Happy Birthday Addison and Other Stuff

It was my favorite (and only) nieces third birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Addison!!! When JL was here I bought her a rodent thing that is really popular right now. I sent a note to JL and reminded her to give the rodent to Addison. When I called her JL told me it was a zuzu (I think that's the name.) I still think it's pretty funny to say it's a rodent. :) Evidently it's a popular gift--she received five of them. :)

It's finally spring. FINALLY!!! I really needed the spring to come this year--probably always. I feel like I am coming alive again just like the trees are all of a sudden a nice fresh new green and the ones that bloom start to show their blossoms. I miss living in Annandale as there were lots of azaleas and dogwood trees. Out where I live now I didn't even know they were blooming yet until I saw a young dogwood tree today. Despite the lack of the bushes and trees, I am still very happy with spring. There are trees that look like carnations popping up everywhere. There is a tree that reminds me of a weeping willow, but its blooms are a beautiful baby pink. It's a stunning tree.

I went to the opera Madame Butterfly the other day. I was super excited for this opera and have waited for it the whole season. It was very good, but the funny thing was that I kept waiting for this one aria. I waited and waited. When the opera was over I realized that the aria was in La Boheme not in Madame Butterfly. However, there was a gorgeous aria in it that I did not recall hearing (even though I have.) Love just always seems so hard. Look at all of the songs about love and loss and all of the books about the same topic.

The government was almost furloughed last week. I decided that day (Friday) that if they did furlough that I would go to Bahamas to Club Med for a week. I called a friend and asked her if I could spend the night and then have her take me to the airport at 5:30 am. I packed my bags ready for my trip. I waited up until 11:00 and heard the news that they were not going to furlough. Even though it was a very good thing for everyone that the government did not shut down, I must say that for me, I was disappointed. All week I kept thinking (as more stress was added at work or something happened I was not happy about) how I would have been in the Bahamas. Such is life.

Travel Show

Carrie (left in the top picture), Melinda (middle in the top picture), and Brian (our camera man) went to the Travel Adventure expo with me on Saturday. I had never been to the expo before and was surprised by the layout. I thought that there would be a bunch of vendors there showing the latest and greatest travel gear. I was somewhat disappointed they weren't there. I always like to know what people have so I know what to put on my list.

We gathered tons of brochures about different countries. Yesterday I went through them and threw out the ones I did not want. Specifically, the nudist colony brochure. I was walking by a booth and was interested in a give away they had on their table. I couldn't tell what it was. Well, this women at the booth asked me if I wanted a brochure. I said sure. When I looked at the brochure I found that it was for a nudist colony--though I was told that is not what they are called anymore. I was trying to extricate myself gently, but it took a little while. When I finally got away and joined my friends they were totally laughing. They knew what the booth was for and wanted to see how I was going to react. We had a good laugh.

The highlight (besides hanging out with my friends) was Samantha Brown was there. It was so fun to hear her talk. If you don't know who she is, she is on the travel channel and travels the world. She is very witting, charming, and fun.

She told one story of how in China she was visiting the one year old panda bears. The panda handler and the interpreter were with her. She was told the handler didn't know any English. Well, he turned to her and said 'keep moving.' She asked her interpreter what he meant by that. It was explained that they were bears. Well she said, her producer wanted her to stay still so as she is in with the pandas she is hearing in her ear--stay still and with the handler--keep moving--back and forth. She said she turned and made eye contact with one of the pandas and it charged her. The handler comes running around her yells at her-Run- and picks up the panda and throws him. It was a great story--one you wouldn't see on tv. She told other stories which I wish I would have written down because her stories were pretty amusing.

We were at the convention center in DC. The second picture above is one of their art features in the convention center. It was really cool. The other ones you can't see is a circle of guitars and one that had tennis rackets. I like fun art like this.

JL's Visit

JL came into town for a training. It was so fun to have her all to myself for a few days (after her training.) She stayed in Old Town Alexandria so I joined her there and what did we do? SHOP! :) It was so fun to wander around Old Town without a plan and with as much time as we wanted. The first night it was really windy (40-60 miles and hour gusts), but the next day it was beautiful.
I loved this hat. It makes me want to go back and buy it, but really where would a wear it?
The Torpedo factory is kind of like an art studio where people sell their art. We wandered around and looked at several artists studios and wares. It's a cool venue.
Of course if you haven't been to Eastern Market then it is the perfect thing to do on a sunny day. We wandered around and looked at all the vendors goods. I bought two bracelets, a ring, and a necklace. I only go there when people are visiting because otherwise I would be broke. :) There is just such fun jewelry.

