8 posts tagged “vacation”

It's been a crazy winter.  Lots going on, and I found myself lost in deep thought more than I care to remember.  Trust me, there have been good things, but also things for me to reflect on.

Enough about that.  It's Spring!!  Trees are blooming, the tulips and daffodils are coming out, and except for the frigid (40-something) weather today, Spring has been glorious.

Today was my first ever 5K!  I finished, I didn't die (or even hurt too terribly bad), and I wasn't last place.  ;)  My time was 49:46.4 doing a walk/jog combo.  I was hoping for under 45 minutes, but I'll take under 50.  Next time I'm going to work on beating my time, and eventually I want to jog an entire 5K.  Heck, maybe I'll do the half-marathon one day.  Time will tell...

Update on TV stuffs: I've started watching Life, and absolutely love it.  LOVE it.  Still watching Lost, as I figure I need to stick it out at this point.  I've pretty much given up on Heroes.  Gossip Girl is crazy fun as always.  I'm curious to see how Biggest Loser turns out.  And I've also been watching Dollhouse.  I didn't like it much at first, but it's finally starting to come together better.  I'll stick it out until Fox cancels it (which given how Fox treats Joss Whedon shows on Friday nights, it won't be long...).  Oh, and 24 has been amazingly awesome again this season.

I've got some more travel coming up.  Visiting my brother and some friends next weekend, then conferencing and visiting family in Nashville the next week.  I love spending Easter with my sister, as it means coloring eggs and watching her hunt them. 

Sadly, I won't get to go to the upcoming MLA conference in Honolulu.  But I've got a SoCal/Vegas vacation planned for June, so I will get some beach time before too long.  :) 

I realize this is my second update today, but I realize that lately I've mostly been talking about kittens.  So here are some of the other things that have been going on lately...

* I'm about to make friendship bread again.  I haven't made any since 2005 and I had to clean up the mess from the mass suicide of starter.  I'm hoping for better luck with starter this time...and I don't plan on keeping it around for long.

* A friend reminded me of the song "In the Sun" by Joseph Arthur.  I hadn't heard it in awhile, so I bought it on iTunes last night.  It's so sad, but such a beautiful song.

* I'm not quite done with Christmas knitting yet.  And I'm kind of in denial about how much I still have to knit.  I should be able to get it done this weekend.  That's the plan, anyway.

* I have failed miserably on the Christmas card front.  I bought them.  I have a list of who will get cards.  But I haven't even opened the boxes to start writing in them (again with the denial...).  Instead, either those will be New Year's cards or I'll send valentines.  Or "baby" announcements when the kitten comes home.  So for those who have already sent a card (and I've received some fantastically lovely cards!!!) know that I'll send you a card, too.  Later.

* Why is just the thought of dating really hard?  Sorry, that was random.  No, I'm not dating anyone, but there is someone I'd like to date.  I just don't know if he would date me.  I don't think I told him about my blog, but I'm going to stop now in case I did...

* I might just have to watch the Grammys this year.  I haven't actually watched in a long time, as I usually don't know the music.  However, this year, I know a decent bit of it.  I'm most excited about the "best alternative music album" category...both Lily Allen and Arcade Fire are nominated!

* This past Monday I jogged a quarter of a mile on the treadmill at the gym and didn't die.  I know that's not a long distance, but it's the most I've done in *years.*  Possibly the most I've done since high school.  And it felt awesome.  :)

* For some reason about half of my Netflix queue is "short wait."  Including, of course, Doctor Who season 3.  Now that I'm caught up with stuff on TiVo, I'd like to watch more DVDs, please.

* Speaking of DVDs, my catsitter loaned me Twin Peaks season 1 to watch over Christmas break.  Can you believe I've never seen that show?

* Yes, I'm now on Christmas break.  The library doesn't reopen until December 31.  I cannot express to you how happy I am to have a week off.

First of all, in my flurry of productivity today (errands & some housework), I didn't get the e-mails sent today that I wanted to.  So if you're looking for an e-mail from me, it will likely be coming to you on Thursday or Friday.

I love vacation!  I'm getting lots of stuff done and relaxing, too. 

It must be "reconnect with old friends" time, because that's what has been happening lately.  First I heard from a friend from my undergrad days who was planning a visit to Knoxville.  We got together tonight for dessert and some good catching-up time.  No matter how long we've gone without talking, we pick right back up right away.  It's so nice.  Also, I heard from a friend that I hadn't heard from in 8 years!  We just lost touch along the way...no real reason why.  Anyway, it's so awesome to have her back in my life.  I feel like we've also just kinda picked back up where we left off.  Still some catching up to do, but you know, it's good.  :)

It's already 11:15p here, and I need to leave for Atlanta at 7:00a tomorrow.  More later!

Next week is going to be a vacation at home!  I'm very much looking forward to having some down time. 

