New growth

Starting Monday, I'm embarking on a three-week detox/cleanse program through Miriam. It's going to be hard, and I'm giving up a lot of my crutches but I'm also excited about it and the self-nurturing aspect of it. I'm ready for some new growth.

Snow day

We got our first major snow storm since living here in NC. We got about 8 inches! It's been so much fun hibernating from the world. Yoshi really loved being out in it today though.

Invitations

Wrote out 25 envelopes tonight for Becky's bridal shower. Now I just have to stuff them and send them off tomorrow morning!

I planned for a relaxing hot bath tonight but when I got in the tub I realized the water was lukewarm and we had run out of hot water. : (

Winter returns

We've had such mild weather, it was a real shock when winter returned this week. At least it was the prettiest kind of snow that stuck to one side of everything.

Coffee cups

See, I told you I leave coffee cups around the house.

"Reward Yourself"

I tried to reward myself tonight with some tea and relaxation. But then I got sucked into three hours of reality TV and that wasn't exactly the kind of relaxation I was looking for.

Moon

This photo does not do the moon any justice. I kept catching myself staring at it all day today.

Cake decorating

Tonight was my first class. I had SO much fun. When I came home, I decided to decorate my cake. Toaster was impressed. Now we get to eat cake for the next four weeks! : )

Flip bag

I made this little bag for a flip video camera we're sending with a medical team going to Haiti Wednesday. It's a double layer of denim with plastic in between. It won't handle sitting in a puddle, but it should keep the camera safe-ish if they have to be outside in the rain.

Eggs waiting

I have to bake a two-layer cake today for my cake decorating class tomorrow. So excited!

Study buddy

Parker played in the sewing room/office/playroom while I wrote a paper today. School's getting hard. Next week looks really rough. I'll apologize now if I miss more days next week.

Pride

Toaster has a zit which he's proud of. He gets excited when he gets one bc it means he's maintaining his youth.

Coffee thermos

This thermos Katie gave me has been my savior since we've been so far from the office coffee pot.

Oreo cupcake

I bought this for Toaster. A good way to end a very long week.

Lonely, so lonely

Joe made us pancakes for dinner, which he finished just as we were finishing. He was left to eat and do dishes all on his own. Poor guy. Boy, I need to de-clutter, huh?

Cake decorating

My friend Suzy and I went to A.C. Moore tonight to pick up our supplies for our cake decorating class, which starts on Monday. We're so excited.

Colorectal Surgery

This heart sign on the door to the colorectal surgery suite makes me giggle. A big ol' string of hearts for a welcome sign isn't going to make me any happier about needing these guys. (Yes, I'm a child; I know. Oh, and I don't need them -- I just walk past the door on my way out.)

The Game of Life

I've been playing this game at Rite-Aid this week. If you collect certain game pieces you get prizes. Right now I'm in the running for a Carnival cruise.

Walls

The wall panels we're going to put between our desks were really gross (used from the surplus warehouse), so we recovered them. Katie picked a really retro green with a cream trim and I did my side with burlap and a blue ribbon. Can't wait for the guys to actually put them up.

Stinky

I don't know what Yoshi ate today but he was producing some pretty awful gas tonight. It was so bad, I had to hide under the covers and even that didn't help.

Ta da!

After two full days we finally got the kitchen done around 10 p.m. We're really loving the "oatmeal" color. I think it should be called chocolate milk. It makes me want to drink the walls. : )

Chocoate Chip cookies

This is the first time I made chocolate chip cookies and they didn't turn out like pancakes. A friend from work told me I was probably over mixing them. She said to use a wooden spoon and only mix them long enough to get everything wet. Who knew?

Working hard

This is me scraping off the remnants of our nasty paisley wallpaper in our kitchen.

My girls

I think they like each other.

Miss you

I know I haven't used you for very many fun projects lately, but I still miss you, my friend.

My view

Check out the view I had when watering my plants at work today.

Early morning

I always love this time of morning when no one else is awake yet and it's just me and the newspaper.

Potty time

She'll kill me for having taken and posted this one day, but it was just too funny. She insisted on sitting on the potty for, no lie, 20 minutes. She didn't poop or pee. Exactly 5 minutes later, her diaper was full. Stinker.

Bubble yum

Today I got lots of joy out of chewing my Bubble Yum and blowing bubbles. It's the little things.

Reading

You'd think these books would be all about how to snow a reporter into writing about what you want, but they're awesome. They're all about how you can help reporters, which is one of my favorite things about my job (aside from helping regular people and docs).

Here comes the matron of honor

I got my matron of honor dress in the mail today. I love it! I have never been a fan of strapless but this dress is so different. I like the sweetheart shape, I think that helps. Now I just need a wonderbra (or boob job) to keep it from falling down on me. : )

Benches

We went to find some wall panels to divide our new office at surplus today and ran across this community project where artists decorate these benches for charity. It was sort of eerie seeing them all flipped over and white as sun-bleached bones.

Dreary

The weather was a perfect reflection of how I was feeling today. Blah.

Chilling

Been in a wine kind of mood lately. I'm usually a beer gal.

Coffee cups

I have a bad habit of leaving coffee cups around the house.

Grampy

My dad's growing a beard and growing his hair long enough for a pony tail. Just like he used to wear it, only now he's old. Ha! :)

Goodbye Chrsitmas

I de-Christmased the house today. Finally. Now it looks all sad and empty. I'll get over it though.

Eric and Suzy

I went to Eric and Suzy's shower today. I've only known Suzy a short while but we became fast friends. She's a doll. They're having a girl. Due date Feb. 23. She is such a cute pregnant woman. : )

All ready. Almost.

School starts Monday, so I set aside my sewing machine (literally) and got myself set up. I still need to finish orientation (online -- it's so weird), but then I really am ready... well, except that my books won't be here until later next week...

Snuggly warm

Every time I take this ratty, old towel out of the dryer and fold it, all I want to do is run upstairs, take a shower and wrap myself in it.

Staying warm

These slippers have really come in handy this week with the cold snap we've been experiencing. I never want to take these things off.

Media Services

There are two guys who work in this department called Media Services at work that I adore. It takes the slightest excuse for me to need to call them up. Here, Jon is helping me figure out what kind of microphone we need to record above the lobby. (He thought it was funny that I was taking pictures of him.)

Muddin'

Our neighbor's kid likes to go muddin'. Have you ever seen anything like this?

Let it snow, let it snow, make it stop!

If there isn't snow on the ground, I'm unhappy, but the snow has gotten out of hand. Usually, it piles on for a while, then thaws, repeat. But it just keeps piling on. Our poor hummingbird feeder.

Tae Bo

Toaster worked out with me tonight to my Tae Bo video. This is him demonstrating the move "put the hammer down."

I miss Christmas

Yoshi and I have the post-Christmas blues.

Pot Roast

It feels like a brick in my stomach right now, but it tasted so good. Finally, I ate a decent-sized meal that didn't involve saltines or Gatorade!

Sick.

It was a sweet gesture to leave it out for Mommy, but I couldn't even touch the plastic food.

Create

While I watch the premiere of the new season of The Bachelor tonight, I'm going to start jotting down my New Year's resolutions. I always put them in this book along with creative ideas that I need to get out of my head.