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6.30.2006

okay, honestly...

where did this week go?! Forget that, where did this month go? I turned around and suddenly its friday! And tomorrow its july! And I have a wonderful four day weekend to look forward to, followed by a day and a half of work, followed by a three and a half day weekend during which Megan and Mike will get married! I definitely like that ratio of weekend days to work days! Unfortunately it will also mean another week of not seeing much of travis... he has to work some this weekend, and monday. I'll get to spend tuesday with him which will be nice, but then he works wednesday night... and thursday I am heading right from work to the rehearsal, so I won't see him thursday or friday until the wedding. At least we will get to have fun at the reception together.

Honestly I'm surprised the week went by so fast. My boss Alan has been out for the week and its been so hard to be motivated... and I've just been pretty blah about work itself this week, but amazingly I've still gotten all my work done and the days have still flown. I might not understand the why of it, but believe me, I'm not complaining!

Now, for your viewing pleasure... I finally have some photos for you of Megan's bridal shower, and of Babs and I from last weekend.

Megan being surprised as she walked in the door.

Her cake.

Megan with her mom (on the left, blond) and Mike's mom (on the right, light brown).

Her little sister Caitlin all decorated in her toilet paper wedding dress.


And these are from BABs' place:
Babs, me in the middle, and our friend Joy.

Babs and I.

Fun, right?! I think Babs and I are kind of hotties in that second picture. :-)

Whenever I go a few days without writing, I always feel like I should have so much to report on, but honestly while we definitely keep busy... its all just the same stuff and nothing that would seem so exciting to talk about. I finally got out of the house on Wednesday and hit the ball around on the tennis court... just practicing my serve and such... but without someone else to volley with, well you can only go for so long. I did get a good 20 minutes or so... not to bad. Hopefully I'll get my butt in gear today too and do something outside. I might as well enjoy one of our first days without rain in over a week! Luckily my neighborhood and surrounding area wasn't really effected too much by the rain... but a lot of people not too far were. Pop over and see this post by Mainline Mom to see some of the horrible flooding in the Philadelphia area. Here's a story that talks about more areas in the Northeast that were hit hard. I also showed you some of the flooding in DC thanks to my cousin Ian's picture. Hopefully the worst is behind us and the waters can start to receed!

Okay, well the day is winding down, so I'm going to get back to work... and then get on to my weekend! Enjoy!

6.27.2006

today is endless...

... so I won't bore you with the details. Instead I'll look forward to tonight, when I'm making some stir fry for Travis and I. Yum!

For your entertainment:


Tomorrow is our work "summer party". Basically they buy us pizza... but hey, I'll take it.

One more hour to go...

6.26.2006

speak to me

Sometimes something just speaks to you... whether others think its silly or not. Sometime you see your future in a single picture.

I just finished watching all six seasons of Sex and the City. The last show is amazing. Sad, then happy, then wistful, and always so hopeful. It made me cry.

"You girls are the loves of her life, a guy is lucky to come in fourth." Mr. Big

"...I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous." Carrie



In the end they are so totally fabulous...



me too.

the drowned rat look is so in right now.

Okay, so I know I said I love thunderstorms... which I do... but this cold endless rain, it's just got to stop.

Here is my cousin Ian standing on the corner of 15th & Constitution in DC... behind him is the Washington monument:


As you can see, its a bit flooded there!
And its miserable here... especially since I didn't have an umbrella with me this morning (mine just broke). It looked like I showered in my clothes... none too attractive. Luckily I keep a long sleeved yoga top here at work for days the AC is on overkill, so I'm wearing that while my shirt dries in front of my mini heater. Urg. Nice warm soup for lunch today, that's for sure.

At least the weekend was great. I got to spend the night at Heather's and see the Malnights. Both long overdue. I also got my invite envelopes from my Mom... very exciting!!

Back to work... unfortunately it continues, even in this weather.

6.23.2006

friday... 'bout time.

