Ditto

I've read a few friends' blogs that say how they were bad holiday bloggers, so I'm just tagging along with that.

Frank, Hamilton and I went to South Carolina for Christmas. It was great to spend some quality time with my brothers and parents, although the weather was not as heavenly as I had hoped. We saw a handful of high school friends and lots of friends at church.

Hamilton had a blast playing with Barnabas, though at times I think Barn would have liked it if Hamilton had an "off" switch. They ran and played and wore each other out over 5 days.

Our next big adventure is Las Vegas in January and then moving at the end of January/beginning of February! I'm really excited about the move, Frank is really excited about Vegas. I've started getting ready for the move - a little packing here and there and priming the rooms that we painted. I have a feeling it is going to be awful no matter how early I start, but I'll give it my best shot anyway.

For now I'm up to my neck in work, I still haven't unpacked, there is another room to prime, an apartment to clean, and endless packing to do...

Happy New Year to everyone (and Happy Birthday, Dad!), I promise to try harder in January than I did in December! xoxo

And just in case you thought your December/January was even close to being as crazy as mine, let me list the birthdays/events for you:
Dec 6: Papa's Birthday
Dec 15: Frank's Birthday
Dec 25: Christmas
Dec 28: Chuck's Birthday (Father-in-law)
Dec 30: Webbs' Anniversary (In-Laws)
Jan 1: Dad's Birthday
Jan 3: Mom's Birthday
Jan 21: Rob's Birthday (brother)

This year you can add in MOVING to Jan 28, too. No one in our family is allowed to have a wedding or a child in the months of December or January.

oh, and I left out all of the aunts, uncles, and other anniversaries because I didn't want this blog post to go on forever - but if you think you can challenge me, I'll be happy to post all of the Dec/Jan dates for you.

Snow Check

Frank and I were supposed to go see the Terra Cotta Warriors today but it was snowed out. Our tickets have been rain checked for Monday and Tuesday night. We'll be going on Monday night, as we'll be driving to SC on Tuesday night.

So, instead of trekking into the city today we stayed here and did mostly nothing. There are at least 20 inches of snow on the ground already, and it hasn't stopped yet. Sunday school has been canceled and our church is only having one service but suggesting that we all tune in on the radio to avoid driving in this mess.

Most of you know that I am not a fan of snow and this storm (blizzard?) is no different. It hasn't even had the decency to be nice snow! It has come with a lot of wind and little tiny snow flakes that get in your eyes - none of the nice, big, floating snow flakes that you see in movies and post cards. There are drifts around our complex as tall as me, the fire hydrant near our apartment is completely covered, and my dog looks like a dolphin leaping through the snow that is taller than him.

(Yes, that is me out there with him, and yes, I kicked snow at him - it usually inspires him to run around more and chase me, which is what I was going for.)

Even though he can't see where he's going, he seems to love playing in the snow! He buries his nose in it, bounds around in it, and whines to go back out as soon as we bring him inside.

Please notice that the snow is up to my knees in this picture - and this was in the afternoon. It is 10:45pm and still snowing.

Frank and I take turns taking him out while the other take pictures and video from the warmth of our apartment.


The funniest part is that the only way we can tell that he is 'doing his business' is that he stops moving, holds really still, stares straight ahead, and keeps his tail at a perfect salute.

I'm looking forward to having a yard for H, I only wish we had it now so that he could play out there until his little heart is content. For now he gets to romp every few hours for a good 30-45 minutes at a time, as that is as long as Frank or I can stand to be out there!

Top Chef Outrage

Frank watches Top Chef, which means I also watch Top Chef. We have completely different experiences watching the show: Frank enjoys the cooking/food part of it, and I spend my time deciding which contestants I love and which ones I can't stand.

The season just ended and of the three finalists I loved two and couldn't stand one...guess which one won. The one I don't like. He is the younger brother of one of the other finalists and he has a HUGE chip on his shoulder about life. What a punk.

I told Frank that if he won over the other two guys (who were two of my very favorites from this season) I would never watch the show again! This is most likely untrue, but I may stick to my guns for at least the beginning of the next season.

I understand that the competition is week to week, but I really think the final round should be cumulative. I mean, really. This season's winner is such a jerk in the kitchen, he is a real Eddie Haskell if you ask me.

Now we're watching the reunion show (DVR'd, we never watch live TV) and I still think that the wrong guy won.

Happy Birthday Husband!

