Wednesday, February 28

Almost there . . .

as far as my goodbye dinners are concerned. Met up with Aunt Pat, Diane & Patty for dinner last night at Outback on BTP in Newington. AP & D had just gotten back from a cruise so they were nicely tanned & had fun stories to tell. As you could probably tell from all my posts yesterday I never got that nap I spoke about early on in the day, so I was rather whipped out during dinner.

On my way to the car, Jim called to confirm that Rob would be at the airport for my arrival on Sunday :) which was nice not to have to worry about.

This afternoon I have my Chuck E Cheese date with Owen, Maya, Sylwia, Jason & Jacob, which should be fun. Tonight's g'bye dinner is with Rog, Patti & Patty at Ruth Chris & tomorrow night is dinner at home with Anne, John & probably Matt. Then I'll be done with my goodbye meals & will just focus on packing & not being sick!!

I'm feeling better, as in my throat doesn't hurt but my ears are now blocked, hopefully this will resolve itself by Saturday evening when I get on the plane!!

NyQuil was my saviour last night when I couldn't sleep - I'm still confused as to why that is an over the counter drug?!?!?! I mean within 5 minutes I was in a comatose sleep & woke up 9 hours later in the exact same position - which trust me NEVER happens, I'm a mover in my sleep!!


This photo is for one person in particular & she should know who she is. I was driving home from Loon Lake the other weekend, saw this & knew I just had to stop to take a pic. I thought it might make her laugh, we use to giggle about these signs all the time:

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Tuesday, February 27

old photos that are WAY overdue

Here is the Winter Carnival Parade in Saranac Lake:

Here are the Valentine's Day Party pics:

Here are photos from sledding & this past weekend at my dad's house:

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Tom Hanks & Intro to Disease

did anyone see the Oscar's where Tom Hanks started reciting the steps of AA? See Zee & I are brilliant from our other post! I missed it but mom told me about it :)

Also please check out this great blog as well called, AdkPathCourse, by my previous boss in New York. It's funny because in the 4 years we worked together I always thought how he was such a great teacher & what a loss that the education system didn't have him working for them and here he is teaching :) I think it's fantastic!!

Okay nap time for real now!!

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I'm back from outter space

To all of us who have lost someone to suicide, please check out this video. Just about a year ago my friend lost her best friend, which is what spurred this video clip being added here. But I also lost a very good friend when I was only 17 to suicide, so this video hit home for me as well.



On a happier note, I'm back in CT today with my work VISA - YEAH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's official now that I'm leaving on Saturday 3 March at 17.10 out of Bradley Int'l Airport :)

I had dinner with friends in northern Westchester last night on my way back here & it was great to be able to see them before I left! They are going on an adventure to Peru for 5 weeks - I'm way jealous, well not totally, I'm not into living on a glacier for weeks on end, but I know they will have a blast!!!

Will write more later, for now I'm off to take a nap since I've got a bad cold with a stuffy nose, sore throat, clogged sinuses, can't hear from my left ear - ya know fun stuff like that.

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Friday, February 23

Old Baily & CCTV

Gotta love both the CCTV & Old Bailey in England!! Thanks to them John Laidlaw is going to jail for the shootings he was involved in last May on the Upper Street in Islington & at Holloway tube station. Places that I have been quiet often, well not the Holloway tube station, but the Upper Street for sure. I remember hearing about these incidents while I was there. It makes me happy to see he has been caught & reprimanded!!

Well I can't write much more since I have to pack for my trip to upstate NY & NYC, get my oil changed, go to Bradley Int'l airport, and drive up to my dad's today. Hopefully the next time I'm online I will be telling you all about my wonderful work VISA, which with luck will be granted on Monday.

I'll leave you with this video, the song was just on the telly:

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our dinner

What is that saying about the best laid plans . . . well yeah I should have expected I was too organized & ahead of schedule. Matt texted me around 2pm to say he'd had a bad day at work & really wanted pizza. Since I was in the store shopping, I returned what I'd gotten that far & went to buy stuff for pizza. After filling the cart another txt came through, "how about eastside" meaning he wanted to order a pizza, LOL, so I returned all that stuff & left with only a few things I wanted. When I got to his place I learned that Jay had had to go to an HSBC bank (only 4 in the state so he had to drive like 45 minutes) to get his tax return check cashed so he & Vanessa would not be joining us. Around 4.30pm Matt ordered a cheese pizza, at 4.50pm I left to hit up the post office, East Center street market to pick up ice cream & cigarettes (no, don't worry not for me!!), and then to pick up the pizza at East Side's.

