat installed, pediatrician selected and baby care classes completed. All of that readiness means we’ll likely pass my due date.

As for any keen insights – they’ll have to wait until I can form better sentences and thoughts.  Wordz iz hard.

I can share the most amazing thing that I’ve adjusted to… is the movement of life inside of me. At times it can be uncomfortable and many evenings I just stare as my belly contorts into different shapes and little limbs can be painful.  Baby hiccups feel funny.  Sleep in the last month is near impossible and I’ve grown a set of kankles.  All that… and we can’t wait to meet the this new little person.

Yes, I know we’ll be up to our ears in diapers, pacifiers, bottles, crying and that life will never be the same again. For all of the plans and dreams that we’ve conjured up for our daughter – all we care about now is that she’s healthy, happy and knows that she’s loved and wanted.

So far… pregnancy has been quite the ride and experience and we’ve got one more stop to make before we jump on that parenthood train.

In the meantime, I can tell you I am looking forward to sleeping on my back again, seeing my feet, going for a run and in a few months – that first beer.

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your support, advice, encouragement and excitement.  In a week’s time our world will never be the same and we can hardly wait!

Now back to The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie that’s randomly on HBO.  “Ba da ba da ba da…That’s all folks!”

Vol. 1, Issue 13: What the heck happened to the 2nd Trimester?

As promised here’s a LONG overdue blog post…And for those of you who are used to me listing things out loud. You’ll appreciate this!

They say your energy returns during the second trimester of pregnancy and you should try to accomplish as much as you can during that time.  True enough – it did for me and we took the opportunity to get as much done around the house we possibly could to prepare for the baby.

During that time we accomplished the following:

- Ultrasound to determine the gender of our baby

- Decided on a name

- Cleaned out the “Music Room” to make the Baby’s Room

- Found new homes and places for all the things displaced from the music room. (We have too much stuff!!!)

- New carpet and paint for the baby’s room (colors – light sage green and lavender)

- Purchased baby furniture, baby clothes, diapers and other odds and ends. (Thanks to my mom and dad for the awesome jogging stroller and car seat.)

- Ran my last two 5ks for awhile (Actually sported a baby bump for the City Divided Run)

- Massively cleaned and organized the house

- Registered for baby showers (holy cow that’s fun!)

- Purchased a “mom-mobile”

My second trimester really went by pretty smoothly for the most part. My morning sickness passed like all the books said it would. What I wasn’t prepared for is how significant time cleaning, running, walking would affect my hips and back. I learned the hard way after Race for the Cure and then the City Divided Run. I also discovered a full day of cleaning left me hobbled and searching for the Tylenol!  As my baby bump grew – I discovered that I had to support my belly with a pillow while sleeping on my side. I had long given up sleeping on my back… wow, talk about missing the little things!

FYI – all those pregnancy books are pretty spot on by-the-way. My favorite is The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy (Or Everything Your Doctor Won’t Tell You). It definitely prepared me for the things that no one mentions in polite conversation when they mention your wonderful pregnancy glow.  To all of those of you who have been or are pregnant – you know what I’m talking about.  Let’s just say – don’t ever take fiber for granted or underestimate the power of a sneeze.

One of the most amazing things was finally feeling the baby move on a regular basis! I remember the first time Dale finally felt that kick. She’d been frustrated that every time she tried – the baby would stop moving. One morning, our little one was particularly active, it was a Monday morning and I grabbed Dale’s hand and told her to just wait.  Sure enough – the baby kicked and kicked again. It was so much fun to see Dale so excited.

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen some of my pregnancy tweets…. usually they range from complaining about my hips, “magic belly” moments and sometimes feeling I was eating nonstop. I haven’t had any weird cravings…yet. I always want fruit but that’s pretty much it. And yes, I’ve had my selective hormonal breakdowns but I like to think they’ve been few and far between.

Now we know we still have a lot to do but feel that we accomplished quite a bit. All of the “heavy lifting” stuff is done and now it’s final prep time.

What’s next?

- All the legal paperwork we need to finish

- Work out the details of maternity leave

- Final touches on baby’s room

- Baby Showers!

