School is over (and no pictures)

Chemistry? Done!!!  I'm not sure if it was done well, but thank goodness it's over.  Last week the final was cancelled due to snow and so we had to take the make-up last night, a full week after we should have finished the class.  It was not ideal because I spent all weekend moving and didn't even get to study at all.  It was not a good situation.  I felt like I had to guess on a lot of the questions but I am hopeful that it turned out ok in the end.  Or that I had a high enough grade going into the exam that the final won't be the end of the world.  We shall see how it turns out...I may or may not divulge depending on how embarrassing the grade turns out to be.

The apartment is starting to look livable.  Ivan stayed home from work yesterday and put the baby's room together.  I will probably need to redo it because furniture is in front of windows and the clothes were dumped into the drawers, but at least he tried.  I still need a cabinet to put my food in though...it's driving me bonkers having it all over the floor in bags.

And the biggest adjustment?  Leaving the house on time.  Now we live farther away from my sister's and the golf course but Ivan thinks we can still leave at the same time.  So instead we rush around like crazy people trying to make sure I don't miss the bus.  And then today I waited at my new bus stop only to forget my bag in the car when I left and then my husband had to meet me at the mall and give me the bag.  I guess we'll get it eventually...just have to smooth out some wrinkles.

Work is crazy these days...busy and different somehow.  I feel like I fit in there less and less.  It's an odd feeling but one that I hope passes.  I have been there so long but it feels like somehow I am getting pushed out.  It's mentally exhausting and on top of it I have a lot of work.  Not a good mix.

Alright, I better get some shut-eye.  Twice now I've been up until after midnight...which means a short measly 4.5 hours of sleep.  Maybe I can get a bit more here on the bus.  Minus the fact that the guy next to me has the light on...

Happy Tuesday!!

The Big Move

Before we get into my weekend, I just have to mention that a lady sitting two rows in front of me has on a fur coat.  I am hoping it's fake fur (do they make real fur anymore??), but it still seems weird.  Who wears fur coats anymore, fake or real??  And to work??

So, we moved.  We are officially in our new apartment.  And it was definitely painful getting here!  I took Friday off to pack and get ready but I had Evan with me and he made it quite difficult.  Then he had a doctor's appointment at 1pm and we didn't get out of there until 3pm and then it was 3:30pm before we got home and half the afternoon was lost.  Luckily my friend Karin came over for a couple hours in the evening (before heading to a Christmas party!) to help pack up more of the kitchen and then she came over at 8am on moving day with her daughter to help pack up the pantry food.  

Moving day was the opposite of fun.  We have so much stuff!!  But in reality we don't...we only have enough stuff for a two bedroom apartment.  How can it seem like a lot??  It's not like we have a house full of stuff...thank goodness.  For some reason moving day was slow and long and overwhelming.  Ivan had a friend from work come help him move the heavy items and then Karin helped and my friend Allyson bought us lunch and helped clean the old apartment in the evening.  At one point though, Ivan's friend had left and my two friends had left for afternoon engagements and it was just Ivan and me (luckily my sister had offered to watch Evan and Dolce) and it was 4:10pm and the truck had to be back by 5pm.  We were at the new place and had an entire truck-load of stuff that had to be unloaded in 40 minutes. With just us two (and I hardly count because I am a wimp).  We did it in about 45 minutes...in the snow that turned to rain.  It snowed for a while but nothing stuck to the roads (but it did stick to our stuff), so at least it wasn't miserable driving the truck around.  But all our stuff got wet and we were soaked and it was freezing.  Good thing Allyson is a smarty and had told us to buy plastic to put on the carpet so we didn't track mud and snow/rain into the new place.  Good plan!!!

After returning the truck we had to pick up the kid and the dog and borrow my sister's car to make a few more trips.  While Ivan was making trips I was cleaning.  Karin and Allyson joined me again and we got to work scrubbing bathrooms, washing walls, vacuuming, mopping floors, cleaning kitchens, emptying fridge food, etc.  It took a while but we finished around 11pm.  And we were so exhausted. And tired of cleaning.  But since I'm nervous about getting my deposit money back I wanted it to be as clean as possible.

