Thursday, June 21, 2007
Are you talking to ME??
Today I went to Manhattan Bagel to do some work and get out of the house. Inside, I had to keep wearing my sunglasses so I could read the menu (they are rx sunglasses). I told the 30ish year old guy helping me "I promise I'm not a weirdo, I just need the prescription in my glasses to read the menu." He responded "Oh, I was hoping you were actually a weirdo, that would make for a better story." He got me my chocolate chip bagel (not nearly as good as Noah's) and my mocha freeze (delicious!), and as he's cashing me out he says, "If it makes you feel any better, you are a beautiful weirdo." It wasn't creepy or anything, just a genuine compliment. I have NEVER in my life been told by a stranger that I am beautiful. Strange that it comes on a day when I walked out of the house thinking, "man, my hair is frizzy today." But it made me smile (and blush), and it was a nice thing to hear. Gotta love the kindness of strangers. Thanks random bagel man for making me feel beautiful today.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
DO NOT buy a house, part deux
In the ongoing saga of home ownership, today the shower/tub stopped draining. Now all women know that hair is usually the culprit, but that generally gets worse over time. This was all of a sudden. Plunging did nothing, and there was no hair to be seen. A walk to the basement proved that what water was escaping was going straight into the basement in a waterfall.
Thankfully, in the 6 degrees of separation game, my friend/realtor Anthony has a wife, Kim. She used to work with Jess, and Jess has a boyfriend John. John, in one of his jobs, is a plumber. So I tracked him down, and he came over a few hours later(with a crew of 3 very entertaining trainees). Turns out the stopper in the tub had just broken, but that required putting in a new section of pipe and a new stopper. While he was here, I also had him fix the leaky faucet. MAN I'm glad I didn't try that on my own! It required lots of parts to fix, along with many statements of "why would anyone ever put XYZ together like this?" Yikes! I have yet to find out what this little escapade will cost. He said he'll let me know on Thursday at the concert. Hopefully I get the "Friends and Family" discount. Either way, I'm SO grateful he came over. John was my hero for the day, and I now have a bathtub with many new parts (that doesn't leak through the faucet, AND the bath now actually holds water!).
Despite this, it has been a good day. Bryan played hookie from his first (insanely pointless and boring) class today. In exchange, he took me out to a fab breakfast at Mt. Hope Diner. Yum-o-licious! It was just nice to spend some time together. On the way home, we stopped and got us new bikes. He got me mine for my birthday, and I didn't want to ride by myself, so part of my birthday gift was a bike for him too. I'm hoping for a fun ride this weekend!
We've had some crazy weather today. Thunder louder than I have literally ever heard in my life. This Oregon girl isn't used to crazy storms! The temperature has vacillated from 82 at 8:30am (you can imagine what a hot stuffy night it was), to 70 at 2pm, and back up to the 80's now at 8:30pm. Crazy!
I hope to get more pictures up here soon. I just realized that I've been slacking with the photos lately. We all know that those are what we really read blogs for! :)
Thankfully, in the 6 degrees of separation game, my friend/realtor Anthony has a wife, Kim. She used to work with Jess, and Jess has a boyfriend John. John, in one of his jobs, is a plumber. So I tracked him down, and he came over a few hours later(with a crew of 3 very entertaining trainees). Turns out the stopper in the tub had just broken, but that required putting in a new section of pipe and a new stopper. While he was here, I also had him fix the leaky faucet. MAN I'm glad I didn't try that on my own! It required lots of parts to fix, along with many statements of "why would anyone ever put XYZ together like this?" Yikes! I have yet to find out what this little escapade will cost. He said he'll let me know on Thursday at the concert. Hopefully I get the "Friends and Family" discount. Either way, I'm SO grateful he came over. John was my hero for the day, and I now have a bathtub with many new parts (that doesn't leak through the faucet, AND the bath now actually holds water!).
Despite this, it has been a good day. Bryan played hookie from his first (insanely pointless and boring) class today. In exchange, he took me out to a fab breakfast at Mt. Hope Diner. Yum-o-licious! It was just nice to spend some time together. On the way home, we stopped and got us new bikes. He got me mine for my birthday, and I didn't want to ride by myself, so part of my birthday gift was a bike for him too. I'm hoping for a fun ride this weekend!
We've had some crazy weather today. Thunder louder than I have literally ever heard in my life. This Oregon girl isn't used to crazy storms! The temperature has vacillated from 82 at 8:30am (you can imagine what a hot stuffy night it was), to 70 at 2pm, and back up to the 80's now at 8:30pm. Crazy!
I hope to get more pictures up here soon. I just realized that I've been slacking with the photos lately. We all know that those are what we really read blogs for! :)
Monday, June 18, 2007
Would you still love me if I were a gay bee?
Yes, I was asked that question this weekend. Yes, that about sums up the weekend! It was uneventful, but at least ended with a nice picnic at Charlotte Beach in the perfect summer weather while I quizzed Bryan about things that I couldn't even pronounce. Oh well, I learned some stuff along the way (notably that BK doesn't give himself even one iota of the credit he deserves for being SUPER SMART). I think after this year I might just do the nursing program myself. Between what I already know and what I'm learning from the roomies, I'd probably do pretty well!
Not much else to update. Psyched about the Kenny Chesney/Sugarland concert this week (in part because it's with some fun friends that I haven't hung out with in waaay too long). I will have to miss out on my new beach volleyball league this week (which is super fun, and I'm one of the better players on the team...doesn't speak very highly of our team!). It's getting hot here finally...ugh! I dislike the winters here, but I think I like them better than the hot part of summer. We're still trying to get the pool running...it looks more like an odd Jones soda color now rather than a black swamp, so I *think* I'm making progress!
Not much else to update. Psyched about the Kenny Chesney/Sugarland concert this week (in part because it's with some fun friends that I haven't hung out with in waaay too long). I will have to miss out on my new beach volleyball league this week (which is super fun, and I'm one of the better players on the team...doesn't speak very highly of our team!). It's getting hot here finally...ugh! I dislike the winters here, but I think I like them better than the hot part of summer. We're still trying to get the pool running...it looks more like an odd Jones soda color now rather than a black swamp, so I *think* I'm making progress!
Friday, June 15, 2007
DO NOT buy a house!
Okay, for all of you who don't own a house, DON'T buy one! They call it a "house," but really it should be called "Sucks away all of your money and your free time." Don't get me wrong, it's nice to own one, but I'd give everything I own to be back in a condo. Today it cost me $150 to have someone come and replace the wheels on the garage door. 45 years of wear and they had finally fallen apart to the point that the door wouldn't open anymore. Yesterday, I spent $35 fixing things on the pool, and 2+ hours repairing it and cleaning it out, with more to do today. Three weeks ago, I spent $550 getting new electricity put upstairs, since we didn't have enough power to even run a small window A/C without blowing a fuse. I guess along the way I have learned how to fix many things, or who to call to fix them, but it is just so much work. Our next place we have already agreed will be a condo or a townhouse.
