Friday

I'm glad it's Friday. It's been a busy week.

Since our walk with Ginger, Brandon has been glued to the recliner watching Xavier then OSU play in the NCAA tournament. That means I retreated to the upstairs to do anything but watch basketball. (The only sport I can get into is baseball...and I definitely have a time limit!)

I decided to watch back-to-back episodes of Sex and the City. I love that show -- it's smart, funny and highly entertaining. I've been working my way through season 6 again. I cried at least three times tonight. That last season has some emotional moments.

So to summon my inner Carrie Bradshaw...I've been thinking about my own life and the way I react to things. Does anyone else let little things get to them? Are we so hung up on the little things that we begin to sweat the small stuff? I know I do. It seems to pop out of me unexpectedly -- like tonight when the darn Donatos line was busy for like 10 minutes. I got annoyed it was absurd looking back on it. Oh well -- I guess everyone is allowed a little irrational freaking out once in a while, right?

Back in the Groove

It's been a few weeks since we got back from Hawaii, so I'm finally back in the groove. Work is busy and changing--we recently took over media relations for University Hospital--and Brandon and I have been focusing on relaxing at home and not overbooking ourselves.

Last weekend, I had a great night with the girls on Friday. We were supposed to scrapbook, but we ended up just eating and chatting until midnight. Cat well checks were Saturday morning, which is a bit stressful. Leonard got away from us and scratched the heck out of Brandon. Fortunately, the actual vet visits went much better. Sassy was officially diagnosed with chronic bladder infections -- DUH -- so she got an antibiotic shot again. It's frustrating, but at least it's nothing something more serious.

This weekend, Brandon will be glued to the couch watching basketball. On Saturday, we're looking forward to dinner with Paula and Kirk at Brown Dog Cafe. It's local restaurant week, so there are some great specials going.

I finally loaded all our Hawaii pictures to Shutterfly. If you are interested, you can see them at: http://harpervacationphotos.shutterfly.com/.

Back to Reality

We returned from another great two week vacation in Hawaii last Sunday. It was rough work week -- lack of sleep and no Hawaii will do that -- but we made it to the weekend.

I haven't loaded all of our photos from the trip yet (they are organized on Brandon's computer and he is still sleeping), but I'll post them to to Shutterfly soon if you are interested in seeming them. We take A LOT of pictures, though, and the digital camera really took that to a new level. (Thanks, Jane!)

We did about 40 miles of hiking between Poli Poli State Park (redwood forrest), Haleakala State Park (volcano), Hana and West Maui Mountain. I loved it all. Tito also rented a car for part of the trip, so we were able to do two shuttle hikes. The first started at the Haleakala Summit (10,000 ft up) and we down to the crater floor then up the other side. We saw Nenes, the Hawaiian goose, and tons of gorgeous scenary. I'll post photos later. West Maui Mountain gave us sweeping views of the island. Poli Poli was an unusual scene for Hawaii. It's a redwood forrest like you would see in California. Here's a picture of me doing what I love to do: HUG TREES!



We also did a fair amount of sunning on the beach, playing in the water, snorkeling, TONS of greate whale watching (including a boat trip with Brandon's grandparents with the Pacific Whale Foundation) and a day trip to the island of Lanai exploring four-wheel drive roads around the island.

I'll post more later. Right now, I need coffee stat.

ALOHA

Snowy Aloha?

Something is seriously wrong with this picture...



This sign is in my backyard. It reminds me I'll be in Hawaii in a few weeks. WHOO HOO!

Snow, Snow and More Snow

We're getting hit again with snow today, but I received permission to work from home. THANK GOODNESS. I hate burning vacation days for no good reason and I don't like risking my life driving in he snow.

Anyway, the snow is still coming down and the ice continues to accumulate. Ginger absolutely loves it and runs in crazy circles, burrowing her face in the snow. (Why is that, do you think?) For now, I'm staying inside where it is dry.

I took a few photos through the window though of the snow and ice. Here they are:





Fortunately, we have power.

Snow Day

I decided to forego driving in the four plus inches of snow (which is still coming down) to work today. The main campus is actually on delay until 10 a.m., but we are considered "essential staff" since we work on the CoM side of things. And since one of my former coworkers abused the priviledge to work from home, we can no longer do that either. So...I decided to take a vacation day and do some more studying for the GRE.

This past weekend, Brandon and I broke down and went to China Gourmet for dinner Friday night. It was excellent as usual. I spent nearly the entire day Saturday studying algebra for the GRE. Talk about an ego-killer. Yuck. Sunday was housework and shelter duty, as usual, and a little more studying.

Sunday we also had to face that horrible chore that comes twice a year: time for Brandon to crawl in the hole to clean out our drainage pipe from the bathroom sink into the stack. It is a nasty, tedious job that we both dread. Brandon hates it because he has to crawl in a tiny work space behind our toilet. I hate it b/c I'm relegated to the "assistant" role, leaning over into the cavern holding a flashlight at just the right angle handing him tools and trying note to puke from the pressure on my diaphragm. Here are some pictures of Brandon in the hole...





...and just because, here is a picture of one of my favorite cats at STAF, Mac. He's awesome, if anyone is looking for a cuddle bug who will let you hold him like a baby. Who could resist that face?

Ding, Dong Bush is Gone!

After eight very, very long years, Bush is finally no longer our president.

I'm not a very patriotic person, but it sure does make me feel better about America with Barack Obama now leading our country. Let's hope for change, fiscal responsibility and alleviated suffering in the coming years.

In other news, I started the unpleasant task of reviewing test material for the GRE, which I am taking Feb. 7. I'm dusting off the files stored way, way down in my brain that hold my knowledge of square roots, alegbra, geometry, etc. I spent a fair amount of time over the weekend reviewing and will continue to do so until test day arrives. If I fail, you won't hear anything else about it because I'll pretend it never happened!:)

I also attended a seminar on composting, something else I'd like to start doing as part of my earth-friendly ways. It's a simply thing to do that will keep even more out of the landfill. It's also a great way to naturally replenish our soil. More to come on that...

Paula and I went to lunch on Monday to catch up and see Revolutionary Road. The movie was depressing, but lunch was tasty and the company great as usual.