That was the dining room...I was trying to keep Evan entertained with wooden spoons and bowls.  Dolce just hung out.

Here's the living room.  Evan is still having a ball running around the empty space making soup.

I think the apartment is way cleaner than it was when we moved in!  I even steam cleaned the carpets!

And now our new place.  It's nice but there are boxes everywhere and Dolce had a hard time trying to find a place to sleep.  He decided to sleep next to our bed.  We made some progress yesterday though.  I unpacked the kitchen (or what I could of it, it's so tiny I need to buy a cabinet to put my food in because there is no pantry.  This took practically all day but I eventually found the stove to make dinner (eggs with ham).  I then moved on to the bedroom and got my clothes in the drawers and closets and then organized my bathroom.

Then I made lunches, washed dishes, and went to bed...because I have to work today.  

Things are looking good in some places, like the living room.

And some places need a lot more work, like the other side of the living room!

I hope you don't have to move soon and when you do, you don't do it in the middle of winter and you maybe hire movers.  And if you are lucky, you hire packers and movers!

Prolonging the misery

As you may have noticed, I didn't blog on Tuesday like normal.  Why??  Well, it was a snow day so I didn't have to work!  Yay!  I actually did some work because if I don't get my annual report written by the time I leave for vacation then I have to write it in Vermont.  Not what I feel like doing in the least.  I also studied a bit for my Chem lecture exam (it's cumulative, how mean is that?), but then it was cancelled.  Although it gives me more time to study (maybe...I am moving this weekend), it also prolongs the misery.  I thought I would be all done at this point, but no, I am still thinking about chemistry.  Now I have to take it on Monday instead.

The snow was beautiful though!

That's the view off the balcony, for the next two days.  Then we will have a new view and our new view looks into a parking lot, so it won't be as pretty.

Here's the view from the front.

Pretty too!  We didn't get much more than three inches but it was enough to cover everything and make it peaceful.  I love snow!

Yesterday my friend came over to help pack while I worked and she packed up all our dishes!  I was trying to make dinner last night and I had to unpack my knives because I couldn't cut up the chicken!  And she only left us dessert plates so Ivan kept saying she was putting us on a diet by making us eat such small portions.  That didn't stop Ivan though...he just had five helpings.  

And Evan has turned into a tortilla theif!

Here he is in the bedroom.  He grabbed Ivan's tortilla off the sofa (yeah, maybe if Ivan ate at the table we wouldn't have this problem) and then made a mad dash for the bedroom squealing the entire time. It was hilarious.  And just as a note, the bed is completely unmade because we are lazy and it's on the floor because Ivan took it apart already for the move.  We kinda like it on the floor though.  Ivan doesn't want to put it back together!

And one more random bit of info.  I was reading Caitlin's blog, Healthy Tipping Point, and she had a post about an amazing organization called Healing Horses.  It really sounded like such a wonderful place and maybe some of you were looking for an organization to donate to for Christmas or a new place to champion so I thought I'd share it.  The post that Caitlin wrote was beautiful, so I would highly recommend reading it.  If I had an extra $25 this month I would definitely donate!  But I don't.  I will next month though so I'd love to sponsor a horse.

Ok, that is all I have to report.  Most likely the next time you hear from me I will be in my new place!  I can't wait to get out of this dump.  Now that I've been forced to move, I realize just how horrible this place really is...and I am so thankful we are leaving.  And Whole Foods doesn't even open until the end of July so that's not even going to happen for a while.  Plus, Whole Foods is a money suck so it's probably better for me to be far away! And then I can continue supporting the local organic stores like David's and Roots instead.

Happy Thursday!!

Snow and ice

Wow, this weekend went super fast.  Maybe because I had a meeting all day on Friday instead of working from home.  And those three days of meetings really wore me out.  I wanted to sleep in on Saturday but Evan had other plans.  He was cutting a tooth and so pretty much was up all night.  I think he fell asleep at around 4am.  And then he was up at 7am.  Definitely not what I was hoping for after only getting a few hours of sleep all week.  He made up for it on Sunday though and we slept until 8am.