A few weekends ago I spent the entire weekend watching my friend's 3 kids (who are all over this blog). They are 6, 4, and 7 months, and really good kids, but at the end I was SO glad to come home! I learned that 3 is too many. I never wanted that many anyway, and now I certainly don't! Two is more than enough, and maybe just one is plenty. We had a good time though, and stayed very busy. First, we had to make tie-dye shirts for the girls to wear to camp. Of course, I was terrified at the idea of dye and little kids, but they were so great and listened to me carefully (it helped that I threatened them beforehand by saying "If you don't listen to every word I say, we will not be doing this"). We didn't get a drop of dye on anyone! I couldn't believe it. Just in case though, we did it outside in the grass in our bathing suits. Check out the final results:
I made the one that Peter is wearing, and the girls each made the ones they are wearing. Cassie had to find out the hard way that she should have taken my advice to add more rubberbands, since those are what cause the patterns. It still came out pretty well though.
We also read this book Pinkalicious about a girl who turns pink from eating all pink foods, and made pink cupcakes to go along with it.
I thought I'd share this picture of the latest visitor to the feeder. We thought this position was pretty funny.
The rest of our free time lately has been spent with these little rugrats:
We got them last weekend at 4 weeks old, and they are still being bottle fed. It is a decent amount of work, but they are bottle champs and super fun. We're not sure what happened to their mom. They were turned in to the animal shelter alone at 3 weeks. One had a pretty severe neuro issue going on, but it seems to be improving miraculously.
That's about it in Rochester land. The weather has been beautiful. I am slowly learning to play tennis, and we have gotten to spend more time taking breaks from school/work by going out to eat, watching Planet Earth (our new obsession), and just hanging out. It has been great.
A few weekends ago I spent the entire weekend watching my friend's 3 kids (who are all over this blog). They are 6, 4, and 7 months, and really good kids, but at the end I was SO glad to come home! I learned that 3 is too many. I never wanted that many anyway, and now I certainly don't! Two is more than enough, and maybe just one is plenty. We had a good time though, and stayed very busy. First, we had to make tie-dye shirts for the girls to wear to camp. Of course, I was terrified at the idea of dye and little kids, but they were so great and listened to me carefully (it helped that I threatened them beforehand by saying "If you don't listen to every word I say, we will not be doing this"). We didn't get a drop of dye on anyone! I couldn't believe it. Just in case though, we did it outside in the grass in our bathing suits. Check out the final results:
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| From June 2007 |
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| From June 2007 |
I made the one that Peter is wearing, and the girls each made the ones they are wearing. Cassie had to find out the hard way that she should have taken my advice to add more rubberbands, since those are what cause the patterns. It still came out pretty well though.
We also read this book Pinkalicious about a girl who turns pink from eating all pink foods, and made pink cupcakes to go along with it.
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| From June 2007 |
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| From June 2007 |
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| From June 2007 |
I thought I'd share this picture of the latest visitor to the feeder. We thought this position was pretty funny.
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| From June 2007 |
The rest of our free time lately has been spent with these little rugrats:
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| From June 2007 |
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| From June 2007 |
We got them last weekend at 4 weeks old, and they are still being bottle fed. It is a decent amount of work, but they are bottle champs and super fun. We're not sure what happened to their mom. They were turned in to the animal shelter alone at 3 weeks. One had a pretty severe neuro issue going on, but it seems to be improving miraculously.
That's about it in Rochester land. The weather has been beautiful. I am slowly learning to play tennis, and we have gotten to spend more time taking breaks from school/work by going out to eat, watching Planet Earth (our new obsession), and just hanging out. It has been great.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Lots of catching up!
I haven't been a good blogger lately, but I have still enjoyed reading all of your blogs! I figure I'll start in reverse chronology updating everyone.
Currently, I am playing "patient" for Bryan as he practices his musculoskeletal system examination. For me, this means I get to help him learn and study, while I get something akin to a massage as he rubs my temples, checks my fingers, and sees if my spine is in line. All of this is great, until he tells me to touch my left ear to my left shoulder, then do the same with the right. I do it as best as I can, and all he says is "hm." I look at him quizzically, and he says "is that really all you can do?" and I tell him yes, I'm being a genuine patient. I guess I have extremely limited motion in my neck. When I ask "what does that mean?" he replies "I don't know. We don't ever talk about abnormal patients." Wow. Comforting. If I go see one of them as a totally healthy patient, I'll be fine. But if anything is wrong, they will have no idea what to do! I'm sure they will learn, but for now I've told him he has to go as his lab instructor what it means about my neck. So much for "helping" him. Now I'm just worried (and it helps oh-so-much when he says "I'm worried about you too.").
But before this assessment, we had a fantastic weekend. Lots of fun time, including trying out the diner by our house that we can walk to (cheap and a really yummy breakfast), trying out the local disc golf course (TONS of trees, but short fairways), getting our free ice cream cones at Friendly's, trying out the local China Buffet (can you tell we like to eat?) returning a few things at the mall, and getting some fun new products at the sale at Bath and Body Works. I love their sales!
Things are definitely calming down around here as I now work at home and Bryan is getting settled into a routine with school. Bryan makes me smile with his constant singing. You never know what song he'll bust into. It might be "Sweet Caroline" or some obscure rap song. Sometimes, when it's just he and I, it is accompanied by whatever silly little dance he makes up on the spot. If I'm standing to close to him, I get roped into the "dance." It's always a way he knows he can make me laugh. His singing reminds me so much of my dad, except my dad is a whistler. My dad constantly whistles, and even to this day, 3,000 miles away, if I hear a man whistling in the store I automatically look around to see if it's my dad. I guess Bryan sings instead though, because he can't whistle! That's right, not at all. I joined the club though when I got braces. I can no longer whistle.
Updates about my weekend with 3 kids later. Now, I really should be working!
Currently, I am playing "patient" for Bryan as he practices his musculoskeletal system examination. For me, this means I get to help him learn and study, while I get something akin to a massage as he rubs my temples, checks my fingers, and sees if my spine is in line. All of this is great, until he tells me to touch my left ear to my left shoulder, then do the same with the right. I do it as best as I can, and all he says is "hm." I look at him quizzically, and he says "is that really all you can do?" and I tell him yes, I'm being a genuine patient. I guess I have extremely limited motion in my neck. When I ask "what does that mean?" he replies "I don't know. We don't ever talk about abnormal patients." Wow. Comforting. If I go see one of them as a totally healthy patient, I'll be fine. But if anything is wrong, they will have no idea what to do! I'm sure they will learn, but for now I've told him he has to go as his lab instructor what it means about my neck. So much for "helping" him. Now I'm just worried (and it helps oh-so-much when he says "I'm worried about you too.").
But before this assessment, we had a fantastic weekend. Lots of fun time, including trying out the diner by our house that we can walk to (cheap and a really yummy breakfast), trying out the local disc golf course (TONS of trees, but short fairways), getting our free ice cream cones at Friendly's, trying out the local China Buffet (can you tell we like to eat?) returning a few things at the mall, and getting some fun new products at the sale at Bath and Body Works. I love their sales!
