23 posts tagged “friends”
Mostly this is me waving to you saying Hi from the blog world. :)
I so love being able to burn CDs now. I just burned a couple for my mom...one of a playlist I made back in December, and one I made today. I hope she likes them, or at least finds a song or two that she likes on them.
Also, yes, I am procrastinating. I need to do the dishes. I also need to vacuum, but can't do that until Daisy wakes up. It would be rude to wake up a sleeping cat.
Travel coming up: leaving tomorrow for the last (!) Murfreesboro/Franklin teaching run. Heading to Winston-Salem on May 15, and then riding with Kate to Richmond for the weekend of May 16-17. Busch Gardens!!! Babysitting Alex at my grandparents' house from May 27-June 2, and then leaving on June 13 for LA. Will be spending time in LA, San Diego, and Las Vegas. Sooooo looking forward to that vacation!
I'm writing this blog entry from my shiny new iMac. :) I bought it on Thursday and I absolutely love it. Hooray!
Now I have to make sure I get off this thing every once in awhile to get to my knitting. I'm dreadfully behind on my projects, and friends keep popping out babies. Sigh. One day, maybe when I'm in my 40s, I'll be caught up on baby projects. I want to make the scarf that my friend Carrie is making.
I've got something else, too, that my facebook friends already know. But I want to wait until I have a chance to send something to my mom before announcing it here. Oooh, the suspense. ;)
I wish there was a way to go to "sugar rehab" as I've determined that it is definitely my problem right now. I'm working on it though. It's just very very very hard.
I'll leave you with a picture taken earlier this month of me and my friends Librarian Amy and Food/Crafts/Books Girl (and her baby, Charlotte).
I just now got caught up with reading posts in my neighborhood, and realized that I haven't written since 9/21. Oops.
Not that a whole lot is happening. Mostly, I work, workout (either gym or walking), tidy up the apartment, and go to bed. But I have had some fun in the past couple of months as well.
First of all, baby shower pictures (8/31/08) Here are pics of the blankie:
And then the recipient with the blankie:
It was a fun weekend, and a good way to have some fun before starting the pre-op liquid diet.
Since I last posted, I had a really fun trip to St. Louis to visit my friend Erin and her pets. We saw the zoo and the sculpture garden, and naturally I forgot my camera. Oh well!
I went to the TN/AL game last night, which had a sad outcome, but I still had fun at the game. The week before, my dad and I went to the TN/Miss St. game, which was fun and had an excellent outcome. For those keeping track, this means I've been to three football games this season, which is a personal record! I'm happy to just get to one game per season.
As it's getting later, and I have to be up early tomorrow (heading to the SC/MLA conference in Birmingham, AL), I'm quickly running out of stuff to talk about. So, I'll leave you with a picture that is my current Facebook profile pic, and one I've had compliments on (gotta love the webcam at work!):
p.s. I voted this week--be sure to vote early or on November 4!
As most of you already know, I'm doing really well after surgery. The soreness is almost gone, and I'm feeling good. I'm looking forward to actually eating again (starting soft foods on Saturday), but other than that, I think I'm doing great! My surgeon said that the surgery was "boring" which is a very good thing. He told me later when I was in my room (I stayed one night in the hospital) that he could tell that I didn't cheat on my pre-op diet, as the shrinkage of my liver was perfect. :)
I'm going to be working from home part-time this week, which is great, as I'll be able to get my daily walks in. I've been walking for 20+ minutes three times a day. Except today, my off day, which was only one walk of 28 minutes. I'll be back at three times a day tomorrow.
I had a really fun pre-op weekend. I went to the UAB/TN game on 9/13 which was a lot of fun. I hadn't been to a game since the KY game in 2006, so I really enjoyed that. The following day I went to Dollywood with my friend T. to ride the roller coasters one more time before surgery. So much fun! Except that it was their barbeque festival, and I was on the liquid diet, oh the aromas. I stuck to it, though, and am glad I did. We're planning on going back sometime during their Christmas festival, as I've never been for that.
Daisy has been a very good kitty through all of this. I had no doubt, really, but still, yay kitty!
I'm going to be going to bed soon. I've been getting to bed fairly early, and want to be up at a decent time tomorrow to "work."