Sunday we got our first snow fall of the season!

It ended up being about two or three inches.  I was pretty excited.  Except that my friend Sarah was supposed to come and help me pack but we were too worried about the road conditions so she didn't come.  It was a good thing too because the roads were horrible.  However,  I was sad I didn't get to see her.  Hopefully she makes it on Saturday!

I put Evan in his new snowsuit (compliments of Mimi), and we took Dolce for a walk.

It was getting a little dark so it Is kind of hard to see Evan, but he was all bundled up in snow pants and a winter coat.  That little hat is a bit problematic because it likes to fall down and cover his entire face.  That made him a bit unhappy.  At one point I took him out and let him play in the snow, which he loved, but then getting him back into the stroller was a fight.  Dolce spent the entire time eating snow, which is so annoying because then he has to go out nineteen times in the next hour.  It's a struggle I tell you!

I did get some packing done, even without Sarah's motivation.  I also made English muffin bread, pumpkin soup, chicken soup, and chicken enchilada soup.  And Ivan nicely washed the dishes while. I gave Evan a bath.

This week is a bit stressful because I have my Chem lecture final tomorrow and then moving on Saturday...which means I have to be packed by Saturday too.  The other night while I was rocking Evan to sleep (I know, he's probably too old for this but I don't care), I heard rodents in the walls scurrying about.  I'm not sure if it was mice, rats, squirrels, or what - but it was disgusting and I was counting my blessings that we were moving to a better place (can it be worse???).  We just have to physically move to that other place and that is what stresses me out!

P.S. I found the BOB weather shield!!!!!  I had been looking for it for months and couldn't find it - and then I'm packing up the bedroom closet and found it in a bag.  I was SO HAPPY!!

Did it snow where you live this weekend?

My currents

LI was really dreading this week because I had a Chem lab final and then a grantee meeting for three long days in DC.  I had to get up extra early to catch an early bus and I didn't get to work from home like normal.  However, it's Friday and I have almost made it.  I see a small light at the end of the tunnel. It's not a big light because next week I have a Chem lecture final and it's moving week, but the fact that I made it through this week is a huge relief.  

And now that I said that, I have nothing else to say.  Haha.  Oh, I snapped this picture on my way to the meeting yesterday.

The US Capital.  For some reason I find this building sitting on top of Capital Hill to be so beautiful.  I don't normally get to the mall area unless I am running and when I am running I am not enjoying sights.  So it's been fun walking around the mall these last few days.  Today is the lighting of the White House Christmas tree, something I've never seen either.  Maybe next week I'll take a walk down and see it.

Here's another picture from this morning.  You can't tell as much but it was actually dark when I got off the bus. That's how early it was.

And you can see the flag at half-mast for the passing of Nelson Mandela.  I was so sad when I heard -what an amazing man he was.  Truly an inspiration.  When I heard the news, my first thought was that I had to make sure I taught Evan about him and how he changed the life of so many people.

And now let's do some Fill in the Blanks, reminiscent of Fridays past.  The theme will be currents.

I am currently reading The Good Soldiers by David Finkel and Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan.  I've already read Ellis Island but I was re-reading it for family book club.  The Good Soldiers is a true account of soldier life during the surge of Iraq.  It's written by a reporter and is a bit depressing, but I'm finding it interesting.

I am currently watching Parenthood and NCIS.  I had been watching Friday Night Lights, but I don't really like that series too much so I haven't watched it for a while.

I currently subscribe to Runner's World, Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, Parents, and Kiwi.  My mom bought me Kiwi and I love it.  I also love Runner's World.  If you couldn't tell, I love magazines!

I currently feel exhausted.  Getting up at 4am and not getting home from work until 7:30pm just wears me out!  I am really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Ok, I'm falling asleep on the bus! 

Happy Friday!!