Things are definitely calming down around here as I now work at home and Bryan is getting settled into a routine with school. Bryan makes me smile with his constant singing. You never know what song he'll bust into. It might be "Sweet Caroline" or some obscure rap song. Sometimes, when it's just he and I, it is accompanied by whatever silly little dance he makes up on the spot. If I'm standing to close to him, I get roped into the "dance." It's always a way he knows he can make me laugh. His singing reminds me so much of my dad, except my dad is a whistler. My dad constantly whistles, and even to this day, 3,000 miles away, if I hear a man whistling in the store I automatically look around to see if it's my dad. I guess Bryan sings instead though, because he can't whistle! That's right, not at all. I joined the club though when I got braces. I can no longer whistle.
Updates about my weekend with 3 kids later. Now, I really should be working!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
One more day to freedom
I've realized that work is the equivalent of being a kid in school for an adult. Although instead of getting a summer break and looking forward to being one year older, you have to quit your job. I have one more day left at my current job, and I might, just for old times sake, sing "School's Out for Summer" when I leave tomorrow.
Life there has gotten worse and worse. I was there until 6:30 tonight, which put me at 9-10 hours today. And this isn't surfing-on-the-net-for-6-hours-and-actually-working-for-three kind of work. I'm trying to get a survey out, which requires extensive rounds of survey testing, emailing with clients, emailing with survey programmers, and emailing with project coordinators. I was so busy all day, and I'm growing more and more frustrated that my manager is nowhere to be found. This leaves just me to figure out how to do all of this stuff, with no motivation to learn since I'm leaving tomorrow. In the meantime, I have managed to piss off just about anyone in the company that I've had to deal with, because I haven't done anything on the "company approved timeline."
Today was supposed to be my first beach volleyball game. I joined a league to get to know some new people and get out of the house sometimes. I had to miss the game due to work. I was so upset by the time I left work that I had to drink when I got home. To the point of difficulty remaining erect. I NEVER do this. I rarely drank before I got this job, but it has gotten to the point of 3ish times a week. I can't be done soon enough.
I'm so excited to be back at PRE. It's familiar, it's interesting work, it's a normal pace, and I can have my life back. Sure, working from home might be isolating, but being back with a company I love is such an uplifting thought. One more day. I can do anything for a day.
Hopefully this weekend I'll get the pictures uploaded from last weekend with the kids and you can see our killer tie-dyes! For those of you who are following the exploits of the murse (since he is slacking with the witty blogging these days), he is doing fantastically. He happily declared the other day, "I finally think I'm learning something and actually understanding it." I can tell you that I've already had to start saying "what does that mean in English," so I know he is adapting well. To date he has all A's and B's, and I am super proud of him!
Life there has gotten worse and worse. I was there until 6:30 tonight, which put me at 9-10 hours today. And this isn't surfing-on-the-net-for-6-hours-and-actually-working-for-three kind of work. I'm trying to get a survey out, which requires extensive rounds of survey testing, emailing with clients, emailing with survey programmers, and emailing with project coordinators. I was so busy all day, and I'm growing more and more frustrated that my manager is nowhere to be found. This leaves just me to figure out how to do all of this stuff, with no motivation to learn since I'm leaving tomorrow. In the meantime, I have managed to piss off just about anyone in the company that I've had to deal with, because I haven't done anything on the "company approved timeline."
Today was supposed to be my first beach volleyball game. I joined a league to get to know some new people and get out of the house sometimes. I had to miss the game due to work. I was so upset by the time I left work that I had to drink when I got home. To the point of difficulty remaining erect. I NEVER do this. I rarely drank before I got this job, but it has gotten to the point of 3ish times a week. I can't be done soon enough.
I'm so excited to be back at PRE. It's familiar, it's interesting work, it's a normal pace, and I can have my life back. Sure, working from home might be isolating, but being back with a company I love is such an uplifting thought. One more day. I can do anything for a day.
Hopefully this weekend I'll get the pictures uploaded from last weekend with the kids and you can see our killer tie-dyes! For those of you who are following the exploits of the murse (since he is slacking with the witty blogging these days), he is doing fantastically. He happily declared the other day, "I finally think I'm learning something and actually understanding it." I can tell you that I've already had to start saying "what does that mean in English," so I know he is adapting well. To date he has all A's and B's, and I am super proud of him!
Friday, June 01, 2007
The 3.5 mile 5k
Yesterday, for the first time since high school, I ran a 5k. Now in any real world that would be 3.2 miles, but, we all know Rochester is messed up (see the post about li-locs), so their 5k is 3.5 miles. The run is called the Corporate Challenge and in Rochester over 10,000 people participated from 411 local companies! It was a really neat event that companies do, so I ran as a Harris employee. Although my time is an estimate (there wasn't a clock at the beginning, so we don't know how much time to shave off before we actually got to the start line), I think I finished in about 43 minutes. I'm thrilled about that, since it was 85 degrees, even at 7pm, and I hadn't trained for it at all.
While I'm thinking about the crazy way Rochestarians say lilac, here are a few others for you:
Chili - "chai-lie"
Charlotte - "shar-lot"
Denise - "duh-nice"
Portland has some too:
Couch - "cooch"
Willamette - "will-am-it"
Tigard - "tye-guard"
I think this week I'd get a solid B+ as a girlfriend, so I think I'm moving up :) I'm happy to say Bryan got an 87 on his first test, and the class average was an 83 (range of 71-95), so he did well. We're having a date night tonight (dinner and a movie) tonight, which I'm excited about. This weekend from Saturday morning to Monday morning I'll be watching the 3 little indians that are regulars on my blog (Lani, Cassie, and Peter), so I'll keep you all posted on how my first solid weekend with 3 little ones goes!
While I'm thinking about the crazy way Rochestarians say lilac, here are a few others for you:
Chili - "chai-lie"
Charlotte - "shar-lot"
Denise - "duh-nice"
Portland has some too:
Couch - "cooch"
Willamette - "will-am-it"
Tigard - "tye-guard"
I think this week I'd get a solid B+ as a girlfriend, so I think I'm moving up :) I'm happy to say Bryan got an 87 on his first test, and the class average was an 83 (range of 71-95), so he did well. We're having a date night tonight (dinner and a movie) tonight, which I'm excited about. This weekend from Saturday morning to Monday morning I'll be watching the 3 little indians that are regulars on my blog (Lani, Cassie, and Peter), so I'll keep you all posted on how my first solid weekend with 3 little ones goes!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Not always the girlfriend I want to be
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a very patient person. Although I try really hard to be a good girlfriend (and friend and daughter), I'm not always very good at it.
Saturday I was a GREAT girlfriend:
I had really wanted to go to D.C. over the long weekend to meet some of Bryan's longtime friends, one of whom is moving overseas in a few weeks. That didn't end up happening due to the rigors of school, so instead I decided to treat us to some time at the salon. We both got manicures and pedicures. Bryan had never done it before, but always said he wanted to. It was very relaxing, and it was nice to just sit and do nothing for 2 hours. I also got a haircut. After seeing the haircut results, Bryan declared I was having a "pretty Tia day" with the blow-dried and styled hair, and freshly painted fingers and toes.
