Long Weekend

I'm leaving tomorrow morning (at 4 am...) to go to MI for a nice long weekend! I haven't seen my boyfriend since he left VT in the middle of August so it's about time! If you recall, I have family (cousin and her family) who live in MI, and my aunt and uncle (cousin's parents) were driving out to visit her for the weekend and invited me along for the ride! I know some of you are probably ready to throw up at the thought of 10 hours in the car (20 hours total in 4 days) but the car does NOT bother me at all and I'm not driving so I'm actually- - get this- - looking forward to it. (I'm crazy, I know). I figure 10 hours with NOTHING to do but catch up on my reading and put some serious time into some pieces I've been working on at work is 10 hours that I have not had in a WHILE.

My boyfriend is picking me up at my cousin's house Thursday afternoon when we arrive and we're heading to pick up his men's team because they have a tourament ALL DAY FRIDAY. It never fails, whenever I go visit, one of his teams has some big tournament and we end up spending an entire weekend at collegiate tennis facilities... as if I didn't get enough of THAT when I was in college. Oh well, it'll be better than spending the entire weekend in the hotel he's been living at. Oh? Did I not tell you about that? Well, let's just say that the plumbing failed in his apartment building and 4" of raw sewage backed up into two of the apartments (his of course, being one of them) so he's had to move into a hotel while renovations are done to his apartment. (Gag, really, it's okay.) I'm not terribly upset about it, this means that he won't want me to make elaborate dinners and I can get him to take me out to eat! Aside from the TENNIS, plans for the weekend include a whole bunch of nothing and going to a Sangria Bar. I have never been to one before but something tells me that I'll feel RIGHT AT HOME. In fact, I may even make it my home.

I won't be updating/checking blogs while I'm away so enjoy your weekends!

Coming soon:
What I've learned working at a Scoop Shoppe
Craziest Wedding Invite Ever? (I need some feedback on this one)
The Tale of Two Jazz Owners

A Perfect Marriage

aluminum and wine... it's my love for canned diet coke and my love for wine- -together. I'm not sure if this is REALLY a great idea but, hey, anything that makes drinking wine easier I'm ALL for. Especially exciting is how great winecans would fit in a koozie and a cooler. And um, WINECANS, how fun is it to say THAT?!? Like, "Oh, don't mind me, just returning my winecans." :)

Check it out:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzz/Canned_Wine

A Scale, a Shot and a Sub

Confession- - I went to my pediatrician until I graduated from college. Don't judge. (Okay, think of that Friends episode when Ross STILL goes to the pediatrician. Laugh. Okay, keep laughing. Yes it is funny, I know. Hahahaha! Okaaaay. Alight...enough!) He delivered me and all of my sisters and since I only went once every two years it didn't really seem like a huge deal, plus there were plenty of female doctors around if I ever wanted something different. At my 21 year old check-up (you're laughing again) my doctor and I discussed my options and he gave me some recommendations as to who to see now. I picked one and went for the first time last summer. No big deal, a young, female doctor who was very pleasant. Fine. I called in June to schedule another check-up (um, is this what they're called still?!?) with my new doctor but it tunrs out she's on maternity leave. Um, okay... I don't know how I'm supposed to build a relationship with a doctor who's not there, but whatever. I had two choices- - I can wait until JANUARY when she's back or I can see the nurse practitioner. I didn't really want to wait until January so I decided that seeing the N.P. would be fine.

Cut to yesterday. I go into the office and wait for only 5 minutes (WOW!) before a young male something (nurse? doctor? not sure...) says my name. I follow him back to the exam rooms where he takes my blood pressure and measures my height/weight. (doesn't TELL me what they are, just jots them down) then he starts asking me all of these (personal) questions (I know, it's his JOB) but if I wanted to see a male WHATEVER don't you think I would have picked a MALE doctor? So he's all, "I see you have a birthday coming up" and I'm like, "yea, in a couple months" and he's "no, just four weeks- - it's next month!" and I'm, "wow, time flies" and he goes, "sorry, didn't mean to bring up a birthday" and I'm like, "well, I'm only going to be 23 so it's not the end of the world" and he goes, "yea... the birthday that really hit me was 25... just a year ago." OKAY this guy is only about 3 years older than me?????? And he's asking all of these QUESTIONS?!??!!? Creepy.

He leaves me and the N.P. comes in, (remember how I haven't seen her before and I don't know who she is?) turns out I DO know her. She dates someone I know so I've seen her "around" for the past 7 years. She did offer for me to see someone else if I was uncomfortable because we knew each other but it didn't really bother me (and at least she's over 50) so I said not to worry about it. We're chatting and she's writing down all of the "how do I decipher THIS person from the 25 other patients I see a day" information and asking me lots of health history questions:

Her: Do you smoke? Me: Nope.
Her: Drink alocohol? Me: Socially.
Her: Heart problems in the the family? Me: (long explanation)
Her: Cholesterol? Me: Not a problem.
Her: Allergies? Me: None.
Her: Coffee? Me: Diet Coke.
Her: Exercise? Me: yea, I run 4 miles 3 days a week with a longer run on the weekends, teach 6 jazzercise classes a week and usually go to three more.
Her: Wow, that's great. So how does your weight look compared to last year? Me: Oh, I'm not sure... (remember MALE WHATEVER didn't TELL ME!!!!!!?????!!!!)
Her: Well, let's look. (gets out paper that MALE W. scribbled on) Oh, you've gained three pounds. Me: (dumbfounded. staring... shock...)
Her: I'm sure it's all muscle, you look fantastic. Me: (dumbfounded. staring...shock...)
Her: Dairy? Me: (staring...) at least one yogurt/day and usually ice cream, milk in my cereal.
you get the point....

