Back on track

As I said before I left for the long weekend, I'm alive but I took a bit of a detour last week. Not sure what prompted it but I was busy and planning a party with a weekend get-a-way so the blog got a fair bit neglected.

The weekend away was a much needed relief. After hosting our Faux New Year's Eve Party until 4 AM on Friday night we took our time enjoying our weekend. Lots of food, lots to drink, lots of Wii smack talk and great friends to start it all for us. We slept till almost noon on Saturday and got to our resort that evening. The food, the spa, the time alone together was wonderful. We had some heated competitions in the arcade and a nice relaxing weekend all around.

Unfortunately, the rat race is on again. I have two separate Stampin' Up workshops coming up, two hockey games this week to cover and the usual other stuff to do. My four day week is going to fly away from me. Hope your week is going well.

I'm alive...

I'm here, just a busy week and now I'm off for a two night, three day couples spa get-a-way! See you guys on Tuesdsay :)

The best kind of day...

I normally don't like surprises. I like to plan things out. I like to lay things out in front of me. in grad school, I outlined things so that i didn't have to read solid pages of text. There are a few surprises I like though. Today is one of the surprises...

I got to sleep in unexpectantly first off. Last night when we went to bed, the plan was for both of us to get up at 6:00 am to get ready to hit various stores that were rumored to be getting in the Nintendo Wii. When the alarm went off i wanted to do anything but get up. The boy tucked me in tighter, gave me a little kiss and let me stay in bed! It was wonderful.

I finally got out of bed around 10:00 this morning and woke up to a fresh new coating of snow that is only getting thicker! The unexpected snow fall has been upgraded from a snow advisory to a heavy snow advisory. The snow from last weekend was starting to get a little dingy looking, now it's all fresh, white and fluffy again. I like those sorts of morning surprises.

I'm sipping my coffee now, watching the snow fall, and planning my day so I can get to the boy's house to play with the new Wii! Surprises galore!

There's snow here still...

THE GHOSTS OF 2006 PAST
1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Traveled to a few new places...San Francisco, Chicago, Eagle River WI
2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Many people...and i've been enjoying the updates and photos all year long
3. Did anyone close to you die?
Not this year but my mom came close a few times
4. What countries did you visit?
Just the good ole USA
5. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
More time to relax and take care of myself
6. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
My birthday in October...my boyfriend took me home to meet his parents. July because of how sick my mom was and seeing the fall risk sign outside her hospital door.

7. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I caught the stomach flu on steriods on Christmas Eve, spent last February home from work for the first time ever with some weird upper respiratory/lung infection.
8. Whose behavior merited celebration?
taking charge of my financial situation
9. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My inpatience with others as well as my inability at times to let go of the past
10. Where did most of your money go?
This year?? Loan consolidation!
11. What did you get really, really excited about?
Meeting the parents, camping in Glacier Park
12. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier, thinner, richer
13. What was your favorite TV program?
Bones and CSI
14. What was the best book you read?
Memoirs of a Geisha

15. Is there someone or something you missed this past year?
I missed celebrating Thanksgiving with my family.
16. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 29 and we drove to Waupaca, WI for a wedding and meeting his parents
17. What kept you sane?
My friends!
18. What is one new thing you'd like to accomplish this coming Year?
Continue to lower my debt, make some improvements in my house, advance my Stampin' Up business
19. If you could do ONE thing this New Year and NOT get chastised by, or for it, what would you do? Tell some of my patients what I really think of them and their noncompliance.

20. If you could really, and actually, meet one blogger in 2007, who would you want to meet?I would like to meet Lime. She is such a down to earth, energized, generous person. I would like to see her corner of the world with her as my guide.

I got tagged with this because I had snow or ice outside my window according to My Uptopia. If you have sunshine when you read this...you're tagged.

InspiRED...HNT

I'm feeling inspiRED lately. The GAP now has a long sleeve version of the charity raising tee and I had to pick one up. I love it. It's soft, it clings just right and it's a damn good message. Now that I'm inspired I'm going to spend the afternoon getting a few things done :)

Haev a great rest of the week. Happy HNT

We're busy again..

What follows snow and ice?

Snowmobile accidents, car accidents, broken hips, broken wrists...and a happy Orthopedic Trauma Department :)

IT"S SNOWING!!!!!

4 inches and counting!!!!

A good weekend...

The boyfriend made it home safe, his internal clock is messed up but he's home!

Romeo and Regg are "cool" again and Romeo's eye is getting better.

Hockey game ended 7-2 with only one minor injury that will need a few sutures.

I get to go to a movie with my boyfriend tonight. We had a great lunch together today.

Only downfall...it's bitter cold and not a snowflake in sight.

oh my...

2 hours sleep. One #2 mess cleaned from the floor AND his backside. Two #1 messes, one on my grandmother's goose down pillow. An angry, crying brother that wailed most of the night. A cat that growled like he was a dog when his brother got close to check on him.

That's how I spent my night.

It's 9 pm the day after and it's not much better. I at least got him out of the attic, then off the foundation under the floorboards in the basement. I may need to update my tetanus from all that I scraped my arms on. He's curled up at my feet now after I moved a bit to write this post after previously being at my side as seen above. he's not completely hip about his brother hanging out next to him yet. But damn it...this momma stayed up all night with her kids and made it to work the next day.

I'm going to shower and get the dead spiders, 80 year old dust, and cat hair and pee smell off of me before I try to get a full night's sleep...because do you know what tomorrow is?????