- Baby classes

- Birth Plan

- Baby book and blogging

This isn’t really an exciting post and not nearly as witty as it should have been… but that’s because pregnancy brain has set in and I can’t remember anything at the moment that is blog appropriate. So follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JLanie – where it only requires my short term memory and opportunity to post something.

I’ll try to be more consistent in blogging… after all, I’ve only got 8 weeks to go until my due date on March 15th!

Until next time….

Vol. 1, Issue 12: What’s 5ft tall and eating for two?

Once again – life has totally interfered with my blogging habit and things have continued to move forward and change. Not long after my last blog post – life took another turn. Some of you out there already know about this change and have dutifully kept it off of Facebook and Twitter per my request.  I thank you for that.

Figured it out yet?

Yes? No? Maybe so….

Well, in the event you don’t already know or haven’t noticed me passing on the cocktails lately (HINT) – I am thrilled to announce that my girlfriend/life partner Dale Ann and I are starting a family! As of Tuesday, October 26th I am exactly 20 weeks pregnant with…. well, I still can’t tell you yet because Dale is working on a surprise for her co-workers this Friday to tell them. Needless to say we are working on deciding on names. Feel free to use the comment section below for suggestions but no promises.

So – naturally, Dale and I understand you may have a lot of questions about how a lesbian couple in Oklahoma (or anywhere) goes about deciding to start a family. Well, like straight couples – a lot of discussion, reflection, anxiety and excitement. We do realize we face a few different options and challenges that others don’t and we’re happy to discuss them. Dale and I have agreed that the most frequently asked questions are:

- How did you decide who would carry?

- What was the method?

- Did you know the donor?

Now – we’re happy to answer most questions but there may be a few we still don’t have answers to or feel the answers are a little too private to share. We’ll also be incorporating some video in this process to make it more dynamic. We hope you’ll appreciate our candidness and respect our privacy as well if we decide not to elaborate at times. For example, I will not publish our doctors’ names in order to safeguard their privacy and ours.  We are very thankful we were able to find such great practitioners in Oklahoma but do realize we live in Oklahoma and may face bias.

All of that being said – this will not become an open forum to debate the validity of our future family. Why? Because this is my blog, my family and I will delete any comments I believe “cross the line” and threaten our family, privacy or emotional well-being.  Our goal is to be as open as we feel comfortable regarding the experiences and obstacles we know we will face as a same sex couple raising a child.

Parenting advice, swaddling advice and wisdom regarding child rearing are not only welcome but expected! We’ve had hundreds of questions we wanted to crowd source over the past few months but haven’t been able to.

So thanks for listening… pray for us, think of us, send positive energy our way because Dale and I are about to enter parenthood with all of you other crazy parents out there!

Lanie & Dale

Vol. 1, Issue 11: A Renewed Commitment to Fitness

Well, so much for posting chronological order. I’ve got another blog post that was supposed to go before this – but priorities change.

Backstory:

Many or you may or may not know – but I’ve participated in Operation Boot Camp as a camper, assistant instructor and lead instructor over the last two years. I’ve gone through some fitness ups and downs in my life. I’m happy to say getting involved with Operation Boot Camp has been a transformative event in my life. Within the last two years – I ran my first 5k and many that followed, 5-milers, several 10k and my second half-marathon. Now before OBC – I loathed running. Now -while I loathe that first half mile – I love the way I feel when I’m done. Collecting race shirts is almost a new hobby but I’m finally passed the point of keeping them all.

OBC has changed my life again. At the end of 2009 – Dale Ann, my girlfriend and I, decided to purchase an Operation Boot Camp franchise. So yes, it’s us behind all of the @OBC_Oklahoma & @WalkItOffOK Twitter and Facebook accounts. And like any small business owners – we’ve had ups, downs, missteps & success.

But what I want to talk about is WHY we do it. It takes a serious time commitment and free time is rare but we’ve become pretty efficient jugglers when we get home. And in case you are wondering – no, we haven’t given up our day jobs.