Today is Frank's 29th birthday! Happy Birthday Frank!

I'm so sorry that I managed to marry such a serious person, you really should loosen up and learn to laugh a little ;)

Happy Birthday husband - now lets go eat some steak!

What marriage really means

It means making a commitment and sticking to it, no matter what life brings. It means making plans and having dreams. Sometimes it means having kids and then grandkids. Marriage means growing together and always learning more about yourself and each other.

And sometimes it means renewing your vows after 57 years together in front of family and friends.

(Nana didn't know this was happening, this is her face when she saw the rings. Papa had never worn a wedding band...he does now!)

I have been so blessed with Dave & Barbara Brewer as my grandparents. What an amazing example they have been to all of us, and I hope that Frank and I can someday provide as strong of a testimony to our children and grandchildren.

Almost There

My paper has been written, printed, scribbled on, edited, and printed again. Now there are two copies in my bag and I'm ready to hand them in, do my 5 minutes presentation (well, I'm lying...I'm not ready for the presentation...I'm waiting until after lunch then I'll reread the paper and make my speaking notes), and be finished with grad school!

Then I'm getting in the car and driving to Cary, NC going to sleep, waking up and driving to N. Litchfield Beach, SC and hanging with the family for a couple days. For my grandfather's 80th birthday party actually.

I had a little trouble packing last night...what does one wear to an 80 year old's birthday party? I'm hoping the answer is already in my suitcase because there isn't much I can do if it isn't.

For now all of you should click here to see two of my favorite pictures of 2009. He isn't mine, but he looks just like mine and it makes me melt.

Guilt Free Blogging

I get on such a roll with this blog, and then something 'real life' happens and I fall off. Right now it is the one last stinking paper that is in the process of being written. The good news is that said paper is due on Thursday and I also have to present the paper that evening.

So, once that blankity-blank paper is finished I can be back to guilt free blogging - you know, where I can blog without thinking, knowing that there is something more pressing i should be doing. I'm sure I'll continue to put off things like laundry or dog walking for blogging, but neither of those things will 'fail' you if you are late so they aren't in the same category as a grad school paper.

After this weekend I can tell you about all of the cool things that are stacking up in life: we're moving (staying in NoVa), a beach trip, Christmas stuff, Terra Cotta Warriors, etc etc etc.

But for now, blogging is still full of guilt so I'm going to go take my dog outside and then get back to work on my paper.

I wish I'd thought of it

We had an awesome wedding - it was full of friends and family, the food was good, the cake was to die for, and if there was any drama I managed to miss it!

As Frank and I attend weddings we look at things differently now, always comparing it back to our own big weekend. For the most part, I wouldn't change a thing - but now and then I see something and think "I wish I'd thought of that!"

The one thing I think I could have focused more on was cherry blossoms. We were married on March 29, 2008 - the first day of the 2008 National Cherry Blossom Festival. I included some (fake) cherry blossoms on the hotel gift bags, and gave my bridal brunch hostesses cherry blossom candles as a thank you, but that is really where it ended.

Now I see cherry blossom save-the-dates and cherry blossom invitations, I could have carried cherry blossoms in my bouquet, or used them in the boutonnieres and center pieces, and most of all, I could have had this, a cherry blossom cake! (only the first one, the others are 'cake wrecks')

I am certainly not complaining about our cake - it was beautiful and delicious and everything I ever wanted it to be - but I am a sucker for cherry blossoms because of how beautiful DC is during that time of year!

I think I mostly wish I had thought to use more cherry blossoms in our wedding because it wasn't 'cool' then (yet), and now it is! We could have been ahead of the curve.

Anyway, like I said before our wedding was a rockin' good time and while I don't regret anything I can't help but occasionally think "I wish I'd thought of that!"

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I don't know if you've heard, but President Obama's speech to the nation is officially bumping ABC's airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The audacity that man has!

It got me thinking that it was time to decorate for Christmas in the apartment. The good news: it didn't take long. The bad news: our apartment doesn't look very Christmasy.

It kind of comes back around to A Charlie Brown Christmas! Our apartment is the equivalent of the sad little Charlie Brown tree, pre-decoration. We have our stockings hanging over the fireplace, two red-sparkly-ornament-shaped candles (from Nana) on the coffee table, holiday towels in the bathroom, and the Holy Family in the center of the kitchen table surrounded by red/crimson place mats....and that is it.