We're getting to the end of the visit and she inquires about the HPV vaccine that regular doctor prescribed me last year. I explain that because it was so new last year I was uncomfortable getting it but now that it's been a year and I still have the prescription I'm going to do it. She explains that NOW they stock the vaccines in the office so if I'd like to do it today she can have the nurse come in and do it. Fine. It saves me going back and scheduling another appointment. She says goodbye and the nurse comes in to give me my shot. I don't remember the last time I had a shot but I think it was the summer before I went to college when you have to get that series (for meningitis??!). Anyway, I have an extremely high tolerance for pain. Usually NOTHING bothers me, I'm not squimish, I have never once cried when I got a shot or my finger pricked. I played tennis for an entire season on a fractured footbone and refused to see the trainer because I knew he would tell me I had to take the rest of the season off. No. Thanks. Stupid? Perhaps, but it's what was important to me and my foot healed just fine in the off season. You get the point. Well, this lady puts the needle into my arm and I don't flinch, I'm not even worried about it. Then she starts to inject the vaccine... I thought that I was going to pass out, throw up and burst into tears at the same time. It was the most painful experience I have had in a LONG time. I'm not sure what the difference was this time, but I could actually FEEL the liquid move up my shoulder, down my arm and into my fingers. I survived (barely) but today it feels like I got hit in the arm with a baseball bat swung by Big Papi. My arm freaking HURTS.

I did however stop at Subway on my way back to work yesterday after the appointment and got myself a footlong sub and a large diet coke. Hey, I deserved it.

Holiday Vacation

I have booked my holiday vacation! For 12 glorious days in December/January my sisters, my boyfriend and myself will be traveling to SPAIN! We'll be staying here:

it will, of course, be the middle of winter and a little chilly there, but who cares? I've always wanted to go to Spain and I cannot wait! My friend is living in Alicante currently where he plays professional basketball so we'll be staying with him and catching a couple of games. I'm also hoping to visit Ibiza and Mallorca for a day or two. It should be really quiet around Alicante at this time, so I'm hoping that we'll get to do EVERYTHING without dealing with lots of tourists... well, except ourselves I suppose. :)

We all speak spanish fairly well and my boyfriend speaks it fluently- - I know I'll pick it right up when I'm over there. (When I was in the D.R. for three weeks in high school I started to think in Spanish instead of English.) Practice makes perfect!

If anyone has any suggestions of places to visit, I'd love to hear them!

Land's End

I hit the Land's End jackpot this weekend. I usually don't wear/buy llbean/land's end clothing (other than outerwear) because I find it to be cut a little more conservatively than I like, but this weekend the shopping god's were with me. I had an extra hour before I had to my at my Grandfather's birthday party so I stopped by the mall. In some Sears stores there is a Land's End department which is helpful because I like to try on clothes before I buy them and doesn't create a ship to/ship back/ ship to/run out of stock dance that ordering online oftentimes does. Everything on the Sale racks in the Land's End deparment was an EXTRA 50% off. I tried to find images of everything that I bought, but I couldn't so I'm just going to have to explain it...

I got the shirt above (in navy, blue check, and coral) for $4.99 each. I got three pairs of chino boy-shorts (in khaki, white, and navy) for $3.99 each. I got seersucker tanks (in blue/pink) for $2.99 each. A navy knee-length skirt for $3.99, nantucket red pants for $3.99, and a linen jacket for $8.99). To top it off, I got two belts for $1 each. All of this new stuff for less than $70...

I know I'm not supposed to be shopping, but at prices like this, I really couldn't resist. Even though it's cool today I wore the khaki boyshorts and navy button up with a navy/white stiped headband- - I'm feeling good. :) You guys should definitely check it out if you have a minute.

In other very exciting news, I booked my holiday vacation... more details tomorrow!

Slump

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I apologize. I've been super-busy with work, other work, and planning two birthday parties (Father's and Grandfather's). Life is good. With all of this cooler weather we're having I'm totally itching to go shopping...there I've said it. I've been so good lately with my non-spending plan I try not to even THINK about shopping. I must. stay. away. from. the. mall. And I've got a pretty large holiday trip planned that would definitely be supplemented with some extra cash... more to come!

Shower Time

My cousin's wife is having a baby (due October) and her baby shower is this weekend in MA so I'll be heading down there early tomorrow morning for a fun, baby-filled day. As part of the invitation it was requested that each guest bring a book to start a book collection for the new baby. What a great idea! Everyone has their favorite childhood book and I'm so excited to share mine with the new baby! (They don't like surprises so we already know that it's a boy and they're going to name in Gavin).

I thought it would be fun to share with all of you the books that my sisters and I chose to bring to Baby Gavin:

We read and read and re-read all of these books when we were younger, what are some of your favorite books?

I was complaining about my sisters last week and in an effort to be fair, I have another story to share:

I teach a 6am Jazzercise class two mornings a week which gives me a very short amount of time to get ready for work on those days. Yesterday, I came home from class and realized that I had left my ipod at the center which was a problem because I needed it to teach the noontime express class that same day at a different Center. I ran upstairs to jump in the shower figuring I would stop and get it on my way to work. When I came down Sister #3 was just pulling in the driveway (she had gone to the Center to retrieve my ipod) and Sister #4 was putting a small, brown lunch bag on the counter. She knew that I was rushing and made my lunch for me while I was getting ready.

They do have redeeming qualities. :)

Confession

I cried.