Aches and Pains

Well I don't know how I did it.  I must have been sleeping extremely awkward last night.  I didn't run yesterday so I know its not that.  But I woke up this morning to some serious muscle spasms in my back.  I thought taking a hot shower would help, but no luck.  So I heated up my rice bag and layed on it for about 2 hours.  Unfortunately all of my fabulous muscle relaxers are gone so I could only take some tylenol and motrin.  Not that I could really take serious medication today anyway, I have too much work to get done in lab.   Which is where I am currently.  Sitting awkwardly in my desk chair trying to alleviate as much pain as possible.  I hope this passes soon.  I feel like back pain is the worst pain.  No fun, no fun at all.

Gotta Go!

Sorry ahead of time if this is an overshare, but I really need to stop procrastinating going to the bathroom.  Typically if I have my normal cup of coffee in the morning I have to use the restroom by about 10:30.  However, by then I am usually full into my experiments and have to wait for a good stopping point.  But when I do reach a stopping point I have already moved on to something else that I need to get done and this keeps going on and on until I am about to wet myself.  I have to go to the bathroom so bad I can barely walk to the bathroom!  Ridiculous right?  And the funny thing is my little sister gets in trouble for this from my mom all the time!  I am only mentioning this because I did this 3 times today.  Ridiculous again.  Does anyone else do this or am I the only wierd person who does?

A couple of old pictures

Apparently I like to revisit old pictures.  I happened to notice these two on my screen saver tonight.  Good times.

Dance party after a Big House dinner (Lasagna by Danielle).  I think Lianna may be using her finger as a microphone.

What you can't see in this picture is the case of Tona.

One thing that the Big House never lacked, a good dance party and lots of Tona. 

Maddie, remember floor dancing??

For those of you unaware, the Big House was the name given to the house that I lived in with 5 other girls from 2006-2008.  Many a good time were had at the Big House.

Good quote

"Don't dream your life, live your dreams."

Good words to live by.

I Spy...Spring!!

Oh what a joy it is to wake up in the morning to bird chirping and sun streaming through your window.  And then to walk outside and find that the sun is actually warm!  Today feels so much like a spring day, I can't help but feel happy.  If only it would stay like this until summer.  But alas, the 10 day forcast has colder temperatures coming back with rain/snow mixes.  A couple days break from that is nice though.  It makes me excited for a month from now when the weather here should be nice and warm. 

On another note, I found these two things of note last night at the gym.  First, why do people circle the parking lot trying to find a close spot?  Why not park an extra 30 yards away where there are plenty of open spots?  Its the gym, you are going there to work out.  Walk the little extra way.
Second, taking a smoking break at the gym?  No kidding.  There was a lady decked out in sweaty workout gear smoking by the gym door.  As I walked in, she put out the cigarette and followed me back in!!  Wow.

Happy Friday everyone.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Quick Break

Today is a busy day for me.  I'm doing an experiment that takes me all day, from about 8:00 to 6:00, without much room for a break.  So I am spending the next 20 minutes grabbing a quick bite to eat and saying hi.  My first day of "giving up going to bed angry" went well.  It was a good day to start too.  I had kind of a frustrating day in the lab and was kind of in an annoyed mood the rest of the night.  I was tempted to skip choir practice because of it, but for the 15 minutes I was home between work and when I had to leave for choir I turned on the Olympics and got to see the snow boarding half-pike qualifying runs by Sean White and Louie Vito.  Vito's was ok, but Whites was awesome!!!  He gets so high in the air its ridiculous!  Happy thing of the day number one.  (Actually number 2, I did have one good thing happen in lab for me.)  Another happy thing was the funny story my mom told me about her and my little sister.  She has such a little personality it cracks me up.  I hope she only keeps developing it as she grows.  My sister that is, not my mom.  Although she has a pretty good personality too.
And there were a couple other things that I ended up thinking of and writing down.  Really there were many more happy moments than not happy ones.  I just have a problem letting it be the not happy ones that effect my mood.  But I did go to sleep happy, and I woke up happy, so thats good.  Hopefully I can continue this for the next 39 days, and as my friend Maddie pointed out, by then it should just be habit.

