Fall is here!

The weather is absolutely beautiful today, so what am I doing? That's right, sitting inside, computing! I just worked on my website (www.erinnash.com) after a year of procrastinating actually doing anything with it. Got some good advice on an FTP program to use, and so I downloaded it this morning and got to work! It's pretty barebones right now -- I uploaded only the stuff I already had, but I'm going to be working more on it in the weeks to come. I swear.

I just met a super-cute dog! She's a 5 month old German Shepherd Mix named Blue that belongs to a friend of mine. She's so cute! And so soft too. There's a work picnic later today and Blue might be there, so I'll try and convince A to go. It sounds really nice -- hiking, eating, hanging outside, and dogs!! I think Anna will like it there. Morty, not so much.

The dogs in our neighborhood have been running amok this week. For some reason Oz the Weimeraner (sp?) decided he wanted to live at our house on Thursday and refused to leave. He's so sweet it makes me feel bad to be mean to him and yell at him to go away, but he was making Anna and Morty crazy. The same goes for Angel, the pit bull. She's just unbelievably sweet and cute, but Morty kind of wants her dead and although she's really submissive, I don't want to see what happens in the pit bull v. beagle showdown. I'm afraid Morty wouldn't come out of that very well. Plus? Those damn dogs feel free to make themselves at home on our bed! On top of all my clothes. That even our dogs aren't allowed on. I had to actually walk Oz all the way home on Thursday, because he just refused to leave and every time I tried to turn around and ignore him hoping he would go back home, he just came back to follow me. See? How could I be mean to him?

The leaves are starting to change and it's really feeling like fall. Things are beautiful on our new property. I'm looking forward to tromping around in the thinned-out woods with A and the dogs sometime soon. Plus A's mom is coming back to Ohio! Yay! And will hopefully be coming down to visit.

I should run but here are some weird dreams I've been having lately: that I won a Survivor-type reality show called The Last Soprano ("I don't even like the Sopranos!" was my refrain on the show), that I owned a gelato shop in Athens, and another one where I won The Amazing Race by burning a song on a CD the fastest. Why do I keep dreaming I win reality shows? It is because I know I'm a winner?

Gotta go make a covered dish for the picnic later. Bye y'all!

Protein is for the birds

So....eating more protein. Is really hard if you're a vegetarian and picky like me. But you know what? I just heard on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me that pickiness is hereditary, so suck that! I blame mom and dad for the fact that I don't like nuts, melons, apples, raw carrots or any of the other millions of foods I don't like. The message here: IT ISN'T MY FAULT!

But anyway, I went to see my sister's acupuncturist for a variety of ailments, mainly this yukky eczema over my eye that has been plaguing (yes! plaguing!) me since last year. Her advice? among other things, eat more protein. And good, complete proteins like nuts (ew, see above), eggs and quinoa. I'm trying hard, but her suggestion to eat things with protein powder hasn't gone well. Because it tastes like ass. The whey vanilla kind is OK if you hide it in, say, pancakes, but I was a little concerned about the cholesterol in it, so I got some veggie protein instead. And it tastes even worse. Even A couldn't eat it, and he'll eat anything.

So the moral is, it's hard. (that's what she said). I'm trying new things, like eating Eggo Whole Wheat waffles with almond butter (complete protein, woo!). We tried smoothies, even bought a blender, but I'm also not a huge fan of plain yogurt either, and it's senseless to try and mask something you don't like (e.g. protein powder) with something else you don't really like (e.g. yogurt). But I'm trying. And, related or not, my eczema is MUCH MUCH better! Even the rash under my arms which randomly appeared has gotten better. So I will continue to press on.

Here's a pretty picture I took last week in our yard.

I'm mostly moved in to my new massage room - yay! I think it's very zen in there and enjoy being there, so that's awesome. Have only done 2 massages there yet, but this week I've got some more scheduled.