So glad its friday. Last night was tiring, I babysat after work... but it was good. Travis had off on Wednesday which was a big treat. We played Scrabble and had a great time. He killed me, but I still love him. Last night was the first night that I was really uncomfortable with the heat. Although the thunderstorm which came pounding in with gale-force winds definitely cooled things down a bit. I'm actually excited by the fact that they are calling for thunderstorms all next week! I Love thunderstorms.


As long as it stops for Megan and Mike... but we have two weeks (exactly) for that.
Ooo, lets do a countdown list... I haven't for a while and its good to have something to be excited for. I happen to have lots to be excited for in the next few months.

July:
2 weeks until Megan & Mike's wedding
5 weeks until we hit up the shore with Brian & Stacey
August:
5 weeks 4 days until JIMMY BUFFET!!!!!!!!!
7 weeks 4 days until my birthday!
8 weeks until we leave for Cape Cod for a week!! :-)
9 weeks 4 days until we mail our invites (give or take).
September:
10 weeks until the girls and I take over VEGAS!
13 weeks until our RSVPs are due.
13 weeks 1 day until the first day of Autumn (9/23 this year).
October:
16 weeks until Travis and I finally make it legal!!!!! :-)

Lots of things to be exciting for. Travis and I had a good talk the other night, and I think it was the first time in at least three or four years that I had really spoken, not written, but actually spoken about a particular depressive time and how I felt during it. It was good to say it outloud and I've felt a lot better since. Sometimes we get so busy that I forget how good a listener Travis is, and how he will always try to help me with a "solution" if it is the type of situation which can have a solution.

Okay, well busy day and lots to do...
Ciao!

6.21.2006

10000

Forgot to point this out earlier, but sometime over the weekend I hit the 10,000 views mark (see hit counter at the bottom of the sidebar on left). Yay, and thanks guys... that does good things for my self esteem. :-)

6.20.2006

you know

I haven't felt like writing much lately. Just not too much to say at the moment. We've been doing much of the same stuff. The only different thing was Megan's Bridal Shower this past weekend. It worked, we surprised her! It was a good time and she enjoyed herself, which was the most important part. I wil have pictures, but haven't had the time/energy to upload them yet. Sunday we had Ro & Pat for dinner. Otherwise, it is work and more work, and trying not to melt in the heat. Time has been passing quickly though, June is more then half over.
I've been having some of my pangs of depression lately, but I've been doing pretty good with trying to "talk myself down" and not let them get ahold of me. Last night I ended up bursting into tears when Travis and I were both in bed getting ready to go to sleep. Travis got upset and was asking what was wrong, but I really didn't know how to answer him. There wasn't really anything wrong... I was just sad. Another big thing for me right now is self esteem issues. I feel unattractive, and like I am getting no where with my attempts to get into a little better shape. Travis seems to think that I've lost a little bit of bum, and maybe he's right, but I just can't see it! Plus it doesn't help that last week I broke out more then I have since high school! This week its starting to get better, but my forehead still looks like a relief map of the Rocky Mountains, and I don't know why. You think trying to eat better would help my skin. Combine that with my babyfine hair, which won't do anything I want, and looks frizzy or limp on any given day... and forget not washing it everyday in this heat or else it looks like such a bad oil slick that you might expect Exxon to send workers to try and save the baby seals... well, its just enough to make me feel like sh*t. (I am all about the illustrative writing today.) Honestly, I know everyone is most critical of themselves, but its hard to see myself otherwise right now. I should be feeling better. I should be losing some weight, or at least gaining a better shape... and I think the fact that I'm not (or at least, that I can't see it yet) is making me feel 20x worse about my body. All other areas suffer exponentially.
Okay, well enough of that happy-go-lucky stuff. Only 45 more minutes to get through and then it is time to go home... and Travis is home tonight!

6.19.2006

Sunday, bloody Sunday

More later, but oh man I could not pass this up!! Worth the watch... someone has wayyyy too much time on their hands.



Enjoy!

6.16.2006

random bits and bites

First off, head over to Alice's Journal to greet yet another new arrival!! Little Matthew was born the evening of the 14th, and he is adorable. Congrates Alice!

