Whoo! Pig! Sooie!

Football season is one of the most frustrating times of the year around our house. Living in Texas where everyone tends to be either a Longhorn or an Aggie fan, we are rarely treated to a Razorback game. We are Razorback fans to the core...winning season or not. The only thing more exciting than Razorback football to me is Razorback basketball.

Needless to say, there was no possibility of us getting a peek at the Arkansas/W. Illinois game tonight. The kids saw the score while at dinner and the Hogs were trailing..but I just saw on ESPN that the Hogs pulled out the win with a score of 28 to 24. I am not sure what happened, but I am celebrating the win. We play the Longhorns on the 13th and I plan to park in front of my television for the game.

I should order a game day flag so I can 'fly the colors'. I bet it will be the only one in the neighborhood!

Go, Hogs!

Speechless In Texas

I received a phone call on my cell phone just before the end of business yesterday. I was unable to get the phone, which was buried in my purse instead of in it's nifty little pocket. When I finally pulled it out, it showed a missed call from an 800 number...so, knowing it was not one my children stranded someplace, I dropped the phone back in my purse and finished what I was doing so I could get out of the office for the evening.

As I climbed into the car, I remembered the missed call and hearing the voice mail tone. I checked the voice mail to find a message from my cell phone provider asking me to please return their call. I debated whether or not to do so, as I knew that the bill was paid and current. I hit the redial button and thought that if I didn't get anyone by the time I made it to the freeway I would just hang up and wait for them to call me back if they had anything of importance to share.

After a two minute wait, a young woman answered the phone and asked why I was calling. I replied that I was returning their call and had no idea what it was about. She checked my balance and saw that I had a credit on the account, so it couldn't be about payment. She continued looking at my account and then the following conversation occurred:

Her - "Oh, I see now. We were calling you about excessive (blah-blah) usage on one of your lines."

Me - "Which line?"

Her - "The one ending in ####."

Me - "What do you mean by excessive usage."

Her - "Well at this moment this line has used ####kb on the web. This usage has incurred a cost to your account of $1,064."

Me (insert racing heart, dry mouth, and pounding head) - "WHAT?!?!"

Her - "We charge $1 for every kb and this phone has used 1 mb. There are 1,064kb to every mb and the charge is $1,064 at this time."

Me - "That phone has web access?!?!"

Her - "Yes."

Me - "I hardly know how to text message. I had no idea they could surf the web on their phones." (PANIC is now taking over...I am talking so much that she can't even respond.) "Can I block web usage on the phones? I didn't even know they had web access, how would I know to block it?"

Her - "We can set you up on a web plan for $15.99 a month and I will back date it to the first of this billing cycle. Then you will be billed an additional $15 for the 1mb used."

Me - "And the $1,000 charge will go away?"

Her - "Yes, ma'am."

Me (No longer wondering in what terrible way I might kill the offender when I get home.) - "Yes, do it!"

We take a few minutes to make the changes to the plan. She tells me I can cancel the plan at the first of the next billing cycle and block web usage at that time, but not now.

At the end of our conversation:

Me - "So, I will have the additional $15.99 for the web plan and the $15 in web charges on the next bill."

Her - "Well, actually this number has accrued another 2mb while we have been on the phone."

In my mind I am figuring out that it would have cost me another $2,000 by now! So, I rush off the phone, call the offending party and ask:

"What are you doing on the Internet?"

Answer: "Checking my Myspace."

I nearly crawled through the phone!

PS...the offender has been told of the charges incurred (which nearly sent said offender into heart failure) and has been warned if it ever happens again, said offender may not be breathing long enough to pay it back!

Look At What's On My Nightstand

I missed yesterday's blogging carnival over at 5 Minutes for Books. I spent most of the day with Debbie and Casy before they headed back home. So, when I got home last night I gathered up my books, put them on my nightstand and took a picture of what my nightstand would look like, if I kept all my books in one place.

As you can see, I would have very little room for anything else!