Fat Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!  I secretly wish everyday was fat Tuesday, just like I secretly wish everyday was Thanksgiving.  Then I could be gluttonous all the time and no one could say anything to me.  But then I would probably end up looking like this:

 

So maybe 2 days a year is better.

I have decided that I am not going to give up anything for Lent though.  Instead I am going to start something.  Each night I am going to make a list of the things that made me happy that day.  No matter what, even on the most frustrating and terrible days.  I want to fall asleep each night with a smile.

For those of you who are giving things up, good luck!! (especially you Maddie)

pic from here

I miss Seattle

Yesterday I spent the day being lazy.  I went to church, during which I kept dozing off during the sermon (terrible me!).  When I got home I immediately put on some comfy clothes and took about a 3 hour nap (apparently I needed one).  After I came out of the groggyness, I watched a movie I recieved from Netflix, Love Happens.  I was afraid it would be too romantic for my anti-V-Day mood, but it was ok.  Just enough depressing and only a little romantic.  It is filmed in Seattle and mostly it just made me miss home terribly.  I miss the city.  The way it looks as you are driving in from the airport. The lights at night.

 via

The cute little restaurants and shops. 

 

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The market.

 

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The ocean. 

 

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The mountains.

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And yes, the rain.

 

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I want to go home.

Did you say crawfish?

Yesterday my boss had a big crawfish boil Mardi Gras party.  They had 100lbs of crawfish flown in from Louisiana.  They were huge and so delicious.  I brought my friend Amanda with me so she could experience some good crawfish and meet all of my fellow science nerds.  It was super fun.  I had to leave before the King Cake came out to get to my jewelry show though.  Oh well!

The bag of crawfish.  There were about 5 of these, packed full.

Washing them off before putting them in the boiler.

In they go!  Amanda was suprised that they didn't make noise.

Yum!!

Eat up.

Amanda and I. (and a pinata for the kiddies in the back)

Breakin' Dishes

Ok, so maybe I'm not breaking dishes exactly, but I do seem to be breaking the handles off things lately.  For one, my favorite travel coffee mug.  And second, one of my favorite stock pots.  I went to pick it up off the stove and the only thing that I got was the handle.  Sad day.  Now I am short a pot.  Fortunately today was Starbucks Friday for me so I bought a new coffee mug.  Its really nice.  I guess that's an upside to breaking things, you get to buy nice new things.
Lets hope I can keep a handle on things (hehe!) for the rest of the day.  I'm helping my boss prepare a bunch of food for a big crawfish boil tomorrow.  I don't need to be breaking things at her place.
Happy Friday everyone!!

Cookies

Usually I am the worlds biggest disliker of Valentine's Day.  But for some reason the last couple of days I have been feeling the love.  In fact I made these lovely cookies in the spirit of caring.  They're not for anyone in particular.  I'll probably take a few to the lab for my coworkers.  And maybe give some to my neighbors.

And of course eat some myself!

And don't think this makes me a lover of Valentine's Day.  I am sure it is just a momentary lapse in judgement.

Monkey Death Wish

This is so funny! The best is about 1:30 in. The Gibbon keeps pulling on the tiger's ear! Cracked me up!



Check out YouTube - Monkey Death Wish

Funny Story

The screen saver on my computer runs through all my pictures.  Some seem to get more screen time than others.  This is one that seems to get a lot of screen time.

Apparently, my computer knows how much I like to recall this funny story.  Which I now feel I must share with all of you.

It was back in June when I was vacationing in lovely Washington.  I started my trip in Seattle and my beautiful and wonderful friends took turns hosting me and allowing me to stay at their houses/apartments.  On one of the days I thought I was making the switch to the next friends house, but I wanted to make sure so I texted her.

"Hey!  Can't wait to see you tonight.  Am I staying with you tonight and tomorrow night?"