After the pampering, we went to Sinbads, a yummy Lebanese restaurant on Park Ave. We were having a good time just hanging out, so then we decided to walk around the local mall. We managed to make it out without buying anything (except an iced latte that we shared). Of course, for us a fun day together always involves a trip to Target, which we did :) Then on to Big Lots, which we left empty-handed, but still enjoyed hunting through the junk. I did find some of those cool stick-on tiles, which I think I might use to remodel the upstairs bathroom while Krista is gone. More pictures to come if that actually happens.
So although D.C. didn't happen, we still had a very fun day together. It is rare now that we get entire days together of fun, with the demands of school, housework, and work. I agree with Bryan that 3 day weekends are great because you get a "throw away day" where you don't feel guilty if you get absolutely nothing accomplished :)
Sunday I was an OKAY girlfriend:
I left BK alone to study most of the day. Our time together consisted of grocery shopping and buying the stick-on tiles, but that was okay with me. He made a yummy mish-mash dinner (leftover steak things that were rolled with carrots, spinach, and cheese, a bit of steak-ums, sauteed onions, served on a hoagie roll with cheese on top) while I put the groceries away. I happily started on the bathroom remodel while he studied.
Monday I was a CRAPPY girlfriend:
After declaring in the morning that "4 hours of studying was the goal," I was upset that I had to go to a friend's BBQ alone (in the afternoon). Not only was I alone, but I was the only person there sans their S.O. I pointedly avoided telling people that he choose the gym over having a good time with us. I left the party early (just as an awesome game of kickball was starting), in hopes that the now 6+ hours of studying would be over and I'd get some time. Not to happen, the studying went on all night, and the next thing I know it was 9:30pm and he was already sound alseep in bed. It sucks getting no time on a day off. So of course I was bitter and angry, as only Tia can be. Of course though, he's no dummy, and today I get a sweet text at work and immediately feel guilty that I would even feel remotely upset about him working hard to do well in school. Maybe I'm just upset because I think he's smarter than he thinks he is, so I don't know why he'd have to study so much!!! Heck, if I had a brain like he did I'd be over 100k right now :)
Anyway, in an effort to keep myself busy and stay out of his way, I did get the bathroom done.
Before:
Nasty green paint and ugly 1960 floors.
After:
I'm really happy with the way it came out. I already had the paint, and the "tiles" were only $30. A pretty cheap remodel if you ask me! Too bad the yellow tile has to stay.
So maybe the moral of the story is a)I can do a pretty quick and cheap "design on a dime" and b) I can be a great girlfriend only 1/3 of the time :) Hopefully that's good enough for him, at least for this year ;) After school, maybe I can bump it up to at least 50%!
Saturday I was a GREAT girlfriend:
I had really wanted to go to D.C. over the long weekend to meet some of Bryan's longtime friends, one of whom is moving overseas in a few weeks. That didn't end up happening due to the rigors of school, so instead I decided to treat us to some time at the salon. We both got manicures and pedicures. Bryan had never done it before, but always said he wanted to. It was very relaxing, and it was nice to just sit and do nothing for 2 hours. I also got a haircut. After seeing the haircut results, Bryan declared I was having a "pretty Tia day" with the blow-dried and styled hair, and freshly painted fingers and toes.
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| From May 2007 |
After the pampering, we went to Sinbads, a yummy Lebanese restaurant on Park Ave. We were having a good time just hanging out, so then we decided to walk around the local mall. We managed to make it out without buying anything (except an iced latte that we shared). Of course, for us a fun day together always involves a trip to Target, which we did :) Then on to Big Lots, which we left empty-handed, but still enjoyed hunting through the junk. I did find some of those cool stick-on tiles, which I think I might use to remodel the upstairs bathroom while Krista is gone. More pictures to come if that actually happens.
So although D.C. didn't happen, we still had a very fun day together. It is rare now that we get entire days together of fun, with the demands of school, housework, and work. I agree with Bryan that 3 day weekends are great because you get a "throw away day" where you don't feel guilty if you get absolutely nothing accomplished :)
Sunday I was an OKAY girlfriend:
I left BK alone to study most of the day. Our time together consisted of grocery shopping and buying the stick-on tiles, but that was okay with me. He made a yummy mish-mash dinner (leftover steak things that were rolled with carrots, spinach, and cheese, a bit of steak-ums, sauteed onions, served on a hoagie roll with cheese on top) while I put the groceries away. I happily started on the bathroom remodel while he studied.
Monday I was a CRAPPY girlfriend:
After declaring in the morning that "4 hours of studying was the goal," I was upset that I had to go to a friend's BBQ alone (in the afternoon). Not only was I alone, but I was the only person there sans their S.O. I pointedly avoided telling people that he choose the gym over having a good time with us. I left the party early (just as an awesome game of kickball was starting), in hopes that the now 6+ hours of studying would be over and I'd get some time. Not to happen, the studying went on all night, and the next thing I know it was 9:30pm and he was already sound alseep in bed. It sucks getting no time on a day off. So of course I was bitter and angry, as only Tia can be. Of course though, he's no dummy, and today I get a sweet text at work and immediately feel guilty that I would even feel remotely upset about him working hard to do well in school. Maybe I'm just upset because I think he's smarter than he thinks he is, so I don't know why he'd have to study so much!!! Heck, if I had a brain like he did I'd be over 100k right now :)
Anyway, in an effort to keep myself busy and stay out of his way, I did get the bathroom done.
Before:
Nasty green paint and ugly 1960 floors.
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| From May 2007 |
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| From May 2007 |
After:
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| From May 2007 |
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| From May 2007 |
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| From May 2007 |
I'm really happy with the way it came out. I already had the paint, and the "tiles" were only $30. A pretty cheap remodel if you ask me! Too bad the yellow tile has to stay.
So maybe the moral of the story is a)I can do a pretty quick and cheap "design on a dime" and b) I can be a great girlfriend only 1/3 of the time :) Hopefully that's good enough for him, at least for this year ;) After school, maybe I can bump it up to at least 50%!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Li-loc Festival
People in this town don't know how to pronounce lilac. They all say it like lie-lock. I thought the word was lie-lack. Anyway, we went to the Lilac Festival last weekend. It was beautifully sunny and the girls came along with us.
Bryan's first visit to Rochester (for my house inspection) was during the Lilac Festival last year. He'd probably kill me for posting this, but here is us exactly one year ago. Who knew that now he'd be living here!
Us this year....6 year old Lani takes some pretty good pictures!
The girls and I went on this silly little train ride.
Bryan went on the slide with Lani
All in all, it was a fantastic day. Sunny, flowers that smelled amazing, fun with the girls, and that night we had dinner at Sherri's with a former nursing student. You NEVER turn down dinner at Sherri's, and we were not disappointed...flank steak, corn on the cob, crab cakes, salad, fresh bread...yum!