The pizza in CT is typically cut in squares even though it's a round pizza, which to be honest, I'm not a fan of, but when Matt ordered he asked for "pie cut" so that was good. I had gotten Hidden Vally Ranch dressing (an essential item for most meals) so we had our pizza on his new really nice dishes (which he got free from John's dad's condo in Avon). Jay stopped over when he was back from the bank & chatted for a bit, they had decided to make vegetarian lasagna, which sounded really good but I was stuffed from the pizza & knew that apple crumble with vanilla ice cream was on it's way.

I must admit I was rather tired when I got to Matt's so I'm sorta glad I didn't have to cook & semi entertain J&V. As I've said before I guess all things happen for a reason, this is just yet another example of that. Thanks Zee for the links, I'll def have to try those when I get a chance to cook next, they look really yummy!!!

Now I'm back home waiting for 9pm to roll around so I can watch Grey's Anatomy.

Oh, I know something else that I haven't really posted about yet, my flight back to Londontown. As you may recall I had a rather long trip out to Portland at Christmas, but for compensation they gave me free vouchers for future flights. In order to use them you have to call up USAirways directly, book the ticket & then bring your voucher in person to a USAirways representative, aka the airport. So I have a flight out of Bradley International Airport on Saturday 3 March at 5.10pm arriving at London's Gatwick airport around 8.30am Sunday 4 March. That's correct I will miss my graduation ceremony, but I will be able to spend a bit more time with friends here in the states who I haven't really seen while I've been home.

Alrightyroo, I'm going to make a phone call or two & get set up to watch Grey's . . . tarra & toodle pip (that's just for you Susan)

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Thursday, February 22

George Carlin makes me laugh

So after listening to GC's 10 commandments, I saw this one which made me laugh hysterically, so I posted it for you as well.

Making dinner tonight for Vanessa, Jay & Matt - I'm thinking about cottage pie, but I'm still semi up in the air about it, gonna have to check out recipes online & see what else peaks my interest, how about linguine with broccoli, pine nuts & red pepper flakes with garlic chicken . . . I think so!! Okay I'm off to check on the laundry & write up a list of things to buy :)

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Zee & I could save the world

So when chatting with my good friend Zee tonight we decided there are a few things that everyone should know/do. These 12 little steps come from AA, but as we were discussing how everyone could benefit from using them in their lives. Every time you read "alcohol" think of "life" and when you read "God/Him" think "higher power", so here goes:

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

so what do you think so far? Good right?!?!!? Well we further agreed that if we combine these 12 steps with some of the 10 commandments,

  • Honor your parents
  • You shall not murder
  • You shall not commit adultery
  • You shall not steal
  • You shall not bear false witness
  • You shall not covet your neighbor's wife
  • You shall not covet your neighbor's house

the world would be a much better place. Now I'm not expecting all of you to memorize & live by all of these immediately, but just think about them & maybe consider a few . . . well that's my 2 cents for the evening, catch ya laters

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Wednesday, February 21

Inspirational Woman Tackles Breast Cancer, Head-On

Fantastic article or you can see the actual video if you fancy that instead.

sledding is fun

Yesterday I told you I was going to have lunch with Sylwia & the kids, well after we eat we walked into their backyard & went sledding on a great hill. Here are two of the better shots from Sylwia's camera, mine of course have not been downloaded but it's on the list of things to do before I go, which by the way is getting ruddy long!!!! Updates as of 4pm in this colour
Owen & me about to take off down the hill
Owen, Maya & me getting ready for the big hill ride!

