Oh Well...

Well, to begin this post, I will tell you all that I am not pregnant. I know you were just dying to know...(esp since I don't talk much about the trying efforts on here and most of you all didn't really know there was a chance). It isn't that I am not wanting to talk about, and please feel free to ask, but I find that when I get lots of people in the loop, then the disappointment hurts a little more when the negative comes up. I was honestly surprised this time. So surprised that Nick and I (and the few people who knew we were taking the test) were all in total agreement, that it was just possibly wrong. I mean, I was only a couple of days late, and I did take the test in the evening, when it CLEARLY says for best results take in the morning. Yep...obviously wrong. Clearly need to retest....then I started. Damn.

We are okay. We will just start over next month and see how it goes. I am just hoping to get pregnant before my Doc says I have to go back on Lupron. That time is now coming up rather fast, and I just HATE what that drug does to me. Anyway, in brighter news, if you haven't heard, Boo is in fact just a little bit pregnant! We are now all waiting until Friday to see if he is holding on...all well wishes are greatly appreciated!

Now...I know you want to know what this is...right?

Maybe this will help...

Last night Nick and I had a blackout during a rather nasty lightning storm. We ended up being out of power for about two hours. two prime TV watching hours, mind you. We did find ways to entertain ourselves. Nick pulled out the trusty head lamp his bother got him for Christmas. I remember thinking, "When in the hell are we EVER going to need THAT?" Well..as it turns out, all the freaking time. Nick LOVES the thing. Anyway, here is another great use for it....

We decided Ellie needed her own flashlight so she could get around...she LOVED it.

Only dogs who are truly pure of heart will shine with the inner light...

Okay, we are total nerds, but we were SERIOUSLY amused. I still can't stop laughing when I see it. I mean, come on...look at how cute and ET like she looks...

Excuses, Excuses

Sorry it has been a bit since I have posted...my mind is swimming with so many thoughts as of late that I have not really had time to come up with posting ideas. Not great for you, my few faithful blog readers! (please don't go...I promise to do better!) What is my mind swimming with, you ask? Well, at the top of the list is this. My sister and her husband have been wanting a family for so long, and we are all just hoping and praying that this will give them the right answer. If not, then they will be moving right into adoption without missing a beat. They are going to have a family (like the best family EVER!), but we are all holding our breath to see if it will start tomorrow, or if we might have to wait just a little longer for a due date. Along with that, there is still the fact that Nick and I are trying. It is also on my mind a lot these days, what with Boo, and has become a big topic of conversation at our house. I will update you all on that when I have something more than "Gez, I sure do hope we are pregnant" to say.

Besides that, work is crazy. We finally got our personal laptops. That's right people, I have a PERSONAL work laptop.... how completely amazing is that? These people trust me with a high end electronic! I am such a freaking adult I could just die. Anyway, the laptops were all my brainchild of taking the bio lab into, well this millennium (only seven years behind) and getting all of our forms into an electronic format. Nick is helping me write Visual Basic programs, but between then and now, I am converting all of our old word documents into shared files so we can just use that. Just kill me if I begged and pleaded for laptops, then we got them and never used them...now that would be embarrassing.

On top of work and baby-baby-baby thoughts, Nick and I have been working on our DC trip plans. We are so excited about it! I will fill you in on details once I know more, but we are going in October, so it should be really beautiful. On top of this, we of course have the addition going up, which is really going well. Mix all this in with random daily life and you can see how posting has taken a back burner!

So...I promise to do better. I have other things to say, and actually this post wasn't going to be a "lets give a million reasons why I don't post" but rather was going to be about fantasy football...maybe that can wait. Yes...then I can have another post for tomorrow...or maybe the next day. You know...once my mind slows down!

I Fought the Law...

That's right folks...you know how it ends. The law won. Does anybody else think it is ridiculous that when you do some little bitty illegal thing, the stupid government takes all your money? I mean, sure I was in the wrong when I was pulled over for running a stop sign and then not having my insurance card or registration on me. I totally admit that (although it really did seem like the perfect time for the nice officer to have just given me a warning, but whatever). If you notice the date on the original post, you will see the ticket happened in the end of May...MAY people! I have been dealing with this for a seriously long time.

