Monday, January 31, 2011
Brr.
I think Mother Nature is reading my blog. She clearly saw my post on Friday, taunting the east coast for all of their cold weather. After wearing flip flops all weekend, this morning its snowing with a low tonight of -9. Tomorrows high (thats right, high) will be -2 with a low of -15.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Ok Katie, you win.
Today's post was going to be about the Oscar Nominated movies I've been trying to get to, but apparently, I've been tagged. So here goes:
1.) I'm terrible at thinking up facts about myself. I'm pretty much terrible at trying to recall anything in the moment. Especially with Jeopardy, I usually feel like the answer is on the tip of my brain and I just can't think of it. I got a one-a-day Jeopardy calendar for Christmas and my 'pod' at work (four cubicles in an open layout, currently there are only three of us) - we play every morning and keep score throughout the month of who wins the most money. This morning we finished out January and Dave kicked our butts. His amount of random trivia would make my dad proud.
2.) I started this blog because it pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I hate being the center of attention. Walking down the aisle as a bridesmaid terrifies me so much each time, I hate to think what it would be like should I ever get married. I've gotten a bit more comfortable with the blogging, but still don't feel like my life is terribly interesting nor that I'm a very good writer. It's been nice for keeping family up to date, though, since its normally too late to call them once I am out of work. Over Christmas, I found out that my dad must be emailing entries to people, because several somewhat random people mentioned a few things I had written about. It made me uncomfortable at first but hey, thats the point right?
3.) I am terrified of the dark. Its one of the only things I'm legitimately scared of. I pretty much will try anything once (with the exception of new foods), but even the dark of my own apartment scares me sometimes. This is made worse by the fact that I fall asleep to reruns of Criminal Minds each night.
4.) I am really enjoying the amount of free time I have had since completing grad school. After living that way for 3.5 years, I hadn't realized how draining it was. So far in January I've been seeing more movies (been trying to get to a lot of the Oscar nominated ones) and reading more. I'm about a decade behind, but I've just started the Harry Potter series and am on the second book. I am also trying new restaurants and going to happy hours more. By March, I may be a poor, fat, alcoholic, but at least I'll be happy.
5.) I'm going to New Orleans next Wednesday. I recently realized that its my first real, relaxing vacation since the Mexico incident of 2008. I really enjoyed the road trip this summer, but I couldn't get my mind off of worrying about all of my things and whether or not they were actually traversing the country in a timely manner, unscathed. New Orleans was up there as my favorite place visited this summer, so I am eager to go back (Charleston SC was a spontaneous addition and my second favorite).
6.) I actually really like doing my taxes. I got my W2 on Wednesday and finished them Wednesday night. Because of grad school and my move this year, I'm getting a decent amount back (which will promptly go towards my credit card and grad school payments).
7.) Although I'm a terrible packer, my mind always works in terms of logistics. I always plan out how long it will take to get somewhere, the best route to take, and pretty much hate backtracking. I write everything down in my dayplanner and have a crazy good memory once I've written something down. But if I don't write it down, I won't remember it. I leave myself post it notes and am slowly (or rapidly) turning into my mother. Although she's nearly 60 with barely any grey hair, weighs almost 30 lbs less than me, and knows how to have a good time, so I suppose there are worse fates in life :)
1.) I'm terrible at thinking up facts about myself. I'm pretty much terrible at trying to recall anything in the moment. Especially with Jeopardy, I usually feel like the answer is on the tip of my brain and I just can't think of it. I got a one-a-day Jeopardy calendar for Christmas and my 'pod' at work (four cubicles in an open layout, currently there are only three of us) - we play every morning and keep score throughout the month of who wins the most money. This morning we finished out January and Dave kicked our butts. His amount of random trivia would make my dad proud.
2.) I started this blog because it pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I hate being the center of attention. Walking down the aisle as a bridesmaid terrifies me so much each time, I hate to think what it would be like should I ever get married. I've gotten a bit more comfortable with the blogging, but still don't feel like my life is terribly interesting nor that I'm a very good writer. It's been nice for keeping family up to date, though, since its normally too late to call them once I am out of work. Over Christmas, I found out that my dad must be emailing entries to people, because several somewhat random people mentioned a few things I had written about. It made me uncomfortable at first but hey, thats the point right?
3.) I am terrified of the dark. Its one of the only things I'm legitimately scared of. I pretty much will try anything once (with the exception of new foods), but even the dark of my own apartment scares me sometimes. This is made worse by the fact that I fall asleep to reruns of Criminal Minds each night.