I've also been putting more hours in at Children Services helping out with home visits. It's not the funnest job ever -- lots of running around and hanging out in the houses of people who don't really want me there, because I work for Children Services, but the kids I'm working with are so super cute. And it's been eye opening to see what the caseworkers really do and how much they really care about these families. They kind of rock!

That's about it from here. 5 weeks till my birthday yo! I've got plenty of suggestions if you need a gift idea :) . I'm all about skipping gifts on Christmas, but my birthday is all about love, adoration and GIFTS! I have to hint very strongly to A to get him to pay attention ("I like this _______. Are you listening? My birthday is soon, are you listening?") but he usually gets it and comes through with something nice.

Later y'all!

Long time no see people!

Hello everyone! So it's been a really long time since I posted here, I admit it. The past year has been busy and strange and kind of difficult and lots of things happened, but here I am!

A and I moved again, which we swear was not in our gameplan, but this just came up and it was the perfect (?) opportunity. Those of you who know us know we moved to Athens because we wanted to build our own house using alternative construction. So we've been living here and there in the Athens area for the last 8 years, but hadn't gotten around to that house thing yet. Randomly in June, I was perusing the ads in The Athens News as I do every Monday and Thursday, and came across an ad for a straw bale house and 5 acres for sale. The price seemed insanely low, so without consulting A, I called the guy and made an appointment to see it that evening. Then when I got home I informed A we were going to look at it! I am normally not that type of wife, but in this case, I was overly bossy. Shut up! I am NOT bossy normally!

Anyway, long story short, we loved the place and made an offer the next day. It's an unusual place, with 2 very small cabins, 1 bathroom, an outhouse and lots and lots of trees. We moved in June (recommendation: hire students to move your stuff next time. They come cheap and although aren't always the sharpest about household-related stuff, they work hard) and have been enjoying the oddness of sleeping back in the woods, about 800 feet back from the main house. It sounds really luxurious to have a separate bedroom and it has been fun so far, but ask me again when it starts getting really cold! We need to do SO.MUCH.STUFF before winter, and haven't historically been good at doing stuff like that in a timely manner, but we're trying! The straw bale cabin roof is a must-do, as is getting some insulation in there. A, per usual, is all "I CAN DO THAT!", I'll just get a book! Here's hoping he doesn't injure himself because we have no health insurance!

In other news, I have a new massage office (will take some pictures soon) that I have just moved into. It's kind of scary to be out on my own, but the price is right and I looooove having my own space. Going tonight to do some more decorating but most everything is there already. Had the inaugural massage on Saturday! Thanks Sara for being my guinea pig.

Have just been busy at work and doing massage and house things and new kitten things (see left, ain't he cute?) but I'm going to try and keep this updated more than I have been for the last year.

To sum up, here's how the last year went:
* major move x 2
* planned my first fundraiser! And it made money!
* new massage office!
* some friends moved away from Athens
* met some cool people who just moved to Athens
* reoccurance of stupid depression and anxiety, necessitating going back on medication
* many declarations of my awesomeness from my boss and massage clients
* my memory is getting worse and worse and I no longer remember what else I did in the past year!

Next blog topic: trying to eat more protein sucks! See you all soon!

Nerf is a jerk

So here is Nerf. This is a common stance for her, the one I call "plaintive wailing". She is a stupid stupid cat, that Nerf. Pardon me for saying so (you know I love all cats) but that cat is missing a few million neurons in her tiny little brain. Anyway, so as most of you know, we moved this weekend (more on that later) and Nerf was very very confused by our new house. "Where have you taken me?" she seemed to be saying as she whined ALL.NIGHT.LONG. "Where are we? Where is my hidey-hole? Where am I supposed to flee in this little house?" she whined and whined and whined. At 2am, with both of us awake, we attemped to banish her outside of the bedroom. Of course all she did then was scratch at the door and make an even bigger nuisance of herself, so we gave up. Annoying cat!!

