A blessing

Today, I went to a family reunion. It was for my great grandma's (on my mother's side) family. This reunion takes place every year, but we usually don't go. This year, I kept getting the pressure from EVERYONE to go! I couldn't figure out why this year was something special!

If you have spent any time with my family, you know that my mother has three sisters that are just as crazy as she is....and as I am, I guess! One of my aunts has been separated from us for quite some time. In fact, the last time all four girls were together was my grandpa's funeral in 1996. Thankfully, this aunt decided to come back to the family reunion and see everyone! It was amazing to see her...and I completely think it was one of the hardest things to do after being gone for so many years! Hooray for her! I hope she continues to stay involved.

I had a great time with my crazy family, as always. I continue to be blown away by people who don't have the great relationship with their families as I do with mine. Even though we were just together for a few hours, I think it was absolutely worth it!

Yesterday, I went to the FAIR! Oh, it's Fair time again! Michael, Jennifer, and I tried a host of fair foods....from Chicken Fried Bacon...to corn dogs (always yum!)...and my favorite....deep fried grilled cheese! Delightful! I only did one or two bites of the food, and my stomach grumbled a bit, but no disasterous results! I don't like to tempt fate with the stomach, but I figured it was the fair, and NOT something I plan on duplicating on a daily basis.

Tomorrow...back to work...ALONE! :) I'm alone at work for the first three days, so it should be quite interesting...as always. It's either feast or famine...part of me hopes for famine! :)

Ok. Must do laundry. ICK!

The big one!

Guess you've figured out how much weight I've lost in the last five months! INSANITY!

Back from vacation!

Sadly, I've returned from my fabulous vacation! Even though I had one less day in the Pacific Northwest, I still had an amazing adventure! I walked SO much in those six days! Here's a run-down of my experiences!

Sunday-Up bright and early. My wonderful brother took me to the airport before the sun came up. My flight was uneventful, thankfully! A short layover in New Mexico...then on to Seattle! Tammy and her mom (who was visiting too!) picked me up at the airport and we headed off on a waterfall discovery adventure. We went to three different waterfalls and hiked A LOT! Remember, I still have jelly legs! :) I actually was pretty impressed with myself! We wandered home, through the gorgeous mountain ranges!

Monday-my birthday! Happy 31 to me! We took Tam's mom to the airport and went off to a Seattle landmark...the Pike's street market! The fish throwers were there in full force, throwing giant salmon and halibuts! Hilarious! I absolutely salivated over all the fresh produce and flowers for sale, sadly wishing it could come home with me! We ate lunch at a great crab house right on the water...clams and mussels! YUM! We got pedicures, relaxed for awhile, and then headed out for dinner. Dinner was a great seafood restaurant on the lake. It gets about 20 kinds of fresh, never frozen seafood daily! I had some delighful ahi and my first experience with wine. Let's just say, I'm pretty fun after MUCH less than I used to be! Thankfully, the cowboy game was on and I was able to cheer happily and without reservation! No eagles fans in the whole place!

Tuesday-Space Needle! We walked over to the Seattle Center (the site of the Seattle world's fair!) and I did my most touristy adventure 600 feet up to the top of the needle. It was an absolutely beautiful day and my pictures turned out GREAT! We walked around the Seattle Center for a while after that and had a great picnic lunch sitting by this enormous fountain. All the water was choreographed to music and it was a great thing to watch! We were in the hot (hot for Seattle!) sunshine, and I actually got a sunburn! Go me! Afterwards, we walked back to Tam's apartment and went to see The Women...cute, but at times depressing!

Wednesday-off to Canada! We headed out in the morning, the first gray day outside since I'd come to Seattle! Crossing the border was only about a 5 minute adventure! Hooray for us! Guess I didn't look threatening. We made it to our hotel about oneish. The nice people let us check in early! We walked to Yaletown, a big restaurant district, to find some lunch. Afterwards, we walked around to get our bearings and find some tourist information. We ended up finding out about a bus that had 23 stops throughout the city. There was an additional pass that included five of the biggest Vancouver attractions. We decided that was the best plan and went to bed kinda early to prepare for the busy day!

Thursday-the walking begins! We caught the bus around 9:30 and headed off to the Vancouver lookout...basically the equivalent of the Space Needle. Afterwards, we headed to Stanley Park, a 1000acre park at the tip of downtown. It's absolutely beautiful! It houses the Vancouver Aquarium, home to a three month old baby beluga whale! They also have some dolphins, sharks, turtles, sea otters, sea lions, and lots of fish...but the highlight was the precious beluga! They have an outside viewing area and an underwater viewing area as well. After we were done at the aquarium, we decided to walk to the IMAX instead of riding the bus because brilliant Stephanie thought it was at 5pm. We HAULED across the city only to find out that the next show was at 6, and it wasn't even the one we wanted to see! We ended up going to a pub for some dinner and waiting until 7 for the 3D IMAX. Afterwards, we took a cab home because we were exhausted and tired of walking!