I've been up since 06.50 and already I've looked up flights, called USAirways, been on hold for 20 minutes & finally been told I need to call another number, which of course isn't open till 08.30EST - ugh!!
Yesterday I received my new Sonicare toothbrush charger, but it's for Europe not the UK, which was something I specified while on the phone, but I'll have to call back again today & sort this out!!
Last night Patty & I had dinner at Subway followed by chocolate lava cake dessert at Matt's & then onto $5 movie night where we saw Music & Lyrics with Drew Barrymore & Hugh Grant. The theatre was packed, probably a combo of kids having this week off & the great deal that $5 movie night is!!
To Do:
  1. call "Aunt" Jinny about staying over Sunday night (done while typing :)
  2. mail some stuff
  3. call USAirways about free ticket vouchers done!
  4. make reservations to go to London also done just have to drive up the BDL with ticket voucher - flight is 3 March at 5pm
  5. download camera photos (winter carnival, V-day party & sledding)
  6. post photos
  7. call TLFCU & ask them to send me a 10-99 form (done while typing this - dad it is being mailed next week - they need a change of address form from me :)
  8. do a load of laundry & fold laundry that's in the dryer
  9. call Rog back about dinner done - tentative dinner a week from tonight
  10. call about sonicare toothbrush done as well, they don't have a UK plug, so I ordered a Eurpoe to UK converter
  11. write up a schedule/calendar for my last few days here so I'm not running around like a chicken with my head cut off started but will need to keep it up & try to stick to the plan
I'll leave you with this interesting article that my dad just sent to me

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as if this needs a title??

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Tuesday, February 20

GOOD NEWS

I'm finally off to have lunch with Sylwia, Owen, & Maya, we've been planning this lunch for a few months now but kept having to postpone it due to our crazy schedules, so before I leave I wanted to tell you a few exciting things.

a) I spoke to someone at the BCG's office at the cost of $2.49/minute & found out that if you go in person (as I am) 90% of the time you receive the visa on the same day, meaning I could fly over for graduation!!

b) spoke to Greg (my future boss) and he said I can start 12 March - which means I can go to graduation & then to Scotland with Amanda, Dom & Family - yipeeee!!!

c) a good friend of mine who I've sorta been on the outs with sent me an email which helped to clear up what was going on - unfortunately I can't reply right now, as I'm running out the door, but I hope to this afternoon, after I run a few errands

Okay I'm outta here, tarra

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Monday, February 19

ugh paper work makes my head hurt!

My list of things to do which I posted earlier have all gotten done & then some!! While waiting for my passport photos Mrs Toste called to invite me out to lunch since she was "in town" of course at that point I wasn't at Patty's like she thought I was, but they kept themselves amused for 30 minutes while I drove up to meet them. We eat at Panera Bread which I must admit was not nearly as good as I recalled it being, but it filled me up so I can't complain too, too much.

My only gripe for the day is that the British Consulate Generals office is closed :( After pulling together all of my "needed" information & making an appt for next Monday I called to ask if this is an instantaneous process or will they have to hold onto my passport. The reason for my concern is that my graduation is 3 March & I REALLY REALLY want to be there!!

I also tried to call my favourite travel agent, but again due to the holiday she is not available to answer my questions either!! In the mean time I've checked out Kayak Life's a Trip website which has some good deals - thanks to Dan S for that recommendation!!! and while looking for that website I discovered, cheap flights to europe website, which is able to beat Kayak's website by $20 -$50, pretty interesting!!

To top it all off I bought chocolate lava cake for dessert tonight, but got home & realized we don't have eggs or milk which it calls for . . . luckily for me Matt is coming over to do some laundry so I've asked him to pick them up for me on his way since I really don't want to have to go outside again, it's freakin cold & WINDY!!!!!

just in case you didn't remember, I'm moving to London - yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! I'm so excited about it, well minus the fact that the person I'll be staying with is laid up & I will end up having to help him (lol).

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up early for a late night

Sooooo finally at 3.30am I felt tired, apparently sleeping in till 11am is not a good thing for me to do these days. Of course I still awoke at 8am, but I refused to get out of bed till 9.30am since I worried that 4.5 hours of sleep would not be the best course of action for a productive day today.

Got an email back from LSHTM & I have to fill out an application which is 10 pages long, file electronically, make an appt with the BCG online, show up with passport, application, work permit, contract from the school & 2 passport size photos in order to get the right stamp so I can enter the UK properly - this sounds like it could take awhile, keep your fingers crossed they can process quickly!!

So I'm off to start my tasks for the day:
  • buy chocolate dessert of some sort for dinner at "girls night"
  • get 2 passport photos taken
  • buy Drano
  • find passport & fill out application
  • make plans with Sylwia for lunch this week

Hope you are all enjoying your President's Day. Presidents Day is the federal holiday officially designated as Washington's Birthday and is celebrated on the third Monday of February, while in CT, Presidents Day is still a federal holiday, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, is still a state holiday.