No tree because we're spending Christmas in South Carolina, which means no lights and no ornaments, no tree skirt, no presents under the tree.

I'm hoping to get a wreath for the door, but that won't help the inside of the apartment. I think I'll pick up some fake garland to drape somewhere and put lights on it. This place needs some twinkle!

Maybe I'll remember to do some discount shopping for Christmasy things after Christmas this year so that next year I won't have the Charlie Brown problem.

Merry Christmas to you and yours - I hope your house twinkles!

I'm excited about

Date night! Frank and I are going on a date in Massachusetts, either tonight or tomorrow night and I can't wait! And there is more...

We're making it a double date, taking Frank's parents on a date with us - so they are having date night too! And there is more...

We're going to see The Blind Side which very well may become my favorite movie of 2009, or even make it into my 'favorite movies of all time' list! I love a good sports movie that runs on themes of overcoming circumstance and racial tensions. I'm also a big fan of it being based on a true story. Overcoming the kinds of things that this family did wouldn't be nearly as impactful if it weren't true - anyone can tell a nice story, but these people lived it.

So, there is my 'I'm excited' post for the week - looks like this will become a Friday tradition.

I hope you had a wonderful Turkey Day!

again...

We're moving. Again. Dear Lord help us.

Our complex has upped our rent rate so much that they have forced us out. Our lease ends on 2/13/10 and we'll be moving to...somewhere.

We're staying in the DC area obviously, but we don't yet know where we'll land. Though we do hope that wherever it is, we'll be there for a long long long time. We've been married for less than 2 years and lived in two apartments, when we move in February we'll still be under two years and will have lived in 3 places. Wonderful.

I'm trying to be cool and calm about this, but I hate having a 'move out' date without having a 'move in' destination.

Prayers would be great, and any tips or ideas on where to live with a dog and 1 car would be welcomed.

We'll miss our awesome apartment, I guess it was too good to be true after all.

Mondays...

How was your Monday? I hope it was lovely, full of sunshine and happiness! I hope it was better than mine...

I've had chronic sinus infections for a while now and finally decided to see an ENT about it. I met him on Friday and he started me on a steroid nasal spray and scheduled me for an allergy test on Monday. Today was Monday (I realize that this is being posted on Tuesday, I stayed up too late)

I went to the doctor's office this morning for my 9am appointment. I wore a t-shirt because I was assuming I'd have the 'scratch test' I'd heard about from other people, and t-shirts are soft and potentially kind to itchy backs. While I'm glad I wore a t-shirt, I was wrong about how the test would go down. I don't know exactly how a 'scratch test' works when it involves one's back, but I doubt it is worse than what they did to me today.

At first it was nothing terrible. There is a six pronged device that sits in oily stuff,

they sectioned off my left arm into four quadrants and pushed the prongs into my skin. It didn't hurt at all, it felt like someone pressing their nails against your skin, but not pinching or anything, just pressure. Honestly my thought was, "this thing would make a great back scratcher!"

Then I sat in the chair for 20 minutes while the oily stuff dripped down my arm, waiting for something to start to itch. No itching. Not even a twinge of itch.

I thought, "great! no allergies, guess that is settled." WRONG

My left arm got it easy, then it was the right arm's turn. I promise I am not exaggerating any of the numbers in this next part.

The nurse came in with 4 trays of little bottles, each with 4 rows and 10 columns. Then she opened the box of syringes...and pulled out 33 of them. She uncapped 33 syringes and placed one in each of the orange capped bottles (containing the second highest dose of allergens for each of 33 likely suspects).

Then I lifted the sleeve on my right arm and she wrote 33 different codes in two rows down the side of my upper arm, between my shoulder and elbow.

One by one, she stuck me with each syringe containing each allergen until I had what looked like 33 (bleeding!) mosquito bites in perfect rows down my arm.

I'm not one to get light headed or nauseous around needles, I often give blood and get yearly flu shots. But 2 minutes after she finished sticking me I was seeing spots and loosing my hearing at an alarming rate.

The nice nurse (to her credit, she was very nice the entire time and was pretty good at sticking me with minimal pain) brought me two cookies and a cup of water and had me lay down for the 10 minutes required to get the test results.

After 10 minutes they moved me to another room where I would see the doctor. The doctor whom I had told on Friday that I don't have allergies, and that even if I did I had tried taking Clariten and it had not worked. He was shocked that I had shown ZERO signs of allergies to ANYTHING. So surprised that he asked that I show him my mangled right arm, and he looked even more surprised to see that the test results were correct and I still showed no signs of an allergic reaction.