Simply, we believe in Operation Boot Camp and how it works. We show people that you don’t need fancy equipment or an (unused) gym membership to get healthy. What people need is ACCOUNTABILITY. So many people put things ahead of their health and themselves that they can’t, won’t or simply struggle without giving themselves the benefit of discipline. OBC helps people do that. We provide that accountability. We are going to ask you about your food, homework, water consumption, etc. and we’re going to do it everyday.

I needed it. Dale needed it. Every OBC Instructor needed it and we all still do. It’s what keeps us coming back. Every OBC instructor has been a camper – so we get it. We know about the little food lies, struggling to breathe when climbing more than two flights of stairs and fighting that temptation to stay in bed instead of working out.

Now – I want to clarify something. Yes – we are a boot camp, but it’s really more of a support & fun camp. Campers are never berated, yelled at, cussed. Will we push you? Yes. Will we lie to you? No. Will we make you laugh? Most definitely. Will you be bored? Never. Is this a quick fix to all of your health and fitness needs? Heck no! This is good old fashioned hard work, eating right and establishing the habits of a healthy lifestyle that WE ALL should lead.

But 5:45am? Really? YES, REALLY. When else are you going to do it? I am no morning glory – just ask Dale. Like so many people – my evenings are filled with activity that ranges from chores, civic participation, family obligations, and socializing. We finish early enough after our workouts that you can get home, get cleaned up, go to work and set the tone of accomplishment for the rest of your day.

“But Lanie – my mom, grandfather, sister is too old, too big, has bad knees etc to do boot camp or simply – I’m not ready.”

Dale and I realized early on before we even thought about a boot camp franchise that Oklahoma needed other options. We are one of the most obese, unfit states in the nation. We felt there needed to be a program to get people started and to give them confidence that they could overcome their unhealthy or unfit habits. That is when Dale spearheaded the launch of Walk It Off Oklahoma – a low to no impact walking camp that still provides a supportive environment of accountability.

This program – powered with the blessing of Operation Boot Camp is meant to be challenging and not intimidating. We want Oklahomans to be healthy. (No, we aren’t running for office). This is something we believe in. I am not saying we don’t hope to gain financially. That would be silly. But Dale and I won’t ever be quitting our day jobs either. Our primary motivation is helping people who are struggling with the same things we struggled with. Nothing is more inspiring than to see a camper lose two pant sizes, shave a minute off their mile or eliminate a medication they no longer need.

There are other OBC & WIOOK locations in the state. We’re one of several other franchisers in Oklahoma to demonstrate the strength of OBC which is based out of Atlanta. While we would love for you to join our camps – we understand there are other options out there. Shop around – check out other camps & programs but be sure to try a free preview workout with Operation Boot Camp or Walk It Off Oklahoma. Just check our websites or social media announcements.

www.operationbootcamp.com
twitter.com/OBC_Oklahoma
www.walkitoffok.com
twitter.com/walkitoffok
facebook.com/walkitoffok

Now – off to get ready for the rest of the day – Downtown Dash tonight! Come see us! We’ll have a booth. Maybe a push up challenge?

Vol. 1, Issue 10: No Sam Walton? I’ve got the Pep Boys.

Preface: (Can you have a preface in a blog? Oh, well – I’m doing it!)

By nature, I’m a pretty easy-going and patient person most of the time. Most things are like water rolling off a duck’s back to me. My mom always says, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” So – when going through the drive thru or having to wait a little longer in a check out line – those things don’t really bother me too much. That being said… there is one thing in this world that can get me riled up enough to write a blog post about it – BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Tuesday, 5:45pm

So I’m on my way to Midtown Rotary and I hit a pot hole on NW 63rd on my way to I-235 to head to Midtown. (I need to report that one.) No biggie. We’ve had bad weather; I cringed and apologized to my 12 year old Camry; made a mental note to check my tire later; off I went.

Wednesday, 5:30pm

The director of my department, April, offers me a ride to my car so I don’t get run over trying to cross Western Ave. during “going home” traffic. She drops me off and points out my right front tire is low. No biggie. Thankfully, the gas station at NW 63rd & Western is still a place that offers full-service so I’m able to get my tires aired up. Low tire + more air = good tire. Off I went.