They had these very fun animal hats for sale. They were just so adorable! JL is sporting a lion. She's so cute!

Here is another cute hat and other things they were selling. Such fun things!

JL and I took a tour of the George Washington Masonic Temple in Alexandria. I had never been even though two of my best friends lived near it for probably about six years.

JL posing with George Washington. I think JL is a lot cuter.:)
This is the only picture that George Washington posed for--for the Masons. He told them he would only pose for the picture if they would paint him 'warts and all.' We learned a lot of things about him. He had scars all over his face from (I think small pox he had as a child), he has a scar from his nose to his chin on the right side, he had fake teeth that were painful so he often did not wear them, he had a huge mole on the left side and would wear high collars because he thought people focused on the mole more than him. It was very interesting.
We went up into the tower for a view of Alexandria and across the river-Maryland.
This is one of the rooms in the Masonic temple. Evidently this is really a memorial to George Washington and to the Masons. So most of the rooms are more for show. This is one room that one of the types of Masons study in. Of course they couldn't tell us much so I'm not really sure what they do here. Our tour guide, Brian, said they tell each other Bible stories and talk about what they mean to them today.
This is on the steps of the Masonic temple. You can see JL's hotel just behind JL's head. We liked that the Masons purpose is to become better people and to contribute to their community.

I loved having JL here!

On a different topic, I have 'shedded' 8.4 pounds so far and have a bit to go. It feels good to make progress even though it feels so slow. My doctor said it's normal for my size and age. Really there isn't much going on in my life. I need to plan a trip!

Back it up!

I bought a Mac about four years ago and thought they were totally indestructible. I'm here today to tell you that no computer is indestructible. Last week my computer died--dead. I was totally freaking out as I called Apple to get some help. When I took my computer in to the Genius Bar, Tyler the 'Genius', asked me how he could help me. I told him that my computer had died to please help me (no I didn't scream or cry--I was so proud of myself :)). I was very scared that I had lost everything. He asked me if I had backed up the data and I told him no that I hadn't backed it up and I thought Mac's were perfect and nothing would go wrong.

Well, I learned the valuable lesson that NO computer is indestructible. I got my baby back today and it's working wonderfully. I also found out about this wonderful thing called 'Time Machine'. Basically if I have an external hard drive plugged in to my machine it will back it up every hour if something has changed. Whew! Now I don't even have to think about it and if something does go wrong I'll still have all the data. --Love backups--and Genius Bar guys who can answer all my questions and fix my computer!!!

I've been on Weight Watchers (WW) for two weeks now and have shedded four pounds. (I don't want to lose them because I don't want them back--same thing with 'dropping' them.) I am so happy about that!!! I really think that for me it's all about planning. If I have a plan about what I'm going to eat during the day then I don't go for stuff I haven't planned. At my meeting today the instructor said that exercise is only 20% of weight loss. I thought that was really interesting and good for a few of my friends who have joined lately, but don't have time to exercise. It also reminds me that even though I work out a lot, it's more for toning and making my muscles look good for when all that extra fat that is surrounding them are gone.--Not for gaining food points or for losing more weight.

I was asked to bring a dessert for a lunch I'm going to tomorrow. I was a little scared about that because I didn't want to bake. So I just went to the store and bought cookies there. I also left the cookies in my car so I don't even have to think about having them in the house. So, not only is this good for my plan, but I'm also not eating the gluten that I'm not supposed to have. It feels so good to be motivated again. I am looking forward to fitting back into all the clothes in my closet!!!


My friend Carrie had a Birthday last week. You look great Carrie! It was a fun party and it was great to see the changes she had made to her house. Lots of people came (because we love you Carrie) and it was nice to meet some new people. When I moved last year I moved about an hour away from everyone so I really have not gotten out much. I don't think I have actually socialized with singles that I didn't already know in ages! Because of my weight I also don't feel like being out socializing, but I was fine there and didn't feel uncomfortable. Happy Birthday Carrie!

Happy New Year!