Note: The baby blanket picture will be in the next post. It's 5 rows plus a border away from being done.
The Happy Things:
1. I get my braces off next week!!! Wednesday, June 11, at 9:00a Eastern time to be exact. I am still thrilled beyond words and giddy and squealy when thinking about it. There will be pictures, of course. One of my friends suggested action shots of me eating corn on the cob and an apple. So YAY, after 2.5 years, the braces are coming off!
2. I called the surgery center today to find out my status of stuff and see what else I need to do. Turns out all I need are two more appointments there (one on June 25, the other July 20-something) and then they will submit my stuff to insurance for approval. She also changed around my appointment this month to include the surgeon's consult (hooray, I've been assigned a surgeon!) which is also required before submitting stuff to my insurance company. The upshot of this is that it will likely be early or mid September when I have the surgery.
September is a bit later than I expected, but still totally cool. That gives me about 8 months to lose quite a bit of weight before MLA in May 2009 in Honolulu. Plus it gives me more time pre-surgery to exercise more and lose a few more pounds.
Something else that's cool about a September surgery is that I know for sure that I'll be able to attend a certain person's baby shower. She's #3 in the baby blanket queue. :)
So far everything looks good for Dollywood on Saturday. Hooray! Now I need to make some deviled eggs for the book club party I'm attending tomorrow night, and need to get that blanket done, as I now know for sure that the recipient will be there (until this morning I was just assuming she'd be there...).
I like this new blog design. Lilacs make me think of spring in Spokane, which is where my friend H. is right now for her grandmother's funeral.
Now I'm closing in on 3/4 done on baby blanket #1...so close yet so far! I'm actually considering taking off early tomorrow so that I can work more on it. Fortunately, it's a super easy pattern, and easy yarn to work with (Bernat Softee Baby). Yes, a picture is coming soon.
On Wednesday I'll be getting my bottom retainer!!! It's a permanent one that goes behind my teeth. Hopefully, fingers and toes crossed, I'll find out when I'm going to get the top retainer. Getting the top retainer=braces off.
Weather permitting, my friend T. and I are going to Dollywood on Saturday. Hooray!!! I can't decide if I want to take my camera or not. On the one hand, I would love to show all of you the wonderfulness of Dollywood. On the other hand, I want to ride the water rides and get soaked. We'll see... ;)
First of all, the wedding I attended in Massachusetts last weekend was absolutely lovely. I had a fabulous time! It's the first time I've been to a friend's wedding and known a significant amount of the people there.
In other news, I'm in shock tonight. First, Knoxville got a Sephora. Earlier this evening I found out that we're also getting a DSW. And just now, I found this:
http://www.thecupcakery.net/knoxville/
Yes. Knoxville is *finally* getting a cupcake bakery!!! If only we'd get a Lush and IKEA I'd never need to go to Atlanta. Well, except to visit firerose818 of course.
Time for bed. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was totally dreaming this. :)
It's been a little while since my last trip. I think my last out-of-state trip was the jaunt to Columbus back in December. Now I'm about to go to pumaviking's wedding in Western Massachusetts. Western Mass. just sounds cold. As in brrrrr!
I've got a packing list made, and will be wearing warm clothing. A bunch of my friends will be there, and I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone again. While I just saw some people in December, it's been much longer than that for others. Plus, this will be the first Jewish wedding that I've ever attended. All I know about Jewish weddings comes from seeing Charlotte get married on Sex and the City, so this will be a new experience for me.
Hmmm...what else is going on... I think only two other people reading this (that I know of, anyway) are watching The Biggest Loser this season. Tonight's episode...WOW. I'm not watching much more TV than that, and am looking forward to Thursday night stuff on NBC coming back next month. I am in need of an Office fix. I might break down and start watching them via Netflix Watch Now before long.
The big news in Knoxville today is that one of the hospitals (Baptist) is closing its inpatient services. At first I was thinking about how much this is going to affect my workplace...we're pretty much at capacity all the time as it is. But it's also not so great for the community as a whole, I think. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next few months.
I've been contemplating joining Facebook. I don't know what's stopping me, other than just being too lazy to do it.