***I would have inserted a picture here of what my arm looked like, but no one puts pictures of nonallergic people on the Internet and my phone doesn't have a camera. Just imagine 33 bleeding mosquito bites in rows down my right arm.***

Anyway, I'm still trying the nasal spray and I have a follow up appointment in a month.

I hope that none of you ever has to have an allergy test, or if you do, I hope that it gives you a result that will address your issue.

There isn't a better way to start your morning that to be stuck with 33 needles only to be told that you are the picture of health! (all the while blowing your nose due to your ongoing sinus issues)

*disclaimer: I was more than polite to all nursing staff and the doctor, not once did I say "I told you so" or "come on, we all know this is a structural problem, just order the damn CT!"*

**however, if I go back in a month and they don't order the CT, I'm saying it. loudly.**

I'm Excited About: A New Tradition Edition

I've decided to start a trend on my blog - since I have it "in case something exciting happens" I'll be dedicating one post each week to something I'm excited about!

So, for my first "I'm excited about..." I'll tell you about a new restaurant I found this week!

Founding Farmers

I had lunch with some other PAC people, and I was totally blown away with the food. The service was not anything to write home about, but the menu certainly was!

Very home-style food and everything was delicious. The cornbread has corn in it and comes with honey butter.....melt in your mouth kind of good!

The restaurant is very focused on being 'green' and sustainable and the atmosphere reflects that. It is a cool combination of industrial and outdoorsy. I loved the entire look!

It is a little pricey, but will be a great place for the occasional fun lunch or after work drinks.

One Down, One to Go!

My lack of blogging is due to my first of two term papers being due this past Wednesday. It ended up being 23 pages on the topic of "political theater" focusing on the current bills in Congress addressing the public funding of congressional campaigns. (H.R.1826 and S.752 if you are interested)

It was an interesting topic and that made it easier to crank out the work.

I'm so glad to be finished with that paper, though we are still scheduled for more readings (yeah, right) and 3 more classes. I've mentally checked out, all I have left in that course is to do a 5 minute presentation on my paper - no sweat!

My next paper is due December 3rd and will be easier to compile. It is an election analysis/prediction for Pennsylvania's 11th district congressional race. A good primary race combined with a volatile economic and political climate should make this paper nearly effortless.

I am hoping to get some work done on the paper before we head to Massachusetts so that our Thanksgiving break can actually be a break!

I feel like this grad program has been good for me and could help me in my chosen profession, I'm really glad it is almost over and I now know that I have absolutely no desire to ever go back to school again! (Please remind me of this post if I ever start talking about going back to school again)

Happy Birthday, Hamilton!

There will not be a puppy party, no cake or funny hats, either. But I did give him an extra happy greeting this morning (and whispered 'happy birthday' in his ear just after midnight last night) and will most likely give him an extra treat some time this evening.

I'm so grateful for our awesome dog. Sometimes he is a pain in the butt, he likes to be hyper at the wrong times, he jumps on people when they come over, and he slobbers on my work clothes every morning - BUT, he also makes funny old man noises, plays with his toys without our help, loves nothing more than to be by your side, and gets all warm and droopy when he's been sleeping.

My current favorite thing is when he puts himself to bed. Frank and I usually stay up pretty late and Hamilton usually curls up near one of us and just snoozes until we announce "bed time." But sometimes he just can't hang - he looks at us with the droopiest eyes you've ever seen, makes an old man noise, and heads off to his bed in the closet.

Happy Birthday, Hamilton! Thanks for joining our little family and adding a little more wiggle to our day

Rivalry Weekend

Rivalry Weekend is over. It happens when the Colts and Patriots play during the regular season.

Tonight's game was preceded by lots of "woo!"ing and also lots of team-gear-wearing. I wore 4 different Colts shirts over a three day span, Frank wore 2 Pats shirts...I guess that is why they lost...

The good news is that the Colts won. The bad news is that it was an ugly game. The Colts came back in the last few minutes of the game, and were helped by a poorly called 4th down play by the Pats (that also should have been challenged, so that is 2 bad ideas from the "genius" in one play) that gave the Colts the ball on the Pats' 30 yard line with over a minute left on the clock.

They carry on with their undefeated season but still face some tough teams, and I hope that Caldwell feels that keeping his starters healthy and rested for the playoffs is much more important that an undefeated regular season.

Go Colts! and hopefully the Colts and Patriots won't face off in the playoffs because I don't think I can handle the stress again this soon

I'm a PC

I've always been a PC user, even back to the IBM my dad owns that we played with as children. I had a cream colored exterior, a black screen, and green type....we're talking DOS people. But it had a great game where you were a ship and you tried to drop bombs on submarines, it was the best!

Anyway, through college I used Dell computers and now I have a nifty little HP laptop that recognizes my left thumb print (used for log in), has a touch screen, and even has a screen that folds down so that I can write on it like a notebook!

I just spent a couple hours upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7. I didn't have any major complaints about Vista, but I decided to upgrade to 7 when I found out that I could do it for $30! (that is 85% off retail value)

How did I do it? Well, I'm in grad school and I have a functioning email address that ends in ".edu" and that is all it takes. My father-in-law sent along a helpful email with all the information and this link with directions.

So, if you have a .edu address and you'd like to upgrade to Windows 7 for $30, just click the link and be on your way!

Sick of being sick

For some reason there always seems to be something wrong with me. Currently it is a super mega cold/fever/sinus infection. For the last three and a half days I have been sneezing, blowing my nose, coughing, and dealing with sinus pressure.

It happens all too frequently, usually around the changing of seasons. My doctor says it isn't allergies and often tells me to drink lots of water, take decongestants, and use the sinus nasal wash (which I hate).

There has to be a solution, some way to prevent this. So, bring it on - give me your wacky home remedies and some kind of prevention.

Here are things I've tried:
-constant hand washing (doubled up when I've been on the metro)
-regular water consumption
-immediate use of decongestants and nose blowing
-airborne
-hot showers/steaming my face to loosen sinus pressure
-plenty of sleep
-dayQuil/nyQuil routine
-hot tea with honey, lemon, and bourbon
-cough drops
-nasal rinse (same thing as a netti pot)

ok, if you have magic solutions that I'm not aware of by all means please fill me in.

Should have named him Sleepy

While we spent the weekend in Rhode Island, Hamilton spent the weekend with our friends, The Alexanders and their two huskies, Fiama and Fuego.

And he's been sleeping ever since we picked him up! We brought him home around 7:45pm on Sunday evening, he put himself to bed at 8pm. We tried to wake him up to play with him a few times, but he wanted none of it. He slept until we woke him up at 8am on Monday morning.

from 8am to 8:30 he went for a walk, took care of business, and ate breakfast. At 8:45am he went back to sleep and didn't wake up until 11am.

Awake long enough to go outside, then back to sleep until late in the afternoon. Again put himself to bed around 8:30pm and slept until 8:30am. He did wake up at 11pm, wanted to be taken outside, then put himself right back to bed.

This continued through today - the dog has done absolutely nothing for two full days!! it is like a preview of what is to come when he is a stinky old basset, but for now I am torn between deep gratitude to the Alexanders and missing my puppy!

I'm sure that over the next few days he'll come back to normal and I'll long for the days when he just slept

PW's Chicken Pot Pie

I made dinner last night (and cookies)! It was my first attempt at making something from the new Pioneer Woman Cookbook and it was a smashing success!

First I made the dough for the top crust, from scratch! It was easy and tasty in the end

Second, I chopped a lot of carrots and onions - Tina later pointed out that I could have used my food processor to do this, but these are the mistakes of those who don't spend much time in their own kitchens...

The recipe calls for carrots, onion, peas, and celery - we forgot the celery, but Frank was ok with that because he isn't a celery fan...next time I'll say I "left it out on purpose"

The chicken cooked alone as the veggies sauteed in a nice pan of butter. mmmmm

Having the pictures in PW's cookbook really helped; there were times when I thought "this can't be right" but the pictures in the cookbook were just like what I saw in front of me, so I kept going!

The above picture is of the thick inside goodness of the pie, and it is where I stopped and went to sewing. I just wrapped up the dough and the pie in plastic wrap and threw it in the fridge.

Frank says we needed proof that I really did make this dinner (from scratch), so here I am putting the pie in the oven!

This is the end product, and it is tasty, too! I had extra filling and extra pastry so I made mini-pot pies in a muffin tin.

A New England Wedding

We traveled to Rhode Island this weekend for the Crosby/Dziok wedding, and it was a blast! We landed in the early evening, got settled in the hotel and then headed out to meet Mom & Dad Webb for dinner at Smokey Bones.