Quickly scrolled through my contacts, picked her name, and pushed send.  And then, that fraction of a second after I pushed the send button, I realized I had not actually stopped on Autumn's name (who the text was intended for), but on Bob the Landlord's name (Bob comes after Autumn in the alphabet on my phone).  Bob, the middle aged guy who owned the house I lived in with all these girls after we graduated college.  Bob, who recieved many a call from us asking him to fix one of the numerous things wrong with the house.  I quickly resent the text, scrolling slowly through my contacts this time to ensure it went to Autumn and Autumn only, too much in shock to think of anything else.  Then I sat there trying to decide if I should send another text explaining my mistake.  Or if I should just hope he no longer had my number in his phone from the times I had to call him with our drainage and flooding basement issues.  After much deliberation, I went for the second option.

Needless to say when I shared the story with the girls they all had quite a good laugh and decided it needed to be recorded with a picture (notice the To: Bob Landlord part near the bottom).  And now about every 10 minutes I get to see this picture pop up on my computer screen.  And without fail, it always gets a little smile.

Oh, and Bob Landlord has now been renamed as Landlord, Bob so he is not close to anyone in my contacts who I may be sending a text to.

WoodWicks

I love these candles.  They have a special wick that sounds like a crackling fire as it burns.  I was at Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday and they had my favorite sent on sale, 7.99 as opposed to 17.99, so of course I bought it.  And not only is the sound cool, but they actually smell fabulous.  I am currently all cozy in bed with my flannel sheets and my Lavendar (favorite scent ever) sented mini fire next to me about to fall asleep.  Love it.

I'm Loved

My mom sent me this picture yesterday.

My little sister is too cute.  I just love her to pieces.  For those of you who do not remember what it is like to spell like a 6 year old, that says, I want lots of presents and my sister Danielle too.  It puts such a smile on my face to know that I am that important to someone.  I mean to be included with presents, thats pretty good.  I do wish I lived closer so that I could see her more often.  I hope I never lose my coolness in her eyes.  If I have nothing else, at least I have that.

Almond Joy Pieces

They are like Rieces Pieces, but Almond Joys.  Get it?  And oh man are they a joy.  I was in desparate need of chocolate the other night and I just happened to be at the grocery store and just happened to walk down the candy isle and there they were, calling my name. I love almond joys anyway, and these little pieces are so heavenly.  I went through the bag way too quickly.  Apparently there are 7 serving per bag.  Pretty sure I ate them in about 3.  Don't judge.  I'm sick.  That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.  Trust me, if you like Almond Joys, you'll like these.

I NEED this dress

Seriously, I love it.  I'm gonna have to buy it.

Check out this website.  They have lots of cute dresses.

Relearning my espanol

I have recently fallen back in love with reading.  I have had a pile of books sitting next to my bed for a couple of months now and I am finally on the last one, which just so happens to be a great recommendation from my friend Maddie.  The author of the book is Dominican and likes to throw in random Spanish phrases throughout the book.  About 50% of the time I can rely on my long distant Spanish classes to figure out what the author is talking about.  The other 50% of the time I just make up whatever I think sounds best given the current scene setting.  I'm sure most of what he is talking about is Spanish slang anyway.  I suppose I could look up and see what the translation is but that would just ruin the flow of my reading and the funny things that I come up with.  Despite my lack of Espanol, it is a really good book, extremely entertaining.  However, I am almost done and in need of a new book and have a B&N gift card to spend (thanks mom!).  Any new recommendations??

To Whom it may Concern

I am ready for it to be spring now. 

Thank you, that is all.

LOST!

The season premier of Lost is tonight!  I. can. not. wait. !!!!  I'm a little sad its the last season, but finally we will get some answers to the many mysteries. 
Seriously, so excited. 
 Especially for this

And definitely this

 

Bring on the island!

Still sick??

I don't understand how this is possible.  Three weeks of feeling absolutely miserable.  Some days I feel as though I am finally beating it, but then I wake up the next morning and feel just as terrible again.  I really don't know how much longer I can stand this.  Plus antibiotics won't work because whatever it is I have is viral so its not like I can take any real medications.  Bah humbug.  My February is not starting off well.

Side note:  I still love my cough syrup + codiene.  It is my only saving grace, a good nights sleep.