Ok, I know you're not laughing, but if you heard me tell it in person you would be. Or maybe you'd be laughing if you were my coworker. It seems that my coworkers can't get enough. They've had me tell it at multiple meetings, in a restaurant, and now halfway across the world on a cell phone. I must be famous.

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NPR Interview - Nellie McKay

NPR had a great interview with Nellie McKay today. Her best comment was at the end. She said, "I think my songs do a better job of answering your questions than I do." I think I might actually buy a CD (something I haven't done in at least a year). While I'm at it, I think I'm going to buy another CD I heard about on NPR - Viktor Krauss's 'Far From Enough.'

Also, I got my reading table last night! It's beautiful and absolutely perfect for my needs. I loved being able to sit in bed last night writing a term paper on my laptop!

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Quote of the Day

"...am thinking of investing in a bubble wig and giant pair of Jackie O sunglasses and not just for the sake of rocking the vintage look."
- Belle de Jour (not work safe)

Finals

The dreaded finance final is in two hours and 19 minutes. I think I'm going to throw up. I will be so happy when this week is over and so are my exams.

Had a great weekend despite the stress of studying. Spent a couple hours Friday night with classmates going over notes. (Mostly complaining about how bad the class was.) Then I hung out with Zac and Ben while we screwed around with web stuff.

Saturday was some studying and some laying around. I finally took my dress for Karen's wedding in for alterations. It's amazing how much she has to take off to make it fit someone as short as me. Saturday night I attended a bachelor/bachelorette party for Christy, a co-worker. We had dinner in the West End, then went to a Maverick's game, and later danced at Have a Nice Day Cafe. It was tons and tons of fun! Christy and John are lucky to have such neat, supportive families - both sets of parents fully participated (including dancing)!

Sunday, I spent a lot of time with the family. We all had lunch together to celebrate Jason's birthday. I think he picked the best lunch menu we've had in awhile - barbeque ribs. My parents are fabulous cooks and I couldn't eat enough. In the afternoon, I studied a bunch more. I went back to Mom and Dad's for dinner (am I spoiled or what?) and finished up the night with more studying.

Work is busy today which is good, because it keeps my mind off the test which is looming. At least I'm taking vacation all next week. Kevin and I are going to London! (More on that soon.)

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New Table

I bought this table today and I can't wait for it to get here. I'm anxious for a better way to use my laptop in bed.

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Poetic Spam

----- Original Message -----
From: cherrita slaner
To: erica@ericalucci.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 10:28 PM
Subject: Read This Broma\osa

three
bills
a
PILlow prise
souper vighagra
go|two|days|nonstop|LAD|IES|LO|VE|IT

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Jalbum, I love you

Jalbum has saved my sanity. I'm now able to quickly create slideshows to replace all the ones that aren't working at the moment. Whew...what a relief.

You can see the new photo albums here. I'll get the rest of them back up shortly.

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I quit smoking.

Or at least I'm in the process of quitting. People say you never really quit, because it's a daily choice. Right now I'm choosing not to smoke. Something just clicked in me shortly after new years and I haven't bought a pack since 2003. I've smoke a couple here and there, but for the most part I've been smoke free. I haven't been counting days, because that just makes it harder for me. And I haven't told anyone because I don't like being nagged. But I figured that it's been long enough at this point that I should make record of it.

The real breakthrough was Friday night when I was out with coworkers. Falk, a coworker from the UK, lit up after dinner and it smelled so good. Like out of this world good. I told him how good it smelled and that I had quit (so he wouldn't offer me one). Then we got into a good conversation and just as suddenly as I had wanted it, I totally forgot about it. Thinking back on it a little later, it felt like a breakthrough. I really didn't want to smoke that badly. I think it's getting out of my system.

At least I hope it is because I've been coughing like a cow hyena coal miner the past few weeks. It's hard to tell if it's a long-lingering cold or if it's just my lungs healing. Either way, I hope this is it. I mean, I hope this is the last time I say I've quit. Because I'm really, really done with smoking. No more.

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Website Help

I need help! Suddenly I've realized that my photo albums aren't working. They were written in php...did something change?

*Update* - Still not sure what's wrong, but I'm looking at some other ways to create albums. I've been wanting something faster for quite sometime so I think it's time to turn to an application. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Right now I'm going to make a list of things I'm looking at.
Jalbum (because JasonUnbound is using it)

*Update2* - I just started playing with JAlbum and I think I've found the solution. This is a beautiful program and will make putting photos up a billion times easier. I'm not going to look for anything else...just going to work on learning this. YEAH!

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New York City

New York City fascinates me. When I was younger, say in high school, I wanted to move there. It seemed so glamorous. It seemed to fit me, because I was a city girl (at least in my own mind). I visited New York City with my family. I wish I could remember which year that was. I remember seeing Tubes by Blue Man Group and wanting to be a part of something that could make other people feel the way I felt. I was so infatuated with the city and day dreamed about living there. A couple years later, I went back with my parents and Autumn. That trip was around Christmas time when the city is so beautiful. We saw the Rockettes Christmas show and ate really great Italian food. I still loved the city.