I went down to the courthouse back in June to show the nice county clerk people that I did indeed have insurance and registration and hoped the entire thing would just go away. I was wrong. The lady totally got this attitude because the car was in my dad's car lots name, and the lady actually shook her finger at me and said, "YOU are just going to have to take THIS before the JUDGE!" What the hell. Like I have time to deal with this crap (and you are all saying, then why in the hell did you run the stop sign?? Trust me, if I noticed it, I would have stopped!) So...dad and I head down there on the court date. We get there early, and get the entire thing cleared up before the official court date. Therefore not having to take anything up with any judge. Big score for me. One problem was that I was able to get the insurance and registration dropped, but apparently they don't look kindly on stop sign running. No, they were not letting this one go. They ask if I have been to traffic school in the past year, I think really hard (the lawyer looked disturbed) and came up with my answer. No, it was just over a year ago. (yes, I have a problem) So...I get signed up for traffic school. That is 4 hours of my life I will have to give up come September 5th...so sad (esp for my mom seeing as how it is her birthday and she will be robbed of her precious middle daughter).

You think my story ends there? Well, I think it should too! Today, for the third time due to this stupid ticket, I had to go down to the court house. You see, I had to pay court fees (in cash no less...who just carries around cash??). Now, this is what really gets me. Why in the hell do I have to pay court fees if my case never saw the inside of a court room? I am all about making the criminals pay or whatever, but isn't the traffic school enough? If you ask me, it is way more than enough. It was LATE and there was nobody coming at the stupid stop sign anyways....but today, nearly three months after the ticket, I had to go downtown on my glorious Friday off and mess with giving all my money away. I definitely had better things to do with my $139 dollars, and better things to do with my time. Unfortunately, I do know when the law has won, and when it is better to just fork over the cash. I will miss my money...and maybe I will watch a little closer for stop signs.

Keys

I have a monstrous key ring. Any time anyone uses my keys they are all like, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS DISASTER?? I have never really seen what the big deal is. I have a little coach hook key chain, and two sorority key chains. I have been meaning to take the Kappa Delta one off for some time now (I guess for like three years because that is how long I have been out of school) but besides that, they were MY KEYS. Doesn't everybody have this many keys?? How do you get into places?

So, Candice calls me the other day. She asks me if I am near her house. I tell her that I am not even kinda near her house. She tells me that she might have left her straightener on, and that she is on her way to Cincinnati for a Bengals game and can't turn around. Can I please go check so that all her precious things do not go up in smoke. Not really liking the idea of her being homeless, I say yes, and ask if the door is unlocked. She then tells me that I have a key. REALLY?? Man, is one of these keys hers? Crazy! Boo and I head over there, we get to the door and I start trying all my keys. As I am working my way down the key chain Boo is standing there with her head turned, looking puzzled. I throw my hands in the air and declare none of these keys work, and that Nick must have it.

We get in the car, drive all the way over to my house, get Nicks keys. This is when I noticed how few keys he had to choose from. I actually new what every key went to. How is that possible?? Clearly no mystery keys to Candice's house. I then dig through a bowl of change and come up with a new key. Looks right to me! Boo and I head back over. I put the mystery key in, but there is no click (come to think of it, I still have no freaking clue what THAT key is for...hua). I do smell at the door to see if there is smoke, but I don't smell a thing. At this point Candice calls back, have I gotten in?? how are all her things? I break the news. I can't find the key. She tells me she KNOWS she gave it to me. I decide, in a last ditch effort, to dig through the bottom of my purse. There, in all its glory was Candice's house key!