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can't sleep :(

Here is some info about the fun bacteria I'll be working with in a few weeks!!

Burkholderia pseudomallei which causes melioidosis hope you find that interesting, I do!! If you don't fancy those fun readings, how about this one on congestion charges??

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Connecticut

Warning, this was written more stream of consciousness, hope it all makes sense & doesn't jump around too too much. I PROMISE to have photos from the party later this week!!

So Saturday Heather & I finally left around 1.20pm after a little rock & rolling we made it over the snowy ice bank & onto 15th street, up to Florida, over to New York & out onto the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy.

About 2 hours later we were in Philly at her friend Davis' restaurant. He recommended a few places to eat in Wayne, PA, we ended up at The FreeHouse, a British wanna be pub with fantastic food, should any of you ever end up lost in Wayne, check it out!! After our fish & chips I dropped H back with Davis & off I went to NY, or so I thought. Turned out the directions I'd been given where not exactly correct & after driving in a few circles I finally found my way to I-95 north. I arrived at Kris & PJs around 7.15pm, about 1.5 hours later than I had expected, but safely non the less!!

I slept in till 11.15am, of course we didn't get to bed till 2.30am last night b/c Kim, Bill & Corinne where all over at Kris & PJ's house when I arrived. Yes that might seem rather late but after getting uber lost on I-676N, I-76E, I-295N and I-95 south & north - no I won't go into the details b/c I'm still bitter about the lack of good directions I received from my friends.

I arrived back in CT safely around 4.45pm today with Ted, Lela, & Matt arriving around 6.15pm. It was weird at first as none of us knew what to say, but after T&L got ready to head back to Vermont to see their puppy & 3 feet of fresh snow which nobody had plowed for them, we all hugged & things were cool.

Matt & I watched the end of the Daytona 500 race where Harvick passed Martin to win the race by hundredths of a second. I'm not a Nascar fan per say but after semi dating a guy in Rouses Point, NY who was really into Nascar & now living here in Connecticut with HUGE sports fans I've had to learn about this "sport" which in my opinion is still not really a sport. Sorta like horse racing, where the talent is more in the animal/machine than in the jockey/driver, but to each their own.

In fantastic news, my work permit arrived here at the house, but without directions as to the next step, so I have emailed LSHTM asking for the next step in the process. I will definitely keep you posted.

I spoke to Patty earlier & I'm going to "girls night" at Jill's house in Hamden tomorrow evening - I'm in charge of desserts, being that's it's "girls" I think chocolate is required!! I'll find something good at the store I'm sure, I also have to look for Drano - apparently Matt's shower is clean (wonder who did that - lol) but not draining properly, aka very slowly. He & I had a few rather good talks tonight. Melissa is coming into town tonight for an unknown period of time so we chatted about that & have even reached the point where after they had spoken he came in & "vented" about her not wanting to visit. (we are trying to "building new habits" (good AA expression someone taught me) in our friendship) I reiterated the fact that I want him to be happy (even if it's not with me & he totally understood/agreed) and that I'm sorry he feels crappy that she didn't want to come to his place here in CT).

He had called me on Tuesday as I was driving down to DC to tell me how happy he was that my work permit had finally been granted & that it was great that I was going to have a chance to "start over" after all that we've been through (and other crap that has occurred during my 6 months back in the states). As I think I have said before, this has all been very surreal but as many smart people have told me, it makes the fact that I'm leaving that much easier!! I'm 90% sure we'll remain best of friends - I mean we were able to do it for this past year with all this "crap" that we've both been through, so in theory it can only get better, especially now that we both understand that honesty is the BEST policy - I guess I know it will be better, we just have to try to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel - which has been hard for me these past few months when living in such a limbo!! Again I thank my friends & family who have helped pull me through these past few months (AM, HC, SC, MJO, PMO, PSO, PL, BJS, RG, MMW, AWW, JW, MW, RW, JT, MT, MET, SW, EE, DB, KD, & BH)