Friday-the adventure ends. We got up early again, but the buses were running WAY late! I think it was almost 45 minutes off schedule! We went first to Chinatown to the Classical Chinese Gardens. It was very pretty, but not something I would have paid extra for. Afterwards, we rode the bus back to our hotel, stopping along the way to grab some food at a great French restaurant. We headed off to the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. It was CRAZY! The bridge never stops moving! The gorge is wide enough to let two 747's side by side through the ravine without touching wing tips! Nuts! On the other side of the canyon, there was lots of hiking and roaming around. After spending about three hours there, we were pretty exhausted and decided to head back to Seattle. We got in the car at 5pm. By 6, we were on the other side of Vancouver. At 6:46PM, we got to the US/Canadian border. At 9:20, we were finally into the USA! Two and a half hours to get across the border is RIDICULOUS! We got back to Seattle about 11PM. I think I completely collapsed into the bed at that point!

Saturday-flying home. Not much to do...except get on the plane. My flight home was uneventful. Michael picked me up at the airport, with Liberty in tow. I slept in my own bed!

There's my trip in a nutshell! Well, I'm pretty verbose, so I guess not QUITE a nutshell! I posted a whole bunch of pictures on Facebook, but if you don't have access to that, here's the link to the album.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31226&l=98395&id=777629419

I go back to work tomorrow, not happily at ALL. I'd much rather stay off work for another week. Thanks for reading!

Impact of Ike

My parents live outside Houston, off I-45, about 45 minutes from Galveston. Even though both of them had off work since Thursday, they decided to stay and weather the storm and protect their turf. I talked to them several times yesterday, the last time being about 9pm, when the wind had gotten too strong for Jack to go outside anymore.

I also talked to them this morning, after the storm had passed through. They currently have no power (lost it about 2AM), have no fence, and have tons of tree branches EVERYWHERE! They have some water damage in one of the bathrooms and their street is flooded...but they are safe and alive! They have food and water, and thankfully, their cellphones both still work! My dad has wired one of the TV's to a car battery so they can keep up with what's going on around town. Jack's mad because he can't roam the backyard freely.

I should have been in Seattle already, but Southwest Airlines got freaked out and cancelled a lot of flights this morning. The weather here in Dallas is just now starting to get interesting, but they claim "dangerous crosswinds" as their cancellation reason. Originally, they closed the airport until Monday morning. I had to reschedule my trip until then, and was quite angry about it. Once we heard the majority of the storm was going to miss Dallas, I started calling Southwest hourly to see if I could get out earlier than Monday. The first few times, I was still told the airport was closed until Monday. FINALLY, I was told that they had openings on a flight tomorrow, so I begged and pleaded! Normally, you're only supposed to have one switch for free, but I threw out the "Monday's my birthday" card, and was able to convince them! SO, tomorrow morning, I'll fly out, only losing 24 hours of my vacation!

Liberty is lounging around, getting freaked out by the wind noises in the hallway. I guess having a day to relax on this side of the trip probably isn't such a bad idea...it gives me a chance to pack smartly, instead of throwing crap in a bag...which was the plan!

So, if you think about it today, please say a prayer for my parents and their lack of power...and all the other families in Houston/Galveston who are experiencing loss today.

SO SO ready!

I am going on vacation in TWO days. I am so excited I almost can't see straight! I haven't been on a true vacation in over two years. Being off for surgery doesn't count. Going to Honduras for paid slave labor doesn't count. This is a true, I'm not gonna think about the hospital vacation!

My friend Tammy is a travel nurse. She roams around the country in fabulous exotic places, doing fabulous nursing things. Right now, she's in Seattle...which is a place I've never been! I decided that I needed to go visit her while she's in one of these fabulous places that I haven't been! I leave on Saturday and return the following Saturday. I'm actually going to be there for my birthday, so that should be fun! During the time I'm there, we're also going to go up to Vancouver, which I hear is beautiful! Exciting!

Work has been crazy, life here at the house has been crazy. Too much craziness! I'm ready to be on vacation and not think about it! I've been on a lot of call recently with very little sleep...which is not my favorite thing. If I am gonna not have sleep, I'd rather be having fun instead of being tortured at work! As long as I can go through tomorrow morning at 7AM, I'm FREE! Whoo hoo! :)

The klutz returns...

I am RETARDED. I think if I went back and looked at how many of my blog entries involve me falling down and/or injuring myself, I'd be amazed. Today was no exception. I went to my "old" apartment to finish getting some boxes out of the garage. While carrying one box to my car, I completely tripped over a concrete bar on the floor of the garage and decided to say hello to the concrete! Aside from a skinned knee, elbow, and bruised hip, I've survived unscathed! :)

I laugh at myself when this kind of stuff happens because I am ALWAYS on my mother to be careful. I don't let her get on ladders or ride scooters...because she's accident prone. I'm beginning to think that the older I get, the more I become like her, in more ways than one! Thankfully, I still have some meds from my surgery left over, so I was able to help the pain go away. It stinks not being able to take ibuprofen! ARG!

This week, I have found a new food to love. I've become addicted to Morningstar farms Asian Veggie Patties. They are divine. I've only really liked meatless patties and things for the last few years. Sometimes, they are too full of rice and other fillers. These patties are almost all veggies...carrots, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots....YUM! It's still so wonderful to be able to actually EAT and not get sick! I think the hardest part of this journey is still waiting a 1/2 hour to be able to drink after I eat! Ah well, I'm starting to get used to it.

Okay, it's Saturday afternoon, and I am going to NAP. I'm very VERY excited about this. Perhaps it's the meds making me slightly sleepy...but I care not. This week has been BUSY with lots of late nights...and now I get to sleep! :)

My new apartment!

Here are some pictures of the new place!!