We let ourselves in, as Boo yells, "Oh God the Fire, The FLAMES!!!" (just to mess with Candice a little....Boo does not like driving around in her car with no air...it makes her mean) as we head into the bedroom. The straightener was off. (and totally unplugged from the wall...just saying...) No fire, no flames. All is right with the world. Now, Boo turns to me and says, "What in the hell are all those keys for? " I look down, a little taken aback and begin to explain. Well, I have a work key, and my house key, a car key, then of course a key to Boo and Chris's, not sure about this one, one to Liz and Cory's, one to Candice's, this one is also a mystery, one to Sally and Ron's, one to Mom and Dad's...you know....in case of emergency's! (not to mention I have the Kelsey's garage code...you know, in case they need me)

Boo, then pulls out her keys. She has her house and her car. THAT'S IT! I turn my head, SHOCKED. I just realized, the reason I have the monster keyring is because I am EVERYONES in case of emergency person! What the hell are you all thinking? Do you know me? It took me over an hour to make sure Candice's house was not burning down....Boo would have them all color coordinated based on each of our favorite colors, and would monthly drop by to check and make sure it still works. You have all chosen very poorly my friends...but I will be there (eventually) to let you in with my large collection of mystery keys!

Project Master Bath Update!

Okay, I have finally figured out how to load pictures on the new computer. You know what? It is actually really easy. So easy, in fact that I am actually embarrassed that I had not tried sooner. Nick bought this really great memory card reader, which for some reason freaked me out. Commonly in my mind different=bad and hard to understand. Well...like normal, I am totally wrong here. He did, in fact, buy it for a reason. It is so easy to use. No more loading all pics up on Kodak, then pulling them each from there to blogger. Plus, it will not take up memory because it just goes from the memory card to a temporary file unless we actually want to save it over. Amazing, right? That's what I thought too.

Anyway, now to the point of the post. Nick and his dad have busted their butts for the last two weekends on the addition. Looks to me like it payed off seeing as how now it actually looks like we have a room going on rather than just a large hole.

So...here is the framed floor

Then some walls went up...amazing how this all works, right? I actually helped lift that wall...my one helpful moment.And finally you get a roof. Isn't it amazing? It really is going to turn into a bathroom! Plus, now that it is actually up, let me tell you...it seems HUGE. For real. You always hear that it is never as much room as you think you are going to get....not us. Our bathroom is going to be the nicest room in the entire house! That's fine with me. I will just spend all day in my soaking tub or in my new larger master bedroom. I think it is going to be perfect!

Words

**This post is really a personal message for a select few people. Bio Girl will be back to its random normalness in the next day or so. For now, there were just some things I needed to get off my chest. **

You know when something happens, something large that really changes you. Sometimes that thing is because of a single person. The event marks an exact moment in your life, a moment that will be looked back on and referred to as a change in who you are. When this event is sparked by a single person, a person who you have done something to, or who as done something to you, then you (or at least I) commonly think of how you would handle seeing this person again. What would you say? How would you act? I had just such a moment this weekend.

Actually, the moment was enhanced by the fact that there was not one of these people there, but rather two. You know...and they were together. This makes the words that you have been wanting to say, the closure that you need, much harder. The different things I would have said at different times over the months and years since we have last spoken came back to me. All the things I really would like to say. When I decided to get up and walk out, I wasn't sure if I would stop, but once I got close to them, the need to get out of the situation was too strong. I gave a small smile, a little wave, and I went home.

I have thought about this all weekend. I keep telling myself that really, there were no words that need to be said. We have all moved on. But I just keep feeling like I lost a chance. This opportunity to say things I needed to get out. Not because I am bitter or angry, but just because. So, here is what I should have said. Here is what I never could actually say, but I can sure has hell write it out...on my blog that I know they read. Just to get it out there. Just for closure. Just so I don't feel like I missed the opportunity I had been thinking about for two years.

An Open Letter to my Ex-Friends:

First I want to talk to you. No, not you. I know you thought you would of course be first, but this may actually be more important for me to say. I am honestly so sorry for what happened between us. I don't think I ever knew exactly how sorry until the exact same thing happened to me. What a shitty thing to do to someone. We had our differences and we had our problems and I am not saying that we were destined to stay best friends forever, but it never should have ended the way it did. People grow up and sometimes they just grow apart. It was not my place to lay all the issues on the table and then walk away without giving you a chance. Some of our issues were between us, they were personal and real. Others were simply decisions that I did not agree with, but honestly decisions that were in no way mine to take control of. Our silent disagreements killed us. Conversations that should have been face to face, rather than behind each others backs. I am truly sorry to have hurt you. I really hope you are happy. You look happy on your blog...and you make me laugh. When I read it I always remember why we were friends, and how much I did love you.