~*~*~*~

On a random note to Barry... yes, I am very excited for the wedding. I know what you mean about it feeling like you are already married... Trav and I definitely feel like that too. We've lived together for most of our almost six years, and we own our own house. But I'm just excited for the day itself, to make it legal, and to get to celebrate our relationship with everyone we love. Although another huge reason I am so eager for it to get here is because I just want the planning and all the stress that goes with the planning to be over with already!!! Lol, I just don't want to have to think about it anymore! Anyway...

~*~*~*~

Today I woke up with a sinus headache. It's all pressure, and is annoying and distracting. My morning got a lot better though when I found a note from Trav with some cash telling me to get myself some sushi!! Yay! Sushi for lunch. This week has been a bit hectic. Tuesday we cleaned up the basement a bit (well not actually "cleaned" but rearranged the boxes) to prepare for the arrival of Kim & Harry's furniture, which they brought over on Wednesday. It took a few trips and some interesting finagling to get everything down the steps into the basement (including removing the outside door!), but it all worked out in the end and now we have a pretty fun little room set up down there. Hell, I'll probably be spending time down their during those hot summer days! It's supposed to be in the 90s all weekend and into next week, maybe I'll get to try it out sooner then I thought. But anyway, it all worked out and we were happy to help. Last night we did some BBQing and relaxed and watched Sex in the City (my boy is the best)... it was nice to have a relaxing night together.

I have some busy weekends ahead of me, so I'm all about relaxing tonight. More Sex in the City, a few random errands, and leftovers for dinner. Easy, relaxing. Oooo, I'll probably wash our new silverwear too (a belated bridal shower gift from Kim & Mom Crossan)!! Can't wait to use that stuff.

On another random note... what did everyone think of the newest "oppsie" from Bush? It was definitely an "open mouth insert foot", but I honestly think it is one of those mistakes that anyone could have made, and to his credit he did go back and apologize to the guy as soon as he found out. I guess I just think that he should be a bit more careful about what comes out of his mouth. The whole thing made me think of Dave Barry and his thoughts on saying anything to pregnant women. According to him, you don't say anything about a woman being pregnant unless she is actually giving birth at the time!! Apparently sunglasses should be on that list as well.

Well, back to work... plenty to do to keep myself busy today!

6.13.2006

four months

Four months to go, and I feel like it will never get here!!
However, Megan & Mike's wedding is only 3 weeks and 3 days away... so I'll live through them for the time being! :-)

Everyone head over to Poop & Boogies and check out the newest eddition to their family, Wyatt Blue. Congratulations to William and Lauren, and big brother, Maxfield!! Wyatt is adorable.

So tonight Trav is having an eye exam and getting some new glasses. And we're helping friends, either tonight or tomorrow, move some of their furniture into our basement for storage for a few months. We might try to set it up like a little room, but it depends on how everything fits. So it looks like we'll be keeping busy and getting some exercise in the next few days.

Today I'm just so distracted. I'm having trouble concentrating on work, or even on writing this. I'm off in another place right now and I don't know where or why. I might try heading out for a walk to zone out for a little and try to refocus. It looks gorgeous out anyway.

Okay, I'm going to try that... chow!

6.12.2006

a two for

Travis and I did too much on Saturday... it was good, but we were just running around to Friendly's (for a free meal), then to a graduation party (for Travis' cousin's daughter), then I had to take him back to work (where his car was) so he could would for the afternoon and I could go to Bed Bath & Beyond (to use our gift card to get these and this). Luckily after that I did so little for the rest of the weekend that I think I actually ended up expending negative energy.

Me

It's totally Barb's fault though (heart you Barb) because I borrowed her Sex and the City DVDs, for ALL seasons. And between Saturday evening-night, and Sunday all damn day I watched half of them! I'm already most of the way through Season Three. And they are fabulous! I love that show.
I did take one break yesterday mid-day to watch the ~1.5 to 2 miles (round trip, approx.) to the grocery store and get a few items we were needing. I had to get out of the house a little, get my blood flowing. But after that and some dishes, it was back to the DVDs. Hey, it was a weekend, and I have busy ones coming up so I wanted to enjoy it!