But my love of the city has worn off since then. I've been in a committed relationship with a man who lives in the city and I've gotten to see a different side. I'm not really a tourist when I go there now. I don't get to stay in the fancy hotels. I'm the one paying for meals now, not my dad. I've got to figure out where to go instead of just following my parents. And I walk everywhere instead of being carted around in a limo or rental car like before.

Over the two years that Kevin and I have been in a relationship, I've been to the city a few times. (Not nearly enough if you ask Kevin.) Kevin and I talk about the city all the time. I find myself thinking about living in the city a lot.

I used to vow that I would never live there. Why live in such an expensive and crowded place? It's inconvenient and dirty. There are so many appealing things about living in Texas - mostly the space and convenience. But after this last trip to the city, I'm thinking about trying it for a couple years. What would it hurt? I mean, there's got to be something about it that I'm missing. There seems to be this special thing that people can't quite put their fingers on.

Lisa Whiteman's post made me think about all this.

(Another interesting article about NYC that Lisa reminded me of. This one is by Anil Dash.)

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Snow!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Kristen woke me up last night to tell me it was snowing. I was too sleepy to care and rolled back over. Of course, I was completely shocked this morning to see at least three inches of powder all over everything! Now even a couple hours later, it's still coming down! The nice part of it all is the ground is too warm to freeze so Kristen and I are going to go out later to see the rest of town covered in snow.

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Work Complement

An email from the Senior VP went out to my entire department worldwide with complements about many people in our department. I was lucky enough to be one of the people mentioned. I'm flattered to get such comments from a person I respect a whole lot.

Erica provides "a combination of product expertise, leadership, and homespun communication and personality to our customers, and mostly making them feel confident that our team could eventually solve even the most complicated problems, while holding their hand all along the way."

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Teacher Suspended

A teacher at the high school I used to work at was suspended. The article from a Houston local news station.

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Will Your Marriage Last?

I'm not convinced that anyone other than yourself can answer the question, "Will your marriage last?" But I read an interesting article on Yahoo which tries to answer it. I found it pretty interesting.

If you've had a marriage experience, will you tell me if the article is on track or not?

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YouYesYou.com

YouYesYou.com

I love the Valentines.

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Catch Up

So many things going on! Taxes need to be paid. Presidential primaries are happening. (Why does that whole process feel so hopeless?) Weddings are coming up. SXSW is on the horizon. Kevin and I are going to London in a few weeks.

On top of all the exciting things coming up, I have two weeks worth of information to catch up on.

Two weeks ago I was working in Scottsdale. Meetings went well. I got hints of changes coming in the future. Customers, specifically a certain snack food manufacturer, kept me insanely busy. All in all a very successful trip. Unfortunately I missed my flight back home and had a minor breakdown in the airport. Mom was a lifesaver and helped me get it together.

Flew out of Scottsdale Friday morning. Arrived in Dallas to find Mom with a suitcase. I traded her my business suitcase for the weekend one she brought and hopped on a plane to New York City. Brrr, it was full-fledged winter (in the 20's). Kevin and I had an absolutely incredible weekend. We ate at the original Benihana's restaurant. We went dancing and had a blast. We visited the Natural History Museum. It was quite possibly the best weekend I've had in NYC in quite awhile. I keep trying to figure out what made it so good, but can't put my finger on it. Maybe it was just feeling less like a tourist. Maybe it was just less people in the street due to the cold. Maybe it was just Kevin being completely wonderful.

Arrived back in Dallas to find my company acquired another company, and I suddenly had two new employees reporting to me. Exciting stuff! It's too early to know how it will be, but I'm very optimistic. This seems like a good situation all around. The only thing that isn't good is the extra work. Can't they throw in some extra time too? I just need another 2 to 3 hours in the day.

Attended a Mad Hatter's Tea Party for Karen down in Bryan, Texas. Karen's fiancé's mother threw the shower and it was absolutely perfect. Everyone had a great time. I, personally, really enjoyed the three hour car trip with Karen, Kristen, and Mom.

Grandma is settling down into her assisted living home. All of her furniture is moved in and Mom has been helping decorate. Grandma is definitely adjusting to the change and things are better for her. I was so glad to see her more comfortable and significantly happier during Sunday's visit.

At work this week, the changes I felt coming a few weeks ago were announced. I've got a new boss. Should be a positive change, but I'll miss my old boss.

School has gotten quite neglected through all this. But with finals in two weeks, I'm about to get my act together really quickly. Hopefully my classes next module will be more motivating than the current ones. (My strategy class is sucking the life out of me.)

All in all, life is really good. Things are positive. I'm busy (and daydream about the future when I won't be so busy), but am happy with all that keeps me busy. I'm even feeling romantic during a historically unromantic time of year for me. Can't beat that!

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States I've Visited and Remembered

create your own visited states map

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