So yes, we moved. It was a minor disaster, what with me getting mad at a flowerpot for being in my way (terracotta conspiracy!) and kicking the thing, injuring my toe and thus rendering me virtually useless for moving large pieces of furniture. Several people swooped in and saved the day, including our neighbor (who seemed delighted to get out of the house and even brought us donuts!), and then my lovely sister and father and brother-in-law. They drove down from Columbus and everything. They RAWK! It was really freakin' hot and humid and disgusting, but you know what they say, the family that sweats buckets together.....er, I'm not sure where I was going with that. Anyhoo, most of our stuff is in the new house, save some kitchen crap and all that random stuff you end up with once you pack your belongings. My brother-in-law had a great shirt on that was perfect for moving (I wonder if he wore it purposely or just happened to have it on?). It said "I'm not a pack rat, I'm a collector". How appropos. I've gotten better, but I definitely keep things that I probably have no reason to.

That's about it from here. If we ever get the energy to unpack, ya'll should come over for a barbeque.

Erin Nash, LMT

So I've gone and done it, I've passed the boards! I now have 3 more initials to add to the end of my name, how cool is that? I was at the airport, on the way to Philly, when my sis called with the news. I was buying buckeyes at Cheryl's cookies, for a certain buckeye-loving friend of mine, and I started jumping up and down (and possibly shrieking, I'm not sure). The Cheryl's ladies thought I was a little nuts, but that's OK. Then I called everyone I know and then I got on a plane! It's quite exciting being licensed, although it doesn't really change all that much. I can use those 3 initials and charge more, plus I can advertise and I'll finally be able to get rid of those stupid cards that said "student of massage therapy".

It turns out I'm kinda smart and I got a 92 on both sections of the test! How awesome is that? [pats self on back].

Work is crazy and I really need to be going but I just wanted to share. From now on, please don't forget to address all correspondence to Erin Nash, LMT!!

Yeah I'm a slacker, so sue me

It's just so hard to blog when one has nothing new to report. I am STILL waiting on the results of the Medical Board exam, and really, not much else is happening. Summer is passing quickly and I can't believe it's August already. Last month I went to Chicago for Mar-Mar's baby shower, which was fun. I was a surprise guest, and the mom-to-be was definitely surprised. Fun was had by all, I got to stay with my friend Anmol, and we saw some Chicago sights. Struggled with an unfortunate bout of heat exhaustion on the day I left (oy vey, it was terrible), but all in all, had a good time. I am off to the city of brotherly love this weekend to visit with friends from Haverford. Adam just had a birthday, Finn made a daring escape attempt, and I accidentally Netflixed a movie I'd already seen. Sadly, that's about it. Haven't seen any new movies with Clive Owen!!

OK I just spilled water all over myself and must therefore flee. Bye all!

Edited to add: Just saw this tidbit from Toni Collette regarding her latest role and found it too hilarious not to repeat: "Miramax wanted me to shave my underarm hair, which I did not want to do. I was playing a junkie. I did end up keeping it. I felt that since I was creating the character, I should be in control of all bodily hair." BWAH! I'm totally in control of all my bodily hair, aren't you?

Edited to add #2: Most of you who know me know I am slightly obsessed with Pride & Prejudice, the newer version with Keira Knightley. Yes, I was reading another article about it, OK? But I found this hilarious tidbit about Judi Dench: But perhaps the most arresting memory that they take away from being on set with living legend Judi Dench is not her boundless fascination with acting but her penchant for subversive needlework. "She makes these like needlework embroideries on set in the tedium of filming", says MacFadyen, "but they are all: 'You Are a Cunt'. And she gives them as presents. And it's Dame Judi Dench. And she is doing this beautifully, intricate, ornate work. You kind of see the work materializing as the shoot goes on. Like: 'You Are a Fucking Shit.' Knightley remarks: "I love that! She gives this fantastic air. She just sits there and she embroiders and you think: 'Oh, that's so nice! It's Judi Dench. It's so quaint; she's embroidering a cushion,' and you go: 'What are you embroidering?' And (it says): 'Fuck!' Apparently she's got hundreds of them just covered in swear words or rude sayings."