Now, to you. I honestly do not have any of those same feelings about our situation. Do you? I can say that I did everything to try to save our friendship. I actually begged you (and that is hard to admit seeing as how you coldly said no) not to end our friendship. What a shock it was. You had problems with who I surround myself with. Do you not think it was hard for me to handle who you spent your time with? Do you not think that was difficult for me as well? But our friendship meant more to me than I guess it did to you. That's okay. I understand it now, but it was a very hard blow. I was shocked when you said you didn't want to be friends, when you told me to just leave your stuff on the porch, I guess because you couldn't even see me face to face. When you said you wouldn't be at my wedding. Can you imagine how much that hurt me? I was sure I would hear from you when my grandfather died. Do you know how hard that was for me? Maybe before the wedding...maybe after the wedding. I was crushed. I know how you change things in your mind, but I want to make sure you know that when our friendship ended, it was only you on board. I wanted to fix it. I am now over that. I have a wonderful life and wonderful friends. Sometimes I see things that I know you would like, that would make you laugh, and I wish I could share them with you. I wonder how your daughter is doing. I hope you are okay, but that is it. I really am done and I am more than fine.

Your Ex-Friend,
Sarah


So...I guess there are words after all. Just not ones that I was willing to say at a bar on a Friday night. I bet nobody thought a small smile and wave could mean so much.

***You will probably notice comments are turned off on this post. Guess I'm not looking for a lot of feedback on this one. They will be back on in a few days.***

Deep Thoughts

I had to drive back to Ohio yesterday and collect the monthly custard samples. All in all the trip took about eleven hours. Eleven hours of nothing but my own mind to keep me company...that and the lengthy phone conversations with Charing, but mostly it was my mind. So, do you want to know all the deep and enlightening things I thought about for eleven hours?

**I'm so glad I bought this ipod car adaptor...I have really great taste in Music.I guess everyone things they have great taste in music...hua. I am sure I actually do though.

**God it has taken me forever to get to the interstate. Who is beeping in on my phone call with Charing?? The lab...maybe I should just ignore it. They can live without me for a day.

**I can't believe I left all the sample bottles in the lab. What a freakin' idiot. Need to turn around. idiot. idiot. idiot....

**My head is killing me. Head ache may be due to rather tight sunglasses (which are so stinking cute). I hate my big head. Why can't I have a nice normal, or even small head. No, no. I am cursed with a big old head that can't seem to cram itself into many hats, and when it does, I have a nice ring around my forehead which shouts "I have a really large head"

**Maybe my large head allows for more brain room therefore explaining my amazing intelligence.

**Maybe I have multiple big head issues...not only physical, but maybe just a little mental as well...nah.

**How odd that someone thought it was a good idea to paint a confederate flag on the roof of their barn...clearly someone in Ohio has faith that the South will rise again...how very disturbing.

**I really think I have mastered this interstate driving thing. Then again...I am alone, so there is nobody to grab on to the handles and tell me I am hugging the wall like Dale Earnheart...maybe I should get over.

**I am starving. Stupid diet is ruining my road trip.

**I am definitely not getting any frozen custard at any of my stops. It totally isn't worth the points.

**I am really glad I got some frozen custard at that store. It clearly would have hurt the managers feelings if I had said no. I am also really glad I got all this hot fudge on it...mmmm. Why didn't she ask me if I wanted a waffle cone? Kind of annoying really.

**I think I will just consider the large coffee custard with hot fudge lunch...then I am not doing to bad.

I wonder if Tarp will let me use his house in Costa Rica...that would be really fun, and basically free. Hmm...but Nick won't want to fly there. I am sure glad I finally looked up where Costa Rica is...maybe we will take a cruise there! Yes, that is perfect. Then again, we wouldn't really need Tarps house then...so really we could take a cruise anywhere!!! Oh...wait...this isn't really free anymore...damn.