MY BOYFRIEND FINALLY COMES HOME!!!!!!

Gotta love them...

It's all about THEM this week, I guess!

This one got a trip to the vet today and has a $109 case of pink eye. I had a pretty good idea it was pink eye...I spent the first six months of PA school gazing into the eyes of classmates, a spouse, various kids, and pets to understand an eye exam. The only thing I was missing this week was my ophthalmoscope and stain for his cornea...but his conjunctiva was bright pink and his eye was goopy. So the poor guy had to endure getting in his carrier. The little guy wets himself and then cries the entire time he is in it, soundly eerily like a small trapped child. It's scary. But he got his meds, I paid the bill, and now he's hiding and I'm suppose to find him to put the ointment in his eye four times a day. Wait until I have kids!?

GUYS!?!?!?!

Now aren't they just the cutest thing you ever did see? All fuzzy, adorable, sleeping soundly...WHATEVER!

My comforter and the first blanket underneath of it are both in the dryer now at 9:30 pm still drying because one of these cute little kids chucked up a hairball and cat food pieces all over the unoccupied side of my bed around 5:30 this morning! I didn't have time to throw them in the wash before I left for work (the blankets, not the cats). So I balled them up so it didn't keep soaking through and am taking care of it now.

At least there is a second half of what looks to be a great routing by UF over OSU!

The end of Christmas

It's a gray, dark weekend. The boyfriend is still stuck in England. There isn't a flake of snow to be seen. And..it's the end of Christmas this weekend. See why I slept until 12:30 pm today?

Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season in the Catholic church. Advent led us up to it. My family has always put their tree up early and left it up until Epiphany. So today, I'm taking the decorations down. Putting up the tree is always a sense of accomplishment, an anticipation of when all the lights are first turned on, an "ahhhh" when it is all done. Taking the tree down is a downer. It's a mess that has to be cleaned up. It's an emptiness in the living room. I just don't like doing it.

The issue isn't just taking down the decorations. I'm flat out lonely this weekend. I'm not use to having my weekends to myself unplanned. Usually when my boyfriend has to travel I have known about it ahead of time, anticipated both his departure and his return, been able to spend time with him before hand. This trip was so unexpected and rushed it sent me tumbling from the beginning. I understand it's his job and I'm not upset at him for going. God, knows I have had to change plans or be late for things because I have been stuck in the OR past expected. It's just been a long week is all. I need to sit down in his arms and talk a few things through. I can't do that until next weekend.

Instead I have read two books in one week and started the third last night. Joined a friend for breakfast yesterday and then my previously mentioned jean's expedition. Last night I went to bed at 11 pm, my boyfriend called from the front of Buckingham Palace at 8 am and we chatted for a while but I wasn't very awake (I do feel bad about that, I would have liked to talk to him a little longer), and then I went back to sleep for several more hours. Doesn't help I have a cold this week. My goal is to do little this weekend, sleep lots and feel better tomorrow morning. And I am looking forward to having him home by Friday!

Mission Impossible...

I stopped at the mall this morning to take advantage of post-holiday, pre-spring, season clearance sales. I wasn't after much, but I did want a pair of jeans. Last year I found a pair of jeans at Ann Taylor Loft that I loved. I still have them and my goal was to walk into the store, buy another pair and leave. 2.5 hours later, I left with two pairs of jeans and NOT from Ann Taylor Loft.

It figures...they have changed their styles. I went to Coldwater Creek, The Buckle, The Gap, Aeropostle, American Eagle, J. Jill, Abercrombie & Fitch. I tried on sizes 8's and 10's in each store. Coldwater Creek pants come over an inch ABOVE my belly button but I could get into an 8. At the Buckle and Aeropostle I couldn't tell which were girl jeans and which were boy jeans and they ALL looked too small, torn, worn, or ragged. At Abercrombie I tried a size 10 and got it "mostly" over my hips and ran out of jean...talk about low rise.

I finally found a pair at J. Jill and bought 2 pair! Now, hopefully, I still like them in a week when I put them on again and it wasn't just my jean frustration that got me to buy two pair.

HNT...remember how?

This week our country laid to rest a President. I'm not old enough to remember President Ford but I do remember my Grandfather who was a World War II Navy vet and my Dad who is a Vietnam War vet. I remember learning the Pledge of Alligence in first grade and being presented with a little flag of my own when I could successfully recite all its lines. I remember playing my tenor sax every Memorial Day at the community service even though school had been out for three weeks . I remember feeling special when I was picked from the school kids to put a flag on a cross in the cemetry afterwards for all those locals killed in various wars fought by our country. I remember crying the first time I saw "The Wall".

So this week, I pose the question. Do you remember how to cover your heart with your right hand to say the Pledge or sing along with the National Anthem? Even if you don't know the words, do you remember that we are to show respect for our flag during the Pledge or the National Anthem?

Where's the rant coming from? I continue to cover high school sports locally for the Sports Medicine Department. I enjoy high school sports and it gets me into the games for free. But last night when it was time for the National Anthem I happened to notice how many people just stand looking around with their hands at their sides, talking, wandering to the concession stand, etc all while our National Anthem was playing and we have thousands of men and women representing those stars and stripes across the globe...Next time, stand out in the crowd...cover your heart and show some respect for the past, the present, and the future of our country!

Happy HNT

Work?

Do I really have to go back to work already tomorrow? At least it works out to be a post-call day so it will be short. To top off the not so fantastic holiday I have had, I now have a stuffy head. Ugh!