This week the "kids" started school. Here is them on their first day.
Although the nursing obsession that has overtaken our house (books on every solid surface, 24/7 talk of class/teachers/schedules/classmates that starts the minute we wake up and ends the minute we go to bed) I'm proud of both of them for trying something new and jumping into this wholeheartedly. From their talk already, I know they they are both going to do fabulously and be awesome nurses! The quick overview is that things are going well so far, but they both have some adjusting to go with being students again and catching up on some new lingo. I didn't realize how much they were fish out of water until last night they asked me what q12h PO means (every 12 hours by mouth, for those who are wondering).
In other news, I have already turned in my notice at Harris. Steve called me about 2 weeks ago out of the blue to make sure I wasn't moving back to Portland. Although I'm not, I did bring up the idea of working from Rochester, and last week he called and said that would work out! So starting June 11th I'll be working from home and telecommuting. I'm excited to be back with them. My co-workers at Harris are amazing, but they are sending more than half of them to another location as a part of the restructuring, so my team will no longer be a team. I was also working on a project I hated, with no end in sight for at least a year. It is nice to go back to work for a company that is familiar and that I loved. I have learned the hard way - if you find a job you love, DON'T LEAVE IT! It will be a bit isolating to work at home alone, but hopefully it's not a long-term thing.
My mom gave me a bird feeder for my birthday, and we finally hung it up over a week ago. I'm known now for squealing with excitement in the morning while making my coffee and seeing what new creature has found the feeder. I LOVE seeing new kinds of birds there! Who knew how much wildlife is living in the suburbs. The list to date:
- sparrows (the main eaters)
- starlings
- goldfinches
- doves
- cardinals
- squirrels
- chipmunks
- mice
Bryan's first visit to Rochester (for my house inspection) was during the Lilac Festival last year. He'd probably kill me for posting this, but here is us exactly one year ago. Who knew that now he'd be living here!
 |
| From Lilac festiva... |
Us this year....6 year old Lani takes some pretty good pictures!
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| From Lilac festiva... |
 |
| From Lilac festiva... |
The girls and I went on this silly little train ride.
 |
| From Lilac festiva... |
Bryan went on the slide with Lani
 |
| From Lilac festiva... |
All in all, it was a fantastic day. Sunny, flowers that smelled amazing, fun with the girls, and that night we had dinner at Sherri's with a former nursing student. You NEVER turn down dinner at Sherri's, and we were not disappointed...flank steak, corn on the cob, crab cakes, salad, fresh bread...yum!
This week the "kids" started school. Here is them on their first day.
 |
| From Lilac festiva... |
Although the nursing obsession that has overtaken our house (books on every solid surface, 24/7 talk of class/teachers/schedules/classmates that starts the minute we wake up and ends the minute we go to bed) I'm proud of both of them for trying something new and jumping into this wholeheartedly. From their talk already, I know they they are both going to do fabulously and be awesome nurses! The quick overview is that things are going well so far, but they both have some adjusting to go with being students again and catching up on some new lingo. I didn't realize how much they were fish out of water until last night they asked me what q12h PO means (every 12 hours by mouth, for those who are wondering).
In other news, I have already turned in my notice at Harris. Steve called me about 2 weeks ago out of the blue to make sure I wasn't moving back to Portland. Although I'm not, I did bring up the idea of working from Rochester, and last week he called and said that would work out! So starting June 11th I'll be working from home and telecommuting. I'm excited to be back with them. My co-workers at Harris are amazing, but they are sending more than half of them to another location as a part of the restructuring, so my team will no longer be a team. I was also working on a project I hated, with no end in sight for at least a year. It is nice to go back to work for a company that is familiar and that I loved. I have learned the hard way - if you find a job you love, DON'T LEAVE IT! It will be a bit isolating to work at home alone, but hopefully it's not a long-term thing.
My mom gave me a bird feeder for my birthday, and we finally hung it up over a week ago. I'm known now for squealing with excitement in the morning while making my coffee and seeing what new creature has found the feeder. I LOVE seeing new kinds of birds there! Who knew how much wildlife is living in the suburbs. The list to date:
- sparrows (the main eaters)
- starlings
- goldfinches
- doves
- cardinals
- squirrels
- chipmunks
- mice
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Back to Black
Yes, I really like Amy Winehouse. If only I hadn't read that she is a jerk in real life then I'd really like her. But for now, since I'm driving BK's car, I'm happy to have a CD to listen to that isn't "angry driving music" from his days in Portland traffic.
I've been so busy that I haven't had time to catch up on blogging in a long while. I enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so much that I figured I'd better get cracking. My picture uploading skills have been lacking lately, so for now you'll just get the update on the drive cross country.
For those of you that have done the drive, I highly recommend the "northern" route (Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, etc). It is much prettier and much more populated than the more central route. While I wasn't thrilled to be taking a week of vacation to do this drive (which now will end up being a $1000 vacation, since I'll owe it back to Harris), it was the least painful of the trips I have taken, which was due to the combination of a happy relationship, nice spring weather, and not having pets in the car to constantly worry about overheating.
We got to see Mt. Rushmore. It was really neat, and nice to get out of the car for awhile and walk around.
The town near Mt. Rushmore was probably the worst shit hole I'd ever seen. Every building was either a pawn shop, a check cashing store, or a casino. Dingy hardly covers it. While staying overnight there, I was "treated" to a night at the Motel 6. Let's just say I know why hotel numbers only go UP from 6! Smoky "non-smoking" room, filthy shower, bed that sloped to the middle, so we ended up basically sleeping on top of each other, no hair dryer, and no shampoo. It was awful. Now I know that ALL Motel 6's suck. When my mom and I stayed in one in Chicago, the shower had blood in it. Yes, blood. A Motel 8 is only $20 more, and SO much nicer. Needless to say the girlfriend won out, and the next night we stayed in an 8.
We also tried to go to this corn palace. I don't even remember what state it was in. Unfortunately, it closed at 5 and we were there at 5:15. It does look like it's made from corn at least on the outside.
Bryan at Custer's Last Stand. Okay, so the truth is this is at the kitchy little gift shop outside of it. We were too cheap to pay the $10 to actually drive into the Custer's park area. C'mon Mt. Rushmore was only $8!
The last day we decided to muscle through and drive for 21 hours.
With the help of our Starbucks we're showing off here that we got around midnight, we drove and drove and drove and drove and got to Rochester at 4:45am. Wow you find some really random things to talk about at that time of morning!
Now we're getting settled and I'm learning how to adjust to having people in the house all the time (Krista moved in now too). The kinks seem to be pretty small though, and mostly consist of me saying "Bryan, where did you move the ________" I swear he is obsessed with moving things around, or throwing them out (mom, he reminds me of you!).
Click here for more pictures of the drive and the lovely trip home.
More life updates soon, as there actually is quite a bit to talk about. For now, at 8:45pm, I have to get back to work. :( I worked late tonight, and now have to work from home. I hate it. But updates about that will be soon to come!