Move along...nothing to see here

Hey folks! As it says above, there's really not much going on here. I've been watching an assload of movies, as I have all this free time, and seemed to have developed a full-blown love of Clive Owen in a very short period of time. The accent - so yummy! The voice! The bod! Y-U-M. My friend asked me if I had a Clive film festival this weekend, and while it seems like I did, I didn't plan it in advance. Saturday while A was at work, King Arthur was on TV, then we got a video on Sunday evening and I was all, hey you've wanted to see Sin City for a while, let's get it (see how I made it seem like it was all his idea?). Then JB told me that I really needed to see Beyond Borders, so I went on Tuesday and rented that. I tried to hide it from A because I knew he would make fun of me, but then he saw it! haha. And, you guessed it, made fun of me. I apologize for NOTHING! He's hot do you hear me? HOT!

That's really it, sadly. I rejoined Netflix and so far we've just gotten Entourage, which isn't as good as I had heard. And I just saw in People that they did a poll and something like 60% of people preferred Jeremy Piven to Adrien Grenier!? Wha? I mean, Piven is OK, but Grenier has that hair and is just so mussed and cute. People are weird man.

Laters!

Oh lordy

Just a quick note to say you must watch this. It's Henry Rollins' Love Letter to Ann Coulter (please note: teeny bit of rough language at the end, you might want to watch the volume if you're at work).

Consummatum est, motherfuckers!

Done! Finished! Finito! The Boards, they be OVER!

Yes, they're done. On Tuesday I went into the Ohio State Fairgrounds a girl and came out a woman. Not really, but it was a life-altering event. The test itself was OK -- I feel mostly confident in my performance -- but it was a very stressful 3 months since school ended waiting and worrying about them. There were a few disasters big and small:

* I forgot clean underwear and had to borrow some from my sister (gross schmoss, we're related!)
* I went the wrong way on the highway on the way there. Only a momentary delay, as I knew where I was and got us right back on the way
* I momentarily forgot my box of #2 pencils in the car and had to rush back to get them
* The power went out during the first test for about 10 minutes. I was near the end and could mostly see my test, but the poor folks in the middle just had to sit there in the dark

It was really nice to see all my classmates again....everyone seems to be doing well.

So now I have all this free time that I don't have to spend studying or worrying about the test or feeling guilty for not studying, and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself! Perhaps A and I will go rollerblading, as I found some safety gear for him at Target. Ahh, Target, you come through again.

Maybe I should start taking opinions as to what hobby people think I should take up.

Also went to a retirement party at my old office. Most people weren't there (rude much??) but of course Mr. Craftsman was. I completely ignored him and he ignored me, it was lovely!! Had some snacks and got to hang with the people I do like. Plus a very very old friend was there, all the way from DC. Wow!

That's it from here! Hope everyone is doing well. Oh, I saw The Lake House last weekend and it wasn't bad! I didn't expect it to be good and it really wasn't, but entertaining nonetheless. We also rented Match Point, which was great! Especially for a Woody Allen joint. Definite 2 thumbs up.

Me again

Who'd you expect? Just a quick update to say hey all and thanks for everyone's support for the boards on Tuesday. It's almost time!!! I got the greatest study care package EVER today (thanks JB!). All the sugar will, I'm sure, help me concentrate on studying. I have recruited A to help with a practice test, and I've got some super study sessions planned for Sunday and all day Monday. Then it will be zero hour and no time to study no mo'. It will be good to see all the folks from my class, as well as Mark (our intrepid instructor). All the instructors come and hang around asking "What did they ask?" as you come out. I believe some of them bring snacks too! Mark, I'm looking at you!

I've got my entrance materials in my car so I won't forget them, and I bought a dozen #2 pencils and sharpened them all in preparation. A made fun of me for it but I figure 1) it's best to be prepared and 2) there are likely to be others who need a pencil and 3) it was 99 friggin' cents for a box of them.

That's it from here! Back to the studying grindstone. Ooh, check this out. It's tres funny.