Today has been frantic. The morning was fine, but I was tired and running late. I have to do wash tonight... that was half my problem this morning. Then we had not one, but two events in our library today. And the speaker for the first event ran late. By 40 minutes! And when he called to give us his progress meantioned that "oh yea, can you set up for a power point presentation too?!" Blah!! So most of my morning was spent frantically running around setting things up, then tearing things down, and resetting up for the second meeting. Finally now I might be able to get some actual work done.

Well, I should probably get to it.

6.08.2006

me

So lately I have been trying to be creative. I've really wanted to do something to express myself the way I used to when I was younger. It can be so healing and a great way to express emotions that you don't know how to otherwise get out. I had my failed attempt on Monday... which just left me feeling crappy... the exact opposite react that I was going for. Well, last night I thought about it and realized that I was attempting to express myself in ways that are good for other people, but that don't work for me. I'm not great at abstract art... I'm not a illustrator, not a painter (although I do still want to give this a try), and I can't make great things on the computer. But I can do poetry and I can do photography. I haven't been in the right frame of mind to do poetry lately, so last night I got out the camera.

Mind you these aren't the best photos ever because I wanted to do "Self Portrait", and its hard when you don't have a tripod, or a great area for background, and its dark out so the outside is off limits... plus its not the best camera. But I'm really really happy with them... I think they accomplished what I was trying to get across. They caught me. Just me with no trimmings, no shows for other people... just me. I want to share them with you, but I'm not going to post them here. They aren't lude, and they don't show anything that shouldn't be seen, but I am not wearing clothes. I do want to know what you think though... I just want to give people the option to click or not click the links themselves, not just throw them up here. So please don't be scared away.

Me:

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

There are many more pictures, but these are my favorites.

Yea, this totally ended up fitting with half-naked thursday... even though that was not at all the intention. Hopefully some of you will be brave enough to check them out and let me know what you think of them. Honesty is welcome, but please don't be cruel.

6.07.2006

okay, how about we not...

mention pregnancy and me in the same thought again until after the wedding. Just not good timing for that. Thanks!!

Wrote a whole post earlier, but blogger was down all day. So that's gone and I'm really not feeling retyping it all! Will say that Trav and I watched 40 Year Old Virgin for the first time last night and it was damn funny. Not my favorite movie ever, but definitely funny, and the condom scene made it all worthwhile. That was both of our favorites.

So anyway, something silly to fill this out a bit:

Obsessed with Harry Potter stuff lately (again)...



Hey, you try... its really hard!!

Okay, off I go. Tomorrow you will be "rewarded" with something special. Lol. Okay.

6.06.2006

don't believe all the hype

So it's the big, supposedly scary, day! 6-6-6... except not really because no one ever abbreviates 2006 as 6. And I don't think 06-06-06 is nearly as scary.

Now if today started off like yesterday did... what with the puking in Starbuck's bathroom... then maybe I would give it a little more weight. But it didn't and so far the day has been uneventful and fine.

The weekend was nice. We had a "bachelorette party" for Megan who is getting married in about a month. It wasn't your typical bachelorette, but it was fun, laid back, and just a great evening with the girls. Perfect for Megan. I also babysat on Sunday, and poor Travis worked from 6am to 1pm. Urg. At least all of the new stuff has now been washed and mostly put away, even the towels. This weekend should be pretty laid back... and the week is looking pretty uneventful, except for hopefully having Brian & Stacey over for dinner on Thursday.

Last night was quiet. I'm enjoying the slightly cooler weather... I thought I might be creative too. But I ended up hating what I made and cutting it in half. I would have taken a good picture and posted it here, but i just took a half-assed shot, because as I said, I hated it!

Here it is, in all its loathed "Self-Portrait" glory.

Well, plenty to do... the boss-man gave me some big projects to finish up. None are really hard, but all are a pain in the butt!!