4.) I am really enjoying the amount of free time I have had since completing grad school. After living that way for 3.5 years, I hadn't realized how draining it was. So far in January I've been seeing more movies (been trying to get to a lot of the Oscar nominated ones) and reading more. I'm about a decade behind, but I've just started the Harry Potter series and am on the second book. I am also trying new restaurants and going to happy hours more. By March, I may be a poor, fat, alcoholic, but at least I'll be happy.
5.) I'm going to New Orleans next Wednesday. I recently realized that its my first real, relaxing vacation since the Mexico incident of 2008. I really enjoyed the road trip this summer, but I couldn't get my mind off of worrying about all of my things and whether or not they were actually traversing the country in a timely manner, unscathed. New Orleans was up there as my favorite place visited this summer, so I am eager to go back (Charleston SC was a spontaneous addition and my second favorite).
6.) I actually really like doing my taxes. I got my W2 on Wednesday and finished them Wednesday night. Because of grad school and my move this year, I'm getting a decent amount back (which will promptly go towards my credit card and grad school payments).
7.) Although I'm a terrible packer, my mind always works in terms of logistics. I always plan out how long it will take to get somewhere, the best route to take, and pretty much hate backtracking. I write everything down in my dayplanner and have a crazy good memory once I've written something down. But if I don't write it down, I won't remember it. I leave myself post it notes and am slowly (or rapidly) turning into my mother. Although she's nearly 60 with barely any grey hair, weighs almost 30 lbs less than me, and knows how to have a good time, so I suppose there are worse fates in life :)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Three Things Thursday
1.) When I was planning my move out here, everyone kept telling me that I was crazy and the winters would be horrendous and cold.
Today its going to be 54. 58 tomorrow.
The east coast? Getting slammed by yet another significant storm. Brr.
2.) Graduating felt a little anticlimactic. No 'last class', no graduation ceremony. It just kind of ended. I felt a little better last week when I got my diploma in the mail. I sat it in my coat closet, right next to my UMD one. Both of them are still in the packages they were sent in. I've decided that if I ever get my own office again (right now 95% of us are in cubes), I will pay to get them framed.
3.) View this video. Now. it will make your day better.
Today its going to be 54. 58 tomorrow.
The east coast? Getting slammed by yet another significant storm. Brr.
2.) Graduating felt a little anticlimactic. No 'last class', no graduation ceremony. It just kind of ended. I felt a little better last week when I got my diploma in the mail. I sat it in my coat closet, right next to my UMD one. Both of them are still in the packages they were sent in. I've decided that if I ever get my own office again (right now 95% of us are in cubes), I will pay to get them framed.
3.) View this video. Now. it will make your day better.
Monday, January 24, 2011
mmmmm meat.
After a completely unproductive Saturday (every time I stopped moving, I fell asleep), I got all gussied up and met my boss and her group of friends out at Fogo de Chao. So.Much.Meat.
It was my first time at Fogo. I had been to a brazilian steakhouse before, in Mexico of all places, but the meat-serving pace there was much slower. As soon as I flipped my little "i want meat" medallion from red (hold the meat) to green (mas meat, por favor - and yes, I know they speak Portuguese, but spanish is as close as I can get) - it was nonstop meat!
They come around with various cuts of meat on a steak and cut you off pieces cooked to your liking. My favorite was some kind of super garlicky steak, but there wasn't much I passed on. My Scottish genetics had me wanting more meat than could feasibly fit in my stomach, and I enjoyed every last bite.
I went with mostly couples, who each split a bottle of wine between them. Again, being too cheap (ok, ok, mom - 'frugal') to buy by the glass, I got a half bottle, which I deemed 'the single girl special'. I was delighted when it came in an actual tiny wine bottle instead of a decanter. Had I not brought a nice new purse, I definitely would have tried to take it home with me - it was so cute!
We all tried to go out and play pool afterwards, but it was evident that we all just wanted to go back to our respective homes and put on sweatpants. Which I promptly did.
I woke up Sunday morning and went for my first scheduled run/walk. I pushed the running pace for the first and third miles, but the second mile - which is mostly uphill - I felt a little like death. I don't recommend running with that much meat still in your system. It hurts.
Overall it was a good weekend, complete with a Green Bay win and a Jets loss.
It was my first time at Fogo. I had been to a brazilian steakhouse before, in Mexico of all places, but the meat-serving pace there was much slower. As soon as I flipped my little "i want meat" medallion from red (hold the meat) to green (mas meat, por favor - and yes, I know they speak Portuguese, but spanish is as close as I can get) - it was nonstop meat!
They come around with various cuts of meat on a steak and cut you off pieces cooked to your liking. My favorite was some kind of super garlicky steak, but there wasn't much I passed on. My Scottish genetics had me wanting more meat than could feasibly fit in my stomach, and I enjoyed every last bite.