**I am freaking starving. I think I might stop and have an early dinner. What a great idea! I could just eat something small and totally stick with my diet.

**I am really glad I decided to eat big for my early dinner. That way I wont be hungry the rest of the night. Genius.

**Hey, I think I can sing! How could I have never known this before. I guess it is because I was always to shy to sing in public. Listen to me! Man, I rock. I should totally practice and then I could get up and sing at Karaoke one day and blow everyone away. I think I will sing "Heartbreak Town"...yes, I seem to be good at it. Perfectly in my new found range. Okay, I will just turn down the radio and see how I do without the Dixie Chicks there to back me up....Oh...Okay, I totally can't sing. Not even a little. I have managed to embarrass myself. How odd. Back to vow of singing silence while in public.

**I am freaking starving. How is all that Arby's doing nothing for me. Maybe I will have second dinner. Seems smart. I mean, I did totally skip lunch. I girls gotta eat, right?

What a Difference

Remember back in February when Tarp went to Costa Rica and I had...well...a small (huge) breakdown? You don't? Well, you can see it in all of its meltdown glory here, here and here . It was terrible. The worst work week of my life. Honestly, one of the worst weeks of any kind ever. I was so very, very, VERY overwhelmed. I even hunted down Tarp and made him help me all the way in Central America. Not a fact, I am proud of, but I am telling you, I was in over my head!

Well, Tarp is now back in Coast Rica. He and Jim are buying a place down there, so they will be there for a week and a half signing the papers and getting everything set up. And you know what...I am FINE! Hooray! So, this time there is no huge audit to get ready for (well, there kind of is, but it doesn't have to be done, like yesterday or anything) and...here is the kicker...I have help! Thank God for Justin. I no longer have to work every day that Tarp is gone. We can now split the two weekends. I now have someone to talk to, who can talk me down if I get overwhelmed. As I have worked the last couple of days I have realized, that even now I would be overwhelmed for this long alone. It just isn't a job for one person...obviously since there are three of us, but still. So very glad this trip is not creating a new meltdown. I don't know if I would have ever let Tarp leave again...would have been a shame too, what with him having that house in Costa Rica and him never allowed to go back. I am sure he thanks God for Justin too!

***As a side note that has nothing to do with this post, I have a million pictures to load on here...of the addition, of the new guest room, of our amazing crop from our garden...but first I must learn how to load pictures onto our new computer. Eventually I will figure it out...and maybe now that I have told you, I will feel the pressure to actually do it, rather than just think about it all the time!***

The Search for Sammie

Well, let me tell you that dieting works! I went over to Charing's this morning for the big weigh in after my first week of dieting. I was really hoping to go down. I knew I had cheated some, but honest to God I had tried really hard. It paid off. I lost FIVE POUNDS! How amazing is that?? Had I only lost a half a pound or so I would have thrown my hands up and said it was totally not worth it, but five pounds...hell yes it was worth it!

Speaking of my diet, it reminds me of a random story from this week. The night that Boo and Chris stayed the night they had brought their dogs with them. One of them had gotten out of the gate that night, so the had been a small amount of chaos. The next morning I got up and was getting ready. I started looking around for my cat, Sammie. I realized he had not slept in the bed...very strange. I go to fill up his food dish, and he doesn't come running. Now, this is VERY strange. I look EVERYWHERE. I look in all the closets, the garage, under the beds...anywhere I can think of. He is not in the house. I was sure that he must have gotten out the night before.

I need to mention that Sammie is, well, kinda old. He is sixteen, so you know, he is kind of getting up there in cat years. He also had some issues due to the fact that I got him when he was 24 hours old and never had a real cat mother, but rather, only had me. He doesn't know how to chew down his nails. I have to clip them for him. He also doesn't know how to retract his nails, or how to clean himself, but that just makes him Sammie....he's perfect.

Anyway, I had just cut his nails, and you know...he's so old, so I was really worried that he had gotten out of the house and was in that crazy heat with no nails to even try to defend himself. I go out in the back yard and start searching. I can't find him anywhere. I go back in, I look everywhere again. No Sam. I start to cry. I can't seem to help it. I just KNEW in my heart that he was gone. You know how you hear that when cats get old they just leave to die and you never know what happens to them? Well, that's what I decided happened.

