Vacation, a book review, and other notes

I just got back from a wonderful vacation. We went to see my sister graduate from college. I had so much fun seeing all my family! We of course had graduation festivities, played a game of Pit, sang karaoke at the hotel bar, played mini golf, went swimming, and of course had lots of yummy food. I think the highlight of the trip was taking my sisters and husband to a co-workers water front property for a couple days. It was beautiful. I felt so relaxed as soon as I got there. We saw the sunset, animals (turtles, frogs, loons, wide mouth bass, sunfish, bald eagles), went for boat rides, had a bon fire, played games, and just relaxed! It was totally what I needed!

For the drive I grabbed a few audio books. We only listened to one of them, which ended up taking all but 3 hours of the total drive! The book we chose was the Time Traveler's Wife, unabridged. I have to admit that in the first hour, had the husband not wanted to keep listening, I would have turned it off and tried another book. The book just seemed to move a little too slowly for me. There were a few parts where I wanted to know what happened next, but overall it was just randomly interesting. We plan to watch the movie soon. I think the unabridged version was a bit too long. I think the audio was over 17 hours. We turned off the book while we were in heavy traffic or otherwise distracted (like answering phone calls, etc.). It was an okay book. The language would be really pleasant, then suddenly become very profane or racy. That caught me off guard. I am happy to say I have "read" this book, but will not be adding it to my favorites list. Have any of you read this book?

When we got home I was so excited to see the seeds I planted before I left had really taken off. I am hoping to transplant some of the plants this coming weekend. A lot of people are giving me crap for starting my corn inside and transplanting it. I don't really care, but part of me wants it to be the best dang corn they have ever had! Oddly, the plant that didn't take seed very well was the snap peas. Very strange. Not sure why the others took off so well and those just did okay. We have a lot of yard work to do this weekend, but I hope to transplant my vegetables!

Well, that's a quick update from my neck of the woods. I am back on my eating plan tomorrow. In fact, I have two Cobb salads in the fridge for the remainder of the week, some hard boiled eggs cooked, and chicken thawed for dinner tomorrow. Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot to mention...I got my braces off the day we left for our trip!!!! It's wonderful!!! I also had time to knit two more scarves while we were driving. What a fabulous couple of updates that I almost forgot!

I hope life is treating you all well.

Mighty Monday and a note on Sunday

On Sunday we did yard work. I was weeding the garden when I looked down and saw a rolled up piece of cash! It was hidden beside a weed and was rolled up just like another leaf on the plant. While I wish I had a new money tree, there was only $1. It had dirt set in to it and I think it must have been there for quite a while! Pretty amazing. It made me want to sing, like they did on Little Rascals...I got a dollar, I got a dollar, I got a dollar, hey, hey, hey, hey.

We went to tea for Mother's Day. It was really nice. There wasn't very much food to fill a person up, but it was a beautiful location and so much fun to have a formal tea. Next time I go, I want to wear a big ridiculous hat! Like my pink sun hat- that would've been delightful. After lunch the hubby went to help his brother unload a pinball machine. Yes, he bought a pinball machine! So much fun! While they did man stuff, I sat and chatted with my sister-in-law. I got to hold my sweet pea niece, change her diapers, and feed her. I held her for 3 1/2-4 hours and she just slept the whole time. (W- I am good at getting out of chairs holding her, haha. I was nervous with your little man, but I've gotten the hang of it! Hooray!) We had quality niece and auntie bonding time.

Today - I had a job interview in the morning. It was so strange this morning. I woke up and just didn't feel like getting out of bed. Usually, I am really excited to get up, do my hair, interview, etc. Today, I just wasn't excited. I wasn't even nervous. I was just indifferent. I still got my suit jacket and slacks on, put on my makeup, curled my hair, and made breakfast. When I got in the car Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten came on the radio! Instantly, I knew it was all going to be good. I can think of two times I was offered jobs and this song was on the radio when I went to interview or was about to get an offer. How funny is that? Somehow it got me ready for the interview. I think it was God giving me a little oomph. When I got to the interview, everyone was really nice. The interview last two hours and I think it went REALLY well. I was disappointed when they told me the pay. It would be a 10k pay cut. We just can't do that. The paid time off was also half of what I get now. In September I get 25 paid days a year. You also start there on a probationary period- no benefits or pto for three months!!! Eek. The start date would also be pretty difficult to swing, because I would need to put two weeks in while we were on vacation and I'm not comfortable doing that. I may be burnt out, but I still really respect the people I work with!! I would never want to leave them in a bind. Anyway, unless the pay is hugely negotiable or I misunderstood what she said, I can't accept the job. I guess the search will continue. Oh, and this job is grant funded too. Just like the last one I interviewed for. Part of the interview as with the woman who would supervise me, the next part with the executive director, and the third part with the person who used to have the position. The executive director was interesting. This is part of the dialogue...