Early mornings, late nights

I think my jaw would feel better if I didn't clench it all night long.  I woke up this morning and got in the shower and didn't remember to unclench my jaw until I actually got into the water.  And then it kind of hurt.  I never used to clench my jaw but the last time I went to the dentist she mentioned that it looked like I had started.  And when she mentioned it, I recalled waking up a few times with my mouth clenched tight.  Grrr.  I'm gonna blame it on stress.  I'm telling you, my life is gonna be way less stressful after the new year, it's gonna be my resolution.

The rest of the week is going to be a doozy though.  I have a three-day grantee meeting, which means I have to go into DC the rest of the week.  This is no fun, especially since last night I had class and normally I get to sleep in a little this morning but I actually had to get up earlier because I had to catch a different bus that would bring me closer to the Capital, instead of the White House (not that I work in either of those places, but my office is a few blocks from the White House).  So, I went to bed at 11:45pm and woke up at 4:20am.  Fun times in my household.  And on top of that I probably have to pump in the bathroom again.  And I have to eat a cold lunch each day because we can't afford for me to eat out every lunch.  

Yesterday was a very productive day though.  I was able to get my Verizon Fios switched, my address switched with the post office, my BGE switched, and my renter's insurance switched.  I also did my Chemistry homework and studied a tiny bit for my lab exam today.  And packed a box or two.

Yeah, I know.  It's so much fun to pack.  I can't believe I have things in boxes already.  I'm ahead of the game.

And since it's been chilly recently I started drinking hot chocolate instead of coffee.  

Hot chocolate is awesome.  It's my favorite thing to drink after a hard run.  Not that I've had any of those recently.  I don't really know what a hard run is.  Or a run at all.  But I do know what hot chocolate is and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

Ok, off to snooze.  Let's hope this route is nice and fast and I don't sleep through my stop, since I don't know where it is!

Monthly Mailers!

I wasn't going to blog today because I am not working - and we all know that the only time I find to blog is on my bus ride into work.  However, I wanted to post about my monthly mailer for this past month.  Just in case you can't remember what monthly mailers are and you don't feel like clicking back and seeing my last monthly mailer (I totally understand), I'll just re-explain it really quickly.  Monthly mailers is Sarah's project over at Creating a Better Tomorrow.  You sign up and then get matched with a partner and then you send that partner some snail mail.  Nothing big, no gift, no big pricey item - just a card with some motivational words and maybe a little something special.  This was my second time participating and I got a lovely card from Jane.

It was my first Christmas card of the season!!!  Yay!!  I love getting Christmas cards.  I know so many people are choosing not to do them anymore but I refuse to give it up.  I love selecting the pictures, selecting the background, writing a little note in them, and then mailing them out.  I look forward to it all year and actually bought my cards back in January.  So, you know I was happy when I received this lovely card from Jane.  My husband was even more happy when he saw that Yankee candle car scent.  He loves car scents (probably because he makes the car stink with all his work clothes) and we'll make sure we put it in right before our ten hour drive to Vermont.  Then we can smell fresh laundry the entire drive there.

I know my blog has been such a soul-sucker these days with bad news and gloomy thoughts and stress and the like - but I am really trying to pull myself up by the bootstraps and be more positive.  I talked to a lawyer yesterday (did you know that the District Court has an online chat feature where you can chat with a lawyer about certain issues - like renter/landlord conflicts???)  and also with the local Consumer Protection Agency and I am now fully aware of my rights with regard to my security deposit.  It made me feel better to take control of the situation and I'm sure that since I'm fully prepared and versed in the law I won't need any of this information - but just in case, I'll be ready.

And the best news ever is that I was talking to my best friend (for FOUR HOURS on Saturday, which is what happens when your best friend moves four hours away and you hate the telephone and so haven't actually talked to each other since Feb) and she is actually going to drive up here on Sunday and help me pack and then she's going to drive back the following Saturday and help us move.  I was completely shocked by her generosity.  Those are her only two days off during the week and she's going to drive all the way here just to help us out.  Bad times suck, that's for sure, but it also reminds you who your real friends are and how many people out there truly care for you.  I have such wonderful friends and I must have been much more thoughtful in my younger days - because these people continuously amaze me with their friendship and dedication.  I feel like I haven't been a good friend for a long time because I'm so busy with work, school, golf, family, etc. (which I know is not a good excuse), but I am determined to improve on my friend qualities in the New Year.  Like actually call my friend Sarah and not let ten months pass without talking.

