Because I haven't posted a proper update in awhile...

Here is Ashley's week, in review:

Sunday

I was sick. I went to church. Then I took a nap, because I was sick. I wound up sleeping for, like, two or three hours. And I had a totally random dream that George Harrison came to over to play for a political protest rally that was being held at our house.

Weird.

Monday

I was trying very hard all Monday to not feel sorry for myself...I had originally hoped to spend a week with my friends in Missouri, and Monday--according to that plan--would've been a big day. For my last day in town, we usually get a whole group of awesome people together and do a bunch of stuff downtown. It's kind of a tradition. And it's awesome. But it didn't happen this year, so I tried to be an optimist about it and look forward to maybe getting to see them for a couple days in February instead. *crosses fingers* We'll see how that goes...

Tuesday

Work. As usual. I think that was the day I met Sheeva for "lunch" at the coffee shop...though no actual food was consumed. Just coffee. hehe. Most of the hour was spent venting work troubles. :-P

Wednesday

Rominal was working on my computer a lot, so I wound up with a lot of pointless down time at work. It was frustrating. But I guess he fixed whatever it was....some trouble installing new hardware or something. :-P Heck if I know...

Some random guy that I saw at a stoplight on my lunch hour decided I was cute, so he followed me to work. It kind of freaked me out a little bit. He pulled into the parking lot as I was walking in to the office and he was all, "Hi I'm Daniel." So I said, "You followed me to work? Are you a stalker, Daniel?" To which he replied, "Maybe. You're a very beautiful girl. What's your name? Is this where you work?"

*shudder*

He tripped me out more than a little bit. So I said, "Yes, and I'm late coming back, so I have to clock in now. Excuse me..."

It's interesting how certain people reacted when they heard about it. As I was walking in, I bumped into Tomie ( a lady I work with). She saw him leave and asked if everything was okay. She wanted to make sure I got his plates. Then I mentioned it when I was chatting with Ethan (the new guy) on his break. He wanted to make sure I got his phone number. He thought it was awesome that someone thought I was cute enough to follow. :-P Then I was talking about it later that day to Victor (the old new guy), and he wanted to know if he had an expensive car...because if he did, then I shouldn't have given him such a cold shoulder. (Hah.) Then I was talking to Rominal, who heard me telling Dewey (my favorite security guard) about the event, and Rominal wound up giving me a fatherly lecture on the nature of men...

"You are so, so naive, Ashley. You see, you have to think of men as dogs," he says. "Think about it. If you look a dog in the eye, what's the first thing that happens? His ears perk up. And if you say anything to the dog after that? He comes over to you and wants you to pay attention to him. If you don't want to pet the dog, don't look at the dog. And if you don't want the dog to follow you....don't talk to the dog! Look, Ashley...the basic fact is that ALL men out there are dogs to some degree. Your goal in life is going to be to find and marry one who is less doglike than the rest of them."

So. That was Wednesday.

Thursday

Thursday was pretty meaningless. I don't think anything really happened on Thursday.

Oh! Except for the part where Melanie stopped me in the hall and raved up and down over "all the weight" I've lost. That made me feel really good. :-) I'm glad someone noticed...

Friday

I took Friday morning off to go to a musical in Irving. Amanda and I met Mrs. Langdon and her daughter, and Mrs. Langdon's sister, and her daughter, and a few other people of the femine persuastion, and we went to the Irving Arts Center to see a musical based on a childrens' book called "Pinkalicious", about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes, and turns all pink. "My hair was the color of raspberry sorbet," Pinkalicious says, "I cried because I was so beautiful."

It was a really cute little production, and way more enjoyable than I actually expected. I really, really adore the book, but I doubted the viablity of a musical adaptation. It worked, though. It was really cute to watch the little girls watching the production.

Amanda and I grabbed some lunch, and I went in to work for the afternoon. The office was pretty dull for most of the day. Most of the people were gone early. But Scott was there. I've decided that it's hilarious when Scott (the gay guy from Pricing) decides to flirt with me. It's just...entertaining. hahah.

I came home from work and found some mail waiting for me. Addressed to "My Ashlily". Somebody thought it was from Umair because of all the stamps on it, and also because only a handful of people actually call me Ashlilly, and I was about to get a lecture about the boy in Pakistan sending me mail addressed like that. hahahaha. But no....it was from "My Joellie".

Joanna bought a little journal before Revival week and filled it up with an account of the whole week that I missed in Missouri. She put some very beautiful scriptures in there, and she got a bunch of my very favorite people on the planet to write little notes in there, and it was about the sweetest, happiest, most wonderful thing she possibly could've done. It will be the highlight of my month, I'm certain of it.

(More on the book can be found in the entry to follow this one.)

Saturday

That's today. :-) Hehe.

I found an amazing band called Fleet Foxes, and I've been listening to them today. I think I'm in love. It's folk music, and I picked it up because Starbucks music is pretty much where I find 80% of the wonderful stuff I eventually latch on to and love with my whole heart. (They should sell husbands. *smirk*) So when I wanted some new music to bring me out of my Death Cab for Cutie phase.....I went there. And I found Fleet Foxes. You have to hear these two songs, "Meadowlarks" and "White Winter Hymnal"...they're awesome. And cool. And fantastic.

Amanda and I discovered salted caramel hot chocolate there today as well. Go get a cup. Order a venti and drink it all. If you order a grande, you'll wish you had ordered a venti. It's so delicious...it was love at first sip.

Really man....heart-melting music...euphoria-inducing beverages...Starbucks really should look into branching out into the husband business...

So anyway. Now you pretty much have the entirety of my whole week...abridged.

I have an idea. Why don't you tell me how your week was? Please? I feel like I haven't talked to so many of you in a very long while...so send me an e-mail or something. :-) I'm curious to see if I get a summary of someone's week. I would love that. If you're reading this, you're invited. Go for it: provgirl31@yahoo.com

And on that note, I will bid thee adieu.

God bless you this week. May you be warmed and filled and aware of the good things you have.

Quintessentially yours,

~Ashley Michele~