PS. Of course, I didn't forget.... a HUGE birthday shout out to my best friend, my babwa... Heather. She turned a whopping 23 years old yesterday. Happy Birthday Babs!!! Love you!

6.02.2006

don't know why...

Morning and happy friday. I'm going to try and actually post this within a half hour or so of when I start writing it, but we'll see how that works out. Sometimes its just so easy to get distracted, but I suppose since I'm writing this from work that isn't necessarily a bad thing since I should probably be concentrating on work stuff anyway!! Well, I have lots to do, but the boss is out for the morning because of Shavuot. He'll be in this afternoon, but things are pretty quiet right now and I'm enjoying his absence and the Enya I'm chilling to.

I still can't believe that it is really June, which I consider the "real summer". When I was a child, June meant getting out of school and starting summer vacation. I LOVED summer vacation. As much fun as school could occationally be, and as fun as it was to see friends everyday... who didn't love those three months of carefree days, staying up later at night, and swimming?! Heather and I did SO much swimming, we were like fish. She had an inground pool at her parents house, and I would go over there every weekday during the summer, giving my dad time to get things done and take care of my brother. We would play barbies for a bit in the morning, or read, or watch some TV... but sooner rather then later, we would always throw on our suits and end up in the pool. And we would swim all day... literally only taking breaks for lunch and a mid-afternoon snack, and maybe some lounging by the pool and reading if we got tired. Days that rained were so disappointing... we were out of the water, out of our summer element (although I have always loved a good thunderstorm, and the best ones always come in the summer). Those were the best days.

Now obviously, the summer isn't quite the same. No months off... things don't really change that much. Except that the days are longer and it definitely feels like you have more time for fun since it is actually light out when you get home. Those short days during the winter get to me after a while. I still love summer... even though I don't really handle the heat that great, but I can get outside, and there is plenty to look forward to: my birthday, the Cape, and I did go swimming with Ro this past weekend (something I hope to do a little more often). Either way, I'm definitely happy the summer is here. I hope you're all as excited for it as I am.

~~~~~

On a completely unrelated note: Every morning, my routine is to check my work email and my personal email, take care of the important things, then run through my list of blogs that I read. It relaxes me a bit, entertains me, and helps me ease into my day. One of my favorites is Expiration Date, which I randomly found and enjoyed, and then realized to my surprise (since she was born in Indonesia and is living in Singapore) that she attended Lehigh!

Anyway, I was reading up on Thalia this morning and want to point you in her direction. I don't know why this post got to me the way that it did... but I almost cried, which is maybe not the way I wanted to start my work day!! But it was a sad post and made me think about the fragility of life and how you never know what it might throw at you. So check it out.


Lol, so maybe I'm enjoying this no boss thing a little too much:
I had a little too much fun making "tickers"... lol. So here are ones for our birthdays:

babies

baby development


And here's one for our friend Espo...
(pictured here on her wedding day almost two years ago),
who just announced that she is pregnant!!

baby

We are so excited for her and I can't wait to see her, big belly and all, at our wedding! She is due Nov. 26th... so a Turkey baby!! :-)

Okay, now it is really time to work... and look, I'm posting in the morning!! Happy Friday!

6.01.2006

cowboy take me away

JUNE! Can you believe it is June already?! Gawh!

I feel like I will be washing things forever! I washed all of our new kitchen "gadgets" last night, and the rest of our glasses, and half of the towels. I still have to do all of the pots/pans and the rest of the towels. Not that I am complaining... because people's generosity has been amazing!

Oh, on another note: you definitely have to head over to Friday Playdate and read this post. That post is me. I'm so there... well, minus the kids.

~~~~~

4:00: Okay, so this has been sitting open since 11 this morning, and hasn't grown in size or content... I'm just going to post the fucker!

~~~~~

4:05: I almost forgot about this!!!!!!! (Thanks Barry.)


I can totally see both of these... although I think Rachel is much hotter then me, and Babs is much hotter then Celine Dion!!

Yea, I'm not seeing the whole Ms. Theron thing... but my brother totally looks like Gael!