I've been so busy that I haven't had time to catch up on blogging in a long while. I enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so much that I figured I'd better get cracking. My picture uploading skills have been lacking lately, so for now you'll just get the update on the drive cross country.
For those of you that have done the drive, I highly recommend the "northern" route (Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, etc). It is much prettier and much more populated than the more central route. While I wasn't thrilled to be taking a week of vacation to do this drive (which now will end up being a $1000 vacation, since I'll owe it back to Harris), it was the least painful of the trips I have taken, which was due to the combination of a happy relationship, nice spring weather, and not having pets in the car to constantly worry about overheating.
We got to see Mt. Rushmore. It was really neat, and nice to get out of the car for awhile and walk around.
 |
| From XC drive |
 |
| From XC drive |
 |
| From XC drive |
The town near Mt. Rushmore was probably the worst shit hole I'd ever seen. Every building was either a pawn shop, a check cashing store, or a casino. Dingy hardly covers it. While staying overnight there, I was "treated" to a night at the Motel 6. Let's just say I know why hotel numbers only go UP from 6! Smoky "non-smoking" room, filthy shower, bed that sloped to the middle, so we ended up basically sleeping on top of each other, no hair dryer, and no shampoo. It was awful. Now I know that ALL Motel 6's suck. When my mom and I stayed in one in Chicago, the shower had blood in it. Yes, blood. A Motel 8 is only $20 more, and SO much nicer. Needless to say the girlfriend won out, and the next night we stayed in an 8.
 |
| From XC drive |
We also tried to go to this corn palace. I don't even remember what state it was in. Unfortunately, it closed at 5 and we were there at 5:15. It does look like it's made from corn at least on the outside.
Bryan at Custer's Last Stand. Okay, so the truth is this is at the kitchy little gift shop outside of it. We were too cheap to pay the $10 to actually drive into the Custer's park area. C'mon Mt. Rushmore was only $8!
 |
| From XC drive |
The last day we decided to muscle through and drive for 21 hours.
 |
| From XC drive |
With the help of our Starbucks we're showing off here that we got around midnight, we drove and drove and drove and drove and got to Rochester at 4:45am. Wow you find some really random things to talk about at that time of morning!
Now we're getting settled and I'm learning how to adjust to having people in the house all the time (Krista moved in now too). The kinks seem to be pretty small though, and mostly consist of me saying "Bryan, where did you move the ________" I swear he is obsessed with moving things around, or throwing them out (mom, he reminds me of you!).
Click here for more pictures of the drive and the lovely trip home.
More life updates soon, as there actually is quite a bit to talk about. For now, at 8:45pm, I have to get back to work. :( I worked late tonight, and now have to work from home. I hate it. But updates about that will be soon to come!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Productive weekend!
I got SO much done this weekend, and now, at 8pm on Sunday, I'm tired! Here's the rundown:
Saturday I cleaned like a mad woman! I realized I'm not the best housekeeper when I thought "I should take a picture of this!" I do generally keep things clean, but this weekend I also mopped the hardwoods and the kitchen. Here's my room (soon to be Bryan's room too) all clean.
In these pictures you can also see his new Ikea dresser and the newish curtains I bought. I tried to make some to "save money" and then ended up at Target, spending way less.
Sunday I got up bright and early (8am, early for me on a weekend!) to wash and wax my car before the day of fun with Sherri and the kids. Here is what happened when I dragged out the hose for the first time this year :(
Yes, I had kept it in the garage, so it didn't freeze. I have no idea what happened, but I quickly felt like the smart homeowner. "I'll just use my handy duct tape on it and it will be good as new." Here is the result.
It's a good thing my dad knows nothing of the internet, or he would be shaking his head at my stupidity! For now I just used it leaking, and the wash and wax are done. It was a beautifully sunny day and was nice to be outside.
Then I went to Sherri's, and she, Lani, Cassie, Peter and I went to Simply Crepes Check out the menu. It was fabulous, and Sherri kept saying "this is my new favorite place."
My food (after I started cutting it up!)...nutella, raspberries, and grand marnier sauce.
Lani got a traditional fruit one:
It was really good, although mine was technically a dessert one :)
Then we walked along the canal, and Lani and I fed the ducks (Cassie refused because she thought I would throw her in the canal!).
We then had ice cream, where I realized with much chagrin (and much too late), that I cannot eat a cone with braces :( It is just too painful and I am unable to bite anything like a cone (or a clif bar, or rice krispie treats, or just about anything!). I can eat them if I tear them into little pieces, but that wasn't going to happen with a cone full of ice cream. Oh well, Lani happily took and ate the rest.
I then felt the urge to get some plants, since it was so nice and sunny today. Here is the result so far. I clearly didn't buy enough mulch!
For now, the white picket fence had to go, since you couldn't see the new mulch and the flowers. I'll put it up once everything dies. In the new section are some annuals, and two rose bushes that I bargained down to 50% off of each of them :) There are also some mysterious things that are just sprouting, so I'll give them a chance and see what they are, and the bushy plants were already there. On the right is what I just learned is a forsythia bush. I'll plant a few more plants over there and mulch it soon.
Anyone who really knows me knows that I have always wanted a magnolia tree. I think they are so beautiful. I finally bought one! It will wait for Bryan to plant it in the back yard though. It is going to need a decent sized hole!
In a tribute to Portland, I also bought a rhododendron, a purple one. It will be planted on the side of the house soon. I ran out of steam, and my plastic hand shovel doesn't really do the job very well!
That's the update on my weekend! Next weekend is home to Portland and then the drive out here, so there won't probably be any more posts for a couple of weeks. I'm so excited to go home and see my family and the dogs, and to see my new "nephew" Sebastian Bradley who was born April 23rd!
I should also add that Bri (and her boyfriend Rich and his friend Donnie) left for Portland today. I wish them the best of luck in my favorite city, and I will forever be grateful to Bri for stepping in and taking care of my house and my pets so I could put my thoughts and energy towards my dad. Even though she wasn't around much, I'll miss our sometimes VERY long chats, and I hope her mom sees past her anger of Bri living with a boyfriend and gets to know Rich for the good guy that he is.
Saturday I cleaned like a mad woman! I realized I'm not the best housekeeper when I thought "I should take a picture of this!" I do generally keep things clean, but this weekend I also mopped the hardwoods and the kitchen. Here's my room (soon to be Bryan's room too) all clean.
 |
| From April 2007 |
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| From April 2007 |
In these pictures you can also see his new Ikea dresser and the newish curtains I bought. I tried to make some to "save money" and then ended up at Target, spending way less.
Sunday I got up bright and early (8am, early for me on a weekend!) to wash and wax my car before the day of fun with Sherri and the kids. Here is what happened when I dragged out the hose for the first time this year :(
 |
| From April 2007 |
Yes, I had kept it in the garage, so it didn't freeze. I have no idea what happened, but I quickly felt like the smart homeowner. "I'll just use my handy duct tape on it and it will be good as new." Here is the result.
 |
| From April 2007 |
It's a good thing my dad knows nothing of the internet, or he would be shaking his head at my stupidity! For now I just used it leaking, and the wash and wax are done. It was a beautifully sunny day and was nice to be outside.