Now...here is kind of a strange part of the story (and why my diet reminded me of it...you were curious, weren't you??). In my despair, I decided I still had to eat, so I made myself a bowl of oatmeal and waited for Nick to get out of the shower. I am sitting on the couch, eating and sobbing when Nick walks into the room. I look up at him, tears streaming down my face and say, " I CAN'T FIND SAM!!!!" *gasp for air*. Nick later tells me that he honest to god thought I was crying because I hated my diet so much. He was about to scream, "BABY, I don't care how big you are! Just eat some Cinnamon Toast Crunch!" when I told him about Sammie. Nick then runs to put on clothes and help me look. (He did later tell me that he was surprised at the fact that even when he did that and came back, I was still working on the oatmeal...I am a comfort eater I guess...) and we both start searching. Nick gets down in the crawlspace, I am in the front yard yelling for him through my sobs.

It was terrible. I was honestly devastated. That was, of course, right up until the moment when Nick walks out the front door with a amused look on his face. I am HORRIFIED. This is NOT funny. This is an EMERGENCY! Then Nick says, "He's in the garage". I cry, " I checked the garage...TWICE!" Then Nick tells me I must not have checked it well because as soon as he walked in and said Sammie's name, he looked right up at him. I ran into the house, grabbed him up, hugged him and sobbed even more. (then maybe I cried a little more when I told the story at work...I was just a touch emotional) I tell Nick I was so sure he had died. Nick then tells me before I get all worked up and think he is dead again, try to look a little harder in the house. Right. So...Sammie is fine. I think I might be a little scarred though. I keep looking for him whenever I am home. You know...just to make sure he is okay.

Face Lift

Well...welcome to the new look of Bio Girl!! I hope you all like it as much as I do! My amazing cousin (and wonderful graphic artist) Liz has done an amazing job redesigning the look of the good old blog. I love the fact that she kept my original Bio Girl in the picture, plus kept the bubbles, only this time they no longer burn out anyones retinas. When Nick saw it he said it was perfect, That the old one was nice, but now nothing takes away from my writing. (Aww...he does read my blog sometimes!) I think he's right. Now seeing this new template I do realize how loud the old one really was. Anyway, I know some people loved the old look, some people hated it. I hope this new one works for you guys, because I think it's amazing! Thanks so much Liz. Your the best!

Heat Wave

My God it is so freakin' hot outside. Crazy, unruly hot. So...you know, this is the perfect time for our AC in our house to give out. Can't imagine a better time really what with the heat index up to 105...awesome. The really funny thing is that Boo and Chris's AC went out on Monday. They got up and realized their house was hot as hell. We, of course, tell them the can come stay with us until they have the problem fixed, so they pack up the two dogs and head our way. The only problem...our house also seems a little warm. Strange...

We did the best we could. They used a fan in their room. Nick eventually gave up on our room and went to the couch for the breeze of the ceiling fan. By Tuesday morning it was very clear. Our AC was also out. I totally blame the heat wave for all of this. Anyway, we had to send Boo and Chris packing. Charing was nice enough to have them over for the night. Nick, Ellie and I made our way over to Liz and Cory's. We had a ton of fun eating Brooklyn Pizza and watching Wesley dance...it really warms my heart. Plus, there was the HUGE bonus of Liz offering to help with the new blog template!! This is amazing seeing as how I kind of totally gave up on that little project after the lightning fried my last attempt. I am now totally pumped! Liz, thanks so much for having us and for your help!

I am actually home right now waiting for the AC guy to write up my bill...and my home is once again pleasantly cool. Apparently I needed my coils all rinsed off. According to the AC guy it hadn't been done in about 12 years, leading to total blockage, extremely high pressure, and there for no cool air. Thank God I don't have to buy an entire new AC unit!! Oh, the cool air feels good....

Diet

my Aunt Mrs. Who and I must really think alike...I just sat down at my computer to catch up on my blog reading and then to write a post...basically the EXACT same post that she has written today...how strange is that? Not that strange considering in many ways I am my aunt's clone, but whatever.