Every year I spend New Years in Utah with my family. This year I went home earlier so I came back earlier. My good friend Melinda invited me to go with a group to "The Legwarmers" concert. Oh my gosh it was so much fun!!! We met earlier at Allison Pond's house and got ready. I had nothing to wear because I can't fit into any of my clothes. I have one pair of jeans that fits--though a bit uncomfortably--from before I lost the weight (that I have now gained back and more). Melinda let me borrow legwarmers and a long sleeve black shirt and Allison let me borrow this t-shirt. My sister Julie bought the crown for me as a stocking gift. It actually lights up and blinks around the flower in the center. Very cool! I was so happy to have it. Tons of people had New Years hats on at the concert, but mine was the best. :)

Me, Michelle, Erin, Melinda, Suzette, Allison showing off our hard work making us into 80 chics.

Melinda and Suzette brought makeup to put on. Melinda had blue eyeliner and silver with sparkles eyeliner. It looked so great! I also used a lot of blue eye shadow. Oh the 80's. :) Personally so glad not to be in them anymore.
Here we are at the concert. Me, Melinda, and Erin. She had leopard print/leather pants. They were great.
Here is the band. It got really packed. They had a balcony upstairs where there were fewer people so some of us were up there and were really having an amazing time dancing, screaming, singing. Just before midnight I went down and joined the rest of the group as they had balloons fall from the ceiling at midnight. Cindy had given me glow-stick bracelets so I brought those with me and gave them to people. It was just a blast! Most people dressed up in the 80's style. It was so fun to see what people wore. The band was awesome.
Here are Michelle, Liz Anderson, Allison, Suzette and me.

It was such a fun way to ring in the new year. I just felt alive and crazy. I haven't been dancing like that in ages and you were supposed to be crazy so it was awesome!!! Happy New Year!

Serenade Birthday 2010

Carrie, Melinda, Alison, Sarah, Me, Melissa, Kristina, Tiffanie, and Christal

This year for my birthday we went out to Busboys and Poets in Shirlington for dinner. They put us at a round table on their stage. It was great because we could talk to everyone at the table in normal voices. It wasn't loud where we were and it was all decorated. Traditionally we do dinner and then go see the National Tree. However, the tree wasn't lit until the next night. It was so incredibly cold that I was actually happy we couldn't go this year. :) Tiffanie brought two cakes from Trader Joes for me. They were both delicious!!! She had asked me what cake I might like and I gave her several store suggestions. She ended up going to three stores to find a cake I would like. That was so nice! One looked like a giant cupcake and the other looked like a wrapped gift. Yummmyyyy!

We are sitting around talking--just having finished our dinner and this man (above) comes over and said there is some problem. He sits down with me on my chair and serenades me with a rendition of Happy Birthday. It was so much fun--loved it. The chorus of happy birthday from friends and family is great, but this was way better. :) Later he came by the table again. I was standing there talking and he put his arm around me and serenaded me and everyone at the table with "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. It just made the whole night. When we left he was standing at the entry and leaned over for me to give him a kiss on the cheek. My friends said I got my birthday kiss, but I don't think that counts. :) When we were at the cabin several people were trying to figure out how to get Tiffanie a birthday kiss. They suggested a few people in the grocery store and going to a bar. Sadly nothing panned out so maybe my kiss on the cheek should count. :)

It was just a fun birthday evening!

A West Virginia Thanksgiving

My wonderful friends Tiffanie and Kristina organized a Thanksgiving getaway in West Virginia. It was in Davis West Virginia near Black Falls. It was a fabulous way to spend Thanksgiving.
I drove up on Thanksgiving day so by the time I arrived dinner was very close to being done--therefore the perfect time. :) I brought a veggie tray--from Cost-co--no cooking for me.--Well not much at least. Tiffanie (front) had a birthday on Friday and I made--from scratch--a carrot cake. It was SO good! Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and as you can see so beautiful!

We went on a very short hike to Black Falls pictured here. They were really beautiful. It was somewhat treacherous going to down to them because it has snowed and make the stairs icy, but it was worth it.

I was feeling better after being on my antibiotics, but I only felt good for two days and then of course the day before Thanksgiving I started getting sick again. By Friday I was not feeling good and Saturday was just horrible and it went downhill from there. I ended up having to go home early because I just felt horrible, but I really did enjoy being with my friends. It was a fantastic Thanksgiving.

We just relaxed, talked, played games, ate, ate, and ate. It was also fun celebrating Tiffanie's birthday with her all weekend.