last post before I leave :)

Our flight leaves tomorrow night for England. Yay! We are so excited. However, we still are not packed. You'd think that with all the traveling we do, we'd be on top of this. Nope, we always seem to wait until the last minute and I spent the hour before we leave running around like a chicken with its head cut off making sure everything is packed. Then I spend the first hour on the road trying to figure out what I forgot. And it's always something. In the past it's been anything from my toothbrush, to socks, to my hair dryer.

So, I'm not looking forward to going home after work. Should be an interesting few hours!

Some of our hotels in Ireland have free internet access, so if there is a computer in the lounge I may pop on and say hello, and maybe brag just a little bit :)

But we'll see. If not, I will definitely post on March 6th.

Until then!

literally shopped till we dropped!

I have never shopped so much in one day in my life! Yesterday was a whirlwind of walking, shopping and driving all over the place in the quest for the perfect jacket for David. We left the house at 8:30am, came home to take care of the pup around 4ish and then headed back out and didn't return home until about 7pm. And it wasn't me dragging him around it was quite the opposite!

We managed to hit 2 malls, 2 D.ick's S.porting G.oods, 2 O.ld N.avy's, the LL B.ean store,R.EI, The N.orth F.ace Store, 2 S.ports A.uthorities and 2 M.odells. We also snuck in some F.ive Guys for lunch, yum!

For a person who doesn't like to go to malls and shop that much, I think I held up pretty well. I think the reason for that is I picked up a ton of new clothes that I wasn't planning on. Usually when the two of us go shopping David gets a ton of stuff and I find nothing for myself. Finally it was reversed!

I do have to mention that I discovered one more reason why I love my husband. I was pretty fed up at O.ld N.avy because I couldn't find a pair of jeans and there he was, scouring through all of the piles and racks of jeans to find me something when I had given up hope. Low and behold he found a pair and they fit perfectly. I don't know too many men that would jump in and help like that. So, it put a huge smile on my face.

Oh, and he finally found a jacket by the end of the night...thank god! And I practically have a whole new wardrobe :)

one week!

Our England/Ireland trip is getting more and more official now!

I spent tonight finalizing where we are staying and finding the best rates online.

So...

flights to England and Ireland - check!
flight from Dublin to Cork - check!
car rental in Ireland - check!
5 nights in hotels all over Ireland - check!

Our Ireland itinerary is pretty agressive but we don't care. We'd rather see a lot during this trip so that if we ever go back we can stay a few days in the places we like best.

A few attractions that we hope to see along the way...

Dublin: Guinness Storehouse, St. Patrick's Cathedral and The Brazen Head

Blarney: Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone, Old Midleton Distillery

Killarney: Killarney National Park

Dingle Peninsula: Slea Head Drive, Conor Pass

I can't wait! I know we're going to be exhausted when we get back but it's going to be worth it!

snow day! (sort of)

David and I get to work from home today, whoo hoo! Seriously, our street is ridiculous right now. 2 inches of snow, sleet and ice and no plow has been through yet.

We've definitely been entertained this morning by people trying to leave. All three that have attempted so far have failed miserably and there are 2 more that will be trying soon. I'm trying to get David to video tape them because it's quite funny to watch them do everything they can to try and stop their tires from spinning.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Update: Proof that if the news tells you to stay home, you should listen. This guy has been trying for an hour and a half to make it off of our street.

ice

This looks like fun, doesn't it?


Can't wait to try and attempt to drive home this afternoon. That should be an adventure!

crappy Monday

How many sh*tty things can happen to me today, let's start a list:

1) Got stuck behind the worst driver in the world this morning
2) got into work 15 minutes late
3) found out I didn't get that position (they filled it in NY so at least it's not a question of if I could do the job)
4) spilled milk on my keyboard
5) then 10 minutes after that spilled more milk on my sweater and jeans.

Can't wait to see what happens next! It's not even 9:30am yet!

our night with Emily...

Last night was a tad exhausting. We had the pleasure of watching Emily for 4 hours and it's interesting to say the least to have a 2 year old thrown into your life. You suddenly realize how un-baby proof everything is.

But we had a blast with her and would do it again in a heartbeat.

David is apparently trying to make all the 2 year old girls he knows football players.

I'm pretty sure she got more on the floor than in her mouth.

So cute!

Can I have some?

Apparently our furniture is very staticy!

At least we were ALL exhausted by the end of the night.

run free Luke

Yesterday was a very tough day for me. I had to take my gerbil to the vet and I knew that it would most likely be a one way ticket for him. He hadn't been himself for 2 days. See, I've been through this before, with his brother about a year ago. He had the same disorientation that Luke did. And as with most small animals, when they show that they are sick, it is usually too late to save them.

The vet, who was the same one I saw last time is the kindest person. She was very sympathetic and told me that there's really no antibiotics to give him because he doesn't have an infection and he seems to be ok other than the fact that he walks around in circles and doesn't know where anything is anymore. So, we both knew something else was going on and she told me that he would just get worse so it was a quality of life issue. We both agreed that euthanizing him would be the best thing to do. I didn't want to go through the pain of watching another pet suffer. I tried to nurse his brother Bo back to health and it was the hardest thing to watch as his life deteriorated. I couldn't go through that again.

When she came back with the box that contained Luke (it even had hearts on it) she told me that while he was under anesthesia she felt a mass. And it was pretty big. She thinks it was something with his kidneys and informed me that it was way too big to operate on. So, at least I know that I saved him from a lot of suffering. It would have gotten so much worse for him.

And I know some of you that are reading this probably think this is a lot to go through for something like a gerbil. But that's the way I am. I have such a soft heart for any kind of animal, big or small. This is the way that pets should be treated. I loved this little guy and he deserved the best care. And I'm going to miss him.

bizarre work moment of the day

(phone rings)

me: This is L.

kid: Is Melody there?

me: No, you have the wrong number.

kid: No, no, this is the number she told me to call.

me: Well, I'm sorry but there's no one here by that name.

kid: Well, if you see Melody can you tell her to call me?

me: Um, I don't know a Melody, what number did you call?

kid: XXX-XX-XX-XXX
**that's how they said the number, not in the usual 3-3-4 combo**

me: hmm, well that's my number but there is no Melody here.

kid: ok, bye

what to do

There might be an opportunity for me to make a move at work. Same job, different area. It would still fall into my "expertise" but it's something totally new and quite frankly, terrifying.

I'm so comfortable in the bubble I've been in for 3 years. I've made it my own, the people I work with are great and it's a perfect fit for me. However, some things have happened in recent months that have made me question how much longer I want to stay in that area.

I mean, this new position hasn't been offered to me and I haven't even talked to my manager about it yet. I actually have an e-mail all written out to let them know I'm interested but I'm too chicken to send it out.

Every time I get ready to hit the send button, my mind races with all the great things I have with my current area. I really do love the people I work with and I'm respected by them. They trust what I have to say and are open to new ideas I present them. What if that's not the case at the new position?

And part of me feels ridiculous for talking about it on here right now because I don't even know if I'm able to move over since I have a huge workload right now and my team would probably crumble if I left them right now. I'm not trying to sound like I'm the glue that holds everything together but I do complete a lot during an average workweek and I think things would have to change if I were to up and leave.

I guess there's no harm in sending out an e-mail saying I'm interested. Does that make it look like I don't care about the areas I work on now? I think that's what's making me hesitate right now. What if I send this out but don't get the position, will people think I don't like working on the current area?

There's no harm in putting feelers out right?