Then I went to Sherri's, and she, Lani, Cassie, Peter and I went to Simply Crepes Check out the menu. It was fabulous, and Sherri kept saying "this is my new favorite place."
My food (after I started cutting it up!)...nutella, raspberries, and grand marnier sauce.
 |
| From April 2007 |
Lani got a traditional fruit one:
 |
| From April 2007 |
It was really good, although mine was technically a dessert one :)
Then we walked along the canal, and Lani and I fed the ducks (Cassie refused because she thought I would throw her in the canal!).
 |
| From April 2007 |
We then had ice cream, where I realized with much chagrin (and much too late), that I cannot eat a cone with braces :( It is just too painful and I am unable to bite anything like a cone (or a clif bar, or rice krispie treats, or just about anything!). I can eat them if I tear them into little pieces, but that wasn't going to happen with a cone full of ice cream. Oh well, Lani happily took and ate the rest.
I then felt the urge to get some plants, since it was so nice and sunny today. Here is the result so far. I clearly didn't buy enough mulch!
 |
| From April 2007 |
 |
| From April 2007 |
For now, the white picket fence had to go, since you couldn't see the new mulch and the flowers. I'll put it up once everything dies. In the new section are some annuals, and two rose bushes that I bargained down to 50% off of each of them :) There are also some mysterious things that are just sprouting, so I'll give them a chance and see what they are, and the bushy plants were already there. On the right is what I just learned is a forsythia bush. I'll plant a few more plants over there and mulch it soon.
Anyone who really knows me knows that I have always wanted a magnolia tree. I think they are so beautiful. I finally bought one! It will wait for Bryan to plant it in the back yard though. It is going to need a decent sized hole!
 |
| From April 2007 |
In a tribute to Portland, I also bought a rhododendron, a purple one. It will be planted on the side of the house soon. I ran out of steam, and my plastic hand shovel doesn't really do the job very well!
 |
| From April 2007 |
That's the update on my weekend! Next weekend is home to Portland and then the drive out here, so there won't probably be any more posts for a couple of weeks. I'm so excited to go home and see my family and the dogs, and to see my new "nephew" Sebastian Bradley who was born April 23rd!
I should also add that Bri (and her boyfriend Rich and his friend Donnie) left for Portland today. I wish them the best of luck in my favorite city, and I will forever be grateful to Bri for stepping in and taking care of my house and my pets so I could put my thoughts and energy towards my dad. Even though she wasn't around much, I'll miss our sometimes VERY long chats, and I hope her mom sees past her anger of Bri living with a boyfriend and gets to know Rich for the good guy that he is.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Spring part 2
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Spring!!
Last week snow, today sunny and 70! It was so nice. It also means that the lawn mowing has begun...belch! I did at least get the back done today.
I put together the new furniture I got for the Florida Room. I love it! I got the pillows and the enormous candle at Pier One today. They were having a great sale, and those 4 pillows retailed at $30-40 each, and the candle was $50. I paid $25 for all of it! Now to decide where to put the new 3-person swing. I think that project will wait for Bryan though.
We also got new bikes today. I was going to get my old one all fixed up, but the bikes were so cheap at Target. These were only $53 each, and I negotiated 10% off of one of them because it had a slight chip in the paint. Yeah! Now to just convince Bryan he can't ride without a helmet :/
For those that have been asking, I'll be heading out to Portland May 5th, spending the 5th-8th at home, then leaving Tuesday around lunchtime with Bryan for the drive back to Rochester. I guess I feel I need to do this drive annually! Bryan was smart though and suggested we take a different route so I can see something new, so we'll be going more northern (Washington, Idaho, Montana, one of the Dakotas, Wisconsin, etc). May will be a nice time to do the drive though, and we'll have lots of good tunes. We should start taking bets about how long it takes before we run out of conversation! I'm excited to have him out here though, and I know he's ready to get school started. But first, I need to continue on with my cleaning and organizing to make room for him!
I put together the new furniture I got for the Florida Room. I love it! I got the pillows and the enormous candle at Pier One today. They were having a great sale, and those 4 pillows retailed at $30-40 each, and the candle was $50. I paid $25 for all of it! Now to decide where to put the new 3-person swing. I think that project will wait for Bryan though.
 |
| From Spring |
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| From Spring |
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| From Spring |
We also got new bikes today. I was going to get my old one all fixed up, but the bikes were so cheap at Target. These were only $53 each, and I negotiated 10% off of one of them because it had a slight chip in the paint. Yeah! Now to just convince Bryan he can't ride without a helmet :/
 |
| From Spring |
For those that have been asking, I'll be heading out to Portland May 5th, spending the 5th-8th at home, then leaving Tuesday around lunchtime with Bryan for the drive back to Rochester. I guess I feel I need to do this drive annually! Bryan was smart though and suggested we take a different route so I can see something new, so we'll be going more northern (Washington, Idaho, Montana, one of the Dakotas, Wisconsin, etc). May will be a nice time to do the drive though, and we'll have lots of good tunes. We should start taking bets about how long it takes before we run out of conversation! I'm excited to have him out here though, and I know he's ready to get school started. But first, I need to continue on with my cleaning and organizing to make room for him!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sun and Wegmans
Today was sunny and 60. Hallelujah! I wasn't in the mood to go to the gym today, so instead I decided to walk to Wegmans (3 miles RT) to get a few groceries. The walk was beautiful, and I was jammin' to my iPod (still quite possibly the best gift I have ever gotten!).
Wegmans recently won the best grocery store award by the Food Network (it was up against Trader Joes and Whole Foods). As a side note, while I do like Wegmans, I don't miss it in Portland. However, I do long for Trader Joes when I'm in Rochester.
While I was there, I got this, which Bri eats all the time:
Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Breast
Boneless chicken breast cutlet topped with Pesto, 3 cheeses, and roasted & fresh tomato.
Holy divinity it was good! I had that with some steamed asparagus and broccoli in a hollandaise sauce, and some strawberries. Yum! I felt so healthy that I decided to have a Coke :) Probably the first soda I've had in a month or so.
Nice weather, lovely walk, yummy dinner, new Grey's Anatomy tonight, finished up a report today for a bitchy client, and tomorrow is Friday. Life is good. Not long until home!
Wegmans recently won the best grocery store award by the Food Network (it was up against Trader Joes and Whole Foods). As a side note, while I do like Wegmans, I don't miss it in Portland. However, I do long for Trader Joes when I'm in Rochester.
While I was there, I got this, which Bri eats all the time:
Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Breast
Boneless chicken breast cutlet topped with Pesto, 3 cheeses, and roasted & fresh tomato.
Holy divinity it was good! I had that with some steamed asparagus and broccoli in a hollandaise sauce, and some strawberries. Yum! I felt so healthy that I decided to have a Coke :) Probably the first soda I've had in a month or so.