I should have taken a picture of my dinner - pulled pork on top of a halved baked potato with all the fixin's! mmmmmmmm

Then we met up with the wedding crew at McFadden's in Providence

Saturday came around, starting with the hotel breakfast around 9:30am then there was time to hang out and get ready before our shuttle left for the ceremony. The shuttle to/from the ceremony was fun, it was great to be traveling with so many friends!

The wedding was in Dave's parents' church, and it was beautiful

as was Rachel's hair - so curly and sparkly!

The reception was in southern RI, in Quonset and it was a heck of a party!

The bride and groom were having so much fun that there were only about 12 of us around to bid them farewell with the wedding bubbles when they finally left! And that is what we love about Mr. and Mrs. Dziok, they know a good party when they seen one!

Congratulations to the newlyweds! We love you!

**sneak peek of professional pics can be found here: http://www.melissamanzione.net/ **

After

Sorry for the delay, I looked so cute that Frank insisted on taking me out for an impromptu date night!

Here it is 11 inches later......

From the side....

from the back...

It is pretty darn short, but I think I'll get used to it!

and I don't have a ruler, but you'll have to trust me that this thing is between 10 and 11 inches of hair - woo!

Before

Here are the before pictures...I took them last night before I went to bed. I'm so nervous about the big cut today, but I'm sure everything will turn out alright!

My appointment is at 1pm today, I'll post pictures of the cut tonight after class (class is over at 8pm, so I'm guessing I'll have pictures by 9:30)

oh, and Go Gamecocks!

It is almost time

A while ago I told you that my hair has gotten way long and that I had planned to cut off 8 inches to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program.

My decision to do this is multi-layered:
-my hair is way way way too long
-my too long hair is driving my poor husband crazy because it is everywhere and sticks to everything
-I'm not willing to commit the time I would need to manage hair of this length on a daily basis
-I had a friend lose her hair in junior high school due to cancer and while she managed it like nothing ever happened, not everyone can make the 'full head of hair to bald' transition as well as she did
-I have pretty great hair, it is a nice color, it holds curl, and I haven't dyed it since that one time in college so it is pretty darn healthy, too!
-I promised Frank that I would get it cut before the Crosby/Dziok wedding (which is this weekend!!)
-Halloween is over and I no longer need to look like Dorothy

The appointment is set for Thursday at 1pm. I'm really nervous because I'm afraid they will cut it too short and I'll hate it - but a promise is a promise and I'm going for it!

I'll post before and after pictures after the big cut

Hamilton has chosen a side

It seems as though our dog has chosen a side in our on-going argument of Colts vs. Patriots. We tried to keep it civil and to keep Hamilton out of it, but I guess the tension was getting to him and he decided he'd just rather pick a side and be done with it.

I'm happy to report that he is wearing the #44 Dallas Clark jersey, of the Indianapolis Colts!

Though it does appear that he got into the spirit of Halloween a bit by tying his jersey to the side like we used to do to our shirts in the 80's.

Welcome to the team, Hamilton! We're happy to have you - and I'll be expecting your support when the Patriots play the Colts on Nov. 115th!

Now take off that jersey; dogs aren't supposed to wear clothes, silly

I hate this picture

but I promised...

here is my complete Halloween costume:

I will never stand like that ever again, ever ever ever. I'm not pregnant but it sure looks like I am - awesome.

There you go - Happy Halloween!!

I promise I'm not going to explode

I went for a (2.4 mile!) run today because it is 70 degrees and sunny, and because I'm going to be stuck in the gym until April soon so I took advantage of the opportunity to be outside. But this post isn't about my stellar running abilities (ha!), it is about what happens after I run...

I stopped running at 2:15pm and my face is still bright red with white blotches around my mouth. This is a common occurrence in my world, I blame it on my fair (read: pasty) skin and excellent blood circulation. While I find this to be totally normal, and will be normal for the next 2 hours, it is often alarming to other people.

When I was in the 3rd grade I came in from recess with everyone else and sat at my desk. The moment my teacher (Mrs. Carlyle) saw me her eyes got huge and she demanded that I go to the back of the class, drink a cup of water, and splash cold water on my face. I have very distinct memories of this because I was kind of embarrassed, but I also remember seeing my face in the mirror above the sink and thinking "this is what I always look like after a basketball game."