ED- Are you good at math?

Me- Certain types of math, fractions, decimals, etc.

ED- How big do you think an embryo is?

Me- Tiny, like the size of a pin head

ED- It's about .15 or maybe .015 millimeters.

Me- Okay, that's interesting

ED- There are a half a million embryos in storage. If all of those embryos were put side by side and packed together, how much room do you think they would take up?

Me- (Thoughtfully considering the question) I don't know, maybe the size of this office? (Okay- feel free to guess...I will post the answer in the comments after a few days).

ED- Actually, it is the size of a... (guess people!)

He also asked me what my thoughts on fundraising were. He told me he read a report that said people who identify with conservative political parties tend to donate more money than their liberal counterparts and wondered if I observed the same thing in my current job. I was relieved when he took a phone call and I got to move on to the third part of my interview. He was a really nice guy, but his questions were so out of the blue! I'm quick on my feet, but I don't like questions where I can tell the person expects a certain answer and I can't figure them out to know answer to give!

After my interview, I had lunch at Panera. Yummy! I went and bought some more yarn to knit a scarf or two on the way to Minnesota. Yay. I went to see my Ob-Gyn next. We had a nice chat and ordered some labs. Unfortunately, the labs I need to do need to happen while we are out of town...so I have to wait another month for them to happen. I was also told I could hot tub until I took a test and found out I was pregnant! Woohoo for vacation!!!

I did a little bit of shopping for the sister's graduation, picked up some items from the library (like audio book - The Time Traveler's Wife) and went to visit the next door neighbor. I feel bad, because I think she gets so lonely. She talked forever about one of her great granddaughters and of course gave me an update on her son's family that I help out (I help them do college stuff like FAFSA). The hubby and I picked up my prescription, looked for and found his wallet, ate dinner, and bought snacks for our road trip! I am so excited that we leave soon! I travel tomorrow and will pack a majority of our items tomorrow night. Yay!

What a week...

I'm not even sure what days different things happened this week. I do know that yesterday morning I was locking the door and got a sliver in my finger! It's on my right hand ring finger, on the top close to the knuckle. In case you haven't gotten a sliver there, it's an incredibly awkward place to get a sliver...just because it's difficult to get out with tweezers. I think today I finally got a part of it out, but can't seem to get it all out. That's a minor part of the day though.

A few hours later I found out a kid I went to school with was killed in a car accident. It seems so surreal. Someone from each of five classes in a row has passed away. I always thought if someone died young in my class it might be from like a drug overdose or something. Instead it has been crazy tragic - an asthma attack, thinking a road continued when it abruptly stopped, and a couple other car accidents. It's just sad. They are all really nice people too. I'm sure thinking of and praying for the family. I can't begin to imagine what they are going through.

I traveled four out of five days this week for another 60 hour week. The light at the end of the tunnel was going to be a company potluck. Then, I got an e-mail saying it was cancelled. I was rather frustrated because they cancelled it due to staff being gone. Well, no one said anything about it to me before making the decision and I had all the beef thawed. So I talked to a couple of people in the office and said I thought we should still do something small. I was irritated because most of the people are taking PTO - it's there choice not to be there. I can see if maybe we were all sick or something, but seriously...it just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. I am glad we are doing something small. I want to include everyone in the office, but we scheduled this before all but two people decided to take that day off. Only one person is sick. I was just disappointed in the lack of communication or anyone taking into consideration that maybe people already prepared everything for it.

Okay, for everything negative- there must be a positive. Today I went to a business after hours at a chamber I negotiated a membership with. Everyone was so friendly!!! I have gone to other town's business after hours and they have been okay, but never have I gone to one that was so friendly. People were even mingling, which can be fairly awkward. I was worried I would talk to one or two people, but instead I talked to like 5 or 6 and actually networked! It was awesome! Then, I knew, I could just feel it. I won a door prize. I got to choose between a bottle of red wine and champagne. I chose the red wine. I probably won't uncork it for quite a while, but it's fun to win!