Thursday, 5:20pm

That morning the tire was still good so I thought nothing of it. After work, I’ve got a better plan: Get my car, drive it to the fitness center so I’m not crossing parking lots and streets in the cold and dark after I finish working out. I do just that – but as I go back to the car to grab my water – I think: Better check that tire. Dang! Sure enough – the thing’s so low it’s almost flat. Here’s where I abandon my workout (therefore, making me cranky later) to do the “responsible” thing: Go put some air in it and then go get it fixed. Ha! The full-service station again takes care of my tire (I did tip both times, fyi) and… Off I go.

You see – I used to have faith in Wal Mart. Affordable, made in the U.S.A., salt of the earth folk… Sam Walton would be rolling in his grave to know what I experienced this night. I purchased my tires from Wal Mart with the added $9.95 per tire protection plan – so that means… I have a flat, need a new tire, etc. I can get to any Wal Mart and get it fixed.

Stop 1: The Wal Mart where I purchased the tires – NW Expressway & Council. Guess what – the “tire” guys all went home at 4pm. They are really sorry but there’s no one there to fix my tire. They just can’t get anyone to come in later. I should try the Wal Mart in YUKON or I-40 & MacArthur.

Frustrated but undeterred… Off I go – to the Wal Mart at I-40 & MacArthur. At this point, I call Dale and ask her to call the next place to make sure there’s someone there that can do it. Busy signal. No answer.

Stop 2: The Wal Mart at I-40 & MacArthur. They’re real sorry but right now with so few people (two mechanics, a supervisor and mechanic at the register) they don’t have anyone that can fix the tire. The way they are set up they just don’t want them doing anything but oil changes (with the three whole cars in the garage and none in line). I do explain as patiently as I can that the other store sent me to them, I have the protection plan and not sure how long the tire will last. He’s real sorry but they open at 7am.  If I really need it fixed - there’s a Hibdon Tire down the street.

Look – Daddy didn’t raise no helpless girly girl and no fool. Did I mention before my 16th Birthday my Dad & I completely rebuilt a 1987 Pontiac Firebird so I would understand what it took to maintain and run a car?  I can check my oil. Heck,  I can change my oil if I wanted to deal with it. I can change a car battery and I can change a tire. What I can’t do and paid $40 for is to fix a flat caused by a pot hole, a nail or lightening from heaven.  So MY interpretation is this: Mr. Mechanic is saying to me is, “It’s 6pm and we want to close at 7pm flat and have stuff to finish up.”

Both trips to both Wal-Mart stores – never ONCE did they at least offer to look at my tire or put air in it.

While I run to Hibdon (which is closed but hey, they open at 8am and he’s already shut down their air) Dale calls the Wal Mart in Yukon. They have tire guys… YES! It’s a 2 hr wait…NO! She tries to explain that I’ve already been to two other stores, not sure how long this tire will last and that I have the protection plan.  Now we both know that this may not get me to the front of the line but we wanted to make sure I could get there AND get in. The lady tersely tells Dale she’s sorry but it’s not her fault and I’ll just have to wait my turn. (Well, maybe if the other stores in OKLAHOMA CITY had scheduled properly customers wouldn’t all be going to Yukon.)

Now both Dale and I are frustrated and not looking forward to taking my car back to Wal Mart at 7am and at this point I’ve done a lot more driving than in the past two days and wondering how long the tire is going to last… Next Dale gets an idea. She’ll call Pep Boys.

Cue the Heavenly Harp, the Clouds, the Angels….

ANSWER: Pep Boys is open until 8pm, they can get me right in and it’ll only take them 20 minutes to fix the tire.

Stop 3: Third time is the charm! I get to Pep Boys, they know I’m coming and pull my car right on in. Now I’ll make this side story short.

First, I should have started with Pep Boys. Two weeks prior I couldn’t get my old license plate off my car. Well, I wasn’t crazy or deficient. Those old screws were so rusted that the stripped screw extractor I had couldn’t even get them out. It took the guys at Pep Boys 30 minutes, a mini-saw, air tools, a drill and talk of a torch but they finally changed my license plate for me. The kicker. They only charged me for the license plate screws, $2.63. No labor.  A week later – all my tires were low due to the harsh conditions of the weather we’d had. They aired them up for me. Fast, polite and no charge.