In other exciting news, I just called to order my "new" Sonicare toothbrush charger. As some of you know (& some of you probably don't really care but I'm going to tell you anyways), Matt & I bought a Sonicare Essence 5300 toothbrush with two battery handles about 2 years ago for the price of one at the Sam's Club in Plattsburgh (score!!) This past year I left both with him in CT & used a battery operated Oral B toothbrush which I was okay, but nothing like my lovely 5300 series!! Now that I'm leaving for real (yeah!) I wanted to try to get a proper UK plug charger. I looked online to no avail & finally after about 20 minutes decided to call the 800 number, worried I would have to play the "press 1 for English, etc" game, but after just one ring a nice woman answered. I explained the situation & she said "hold on let me look . . . a few seconds later . . . yes, we have 9 left, would you like to order one?" Interestingly I was spelling out the town I'm staying at in CT when she pipped up that she was in Cheshire - how weird is that??? I always think of these operators as really far away or in India, but no she's just about 20 minutes down the road - we had a good giggle about it while she processed my order. It should arrive in 7-10 business days.

Tuesday I might go to NY to visit Pete & help him put in his floor - yeah I know ya'll are jealous about that!! It will be good to see him, Kris & Mo before I head over the pond.

my two lil patrol puppies (Henry above & Quid below), watching over mom's house in OR

what would you give for lashes like these???

Okay off to sleepy time now, I mean it is 12.08am!!

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Saturday, February 17

saturday check in

just had b'fast with Sam, Lauren, Eric, Helen & Florence, now waiting for Heather to arrive so we can start the drive north. I'm dropping H off in Philly, before heading on to Kris & PJ's house for the evening then back to CT tomorrow afternoon.

Having fun & beautiful weather here :)

Spoke to Jim last night & he's burned his leg in a riot training exercise, so he's back off work again & looking forward to me arriving so someone can cook & clean for him - LMAO!!!!

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Thursday, February 15

MMW's 31st B'day

Happy 31st Birthday MMW, hope you have a fun weekend at Dan's wedding!!

So the party last night was FANTASTIC & I have TONS of photos - I will have to go through them before I post them - LMAO. The heart shaped ice sculpture with a luge for vodka & tequila shots was a huge hit!!

Today Eden & I went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant followed by getting manicures & then returning home to relax. Dinner tonight is suppose to be sushi with Heather, but all plans are flexible since we are living in what we like to call "Dan B time" as apposed to "Schaffer World"

Hope you all had a wonderful V-Day!!

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Wednesday, February 14

Happy V-Day from DC

I made it to DC in just under 7 hours, not bad considering the idiots on the road yesterday!

Tonight's party is going to have a heart ice sculpture with a "luge" should anyone fancy an ice cold shot. There will be a room full of aphrodisiacs, such as asparagus, chocolate, wine, figs, arugula salad, almonds, champagne etc.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!! Speak soon

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Tuesday, February 13

work permit

so after a long period of patient waiting my work permit has come through :) They're going to mail it to me later this week so I can go to the British Consulate General & get the heck outta the USofA!!!!!!!!!

Here is the ice palace during the day & at night - thanks to DM, I'll post mine next week when I'm back from DC

Okay off to start my trip to DC, we'll see how far I get with the weather . . .

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in CT for a few hours

I'm safely back in CT, after a fantastic Winter Carnival weekend (pictures to follow next week) and weather permitting I'm on my way to DC for the "Rectory's Love Shack Party" which should be interesting to say the least - LMAO!!!!!!!

Just wanted to check in quickly & also to tell you all to check out "Written Inc" one of my side links, he has some great posts, I was mentioned here in this one, which you might enjoy.

Laters . . .

P.S. Amanda, Dom, Susan, & Heather - Jim & Rob say hello, they called today to see when graduation was - they want to take us out for a drink (just remember last time this happened - LOL LOL LOL LOL)

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Thursday, February 8

Look at this I'm not sure how all NY would enforce it, but it apparently is becoming a problem across our country and in other news, here was the "America" top story from BBC's website a few minutes ago. I guess I should be some what happy* that these were the top 2 stories, maybe this means the war is slowing down since it didn't make headline news, NO sadly that is not the case, the real fact is that the media knows what "sells" to the public.

On a happier news front I'm making this post from my dad's house in upstate NY, which means I've safely arrived after driving for 4 hours (should have been 3.5 but there was a backup on I-90 b/c of an overturned tractor trailer which they were trying to pull up from the ditch.