Missing notecard update

I found them! And am now fully-able to study muscles to my heart's content. They were actually in a bag full of notecards I had rejected as unimportant, so I'm going to blame A on this one (shh, don't tell him!).

It's basically the SSDD around here (you know, same shit, different day). Studying, studying and feeling like I should be studying. Had the last real review class on Sunday -- next Sunday's is optional (although, let's face it, they were all optional for slackers like me) and will involve kind of a free-for-all of question answering and whatnot. I'm undecided as to whether or not I will go -- I feel like I could get more productive studying done on my own, but the question is, will I? It just doesn't seem to warrant the 160 mile round-trip drive when I will be heading back up there to take the actual test Monday night. I did recover my Illustrated Atlas of Skeletal Muscles that I had accidentally left behind last weekend, so that's good. It has PURTY pictures that help my brain understand things.

Other than that, the weather has been nice and cool and I gave Morty a bath and Anna's butt a silly-looking haircut! I would have trimmed her all over but she was shaking and giving me the puppy dog eyes so I took pity on her and let her go. So she kind of looks normal (for her) from the front, but her butt is all trimmed and her tail is so pathetically small when you take away all that hair it makes me laugh. Poor girl! Morty was FILTHIER than anything I've ever seen and of course now is back to being just about as dirty. Silly doggie.

Had a KILLER headache yesterday and I was recovering at home this morning. It's still there, lingering, but it's about 98% better than yesterday, for which I am thankful. I was pretty darn miserable yesterday. BOO HOO!

Laters!

I'm SPECIAL!

And I have the sticker to prove it! On my hand. Because, really, I'm 5 and I like putting stickers on myself. Not too much going on, I'm in the coffeehouse sort-of studying but really surfing the web and buying shit from iTunes. Most recent acquisition: Lori McKenna. Sort of an alt-country, folksy-type chick. Check her out! Or throw me a line and I'll burn you a CD.

Haven't been doing much except studying and then spending the rest of my time thinking "I should be studying!". I did get some quality studying in yesterday, in 2 separate sessions no less! Took 2 mock exams and did OK -- not as great as I would have hoped, but a good starting point. I did poorly pretty much on the stuff I knew I needed to study anyway, so that's good. I seem to have misplaced a huge chunk of myology notecards -- all the important muscles, as a matter of fact, that we pulled out for the final. I cleaned a good deal yesterday and thought I would find them for sure, but no luck. If I were a pile of notecards, where would I be?

Here's the back of A's newly-bald head, in case you were wondering what he looks like without his baby hair!!

Also yesterday I went to get an estimate on the damage to my car. Seriously, it's so insignificant you can barely even tell unless you're looking at it directly and guess what the damage was? Seven freakin' hundred dollars!! WTF dude? Both places came up with about the same amount, which really blows my mind. I mean, 8 years ago when that asshole lawyer RIPPED OFF the bumper of my Honda, it only cost $500! Anyway, the person who hit it seems OK and her insurance agent is supposed to call me this week. . Why such a pain in the ass? They said it's also going to take 2 days since they have to pain, which is even more annoying.

That's really about it from here.

The weather hates me

I really really need to study and the freakin' weather just isn't cooperating -- sunny and 75? How am I supposed to sit inside and study when the weather is like that? I had a dream, I had an awesome dream last night that the boards were over! And I was so happy...must buckle down and study. And no one's even emailing me to distract me! What's up with that?

I'm in a coffee shop and the woman beside me apparently ordered 9 things, because they keep calling her name! (which, by the way, is Darcy -- Mariya, potential name?? People will think you're obsessed with Jane Austen but it's better than Robert Langdon). I believe I accidentally ate another Erin's sandwich -- they called "ERIN" so I went up and was briefly surprised to see my sandwich on an english muffin, but I figured what the hell, they're really busy (some huge crowd of strange-talking foreigners -- Dutch maybe?), so I'll just eat it. But then a few minutes later, I hear "ERIN" again and then I hear some talking and she doesn't come back with a sandwich but then they call her a little bit later. WHOOPS. I really would have preferred a croissant, but whatever. Think they still have that sandwich back there and I could eat it too?