I am officially going on a diet. I am now the biggest I have ever been in my life...how very depressing. I have always been a very thin person. This might sound conceded to people who don't actually know me, but this is not a bragging statement...I was THIN. Rail thin, so think that when I was in school every year my teacher would come up to me and say, "Now...I think we need to talk about your eating disorder." I was not that very sexy skinny, but rather, I was a five foot nine pile of sticks and bones (my mom is now sitting at her computer saying how beautiful I was, but you know...she's my mom). I eventually gained a small amount of weight my senior year and started to look healthy. I would even agree with my mom, and say I was pretty stinkin' cute.

That size lasted for about five or six years. Then one day, I just realized I was a little bigger. There was this strange skin sitting on top of my jeans...could that be fat? Yes, my friends, it was indeed fat. Now, I let it go for quite some time. I figured, hell, I need a little weight anyways. That was what I had always heard. I did join a gym, and then went about ten times. I basically said screw it. I had always eaten EVERYTHING in sight, and it was not a habit I was willing to give up.

Then...I went shopping. I had gone up one size, and was fine with it, but I was Christmas shopping with my sisters and I kept trying on the size six jeans, and there was NOWAY they were going on. Now, this was the kicker. I shrugged my shoulders, went and grabbed the eights...and they were tight as hell. I burst into tears. Over reaction? Maybe. It was just not a problem I was used to. I ended up joining weight watchers. I didn't tell many people I was going, because really I was still rather thin for my height. I was just getting bigger fast. In everyones head I would be so crazy, but I knew my body and I knew that I had no idea how to eat correctly.

Now, I am a rather obsessive person. When I do something, I really DO it. I was all about the WW. I wrote down everything I ate, kept track of my points, made sure I had the right number of veggies, and what not. I ended up dropping fifteen pounds and getting my lifetime in about eight weeks. This was a few years ago. I did well maintaining, going up or down a few pounds, but really staying about the same....until after the wedding. Apparently post wedding I decided I was going to eat whatever the hell I wanted. Eat out for Mexican and Chinese everyday for lunch...good. Large sweet tea from McDonald's...good. Starbucks....good. I realized this weekend that the eights are back to being tight as hell...I weighed and found out that I am now bigger than when I started WW in the first place. I am not sure how I have gone back to eating everything in sight, but I have done it. So....WW here I come. I am not actually going to meetings...yet. I am going to start back into my diet, track my food (oh god now I realize how much I was eating) and see if I can do it with Boo, Charing and Rhi. If not, then I will go back to the meetings. the one thing I do know is that I have to get it under control now. It will only get harder. Now...if they could just make diet food taste as good as gravy and biscuits or cookies and milk...stupid fat.

Perk

So I know I just did a post about the amazing benefits that my job provides....the free ice cream bribe. Well, I now have a new story that TOTALLY blows that one out of the water. This is not about a client trying to bribe me, oh no. This is about my company giving out perks. That's right people, I now work for a company that so values it's employees that there are now perks just for working for them!

Okay, I know lots of jobs have perks. I am sure mine even does, but I am just numb to them. I am driving a company car even though my job requires very little travel. That is a pretty good perk, but it just worked out that way. We had an extra company car, so they let me take it the two miles back and forth from my house while we continue the longest car hunt in history. There are other perks out there I am sure...Lipton Diet Green Tea in the fridge does come to mind...

Anyway, the BIG perk. I am really not sure you are ready for this...my company just bought two townhouses in Florida that are one block from the beach. Here's the thing, we get to use one whenever we want...for FREE! Just as a thanks for working so hard. Isn't that the most amazing thing you have ever heard? Okay, maybe lots of companies do this, but I sure as hell have never worked for them! The townhouses are each two bedroom...with a private pool!! They had pictures of them and everything and they are totally adorable. Did I mention we can use them for free? And that they are in Florida? We just have to sign up and get ourselves down there. Instant vacation. I am just totally floored. I was about two seconds from putting our name on the list for the very first week, but then Nick reminded me that we are going to DC in October for our anniversary and then to Cleveland in November for a wedding...right. We also have a family vacation planned for next summer, so I am not sure when we will be able to use it, but trust you me, I will find a time. There is no way I am letting this amazing little perk get away from me! How cool is this?