Okay dad is ready to help with my taxes, so I'm off, catch ya laters, tarra & toodle pip!

*not happy as is I'm glad she's dead!

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Leaving in a few

So I'm off to finish (well truth be told start) packing, grab a quick shower & hit the road. The Weather down here in CT is sunny & cold & forecast for where I'm going is flurries, cold & windy which makes me happy, not that it's super cold but that it's not snowing, sleeting, or some other fun wintry mix.

Dinner at Kev & Sylwia's was fantastic. When I first got there Kev was on his way home from work, so Sylwia & I chatted for about 30 minutes, while the kids watched TV/napped & then ordered pizza. I stayed home playing with Owen (Maya was still sleeping) while Sylwia went to pick up the pizza & Kev arrived home with perfect timing - the pizza had broccoli, mushrooms & sausage - yum :) After eating was show off toys, dresses & book time mixed with a bit of ice cream consumption. I stayed until their PJs were on & then I decided to head home so they could get to bed.

On my way home Tom D called me & asked if I wanted to meet somewhere to catch up - I said sure as long as he could give me directions. We went to Rookies had a good catch up chat & then headed home for a nice night's sleep before my big drive today.

Well I'm sad to say I have nothing more to tell you, so I guess that is a sign that I need to just get my arse in gear & start my day - I know the drive will be fine, it's just packing & getting on the road that I lack motivation for.

Again, I apologize since I'm 90% sure I will not have Internet access until next week, so don't be surprised if you see this post as the most recent for the next few days.

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Wednesday, February 7

Hump Day

I had dinner over at James & Ryan's place last night - Patty had marinated the chicken since noon and then James grilled them - yummers! We also had homemade garlic mashed with brocolli, topped off with Jack Daniels' brownies with vanilla frosting & ice cream - sure that was great for a low cholesterol meal - LOL
So after doing all that stuff yesterday, my mission today is to get a free massage thanks to Matt (a great Christmas present!!) and have dinner at Kev & Sylwia's house - pretty do-able if you ask me.
Tomorrow I head north & west to my dad's & then Friday a bit further north & west to Maureen & Bob's house. I appologize in advance since I'm not sure what sort of computer contact I will have, so you might have to wait till Mon or Tuesday for 2007 Winter Carnival photos.
My trip to DC I'm still debating, want to go but lot of $$, well unless I take SouthWest but then I have to travel an hour to & from the airport, which could get expensive . . . BUT I do know the party will be one for the books & I probably won't be able to post those - LMAO. Another bonus is that my friend Heather lives around the corner & would be able to come and it would be great to get to see her as well. I'll let ya know as soon as I make up my mind. In the mean time you should all get back to work

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Tuesday, February 6

Songs of the Week



Above is a song I've been listening to a lot recently not trying to be egocentric, it is a fantastic Dylan song & just so happens to be on one of the 2 CDs in the player right now, along with this one by Talking Heads:


mixed in with a lot of Lucinda (one of John's favs at the moment):


So my daily missions are all complete (I think) since I of course like usual forgot to write them all down, but here is the list I've since made & can check off all of them :)

  • get federal & state tax forms online
  • get change of address forms online
  • fill in all above forms
  • email dad photos of his garage
  • call doctors office about cholesterol testing (oops just remembered that one, will have to do)
  • email KT storage unit about payments
  • check movie times
  • make plans to hang with my sis
  • email my godmother
  • check bank balances online
  • check email
  • clean bathroom
  • straighten up downstairs living room
  • fill, run & empty dishwasher (all done but the emptying part)

This list of things that I've done is rather long considering yesterday all I did was 4 loads of laundry!! I also received my V-day present from my mom earlier (don't fret Patty yours is coming on Monday - mine came early to help life my spirits in light of recent events) which was really cool!! I cannot show photos or talk about it since my sis' has not arrived, but I will try to remember to post about it next week.

I'll leave you with a comment about my medical updates:

  • ankle is still a bit swollen but I can walk to & from the bathroom without the ace wrap & not feel like I'm about to fall over or anything like that
  • just called about my cholesterol - they say it's high, but some how it got slightly messed up & they only did the overall, not a split HDL, LDL so I'm going to have to go back for yet another poke on the 21st - ugh!!

