Jill Reese | Random Musings

Tonight I am hanging out at the apartment with Cristina. Ive been wanting to try this green chile chicken casserole recipe I stole from Dr. Cruz Arnold, and Cristina is going to be my guinea pig. Ha! Tomorrow the whole family will be around….and then I have to go to Kristin’s Saturday night to meet her dog before I dog/house sit for two weeks. That should be interesting…Kristin is a bit crazy and her dog is SUPER spoiled. We shall see. He is a cutie, though!

I keep forgetting that this is a long weekend. The past 10 days or so have been nuts. 3 huge events, 2 that were mine and 1 that was just the events department, but was one of the largest ones we do all year….definitely all hands on deck situation. I think Im still exhausted from that!

And my allergies are acting up, too. I thought my head was going to explode this morning. Thank goodness for Zyrtec! Whew.

Also, Ive been so tired I havent run ALL WEEK LONG. How horrible is that?????? *sigh*

Could I complain anymore??? Seriously. I should just say Im thankful that this is a long weekend and leave it at that.

Have a good one!

It will never look like this again, but I had the most awesome haircut tonight in midtown! This place was freakin FABULOUS. The shampoo chairs have massagers…which I tend to find annoying while getting a pedicure, but it was actually relaxing while someone is also massaging and shampooing your head. And it is an Aveda salon, so that is good, too.  The guy who cut my hair is named Jason…very honest about my hair and what he was trying to do. I am not good with making decisions, so I really just let him do whatever he wanted. Again…FABULOUS! It is called Dionysus Salon and Spa…highly recommend!

Im getting my posts backwards – this event happened LAST Tuesday. But the photos are just now up. This was one of the most interesting events I have done in YEARS. Definitely one of the most complex with the shortest lead time…but look at my cool line up of speakers!

Drayton McLane, Tim Leiweke, Marc Vandermeer, Clyde Drexler, Bob McNair

I didn’t tell the 610 guy that I am a 1560 GAMER. Blanca almost did, though, when at the end she was shaking his hand, and she ALMOST blurted out “Jill hates 610 and only listens to 1560.” Haha. I wouldnt have minded if I hadnt been the event coordinator…have to maintain the professionalism!

Really awesome and interesting event! I thought my stage looked awesome with all the logos, too.

This was a blast, as always. Although I didnt really get to start having fun until the after party. Summer came in from Austin to go with me, and even though I didnt get to hang out with her until the end, I think she had a good time with all her Houston GHP friends. Hotel ZaZa was fabulous, as always. Although I think I had the tiniest room they can possibly offer. And the shower door didnt really seal, so I almost face-planted when I got out of the shower. Twice! *sigh*

Pictures!

Me, Summer, Lydia, Alicia…

Summer and I…something was terribly funny.

I think this is the only “normal” photo we took.

Terry (VISION Production) and I

Abby turned 25 this past weekend! She is a quarter of a century old! Haha. Just kidding, Abby! I missed the dinner part of her party at Guadalajara, but managed to make it to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar for the REAL party. This place was a blast! So much fun. I was so tired on Sunday, though! And I even left early. Im lame these days!

Blanca, me, and the birthday girl!

Abby and I…something was HILARIOUS!

Every once in a while I go through these crazy bouts of insomnia. Not sure what the deal is! Tonight I will definitely be using the sleeping pills, though.

Signs you need more sleep:

- You stare at the TV for over ten minutes before you realize it isn’t on.

- You close your eyes at every red light you stop at on your way in to work

- Walls jump out at you from nowhere while walking down halls

- You know your crankiness level is off the charts, but you just cant help yourself

- Simple tasks, like answering the phone or filing, become crazy difficult

Okay, so while this was fun, I dont think I would do it again. I think I heard them say this was the first one, so I know I should cut them some slack, but from an event perspective, this was a hot mess. So unorganized. Packet pickup prior to the race was NUTS. Hundreds of people were in line…where there was one little woman, with one little list, trying to check you off, find your bib, and find your chip. Stupid chips. Hopefully next year they use D-tags! Jorge and I were super glad we had gotten into Galveston early and picked up our packets at Fit to Run. Im not patient enough to stand in a line for over an hour to pick up  my stuff. And then they didnt start on time…probably because there were SO many people still waiting for packets. 30 minutes late is a lot, though!

The actual race was kind of scary. Ha. I have too many things wrong with my legs already to be taking chances like that in the sand. Especially since there were some DEEP holes where kids had been playing and digging all day! It was nuts. I was actually feeling pretty good, but I was concentrating so hard on not falling in a hole that I rolled my ankle twice when I ran into mounds of sand. Head lamps dont help my depth perception, obviously.

Also, a lovely volunteer told me and bunches of others to turn around for the 5K way too early. I knew it had been too short as soon as I could see the timer at the finish line. Sucks. I knew I felt way too good for that to be a full 5K. Chad, our coworker, had been told to turn around early, as well. And some people that were sitting next to us on the beach later said the same thing! It was nuts. Jorge was the only one that didnt get told to turn, so he kept going to the REAL turnaround and actually completed the full race. You go, Jorge! I was completely annoyed. What a waste!

At least we had a good day…Galveston was pretty when we were driving around. We had lunch at Shrimp N Stuff, which was really good and not as expensive as the places on the Seawall. Jorge, Alicia and I all had coconut shrimp….YUM. We chilled on the seawall a bit and then went to the hotel to take naps. Of course!

All in all a fun Saturday….but I think I will just be a spectator next time. Ha! I will guard the beer.

My poor hair straightener finally gave up the ghost this morning. *sigh* I have curly hair, which I HATE, and my hair straightener has been one of my favorite things I have ever owned! I have been having problems with the cord and the wiring for a while, but if you jiggled it enough, it would stay on. This morning I apparently jiggled TOO much and this crazy weird burnt smell started appearing and then the straightener was no more.

So goodbye, FHI hair straightener! I will always remember how helpful you were in taming the frizzball that is my hair on any given day. It has been a fantastic 8 years!

P.S. Donations for a replacement may be made to the Jill-Hates-Her-Curly-Hair Fund.

Anybody have any good thoughts to pass my way? Positive karma? Prayers? Anything?

It is really needed right now. Im feeling very low. That’s not very descriptive, I know, but that is the only way I can think of to say it. Low! Im typing a lot of these: *sigh*. Not a good sign.

1. Let an event sponsorship email go out with the wrong location on it.

2. Got stuck on 59 for over an hour this morning

3. Have apparently started waking up at about 3:30 a.m. for no apparent reason

4. Dealt with exhausting people

5. Have said “I hate being DUMB” several times this week related to work items.

6. Missed Zumba and went and bought the hell out of the bath section at Target instead. (okay, that was fun, but I should have made it to Zumba)

7. Having a hard time sticking to WW this week. Even with my motivation!

8. Burnt my turkey bacon yesterday morning.

9. My frozen dinner for lunch today had freezer burn, so I had to spend money to eat.

Lots of trivial things, I know. But they start to add up!