That's it from here. Just random ramblings to prevent me from having to go home and study. Ooh! I know! I can go to the farmer's market. Why am I procrastinating so much? If you have any ideas, email me.

xoxo. Happy Weekend.

Worst.Blogger.EVER!

OK so clearly I lied below when I said I was trying to be better and blog more. And the Miami trip? That is so, like, 2 trips ago. I have been travelling alot for work (excuse? not really, since I can access this thing from anywhere. Wait, did I say that out loud?). Went to Huntsville the beginning of May, just got back Monday night from a combo Washington DC/Baltimore/Jersey Shore trip with J and R. Fun fun fun! I think I got a little too used to the life of leisure at the beach....we did basically the bare minimum in terms of keeping ourselves functioning -- sleep and eat. Other than that, there was some music swapping (thanks J for owning everything under the sun!) and beach lounging. The weather was beautiful and then I get home after a long hard day of travelling and it's 90 friggin' degrees? WTF?

Anyway, to recap the last few months:
* Huntsville was very educational - new CAC director's training, where I learned that I'm not doing anything right! To the right is a picture of their amazing training facility. hee. But seriously, everyone felt the same way and it was kinda nice to be surrounded by other people who feel like they have no idea what they're doing. The blind leading the blind, as it were. I also had a nice massage at the Healing Arts Center, where they were very nice to me despite the fact that I didn't know they didn't take credit cards and didn't have enough cash (whoops!). If you're ever in Huntsville, definitely go. The people of Huntsville, I give you much love and adoration for your ridiculous levels of niceness. Why are ya'll so nice all the time?

* DC was fun, my conference was not as educational as Huntsville, but I got to meet all of the other crazy Ohio CAC people, which was entertaining! Them folks is nuts, I tell you whut. We ate alot, drank alot and had some fun (while learning, yes, learning!). The weather was nice in DC and we were right downtown so there was plenty to do within walking distance and I even conquered my ineptitude with public transportation and successfully navigated the Metro like 3 times! Go me.

* Headed to Baltimore on Wednesday the 24th to stay with an old friend from high school. You know, the one who was crazy and kinda slutty but who is now settled down with 2 kids. She's still rockin' like Dokken though, and her kids are uber-cute. One of them asked me the next morning "Am I ever going to see you again?" and my heart melted a little. Not enough to want to reverse A's vasectomy, but just a little. Unfortunately, Amtrak decided to have a meltdown of major proportions that day and yours truly got stranded in the Baltimore bus station. It's definitely not as bad/scary as you would imagine it being -- in fact, it was very well-lit and safe and clean. J had to come from PA to pick me up because it was going to take me forever to get somewhere I could meet her. So she picked me up, after a brief panicked period of being lost in downtown Baltimore, and we headed to the shore.

* New Jersey kicks ass. I wish I could live at the beach and be a bum. Well, a massaging bum, only working enough to pay for pancakes at the Sand Dollar and copious amounts of ice cream that you always seem to eat at the beach from Salty's. There was wireless in the house and waves right outside so what could be better? Think I could convince A to trade in his baker's duds for a beach umbrella and defect with me to NJ? Sadly, it probably wouldn't take much!

I had to fly home out of DC (long story, someone else paid for the ticket), so I spent most of Monday training, busing and metro-ing to National Airport. I was just kicking all kinds of public transportation ass. Made it home safely although I did a double-take when the pilot said it was 90 degrees. Jigga what? Jigga who?

Thankfully, it's supposed to cool down tomorrow. I'm back at work, being ultra-productive if you ask me (blogging time excluded of ourse). All my new office furniture came while I was away and is currently being assembled by our maintenance guys (thanks CJ and Rob!), so I'm kind of treading water over here waiting for that to happen. I have a huge box with chairs in the middle of my office that people keep having to trip over to get to the cabinet. And I'm pondering - should I go to a retirement party for someone I like at my old office? I'm not sure if I would be permitted in the building again! hee.

