Musings for the Week - Babies, Bacon and Books

1. On Friday my fellow OPC sister from another mister, Beth, gave birth to her fourth child...Kaylee Ruth. I prefer to call her Kaylee Ruth Rose, but I digress... I went to the hospital that night so I could lay my eyes on the precious baby girl I've been praying for since I found out she was pregnant in August. She is beautiful. And has a gorgeous head of hair. Mom and Daughter are doing great and coming home today. We'll see how the youngest, Brock, adjusts to not being the baby of the house anymore. The oldest, Kelsey, is so in love with her baby sister it is simply precious. I treated her to Qdoba on Saturday as a celebratory big sister moment. I love this family, because they are, well, just like family. As Beth will say when she misses out on the latest events in my life "I thought we were family!?!" Yes, Beth, we are, and I am so blessed.

2. Last Tuesday night I took the online test to qualify as a contestant for Jeopardy. I grew up watching that show with my parents and all of us trying to see who was the smartest. Mom usually won. I've always dreamed about going on the show but figured I'd be the one in the hole at final Jeopardy and be escorted off stage. But when a friend of mine told me about the online test, I couldn't resist. You answer 50 questions, 15 second time limit for each. Easy, right? The test started off great! The first question was about classic literature and was a slam dunk...it quoted a line that made it clear the answer was The Scarlett Letter. I immediately thought I had this in the bag. Then the next question hit and I realized I wasn't as sharp as I thought. I would guess I answered one-third of the questions correctly. My friends, Chad and Amy, also took the test and felt they did about the same. I do know the last question I aced...the Super Hero persona of Tony Stark....duh, Ironman. It pays to adore Robert Downey, Jr. We don't know the results of our tests and were told that if we qualified, we'd be contacted about attending one of the auditions later in the year. I'm not holding my breath I'll qualify, but I can quickly pack my bags if I do.

3. One of my co-workers had a birthday last week and her employee brought in a large assortment of donuts from Nord's Bakery. There was one very intriguing type of donut...a Bacon Donut. Yes, you read that right. It's a Long John donut with maple icing on top, and one strip of cooked bacon adorning the top of the donut. I didn't indulge in the delicacy, but many of my brave co-workers did. You may think it sounds icky, but if you've ever dipped your bacon in the maple syrup when eating your pancakes or waffles, I hear it is no different. I am never surprised at the food options that are splattered all over Louisville.

4. My next book club meeting is this Thursday. Our first book for this year is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was a daunting assignment for me to read a 600-page book in 30 days. I knew from the starting gate I needed to stay focused so I didn't fall too behind. I love to read, but my love for reading is often overshadowed by this little thing called work and other responsibilities. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of having a whole day to do nothing but read, although that vision sounds glorious. I'm happy to report that I'm less than 100 pages away and will easily finish before our meeting.

5. My Inside Sales team has been branded with a new name - Matrick - a combo of Matt and Patrick. It's like the Brangelina (I guess that's going to end soon) of our world. A challenge has been thrown down that they earn $400K in revenue by June 30 and our VP of Technology will shave his beard. Troy has had this beard since November 1987, which is almost as long as these boys have been alive. To up the ante, our President will shave his moustache if they earn $450K and I'm trying to convince our VP of Sales, Ken, who we affectionately call Batman because of his resemblance to Val Kilmer, to shave his head if they hit $500K. My goal for them before this gauntlet was laid was to earn $500K by June 30. I hope I hear the buzz of a shaver on the face or head of our fearless leaders.