I went with mostly couples, who each split a bottle of wine between them. Again, being too cheap (ok, ok, mom - 'frugal') to buy by the glass, I got a half bottle, which I deemed 'the single girl special'. I was delighted when it came in an actual tiny wine bottle instead of a decanter. Had I not brought a nice new purse, I definitely would have tried to take it home with me - it was so cute!
We all tried to go out and play pool afterwards, but it was evident that we all just wanted to go back to our respective homes and put on sweatpants. Which I promptly did.
I woke up Sunday morning and went for my first scheduled run/walk. I pushed the running pace for the first and third miles, but the second mile - which is mostly uphill - I felt a little like death. I don't recommend running with that much meat still in your system. It hurts.
Overall it was a good weekend, complete with a Green Bay win and a Jets loss.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Three Things Thursday
1.) Today, for the first day in nearly five weeks, I woke up feeling good, happy, and back to healthy. Showering felt good, I had energy, and I'm ready to get back at the gym. This coincides nicely with...
2.) Yesterday I officially paid up my money and registered for my very first half marathon. I picked San Francisco on July 31st. My cousin Jess might run it with me but my running buddy Katie is going to run with! A girl I work with from DC, a Denver coworker and his friend are all running it too. Should be a good time! Tonight I start getting back up to a baseline of 6 mile long runs by kicking off the 5 week training plan Katie awesomely created for me.
3.) February is already action-packed. After I come back from a long weekend in New Orleans, I have 22 hours to turn around, watch the superbowl, and head back to the airport for Seattle. I'm going to kick off a new Army project, but we're staying in downtown (a few blocks from the Space Needle) and I'm definitely eager to pack in as much sight-seeing as possible! I'll be back for a week and then it'll be back to the airport to pick up Marisa!!
2.) Yesterday I officially paid up my money and registered for my very first half marathon. I picked San Francisco on July 31st. My cousin Jess might run it with me but my running buddy Katie is going to run with! A girl I work with from DC, a Denver coworker and his friend are all running it too. Should be a good time! Tonight I start getting back up to a baseline of 6 mile long runs by kicking off the 5 week training plan Katie awesomely created for me.
3.) February is already action-packed. After I come back from a long weekend in New Orleans, I have 22 hours to turn around, watch the superbowl, and head back to the airport for Seattle. I'm going to kick off a new Army project, but we're staying in downtown (a few blocks from the Space Needle) and I'm definitely eager to pack in as much sight-seeing as possible! I'll be back for a week and then it'll be back to the airport to pick up Marisa!!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
"Amoxicillin's just not real enough"
Au contraire, Eminem, but Amoxicillin is a bit too real for this kid.
After finally getting meds for my month-long cold, I headed up into the mountains for a ski-filled weekend. We arrived Friday, played some Trivial Pursuit and hit the slopes on Saturday AM. We accidentally ended up on black diamond, but made it to the bottom unscathed! I even learned how to ski moguls correctly and not just use them like little mini ski jumps! I also finally figured out why celebrities are always skiing into trees - those suckers are right in the middle of the slope! Certainly different than east coast skiing.
Saturday night, however, I noticed I was scratching my tummy and found a nice little rash. I tried to think if I had been wearing new clothing or if anything was rubbing, but chocked it up to super dry skin, threw on some lotion and went to bed (at only 8:15, mind you, I was exhausted!)
By Sunday morning, it had become clear that this was not just dry skin and I did a text message consult with my Dr friend Caroline. Thankfully, earlier in the week Allison had mentioned she is allergic to Amoxicillin and can't take penicillin-based drugs so I had a feeling thats what it was. Dr. Caroline said that as long as I had no airway issues, that no longer taking the meds and then taking some Benadryl should help. I picked up some Benadryl on the way to the slopes and made sure the folks I was skiing with would catch me if I fell asleep on the ski lift!
We skied a half day, after which my friends said it was like I was high, since I was quiet and kind of mellow, eyes half open - but I skied nonetheless! Even rallied for some tubing that night - which was a blast!
This allergic reaction is pretty much the most miserable thing I've ever experienced, probably hand in hand with the great Mexico fiasco of 2008. I'm plowing through benadryls and using benadryl cream. I've been googling nonstop, trying to determine how long this will last. In theory, I'm nearly out of the woods and my fingers are crossed that I wake up in the morning thoroughly less red. It might just be a figment of my imagination, but my hands and arms appear to be returning to normal. Katie sent me her custom-made training plan to get my back up to six miles and I'm eager to start - but I'm supposed to avoid sweating! This has been a terrible month, health-wise, and I'm ready for it to be over!
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