Nice weather, lovely walk, yummy dinner, new Grey's Anatomy tonight, finished up a report today for a bitchy client, and tomorrow is Friday. Life is good. Not long until home!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Easter!
First off, this is what I woke up to Easter morning! I'm beginning to think it snows here year-round.
Saturday I was dragged out of bed (at 10:45am :) by a phone call from Lani. "Miss Tia, when are you coming over to color eggs with me?" Although I hadn't originally understood that I was invited over Saturday AND Sunday (for Easter brunch), I quickly decided a day with the Lauver-Biglan family was way better than my planned day of cleaning.
Here is us coloring eggs with the stuff my mom sent. The kits are SO much cooler than when I was little! You can see I wrote my name on one with this wax crayon that makes it so the dye doesn't stick. I like Sherri's with the polka dots!
That afternoon also involved making necklaces (after I asked Lani if we could do something else when she asked me to play Barbie's. I'm just not good at pretend!). I put the one I made in Lani's Easter basket, and when I went over this morning she ran to me and said THANK YOU FOR THE NECKLACE. She was so excited. It was quite cute. We (Sherri, Lani, Cassie, and I) also had a hilarious time playing Go Fish. The girls understand the idea of the game, but not the subtleties of it. After Cassie asked Sherri for a 2, Lani says loudly, "You should have asked me, I have a 2" and then doesn't ask Cassie for her 2 when it's her turn. We'd tried to explain it, but I don't think they quite got it. It was funny nonetheless.
Peter and his trademark smile. He is the happiest baby, just over 6 months old now.
Here is the gang in their Easter getup
I can't figure out how to post a video on here, but Peter has the latest craze in baby toys called the "Jumparoo." I think it is so funny to watch him jump around in it. This link will take you to a short clip. I do have to say that it's much funnier in person. He looks like a little kid on a bull ride!
http://picasaweb.google.com/tia.neely/Easter2007/photo#5051174790132639202
Today I also took over these bubble things on a stick that I used to have as a kid (mom, you'll have to show this to dad because I remember doing this with him). You take this goo stuff and put it on the straw and blow it up. Elena LOVED it and squealed with glee every time she made a bubble. Good times!
In non Easter things:
The flowers my ortho office sent me at work. Creepy! How about you just take the $40 off of my bill???
Speaking of ortho, my mouth still hurts, but it's getting a tiny bit better and I can now eat solid soft food (I had a fritatta today at Sherri and Kevin's, and muffins. Soft fruit is okay, but even cut-up apples were not doable yet). I also went to get a wire fixed that was poking me, and the stupid lady broke off the entire bracket :( It doesn't go back on until the 16th because the dentist is out of town. I'm starting to get used to seeing myself with braces though. Two more co-workers didn't even notice I had them, and even Sherri didn't notice (and she knew I had gotten them) until 2 hours after I got to her house! They must not be as horribly ugly and obtrusive as I feel that they are.
I got a patio set! Yay! Sherri recommended Big Lots, and I got this:
Regularly $199, on sale for $149, and it is really comfy.
And no one else cares about this except my mom, so mom, this is just for you :) My new shoes from last weekend. Marshall's here has an entire shoe shop. I'm now in love with Liz Claiborne Flex, as all 3 new pairs of heels are those. So comfy! And at $34.99, they didn't break the bank. Here are the two new pairs.
I guess that's all the news from out here. Four weeks until I come home. I'm so excited!!!!
 |
| From Easter 2007 |
Saturday I was dragged out of bed (at 10:45am :) by a phone call from Lani. "Miss Tia, when are you coming over to color eggs with me?" Although I hadn't originally understood that I was invited over Saturday AND Sunday (for Easter brunch), I quickly decided a day with the Lauver-Biglan family was way better than my planned day of cleaning.
Here is us coloring eggs with the stuff my mom sent. The kits are SO much cooler than when I was little! You can see I wrote my name on one with this wax crayon that makes it so the dye doesn't stick. I like Sherri's with the polka dots!
 |
| From Easter 2007 |
 |
| From Easter 2007 |
 |
| From Easter 2007 |
That afternoon also involved making necklaces (after I asked Lani if we could do something else when she asked me to play Barbie's. I'm just not good at pretend!). I put the one I made in Lani's Easter basket, and when I went over this morning she ran to me and said THANK YOU FOR THE NECKLACE. She was so excited. It was quite cute. We (Sherri, Lani, Cassie, and I) also had a hilarious time playing Go Fish. The girls understand the idea of the game, but not the subtleties of it. After Cassie asked Sherri for a 2, Lani says loudly, "You should have asked me, I have a 2" and then doesn't ask Cassie for her 2 when it's her turn. We'd tried to explain it, but I don't think they quite got it. It was funny nonetheless.
 |
| From Easter 2007 |
Peter and his trademark smile. He is the happiest baby, just over 6 months old now.
 |
| From Easter 2007 |
Here is the gang in their Easter getup
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| From Easter 2007 |
I can't figure out how to post a video on here, but Peter has the latest craze in baby toys called the "Jumparoo." I think it is so funny to watch him jump around in it. This link will take you to a short clip. I do have to say that it's much funnier in person. He looks like a little kid on a bull ride!
http://picasaweb.google.com/tia.neely/Easter2007/photo#5051174790132639202
Today I also took over these bubble things on a stick that I used to have as a kid (mom, you'll have to show this to dad because I remember doing this with him). You take this goo stuff and put it on the straw and blow it up. Elena LOVED it and squealed with glee every time she made a bubble. Good times!
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| From Easter 2007 |
In non Easter things:
The flowers my ortho office sent me at work. Creepy! How about you just take the $40 off of my bill???
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| From Easter 2007 |
Speaking of ortho, my mouth still hurts, but it's getting a tiny bit better and I can now eat solid soft food (I had a fritatta today at Sherri and Kevin's, and muffins. Soft fruit is okay, but even cut-up apples were not doable yet). I also went to get a wire fixed that was poking me, and the stupid lady broke off the entire bracket :( It doesn't go back on until the 16th because the dentist is out of town. I'm starting to get used to seeing myself with braces though. Two more co-workers didn't even notice I had them, and even Sherri didn't notice (and she knew I had gotten them) until 2 hours after I got to her house! They must not be as horribly ugly and obtrusive as I feel that they are.
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| From Easter 2007 |
I got a patio set! Yay! Sherri recommended Big Lots, and I got this:
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| From Easter 2007 |
Regularly $199, on sale for $149, and it is really comfy.
And no one else cares about this except my mom, so mom, this is just for you :) My new shoes from last weekend. Marshall's here has an entire shoe shop. I'm now in love with Liz Claiborne Flex, as all 3 new pairs of heels are those. So comfy! And at $34.99, they didn't break the bank. Here are the two new pairs.
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| From Easter 2007 |
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| From Easter 2007 |
I guess that's all the news from out here. Four weeks until I come home. I'm so excited!!!!
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