Thank you for sticking around through this depressing time in my life.  I promise I won't continue to throw myself pity-parties for the rest of my life!

Catch-up and Foodie Reveal Day

Yes, I am probably the only blogger who didn't post about Thanksgiving.  We had a good one, but I didn't take any pictures.  It was overshadowed by an email from my landlord that indicates he wants to keep my security deposit.  And pain in my shoulder, neck, back, and head from coughing for three weeks.  It's not to say that my turkey day wasn't special, it was.  It's just to say that I was emotionally exhausted and worn out from anger, coughing, and not sleeping well.  However, on turkey day we went to some golf friends' house and enjoyed an afternoon of yummy food and conversation.  The morning was relaxing as I cooked up some sides and watched the parade.  Good all around.

The rest of the weekend was a bit stressed money-wise as I worked out our budget for how we are going to get through the month with $2000 less and whether we can pay all our bills and still buy food and gas.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works out, but it will be a less festive Christmas as we don't have extra money for decorations or a tree or even a wreath...let alone presents.  Luckily Evan is only 1 and doesn't understand presents.

Ivan and I did do our first date of Christmas though!  I had saved some money and we used it to go to the movies.  We went to an 11:05am movie so it was only $6.50 a ticket.  We went and saw Catching Fire and I LOVED it.  Ivan liked it too, because of all the fighting.  The only downside was that Ivan hadn't eaten lunch so he ordered chicken fingers and fries and the total was $18.95.  He thought the guy said $8.95 so we both almost cried when we realized how expensive that small amount of food was.  It was like highway robbery!

This past weekend was also November Foodie Reveal Day for the Foodie Pen Pal exchange I like to participate in.  In case you can't remember what it is, you get a pen pal and exchange a few emails to get to know them and then mail them a box of fun food items.  I've done it for a few months now and I love it.  I won't do it this month because of the money thing mentioned above, but I'll definitely resume when things settle down a bit more.

My partner this month was Alan.  We exchanged a lot of emails and he was a fabulous partner.  He mentioned that he loved spices so I was secretly hoping he'd send me a few in my box.  Well, he did not disappoint!  I got a lovely box from him filled with all kinds of goodies.

Look at all that fun stuff!  And it was nicely packaged in tissue paper and ribbons, to look even more fun.  Let's take a look at some of the fun stuff in there.

Here are the spices.  The Vietnamese cinnamon is amazing.  I use it every day in my coffee and oatmeal and I used it in my pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  It's got a stronger flavor that regular cinnamon, but that makes it even better.  The other spice is Sumac Berries.  I think that will taste great on a chicken dish, but I haven't tried it yet.  It smells amazing though.

Then there was this chocolate bar.  You can never go wrong with chocolate.  I was a bit hesitant about crystallized ginger in chocolate because I don't like ginger (except in Asian dishes), but it was fantastic.  The crystallized ginger mixed really well with the dark chocolate and this bar was devoured in no time at all.  

And lastly, these Lara bars.  I love Lara bars and I had never tried these kinds before.  They were tasty though!  I brought them to class to help curb my hunger and I really liked them.  The pecan flavor was my favorite, but they both had a fun and festive fall flavor.  The box also had a delicious chili mix and lots and lots of milk duds.  Yum!  I haven't made the chili yet but it sounded fantastic, and it even suggests putting it on top of spaghetti.  I'm not sure if I'll do that or not, but I can't wait to try the mix.

So that was my box!  It was so great and I really had fun this month putting Alan's box together and then getting his in the mail.  It was a bright spot in a stressful month!

Hope your December is off to a great start!!