I made it back to town in time for the hubby's ball game. They were down 17 to 3 at one point in the game. It was freezing and sort of snowing, hailing, groveling, or something. Anyway, there is a rule that if there is like a 15 point lead in the 4th inning or something, the game is over. So, we were all hopeful to be heading to the warmth of our cars and plotting early bed times to avoid upset husbands. Then, miraculously, the game turned around. The hubby's team won 27 to 20. At one point they came up from behind and were actually leading with ten runs. It was awesome. When the hubby was out in the field, you could really see he had dropped 30 pounds. He is shaping up and looking so good! I'm just so proud of him and I LOVE watching him play ball! (Even if I am in high heels and freezing, ha ha)

The other positive part of the day is I scheduled a job interview for Monday morning. It's with a Christian adoption agency. It is actually sort of a little of my last job mixed with a little of my current job. The hours would be 8-5, Monday through Friday. I would be working with medical clinics and taking care of marketing. Occasionally, I would lead webinars and help them plan for conventions. This would involve a small commute. I still don't know how much the job pays and they requested tons of materials. I am very curious to see the office and meet the program manager.

I am not sure whether its good or bad, but I also go back to my doctor on Monday. I just want to see if I can use some natural supplements before I start using them.

Should be a good weekend...graduation party and Mother's Day brunch at a tea house!

Flowers!

I got flowers today! Nope, not from my adorable husband...he gave my flowers on Sunday...these were from a co-worker who knew I was at about wits end. They are gorgeous! Bright and sunny with yellows, pinks, and greens. They gave me such a HUGE smile!

Is this week ever going to end?

I know I should live in the moment. I really should. I need to be better at enjoying and appreciating every day I have on this earth. I am just so exhausted and it's Tuesday! I was looking forward to only having to travel one more night this week, then it grew into two more nights. I can't even take time off of work this week to make up for what the company owes me for my extra hours. As it is, I feel bad that I haven't been able to answer e-mails or phone messages for a couple days. I apparently have a slew of them...as my volunteers pointed out. Despite the fact my out of office is on, they still think that means I should be able to answer e-mail. Plus I had a bunch of extra work added on this week. I don't even know when I will be in the office to do it. Part of being so burnt out is feeling like I don't have the time to do my job super well. I'm cranky, burnt out, and exhausted.
Oh, and I think songs like "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" should not be aired after a certain time in the day...like when I am driving home to tell my husband that one more night this week I will miss dinner with him.
Must get new job.

P.S. I went through and answered all of my e-mail for work. Just phone messages left and the new work that has come up in the past two days.

He loves me so...

I just had the best date with my husband. He took me to the Melting Pot. We got there like 40 minutes early, so went to the bar for a Yin Yang. It's the most amazing drink. It's white chocolate and chocolate and I think it falls in the martini category, but I have NEVER had a martini that tasted THAT good. We have ordered them before...they are amazing. Anyway, they were able to get our table ready for us, even though we were early (brownie points to the Melting Pot). We hadn't even taken but a couple sips of our drinks when our table was ready. We walked back to a private seating. The table was covered in rose petals and there was a bouquet of roses. It was wonderful. Not to mention I have an obsession with fondue! They even played the song What a Wonderful World! He has done this for me once before, actually the first birthday we celebrated together was mine. We even sat in the same booth. It was all very fun and romantic. He is such a sweet man. We have been to the Melting Pot in between that date and this one and just sat at normal booths. Since we are getting ready for vacation, I was not even expecting flowers! It was fabulous.

Especially since I travel Monday- Wednesday and we won't get to have dinner together. I'm not sure if having two date nights in a row makes it easier to travel knowing we have spent some quality time together or more difficult- knowing that the love of my life is at home while I'm on the road. Either way, he is one great husband.

Today I wrote my 23 page paper. I just hit submit on it. I have a small break between classes, like a week. Actually, even until this one is over I only have to post on a few discussions. I should take a peak at what my next round of books will be and make sure financial aid is in place for summer session! I am officially half way done with my program though. Woohoo!