My orthodontist is now saying "summer" as to when I'll get these braces off. Sigh.
I'm super close to having an article ready to submit for publication. I'm working on the final edits and getting the format just right. That's quite a feat. :)
I'm going to visit friends in DC the weekend of June 6. Hooray! I haven't been to DC since July 2006. I am looking forward to exploring the city again. I need to be sure to see what kind of exhibits are going on (last time the Muppets were at one of the Smithsonians!). And, of course, I need to arrange for a dinner at Jaleo. I just looked at their online menu, and they still have my favorite tapas. Mmm...deep fried nuggets of joy...
I think that's all for now. I'll be sure to take pictures this weekend!
...let's catch up!
* I'm getting over a nasty bout of strep throat. It didn't respond to amoxicillin, so I had to go back to the doctor for different antibiotics & more screening test (still negative for flu, now I know that I also don't have mono). I started the new antibiotics just over 24 hours ago and I'm feeling really good. Hooray!
* I need to get back to knitting soon. When I was sick I didn't feel like doing anything (except TV, sometimes...I'm now caught up on Lost), and before that I was too busy to really work on anything. So, back to the needles soon.
* I just now got around to looking up who won best picture at the Oscars. I watched a bit of the show on Sunday, but didn't want to stay up until the end, esp. because I hadn't seen any of the movies.
* I miss Pushing Daisies. I'm glad the writers' strike is over, but I still miss my shows.
* I had a 20 minute conversation with Alex this evening. She is quite the little talker. :) She started a Montessori preschool on Monday, and she LOVES it. A lot. Both days so far, when my dad picked her up, she has asked if she could go back again tomorrow. :) Her 5th birthday was earlier this month, and I need to post a picture of her cake sometime soon.
* Daisy just nudged me to remind me to write on this (you know she's miss green kitty): I read The Omnivore's Dilemma recently. I thought it was an interesting book. I admit that at times it was hard to really get into, but I get the point. No, I'm not a vegetarian now, but I am thinking a lot more about where my food comes from. I think the single worst part was the description of how cows have tummies that are good for digesting grass, and then the description of how they are fed corn instead at the big processing places. I was all "noooooo! it's going to hurt their tummies!" The upshot of this is that now that I'm healthy again (and can actually eat!), I'm going to start truly seeking out food from local farm.
* I realize that for an "update" post this has been rather bland. Sorry.
* Something fun: I'm going to a friend's wedding next month. And several other friends will be there as well, and we'll have our own table or two at the reception. :)
* And there's something else on the horizon that is big news, but I'm not ready to share it in a public place yet. No, it's not another kitten (yet). No, I'm not moving. You'll just have to wait & see.
Back home now and I am quite tired. Whew, what a fun weekend!!!
I didn't take many pictures, but Liz (fauxmiddlechild) was kind enough to send me a few that she took.
The trip started with a road trip to Columbus. Aside from some rain and bantering with Kentucky people, it was an uneventful trip. Here is a picture of my companion, Carson the Road Trip Penguin.
Liz took this picture from the backseat in Columbus. I was driving, and that's Kate in the passenger seat. I don't remember where we were going. :)
On Saturday, a few of the weary travelers posed for a picture while waiting on more of our friends to get to town. Please note that Saturday was our optional "wear your team's college sweatshirt" day.
Saturday night much fun was had with dinner at Rebecca's (Food/Crafts/Books Girl) house. We couldn't come to a complete consensus, so half the group ordered Chinese and the other half ordered pizza. Then we had an outing to the infamous Jeni's, quite likely the best ice cream on the planet. I had the "Trio" with a scoop of each Salty Caramel, Kentucky Bourbon Eggnog, and Torrone (the Torrone was my favorite!). After that we played Apples to Apples, and I won! It must be beginner's luck, as it was my first time playing the game.
The Holiday Open House on Sunday was great. There was tons of food and even more people! Here's a picture of a few of us in the "back room":
On Monday, after breakfast at First Watch, Liz and I had some time before going to Easton. Here I am with some sweet potatoes at Trader Joe's (a store I love, and the closest one to me is in Atlanta!) and Liz and I posing by a phone booth, just for fun:
