Monday, May 26, 2008

It's just not worth it!

I spent the entire day yesterday recovering from the plethora of martinis that I drank on Saturday. We went over to Mark's boss's house and the two of them talked shop for hours while Mark's boss's boyfriend and I proceeded to get smashed. We stayed the night, obviously, and boy did I pay for it yesterday! We are going for dinner and drinks on Mark's boss's boss tonight. Believe me, I'll be sticking to good 'ol fashioned H2O!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Strawberry Fields Forever


I had a crazy busy weekend that consisted of mostly fun things and nothing like laundry or cleaning at all! I'm paying for it now, but it was nice at the time.


Friday night I went to a Lia Sophia jewelry party at the house of a girl from work. I bought a couple things but, most importantly, booked a party of my own! Mark thinks I got swindled but you get so much free and/cheap stuff just for hosting a party. I'm not out any cash so I figured I'd give it a shot. My party will be June 14th at 1:00 in our backyard. I can't wait to have people over!


Saturday afternoon I had to take an educational technology test in order to get an endorsement on my teaching credential. I feel like I did fine and I always do really well on standardized tests but until I see the results I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. Saturday night I went to Prom! Well, I just stopped by actually. A few of my students decided to go as a group - they did the whole thing, pre-Prom party, limo, etc. I went to their pre-Prom and took a gazillion pictures and then met them at the dance to be sure they got in okay and were comfortable and all that jazz. About 40 minutes into the dance they were telling me to leave. What a great experience for them all! I then went home and finished up my final group project for an educational research class that I was taking this semester.


Mark had the day off on Sunday so we washed the cars and took the top off of the Jeep. We then headed about 2 hours up the 101 to Oxnard and the California Strawberry Festival. It was ridiculously hot, especially after roasting in the car for that long but the strawberries were delicious. We had strawberry pizza and strawberry beer too! Along the way, we had stopped to pick up Mark's friend Dave (the guy who introduced us) and we met up with his wife for dinner after the strawberry festivities were over. Overall it was a great weekend!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Weekly Weigh-In

Lost 0.4 lbs over the past two weeks. I'm pleased with that though since I did skip my meeting last week and that usually starts me on a downward spiral of losing motivation. No meeting next Monday, I'm going to weigh in on Sunday morning instead.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Out the same way she came in...

I came home from school on Wednesday to a whining and whimpering King but no Pookie. While I was at school that day the brother of the guy who dropped her off came to get her. He took her to live at his machine shop, pregnant belly and all. Apparently, he is planning on keepinher along with two of the puppies. We really didn't want a second dog but we had grown attached to her and, though it made me sad, we're okay with the fact that she's gone. I'm glad he came while I was gone, I definitely would have cried if I'd have been here.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Horoscope

My horoscope on MSN said:

The clouds have finally lifted, and you should be able to see clearly again, dear Cancer. You will find that people are likely to stick up for themselves more than usual. You should do the same. Arguments could be especially heated today, and interesting facts and revolutionary information will be passed around from person to person. Make sure you have your facts straight before you open your mouth.

For those of you who know about my day today, you know how strange this is!!!

Clarification

I just spoke with a very reliable source that told me that my dad does NOT have an autoimmune problem as I had stated in an earlier entry. He has something called amyotrophic neuropathy which basically means an "unknown" neuropathy. It doesn't change the symptoms at all, he's losing the use of his left hand, but that's what it is called.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Weekly Weigh-In

Well, my friends, I ditched my WW meeting this week. I know, I know, I'm a terrible weight watcher. But Mark had the night off and we wanted to go out for dinner and I'll be back next week, just you wait...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Ugh!

I realize that I am uber-lucky to have a career that give me a vacation half-way through the year and I understand that not everyone has that luxury. That said, I CANNOT wait until summer vacation. Understand though, that when I say "summer vacation" that means teaching from 7:45 until 1:20 rather than 2:45. Yes, a measly hour and twenty minutes makes all the difference. I had a hellish week last week between finishing up state testing, writing end-of-the-year IEPs, dealing with the clash of personalities in my department, oh yeah and TEACHING! Needless to say, I really needed this weekend and I spent most of it doing absolutely nothing at all thinking that it would help me to get mentally back on track. Well, here it is Sunday evening and I find myself counting the weeks until the year is over (5 1/2). Enough ranting from me, I'm off to cuddle with my husband - I'm sure that'll make me feel better!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Weekly Weigh-In

Dropped another 1.8 lbs. this week! My total weight loss is now 5.4 lbs. with 10 more weeks 'til Jamaica. (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Colin

Has everybody met my nephew, Colin Isaac? He just turned 3 months old on the 30th. We love him so much and Uncle Mark and I can't wait to see him in August. How can you not love this face?!?!?!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Posting Fever

2 posts in a matter of minutes? I just have a few more things to share...

1: At this point in time, we have two dogs! The guy who dropped off his female golden went to Montenegro for the summer and won't be back until August. Before he left, Mark's dad asked him about the dog and he told him to keep it. They are currently sitting on the fence as to whether she can stay or not. But, she's been here so long already and the dogs have really bonded. We heard that she was kept in a crate at her last home and it shows. She was super-skiddish when she first moved in but she isn't so much anymore and she has even started sleeping in the house with us. She does bark a heck of a lot more than King does though and Mark's dad is hating that. Her name is Pookie but we're trying to think of something else to call her. She is a really sweet girl and both Mark and I are really hoping that a) she isn't pregnant and b) we can keep her.

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2: I (heart) my Mini. Those of you who know the circumstances behind our acquisition of the car know that I was, to put it mildly, not TOO enthused to have the car, or more specifically, the car payment dropped in our lap. BUT, a couple of months later, I have really started to love driving it. It is, by far, the nicest car I've ever had and it's like being part of an exclusive club. Even in the owner's manual, it tells you to honk or wave to other Minis as you pass them on the street. Funny enough, it does happen.



3: How do I write, then add a pic and then write some more? I tried to do it with the above two pictures but, obviously, couldn't figure it out. Nevermind - Thanks Angela!

4: There are several people in my life whose are currently having major health problems. My dad, of course, is constantly in my thoughts. He's told me the name of what is going on with his hand but, from what I understand, it's an autoimmune problem that is causing him to lose functioning in his left hand. Doctors are trying to find a way to make it stop but it doesn't look like he'll ever regain the full use of his hand again. Tina, Mark's older sister, is back in the hospital. It's strange how common it has become and how normal it is to simply say, "Tina's back in the hospital." She is doing okay and I can never really explain what exactly put her there because I'm never clear myself. She is on mega-doses of medications because of her kidney transplant and her immune system is very weak. Even a simple stomach flu lands her back in the hospital. Nosh, Mark's dad, had surgery last week to fix a corroded artery and to prevent stroke. He looked like he had a zipper on the side of his face but he is recovering now - just moving very slowly around the house. The last person who I'm thinking about tonight is Mark's best friend's little sister, Tara, she is younger than I am and was recently released from the hospital and is now in hospice care with 10% of liver functioning. She's been sick for awhile but things have recently taken a drastic turn for the worse. I'm thinking about her, her mom, and Darin too. What a hard thing for a family to go through.

Getting Over a Fear

When I was younger (think 12, 13 ,14...) I played softball on a summer league. I played right field for awhile and then was moved to catcher. I loved to play and I loved being part of a team but, by no means, was I any good. I mean, I wasn't the WORST on the team but I was close. And what was worse was that my team (who mercied almost every team we played) had no faith in my ability. I was the greatest cheerleader and I gave it my all. My coaches used to tell the other girls that they wished everyone would give as much as I had and that I was the only one who gave 110%. I tried out for the team in high school but didn't make it. In fact, the try out lead to one of my most embarassing moments ever...

For one part of the try-out, we had to hit a ball from a tee and run the distance to first base. It must have been raining outside or something because we did this drill in the gym. When it was my turn, I stepped up to the tee. My stomach was in knots and my heart was beating a million miles a second. I whacked the ball from the tee - a solid hit. Before I knew what happened, I was face down on the gym floor. I was so eager to start running that I tripped over my own feet and fell. I stood up, giggled, and asked if I could go again. I looked at the girls who were waiting their turn and even the girls who I thought would be my allies in this situation avoided eye contact. It was horrible.

So, here I am, 13 years later and a friend of mine from work asked me to join her co-ed slow pitch team. I told her that I'm terrible and that playing softball competitively is a huge fear of mine now. She assured me that it didn't matter so I joined. I just finished the last game of my second season with them and couldn't be happier that I made the choice to play. I've gotten steadily better and, in two seasons, have only struck out twice. Last game, I got a double and tonight I got three hits and an RBI.

I am quite proud of myself for facing my fear and, while standing alone on 2nd base still make me nervous, I'm having fun and getting better too. Summer season starts May 30th and I can't wait!