The Small Decisions

Have you all heard about the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed? If you are people who watch the news or read the paper, I am sure you have seen about it. I am really in shock of how terrible this is. The road these people take everyday, the engineering that they trust their lives to, completely failed them. The pictures of the school bus truly broke my heart. I am sure the entire city is devastated.

Nick's dad is in Minneapolis right now. He is staying in St. Paul and working in Minneapolis, so he is actually crossing that exact bridge twice a day. Every evening they get off work, and drive back over that bridge...except for last night. For the first time in a week one guy in their group thought maybe they should grab dinner in Minneapolis before they head back. Just a random decision, on that has not been made or even discussed any other night. When they walked into the restaurant, right around the time they would have been on the bridge, the news comes on that it had collapsed. How lucky is our family that the one guy though for no reason at all that maybe they should have dinner in the city?

Those kind of life changing small decisions are always amazing. You decide to run into a gas station instead of paying at the pump and you meet your future wife. You change your routine just slightly and your entire plan shifts. It's the Mr. Destiny idea. One decision changes the entire path of your life...you decide to go out to dinner and you are not on a bridge when it collapses. I guess most of the time you don't know when one of these big decisions just occurred, but this time I am really glad Dale went out to dinner...

Stupid Pinky...

So I really hurt my hand the day of the yard sale...remember the Yard Sale, like ages ago?? Yea, I was shutting Charing's car door to get out and grab a large bright yellow sign out of some poor person who chose to live on the corner of a busy intersections yard (don't you think all the yard sale signs all summer must drive them crazy?? They would me...anyway) and right as I close the car door I catch my pinky finger. I didn't slam it in the door, rather the door seemed to take it with it on it's way to the slamming process. At first it jammed in, then pulled out in a very unnatural way, from my hand. My eyes filled with tears while I laughed that I was an idiot....it hurt like hell.

I basically decided to do nothing. I know that there is a chance it is broken what with the tiny bones that reside in the pinky, but what are ya gonna do, right? I always heard not to worry about a broken finger. Here's the problem. As two weeks went by my finger started to hurt more and more. It hurts me hand what I am writing, so that is really annoying. It just seems to shoot random pains down my hand at any given moment. Once it started hurting to hold my cell phone (the horror) and then when it woke me up in the night because I rolled over on it, I decided it was time to go to the doctor!

So...Monday I called and made an appointment. I go in, they ask if there is any chance I could be pregnant...I say there is a chance, so they take some blood. The doc looks at my finger and sends me for some X-rays. And that is it...no big deal, they will call with results for both tests. I was a little surprised they didn't just tell me the results of the pregnancy test right away, but they had to "run" it...right. This was noon on Monday. I call at 4:45 on Monday to be like, "What the hell??" How long does it take to read a pregnancy test (in my experience this takes about 1 minute) and a stupid X-ray of a pinky. I am told they have not gotten either set of results back and will call me tomorrow. HELLO...what if I was dying of pain (okay, I wasn't) with my broken finger? What kind of place says, we will tell you tomorrow?

Tuesday I wait until noon and then I call again. I have to leave a message. The nurse calls back and says, "Hi Sarah, (they never take a stab at the last name) yea, I just wanted to let you know both tests we negative". AND THAT WAS IT. I think she was going to go ahead and hang up. I was totally fine with the pregnancy test (okay, fine in that trying to get pregnant with endo kind of way, but fine) but the stupid pinky...that's all I get? So I say, "Then what does this mean, why is it bothering me so much?" And she says, "Oh, does it still hurt?". Screw you lady. Yea, it hurts just as bad as it did yesterday which brought me into the doctor. She said the doctor said what with me trying to get pregnant there was little they could do for a sprained pinky, but she could call me in some Anaprox or some Lortabs...I sound like a druggie, but I have already got both of those. I guess I can just take some of those then...thanks for all of your very annoying help...I really feel so much better....stupid pinky.