Other than that, just freaking a little about the massage board exam which is 3 weeks from yesterday (eeek!). I must study. I must! Being overconfident is wrong, wrong I say!

Listening to: Veronica Mars Soundtrack (shut up, it's good!)
Reading: Last Orders by Graham Swift (although it's so full of British-speak I had to consult a translator)
Most recent obsession: Pride and Prejudice (the version with Keira Knightley. A doesn't know it yet, but I bought it at Target on my way out of town and amused myself in the hotel by watching it! Alot. The dude who plays Darcy is superhot.)

Hope everyone's doing well! I don't want to promise I'll be better about blogging, so I just won't.

SMOOCHES!

p.s. I almost forgot! I got a new car! And it's orange. And was promptly hit by someone, who I know but who shall remain nameless. At least she offered to pay for it. Here it is!

April? Already?

Finn says Hi!

Sorry it's been so long since I said hello you all. I thought my life was really boring (and it is) but it was brought to my attention that some people actually like to log on and see what I'm up to. So, here is what's been going on lately!

My job is going well. I have been working on organizing things and concentrating on getting everything off the ground. We have been in this "Yeah, let's do that in the future" kind of state rather than "This is what we do". It's funny, we had our first real case since I got here, and afterwords, we all sat around and someone said "So what do we do now?" haha. We all laughed and I decided an impromptu planning meeting never hurt anyone, so we had one! People are looking to me for leadership, so I'm just going to decide things and worry about it later. Someone needs to make the executive decisions around here and I guess that's me.

Today I had a good time with my labelmaker and tagged and inventoried all the equipment we've got so far. Next week, hopefully, I will get to actually buy new equipment, then I can tag that too!

Other than that, I'm keeping busy with family visits (A's mom has been in Columbus), and I've got my Medical Board Exam Review class every Sunday from 1-5. The first session was really boring, in that we kind of already took this review class the last quarter, but I suppose it's good to keep it fresh. The weather has been nice since I got back from Miami (oh yeah, I didn't talk about that at all!), so we've been spending some time in the yard and outside. Tonight some dude is coming to hopefully mow our shamefully bedraggled lawn and we got a reel mower so we can keep it up. I wish I had some more time this weekend to play in the yard, but I've got the Calliope dress rehearsal Saturday, since I can't make the actual concert, and then I'm going up to Cols to have dinner with an old friend, spend the night, have breakfast with another old friend (it's old home week!), then my board review class. So really, no free time there, sadly.

Have been watching the 5th season of Six Feet Under the last few days and it's just so good. I was so sad to see that show go, as it was definitely worth all the hype it got. And Peter Krause is way hot. With regard to the movies, go see Slither! It's super-duper cheestetastic and really hilarious. Plus, contains a recurring musical joke featuring Air Supply -- what could be better?

Hope everyone is doing well. I will try and be a better blogger and write more often, including all the sordid details of the Miami trip.

Hi there!

Hi folks. I'm not keeping up on this blog like I should, be but whaddarya gonna do? I've been busy with the end of school and starting my new job, as well as planning and packing for my upcoming trip to Florida - yahoo! The dreary-ass Ohio weather is really starting to get old, so the prospect of beach and sun sounds fantastic. My new job is going well....got to make a mega-trip to Staples, which of cours excited me because I'm an office supply nerd. Also got going on some actual procedures instead of just sitting around reading things and learning. Plus, did I mention the puppy?? I knew this was my dream job when I went into work on Thursday and the cutest little beagle-dachsund puppy was wandering around the office. SO CUTE!! By boss found him on her road and brought him in. He found a home almost immediately, at which I am not surprised. He was teeny tiny but his little face was adorable and he could wag his tail faster than I thought possible.

Also this week saw A's mom, who is visiting from NJ. Had a good time, just hanging out and drinking coffee and eating soup. She seems very well. We hope she'll come down and hang with us for a while.

That's about it from here! I really need to go home and clean, but who wants to do that? I hope everyone is doing well and if I don't write before Weds, I'll be home from Florida next week.