Two of these books I have just finished reading:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I just finished this classic for the very first time. I have been telling myself for years that I should begin reading the classics...but it took the prompting of the classics book club over at 5 Minutes for Books to get me started. Even though I had not read this book before, I have to confess that I knew the plot twist because I had seen the very end of the movie while surfing the channels one afternoon. I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to purposely watching the movie now that I have finished the book.

Is That All He Thinks About by Marla Taviano

I finished this book about a week ago but haven't passed it on yet. I ordered a set of Marla's books for the purpose of giving them to my two oldest daughters after reading a great review of another of her books over at Baby Bangs. Amanda is a young mother around the age of my oldest daughter and I figured that if she found them to be a blessing, my daughters would also. Kelli picked up the copy of From Blushing Bride To Wedded Wife as soon as it made it in to the office. I decided to read this one before passing it on and I must say, if I can use this information after being married for 27 years...certainly my daughters will find it useful. Marla writes in such a way as to feel like you are sitting down to coffee with a couple of close friends. She never claims to be an expert...but shares what she has discovered through research and in her experiences. This is a great read for any married woman, new bride or new grandmother like myself.

My ongoing books include:

Streams In The Desert by L. B. Cowman

This is my devotional for this year. I wish I could say I haven't missed a single day...but that would be a lie. To be honest, I stood in the Barnes and Noble aisle at the end of 2007 and just asked the Lord to open my eyes to the right devotional. Although our immediate family has not been in the desert thus far in 2008...this book has helped immensely in our part of Casy's journey through the desert of cancer. There was no way that I could have known that I would need the encouragement found in these pages when I 'selected' it last December. To God be the glory!

Eat This Book: A Conversation In The Art Of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson

I have tried to read this book two or three times, but just can't seem to get into it. I think I need to move it from beside my bed (this one was actually on the nightstand) to a place where I can read with focus. I picked up this book after seeing it listed among the favorite books of one of the Bible study teachers I adore. I found the first chapter to be powerful...but I can't stay awake long enough to get any further. Maybe I need to pick up the study guide that goes along with it so that I can retain what I am reading.

I just started:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Years ago, the kids and I read The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe during our bedtime routine. When Brian was in middle school, he was required to read for 20 minutes every day and requested the complete series -- so I picked up this all in one volume. I wanted to catch up on this series before I saw the next movie, Prince Caspian, which came out in May. Since I didn't make it, I haven't seen the movie yet. We finally located our copy in the boxes of unpacked books a few weeks back and I began reading the next two books last night. I will wait for the video release and hopefully, will have finished The Horse And His Boy and Prince Caspian by that time.

The following are on my 'to read' list:

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

This will be my first Dean Koontz novel and honestly, I only picked it up after reading a review in a magazine.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I picked this book up after reading about it over at A Chelsea Morning. Barb highly recommended it, so I picked it up during my next visit to Target...and evidently, the next time I found myself in Barnes and Noble I bought yet another one. I realized this when I started gathering books last night for the picture and found one on my dresser (B&N) and one on my bookshelf (Target). I will let you know if it was worth paying for twice!

No Other Gods: Confronting Our Modern Day Idols by Kelly Minter

I made a special trip to Barnes and Noble a few weeks back to pick up this book as there was only one left in stock. I heard about it on the Living Proof Ministries blog. What I didn't realize at the time is there are two books, a book and a workbook. I think I really need the workbook instead of the book. I am pretty sure that I need to 'work through' this one and not just read it. So, it looks like I will have to make a special trip to Lifeway to get the workbook. I hate being so far from Lifeway now!

And finally,

Prioritize Organize: The Art of Getting It Done by Peg Pickering

I attended a business conference a few months back regarding Texas Sales Tax and thought I probably really needed this information. So far, all of it's information has remained inside the covers of this book. I will get to it...probably the next time I feel overwhelmed by life!

Well, that is 'What's On My Nightstand' at the end of August. With the upcoming wedding and the beginning of football season, I doubt I will finish them all by September. If I do, I will let you know!