I just had a full on flashback as I came in from my run. The security guard in our building jumped up from her seat like she was going to have to catch me as I was surely about to collapse. I laughed and told her I was fine, then went into the locker room and saw the same face I had seen in Mrs. Carlyle's classroom that day in 3rd grade.

I hope that someday my kids get enough of their father's genes to mask the crazy red faceness that happens after a good workout - then I can be the only freakshow in the family who looks like I'm going to internally combust after a leisurely run.

Book Tours

On Monday night I went to sewing as usual, then when I got home I was super tired and ready to crash for the night.

Instead of crashing, Frank and I headed into DC to the ESPN Zone to stand in line for 2ish hours. At the end of the line was this

That is Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy! His book release was Tuesday, hence the midnight book signing and his first stop was DC. I was so excited to meet him, and we were even able to make him laugh while we were standing there!

You can see the big dumb grin on my face, I think that is what I look like when I meet famous people...I should work on that.

Sports Guys' buddies tend to attend his public appearances, this time it was House. We got him to sign the book, too!

I had so much fun staying up past my bedtime and meeting my favorite sports writer. Reading his book will take some work as it is 700 pages about the NBA....but I'm willing to give it the college try because his last book was so good.

I'm also now feeling motivated to go see The Pioneer Woman when she is on the east coast for her book tour in December - she is only going to be in the Philly area and then in NYC so it would be a bit of a road trip either way. Her book is a cook book, and I promised Frank that I would learn to cook if he bought it for me...he pre-ordered it the day I said that, looks like I'll be learning to cook starting later this week :)

Hooray for book tours and meeting your favorite authors/podcasters/bloggers!

Hospital Adventures

Friday morning I got a call at 8:30am from Tina. She was in the ER at Virginia Hospital Center and had been diagnosed with appendicitis.

Frank and I jumped out of bed and headed over right away - 14 hours later I came back home to go to sleep so that I could get back up in the morning and go get Tina from the hospital.

The entire time at the hospital the staff was friendly, responsive, informative, and helpful. While it felt like a really long day, I think it is pretty awesome that they were able to get her into surgery from the ER for an appendectomy about 13 hours after she first arrived. The hospital was full which is why it took that many hours - they had to find a place to put her post-op before they could take her to the OR.

I'm so grateful for that hospital - I've been there for both of my operations and all of my doctors are connected to that system.

Tina is recovering at home and is doing really well. Appendectomies are now done laproscopicly so she just has three small incisions instead of the old-school style appy scar.

And most importantly, we'll now have matching bellybutton scars!

A small lesson in customer service

I went to a tiny little restaurant/bar tonight with three friends. We sat at a high top table in the bar area, ordered drinks and $1 tacos. We were having a lovely time, until they turned the music up so loud that we were shouting at each other from 1.5 feet away.

I've been in bars where the music was this loud, but it was usually a very big, very full bar, and it was somewhere between the hours of 10pm and 2am - this was a small bar and it was not even 8pm.

Also, 99% of the patrons in the bar were there to either watch the ALCS game or the Caps hockey game - so no one cared about the music.

When it got to a deafening level we asked the bar tender if he could please turn down the music - the speakers were right above our table and it was awful. He obliged for about a minute, then came back and said "you guys are the only ones in this place that want the music turned down, I'm pretty sure everyone else wants it loud."

Wow. There were no more than 20 others in the bar area and 20 of them were there to watch a game of some kind, none of them were there for the music.

So I did what any good, annoyed patron would do. I borrowed $2 from the girls and went to the jukebox.

For the next 20 minutes the only music blasting in that bar was Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, Ricky Martin, and O Town.

And it was the first time that anyone else in the bar noticed the music.

I hope I made the bar tender mad, I hope he remembers me next time I go there for $1 tacos, and I hope that the next time someone asks him to turn down the music because it is at a deafening level he'll listen.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

And you don't want to piss off God!

That is actually a quote from a dorky show I watch on Mondays, and by "on Mondays" I mean at some point later in the week after my classes are over, so Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Needless to say I haven't seen this week's episode yet, so there aren't any spoiler alerts here...

I actually want to sing the praises of clean. I love clean, clean makes me happy, clean makes me calm, clean lets me sleep better at night.

My wonderful amazing thoughtful husband vacuumed our dining area the other day because the roof had fallen in again (long story and I don't want to talk about it) and I didn't ask him to do it! I came home on Monday and as I gathered my things for sewing I noticed that the ceiling bits were missing from the carpet - I looked up to see if the ceiling was fixed (it was not) and since it wasn't I figured out that my wonderful amazing thoughtful husband had vacuumed! It made my day, and I slept better.