Laters!

Long time, no blog!

Hey guys! Good to see you all. Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've had a busy week -- ended one job (yay!), started another, and am in the midst of finals (like, the final finals!). Quite exciting. My new job is going really well, in that people are very nice here and seem actually glad to have me here! Quite a change from the crap I've been putting up with since the fall, as most of you know. I've learned tons in the past few days, and still have a giant binder and a folder full of pamphlets to go through, in addition to some books and one or more DVDs. My brain, she is full! I just got my phone and voice mail set up, and tomorrow I'm getting set up with email and my computer.

Yesterday was awesome -- my official first part-time day-off!! Ran errands, made my husband dinner (Best.Housewife.EVER!), prepared a tasty dish for our post-massage-final party, had breakfast with a pal and generally was very very productive! It was quite novel to hit the grocery store at not-9pm in the evening, which is usually the only time I have to go.

Finals have gone well so far -- 1 down, 1 to go. The one I was more stressed about (essay test, can't fake your way through that!) was yesterday, and the anatomy multiple choice test is tomorrow. I am somewhat concerned about it, but I feel basically competent, plus it's multiple choice, and I think I can get something like a 49 and still pass. Not that I'm going for that, but it takes the pressure off a little.

Other than that, not much here going on. A is starting a new job on Monday at a local bakery. I'm already scheduled to go to 2 conferences in May for my job (I TOLD you they were excited to have me here!), and may try and hit the beach after my 2nd conference.

Now I must away to be a productive employee and read the reams of paper waiting for me. Thanks everyone for your well wishes!! Email me if you want my new work contact info (phone, email, etc.).

Saturday/weekend update

So I stayed most of the day at the climbing competition, and did some massages, not alot, but some. Made some dough and met some cute little climbing kids (one of which was wearing a shirt that said "I do my own stunts" heh), got some studying done, so overall, not a bad day.

Watched the Oscars last night which were good (Jon Stewart), mostly predictable (damn why didn't I join an Oscar pool this year?), and yet ultimately disappointing. Crash? I mean, it had a great ensemble cast and was very well written and acted, and contained Important Themes, but it was a little anvillicious for my taste. Did you know we have race problems in America? And hey, what about those race problems? Geez, aren't those race problems a problem? I appreciate that the movie went there but it could have done it with alot more subtlety and grace. Brokeback Mountain was all about subtlety and quietness and grace. But you guys know I think that already. Anyway, Ang Lee won, and I learned 2 important lessons: Hollywood LOVES the montage and it's apparently hard out here for a pimp, "You Know, What with the Rent, the Gas Money, the Sexual Subjugation of Women, Etc." (E!Online)

Last Monday here!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

Here I am, at a children's climbing competition. Yes, you heard correctly. I was asked to do chair massages here for the participants and their parents. $5 a pop I decided to charge! I'll be rolling in the bucks right? Well so far I've been here about 2 hours and not a one. The competition has really just gotten started though, as they're running behind. Conveniently, a computer lab about 100 feet away! Sadly, my self esteem was getting hammered watching 7 year olds climb up this wall I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. How can little tiny kids climb that high? Apparently it will get busier in the afternoon, so I'm going to leave and study for a bit, which I desparately need to do. Will check in later.

p.s. Battlestar Galactica ruled last night!

In like a lamb, out like a....SHIT!

OK so we're screwed. Wednesday, March 1 was warm and mostly sunny. Therefore, all hell will break loose and we'll have a blizzard towards the end of the month. Come to think of it, I'm going to Florida on the 28th or 29th (I can't remember which) so bring it on Mother Nature! As long as my plane gets out before the worst of it.

It's been a great week, the countdown has begun to my last day here. It's sad after 6 years to have to leave because of, well, you know.....but he randomly took a vacation day my last day her, so at least we won't have to have the awkward conversation where I ask him to get the hell out of my farewell lunch!

That's it from here. Have a packed weekend planned, plus I should be studying. Later folks!