I won't be at home the whole week, though.  I'm going to be spending this weekend with my dad, stepmom, sister, and the puppy.  I'm leaving today and will be back Monday.  Tuesday is a free day, and I hope to get to hang out with a friend of mine from my undergrad days that I haven't seen in a couple of years.  On Wednesday morning I'll be getting up early to drive to Atlanta.  firerose818 and I are going to IKEA for the day.  I've never been there, so I'm looking forward to that!  I'll spend the night, then come back on Thursday.  Aside from dinner plans on Thursday and Friday, I'm going to be chilling. 

I imagine I won't be online quite as much as usual, as I plan on spending my time at home either cleaning or knitting.  But I know I'll still be around and may have more time for commenting and such.

Yay vacation!

Did you miss me?  ;)

I've been in Philadelphia for the annual MLA conference.  (By the way, so happy to see that Een has joined!)  It was everything I knew it would be...networking, sharing of information, networking, yummy food, networking, the Mutter Museum, networking, etc.  I love seeing people that I only see once or twice a year, catching up with friends, and making new friends.  It was an excellent conference, and makes me look forward to next year's in Chicago even more!   I need to start thinking about what to submit for paper and/or poster sessions, as the call for participation will be going out sometime in September or sooner.

After that I spent some time with my dad, stepmom, sister, and her puppy at a cabin in the Smoky Mountains.  I'm going back tomorrow for the day before they wrap up their vacation there.  I have lots of fish pictures from the aquarium in Gatlinburg, and plan to upload a bunch of pics this weekend.

I'm almost done watching season/series finales (still need to see Veronica Mars and 24) and have upgraded my Netflix subscription for the summer.  I should have Happy Feet, The Illusionist, and The Departed in my mailbox tomorrow.  After that will be Doctor Who (9th Doctor).  I can almost hear slytherinlibrarian squealing with joy that she may have a convert and that I might be overcoming my childhood fear of Doctor Who.  We'll see.  :)

Well, in 12 minutes local time, it'll be 2007.

I had a wonderful week in Oregon.  Seriously, I think this might have been my best visit with my mom and stepdad ever.  It was relaxing, yet went by so fast.  I'll be posting pictures when I get home of the road trips and the apple dumpling (successful!) experiment. 

It's been quite a year!  I was writing out a few highlights earlier for something else, and realized that I got to see many friends, have an awesome birthday week, and amazing road trips (New Orleans, Hershey, and Wyoming come to mind). 

I've decided to not do any resolutions for 2007.  I had thought about trying a new veggie every month, until I realized that I've tried, and at least kind of like, many more than I give myself credit for.  I want to make some (achievable) craft goals in the next few days.  Aside from that, I've decided that I'm going to have a theme for myself for 2007: Back to Basics.  This really boils down to taking care of myself and my world around me.  Examples that come to mind of this include eating more whole foods and eliminating processed stuff, exercising (really, I've found it to be a great antidepressant!), drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep every night, etc.  Instead of writing all of these things out, I'm going to just start thinking in terms of basic, simple living. 

Speaking of getting enough sleep, I need to get to sleep so I can be up for the University of Tennessee's bowl game tomorrow.  It's on at 9:00a local time! 

But I will be up for at least 5 more minutes to quietly ring in the new year.  :)

My mom just pointed out to me that I hadn't posted anything since December 12.  Wow.  I know I've been keeping up with my neighborhood, but not taking time to write anything. 

For those keeping track, my trip to Oregon was successful!  I arrived in Pendleton after 2 days in the car to Cheyenne, a kinda scary trip to the Denver airport, then flights to Portland then to Pendleton.  All in all I was only about 30 minutes late.  Not bad at all.  :) 

So far this has been an excellent vacation.  I got to see states that I've only flown over for the past few years (my last cross-country road trip was when I was 14).  I had fun opening presents with my mom and stepdad last night (I got lots of Pampered Chef stuff!), and the Midnight Mass at the local Episcopal church was lovely.  We're going to have a fairly late Christmas dinner with a prime rib, peas, mashed potatoes, two salads, Yorkshire pudding, green cheesecake, and probably more that I'm forgetting right now.

Our plans for the week (my mom is off work): cross-stitching, crocheting & knitting, shopping (clothes!  yarn!), lunch at GP at least once, dinner at Raphael's one night this week, and experimenting with apple dumplings.  Oh, and watching movies.  She just got out "Send Me No Flowers," so I should wrap up this post and get ready to enjoy watching Doris Day.

Merry Christmas!

What was the highlight of your summer?
Submitted by ladym.vox.com.

Honestly, this is kind of hard.  It was a great summer!

1. Road tripping to NOLA and meeting lots of friends (and meeting Neil Gaiman!).  Plus catching up with a friend from grad school, seeing Baton Rouge again, and soaking up Louisiana.

2. The 4th of July celebration at my dad's house.  So much fun with a bunch of family!

3. Fun in DC!!!  Meeting up with friends and family there, and having my a blast with one of my very favorite roomies.

4. My at-home-vacation.  It was long overdue and absolutely wonderful.  :)