Sure enough – there’s a bolt in my tire that I picked up somewhere PLUS the massive pot hole I hit. (I apparently also now need a new wheel from the impact.) They assessed this for me, fixed and sealed the flat caused by the bolt and pot hole, told me what size wheel I needed, suggested places to get it and did so in 15 minutes. (5 minutes was reliving the license plate incident) Oh, and the charge? NOTHING…. they charged me nada, zilch, ZERO!

So what happens now?

This weekend it’s time to get my oil changed and I’m going to Pep Boys. Not only am I now giving them my business because they are AWESOME, I’m writing a letter to their manager and corporate offices to thank them. They treated me with courtesy and professionalism without the “little lady” syndrome.

As for Wal-Mart? Well, I’m going to share this experience with their Customer Service department and give them an opportunity to make it right or refund the money I spent on the Road Hazard Warranty. I’m a fair person and I even worked for Wal-Mart one summer after college but when I can’t go to two different “local” Wal-Marts and have a warranty honored, there’s a problem.

Wal-Mart has been around a long time and is an established American brand.  I would just like to see more Sam Walton and I’d be willing to pay a little more if I did. If this incident had been isolated to just one store I wouldn’t be writing this. But what’s happened to the Sam Walton culture of service and quality? I’m not saying I’ll stop shopping there completely but as of right now – I don’t feel I can even trust simple car maintenance to their service department.  If Wal-Mart does correct the problem – I’ll be sure to let you know!

Do you have a Wal-Mart or Pep Boys customer service story? Good or bad – share it in the comments!

UPDATE:

After I posted this blog I went online and reported my issue to Wal-Mart via their customer service portal. I also located their Twitter presences and sent them a link to the blog.

The response from @WalMartKelly

“@JLanie You should contact 800-Walmart and they can help. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

3:33 PM Feb 17th via CoTweet in reply to JLanie”

- Admittedly, I didn’t call 800-Walmart, simply because I had logged the issue online.  Last week the Tire & Lube Express Manager from my second Wal-Mart experience called me to discuss what happened. She started with apologizing for the delay in contacting me. However, she did something right – she acknowledged that there was really no excuse for the issues I had experienced. She affirmed that Wal-Mart valued my business and that fixing tires is what the Road Hazard Warranty is for. She was willing to refund my Warranty fee but encouraged me to keep it. She stated that she would review the policies and procedures with her staff as well. We actually had a very pleasant conversation (since I’d had more than enough time to settle down.) She apologized again, indicated she would correct the issue with her staff and offered to send me a $25 gift card for my trouble.

As soon as it arrives – I’ll post a picture.

So what are your thoughts? Did I let them off too easy.

Vol. 1, Issue 9: Change is AWESOME!

Happy Trails…

Let me apologize – there are some people I meant to tell earlier but…well, if you’ve been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you know my father has been in the hospital since Christmas. (He’s doing much better.) That has delayed some important information – so I’ll just get to it.

After five and half wonderful years, Friday, January 8, 2010 is my last day in Career Services at Oklahoma State University. That – as of this blog post… is tomorrow.  Naturally, before the holiday break I began the transition trying to make it as smooth as possible, but when you’ve been around for over five years that is easier said than done.  Not to be “poor pititful Pearl” but between my dad’s sudden illness and the holidays – it’s been a lot to do this week!

Changing careers is never an easy decision and while I’m crazy excited – please know I did not make the decision lightly.  My time at OSU has provided me with more than you can possibly imagine.  It has been my warm orange cocoon. I have valued my time there, all I have learned and above all the friendships and relationships I have made.

(FYI – if you need to do some recruiting contact the main desk at 405-744-5253 and ask to speak to a member of the Hire OSU Grads Team or visit HireOSUGrads.com )

Get to it already!

So I imagine you want to know where I’m going.  I’m proud to announce that I am joining the Social Media Team at Chesapeake Energy! This is it. A dream opportunity come true.  Monday, January 11th is my first day and I can hardly wait.

While I’ve been quiet about it…savoring every moment of the knowledge… I’ve been bursting inside! So here it is… my new journey and I’m happy to finally share it with you.

So in the meantime… Go Cowboys! And turn up the heat (provided you use natural gas)!

Vol. 1, Issue 8: Wii Had a Grand Ol’ Time – Part 2

Let the games begin!

We learned an important lesson from the previous year – NO PREDETERMINED BRACKET MATCH UPS! It took too long and you had to wait for people to show up.  This year was sign up on a first come, first serve basis.

CHALLENGE: Wii Sports Resort (Fencing Duel)

This was a simply head-to-head match up.  And nothing explains it better than this video….

And after some crazy bracket management – we finally crowned Lori as the Wii Fencing Champion! Congratulations Lori!

CHALLENGE: PunchOut!

A twist on last year’s boxing challenge – by using the new boxing game.  This was also a really popular game – simply because it doesn’t require boxers to have to know a lot of crazy button combinations. (However – there are button/controller combos you can use to make your punches more effective. FYI.)

Congratulations to our boot camp buddy, Meghan!

CHALLENGE: Guitar Hero – Guitar vs. Guitar

Since Guitar Hero is such a popular game we decided to bring back the head to head guitar challenge, but we make sure that we had the newly released Guitar Hero 5 so that everyone could see what songs were on the new game. Guitar Hero is always one of those that may be intimidating to the “I’ve never played” crowd, but there IS an Easy setting.

Congratulations to Geoff, my high school buddy (and 9th grade Mixer date – I never fail to mention this) for taking home the trophy! Check out the flames on that thing.

(Gee…Anyone else starting to think that Nintendo or GameStop should sponsor this thing? They didn’t by-the-way. Shucks!)

CHALLENGE: Battle of the Bands (Rockband: Beatles)

The instructions for this challenge seemed simple enough – form a band with at least two members, one of which must be the singer. Thankfully we ended up with four member bands.  This is important because the scoring would be severely off if you had only two member bands.  Additionally, bands could earn more points by playing more difficult songs on higher levels. For example – I Wanna Hold Your Hand – played on Hard or Expert will earn more points than the same song on Easy or Medium. Bottom line: If you had people who could play Hard or Expert on a song…then go with it, you’ll earn the points.

What we learned – this challenge, while FUN, takes too long. Next year – we’ll probably just set up Rockband/Guitar Hero and just let people play. No battle of the bands.  So – new Oklahoma City Beatles cover band, Dominatrix… you are safe. (Wondering how the Fab Four would react to THAT name?)

Some of the names were really clever such as RWiiO-Speedwagon…who valiantly fought but fell to Dominatrix – Courtney, Casey, Geoff and Susan.

FINAL AWARD: Best Wii Moves

Finally, we have an award for “Best Wii Moves”.  You couldn’t deny the enthusiasm or kickin’ dance moves of Candee.  It’s really the most coveted award of the Wii Party. No really. I’m serious. IT IS!

NOTE: Cheesy is in reference to the TROPHIES!

CLOSING CEREMONIES

So…until next year…. I leave you with this parting video.

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Sorry for the insane amount of delay in finishing the Wii Party Blog. I had video editing issues and finally gave in to rapidly cutting the clips together using Windows Movie Maker (shudder).

Vol. 1, Issue 7: Why Wii Party – Part 1

Opening Disclaimer: I tried to make this into one post….but there’s no way it was happening. So guess what – you get two! Hooray!

The Back Story

Almost a year ago, we had this idea to host a “grown ups” only Wii party.  The more we thought about it, the more involved it got: predetermined brackets, three Nintendo Wiis set up, trophies, Wii referees,  a PA system, opening ceremonies and….nametags. (We also had a margarita machine and enough food to feed a small army of worthy Wii Warriors.)

The party was great! Our 30-plus guests competed and battled their way through Guitar Hero, Wii Boxing and Mario Kart.  The winner of each bracket won a salvaged bowling trophy from a thrift shop – including an award for “Best Wii Moves.”  The lucky guests that attended left with custom party shot glasses. (We still have a few left over if you’re interested.)

Here are a few pictures from Lanie & Dale’s First & Maybe Last Wii Party.

The theme: “Wii’r glad you game!” November 15, 2008.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and then the questions came. “When’s the next Wii Party?”

This Year

Not to brag too much – but the party was a lot of fun (and work) but word spread about the party so we KNEW that this year would have to be bigger and better.  So – our (MY) first priority was finding someplace other than our house to host it.  Simply – our house was packed with about 32 people last year. There’s NO WAY we could accommodate the numbers we anticipated THIS year and don’t get me started on my parking fears!

Thankfully, a good friend of ours, Katrina, works for a local commercial real estate company – who just so happened to own a property that was insanely close to our house.  It was perfect: size, two bathrooms, room for up to 75 to 100 people, a kitchen, running water and most importantly… PARKING.  All we had to do was arrange for electricity and water. Snap!

Preparation:

This year WAS going to be bigger and better. Location? Check! Instead of three Wii games – we’d do four: Guitar Hero, Wii Sports Resort (Fencing Duel), Punch Out and the newly released Rockband: Beatles! Four Wiis? Check. Four projectors? Check. All appropriate cords & plugs? Check! Food and drinks? BYOB,  Bring a side dish, Bring a Chair. Check. All the crazy stuff that goes with that – coolers, ice, soda, water, mixers, plates, utensils, cups, napkins…well, you get it. CHECK!

AND – to insure some local flavor, we picked up a keg of locally brewed beer – Oktoberfest by COOPAleWorks. (Yes, J.D. We floated the keg.)

Guest List: Who DIDN’T we invite? If you didn’t get an invite and want to come next year…you just let me know. Our guests were a wonderfully diverse assortment of people we knew from work, networking, boot camp, lifelong friends, family, college, Midtown Rotary, Twitter, etc. (FYI – we used Evite and Facebook to manage the RSVPs)

Okay – we went a little crazy.

As an EXTRA surprise this year – we had custom trophies made for each category. (We even had four individual trophies for the Rock Band: Beatles participants.) Thank you Awards, Etc. in Oklahoma City to probably have the ONLY – VAN TOPPERS for trophies in existence.  They were PERFECT!

In addition to custom trophies – we had a photobooth from Nexus Productions, Inc. I’ll share some pictures from THAT in the next blog post.

So tell me…. what do you think so far? (Well, look at that! There’s a comment section below….)

Vol. 1, Issue 6: It’s October, I’m kinda morbid….and I kinda like it. .

In the spirit of Halloween – which I think is an ancient Celtic holiday of recognizing  the dearly departed – I have a new topic. Now – this isn’t exactly what most people would consider AWESOMENESS…. but the fact that these days you need to think about it – IS.

Now hold on readers… this blog is interactive, so you’re required to provide feedback. My secret government connections are able to tell me who read this blog and didn’t comment. I know who you are.

I’ve been reading various articles recently about lifecasting, what to do with someone’s Facebook account if they die, etc. Naturally – this got me thinking….

What would you tweet from your death bed? What would be your last tweet?

And what would you want your Twitter Eulogy to be – in 140 characters or less?

EXAMPLES:
“I see the light…oh, it’s pretty… but it’s kinda orange reddish…Is it a little warm in here?”

“Cousin Billy…you dope. Wait til’ you see the will, sucka!”

“Did I leave the oven on?”

“She lived. She loved. She tweeted.”

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Now for a moment of seriousness…. it’s probably time to consider what you want done with your online social networking profiles when you die.

Here are some interesting blogs/articles on the topic:

What Happens to Your Social Media Site When You Die?

Death and Social Media

Of course – I’d channel Alannis Morrisette and get my dream job offer from Steven Spielberg or Oprah via LinkedIn just as I took my last breath.

Talk amongst yourselves….And leave a comment (on the blog page) with what your last tweet or facebook status might be. Funny, Serious, Morbid…come one, come all!!

UPDATE: 10/9/09

Today I stumbled on an interesting story at NPR about what to do with your remains after you die – beyond just traditional burial or cremation.

I encourage you to check it out.  Here’s the link: To Casket or Not to Casket? – NPR