After submitting my paper (that's what I did all day), we got ready to go to dinner. We left early so I could stop at the Nike store. I tried on a series of bottoms- pants, shorts, capris, skorts. I really like the skort, because even if I had a little jiggle, it would be behind fabric! The pants were all really long on me and just felt like they were falling when I jogged. (Yes, I jogged in place in the dressing room to see what I thought of the bottoms.) The shorts were so short. I am not sure when I started the progression to more modest clothes, but I am not about to wear short shorts jogging! Not unless my thighs are suddenly rock hard. Finally, I tried on a pair of running capris. They are black and are suppose to be cool and dry capris (that way they wic away moisture). They have a little pocket in the back which might be perfect for my mp3 player. They are an elastic like material, so I will probably wear a longer shirt with them, but I was content with how they held me together! They were originally $55, but I got them for $39. I hope they are well worth the money in durability. I guess time will tell. Oh, one more thing I thought was nifty is how many of the running bottoms had undies built in! That's so annoying when you have to worry about panty lines, especially with elastic like material or when your undies are slipping, but your pants are staying in place. I suppose otherwise you could potentially need running undies, ha ha. I had not even got so far as to think of that! I am usually so concerned about keeping pants or shorts up. Anyway, I can't wait to jog with my new capris!

Okay and one last thought - I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't posted them. Spring has/had sprung at our house and some of our flowers are/were blooming. Now they are starting to wilt, but they sure were gorgeous! Happy spring...a few weeks later.

Just another wonderful day...

Today was great! The whole day was just really nice! I woke up before my alarm clock went off, which is always a good way to wake up. I feel like I am waking up on my terms when I beat the alarm clock! Anyway, I had my new favorite cereal for breakfast - Kellogg's Product 19. When I compare one serving to my vitamins- it has nearly identical vitamins and daily values! I also like that I can have an entire cup for just 100 calories. It's a nice start to the day. I've been meaning to mention my new "find"...I love it! I'm sure it would be a great crust on homemade chicken fingers too.

Anyway, after breakfast I did day two of my Couch Potato to 5k training. Today was easier than the first day and my chest wasn't nearly as sore. My thighs are pretty sore, but not when I'm jogging...only when I am casually walking. I am pretty sure that is okay though. I ran around the neighborhood instead of the park. I tried a different pair of sweats with a drawstring and decided I still need to get a new pair of running shorts or sweats. Other than having to constantly pull up my britches, it was a really good training session. At one point the podcast says something about not being tired or out of breath, but I am still tired and our of breath by the time I get to that interval. I am not sure if I should stay on week one until I can get to that point and not be tired and out of breath? I am open to suggestions...I know a couple of you are runners and may have some great ideas! I am not so tired that I need to stop, I can finish the intervals fine, but am out of breath. I don't think I am even jogging too fast, in fact I almost wonder if I walk faster than I jog, just kidding. I tried to focus on breathing today. I noticed the other day that a lot of my breathing was shallow. So I breathed in through my nose and out through pursed lips. It made such a difference!

After my run I got to head to a baby shower! I made a "sweet pea" card. I think it turned out pretty well. In the future I need to purchase plain green Stickles (that's the glitter glue I use). The Stickles I had was Holly and it had specs of red in it. It still turned out okay, but a solid green would really be perfect. I also think I would start with a skin tone baby head instead of white. I would still chalk both, but white is just so pale. I made two of these cards, but the cats chewed one up! Dang cats. The baby shower was really nice. We played games and I won two of the four. The first game I got to pick out a gift bag and I was pleasantly surprised to open some patio lights and candles! I can't wait for a BBQ to use them! The next game I let the second place winner have the prize. I wanted to share the wealth! Aside from fun baby shower games, we were treated to gourmet ice cream! The restaurant we were at makes their own ice cream. I had blackberry cheesecake, it was pretty good. I really enjoyed myself!

When I got back to town, it was time for a date night with my hubby! We decided to go to a roller derby! We had dinner at a mom and pop chicken place and went to our first roller derby together. It was really fun! I am super lucky, because we are going on another date night tomorrow! Between now and then I need to write a rather large paper that is due on Monday. I am hopeful to knock the paper out tomorrow morning and early afternoon, have time to go shopping, and then go on our date!

I travel Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week, so I really need to get ahead for the week if I can. I also need to lay clothes out and get groceries so I can be prepared and make sure I have time to keep on working at the 5K! I hope your week is super fantastic!