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Monday, February 5

slowly on the mend

Ankle update first: bruising is fading & pain is less. My friend who's a PA said it could be another 4-6 weeks before it starts to feel "normal".

About the personal stuff:

I've come to a realization that I think I have issues with losing people - I have a fear of being alone - I have no clue where this has come from, but while I thinking in the shower this morning that was what popped into my head. So I think while I'm in this weird limbo period without a job, without a home, with no clue when or where I will be moving etc, I really needed someone strong to lean on & I found that person, but they were the one who hurt me recently. That of course doesn't mean our friendship is totally over, just something I have to ponder & know that I'm not totally over it, but I think it did help me to start to put this all in perspective.

Another helpful part of my day today was that my friend Amanda (from London) had a similar situation just before she left for uni. Even though the detail are not the same, she pointed out that she felt that she turned a "distraction" into a stronger "relationship" in her head & I think that I have allowed myself to confuse these two as well. She also wrote, "I have gotten to the point where I now can see the negative aspects of our relationship. I had never let myself think those because I had assumed the "I broke up with him so it is all my fault and nothing was really wrong with the relationship, I was just selfish" role that everyone wanted me in." really hit home & made me feel a lot better.

Now thinking about it again after talking with some of my best friends, I wonder why I was (and probably will be again) so upset, I mean I have some of the greatest friends in the world & everything is not always going to be perfect, but these friends will never let me slip and fall too far. As I told one of them earlier, I really there was a better way than just to say "thank you" I wish I could repay them with something more substantial, though in another way I would never hope moments like these on them just to be able to prove that I would be there 100% like they have done for me.

At times I just wish I was 5 years old - to have no worries or responsibilities, where our greatest concern was if we were going to get mac & cheese or chicken nuggets for dinner - what I life we all took for granted.

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Who knew I knew so much about the bible?!?!?

You know the Bible 51%!
 

Congratulations! You know a lot about the Bible - the books, the characters, the events. You are able to remember a lot of what you have heard and read!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
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Saturday, February 3

baby steps

Look at this, how cool is that going to be? I'm definitely going. Matt is going to try to look into coming over then too since he's a HUGE Dolphins. Well that's all the news I have for you today.

I've had a rough 48 hours (long personal story) with lots of crying, anger, confusion & just overall feeling like crap, but I'm doing okay today. I feel so incredibly lucky to have a wonderfully supportive biological family & what I will call my CT family who have endlessly listened as I probably repeated the same thing over & over again until I started to understand all that was going on. Thanks again to all those who called and or listened to me!!

Slowly one day at a time this is all going to work out . . . no regrets, just a few life bumps (as Kristen's mom use to tell me, aka learning experiences)

FYI - Sylwia's baby is a girl she found out yesterday :)

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Thursday, February 1

Car for Sale

Subaru 2005 Legecy sedan, excellent condition, 5-spd. manual, AWD w/ ABS, AM/FM/6 CD, PW, PL, AC, CC, dual/side airbags, rear spoiler, sunroof, leather interior with heated seats. 28K miles
How can you pass up a deal like this?!?!?!?

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Global Warming, Harry Potter, Snow, Dinner and TB

Well how many years did it take them to figure this out?!?!?! I guess I should just be happy that they are finally starting to agree that it is caused by humans.

Who knew 21 July would be a very happy & sad day at book stores all over the UK and also that 13 July would be such a popular day at the movies, and that again I should have guessed seeing as how many people are NUTS about Harry!!

I'm jealous that I didn't wake up to snow like these people did, but I am excited that in Saranac Lake the ice palace is coming along, here are some great links (thanks PCS) IP I, IP II, IP III, IP VI.

In other more personal news, I'm taking today off, my ankle is feeling better, but I'm exhausted from all the cleaning I've done. I went over to Patty's condo yesterday for "Girls Night" dinner & my poor hands still stunk of bleach, after washing with regular hand soap like 4 times!! Instead I'm just going food shopping for tonight's dinner of Lemon Chicken (recipe is similar but not online, it's in Anne's head) over long grain & wild rice with broccoli and apple cobbler (per Matt's request) for dessert.

Everyone should try to go to this walk, YES I know it's far away from OR & NY but it looks fun and my friend Analise will be there! If you can't make it see if you can set one up in your neighbourhood!

Okay, off to get my grocery list started, tarra.

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