I don't know when this happened, and Mom, I'm sorry it didn't happen sooner, but I love it. I feel like I'm always picking up the apartment, and for some people it would get annoying but the end result is SO worth the 10-15 minutes it takes.

I have class tonight, and I won't get home until around 10pm but when I do get home I'll feel great because our home is clean...or at least it was when I left this morning, and that is enough to calm my soul for now.

Goals

Everyone has them and the vary in difficulty, importance, chances of happening, etc.

Currently I have lots of goals:
1. lose 8 lbs, hopefully in time for the Crosby/Dziok wedding (18 days!)
2. win my fantasy football league - that is $220 on the line
3. finish my midterm, it is due tomorrow and it will happen the question is will it happen without a 4am writing session...
4. keep up with this blog, and maybe find something worth reading for y'all
5. finish my halloween costume in time for this year's halloween
6. start and finish another halloween costume in time for my class on Oct 28th so I can win the contest and get an extra week to work on my term paper
7. be a better wife (not that I'm a bad wife, I just want to always be striving to be a better one)
8. learn to cook, I'm not in a rush on this one...something to do with my awesome husband being a great cook
9. be a fun/good/disciplined/nurturing mom some day, also not in a rush on this one. May come into being around the same time I decide to learn to cook.
10. organize a DC Metro area Salem Alumni group
11. become more involved with Salem College
12. find a way to create/encourage/sell more Salem College paraphernalia from the college book store

and finally, 13. get to my 12:30 lunch on time today - which means I'm off and running! (**update: I made it on time**)

Every Monday

I stay up too late to watch the Monday Night Football game - and it is driving me nuts! I should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I have to sit here and wait and hope that stupid Vincent Jackson does not get more than 4 more points tonight so that I can win in my fantasy league!

It is driving me crazy, it seems that every week I either have someone playing in the Monday night game or I am up against someone in the Monday night game.

I hope that next week I've either already won or already lost by the end of the Sunday night game. I love love LOVE football, but I can't keep staying up this late (this stressed out) every Monday!!

On a happier note I got a lot of work done on my Halloween costume tonight at the church. The next step involves installing the zipper - which is something I've never done before. Hopefully I can figure it out so that I can be finished with my Dorothy dress before next week's sewing class/gathering.

I have a second costume to create for my Legislative Politics class - I don't really want to do it, but it can lead to homework passes or extra time on the term paper so it is at least worth a good effort. I have a great idea for my costume (it has to relate to Legislative Politics) but I'm not going to advertise what it is until after the class.

ok, back to trying to not bite my nails through the last 8 minutes of this game - RUN OUT THE CLOCK DENVER!

**Update - I hung on to win by 2, I'm 6-0 on the season and still holding onto first place!**

Crafts, Decisions, and Dress Up

I've started some serious crafting lately. With my sewing circle at church I've made two aprons, hemmed pants, sewn shirts shut, and the list goes on! I'm making my own costume(s) for Halloween this year and I've started on one of them already.

I went to Walmart and bought some simple silver flats. Then I painted them red

Next I used these things...

And now I have these!

All for less than half of what it costs to buy costume ruby red slippers! Hooray! They will get a treatment of aerosol hair spray when they are dry so that I don't leave a trail of red sparkles everywhere I go.

Then I held auditions for Toto

Um...don't call us, we'll call you?

Still Growing

When we got Hamilton he was 10 weeks old and weighed about 14 lbs. His ears were too long and he tripped on them a lot with his big feet.

His entire back was black with one little white spot. Even his ears were a very dark brown/black. He was only as long as two of my size 7 feet laid end to end.

His toys were as big as his head and he would trip over them when he carried them as they would drag on the ground.

He used to fit in our arms, on our laps, and was light enough to carry around anywhere

(Frank was sick in this pic, H was helping him feel better)

Now he is a big dog, almost one year old and weighing in at 60 lbs. I can't carry him anymore, and he isn't a lap dog. But he is one darn handsome basset and we love him to bits!

Here is the big dog on his dog bed, it is a good 3 feet across. And it has his name on it.

But just in case you are thinking he's a big softy who only sleeps on his bed, H wanted you to know that he can sleep anywhere - especially if it is beside the kitchen.